[JPRT 109-33]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress S. Prt.
1st Session JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT 109-33
_______________________________________________________________________
.
COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
PRACTICES FOR 2004
VOLUME I
__________
R E P O R T
SUBMITTED TO THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
U.S. SENATE
AND THE
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTIONS 116(d) AND 502B(b) OF THE FOREIGN
ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961, AS AMENDED
SEPTEMBER 2005
Printed for the use of the Committees on Foreign Relations of the U.S.
Senate and International Relations of the U.S. House of
Representatives respectively.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
99-700 PDF WASHINGTON : 2005
_____________________________________________________________________
For sale by the Superintendnet of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800;
DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP,
Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana, Chairman
CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware
LINCOLN CHAFEE, Rhode Island PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland
GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut
NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin
LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee BARBARA BOXER, California
JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire BILL NELSON, Florida
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska BARACK OBAMA, Illinois
MEL MARTINEZ, Florida
Kenneth A. Myers, Jr., Staff Director
Antony J. Blinken, Democratic Staff Director
------
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
Vice Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
DAN BURTON, Indiana ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
ELTON GALLEGLY, California Samoa
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
PETER T. KING, New York BRAD SHERMAN, California
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
RON PAUL, Texas WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
DARRELL ISSA, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona BARBARA LEE, California
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
JERRY WELLER, Illinois SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
MIKE PENCE, Indiana GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida DIANE E. WATSON, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina ADAM SMITH, Washington
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
CONNIE MACK, Florida DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
TED POE, Texas
Thomas E. Mooney, Sr., Staff Director/General Counsel
Robert R. King, Democratic Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Foreword......................................................... ix
Letter of Transmittal............................................ xi
Preface.......................................................... xiii
Overview and Acknowledgments..................................... xv
Introduction..................................................... xix
Volume I
Africa
Angola....................................................... 1
Benin........................................................ 15
Botswana..................................................... 24
Burkina Faso................................................. 33
Burundi...................................................... 43
Cameroon..................................................... 59
Cape Verde................................................... 79
Central African Republic..................................... 84
Chad......................................................... 97
Comoros...................................................... 112
Congo, Democratic Republic of the............................ 117
Congo, Republic of........................................... 143
Cote d'Ivoire................................................ 151
Djibouti..................................................... 180
Equatorial Guinea............................................ 188
Eritrea...................................................... 199
Ethiopia..................................................... 209
Gabon........................................................ 231
Gambia, The.................................................. 239
Ghana........................................................ 249
Guinea....................................................... 266
Guinea-Bissau................................................ 278
Kenya........................................................ 284
Lesotho...................................................... 304
Liberia...................................................... 310
Madagascar................................................... 321
Malawi....................................................... 329
Mali......................................................... 340
Mauritania................................................... 349
Mauritius.................................................... 360
Mozambique................................................... 366
Namibia...................................................... 380
Niger........................................................ 389
Nigeria...................................................... 398
Rwanda....................................................... 420
Sao Tome and Principe........................................ 438
Senegal...................................................... 441
Seychelles................................................... 451
Sierra Leone................................................. 457
Somalia...................................................... 468
South Africa................................................. 478
Sudan........................................................ 495
Swaziland.................................................... 513
Tanzania..................................................... 522
Togo......................................................... 547
Uganda....................................................... 559
Zambia....................................................... 577
Zimbabwe..................................................... 592
East Asia and the Pacific
Australia.................................................... 615
Brunei....................................................... 628
Burma........................................................ 636
Cambodia..................................................... 664
China (includes Hong Kong and Macau)......................... 682
China (Taiwan only).......................................... 755
East Timor................................................... 769
Fiji......................................................... 779
Indonesia.................................................... 786
Japan........................................................ 817
Kiribati..................................................... 828
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of....................... 832
Korea, Republic of........................................... 843
Laos......................................................... 855
Malaysia..................................................... 869
Marshall Islands............................................. 891
Micronesia, Federated States of.............................. 895
Mongolia..................................................... 901
Nauru........................................................ 910
New Zealand.................................................. 914
Palau........................................................ 920
Papua New Guinea............................................. 925
Philippines.................................................. 932
Samoa........................................................ 949
Singapore.................................................... 955
Solomon Islands.............................................. 972
Thailand..................................................... 979
Tonga........................................................ 1000
Tuvalu....................................................... 1004
Vanuatu...................................................... 1008
Vietnam...................................................... 1014
Europe and Eurasia
Albania...................................................... 1037
Andorra...................................................... 1052
Armenia...................................................... 1055
Austria...................................................... 1066
Azerbaijan................................................... 1076
Belarus...................................................... 1095
Belgium...................................................... 1118
Bosnia-Herzegovina........................................... 1126
Bulgaria..................................................... 1146
Croatia...................................................... 1160
Cyprus....................................................... 1178
Czech Republic............................................... 1194
Denmark...................................................... 1205
Estonia...................................................... 1212
Finland...................................................... 1218
France....................................................... 1223
Georgia...................................................... 1234
Germany...................................................... 1252
Greece....................................................... 1266
Hungary...................................................... 1279
Iceland...................................................... 1293
Ireland...................................................... 1301
Italy........................................................ 1308
Kazakhstan................................................... 1317
Kyrgyz Republic.............................................. 1339
Latvia....................................................... 1356
Liechtenstein................................................ 1364
Lithuania.................................................... 1369
Luxembourg................................................... 1380
Macedonia.................................................... 1385
Malta........................................................ 1402
Moldova...................................................... 1407
Monaco....................................................... 1421
Netherlands, The............................................. 1425
Norway....................................................... 1432
Poland....................................................... 1436
Portugal..................................................... 1450
Romania...................................................... 1456
Russia....................................................... 1478
San Marino................................................... 1526
Serbia and Montenegro........................................ 1529
Slovak Republic.............................................. 1571
Slovenia..................................................... 1582
Spain........................................................ 1589
Sweden....................................................... 1597
Switzerland.................................................. 1604
Tajikistan................................................... 1616
Turkey....................................................... 1629
Turkmenistan................................................. 1656
Ukraine...................................................... 1670
United Kingdom............................................... 1698
Uzbekistan................................................... 1709
Volume II
Near East and North Africa
Algeria...................................................... 1733
Bahrain...................................................... 1750
Egypt........................................................ 1770
Iran......................................................... 1793
Iraq......................................................... 1816
Israel and the occupied territories.......................... 1830
Jordan....................................................... 1865
Kuwait....................................................... 1881
Lebanon...................................................... 1901
Libya........................................................ 1919
Morocco...................................................... 1926
Western Sahara............................................... 1942
Oman......................................................... 1945
Qatar........................................................ 1953
Saudi Arabia................................................. 1963
Syria........................................................ 1979
Tunisia...................................................... 1995
United Arab Emirates......................................... 2013
Yemen........................................................ 2027
South Asia
Afghanistan.................................................. 2043
Bangladesh................................................... 2055
Bhutan....................................................... 2071
India........................................................ 2079
Maldives..................................................... 2112
Nepal........................................................ 2120
Pakistan..................................................... 2140
Sri Lanka.................................................... 2158
Western Hemisphere
Antigua and Barbuda.......................................... 2173
Argentina.................................................... 2177
Bahamas...................................................... 2187
Barbados..................................................... 2195
Belize....................................................... 2200
Bolivia...................................................... 2208
Brazil....................................................... 2219
Canada....................................................... 2245
Chile........................................................ 2252
Colombia..................................................... 2263
Costa Rica................................................... 2292
Cuba......................................................... 2302
Dominica..................................................... 2321
Dominican Republic........................................... 2325
Ecuador...................................................... 2341
El Salvador.................................................. 2352
Grenada...................................................... 2367
Guatemala.................................................... 2371
Guyana....................................................... 2393
Haiti........................................................ 2403
Honduras..................................................... 2419
Jamaica...................................................... 2436
Mexico....................................................... 2444
Nicaragua.................................................... 2464
Panama....................................................... 2480
Paraguay..................................................... 2494
Peru......................................................... 2505
St. Kitts and Nevis.......................................... 2523
Saint Lucia.................................................. 2528
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines............................. 2532
Suriname..................................................... 2537
Trinidad and Tobago.......................................... 2548
Uruguay...................................................... 2552
Venezuela.................................................... 2559
Appendixes
A. Notes on Preparation of the Reports.......................... 2579
B. Reporting on Worker Rights................................... 2583
C. Selected International Human Rights Conventions.............. 2585
D. Description of Conventions in Appendix C..................... 2593
E. FY 2004 Selected U.S. Assistance Programs--Actual Obligations 2594
F. 60th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission Voting
Record......................................................... 2605
G. 60th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission Voting Table 2611
H. United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights......... 2615
FOREWORD
----------
The country reports on human rights practices contained
herein were prepared by the Department of State in accordance
with sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961, as amended. They also fulfill the legislative
requirements of section 505(c) of the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended.
The reports cover the human rights practices of all nations
that are members of the United Nations and a few that are not.
They are printed to assist Members of Congress in the
consideration of legislation, particularly foreign assistance
legislation.
Richard G. Lugar,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations.
Henry J. Hyde,
Chairman, Committee on International Relations.
(ix)
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
Department of State,
Washington, DC, March 31, 2005
Hon. Richard Lugar,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations.
Dear Mr. Chairman: On behalf of the Secretary of State, I
am transmitting to you the Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 2004, prepared in compliance with sections
116(d)(1) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as
amended, and section 505(c) of the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended.
We hope this report is helpful. Please let us know if we
can provide any further information.
Sincerely,
Paul V. Kelly,
Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.
Enclosure.
(xi)
PREFACE
----------
HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS
In his second inaugural address, President Bush renewed
America's commitment to stand for freedom and human dignity
throughout the world:
America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are
now one. From the day of our founding, we have
proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has
rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they
bear the image of the maker of heaven and earth. Across
the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of
self-government, because no one is fit to be a master,
and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these
ideals is the mission that created our nation. It is
the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the
urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the
calling of our time.
So it is the policy of the United States to seek and
support the growth of democratic movements and
institutions in every nation and culture, with the
ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.
The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices provide a key
framework that the United States and others around the world
use in assessing the state of human freedom and in marshalling
efforts to advance it. The conscientious compiling of these
reports equips us to more effectively stand against oppression
and for human dignity and liberty. Our embassies and Washington
staff work closely with local citizens, human rights and other
organizations, and community leaders to identify, investigate,
and verify information. These volumes, available in the
languages of most of the world's peoples, foster discussion,
promote advocacy, permit the measurement of progress, and show
where improvements are needed.
Over the last 12 months, we have worked closely with the
international community to enable citizens in countries such as
Guatemala, Indonesia, Ghana, Ukraine, and Afghanistan to make
their votes truly count in selecting their governments. This
fundamental right to effective suffrage opens the door for
advancing a wide range of other rights, as the records in these
countries have already begun to show.
This 28th edition of our Country Reports turns our
spotlight on 196 countries, ranging from the stoutest defenders
to the worst violators of human dignity. We take seriously our
responsibility to report as accurately, as sensitively, and as
carefully as possible the information in these reports.
The information contained in this report allows us to
construct strategies for promoting freedom and individual
liberty. In the coming month we will report on the specific
steps we have taken over the past year to support human rights
and democracy.
Mindful of the diligent effort and widespread cooperation
both within and outside the Department that has gone into
preparing these reports, I am pleased to transmit the
Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2004 to the U.S. Congress.
Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
OVERVIEW AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
----------
HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS
Why the Reports Are Prepared
This report is submitted to the Congress by the Department
of State in compliance with Sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended. The law
provides that the Secretary of State shall transmit to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate by February 25 ``a full and
complete report regarding the status of internationally
recognized human rights, within the meaning of subsection (A)
in countries that receive assistance under this part, and (B)
in all other foreign countries which are members of the United
Nations and which are not otherwise the subject of a human
rights report under this Act.'' We have also included reports
on several countries that do not fall into the categories
established by these statutes and that thus are not covered by
the congressional requirement.
The responsibility of the United States to speak out on
behalf of international human rights standards was formalized
in the early 1970s. In 1976, Congress enacted legislation
creating a Coordinator of Human Rights in the Department of
State, a position later upgraded to Assistant Secretary. In
1994, the Congress created a position of Senior Advisor for
Women's Rights. Congress has also written into law formal
requirements that U.S. foreign and trade policy take into
account countries' human rights and worker rights performance
and that country reports be submitted to the Congress on an
annual basis. The first reports, in 1977, covered only the 82
countries receiving U.S. aid; this year 196 reports are
submitted.
How the Reports Are Prepared
In August 1993, the Secretary of State moved to strengthen
further the human rights efforts of our embassies. All sections
in each embassy were asked to contribute information and to
corroborate reports of human rights violations, and new efforts
were made to link mission programming to the advancement of
human rights and democracy. In 1994, the Bureau of Human Rights
and Humanitarian Affairs was reorganized and renamed as the
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, reflecting both a
broader sweep and a more focused approach to the interlocking
issues of human rights, worker rights and democracy. The 2004
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices reflect a year of
dedicated effort by hundreds of State Department, Foreign
Service, and other U.S. Government employees.
Our embassies, which prepared the initial drafts of the
reports, gathered information throughout the year from a
variety of sources across the political spectrum, including
government officials, jurists, armed forces sources,
journalists, human rights monitors, academics, and labor
activists. This information-gathering can be hazardous, and
U.S. Foreign Service Officers regularly go to great lengths,
under trying and sometimes dangerous conditions, to investigate
reports of human rights abuse, monitor elections, and come to
the aid of individuals at risk, such as political dissidents
and human rights defenders whose rights are threatened by their
governments.
After the embassies completed their drafts, the texts were
sent to Washington for careful review by the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, in cooperation with other
State Department offices. As they worked to corroborate,
analyze, and edit the reports, the Department officers drew on
their own sources of information. These included reports
provided by U.S. and other human rights groups, foreign
government officials, representatives from the United Nations
and other international and regional organizations and
institutions, experts from academia, and the media. Officers
also consulted with experts on worker rights issues, refugee
issues, military and police topics, women's issues, and legal
matters. The guiding principle was to ensure that all relevant
information was assessed as objectively, thoroughly and fairly
as possible.
The reports in this volume will be used as a resource for
shaping policy, conducting diplomacy, and making assistance,
training, and other resource allocations. They also will serve
as a basis for the U.S. Government's cooperation with private
groups to promote the observance of internationally recognized
human rights.
The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cover
internationally recognized individual, civil, political and
worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. These rights include freedom from torture or
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, from
prolonged detention without charges, from disappearance or
clandestine detention, and from other flagrant violations of
the right to life, liberty and the security of the person.
Universal human rights seek to incorporate respect for
human dignity into the processes of government and law. All
persons have the inalienable right to change their government
by peaceful means and to enjoy basic freedoms, such as freedom
of expression, association, assembly, movement and religion,
without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national
origin, or sex. The right to join a free trade union is a
necessary condition of a free society and economy. Thus the
reports assess key internationally recognized worker rights,
including the right of association, the right to organize and
bargain collectively, prohibition of forced or compulsory
labor, the status of child labor practices, and the minimum age
for employment of children, and acceptable work conditions.
Within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, the
editorial staff of the Country Reports Team consists of:
Editor-in-Chief: Nadia Tongour; Deputy Editor-in-Chief: LeRoy
G. Potts; Senior Advisors: Elizabeth Dugan, and Gretchen
Birkle; Senior Editors: Cortney Dell, Dan Dolan, Stephen
Eisenbraun, Leonel Miranda, Jennifer M. Pekkinen and Stan
Ifshin; Editors: Joseph S. Barghout, Jonathan Bemis, Ryan J.
Casteel, Sharon C. Cooke, Stuart Crampton, Frank B. Crump,
Mollie Davis, Sajit Gandhi, Joan Garner, Solange Garvey, Jerome
L. Hoganson, Victor Huser, Kari Johnstone, David T. Jones,
Sandra J. Murphy, Daniel L. Nadel, Donald E. Parker, Gary V.
Price, Elizabeth Ramborger, Peter Sawchyn, and Julie Turner;
Assistant Editors: Lori Rothamel, Janet Mayland, Editorial
Assistants: Gene Bigler, Kent Brokenshire, Sally I. Buikema,
Lynda Walker-Johnson and Carol G. Finerty; Technical Support:
Linda C. Hayes, Mancharee Junk, Alonzo Simmons, and Tanika N.
Willis.
INTRODUCTION TO THE COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES FOR 2004
On September 17, 2002, President Bush presented a new
National Security Strategy for the United States based on the
principle that promoting political and economic freedom and
respect for human dignity will build a safer and better world.
To guide and focus the national effort that had grown out of
the war on terrorism, the strategy outlined a series of
fundamental tasks which, among others, required our Government
to champion aspirations for human rights and build democracy.
In his second inaugural address on January 20, 2005, President
Bush elaborated on that principle: ``The survival of liberty in
our land depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The
best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in
all the world.''
The United States and its international partners worked
with many countries during 2004 to expand freedom by helping to
protect the political rights of their citizens and to advance
the rule of law in their societies. In a few cases, where
concerns centered on the rights of the people to choose their
own governments, dramatic developments focused global attention
on their struggles and landmark achievements.
In the past three years since the removal of the Taliban
regime, the people of Afghanistan have worked to diminish
terrorism and improve security; to bridge traditional ethnic,
religious, and tribal divides; to craft a new constitution
faithful to their values and way of life; to extend fundamental
rights to women and minorities; and to open their society to
unprecedented political competition and freedom of expression.
The international community responded to this undertaking by
helping to register voters across a geographically scattered,
largely illiterate population; by educating cadres of Afghan
election workers and political participants in the conduct of
elections and campaigns and by joining with Afghan forces to
provide security during pre-election preparations and during
the actual voting. In the presidential election, which took
place in October, 18 candidates vied for the votes of the 10
million registered Afghans, more than 40 percent of whom were
women. Despite threats and attacks before the vote and serious
technical challenges, more than 8 million Afghans--including
more than 3.2 million women--cast ballots to choose their
leader in a truly democratic election for the first time, with
a majority selecting President Hamid Karzai.
In Ukraine, the presidential election campaign was marred
by government pressure on opposition candidates and by
widespread violations and fraud during the voting. The Kuchma
government engaged in fraud and manipulation during the
presidential election in both the first and second round of
voting on October 31 and November 21. The Government censored
media outlets and journalists to influence news coverage, which
sparked the so-called ``journalist rebellion'' among reporters
who refused to follow government directives. Eventually,
popular demonstrations against the official results of the
flawed November 21 vote gradually swelled into an ``Orange
Revolution,'' the campaign color associated with opposition
leader Viktor Yushchenko, who was widely believed to have won
the election.
Respect for human rights in Ukraine took a decided turn for
the better when, on December 3, the country's Supreme Court
invalidated the runoff election as fraudulent, vindicating the
observations of many domestic and international monitors about
numerous violations of electoral procedures, harassment of
opposition candidates, heavily biased coverage in government-
controlled media, and widespread voting and counting fraud. In
the court-mandated repeat election on December 26, the people
of Ukraine selected their new President. International
observers of that vote, won by Yushchenko, noted the
improvements in media coverage, increase in transparency of the
voting process, decrease in government pressure to support a
particular candidate, and fewer disruptions at the polls. The
new President expressed a strong commitment to democracy, the
rule of law, and observance of human rights.
In Iraq, people faced a series of difficult tasks as they
prepared to choose their own leader through democratic
elections, while the severity and ubiquity of terrorist attacks
expanded the dimensions of the challenges. First, the Iraqi
Governing Council achieved consensus on a framework for the
transition of sovereignty back to Iraqi authorities under the
aegis of the rule of law and clearly defined procedures by
which Iraq's citizens would be able to choose their own
authorities and construct their own constitutional order. In
March, the approval of the Transitional Administrative Law
(TAL) achieved these objectives and paved the way for the
second step, the transition of sovereignty from the Coalition
Provisional Authority to the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG) on
June 28.
Working with the assistance of the United Nations and other
international advisors, the IIG established the Independent
Electoral Commission of Iraq, an independent election authority
that established procedures for registration of and voting by
Iraqis and expatriates in 14 other countries. On August 15-18,
the National Conference convened and elected a 100-member
Interim National Council. Elections for the Transitional
National Assembly, the country's legislative authority and the
first step in the formation of an Iraqi Transitional
Government, were scheduled to take place on January 30, 2005.
According to the TAL, the transitional government will draft a
permanent constitution that is to be ratified by August 2005,
and new elections are to be held for a permanent government
under that Constitution by December 2005.
We believe events like these elections will increase the
prospects for peace, provide a solid grounding for self-
government in these countries and help create momentum for the
improvement of human rights practices for all people
participating in them. Yet progress along this path will not be
easy or rapid, at least at first, as the 196 detailed reports
in this volume amply demonstrate. In a number of cases, these
reports will show that human rights practices may actually have
eroded despite the successful completion of internationally
accepted elections, as has occurred in some respects with the
judiciary and the media since the voting that took place last
year in Venezuela.
It was in part the recognition of the complexity and
difficulty of the task of promoting human rights that led
Congress in 1977 to institutionalize the Department of State's
process of compiling these annual Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices. By providing this compendium of witness to
the global human rights experience, we hope that the record of
this work in progress will help illuminate both future tasks
and the potential for greater cooperation in advancing the
aspirations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Year in Review: Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Behind the detail of 196 country reports contained in the
pages that follow, the developments and experiences in certain
countries stand out due not only to the intensity of the human
rights problems but also to our involvement with the victims
and their governments during 2004.
The Government of Sudan's human rights record remained
extremely poor as it continued to restrict freedom of speech,
press, assembly, association, religion and movement. It
arrested and harassed those who exercised these rights.
At year's end, there were more than 1.5 million Internally
Displaced Person (IDPs) in the Sudanese Province of Darfur, and
another 200,000 civilians had fled to Chad, where the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) coordinated a massive refugee
relief effort. Approximately 70,000 people reportedly died as a
result of the violence and forced displacement.
Despite the Government's repeated commitments to refrain
from further violence in Darfur, the atrocities continued.
Government and government-supported militias known as the
Jinjaweed routinely attacked civilian villages. Typically, the
Jinjaweed, often in concert with regular government forces,
conducted attacks under cover of military aerial support. In
September, after carefully reviewing a detailed study conducted
by independent experts covering the experience of more than
1,100 refugees, Secretary of State Colin Powell concluded that
genocide had been committed against the people of Darfur,
saying that ``Genocide has been committed in Darfur and that
the Government of Sudan and Jinjaweed bear responsibility and
that genocide may still be occurring.''
Government forces in that region routinely killed, injured,
and displaced civilians, and destroyed clinics and dwellings
intentionally during offensive operations. There were confirmed
reports that government-supported militia also intentionally
attacked civilians, looted their possessions, and destroyed
their villages.
At the same time, year-end developments in negotiations
related to the North-South conflict provided hope for peace and
improvement of human rights practices in other areas of Sudan.
By year's end, the State Department saw significant movement on
the preliminary accords between the Government and the Sudan
People's Liberation Movement Army after 21 years of low
intensity conflict.
In response to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's
(North Korea) continued brutal and repressive treatment of its
people, the United States Congress enacted the North Korea
Human Rights Act of 2004. The Act seeks to address the serious
human rights situation in North Korea and to promote durable
solutions for North Korean refugees, transparency in provision
of humanitarian assistance, a free flow of information, and a
peaceful reunification on the Korean peninsula.
In Belarus, police abuse and occasional torture of
prisoners and detainees continued. The security forces
arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens for political
reasons; in addition, individuals were sued and sentenced to
jail terms for such political crimes as ``defamation'' of state
officials, often interpreted to include criticism of their
policies. The Government of Belarus persisted in discounting
credible reports regarding the role of government officials in
the long-term disappearances of a journalist and well-known
opposition political figures and failed to conduct full,
transparent investigations into these disappearances. Instead,
the Government appointed Viktor Sheiman, linked to
disappearances by credible evidence in a Council of Europe
report, as Head of the Presidential Administration, thus
perpetuating a climate of abuse with impunity.
In Burma, the Junta ruled by decree and was not bound by
any constitutional provisions providing any fundamental rights.
Security forces carried out extrajudicial killings. In
addition, disappearances continued, and security forces raped,
tortured, beat, and otherwise abused prisoners and detainees.
Arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention were frequent.
Security forces also regularly infringed on citizens' privacy,
forcibly relocated populations, and conscripted child soldiers.
The Government of Iran was responsible for numerous
killings during the year, including executions following trials
that lacked due process. There were numerous reports that
security forces tortured prisoners and detainees. Additionally,
there were arbitrary arrests, extended incommunicado detention,
poor and overcrowded prisons, lack of access to counsel,
punishment by the lash, and violation of personal privacy.
China's cooperation and progress on human rights during
2004 was disappointing. China failed to fulfill many of the
commitments it made at the 2002 U.S.-China Human Rights
Dialogue. However, at the end of the year, working level
discussions on human rights, which had been suspended when the
U.S. supported a resolution on China's human rights practices
at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), were resumed.
During 2004, the government continued to arrest and detain
activists, such as individuals discussing freely on the
Internet, defense lawyers advocating on behalf of dissidents
and the dispossessed, activists arguing for HIV/AIDs issues,
journalists reporting on SARS, intellectuals expressing
political views, persons attending house churches, and workers
protesting for their rights. Abuses continued in Chinese
prisons. The Government continued its crackdown against the
Falun Gong spiritual movement, and tens of thousands of
practitioners remained incarcerated in prisons, extrajudicial
reeducation-through-labor camps, and psychiatric facilities.
The National People's Congress amended the Constitution to
include protection of human rights, yet it is unclear to what
extent the Government plans to implement this amendment.
In Saudi Arabia, there were positive developments in a few
areas, including a government-sponsored conference on women's
rights and obligations and the formation of the first formal
human rights organization permitted in the Kingdom. In October,
the Government issued an executive by-law entitling some long-
term residents to apply for citizenship, and by year's end,
voter and candidate registration, albeit only for men, was well
advanced for municipal elections scheduled for February 2005.
The record of human rights abuses and violations for Saudi
Arabia, however, still far exceeds the advances. There were
credible reports of torture and abuse of prisoners by security
forces, arbitrary arrests, and incommunicado detentions. The
religious police continued to intimidate, abuse, and detain
citizens and foreigners. Most trials were closed, and
defendants usually appeared before judges without legal
counsel. Security forces arrested and detained reformers. The
Government continued to restrict freedoms of speech and press,
assembly, association and movement, and there were reports that
the Government infringed on individuals' privacy rights.
Violence and discrimination against women, violence against
children, discrimination against ethnic and religious
minorities, and strict limitations on worker rights continued.
In contrast to developments in a number of countries that
increased direct citizen control over government authorities,
in Russia changes in parliamentary election laws and a shift to
the appointment, instead of election, of regional governors
further strengthened the power of the executive branch. Greater
restrictions on the media, a compliant Duma (Parliament),
shortcomings in recent national elections, law enforcement
corruption, and political pressure on the judiciary also raised
concerns about the erosion of government accountability.
Racially motivated violence and discrimination increased,
despite considerable legislative prohibitions. Authorities
failed to investigate actions against minorities while
subjecting them to more frequent document checks, targeting
them for deportation from urban centers, and fining them in
excess of permissible penalties or detaining them more
frequently. Government institutions intended to protect human
rights were relatively weak.
The Government of Zimbabwe has conducted a concerted
campaign of violence, repression, and intimidation. This
campaign has been marked by disregard for human rights, the
rule of law, and the welfare of Zimbabwe's citizens. Torture by
various methods is used against political opponents and human
rights advocates. War veterans, youth brigades, and police
officers act with sustained brutality against political
enemies. The Mugabe regime has also targeted other institutions
of government, including the judiciary and police. Judges have
been harassed into submission or resignation, replaced by
Mugabe's cronies. The news media have been restricted and
suppressed, with offending journalists arrested and beaten.
Land seizures continue to be used as a tool for political and
social oppression, and opponents of these destructive policies
are subject to violent reprisals.
Respect for human rights remained poor in Venezuela during
2004, despite the Government victory in an August referendum to
recall President Chavez. Opponents charged that the process was
fraudulent, but Organization of American States (OAS) and
Carter Center observers found that the official results
``reflected the will of the electorate.'' Throughout the year,
the Government increased its control over the judicial system
and its interference in the administration of justice.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were subject to threats
and intimidation by government supporters. In December, the
legislature passed laws that erode freedom of the media,
freedom of speech, and which in effect make criticism of the
government a criminal offense. The U.S. Government sanctioned
the Venezuelan Government for continuing to fall short in
efforts to combat trafficking in persons.
Fidel Castro added another year to his record as the
longest serving dictator in the world. The Government retained
its stance of rejection of all democratic processes and
continued its harassment and intimidation of pro-democracy
activists, dissidents, journalists and other professionals and
workers seeking to undertake economic activities not controlled
by the state. The majority of the 75 dissidents sentenced to
long jail terms in 2003 remained incarcerated despite
international protests, and the authorities arrested 22
additional human rights activists and sentenced them for acts
such as ``contempt for authority.'' Addressing abuses in Cuba
continued to be a priority for the United States as a member of
the UNCHR.
During its 2004 session, the UNCHR formally adopted a U.S.-
sponsored resolution on Cuba, as well as resolutions on
Turkmenistan, North Korea and Belarus for the second year in a
row. A resolution on Burma was approved by consensus. With such
member countries as Zimbabwe, Cuba, Sudan, and China, which
fail to protect their own citizens' rights, the 2004 session of
the UNCHR fell short in several respects. The Commission failed
to adopt resolutions on the human rights situations in China,
Zimbabwe and Chechnya. The United States continued to emphasize
the need to improve the functioning of the Commission,
especially by supporting the inclusion of more countries with
positive human rights records.
The United States believes that democratically elected
governments are more likely to respect their citizens' human
rights. For this reason, the United States collaborated with
other participating countries of the Community of Democracies
(CD), a network of democratic countries working together to
promote, solidify, and advance democracy throughout the world.
In 2004, the U.S. joined other CD countries to help launch the
formation of a democracy caucus, a group of like-minded
countries that coordinates more closely in the UNCHR and other
UN settings to advance goals consistent with democratic values.
At the UNCHR, the United States--jointly with Peru, Romania and
East Timor--introduced and succeeded in having adopted a
resolution to enhance the UN's role in promoting democracy.
Among the resolution's recommendations is a call for the
establishment of a mechanism--a ``Focal Point''--within the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, dedicated to
helping new and emerging democracies access UN resources
available to support them.
In addition to its support for the creation of the UN
democracy caucus, the CD sought to support the development of
democratic institutions and values through projects linking
democratic countries. It sent a multinational delegation of
democracy practitioners to East Timor to share best practices
with Timorese officials. Likewise, a group of Iraqi, election-
related officials traveled from Iraq to Lithuania to observe
and learn about election processes. Unifying democratic voices
against violations of basic human rights--rights that have been
codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that
were reaffirmed in the CD's Warsaw Declaration and Seoul Plan
of Action--is an essential way to maintain pressure on
governments that deny and violate the rights of their own
citizens.
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
In Qatar, the process of constitutional change continued
with the Emir's approval of the draft of a new constitution
that voters overwhelmingly had approved in 2003. Although the
Emir's family will maintain hereditary rule, the new
constitution expected to be enacted in June 2005, contains a
number of human rights provisions.
In Pakistan, President Musharraf continued as Chief of the
Army Staff, despite his promise to step down by year's end.
In Africa, the Central African Republic (CAR) enacted a new
constitution and took a number of other steps to further an
announced transition to democracy under President Bozize, who
seized power in a March 2003 coup. In Guinea-Bissau, following
a military coup in September 2003, the military installed a
civilian government. In both cases, the stabilization of post-
coup situations has been accompanied by a decline in the number
of reported violations of human rights.
Turkey's desire to meet the EU Copenhagen Criteria to begin
the accession process moved the Government to pass an important
package of reforms, including a new, relatively more liberal
penal code and a set of constitutional amendments to combat
honor killings and torture; expand the freedom of religion,
expression, and association; and reduce the role of the
military in government. However, implementation of these
reforms lagged. Security forces continued to commit numerous
abuses, including torture, beatings, and arbitrary arrest and
detention, although observers noted a decrease in such
practices and the European Committee for the Prevention of
Torture reported that local authorities were making efforts to
comply with the Government's "zero tolerance" policy on
torture. Honor killings continued. The Government relaxed some
restrictions on the use of Kurdish and other languages, but
restrictions on free speech and the press remained.
The year witnessed increasing efforts by some governments
to fight corruption. Costa Rica was the most ambitious in
actually investigating former high-level officials, as it
launched separate investigations for misuse of funds,
kickbacks, and illegal contracts by three former presidents. In
Africa, anti-corruption campaigns focused on pecuniary as well
as human rights abuses by officials. Gambian President Jammeh's
campaign centered on curbing official corruption to restore
international credibility, and the work of the Commission of
Inquiry led to the dismissal of a number of top officials and
some prosecutions for economic crimes. Kenya created an anti-
corruption czar, and the Government opened a number of
investigations into allegations of extrajudicial killings. In
Zambia, a Police Complaints Authority instituted in 2003 to
combat police misconduct continued investigations into
complaints.
POLITICAL RIGHTS
Regrettably, with the exception of Georgia and Ukraine,
political developments in Eurasia remain a serious concern.
Progress continues to be measured largely in terms of civil
society development. More and more NGOs, opposition parties,
and citizens are willing to organize and advocate for
government accountability. In Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan,
opposition parties are unable to register. At the same time,
governments of the regions are drawing the wrong lessons from
Ukraine and Georgia and attempt to stifle civil society by
harassing democracy NGOs through bureaucratic obstacles and
specious legal means.
In Georgia, the progress that international observers noted
in last January's presidential election set the stage for ``the
most democratic elections in Georgia's history'' in
parliamentary voting in March. Other governments in the region
have made some limited progress in improving electoral
processes by drafting new election codes. New election laws
introduced in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are an
improvement in some areas, but in all three countries, the laws
continue to fall short of international standards. Likewise,
elections in 2004 in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan marked limited
improvements over previous ones, but domestic and international
observers raised questions about voting irregularities, abuse
or harassment of opposition candidates, or limitations on equal
access to the media.
In Belarus, the Government continued to deny citizens the
right to change their government through a democratic political
process. A seriously flawed referendum on October 17 removed
constitutional term limits on the presidency. In advance of the
referendum and the equally flawed parliamentary elections held
simultaneously, the Government suspended independent newspapers
and disqualified many parliamentary candidates. The Government
used excessive force and in some cases beat and arrested
political leaders who peacefully protested electoral fraud and
the journalists covering the protests. During the year, the
Government also shut down a number of major registered NGOs
that focused on political rights, and state security
authorities increasingly harassed those that remained.
In October, Bosnia and Herzegovina held its first self-
administered municipal elections since the signing of the
Dayton Peace Accords. The elections were judged to meet
international democratic standards.
A notably high voter turnout in a series of three elections
in Indonesia paved the way for the transition in political
power there from a defeated incumbent to an elected opposition
leader. The process also marked the defeat of military and
police candidates who stood for seats in Parliament. In
noteworthy elections in Africa, the incumbent political parties
of Ghana and Mozambique gained re-election in processes that
were judged generally free and fair. Sierra Leone held its
first local government elections in 32 years, although there
were irregularities in some areas.
In Burundi, concern focused on the delay in holding
elections and the progress of the country's transition to
democracy. The Transitional Government failed to hold the local
and national elections that are stipulated by the Arusha Peace
and Reconciliation Agreement, and at the end of the year it
also delayed indefinitely a referendum on a draft constitution.
The Maoist insurgency and the deadlock among Nepal's political
parties also prevented the holding of elections there during
the year and helped deepen the country's political crisis.
In Rwanda, greatly circumscribed political rights were
further limited when leading human rights organizations were
either shut down or effectively dismantled. The action was
justified as part of a campaign against ``divisionism,''
according to a government report that accused human rights
groups, journalists, teachers, and churches of promoting an
``ideology of genocide.''
The Iranian Government's respect for the freedom and
political participation of its citizens continued to
deteriorate. Elections that were widely perceived as neither
free nor fair were held for the 290-seat Majlis (Parliament) in
February. The conservative, cleric-dominated Guardian Council
excluded virtually all reformist candidates, including 85
incumbent members of parliament. Reasons cited included not
showing "demonstrated obedience" to the current system of
government. As a result of the seriously-flawed elections,
reformers were reduced to a small minority of the parliament.
Meanwhile, the conservative backlash against reformist trends
and parties continues.
INTERNAL AND OTHER CONFLICTS
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone
completed public hearings in which approximately 10,000
citizens participated to air grievances as victims or provide
confessions from the civil war. The Commission suggested legal,
political and administrative reforms to the Government. The
Government also released numerous children who had fought as
child soldiers. By year's end, the UN Mission to Sierra Leone
(UNAMSIL) had handed over responsibility countrywide to the
Sierra Leone Armed Forces and the Sierra Leone Police, as
UNAMSIL began preparations to withdraw by June 2005 as
stipulated by its Security Council mandate.
After being elected in a runoff at the end of 2003,
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger ``re-launched'' the 1996
Peace Accords as a national agenda and symbolically apologized
to citizens on behalf of the State for human rights violations
committed during that country's protracted civil war. The
Government also reduced the size of the military, eliminated
some major commands and units and reduced the military budget.
In August, the military made public a new doctrine, which
includes provisions on the importance of protecting human
rights.
As a result of negotiations throughout the year, the
Government of Colombia demobilized approximately 3,000 fighters
from the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
(AUC) in November and December. In addition, hundreds of
municipal officials returned to their towns after the
government established a permanent police presence in every
urban center in the country. As a result, rates for homicides,
kidnappings, and other violent crimes decreased.
In Haiti, domestic conflict continued throughout the year.
The political impasse, combined with increasing violence
between pro- and anti-Aristide factions, culminated on February
29, when President Aristide submitted his resignation and left
the country. Despite the presence of UN peacekeeping forces,
the constitutionally-established Interim Government remained
weak. In September, pro-Aristide partisans in Port-au-Prince
launched a campaign of destabilization and violence known as
"Operation Baghdad." This campaign included kidnapping,
decapitation and burning of police officers and civilians,
indiscriminate shootings, and the destruction and incineration
of public and private property. The violence prevented the
normal functioning of schools, public markets, the seaport, and
the justice system in Port-au-Prince for several weeks.
A series of conflicts continued to trouble South Asia. In
Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states of India,
violence continued, and security forces committed abuses with
impunity, killing civilians and not just armed combatants. In
Sri Lanka, both the Government and the terrorist organization,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, violated the ceasefire. In
Nepal, the disappearance of persons in custody remained a very
serious problem, and government security forces continued to
have broad authority to arrest and detain individuals suspected
of sympathizing with the Maoist insurgents. Security forces
also used arbitrary and unlawful lethal force. As the Maoist
insurgency continued, rebel militants tortured civilians, while
government agents forcibly conscripted children as soldiers and
conducted bombings that killed civilians.
The Great Lakes region of central Africa, which encompasses
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and
Uganda, has been plagued by civil war, large-scale interethnic
violence, and massive human rights abuses associated with them
for well over a decade due to the continuing presence of armed
groups and militia that move between the countries. These
groups compete with one another for strategic and natural
resources and inhabit an environment of shifting alliances.
Among the most worrisome groups in the eastern Congo are those
who took sanctuary in the region after the 1994 Rwandan
genocide. This same group continues to oppose the Government of
Rwanda and launch cross-border campaigns, as well as attack
civilians in the DRC and commit numerous other abuses. There
are also armed groups in the region who oppose the governments
and peace process in Uganda and Burundi.
While prospects for peace in the Great Lakes region are
promising, human rights abuses are almost routine. Children are
the primary victims and are forcefully recruited, abducted, and
turned into soldiers, although some of the governments have
made progress in demobilizing child soldiers in their ranks.
Some militia groups are predominantly comprised of children.
Women and girls are particularly vulnerable, as rape
increasingly is used as a weapon of war. The region is a home
to approximately five million of the world's 25 million
internally displaced persons and hosts a number of refugees.
The United States is actively pursuing talks between the DRC,
Uganda and Rwanda. We continue to monitor the situation in all
the countries in the region by focusing attention on the threat
posed by armed groups.
In Cote d'Ivoire, an attack on the rebel positions and an
air strike on French peacekeeping troops in November broke the
tenuous 18-month ceasefire between the Government and rebels.
Despite the embargo and threat of sanctions, the Government has
threatened to pursue a military solution to the conflict.
President Bush determined that Cote d'Ivoire, once one of the
United States' largest trading partners in the region through
the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), was ineligible
for AGOA this year due to concerns about the security situation
and the general decline in the rule of law that make it a
hostile place for foreign investment.
In Russia, the September attack on a school in Beslan in
North Osettia and the ongoing disappearances of civilians
detained by security forces underscored the extent to which
both sides in the expanding conflict in the North Caucasus
continue to demonstrate little respect for basic human rights.
There were credible reports of serious violations, including
politically motivated disappearances and unlawful killings, by
both the government and Chechen rebels. Individuals seeking
accountability for these abuses also continued to be targeted,
and Chechen rebels continued to attack Russian civilians,
including a bombing of a Moscow subway.
INTEGRITY OF THE PERSON
After years of controversy, the Chilean Supreme Court
upheld an appeals court decision to lift the judicial immunity
of former President Augusto Pinochet. On December 13, a
prosecuting judge indicted Pinochet for crimes committed as
part of ``Operation Condor'' during the 1970s. In Central
African Republic as the process of transition to civilian rule
continued, the government disbanded the Security Investigation
Division, a military intelligence unit that was accused of
committing numerous human rights abuses, including torture,
rape and extortion, during 2003. In December 2003, President
Bozize reconvened the permanent military tribunal after an
eight-year suspension. The tribunal considered cases on a
variety of alleged human rights abuses including extrajudicial
killings, rape and armed robbery.
North Korea remains one of the world's most repressive and
brutal regimes. An estimated 150,000-200,000 persons are
believed to be political prisoners in detention camps in remote
areas, and defectors report that many prisoners have died from
torture, starvation, disease, exposure, or a combination of
causes. The regime also subjects citizens to rigid controls
over many aspects of their lives.
In Egypt, the 1981 Emergency Law, extended in February 2003
for an additional three years, restricted many basic rights.
The security forces continued to mistreat and torture
prisoners, which resulted in at least ten reported deaths in
custody at police stations or prisons during the year.
Arbitrary arrest and detention and prolonged pretrial detention
remained serious problems. Dismal prison conditions persisted.
Widespread use of torture by the Government of Syria
resulted in at least eight deaths during the year. Arbitrary
arrest and detention, prolonged pre-trial detention without
trial, fundamentally unfair trials in the security courts, and
deteriorating prison conditions all persisted. Throughout the
year, the security services conducted mass arrests of Kurds in
Hassakeh province, Aleppo, Damascus, and other areas. On March
12, security forces in Qamishli, in the northeastern Hassakeh
province, opened fire on a crowd at a soccer match after
clashes between Arab and Kurdish fans erupted. In the days of
rioting that followed, dozens were killed, as many as 2,000
Kurds were detained, and nearly 300 Kurds remained in custody
and were awaiting trial before the State Security Court and
Military Court at year's end. The Government also continued to
withhold information on the welfare and whereabouts of persons
who have been held incommunicado for years.
In Uzbekistan, torture was routine in prisons, pretrial
facilities, and local police and security service precincts,
and members of the security forces responsible for documented
abuses were rarely punished. However, the government took some
notable steps to address torture and establish police
accountability. It created preliminary procedures within some
divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for investigating
and disciplining officers for human rights abuses and allowed
NGO access to its prisons and to train prison guards in human
rights practices. The Government also cooperated with
international forensic experts to take part in investigations
of deaths in custody in which torture had been alleged.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
A conservative backlash to democratic demands in Iran
extended into a number of areas beyond explicit questions of
political rights. For example, the investigation into the 2003
death of a Canadian/Iranian photographer who suffered a brain
hemorrhage after sustaining injuries while in an Iranian prison
stagnated during 2004. The Government also gradually suppressed
all independent domestic media outlets and arrested or
intimidated their journalists into silence. In 2004 the last
forum for free debate, weblogs, came under pressure when the
government began arresting their creators and forcing them to
sign false confessions. The increase in government pressure and
control of media in Russia continued to weaken freedom of
expression and independence of the media there, as a trend of
increasing control and harassment of the press was noted in a
number of Eurasian countries, especially Belarus and some
countries in Central Asia. The Russian approach centered on use
of controlling ownership of broadcast media to limit access to
information on sensitive issues, such as Chechnya. Government
pressure also increased self-censorship of journalists.
In Togo, after the Government undertook formal political
consultations with the European Union, it adopted a new press
code with mixed results. It eliminated prison sentences for
most journalistic offenses, but maintained them for inciting
certain actions, such as ethnic hatred or violation of the law,
as well as for publishing under a false name. The law also sets
standards of professionalism for journalists and requires
independent newspapers to ensure that at least one third of
their staff meet the Government's standards.
While Algeria experienced its first contested democratic
election in 2004, leading to the reelection of President
Bouteflika, the Government acted to increase restrictions on
the media. The use of defamation laws and government harassment
of the press significantly increased, leading to the
imprisonment of several journalists for terms from two to 24
months, closure or suspension of two newspapers, and more self-
censorship by the press.
In Venezuela, international organizations and domestic
journalists charged the government with encouraging a climate
of hostility toward the media. Administrative acts, combined
with a new law passed in December, created a climate of
hostility toward the independent media with increasing threats
of prosecution.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
These issues are discussed in depth in the Annual Report on
International Religious Freedom, released in September 2004,
while these Country Reports further highlight and update
important developments.
The International Religious Freedom Act requires that those
countries that engage in particularly severe violations of
religious freedom be designated as Countries of Particular
Concern (CPC). In September 2004, the Secretary of State re-
designated Burma, China, Iran, North Korea, and Sudan as CPCs,
and designated for the first time Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, and
Vietnam.
With the cessation of government-sponsored violations of
religious freedom under Saddam Hussein, the Secretary acted to
remove Iraq's CPC designation in June 2004. Since the
liberation of Iraq by coalition forces, there have been no
governmental impediments to religious freedom, and the Iraqi
Transitional Administrative Law provides for ``freedom of
thought, conscience, and religious belief and practice.''
The Government of Saudi Arabia's actions in the area of
religious freedom were disappointing. Throughout 2004, senior
U.S. officials engaged Saudi authorities in an intense
discussion of religious practices, and in September, the
Secretary of State designated Saudi Arabia as a "Country of
Particular Concern" under the International Religious Freedom
Act for particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
The Government rigidly mandates religious conformity. Non-
Wahabi Sunni Muslims, as well as Shia and Sufi Muslims, face
discrimination and sometimes severe restrictions on the
practice of their faith. A number of leaders from these
traditions have been arrested and imprisoned. The government
prohibits public non-Muslim religious activities. Non-Muslim
worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, torture, or deportation
for engaging in religious activities that attract official
attention. There were frequent instances in which mosque
preachers, whose salaries are paid by the government, used
violent language against non-Sunni Muslims and other religions
in their sermons.
Vietnam continued to restrict freedom of religion and the
operation of religious organizations other than those approved
by the State. The Government failed to issue a nationwide
decree banning forced renunciations of faith, did not end the
physical abuse of religious believers, continued to hold a
significant number of religious prisoners, and although it
permitted the re-opening of some churches closed in the Central
Highlands in 2001, it refused to allow the re-opening and
registration of hundreds of others. However, following CPC
designation, some improvements in religious freedom were
evident. Some religious leaders expressed cautious optimism
about a new Ordinance on Religion that the Government released
in November, and in December, the Evangelical Church of Vietnam
North (ECVN) held its first National Congress in 20 years and
named a new, independent leadership board. Among the gains in
freedom of religion covered by the Country Reports, the
Jehovah's Witnesses in Armenia succeeded in October to register
with the government after they had experienced a string of
rejected applications. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a new state-
level law on religious freedom passed both houses of the
legislature. The law provides comprehensive rights to religious
communities and confers a legal status upon them they had not
held previously. And in Georgia, there were fewer reports of
violence against minority religious groups this year.
TREATMENT OF MINORITIES, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
On December 30, the Department of State completed its
Report on Global Anti-Semitism, July 1, 2003-December 15, 2004.
Drawing extensively on material from our embassies, NGOs and
accounts submitted for these Country Reports, this separate
compendium was prepared in accordance with a separate
legislative provision.
In the Czech and Slovak Republics, discrimination against
Roma persisted, although both governments made efforts to
improve the situation through such measures as revising legal
norms and recruiting Roma to serve as community liaisons with
the police forces or as health assistants.
In Croatia, the restitution of property to mostly Serb
refugees has improved significantly, although local obstruction
to the return of minority groups remained a problem. In Kosovo,
acts of violence against the minority Kosovo Serb population
and other non-Serb minorities took place during a series of
riots over two days in March, demonstrating the continued
tenuousness of minority rights there.
In Thailand, the government's human rights record was
marred by abuses committed by security forces against Muslim
dissidents in the southern part of the country. On April 28,
elements of the police and military killed more than 100
persons while repelling attacks by Muslim separatists in Yala,
Pattani, and Narathiwat provinces. On October 25, 78 Muslim
detainees being transported to an army camp died from
asphyxiation after police and military forces stacked them into
overcrowded truck beds.
In Afghanistan and Iraq, women made unprecedented strides
in exercising political rights by voting, holding public office
and standing for election as candidates. In education and other
areas as well, women made increasing strides in achieving basic
rights. In Pakistan, special women's police stations with all
female staff have been established in response to complaints of
custodial abuse of women. Additionally, while honor killings
continued in Pakistan, new legislation stiffened penalties for
honor killings and criminal proceedings for the blasphemy laws
and Hudood ordinances were changed to reduce abuses.
In a number of countries, one of the most significant
problems related to the abuse of women and children is the
failure of the state to combat vigorously against conditions
that engender the trafficking of women and children.
In Burma, women and girls from villages were trafficked for
prostitution at truck stops, fishing villages, border towns,
and mining and military camps. Burmese men, women and children
are also trafficked to other countries. Government economic
mismanagement and forced labor policies worsen the situation.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), women and girls are used
as prostitutes and domestic servants, and young boys are
exploited as camel jockeys. A recent documentary on camel
jockeys notes the very young age at which abuse often begins,
the harsh conditions that may lead to serious injuries or
death, and the malnutrition, and physical and sexual abuse by
employers. The Government has pledged and taken some measures
of limited effectiveness against these practices.
State promotion of tourism drives the predatory interests
that promote sex tourism and sexual exploitation of underage
girls for prostitution in Cuba.
The booming oil sector in Equatorial Guinea contributes to
making the country both a transit point and destination for
trafficking of women for prostitution.
The estimate of the number of Indians trafficked into
forced labor and the sex trade runs into the millions, in
addition to thousands of Nepalis and Bangladeshis trafficked to
India for sexual servitude. Trafficking in persons in India is
a significant problem, and some government officials
participated in and facilitated the practice. While India
continues to lack a national law enforcement response to its
trafficking in persons problem, some progress has been noted in
individual states and the central government recently expressed
a commitment to establishing and implementing a national anti-
trafficking policy.
Violence and discrimination towards vulnerable groups
continued to be a problem in Tanzania. In August, the semi-
autonomous island of Zanzibar outlawed homosexuality and set
severe penalties for it in its autonomous island territory. On
mainland Tanzania, 4 million women and girls have undergone
female genital mutilation (FGM), and despite a law partially
outlawing the practice, police rarely enforced the law and the
average age of the practice appeared to have decreased in an
effort to avoid detection.
WORKER RIGHTS
In Iraq, the exercise of labor rights remained limited,
largely due to violence, unemployment, and maladapted labor
organizational structures and laws, although, with
international assistance, some progress was underway at year's
end. According to the Brussels-based International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), workers reported
organizing unions in workplaces where they were forbidden under
the laws of the former regime and revitalized union structures
previously dominated by the Ba'ath party. The International
Labor Organization (ILO) provided technical assistance to Iraq
throughout the year to help bring its labor laws into line with
international labor standards, rebuild the capacity of the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, establish emergency
employment services, and put in place training and skills
development programs.
In April, a Commission of Inquiry appointed under Article
26 of the ILO Constitution visited Belarus to investigate a
complaint that the Government was systematically violating its
obligations under the ILO's fundamental Conventions on freedom
of association and protection of the right to organize and
bargain collectively, both of which it has ratified. The
Commission's report, issued in October, concluded that the
country's trade union movement was subject to significant
government interference. The Commission recommended that the
government take all necessary steps to register independent
unions, amend laws and decrees restricting freedom of
association, protect independent trade unionists from anti-
union discrimination, and disseminate the Commission's
conclusions and recommendations. It stated that most of these
recommendations should be implemented by June 2005 at the
latest.
Under the leadership of President Bush the United States
has stepped forward with its democratic allies to reaffirm our
commitment to human rights and democracy. We rest upon the
principle that nations governed by free people will be the
cornerstone for the development of a world that is more
peaceful for all. The execution of our democratic duty depends
on the determination and passion of its promoters. Let the
following Country Reports serve as an indicator of the progress
made and as a guide for the challenges ahead.
AFRICA
----------
ANGOLA
Angola is a constitutional republic in transition after its 27-year
civil war ended in 2002. Legislation provides for decentralization;
however, the Government remained highly centralized and dominated by
the Presidency. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA) has ruled the country since its independence from Portugal in
1975. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA, who assumed power
in 1979, won 49 percent of the votes cast in a 1992 election that U.N.
observers considered generally free and fair. The Government of
National Reconciliation was formed in 1997 after the National Union for
the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and 10 smaller opposition
parties joined the ruling MPLA. The National Assembly was weak; while
opposition deputies held approximately 43 percent of National Assembly
seats, few mechanisms exist to check the power of the MPLA majority or
defeat legislation supported by the executive branch. The judiciary was
subject to executive influence, functioned poorly at the provincial and
municipal levels and did not always ensure due process.
The Ministry of Interior, through the Angolan National Police
(ANP), is responsible for internal security. The internal intelligence
service is directly answerable to the Office of the Presidency. The
Armed Forces of Angola (FAA) is responsible for external security but
also has domestic responsibilities; the FAA conducted counterinsurgency
operations against the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of
Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda (FLEC-FAC). The civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Members of the
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The mixed economy, dominated by oil, grew by over 10 percent during
the year; however, most of the country's wealth remained concentrated
in a few hands. Although commercial and agricultural activity in urban
and rural areas increased since the end of the war, 70 percent of the
population of approximately 13 million continued to live in poverty.
Approximately 85 percent of the population residing outside of Luanda
were employed in agriculture, mostly at a subsistence level.
Corruption, nontransparent contracting practices, and unfair
enforcement of regulatory and tax regimes favored the wealthy and
politically influential. Poor governance continued to limit the
provision of basic services to most citizens. Although conditions
improved in many parts of the country, the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) estimated that 1.1
million citizens were still at risk of food insecurity, with 500,000
needing immediate food assistance.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. The right
of citizens to change their government remained restricted due to the
postponement of elections. Members of the security forces committed
unlawful killings, were responsible for disappearances, tortured, beat,
raped, and otherwise abused persons. Impunity remained a problem.
Prison conditions were harsh and life-threatening. The Government
continued to use arbitrary arrest and detention, and lengthy pretrial
detention was a problem. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy
rights. The Government at times restricted freedom of speech and of the
press, and harassed, beat, and detained journalists. The Government at
times restricted freedom of assembly. Unlike in previous years, there
were no reports that internally displaced persons (IDPs) were displaced
by conflict; however, there were unconfirmed reports that refugees were
included in the expulsions carried out during Operacao Brilhante. The
Government began implementing a law that could increase restrictions on
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Violence and discrimination
against women, as well as adult and child prostitution, was common.
Children and persons with disabilities continued to suffer as a result
of poor economic conditions and limited protections against
discrimination. Indigenous people suffered from discrimination and
economic exploitation. There were reports of trafficking in persons.
The Government continued to dominate much of the labor movement and did
not always respect worker rights. Child labor was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings by the Government or its agents; however, security
forces killed an unknown number of persons. Local human rights
organizations reported that police and, increasingly, members of the
Civil Defense Organization (ODC) were the primary human rights abusers
and responsible for most unlawful killings (see Section 1.c.). Impunity
remained a serious problem.
There were reports that military forces in Cabinda, including
insurgency forces, executed civilians. The Human Rights Report on
Cabinda, published by the civic association Mpalabanda, alleged that
there were 19 civilians killed by military forces from September 2003
to December.
Clashes between Government troops and the FLEC-FAC in Cabinda
continued. Reports of civilians killed occurred throughout the year.
The failure of the Government to provide adequate protection for
civilians contributed to the number of civilian casualties. In January,
two civilians died in Mikuma, Cabinda in fighting between the FLEC and
the FAA. In a reprisal attack, an army special forces unit killed four
men in Kaiu. On April 24, an unidentified armed group believed to be
guerillas attacked Massabi, Cabinda, killing 6 and injuring 10 others.
FLEC-FAC forces reportedly tortured and killed at least one civilian.
There were no further developments in the May 2003 case in which
FLEC guerillas executed a person for collaborating with the Government.
Police resorted regularly to unlawful killings, especially of known
criminal gang members, as an alternative to relying on the country's
ineffective judicial system.
Several persons died during an operation to expel illegal migrant
workers from the country (see Section 1.c.). Police also killed several
street vendors during riots following efforts to clear former market
sites (see Section 2.b.).
Police and the military killed civilians during protest
demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
In July, the Government charged eight members of the Presidential
Guard (UGP) for the November 2003 detention, torture, and drowning
death of a car washer heard singing lyrics critical of the Government.
All eight were acquitted in November.
There were no further developments in the April 2003 police
shooting of a child in Boa Vista or the alleged killings by police
reported in August 2003.
Prisoners died in official custody (see Section 1.c.).
Eight provinces, encompassing approximately 50 percent of the
country, contained areas that were heavily mined. The U.N. Development
Program (UNDP) estimated that there were 2 million unexploded munitions
in the country; however, international NGOs conducting landmine
clearance operations in the country estimated the number of landmines
at 500,000. According to the Angolan Commission for Demining and
Humanitarian Assistance, 73 persons were killed and 114 injured as a
result of 86 mine-related incidents during the year. There were more
than 80,000 landmine victims with injury-related disabilities.
On July 2, three unidentified men shot Mfulumpinga Landu Victor,
leader of the Democratic Party for Congress (PDP-ANA), as he entered
his car not far from his party's office. The Government and police
considered the killing a botched carjacking. Some political opposition
parties believed the crime to be politically motivated. Police launched
an investigation and at year's end one of two suspects remained in
custody. The other suspect was released due to lack of evidence.
On November 11, Vincente Tembo, a UNITA deputy, was shot but not
killed in a suburb of Luanda. Opposition groups claimed the shooting
was politically motivated; however, the police denied this claim. An
investigation was underway at year's end.
b. Disappearance.--Persons taken into police custody reportedly
disappeared in some cases, particularly in rural areas. Local human
rights organizations in Cabinda reported several disappearances of
persons detained by government forces during the year for alleged ties
to FLEC insurgents.
In March, UNITA reported the disappearances of a municipal UNITA
secretary and a member of the UNITA youth wing (JURA) in Benguela.
These individuals were not found, and the MPLA denied any involvement
in this disappearance.
There were no developments in the July 2003 disappearance of two
young farmers in Huambo.
There were no further developments in the 2002 reported
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution and the Penal Code prohibit all forms of
mistreatment of suspects, detainees, or prisoners; however, security
forces tortured, beat, raped, and otherwise abused persons. Local and
international human rights organizations reported that these abuses
were widespread. Government spokespersons acknowledged problems,
ascribing them to poor training and individual misdoings.
FAA personnel were responsible for torture and other forms of cruel
and degrading treatment, including rape, in Cabinda during the year.
The Human Rights Report of Cabinda, published by the Cabinda civic
association Mpalabanda, reported 50 cases of torture or cruel and
degrading treatment during the year. Police were frequently accused of
using torture and coerced confessions during investigations and often
beat and released suspects in lieu of trials. Persons suspected of ties
to FLEC were allegedly subjected to brutal forms of interrogation.
During the year, a visit by the U.N. Special Representative for Human
Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, and a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW)
brought further attention to the problems in Cabinda. The large number
of FAA troops deployed within the Cabindan population was identified as
a major contributor to the human rights abuses.
In an attempt to curb illegal diamond mining, the Government
targeted and expelled over 120,000 Congolese and West African migrant
miners. This operation, code named ``Operacao Brilhante,'' involved
members of the FAA, National Police, and Ministry of Interior
Immigration officials. Security forces detained, beat, raped, performed
invasive body cavity searches, and shot migrant diamond workers as part
of this operation. At least two persons drowned when forced to cross
the river separating the country from the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC). Prior to expulsion, many were held for a few days in
transit camps that lacked sufficient water, sanitation, and shelter.
Lack of transport forced many to cover the last 40 miles of the journey
to the border on foot. In July, the operation resumed after a 45-day
suspension, as did reports of human rights abuses. The FAA and National
Police reportedly changed their methods, and expulsions became more
humane following a public announcement in September of condemnation by
Agostinho Fernando Nelumba, Chief of Staff of the FAA. Nevertheless,
problems remained, as evidenced by the December 6 prison deaths, and
the operation continued at year's end.
Police participated in acts of intimidation, robbery, harassment,
and killings (see Sections 1.a. and 1.f.). Authorities forcibly moved
and injured vendors in various Luanda markets as part of a campaign to
clean up the streets and improve traffic circulation (see Section
2.b.).
During the year, police beat journalists (see Section 2.a.).
Police injured and killed persons while forcibly dispersing
demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
Government authorities harassed opposition party members (see
Section 3).
Police harassed NGO workers during the year, extorted money from
travelers, and harassed and abused refugees (see Sections 2.d. and 4).
There were no developments in the 2003 and 2002 cases of police
torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by security
forces.
There were also reports that police assaulted prostitutes during
the year (see Section 5).
Landmines continued to result in injuries (see Section 1.a.).
The press reported that FLEC-FAC forces continued to torture and
kill civilians in Cabinda.
Between July 17 and 21, a mob burned and looted 80 homes of known
or supposed UNITA supporters in Cazombo, Moxico, to protest the
appointment of a former UNITA general to the new UNITA office. During
the war, the general had ordered the destruction of the locality's
bridge over the Zambezim River. Authorities arrested one traditional
leader for instigating the violence.
Prison conditions were harsh and life-threatening. During the year,
human rights activists reported that prison officials routinely beat
and tortured detainees. The national prison system continued to hold
approximately five times the number of prisoners for which it was
designed. Overcrowding in Luanda prisons diminished after the
completion in November of the rehabilitation and expansion of the Viana
prison; however, local human rights organizations reported that
conditions were considerably worse outside the Luanda prison system. In
Bengo, Malange, and Lunda Norte Provinces, warehouses were used as
prison facilities during the year. In Huila Province, the provincial
penitentiary held 350 prisoners in a facility designed for 150.
On December 6, local media reported that between 8 to 16 prisoners
died due to asphyxiation in an overcrowded police station cell in
Mussendi, Lunda-Norte. The detainees, some of whom were from the DRC,
were being held as part of Operacao Brilhante. In protests following
these deaths, police reportedly killed two individuals (see Section
2.b.). The National Police Commander publicly admitted wrongdoing,
ordered the arrest of the local commander and several officers, and
stated that an investigation was underway.
Many prisons, lacking adequate financial support from the
Government, were unable to supply prisoners with basic sanitary
facilities, adequate food, and health care. Prisoners depended on
families, friends, or international relief organizations for basic
support. There were reports that prisoners died of malnutrition and
disease. For example, in the Condeueji prison in Luanda Norte,
independent media reported that six inmates died between June 1 and 3
due to inadequate food and water, harsh conditions, and lack of medical
treatment.
Prison officials, who were chronically underpaid, supported
themselves by stealing from their prisoners and extorting money from
family members. For example, prison guards continued to demand that
prisoners pay for weekend passes to which they were entitled. There
were reports of prison officials operating an informal bail system,
releasing prisoners until their trial date for fees ranging from $300
to $1,500 (25,000 to 127,500 kwanza).
Female prisoners were held separately from male prisoners; however,
there were reports that prison guards sexually abused female prisoners.
Juveniles, often incarcerated for petty theft, were housed with adults
and suffered abuse by guards and inmates. Pretrial detainees frequently
were housed directly with sentenced inmates, and prisoners serving
short-term sentences often were held with inmates serving long-term or
life sentences for violent crimes.
The Government permitted foreign diplomatic personnel and local and
international human rights observers to visit prisons during the year;
however, NGO officials were denied access or given limited access to
prisons in the provinces. Government authorities refused access to
protesters detained following the April demonstration in Canfunfo (see
Section 2.b.). The Government did not consistently report the arrest of
foreign nationals to the appropriate consular authorities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, security forces did not always respect
these provisions in practice. Persons were often denied due process.
The National Police were the primary source of abuses during the year;
however, reports of arbitrary detentions by the FAA continued in
Cabinda. For example, in March, Cabindan authorities reportedly
detained a man for having downloaded FLEC information from the
Internet.
The National Police are under the Ministry of the Interior and are
responsible for internal security and law enforcement. Other than those
personnel assigned to elite units, police were poorly paid, and the
practice of supplementing their income through extortion from the
civilian population was widespread. Impunity remained a serious
problem. The complaints office at the headquarters for the National
Police received an average of 10 complaints from citizens a day
regarding police misconduct. There were reports that police members
were sanctioned internally and even removed from their positions for
alleged violations. Most complaints were handled within the National
Police via internal disciplinary procedures; however, on December 19 a
member of the Luanda police was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for
his involvement in the killing of a civilian in March, during an
attempt to extort money from 3 individuals.
During the year, NGOs provided human rights and professional
training to police and military. Police also participated in
professional training with foreign law enforcement officials from
several countries in the region.
Under the law, a person caught in the act of committing a crime may
be arrested and detained immediately. Otherwise, the law requires that
a judge or a provincial magistrate issue an arrest warrant. Arrest
warrants also may be signed by members of the judicial police and
confirmed within 5 days by a magistrate; however, security forces did
not always procure an arrest warrant before placing individuals in
detention.
The Constitution provides for the right to prompt judicial
determination of the legality of the detention. A person may not be
held for more than 135 days without trial. The National Security Law
provides for a maximum of 180 days of investigative detention when an
individual is caught in the act of committing a crime punishable by a
prison sentence; however, in practice these limits were exceeded
commonly.
The prosecution and defense have 90 days before a trial to prepare
their case, although both sides generally have the right to request an
extension of this deadline under extenuating circumstances. The
Constitution also provides prisoners with the right to receive visits
by family members; however, such rights were sometimes ignored in
practice or made conditional upon payment of a bribe. There was a
scarcity of personnel and resources and a lack of official
determination to ensure these rights. Although the Ministry of Justice
was nominally in charge of the prison system, the police continued to
arrest and detain persons without bringing detainees to trial.
The law permits detainees access to legal counsel; however, this
right usually was not respected in practice, partially due to a severe
shortage of lawyers. There is a functioning bail system that is widely
used for minor crimes.
Although illegal detention continued to be a problem, government
and NGO attention to the problem increased and NGOs were given better
access to information within the judicial system. Human rights
organizations, such as the Association for Justice, Peace, and
Democracy (AJPD), continued their efforts to secure the release of
illegally detained individuals. At year's end, there was no update on
the status of the six individuals the AJPD reported in September 2003
were being held illegally.
According to the independent media, security forces continued to
illegally detain individuals in Cabinda accused of collaborating with
FLEC. As part of Operacao Brilhante, expelled miners and their families
were detained in transit centers until their removal from the country
(see Section 1.c.).
There were no new developments in the October 2003 incident when
three young men were detained in Tandu-Macuco village.
Unlike in previous years, the Government did not temporarily detain
human rights activists.
Police sometimes arrested persons holding demonstrations (see
Section 2.b.).
An insufficient number of judges and poor communication between
various authorities led to prolonged detention. More than 60 percent of
inmates were awaiting trial and it was common for inmates to wait
approximately 1 to 2 years for trial. In many cases, police beat and
then released detainees rather than prepare a formal court case. Local
human rights organizations, such as Maos Livres and AJPD, were
successful in securing the release of some detainees during the year.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was subject to executive
influence. The judiciary functioned poorly at the provincial and
municipal levels, and did not ensure due process for criminal or civil
cases. In practice, the court system lacked the means and political
support to assure its independence. During the year, the Government
continued to rebuild courts and train new magistrates and prosecutors;
however, in civil and criminal provincial courts, there was often only
one judge to cover all cases in the province.
During the year, the Human Rights Division of the U.N. Mission in
Angola (UNMA) continued to support human rights training of municipal
magistrates by the Ministry of Justice. The office trained 53 judges
and 23 prosecutors during the year.
The court system consists of the Supreme Court at the appellate
level plus municipal and provincial courts of original jurisdiction
under the authority of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court serves as
the appellate court for questions of law and fact. The President has
the power to appoint Supreme Court justices without confirmation by the
National Assembly. The Constitution provides for judicial review of
constitutional issues by the Supreme Court until the Constitutional
Court is established. The creation of the Constitutional Court depends
on the writing of a new Constitution, expected following legislative
elections which the Government announced would be held in 2006.
There were long delays for trials at the Supreme Court. Trials for
political and security crimes in principle are handled exclusively by
the Supreme Court; however, there were no such trials. The criminal
courts have a large backlog of cases that caused major delays in
scheduling hearings. The legal code and rules of procedure underwent
positive changes during the year. The Ministry of Justice implemented
random assignment of judges, updated case management systems, and
trained law clerks.
Due to the lack of judicial infrastructure in many provinces and
municipalities, traditional or informal courts still were utilized.
Traditional leaders, ``sobas,'' were called upon to hear and decide
local cases. These courts were expected to continue until the formal
legal system is rebuilt. They did not provide citizens with the same
rights to a fair trial as the formal legal system; instead their rules
were established by the community in which they were located.
By law, defendants are presumed innocent; trials are public;
defendants have the right to appeal; there is a functioning system of
bail; and defendants have the right to counsel; however, the Government
did not always respect these rights in practice. Trials are public;
however, each court has the right to close proceedings. Defendants do
not have the right to confront their accusers. Judges were often not
licensed lawyers; however, the Ministry of Justice increased efforts
during the year to recruit and train lawyers to serve as magistrates.
The judge and two laypersons adjudicate.
A Court for Children's Affairs, under the Ministry of Justice,
functions as part of Luanda's provincial court system.
Government corruption was widespread and accountability was
limited, despite the Anti-Corruption Tribunal (see Section 3). During
the year, the Tribunal investigated five cases and found all parties
guilty, levying fines but no prison sentences.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government did not always respect citizens' privacy rights. Legal
requirements for search warrants occasionally were disregarded, most
often in police searches for illegal vendors and periodic sweeps of
public markets.
In April, policemen reportedly entered a residence in Cazenga, near
Luanda, and stole $1,000 (85,000 kwanza).
Citizens widely believed that the Government maintained
surveillance of certain groups, including opposition party leaders and
journalists.
There were fewer reports of abuses in Cabinda, but serious
incidents were reported. Unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports that army units burned villages. Local human rights
organizations reported that the denial of access to agricultural areas
led to the neglect and subsequent destruction of crops in Cabinda.
Government forces in Cabinda reportedly attacked women in their homes,
while they were working in the fields, near military camps, and during
searches of homes.
Unlike previous years, there were no IDPs forced to resettle. All
but 100,000 of the 3.8 million IDPs returned to their area of origin or
decided to remain permanently with their host communities (see Section
2.d.).
Approximately 3 years after the Government evicted 4,200 families
from their homes in the Boa Vista neighborhood of Luanda for an urban
renewal project, the Government completed promised replacement houses
and public buildings. Many of the houses the Government built lacked
plumbing and electricity.
The Government continued to demolish informal squatter housing. On
April 17, military members removed families from approximately 50
homes, which were later demolished, near Cidade Alta, Luanda. In many
instances the Government offered no compensation to displaced
residents. Residents of Soba Kapassa neighborhood evicted between 2001
and 2003 continued to wait for financial reimbursement from the
Government. UNITA quartering areas officially closed in June 2003.
Demobilized soldiers in Camacupa, Bie reported discrimination in land
distribution. Radio Ecclesia reported that approximately 2,500
demobilized soldiers and UNITA soldiers moved away from Cazombo, Moxico
for fear of their safety. Similar incidents in Benguela and Kuando
Kubango also were reported. The Government indicated that a lack of
economic opportunity played a role in these movements.
Unlike in previous years, the FAA did not employ forced movements
of rural populations as part of its counterinsurgency operations
against the FLEC.
There were no new developments in the July 2003 forced removal of
subsistence farmers in Huambo, Huila, or Kwanza Sul provinces.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government at times
restricted this right in practice. There were fewer restrictions on
journalists during the year. Both radio and print media criticized the
Government openly, and at times harshly. There were reports that
police, especially outside Luanda, harassed, beat, and detained
journalists. There were also reports that the Government paid
journalists to publish pro-government stories. During the year, there
was increasing media attention on corruption, economic mismanagement,
and opposition politics; however, there were reports that journalists
were investigated for reporting on sensitive issues and that the
Government limited access by independent journalists to certain events
and interviews. Journalists exercised self-censorship when reporting on
highly sensitive matters. The Government did not restrict academic
freedom.
The largest media sources were state-run and carried little
criticism of government officials, though they often highlighted
government program deficiencies. The Government owned and operated
Jornal de Angola, the only daily newspaper. There were seven private
weekly publications with circulation in the low thousands. The
Government tolerated increasing criticism of its policies and actions
in the independent media.
The state press often criticized independent journalists and
opposition leaders; however, unlike in previous years, independent
journalists were able to respond to these criticisms.
There were five commercial radio stations, including the Catholic
Church's Radio Ecclesia and Radio Lac Luanda, which openly criticized
government policies and highlighted poor socioeconomic conditions. In
July, the Minister of Social Communication strongly criticized Radio
Ecclesia and called it a ``smuggler'' organization for importing
transmission repeaters and other necessary broadcasting equipment
without approval. Although Radio Ecclesia broadcasts via the Internet,
the Government continued to refuse to approve its nationwide FM
broadcast authority. The Government also publicly criticized the
international community's support for independent media. Government-
owned and operated Angolan National Radio was the only radio station
with the capacity to broadcast throughout the country other than over
shortwave. The only television station was the government Angola Public
Television (TPA), which broadcast in Luanda and most provincial
capitals.
The Government did not restrict the activities of foreign media,
including the British Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of America.
Foreign journalists must receive authorization from the Ministry of the
Interior to meet government officials or to travel within the country.
Foreign journalists also must obtain work visas issued in their home
countries to enter and report on the country.
Government authorities reportedly harassed, beat, and detained
independent journalists on at least two occasions during the year. In
April, the Criminal and Investigative Police in Saurimo, Lunda Sul beat
an Angola News Agency journalist investigating a murder in the area.
Despite presenting his press credentials, the journalist was detained
for 1 day. In August, seven policemen beat and confiscated the camera
of two TPA reporters filming the crackdown on rural women vendors in
Rangel municipality, near Luanda. All were later released.
There were no developments in the 2003 or 2002 cases in which
government authorities harassed journalists.
A committee composed of the Minister of Social Communication, the
spokesman of the Presidency, and the directors of state-run media
organizations had policy and censorship authority. The Government used
its control of the government media to influence public opinion.
Defamation of the President or his representatives is a criminal
offense, punishable by imprisonment or fines. Factuality is not a
defense to defamation charges; the only allowable defense is to show
that the accused did not produce the actual material alleged to have
caused harm. On March 30, the editor of the independent weekly
Semanario Angolense was sentenced to 45 days in jail or to pay a $106
(9,000 kwanza) fine. He also was forced to pay a $1,200 (102,000
kwanza) fine directly to one of the claimants for publishing an article
that detailed the personal fortunes of prominent government officials.
There were no updates on the cases of journalists arrested by the
Government in 2003 on charges of slander.
The Law on State Secrecy permits the Government to classify
information. Following the classification of material the Government
then has the ability to demand information regarding the source of the
materials and persecute those that published the classified
information. There were unconfirmed reports that the Government used
this law to classify information unnecessarily, shielding the public
from information of government decision-making.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet, and it was
available in several provincial capitals.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the right of assembly; however, the Government at times
restricted this right in practice. At times police used excessive force
to break up demonstrations.
The law requires a minimum of 3 days prior notice before public or
private assemblies are to be held and makes participants liable for
``offenses against the honor and consideration due to persons and to
organs of sovereignty.'' Applications for pro-government assemblies
routinely were granted without delay; however, applications for protest
assemblies sometimes were denied, usually based on the restriction of
venue. During the year, official tolerance for public protest
increased, although officials were not consistent in permitting such
protests.
In February, government authorities prevented 1,500 activists from
entering a stadium in Cabinda for a ceremony officially opening the
civic association Mpalabanda. On June 17, police prevented 50
Democratic Aid and Progress Party (PADEPA) members from staging a
demonstration against corruption in downtown Luanda. The Government
also restricted two planned demonstrations by PADEPA in November and
December.
Police used excessive force to break up demonstrations during the
year. On March 4, a protest organized by vendors to protest closure of
the Estalagem market in Viana resulted in clashes with police in which
three civilians and one police officer were killed. Several others were
injured and the police detained approximately 25 protestors. In April,
all of the detainees were released and an official investigation into
excessive force used by police officers continued at year's end.
On April 22, government forces, under provincial leadership, fired
on a crowd protesting the removal of generators that provided
neighborhood power in Canfunfo, Lunda Norte. Following a civilian
attack on the local police station, an unconfirmed number of civilians
were killed. The police arrested approximately 17 persons for their
participation in these events. The authorities reported three of the
detainees died in custody but refused to allow lawyers or family
members access to the prison; the remaining detainees were all released
by year's end.
In protests following the December 6 deaths of numerous individuals
in Mussendi, Luanda-Norte police killed two individuals (see Section
1.c.). The National Police Commander publicly admitted wrongdoing,
ordered the arrest of the local commander and several officers, and
stated that an investigation was underway.
Unlike previous years, there were no reports that opposition
supporters were detained after holding demonstrations.
No action was taken against security forces responsible for using
excessive force to disperse demonstrations in 2003.
The Constitution provides for the right of association; however,
the Government sometimes restricted this right in practice. There were
fewer reports than in previous years that government officials
interfered with private association. Legislation permits the Government
to deny registration to private associations on security grounds.
Although the Government approved most applications, including those for
political parties, the Ministry of Justice continued to block the
registration of the local human rights group AJPD by not taking action
on its application originally filed in 2000 (see Section 4).
The Government arbitrarily restricted associations that it
considered subversive by refusing to grant licenses for organized
activities and through official harassment. Opposition parties were
permitted to organize and hold meetings during the year; however, many
reported harassment from local authorities outside Luanda (see Section
3). In March, UNITA members complained that a rural MPLA official in
Bie ordered police to whip 13 residents to discourage attendance at a
UNITA rally; however, these allegations could not be confirmed.
Independent labor activists reportedly also encountered difficulty
with provincial governments registering branch associations; however,
vigils and demonstrations took place throughout the year (see Section
6.b.).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
Religious groups must register with the Ministry of Justice and the
Ministry of Culture. Colonial-era statutes ban non-Christian religious
groups; however, they were not enforced during the year. In March, the
National Assembly approved a law establishing stricter criteria for the
registration of religious groups to curb the growth of cults, although
the law did not have any effect on the registration process. The
Minister of Justice also announced his opposition to Muslim
proselytizing.
A total of 17 religious groups in Cabinda remained banned during
the year on charges of practicing traditional medicine on the groups'
members.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government at times restricted these rights in
practice. Extortion and harassment at government security checkpoints
in rural and border areas interfered with the right to travel. Police
routinely harassed returning refugees at border checkpoints. The
Government restricted access to areas of Cabinda that were deemed
insecure. During the year, previously inaccessible areas were opened to
travel.
Extortion at checkpoints was routine in Luanda, pervasive on major
commercial routes, and served as a principal source of income for many
of the country's security service personnel. As part of Operacao
Brilhante, security forces harassed expelled miners and their families
as they crossed the border into the DRC (see Section 1.c.). In Malanje,
Congolese citizens reportedly avoided deportation through payments that
ranged from $50 to $200 (4,250 to 17,000 kwanza) (see Section 1.c.).
Police forcibly moved poor residents from central neighborhoods in
Luanda to outlying areas as part of urban renewal programs (see Section
1.f.).
Landmines remaining from the civil war were a major impediment to
the freedom of movement (see Section 1.a.).
Foreign journalists must obtain authorization from the Ministry of
the Interior to travel within the country.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The Government did not place restrictions on emigration and
repatriation; however, there were reports that immigration officials
harassed and extorted money from travelers. In February, OCHA declared
that approximately 100,000 IDPs remained unsettled; however, 70 percent
of the returnees resettled in areas where the preconditions specified
in the national guidelines for the resettlement of IDPs had not been
met. An estimated 40 percent of returnee communities remained closed to
international humanitarian and development agencies due to destroyed
access routes or mine obstruction.
The Ministry of Assistance and Social Re-Insertion (MINARS) has
primary responsibility for returnees and remaining IDPs, as well as
continued housing and resettlement programs; however, these efforts
remained inadequate. Provincial governments have primary responsibility
for actual resettlement, ensuring safe, voluntary resettlement to areas
cleared of mines and with access to water, arable land, markets, and
adequate state administration. Unlike in previous years, there were no
confirmed reports of forced relocation of IDPs; however, there were
unconfirmed reports in connection with Operacao Brilhante. More than 65
percent of returnees did not have access to primary health care, 65
percent had no potable water, and 75 percent had no basic sanitation.
There were no new developments on the 2003 reports of unsafe
conditions at provincial reception centers for IDPs.
During the year, an estimated 145,000 refugees returned, including
49,570 through the U.N. office of the High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) voluntary repatriation program. There were reports that border
officials robbed, harassed, sexually harassed, and charged refugees
illegal taxes at border posts. UNHCR reported an increase in crimes
against returnees in Moxico Province; incidents included physical
assaults, confiscation of goods, and bribes. According to UNHCR, an
estimated 83,000 to 200,000 citizens were still living outside the
country.
The law provides for the granting of refugee status and asylum to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status and asylum. The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to certain
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/
1967 Protocol. An eligibility committee to evaluate asylum claims,
under the authority of the Ministry of Justice, continued to meet
periodically to consider asylum requests. Of the approximately 3,000
West Africans detained in June in Viana, near Luanda, as part of
Operacao Brilhante, at least 10 were refugees or asylum seekers.
According to the UNHCR, the country had approximately 12,000 refugees,
most of whom were from the DRC.
In Bengo province, local residents continued to harass
approximately 300 Congolese refugees in Sungui Camp.
There were no new developments in the June and October 2003
harassment of an NGO working in the area.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, in practice this right remained
restricted due to the delay in scheduling elections. Opposition parties
complained of harassment and intimidation by the Government.
In 1992, the first multiparty presidential elections were held.
MPLA president Jose Eduardo dos Santos won a plurality of votes cast.
Although local and international observers declared the election to be
generally free and fair and called on UNITA to accept the results,
UNITA claimed that the elections were fraudulent, rejected the results,
and returned to civil war, preventing a run-off election.
Active civil society discussions and political party activity for
elections were underway during the year. On May 12, opposition parties
walked out of the National Assembly's Constitutional Commission in
protest at the Government failure to decide on a national election
timetable. In August, the ruling MPLA party presented a tentative
electoral timetable with legislative and presidential elections
scheduled for September 2006. On November 11, President dos Santos
spoke favorably of an opposition proposal to hold parliamentary
elections in late 2006, with the Presidential election postponed until
the following year. This would allow the newly elected parliament to
draft a new Constitution, under which the presidential elections would
be held in 2007. A formal election timetable is expected in early 2005.
The President is elected by an absolute majority. If no candidate
wins a majority, a runoff must take place between the two candidates
with the most votes. Of the 220 deputies in the National Assembly, 130
are elected on a national ballot, and 90 are elected to represent
provinces. The Electoral Law also calls for the election of three
additional deputies to represent citizens living abroad; however, those
positions were not filled in the 1992 elections.
Ruling power is concentrated in the President and the Council of
Ministers, through which the President exercises executive power. The
Council can enact decree-laws, decrees, and resolutions, which means it
can assume most functions normally associated with the legislative
branch. Although the Constitution established the position of Prime
Minister, the President filled the position from 1998 to 2002. In 2002,
the President named former Interior Minister Fernando Dias dos Santos
``Nando'' as Prime Minister. While opposition deputies held
approximately 43 percent of National Assembly seats and substantive
debates sometimes took place, few mechanisms existed to check the power
of the MPLA majority or defeat legislation supported by the executive
branch. Laws such as the Law on State Secrecy and the Law on National
Security further strengthened executive authority and limited
legislative oversight (see Section 2.a.).
There were more than 120 registered opposition parties, of which 11
received a public subsidy based on their representation in the National
Assembly. The majority of opposition parties have limited national
constituencies. The two historical opposition parties that date back to
independence, UNITA and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola
(FNLA), traditionally derived support from the Ovimbundu and Bakongo
ethnic groups. During the year, UNITA completed the transition from a
disarmed military organization to the largest opposition party.
Opposition parties complained of harassment and intimidation by the
police, army, ODC, and supporters of the Government outside Luanda. On
February 28, government authorities attacked two UNITA activists in
Mungo municipality. On March 29, a group of men in FAA uniforms and ODC
badges attacked and set fire to a UNITA office in Kalima, Huambo
province and threw stones at the occupants, injuring two persons. The
UNITA members fled to Huambo City. In both of these cases,
investigations were started and meetings were held between local
officials and UNITA leaders to discuss culpability for these incidents;
the cases were ongoing at year's end.
There were no new developments in the 2003 reports of harassment
and intimidation.
The Government took steps to increase transparency and reduce state
expenditures not reflected in the official budget. Parastatals, most
notably the state oil company SONANGOL, were required to report their
revenues to the central bank, though information gaps remained a
concern. SONANGOL and ENDIAMA, the state diamond marketing company,
must undergo regular audits conducted by international accounting
firms.
During the year, the Government made a $2.25 billion (191.25
billion kwanza) commercial oil-revenue backed loan and established a $2
billion (170 billion kwanza) credit line with China's ExIm Bank. The
IMF and World Bank expressed concerns that these funds may not be used
in a transparent manner. Transparency in the business environment
improved but cartel-like business practices continued to favor those
connected to the Government. Petty corruption among police, teachers
and other government employees was prevalent, due in part to low
salaries. During the year, four government officials, including a
former Ambassador and Governor, were formally charged with corruption.
There were 35 women in the 220-seat National Assembly, and 10 women
in the 41-member Cabinet including 3 ministers.
There were 7 members of minorities in the 220-seat National
Assembly. There were 3 members of minorities in the 61-member Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitudes Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A variety of domestic and international human rights groups
operated in the country and investigated and published their findings
on human rights cases. The Government did not prohibit independent
investigations of human rights abuses; however, it failed to cooperate
and often used security conditions as a justification to deny access in
Cabinda.
In February, the Government placed new restrictions on NGOs,
requiring them to submit detailed activity reports, sign agreements
with applicable ministries, and provide banking and financial details.
Under the new regulations, the Government has the right to determine
where and what projects each NGO may implement but did not exercise
this right during the year.
There were more than 100 international NGOs operating in the
country and approximately 350 domestic NGOs, of which an estimated 100
worked on human rights activities. Local NGOs actively promoted human
rights during the year by documenting prison conditions and providing
free legal counsel; however, the Government continued to be suspicious
of local NGOs receiving international support.
The Ministry of Justice continued to block the registration of AJPD
by not acting on its application, which has been pending since 2000. At
year's end, AJPD was awaiting a Supreme Court decision on its suit
against the Ministry of Justice for not processing the organization's
registration application. In spite of its uncertain legal position,
AJPD continued to function throughout the year without government
interference.
The Cabinda civic association, Mpalabanda, formed in March, worked
extensively on human rights issues. Their efforts focused on helping
those abused, documenting the cases of abuse, educating the population
on human rights issues and working with the provincial government and
the FAA to curb abuses. They also reported on human rights abuses that
occurred during the year (see Section 1.a. and 1.c.).
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not temporarily
detain human rights activists.
In February, municipal authorities expelled a foreign NGO worker
from Lumbala N'guimbo, Moxico on charges of undermining the Government,
improperly collaborating with UNITA, and traveling without proper
authorization. The worker left the country to avoid prosecution.
There were no further developments in the August 2003 case of a
local human rights leader being recalled from overseas medical
treatment for police questioning or the October 2003 report of
individuals in FAA uniforms stealing humanitarian supplies from an NGO.
Several international organizations have a permanent presence in
the country, including the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) and the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Human Rights Watch visited
the country multiple times during the year and released a report in
July on media and political freedoms in the country.
During the year, U.N. humanitarian agencies maintained large-scale
operations for food security programs, repatriation and reintegration
activities, and development projects.
The National Assembly's Committee on Human Rights conducted visits
to prisons, held hearings on human rights issues, and, in December,
held a public workshop on human rights that recommended the
establishment of a National Ombudsman for Human Rights.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Under the Constitution, all citizens are equal before the law and
enjoy the same rights and responsibilities regardless of color, race,
ethnicity, sex, place of birth, ideology, degree of education, or
economic or social condition; however, the Government did not
effectively enforce these provisions.
Women.--Violence against women was widespread. Credible evidence
indicated that a significant proportion of homicides were perpetrated
against women, usually by spouses. The Ministry of Women and Family
deals with violence against women and reported receiving an average of
20 domestic violence cases a month; however, most cases of domestic
violence were not reported. The Government continued its project to
reduce violence against women and improve their status. Domestic
violence is prosecuted under rape, assault, and battery laws.
Rape is defined as a forced sexual encounter and is punishable by
up to 8 years in prison. The law treats sex with a minor under the age
of 12 as nonconsensual; however, limited investigative resources and an
inadequate judicial system prevented prosecution of most cases.
Due to poor economic conditions, many women engaged in
prostitution. Prostitution is illegal under the Constitution; however,
the prohibition was not enforced. In January, independent media
reported on police assaults on prostitutes in Luanda as part of an
effort to forcibly reduce illegal street activity.
There are no specific legal prohibitions regarding sexual
harassment; however, such cases may be prosecuted under assault and
battery and defamation statutes. Sexual harassment was not a salient
issue in the country.
The Constitution and Family Code provide for equal rights without
regard to gender; however, societal discrimination against women
remained a problem, particularly in rural areas. In addition, the Civil
Code includes discriminatory provisions against women in the areas of
inheritance, property sales, and participation in commercial
activities. There were no effective mechanisms to enforce child support
laws, and women carried the majority of responsibilities for raising
children. The law provides for equal pay for equal work; however, in
practice women rarely were compensated equally with men. Some women
held senior positions in the armed forces (primarily in the medical
field) and civil service, but women generally were relegated to low-
level positions in state-run industries and in the private sector.
Under the law, women may open bank accounts, accept employment, and own
property without interference from their spouses. Upon the death of a
male head of household, the widow automatically is entitled to 50
percent of the estate with the remainder divided equally among
legitimate children. In much of the country, women constituted a
growing percentage of persons with disabilities, as they were most
likely to become victims of landmines while foraging for food and
firewood in agricultural areas.
Children.--Although international reports estimate that
approximately 60 percent of the population is under the age of 15, the
Government's attention to children's rights and welfare was
insufficient. The Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) functioned
poorly due to a lack of resources and lack of administrative capacity.
Nevertheless, the MEC, together with UNICEF, continued a program to
provide informal learning and life skills for vulnerable children
outside of the formal education system. During the year, the MEC Back-
to-School campaign efforts consisted of training 20,000 new teachers
for placement in schools throughout the country. The National Institute
for Children has daily responsibility for children's affairs.
Although primary and secondary education was free and compulsory
until the sixth grade, students often had to pay significant additional
expenses, including for books and supplies. Teachers were chronically
unpaid and allegedly often demanded unofficial payment or bribes from
students. Most of the educational infrastructure was damaged during the
war, and schools lacked basic equipment and teaching materials. UNICEF
reported that 56 percent of 6- to 9-year-olds attended school, but only
6 percent of 10- to 11-year-olds did. According to UNESCO, there was a
gender gap in the enrollment rate, favoring boys over girls. More than
1 million children were estimated to be out of school; however, MEC
efforts to bring more students into the system should decrease this
number. Only 42 percent of the population was literate, and the
illiteracy rate for women was almost twice that of men.
The Government provides free medical care for children at the one
pediatric hospital in Luanda in addition to supporting child
immunization programs and general medical care at public hospitals and
clinics around the country. In many areas, formal health care was
limited or non-existent. According to UNICEF, the mortality rate for
children under 5 years of age was 250 per 1,000 live births. Local NGOs
estimated that 100,000 children were abandoned or orphaned as a result
of the civil war, and malnutrition was a problem. Landmine explosions
continued to kill and injure children.
Child abuse was widespread. Physical abuse was commonplace with in
the family and was largely tolerated by local officials.
There were reports of trafficking in children (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child prostitution is prohibited by a general criminal statute;
however, an international NGO estimated that there were as many as
1,000 underage prostitutes in Luanda. Sexual relations with a child
under 12 years of age is considered rape. Sexual relations with a child
between the ages of 12 and 15 may be considered sexual abuse with
convicted offenders liable for up to 8 years in prison.
Unlike in previous years, there were no confirmed reports that
children were recruited into the armed forces. According to the
Ministry of Justice, over 3.8 million children were registered locally
between August 2001 and March in a campaign to limit the exploitation
of children. By March, the UNICEF-supported National Family Tracing and
Reunification Program had identified 11,076 separated children and
successfully reunited 3,670 children with their families.
Using information collected during the Government's first child
registration campaign, it was estimated that there are approximately
1,500 street children in Luanda. Conditions in government youth centers
were poor; most homeless children slept on city streets. They shined
shoes, washed cars, and carried water, and many resorted to petty
crime, begging, and prostitution to survive. The government-sponsored
National Institute for Children was responsible for child protection,
but it lacked the technical capacity to work with international NGOs.
The Government publicized the problems of street and homeless children
during the year but did not develop any programs to assist them.
Human rights abuses due to accusations of sorcery and wizardry were
a rising concern, especially against children. Individuals placed blame
on the use of charms or other forms of witchcraft for their personal
misfortunes. In some cases it was believed that deaths occurred during
attempts to stop purported acts of witchcraft. There were reports of
children being tortured by local ``prophets'' to stop these alleged
actions in Uige and Zaire provinces that were under police
investigation at year's end. A local NGO, ``Crianca Futuro,'' sheltered
22 children abandoned due to allegations of witchcraft.
In November, two Painial-Mefa Evangelic Church priests from Cabinda
were taken into custody in connection with the maltreatment of three
children accused of witchcraft. The outcome of this case was still
pending at year's end.
The Government, assisted by UNICEF, continued implementation of the
post-conflict child soldier protection strategy. As outlined in the
strategy, those designated as child soldiers were given access to
special resources, including skills training, assistance with civil
registration, access to special social assistance, and were guaranteed
to not be recruited or reenlisted in the military. During the year, the
World Bank also began assisting with the implementation of this
strategy.
There were active domestic private children's rights advocacy
groups, such as the Angolan Bar Association, the Angolan Woman Lawyers'
Association, Crianca Futuro, and local organizations within the
Catholic Church. Several international organizations also promoted
children's rights in the country.
Trafficking in Persons.--The Constitution prohibits slavery;
however, no specific laws exist to combat trafficking in persons, and
there were reports of trafficking.
There were reports that women and children were trafficked during
the year, primarily to Europe and South Africa, for labor and sexual
exploitation. IDPs, along with homeless and orphaned children, remained
the groups most vulnerable to trafficking. There were reports of child
trafficking in Santa Clara, on the Angola-Namibia border in Cunene
Province. Children have been recruited and used in exploitative labor
such as carrying goods across the border, prostitution, illegal money
exchange, and selling goods.
The Ministry of Justice continued its campaign to register
children, provide them with identity papers, and protect them against
potential trafficking. The Government operated facilities throughout
the country for abandoned and abducted children; however, the
facilities were under funded, understaffed and overcrowded in many
cases. A Catholic-based center in Namacumbe, near the Namibian border,
assisted victims of trafficking to reintegrate them into the community.
Persons with Disabilities.--While there was no institutional
discrimination against persons with disabilities, the Government did
little to improve their physical, financial, or social conditions. The
number of persons with disabilities included more than 80,000 landmine
victims. Handicap International estimated that up to 10 percent of the
population have physical disabilities. There is no legislation
mandating accessibility for persons with disabilities to public or
private facilities, and it was difficult for persons with disabilities
to find employment or participate in the education system.
Indigenous People.--The population included 1 to 2 percent of
Khoisan and other hunter-gatherer tribes linguistically distinct from
their Bantu compatriots. At least 3,400 San people lived in 72 small
dispersed communities in Huila, Cunene, and Kuando Kubango provinces.
San communities continued to suffer from social exclusion,
discrimination, and economic exploitation. Greatly reduced access to
land and natural resources and insecure and limited land rights eroded
the San's former hunter-gatherer livelihoods and exacerbated ethnic
tensions with neighboring groups. Hunter-gatherer communities generally
did not participate actively in the political or economic life of the
country, and had no ability to influence government decisions
concerning their interests.
There continued to be a lack of adequate protection for the
property rights of traditional pastoral communities. In April, the
Agricultural Department confirmed that a private farm could expand
beyond its concession of 5,000 hectares to an area of approximately
20,000 hectares. While this did not have direct effect on indigenous
communities during the year, it created the possibility of reduced
access in the future as large farms expanded throughout the interior.
On August 10, the National Assembly passed a new land tenure law.
International NGOs expressed concern that this law further excludes
indigenous communities from access to land they had formerly cultivated
or occupied, thereby increasing their vulnerability. The immediate
effects of the law on indigenous communities were unknown. Opposition
parties remained opposed to the law.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right to form and join trade unions and engage in union activities;
however, the Government did not respect these rights consistently in
practice. The MPLA controlled the National Union of Angolan Workers
(UNTA), which claimed to have more than 400,000 members. There were two
prominent independent unions, the General Center of Independent and
Free Labor Unions of Angola (CGSILA), with approximately 50,000
members, and the small Independent Union of Maritime and Related
Workers (SIMA). Restrictions on civil liberties, such as freedom of
speech and freedom of assembly, prevented labor activities not approved
by the Government (see Sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
The law requires the Government to recognize the right of labor
unions to organize; however, SIMA continued to encounter difficulties
with provincial government authorities in registering branch
associations and organizing dock and oil platform workers.
Legislation prohibits discrimination against union members and
calls for worker complaints to be adjudicated in regular civil courts.
Under the law, employers found guilty of anti-union discrimination are
required to reinstate workers who have been dismissed for union
activities. In practice, neither the Labor Code nor the judicial system
defended or enforced these rights.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for the right to organize and for collective
bargaining; however, the Government did not always respect these rights
in practice. The Government did not facilitate constructive labor
management negotiations. The Ministry of Public Administration,
Employment, and Social Security set wages and benefits on a semi-annual
basis (see Section 6.e.).
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, and the law
regulates such actions. The law prohibits lockouts and worker
occupation of places of employment and provides protection for
nonstriking workers. It prohibits strikes by armed forces personnel,
police, prison workers, and fire fighters. The law does not effectively
prohibit employer retribution against strikers; it permits the
Government to force workers back to work for breaches of worker
discipline and participation in unauthorized strikes. Workers exercised
their right to strike during the year.
SIMA continued an organized protest begun in 2000 to demand
severance compensation from Angonave, the national shipping company.
Unlike in previous years, participants in the vigil were not subject to
government harassment during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children and the Ministry of
Justice has effective enforcement mechanisms for the formal economic
sector; however, the majority of labor law violations occur outside the
official labor market and are not subject to legal enforcement. The law
permits the Government to force workers back to work for breaches of
worker discipline and participation in strikes. There were no further
developments on the media reports that a prison director in Huambo used
prisoners as domestic laborers in 2003.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor was restricted under the law; however, child labor remained
a problem. The legal minimum age for employment is 14 years. Children
between the ages of 14 and 18 may not work at night, in dangerous
conditions, or in occupations requiring great physical effort. The
Government prohibits children younger than 16-years-old from factory
work. These provisions rarely were enforced, and UNICEF believes that a
high percentage of children between 5- and 14-years-old worked.
Children worked on family farms, as domestic servants, and in the
informal sector as street vendors. Family-based child labor in
subsistence agriculture was common. Children under 12 years of age
worked for no reimbursement for their families and in apprenticeships.
Poverty and social upheavals have brought large numbers of orphaned and
abandoned children into unregulated urban employment in the informal
sector.
The Inspector General of the Ministry of Public Administration,
Employment, and Social Security is responsible for enforcing labor
laws, and child labor law enforcement is under the jurisdiction of the
courts; however, in practice, the court system did not provide adequate
protection for children. In 2003, a Court for Children's Affairs, under
the Ministry of Justice, was established as part of Luanda's provincial
court system; however, these courts were not yet operational in the
provinces by year's end. Child labor violations are punishable with
fines. There is no formal procedure for inspections and investigations
into child labor abuses outside of the family law system, although
private persons can file claims for violations of child labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Public
Administration, Employment, and Social Security kept the minimum wage
at the equivalent of $50 (4,250 kwanza) per month. Many urban workers
earned less than $20 (1,700 kwanza) per month. Neither the minimum wage
nor the average monthly salary, which was estimated to be between $40
and $150 (3,400 to 12,500 kwanza) per month, provided a decent standard
of living for a worker and family. As a result, most wage earners held
second jobs or depended on the informal sector, subsistence
agriculture, or support from abroad to augment their incomes. Employees
receiving less than the legal minimum wage have the right to seek legal
recourse; however, it was uncommon for workers to do so.
A government decree limits the legal workweek to 44 hours; however,
the Ministry was unable to enforce this limit or occupational safety
and health standards. In practice, workers cannot remove themselves
from dangerous work situations without jeopardizing their continued
employment.
Foreign workers are not protected under the labor law. They receive
legal protection only if they work under contract; otherwise, they
receive protection only against criminal acts.
__________
BENIN
The Republic of Benin is a constitutional democracy headed by
President Mathieu Kerekou, who was inaugurated in 2001 after elections
that observers generally viewed as free but not entirely fair. The
March 2003 parliamentary elections, which were generally free, fair,
and transparent, resulted in a loss of seats by the opposition. One
opposition party joined the government coalition; as a result, the
opposition holds 18 of 83 seats. During the year, the executive branch
interfered with the judiciary, which was inefficient and susceptible to
corruption at all levels.
The security forces consist of the armed forces, headed by the
State Ministry of Defense, and the police force under the Ministry of
Interior, Security, and Decentralization. The Ministry of Defense
supervises the Gendarmerie, which exercises military police functions
in rural areas, while the Ministry of Interior supervises other police
forces. The armed forces under the Ministry of Defense continued to
play an apolitical role in government affairs despite concerns about
lack of morale within its ranks. Civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. Members of the security
forces committed some human rights abuses.
The country was extremely poor with average yearly per capita
income of $1,100; its population was approximately 7.2 million. The
economy was mixed and based largely on subsistence agriculture, cotton
production, and regional trade. The Government maintained the austerity
program; continued to privatize state-owned enterprises; reduced fiscal
expenditures; and deregulated trade. However, the economy's growth rate
contracted from 5.5 percent in 2003 to 3 percent at year's end due to
Nigeria's increased enforcement of import regulations, loss of revenue
at the Port of Cotonou, and endemic corruption.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in several areas. There were
credible reports that police sometimes beat suspects, and at times the
authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained persons; however, unlike
in the previous year, police did not detain or beat journalists. Police
forcibly dispersed demonstrations, which resulted in deaths and
injuries. The most serious human rights problems continued to be the
failure of police forces to curtail acts of vigilantism and mob
justice; harsh and unhealthy prison conditions; prolonged pretrial
detention; judicial corruption; violence and societal discrimination
against women; and trafficking and abuse of children. The practice of
female genital mutilation (FGM) and, to a lesser extent, infanticide
also remained problems. Child labor, including forced and compulsory
child labor, continued to be a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, security forces shot and killed persons during violent
demonstrations during the year (see Section 2.b.).
During the year, incidents of mob justice continued to occur, in
part due to the perceived failure of local courts to adequately punish
criminals. Most often these were cases of mobs killing or severely
injuring suspected criminals, particularly thieves caught in the act.
On August 12, for example, after the release on a technicality of six
carjackers, a mob in Cotonou burned to death a man caught stealing
motorbikes; during the same month, a separate mob beat to death two men
caught robbing a local woman. Although a number of these incidents
occurred in urban areas and were publicized in the press, the
Government apparently made no concerted attempt to investigate or
prosecute anyone involved, and police generally ignored vigilante
attacks.
There was no known action taken against persons responsible for mob
killings in 2002.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
During the year, hundreds of children were trafficked within the
country and to neighboring countries to work as domestic servants,
prostitutes, or laborers in quarries or farms (see Section 5). While
some of these children were trafficked with the consent of their
families for economic reasons, some children were kidnapped by force.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were credible reports during the year that police sometimes beat those
in custody.
The Government continued to make payments to victims of torture
under the military regime, and some persons received payment for
property they lost under the regime. During the year, some citizens who
fled the country during the military regime continued to receive
compensation.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police
detained and beat journalists.
On October 30, the military paid $5,865 (2.9 million FCFA) in
compensation to each person injured in January 2003, when 40
paratroopers in the district of Zogbodome attacked civilians with
knives, bottles, machetes, and other types of weapons in retaliation
for the injury to one of their colleagues in a bar fight.
Mob justice resulted in deaths and injuries (see Section 1.a.).
Prison conditions continued to be extremely harsh. Overcrowding and
lack of proper sanitation and medical facilities posed a risk to
prisoners' health. According to the Justice Ministry, at times, the
country's eight civil prisons were filled to more than three times
their capacity. The prison diet was inadequate, and malnutrition and
disease were common. Family members were expected to provide food for
inmates to supplement prison rations.
Women were housed separately from men; however, juveniles at times
were housed with adults. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted
prisoners; however, they were not held with the most violent convicts
or those subject to the death penalty.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights monitors;
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other agencies continued their
prison visits.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, at times the authorities did
not respect these prohibitions in practice.
The police, who were poorly equipped and trained, were criticized
for corruption and ineffectiveness. During the year, the Government
took steps to address these problems by recruiting more officers,
building more stations, and modernizing equipment. Impunity was a
problem; however, several police officers accused of corruption were
dismissed during the year.
The law requires arrest warrants and prohibits detention for more
than 48 hours without a hearing by a magistrate whose order is required
for continued detention. Detainees must be brought before a judge
within 48 hours of arrest. After examining a detainee, the judge has 24
hours to decide whether to continue the detention or release the
individual. Suspects have the right to an attorney, but only after
being brought before a judge. Warrants authorizing pretrial detention
were effective for 6 months and could be renewed every 6 months until
the suspect was brought to trial. The Government provided counsel in
criminal cases only.
On April 2, police arrested and detained student demonstrators at
the University of Abomey-Calavi (see Section 2.b.).
Despite the legal provision that prohibits detention for more than
48 hours, there were credible reports that authorities exceeded this
limit in many cases, sometimes by as much as a week, using the common
practice of holding a person indefinitely ``at the disposition of'' the
public prosecutor's office before presenting the case to a magistrate.
Approximately 75 percent of persons in prison were pretrial detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the Government did not always respect
this provision in practice. The executive branch has important powers
with regard to the judiciary, which struck intermittently during the
year to protest executive branch interference (see Section 6.b.). The
judiciary remained inefficient in some respects and susceptible to
corruption at all levels.
The President appoints career magistrates as judges in civil
courts, and the Constitution gives the Ministry of Justice
administrative authority over judges, including the power to transfer
them. Inadequate facilities, poorly trained staff, and overcrowded
dockets delayed the administration of justice. Low salaries made
magistrates and clerks susceptible to corruption.
During the year, the Government continued its efforts to curb
judicial corruption. On June 4, the court rendered its decision on the
87 judges, court clerks, and public accountants detained for 29 months
on corruption charges: 62 persons received sentences from 6 months' to
5 years' imprisonment; and 25 persons were acquitted. Judicial salaries
increased significantly during the year, and the Justice Ministry
reinstated training programs for incoming magistrates.
A civilian court system operated on national and provincial levels.
The Supreme Court was the court of last resort in all administrative
and judicial matters. There were two courts of appeals, one of which
was added during the year. The Constitutional Court was charged with
deciding on the constitutionality of laws, disputes between the
President and the National Assembly, and disputes regarding
presidential and legislative elections. It demonstrated its
independence in previous years by ruling against both the executive and
legislative branches; however, the Constitutional Court, which also has
jurisdiction in human rights cases, was accused of bias in favor of the
President during the 2001 presidential elections (see Section 3). There
was also a High Court of Justice to try the President and ministers for
crimes related to their professional responsibilities.
Military disciplinary councils deal with minor offenses by members
of the military services, but they have no jurisdiction over civilians.
The legal system is based on French civil law and local customary
law. The Constitution provides for the right to a fair public trial. A
defendant is presumed innocent and has the right to be present at trial
and to representation by an attorney, at public expense if necessary.
In practice, the court provided indigent defendants with court-
appointed counsel upon request. A defendant also has the right to
confront witnesses and to have access to government-held evidence.
Trials were open to the public, but, in exceptional circumstances the
president of the court may decide to restrict access to preserve public
order or to protect the parties. Defendants who were awaiting a verdict
may request release on bail; however, the courts granted such requests
only on the advice of the Attorney General's office.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Police
were required to obtain a judicial warrant before entering a private
home, and they usually observed this requirement in practice.
The results of the National Assembly's 2001 investigation into
alleged governmental wiretapping was released during the year; however,
the results were inconclusive and did not lead to further prosecutions.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police
beat and detained journalists.
The law provides for prison sentences involving compulsory labor
for certain acts or activities related to the exercise of the right of
free expression. The law concerns threats to public order or calls to
violence, but it is vaguely worded and susceptible to abuse.
During the year, the Government ordered the NGO Association ELAN to
remove its billboards that expressed opposition to amending the
Constitution; the billboards were viewed widely as referring to an
amendment to allow President Kerekou to run for a third term of office.
The Government publicly accused ELAN of conducting an electoral
campaign outside of the designated campaign season. ELAN did not remove
the billboards, which security forces subsequently defaced.
There was a large and active privately-owned press composed of more
than 20 daily newspapers. These publications criticized the Government
freely and frequently, but the effect on public opinion was limited
because of their urban concentration and widespread illiteracy. A
nongovernmental media ethics commission (ODEM) continued to censure
some journalists during the year for unethical conduct, such as
reporting falsehoods or inaccuracies or releasing information that was
still under embargo. During the year, ODEM criticized three newspapers
for publishing articles inciting regionalism along ethnic lines. ODEM
also charged that some journalists had failed to adhere to professional
standards.
Privately owned radio and television stations were popular sources
of information. Programs critical of the Government were broadcast
without interference during the year, and ``call-in'' and other talk
shows often were used for public discussion of various topics.
The Government continued to own and operate the media that were
most influential in reaching the public because of broadcast range and
infrastructure. The majority of citizens were illiterate, lived in
rural areas, and generally received their news via radio. The Office of
Radio and Television (ORTB) broadcast in French and local languages.
Radio France International and the British Broadcasting Corporation
broadcast in Cotonou. Fifteen rural radio stations, which were governed
by local committees and received support from the ORTB, broadcast
several hours a day exclusively in local languages.
The ORTB television station broadcast more than 12 hours per day,
primarily in French. Several private television stations broadcast,
including GOLF TV and LC-2. Although neither television station
broadcast partisan programs, the vast majority of news programming
centered on government officials' activities, government-sponsored
conferences, and international stories provided by French television or
other foreign sources.
The government entity that oversaw media operations was the High
Authority for Audio-Visual Media and Communications, which required
broadcasters to submit weekly lists of planned programs and required
publishers to deposit copies of all publications with it; however, the
media did not comply with these requirements in practice. The
information was used for administrative purposes; however, journalists
often complained that it was an attempt at censorship.
The Government did not restrict the Internet.
The University of Abomey-Calavi, which closed in April after a
violent student demonstration, subsequently reopened; however, most
classes did not resume because of a nationwide teacher's strike (see
Section 2.b.).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice. The Government requires permits for
use of public places for demonstrations and generally granted such
permits; however, the Government sometimes used ``public order'' to
deny legitimate requests for permits from opposition groups and labor
unions.
During the year, police forcibly dispersed demonstrations, which
resulted in two deaths and numerous injuries.
On April 2, police used tear gas to disperse a violent
demonstration at the University of Abomey-Calavi. Dozens of students
were arrested and briefly detained, some students were injured, and the
University was closed. The demonstration, which was triggered by the
death of a student in an accident with a university bus, became violent
when students discovered an undercover police officer among them. The
University subsequently reopened; however, most classes did not resume
due to a nationwide teacher's strike.
On August 18, police in Porto Novo fired into a crowd of violent
demonstrators; one person was killed and numerous persons were injured.
The mob was protesting the August 18 arrest of several persons who had
smuggled cheap gasoline into the country and attacked the gas station
owners, who were believed to have informed the police. The police first
arrived at the scene without enough officers or equipment, but they
returned and used teargas to disperse the crowd, which had looted
buildings and vehicles and attempted to burn the National Assembly
building. A second death was reported during the clash, but it was
unclear how the person was killed. There were no arrests in connection
with the incident by year's end.
In October, police forcibly dispersed students demonstrating
against tuition increases; there were no reported injuries.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. The Government
requires associations to register and routinely granted registrations.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
Persons who wish to form a religious group must register with the
Ministry of the Interior. There were no reports that any group was
refused permission to register or was subjected to unusual delays or
obstacles in the registration process.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, the presence of police, gendarmes, and illegal roadblocks
impeded domestic movement. Although ostensibly meant to enforce
automotive safety and customs regulations, many of these checkpoints
served as a means for officials to exact bribes from travelers. The
Government maintained previously implemented measures to combat such
corruption at roadblocks; however, they were not always effective, and
extortion occurred.
In May, Nigeria secured its western border with the country to curb
the smuggling of stolen cars and other products. Increased surveillance
and security measures remained in place at year's end.
The Government maintained documentary requirements for minors
traveling abroad as part of its continuing campaign against trafficking
in persons (see Section 5).
The Government's policy toward the seasonal movement of livestock
allowed migratory Fulani herdsmen from other countries to enter freely;
the Government did not enforce designated entry points. Disputes arose
between the herdsmen and local landowners over grazing rights.
The Constitution prohibits the forced exile of citizens, and it was
not practiced.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees. The Government also provided temporary
protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the
1951 Convention/1967 Protocol. The UNHCR estimated that there were more
than 5,000 refugees of various nationalities in the country and that
approximately 1,000 persons residing in the country were requesting
asylum. During the year, a number of citizens of Togo entered the
country and were granted refugee status or given temporary protection;
however, many returned to Togo and reportedly worked in Togo while
still claiming refugee benefits in the country. Despite severe economic
pressures that limited its ability to provide education for children,
the Government allowed these Togolese to enroll their children in local
schools and permitted their participation in most economic activities.
During the year, the UNHCR determined that the more than 200 Ogoni
refugees from Nigeria could safely return home and were no longer
entitled to refugee status. Although no Ogoni were forcibly returned to
Nigeria, the UNHCR ran incentive programs to encourage their
repatriation and reduced food and housing subsidies to the Ogoni.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and generally fair elections held on the basis
of universal suffrage. Observers viewed the March 2003 National
Assembly and 2002 municipal elections as generally free and fair;
however, opposition parties charged that there were some
irregularities. The Constitution provides for a 5-year term of office
for the president (who is limited to two terms) and 4-year terms for
National Assembly members (who may serve an unlimited number of terms).
The Constitution limits candidates for the presidency to persons
between the ages of 40 and 70 years. Municipal terms are for 4 years.
There were 12 political parties and coalitions represented in the
unicameral, 83-member National Assembly.
The March 2003 National Assembly elections resulted in a loss of
seats by the opposition, notably the Rebirth of Benin (RB), the primary
opposition party led by former president Nicephore Soglo. A second
opposition party, that of the former Prime Minister Adrien Houngbedji,
joined the government coalition, leaving only Soglo's party and the
minor Star Alliance (AE) party in the opposition. The RB held 15 of the
National Assembly's 83 seats; AE held 3 seats.
Opposition parties criticized the National Election Commission's
handling of the country's first-ever municipal elections in 2002 and
charged that the pro-Kerekou coalition engaged in vote-buying, forged
voter cards, and other types of fraud. Despite these charges, the
opposition won the majority of seats on the municipal councils in the
large cities.
President Kerekou was inaugurated in 2001. Observers viewed the
reelection of Kerekou as free but not entirely fair because of the
apparent judicial manipulation of the presidential electoral counts,
the intimidation of opposition deputies, and the unprecedented scope of
the campaign expenditures made by the President's coalition. When
opposition candidates challenged the preliminary, first-round
presidential vote tallies, the court initially affirmed those results
despite the electoral commission's concession that computer failures
and other irregularities made those tallies unreliable. Following
extensive public criticism, the court reviewed the evidence in more
detail, modified the tallies, and gave some of the numerous opposition
candidates marginally higher total votes. No members of the opposition
were in the President's Cabinet or in the National Assembly's Executive
Committee.
Official corruption was widespread. During the year, there were
reports of financial improprieties in the privatization of Sonacop, the
state-owned oil company. During a November 2003 radio broadcast, the
Chief of the Government's Anti-Corruption Commission charged that 95
percent of government ministers sought to bypass procurement rules and
procedures. In 2003, President Kerekou stated publicly that senior
officials of his cabinet were involved in corruption and related
offenses.
There were no laws that provided for public access to government
information.
There were 4 women in the 21-member Cabinet. There were 5 women in
the 83-member, unicameral National Assembly, including the leader of
the largest opposition party. The President of the Constitutional Court
was a woman.
Minority ethnic groups were well represented in government
agencies, civil service, and the armed forces. In the National
Assembly, 19 members were from the Goun-Nago-Yoruba ethnic group, 15
from the Bariba, and 10 from the Somba-Dendi and other smaller groups.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The International Federation of Human Rights published a report
during the year that criticized the Government; observers in the media
and civil society charged that the report was unduly critical of the
Government and sometimes factually wrong.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race and sex;
however, societal discrimination against women continued. Persons with
disabilities were disadvantaged.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including wife beating,
was common. NGO observers believed that women remained reluctant to
report cases. Judges and police also were reluctant to intervene in
domestic disputes; society and law enforcement considered such cases to
be an internal family matter. The maximum penalty ranged from 6 to 36
months' imprisonment. In March 2003, a local chapter of a regional NGO,
Women in Law and Development-Benin, opened to offer social, legal,
medical, and psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence;
the organization was effective during the year.
The Law prohibits rape, and the Government enforced the law
effectively. Sentences for rape ranged from 1 to 5 years' imprisonment.
FGM was practiced on females ranging from infancy through 30 years
of age and generally took the form of excision; approximately 50
percent of women in the country have undergone FGM. FGM was outlawed in
March 2003, and the law provides for penalties for performing the
procedure, including jail sentences of up to 10 years in prison and
$10,000 (6 million CFA francs); however, the Government generally was
unsuccessful in preventing the practice. There was a strong profit
motive in the continued practice of FGM by those who performed the
procedure, usually older women. The efforts of NGOs and others to
educate rural communities about the dangers of FGM and to retrain FGM
practitioners in other activities continued during the year. A
prominent NGO, the local chapter of the Inter-African Committee, made
progress in raising awareness of the dangers of the practice, and the
Government cooperated with its efforts. During the year, the Ministry
of Family continued an education campaign that included conferences in
schools and villages, discussions with religious and traditional
authorities, and banners. NGOs also addressed this issue in local
languages on local radio stations.
Prostitution, which is illegal, was a problem, particularly child
prostitution. Sentences for prostitution included imprisonment of 6
months to 2 years and a fine of $800 (400,000 CFA francs) to $8,000 (4
million CFA francs).
Although the Constitution provides for equality for women in the
political, economic, and social spheres, women experienced extensive
societal discrimination, especially in rural areas where they occupied
a subordinate role and were responsible for much of the hard labor on
subsistence farms. In urban areas, women dominated the trading sector
in the open-air markets. A new Family Code was promulgated during the
year and provides women with better inheritance and property rights and
significantly increases their rights concerning marriage, including a
prohibition on forced marriage and polygyny.
Children.--The Government has stated publicly its commitment to
children's rights and welfare; however, it lacked the resources to
demonstrate that commitment. The Ministry of Family was responsible for
the protection of children's rights, primarily in the areas of
education and health. The National Commission for Children's Rights and
the Ministry of Family had oversight roles in the promotion of human
rights issues with regard to children and their welfare.
Primary education was compulsory for all and tuition-free for
girls; however, in some parts of the country, girls received no formal
education, and parents paid tuition for both boys and girls because
many schools had insufficient funds. The Government implemented
programs such as offering books at reduced prices to promote children's
access to primary schools and to enhance the quality and relevance of
schooling received. According to UNICEF, primary school enrollment was
approximately 90 percent of boys and approximately 60 percent of girls
nationwide; only 26 percent of boys and 12 percent of girls were
enrolled in secondary school. Girls did not have the same educational
opportunities as boys, and female literacy was approximately 18 percent
(compared with 50 percent for men). However, recent elementary school
pass rates for girls have increased. Strikes by teachers during the
year seriously disrupted the school year (see Section 6.b.).
There was a tradition in which a groom abducts and rapes his
prospective child bride (under 14 years of age). The practice was
widespread in rural areas, but the Government and NGOs worked to end it
through information sessions on the rights of women and children.
Criminal courts meted out stiff sentences to criminals convicted of
crimes against children; however, many such crimes never reached the
courts due to lack of education and access to the courts or fear of
police involvement in the problem.
FGM was commonly performed on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
The Constitution and the law prohibit child prostitution; however;
enforcement was frequently lax, and the commercial sexual exploitation
of children was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). Some street
children became prostitutes to support themselves.
Trafficking in children remained a problem. Some trafficking of
children occurred in connection with the forced servitude practice
called ``vidomegon,'' in which children worked, but the arrangement was
voluntary between the two families (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Traditional practices included the killing of deformed babies,
breech babies, and one of two newborn twins (all of whom were thought
to be sorcerers) in some rural areas; however, such practices sharply
decreased during the year, in large part due to widespread NGO media
campaigns against the practice. Some NGOs combined their anti-
infanticide efforts with programs to counter FGM.
Trafficking in Persons.--Although no law specifically prohibits
trafficking in persons, the Government interprets its laws as
prohibiting trafficking in persons in general and in underage girls in
particular; however, there were reports of trafficking in children. The
Criminal Code prohibits kidnapping. The country was a source, transit,
and destination for trafficked persons, primarily children.
Penalties for traffickers involved in ``labor exploitation'' ranged
from fines, to prison terms, to forced labor, to the death penalty,
depending on the severity of the crime and the length of time over
which the exploitation occurred. Penalties for the trafficking of
minors for prostitution ranged from 2 to 5 years' imprisonment with a
fine of $2,000 (1 million CFA francs) to $20,000 (10 million CFA
francs).
In March, authorities intercepted a truck carrying more than 100
children to be trafficked to Nigeria; however, it was unclear whether
anyone was prosecuted in the case. In July, police arrested Enoumekpe
Sowlaounde, a Togolese citizen, for trafficking eight Togolese girls
into the country to work as domestic servants. In 3 other cases in
July, police arrested 4 traffickers trying to smuggle 27 children out
of the country to Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Ghana. The traffickers, two
citizens of the country and two Togolese, were arrested and awaiting
trial at year's end. The children in these cases, all of whom had been
trafficked with the consent of their parents to earn money, were
returned to their families.
The traditional practice of vidomegon, in which poor, often rural,
families placed a child, primarily a daughter, in the home of a more
wealthy family to avoid the burden the child represented to the
parental family, increasingly involved abuse. While originally a
voluntary arrangement between two families, vidomegon increasingly
involved the child in forced labor, long hours, inadequate food, and
sexual exploitation. Approximately 90 to 95 percent of the children in
vidomegon were young girls. Children were sent from poorer families to
Cotonou and then some of the children were sent to Gabon, Cote
d'Ivoire, and the Central African Republic to help in markets and
around the home. The child received living accommodations, while income
generated from the child's activities was split between the child's
parents in the rural area and the urban family that raised the child.
Children were trafficked to Ghana, Nigeria, and Gabon for
indentured or domestic servitude, farm labor, and prostitution. In
addition, hundreds of children were taken across the border to Togo and
Cote d'Ivoire to work on plantations. Children from Niger, Togo, and
Burkina Faso have been trafficked to the country for indentured or
domestic servitude. Trafficking victims generally originated from the
country's southernmost provinces, those with the easiest access to the
paved coastal highway that links Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, and
Nigeria. Trafficked children generally came from poor rural areas and
were promised educational opportunities or other incentives.
According to UNICEF, four distinct forms of trafficking occur in
the country. ``Trafic-don'' was when children were given to a migrant
family member or stranger, who turned them over to another stranger for
vocational training or education. ``Trafic-gage'' was a form of
indentured servitude, in which a debt was incurred to transport the
child, who was not allowed to return home until the debt was repaid.
``Trafic-ouvrier'' involved children of ages 6 years to 12 years, and
they worked as artisans, construction laborers, or agricultural or
domestic workers. This was the most common variant, estimated to be 75
percent of the total traffic of the three provinces UNICEF surveyed in
2000. Finally, ``trafic-vente'' was the outright sale of children.
According to a survey of child labor conducted in 1999, 49,000
rural children, constituting 8 percent of the rural child population
between the ages of 6 and 16, worked abroad, primarily in the mines of
Nigeria, as agricultural workers on plantations in Cote d'Ivoire, and
as domestic workers in Gabon. Only children who had been trafficked
explicitly for labor purposes were counted among the 49,000 children
that were estimated to be victims of trafficking. However, the children
who left "for other reasons" may conceal an additional number of
trafficked children and bring the number close to 80,000. Of the
trafficked children in this child labor study, 61 percent were boys and
39 percent were girls. Organized child traffickers particularly have
victimized certain villages, and there were villages where up to 51
percent of children were trafficked.
Child prostitution mainly involved girls whose poor families urged
them to become prostitutes to provide income. Such children were abused
sexually by teachers who sought sex for better grades and lured to
exchange sex for money by older men who acted as their ``protectors.''
There were reports of sexual tourism and reports that adult males
preferred young girls because they were viewed as less demanding and
less likely to have HIV/AIDS. NGOs and international organizations
organized assistance to child prostitution victims and worked on
prevention programs.
The Government had bilateral agreements with Togo, Gabon, and
Nigeria, which focused on border control and repatriation of
trafficking victims. Security forces in the country and in Nigeria
conducted joint border patrols to curb smuggling and banditry. Regional
efforts also continued between heads of state of concerned countries to
cooperate to identify, investigate, and prosecute agents and
traffickers, and to protect and repatriate trafficking victims.
On February 27, the Government established a 15-member national
child protection committee to oversee the fight against child
trafficking and the work of child protection organizations. Committee
members were drawn from the Government, police, and child welfare
organizations. Committee goals included publishing a directory of child
welfare organizations and an evaluation of the effectiveness of each.
The Brigade for the Protection of Minors, under the jurisdiction of
the Interior Ministry, fought crimes against children. The Ministry of
the Family also opened centers in urban areas to provide education and
vocational training to victims of vidomegon. The Government also worked
with NGOs to combat trafficking in children, taking measures that
included media campaigns and greater border surveillance; however,
police complained that they lacked equipment to monitor trafficking
adequately.
During the year, the Ministry of Family, international NGOs, and
the donor community assisted numerous children who had been trafficked
to other countries to work in mines, quarries, and farms. Efforts
included the provision of food, shelter, medical treatment, and
subsequent placement in educational and vocational programs. During the
first 6 months of the year, approximately 500 trafficked children were
reunited with their families.
Persons with Disabilities.--The Constitution provides that the
State should care for persons with disabilities; however, there were no
legal requirements for the construction or alteration of buildings to
permit access for persons with disabilities. The Government operated
few institutions to assist persons with disabilities, and many such
individuals were forced to beg to support themselves.
The Labor Code includes provisions to protect the rights of workers
with disabilities, which were enforced with modest effectiveness during
the year.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides workers
with the freedom to organize, join unions, and meet, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. The labor force of
approximately 2 million was engaged primarily in subsistence
agriculture and other primary sector activities, with only a small
percentage of the population engaged in the formal (wage) sector.
Although approximately 75 percent of the wage earners belonged to labor
unions, a much smaller percentage of workers in the private sector were
union members.
The Labor Code prohibits employers from taking union membership or
activity into account regarding hiring, work distribution, professional
or vocational training, or dismissal; however, the Government did not
always enforce these provisions, and there were reports that
individuals were dismissed for union activity.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
generally allows workers the freedom to organize and administer their
own unions. The Labor Code provides for collective bargaining, and
workers freely exercised these rights. Wages in the private sector were
set in negotiations between unions and employers. The Government sets
wages in the public sector by law and regulation. There are no export
processing zones.
Strikes were permitted, and workers must provide 3 days advance
notice; however, the authorities can declare strikes illegal for stated
causes, such as threatening to disrupt social peace and order, and can
requisition striking workers to maintain minimum services. Workers
exercised their right to strike during the year. The Government may not
prohibit any strike on the grounds that it threatens the economy or the
national interest. A company may withhold part of a worker's pay
following a strike. Laws prohibit employer retaliation against
strikers, and the Government enforced them effectively.
Teacher strikes, which disrupted schools from the primary through
university levels, were conducted from August through year's end. In
some cases, students lost nearly a year of instruction.
Judicial employees went on strike for 2 months to protest executive
interference in a carjacking case.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Code
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred, and trafficking was a
problem (see Sections 5 and 6.d.). The law provides for sentences of
imprisonment involving compulsory labor for certain acts or activities
related to the exercise of the right of free expression (see Section
2.a.); no such sentences were imposed during the year.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code prohibits the employment or apprenticeship of children under
14 years of age in any enterprise; however, child labor remained a
problem. The Ministry of Labor enforced the Labor Code in only a
limited manner (and then only in the formal sector) due to the lack of
inspectors. To help support their families, children of both sexes--
including those as young as 7 years old--continued to work on rural
family farms, in small businesses, on construction sites in urban
areas, in public markets as street vendors, and as domestic servants
under the practice of vidomegon (see Section 5). A majority of children
working as apprentices were under the legal age of 14 for
apprenticeship.
Some financially desperate parents indentured their children to
``agents'' recruiting farm hands or domestic workers, often on the
understanding that wages for the children would be sent to the parents.
According to press reports, in some cases, these agents took the
children to neighboring countries for labor (see Section 5). Also, many
rural children were sent to cities to live with relatives or family
friends, often on the understanding that in return for performing
domestic chores, they would receive an education. Host families did not
always honor their part of the bargain, and the abuse of child domestic
servants occurred.
The Government took steps to educate parents and to prevent such
placing of children in compulsory labor. The Government undertook media
campaigns, regional workshops, and public pronouncements on child labor
problems. The Government worked with a network of NGOs and journalists
to educate the population on the problems of child labor and child
trafficking.
The Ministry of Family, in conjunction with the Labor Ministry and
the Justice Ministry, continued a 2003 program to fight child labor in
major cities.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government administratively
set minimum wage scales for a number of occupations. In 2000, the
Government raised the minimum wage to approximately $50 (25,000 CFA
francs) per month. However, the minimum wage did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family. Many workers had to
supplement their wages by subsistence farming or informal sector trade.
Most workers in the wage sector earned more than the minimum wage,
although many domestics and other laborers in the informal sector
earned less.
The Labor Code establishes a workweek of between 40 and 46 hours,
depending on the type of work, and provides for at least one 24-hour
rest period per week. Domestic and agricultural workers frequently
worked 70 hours or more per week. The authorities generally enforced
legal limits on workweeks in the formal sector.
The code establishes health and safety standards, but the Ministry
of Public Service, Labor, and Administrative Reform did not enforce
them effectively. The law does not provide workers with the right to
remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to
continued employment. The Ministry has the authority to require
employers to remedy dangerous work conditions but did not enforce this
authority effectively.
The law protects legal foreign workers.
__________
BOTSWANA
Botswana is a longstanding multiparty democracy. Constitutional
power is shared between the President and a popularly elected National
Assembly. On October 30, Festus Mogae, who has led the Botswana
Democratic Party (BDP) since 1998, was reelected President in
parliamentary elections deemed generally free and fair; however, there
were opposition complaints of unequal access to coverage by state-owned
television. The BDP, which has held a majority of seats in the National
Assembly continuously since independence, won 44 of 57 National
Assembly seats. The Government generally respected the constitutional
provisions for an independent judiciary; however, a shortage of judges
resulted in a large backlog of cases.
The Botswana Defense Force, which is under the control of the
Defense Council within the Office of the President, has primary
responsibility for external security, although it assisted with
domestic law enforcement on a case-by-case basis. The Botswana Police
Service (BPS) has primary responsibility for internal security. The
civilian Government maintained effective control of the security
forces. Some members of the security forces, in particular the police,
reportedly committed human rights abuses.
The economy of the country, which had a population of 1.7 million,
was market oriented with strong encouragement for private enterprise
through tax benefits. Approximately 32 percent of the labor force
worked in the informal sector, largely subsistence farming and animal
husbandry. Rural poverty remained a serious problem, as did a widely
skewed income distribution. From 2002 to 2003, gross domestic product
(GDP) grew by 6.7 percent, according to the Bank of Botswana. Diamond
exports provided approximately 75 percent of export income, 50 percent
of government revenues, and 33 percent of GDP. The high incidence of
HIV/AIDS strained government finances and decreased productivity.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in several areas. Police
reportedly beat or otherwise mistreated criminal suspects on occasion
to obtain evidence or coerce confessions. Prison conditions were poor
and possibly life threatening. The judicial system did not provide
timely fair trials due to a serious backlog of cases. The Government
continued to dominate domestic broadcasting and limited freedom of the
press. Some citizens, including groups not numbered among the eight
ethnic groups of the majority Tswana nation, remained marginalized in
the political process. Violence and discrimination against women
remained serious problems. Societal discrimination against ethnic San
(Basarwa) and persons with HIV/AIDS were problems. Child abuse was a
problem. Trade unions continued to face some legal restrictions,
including those against the right to strike, and the Government did not
always ensure that labor laws were observed in practice; however,
during the year, the Government recognized the right of civil servants
to organize.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, on March 19, prison officials shot and killed an illegal
immigrant as he attempted to escape from the Center for Illegal
Immigrants. Officials reportedly fired 11 warning shots first. The
shooting triggered a prison riot in which one person was injured
seriously (see Section 2.d.). The results of a government investigation
into the incident had not been released by year's end.
On November 13, police shot and killed a suspected criminal after
he threatened the officers with a machete in an attempt to escape
arrest. The fugitive, who was wanted for theft, had escaped from
custody 4 days earlier.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution explicitly prohibits such practices;
however, there were reports that on occasion, police used beatings and
other forms of abuse to obtain evidence or elicit confessions. Coerced
confessions and evidence gathered through coercion or abuse are
inadmissible in court.
On September 8, the independent media reported that a group of bank
employees had filed a suit against the Government alleging that police
officers had tortured them to extract information in connection with a
fraud investigation; police denied the allegations. The employees, who
charged that interrogators had suffocated some suspects with plastic
bags and stripped, bound, and kicked one suspect, had not filed a
police report by year's end. No further information was available.
Customary courts continued to impose corporal punishment in the
form of lashings on the buttocks, generally against young offenders in
villages for crimes such as vandalism, theft, and delinquency. During
the year, the Government denied foreign media charges that illegal
Zimbabwean immigrants in the country had been subjected to torture and
killings; however, the Government noted that the law provides for
corporal punishment and applies it to all, including foreigners and
citizens of the country.
Prison conditions remained poor and possibly life threatening. The
24 prisons across the country had a capacity of 3,870 inmates, but held
5,864 as of August 27. Overcrowding, which was worse in men's prisons,
constituted a serious health threat because of the country's high
incidence of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Rape between inmates occurred.
During the first 8 months of the year, 47 detainees died following long
illnesses, according to the Government. HIV/AIDS testing and the U.N.
Development Program (UNDP) peer counseling were available to all
prisoners; however, prison officials still lacked reliable statistics
on the HIV infection rate within the prison population. The Prison
Commissioner has the authority to release terminally ill prisoners who
are in the last 12 months of their sentences and to allow citizen
prisoners with sentences of 12 months or less to perform ``extramural''
labor. From January through August, the Government released 587
prisoners under the extramural labor program. Foreign prisoners were
required to serve their entire sentences.
The Prisons Act makes it illegal for prison officials to mistreat
prisoners. The Department of Prisons is required to forward to police
allegations of the mishandling of prisoners by prison officials.
The March 19 shooting to death by prison guards of an inmate
attempting to escape triggered a riot that resulted in injuries (see
Section 1.a.).
Men were held separately from women, and juveniles generally were
held separately from adults; however, some juveniles were held with
adult prisoners due to overcrowding or requests by family members to
facilitate visitation. Pretrial detainees were held in the same
facilities as convicted prisoners. The planned opening during the year
of a new juvenile prison did not occur because of construction delays.
The Prisons Act provides for a governmental visiting committee for
each prison, the members of which are appointed by the Minister of
Labor and Home Affairs. Members of these committees serve 3-year terms,
must visit their prison four times a year, and issue a report both to
the Commissioner of Prisons and the Minister of Labor and Home Affairs.
These reports generally were not released to the public. During the
year, the committees visited each prison quarterly.
The Prisons Act grants relatives, lawyers, magistrates, and church
organizations the right to visit prisoners for ``rehabilitative
purposes''; however, the Commissioner of Prisons has the authority to
decide whether domestic and international human rights organizations
may visit. Independent monitoring of prison conditions by human rights
groups, the media, or the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) generally was allowed if these organizations sought permission
from the Commissioner of Prisons. However, following the March 29
shooting of an inmate attempting to escape from the Center for Illegal
Immigrants, the Botswana Center for Human Rights was denied permission
to visit due to an ongoing investigation of the incident; a delegation
of EU ambassadors subsequently visited the Center. The ICRC visited
some prisons in September.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions in practice.
There were approximately 7,000 police officers in the country.
National and local police do not generally carry firearms. Corruption
was not common, and impunity generally was not a problem. According to
the Government, 32 police officers were convicted of various criminal
acts during the year: 5 were discharged for discreditable conduct, 3
were reprimanded for the same offense, and 7 were charged with official
corruption during the year.
Suspects must be informed of their legal rights upon arrest,
including the right to remain silent. Detainees must be charged before
a magistrate within 48 hours. A magistrate may order a suspect held for
14 days through a writ of detention, which may be renewed every 14
days. Detainees have the right to contact a family member and to hire
attorneys of their choice, but in practice, most were unable to afford
legal counsel. Poor police training and poor communications in rural
villages made it difficult for detainees to obtain legal assistance,
and authorities did not always follow judicial safeguards. The
Government did not provide counsel for the indigent, except in capital
cases. Most citizens charged with noncapital offenses were released on
their own recognizance; some were released with minimal bail. Detention
without bail was highly unusual, except in murder cases, where it is
mandatory. Incommunicado detention was rare, except for prisoners
awaiting execution. Constitutional protections were not applied to
illegal immigrants, although the constitutionality of denying them due
process has not been tested in court.
Pretrial detention was prolonged in numerous cases. The average
wait in prison between the filing of charges and the start of a trial
was approximately 6 months. The Government attempted to alleviate the
backlog of cases by temporarily hiring more judges; however, the
backlog of cases persisted.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary consists of both a civil court (including
magistrates' courts, a High Court, and a Court of Appeal) and a
customary (traditional) court system.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial; however, the civil
courts remained unable to provide timely, fair trials due to severe
staffing shortages and a backlog of pending cases. Most trials in the
regular courts were public, although trials under the National Security
Act may be held in secret. There was no jury system. Those charged with
noncapital crimes were tried without legal representation if they could
not afford an attorney. As a result, many defendants were not informed
of their rights in pretrial or trial proceedings. There is a
presumption of innocence, and defendants have the right to appeal. The
Botswana Center for Human Rights provided free legal services, but its
capacity was limited. The University of Botswana Legal Assistance
Center provided free legal services in civil, but not criminal,
matters.
On October 6, the two San convicted of a 1995 murder appeared
before the High Court to seek a stay of execution; the Court had not
rendered a decision by year's end.
Most civil cases were tried in customary courts, under the
authority of a traditional leader. These courts handled minor offenses
involving land, marital, and property disputes. Foreigners may be tried
in customary courts. In customary courts, the defendant does not have
legal counsel, and there were no precise rules of evidence. Tribal
judges, appointed by the tribal leader or elected by the community,
determine sentences, which may be appealed through the civil court
system. The quality of decisions reached in the customary courts varied
considerably. In some cases, tribal judges may mete out sentences such
as public lashings (see Section 1.c.). In communities where chiefs and
their decisions were respected, plaintiffs tended to take their cases
to the customary court; otherwise, persons sought justice in the civil
courts.
There is a military court system; civilians are not tried in
military courts.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however,
in 2002, the Government forcibly resettled the San out of the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). Government officials maintained that the
resettlement program was voluntary and necessary to reduce the cost of
providing public services and to minimize human impact on wildlife. The
Government made no effort to relocate the few San who returned to the
CKGR. At year's end, ethnic San remained in resettlement sites after
the Government forced them to abandon their ancestral communities
within the CKGR in 2002 (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and the Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected freedom of speech in practice; however, the Government
attempted to limit freedom of the press and continued to dominate
domestic broadcasting. The Government occasionally censored stories or
news sources that it deemed undesirable. The Government did not
restrict academic freedom.
The Botswana Press Agency, owned and operated by the Government,
provided most of the information found in the media through the Daily
News newspaper (distributed nationwide at no cost) and two FM radio
stations, Radio Botswana and Radio Botswana 2. News coverage in the
state-owned media generally supported government policies and actions.
The Daily News also published general coverage of current events and
issues and included a second front page in Setswana, the most commonly
spoken language.
The independent press was small but vigorous and had a long
tradition of candid discourse. Reporters actively covered the political
arena and frequently criticized the Government and the President
without fear of closure. The circulation of privately owned print media
continued to be limited primarily to the main cities and towns: 8
privately owned weekly newspapers and 1 daily newspaper were published
in Gaborone; 1 privately owned weekly newspaper was published in
Francistown; and 11 privately owned monthly magazines were published
nationally.
Radio remained the most important medium of public communication.
Two private radio stations, Yarona FM and Gabz FM, broadcast in 5 of
the country's 10 largest towns; state-owned radio continued to be the
only domestic radio service broadcasting to the entire country. The law
provides for the issuance of broadcast licenses to private companies
and provides copyright protection of broadcast material; the autonomous
National Broadcasting Board (NBB) granted the licenses routinely. On
December 21, the NBB licensed state-owned Radio Botswana.
BTV broadcast south from Gaborone to Lobatse, north to Serowe and
Francistown, and was scheduled to be available throughout the country
within a few years.
The privately-owned Gaborone Broadcasting Company (GBC) broadcast
mostly foreign programming and was the only other television station
operating in the country. GBC broadcasts reached viewers only in the
capital area.
Independent radio and television broadcasts from neighboring South
Africa were received easily in border areas. Satellite television from
a South African-based company was available readily, although its cost
prevented many persons from subscribing to the service.
During the year, the media and opposition parties charged that the
Government pressured state-owned media to minimize coverage of
opposition parties.
In November 2003, Minister of Communication, Science, and
Technology Boyce Sebetela announced that due to resource constraints,
BTV would restrict coverage of campaign events. BTV subsequently
covered any event at which the President or Vice President presided,
including campaign events, which prompted opposition criticism of
inequitable access to the media. As a result of the criticism, BTV
expanded its coverage to include all presidential candidates.
During the year, Radio Botswana cancelled a program that reviewed
lead stories carried by independent newspapers each morning. The
Government charged that the radio program was ``unsustainable'';
however, journalists attributed the cancellation to Minister Sebetela's
desire to ensure BDP-friendly programming.
The Government's November 2003 suspension of Masa-a-sele, a radio
call-in program, remained in effect at year's end; the Government cited
the program's content and use of profanity as the reason for the
suspension.
Government officials sometimes complained of bias in the private
press; however, government officials and other public figures have
recourse to the courts if they believe that they have been libeled.
Libel is a civil law matter; there are no criminal libel laws.
The Government did not restrict Internet usage.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
In 2002, the Government required the San to relocate from the CKGR
to one of three designated settlements outside of the reserve (see
Sections 1.f. and 5). Visitors to the Reserve, including relocated
former residents, had to register with Department of Wildlife officials
to obtain a permit to enter the CKGR. Estimates of the San population
within the Reserve varied between 50 and 200 as members of the
community moved in and out of the CKGR during the year.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government generally provided protection against refoulement, the
return of persons to a country where they feared persecution, and
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
During the year, the Government also provided temporary protection to
approximately 550 individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the
1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
The Government held newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers in
the Center for Illegal Immigrants in Francistown until the Refugee
Advisory Committee, a governmental body whose Chairperson is the
District Commissioner of Francistown, interviewed them; UNHCR was
present with observer status at such interviews. Once persons were
granted refugee status, the Government transferred them to the Dukwe
Refugee Camp until their resettlement or voluntary repatriation.
Refugee applicants who were unsuccessful in obtaining asylum also were
allowed to remain at Dukwe until the Government referred their cases to
the UNHCR for resettlement.
As of August, the Center for Illegal Immigrants, which has a
capacity of 504, held 236 illegal immigrants. The UNHCR opposed the
detention of asylum seekers at the Center on the grounds that asylum
seekers should not be held in detention facilities. Concern about
conditions increased after the March 19 shooting of an illegal
immigrant as he tried to escape, reportedly because he had been
detained without a hearing for much longer than the 28 days mandated by
law (see Section 1.a.).
During the year, approximately 4,800 illegal immigrants from
Zimbabwe were repatriated each month. Unlike during the previous year,
there were no reports that security forces used excessive force in
repatriating Zimbabweans. The few Zimbabweans who requested asylum or
refugee status were allowed to apply for official status.
At year's end, there were more than 3,000 refugees at Dukwe,
primarily from Namibia, Angola, and Somalia. Refugees are permitted to
reside outside Dukwe Refugee Camp with a permit from the Office of the
President. An estimated 500 refugees, including a number of students,
were living elsewhere in the country.
The Government, UNHCR, and the Government of Angola signed a
tripartite repatriation agreement during the year to facilitate the
voluntary return of an estimated 1,200 Angolan refugees living in Dukwe
camp; the registration process for the refugees was ongoing at year's
end. By year's end, 60 families had returned to Angola; another 153
individuals had registered for repatriation.
The country continued to host approximately 1,200 refugees from the
Caprivi Strip in neighboring Namibia. Many were associated with the
Caprivian separatist movement. Unlike in the previous year, none chose
to be voluntarily repatriated.
In February, the Namibian High Court ordered the release of 13 of
the 120 detainees charged with treason; the Judge ruled that their
extradition from Botswana and Zambia did not conform to the extradition
procedures in either country. The suspects were subsequently released
and rearrested on the same charges. In July, the Namibian Supreme Court
overturned the High Court's decision; criminal proceedings for all 120
were scheduled to resume in January 2005.
In July, the Court of Appeal ruled against the Namibian
Government's request to have 13 alleged Caprivi secessionists
extradited to face charges of murder and high treason. During the year,
2 of these individuals died of natural causes; the remaining 11 were
being held at the Center for Illegal Immigrants while the UNHCR
reviewed their refugee claims.
The seven refugees who were arrested on related charges of high
treason in Namibia after being forcibly returned from the country in
December 2003 remained in detention at year's end; their trial was
scheduled for early 2005.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal adult (18 years of age) suffrage. The President is elected by
the National Assembly and is limited to two 5-year terms in office. The
BDP has held a majority of seats in the National Assembly and has
controlled the presidency continuously since independence. Membership
in the dominant BDP conferred some advantages, mostly in the form of
government employment or provision of government services, such as
water and utilities.
On October 30, National Assembly elections were held: The BDP
increased its majority to 44 of 57 seats; the Botswana National Front
(BNF) won 12 seats; and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) won 1 seat.
Redistricting prior to the parliamentary elections increased the number
of competitive seats in the National Assembly from 44 to 57; 4
additional members are appointed by the President, bringing the total
number of National Assembly seats to 61. The elections generally were
regarded as free and fair by domestic and international observers;
however, BDP candidates had preferential access during much of the
campaign to state-owned television. Reports of large anonymous campaign
contributions to the ruling party, particularly by international
diamond interests, resulted in public calls for greater transparency in
political party funding.
The House of Chiefs, an advisory body with limited powers, was
restricted constitutionally to the eight principal ethnic groups of the
majority Tswana ethnic group and four elected chiefs representing
smaller ethnic groups, including the Bakalanga, Balozi, Hambukushu, and
Bakgalagadi; other groups such as the San, Ovaherero, or Bayei
consequently were not represented. Given the limited authority of the
House of Chiefs, the impact of excluding other groups of citizens
largely was symbolic, but some nonethnic Tswana viewed it as important
in principle. No action to change this policy had been taken by year's
end.
There were 14 local councils, but they had no fiscal autonomy and
relied on the central Government for revenue.
During the year, the Government continued its efforts to combat
public corruption. On August 13, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry
into State Land Allocations published a report that found numerous
irregularities in the allocation of public land.
On September 22, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime
(DCEC) marked its 10th anniversary with a 2-day conference on
corruption and how to combat it. Participants openly debated whether
the DCEC was sufficiently independent, how to institute transparency in
political party funding, and how to ensure that prominent persons in
the public and private sectors were not exempt from prosecution for
corrupt practices.
There are no laws that compel the Government to disclose
information to the public upon request.
There were 7 women in the 61-seat National Assembly, 5 women in the
19-seat Cabinet, and 3 female justices in the 13-seat High Court. In
2003, the first woman in the country's history was elected chairperson
of the House of Chiefs, and another woman became regent of the Batawana
tribe.
The Constitution recognizes only the eight principal ethnic groups
of the Tswana nation; however, members of ethnic groups not recognized
in the Constitution participated actively in the Government,
particularly members of the Kalanga and Bakalagadi ethnic groups.
During the year, 17 members of minority ethnic groups held seats in the
National Assembly, and 8 held seats in the Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups,
including the Botswana Center for Human Rights, generally operated
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their
findings on human rights cases. Government officials usually were
cooperative and responsive to their views.
The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and UNICEF, as well as
other international organizations, and the ICRC visited during the year
(see Section 1.c.).
There is an independent, autonomous ombudsman who handles human
rights and other issues; the Government generally cooperated with the
ombudsman.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits governmental discrimination on the basis
of ethnicity, race, nationality, creed, sex, or social status, and the
Government generally respected these provisions in practice. However,
neither the Constitution nor the law prohibits discrimination by
private persons or entities. There was societal discrimination against
women, persons with disabilities, persons with HIV/AIDS, and minority
ethnic groups, particularly the San, who lived in remote locations
where access to education, public services, employment, and land is
extremely limited.
Women.--The law does not prohibit domestic violence against women,
and it remained a serious problem. Under customary law and in common
rural practice, men have the right to ``chastise'' their wives. Greater
public awareness and improved legal protection have resulted in
increased reporting of domestic violence and sexual assault; however,
police rarely were called to intervene in such cases. During the year,
the Police Service took steps to increase privacy at police stations to
encourage victims of domestic abuse to report such incidents.
Rape was another serious problem, especially given the high
incidence of HIV/AIDS. During the year, 1,386 incidents of rape were
reported. By law, the minimum sentence for rape is 10 years increasing
to 15 years with corporal punishment if the offender is HIV-positive,
and to 20 years with corporal punishment if the offender knew his or
her HIV-positive status. A person convicted of rape is required to
undergo an HIV test before being sentenced; however, the test did not
determine if the person was HIV positive at the time of the crime.
Police lacked basic investigative techniques in rape cases. The law
does not address marital rape; however, in August 2003, a magistrate
dismissed a case of alleged marital rape on the grounds that the
marriage contract implies consent, making rape impossible unless a
husband and wife were legally separated. The plaintiff, who had sought
refuge in a women's shelter, had been abducted and raped repeatedly by
her husband.
Prostitution is illegal but was widespread throughout the country.
Sexual exploitation and harassment continued to be problems with
men in positions of authority, including teachers, supervisors, and
older male relatives who pressured women and girls to provide sexual
favors.
Women legally enjoyed the same civil rights as men; however, in
practice, societal discrimination persisted. A number of traditional
laws enforced by tribal structures and customary courts restricted
women's property rights and economic opportunities. A woman married
under traditional law or in ``common property'' was held to be a legal
minor and required her husband's consent to buy or sell property, apply
for credit, and enter into legally binding contracts. Under the law,
women married under an intermediate system, referred to as ``in
community of property'', were permitted to own immovable property in
their own names. Moreover, the law also stipulates that neither spouse
can dispose of joint property without the written consent of the other
party. Women increasingly exercised the right to marriage ``out of
common property,'' in which case they retained their full legal rights
as adults. Discrimination against women was most acute in rural areas,
where women engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture had few
property rights. Polygyny was legal under traditional law with the
consent of the first wife, but it rarely was practiced.
The Government and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
focused on constructive methods to address discrimination against women
in the areas of marital power, legal disabilities, and proprietary
consequences of marriage under common law, customary law, and the
Married Persons Property Act. On December 8, the President signed into
law the Abolition of Marital Powers Act, which established equality of
control over the joint estates of marriages and equal guardianship of
parents over minor children. The Act also removes the domicile of
husbands and fathers as the grounds for establishing the domicile for
wives and minor children. Marriage laws set the marriage age for men
and women at 18 years.
Well-trained urban women had growing entry- and mid-level access to
white collar jobs, but the number of opportunities decreased sharply as
they rose to senior management.
Young women did not have access to military training.
The Government and NGOs met regularly to implement the long-term
plan of action described in the National Policy on Women. The Women's
Affairs Department helped support a number of NGOs during the year, and
the Department provided financial assistance for legal aid in cases of
domestic violence and defilement.
Children.--The rights of children are addressed in the Constitution
and the Children's Act, and the Government remained committed to the
protection of these rights. The Government continued to allocate the
largest portion of its operating expenditures to the Ministry of
Education and the second largest portion to the Ministry of Local
Government, which distributed books, food, and materials for primary
education. Under the law, the country has a court system and social
service apparatus designed solely for juveniles.
During the year, the Government expanded its provision of free
primary education for children from 7 years to 10 years, although
attendance was not compulsory. Approximately 88 percent of children
attended school, and approximately 30 percent completed secondary
school, according to the Government. Girls and boys attended school at
similar rates. School attendance and completion rates were highest in
urban areas and lowest in remote rural areas, especially those
inhabited chiefly by the San. The literacy rate was 81 percent: 82
percent for females and 80 percent for males.
UNAIDS estimated that 37.4 percent of persons between the ages of
15 and 49 were infected with HIV/AIDS. UNICEF reported there were
approximately 112,000 orphans in the country, due largely to deaths
from HIV/AIDS; however, 28 percent of babies born from HIV positive
mothers were protected from the virus, largely as a result of the
Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Program. As of December, the
Government had registered approximately 47,000 orphans. Once
registered, orphans may receive food baskets and school uniforms. Many
children, mostly believed to be orphans, became beggars in urban areas,
and some became prostitutes. Relatives continued to deny inheritance
rights to orphans.
Sexual abuse of students by teachers was a problem. Reports of rape
and sexual assault of young women and cases of incest and defilement of
young girls appeared with greater frequency in the news. The increasing
number of HIV/AIDS orphans contributed to an increase in incest. The
law considers incest a punishable act only if it occurs between blood
relatives, leaving children unprotected from incestuous acts performed
by step parents, caregivers, and the extended family. The age of sexual
consent was 16. Child prostitution and pornography were criminal
offenses, and the law stipulates a 10-year minimum sentence for
defilement of persons under 16 years of age. In view of the belief held
by some persons in southern Africa that intercourse with a virgin was a
cure for HIV/AIDS, intergenerational sex (sexual relations between
older men and girls) and the problems of teenage pregnancy caused by
older men continued to receive extensive media attention during the
year.
There were reports of child labor (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons, although penal code provisions cover such related offenses as
abduction and kidnapping, slave trafficking, compulsory labor, and
procuring women and girls for the purpose of prostitution; however,
there were unconfirmed reports that women were trafficked through the
country to other destinations. During the year, there were reports that
poor rural children were taken from their homes under false pretenses
and forced to work as maids or cattle herders. There were reports that
some children who were orphaned by HIV/AIDS became prostitutes in urban
areas (see Section 5, Children). Traffickers charged with kidnapping or
abduction could be sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment.
During the year, the Government took steps to develop a national
plan of action to address trafficking. In February, the Government and
UNICEF established a task force on trafficking chaired by the police,
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
convened a meeting on trafficking with other government agencies, NGOs,
and foreign diplomats. Local police in cooperation with their South
African counterparts continued an intensive program to increase border
controls.
Persons with Disabilities.--There was some discrimination against
persons with disabilities, and employment opportunities remained
limited. The Government has a national policy that provides for
integrating the needs of persons with disabilities into all aspects of
government policymaking; however, the Government did not mandate access
to public buildings or transportation for persons with disabilities.
The Government funded NGOs that provided rehabilitation services and
supported small-scale work projects by workers with disabilities.
Indigenous People.--The San, who now chiefly inhabit the Kalahari
Desert, are the earliest known inhabitants of the country. They were
linguistically, culturally, and often morphologically distinct from the
rest of the population; however, they were not a homogenous group. The
San remained economically and politically marginalized, have lost
access to their traditional land in fertile regions of the country, and
were vulnerable to exploitation by their non-San neighbors. Their
isolation, ignorance of civil rights, and lack of political
representation have stymied their progress. The estimated 52,000 to
65,000 San represented approximately 3 percent of the country's
population. Although the San traditionally were hunter-gatherers, most
employed San worked as agricultural laborers on cattle ranches that
belonged to other ethnic groups. During the year, a substantial
proportion of the San resided in government-created Remote Area Dweller
settlements and subsisted on government social welfare benefits.
The colonial government established the 20,000-square-mile CKGR in
1961 to protect the food supply of some San groups still pursuing a
subsistence hunter-gatherer livelihood; however, by 2001, the
Government delivered an ultimatum declaring that all residents of the
CKGR would be removed and relocated. The Government continued to
provide the San with water, healthcare services, and old age, orphan,
and destitute benefits until January 2002, when all public services
were terminated, and subsistence hunting licenses were revoked. In
April 2002, the Government forcibly resettled all San from the CKGR to
the government-created settlement areas of Kaudwane, New Xade, and
Xere. The San continued to struggle with the lack of services and
opportunities in the relocation areas, and a few have moved back into
the CKGR. Settlement sustainability was threatened by the lack of
employment opportunities and rampant alcohol abuse. San groups have
called for the Government to recognize their land use system and to
grant them land rights.
On July 12, the High Court began hearing a case filed by the First
People of the Kalahari, an NGO representing the San, against the
Government to challenge the constitutionality of the Government's
removal of the San from the CKGR into settlements. The case, which the
Government announced it would appeal should it lose, was scheduled to
resume in January 2005.
President Mogae announced during that year that residents of the
CKGR were ``allowed to hunt inside the CKGR provided they hunt by
traditional means, i.e., hunting on foot using bows and arrows.'' San
who moved out of the CKGR were not allowed to hunt there; however, they
were allowed to obtain free Special Game Licenses to hunt in designated
areas outside of the CKGR. During the year, 74 such permits were issued
to residents of New Xade; however, game was scarce in those areas, and
few San used the licenses.
A number of NGOs have made efforts to promote the rights of
indigenous people; however, the programs have had limited impact.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was strong
societal discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. In the past,
some employers fired HIV-positive employees after learning of their
status; however, there were no reports of such activities during the
year, according to the Botswana Business Council on HIV/AIDS. On
February 26, the Botswana Building Society (BBS) announced that it
would no longer require HIV testing as a condition of employment; in
October 2003, a BBS employee sued her employer for terminating her
services after she refused to undergo an HIV test.
The Government funded community organizations that ran programs to
reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS. President Mogae, who has repeatedly
encouraged senior government officials to speak out about HIV/AIDS,
announced publicly in 2003 that he tested negative for HIV.
The law prohibits homosexuality.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of workers' association, and during the year, the Government
extended this right to government employees, the only group that had
been excluded in the past from joining or organizing unions of their
own choosing. The industrial or wage economy was small, and unions were
concentrated largely in mineral extraction and to a lesser extent in
the railway and banking sectors.
During the year, the President signed a law that rescinded a former
government requirement that elected union officials work full-time in
the industry of their union representation.
Workers may not be fired for union-related activities. Dismissals
on other grounds may be appealed to civil courts or labor officers,
which rarely ordered more than 2 months' severance pay.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for collective bargaining for unions that have
enrolled 25 percent of a labor force; however, only the mineworker and
diamond sorter unions had the organizational strength to engage in
collective bargaining. The country has only one export processing zone,
and it was subject to the same labor laws as the rest of the country.
The law severely restricts the right to strike. Legal strikes
theoretically are possible only after an exhaustive arbitration
process. Sympathy strikes are prohibited.
On August 22, approximately 1,500 members of the Botswana Mine
Workers Union (BMWU) went on strike to protest compensation, the use of
expatriate labor, and the pressuring by management of union officials.
The Industrial Court ruled the strike illegal, and on September 6, the
strikers returned to work.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government does
not prohibit forced and compulsory labor, including by children;
however, there were no reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor is addressed in the Children's Act; however, some child
labor occurred. Only an immediate family member may employ a child age
13 or younger, and no juvenile under age 14 may be employed in any
industry without permission from the Commissioner of Labor. No
organization has petitioned the Commissioner for such permission. Only
persons over age 16 may be hired to perform night work, and no person
under age 16 is allowed to perform hazardous labor, including mining.
District and municipal councils had child welfare divisions, which
were responsible for enforcing child labor laws; however, no systematic
investigation has occurred. The Labor Commissioner; officials of the
Ministry of Local Government, Lands, and Housing; and UNICEF generally
agreed that child labor was limited to young children in remote areas
who worked as cattle tenders, domestic laborers, and child care
providers. Childline, a child welfare organization, received 25 reports
of child labor during the year.
The law provides that adopted children may not be exploited for
labor and protects orphans from exploitation or coercion into
prostitution; however, HIV/AIDS has resulted in numerous orphans who
were forced to leave school to care for sick relatives and who were
vulnerable to such exploitation.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum hourly wage for most
full-time labor in the private sector was $0.64 (2.9 pula), which did
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The
Cabinet determined wage policy based on recommendations made by the
National Economic, Manpower, and Incomes Committee, which consists of
government, BFTU, and private sector representatives. The Ministry of
Labor was responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, and each of the
country's districts had at least one labor inspector. Civil service
disputes were referred to an ombudsman for resolution. Private labor
disputes were mediated by labor commissioners; however, an insufficient
number of commissioners resulted in 1- to 2-year backlogs in resolving
such disputes.
Formal sector jobs generally paid well above minimum wage levels.
Informal sector employment, particularly in the agricultural and
domestic service sectors, where housing and food were included,
frequently paid below the minimum wage. There was no mandatory minimum
wage for domestic workers, and the Ministry of Labor did not recommend
a minimum wage for them.
The law permits a maximum 48-hour workweek, exclusive of overtime,
that is payable at time and a half for each additional hour. Most
modern private sector jobs had a 40-hour workweek; however, the public
sector had a 48-hour workweek.
The law provides that workers who complain about hazardous
conditions may not be fired; however, the Government's ability to
enforce its workplace safety legislation remained limited by inadequate
staffing and unclear jurisdictions among different ministries.
Nevertheless, employers generally provided for worker safety, with an
occasional exception in the construction industry.
Illegal immigrants from poorer neighboring countries, primarily
Zambians and Zimbabweans, were exploited easily in labor matters, since
they would be subject to deportation if they filed grievances against
their employers.
__________
BURKINA FASO
Burkina Faso is a parliamentary republic. President Blaise Compaore
continued to dominate the Government of the Fourth Republic, assisted
by members of his party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP),
despite gains made by the opposition in the 2002 legislative elections.
In 1998, President Compaore was reelected to a second 7-year term with
88 percent of the vote. International observers considered the 2002
legislative elections to have been substantially free and fair,
although a collective of 14 local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
cited voter list irregularities and cases of fraud. The judiciary was
subject to executive influence and corruption.
The security apparatus consists of the armed forces and the
gendarmerie, which are controlled by the Ministry of Defense; the
national police, controlled by the Ministry of Security; and the
municipal police, controlled by the Ministry of Territorial
Administration. The Presidential Guard is an autonomous security force,
although technically it is subject to the jurisdiction of the armed
forces and part of the army. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. Some members of the security
forces committed serious human rights abuses.
The economy was market-based; an estimated 85 percent of the
population of approximately 12.2 million engaged in subsistence
agriculture. A locust outbreak in August severely damaged the grain
harvest in the northern provinces. Frequent drought, limited
communication and transportation infrastructures, and a 77 percent
illiteracy rate were longstanding problems. The Government's
antipoverty strategy to open the economy to market forces while
shifting resources to the education and health sectors continued during
the year. Gross national product per capita was $375.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. The
continued dominance of President Compaore and his ruling party limited
citizens' right to change their government. Security forces were
responsible for some killings of criminal suspects; however, there were
fewer reports of such killings than in previous years. Security forces
continued to torture and abuse detainees, although there were fewer
such cases than in previous years. Prison conditions remained harsh.
Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems, and authorities on
occasion did not provide detainees with due process. Impunity remained
a problem. Unlike in the previous year, authorities did not restrict
the media; however, at times, journalists practiced self-censorship.
Police used violence to disperse meetings and demonstrations. Violence
and discrimination against women, including female genital mutilation
(FGM); violence against children; child labor; and child trafficking
continued to be problems. The Government continued to take steps to
combat FGM, child labor, and trafficking in persons. Social
discrimination against persons with disabilities was widespread. Mobs
killed or beat criminal suspects during the year.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, security forces were responsible for the deaths of criminal
suspects and detainees, although fewer than in the previous year.
On February 1, Badolo Wango was tortured and died in Koudougou
prison, Boulkiemde Province, after an unsuccessful escape attempt. Four
of the prison guards accused in his death were removed from their post,
arrested, and jailed; however, the four were subsequently released on
bail, and no further action had been taken by year's end.
On April 4, the Burkinabe Movement for Human Rights (MBDHP)
reported that security forces were responsible for the deaths of two
unidentified criminal suspects whose bodies had been found near the
road to Tougouri, Sanmatenga Province; the victims apparently had been
shot to death. The MBDHP, the country's largest human rights
organization and a vocal critic of the Government, demanded an
investigation; however, no action had been taken by year's end.
On July 25, Pitroipa Yemdaogo died after being detained for
approximately 6 months at the House of Arrest and Correction of
Ouagadougous; Yemdaogo was arrested in Ghana on February 25 for
suspected involvement in the killing of three policemen in Zaogho,
Kouritenga Province, and subsequently repatriated. Authorities had
given no official reason for Yemdaogo's death by year's end; however,
some human rights NGOs suspected his death was the result of abuse.
No action was taken during the year against security forces
believed to be responsible for the 2003 executions of 6 men in Godin,
Boulkiemde Province and 12 men in Fada N'Gourma or in the 2003 killings
of 18 criminal suspects or of 4 persons who died under suspicious
circumstances following incarceration or contact with security forces.
There were no developments in any of the 2002 cases of killings by
security forces.
On June 22, a trial was conducted in the 1999 killing by police in
Banfora, Camoe Province, of Mamadou Kone, who was shot after striking
two policemen during an escape attempt. Dabila Ouattara, one of the
policemen accused in the case, was acquitted; however, the court
ordered the Government to pay Kone's family approximately $176,000
(100.3 million CFA francs) in compensation.
Societal violence resulted in deaths during the year. On April 30,
conflict between the residents of Sigle county seat and Tiemnore
village, Boulkiemde Province, resulted in the death of Urbain Sibnoaga
Gansore from Sigle. Police subsequently charged and detained Arsene
Kabore of Tiemnore with the killing. In revenge for the killing of
Gansore, residents of Sigle looted the police station and beat Kabore
to death. Police arrested and detained 10 persons, who subsequently
were released on bail and awaiting trial at year's end.
On June 29 and 30, a land use conflict between Gourmantches farmers
and Fulani herders from the village of Balere resulted in the deaths of
10 Fulani cattle herders; approximately 15 farmers from the Gourmantche
and Zaosse ethnic groups were arrested, and an investigation was
ongoing at year's end. Farmers have traditionally accused herders of
destroying scarce farmland.
On November 30 and December 1, in Po county seat, another land use
conflict between Kassena farmers of the Gourunsi ethnic group and
Fulani herders resulted in the death of a Fulani herder, the injuring
of another, the displacement of hundreds of Fulanis, and the
destruction of Fulani houses and property. Police arrested 15 Kassena
farmers, who were awaiting trial at year's end.
There were no results in the investigation of the November 2003
killing of Assami Tonde, who reportedly had trespassed on sacred ground
prior to a traditional ceremony; Tonde was allegedly beaten to death by
the retainers of the Naaba Kiiba of Yatenga, a traditional chieftain.
There were no further developments.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, members of the
security forces continued to abuse persons, and suspects were
frequently subjected to beatings and threats and sometimes torture to
extract confessions. Abuse by security forces resulted in deaths (see
Section 1.a.).
The Government took no known disciplinary action against those
responsible for abuses, and the climate of impunity created by the
Government's failure to prosecute abusers remained the largest obstacle
to ending abuses.
On June 6, police arrested, stripped naked, and beat with rubber
batons 11 residents of Yako, Passore Province for allegedly instigating
riots and assaulting a detainee in the Yako jail; the 11 were
subsequently released on bail. No action had been taken against the
police by year's end.
Police beat persons during demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
There were no developments in the 2002 case in which soldiers beat
police and civilians in the town of Kaya.
Prison conditions were harsh and could be life threatening. The
federal prison in Bobo-Dioulasso, built in 1947, housed approximately
900 prisoners, although it was designed to hold less than half that
number. The prison diet was poor, and inmates often relied on
supplemental food from relatives. There were separate facilities for
men, women, children, and high-profile persons; however, these
facilities typically were crowded, common rooms rather than individual
cells. Pretrial detainees usually were not held separately from
convicted prisoners.
Prison visits were granted at the discretion of prison authorities;
however, permission generally was granted, and advance permission was
not required. Prison observers visited prisons during the year.
Numerous human rights organizations and the International Committee
of the Red Cross were permitted to visit the 16 detainees accused of
participating in an alleged coup plot in October 2003 (see Section
1.e.).
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did not observe
these prohibitions in practice.
The national police, under the Ministry of Security, and the
municipal police, under the Ministry of Territorial Administration, are
responsible for public security; gendarmes reporting to the Ministry of
Defense also are responsible for some aspects of public security.
Corruption was widespread, particularly among lower levels of the
police. A Committee Against Corruption continued to address corrupt
practices within the police.
The Constitution provides for the right to expeditious arraignment
and access to legal counsel after a detainee has been charged before a
judge; however, authorities did not ensure due process. The law limits
detention for investigative purposes without charge to a maximum of 72
hours, renewable for a single 48-hour period; however, police rarely
observed these provisions in practice. The average time of detention
without charge was 1 week, and the law allows judges to impose an
unlimited number of 6-month preventive detention periods. Defendants
without access to legal counsel were often detained for weeks or months
before appearing before a magistrate. In some cases, prisoners were
held without charge or trial for longer periods than the maximum
sentence they would have received if convicted of the alleged offense.
There was a pretrial release system; however, it was unknown how often
it was used.
On September 28, police detained opposition leader Herman Yameogo
and his cousin and political aide Noel Yameogo upon their arrival at
Ouagadougou airport from a trip to several neighboring countries. The
Government, which accused the men of providing Mauritania, Cote
d'Ivoire, Guinea, and the NGO Reporters Without Borders with false
information, subsequently released Herman Yameogo after confiscating
his diplomatic passport and threatening to remove his parliamentary
immunity. On October 7, the State Prosecutor indicted Noel Yameogo for
treason and for being "a threat to state safety"; he remained in
detention awaiting trial at year's end. On December 2, the day before
Yameogo challenged the passport confiscation in court, the Government
returned his passport.
Police arbitrarily arrested a journalist and detained demonstrators
during the year (see Sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
On April 6, 13 of the 17 military and civilian persons detained in
connection with the October 2003 coup plot went on trial (see Section
1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was subject to executive
influence in practice. The President has extensive appointment and
other judicial powers. The Constitution stipulates that the Head of
State also is the President of the Superior Council of the
Magistrature, which can nominate and remove high-level magistrates and
examine the performance of individual magistrates.
Systemic weaknesses in the justice system included the removability
of judges, outdated legal codes, an insufficient number of courts, a
lack of financial and human resources, and excessive legal costs.
There are four operational higher courts: The Supreme Court of
Appeal; the Council of State; the Audit Court and Office; and the
Constitutional Council. Beneath these higher courts are 2 courts of
appeal and 18 provincial courts. There also is a High Court of Justice
with jurisdiction to try the president and senior government officials
for treason and other serious crimes. On September 8, the National
Assembly passed a bill that established a tribunal to try persons under
18 who are charged with felonies or misdemeanors as children rather
than adults. The military court system, which tried only military
cases, was subject to executive influence.
The Constitution provides for the right to public trial, access to
counsel, a presumption of innocence, and has provisions for bail and
appeal. While these rights were generally respected, the ability of
citizens to obtain a fair trial remained restricted by their ignorance
of the law and by a continuing shortage of magistrates.
On April 6, 13 of the 17 military and civilian persons detained in
connection with the October 2003 coup plot went on trial: 4 were
convicted and sentenced to between 5 and 10 years' imprisonment; 3
received suspended sentences of between 12 months and 2 years; and the
remaining 6 were acquitted. Several of the defendants retracted their
confessions during the trial, alleging that they had been beaten and
coerced into signing the statements. The MBDHP and other human rights
groups that visited the defendants during pretrial detention reported
that the defendants had been well treated.
In addition to the formal judiciary, customary or traditional
courts presided over by village chiefs handled many neighborhood and
village problems, such as divorce and inheritance disputes. Citizens
generally respected these decisions, but also could take a case to a
formal court.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. However,
in national security cases, a law permits surveillance, searches, and
monitoring of telephones and private correspondence without a warrant.
By law and under normal circumstances, homes may be searched only with
the authority of a warrant issued by the Attorney General.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution and the law
provide for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government
at times restricted these rights and intimidated journalists into
practicing self-censorship. The President and his Government remained
sensitive to criticism. Journalists charged with libel may defend
themselves in court by presenting evidence in support of their
allegations. The independent press, particularly the written press,
continued to exercise greater freedom of expression. The Government did
not restrict academic freedom.
The official media, including the daily newspaper Sidwaya, and the
national radio and television, displayed progovernment bias. The
independent press included three daily and approximately a dozen weekly
newspapers; some newspapers appeared only occasionally. There were
numerous independent radio stations and three television stations. Some
of these media outlets were critical of the Government. Foreign radio
stations broadcast without government interference.
All media were under the administrative and technical supervision
of the Ministry of Information. The audiovisual media were regulated
further by the Superior Council of Information, which was under the
Presidential office and had limited independence.
There are regulations for private and independent radio and
television. Radio stations were held responsible if their call-in
programs threatened the public order or the rights of any third party.
Presse Dimanche, a popular television talk show cancelled in
November 2003 allegedly at the behest of the Minister of Information,
did not resume broadcasting during the year.
Despite some self-censorship, independent newspapers and radio
stations often criticized the Government, reported allegations of
corruption and mismanagement by authorities, and accused the Government
of human rights violations. The independent media also reported the
opposition's and human rights associations' criticism of the
Government's failure to investigate and prosecute human rights
violations.
On November 5, police arrested journalist and opposition activist
Mathieu N'Do upon his arrival from a reporting mission in Cote
d'Ivoire. N'Do, who was detained for questioning for 6 days at the riot
police headquarters, was accused of having had close contact with the
President of Cote d'Ivoire; however, no charges were filed upon his
release.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government at times
restricted this right in practice.
Political parties and labor unions were allowed to hold meetings
and rallies without requesting government permission. However, the law
also requires that authorities be notified in advance of planned
demonstrations and allows the authorities to invoke the need to
preserve public order to forbid demonstrations. Penalties for violation
of the advance notification requirement include 2 to 5 years'
imprisonment. Permits must be obtained from municipal authorities for
political marches, and authorities may alter or deny requests on
grounds of public safety. Denials or modifications may be appealed
before the courts.
On February 12, police surrounded a group of merchants who had
gathered to discuss government plans to relocate them from Central
Ouagadougou Market, which had burned down in a fire, to an area outside
of Ouagadougou, where business was not as profitable. The police fired
directly into the crowd with shotguns and teargas and also beat
individuals with rubber batons. An estimated 10 persons were injured,
including a man whose foot had to be amputated after being hit with
buckshot. On February 13, merchants and unemployed youth responded by
blocking roads, burning vehicles and buses, and attacking foreign
businesses and property; police again used shotguns and teargas to
disperse demonstrators. A total of 75 persons were arrested and
subsequently released. In justifying police action, the mayor of
Ouagadougou claimed that he had not authorized the merchants'
gathering. No action had been taken against police by year's end.
On May 1, Konde Hakani Elizabeth, the mayor of Dedougou city,
Mouhoun Province, restricted a union's peaceful march around the city.
The mayor claimed that she had not received any request for a permit to
march; however, the union claimed to have sent the request on April 28.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Political
parties and labor unions were permitted to organize without seeking
government permission.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Government required that religious groups register with the
Ministry of Territorial Administration. There were no penalties for
failure to register. All groups were given equal access to licenses,
and the Government approved registrations in a routine fashion.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
Gendarmes and police agents routinely stopped travelers for identity
checks and to levy road taxes. Customs agents stopped travelers for
customs checks. During the year, the Government confiscated the
passport of a political leader (see Section 1.d.).
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they faced persecution, and granted refugee
or asylum status. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government
also provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify
as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol. There were 465
persons with refugee status and 549 persons who had requested refugee
status residing in the country. Most were nationals of Cote d'Ivoire,
Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic
of the Congo; others were from Chad and Liberia. Almost all the
refugees and applicants lived in Ouagadougou.
During the year, the governmental National Refugee Committee and
UNHCR continued their efforts to respond to the needs of refugees. Some
refugees asked the UNHCR to send them to third countries; these
requests were still being evaluated at year's end.
Despite increased violence in Cote d'Ivoire, there were fewer
voluntary repatriations of Burkinabe nationals from Cote d'Ivoire than
in previous years. Burkinabe returnees reported physical abuse,
harassment, and extortion from Ivoirian police officials.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully through multiparty elections; however, in
practice citizens were unable to exercise this right fully due to the
continued dominance of the President and his ruling party. In the 1998
presidential election, President Compaore won 88 percent of the vote;
56 percent of the eligible voters went to the polls. The two candidates
who opposed the President provided only token opposition and reportedly
were persuaded by the Government to run for the presidency to help
create the appearance of a contested election. National observers
identified a number of systemic weaknesses in the electoral code that
precluded a totally regular and transparent vote, and a coalition
representing a number of opposition parties boycotted the election.
Nevertheless, neither of the two candidates opposing President Compaore
contested the results.
The Compaore Government included a strong presidency, a Prime
Minister, a cabinet presided over by the President, a one-chamber
(formerly two-chamber) National Assembly, and the judiciary. The
legislature was independent, but it remained susceptible to influence
from the executive branch. The cabinet includes four members from small
opposition parties who generally support the ruling party; however, the
major opposition bloc, the Group of 14 February (G-14), refused to
participate.
In 2001, the Constitution was amended to provide that the
presidential term of office be 5 years, renewable once, starting in
2005. The provision was not retroactive, and the National Assembly has
determined that this provision will not be applied retroactively to
President Compaore. Previously, the Constitution allowed the President
to run for an unlimited number of terms.
The government-funded Independent National Electoral Commission
(CENI) has full responsibility for managing its budget and is the only
organization responsible for monitoring elections and referendums. Five
representatives of opposition parties, including the G-14 coalition,
served on the CENI, in addition to five representatives of pro-
government parties (including the CDP) and five representatives of
civil society.
In 2002, the Government held parliamentary elections. For the first
time in the country's history, multiple political parties, including
opposition parties, participated in the elections. The ruling CDP won
57 out of the 111 parliamentary seats. The opposition parties unified
to compete in the elections and won 54 seats. Domestic observers
characterized the elections as generally free and fair. Independent
observers characterized CENI's conduct during the elections as
generally fair.
Following the May 2002 legislative elections, the Government was
reorganized, and the 2000 protocol, which ceded one-third of cabinet
posts to the opposition and which the Prime Minister and opposition had
signed, was voided by the ruling party. Of the 31 cabinet members,
there were 4 ministers from parties other than the ruling CDP. All but
one of the country's mayors were CDP members, most appointed provincial
officials were members of the CDP, and most traditional chiefs also
were members of the CDP.
CDP membership conferred advantages, particularly for businessmen
and traders in competition for open bidding contracts.
On April 27, the National Assembly adopted a controversial bill to
revise the electoral code through redistricting and other measures. The
CDP claimed the law would correct imbalances in the previous system;
however, opposition parties, which boycotted the April 27 session,
charged that the bill was designed to rescind reforms that facilitated
large opposition gains in the May 2002 legislative elections. Most
observers believed the changes would favor larger and more organized
parties.
During the year, the Government continued efforts to curb official
corruption, which was a serious problem. In January, the High Authority
to Fight Against Corruption issued a report that cited numerous
instances of corruption in government and civil society. However, there
were no prosecutions of corrupt officials during the year.
There were no laws that provided for public access to government
information; however, government ministries generally released non-
sensitive documents.
There were 12 women in the 111-seat National Assembly, 3 women in
the 31-member Cabinet, and 4 women in the Supreme Court. The Cabinet
included 17 minority members; the National Assembly included 61
minority representatives.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of human rights groups generally operated without
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on
human rights cases. Government officials were somewhat cooperative and
responsive to their views.
The Government permitted international human rights groups to visit
and operate in the country. The MBDHP was affiliated with the Inter-
African Human Rights Union.
The Government failed to honor repeated requests for information
from the African Union about alleged human rights abuses that occurred
between 1983 and 1997. The Government did not prosecute the
perpetrators of these offenses; however, in 2002, it established a $9
million fund to compensate families of the victims of political
violence. By year's end, the Government had distributed more than $7
million (approximately 3.99 billion CFA francs) of the fund.
On August 22, a U.N. Independent Commission of Inquiry arrived in
the country to investigate human rights violations in Cote d'Ivoire.
The 5-member team also met with some of the more than 350,000 citizens
of the country who have returned from Cote d'Ivoire since September
2002; many claimed to have been mistreated.
The National Commission on Human Rights serves as a permanent
framework for dialogue on human rights concerns. Commission members
included representatives of human rights NGOs, union representatives,
government officials, and representatives from professional
associations. The MBDHP, which did not participate on the Commission,
has charged that the Commission was established to undermine human
rights organizations that criticized the Government; however, there
were no clear indications of such interference.
During the year, the Government took several steps to advance human
rights. On June 4, the Ministry for the Promotion of Human Rights,
which was established in 2002, opened an information center in Bobo-
Dioulasso, the second biggest city of the country. From June 17 to 18,
the Ministry held a training seminar for the 34 members of the
Commission on human rights principles and the roles of the U.N. and
regional NGOs in protecting human rights. On August 16, the Commission
held a conference on preventing deaths in detention in Bobo-Dioulasso.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
ethnic origin, gender, disability, and social status; however, the
Government was unable to enforce this prohibition effectively.
Discrimination against women and persons with disabilities remained a
problem. Various ethnic groups were represented in the inner circles of
the Government, and government decisions did not favor one group over
another.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating,
occurred frequently. No law specifically protects women from domestic
violence, and cases of wife beating usually were handled through
customary law and practice. There were no statistics on rape, although
it was recognized as a crime. Spousal rape was not discussed. There
were organizations that counseled rape victims, including Catholic and
Protestant missions, the Association of Women Jurists in Burkina, the
MBDHP, the Association of Women, and Promofemmes--a regional network
that works to combat violence against women. The Government has
attempted to change attitudes toward women, using education through the
media.
FGM was practiced widely, especially in many rural areas, and
usually was performed at an early age. Up to 70 percent of girls and
women have undergone this procedure; however, the Government has
demonstrated its commitment to eradicate FGM through education, and the
National Committee for the Fight Against Excision reported that the
incidence of excision has decreased by approximately 40 percent since
1990. FGM is a crime, with strict punishments for those involved in its
practice. Perpetrators were subject to imprisonment of 6 months to 3
years and a significant fine.
During the year, the Government arrested and prosecuted several
women who performed FGM. On January 21, police arrested Yiere Mamou
Berte for practicing FGM on 41 young girls in Sefina village,
Kenedougou Province; Berte was in prison awaiting trial at year's end.
On February 4, Mariam Kone was given a 12-month suspended sentence for
practicing FGM on eight young girls in Banwa Province. On August 16,
police arrested a woman in Ouagadougou for circumcising 12 girls
ranging in age from 2 to 12; the arrest received widespread media
coverage because of the public outcry that the practice still occurred
in metropolitan areas.
The law does not specifically prohibit prostitution; however,
pimping and soliciting are illegal.
Scarification of the faces of both boys and girls of certain ethnic
groups was gradually disappearing.
There were occasional reports of trafficking in women (see Section
5, Trafficking).
The Penal Code explicitly prohibits sexual harassment; however,
such harassment was common.
The law prohibits forced marriage, with specific penalties under
the Penal Code for violators. Polygyny was permitted, but both parties
must agree to it prior to a marriage, and the woman maintained the
power to oppose further marriages by her husband if she could provide
evidence that he abandoned her and her children. Either spouse could
petition for divorce; custody of children was granted to either parent
based on the children's best interests.
Although the law provides equal property rights for women and some
inheritance benefits depending on other family relationships, in
practice, customary law prohibits women from the right to own property,
particularly real estate. In rural areas, land belonged to the family
of the man whom a woman married. Women still did much of the
subsistence farming work. Customary law does not recognize inheritance
rights for women and regards the woman as property that can be
inherited upon her husband's death.
There were no specific constitutional provisions or laws protecting
women, who faced extensive discrimination. In general, women continued
to occupy a subordinate position and experienced discrimination in such
areas as education, jobs, property, and family rights. Overall, women
represented 45 percent of the workforce. In the modern sector, women
comprised one-fourth of the government workforce, although usually they
were found in lower paying positions. The Ministry of Women's Promotion
actively promoted women's rights during the year; the Minister was a
woman. The Government also established income generating activities for
women during the year, including the production of fabric, shea butter,
and soap.
Several NGOs were active in promoting women's rights, including
Women in Law and Development in Africa, Association of Female Judges,
Association of Elected Women of Burkina Faso, Women's Coalition of
Burkina Faso, and Kebayina Association of Women of Burkina Faso.
Children.--The Constitution nominally protects children's rights.
The Government demonstrated its commitment to improve the condition of
children by continuing efforts, in cooperation with donors, to
revitalize primary health care by focusing on care for nursing mothers
and infants; vaccination campaigns for measles, meningitis, and other
illnesses; and health education.
The Government allotted approximately 25 percent of the national
budget to education, and the law provides for free compulsory
education; however, the Government lacked the means to provide
universal, free primary education. If a child qualified on the basis of
grades and social condition (that is, the family was "poor"), tuition-
free education could continue through junior high and high school.
Children still were responsible for paying for school supplies, and
many parents could not afford to lose a child's labor in the fields or
at other remunerative jobs; as a result, overall school enrollment was
approximately 52 percent (46 percent for girls). The Government has
taken steps to promote primary education for girls through
encouragement of donor scholarships, school feeding programs, and
information campaigns to change societal attitudes toward educating
girls. Girls made up slightly more than one-third of the total student
population in the primary school system. Schools in rural areas had
even lower percentages of female students than schools in urban areas,
and illiteracy for girls in the rural areas ran as high as 95 percent.
The rate of male literacy was approximately 32 percent, and female
literacy was 15 percent.
The law prohibits the abuse of children under 15 years old and
provides for the punishment of abusers. On March 3, the tribunal of
Koudougou, Boulkiemde Province, sentenced Pauline Ouoba and her husband
Saidou Pandamba to 6 months' imprisonment and 12 months' suspended
sentence, respectively, for severely beating their 12-year-old adopted
child.
FGM was performed commonly on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking of children was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The Constitution specifically prohibits
slavery, inhumane treatment, and mistreatment of children and adults,
and the Penal Code prohibits kidnapping, violence, and mistreatment of
children; however, the country was a source, transit, and destination
country for internationally trafficked persons, including children. In
May 2003, the National Assembly adopted an anti-trafficking law that
punishes child traffickers with 1 to 10 years' imprisonment and fines
of $525 (299,250 CFA francs) to $2,600 (1.5 million CFA francs);
however, the law had not been implemented by year's end. The sexual
exploitation of children was a problem.
During the year, 25 child traffickers were arrested: At year's end,
16 had been sentenced to prison; 3 were being tried; and 6 were in
detention awaiting trial.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and the Directorate of Labor Health
and Security, Child Labor, and Trafficking Division of the Ministry of
Labor implement and enforce child labor laws and regulations; however,
the Government had limited resources to combat trafficking in women and
children.
The country was an occasional source for women who traveled to
Europe to work as domestics, but subsequently were exploited sexually.
The country was a transit point for trafficked children, notably from
Mali, who often were trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire. Malian children also
were trafficked into the country. Destinations for trafficked children
of the country included Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria.
Trafficked children were subject to violence, sexual abuse, forced
prostitution, and deprivation of food, shelter, schooling, and medical
care. Organized child trafficking networks existed throughout the
country. One study identified eight networks in Ouagadougou and seven
in Bobo-Dioulasso. Child trafficking networks cooperated with regional
smuggling rings.
In January, the Directorate for the Protection of Infants and
Adolescents published a report based on interviews with the 1,710
trafficked children whom security forces had intercepted from 2000-03:
45 percent were between the ages of 12 and 15, and 80 percent had never
gone to school. The report estimated that 175,000 children between the
ages of 6 and 17 worked and lived apart from their families, including
95,000 who worked abroad.
In the past, some children voluntarily traveled to Cote d'Ivoire to
work as agricultural laborers to escape poverty at home. In other
cases, children were lured to plantation work in Cote d'Ivoire by false
promises of generous remuneration, only to be forced to work under very
harsh conditions for little or no payment. Some children were forced to
work long hours without pay, allegedly to repay the cost of their
transport to Cote d'Ivoire and of the food and housing on the
plantation.
However, according to Lutrena, a local NGO that collaborated with
both the International Program for Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC)
and the International Labor Organization (ILO) to fight against child
trafficking, the flow children going to Cote d'Ivoire for work purposes
declined significantly following the September 2002 military rebellion
there. Many of these working children reportedly headed for Mali either
to work in rice plantations or study in Islamic schools or for coastal
countries like Benin. According to the Ministry of Social Action and
National Solidarity, security forces and regional trafficking
surveillance committees intercepted 644 trafficked children in 2003.
The Government worked with international donors and the ILO to
address child trafficking, in part by organizing seminars against child
trafficking for customs officers. During the year, security services
and civil society groups organized similar workshops and seminars. The
Government also established watch committees in certain provinces in
which child trafficking and labor were problems. The watch committees
included representatives of industries usually implicated in child
labor (cotton growers, for example), the police, NGOs, and social
welfare agencies. An IPEC program to prevent child trafficking for work
purposes on cotton plantations continued during the year.
Persons with Disabilities.--There was no legislation to protect
persons with disabilities from discrimination, and advocates reported
that such persons often faced social and economical discrimination.
There was no government mandate or legislation concerning accessibility
for persons with disabilities. Programs to aid persons with
disabilities were limited. Persons with disabilities who were willing
and able to work frequently found it difficult to find employment,
including in government service, because of deeply entrenched societal
attitudes that persons with disabilities should be under the care of
their family and should not enter the workforce.
Other Societal Abuses or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination
against homosexuals and persons with HIV/AIDS was a problem.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers, including
civil servants, the right of association, and workers exercised this
right. Essential workers, such as police, could not join unions.
Approximately 85 percent of the workforce was engaged in subsistence
agriculture. Of the remainder, approximately 50 percent of private
sector employees and 60 percent of public sector employees were union
members.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Unions have the
right to bargain directly with employers and industry associations for
wages and other benefits, and there was extensive collective bargaining
in the modern wage sector; however, it encompassed only a small
percentage of workers. There are no export processing zones.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, and workers
exercised this right in practice. Legal strikes occurred during the
year, including a 3-day strike by health workers for better pay and
working conditions. In May 2003, all the major trade union federations
and autonomous unions called a strike, in part to protest the
privatization of parastatal organizations; none of their demands were
met, and some public institutions and private enterprises were closed.
During the year, the mayor of Dedougou city restricted a union
march (see Section 2.b.).
d. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that children were employed for domestic labor outside their
own families without any status or formal remuneration and that young
girls were procured for domestic labor (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
Trafficking of women and girls was a problem (see Section 5).
e. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years; however,
child labor was a problem. In the domestic and agricultural sectors,
the law permits children under the age of 14 to perform limited
activities for up to 4+ hours per day; however, many children under the
age of 14 years worked longer hours. According to a pamphlet published
by the Ministry of Labor in 2000, more than 50 percent of children
worked, largely as domestic servants or in the agricultural or mining
sectors, where working conditions were harsh. Children commonly worked
with their parents in rural areas or in family-owned small businesses
in villages and cities. Most children actually began working at an
earlier age on small, family subsistence farms, in the traditional
apprenticeship system, and in the informal sector. There were no
reports of children under the age of 14 employed in either state or
large private companies.
The Ministry of Employment, Labor, and Youth, which oversees labor
standards, lacked the means to enforce work safety and age limit
legislation adequately, even in the small business sector.
The Government organized workshops during the year, and in
cooperation with donors, has undertaken many sensitization programs to
inform children and parents of the dangers of sending children away
from home to work.
f. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code mandates a
minimum monthly wage of approximately $40 (22,800 CFA francs) in the
formal sector; the wage did not apply to subsistence agriculture. The
minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for an urban
worker and family. Wage earners usually supplemented their income
through reliance on the extended family, subsistence agriculture, or
trading in the informal sector. The Labor Code also mandates a standard
workweek of 40 hours for nondomestic workers and a 60-hour workweek for
household workers, and establishes safety and health provisions.
A system of government inspections under the Ministry of
Employment, Labor, and Youth and the labor tribunals was responsible
for overseeing occupational health and safety standards in the small
industrial and commercial sectors, but these standards did not apply in
the subsistence agricultural sector. The Government paid social
security benefits on a sliding scale according to an employee's length
of service and pay, up to a ceiling established by presidential decree
in January 2003 of $1,051 per month (599,070 CFA francs). The
Government's Labor Inspector Corps did not have sufficient resources to
fulfill its duties adequately. Every company was required to have a
work safety committee. If the Government's Labor Inspection Office
declared a workplace unsafe for any reason, workers had the right to
remove themselves from the dangerous work without jeopardy to continued
employment. There were indications that this right was respected in
practice; however, such declarations by the Labor Inspection Office
were relatively rare.
__________
BURUNDI
Burundi is a republic with a Transitional Government established in
November 2001, under the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement
(Arusha Agreement). In April 2003, Domitien Ndayizeye, a member of the
Hutu ethnic group, succeeded Pierre Buyoya, a member of the Tutsi
ethnic group, as President. The Arusha Agreement obliged the
Transitional Government to hold local and national elections before
November 1; however, by year's end, no elections had been held. On
October 18, the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI)
proposed to delay national and local elections until 2005 for technical
reasons. On October 20, the Transitional Government approved an interim
constitution that allowed the Transitional Government to remain in
power until a referendum on a post-transition constitution was held. By
year's end, the CENI announced that a referendum on the draft post-
transition constitution, scheduled for December 22, would be delayed,
and a date had not been set.
The country remained engaged in an armed conflict between the
Government and the Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People/National
Liberation Front (PALIPEHUTU-FNL) led by Agathon Rwasa. Government
forces were aided in this conflict by fighters of the National Council
for Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-
FDD), a former rebel group. The security situation improved markedly in
most parts of the country after the CNDD-FDD joined the Transitional
Government in November 2003. However, in Bujumbura Rural Province,
which surrounds the capital and was the stronghold of the PALIPEHUTU-
FNL, fighting continued. Human rights violations resulting from the
conflict continued to occur, primarily in Bujumbura Rural. The judicial
system continued to be corrupt, subject to political manipulation, and
inefficient.
The security forces were controlled by the Transitional President,
and consisted of the Burundian Armed Forces (FAB) and the gendarmerie
under the Ministry of Defense, police under the Ministry of Public
Security, and the intelligence service under the presidency. The
Ministry of Defense reduced the role and numbers of the Guardians of
the Peace (GP), armed paramilitary civil defense units. CNDD-FDD forces
created de facto parallel police forces and administrations in parts of
the country and operated with significant autonomy. On June 1, the U.N.
Operation in Burundi took over the international peacekeeping function
from the South African-led African Union Mission to Burundi.
The country's U.N.- and World Bank-supported process to disarm,
demobilize, and reintegrate former soldiers and former rebels began in
December. By year's end, a total of approximately 3,300 former
soldiers, as well as approximately 2,900 child soldiers, had been
demobilized.
Civilian authorities did not maintain effective control of the
security forces, including the CNDD-FDD. Members of the security
forces, including the CNDD-FDD, committed numerous serious human rights
abuses.
The country, which by World Bank estimates had a population of 7.2
million, was extremely poor. The majority of the population was
dependent on subsistence agriculture. The Transitional Government
controlled the price of some commodities and the rates of exchange;
however, it took steps to reduce the difference between the official
and parallel exchange rates. The public sector, including government-
owned enterprises, dominated the small formal section of the economy.
The armed conflict caused severe economic disruption, and internally
displaced persons (IDPs) were dependent on international humanitarian
assistance. The country's gross domestic product was $669.2 million in
2003, according to the World Bank. Wages did not keep pace with
inflation. An estimated 8.3 percent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS
continued to place a burden on the country's resources through rising
medical expenditures, absenteeism from work, labor shortages resulting
from morbidity and mortality, and training of replacement labor.
The Transitional Government's human rights record remained poor,
and the Transitional Government continued to commit numerous serious
human rights abuses. Citizens did not have the right to change their
government. Security forces, including the CNDD-FDD, continued to
commit numerous arbitrary and unlawful killings, including killings of
unarmed civilians, many of whom were killed during reprisal attacks on
those suspected of cooperating with the PALIPEHUTU-FNL. There were
credible reports of disappearances, and security forces continued to
torture, beat, rape, and otherwise abuse persons. Prison conditions
remained harsh and sometimes life threatening. Impunity and the
continuing lack of accountability for those who committed past abuses
remained serious problems. Arbitrary arrest and detention, and lengthy
pretrial detention were problems; there were also credible reports of
incommunicado detention. The court system did not ensure due process or
provide citizens with fair trials. The Transitional Government
infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The Transitional Government
restricted the freedoms of speech, association, and movement, and at
times it restricted the freedoms of press and assembly. Since 1993, the
civil war caused thousands of civilian deaths and massive internal
population displacement. Corruption was a serious problem. The armed
forces sometimes limited access to certain areas by human rights
observers, citing security conditions. Violence and discrimination
against women continued. The continued use of child soldiers was a
problem; however, the Transitional Government and all former rebel
groups demobilized child soldiers throughout the year. Trafficking in
persons was a problem. Discrimination against persons with disabilities
and indigenous Twa populations remained problems. There was also a
disproportionate number of Tutsis in state institutions. Societal
discrimination between Hutus and Tutsis continued along with incidents
of ethnically motivated conflict. Child labor, including forced labor,
was a problem. Mob killings were a problem.
The PALIEPHUTU-FNL also continued to commit numerous serious human
rights abuses against civilians, including killings, kidnappings,
rapes, theft, extortion, the forcible recruitment and employment of
children as soldiers, and forced labor.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Unlike in the
previous year, there were no reports that security forces committed
political killings; however, security forces committed unlawful
killings of civilians during the year.
At year's end, six of the seven individuals accused in the 2001
killing of Kassi Manlan, including Colonel Gerard Ntunzwenayo, remained
in jail and their trial was ongoing. No action had been taken against
the seventh, Commander Sylvestre Hakizimana. At year's end, police held
in custody another man allegedly involved in the killing. Two other
individuals accused of having taken part in the killing had
disappeared; however, the Attorney General told the court that they
were being held in a safe place for security reasons.
The FAB regularly committed unlawful killings, often with impunity,
of Hutu and Tutsi civilians following fighting with rebels, in reprisal
for rebel attacks, and for suspected collaboration with rebels (see
Section 1.g.).
League Iteka reported that on February 21, a FAB soldier reportedly
killed Melchiade Basingwa and his wife in Kiremba Commune, Ngozi
Province, and stole approximately $280 (300,000 Burundian francs). The
soldier was arrested on March 15 and held for interrogation. At year's
end, it was unknown if he was still in detention.
There were no developments in the February 2003 killing of Abraham
Nshirimana, allegedly by FAB soldiers.
During the year, there were reports that suspects were killed while
in the custody of security forces and the CNDD-FDD. For example, League
Iteka reported that on May 6, in Bujumbura city's Kanyosha Zone, the
local gendarmerie reportedly shot and killed a bicycle taxi operator
who was in custody. There had been no investigation into the killing at
year's end.
On August 13, members of the CNDD-FDD detained and beat to death
Albert Ntahomvukiye in Mutimbuzi Commune, Bujumbura Rural province.
Ntahomvukiye's son was beaten until he was unable to walk. League Iteka
reported that the CNDD-FDD suspected them of collaborating with the
PALIPEHUTU-FNL.
League Iteka reported that on September 20, the corpse of an
alleged thief who had been in FAB custody was found near a FAB position
in Bugabira Commune, Ngozi Province. There were no reports that action
was taken against persons responsible for the alleged killing.
There were no developments in the June 2003 torture death of FAB
soldier Mathias Nkurunziza.
Civilians were killed during fighting between government and rebel
forces, and women died as a result of being raped (see Section 1.g.).
There continued to be reports of deaths and injuries caused by
landmines laid by both government and rebel forces.
Although very few exact figures were available, there were numerous
political killings by unidentified assailants during the year. For
example, Bujumbura Rural Province Governor Ignace Ntawembarira reported
that 38 local government officials were killed in the province during
the year.
According to League Iteka, on September 8, in Kayanza Province,
seven armed men in military uniforms killed CNDD-FDD Gatara Commune
representative Sebastien Bamporubusa, severely tortured the Karurusi
colline chief, and amputated the fingers of one of Bamporubusa's
neighbors.
There were no developments in the following 2003 killings by
unknown assailants: The February killing of Leonard Masengo; the May
killing of Jean Nkurukiye; the September killing of Raphael Nzinahora;
or the November killing of World Food Program official Philbert
Nsengiyumva.
There were reports that the GP committed killings, rapes, and armed
robberies during the year.
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL rebels killed numerous persons during the year
and committed serious abuses against the civilian population, including
a massacre of refugees in August (see Section 1.g.).
Killings by bandits were a serious problem during the year,
particularly by year's end. In November, a U.N. spokesperson told the
press that between 6 and 10 persons were dying every day as a result of
acts of banditry.
There were numerous reports during the year of mob violence,
lynchings, and the killing of suspected witches. For example, League
Iteka reported that on February 12, a mob killed Nephtalie
Sindayihebura, whom the local population accused of being a witch, in
Rumonge Commune, Bururi Province.
League Iteka also reported that on February 28, the local
population of Rugombo Commune, Cibitoke Province, lynched an individual
accused of using witchcraft to paralyze and kill a local youth.
On April 9, a mob stoned to death a man accused of injecting
persons in the markets of Kayanza Province with the HIV/AIDS virus. In
August, there were several similar reports that mobs killed individuals
accused of injecting persons with poison.
During the year, the local press reported numerous incidents in
which individuals threw hand-grenades into bars or other public
gathering places, resulting in deaths and injuries. For example, on
April 14, in Kirundo Province, four men were killed in a pub after an
unidentified individual threw a grenade into the establishment.
On July 10, in Rutana Commune, Rutana Province, two persons were
killed and 19 wounded after an unidentified individual threw a grenade
into a wedding reception.
b. Disappearance.--Although precise numbers were unavailable, there
were frequent reports of kidnappings during the year; however, there
were no reports of politically motivated kidnappings.
For example, League Iteka reported that on July 7, members of the
CNDD-FDD kidnapped a man, his wife, and two others in Kanyosha Commune,
Bujumbura Rural Province. At year's end, it was unknown if they were
still being held.
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL was reportedly responsible for many
disappearances during the year.
For example, on February 15, unidentified assailants kidnapped six
persons in Ndava Commune, Mwaro Province, according to League Iteka.
They have not been found or released.
League Iteka reported that on March 10, members of the PALIPEHUTU-
FNL kidnapped and held for ransom the Mutambu Zone Chief, whom they
reportedly suspected of passing information to the FAB. The Chief was
later released.
On September 14, members of the Rwandan Interahamwe militia group
took nine individuals hostage in the Kibira forest, Cibitoke Province.
According to League Iteka, they were released after 3 weeks and at
least two of the hostages reportedly paid a ransom of $180 (194,000
Burundian francs).
There were no developments in the 2002 disappearance of two persons
in Buhonga, Bujumbura Rural Province.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that children
were kidnapped by rebels and then used as child soldiers.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Transitional Constitution prohibits such practices;
however, members of the security forces continued to torture and
otherwise abuse persons.
Throughout the year multiple credible sources reported that the
CNDD-FDD set up illegal detention and torture centers across the
country, including at least five in Bujumbura.
League Iteka reported that members of the security forces and CNDD-
FDD members beat and tortured civilians and detainees throughout the
year.
On February 17, in Nyambuye Zone, Bujumbura Rural province, members
of the CNDD-FDD detained and tortured numerous individuals, several of
whom were reportedly hospitalized; some young girls and women were
raped (see Section 1.g.).
On April 14, two FAB soldiers in Mutambu Commune, Bujumbura Rural
province, detained Judge Gaspard Gahungu, stole $45 (48,000 Burundian
francs) and a mobile phone, and beat him until he lost consciousness.
In April, members of the CNDD-FDD arrested many residents of
Mutimbuzi Commune, Bujumbura Rural province, took them to detention
center, beat them, forced them to spend the night in a trough filled
with water, and later forced them to drink that water.
On September 29, in Mutimbuzi Commune, Bujumbura Rural province,
CNDD-FDD members detained a 13-year-old student and four others, took
them to a local CNDD-FDD garrison, and beat them with rods and batons
until they could no longer walk. According to League Iteka, the five
were accused of knowing members of the PALIPEHUTU-FNL.
There were no new developments in the July 2003 torture of Emmanuel
Niyongabo by the Public Security Police and Ezechial Ncitiyinisalaba by
security forces, or in the December 2003 torture of suspected witches
by members of the CNDD-FDD.
Although precise figures remained unavailable, there were frequent
reports that members of the FAB and the CNDD-FDD raped women with
impunity (see Section 1.g.). For example, according to League Iteka, on
June 1, a FAB soldier raped a 6-year-old girl in Bubanza province. On
June 29, again in Bubanza province, two men in military uniforms raped
a 12-year-old girl. The soldiers' superiors took no action in either
case. League Iteka reported that on July 21, in Mwaro province, a FAB
officer, Justin Nitunga, raped a 13-year-old girl. There was no
official investigation of this case.
There were frequent reports that PALIPEHUTU-FNL members raped women
(see Section 1.g.).
Government troops used excessive force in areas where there were
civilians (see Section 1.g.).
Several persons were injured during the year by landmines laid by
government and rebel forces.
Prison conditions remained harsh and sometimes life threatening.
Severe overcrowding persisted. According to government officials and
human rights observers, prisoners suffered from digestive illnesses,
dysentery, and malaria, and prisoners died as a result of disease. The
Transitional Government provided sufficient food, and families were
permitted to supplement prisoner rations.
According to the Ministry of Justice, during the year, 7,568
inmates were held in facilities built to accommodate a maximum of 3,650
persons. Of this number, 2,728 were serving sentences, and 4,798 were
pretrial detainees. Human rights NGOs lobbied the Transitional
Government during the year for the release of prisoners who were held
for long periods of time without charge. Between January and September,
the Transitional Government released over 400 of these prisoners and
had set up a commission to review the cases of pre-trial detainees.
On July 30, over 400 gendarmes stormed Mpimba prison in Bujumbura
to quell a prison strike that was launched on July 19 by self-
proclaimed political prisoners who demanded amnesty under the terms of
the Arusha Agreement. According to press reports, the gendarmes used
teargas to break up the strike, and at least four prisoners were
wounded.
According to the Ministry of Justice, women were detained
separately from men. During the year, there were 135 children in
prisons, of whom 42 accompanied their convicted mothers. Juvenile
prisoners were held with and often treated as adults. Political
prisoners often were held with convicted prisoners. Pretrial detainees
were held in communal lockups, but some were also incarcerated with
convicted prisoners.
During the year, the Transitional Government permitted visits by
international and local human rights monitors. NGOs continued their
efforts to monitor and improve sanitation, hygiene, medical care, food,
and water.
The ICRC was allowed access to prisoners and detained persons,
including persons detained for ``reasons relating to the conflict,''
and conducted visits regularly during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The criminal code prohibits
arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention; however, security forces
arbitrarily arrested and detained persons.
Impunity for those who committed serious human rights violations,
and the continuing lack of accountability for those who committed past
abuses, remained key factors in the country's continuing instability.
The security forces did not always cooperate with civilian prosecutors
or magistrates, including in investigations involving members of the
security forces. Members of the GP were unpaid and poorly trained.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that members of the
GP were coercively recruited. Corruption, abuse of the criminal code's
standards on the duration of detentions, and mistreatment of prisoners
remained problems.
The law requires arrest warrants, and presiding magistrates were
authorized to issue them. Police and gendarmes could make arrests
without a warrant but were required to submit a written report to a
magistrate within 48 hours. Few aspects of these provisions were
respected in practice, and the requirement that that detainees be
charged and appear in court within 7 days of their arrest was violated
routinely. A magistrate could order the release of suspects or confirm
charges and continue detention, initially for 15 days, then
subsequently for periods of 30 days, as necessary to prepare the case
for trial. The police were required to follow the same procedures as
magistrates; however, the police have regularly detained suspects for
extended periods without announcing charges, certifying the cases, or
forwarding them to the Ministry of Justice as required. Multiple
credible sources reported that incommunicado detention existed,
although the law prohibits it. Bail was permitted in some cases.
There were numerous arbitrary and some politically motivated
arrests, including some demonstrators, labor officials, and local NGO
employees (see Sections 2.a., 2.b., and 4).
Many of the persons arrested on criminal charges since 1993
remained in pretrial custody. According to the Ministry of Justice,
4,798 prisoners were awaiting trial. There were 400 communal lockups
where those who were arrested were supposed to be held no longer than 1
week; however, in practice, detainees were regularly kept in these
facilities for much longer periods of time. Family members were
required to provide all food for these detainees. Once detainees were
transferred to larger detention facilities, the Government provided
food.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Transitional Constitution
provides for an independent judiciary; however, in practice the
judiciary was not independent of the executive and was dominated by
members of the minority Tutsi community. The judicial system was
inefficient and subject to bribes and other forms of corruption; many
citizens had no confidence in its ability to provide even basic
protection. Judicial reform was a priority of the Arusha Accord, but
little progress was made during the year.
The judicial system consisted of civil and criminal courts with the
Supreme Court and Constitutional Court at the apex. In all cases, the
Constitutional Court had the ultimate appellate authority; however, in
practice few cases of lower-ranking offenders reached this level.
Citizens generally did not have regular access to court proceedings
and often had to travel more than 30 miles to reach a court of law. All
trials were conducted before a jury. Defendants, in theory, are
presumed innocent and have a right to counsel and to defend themselves;
however, in practice, few had legal representation. Authorities
sometimes were unable to carry out their investigations or transport
suspects and witnesses to the appropriate court because of lack of
resources and poor security conditions. According to the law, all
defendants, except those in military courts, have the right to appeal
their cases up to the Supreme Court, and in capital cases, to the
President for clemency; however, in practice, the inefficiency of the
court system extended the duration of the appeals process, effectively
limiting the possibility of appeals, even by defendants accused of the
most serious crimes.
The Transitional Government officially recognized the traditional
system of communal arbitration, which functioned under the guidance of
elders, the ``Bashingantahe,'' and which facilitated the settlement and
reconciliation of disputes. A Bashingantahe opinion often was necessary
before access was granted to the formal civil court system. The
Bashingantahe was limited to civil and minor criminal matters and had
no jurisdiction over serious criminal matters. Community elders
presided over deliberations under this system.
The law provides for an independent military court system, which in
practice was influenced by the executive and higher ranking military
forces. Courts of original jurisdiction for lower ranking military
offenders were called ``War Councils,'' and one existed in each of the
five military districts. A court martial tribunal of appeals heard
appeals of War Council decisions and also had trial jurisdiction for
mid-ranking military offenders up to the rank of colonel. Military
courts had jurisdiction over military offenders and civilians accused
of offenses implicating members of the military. Defendants were not
provided attorneys to assist in their defense, although NGOs have
provided some defendants with attorneys in cases involving serious
charges. Trials generally were open to the public; however, they could
be closed for compelling reasons, such as national security or
``scandalous accusations against prominent people.''
Procedures for civilian and military courts were similar; however,
military courts reached decisions more quickly, and trials generally
failed to meet internationally accepted standards for fair trials. In
addition, defendants in military courts are allowed only one appeal.
The detention of political prisoners remained a problem during the
year. Local human rights NGOs claimed that the Government held
approximately 4,000 political prisoners during the year. However, the
Government stated that there were no political prisoners and that each
person in detention had been convicted of a specific crime. Charges
against defendants convicted for nonpolitical crimes sometimes were
politically motivated.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Transitional Constitution provides for the right
to privacy; however, these rights were not respected in practice.
Authorities rarely respected the law requiring search warrants. It was
widely believed that security forces monitored telephones.
There were numerous reports during the year that the FAB and CNDD-
FDD looted and destroyed houses whose occupants were accused of
harboring and aiding the PALIPEHUTU-FNL (see Section 1.g.).
There were numerous reports of looting by the PALIPEHUTU-FNL (see
Section 1.g.).
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal and External Conflicts.--The ongoing conflict in Bujumbura
Rural province resulted in numerous serious abuses against the civilian
population by government and rebel forces; generally no actions were
taken against perpetrators. The FAB and CNDD-FDD killed numerous
civilians following fighting with the PALIPEHUTU-FNL, in reprisal for
PALIPEHUTU-FNL attacks, and for suspected collaboration with the
PALIPEHUTU-FNL. Abuses included the killing of civilians, the looting
and burning of houses, attacks on noncombatants, the displacement of
large numbers of civilians, and the rape of women. Security forces
prevented international humanitarian aid agencies and human rights
observers from reaching some areas of the country (see Section 2.d.).
While no definitive countrywide casualty figures were available,
reports from media and NGOs estimate that more than 250,000 persons,
mostly civilians, have been killed in conflict-related violence since
1993. Much of the unlawful killing and property destruction during the
year was concentrated in Bujumbura Rural province, which was the scene
of continuing fighting between the FAB and CNDD-FDD on one side, and
the PALIPEHUTU-FNL on the other.
There were numerous reports that FAB forces deliberately killed
civilians during the conflict. For example, on March 29, FAB soldiers
killed a man who refused them entry into his home in Mutimbuzi Commune,
Bujumbura Rural province, while they were searching the area for
PALIPEHUTU-FNL rebels.
League Iteka reported that on April 27, in Kabezi Commune,
Bujumbura Rural province, FAB soldiers killed four IDPs after fighting
occurred in the area between FAB and PALIPEHUTU-FNL forces. According
to League Iteka, on June 8, FAB soldiers killed two civilians and
wounded three others that they suspected of having contacts with
PALIPEHUTU-FNL members.
There were numerous reports that FAB forces killed civilians
indiscriminately as a result of the conflict. For example, League Iteka
reported that on January 26, FAB soldiers began firing into the
marketplace in Mutambu Commune, killing six civilians. The soldiers
reportedly opened fire after the PALIPEHUTU-FNL killed two FAB soldiers
in the marketplace.
According to HRW, on March 16, during fighting between FAB soldiers
and PALIPEHUTU-FNL rebels, FAB soldiers indiscriminately fired mortars
into a crowd of fleeing civilians in Kabezi Commune, Bujumbura Rural
Province. No additional information was available by year's end.
On May 29, FAB soldiers killed 23 persons in Kabezi Commune,
Bujumbura Rural Province; at least 1 of the victims was raped prior to
be being killed.
CNDD-FDD soldiers operating in Bujumbura Rural Province, in
cooperation with the FAB, were also accused by human rights
organizations of killing civilians. According to HRW and local NGOs,
one tactic the CNDD-FDD regularly employed was to search local areas
for persons not known by the areas' inhabitants, or to search for
wounded individuals, and to summarily execute them under suspicion of
belonging to the PALIPEHUTU-FNL.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), on September 16, in Mutamba
Commune, Bujumbura Rural Province, CNDD-FDD and FAB soldiers forced the
local population to undress to inspect them for alleged battle-related
injuries. One man, who was discovered to have wounds, was summarily
executed.
According to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights (UNOHCHR) and NGOs, soldiers and rebels used rape as a weapon of
war. From January to May, Search for Common Ground reported 267 rapes,
54 of which were attributed to the security services and a significant
number to the PALIPEHUTU-FNL.
On February 17, while searching for PALIPEHUTU-FNL members in
Nyambuye Zone, Bujumbura Rural Province, members of the CNDD-FDD raped
girls as young as 7 years old and several women, at least two of whom
died from their injuries.
League Iteka reported that members of the CNDD-FDD raped a mother
and her daughter in the Gatumba Zone of Bujumbura Rural Province in
mid-April.
On April 30, six members of the CNDD-FDD raped a 22-year-old
resident of Kamenge Zone in Bujumbura. The UNOHCHR reported that
although the identities of the rapists were known, no action was taken
to investigate this crime.
In February, FAB troops reportedly stole $50,000 (54 million
Burundian francs) worth of non-food humanitarian assistance from
approximately 4,000 families.
The CNDD-FDD also reportedly pillaged houses throughout the year in
Bujumbura Rural Province. During one operation that began on February
17, elements of the CNDD-FDD looted over 2,000 homes in Nyambuye Zone,
Bujumbura Rural Province.
On September 6, members of the CNDD-FDD, who were searching for
PALIPEHUTU-FNL members or sympathizers, looted approximately 15 houses
in the Kanyosha Zone of Bujumbura and beat the owners of the houses,
according to League Iteka.
No actions were taken against members of the security forces or
CNDD-FDD responsible for abuses reported in 2003 or 2002.
Landmines placed by government and rebel forces in past years
continued to cause civilian deaths and injuries.
During the year, security forces restricted access by humanitarian
organizations to parts of Bujumbura Rural Province; although
authorities said insecurity in those areas made delivery of aid
impossible, commercial traffic was sometimes not restricted.
Security forces and former rebel groups continued to have child
soldiers in their ranks; however, during the year, the Government and
former rebel groups removed child soldiers from combat units and
demobilized many of them by year's end (see Section 5).
There were numerous reports of civilians displaced by fighting (see
Section 2.d.).
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL killed, beat, kidnapped, stole from, and raped
civilians. During the year, League Iteka reported numerous incidents
where the PALIPEHUTU-FNL killed civilians for supposedly cooperating
with the FAB or the CNDD-FDD. For example, on March 31, in Mubimbi
Commune, Bujumbura Rural Province, PALIPEHUTU-FNL members killed two
men suspected of collaborating with the CNDD-FDD.
On June 1, PALIPEHUTU-FNL members in Muhuta Commune, Bujumbura
Rural Province, killed Violette Nzitonda because her husband was a
member of the CNDD-FDD.
On July 26, PALIPEHUTU-FNL members killed Paul Ndabanukiye for
allegedly passing information to security forces in Nyambuye Zone,
Bujumbura Rural Province.
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL claimed responsibility for the August 13
massacre of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at
the UNCHR-operated transit camp for refugees at Gatumba in Bujumbura
Rural Province. The PALIPEHUTU-FNL claimed they were attacking armed
individuals; however, 152 refugees, many of them women and children,
were killed in the attack. Other armed groups may have been involved in
the attack. In October, a team of U.N. experts submitted a report to
the U.N. Secretary General regarding their investigation of the
massacre (see Section 4).
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL and armed bandits often killed civilians who
refused to comply with extortion. There were numerous reports that the
PALIPEHUTU-FNL regularly ambushed minibuses on national highways, and
robbed and killed the occupants. U.N. security officials reported
numerous other ambushes during the year.
Throughout the year, members of the PALIPEHUTU-FNL were reported by
League Iteka to have raped civilians.
League Iteka reported that the PALIPEHUTU-FNL looted homes
throughout the year. For example, on May 26, in Gihanga Commune,
Bubanza Province, PALIPEHUTU-FNL members pillaged over 40 homes.
There were no reports that rebel forces prosecuted or punished
members who were responsible for abuses.
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL rebel group used or recruited children as
soldiers during the year (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Transitional Constitution
provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, in practice,
the Transitional Government restricted freedom of speech, and although
respect for freedom of the press improved during the year, the
Government at times limited this right. Unlike in the previous year,
the Transitional Government did not arrest, harass, or detain
journalists. However, the Transitional Government suspended the
operations of one Internet news sheet, AGINFO, for 7 days and issued
warnings to three other media groups. At times, the Transitional
Government and security forces prevented journalists from going to
rural areas where crimes occurred, making it difficult to gather
information about perpetrators or victims. Journalists practiced self-
censorship. During the year, there were no reports that the
Transitional Government restricted academic freedom.
The Government restricted freedom of speech through arrests and
intimidation. On June 24, the state prosecutor summoned Sangwe-Pader
party chairman Leonidas Havyarimana for interrogation regarding
statements he had made on the radio. Havyarimana, citing parliamentary
immunity, disregarded the summons.
On September 24, police arrested COSYBU labor confederation
president Pierre Claver Hajayandi and COSYBU treasurer Celestin
Nsavyimana after they criticized the Transitional Government in an
address to workers. The intelligence service detained the two men until
September 30. In addition, the intelligence service confiscated
COSYBU's computers.
On October 11, the state prosecutor questioned UPRONA party
chairman Jean Baptiste Manwangari for allegedly insulting the
president.
The Transitional Government controlled the major media. The
Transitional Government owned the only daily newspaper, the country's
only television station, and two radio stations, and exercised strong
editorial control. The government-owned newspaper Le Renouveau was
published daily. There were six private weekly publications and eight
private Internet and fax-based news sheets.
Radio remained the most important medium of public information. The
government-owned radio broadcast in Kirundi, French, and KiSwahili, and
offered limited English programming. There were eight privately owned
radio stations, including Radio Isanganiro, Bonesha FM, and African
Public Radio (RPA), all of which broadcast in French, Kirundi, and
KiSwahili. Some stations received funding from international donors.
Listeners could receive transmissions of foreign news organizations.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces arrested or harassed journalists.
The Transitional Government continued to restrict, through direct
and indirect means, reporting on the country's internal conflict. For
example, on July 14, the Transitional Government suspended the news
sheet AGINFO for 7 days for issuing a report alleging that South
African peacekeepers were supplying arms to the PALIPEHUTU-FNL and an
article claiming that there were signs of a genocide in the country. On
the same day, the Transitional Government issued warnings to the news
sheet NETPRESS, as well as to the radio stations Bonesha FM and RPA.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Transitional Government suspended radio stations.
During the year, the Government used prohibitive licensing and rent
fees to weaken the independent media.
A media law adopted in November 2003 provides for fines and
criminal penalties of 6 months' to 5 years' imprisonment for the
dissemination of insults directed at the President, as well as writings
that are defamatory, injurious, or offensive to public or private
individuals. Human rights observers criticized the law as a tool to
intimidate and censor the media.
Following the passage of a November 2003 press law, newspapers were
no longer required to have articles reviewed by the Transitional
Government before their publication.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, as a result of
government pressure, journalists continued to practice self-censorship.
The Transitional Government did not restrict access to the Internet
during the year.
During the year, there were no reports that the Transitional
Government limited academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Transitional
Constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, the
Transitional Government at times restricted this right in practice. The
law requires permits for public meetings and demonstrations, and
applications were sometimes denied to groups, including those that
criticized or opposed the Transitional Government. There were fewer
reports that such applications were denied during the year.
The COSYBU labor confederation reported that the Transitional
Government often denied its member trade unions the right to assemble
and peacefully demonstrate during the year.
During the year, the Transitional Government denied requests by PA
Amasekanya, a hard-line Tutsi movement, to demonstrate on several
occasions.
During the year, security forces also broke up meetings and
demonstrations, including political demonstrations. For example, on
August 18, security forces used tear gas to break up a street
demonstration led by refugees from the DRC protesting the massacre of
refugees at Gatumba. Some protestors were arrested; however, all were
released by year's end.
No action was taken against security forces responsible for using
excessive force during demonstrations and marches in 2002.
The Transitional Constitution provides for freedom of association;
however, the Transitional Government restricted this right in practice
and arrested members of organizations (see Sections 4). Registration
was required for private organizations and political parties. Private
organizations were required to present their articles of association to
the Ministry of Interior for approval; however, the Transitional
Government routinely failed to complete the approval process for
private organizations whose purposes the Transitional Government
opposed. In November, U.N. representatives expressed concern over the
Transitional Government's delay in registering former rebel groups as
political parties.
From February 22 to May 2, approximately 67 members of PA-
Amasekanya, a hard-line Tutsi movement, were arrested because of their
membership in a pro-Tutsi militia group, according to PA Amasekanya and
allied groups. At year's end, some members were still in detention.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Transitional Constitution provides for
freedom of religion, and the Transitional Government generally
respected this right in practice.
The Transitional Government required religious groups to register
with the Ministry of Interior, which kept track of their leadership and
activities. The Government required religious groups to maintain a
headquarters in the country.
On July 12, Dieudonne Hakizimana, a PALIPEHUTU-FNL rebel who
reportedly admitted to taking part in the December 2003 killing of
Papal Nuncio Michael Courtney, died in government custody of wounds
sustained prior to his capture on February 1.
Archbishop Simon Ntamwana, who was ordered by the PALIPEHUTU-FNL to
leave the country within 30 days in 2003 after the Papal Nuncio's
killing remained in the country without incident.
On August 8, the PALIPEHUTU-FNL reportedly captured a 20-member
delegation headed by Anglican bishop Pie Ntukamazina in Kabezi Commune,
Bujumbura Rural Province. CNDD-FDD forces rescued the delegation the
same day. The motive for the capture was not known.
On October 18, in Makamba Province, armed assailants shot and
killed Catholic priest Gerard Nzeyimana. According to press reports,
Nzeyimana was specifically targeted; the killers reportedly verified
his identity before killing him. Catholic World News reported that
Nzeyimana was killed for his stance against human rights abuses; a news
report from the Fides Agency quoted sources who identified the killers
as members of the PALIPEHUTU-FNL.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Immigration, and Repatriation
The Transitional Constitution provides for these rights; however,
the Transitional Government restricted them in practice. The
Transitional Government continued to impose a curfew in parts of the
country. During fighting between the FAB and CNDD-FDD on one side and
the PALIPEHUTU-FNL on the other, local populations were routinely
displaced and their movements were restricted by checkpoints, violence,
and the threat of violence. Citing insecurity, security forces
sometimes restricted humanitarian relief agencies' access to local
populations in Bujumbura Rural province. The Transitional Government
also cited insecurity as grounds for denying human rights observers
access to some areas of the country (see Section 4).
A November 2003 ban on bicycle taxis entering the city center
remained in effect throughout the year, though it was not regularly
enforced. The ban, as part of a security measure to prevent rebel
infiltration of the city, primarily affected persons, particularly poor
peasant farmers, who could not afford public transportation. The ban
did not affect those using bicycles for other purposes.
The law does not provide for forced exile, and the Transitional
Government did not use it as a means of political control; however,
many persons remained in self-imposed exile in Belgium, Kenya,
Tanzania, the DRC, and elsewhere.
By year's end, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had
facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 83,849 Burundian refugees; in
addition, there were approximately 6,500 refugees who spontaneously
repatriated to the country during the year. The repatriates, most of
whom came from Tanzania and returned to the eastern provinces, often
returned to find their homes had been burned and their livestock
stolen. Poor living conditions and a lack of food and shelter were
problems for returnees during the year. During the year, the UNHCR and
the Transition Government's National Commission for the Rehabilitation
of War Victims (CNRS) assisted in the resettlement and reintegration of
refugees and IDPs; however, some human rights groups criticized the
Transitional Government for not allocating sufficient resources to
strengthen the CRNS' capacity to improve conditions for IDPs and
refugees. According to the UNHCR, as of August, an estimated 750,000
refugees remained outside the country.
Civilians were regularly displaced as a result of fighting in
Bujumbura Rural province between the FAB and CNDD-FDD on one side and
the PALIPEHUTU-FNL on the other. According to the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), clashes between the
PALIPEHUTU-FNL and government security forces, including the CNDD-FDD,
caused temporary population displacements lasting from 2 days to 3
weeks in 8 of the 10 communes of Bujumbura Rural Province. At any given
time during the year, estimated UNOCHA, between 25,000 and 70,000
persons were displaced in Bujumbura Rural province. For example,
according to UNOCHA, 80,000 individuals were temporarily displaced in
February and March, and 35,000 were temporarily displaced in April.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces restricted the movement of IDPs.
Timely relief was sometimes denied to populations in need,
including IDPs, due to security conditions and security force
restrictions (see Section 1.g.).
According to UNOCHA, there were 145,034 long-term IDPs living in
170 sites by year's end. The majority were Tutsis who were displaced by
violence in 1993 and who never returned home. Soldiers provided a
measure of protection to camp inhabitants. There were reports that camp
inhabitants sometimes were required to perform labor for soldiers
without compensation.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces killed persons who remained outside the displacement sites on
suspicion of collaborating with the rebels, or that Hutu rebels killed
IDPs for allegedly collaborating with government authorities.
The law does not provide for the granting of refugee status or
asylum in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but the Transitional
Government has established a system for providing protection to
refugees. There was a special ad hoc administrative body in the
Transitional Government that coordinated refugees. In practice, the
Transitional Government generally provided protection against
refoulement, the return to a country where they feared persecution, and
granted asylum status. The Transitional Government cooperated with the
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations assisting refugees. There
were approximately 30,000 refugees in the country at year's end. The
UNHCR reported in October that it was assisting roughly 9,000 refugees
from the DRC who had settled in U.N.-run refugee camps. In addition,
the UNHCR estimated that there were approximately 21,000 DRC refugees
who had settled in urban areas of the country.
During the year, the Transitional Government provided protection to
certain individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 U.N.
Convention/1967 Protocol.
During the year, refugees and asylum seekers were subject to
killings and other abuses. On August 13, PALIPEHUTU-FNL and possibly
other armed elements killed 152 refugees from the DRC at the Gatumba
transit camp (see Section 1.g.). There were reports that DRC refugees
who survived the August 13 Gatumba massacre were coerced by refugee
leaders to return to the DRC.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Arusha Agreement obliged the Transitional Government to hold
presidential, legislative, and communal elections before November 1;
however, none of these elections had been held by year's end, and
citizens did not have the right to change their government. On October
18, the CENI, which was approved by the National Assembly on August 31,
proposed to delay the completion of presidential, legislative, and
communal elections until April 2005 for technical reasons. On October
20, the Transitional Government approved an interim constitution that
provided for the Transitional Government to remain in power until a
referendum on a post-transition constitution was held; however, on
December 14, the CENI announced that the constitutional referendum
would also be postponed for technical reasons. By year's end, the date
of the referendum had not been set.
In 2000, the Arusha Accord, which provided for a 3-year
transitional period to end the country's civil war, was signed and
ratified by the National Assembly. In 2001, a Transitional Constitution
was adopted, providing for power to be shared between the Tutsi
minority, which has ruled the country for most of its history, and the
Hutu majority. In November 2001, the transition period began, and
President Buyoya was President, and Domitien Ndayizeye, then secretary
general of FRODEBU, was Vice President.
In May 2003, President Ndayizeye succeeded former President Buyoya
to begin the second half of the Transitional Government in accordance
with the peace agreement; the predominantly Tutsi parties selected
Alphonse-Marie Kadege as Vice President. During the year, the President
and 14 of the 26 cabinet ministers were members of predominantly Hutu
parties. The cabinet also included 12 ministers from predominantly
Tutsi parties, including the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs.
On November 10, the President dismissed Vice-President Kadege for
having ``failed in his primary mission to assist the President'' and
said he failed to support the country's constitution. Kadege and the
predominantly Tutsi political parties aligned with him had criticized
the draft interim constitution for, among other things, not providing
for what they considered to be an acceptable number of seats in the
National Assembly reserved for predominantly Tutsi parties. However, by
December, most predominantly Tutsi parties reportedly had agreed to
respect the interim constitution.
The Arusha Agreement, the Transitional Constitution, and the
October 2003 agreement between the Transitional Government and the
CNDD-FDD comprise a formula for the restoration of democracy. Under the
agreement, democratic rule is to be accomplished through elections, and
the protection of minority rights is to be reflected in a senate and
armed forces that have a higher percentage of Tutsis than the
population at large.
The National Assembly consisted of 186 parliamentarians: Those
elected in 1993 who sat in the previous National Assembly (or
substitutes from the same political party, if some of the original
parliamentarians had died), and 40 additional members. Members of the
Tutsi community filled 22 of the 40 new seats.
In March and April, with the entrance of the CNDD-FDD and other
former rebel groups into the Government, an additional 44
parliamentarians were added to the National Assembly, of which 15 were
from the CNDD-FDD. The total number of deputies was 220.
There were 26 recognized political parties by year's end. UPRONA
and FRODEBU were the largest political parties and controlled most
transitional government positions. Although not technically a political
party, the CNDD-FDD was the largest former rebel group in the
Transitional Government. The Transitional Government prevented or
disrupted political demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
The National Assembly continued to refuse the demands of human
rights groups calling for the repeal of a provisional immunity law that
the Assembly approved on August 2003. The law grants provisional
immunity to political leaders who return from exile to take part in the
transitional government institutions. The law covers ``crimes with a
political aim'' committed from July 1, 1962, to the date of the law's
promulgation.
The Transitional Government remained subject to a culture of
impunity, and widespread corruption remained a problem. Corruption was
prevalent in the public and private sectors and affected numerous
public services, including procurement, the granting of land use
concessions, public health, and the assignment of school grades. A
portion of the Transitional Government's revenues and expenditures
remained off-budget, allowing the Transitional Government to use monies
collected from taxes of such things as beer and gas to fund military
expenditures. According to Transparency International, in 2003, a
report by financial inspectors drew attention to the misappropriation
of $20,000 (20 million Burundian francs) in public funds at Bujumbura's
city hall. Transparency International also reported that the presence
of military personnel throughout the countryside has contributed to an
increase in petty corruption, including extortion at identity checks
and levying fees on farmers harvesting after the curfew.
The Ministry of Good Governance is charged with fighting
corruption, and by year's end, it had prosecuted three cases of
corruption.
On March 31, the Transitional Government created a national
auditing agency, to report to the National Assembly and oversee
government expenditures, including military expenditures, but by year's
end, it was not yet conducting audits.
According to Transparency International, the law does not provide
for access to government information, and in practice, information was
difficult to obtain. The law does not allow the media to invoke the
right to broadcast or publish information in certain cases relating to
national defense, state security, and secret judicial inquiries. Human
rights observers criticized the law for its application of poorly
defined restrictions on the right to access and disseminate
information; they said that vague prohibitions regarding official
secrets could easily be used as a broad shield to hide corruption or
other human rights abuses.
There were 43 women in the 220-seat National Assembly and 10 women
in the 54-seat Senate. Of the 26 cabinet seats, women held 3
portfolios. Three of the eight members of the Supreme Court were women,
as were two of the seven Constitutional Court members, including its
president.
Approximately 1 percent of the population was Twa; although there
were no Twa in the Cabinet, one Twa was appointed to the National
Assembly, and three were members of the Senate.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of local and international NGOs, including human rights
groups, generally operated without government restrictions; however,
the Government denied journalists, international relief workers, and
human rights observers access to some areas of the country, citing
insecurity in rural areas (see Sections 1.g. and 2.d.). Government
officials, although limited by capacity and resources, cooperated with
these groups by providing limited access to information and other
resources.
Domestic human rights groups received varying degrees of
cooperation from government ministries; the ministries provided them at
times with information and facilitated visits to areas of interest.
While well-established groups with international linkages and a
presence in Bujumbura had a measure of protection from government
harassment, indigenous NGOs in the countryside were more susceptible to
government pressure. In addition, government security services--even if
willing--were unlikely to be able to protect NGO members from private
reprisals. Although the Transitional Government did not directly take
action based on local NGO recommendations, local NGOs continued to
engage in advocacy. The most prominent local human rights group, League
Iteka, continued to operate and publish a newsletter.
At times, the FAB and CNDD-FDD denied human rights observers access
to areas where they were accused of committing human rights violations.
Human rights NGOs were unable to investigate reports of killings
because of these restrictions, which they said were arbitrary. Parts of
Bujumbura Rural Province often effectively remained off limits for
humanitarian operations.
According to a U.N. news service, on October 27, CNDD-FDD
combatants arrested Innocent Nzeyimana, an employee of a local NGO,
along with three other civilians, and detained him in an illegal prison
run by the CNDD-FDD in the northern suburb of Kamenge. Nzeyimana said
he was accused of siding with the PALIPEHUTU-FNL; however, he said he
believed he was arrested because he had advised the CNDD-FDD to stop
harassing civilians.
The Transitional Government cooperated with the U.N., permitting
visits by U.N. human rights representatives during the year. The U.N.
Independent Expert for Human Rights visited the country from October 4
through 13. The UNOHCHR maintained a four-person observer team in the
country. The U.N. Operation in Burundi (UNOB) had 20 human rights
observers in place as of October.
In October, a team of U.N. experts submitted a report to the U.N.
Secretary General regarding their investigation of the August 13
killing of 152 Congolese Tutsi refugees at the Gatumba transit camp
(see Section 1.g.). The report stated that the Transitional Government
``failed to move the refugee camp to a safer location prior to the
attack and failed to adequately protect the refugees and come to their
aid on the evening of the massacre.'' The report did not conclusively
determine the identity of the assailants beyond what it called ``the
likely participation of FNL.'' The report stated that credible but
unverified information that suggested the involvement of one or more
actors in the DRC warranted further investigation. The Transitional
Government characterized the U.N. report as ``incorrect'' and objected
to the report's criticism of the security forces' response to the
attack.
In compliance with the Arusha Agreement, in May, the Transitional
Government facilitated a U.N. delegation visit to assess the
possibility of establishing an International Judicial Commission of
Inquiry and an international tribunal if the Commission of Inquiry
deemed it warranted. By year's end, neither body had been established.
On December 27, the Burundian President signed a law establishing a
National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (NTRC) to investigate
crimes committed during the country's recent civil war, as well as
those committed since the country gained its independence in 1962.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Transitional Constitution provides equal status and protection
for all citizens, without distinction based on sex, origin, ethnicity,
or opinion; however, the Transitional Government failed to effectively
implement these provisions, and discrimination persisted.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was common; however, no
credible statistics were available. Wives had the right to charge their
husbands with physical abuse, but rarely did so. Police normally did
not intervene in domestic disputes. The law does not specifically
prohibit domestic violence; however, persons accused of domestic
violence could be tried under assault provisions of the law. By year's
end, no known court cases had dealt with domestic abuse. The
Transitional Government rarely investigated cases involving violence
against women. According to League Iteka, women were beaten by their
husbands, forced out of their homes, denied basic food necessities, and
denied freedom of movement.
The law prohibits rape, which is punishable by up to 20 years
imprisonment. The FAB, CNDD-FDD, and the PALIPEHUTU-FNL raped women
during the year (see sections 1.c. and 1.g.). According to a 2003 AI
report, domestic rape (outside the context of the conflict) was common.
According to UNHCRC, many rapes of young girls were committed during
the year with the belief that they would prevent or cure sexually
transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Information on rape has only
recently begun to be recorded. Few cases of rape were reported to the
authorities, and many rape victims did not receive medical care due to
the intimidation caused by cultural attitudes. Men often abandoned
their wives following the abuse, and women and girls were ostracized.
In some instances, police and magistrates reportedly ridiculed and
humiliated women who alleged that they were raped; according to the
UNOHCHR, there were reports that some police required that victims
provide food and pay the costs for incarceration of those they accuse
of rape. According to the UNOHCHR, those who sought judicial redress
faced the weaknesses of the judicial system, including many judges who
did not regard rape as a serious crime, and a lack of medical
facilities for gathering important medical evidence. In the limited
number of cases that were investigated, successful prosecutions of
rapists were rare.
Civil society and religious communities attacked the stigma of rape
to help victims reintegrate into families that rejected them. Domestic
human rights groups League Iteka and APRODH continued to encourage
women to press charges and seek medical care, and international NGOs
provided free medical care in certain areas. The Transitional
Government also raised awareness of the problem's extent through
seminars and local initiatives on the kinds of medical care available.
The law prohibits prostitution; however, it was a problem. There
were reports that soldiers and rebels sexually exploited women and
young girls residing near military installations and rebel camps.
According to a 2003 report by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women
and Children, the ongoing conflict has forced many women into
prostitution to feed their children. Increased prostitution continued
to contribute to the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS.
Women faced legal and societal discrimination. Discriminatory
inheritance laws, marital property laws, and credit practices
continued. By law, women must receive the same pay as men for the same
work, but in practice they did not. Women were far less likely to hold
mid-level or high-level positions. In rural areas, women performed most
of the farm work, married and had children at early ages, and had fewer
opportunities for education than men.
Several local groups worked in support of women's rights, including
the Collective of Women's Organizations and NGOs of Burundi, and Women
United for Development.
Children.--The law provides for children's health and welfare, but
the Transitional Government could not adequately satisfy the needs of
children, particularly the large population of children orphaned by
violence since 1993 and by HIV/AIDS.
According to the Ministry of Education, the maximum age up to which
public schooling was provided was 22. Schooling was compulsory up to
age 12; however, in practice this was not enforced. The Transitional
Government provided primary school at nominal cost, but it was
increasingly unaffordable due to the declining economy. UNICEF reported
during the year that the net primary school enrollment/attendance rate
for children was 47 percent, with 44 percent of girls enrolled/
attending compared with 49 percent of boys. Sixth grade is the highest
level of education attained by most children, with approximately 11
percent of children of secondary school age attending school.
Female illiteracy was a problem. Approximately 40 percent of women
were literate compared with 56 percent of men.
An estimated 550,000 children of school age did not attend school
for many reasons, including an inability of their families to afford
school fees and materials, frequent displacement due to civil war, ill
health, and the deaths of parents as a result of HIV/AIDS, which left
children orphaned, homeless, or both. More than 25 percent of primary
schools have been destroyed in the war, and many teachers have been
killed. Teacher training was interrupted, and it was difficult to find
qualified teachers to work in some parts of the country.
Under the law, the country's minimum age for military recruitment
is 16, although the Transitional Government has stated that no one
under 18 was recruited; however, throughout the year, there were
reports that security forces and former rebel groups continued to have
child soldiers in their ranks, despite the participation of all of
these groups in a joint government-UNICEF project to demobilize and
reintegrate children into their communities. No reliable figures were
available on the exact number of child soldiers in the security forces,
GP militia, and former rebel groups, and estimates varied significantly
among different organizations and changed during the year, in part to
reflect the reported results of demobilization.
In May, UNICEF estimated that approximately 3,000 child soldiers
were serving in government forces or former rebel groups. According to
the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, there were reports
during the year that the FAB continued to use children as domestic
laborers, spies, and in combat; however, in June, the FAB reportedly
ceased conscripting children and--along with some former rebel groups--
reportedly removed child soldiers from combat units. During the year,
there continued to be reports that some former rebel groups continued
to recruit and use child soldiers.
According to a U.N. news agency, some children joined the FAB
voluntarily by using fraudulent documents such as birth certificates.
In previous years, according to HRW, children voluntarily attached
themselves to military units. Most of these children were orphans or
IDPs who had no independent means of survival. Some observers believed
the FAB allowed these children to perform menial tasks such as cooking
in army encampments.
On January 26, the Transitional Government demobilized 24 child
soldiers as it officially launched the National Structure for the
Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration, and Prevention of Child
Soldiers (National Structure). By year's end, the National Structure
had demobilized and reintegrated 2,913 child soldiers, of which more
than 2,000 came from the FAB and the GP militia, and 632 from former
rebel groups. By October, all six former rebel groups, including the
CNDD-FDD, had joined the child soldier demobilization effort.
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL continued to use and recruit child soldiers, and
according to HRW, children were among the PALIPEHUTU-FNL combatants in
the August 13 Gatumba massacre (see Section 1.g.).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
According to UNICEF, HIV/AIDS infection rates in girls aged 15 to
19 were roughly 2 times greater than in boys of the same age, and
according to a 2003 UNICEF study, there were an estimated 200,000
children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in the country. The ongoing conflict and
increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS has increased the number of orphans,
which has resulted in an increase in the number of street children.
According to the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and for Social
Action, there were approximately 5,000 street children by year's end.
Street children were accused of involvement in street crimes. Following
a series of rapes in December 2003, police rounded up 700 street
children during the year and took them to a special government center
for street children. By year's end, 175 remained in the center; the
rest were returned to their provinces of origin or to the streets.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons, and there were reports of trafficking.
Traffickers could be prosecuted under existing laws against assault,
kidnapping, rape, prostitution, slavery, and fraud. During the year,
the Transitional Government did not report any prosecutions,
convictions, or sentences of traffickers; however, it investigated
alleged cases of trafficking.
The Ministry of Reinsertion, Repatriation, and Reintegration and
the Ministry of Institutional Reform, Human Rights, and Parliamentary
Relations were responsible for combating trafficking. At year's end,
the Transitional Government was aggressively investigating a case of
suspected trafficking of women that emerged in 2003.
During the year, Burundi was a source and transit country for
children trafficked for the purpose of forced soldiering, and there
were reports of coerced sexual exploitation of women by both government
soldiers and rebel combatants. The trafficking of child soldiers by
both the CNDD-FDD and the PALIPEHUTU-FNL within the country was a
problem (see Section 5, Children).
During the year, the Transitional Government supported public
awareness campaigns and programs to prevent trafficking, and
demobilized 2,913 child soldiers from the FAB, GP, and six former rebel
groups (see Section 5, Children).
Persons with Disabilities.--The Government has not enacted
legislation or otherwise mandated access to buildings or government
services such as education for persons with disabilities, and this was
due in part to a lack of government resources to ensure access to
buildings and services. Discrimination against persons with
disabilities was a problem. There were few job opportunities for
persons with physical disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There continued to be ethnic
conflict between the majority Hutus and the minority Tutsis, and
regional inequities between southern Bururi Province and much of the
rest of the country. Almost 4 decades of violence and systematic
societal discrimination have exacerbated tensions between Tutsis and
Hutus. Tutsis claimed to have been the targets of genocide carried out
in 1993 by Hutus angered by the assassination of democratically elected
Hutu president Ndadaye. The Tutsis, particularly southern Tutsis from
Bururi Province, historically have held power, dominated the economy,
and controlled the security forces.
State discrimination against Hutus, who constituted an estimated 85
percent of the population, continued to affect every facet of society,
most strikingly in higher education and certain branches of the
Transitional Government, such as the armed services and the judicial
system. Northern and eastern Tutsis also had a more difficult time
acceding to positions of power than Tutsis from the south.
The Tutsi-dominated FAB discriminated against Hutu members by
denying them promotion into and within the officer corps. However,
progress was made in integrating officers from the predominantly Hutu
CNDD-FDD into the security forces. For example, an integrated army
general staff was instituted with 14 of 35 members coming from the
CNDD-FDD.
Indigenous People.--The Twa (Pygmies), who were believed to be the
country's earliest inhabitants, comprised approximately 1 percent of
the population and generally remained economically, socially, and
politically marginalized (see Section 3). Most Twa lived in isolation,
without formal education, and without access to government services,
including health care and the judicial system. A Refugees International
report released during the year noted that the popular perception of
the Twa as barbaric, savage, and subhuman had seemingly legitimized
their exclusion from mainstream society.
On September 16, authorities burned 50 Twa homes in Busoni Commune,
Kirundo; Provincial Governor Philippe Njoni ordered that the houses be
burned because they were built on state-owned land, League Iteka
reported.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--During the year, there
were reports that discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS
increased. In reaction to the perceived increase in discrimination, an
association for persons living with HIV/AIDS campaigned during the year
for the Government to enact a law protecting affected persons from
discrimination and stigmatization.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Labor Code protects the right of
workers to form and join unions; however, the army, gendarmerie, and
foreigners working in the public sector were prohibited from union
participation. The Labor Code does not address state employees and
magistrates. The Ministry of Labor does not have the authority to
refuse the registration of a new union.
According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU), less than 10 percent of the formal private sector workforce
was unionized, and only 50 percent of the public sector was unionized.
However, most citizens worked in the unregulated informal economy, in
which unrecognized workers have little or no legal protection of their
labor rights.
According to the ICFTU, private sector employers systematically
prevented the creation of trade unions, and the Government failed to
protect private sector workers' rights in practice.
Tutsis continued to dominate the formal economy and unions;
however, Hutus became more involved in the formal economy and unions
during the year.
According to the ICFTU, there were allegations during the year that
the Transitional Government did not allow trade union bodies to select
their own representatives to the country's tripartite National Labor
Council. The Labor Code prohibits employers from firing or otherwise
discriminating against a worker because of union affiliation or
activity, and the Transitional Government generally respected this
right in practice. However, in the private sector, the Government often
failed to protect workers from discrimination by employers, according
to the ICFTU. In cases where employers dismiss employees because of
their union affiliation, the Ministry of Labor can order an employee
reinstated; if the employer fails to comply, the Ministry refers the
case to the Labor Court, which makes a determination of the severance
pay and indemnification that the employer must pay.
The Transitional Government often denied trade unions the right to
assemble and peacefully demonstrate during the year (see Section 2.b.).
According to the Confederation of Burundi Labor Unions (COSYBU),
Vincent Nyandwi, the head of the workers union at the state water and
electricity company REGIDESO, was dismissed by REGIDESO, allegedly on
account of his union membership in December 2003. In February, the
Ministry of Labor called for him to be rehired. REGIDESO rehired
Nyandwi but transferred him from the city of Bujumbura to an outlying
area of Bujumbura Rural Province.
On September 24, police arrested COSYBU labor confederation
president Pierre Claver Hajayandi and COSYBU treasurer Celestin
Nsavyimana, and detained them until September 30 (see Section 2.a.).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
recognizes the right to collective bargaining; however, wages are
excluded from the scope of collective bargaining in the public sector.
In practice, collective bargaining was freely practiced.
Since most workers were civil servants, government entities were
involved in almost every phase of labor negotiations. Both COSYBU and
the Confederation of Free Unions in Burundi (CSB) represented labor
interests in collective bargaining negotiations, in cooperation with
individual labor unions.
There are no export processing zones.
The Labor Code provides workers with a conditional right to strike,
and workers exercised this right in practice. All other peaceful means
of resolution must be exhausted prior to the strike action;
negotiations must continue during the action, mediated by a mutually
agreed upon party or by the Government; and 6 days' notice must be
given. The Ministry of Labor must determine if strike conditions have
been met. The Labor Code prohibits retribution against workers
participating in a legal strike.
On March 9, the intelligence service arrested Eulalie Nibizi and
Adolphe Wakana, heads of the teacher's unions STEB and SLEB; the arrest
was reportedly in relation to a teachers strike between January and
March. They were released the same day.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that it occurred. During the year, there were reports that
security forces continued to use persons, including children, to
perform menial tasks without compensation, and the use of child
soldiers remained a problem (see Section 5).
The PALIPEHUTU-FNL forced rural populations to perform
uncompensated labor, such as the transport of supplies and weapons, and
recruited children for labor (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code states that children under the age of 16 cannot be employed
by ``an enterprise,'' except for the types of labor the Ministry of
Labor determines to be acceptable, which includes light work or
apprenticeships that do not damage their health, interfere with normal
development, or prejudice their schooling; however, child labor
remained a problem. Children under the age of 16 in rural areas
regularly performed heavy manual labor in the daytime during the school
year. According to the ICFTU, the vast majority of children in the
country worked during the year.
Children were legally prohibited from working at night, although
many did so in the informal sector. Most of the population lived by
subsistence agriculture, and children were obliged by custom and
economic necessity to participate in subsistence agriculture, family-
based enterprises, and the informal sector. Child labor also existed in
the mining and brick-making industries. The use of child soldiers and
child prostitution continued to be problems (see Sections 5).
The Ministry of Labor enforced labor laws only when a complaint was
filed; there was one employee complaint during the year (see Section
6.a.).
During the year, international organizations, a few NGOs, and labor
unions engaged in efforts to combat child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage for
unskilled workers continued to be $0.15 (160 Burundian francs) per day.
This amount did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family, and most families relied on second incomes and subsistence
agriculture to supplement their earnings. Unionized employees,
particularly in urban areas, generally earned significantly more than
the minimum wage. Public sector wage scales were set by agreement
between the Government and either the CSB or COSYBU; however, an
employee's position on the wage scale was determined by individual
negotiation between the employer and the employee. The government wage
scale has remained unchanged since 1992, but allowances, such as for
housing, have increased.
The Labor Code stipulates an 8-hour workday and a 45-hour workweek,
except where workers were involved in activities related to national
security; however, this stipulation was not always enforced in
practice. Supplements must be paid for overtime. Alternative work
schedules were negotiable.
The Labor Code establishes health and safety standards that require
safe workplaces. Enforcement responsibility rests with the Minister of
Labor, who was responsible for acting upon complaints; there were no
reports of complaints filed with the Ministry during the year. Health
and safety articles in the Labor Code did not directly address workers'
rights to remove themselves from dangerous tasks.
Foreign workers, including undocumented workers, are protected by
law and were not subject to discrimination; however, they were
prohibited from union participation.
__________
CAMEROON
Cameroon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. Despite
the country's multiparty system of government, the Cameroon People's
Democratic Movement (CPDM) has remained in power since the early years
of independence. In October, CPDM leader Paul Biya won re-election as
President. The primary opposition parties fielded candidates; however,
the election was flawed by irregularities, particularly in the voter
registration process. The President retains the power to control
legislation or to rule by decree. He has used his legislative control
to change the Constitution and extend the term lengths of the
presidency. The judiciary was subject to significant executive
influence and suffered from corruption and inefficiency.
The national police (DGSN), the National Intelligence Service
(DGRE), the Gendarmerie, the Ministry of Territorial Administration,
Military Security, the army, the civilian Minister of Defense, the
civilian head of police, and, to a lesser extent, the Presidential
Guard are responsible for internal security; the DGSN and Gendarmerie
have primary responsibility for law enforcement. The Ministry of
Defense, including the Gendarmerie, DGSN, and DRGE, are under an office
of the Presidency, resulting in strong presidential control of internal
security forces. Although civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control of the security forces, there were frequent instances
in which elements of the security forces acted independently of
government authority. Members of the security forces continued to
commit numerous serious human rights abuses.
The majority of the population of approximately 16.3 million
resided in rural areas; agriculture accounted for 24 percent of gross
domestic product. Real gross domestic product growth has averaged 4 to
5 percent annually with approximately 2 percent inflation. However, a
rather large parastatal sector, excessive public-sector employment, and
the Government's inability to deregulate the economy inhibited private
investment and further economic recovery. Widespread corruption within
the business sector and the Government also impeded growth. Members of
the Beti ethnic group, including the Bulu subgroup, figured prominently
in the Government, civil service, and the management of state-owned
businesses.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit numerous serious human rights abuses.
Citizens' ability to change their government remained severely limited.
Security forces committed numerous unlawful killings and were
responsible for regular torture, beatings, and other abuses of persons,
particularly detainees and prisoners. Impunity remained a serious
problem. Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening.
Security forces continued to arrest and detain arbitrarily various
opposition politicians, local human rights monitors, and other
citizens, often holding them for prolonged periods without charges or
trials, and, at times, incommunicado. The Government regularly
infringed on citizens' privacy. The Government continued to restrict
freedoms of speech and press and harassed and threatened journalists.
The Government restricted freedom of assembly and limited freedom of
association. Security forces limited freedom of movement. Corruption
was a serious problem. Violence and discrimination against women
remained serious problems. There were reports of trafficking in
persons, primarily children, for the purposes of forced labor. Societal
discrimination against indigenous Pygmies and ethnic minorities
continued. The Government continued to infringe on worker rights and
restricted the activities of independent labor organizations. Child
labor remained a serious problem. There were reported incidents of
slavery and forced labor, including forced child labor.
respect for human rights
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were reports
of one politically motivated killing by government agents; and security
forces continued to commit unlawful killings, including killings
resulting from excessive force. Unlike in the previous year, there were
no reports that security forces summarily executed suspected criminals.
On August 20, the private guards of Member of Parliament (M.P.) Gah
Gwanyin Doh III, who was also the Fon (traditional ruler) of
Balikumbat, a locality of the North West Province, reportedly beat to
death John Kohntem, the District Chairman of the Social Democratic
Front (SDF), the country's leading opposition party. The guards killed
Kohntem when he was returning from a meeting about presidential
election preparations, in which he accused the M.P. of committing pre-
electoral fraud. Reports from regional political leaders, human rights
advocates, journalists, and others indicated that Kohntem was killed
because he challenged the Fon's traditional authority. There were no
indications of involvement in the killing by the executive branch of
the Government. In early September, police reportedly arrested and
detained 11 suspects; however, the M.P., who had parliamentary immunity
from prosecution, was not arrested. At year's end, a police
investigation was ongoing, and the National Commission on Human Rights
(NCHRF) was also investigating this case.
Prisoners died in custody during the year, due to abuse by security
forces, harsh prison conditions, and inadequate medical treatment. For
example, on January 30, prison wardens at the New-Bell prison in Douala
beat to death Emmanuel Song Bahanag, whom the wardens had accused of
assisting four convicts to escape. On February 7, the Director of
Penitentiary Administration visited the prison, but by year's end,
there was no record of any official investigation.
In April, police arrested and detained Laurent Gougang for 2 days
on charges of robbery before transferring him to the Douala Judiciary
Police headquarters, where he died. After his death, the Douala
Prosecutor ordered an investigation and an autopsy, the latter of which
confirmed that Gougang died from severe, continuous torture. At year's
end, the investigation was ongoing, and no arrests had been made.
By year's end, there were no developments in the July 2003 death of
Emmanuel Banye in police custody.
During the year, police used excessive force. There were numerous
incidents where police beat and shot suspects, many of whom were
fleeing the police. The police used deadly excessive force on a number
of occasions. For example, on February 16, Christophe Ndi, a police
officer in plainclothes, shot and killed security guard Justin Abena
Ngono. According to a subsequent investigation, Ndi was beating a girl
on a street in Mbandjock in the Center Province when Abena Ngono
attempted to intervene. By year's end, Ndi was transferred to a
different police precinct, and an investigation was ongoing.
On March 30, Samuel Mpacko Dikoume, an officer of the Douala anti-
gang police unit, shot and killed Abel Ngosso in the Douala
neighborhood of Bonadibong. Ngosso reportedly began to run from an
unmarked car following him, and Officer Dikoume shot and killed him. By
year's end, Officer Dikoume was under investigative detention, awaiting
trial.
On May 12, police and gendarmes--including Police Inspectors
Stephen Nguh and John Kunde, Second Grade Police Inspector Tonye, the
Marshal of the Legion Tokoto, and Gendarme Major Lekunze--reportedly
beat and severely burned Afuh Bernard Weriwo, who later died of his
injuries. Police said they believed Weriwo had stolen a bicycle. The
officers handcuffed Weriwo, beat him severely, and repeatedly burned
him on his arms and legs while interrogating him at a roadside
checkpoint near Kumba. Inspector Nguh allegedly forced Weriwo to drink
Kerosene and set him on fire. In late July, Police Inspector Nguh was
incarcerated. At year's end, an investigation by police and the NCHRF
continued; however, no action had been taken against the other officers
involved.
On June 28, Gendarme Nohote Messina shot and killed Desire Etoundi
during a dispute at a bar in the Mvog-Mbi neighborhood of Yaounde.
Authorities arrested Messina, and on July 6, he was transferred to the
Yaounde Military Tribunal for preliminary hearings. At year's end, the
case was ongoing.
In late March, the Douala Military Tribunal sentenced a gendarme
officer to a prison term for the 2003 death of army soldier Benangui.
There were no new developments in the July 2003 killing of David
Nesoe by an anti-gang police unit; the July 2003 killing by police of
taxi driver Yeyena Ayouba and four persons protesting that killing; the
August 2003 killing of Juvenile Mbanzamihigo; or the 2003 sentencing of
Barthelemy Angandi.
There were no new developments in the 2003 appeal of the acquittal
of six army officers charged with the execution of nine youths in
Bepanda.
Mob violence and summary justice against those suspected of theft
and the practice of witchcraft continued to result in deaths and
serious injuries. Such incidents were reportedly the result of the long
period of time it often took for law enforcement to respond to requests
for assistance and the fact that many individuals arrested for serious
crimes were released without charge hours after their arrests (see
Section 1.d.).
On March 16, a mob burned to death Ngambi Evaristus, who reportedly
had mental disabilities, after he allegedly killed Mama Assanah Chuyi
in the North West. There were no reports that this case was under
investigation at year's end.
On July 20, an angry crowd lynched Serge Ngogang in the Carrefour
Tif neighborhood of Douala after he reportedly was caught stealing
construction materials. By year's end, there were no reports that this
case was under investigation.
On August 9, a mob beat to death two suspected thieves in Kumba in
the South West Province. Their bodies were reportedly left on a street
corner for days to serve as an example to others. In July and August,
there were also credible reports of suspected thieves being stoned and
burned to death near the North West town of Bamenda. There were no
reports that any of these incidents were under investigation at year's
end.
In September, a mob beat and killed Desire Sinzeu and Philegon
Silatchom in the Banengo I neighborhood of Bafoussam in the West
Province. The two were reportedly members of a local gang of thieves
responsible for a number of area robberies. Security forces attempted
to intervene to protect the individuals but were too late. By year's
end, the Provincial Office of Judicial Police ordered an investigation,
and 10 suspects had been arrested.
There were no developments in any of the 2003 mob killings.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year.
Some disappearances of persons who were in the custody of security
forces in past years may be attributed to summary executions by
security forces either in Douala or the northern regions; in these
instances, bodies rarely were found, but the suspects were presumed
dead.
There were no developments in the March 2002 disappearance of nine
youths detained in the Bafoussam Gendarmerie brigade.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were
credible reports that security forces continued to regularly torture,
beat, and otherwise abuse prisoners and detainees. In the majority of
cases of torture or abuse, the Government rarely investigated or
punished any of the officials involved. There were reports that
security forces detained persons at specific sites where they tortured
and beat detainees (see Section 1.a.). Security forces also reportedly
subjected women, children, and elderly persons to abuse. Numerous
international human rights organizations and some prison personnel
reported that torture was widespread; however, most reports did not
identify the victim because of fear of government retaliation against
either the victim or the victim's family. Most victims did not report
torture for fear of government reprisal, or because of ignorance of or
lack of confidence in the judicial system.
In New Bell and other non-maximum security penal detention centers,
prison guards inflicted beatings, and prisoners were reportedly chained
or at times flogged in their cells. Authorities often administered
beatings in temporary holding cells within a police or gendarme
facility. Two forms of physical abuse commonly reported by male
detainees were the ``bastonnade,'' where authorities beat the victim on
the soles of the feet, and the ``balancoire,'' during which authorities
hung victims from a rod with their hands tied behind their backs and
beat them, often on the genitals. There were reports that some
nonviolent political activists have experienced this abuse during brief
detentions that followed participation in opposition party activities
(see Section 2.b.).
Security forces continued to subject prisoners and detainees to
degrading treatment, including stripping, confinement in severely
overcrowded cells, and denial of access to toilets or other sanitation
facilities. Police and gendarmes often beat detainees to extract
confessions or information on alleged criminals. Pretrial detainees
were sometimes required, under threat of abuse, to pay ``cell fees,'' a
bribe paid to prison guards to prevent further abuse.
During the year, there were reports that persons in police custody
died as a result of torture (see Section 1.a.).
In early January, 11 police officers from the Douala 11 police
precinct arrested and beat a man named Bikele after reportedly
receiving a bribe from the man's girlfriend, who said he had stolen
chairs from her house. Bikele claimed that he owned the furniture. By
year's end, the police commissioner ordered Bikele's release; however,
there were no reports of any sanctions against the perpetrators of the
beating.
On May 16, Officer Abo of the Bafang police in West Province and
another officer beat a barrister named Saga after Saga refused to
produce his identification papers. Saga fell into a coma, from which he
later recovered. Saga and the Cameroon Bar Association subsequently
filed a lawsuit against the two officers, who remained on active duty
at year's end.
On June 15, the Senior Divisional Officer of the Meme Division (a
local government official), Joseph Otto Wilson, reportedly assaulted
and arrested barrister Epie Nzounkwelle after the taxi cab Nzounkwelle
was in almost collided with Wilson's car. Nzounkwelle was released 24
hours later, after the intervention of the Senior State Counsel. The
Cameroon Bar Association sued Officer Wilson and the gendarmes who
arrested Nzuonkwelle, and the case was ongoing at year's end.
Security forces beat and harassed journalists during the year (see
Section 2.a.).
On January 15, officers from the gendarmerie Mobile Unit in the
Melen neighborhood of Yaounde sexually abused Biloa Ndongo while she
was in custody. At year's end, Biloa had a medical report documenting
the sexual abuse, but she had not obtained the names of the officers
involved and had not filed a complaint.
In late February, the Abong-Mbang First Instance Court sentenced a
police officer to a 3-year prison term and ordered the officer to pay
$400 (200,000 CFA) for the rape of a teenager girl during police
detention in January.
There were no further developments in the January 2003 shooting of
Jules Temeze Nsangou; the August 2003 shooting of Desire Mbeng; the
2002 beating of Narcisse Kouokam; the 2002 beating of men and women in
Noun Division, West Province; and the 2002 arrest and severe torture of
Jean Rene Ndouma.
Some illegal immigrants were subjected to harsh treatment and
imprisonment. Police and gendarme often targeted Nigerian and Chadian
communities when seeking to identify illegal immigrants. During raids,
members of the security forces extorted money from those who did not
have regular residence permits or those who did not have valid receipts
for store merchandise.
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Prisons were
seriously overcrowded, unsanitary, and inadequate, especially outside
major urban areas. Due to a lack of funds, serious deficiencies in
food, health care, and sanitation were common in almost all prisons,
including ``private prisons'' in the north operated by traditional
rulers. Prisoners were kept in dilapidated colonial-era prisons, where
the number of detainees was four to five times the intended capacity.
According to a report by the International Center for Prison Studies,
published in late July by the Catholic newspaper La Croix, there were
67 detention centers for the country's approximately 20,000 detainees.
Overcrowding was exacerbated by the large number of long pretrial
detentions and the practice of ``Friday arrests'' (see Section 1.d.).
In May, a senior official in Bafoussam estimated that out of the 1,800
inmates in his prison, 1,600 were awaiting trial. To relieve the worst
of the overcrowding, prisoners were being transferred to less crowded
prisons. On July 11, the Penitentiary Administration launched a program
to decongest the New-Bell prison in Douala, and 74 inmates were
transferred to the Mantum detention center in the North West Province.
Health and medical care were almost nonexistent, and prisoners'
families were expected to provide food for their relatives in prison.
Douala's New Bell Prison contained 7 water taps for a reported 3,500
prisoners, contributing to poor hygiene, illness, and death.
Prison officials regularly tortured, beat, and otherwise abused
prisoners with impunity. Several prisoners died due to harsh prison
conditions and inadequate medical treatment. On February 26, Ngaki
Tiako, died from untreated tuberculosis in the chambers of the Douala
Military Tribunal, where he had been in custody since 2002 on charges
of banditry. Corruption among prison personnel was widespread.
Prisoners sometimes could bribe wardens for special favors or
treatment, including temporary freedom.
In May, the Secretary of State in Charge of Penitentiary Affairs at
the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Emmanuel Oteh, visited
prisons around the country. As a result of his tour, the refurbishment
of a Yaounde detention center formerly used for political prisoners was
underway at year's end. Also in May, an additional 800 individuals were
recruited to work in the prison system. They were in training at year's
end.
There were few detention centers for women, who routinely were held
in prison complexes with men, occasionally in the same cells. In July,
the Center for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy, a human rights
organization based in Bamenda in the North West Province, criticized
this practice. Mothers sometimes were incarcerated with their children
or babies. Juvenile prisoners often were incarcerated with adults,
occasionally in the same cells or wards. There were credible reports
that adult inmates sexually abused juvenile prisoners. Pretrial
detainees routinely were held in cells with convicted criminals. Some
high-profile prisoners were separated from other prisoners and enjoyed
relatively lenient treatment.
In the north, the Government continued to permit traditional Lamibe
(chiefs) to detain persons outside the government penitentiary system,
in effect creating private prisons. Private prisons within the palaces
of traditional chiefs Rey Bouba, Gashiga, Bibemi, and Tcheboa had a
reputation for serious abuse. In Garoua, in the North Province, palace
staff estimated that 50 prisoners were being held in the palace prison
annually, normally between 1 and 2 weeks. Individuals who were found
guilty were also often beaten or subject to other forms of physical
abuse. According to the palace staff, in serious cases, such as murder,
the accused individuals were turned over to local police.
The Government has granted international humanitarian organizations
access to prisoners. Both the local Red Cross and the NCHRF made
infrequent, unannounced prison visits during the year. The Government
continued to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
to visit prisons. During the year, the ICRC stated that the Government
allowed international NGOs to have increased access to prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention and requires an arrest warrant except when a
person is caught in the act of committing a crime; however, security
forces continued to arrest and detain citizens arbitrarily.
The DGSN includes the public security force, judicial police,
territorial security forces, and frontier police. In rural areas, where
there is little or no police presence, the primary law enforcement body
is the gendarmerie. Citizens viewed police as ineffective, which
resulted in mob violence (see Section 1.a.). It was widely believed
that such individuals paid bribes to law enforcement and the judiciary
to secure their freedom. Police officers and members of the Gendarmerie
were widely viewed as corrupt and frequently arbitrarily arrested and
detained citizens. Police demanded bribes at checkpoints, and
influential citizens reportedly paid police to make arrests in personal
disputes. Impunity was a serious problem. Insufficient funding and
inadequate training contributed to a lack of professionalism in the
DGSN.
During the year, the Government investigated and prosecuted a few
cases of security personnel accused of violating the law between the
fall of 2003 and January. For example, on February 24, the Douala
Military Tribunal sentenced Luc Raymond Kamlo, a navy soldier, to an 8-
year prison term, on banditry charges.
Police legally may detain a person in connection with a common
crime for up to 24 hours and may renew the detention three times before
bringing charges. The law provides for the right to judicial review of
the legality of detention only in the two Anglophone provinces.
Otherwise, the French legal tradition applies, precluding judicial
authorities from acting on a case until the administrative authority
that ordered the detention turns the case over to the prosecutor. After
a magistrate has issued a warrant to bring the case to trial, he may
hold the detainee in administrative or pretrial detention indefinitely,
pending court action. Such detention often was prolonged, due to the
understaffed and mismanaged court system. The law permits detention
without charge by administrative authorities such as governors and
senior divisional officers for renewable periods of 15 days ostensibly
to combat banditry and maintain public order. Persons taken into
detention frequently were denied access to both legal counsel and
family members. The law permits release on bail only in the Anglophone
provinces; however, in practice, bail was granted infrequently.
Police and gendarmes often arrested persons on spurious charges on
Fridays at mid-day or in the afternoon. While the law in the Anglophone
provinces provides for a judicial review of an arrest within 24 hours,
the courts did not convene sessions on the weekend, so the detainee
remained in detention until at least Monday. Police and gendarmes
accepted bribes to make such ``Friday arrests'' from persons who had
private grievances. There were no known cases of policemen or gendarmes
that were sanctioned or punished for this practice.
Security forces and government authorities continued to arrest and
arbitrarily detain various opposition politicians, local human rights
monitors, journalists, and other critics of the Government, often
holding them for prolonged periods without charges or trials and, at
times, incommunicado (see Sections 2.a. and 4). Police also arrested
persons during unauthorized demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
On May 19, the Minister of State for Culture reportedly ordered the
arrest and detention of Clement Tjomb, the Chairman of the Board of the
Copyright Association of Professional Photographers and Audiovisual
Workers. Earlier that same day, a court had determined that Tjomb had
been elected president of the association, and media reports suggested
that the Minister supported one of the defeated candidates. On July 30,
Tjomb was released from custody without being charged.
In October, gendarmes arbitrarily arrested Bernard Fosso, Secretary
General of the African Movement for Total Liberation (Molita) and
refused to disclose his location to his family members. Fosso, who said
he was arrested because he had criticized the Government, was released
several days later without having been charged with a crime.
In November, Fon Chafah XI, a local chief of the Northwest
Province, arrested and detained Gabriel Ambo, Promotion Officer for the
Human Rights Defense Group, for allegedly stealing from the Fon. Ambo
said he was arrested because the Fon believed that he tried to start an
affair with the Fon's wife. At year's end, he had been released and his
trial was pending.
Police frequently arrested persons without identification during
sweeps (see Section 1.f.).
Albert Mukong, who was awaiting trial after having been arrested in
2002 and subsequently released, died on July 12. At year's end, the 19
other Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) activists arrested
with Mukong continued to await trial.
The law stipulates that detainees must be brought promptly before a
magistrate; however, arbitrary prolonged pretrial detention remained a
serious problem, and sometimes persons were held incommunicado for
months or even years (see Section 1.c.). For example, in mid-September,
attorney William Ndieng said his client Benoit Bilongo had been
detained without trial for 7 years at the Yaounde Central Prison.
During the year, the NCHRF and Ndieng filed a complaint calling for
Bilongo's immediate release. By year's end, the case had not been heard
by a court. Some persons were detained for several months simply
because they were unable to present identification to authorities.
In September, the newspaper Mutations ran a story about Barnabe
Atangana, who was arrested in 1984 for theft and whose case has never
been brought to trial. According to Atangana's lawyer, the case has
been delayed because the court was unable to locate Atangana's file.
Atangana was still in custody at year's end.
The law specifies that, after an investigation has concluded,
juveniles should not be detained without trial for longer than 3
months; however, in practice, the Government detained juveniles for
longer periods of time. Michel Sighanou, a juvenile who was transferred
from the Yabassi prison in 1996, has been awaiting trial for more than
7 years.
In recent years, there have been reports that some prisoners
remained in prison after completing their sentences or having been
released under a court ruling. In late August, the media reported that
more than 100 prisoners in Douala were being held after the completion
of their terms, and that many of them were being held because they had
been unable to pay court fees. During the year, lawyers representing
these individuals filed suit for their release and also filed a
complaint at the European Court of Human Rights seeking the prisoners'
immediate release. By year's end, there were no further developments.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained highly subject
to executive influence, and corruption and inefficiency remained
serious problems. The court system was subordinate to the Ministry of
Justice, which was part of the Presidency. The Constitution specifies
that the President is the guarantor of the legal system's independence.
He also appoints all judges with the advice of the Supreme Council of
the Magistrature. Some politically sensitive cases were never heard by
the courts. However, the judiciary has shown some modest signs of
growing independence. During the year, the courts found the Government
liable for damages in a few human rights cases involving abuses by
security officers.
The court system includes the Supreme Court, a Court of Appeals in
each of the 10 provinces, and courts of first instance in each of the
country's 58 divisions.
Customary courts served as a primary means for settling civil
disputes in rural areas, primarily in family-related civil cases, such
as in matters of succession, inheritance, and child custody. Divorce
cases can be brought to customary courts only if the Government has not
sanctioned the marriage through an official license. Customary courts
may exercise jurisdiction in a civil case only with the consent of both
parties. Either party has the right to have the case heard by a
statutory court and to appeal an adverse decision in a customary court
to the statutory courts. Most traditional courts also permitted appeal
of their decisions to traditional authorities of higher rank.
The legal system includes both national law and customary law, and
many criminal and civil cases can be tried using either one; however,
criminal cases are generally tried in statutory courts, and customary
court convictions involving witchcraft automatically are transferred to
the statutory courts, which act as the court of first instance.
Customary law, which is used most frequently in rural areas, is based
upon the traditions of the ethnic group predominant in the region and
is adjudicated by traditional authorities of that group. Customary law
is deemed valid only when it is not ``repugnant to natural justice,
equity, and good conscience.'' However, many citizens in rural areas
remained unaware of their rights under civil law and were taught that
they must abide by customary laws. Customary law ostensibly provides
for equal rights and status; however, men may limit women's right to
inheritance and employment, and some traditional legal systems classify
wives as the legal property of their husbands (see Section 5).
The legal structure is influenced strongly by the French legal
system, although in the two Anglophone provinces certain aspects of the
Anglo-Saxon tradition apply. In the past, this mixed legal tradition
has led to conflicting court action in cases handled in both
Francophone and Anglophone jurisdictions. In June 2003, the
International Bar Association began to assess ways to harmonize the
criminal legal system; however, by year's end, no reforms had been
undertaken.
The Constitution provides for a fair public hearing in which the
defendant is presumed innocent. Defendants generally were allowed to
question witnesses and to present witnesses and evidence on their own
behalf. Because appointed attorneys received little compensation, the
quality of legal representation for indigent clients often was poor.
The Bar Association and some voluntary organizations, such as the
Cameroonian Association of Female Jurists, offered free assistance in
some cases. The Project for the Improvement of Conditions of Detention
to engage lawyers to work on prison cases continued. Trials normally
were public, except in cases with political overtones and cases judged
disruptive to social peace.
On July 2, the Yaounde High Instance Court ruled in favor of
Innocent Belinga, who had been held without formal charge since his
arrest in 2000. The court ordered the state treasury to pay Belinga's
legal fees.
Political bias often stopped trials or resulted in an extremely
long process, with extended court recesses. Powerful political or
business interests enjoyed virtual immunity from prosecution; some
politically sensitive cases were settled with a payoff.
Military tribunals may exercise jurisdiction over civilians when
the President declares martial law and in cases involving civil unrest
or organized armed violence. Military tribunals also have jurisdiction
over gang crimes, banditry, and highway robbery. The Government
interpreted these guidelines broadly and sometimes used military courts
to try matters concerning dissident groups and political opponents.
Military trials often were subject to irregularities and political
influence.
The Government held political prisoners, including SCNC activists
and other Anglophones; however, there was no reliable estimate of the
number being held at year's end. The Government permitted international
humanitarian organizations to access political prisoners; during the
year, the International Federation of Human Rights visited political
prisoners in several prisons.
In October 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the 1999 ruling of a
lower court that convicted Titus Edzoa, former Minister of Health and
long-time presidential aide who opposed President Biya in the 1997
election, on charges of embezzlement of public funds with Michel
Thierry Atangana, his campaign manager, and sentenced Edzoa to a prison
term. He was ordered to pay a substantial fine and incarcerated at the
maximum-security Gendarmerie headquarters, with very limited access to
visitors; Edzoa and Atangana were arrested prior to the 1997 election.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
these rights were subject to the ``higher interests of the State,'' and
there were numerous, credible reports that police and gendarmes
harassed citizens, conducted searches without warrants, and opened or
seized mail. The Government continued to keep some opposition activists
and dissidents under surveillance. Police sometimes punished family
members and neighbors of criminal suspects.
The law permits a police officer to enter a private home during
daylight hours without a warrant if he is pursuing an inquiry and has
reason to suspect that a crime has been committed. The officer must
have a warrant to make such a search after dark; however, a police
officer may enter a private home at any time in pursuit of a criminal
observed committing a crime.
An administrative authority may authorize police to conduct
neighborhood sweeps without warrants, at times involving forced entry
into homes in search of suspected criminals or stolen or illegal goods.
Although there were fewer sweeps during the year than in the previous
year, these sweeps continued to occur in Yaounde and Douala. Typically,
security forces sealed off a neighborhood, systematically searched
homes, arrested persons arbitrarily, and seized suspicious or illegal
articles. There were credible reports that security forces used such
sweeps as a pretext to loot homes and arbitrarily arrest persons for
minor offenses, such as not possessing identity cards (see Section
1.c.). For example, on January 14, the Douala police conducted sweeps
in the Douala neighborhoods of Nkomondo, Bata-Cogo, and Bonibong.
During this operation, police reportedly arrested 50 individuals,
including 6 undocumented foreigners; by year's end, all those arrested
were released after paying fines. Police also reportedly seized
motorcycles and electronics during the sweeps. The Douala police
conducted another series of sweeps in late September in Ndokoti, Akwa,
Deido, and Bonaberi, all neighborhoods in and around Douala.
During the year, the Ministry of Towns indicated that the houses
the Government destroyed prior to the 2001 France-Africa Summit were
illegally built on state land and that their owners were not entitled
to compensation. The Government continued to prevent persons from
reoccupying the site from which they were removed.
There continued to be accusations, particularly in the North and
Far North Provinces, that traditional chiefs arbitrarily evicted
persons from their land.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government continued
to restrict these rights in practice. The Government sometimes invoked
strong libel laws to silence criticism of the Government and officials.
Journalists, particularly broadcast journalists, often practiced self-
censorship as a result of significant government intimidation and
harassment.
The Government published one of the country's few daily newspapers,
the Cameroon Tribune. It did not report extensively on protests or
political parties critical of the Government, overtly criticize the
ruling party, or portray government programs in an unfavorable light.
During the year, approximately 200 privately owned newspapers were
published; however, only an estimated 20, including Mutations, a
privately owned daily newspaper, were published on a regular basis.
Newspapers were distributed primarily in urban areas, and most
continued to criticize the Government and report on controversial
issues, including corruption, human rights abuses, and economic
policies. However, the Government used criminal libel laws to inhibit
the press, and during the year, laws concerning the propagation of
false information were also criminalized.
The publication, distribution, and sale of La Tribune de l'Est, a
private newspaper highly critical of the Government, was no longer
banned. During the year, the newspaper faced no harassment by the
Government.
Despite the large number of private newspapers in the country, the
influence of print media was minimal. Distribution was problematic
outside of major towns, and prices of independent newspapers were high,
due largely to high government taxes on newsprint; however, during the
year, the Government established a special fund to support the
development of the press, particularly newspapers, and funds were
dispersed to some private newspapers and radio stations during the
year. According to media reports, funding was awarded very selectively,
and some media outfits, such as Mutations and Radio Reine, refused to
apply for funds because of the lack of accountability measures for the
disbursement of funds. In addition, government control of newspaper
warehouses allowed the seizure of controversial editions of certain
newspapers prior to distribution. For example, the Government seized
two editions of Mutations and one edition of Insight magazine because
of controversial articles.
The Government tightly controlled the broadcast media. Radio
remained the most important medium reaching most citizens. There were
approximately 20 privately owned radio stations operating in the
country. The state-owned Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) broadcast on
both television and radio and was the only officially recognized and
fully licensed broadcaster in the country. The Government levied taxes
on all registered taxpaying citizens to finance CRTV programming, which
allowed CRTV a distinct advantage over independent broadcasters.
Non-profit rural radio stations were required to submit an
application to broadcast but were exempt from paying licensing fees.
Potential commercial radio and television broadcasters must submit a
licensing application and pay an application fee when the application
is submitted. Once the license is issued, stations must then pay a
licensing fee. The annual licensing fees potentially were prohibitive.
Between 1999 and year's end, the Ministry of Communication received
more than 100 applications from potential broadcasters; however, no
licenses had been issued to any private radio or TV stations by year's
end. In many cases, the Government allowed stations to operate while
their licensing applications were pending, although the legal status of
stations established before 2000 was not well defined and appeared to
be illegal.
Although the Communications Ministry had not responded to station
requests for licenses since 2000, the Government issued a December 2003
ultimatum to the many stations that were operating illegally, stating
that they would have to submit the proper paperwork or close down by
December 31, 2003. Between December 2003 and January, 12 stations
stopped broadcasting during a 3-week period to bring their licensing
applications up to date. Most of these stations, including some that
were critical of the Government, resumed broadcasting in January and
continued to broadcast at year's end. Although the Government did not
forcibly close any stations, it refused to register several stations
that did not submit what the Government deemed to be appropriate
applications, and those stations closed on their own initiative.
There were several low-power, rural community radio stations with
extremely limited broadcast range that were funded by the U.N.
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and foreign
countries. These stations, which broadcast programs on education,
health, the environment, and development to small audiences, were not
allowed to discuss politics. The law permits broadcasting of foreign
news services but requires the foreigners to partner with a national
station. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC), Radio France
International, and Voice of America broadcast in partnership with
state-owned CRTV. During the year, the Government continued to allow
the reception of international cable and satellite television
broadcasts.
Television was less pervasive but more influential than print
media. The five independent television stations largely avoided
criticizing the Government and generally relayed government information
to the public. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that
the Government controlled private television stations Canal 2 or RTA by
monitoring content to ensure compliance with an approved format; in
addition, the stations were no longer under a suspension that had been
imposed by the Center Province Government in 2003.
Like the Cameroon Tribune, CRTV provided broad reporting of CPDM
activities, while giving relatively little attention to the political
opposition. During the year, CRTV management continued to repeatedly
instruct CRTV staff to ensure that government views prevailed at all
times. Prior to and following the campaign period, CRTV television and
radio programming included a weekly program, Direct Expression, which
ostensibly fulfilled the Government's legal obligation to provide an
opportunity for all political parties represented in the National
Assembly to present their views. However, during the program, CRTV
continued to restrict the freedom of speech of the opposition party,
the SDF, by occasionally censoring and significantly shortening
proposed SDF programming.
During the presidential campaign period, the Ministry of
Communications made some efforts to provide equal airtime on CRTV for
presidential candidates to discuss their positions. Most candidates
took advantage of this offer; however, three candidates failed to
submit material for broadcast. The evening news and other reports
continued to focus on the incumbent and the ruling political party. As
a result, the incumbent received considerably more coverage than any
other candidate.
Security forces continued to restrict press freedom by arresting,
detaining, physically abusing, threatening, and otherwise harassing
print-media journalists. On May 18, the Mobile Intervention Unit of the
Douala police prevented Jean Celestin Edjangue, a press photographer
with Le Messager newspaper, from shooting pictures of a protest near
the French consulate. The police injured Edjangue's wrist as he
resisted their attempts to seize his camera.
On July 11, police arrested a BBC journalist and a local journalist
working temporarily for the BBC in the Bakassi peninsula for alleged
espionage. The journalists were moved to the coastal town of Limbe
where they were held for 6 days under police guard in a local hotel.
They were subsequently released without charge.
On August 31, police arrested Richard Nde, a reporter of the
Guardian Post, for libel in the town of Bamenda in Northwest Province
after he wrote an article in which he claimed that the mayor of Kumbo
in the Northwest Province had embezzled funds. However, many
journalists said that he was arrested because his newspaper published a
number of articles prior to the presidential election that were
critical of the incumbent. By year's end, Nde had paid $1060 (530 CFA
francs) to be released from prison, and he continued to report for the
Guardian Post.
There was no action against those responsible for the 2003 abuse of
two employees of Mutations.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government forcibly shut down radio stations; however, during the year,
the Government forcibly took control of one station and continued to
refuse registration to another.
On January 26, the Douala Court of First Instance declared itself
incompetent to rule on the case of Freedom FM, a Douala-based private
radio station, which the Government had prohibited from going
operational in May 2003 on the grounds that the owner had not submitted
to the Ministry of Communication an application for operation, the name
of the station, or the types of programs the station would broadcast.
Freedom FM owner Pius Njawe, who has previously been jailed for
criticizing the President, claimed he had submitted an application to
the Ministry under a different station name in 2003 but had
subsequently informed the Ministry of the name change. In October 2003,
the Ministry of Communications filed a lawsuit against Njawe for having
illegally created a radio station. In July, the Government rejected an
application to broadcast submitted by Freedom FM, and seized the
station's broadcasting equipment. According to the Ministry of
Communications, the radio equipment had been donated by a foreign
government to establish a community radio station, not a private one.
By year's end, this case was pending in another court while the
Government continued to prevent the station from broadcasting and
refused to return the confiscated equipment. In addition, in April
Njawe filed a case with the African Commission of Human Rights and
Freedom, which was investigating the case at year's end.
Radio Oku, which was closed in December 2003 by a Divisional
Officer (local government official), resumed broadcasting in February.
In April, the Bui High Court found that the Divisional Officer had
acted illegally when he closed Radio Oku, temporarily detained four
members of Radio Oku's board of directors, and placed three other
members under temporary house arrest. The court ordered the Divisional
Officer to relinquish Radio Oku equipment and to pay the station
manager approximately $1,400 (750,000 CFA francs). The Divisional
Officer appealed the judgment, and on April 16, he reportedly arrested
the station manager and board chairman. The individuals said they were
abused during their 2-day detention. On May 30, the Divisional
Officer's agents reportedly took control of the station, stopped its
normal programming, and began broadcasting. The Ministry of
Communications refused to become involved in the case because it
concerned ongoing litigation. At year's end, the Divisional Officer
remained in control of the station, and the Divisional Officer's legal
appeal remained pending.
During the year, the Government indirectly censored the media and
candidates for political office by controlling campaign advertising. On
August 25, in anticipation of the October presidential election, the
Minister of Communication granted itself extensive control over the
content and format of all campaign material. The restrictions on
campaign material significantly impeded the amount of advertising and
advertising revenues that the print media was able to obtain during the
campaign. In addition, the ruling CPDM party used its influence in CRTV
radio and television to broadcast special programs, which gave the
party additional time to campaign. Requirements that all political
advertising be directed to media authorized by the Ministry of
Communication meant that most advertising and advertising revenues were
obtained by CRTV, the only fully authorized TV or radio network in the
country.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government seized print runs of private newspapers or interfered with
private newspaper distribution.
The Government prosecuted its critics in the print media through
criminal libel laws. These laws authorized the Government, at its
discretion and the request of the plaintiff, to criminalize a civil
libel suit or to initiate a criminal libel suit in cases of alleged
libel against the President and other high government officials; such
crimes are punishable by prison terms and heavy fines. Criminal
penalties for speech-related offenses resulted in the practice of self-
censorship by some journalists.
For example, in July, a court convicted Eric Wirkwa Tayu, the
publisher of the small private newspaper Nso Voice based in Kumbo, of
defaming Kumbo's mayor, Donatus Njong Fonyuy. The defamation charge
reportedly resulted from articles in Nso Voice alleging that the mayor
was guilty of corruption. The court sentenced Tayu to 5 months in
prison and ordered him to pay a fine of $600 (300,000 CFA francs). It
was not known whether Tayu was able to pay the fine or if he had been
released by year's end.
During the year, the Ministry of Communication established a number
of new organizations related to the media. On April 30, the Minister of
Communication created the Central Office for Press Relations (BCRP) to
facilitate the press' access to certain government information (see
Section 3).
On September 22, the President appointed members to the long-
dormant National Communication Council, which was designed to serve as
an advisory body on government regulation of the communications sector.
The Council began operating during the year, and in its post-
presidential election report, it criticized the imbalance of CRTV's
coverage of the campaign, which it said discriminated against
opposition parties.
During the year, there were reports that the Government attempted
to monitor the Internet. In June, following rumors published on the
Internet that President Biya had died, the Minister of Communication
established an Internet regulatory taskforce to identify sources of
information on the Internet. There were no reports that the taskforce
was active during the year. There were no reports that the Government
restricted access to the Internet.
Although there were no legal restrictions on academic freedom,
state security informants operated on university campuses. Professors
said that participation in opposition political parties could affect
adversely their professional opportunities and advancement. During the
year, free political discussion at Yaounde's universities was hindered
by armed government security forces who harassed some students.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted this right
in practice. The law requires organizers of public meetings,
demonstrations, or processions to notify officials in advance but does
not require prior government approval of public assemblies and does not
authorize the Government to suppress public assemblies that it has not
approved in advance. However, officials routinely have asserted that
the law implicitly authorized the Government to grant or deny
permission for public assembly. Consequently, the Government often did
not grant permits for assemblies organized by persons or groups
critical of the Government and repeatedly used force to suppress public
assemblies for which it had not issued permits.
On numerous occasions throughout the year, authorities refused to
grant permission to political groups seeking to hold rallies and
meetings. For example, on October 22, the Prefect of the Wouri Division
in Douala announced that he would not authorize any political rallies
because he feared social unrest following the October 11 presidential
election. He lifted the ban on October 25, shortly after President Biya
was officially declared to have won the election.
Security forces forcibly disrupted the meetings and rallies of
trade unions and opposition parties throughout the year; however,
unlike in the previous year, no deaths resulted from the police's use
of excessive force to disperse demonstrations. For example, on January
12, authorities prevented members of the Front of Alternative Forces
(FFA), an opposition coalition, from holding a rally in the Douala
neighborhood of Bonanjo and arrested and detained for 6 hours 11 FFA
members. On April 2, a gendarmes detachment was deployed in Douala to
prevent a political rally organized by the Movement for Democracy and
Independence, an opposition political group, despite the fact that the
group had received authorization to hold the rally.
On May 22, security forces prevented members of the National
Coalition for Reconciliation and Reconstruction (CNRR), an opposition
group, from entering the municipal stadium in Ebolowa in the South
Province, where an opposition political rally had been scheduled to
take place.
In July, members of the CNRR tried to hold weekly rallies in
Yaounde to call for the computerization of the voter registration
process. Although the Government refused to provide permits for these
rallies, the protestors continued to march. On July 6, gendarmes
injured some protesters, including an SDF Parliamentarian, when they
used excessive force to detain a group of protestors on the street for
several hours. On August 3, a similar event occurred and lasted for
more than 3 hours, although no injuries were reported.
On August 19, Douala security forces prevented Jean-Jacques Ekindi
and members of the FFA from holding a rally in the Douala neighborhood,
Akwa. Police arrested and briefly detained five members of the FFA.
On October 21, authorities in Yaounde prevented a press conference
at the opposition SDF headquarters from taking place by denying
journalists entry to the site.
A few days prior to October 1, a traditional day of protest for
Anglophones, there were reports that police in Bamenda arrested four
SCNC activists. The individuals were reportedly held for a few days and
released without charge.
During the year, the Prefect of Mfoundi lifted a ban he had invoked
in 2003 to prevent the National Alliance for Democracy, an opposition
party, from holding meetings.
During the year, authorities released five protesters arrested
during a protest in September 2003.
No action reportedly was taken against the members of the security
forces who forcibly dispersed demonstrations in 2003 or 2002.
The law provides for freedom of association, and the Government
limited this right in practice. The 2002 ban on the SCNC remained in
effect. At year's end, the Prefect of Douala's Wouri Division continued
to maintain a June 2003 ban on all activities of the FFA; the Prefect
said that the group was disorderly and had not applied for legal
status.
The conditions for government recognition of a political party, a
prerequisite for many political activities, were not onerous. More than
180 political parties operated legally, together with a large and
growing number of civic associations.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, there were a few exceptions.
Religious groups must be approved and registered with the Ministry
of Territorial Administration and Decentralization to function legally;
there were no reports that the Government refused to register any
group. The approval process usually took several years, due primarily
to administrative delays. The Government did not register traditional
religious groups on the grounds that the practice of traditional
religion was a private concern observed by members of a particular
ethnic or kinship group or the residents of a particular locality.
On January 7, the Judicial Police arrested Michel Atanga Effa and
Gervais Balla as suspects in the 2003 killing of Brother Anton Probst,
a German missionary working in the Center Province. The two men
remained in custody awaiting formal charges at year's end.
In May, a traditional village ruler, or Fon, beat and fined Pastor
Alombah Godlove for providing a Christian burial for a village elder in
accordance with the deceased's will. The Fon said that the elder, who
was also a member of a traditional religious secret society, should
have been buried with traditional rites. At year's end, no legal action
had been brought in this case; however, the case was being investigated
by the NCHRF.
The practice of witchcraft is a criminal offense under the law;
however, individuals generally were prosecuted for this offense only in
conjunction with another offense, such as murder. Witchcraft
traditionally has been a common explanation for diseases of unknown
cause.
Discrimination in the northern provinces, especially in rural
areas, by Muslims against Christians and persons who practiced
traditional indigenous religions remained strong and widespread.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights;
however, in practice security forces routinely impeded domestic travel.
Roadblocks and checkpoints manned by security forces proliferated
in cities and most highways, making road travel both time-consuming and
costly. Extortion of small bribes was commonplace at these checkpoints.
Police frequently stopped travelers to check identification documents,
vehicle registrations, and tax receipts as security and immigration
control measures. During the year, security forces killed at least one
person they thought was evading a checkpoint (see Section 1.a.).
There were credible reports that police arrested and beat
individuals who failed to carry their identification cards (see
Sections 1.c. and 1.f.).
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it;
however, some human rights monitors or political opponents who
considered themselves threatened by the Government left the country
voluntarily and declared themselves to be in political exile. For
example, on July 17, Anna Ndep Takem, an activist for the SCNC
reportedly fled the country after learning that authorities were
planning to arrest her for providing food and assistance to detained
SCNC activists in the Yaounde Central Prison.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system of providing protection to refugees. In practice, the Government
provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a
country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee status or
asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees. At year's end, the UNHCR estimated that the
country provided temporary protection to approximately 60,000 refugees,
the majority of whom were Chadian and Nigerian, in addition to 6,000
asylum seekers.
The Government also provided protection to certain individuals who
may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention or its 1967
Protocol.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides that citizens have the right to change
their government; however, dominance of the political process by the
President and his party and electoral intimidation, manipulation, and
fraud severely limited the ability of citizens to exercise this right.
On October 11, President Biya, who has controlled the Government
since 1982, was re-elected with approximately 70 percent of the vote in
an election widely viewed as freer and fairer than previous elections;
however, the election was poorly managed and marred by irregularities.
Some observers said progress had been made and called the election
transparent; others, such as the Commonwealth Observer Group, stated
that the election lacked credibility. One domestic group described the
election as a masquerade.
Opposition candidates participated in the electoral process, and
the election environment was largely calm and peaceful. However,
domestic and international observers witnessed a number of electoral
irregularities, particularly with regard to the registration process,
methods of identifying voters, the distribution of sufficient ballot
papers, and the poor quality of the ink used to identify persons who
had already voted. Such irregularities appeared to have led to high
levels of voter confusion and apathy. There were also widespread
allegations of multiple voting by individuals close to President Biya's
party. Following the election, opposition candidates accused the
Government of massive vote rigging and appealed (unsuccessfully) to the
Constitutional Council for the election to be annulled. The Council
ruled against the opposition candidates, either because they had
insufficient evidence to sustain their appeals, or because they had
filed their complaints incorrectly.
During the year, the Government continued to gradually implement a
revised constitution enacted in 1996; the 1972 Constitution remained in
force in areas where the 1996 revisions had not yet been implemented.
For example, the 1996 Constitution's provision extending the
presidential term from 5 to 7 years and permitting President Biya to
run for another term was in effect; however, the composition of the
National Assembly, an elected body, still was being determined by the
1972 Constitution. Since 1991, only government bills proposed by the
Presidency have been enacted by the National Assembly; however, in
April, the National Assembly agreed to consider a bill submitted by the
leading opposition party. Only parties with representatives in the
National Assembly can submit bills for consideration.
The President's control over the country's administrative apparatus
was extensive. The President appoints all Ministers, including the
Prime Minister, and on December 8, the President appointed a new
Cabinet. The President also directly appoints the governors of each of
the 10 provinces. The governors, in turn, have considerable power in
the electoral process to interpret and implement laws. The President
also has the power to appoint important lower level members of the 58
provincial administrative structures, including the senior divisional
officers, the divisional officers, and the district chiefs. The
governors and senior divisional officers have considerable authority
within the areas under their jurisdiction, including the authority to
ban political meetings that they deem likely to threaten public order
(see Section 2.b.). They also may order the detention of persons for
renewable periods of 15 days to combat banditry and other security
threats (see Section 1.d.).
The right of citizens to choose their local governments remained
circumscribed. The Government has increased greatly the number of
municipalities run by presidentially appointed delegates, who have
authority over elected mayors. Delegate-run cities included most of the
provincial capitals and some division capitals in pro-opposition
provinces; however, this practice was nonexistent in the southern
provinces, which tended to support the CPDM. In municipalities with
elected mayors, local autonomy was limited since elected local
governments relied on the central Government for most of their revenue
and administrative personnel.
In April, the National Assembly passed legislation that is expected
to give popularly elected local councils control over many local
government issues. The first election for these decentralized bodies is
not scheduled to take place until 2007.
On April 21, the President signed a law establishing the
Constitutional Council, which will rule on laws, ensure the fairness of
elections, and proclaim the results of elections. The Supreme Court
acted as the Constitutional Council during the October 11 presidential
election, and by year's end, the members of the Council had not yet
been appointed by the President.
On June 13, municipal by-elections were held in five of the six
districts where the Supreme Court had annulled the 2002 election
results. Observers reported that the election was free but not
completely fair; limited improvements were made in comparison to the
2002 election, but many witnessed irregularities including multiple
voting, candidates working at polling stations, and extensive
campaigning on election day at polling stations. The CPDM won in five
of the six districts and maintained its strong majority in the National
Assembly. During the campaign, there were some hostile encounters
between members of the ruling CPDM party and the opposition SDF party,
and security forces took action to prevent violence.
The 2002 legislative and municipal elections, which were dominated
by the CPDM, largely reflected the will of the people; however, there
were widespread irregularities.
There were more than 180 registered political parties in the
country; however, less than 10 were significant, and only 5 had seats
in the National Assembly. The ruling CPDM held an absolute majority in
the National Assembly; opposition parties included the SDF, based in
the Anglophone provinces and the largest of the opposition parties, the
National Union for Democracy and Progress, the Cameroon Democratic
Union, and the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon.
Corruption remained a serious problem in all branches of
Government. The public perception was that judicial and administrative
officials were open to bribes in almost all situations. According to a
corruption survey taken by Transparency International during the year,
more than 50 percent of persons surveyed in the country reported that
they or members in their household had paid a bribe in the past 12
months.
During the year, local and international activists continued to
criticize the Government's lack of transparency in managing revenues
from an international oil pipeline.
During the year, the Government took a few steps to fight
corruption. For example, on September 24, President Biya established a
code for awarding public contracts in a more transparent manner. The
code specifies rules for the awarding, execution, and oversight of
public contracts; by year's end, the code had taken effect and
authorities reportedly were enforcing it. There was a National
Corruption Observatory to combat corruption within the Government at
all levels; however, it was severely under-funded, and there were no
publicized prosecutions of corrupt government officials during the
year. In addition, in December, the Government announced new rules
intended to make civil servants more accountable, including a
disciplinary process that allows for termination of corrupt employees.
There were no laws providing citizens with access to government
information, and in practice, such access was difficult to obtain. Most
government documents were not available to the public, including the
media. However, on April 30, the Minister of Communication created the
Central Office for Press Relations (BCRP), which is charged with
indiscriminately providing all press organs with official government
information; however, the Government selects the information that is
disseminated, and the BCRP was not intended to handle requests for
information from the general public. By year's end, the Office had
begun operating administratively.
Women held 18 of 180 seats in the National Assembly, 6 of 61
cabinet posts, and a few of the higher offices within the major
political parties, including the CPDM.
Many of the key members of the Government were drawn from the
President's own Beti/Bulu ethnic group, as were disproportionately
large numbers of military officers and CPDM officials.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing findings on human rights cases; however, government
officials repeatedly impeded the effectiveness of local human rights
NGOs during the year by limiting access to prisoners, refusing to share
information, and threatening and using violence against personnel.
Between mid-May and mid-November, police harassed Philip Njaru, a human
rights activist and Executive Director of the Kumba-based Friends of
the Press Network, a human rights organization in Southwest Province.
Njaru had been investigating and disseminating information on the case
of Bernard Afuh, whom the police burned to death (see Section 1.a.).
Access by international NGOs to prisons reportedly improved during the
year (see Section 1.c.). The activities of virtually all of these
groups were limited by a shortage of funds and trained personnel.
Observers have criticized the country's NGO laws for giving the
Government the opportunity to deny authorization to operate or
eliminate NGOs by decree.
Numerous domestic human rights NGOs operated in the country,
including, among others, the National League for Human Rights, the
Organization for Human Rights and Freedoms, the Association of Women
Against Violence, and the Cameroonian Association of Female Jurists.
The Government harassed and arrested NGO members during the year.
For example, on July 21, gendarmes arrested and detained Joseph Chongsi
of the Center for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy under false
pretenses; they alleged that he had not paid a debt. He was released on
July 23 and received an official apology from the Prison Administrator
in Bamenda.
There have been no further developments in the 2003 arrest of
Abdoulaye Math, who was awaiting trial at year's end.
During its June/July session, the National Assembly greatly
expanded the role and powers of the NCHRF. The Commission was granted
the authority to summon witnesses and to publish their reports and the
findings of their investigations. While the NCHRF remained hampered by
a shortage of funds, it conducted a number of investigations into human
rights abuses, visited prisons, and organized several human rights
seminars aimed at judicial officials, security personnel, and other
government officers. In July, the NCHRF organized a 2-day seminar for
NGOs and government officials to develop a training curriculum on human
rights for law enforcement, members of the judiciary, and other
citizens. Although the Commission infrequently criticized the
Government's human rights abuses publicly, its staff intervened with
government officials in specific cases of human rights abuses by
security forces, attempted to stop Friday arrests (see Section 1.d.),
and sought to obtain medical attention for jailed suspects in specific
cases.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution does not explicitly forbid discrimination based on
race, language, or social status. The Constitution prohibits
discrimination based on sex and mandates that ``everyone has equal
rights and obligations''; however, the Government did not enforce these
provisions effectively.
Women.--The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence,
but assault is prohibited and was punishable by prison terms and fines;
and in practice, domestic violence against women was common. While
there were no reliable statistics on violence against women, a large
number of newspaper reports indicated that the phenomenon was
widespread. Women's rights advocates reported that the law does not
impose effective penalties against men who commit acts of domestic
violence. There were no gender-specific assault laws, despite the fact
that women were the predominant victims of domestic violence. Spousal
abuse was not a legal ground for divorce. In cases of sexual assault, a
victim's family or village often imposed direct, summary punishment on
the suspected perpetrator through extralegal means, ranging from
destruction of property to beating.
The law prohibits rape, and although rape occurred, police and the
courts investigated and prosecuted cases of rape, which resulted in
some convictions during the year. Official and private media regularly
covered rape cases handled by the courts during the year.
The law does not prohibit female genital mutilation (FGM), and FGM
was not practiced widely; however, it continued to be practiced in
isolated areas in 3 of the 10 provinces, including some areas of Far
North, Eastern, and Southwest Provinces. Internal migration contributed
to the spread of FGM to different parts of the country. The majority of
FGM procedures were clitorectomies; however, the severest form of FGM,
infibulation, was performed in the Kajifu region of the Southwest
Province. FGM usually was practiced on infants and pre-adolescent
girls. During the year, the Government did not conduct programs to
educate the population about the harmful consequences of FGM or
prosecute any persons who allegedly performed FGM; however, the
Association of Women Against Violence continued to conduct a program in
Maroua to assist victims of FGM and their families and to educate local
populations.
Despite constitutional provisions recognizing women's rights, women
did not enjoy the same rights and privileges as men. Some points of
civil law were prejudicial to women. The law allows a husband to oppose
his wife's right to work in a separate profession if the protest is
made in the interest of the household and the family; a husband also
may end his wife's commercial activity by notifying the clerk of
commerce tribunal of his opposition based upon the family's interest.
Partly for this reason, some employers required a husband's permission
before hiring female employees.
Customary law was far more discriminatory against women, since in
many regions a woman customarily was regarded as the property of her
husband. Because of the importance attached to customs and traditions,
laws protecting women often were not respected. In the customary law of
some ethnic groups, husbands not only maintained complete control over
family property, but also could divorce their wives in a traditional
court without being required to provide either verifiable justification
or alimony. Polygyny was permitted by law and tradition. In cases of
divorce, the husband's wishes determined the custody of children over
the age of 6. While a man may be convicted of adultery only if the
sexual act takes place in his home, a female may be convicted without
respect to venue.
Traditional law normally governed the extent to which a woman may
inherit from her husband in the absence of a will, and traditions
varied from group to group. In many traditional societies, custom
grants greater authority and benefit to male heirs than to female
heirs. Women also faced the issue of forced marriage; in some regions,
girls' parents could and did give girls away in marriage without the
bride's consent. Often the husband, who could be many years older than
his bride, paid his wife's parents a ``bride price.'' Since a price had
been paid, the girl was considered the property of the husband. When a
married man died, his widow often was unable to collect any
inheritance, since she herself was considered part of the man's
property. Often the widow was forced to marry one of the deceased
husband's brothers. If she refused, she had to repay the bride price in
full and leave the family compound. In the Northern provinces, some
Lamibe (traditional rulers) reportedly prevented their wives and
concubines from leaving the palace. The lack of a national legal code
covering such family issues often left women defenseless against these
male-oriented customs.
On May 24, religious leaders, including Catholics, Protestants, and
Muslims, launched a nation-wide program to fight violence against
women.
Children.--During the year, the Government made some efforts to
protect children's rights and welfare, including participation in
seminars on children's rights. The Constitution provides for a child's
right to education, and schooling was mandatory through the age of 14
years. Since parents had to pay uniform and book fees for primary
school, and because tuition and other fees for secondary education
remained costly, education largely was unaffordable for many children.
The Government took measures during the year to improve access to
schools. On April 19, the Minister of National Education launched
``Education-For All Week'' to prioritize education for girls.
According to statistics from the Ministry, 72.2 percent of girls
between the ages of 6 and 14 were enrolled in school, compared with
81.3 percent for boys of the same age group. The low education rate
continued to be attributed to socio-cultural prejudices, early
marriage, sexual harassment, unwanted pregnancy, and domestic chores.
On October 29, the Minister of Education and the Minister of Youth
and Sports presented the results of a study on the country's education
system. The study revealed a large disparity between the number of
potential students and the capacity of the schools. According to the
report, pre-schools served only 16 percent of all possible students.
Within the entire school system, the northern provinces were the most
underprivileged, with only 5.7 percent of all teachers working in the
Adamawa, North, and Extreme North Provinces combined. The capacity of
the schools was also inadequate. The study showed that elementary
schools only had enough seats for 1.8 million students, although 2.9
million attended school. Another government report indicated that of
560 high schools throughout the country, only 33 schools had at least
50 percent of their students pass the baccalaureate exam.
Although illegal, in practice, girls continued to suffer from
discrimination with respect to education throughout the country. The
gap in school attendance was 14 percent nationally and 34 percent in
the two most northern provinces. This problem, which especially was
acute in rural areas, resulted in higher levels of illiteracy among
women than men.
The exact degree of familial child abuse was not known; however,
children's rights organizations targeted the problem. Newspaper reports
often cited children as victims of kidnapping, mutilation, and even
infanticide. There were several credible stories of mothers (usually
young, unemployed, and unmarried) abandoning their newborns in streets,
garbage cans, and pit toilets.
Despite the law that fixes a minimum age of 15 years for a bride,
many families facilitated the marriage of young girls by the age of 12
years. Early marriage was prevalent in the northern provinces of
Adamawa and the North, but it was especially characteristic of the
remote Far North Province, where many young women faced severe health
risks from pregnancies as early as 13 years of age.
FGM was performed primarily on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
There were reports of child prostitution and trafficking in
children during the year (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor remained a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Although exact numbers were unavailable, the country had a
significant number of displaced or street children, most of whom
resided in urban areas such as Yaounde and Douala.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons, but the law does prohibit slavery,
prostitution, forced labor, minimum age requirements for workers, and
other crimes related to trafficking in persons, and trafficking
remained a problem. Courts have prosecuted traffickers using various
provisions of the Penal Code that address related crimes. The country
was a source, transit, and destination point for internationally
trafficked persons; trafficking also occurred within the country.
The law provides that any person who engages in crimes often
associated with trafficking in persons shall be punished by 10 to 20
years of imprisonment. In May 2003, four individuals were arrested for
their involvement in trafficking six children from the town of Obala to
Yaounde. One of these individuals was convicted and sentenced to 8
years in prison. There was no information about the other three
individuals who were arrested. In mid-2003, there were unconfirmed
reports that police intervened to protect 12 victims of child
trafficking in the North Province, but no traffickers were arrested in
relation to that case. On April 21, President Biya ratified three anti-
trafficking conventions, including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime.
The Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Insurance was
primarily responsible for fighting trafficking; however, the Ministry
was severely underfunded. It was believed that authorities prosecuted
several trafficking cases during the year, but actual rates were
difficult to determine since traffickers could be prosecuted under
various sections of the penal code and there was no system for tracking
outcomes. The Government continued to fight trafficking through the use
of an interagency committee and a program to find and return trafficked
children. In addition, the Government cooperated with Gabon, Nigeria,
Togo and Benin in fighting trafficking, through the exchange of
information and preparation of common legislation on trafficking.
Women and children traditionally have faced the greatest risk of
trafficking and have been trafficked most often for the purposes of
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most trafficking in children
occurred within the country's borders, while most trafficked women were
transported out of the country. According to anecdotal evidence by the
NCHRF, women often were ``hired'' into hubs of prostitution, often in
Europe. The method for trafficking women usually involved a marriage
proposition by a foreign businessman. The woman was inducted into
servitude upon arrival at a foreign destination. Girls were internally
trafficked from the Adamawa, North, the Far North provinces, and from
the Northwest Province to Douala and Yaounde to work as domestic
servants, street vendors, or prostitutes. Children were also internally
trafficked to work on cocoa bean plantations. There have been credible
reports of slavery, particularly in the Rey Bouba Division of North
Province, inside the closely guarded compound of a local chieftain,
where authorities were unable to assert control. Parents sometimes
offered their young daughters to the Lamido of the North Province of
the Rey Bouba as gifts.
During the year, human rights organizations in Bamenda in the
Northwest Province reported the existence of radio ads offering to take
adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 17 to Yaounde and Douala
for domestic labor. The organization offered to pay transportation and
a finder's fee to persons who recruited children for domestic labor.
A 2000 International Labor Organization (ILO) study conducted in
Yaounde, Douala, and Bamenda, revealed that trafficking accounted for
84 percent of child laborers. In most cases, intermediaries presented
themselves as businessmen, approaching parents with large families or
custodians of orphans and promising to assist the child with education
or professional training. The intermediary paid parents an average of
$12 (6,000 CFA francs) before transporting the child to a city where
the intermediary would subject the child to forced labor with little
remuneration. In 4 out of 10 cases, the child was a foreigner
transported to the country for labor. The report also indicated that
the country was a transit country for regional traffickers, who
transported children between Nigeria, Benin, Niger, Chad, Togo, the
Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic for indentured
or domestic servitude, farm labor, and sexual exploitation. Citizens
also were trafficked to South Africa.
The Institute for Socio-Anthropologic Research (IRSA) of the
Yaounde-based Catholic University of Central Africa continued an ILO-
sponsored Exploratory Study on Child Trafficking during the year.
During the year, the ILO and the Government continued to support an
awareness campaign to eradicate child trafficking in airports. Special
anti-trafficking embarkation/disembarkation cards continued to be
designed and distributed. The cards described the dangers of
trafficking and how to recognize the phenomenon.
The Government continued to work with local and international NGOs
to provide temporary shelter and assistance to victims of trafficking.
The Catholic Relief Service worked to combat corruption in local
schools that led to child prostitution.
On June 10, the Cameroon Red Cross and an Austrian NGO, SOS
Kinderdorf, signed a convention to protect impoverished children who
were at the greatest risk of being trafficked or being involved in the
worst forms of child labor. UNICEF was also actively engaged in
combating girls' prostitution throughout the year.
Persons with Disabilities.--The law provides certain rights to
persons with disabilities, including access to public institutions,
medical treatment, and education, and the Government was obliged to
bear part of the educational expense of persons with disabilities, to
employ them where possible, and to provide them with public assistance
when necessary; however, the Government rarely honored these
obligations. There were few facilities for persons with disabilities
and little public assistance; lack of facilities and care for persons
with mental disabilities particularly was acute. Society largely tended
to treat those with disabilities as outcasts, and many felt that
providing assistance was the responsibility of churches or foreign
NGOs. The law does not mandate special access provisions to private
buildings and facilities for persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The population was divided into more than 200 ethnic groups, among
which there were frequent and credible allegations of discrimination.
Ethnic groups commonly gave preferential treatment to fellow ethnic
group members both in business and social practices.
Members of President Biya's Beti/Bulu ethnic group from southern
parts of the country held key positions and were disproportionately
represented in government, civil service, state-owned businesses, the
security forces, and the ruling CPDM party.
The M'Bororo, a semi-nomadic Fulani people whose main economic
activity is cattle raising, were given rights over pastoral land in the
Northwest Province by the British colonial government; however, in
1986, Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Danpullo, a prominent businessman and member
of the ruling party, established a commercial ranch in Ndawara,
Northwest Province. During the year, the M'Bororo continued to claim
that over 18 years, Danpullo has forcibly displaced them, seized their
land, cattle, and women, and used his money and influence with the
Government to order the beating and false imprisonment of members of
the M'Bororo. On March 23, a Bamenda Court of Appeals ordered the
release of three of the four M'Bororo youths arrested by Bamenda police
in 2002, Adamu Issa, Yunussa Bagoji, and Haman Usmanu. The fourth
individual had unsuccessfully attempted to escape prior to the Court's
ruling and remained in detention at year's end. A special government
commission of inquiry had reportedly finished hearing testimony and
completed its research but had not released the results of its
investigation by year's end.
Northern areas of the country suffered from ethnic tensions between
the Fulani (or Peuhl) and the Kirdi. The Kirdi remained socially,
educationally, and economically disadvantaged relative to the Fulani in
the three northern provinces. Traditional Fulani rulers, called Lamibe,
continued to wield great power over their subjects, often including
Kirdi, sometimes subjecting them to tithing and forced labor. During
the year, isolated cases of slavery were reported, largely Fulani
enslavement of Kirdi.
Natives of the North West and South West Provinces have tended to
support the opposition party SDF and have suffered disproportionately
from human rights violations committed by the Government and its
security forces. The Anglophone community has been underrepresented in
the public sector. Anglophones generally believed that they had not
received a fair share of public sector goods and services within their
two provinces. Some residents of the Anglophone region sought greater
freedom, equality of opportunity, and better government by regaining
regional autonomy rather than through national political reform and
have formed several quasi-political organizations in pursuit of their
goals.
At least one Anglophone group, the SCNC, advocates secession from
the country. During the year, security forces harassed and arrested the
participants of SCNC meetings (see Section 1.d.). The Government also
continued to hold some SCNC activists or suspected SCNC supporters in
temporary detention without charge. The opposition SDF party, whose
base of support resides in the Anglophone provinces, reiterated its
commitment to pursue a nonviolent political struggle toward the
restoration of a federal republic.
Some members of the country's large community of Nigerian
immigrants complained of discrimination and abuse by government
officials (see Section 1.c.). Government officials repeatedly have
announced crackdowns on undocumented Nigerian immigrants, and illegal
immigrants were subject to harassment on some occasions.
Indigenous People.--A population of approximately 50,000 to 100,000
Baka (Pygmies), a term that encompasses several different ethnic
groups, primarily resided (and were the earliest known inhabitants) in
the forested areas of the South and East provinces. While no legal
discrimination exists, other groups often treated the Baka as inferior
and sometimes subjected them to unfair and exploitative labor
practices. Baka reportedly continued to complain that the forests they
inhabit were being logged without fair compensation. Some observers
believe that sustained logging was destroying the Baka's unique,
forest-oriented belief system, forcing them to adapt their traditional
social and economic systems to a more rigid modern society similar to
their Bantu neighbors. Local Baka along the path of the Chad-Cameroon
pipeline continued to complain that they were not compensated fairly
for their land. Others alleged that they had been cheated of their
compensation by persons posing as Baka representatives.
An estimated 95 percent of Baka did not have national identity
cards; most Baka could not afford to provide the necessary
documentation to obtain national identity cards, which were required to
vote in national elections. In early May, Plan International and
another NGO launched a program to educate Bakas about their political
rights, which included the construction of a communal radio in the
region of Abong-Mbang (Upper Nyong Division, East Province). In July,
the Association of Boumba and Ngoko Divisional Councils conducted a
campaign through which they were able to issue hundreds of
identification cards to Bakas in the East Province, thereby allowing
these individuals to register and vote.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Homosexuality is illegal
under the penal code, with a possible prison sentence of between 6
months and 5 years and a possible fine ranging from approximately $38
to $380 (20,000 to 200,000 CFA francs). While prosecution under this
law was rare, homosexuals suffered from harassment and extortion by law
enforcement officials. During the year, there were organizations that
advocated for the rights of homosexuals, including the Association of
Justice and Rights for all.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and
join trade unions; however, the Government imposed numerous
restrictions. The law does not permit the creation of a union that
includes both public and private sector workers, or the creation of a
union that includes different, even closely related sectors.
The law requires that unions register with the Government,
permitting groups of at least 20 workers to organize a union by
submitting a constitution, internal regulations, and non-conviction
certifications for each founding member. The law provides for prison
sentences and fines for workers who form a union and carry out union
activities without registration. Government officials said that it
remits certification within 1 month of union application; however, in
practice, independent unions, especially in the public sector, have
found it difficult to register. In addition, the requirement for union
registration contradicts ILO Convention 87, which states that unions
have the right to exist through declaration and without government
recognition or registration.
Registered unions were subject to government interference. The
Government chose the unions with which it would bargain; some
independent unions accused the Government of creating small non-
representative unions amenable to government positions and with which
it could ``negotiate'' more easily. Some sections of labor law have no
force or effect because the presidency had not issued implementing
decrees.
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, and employers guilty
of such discrimination were subject to fines up to approximately $1,600
(1 million CFA francs). However, employers found guilty were not
required to compensate the workers against whom they discriminated or
to reinstate fired workers. The Ministry of Labor did not report any
complaints of such discrimination during the year, although there have
been credible press reports of union leader harassment.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not arrest union
leaders. There were no new developments in the 2003 arrest of railroad
union president Benoit Essiga and his six colleagues.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for collective bargaining between workers and management as
well as between labor federations and business associations in each
sector of the economy, and formal collective bargaining negotiations
took place during the year. There are no export processing zones.
When labor disputes arose, the Government chose the labor union
with which it would negotiate, selectively excluding some labor
representatives. Once agreements were negotiated, there was no
mechanism to enforce implementation; some agreements between the
Government and labor unions were then ignored by the Government.
On August 25, the Minister of Employment, Labor, and Social
Insurance signed a collective bargaining agreement with the building
constructions and public works sector. This agreement was the result of
consultations between the employers' association, worker unions, and
the Government.
The Labor Code explicitly recognizes workers' right to strike but
only after mandatory arbitration, and workers exercised this right
during the year. Arbitration decisions were not enforceable by law and
could be overturned or simply ignored by the Government or employers.
The provision of the law allowing persons to strike does not apply to
civil servants, employees of the penitentiary system, or workers
responsible for national security. Instead of strikes, civil servants
were required to negotiate grievances directly with the minister of the
appropriate department in addition to the Minister of Labor.
The law provides for the protection of workers engaged in legal
strikes and prohibits retribution against them, and in practice, these
elements of the law were respected.
Since May 2003, workers of the National Agency for Support to
Forestry Development began a strike, demanding salary payments 7 months
in arrears. In November 2003, the strike was suspended but resumed on
March 17. The 650 workers occupied the compound of the company, and
occasionally erected roadblocks on the road leading to their working
place. On May 5, the Government paid the 7 months of salary arrears,
and at the same time terminated the contracts of all workers. An ad hoc
committee was put in place to study the modalities for the payment of
workers' severance dues. The question of which workers, if any, would
be hired back remained unresolved at year's end.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor; however, it occurred in practice.
Authorities continued to allow prison inmates to be contracted out to
private employers or used as communal labor for municipal public works.
There were isolated reports that slavery continued to be practiced
in northern parts of the country (see Section 5). In the South and East
Provinces, some Baka (Pygmies), including children, continued to be
subjected to unfair and exploitative labor practices by landowners, and
worked on the landowners' farms during harvest seasons without payment
(see Section 5).
The Government does not expressly prohibit forced and compulsory
labor by children, and there were reports that these practices occurred
(see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law generally protects children in the fields of labor and education
and specifies penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment for
infringement; however, child labor remained a problem.
The law sets a minimum age of 14 for child employment, bans night
work, and enumerates tasks that children under the age of 18 cannot
legally perform. These tasks included moving heavy objects, dangerous
and unhealthy tasks, working in confined areas, and prostitution. The
law also states that a child's workday cannot exceed 8 hours. Employers
were required to train children between the ages of 14 and 18, and work
contracts must contain a training provision for minors. The prohibition
against night work was not enforced effectively.
Information on child labor was difficult to obtain; however,
according to a 2000 study by the ILO and Ministry of Labor, child labor
existed chiefly in urban areas and in the informal sector such as
street vending, car washing, agricultural work, and domestic service.
Many urban street vendors were less than 14 years of age. An increasing
number of children worked as household help, and some children were
involved in prostitution. In the north, there were credible reports
that children from needy homes were placed with other families to do
household work for pay. In the nation's major cities of Yaounde,
Douala, and Bamenda, the ILO estimated in 2000 that 40 percent of
employed children were girls, of whom 7 percent were less than 12 years
of age, and 60 percent had dropped out of primary school.
Parents viewed child labor as both a tradition and a rite of
passage. Relatives often employed rural youth, especially girls, as
domestic helpers, and these jobs seldom allowed time for the children
to attend school. In rural areas, many children began work at an early
age on family farms. The cocoa industry also employed child laborers.
The Government does not specifically prohibit forced and compulsory
labor by children, and there were reports that it occurred in practice
(see Section 5).
The Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Labor were
responsible for enforcing existing child labor laws through site
inspections of registered businesses; however, the Government did not
allocate sufficient resources to support an effective inspection
program. Moreover, the legal prohibitions do not include family chores,
which in many instances were beyond a child's capacity. During the
year, the Government employed 58 general labor inspectors to
investigate child labor cases.
The ILO/West Africa Cocoa/Agriculture Program to eliminate child
labor was launched in the country in June 2003. The program's stated
objective was to remove 1,000 children from hazardous work in the cocoa
sector over 2 years. According to the project coordinator, by December,
more than 850 children had been removed from forced labor situations.
On June 12, the Government, the ILO, and other partners organized
numerous activities to mark the World Day Against Child Labor, which
specifically highlighted child domestic labor. Among the activities
organized were a national media campaign and a soccer match to raise
awareness of child labor and trafficking.
On October 22, the Minister of Labor signed an agreement with the
ILO to allow the ILO to work more effectively to eradicate child labor.
The agreement established specific contact persons in various
ministries and agencies involved in antitrafficking activities; it also
gave the ILO the possibility to freely conduct nationwide
investigations and cooperate with local organizations of its choice.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Under the law, the Ministry of
Labor was responsible for setting a single minimum wage nationally,
applicable in all sectors. The minimum wage was approximately $40
(23,514 CFA francs) per month. The wage did not provide for a decent
standard of living for an average worker and family.
The law establishes a standard workweek of 40 hours in public and
private nonagricultural firms and 48 hours in agricultural and related
activities. The law mandates at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly
rest.
The Government sets health and safety standards. Ministry of Labor
inspectors and occupational health physicians were responsible for
monitoring these standards; however, they lacked the resources for a
comprehensive inspection program. There was no specific legislation
permitting workers to extricate themselves from dangerous work
situations without jeopardizing continued employment. Illegal foreign
workers were not able to claim legal protections.
__________
CAPE VERDE
Cape Verde is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which
constitutional powers are shared among the elected head of state,
President Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires, former President of the African
Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV); the head of
government, Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves; and Neves' party, the
PAICV. In 2001, Pires was elected by a margin of 12 votes over the
country's former prime minister and Movement for Democracy (MPD)
president, Carlos Veiga, in what the National Electoral Commission and
international media judged to be free and fair elections. Nationwide
municipal elections held in March also were considered to be free and
fair. The judiciary generally was independent, but understaffed and
inefficient.
Police have primary responsibility for maintaining law and order.
Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security
forces. Some members of the security forces committed isolated human
rights abuses.
The country had a market-based economy but little industry and few
exploitable natural resources. Per capita income during the year was
estimated at $1,495. The country had a long history of economically
driven emigration, and remittances from citizens abroad remained an
important source of income. During the year, locusts and severe drought
reduced agricultural production, and the country, which generally
relied heavily on international food aid, produced food for only 15
percent of its population of approximately 460,000.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were
occasional reports of police abuse, and prison conditions were poor.
The judicial system was overburdened, and lengthy delays in trials were
common. Unlike during the previous year, the Government did not
restrict press freedom; however, there continued to be allegations of
media self-censorship. Violence and discrimination against women and
mistreatment of children were serious problems. Child labor occurred.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were credible reports that police continued to beat persons in custody
and in detention, despite government efforts to stop such practices.
The Government investigated allegations of human rights abuses by
police; however, these investigations did not result in any legal
action against the perpetrators.
Prison conditions were poor, and facilities were severely
overcrowded. Sanitation and medical assistance were poor; however, a
doctor and a nurse were available, and prisoners were taken to the
public hospitals for serious problems. Psychological problems among
prisoners were common.
Although women and men were held separately, juveniles were not
held separately from adults, and pretrial detainees were not held
separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted both formal visits by international human
rights monitors to prisons and visits to individual prisoners; however,
there were no such visits during the year. Local nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and media representatives frequently visited the
prisons and reported on prison conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
The country's police force is organized nationally under the
Ministry of Justice and is made up of the Public Order Police, which
are responsible for enforcement, and the Judicial Police, which are
responsible for investigations. Corruption was not a significant
problem, and police were subject to legal and disciplinary measures in
cases of misconduct. Logistical constraints, including lack of
vehicles, limited communications equipment, and poor forensic capacity,
limited police effectiveness.
The law stipulates that a suspect must be charged before a judge
within 48 hours of arrest. Police may not make arrests without a court
order unless a person is caught in the act of committing a felony. The
courts had jurisdiction over state security cases, and there was a
functioning bail system.
Judicial backlogs resulted in lengthy pretrial detentions, and
detainees often remained in jail without charge for more than a year.
The dropping of charges without a court judgment was a frequent means
for terminating criminal cases.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the judiciary was understaffed and
inefficient.
The judicial system is composed of the Supreme Court and the
regional courts. Of the five Supreme Court judges, one is appointed by
the President, one by the National Assembly, and three by the Superior
Judiciary Council, which is composed of the President of the Supreme
Court, the Attorney General, eight private citizens, two judges, two
prosecutors, the senior legal inspector of the Attorney General's
office, and a representative of the Ministry of Justice. Judges were
independent and could not belong to a political party.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial. Defendants
are presumed to be innocent; they have the right to a public, nonjury
trial; to counsel; to present witnesses; and to appeal verdicts. Free
counsel is provided for the indigent. Regional courts adjudicate minor
disputes on the local level in rural areas. The Ministry of Justice
does not have judicial powers, which are held by the courts. Defendants
can appeal regional court decisions to the Supreme Court.
The judiciary generally provided due process; however, the right to
an expeditious trial was constrained by a seriously overburdened and
understaffed judicial system. A backlog of cases routinely led to trial
delays of 6 months or more; more than 12,055 cases were pending at the
end of 2003.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected freedom of speech; unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports that the Government restricted freedom of the press. There was
a substantial and growing independent press; however, there continued
to be reports of media self-censorship. The Government did not restrict
academic freedom.
There were three independent newspapers and one state-owned
newspaper; six independent radio stations and one state-owned radio
station; and one state-owned television station and two foreign-owned
stations. Foreign broadcasts were permitted. Journalists were
independent of government control and were not required to reveal their
sources; however, journalists--particularly those associated with the
government-controlled media--practiced self-censorship.
The law requires a formal licensing mechanism for mass media,
including government authorization to broadcast; however, there were no
reports that licenses were denied or revoked or that the Government
refused to authorize broadcasts during the year.
The 2002 case, filed against an attorney who had accused a former
Chief Justice of rigging the 2001 presidential election, remained under
investigation at year's end.
The 2002 defamation case filed by the Government against the
newspaper A Semana remained pending before the Supreme Court at year's
end; the newspaper had published an article that criticized the
judiciary.
Freedom of expression may or may not be used as a defense in cases
involving defamation or offense to personal honor. Despite the broadly
interpreted criminal libel laws, no independent media outlets reported
direct pressure in their daily operations or business activities.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Catholic majority enjoyed a privileged status in national life.
For example, the Government provided the Catholic Church with free
television broadcast time for religious services and observed its holy
days as official holidays.
To be recognized as legal entities by the Government, religious
groups must register with the Ministry of Justice; however, failure to
do so did not result in any restriction on religious belief or
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. In 2001, Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires, former
president of the PAICV, was elected by a margin of 12 votes over the
country's former Prime Minister and MPD president, Carlos Veiga. The
MPD, the principal opposition party, held power from 1991 until 2001
after defeating the PAICV, which held power in a one-party state from
independence in 1975 until 1991. The PAICV won the legislative
elections in 2000 and has an absolute majority in the National
Assembly. In March 21 municipal elections, the MPD increased its number
of mayors from 7 to 9 out of 17 mayoral districts. The National
Electoral Commission and the international media judged the 2000
legislative elections, the 2001 presidential elections, and the March
municipal elections to be free and fair.
The Constitution provides for the separation of powers.
Constitutional powers were shared among President Pires, Prime Minister
Jose Maria Neves, and the PAICV party. Cabinet ministers were subject
to confirmation by the President. Collectively they must retain the
support of a parliamentary majority. The President could dismiss the
Government with the approval of the political parties represented in
the National Assembly and the Council of the Republic; the Council
consisted of the President of the National Assembly, the Prime
Minister, the President of the Constitutional Court, the Attorney
General, the Ombudsman, the President of the Economic and Social
Council, the former presidents, and five private citizens appointed by
the President. The MPD and the Party of Democratic Convergence were the
main opposition parties.
The Constitution provides for freedom of access to information
without limitation, provided that privacy rights are respected;
however, there were no requests for such information during the year,
in part because few persons were aware of this right.
There were 11 women among the elected deputies in the 72-seat
National Assembly and 4 women in the 17-member Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic human rights groups generally operated without
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on
human rights cases. Government officials generally were cooperative and
responsive to their views.
There were three private human rights groups: The National
Commission of the Rights of Man, the Ze Moniz Association, and the
Alcides Barros Association.
The powers of the independent Ombudsman, who serves a 5-year term,
were defined in July 2003; however, no Ombudsman had been elected by
year's end.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
religion, disability, language, or social status; however, the
Government did not enforce these provisions effectively, and not all
elements of society, particularly women and children, enjoyed full
protection against discrimination. During the year, the Government
amended the Penal Code to include sexual crimes and verbal and mental
abuse towards women and children as punishable acts; however, because
existing penalties were viewed as too severe, the Government reduced
the penalties associated with physical and sexual abuse.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including wife beating,
was common. The Government and civil society encouraged women to report
criminal offenses such as spousal abuse and rape, which was punishable
by 2 to 13 years' imprisonment; however, longstanding social and
cultural values inhibited victims from doing so. While there were
mechanisms to deal with spousal abuse, in practice, these mechanisms
neither ensured the punishment of all those responsible nor effectively
prevented future violence. Nevertheless, reporting of such crimes to
police continued to increase during the year, and violence against
women was the subject of extensive public service media coverage in
both government- and opposition-controlled media.
Women's organizations, like the Women Jurists' Association,
continued to seek legislation to establish a special family court to
address crimes of domestic violence and abuse; however, there was no
such legislation by year's end. The revised Penal Code protects certain
rights of the victims of sexual, mental, and verbal abuse; however, it
did not ensure compensation.
Despite constitutional prohibitions against sex discrimination and
provisions for full equality, including equal pay for equal work,
discrimination against women continued. Although they often were paid
less than men for comparable work, women were making inroads in various
professions, especially in the private sector.
The Constitution prohibits discrimination against women in
inheritance, family, and custody matters; however, women often were
reluctant to seek redress of domestic disputes in the courts. The
Organization of Cape Verdean Women alleged that there was
discriminatory treatment in inheritance matters, despite laws that
called for equal rights. For example, some women were pressured to sign
judicial agreements detrimental to their statutory inheritance rights.
The Women Jurists' Association provided free legal assistance to
women throughout the country suffering from discrimination, violence,
and spousal abuse.
Children.--The Government remained committed to children's rights
and welfare. The Government provided free, mandatory education for 6
years of primary school for all children, which normally covered
children aged 6 to 12. Education was compulsory until age 11; however,
secondary education was free only for children whose families had an
annual income below approximately $1,951 (160,000 Cape Verdean
escudos). According to UNICEF, primary school attendance from 1996 to
2003 was approximately 98 percent. Attendance rates by boys and girls
differed by less than 1 percent.
Students may be suspended from classes during pregnancy or nursing,
and individual schools were responsible for enforcing the rule;
however, unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of such
suspensions.
Child abuse and mistreatment, sexual violence against children, and
juvenile prostitution were problems, exacerbated by chronic poverty,
large unplanned families, and traditionally high levels of emigration
of adult men. The media reported cases of sexual abuse against children
and adolescents. The inefficiencies of the judicial system made it
difficult for government institutions to address the problem.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in minor
persons, and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to,
from, or within the country. Sentences for trafficking in children
ranged from 2 to 13 years' imprisonment.
Persons with Disabilities.--Although the Constitution mandates
``special protection'' for the aged and persons with disabilities, the
Government did not require access to public buildings or services for
persons with disabilities; however, there was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. Several NGOs,
including an association for the blind, were active.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution allows workers to
form and join unions without previous authorization or excessive
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice.
Approximately 22 percent of workers were unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for the right to organize, to operate without
hindrance, and to sign collective work contracts; however, there has
been very little collective bargaining, and there were no signed
collective bargaining agreements during the year. There are no special
laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in export processing zones.
Workers and management in the small private sector, as well as in
the public sector, normally reached agreement through negotiations.
Although there were no collective labor contracts, workers succeeded in
negotiating important issues such as salary increases; however, as the
country's largest employer, the Government continued to play the
dominant role in setting wages. It did not fix wages for the private
sector, but salary levels for civil servants provided the basis for
wage negotiations in the private sector.
The Constitution provides union members with the right to strike,
but the Government at times limited this right. In the past, when
workers attempted to strike, the Government invoked a ``civil request''
under which it had the power, in an emergency or if a strike threatened
coverage of basic needs, to name a list of minimum services that a
union must continue to provide during any strike. The Government
continued to requisition workers to curtail strikes and to interpret
essential services in the broadest terms. The Government took measures
during the year to amend its legislation so that if parties disagreed
on the minimum services to be provided during strikes, an independent
body could resolve the dispute; however, the Government had not created
an independent body to resolve such differences by year's end.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits children under the age of 16 from working at night, more
than 7 hours per day, or in establishments where toxic products were
produced; however, the Government rarely enforced the law, and child
labor occurred. The legal minimum age for employment was 16 years,
which was inconsistent with the age for completing educational
requirements (see Section 5). The Ministries of Justice and Labor were
responsible for enforcing child labor laws; however, such laws were
seldom enforced.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There were no established
minimum wage rates in the private sector. Large urban private employers
linked their minimum wages to those paid to civil servants. For an
entry-level worker, this wage is approximately $146 (12,000 Cape
Verdean escudos) per month. The majority of jobs paid wages that did
not provide a worker and family with a decent standard of living; most
workers relied on second jobs and extended family support.
The law provides for a maximum workweek for adults of 44 hours,
prohibits excessive compulsory overtime, and requires that a premium be
paid for work above the standard workweek. While large employers
generally respected these regulations, many domestic servants and
agricultural laborers worked longer hours.
The Director General of Labor conducted sporadic inspections to
enforce the labor code and imposed fines on private enterprises that
were not in conformity with the law; however, the Government did not
enforce labor laws systematically, and much of the labor force did not
enjoy their protection.
The Government has not set occupational health and safety
standards; however, there is a general provision in the law that
requires employers to provide a healthy and safe work environment. Few
industries employed heavy or dangerous equipment, and work-related
accidents were rare. There is no legal provision for workers to remove
themselves from unsafe working conditions without jeopardizing their
continued employment.
There are no provisions to protect illegal foreign workers.
__________
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC\1\
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\1\ The American Embassy in Bangui temporarily suspended operations
on November 2, 2002 in response to security concerns following a
military coup.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Under a suspended Constitution, the Government of the Central
African Republic (CAR) is comprised of a strong executive branch and
weak legislative and judicial branches. In March 2003, a 6-month
rebellion culminated in a military coup led by former Armed Forces
Chief of Staff General Francois Bozize, with the assistance of
demobilized Chadian soldiers and the tacit involvement of active
Chadian soldiers. The coup deposed then-President Ange-Felix Patasse,
who had been re-elected in 1999. General Bozize declared himself
President, suspended the Constitution, and dissolved the National
Assembly. In 2003, he appointed a Prime Minister; appointed a
transitional cabinet composed of members of all political parties,
including the party of deposed President Patasse, and civil society;
and established a National Transitional Council (CNT), a legislative
body comprised of 96 representatives from civil society and all
political parties. During the year, the Government repeatedly affirmed
its commitment to reinstate democratic governance, and took a series of
actions in preparation for national elections in 2005. On December 5,
citizens approved by national referendum a new Constitution, which took
effect in late December. During the year, pockets of lawlessness
persisted in parts of the country, and the Government was significantly
affected by insecurity and the threat of conflict. In April, the
Government deployed 200 soldiers to fight banditry in the northern and
northwest provinces, including Kemo and Ouham-Pende. The judiciary was
subject to executive interference.
The National Police are under the direction of the Ministry of
Interior and Public Security, while the military forces and the
National Gendarmerie are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Defense; all share responsibility for internal security. Civilian
authorities did not maintain effective control of the security forces.
By mid-January, the Government had disbanded the Security Investigation
Division (SERD), a military intelligence unit that operated as part of
presidential security services, due to accusations that the SERD
committed serious human rights abuses during 2003. In December 2003,
President Bozize signed an order dismissing a number of soldiers from
the army because of indiscipline; the soldiers named reportedly were
removed from army lists and sent home. As part of its efforts to
protect citizens and safeguard property, the Government continued to
support joint security operations in the capital conducted by the Armed
Forces, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC)
force, and French forces. In addition, BONUCA, a U.N. peace-building
mission in the country, operated during the year. Members of the
security forces committed numerous serious human rights abuses.
The economy, already extremely weak because of repeated political-
military troubles and a cycle of coup attempts, was in a state of
collapse, with approximately 60 percent of the population living at or
below the poverty line. The economy was partially market based and
partially government directed, and was dominated by subsistence
agriculture. Approximately 80 percent of its 3.8 million citizens were
farmers. Some international donors continued to suspend financial
assistance during the year. Large-scale looting and vandalism in the
wake of the coup devastated not only the state infrastructure and
facilities but also the remaining economic and industrial activity of
the country. The salary arrears owed to civilian employees and the
military continued to impair the functioning of the Government and the
ability of the State to enforce the rule of law. Misappropriation of
public funds and corruption in the Government remained widespread. In
addition, the large number of displaced persons continued to adversely
affect economic productivity, especially in the agricultural sector,
during the year. An estimated 13.5 percent HIV/AIDS prevalence rate for
adults between the ages of 15 and 49 continued to place an increasing
burden on the country's resources through rising medical expenditures,
absenteeism from work, labor shortages resulting from morbidity and
mortality, and training of replacement labor.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
Citizens did not have the right to change their government peacefully
during the year; however, the Government took some steps toward
restoring democratic institutions. Security forces continued to commit
extrajudicial and other unlawful killings, including government-
tolerated executions of suspected bandits, and impunity remained a
problem. Security forces continued to torture, beat, and otherwise
abuse suspects and prisoners. Other abuses included harsh prison
conditions, arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention without trial, and
infringements on privacy. The Government restricted freedom of the
press, although there were some improvements in respect for freedom of
the press, and at times the Government restricted the freedoms of
assembly and association. The Government restricted freedom of
movement. Corruption was a widespread problem. Violence and
discrimination against women, female genital mutilation (FGM),
prostitution, trafficking in persons, discrimination against indigenous
people (Pygmies), and child labor, including instances of forced child
labor, continued to be problems. Societal violence also remained a
problem.
The Government took significant steps to improve human rights
during the year. In April and May, President Bozize authorized the
creation of the Joint Independent Electoral Commission (CEMI) and
appointed members--including several representatives of political
parties and civil society--to supervise presidential and legislative
elections. The Government ordered the arrest of some members of the
security forces, including the head of the presidential security
forces, for killings. The permanent military tribunal, which had been
defunct for 8 years until President Bozize convened it in December
2003, considered cases of human rights abuses by security forces during
the year. During the year, the Government decriminalizing the country's
press laws concerning defamation, and journalists reportedly no longer
practiced self-censorship. The judiciary convicted many high-level
officials for corruption. Members of civil society served on the CNT
and actively participated in the drafting of the new Constitution.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports that the Government or its agents committed politically
motivated killings; however, security forces continued to commit
executions and other extrajudicial killings with impunity throughout
the year.
During the year, the special police Squad for the Repression of
Banditry (OCRB) continued to arbitrarily execute suspected bandits
without respecting the basic due process rights of the accused, and
were responsible for other extrajudicial killings and deaths resulting
from torturing. The OCRB committed such abuses with tacit government
support and popular approval, partly because the OCRB's actions were
seen as an effective means of reducing crime. The Government did not
prosecute OCRB members responsible for killings or other abuses
committed during the year.
The presidential security forces also arbitrarily executed citizens
during the year. For example, on September 6, Lieutenant Celestin Dogo,
the head of the presidential security forces, tortured and executed two
men, Alfred Mamadou and Appolinaire Marzanne. Their bodies were found
on September 16 in Mpoko River, near Bangui. After the case was
reported by the local media, Lt. Dogo was arrested, and President
Bozize signed a decree dismissing him from the security forces. Lt.
Dogo had not been tried by year's end.
During the year, there were credible reports that security forces
committed other unlawful killings, some allegedly in connection with
personal disputes or rivalries.
The Government arrested some members of security forces who
allegedly killed persons during the year; however, by year's end, none
had been convicted. Most cases were still under investigation.
There were no developments in the following killings in 2003,
reportedly by security forces: The August killing of a student; the
September killing of retired Gendarmerie Captain Joseph Koyanao; the
September killing of a Nigerian trader; or the December executions of
three boys in Haute Kotto.
No action was taken against the pro-Bozize combatants, including
Chadian combatants, or the members of the security forces of then-
President Patasse who killed civilians during and after the March 2003
coup.
No action was taken against pro-Bozize combatants responsible for
killing three CEMAC peacekeepers in March 2003.
Civilians continued to take vigilante action against presumed
thieves, poachers, and some persons believed to be Chadian combatants.
Mobs reportedly continued to kill and injure suspected sorcerers or
witches during the year.
No action was taken against vigilantes responsible for killings
committed in 2003.
During the year, there were reports that Chadian combatants killed
civilians. There were some arrests of combatants but no information on
the number of prosecutions. No additional information was available at
year's end.
On April 17, security forces reportedly killed eight
``Liberators,'' Chadian combatants who had helped the President seize
power in 2003. Prior to the killings, the Chadian combatants had staged
violent demonstrations, looted approximately 75 homes in a Bangui
suburb, and demanded payment from President Bozize for their support
during the rebellion that allowed him to depose former President
Patasse. By year's end, no action had been taken against the members of
security forces allegedly responsible for the killings. During the
year, the President reportedly paid each Liberator $1,000 (504,000 CFA
francs) before they ostensibly returned to Chad.
By year's end, no action had been taken against Movement for the
Liberation of Congo (MLC) troops from the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) who committed numerous killings of civilians prior to the
March 2003 coup.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year. The Government did not conduct
investigations into the reported disappearances that occurred in 2003.
Security forces succeeded in freeing some of the cattle herdsmen's
children kidnapped by cattle raiders in 2003. It was unknown how many
were released.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Penal Code prohibits torture and specifies sanctions
for those found guilty of physical abuse; however, there was at least
one instance of torture by the presidential security forces that
resulted in death (see Section 1.a.), and police, including the OCRB,
continued to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse criminal suspects,
detainees, and prisoners. During the year, the Government did not take
effective action to punish police who tortured suspects, and impunity
remained a problem. Family members of victims and human rights groups,
including the Human Rights League (HRL) Executive Committee, pursued
court complaints filed in previous years with the prosecutor regarding
the deaths of several prisoners due to police abuse; however,
authorities did not take action on any of the cases by year's end.
During the year, the HRL reported the abuse of civilians by the
presidential security forces but did not file any court complaints of
police abuse.
Police beat persons while forcibly dispersing demonstrators (see
Section 2.b.).
On January 2, a member of the presidential guard fired into a crowd
greeting Monique Bozize, the President's wife, and four persons were
wounded.
Members of the armed forces often committed other abuses against
civilians, including armed robbery and racketeering. During the year,
although there was an increase in the number of prosecutions of
security forces for human rights violations, no action generally was
taken against soldiers involved in robbery or racketeering.
On July 30, two members of the presidential guard harassed the son
of the CNT President. On August 3, the CNT issued a press release
alleging that President Bozize's security forces had committed numerous
human rights violations.
In January, the permanent military tribunal sentenced five former
presidential guards to 5 years' imprisonment for the October 2003 gang-
rape of a woman.
On August 31, a military tribunal sentenced Benime Elvis, a member
of the security forces, to 5 years' imprisonment for raping a 16-year-
old girl during the year.
There were no developments in the alleged August 2003 rape of a
woman at Camp Beal in Bangui by a member of the military.
During the year, rebels and mercenaries from Chad continued to
harass civilians, mostly in the countryside. There were reports that
the rebels and mercenaries would block the road and steal everything
from travelers; travelers without money were sometimes beaten.
During the year, no actions were taken against soldiers loyal to
the former Patasse government or pro-Bozize fighters who committed
serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law, including
widespread looting; rape; abductions resulting in disappearances;
inhumane, cruel, and degrading treatment; and the recruitment and use
of children as soldiers prior to and during the March 2003 coup.
No actions were taken against pro-Patasse MLC troops who reportedly
committed numerous abuses of civilians, including torture, rape, and
harassment during 2003.
Prison conditions were extremely harsh. Prison cells were
overcrowded, and basic necessities, including food, clothing, and
medicine, were in short supply and often were confiscated by prison
officials for their personal use. There were reports that guards
tortured prisoners and that female inmates were raped. Prisoners
depended on family members to supplement inadequate prison meals and
were sometimes allowed to forage for food in areas near the prison.
Prisoners frequently were forced to perform uncompensated labor at the
residences of government officials and magistrates. Prison conditions
outside of Bangui were generally worse, and most of these prisons were
completely destroyed during the 2003 fighting.
Male and female prisoners were held in separate facilities in
Bangui but housed together elsewhere. There were no separate detention
facilities for juvenile prisoners, who routinely were housed with
adults and often subjected to physical abuse. Pre-trial detainees were
not held separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and religious
groups routinely provided supplies, food, and clothes to prisoners. The
ICRC had unrestricted access to prisoners. In January, the national
anti-HIV/AIDS organization conducted HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns among
prisoners in Bangui police jails.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law provides protection
against arbitrary arrest and detention and accords the right to a
judicial determination of the legality of detention; however, the
security forces frequently ignored such provisions, and arbitrary
arrest and detention were problems.
Police were not effective, partly as a result of salary arrears
owed by the Government and a lack of resources. Many citizens lacked
faith in the police; consequently, mob violence against persons
suspected of theft and other offences remained a problem (see Section
1.a.). The Government did not take effective action to punish abusers,
and impunity remained a problem. During the year, the Central African
Human Rights League (LCDH) sharply criticized the police and other
security forces, and it accused the security forces of terrorizing the
population, killing civilians, and committing armed robbery.
Judicial warrants are not required for arrest. The law stipulates
that persons detained in cases other than those involving national
security must be brought before a magistrate within 96 hours. In
practice, authorities often did not respect this deadline, in part due
to inefficient judicial procedures. By law, national security detainees
are defined as ``those held for crimes against the security of the
state'' and may be held without charge for up to 2 months; however, in
practice, persons were held without charge for long periods. The law
allows detainees to have access to their family and to legal counsel;
however, in cases involving state security, the Government prohibited
detainees from consulting legal counsel, pending an investigation.
Indigent detainees may request a lawyer provided by the Government.
Detainees are allowed to post bail or have family members post bail for
them. Lawyers and families generally had free access to detainees.
Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained persons during
the year. For example, on July 26, security forces arrested Dr. Joseph
Kalite, a former Health Minister under former President Patasse, on
charges of illegal possession of war arms; at year's end, he remained
in prison.
Security forces arrested journalists and demonstrators during the
year (see Sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
During the year, a criminal court dropped all charges against
Colonel Danzoumi Yalo for lack of evidence. Yalo, who was arrested in
December 2003 for allegedly planning a coup, had resumed duty in the
army by year's end.
In December, the Criminal Court discharged General Ferdinand
Bomayeke, the former chief of the Presidential guard, of charges that
he committed killings and other abuses in 2003; however, for unknown
reasons, the prosecutor continued to keep Bombayeke in prison,
reportedly for political reasons, and he had not been released by
year's end.
Prolonged pretrial detention was a serious problem; however, the
number of pretrial detainees was unknown at year's end. Detainees were
usually informed of the charges levied against them; however, many
waited in prison for several months before seeing a judge. Some
detainees remained in prison for years because of lost files and
bureaucratic obstacles.
On March 15, President Bozize pardoned all prisoners convicted of
misdemeanor offenses. It was unclear how many prisoners benefited from
the pardon.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The suspended Constitution
provides for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained
subject to executive interference. Judges are appointed by the
President. The courts barely functioned due to inefficient
administration of the courts, a shortage of trained personnel, growing
salary arrears, and a lack of material resources.
The judiciary consists of a tribunal of first instance, the court
of appeal, the cassation court, the High Court of Justice, commercial
and administrative courts, a military court, and the Constitutional
Court. The highest court is the Constitutional Court, which determines
whether laws passed by the National Assembly conform to the
Constitution. The Constitutional Court also receives appeals
challenging the constitutionality of a law. Lower courts hear criminal
and civil cases and send appeals to the Court of Appeals. Military
courts try only soldiers, not civilians.
In general trial procedures, if the prosecutor believes there is
sufficient evidence that an offense has occurred and that the accused
committed it, he places the accused under an arrest warrant. If there
is insufficient evidence, the case is dropped. Trials are held
publicly, and defendants have the right to be present and to consult a
public defender. Defendants also have the right to question witnesses,
to present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf, and to have
access to government-held evidence relevant to their case. Defendants
are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and if convicted, defendants
have the right to appeal. The Government generally complied with these
legal requirements; however, the judiciary did not enforce consistently
the right to a fair trial, and there were many credible reports of
corruption within the court system. A number of persons were subjected
to prolonged detention without trial or were killed summarily and
extrajudicially (see Section 1.a.).
During the year, many cases remained pending before the Criminal
Court.
On December 7, a Bangui court of appeals acquitted former Prime
Minister Jean-Edouard Koyambounou of corruption. Koyambounou, who had
served under former President Patasse, had been detained for 16 months
at the Ngaragba Prison on charges of embezzling public funds.
Due to judicial inefficiency, citizens in a number of cities
established their own courts to deal with cases through parallel
justice, especially in cases of suspected witchcraft.
Bozize convened the permanent military tribunal in December 2003
following an 8-year suspension under former President Patasse.
Throughout the year, the tribunal considered cases on a variety of
alleged human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, rape,
and armed robbery (see Section 1.c.).
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits invasion of homes without a warrant
in civil and criminal cases; however, on occasion, police used
provisions of the Penal Code governing certain political and security
cases that allow them to search private property without a warrant.
Security forces continued to carry out warrantless searches for guns
and ammunition in private homes. For example, on July 28, security
forces searched the house of Jean-Michel Mandaba, Secretary General of
former President Patasse's MLPC political party, for guns and
ammunition. Security forces entered his home without a warrant and
later arrested him. He was released 3 weeks later.
No actions were taken against security forces under former
President Patasse or pro-Bozize combatants who illegally entered,
searched, and looted homes during the March 2003 coup.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces carried out warrantless searches of entire neighborhoods and
seized vehicles, electronic goods, and other items for which residents
could not produce sales receipts.
The Government continued to engage in wiretapping without judicial
authority.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and the Press.--The suspended Constitution
provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the
Government continued to restrict the freedom of the press, particularly
the freedom of the print media to criticize the Government. During the
year, local media observers said there had been greater press freedom
since President Bozize had taken power. The Government did not restrict
academic freedom.
Individuals could criticize the Government publicly without
reprisal; however, the Government reportedly attempted to discourage
meetings by the political opposition during the year.
Throughout the year, more than a dozen private newspapers were
published at varying intervals and often criticized the President, the
Government's economic policies, and official corruption. President
Bozize helped fund but did not control any newspapers.
Radio was the most important medium of mass communication because
the literacy rate was low, and newspapers and television were
relatively expensive and rarely found outside urban areas. The
Government continued to dominate domestic broadcast media. The
Government owned and operated a radio station and a television station.
The activities of the President and other senior government officials
dominated programming.
Africa Number One, a private radio station in Bangui, broadcast
national news coverage. Radio Notre Dame, which was owned and operated
by the Catholic Church, broadcast national news, debates, legal
counseling, and human rights education. The private radio station Radio
N'Deke Luka broadcast domestically produced national news and political
commentary and rebroadcast international news throughout the country,
with assistance from foreign governments and the U.N. Radio-France
Internationale (RFI) also broadcast domestically; its programming
included some national news coverage by a correspondent based in the
country.
The Government continued to monopolize domestic television
broadcasting. The state-owned Television Centrafricaine provided little
coverage of the political opposition. The High Council of Communication
was responsible for authorizing private television as well as radio
stations but received no applications to establish a private television
station.
During the year, security forces arrested, detained, threatened, or
otherwise harassed some journalists. For example, on February 26,
security forces arrested Jude Zosse, editor of the private newspaper
L'Hirondelle. Zosse was charged with ``insulting the head of state,''
after the newspaper reproduced an article that alleged that President
Bozize was collecting public funds at his residence for personal use.
Newspapers in Bangui suspended publication in protest of his detention.
Zosse was later sentenced to 6 months in prison and ordered to pay a
fine of approximately $400 (202,200 CFA francs). He was released from
N'Garagba prison on May 14 under a presidential pardon.
The law criminalizes offenses committed by members of the media,
and some journalists and editors were imprisoned during the year. For
example, on July 8, police arrested and detained Maka Gbossoko, editor
of the private newspaper Le Citoyen, and charged him with libel for
writing a series of articles alleging that Jean-Serge Wafio mismanaged
the parastatal electric company ENERCA. The Prosecutor General
subsequently threathened to take strict legal actions against any
newspaper that did not ``abide by the ethics of journalism.''
Colleagues tried to organize a sit-in to protest Gbossoko's arrest but
were denied permission (see Section 2.b.). On August 9, a court
reportedly sentenced Gbossoko to a 1-year suspended prison sentence and
a $1,000 (502,300 CFA francs) fine. An appeal was pending at year's
end.
By year's end, Michel Ngokpele, publication director of the
privately-owned newspaper Le Quotidien de Bangui, had been released
after being imprisoned on charges of defamation.
In December, the CNT decriminalized the country's press laws. Under
the revised law, no journalist can be imprisoned for defaming a third
party in a published story; instead, a right of reply or compensation
must be accorded to the plaintiff. However, the law still provides for
terms of imprisonment for journalists who incite persons to hatred or
violence through publication in a newspaper or a broadcast.
The Government did not limit access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The suspended
Constitution provides for the right of assembly; however, the
Government at times restricted this right. Organizers of demonstrations
and public meetings were required to register with the Government 48
hours in advance, and political meetings in schools or churches were
prohibited. The Government wanted any association to write a letter to
the Ministry of Interior and get the Ministry's approval prior to
holding any meeting. In many cases, when associations asked for such
approval, the Ministry refused ``for security reasons.''
On August 2, Colonel Jules-Bernard Ouande, Deputy Minister for
Territorial Administration, rejected a request from the Association of
CAR Journalists to organize a sit-in to demand the release of detained
journalist Maka Gbossoko (see Section 2.a.). The Deputy Minister
claimed that the request had reached his office too late for
consideration. On August 4, policemen equipped with riot gear were
stationed where the sit-in was expected to take place.
Police beat demonstrators and forcibly dispersed several
demonstrations during the year by university students and professors
protesting the nonpayment of scholarships and salaries by the
Government. Demonstrators generally were detained for a few hours or
days; there were no demonstrators in detention at year's end. Security
forces killed eight protestors in April (see Section 1.a.).
No action was taken against members of the security forces
responsible for the use of excessive force to disperse demonstrations
in 2003 or 2002.
The suspended Constitution provides for freedom of association;
however, the Government generally respected this right in practice
during the year. Several additional political parties and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were created during the year. All
associations, including political parties, must register with the
Ministry of Interior to enjoy legal status. The Government usually
granted registration expeditiously. A variety of associations
registered with the Government following a 3-month background
investigation; there were 43 registered political parties and a variety
of nonpolitical associations. The Government normally allowed them to
hold congresses, elect officials, and publicly debate policy issues
without interference, except when they advocated sectarianism or
tribalism.
The law prohibiting nonpolitical organizations from coalescing for
political purposes remained in place; however, there were no reports
that this law was enforced during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The suspended Constitution provides for
freedom of religion but establishes fixed legal conditions and
prohibits what the Government considers religious fundamentalism or
intolerance; at times, the Government limited this right in practice.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not close any churches
during the year, and by year's end, each of the 34 churches closed by
the Government in 2003 had reopened. The constitutional provision
prohibiting religious fundamentalism was understood widely to be aimed
at Muslims, who make up approximately 15 percent of the population.
Religious groups (except for traditional indigenous religious
groups) were required by law to register with the Ministry of Interior.
The Ministry's administrative police kept track of groups that failed
to register; however, the police did not attempt to impose any penalty
on such groups. The Ministry could decline to register, suspend the
operations of, or ban any organization that it deemed offensive to
public morals or likely to disturb the peace. Any religious or
nonreligious group that the Government considered subversive was
subject to sanctions. The Ministry of Interior also could intervene to
resolve internal conflicts about property, finances, or leadership
within religious groups. However, the Government imposed no new
sanctions on any religious group during the year.
According to the Ministry of Territorial Administration, several of
the churches whose activities were suspended by the Government in
September 2003 had fulfilled government requirements and reopened;
however, some remained closed at year's end. To resume their
activities, religious institutions must prove that they have a minimum
of 1,000 members; the reverends must bring evidence that they graduated
from the highest religious schools and fulfilled official requirements
on church creation. This decree was reportedly intended to regulate the
proliferation of places of worship.
In general, there was religious tolerance among members of
different religious groups during the year; however, there were
occasional reports that some villagers who were believed to be witches
were harassed, beaten, or sometimes killed by neighbors.
No action was taken against rebels who looted churches and killed
two priests, or bandits and rebels who attacked, robbed, and injured
missionaries and Muslims during 2003.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The suspended Constitution provides for
the right to move freely throughout the country; however, the
Government restricted this right during the year. Police, security
forces, customs officers, and other officials harassed travelers
unwilling or unable to pay bribes or ``taxes'' at checkpoints along
major intercity roads and at major intersections in Bangui. On July 12,
taxi and bus drivers went on strike to protest against harassment they
experienced at police and military checkpoints. Attacks by bandits on
major routes to the north and east sometimes occurred and impeded
freedom of movement during the year.
By year's end, the country's border with the DRC was partially re-
opened at the crossing to Zongo, in the DRC. Although Bozize ordered
the border closed in September 2003, some unofficial trade continued at
various points along the border during the year.
With the exception of diplomats, the Government required that all
foreigners obtain an exit visa from the headquarters of the National
Police. Travelers intending to exit the country could be required to
obtain affidavits to prove that they owed no money to the Government or
to parastatal companies.
The suspended Constitution does not permit the use of exile, and
the Government did not employ it in practice. Former President Patasse
remained in self-imposed exile during the year.
During the year, the Government facilitated the repatriation of
some CAR refugees from neighboring countries. At year's end, there were
an estimated 27,000 CAR refugees in Chad. According to a U.N. High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) official, on March 20, approximately
200 CAR refugees, who had been living in the Republic of Congo (ROC)
since 2001, voluntarily returned home. The returnees were reportedly
the last of the CAR refugees who had been living in the ROC.
During the year, there continued to be large numbers of persons who
were internally displaced by the 2003 coup and the continuing
instability. By June, between 230,000 and 300,000 internally displaced
persons (IDPs) remained in the country, although there were reports
that many IDPs were returning to their homes in the second half of the
year.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to countries where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
and asylum status. The Government also provided temporary protection to
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/
1967 Protocol. The Government continued to cooperate with the office of
the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees
and asylum seekers. Applicants for asylum often were accepted.
Almost all refugees were registered with the National Commission
for Refugees. According to the UNHCR, by year's end, the country was
hosting approximately 30,000 refugees from Sudan and 10,000 from the
DRC. Approximately 2,200 refugees from the DRC had repatriated from CAR
by year's end in a UNHCR-sponsored facilitated return effort that began
in October. Other refugees in the country were from Angola, Burundi,
Liberia, and Uganda.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change their Government
The suspended Constitution provides citizens with the right to
change their government; however, in practice, citizens did not have
this right following the March 2003 coup. Presidential and legislative
elections were scheduled to take place in February 2005, and by year's
end, several candidates had declared their intention to run for the
presidency.
President Patasse's MLPC won both the Presidency and half of the
seats in the National Assembly in the 1998 and 1999 elections.
International observers deemed both elections generally free; however,
the presidential elections were marred by irregularities in voter
registration and distribution of electoral materials. The Government
strongly influenced the electoral process.
After seizing power in March 2003, General Bozize declared himself
President, suspended the Constitution, and dissolved the National
Assembly. After ruling by decree for a short period, President Bozize
established new government institutions and governed by two
constitutional acts. In December 2003, President Bozize dismissed Prime
Minister Abel Goumba and the transitional government and subsequently
appointed Celestin Leroy Gaoumbalet, a civilian, as Prime Minister and
head of a new transitional Government.
In April and May, President Bozize created the CEMI and appointed
its members, who were charged with supervising preparations for
presidential and parliamentary elections. The members included 10
representatives of political parties, 10 from civil society, and 10
from the administration. On June 28, the CNT adopted a draft
constitution, and it revised the electoral code in anticipation of
presidential and legislative elections in 2005.
On September 3 and 4, President Bozize dismissed his Cabinet and
named a new team of ministers. Bozize retained most ministers from the
previous Cabinet, including Prime Minister Celestin Leroy Gaombalet,
and reduced the number of cabinet ministers from 28 to 24, reportedly
for budgetary reasons. The U.N. Special Representative said the change
was a technical adjustment that would streamline the Government and
noted that political parties were still represented in the Government.
In October, the Government completed a national electoral census
and voter registration drive, which reportedly included special efforts
to involve minority populations, including the Batwa, or Pygmies. On
December 5, citizens approved by national referendum a new
Constitution, which went into effect in late December. Approximately 77
percent of eligible voters reportedly participated in the referendum,
which experienced some organizational problems, including polling
centers that did not open on time, omission of names from voters'
lists, and confusion over the duration of the voting. The Constitution,
which was reportedly approved by 90 percent of referendum participants,
is similar to the previous one that President Bozize suspended upon
seizing power in 2003. It provides for a multi-party state, a
presidential term that is renewable only once, and the appointment of
the Prime Minister from the political party with a parliamentary
majority; however, in contrast to the previous constitution, it grants
the Prime Minister greater powers and shortens the presidential term
from 6 years to 5.
There were no reports that the Government prevented parties from
operating freely during the year. However, on December 30, the
Constitutional Court in Bangui cleared only 5 of 15 candidates to
contest the Presidency. Among the candidates approved to run in 2005
were President Bozize (running as an independent candidate), former
President Andre Kolngba, and Vice-President Abel Goumba. Among those
whom the Court did not approve as candidates for President were former
President Patasse, his former Prime Minister Martin Ziguele, and former
Prime Minister Charles Massi. The Court, which disqualified all
candidates from the former ruling party, indicated that some candidates
had been blocked from running for failing to deposit the required
$10,000 (5 million CFA francs), for not owning land or homes in the
towns in which they resided, or for discrepancies in the documents they
presented the electoral commission. Former President Patasse was banned
from running on the grounds that he remained under criminal
investigation. Several parties and local and international groups had
widely criticized the Court's decision, and one member of the CNT
called for the Court to be dissolved.
The state remained highly centralized. The President appointed all
subnational government officials--which ran the country's 16
prefectures and 60 subprefectures--and subnational government entities
had no significant fiscal autonomy. Provisions in the suspended
Constitution provide for municipal elections; however, by year's end,
they had not been held. The country's towns continued to be led by
mayors appointed by the President.
During the year, misappropriation of public funds and corruption in
the Government remained widespread. The Government took a few steps to
combat corruption. The Criminal Court convicted some high-level
officials during the year. For example, the Bangui criminal court
indicted former President Patasse in absentia on charges of corruption,
treason, and rape; the trial had not started by year's end. The Bozize
Government said corruption and embezzlement under the Patasse
administration had resulted in the former government's failure to pay
salaries for at least 30 months.
In January, the Government established an armed protection unit,
the Mixed Brigade of Intervention and Verification, to prevent the
exploitation of forests and fiscal fraud in the country.
The law does not provide for public access to government
information, and the Government was often unable or unwilling to
provide information.
During the year, there were 6 women serving in the 96-member CNT.
One woman, appointed by the President, served as governor of Ombella
M'poko Province, in which Bangui is located.
Members of northern ethnic groups, especially President Bozize's
Baya ethnic group, continued to predominate among the National Army.
There were Muslims in the Cabinet and in the CNT. Pygmies (Batwa or
Ba'Aka), the indigenous inhabitants of the southern part of the
country, represented between 1 and 2 percent of the population; they
were not represented in the Government and continued to have little
political power or influence (see Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Several domestic and international human rights groups generally
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were
somewhat responsive to their views. Several NGOs, including the
Movement for the Defense of Human Rights and Humanitarian Action, the
Human Rights Observatory, and some religious groups actively monitored
human rights problems. The LCDH publicized human rights violations,
including those allegedly committed by the army, and pleaded individual
cases of human rights abuses before the courts.
Several members of NGOs served on the CNT, and Nicholas Tiangaye,
the former president of the Central African Human Rights League, served
as the CNT's president. In addition, the Government consulted NGOs
during the drafting of the new Constitution, to which NGOs actively
contributed.
During the year, approximately 200 NGOs established a team to
coordinate all activities undertaken by their organizations.
During the year, human rights organizations and some political
parties called for the repatriation of the armed Chadian forces and for
the trial of those accused of crimes. In May, approximately 300 Chadian
soldiers, who assisted Bozize in the March 2003 coup, reportedly were
repatriated.
International human rights NGOs and international organizations
operated in the country during the year without interference. In
November, Amnesty International released a report documenting
systematic and widespread rape, mostly in and around Bangui, committed
with impunity by pro-Bozize combatants, government forces, and pro-
Patasse rebels from the DRC during the 5-month rebellion that
culminated in the 2003 coup. Girls and women between the ages of 8 and
60 were raped, some died as a result, and in some cases children were
forced to have sex with their mothers or other relatives. According to
the report, the MLC rebels from the DRC used rape to punish women for
allegedly assisting the Bozize-led combatants. The report recommended
that the Government institute an independent investigation into the
abuses and seek the assistance of the Government of the DRC.
In December, a report by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to the
U.N. Security Council noted that in the second half of the year, the
country's situation was ``gradually improving in spite of well known
shortcomings in the areas of governance and human rights.'' The report,
which drew on information gathered by BONUCA, also noted that during
the second half of the year, there were several registered cases of
human rights abuses, including summary executions, highway robberies of
civilians, abusive arrests, threats, and acts of harassment. The report
stated that most abuses were committed by members of the security
forces and that when perpetrators were identified, they were punished
by the military hierarchy or ``brought to justice.''
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The suspended Constitution stipulates that all persons are equal
before the law without regard to wealth, race, or sex; however, the
Government did not enforce these provisions effectively, and
significant discrimination existed.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including wife beating,
reportedly was common; however, inadequate data made it impossible to
quantify. Spousal abuse was considered a civil matter unless the injury
was severe. Victims seldom reported incidents. The courts tried very
few cases of spousal abuse, although litigants cited these abuses
during divorce trials and civil suits. Some women reportedly tolerated
abuse to retain a measure of financial security for themselves and
their children. The Government did not address this problem during the
year.
The law prohibits rape; however, it does not specifically prohibit
spousal rape. Police sometimes arrested men on charges of rape;
however, the social stigma induced many families to avoid formal court
action. During the year, there were fewer reports that security forces
and rebels raped women (see Sections 1.c. and 4).
The law prohibits FGM; however, girls continued to be subjected to
this traditional practice in certain rural areas, and to a lesser
degree in Bangui. According to the World Health Organization, FGM
affected more than 40 percent of girls. In addition, according to a
study published jointly by UNICEF and the Government in 2001,
approximately 36 percent of adult females had undergone FGM.
The law prohibits prostitution; however, prostitution existed, and
some young girls engaged in it for economic reasons.
Trafficking in persons was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Women were treated as inferior to men both economically and
socially. Single, divorced, or widowed women, including those with
children, were not considered to be heads of households. Only men were
entitled to family subsidies from the Government. Women in rural areas
generally suffered more discrimination than women in urban areas. There
were no accurate statistics on the percentage of female wage earners.
Women's access to educational opportunities and to jobs, particularly
at higher levels in their professions or in government service, was
limited.
Polygyny is legal, although this practice faced growing resistance
among educated women. The law authorizes a man to take up to four
wives, but a prospective husband must indicate at the time of the first
marriage contract whether he intends to take additional wives. In
practice, many couples never married formally because men could not
afford the traditional bride payment. Women who were educated and
financially independent tended to seek monogamous marriages. Divorce is
legal and can be initiated by either partner.
The law does not discriminate against women in inheritance and
property rights, but a number of discriminatory customary laws often
prevailed. A family code further strengthened women's rights,
particularly in the courts.
The Association of Central African Women Lawyers advised women of
their legal rights. The organization also published pamphlets in
conjunction with the Ministry of Social Affairs on the dangers of FGM.
During the year, several active women's groups organized workshops and
seminars to promote women's and children's rights and to participate
fully in the political process. On March 8, a coalition of women
presented President Bozize with a memorandum calling for more concrete
actions to enhance women's rights. The petitioners called for more
political representation, equal justice, enhanced work and educational
opportunities, and eradication of violence and discrimination targeting
women.
Children.--The Government spent little money on programs for
children. Churches and NGOs had relatively few programs for youths. The
failure of the education system, caused by a meager budget and salary
arrears, resulted in a shortage of teachers and an increase in the
number of street children. Education is compulsory from ages 6 to 14;
however, parents rarely were prosecuted for their children's
nonattendance. In practice, the age that a child started school often
varied by 2 to 3 years in rural areas. At the primary level, girls and
boys enjoyed equal access to education; however, the majority of young
women dropped out at age 14 or 15 due to societal pressure to marry and
bear children. According to UNICEF, 39 percent of girls of primary
school age were enrolled in school, compared with 47 percent of boys.
In addition, 35 percent of the country's women were literate compared
with 60 percent of men. School enrollment in urban areas generally was
significantly higher than in rural areas.
On April 26, the Government endorsed an ``Education for All''
national action plan, aimed at providing qualitative education for all
citizens. The action plan aimed to provide a qualitative primary
education for all boys and girls, enhance access to basic education for
adults, and expand education on citizenship, peace, and the fight
against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
During the year, following a strike by students at the University
of Bangui, the Government partially paid the students' scholarship
arrears.
The Government did not provide medical coverage for uninsured
children. However, during the year, the Government continued to conduct
a national antipolio immunization campaign intended to reach at least
650,000 children under 5 years of age. According to government
statistics, infant mortality rose from 97 deaths per 1,000 births in
1995 to 130 deaths per 1,000 births in 2000. In July, in response to
the deteriorating healthcare situation, the Government began working
with U.N. agencies to implement a plan to reduce maternal and infant
mortality by 2015.
According to numerous credible reports, male teachers in primary
and secondary schools as well as at the university level routinely
pressured their female students into having sexual relationships in
exchange for passing grades; the spread of HIV/AIDS was extremely
prevalent between teachers and their female students.
The Penal Code forbids parental abuse of children under the age of
15 years. In addition, illegitimate children had the same rights as
those born in wedlock. A juvenile court tried cases involving children
and provided counseling services to parents and juveniles during the
year.
FGM was performed primarily on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking of children and child prostitution were problems (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
There were no reports of child soldiers in the ranks of the armed
forces. Those recruited by persons loyal to former President Patasse in
2003 were limited in number, and there were no further reports that
children were in the military.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
There were approximately 5,000 street children between the ages of
5 and 18 residing in Bangui. Many children begged and stole; several
charitable organizations provided them with humanitarian assistance.
There were several NGOs specifically promoting children's rights,
including some which dealt with street children.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons, and there were reports that persons, particularly children,
were trafficked. Child prostitution remained a problem. The Government
has recognized that trafficking in persons occurred; however,
statistics and specific examples of trafficking were not available.
Traffickers can be prosecuted under laws against slavery, Labor
Code violations, mandatory school age laws, and laws against the
exploitation of prostitution by means of coercion or fraud. Specific
laws that address the crime of prostitution have been used to punish
those who trafficked women for the purposes of prostitution.
During the year, the Government did not actively investigate cases
of trafficking, nor did it use or have access to special investigative
techniques in trafficking investigations. A government-established
commission continued to study the extent of the trafficking problem,
identified those responsible, and devised a plan to combat the problem;
however, few resources have been devoted to the problem. The Ministries
of Social Affairs, Interior, Labor, Rural Development, Justice, and
Defense were involved in antitrafficking efforts and were part of the
commission.
Trafficking was confined primarily to children who were brought in
by the foreign Muslim community from Nigeria, Sudan, and Chad to be
used as domestic servants, shop helpers, and agricultural workers.
Merchants, herders, and other foreigners doing business in and
transiting the country also brought girls and boys into the country.
Such children, who may or may not be related to their caretakers, were
not afforded the benefit of a formal education, despite the mandatory
school age, and worked without remuneration for their labor. There were
a few anecdotal reports of children being trafficked to Nigeria and
several other nearby countries for use as agricultural workers. There
was no evidence of sexual exploitation, but there were reports that
children were publicly beaten.
Some girls entered prostitution to earn money for their families.
There were no known NGOs specifically working to combat
trafficking.
Persons with Disabilities.--There was no codified or societal
discrimination against persons with disabilities; however, there were
no legislated or mandated accessibility provisions for persons with
disabilities. Approximately 10 percent of the country's population had
disabilities, mostly due to polio. There were several government- and
NGO-initiated programs designed to assist persons with disabilities,
including handicraft training for the blind and the distribution of
wheelchairs and carts by the Ministry of Social Services.
The Ministry of Social Affairs worked with Handicap International
during the year to provide treatment, surgeons, and prostheses to
persons with disabilities. For example, in February, a $24,660 (12.7
million CFA francs) physiotherapy center for persons with disabilities
was inaugurated in Dekoa, 160 miles northeast of Bangui.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population included
approximately eight ethnic groups; many of these groups spoke distinct
primary languages and were concentrated regionally outside urban areas.
The largest ethnic groups were the Baya (33 percent), the Banda (27
percent), the Mandja (13 percent), and the Sara (10 percent). The
Mbororo comprised approximately 7 percent of the population but played
a preponderant role in the economy; they were involved in mining
development and remained the most important cattle breeders in the
country.
Major political parties tended to have readily identifiable ethnic
or ethnic-regional bases.
Thousands of Chadians have been residing in the country for
generations, and many have acquired citizenship. Since a failed coup
attempt in 2001, when General Bozize fled to Chad with part of the
national army, tensions have remained between the Chadian community and
those who considered themselves to be native to the country.
Indigenous People.--Despite constitutional protection, there was
societal discrimination against Pygmies (Batwa or Ba'Aka), the earliest
known inhabitants of the rain forest in the southern part of the
country. Pygmies comprised approximately 1 to 2 percent of the
country's population. In general, Pygmies had little input in decisions
affecting their lands, culture, traditions, and the allocation of
natural resources. Indigenous forest-dwelling Pygmies, in particular,
were subject to social and economic discrimination and exploitation,
which the Government has done little to prevent. However, the
Government continued to issue birth certificates to Pygmies, thereby
effectively recognizing them as citizens and allowing them access to
greater civil rights.
Pygmies, including children, often were coerced into agricultural,
domestic, and other types of labor within the country. Pygmies often
were considered to be the slaves of other local ethnic groups, and they
were subjected to wages far below those prescribed by the labor code,
and lower than those paid to members of other groups.
During the year, international NGO International Cooperation began
work on a project to promote the rights of Pygmies, monitor
discrimination, and gain access to public services through the
obtainment of birth certificates. Refugees International released a
report in 2003 on Pygmies, stating that Pygmies occupied the role of
``second-class citizens.'' The report noted that the popular perception
of Pygmies as barbaric, savage, and subhuman had seemingly legitimized
their exclusion from mainstream society.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The penal code
criminalizes homosexual behavior; however, there were no reports that
police arrested or detained persons they believed to be homosexual.
Societal discrimination against homosexuals existed during the year.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Under the Labor Code, all workers are
free to form or join unions without prior authorization, and a
relatively small part of the workforce, primarily wage earners such as
civil servants, exercised this right. Police forces and judges are
allowed to form unions; however, security forces, including the
military and gendarmes, are prohibited from forming unions and
striking.
A person who loses the status of worker, either through unemployed
or retirement, cannot in principle belong to a trade union or
participate in its administration. The Labor Code requires that union
officials be full-time wage-earning employees in their occupation, and
that they may conduct union business during working hours provided the
employer is informed 48 hours in advance and provides authorization.
The law expressly forbids discrimination against employees on the
basis of union membership or union activity; however, there were
reports of anti-union discrimination during the year. Employees can
have their cases heard in the Labor Court. The Labor Code does not
state whether employers found guilty of anti-union discrimination were
required to reinstate workers fired for union activities; however,
employers legally were required to pay damages, including back pay and
lost wages.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
provides for the right of workers to organize and administer trade
unions without employer interference and grants trade unions full legal
status, including the right to file lawsuits, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. The Code does not
specifically provide that unions may bargain collectively; however, in
practice, collective bargaining occurred in the private sector during
the year. The Government generally was not involved if the two parties
were able to reach an agreement. There are no export processing zones.
In the civil service, wages are set by the Government after
consultation with the unions. In the private sector, collective
bargaining has played a role in setting wages. Salary arrears continued
to be a problem during the year for both civilian and military
personnel. The Government owed both groups approximately 40 months of
salary arrears, and the arrears continued to be a major complaint of
the unions. On March 11, in an effort to decrease the budget shortfall,
the Government declared a 30-percent salary reduction for senior civil
servants, including the President and cabinet-level officials. On April
13, the Government negotiated a salary reduction agreement with six
labor unions to ensure regular payment of salaries.
Unions had the right to strike in both the public and private
sectors, and workers exercised this right during the year. To be legal,
strikes had to be preceded by the union's presentation of demands, the
employer's response to these demands, a conciliation meeting between
labor and management, and a finding by an arbitration council that
union and employer failed to reach agreement on valid demands. The
union also was required to provide 8 days' advance written notification
of a planned strike. The Labor Code states that if employers initiate a
lockout that is not in accordance with the Code, the employer is
required to pay workers for all days of the lockout. However, the
Government has the authority to end strikes because of public interest.
The Code makes no other provisions regarding sanctions on employers for
acting against strikers. During the year, there were no reports of
employer actions against strikers.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Code
specifically prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
Prisoners were forced to work without compensation for government
officials or magistrates. Pygmies, including children, often were
coerced into labor within the country and often treated as slaves (see
Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code forbids the employment of children under 14 years of age;
however, the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service enforced the provision
only loosely, and child labor was common in many sectors of the
economy, especially in rural areas. In some cases, the Labor Code
provides that the minimum age for employment could be reduced to 12
years for some types of light work in traditional agricultural
activities or home services. The Labor Code defined the worst forms of
child labor as dangerous work or tasks involving serious risks to the
child's health, security, or morality. Children frequently worked on
farms at rural schools.
In some rural areas, teachers or principals used school children as
labor on farms, ostensibly to teach them how to work the land since
many students did not further their education beyond primary school
(see Section 5). The schools used the proceeds from the sale of farm
produce to purchase school supplies and equipment and to fund school-
related activities. In addition, an international agency reported that
children worked in the diamond fields alongside adult relatives.
The Labor Code prohibition of forced or compulsory labor applies to
children, although they are not mentioned specifically; however, forced
child labor occurred (see Section 5).
The Government did not have sufficient human or material resources
to enforce the prohibition against forced labor effectively.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code states that the
Minister of Labor must set minimum wages by decree. The minimum wage
varies by sector and by kind of work. For example, the monthly minimum
wage was equivalent to approximately $12 (7,800 CFA francs) for
agricultural workers but approximately $28 (18,000 CFA francs) for
office workers. The minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family. Most labor was performed outside the
wage and social security system, especially by farmers in the large
subsistence agricultural sector.
The law sets a standard workweek of 40 hours for government
employees and most private sector employees. Household employees may
work up to 55 hours per week. The law also requires a minimum rest
period of 48 hours per week.
There are general laws on health and safety standards in the
workplace, but the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service neither
precisely defined nor actively enforced them, a matter about which the
ILO has expressed concern to the Government for many years. The Labor
Code states that a labor inspector may force an employer to correct
unsafe or unhealthy work conditions, but it does not provide the right
for workers to remove themselves from such conditions without risk of
loss of employment.
__________
CHAD
Chad is a centralized republic dominated by a strong presidency.
Despite the country's multiparty system of government, power remains
concentrated in the hands of a northern oligarchy composed of the
President's Zaghawa ethnic group and its allies, resulting in a culture
of impunity for a ruling minority. President Idriss Deby, leader of the
Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), has ruled since taking power in a
1990 rebellion. He was re-elected President in 2001; however, fraud,
widespread vote rigging, and local irregularities marred that election
and the 2002 legislative elections. On May 16, members of the
Republican Guard and Nomadic Guard--both of which are components of the
government security forces--led a failed coup attempt against President
Deby. During the year, the security situation in the east grew
increasingly tenuous due to a conflict in the Darfur region in Sudan
near the country's border, and the Government expressed its concerns
over the bandits, Sudanese militias, and growing numbers of rebels that
were operating in the east. However, by year's end, the Government and
the rebel group Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) were
negotiating an end to the rebellion in the northwest Tibesti region.
The Constitution mandates an independent judiciary; however, the
judiciary remained ineffective, underfunded, overburdened, vulnerable
to acts of violence, and subject to executive interference.
The National Army (ANT), Gendarmerie (a military police force),
National Police, Nomadic National Guard (GNNT), and National Security
Agency (ANS) are responsible for internal security. The ANT,
Gendarmerie, and GNNT report to the Ministry of Defense; the National
Police reports to the Ministry of Public Security and Immigration, and
the ANS reports to the President. Officers from President Deby's ethnic
group and closely allied ethnic groups dominated the ANS and Republican
Guard. On September 14, in accordance with a presidential decree, the
Republican Guard began reporting to the National Army; previously, it
had reported directly to the Presidency. During the year, the ANT and
Gendarmerie were deployed to the north to fight MDJT rebels and the
international terrorist organization Salafist Group for Call and Combat
(GSPC), to the east to maintain security along the border with Sudan,
and to the south following the arrival of refugees from the Central
African Republic (CAR) in 2003. Civilian authorities did not maintain
effective control of the security forces, and there were frequent
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently
of government authority. Security forces committed serious human rights
abuses.
The economy was based on subsistence agriculture, herding, and
fishing, and more than 80 percent of the workforce was involved in
these activities, much of which exists outside the formal sector. The
country's population was estimated to be 8.9 million. The gross
domestic product per capita for the year was $536, rising in part due
to oil revenues and exchange rates. Impediments to sustainable economic
growth were corruption, prohibitive electricity costs, and geographic
and cultural barriers. The country began exporting oil in July 2003,
and the first revenues from oil production were repatriated into bank
accounts in the country in June. Most of the revenues were earmarked
for priority sectors of the economy, including health, education,
agriculture, environment, and infrastructure. The College of Control
and Surveillance of Petroleum Resources, composed of members of the
Government and civil society, managed oil revenue expenditures. The
Government remained heavily dependent on assistance from external
donors and international financial institutions for budgetary
assistance.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit serious human rights abuses. The
Government limited citizens' right to change their government. Security
forces committed extrajudicial killings and continued to torture, beat,
and rape persons. Prison conditions remained harsh and life
threatening. Security forces continued to use arbitrary arrest and
detention. The Government rarely prosecuted or punished members of the
security forces who committed human rights abuses. Lengthy pretrial
detention remained a problem. The Government infringed on privacy
rights and limited freedoms of the press and assembly. The Government
at times limited freedoms of religion and movement. Corruption was a
problem. The Government arrested, detained, and intimidated members of
human rights organizations. Violence and societal discrimination
against women were common. Despite official governmental opposition to
the practice, female genital mutilation (FGM) was widespread.
Trafficking in persons was a problem. Both official and societal ethnic
and regional discrimination remained widespread. Interethnic conflict
resulted in numerous deaths. There also were reports of forced labor,
including forced child labor. Child labor was a serious problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--During the year,
there were reports of killings that may have been politically
motivated, and officially sanctioned extrajudicial killings of
suspected criminals by security forces continued. Local human rights
organizations estimated that nearly half of human rights abuses
committed in the country involved arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of
life by security forces. Extrajudicial killings rarely were directed
centrally, and they most often occurred outside the capital, where
there was less control over security forces. The Government rarely
prosecuted or punished members of the security forces who committed
killings.
The Government said there were no political killings during the
year; however, the Federation of Chadian Unions issued a May 17
communique indicating that security forces killed five union members
during the May 16 coup attempt. No additional information was available
by year's end.
During the year, security forces committed numerous killings during
apprehension or in custody. For example, in May, in the northern town
of Oum-Hadger, Abdelhamit Mahamat died from injuries received while
being tortured in custody at a police camp.
In January, gendarmes killed a prisoner while they escorted him to
a hospital in Mayo-Benoye. During the year, gendarmes killed two other
prisoners while the prisoners reportedly tried to escape in Chokoyan.
By year's end, no one had been held accountable for the deaths of the
inmates.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces killed demonstrators.
During the year, the use of excessive force by security forces
resulted in numerous killings. For example, in February, the GNNT
killed a customs agent on duty at the Cameroon border and threw his
body into the Chari river near N'Djamena. No investigation was
undertaken during the year.
In February, men in military uniforms attacked a group of traders
near Oum-Hadjer, located in the east, and reportedly killed an
undetermined number of them. Human rights groups alleged that similar
attacks regularly occurred near the village of Bassa. By year's end, no
investigation had been undertaken.
In March, a police commandant in Guera Batha killed his neighbor
during a personal dispute. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and
required to pay the victim's family $9,200 (4.5 million FCFA francs).
In May, gendarmes killed 2 persons and injured 13 others in
Tandjile West after local residents--who reportedly did not believe
police efforts to protect them from herders were sufficient--attacked a
police station. By year's end, no judicial action had been taken
against the gendarmes.
Security forces killed refugees during the year (see Section 2.d.).
Chadian soldiers in CAR reportedly killed CAR citizens during the
year.
There were no reports of any action taken against members of the
security forces responsible for the following killings in 2003: the
March rape and killing of a 13-year-old girl; the July shooting of
Hassan Yacine in front of the Presidential Palace; and the August
killing of Djimtebaye Osee in Chagoua.
There were no developments in 2002 killings by security forces.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that deaths from
military hazing occurred during the year.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces killed suspected rebels or civilians in the northwestern Tibesti
region during the year.
Landmines laid by government, foreign, and rebel forces in previous
years have caused numerous deaths and injuries during past 2 years. In
June, a car hit a landmine near Yarda, near Faya Largeau. Three persons
were killed and six wounded.
Three men arrested in connection with the 2002 killing of Dr.
Mahamat Guetti, president of the African Democratic Party and former
parliamentarian candidate, remained in prison without trial at year's
end.
No action was taken in 2002 killings by unknown assailants, and no
action was likely to be taken.
Armed bandits continued to operate on many roads, assaulting,
robbing, and killing travelers; some bandits were identified as active
duty soldiers or deserters.
For example, on May 7, armed bandits, believed to be soldiers,
attacked the home of a prominent cattle herder in Diguel, killing two
persons and wounding two others. No investigation was undertaken during
the year.
During the year, human rights groups accused regional gendarmes of
perpetuating disputes between herders and local residents, one of which
resulted in eight killings, eight injured, and eight children missing.
Interethnic fighting resulted in numerous deaths (see Section 5).
Air raids in January and periodic militia attacks throughout the
year by the Sudanese Government in western Sudan's Darfur region
resulted in several civilian deaths in towns along the country's border
with Sudan. For example, on January 29, Sudanese Antonov aircraft
reportedly dropped bombs on the border town of Tine in Chad and killed
3 civilians, including a 2-year-old child, and wounded 15 others. In
June, a clash between militia (jinjaweed) supported by the Sudanese
government and an army patrol near Birak resulted in the deaths of 69
persons, some of whom were unarmed civilians.
b. Disappearances.--There were reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year. Reports of the disappearances or deaths
of participants in the failed coup attempt in May could not be
corroborated, and no additional information was available at year's
end.
Reports that Ngardibaye Miretanga, an army sergeant and former
member of a rebel group, disappeared in April 2003 were false.
Lieutenant Nekemde Daoud, who had disappeared after the ANS
arrested him in April 2003, was released during 2003.
c. Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution specifically prohibits such practices;
however, members of the security forces tortured, beat, abused, and
raped citizens. Impunity for those who committed human rights abuses
remained widespread.
In February, soldiers from the 7th Regiment burned the arms and
genitals of two persons accused of being jinjaweed militia members. The
accused persons were released after paying the equivalent of $330
(164,000 FCFA) to the regiment's commanding officer.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that soldiers in
the Chagoua district of N'Djamena beat or raped local residents;
however, soldiers and other members of the security forces continued to
harass Chagoua residents. By year's end, no action had been taken
against the soldiers for committing such abuses in 2003.
During the year, the local press reported that members of the
security forces regularly threatened and beat officials of the local
power and water utility when their services were cut or reduced during
shortages.
Security forces beat a journalist and a member of a nongovernmental
organization (NGO) during the year (see Sections 2.a. and 4).
There were no developments in the following 2003 cases of torture
and beatings: The January torture of Kirben Amon and rape of his wife
by soldiers; the April beatings of a civilian by a regional military
commander; the May torture of a man in N'Djamena; or the torture of
electrical company workers by soldiers.
In June, soldiers fired on herders in Kanem and seriously injured
two persons; the soldiers, who encountered the herders during a regular
patrol, reportedly believed the herders were criminals. By year's end,
no action had been taken against the perpetrators.
During the year, police continued to rape women in custody.
There were no developments in the March 2003 rapes of two girls by
soldiers. The trial of the local gendarmerie brigade commander charged
with committing rape in 2002 was ongoing at year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of military
hazing incidents during the year.
FGM continued to be a problem (see Section 5).
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Prisons were
seriously overcrowded and had poor sanitation, as well as inadequate
food, shelter, and medical facilities. After spending 2 months in
prison in 2003, the chief editor of the independent newspaper Notre
Temps reported that there were only 40 cells for approximately 1,200
prisoners at N'Djamena's central prison, which was built during the
colonial period to hold only 300 prisoners. In May, human rights groups
visited the prison at Barh Sara and reported that 36 adults in
detention lacked food.
Local human rights organizations continued to report on the
unconfirmed existence of military prisons and prisons run by the
immigration service, to which access was prohibited. It was unknown who
was detained in these prisons and for what reasons they were held. In
Kerfi, gendarmes created a prison and jailed herders without charge.
The law provides that a doctor must visit each prison three times a
week; however, there were credible reports that this provision was not
respected. The chief editor of Notre Temps reported in 2003 that the
central prison had no health care facilities and that only one drug was
used to treat all medical problems. During his imprisonment in 2003, he
witnessed the death of a sick prisoner after authorities refused to
send the prisoner to a hospital.
Although the law authorized forced labor in prison, human rights
organizations reported that it did not generally occur in practice.
Female prisoners usually were separated from adult males. Following
a successful campaign by UNICEF to have juvenile males separated from
adult male prisoners, juvenile males were held with female prisoners.
Pretrial detainees were held with the general prison population.
The Government permitted the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) to visit most civil prisons, although the Government
insisted on advance notice; the ICRC conducted such visits during the
year. In June 2003, the Government provided the Chadian Association for
the Promotion of Human Rights (ATPDH) with a permanent authorization
notice to visit civil prisons at any time, without advance notice.
Other NGOs, including human rights groups, were required to obtain
their own authorization from a court or from the Director of Prisons;
such authorizations depended largely on the personal inclinations of
those granting permission. Organizations were not allowed access to
military prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution and the Penal
Code prohibit arbitrary arrest; however, security forces continued to
use arbitrary arrest and detention.
The police force was centrally controlled, but exercising
oversight, particularly outside of N'Djamena, was difficult. There was
general impunity for police officials who committed human rights
abuses. In June, government officials publicly acknowledged the
country's growing security problems, which resulted in part from the
inability of the national and local police to counter widespread
banditry, particularly outside of N'Djamena, and the proliferation of
arms resulting from a succession of civil wars. The Government often
allowed months to pass before it paid members of police, and corruption
was widespread. In July, armed bandits with inside information about
the payment of civil servant salaries killed two officials of the
Ministry of Territorial Administration escorting the payroll for
ministry employees in N'Djamena. By year's end, the perpetrators had
been arrested and were awaiting trial.
A judicial official is required to sign arrest warrants; however,
the Government often did not respect this requirement. The law requires
both a bail system and access to counsel, but neither provision was
regularly enforced. Few detainees had the means to pay for private
counsel, and incommunicado detention was a problem.
Arbitrary arrest and detention was a problem. In Kerfi, there were
reports that gendarmes arbitrarily arrested herders and placed them in
unauthorized prisons.
In May, a gendarme arrested and beat a man in Mayo Dalla after the
wife of the gendarme reportedly told her husband she had dreamed about
the man. The gendarme and his colleagues also robbed the man of $110
(55,600 FCFA). By year's end, there were no reports that action had
been taken against the gendarmes.
During the year, gendarmes in the northern town of Kerfi reportedly
arrested herders and arbitrarily detained them without formal charges
in a private prison they had created. At least two of the herders were
accused of illegally possessing weapons. At year's end, it was not
known if the herders had been released, and no additional information
was available.
Security forces continued to conduct searches, most notably in the
Kelo region, following the 2003 robbery of the CotonTchad plant in
Pala. Security forces increased security operations along the eastern
border with Sudan. In addition, security forces in N'Djamena conducted
weapons searches throughout the year.
Police at times arrested journalists and NGO officials who
criticized the Government (see Sections 2.a. and 4).
Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. Persons accused of
crimes could be imprisoned for several years before being charged or
tried, especially those arrested for felonies in the provinces, who
then were transferred to the overcrowded prison in N'Djamena. Human
rights groups reported that over 800 prisoners in the Central Prison
were still awaiting judgment by year's end.
e. Denial of a Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was ineffective,
underfunded, overburdened, vulnerable to acts of violence, and subject
to executive interference. In practice, government officials and other
influential persons often enjoyed immunity from judicial sanction.
According to credible reports, many citizens believed that members of
the military, in which the President's Zaghawa ethnic group figured
prominently, continued to enjoy a particularly high degree of immunity
from prosecution.
During the year, members of the judiciary regularly received death
threats. On October 5, Daynguirim Etienne, a magistrate in Abeche, was
killed in his office at the Palace of Justice. By year's end, the
assailant was in custody and the motive was unknown. Three other judges
have been killed over the past 3 years.
At the national level, a Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and
Court of Appeals exist; however, some of their members were appointed
by the Government and not elected by citizens as required by the law,
which weakened the independence of the courts. The constitutionally
mandated High Court of Justice could try high-ranking government
officials; only the National Assembly, which had taken no action on
cases by year's end, could forward cases to this court.
The remainder of the judicial system operated through courts
located in provincial capitals. The N'Djamena Court of Appeals was
supposed to conduct regular sessions in the provinces, but funding
limitations did not permit the court to make circuit visits.
The Constitution mandates a Superior Council of Magistrates to
recommend judicial nominations and sanction judges who commit
improprieties. The Superior Council handled several cases in the past
few years. For example, in July 2003, after receiving a complaint by a
human rights NGO about a warrant being issued for the wrong person, the
Superior Council suspended for 6 months the Attorney General of
Moundou. During the year, the Superior Council dismissed Attorney
General of Mongo after counterfeit money, which was evidence in a case,
disappeared while in his office's custody.
Similar in function to the Superior Council, a new five-judge
Judicial Oversight Commission began conducting investigations of
judicial decisions and addressing suspected infractions during the
year. However, in contrast to the Superior Council, the President
appointed members of the Commission, which increased executive control
over the judiciary and decreased the authority of the Superior Council.
Parties to judicial cases could appeal to the Commission.
Applicable law was sometimes confusing, as courts often tended to
blend the formal French-derived legal code with traditional practices,
and customary law continued to overrule Napoleonic law in practice.
Residents of rural areas often lacked effective access to formal
judicial institutions, and legal reference texts were not available
outside the capital. In most civil cases, the population relied on
traditional courts presided over by village chiefs, canton chiefs, or
sultans. Decisions could be appealed to a formal court.
Under the law, defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty, but in practice many judges assumed guilt, particularly in
crimes involving rape or theft. Cases are heard as public trials, and
defendants have the right to appeal any decision. Defendants, their
lawyers, and judges are permitted by law to question witnesses.
The Muslim concept of dia, which involves a payment to the family
of a murder victim or victim of a crime based on the decision of local
leaders, was widely practiced in the northern Muslim areas of the
country. Non-Muslim groups, who supported implementation of a civil
code, challenged the use of the dia system, arguing that it was
incompatible with the Constitution. Such groups further accused the
Government of supporting dia practices by permitting the existence of
local tribunals. No resolution was reached by year's end.
The Government and human rights organizations reported that there
were no political prisoners during the year. However, the whereabouts
of some individuals arrested on suspicion of subversive activities
against the Government were unknown at year's end. There were reports
of several military and immigration prisons, but human rights or other
organizations were denied access.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
authorities used illegal searches and wiretaps and monitored the
contents of private mail. The Penal Code requires authorities to
conduct searches of homes only during daylight hours and with a legal
warrant; however, in practice, security forces ignored these provisions
and conducted unlawful searches at any time. Security forces also
stopped citizens regularly, extorting money or confiscating belongings.
The Government engaged in wiretapping without judicial
authorization, monitored the contents of private mail through the
postal service, and monitored private e-mail through the main post
office server.
During the May coup attempt and in September, the Government
ordered cellular phone networks to cease operations while government
forces searched private homes for weapons. The ANS requested that
cellular operators provide information on the cellular lines of
suspected coup plotters. International organizations and human rights
groups protested government interference with telephone communications;
however, the Government argued that the interference was necessary for
reasons of ``national security.''
In November, military and police officials began searching for and
confiscating Thuraya satellite telephones, including those from NGOs,
humanitarian agencies, and diplomatic vehicles.
There were occasions that police officers arrested family members
of suspects. In February, police officers attacked Koulamadji
Koutoloum, arrested him, and stole his proceeds from selling cotton.
His children were also arrested; they were forced to pay $100 (49,700
FCFA) to the gendarmes to be released.
During the year, particularly between October and December, there
were reports that members of the gendarmes, police, and army engaged in
banditry or robbery. For example, on October 22, the Ministry of
Defense's bodyguards arrested armed bandits who were members of the
army. At year's end, they were awaiting trial.
There were no new developments in the 2003 or 2002 cases of
arbitrary interference with privacy, families, or homes by government
agents.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and in practice, the Government
generally respected freedom of speech; however, it limited freedom of
the press. The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
During the year, individuals could criticize the Government
publicly without reprisal; however, there were reports that the
Government attempted to impede criticism by monitoring meetings of the
political opposition, and there were a few reports that the Government
attempted to intimidate its critics.
The Government owned the newspaper Info Tchad and influenced
another, Le Progres, but it did not dominate the press. A number of
private newspapers, many of which were extremely critical of government
policies and leaders, were published and circulated freely in the
capital.
Due to widespread illiteracy and the relatively high cost of
newspapers and television, radio remained the most important medium of
mass communication and information. The Government-owned Radiodiffusion
Nationale Tchadienne had branches in N'Djamena, Abeche, Moundou, Sahr,
and Taya. There were numerous private radio stations, including several
owned by religious organizations, that broadcast throughout the
country.
The licensing fee set by the High Council on Communication (HCC)
for a commercial radio station remained prohibitively high at
approximately $10,000 (4,972,000 FCFA) per year, 10 times the fee for
radio stations owned by nonprofit NGOs. Stations run by nonprofit
groups were subject to close official scrutiny.
The Government owned and operated the only domestic television
station, Teletchad. Demand for private television was limited by poor
electrical service and economic conditions, such as the lack of a
sizeable audience with the required purchasing power. There was one
privately owned satellite television company that distributed a package
of French-language and English-language channels. Arabic programming
was also available via satellite. The Government did not interfere with
these channels.
The Government harassed and detained journalists during the year.
For example, on February 9, the gendarmerie arrested and beat Tchanguis
Vatankhah, the managing director of private radio station Brakos
Moissala, and shut down the station after it broadcast an interview
with an opposition politician. Vatankhah was released after 48 hours,
and Brakos Moissala reopened on February 10. Under the law, only the
HCC has the authority to close a radio station. The HCC advocated on
behalf of Vatankhah and the radio station.
In July, three reporters--Mbainaye Betoubam, Abdelkerim Nassour,
and Hassan Boukar--from IYAL TCHAD newspaper, a foreign-owned internet
news service, alleged that security forces abused them while they were
detained for 3 days for illegally selling an unregistered newspaper.
The Government reported that it only detained one journalist, which it
held for 1 day, and denied allegations of abuse.
In October, the Government arrested and questioned Michael Didama,
the chief editor of Le Temps, an opposition newspaper, over an article
that criticized the President. The case had not been heard by year's
end.
Some journalists in the rural provinces reported that government
officials warned them that democracy was for N'Djamena, not the
regions, meaning that journalists should temper any contentious
political reporting. In addition, some domestic journalists claimed
that the Government restricted their ability to cover some events or
visit certain locations and limited their access to high-ranking
officials, restrictions that the Government did not impose on foreign
journalists.
In May, security forces sought Oulatar Begoto, director of
publication for a bi-weekly newspaper, N'Djamena Hebdo, after he
reported that the alleged coup plotters included allies of President
Deby. By year's end, he had not been arrested or detained and had not
gone into hiding.
The Government placed limits on radio broadcasting. In May, the HCC
warned Radio FM Liberte, which was run by human rights organizations,
that their repeated broadcasts of communiques calling for a general
strike to protest the revision of the Constitution constituted
``political advertising.''
In July, the HCC warned Radio FM Liberte after it broadcast an
interview with a musician and artist who criticized African regimes for
attempting to remain in power. Unknown persons calling themselves the
``squad of death'' threatened FM Liberte employees, and as a result,
one FM Liberte journalist went into self-exile after this incident.
Government-owned and controlled media were headed by government-
selected news directors and subject to government pressure that
resulted in informal censorship; however, at times they were critical
of the Government.
During the year, there was an increase in the number of reports
that the Government threatened journalists with legal retaliation for
publishing unfavorable material, such as accusations of corruption
committed by government officials. Libel law was used to suppress
criticism of political leaders, and during the year, the Government
arrested several journalists for libel. If compensation was provided to
the plaintiff, violators could face 1 year's imprisonment or a
suspended sentence of 1 year with a fine.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
In November, a private high school closed for a week following a
confrontation between a teacher and three of President Deby's children,
which escalated when the children were taken to the principal's office
and expelled. The children called the Presidency, and members of the
ANS and the Republican Guard arrived at the school to take the teacher
into custody. The teacher fled into hiding. The school's leadership
temporarily closed the school for fear of retaliation against the
teacher and others; however, by year's end, there were no reports that
the teacher had been arrested or detained.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government limited this
right in practice. The law requires organizers of public demonstrations
to notify local authorities 5 days in advance of the demonstration.
Authorities banned demonstrations critical of the Government despite
being notified in advance as required by law; however, they permitted
demonstrations in support of the Government and its policies.
In May, police attacked students demonstrating peacefully in front
of the administrative building at the University of N'Djamena. The
students were protesting the Government's attempt to annul the election
of student union leaders. Excessive force and tear gas were used to
disperse the students. Subsequently, the Minister of Territorial
Administration issued an order banning all activities of the Union of
Chadian Students. Throughout the year, the police regularly disrupted
non-union student gatherings.
In May, the Government disrupted a peaceful demonstration by human
rights groups to protest the revision of the Constitution. In November,
the Government denied a request by political parties to demonstrate in
N'Djamena against a public referendum proposing the elimination of
presidential term limits.
There were no developments in the 2003 cases of abuse resulting
from the use of excessive force by security forces.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for religious
freedom; however, at times, the Government limited this right. The
Constitution also provides for a secular state; however, senior
government officials were predominantly Muslim, and some policies
favored Islam in practice. For example, the Government sponsored annual
Hajj trips to Mecca for certain government officials.
The Government required religious groups to register; however,
there were no specific legal penalties for failure to register, and
there were no reports that any group had failed to apply for
registration or that the registration process was unduly burdensome.
The Islamic religious group Faid al-Djaria remained banned at
year's end on the grounds that its religious customs, including the
singing and dancing of men and women together in religious ceremonies,
were un-Islamic.
Although the different religious communities generally coexisted
without problems, there were reports of occasional tension between
Christians and Muslims. In November, a market dispute in Bebedja
erupted between Muslims and Christians and resulted in 12 deaths, 21
persons injured, and a significant proportion of the town burned.
Police arrested 18 persons. By year's end, some of those arrested were
released, and those who were charged remained in detention awaiting
trial. Several local officials, including the mayor of Bebedja, were
dismissed for their role in the incident.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government imposed some limits in practice. The
Government did not require special permission for travel in areas that
it effectively controlled; however, in July, the Ministry of
Territorial Administration began requiring an ``authorization for
circulation'' for foreign travelers intending to visit the east,
including humanitarian agency personnel, due to growing insecurity in
the region. The travel permits were not restrictive but did require
travelers to allow between 3 and 5 days to obtain the permit.
Authorities also required foreigners to register with immigration upon
arrival to Abeche. Elements of the security forces, rebels, and bandits
continued to maintain roadblocks throughout the country, extorting
money from travelers and often beating them. The Government did not
officially condone such behavior by its security forces; however, it
did not effectively discourage the practice. In addition, armed bandits
operated on many roads, assaulting, robbing, and killing travelers;
some bandits were identified as active duty soldiers or deserters.
Security forces regularly harassed travelers on roadways. In
October, security forces stopped and harassed the President of the
National Assembly at a checkpoint as he traveled east of N'Djamena,
despite the fact that his car had official government plates.
By year's end, there was no investigation or disciplinary action
regarding the May 2003 assault by security forces of an expatriate
businessman.
Tension along the border with CAR continued to hinder free movement
in the region. Bandits from CAR continued to enter the country and
commit attacks on citizens during the year, despite an agreement by
government officials of both countries to stem insecurity along the
border and seize weapons held illegally by individuals, militias, and
herders.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
The Constitution does not provide for the granting of asylum or
refugee status and consequently is not in accordance with the 1951 U.N.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but
the Government has established a system for providing protection to
refugees. In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution, and granted refugee status or asylum. The Government also
provided protection to certain individuals who may not qualify as
refugees under the 1951 U.N. Convention or its 1967 Protocol. An
official national structure, the National Committee for Welcoming and
Reinsertion of Refugees, handled domestic and foreign refugee affairs.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. By year's end, the UNHCR and
the Government were working together to identify new sites for refugee
camps located in close proximity to the Sudanese border and the
conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. At year's end,
according to the UNHCR, the country hosted approximately 200,000
Sudanese refugees from Darfur, who were located in 11 camps along the
eastern border with Sudan. There were also approximately 30,000
refugees from CAR and small numbers of refugees from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. During the year, the Government informally
granted refugee and asylum status to persons from Sudan, CAR, and the
Republic of the Congo and allowed them to remain in the country for
resettlement.
In July, gendarmes killed two refugees in an attempt to restore
order and searched for weapons at Farchana and Bredjing refugee camps,
where refugees had attacked humanitarian workers. The Government also
arrested 16 refugees whom it said were fomenting dissent among the
other refugees. By year's end, all 16 had been released.
By year's end, there was no additional information on 2003 reports
that soldiers in the southern border town of Gore harassed, beat, and
stole from refugees fleeing CAR.
There was no reported action in the 2002 case of gendarmes who
kidnapped and detained refugee Bienvenu Ngala Mambweni and
approximately 100 other persons, all of whom were either voluntarily
repatriated or otherwise resettled.
There were no reports of abuses committed against refugees by
rebels or jinjaweed from Sudan; however, in a bombing raid by the
government of Sudan on Tine, Sudan, residents of Tine, Chad were
killed.
Anti-refugee sentiment among the citizens living in refugee-
affected areas of the country was high due to pressure on local
resources--such wood, water, and grazing land for animals--and the
provision of goods and services for refugees that were not available to
the local population. During the year, there were reports that citizens
attacked refugees and destroyed their wells out of frustration and fear
of resource shortages. During the year, the UNHCR and its partner
organizations expressed concern about the possibility of the
militarization of the refugee camps, particularly one located on the
border. As a result, between August and year's end, gendarmes were
deployed at the camps to protect the refugees from outside influences.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, the Government continued to limit this
right in practice. A prime minister, who was nominated by the President
and confirmed by the National Assembly, headed the Government. In June
2003, President Deby nominated his nephew, Moussa Faki Mahamat, as
Prime Minister. Despite protests from southern opposition leaders,
Mahamat's nomination was approved by the National Assembly and reversed
a 25-year trend of naming a southern Christian as Prime Minister. A new
cabinet of 30 members, including the Prime Minister, was appointed by
the President on July 28. The executive branch dominated all other
branches.
The 2002 legislative election, in which President Deby's MPS party
won a majority of National Assembly seats, was largely determined in
advance and resulted in inaccurate registered voter lists, due
primarily to a faulty electoral census that the Government refused to
revise. In addition, the MPS, running allied with another party in some
districts, was the only political party to have a candidate in every
district. Local NGOs reported numerous voting irregularities.
According to several observers, President Deby's first-round
victory in the 2001 presidential election was marred by irregularities.
While monitoring the voting process, unofficial observers from local
human rights and civil society groups were assaulted in polling
stations. In addition, prior to and following the presidential
election, several cases of abuses against opposition supporters and
candidates took place, and the Government restricted media coverage.
There were an estimated 70 political parties in the country.
Parties allied with the regime generally received favorable treatment.
Opposition political leaders have accused the Government of co-opting
their most popular local politicians to run as MPS members in local
elections and also alleged intimidation by the military against those
party members who refused. In May, a former Deby ally alleged that the
Government attempted to remove him from an opposition party's
leadership. Northerners, particularly members of the Zaghawa ethnic
group, including the Bideyat subclan to which the President belongs,
continued to dominate the public sector and were over-represented in
key posts of key institutions of state power, including the military
officer corps, elite military units, and the presidential staff.
On May 16, members of the Republican and Nomadic Guards failed in
their attempt to assassinate President Deby. In the days following the
attempt, the Government set up checkpoints, conducted search
operations, and disrupted the cellular telephone networks as suspected
coup plotters were rounded up (see Section 1. f.). There were
unconfirmed reports of casualties, although the number of casualties
was unknown. After the coup attempt, several top military and security
officials were replaced. No information was available on any
prosecution or punitive actions that may have been taken against the
alleged coup plotters.
On May 26, the National Assembly voted to recommend for national
referendum several constitutional amendments, which included the
removal of term limits for the office of President and the abolishment
of the (nonexistent) Senate. Opposition members said the National
Assembly President did not give them an opportunity to discuss the
issues prior to the National Assembly's vote, and 17 opposition parties
organized a national strike in protest of the vote. By year's end, the
date of the referendum had not been set.
In August, the Government announced the composition of the National
Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) and the National Elections
Monitoring Commission (CNRE). On October 27, the National Assembly
passed a law modifying CENI's composition, despite a boycott of the
vote by opposition parties, which alleged a lack of transparency in
arranging a national referendum in 2005 on constitutional amendments.
Members of the Government, members of the political parties holding
seats in the National Assembly, and parties without seats in the
legislature composed the 31-member CENI. By year's end, the Government
and ruling party controlled 24 seats in the CENI, and the most
prominent opposition parties were not represented on the CENI or the
CNRE. Some political parties refused to participate in the CENI in an
effort to protest the referendum, scheduled for 2005, on constitutional
amendments.
The Government remained highly centralized. The national Government
appointed all subnational government officials, who often relied on the
central Government for funds and for administrative personnel.
During the year, the Government continued its constitutionally
mandated decentralization process. Many opposition political parties
objected to the Government's decentralization plan, which resulted in
the redesignation of 14 prefectures as 18 regions, all headed by
presidentially appointed governors, instead of prefects. Prefects
retained their titles but administered smaller departments within the
regions.
Corruption continued to be a serious problem. At the beginning of
the year, some officers in the security forces continued to collect
government payments for several thousand ``phantom soldiers,'' or
nonexistent subordinates. During the first half of the year, the
President attempted to curb pay fraud in the security forces and
accurately determine the size of the security forces.
In May, a senior member of a committee established under a World
Bank plan to prevent corruption in the country's oil revenue management
criticized the Government and a foreign oil company for depriving the
committee of information from the Ministry of Finance and the necessary
resources to be effective in fostering transparency. Beginning in June,
the Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, and the foreign oil company
launched several public awareness campaigns and educational efforts for
the members of the College, the National Assembly, and the public to
explain how the revenue management system worked.
In July, the President created a new ministry and named a new
minister to fight corruption in the Government. The Government also
took steps to reduce corruption concerning customs and tax fraud.
In July, the Government created a new ministerial post to uphold
government ethics. The newly created ministry is tasked with
identifying and eliminating corruption within the Government. By year's
end, the ministry had drafted government policy on fighting corruption
and had begun training the ministry's staff.
The law does not provide for public access to government
information; in practice, the Government provided access to government-
employed journalists, but independent media journalists complained that
they did not have sufficient access to government information during
the year. The Government's low capacity to retrieve and store
information was a problem; however, the Government mandates that the
proceedings of some ministerial meetings be broadcast on the radio or
published in Info Tchad, a government newspaper.
Few women held senior leadership positions: There were 10 women in
the 125-seat National Assembly and 3 women of cabinet rank. One member
of the CENI was a woman.
The Government was dominated by the Zaghawa, a minority ethnic
group.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Government obstructed the work of human rights organizations
during the year through arrest, detention, and intimidation; however,
such groups were able to investigate and publish their findings on
human rights cases. Government officials generally were accessible to
human rights advocates but unresponsive or hostile to their findings.
There were three primary local human rights organizations: The
ATPDH, The Association for the Promotion of Fundamental Liberties in
Chad, and the Chadian League for Human Rights (LTDH). These and smaller
human rights organizations worked closely together through an umbrella
organization, the Association of Human Rights, and their work included
observing government detention practices, assisting individuals who
have suffered human rights abuses, and holding public conferences and
seminars.
Despite pressure from the Government, human rights groups were
outspoken and often partisan in publicizing the abuses through reports,
press releases, and the print media, but only occasionally were they
able to intervene successfully with authorities. Most local human
rights groups were composed of political opponents of the Government,
which weakened their credibility with the Government and some
international organizations.
In February, police arrested Bandala Tchatcho Pierre, president of
the Kelo branch of the LTDH, and detained him for 24 hours after he had
reported on the alleged use of police brutality during tax collection.
In April, the Chief Commandant of the Gendarmarie arrested and beat
Mahamat Fadoul Aljazouli, who worked in the Ministry of Education and
was in charge of the LTDH in Batha/Guera. By year's end, Aljazouli had
been released and no action had been taken against the commander.
In April, a traditional leader in Lere ordered the arrest of Daniel
Deuzoumbe Passalet, the president of Human Rights without Borders, a
local NGO, for publishing a communique protesting the abuse of human
rights in the region. By year's end, Passalet had been released.
During the year, the Government restricted international human
rights organizations, although the Government began to permit more
investigative activity. In 2003, after several years of being
prohibited from working in the country, Amnesty International assigned
a representative to N'Djamena to examine human rights abuses in the
country and work with human rights organizations. In addition,
personnel from international human rights organizations traveled
regularly through the country to investigate atrocities in Sudan.
The Government allowed unhindered access to a joint team composed
of foreign government officials and NGO personnel to conduct interviews
of Sudanese refugees in the country to determine whether genocide was
being committed in Darfur, Sudan.
Belgian courts continued their investigation of crimes against
humanity committed by Habre during his rule from 1982 until 1990. At
year's end, Habre was living abroad, and Belgian courts, along with
human rights organizations, were trying to extradite him for trial in
Belgium. No additional legal action was taken against Habre during the
year.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal rights for all citizens,
regardless of origin, race, religion, political opinion, or social
status; however, these rights were not always enforced. In practice,
cultural traditions maintained women in a status subordinate to men,
and the Government favored its ethnic supporters and allies. Societal
discrimination continued to be practiced against homosexuals, those
afflicted with HIV/AIDS, and members of ethnic groups.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was common, although
statistics were unavailable. By tradition, wives were subject to the
authority of their husbands, and they had limited legal recourse
against abuse. Family or traditional authorities could act in such
cases; however, police rarely intervened. The law prohibited rape,
prostitution, and spousal abuse, but not sexual harassment; however,
all were problems.
There were reports that family members killed women for breaking
social customs.
The law prohibits violence against women, including the practice of
FGM; however, in practice FGM was widespread and deeply rooted in
tradition. A 2002 U.N.-NGO study estimated that approximately 60
percent of all women in the country had undergone FGM. The practice was
especially prevalent among ethnic groups in the east and south, where
it was introduced from Sudan. All three types of FGM were practiced.
The least common but most dangerous and severe form of FGM,
infibulation, was confined largely to the region on the eastern border
with Sudan. FGM usually was performed prior to puberty as a rite of
passage.
Under the law, FGM is prosecutable as a form of assault, and
charges can be brought against the parents of FGM victims, medical
practitioners, or others involved in the action; however, no such suits
were brought during the year. The Ministry of Social Action and the
Family was responsible for coordinating activities to combat FGM.
The law prohibits prostitution, pimping, and owning a brothel, and
prostitution was a problem, particularly in the southern oil-producing
region. During the year, the Penal Code was revised to establish new
punishments for the prostitution of a minor; the revised code provides
for prison terms of between 2 months and 2 years and a fine of between
$99 and $985 (50,000 FCFA and 500,000 FCFA).
Discrimination against women remained widespread. In practice,
women did not have equal opportunities for education and training,
making it difficult for them to compete for the few formal sector jobs.
Property and inheritance laws based on the French code do not
discriminate against women; however, most inheritance cases were
adjudicated by local leaders, with traditional practice favoring men.
The exploitation of women was pervasive, especially in rural areas,
where women did most of the agricultural labor and were discouraged
from formal schooling. Illiteracy was estimated at 66 percent for
women, compared with 48 percent for men.
There is no law on polygyny; however, spouses may opt to declare a
marriage monogamous. If a monogamous relationship is violated, the wife
has the right to request that the marriage be dissolved; however, she
must repay the bride price and other expenses related to the marriage.
Polygyny has become a controversial issue between Muslim and Christian
communities during the revision of the Family Code. The Code's revision
was awaiting a determination from the Government.
Children.--The Government generally supported the activities of
NGOs and international donors to improve children's rights and welfare,
but the Government had few resources to organize its own activities.
Although the Government continued to modestly increase its assistance
to the education sector, it was unable to adequately fund public
education and medical care. Government education policy for children
and youth focused on increasing classroom facilities and
infrastructure.
Although the Constitution does not specify until which age, it does
provide for compulsory education; however, the Government did not
enforce this provision. The Constitution also provides for free
education; however, parents complained that they must pay tuition to
public schools. Approximately half of the teachers in the country were
hired and paid by parent-teacher associations without government
reimbursement.
According to UNICEF, 46 percent of boys and 33 percent of girls
attended primary school. Educational opportunities for girls were
limited, mainly because of the traditional role of young girls in
household tasks such as the search for water and wood. The percentage
of girls enrolled in secondary school was extremely low compared with
that of boys, primarily because of early marriage.
Child abuse, including abuse of child herders, remained a problem.
The law considers any citizen under the age of 18 years a minor.
Sexual relations before the age of 13 years, even with consent, are
considered to be rape, and the prescribed sentence is hard labor for
life. The legal age of consent is 14. Although the law prohibits sexual
relations with a girl under the age of 14, even if married, this law
rarely was enforced. Families arranged marriages for girls as young as
12 or 13 years of age; the minimum legal age for engagements was 11
years of age. During the year, the Penal Code was revised to outlaw
forced marriages of minors and provides for penalties of 6 months to 2
years of imprisonment and a fine of between $99 and $985 (50,000 FCFA
and 500,000 FCFA). There were some forced marriages, and the custom of
buying and selling child brides continued to be a problem. Many young
wives were forced to work long hours of physical labor for their
husbands in fields or homes.
FGM was commonly practiced on young girls (see Section 5).
Several human rights organizations reported on the problem of the
``mahadjir'' children. These children, who attended certain Islamic
schools, were forced by their teachers to beg for food and money. There
were no reliable estimates as to the number of mahadjir children. In
May, the Ministry of Social Action and Family, an NGO, and
international organizations held a conference to raise public awareness
of mahadjir children and discuss appropriate interventions to help
them.
Trafficking in children was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The use of child soldiers is prohibited by law, and according to
UNICEF protection officers, the use of child soldiers was not
widespread. Although reliable information about the use of child
soldiers was difficult to obtain, UNICEF estimated in 2003 that there
were approximately 600 child soldiers reportedly serving in government
security forces and armed groups in the country; however, the number of
child soldiers was believed to have decreased during the year, and no
further recruitment of children for use as soldiers was reported.
Child labor remained a serious problem (see Section 6.d.).
In 2002, UNICEF estimated that there were approximately 10,000
street children, and in April 2003, the newspaper Le Temps reported
that the number was increasing. Children were on the streets because
either one or both parents had died, or because parents simply did not
take care of them.
In collaboration with UNICEF, the Ministry of Social Affairs
conducted several surveys during the year to identify vulnerable
children. As a result, the Government and NGOs were developing
protection measures--such as temporary shelters to assist victims of
exploitation--for street children; minors in detention; HIV/AIDS
orphans; sexually abused, sexually exploited, and trafficked children;
and children in armed conflict.
During the year, there were several programs to help children,
including efforts to curb the widespread use of child herders in the
south of the country. In urban areas, UNICEF and other NGOs worked to
educate homeless children and reintegrate them into their families or
other social support networks. The Government established a Children's
Parliament during the year to advocate children's rights and carry out
public awareness campaigns.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports of trafficking within the country. Children
were trafficked for forced labor, primarily as herders or domestic
workers (see Section 6.d.). During the year, an NGO survey of 500 child
herders who had been returned to their parents indicated that there may
have been between 1,500 and 2,000 children between 6 and 17 years of
age who had been trafficked as child herders. There were also reports
of child prostitution, primarily in the southern oil-producing region.
The Penal Code makes trafficking in persons a crime punishable by
between 10 months' imprisonment and life-long prison sentences
involving hard labor. During the year, the Penal Code was revised to
provide for punishments of between 10 and 20 years of forced labor in
prison for the trafficking of children. No economic or financial aid
was available unless a victim sought damages in court. According to the
most recent statistics available, the Ministry of Justice's Child
Protection Department and the Juvenile Division of the High Court
handled 29 of 100 complaints relating to sexual exploitation of
children in 2002. The LTDH also assisted in prosecuting trafficking
cases on an individual basis throughout the year.
The Government prosecuted traffickers during the year. Three
accused traffickers were sentenced to hard labor for life by an appeals
court. By year's end, the case was on appeal and was being heard by the
Supreme Court. Another case involving a 10-year-old girl allegedly sold
by her parents to herders was ongoing at year's end. In October 2003,
several parents, including a village chief, were sentenced to 6 months
in prison and fined $400 (200,000 FCFA) for selling their children as
child herders.
The Ministry of Justice's Child Protection Department continued to
cooperate with UNICEF and a few NGOs to combat trafficking. During the
year, the Government held a seminar with members of the National
Assembly to raise awareness of the new law on trafficking, and UNICEF
sponsored educational campaigns through the media to advise parents to
instruct children about the danger of trusting strangers. The
Government, working with UNICEF and NGOs, identified cases of
trafficking. During the year, the Ministry of Justice requested funding
for its anti-trafficking efforts, but it did not have the financial
resources to support NGOs. Victim support was provided at the local
level, often through the intervention of local government authorities
who transferred victims to religious groups.
The Government focused most of its antitrafficking efforts on
prevention, particularly by raising citizens' awareness of trafficking.
For example, during the year, the Governor of Moyen Chari, an area that
served as the source for the majority of children used as cattle
herders, continued to increase efforts to prosecute those complicit in
trafficking, which resulted in an increase in cases being prosecuted.
He also worked through the prefets and sous-prefets to recover children
who had been trafficked. The Ministry of Social Action and Family, the
Ministry of Labor, and UNICEF conducted meetings with village elders in
Moyen Chari. An antitrafficking NGO composed of families and a former
intermediary arrested for trafficking in October 2003 also participated
in the sensitization campaign. During the year, the group raised
awareness of the dangers of child trafficking by speaking to villages
in a trafficking-prone district.
Persons with Disabilities.--There was no official discrimination
against persons with disabilities; however, the Government operated
only a few therapy, education, or employment programs for persons with
disabilities, and no laws mandate that buildings be accessible to
persons with disabilities. Several local NGOs provided skills training
to the hearing-impaired and visually-impaired. During the year, the
Government, in conjunction with NGOs, continued to sponsor an annual
day of activities to raise awareness of persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were approximately 200
ethnic groups, many of which were concentrated regionally and spoke 128
distinct primary languages. Although most ethnic groups were affiliated
with one of two regional and cultural traditions--Arab and Saharan/
Sahelian-zone Muslims in the north, center, and east; and Sudanian-zone
Christian or animist groups in the south--migrations in response to
urbanization and desertification resulted in the integration of these
groups in some areas of the country.
Societal discrimination continued to be practiced routinely by
members of virtually all ethnic groups and was evident in patterns of
employment, especially across the north-south divide. The law prohibits
state discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, although in practice,
ethnicity continued to influence government appointments and political
alliances (see Section 3). Political parties and groups generally had
readily identifiable regional or ethnic bases.
The rebellion by ethnic Toubous of the MDJT in the northern Tibesti
region lost much of its strength during the past 2 years, and at year's
end, the Government and the MDJT continued efforts to negotiate an end
to the rebellion. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of
fighting between the MDJT and the Government.
Clashes between herders and sedentary populations and other
interethnic violence, often concerning land use, continued to be a
serious problem.
In March, 21 persons died and 13 were injured in fighting between
herders and local residents in Yomi. Also in March, police were
deployed to Chagoua, a suburb of N'Djamena, to halt clashes between the
Kim and Ere communities.
In May, interethnic conflict in southern Chari Baguirmi between
Moabits and Tidjanias resulted in 9 deaths and 15 persons injured. In
June, an interethnic conflict in the region of Mayo-Kebbi erupted
between two communities and resulted in 14 deaths and 50 injured
persons.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution recognizes freedom
of association and union membership, and the Government generally
respected the right to organize in practice. All employees, except
members of the armed forces, were free to join or form unions, but only
with the authorization of the Ministry of the Interior.
In the formal sector, more than 90 percent of employees belonged to
unions; however, the majority of workers were nonunionized, unpaid
subsistence cultivators or herders. The Government, which owned
businesses that dominated many sectors of the formal economy, remained
the largest employer.
An ordinance that requires prior authorization from the Ministry of
the Interior before an association can be formed remained in force;
however, there were no reports that the ordinance was used. The
ordinance also allows for the immediate administrative dissolution of
an association and permitted the authorities to oversee associations'
funds.
The Labor Code prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers
against unions, and there were no reports of such antiunion
discrimination during the year. A High Committee for Work and Social
Security is the formal mechanism for addressing complaints, but it was
overburdened and underfunded.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to organize and bargain collectively; in practice the Government
protect these rights. There were no export processing zones.
There were no restrictions on collective bargaining. The law
authorizes the Government to intervene in the bargaining process under
certain circumstances.
The Constitution recognizes the right to strike, and workers
exercised this right in practice. The right to strike is limited in the
public sector by a decree requiring a minimum service to be maintained.
The law permits imprisonment with forced labor as punishment for
participation in illegal strikes; however, no such punishment was
imposed during the year.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, during the
year, there continued to be reports of forced labor practices in the
formal economy and isolated instances of forced labor by local
authorities of both children and adults in the rural sector (see
Section 6.d.). There were also reports that prisoners were required to
work to pay their back taxes.
The law permits imprisonment with forced labor for participation in
illegal strikes only.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
labor law provides that anyone under the age of 18 is a child and
prohibits children from undertaking ``any work which, by its nature or
the circumstances in which it was carried out, was likely to harm the
health, safety, or morals of children''; however, in practice, child
labor, including forced child labor, was a serious problem. The
Government generally lacked the means to ensure enforcement of the law.
By year's end, the National Assembly passed amendments to harmonize
labor laws with international conventions concerning labor rights.
The Labor Code stipulates that the minimum age for employment in
the formal sector is 14 years; however, the Government did not enforce
the law in practice. According to a 2000 UNICEF study, 65.5 percent of
minors worked, including those performing domestic chores for more than
4 hours per day, those working within the family (herding,
microcommerce, etc.), and those who worked for someone outside the
family but who were underage. Approximately one out of every five
children between the ages of 6 and 18 years of age worked in the urban
informal sector. Children worked in agriculture and herding throughout
the country. Children were also employed in the commercial sector,
particularly in the capital, as street vendors, manual laborers, and
helpers in small shops. Young girls worked as domestic servants, mainly
in N'Djamena.
By some estimates, abusive and exploitative child labor affected 20
percent of children between the ages of 6 and 18. There were cases in
which families sold their children in some southern regions. In some
areas, local authorities fined parents caught selling their children
into forced labor. In response, some families worked with
intermediaries to pass children from families directly to the farm
owners.
During the year, there were reports that in the southern part of
the country, families contracted out their children to Arab nomadic
herders to help care for their animals, and the children often were
abused and returned with little financial compensation for their work.
There were also credible reports that children were forced into
slavery. According to a U.N. news service, during the year, aid workers
in the country estimated that families have sold as many as 2,000
children--some as young as 8--into a system of slavery in which they
worked as ``child cattle herders.''
Some children worked as domestic servants in the households of
relatives for little compensation. Some young girls were forced into
marriages by their families and then forced to work in their husbands'
fields or homes and to bear children while they were still too young to
do so safely (see Section 5).
The use of child soldiers is prohibited by law, and according to
UNICEF protection officers, the use of child soldiers was not
widespread (see Section 5).
There were only 30 labor inspectors for the entire country.
Approximately 10 to 15 child labor cases reportedly were investigated
by the Government each year.
The Government worked with UNICEF to increase public awareness of
child labor. During the year, UNICEF organized workshops in regional
towns to share information on the dangers of forced child labor and the
benefits of education. The training left each town equipped with one
individual charged with overseeing the continuing public relations
campaign. UNICEF developed a program with government funding to reduce
the prevalence of young girls serving as household domestics. In
addition, the campaign to educate parents and civil society on the
dangers of child labor, particularly for child herders, was ongoing.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code requires the
Government to set minimum wages. The minimum wage at year's end was $45
(25,480 FCFA) per month. Most wages, including the minimum wage, did
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Nearly
all private sector and state-owned firms paid at least the minimum
wage, but it was largely ignored in the vast informal sector. During
the year, the Government began to pay all employees at least the
minimum wage for the first time, and government salaries increased
overall by 5 percent. In some parts of the country, there were long
delays in the payment of government salaries. Salary arrears remained a
problem, although less so than in previous years. Low wages among
customs, police, and military officials contributed to almost daily
extortion of the civilian population along all major roads (see Section
2.d.).
The law limits most employment to 39 hours per week, with overtime
paid for supplementary hours. Agricultural work was limited to 2,400
hours per year, which was an average of 46 hours per week. All workers
were entitled to an unbroken period of 48 hours of rest per week;
however, in practice these rights rarely were enforced.
The Labor Code mandates occupational health and safety standards
and inspectors with the authority to enforce them; however, these
standards rarely were respected in practice in the private sector and
were nonexistent in the civil service.
Workers had the right to remove themselves from dangerous working
conditions; however, in practice they could not leave without
jeopardizing their employment.
The Labor Code explicitly protects all workers, including foreign
and illegal workers, but the protections provided were not always
respected in practice.
__________
COMOROS
The Union of Comoros is an emerging democracy ruled by President
Azali Assoumani, who took power in a coup in 1999 and subsequently was
elected in 2002 presidential elections described by international
observers as free and fair. The country consists of three islands
(Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli) and claims a fourth, Mayotte,
which is governed by France. There were several active political
parties, which were divided roughly into two groups: Those affiliated
with the Union Government, and those affiliated with the governments of
the individual islands. Legislative elections took place in March to
elect island government assemblies on each of the three islands and, in
April, to elect members of the National Assembly. International
observers considered these elections to be free and fair. Work on the
law to determine the power sharing structure between the island
governments and Union Government had not been completed by year's end.
The judiciary was independent.
There are four separate security forces that reported to three
different authorities: The Gendarmerie and Comorian Defense Force,
which reported directly to Union President Azali and had responsibility
for internal and external security on the islands of Grande Comore and
Moheli; a police force in and around the capital Moroni that reported
to Union President Azali and was responsible for law enforcement and
immigration; a local police force on Grande Comore that reported to
Grande Comore President Abdou Soule Elbak; and a combined Gendarmerie
and police force on the island of Anjouan that reported to Anjouan
island president Colonel Mohamed Bacar. The Union Government does not
have a police or military presence on Anjouan. The civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of
the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The economy was market-based. The country's population was
approximately 600,000. The economy was primarily agricultural,
dominated by subsistence farming and the production of vanilla, ylang-
ylang (a precursor to perfume), and cloves. The rate of economic growth
was estimated to be 2.3 percent in 2003. Wages have kept pace with
inflation, but the price of vanilla, the main export, has fallen
dramatically in recent years, seriously impacting economic growth. The
country depended heavily on remittances and foreign assistance.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Prison conditions
remained poor. The Government restricted freedom of religion. Societal
discrimination against women and Christians continued to be serious
problems. There were some instances of forced child labor.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life by the
Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces forcibly dispersed demonstrations.
Prison conditions remained poor. A lack of proper sanitation,
overcrowding, inadequate medical facilities, and poor diet were common
problems. The Government has not taken action to remedy these problems.
Female prisoners were held separately from male prisoners.
Juveniles were not imprisoned; they were returned to the custody of
their parents. Pretrial detainees were not held separately from
convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent observers;
the International Committee of the Red Cross, United Nations
Development Program, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF made
prison visits during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there was one case of alleged
arbitrary detention of the editor of an independent newspaper.
Authorities reportedly detained the editor for 48 hours after he
printed an article critical of the Government. He was released with no
charges brought against him (see Section 2.a.). Unlike in the previous
year, there were no reports that police brought persons who were
detained to military camps instead of jails and held them without
charge for more than 24 hours.
There were four separate security forces, which reported to three
different authorities. On the island of Grand Comore, there were three
forces with responsibility for local policing: Two that reported to
Union President Azali (a local police force and the Gendarmerie) and
one that reported to island President Elbak. The Union police force had
responsibility for local policing and handled immigration. The
Gendarmerie handled some local policing on Grande Comore and all local
policing on the island of Moheli and was responsible for internal and
external defense. The island of Anjouan maintained its own military and
police force that it called its Gendarmerie. This arrangement
complicated effective policing in the country. The Union Government and
island governments separately reported the need for more training and
equipment to provide more effective security.
During the year, the Government did not take any actions to reform
the police; however, the National Assembly debated how to clarify
security responsibilities between the Union Government and the island
governments.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The head of state appoints magistrates by
decree.
In October, the Government established the 7-member Constitutional
Court. The President of the Union assigns one member, one member is
assigned by each of the two Union Vice Presidents, one member is
assigned by each of the three island government presidents, and the
President of the National Assembly assigns one member.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials were open
to the public except for limited exceptions defined by law. The legal
system incorporates Islamic law as well as French legal codes. There
were approximately five lawyers in the country, making it difficult to
obtain legal representation. Most disputes were presented to village
elders for possible resolution before being taken to court.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice, although there were problems in
some areas. The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
There was one government-supported newspaper, Al-Watwan, that
published regularly and one independent newspaper that published
irregularly.
Authorities allegedly detained for 48 hours the editor of an
independent newspaper after he printed an article strongly criticizing
the Government. No charges were brought against the editor, and he was
released.
There was a government radio station, which operated on a regular
schedule. In addition, there were local community radio stations, which
operated in very narrow transmission areas. Citizens who lived overseas
primarily funded these stations, which were staffed by volunteers and
were allowed to operate without government interference or regulation.
Residents also received broadcasts from Mayotte Radio, as well as from
French television, without government interference. In April, one pro-
Union government radio station was ransacked during the national
elections.
There were several small, community-based television stations that
operated without government interference. Funds for their operation
were raised among local residents and from relatives overseas.
Foreign newspapers and books were available.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice.
In September, the island government of Anjouan dispersed a
gathering of several hundred followers of the Djawula faith because the
group had not received the required prior authorization from the island
government. The authorities also were concerned that the organizers
would upset the religious public order. Several participants were
briefly arrested and had their beards shaved before being released.
The Constitution does not provide specifically for the freedom of
association; however, the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice.
The Constitution declares that the laws must draw inspiration from
Islam, but the Constitution does not declare Islam the official
religion. An overwhelming majority of the population was Sunni Muslim.
Proselytizing was illegal, and Christians faced intense societal
pressures. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that police
threatened or detained Christians.
On the island of Anjouan, a ban on dress that appeared Arabic and
that did no match traditional Comorian dress was sporadically enforced.
There were some reports that some men's beards were shaved in an
attempt to prevent radical forms of Islam from taking root on the
island (see Section 2.b.).
There were two Roman Catholic churches and one Protestant church;
however, social pressures restricted the use of these Christian
churches to noncitizens. Unlike in previous years, there were no
reports the Government restricted access to churches. The Government
permitted Christian missionaries to work in local hospitals and schools
but did not permit them to proselytize.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that community
authorities on Anjouan banned Christians from attending any community
events or banned Christian burials in a local cemetery.
There was widespread societal discrimination against Christians,
who faced insults and threats of violence from the larger community.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of mobs harassing
Christians or forcing them to attend services at mosques.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
There continued to be reports that persons fled Grande Comore and
Anjouan for Mayotte; many of these persons reportedly drowned
attempting to reach Mayotte on rafts or by swimming.
The Constitution does not prohibit forced exile, but the Government
did not use forced exile in practice.
The Constitution does not provide for the granting of asylum or
refugee status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, but the Government
did not routinely grant refugee or asylum status. The Government also
provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as
refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol and provided it to
approximately 10 persons from Burundi and Rwanda during the year. The
Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees and other humanitarian organizations assisting refugees and
asylum seekers.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Citizens could freely choose and change the laws
and officials that govern them.
National legislative assembly elections were held in April in a
manner that international observers from the African Union, Arab
League, Fracphonie, and European Union described as free and fair. Of
the 33 members of the National Assembly, citizens directly elected 18,
and the island assemblies appointed the remaining 15. The new National
Assembly had 26 members from parties aligned with the island
governments, 6 members aligned with the Union Government, and 1 from an
independent party.
The country has been prone to coups and political insurrection
since its independence in 1975, including an attempted coup in February
2003 that resulted in the arrest of 12 soldiers and 2 government
ministers, all of whom were released.
In 2001, the Constitution, which calls for the reincorporation of
Anjouan, Grande Comore, and Moheli into a new federation that grants
the islands greater autonomy, was approved overwhelmingly in a
referendum described by international observers as free and fair. Each
of the three islands that constituted the Union has a separate elected
President. In October, the newly formed National Assembly began work on
laws that would finalize power-sharing arrangements between the island
and Union Governments.
There were no bans in effect on political parties, which continued
to criticize the Government openly. There were several political
parties allied either with the Union government or the island
governments.
Unlike in previous years, village chiefs and Muslim religious
leaders no longer dominated local politics. Traditional social,
religious, and economic institutions significantly affected political
life.
During the year, a Malagasy auditing firm examining the country's
budget found that receipts worth $5 million (approximately 2 billion
Comorian Francs) by-passed the mechanisms established by the Central
Bank to share receipts between the island and Union Governments. In
addition, the auditing firm found major military expenses that did not
comply with official procedures. No action was taken on either of these
issues.
There are no laws providing for public access to government
information.
There was one woman in the 33-member National Assembly, and a woman
was a delegate responsible for human rights matters in the office of
one of the vice presidents.
There were no Christians in the Government.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
One domestic and some international nongovernmental organizations
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were
cooperative and responsive to their views, and there was no evidence
that the Government suppressed criticism of its human rights policies.
During the year, one domestic human rights group was active and
independent of government control, interference, or influence. In
August, the group organized a colloquium on human rights and worked
with UNICEF on child protection programs.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
disability, language, or social status; however, there was
discrimination against women.
Women.--During the year, the Government did not take any action to
combat domestic violence against women, and police and human rights
groups believed such violence to be rare, although these groups did not
keep statistics. A woman could seek protection through the courts in
the case of violence, but the extended family or village elders more
often addressed such problems.
Rape is illegal and carries a penalty of between 5 and 10 years'
imprisonment. The Government did not enforce effectively laws on rape.
Spousal rape is not addressed specifically in law.
Prostitution is illegal, and most citizens did not consider it to
be a problem.
While a matriarchal tradition afforded women some rights,
especially in terms of landholding, men retained the dominant role in
society. Societal discrimination against women was most apparent in
rural areas where women had farming and childrearing duties and fewer
opportunities for education and wage employment. The status of women
improved in the major towns, where growing numbers of women were in the
labor force and generally earned wages comparable to those of men
engaged in similar work; however, few women held positions of
responsibility in business. The Constitution provides for equality of
persons, and, in general, inheritance and property rights do not
discriminate against women. For example, the house that the father of
the bride traditionally must provide to the couple at the time of their
marriage remained the wife's property in the event of divorce.
Children.--The Government has not taken any specific action to
protect or promote children's welfare. Legal provisions that address
the rights and welfare of children were not enforced because of a lack
of inspectors.
Education is compulsory to age 16; however, this requirement was
not enforced, and priority often was given to boys. According to the
National Directorate of Education Planning, 73 percent of children aged
6-11 attended school--66.4 percent of girls and 79.6 percent of boys.
Among children aged 12-15, 41.9 percent of children attended school--
41.9 percent of girls and 45.1 percent of boys. Among 16 to 18-year-
olds, 28.7 percent of children--25.7 percent of girls and 31.6 percent
of boys--attended school.
The Government provided basic medical care free of charge to boys
and girls equally.
Child abuse was rare but occurred. There was a judge for children's
affairs in the Ministry of Justice.
Child prostitution and child pornography are illegal. The law
considered unmarried children under the age of 18 as minors, and they
were protected legally from sexual exploitation, prostitution, and
pornography.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no reports that persons were trafficked
to, from, or within the country.
Persons with Disabilities.--There were no laws that mandate access
to buildings for persons with disabilities, and there generally was no
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment,
education, access to health care, or in the provision of other state
services.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and
join unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive
requirements, and they did so in practice. Approximately 80 percent of
the population was engaged in farming on small land holdings,
subsistence fishing, and petty commerce. The wage labor force was less
than 7,000, including government employees, and less than 2,000
excluding them. Teachers, civil servants, taxi drivers, and dockworkers
were unionized. Unions were independent of the Government.
The Labor Code, which was rarely enforced, does not include a
system for resolving labor disputes, and it does not prohibit antiunion
discrimination by employers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
protects workers from employer interference in their right to organize
and administer their unions. Unions have the right to bargain
collectively; however, employers set wages in the small private sector,
and the Government, especially the Ministries of Finance and Labor, set
them in the larger public sector.
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised
this right in practice. There were no laws protecting strikers from
retribution, but there were no known instances of retribution.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor by adults; however, the Government
did not prohibit forced or compulsory labor by children, and there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 6.d.).
Starting in January, the Government did not pay low-level
government workers for a period of 4 months. Salaries were resumed in
April, but 4 months' back pay was still owed at year's end. Teachers
went on strike in October as a result of the owed salaries, but they
resumed work after 1 week.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code defines the minimum age for employment as 15, and child
labor generally was not a problem due to the lack of wage employment
opportunities. Children usually worked for their families in
subsistence farming and fishing.
Some families placed their children in the homes of others where
they worked long hours in exchange for food or shelter. A 2000 UNICEF
study found that approximately 15 percent of children were not paid for
their work.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no minimum wage.
During the year, the Government was unable to pay on a regular basis
many low-level government worker salaries (see Section 6.c.).
The Labor Code specifies a workweek of 37\1/2\ hours with 1 day off
per week plus 1 month of paid vacation per year.
There were no safety or health standards for the very small
manufacturing sector.
__________
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is nominally a highly
centralized republic with extensive powers vested in President Joseph
Kabila, head of a national Transitional Government, which was formed in
June 2003 and is composed of former belligerent factions, including
representatives from the former government, former rebel groups, civil
society, and the political opposition. President Kabila came to power
in 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent Desire Kabila.
There have not been free elections since independence in 1960; however,
the Transitional Constitution, which resulted from political
negotiations that ended 4 years of war in the country, provides for
national general elections in 2005. Elections may be delayed for two 6-
month periods with Parliament's approval. Although the law provides for
a unified, strong central government, in practice the Government
remained divided and weak. The country remained effectively divided
into territory under the control of the Government (areas that remained
under the nominal control of the Kinshasa-based government throughout
the conflict) and territory under marginal government control (areas
controlled by various rebel groups during the conflict). The former
belligerents made some progress integrating key institutions such as
the army, police, and local administrations; however, different
components of the Government often acted independently of, or contrary
to, the interests of other components, which contributed to the
Government's inability to control many government authorities, even in
areas under its supposed control. The judiciary was ineffective and
subject to corruption.
In areas under government control, security forces consisted of a
national police force and an immigration service, both under the
Ministry of Interior; the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) and the
Special Presidential Security Guard (GSSP), both reporting directly to
the President; and the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), which were
integrated only at the regional headquarters level by year's end. The
military's intelligence service, which reports to the President,
continued to operate. The ANR was responsible for internal and external
security. The FARDC was responsible for external security, but also had
domestic security responsibilities. Civilian authorities did not
maintain effective control of the security forces, and there were
frequent instances in which elements of the security forces acted
independently of government authority. In addition, different
individuals of the same security service effectively had different
chains of command and often responded to orders from different
individuals, including former commanders and political leaders whom
they had followed before the Government was established. Members of the
security forces were poorly trained, poorly paid, and undisciplined,
and they committed numerous serious human rights abuses with impunity.
The economy was dominated by subsistence agriculture, a large
informal sector, and widespread barter; most sectors of the economy
remained moribund. The population was estimated to be approximately 60
million. Although gross domestic product grew by an estimated 8 percent
and inflation remained below 10 percent, the World Bank estimated that
80 percent of the population lived on less than a dollar a day.
Infrastructure was in serious disrepair, financial institutions
remained weak, and public education and health services continued to
deteriorate. Widespread corruption had significant adverse effects on
economic conditions. Although former rebel-controlled areas in the east
remained largely autonomous and were not completely integrated
economically with the west, increased cross-country commercial air
traffic, national cellular phone service, and road and rail
rehabilitation funded by the international community improved economic
integration during the year. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS continued to
place an increasing burden on the country's resources through rising
healthcare expenditures, absenteeism from work, labor shortages
resulting from morbidity and mortality, and training of replacement
labor.
In areas under government control, the human rights record remained
poor, and numerous serious abuses occurred. Citizens did not have the
right to change their government peacefully. Government security forces
committed unlawful killings, torture, beatings, acts of rape,
extortion, and other abuses, such as lootings and interference with
citizens' right to privacy. In general, security forces operated with
impunity. Conditions in hundreds of prisons and detention facilities
remained harsh and life threatening. Arbitrary arrest and prolonged
pretrial detention remained problems. The Government restricted the
freedom of assembly; it sometimes restricted the freedoms of speech,
the press, association, and movement. Violence and discrimination
against women were problems. Female genital mutilation (FGM) persisted
among isolated populations in the north. Child labor and child
prostitution remained serious problems. The Government continued to
have child soldiers in its ranks--although it demobilized children
during the year--and trafficking in persons remained a problem.
Discrimination against indigenous Pygmies and certain Tutsis continued.
The Government did not effectively protect some worker rights.
In areas under marginal government control, numerous armed groups,
including some reportedly supported by the governments of Rwanda and
Uganda, continued to function. With the exception of Ituri-based armed
groups, which remained effectively outside the FARDC chain of command,
former belligerents were nominally integrated into the FARDC at the
national and regional headquarters level. Although the FARDC deployed
an integrated brigade to Ituri, military integration at the field level
had not begun by year's end. In particular, a large number of
reportedly Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma (RCD/G)
and Mai Mai units did not regularly follow orders from their new
Kinshasa-appointed commanders. Even in the case of troops who were
supposedly integrated into the FARDC, many elements retained their
former loyalties and took orders from the commanders who led them prior
to the creation of the Government. There continued to be unconfirmed
reports from multiple credible sources that Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF)
soldiers were present in the Kivus, and that RDF military advisors
remained integrated with former RCD/G and Union of Congolese Patriots
(UPC) forces. However, the Rwandan Government publicly denied
allegations that RDF troops were operating in the DRC.
In the Kivus, Maniema, Katanga, and southeastern Orientale, armed
groups continued to severely harass civilians, and to fight the FARDC
and each other. Local militia units known as Mai Mai, which operated in
many rural areas, were generally allied to the FARDC, but FARDC
commanders did not always maintain control of them. In North Kivu,
Congolese Hutu and Tutsi local defense forces, some of which were under
the control of Governor Eugene Serufuli, operated. During the first
part of the year, there were reports of incursions by two Burundian
Hutu rebel groups. Rwandan Hutu militia groups, including former Armed
Forces of Rwanda, Interahamwe, and Democratic Forces for the Liberation
of Rwanda (FDLR) elements continued to operate in the Kivus and
northern Katanga. In addition, some ex-RCD/G officers in North and
South Kivu, led by General Laurent Nkunda, Colonel Jules Mutebusi, and
other former rebel commanders, attacked FARDC forces and briefly took
control of Bukavu for several days in June; a U.N. panel of experts
concluded that the Government of Rwanda supported this revolt. Also in
June, the U.N. Observer Mission in Congo (MONUC), a U.N. peacekeeping
force with 16,700 soldiers, deployed the Kivus Brigade.
In Ituri District of Orientale Province, numerous tribally-based
armed groups continued to operate: The Lendu and Ngiti-dominated Front
for the National Integration/Patriotic Force of Resistance in Ituri
(FNI/FRPI), led by Floribert Njabu; the Hema-dominated UPC, led by
Thomas Lubanga; the Hema-dominated Party for the Safeguarding of the
Congo (PUSIC), led by Chief Kawa Mandra; the mixed People's Army of
Congo (FAPC), led by Jerome Kakwavu; and the Alur and Lugbara-dominated
Popular Force for Democracy in Congo, led by Thomas Unen Chen. In
addition, there were numerous loosely affiliated Lendu militia groups.
In May, representatives of seven armed militia groups from Ituri
District signed an agreement with the Government to disarm and
participate in the transitional process toward democracy; however, the
signatories did not respect the agreement. Unlike previous years, the
FAPC and Lendu and Hema groups appeared to work together to coordinate
illegal economic activities and arms trafficking. MONUC's Ituri Brigade
continued to operate during the year.
In areas under marginal government control, where there were many
armed groups, those with weapons controlled the population and extorted
money, goods, and services. Civilian authorities did not maintain
effective control over armed groups, which received orders from many
sources, including local warlords, former commanding officers, civilian
authorities, and foreign governments. These groups often acted
independently, were poorly trained, and undisciplined and committed
numerous, serious human rights abuses with impunity.
The human rights record in areas under marginal government control
remained extremely poor, and armed groups continued to commit numerous,
serious abuses, particularly in North and South Kivu, Maniema, northern
Katanga, and Ituri District in Orientale Province. Political freedom
increased slightly during the year. Armed groups committed numerous,
serious abuses with impunity against civilians, including deliberate
large-scale killings, the burning of villages, kidnappings, torture,
rape, cannibalism, mutilation, looting, and extortion. Prison
conditions, particularly in underground prisons, were life threatening.
Arbitrary arrest and detention continued to be problems. Armed groups
severely restricted freedoms of speech, the press, assembly, and
movement. Respect for religious freedom improved. Fighting in the Kivus
and Ituri District of Orientale Province continued to result in large
numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Armed groups attacked
local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and killed
MONUC peacekeepers. Rape, violence against women and girls, and forced
labor, including sexual slavery, were severe problems. Child labor,
including the forced recruitment and use of child soldiers, was a
serious problem. Trafficking remained a problem. Discrimination
continued against indigenous Pygmies and Congolese Tutsis from South
Kivu, known as Banyamulenge.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--In areas under
government control, there were unconfirmed reports of a politically
motivated killing by a member of the security forces, and security
forces committed other unlawful killings with impunity. There were
unconfirmed reports that security forces killed individuals in their
custody.
On October 29, a GSSP soldier in Lubumbashi shot and killed the
driver of Rashidi Akida, the president of the League Against Corruption
and Fraud. Local sources reported that the driver was killed because
the soldier thought he was Akida.
There was one report that a person died as a result of torture by
security forces. On June 29, a Congolese deserter belonging to the
Banyamulenge ethnic group turned himself in to the FARDC military
headquarters in Bukavu. He was reportedly tortured to death during
questioning. There were no actions taken against those reportedly
responsible for the killing.
In late August, the Rapid Intervention Police in Buta, north of
Kisangani in Orientale Province, severely beat a man while arresting
him in connection with a marital dispute. He died the next day of his
injuries. By year's end, there was no known action taken against the
perpetrators.
The use of excessive force by security forces while dispersing
demonstrations resulted in deaths (see Section 2.b.).
During the year, there were many reports that soldiers killed
civilians while attempting to steal from them. For example, in April,
19 FARDC soldiers reportedly killed a woman in Kananga after breaking
into her house and demanding money.
On October 5, the High Military Court convicted Col. Charles Alamba
and several others of murder, mutilation, and extortion and sentenced
them to death in connection with the September 2003 murder of Steve
Nyembo, a senior official in the Department of Taxation. Alamba, former
prosecutor of the disbanded Military Order Court (COM), was widely
believed to be behind numerous political killings over the past several
years. With the exception of the Nyembo case, there reportedly was no
action taken against members of the security forces responsible for
numerous killings in 2003 or 2002.
Local sources reported that on February 11, guards working for
MIBA-PN, a parastatal mining company, killed six artisanal diamond
miners and seriously injured two others in Eastern Kasai. By year's
end, there were no reports that any action had been taken against those
reportedly responsible for the killings. In addition, between October
and the end of the year, at least 10 persons died from mine collapses
after police and military personnel forced them to dig for diamonds in
dangerous mining shafts near Tshikapa, Western Kasai.
No action was taken against local security guards who reportedly
blocked miners from escaping from a collapsed mine in 2003.
During the first half of the year, unidentified armed men in
uniform attacked vehicles traveling at night on the Kinshasa-Matadi
road and killed and injured several persons. There were also reports
that unidentified armed men in uniform attacked vehicles traveling at
night in certain parts of Lubumbashi.
There were weekly reports of unidentified armed men in uniform
forcibly entering personal residences in Kinshasa at night to harass
civilians, loot personal belongings, and kill persons involved in
personal feuds. There were no reports of any action taken against these
men.
No action was taken against uniformed men who killed Reverend Don
Kavenadiambuku in Kavuaya, Bas Congo, in 2003.
In late September, mobs killed at least 20 street children in Mbuji
Mayi, with the complicity of security forces (see Section 5).
U.N. peacekeepers killed demonstrators during the year (see Section
2.b.).
In areas under marginal government control, there were credible
reports that between July 2003 and March, the local head of the
national police and the local UPC commander in Boga, Ituri District
killed nine persons, some by summary execution and some by torture.
In January, authorities placed two civilians in front of freshly
dug graves and bludgeoned them to death with hammers at a military
prison in Beni, North Kivu. No additional information was available.
No action was taken against members of armed groups who executed
persons in 2003.
Police that operated in RCD/G-controlled territory, as well as ex-
RCD/G soldiers, used excessive force against demonstrators, which
resulted in deaths (see Section 2.b.).
During the year, FARDC forces killed an unknown number of civilians
in the east while fighting armed groups (see Section 1.g.).
Government forces and armed groups targeted civilians on the basis
of ethnicity for extra-judicial killings, rape, looting, and arrest.
For example, during the seizure of Bukavu by ex(RCD/G combatants in
late May and early June, the ex(RCD/G forces targeted non-Tutsis for
attack, and the FARDC in turn targeted Congolese Tutsis when it
reoccupied the city in June (see Section 1.g.).
During the year, the Government supported Mai Mai groups, who
sometimes worked with Rwandan Hutu militia groups believed to be
responsible for killing civilians (see Section 1.g.).
Armed groups committed numerous abuses, including summary
executions, civilian massacres, acts of cannibalism, torture, looting
and burning of houses, attacks on civilian areas, the forcible
recruitment and use of child soldiers, and rape. Fighting between armed
groups displaced thousands of civilians and resulted in hundreds of
civilian deaths (see Section 1.g.).
During October and November, unidentified gunmen killed at least 15
persons, including a senior military intelligence officer, in Goma.
In December, MONUC peacekeepers found a grave containing numerous
bodies in Ndrele, 12 miles from the Ugandan border. The FAPC, a
tribally based armed group, allegedly killed these individuals.
Peacekeepers also found an underground jail in a Ndrele torture camp.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, MONUC peacekeepers
launched an attack to gain access to Ndrele after the FAPC denied them
access. Although the FAPC denied it, a MONUC spokesperson said Ndrele
FAPC members committed serious human rights abuses, including killings,
during the year.
There were numerous high profile killings by unknown actors in
Ituri District and Goma, North Kivu, and no known action was taken
against those responsible. For example, in November, unidentified
gunmen shot and killed the Lendu director of the national electric
company in Bunia, Vincent Bemba. Bemba was the first name on a list of
respected Lendus selected to be killed that started to circulate in
Bunia the day after he was killed. Numerous Lendus left Bunia, and the
prosecutor investigating the case received anonymous death threats.
There were numerous credible reports that UPC militia members shot
Bemba and circulated the list.
There were unconfirmed reports that civilians killed and beat men
in uniform for committing serious human rights abuses in North and
South Kivu, Orientale, and Equateur Provinces.
b. Disappearance.--There were no confirmed reports of politically
motivated disappearances; however, by year's end, the whereabouts of an
unknown number of civilians and soldiers who were detained early in the
year in connection with alleged coup plots remained unknown. Fourteen
prisoners who disappeared from a military intelligence detention center
in February 2003 were still unaccounted for.
In areas under marginal government control, there were numerous
cases of disappearances and kidnappings (see Section 1.g.).
Various armed groups abducted women and children from the villages
they raided to perform labor, military services, and sexual services
(see Sections 1.g. and 6.c.). Many of the victims have since
disappeared.
There were no developments in any of the numerous cases of
disappearance in 2003 and 2002, and no action had been taken against
the perpetrators.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture; however, in areas under
government control, security forces and prison officials often beat and
tortured detainees and prisoners. There were also unconfirmed reports
that members of the security services tortured or abused civilians to
settle personal disputes for themselves or other government officials.
During the year, security officials at the Lubumbashi central
prison tied detainees to train tracks and whipped them in order to
secure confessions.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that
security forces beat journalists.
There was no known action taken against members of the security
forces responsible for torture or abuse in 2003 and 2002.
Members of the security services employed cruel, inhuman, and
degrading punishment. For example, on the night of August 3, security
agents arrested seven church members in Dekese, Eastern Kasai. The men
were taken from their homes with their hands tied tightly behind their
backs, beaten, and paraded in the center of the village. At least one
man was forced to discard his own waste while his hands were still
tied. On August 4, the men were freed after family members borrowed
money to pay for their release and goods confiscated by agents during
the arrest.
During the year, security forces used excessive force to disperse
demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
Members of the security forces raped civilians (see Section 1.g.).
Soldiers and police harassed and killed street children in
Kinshasa, and mobs killed street children in Mbuji Mayi (see Sections
1.a. and 5).
In areas under marginal government control, armed groups tortured,
raped, and otherwise physically abused numerous persons during the
year; armed groups beat and abused journalists, community leaders, and
human rights advocates while arresting or detaining them (see Sections
1.g., 2.a., and 4).
Armed groups kidnapped, raped, and tortured numerous women (see
Sections 1.g. and 5).
Former RCD/G officers violently dispersed demonstrations (see
Section 2.b.).
No known action was taken against members of the RCD/G responsible
for torture, beatings, or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or
punishment in 2003 or 2002, or members of the RDF responsible for cases
of torture, beatings, and rape in 2002.
Conditions in most large, central prisons were harsh and life
threatening. The penal system continued to suffer from severe shortages
of funds and trained personnel. Most prisons were in a poor state of
repair, lacked sanitation facilities, or were not designed to detain
persons. Makala remained overcrowded. Health care and medical attention
remained inadequate, and infectious diseases, including tuberculosis,
were a problem. In some cases, prison doctors were available; however,
they lacked medicines and supplies. MONUC's April prison report found
that ``grave deficiencies in terms of food, hygiene, and medical care
make certain prisons virtual deathtraps. It is not an exaggeration to
say that in certain places, being condemned by a court for a minor
infraction for 12 months to 5 years is almost a death sentence.''
Government-provided food remained inadequate, malnutrition was
widespread, and MONUC reported in a Special Report on Malnutrition in
Prisons that from March to early December, 34 detainees starved to
death at the Mbuji Mayi prison, including 11 in November. In several
areas, the Government has not provided food for years, and prisoners
continued to receive an estimated two meals a week from NGOs, religious
groups, and families. In general, prisoners' family and friends were
able to provide food and other necessities; however, local NGOs
reported that authorities sometimes moved prisoners without telling the
families where they were sent. Family members were often forced to pay
bribes to bring food to prisoners.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no confirmed reports of
hunger strikes.
Conditions in smaller legal and illegal detention facilities were
harsher than in larger prisons, and an unknown number of persons died.
These facilities were overcrowded and generally intended for short-term
pretrial detentions; however, in practice they were often used for
lengthy detentions. Authorities often arbitrarily beat or tortured
detainees. There usually were no toilets, mattresses, or medical care,
and inmates often received insufficient amounts of light, air, and
water. Such detention centers generally operated without a budget and
with minimal regulation or oversight. Local prison authorities or
influential individuals frequently barred visitors or severely
mistreated particular detainees. Prison guards frequently required
bribes from family members and NGOs to visit or provide detainees with
food and other necessities.
The security services, particularly the ANR, military intelligence,
and the GSSP, continued to operate numerous illegal detention
facilities. Conditions in these facilities were extremely harsh and
life threatening. Detainees were regularly abused, beaten, and
tortured. Facilities lacked adequate food and water, toilets,
mattresses, and medical care, and authorities routinely denied access
to family members, friends, and lawyers.
MONUC's April prison report cited the excessive use and abuse of
preventive detention, the regular detention of military personnel in
civilian facilities, disorganization (there were no prison registers),
lack of detention centers, and unusually long sentences as major
contributing factors to extreme overcrowding.
An unknown number of persons died in prison due to mistreatment and
neglect during the year (see Section 1.a.).
Women and juveniles sometimes were detained separately from men in
larger prisons but were not separated in other detention facilities.
There were numerous credible reports that male prisoners raped other
prisoners, including men, women and children. For example, the U.N.
Special Rapporteur for Human Rights reported that two men raped a 14-
year-old girl detained in the same cell in Bafwasende, Orientale.
Pretrial detainees were not separated from convicted prisoners, and
they were often treated the same. Prisoners detained for state security
reasons were generally held by the security services or in special
sections of prisons. Soldiers and civilians were both detained in
civilian and military prisons and detention facilities. There continued
to be sections of prisons and detention facilities where wealthy
prisoners paid for special privileges and received better treatment.
The Government allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) and many NGOs access to all official detention facilities;
however, the ICRC and other NGOs did not have access to illegal
detention facilities maintained by security forces.
Prison conditions in areas under marginal government control were
extremely harsh and life-threatening. Most detention facilities were
not designed as jails. Detainees often were kept in overcrowded rooms
with little or no light or ventilation and sometimes were detained in
small pits dug by various armed groups. Detainees typically slept in
small, overcrowded cells on cement or dirt floors without bedding and
had no access to sanitation, potable water, toilets, or adequate
medical care. Infectious diseases were widespread. Detainees were
provided very little food, and guards demanded bribes to allow family
members or friends to bring food to prisoners. Prisoners frequently
were subjected to torture, beatings, and other abuse with no medical
attention.
On December 7, a man who had been in preventive detention since
March at the Goma central prison died after not receiving food for 14
days.
Armed groups detained persons in underground prisons at military
installations in Orientale (including Ituri), the Kivus, Maniema, and
Equateur. MONUC's prison report stated that, in 2003, the worst prison
conditions were found in prisons run by RCD/G soldiers (former members
of the armed group National Army of Congo, or ANC), Mai Mai, UPC, Party
for the Safeguarding of the Congo (PUSIC), and the Movement for the
Liberation of Congo (MLC). There were reports that in 2003, several
camps in North Kivu belonging to the Beni-Butembo-based Congolese Rally
for Democracy (RCD/ML) operated illegal detention centers where
prisoners were summarily executed and tortured.
In areas under marginal government control, there continued to be
reports that armed groups and the FARDC detained persons in metal
freight containers or in the private residences of military commanders.
For example, in June, the FARDC detained Banyamulenge students in a
freight container in Bukavu (see Section 1.g.).
MONUC human rights and child protection officers, accompanied by
MONUC military escorts, sometimes were allowed access to prisons in
areas under marginal government control.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, in areas under government control,
security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained persons, including
journalists (see Section 2.a.).
By year's end, the national police force remained only partially
integrated into the national command structure. National police handled
basic criminal cases and traffic patrol. The Rapid Intervention Police
was generally responsible for crowd control. Although the Government
worked with MONUC and members of the international community to train
police, police forces generally remained ineffective and corrupt.
During the year, members of the police, military, and security forces
attacked, detained, robbed, and extorted money from civilians. For
example, a police officer stole money and a cellular phone from a
foreign journalist riding in a taxibus and then forced the journalist
out of the vehicle several miles from his intended destination in
Kinshasa. In October, soldiers forced a family in Kinshasa to pay them
$25 to release an 8-year-old girl who was detained for several hours
for wearing pants with ``illegal'' military-style pockets that had been
banned by authorities. Police failed to respond to domestic and
societal violence, regularly detained street children, and in October
detained and harassed women for wearing tight jeans (see Section 5).
The Government prosecuted and disciplined some abusers; however, the
vast majority acted with impunity.
Under the law, certain police officers and senior officers of the
security forces are empowered to authorize arrests, and detainees must
be brought within 48 hours before a magistrate. Warrants are required
only for offenses punishable by less than 6 months' imprisonment. In
practice, these provisions were violated routinely. For example, in
April, the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights found that one-third
of prisoners in detention centers were illegally detained, and that a
large number of judicial police ignored detention procedures.
Police often arbitrarily arrested and detained persons without
filing charges, often to extort money from family members. When
authorities did press charges, the claims were rarely filed in a timely
manner and were often contrived or overly vague. Security forces
regularly held alleged suspects for varying periods of time before
acknowledging that they were in custody or allowing the detainees to
have contact with family or legal counsel.
Police arrested persons during the year for criticizing the
Government (see Section 2.a.).
Security forces used the pretext of state security to arbitrarily
arrest individuals. Individuals arrested and detained in the name of
state security frequently were held without legal charge, presentation
of evidence, access to a lawyer, or due process. For example, during
the year, local NGOs reported that an unknown number of individuals
were detained in connection with alleged coup plots.
In late October, government agents arrested and detained for 9 days
Christian Mwando, chairman of a Katangan opposition political party,
for ``possible involvement'' in the capture of Kilwa by unidentified
rebel forces (see Section 1.g.).
On June 15, journalist Bamporiki Chamira and members of his family
were released from prison after a 15-month detention for ``direct or
indirect involvement in a plot aimed at eliminating President Joseph
Kabila.''
Justin Nindaga, who was arrested in 2002, was released in 2003.
Pretrial detention was very frequently prolonged. Human rights NGOs
reported that fewer than 20 percent of the inmates at the Kinshasa
Penitentiary and Reeducation Center (CPRK) had been charged or
sentenced. According to MONUC's April prison report, only approximately
20 percent of the country's total prison population had been brought to
trial and convicted of committing a crime.
Prisoners were often held in detention after their sentences had
expired; these extended detentions were due to disorganization,
judicial inefficiency, and corruption. In a few instances, when such
cases were brought to the attention of the Government, prisoners were
released.
There were some political detainees during the year.
In areas under marginal government control, armed groups were
responsible for a regular pattern of arbitrary arrest and detention.
Although armed groups frequently arrested, charged, detained, and tried
persons, they operated outside of the Government's criminal justice
system.
From October to December, government forces in South Kivu
arbitrarily detained Congolese Tutsis attempting to return from Rwanda,
where they had sought refuge in early June. They were released the next
day.
There were no reported developments in any of the 2003 or 2002
cases of arbitrary arrest and detention by armed groups.
There reportedly were some political detainees; however, no
reliable information was available.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice, the judiciary continued to
be ineffective, subject to government influence, and corrupt. The
civilian judicial system, including lower courts, appellate courts, the
Supreme Court, and the Court of State Security, continued to be largely
dysfunctional, and the rule of law was not generally respected.
Although courts are required to file charges within 48 hours of arrest,
they generally did not, and long delays occurred. Corruption remained
pervasive, particularly among magistrates, who were paid very poorly
and only intermittently and there were credible reports that judges
regularly prolonged trials unduly as a form of blackmail and a means of
soliciting bribes. The system remained hobbled by a strike by
magistrates and judges that lasted several months, major shortages of
personnel and supplies (including copies of the legal code), and poor
infrastructure.
Civil and criminal codes are based on Belgian and customary law.
The legal code provides for the right to a speedy public trial, the
presumption of innocence, and legal counsel; however, these rights were
not respected in practice. Defendants have the right to appeal in most
cases; however, defendants do not have the right to appeal those cases
involving national security, armed robbery, and smuggling, which
generally are adjudicated by the Court of State Security, except those
cases adjudicated by the special military tribunals, whose jurisdiction
is ill-defined. The law provides for court-appointed counsel at state
expense in capital cases in all proceedings before the Supreme Court,
and in other cases when requested by the court. In practice, the
Government did not respect these provisions.
Military courts, headed by a military judge, tried military and
civilian defendants. The military courts have no appeal process. The
Government permitted, and in some cases provided, legal counsel;
however, lawyers sometimes were not granted free access to defendants.
In practice, military courts had broad discretion in terms of
sentencing. In many cases, trials were open to the public at the
discretion of the military judge.
On April 20, 71 persons condemned by military courts were
conditionally released from the CPRK.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
In areas under marginal government control, corruption remained
rampant, and judges and other public servants were paid poorly and
intermittently; however, the justice system in these areas improved
from previous years. In January, the Government sent magistrates and
judges to Bunia, and courts began to operate there for the first time
since 1998.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions; however, in areas
under government control, members of the security forces routinely
ignored these provisions in practice. Members of security forces and
deserters from the army and police continued to harass and rob
citizens. Security forces routinely ignored legal requirements for
search warrants and entered and searched homes or vehicles at will.
During the year, soldiers regularly occupied civilians' residences. In
general, those responsible for these acts remained unidentified and
unpunished.
Police often looted the homes and vehicles of the persons they
arrested; occupants frequently were beaten and abused.
ANR security agents monitored mail passing through private express
delivery companies and the very limited state mail service. The
Government was believed to monitor some telephone communications.
Throughout the country, there were credible reports that, when
unable to locate a specific individual, authorities sometimes arrested
or beat the closest family member. For example, in early January a man
was arrested in Kindu, Maniema Province in the place of his brother,
who was wanted for personal debts, to collect a ``commission'' on the
recovered debt.
In areas under marginal government control, armed groups routinely
subjected civilians to arbitrary interference with privacy, family,
home, and correspondence (see Section 1.g.). In late May, dissident
RCD/G soldiers in Bukavu conducted house-to-house searches of non-Tutsi
residents and looted them, raped women, and beat those who resisted.
All armed groups and government forces looted homes, seized livestock,
and extorted money by charging irregular fees, such as bicycle transit
taxes in North Kivu, river tolls in Orientale Province, and protection
surcharges in South Kivu.
During the year, there were numerous credible reports, including
one by the U.N. Group of Experts, that ex-RCD/G combatants from the
DRC, with the aid of local Congolese and Rwandan officials recruited
for military training, sometimes forcibly, demobilized Rwandan and DRC
soldiers and refugees from the DRC (see Section 2.d.).
Armed groups continued to recruit children from the areas in which
they operated (see Section 5).
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal and External Conflicts.--The Transitional Government was
officially established in July 2003, following political negotiations
in 2002 that ended the 4-year civil war. By mid-2003, all foreign
troops had formally withdrawn from the country. However, the
Governments of Rwanda and Uganda reportedly continued to support armed
groups operating in the country, and there continued to be unconfirmed
reports from multiple credible sources that Rwandan soldiers and
officers were at times present in the country.
In areas under government control, there was limited fighting
between government forces and armed groups. There were a few reports
that government forces violated humanitarian law in areas under
government control. For example, in mid-October, the FARDC looted the
town of Kilwa, near the country's Zambian border, and killed more than
70 civilians, of whom almost 30 may have been summarily executed. The
FARDC killed an unknown number of civilians for allegedly collaborating
with rebels who had seized the town days before. After the FARDC's
reentry into Kilwa, dozens of persons were arrested. By year's end, 10
persons were still being detained without charge at the Kasapa prison
in Lubumbashi. No action was taken against the soldiers responsible for
the reported killings.
No known action was taken against government troops or government-
supported Mai Mai troops who committed abuses against civilians in 2003
or 2002.
In areas under marginal government control, armed groups committed
numerous abuses, including civilian massacres, the looting and burning
of houses, the forcible recruitment of child soldiers, and the rape of
women and girls (see Section 5). FARDC forces were also responsible for
serious abuses. At times, verification of these reports was difficult,
due to geographical remoteness, hazardous security conditions, and
impediments imposed by local authorities (see Section 2.d.); however,
MONUC's presence allowed observers to gather more information than
would have otherwise been possible, and, according to local NGOs,
helped decrease human rights violations by armed groups during the
year.
There were numerous credible reports, including one by the U.N.
Group of Experts, that the Government of Rwanda continued to provide
material support, including weapons and military advisors, to ex-RCD/G
combatants following former commanders such as General Nkunda and
Colonel Mutebusi in the Kivus and UPC forces in Ituri. There were
credible reports that the Government of Uganda provided material
support to armed groups operating in Ituri.
There were numerous credible reports that armed groups burned and
destroyed entire villages, frequently killing, abducting, torturing, or
raping some of the inhabitants, especially in rural areas of North and
South Kivu Provinces, Maniema Province, northern Katanga Province, and
Ituri District of Orientale Province. Large numbers of civilians were
displaced (see Section 2.d.). Disputes between FARDC, ex-RCD/G
combatants following former commanders such as General Nkunda and
Colonel Mutebusi, and various armed groups had dire consequences for
civilian populations, who continued to be subject to abuse due to
shifting alliances. They were regularly punished for allegedly
supporting the other group, and they were killed, raped, displaced,
looted, forced to pay ``security premiums,'' and at risk of abduction.
In Ituri, MONUC reported that other ethnic groups besides the Hema and
Lendu were ``forced to take sides and/or were attacked by both parties
who accused them of sheltering the enemy.''
There have been no known credible attempts by armed groups to
investigate incidents that occurred since 2002 in which their troops
allegedly committed numerous human rights violations, including
killings, rapes, looting, and other abuses in areas under their
control. However, between late August and year's end, courts tried 28
FARDC soldiers for serious human rights violations, including crimes
against humanity in connection with the 2002 Ankoro massacre in
northern Katanga. The accused were acquitted or lightly punished.
However, the judge awarded significant damages to the victims.
In February, credible sources reported that FARDC elements executed
three civilians in Kitenge for supporting Chinja Chinja's Mai Mai, who
had reportedly killed and mutilated seven FARDC soldiers on February 7.
In addition, in June, local sources reported that FARDC soldiers burned
alive eight individuals accused of being Mai Mai supporters.
MONUC documented that between March and May, FARDC forces, Mai Mai,
and the Popular Self-Defense Forces, a local defense force, killed
approximately 80 persons and committed widespread rape, looting, and
abduction in northwestern Katanga.
In late May and early June, ex-RCD/G combatants, led by former
commanders such as General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi, and FARDC
forces under South Kivu Military Commander General Mbuza Mabe committed
numerous serious human rights violations in and around Bukavu. On May
26, fighting broke out between South Kivu Military Commander General
Mabe and his suspended deputy commander, Mutebusi. Over the next 2
days, Mabe's troops targeted and killed Banyamulenge (Tutsis from South
Kivu), in apparent reprisal for the killing of one of Mabe's soldiers.
Ex-RCD/G forces under General Nkunda took control of Bukavu, ostensibly
to prevent what Nkunda said was a genocide, although MONUC and numerous
other national and international observers--in addition to Nkunda
himself--acknowledged afterward that no genocide had taken place. More
than 100 civilians were killed and many rapes were committed.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), between May 26 and May 28,
FARDC soldiers under Mabe killed at least 15 civilians, mostly
Banyamulenge in and around Bukavu. Although some witnesses reported
that most of the victims were suspected soldiers, including several
small groups of young men who were captured and executed; among the
victims were also many women and children. On May 27, FARDC soldiers
loyal to Mabe reportedly beat 6 Banyamulenge students to death and
threw their bodies into a shallow grave, shot and killed 2 boys at a
public intersection, and opened fire on 50 Banyamulenge who had been
forced out of hiding and brought to the center of town allegedly for
their safety. Mabe's soldiers also detained an unknown number of
persons in a container located at a central intersection and raped an
unknown number of women. There were reports that non-Banyamulenge
civilians protected Banyamulenge. Almost 3,000 civilians, most of them
Banyamulenge, fled to Rwanda. Some refugees were injured when they
crossed into Rwanda, but there were conflicting reports as to the types
of injuries.
Between late May and June 2, while en route from Goma to Bukavu,
ex-RCD/G combatants led by former commanders such as General Nkunda and
Colonel Mutebusi killed one unarmed MONUC military observer and injured
another; displaced several thousand persons; attacked and looted
villages; and killed and raped an unknown number of civilians. MONUC
reported that Nkunda's and Mutebusi's troops deliberately killed at
least nine civilians while they controlled Bukavu between June 2 and
June 5. In Bukavu, ex-RCD/G combatants went from house to house and
systematically raped non-Banyamulenge inhabitants and looted their
homes (see Section 5). Nkunda's and Mutebusi's troops also burned down
the central market, stole an unknown amount of money from the central
bank, closed local radio stations, and threatened to kill local
journalists (see Section 2.a.).
Local NGOs reported that in 2003 and during the early part of the
year, Mai Mai groups led by Chinja Chinja ``Throat Cutter'' Gedeon, and
Chief Makabe operating in Katanga killed large numbers of civilians,
committed acts of cannibalism and dismemberment, burned villages,
forcibly recruited child soldiers, and abducted women for use as sexual
slaves.
In early February, Chinja Chinja's Mai Mai group killed at least 30
civilians in the area of Kitenge, Katanga, 435 miles north of
Lubumbashi. These Mai Mai regularly took parts of victims' bodies--
including genitalia, lungs, fingers, and tongues--to either eat or use
as amulets to reinforce magical powers.
During the year, there were reports that the FNI and other Lendu
groups in Ituri District used cannibalism, fetishes, and mutilation to
intimidate their opponents and in accordance with a belief that they
would improve their fighting capabilities. These groups were
responsible for numerous abuses.
On January 15, the FNI attacked a convoy of 5 boats on Lake Albert
and killed approximately 100 persons. The boats were diverted to Gobu,
Djugu territory, where the attackers separated out the men and shot and
killed all of them. They also raped at least two women and forced the
women and children to carry the passengers' belongings into the forest
for the attackers. The same group allegedly abducted civilians on two
other occasions in January.
During the year, the FNI and FRPI abducted more than 100 civilians,
mostly fishermen, in the area of Lake Albert and held them in forced
labor camps. In June and July, credible sources reported that the FNI
and FRPI killed 48 Hema/Gegere abductees in 6 separate incidents, often
after mutilating them. During mid-year, the Bunia Prosecutor
interviewed several persons in connection with the case.
During the year, MONUC reportedly dismantled UPC forced labor camps
near the Lake Albert region of Ituri, freeing as many as 1500 persons.
In addition, at the end of the year, MONUC closed a labor camp in Djugu
territory. At year's end, no additional information was available.
On October 12, HRW reported that FAPC combatants arrested 30
civilians from Kaliko, Ituri in October, in connection with the death
of 2 FAPC soldiers. The civilians were taken to Ariwara and detained in
an underground prison where they were beaten with large wooden sticks.
Two were executed, 4 died from injuries, and the others were released
on October 14 after a local chief paid their ransom.
During the year, ex-ANC groups also committed serious abuses. In
mid-March, ex-ANC combatants killed approximately 40 civilians, raped
at least 2 women, and burned 150 houses in Lukweti, 80 miles north of
Goma, North Kivu). Villagers reported they were attacked for allowing
Rwandan Hutu militia members to cross the Lukweti bridge to attack
villages under the ex-ANC's control.
On December 17, ex-ANC combatants killed at least 30 civilians,
including women and children, in the town of Buramba, north of Goma.
The combatants, who effectively mutinied against government authority
and fought against FARDC forces loyal to the government, reportedly
committed the killings as retribution against persons they perceived to
be Mai Mai supporters. Earlier that same day, FARDC soldiers formerly
belonging to Mai Mai militias had killed three ex-ANC soldiers.
On December 18 and 19, ex-ANC combatants killed more than 50
civilians with machetes and bayonets in and around Nyabiondo, northeast
of Goma.
During the year, MONUC and the Government arrested members of Ituri
armed groups accused of committing grave human rights violations over
the past several years. By October, more than 50 were in government
custody awaiting trial. However, in November, Hema prison guards helped
31 prisoners (Hema UPC members) to escape.
Based on investigations conducted in 2003 by MONUC and other human
rights organizations in Ituri, during 2002 and 2003, it was estimated
that all armed groups based in Ituri and several non-Ituri-based
groups, including the MLC, RCD, RCD-ML, and RCD-N, killed at least
8,000 civilians, sometimes deliberately and sometimes through the
indiscriminate use of excessive force, and more than 600,000 civilians
were forced to flee their homes. These abuses were carried out with
total impunity.
In July, MONUC reported that various groups had committed several
massacres in mid-2003. The FNI killed at least 136 civilians, mostly
Hema, in Katoto, 15 miles north of Bunia. Ngiti combatants killed at
least 96 civilians and abducted at least 34 in Kasenyi, on Lake Albert.
One of the abductees reported that six abducted persons were executed
by machete when they could not continue to walk. Lendu militias killed
at least 55 civilians and abducted 60, mostly Alur, from Nioka in
Mahagi territory in Ituri District. According to Floribert Ndjabu, the
FNI leader at the time, an FNI combatant named Lego and 20 of his men
attacked Nioka without the FNI's permission and were subsequently
executed.
In early December, civilians in Luma, near Lake Albert in Ituri
District, killed 2 FNI milita members attempting to rob a house. In
retaliation, the FNI killed 3 civilians and abducted 7 women. By year's
end, one 14-year-old girl was still being held as a sexual slave.
Unknown persons were also responsible for numerous abuses. For
example, on September 19, at least 300 persons--including civilians
from the Ngiti village of Medu--attacked the Bira village of Lengabo
with machetes and submachine guns. They killed approximately 15
persons, mostly women and children, including a baby, and burned 90
houses. MONUC immediately sent 150 peacekeepers to secure the area and
helped the national police arrest approximately 20 persons suspected of
involvement. At year's end, none of the suspects had been tried.
During the year, there were credible reports that foreign rebels
killed civilians. For example, in January, Burundian National
Liberation Force (FNL) soldiers killed seven persons and injured nine
when they attacked a truck near Uvira.
In January, there were reports that FDLR units killed 10 persons,
including 2 pregnant women whose bellies were slashed open. The units
also abducted an unknown number of persons in villages between Hombo
and Bunyakiri. In early March, hard-line FDLR members known as
``Rastas'' killed 14 persons while raiding Mushwere in Walungu, south
of Bukavu.
On August 13, the FNL, likely working with other unidentified
elements, massacred at least 152 Congolese Tutsi refugees from South
Kivu, known as Banyamulenge, and injured more than 100 at a UNCHR
transit camp in Gatumba, Burundi. The refugees were targeted because of
their ethnicity. According to preliminary findings of a U.N.
investigation, evidence suggested that some of the attackers spoke
Congolese languages and may have come from the DRC.
In late November, there were unconfirmed but persistent reports
that RDF troops killed 13 civilians, destroyed 4 villages, and
kidnapped 30 civilians in Walikale, North Kivu.
The use of mass rape and sexual violence as weapons of war
continued, and armed groups and the FARDC raped women with impunity
(see Section 5). In areas under government control, there were reports
that security forces raped women during the year. In April, MONUC
reported that in December 2003, MLC troops belonging to the FARDC
battalion in Nsongo Mboyo and Bogandanga, central Equateur, gang-raped
approximately 120 women and girls and looted every household in the 2
towns. In May, the Human Rights Ministry and a military prosecutor
visited the towns. The prosecutor subsequently opened an inquiry and
recorded 119 accusations of rape and 86 accusations of looting. At
year's end, no further action had been taken.
According to Amnesty International (AI), over the course of the war
``tens of thousands of girls have been victims of systematic rape and
sexual assault committed by combatant forces. Women and girls have been
attacked in their homes, in the fields, or as they go about their daily
activities. Many have been raped more than once or have suffered gang
rapes.'' Victims ranged in age from under 1 year, including a 4-month-
old girl who was raped in Ituri during the first half of the year, to
over 80. MONUC reported that in Ituri, the exact number of female
victims of rape or sexual slavery was impossible to estimate.
Armed groups used rape to humiliate and punish victims, families,
and communities. In Ituri, women were often targets of sexual violence
because of their ethnicity. In June, ex-RCD/G elements, led by former
commanders such as General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi, reportedly told
women from the Bashi and other ethnic groups in Bukavu that they were
being raped to avenge abuses committed against Tutsi civilians.
Government forces reportedly targeted Tutsi women for rape when they
retook the city. On June 3, six ex-RCD/G elements following former
commanders such as General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi reportedly gang-
raped a mother; another soldier raped her 3-year-old daughter in the
presence of her husband and her other children. There were also reports
that non-Banyamulenge women were raped in reprisal for attacks against
Banyamulenge.
Rapes were often extremely violent, were generally accompanied by
threats and beatings, and sometimes involved props such as tree
branches, rifles, sharpened sticks, glass, nails, stones, sand, or hot
pepper. Sometimes women were shot during or after rape, sometimes in
their genitals. There were also reports of anal rapes using sticks.
These and other rapes sometimes resulted in vaginal fistula, a rupture
of vaginal tissue that left women unable to control bodily functions
and vulnerable to ostracism.
Violent gang rapes by members of armed groups were common, and they
were often committed in front of victims' families. For example, on
June 2, AI reported that up to 20 ex-RCD/G combatants, led by former
commanders such as General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi, raped 3 sisters
between the ages of 16 and 22 at their home in Bukavu. The soldiers
forced family members to watch and stole everything from their house
and shop.
In addition, armed groups forcibly abducted women and girls and
used them as sex slaves (see Sections 5 and 6.c.). AI reported that
FDLR soldiers held a woman from 2001 until this year and regularly beat
and raped her, including the same day she gave birth to a baby. AI also
reported that in September 2003, the FDLR stopped a minibus traveling
in South Kivu and abducted six women for their commander. The commander
chose one woman and gave the rest to the other officers. When the
officers tired of them, they were given to the prison guards. One woman
was released after 2 months when her family paid for her.
In some cases, sexual abuse was of a limited duration or was
carried out in a sporadic manner, many times with different
victimizers. There were numerous reports that girls as young as 14 were
abducted. Other girls and women were subjected to repeated rape over
longer periods with one victimizer. These girls and women were commonly
referred to as ``war wives,'' who often served both as fighting
elements in active combat and sexual slaves for their commanders. Many
traditional beliefs dictated that once a girl or woman was sexually
``taken'' by a man, she was his property, and they were seen to be
married. Experts believed that most girls and women associated with
armed groups would never be identified.
On May 27, unidentified soldiers entered the compound of an
international NGO in Bukavu. One soldier raped a female aid worker and
shot another before fleeing with money and phones.
During the year, there were numerous allegations of sexual abuse by
MONUC civilian and military personnel. One MONUC civilian was sent home
and arrested, and at least three other civilians were suspended and
repatriated. At least two MONUC military personnel were sent home. At
year's end, MONUC was conducting investigations into 150 allegations of
sexual misconduct.
During the year, violations of humanitarian law were commonplace,
and peacekeepers and humanitarian workers were threatened, harassed,
and killed. Armed groups killed at least two unarmed U.N. military
observers. On February 12, UPC militia members killed a Kenyan
peacekeeper during an ambush on a MONUC convoy returning to Bunia after
investigating alleged human rights violations. On June 6, unidentified
men on the Goma-Rutshuru road shot at two South African peacekeepers,
who died in an automobile accident following the shooting.
Ituri armed groups--particularly the UPC, FNI, and FAPC--became
increasingly aggressive towards MONUC and civilians. For example, on
January 16, the FNI attacked a MONUC helicopter attempting to
investigate an FNI attack on a PUSIC camp outside Kasenyi. On February
4, unidentified gunmen operating in an area controlled by the UPC-Bosco
attacked MONUC peacekeepers attempting to investigate the January 15
massacre of civilians at Gobu. On September 2, the UPC kidnapped a
Moroccan peacekeeper just outside Bunia. He was released 5 days later.
The Government condemned the kidnapping.
In May and June, fighting in and around Bukavu significantly
impeded humanitarian access throughout the country. The U.N. Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 90
percent of the humanitarian organizations operating in most major
cities were affected by either looting, suspension of activities, or
lack of access to vulnerable groups.
In June, military authorities in Maniema, with the complicity of
local authorities, severely harassed humanitarian organizations,
disrupted humanitarian flights, threatened CARE and AirServ staff,
attempted to force AirServ pilots to carry military personnel and
goods, and commandeered CARE vehicles and equipment. On June 18, a
police commander in Kasongo severely beat a local CARE employee and
detained him for several hours.
On November 15, unidentified gunmen attacked four workers from
Premiere Urgence, a French NGO, south of Bunia, in an area controlled
by the FPRI Ngiti militia. During the year, there were reports that
Ituri armed groups attacked other NGOs, threatened to kill local staff,
and stole money, equipment, and telephones.
No known action was taken against UPC militiamen who looted the
Bunia hospital and the World Health Organization depot in May 2003.
During the year, there were reports of deaths or injury from
landmines. For example, in April, up to 123 persons were victims of
antipersonnel landmine explosions in Virunga National Park, in the
east, according to a U.N. news source.
Armed groups and the FARDC continued to harass, rape, arrest, loot,
extort, and illegally tax civilians in areas they occupied. For
example, in certain parts of Bunia, UPC militiamen extorted money from
civilians by threatening to either steal their belongings or kill them
during the night. On June 9, a UPC/L member reportedly killed a local
chief in Fataki, Ituri District because he had refused to collect
illegal taxes from local civilians. In South Kivu, armed groups in a
number of areas--including Kalehe, Walungu, and Kabare--committed
numerous abuses, including extortion, theft, and the illegal occupation
of civilian residences.
In September, Mai Mai waiting to be demobilized outside Beni caused
civilians to flee the area. Locals reported that they committed rapes;
widescale looting of food, livestock, and metal roof sheeting from
houses; and charged tolls for women to work in the fields.
In October, there were clashes between Mai Mai and ex-ANC soldiers
allied with youths who had recently been armed by local officials in
Masisi territory, North Kivu. The youths, who were mostly from
Rwandophone villages, reportedly burned 107 houses and looted livestock
and household goods in predominantly Hunde and Tembo villages.
In many cases, armed groups did not make a distinction between
military and civilian targets. For example, the MONUC Ituri report
found that UPC forces shelled ``Lendu villages without making any
distinction between armed combatants and civilians.''
Armed groups and the FARDC continued to have children in their
ranks (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press; however, the Government sometimes restricted
these rights in practice. During the year, there were approximately 30
reported instances where government agents arrested, detained,
threatened, or abused members of the media. During the year,
journalists practiced self-censorship.
Individuals could privately criticize the Government, government
officials, and private citizens without being subject to reprisal, and
during the year, individuals often publicly criticized them in the
media; however, security forces arrested, detained, and harassed
opposition politicians and other high-profile figures for criticizing
the Government. For example, on June 16, political opposition member
Atundu Liongo was arrested after a speech for offending the Government,
inciting persons to be disobedient, and attacking State security. He
was released on October 1.
On June 30, Pastor Albert Lukusa gave a sermon in Lubumbashi
criticizing President Kabila and the Government. On August 3, the ANR
arrested and detained him. He was released on October 18.
The Government required each newspaper to pay a $500 licensing fee
and complete several administrative steps before it could publish
legally. There was an active private press, and a large number of daily
newspapers, mainly in urban areas, were licensed to publish. In
general, journalists were poorly paid, lacked professional training,
and were vulnerable to manipulation by wealthy individuals, government
officials, and politicians who paid or provided other benefits to
journalists to encourage them to write certain types of articles.
However, many newspapers were highly critical of the Government.
Although there was no official newspaper, the Government published the
Daily Bulletin, which included decrees and official statements.
Due to limited literacy and the high cost of newspapers and
television, radio remained the most important medium of public
information. Numerous privately owned radio stations and privately
owned television stations operated, as well as two state-owned radio
stations and a state-owned television station. Major political parties
represented in the Government were generally able to gain access to
state radio and television, which covered activities of ex-rebels and
opposition figures participating in the Government.
Foreign journalists were able to operate in the country. For
example, Radio Okapi, an independent nationwide radio station closely
affiliated with MONUC, continued to broadcast national and local news
and provide information on MONUC's mandate, activities, and
demobilization and disarmament programs.
During the year, government officials arrested, intimidated,
harassed, and detained journalists, often without filing formal
charges. For example, on April 1, military intelligence and ANR agents
raided Radio Kilimandjaro in Tshikapa, West Kasai. According to a local
press organization, they were looking for Radio Kilimandjaro journalist
Sami Mbeto, who had allegedly reported that military intelligence
officers had mistreated or humiliated DRC citizens expelled from
Angola.
On July 19, local press freedom watchdog Journaliste en danger
(JED) reported that ANR agents detained and questioned RTKM television
director Lumbana Kapassa for 3 hours about an interview with a former
security advisor to former President Mobutu.
On August 4, ANR agents shut down religious station Radio Hosanna
in Lubumbashi, Katanga, and authorities arrested seven station
employees for broadcasting a sermon by Pastor Albert Lukusa, who
criticicized the Government by noting the presence of ``Rwandans and
Senegalese'' in the Government and accusing authorities of being
``incapable of responding to the basic needs of the population.'' On
August 7, the seven employees were released without charge, and Radio
Hosanna resumed broadcasting on October 28.
On December 18, police arrested, interrogated, and detained for 6
days Feu D'or Bonsange Ifonge, director general of the Kinshasa-based
newspaper Tapis Rouge. Police reportedly wanted to obtain information
on the author of a December 16 article alleging that the government
taxation department had mismanaged and misappropriated public funds.
Ifonge posted a bail of $340.
No action was taken against security forces that beat and harassed
journalists in 2003 or 2002.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police in
Kinshasa seized newspapers.
In June, JED criticized what it considered repeated attempts to
muzzle the press by then-Minister of Press and Communication Vital
Kamerhe. In late May, Kamerhe issued an order forbidding television and
radio stations from broadcasting messages that he considered likely to
aggravate the situation in Bukavu following its seizure by ex-RCD/G
combatants operating under former commanders such as General Nkunda and
Colonel Mutebusi (see Section 1.g.).
During the year, JED continued to call for the decriminalization of
certain press offenses included in the out-of-date Press Law. The
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that journalists were
most frequently charged with defamation, or ``attributing maliciously
and publicly to a person a precise fact which is of a nature to damage
the honor or standing of that person or expose him to public
humiliation. [The law] does not specifically say the precise fact must
be untrue.'' Defamation charges were used to suppress criticism of
government officials and wealthy businessmen, especially in cases of
corruption.
For example, on January 5, a court sentenced nine Radio-Television
Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) reporters to 1 year in prison and ordered
each of them to pay a $2,500 fine for defamation. In a February 2003
open letter to the President, they had accused the former Minister of
Press and Communication, Kikaya bin Karubi, of embezzlement and called
for his resignation. By year's end, the journalists were not made to
pay the fine and had not been imprisoned.
On March 19, authorities arrested and detained Jean-Louis Lompoto,
director of the weekly publication Pili-Pili for defamation. Lompoto
had published an article on March 3 alleging that the then-Minister of
Mines Eugene Diomi, who was later suspended for corruption in November,
had embezzled public funds. According to the CPJ, after the March
issuance of a warrant for their arrest, two of Lompoto's Pili-Pili
colleagues went into hiding. Lompoto was released on bail after 8 days
in prison. At year's end, no trial date had been set.
The Ministry of Human Rights and the Ministry of Communication and
Press continued to intervene on behalf of journalists facing
prosecution and held occasional workshops.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of perceived
threat of government harassment or intimidation resulting in self-
censorship or the modification of lectures by professors, and academic
freedom improved.
In areas under marginal government control, armed groups and local
authorities continued to severely restrict freedom of speech and of the
press.
Armed groups continued to harass, intimidate, beat, and arrest
local journalists. For example, on March 2, a court sentenced Nicaise
Kibel'Bel Oka, director of Behind the Scenes, a Beni weekly newspaper,
to 5 years prison and ordered him to pay $2,000 in fines for defamation
of a wealthy North Kivu businessman in a November 2003 article. The
article alleged that the businessman had committed customs fraud. The
sentence was appealed pending additional evidence.
In late May, ex-RCD/G combatants operating under former commanders
such as General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi attacked, vandalized,
looted, and closed three Bukavu radio stations and threatened to kill
their directors. The three directors took refuge at the MONUC compound
and were evacuated to Kinshasa. JED reported that on June 3, rebel
forces seeking Joseph Nkinzo, director of the radio station Sauti ya
Rehema (Voice of Mercy), killed the journalist's younger brother,
Mukamba Mwanaume, believing him to be Nkinzo.
Armed groups' treatment of foreign and Radio Okapi journalists
improved during the year. However, in North and South Kivu, armed
groups detained a few international journalists and confiscated their
equipment after the journalists photographed military installations
without permits. For example, in October, an international journalist
was detained in Beni for photographing a military installation.
Armed groups took no known credible action against those accused of
beating or otherwise abusing journalists or persons critical of their
groups in 2003 or 2002.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Transitional
Constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, the
Government restricted this right in practice. The Government considered
the right to assemble to be subordinate to the maintenance of ``public
order,'' and continued to require all organizers to inform the local
city government before holding a public event. According to the law,
organizers automatically have authorization to hold an event unless the
city government denies authorization in writing within 5 days of
receiving the original notification. Some NGOs reported that in
practice, local authorities sometimes denied authorization for an
event, mostly on the grounds of preserving public order, after the 5-
day period by backdating the correspondence. Government security
services often dispersed unregistered protests, marches, or meetings.
On October 22, local authorities in Kinshasa denied the Union for
Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) permission to conduct a protest
march. The reason for the denial was not known.
During the year, the Government occasionally harassed opposition
parties during private meetings (see Section 1.d.).
During the year, police occasionally arrested peaceful
demonstrators. For example, on January 14, police dispersed a UDPS
demonstration in Kinshasa intended to mark the arrival of South African
President Thabo Mbeki. Ten UDPS members were arrested and detained for
several days.
On February 5, authorities in Bas Congo arrested and detained for
several days four students who were protesting what they considered
excessive school fees.
In June, security forces reportedly killed approximately nine
rioters in Kinshasa while attempting to disperse a violent crowd.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that
security forces forcibly dispersed political party press conferences or
rallies. The Government required political parties to apply for permits
to hold press conferences; According to local NGOs, such permits
sometimes were denied.
No action was taken against security forces responsible for using
excessive force during demonstrations in 2003 or 2002.
In June, MONUC peacekeepers killed three rioters in Kinshasa while
attempting to disperse a violent crowd.
The Transitional Constitution provides for freedom of association;
however, in practice, the Government sometimes restricted this right.
During the year, government authorities generally did not harass
political parties, although there were some exceptions concerning the
UDPS. For example, on March 18, the ANR arrested 12 UDPS members near
Mbuji Mayi for holding public meetings; by year's end, they had been
released.
In areas under marginal government control, armed groups continued
to restrict severely freedom of assembly and association, and security
services used excessive force against protesters in Goma. For example,
on November 15, RCD/G police and soldiers killed at least two
demonstrators when RCD/G police and soldiers opened fire on students
while they were protesting the death of a student who was reportedly
shot in the back. A police officer was also killed, although it was not
clear who was responsible. At year's end, no action had been taken
against those responsible for the killings.
No action was taken against RCD/G agents who, in May 2003, fired
upon activists who had gathered to greet a government delegation.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Transitional Constitution provides for
freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right
in practice, provided that worshipers did not disturb public order or
contradict commonly held morals. Unlike in the previous year, there
were no reports that government forces committed abuses against
religious figures.
The law provides for the establishment and operation of religious
institutions, and requirements for the establishment of a religious
organization were simple and generally not subject to abuse. The law
grants civil servants the power to establish and dissolve religious
groups; however, during the year, there were no reports that the
Government suspended or dissolved a religious group. The Bundu Dia
Kongo, an ethnically based spiritual and political movement that called
for the violent overthrow of the Government and the establishment of an
``ethnically pure'' kingdom for the Bakongo tribe, remained outlawed at
year's end. Officially recognized religions were free to establish
places of worship and to train clergy. In practice, religious groups
that were not recognized also worshipped freely.
While the Government generally did not interfere with foreign
missionaries, they were not exempt from general restrictions on freedom
of movement imposed on all persons by security force members who
erected and manned roadblocks, at which they often solicited bribes.
In areas under marginal government control, respect for religious
freedom generally improved. During the year, there were fewer reports
of attacks against priests, parishioners, churches, parish property, or
schools. However, in November, unidentified men broke into a Catholic
parish in Kabare, west of Bukavu, and looted it.
No action was taken against RCD/G soldiers who targeted churches
and religious leaders in 2003 or 2002, or against Lendu militia members
who executed Hema civilians and priests who had taken refuge in a
church compound in 2003.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for freedom of
movement; however, the Government occasionally restricted this right in
areas under its control. Freedom of movement between areas under
government control and areas under marginal government control improved
during the year. Movement between these areas continued to be
hazardous; however, since the establishment of the Government, cross-
country commercial air traffic has continued to increase, as has road
and rail rehabilitation funded by the international community.
In Kinshasa, police and soldiers erected roadblocks for security
checks and to protect government installations. In general, military
and regular police were more aggressive than during the previous year,
and there were many more instances in which drivers were harassed,
forced to pay bribes, and forced to transport soldiers for free. In
November, the main taxibus union organized a 1-day transportation
strike in Kinshasa in response to such harassment. In addition,
underpaid traffic police continued to routinely harass citizens and
demand bribes in the course of pulling vehicles over for ostensible
traffic violations. The Government closed certain national roads at
night due to banditry.
The significant risk of rape perpetrated by uniformed men
restricted freedom of movement at night for women in many areas.
Married women were required by law to have their husband's
permission prior to traveling outside the country. Passport issuance
was highly irregular and required the payment of significant bribes (up
to $500); however, there were no reports that certain groups were
prevented from acquiring them.
The law prohibits forced exile, and there were no reports that the
Government used forced exile.
According to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), at
year's end, approximately 370,000 Congolese refugees lived in several
neighboring countries, including Tanzania (149,000), the Republic of
the Congo (56,000), Zambia (54,000), Burundi (35,000), and Rwanda
(33,000).
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
very basic system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government granted refugee and asylum status and provided
protection against refoulement, the return to a country where
individuals feared persecution. The Government cooperated with the
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers. The Government also provided temporary protection to an
unknown number of individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the
1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
During the year, the Government accepted refugees from Burundi and
Rwanda. According to the UNHCR, by November the country was hosting an
estimated 196,000 refugees, including refugees from Angola, Sudan, and
Burundi.
There were numerous reports, including one prepared by an
independent panel of experts for the U.N. Security Council, that former
RCD/G agents entered refugee camps in Rwanda, with the aid of local
Congolese and Rwandan authorities, to recruit young men, including
children, to join their militia in the eastern DRC; however, some
parents of refugees who left the camps said they sent their children to
the DRC for schooling--not for use as soldiers--and the U.N. report,
which relied heavily on statements by humanitarian aid workers, did not
refute this claim.
In areas under marginal government control, freedom of movement was
severely restricted during the year, partially as a result of fighting
between armed groups and government forces, which frequently prevented
travel and harassed travelers. Several towns were cut off from the
surrounding countryside by government soldiers and armed groups, who
controlled road and river access into and out of the towns. Soldiers
established road, river, airport, market, and lake checkpoints and
routinely harassed and demanded bribes from civilians, sometimes
detaining those who could not pay extortion fees in underground prisons
until the toll was paid by a family member. For example, in early
February, the FNI held a man in 2 underground prisons and a commander's
home until his family paid $80 for his release a week later. Such
travel restrictions contributed to widespread hunger and economic
hardship.
Local authorities in the Kivus routinely required Congolese
citizens to show official travel orders from an employer or government
official authorizing travel. Foreigners were forced to go through
immigration proceedings at airports, lake ports, and when entering and
leaving towns.
Armed groups and local authorities frequently imposed travel
restrictions on NGOs. In May and June, many NGOs evacuated their
personnel following fighting in Bukavu, leaving millions without
humanitarian aid. Throughout the year, banditry and poor security
hampered NGO activities in large parts of Ituri (see Section 1.g.).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that armed
groups expelled persons from the country.
During May and June, a significant number of Banyamulenge refugees
fled to Rwanda and Burundi because they reportedly feared reprisal
attacks from the FARDC and others after ex-RCD/G elements took control
of Bukavu (see Section 1.g.). By year's end, several hundred had
returned, in large part due to the efforts of certain members of the
Government. However, certain local officials in South Kivu attempted to
prevent the refugees' return. For example, in October, the FARDC
detained 38 refugees who were attempting to return from Burundi; the
FARDC detained them in Bukavu and Uvira for several days without
charge.
As of November, OCHA estimated that there were almost 2.2 million
IDPs in the country, the majority of whom were reportedly in the
eastern portion of the country, mostly concentrated in North Kivu,
Orientale, and Katanga. In November, OCHA reported that there were an
estimated 180,000 IDPs in the Ituri region, an estimated 785,000 IDPs
in North Kivu, and 280,000 IDPS in South Kivu. Many of the IDPs
received no assistance because of ongoing fighting and the denial of
access to NGOs, and many were forced to relocate numerous times to
escape fighting (see Section 1.g.). In December, fighting between FARDC
forces and RCD/G soldiers who were not integrated into the national
army displaced over 100,000 persons in central North Kivu.
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that militias
attacked and fired upon IDPs attempting to flee.
On several occasions, armed groups denied access to humanitarian
organizations or obstructed their ability to deliver humanitarian
relief supplies. For example, during the first part of the year, Mai
Mai groups in South Kivu harassed NGOs, imposed illegal taxes, and
refused to let humanitarian workers transit their zones of control.
During the year, armed groups, government troops, and civilians
participated in widescale looting of humanitarian facilities, including
the World Food Program warehouses in Bukavu and Kalemie. In Ituri,
armed groups regularly attacked vehicles, including those of
humanitarian workers, traveling from Bunia to Lake Albert (see Section
1.g.).
No known action was taken against soldiers who erected illegal
checkpoints, attacked fleeing IDPs, or restricted U.N. or humanitarian
access in 2003.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change their Government
Citizens did not have the right to change their Government
peacefully and have not been able to change their Government through
free elections since independence in 1960. Joseph Kabila continued to
be President of the country under the Transitional Government. There
are four vice presidents: two from the main former rebel groups, one
from the political opposition, and one from Kabila's own political
``family.'' The bicameral Parliament, as established under the
Transitional Constitution, includes members from these groups, civil
society and smaller, former rebel movements. There are also five
``citizens' institutions'' that began operating in 2003: An Observatory
for Human Rights, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a High
Authority for Media, an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, and the
Independent Electoral Commission. In mid-year, the Government installed
provincial governors throughout the country, and by year's end, former
rebel-held areas were under marginal government control. The
Transitional Constitution calls for elections to be held by June 30,
2005. This period may be extended for two additional 6-month periods,
with the approval of Parliament.
The law allows legally registered political parties to operate
freely; however, authorities continued to arrest political activists
and to block some activities, including marches and demonstrations (see
Section 2.b.). Authorities in Katanga and other areas outside the
national capital tended to impose more limits on civil and political
liberties.
Corruption remained endemic at all levels. Many civil servants,
police, and soldiers have not been paid in years, received irregular
salaries, or did not earn enough to support their families, all of
which encouraged petty corruption. For example, local authorities and
remnants of rebel groups continued to extort ``taxes'' and ``fees''
from all boats traveling on the Congo River. In addition, government
authorities and wealthy individuals sometimes restricted the freedom of
press and speech on occasions when there were accusations of corruption
(see Section 2.a.). As noted in a Transparency International report
released during the year, most Congolese said they believed official
corruption was rampant in their country. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption
Commission had little impact by year's end.
During the year, the Government took a few steps to combat
corruption. In November, following a parliamentary investigation, the
Government suspended six ministers for high-level corruption.
The law does not provide for public access to government
information, and the Government was unable to provide information upon
request.
Five of 36 cabinet ministers and 3 of 24 vice ministers were women,
and women held 48 of the 614 seats in Parliament, including 5 in the
120-seat Senate.
Pygmies were not represented in the political process.
In areas under marginal government control, citizens did not have
the right to change their government peacefully. Although the
Government appointed provincial governors in May, most local-level
officials appointed during the war by rebel authorities remained in
place. Ituri District was an exception: In July, the Government
appointed district commissioners in Ituri. By year's end, the
Government had not provided newly appointed officials with adequate
resources. Political freedom improved slightly, in part because MONUC
deployed troops to more areas and because the Government's influence
expanded.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
In areas under government control, a wide variety of domestic and
international human rights NGOs continued to investigate and publish
their findings on human rights cases. The Human Rights Ministry and the
Observatory for Human Rights worked with NGOs during the year and were
responsive to their requests and recommendations. However, during the
year, many prison officials regularly obstructed NGO access to
detainees, and security service personnel harassed and arrested
domestic human rights workers.
The main domestic human rights organizations operating in the
country included VSV; Groupe Jeremie; the Committee of Human Rights
Observers (CODHO); The Christian Network of Human Rights and Civic
Education Organizations (RODHECIC); and the African Association for the
Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO). On April 10, ANR agents in Lubumbashi
detained for 2 hours the executive director of the Center for Human
Rights, Bin Masudi Kingombe.
On July 6, unidentified armed men dressed in civilian clothes
harassed Floribert Chebeya, the president of VSV in Kinshasa.
During the year, domestic human rights activists self-censored
reports about corruption and human rights abuses committed by certain
government officials because they feared arrest.
The Government cooperated with international governmental
organizations and NGOs and permitted international humanitarian and
human rights NGOs access to conflict areas. A number of U.N.
representatives and international NGOs visited the country during the
year. During the year, international NGOs, including AI and HRW, and
international organizations such as the U.N. published several reports
on the human rights and humanitarian situation.
In March, U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Iulia Motoc
presented her final report to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. She
reported that the ``civilian population is subject to violence by the
military and police . . . Since bribery is ubiquitous, the guilty
parties can buy off the justice system and the police, and justice
officials often help victims and perpetrators to make deals in exchange
for part of the compensation paid.''
In July, MONUC presented a ``Special Report on the Events in Ituri,
January 2002-2003,'' (MONUC Ituri Report) to the U.N. Security Council.
It found that Ituri District, located in Orientale Province, ``has one
of the world's worst--and for a long time largely ignored--human rights
records'' (see Sections 1.g. and 5).
In October, the U.N. Operations in Burundi, the U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights, and MONUC presented a joint report on
the August 13 Gatumba massacre of over 150 Banyamulenge to the U.N.
Security Council. Although the team was able to establish the facts of
the massacre and determined that the refugees appeared to be targeted
because of their ethnicity, it was unable to determine who planned,
supported, or carried out the killings. A Burundian rebel group, the
National Liberation Force (FNL), claimed responsibility for the attack
(see Section 1.g.).
On October 28, Frederic Pacere Titinga, the U.N.'s Independent
Expert for the Commission on Human Rights in the DRC, reported to the
U.N. General Assembly that grave human rights violations continued
throughout the country, especially in the east, and that the justice
system was incapable of responding to the situation.
The Government continued to cooperate with the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and took the lead in capturing,
arresting, and transferring suspected genocidaire Yusuf John Munyakazi
to the ICTR. ICTR investigators operated freely in areas under
government control, seeking a number of genocide indictees they
believed might be living in the country.
On October 6, the Government and the International Criminal Court
(ICC) signed an accord allowing the ICC to begin investigations into
war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the country since
July 2002. By year's end, the ICC had established a basic field
presence and had started preliminary investigations into events in
Ituri.
The Transitional Constitution provides for an independent Human
Rights Observatory and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. During
the year, the Observatory published reports, made field visits, and
brought human rights NGOs from around the country together to identify
national human rights concerns. Members of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission made field visits to provincial capitals but lacked
sufficient staff and resources to be truly effective.
In areas under marginal government control, domestic human rights
NGOs and civil society members were subjected to frequent harassment
and abuse, particularly in Ituri. Domestic human rights organizations
operating in areas under marginal government control included Heirs of
Justice, and Solidarity Exchange for Integral Development (SEDI) in
South Kivu; Lotus Group, Friends of Nelson Mandela, and Justice and
Liberation in Kisangani; and Justice Plus, in Bunia.
Armed groups frequently committed abuses, including killings and
rapes, against humanitarian workers or peacekeepers (see Section 1.g.).
In addition, in Ituri, according to the MONUC Ituri Report, there were
``several cases of harassment of humanitarian workers and church
members, with the aim of halting the delivery of humanitarian
assistance to members of `rival' ethnic groups.'' Ituri armed groups
also ``executed, abducted, arrested, or forced to flee persons they
thought to be political opponents, as well as judges, intellectuals of
enemy ethnic groups, journalists, and members of NGOs.''
The U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights reported that
government agents arrested the president of a local civil society
organization, and agents subsequently intimidated NGO members after the
Rapporteur met with NGOs in Walikale, North Kivu.
In April, security service agents in Bukavu harassed human rights
workers at Heirs of Justice (Heritiers de la Justice).
On November 20, a local human rights activist who had strongly
criticized recent insecurity in Goma was detained for several hours.
David Aliana, a member of the NGO Friends of Nelson Mandela, was
released from prison in 2003.
Maitre Honore Musoko, president of Bunia-based Justice Plus,
remained outside the country at year's end after he was harassed in
February 2003.
Armed groups frequently imposed travel restrictions on persons who
provided humanitarian aid, human rights NGOs, and journalists (see
Sections 1.g. and 2.d.).
International NGOs active in areas under marginal government
control included the ICRC, Global Rights, HRW, and various humanitarian
organizations. Although most armed groups permitted international
humanitarian and human rights NGOs access to conflict areas, certain
groups in Ituri and South Kivu regularly harassed persons who provided
humanitarian aid and levied illegal taxes at ports and roadblocks (see
Section 1.g.). Armed groups generally allowed international NGOs such
as AI and HRW to conduct investigations and publish reports; however,
there were some exceptions. For example, in mid-November, armed men
attacked four humanitarian workers in Bukiringi, 62 miles south of
Bunia, in an area controlled by ethnic Ngiti militiamen, who were under
the control of the FRPI; one sustained a bullet wound.
During the year, government authorities cooperated with Dutch
officials during an investigation into allegations of torture against
Sebastien Nzapali, a former officer in the army of former President
Mobutu Sese Seko. Nzapali had requested asylum in the Netherlands, but
Dutch officials refused the request and began an investigation based on
claims by persons claiming to be Nzapali's victims. On April 7, a court
in the Netherlands convicted Nzapali of committing torture in the DRC
in 1995 and 1996.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Transitional Constitution prohibits discrimination based on
ethnicity, sex, or religious affiliation; however, the Government was
unable to enforce these prohibitions effectively. Nongovernmental
actors incited violence against street children. Societal
discrimination remained an obstacle to the advancement of certain
groups, particularly women and indigenous Pygmies (Batwa).
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including rape, was common
throughout the country; however, there were no known statistics on the
extent of this violence. Assault and rape are crimes, but police rarely
intervened in domestic disputes and rapists were very rarely
prosecuted. There were no laws prohibiting spousal abuse or assault. It
was commonplace for family members to instruct a rape victim to keep
quiet about the incident, even to health care professionals, to save
the reputation of the victim and her family. The press rarely reported
incidents of violence against women or children; press reports of rape
generally appeared only if it occurred in conjunction with another
crime, or if NGOs reported on the subject.
Armed groups used rape as a weapon of war (see Section 1.g.). Girls
and women who had been raped often found it difficult to get married,
and married women who were raped were often abandoned by their
husbands. For example, AI reported that after a 50-year-old woman in
South Kivu was gang-raped by Burundian combatants in 2003, her husband
abandoned her and her children.
Victims and experts cited widespread impunity as the main reason
sexual violence continued. A small number of sexual violence cases have
been brought to court. For example, in early March, a man who raped a
23-month-old baby girl in Isiro, Orientale Province was sentenced to 5
years in prison. A local organization in South Kivu also won 57 of 60
rape cases it brought to court. In general, however, most victims did
not have sufficient confidence in the justice system to be willing to
subject themselves to further humiliation and possible reprisals by
pursuing formal legal action. For example, in March, there were reports
that a woman in North Kivu publicly denounced local thugs who raped her
and killed her husband as he tried to defend his family. The group
returned shortly afterwards and cut off both of her lips as a warning
to others not to speak out against sexual violence and other crimes.
The law did not prohibit the practice of FGM, and although FGM was
not widespread, it was practiced on young girls among isolated groups
in the north. The National Committee to Fight Harmful Traditional
Practices/Female Genital Mutilation developed a network of community
leaders, women representatives, and health professionals dedicated to
the prevention and treatment of FGM; however, the Committee lacked
adequate resources for prevention and treatment.
The law does not prohibit prostitution except in cases involving
children under the age of 14; prostitution, including child
prostitution, was a problem mainly due to poor economic conditions.
There continued to be reports of women and girls pressured or forced to
engage in prostitution by their families out of economic necessity.
There was no information available on the extent of prostitution in the
country. Security forces encouraged prostitution and were customers.
There were unconfirmed reports that security forces harassed and raped
prostitutes.
There were reports that women were trafficked (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
There were no laws preventing sexual harassment; the extent of the
problem was unknown. On October 25, security forces in Kinshasa
attacked women for wearing tight pants. Ten soldiers and two policemen
were arrested for beating and tearing clothes off women in Kinshasa. At
year's end, it was unknown if any action had been taken against them.
Women were relegated to a secondary role in society. They
constituted the majority of primary agricultural laborers and small-
scale traders, and they almost exclusively were responsible for child
rearing. In the formal sector, women commonly received less pay for
comparable work. Only rarely did they occupy positions of authority or
high responsibility.
Married women were required by law to obtain their husband's
permission before engaging in routine legal transactions, such as
selling or renting real estate, opening a bank account, accepting
employment, or applying for a passport. The law permits a woman to
inherit her husband's property, to control her own property, and to
receive a property settlement in the event of divorce; however, in
practice, women often were denied these rights, which in some cases was
consistent with traditional law. Widows commonly were stripped of all
possessions--as well as their dependent children--by the deceased
husband's family. Human rights groups and church organizations worked
to combat this custom, but there was little government intervention or
legal recourse available. In addition, women often did not realize that
they could improve their legal inheritance claims by obtaining official
documents that proved their marital status. Women also were denied
custody of their children in divorce cases, but they retained the right
to visit them. Polygyny was practiced, although it was illegal. Father-
child relationships resulting from polygynous unions were recognized
legally, but only the first wife was recognized legally as a spouse.
There were a number of active and effective women's groups
throughout the country.
Children.--Government spending on programs for children's welfare
was almost nonexistent. Primary school education was not compulsory,
free, or universal. In public schools, parents formally were required
to pay a small fee, and informally expected to pay teachers' salaries.
Many children were not able to attend school because their parents
could not afford to send them. According to UNICEF, net primary school
attendance was 51 percent. Attendance rates for girls were much lower
because parents with meager financial resources preferred to send their
sons to school.
FGM was not widespread but was performed on girls among isolated
groups (see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child prostitution was a serious problem (see Section 5, Women).
The FARDC and other armed groups continued to have child soldiers
in their ranks. During the year, the Government demobilized an
estimated 3,080 children, and there were no reports that the Government
actively recruited children; however, there were numerous reports that
it provided support to Mai Mai groups, which continued to recruit and
use child soldiers. The Government continued to collaborate with UNICEF
and other partners to demobilize child soldiers, participated in an
international program to demobilize child soldiers, and finalized the
national demobilization and disarmament committee's plan for children
associated with armed groups.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
According to a November 2003 report by a U.N. Special Rapporteur,
between 25,000 and 50,000 child refugees, war orphans, and children
accused of witchcraft or sorcery lived on the streets throughout the
country, although some of those who were not orphans returned to their
families at day's end. So-called child sorcerers were accused of having
mystical powers and their families often abandoned them, most often
because of socio-economic difficulties.
There was widespread discrimination and violence by average
citizens against these children, who were widely perceived to be street
thugs who engaged in petty crime, begging, and prostitution. There were
numerous reports of collusion between police and street children,
including street children who paid police officers for the right to
sleep in abandoned buildings, and children who paid police a percentage
of goods they stole in large markets. In addition, there were reports
that different groups and individuals regularly rented groups of these
children to disrupt public order.
The Government was ill-equipped to deal with large numbers of
street children. On September 22, 12 children between the ages of 12
and 17 were arrested and convicted of being ``vagabonds,'' destruction
of property, and illegal occupation of state buildings in Kisangani.
The children were originally sentenced to prison until age 21, but
MONUC negotiated their release contingent on a family or organization
agreeing to take care of them. The judge told journalists that he knew
the sentence was harsh, but the state did not have structures in place
to deal with delinquent minors.
Violence against street children increased during the year.
Soldiers and police subjected street children to harassment (see
Section 1.a.). There were unconfirmed reports that security forces in
Kinshasa rounded up street children and transferred them outside the
city. In late September, street children attacked civilians and local
artisanal miners in Mbuji Mayi. In retaliation, the next week, miners
and mobs of civilians killed at least 20 street children. Some were
burned alive and others were beheaded. There were reports that
civilians burned alive a policeman and soldier for complicity with the
street children. In November, Parliament conducted an inquiry into the
killings and recommended that some local government officials,
including the governor, be dismissed. At year's end, there was no known
action taken against those who committed the killings.
No action had been taken against those responsible for killing
alleged child sorcerers in 2003 by year's end.
There were several active and effective local and international NGO
groups working with MONUC and UNICEF to promote children's rights
throughout the country, and with the Government's national committee on
disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration.
In areas under marginal government control, children committed and
were victims of serious crimes. Credible estimates of the total number
of children associated with armed groups varied widely from 15,000 to
30,000, many of whom were very young, including a 7-year-old boy who
served with PUSIC. Armed groups continued to abduct and forcibly
recruit children to serve as forced laborers, porters, combatants,
``war wives,'' and sex slaves (see Sections 5, Women and Trafficking,
and 6.c.).
The MONUC Ituri report found that all Ituri armed groups had
``recruited and trained children to turn them into combatants.''
According to some estimates, during the year, 40 percent of each Ituri
militia force may have been composed of children under 18, and
estimates suggested that 6,000 children belonged to armed groups, with
several thousand others possibly involved in local defense groups. The
MONUC Ituri report indicated that children have been used as
combatants, laborers in the illegal exploitation of natural resources,
domestic labor, and sexual slaves. The report also noted that there
have been several allegations that Uganda and Rwanda have aided and
abetted Ituri armed groups to recruit and train children. The Coalition
to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reported that armed groups continued
to use approximately 2,000 Rwandan children as soldiers in Ituri
District.
During the year, children were voluntarily and forcibly recruited
into armed groups; however, no reliable data was available on the
number of children recruited willingly versus forcibly. Many children
joined an armed group based on their ethnic origins and their places in
shifting military alliances; however, most made calculated decisions
about their best chances for survival and aligned with whichever group
looked most likely to support them.
In anticipation of promised salaries for those soldiers who
integrated in the national army, some commanders of armed groups
reportedly recruited child soldiers during the first part of the year
and regularly diverted the salaries of child soldiers for their own
gain.
During the year, armed groups pursued several recruitment targets
and engaged in forced recruitment and recruitment of previously
demobilized child soldiers. Credible sources reported that in May and
June, former Mundundu-40 commanders allied with ex-RCD/G combatants
recruited previously demobilized children in and around Bukavu.
In May, the FARDC arrested former Mundundu-40 Commander Biyoyo for
unauthorized recruitment of soldiers, including minors. However, Biyoyo
was given a provisional release and was said to have fled the country.
Biyoyo's former Operations Chief, Antunov, threatened minors who
testified against Biyoyo and aggressively targeted them for recruitment
in mid-June. Although some children returned to their homes or went to
child demobilization centers, some reported for duty out of fear.
In June, ex-RCD/G elements led by former commanders such as General
Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi recruited children in North and South Kivu,
notably in Minova, Kalehe, and Masisi, to serve as soldiers. In
September, ex-ANC forces in Ngungu kidnapped and forcibly recruited a
12-year-old boy, who, after a week of military training in Masisi, was
sent to Walikale to serve as a soldier. A U.N. expert panel on resource
exploitation reported that, in mid-year, Rwandan officials attempted to
recruit demobilized Rwandan and Congolese soldiers and Congolese
refugees in support of ex-RCD/G combatants; however, the Rwandan
Government denied these claims. In addition to offering enrollment
incentives, Rwandan officials, Nkunda, and other Congolese officials
reportedly pursued recruitment aims through the use of intimidation
tactics. For example, in late June, local sources reported that Nkunda
forcibly recruited soldiers, including children in Kalehe, by
threatening to shoot those who did not volunteer. In addition, credible
sources reported that an unknown number of children were recruited out
of refugee camps in Rwanda. There were also unconfirmed reports that
some children recruited by ex-RCD/G elements following former
commanders such as General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi were sent to
Rwanda for training; however, these reports had not been independently
confirmed by year's end.
Children were often treated brutally if they failed to obey orders.
Child soldiers recruited by Mai Mai in Maniema Province told the U.N.
Special Rapporteur that they were subjected to severe punishment by
their superiors and had been initiated into war using fetishist rituals
involving cannibalism. Some children were beaten or placed in detention
for falling asleep while on guard duty, wasting ammunition, failure to
obey orders, or desertion. In detention, they were often tortured and
otherwise ill-treated. For example, in May, AI reported that
approximately 20 former RCD/G child soldiers were being held in
overcrowded conditions with poor sanitation and food in Goma. Some were
held for military offenses. In one case, according to the MONUC Ituri
report, a child was executed.
Girls associated with armed groups were often assaulted, raped, and
infected with HIV/AIDS. In Ituri, girls have been utilized as foot
soldiers, domestics, and sex slaves. The MONUC Ituri report found that
all Ituri armed groups recruited girls, often forcibly, into their
ranks. Once released, denial, shame, and fear prevented many of them
from seeking assistance (see Section 5, Women).
During the year, armed groups demobilized 3,080 child soldiers with
assistance from MONUC, UNICEF, and NGOs.
Trafficking in Persons.--There were no specific laws prohibiting
trafficking in persons, and trafficking occurred. There are laws that
prohibit slavery, rape, and child prostitution that could be used to
prosecute traffickers; however, the laws were rarely enforced. The
Government has not prosecuted any cases against traffickers; however,
during the year, judicial authorities in South Kivu initiated legal
proceedings against an individual suspected of recruiting child
soldiers.
The country was a source for women and children trafficked for the
purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Internal trafficking
for forced labor and forced sexual exploitation occurred. In addition,
child prostitution was common. The forcible recruitment and use of
children associated with armed groups contributed to trafficking (see
Section 5, Children).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that
government officials participated in or facilitated trafficking in
humans; however, there were unconfirmed reports that local government
officials facilitated the trafficking of children from Rwandan refugee
camps for use as soldiers in the DRC.
The Government had few programs in place to prevent trafficking.
The Ministry of Women's and Family Affairs and Labor implemented an
action plan against sexual exploitation in conjunction with an
international organization. In addition, the Government coordinated
with other countries on trafficking issues and attended some regional
meetings on trafficking in persons; however, government efforts to
combat trafficking were limited by a lack of resources and information,
and because much of the country's trafficking problem was related to
the use of children associated with armed groups in areas under
marginal government control. The Government had few resources for
training; however, it permitted training of officials by foreign
governments and NGOs. The Government had no funding available for
protection services. Victims were not prosecuted.
In areas under marginal government control, there continued to be
reports that armed groups kidnapped men, women, and children and forced
them to provide menial labor and sexual services for members of armed
groups (see Sections 1.g. and 6.c.). In addition, armed groups abducted
children to serve as combatants in areas under their control (see
Section 5, Children).
The Government repeatedly criticized the abduction of women and
children by armed groups.
Persons with Disabilities.--Persons with disabilities were
subjected to discrimination in employment, education, and the provision
of other government services. Persons with disabilities were exempt
from some civil laws, such as paying some taxes, or in some cases,
paying customs duties.
The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings or government
services for persons with disabilities. There were some special private
schools that used private funds and limited public support to provide
education and vocational training to students who were blind or had
physical disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were at least 200
separate ethnic groups, which generally were concentrated regionally
and spoke distinct primary languages. There was no majority ethnic
group; some of the largest ethnic groups were the Luba, Kongo, and
Anamongo. Four indigenous languages--Kiswahili, Lingala, Kikongo, and
Tshiluba--had official status. French was the language of government,
commerce, and education. Societal discrimination on the basis of
ethnicity was practiced widely by members of virtually all ethnic
groups and was evident in private hiring patterns in some cities;
however, intermarriage across major ethnic and regional divides was
common in large cities.
President Kabila's cabinet and office staff were geographically and
ethnically diverse. However, a significant amount of political
influence remained in the hands of individuals from Katanga. Katangans
in the FARDC were more likely both to be promoted and to be paid than
persons from other regions. The leadership of former rebel groups also
was geographically and ethnically diverse. However, a significant
amount of influence in the MLC continued to be held by members from the
Equateur Province, and, in the RCD/G leadership, by Tutsis. A
significant number of ethnic groups were represented in the Government.
Birth on national territory did not necessarily confer citizenship.
The Government did not recognize the citizenship claims of some
longtime residents whose ancestors immigrated to the country, including
certain Congolese Tutsis from South Kivu, known as Banyamulenge, who
fled to the country from Rwanda. The Transitional Constitution provides
for a more inclusive approach to the Banyamulenge, and by year's end,
Parliament had adopted a new nationality law, which for the first time
recognized a person's right to acquire citizenship if the person was
born in the country or had one Congolese parent; however, the
Government had not yet promulgated the law.
After ex-RCD/G combatants following former commanders such as
General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi took control of Bukavu in late May,
anti-Tutsi sentiment increased. Tutsis were harassed and received
threats, and some reported being afraid of abuse for appearing Rwandan.
On October 6, a MONUC vehicle with peacekeepers and their Congolese
interpreter broke down in central Bukavu. A few hundred persons
surrounded the vehicle, accused the interpreter of being a Rwandan, and
threatened to burn the vehicle and kill him. The ANR and the FARDC
detained the interpreter, a Mushi from north of Bukavu, for several
hours and interrogated him on the suspicion that he was a Rwandan
infiltrator. The street incident broke up when the FARDC fired shots
into the air. According to MONUC, over the course of the incident, 9
persons were hurt, 15 MONUC vehicles were damaged, the RCD/G office was
destroyed, and 29 shops were looted. Government officials, including a
vice governor and the local head of the ANR, encouraged the crowd.
During the second half of the year, FARDC soldiers in South Kivu
and northern Katanga harassed, arbitrarily arrested, and threatened
Banyamulenge. For example, there were reports that dozens of men
attempting to return to South Kivu were arrested on their return by
Congolese officials at the border, where they were held on suspicion of
being spies or military infiltrators.
During the year, in Ituri District of Orientale Province, fighting
between members of the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups (and other smaller
tribes allied with either the Lendu or the Hema) resulted in numerous
deaths.
There were reports that Ituri armed groups forced members of other
ethnic groups to work in labor camps (see Sections 1.g. and 6.c.).
Indigenous People.--The country had a population of fewer than
10,000 Pygmies (Batwa), who were believed to have been the country's
original inhabitants; during the year, societal discrimination against
them continued. Although they were citizens, most Pygmies continued to
live in remote areas and took no part in the political process. Unlike
in the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that Pygmies were
targeted for cannibalism.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that
some tribes used Pygmies as slaves or as part of burial ceremonies;
however, there were a few unconfirmed reports during the year.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--Anti-Tutsi sentiments--
including appeals to force Tutsis into exile and practice
discrimination toward Tutsis in regard to citizenship rights--were
expressed in private and government-affiliated media. In addition to
inflammatory articles and editorials in the major government-affiliated
newspaper, L'Avenir, government-affiliated television talk shows
featured guests with extreme, anti-Tutsi views.
During the year, there were credible reports that certain members
of the Government directly and indirectly encouraged hate speech that
advocated forcing Tutsis into exile. For example, there were
unconfirmed reports that some hard-line government officials provided
funding for Pastor Theodore Ngoy to buy television airtime to incite
hatred against Congolese Tutsis by claiming they were Rwandans who were
in the country to infiltrate society. Such programs were aired
periodically through the first half of the year.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law permits all workers, except
magistrates and military personnel, to form without prior authorization
and to join trade unions; workers formed unions in practice. Since the
vast majority of the country's economy was in the informal sector, only
a small percentage of the country's workers were organized.
The Labor Code prohibits discrimination against unions, although
this regulation was not enforced effectively. The law also requires
employers to reinstate workers fired for union activities.
In areas under marginal government control, there were no reports
of functioning labor unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right of unions to conduct activities without
interference and the right to bargain collectively; however, in
practice, the Government did not protect these rights, due in part to a
lack of resources, and collective bargaining was not used in practice.
In the public sector, the Government set wages by decree, and the
unions could only act in an advisory capacity. There are no export
processing zones.
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised
this right in practice. The law requires unions to have prior consent
and adhere to lengthy mandatory arbitration and appeal procedures.
During the year, there was increased labor union activity, and public
sector unions organized several legal strikes to call for increased
wages and back pay. The law prohibits employers or the Government from
retaliating against strikers, but this prohibition was not enforced.
By year's end, most civil servants' salaries were not current, and
most arrears had not been addressed. Some arrears were paid to certain
workers with particularly effective unions or critical jobs. For
example, striking air traffic controllers received some back pay, but
striking customs officials did not.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
There were unconfirmed reports that some tribes used Pygmies as
slaves.
Soldiers used forced labor during the year (see Sections 1.g., 5
and 6.d.).
In areas under marginal government control, there were numerous
reports that armed groups used forced labor. Armed groups routinely
forced civilians to carry heavy loads, including looted household items
and livestock, for long distances without pay, and abducted men, women,
and children and forced them to work in rural areas.
Armed groups and, to a lesser extent, government forces, abducted
women and children and forced them to provide household labor or sexual
services for periods ranging from several days to several months (see
Section 5). Specific information was difficult to obtain due to limited
NGO access and victims' reluctance to discuss their experiences because
of possible reprisal from the perpetrators and the social stigma
attached.
In April, there were reports that FARDC soldiers in Kabare
territory, South Kivu forced civilians to construct their camp,
including cutting down trees, digging holes, and building houses. There
were reports of armed groups in Ituri and Maniema forcing civilians,
including children, to dig for minerals (see Section 6.d.).
Certain ex-RCD/G combatants, led by former commanders such as
General Nkunda and Colonel Mutebusi, forcibly conscripted adults and
children, often forcing those they had arbitrarily arrested to train
and serve with them (see Section 5).
There were credible reports that the FNI and FRPI abducted and
detained civilians in up to 16 labor camps near Lake Albert, and that
MONUC dismantled a UPC labor camp near Lake Albert (see Section 1.g.).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that CNDD/FDD
soldiers forced villagers to perform labor.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for
Employment.--There are laws to protect children from exploitation in
the workplace; however, the Government did not effectively implement
these laws during the year, and child labor was a problem throughout
the country. The employment of children of all ages was common in the
informal sector and in subsistence agriculture, which were the dominant
portions of the economy. Such employment often was the only way a child
or family could obtain money for food. The Government established a
national committee on child labor in 2002, but it was unclear if it was
operating by year's end. The legal minimum age for full-time employment
without parental consent is 18 years. Employers legally may hire minors
between the ages of 15 and 18 with the consent of a parent or guardian,
but those under age 16 may work a maximum of 4 hours per day. Larger
enterprises reportedly did not exploit child labor. Neither the
Ministry of Labor, which was responsible for enforcement, nor labor
unions effectively enforced child labor laws.
There continued to be reports that forced child labor occurred (see
Sections 5 and 6.c.). Some parents forced their children to leave
school and beg in the streets, hunt or fish, or engage in prostitution
to earn money for their families.
In areas under marginal government control, there were numerous
credible reports that armed groups used forced child labor, including
the recruitment of children--reportedly with the aid of local Congolese
officials--for use in armed conflict, and the use of girls as sex
slaves and prostitutes (see Sections 2.d., 5, and 6.c.).
Children, including child soldiers, were involved in the illegal
exploitation of natural resources in Ituri District to the benefit of
their militia commanders. In December 2003, MONUC visited gold mines in
UPC-controlled Iga Barriere and FNI-controlled Kilo-Etat. At Iga
Barriere (the former headquarters of the Kilo Moto Mining Company),
MONUC found that three quarters of the mine pit team were under the age
of 18, most between 11 and 15. Reportedly, the children were all active
or former child soldiers who worked on behalf of their UPC commanders.
An FNI commander admitted he had 12 children, including an 11-year-old,
in his armed group, and there were many child soldiers at a nearby
mine. There were continued reports that re-recruitment of former child
solders took place to secure mine labor for armed groups. There
continued to be reports that, often because of economic necessity,
children worked in mines extracting colombo-tantalite ore, or coltan,
used to make mobile telephones.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Most citizens were engaged in
subsistence agriculture or commerce outside the formal wage sector. The
average wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family, and most workers relied on extended family and informal
economic activity to survive. Minimum wage laws continued to be
suspended at year's end. Civil servant salaries remained very low,
ranging between $4 and $20 per month, and salary arrears continued to
be a problem (see Section 6.b.). However, depending on their position,
civil servants, including police and soldiers, frequently supplemented
their incomes through extracting bribes and various other practices of
corruption.
The maximum legal workweek (excluding voluntary overtime) was 48
hours. One 24-hour rest period was required every 7 days.
The Labor Code specifies health and safety standards; however, the
Ministry of Labor did not effectively enforce these standards. No
provisions in the Labor Code permit workers to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without jeopardizing their continued
employment.
In areas under marginal government control, most citizens relied on
informal economic activity, humanitarian aid, and scavenging in the
forest to survive. Due to extended pillaging, extortion by armed
groups, and instability forcing families to flee their homes and crops,
poverty and economic hardship generally were more severe in the Kivus,
Maniema, Northern Katanga, and Ituri than in areas under government
control. Salary arrears for police, soldiers, and other public
officials encouraged extortion and theft from the population.
__________
REPUBLIC OF CONGO \1\
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\1\ The U.S. Chancery in Brazzaville was destroyed in the 1997
civil war, and there is no American chancery or interim office space in
the country. However, American diplomats are assigned to Kinshasa and
travel by boat to Brazzaville on extended temporary duty status to
cover the full range of bilateral issues.
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The Republic of Congo is ruled by a government in which most of the
decision-making authority is vested directly in the President and his
administration. Denis Sassou-Nguesso was elected President in 2002, and
legislative elections were held in 2002 for the Senate and the National
Assembly in all jurisdictions, except for parts of the Pool region
where an insurgency was active. The President's Congolese Workers'
Party won the May and June 2002 legislative elections and controlled
129 seats in the 137-seat National Assembly. Both the presidential and
legislative elections were determined ``not to contradict the will of
the people'' by independent monitors; however, there were some flaws
and irregularities in the administration of these elections.
Uncontrolled and unidentified armed elements remained active in the
Pool region, despite an ongoing demobilization and reintegration
program following the March 2003 Peace Accord between the Government
and Pasteur Ntumi's Ninja rebels. The judiciary continued to be
overburdened, underfunded, and subject to political influence, bribery,
and corruption.
The security forces include the police, the Gendarmerie, and the
armed forces; however, the functional distinction between these forces
was not always clear. In practice, the overlapping of operations by the
police, the Gendarmerie, and the armed forces were common. At times,
the Government did not have full control over some members or units of
the security forces. Some members of the security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The economy remained in transition from a centrally directed
economy to a mixed market-oriented economy. The population was
estimated to be slightly less than 3 million, and approximately 70
percent lived in poverty. Economic growth was estimated at 1.3 percent
in 2003.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some significant improvements, serious problems remained. At
times, some elements of the security forces reportedly were responsible
for beatings, physical abuse of detainees, rapes, arbitrary arrest and
detention, looting, and solicitation of bribes and theft. Impunity and
lack of transparency were still problems. Prison conditions were poor.
Prolonged pretrial detention and lack of fair trials were problems.
Security forces at times infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The
Government at times limited freedom of the press. There were limits on
freedom of movement in some areas of the Pool region because of
uncontrolled and unidentified armed elements. Domestic violence and
societal discrimination against women were problems. There were
unconfirmed reports of trafficking. Discrimination on the basis of
ethnic regions remained a problem, including employment discrimination
against minority ethnic groups such as indigenous Pygmies. Child labor
was a problem. Citizens sometimes resorted to vigilante justice and
killed suspected criminals.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings by the Government or its agents, and,
unlike in the previous year, there were few reports that government
forces killed civilians in the Pool region; however, at least one
person was beaten to death in police custody during the year. In
September, an 18-year-old male died from injuries from a beating
received while in custody for suspected theft.
No action was taken against members of the security forces
responsible for civilian deaths in 2003.
There was no action taken against members of the security forces
who reportedly summarily executed several soldiers in 2002.
There continued to be occasional deaths due to mob violence, as
civilians took vigilante action against presumed criminals, or as
individuals settled private disputes; however, police at times
intervened to stop such action. For example, the press reported a man
killed his wife out of jealousy, and another man killed his uncle for
suspected sorcery.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year.
The daughter of a local nongovernmental organization (NGO)
employee, who was reported missing in 2003, remained missing at year's
end.
On June 21, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave the
Government until year's end to provide more persuasive arguments in the
1999 case of 359 persons who were separated from their families by
security forces upon returning to Brazzaville from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and who subsequently disappeared. During the
year, government officials implicated in the alleged disappearances
spoke out describing their view of the events, claiming that they were
not involved and did not know what happened to those who disappeared.
In September, members of the Government went to the ICJ to argue the
case. In December, the ICJ extended the deadline for responses and
replies from the concerned parties until 2005. Also in December, a
French court determined that it had no legal standing to pursue the
case.
c. Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, in
practice, security forces sometimes used beatings to coerce confessions
or to punish detainees. During the year, there were reports that abuses
continued in the jail system, and one person died while in custody (see
Section 1.a.).
In June, security forces reportedly beat a landowner after he
requested payment from a colonel for land the colonel was using to
build a house.
Security forces beat persons who were on strike during the year
(see Section 2.b.).
During the year, there were unconfirmed reports by NGOs that female
detainees were raped and that elements of the security forces beat
citizens.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces regularly harassed and extorted refugee returnees and residents
in outlying areas.
In certain areas of the Pool, unidentified armed elements, some of
whom could be uncontrolled government security forces or former Ninjas,
continued to rob trains and harass civilians and international NGO
workers. There were reports by NGOs and members of the private sector
that unidentified armed elements also extorted bribes in the Pool
Region. The Government investigated these attacks but was unable to
determine who the perpetrators were.
There were no developments, nor were any likely, in the 2002 case
of the soldiers responsible for robbing, beating, and, in some cases,
raping of fleeing citizens in Brazzaville.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that elements of
Ntumi's Ninjas were engaged in extortion and harassment.
Prison conditions remained poor due to overcrowded facilities and
scarcity of resources to provide food or health care to the inmates.
Prisons functioned in Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, and, to a lesser
degree, in the smaller, more remote towns of Owando, Ouesso, and
Djambala. The Ministry of Justice continued to repair some prisons
during the year; however, lack of funds hindered efforts to improve
physical facilities and to provide food and medicine.
During the year, there continued to be reports that detainees held
at police stations often were subjected to beatings, overcrowding, and
extortion.
Women were incarcerated with men, and juveniles were held with
adults. Pretrial detainees were detained with convicted prisoners.
Access to prisons and detention centers by domestic and
international human rights groups continued to be granted. Local human
rights groups, including the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights,
the Association for the Human Rights of the Incarcerated, the National
Counsel for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Detained
Persons, and a Catholic Church organization visited prisons during the
year. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued
regular visits to prisons and detention centers throughout the country.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, elements of the security
forces committed such acts. There were fewer reports of arbitrary
arrest and detention than in previous years.
Police and the gendarmerie are responsible for maintaining domestic
order. Although the Human Rights Commission was established for the
public to report abuses, NGOs reported that there was still impunity
for some elements of the security forces who committed abuses. Lack of
transparency was still a problem. In late December 2003, the Government
began a security and anti-crime campaign called Operation Hope to
reduce the amount of insecurity, local drug trafficking, and crime in
the country. The campaign was still in operation at year's end;
however, there are no official reports on the effectiveness of the
campaign. During the year, the ICRC provided resources for human rights
training for police officers.
The Code of Penal Procedure requires that a person be apprehended
openly, that a lawyer be present during initial questioning, that
warrants be issued before arrests are made, and that detainees be
brought before a judge within 3 days and either charged or released
within 4 months; however, in practice, the Government often violated
these legal provisions. Detainees generally were informed of the
charges levied against them, and lawyers and family members usually
were given access to them. There is a system of bail called a
``caution''; however, more than 70 percent of the population has an
income below poverty level and could not afford to pay bail. Prolonged
pretrial detention due to judicial backlogs was a problem.
In January, a police sergeant was arrested without charge. In
September, a landowner (who also was a university teacher) was arrested
without charge while trying to collect back rent from a tenant. Both
were still in detention without charge at year's end.
Security forces detained a journalist during the year (see Section
2.a.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice the judiciary continued to
be overburdened, underfunded, and subject to political influence,
bribery, and corruption. Lack of resources continued to be a severe
problem; almost nothing remained of judicial records, case decisions,
and law books following the looting during the civil wars of the late
1990s.
The judicial system consists of traditional and local courts,
courts of appeal, the High Court of Justice, the Supreme Court, and a
Constitutional Court. Both the Constitutional Court and High Court of
Justice were created under the 2002 Constitution. The Constitutional
Court's function is to adjudicate the constitutionality of laws and
judicial decisions; the High Court of Justice's function is to review
judicial decisions as well as try the President and other high
authorities for crimes in the conduct of their official duties. By
year's end, the Constitutional Court was operational. Members of the
High Court of Justice were appointed, but due to lack of funds the
court was not yet functioning.
In general, defendants were tried in a public court of law presided
over by a state-appointed magistrate. The defense has access to
prosecution evidence and testimony and the right to counter it. In
formal courts, defendants are presumed innocent and have the right of
appeal; however, the legal caseload far exceeded the capacity of the
judiciary to ensure fair and timely trials. Some cases have never
reached the court system.
In rural areas, traditional courts continued to handle many local
disputes, particularly property and probate cases, and domestic
conflicts that could not be resolved within the family.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, in
practice security forces at times illegally entered, searched, and
looted private homes. During the year, military, gendarmerie, and
police forces occasionally beat civilians and looted homes sometimes in
revenge for complaints filed against them by the civilians (see Section
1.c.). In some areas of the Pool region, intimidation and harassment by
uncontrolled and unidentified armed elements increased according to
reports from some international NGOs, the private sector, and civilians
(see Section 1.c.).
Citizens generally believed that the Government monitored private
mail and telephone communications.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, although the Constitution also
criminalizes certain types of speech such as incitement to ethnic
hatred, violence, or civil war; however, the Government at times
limited these rights in practice; however, the Government did not
restrict academic freedom.
There was no state-owned newspaper; however, there were several
closely allied with the Government. There were 15 to 20 private
newspapers that appeared weekly in Brazzaville, which were critical of
the Government. Newspapers continued to publish on occasion open
letters written by opponents of the Government who were in the country
or lived abroad. The print media did not circulate widely beyond
Brazzaville and the commercial center of Pointe Noire; however, it
reached approximately one-third of the population.
Most citizens obtained their news from the radio or television
broadcast media, primarily government-controlled radio in nonurban
areas. There was one privately owned radio station and one privately
owned television station. There were two government-owned radio
stations, Radio Congo and Radio Brazzaville and one government-owned
television station, Tele Congo. There were several satellite television
connections available, which permitted viewing of a range of news and
entertainment programs. The news coverage and the editorial positions
of the state-owned media reflected government priorities and views. A
number of Brazzaville-based journalists represented international
media, such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Associated
Press, Reuters, Agence France Presse, Voice of America (VOA), Canal
France International (CFI), and TV5.
Government journalists were not independent and were expected to
report positively on government activities. There was evidence that
when government journalists deviated from this there were
repercussions. For example, in August, a broadcaster at government-
owned Radio-Congo presented some information about undeclared and
unofficial leave taken by some government ministers. The broadcaster
was subsequently moved to the Ministry of Education by the Minister of
Communication and was no longer working for the radio station.
In September, a journalist at Government-owned Tele-Congo
interviewed an opposition leader on his talk show, who was critical of
the President's overall policies. The station management ordered the
journalist to stay home until a decision was made concerning his tenure
at Tele-Congo. No decision was made by year's end.
In November, the Ministry of Foreign affairs officially informed
freelance international journalists, some of whom worked for services
such as the BBC and Reuters and some who also held jobs with
government-controlled media outlets such as Tele-Congo, that their
accreditation could be revoked if stories reflecting adversely on the
country's image were reported. In November, the Government asked the
BBC to remove the local BBC correspondent from the country--one of the
few locally based journalists who was not linked to a national media
service. The BBC complied and was in the process of reassigning the
correspondent at year's end.
Also in November, a correspondent for Radio France International
(RFI) arrived in Brazzaville to report on the 1999 disappearance of
hundreds of persons (see Section 1.b.) and interviewed Pasteur Ntumi.
During the visit, security forces detained and interrogated the RFI
reporter during the evening, despite the intervention of the French
Embassy. After the interrogation, she was detained at her hotel to
prevent her from meeting a member of the opposition, and security
forces subsequently escorted her back to her flight to France.
Security forces beat journalists who were on strike during the year
(see Section 2.b.).
The Press Law allows for monetary penalties for defamation and
incitement to violence but does not require prison terms for violators.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice; however, in
July, journalists demonstrated over nonpayment of their wages in front
of a public building in Brazzaville, and security forces forcibly
dispersed them. Some of the demonstrators were injured. No payments
were made to the journalists by year's end. Groups that wished to hold
public assemblies were required to inform the Ministry of Territorial
Administration, which could withhold authorization for meetings that
threatened public order.
All groups or associations--political, social, or economic--were
generally required to register with the Ministry of Territorial
Administration. Although registration could sometimes be subject to
political influence, there was no evidence that this occurred during
the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
All organizations, including religious organizations, are required
to register with and be approved by the Government. There were no
reports of discrimination against religious groups in this process,
although all admit that it is time-consuming and lengthy. Penalties for
failure to register involve fines and potential confiscation of goods,
invalidation of contracts, and deportation for foreigners, but no
criminal penalties are applicable.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, in practice, the Government imposed some limitations.
During January and February, military and police checkpoints, which at
times interfered with the movement of civilians, were instituted as a
result of the December 2003 attacks by uncontrolled Republican Guard
government forces on Ninja elements in the BaCongo district of
Brazzaville. International NGOs reported renewed harassment and
intimidation by uncontrolled and unidentified armed elements in certain
areas of the Pool region during the year, and one reduced its small
expatriate staff (see Section 1.c.).
The Constitution prohibits forced exile; however, the Government
prevented the return of some citizens.
NGOs working in the Pool Region reported that returning internally
displaced persons (IDPs) still had not repopulated certain war-torn
areas at year's end. The Ministry of Social Affairs reported that all
IDPs who wished to return to their villages had returned by year's end.
During the civil conflicts of the 1990s, tens of thousands of
citizens fled into neighboring countries, particularly Gabon and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were 283 returnees from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and 344 returnees from Gabon
during the year. Approximately 15,000 citizens fled to Gabon and,
according to U.N. figures, 12,000 persons remained there because they
did not wish to return and had integrated into Gabonese society.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees.
The country continued to host a small number of Burundians and
approximately 3,000 mainly Rwandan Hutus, who remained within distinct
Rwandan sectors and communities within villages or cities. At year's
end, there was only 1 camp of less than 300 Rwandan Hutus, mostly women
and children, located north of Brazzaville. The camp was not considered
a refugee camp by UNHCR and has not received international assistance
since the mid-1990s. During the year, UNHCR continued some assistance
to Angolan refugees in Pointe Noire; however, most Angolan refugees
either returned to Angola or were integrated into local communities.
UNHCR estimates that there were approximately 1,800 Angolan refugees
from Cabinda in the country at year's end.
The Government also provides temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967
Protocol.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in 2002
elections that independent observers determined did ``not contradict
the will of the people,'' despite obvious flaws like insufficient
numbers of ballots at certain polling stations, confusion over their
locations, and the boycott by some opposition members who claimed the
elections were biased. In addition, the Constitution and the elections
also were viewed by some international NGOs and foreign observers as
designed to protect the status quo. The elections remained incomplete
at year's end because of continued lack of security in some areas of
the Pool, and 8 of the region's 12 National Assembly seats remained
vacant at year's end.
The state remained highly centralized under the President; the
President appointed key regional and local leaders. Sub-national
government entities lacked an independent revenue base and did not
represent a significant check on central authority.
Major political parties included the ruling PCT, the Pan-African
Union for Social Democracy, the Congolese Movement for Democracy and
Integrated Development, the Union for Democracy and the Republic, and
the Rally for Democracy and Social Progress. Some opposition party
leaders remained in exile while other party officials remained in the
country. There was no cohesive opposition, and many of the smaller
political parties were more personality-centered than they were
representative of a significant constituency.
In March 2003, the Government and the Ninjas of Pasteur Ntumi
signed a peace accord that called for a disarmament, demobilization,
and reintegration (DDR) program; however, during the year, the full DDR
program was replaced by a demobilization and reintegration (DR)
program, funded by the European Union (EU) and administered by the U.N.
Development Program (UNDP). By August, the DR program had progressed
slowly, although not fully in place in some areas of the Pool because
of unidentified armed elements that remained active.
There were press reports of government corruption particularly
regarding the misuse of the country's revenues in the oil sector. To
meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements and obtain approval
of a Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF), the Government had made
some improvements in oil sector transparency by year's end. In
December, the country was approved for a PRGF program that requires
further oil sector transparency, completion of several audits in both
the oil and forestry sectors, and continued debt and arrears repayments
in order to remain on the program.
There were 9 women in the 66-seat Senate and 12 women in the 137-
seat National Assembly but only 129 seats were filled, as 8 seats from
areas of the Pool remained unfilled. There were five female ministers
in the 34-member Cabinet, including the Minister of Agriculture,
Commerce, Primary and Secondary Education, Social Affairs, and Minister
Delegate of Agriculture and Women's Issues. There was one female
candidate in the 2002 presidential election who died in connection with
a random robbery at her home during the year.
Pygmies continued to be excluded from employment opportunities,
social programs and the political process, in part due to their
isolation in remote forested areas of the country, their culture, and
their stigmatization by the majority Bantu population. The Cabinet
included four southerners; however, northerners, including many members
of the President's northern Mbochi or related clans, held many key
posts. Members of southern ethnic groups, who did not support the
Government during the war, were permitted to return to their former
government jobs.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic human rights groups generally operated without
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on
human rights cases. Government officials generally were uncooperative
and unresponsive to local human rights groups; however, government
officials were generally cooperative and responsive to international
organizations.
The ICRC maintained an office in Brazzaville. Access improved for
international humanitarian officials during the year.
The Constitution provides for the establishment of an autonomous
Human Rights Commission, which was established in August 2003. Its
purpose is to act as a watchdog on the Government and react to public
concerns on human rights issues. At year's end, it had not taken any
action.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution specifically prohibits official discrimination;
however, societal discrimination persisted, particularly against women
and Pygmies. Ethnic and particularly regional differences continued.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including rape and
beatings, was widespread but rarely reported. There were no specific
provisions under the law for spousal battery, apart from general
statutes prohibiting assault. Domestic violence usually was handled
within the extended family, and only the more extreme incidents were
brought to the attention of the police.
Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal; however, the Government
did not effectively enforce the law. The Government began compiling
nationwide data on violence against women in 2003; however, no figures
were available by year's end. NGOs, such as the local Human Rights
Center, the Center to Combat Violence Against Women Group, the
International Rescue Committee, the ICRC, and Doctors Without Borders
continued to draw attention to the issue and provided counseling and
assistance to victims.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) was not practiced indigenously, but
may have occurred in some of the immigrant communities from West
African countries where it was more common.
Prostitution is illegal; however, the Government did not
effectively enforce this prohibition.
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on gender and
stipulates that women have the right to equal pay for equal work;
however, in practice women were underrepresented in the formal sector.
Most women worked in the informal sector and thus had little or no
access to employment benefits. Women in rural areas especially were
disadvantaged in terms of education and wage employment and were
confined largely to family farming, petty commerce, and childrearing
responsibilities. Many local and international NGOs have developed
micro-credit and micro-finance programs to address this problem, and
government ministries such as Social Affairs and Agriculture were very
active in addressing these problems. For example, women received
assistance to set up dressmaking and beauty salons as well as gardening
and manioc flour-making to provide an income for their families.
Marriage and family laws overtly discriminate against women. For
example, adultery is illegal for women but not for men. Polygyny is
legal; polyandry is not. While the Legal Code provides that 30 percent
of the husband's estate is transferred to the wife, in practice, the
wife often lost all rights of inheritance upon the death of her spouse,
particularly in the context of traditional or common law marriage. The
symbolic nature of the dowry set in the Family Code often was not
respected, and men were forced to pay excessive bride prices to the
woman's family. As a result, the right to divorce was circumscribed for
some women because they lacked the financial means to reimburse the
bride price to the husband and his family. This problem was more
prevalent in rural areas than in urban centers.
Children.--The Government was committed to protecting the rights
and welfare of children. The Constitution provides children equal
protection under the law. Education was compulsory and tuition free
until the age of 16; however, families were required to pay for books,
uniforms, school fees, etc. Girls and boys attended primary school in
equal numbers; however, school attendance by girls declined
precipitously at the high school and university levels. The adult
literacy rate was unknown but was believed to be approximately 40
percent due to the widespread destruction of the educational system
during the 1990s civil wars.
Teenage girls were often pressured to exchange sex for better
grades, which resulted in both the spread of HIV/AIDS and unwanted and
unplanned pregnancies.
FGM may be performed on girls in some West African immigrant
communities (see Section 5, Women).
There were reports of isolated cases of child prostitution among
the growing numbers of street children from the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC); however, the prevalence of the problem still remained
unclear. According to reports from international and local NGOs and
others, the isolated cases were not linked to trafficking but used as
an economic means by the street children to purchase food and other
items. International organizations were assisting with programs to feed
and shelter DRC street children.
There were a few unconfirmed reports that there was trafficking in
children by West African immigrants to the country (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
During the year, the number of street children increased. UNICEF
estimated that most of the street children in Brazzaville were from the
DRC. Street children from the DRC also were found in Pointe Noire.
Street children were not known to suffer from targeted abuse by
government authorities or vigilante groups; however, they were
vulnerable to sexual exploitation and often fell prey to criminal
elements including drug smugglers. Many of the street children begged
or sold cheap or stolen goods to support themselves; some may have
turned to prostitution or petty theft.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons, and there were unconfirmed reports of
trafficking of children by West African immigrants living in the
country. Trafficking could be prosecuted under existing laws against
slavery, prostitution, rape, illegal immigration, forced labor, and
employer-employee relations. There was no evidence that the Government
has prosecuted any trafficker under these laws.
There were unconfirmed reports that the Republic of Congo was a
country of destination; however, it was not a country of transit or
origin. There were unconfirmed reports that minor relatives of West
African immigrants from Benin and Togo could be victims of trafficking.
There was no evidence of trafficking in men or women. Outside of the
unconfirmed reports of '' minors relatives'' of West African
immigrants, there were no other reports of trafficking in children.
Children from West Africa worked as fishermen, shop workers, street
sellers, or domestic servants. There were reports some were physically
abused. There were reports of isolated cases of child prostitution,
which according to international and local NGOs and others were not
linked to trafficking or forced labor. UNICEF and the International
Rescue Committee had programs to assist with feeding and sheltering DRC
street children. In addition, there was no evidence that any of these
street children were from the Republic of Congo (see Section 5,
Children).
There was no evidence of involvement of government officials in
trafficking, although bribery and corruption were problems.
Persons with Disabilities.--The Constitution prohibits
discrimination based on physical condition; however, in practice, this
prohibition generally was not enforced because the Ministry responsible
for implementation of this provision lacked the necessary funds. There
was no overt official or societal discrimination against persons with
disabilities. There were no laws mandating access for persons with
disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Constitution prohibits
discrimination based on ethnicity; however, the Government did not
enforce this prohibition effectively, and, in practice, many citizens
from southern regions believed that ethnic discrimination persisted.
However, former civilian employees of the Government were encouraged to
return to their former jobs even though they were from southern ethnic
groups that opposed the Government during the civil wars and the
disturbances that followed.
Regional ethnic discrimination was prevalent among all ethnic
groups, was evident in government and private sector hiring and buying
patterns, and apparent in the effective north-south regional
segregation of many urban neighborhoods. The relationship between
ethnic, regional, and political cleavages was inexact; however,
supporters of the Government included persons from mostly, but not
solely, northern ethnic groups, such as the President's Mbochi group
and related clans.
Indigenous People.--The Constitution prohibits discrimination based
on ethnicity; however, the indigenous Pygmy ethnic group, who numbered
in the tens of thousands and lived primarily in forest regions, did not
enjoy equal treatment in the predominantly Bantu society. Pygmies were
severely marginalized in employment, health, and education, in part due
to their isolation in remote forested areas of the country and
different cultural norms. Pygmies usually were considered socially
inferior and had little political voice; however, in recent years,
several pygmy rights groups have developed programs and were actively
focusing on these issues. Many of them were not aware of the concept of
voting and had minimal ability to influence government decisions
affecting their interests. In 2003, a national conference representing
Pygmy groups was held in Brazzaville.
Bantus have exploited many Pygmies, possibly including children, as
cheap labor; however, there was little information regarding the extent
of the problems during the year. There were no reports of forced labor
of Pygmies.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and Labor Code
provide workers with the right to associate and form unions, and
workers exercised this right in practice. Workers, except members of
the security forces, which included police, gendarmerie, and armed
forces, were free to join a union of their choice. Most workers in the
formal wage sector were union members. Employers were prohibited from
discriminating against employees who join unions. There were no
reported firings for union activities; however, salaries were withheld
from teachers who attempted to strike.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for
collective bargaining, and this right was generally respected and
practiced freely. However, collective bargaining was not widespread due
to the severe economic conditions. The Government set industry-specific
minimum wage scales; however, unions usually were able to negotiate
higher wages for their members.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, subject to
conditions established by law, and workers exercised this right. Unions
were free to strike after filing a letter of intent with the Ministry
of Labor, which began a process of non-binding arbitration under the
auspices of a regional labor inspector from the Ministry. The letter of
intent must include the strike date, at which time the strike legally
may begin, even if arbitration is not complete. Employers have the
right to fire workers if they do not give advance notice of a strike.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however
such practices occurred (see Section 5). Bantus reportedly
discriminated against Pygmies in employment; however, during the year,
Pygmy organizations reported that there was no system of forced labor.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Under the Constitution, children under age 16 are not permitted to
work; however, in practice, this law generally was not enforced,
particularly in rural areas and in the informal sector in cities, and
child labor was a problem. Children worked with their families on farms
or in small businesses in the informal sector without government
monitoring or supervision. The Ministry of Labor, which is responsible
for enforcing child labor laws, concentrated its limited resources on
the formal wage sector where its efforts generally were effective.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage, which was
approximately $100 (48,000 CFA francs) per month in the formal sector,
did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
High urban prices and dependent extended families obliged many workers,
including teachers and health workers, to seek secondary employment
beyond their principal employment, mainly in the informal sector.
Regulations provide for a standard workweek of 7 hours per day, 6
days a week with a 1-hour lunch break per day. There were no legal
limits on the number of hours that could be worked per week. The law
stipulates that overtime must be paid for all work in excess of 40
hours per week; however, there is no legal prohibition against
excessive compulsory overtime, which was decided in an agreement
between employer and employee.
Although health and safety regulations require twice yearly visits
by inspectors from the Ministry of Labor, in practice such visits
occurred much less regularly. Unions generally were vigilant in calling
attention to dangerous working conditions; however, the observance of
safety standards often was lax. Workers have no specific right to
remove themselves from dangerous working conditions without
jeopardizing their continued employment.
__________
COTE D'IVOIRE
Laurent Gbagbo became the republic's third elected president in
2000, ending an almost 10-month period of military rule. The election,
which excluded two of the major parties, the Democratic Party of Cote
d'Ivoire (PDCI) and the Rally for Republicans (RDR), was marred by
significant violence and irregularities. The Supreme Court declared
Gbagbo the victor with 53 percent of the vote. In September 2002,
rebellious exiled military members and co-conspirators in Abidjan
simultaneously attacked government ministers and military/security
facilities in Abidjan, Bouake, and Korhogo. The failed coup attempt
evolved into a rebellion, splitting the country in two and escalating
into the country's worst crisis since independence in 1960. Rebel ``New
Forces'' (NF), composed of Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI),
Ivoirian Popular Movement of the Greater West (MPIGO), and Movement for
Justice and Peace (MPJ), retained control in Bouake, Korhogo, and the
northern half of the country.
In January 2003, the political parties signed the French-brokered
Linas-Marcoussis Accord (``Marcoussis Accord''), agreeing to a power-
sharing national reconciliation government with rebel representatives.
President Gbagbo appointed Seydou Diarra as the Prime Minister, and in
March, Prime Minister Diarra formed a government of national
reconciliation of 41 ministers. In July 2003, the National Armed Forces
of Cote d'Ivoire (FANCI) and NF military signed an ``End of the War''
declaration, pledged their support for President Gbagbo, and vowed to
work for the Marcoussis Accord and disarmament, demobilization, and
reintegration (DDR). In September 2003, the NF suspended their
participation in the national reconciliation government and the
reunification committee and boycotted the DDR program, citing security
concerns and slow implementation of the Marcoussis Accord. On February
27, U.N. Resolution 1528 approved the U.N. Operation in Cote d'Ivoire
(ONUCI) deployment of 6,000 peacekeeping troops, joining the French
Licorne force of 4,000. At the end of February, the NF again suspended
their participation in the DDR discussions stating that a date for the
beginning of the real disarmament phase had not been determined jointly
with the NF. Nevertheless, with the participation of U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan and several African heads of state, President Gbagbo
and the leaders of the seven main opposition parties (known as the G7)
met in Ghana on July 29 and 30. The parties agreed to enact political
reforms required by the Marcoussis Accords by August 31, amend Article
35 of the Constitution concerning eligibility for the presidency by
September 30, and begin DDR by October 15.
In November, the Government attacked rebel bases in the north,
breaking an 18-month ceasefire and sparking widespread civil unrest
that resulted in numerous deaths and injuries. The threat of U.N.
sanctions in the wake of the break of the ceasefire provided the
impetus for legislative movement on some of the Marcoussis reforms. By
December 23, Parliament had approved most of the Marcoussis legislative
reforms but some were unacceptable to the opposition. By year's end,
the country remained divided and DDR had not commenced. The NF rebels
controlled the northern 60 percent of the country, while the Government
controlled the slightly smaller but more populous south. The judiciary
continued to operate slowly and to lack transparency, and remained
subject to financial, executive branch, and other outside influences.
Security forces under the Ministries of Defense and Territorial
Administration include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Republican Guard,
Presidential security force, and the Gendarmerie, a branch of the armed
forces with responsibility for general law enforcement. The police
forces are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior. There
were major divisions within the military based on ethnic and political
loyalties. Members of the military participated in seminars on human
rights. The Government did not always maintain effective control of the
security forces. There were numerous credible reports of instances when
security forces acted independently of government authority. The
Government and NF security officials committed numerous human rights
abuses.
The country, which has a population of 16.8 million, was generally
poor but had a historically thriving modern sector. The largely market-
based economy was heavily dependent on commercial agriculture,
characterized by smallholder cash crop production, especially of cocoa
and coffee. After assuming power, the Gbagbo Government began repaying
international arrears and adhering to a balanced budget, steps that led
to the resumption of foreign aid and re-engagement with the Bretton
Woods institutions; however, political instability, widespread
corruption, and the lack of accountable executive and judicial branches
deterred investors. The 2002 rebellion impeded commerce and brought
investment to a virtual halt, as political uncertainty and the division
of the country disrupted traditional trade arrangements and prompted
international financial institutions to suspend their programs in the
country. At year's end, the major international financial institutions
resumed their consultations with the Government, although no
disbursements were being made except World Bank humanitarian-related
projects.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
During the year, both the Government and NF committed serious abuses,
and there were credible reports of pro-government death squad activity,
extrajudicial killings, and disappearances. Security forces frequently
resorted to lethal force to combat widespread violent crime and
sometimes beat detainees and prisoners. The Government failed to bring
perpetrators of most abuses to justice, and members of security forces
operated with relative impunity. Prison conditions improved but
remained harsh and sometimes life threatening. Arbitrary arrests and
detention were common; numerous persons, including opposition members,
journalists, and military officers, were detained for long periods
without trial. The judiciary did not ensure due process. Police
harassment and abuse of noncitizen African immigrants continued.
Privacy rights continued to be restricted severely. State-owned media
created an atmosphere of patriotism, nationalism, and xenophobia. The
Government restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and
movement. The targeting of Muslims suspected of rebel ties diminished
somewhat during the year. A U.N. International Investigation Committee
investigated the violence of March 25-26 and a U.N. Human Rights
Investigation Commission conducted an inquiry into human rights abuses
committed since 2002. Discrimination and violence against women, abuse
of children, and female genital mutilation (FGM) remained serious
problems. There were incidents of violent ethnic confrontation;
societal discrimination based on ethnicity remained a problem. Child
labor as well as reports of forced child labor and trafficking in
children and women also persisted.
The NF's human rights record was extremely poor. The rebels in the
north summarily executed persons, killed numerous civilians,
arbitrarily arrested and detained persons, and conducted arbitrary ad
hoc justice. Mass graves were found in rebel-held territory. In Bouake,
the NF continued to operate the national television station and aired
their leaders' speeches and deliberations. Citizens in the north were
usually cut off from news aired in the south, although they were
occasionally given access to the national radio and television programs
broadcast in the south. Freedom of movement improved somewhat in rebel
held territory. There were no reports that rebels forcibly conscripted
persons during the year and unlike in previous years, there were fewer
reports of the enrollment of children soldiers, and many were released.
Rebels and mercenaries committed particularly grave abuses in the
western region of the country and in the north.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Security forces
committed extrajudicial killings, some of which were believed to be
politically and ethnically motivated (see Section 1.g.). There were
credible but unconfirmed reports that government-linked ``death
squads'' and irregular forces (Liberian fighters, Liberian refugees,
and civilians with ethnic ties to Liberia) committed extrajudicial
killings. Security forces frequently resorted to lethal force to combat
widespread crime. Rebel forces in the north also committed numerous
extrajudicial killings (see Section 1.g.).
There continued to be numerous reports of pro-government militia
groups and some death squads operating in Abidjan during the year.
Credible sources described ``hit lists'' of suspected rebels and rebel
sympathizers circulated within secretive, loyalist security forces in
Abidjan and other areas under government control.
On March 25 and 26, in Abidjan, government forces used lethal force
to suppress a demonstration by opposition parties to protest the
Government's lack of progress in implementing the Marcoussis Accords.
The G7 held the demonstration despite a presidential ban. During this
time, government forces also sought out and attacked opposition
supporters in Abidjan who were not at the demonstration. There were
many conflicting reports on the number of killed and detained in
connection with the march. According to police reports, 37 persons were
killed and 205 were rounded up and then released after having been
screened. The Ministry of Human Rights reported that 79 persons were
killed and 137 wounded. A U.N. Commission of Inquiry reported that more
than 100 persons were killed, more than 274 wounded, and 20 missing.
The U.N. report characterized the events as a ``massacre in which
summary executions, torture, disappearances, and arbitrary detention
were repeatedly committed by units of the security forces and the
parallel forces acting in coordination or in collusion with them.''
Most of the violence took place in persons' homes in the districts of
Abobo, Koumassi, and Anyama, where many northerners and citizens of
Mali and Burkina Faso lived. The violence in these areas accounted for
63 percent of the deaths, 35 percent of the wounded, and 40 percent of
the disappeared. The U.N. report noted that its figures were not
comprehensive, but represented what the Commission was able to gather
under difficult circumstances in the time available.
During the March 25 and 26 clashes, 2 police officers were killed
and 13 persons were arrested in connection with their deaths and
detained at the Abidjan Arrest and Correction Center (MACA). They were
visited and interviewed by the U.N. International Investigating team.
They were provisionally released by May.
During the year, one journalist was killed (see Section 2.a.).
There were credible reports of more than 50 cases in which security
forces used excessive force that resulted in deaths; such cases often
occurred when security forces apprehended suspects or tried to extort
money from taxi drivers and merchants. In one instance during the year,
security forces shot persons while looting (see Section 1.f.).
Authorities detained an increased number of police officers for using
excessive force during the year.
On January 9, at a routine police check, a truck driver who
protested the confiscation of his vehicle's documents was shot and
killed by a police officer in charge of regulating traffic. An
investigation was opened to establish responsibility; however there
were no developments in the investigation by year's end.
The Minister of Human Rights issued a press statement condemning
the human rights abuses, but the Government took no other action to
punish those responsible.
On March 20, two police officers shot and killed a driver near the
market of Yopougon-Wassakara while chasing a suspect. The two officers
were arrested and awaits trial at year's end.
On August 7, at the Gesco corridor near Abidjan, a soldier shot and
killed a street vendor and seriously injured a bus driver. The soldier
tried to force a bus passenger to pay a bribe of $10 (5,000 CFA francs)
and fired at the bus as it drove away. The military prosecutor opened
an investigation to establish whether the soldier intended to kill.
There were no developments in the investigation by year's end.
On October 4, armed men in fatigues abducted a gardener and three
other caretakers from the Abidjan house of opposition RDR party leader
Alassane Ouattara. They killed the gardener and severely beat the
others. RDR officials claimed that members of the Republican Guard were
the perpetrators. The police have opened an investigation, which was
ongoing at year's end.
On February 12, police officer Zamble Bi Lizie was sentenced to 8
years' imprisonment for the August 2003 murder of Doumbia Inza, a taxi
driver.
In February, police officer Baba was sentence to 5 year's
imprisonment and dismissed from the force for the 2002 murder of taxi
driver Khalilou Keita. The taxi drivers' union members were pleased
because they reported that out of the 27 drivers killed by the police
in the past, only 2 police officers had been tried and sentenced.
The investigations into the security force killing of taxi driver
Seydou Konere continued at year's end.
The following 2003 cases remained outstanding at year's end: The
May police shooting of Zougba Eustache Gogbeu; the July killing of an
adult and child by alleged government soldiers in Doloa; the August
shooting of farmer Konate Yaya; and the December shooting of 21 persons
by police and gendarmes forces during an attempted break in the
Ivoirian Television Radio (RTI).
There were no developments in the reported 2002 killings by
security forces.
The Ministry of Justice declared the investigation in the 2000
Yopougon massacre was at a standstill for lack of funds.
On February 11, unidentified assailants beat a member of the PDCI
National Secretary in charge of security.
On June 23, approximately 50 persons wearing Federation of Ivoirian
Students (FESCI), a student group dominated by Ivoirian Popular Front
(FPI) supporters, T-shirts broke into the apartment of Ekissi Achy,
Secretary general of the Ivoirian Communist Party in Yopougon. They
ransacked the apartment and kidnapped Abib Dodo, secretary general of
the youth section of the Communist Party. On June 29, Dodo's body was
found on Cocody University campus. On the same day in Port Bouet
unknown assailants beat Kouame Kouadio, also a member of the Communist
Party. The Communist Party accused the FESCI of Dodo's death because
Dodo had helped found a new student association, the General
Association of School Children and Students of the Country.
In the western part of the country, there were numerous credible
reports of atrocities including killings, rapes, and looting, mostly by
rebel forces (see Section 1.g.). There were reports of conflict between
the native population and Burkinabe farmers, whom the natives expelled
from their farms (see Section 5). Verification of all of these reports
was difficult because of limited access.
On June 2, violent demonstrations organized by young persons shook
the town of Guiglo, in protest against the killing of Karim Fofana, a
public transportation bus driver. According to the demonstrators,
Fofune was killed by armed militiamen in fatigues who were threatening
and harassing persons without any reaction from the local police,
military, and administrative authorities.
There were numerous incidents of ethnic violence that resulted in
deaths (see Section 5).
b. Disappearances.--There were several reports of disappearances
during the year. Several members of the opposition, journalists, and
ordinary citizens remained missing at year's end. For example, in
February, 24 Heures, an independent newspaper reported that five men
kidnapped Sylvain Kanga Codaly, a man working for the National
Identification Office, in October 2003 for delivering national identity
cards to members of the RDR and to noncitizens.
In April, Guy Andre Kieffer, a Franco-Canadian freelance journalist
disappeared in Abidjan. Michel Legre, the brother-in-law of the First
Lady, was arrested in the case. In spite of the investigation
undertaken by the police, French judges, his family, and Canadian
authorities, Kieffer was still missing at year's end.
Some persons reported missing later were found in the custody of
security forces. In May, newspapers reported that an 18-year-old
student who had been reported missing since April 24 was found on May
3. Gendarmes arrested him during a round up for a suspected thief. The
gendarmes forced him to work for them although his innocence was
quickly established. A friend, an army officer, eventually recognized
him and obtained his release.
In May, newspapers also reported that Nadine Victoire Goudard and
her children had been missing since September 2003. Her family reported
that Goudard was active in politics and had received numerous death
threats from unknown persons.
On August 28, Amadou Dagnogo, a journalist for the pro-government
newspaper L'Inter disappeared in Bouake, an area held by the NF. NF
leaders had publicly threatened Dagnogo weeks before his disappearance.
Several persons were reported missing after the March 25-26
demonstration (see Section 1.a.).
Several persons, including members of opposition parties, who
disappeared in 2003 were Bionaho Mathias, a former member of the Union
for Democracy and Peace in the country (UDPCI); University of Cocody
student activist Mahe Hippolyte; youth RDR activist Mamadou Kone; and
RDR activist Ibrahim Bakayoko; Nigerian businessman Garba Amadou
Dougourikoye; prominent businessman Herve Pamah Coulibaly; PDCI party
members Aboubacar Gbane; and his younger brother Soule Ouattara. There
were no developments in these cases at year's end.
Persons reported missing in previous years remained missing at
year's end. Many, especially members of the opposition and RDR members
in particular, reportedly had elected to remain in hiding to escape
death squads and to prevent harassment of their relatives still in the
country.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, in
practice security forces often beat detainees and prisoners to punish
them or to extract confessions. Police officers forced detainees to
perform degrading tasks under threat of physical harm. Police detained
persons overnight in police stations where they often beat detainees
and forced them to pay bribes (see Sections 1.d., 1.f., and 2.d.).
Police also harassed persons of northern origin or with northern names
(see Section 1.f.).
There were numerous reports that police and gendarmes continued to
harass, beat, extort, and commit other abuses with impunity.
Members of the security forces continued to beat and harass
journalists regularly (see Section 2.a.).
There were several incidents during the year in which police used
excessive or inappropriate force (see Section 1.a.).
In February, the Ivoirian Human Rights Movement (MIDH) reported
that on January 29, police tortured, degraded, and robbed 17 drivers
who had placed posters on their vehicles about police racketeering.
On March 17, police led a public transport mini-bus ``Woro-Woro''
driver to a police camp in Williamsville and beat him for refusing to
give money to a police officer.
On April 3 and 4, four police officers severely beat a police
officer in front of a nightclub in Yamoussoukro. The officer had a
disagreement with a nightclub owner who called the police. Although the
victim informed the four police officers that he was also a police
officer, they noted that he had a northern name and beat him, accusing
him of being a member of the RDR.
In May, plainclothes security forces stopped and searched a UDPCI
member. Upon discovering a letter from the President of the UDPCI, the
security drove him to the Banco forest and severely beat him.
During the year, there were several reports that security forces
conducted widespread neighborhood searches during which they beat and
robbed residents (see Section 1.f.).
Security forces remained on heightened alert for potential rebel
infiltrators or active sympathizers, erected numerous roadblocks, and
searched Abidjan neighborhoods, frequently during the nightly curfew.
Individuals associated with opposition parties or rebellion leaders or
believed to be sympathizers were subjected to increased harassment and
abuse (see Sections 1.d. and 1.g.).
Noncitizen Africans, mostly from neighboring countries, complained
that they were subject to increased harassment by security forces,
including repeated document checks, increased security force extortion
and racketeering, violence, and frequent neighborhood searches (see
Sections 1.f. and 2.d.).
Police and security forces occasionally used excessive force to
disperse demonstrations, including lethal force (see Section 1.a. and
2.b.).
There were no reported developments in the January 2003 police
beating of Adama Kone or the July 2003 police beating of Kouao Heriri
Julien Yao N'Cho.
Youth groups who supported President Gbagbo conducted several
violent attacks during the year (see Sections 1.a., 2.a., and 2.b.).
For example, on March 9, hundreds of Young Patriots and FESCI students
assaulted magistrates on the premises of the Palais de Justice in
Abidjan to disrupt the presentation ceremony of the new President of
the Appellate Court nominated by the Minister of Justice, who was a
member of the RDR. Two magistrates were severely beaten while police
looked on. The ceremony took place the following day under heavy police
protection. In reaction, the three magistrates' unions suspended work
until a special police unit was assigned to the protection of the
Palais de Justice.
Violent actions and threats against political opposition figures
continued during the year. There were numerous reports that opposition
leaders received death threats over the telephone and from armed men
dressed in fatigues, and that armed men harassed family members. For
example, on January 23, after being threatened by armed men, the former
deputy mayor of Adjame and his family fled their house.
During the night of November 4, before the beginning of the
bombings by the army on the north (see Section 1.g.), the headquarters
of the opposition PDCI in Abidjan was vandalized. Youths tried to set
ablaze the headquarters of former President Henri Konan Bedie's party.
At the same time, the offices of several opposition newspapers were
completely ransacked (see Section 2.a.). On November 5 and 6, crowds of
young patriots in Abidjan also ransacked and looted the headquarters of
the opposition RDR and the houses of the Secretary General of the PDCI,
of the son of PDCI President Henri Konan Bedie, and the houses of three
RDR Ministers and one NF Minister.
In the rebel-held part of the country, rebel military police
operated with impunity in administering justice without legally
constituted executive or judicial oversight (see Section 1.g.). The
rebels often harassed and abused local citizens with impunity, often on
the basis of ethnic background. Although there were fewer reports
during the year, there continued to be reports that rebel forces beat
persons who supported President Gbagbo and his FPI party. For example,
during the year, there were reports that rebel soldiers tortured FPI
party members in the zones under their control, regardless of their
ethnic background.
There were numerous incidents of ethnic violence during the year,
some of which resulted in injuries, especially in the west and the
south west (see Section 5).
Conditions were poor and in some cases life threatening in the
country's 33 prisons, largely because of inadequate budgets and
overcrowding. In May, the main MACA prison housed approximately 6,000
detainees; it was built for 1,500. In the A building, cells built for
20 detainees housed 60. MACA was the country's biggest prison and
conditions were notoriously bad, especially for the poor. Wealthy
prisoners reportedly could ``buy'' extra cell space, food, and even
staff to wash and iron their clothes. There were credible reports that
prisoners frequently brutalized other prisoners for sleeping space and
rations; however, there were no reports that guards brutalized
prisoners. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) supplemented the prison
system's inadequate medical facilities. Several small national and
international charities also helped some prisoners. There were press
reports of a flourishing drug trade and prostitution in the MACA. The
daily food allowance per prisoner in the MACA was $0.12 (80 CFA
francs), the cost of one serving of corn meal mush. In other prisons,
the daily allowance was $0.18 (120 CFA francs). Families frequently
supplemented the food ration and at some prisons inmates grew
vegetables to feed themselves. The International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) helped feed prisoners with no family. During the year, to
improve prison conditions, the Government changed the quality of the
food served at MACA to rice, yams, and cassava twice a week, and
kidneys beans on Sundays.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that prisoners
died from malnutrition.
There were two incidents in early November at Abidjan's main jail,
MACA, in which prisoners were killed. The first incident was sparked by
a lengthy water shortage; prisoners reportedly had not had water for 5
days except for small rations of drinking water. At least 7 prisoners
died and 30 were injured in the ensuing riots. U.N. human rights
officials said they were investigating the riot and could not give a
final death toll yet. Paramilitary police used tear gas and fired in
the air to push back the detainees, but several escaped into nearby
Banco forest, a large national park in the heart of the city. Shortly
after this incident, when civil unrest broke out around Abidjan, some
3,500 prisoners took advantage of the situation to escape from MACA.
Security forces trying to stop the escape shot and killed 19 of the
prisoners while wounding 66. More than 200 of the escapees have since
returned to jail on their own or been arrested.
Men and women were held separately in prisons. Male minors were
held separately from adult men, but the physical barriers at the main
MACA prison were inadequate to enforce complete separation. Prison
conditions for women and children remained particularly difficult.
Female prisoners were segregated in a separate building under female
guard. There were continued reports that female prisoners engaged in
sexual relations with wardens to get food and privileges. There were no
health facilities for women. Pregnant prisoners went to hospitals to
give birth and then returned to prison with their babies. Some women
prisoners were pregnant before being jailed. The penitentiary accepted
no responsibility for the care or feeding of the infants; the women
received help from local NGOs. In May, the daily ruling party
newspaper, Notre Voie, reported that out of the 94 women held in the
women's section of MACA, there were 6 female minors.
The 2003 BICE study on youths in prisons revealed that 576 males
under 18 were held in the Center for Observation of Minors in Abidjan
during the year. BICE also helped conduct physiological tests to
determine the age of some inmates who had no identification papers.
BICE taught juvenile prisoners trades, such as sewing, carpentry,
gardening, house painting, and drawing.
Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners. In May,
Notre Voie reported that out of 6,000 prisoners held in MACA, 1,876
were pretrial detainees and were held with convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted access to prisons by local and
international NGOs including the ICRC, MSF, World Doctors, and
International Prisons' Friendship. LIDHO and MIDH did not ask to visit
prisons during the year.
The rebels maintained detention centers, and during the year, the
ICRC and the ONUCI human rights division local team were granted full
access.
There were credible reports that the rebels still killed prisoners,
though less frequently due to improved conditions (see Section 1.g.).
In March, the rebel forces in Man released eight army officers
under the supervision of the ICRC. In December 2003, the NF released 40
army officers in Korhogo and Bouake under the supervision of ICRC.
d. Arbitrary Arrest and Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, in practice arbitrary arrest
and detention remained common.
Police forces include paramilitary rapid intervention units such as
the Anti-Riot Brigade and the Republican Security Company, and the
plain-clothes investigating unit, Directorate for Territorial Security
(DST). A central security staff collected and distributed information
about crime and coordinated the activities of the security forces.
Security forces frequently resorted to excessive force (see Sections
1.a. and 1.c.).
Poor training and supervision of security forces, the public's fear
of pressing charges, and continued impunity of those responsible for
committing abuses were problems. There were credible reports of a few
disciplinary or legal actions against some police officers for
mistreating suspects and arrestees as well as killing persons during
the year (see Section 1.a.); while still uneven and inadequate,
disciplinary action against police officers increased during the year.
Security forces still did not face sanctions for confiscating or
destroying noncitizens' identification papers.
During the year, the Military Tribunal of Abidjan tried several
police officers. For example, in January, police Master Sergeant Dago
Sery Theodore was tried and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for the
murder of French journalist Christian Baldensperger (see Section 2.a.).
In July, a soldier, Sebastien N'Dri, was charged with murdering a
French peacekeeper in Yamoussoukro in June and awaited trial.
There were no developments in the April 2003 incident in which two
gendarmes were detained for extorting money from merchants or the June
2003 incident in which seven military men beat merchants and stole
money and goods from the market.
In January and February, taxi, Woro-Woro, and bus drivers carried
out a campaign against racketeering by police officers and gendarmes
with support from the Ministry of Transport, the National Assembly, and
the MIDH. The Government reduced the number of unofficial checkpoints,
and there was a corresponding decrease in the number of shakedown
incidents. However, in March following an increase in tension between
the Government and the NF, the Council of Ministers recommended an
increase in the number of checkpoints on the roads, which led to a rise
in the number of unofficial checkpoints and shakedown incidents. There
had been no further decrease by year's end.
On August 27, the military Public Prosecutor, Ange Kessy, reported
the arrests of a number of police and military personnel charged with
racketeering. Kessy urged the victims of racketeering to file
complaints. There were no prosecutions by year's end.
During the year, the MIDH launched a national campaign against
racketeering.
Under the Code of Penal Procedure, a public prosecutor may order
the detention of a suspect for 48 hours without bringing charges, and
in special cases, the law permits an additional 48-hour period.
According to members of the jurists' union, police often held persons
for more than the 48-hour legal limit without bringing charges, and
magistrates often were unable to verify that detainees who were not
charged were released. A magistrate could order pretrial detention for
up to 4 months but also had to provide the Minister of Justice with a
written justification on a monthly basis for continued detention.
The DST was charged with collecting and analyzing information
relating to national security. The DST has the authority to hold
persons for up to 4 days without charges; however, human rights groups
stated there were numerous cases of detentions exceeding the statutory
limit.
Defendants do not have the right to a judicial determination of the
legality of their detention. A judge may release pretrial detainees on
provisional liberty if the judge believed that the suspect was not
likely to flee.
Although the law prohibits it, police restricted access to some
prisoners. There were reports that police and the DST denied detainees
access to a lawyer or to their families.
There were many instances during the year in which gendarmes or
other security forces arbitrarily arrested persons. National and
international human rights groups were unable to give precise figures
on detainees because authorities would not allow them to visit military
installations where prisoners were held.
Security forces continued to arbitrarily arrest merchants and
transporters, often in conjunction with harassment and requests for
bribes. There was no further information on several merchants arrested
in 2002 who were detained at an unknown location without access to
family or counsel.
Police also detained journalists during the year (see Section
2.a.).
During the year, security forces continued to arrest and usually
release persons of northern origins, RDR party members and officials,
military men from the north, and some individuals thought to be loyal
to former junta leader General Guei or close to the rebellion (see
Section 2.b.).
On March 18, Karim Ouattara and Zana Lamoussa Ouattara, both
security agents at the RDR headquarters, were arrested and taken to an
unknown destination. They were released following their party's
intervention.
In May, Emmanuel Sehoue Guei, spokesperson of the MPIGO, was
arrested in Port Bouet and charged with trafficking counterfeit
currency. Following the intervention of the NF and the executive
committee of the G7 opposition parties, Guei was released on August 19
without a trial.
On July 16, two members of the RDR were seized in Abobo and
transferred to the DST where they were denied contact with their
families. They were released by year's end.
On July 23, a gendarme arrested Captain Mamadou Toure, a retired
Army officer and RDR deputy Mayor of Bouake, in Adjame and accused him
of housing rebels in Bouake. Toure's family and RDR party members
informed the ONUCI human rights division of his arrest, and Captain
Toure was released on August 5.
On July 24, the drivers of four vehicles were arrested in Saioua in
the southwest while they were transporting cocoa and 75 passengers from
Daloa to Abidjan. The soldiers alleged that they had a warrant from the
President's office. The gendarmerie brigade in Saouia refused to detain
the drivers arguing that there were no grounds for their arrest. The
soldiers proceeded to take them to Daloa and then to Abidjan, to the
President's office. The officers in charge of the security at the
presidency and the commanders of the gendarmerie in Abidjan also
refused to detain the men. Finally, the men were released at the end of
July.
In August 2003, more than 20 persons, including some opposition
members, were arrested for collaborating with NF leader Sergeant
Ibrahim Coulibaly (``IB'') in an alleged coup attempt. RDR officials
accused the FPI of fabricating the coup plot as a ruse to arrest
political opponents. The last two remaining in detention, Youssouf
Ouattara and Anliou Sylla, were provisionally released on July 28.
Local and international human rights organizations continued to
report that security forces frequently made arrests without warrants
and frequently held persons beyond the statutory limits without
bringing charges. There were credible reports that the police and
gendarmes detained persons in various military camps in Abidjan. Few of
these detainees entered the civil justice system. There also were
credible reports of forced confessions.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) reported
that authorities made numerous arrests based on calls to a government
hotline that denounced persons for unproven sympathies with the rebels
or ``suspicious'' activity.
Many inmates continued to suffer long detention periods in the MACA
and other prisons while awaiting trial. A magistrate reported in May
that more than 1,876 of the 6,000 detainees (31 percent) in the MACA
prison were awaiting trial (see Section 1.c.). Despite the legal limit
of 10 months of pretrial detention in civil cases and 22 months in
criminal cases, some detainees were held in detention for many years
awaiting trial.
AI and other human rights organizations reported that in rebel-
controlled territory, the NF also arbitrarily arrested, mistreated, and
detained many persons thought to be loyal to President Gbagbo or
Sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly.
On June 20 and 21, following the attempted murder of MPCI Secretary
General Guillaume Soro by rebels close to IB, hundreds of rebels and
civilians suspected of being close to IB were arrested in Bouake and in
Korhogo. They were all released on July 9, after the visit of the ONUCI
investigation team.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice the judiciary was subject
to executive branch, military, and other outside influences. Although
the judiciary was independent in ordinary criminal cases, it followed
the lead of the executive in national security or politically sensitive
cases. There were also credible reports that judges submitted to
financial influence. The judiciary was slow and inefficient.
On February 9, three members of the student group FESCI, were tried
and convicted of assault and extortion of funds. The prison director
released the students from MACA on February 16 upon the instructions
given to him by the public prosecutor without informing the Minister of
Justice, an RDR member. The Minister of Justice and the union of
magistrates denounced their release and demanded that the students
return; however, the students remained free at year's end.
The formal judicial system is headed by a Supreme Court and
includes the Court of Appeals, lower courts, and a Constitutional
Council. The Constitution grants the President the power to replace the
head of the Court after a new parliament is convened. In August 2003,
President Gbagbo appointed the seven members of the Constitutional
Council, without consultation with the Government. President Gbagbo
tasked the Council with, among other things, the determination of
candidate eligibility in presidential and legislative elections, the
announcement of final election results, the conduct of referendum, and
the constitutionality of legislation. Gbagbo named three advisors to
the Constitutional Council for 3-year terms, three other advisors to 6-
year terms, and a president. At year's end, Tia Kone remained president
of the Supreme Court.
The law provides for the right to public trial, although key
evidence sometimes was given secretly. The Government did not always
respect the presumption of innocence. Those convicted have the right of
appeal, and although higher courts rarely overturned verdicts, it has
occurred. Defendants accused of felonies or capital crimes have the
right to legal counsel. The judicial system provides for court-
appointed attorneys; however, no free legal assistance was available,
except infrequently when members of the bar provided pro bono advice to
defendants for limited periods.
In rural areas, traditional institutions often administered justice
at the village level, handling domestic disputes and minor land
questions in accordance with customary law. Dispute resolution was by
extended debate, with no known instance of resort to physical
punishment. The formal court system increasingly was superseding these
traditional mechanisms. The Constitution specifically provides for a
Grand Mediator to bridge traditional and modern methods of dispute
resolution. The President appoints the Grand Mediator, who since his
nomination by the Bedie government has been Mathieu Ekra.
Military courts did not try civilians. Although there were no
appellate courts within the military court system, persons convicted by
a military tribunal may petition the Supreme Court to set aside the
tribunal's verdict and order a retrial.
There were no reports of political prisoners. HRW and AI have said
that political leaders detained after the September 2002 coup attempt
were held primarily because of their opposition political views rather
than hard evidence of involvement in the the coup should be considered
political prisoners. The last of these detained political leaders were
released in mid-2003.
There was little available information on the judicial system used
by the NF in the northern and western regions; however, there were
several credible reports that rebels have executed suspected looters or
members of rival factions on the spot without detention or trial in
Korhogo and in Bouake in June.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law provides for these rights; however, the events
of 2002 triggered a widespread suspension of privacy rights. Officials
must have warrants to conduct searches, must have the prosecutor's
agreement to retain any evidence seized in the search, and are required
to have witnesses to the search, which may take place at any time;
however, in practice police sometimes used a general search warrant
without a name or address. Police frequently entered the homes of
northern citizens and noncitizen Africans (or apprehended them at
large), took them to local police stations, and extorted small amounts
of money for alleged minor offenses. Unlike in previous years, there
were no reports that police searched the homes of journalists.
There were credible reports that security forces continued to
search opposition party officials' residences allegedly seeking weapons
without search warrants. During the year, security forces continued to
conduct neighborhood searches where they would enter several homes at
the same time, usually at night looking for arms.
In January and July several gendarmes and police in military
vehicles entered Anyama, a suburb of Abidjan inhabited by northerners
and citizens from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea and looted and
searched houses, beat and threatened residents, confiscated and
destroyed identity documents, and stole money from residents. One
resident was shot to death and others severely beaten. The Minister of
Human Rights issued a press statement condemning the human rights
abuses, but the Government took no other action to punish those
responsible.
No action was taken against security forces who forcibly entered
residences in previous years.
Security forces reportedly monitored private telephone
conversations, but the extent of the practice was unknown. The
Government admitted that it listened to fixed line and cellular
telephone calls. Authorities monitored letters and parcels at the post
office for potential criminal activity, and they were believed to
monitor private correspondence, although there was no evidence of this.
Members of the Government reportedly continued to use students as
informants.
Unlike previous years, security forces did not enter and destroy
shantytowns near military installations in Abidjan in search of alleged
arms and rebels. However, tens of thousands of persons remained
displaced at year's end, and continued to live in inadequate social
centers, were taken into the already crowded homes of friends or
relatives, or left the country.
There were numerous reports that rebels confiscated property and
vehicles of those suspected to be loyal to President Gbagbo or of
persons who had abandoned their houses following the rebellion. In
addition, there were credible reports that NF military looted and
occupied several missionary houses in Bouna, Tiebessou, and Bouake.
After 2002 rebellion, in the northern towns of Bouake and Katiola,
rebels monitored parcels for potential threats to their position; it
was unknown if this practice continued.
There were corroborated reports that the rebels forcibly
conscripted locals to join their ranks. Those who refused reportedly
disappeared. Many of the conscripts were youth or children, although
there also were reports that many volunteered to join the rebels.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal and External Conflicts.--.There were numerous reports that
pro-government death squads operated during the year.
On November 4, the army carried out ``Operation Dignity'' and
mounted surprise attacks on Bouake, stronghold of the NF and the
largest city in the north, thus shattering an 18-month ceasefire. The
Government cut off electricity and water supplies to the north the day
before the attacks. They remained off for about a week.
In Abidjan, loyalist mobs attacked unarmed U.N. personnel and
burned two of their vehicles. Crowds also attacked the offices of at
least three opposition newspapers, as well as the headquarters of the
two main opposition parties and the homes of several senior opposition
party members (see Sections 1.c. and 2.a.). On November 6, Licorne
peacekeeping troops destroyed most of the air force on the ground in
retaliation for a bombing of the French military base in Bouake, which
left nine French peacekeepers and one foreign citizen dead. Serious
unrest began in Abidjan and hate messages broadcast on state radio and
television by the leaders of the FPI and the leaders of the Young
Patriots fomented anti-French feeling. Thousands of irate citizens took
to the streets, attacked homes, businesses, and schools of French
citizens, other expatriates, and some citizens in Abidjan and
elsewhere. More than 8,000 French and several thousand non-French
expatriates fled the country.
French troops moved into the city to secure major junctions, the
bridges, the airport as well as the Hotel du Golf and the Hotel Ivoire
where many French persons and opposition leaders and ministers had
taken refuge. The French troops fired on several occasions, killing
over 57 civilians and military personnel and injuring more than 1,300.
In the rebel-controlled north, according to the NF, more than 80
civilians were killed during the bombings in November.
The collaboration of government forces and irregular forces created
a climate of fear and impunity. However, there were no reported
executions of suspected rebels and rebel sympathizers by security
forces during the year. Abidjan police and security forces in search of
rebel sympathizers, infiltrators, and arms caches continued to use
lethal force in neighborhood sweeps against citizens with northern
origins and African immigrants (see Section 1.a and 1.f.).
There were no developments in the following 2003 security force
killings: The January killing of Mamadou Ganame; the February killing
of well-known television sitcom actor and RDR activist, Yerefe Camara;
the February killing of Mory Fanny Crisse, an Islamic preacher; and the
April killing of former student leader Maurovlaye Kener.
There were no developments in the cases of security force killings
after September 2002: Commander Aboubacar Dosso, aide-de-camp to RDR
leader Ouattara; Adama Cisse, head of the RDR party in M'Bahiakro;
Seydou and Lanzeni Coulibaly, related to RDR Deputy Secretary General
Amadou Gon Coulibaly; Emile Tehe, president of the RDR-aligned Ivoirian
Popular Movement party; and Benoit Dakoury-Tabley, medical doctor and
brother of Louis Dakoury-Tabley, one of the political leaders of the
rebel MPCI, now NF.
There was no action taken regarding the death of former military
junta leader General Robert Guei, his wife Rose, a son, his aide-de-
camp Captain Fabien Coulibaly, several army guards, and others in 2002.
AI and HRW concluded that the deaths of Guei and his family were
extrajudicial killings.
There were no results released from the Government's investigation
into the 2002 security force killings of more than 100 noncombatants in
Daloa in evident reprisal against northerners living in the town and
those suspected of assisting rebels. The Government publicly denied its
involvement. The results also were not released in the Government's
investigation into the 2002 death of 50 political party members and
citizens.
There were no investigations of the mass graves found in 2002.
A U.N. Human Rights Investigation Commission conducted an inquiry
into human rights abuses committed since September 2002; however, the
report had not yet been published.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government used gunship helicopters in attacks; however, a number of
civilians were killed when the Government used aircraft to bomb rebel
targets in the north in November.
There were credible reports describing serious abuses committed by
armed forces working in complicity or in coordination with youth groups
in the central and western parts of the country. HRW reported that in
many attacks on civilians by paramilitary groups in Daloa, Duekoue,
Guiglo, and Monoko-Zohi, local villagers from ethnic groups close to
the Government provided names of foreigners, RDR members, northerners,
and other alleged rebel supporters to the security forces.
Self-defense committees manned checkpoints with the assent of
security forces and conducted summary executions of Burkinabe and other
northerners accused of being rebels.
On January 5, unidentified armed men in the village of Kahin, in
Bongolo shot and killed three adults and killed three children with
machetes, according to a French army spokesman. On January 7 in the
same area, two foreign workers were killed and a third seriously
injured. Authorities suspected the same group of unidentified men armed
with rifles and machetes in both attacks. The victims included workers
from neighboring Burkina Faso and Guinea.
There were fewer reports that Liberian fighters were involved in
attacks during the year. Most left the country in 2003. There was no
investigation into the numerous abuses committed by Liberian fighters
in 2003, including mass killings, rapes, and torture.
Rebel groups were also responsible for numerous indiscriminate
killings. Several human rights organizations described numerous
extrajudicial killings by rebels, particularly by the western rebel
group MPIGO. The rebels in the west targeted, beat, and sometimes
killed gendarmes, government officials, and suspected FPI sympathizers,
and committed sexual violence against girls and women, including rape
and sexual slavery. However, the frequency of such incidents declined
compared with previous years and most of the Liberian mercenaries who
were involved in these incidents in previous years returned home during
the year.
On February 9, unidentified assailants dragged Adama Coulibaly, a
rebel warlord in the city of Korhogo, out of a nightclub and shot and
killed him.
There were 2 civilians among the 20 persons killed in clashes
between unidentified gunmen and Ivoirian and French soldiers near the
village of Maminigui, Gohitafla on June 6 and 7. French peacekeepers
captured 22 assailants and handed them over to the gendarmerie station
at Bouafle.
On June 20-21, following a murder attempt against the leader of the
MPCI Guillaume Soro, Soro's supporters began fighting with supporters
IB. At least 11 persons were killed and 20 injured in clashes near
Bouake and Korhogo. ONUCI said in a statement in August that the U.N.
investigation ``discovered and confirmed the existence of 3 mass graves
containing at least 99 persons. Some of these persons were killed by
bullets and others died from asphyxiation.'' According to the
preliminary findings of a U.N. investigation, a number of persons were
summarily executed, some held in detention in the Korhogo Territorial
Company (CTK) prison, and some were held in detention in two
containers. Some of the released prisoners stated that approximately 60
prisoners died from suffocation in 1 of the containers. On July 1, the
local rebel authorities opened the civil prison upon the arrival of the
U.N. investigating team and transferred 39 prisoners there previously
held in detention at the CTK prison. On July 9, all the prisoners were
released.
During the year, following the outbreak of the leadership struggle
between Guillaume Soro and Sergeant Coulibaly for the control of the
rebellion, there were numerous reports of killings and atrocities
committed against the rebels and on civilians suspected of supporting
either side in Korhogo and in Bouake.
There was no investigation into the numerous abuses committed by
rebels in 2003, including summary executions, killings, rape, beatings,
and looting. There was no further investigation into the mass graves
discovered.
No action has been taken against rebels who committed abuses in
2002. In 2002, rebels targeted and killed Interior Minister Emile Boga
Doudou and attempted to kill then-Defense Minister Lida Kouassi. Rebels
also killed Colonel Yode, Director of the Army Engineers in Abidjan;
Dally Oble, Commander in Korhogo; and Dago Loula, Commander in Bouake.
No government or NF investigation was conducted in the 2002 executions
of 60 gendarmes and 50 of their sons in Bouake, who were detained
before their executions and whose bodies were found in mass graves.
On July 11, a newspaper reported that Kouassi Kouame, a bus driver
from Bouake, had been missing since the beginning of the rebellion in
2002. The rebels reportedly arrested the driver along with pro-
government gendarmes.
French peacekeepers were also killed and injured during the year.
For example, on June 25, a French soldier, Kevin Ziolkowski was shot in
the back as he was patrolling with colleagues in a military vehicle in
Yamoussoukro. The solder accused of shooting him was still awaiting
trial at year's end (see Section 1.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and the press, and the Government restricted these
rights in practice. The 2002 rebellion triggered significant self-
censorship and a deterioration of press freedom. However, there were
private newspapers that frequently criticized government policy.
Members of the security forces continued to harass and beat
journalists. Outspoken members of the press continued to receive death
threats and suffer physical intimidation from groups aligned with the
ruling FPI party. The ``Young Patriots,'' supporters of President
Gbagbo, continued to destroy opposition newspapers and threaten vendors
in several regions. Journalists continued to practice self-censorship.
On March 19, PDCI Deputy Secretary General Maurice Kacou Guikahue
and Vice President of the PDCI youth group Jan Claude Atse received a
summons from the gendarmerie research brigade for allegedly stating
``one should shorten President Gbagbo's term in office'' during a
political rally. President Gbagbo instructed the Minister of Justice to
initiate legal action against Guikahue for making the statement. No
further actions were taken by year's end.
The media played a critical role in inflaming tensions, even before
the 2002 rebellion. In 2003, the U.N. Special Humanitarian Envoy and
Agence France Press criticized the media for sending ``messages of
hatred'' and creating a climate of hostility. During the November 4-10
events, state radio and television repeatedly broadcast hate messages
aimed at the French. The Young Patriots urged citizens to mobilize in
the streets.
The National Press Commission was meant to enforce regulations
relating to the creation, ownership, and freedom of the press. The only
remaining government-owned daily newspaper, Fraternite Matin, which had
the greatest circulation of any daily, rarely criticized government
policy. There were a number of private newspapers. Newspapers often
ceased publication and were supplanted by others due to strong
competition, a limited audience, and financial constraints. Many
newspapers were politicized, sometimes resorting to fabricated stories
to defame political opponents. The law requires the ``right of
response'' in the same newspaper, thus newspapers often printed
articles in opposition to an earlier article. In December, a new press
law passed the National Assembly that established new rules for the
creation of newspapers, including an investigation of the good morality
of the promoter, a duly registered rental contract or property
ownership title, and the first and last names, as well as the parents'
names of the printing company legal representative.
Because of low literacy rates, radio was the most important medium
of mass communication. Newspapers and television were relatively
expensive. The government-owned broadcast media company, RTI, owned two
major radio stations; only the primary government radio station
broadcast nationwide. Neither station offered criticism of the
Government; both government-owned stations frequently criticized
opposition parties and persons critical of the Government. There were
approximately 50 community radio stations authorized under government
regulations. They had limited broadcast range and were allowed no
foreign language programming, no advertising, and only public
announcements limited to the local area. Some of the stations did not
broadcast for lack of resources. The private radio stations, except for
Radio Nostalgie, had complete control over their editorial content. The
Government monitored Radio Nostalgie closely because the major
shareholders of the company were close to RDR president Ouattara.
National broadcast regulations forbade the transmission of any
political commentary.
Four major private international radio stations operated: Radio
France Internationale (RFI), the British Broadcasting Company (BBC),
Africa No. 1, and Radio Nostalgie, which was considered a local
station. These stations broadcast in Abidjan only, except for RFI,
which broadcast to the north and center of the country. The RFI, BBC,
and Africa No. 1 stations all broadcast news and political commentary
about the country.
In accordance with a U.N. Resolution, the ONUCI undertook actions
to start operating a radio channel in the country. On July 19, the
Government granted ONUCI one of RTI's frequencies to broadcast in
Abidjan, and on August 10, the station began broadcasting. In December,
ONUCI radio started to broadcast in Daloa in the south west and Bouake
in the center.
On March 25, the day of the march organized by the G7 opposition
parties (see Section 1.a.), the programs of all the international
radios were cut off for several days on the FM band in Abidjan without
explanation. Agence France-Presse quoted an RFI spokesperson stated
that the transmitter cutoff was not due to technical reasons but was
``probably deliberate,'' given the ``tension'' in the city.
In May the National Audio-Visual Communication Council sanctioned
RFI by forbidding it to broadcast its programs for 1 day, due to a
broadcast that the U.N. blamed the Government for the violence during
the protest on March 25 and 26. The next day RFI resumed normal
broadcasting. From November 4 to 24, BBC, RFI, and Africa No. 1 were
prevented from broadcasting from Abidjan due to sabotage of their
equipment.
The Government owned and operated two television stations (RTI 1
and RTI 2) that broadcast domestically produced programs. Only one
broadcast nationwide. Neither station criticized the Government, but
they frequently criticized the opposition or persons who opposed the
government's actions, including foreign countries and foreign
governments. However, criticism of the opposition was reduced when
President Gbagbo reinstated Minister of State and Minister of
Communication Guillaume Soro in office in August. From November to
year's end, the criticisms resurfaced when the Presidency replaced the
official director general of the two television and radio stations with
an FPI journalist to ``manage the information relating to the November
crisis.''
There were two satellite television broadcasters: One French (Canal
Horizon/TV5), and one South African (DS TV). They did not broadcast
domestically produced programs. During the year, the Government did not
receive or accept any applications to establish privately owned
domestic television stations.
On January 22, a military court found police Master Sergeant Dago
Sery Theodore guilty of the October 2003 murder of French journalist
Christian Baldensperger, a RFI reporter and French citizen who wrote
under the name ``Jean Helene.'' Theodore was sentenced to 17 years
imprisonment. Sery appealed the judgment, and the appeal was pending at
year's end.
On November 7, French Licorne forces in Duekoue, in the West,
killed Antoine Masse, an English teacher and correspondent of Le
Courrier d'Abidjan, a private daily newspaper close to President
Gbagbo, as he was standing with villagers who were blocking the road to
prevent passage of the French soldiers.
There were several reports that security forces beat and harassed
journalists. For example, on January 16, Minister of Vocational
Education Youssouf Soumahoro detained and confiscated equipment from
two journalists for the private daily Le Courrier d'Abidjan who were
covering a student demonstration in which students invaded Soumahoro's
office. Reporters Without Borders insisted that the Minister return the
seized equipment. The equipment was later returned.
On January 31, presidential guards severely beat a photographer in
Yamoussoukro when they learned that he was working for the opposition
newspaper Le Patriote and two other journalists who attempted to come
to his aid. On February 16, President Gbagbo ordered the release of the
photographer; however, he was not released immediately.
During the March 25 and 26 protest, the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ) reported that several journalists and media workers
were harassed. For example, police arrested and beat journalist Dembele
Al Seni and reporter and photographer Agbola Mesmer, both working for
the private pro-opposition daily Le Patriote. They were later released.
Republican Guard detained and beat Kady Sidibe, a photographer working
for Le Patriote, while Sidide covered a demonstration in Treichville,
in southern Abidjan.
Gendarmes brutally attacked Guira Safi, Soumahoro Vamara, and Kone
Malick, respectively copy editor, driver, and webmaster for the private
pro-opposition daily Le Liberal Nouveau, at a roadblock during an
interrogation.
Presidential guards threatened Habiba Dembele, a reporter for the
state-owned television station TV2, and Drame Lancine, a TV2 cameraman,
with death for filming the arrest of protestors.
Police arrested journalist Laurent Banga and his cameraman, Joseph
Konan. They were detained for several hours before being released
without charge.
On March 30, the CPJ wrote to President Gbagbo to complain about
the attacks against journalists by security forces and the censoring of
news outlets during the March 25 and 26 events. The CPJ encouraged the
Government to take measures to ensure that journalists can safely
report on problems of public concern.
The Young Patriots continued to destroy independent and opposition
newspapers in several regions of the country and to threaten newspaper
vendors. In July, Edipresse, the national newspaper distributing
company, stopped sending any newspapers to Gagnoa, President Gbagbo's
home region, because the Young Patriots were forcibly preventing pro-
opposition newspapers (Le Patriote (pro-RDR), Le Liberal (pro-RDR), Le
Front (pro-RDR), Le Jour (independent), 24 Heures (independent), and le
Nouveau Reveil (pro-PDCI) from being sold in that region, by attacking
the vehicles and the drivers transporting those newspapers and by
removing them from newsstands. A few weeks later Edipress resumed
sending newspapers to Gagnoa.
The Young Patriot campaign to block distribution of pro-opposition
newspapers increased and spread throughout government-held territory.
Then in November, following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement
between government and rebel forces, gangs of youth militias reportedly
linked to the ruling FPI party attacked the offices of opposition
media. On November 4, more than 100 armed youths attacked the offices
of opposition newspapers Le Patriote, 24 Heures, Le Nouveau Reveil, and
Le Liberal Nouveau, looting and destroying equipment and documents.
These newspapers ceased publishing for several weeks because of the
damage to their premises and equipment. The Media Foundation of West
Africa and, RSF noted that on 26 October, unidentified individuals had
threatened vendors in Abidjan, warning them not to carry copies of
these newspapers.
On November 19, the Minister of Human Rights Victorine Wodie
denounced these actions.
After the November 4 events, Edipresse stopped distributing eight
opposition newspapers in government-held territory citing security
concerns--the four whose offices had been attacked and also Le Front,
Ivoire Matin, Le Journal des Journeaux, and Le Jour Plus. On December
2, a court order compelled Edipresse to start distributing opposition
newspapers again.
Several journalists continued to receive threats during the year
from unknown persons. For example, on June 11, following the
publication in Fraternite Matin of an article very critical of
President Gbagbo and the Government, the author received telephone
death threats.
There also were several reports during the year that foreign
journalists were subjected to government harassment and intimidation.
For example, in April, Guy Andre Kieffer, a Franco-Canadian journalist
working for the French-based newspaper La Lettre du Continent, has been
missing since April 16 (see Section 1.b.). Baudelaire Mieux, a local
journalist working for the Associated Press and a friend of Kieffer's
started to receive threatening telephone calls. Mieux left the country.
Since the killing of Jean Helene in 2003 and the disappearance of
Guy-Andre Kieffer on April 16, many western journalists concerned about
their security relocated to other parts of West Africa. France 2
channel transferred to Dakar and RFI closed its office in Abidjan.
No action was taken against members of the security forces or youth
groups loyal to President Gbagbo who beat and harassed journalists
during the year, in 2003, or in 2002.
The Government exercised considerable influence over the official
media's program content and news coverage, using them to promote
government policies and criticize the opposition. Much of the news
programming during the year was devoted to the activities of the
President and government officials. Minister of Communications Soro
frequently complained that the Government has not freely accorded
television airtime to opposition party members, including himself.
Following the 2002 rebellion, the Government gradually reduced
press freedoms in the name of patriotism and national unity. On June 8,
FPI Acting Minister of Communication Alphonse Douati, issued an
administrative notice announcing censorship of the state media to
``ensure the protection of state interests and safeguard republican
institutions.'' The notice indicated that in dealing with the
information relating to the attacks on the positions of the FANCI in
Gohitafla, in the center west, and in Ity in the west, the treatment of
the certain issues must be submitted for approval to the cabinet of the
Minister: Any defense and security information concerning the attack in
June; any statement made by the political parties on the subject, as
well as the statements made by the rebel movements; any live
intervention, statement, or debate, relating to the security of the
State; and the guide program drawn up at the end of the editorial staff
meeting, when it includes subjects dealing with the security of the
State. To enforce these measures, the notice announced the designation
of two journalists at the radio and at the television stations to
prevent the broadcasting of news likely to endanger the security of the
country. Following this notice, all news reporting from government-
owned media solely reflected the viewpoint of the ruling party.
The law authorizes the Government to initiate criminal libel
prosecutions against officials. In addition, the State may criminalize
a civil libel suit at its discretion or at the request of the
plaintiff. Criminal libel was punishable by from 3 months to 2 years in
prison.
On March 31, Gaston Bony, publisher of a private newspaper, le
Venin, and main speaker on the community radio station in Agboville,
the Agneby Voice, was tried and sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment and
fined $930 (500,000 CFA francs) in a libel suit. His newspaper had
published an article that the Mayor of Agboville had embezzled $5,570
(3 million CFA francs) of the radio station's grant.
While there was still self-censorship in the press, some newspapers
were significantly more critical of presidential and government actions
than in the previous year. Independent daily newspapers and opposition
party dailies frequently examined and called into question the
government's policies and decisions.
In rebel-held territory, rebels broadcast from Bouake and aired
their own programming, which included radio shows that were heard in
towns and villages around Bouake and, according to some reports, in the
political capital, Yamoussoukro. In the western part of the country,
MJP rebels also broadcast on a local radio station around Man. At
year's end, the NF were occasionally allowing the broadcast of
government television or radio programs in their zones. The NF also
allowed distribution of all pro-government papers and most independent
newspapers in their territory.
In the rebel-held zones, rebel forces also beat, harassed, and
sometimes killed journalists. On February 11, while traveling in Vavoua
to report on the redeployment of the administration in the zones under
rebel control, rebel forces arrested a Fraternite Matin correspondent.
He was held prisoner for 5 hours and prevented from traveling by the
warlord Kone Zakaria.
On February 14, two regional correspondents of Fraternite Matin,
Youssouf Sylla and Diallo Mohamed stated that they were leaving Bouake
due to daily telephone death threats.
In rebel-controlled Bouake, the correspondent of independent daily
l'Inter disappeared from August to October. He later reported that in
August rebels detained and tortured him for 5 days, and then he went
into hiding until October because of continued threats from the rebels
(see Section 1.b.).
There were no developments in the 2003 arrest of journalist Zabnl
Kovkovgnon.
The Government did not restrict access to or distribution of other
electronic media.
The Government limited academic freedom through its proprietary
control of most educational facilities, even at the post-secondary
level. A presidential decree required authorization for all meetings on
campuses.
Many prominent scholars active in opposition politics retained
their positions at state educational facilities; however, some teachers
and professors suggested that they have been transferred, or fear that
they may be transferred, to less desirable positions because of their
political activities. According to student union statements, security
forces continued to use students as informants to monitor political
activities at the University of Abidjan.
Members of the pro-Gbagbo FESCI undertook a number of violent
actions to further their political goals, particularly to disrupt the
work of officials appointed by opposition ministers and to intimidate
other students (see Section 1.c.). On January 14, FESCI students
protested against the Minister of Technical Education's, a New Forces
member, decision to replace the Directors of the vocational and
technical schools. The students harassed and beat the new Director, and
destroyed administrative documents.
On January 16, approximately 100 FESCI students forced their way
into the Minister of Technical Education's office and destroyed it.
Several of the Minister's aides were injured. French and U.N.
peacekeepers stopped the students and assisted the Minister.
Approximately, 30 demonstrators were arrested.
On May 18, FESCI members forced their way into the French
International Mermoz high school, attacking the students and a teacher.
The school guards and the police succeeded in dispersing the FESCI
students. Following the incident, the French Embassy closed French
schools in Abidjan for several days.
On June 7, during the payment of students' scholarships on the
University of Cocody campus, members of FESCI demanded that members of
National Trade Union of Health Science Students (SYNESS) pay $28-47
(15,000-25,000 CFA francs) from their scholarships to FESCI. When they
refused, the members of FESCI responsible for collecting dues violently
attacked the leaders of SYNESS. FESCI members then ransacked the rooms
of the health science students, blocked their access to the schools and
hospitals for training, and threatened to kill SYNESS leaders if they
protested. On June 14, the Secretary General of SYNESS wrote a letter
to the Government and to various foreign Embassies, requesting
protection during the payment of scholarships and compensation for the
physical and material damages; however, no further action was taken by
year's end.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
allows for freedom of assembly; however, the Government sometimes
restricted this right in practice. Groups that wished to hold
demonstrations or rallies were required by law to submit a written
notice of their intent to the Ministry of Security or the Ministry of
Interior 3 days before the proposed event. No law expressly authorizes
the Government to ban public meetings or events for which advance
notice has been given in the required manner. In practice, the
Government prohibited specific events deemed prejudicial to the public
order; even if authorization was granted, it later could be revoked.
There were numerous demonstrations during the year. There were few
instances of police forcibly dispersing demonstrations, when the
demonstrators supported the ruling party; generally they allowed the
demonstrations to proceed. However, security forces on occasion used
excessive force to disperse demonstrators.
In March, a day after the G7 parties announced their decision to
organize a march at the plaza of the Republic, President Gbagbo issued
presidential decree banning all demonstrations in the capital from
March 11 until April 30. He also signed a decree mobilizing the
military to deploy forces throughout the city, citing fears that
opposition groups were ``plotting a coup.'' Commanders of the armed
forces decreed that the area around the presidential palace would be
considered a ``red zone'' in which demonstrators would be considered
``enemy fighters and treated as such without warning.''
On March 25, the Government used lethal force to suppress a march
held by opposition parties and also sought out and killed opposition
supporters who did participate in the demonstration (see Section 1.a.).
On June 8, the Young Patriots attacked French citizens and ONUCI
peacekeepers in Abidjan, damaging 30 U.N. vehicles. In addition, the
demonstrators looted and destroyed several vehicles and wounded about
40 French citizens. The demonstrators accused ONUCI and French
peacekeepers of conspiring with rebels who earlier attacked positions
of the armed forces in the central western region of the country.
Authorities strongly condemned the demonstrations, which forced the
closure of all French schools in the country. There were no reports of
arrests.
No action was taken against security forces who used excessive
force to disperse demonstrations in previous years.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no demonstrations held by
persons with disabilities during the year.
On June 16, the gendarmerie of Sinfra arrested three local leaders
of the RDR's Youth Section in Konifla for holding a meeting. Two of the
persons arrested were released shortly after their arrest. However,
Adama Fofana, the local secretary general, was kept in detention, and
released on June 18, following the announcement of his arrest in
newspapers.
In NF-controlled territory, there were numerous demonstrations
throughout the year, usually organized by the MPCI and in support of
the NF and against President Gbagbo.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. The Government
allowed the formation of political parties, trade unions, professional
associations, and student and religious groups, all of which were
numerous.
All parties and NGOs must register with the Ministry of Interior
before commencing activities. To obtain registration, political parties
had to provide information on their founding members and produce
internal statutes and political platforms or goals consistent with the
Constitution. There were no reports that the Government denied
registration to any group, but processing rarely was expeditious. There
were more than 100 legally recognized political parties, 7 of which
were represented in the National Assembly (see Section 3). The
Constitution prohibits the formation of political parties along ethnic
or religious lines; however, in practice ethnicity and religion were
key factors in some parties' membership (see Sections 2.c. and 5).
Loyalists of President Gbagbo's FPI party had youth patriot groups
with thousands of members in Abidjan neighborhoods and in towns and
cities throughout southern, central, and western regions. The common
factors with these groups were that they were linked to President
Gbagbo and the FPI, were anti-French, anti-``foreigner'' and anti-
Marcoussis Accord. Gendarme and army officers led some groups in
physical training. Belligerent patriot groups rallied in neighborhoods,
called for ``armed resistance'' and hassled and intimidated residents
and merchants. There were persistent reports that some patriot groups
had arms or had ready access to arms. The Presidency sponsored some of
these groups, tolerated others, but did not have complete control over
some of them.
There continued to be reports that presidency-supported militias
harassed and assaulted peasant farmers, many of whom were migrants from
other West African countries. According to HRW, most of the militia
members are Bete (the ethnic group of President Gbagbo) or members of
groups related to Bete.
On August 15, members of the Patriotic Grouping for Peace (GPP), an
organization banned by the Government at a Council of Ministers meeting
in October 2003 for its violent activities, invaded the Marie Therese
Institute, a state women's vocational training school in Abidjan and
turned it into a military training camp for young hardline supporters
of President Gbagbo. On occasions, members of the GPP also bullied and
extorted funds from the numerous vendors working in the neighborhood,
accusing them of being infiltrated by rebels. In spite of requests made
by the Minister of Family, Women, and Children in charge of the Marie
Therese Institute, the Minister of Security or the Government did not
take any action to expel the members of the GPP from the school, and at
year's end, GPP members continued their activities in Abidjan's Adjame
district.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion and the Government generally respected that right. However,
after 2002, the Government targeted persons perceived to be
perpetrators or supporters of the rebellion, who often were Muslim.
Strong efforts by religious and civil society groups have helped
prevent the crisis from becoming a religious conflict. The targeting of
Muslims suspected of rebel ties diminished somewhat during the year.
There was no state religion; however, for historical as well as
ethnic reasons, the Government informally favored Christianity, in
particular the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic Church leaders had a
stronger voice in government affairs than their Islamic counterparts,
which led to feelings of disenfranchisement among some Muslims. The
Government restructured the cabinet after the Marcoussis Accord, and at
least 12 of the 41 ministers, along with the Prime Minister, are
Muslims.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces killed Muslim leaders.
Following the conflict in 2002 and during the year, there were
credible reports of military and security forces committing abuses,
including reprisal killings, against presumed rebel sympathizers, which
included many Muslims (see Section 1.g.). Unlike during the previous
years, there were no reports that government forces and unknown
assailants linked to the Government detained and questioned Muslim
leaders. There were no reports that persons were beat or detained
solely on religious grounds.
The law requires religious groups desiring to operate in the
country to register; however, registration was granted routinely.
Although nontraditional religious groups, like all public secular
associations, were required to register with the Government, no
penalties were imposed on groups that failed to register.
Members of the country's largely Christianized or Islamic urban
elites, which effectively controlled the State, generally were
disinclined to accord to traditional indigenous religions the social
status accorded to Christianity and Islam.
Some Muslims believed that their religious or ethnic affiliation
made them targets of discrimination by the Government with regard to
both employment and the renewal of national identity cards. As northern
Muslims shared names, style of dress, and customs with several of the
country's predominantly Muslim neighboring countries, they sometimes
were accused wrongly of attempting to obtain nationality cards
illegally to vote or otherwise take advantage of citizenship. This
created a hardship for a disproportionate number of Muslim citizens.
There have been several reports of violence and increased
Christian/Muslim tensions, generally in the north and west regions.
Relations between Muslims and Christians, specifically Catholics,
improved during the year. In January, to celebrate the New Year,
leaders of all major religious groups and the Minister of Religion met
within the Forum of Religious Groups, an NGO-inspired,
interdenominational gathering. In April an interfaith memorial service
was held in Abidjan to mourn those killed during the March 25 and 26
demonstrations. Religious leaders continued to attend each other's main
religious celebrations, setting an example of reconciliation for their
respective communities.
There were some societal discrimination against Muslims and
followers of traditional indigenous religions (animists).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution does not provide
specifically for these rights, and the Government restricted freedom of
movement during the year. The Government generally did not restrict
internal travel; however, security forces and water, forestry, and
customs officials frequently erected and operated roadblocks on major
roads, where they demanded that motorists or passengers produce
identity and vehicle papers and regularly extorted small amounts of
money or goods for contrived or minor infractions. Extortion was
particularly high for those intending to travel north from government-
controlled areas to NF territory.
During the year, security forces or local civilian ``self defense
committees'' erected numerous roadblocks and harassed and extorted
travelers, commercial traffic and truckers, foreigners, refugees, and
others; however, there were fewer such reports by year's end (see
Sections 1.a. and 1.d.). Uniformed forces and civilian committees
demanded payment at each roadblock, sometimes reportedly beat and
detained those who could not pay. Persons living under NF authority
regularly faced harassment and extortion when trying to travel between
towns, and to the government-controlled south. Local military
authorities regularly sold passes required of travelers. Security and
defense forces also victimized northerners when they tried to cross
into the zone under government control. Due to the closure of banks in
the north at the onset of the crisis, northerners were forced to cross
into the south and back to conduct all banking business, including
collecting remittances (upon which many northerners depend). Government
workers in the north must also travel into the south to collect their
salaries. The cost of either paying the way through the various
barricades or hiring a money runner to do so was substantial.
There were cases during the year when members of the opposition
were victims of police harassment at the airport. There were also cases
when foreigners were prevented from traveling between the north and the
south.
On April 18, Adama Tounkara, RDR Mayor of Abobo, was arrested but
not detained after his arrival at Port Bouet airport in Abidjan. An
officer informed him that the police superintendent of the airport
wanted to keep his computer. The airport police superintendent
confirmed having received instructions from the Director General of the
DST via the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Security. The Minister of
Agriculture, who was traveling with Mayor Tounkara, instructed the
officials to let Mr. Tounkara leave the airport with his computer.
On May 18, President Gbagbo required government ministers to get
his approval for travel out of the country. On May 23, the PDCI
Minister of Industry and Promotion of the Private Sector, Ahoussou
Kouadio, was held briefly at Port Bouet airport by a police officer who
informed him that he had received orders from the President not to let
him leave the country. The police officer also informed the Minister
that he had received instructions from the Director General of the
Police to seize his passport. Although the Minister was carrying a
mission order signed by the Secretary General of the Government on
behalf of President Gbagbo, he had to cancel his trip.
On May 29, seven buses coming from Burkina Faso destined for Guiglo
were stopped in Duekoue and sent back. The buses were carrying
Burkinabe and Malian passengers. Security forces at the checkpoint in
Duekoue told the passengers that citizens of Burkina Faso and Mali were
not authorized to travel in the zone under government control.
On June 9, at a checkpoint in Tiebissou in the zone under
government control, FANCI forces stopped 20 buses carrying
approximately 1,500 passengers from Mali and Burkina Faso. Many of them
were residents of Cote d'Ivoire who were going back to Divo, Meagui, or
Gagnoa where they had cocoa plantations. The group was held for several
days. Some returned to their countries of origin, and some were
successful in crossing into government territory. On June 17, the NF
wrote to the Presidents of Mali and Burkina Faso to inform them that
according to NGOs, in 9 days the FANCI had sent back 1,907 Burkinabe
and 139 Malian passengers, in violation of the African Charter on the
Freedom of Movement of People and Goods.
The Marcoussis Accord required that a revised citizen
Identification and Naturalization Law be enacted within 6 months to
settle citizenship and naturalization questions. At year's end, an
identification and naturalization law had been passed but in a form
unacceptable to the opposition. The Marcoussis Accord also declared
that the residence permit program for foreign residents should be
replaced. The residence permit program for foreigners had not been
replaced by year's end.
The Constitution specifically prohibits forced exile, and no
persons were exiled forcibly during the year. However, due to the
numerous death threats that they received at the outbreak of the
rebellion, and that they kept receiving after each major event, several
members of the RDR, including the President of the party, former Prime
Minister Alassane Ouattara, as well as members of other opposition
parties were still in exile in Europe or in neighboring African
countries.
During the year, there were still large numbers of internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in the country, a direct result of the crisis
that began in 2002. Rebel forces and forces loyal to the Government did
not generally target civilians, but the fighting forced many persons to
flee the zones of conflict, and others simply felt uncomfortable in the
side of the divided country that they found themselves in initially.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
estimated that as many as 1 million persons were displaced initially,
of whom perhaps half (300,000 Burkinabe, 150,000 Malians, and 50,000
Guineans) were foreign residents who left by early 2003 but have been
returning or attempting to return to their former communities of origin
in northern and western parts of the country. Local authorities has
blocked some who have tried to go back to their villages and fields in
government-held territory, claiming that it would be unsafe to do so
because of ``security concerns.'' Road blocks and toll collection
points have made it difficult for civilians to move in both sides of
the country.
There are perhaps as many as half a million IDPs who in many cases
fled from the NF held north to the government-held south. This exodus
was particularly evident in the country's second largest city, Bouake,
where a pre-crisis population of over 500,000 was estimated at only
300,000. Many of these displaced persons were living with family and
friends in Abidjan and other large towns. At year's end, there were
still approximately 300,000 IDPs in the country. Most of the IDPs were
in urban areas but were in smaller towns. These IDPs were invisible,
but have placed heavy burdens on host communities, especially given the
prolonged nature of the crisis. Government assistance, especially in
the north where civil servants and infrastructure were not in place,
did not meet the needs of these IDPs. International and local NGOs were
working to fill the gap.
There is a specific group of IDPs who were resident in the two
``official'' IDP camps located near Guiglo. These are the 4,000
Burkinabe who fled the fighting near Blolequin, west of Guiglo. Due to
the ethnic tensions between the local Guere population and these
persons of Burkinabe descent (many were born in the country but never
sought or received citizenship), these IDPs have been unable to return
to their villages or fields. The international community, with the
approval of the Government, provides assistance to these IDPs, but
little or no effort has been made to solve the underlying ethnic
tensions, based mainly on land tenure issues, that prevent them from
going home. It was generally acknowledged that the conditions in the
camp are poor compared with the 8,000 Liberian refugees in the nearby
Nicla refugee camp (``Peacetown''), since the refugee camp is
maintained according to stricter U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) standards for housing, water, sanitation, health services,
education, etc. Article 12 of the Constitution provides for the
granting of asylum or refugee status to persons in accordance with the
1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967
Protocol, and the Government has established procedures for providing
such protections. The Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution, and granted refugee and asylum status. A new law that went
into effect on May 3 provides asylum seekers or refugees with legal
status, including the right to work. The Government also cooperated
with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting
refugees, and maintained an office charged with assisting refugees and
other stateless persons. According to the director of this office,
during the year the Government granted refugee status to approximately
80 individuals and continued to work on determination of the status of
the 50,000 Liberians who arrived in the west of the country in May
2003.
The Government also provided temporary protection for individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967
Protocol. There were an estimated 67,000 refugees in the country, the
vast majority of whom were Liberians. During the year, the Government
continued to admit new Liberian refugees, and before the November
bombings there were about 70,000 Liberian refugees. Approximately 1,000
Liberians went back to Liberia along with 10,000 Ivoirians in the wake
of the attacks.
Various West African governments complained about the harassment
their citizens faced in the country. The U.N. and other international
organizations documented abuses against foreigners in Abidjan that
included arbitrary arrest, beating, and theft of money and valuables.
These complaints diminished during the year, and there were no large-
scale of departures by foreigners due to harassment.
Although the Government maintained a policy of according refugee
status, individual security officers often did not honor identity
documents issued to refugees by the UNHCR. There were frequent reports
that security officers stopped refugees to ask for identity documents.
When the refugee produced only a UNHCR document, the security officers
often also demanded money. There also were credible reports that
security forces destroyed refugees' identity documents, arbitrarily
detained, and occasionally beat refugees. The identity card law
included provision for the issuance of identity cards to refugees;
according to the director of the government office for assisting
refugees and stateless persons, the Government has started the process
of issuing these cards.
During the year, the Government continued to repatriate citizens
who took refuge in Mali after the rebel takeover of the north.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to change their
government peacefully through democratic means; however, significant
violence and irregularities marred presidential and legislative
elections held in 2000. The Constitution and Electoral Code provide for
presidential elections and legislative elections every 5 years by a
single and secret ballot. The Constitution, which was formally
implemented in 2000, also continues the tradition of a strong
presidency.
The 2000 presidential elections followed several postponements and
a controversial Supreme Court decision disqualifying 14 of the 19
candidates, including all of the PDCI and RDR candidates. RDR leader
Ouattara was excluded from running in the presidential and legislative
elections following the Supreme Court's ruling that he had not
demonstrated conclusively that he was of Ivoirian parentage. The
Constitution includes language that is considered more restrictive than
the Electoral Code on questions of parentage and eligibility
requirements for candidates. Furthermore, the Court maintained that
Ouattara had considered himself a citizen of Upper Volta (Burkina Faso)
earlier in his career. The Court also disqualified Emile Constant
Bombet, PDCI candidate and former Interior Minister, because of pending
charges of abuse of office when he was Minister, and former President
Bedie, who also was president of the PDCI party, because he did not
submit the required medical certificate.
As a result of the Supreme Court decision, most international
election observers declined to monitor the election. The nationwide
participation rate was 33 percent, and some polling places, especially
in the north, closed early because of the lack of voters. Preliminary
results showed that Gbagbo was leading by a significant margin.
However, on October 24, 2000, Daniel Cheick Bamba, an Interior Ministry
and National Elections Commission (CNE) official, announced on national
radio and television that the CNE had been dissolved and declared
General Guei the victor with 56 percent of the vote. Thousands of
Gbagbo supporters protested, demanding a full vote count. Mass
demonstrations resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, and on October
25, 2000, national radio and television reported that General Guei had
stepped down.
The 2000 National Assembly election was marred by violence,
irregularities, and a very low participation rate. Largely because of
the RDR boycott of the elections to protest the invalidation of
Ouattara's candidacy, the participation rate in the legislative
election was only 33 percent. In addition, the election could not take
place in 26 electoral districts in the north because RDR activists
disrupted polling places, burned ballots, and threatened the security
of election officials.
Following the legislative by-elections in 2001, 223 of the 225
seats of the National Assembly were filled: The FPI won 96 seats, the
PDCI 94 seats, the Ivorian Worker's Party (PIT)4 seats, very small
parties 2 seats, independent candidates 22 seats, and the RDR (in spite
of its boycott of all of the legislative elections) 5 seats. The two
seats from Kong, where Ouattara planned to run, remained unfilled as
the RDR, the only party running in that electoral district, boycotted
the elections.
Citizens' ability to elect subnational governments was limited. The
State remained highly centralized. At the level of the region (regional
prefect), the department (prefect), and the district (sub-prefect), the
Government appointed office holders. Other departmental and community
officials, including mayors, were elected, as were some traditional
chieftains. Subnational governments relied on the central government
for most of their revenues, but mayors had autonomy to hire and fire
community administrative personnel.
In 2002, the country held its first departmental (provincial)
elections. Voters selected 58 departmental councils to oversee local
infrastructure development and maintenance as well as economic and
social development plans and projects. The elections were fraught with
poorly administered distribution of voter cards, widespread voter
intimidation, and other irregularities.
Following the Marcoussis Accord in January 2003, President Gbagbo
and Prime Minister Diarra formed a reconciliation government with
ministers from all major political parties and the three ex-rebel
parties. Of the 41 portfolios, the FPI maintained 10 ministerial posts;
the PDCI, RDR, and MPCI 7 posts each; UDPCI and PIT 2 posts each; and
MPJ, Movement of Forces for the Future, Democratic and Citizen Union,
and MPIGO 1 post each. The Ministers of Defense and Security, named in
September 2003 after several months of deadlocked negotiations, were
neutral and not formally associated with any political party.
In April 2003, President Gbagbo issued a decree listing the powers
and duties of the new Prime Minister. The 16 duties include:
Disarmament; the reestablishment of the territorial integrity of the
country; the liberation of prisoners of war; the reformulation of
defense and security forces; an amnesty for all those detained or
exiled for actions against the state; the reestablishment of normal
economic, social, and administrative functions; the reform of the
naturalization process; the preparation of the organizational framework
for the conduct of future elections; the regulation and promotion of a
free and neutral media; the reinsertion of military units previously
demobilized; and application of laws related to human rights.
On August 9, as mandated by Accra III, President Gbagbo issued
another decree regarding the duties of the Prime Minister, which
included: Definition of the national reconciliation policy in
accordance with Marcoussis Accord, translation of policy on a national
reconstruction program, coordination of relations with development and
financing agencies, assurance of implementation of the Government's
policy on DDR, and preparation of a schedule for free and fair
elections. This decree was meant to legalize the Prime Minister's
abilities to carry out the Marcoussis Accord free of interference from
the President.
In December, the National Assembly also made changes to the
Nationality Code and adopted a Special Law on Naturalization,
legislation that was envisioned by the Marcoussis Accord to resolve the
dispute over which persons born in Cote d'Ivoire of foreign parents
before 1972 should be entitled to citizenship, and to simplify
procedures to obtain citizenship for this group and for foreigners
married to citizens. The legislation that was eventually passed
resolved the citizenship question for those born before 1960, but not
for those born between 1960 and 1972.
The youth wings of political parties were allowed to organize and
were active. The youth wing of the governing FPI party (JFPI) was a
less of a political force than in previous years. JFPI activity was
ongoing; however, youth patriot groups conducted most activities during
the year (see Section 2.b.). Many of the members of the JFPI were
likely members of some of these patriot groups. During the year,
militia groups such as the Young Patriots and the GPP drew large crowds
at demonstrations in Abidjan and elsewhere (see Section 2.b.). The
youth wings of the PDCI and RDR kept a low profile, especially after
the killings of 120 members of the opposition at the G7 March 24-25
demonstration that was violently repressed by the defense and security
forces (see Section 1.a.), but staged some low profile activities
during the year.
Government corruption and lack of transparency remained a serious
problem during the year. It was common for judges open to financial
influence to distort the merits of a case. Corruption has the greatest
impact on judicial proceedings, contract awards, customs, and tax
issues.
Women held 19 of 225 seats in the National Assembly. The first vice
president of the National Assembly was a woman. Women held 7 of the 41
ministerial positions in the cabinet. Of the 41 Supreme Court justices,
4 were women. Henriette Dagri Diabate served as Secretary General of
the RDR, the party's second ranking position, and was also the Minister
of Justice.
Following the Marcoussis Accord, at least 12 of the 41 ministers
were Muslim, along with the Prime Minister. In the National Assembly,
44 out of 223 Members of Parliament were Muslim.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups,
including LIDHO, MIDH, Justice Action, and the Committee of Victims of
Cote d'Ivoire, generally operated without government restriction,
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
Government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their
views. The Government occasionally met with some of these groups.
During the year, members of MIDH received death threats on several
occasions.
During the year, LIDHO, MIDH, and other human rights groups
gathered evidence and testimony on events. They also frequently
published letters and statements in certain independent local daily
newspapers that publish them, often criticized state security forces.
MIDH officials stated that they were constantly threatened and that two
members went into hiding for several months after receiving death
threats following MIDH's reporting on French radio RFI of government
actions during the March 25 and 26 events. Subsequently, in December,
the president of MIDH went into hiding after MIDH released a report on
the November events that criticized the actions of pro-government
demonstrators. Authorities said they would investigate the incident,
but there were no reports of an investigation or arrests in the 2003
ransacking of MIDH's offices at year's end.
There were no reports that the Government suppressed international
human rights groups or denied them visas; however, on occasion the
Government has restricted their access to certain areas that the
Government deemed sensitive and often denigrated their work.
During the year, the Government regularly permitted access to the
World Food Program (WFP), the ICRC, and other international
humanitarian organizations. Eleven U.N. agencies, including the
International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Health
Organization (WHO), were resident and active throughout the year.
Local newspapers covered reports by several international human
rights organizations that were critical of both the Government's and
the rebels' human rights records.
In April, a U.N. International Investigation Committee came to the
country to look into the violence of March 25 and 26. In July, a five-
member independent commission appointed by the U.N. began a 2-month
investigation into human rights violations committed since the 2002
rebellion, throughout the country. In July, a special U.N. team
confirmed the existence of mass graves in Korhogo (see Section 1.g.).
Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution and the law prohibit discrimination based on race,
ethnicity, national origin, sex, or religion; however, in practice
women occupied a subordinate role in society. Ethnic discrimination and
division were problems.
In February, Mr. Doudou Diene, Special Rapporteur of the U.N. Human
Rights Commission on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and
Intolerance carried out a 12-day investigation in the country. After
visiting several parts of the country and meeting with political
parties; the Government; the New Forces; and the representatives of
ethnic, religious, and spiritual communities, Mr. Doudou Diene said
that the country did not have a tradition of xenophobia but was
entering a xenophobic dynamic.
Women.--Representatives of the Ivoirian Association for the Defense
of Women (AIDF) and other NGOs active in the field of the protection of
women or the promotion of non-violence stated that spousal abuse
(usually wife beating) occurred frequently and often led to divorce.
Female victims of domestic violence suffered severe social stigma and
as a result often did not discuss domestic violence. The courts and
police viewed domestic violence as a family problem unless serious
bodily harm was inflicted, or the victim lodged a complaint, in which
case they could initiate criminal proceedings. However, a victim's own
parents often urged withdrawal of a complaint because of the shame that
affected the entire family. The Government did not collect statistics
on rape or other physical abuse of women. The Civil Code prohibits, and
provides criminal penalties for, forced or early marriage and sexual
harassment, but contains nothing about spousal abuse, and the
Government had no clear policy regarding spousal abuse.
During the year, women's advocacy groups continued to protest the
indifference of authorities to female victims of violence. The groups
also reported that victims of rape or domestic violence often were
ignored when they attempted to bring the violence to the attention of
the police. AIDF and the Republican Sisters, another women's NGO,
continued to seek justice on behalf of rape victims but had made no
progress by year's end. AIDF ran a house for battered girls and wives,
which reportedly received approximately 18 battered women per week in
2003. MIDH provided legal, medical, and psychological assistance to
battered women.
During the year, the Ministry of Women, Family, and Children's
Affairs undertook to convince the mayors of the 10 districts of Abidjan
to open and maintain permanent psychological assistance centers in the
city halls for battered women and children. The Ministry also tried to
get the mayors of eight large towns to open similar centers. By year's
end, the Minister of Women, Family, and Children had been able to open
up three centers in the districts of Yopougon, Treichville, and Abobo.
During the year, the National Committee in charge of Fighting
against Violence against Women and Children of the Ministry of Women,
Family and Children's Affairs continued to receive women and child
victims of violence. According to an employee of the Ministry, the
National Committee received approximately 10 victims every week. Most
of them were battered women from the populous districts of Yopougon,
Abobo and Adjame. Some of the victims were young girls from Dabou or
Port Bouet, trying to escape FGM or forced marriage, and some were
young maids who were victims of abuses. The National Committee of the
Ministry had a hotline for social and psychological assistance. The
Committee helped women to stay with relatives and informed the husbands
of the legal actions that may be taken for wife beating. If the husband
agrees to stop spousal abuse, the wife returned home, and a Committee
member monitored the situation through frequent visits. Young girls who
feared becoming a victim of FGM or forced marriage or maids who were
victims of abuse may appeal to the Committee, which then arranged for
the victim to stay in a center run by an NGO such as the BICE or in one
of the district social centers run by the Ministry of Solidarity and
Social Security. By threatening the parents with legal action, the
Committee usually succeeded in stopping the abuse and in improving the
child's situation.
FGM was a serious problem. The law specifically forbids FGM and
imposes on those who perform it criminal penalties of imprisonment for
up to 5 years and a fine of approximately $690 to $3,800 (360,000 to 2
million CFA francs); double penalties apply to medical practitioners.
In August, the National Committee in charge of Fighting against
Violence against Women and Children had arrested an FGM practitioner
who was preparing to perform FGM on four girls in Yopougon Km 7, in
Abidjan. The legal counsel of the Ministry initiated legal action
against the practitioner by referring the matter to court; there was no
update on the case at year's end. In August, the Committee had another
FGM practitioner arrested in Port Bouet, Abidjan.
FGM was practiced most frequently among rural populations in the
north and west and to a lesser extent in the center and south. The
procedure usually was performed on young girls or at puberty as a rite
of passage, with techniques and hygiene that did not meet modern
medical standards. According to WHO and the AIDF, as many as 60 percent
of women have undergone FGM. Many families in cities went back to their
villages to have their daughters circumcised. The practice was
declining in popularity, but persisted in many places. In July, the
National Committee for the Fight Against Harmful Traditional Practices
adopted more efficient strategies to combat FGM including raising the
awareness of traditional chiefs, the creation of a permanent executive
board, and the training of victims who could in turn sensitize the
families of potential victims. In July, the Madinani Theater Company
continued its sensitization campaign in Abidjan through plays.
During the year, the Djiguiba Foundation of Imam Cisse Djiguiba,
Iman of the Plateau Mosque, Director of the Moslem radio, and Al
Bayane, continued a sensitization campaign against AIDS, FGM and forced
marriage, through public conferences held in Abidjan, Yamoussoukro and
Dabou. On September 8, the Cisse Djuguiba Foundation held a training
seminar in Abidjan for members of civil society that featured prominent
gynecologists. In addition to the sensitization campaigns, when asked,
members of the Djiguiba Foundation visited families to help family
heads understand that FGM and forced marriages were not Muslim
practices. According to a Djguiba Foundation member, in many cases, the
Djiguiba Foundation succeeded in stopping the procedure. In mosques in
Abidjan, imams have started to ask young brides if they agreed to get
married before performing weddings.
In July, a newspaper reported that a young woman name Nman Toure
had disappeared in May 2003 from her home in Tiassale, in the south.
Her father reportedly wanted to force her to marry an older cousin.
Prostitution is not illegal as long as it occurs between consenting
adults in private. Soliciting and pandering are both illegal and the
police sometimes enforced the law. Women from nearby countries
sometimes were trafficked into the country, including for prostitution
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
The Constitution and the law prohibit discrimination on the basis
of sex; however, women occupied a subordinate role in society.
Government policy encouraged full participation by women in social and
economic life; however, there was considerable informal resistance
among employers to hiring women, whom they considered less dependable
because of their potential for pregnancy. Some women also encountered
difficulty in obtaining loans, as they could not meet the lending
criteria established by banks such as a title to a house and production
of a profitable cash crop, specifically coffee and cocoa. Women in the
formal sector usually were paid at the same rate as men (see Section
6.e.); however, because the tax code did not recognize women as heads
of households, female workers frequently paid income tax at a higher
rate than their male counterparts. In rural areas, women and men
divided the labor, with men clearing the land and attending to cash
crops such as cocoa and coffee, while women grew vegetables and other
staples and performed most household tasks.
Women's advocacy organizations continued to sponsor campaigns
against forced marriage, marriage of minors, patterns of inheritance
that excluded women, and other practices considered harmful to women
and girls. Women's organizations also campaigned during the year
against the legal texts and procedures that discriminated against
women. During the year, the Coalition of Women Leaders continued its
efforts to promote greater participation of women in decision-making.
In July, the Coalition went to the Accra III conference to try to
influence decisions on resolution of the crisis.
Children.--The Ministries of Public Health and of Employment,
Public Service, and Social Security sought to safeguard the welfare of
children, and the Government also encouraged the formation of NGOs such
as the Abidjan Legal Center for the Defense of Children.
The Government strongly encouraged children to attend school;
however, primary education was not compulsory. Primary education was
tuition free but usually ended at age 13. In principle, students do not
have to pay for books or fees; however, in practice some still must do
so. In addition, they must pay for some school supplies, including
photocopying paper. In at least one school, students had to bring their
own bench to sit on. Poverty caused many children to leave the formal
school system when they were between the ages of 12 and 14. Research in
2002 showed that 67 percent of children 6 to 17 years old attend
school: Boys 73 percent, girls 61 percent. The WFP has worked with the
Government to establish a countrywide system of school canteens that
provided lunches for $.04 (25 CFA francs).
Secondary school entrance was restricted by the difficulty of the
exam, which changed each year, and the Government's inability to
provide sufficient spaces for all who wished to attend. A student who
fails the secondary school entrance exams does not qualify for free
secondary education, and many families cannot afford to pay for
schooling. Parental preference for educating boys rather than girls
persisted, particularly in rural areas. The Minister of National
Education stated that almost one-third of the female primary and
secondary school dropout rate of 66 percent was attributable to
pregnancies.
Many of the sexual partners of female students were teachers, to
whom girls sometimes granted sexual favors in return for good grades or
money. The penalty for statutory rape or attempted rape of either a
girl or a boy aged 15 years or younger was a 1- to 3-year prison
sentence and a fine of $190 to $1,900 (100,000 to 1 million CFA
francs).
The Ministry of Health operated a nationwide network of clinics for
children, infants, and prenatal care staffed with nurses and doctors
who served the local residents, whether citizens or noncitizens, free
or at low cost. The Health Ministry also conducted a nationwide
vaccination program for measles, yellow fever, meningitis, and other
diseases and publicized ``well baby'' contests. Rotary Clubs sponsored
a polio vaccination campaign throughout the country. There were no
reported differences in the treatment of boys and girls.
In a study released in March 2003, the NGO SOS Sexual Violence
surveyed 500 schoolchildren in Abidjan and its suburbs and reported
that 27 percent of children had been victims of sexual abuse; 74
percent of the victims were girls and 26 percent boys. Approximately 33
percent had been raped, 15 percent had been the victims of attempted
rape; 42 percent had been fondled, and 11 percent were victims of
sexual harassment. When the sexual abuse occurred in the family, 54
percent of the assailants were male cousins, 11 percent were female
cousins, 5 percent were guardians, and 3 percent were the brothers and
sisters.
FGM was commonly performed on girls (see Section 5, Women).
There were reports of trafficking in children (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
A knowledgeable U.N. representative reported that in government-
held territory, it was common for pro-government militias to recruit
children, both on a voluntary and a forced basis.
Child labor remained a problem (see Sections 5, Trafficking and
6.d.).
There were large populations of street children in the cities. In
2002, the government newspaper, Fraternite Matin, reported 215,000
street children in the country, of whom 50,000 were in Abidjan.
According to numerous credible reports, some children were employed as
domestics and were subject to sexual abuse, harassment, and other
mistreatment by their employers (see Section 6.d.). No new figures of
the number of street children were available for the year, but
according to the BICE, the number of street children decreased because
the streets were no longer safe. Since the outbreak of the 2002
rebellion the crime rate has increased due to the numerous arms
circulating in the country. However, the number of children and more
specifically, the number of young girls working in the streets, has
increased. Because of the political military crisis, many families,
including many displaced families, have become poor and relied on their
children who work as street vendors to bring money home. A forum of 15
NGOs worked with approximately 8,000 street children in training
centers, similar to halfway houses. The NGOs paid the children a small
subsistence sum while teaching them vocational and budgeting skills.
The Ministry reported that many street children were reluctant to stay
in training centers where they earned no money and were subject to
strict discipline.
In the NF-controlled north and west, many schools continued to
operate in 2003 despite the Ministry of Education's opposition to
funding schools in rebel-held territory zones. UNESCO and UNICEF called
on the Government to keep the schools open to reduce youth inactivity
and curb their recruitment into rebel forces. In February, following
pressure from school children's parents, the NF and international
organizations such as UNICEF and UNESCO, the Ministry of Education
finally agreed to send inspectors to assess the courses delivered by
the volunteers under the supervision of the state teachers who had
remained in rebel-controlled territory. The Minister of Education
allowed exams to be held in the rebel-held territory and validated the
2003 school year.
During the year, the school year started late in the center and in
the north, because many teachers refused to go back to their posts as
they feared for their security and their homes had been destroyed. In
September, the National Committee in charge of the Redeployment of the
Administration in rebel-controlled territory announced that the
redeployment of the administration had been completed in the west and
that the Government planned to carry out the same operation in the
north. The administrative buildings were being repaired and the
teachers and other civil servants had started to return when the
bombings on the center and the north occurred on November 4-6. As a
result, many civil servants again left the rebel-controlled zones and
the exams to validate the 2004 school year had not yet been held by
year's end.
UNICEF has reported that in the NF-controlled territory, most
hospitals have been closed for 2 years, there were very few doctors and
nurses, and virtually no routine vaccinations. Fifteen cases of polio
have been reported during the year, and the November bombings forced
the Ministry of Health to twice postpone the national polio
immunization campaign targeted at 5.1 million children. A nationwide
measles vaccination campaign for 8.8 million children was also
postponed.
There were credible reports that the rebel forces that controlled
the north and the west used child soldiers. NGOs reported that in the
west, rebel forces were actively recruiting child soldiers from refugee
camps and other areas. In the north, many rebel soldiers volunteered at
ages 15 or younger. In September, the local representatives of UNICEF
and U.N. OCHA, visited Bouake in rebel-controlled territory, informed
the special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General in the country
that the situation of child soldiers in Bouake was improving, and 752
children were being cared for by the ``Children's House,'' a local
organization, with the assistance of the local office of the WFP.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons, and although the Government continued its anti-trafficking
efforts, trafficking in persons remained a problem. The Government did
not prosecute traffickers during the year. With the continuing crisis,
the Government, U.N. agencies, and international humanitarian agencies
concentrated on child soldiers and children displaced because of the
war, and it was difficult to distinguish trafficked children. The
country was a source and destination country for trafficking in women
and children from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and Benin for the
purpose of forced commercial agriculture and domestic servitude.
After 2002, minimal law enforcement continued in government-held
territory. The military fronts that divided the country inhibited
northern workers from reaching the cocoa, coffee, and other rich
agricultural zones in the south where labor demand was high.
There was no good overall estimate of the number of children
intercepted or repatriated during the year.
The Government cooperated with neighboring countries, international
organizations, and NGOs to combat trafficking in persons. The
Ministries of Employment and of Family, Women, and Children's Affairs
continued working with Malian authorities to prevent cross-border child
trafficking and to repatriate Malian children from the country. They
actively sought international funding for their work. The Government
also continued to work with the Governments of Burkina Faso, Togo, and
Benin on an anti-trafficking in children and repatriation multilateral
accord. A national committee for the fight against child trafficking,
which included representatives from numerous government ministries;
representatives from several national and international organizations
and NGOs, such as UNICEF, ILO, Save the Children, REFAMP-CI (network of
women ministers and parliamentarians); and the BICE continued its work
during the year.
The full extent and nature of the problem was unknown in spite
efforts carried out during the year to document the trafficking of
persons in the country. However, there have been changes in the
direction and extent of trafficking since 2002. The Ghanaian-Ivoirian
border near Aboisso was more frequently used for trafficking persons
than in pervious years. The primary reason for the increased traffic at
this border was that the borders with other countries (Mali, Liberia,
Burkina Faso, Guinea) were closed for several months after the onset of
the conflict.
The country's cities and farms provided ample opportunities for
traffickers, especially of children and women. The informal labor
sectors were not regulated under existing labor laws, so domestics,
most nonindustrial farm laborers, and those who worked in the country's
wide network of street shops and restaurants remained outside most
government protection. Internal trafficking of girls aged 9 to 15 sent
from all parts of the country to work as household domestics in
Abidjan, and elsewhere in the more prosperous south, remained a
problem.
The regular trafficking of children into the country from
neighboring countries to work in the informal sector in exchange for
finder's fees generally was accepted. Children were trafficked into the
country from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Mauritania for
indentured or domestic servitude, farm labor, and sexual exploitation.
Women principally were trafficked to the country from Nigeria,
Ghana, and Liberia. A local NGO estimated that 58 percent of the female
prostitutes in Abidjan were not citizens and reported that a small
number of Ivoirian women were trafficked to Europe and the Middle East
for prostitution.
Women and children were trafficked from the country to African,
European, and Middle Eastern countries.
The controversy over child labor in the cocoa sector in the country
continued, and the ILO, the Institute of Tropical Agriculture, and the
Chocolate Manufacturers' Association financed studies to document the
problem. The survey research, released in 2002, revealed that most
children who were working in the cocoa sector worked on the family's
farm (approximately 70 percent) or beside their parents. Of the 625,000
working children, 96.7 percent had a kinship relation to the farmer.
Others, most frequently the children of extended family members or
persons well known to them, indicated their or their family's agreement
to leave their respective countries to work on farms in the country to
earn money or in search of a better life.
The research suggested that perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 children were
trafficked to or within the country to work full or part time in the
cocoa sector. It also showed an estimated 5,100 children employed as
full-time permanent workers, approximately 3,000 of whom were from
Burkina Faso. The survey found another 12,000 children working part
time on cocoa farms who had no family ties with the farmer. The
research showed that approximately 109,000 child laborers worked in
hazardous conditions on cocoa farms in the country in what the study
described as the worst forms of child labor. The studies estimated that
59 percent were from Burkina Faso, 24 percent were citizens, and the
others were from Mali or other countries to the north. During the year,
compared with previous years, there were significantly fewer reports of
children from neighboring countries being imported for fieldwork on
plantations under abusive conditions.
The Government and the ILO continued to implement their ``West
African Project Against Abusive Child Labor in Commercial Agriculture''
(WACAP), with some interruptions due to security concerns. WACAP was
expected to eventually include 30 pilot projects reaching 6,000
displaced children in the country. The projects aimed to increase
farmers' awareness, improve schooling for children, and provide better
social services to families. In Abgoville, in the heart of the cocoa
zone, Winrock International continued its project ``Alternatives to
Child Labor through Improved Education.''
Persons with Disabilities.--The law requires the Government to
educate and train persons with physical, mental, visual, auditory, and
cerebral motor disabilities, to hire them or help them find jobs, to
design houses and public facilities for wheelchair access, and to adapt
machines, tools, and work spaces for access and use by persons with
disabilities; however, wheelchair accessible facilities for persons
with disabilities were not common, and there were few training and job
assistance programs for persons with disabilities. Following the
Marcoussis Accord in January 2003, the Ministry of Solidarity, Social
Security, and the Handicapped was created. A Federation of the
Handicapped was established, headed by an advisor to that Minister.
During the year, the Government allocated approximately $200,000 (10
million CFA francs) to the Federation principally to make buildings
more accessible to persons with disabilities. In 1996 the Government
announced a program to recruit persons with disabilities for government
service; however, by year's end, only 135 had been recruited. The last
recruitment was in 2003; there were none during the year.
The law also prohibits the abandonment of persons with mental or
physical disabilities and acts of violence directed at them. Adults
with disabilities were not specific targets of abuse, but they
encountered serious difficulties in employment and education. The
Government supported special schools, associations, and artisans'
cooperatives for persons with disabilities, but many persons with
physical disabilities begged on urban streets and in commercial zones.
Persons with mental disabilities often lived in the streets.
Unlike in the previous years, there were no demonstrations by
person with disabilities.
Traditional practices, beliefs, and superstitions varied, but
infanticide in cases of serious birth defects was less common than in
previous years. Many parents no longer believed that children with
disabilities were sorcerers or the signs of a curse.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's population was
ethnically diverse. Citizens born in the country derived from five
major families of ethnic groups. The Akan family comprised more than 42
percent; the largest Akan ethnic group, and the largest ethnic group in
the country, was the Baoule. Approximately 18 percent of citizens
belonged to the northern Mande family, of which the Malinke were the
largest group. Approximately 11 percent of citizens belonged to the
Krou family, of which the Bete were the largest group. The Voltaic
family accounted for 18 percent of the population, and the Senoufo were
the largest Voltaic group. Approximately 10 percent belonged to the
southern Mande family, of which the Yacouba were the largest group.
Major ethnic groups generally had their own primary languages, and
their nonurban populations tended to be concentrated regionally.
All ethnic groups sometimes practiced societal discrimination on
the basis of ethnicity. Urban neighborhoods still had identifiable
ethnic characteristics, and major political parties tended to have
identifiable ethnic and regional bases, although interethnic marriage
increasingly was common in urban areas.
At least 26 percent of the population was foreign, and of that
group, 95 percent were other Africans. There were more than 5 million
West African immigrants living in the country. Most of the Africans
were from neighboring countries, with half from Burkina Faso. Birth in
the country did not automatically confer citizenship. Outdated or
inadequate land ownership laws resulted in conflicts with an ethnic and
anti-foreigner aspect.
Some ethnic groups included many noncitizens, while other ethnic
groups included few noncitizens. There were societal and political
tensions between these two sets of ethnic groups. This cleavage
corresponded to some extent to regional differences. Members of
northern ethnic groups that were found in neighboring countries as well
as in the country often were required to document their citizenship,
whereas members of formerly or presently politically powerful ethnic
groups of the west, south, and center reportedly were not required to
do so. Police routinely abused and harassed noncitizen Africans
residing in the country (see Section 1.f.). Official harassment
reflected the frequently encountered belief that foreigners were
responsible for high crime rates, as well as a concern for identity
card fraud. Harassment of northerners increased markedly after the 2002
rebellion. The victims of the March 25-26 violence in Abidjan included
foreigners as well as northerners.
The Government razed some shantytowns where many poor West African
immigrants and citizens lived, rendering tens of thousands persons
homeless (see Section 1.f.).
Following the violence in January and February 2003 after the
signing of the Marcoussis Accord, many private French citizens left the
country. Approximately 350,000 Burkinabe returned to Burkina Faso. The
French and the Burkinabe who remained in the country kept a low profile
as attacks against them continued during the year (see Section 2.b.).
Since the outbreak of the armed rebellion in 2002, clashes have
regularly occurred between the native Guere populations and the
Burkinabe and have led to the death of at least 10 persons on both
sides. The native populations accused the Burkinabe of being assailants
and the rebels' accomplices. However, according to French military
sources, the repeated attacks against the non-natives (citizens and
foreigners alike) were only aimed at stealing the latter's crops or
money. An independent newspaper reported that Burkinabe immigrants
working with the MPCI rebels killed 21 Guere farmers from the village
of Blody during the period from January 5 to 10.
In February, young men of the Guere ethnic group in Duekoue, in a
zone under government control beat to death three Burkinabe men and
seriously injured a fourth. French and FANCI soldiers deployed to
prevent clashes between the two communities.
In December, 18 persons were reported killed and 7 injured by
gunfire or machete in an outbreak of violence between villagers from
President Laurent Gbagbo's Bete ethnic group and settlers from other
parts of the country and West Africa near the southern town of Gagnoa.
These clashes generally were over land rights and the buying of cocoa
beans.
Ethnic tensions led to fighting and deaths, especially in the
western areas of the country. During the year, We and Yacouba ethnic
groups in the west continued fighting, and hundreds reportedly were
killed. In the West and in Duekoue in particular there were violent
clashes between the native We population and members of the foreign
community, particularly Burkinabe farmers.
During the year, Minister of National Reconciliation Sebastian Dano
Djedje and civil society members organized activities aimed at
promoting peace between the native We ethnic group and the foreign
community living in the west by using traditional methods of settling
conflicts. From July 21 to 25, the Collective of Civil Society for
Peace traveled to the west to try to help reconcile the We populations
and the Burkinabe in of Duekoue.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--During the November 4-10
events, state radio and television repeatedly broadcast hate messages
aimed at the French (see Section 1.g.).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and the Labor Code
grant all citizens, except members of the police and military services,
the right to form or join unions, and workers exercised these rights in
practice. Registration of a new union required 3 months and was granted
routinely.
Only a small percentage of the workforce was organized, and most
laborers worked in the informal sector that included small farms, small
roadside and street side shops, and urban workshops. However, large
industrial farms and some trades were organized. There was an
agricultural workers union.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
protects persons working in the formal sector (approximately 1.5
million workers or 15 percent of the workforce) from employer
interference in their right to organize and administer unions, and this
was observed in practice. The Constitution provides for collective
bargaining, and the Labor Code grants all citizens, except members of
the police and military services, the right to bargain collectively.
Collective bargaining agreements were in effect in many major business
enterprises and sectors of the civil service. In most cases in which
wages were not established in direct negotiations between unions and
employers, the Ministry of Employment and Civil Service established
salaries by job categories (see Section 6.e.). There are no export
processing zones.
The Constitution and statutes provide for the right to strike, and
workers generally exercised this right in practice. However, the Labor
Code requires a protracted series of negotiations and a 6-day
notification period before a strike may take place, making legal
strikes difficult to organize. Workers in the private and government
sectors continued to strike over working conditions and terms of
employment, and the Government generally tolerated the strikes, which
rarely resulted in violence. There were several strikes during the
year.
A 2003 ministerial decree declared that chief court clerks must
share among all judicial system workers, including judges, the fees
they traditionally collected and kept. Previously they shared the fees
only with other court clerks (greffiers). Staff members of the Ministry
of Justice shared all the fees. Some members of the National Union of
Court Clerks of Cote d'Ivoire (UNAGCI) argued that the fees were not
properly collected and accounted for and on May 3 undertook to evict
the state treasurers to collect the fees themselves. On May 26, Mr.
Roger Dacoury, President of the UNAGCI and nine of his colleagues were
convicted of violence on the police officers who tried to secure the
Court House on May 12 and sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment. Their
colleagues went on strike to protest their imprisonment. Following
negotiations between the Minister of Justice' s office and the court
clerks' trade unions, court clerks agreed to resume work in all the
jurisdictions. In return, in accordance with the commitments made, the
Ministry of Justice released all the court clerks arrested and jailed
at MACA.
In July 3, workers on the construction site of the Members of
Parliament's house in Yamoussoukro went on strike to protest against
the their employers, the District of Yamoussoukro and the Chinese
contractor for alleged failure to honor commitments as to salaries and
working conditions. In addition to stopping to work, the workers also
used violence against the managers of the construction company
employing them and against the Chinese technical management staff.
Following the mediation of the local authorities and of the Minister of
Relationships with Institutions, a compromise was found and a new
contract was signed.
The Labor Ministry arbitrated scores of labor conflicts in 2002 in
spite of the social and political crisis. Employees could appeal
decisions made by labor inspectors to labor courts.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports such practices occurred (see Sections 5, Trafficking and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for
Employment.--There were laws against the exploitation of children in
the work place; however, child labor remained a problem. In most
instances, the legal minimum working age is 14; however, the Ministry
of Employment and Civil Service enforced this provision effectively
only in the civil service and in large multinational companies. Labor
law limits the hours of young workers, defined as those under the age
of 18. However, children often worked on family farms, and some
children routinely acted as vendors, shoe shiners, errand boys,
domestic helpers, street restaurant vendors, and car watchers and
washers in the informal sector in cities. Some girls begin work as
domestic workers as early as 9 years of age, often within their
extended family. There were reliable reports of children laboring in
``sweatshop'' conditions in small workshops. Children also worked in
family operated artisanal gold and diamond mines.
In April 2003, the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Security, and the
Handicapped completed a child labor study. The study was designed to
cover all economic sectors across the entire country, but the political
crisis confined the research to the southern half of the country.
Regardless of school attendance, 28 percent of all children worked,
with 20 percent working full time. About 23 percent of the children
aged 10 to 14 and 55 percent of the children aged 5 to 17 carried out
an ``economic activity.'' Most children worked in agriculture, but some
also worked in small business, tailor and beauty shops, street
restaurants, and manufacturing and repair shops in the informal sector.
Child work varied inversely with school attendance.
Approximately 109,000 child laborers worked in hazardous conditions
on cocoa farms in what has been described as the worst forms of child
labor (see Section 5, Trafficking.); some of these children were forced
or indentured workers but 70 percent worked on family farms or with
their parents.
During the year, with the help of the ILO, the Government initiated
a pilot program to certify that cocoa was produced free of child labor.
This program is to be joined with a mechanism to ensure that children
in cocoa producing areas attend school. The country still has failed to
elaborate a judicial framework for tackling the problem, including
enactment of laws specifically for use against child labor.
The Association of Domestic Worker Placement in Cote d'Ivoire
(ACPGM-CI), an association to legalize their agencies and eliminate all
agencies that refuse to comply with the law or that try to exploit
young girls' continued to work. ACPGM-CI worked under the auspices of
BICE, which along with other NGOs, campaigned against child
trafficking, child labor, and sexual abuse of children in the country.
In March, the Government created a National Management Committee
for the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor of the
International Bureau of Labor. The Committee falls under the Ministry
of Labor and Civil Service and advises on policies for activities aimed
at suppression of child labor and to integrate IPEC activities in other
national efforts to fight child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government administratively
determined monthly minimum wage rates, which last were adjusted in
1996. Minimum wages varied according to occupation, with the lowest set
at approximately $70 (36,000 CFA francs) per month for the industrial
sector; this wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family. A slightly higher minimum wage rate applied for
construction workers. The Government enforced the minimum wage rates
only for salaried workers employed by the Government or registered with
the social security office.
Labor federations attempted to fight for just treatment under the
law for workers when companies failed to meet minimum salary
requirements or discriminated between classes of workers, such as local
and foreign workers. For example, the sanitary services company ASH
continued to pay wages as low as $23 (12,000 CFA francs) a month to
female employees who swept the streets of Abidjan. According to their
labor federation, labor inspectors continued to ignore this violation
of the law. The shipbuilding company Carena continued to discriminate
between European engineers who were paid on average $15,600 (8 million
CFA francs) a month and their African colleagues who received
approximately $1,500 (800,000 CFA francs) a month. Government labor and
employment authorities did not take action in these cases.
On July 8, the employees of the oil firm Exxon-Mobil ended a 2-week
strike over severance pay packages following the layoff of 25 workers,
reported the government newspaper, Fraternite Matin. The workers
reportedly considered the severance pay low compared with what their
colleagues in Cameroon and Tunisia received. Following negotiations,
the company agreed to reassess the package.
Through the Ministry of Employment and the Civil Service, the
Government enforced in the formal sector a comprehensive Labor Code
that governs the terms and conditions of service for wage earners and
salaried workers and provides for occupational safety and health
standards. Employees in the formal sector generally were protected
against unjust compensation, excessive hours, and arbitrary discharge
from employment. The standard legal workweek was 40 hours. The Labor
Code requires overtime payment on a graduated scale for additional
hours and provides for at least one 24-hour rest period per week.
Working conditions did not improve during the year and in some
cases declined. Government labor inspectors could order employers to
improve substandard conditions, and a labor court could levy fines if
the employer failed to comply with the Labor Code. However, in the
large informal sector of the economy, the Government enforced
occupational health and safety regulations erratically, if at all. The
practice of some labor inspectors accepting bribes was a continuing
problem, and observers believed that it was widespread. Workers in the
formal sector had the right to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations without jeopardy to continued employment by utilizing the
Ministry of Labor's inspection system to document dangerous working
conditions. However, workers in the informal sector ordinarily could
not absent themselves from such labor without risking the loss of their
employment.
Several million foreign workers, mostly from neighboring countries,
typically worked in the informal labor sector, where labor laws did not
apply.
__________
DJIBOUTI
Djibouti is a republic with a strong presidency and a weak
legislature. In 1999, the country elected its second president since
gaining independence in 1977. Ismael Omar Guelleh, the candidate of the
ruling People's Rally for Progress (RPP) that has ruled the country
since independence, won the election with 74 percent of the vote. The
election was considered generally free and fair. In the 2002
legislative elections, the ruling party coalition won all 65 seats,
amid opposition claims of massive fraud. The judiciary was not
independent of the executive and was subject to corruption and
inefficiency.
Security forces include the National Police Force (FNP) and the
Gendarmerie Nationale under the Ministry of Interior, the army under
the Ministry of Defense, and an elite Republican Guard under the
Presidency. An intelligence bureau under the direction of the National
Security Advisor reports directly to the President. The FNP is
responsible for internal security, border control, and prisons. The
Gendarmerie Nationale is responsible for internal security. The army is
responsible for external security, but also has some domestic security
responsibilities. The Republican Guard is responsible for the
protection of the President. While civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently
of government authority. Security forces committed serious human rights
abuses.
The country's mixed economy has little industry and few natural
resources; its population was estimated at 660,000. Outside the capital
city, the primary economic activity was nomadic subsistence. In 2003,
the rate of economic growth was estimated at 3.5 percent, and inflation
was 3 percent; wages and benefits have not increased in 10 years. The
part of the annual gross domestic product not generated by and for the
foreign community was estimated at no more than $250 per capita
annually. Much of the country's wealth was concentrated in the hands of
a small elite.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it
continued to commit serious abuses. The Government limited citizens'
rights to change their government. There was at least one report of the
arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life by security force members.
There were reports that security forces beat and physically abused
prisoners and detainees. Prison conditions remained harsh. Official
impunity was a problem. The Government continued to detain persons
arbitrarily, and prolonged detention was a problem; however, unlike in
the previous year, there were no reports that persons were held
incommunicado. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights;
restricted freedom of the press; limited freedom of assembly; used
force to disperse demonstrations and strikes; and restricted freedom of
association. Violence and discrimination against women persisted, and,
although the Government prohibited such practices, the practice of
female genital mutilation (FGM) continued to be widespread.
Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, and clan
background persisted. The Government restricted unions and harassed and
intimidated their leaders.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, security forces killed a few persons during the year.
On March 3, in Obock, a military vehicle hit and killed Hassan
Mohamed Kassim, a 4-year-old child. The soldier driving the vehicle
fled the scene and subsequently claimed that the vehicle lacked brakes;
he has not been charged in connection with the incident.
In early July, four members of the Gendarmerie reportedly severely
beat a military pensioner who had become disgruntled after being
refused entrance to the National Treasury. The victim died 3 days later
of severe trauma to the head and a brain hemorrhage. The Chief of the
Gendarmerie, who initially refused to conduct an internal
investigation, agreed to do so only after being pressured by the
pensioner's family; however, he subsequently refused to allow the four
to appear in court. A trial was pending at year's end.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of deaths in
connection with the expulsions of undocumented foreigners.
No action was taken in the September 2003 killing by security
forces of an undocumented foreigner during a roundup of illegal
immigrants or the 2002 killing of a protester by members of the
presidential guard.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
continued to be reports that police and gendarmes beat and physically
abused prisoners and detainees.
On April 25, Farah Paris, an officer of the police unit in charge
of political security, assaulted and arrested without charge Mohamed
Darar Waberi, a known opponent of the Government. Ali Kahin, the
Commanding Colonel of City Police, placed Waberi in custody; Waberi was
released after 5 days.
Police beat protesters while dispersing a demonstration during the
year (see Section 2.b.).
Members of police vice squads targeted prostitutes on the streets
and reportedly raped them as a precondition for their release.
Prison conditions were harsh, and overcrowding was a serious
problem. Conditions at Nagad detention center, where foreigners were
held prior to deportation, also were extremely harsh. Detainees at
Nagad were held in unsanitary conditions and often were not fed for
several days before their deportation.
Several prisoners reportedly suffered from untreated illnesses or
injuries received during arrest. Medical care was inadequate, and the
prison infirmary lacked sufficient medication and medical staff.
Women and men were held in separate cells. Children of female
inmates under the age of 5 sometimes were allowed to stay with their
mothers. In principle, juveniles were housed separately from adult
prisoners; however, in practice, this was not always the case. Pretrial
detainees usually were not held separately from convicted prisoners due
to the lack of facilities.
The Government granted access to the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) to the prisons for annual inspections and to monitor
Gabode prison's sanitation system.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, the Government did not respect these
prohibitions. The Government did not take steps to prosecute human
rights abusers, and official impunity was a problem. There were reports
of police corruption, particularly in the lower ranks on the streets.
The law stipulates that the Government may not detain a person
beyond 48 hours without an examining magistrate's formal charge.
Detainees may be held another 24 hours with the prior approval of the
public prosecutor. All persons, including those accused of political or
national security offenses, must be tried within 8 months of
arraignment. The law also provides for bail and expeditious trial;
however, the police occasionally disregarded these procedures. Unlike
in previous years, there were no reports that incommunicado detention
was used.
There were several reports of arbitrary arrest (see Section 1.c.).
For example, on January 4, during a roundup of illegal aliens, police
arrested a citizen of the country who had been released from Peltier
Hospital on a temporary pass. Despite the presentation of his national
identity card, the individual was sent to Nagad Detention Center, where
police reportedly demanded money in exchange for his release. There
were reports that other citizens were forced to bribe police for their
release during roundups of illegal foreigners.
During the year, two members of a religious group were arrested and
imprisoned on libel charges (see Section 2.a.).
Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists
during the year (see Section 2.a.).
On June 26, the Government released or reduced sentences of
prisoners as part of an Independence Day amnesty. Prisoners serving 1
year or less were released; prisoners with longer terms received
reductions in their sentences. The amnesty excluded drug dealers, those
held for money fraud, and rapists.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice, the judiciary was not
independent of the executive. Constitutional provisions for a fair
trial were not respected universally, even in nonpolitical cases.
The judiciary, based on the French Napoleonic code, was composed of
a lower court, an appeals courts, and a Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court may overrule decisions of the lower courts. Magistrates are
appointed for life terms. The Constitutional Council rules on the
constitutionality of laws, including those related to the protection of
human rights and civil liberties; however, its rulings did not always
protect these rights.
The legal system is based on legislation and executive decrees,
French codified law adopted at independence, Islamic law (Shari'a), and
nomadic traditions. Urban crime was dealt with in the regular courts in
accordance with French-inspired law and judicial practice. Civil
actions may be brought in regular or traditional courts. During the
year, the Government published and began implementing the 2002 Family
Code, which replaces Shari'a in governing the majority of laws
pertaining to family and personal matters, including marriage, divorce,
child custody, and inheritance matters. Issues that fall under the
Family Code are brought to civil court, and both parties are given the
opportunity to present their case to the judge; the court then tries to
reach a reconciliation agreement between the two parties. If no
solution can be found, the Judge decides the case based on the
appropriate statutes in the Family Code.
Traditional law often was used in conflict resolution and victim
compensation. For example, traditional law often stipulates that a
blood price be paid to the victim's clan for crimes such as murder and
rape.
The Constitution states that the accused is innocent until proven
guilty; however, the Government did not protect this right in practice.
Prisoners have the right to be examined by a doctor. Trials generally
were public, except in politically sensitive cases when security
measures effectively prevented public access. Legal counsel was
supposed to be available to the indigent in criminal and civil matters;
however, defendants often did not have legal representation. Court
cases were heard before a presiding judge and two accompanying judges.
The latter received assistance from two persons, lay assessors, who
were not members of the bench, but who were considered to possess
sufficient legal knowledge to comprehend court proceedings. The
Government chose lay assessors from the public at large, but reports
indicated that political and ethnic affiliations played a role in the
selection.
No action was taken on the 2003 opposition coalition complaint
filed with the Council of Claims alleging abuse of power by the ruling
party in the January 2003 legislative elections.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice. The law
requires that the authorities obtain a warrant before conducting
searches on private property; however, in practice, the Government did
not always obtain such warrants. The Government reportedly monitored
and sometimes disrupted the communications of some government opponents
by cutting their telephone or electric service. Police reportedly
frequently followed persons who attended opposition rallies.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government restricted
these rights in practice.
The law prohibits the dissemination of false information and
regulates the publication of newspapers. The Government owned the
principal newspaper, La Nation, which was published three times a week.
In addition, each registered political party is permitted to publish a
public journal. There were several opposition-run weekly and monthly
publications that circulated freely and openly criticized the
Government.
The Government also owned the radio and television stations. The
official media generally were uncritical of government leaders and
government policy. Radio-Television Djibouti, the official government
station, broadcast 24 hours a day in four languages on the radio.
Foreign media also broadcast throughout the country.
During the year, several persons were arrested for libel. On March
15, Sheikh Abdokarim Ismael Abdo and Sheikh Artaoui, two members of a
religious ``sect'' of Mohamedians, were arrested on charges of libel
after writing an open letter to all Ministers criticizing the President
and calling for an end to persecution of the Mohamedian Brotherhood.
The two sheikhs, who were tried and sentenced to 6 and 8 months,
respectively, remained in Gabode Prison at year's end.
On April 11, police arrested without charge Abdoulkader Abdillahi
Miguil, the editor of the Ali Sabieh Tribune, after he published an
article describing the unpopularity of government policies; on April
12, Miguil was released.
During the year, the Government lifted the 2000 ban on the
importation and sale of Somaliland newspapers Jamhuuriya and The
Republican.
The country had one government-owned Internet service provider, and
the Government did not prevent access to the Internet.
The Government generally did not restrict academic freedom, and
teachers could speak and conduct research without restriction, provided
that they did not violate sedition laws. However, during the year, the
Government blocked the salaries of teachers involved in strike activity
(see Section 6.b.).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government limited this
right in practice. The Ministry of Interior requires permits for
peaceful assembly and monitors opposition activities. Some opposition
leaders effectively practiced self-censorship and refrained from
organizing popular demonstrations, rather than provoke a government
crackdown.
On March 28, security forces forcibly dispersed a demonstration of
veterans' wives; several women were detained briefly. Authorities
claimed that no force was used and that only those women who refused to
leave the demonstration were detained.
No action was taken against security forces that used excessive
force to disperse demonstrations in 2003 or 2002.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association provided that
certain legal requirements are met; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice. Political parties are required to register with
the Government. The Government continued to harass and intimidate
members of groups who were viewed as opposed to the Government (see
Section 1.f.).
Nonpolitical associations also must register and be approved by the
Ministry of Interior (MOI).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution, while declaring Islam to
be the state religion, provides for freedom of religion, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice; however,
proselytizing was discouraged. Although Islam is the state religion,
the Government imposed no sanctions on those who choose to ignore
Islamic teachings or practice other faiths. More than 99 percent of the
population was Sunni Muslim.
During the year, two Mohamedian sheikhs were arrested and
imprisoned on charges of libel after criticizing the President (see
Section 2.a.).
The Government requires that religious groups be registered with
the MOI. In 2003, Baha'i leaders reported they were refused the right
to register; it was unknown whether they were able to register by
year's end.
There is no legal prohibition against proselytizing; however,
proselytizing was discouraged.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government at times limited them in practice.
On January 29, the Government declared the country ``mine safe''
after demining efforts cleared a majority of all mines laid in the
1990s in Tadjoura and Obock districts. (Areas that have little impact
on civilian safety, agriculture, or infrastructure development do not
require clearance before a country can be declared ``mine safe,'' and
the Government has plotted and publicized the locations of all such
remaining mines.)
A judge may order a passport seized from persons under judicial
surveillance or awaiting trial; however, there were no reports during
the year that persons were restricted from leaving the country.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government provided
some protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared protection. However, the Government did not routinely
grant refugee or asylum status, and there were unconfirmed reports
during the year of the forced return of persons to a country where they
feared persecution, specifically Ethiopia.
The country hosted an estimated 22,000 refugees and illegal
foreigners at year's end. Although the Government officially did not
recognize those refugees under the protection of the U.N. High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the Government cooperated with the
UNHCR in providing assistance to more than 18,000 registered Somali and
Ethiopian residents of the 2 remaining refugee camps in Hol-Hol and
Ali-Addeh. During the year, the UNHCR repatriated 7,575 Somaliland
refugees who had fled to the country during the Somaliland civil war.
During the year, the Government rounded up and deported
undocumented foreigners--primarily from Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen;
however, unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that such
roundups resulted in deaths. In 2003, more than 80,000 undocumented
foreigners were forced to leave the country, and there were numerous
reports of deaths resulting from exposure and overcrowding.
In June, the National Eligibility Commission finished processing
the approximately 8,000 requests for asylum from undocumented
foreigners, who claimed fear of persecution during the 2003 mass
expulsion of illegal immigrants. The Commission granted asylum status
to more than 4,000 southern Somalis and 100 Ethiopians; approximately
4,000 individuals were denied status and repatriated to their countries
of origin in June. Those individuals granted asylum were transferred to
either Ali Adde or Hol Hol Refugee camps, where they were awaiting
resettlement at year's end.
During the year, unknown assailants reportedly raped two women in
the Aour Aoussa refugee camp; unconfirmed reports indicated that a
third woman also may have been raped. The women were taken to Djibouti
City for treatment and relocated to other refugee camps.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
Government; however, the Government limited this right in practice.
The RPP candidate Ismael Omar Guelleh, the designated successor of
former President Hassan Gouled Aptidon, won the 1999 election with 74
percent of the vote. For the first time since multiparty elections
began in 1992, no group boycotted the vote. Although Moussa Ahmed
Idriss and the Unified Dijiboutian Opposition Party challenged the
results, alleging election ``irregularities'' and asserting that
``foreigners'' voted in various districts of the capital, international
and domestic observers considered the election to be generally fair and
transparent, citing only minor irregularities.
In January 2003, the country held its first multiparty elections.
The legislative elections were contested by the progovernment coalition
Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) and the opposition coalition
Union for a Democratic Alternative (UAD). The UMP was dominated by RPP,
the ruling party since independence. The RPP continued to carefully
control the political system. Official tallies registered a UMP
majority victory in all 5 voter districts and a sweep of all 65
legislative seats, although the UAD received 37 percent of the vote
count. International observers noted the peaceful conditions during the
election but also identified irregularities in the process. The
opposition claims of massive fraud centered on the electoral list,
which was not made public, and accusations that the Government stuffed
ballot boxes, mobilized military units to vote multiple times and
intimidate opposition supporters, and changed vote counts in some
districts. In February 2003, the Constitutional Council rejected the
UAD appeal to annul the elections.
There were no laws to provide public access to government
information. La Chambre des Comptes, a public expenditures audit board
established in 1997 to fight corruption and promote transparency,
issued its second annual report on government expenditures during the
year; however, the report was not made available to the public.
There were 7 women in the 65-seat legislature. Seven legislative
seats were reserved for women by presidential decree in the January
2003 elections. The country's first female parliament members took
office when the UMP legislature convened in February 2003. Hawa Ahmed
Youssouf served as Minister of State for the Promotion of Women,
Family, and Social Affairs and reported to the Prime Minister. Khadija
Abeba, President of the Supreme Court, was the highest-ranking female
official and, according to the Constitution, would become interim
President should the presidency become vacant.
There were 9 members of minorities--non-Issa Somali clans (Issaks,
Gadaboursis, and Darood) and Arabs--in the 65-seat legislature. There
were 3 members of minorities in the 20-seat cabinet. The President's
subclan, the Issa Mamassans, wielded disproportionate power in affairs
of state. Afars held a number of senior ministerial posts; however,
they were not well represented at lower levels. Somali clans other than
the Issa and citizens of Yemeni origin were limited unofficially to one
ministerial post each. There also were informal limits on the number of
seats for each group in Parliament.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A few domestic human rights groups generally operated without
serious government restriction, conducting limited investigations and
sometimes publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government
officials generally disregarded their views. The local human rights
group LDDH operated without government interference during the year.
The Union of Djiboutian Women (UNFD) and the Djiboutian Association for
the Promotion of the Family promoted the rights of women and children.
The ICRC maintained a small office that was staffed with locally
hired personnel. The ICRC regional representative, who was based in
Nairobi, visited the country during the year.
There was a government ombudsman, who also served as a legislator
in the Parliament and whose specific responsibilities included
mediation between governmental and nongovernmental organizations. There
was no record of any successful mediation carried out by his office.
The National Human Rights Committee for the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights was inactive during the year.
On May 14, the Government held a national forum on human rights to
solicit public views and to discuss possible human rights legislation.
The four opposition parties refused to participate, charging that the
Government was not serious because it had failed to respond to human
rights claims filed by the parties during the year. The LDDH also
refused to participate because the forum did not include international
human rights observer groups. The Government had not made public its
findings on the forum by year's end.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of language,
race, or sex; however, discrimination against women and ethnic
minorities persisted. The Government's enforcement of laws to protect
women and children was ineffective.
Women.--Domestic violence against women existed, but few cases were
reported. Violence against women generally was addressed within the
family or clan structure rather than in the courts. The police rarely
intervened in domestic violence incidents, and the media reported only
the most extreme examples, such as murder. The law includes sentences
of up to 20 years' imprisonment for rapists. The number of such cases
prosecuted during the year was unknown.
It was believed that as many as 98 percent of females have
undergone FGM. FGM traditionally was performed on girls between the
ages of 7 and 10. The law states that ``violence causing genital
mutilation'' is punishable by 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of more
than $5,650 (1 million DF); however, the Government has not yet
convicted anyone under this statute. The efforts of the UNFD and other
groups to educate women were having some effect in the capital city.
Many believed that the incidence and severity of infibulation have
decreased, although no systematic data were available on the problem.
U.N. and other experts believed that lesser forms of FGM still were
practiced widely and that infibulation still was common in rural areas.
Prostitution is illegal; however, it was a significant problem. In
general, there were two categories of prostitutes: Those with
apartments and those on the streets. The first group was largely
tolerated and catered to the foreign (particularly military) community.
Police raped prostitutes (see Section 1.c.). Refugees and girls from
poor families were at greater risk of becoming street prostitutes.
Women legally possess full civil rights; however, custom and
traditional societal discrimination in education have resulted in a
secondary role for women in public life and fewer employment
opportunities. Women largely were confined to trade and secretarial
fields. Customary law, which is based on Shari'a, discriminates against
women in travel; however, during the year, the Government published and
began implementing the 2002 Family Code, which replaces Shari'a in
governing the majority of laws pertaining to family and personal
matters (see Section 1.e.). Male children inherited larger percentages
of estates than did female children. The few women who were educated
increasingly turned to the regular courts to defend their interests.
Children.--The Government devoted almost no public funds to the
advancement of children's rights and welfare. A few charitable
organizations worked with children. Primary education was compulsory;
however, the Government did not monitor compliance. The Government
provided tuition-free public education, but extra expenses, such as
transportation, book fees, and chalk, could be prohibitive to poorer
families. School facilities continued to be inadequate. Teacher
salaries continued to be in arrears, and a large percentage of highly
qualified teachers have left the profession (see Section 6.e.).
Approximately 20 percent of children who started secondary school
completed their education. Only 62 percent of girls attended primary
school, compared with 73 percent of boys, and only 23 percent of girls
attended secondary school, compared with 33 percent of boys. Only 32
percent of girls were literate, compared with 60 percent of boys, and
more than 53 percent of the total population was illiterate. In rural
areas, limited access to schools, a shortage of educational materials,
and cultural attitudes led to significantly lower enrollment and
greater disparities in enrollment between boys and girls.
Child abuse existed; however, the Government has not used existing
provisions of the law to deal with child abuse seriously, and
punishments generally were light. For example, perpetrators of rape or
abuse generally were fined an amount sufficient to cover the child's
medical care.
FGM was performed on as many as 98 percent of young girls (see
Section 5, Women).
Child labor existed (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no reports of persons being trafficked to,
from, or within the country. Trafficking could be prosecuted under
various sections of the Penal Code, including ``exploitation of the
weakness or ignorance of persons'' or ``exerting pressure on a person
so that the person engages in prostitution.''
Persons with Disabilities.--Although persons with disabilities have
access to education and public health facilities, there was no specific
law that addressed the needs of persons with disabilities, and there
were no laws or regulations that prevent job discrimination against
persons with disabilities. The Government did not mandate accessibility
to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Government continued to
discriminate against citizens on the basis of ethnicity in employment
and job advancement. Somali Issas were the majority ethnic group and
controlled the ruling party, the civil and security services, and the
military forces. Discrimination based on ethnicity and clan affiliation
limited the role of members of minority groups and clans in government
and politics.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right to join unions; however, the Government restricted these rights.
Under the labor code, a union must have government sanction to
exist. In recent years, the Government suppressed independent,
representative unions by firing their leaders, preventing them from
holding congresses, and creating government-sponsored shadow unions to
replace them.
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, and employers found
legally guilty of discrimination were required to reinstate workers
fired for union activities; however, the Government neither enforced
nor complied with the law.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference; however, the
Government did not protect this right in practice. Collective
bargaining did not occur. Relations between employers and workers were
informal and paternalistic. The Government could and did select labor
representatives. Employers generally established wage rates on the
basis of Ministry of Labor guidelines. In disputes over wages or health
and safety problems, the Ministry of Labor encouraged direct resolution
by labor representatives and employers. Workers or employers may
request formal administrative hearings before the Ministry's inspection
service. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has noted that the
same personnel were employed for both inspection and dispute
settlement, and critics claimed that both services suffered from poor
enforcement due to its low priority and inadequate funding.
The law provides for the right to strike and requires
representatives of employees who plan to strike to contact the Ministry
of Interior 48 hours in advance.
The law confers upon the President broad powers to requisition
public servants who are considered indispensable to the operation of
essential public services. The ILO has noted that this power has been
defined too broadly.
The Government on occasion retaliated against strikers. For
example, Kamil Hassan, a schoolteacher, who was reinstated in 2002
after leading a teacher's strike in 1997, was still not teaching at
year's end. During the year, the salaries of Hassan and four other
teachers reportedly were blocked repeatedly by order of the Prime
Minister.
There is an export processing zone; however, its activity level was
low during the year.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits all labor by children under the age of 14, but the
Government did not always enforce this prohibition effectively, and
child labor, although not common, existed. Children generally were not
employed in hazardous work. Children may and did work in family-owned
businesses, such as restaurants and small shops, at all hours of the
day and night. A shortage of labor inspectors reduced the likelihood of
investigation into reports of child labor.
On June 21, the Government ratified ILO Convention 182 on the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Only a small minority of the
population was engaged in wage employment. The Government
administratively sets minimum wage rates according to occupational
categories, and the Ministry of Labor is charged with enforcement. The
monthly wage rate for unskilled labor, set in 1976, was approximately
$125 (22,000 DF); however, it was not enforced in practice. The
national minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family. The Government still owed 3 months' worth of salary
arrears from 1995 and 1997 to teachers, security forces, and civil
servants.
By law, the workweek was 40 hours, normally spread over 6 days. The
Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing occupational health and
safety standards, wages, and work hours. Because enforcement was
ineffective, workers sometimes faced hazardous working conditions.
Workers rarely protested, mainly due to fear that others willing to
accept the risks would replace them. There were no laws or regulations
permitting workers to refuse to carry out dangerous work assignments
without jeopardizing their continued employment.
Only legal foreign workers were protected under the law.
__________
EQUATORIAL GUINEA \1\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The American Embassy in Malabo was reopened in October 2003 and
was staffed during the year by one officer; this officer was assisted
by other Embassy officials who were resident in Cameroon, which limited
the ability to gather information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equatorial Guinea nominally is a multiparty constitutional
republic; however, in practice President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
and the Mongomo sub-clan of the majority Fang ethnic group, which has
ruled since the country's independence in 1968, dominated the
Government. President Obiang, who has ruled since seizing power in a
military coup d'etat in 1979, was re-elected with 97.1 percent of the
vote and 98 percent of registered voters participating in a December
2002 election marred by extensive fraud and intimidation. The
President's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) controlled the
judiciary and the legislature; the latter was chosen in elections in
April that were criticized widely by the international community as
seriously flawed. There was an attempted coup d'etat in March; 19
mercenaries in the capital city of Malabo and 70 mercenaries in Harare,
Zimbabwe were arrested in conjunction with the plot. In November, 14
were convicted by a court in Malabo at a hearing open to international
observers. The judiciary was not independent.
President Obiang forfeited some of his power through cabinet
reforms in June, but he still exercised de facto control over the
police and security forces. The new Ministry of National Security
controls the police and gendarmes while the new Ministry of National
Defense oversees the military. In a cabinet reshuffle in June, the
President again named a member of the Bubi ethnic group as Prime
Minister; the President also named one of his brothers as Minister of
Defense; another brother as Senior Delegate of National Security; and
his uncle as Minister of National Security, all positions previously
held by the President himself. Ultimately, the cabinet reforms resulted
in only a slight dilution of the President's power. Civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security
forces; however, there were some instances in which security forces
acted independently of government authority. The security forces
committed numerous serious human rights abuses.
The economy grew rapidly during the year due to an increased
production of oil and gas. Although the 2002 census estimated the
population at approximately 1 million, credible estimates put the
number at closer to 500,000. The majority of the population lived by
subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and fishing.
Unemployment and underemployment were very high. Barter was a major
aspect of the economy. The gross domestic product has increased
substantially in the last 8 years; the rate of growth was approximately
20 to 24 percent during the year. Estimates of per capita income varied
between $930 and $5,000 (465,000 and 2.5 million CFA francs); most of
the growth in income was due to an increase in crude oil production,
which averaged more than 350,000 barrels per day during the year, and
rising prices. Poor fiscal management and a lack of transparency in
public accounting of national finances have undermined the country's
economic potential. Oil companies have paved roads in Malabo, upgraded
the island's electricity generating system, and funded a variety of
health and environment projects designed to improve citizens' well
being. There has been some concern regarding the use of irregular
payments made by oil companies into bank accounts controlled personally
by the President and the ruling elite. Most of the oil wealth remained
in the control of the Government with little being distributed to the
majority of the population, which remained poor. There was some
evidence, including several infrastructure projects, that the
Government started to use the country's oil wealth for the public good.
Most foreign economic assistance was suspended due to the lack of
economic reform and the Government's poor human rights record.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit serious abuses. Citizens did not have
the ability to change their government peacefully. Security forces
committed numerous abuses, including torture, beating, and other
physical abuse of prisoners and suspects, which at times resulted in
deaths. Prisoners often were tortured to coerce confessions. Prison
conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Members of the security
forces generally committed abuses with impunity. Security forces used
arbitrary arrest, detention, and incommunicado detention. Foreigners
with legal standing were arbitrarily harassed, detained, and deported.
The judicial system repeatedly failed to ensure due process. The
Government restricted the right to privacy and severely restricted
freedom of speech and of the press. The Government continued to
restrict the rights of assembly and association and limit freedom of
movement. Corruption remained a problem. There were no effective
domestic human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Violence
and discrimination against women remained serious problems.
Discrimination against ethnic minorities, particularly the Bubi ethnic
group, and foreigners continued. The Government restricted labor
rights. Child labor persisted and forced prison labor was used. The
Government passed an antitrafficking law during the year, but
trafficking in persons continued, largely unchecked by the Government.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings by the Government or its agents; however,
security forces killed several persons through abuse and excessive
force. For example, between May 28 and 30, approximately 20 persons
attempted to take over a police station in what some observers believe
was part of an attempted coup on Corisco Island. According to a
government press release, security forces killed 5 persons while
attempting to stop the assault; however, according to Amnesty
International, soldiers shot and killed some of the attackers as they
fled and summarily executed those who surrendered, resulting in between
12 and 16 deaths. No action was taken against the soldiers responsible.
There were no reports of extrajudicial killings, except for
killings by security forces in reaction to perceived coup attempts.
The Government did not prosecute any members of the security forces
considered responsible for unlawful killings in previous years, nor is
it likely to do so.
There was no action taken against border guards responsible for the
July 2003 killing of a Spanish aid worker in Bata.
There were no developments in the 2002 killings by security forces
of two persons.
There were unverified reports of death resulting from torture
during the year. On March 17, German citizen Gerhard Eugen Nershz, who
was arrested in March on accusations of plotting a coup, died while in
Black Beach Prison in Malabo. Government officials said he died of
cerebral malaria, and a German autopsy indicated that he died of
natural causes; however, there were reports that he showed signs of
having been tortured and that prison officials denied him prompt
medical treatment.
There were no developments in the 2002 deaths by torture of three
prisoners at the Black Beach Prison.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law does not specifically prohibit such practices, and
although the law mandates respect for the liberty and dignity of
persons, members of the security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise
abused suspects, prisoners, and opposition politicians. In July,
Amnesty International reported that torture was ``routine'' in the
country's places of detention, and in 2002, the U.N. Commission on
Human Rights (UNCHR) Special Representative Gustav Gallon described the
use of torture as a ``normal means of investigation.'' Senior
government officials told foreign diplomats during the year that human
rights did not apply to criminals and that torture of known criminals
was not a human rights abuse.
There was one report of a prisoner's death due to torture and abuse
by prison authorities (see Section 1.a.).
There were reports that officials tortured political opposition
activists and other persons during the year. For example, in March,
police arrested Weja Chicampo, leader of the Bioko Island Movement, an
opposition party. Prison officials reportedly tortured him in prison
and denied him access to medical treatment and food brought by his
family. At year's end he remained in jail.
Five persons arrested in late May after the alleged attack on
Corisco Island appeared on television before they went before a judge;
small sections appeared to have been cut out of their ears. There were
reports that one of the five individuals arrested, Alfredo Asumu, was
suspended from the ceiling and beaten. At least two of the five
individuals were reportedly denied medical treatment.
On June 27, security forces shot Marcelino Manuel Nguema Esono,
leader of the outlawed Progress Party, prior to his arrest and
subsequent detention in Malabo's Black Beach Prison, where he was
denied medical attention and placed in solitary confinement. At year's
end he remained in jail.
There continued to be unconfirmed reports that torture was used to
extract forced confessions, particularly from the group of 19 persons
arrested on March 9 for plotting a coup. For example, after a brief
visit with her son in Black Beach Prison, a mother of one of the
accused coup plotters claimed that her son's legs were broken due to
torture during interrogation and that he had been chained to the wall
and denied medical treatment. However, when the trial began in August,
all the prisoners walked into the courtroom unaided and without obvious
signs of pain.
In November, there were unconfirmed reports that government agents
arrested and tortured Lieutenant Colonel Maximiliano Owono Nguema,
Military Chief of Einayong, in Bata.
No action was taken against members of the security forces
responsible for the use of torture in June and July 2003 to extract
confessions from Felipe Ondo Obiang, leader of the Republican
Democratic Forces, and 30 other prisoners belonging to a group of 144
alleged coup plotters arrested in 2002 (see Section 1.d.). There was no
action taken against security forces responsible for beatings and
torture reported in 2002.
During the year, local authorities singled out foreigners from
neighboring countries for harassment such as verbal intimidation and
arbitrary arrest. Police routinely extorted money from citizens of
Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Beginning in March,
following a coup attempt led by foreigners, the Government increasingly
and arbitrarily harassed, arrested, and deported foreigners of African
nationalities. Police in Bata and Malabo often used excessive force,
including beatings, and looted property during the arrests and
deportations; in addition, some deportees said that police had raped
them; however, those claims had not been independently verified by
year's end. The Government accused the deportees of being accomplices
to the mercenaries arrested during a coup attempt in March.
Approximately 300 Cameroonian nationals were expelled out of a total of
400 foreign deportees.
In November 2003, security forces harassed and assaulted a Malian
citizen after the Malian did not heed an order to stop.
There continued to be reports that security forces harassed oil
company employees (see Section 1.d.).
The conditions of jails and prisons in the country remained harsh
and life threatening; inmates were not provided with food, medical
care, working toilets, drinkable water, clean and healthful living
space, or minimum equipment, such as beds. There were credible reports
that conditions at Black Beach Prison continued to improve; however,
there were also credible reports that prison authorities tortured
prisoners (see Section 1.d.). Family members of prisoners reported that
they were only allowed visits of several minutes and that guards would
not distribute food brought for the inmates. Medical attention was
routinely denied to prisoners with gangrene, broken bones, infections,
and fatal illnesses.
Prison authorities and male prisoners sexually assaulted female
prisoners. There were credible reports that police gang-raped female
prisoners in Malabo. Prisoners were used habitually as labor and as
workers on construction projects for certain officials, without pay or
other compensation. There were unconfirmed reports that judges used
prisoners as domestic workers.
Male and female prisoners were not held in separate facilities, nor
were juveniles held separately from adult prisoners. Pretrial detainees
and political prisoners were not held separately from convicted
prisoners.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited
detainees and prisoners at prisons and police stations multiple times
during the year. The Red Cross was allowed visits in accordance with
its standard modalities--meetings with prisoners without third parties
and regular, repeated visits. The ICRC made recommendations to the
Government, but did not release them publicly. Prison conditions have
marginally improved, but remained harsh and well below international
standards.
In October, the U.N. and the Government began a series of seminars
to raise awareness of human rights among prison employees.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--There were nominal legal
procedural safeguards regarding the protection of citizens' rights,
including provisions concerning detention and the obtainment of search
warrants; however, security forces systematically ignored these
safeguards and continued to arrest and detain persons arbitrarily and
with impunity. Security forces often detained individuals ``on orders
from superiors'' without any further formality.
Responsibility for policing is divided between the police, who are
primarily responsible for security in urban centers, and the gendarmes,
who have responsibility for the areas outside the cities and for
special events within cities. Both are under the control of the
Ministry of Interior. Corruption was endemic within these forces.
Citizens who were not police officers were allowed to arrest persons
suspected of being illegal residents, increasing the frequency of
arbitrary arrests based on xenophobia. Members of the security forces
were rarely held accountable for abuses; impunity for police officers
and gendarmes was a problem. In 2002, the then-U.N. Special
Representative noted that some executive officials closely related to
the security apparatus of the Government were treated as being above
the law. There were no known reforms of the security forces proposed or
enacted during the year.
By law, arrests do not require warrants. Police can detain persons
whom they arrest for up to 5 days before a hearing; however, in
practice, the length of such detentions was usually much longer. The
lack of a published penal code allows for frequent abuses by security
forces.
Police routinely detained prisoners and held them incommunicado
(see Section 1.c.).
Arbitrary arrest was a serious problem. Local authorities singled
out foreigners from neighboring countries for arbitrary arrest,
harassment, and deportation, especially following the coup attempt in
March (see Section 1.c.). For example, in November 2003, police
arbitrarily detained and handcuffed a Nigerian in his residence. The
Nigerian embassy had to provide him with guards, and visitors had to
provide basic necessities. The arresting police officer was later
criticized by his superiors and issued an apology but was allowed to
continue working.
In January, police arrested Simon Maria Nsue Mokuy of the
Republican Forces for Reflection and Action on Equatorial Guinea
(FRRAGE) for distributing information about an upcoming FRRAGE meeting
abroad; he was detained incommunicado without charge or trial for 6
weeks.
During the security forces' roundup of foreigners following the
March coup attempt, police arbitrarily detained and questioned two
foreign humanitarian volunteers vacationing in Luba before placing them
under house arrest at their hotel for 2 days. In addition, police
arbitrarily arrested and detained for several days a foreign missionary
couple in Malabo.
During the year, security forces continued to arbitrarily harass
oil company employees, primarily by delaying them at checkpoints and
demanding small bribes.
Security forces detained relatives of prisoners and criminal
suspects in an attempt to force the prisoners or suspects to cooperate
(see Section 1.f.).
In November, there were unconfirmed reports that the Government
arrested more than 50 military officers on the mainland and tortured
one of them, a lieutenant colonel (see Section 1.c.). At year's end, no
additional information was available.
Pretrial detention was a problem. The majority of inmates had not
been charged, and their cases had not been heard in court. Prisoners
often remained in detention at police stations awaiting hearings for
longer than the 5 days prescribed by law because of judges who were
absent from their posts.
During the year, authorities reportedly detained members of
political opposition parties for short periods. Some political
detentions lasted more than a few months. It remained difficult to
estimate the number of political detainees, although it was believed to
be fewer than 100 persons. The Government used arrest, reported
beatings and other forms of harassment to intimidate opposition party
officials and members.
Republican Democratic Forces (FDR) leader Felipe Ondo Obiang,
arrested in March 2002 in connection with an alleged coup plot, was
reportedly tortured and remained in Evaniyong Prison at year's end. He
was chained to the wall by his left leg, which became swollen, and was
held in solitary confinement for several months. It was believed that
the 30 other prisoners arrested along with Ondo Obiang, including FDR
leader Guillermo Nguema Ela, remained in prison, despite having been
granted partial amnesty; however, their status had not been verified by
year's end. They remained in difficult and substandard conditions; at
least two of them required medical attention due to ill treatment and
neglect.
In September, police arrested Air Force Captain Felipe Obama. By
year's end, there were no reports that charges had been filed against
him or that he had been released. In November, Convergence for
Democracy Party (CPDS) party member Pio Miguel Obama was arrested and
held at the central Malabo police station. At year's end, no charges
had been filed, and according to opposition reports, he had not been
released.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for
judicial independence; however, the judiciary was not independent.
Judges served at the pleasure of the President, and they were
appointed, transferred, and dismissed for political reasons. Judicial
corruption was widespread.
The court system is composed of lower provincial courts, two
appeals courts, a military tribunal, and a Supreme Court. The President
appoints members of the Supreme Court, who report to him and take their
orders from him in practice. At least two military generals, neither of
whom was a lawyer, served on the Supreme Court. The President was the
most powerful influence on the judicial branch. The law allows the
Ministry of Justice to undertake periodic inspections and name judges.
There were approximately 60 judges in the country, about 20 percent of
whom were trained lawyers. Some judges were regularly absent from their
posts, resulting in delays in judicial proceedings. In December, upon
the recommendation of the president of the Supreme Court, President
Obiang fired a Malabo Court of First Instance judge and two of his
clerks for incompetence and inaction in cases on his docket. The
Parliament's Complaints Commission was a de facto judicial authority,
although it had no formal legal jurisdiction. According to local media,
the Parliament's president acted as a court of last resort.
Tribal elders adjudicated civil claims and minor criminal matters
in traditional courts in the countryside.
The Constitution and laws provide for legal representation in
trials and the right to appeal; however, in practice the authorities
often did not respect these provisions. There were about 100 practicing
lawyers, approximately one-quarter of whom practiced full-time and had
no other profession. The Ministry of Education grants certificates to
practice law, and the minimum requirement of having a law degree from
any university worldwide can often be circumvented. Civil cases rarely
came to public trial.
Cases involving national security were tried by a military
tribunal. Cases that essentially were political in nature frequently
were referred to military courts, even when the defendants were
civilians and the charges were not related to the military. The Code of
Military Justice permits persons who disobey a military authority to be
tried in a military tribunal whether or not they are military
personnel. Military courts did not provide due process or other
procedural safeguards, and proceedings were not made public.
In February, nearly 120 civil and military officers were convicted
in a 1-day secret trial of ``crimes against state security'' that
allegedly concerned theft of public funds. Most of the defendants
received sentences of 6 to 10 years in prison. No additional
information was available at year's end.
On August 23, the 19 mercenaries arrested in March went on trial
before 3 civilian criminal court judges. On August 31, the prosecution
asked for the indefinite suspension of the trial following the
acquittal in Zimbabwe of 66 persons who had also been accused of
involvement in the same plot to overthrow the President. On November
24, the trial resumed when the Prosecutor General presented cases
against 9 additional men, all members of the Progress Party, living in
exile in Spain. On November 26, three South Africans were acquitted
while the other defendants, including two citizens, received prison
sentences of between 1 and 62 years. Both Amnesty International and the
International Bar Association stated that the trial did not meet
international fair-trial standards, particularly with regard to the
absence of interpreters for foreign defendants.
The Government continued to hold political prisoners, and it was
estimated that there were fewer than 100 by year's end. These prisoners
were all members of opposition parties or persons the Government
accused of involvement in coup attempts. During the year, only the ICRC
was permitted to visit them.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions; however, the
Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice. There
continued to be reports that security forces regularly searched homes
and arrested occupants without warrants, generally with impunity. There
continued to be reports of government surveillance of members of the
opposition parties and of foreign diplomats. During the year,
journalists and citizens continued to report that they strongly
suspected monitoring of their telephone calls and e-mails by the
Government.
In March, police in Malabo rounded up a significant number of
foreign nationals, mostly West Africans, and looted their property. The
foreigners were displaced or repatriated following an attempted coup in
March led by foreigners (see Section 1.c).
Membership in the ruling party, the PDGE, generally was a large
advantage for hiring and promotion, both in the public and private
sectors. Membership in a rival political organization was reportedly
grounds for dismissal from any position, public or private. Opposition
politicians who were not participating in the Government often claimed
to have been dismissed from their jobs after joining alternate
political groups but had no legal redress.
Security forces detained relatives of prisoners and criminal
suspects in an attempt to force the prisoners or suspects to cooperate.
For example, relatives of the Progress Party Activist Macelino Nguema
Esono, including his wife Pilar Angue Adimi, daughter Elvira Okomo, and
relative Nicolas Obiang, were arrested and tortured. Their homes were
looted and dismantled.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and the Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government severely
restricted these rights in practice. During the year, the Government
monitored journalists; the media remained firmly under government
control, and journalists practiced self-censorship.
The Government did not tolerate criticism of public institutions
and public sector mismanagement and permitted no criticism of the
President or the security forces. Opposition figures were warned that
they should contain their criticisms to the floor of the Parliament,
where they were severely outnumbered and easily overruled. Expatriates
dependent on the Government did not voice complaints about the frequent
abuses against them, ranging from the police demanding bribes for
imaginary offenses to extortion of money by city, provincial, and
federal officials for ``licenses'' for which there was no statutory
basis. Complaints about official conduct in the country continued to be
accompanied by requests not to be identified to avoid reprisals.
An independent or privately owned press was nearly non-existent in
the country. There were three general-interest periodicals operating
under at least nominal government control that published irregularly:
La Gaceta, a Malabo-based monthly magazine printed in Spain and
published by an employee of the Ministry of Information, Tourism, and
Culture; El Correo Guineo Ecuatoriano, a bimonthly newspaper published
by the Gaceta group; and Ebano, a publication of the Ministry of
Information, which appeared approximately twice a month. Foreign
publications were available for sale at foreign-owned grocery stores;
there were no bookstores or newsstands in the country.
Radio was the most important and influential medium of mass
communication. During the year, the Government continued to effectively
dominate domestic radio broadcasting. It owned and operated the station
Radio Malabo, officially known as National Radio of Equatorial Guinea.
The President's son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, owned the only
private local radio station, Radio Asonga, based in Bata. The
Government has not approved other applications for private radio
stations that have been pending for several years.
The only domestic television station was government-controlled, and
broadcast only a few hours a day. Television Asonga, owned by President
Obiang and run by his son in coordination with Radio Asonga, broadcast
by cable only in Bata. Foreign cable television was available and
provided news in French, Spanish, and English, as well as entertainment
programming. Satellite reception increasingly was available.
International electronic media was available and included Radio
France International, which broadcast in Malabo, and Radio Exterior,
the international short-wave service from Spain. Radio Exterior often
broadcast news about the country and interviews with opposition
politicians and was virtually the only means for the opposition to
disseminate its views and positions widely. Its editorials, like those
of most of the Spanish media, frequently were highly critical of the
Government. The Government regularly accused Radio Exterior, sometimes
with justification, of misrepresenting the situation in the country.
Unlike in the previous year, the Ministry of Information no longer
required national journalists to register with it; however, all
journalists were required to register with the government-controlled
local press association. There were 54 journalists registered in the
association. Foreign journalists were generally allowed to travel and
report independently. The law requires foreign media to obtain
ministerial accreditation before or upon entering the country; however,
during the year, some foreign journalists were permitted to enter the
country with visas.
Journalists were subject to harassment during the year. For
example, on March 9, the President's press secretary denied a
correspondent for Agence France-Presse, access to a presidential press
conference in Malabo and refused to give an explanation; only
journalists from the state radio and television stations were allowed
access.
On May 12, a government minister threatened to imprison an
Australian television news crew, who were investigating the allocation
of state oil revenue, unless they left the country that night. At the
airport a few hours later, the director of national security, the
President's brother, supervised a search of the crew's baggage and
confiscated computer memory cards.
In October, Peter Maass, a foreign writer researching a book on the
oil industry, was deported for ``talking to people of concern to the
Government and actions not coherent with his stated purpose.'' The
Government seized his computer memory chip, although the chip was later
returned. By year's end, the President had issued an apology concerning
Maass' deportation.
The law authorizes government censorship of all publications.
During the year, the Ministry of Information sometimes required
publishers to submit a copy for approval prior to publication. In
addition, all local publications exercised self-censorship and were
subject to prior restraint.
The Government generally withheld access to domestic broadcasting
from opposition parties and rarely referred to the opposition in
anything but negative terms when broadcasting the news.
The Association of the Press of Equatorial Guinea (ASOPGE),
prevented in previous years from organizing exhibitions and conferences
organized at least one conference and several other events. There was
no additional information on former ASOPGE president Pedro Nolasco
Ndong, who left the country in 2002 after the President reportedly
ordered his arrest.
The Government did not appear to restrict Internet access. However,
the one Internet service provider was affiliated with the Government
telephone monopoly, and there were unconfirmed reports that the
Government monitored citizens using the Internet.
During the year, the Government did not overtly restrict academic
freedom; however, professors practiced self-censorship in relation to
political matters. The Government opened its first public library
during the year.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the right of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice. Government authorization must be obtained for
private home meetings of more than 10 persons for discussions that the
Government considers political in nature. Although the Government
formally has abolished permit requirements for party meetings within
party buildings, in practice, opposition parties must inform the
authorities to hold gatherings of any kind, regardless of location.
Security forces generally monitored gatherings in public places, even
small gatherings. The Government required notification for public
events; however, it usually granted permission for such events.
Prior to the April legislative elections, the Government harassed
the opposition party CPDS and eventually denied it permission to host a
convention.
The Constitution provides for the right of association; however,
the Government restricted this right in practice. The law prohibits the
formation of political parties along ethnic lines. The law prohibits
coalitions between political parties; however, six opposition groups
continued to be part of a coalition, which allied itself with the
ruling party during the year (see Section 3). Opposition party members
complained of disruption of meetings. In addition, the political
opposition was often monitored during meetings.
By year's end, the Government had yet to recognize the Bioko Island
Movement.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
The law includes a stated official preference for the Catholic
Church and the Reform Church of Equatorial Guinea due to their
traditional roots and historic influence in the social and cultural
life. For example, a Roman Catholic Mass normally was part of any major
ceremonial function, such as the October 12 national day.
During the year, police arrested and detained a foreign missionary
couple in Malabo (see Section 1.d.).
A religious organization must be formally registered with the
Ministry of Justice, Religion, and Penal Institutions before its
religious activities are allowed. There were no reports during the year
that the Government had refused to register any group. The approval
process usually takes several years, due primarily to general
bureaucratic slowness and not as the result of any apparent policy
designed to impede the operation of any religious group.
The Government continued to restrict the freedom of expression of
the clergy, particularly regarding any open criticism of the
Government. During the year, church representatives reported that they
practiced self-censorship on these issues. The Government required
permission for any religious activity outside the church building, but
in practice this requirement did not appear to hinder organized
religious groups.
Religious study was required in schools and was usually, but not
exclusively, Catholic. Protestants sometimes faced discrimination in
schooling. For example, a Protestant church official cited difficulties
when enrolling his children at school. At the school, each child was
required to lead a daily Catholic-based devotional. When the child's
father requested that a teacher of the child's own faith be made
available, the school official claimed there was a lack of funds and
stated that he could provide the teacher only if the child's church was
willing to pay the teacher's salary.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights;
however, the Government limited them in practice. The police routinely
stopped citizens at roadblocks, subjected them to searches, harassed
travelers, and extorted money from them. Police and soldiers continued
to single out foreigners for harassment, mainly because they were
perceived to have more means than most citizens (see Sections 1.c. and
1.d.). The Government justified the roadblocks as internal controls to
compensate for its inability to control the country's borders
effectively. These checkpoints effectively restricted the freedom of
movement of members of the opposition.
All citizens were required to obtain permission to travel abroad
from the local Police Commissioner, and some members of opposition
parties were denied this permission. Those who did travel abroad
sometimes were interrogated upon their return.
The Constitution does not permit forced exile; however, the
Government used forced internal exile. The Government did not use
forced external exile; however, some persons have fled the country for
political reasons. The leaders of the National Resistance of Equatorial
Guinea Group reported that their attempts to return to the country were
unsuccessful, and there were no reports of returnees during the year.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, but the Government has not established
a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the forced return
of persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted
refugee status or asylum. In recent years, an average of one or two
persons requested refugee status in the country. The Government
cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The police reportedly continued to harass asylum seekers, often for
bribes, on an individual basis.
The Government also provided temporary protection to certain
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 U.N.
Convention or its 1967 Protocol.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, in practice citizens could not freely
chose and change the laws and officials that govern them. There have
been no free, fair, and transparent elections since independence in
1968. The President exercised strong powers as head of state, commander
of the armed forces, and founder and head of the government party, the
PDGE. Impeachment of the head of state is forbidden in the
Constitution. Leadership positions within the Government in general
were restricted to the President's Mongomo sub-clan of the Fang ethnic
group and its closest supporters. The Government completely dominated
the elected Chamber of Deputies, and the Minister of the Interior also
acted as President of the National Electoral Board.
President Obiang won the December 2002 presidential election with
97.1 percent of the vote and 98 percent of registered voters
participating. Opposition leaders charged that census results showing a
twofold population increase were flawed and that numbers were inflated
to perpetuate election fraud. Prior to the elections, there were
reports that arrests and harassment of opposition party members
increased. Four of the leading opposition candidates published a
statement that rejected the vote and called for new elections. There
were widespread reports of irregularities on election day, including
intimidation at the polls. The European Union expressed concern
regarding the democratic process and severely criticized the way the
presidential election was carried out.
Prior to legislative elections in April, the Government harassed
opposition party members and subjected them to arbitrary arrest. PDGE
members went door-to-door, seeking out and threatening opposition
supporters. On election day, there were widespread reports of
irregularities, including intimidation at the polls. Voters were
discouraged from voting in secret, ballots were opened, and ruling
party representatives reportedly cast votes in their own right as well
as on behalf of children and the deceased. There also were reports that
security forces intimidated voters by their presence in polling booths.
There was a lack of observers in rural areas. Although international
observers claimed that the opposition CPDS party received about 12
percent of the vote, the ruling party only offered the CPDS 2 seats in
the 100-seat Parliament.
The electoral law prohibits coalitions between political parties;
however, at year's end, all legal political parties except the CPDS
were aligned with and were part of the Government.
There were 12 political parties that the Government called
``opposition parties''; 11 have allied themselves with the ruling PDGE.
The Government pointed to these opposition parties as examples of the
country's multiparty democracy. The Government reportedly applied
pressure to persuade opposition members or officials from most, but not
all, opposition parties to join the PDGE party; opposition members
joining the PDGE during the year suggested that such practices
persisted. Reportedly the Government bribed members of the opposition.
During the year, the Government intermittently moved its executive
seat from Malabo to Bata in an effort to provide more of a presence on
the mainland. Ministers and key party officials moved, but the
bureaucratic infrastructure remained in Malabo.
Government officials were required to declare their personal assets
before a National Commission for Ethics; however, official corruption
in all branches of the government remained a significant problem.
President Obiang has been widely accused of spending the country's
oil wealth on his own family and friends. On July 15, an extensive
investigation by the legislature of a foreign country revealed the
misappropriation of at least $35 million of oil revenues from foreign
oil companies by President Obiang, his family, and other senior
government officials through foreign bank accounts since the country
started exporting oil in the mid- 1990s. The report found that in many
cases the money went straight into accounts controlled personally by
the President and his close associates. In response to the July 15
report, the Government released a report refuting the allegations of
oil revenue misappropriation.
The law does not provide for access to government information, and
in practice, it remained difficult for citizens to obtain access to
government information due to a lack of organized record-keeping and
archiving.
There were 20 women in the 100-member legislature and 5 women in
the 50-member cabinet. The Prime Minister was a member of the minority
Bubi ethnic group.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There were no effective domestic human rights NGOs. The law
restricts NGOs and identifies specific areas in which they may operate;
human rights were not among these areas.
The government-controlled National Commission for Human Rights
(CNDH) operated without adequate funding and staff. The Presidency
appointed the members of the CNDH, and the CNDH refrained from
criticizing the Government during the year. During the second half of
the year, the CNDH, in cooperation with U.N. agencies, co(sponsored
some human rights workshops concerning women, children, and detainees.
No international human rights NGOs were resident in the country;
however, there were signs of improvement in the relations between some
international organizations and the Government during the year. For
example, the Government allowed the UNICEF and the U.N. Development
Program to become increasingly active in the areas of trafficking in
persons, child protection, and economic development.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), operating out of Cameroon, confined
its programming to health-related issues, citing safety concerns for
staff and partners. There continued to be allegations from CRS,
Reporters Without Borders, and the Center for Rural Development that
NGO representatives visiting Malabo have had their movements, calls, e-
mails, and faxes monitored.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits all forms of discrimination; however,
both governmental and societal discrimination against women and ethnic
minorities continued.
Women.--Domestic and other societal violence against women,
particularly wife beating, was common. The public beating of wives was
forbidden by government decree; however, violence in the home generally
was tolerated. The Government did not prosecute perpetrators of
domestic violence, except for one ongoing case concerning a government
official who allegedly shot and killed his wife during the year.
Prostitution is illegal; however, the massive influx of
unaccompanied foreign men in the petroleum sector contributed to an
increasing prevalence of prostitution. During periodic crackdowns,
police arrested prostitutes but allowed their clients--generally
expatriates--to go free.
Although the Constitution provides for equal rights, women largely
were confined by custom to traditional roles, particularly in
agriculture. Polygyny, which was widespread, contributed to women's
secondary status, as did limited educational opportunity.
There was no discrimination against women in formal inheritance and
family law; however, in the Fang, Ndowe, and Bisio cultures,
primogeniture was practiced. Because women become members of their
husband's family upon marriage, they usually were not accorded
inheritance rights. When the husband dies, a widow either remains with
his family in a dependent, marginalized position, or she returns the
dowry and leaves with nothing.
For an estimated 90 percent of women, including virtually all
ethnic groups except the Bubi, tradition dictates that if a marriage is
dissolved, the wife (or her father or brother) must return the dowry
given to her family by the bridegroom at the time of marriage.
Tradition also dictates that if a girl's family accepts a dowry from a
man, she must then marry him, regardless of her wishes. If the marriage
does not take place, the family is required by tradition to return the
dowry, and failure to pay the debt can result in the imprisonment of
the bride or a family member. The law protects women from imprisonment
for not repaying the dowry following divorce; however, in practice,
many divorced women faced intense family pressure to repay the dowry.
If a marriage dissolves, the husband also automatically receives
custody of all children born after the marriage, while the wife
maintains custody of all her children born prior to the marriage.
According to the law, women have the right to buy and sell property
and goods; however, in practice, the male-dominated society permitted
few women access to sufficient funds to engage in more than petty
trading or to purchase real property beyond a garden plot or modest
home.
Children.--The Government devoted little attention to children's
rights or their welfare and had few set policies in this area. In
September the Parliament passed a trafficking in persons law, focused
almost exclusively on trafficked children; however, no other provisions
for the welfare of children were legislated.
Education was compulsory through primary school, but the law was
not agressively enforced. In practice, boys were expected either to
complete an additional 7 years of secondary school or to finish a
program of vocational study following primary education. For girls,
pregnancy and the requirement to assist in agricultural or other work
made attainment of this level of education less likely. Many rural
families were unable to afford school fees and book expenses for
children over 10 years of age. A UNICEF report noted that net primary
school attendance from 1992 to 2002 was 60 percent for boys and 61
percent for girls; however, secondary school enrollment was much lower,
particularly for girls. From 1997 to 2000, the gross secondary school
enrollment ratio was 43 percent for boys and 19 percent for girls.
Women generally have only one-fifth of the educational level of men.
During the year, new schools were opened; however, they were reported
to lack basic materials such as books and desks. The Government
cooperated with a foreign government to provide textbooks to all
schools. Teachers could be political appointees and often received no
training. Children suffered poor health and a high mortality rate. The
2005 national budget, passed by the Parliament in September, allocated
increased expenditures to education.
Child prostitution existed but was rare. Trafficking of children
continued to be a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
According to a 2001 child labor study by UNICEF, the most recent
information available, child labor existed primarily in the form of
children working as farmhands and market vendors in family businesses
(see Section 6.d.). In addition, during the year, there were
unconfirmed reports that foreign children were used as market vendors
by nonrelatives and had no access to schooling.
Trafficking in Persons.--In September, Parliament passed a law
criminalizing trafficking in persons; however, there continued to be
reports that the country increasingly was a destination and transit
point for trafficked persons.
Children, mostly from Benin and Nigeria, primarily were trafficked
into the agricultural and commercial sectors in Malabo and Bata.
Nigerian boys worked in market stalls in Bata, often without pay or
personal freedom. The country was both a destination and a transit
point for trafficked girls and boys, mostly from Cameroon, Benin, and
Nigeria. Women were trafficked for prostitution, especially to Malabo,
where they worked for clients in the country's oil sector.
There was evidence that lower-level law enforcement officials such
as border guards and immigration officers facilitated trafficking in
persons in exchange for bribes.
By year's end, the Government had not established a system to
conduct systematic monitoring or reporting of trafficking; however,
toward the end of the year, the Government made efforts to address
trafficking. In July, with guidance from a foreign government and
UNICEF, the Government organized an inter-ministerial committee to
explore ways of addressing the problem of trafficking in persons. In
October, a second inter-ministerial meeting was held to begin designing
an action plan to address the problem, and at a conference on
trafficking during the year, the Government asked regional governors
and local government authorities to monitor trafficking and report any
cases to the Ministry of Justice. A trafficking in persons technical
working group was established in November. In addition, during the
year, the Government conducted a radio campaign to raise awareness of
the new law against trafficking, and UNICEF co-hosted three human
rights conferences involving government officials in which trafficking
was a central issue.
Persons with Disabilities.--There was no constitutional or legal
provision to protect persons with disabilities from discrimination in
employment, education, or the provision of other state services, and
while there was no formal evidence of discrimination against persons
with disabilities, anecdotal evidence suggested that basic care may
have been withheld from children with disfiguring diseases such as
polio. The law does not mandate access for persons with disabilities to
buildings, and there was societal discrimination against persons with
disabilities. During the year, a local charity added a classroom to its
orphanage to train the mentally disabled.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Discrimination against ethnic
or racial minorities was not legal, and the Government did not overtly
limit the participation of minorities in politics; however, the near
monopolization of political and economic power by the President's
Mongomo sub-clan of the Fang ethnic group persisted. In practice, some
members of ethnic minorities, particularly the Bubi ethnic group, faced
discrimination because they were not members of the Fang ethnic group,
or belonged to a Fang sub-clan other than the President's. Differences
among sub-clans of the Fang ethnic group, especially resentment of the
political dominance of the Mongomo sub-clan, were also sources of
political tensions. Tensions also arose because most property was
controlled by the dominant group, which afforded it greater access to
economic prosperity and prevented competition from minorities from
developing.
Several thousand citizens of Nigeria, Ghana, and Francophone Africa
continued to reside in the country, even after the deportations of
foreigners in March (see Section 1.c.). Most were small traders and
businesspersons. The police reportedly continued to harass and extort
money from them as well as harassing asylum seekers on an individual
basis.
Citizens arbitrarily arrested foreigners during the year,
reportedly as a result of xenophobia (see Section 1.d.).
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Societal discrimination
against homosexuals existed during the year; no additional information
was available.
Persons with HIV/AIDS continued to be victims of societal
discrimination and often kept their illnesses hidden. However, during
the latter part of the year, the Government and the World Health
Organization cosponsored public awareness and sensitization campaigns
on HIV/AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right to organize unions; however, the Small Farmers Syndicate was the
country's only legally recognized labor union. According to the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, authorities have
consistently refused to register the Equatorial Guinea Trade Union,
which has been forced to carry out its activities in secret. There were
a few cooperatives with limited power. The law stipulates that a union
must have at least 50 members who are from a specific workplace and
located in the same geographic area to register; this effectively
blocked union formation. Authorities refused to legalize the public
sector union, the Independent Syndicated Services, despite having met
the requirements of the law.
During the year, the country's major private employer, the oil
industry, which was dominated by foreign firms, continued to take steps
to reduce government control of hiring in the industry. To eliminate
political bias in the hiring process, companies employed methods
ranging from public advertising of jobs and objective testing to
screening of applicants by non-citizens only. According to regional
representatives of the International Labor Organization (ILO), these
efforts largely have been ineffective, and the Government continued to
influence employment in all sectors.
There were instances when the Government retaliated against
political opponents by compelling their employers to dismiss them.
There was no law prohibiting anti-union discrimination, and during
the year there were reports that when workers tried to form unions, the
police visited their homes and intimidated them.
The law does not recognize the right of labor unions to affiliate
with international bodies, and there were no reports of such
affiliation during the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides workers the right to organize and bargain collectively;
however, the Government placed practical obstacles before groups
wishing to organize. The Government and employers set wages, with
little or no participation by workers. There was no evidence of
collective bargaining by any group; however, the Labor Ministry
sometimes mediated labor disputes. For example, there was a 1-day
strike at the Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCIC)
regarding minimum wages; the Labor Ministry intervened and resolved the
problem. It also met with oil companies to reconcile a language dispute
over minimum wages and facilitated an agreement. There are no export
processing zones.
The law provides for the right to strike; however, workers were
effectively prohibited from striking, although on rare occasions
workers engaged in temporary protests or ``go slows'' (work slowdowns
and planned absences). The Labor Code contains provisions to uphold
worker rights, but the Government generally did not enforce them, in
part because of inadequate staffing in the Ministry of Labor. Apart
from the Labor Ministry, workers had few other places to seek redress.
Members of Parliament reportedly tried to mediate employer-worker
disputes over wages or dismissals; however, they had no legal authority
to do so.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law forbids
forced or compulsory labor--including forced labor by children--and
slavery; however, detainees and convicted felons performed extensive
labor outside prison, including for prison officials, without
compensation (see Section 1.c.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
legal minimum age for employment was 14 years, but the Ministry of
Labor did not enforce this law, and child labor was common particularly
on family farms and businesses. Underage youth performed both family
farm work and street vending. While the Ministry of Labor was
responsible for the enforcement of labor legislation, the Government
did not have a comprehensive policy on child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Employers must pay the minimum
wages set by the Government, and most companies paid more than the
government-established minimum wage. There was a two-tier structure
that created a separate wage system for private sector workers inside
and outside of the oil sector. Companies subcontracted to the oil
industry were considered part of the oil sector. The minimum monthly
wage for all private sector workers was approximately $180 a month
(90,000 CFA francs). Within each group (oil and non-oil), a multi-
tiered system of classification was created, and workers were graded
according to education-level, skills, and experience. Wages increased
according to these factors and the responsibilities of the position.
High-level professional employees of international companies received
salaries near to or the same as expatriate workers. Any additional task
or duty added to a worker's responsibility required the worker to
receive a minimum increase of 25 percent of base pay, and workers
received such increases in practice. Changes to the labor code in 2003
also raised the public sector minimum wage to match the private sector;
however, application of the minimum wage was inconsistent in the public
sector. The minimum non-oil sector wage was generally insufficient to
provide a decent standard of living in the capital city for a worker
and dependant family.
The law prescribes a standard 35-hour workweek and a 48-hour rest
period, which generally were observed in practice in the formal
economy. Exceptions were made for particular jobs, such as those
concerning off-shore oil industry work.
The Labor Code provides for comprehensive protection for workers
from occupational hazards; however, the Government did not enforce this
in practice. The Government had an insufficient number of labor
inspectors to oversee local industry. The Government continued training
more inspectors during the year.
Employees who protested unhealthy or dangerous working conditions
risked losing their jobs.
__________
ERITREA
Eritrea is a one-party state that became independent in 1993 when
its citizens voted for independence from Ethiopia. The Eritrean
People's Liberation Front (EPLF), which led the 30-year war for
independence, has controlled the country since it defeated the
Ethiopian armed forces in 1991; its leader, Isaias Afwerki, is the
President. The EPLF became the People's Front for Democracy and Justice
(PFDJ) and redefined itself as a political party in 1994; it is the
sole political party in the country. Presidential and legislative
elections have been continuously postponed. The Constitution, ratified
in 1997, provides for democratic freedoms; however, its provisions have
not been implemented. The judiciary was weak and subject to executive
interference.
Police were officially responsible for maintaining internal
security, and the army was responsible for external security; however,
the Government could call on the armed forces, the reserves, and
demobilized soldiers in response to both domestic and external security
requirements. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the
security forces. In addition to border incidents with Ethiopia, the
army contended with the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement (ERIJM), a
small, Sudan-based insurgent group that continued to attack in the
north and west since 1993. Some members of the security forces
committed serious human rights abuses.
The country had a mixed economy, with trade, services, and
manufacturing accounting for the greatest portion of gross domestic
product and subsistence agriculture dominating the rural economy.
According to an estimate during the year, more than 70 percent of the
population of approximately 4.4 million engaged in farming and herding.
Real economic growth rose from negative 1.2 percent in 2003 to positive
1.8 percent. Wages did not keep pace with inflation. The continued
integration of as many as 75,000 Eritreans, or Ethiopians of Eritrean
origin deported from Ethiopia, more than 100,000 long-term refugees
from camps in Sudan, and an unknown number of internally displaced
persons (IDPs), continued to burden the economy. In addition, much of
the skilled labor force continued to serve in the national service.
More than one-third of the population depended on foreign emergency
assistance. The PFDJ and the military exerted a growing economic
influence through numerous investments in businesses owned by the party
or the military.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it
continued to commit serious abuses. Citizens did not have the ability
to change their government. Security forces were responsible for
unlawful killings; however, there were no new reports of
disappearances. There were numerous reports that security forces
resorted to torture and physical beatings of prisoners, particularly
during interrogations, and security forces severely mistreated army
deserters and draft evaders. The Government generally did not permit
prison visits by local or international groups, except the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Arbitrary arrests and
detentions continued to be problems; an unknown number of persons were
detained without charge because of political opinion. The use of a
special court system limited due process. The Government at times
infringed on the right to privacy. The Government severely restricted
freedom of speech and press, and restricted freedom of assembly,
association, freedom of religion for religious groups not approved by
the Government, and freedom of movement. Human rights groups were not
allowed to operate in the country. Violence and societal discrimination
against women continued to be problems, and female genital mutilation
(FGM) remained widespread despite government efforts to discourage the
practice. Members of the Kunama ethnic group also faced societal
discrimination. The Government restricted workers' rights. Child labor
occurred.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, the Government continued to authorize the use of deadly force
against anyone resisting or attempting to flee during military searches
for deserters and draft evaders, and deaths occurred during the year.
For example, in November, there were credible reports of the deaths of
20 civilian and 4 security force members in an incident at a detention
facility near Asmara following searches for military draft evaders in
and around the capital. The individuals were killed when a cinderblock
wall at the facility collapsed, and guards reportedly fired at inmates
attempting to escape. No action was taken against the guards.
According to the Government Commission for Coordination with the
U.N. Peacekeeping Mission, there were an estimated 3 million landmines
and unexploded ordnance in the country. The ERIJM and others laid some
new mines during the year. The U.N. reported 13 deaths and 19 injuries
from landmine incidents during the year; at least 2 of these casualties
involved newly laid landmines. It was probable that there were
additional, unreported deaths in remote areas.
There was no additional information during the year regarding the
April 2003 killing of British national Timothy Butt in the western
Bisha region. There were reports that unidentified militants killed
Butt.
During the year, the Government did not release a report concerning
its investigation of the August 2003 killing of two citizens who worked
for Mercy Corps International.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year; however, there were unresolved
disappearances from previous years.
There were no developments in the 2003 arrests of an unknown number
of Kunama, an ethnic group residing predominantly near the border with
Ethiopia, detained because of their association with other captured or
killed Kunama insurgents. At year's end, the whereabouts of the
arrested Kunama remained unknown.
At year's end, the whereabouts of 11 senior PFDJ and National
Assembly members, arrested by the Government in 2001, remained unknown
(see Section 1.d.).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Penal Code prohibits torture; however, there were
numerous reports that security forces resorted to torture and physical
beatings of prisoners, particularly during interrogations. During the
year, security forces severely mistreated and beat army deserters,
draft evaders, and members of particular religious groups (see Section
2.c.). Security forces detained deserters and draft evaders and
subjected them to various disciplinary actions that included prolonged
sun exposure in temperatures of up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit or the
binding of hands, elbows, and feet for extended periods.
There were reports that some women drafted into the national
service were subjected to sexual harassment and abuse.
There continued to be numerous reports of injuries and some deaths
from landmines and unexploded ordnance (see Section 1.a.).
Prison conditions remained Spartan. The Government generally
permitted three visits per week by family members, except for detainees
arrested for national security reasons. These prisoners were not
allowed visits. There were no confirmed reports that any prisoners died
due to lack of adequate medical care.
There were substantial reports that prison conditions for persons
temporarily held for evading military service were poor. Unconfirmed
reports suggested there may be hundreds of such detainees. Draft
evaders were typically held between 1 and 12 weeks before being re-
assigned to their units. At a detention facility outside Asmara,
detainees reportedly were held in an underground hall with no access to
light or ventilation, and in sometimes very crowded conditions. Some
detainees reportedly suffered from severe mental and physical stress
due to these conditions.
Women and men were held in separate facilities. There were no
juvenile detention centers or correction facilities, and juvenile
offenders often were incarcerated with adults. Pretrial detainees
generally were not held separately from convicted prisoners; however,
in some cases, detainees were held separately. For example, human
rights observers believed that the 11 PFDJ and National Assembly
detainees and others detained on national security grounds in 2001 were
held separately, although their whereabouts remained unknown. These
political detainees continued to be denied visitors during the year.
The Government allowed the ICRC to visit and register Ethiopian
civilian detainees in police stations and prisons; however, the ICRC
was not permitted to visit the unknown number of Ethiopian soldiers who
the Government claimed were deserters from the Ethiopian army. The ICRC
was allowed to monitor prison conditions, but local groups were not.
Unlike in past years, there were no reports of prolonged detentions
of Sudanese nonpolitical prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, arbitrary arrest and detention were
serious problems.
The police force was adequate in enforcing traffic laws and in
acting against petty crime, but it did not have a role in cases
involving national security. Corruption was not prevalent. During 2003,
the police force was reorganized, and active duty military officers
were placed in charge of key police divisions. The military has the
power to arrest and detain persons, and internal security forces and
the military detained many persons during the year.
The Penal Code stipulates that detainees may be held for a maximum
of 30 days without being charged with a crime. In practice, authorities
often detained persons suspected of crimes for much longer periods.
Detainees did not always have access to legal counsel (see Section
1.e.), and incommunicado detention was widespread. There was a
functioning bail system for all cases except those involving national
security or subject to capital punishment.
Security forces detained, generally not for more than 3 days, many
persons during searches for evaders of national service, although they
had valid papers showing that they had completed or were exempt from
national service (see Section 1.c.).
The Government continued to arrest journalists (see Section 2.a.).
The Government continued to arrest and detain members of
nonsanctioned religious groups; some persons have been in detention for
more than 10 years (see Section 2.c.).
Ethiopian nationals reportedly were singled out for arrest because
they were unable to pay the necessary fees to renew their residency
permits every 6 months. Although numbers of detainees fluctuated from
month to month, the ICRC visited approximately 300 Ethiopians who were
detained at various times during the year.
There were reports that the Government imprisoned and continued to
hold incommunicado and without charges approximately 110 citizens
deported from Libya in July.
There were no developments concerning the approximately 220
citizens deported from Malta in 2002 on suspicion that they had fled
the country to escape or avoid national service. It is believed that
they were held at secret locations without contact with their families
and without formal charges. There were reports that security forces
killed some of those who tried again to escape.
Three elderly businessmen who had been held without charge after
their attempt to mediate the 2001 dispute within the PFDJ were released
during the year.
There were reports that the Government continued to hold numerous
members of the Eritrean Liberation Front, an armed opposition group
that fought against Ethiopia during the struggle for independence.
The Government held numerous pretrial detainees during the year. An
unknown number of persons suspected of association with the Ethiopian
Mengistu regime, with Islamic elements considered radical, or with
suspected terrorist organizations, continued to remain in detention
without charge, some of whom have been detained for more than 10 years.
There were reports of numerous politically motivated detentions of
those who were seen as critical of the Government, and many of those
detained remained in prison at year's end. Many were perceived to have
ties to political dissidents or were believed to have spoken against
government actions. There were unconfirmed reports that the number of
such persons detained may be several hundred.
There were no developments in the 2002 arrests of individuals
associated with the detained group of 11 PFDJ/National Assembly members
and of diplomats who were recalled from their posts. At least four of
these detainees, in addition to many detained in previous years,
remained in prison without charges at year's end. Among the detainees
were former Ambassador to China Ermias Debessai (Papayo), arrested most
recently in November 2003, and Aster Yohannes, wife of former Foreign
Minister Petros Solomon, arrested in December 2003.
Two citizens who worked for a foreign embassy have remained in
detention without charge since 2001.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was weak and subject to
executive control. The judiciary relied on the Ministry of Justice for
logistical and budgetary support, which limited its independence.
Public trials generally were perceived as fair, but virtually all cases
involving individuals detained for national security or political
reasons were not brought to trial.
The drafting into national service of many civilians, including
court administrators, defendants, judges, lawyers, and others involved
in the legal system, continued to have a significant negative effect on
the judiciary; however, during the year, the ministry made certain
improvements in judicial capacity. For example, elections were held
throughout the country to staff approximately 700 village courts with
local judges. The High Court, which had been reduced to three benches
in 2003, was restored to seven benches, and a separate bench heard
final appeals. Unlike in the previous year, the High Court had no case
backlog.
The judicial system had three parts: Civilian; military; and
special courts. The civilian court system consisted of community
courts, subregional courts, regional courts, and the High Court, which
also served as an appellate court. Appeals could be made in the
civilian courts up to the High Court. Not all appeals are accepted for
a hearing at the High Court level, and the High Court takes an average
of 2 months to decide if it will hear an appeal. Under the legal
system, minor infractions involving sums of less than approximately
$7,400 (100,000 nakfa) were brought to community courts and subregional
courts. More serious offenses were argued before regional courts, but a
significant proportion of cases involving murder, rape, and other
felonies were heard by the High Court. A single judge heard all cases,
except those argued before the High Court, where panels of three judges
heard cases.
The judicial system suffered from a lack of trained personnel,
inadequate funding, and poor infrastructure that, in practice, limited
the Government's ability to grant accused persons a speedy trial.
At independence, the Government chose to retain many Ethiopian
legal proclamations, but issued new laws via proclamation, covering,
among others, commercial, criminal, banking, and civil matters.
Detainees did not always have access to legal counsel. Defendants
could hire a legal representative at their own expense; however, not
all detainees could afford to do so. Although there was no formal
public defender's office, the Government frequently assigned attorneys
to represent defendants accused of serious crimes punishable by more
than 10 years in prison and who could not afford legal counsel.
Defendants could appeal verdicts to a High Court panel, composed of the
High Court president and four other judges.
Most citizens had contact only with the legal system through the
traditional village courts. Elected village judges heard civil cases,
while magistrates versed in criminal law heard criminal cases. Village
courts and local elders used customary law to adjudicate local problems
such as property disputes and petty crimes. The Ministry of Justice
offered training in alternative dispute resolution to handle some civil
and criminal cases.
Shari'a law could be applied when both litigants in civil cases
were Muslims. Traditional courts cannot impose sentences involving
physical punishment.
The executive-controlled special courts issued directives to other
courts regarding administrative matters, whereas their domain was
supposed to be restricted to criminal cases. The special court system
ostensibly was created to reduce a growing backlog in the civilian
court system; however, in practice, special courts, which banned
defense counsel and the right of appeal, allowed the executive branch
to mete out punishment without respect for due process. Judges in the
special courts were senior military officers, most of whom had little
or no legal experience. They based their decisions on ``conscience,''
without reference to the law. There was no limitation on punishment.
The special courts had jurisdiction over many criminal cases, such as
capital offenses, felonies, some misdemeanors, cases of tax evasion
involving large sums, and cases of embezzlement by senior officials.
The office of the Attorney General decided which cases were to be tried
by a special court. The Attorney General also allowed special courts to
retry civilian court cases, including those decided by the High Court,
thereby subjecting defendants to double jeopardy.
Special courts also reportedly were authorized to handle crimes
involving corruption, theft, and misuse of government authority;
however, the courts had not heard such cases.
There were no reports of political prisoners; however, there were
numerous reports of persons detained for political reasons (see Section
1.d.).
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions; however, the
Government at times infringed on the right to privacy. Under the law,
warrants are required for routine searches and seizures, except in
cases where authorities believe individuals may attempt to escape or
destroy evidence.
The Government deployed military police throughout the country
using roadblocks, street sweeps, and house-to-house searches to find
deserters and draft evaders.
Warrants are theoretically required before the Government can
monitor mail, telephones, or other means of private communication;
however, in practice, the Government often did not obtain warrants.
There were reports that the Government monitored telephone calls and e-
mail. Government informers were believed to be present throughout the
country.
There were reports that military officials seized residences
belonging to relatives of persons identified with the political
opposition and rented the property or used it as housing for senior
military officers' families.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the Government
took land from ethnic Kunama without compensation.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press; however, the Government severely restricted
this right in practice. The private press remained closed, and most
independent journalists remained in detention or had fled the country,
effectively preventing public criticism of the Government. Private
newspapers were banned, and the ban remained in effect at year's end.
The Government controlled all media, including three newspapers,
one radio station, and one television station. There were no private
media in the country. Publications distributed by religious or
international organizations had to be submitted for government approval
before their release. The law does not allow private ownership of
broadcast media or foreign influence or ownership of media. The press
law forbids reprinting of articles from banned publications. The
Government continued to restrict the right of the religious media to
comment on politics or government policies.
The Government permitted one reporter for a foreign news
organization to operate in the country. In September, the Government
ordered another reporter who had previously reported for the British
Broadcasting Corporation and Reuters to leave the country.
The arrests of journalists continued during the year. In September,
authorities reportedly arrested Goitom Biahon, a journalist who
submitted reports to Deutsche Welle, for filing a story that the
Ministry of Information (MOI) found unfavorable. At year's end, he
reportedly was being held without charges.
In late December, the Government released Aklilu Solomon, a
journalist arrested in 2003 who had submitted articles to the Voice of
America. At least 15 other journalists who were arrested in 2001
remained in government custody at year's end.
The Government had the authority to ban the import of foreign
publications, and it did so during the year.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet. In October,
the Government announced that all Internet cafes would be closed, and
Internet access would be moved to libraries and schools; however, at
year's end, Internet cafes had not been closed.
The Government restricted academic freedom; freedom of speech, free
movement of students and their ability to assemble were not respected
in the academic context. The status of the University of Asmara, the
only institution of higher education, was uncertain, because
prospective students for the last 2 years were diverted to the Mai
Nafhi Technical Institute and did not continue to the university (see
Section 5, Children).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association; however, the Government did
not permit freedom of assembly or association. The Government did not
allow the formation of any political parties other than the PFDJ.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion;
however, the Government restricted this right in practice. Only the
four government-sanctioned religious groups in the country--Orthodox
Christians, Muslims, Catholics, and members of the Evangelical Church
of Eritrea (an umbrella group of several Protestant churches affiliated
with the Lutheran World Federation)--were allowed to meet freely during
the year. Although reports of government abuse of nonregistered
churches declined in the second half of the year, arbitrary arrests
continued. For example, on December 31, 60 members of the Rema
Charismatic Church in Asmara reportedly were arrested in the home of
the church leader.
During the year, there continued to be reports that security forces
used torture, such as bondage, heat exposure, and beatings to punish
those detained for their religious beliefs, and that some detainees
were required to sign statements repudiating their faith, or agreeing
not to practice it, as a condition for release. There continued to be
reports that relatives were asked to sign for detainees who refused to
sign such documents.
During the year, there were reports that several dozen followers of
various nonsanctioned churches (mostly Protestant) were detained,
harassed, and abused. For example, in February, authorities in Asmara
reportedly beat and arrested 12 members of the Full Gospel Church while
they were praying in a private home. They were released after
approximately 1 month. Of the detained, one was under the age of 18 and
another had disabilities; both of these detainees were released after 4
days of imprisonment.
Also in February, authorities arrested 50 members of the Hallelujah
Church in Asmara; by the end of the year, these individuals reportedly
had been released. In March, authorities in Assab arrested 20 members
of the Kalehiwot Church while they were praying in a private home, and
they reportedly remained in custody at year's end.
In late May, authorities arrested the leaders of the Eritrean
Evangelical Alliance, the Full Gospel Church, and the Rhema Church; at
year's end, they continued to be held without charges.
Human rights observers did not know whether the Government had
released the 57 students arrested in August 2003. By year's end, the
Government reportedly had released the 12 Bethel Church members
arrested in September 2003.
At year's end, the Government had released approximately 10 of the
74 military and national service personnel arrested in 2002 and
imprisoned near Assab. Reports suggested that the remaining 64
individuals were being detained until they repudiate their faith.
The Government also harassed and monitored members of one reformist
Orthodox group known as ``Medhane Alem,'' whose religious services the
Government did not find appropriate. There were reports that the
Government monitored all public religious services and issued warnings
or shut down services that it interpreted as promoting extremism,
antigovernment views, or foreign influence.
Following the MOI's 2002 closure of many religious groups,
including the Baha'is, Rhema Church, Presbyterians, Full Gospel,
Jehovah's Witnesses, and other small Protestant groups, no group has
been allowed to reopen, although some groups submitted the required
registration forms. The four government-sanctioned religious groups
were not required to fill out as detailed a registration form as other
groups.
There were some complaints that the Government discriminated
against the Muslim community and Catholics because the Government
offered tax relief to Orthodox churches, but not to some mosques and
Catholic churches.
The Government prohibited political activity by religious groups
and faith-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The Government's
Office of Religious Affairs monitored religious compliance with this
proscription against political activity.
There were negative societal attitudes toward members of some
religious denominations other than the four sanctioned ones. Some
citizens approved of the strict measures levied against unsanctioned
churches, especially the charismatic Christian churches and Jehovah's
Witnesses during the year.
The Government continued to harass, detain, and discriminate
against the small community of Jehovah's Witnesses because of their
refusal, on religious grounds, to vote in the independence referendum,
or the refusal of some to perform national service. The Government
dismissed members of Jehovah's Witnesses from the civil service. Many
were evicted from or not allowed to occupy government-owned housing.
Members of Jehovah's Witnesses frequently were denied passports and
exit visas, and some could not get identity cards or had their cards
revoked.
In January, Asmara authorities reportedly arrested approximately 40
Jehovah's Witnesses who were praying in a private home. One of the
members in his 90s was not released until September. At year's end,
approximately 15 of the 40 members remained incarcerated. None of the
members arrested reportedly received due process, that is, a court
hearing and a judicial decision that authorized their imprisonment.
According to the Office of General Counsel for Jehovah's Witnesses
Society, 20 Jehovah's Witnesses remained imprisoned without charge,
including 6 allegedly detained during the year for failing to
participate in national service. Although the maximum penalty for
refusing to perform national service is 3 years' imprisonment, three of
the individuals had been detained for more than 10 years. Of the
Jehovah's Witnesses detained, 10 were reportedly held at Sawa Military
camp and 1 at a prison in Asmara.
The army resorted to various forms of extreme physical punishment
to force objectors, including some Jehovah's Witnesses, to perform
their military service (see Section 1.c.).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights;
however, the Government restricted some of them in practice. While
citizens generally could travel freely within the country and change
their place of residence, authorities sometimes restricted freedom of
movement and emigration. For security reasons, the Government
restricted travel to some areas within the country. Military police
periodically set up roadblocks in Asmara and on roads between other
cities to find draft evaders and deserters, and periodic crackdowns
continued during the year (see Section 1.d.).
There were reports that Ethiopians who remained in the country were
not allowed to live in the Debub Province bordering Ethiopia.
The Government continued to restrict travel along much of the
border with Sudan. Some areas remained heavily mined, a legacy of the
war for independence. Occasionally, the ERIJM or others planted new
mines, leading to additional travel restrictions (see Section 1.a.).
Citizens and foreign nationals were required to obtain an exit visa
to depart the country. There were numerous cases where foreign
nationals were delayed departure for up to 2 months, or initially
denied permission to leave, when they applied for an exit visa. During
the year, the Government announced that citizens who had left the
country without exit visas would be allowed to return to the country
without legal consequences; however, at year's end, it was unclear if
this provision had been implemented.
Citizens of national service age (men 18 to 45 years of age, and
women 18 to 27 years of age), Jehovah's Witnesses (see Section 2.c.),
and others who were out of favor with or seen as critical of the
Government were routinely denied exit visas. Students who wished to
study abroad often were unable to obtain exit visas. In addition, the
Government frequently refused to issue exit visas to adolescents and
children as young as 5 years of age, either on the grounds that they
were approaching the age of eligibility for national service or because
their diasporal parents had not paid the 2 percent income tax required
of all citizens residing abroad. Some citizens were given exit visas
only after posting bonds of approximately $7,400 (100,000 nakfa).
In general, citizens had the right to return; however, citizens had
to show proof that they paid the 2 percent tax on their income to the
Government while living abroad to be eligible for some government
services on their return to the country. Applications to return from
citizens living abroad who had broken the law, contracted a serious
contagious disease, or had been declared ineligible for political
asylum by other governments, were considered on a case-by-case basis.
The law has no provision concerning exile, and the Government
generally did not use exile.
During the year, the Government repatriated approximately 549
Ethiopians to Ethiopia. They were repatriated voluntarily and with ICRC
participation.
Approximately 67,000 IDPs from the conflict with Ethiopia remained
in 11 camps in the Debub and Gash Barka zones at year's end. Camp
facilities were rudimentary, but conditions generally were adequate.
There also was a large but unknown number of IDPs residing outside
camps during the year.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the definition in the 1951 U.N. Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and there is
no domestic legislation relating to refugees. Consequently, the
Government cannot issue legal refugee status or asylum to persons
seeking protection on its territory; however, the Government offers
temporary protection to persons from Sudan and Somalia and provided
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in assisting
refugees. There were 732 Sudanese refugees at Elit camp in the west and
3,400 Somali refugees at Emkulu camp, near Massawa. There were also up
to 30,000 Beja Sudanese and approximately 600 Ethiopians in the Gash
Barka region to which UNHCR had no access or responsibility. UNHCR
accommodated 441 Ethiopians in urban areas who arrived over the past
several years. The Government issued, for a fee, residency permits to
Ethiopians living in the country.
UNHCR reported that it repatriated 9,351 refugees from Sudan during
the year. At year's end, UNHCR ended organized repatriation of citizens
living in Sudan. The Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC), a
government agency, was the principal organization responsible for
returnees and IDPs. The Office of Refugee Affairs was responsible for
refugees of non-citizen origin, including management of the Elit and
Emkulu camps.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government
peacefully; however, citizens were not allowed to exercise this right.
The Government came to power in a 1993 popular referendum in which
voters chose to have an independent country managed by a transitional
government run by the PFDJ. The PFDJ has not allowed for a
democratically elected government, and national elections, originally
scheduled for 1997, were never held. The only authorized political
party was the PFDJ, and there were no opposition parties active
domestically (see Section 2.b.).
During the year, elections for community judges were held
throughout the country, and elections took place for regional assembly
positions in Asmara and other large cities. Only persons who had
finished national service were able to stand in the elections and vote.
No campaigning was allowed beyond posting photographs of candidates and
providing information such as name, age, and work experience. There
were no reports of obstruction or intimidation of voters or candidates.
There were reports of petty corruption within the executive branch,
largely based on family connections. There were unconfirmed reports
involving illicit trade and the appropriation of houses by military
leaders. The legislature was not active during the year. There was
provision for citizens to obtain information from the Government.
Three women served on the PFDJ's 19-member Executive Council, and
11 women served on the 75-member Central Council. Women participated in
the Constitutional Commission, occupying almost half of the positions
on the 50-person committee. They also served in several senior
government positions, including the Ministers of Justice, Tourism, and
Labor and Welfare. By law, one-third of regional National Assembly
seats are reserved for women, and women also may compete for the
unreserved seats; however, the National Assembly does not meet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Government allowed one domestic human rights NGO--Citizens for
Peace in Eritrea--to operate, and its work was limited to advocacy on
behalf of war victims. Government officials were cooperative and
responsive to CPE's views on these issues. International human rights
organizations were not permitted to operate within the country. All
NGOs were required to register with ERREC.
The ICRC has been allowed to operate. During the year, ICRC
provided shelter to approximately 68,000 persons who were displaced by
the conflict with Ethiopia (see Section 2.d.). The ICRC also visited
prisons and detention centers where Ethiopians were held, and provided
assistance to approximately 157,000 citizens through projects in water
supply, health structure rehabilitation, and housing (see Section
1.c.).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for handling human
rights inquiries.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The transitional Civil Code prohibits discrimination against women
and persons with disabilities, and the Government generally enforced
these provisions. However, there continued to be problems with violence
against women and discrimination against minority ethnic groups.
Women.--Violence against women was pervasive. Spousal abuse is a
crime; however, spousal abuse, especially wife beating, was widespread.
Women seldom discussed openly the issue of domestic violence because of
societal pressures. Such incidents were more commonly addressed, if at
all, within families or by religious clergy.
Rape is a crime; however, no specific information was available on
its prevalence in the country.
FGM was widespread, with estimates placing the number of women and
girls who have been subjected to FGM as high as 95 percent. Almost all
ethnic and religious groups in the country practiced FGM. In the
lowlands, local groups practiced infibulation, the most severe from of
FGM. There was no law prohibiting FGM; however, the Government worked
to combat the practice. The Government and other organizations,
including the National Union of Eritrean Women and the National Union
of Eritrean Youth and Students, sponsored education programs that
discouraged the practice. The U.N. Population Fund, through the
Ministry of Health, sponsored reproductive health projects that
provided training and awareness programs focusing on the harmful
physical and psychological impacts of FGM.
Prostitution is illegal; however, as a result of war-related
displacement and difficult economic conditions, prostitution was a
serious problem. There were confirmed reports that security forces, who
regularly patrolled the city at night, occasionally followed
prostitutes and arrested those who had spent the night with a
foreigner. The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare continued its
National Plan of Action for the Prevention, Rehabilitation, and
Reintegration of Commercial Sex Workers, and the Ministry successfully
helped some prostitutes to obtain training and be able to re-enter the
legal economy.
The Government consistently advocated improving the status of
women, many of whom played a significant role as fighters in the
independence struggle. Women have a legal right to equal educational
opportunities and equal pay for equal work; however, in practice, men
retained privileged access to education, employment, and control of
economic resources, with greater disparities in rural areas than in
cities. Women generally did not enjoy a social status equal to men.
Laws were enforced unevenly because of a lack of capacity in the legal
system and because of long-standing cultural attitudes.
The law requires that women between the ages of 18 and 27
participate in national service (see Section 6.c.). During the year,
efforts to detain women draft evaders and deserters generally decreased
compared to previous years. According to reports, some women drafted
for national service were subject to sexual harassment and abuse.
During the year, hundreds of women were demobilized from national
service due to age, infirmity, motherhood, marriage, or needs of their
families. Once demobilized, women were not required to serve in a
government ministry.
Children.--The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare is responsible
for policies concerning children rights and welfare. The Children's
Affairs Division in the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare covered
childcare, counseling, and probation. Although the Government generally
was committed to children's rights and welfare, its programs were
limited by resource constraints.
Education through grade seven is compulsory, and the Government
provides tuition-free education; however, students were responsible for
uniforms, supplies, and transportation, which could be prohibitively
expensive for many families. The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare
operated an Integrated Early Childhood Development Project to keep
children in school by providing some of the most vulnerable with
necessary books, uniforms, and other supplies. Education above grade
seven requires a nominal fee and is not compulsory. There was a
shortage of schools and teachers at all levels, remedied in part by
holding morning and afternoon shifts at schools. According to Ministry
of Education estimates, the net enrollment rate of school-age children
in the 2001-02 school year was approximately 38 percent. Approximately
75 percent of the population was illiterate. In rural areas, young
girls usually left school early to work at home.
In 2003, the Government added an additional grade to secondary
school and required that all students attend their final year at a
location adjacent to the Sawa military training facility in the western
section of the country. Students who do not attend this final year of
secondary school do not graduate and cannot sit for examinations to be
eligible for advanced education. The remote location of this boarding
school, concerns about security, and societal attitudes restricting the
free movement of girls resulted in few female students enrolling for
their final year of high school; however, women may earn an alternative
secondary school certificate by attending night school after completing
national service.
In 2003, the Government opened Mai Nafhi Technical Institute on the
outskirts of Asmara. Students from the Sawa school who scored well on
the university exams were admitted to Mai Nafhi and then could be
eligible to attend the University of Asmara. No new students were
accepted at the University of Asmara in the current or previous year.
The law criminalizes child prostitution, pornography, and sexual
exploitation, and there were confirmed reports of some child
prostitution. The Government had an aggressive program to identify
these children and reintegrate them into their families and society.
FGM was performed on up to 95 percent of all young girls (see
Section 5, Women).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and there were no reports of trafficking.
Persons with Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, or in the provision
of other state services. The war for independence and the conflict with
Ethiopia left thousands of men and women with physical disabilities
from injuries they received as guerrillas, soldiers, and civilian
victims. The Government dedicated a substantial share of its resources
to support and train these former fighters, who were regarded as
heroes. There are no laws mandating access for persons with
disabilities to public thoroughfares or public or private buildings;
however, many newly constructed buildings provided access for persons
with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were reports of
government and societal discrimination against the Kunama, one of nine
ethnic groups residing primarily in the west. Because a Kunama
opposition group operated out of Ethiopia and was supported by
Ethiopian authorities, some Kunama in the country were suspected of
supporting or having sympathies with the Ethiopian Government.
In past years, there were unconfirmed reports that the Government
took land from Kunamas without compensation and gave it to other ethnic
groups, claiming that the land had not been efficiently exploited;
however, there were no such reports during the year. There was some
societal discrimination against Kunamas because they were seen as
ethnically and culturally different from most citizens.
Members of the Kunama ethnic group remained in detention without
charges during the year (see Section 1.b.).
During the year, there was sporadic abuse of Ethiopians by
individual citizens, and there were fewer reported cases than in
previous years.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The country has a less
than 3 percent rate of HIV/AIDS infection, and there were no reports of
systematic discrimination or abuse against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Homosexuals face severe societal discrimination, and there were reports
that several expatriates were expelled due to their sexual orientation.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Proclamation 118 of 2001, which has
the effect of law, provides workers with the legal right to form unions
to protect their interests; however, some government policies
restricted free association or prevented the formation of unions,
including within the civil service, military, police, and other
essential services. The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare must grant
special approval for groups of 20 or more persons seeking to form a
union. There were no reports that the Government opposed the formation
of labor associations during the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective
bargaining is allowed, and under Proclamation 118, a tripartite board
composed of workers, employers, and Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare
officials, is required to resolve differences. The complainant can
pursue a case in court if it cannot be resolved by the tripartite
board.
The law allows strikes; however, there were no reported strikes
during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
unconfirmed reports that it occurred during the year. The Government
required all men between the ages of 18 and 45 and women between the
ages of 18 and 27 to participate in the national service program, which
included military training and civilian work programs. In addition,
some national service members were assigned to return to their civilian
jobs, while nominally still in the military, because their skills were
deemed critical to the functioning of the Government or the economy.
These individuals continued to receive only their national service
salary. They were required to forfeit to the Government any money they
earned above and beyond that salary. Government employees generally
were unable to leave their jobs or take new employment.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Government has a national plan of action to protect children from
exploitation in the workplace; however, child labor occurred. The legal
minimum age for employment is 18 years, although apprentices may be
hired at age 14. Proclamation 118 bars children, young workers, and
apprentices under 18 years of age from performing certain dangerous or
unhealthy labor, including working in transport industries, jobs
involving toxic chemicals or dangerous machines, and underground work
such as in mines and sewers. It was common for rural children who did
not attend school to work on family farms, fetching firewood and water,
and herding livestock, among other activities. In urban areas, some
children worked as street vendors of cigarettes, newspapers, or chewing
gum.
Labor inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare are
responsible for enforcing child labor laws; however, due to the small
number of inspectors, inspections were infrequent.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Two systems regulate employment
conditions--the civil service system and the labor law system. There is
no legally mandated minimum wage in the private sector. In the civil
service sector, wages ranged from $24 to $288 (325 to 3,900 nakfa) per
month. Factory workers in government-owned enterprises earned the
highest wages. The minimum wage in the civil service sector did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The standard workweek was 44.5 hours, but many persons worked fewer
hours. Under Proclamation 118, workers are entitled to 1 rest day per
week; most workers were allowed 1 to 1.5 days off per week. The
Government has instituted occupational health and safety standards, but
inspection and enforcement varied widely among factories. Workers were
permitted to remove themselves from dangerous work sites without
retaliation.
Legal foreign and citizen workers are treated equally under the
law. A large number of foreigners worked as teachers.
__________
ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia continued its transition from a unitary to a federal
system of government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi. According to international and local observers, the 2000
national elections generally were free and fair in most areas; however,
serious election irregularities occurred in the Southern Region,
particularly in Hadiya zone. The Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF) and affiliated parties held 519 of 548 seats
in the federal parliament (elected in 2000). EPRDF and affiliated
parties also held all regional councils by large majorities. The Addis
Ababa regional council remained dissolved at year's end, with new
elections not expected to take place until May 2005. Although political
parties predominantly were ethnically based, opposition parties were
engaged in a gradual process of consolidation. Ethnic conflict
continued during the year in the Gambella region after the December
2003 killing of eight government workers by unknown assailants and
retaliatory killings of Anuak civilians by local mobs, which included
some army and police members. The judiciary was weak and overburdened
but continued to show signs of independence; progress was made in
reducing the backlog of cases. Local administrative, police and
judicial systems remained weak throughout the country.
The security forces consist of the military, federal and local
police, and local militias. The police have primary responsibility for
internal security, but local militias outside police command also
operated as local security forces. The army is responsible for external
security but also has some domestic security responsibilities,
particularly along borders with neighboring countries. The Federal
Police Commission and the Federal Prisons Administration are
subordinate to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, which in turn is
accountable to the Parliament. The military consists of both air and
ground forces and reports to the Ministry of National Defense. Military
forces continued to conduct a number of low-level operations against
the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the Somalia-based Al-Ittihad Al-
Islami terrorist organization, and elements of the Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF). While civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were some
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently
of government authority. Members of the security forces committed
serious human rights abuses.
The economy was agriculture-based, with more than 85 percent of the
estimated population of 71 million living in rural areas under basic
conditions and engaged in small leasehold subsistence farming.
Agriculture accounted for approximately 45 percent of gross domestic
product (GDP). GDP grew 6.7 percent during the year. Inflation remained
steady at 5.5 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. In
urban centers, the majority of economic activity was in the informal
sector. Drought, crop failures, and extensive livestock losses
adversely affected approximately 7 million persons during the year, and
caused GDP growth to slow. Trade regulations were liberalized, but
still favored EPRDF-owned businesses. The Government continued to
implement an economic reform program designed to stabilize the
country's financial position, promote private sector participation in
the economy, and attract foreign investment; however, some impediments
to investment remained, petty corruption was widespread, and there were
approximately 200 government-owned enterprises that had not been
privatized by year's end.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements, serious problems remained. Security forces committed
a number of unlawful killings, including alleged political killings,
and beat, tortured, and mistreated detainees. Prison conditions
remained poor. The Government continued to arrest and detain persons
arbitrarily, particularly those suspected of sympathizing with or being
members of the OLF. Thousands of suspects remained in detention without
charge, and lengthy pretrial detention continued to be a problem. The
Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights, and the law regarding
search warrants was often ignored. The Government restricted freedom of
the press; however, compared with previous years, there were fewer
reports that journalists were arrested, detained or punished for
writing articles critical of the Government. Journalists continued to
practice self-censorship. The Government at times restricted freedom of
assembly, particularly for members of opposition political parties;
security forces at times used excessive force to disperse
demonstrations. The Government limited freedom of association, but the
nongovernmental organization (NGO) registration process continued to
improve. On occasion, local authorities infringed on freedom of
religion. The Government eliminated the requirement for residents to
obtain exit visas before leaving the country. Numerous internally
displaced persons (IDPs) from internal ethnic conflicts remained in the
country. Violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse
of children remained problems. Female genital mutilation (FGM) was
widespread but leadership efforts to curb such practices made some
inroads. The exploitation of children for economic and sexual purposes
remained a problem. Trafficking in persons remained a serious problem.
Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and
discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities continued.
Interethnic clashes resulted in deaths. The Government continued low-
level interference in unions. Forced labor, including forced child
labor, continued to be a problem, particularly in the informal sector.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Security forces
committed many unlawful killings, including some alleged political
killings, during the year. There were numerous reports of unlawful
killings during the year.
The opposition All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP) reported that
government militia and soldiers killed l1 of their supporters in the
period from December 2003 to May 2004. For example, on March 29,
government militiamen Gashaw Melese and Dessalegn Damtew reportedly
murdered AEUP member Dessalegn Simegn of Ebinet District, South Gondar
Zone. On April 29, government militia killed AEUP district council
member Hailu Zelleke in Gishe Rabel District. On May 15, government
militia murdered AEUP Youth League leader Getiye Alagaw. No actions
were taken against the perpetrators by year's end.
The opposition Southern Ethiopia People's Democratic Coalition
(SEPDC) reported that district police shot and killed one of its
supporters, Aeliso Tieliso, while he was having lunch in his home in
Megacho Locality, Giibe District, Southern Region, on December 28,
2003. The suspected police officer was not detained and there was no
investigation of the killing.
A Parliament-appointed commission investigating ethnic violence in
Gambella Region occurring between December 2003 and May 2004 found
evidence of military involvement in the extra-judicial killings of 13
Anuak civilians. On March 20 according to unconfirmed reports, soldiers
seeking revenge for the death of a soldier were reported to have
summarily executed eight elderly Anuak men in the village of Chobo (see
Section 5).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that persons
died from torture while in government custody.
There continued to be reports of unlawful killings by security
forces, particularly in the Oromiya and the Somali Regions. For
example, on March 1, district police shot and killed Alemu Tesfaye, a
ninth-grade student in Tikur Inchine, Oromiya Region, during a student
protest. Amelework Buli, a female high-school student in Nekemte,
Oromiya Region, died from a police beating she sustained at her high
school, although the Government and police claimed she died from
natural causes.
Regional government officials from Somali Region reported that
military personnel fired upon a vehicle carrying civilians on June 15,
killing ten persons, after the military vehicle in which the soldiers
were traveling collided with the civilian vehicle around the town of
Gode.
There were no developments in the following cases from 2003: The
death in police custody of Abera Hey; the August killing of two men in
Addis Ababa by Federal Police forces; and the December killings of five
persons in a bar in Addis Ababa by a man in military uniform. Federal
Police reported that the individual was not a solider, but a person
with mental disabilities, who remained in custody at year's end.
There were no developments in the reported 2002 cases of killings
by security forces.
Armed elements of the OLF and ONLF continued to operate within the
country and clashed with government forces on several occasions,
resulting in the death of an unknown number of civilians and government
forces.
At year's end, there were approximately 2 million landmines in the
country, many dating from the 1998 to 2000 war with Eritrea. The
Government de-mining unit continued to make limited progress in its
survey and de-mining of border areas. U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in
Eritrea and Ethiopia officials reported that some new landmines were
planted on both sides of the Ethiopian-Eritrean border during the year.
Through July, officials reported a total of 11 deaths and 10 injuries
caused by unexploded landmines and ordnances during the year.
On April 29, an unidentified person threw a hand grenade into a
television room at Addis Ababa University (AAU) during a Tigrigna
language news program, killing one student and injuring eight others.
Police arrested suspects in connection with the incident, some of whom
were AAU students who had been suspended following January protests
(see Section 1.c.). As of year's end, the suspects were released on
bail, but the case remained pending.
On May 3, an unidentified person threw a hand grenade into a shop
owned by a Tigrayan woman in Debre Zeit, Oromiya Region, killing her
Tigrayan relative. Police blamed the OLF for the attack.
There were no developments in the investigation into the July 2003
bombing of the Segen Hotel in Addis Ababa, which injured 31 persons, or
in the September 2003 bombing of a passenger train near Adiquala, which
killed two persons and injured nine.
Ethnic clashes resulted in hundreds of deaths during the year (see
Section 5).
The Federal High Court in Addis Ababa continued to arraign and
prosecute those formally charged with committing genocide and other war
crimes, including extrajudicial killings, under the 1975-1991 Derg
regime (see Section 1.e.).
b. Disappearance.--There were some reported cases of disappearances
perpetrated by government forces during the year, some of which may
have been politically motivated. In nearly all cases, security forces
abducted persons without warrants and detained them in undisclosed
locations for varying lengths of time ranging from weeks to months. For
example, in May, security forces abducted Jigsa Soressa, a guard at
Mecha and Tulema Association (MTA)--an influential Oromo political,
social and cultural organization. Soressa was reportedly still being
detained at Addis Ababa Prison at year's end.
There was no new information regarding the whereabouts of Ahmad
Haji Wase, an information officer for the Afar Regional Government, who
was detained in an undisclosed location in December 2003 for a report
he wrote about fighting between Afar rebels and government troops.
The Government reported that Mesfin Itana, Yilma Mosisa, and Gdissa
Mosisa, who were believed to have disappeared after being detained in
connection with the September 2002 bombing of the Tigray Hotel in Addis
Ababa, were in government custody and awaiting trial (see Section
1.a.). Several young Oromo businessmen remained missing at year's end.
The whereabouts of Oromo singer Raya Abamecha remained unknown at
year's end. The Government stated it had no information about his case
and had not opened an investigation. There was no new information
regarding this case during the year.
There was no information regarding the whereabouts of several young
Oromo businessmen reported missing at the end of 2003.
There was no new information about any of the 39 persons reported
in a March 2003 report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) to
have disappeared at the hands of government security forces.
In 2003, the Government conducted an investigation into the 2002
abduction from a bus and subsequent murder of 32 Nuer IDPs. Ten
regional government officials, including four police officers, were
arrested in connection with the murders. This case remained pending at
year's end.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits the use of torture and
mistreatment; however, there were numerous credible reports during the
year that security officials often beat or mistreated detainees.
Opposition political parties reported frequent and systematic abuse of
their supporters by police and government militias.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of death due to
torture during the year.
AEUP supporters reported attacks by government militia against them
escalated during the year. Local officials often turned a blind eye to
these attacks or were complicit in them. On May 5, government militia
assaulted Habtamu Baye of Seha Tefases Farmers Association in Shebel
Berenta District as he returned from an AEUP meeting. On May 6,
government militiamen Habte Endale and Bimirew Adal beat AEUP supporter
Endashaw Alemu in Enemay District in East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region.
On May 13, government militiamen beat AEUP party organizer Damtew Ayele
in Rabel District, North Shoa Zone, Amhara Region, according to AEUP
reports. No action was taken against those responsible.
Security forces reportedly beat persons during demonstrations (see
Section 2.b.). In late January, Federal Police responded to peaceful
Oromo student protests at Addis Ababa University (AAU) and arrested
approximately 330 students. International NGOs reported that the
arrested students were taken to the Kolfe police training academy,
where they were ordered to run and crawl barefoot over sharp gravel for
several hours at a time. The arrested students were subsequently
released and were expelled from AAU for the academic year.
At several Oromiya high schools and universities, police severely
beat students, teachers, and parents according to local reports. In
February and March, violence erupted in schools throughout Oromiya as
students protested the January arrest and expulsion of 330 Oromo
students from AAU. The Government blamed the student unrest in Oromiya
on ``anti-peace elements'' supported by the OLF, but produced no
evidence of such support.
On February 25, violence broke out in Ambo Secondary School when
students demanded to have the school administrator respond to their
concerns about the suspension of the AAU students. Police entered the
high school compound to disperse students, beating several of them. On
March 4, students from Ambo high school and Addis Ketema Primary School
marched to the center of town and were dispersed by members of the
Oromiya regional police who fired in the air and later began beating
the students.
On March 17, police beat dozens of high school students engaged in
a peaceful protest in Dembi Dolo, East Wollega Zone, Oromiya Region.
Local observers reported that police also beat students at three high
schools in Nekemte and detained dozens of students and teachers for
weeks without charging them (see Sections 1.d. and 5).
Security forces beat journalists in several incidents during the
year (see Section 2.a.).
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that security
forces beat or tortured members of religious groups.
No action was taken against security forces responsible for the
January 2003 beating and torture of Nake Abebe; the February 2003
beating of Ayele Liyew and Habtamu Liyew; the March 2003 beating of a
teacher in Addis Ababa ; the October 2003 beating of Kassa Zewdu and
Sinishaw Tegegn; or the October 2003 beating of Retta Bayih, Awoke
Tegegn, Derejaw Ayehou, and Alellign Ayalew.
There were reports during the year that army members raped Anuak
women during raids on villages in Gambella region. The Government did
not open an investigation into the December 2003 rape of two Anuak
women at gunpoint by soldiers in the town of Echeway, Gambella Region,
during the outbreak of violence against Anuaks (see Section 5), an
attack that was reported by credible witnesses.
On April 15, unidentified persons detonated a hand grenade inside
Ambo Secondary School, injuring 30 students. Police claimed to have
taken eleven suspects into custody in connection with the blast. All
suspects were released on bail at year's end, and the case against them
remained pending.
During the year, ethnic clashes resulted in numerous injuries and
some deaths (see Section 5).
Prison and pretrial detention center conditions were very poor and
overcrowding remained a serious problem. Prisoners often were allocated
fewer than 21.5 square feet of sleeping space in a room that could
contain up to 200 persons. The daily meal budget was approximately 25
cents per prisoner per day, and many prisoners had family members
deliver food every day or used their own funds to purchase food from
local vendors. Prison conditions were unsanitary, and access to medical
care was not reliable. There was no budget for prison facility
maintenance. Prisoners typically were permitted daily access to prison
yards, which often included working farms, mechanical shops, and
rudimentary libraries. Prison letters must be written in Amharic, which
made outside contact difficult for non-Amharic speakers; however, this
restriction generally was not enforced. In police detention centers
police often physically abused detainees. Diplomatic observers reported
firsthand accounts of such beatings from AAU student detainees in
Oromiya. Visitors generally were permitted; however, they were
sometimes denied access to detainees.
There were some deaths in prison during the year due to illness and
disease; however, no statistics on the number of deaths in prison were
available at year's end. Prison officials were not forthcoming with
reports of such deaths. At least one prisoner, a Gambella police
officer, died in prison while being held in connection with ethnic-
related violence (see Section 5).
In August, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
finished its nationwide training program for prison directors, and
heads of security, health, and administration on proper treatment of
prisoners, including respect for human dignity, treatment of women and
children, and medical treatment of sick detainees. In November the ICRC
began a second, more advanced training course nationwide.
Female prisoners were held separately from men; however, juveniles
sometimes were incarcerated with adults. There was only 1 juvenile
remand home for children under age 15, with the capacity to hold 150
children. Juveniles who could not be accommodated at the juvenile
remand home were incarcerated with adults. Pretrial detainees were
usually detained separately from convicted prisoners at local police
stations or in the limited Central Investigation Division detention
facility in Addis Ababa until they were charged. The law requires that
prisoners be transferred to federal prisons upon conviction; however,
this requirement sometimes was not enforced in practice.
The Government permitted independent monitoring of prisons and
police stations by the ICRC. Diplomatic missions were also granted
access upon providing advance notification to prison officials. In
June, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights paid one of
its occasional visits to prisons in various parts of the country. The
ICRC generally had access to federal and regional prisons, civilian
detention facilities, and police stations throughout the country during
the year, and conducted hundreds of visits involving thousands of
detainees. The ICRC was allowed to meet regularly with prisoners
without third parties being present. The ICRC received government
permission to visit military detention facilities where suspected OLF
fighters were detained. The ICRC also continued to visit civilian
Eritrean nationals and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin detained on
national security grounds.
Government authorities continued to permit diplomats to visit
prominent detainees held by the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) for
alleged involvement in war crimes and terrorist activities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government frequently did
not observe these provisions in practice. The Federal Police Commission
reports to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, which in turn is
subordinate to the Federal Parliament. Local government militias
operated as local security forces largely independent of the police and
the military. Petty corruption remained a problem with the police
force, especially among traffic policemen accused of soliciting bribes
from motorists. Impunity also remained a serious problem. The results
of any police investigations into such reported abuses were rarely
disclosed publicly. However, in May, a Federal High Court sentenced
Addis Ababa police officer Mesfin Tekeba to 4 years' imprisonment for
soliciting a bribe from a taxi bus driver. The Federal Police
acknowledged that many members of its police force as well as regional
police lack professionalism; a reform process supported in part by
major donor governments was underway during the year.
Following the outbreaks of violence early in the year, due in part
to improved command and control and better training, police forces,
particularly in chronically troubled areas, became more adept at
avoiding confrontations and better at calibrating their responses to
avoid escalating spirals of violence. Police forces also improved their
ability to identify tensions earlier and accelerate their response.
The Government continued its efforts to train police and army
recruits in human rights, and sought assistance from the ICRC in
improving and professionalizing its human rights training and revamping
its human rights training curriculum to include more material on the
Constitution and international human rights treaties and conventions.
In September, the ICRC conducted a 2-day human rights training for
approximately 800 local leaders in the conflict-prone Oromiya region.
Under the Criminal Procedure Code, any person detained must be
informed of the charges within 48 hours and, in most cases, be offered
release on bail. Bail was not available for some offenses, such as
murder, treason, and corruption. In most cases, bail was set between
$115 (1,000 Birr) and $1,150 (10,000 Birr), which was beyond the reach
of most citizens. Suspects of serious offenses could be detained for 14
days while police conduct an investigation if a panel of judges ordered
it, and for additional 14-day periods while the investigation
continues. In practice and particularly in the outlying regions,
authorities regularly detained persons without warrants, did not charge
them within 48 hours, and, if persons were released on bail, never
recalled them to court. The law also prohibits detention in anything
less than an official detention center; however, there were dozens of
crude detention centers at the local level used by local government
militia. The Government provided public defenders for detainees who
were unable to afford private legal counsel, but only when their cases
came before the court. While in detention, such detainees were allowed
little or no contact with their legal counsel.
There were many reports from opposition party members that in small
towns persons were detained in police stations for long periods without
access to a judge and that sometimes these persons' whereabouts were
unknown for several months. Opposition parties registered many
complaints during the year that government militias beat and detained
their supporters without charge for participating in opposition
political rallies (see Section 1.c.).
The AEUP reported that on April 27, government militia detained
three of its members--Alem Eniyew, Geta Mitiku, and Gebeyu Mitiku--in
Enessie District, Amhara Region, for refusing to cancel their AEUP
membership. On April 28, Enemay District officials ordered the arrest
and imprisonment of five members of AEUP's executive committee. On May
3, police arrested Mulugeta Wassie in Metchera town, Fentale District,
North Shoa Zone, Amhara Region, for distributing AEUP information
leaflets.
Police also reportedly detained Oromiya National Congress (ONC)
member Olbana Lelisa on suspicion of his support for the OLF. Police
kept him in a crowded room at the police station for nearly 2 months
without filing charges before he was released on July 20. According to
his reports, police tried to coerce him to denounce the ONC publicly
and to link the ONC with the OLF in exchange for an end to police
harassment.
No further information was available by year's end about the May
2003 arrest of three Eritrean members of the Eritrean opposition group
Movement for Democratic Change for their support of the Ethiopia-
Eritrea Boundary Commission ruling.
On April 20, 200 persons, alleged to be members of the opposition
AEUP, were arrested in Northern Shoa, Debre-Sina District and released
after being harassed. Party members Mersha Haile, Wessene Gizaw, Girum
Tadesse, and Minda Gizaw, residents of Northern Shoa were arrested for
periods ranging from 7 to 30 days for unknown reasons.
The Government continued its harassment of teachers during the
year, particularly in Oromiya and Tigray. The independent Ethiopian
Teachers Association (ETA) reported that numerous teachers were
detained and accused of being OLF sympathizers, many of who remained in
prison at year's end. Some of the teachers have been in detention for
several years without charges. Such cases were remanded at least 10 to
15 times, for 2 weeks each time, and the courts allowed police to
conduct investigations that continued for months. In addition, judges
were shifted among cases, failed to show up for hearings, or new judges
were not reassigned in time for hearing dates upon the death or
incapacity of assigned judges. While lack of capacity within the
judicial system contributed to this problem, several of the prolonged
detentions were suspected to be politically motivated. During an
outbreak of student unrest in schools across Oromiya, police detained
hundreds of Oromo students and teachers for several weeks in detention
centers on suspicion of being supporters of the OLF (see Section 1.c.).
For example, on April 2, police were said to have detained without a
warrant Alemitu Biru, a teacher at Burayu Elementary School in Holleta,
Oromiya Region, and held her incommunicado for over 3 weeks.
Police entered private residences and arrested people without court
warrants. On April 7, police entered and searched the homes of eleven
teachers in Debre Zeit, Oromiya Region, without a court order. Police
later detained those eleven teachers for several weeks without charging
them. On April 9, in the towns of Guder and Ambo in Oromiya Region
police entered the homes of 60 people, mostly teachers, on suspicion
that they were supporters of the OLF. The teachers whose houses were
searched include Mosisa Futasa, Abebe Chimdi, and Dhinsa Serbessa.
Police officials did not respect court orders to release suspects
on bail. For example, on July 22 and 23, the Federal First Instance
Court ordered police to grant bail for Executive Committee members of
the MTA. MTA Executive Committee members Dirbi Demissie, Gemechu
Feyera, Sintayehu Workineh, Dabas Wakjira, and Shiferaw Ansermu had
been held in detention for over two months. They were released on
US$1,150 (10,000 Birr) bail on August 9; however, police rearrested
Gemechu and Sintayehu when they went back to the police station to pick
up their personal property. Demissie, Feyera, Workneh and Wakjira were
released on bail at year's end. However, Ansermu was rearrested on his
way to work at Ethiopian Television.
Police detained journalists during the year (see Section 2.a.).
Police detained persons for holding meetings and demonstrations
during the year (see Section 2.b.).
Opposition groups alleged that some of the persons detained by the
SPO were held for political reasons, an allegation that the Government
denied (see Section 1.e.).
In response to attacks by armed opposition groups operating out of
Somalia and Kenya, the military continued to conduct operations around
border areas. The vast majority of military interventions took place in
the Gambella, Somali, and Oromiya Regions. Occasional detentions were
reported during these operations.
Parliamentary immunity protected members of the House from arrest
or prosecution except in the act of committing a crime ("flagrante
delicto").
Berhanu Nega and Mesfin Woldemariam, two prominent academics and
human rights activists charged with inciting AAU students to riot in
2001, were ordered by the Federal High Court to prepare to present
their defense for a trial in July 2005.
The following detainees remained in custody at year's end: Alazar
Dessie, an American citizen working as a consultant to the Commercial
Bank of Ethiopia, who was arrested and charged with abuse of power (a
nonbailable offense) and has been awaiting trial for over 3 years; 24
businessman and government officials, who were arrested in 2001 under
allegations of corruption but were never charged formally; and the
official driver of the Eritrean Embassy, who was arrested in 2001 and
whose whereabouts remained unknown.
Thousands of criminal suspects reportedly remained in detention--
some for years--without charge. Some of the detainees were teachers and
students from Oromiya accused of involvement in OLF activities or were
arrested after student unrest broke out in Oromiya in February and
March.
The Government detained several persons without charge at the
Gondar Prison, some for years, while the police investigated their
cases. Muche Berihun, who was charged with murder although the person
whom he allegedly murdered was killed after he was detained, was held
in solitary confinement for 3+ years. His hearing began in 2002;
however, the court adjourned and the status of the hearing was unknown
at year's end. He remained in detention at year's end. Wondante Mesfin
has been in detention in Nefas Mewcha Prison in South Gondar Zone since
1994 and has never appeared in court nor been charged formally.
According to AEUP reports, there was no change in his status during the
year.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained weak and
overburdened. Although the federal and regional courts continued to
show signs of judicial independence, in practice severe shortages of
adequately trained personnel in many regions, as well as serious
financial constraints, combined to deny citizens the full protections
provided by the Constitution.
The Government continued to decentralize and restructure the
judiciary along federal lines with the establishment of courts at the
district, zonal, and regional levels. The federal High Court and
federal Supreme Court heard and adjudicated original and appeal cases
involving federal law, transregional issues, and national security. The
regional judiciary was increasingly autonomous, with district, zonal,
high, and supreme courts mirroring the structure of the federal
judiciary. Two three-judge benches at the High Court level handled
criminal cases. Prior to 2002, the federal High Court and federal
Supreme Court heard regional cases, due to the lack of well-established
regional courts. Due to the strengthening of the regional courts since
2002, regional cases were more often heard locally.
Regional offices of the federal Ministry of Justice monitored local
judicial developments. Some regional courts had jurisdiction over both
local and federal matters, as the federal courts in those jurisdictions
had not begun operation; overall, the federal judicial presence in the
regions was limited. Anecdotal evidence suggested that some local
officials believed they were not accountable to a higher authority.
Pending the passage by regional legislatures of laws particular to
their region, all judges are guided by the federal procedural and
substantive codes.
To remedy the severe lack of experienced staff in the judicial
system, the Government continued to identify and train lower court
judges and prosecutors, although officials acknowledged that the pay
scale offered did not attract the required numbers of competent
professionals.
According to the Constitution, accused persons have the right to a
public trial by an ordinary court of law within a ``reasonable time''
after having been charged and the right to be represented by legal
counsel of their choice; however, in practice, lengthy pretrial
detention was common, closed proceedings occurred, and at times,
detainees were allowed little or no contact with their legal counsel
(see Section 1.d.). Although the Constitution provides for a
presumption of innocence, defendants did not enjoy this protection in
practice. The public defender's office provides legal counsel to
indigent defendants, although its scope remained severely limited,
particularly with respect to SPO trials. Access to prosecutorial
evidence before a trial was routinely denied to the defense, even
though there is no law forbidding this and the law explicitly
stipulates that persons charged with corruption are to be shown the
body of evidence against them prior to their trials.
The Constitution provides legal standing to some pre-existing
religious and customary courts and gives federal and regional
legislatures the authority to recognize other courts. By law, all
parties to a dispute must agree before a customary or religious court
may hear a case. Shari'a (Islamic) courts may hear religious and family
cases involving Muslims. In addition, other traditional systems of
justice, like councils of elders, continued to function. Although not
sanctioned by law, these traditional courts resolved disputes for the
majority of citizens who lived in rural areas and who generally had
little access to formal judicial systems.
On October 28, the Federal First Instance Court's Seventh Criminal
Branch began operation. The court was established to handle cases of
sexual abuse against women and children. During hearings, victims were
physically separated from the accused, and provided testimony to the
court via a closed circuited television system. By year's end, the
court had delivered six guilty verdicts in sexual abuse cases, and
imposed penalties ranging from 4 to 20 years.
Three federal judges sat on one bench to hear all cases of juvenile
offenses. There was a large backlog of juvenile cases and accused
children often remained in detention with adults until their cases were
heard.
The outbreak of hostilities with Eritrea in 1998 adversely impacted
the military justice system. Most foreign assistance to train officers
and noncommissioned officers was suspended at the same time that the
rapid expansion of the military greatly increased the need for trained
military lawyers and judges. This training need remained unmet by
year's end.
There was no new information on the activities of the SPO,
established in 1992 to create an historical record of the abuses
committed during the Mengistu Government (1975-91, also known as the
Dergue regime) and to bring to justice those criminally responsible for
human rights violations. Approximately 1,000 persons remained in
detention for Dergue-era offenses. Court-appointed attorneys, sometimes
with inadequate skills and experience, represented many of the
defendants.
There were reports the Government detained approximately 100
political prisoners, and the Government permitted ICRC access on a
regular basis.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law requires judicial search warrants to search
private property; however, in practice, particularly outside of Addis
Ababa, police often searched property without obtaining warrants (see
Section 1.d.). Opposition party representatives claimed that police
sometimes used fraudulent warrants to enter homes and commit criminal
acts, including money extortion. There were reports that members of the
Federal Police robbed persons during the year, including through the
use of false warrants.
There continued to be reports that police forcibly entered the
homes of civilians. There also were reports that security forces took
persons from their homes in the middle of the night without warrants.
For example, Oromo students accused of detonating hand grenades at Ambo
Secondary School in April were reportedly rounded up from their
residences in the middle of the night.
Opposition party members reported that their homes were burned down
and their offices looted (see Section 3).
The Government arbitrarily monitored private communication such as
Internet communications and phone conversations. All electronic
communications facilities were state-owned. The Government also used a
system of paid informants to report on the activities of particular
individuals.
There were reports during the year of the forced displacement of
families in rural areas. The Government said that its resettlement
program, which moved families from drought-prone areas to more fertile
lands, was entirely voluntary, but opposition parties accused local
authorities in some rural areas of targeting opposition supporters for
resettlement by manipulating resettlement rosters. NGOs such as Doctors
Without Borders reported that in several instances, the Government had
resettled persons to areas with no existing infrastructure or clean
water supply, resulting in unusually high rates of infant mortality.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the
Government, in an attempt to ``clean up'' Addis Ababa, forcibly
resettled indigent persons to areas outside of the city
There continued to be credible reports during the year from EHRCO
and opposition parties that in certain rural areas in the Southern
Region, Oromiya Region, and Amhara Region, local officials used threats
of land redistribution and withholding of food aid and fertilizer to
garner support for the ruling coalition. There were many reports of
ruling party or government harassment intended to prevent individuals
from joining opposition parties or from renting property to them. There
were numerous reports of more serious forms of harassment and violence
directed against members of opposition parties in many areas of the
country, including beatings, house burnings, and murder (see Sections
1.c., 1.d., and 3).
There also were credible reports that teachers and other government
workers had their employment terminated if they belonged to opposition
political parties.
According to the SEPDC, the regional government continued to
dismiss its members--particularly teachers--from their jobs. In
response, the regional government asserted that employees of the
Government should implement government policy. The region accuses
employees who were opposition party members of not carrying out
government policy.
The family law code imposes a 6-month waiting period on anyone
seeking to remarry following a divorce or the death of one's spouse
(see Section 5). The Government maintained that this waiting period was
necessary to determine whether a woman may still be carrying the child
of her former spouse.
Security forces detained family members of persons sought for
questioning by the Government, such as suspected members of OLF.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and press; however, the Government restricted these
rights in practice. The Government continued to prosecute journalists
and editors for publishing allegedly fabricated information and for
other violations of the press law. The Government controlled all
broadcast media. Private and government journalists routinely practiced
self-censorship. Nonetheless, the private press remained active and
often published articles that were extremely critical of the
Government.
The independent print media were active and expressed a wide
variety of views, although their access to the executive, legislative,
and judicial branches of the Government was restricted and they were
subject to intimidation and harassment by the Government.
Despite the constant threat of legal action, the private press
continued to publish articles critical of the Government and to report
on human rights abuses. While much of the private press continued to
lack professionalism in its reporting, some print media continued
developing into more responsible publications. Several publications
were tied to distinct ethnic groups, particularly the Amharas and
Oromos, and severely criticized the Government for being ethnocentric.
The Government continued to control all radio and television
broadcast media. Although the law allows for private radio stations, a
regulatory mechanism was not in place, and there were no independent
radio stations. Broadcasting time on state-run Radio Ethiopia was sold
to private groups and to individuals who wanted to buy spots for
programs and commercials. The Government operated the sole television
station and tightly controlled news broadcasts. In September, the
Ethiopian Broadcasting Agency invited interested parties to apply for
licenses for two new private FM stations, although no applications were
filed by year's end. The Broadcasting Law prohibits political and
religious organizations from owning broadcast stations. Foreign
ownership is also prohibited.
There were no restrictions on access to international news
broadcasts. Ownership of private satellite receiving dishes and the
importation of facsimile machines and modems were permitted; however,
access to this technology was restricted by its high cost and the
limited capacity of the sole telecommunications entity, the Ethiopian
Telecommunications Corporation.
Foreign journalists continued to operate freely and often wrote
articles critical of government policies. They or their local
affiliates were often granted greater access to government officials
than were local independent journalists. Several foreign news
organizations staffed offices in Addis Ababa with local journalists who
operated free of government restriction.
There were reports that police harassed, beat, and detained
journalists during the year. For example, on March 29, armed police
beat Atnafu Alemayehu, deputy editor-in-chief of Tobia newspaper and
magazine, at Kara Kore in Oromiya State after Atnafu made enquiries
into resident's complaints about the demolition of their houses. Atnafu
was detained for 1 day and was released after posting bail of $115
(1,000 Birr) at Alemgena police station. Atnafu appealed to the police
station about the beating and confiscation of the tape recorder.
Wondwosen Gebrekiidan, former Editor in Chief of Itop newspaper was
arrested on December 23 and released on December 31. Shiferaw Ansermu
was arrested and released three times durign the year, and at year's
end, was detained at Addis Ababa Prison.
The Government used statutory provisions on the publication of
false information, incitement of ethnic hatred, libel, and publication
of articles offensive to public morality to justify the arrest and
detention of journalists. Independent journalists accused the
Government of selectively applying sections of the penal code to levy
charges against them. Journalists were charged, detained, and fined
during the year.
For example, in May, Leul Seboka, editor-in-chief of the Amharic
weekly newspaper Seife Nebelbal, was charged at the Federal High Court
for publishing a poem viewed by the prosecutor as ``inciting violence
among the public to secede from a region that is established by
constitutional order.''
Befekadu Moreda, owner and editor-in-chief of the private Amharic
weekly newspaper Tomar, was indicted in January by the Federal
Prosecutor General for an alleged violation of the Ethiopian Press
Freedom Proclamation. The charges stemmed from an article published in
2001 about a 2000 riot in Addis Ababa.
Wossenseged Gebre Kidan, editor-in-chief of the private weekly
Amharic-language Ethop, was prosecuted during the year for allegedly
publishing a false report in 2002 concerning a terrorist attack on the
Tigray Hotel in Addis Ababa.
In June, Tewodros Kassa, the former editor of the private Amharic-
language weekly Ethop, was nearing the end of his 2-year prison term,
but was newly convicted on 4-year-old criminal defamation charges and
sentenced to a further 3 months in prison, and was released after
serving the additional sentence.
In April, Debassa Wakjira and Shiferaw Ansermu, two journalists of
the state-owned Oromo Service of Ethiopian Television, were arrested
for allegedly passing information to the OLF. The two journalists were
arrested with officials of the MTA (see Section 1.d.). All except
Shiferaw Ansermu were released.
At year's end, one journalist was in prison on press charges,
approximately 54 journalists remained in self-imposed exile, and a
number of journalists in the country were facing criminal charges.
There were reports during the year that 10 journalists from the
government media and the private press fled the country or were
missing. There were reports that three Ethiopian Television journalists
(Mohammed Ahmed, Keriyat Ismael, and Lemlem Fanta) had fled the country
for Kenya. No details were available on why the journalists had fled.
All official media received government subsidies; however, the
official media were legally autonomous and responsible for their own
management and partial revenue generation. The Ministry of Information
was the Government's official spokesperson and managed contacts between
the Government, the press, and the public; however, the Government
routinely refused to respond to queries from the private press and
often limited its cooperation with the press to the government-run
Ethiopian News Agency, the EPRDF-controlled Walta news agency, and
correspondents of international news organizations. The Prime
Minister's office continued to deny all access to the independent press
for coverage of official events at the Prime Minister's office,
limiting such coverage and access to government media representatives.
Reporters admitted that they routinely practiced self-censorship.
The Ministry of Information required that newspapers show a bank
balance of $1,150 (10,000 Birr) at the time of their annual
registration for a license to publish. This sum effectively precluded
some smaller publications from registering. Permanent residency also
was required for publishers to establish a newspaper. The Government
did not require residency for other business owners, and some
independent journalists maintained that the residency requirement was
used as a form of intimidation. The press law requires all publishers
to provide free copies of their publications to the Ministry of
Information on the day of publication.
The majority of private newspapers as well as government newspapers
were printed at government-owned presses; however, there were no
reports that the independent media was unable to print articles. Police
had the authority to shut down any printing press without a court
order, but did not exercise that power during the year.
The former Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association (EFPJA) and
its leadership remained banned throughout the year. A new association,
bearing the same name, was established and new executive officers were
elected in January at a meeting facilitated by the Ministry of Justice.
In February, the Ministry of Justice gave recognition to the newly
elected leadership of EFPJA. Representatives of the old EFPJA continued
to protest the Government's ban on the original association and its
leaders, and filed charges against the Ministry of Justice claiming
that the ban was illegal and politically motivated. A court ruled the
original EFPJA had to be reinstated, but the Government had yet to do
so at year's end.
The Ethiopian Women's Media Association, which included both
government and private journalists, remained active during the year.
The association organized training and workshops and published a
journal.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
The Government restricted academic freedom during the year. The
Government maintained that professors could do research in any field in
their discipline but that they could not espouse political sentiments.
Teachers at all levels were not permitted to deviate from official
lesson plans. AAU students were prohibited from forming associations on
the basis of their ethnicity. Political activity was discouraged on
university campuses. There were unconfirmed reports that uniformed
police officers were visible on campuses and that plainclothes security
officers tried to blend in with the student body. While student
governments were permitted, many students refrained from involvement in
any on-campus activity that could be considered political in nature by
the Government. According to a 2002 survey conducted by the ETA of 280
public universities and secondary schools throughout the country,
nearly 90 percent of the school directors and vice-directors of those
schools belonged to the ruling party or its affiliates. Students and
teachers were arrested during the year (see Section 1.d.).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice. Organizers of large public meetings or
demonstrations must notify the Government 72 hours in advance and
obtain a permit. There were several reports during the year that
permits were denied to opposition political parties. Opposition parties
also reported long, unexplained delays by the regional authorities in
issuing permits and last minute revocations of permits.
Opposition political parties reported that their supporters were
the targets of frequent and systematic violence by ruling party
supporters during the year, often after leaving meetings (see Sections
1.c., 1.d., and 3).
The AEUP, SEPDC, and ONC charged the district and regional
authorities with deliberately obstructing their attempts to hold public
meetings. The independent ETA continued to encounter government
restrictions while attempting to hold meetings or demonstrations.
After notifying government officials, MTA organized a peaceful
demonstration on January 4, where approximately 10,000 Oromo residents
of Addis Ababa and its environs gathered at Meskel Square in the city
center to urge the federal Government to reverse its decision to
transfer the capital of Oromiya from Addis Ababa to Adama (formerly
known as Nazret). Police reportedly beat and arrested demonstrators
including elders, youth, and women. The Government claimed that the MTA
did not have the required permit to conduct the rally. All
demonstrators were released and no action was taken against the police.
A January protest by Oromo students at AAU resulted in several
hundred arrests and the subsequent expulsion of 330 students. During
their 2-day detention, many of these students were forced to kneel on
gravel for hours (see Section 1.c.).
In March, the residents of Aby Adi, a town in Tigray region,
conducted a peaceful demonstration, protesting the lack of electricity,
usable roads, and running water. Three members of the Tigray People's
Liberation Front (TPLF) Central Committee reportedly threatened to
arrest the organizers of the demonstration if they did not apologize.
According to reports, the Government also sent security agents to
prevent any further protests. The Government rejected requests to hold
similar protests in the Tigrayan towns of Maichew and Samre.
In March, police broke up an authorized protest march by students
at Alemaya Agricultural University, protesting the move of Oromiya's
capital to Adama and demanding the release of detained AAU students.
Police arrested some protesters before the protest left the campus,
according to press reports. There were numerous reports of protest-
related arrests of students across the Oromo region early in the year
(see Sections 1.c., 1.d., and 5).
The Government has still not released the results of its
investigation into the 2002 demonstration in Awassa, the capital of the
Southern Region, in which police killed and injured dozens of peaceful
protesters. No further information was available on the status of the
individuals arrested in cases related to the Awassa demonstration and
the killing of the head of the Southern Region's education bureau, some
of whom were held incommunicado.
No further action was taken against security forces who forcibly
dispersed demonstrations in 2003 or 2002. It was unknown at year's end
if persons detained in previous years for holding illegal meetings
remained in detention.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association and the right
to engage in unrestricted peaceful political activity; however, the
Government limited this right in practice. A number of policy issues
regarding NGOs remained unresolved, including the ability of NGOs to
enter into formal network arrangements that would enable them to pool
funds. However, there was some improvement in transparency of the NGO
registration process. The Ministry of Justice administers primary
registration. The Government continued to deny an operating license to
the Human Rights League (see Section 4).
As provided by law, the Government required political parties to
register with the National Election Board (NEB). Parties that did not
participate in two consecutive national elections were subject to
deregistration. There were approximately 69 organized political
parties; 13 were national parties, and the remainder operated in
limited areas. There were no reports during the year that any political
party had its registration revoked.
During the year, the Government repeatedly arrested persons
allegedly involved with the MTA, including the president, vice
president, members of the executive committee and staff, and two gate
guards. Some arrests appear to have been made without warrants, and
some detentions continued despite court orders to release suspects (see
Section 1.d.). The organization complained of illegal searches of its
premises. In July, the Government suspended the MTA's permit to
operate, effectively banning the organization, on the basis of its
alleged involvement in organizing several acts of violence, including a
grenade attack in AAU that killed a student.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, on occasion local authorities infringed on this
right. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) and Islam are the dominant
religions, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the population.
The Government required that religious groups be registered.
Religious institutions register with the Ministry of Justice and must
renew their registration every year. However, the EOC has yet to
register and has never suffered ramifications for not registering.
Similarly, the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (EIASC), after
registering in 1995, reportedly has never reregistered after it
protested this requirement to the Prime Minister. Protests from other
religious groups over these exceptions have not resulted in equal
treatment from the Government.
Under the law, a religious organization that undertakes development
activities must register its development wing separately as an NGO.
Religious groups were given free government land for houses of worship,
schools, hospitals, and cemeteries; however, the title to the land
remained with the Government, and the land, other than that allocated
for prayer houses or cemeteries, could be taken back at any time.
Minority religious groups reported discrimination in the allocation
of government land for religious sites. A traditional animist Oromo
religious group was banned after being found to be involved in
unspecified illegal activities. The group's leaders were suspected of
having close links to the OLF and MTA. Protestant groups occasionally
reported that local officials discriminated against them when seeking
land for churches and cemeteries. Evangelical leaders reported that
because they were perceived as ``newcomers'' they remained at a
disadvantage compared with the EOC and the EIASC in the allocation of
land. The EIASC reported that it had more difficulty obtaining land
from the government bureaucracy than the EOC while others believed the
EIASC was favored for mosque locations. Many mosques were built by
squatters without city government approval and since have been targeted
for demolition.
The Government did not issue work visas to foreign religious
workers unless they were attached to the development wing of a
religious organization.
While some Muslim leaders complained in the past that public school
authorities sometimes interfered with their free practice of Islam
because they prohibited the wearing of headscarves in schools, the
leaders reported that the Ministry of Education has accepted the
practice of headscarves in schools not only in Addis Ababa but also in
regional areas.
Some religious property confiscated under the Mengistu regime has
not yet been returned.
Unlike in previous years, there were no violent interfaith clashes
during the year.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Travel, Emigration, and
Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these rights; however, the
Government restricted some of these rights in practice.
In the Gambella region throughout the year, the Government
monitored and sometimes controlled the passage of relief supplies and
access by humanitarian organizations, explaining that it was doing so
as a matter of safety and security for those planning to travel in the
region. For a period following the December 13, 2003 incident, travel
was restricted.
The law requiring citizens and residents to obtain an exit visa
before departing the country was eliminated in July. Eritreans and
Ethiopians of Eritrean origin had their status regularized by the
Government.
Exile is prohibited and there were no reports of forced exile
during the year. A number of persons remained abroad in self-imposed
exile, including 54 journalists (see Section 2.a.).
During 2003, 1,579 cases of Eritrean civilians waiting to return to
Eritrea in the country were pending with the ICRC. There were several
ICRC overseen returnee occasions during the year. Most Eritreans and
Ethiopians of Eritrean origin were registered with the Government and
held identity cards and 6-month residence permits that allowed them to
gain access to hospitals and other public services. However, there were
unsubstantiated anecdotal reports that indigent Eritreans were denied
the right to seek free medical services by government officials at the
local level.
In 2002, the Government transferred at least 200 Eritrean military
deserters who had been held at the Dedesa detention center to a
northern refugee camp. UNHCR processed 178 cases in 2002 and 94 during
the year for resettlement to third countries. At year's end, it was
unknown whether additional cases were still pending. As a result of the
1998 to 2000 war with Eritrea, thousands of persons were displaced
internally. Of the approximately 350,000 IDPs resulting from the border
war, approximately 225,000 IDPs have been resettled.
Due to violent clashes between different ethnic groups during the
year, thousands of persons were killed, injured, or internally
displaced (see Section 5).
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing such protection. Parliament passed a national
refugee law during the year, but the law has not yet been published in
the national gazette and thus has not yet taken effect. In practice,
the Government generally provided for protection against refoulement,
the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution, and
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government generally cooperated
with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and returning
citizens.
As of September, the country hosted approximately 121,000 refugees,
down from 128,610 refugees at the end of 2003. Of these, some 89,000
Sudanese refugees were located in 5 refugee camps in the west. As the
result of the ongoing repatriation program in the eastern camps, the
number of Somali refugees decreased to about 23,000 at 2 camps, Aysha
and Kebribeyah. The Hartishek camp closed in July. The Government, in
cooperation with the UNHCR, continued to provide temporary protection
to refugees from Sudan and Somalia.
Approximately 24,500 Nuer and Dinka refugees remained in Fugnido
camp in Gambella Region at year's end. Plans to move all Nuer and Dinka
refugees from Fugnido camp were delayed indefinitely after unknown
assailants, allegedly local ethnic Anuaks, attacked a vehicle carrying
local government refugee officials, and killed eight persons in
December 2003; the officials were enroute to the proposed new camp site
in the Odier-Bol area (see Section 5).
In May, Eritrean refugees were moved from the Wa'ala Nhibi
temporary camp to a new permanent refugee camp further from the border.
The new camp, Shimelba, holds approximately 8,200 Eritrean refugees,
approximately 4,200 of whom were ethnic Eritrean Kunamas. The Shimelba
camp had only marginal health, education, water, and sanitation
facilities.
The conflict between ethnic groups in the Gambella Region
complicated UNHCR refugee protection efforts (see section 5). Food
deliveries to refugees continued in spite of the crisis in the west;
however, humanitarian organizations were unable to adequately monitor
food deliveries due to travel restrictions.
Early in the year, there were unconfirmed reports of conflicts
between refugees and local residents over scarce resources.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised their right to vote in
the 2000 national elections that were generally free and fair in most
areas but were also marred by serious irregularities. The Constitution
grants universal adult (18 years of age) suffrage, establishes periodic
elections by secret ballot, and allows citizens to take part in the
conduct of public affairs, directly and through freely chosen
representatives; however, in practice the EPRDF ruling party dominated
the Government.
According to observers organized by EHRCO, local U.N. staff,
diplomatic missions, political parties, and domestic NGOs, the 2000
national elections and the 2001 regional elections were generally free
and fair in most areas but were marred by serious irregularities,
including killings, disappearances, voter intimidation and harassment,
and unlawful detentions of opposition party supporters, particularly in
the Southern Region.
Opposition parties accused the NEB of being an instrument of the
ruling party and of failing to take meaningful action upon being
informed of electoral irregularities, including ballot stuffing, vote
count fraud, bribery, killings, beatings, and widespread intimidation
and harassment by ruling party supporters during the 2000 and 2001
elections.
The constitutionally mandated national census, which determines
popular representation in the Federal Parliament, was scheduled to be
held during the year but was postponed indefinitely due to lack of
funds. There were great disparities in regional representation in the
Federal Parliament, based on 1994 census figures and 1995 voter
registration. In 2003, the State Minister of Federal Affairs publicly
acknowledged that the country's nomadic communities, estimated at 7
million persons, were still being excluded from effective democratic
representation.
Of 548 seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives (HPR), the
ruling EPRDF coalition or its affiliate parties held 496 seats. The
EPRDF itself continued to be dominated by the Tigrayan ethnic group.
The EPRDF-affiliated TPLF occupied 40 seats, but its influence in
politics was far greater than its numbers would suggest. The EPRDF, its
affiliates, and EPRDF supporters controlled all seats in the 108-member
House of Federation, whose members were appointed by regional
governments and by the federal Government. In the Southern Region,
opposition party members held approximately 7 percent of the seats in
the Regional Council.
Elections for the Somali Region that were originally scheduled for
2001 were finally held on January 25. EHRCO reported the regional
election was marred by significant irregularities; however, the NEB
reviewed the allegations and disputed them.
Membership in the EPRDF conferred advantages upon its members, and
the party owned many businesses and awarded jobs to loyal supporters.
In addition to the Government, only the TPLF was allowed to operate
radio stations (see Section 2.a.).
The major opposition parties continued a slow process of
consolidation. The Ethiopian Medhin Democratic Party, 1 of the 15
political organizations that constituted the Union of Ethiopian
Democratic Forces (UEDF), opened its first office in the country in
June.
In August, the Government announced that it was willing to talk to
the UEDF about concerns that the EPRDF had previously rejected
outright, such as a restructuring of the NEB to remedy a perception of
bias in its composition, the equitable distribution of media airtime
access among competing parties, the presence of international observers
at the May 2005 national elections, and revision of electoral laws the
UEDF believes unfairly advantage the EPRDF. After meeting with the UEDF
in October, the EPRDF accepted many of the UEDF's requests such as
access to media airtime and international observers.
Registered political parties must receive permission from regional
governments to open local offices. Opposition parties, such as the AEUP
and the Konso Peoples Democratic Union (KPDU), reported that the
pattern of widespread intimidation and violence directed against
members of opposition political parties by local government officials
continued throughout the year. Hundreds of cases were reported by the
AEUP, KPDU, and other parties or by the press. Such cases ranged from
public insults of opposition party members by local officials at civic
events to bombings, house burnings, property confiscation, and murder.
In many of the cases reported, opposition members were allegedly told
they must resign from or denounce their party membership if they wanted
access to fertilizer, other agricultural benefits, health care, or
other benefits controlled by the Government. Party meetings were often
disrupted or unlawfully banned.
The KPDU reported that in late 2003 and early in the year, the
EPRDF closed KPDU offices in Fasha, Toka, Kamale, Fichucha, and Tara,
and dissolved the KPDU-dominated Abaroba and Jarsso Local Councils.
These were replaced with councils dominated by EPRDF members. Arrests
and beatings of KPDU members also were reported.
According to AEUP reports, on February 29, stones were thrown at
the house of AEUP member Bekele Tadesse, a resident of Ankober. On
March 7, a bomb was thrown at the house of Zemedkun Gebre Kidane,
chairman of the AEUP organizing committee in Ankober District.
Political participation remained closed to organizations that have
not renounced violence and do not accept the Government as a legitimate
authority.
The Addis Ababa Municipal Council was dissolved by the Government
in October 2002, and members were replaced by interim members belonging
entirely to the ruling party. Under the Addis Ababa Charter, elections
to fill those seats should have been called within one year of the
council's dissolution. These elections did not take place by year's
end.
The Ministry of Justice has primary responsibility to combat
corruption. According to the U.N., there was relatively little
bureaucratic corruption, although bureaucratic delays and difficulties
existed. A combination of social pressure, cultural norms, and legal
restrictions were used to combat corruption. Nevertheless, the lack of
transparency in the frequent cancellation of telecommunications, power,
and other infrastructure tenders raised suspicions of corruption. In
addition, it was believed that government officials manipulated the
privatization process as state- and party-owned businesses receive
preferential access to land leases and credit.
Since its establishment in 2001, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption
Commission has arrested officials, including managers of the
Privatization Agency and the state owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia,
and private businessmen and charged them with corruption; however,
there have been no major arrests in the last 2 years. It is a criminal
offense to give or receive bribes.
The Government publishes its laws and regulations in the national
gazette prior to their taking effect.
Of the 19 members of the Council of Ministers, 1 was a woman; 2
other women held ministerial positions, and a number of women held
senior positions. There were 42 women in the 548-seat HPR, and 9 of 113
members in the House of Federation were women. Of the 14 members of the
Supreme Court, 3 were women.
The government policy of ethnic federalism led to the creation of
individual constituencies to ensure representation in the HPR of all
major ethnic groups. Nevertheless, small ethnic groups were not
represented in the legislature. There were 23 nationality groups in 6
regional states that did not have a sufficient population to qualify
for constituency seats; however, individuals from these nationality
groups competed for 23 special seats in the 548-seat HPR in the 2000
elections.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups operated
with limited government restriction, investigating and publishing their
findings on human rights cases. The Government generally was
distrustful and wary of domestic human rights groups; however, its
relationship with international NGOs appeared to improve during the
year. Two of the most prominent domestic human rights organizations
were EHRCO and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA). The
Government routinely discounted EHRCO's reports and labeled it a
political organization. The EWLA's primary function was to represent
women legally. These and numerous other groups primarily engaged in
civic and human rights education, legal assistance, and trial
monitoring. However, the Government neither shared information about
nor acknowledged the existence of human rights abuses with members of
the domestic NGO community.
The Government continued to investigate the Human Rights League at
year's end for its alleged ties to the OLF. The League's offices
remained closed, and the Government still had not responded to its
registration request, despite a court order to do so.
The Government's relations with international human rights NGOs
appeared to improve during the year. Several international human rights
groups visited the country during the year, and had unrestricted access
to areas needing emergency humanitarian assistance. A senior level
Amnesty International delegation visited the country for the first time
in 10 years, and the African Union's Special Rapporteur on Prisons
visited prisons in various parts of the country (see Section 1.c.). The
Government cooperated with international governmental organizations on
human rights issues. Officials of the Federal Security Authority
generally were more responsive to requests for information from the
diplomatic community.
The Government is required under the Constitution to establish a
Human Rights Commission, and an Office of the Ombudsman with the
authority to receive and investigate complaints with respect to
misadministration by executive branch offices. In August, the
Government named Kassa Gebre Haiwot as Human Rights Commissioner and
Abay Tekele as Ombudsman. Neither entity was fully operational by
year's end.
During the year, the Ministry of Justice began a 3-year program of
human rights training workshops for judges, prosecutors, and police as
well as community members around the country.
A Parliamentary committee investigated potential government human
rights abuses in conjunction with ethnic violence in the Gambella
region late 2003 and during the year (see Section 5).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, color,
sex, language, national origin, political or other opinion, or social
status; however, in practice the Government did not effectively enforce
these protections.
Women.--Domestic violence, including wife beating and marital rape,
was a pervasive social problem. There is no specific law regarding
domestic violence or sexual harassment. While women had recourse to the
police and the courts, societal norms and limited infrastructure
prevented many women from seeking legal redress, particularly in rural
areas. Social practices obstructed investigations and prosecutions in
rape cases, and many women were not aware of their rights under the
law. It was estimated that there were more than 1,000 rapes a year in
Addis Ababa. The press continued to regularly report on rape cases,
particularly where injury to minors resulted. Rape sentences were
handed down in line with the 10 to 15 years prescribed by law. During
the year, the EWLA conducted research on the number of rapes committed
and the number of rape convictions handed down; however, the results
had not been released by year's end.
During the year, a court was established to try cases of sexual
abuse against women and children (see Section 1.e.).
Although illegal, the abduction of women and girls as a form of
marriage continued to be practiced widely in the Oromiya and the
Southern Regions, despite the Government's attempts to combat this
practice. Forced sexual relationships often accompanied most marriages
by abduction, and women often were physically abused during the
abduction. Many of those girls married as early as the age of 7,
despite the legal marriage age of 18. Abductions led to conflicts among
families, communities, and ethnic groups. In cases of marriage by
abduction, the perpetrator was not punished if the victim agreed to
marry him (unless the marriage was annulled); even after a perpetrator
was convicted, the sentence was commuted if the victim married him.
There were some signs of growing public awareness of the problem of
attacks on women and early marriage; in August a public demonstration
took place in Dessie to protest the problem.
The majority of girls underwent some form of FGM. Clitoridectomies
typically were performed 7 days after birth and consisted of an
excision of the labia. Infibulation, the most extreme and dangerous
form of FGM, was performed at any time between the age of 8 and the
onset of puberty. According to the findings of a government national
baseline survey released in 2003 on harmful traditional practices, 90
percent of women undergo one of four forms of FGM--circumcision,
clitoridectomy, excision, and infibulation. The National Committee on
Harmful Traditional Practices reported that, according to a national
baseline survey, harmful practices against women, including FGM,
abduction, and early marriage have declined from over 90 percent to 73
percent since 1992.
The Constitution and the penal code prohibit bodily injury;
however, these provisions did not specifically outlaw FGM. The
Government continued to update the penal code during the year. The
Government also worked to discourage the practice of FGM through
education in public schools and through broader mass media campaigns.
The Government took some measures to help eradicate FGM. For
example, an official from South Omo Zone, Southern Region, said in July
that an official from Hamer District was removed from office for
forcing his wife to undergo FGM. The Hamer official subsequently was
brought to justice by the District women's affairs bureau. The South
Omo Zone Mobilization and Social Affairs Department Deputy Head
reported that committees to eradicate harmful traditional practices
were established in 197 localities through South Omo Zone. In Eastern
Harerge Zone, police arrested 4 women who had allegedly circumcised 62
girls in 1 day; local residents allegedly tipped off the police
following an intensive media campaign on the harmful effects of
circumcision. Charges against the women were pending at year's end.
Sex workers routinely reported poverty was the underlying cause for
resorting to prostitution. Prostitution was generally legal, although
it was prohibited for persons under the age of 18. Pimping and
benefiting from prostitution was also illegal. Prostitution was a
problem.
There were credible reports from the EWLA and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) that many female workers who traveled
to the Middle East as industrial and domestic workers were abused (see
Section 5, Trafficking). In August, the Government opened a new
consulate in Dubai, in part to assist Ethiopian women workers who were
abused.
The Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law;
however, the Government has not yet fully put into place mechanisms for
the effective enforcement of these protections. The Family Law sets the
legal marriage age for girls at 18, the same as for boys; elevates
civil law above customary and religious law; allows for the legal
sharing of property for unmarried couples who live together for at
least 5 years; eliminates family arbitrators as a means of settling
marital disputes in lieu of the court system; allows for the joint
administration of common marital property; requires the courts to take
into account the situation of children or the weakest member of the
family in the event of divorce or separation; and imposes a 6-month
waiting period on women seeking to remarry following divorce or the
death of a spouse. However, regional councils had authority to
determine family law for their respective regions.
Discrimination against women was most acute in rural areas, where
85 percent of the population lived. The civil code and the penal code
contained discriminatory regulations, such as the recognition of the
husband as the legal head of the family and the sole guardian of
children over 5 years old. Domestic violence was not considered a
serious justification to obtain a divorce. There was only limited
juridical recognition of common law marriage. Irrespective of the
number of years the marriage existed, the number of children raised,
and joint property, the woman was entitled to only 3 months' financial
support if the common law relationship ended. A husband had no
obligation to provide financial assistance to his family and, as a
result, women and children sometimes were abandoned when there was a
problem in the marriage. The law states that any property owned before
marriage belongs to the spouse that had it. Any property gained during
marriage is shared equally by the husband and wife. Thus a widow is
entitled to her 50 percent share of property gained during the
marriage; however, a wife does not have inheritance right to her
deceased husband's share.
All land belonged to the Government. Although women could obtain
government leases to land, and the Government had an explicit policy to
provide equal access to land for women, this policy rarely was enforced
in rural communities. According to the EWLA, in nearly all regions
women do not have access to land. They cannot inherit land, and the
only way for them to gain access to land was via marriage. However,
when the husband dies, other family members often take the land from
the wife.
In urban areas, women had fewer employment opportunities than men,
and the jobs available did not provide equal pay for equal work.
In July, at the urging of a group of activists on women's issues,
the head of the NEB publicly endorsed the candidacies of women for
Parliament.
Children.--The Government supported efforts by domestic and
international NGOs that focused on children's social, health, and legal
issues, despite its limited ability to provide improved health care and
basic education.
Education is compulsory through grade six. By law, primary
education is tuition-free; however, despite the increase in the number
of schools during the year, there were still not enough schools to
accommodate the country's youth, particularly in rural areas. In
addition, the cost of uniforms and schools supplies was prohibitive for
many families. The Government used a three-shift system in most primary
and secondary schools in urban areas to maximize the utilization of
classrooms and to provide an opportunity for working children to attend
school. In 2003, approximately 43 percent of primary and 70 percent of
secondary schools operated in two shifts to maximize the utilization of
classrooms. Only 74.4 percent of male primary school-age children and
59.1 percent of female primary school-age children attended school.
Girls attended school in fewer numbers than boys, except in Addis
Ababa, where girls' attendance was slightly higher at 52.9 percent.
Government reports showed that 28.7 percent of the children who
attended school left the system before they reached the second grade.
Only 22.1 percent of children who began first grade completed eighth
grade. The literacy rate, according to the 2001 Child Labor Survey, was
20.6 percent of women, compared with 42.7 percent of men.
In Addis Ababa's police stations, there were 10 Child Protection
Units that were staffed by members of an NGO to protect the rights of
juvenile delinquents and juvenile victims of crime. Some police
officers completed training on procedures for handling cases of child
abuse and juvenile delinquency.
Societal abuse of young girls continued to be a problem. FGM was
performed on the majority of girls (see Section 5, Women). Other
harmful traditional practices included uvulectomy, milk-teeth
extraction, early marriage, marriage by abduction, and food and work
prohibitions (see Section 5, Trafficking).
In the Afar region of the east, young girls continued to be married
to much older men, but this traditional practice continued to come
under greater scrutiny and criticism. Indigenous NGOs, such as the
Kembatta Women's Self-Help Center and the Tigray Women's Association,
also affected societal attitudes toward harmful traditional practices
and early marriage. Media accounts suggested increasing awareness of
the problem. An account in February from a rural district noted that 74
children in the district had been rescued from marriages at ages as
young as 9, through the intervention of the schools and local
officials. Pregnancy at an early age often led to obstetric fistulae
and permanent incontinence. Treatment was available at only 1 hospital
in Addis Ababa that performed more than 1,000 fistula operations a
year. It estimated that for every successful operation performed, 10
other young women needed the treatment. The maternal mortality rate was
extremely high, partly due to food taboos for pregnant women, poverty,
early marriage, and birth complications related to FGM, particularly
infibulation.
There were some unconfirmed reports that children from the south
were transported into Kenya by child traffickers operating adoption
rings, and adopted as other nationalities.
Child prostitution continued to be a problem and was widely
perceived to be growing. There were a few reports that children were
trafficked out of the country in adoption schemes (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child labor remained a serious problem (see Section 6.d.).
Official government estimates put the number of street children in
the country at 150,000 to 200,000, with approximately 50,000 to 60,000
street children in Addis Ababa. UNICEF estimated that there were
probably close to 600,000 street children in the country and over
100,000 in Addis Ababa. UNICEF believed the problem was growing worse
because of the families' inability to support children due to parental
illness and decreased household income. These children begged,
sometimes as part of a gang, or worked in the informal sector (see
Section 6.d.). Government and privately run orphanages were unable to
handle the number of street children, and older children often abused
younger children. Due to severe resource constraints, abandoned infants
often were overlooked or neglected at hospitals and orphanages.
Children sometimes were maimed or blinded by their ``handlers'' to
raise their earnings from begging.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were numerous reports that persons were trafficked to,
from, and within the country. Child prostitution was a problem,
particularly in urban areas. The penal code applies only to women and
children trafficked for the purposes of prostitution; such trafficking
was punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,150
(10,000 Birr). Laws provide for fines and prison sentences of up to 20
years. Despite the arrests of suspected traffickers during the year,
there were no successful prosecutions of traffickers in persons by
year's end.
Training programs for police officers on the criminal aspects of
trafficking were ongoing during the year. These institutions have
limited resources and jurisdiction to protect or intervene in cases of
prosecution of offending employers.
The country was a source country for women, children, and to a
lesser extent men, trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation
and forced domestic and commercial labor, primarily to the Gulf States
and Lebanon. NGOs estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 persons
annually were trafficked internationally. Internal trafficking was also
a serious problem. Children and adults were trafficked internally from
rural areas to urban areas, principally for involuntary domestic
servitude, and also for prostitution and forced labor, such as street
vending. There were reports that Ethiopian women may have been
trafficked onward from Lebanon to Europe.
NGOs reported that impoverished girls as young as age 11 were
recruited to work in houses of prostitution where they were kept
uninformed of the risks of HIV/AIDS infection and other sexually
transmitted diseases. A 2003 Family Health International Report
indicated that customers targeted younger girls because they were
believed to be free of sexually transmitted diseases.
According to an NGO report, 60 percent of commercial sex workers
were between the ages of 16 and 25. Underage girls worked as hotel
workers, barmaids, and prostitutes in resort towns and rural truck
stops. Pervasive poverty, migration to urban centers, early marriage,
HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, and limited educational and
job opportunities aggravated the commercial sexual exploitation of
children. A few NGOs aided child victims, including the Forum on Street
Children-Ethiopia, which provided children forced into prostitution or
commercial sexual exploitation with shelter, protection, and return to
their families.
IOM reported that trafficking was ``increasing at an alarming
rate.'' A 2003 study by a foreign government on the problem of internal
trafficking of women and children confirmed that the problem was
pervasive. The overwhelming majority of respondents confirmed that they
were trafficked from rural areas to Addis Ababa and other urban
centers, lured by false promises of employment. Of the 459 respondents,
46 percent were illiterate and 49 percent had completed no more than a
grade 8 education. Upon arrival at their new destinations, 54 percent
worked as domestic servants, but that number dropped to 9 percent as
the trafficked women and children took jobs in bars, became sex
workers, or begged on the street.
Although illegal, the abduction of women and girls as a form of
marriage still was practiced widely in Oromiya regions and the Southern
Region (see Section 5).
Private entities arranged for overseas work and, as a result, the
number of women sent to Middle Eastern countries, particularly Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, as domestic or
industrial workers remained a significant problem during the year.
These women typically were trafficked through Djibouti, Yemen, and
Syria. The Chief of the Investigation and Detention Center in Lebanon
reported that 30,000 Ethiopian women worked in Beirut, the vast
majority of whom were trafficked. During the year, the Government also
began registering persons seeking employment overseas. Approximately 50
percent of these women were not able to return legally to their home
country.
There was almost no government assistance, in the form of
counseling or other support services, to trafficked victims who
returned to the country. The government provided limited consular
assistance in a few cases. EWLA provided limited legal assistance to
such victims. The Federal Police's Women's Affairs Bureau, in
collaboration with the media, continued to implement a public awareness
program on the dangers of migrating to Middle Eastern countries.
The National Steering Committee Against Sexual Exploitation of
Children was chaired by the Children, Youth, and Family Affairs
Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. There were some
government initiatives during the year to combat trafficking, including
government consultation with IOM to try to resolve the problem. During
the year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs reviewed the
contracts of prospective domestic workers planning to work overseas and
declined approval if the contracts did not appear satisfactory.
Immigration officials at the airport also inspected the employment
contracts of prospective workers traveling to the Middle East. The
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs had limited success in regulating
employment agencies that sent migrant workers to Middle Eastern
countries. Some illegal employment agencies escaped government scrutiny
and continued to operate. The consulate in Beirut continued to assist
women who were trafficked to Lebanon, and a new consulate was opened in
Dubai to assist women in the United Arab Emirates.
Persons with Disabilities.--The law mandates equal rights for
persons with disabilities; however, the Government had no established
mechanisms to enforce these rights. Persons with minor disabilities
sometimes complained of job discrimination. The Government did not
mandate access to buildings or require government services for persons
with disabilities. Although the Constitution provides for
rehabilitation and assistance to persons with physical and mental
disabilities, the Government devoted few resources to these purposes.
There were approximately 6 million persons with disabilities in the
country, according to local NGOs. The conflict with Eritrea resulted in
numerous soldiers losing limbs, many from landmine explosions.
Wheelchairs were not widely available throughout the country. Although
there were approximately 800,000 persons with mental disabilities,
there was only 1 mental hospital and only approximately 10
psychiatrists in the country. There were approximately 70 NGOs that
worked with persons with disabilities. For example, the Amhara
Development Association provided vocational training to war veterans
with disabilities in Bahir Dar. The Tigray Development Association
operated a center in Mekelle that provided prostheses and seed money
for business development, training, and counseling for persons with
disabilities. The international NGO Landmine Survivors Network provided
a number of services to victims of landmine explosions, including
counseling and referrals to rehabilitation services.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were more than 80 ethnic
groups living in the country. The Oromo were the largest single group,
accounting for 40 percent of the population. Although many groups
influenced the political and cultural life of the country, Amharas and
Tigrayans from the northern highlands played a dominant role. The
federal system has boundaries drawn roughly along major ethnic lines,
and regional states had much greater control over their affairs. Most
political parties remained primarily ethnically based.
The military remained an ethnically diverse organization; however,
diversity was less common in the higher ranks among officer personnel,
which was dominated by members of the Tigrayan ethnic group. There were
unconfirmed reports that soldiers targeted Oromos for abuse during the
year.
There were occasional reports that teachers and other government
workers had their employment terminated if they were not of the
dominant ethnic group in the region.
There were continued incidents of ethnic conflict during the year,
particularly in the western, southern, and eastern parts of the
country. The Oromo group and the Government engaged in many clashes.
There were also clashes among ethnic groups in Gambella, Southern
Nations, and Somali regions.
Kidad Gacha, arrested for killing a woman and a child during inter-
clan clashes in Bench-Maji Zone in June 2003, continued to await trial
at year's end.
There were multiple clashes early in the year between police forces
and Oromo students at a number of schools and universities, including
institutions in Addis Ababa, Ambo, Alemaya, Nazereth, Awassa, Dilla,
Debre Zeit, Jimma, and Bahir Dar (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). Protests
were directed in part at the Government's decision to move the capital
of the Oromo Region from Addis Ababa to Nazaret (Adama). Following
protests by Oromo students at several schools and the expulsion from
AAU of 330 students (see Section 2.b.), there were several incidents
that resulted in deaths and injuries. In Ambo, hand grenades exploded
in a school, killing several students and injuring others. At Alemaya
Agricultural College and Adama Technical College, riots between Oromo
and Tigrayan students armed with knives and sticks resulted in some
severe injuries. A number of reports indicated that some of the Oromo
students expelled from their universities were arrested on return to
their home areas. In April, approximately 600 Oromo students fled
across the border to Kenya. Violence decreased during the latter half
of the year, although tensions remained high. By year's end, almost all
of the students were reported to have returned.
In some instances, security forces were involved in ethnic clashes
during the year, most prominently in the Gambella disturbances that
began in December 2003 and continued until May. In December 2003,
unknown assailants, presumed to be Anuaks, ambushed a vehicle near the
village of Itang, Gambella Region and killed eight government officials
of ethnic groups not indigenous to Gambella Region. For 3 days,
civilian mobs, with police and military present, killed more than 100
members of the Anuak tribe in retaliation. Parliament appointed a
commission to investigate the killings and the possible involvement of
the military in killing civilians. The parliamentary commission found
that 65 persons had died, and that government soldiers killed 13 of
them. Other accounts, including from a Parliament member from Gambella
who witnessed the incident, indicated the number killed by the military
was considerably higher.
Sporadic episodes of violence in the Gambella region between armed
indigenous Anuaks on one side, and government forces and settlers from
highland areas on the other, continued throughout the first half of the
year. Some incidents were severe: Fighting between soldiers and Anuaks
near Fugnido in late January reportedly resulted in 50 deaths,
including civilians, and clashes near Dimma on January 29 and 30 left
196 persons dead. Many schools and clinics in the area outside Gambella
were looted and burned; and farming was all but abandoned.
On June 9 and 10, 54 persons died in clashes between the Ogaden and
Mejerti tribes in Warder Zone, Somali Region. The cause of the clashes
remained unclear at year's end.
By year's end, there were no further developments in cases of
ethnic violence from previous years. According to SEPDC, 12 of 127
members detained in connection with the 2003 violence in Tepi were
released from jail in October. The rest were charged with inciting a
riot and their cases remained pending at year's end.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of ethnic conflicts
between refugees and local residents.
Unlike in previous years, there were no official reports of
discrimination against Eritreans.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Homosexuality is illegal
and punishable by simple imprisonment and in defined aggravated cases
for not less than 3 months or more than 5 years. Where children under
13 years of age are involved, imprisonment of 5 to 25 years is
provided. While homosexuality was not widely accepted by society, there
were no reports of violence against homosexuals.
Societal discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS continued
during the year.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides most
workers with the right to form and join unions; however, the law
specifically excludes teachers and civil servants, including judges,
prosecutors, and security service workers, from organizing unions.
There was government interference in unions during the year.
The minimum number of workers required to form a union was 20. All
unions had to be registered; however, the Government retained the
authority to cancel union registration. There were no reports that the
government used this authority during the year. The law stipulates that
a trade organization may not act in an overtly political manner.
Approximately 300,000 workers were union members.
Seasonal and part-time agricultural workers were not organized.
Compensation, benefits, and working conditions of seasonal workers were
far below those of unionized permanent plantation employees.
The independent ETA was a target for government harassment.
Although the Government recognized ETA, all public school teachers were
required to subsidize the government-created and controlled teacher's
union (also called ETA) with mandatory monthly contributions of $0.23
(2 Birr) that were automatically withheld from their monthly salaries.
In late 2003, the Federal High Court settled a 10-year-old court
case, ruling that the Government's ETA had no legal standing or claim
on the property of the independent ETA, and that the assets of the
independent ETA's should be returned to it and its offices reopened.
The new ETA appealed to the Supreme Court early in the year. The
Supreme Court instructed the federal High Court to reinvestigate the
case, and that investigation continued at year's end.
Complete government control of the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade
Unions (CETU)'s executive committee continued throughout the year.
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination by employers against
union members and organizers; however, unions reported that union
activists frequently were fired. Unlawful dismissal legal suits often
took years to resolve because of case backlogs in the labor courts.
According to labor leaders, a number of court cases in which workers
were terminated for union activities were pending after 4 or 5 years.
There were grievance procedures for hearings on allegations of
discrimination brought by individuals or unions. Employers found guilty
of anti-union discrimination were required to reinstate workers fired
for union activities.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution protects the right of collective bargaining for most
workers, and in practice the Government allowed citizens to exercise
this right freely. Labor experts estimated that more than 90 percent of
unionized workers were covered by collective bargaining agreements.
Wages were negotiated at the plant level. Some efforts to enforce labor
regulations were made within the formal industrial sector. There are no
export processing zones.
In November 2003, the Parliament ratified amendments to Labor
Proclamation 42, the main body of labor laws in the country that
strengthen workers' positions in the event of termination; allow for
multiple unions in the same undertaking; and restrict the definition of
``essential services'' as concerns the right of workers in those
professions to strike.
Labor Proclamation 42 explicitly gives workers the right to strike
to protect their interests; however, it contains detailed provisions
that make legal strike actions difficult to achieve, such as a minimum
of 130 days advance notice before striking. There has not been a legal
strike since 1993. The law requires aggrieved workers first to make
efforts at conciliation before striking and includes a lengthy dispute
settlement process. These applied equally to an employer's right to
lock out workers. Strikes must be supported by a majority of the
workers affected.
Workers nonetheless retain the right to strike without resorting to
either of these options, provided they give at least 10 days notice to
the other party and to the Ministry, make efforts at reconciliation,
and provide at least a 30-day warning in cases already before a court
or Labor Relations Board.
The law also prohibits workers who provide essential services from
striking, including air transport and railway service workers, electric
power suppliers, bus operators, gas station personnel, hospital and
pharmacy personnel, bank employees, firemen, postal and
telecommunications personnel, and urban sanitary workers.
The ILO has noted that the complex regulations of the proclamation
and the insufficient resources of the judicial system caused labor
disputes to drag on for months and years.
The law prohibits retribution against strikers, but labor leaders
said that most workers were not convinced that the Government would
enforce this protection. Labor officials said that due to high
unemployment and long delays in the hearing of labor cases, some
workers were afraid to participate in strikes or other labor actions.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.) Forced labor
could be used by court order as a punitive measure.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There were laws against child labor; however, child labor remained a
serious problem, both in urban and rural areas. Under the law, the
minimum age for wage or salary employment is 14 years; this age is
consistent with the age for completing primary school educational
requirements. Special provisions cover children between the ages of 14
and 18, including the prohibition of hazardous or night work. By law,
children between the ages of 14 and 18 years were not permitted to work
more than 7 hours per day, work between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6
a.m., work on public holidays or rest days, or perform overtime work.
The Government defined hazardous work as work in factories or involving
machinery with moving parts, or any work that could jeopardize
children's health.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is designated to enforce
child labor laws. While the Government made some effort to enforce
these regulations within the formal industrial sector, social welfare
activists, civic organizers, government officials, and employers agreed
that child labor was pervasive throughout the country, particularly in
agrarian areas and in the informal sector. In urban areas, numerous
children worked in a variety of jobs, including shining shoes, sewing
clothes, hustling passengers into cabs, working as porters, selling
lottery tickets and other small items, and herding animals. In rural
areas, children worked on family and commercial farms and as domestic
laborers.
In February 2003, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs released
the findings of a 2001 ILO-funded survey on child labor. The survey
found that 40 percent of children start work before the age of 6. It
also found the average number of hours worked by children ages 5 to 17
during a 1-week reference period was 32.8 hours. Approximately 13
percent of boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 9 worked from 58 to
74 hours a week. More than two-thirds of all children surveyed were
giving either all or part of their earnings to their parents or
guardians. Reduced household income from poor crop harvests and school
dropouts were two contributing factors for the increased incidence of
child labor.
Child laborers often were abused. A 1999 study concluded that
physical and emotional abuse were twice as common among child workers
compared with nonworkers, sexual abuse was five times as common, and
neglect was eight times as common. Among child workers surveyed, rapes
occurred exclusively among child domestic laborers.
The Government's definition of worst forms of child labor included
prostitution and bonded labor. During the year, there were reports of
forced or bonded labor of children who had been trafficked from the
Southern and Oromiya Regions to other regions of the country, to work
as domestic servants (see Section 5). Young girls reportedly were
forced into prostitution by family members (see Section 5).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law mandates a minimum wage
of approximately $14 (120 Birr) per month for all wage earners in both
the private and public sectors; in addition, each industry and service
sector established its own minimum wage. For example, public sector
employees, the largest group of wage earners, earned a minimum wage of
approximately $20 (175 Birr) per month; employees in the banking and
insurance sector had a minimum wage of $23 (200 Birr) per month.
According to the Office of the Study of Wages and Other Remuneration,
these wages did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family. Consequently most families needed to have at least two wage
earners to survive, which forced many children to leave school early.
In addition, only a small percentage of the population was involved in
wage labor employment, which was concentrated largely in urban areas.
Labor Proclamation 42 stipulates a 48-hour legal workweek,
consisting of 6 days of 8 hours each, with a 24-hour rest period. In
practice, most employees worked a 40-hour workweek of five 8-hour days.
The Government, industry, and unions negotiated to set occupational
health and safety standards; however, the inspection department of the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs enforced these standards
ineffectively due to a lack of resources. Enforcement also was
inhibited by a lack of detailed, sector-specific health and safety
guidelines. Workers had the right to remove themselves from dangerous
situations without jeopardizing their employment; however, most workers
feared losing their jobs if they were to do so.
Labor laws also protect legal foreign workers.
__________
GABON
Gabon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. The Gabonese
Democratic Party (PDG) has remained in power since 1968 and has
circumscribed political choice. PDG leader El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba,
President since 1967, was reelected for a 7 year term in a 1998
election marred by irregularities. In 2002, legislative by elections
were held and resulted in 107 National Assembly seats for the PDG and
allied parties and 13 for the opposition. In February 2003, the PDG won
a majority of Senate seats. The judiciary remained inefficient and
subject to government influence.
The national police, subordinate to the Interior Ministry, and the
Gendarmerie, subordinate to the Defense Ministry, were responsible for
domestic law enforcement and public security. Elements of the armed
forces and the ``Republican Guard,'' an elite, heavily armed unit that
protects the President, sometimes performed internal security
functions; both were subordinate to the Defense Ministry. The civilian
authorities maintained effective control of the security forces.
Members of the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country's mixed economy lacked diversity and depended heavily
on foreign trade in oil, manganese, and wood; the population was
approximately 1.2 million. The Government dominated the economy through
oil refining, telecommunications, and timber export parastatals.
Government financial mismanagement and corruption contributed to
significant arrears in domestic and external debt payments. Revenues
from oil production, which increased slightly in 2003, contributed more
than half of the budget of the country. The estimated per capita income
was $4,580; however, the distribution of wealth and social services was
extremely uneven.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements in a number of areas, problems remained. The
Government continued to limit the ability of citizens to change their
government. Security forces sometimes beat and tortured prisoners and
detainees, prison conditions remained harsh, and security forces
sometimes violently dispersed demonstrations. Arbitrary arrest and
detention were problems. Authorities routinely infringed on privacy
rights. The Government continued to restrict freedom of the press and
movement. Violence and societal discrimination against women and
noncitizen Africans continued to be problems. Forced labor, child
labor, and trafficking particularly in children remained problems.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, police forcibly dispersed demonstrations, which resulted in
one death during the year (see Section 2.b.).
A small number of ritualistic killings reportedly were committed
during the year. No official connection to the murders was established,
and the Government publicly criticized such practices.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
security forces sometimes beat or tortured prisoners and detainees to
extract confessions. Unconfirmed reports from the African immigrant
community asserted that police and soldiers occasionally beat
noncitizen Africans during operations to round up and deport illegal
immigrants. During the year, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR) confirmed that it received reports from its regional offices
that security forces continued to harass and extort from refugees.
In November, there were unconfirmed press reports that police at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allegedly raped a girl after detaining
her for an identity card check. The girl reportedly was afraid to file
a complaint, and no action was taken against the perpetrators.
Police violently dispersed demonstrations, which resulted in
injuries (see Section 2.b.).
There continued to be reports that practitioners of certain
traditional indigenous religions inflicted bodily harm on other
persons.
Conditions in most prisons were harsh. Food, sanitation, and
ventilation were poor, and medical care was almost nonexistent. Women
were held separately from men, juveniles were held separately from
adults, and pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
prisoners. There were no known visits by human rights monitors to
prisons during the year; however, there were no reports that the
Government impeded such visits.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did not always
observe these prohibitions.
The police, who are responsible for law enforcement and public
security, were inefficient, and police response times were slow. The
national Gendarmerie is responsible for internal security and setting
up checkpoints. Corruption was a serious problem, and security forces
often used bribes at checkpoints to supplement their salaries.
The law provides up to 48 hours for initial detention, during which
police must charge a detainee before a judge; however, in practice,
police rarely respected this timetable. Charges often were not filed
expeditiously, and persons often were detained arbitrarily for short
periods and occasionally detained for long periods. At arraignments,
bail may be set if further investigation is required.
During the year, police arbitrarily arrested demonstrators (see
Section 2.b.).
The Government occasionally arrested opposition leaders (see
Section 2.b.). For example, in January, security forces detained Gerard
Ella Nguema, the leader of the National Gathering of Republicans Party,
and several of his colleagues on charges of counterfeiting, coup
plotting, and attempting to blow up government buildings; all were
subsequently released, and Nguema reportedly agreed to support the PDG
during the 2005 presidential election. No further information was
available.
Members of the security forces frequently detained individuals at
roadblocks under the guise of checking vehicle registration and
identity papers. Security forces frequently used such operations to
extort money.
Pretrial detainees have the right to free access to their
attorneys; this right was generally respected. Detainees have the right
to an expeditious trial; however, in practice, overburdened dockets
resulted in prolonged pretrial detention. Pretrial detention, limited
to 6 months for a misdemeanor and to 1 year for a felony charge, may be
extended for 6 months by the examining magistrate. Approximately 40
percent of persons in custody were pretrial detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained susceptible to
government influence. The President appoints and can dismiss judges
through the Ministry of Justice, to which the judiciary is responsible.
The judiciary was inefficient.
The judicial system includes regular courts, a military tribunal,
and a civilian High Court of Justice. The regular court system includes
trial courts, appellate courts, and the Supreme Court. The
Constitutional Court is a separate body charged with examining
constitutional questions, including the certification of elections. The
High Court of Justice is constituted by the Government as required to
consider matters of security.
Systemic resource and personnel shortages in the judiciary often
contributed to prolonged pretrial detention (see Section 1.d.).
The Constitution provides the right to a public trial and the right
to legal counsel, and the Government generally respected these rights.
Nevertheless, a judge may deliver an immediate verdict of guilty at the
initial hearing in a state security trial if the Government presents
sufficient evidence.
Minor disputes may be taken to a local chief, particularly in rural
areas; however, the Government did not recognize such decisions.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice. As part of
criminal investigations, police may request search warrants from
judges, which they obtained easily, sometimes after the fact. The
Government sometimes used search warrants to gain access to the homes
of opposition figures and their families (see Section 2.b.).
During the year, security forces conducted warrantless searches for
illegal immigrants and criminals using street stops and identity
checks.
Authorities reportedly routinely monitored private telephone
conversations, personal mail, and the movements of citizens.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and although citizens generally
continued to speak freely and to criticize the Government, the
Government continued to restrict press freedom. Legislators in the
National Assembly openly criticized government policies, ministers, and
other officials. The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
The only daily newspaper was the government affiliated L'Union.
Approximately nine privately owned weekly or monthly newspapers
represented independent views and those of various political parties;
however, most appeared irregularly due to financial constraints or in
some cases, government suspension of their publication licenses. All
newspapers, including L'Union, criticized the Government and political
leaders of all parties, but not the President. Foreign newspapers and
magazines were available widely.
The Government owned and operated two radio stations that broadcast
throughout the country. Much of their news coverage concerned the
activities of government officials; however editorials sometimes
criticized specific government policies or ministers. Seven privately
owned radio stations were operating at year's end; most were
apolitical. International radio stations, including Voice of America
and Radio France International, broadcast locally.
The Government owned and operated two television stations, RTG 1
and RTG 2. Four privately owned television stations transmitted 8 hours
per day. Satellite TV reception was available.
On March 8, security forces arrested and detained Alfred Ngamba, a
journalist for Le Nganga, for defamation, ``telephone harassment,'' and
``attempting to extort money''; Ngamba had published an article
alleging that an NGO president was having an affair. On March 19,
Nganga was acquitted of all charges and released.
Unlike in the previous year, the National Communications Council
did not suspend the publication of newspapers that criticized the
Government; however, the 2003 suspensions of satirical weeklies Misamu
and Sub Version and the bi monthly newspaper Sagaie remained in effect.
None of the three newspapers had resumed operation by year's end.
The Communications Code stipulates that penalties for libel and
other offenses include a 1- to 3-month publishing suspension for a
first offense and a 3- to 6-month suspension for repeat offenses.
Editors and authors of libelous articles can be jailed for 2 to 6
months and fined $700 to $7,000 (500,000 to 5 million CFA francs).
Libel can be either a criminal offense or a civil matter. The law
authorizes the Government to initiate criminal libel prosecution
against persons for libeling elected government officials; it also
authorizes the State to criminalize civil libel suits.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
In January, the Government closed a secondary school in Libreville
after students rioted to protest the Government's failure to provide
free bus transportation; the school subsequently reopened.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, on occasion, security forces
violently dispersed demonstrations and strikes. The law requires that
groups obtain permits for public gatherings in advance, and the
Government usually granted them.
In September, gendarmes in Ngounie province shot five protesters,
including a student, during a demonstration to demand the return of
electricity to Mandji-Dibangwui village; the student died, and numerous
demonstrators were injured. After learning of the death, residents of
the town attacked the Lebamba gendarmerie brigade headquarters and beat
to death two gendarmes, including the brigade chief. The alleged
killers of the gendarme officers were detained, charged, and awaiting
trail at year's end; however, no action was taken against those
responsible for the student death. There were unconfirmed reports that
police used torture to extract information from the villagers regarding
the identity of those responsible for the gendarme deaths.
On November 15, police shot into the air and used tear gas to
disperse a demonstration led by Herve Patrick Opiangah, a local
businessman who founded the Democratic Union for Social Integration
(JDIS) in 2002; several demonstrators were injured. The demonstrators
were protesting the Interior Ministry's refusal to register the party
despite three legitimate applications and a ruling in the party's favor
by the Constitutional Court. Security forces subsequently searched
Opiangah's house and allegedly discovered weapons; Opiangah was
detained on weapons charges and awaiting trial at year's end.
No action was taken against security forces who forcibly dispersed
demonstrations in 2003.
The Constitution provides for the freedom of association; however,
the Government did not always respect this right in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for religious
freedom, and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
Some Protestant denominations alleged that the government
television station accords free broadcast time to the Catholic Church
but not to minority religious groups. Others alleged that the armed
forces favor Roman Catholics and Muslims in hiring and promotions.
The Ministry of the Interior maintained an official registry of
religious groups; however, it did not register traditional religious
groups. The Government did not require religious groups to register but
recommended that they do so to assemble with full constitutional
protection.
The Government has refused to register approximately 10 religious
groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses. A decree banning Jehovah's
Witnesses remained in effect; however, the Government did not enforce
the decree.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government frequently restricted them in practice.
There were no legally mandated restrictions on internal movement;
however, police and gendarmes continued to stop travelers frequently to
check identity, residence, or registration documents, and members of
the security forces harassed expatriate Africans working legally as
merchants, service sector employees, and manual laborers. Some members
of the security forces extorted bribes and demanded services with
threats of confiscation of residency documents or imprisonment.
Residency permits cost up to $150 (100,000 CFA francs), and first time
applicants also must provide the cost of a one way air ticket to their
country of origin. In theory, but usually not in practice, the
Government refunds the cost of the air ticket when the individual
departs the country permanently.
The Government intermittently enforced an internal regulation
requiring married women to obtain their husbands' permission to travel
abroad. During the year, there were numerous reports that authorities
refused to issue passports for travel abroad with no explanation. There
also were reports of unreasonable delays in obtaining passports,
despite a government promise in 2003 to process passports within 3
days. During the year, opposition leader Pierre Manboundou, President
of the Union of the Gabonese People Party, repeatedly was denied a
passport, allegedly for political reasons.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers. However, refugees have complained about widespread
harassment, extortion, and detentions by security forces. At year's
end, approximately 13,500 refugees remained in the country, including
12,000 from the Republic of the Congo.
Following an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in June that
originated from Gabonese territory, refugees and emigres from
Equatorial Guinea were reportedly deported at the request of the
Equatorial Guinean Government without due process or a confirmed link
to the coup attempt.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, mismanagement and serious
irregularities in both the 1998 presidential elections and the 2001
legislative elections limited this right in practice. A single party,
the PDG, has remained in power since its creation by President Bongo
Ondimba in 1968, and political choice has remained limited.
The country is dominated by a strong Presidency. While the
legislature is not in session, the President can veto legislation,
dissolve the national legislature, call new elections, and issue
decrees that have the force of law. The legislature generally approved
legislation presented to it by the President. The President appoints
ministers of government and heads of parastatals.
President Bongo Ondimba, who has been President since 1967, was re
elected for another 7 year term in a 1998 election marred by
irregularities that generally favored his incumbency, including
incomplete and inaccurate electoral lists, and the use of false
documents to cast multiple votes. In July 2003, the Constitution was
amended to remove all term limits.
In 2002, legislative by elections were held to fill seats nullified
in the 2001 legislative elections, which resulted in the PDG and allied
parties holding 107 and the opposition holding 13 seats in the National
Assembly.
Senatorial elections were held in February 2003, and the PDG won a
majority of the 91 seats. There were widespread reports of
irregularities, and the elections were considered neither free nor
fair. Municipal and regional government officials elect the senators,
who serve 6-year terms. All the senators were either members of the PDG
or of political parties linked to the PDG.
The ability of citizens to choose provincial governments remained
limited in practice. Provincial governors, prefects, and sub prefects
were officers of the central Government responsible to and appointed by
the President. Mayors and municipal councils were elected; however,
municipal governments had limited financial autonomy and depended
heavily on funding from the central Government.
In 2002, countrywide municipal elections were held. The PDG party
won 85 percent of all seats; however, the level of voter participation
was low, below 10 percent in some precincts.
Opposition parties included the Union for Gabonese People (UPG) and
the Gabonese Progressive Party (PGP). The PGP was supported in Port
Gentil, the center of the country's petroleum industry, and among the
Myene ethnic group; however, ideological splits and rivalries limited
its effectiveness. During the year, several UPG leaders left the party
and joined the ruling PDG party.
Official corruption was widespread. During the year, the Government
completed appointments to the 10-member anti-corruption commission in
the Ministry for the Fight Against Corruption, which was established in
2003; however, the Commission issued no reports and took no action
against corrupt officials during the year.
At year's end, 11 of 120 members of the National Assembly, 12 of 91
senators, and 5 of 43 government ministers were women.
Members of all major ethnic groups continued to occupy prominent
positions; however, members of the President's Bateke ethnic group and
other ethnic southerners held a disproportionately large number of key
positions in the military and security forces. The General Chief of
Staff, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the Republican Guard, and
the Minister of Interior were from the same region as the President or
from the same ethnic group.
Indigenous Pygmies rarely participated in the political process,
and the Government has made only limited efforts to include them (see
Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A few independent human rights groups generally operated without
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings.
Governmental officials took no actions on the recommendations of such
groups.
During the year, the Vice Prime Minister in charge of human rights
released a white book that detailed past human rights violations in the
country, including graphic pictures. President Bongo wrote a supportive
preface to the book, which sharply criticized the country's human
rights record.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution forbids discrimination based on national origin,
race, gender, or opinion; however, the Government did not enforce these
constitutional provisions uniformly, and there was considerable
discrimination against women, especially in domestic affairs. Security
forces also discriminated against noncitizens. The Government provided
a lower level of health care and educational services to children of
other African nationalities than it provided to citizens.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was believed to be common,
especially in rural areas; however, there were few reports of such
violence during the year. Police rarely intervened in such incidents,
and women virtually never filed complaints with civil authorities. Only
limited medical and legal assistance for rape victims was available.
Rape is against the law; however, rape cases were seldom
prosecuted.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) was believed to occur among the
resident population of noncitizen Africans; however, there were no
reports of such practices during the year.
The law prohibits prostitution; however, it was a problem.
The Government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported
cases of female domestic workers (often victims of child trafficking)
who were sexually molested by employers.
The law provides that women have rights to equal access in
education, business, and investment; however, women continued to face
considerable societal and legal discrimination, especially in rural
areas. Women owned businesses and property, participated in politics,
and worked throughout the Government and the private sector.
By law, couples must stipulate at the time of marriage whether they
intend to adhere to a monogamous or a polygynous relationship;
polygynous marriages were more common. For monogamous married couples,
a common property law provides for the equal distribution of assets
after divorce. In a polygynous marriage, a husband is obligated to give
all wives the same level of financial support; however, he may marry
additional wives without permission from his existing wives.
Wives who leave polygynous husbands received half of their existing
support as a one time payment. In inheritance cases, the husband's
family must issue a written authorization before his widow can inherit
property.
Common law marriage, which was accepted socially and practiced
widely, afforded women no property rights.
A regulation requires that a woman obtain her husband's permission
to travel abroad; this requirement was not enforced consistently.
Children.--The Government publicly expressed its commitment to
youth, provided 4,000 academic scholarships during the year, and has
used oil revenues to build schools, pay teacher salaries, and promote
education, even in rural areas; however, the upkeep of schools and
payment of teachers continued to decline. Education is compulsory until
age 16 and generally is available through sixth grade; however, fewer
than half of secondary school age children attended school. Secondary
school attendance rates for immigrant children were lower, although
public schools accepted immigrant children, and the Government
encouraged them to attend. Students were required to pay for books,
uniforms, and other school supplies, which precluded numerous children
from attending school. Despite low enrollment, a U.N. agency estimated
that 64 percent of women and 78 percent of men were literate.
The country's infant mortality rate was 5.4 percent; at last
report, only approximately 16 percent of children had been vaccinated.
Although international donors worked to improve the situation, the
Government allocated few resources for vaccines or logistical support
to administer them. Children remained the responsibility of the
extended family. There was little evidence of physical abuse of
children, although there were occasional reports that family members
sexually abused girls who had passed puberty. The law provides for
protection against child labor and sexual and physical abuse; however,
there were no known prosecutions of individuals involved in such
activities during the year.
During the year, there were no reports of FGM; however, the
practice was believed to continue in the resident population of
expatriate Africans.
Concerns about the problems facing the large community of children
of noncitizen Africans persisted. Almost all enjoyed far less access to
education and health care than did citizen children; some were victims
of child trafficking and abuses (see Sections 5, Trafficking and 6.d.).
Child labor remained a serious problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--During the year, the President signed into
law a 2003 bill to criminalize child trafficking; however, the country
was a destination for trafficked persons, particularly children. The
Government did not actively investigate cases of trafficking and has
not prosecuted any cases against traffickers; however, individuals
accused of trafficking have been deported from the country. There were
reports that some trafficked women and children were sexually abused.
According to several local NGOs, children (especially girls),
primarily from Benin and Togo, were used as domestic servants or in the
informal commercial sector. Nigerian children, also victims of
trafficking, reportedly worked in the informal commercial sector as
mechanics. Trafficked children generally worked long hours, were
subjected to physical abuse, received inadequate food, and received no
wages or schooling.
There have been unconfirmed reports that some government officials
employed trafficked foreign children as domestic workers, and that
individual police and immigration officers were involved in
facilitating child trafficking.
UNICEF and the Government sponsored a toll-free assistance hotline
for child trafficking victims that provided 24 hour response assistance
and arranged free transport to a victims' shelter. The Government also
ran a shelter for trafficking victims.
An inter-ministerial committee comprised of representatives from
the Labor, Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Family Ministries was involved
in anti trafficking efforts. The Government also cooperated with
UNICEF. In 2002, the Government and the International Labor
Organization (ILO) launched a 3 year project on the prevention of child
trafficking and child labor in the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There are no laws that prohibit
discrimination against persons with disabilities or provide for access
to buildings or services; however, there were no reports of official
discrimination against persons with disabilities. There was some
societal discrimination against persons with disabilities, and
employment opportunities and treatment facilities were limited.
Indigenous People.--The Baka (Pygmies) are the earliest known
inhabitants of the country. Several thousand Pygmies lived in large
tracts of still intact rain forest in the northeast. The law grants
them the same civil rights as other citizens; however, Pygmies remained
largely independent of formal authority, keeping their own traditions,
independent communities, and local decision making structures. Pygmies
did not participate in government instituted programs that integrated
many small rural villages into larger ones along major roads.
Pygmies suffered societal discrimination, often lived in extreme
poverty, and did not have easy access to public services. There were no
specific government programs or policies to assist Pygmies.
In 2001, an NGO study of the Bukoya Pygmy population in the
northeast found that most Pygmies lived in conditions tantamount to
slavery, working on plantations for ``Gabonese masters'' for one plate
of rice and a few cents per day. The NGO described the children born to
Pygmy families in these situations as the ``property'' of the master. A
typical family lived on 13 cents per day. According to the NGO, Pygmies
who complained about their situation faced the possibility of being
beaten.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution places no
restrictions on the right of association and recognizes the right of
citizens to form trade and labor unions, and workers exercised this
right in practice. The small private sector workforce was unionized.
Unions must register with the Government to be recognized officially.
While no laws specifically prohibit anti union discrimination, the
court may require employers who are found guilty by civil courts of
having engaged in such discrimination to compensate employees.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
provides for collective bargaining by industry, not by firm;
collectively bargained agreements set wages for whole industries. Labor
and management met to negotiate differences, and the Ministry of Labor
provided observers. Agreements negotiated by unions also applied to non
union workers. There are no export processing zones.
The Labor Code provides for the right to strike after an 8 day
notice advising that outside arbitration failed. Public sector
employees' their right to strike is limited if a strike could
jeopardize public safety. A 2003 social truce signed by the Government,
employers, and the country's main trade unions provided for a 3 year
hiatus on strikes and the creation of a 35 member mediation committee
to negotiate disputes; however, trade unions threatened to strike
during the year, charging that the Government and employers had not
complied with the social truce agreement.
The Labor Code prohibits direct government action against
individual strikers who abide by the arbitration and notification
provisions.
After a parastatal palm oil company was privatized during the year,
the workers went on strike after being denied promised separation
bonuses and learning that government deductions for social security had
not been forwarded to the government bureau handling the accounts for
decades. The Government, which has not accounted for the funds,
informed the workers that they were not eligible for retirement
benefits. The dispute was settled peacefully, but at least one union
leader reported that he was the recipient of death threats and police
intimidation.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such
practices occurred, including by children (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
Some Pygmies reportedly lived in conditions tantamount to slavery
(see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Children below the age of 16 may not work without the express consent
of the Ministries of Labor, Education, and Public Health; however,
child labor was a serious problem. The Legal Code stipulates fines and
prison sentences for violations of the minimum age for work. The
ministries rigorously enforced this law in urban areas with respect to
citizen children, and few citizens under the age of 18 worked in the
formal wage sector; however, child labor occurred in rural areas, where
the law was seldom enforced.
An unknown number of children primarily foreign worked in
marketplaces or performed domestic duties; many of these children were
reportedly the victims of child trafficking (see Section 5). Such
children generally did not go to school, received only limited medical
attention, and often were exploited by employers or foster families.
Laws forbidding child labor theoretically extended protection to these
children, but abuses often were not reported. A 2001 ILO study
estimated that the number of economically active children between the
ages of 10 and 14 years was 19,000 to 20,000, but the actual number was
probably considerably higher since most children worked in the informal
sector.
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for implementing and
enforcing child labor laws and regulations. Inspectors from the
Ministry of Labor are responsible for receiving, investigating, and
addressing child labor complaints. However, the inspection force was
inadequate, complaints were not investigated routinely, and
consequently, violations were not systematically addressed.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code governs working
conditions and benefits for all sectors and theoretically provides a
broad range of protection to workers; however, the Government sometimes
did not respect these protections in practice. According to law,
representatives of labor, management, and the Government meet annually
to examine economic and labor conditions and to recommend a minimum
wage rate to the President, who then issues an annual decree; however,
this procedure had not been followed since 1994, in part because the
Government was following a policy of wage austerity recommended by
international financial institutions. The monthly minimum wage was
approximately $120 (60,000 CFA francs); government workers received an
additional monthly allowance of $40 (20,000 CFA francs) per child.
Government workers also received transportation, housing, and family
benefits. The law does not mandate housing or family benefits for
private sector workers. The minimum wage did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family.
The Labor Code stipulates a 40 hour workweek with a minimum rest
period of 48 consecutive hours. Employers must compensate workers for
overtime work. All companies in the formal sector paid competitive
wages and granted the fringe benefits required by law, including
maternity leave and 6 weeks annual paid vacation.
The Ministry of Health established occupational health and safety
standards, but it did not enforce or regulate them. The application of
labor standards varied from company to company and between industries.
In the formal sector, workers may remove themselves from dangerous work
situations without fear of retribution.
The Government reportedly did not enforce Labor Code provisions in
sectors where the majority of the labor force was foreign. Foreign
workers, both documented and undocumented, may be obliged to work under
substandard conditions; dismissed without notice or recourse; or
mistreated physically, especially in the case of illegal aliens.
Employers frequently required longer hours of work from noncitizen
Africans and paid them less, often hiring on a short term, casual basis
to avoid paying taxes, social security contributions, and other
benefits.
__________
THE GAMBIA
The Gambia is a republic under multiparty democratic rule.
President Alhaji Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh was re-elected for a 5-year term
in 2001 in an election considered free and fair, despite some
shortcomings. The main opposition coalition initially accepted the
results of the presidential elections but later changed its position
and boycotted the legislative elections in 2002. President Jammeh's
political party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and
Construction (APRC), won majorities in the National Assembly and most
local councils. The multiparty opposition remained weak, but efforts
were underway to unify them. Although the courts have demonstrated
their independence on occasion, the judiciary, especially at lower
levels, was at times corrupt and subject to executive branch pressure.
The Gambian Armed Forces reports to the Secretary of State
(Minister) for Defense, a position held by the President. The police
report to the Secretary of State for the Interior. The National
Intelligence Agency (NIA), responsible for protecting state security,
collecting intelligence, and conducting covert investigations, reports
directly to the President. While civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were a few
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently
of government authority. Some members of the security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The country's market-oriented economy encouraged growth through the
development of the private sector. Much of the country's population of
1.4 million was engaged in subsistence farming. The high population
growth rate diminished the effects of modest economic expansion in
recent years. During the year, per capita gross domestic product
increased slightly to $341.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Despite some
election deficiencies, citizens generally were able to exercise their
right to change their government through periodic elections. Security
forces harassed or otherwise mistreated journalists, detainees,
prisoners, opposition members and in some cases, ordinary civilians.
Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems; and there were reports of
a case of incommunicado detention. Prolonged pretrial detention was a
problem. Detainees were denied fair and expeditious trials by a slow,
inefficient, and corrupt court system. The country's only known
political prisoner was freed in January. The Government at times
infringed on citizens privacy rights. The Government limited freedom of
speech and of the press by intimidation and restrictive legislation.
Some journalists practiced self-censorship. The Government generally
did not restrict freedom of assembly. Violence and discrimination
against women were problems. The practice of female genital mutilation
(FGM) remained widespread and entrenched. Child labor persisted, mainly
on family farms, and there were reports of child prostitution and
sexual exploitation. There were reports of trafficking.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were reports that security forces, notably soldiers acting outside the
chain of command, beat persons and mistreated civilians. There were
occasional reports of torture (see Section 2.a.).
The Indemnity Act stipulates that ``the President may, for the
purpose of promoting reconciliation in an appropriate case, indemnify
any person he may determine, for any act, matter or omission to act, or
things done or purported to have been done during any unlawful
assembly, public disturbance, riotous situation or period of public
emergency.'' This law continued to prevent victims from seeking redress
in some cases. The army requested that victims file formal complaints
so that the cases could be investigated; however, there were no known
prosecutions in civil courts of soldiers accused of torturing
individuals during the year.
On January 28, soldiers shot and injured a driver at a checkpoint.
The police reported that the driver failed to stop for a routine check
and that the soldiers fired warning shots into the air, then fired at
the vehicle shooting the driver in the shoulder. No action was taken
against those responsible by year's end.
On June 23, soldiers playing for the Armed Forces football team
beat and handcuffed their rivals' head coach over accusations of
unfairness by the referee.
On October 3, according to the press, a soldier severely beat a 20-
year old-woman unconscious. The woman claimed that the soldier beat her
for failing to greet him and other soldiers. The soldier who was
involved immediately was detained while the Military Police
investigated the matter. There were no developments in the
investigation at year's end.
On October 17, a soldier escorting the Vice President's convoy shot
at a motorist for ``failing to make way for the convoy'' after a
delayed vehicle, carrying some soldiers, drove up behind him. A Armed
Forces spokesman confirmed the incident and said the matter was under
investigation. There were no developments in the investigation at
year's end.
In the following 2003 cases, the soldiers involved were charged,
fined, and/or reprimanded by military authorities: The March beating of
Karamo Marong, the April beating and detainment of Lamin Cham and
Ebrima Ceesay, and the beating of Hassan Jobe, the Chief of the
Sanchaba Sulay Jobe village, and members of his family.
Prison conditions at Mile 2, Janjanbureh, and Jeshwang prisons
generally met international standards, and the Government permitted
visits by independent human rights observers. However, an opposition
politician, Lamin Waa Juwara, who was held spent 6 months at Mile 2
Central Prison, criticized the poor diet given to the inmates.
Local jails continued to experience overcrowding. Inmates,
including detainees awaiting trial, occasionally had to sleep on the
floor; they were provided with mats or blankets. Prison guards were
reluctant to intervene in fights between prisoners, and some of the
prisoners were injured.
Women were held separately from men. Juveniles were held separately
from adults, and pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
prisoners. There was no separate section or facility for political
prisoners.
The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison
conditions by local and international human rights groups.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, police and security forces at
times arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens. Periods of detention
generally ranged from a few hours to 72 hours, the legal limit after
which detainees must be charged or released.
The police served under the Secretary of State for the Interior.
The police generally were corrupt and on occasion acted with impunity
and defied court orders.
The law requires that authorities obtain a warrant before arresting
a person; however, on occasion individuals were arrested without a
warrant. Detainees generally were permitted prompt access to family
members and legal counsel.
The Government has not formally revoked military decrees enacted
prior to the Constitution that give the NIA and the Secretary of State
for the Interior broad power to detain individuals indefinitely without
charge ``in the interest of national security.'' The Constitution
provides that decrees remain in effect unless inconsistent with
constitutional provisions. These detention decrees appeared to be
inconsistent with the Constitution, but they have not been subject to
judicial challenge. The Government stated that it no longer enforced
these decrees; however, in some instances, the Government did not
respect the constitutional requirement that detainees be brought before
a court within 72 hours. Detainees often were released after 72 hours
and instructed to report to the police station or NIA headquarters
periodically until their case went to trial.
During the year, there were cases of detentions that exceeded the
72-hour limit. Former National Assembly Majority Leader Baba Jobe, who
was standing trial on charges of economic crimes, and several of his
associates, were detained at various police stations in the country
between 3 weeks and 2 months without charge. There were reports that,
during part of his detention at the Police Training School, Baba Jobe
was held incommunicado.
In October, three senior government officials were dismissed from
their jobs for various reasons and detained for more than 72 hours. On
October 13, Andrew Sylva was arrested and held for 8 days at the Mile 2
central prison and at the Serious Crime Unit at police Headquarters.
Sylva had testified before the Anti-Corruption Commission of Inquiry
that President Jammeh had taken a government-owned generator from a
government-owned hotel for use at his private residence. On October 21,
he was charged with perjury and granted bail. The trial was in progress
at year's end.
On October 13, Tamsir Jasseh, the former Director of Immigration,
was arrested and held for 5 days before being released without charge.
On October 15, Adama Deen, the former Managing Director of the
Ports Authority, was arrested and held for 6 days. There were no
charges brought against Deen by year's end.
In November, Kawsu Gibba, National Assembly Member for Foni
Kansala; Momodou Lamin Nyassi, Chief of the same district; and seven
others were arrested and accused of allegedly selling part of President
Jammeh's supposed Ramadan gift of rice and sugar to the people of Foni
Kansala. They were detained for more than 72 hours at the Serious Crime
Unit and at Mile 2 Central Prison. On December 22, the charges were
dropped.
There was a functioning bail system. However, on several occasions,
the courts released accused offenders on bail, while the police or
other law enforcement agencies rearrested the offenders upon their
leaving the court. In November, police ignored a granting of bail in
the case of businessman Momodou Jobe. Security guards at the State
House arrested Jobe shortly after an audience with the President and
took him to prison. He was held for several days before being brought
to court to face charges of robbery and fraud. After Magistrate Mboto
set Jobe free on bail, police re-arrested Jobe as he left the
courthouse. There were no developments in this case by year's end.
Security forces at times briefly detained journalists and persons
who publicly criticized the Government or who expressed views in
disagreement with the Government (see Section 2.a.).
On July 30, the high court acquitted Momodou Ousman Saho (known as
Dumo), Ebrima Yarbo, and Ebrima Barrow of treason. They were the last
of six persons, including two military officers, who were accused of
plotting to harm the President and overthrow the Government.
The slow pace of the justice system resulted in detainees waiting
long periods in pretrial detention. Approximately 40 of Mile 2 Prison's
230 inmates were in detention pending trial. Some have been
incarcerated for more than 4 years without trial.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice, the courts, especially at
the lower levels, were corrupt and subject to executive branch pressure
at times. Nevertheless, the courts demonstrated independence on several
occasions, including in significant cases.
The Constitution provides for a fair trial; however, the judicial
system suffered from corruption, particularly at the lower levels, and
from inefficiency at all levels. Many cases were not heard for months
or years because the court system was overburdened and lacked the
capacity to handle the high volume of cases. To alleviate the backlog
and reduce the possibility of undue influence and corruption, the
Government continued to recruit judges and magistrates from other
Commonwealth countries who share a similar legal system. The Attorney
General oversees the hiring of foreign judges on contract. The
Government reserves the right not to renew a judge's contract. Foreign
judges were generally less susceptible to corruption and executive
branch pressure. Despite these steps, corruption in the legal system
persisted.
The judicial system is composed of the Supreme Court, the Court of
Appeal, high courts, and eight magistrate courts. Village chiefs
presided over local courts at the village level.
Trials are public, and defendants have the right to an attorney at
their own expense. Defendants are presumed innocent, have the right to
confront witnesses and evidence against them, present witnesses on
their own behalf, and appeal judgment to a higher court.
The judicial system recognizes customary, Shari'a (Islamic law),
and general law. Customary law covers marriage and divorce for non-
Muslims, inheritance, land tenure, tribal and clan leadership, and
other traditional and social relations. Shari'a was observed primarily
in Muslim marriage and divorce matters; it favored men in its
provisions (see Section 5). General law, following the British model,
applied to felonies and misdemeanors in urban areas and to the formal
business sector.
Persons have been held for extended periods pending trial (see
Section 1.d.).
The trial involving the leader of opposition United Democratic
Party (UDP), Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, and four others charged with the
murder of ruling APRC party supporter Alieu Njie in 2000 began during
the year. It was ongoing at year's end.
On January 26, the only known political prisoner, Lieutenant Sana
Sabally, was freed from prison after completing a 9-year jail term for
allegedly conspiring to assassinate the President in 1995.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such abuses; although the
Government generally respected these prohibitions, there were some
exceptions. The Government has not repealed Decree 45, which abrogates
constitutional safeguards against arbitrary search and permits search
and seizure of property without due process. This decree formally
remained in effect, pending a judicial finding that it is
unconstitutional; however, in practice, the Government did not use it.
In some instances, security forces forcibly entered homes to arrest
citizens without warrants.
Observers believed the Government monitored citizens engaged in
activities that it deemed objectionable.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and the press; however, the Government limited these
rights by intimidation and restrictive legislation. Journalists
practiced a degree of self-censorship. The Government did not restrict
academic freedom.
On occasion, security forces detained persons who publicly
criticized or who expressed views in disagreement with the Government.
For example, Lamin Waa Juwara, leader the National Democratic Action
Movement (NDAM) spent 6 months in jail after being convicted of
sedition for views expressed in a newspaper interview in September
2003, in which he allegedly called for a public protest against the
Government. On June 25, Juwara was released.
On July 1, Brikama Police arrested Seedy Fanneh of Brikama Madina
and charged him with insulting the President. Fanneh accused the police
of torture and showed a newspaper journalist signs of a severe beating
on his back. Fanneh's trial was in progress at the Brikama Magistrate
Court at year's end.
The Government published one newspaper, The Gambia Daily. The Daily
Observer, although privately owned, tended to favor the Government in
its coverage. There were four other independent newspapers, including
one published by an opposition political party. There was one
independent weekly magazine.
The Government generally did not restrict the publication,
importation, or distribution of written material. English, French, and
other foreign newspapers and magazines were available.
During the year, one government-owned and four private radio
stations broadcast throughout the country. There were at least two
independent radio stations. Local stations rebroadcast the British
Broadcasting Corporation, Radio France Internationale, the Voice of
America, and other foreign news reports, and all were available via
short-wave radio. Both the government-owned GRTS television and foreign
cable and satellite television channels were available in many parts of
the country. The Government allowed unrestricted access to satellite
television, and residents who could afford to do so received
independent news coverage via a satellite dish or antenna.
Citizen FM, known in the past for its civic education and political
programming, remained closed at year's end.
During most of the year, government-owned television and radio gave
very limited coverage to opposition activities, but some statements by
opposition parliamentarians in the National Assembly were reported.
During the year, the Government detained, questioned, and otherwise
harassed journalists and editors of newspapers that published articles
it considered inaccurate or sensitive. For example, on February 2,
Alhaji Yorro Jallow, the managing editor of The Independent newspaper,
and editor-in-chief Abdoulie Sey, were arrested and questioned for
several hours regarding a story on the ownership of the Kairaba Beach
Hotel and Resort.
There were other attacks and threats on the independent media
during the year, although these have not been definitively attributed
to the Government or the security forces. For example, on April 13, six
unidentified persons illegally entered the offices of The Independent
newspaper in Kanifing and burned the newspaper's new printing press.
The Government criticized the attack and launched an investigation. In
August, the leader of the opposition National Reconciliation Party,
Hamat Bah, told the National Assembly that he had information that two
officers of the National Guard were among those who attacked The
Independent. The police condemned Bah for making such statements in the
National Assembly, and stated that the investigation was underway.
There were no developments in the investigation by year's end.
On August 12, the President of the Gambia Press Union, Demba A.
Jawo, received an anonymous threat at his house warning him about his
critical writing against President Jammeh and the APRC Government. The
letter promised to teach a lesson to journalists who persisted in their
negative reporting about the Government. There were no further actions
at year's end.
On August 15, unidentified persons set the house of BBC stringer
Ebrima Sillah on fire; Sillah escaped unharmed. The Government
condemned the arson attack and appealed to members of the public who
may have information that could lead to the arrest of the attackers to
work with the security forces. Police were not able to identify the
arsonists by year's end.
On December 16, an unidentified assailant shot and killed
journalist and newspaper publisher of The Point, Deyda Hydara. Two
female members of Hydara's staff also were injured. The Government
condemned the attack and promised to bring the culprits to justice.
There were no developments by year's end.
The National Media Commission was a state-appointed committee with
the power to license and register journalists and force them to
disclose their sources of information. On two occasions, the Government
extended the deadline for all journalists and media houses to register
or face closure by 90 days to allow the Department of State for Justice
time to study the media chief's proposed amendments to the law.
On December 13, the National Assembly repealed the 2002 National
Media Commission Act as well as the clause in the Constitution that
provided for the establishment of the Commission. However, on the same
day, the Assembly passed an amendment to the Newspaper Act requiring
independent journalists and broadcasting outlets to establish their own
code of conduct and a regulatory body to enforce it. The amendment
increased the bond deposited by nongovernment newspaper publishers and
managers of broadcasting institutions from $3,448 (100,000 dalasi) to
$17,240 (500,000 dalasi). On December 14, the Assembly passed
amendments to the Criminal Code that broadened the definition of libel
and imposed mandatory prison sentences of 6 months to 3 years for
offenders without the option of a fine. By year's end, President Jammeh
had not signed these bills into law.
Although the nongovernment press practiced a degree of self
censorship, the press frequently voiced strong, direct criticism of the
Government, and opposition views regularly appeared in the independent
press.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice. However, on December 22, the
Government restricted others from joining journalists who participated
in a demonstration held in response to the killing of journalist Deyda
Hydara (see Section 2.a.). The Government further discouraged members
of the public from joining the march by positioning National Guard
soldiers along the demonstration route in Banjul.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. The AFPRC's
Decree 81 requires nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to register
with the National Advisory Council, which has the authority to deny,
suspend, or cancel the right of any NGO to operate, including that of
international NGOs. The Government did not take action against any NGOs
during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights but allows for ``reasonable restrictions,'' which the Government
at times enforced. The Government prohibited those under investigation
for corruption or security matters from leaving the country.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of
Refugees, and the Organization of African Union's Convention Governing
the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, and the Government
has established a system for providing such protection. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The country hosted approximately
600 Senegalese refugees from the troubled Casamance region, as well as
approximately 1,500 additional refugees from the Republic of the Congo,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Liberia.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967
Protocol.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
Government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. The Constitution provides for the democratic
elections of the President and National Assembly every 5 years. The
APRC remained the dominant political party.
International observers described the 2001 presidential electoral
process as generally free and fair, despite some shortcomings.
President Jammeh won approximately 53 percent of the vote. The
opposition political parties initially conceded the elections but then
accused the Government of bribing voters and issuing threats, both
explicit and veiled, against individuals and communities that did not
support the incumbent. Observers agreed there probably were some
irregularities in the registration process but on a much smaller scale
than the UDP/People's Progressive Party (PPP)/Gambia People's Party
coalition alleged. The post-election period was marred when Jammeh
fired more than 20 village heads and civil servants who had not
expressed public support for him during the campaign or who had been
accused of corruption or incompetence; security forces also arrested
and detained many opposition supporters throughout the country.
The major opposition coalition boycotted the 2002 National Assembly
elections accusing the Independent Electoral Commission of allowing
fraudulent voter registrations and mismanaging both the presidential
and legislative elections. The boycott was criticized widely as
unjustified and as an inappropriate response to the alleged fraud and
left many of the opposition's own candidates unfunded and unsupported
during the elections. The APRC won the majority for the National
Assembly. The People Democratic Organization for Independence and
Socialism (PDOIS) won two seats and the National Reconciliation Party
won one seat. The President appointed 4 members of his own party and 1
former opposition presidential candidate to the 48-member National
Assembly.
Throughout the year, there were efforts to bring together the five
main opposition parties: NDAM, National Reconciliation Party (NRP),
PDOIS, PPP, and UDP in a coalition to contest the 2006 presidential
elections. At year's end, the parties said they had reached an
agreement.
In July, while negotiations on the proposed coalition were still in
progress, the parties involved backed the UDP candidate in the Jarra
West by-election, who went on to win the National Assembly seat left
vacant after the conviction of the former Majority Leader.
Corruption was a serious problem. In October 2003, the President
launched an anti-corruption program, ``Operation No Compromise,'' to
rid the government system of corruption and help restore the confidence
of the international community. A number of once influential government
officials and businesspersons have been affected by the campaign.
Immediately following the start of the campaign, the Government ended
open speculation on the national currency by black-market foreign
exchange dealers.
On March 29, the former majority leader of the National Assembly,
and a very influential figure within the ruling party, Baba Jobe, was
sentenced to 9 years and 8 months' imprisonment and ordered to
reimburse the Port Authority $3 million (91.1 million dalasi) for
economic crimes stemming from corruption (see Section 1.d.).
On July 1, the President established a Commission of Inquiry to
investigate the assets and properties of all senior public officials
who served his administration over the past 10 years, including
ministers, permanent secretaries, central bank and customs officials,
as well as senior intelligence and military officers. By year's end,
the commission was still sitting.
On July 16, the President appointed a special commission of inquiry
to investigate alleged corruption surrounding a $3 million fiber optic
cable deal by the national telecommunications company GAMTEL. At year's
end, the commission was still sitting.
During the year, a number of senior government officials also lost
their jobs, some of them for suspected corrupt practices.
In October 2003, the Director General of the Civil Aviation
Authority, his deputy, and the Director of Finance, were dismissed for
alleged misuse of funds. Also, several senior officials of the Central
Bank, including the Foreign Exchange Manager, were removed from their
positions over allegations of fraud, especially in foreign currency
transactions.
The law does not provide for public access to government
information. Under Official Secrets Act, civil servants are not allowed
to divulge information about their department or even to speak to the
press without prior clearance with their head of department. In some
cases, journalists from certain independent newspapers have been
refused access to public events, apparently because of the dislike by
certain government officials of their editorial stance.
There were 6 women in the 48-seat National Assembly; 3 were
elected, 4 were appointed by the President. There were 3 women in the
15-member Cabinet, including the Vice President. In July, as reported
in the local media, the President relieved one woman, Ramzia Diab, of
her appointed National Assembly seat for her open support of ousted
Majority leader Baba Jobe and replaced her with a man.
There were no statistics available on the percentage of minorities
who compose the legislature or the cabinet. President Jammeh and some
members of his administration were from the previously marginalized
minority Jola ethnic group.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking In Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, religion,
sex, disability, language, or social status, and the Government
generally enforced these prohibitions.
Women.--Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a problem.
It was reported occasionally, and its occurrence was believed to be
common. Police considered these incidents to be domestic issues outside
of their ordinary jurisdiction. Rape, spousal rape, and assault are
crimes under the law; rape was not common. The law against spousal rape
was difficult to enforce effectively, as many did not consider spousal
rape a crime and failed to report it.
The practice of FGM remained widespread and entrenched, although
there were efforts by several NGOs to discourage the practice through
public education. Between 60 and 90 percent of women have undergone
FGM. Approximately seven of the nine major ethnic groups practiced FGM
at ages varying from shortly after birth until age 16. FGM was less
frequent among the educated and urban segments of those groups. There
were unconfirmed reports of incidences of health related complications,
including deaths, associated with the practice of FGM; however, no
accurate statistics were available. The Government publicly supported
efforts to eradicate FGM and discouraged it through health education;
however, authorities have not passed legislation against FGM, which was
not considered a criminal act. President Jammeh stated that the
Government would not impose a ban on FGM, but his administration worked
to convince traditional village leaders to abandon the practice.
Practitioners of FGM and other types of circumcision in the country
believed that Islam mandates it; however, at least one influential imam
declared that Islam forbids such harmful customs.
Prostitution is illegal but was a problem, especially in the
tourist areas. The Government expelled numerous foreign prostitutes.
The 2003 Tourism Offences Act was passed to deal with increasing
incidents of tourism-related offences, including sex tourism. The Act
prohibits child prostitution, trafficking and pornography.
There are no laws against sexual harassment. Although individual
instances have been noted, sexual harassment was not believed to be
widespread.
Traditional views of women's roles resulted in extensive societal
discrimination in education and employment. Employment in the formal
sector was open to women at the same salary rates as men. No statutory
discrimination existed in other kinds of employment; however, women
generally were employed in such places as food vending or subsistence
farming.
Shari'a law is applied in divorce and inheritance matters for
Muslims, who make up more than 90 percent of the population. Women
normally received a lower proportion of assets distributed through
inheritance than did male relatives. The appropriate church and the
Office of the Attorney General settled Christian and civil marriage and
divorce matters.
Marriages often were arranged and, depending on the ethnic group,
polygyny was practiced. Women in polygynous unions have property and
other rights arising from the marriage. They have the option to divorce
but not a legal right to approve or be notified in advance of
subsequent marriages.
The Department of Women's Affairs, under the direction of the Vice
President, oversees programs to ensure the legal rights of women.
Active women's rights groups existed.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's welfare. The
Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Welfare
were the two most generously funded government departments; however,
lack of resources limited state provision of both education and health
services.
The Constitution mandates free, compulsory primary education up to
8 years of age, but the state of the educational infrastructure
prevented effective compulsory education, and children still must pay
school fees. The Government estimated that in 2000, 60 percent of
children were enrolled in primary school. Girls constituted
approximately 40 percent of primary school students and roughly one-
third of high school students. The enrollment of girls was low,
particularly in rural areas where a combination of poverty and socio-
cultural factors influenced parents' decisions not to send girls to
school. The Government implemented a countrywide program to pay school
fees for all girls.
Authorities generally intervened when cases of child abuse or
mistreatment were brought to their attention; however, there was no
societal pattern of abuse against children. Any person who has carnal
knowledge of a girl under the age of 16 is guilty of a felony (except
in the case of marriage, which can be as early as 12 years of age).
Incest also is illegal. These laws generally were enforced. Serious
cases of abuse and violence against children were subject to criminal
penalties.
FGM was performed primarily on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
There were no developments in the 2002 case of forcible circumcision of
a 13-year-old girl in Tanji village.
Trafficking of children for prostitution was a problem (see Section
5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
The Child Protection Alliance (CPA), a consortium of various
organizations (national and international) that promote the protection
of children from abuse, conducted countrywide workshops for teachers on
alternatives to corporal punishments, and awareness campaigns against
sexual exploitation of children for community and religious leaders. In
September, it held a 1-week police training on combating child sexual
abuse and exploitation in travel and tourism for security officers.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not comprehensively prohibit
trafficking in persons, and trafficking occurred. The Government
considered trafficking in persons to be a serious problem, initiated
anti-trafficking legislation, and established a multi-agency
trafficking in persons taskforce. The Government had not prosecuted
anyone for trafficking by year's end.
In January, a joint UNICEF-government study reported that children
engaged in prostitution in the main tourist resort areas were
predominantly underage, some as young as 12. The report stated that the
country has become an attraction for suspected or convicted European
pedophiles that entered the country as tourists and committed their
crimes against children silently and with impunity. Victims of
trafficking were children of both sexes, normally younger than 16 to 18
years old, and included both citizens and immigrants or refugees from
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau. The foreign children
were war migrants without proper family support.
Some child prostitution victims stated they worked to support their
families, or because they were orphans and their guardian/procurer
supported them. The guardian/procurer often assumed the role of the
African uncle, allowing the children to live in his compound with their
younger siblings or paying school fees on their behalf in return for
their servitude.
The country was a destination for trafficking victims. The number
of persons, mostly children, trafficked for commercial sexual
exploitation was small but growing. In February, the authorities
rescued approximately 30 Ghanaian children trafficked for commercial
labor and as domestic servants. Twelve of the children were sent back
to Ghana, but the rest were returned to their biological parents in the
country with whom they lived. The parents of the children may or may
not have been themselves victims of trafficking. Most trafficking
victims became prostitutes and beggars; a few became domestic servants.
Trafficking victims mostly came from conflict-ravaged countries, such
as Liberia and Sierra Leone. Victims from Senegal, Guinea Bissau, and
Sierra Leone told CPA that foreign residents obtained permission from
their home country families to employ them as bar waitresses or
domestic maids. After their arrival, the local employers informed them
their duties entailed commercial sex work.
The country was also a point of origin and transit for trafficking.
In previous years, there were reports of a few citizens being
trafficked to Western Europe, as well as some Senegalese and Bissau-
Guineans reportedly trafficked through the country to Western Europe,
mostly to Scandinavia; however, there were no such reports during the
year.
There was no evidence of government involvement at any level in
trafficking in persons.
The Government had no established victim care and health facilities
for trafficked persons; however, the Government provided temporary
shelter and access to medical and psychological services to reported
victims of trafficking.
The Government's Task Force on Trafficking in Persons consisted of
members that represented various government agencies including
Immigration, Police, National Intelligence Agency, Justice, Foreign
Affairs, Social Welfare, and Trade and Industry as well as UNICEF, the
National Assembly, and the CPA.
Persons With Disabilities.--There were no statutes or regulations
requiring accessibility for persons with disabilities. No legal
discrimination against persons with physical disabilities existed in
employment, education, or other state services; however, some societal
discrimination existed towards those with disabilities. Persons with
severe disabilities subsisted primarily through private charity.
Persons with less severe disabilities were accepted fully in society,
and they encountered little discrimination in employment for which they
physically were capable. Very few buildings in the country were
specifically accessible to persons with disabilities.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was evidence of
societal discrimination against persons infected with the HIV/AIDS
virus. Stigma and discrimination hindered disclosure and led to
rejection from partners and relatives. In some cases, persons infected
with HIV/AIDS were prevented from meeting visitors.
The Government committed itself to protecting the rights of persons
living with HIV/AIDS by developing a 5-year National Strategic Plan
that includes the provision of care, treatment, and support to persons
living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Labor Act, which applies to all
workers except civil servants, specifies that workers are free to form
associations, including trade unions, and workers exercised this right
in practice. Unions must register to be recognized, and there were no
cases where registration was denied to a union that applied for it. The
Labor Act specifically prohibits police officers and military
personnel, as well as other civil service employees, from forming
unions. Approximately 20 percent of the work force was employed in the
modern wage sector, where unions were most active.
In February, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
issued a report alleging that the Government had not implemented the
eight International Labor Organization conventions known as ``core
labor rights'' and criticized the Government for prohibiting civil
servants from forming unions. The Government responded that it is
updating the Labor Act to incorporate the ILO conventions; however, no
new labor legislation was in place at year's end.
Employers may not fire or discriminate against members of
registered unions for engaging in legal union activities, and the
Government intervened to assist workers who were fired or discriminated
against by employers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Act
allows workers to organize and bargain collectively, and although trade
unions were small and fragmented, collective bargaining took place.
Unions were able to negotiate without government interference; however,
in practice, the unions lacked experience, organization, and
professionalism, and often turned to the Government for assistance in
negotiations. Union members' wages, which generally exceeded legal
minimums, were determined by collective bargaining, arbitration, or
agreements reached between unions and management. The act also sets
minimum contract standards for hiring, training, terms of employment,
and provides that contracts may not prohibit union membership.
The Labor Act authorizes strikes but requires that unions give the
Commissioner of Labor 14 days' written notice before beginning an
industrial action (28 days for essential services); however, because of
certain provisions of the Labor Act and the weakness of unions, few
strikes occurred. There were no strikes during the year. The Labor Act
specifically prohibits police officers and military personnel, as well
as other civil service employees, from striking. Upon application by an
employer to a court, the court may prohibit industrial action that is
ruled to be in pursuit of a political objective. The court also may
forbid action judged to be in breach of a collectively agreed procedure
for settlement of industrial disputes. It prohibits retribution against
strikers who comply with the law regulating strikes.
In April, the Government introduced two Industrial Tribunals in
Banjul and Kanifing to handle all labor related disputes and claims
arising out of work. The tribunals are provided for in the Labor Act
but had never been established.
There is a government-established export-processing zone (EPZ) at
the port of Banjul and the adjacent bonded warehouses. The Labor Code
covers workers in the EPZs, and they were afforded the same rights as
workers elsewhere in the economy.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
statutory minimum age for employment is 14 years; however, child labor
was a problem. There was no effective compulsory education, and because
of limited secondary school openings, most children completed formal
education by the age of 14 and then began work. Child labor protection
does not extend to youth performing customary chores on family farms or
engaged in petty trading. In rural areas, most children assisted their
families in farming and housework. In urban areas, many children worked
as street vendors or taxi and bus assistants. There were a few
instances of children begging on the street. The tourist industry
stimulated a low, but growing level of child prostitution (see Section
5). Employee labor cards, which include a person's age, were registered
with the Labor Commissioner, who was authorized to enforce child labor
laws; however, enforcement inspections rarely took place. The
Department of Labor under the Department of State for Trade and
Employment was responsible for implementing the provisions of the ILO
Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor; however, the
Government generally was ineffective in enforcing those provisions.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages and working hours
were established by law through six joint industrial councils,
comprised of representatives from labor, management, and the
Government. The lowest minimum wage was approximately $0.41 (12 dalasi)
per day for unskilled labor. The national minimum wage did not provide
a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The minimum wage
law covers only 20 percent of the labor force, essentially those
workers in the formal economic sector. A majority of workers were
employed privately or were self-employed, often in agriculture. Most
citizens did not live on a single worker's earnings and shared
resources within extended families.
The basic legal workweek was 48 hours within a period not to exceed
6 consecutive days. Nationwide, the workweek included four 8-hour
workdays and two 4-hour workdays (Friday and Saturday). A 30-minute
lunch break was mandated. Government employees were entitled to 1 month
of paid annual leave after 1 year of service. Private sector employees
received between 14 and 30 days of paid annual leave, depending on
length of service.
The Labor Act specifies safety equipment that an employer must
provide to employees working in designated occupations. The Factory Act
authorizes the Department of Labor to regulate factory health and
safety, accident prevention, and dangerous trades, and to appoint
inspectors to ensure compliance with safety standards. Enforcement was
inconsistent due to insufficient and inadequately trained staff.
Workers may demand protective equipment and clothing for hazardous
workplaces and have recourse to the Labor Department. The law provides
that workers may refuse to work in dangerous situations without risking
loss of employment; however, in practice workers who do so risk loss of
employment.
The law protects foreign workers employed by the Government;
however, it only provides protection for privately employed foreigners
if they have a current valid work permit. Illegal foreign workers
without valid work permits do not enjoy protections under the law.
Legal foreign workers may join local unions.
__________
GHANA
Ghana is a constitutional democracy with a strong presidency and a
unicameral 230-seat Parliament. In December, eight political parties
contested parliamentary elections, and four parties, including the
ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), contested presidential elections.
Despite a few incidents of intimidation and minor irregularities,
domestic and international observers judged the elections generally
free and fair. John Agyekum Kufuor of the ruling NPP was reelected
president with 52.45 percent of the vote against three other
presidential candidates, including former Vice-President John Atta
Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The judiciary was
subject to influence and corruption and lacked adequate resources.
The police, under the jurisdiction of an eight-member Police
Council, are responsible for maintaining law and order. The military
continued to participate in law enforcement activities during the year.
A separate department, the Bureau of National Investigations, handles
cases considered critical to state security and answers directly to the
executive branch. While civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control over security forces, there were some instances in
which elements of the security forces acted independently of government
authorities. Some members of the police and other security forces
committed numerous serious human rights abuses.
The market-based economy remained dependent on agriculture, which
accounted for approximately 39.8 percent of gross domestic product and
49 percent of employment, according to government statistics. The
country's population was approximately 21 million. The economy grew at
a rate of 5.2 percent during 2003. Inflation decreased from a high of
30 percent in April 2003 to 12.9 percent by August, and wages kept pace
with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in several areas. Police use of
excessive force resulted in some unlawful killings and injuries. There
continued to be credible reports that police beat suspects in custody,
and that police arbitrarily arrested and detained persons. Prison
conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Police corruption and
impunity was a problem. Prolonged pretrial detention remained a serious
problem. Corruption in all branches of the Government remained a
serious problem, although some initiatives were taken to correct this.
At times the Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. There
were occasional reports that government officials pressured government
media outlets to minimize coverage of opposition politicians. Police
set up barriers, ostensibly to patrol illegal smuggling, but motorists
often complained that they used these barriers to demand bribes from
motorists. A nighttime curfew in the north was lifted in August.
Violence against women and children was a serious problem; however, the
Government continued to prosecute sexual abuse against underage girls
and courts gave lengthy sentences and remanded several individuals in
custody for such abuse. Trokosi, a traditional form of ritual servitude
that is prohibited by law, was practiced on a limited scale in one
region of the country. Female genital mutilation (FGM), although
illegal, still was practiced. Societal discrimination against women,
persons with disabilities, homosexuals, and persons with HIV/AIDS was a
problem. Trafficking in women and children was a problem. There were
some incidents of politically and ethnically motivated violence, and
some ethnic groups complained of discrimination. Child labor, including
forced child labor, was a problem in the informal sector. Vigilante
justice also was a problem.
On October 12, the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC)
submitted its final report and recommendations to the Government based
on hearings held between January 2003 and July on human rights abuses
for the periods of unconstitutional government since independence in
1957.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There was one report
of a political killing. Security forces committed some unlawful
killings of criminal suspects and innocent bystanders using excessive
force. During national elections in December, a regional chairman of a
small opposition party, the Convention People's Party (CPP), who was
also the branch chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, was
arrested for alleged possession of illegal weapons. Although no weapons
were recovered, police handed him over to the military, where he later
died on December 9. Following the incident, the Inspector-General of
Police ordered a commission to investigate the cause of death. An
autopsy was conducted and revealed clear signs of physical abuse during
custody. A military investigation into the same incident was also
ongoing at the year's end.
Incidents of police brutality, negligence, and corruption
contributed to low public confidence in police, mob attacks on police
stations, and a widespread desire to deal with suspected criminals
through vigilante justice (see Section 1.c.). For example, on March 29
in Nsuaem, Western Region, a 16-year-old student was killed while in
police custody. A mob attacked the police vehicle transferring the
student, who was accused of selling body parts, from the local police
station to the regional station. The police claim the student was
killed by a stray bullet; however, the student's father disputed the
claim and said that the police had intentionally killed him. There was
no further action on this case by year's end.
A police investigation into the July 2003 incident in which a
bystander was killed when police officers fired warning shots to
disperse a crowd was ongoing at year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reported cases that
police shot and killed armed robbers while trying to apprehend them
during the year. The court trial of an officer who killed one man and
injured another while attempting to arrest them for illegal logging in
Kintampo, Brong-Ahafo Region, in 2003 was completed during the year.
The police officer had been discharged on a court order so that he
could participate in the trial. He was found innocent and reinstated
for duty.
Political clashes also led to several deaths, injuries, and
property damage (see Section 1.c.).
On December 6, the night before Election Day, there was a dispute
between opposing political party activists in Kwamekrom in the Volta
Region; two persons were shot, and one later died.
On December 7, Election Day, groups of political party activists in
the north monitored polling stations in an unofficial capacity and
without observation credentials from the Electoral Commission, and
there were some reports of harassment and intimidation by these groups.
In the Tolon/Kumbungu district of the Northern Region, NPP supporters
went into a constituency known to be an NDC stronghold to investigate
allegations of underage voting. The two groups clashed, resulting in
the death of two persons, one from each side of the debate.
The trials of those charged with unlawful harm during the 2003
clashes between NPP and NDC supporters in Tamale, Northern Region, have
not been officially dropped from the docket but have been
``abandoned,'' and no one from either side has pursued further action.
Opposition NDC party members called for an official inquiry into the
situation, alleging that security forces abused, harassed, and
discriminated against their party supporters during the incident;
however, no judicial inquiry occurred by year's end, and the Government
denied the allegations.
During the year, chieftancy disputes continued to result in
tensions; however, there were no reports of deaths during the year (see
Section 5).
In March, there were two cases in which unknown assailants killed
Fulani herdsmen in the Eastern Region. These clashes were connected
with traditional land rights disputes between indigenous locals and the
migrant herdsmen. Clashes were also sparked when herdsmen allowed their
cattle to graze openly on local farmlands. Some of these disputes were
prosecuted under the law while others were resolved through chieftancy
resolution, and other cases were not prosecuted at all. In April, the
Government reminded chiefs that they should not allow illegal grazing
practices by herdsmen.
The press reported numerous cases of vigilante style ``instant
justice'' conducted by angry citizens and mobs on suspected criminals
and suspected witches, which led to a number of deaths and injuries
(see Section 5). For example, in July, four suspected robbers were
killed by mobs in three separate incidents in Kumasi, the capital of
the Ashanti Region. In several instances, security forces intervened to
save the lives of suspected criminals.
The investigation into the 2003 case of a man accused of lynching a
Malian man was ongoing at year's end.
No arrest had been made in a 2003 case in which a mob attacked and
killed a fetish priest. An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
continued to be credible reports that police beat prisoners and other
citizens. It generally was believed that severe beatings of suspects in
police custody occurred throughout the country but largely went
unreported. In many cases in which suspects alleged maltreatment, the
police denied the allegation or claimed that the force was justified.
One local press source reported several incidents of beatings by
police throughout the year, although the police alleged the use of
force in these cases was necessary. In June, a police officer
reportedly beat an employee of the electricity company for
disconnecting the power supply to a police station that had failed to
pay its bill. Police and security officers also beat a group of
political party activists and prevented their travel to a regional
capital to protest a decision made at their party's headquarters in
Accra (see Section 2.d.). Investigations in these cases were ongoing at
year's end.
On May 24, police in the eastern region arrested a man suspected of
stealing tractor parts from his former employer. The suspect was
escorted through town with no clothing, prompting public taunting. The
suspect claimed that they tore off his clothing during arrest, but the
police said that the suspect removed his own clothing while resisting
arrest. No further inquiry into the matter was made during the year.
On December 18, a police officer in Accra reportedly shot a taxi
driver for failing to heed orders to stop after committing an illegal
driving offense. The police alleged that he tried to shoot the
vehicle's back tire, but instead shot the driver in the ribs. An
investigation was ongoing at year's end.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of injuries from
warning shots fired by police. Police Administration opened an internal
investigation into the use of excessive force in riot situations. The
investigation was completed during the year.
There were reports of inter- and intra-party clashes. A dispute
between the ruling NPP and opposition NDC parties turned violent in
Tamale, Northern Region, in May, which resulted in several injuries and
the destruction of property (see Section 1.a.).
At year's end, the trial continued of the four suspects involved in
a 2003 bombing outside the residence of the regional NPP organizer in
Ho, Volta Region.
A commission of inquiry into the cause of the 2001 clash between a
group of NPP activists and NDC supporters in Asutuare, Greater Accra
Region, continued its work during the year. The mandate required the
commission to submit a report to the President within 8 weeks of its
first meeting; however, no report had been submitted by year's end. The
case had not been called to court by year's end.
"Machomen'' (party thugs) and land guards, private security
enforcers hired by citizens to settle private disputes and vendettas,
caused injury and property damage during the year. The machomen were
organized privately and operated outside the law. There were some
allegations of police complicity with these extralegal security agents.
In January, the national organizer of the NDC said that all political
parties in the country were guilty of using machomen to intimidate
their opponents during election periods. On August 4, the Government
declared a ban on land guards. In October, police in Tema arrested 23
land guards following their persistent harassment of developers on a
disputed piece of property.
The press reported numerous cases of vigilante style ``instant
justice'' conducted by angry citizens and mobs against suspected
criminals and suspected witches that led to a number of deaths and
injuries (see Sections 1.a and 5).
The 2003 case in which a mob severely beat four men who were
falsely accused of theft was still under investigation at year's end.
Prison conditions in most cases were harsh and sometimes life
threatening, despite government efforts during the year to improve
them. The 2003 Prisons Service Annual Report revealed that prisons
remained overcrowded and under-financed. According to the report, there
was a monthly average of 11,038 prisoners serving in prisons meant for
a total population of 6,500. The report also noted that the President
granted amnesty in 2003 to 1,823 prisoners to help relieve the
congestion in prisons.
The Government also sought to address the unsafe and unsanitary
conditions of the prisons during the year. Much of the prison
population was held in buildings that were originally old colonial
forts or abandoned public or military buildings, with poor ventilation
and sanitation, dilapidated construction, and limited space. In April,
the Government committed $25 million to transform the Prisons Service
to construct a new prison complex in the Greater Accra region.
Additionally, the Government secured a $19.2 million loan from the
South African Government to procure training materials and vehicles for
Prisons Service officers.
Prisoners relied on families or outside organizations for
additional food, medicine, and other supplies. A shortage of bedding
and clothing for prisoners continued. Medical facilities were
inadequate, and the prisons supplied only the most basic medicines.
Overcrowding contributed to a high prevalence of communicable diseases.
Some suspects allegedly pleaded guilty to be sent to prison and leave
the unsanitary conditions in police remand cells.
According to the 2003 Prisons Service Report, 115 prisoners died in
prisons in 2003 from diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and
anemia.
At a prison in the Central Region, four wardens faced disciplinary
action in June for covering up information regarding the escape of
inmates in 2002. The prisoners were able to escape because they were
hired out to work for local farmers by some prison officials, who then
pocketed the money paid for the prisoners' labor.
Female prisoners were held separately from male prisoners. The
Criminal Code stipulates that, regardless of the offense, all women
convicts should be tested for pregnancy upon incarceration. If a
convict is pregnant, the convict should be kept at a place where her
health needs can be met. In spite of this directive, there were 42
pregnant convicts and 20 babies serving time with their convict mothers
in 2003, according to the Prisons Service Annual Report.
Juvenile offenders were held separately in the Borstal Institute, a
juvenile correction center. Juveniles who inflated their ages to avoid
lengthy rehabilitation sentences in the Borstal Institute made the
problem of overcrowding worse. During the year, the Department of
Social Welfare and Prison Services collaborated to transfer any known
juveniles in adult cells to juvenile correction centers.
Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
The Prisons Service is governed by a Prisons Council, appointed by
the President, with members from the Interior and Justice Ministries,
the Department of Social Welfare, the Medical and Bar Associations, and
other members of civil society. During the year, members of the Prisons
Council, as well as the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative
Justice (CHRAJ), foreign diplomats, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), and the media inspected prison conditions. In the past, the
Director General of Prisons has allowed cameras into some prison
inspections to educate the population on the conditions; however, there
were no reports during the year that the media was denied access.
According to the 2003 Prisons Service Annual Report, members of the
NRC, led by the chairman, visited select prison sites to assist in the
work of the NRC.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution provides for
protection against arbitrary arrest and detention; however, arbitrary
arrest and detention were problems.
The police service come under repeated criticism following
incidents of police brutality, corruption, and negligence. Public
confidence in the police remained low, and mobs attacked several police
stations due to perceived police inaction, delays in prosecuting
suspects, rumors of collaboration with criminals, and the desire to
deal with suspects through instant justice (see Section 1.a.).
According to the police service's Monitoring and Inspections Unit,
there were 590 complaints or petitions received against the police,
compared with 455 cases reported in 2003. The number of complaints
during the year of harassment or unlawful arrest and detention with
human rights violations was 48 cases, compared with 22 in 2003.
A 2003 survey conducted by the Center for Democratic Development
(CDD) on Police-Community Relations found that many of those arrested
believed that they were not treated according to the law; there was a
strong belief that police often violated the human rights of those
arrested. Of those who stated that they were arrested, 46 percent were
not informed of the charges against them, 51 percent were not read
their rights, 67 percent reported they were not given the opportunity
to contact a lawyer, and 44 percent believed they were presumed guilty
from the onset.
Government officials publicly stated that the Government's ``zero
tolerance for corruption'' policy applied to police and other security
officials; however, the 2003 Police-Community Relations survey also
found that 68 percent of respondents believed extortion or bribery
occurred frequently within the Police Service. Of the small number of
respondents who admitted having offered a bribe, 92 percent reported
that police officers accepted the bribe. Similarly, a public opinion
survey that CDD released in 2003 found that, among public figures,
citizens were most suspicious of the police (79 percent responded that
at least some police personnel were corrupt), followed by customs
officials (74 percent), and judges/magistrates (70 percent).
There were credible reports that police extorted money from local
businesses by acting as private debt collectors and arresting citizens
in exchange for bribes from detainees' disgruntled business associates.
The Constitution provides that an individual detained should be
informed immediately, in a language that the detained person
understands, of the reasons for the detention and of his or her right
to a lawyer and an interpreter, at state expense. The Constitution
requires judicial warrants for arrest and provides for arraignment
within 48 hours. The Constitution requires that a detainee who has not
been tried within a ``reasonable'' time be released either
unconditionally or subject to conditions necessary to ensure that the
person appear in court at a later date.
In practice, while the incidence of abuse lessened, many abuses
still occurred, including detention without charge for longer than 48
hours, failure to obtain a warrant for arrest, and remand of prisoners
into investigative custody for indefinite periods by renewing warrants
or simply allowing them to lapse. On June 8, the Director of Operations
for the Prisons Service stated that 1,270 remand prisoners whose
warrants had expired were still in prison custody. In addition, at
times persons were detained for trivial offenses or on unsubstantiated
accusations. Authorities routinely failed to notify prisoners' families
of their incarceration; such information often was obtained only by
chance. The court has unlimited discretion to set bail, which may be
prohibitively high. The court may refuse to release prisoners on bail
and instead remand them without charge for an indefinite period,
subject to weekly review by judicial authorities. Police also demanded
money from suspects as a precondition for their release on bail.
In November, seven active and retired military personnel were
arrested for allegedly plotting a coup against the Kufuor Government.
Although one person was found in possession of illegal weapons, the
remaining six were released after being detained for longer than the
lawful period of 48 hours.
Security forces used checkpoints and mass arrests while searching
for criminals (see Section 2.d.).
Large numbers of long-term remand prisoners remained a serious
problem. During inspections of prison facilities, the Director-General
of Prisons met numerous remand prisoners who had been detained for up
to 10 years without a trial. Some detainees served longer periods of
time in remand cells than the allotted time for the crime committed. In
May, the Kumasi Central Prison, which also housed many remand
prisoners, reportedly threatened to release prisoners whose warrants
had expired to prompt a response from the local authorities. Later that
month, the Prisons Service and the Attorney General's office announced
that all remand prisoners with expired warrants should have their cases
referred to court for a speedy trial. The Prisons Service also
recommended that the courts expedite the cases of, or else grant bail
to, persons accused of minor offenses. As a result, two circuit courts
on June 17 renewed the remand warrants of 23 prisoners, all of whom
were facing armed robbery charges.
On April 3, 34 persons, including several chiefs, were remanded
into police custody for allegedly rioting, causing damage, stealing,
and arson. Two juveniles among the group were remanded to a children's
home. CHRAJ made a public complaint on April 18, saying that the police
had violated the law in detaining the suspects for longer than 48
hours. On April 26, 10 of the 34 suspects were released on bail and
ordered to reappear before the court at a later date. There was no
further update on the case at year's end.
Judicial officials made a number of efforts to improve the
efficiency of the courts, such as implementing a pilot alternate
dispute resolution program (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was subject to influence,
and corruption remained a serious problem. The Government took steps
during the year to address corruption.
There were numerous allegations of corruption within the judicial
system. On August 2, the Chief Justice said that some judges had not
heard a single case or written a decision all year. A 2003 report
adopted by the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Judiciary provided
details on corruption in the judiciary, including accounts of
extortion; misuse of remand, bail, and contempt of court charges for
bribery; and acceptance of gifts or money in exchange for expedited or
postponed cases, or losing records. The Committee recommended
establishing and enforcing codes of conduct, transparent complaint
procedures, and disciplinary mechanisms; however, none of these
recommendations had been implemented by year's end. The Chief Justice
continued his campaign to end corruption and increase transparency of
the Service by fulfilling his promise when he took the position in 2003
to create an annual report that accounted for the Service's activities
and addressed grievances.
A Complaints Unit of the Judicial Service continued to receive and
investigate complaints of corruption, delays, and unfair treatment.
According to the Annual Report of the Judicial Service, the Complaints
Unit of the Judicial Service received 258 complaints and petitions
between July 2003 and July. Of these, 63 cases were disposed of, 74
came under investigation, and 121 were pending at the end of the period
under review.
There was no formal action taken in the 2003 judge bribing
investigation, and the judge retired during the year.
During the year, the accused submitted a series of appeals in the
Supreme Court to drop the case. The trial of the former head of the
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation on charges of causing financial
loss to the state was ongoing at year's end.
The Constitution provides for a Superior Court of Judicature,
consisting of the High Court and Regional Tribunals, the High Court of
Appeals, and the Supreme Court. Parliament may establish lower courts
by decree. The Constitution allows the Government to nominate any
number beyond a minimum of nine members to the Supreme Court, subject
to parliamentary approval. The Chief Justice is empowered to impanel
the justices of his choice to hear cases. These provisions, along with
a lack of resources, limited the court's ability to balance the power
of the executive branch and contributed to the perception that the
judiciary occasionally was subject to executive influence.
The Constitution establishes two basic levels of courts: Superior
and lower. The superior courts include the Supreme Court, the Appeals
Court, the High Court, and regional tribunals. Fast Track Courts, a
division of the High Court of Judicature, are authorized to hear cases
involving banks and investors, human rights, electoral petitions,
government revenue, prerogative writs, defamation, specified commercial
and industrial cases, and criminal cases that involve substantial
public money or are a matter of extreme public importance. The majority
of cases filed before the Fast Track Court were for banking and
commercial matters, and human rights and defamation. These courts tried
cases to conclusion within 6 months.
Legal safeguards are based on British legal procedures. Defendants
are presumed innocent, trials are public, and defendants have a right
to be present, to be represented by an attorney (at public expense if
necessary), and to cross-examine witnesses. In practice, authorities
generally respected these safeguards.
There were frequent reports that large numbers of prisoners were
held in detention for extended periods, sometimes years, without going
to trial (see Section 1.d.). In July, the Chief Justice inaugurated a
National Center for Arbitrators. This center was established following
the success of the government-sponsored alternate dispute resolution
pilot (ADR) program in Accra and Tema, during which 185 cases were
resolved in 2003.
The Chieftancy Act gives village and other traditional chiefs power
to mediate local matters and enforce customary tribal laws dealing with
such matters as divorce, child custody, and property disputes. However,
the authority of traditional rulers has steadily eroded and been vested
in civil institutions, such as courts and district assemblies. In
January, chiefs in Tema took part in a 3-day ADR training, and the
training resulted in the recommendation that traditional councils
should have their own constitutions, apart from the Chieftancy Act, to
help institutionalize the role of local leaders in settling cases. The
recommendation had not been implemented by year's end.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, in
practice the Government infringed on privacy rights at times. Although
the law requires judicial search warrants, police did not always obtain
them in practice.
Opposition party activists claimed the Government engaged in
surveillance and harassment of those it perceived to be opposed to the
ruling party.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, the opposition parties
occasionally complained that state-owned media outlets minimized media
coverage of opposition politicians. The Government did not restrict
academic freedom.
There were 50 newspapers including 3 state-owned dailies, 2 state-
owned weeklies, and many privately owned newspapers. Two of the state-
owned dailies had national circulation. Most newspapers circulated only
in regional capitals, and many of the smaller private newspapers were
available only in Accra. The President did not appoint chief executives
to the state-owned media, and the Government did not finance any
newspaper.
According to the National Communications Authority (NCA), the body
responsible for allocating bandwidth and broadcast media licenses,
Accra had 1 state-owned and 17 private FM radio stations, and there
were approximately 11 state-owned and 100 private FM stations across
the country. Most stations were independent and aired a wide range of
viewpoints. There was one state-owned television station that broadcast
nationwide; three semi-private television stations that broadcast in
the Greater Accra, Eastern, and Ashanti regions; and three cable
networks broadcasting in the Greater Accra Region, two of which also
broadcast in Kumasi.
The NCA is independent. In 2003, the President appointed a new
chairman of the NCA. Previously, the Minister of Communications served
as chairman, which media organizations saw as a conflict of interest.
Complaints persisted regarding delays in obtaining bandwidth and
licenses for broadcast media, particularly in Accra; however, the
number of radio stations across the country increased significantly
during the year. Complaints against the NCA were not restricted to the
broadcast media. One telecommunications company filed for international
arbitration during the year after several years of disagreement with
the NCA over the allocation of spectrum for its wireless operations.
Foreign media operated freely in the country, including the British
Broadcasting Corporation, Radio France International, and Voice of
America. Foreign periodicals were available in major cities and
circulated freely even when they contained articles critical of the
Government.
The state-owned media reported extensively on charges of corruption
or mismanagement by both current and past government and administrative
officials. During the year, the state-owned media gave some coverage to
opposition politicians and printed occasional editorials critical of
government policies; however, direct criticism of the President was
avoided. The opposition NDC claimed that government media denied it
equal access and coverage on numerous occasions, and in practice the
state-controlled media gave greater exposure to government officials.
In October, the Northern Regional Security Council imposed a
temporary ban prohibiting inflammatory political content on radio call-
in shows following a flare-up of violence in the region. However, the
ban was not legally binding and was regarded by media outlets as a plea
from local authorities to report on election-related news in a
responsible manner. The ban was lifted prior to the elections. Although
the media did not cease talk shows, they generally respected the
occasional temporary bans imposed by local district governments.
Some privately owned newspapers were harshly critical of the
Government's policies and of President Kufuor, his ministers, and
advisors. The Government at times alleged that some reporters and
editors failed to abide by professional ethical guidelines. For
example, in April, the President's brother sued a newspaper for libel
and was awarded $4500 (400 million cedis). Several other libel cases
were also filed during the year by key political figures. There were
frequent calls for more discipline by the media from government
officials, professional journalist organizations, and citizens,
especially for restrictions on live radio call-in shows. Call-in shows
were often portrayed as a possible source of political tension.
The National Media Commission (NMC), a constitutionally mandated
independent government body, is charged with maintaining journalistic
standards, including the investigation, mediation, and settlement of
complaints made against or by the media; however, it did not have
legally binding authority to implement its recommendations. The NMC has
published standards and guidelines, and voluntary use of its
alternative dispute resolution offices continued to increase.
Resolutions recommended by the NMC included retraction, apology, and
the printing of rejoinders. During the year, the NMC received 24 cases,
6 were withdrawn by the complainant after an apology or retraction, 4
cases were resolved outside the jurisdiction of the NMC, 4 complainants
had not yet communicated their response from the media to the
commission, 3 cases were released through press statements, and 7 cases
were awaiting judgments at the year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that journalists
were arrested during the year.
The Government does not restrict access to the Internet. There were
more than 10 operating Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country
at year's end.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, at times the
Government restricted this right. The Government does not require
permits for demonstrations; however, police can deny use of a
particular route. There were no reports that the police arbitrarily
canceled demonstrations. In July, during a forum held by the National
Commission for Civic Education, a district police commander reminded
the public in the Eastern Region that the law requires that all
organizers of ``special events'' or ``processions'' inform the police
of their intentions at least 5 days in advance so that the police can
institute precautionary measures. The forum was held as part of a
series to enable citizens to learn about their rights and
responsibilities concerning public rallies. In March, photocopies of
the Public Order Act were given to the three main political parties--
the NPP, NDC, and CPP--in an election-year effort to get political
parties to inform their own supporters about the laws concerning public
rallies.
Political parties held national congresses and labor organizations
held demonstrations without hindrance during the year. Unlike in the
previous year, no political party rallies were postponed or cancelled
at the request of police.
The Government permitted peaceful demonstrations and rallies during
the year. Unlike the previous year, police did not use force to
disperse any demonstration.
According to local press reports, in September, police and soldiers
assaulted and beat supporters of the NPP in the Upper East region. They
were driving to the regional capital to protest the party's national
headquarters decision not to hold a local election to select a
candidate for parliamentary elections. Police alleged that the
protesters did not have permission to demonstrate in the capital.
There were no developments in the 2002 cases in which security
forces forcibly dispersed demonstrations.
Periodically throughout the year, the Northern Regional Security
Council imposed temporary bans on outdoor political activities
following violent clashes between supporters of the two major political
parties in Tamale. In each case, the bans were eventually lifted.
On August 18, the ban on demonstrations in the Dagbon Traditional
area due to a state of emergency was lifted (see Section 2.d.).
There were verifiable reports from the north that political party
thugs beat individuals during the election campaign season. In at least
one of these cases, a nonpolitical rally was mistaken for a pro-NDC
political gathering and NPP party thugs severely beat a rally
participant. The northern office for the CHRAJ continued to investigate
this case and other formal complaints at year's end.
The ban on campus demonstrations remained in effect during the
year; however, it has never been challenged nor enforced.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Members of
security forces are prohibited from joining political assemblies or
groups within the security services, but they are allowed to
participate outside police or military grounds.
NGOs are required to register with the Registrar General's office
and the Department of Social Welfare, but this registration was
routine.
The Electoral Commission (EC) accredits political parties. The
parties must show evidence of a ``national character,'' such as
official representation in all 10 of the country's regions. The EC
evaluates whether the party showed evidence of a viable national
support base before granting accreditation and may annul the
registration of a party that failed to meet the criteria for being a
viable party.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
Religious institutions that wanted formal recognition were required
to register with the Registrar General's Department; however, there
were no reports that the Government denied registration to any group.
Most traditional religions, with the exception of the Afrikania
Mission, did not register.
Although the law prohibits involuntary servitude, Trokosi, a form
of religious servitude usually lasting no more than a few months,
existed on a limited scale (see Section 5). Government agencies, like
CHRAJ, have campaigned actively against Trokosi for years, and
supporters of traditional African religions, such as the Afrikania
Renaissance Mission, have stated that these activities constituted
discrimination against indigenous religious beliefs.
There were occasional reports of interreligious and intrareligious
incidents, but no violent incidents based on religious affiliation
occurred during the year.
There were occasional and isolated anti-Semitic sentiments
expressed in a bi-weekly independent newspaper, which had an annual
circulation of about 48,000 and generally supports the opposition
political party.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
Citizens and foreigners were free to move throughout the country.
Security officers manned checkpoints nationwide to prevent smuggling,
seize illegal weapons, and catch criminals, although many were unmanned
during daylight hours. The Police Administration continued to erect
security checkpoints and conducted highway patrols in response to an
upsurge in highway robberies, and police roadblocks and car searches
were a normal part of nighttime travel in larger cities. The police
administration acknowledged that some officers occasionally erected
illegal barriers to solicit bribes from motorists. The Regional Police
Commanders monitored the activities of police personnel working at the
checkpoints.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it. The Government encouraged citizens, including dissidents
living abroad, to return to the country. Some former Armed Forces
Revolutionary Council and Provisional National Defense Council
officials returned during the year to testify before the NRC (see
Section 4).
Traditional village authorities can punish rural women with
banishment for being pregnant out of wedlock or for suspected
witchcraft. The press reported that hundreds of women accused of
witchcraft were sent to penal villages in the Northern Region by
traditional authorities such as shamans (see Section 5). During the
year, 46 women were sent to 7 witch camps in the north. After passing
through customary rituals to `render them powerless' 11 were permitted
to return home. In 2003, the CHRAJ estimated that there were
approximately 1,090 persons living in 3 main witches camps in the area
of Gambaga, Ngani, and Kukuo. Various organizations provided food,
medical care, and other support to the residents of the camps. The
CHRAJ and human rights NGOs had little success in their efforts to end
this traditional practice.
In August, the Government lifted a state of emergency in Yendi, in
the Northern Region, which began in 2002 following intra-tribal
violence.
The law provides for the granting of refugee status or asylum to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a refugee board to adjudicate claims for refugee status and
ensure they receive all appropriate protections. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The law also incorporates the
broadened refugee definition under the African Union Convention
Governing Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. The
Government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers. The country generally had a liberal policy of accepting
refugees from other West African nations, although this did not extend
to granting work permits or permanent residence. The Government also
provided temporary protection to certain individuals who may not
qualify as refugees under the 1951 U.N. Convention 1967 Protocol; there
were no individuals granted temporary protection during the year.
The political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia led to an inflow
of approximately 3,000 refugees during 2003. At year's end, the
Government and the UNHCR confirmed that there were 48,144 total
refugees and asylum seekers resident in the country, of whom 40,315
were Liberian, 5,389 Togolese, and 2,440 from other nations.
Although armed security forces continued to conduct periodic
searches for armed rebels at the Buduburam Refugee Camp, U.N. officials
stated that the Government acted responsibly and that the UNHCR had
received no complaints about harassment or intimidation from camp
residents during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government, and citizens exercised this right through periodic, free,
and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. Despite a
few incidents of intimidation and election irregularities, domestic and
international observers judged the December national elections to be
free and fair. However, there were reported problems in the
presidential and parliamentary national voter registration exercise.
The country continued its transition from a one-party state to a
more established multiparty constitutional system. The political system
includes recognized opposition parties, which express their views
freely within Parliament and won a near majority of the parliamentary
seats. All registered political parties operated freely within the
country and held peaceful rallies in preparation for the December
elections.
The Electoral Commission, an independent body, created a new voter
registration for the presidential and parliamentary elections held in
December. This process required each citizen to register and possess a
valid registration card to vote in the national elections. Although the
registration process generally went according to plan, there were some
problems, such as shortages of registration materials, defective
materials, a failure to capture all eligible voters due to internal
migration patterns during the registration period, and isolated
incidents of violence between opposing party supporters.
On December 7, Presidential and parliamentary elections were held
nation-wide. John Agyekum Kufuor of the NPP was reelected with 52.45
percent of the vote. Despite some irregularities, international
observers reported the elections to be generally free and fair. There
were reports of a shortage of ballot papers at some polls and minor
problems with the voter register, such as misspelled names or photos
not matching names. A police officer or other civilian security person
was present at most polling stations across the country; however, there
were no allegations of intimidation by the security officers at polling
stations. In some areas of the country, military police and other
security forces maintained a low profile at polling stations and
appeared when serious problems occurred (see Section 1.a.). There was
unrest in Bawku when someone in a crowd fired gunshots into the air,
resulting in injury to a military soldier. In other isolated areas of
the country, security forces stepped in to stem potentially violent
clashes at polling stations. The NPP won 128 seats; the NDC 94; the CPP
3; the PNC 4; and there was 1 independent candidate who won a seat.
The Constitution calls for a system of checks and balances, with an
executive branch headed by the President, a unicameral parliament, an
independent judiciary, and several autonomous commissions, such as the
CHRAJ. In practice, the system of checks and balances was limited by a
system-wide lack of resources that affected all three branches.
Parliament still sought effective oversight of the workings of the
executive branch. Although all Members of Parliament (M.P.s) have the
power to introduce bills, no one has ever done so; however, some M.P.s
have introduced motions.
Corruption in the executive and legislative branches continued to
be a problem. In June, a 3-day workshop was held in Accra with
participants from all over Africa to promote transparency in government
procurement. At the workshop, the Minister of Finance stressed the need
for procurement (which constitutes a significant portion of government
spending) to be as transparent as possible. The Public Procurement Act
promotes competition and transparency by publishing lists of
competitive bidders for government contracts in public bulletins and
daily newspapers.
In a report on political party financing released in September, the
CDD found that 42 percent of those surveyed felt that kickbacks were
the strongest manifestation of political corruption, followed by
political appointment and extortion.
The opposition NDC continued to claim that the Government used
anticorruption investigations to intimidate and harass its members. The
Government continued to question former officials about allegations of
corruption during the year, and some trials were ongoing (see Section
1.e.).
Opposition parties and some persons in private business, continued
to allege that some government contracts were awarded on the basis of
ruling party membership and that government officials pressured
businesses to steer contracts toward favored companies and individuals.
In the December elections, female candidates won 25 of 230
parliamentary seats, and there were 13 female ministers and Council of
State members out of 92.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
At least 20 domestic and international human rights NGOs generally
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials generally
were responsive to their views. Prominent NGOs that operated in the
country included the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
Amnesty International, the International Federation of Woman Lawyers
(FIDA), as well as local NGOs such as the African Center for Human
Development and Ghanalert. In addition to cooperating with these NGOs,
the Government cooperated with international humanitarian
organizations, including the ICRC and the International Organization
for Migration (IOM).
The CHRAJ was charged with investigating alleged violations of
human rights, including corruption of public officials, and taking
action to remedy proven violations. The CHRAJ continued to hold
workshops to educate the public, traditional leaders, police, and the
military on human rights issues. It mediated and settled cases brought
to it by individuals with grievances against government agencies or
private companies. On average the CHRAJ received between 4,000 and
5,000 new petitions per year, with steady increases each year. In July,
the Acting Commissioner of CHRAJ stated that since its inception in
1993, CHRAJ had received over 60,000 cases, and 75 percent of these had
been resolved. He stated that the number of cases continued to increase
during the year.
The CHRAJ operated with no overt interference from the Government.
Its biggest obstacle was a lack of adequate funding. Low salaries and
poor working conditions resulted in the loss of many CHRAJ-trained
personnel to other government agencies that were able to pay their
employees more.
In January 2003, the NRC, established to create a historical record
of human rights abuses for the periods of ``unconstitutional
government'' between 1957 and 1993 and to make recommendations for
redress, began conducting public hearings. The Commission's 12-month
mandate was extended by 6 months in 2003 to accommodate the volume of
complaints and allow thorough investigation. The NRC closed the public
hearings on July 13 and received a total of 4,311 petitions. The NRC
heard 2,129 cases that fell within the commission's mandate, including
ill treatment, detention, torture, seizure of property, unlawful
killing, abductions, disappearance, and others. The NRC submitted its
final report to the Government on October 12; however, by year's end,
the report had not been made public, nor had the Government issued a
formal response.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
sex, disability, language, or social status; however, enforcement by
authorities was generally inadequate, in part due to limited financial
resources. The courts were empowered to specifically order enforcement
of these prohibitions.
Women.--Violence against women, including rape and domestic
violence, remained a significant problem. According to FIDA, one in
three women experienced domestic violence, and most abuses went
unreported and seldom came before the courts. The Women and Juvenile
Unit (WAJU) of the police service was established specifically to
handle cases of domestic violence, child abuse, and juvenile offenses
as well as researching patterns and types of crimes against women and
children. During the year, 11,984 cases were reported to WAJU. The
majority of these were cases of child neglect (7,421) and assault
(2,059), most frequently in the form of domestic violence. Of these
cases, there were 181 rape cases reported during the year. The Director
of WAJU stated the increase in reported cases was due to an increase in
victim rights awareness programs. The media also increasingly reported
cases of assault and rape. WAJU worked closely with the Department of
Social Welfare, FIDA, the Legal Aid Board, and several human rights
NGOs.
Unless specifically called upon by the WAJU, police tended not to
intervene in domestic disputes. Prosecution of domestic violence cases
remained still difficult. On average, of the cases prosecuted,
approximately one-quarter received convictions. Many victims did not
have access to appropriate medical assistance to record the abuse,
which hampered prosecution efforts. During the year, WAJU,
international donors and NGOs collaborated to operate a medical trust
fund for victims of domestic violence. A domestic violence bill was
pending at year's end.
The Criminal Code bans the practice of customary servitude, makes
the age of criminal responsibility 12 years, criminalizes indecent
assault and forced marriages, and imposes punishments for defilement,
incest, and prostitution involving children.
A strong belief in witchcraft continued in many parts of the
country. Most accused witches were older women, often widows, who were
identified by fellow villagers as the cause of difficulties, such as
illness, crop failure, or financial misfortune. Many of these women
were banished by traditional village authorities or their families and
went to live in ``witchcamps,'' villages in the north populated by
suspected witches (see Section 1.d.). The women did not face formal
legal sanction if they returned home; however, most feared that they
could be beaten or lynched if they returned to their villages. The law
provides protection to alleged witches, and the WAJU continued to
prosecute violence and societal abuses related to allegations of
witchcraft.
There were several cases of lynching and assault of accused witches
during the year. For example, on August 24, a 35-year-old man was
prosecuted and sentenced to death by a fast-track high court for
murdering his wife on the suspicion that she was a witch.
The case against four men accused of beating a women to death on
suspicion of witchcraft in July 2003 remained pending at year's end.
There were several traditional discriminatory practices that were
injurious to the health and development of young girls. In particular
FGM was a serious problem. According to a recent study conducted by the
Ministry of Health, the prevalence rate among women ages 12 to 19 in
the north was approximately 14 to 15 percent. Although the study did
not include some females who had not yet reached the typical
circumcision age of 15, the prevalence rate indicated a steep drop from
the previous study. Often it was performed on girls under the age of
15. Research conducted by the Ministry of Health in the northern
regions indicated that intervention programs have been somewhat
successful in reducing the prevalence. Some observers believed that in
the Northern Region, there was a 15 percent FGM prevalence rate, while
others believed that education on the illegality of FGM has driven the
practice underground and the real rate was as high as 30 percent.
Officials at all levels, including traditional chiefs, have spoken
against the practice, and local NGOs continued their educational
campaigns to encourage abandonment of FGM and to retrain practitioners.
In some cases in which FGM was performed, the victims actively sought
out practitioners, sometimes without their parents' knowledge, to
become ready for marriage. One NGO in the Northern Region reported that
mothers frequently failed to return to the hospitals where they
delivered their babies for immunizations and to attend postnatal
clinics, allegedly because they did not want the hospitals to discover
that they were engaging in FGM.
The law prohibits FGM; however, members of the legal community
advocated for legislation to close loopholes in the law and extend
culpability to those who aid in carrying out FGM and to citizens who
commit the crime outside the country's borders. In January, a 70-year-
old woman in the Upper East was imprisoned for 5 years for circumcising
seven girls who needed medical attention after the practice.
There were no laws that specifically protect women from sexual
harassment; however, some sexual harassment cases were prosecuted under
the existing Criminal Code. Women's advocacy groups reported that
sexual harassment was a problem.
There is a Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs to address
gender and children's issues; however, women continued to experience
societal discrimination. Women in urban centers and those with skills
and training encountered little overt bias, but resistance to women
entering nontraditional fields persisted. Women, especially in rural
areas, remained subject to burdensome labor conditions and traditional
male dominance. Traditional practices and social norms often denied
women their statutory entitlements to inheritances and property, a
legally registered marriage (and with it, certain legal rights), and
the maintenance and custody of children.
Women's rights groups were active in educational campaigns and in
programs to provide vocational training, legal aid, and other support
to women. The Government was active in educational programs, and many
officials were active, outspoken advocates of women's rights.
Children.--Within the limits of its resources, the Government was
committed to protecting the rights and welfare of children. In 2003,
the Government finalized the design of its long-term development plan--
the Education Sector Plan (ESP) 2003-2015. The ESP establishes an
operational framework and indicates the Government's long-term
commitment to achieving universal primary education. The Government was
in the process of implementing this plan at year's end.
Education is compulsory through primary and junior secondary school
(the equivalent of grades 1 through 9); however, education is not free.
In practice, District Assemblies imposed levies of up to $50 (455,000
cedis) per term, despite government regulations that these charges
should not be more than $10 (91,000 cedis). Parents are required to
purchase uniforms and books, as well as extra items listed in schools'
prospectuses. In addition, teachers often imposed extra classes for an
additional fee to supplement their incomes. During the year, the
Minister of Education directed all levies above $10 (91,000 cedis) to
be refunded and required bills of secondary schools to be vetted by
District Directors of Education before being sent to parents. The
Minister continued to advocate the refund policy; however, it was not
implemented, and no refunds were made during the year. The Government
abolished the payment of any type of charges in 40 deprived districts
as part of its overall goal of making education accessible to all
children by 2015.
In 2003, the gross enrollment rate was 81.3 percent at the primary
level with 84.6 percent of boys enrolled compared with 78 percent
girls. Enrollment was lower in the northern three regions than in the
rest of the country (69.6 percent). At the Junior Secondary School
(JSS) level, 67.1 percent of eligible children were enrolled, with 71.7
percent of eligible boys and 62.4 percent of eligible girls enrolled.
The Government strongly supported the U.N.'s Education for All
goals. During the year, the Ghana Education Service (GES) actively
campaigned for expanded education of girls by providing scholarships at
the JSS and Senior Secondary School levels and providing incentives for
female teachers to teach in rural areas. For example, the GES placed
Girls Education Officers at the regional and district levels. There
were Community Participation Coordinators in every district office,
which mobilized communities to increase girls' school enrollments. In
terms of in-school programs, the Government established Science and
Math Clinics at the JSS level to encourage more girls to pursue careers
in science and technology.
These efforts have been accompanied by increased government support
of ``informal'' schools, which target children that must work to help
support their families. The Government also increased educational
opportunities for students with disabilities by increasing grants to
primary schools serving these students during the year. Some children
were unable to attend school because they worked to supplement their
family's income (see Section 6.d.), they had to travel long distances
to reach the school, or there was a lack of teachers, especially in
more rural areas. In addition, authorities did not enforce children's
attendance at school regularly, and parents rarely, if ever, were
sanctioned for keeping their children out of school.
GSE formed a committee for the Quality Improvement in Primary
Schools program to implement quality education in basic schools.
According to an International Labor Organization (ILO) representative,
1,789 teachers and circuit supervisors benefited from in-service
training through this program. The program also provided training in
basic management skills for staff in all 86 districts in the southern
part of the country.
There were frequent reports that male teachers sexually assaulted
their female students. The girls often were reluctant to report the
attacks to their parents, and social pressure often prevented parents
from going to authorities. A 2003 survey reported that 27 percent of
school girls interviewed stated their teacher had pressured them for
sex, 25 percent stated they knew at least one teacher having an affair
with a school girl, and 79 percent stated they were sexually harassed
by male classmates. Reliable data for the entire country was
unavailable, so the overall scale of this problem was unknown. There
were several press reports of teachers and headmasters/headmistresses
either arrested for sexual harassment of female students or dismissed
for ignoring reported problems.
WAJU and regular police units increasingly investigated and
prosecuted sexual abuse of minors, and press reports of court cases
ending in lengthy prison sentences became routine. Teachers also played
a significant role in reporting cases of abuse to the authorities. For
example, schoolteachers reported to WAJU two cases of forced marriages
during the year. According to WAJU, there was an increase during the
year of teachers referring girls and families to WAJU for help.
``Defilement,'' or sexual abuse against minors, remained a problem.
WAJU announced in June that between 1999 and May, there were 1,756
cases reported in which men victimized children between the ages of 2
and 15. WAJU also reported that, during the same period, 397 girls over
the age of 16 had reported cases of rape and 44 incestuous
relationships were reported.
WAJU reported that during the year, there were 63 cases of exposing
a child to harm and 7,421 cases of child neglect. At year's end, WAJU
reported a total of 734 cases of defilement that were reported during
the year.
In April, a farmer in the Ashanti Region was sentenced to 12 years
in jail for sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl in 2003. In June, a
district court remanded a 22-year-old man into custody for sexually
abusing a 13-year-old girl with disabilities. In July, a 24-year-old
man was remanded into custody for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl in
the Central Region.
Trokosi is a religious practice involving a period of servitude
among the ethnic Ewe group in the Southern Volta Region. A virgin girl,
sometimes under the age of 10, but often in her teens, is given by her
family to work and be trained in traditional religion at a fetish
shrine for a period lasting between several weeks and 3 years to atone
for an allegedly heinous crime committed by a family member. In
exceptional cases, when a girl of suitable age or status is
unavailable, a boy can be offered. The girl, who is known as a Trokosi
or a Fiashidi, becomes the property of the shrine god and the charge of
the shrine priest for the duration of her stay. While instances of
sexual abuse may occur on a case-by-case basis, there was no evidence
that sexual or physical abuse was an ingrained or systematic part of
the practice. The practice explicitly forbids a Trokosi or Fiashidi to
engage in sexual activity or contact during her atonement period. After
she completed her service to the shrine, the girl's family must provide
material items such as drinks, cloth, money, or livestock to the shrine
for a final release ritual. After the release ritual, the girl returns
to her family. In the vast majority of cases, there is no particular
stigma attaching to her status as a former Trokosi shrine participant.
Generally the women continued to voluntarily associate themselves with
the shrine, often when a Trokosi woman dies, years if not decades after
she has completed her service, her family was expected to replace her
with another young girl, continuing the association of the family to
the shrine from generation to generation. In very rare cases, the
family abandons the girl or cannot afford the cost of the final rites,
in which case she may remain at the shrine indefinitely. She also may
leave the shrine and return to her village; however, her family's
reputation with the shrine, and possibly with the community, may be
tarnished. Reports on the number of women and girls bound to Trokosi
shrines vary; however, shrines rarely have more than four girls serving
their atonements at any one time. According to credible reports from
international observers, there were no more than 100 girls serving at
Trokosi shrines throughout the Volta Region at year's end.
Comprehensive legislation protects women's and children's rights
and includes a ban on ritual servitude, which many activists
interpreted to include Trokosi. According to human rights groups, the
practice has decreased in recent years because other belief systems
have gained followers, and fetish priests who died have not been
replaced. Adherents of Trokosi describe it as a practice based on
traditional African religious beliefs; however, the Government does not
recognize it as a religion.
Forced childhood marriage, which is illegal, remained a problem. In
August, the Acting Commissioner for CHRAJ declared forced marriage as
the major human rights abuse issue in the Northern Region. In June, a
16-year-old girl committed suicide to protest an abusive marriage she
had been forced into. In September, a chief in the Ashanti Region was
arrested and remanded for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old girl. The
investigation continued at year's end.
There were no further developments in the attempt of Ghana National
Commission on Children (GNCC) and the CHRAJ to effect the prosecution
of a chief who married a 14-year-old and impregnated her.
There were no updates in the investigations into the 2002 case of a
15-year-old girl forced to marry a 60-year-old man and the 2002
kidnapping of a 5-year-old girl for ritual purposes.
FGM was performed primarily on girls (see Section 5, Women).
Child prostitution, although illegal, also existed. The ILO
International Program to Eliminate Child Labor (ILO/IPEC) organized
workshops throughout the year to create awareness of increasing child
prostitution in the tourism industry and create a strategy to combat
the problem.
There were reports that trafficking in children occurred, for
forced labor or sexual exploitation including children being sold into
various forms of involuntary servitude (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a serious problem (see Section 6.d.).
The migration of children from rural to urban areas increased, due
to economic hardship. Children were driven to the streets to fend for
themselves, increasing both the occurrence of child labor and the
school dropout rate (see Section 6.d.). In 2003, the Ghana Statistical
Service and ILO/IPEC surveyed 2,314 street children throughout the
country, most of whom lived in the urban areas of the Greater Accra and
Ashanti Regions and had migrated from northern rural areas. Of those
surveyed, 45.7 percent had never attended school, 98.1 percent were
engaged in economic activity within the last 12 months, and 80 percent
said the work was demanding. Over three-quarters of street children
surveyed said that both parents were alive, indicating poverty was the
main cause of the problem.
The GNCC, a policymaking and coordinating body established to
improve the lives of children, administered training programs for law
enforcement and judicial officials to familiarize them with the
Children's Act and other pertinent child labor legislation.
Local and international NGOs worked in conjunction with the
Government to promote children's rights and were somewhat successful in
sensitizing communities to protecting the welfare of children.
Trafficking in Persons.--No laws specifically addressed trafficking
in persons, and trafficking in persons was a problem. The Government
can prosecute traffickers under laws against slavery, prostitution,
abduction, and underage labor. However, these laws do not adequately
provide for victim assistance and rehabilitation, nor do they
specifically penalize trafficking. The country was a source and a
destination country for trafficked persons. WAJU reported that there
were 190 cases of abduction and 19 cases of child stealing during the
year.
Law enforcement authorities were not given sufficient resources to
deal with the problem and had a difficult time identifying persons who
were being trafficked because of the fluid nature of family relations
in the country. For example, children were often trafficked into the
custody of someone referred to as a ``cousin'' or an ``aunt'' even if
there was no blood relation. The Government, the ILO, and NGOs trained
security forces, immigration authorities, customs and border officials,
and police on the problems of trafficking.
Police officials claimed that the lack of legislation criminalizing
trafficking hampered their efforts. The trial of a woman arrested in
the Upper East Region in 2001 for trafficking eight boys and three
girls to the Gambia was ongoing at year's end. The case of traffickers
intercepted in 2002 with 50 children was pending in court at year's
end.
In April, 12 girls who had been trafficked to the Gambia for
prostitution were repatriated under the custody of the Department of
Social Welfare.
Various ministries worked with the ILO/IPEC, the IOM, and NGOs to
address trafficking. The Ministry of Manpower Development and
Employment, in conjunction with ILO/IPEC, continued to implement a
National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Child Labor (see Section
6.d.). The IOM, the African Center for Human Development, and the
Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs worked to identify and
repatriate children trafficked to fishing villages.
Trafficking was both internal and international, with the majority
of trafficking in the country involving children from impoverished
rural backgrounds. The most common forms of internal trafficking
involved boys from the Northern Region going to work in the fishing
communities along the Volta Lake or in small mines in the west, and
girls from the north and east going to Accra and Kumasi to work as
domestic helpers, porters, and assistants to local traders (see Section
6.d.). Local NGOs reported these children were subjected to dangerous
working conditions and sometimes were injured or killed as a result of
the labor they performed.
Children between the ages of 7 and 17 also were trafficked to and
from the neighboring countries of Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and Nigeria to
work as farm workers, laborers, or household help.
Much of the recruitment of children was done with the consent of
the parents, who sometimes were given an advance payment or promised
regular stipends from the recruiter and were told the children would
receive food, shelter, and often some sort of training or education.
Some parents sent their children to work for extended family members in
urban areas. Treatment of children sent to work in relatives' homes
varied. Many children were given to professional recruiters, usually
women, who placed the children with employers in cities. A child in
these circumstances usually was paid between $2.20 and $3.30 (20,000
and 30,000 cedis) per month. In many cases, the children never received
the education or vocational training the recruiters promised. Girls
could be forced into prostitution and were sometimes sexually abused by
their employers.
Women also were trafficked to Western Europe, mostly Italy,
Germany, and the Netherlands. International traffickers promised the
women jobs; however, the women often were forced into prostitution once
they reached their destination. The women were sent sometimes directly
to Europe, while others were trafficked through other countries. Some
young women were trafficked to the Middle East, particularly Lebanon,
where they worked in menial jobs or as domestic help. There also was a
growing trade in Nigerian women transiting through the country on their
way to Western Europe and reportedly the Middle East to work in the sex
industry. Traffickers from other countries reportedly used Accra as a
transit point to Europe and reportedly the Middle East. Reportedly,
there was some trafficking in persons from Burkina Faso, mostly
transiting through the country on the way to Cote d'Ivoire.
The Government coordinated anti-trafficking efforts with NGOs and
called meetings of its Human Trafficking Task Force occasionally during
the year to discuss draft antitrafficking legislation; however, an ILO/
IPEC Steering Committee, which included many government officials,
provided the major focus for antitrafficking activities (see Section
6.d.).
Several NGOs, both local and international, worked with trafficking
victims. These organizations, as well as the University of Ghana's
Center for Social Policy Studies, conducted studies into trafficking as
part of their broader agenda, performed some rescue operations for
street kids, provided training and education for victims of trafficking
and abuse, and in some cases, assisted with family reunification. An
antitrafficking in persons bill was pending at year's end.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Constitution specifically provides
for the rights of persons with disabilities, including protection
against exploitation and discrimination. While the Government did not
systematically or overtly discriminate against persons with
disabilities, in practice, such persons often experienced societal
discrimination. The Constitution also provides persons with
disabilities access to public buildings ``as far as practicable;''
however, in practice this provision was not implemented. In 2003, the
Department of Social Welfare officials estimated that 10 percent of the
population had some form physical disability.
In June, the Interim Chairman of the Ghana Union of Physically
Disabled Workers accused the GES of not paying workers with
disabilities their entitled disability allowance. In 1999, the
Government established a policy whereby blind and wheelchair-bound
persons would receive a disability allowance. According to the Ghana
Union of Physically Disabled Workers, approximately 60 persons of
persons with disabilities were denied this allowance and the main
offender was the GES.
There were multiple government agencies involved in addressing
discrimination against persons with disabilities, including the
Ministry of Health, the Department of Social Welfare, and the Ministry
of Education.
With international donor funding, the Ghana Association for the
Blind and the Electoral Commission provided tactile ballots and poll
worker training to enable visually impaired citizens to vote in
presidential and parliamentary elections in December.
A man with disabilities in the Brong Ahafo Region was reelected to
Parliament in the December national elections.
During the year, the Mental Health Law was under review for the
first time in 32 years. The Ministry of Health and the World Health
Organization collaborated to identify areas of the law that need
revision and create a strategy for implementing a new law.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although the Government played
down the importance of ethnic differences, its opponents have
complained that the Government is dominated by Ashantis and other Akans
at the expense of Ewes and northerners. The President and some of his
ministers and close advisors were Ashanti, but the Vice President and
many ministers were of other ethnic origins.
Following the December national elections, there were reports of
some ethnically motivated taunting in the Central Region. Some NDC
supporters allegedly harassed Fantes (an ethnic group prominent in the
region) for not voting for the NDC's candidate, who came from the
Central Region and was himself a Fante.
Efforts by NGOs to encourage reconciliation continued during the
year; however, there were several violent confrontations within ethnic
groups related to chieftancy issues, particularly involving succession
and land. The trial of four persons charged with rioting, conspiracy,
attempted murder, and murder from an August 2003 clash in Brekusu,
Eastern Region, was ongoing at year's end.
The state of emergency that was enforced following the 2002 clashes
between rival factors of royal families in Yendi, Northern Region, was
lifted on August 18. A three-person team of traditional leaders,
appointed by the President, and several local NGOs, continued to
conduct various peace-building and reconciliation activities between
the factions, which led to progress in reducing tensions.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The law is
discriminatory toward homosexuals, and homosexuality is criminalized in
the country. There is a minimum misdemeanor charge for homosexual
activity, and homosexual men often are subjected to abuse in prison. In
May, the Acting Commissioner for CHRAJ publicly suggested that the
Government consider decriminalizing homosexuality to conform to
international standards of human rights. Homosexuality was socially
taboo in the country, and many persons continued to erroneously link
the prevalence of HIV/AIDS only with a homosexual orientation.
Discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS was a problem,
and the fear of being stigmatized continued to discourage persons from
being tested. In April, the Inspector General of Police publicly urged
all police officers to be tested voluntarily through a free service
available to the police. During the year, several key government
representatives publicly denounced discrimination against persons
living with HIV/AIDS. The Cabinet approved a policy to protect persons
living with HIV/AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom
of association, and workers exercised this right in practice. The
percentage of workers belonging to unions appeared to be decreasing as
more of the workforce entered the informal sector where there was no
union activity. The Ministry of Employment and Manpower Development
estimated that 80 percent of the work force was employed in the
informal sector, and the number was expected to increase.
In the past, all unions had to be affiliated with the Trade Union
Congress (TUC). Under the 2003 labor law, unions, may operate
independently of the TUC, and several groups have established
independent unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
protects workers from employer interference and their right to organize
and administer their unions and workers exercised this right in
practice. The law also provides a framework for collective bargaining,
and trade unions engaged in collective bargaining for wages and
benefits for both private and state-owned enterprises without
government interference. However, the Government, labor, and employers
negotiated together to set the daily minimum wage through a National
Tripartite Committee. The labor law, enacted in late 2003, gives the
Committee a formal role to determine and set the national daily wage,
consult on matters of social and economic importance, and advise on
employment and labor market issues.
The 2003 legislation repealed a law restricting the right to
bargain collectively to only those groups that apply for a Collective
Bargaining Certificate through the TUC, essentially giving the TUC a
monopoly and breaching the right to establish and choose organizations.
The 2003 law allows any trade union to apply for a Collective
Bargaining Certificate through the Chief Labor Officer; however, the
Chief Labor Officer grants a Collective Bargaining Certificate only to
the union that represents the majority of workers at a given company.
The law recognizes the right to strike; however, the 2003 labor law
restricts that right for workers who provide essential services. The
Minister of Manpower Development and Employment had not formally
designated the list of essential services by the year's end. The right
to strike can also be restricted for workers in private enterprise
whose services were deemed essential to the survival of the enterprise
by a union and an employer. A union may call a legal strike if parties
fail to agree to refer the dispute to voluntary arbitration or if the
dispute remains unresolved at the end of arbitration proceedings. No
union has ever gone through the complete dispute resolution process,
and there were numerous unsanctioned strike actions during the year.
There have been no legal strikes since independence.
There is legislation authorizing export processing zones (EPZs),
and a few EPZs are in operation. Existing labor law applies in any EPZ,
including the right to organize.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and
6.d.).
The 2003 labor law provides for fines to employers found guilty of
forced labor; however, by year's end, the law had not been used. During
the year, the ILO continued to urge the Government to revise various
legal provisions that permitted imprisonment with an obligation to
perform labor for offenses that were not allowed under ILO Convention
105.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law sets a minimum employment age of 15 years and prohibits night work
and certain types of hazardous labor for those under 18 years of age;
however, child labor was a serious problem in the informal sector. The
Children's Act establishes a minimum age for employment, prohibits
night work and hazardous labor, and provides for fines and imprisonment
for violators. In addition, the legislation allows for children age 15
years and above to have an apprenticeship whereby the craftsmen and
employers have the obligation to provide a safe and healthy work
environment along with training and tools. However, child labor laws
were not enforced effectively or consistently, and law enforcement
officials, including judges, police, and labor officials, often were
unfamiliar with the provisions of the law protecting children.
Observance of minimum age laws was eroded by local custom and economic
circumstances that encouraged children to work to help support their
families.
An ILO/IPEC-Ghana Statistical Service survey of child labor
released in 2003 found that 2.47 million children were engaged in some
economic activity, and 64.3 percent of those children attended school.
Of those children engaged in economic activity, 1.27 million children
were found to be engaged in child labor as defined by age and hazardous
working conditions. Children as young as 7 years worked as domestic
laborers, porters, hawkers, miners, quarry workers, fare collectors,
and in agriculture. The fishing industry on Lake Volta had a
particularly high number of child laborers engaged in potentially
hazardous work, such as deep diving. According to an ILO
representative, child labor in the tourism industry also increased.
Child laborers were poorly paid and subjected to physical abuse; they
received little or no health care and generally did not attend school.
According to government labor officials and the Ghana Employers
Association, child labor problems did not exist in the formal labor
sector because the formal sector was better regulated.
The law prohibits forced and compulsory labor performed by
children; however, during the year, children were reportedly sold,
leased, or given away by parents to work in agriculture, fishing
villages, quarry mines, shops, or homes. It was difficult to determine
the extent to which forced and bonded labor by children was practiced.
Some children were connected to Trokosi shrines, although the practice
has declined in recent years (see Sections 5).
There were newspaper reports of children being sold into various
forms of involuntary servitude for either sexual exploitation or labor,
such as 10- to 12-year-old boys working for fisherman in exchange for a
yearly remittance to their families. The practice often involved the
consent of their generally impoverished parents. Reliable data was not
available on the number of children who were working in fishing
villages along Lake Volta; nevertheless, NGOs who worked on this issue
estimated the number to be well into the thousands (see Section 5).
Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare are
responsible for enforcement of child labor regulations, and district
labor officers and the Social Services sub-committees of District
Assemblies are charged with seeing that the relevant provisions of the
law are observed. They visited each workplace annually and made spot
checks whenever they received allegations of violations. All law
enforcement and judicial authorities in the country were hampered by
severe resource constraints and a lack of public awareness about the
problem.
When Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment inspectors
found infractions of child labor laws during their routine monitoring
of companies' labor practices, they generally informed the employers
about the provisions of the law and asked them to make changes. There
were no prosecutions for child labor resulting from these inspections.
Officials only occasionally punished violators of regulations that
prohibited heavy labor and night work for children. In addition, the
inspectors' efforts were concentrated only in the formal sector, which
was not where most child labor was performed.
ILO/IPEC, government representatives, the TUC, the media,
international organizations, and NGOs continued to build upon the 2001-
02 ``National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Child Labor in
Ghana,'' by increasing institutional capacity to combat child labor.
Education and sensitization workshops were conducted with police, labor
inspectors, local governments, and communities. Forums were held
throughout the country to develop and implement an ILO/IPEC Time-Bound
Program, which aimed to eliminate all forms of child labor under
specified time periods and benchmarks.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A National Tripartite Commission
composed of representatives of the Government, labor, and employers set
daily minimum wages. In April, after lobbying by trade unions, the
Tripartite Commission raised the daily minimum wage to $1.20 (11,200
cedis), which did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family. Furthermore, there was widespread violation of the minimum
wage law. In most cases, households had multiple wage earners, and
family members engaged in some family farming or other family-based
commercial activities.
The law sets the maximum workweek at 40 hours, with one break of at
least 48 consecutive hours every 7 days. The Government compensated
extra duty hours only for overtime actually worked, in accordance with
labor equity, rather than as an automatic salary supplement.
Occupational safety and health regulations exist, and the Labor
Department of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare occasionally
imposed sanctions on violators. However, safety inspectors were few and
poorly trained. They took action if matters were called to their
attention but lacked the resources to seek out violations. Workers have
the right to withdraw themselves from dangerous work situations without
jeopardy to continued employment, although they rarely exercised this
right.
__________
GUINEA
Guinea is a constitutional republic in which effective power is
concentrated in a strong presidency. President Lansana Conte has ruled
since 1984, first as head of a military junta and, since 1994, as a
civilian president. Despite openly acknowledged health problems, the
President ran for re-election in December 2003, winning against a
candidate who was virtually unknown. All major opposition parties
boycotted the election due to questions over the fairness of the
electoral system. The election was peaceful although turnout was lower
than previous presidential elections, despite government claims of a
high participation rate. The country's second legislative election,
originally scheduled for 1999, was held in 2002. President Conte's
Party of Unity and Progress (PUP) and associated parties won 91 of the
114 seats; the majority of the opposition boycotted the election. An
increasingly disproportionate number of appointed public sector
positions, including senior military and cabinet posts, were held by
members of the President's own minority ethnic Soussou group, even
after a major post-election cabinet shuffle in February. The judiciary
was subject to executive influence, particularly in politically
sensitive cases.
The Gendarmerie, a part of the Ministry of Defense, and the
national police, under the Ministry of Security, share responsibility
for internal security and sometimes played an oppressive role in the
daily lives of citizens. The Presidential Guard, or Red Berets, are
accountable to virtually no one except the President. There was no
effective civilian control of the security forces. Some members
committed serious human rights abuses.
The country's economy is largely market-based, although the
Government intervenes to control prices of sensitive commodities such
as rice and fuel. Approximately 85 percent of the country's population
of 9.2 million was engaged in subsistence agriculture. Economic growth
stagnated during the year as foreign aid declined. The cost of living,
including the rising price of staple foods and of transportation fuels
as well as frequent and severe power blackouts and water shortages has
led to increased hardship for a majority of citizens. Wages have not
kept pace with the rising inflation rate; food prices have risen by 30
percent. The Government, which had enforced a fuel price cap, raised
fuel prices by 66 percent in August. Government collaboration with
donors was jeopardized by an increasing debt burden, deficit,
widespread corruption, particularly at the port and customs offices;
and limited transparency in the Government, which blocked efforts at
economic and fiscal reform.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements in several areas, serious problems remained. The
Government's tight control of the electoral process, its refusal to
create an independent electoral oversight mechanism, and its
prohibition of nongovernmental broadcast media effectively restricted
citizens' right to change their government. There were four unlawful
killings by security forces during the year. Civilian and military
security forces beat and otherwise abused civilians, often with
impunity. Prison conditions were inhumane and life threatening.
Arbitrary arrest and prolonged pretrial detention were problems. The
Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The Government
restricted freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and association and
infringed on freedom of movement. Violence and societal discrimination
against women, prostitution of young girls, female genital mutilation
(FGM), ethnic discrimination, child labor, and reports of trafficking
of women and children continued.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings by the Government or its agents; however, security
forces killed several persons during the year, and there were reports
of deaths in custody due to torture, abuse, and neglect. There were
four confirmed reports that security forces killed persons during the
year.
In February, security forces beat to death a man detained for
burglary.
In May, policemen shot and killed two taxi drivers. One victim
refused to pull over for a routine traffic check; the other overtook
and passed a policeman in traffic. No charges were filed against these
policemen.
In October, the Anti-Gang Brigade shot and killed a man who
verbally objected to his neighbor's arrest.
Police killed one person with a stray bullet during a demonstration
(see Section 2.b.).
At year's end, there was no information available on the trial of
the gendarme arrested for killing a man in Donka.
There were no developments in the April 2003 police killing of a
man in Yimbaya.
There were no developments in the reported 2002 killings by
security forces.
Government authorities continued to block efforts by human rights
groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to investigate
political killings that took place in the 1970s under then-President
Sekou Toure.
Many victims of crime feared that they might never receive justice
because of judicial corruption and at times resorted to exacting their
own form of retribution through vigilante violence. Although there were
no reports during the year that suspected criminals were beaten or
burned to death in public executions, a group burned down the house of
a policeman who killed a man attempting to defend a neighbor (see
Section 1.c.).
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Penal Code and the Constitution prohibit torture and
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; however, both civilian and
military security forces beat and otherwise abused civilians. There
also were reports that security forces used torture and beatings to
extract confessions and employed other forms of brutality, including
holding prisoners incommunicado without charges under inhumane
conditions. There were no developments or investigations conducted in
the June 2003 cases of extortion by the Anti-Criminal Brigade in
Kamsar.
Police injured several persons while using force to disperse
demonstrations during the year (see Section 2.b.).
There were no developments in the May 2003 police shooting of a man
in Conakry; the June 2003 police beating of two men in Ratoma; or the
July 2003 police beating of four persons in Gonomanota.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that authorities
stopped refugees and searched them for signs that they were dissidents.
No action was taken against security forces responsible for abusing
refugees in 2003 or 2002.
Prison conditions were inhumane and life threatening. Neglect,
mismanagement, and lack of resources were prevalent. The basic diet for
prisoners was inadequate, and most inmates relied on supplemental
assistance from families or friends to maintain their health. Guards
often demanded bribes in exchange for allowing delivery of food to
those incarcerated. During the year, an NGO cited cases of dangerously
low body weight and initiated a program to improve the health of
critically malnourished inmates.
Standards of sanitation remained poor, which resulted in several
dozen deaths due to malnutrition and disease in previous years. During
the year, there were two confirmed reports of deaths of prisoners due
to lack of medical attention. Some prisoners reported sleeping on their
knees because their cells were so small. Prisoners reported threats,
beatings, and harassment by guards, and some reported being denied food
and a place to lie down. Some prisoners wielded more power than the
guards, offering more sanitary cells and conditions to new prisoners
who were able to pay.
Conditions in the N'Zerekore prison improved in 2003. The prison
was built in 1932 to house 70 prisoners and housed 155 prisoners during
the year. Installation of indoor plumbing and better ventilation
improved overall conditions for prisoners in 2003; however, no
improvements in the prisons were noted during the year. Men and women
were housed separately, but juveniles generally were housed with
adults, and first-time offenders were not separated from common
criminals. There were credible reports from prisoners that female
inmates were subjected to harassment and sexual assault by guards.
Pretrial detainees were not separated from convicted prisoners, and the
prison system often was unable to track pretrial detainees after
arrest. Prisoners of political importance usually were held in the main
prison in Conakry with the general prison population; however, they
were housed in separate cells.
The Government permitted prison visits by the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other local humanitarian and
religious organizations, which offered medical care and food for those
in severe need. The ICRC reported that it was allowed regular access to
all 33 official detention facilities and 2,500 prisoners during the
year. The ICRC continued to initiate partnership programs with prison
and security authorities to improve prison conditions. A former
prisoner reported that without this assistance, those who did not have
families or friends would have starved to death.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces regularly used
arbitrary arrest and detention.
The Code of Penal Procedure permits only the Gendarmerie to make
arrests, but the army, the Presidential Guard (Red Berets), and the
state police often detained persons as well. In addition, a quasi-
police unit, called the Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC), was formed in 2002 to
fight criminal gangs and bandits. BAC units began in Conakry and were
being extended to other prefectures. In practice, administrative
controls over the police were ineffective, and security forces rarely
followed the Penal Code. There were no reported judicial proceedings
against officers suspected of committing abuses. Many citizens viewed
the security forces as corrupt, ineffective, and even dangerous. Police
ignored legal procedures and extorted money from citizens at roadblocks
(see Section 2.d.).
The Penal Code stipulates that the arrest of persons in their home
is illegal between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.; nevertheless, midnight arrests
took place. The Penal Code also requires that the Government issue a
warrant before an arrest can be made and that detainees be charged
before a magistrate within 72 hours; however, many detainees were
incarcerated for longer periods before being charged. After being
charged, the accused may be held until the conclusion of the case,
including a period of appeal. The Constitution proscribes incommunicado
detention; however, at times it occurred in practice. The law provides
for access by attorneys to their clients, but authorities frequently
did not respect this provision. Release on bail was at the discretion
of the magistrate who had jurisdiction. The Penal Code strictly forbids
the detention of civilians at military camps, but such detentions
occurred.
Police detained opposition members several times during the year.
For example, in March, authorities prevented former mayor and prominent
member of the Union of Democratic Forces (UFR) opposition party Rougui
Barry from leaving the country. Police detained and jailed Barry, along
with another UFR member and an army officer. Police claimed the three
were involved in efforts to subvert the Government. Charges against the
two of the accused were later dismissed, while the legal situation for
the army officer remained unclear at year's end.
In April, police arrested three members of the Union for Guinea's
Progress (UPR) opposition party on unspecified charges.
On April 25, UFR opposition President and former Prime Minister
Toure was detained for 1 night and then released for plotting against
the Government; charges were dismissed on July 22. When charges against
him were dropped, all freedom of speech and movement restrictions were
dropped.
In November 2003, gendarmes detained an unknown number of active
and ex-military personnel for unspecified reasons. Several, including
the son of the former head of the National Assembly, were released in
December 2003, although others continued to be detained. Unlike in
previous years, there were no reports that the army or gendarmerie
detained refugees during the year.
Prolonged pretrial detention was a problem. At times, detainees
remained in prison for up to 2 years without trial.
On October 25, 12 military officers who were accused of a military
coup in December 2003 and were held in military prison for 10 months
without trial and access to lawyers were released. During their stay in
prison, they reportedly slept on the ground and on straw mat or rags.
In October 12 political detainees--2 military officers and 10
civilians--who were held without trial in a military prison on
suspicion of plotting a coup in December 2003 were released on
probation after their families petitioned the Government in September
requesting the prisoners' immediate release.
Bar Association attorneys, the independent press, and government
sources described a parallel and covert system of justice run by
unidentified uniformed personnel who conducted midnight arrests,
detained suspects, and used torture in secret prisons to obtain
confessions before transferring detainees to prosecutors (see Section
1.c.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for the
judiciary's independence; however, judicial authorities routinely
deferred to executive authorities in politically sensitive cases.
Magistrates were civil servants with no assurance of tenure. Because of
corruption and nepotism in the judiciary, relatives of influential
members of the Government often were, in effect, above the law. Judges
often did not act independently, and their verdicts were subject to
outside interference.
The judiciary includes courts of first instance, the two Courts of
Appeal, and the Supreme Court, which is the court of final appeal. In
practice, the two Courts of Appeal for Kankan and Conakry that handle
serious crimes barely functioned due to lack of resources and
organizational problems, and many prisoners were detained for lengthy
periods without trial (see Section 1.d.). A military tribunal prepares
and adjudicates charges against accused military personnel, to whom the
Penal Code does not apply. Civilians were not subject to military
tribunals.
The State Security Court is comprised of magistrates directly
appointed by the President, and the verdict is open to appeal only on a
point of law, not for the re-examination of evidence.
The judicial system was plagued by numerous problems, including a
shortage of qualified lawyers and magistrates and an outdated and
restrictive penal code. The Penal Code provides for the presumption of
innocence of accused persons, the independence of judges, the equality
of citizens before the law, the right of the accused to counsel, and
the right to appeal a judicial decision; however, these rights were not
consistently observed in practice. Although in principle the Government
is responsible for funding legal defense costs in serious criminal
cases, in practice it rarely disbursed funds for this purpose. The
attorney for the defense frequently received no payment.
Many citizens wary of judicial corruption preferred to rely on
traditional systems of justice at the village or urban neighborhood
level. Litigants presented their civil cases before a village chief, a
neighborhood leader, or a council of ``wise men.'' The dividing line
between the formal and informal justice systems was vague, and
authorities may refer a case from the formal to the traditional system
to ensure compliance by all parties. Similarly, if a case cannot be
resolved to the satisfaction of all parties in the traditional system,
it may be referred to the formal system for adjudication. The
traditional system discriminated against women in that evidence given
by women carried less weight (see Section 5).
During the year, there were political prisoners held in connection
with the December 2003 coup plotting. On October 12, military officers
had their first appearance before the First Instance Court of Conakry
on charges of plotting to overthrow the President in December 2003.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides for the inviolability of the
home, and the law requires judicial search warrants; however, police
and paramilitary police often ignored legal procedures in the pursuit
of criminals. Unlike in previous years, the degree to which police and
the military detained persons at nighttime roadblocks for purposes of
security but also to extort money or goods declined (see Section 2.d.).
Security officials were widely believed to monitor the mail. Local
businesses, including foreign companies, often complained of
intimidation and harassment by public officials and authorities.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of expression, subject to certain limitations; however, despite
government statements in support of free speech and a free press, the
Government broadly restricted these rights. The Government prohibited
talk or chants in public that it considered seditious; established
defamation and slander as criminal offenses; and prohibited
communications that insulted the President, incited violence,
discrimination, or hatred, or disturbed the public peace. Sanctions
include fines, revocation of press cards, imprisonment, and banishment.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not detain persons
for criticizing the President, although in March, a journalist was
detained briefly for publishing a photograph of the President looking
thin and leaning on an aide.
The Government published an official newspaper, the daily Horoya,
and operated the official television and radio stations. The state-
owned media provided extensive and favorable coverage of the Government
and ruling party, while providing little coverage of opposition party
activities. Journalists for the official press practiced self-
censorship and avoided reporting on politically controversial issues.
There was a vocal private press that openly criticized the
President and the Government. For example, the weekly satirical
newspaper Le Lynx published front-page cartoons lampooning the
President and senior government officials. Ten private newspapers were
published weekly in Conakry, and up to 10 other publications appeared
sporadically, although technical difficulties and high operating costs
impeded regular publication. One newspaper, L'Espoir, was affiliated
with the governing political party, and several other newspapers openly
supported opposition parties. Other newspapers offered news and
criticism of both the Government and the opposition. Foreign
publications, some of which criticized the Government on a regular
basis, were available. Despite the limited reach of the print media due
to low literary rates and high prices of newspapers, the Government
continued to occasionally criticize and harass print journalists.
The Government owned and operated all domestic broadcast media
including radio, which was the most important source of information for
the public. Although the law permits private electronic media, the
Government has never approved license requests for private radio and
television stations, on the grounds of national security. Many citizens
listened regularly to foreign-origin short-wave radio. The Government
did not restrict access to or distribution of foreign television
programming via satellite or cable; however, relatively few citizens
could afford these services.
In May, the Ministry of Local Government refused to allow the
magazine Jeune Afrique L'intelligent permission to distribute the May
2-8 edition. Some observers believe the Government banned it because it
featured an article about the country's recently resigned Prime
Minister. It also banned the sale of the May 9-15 edition of the
magazine, which featured a story about the President's efforts to
persuade the Prime Minster to return to his position.
During the year, the National Communications Council (CNC)
suspended the newspapers L'oeil and the L'economiste, for defamation
and false information. The newspapers have since resumed publication.
In November, the CNC also seized Le Quotidien, a privately owned daily
newspaper. The CNC ruled that an article violated ethics and rules for
professional journalism established by law and ``threatened the peace
and tranquility.''
In September, the Minister of Security seized a weekly publication,
Le Petit Matin, following an article that criticized him. The Minister
claimed the paper had no license; however, the publishers insisted that
their license was current.
The Ministry of Security has no jurisdiction over publication
issues. Le Quotidien resumed publication at year's end.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
The Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research
exercised limited control over academic freedom through its influence
on faculty hiring and control over the curriculum. In general, teachers
were not subject to classroom censorship.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law restricts
freedom of assembly, and the Government exercised its power to restrict
unwanted political activity. The Penal Code bans any meeting that has
an ethnic or racial character or any gathering ``whose nature threatens
national unity.'' The Government requires a 72-hour advance
notification of public gatherings; otherwise, the events are considered
illegal. In July 2003, the Government notified all political parties
that their leadership was required to provide advance notification of
their attendance at funerals, weddings, or any other gathering with a
large number of citizens; this was enforced during the year.
The Government continued to enforce a 2003 ban that prohibits all
street marches except funerals. The law permits local authorities to
cancel a demonstration or meeting if they believe it poses a threat to
public order. They may hold event organizers criminally liable if
violence or destruction of property ensues. The Governor of Conakry
requires written permission from his office for public meetings of all
associations, NGOs, groups, cooperatives, and political parties, and
the requirement continued to be enforced during the year.
In August, the Government cancelled the public celebration of a
holiday celebrating a market women's revolt in 1977 and denied the
marching permit for the event.
During the year, the country experienced several demonstrations to
protest rising food prices, some of which were broken up by force. For
example, on September 13 and 14, students at the Agricultural College
in Faranah boycotted classes to demand better living conditions and
protest the rising cost of food. Police and the BAC beat demonstrators
and used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. Military forces held
135 students at an army base. An NGO negotiated their release. The
school was closed for 1 month by school authorities in conjunction with
the Ministry of Higher Education. Five students were expelled
permanently.
On September 18, police used tear gas to break up groups traveling
on foot to a rally called by an opposition party, Union of Democratic
Forces in Guinea (UDFG), to protest the rising cost of food. The
Government permitted the UDFG to rally at a stadium; however, a request
for a street demonstration was not granted. It was unclear whether the
group tried to march in defiance of the Government, or whether several
supporters were walking to the stadium.
In November, elected student representatives staged a strike at the
University of Conakry to protest the Government's decision to eliminate
dormitories. The Gendarmarie and the BAC were called to restore order.
Twenty-one students were arrested and released after 4 days.
On November 2, residents in the town of Pita rioted to protest the
increase in electricity prices. Police killed one youth with a stray
bullet and injured several persons in an attempt to stop the unrest.
Reportedly, employees of the electric company going from house to house
with the latest electric bills fueled the unrest.
On December 29 and 30, workers of foreign-owned bauxite mines
staged a protest in Fria, demanding unpaid salaries. One man died when
police opened fire on the demonstration.
The law provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government restricted this right in practice. The Government imposed
cumbersome requirements to obtain official recognition for public
social, cultural, religious, or political associations. Most of the
restrictions focused on political associations as opposed to
nonpolitical associations. For example, political parties had to
provide information on their founding members and produce internal
statutes and political platforms consistent with the Constitution
before the Government recognized them.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion and permits religious communities to govern themselves without
state interference, and the Government generally respected these rights
in practice.
The Government requires that all recognized Christian churches join
the Association of Churches and Missions to benefit from certain
government privileges, such as tax exemptions and energy subsidies.
The Ministry of the National Islamic League, formerly the National
Islamic League, represented the country's Sunni Muslim majority, which
comprised 85 percent of the population. Government support of the
powerful, now official Ministry of the National Islamic League led some
non-Muslims to complain that the Government used its influence to favor
Muslims over non-Muslims, although non-Muslims were represented in the
Cabinet, administrative bureaucracy, and the armed forces. The
Government refrained from appointing non Muslims to important
administrative positions in certain parts of the country in deference
to the particularly strong social dominance of Islam in these regions.
Missionary groups were required to make a declaration of their aims
and activities to the Ministry of Interior or to the Ministry of the
National Islamic League.
Relations among the various religions generally were amicable;
however, in some parts of the country, Islam's dominance was such that
there was strong social pressure that discouraged non Muslims from
practicing their religion openly.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides citizens with
the right to travel freely within the country and to change their place
of residence and work; however, authorities at times infringed on these
rights. The Government requires all citizens to carry national
identification cards, which they must present on demand at security
checkpoints. To a lesser extent than in previous years, police and
security forces detained persons--particularly late at night, at
military roadblocks and extorted money from them. The private press and
local NGOs reported that travelers often were pressured to pay bribes
to allow passage. Some roadblocks remained on Conakry's outskirts,
rural areas, and in the Forest Region close to international borders.
Government officials stated that a few rogue soldiers were corrupt;
however, abuse at official checkpoints was systemic.
In May, authorities banned Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea
opposition party leader Ba Mamadou from leaving the country.
Authorities accused him of plotting a coup. The travel ban was lifted
several months later.
The Constitution does not prohibit forced exile; however, the
Government did not practice forced exile. Several soldiers who fled the
country in 1996 after a mutiny attempt remained in self-imposed exile,
according to their families.
During the year, U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) and
International Organization of Migration IOM and the Government
confirmed that all displaced persons have been reintegrated.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees of its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system of providing protection to refugees through an
advisor on Territorial Issues within the Ministry of Territorial
Administration. In practice, the Government did not always provide
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution, and did not always grant refugee status
or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the UNHCR and
other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum
seekers.
The border with Liberia was officially reopened during the year;
however, border authorities were warned to screen out possible rebels.
The Government continued to accept refugees during the year. There was
a pattern of accepting refugees from neighboring countries, such as
Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia, while denying access to any other nationals
suspected to be rebels. The border with Sierra Leone was no longer
closed; local, commercial, and personal travel between the countries
was permitted, and Sierra Leonean refugees residing in the country
officially were allowed to return to Sierra Leone both on their own and
under the auspices of the UNHCR.
The UNHCR stated that as of August, more than 78,000 refugees
received UNHCR assistance: 1,732 Sierra Leoneans, 3,822 Ivoirians, and
72,700 Liberians. Other refugees lived in Conakry or villages and towns
in the forest region. In November, the UNHCR repatriated 517 Liberians
refugees in 2 convoys; UNHCR considered repatriation of refugees from
Sierra Leone complete in July.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that refugees
were forced to pay bribes to get past checkpoints or that security
forces continued to arrest suspected rebels at the border as they tried
to enter the country. There also were no reports that security forces
searched and stripped refugees in public. There were no developments in
the 2003 case of refugees awaiting trial for attacking a UNHCR
official. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of
forcible recruitment of refugees by the Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) at camps in the country. During the
year, the relocation of refugees from Kouankan to camps near
Kissadougou that were farther from the Liberian border was officially
canceled.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 U.N. Convention or 1967
Protocol, and provided it to approximately 200 persons of different
West African nationalities during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for a popularly elected President and
National Assembly; however, the ability of citizens to exercise this
provision effectively was restricted. The Government tightly controlled
the electoral process, and there was no independent electoral oversight
mechanism.
The Government retained exclusive control of all registration and
election procedures, including the casting and counting of votes. The
Government controlled the 1998 multiparty presidential elections and
the multiparty legislative elections in 2002, limiting the opposition
to a subordinate role. The Constitution allows the President to run for
an unlimited number of terms; presidential terms are 7 years. There
were approximately 46 legally recognized political parties; deputies of
5 different parties were represented in the National Assembly.
Government employees are required to campaign for the ruling party in
each election.
In December 2003, President Conte was re elected to a third term in
a race boycotted by all major opposition parties due to concerns over
the electoral system. The President's only opposition was a relatively
unknown candidate previously allied with the ruling PUP party. The
election was peaceful with few reports of violence.
In June 2002, legislative elections were held, and observers judged
the results to be questionable due to a lack of transparency and
neutrality in the electoral process.
The President continued to hold the power to appoint the governors,
prefects, and their deputies to administer regions and subregions
respectively. Most of these officials were members of the PUP or of
parties allied with it. Local governments generally had limited
autonomy. Although they had some financial resources with which to fund
local programs, most of their funds were controlled by the central
Government.
Corruption was widespread in the executive and legislative branches
of government. The President had powers to overrule legislative
decisions and did so. Connection to the President or his powerful
associates sometimes conferred exemptions from taxes and other fiscal
obligations. Public funds were diverted to private use or to
illegitimate public uses, such as buying expensive vehicles for the use
of government workers. Land sales and business contracts lacked
transparency. The Government announced a reformulated Committee to
Combat Corruption within the Ministry of Economic and Financial
Control, but it was minimally active.
There is no law providing for access to information.
In August, the President dismissed 100 elected Conakry officials
from their posts; he was reportedly displeased with their corruption of
an emergency rice distribution program.
There were 20 female deputies in the 114-member National Assembly.
Five women held seats in the 26-member Cabinet: The Minister of
Commerce; the Minister of Tourism; the Minister of Social Affairs and
Promotion of Women; the Minister of Information; and the Minister of
Energy. There were few women at senior levels below minister, and there
were no women in the senior ranks of the armed forces. Women generally
played a minor role in the leadership of the major political parties;
however, in September the UPR opposition party elected Assiatou Bah,
the wife of the deceased former UPR leader Siradiou Diallo. The
opposition party Guinean People's Rally (RPG) named Fatou Bangoura to
the post of political secretary.
Members of the three main ethnic groups as well as all smaller
groups in the country (Gerze, Toma, Kisse, Koniake, and Mano) served in
the National Assembly. The Cabinet and armed forces leadership included
representatives of all major ethnic groups. However, a disproportionate
number of senior military officers were Soussou, the President's ethnic
group.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of local NGOs generally operated without government
restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human
rights cases. Government officials generally were cooperative and
responsive to their views; however, some local organizations alleged
that government officials tried to intimidate them, and that they often
met resistance when trying to investigate abuses or engage in civil
education. Various government officials continued to block private
efforts to memorialize victims of the Sekou Toure regime that ruled the
country from independence until 1984.
The Government cooperated with both the UNHCR and the ICRC. In June
2003, a report by a U.N. Security Council mission criticized the
Government for complicity in abuses of Liberian refugees through its
support of LURD rebels. LURD rebels were accused of forced recruitment
of Liberian refugees, as well as infiltration of refugee camps such as
Kouankan. Allegations that the Government was complicit with the LURD
continued during the year.
A human rights office within the Ministry of Defense, the Office of
International Humanitarian Rights, in conjunction with the ICRC,
conducted human rights seminars during the year to teach military
personnel about human rights recognized by international and regional
agreements.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law
regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, language, beliefs, political
opinions, philosophy, or creed; however, the Government did not enforce
these provisions uniformly.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was common, although
estimates differed as to the extent of the problem. Wife beating is a
criminal offense and constitutes grounds for divorce under civil law;
however, police rarely intervened in domestic disputes. Rape is a
criminal offense; however, social beliefs prevented most rape victims
from reporting incidents of rape. Several local NGOs were working to
increase public awareness of the nature of these crimes and to promote
increased reporting. The Government did not pursue vigorously criminal
investigations of alleged sexual crimes.
FGM was practiced widely in all regions and among all religious and
ethnic groups. FGM is illegal, and senior officials and both the
official and private press spoke against the practice; however, there
were no prosecutions. FGM was performed on girls and women between the
ages of 4 and 17, but exact figures on this procedure were difficult to
establish. The Coordinating Committee on Traditional Practices
Affecting Women's and Children's Health (CPTAFE), a local NGO dedicated
to eradicating FGM and ritual scarring, cited a continuing decline in
the percentage of women and girls subjected to FGM. The CPTAFE
estimated the figure to be between 60 and 65 percent. Infibulation, the
most dangerous form of FGM, was still performed in the Forest Region,
but less frequently than in previous years. Despite diseases resulting
from crude and unsanitary surgical instruments and deaths resulting
from the practice, the tradition continued, seriously affecting many
women's lives. FGM also increased the risk of HIV infection, since
unsterilized instruments were shared among participants.
The Government continued efforts to educate health workers on the
dangers of this procedure, and it supported the CPTAFE's efforts. The
CPTAFE reported high rates of infant mortality and maternal mortality
due to FGM. The Government continued its plan to eradicate FGM, and
government ministers, health officials, and the media discussed FGM
more frequently; however, there were no statistics evaluating the
success of the program.
A growing number of men and women opposed FGM. Urban, educated
families were opting increasingly to perform only a slight symbolic
incision on a girl's genitals rather than the complete procedure.
During the year, the CPTAFE held large public ceremonies celebrating
the ``laying down of the excision knife'' in which some traditional
practitioners of FGM pledged to discontinue the practice; however, most
of those who performed FGM opposed its eradication since the practice
was lucrative. CPTAFE stressed the health consequences, while
supporting the customary observance of the transition regarding
excision to womanhood through traditional dances and songs.
Nevertheless, in August, the Islamic League issued a sermon to all
mosques stating that FGM was a good thing and should be legalized.
Although the Government made regular statements in the media
against sexual harassment, women working in the formal sector in urban
areas complained of frequent sexual harassment.
The Constitution provides for equal treatment of men and women, and
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Women's Promotion worked to advance
such equality; however, women faced discrimination throughout society.
Women faced discrimination particularly in rural areas where
opportunities were limited by custom and the demands of childrearing
and subsistence farming. Women were not denied access to land, credit,
or businesses, but inheritance laws favor male heirs over females.
Government officials acknowledged that polygyny was a common practice.
Divorce laws generally tended to favor men in awarding custody and
dividing communal assets. Legal evidence given by women carries less
weight than testimony by men, in accordance with Islamic precepts and
stomary law. The Government affirmed the principle of equal pay for
equal work; however, in practice, women received lower pay than men.
There were increasing signs that conservative Islamic beliefs,
imported by students returning from educational sojourns in northern
African and Arabic countries, posed a threat to the traditionally
active role of women in society.
Children.--The Constitution provides that the Government should
support children's rights and welfare, and the Government allocated a
significant percentage of the budget to primary education; however, the
Government did not spend the allocated funds. The Minister of Youth was
charged by the President with defending women's and children's rights,
and a permanent committee dedicated to defending the rights of the
child, with members chosen from different ministries, NGOs, and other
sectors, continued to work.
The Government provided tuition free, compulsory primary school
education for 6 years; however, enrollment rates were low due to school
fees and lax enforcement of laws mandating school attendance.
Approximately 47 percent of all eligible students were enrolled in
primary school, including 66 percent of eligible boys compared with 37
percent of eligible girls. Girls often were taken out of school and
sent to work to help pay for their brothers' education.
FGM was performed commonly on girls (see Section 5, Women).
The legal age for marriage is 21 years for men and 17 years for
women; however, underage marriage was a problem. Parents contract
marriages for girls as young as 11 years of age in the Forest Region.
The CPTAFE, in conjunction with the Government, local journalists, and
international NGOs, continued to promote an education campaign to
discourage underage marriage and reported lower rates than in previous
years. According to CPTAFE, some families that sanctioned early
marriages nevertheless kept their married daughter in the family home
until she had at least completed secondary school.
There were reports that girls were trafficked for prostitution and
other labor (see Section 5, Trafficking.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were some reports of trafficking. The law carries a
penalty of 5 to 10 years imprisonment and confiscation of any money or
property received as a result of trafficking activities; however, some
NGOs reported that women and children were trafficked within the
country, as well as internationally, for the sex trade and illegal
labor. Trafficking in persons from rural areas to urban centers
increasingly was recognized as a problem. Accurate statistics were
difficult to obtain, because victims did not report the crime fear for
their personal safety.
A UNICEF official reported in 2003 that trafficking in children was
common in the country. In August, persons involved in a Sierra Leonean
child trafficking ring were apprehended, and an investigation was
ongoing by Stat-View International at year's end. NGOs claimed that the
country was frequently a transit route for a West African trafficking
network, and children were then sent to destinations in Europe.
During the year, authorities discovered seven Malian girls who were
brought to the country to work for a trafficking ring based in Conakry.
The girls were found when police investigated a traffic accident. Some
journalists alleged that the traffickers had ties to individuals in the
Government.
In 2001, the Children's Protection Division and UNICEF reported
that trafficking of children was a problem among the Sierra Leonean and
Liberian refugee populations in the prefectures of Guekedou, Macenta,
N'Zerekore, and Forecariah; girls were exploited for domestic labor,
and boys were exploited as street sellers and agricultural workers. The
International Rescue Committee and UNICEF reported that children living
in foster families often did not receive adequate food, shelter, and
clothing, and were compelled to work in the streets, sometimes as
prostitutes, for their subsistence.
Girls under the age of 14 were involved in prostitution. The
Government did not take action when prostitution of minors was brought
to its attention, and it did not monitor actively child or adult
prostitution.
Several government agencies, particularly the Ministry of Social
Affairs and the Promotion of Women and Children, were involved in
antitrafficking efforts. The Ministry of Social Affairs headed a
committee of several government ministries that was formed during the
year to increase coordination and communication on child trafficking
problems.
Persons With Disabilities.--There are no special constitutional
provisions for persons with disabilities. The Government has not
mandated accessibility for persons with disabilities, and few persons
with disabilities worked, although some developed opportunities in the
informal sector in small family-run businesses. Persons with
disabilities did not face social or governmental discrimination.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's population was
ethnically and regionally diverse, and no single ethnic group
constituted a majority nationwide. The largest ethnic groups were the
Puhlar, also called Peuhl or Fulani (approximately 40 percent of the
population), the Malinke (approximately 30 percent), and the Soussou
(approximately 20 percent). Each group spoke a distinct primary
language and was concentrated in a distinct region: The Soussou in
lower Guinea; the Peuhl in middle Guinea; and the Malinke in upper
Guinea.
While the Constitution and the Penal Code prohibit racial or ethnic
discrimination, ethnic identification was strong.
Mutual suspicion, both inside and outside the Government, affected
relations across ethnic lines. Widespread societal ethnic
discrimination by members of all major ethnic groups was evident in
private sector hiring patterns, in the ethnic segregation of urban
neighborhoods, and in the relatively low levels of interethnic
marriage. The proportion of public sector positions occupied by
Soussous, particularly at senior levels, was widely perceived as
exceeding their share of the national population.
The ruling PUP party, although generally supported by Soussous,
transcended ethnic boundaries more effectively than the major
opposition parties, which have readily identifiable ethnic and regional
bases; the UPR's main base are the Peuhls, while the RPG's main base
are the Malinke. Soussou preeminence in the public sector and Malinke
migration into the traditional homelands of smaller ethnic groups in
the Forest Region were major sources of political tensions that
sometimes have erupted into violence.
On June 16, in N'Zerekore, a Guerze youth on a motorcycle collided
with a crowd leaving a mosque, causing ethnic fighting between
predominantly Christian Guerze and predominantly Malinke groups. The
Government, which declared a ban on large gatherings and a curfew to
lesson tensions, temporarily detained over 200 persons.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There have been reports
that various hospitals in the country have refused to treat patients
with AIDS; hospital workers fear contracting the disease.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of employees to form and join independent labor unions, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. The Labor Code
requires elected worker representatives for any enterprise employing 25
or more salaried workers. Approximately 160,000 workers were reported
as unionized, although inadequate labor statistics made it difficult to
estimate the exact percentage of workers in unions. Approximately
52,000 were government workers and thus automatically members of the
government union. The rest were engaged in private, mixed, and informal
sectors. The largest independent union, Union of Workers of Guinea,
claimed 66,000 members, 20,000 of which were women. Union delegates
represented individual and collective claims and grievances with
management.
The Labor Code prohibits military and paramilitary personnel from
creating or participating in unions.
The Constitution and Labor Code also prohibit antiunion
discrimination; however, at regional and prefecture levels, unionized
labor faced strong opposition from government officials. Union
officials were selected on the basis of nepotism and patronage; these
individuals were not sensitized to the rights of workers and often
viewed unions as an enemy of the Government. As a result, union
activities in the interior of the country faced harassment and
interference from many governors and prefects. Union activities in
Conakry faced less harassment and interference. Individual workers
threatened with dismissal or other sanctions had the right to a hearing
before management with a union representative present and, if
necessary, to take the complaint to the Conakry Labor Court, which
convened weekly to hear such cases. In the interior, civil courts heard
labor cases.
The Government continued to pay the travel and lodging expenses of
National Confederation of Guinean Workers representatives to
International Labor Organization (ILO) conferences. Other independent
unions had to fund their own attendance at ILO conferences.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Under the Labor
Code, representative workers' unions or union groups may organize in
the workplace and negotiate with employers or employer organizations,
and workers exercised this right in practice. The law protects the
right to bargain collectively concerning wages and salaries without
government interference. Employers established rules and hours of work
in consultation with union delegates. There are no export processing
zones.
The Labor Code grants salaried workers, including public sector
civilian employees, the right to strike 10 days after their
representative union makes known its intention to strike; strikes were
sometimes met with intimidation from security forces and, as a result,
often did not take place. The law prohibits strikes in sectors
providing ``essential services,'' which include hospitals, radio and
television, army, police, communications, and transport services.
On September 24, hundreds of former employees of the government-
owned railway company staged a demonstration in Conakry to protest the
bouncing of their long-awaited paychecks. The railway company
reportedly has owed money to 187 former railway pensioners for 14
years. Demonstrators stated that the World Bank provided the Government
with the money to pay the arrears. Police arrested nine persons, who
were held for 1 day and released.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Code
specifically prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by
children; however, there were reports that such practices occurred (see
Sections 5 and 6.d.).
The law prohibits the exploitation of vulnerable persons for unpaid
or underpaid labor. Violations carried a penalty of 6 months to 5
years' imprisonment and a fine of approximately $25 to $150 (50,000 to
382,500 GF francs). Submitting a vulnerable or dependent person to
inhumane working or living conditions carries a sentence of 1 month to
5 years' imprisonment and a fine of approximately $25 to $250 (50,000
to 500,000 GF francs). The Government did not enforce these provisions
of the law in practice.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code has specific policies that pertain to child labor; however,
child labor was a serious problem. According to the Labor Code, the
minimum age for employment is 16 years. Apprentices may start to work
at 14 years of age. Workers and apprentices under the age of 18 were
not permitted to work at night, for more than 10 consecutive hours, or
on Sundays. The Labor Code also stipulates that the Minister of Labor
and Social Affairs must maintain a list of occupations in which women
and youth under the age of 18 cannot be employed. In practice,
enforcement by ministry inspectors was limited to large firms in the
modern sector of the economy. Overall, approximately 48 percent of
children under age 15 were employed, accounting for approximately 20
percent of the total working population and 26 percent of agricultural
workers. Child labor in factories was not prevalent because of the low
level of manufacturing. Working children were mostly in the informal
sector areas of subsistence farming, and small-scale commerce and
mining. Girls as young as age 14, engaged in prostitution (see Section
5).
Many young Muslim children sent to live with a Koranic master for
instruction in Arabic, Islam, and the Koran worked for the teacher as
payment. Children often were sent from rural areas to Conakry to live
with family members while they attended school. However, if the host
family was unwilling or unable to pay school fees, the children sold
water or shined shoes on the streets, and the host family took the
money in exchange for their room and board or simply used the child as
a cheap source of domestic labor (see Section 5).
The worst forms of child labor were found in the artisanal mining
sector, where children hauled granite and sand for little or no money.
There were reports that forced and compulsory child labor occurred
(see Section 5).
The Government has spoken out against child labor, but it lacked
the resources, enforcement mechanisms, and the legislative will to
combat the problem. As a result, child laborers did not have access to
education or health care and suffered from chronic malnutrition,
traumatic stress, and depression.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code allows the
Government to set a minimum hourly wage; however, the Government has
not exercised this provision nor does it promote a standard wage.
Prevailing wages often did not provide a decent standard of living for
a worker and family. There also were provisions in the Code for
overtime and night wages, which were fixed percentages of the regular
wage.
The Labor Code mandates that regular work should not exceed 10-hour
days or 48-hour weeks, and it also mandates a period of at least 24
consecutive hours of rest each week, usually on Sunday. Every salaried
worker has the legal right to an annual paid vacation, accumulated at
the rate of at least 2 workdays per month of work. In practice, the
authorities enforced these rules only in the relatively small modern
urban sector.
The Labor Code contains general provisions regarding occupational
safety and health, but the Government has not elaborated a set of
practical workplace health and safety standards. Moreover, it has not
issued any ministerial orders laying out the specific requirements for
certain occupations and for certain methods of work that are called for
in the Labor Code. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is
responsible for enforcing labor standards, and its inspectors are
empowered to suspend work immediately in situations hazardous to
health; however, enforcement efforts were sporadic. Labor inspectors
acknowledged that they did not have adequate resources to cover even
Conakry, much less the entire country.
Under the Labor Code, workers have the right to refuse to work
under unsafe conditions without penalty; however, many workers feared
retaliation should they refuse to work under unsafe conditions.
The law applies to all workers in the country, regardless of
nationality; however, the law does not define whether it applies to
persons working in the country illegally.
__________
GUINEA-BISSAU \1\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In June 1998, the United States Embassy suspended operations in
the midst of heavy fighting in Guinea-Bissau, and all official
personnel in the country were evacuated. This report is based on
information obtained by U.S. embassies in neighboring countries,
especially Senegal, from other independent sources, and regular visits
to Guinea-Bissau by U.S. officials assigned to the U.S. Embassy in
Dakar. The U.S. Ambassador to Senegal, resident in Dakar, is also
accredited to Guinea-Bissau.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guinea-Bissau is a multiparty republic. In September 2003, former
president Kumba Yala, who had undermined the country's transition to
democracy since his election in 2000, was deposed in a military coup.
In October 2003, military, political, and civil society leaders
appointed Henrique Pereira Rosa as the president of a civilian
transition government. On March 28, free and fair legislative elections
were held for the 100-seat National Popular Assembly (ANP), which the
former president had dissolved in 2002. The African Party for the
Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) won with a
plurality of 45 seats, and Carlos Domingos Gomes Junior was appointed
Prime Minister. President Rosa remained head of state, and presidential
elections were scheduled for March 2005. On October 6, a military
mutiny to protest salary arrears and living conditions resulted in two
deaths, including that of the Chief of Defense, and numerous injuries.
In an October 10 memorandum of understanding, the Government agreed to
ask Parliament to: Grant amnesty to those involved in eight military
uprisings since 1980; and to request that the President commute the
penalties of individuals charged with attempting coups in November 2001
and December 2002. No action had been taken on the memorandum by year's
end. The judiciary, which had been subject to strong executive
influence since former president Yala dismissed and imprisoned the
former Chief Justice in November 2002, made major strides in
establishing its independence; however, corruption remained a problem.
The police, under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior,
have primary responsibility for the country's internal security. The
armed forces are responsible for external security and can be called
upon to assist the police in internal emergencies. In 2002, the
Government began a comprehensive program to restructure the armed
forces, improve military living conditions, and demobilize
approximately 4,000 active duty military personnel; however, living
conditions remained poor, salary arrears had not been paid, and the
reinsertion and reintegration phases of the program had not been
completed by year's end. The October 6 mutiny was the fourth time since
the country's independence in 1974 that the military intervened and
acted independently of government authority. Some members of the
security forces committed serious human rights abuses.
The population of approximately 1.3 million relies largely upon
subsistence agriculture and the export of cashew nuts in a market
economy. The formal economy broke down in 1998, and most of the country
reverted to barter. In 2002, the country suffered a substantial
slowdown in economic activity, and gross domestic product declined 4.2
percent, primarily as a result of significantly lower levels of foreign
assistance and a drop of approximately 30 percent in cashew prices in
the international market. The country remained burdened by heavy
external debt and pervasive underemployment. Prior to the September
2003 coup, most public servants had not been paid for up to 2 years;
however, during the year, the Government resumed paying salaries of
non-military public servants.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Army mutineers
committed unlawful killings and beat and abused senior officers. Police
arbitrarily arrested a human rights leader during the year. Impunity
and corruption remained problems, although less so than in previous
years. Prison conditions remained poor. Some journalists continued to
practice self-censorship. Violence and discrimination against women
were problems. Female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced widely.
Child labor, including some forced labor, and child trafficking
occurred.
During the year, the Transition Government took significant steps
to improve human rights, take control of public finances, renew
relations with the international community, and restore political
participation. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that
security forces mistreated detainees; arbitrarily arrested and detained
opposition leaders, journalists, and labor leaders; used incommunicado
detention; infringed on citizens' privacy rights; or restricted freedom
of speech and the press to intimidate the media.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Security forces
committed political killings during the year. On October 6, military
mutineers killed former Defense Chief General Verissimo Correia
Seabraor, who led the coup against former president Yala, and Colonel
Domingos de Barros, the head of human resources for the military; the
soldiers responsible for the killings had not been identified by year's
end. The mutineers, who reportedly beat and abused other officers,
demanded payment of salary arrears and improved living conditions (see
Section 3).
There were no developments in the March 2003 case of Army Second
Lieutenant Mussa Cassama, who died in detention from injuries inflicted
during torture.
There were three deaths from landmines and one from unexploded
ordnance during the year.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and evidence
obtained through torture or coercion is invalid. In the past, the
Government often ignored these provisions, and security forces beat,
mistreated, and otherwise abused persons; however, there were fewer
reports of such activity than in previous years. The Government rarely
enforced provisions to punish members of the security forces who
committed abuses.
On October 6, military mutineers beat and abused senior officers;
two officers were killed (see Section 1.a.).
In June, Lieutenant General Emilio Costa, then Deputy Chief of
Defense, was accused of beating a motorist in a road rage incident;
Costa did not occupy the position of Deputy Chief of Defense at year's
end. No further information was available; however, an investigation
was being conducted at year's end.
The officers and enlisted men who were arrested in 2002 for
allegedly plotting to overthrow the Government of former President Yala
were released during the year. No action was taken against security
forces who in 2003 beat, bound, and held the detainees incommunicado.
There also were no developments in the 2002 beating by security
forces of Rui Ferreira, a National Assembly Deputy of the opposition
Resistencia Guinea Bissau Party, or in the case of Victor Mandinga.
Demining operations continued; however, landmines and unexploded
ordnance resulted in deaths and one injury during the year.
Prison conditions remained poor but generally were not life
threatening. The country does not have formal prisons. Most prisoners
were detained in makeshift detention facilities on military bases in
Bissau and neighboring cities. Unlike in previous years, there were no
reports that security forces beat and abused civilian prisoners or used
incommunicado detention. Detention facilities generally lacked running
water or adequate sanitation. Detainees' diets were poor, and medical
care was virtually nonexistent. Men and women were held in separate
facilities, and juveniles were held separately from adults. Pretrial
detainees were not held separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government generally permitted independent monitoring of prison
conditions by local and international human rights groups. During the
year, the Office of the Representative of the U.N. Secretary General
(UNOGBIS) regularly visited prisoners. Beginning in late 2003 and
during the year, the International Committee of the Red Cross and
UNOGBIS were allowed to visit the seven remaining military personnel
who had been held incommunicado since December 2002.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and, in the past, security forces
arrested and detained persons without judicial authority or warrants.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of the arbitrary
arrest of opposition politicians, journalists, and union leaders;
however, a human rights activist was arrested (see Section 2.a.). All
persons detained without charge or trial during the former Kumba Yala
presidency were released following the September 2003 military coup.
The country is divided into 37 police districts, each with its own
police station; there were an estimated 600 police in the country.
Since the 1998 civil war, police recruitment has not kept pace with
attrition. Unlike in the previous year, police were paid regularly;
however, they have not been compensated for up to 24 months of salary
arrears. Impunity and corruption were rampant, and police generally
were ineffective. There was a severe lack of resources and training.
The law provides for procedural rights, such as the right to
counsel, the right to release if no timely indictment is brought, and
the right to a speedy trial. In the past, the judicial system, which
was heavily backlogged and under strong executive influence, failed to
provide these rights; however, there were some improvements during the
year (see Section 1.e.).
In late 2003, Supreme Court judges and officials who were detained
by former president Yala in 2001 were released and allowed to resume
their positions.
The four Senegalese detained in 2002 were among those released
following the September 2003 coup.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in the past, the judiciary was subject
to executive influence and control, and members of the Supreme Court
were appointed and often replaced by the former President. During the
year, the judiciary made major strides in establishing its
constitutional independence: The Supreme Court elected Maria do Ceu
Silva Monteiro as its Chief Justice, and in conjunction with regional
courts, began hearing case backlogs; and the Ministry of Justice and
the legal professional association reactivated the public defender
program. Despite this, judges continued to be poorly trained and paid
and sometimes were subject to corruption.
Civilian courts conduct trials involving state security. Under the
Code of Military Justice, military courts only try crimes committed by
armed forces personnel. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal
for both military and civilian cases. The President has the authority
to grant pardons and reduce sentences.
Trials do not use juries; however, the accused are presumed
innocent and have the right to timely access to an attorney, to
question witnesses, to have access to evidence held by the Government,
and to appeal. Citizens who could not afford an attorney have the right
to a court-appointed lawyer.
Traditional practices still prevailed in most rural areas, and
persons who lived in urban areas often brought judicial disputes to
traditional counselors to avoid the costs and bureaucratic impediments
of the official system. The police often resolved disputes.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, in
the past, the Government did not always respect these prohibitions in
practice, and the police did not always use judicial warrants. During
the year, there were no reports of such practices.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, in the past, the
Government frequently restricted these rights, and opposition
politicians had little or no access to government-controlled media.
There were no reports of such restrictions during the year. In previous
years, journalists practiced self-censorship; however, there were no
reports of such activities during the year. The Government did not
restrict academic freedom.
During the year, persons continued to be arrested for exercising
their right of free speech. On March 8, security forces arrested and
released Joao Vaz Mane, the Vice President of the Guinean Human Rights
League (LGDH), after Mane denounced police for beating a young man.
No action was taken against security forces who beat Indjai Dabo,
the United Social Democratic Party representative in Sao Domingos.
In addition to the government-owned newspaper No Pintcha, several
private newspapers published without restriction, including Diario de
Bissau, Fraskera, Gazeta de Noticias, Kansare, and Baloba. All
newspapers published only sporadically during the year due to financial
constraints and dependence on the state-owned printing house. The
national printing press, the only facility for publishing newspapers in
the country, often lacked the necessary raw materials.
There were several independent radio stations. National television
broadcast from 7 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and 5 p.m. to midnight on
weekends. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that
government-controlled stations practiced self-censorship.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government dismissed or arbitrarily arrested radio journalists, closed
down private radio stations, or harassed judicial authorities who
defended such stations.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government ordered all media organizations to cease publication of
information relating to the LGDH, which received significant and fair
media coverage during the year.
The Internet was available in the country, and the Government did
not restrict its use.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. Permits were required for
all assemblies and demonstrations. Unlike in the past, there were no
reports that the Government banned assemblies.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. In 2003, the Ahmadiya, an Islamic religious group expelled
from the country in 2001, was permitted to return after the Government
determined that former President Yala's decision to expel them had been
an illegal breach of due process. Although the Government must license
religious groups, there were no reports that any applications were
refused.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government limited them in practice.
The Constitution did not specifically prohibit forced exile;
however, the Government did not use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
cooperated with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers. During the year, the UNHCR reported that approximately
7,700 refugees, mostly Senegalese citizens, were in the country. More
than 6,000 of these refugees lived in villages along the country's
northern border where they were integrated into the local economy and
largely self-sufficient. Another 1,000 Senegalese refugees lived in
camps and received assistance from UNHCR. There also were approximately
500 Senegalese, Liberian, and Sierra Leonean urban refugees. The UNHCR
reported that the Government was tolerant of these refugees and
permitted them to engage in economic activities to support themselves.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully. Unlike in the previous year, when the Government
was changed by military coup, citizens exercised their right to
peacefully elect a legislature through elections on March 28.
In September 2003, the military deposed former President Kumba
Yala, who, since his election in 2000, had postponed new legislative
elections, refused to veto or promulgate a new draft constitution,
dismissed the Prime Minister, and dismissed two Supreme Court
Presidents. In October 2003, military, political, and civil society
leaders appointed Henrique Pereira Rosa as the President of a civilian
transition government. During the year, the Transition Government took
control of public finances, renewed relations with the international
community, and restored free speech and political participation.
On March 28, legislative elections were held for the 100-seat ANP,
which had been dissolved in 2002 by former president Yala. The PAIGC
won with a plurality of 45 seats, and Carlos Domingos Gomes Junior was
appointed Prime Minister. International observers deemed the elections
free and fair. On May 12, Prime Minister Gomes Junior, as head of
government, appointed a cabinet of 16 ministers and 7 state
secretaries. President Rosa remained head of state; presidential
elections were scheduled for March 2005.
On October 6, a battalion of 600 soldiers returning from a
peacekeeping mission in Liberia staged a mutiny to protest salary
arrears and poor living conditions; two officers were killed, and
several were injured (see Section 1.a.). The mutiny was launched on the
day that eight officers were due to go on trial for their alleged part
in a December 2002 coup attempt against former president Yala; the
trial was postponed. In an October 10 memorandum of understanding, the
Government agreed to ask Parliament to: Grant amnesty to those involved
in eight military uprisings since 1980; and ask the President to
commute the penalties of individuals charged with attempting coups in
November 2001 and December 2002. The memorandum, which specified no
timeline for proposed actions, also provided for payment of salary
arrears and improved living conditions for the military; no action had
been taken on the memorandum by year's end.
In 2000, voters elected former president Yala with a 72 percent
electoral majority in a runoff election following multiparty elections
in 1999. International observers, foreign diplomats, and local NGOs
considered both elections, which included candidates from 13 parties as
well as several independents, to be generally free and fair.
The 1991 Constitution remained in effect. Unlike in previous years,
when former president Yala ruled by decree, the Government generally
respected the Constitution and the separation of powers it provides. A
draft constitution to limit certain presidential powers was under
discussion; however, no action was taken on it during the year.
Government corruption was widespread at all levels.
There were no laws providing access to government information.
There were 14 women in the 100-seat ANP. The Supreme Court Chief
Justice, 3 of the country's 16 government ministers, and 2 of 7 state
secretaries also were women.
All ethnic groups were represented in the Government.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views; however, the
Government arrested LDGH Vice President Joao Vaz Mane during the year
for criticizing the Government (see Section 2.a.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution and law prohibit discrimination on the basis of
sex and race; however, in practice, the Government did not enforce
these provisions effectively.
Women.--Domestic violence, including wife beating, was an accepted
means of settling domestic disputes. Although police intervened in
domestic disputes if requested, the Government had not undertaken
specific measures to counter social pressure against reporting domestic
violence, rape, incest, and other mistreatment of women.
There were laws against rape; however, government enforcement of
those laws was limited, in large part because of lack of resources.
FGM was practiced widely within certain ethnic groups, especially
the Fulas and the Mandinkas. The practice has increased as the Muslim
population has grown and was being performed not only on adolescent
girls, but also on babies as young as 4 months old. The Government has
not outlawed the practice; however, a national committee continued to
conduct a nationwide education campaign to discourage FGM. Both
international and domestic NGOs continued working through the national
committee to eliminate FGM.
Sinim Mira Nassique, a local NGO, has initiated alternative FGM
summer camps for young girls throughout the country. During the summer,
girls attended camps in Farim, Buba, and Gabu, where they experienced
all traditional initiation rights except excision. The camps, which
taught the dangers of FGM, also provided training in hygiene, sewing,
embroidery, and other skills.
The law prohibits prostitution; however, enforcement was weak.
The law treats men and women equally and prohibits official
discrimination; however, such discrimination was a problem,
particularly in rural areas, where traditional and Islamic law were
dominant. Women were responsible for most work on subsistence farms and
had limited access to education, especially in rural areas. Women did
not have equal access to employment. Among certain ethnic groups, women
cannot own or manage land or inherit property.
Children.--The Government allocated only limited resources for
children's welfare and education; however, unlike in previous years,
primary and secondary schools operated for most of the year, and the
Government generally paid teachers' salaries. Public schooling was
universal, compulsory until 7 years of age, and free through the 4th
grade. A 2003 UNDP study indicated that 60 percent of school-age
children did not attend school, in large part, because schools were
closed for most or all of 2003 as a result of the Government's failure
to pay teachers' salaries.
FGM was performed commonly on young girls and sometimes even
infants (see Section 5, Women).
Child trafficking occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons, and there were reports that children were trafficked from or
within the country. Some boys sent from rural areas to attend Koranic
schools in Senegal reportedly were exploited and forced to work as
street beggars to earn money for the school leadership. The practice of
buying and selling child brides also reportedly occurred on occasion.
There were reports that customs, border guards, immigration
officials, labor inspectors, or local police may have been bribed to
facilitate such trafficking; however, no specific information was
available.
The Government has not prosecuted any cases against traffickers.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not specifically prohibit
discrimination against persons with disabilities, and the Government
did not mandate building access for them or provide for equal access to
employment and education; however, there were no reports of overt
societal discrimination. The Government has made some efforts to assist
military veterans with disabilities through pension programs, but these
programs did not adequately address veterans' health, housing, and food
needs.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides all
civilian workers with the freedom to form and join independent trade
unions, and workers exercised this right in practice. The vast majority
of the population worked in subsistence agriculture. Most union members
were government or parastatal employees; only a small percentage of
workers were in the wage sector and were organized.
The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination; however, no
workers have alleged antiunion discrimination, and the practice was not
believed to be widespread.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no arrests of union
leaders.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution does not provide for or protect the right to bargain
collectively; however, the tripartite National Council for Social
Consultation conducted collective consultations on salary issues and
draft legislation concerning labor issues. Most wages were established
in bilateral negotiations between workers and employers.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike and protection
for workers from retribution for strike activities. The only legal
restriction on strike activity was the requirement for prior notice.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no widespread strikes by public
employees.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There were no specific laws that protected children from exploitation
in the workplace, and child labor occurred. The legal minimum age is 14
years for general factory labor and 18 years for heavy or dangerous
labor, including all labor in mines. These minimum age requirements
generally were followed in the small formal sector, but the Ministry of
Justice and the Ministry of Civil Service and Labor did not enforce
these requirements in other sectors.
Children in cities often worked in street trading, and those in
rural communities did domestic and fieldwork without pay; children
generally performed such labor to help support families or because of a
lack of educational opportunities. The Government did not take action
to combat such practices by year's end.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government's Council of
Ministers annually establishes minimum wage rates for all categories of
work; however, it did not enforce them. The lowest monthly wage was
$29.60 (14,800 CFA) per month plus a bag of rice. This wage did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family, and
workers had to supplement their incomes through other work, reliance on
the extended family, and subsistence agriculture.
The law provides for a maximum 45-hour workweek; however, the
Government did not enforce this provision. During the year, the
Government resumed regularly paying its teachers, civil servants, and
medical practitioners; the Government had not paid such salaries since
2000.
With the cooperation of the unions, the Ministry of Justice and
Labor establishes legal health and safety standards for workers, which
then are adopted into law by the National Assembly; however, these
standards were not enforced, and many persons worked under conditions
that endangered their health and safety. Workers do not have the right
to remove themselves from unsafe working conditions without losing
their jobs.
KENYA
Kenya is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. In December
2002, citizens elected Mwai Kibaki of the opposition National Rainbow
Coalition (NARC) as the country's third president. Kibaki succeeded
Daniel Arap Moi, who led the former ruling party, the Kenya African
National Union (KANU), and who served as President from 1978 to 2002.
During the 2002 general elections, KANU, which had controlled both the
presidency and the Parliament continuously since 1963, lost its
parliamentary majority to NARC, a coalition of more than a dozen
political parties, some of whose members included defectors from KANU.
Observers concluded that the elections broadly reflected the popular
will and were free and fair. The judiciary is constitutionally
independent but was at times subject to executive branch influence.
Judiciary reforms initiated in 2003 reduced corruption but also
increased case backlogs.
In addition to the armed forces, there is a large internal security
apparatus that includes the police's Criminal Investigation Department
(CID), the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS), the National
Police, the Administration Police, and the paramilitary General
Services Unit (GSU), which detail members on a rotating basis to staff
the 700-person Presidential Escort. The CID investigates criminal
activity, and the NSIS collects intelligence and monitors persons
considered subversive. These security forces are under the authority of
the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and National
Security in the Office of the President. While civilian authorities
generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there
were some instances in which the security forces acted independently of
government authority. Because of a spiraling crime wave and a public
perception that police were often either involved or complicit in
criminal activity, in April, an active duty army officer replaced the
police commissioner. Some members of the security forces committed
serious human rights abuses.
The economy is market-based, with the agricultural sector employing
more than 70 percent of the country's population of approximately 32
million. The economic growth rate for the year was projected to be 2.6
percent, up from 1.8 percent in 2003. While the Government's estimate
of the unemployment rate was 28 percent, other sources placed
unemployment at more than 40 percent. In an effort to keep pace with
inflation, during the year, the Government increased public sector
salaries by an average of 11 percent. Most private sector employers
also attempted to revise compensation to reflect changing economic
conditions. Although many sectors continued to be dominated by state-
owned monopolies, the nonagricultural economy included large privately
owned light manufacturing, commercial, and financial firms. Following
the Government's adoption of two anti-corruption measures in 2003,
major international financial institutions, which had suspended
assistance in previous years, began to provide assistance, while other
donors postponed flows of official development assistance after reports
of renewed corruption surfaced. Approximately 56 percent of the
population lived at or below the poverty level on less than $1 per day.
The incidence of HIV/AIDS infection in adults fell to 7 percent from
the previous year's estimate of 14 percent; although this 1-year
decline was due more to a re-evaluation of previous data than to an
actual decline in prevalence, it showed that prevalence was
substantially lower than its estimated peak of 23 percent in the mid-
1990s. In July, President Kibaki declared a drought disaster affecting
more than 10 percent of the population and appealed to international
donors to provide food and non-food assistance through the end of the
year. Security problems, as well as unreliable power and
telecommunication systems and dilapidated roads, exacerbated economic
problems and fueled disinvestment.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, largely due to
the abuses of its security forces; although there were a number of
improvements, serious problems remained. Police committed unlawful
killings, tortured and beat detainees, arrested citizens arbitrarily,
and used excessive force. Despite some improvements, prisons remained
seriously overcrowded, and conditions often were life threatening.
Pretrial detention was a serious problem. There were fewer reports that
authorities infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The Government
occasionally attempted to restrict freedom of press and assembly;
however, there were fewer reports of this than in previous years.
Parliamentary and civic elections that took place during the year were
generally free and fair, although some political parties attempted to
bribe and intimidate voters. Vigilante justice, as well as mob and
interethnic violence, continued to be problems. Violence and
discrimination against women and abuse of children by citizens remained
serious problems. Female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic violence,
and child prostitution remained widespread. Child labor remained a
problem, and there were instances of forced child labor. Trafficking of
persons, including the theft of newly born children, was a problem that
gained significant attention from the Government and media during the
year.
The Government instituted a number of reforms during the year to
improve human rights. There were no politically motivated arrests or
disappearances during the year. For prisons, the Government outlawed
corporal punishment and liberalized regulations for family visitations.
The Government allowed prisoners to vote and to sit for the Primary
School Certificate examination. The Government also allowed human
rights organizations to inspect prisons, although some organizations
continued to have problems actually doing so. The Government arrested
and prosecuted a number of police officers for abuses; however, most
police who committed abuses were neither investigated nor punished. The
Government created and activated a new institution to root out
corruption, although, by year's end, the Government had not arrested or
prosecuted any high-level government officials on corruption charges.
Unlike in previous years, the Government did not harass NGOs. The
Government began to equip public buildings with wheelchair ramps,
elevators, and sanitary facilities and to broadcast some news programs
in sign language. The Government generally protected the rights of
workers to join unions and engage in collective bargaining.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents reported
during the year; however, security forces committed a number of
unlawful killings. In its 2003 report, the Independent Medico Legal
Unit (IMLU), a leading human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO),
investigated 34 allegations of unlawful killings by the security
forces; of these, 15 showed evidence of torture. During the year, IMLU
reported that police officers killed 27 persons (compared with 117 in
2003); another 6 were killed while in police custody (compared with 11
in 2003). IMLU reported that at least 15 of these deaths were unlawful
killings.
There were reports that police summarily executed persons. For
example, in March, police officers summoned a senior officer to
Nairobi's industrial area after arresting three men in a mini-bus; upon
arrival at the scene, the senior officer allegedly executed the three
suspects. The Government declined to open an investigation into the
case for lack of witnesses.
In July, the police shot and killed seven persons in Kisii. The
police released the names of the seven, claiming that all were well-
known criminals, that they were planning a robbery, and that they were
killed in an exchange of gunfire with police. However, eyewitnesses
said that a CID officer executed the seven after ordering them to lie
down. Sources claimed that one or more of the victims planned to reveal
the names of officers engaged in crime and were executed to keep them
quiet. Two weeks after the seven were killed, two of those on the
police list of those killed, Evans Omari Sianyo and James Kang'ethe,
came out of hiding. This appeared to confirm the allegation that the
police had the list before the seven victims were killed and that the
two who came out of hiding had gotten word of their pending executions.
IMLU and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), the
Government's human rights watchdog agency, concluded that the killings
were summary executions.
Law enforcement officials maintained that security forces usually
were justified in their use of deadly force because of the heavily
armed, violent criminals they often encountered. Police claimed that
criminals' more frequent use of sophisticated weapons had increased the
risks faced by police in performing their duties. However, in
responding to continuing high levels of crime, some police used
excessive and deadly force, sometimes without apparent provocation. For
example, in February, an Administration police officer shot and killed
a secondary school student in Kisii while the student was fleeing from
a riot. At year's end, the District Criminal Investigations Officer was
conducting an inquest into the shooting.
During the year, a number of persons died while in, or shortly
after being in, police custody; however, there were fewer reports than
in previous years. For example, in April, police arrested a man in
Eastern Province on suspicion that he was about to break into a shop;
police tied the man to a tree overnight, then took him the next day to
a police station where he subsequently died. In July, an inmate at the
Kitale prison died a few hours after guards beat him. The prison
authorities said the inmate died of natural causes, but hospital
authorities said he was beaten to death after trying to escape the
prison.
Also in July, a government pathologist, Moses Njue, testified he
had been suspended from his job after releasing a postmortem
examination report concluding that the police had tortured a prisoner
to death in March 2002. Njue said police had threatened him with death
if he did not rescind the report, but after Njue threatened to sue the
Government, he was reinstated to his job in January.
On September 27, five prisoners at Meru G.K. Prison died in their
cell, and a sixth prisoner died en route to the hospital. According to
an Amnesty International statement, the District Medical Officer said
the prisoners, George Kimathi, Festus Ntombura, Bafa Gitonga, Joseph
Thuku, Patrick Muriungi, and an unidentified sixth individual, died of
suffocation and sustained injuries consistent with congestion. The 5
were among 12 detained in a 3-by 6-foot cell. Prison officials at first
attributed the deaths to ``a drunk-related illness.'' IMLU conducted an
investigation, including autopsies, into the five deaths and concluded
that four of the five died from blunt force trauma, the fifth from
strangulation. According to IMLU's interviews, prisoners had been
fighting for space in the cell, and prison guards beat the prisoners
who died when they refused to re-enter the congested cell. In the
course of its investigation, IMLU discovered that six other inmates in
Meru prison had died under suspicious circumstances. IMLU's autopsies
on these six revealed that four of the six had sustained head injuries
consistent with blunt force trauma while the two others died of natural
causes. Authorities suspended two senior Meru Prison officials, and
Vice President Moody Awori, who is also the Minister for Home Affairs
responsible for prisons, ordered an investigation into allegations that
guards and other inmates beat the five deceased men. The investigation
was ongoing at year's end.
During the year, police at times used excessive force to disperse
demonstrations and strikes, which resulted in deaths (see Section
2.b.). In August, police shot and killed one man and injured others
when they dispersed a mob in Nairobi's Kibera slum. Authorities did not
investigate the incident.
During the year, the Government took some steps to curb abuses by
security forces. According to an IMLU report at the beginning of the
year, out of 45 unlawful killings committed by police in recent years,
the Attorney-General had ordered an inquest into only 3 of the cases.
However, during the year the Government opened several more
investigations into allegations of unlawful killings, some of which
resulted in the arrest of police officers. For example, in February,
police opened an investigation into the police shooting of Purity
Mburu; police had opened fire on the vehicle in which Mburu was riding
on the mistaken assumption that the car had been hijacked. In March,
the Government opened a murder trial against six prison guards accused
of killing six prisoners in the central part of the country in 2000. In
May, nine policemen who beat to death a man with mental disabilities in
Mwingi District were arrested and charged with murder. Also in May,
Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi ordered police to arrest, rather than
kill, persons suspected of crimes. Police took a fellow officer into
custody in connection with the shooting death of a rioter in Kisumu in
early July. The Commissioner of Police opened an investigation into the
conduct of the police during the Kisumu demonstrations, including
specifically why it was necessary to use live, rather than rubber,
bullets to disperse the crowds. Despite these efforts, most police who
committed abuses were neither investigated nor punished.
In July, Francis Kimanzi Mbaiya, an Administration police officer,
was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 10 years for having killed
a Catholic monk 7 years previously.
There were no developments in the 2003 case of Njuguna Kaboi, who
had been found dead and handcuffed in a river after being held in
police custody; in the March 2003 killing of Nixon Wanjala; or the June
2003 deaths of William Guto and Thomas Osiago; all of whom reportedly
died while in police custody; or in the investigation of the August
2003 death of Alice Mwetu, who died 1 day after being released from
jail.
At year's end, five police officers accused of torturing to death
Paul Kimani Wambiru in 2002 were standing trial in Nyeri High Court.
At year's end, six police officers were on trial on charges that
they tortured three suspects accused of the September 2003 killing of
Crispin Odhiambo Mbai, the chairman of the Devolution Committee of the
National Constitutional Conference (see Section 2.a.).
During the year, there were numerous instances of mob violence and
vigilante justice. The great majority of victims killed by mobs were
suspected of criminal activities, including robbery, cattle rustling,
and membership in terror gangs. Only a very few of these involved the
Government.
In May, police and civilians killed three men who allegedly had
earlier robbed a bread van in Murang'a District. Also in May, villagers
in Naivasha killed a man who had been released from prison on
presidential clemency in December 2003 and burned down the house of one
of the victim's alleged accomplices. In another May incident, villagers
killed a man in Meru North District whom they suspected of killing a 9-
year-old herdsboy the previous week and of intending to assault
sexually two other boys. In November, villagers killed a man in
Kirinyaga District whom they accused of raping and killing a 14-year-
old girl. Most perpetrators of mob violence went unpunished, and there
were no developments in cases reported in previous years.
There were reports that mobs killed members of their communities on
suspicion that they practiced witchcraft. For example, in May,
villagers in Meru District burned to death a man they suspected to be a
sorcerer; the villagers also razed the house of the deceased man's
parents. In September, police said that unknown persons killed a 70-
year-old man in Coast Province for allegedly practicing witchcraft. In
November, secondary school students attacked, but did not kill, a
couple in their home in Kisumu District on suspicion that the woman had
used witchcraft to cause the death of one of their classmates.
Human rights observers attributed mob violence to a lack of public
confidence in police and the judicial process. The social acceptability
of mob violence also sometimes provided cover for apparent personal
vengeance and the settling of land disputes.
The Mungiki, a banned cultural and political movement based in part
on Kikuyu ethnic traditions, was responsible for numerous attacks and
killings during the year. Observers believed that as many as 14
killings or disappearances of former Mungiki between February and June
were meant to punish Mungiki defectors. In March, the police arrested
30 Mungiki members, including the alleged kidnapper of a Mungiki
defector, and charged them with various crimes, including the killings
of a group of defectors. Later, police arrested an additional 100
Mungiki, including 2 police officers, on charges of belonging to a
banned organization. Police subsequently released 83 of those arrested.
In May, unknown assailants beheaded one of the released prisoners,
allegedly for having disclosed Mungiki secrets to police. In June,
unknown assailants also killed a young woman with connections to
Mungiki.
In September, Central Province Commissioner Peter Raburu issued a
shoot-to-kill order against Mungiki following a new wave of violence
allegedly unleashed by the Mungiki in Maragua District; within days,
higher authorities rescinded the order. Also in September, police in
Nakuru District arrested a 78-year-old Mungiki member for the rape and
beheading of a 13-year-old girl; the suspect allegedly administered
oaths to new Mungiki recruits and killed the girl to cover up the rape.
In December, police undertook a manhunt for alleged Mungiki who had
been terrorizing public minibus riders and other residents over a 2-day
period in a Nairobi.
In December, a judge set free, due to lack of evidence, former
Member of Parliament (M.P.) David Manyara and 12 alleged Mungiki. The
13 had been in detention since January 2003 on charges they had killed
10 persons in connection with the 2002 elections.
Interethnic violence continued to cause numerous deaths (see
Section 5).
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, while
the Government has declared that torture is not acceptable and has
taken steps to eliminate prisoner abuse, security forces continued on
numerous occasions to use physical violence and torture during
interrogation and as punishment both of pretrial detainees and
convicted prisoners.
Detainees frequently claimed that they had been tortured or abused,
making it difficult to separate real from fabricated incidents;
however, human rights organizations, churches, and the press
highlighted and criticized numerous cases of torture and several cases
of indiscriminate police beatings. During the year, IMLU received 304
cases alleging torture at the hands of security officers, which
represented an increase from the 230 allegations IMLU received in 2003.
There were numerous cases of police torture that resulted in death (see
Section 1.a.).
In May, Agriculture Minister Kipruto Kirwa accused home guards in
Trans Nzoia District of building torture cells and of chaining
detainees to trees overnight in the rain; subsequently, police
dismissed from employment 17 home guards from the area. In June, forest
officers in Mount Elgon tortured a student by forcing him to sit on hot
charcoal and also broke the legs of a herdsman, accusing the two of
illegal grazing.
There were no developments in the investigation of Maithya Kivuli,
who died in 2003 after having been confined all night in a tiny room
infested with ants, or in the case of Arwings Odera, a freelance
journalist allegedly injured in 2002 by police.
Police occasionally used excessive force to disperse demonstrations
and strikes, which resulted in injuries (see Section 2.b.).
Police occasionally abused street children (see Section 5,
Children).
Allegations of rape by security forces surfaced periodically (see
Section 5). Late in 2003, 650 Maasai and Samburu women filed charges of
rape against British soldiers who had, over the past 30 years, been
involved in periodic training exercises near Mt. Kenya. The women also
filed a multi-million dollar compensation suit against the British
government. In April, an M.P. from the area, Mwangi Kiunjuri, claimed
that 600 of the 650 cases were fraudulent and that a local organization
called Impact urged local prostitutes to file false charges for money.
Human rights groups, including the Federation of International Women
Lawyers (FIDA), pressed the Government to continue its investigation,
which was ongoing at year's end.
Acts of violence, including rape, banditry, and shootings, occurred
frequently near refugee camps (see Sections 2.d. and 5).
Prison conditions continued to be harsh and life threatening.
Prisoners were subjected to severe overcrowding, deficient health care,
and unsanitary conditions, and received inadequate water, diet, and
bedding. In September, jails housed 52,000 inmates, despite a capacity
of 16,000. Meru Prison, built in 1950 with a capacity for 500 persons,
held 1,600, of whom 200 were women. There were also 43 children
belonging to women prisoners. During the year, some prisoners died (see
Section 1.a.) of suspect causes. The courts partly were responsible for
prison overcrowding, as the backlog of cases in the judicial system
continued to fill the prisons with pretrial detainees.
Police, prison guards, and inmates continued to subject prisoners
to torture and inhumane treatment. However, unlike in previous years,
there were no reports of particularly egregious abuses, such as the
application of electrical shocks to genitalia, subjecting inmates to
artificial light from a 150-watt bulb continuously for up to 24 hours,
and female inmates being stripped and placed in solitary confinement in
a flooded cell for up to a week.
Rape of both male and female inmates, primarily by fellow inmates,
was a serious problem, as was the increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS.
Disease in prisons was widespread and a number of prisoners died due to
life threatening prison conditions, including inadequate food and
medical treatment. According to government statistics, 536 prisoners
died in 2002, primarily as a result of pulmonary tuberculosis,
gastroenteritis, pneumonia, and malaria. Dysentery, anemia, malaria,
heart attack, typhoid fever, and HIV/AIDS also were common causes of
death among prisoners. In March, IMLU said that government negligence
was to blame for the increasing number of deaths among inmates.
Prisoners generally received three meals per day; however, portions
were inadequate, and prisoners were sometimes given half rations as
punishment. Water shortages continued to be a problem in some prisons,
particularly at the Kakamega Prison, where running water has not been
available to prisoners for the last 5 years. In a change from 2003, the
Government provided women with sanitary napkins.
Prisoners sometimes were kept in solitary confinement far longer
than the maximum 90 days allowed by law. Prisoners and detainees
frequently were denied the right to contact relatives or lawyers.
Family members visiting prisoners faced numerous bureaucratic and
physical obstacles, each requiring a bribe.
In August, the People Daily reported that prison officers at Thika
Prison routinely released prisoners and colluded with them to commit
crimes. The newspaper added that torture, illegal sales of hard drugs,
and sexual abuse were routine in the prison. In September, 3 prison
guards at a facility in Naivasha went on trial for helping 28 pretrial
detainees accused of capital offenses escape from that prison; the
escapees were captured in possession of all their personal effects,
which normally would have been confiscated when they entered the
prison. The trial was ongoing at year's end.
Nearly all prisoners serving more than 6 months in prison worked in
prison industries and farms. The Government reported that prisoners
could earn approximately $0.62 (50 shillings) per year or $0.20 (16
shillings) per item produced. Prisoners could, with permission, work
beyond the 8-hour day to produce goods, from which they earned two-
thirds of the profits. Prisons were unable to invest the estimated
annual profits of $826,600 (67 million shillings) in the prisons
because income generated was sent directly to the Government
Consolidated Fund. Prisoners complained of being overworked; however,
many inmates left prison with a valid trade certificate. Unlike in the
previous year, there were no allegations that prison officials used the
free prison labor for personal profit
The Government made efforts to reduce understaffing and
overcrowding at youth detention centers. Unlike in previous years,
there were no reports that juvenile detainees were subjected to
corporal punishment.
Men, women, and children officially were kept in separate cells.
There were no reports that men and women were placed in the same cells.
However, teenagers frequently were kept in cells with adults in
overcrowded prisons and detention centers.
During the year, pretrial detainees were housed in the same
facilities as convicts in some prisons. In Kamiti Prison, detainees
were housed with patients having mental disabilities.
The Government implemented several reforms in prisons, including
allowing inmates to receive education and improved medical treatment,
to wear shoes and to vote, and to have greater visitation rights,
including inspections by human rights groups. In April, the Government
began providing instruction in human rights to prison staff. The
Government also outlawed corporal punishment of prisoners and began
allowing conjugal visits. In addition, the Government continued its
Community Service Order, allowing prisoners to serve out their
sentences in community service rather than in prisons; however,
magistrates did not fully utilize community service as an alternative
to custodial sentences for petty offenders, and there were delays in
releasing petty offenders already committed to the community service
program.
The KNCHR, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), had the authority to inspect prison facilities on demand at any
time; however, the Government did not permit consistent independent
monitoring of prison conditions, and the ICRC did not visit the country
during the year. In February, an IMLU official was ordered to leave
Kamiti Maximum Security Prison even though he was on an official visit
in the company of two KNCHR commissioners. In August, police denied a
KNCHR commissioner and other human rights monitors access to Laikipia
police station cells and refused to allow the team to conduct
interviews with 100 herdsmen who had been arrested on charges of cattle
rustling. Later, police stopped the human rights group along the road,
threatened to kill them, and confiscated a videotape that contained
evidence of human rights abuses. The Government occasionally granted
permission to domestic NGOS to visit prisons; however, obtaining such
permission was difficult.
Some independent NGOs worked with the Government in evaluating
torture cases and performing autopsies on deceased prisoners. In June,
IMLU and another human rights NGO, People Against Torture, organized a
clinic that provided medical, legal, and psychological counseling
services to inmates (about two-thirds convicts and one-third pretrial
detainees) at Kerugoya Prison in Kirinyaga District. In December, IMLU
visited 16 prisons throughout the country. On one occasion, the
Government allowed access to the media and permitted the use of
television cameras in a prison.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arrest or detention absent a court order unless there is reasonable
suspicion of a suspect having committed, or being about to commit, a
criminal offense under the law; however, police occasionally arrested
and detained citizens arbitrarily.
There is a large internal security apparatus that includes the
police's CID, the NSIS, the National Police, the Administration Police,
and the paramilitary GSU. The CID investigates criminal activity, and
the NSIS collects intelligence and monitors persons considered
subversive. There was a public perception that police often were
involved or complicit in criminal activity. During the year, an active
duty army officer replaced the police commissioner
Police corruption was systematic and widespread. A December survey
by Transparency International found that the police force was viewed as
the most corrupt entity within the country. Police often arrested
citizens arbitrarily, sometimes with the sole purpose of extorting
bribes. Police, in conjunction with prosecutors, resorted to
unexplained illegal confinements, extortion, torture, and the
preferring of highly questionable and fabricated non-bailable charges
as a cover-up for malpractice. Police often held detainees for lengthy
periods without trial.
Impunity was a serious problem. Officers were rarely prosecuted for
using excessive force. Authorities sometimes attributed the absence of
an investigation into an unlawful killing to the failure of citizens to
file official complaints. However, the required complaint form was
available only at police stations, and there was considerable public
skepticism of a process that assigned the investigation of police abuse
to the police themselves.
During the year, the Government took some steps to curb abuses of
authority by police (see Sections 1.a. and 1.c.). The Government
arrested and charged several police officers for various offenses,
including corruption; however, the Government did not provide details
on how many of these indicted police officers were tried, acquitted,
convicted, or imprisoned. To reduce incentives for corruption, the
Government provided the police with a 115 percent increase in salaries,
beginning in January.
During the year, police officially adopted and began using the FIDA
curriculum on gender-based violence.
The Constitution provides that persons arrested or detained be
brought before a court within 24 hours in non-capital offenses and
within 14 days in capital cases. The Penal Code specifically excludes
weekends and holidays from this 14-day period. For those who were
charged, it often was possible to be released on bail with a bond or
other assurance of the suspect's return, but many indigent pretrial
detainees could not afford even the lowest bail.
The law does not stipulate the period within which the trial of a
charged suspect must begin. Police from the arresting location were
responsible for serving court summons and for picking up detainees from
the prison each time the courts heard their cases. Police often failed
to show up or lacked the means to transport the detainees, who then
were forced to await the next hearing of their case.
The law provides that families and attorneys of pretrial detainees
are allowed access to them; however, this right often was not honored
(see Section 1.c.). Family members and attorneys may visit convicted
prisoners only at the discretion of the authorities, and permission to
do so frequently was denied.
Arbitrary arrest was a problem. In May, administration police
officers arrested Elijah Irungu Muthoni in Nairobi; Irungu claimed that
police beat him, planted an illegal drug on his body, and demanded a
bribe of $40 (approximately 3,270 shillings) for his release. There was
no information on his release. Also in May, police arrested 17-year-old
Margaret Muthoni Murage on theft charges; the day after her arrest,
Murange, who was 6 months pregnant, miscarried; she claimed that police
beat her. In June, police arrested and beat David Ndegwa Kimemia on
allegations that he had abused an area chief; Ndegwa suffered a broken
leg and was charged with creating a disturbance. In both the Murange
and Kimemia cases, the Litigation Fund Against Torture has retained
counsel to represent the accused, and the cases were ongoing at year's
end. According to IMLU, none of these arrests was made with a proper
warrant.
Police continued to conduct massive searches ("sweeps") for illegal
immigrants, criminals, and firearms; citizens frequently accused police
officers of soliciting bribes or falsely arresting individuals to
extract bribes during such searches. The Litigation Fund Against
Torture claimed that innocent persons in low-income areas of Nairobi
were caught in these sweeps and arrested frequently for failing to
carry identification cards, or simply for loitering, idling, or looking
suspicious. In April, M.P.s criticized Internal Security Minister Chris
Murungaru over continued allegations of police harassment of civilians,
including the arrest of innocent persons to extract bribes in exchange
for their release.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that police
arrested journalists or NGO members.
Lengthy pretrial detention continued to be a serious problem. The
Government reported that approximately 33 percent of the prison
population consisted of pretrial detainees. The Government claimed the
average time spent by suspects in pretrial detention on capital charges
was approximately 16 months; however, many detainees spent more than 3
years in prison before their trials were completed. Very few could
afford attorneys. The Government acknowledged cases in which persons
were held in pretrial detention for several years.
In March 2003, the media reported that Joseph Kamau Njoroge had
served 18 years in prison awaiting the outcome of his trial and that
Wanjiku Kamandere had served 17 years in prison on pretrial detention;
both men continued to remain in custody at year's end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the executive branch often influenced
the judiciary. The President has extensive powers over appointments,
including those of the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, and Appeal
and High Court judges. The President also can dismiss judges and the
Attorney General upon the recommendation of a special tribunal
appointed by the President. Although judges have life tenure (except
for the very few foreign judges hired by contract), the President has
extensive authority over transfers.
Reforms begun in 2003 reduced corruption in the judiciary during
the year. In 2003, the anti-corruption authority cited credible
evidence of corruption against 5 of 9 Appeal Court judges and proof of
graft and misconduct against 18 of 36 High Court Judges and 82 of 254
magistrates; 38 magistrates were suspended (although by year's end most
had resumed work to alleviate the caseload backlog), and 44 others were
transferred. However, by year's end no legal charges had been filed
against any of the judges suspended or transferred in 2003.
The court system consisted of a Court of Appeals, a High Court, and
two levels of magistrate courts, where most criminal and civil cases
originated. The Chief Justice was a member of both the Court of Appeals
and the High Court. Military personnel were tried by military courts-
martial, and verdicts may be appealed through military court channels.
The Chief Justice appointed attorneys for military personnel on a case-
by-case basis.
Civilians are tried publicly, although some testimony may be given
in closed session. The law provides for a presumption of innocence, and
defendants have the right to attend their trial, to confront witnesses,
and to present witnesses and evidence. Civilians also can appeal a
verdict to the High Court and ultimately to the Court of Appeals.
Judges hear all cases. In treason and murder cases, the deputy
registrar of the High Court can appoint three assessors to sit with the
High Court judge. The assessors are taken from all walks of life and
received a sitting allowance for the case. Although the assessors
render verdicts, their judgments are not binding. Lawyers can object to
the appointments of specific assessors.
Defendants do not have the right to government-provided legal
counsel, except in capital cases. For lesser charges, free legal aid
rarely was available, and then only in Nairobi and other major cities
where some human rights organizations, notably FIDA, provided legal
aid. As a result, poor persons may be convicted for lack of an adequate
defense. Defense lawyers do not always have access to government-held
evidence in advance of a trial. The Government can plead the State
Security Secrets law as a basis for withholding evidence, and local
officials sometimes classified documents to hide the guilt of
government officials. Court fees for filing and hearing cases were high
for ordinary citizens. The daily rate of at least $25 (approximately
2,040 shillings) for arguing a civil case before a judge was beyond the
reach of most citizens.
The Constitution provides for Islamic courts that use Shari'a law
and states that the ``jurisdiction of a Kadhi's court shall extend to
the determination of questions of Muslim law relating to personal
status, marriage, divorce, or inheritance in proceedings in which all
the parties profess the Muslim religion.'' There were no other
customary or traditional courts in the country. However, the national
courts used the customary law of an ethnic group as a guide in civil
matters as long as it did not conflict with statutory law. This
occurred most often in cases that involved marriage, death, and
inheritance issues and in which there was an original contract founded
in customary law. Citizens may choose between national and customary
law when they enter into marriage or other contracts; however,
thereafter the courts determine which kind of law governs the
enforcement of the contract. Some women's organizations sought to
eliminate customary law, arguing that it was biased in favor of men
(see Section 5).
The Government significantly reduced the use of the legal system to
harass government critics. Observers believed that most of those held
at the end of 2003 had been released on bail and that the Government
did not intend to pursue the charges against them.
Unlike in past years, the Attorney General's constitutional power
to discontinue proceedings in private prosecution cases was not a
problem.
There were no reports of political prisoners. Unlike in years past,
there were no reports that police arrested and jailed political and
human rights activists on spurious charges to curb their activities.
Human rights activists Nicodemus Mutuki and Alois Mwaiwa Muia continued
to have an appeal pending in connection with their acquittal in 2002 on
murder charges.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, except ``to
promote public benefit''; however, authorities sometimes infringed on
citizens' privacy rights. The Police Act permits police to enter a home
forcibly if the time required to obtain a search warrant would
``prejudice'' the investigation. Although security officers generally
obtained search warrants, they occasionally conducted searches without
warrants to apprehend suspected criminals or to seize property believed
stolen (see Section 1.d.). Unlike in the previous year, there were no
complaints that police confiscated personal items when conducting
occasional ``sweeps'' of suspected criminals.
There was a marked decrease in the monitoring of dissident
activities by security forces.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government sometimes
restricted these rights, and there were some reports that security
forces harassed, beat, or arrested members of the media during the
year. The regulatory framework for broadcast media allowed abuse and
manipulation in the issuing, withholding, and revoking of broadcast
permits and frequencies. Despite these pressures, the press, civic
organizations, and opposition parties continued to present their views
to the public, both in the print and electronic media. Journalists
practiced self-censorship.
The Government broadly interpreted existing laws to restrict
freedom of expression. Both the Constitutional prohibition of debates
on issues under consideration by the courts and a ruling by the Speaker
of the House against parliamentary debate of certain aspects of
presidential conduct limited the scope of deliberation on a number of
political issues.
In general, the media remained candid and independent. The
mainstream print media included four daily newspapers that reported on
national politics: The Nation, an independent daily that has long
published articles generally critical of government policies; the East
African Standard, which previously reflected KANU party views, but
became more independent after the December 2002 elections; the People
Daily, owned by an opposition politician and highly critical of the
Government; and the Kenya Times, which generally reflected opposition
KANU party views. There also were numerous independent tabloid
periodicals, which appeared irregularly and were highly critical of the
Government. Reporting in these tabloids ranged from revealing insider
reports to unsubstantiated rumor mongering.
The government-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), the
country's oldest broadcaster, was the only station with a national
network of broadcast and cable television, AM and FM radio, and short-
wave broadcasts. In the past, KBC generally did not criticize the
Government; however, under its current, more independent managing
director, KBC coverage was more balanced. KBC's monopoly on national
broadcasting continued to limit the ability of opposition leaders and
other critics of the Government to communicate with the electorate
outside the capital. Stations operated by other media companies,
including 12 radio stations, operated primarily along the country's
central corridor and more densely populated adjacent regions, the areas
most commercially viable for private broadcast media.
Kenya Television Network, which was owned by KANU supporters, aired
news programs with more balanced political coverage than KBC and
remained the leading private television broadcaster. Stellavision,
which also was owned by KANU supporters, rebroadcast SKY TV and British
Broadcasting Corporation world news. Other television stations
operating in Nairobi were Nation-TV, associated with the Nation media
group, and Family, a Christian-oriented broadcaster. Citizen TV and
Citizen Radio broadcast pro-government news and information programs.
Representatives of the international media remained free to
operate; 120 international correspondents worked in the country, and
approximately 100 media organizations reported out of Nairobi.
Kenyan journalists continued to be susceptible to harassment,
intimidation, and arrest; however, there were fewer reports of
harassment than in previous years. One such incident occurred on
September 24, when approximately 20 masked gunman claiming to be police
ransacked the offices of 2 newspapers, the Weekly Citizen and the
Independent. The gunmen, who showed no identification, seized or
destroyed computers, disks, scanners, printers, and other office
equipment, allegedly to prevent publication of a government
investigation into land-grabbing. Reporters Without Borders called on
police to identify the individuals who carried out the raids and asked
the Government to punish those responsible and compensate the
newspapers. At year's end, no progress has been made in the
investigation of this incident.
Police occasionally dispersed demonstrators to prevent criticism of
the Government, and journalists covering such events often were present
during the dispersal (see Section 2.b.).
The court case against East African Standard journalist David
Makali for the alleged theft of a police tape containing the confession
of suspects in the killing of University of Nairobi professor Crispin
Odhiambo Mbai (see Section 1.a.) continued at year's end.
No further action was taken against those responsible for
assaulting journalists in 2003 and 2002.
The Government reduced its selective prosecution of journalists
under a colonial-era section of the Penal Code criminalizing the
publication of information likely to cause fear or alarm.
The Media Bill requires publishers to purchase a bond of $12,800
(approximately 1 million shillings) before printing any publication and
to deposit copies of their newspapers and books with a registrar within
2 weeks of publication. The law makes it a crime to sell or distribute
publications not deposited or bonded, under penalty of a fine of $256
(approximately 21,000 shillings) or 6 months' imprisonment. Some
members of the media were concerned that the Government would use this
law, as well as the Books and Newspapers Act and the Official Secrets
Act, to stifle freedom of expression; however, the law generally was
not enforced.
The regulatory framework for broadcast media continued to allow
abuse and manipulation in the issuance, withholding, and revoking of
broadcast permits and frequencies. However, the Government revised
regulations and procedures during the year to streamline and regularize
cumbersome licensing procedures. The Government issued additional
licenses during the year, including an additional frequency to owners
of the popular but controversial KISS FM radio station.
Despite licensing the East African Television Network (EATN) to
broadcast, because of a dispute, the Government continued to block EATN
from using the frequencies, and the case was pending in the courts at
year's end.
In the early months of the year, Citizen Radio jammed broadcasts of
its competitor, KISS FM, over a management dispute. Authorities
established that the broadcasts that had jammed the frequencies of KISS
over 2 1/2 days originated from Citizen Radio's studios. As a result,
the Government confiscated some of Citizen Radio's transmitters and
fined Royal Media.
In April, after KISS FM made critical comments about Water Minister
Martha Karua, the Minister sued two of the station's announcers. The
Minister of Information and Communications, Raphael Tuju, subsequently
created a media review board to decide what was acceptable on the
public airwaves. The Kenyan Union of Journalists and civil society
organizations criticized the establishment of the review board as an
attempt to restrict freedom of the press. The board, headed by the
chair of the KNCHR, recommended regulations of the media related to
violence or sexually explicit content, but not other types of
expression. The Government reportedly rejected the report. Neither the
lawsuit nor the work of the media review board resulted in any concrete
changes.
Toward the end of the year, there were reports of an increased use
of criminal libel laws by individuals closely associated with
government officials to intimidate journalists and publications. There
were no developments in previous cases brought by M.P. Nicholas Biwott
and State Comptroller Matere Keiri. Printers and distributors, as well
as retail stores, were equally responsible with publishers and authors
for libelous content.
Individual journalists practiced self-censorship because they
experienced pressure or received bribes from government officials and
other influential persons to avoid reporting on issues that could harm
the interests of these persons or expose their alleged wrongdoings.
There also were credible reports that journalists accepted payments to
report or withhold certain stories, some of which were fabricated.
Sedition was not grounds for censorship of publications; however,
the Prohibited Publications Review Board reviewed publication bans. A
number of publications remained banned, including such works as ``The
Quotations of Chairman Mao Zedong'' and Salman Rushdie's ``Satanic
Verses.''
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
There were fewer reports during the year that the Government and
school administrators limited academic freedom. In the past, lectures
involving outside speakers and public audiences were routinely banned;
however, such lectures occurred frequently during the year. Most
notable were those of the writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who returned to the
country after 22 years of self-imposed exile and delivered lectures at
universities throughout the country. In addition, a previously banned
teacher's union was reinstated and engaged in salary negotiations.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government occasionally
restricted this right in practice. Organizers must notify the local
police in advance of planned public meetings, and authorities may
cancel such gatherings only if there are simultaneous meetings
previously scheduled for the same venue, or if there are specific
security threats; however, authorities sometimes disrupted public
demonstrations and meetings even when the police had been informed in
advance, often characterizing them as ``illegal'' gatherings. There
were fewer reports than in previous years.
Police attempted to prevent some political and civil society
activities from occurring during the year, but, in the end, allowed
almost all to occur.
On May 14, police halted one fund-raising event and attempted to
break up another near the town of Eldoret in Rift Valley Province. The
following day, police halted a fund-raising event in Keiyo District,
also in Rift Valley Province. In two of the three incidents, the police
used some violence, although no one was seriously injured. All three
events were organized by KANU, the opposition political party, and were
intended to raise money for two secondary schools and a medical clinic.
KANU officials claimed they had properly informed the police of all
three events but that the police had nevertheless broken up the rallies
on instructions from the Government.
During the year, police occasionally used excessive force to
disperse demonstrations; however, there were fewer reports than in
previous years. On July 3, police used tear gas, high pressure hoses,
horses, helicopters and, reportedly, rubber bullets to disperse groups
that were demonstrating against the failure of the Government to enact
a new constitution by June 30 as had been promised by President Kibaki.
Some demonstrators damaged property and engaged in looting, acts that
police said justified their use of force. The group organizing the
demonstrations had been granted permits to hold the demonstrations
(even though technically no permits were needed) earlier in the week,
but the Government had rescinded the permits on July 2. The following
week, police used live ammunition, killing two persons and injuring
several dozen others, to disperse demonstrators and rioters in the
Western Province town of Kisumu; the demonstration in Kisumu was also
held to protest the Government's failure to enact a new constitution
(see Section 1.a.).
A police officer was taken into custody in connection with one of
the shooting deaths in Kisumu in early July, and the Commissioner of
Police announced that he had opened an investigation into the conduct
of the police during the demonstrations, including specifically why it
was necessary to use live, rather than rubber, bullets to disperse the
rioters.
No action was taken against security forces who used excessive
force to disperse demonstrations in 2003 and 2002. The investigation
into the 2002 violent dispersal of a demonstration organized by the
Center for Human Rights and Civic Education in Mwingi District was
ongoing at year's end, and no developments were expected.
There were some violent incidents between progovernment supporters
and opposition supporters during the year (see Section 3).
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally allowed this in practice. The Societies Act
requires that every association be registered or exempted from
registration by the Registrar of Societies. Approximately 40 political
parties were registered. The only party denied registration was the
Islamic Party of Kenya (IPK); however, the IPK had not resubmitted an
application to register since NARC came to power in 2002.
The Mungiki, whom the Moi government outlawed along with a number
of other groups in 2002, remained banned. The Mungiki espoused
political views and cultural practices that were controversial in
mainstream society; many of its members engaged in criminal activities
and harassed and intimidated residents in areas where the group was
active (see Section 1.a.). The number of Mungiki members was unknown,
but the group had a significant following among the unemployed and
other marginalized segments of society. Other groups that remained
banned included the Kamjesh, Chinnololo, Sanina Youth, Baghdad Boys,
Jehila Embakai, Jeshi la Mzee, Nmachuma, and the Taliban.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. Unlike in previous years, the Government generally did not
interfere with any activities of religious groups, although some Muslim
leaders charged that the Government was hostile toward Islam.
The Government required religious organizations to register with
the Registrar of Societies, which reported to the Office of the
Attorney General. The Government allowed traditional indigenous
religious organizations to register, although many chose not to do so.
Religious organizations generally received equal treatment from the
Government; however, some small splinter groups found it difficult to
register due to their inability to define their status as more than an
offshoot of a larger religious organization.
There generally was considerable tolerance among religious groups;
however, some Muslims believed they were treated as second-class
citizens in a predominantly Christian country. Muslims continued to
complain that non-Muslims received better treatment when requesting
citizenship documents. According to Muslim leaders, government
authorities scrutinized more rigorously the identification cards of
persons with Muslim surnames and sometimes required them to present
additional documentation of their citizenship, such as birth
certificates of parents or grandparents. In the past, the Government
had singled out the overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic Somalis as the only
group whose members were required to carry an additional form of
identification to prove citizenship; however, this policy was no longer
enforced.
The Government and Muslim and Christian groups remained engaged in
a long-standing debate over whether special Islamic courts should be
recognized in the country's Constitution. Muslims and human rights
groups also voiced concerns over a proposed antiterrorism bill,
claiming it would be used to target Muslims, and over government
assistance to Islamic schools, fearing a dilution of Islamic teachings.
In May, police arrested a Nigerian pastor, a prominent doctor, and
six other members of Winners Chapel International in the Western
Province town of Kitale and charged them with torturing a church
member. Local newspapers alleged that the man was tortured to force him
to give up his child as a human sacrifice. The Nigerian-based religion,
which has 10 churches in the country, denied the allegations.
Also in May, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church claimed
that they were among hundreds of workers fired by private companies
operating in Nairobi's export processing zone (EPZ). The church members
claimed that they lost their jobs because they refused to work on
Saturdays.
At year's end, an inquest continued into the 2000 death of Father
John Anthony Kaiser, a Catholic priest working in the country for more
than 30 years. Although there was much public speculation to the
contrary, an investigative report released by a foreign government in
2001 concluded that the evidence was most consistent with suicide and
that it was unlikely that Father Kaiser had been killed.
There have been no developments in the March 2003 killing of Joseph
Okech, who died in a fight during Sunday services between two factions
of St. Stephen's Church in Dandora.
There were no further developments in incidents from previous years
regarding disputes over land ownership and institutional conflicts
between rival religious factions.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights and generally respected them in practice.
Police routinely stopped vehicles and checked vehicle safety and
driver documents on roads throughout the country. Police often demanded
bribes at such checkpoints. Ethnic Somalis were no longer required to
provide additional identification.
The Government did not restrict foreign travel or emigration. Civil
servants and M.P.s must get government permission for international
travel, which generally was granted.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it in practice.
Some of the several thousand persons displaced by ethnic clashes
have not returned to their homes due to fear of renewed violence (see
Section 5).
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but the Government worked
closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
to provide protection to refugees. In practice, the Government provided
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution. The Government granted refugee status or
asylum. The UNHCR granted refugee status to Somali refugees at the
Dadaab camps and to Sudanese refugees at the Kakuma camp. A UNHCR
eligibility committee in Nairobi performed a similar function for
individuals of other nationalities.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 U.N. Convention or its
1967 Protocol. The Government provided temporary protection to the
approximately 200,000 refugees registered by UNHCR who lived in
official UNHCR camps. An undetermined number of refugees lived outside
the camps in cities and rural areas. Somalis accounted for
approximately 65 percent of the total refugee population, followed by
large numbers of Sudanese and smaller numbers of other nationalities
from across the region.
The Government required that all refugees reside at designated
camps, most of which were located near the Somali and Sudanese borders,
unless granted permission to live elsewhere in the country. Such
permission was given primarily to attend higher education institutions,
undergo medical treatment, or avoid security threats at the camps.
However, many refugees lived illegally outside the camps, especially in
Nairobi.
Incidents of rape of women and girls in refugee camps continued to
occur. Many rapes occurred when women and girls collected firewood and
building materials outside the camps; however, reported rapes declined
during the year.
Acts of violence, including banditry and shootings, occurred
frequently near the camps. Refugees were mistreated and abused by
citizens and by residents of different refugee camps because of ethnic
and religious differences. Interclan violence frequently erupted among
rival Somali clans at the camps (see Section 5); family members also
may subject to abuse Somali refugees who marry non-Muslims.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens the right to change their
government through free and fair multiparty elections; citizens only
fully realized this right in December 2002, when they chose a new
president through an election for the first time since former President
Moi was elected in 1978. The December 2002 elections were the country's
third multiparty elections for presidential, parliamentary, and civic
seats. Five presidential candidates contested the elections, but the
main contestants were KANU candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and NARC candidate
Mwai Kibaki, a Vice-President and Minister of Finance in former
President Moi's government. NARC was a coalition of more than a dozen
political parties, including former members of KANU, who formed a
united front to contest the December general elections. Since
independence in 1963, KANU had continuously controlled both the
presidency and the national legislature. President Kibaki won 61.9
percent of the vote in the 2002 election, which was largely peaceful
and determined by international observers to reflect the will of the
people.
In the 2002 elections for the 222-member National Assembly, 210
seats were elected and 12 were nominated. Three by-elections--two in
2003 and two during the year--did not change the representation of the
political parties in the national legislature. The NARC coalition held
132 seats (7 nominated); KANU held 68 seats (4 nominated); Ford-P held
15 seats (1 nominated); Safina, Ford-A, and Sisi held 2 seats each; and
Shiriksho held 1 seat. Observers concluded that the two by-elections
also broadly reflected the popular will, although both were marred by
voter intimidation and bribery.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), whose M.P.s hold 6 positions as
ministers and 10 as assistant ministers in the Government, was widely
seen as an opposition party within the Government. In June, President
Kibaki named three M.P.s as ministers and four as assistant ministers
from the principal opposition party, KANU; one KANU Assistant Minister
resigned in September. Both LDP and KANU filed lawsuits alleging that
the Constitution prohibits the President from naming ministers or
assistant ministers without the consent of the parties through which
the nominees were elected to Parliament. Both cases were pending at
year's end.
Police or organized youth gangs disrupted or forced the
cancellation of some opposition meetings and rallies during the year,
and politicians and public servants routinely warned political rivals
against campaigning in their areas. On March 22, a gang of youths
attacked Cabinet Minister Raila Odinga and LDP Secretary General Joseph
Kamotho in Coast Province. The two politicians accused their nominal
allies within the Government of hiring the youths to attack them. In
April, assailants in Kisumu stoned the vehicle of Orie Rogo Manduli,
who was the KANU candidate in a by-election for a seat in the National
Assembly. Manduli blamed her opponent, Reverend Ken Nyagudi, for the
attack; Nyagudi, who eventually won the seat as the candidate for the
ruling NARC coalition, denied involvement. In December, unknown persons
stoned vehicles and attacked politicians campaigning for various
candidates in a by-election in Coast Province.
At the local level, President Kibaki released some funding for
provincial and district governments through the Local Constituency
Fund; however, he continued to exercise tight control over local
administrations. The President appoints both the powerful provincial
and district commissioners and numerous district and village officials.
Elected local councils exist, but the central Government continued to
restrict their functions. For example, early in the year the Minister
of Local Government dismissed all the municipal councilors in the port
city of Mombasa. Although rural and municipal councils are authorized
by law to provide a wide range of health, education, and infrastructure
services, in practice, their functions were limited to partial
oversight of schools, secondary and tertiary roads, markets, and
natural resources such as forests. Most councils lacked sufficient
financial autonomy and revenues to perform adequately even these
limited functions.
At the national level, the Constitution authorizes the President to
dissolve the legislature and prohibits parliamentary debate on issues
under consideration by the courts. M.P.s were entitled to introduce
legislation, but, in practice, it generally was the Attorney General
who did so. President Kibaki exercised considerably less influence over
the legislative agenda than did former President Moi. For example,
during the year, KANU and LDP M.P.s combined to defeat a government
bill dealing with forestry protection. The National Assembly had the
power to hire its own staff and to vote its own budget.
In March, the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission completed
work on the drafting of a new constitution, but the Government refused
to accept the draft. At year's end, the fate of the draft constitution
remained subject to legal and political debate.
Frequent press reports fueled a widespread public perception that
large-scale corruption at the highest levels of government and in
Parliament continued unabated. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes
Bill, which sets rules for transparency and accountability, and the
Public Officer Ethics Bill, which requires high government officials
and their spouses to declare their wealth, were enacted. The Government
also established an anticorruption authority to investigate and
prosecute cases of corruption and appointed an anticorruption czar.
Some anticorruption institutions began actively to pursue their
mandates. In April, police arrested opposition M.P. William Ruto on
charges of corruption that had occurred during the Moi administration;
his case was ongoing at the end of the year. In August, the courts
sentenced a prominent businessman and the former general manager of the
National Bank of Kenya to 2 years in prison in connection with a
corruption scandal that occurred 10 years ago. In September, the courts
sentenced Dr. Margaret Gachara, the former director of the National
AIDS Control Council, to 1 year in jail for misappropriation of funds;
President Kabaki released Gachara, along with some 600 other prisoners,
in December. The Government also suspended a number of high-ranking
officials during the year pending corruption investigations; however,
no ministers or assistant ministers were arrested or suspended.
During the June Cabinet reshuffle, John Githongo, the Permanent
Secretary for Governance and Ethics, often referred to as the
Government's anticorruption czar, was temporarily moved from the Office
of the President to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
After local human rights NGOs and Western missions criticized the move
as an attempt to decrease Githongo's authority, his office was moved
back into the Office of the Presidency. In August, Parliament confirmed
the appointment of former High Court Justice Aaron Ringera as Director
of the Anti-Corruption Commission. In 2003, Ringera headed a special
committee that concluded that 152 of 300 judges and magistrates were
corrupt; his finding triggered the suspension of 38 magistrates and the
transfer of 40 others (see Section 1.e.).
At year's end, there were 15 female M.P.s, (7 elected and 8
nominated) in the 222-seat National Assembly, 3 female ministers (out
of 29), and 3 female assistant ministers (out of 40).
The 5 largest ethnic groups represented 70 percent of the
population and held 167 of the 222 National Assembly seats. The
remaining 37 ethnic groups represented 30 percent of the population and
held 55 seats; 4 of the 29 ministers and 6 of the 40 assistant
ministers were from the smaller ethnic groups.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were usually cooperative and responsive to their views; however, there
were some reports that government officials intimidated and threatened
to disrupt NGO activities, and that less-established NGOs, particularly
those in rural areas, were subjected to interference from provincial
administrators and security forces.
Approximately 15 domestic NGOs actively advocated for human rights
in the country. Several NGOs maintained comprehensive files on human
rights abuses. A number of attorneys represented the indigent and human
rights advocates without compensation, although they could handle only
a small percentage of those who needed assistance, and were
concentrated chiefly in Nairobi and other large cities. The Government
allowed human rights organizations to witness some autopsies of persons
who died in police custody. The Attorney General's Office generally
responded in detail to foreign embassies' human rights inquiries. Some
local human rights NGOs complained that the Attorney General's office
and other government offices often were not responsive to their
inquiries; however, there were fewer such complaints than during the
previous government.
Unlike in previous years, members of the Government did not
publicly criticize NGOs, nor did the Government use the governmental
NGO Coordination Board to put pressure on the nongovernmental National
NGO Council.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that NGO employees
were arrested.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission, a leading human rights NGO,
produced a ``Quarterly Human Rights Report'' that cataloged the human
rights situation in the country, as well as special reports on pressing
human rights problems. The Institute for Education in Democracy and
other NGOs monitored elections in cooperation with the Electoral
Commission and diplomatic missions.
The KNCHR created by an act of Parliament in 2002 was able to
perform its duties without government interference. Its 10
commissioners have the status of appeals court or high court judges;
the Commission can issue summons, order the release of prisoners, and
require compensation for human rights abuses. The KNCHR completed its
recruitment of commissioners in 2003. During the year, although the
Commission was still hiring staff, it launched an active program of
prison visits and other human rights investigations.
According to its charter, the KNCHR has unfettered access to
prisons, police stations, and to all information it needs to conduct
investigations of human rights abuses; however, some authorities did
not cooperate fully in human rights investigations (see Section 1.c.).
NGO personnel accompanying KNCHR commissioners on official visits have
the same access. In August, the KNCHR Chairman and another commissioner
were briefly prevented from holding a procession in Nanyuki at the
start of the Laikipia Human Rights Forum, even though the KNCHR had
informed police in advance of its intention to hold the procession.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of a
person's ``race, tribe, place of origin or residence or other local
connection, political opinions, color, or creed''; however, government
authorities did not enforce effectively many of these provisions. There
was also evidence that some government officials at least tolerated
and, in some instances, instigated ethnic violence.
Women.--In 2003, the Government outlawed all forms of violence
against women; however, domestic violence against women was a serious
and widespread problem. The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey,
released in August, revealed that more than half of women had
experienced domestic violence after the age of 15 years. Data available
in mid-year revealed an increase in rape cases. According to police
statistics, there were 1,653 rape cases between January and July, which
projected an annual rate of 2,800 cases, compared with 2,308 rape cases
in 2003. Police attributed the upsurge to increased reporting by rape
victims; however, available statistics probably underreported the
problem since social mores discouraged women from going outside their
families or ethnic groups to report sexual abuse. According to a 2003
study by the Center for Human Rights and Democracy, women in Eldoret
did not report 60 percent of rape cases in the North Rift region for
fear of unfair treatment by police. In contrast to these reports, FIDA-
Kenya reported in September that gender violence had declined.
The law carries penalties of up to life imprisonment for rape,
although actual sentences usually were no more than 10 years. The rate
of prosecution remained low because of cultural inhibitions against
publicly discussing sex, fear of retribution, disinclination of police
to intervene in domestic disputes, and unavailability of doctors who
otherwise might provide the necessary evidence for conviction.
Moreover, wife beating was prevalent and largely condoned by much of
society. Traditional culture permitted a husband to discipline his wife
by physical means and was ambivalent about the seriousness of spousal
rape. There was no law specifically prohibiting spousal rape.
There continued to be incidents of rape of refugee Somali women at
the Dadaab refugee camps (see Section 2.d.). The majority of the rapes
were perpetrated by Somali bandits crossing over the border, and a
small number of the rapes may have been committed by security forces
and police. During the year, there were 16 reported rapes and 9
defilements of Somali refugees in refugee camps, according to the
UNHCR.
The law prohibits FGM for girls under 18 and forced FGM on girls or
women of any age; however, FGM remained widespread, particularly in
rural areas. In September, an international conference on FGM in
Nairobi reported that, of the country's 42 ethnic groups, only 4--Luo,
Luhya, Teso and Turkana--did not practice FGM. A women's rights
workshop in October 2003 reported that at least 90 percent of women in
North Eastern Province underwent FGM. According to Maendeleo Ya
Wanawake (Development of Women), the percentage of girls undergoing the
procedure was 80 to 90 percent in some districts of Eastern, Nyanza,
and Rift Valley Provinces. FGM usually was performed at an early age.
Various communities have instituted ``no cut'' initiation rites for
girls as an alternative to FGM. The Family Planning Association of
Kenya (FPAK) established such a rite, called Ntanira na Kithomo
(initiate me through education) in Nyambene in Meru; some Marakwet and
Maasai communities also instituted similar rites of passage. According
to the FPAK, its program contributed to a 13 percent decline in the
prevalence of FGM in Meru North District.
Prostitution is illegal; however, it was a problem and was
perpetuated by poverty. Prostitution contributed to the spread of HIV/
AIDS, which affected approximately 7 percent of the working age
population. In 2002, the U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS reported that 30
percent of pregnant women in Embu District in Eastern Province were
HIV-positive, making it the area with the highest rate of infection in
the country.
Sexual harassment in EPZs was a problem (see Section 6.e.).
Women experienced a wide range of discriminatory practices,
limiting their political and economic rights and relegating them to
second-class citizenship. The Constitution provides equal rights to men
and women and specifically prohibits discrimination on grounds of
gender; however, it allows only males to transmit citizenship
automatically to their wives and children.
Women continued to face both legal and de facto discrimination in
other areas. The Law of Succession, which governs inheritance rights,
provides for equal consideration of male and female children; however,
it terminates the inheritance rights of widows if they remarry, but
does not do so for widowers. Moreover, a widow cannot be the sole
administrator of her husband's estate unless she has her children's
consent. Most women have little awareness of their legal rights to
property and inheritance and accede to customary law on these issues.
Under the customary law of many ethnic groups, a woman cannot own or
inherit land, and she must live on the land as a guest of males who are
relatives by blood or marriage. Wife inheritance, which restricts a
woman's right to choose her mate and heightens her risk of contracting
a sexually transmitted disease such as HIV/AIDS, was practiced in some
communities. Although poor, uneducated women were more likely to suffer
from property and inheritance discrimination than are educated women,
even prominent women sometimes were victims. Following the death of
Vice President Michael Wamalwa in 2003, male members of his family in
Western Kenya laid claim both to his property and to his widow. Forced
marriages were also common.
Women made up approximately 75 percent of the agricultural work
force and have become active in urban small businesses. Nonetheless,
the average monthly income of women was approximately two-thirds that
of men, and women hold only 6 percent of land titles. Women had
difficulty moving into nontraditional fields, were promoted more slowly
than men, and were more likely to be laid off than men. Societal
discrimination was most apparent in rural areas.
During the year, Parliament passed a bill creating a national
commission on gender and gender development and also created a gender
department within the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture, and Social
Services. A growing number of women's organizations were active in the
field of women's rights, including FIDA, the National Council of Women
of Kenya, the National Commission on the Status of Women, the Education
Center for Women in Democracy, and the League of Kenyan Women Voters.
The Women's Political Caucus continued to lobby over matters of concern
to women and to increase the influence of women on government policy.
Children.--The Government was generally committed to the rights and
welfare of children and has passed legislation and developed policies
to promote education and protect children's rights; however, it lacked
the resources to implement its policies fully.
The Government's Free Universal Primary Education Program, which
began in January 2003, raised primary school enrollment from 6.1
million in 2002 to 7.2 million in 2003, according to Ministry of
Education data. The 2003 figure constituted about 78 percent of the
primary school age group. Most citizens welcomed tuition-free
education; however, the policy also resulted in overcrowded classes
because of insufficient teachers and an inadequate budget. About 79
percent of enrolled children completed the 8-year primary school
education cycle. The law mandates compulsory schooling for all children
through grade 12, but fewer than half of primary school graduates went
on to secondary school. Approximately 79 percent of secondary school
students completed the 4-year secondary cycle.
Levels of education for boys and girls differed widely. Although
the number of boys and girls in school roughly was equal at the primary
level, boys substantially outnumbered girls in higher education. Rural
families were more reluctant to invest in educating girls than in
educating boys, especially at the higher levels. According to FIDA-K,
8,000 to 13,000 girls drop out of school each year due to pregnancy.
Women constituted 70 percent of the country's illiterate population.
Corporal punishment of students was banned formally in 2001 but has
not ceased completely in practice. In March, the police arrested two
teachers for caning several schoolchildren, seriously injuring one of
them.
The health care system for school children, which once provided
periodic medical checkups and free milk, was defunct.
Child rape and molestation continued to be a serious problem. In
March, The People Daily reported that 38 percent of children under 18
were sexually abused. Newspapers contained frequent reports of
molestation or rape of children by schoolteachers, police, clergy, and
others. For example, in February, five men raped an 11-year-old girl in
Kiambu. In May, four street girls in Nairobi said that police had
demanded sex in return for not arresting them. Also in May, a school
inspector rescued a 13-year-old schoolgirl who had been kidnapped and
defiled for 3 days by an adult male.
Legally, a man is not considered to have raped a girl under age 14
if he has sexual intercourse with her against her will; instead, he
commits the lesser offense of defilement. The penalty for the felony of
rape can be life imprisonment, while the penalty for defilement is
usually less. In July, a man in Bondo District was sentenced to 10
years in prison for defiling a 14-year-old girl the previous month.
Also in July, a Mombasa judge sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for
defiling an 8-year-old girl in 2003.
Newspapers frequently highlighted the problem of child marriages.
In July, a head teacher rescued a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Samburu
District who had been forced by her parents to marry a 40-year-old man
against her will.
Certain ethnic groups commonly practiced FGM on young girls,
particularly in rural areas (see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking in children was a problem, as was child prostitution.
Child prostitution has grown considerably due both to economic
contraction and to the increase in the number of children orphaned
because of the spread of HIV/AIDS (see Section 5, Trafficking).
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), approximately
30,000 girls under the age of 19 years were engaged in prostitution in
the country.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Economic displacement and the spread of HIV/AIDS continued to
affect the problem of homeless street children. In 2002, the East
African Standard reported an estimated 250,000 children living on the
streets in urban areas--primarily Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru--
a figure that it said was a conservative estimate. These children often
were involved in theft, drug trafficking, assault, trespassing, and
property damage. Street children faced harassment as well as physical
and sexual abuse from police and within the juvenile justice system.
The Government provided programs to place street children in
shelters and assisted NGOs in providing education, skills training,
counseling, legal advice, and shelter for girls abused by their
employers.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not explicitly prohibit human
trafficking, and there were reports that persons were trafficked to,
from, and within the country. Various laws can be used to prosecute
trafficking-related offenses. The Penal Code prohibits detaining
females against their will for the purposes of prostitution as well as
child labor, the transportation of children for sale, and the
commercial sexual exploitation of children.
The country was one of origin, destination, and transit for victims
trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor.
Victims were trafficked from South and East Asian countries and the
Middle East and transited the country to European destinations for
sexual exploitation. Asian nationals, principally Indians,
Bangladeshis, and Nepalese, were trafficked into the country and
coerced into bonded labor in the construction and garment industries.
Unlike in the previous year, women were not trafficked to Lebanon and
other Middle Eastern countries for labor, and children were not
trafficked to Uganda to work. Internal trafficking was also a problem.
In August, the police charged several persons with participating in an
international child trafficking ring involving the abduction and
foreign sale of infants and young children. At year's end, the accused
were awaiting trial, and the investigation was ongoing.
During the year, the Government assigned 12 individuals to a newly
created Criminal Intelligence Unit within the police to lead the
operational elements of the Government's human trafficking efforts.
Government assistance to NGOs to combat human trafficking was minimal
due to resource constraints. The Ministry of Home Affairs established
an office to assist its citizens working in Saudi Arabia. It also
implemented an employment program, partially aimed at trafficking
victims, that targeted orphaned and abandoned youth. In response to
reports of citizens being victimized by fraudulent employment schemes
in the Middle East, the Ministry of Labor operated a program of
education, awareness, and inspection for agencies that facilitated the
employment of citizens overseas. The program sought to educate citizens
of their rights, to decrease the possibility of citizens becoming
trafficking victims, and to crack down on the use of illegal smuggling
firms. Citizens using legitimate employment agencies received
information on their legal rights, and their contracts were filed with
the Government. The Government began a registration program for coastal
guesthouses, in part to deter sex tourism. The KPS, in conjunction with
the Ministry of Information, conducted media programs to increase
public awareness of trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Persons With Disabilities Act,
passed in 2003, prohibits discrimination against persons with
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the
provision of other state services, and the Government made progress
during the year in its implementation. The Government began to equip
public buildings with wheelchair ramps, lifts, and sanitary facilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's population was
divided into more than 40 ethnic groups, among which there were
frequent allegations of discrimination and occasional violence.
Unofficial results of the 1999 census indicated that the Kikuyu
constituted 21 percent of the population, the Luhya 16 percent, the
Kalenjin 12 percent, the Luo 11 percent, and the Kamba 10 percent of
the population. The Kikuyu and the closely related Kamba, Meru, and
Embu groups made up more than one-third of the country's population;
members of these groups dominated much of private commerce and
industry.
In private business and in the public sector, members of virtually
all ethnic groups commonly discriminated in favor of other members of
the same group. Neighborhoods in large cities tended to be segregated
ethnically, although interethnic marriage has become fairly common in
urban areas. Political disputes tended to correlate with ethnic
differences.
Members of the coastal Bajuni, Mijikenda, and Digo communities
accused the Government of denying them their rights to land and of
favoring members of inland ``up-country'' ethnic groups, who migrated
to the coast largely during the period when Kenyatta was president.
Clashes also broke out between various clans during the fall in Trans
Nzoia, Rift Valley Province, over land disputes. In December, an M.P.
and 11 others, including municipal councilors, were arrested for having
incited the M.P.'s Pokot constituents to invade private non-Pokot land;
the 12 were later released on bail, and their trial was pending at
year's end. Land ownership was the most important issue in the December
parliamentary by-election in Mombasa (see Section 3).
Attacks and revenge counterattacks continued between ethnic groups
throughout the country. Many factors contributed to interethnic
conflicts, including the proliferation of guns, the commercialization
of traditional cattle rustling, the development of a modern warrior/
bandit culture (distinct from the traditional culture), irresponsible
local political leadership, shrinking economic prospects for affected
groups, a regional drought, and the inability or unwillingness of
security forces to stem the violence.
In February, armed men from the Pokot tribe attacked members of the
Turkana tribe, resulting in the deaths of 13 persons, including 3
children. In February, Maasai warriors killed a farmer and injured five
others in a raid on an area in Laikipia District where land had been
allocated to influential persons from the former KANU government. In
April, flyers appeared in predominantly Kalenjin areas of the Rift
Valley threatening to forcibly expel Kikuyu residents from the area. In
December, clashes between 2 ethnic Somali clans, allegedly over access
to a water source, claimed 24 lives in North Eastern Province.
In August, the Maasai said that a 99-year lease of Maasai land to
the British colonial government had expired and that they were,
therefore, reclaiming the land. Some Maasai invaded the land they
claimed as their own. Police killed one man and arrested others.
Members of the Nubian community, most of whom were Muslim, claimed
that the Government discriminated against them by trying to eliminate
their ethnic identity. They also claimed that despite living in the
country for generations, they were frequently denied identity cards,
work permits, passports, and the right to own land because they could
not prove that their grandparents or great-grandparents were citizens
of the country. These measures, they claimed, hampered their access to
education and employment opportunities, resulting in the impoverishment
of their community, which numbered about 200,000. In June, the Nubian
Community petitioned the High Court for redress of grievances related
to their rights as citizens; the High Court had not rendered judgment
on this suit by year's end.
The continued presence of and, at times, criminal activities by
Somali refugees have exacerbated the problems faced by citizens of
Somali ethnicity (see Section 2.d.).
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of violence or
discrimination among citizens of African ethnicity toward Asians living
in the country. The Asian community constituted between 0.5 and 1
percent of the total population and consisted of second and third
generation Asians with full citizenship and a smaller body of recent
immigrants.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--A lingering stigma
toward people with HIV/AIDs made it difficult for many families to
admit that their members were HIV positive. However, the Government
worked in cooperation with international donors on programs of HIV/AIDs
prevention and treatment.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that all workers,
even those in the EPZs, are free to join unions of their choice, and
workers exercised this right in practice. The Police Act prohibits
members of the national police force from joining unions.
There were 42 unions representing approximately 600,000 workers,
approximately one-third of the country's formal-sector work force. All
but 5 of these unions, representing approximately 300,000 workers, were
affiliated with the 1 approved national federation--the Central
Organization of Trade Unions (COTU). The largest non-COTU union was the
240,000-member Kenya National Union of Teachers.
The law prohibits employers from intimidating workers; however,
some anti-union discrimination still existed, specifically in the EPZs
in Mombasa. Employees wrongfully dismissed for union activities were
able to take their cases to the Industrial Court, and many were awarded
damages in the form of back pay; reinstatement was not a common remedy.
More often, aggrieved workers found alternative employment in the
lengthy period prior to the hearing of their cases. The Government
voiced its support for union freedom, but was unable to enforce it
fully.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--While not
having the force of law, the Industrial Relations Charter, executed by
the Government, COTU, and the Federation of Kenya Employers, gives
workers the right to engage in legitimate trade union organizational
activities, and the Government protected these rights in practice. Both
the Trade Disputes Act and the Charter authorize collective bargaining
between unions and employers, and wages and conditions of employment
were established in negotiations between unions and management. The
Government permits wage increases of up to 100 percent and
renegotiation of collective agreements; however, the law allows
employers in ailing industries to dismiss workers regardless of the
provisions of their collective bargaining agreements. Collective
bargaining agreements must be registered with the Industrial Court to
ensure adherence to these guidelines.
The law, with some restrictions, permits workers to strike, and
workers exercised this right in practice. Unlike in previous years,
police did not use excessive force to disperse strikes.
Workers must submit a letter to the Minister of Labor and wait 21
days before a strike can occur. Members of the military services,
police, prison guards, and the National Youth Service are prohibited
from striking. Other civil servants, like their private sector
counterparts, can strike following the 21-day notice period (28 days
for essential service workers, such as water, health, education, or air
traffic control). During this interim period, the Minister may mediate
the dispute, nominate an arbitrator, or refer the matter to the
Industrial Court, a body of up to five judges appointed by the
President, for binding arbitration. Once a dispute is referred to
mediation, fact-finding, or arbitration, any subsequent strike is
illegal. Moreover, the act gives the Minister of Labor broad
discretionary power to determine the legality of any strike.
With the exception of the Factories Act, all labor laws apply in
the EPZs (see Section 6.e.); however, the EPZ Authority and the
Government granted many exemptions to applicable laws. For example, the
Government waived a provision of the law that prevents women from
working in industrial activities at night. There were reports that
persons lost their jobs in EPZs because of their refusal to work on
Saturdays (see Section 2.c.).
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
proscribes slavery, servitude, and forced and bonded labor, including
by children; however, there were reports such practices occurred (see
Section 6.d.). Under the Chiefs' Authority Act, a local authority can
require persons to perform community services in an emergency; however,
there was no attempt to use the law during the year.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
employment in industry of children under the age of 16 is illegal;
however, the law does not apply to the agricultural sector, where
approximately 70 percent of the labor force was employed, or to
children serving as apprentices under the terms of the Industrial
Training Act, and child labor was a problem. Ministry of Labor and
Human Resources Development officers nominally enforced the minimum age
statute, and the Government worked closely with COTU and the ILO's
International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor to eliminate
child labor. The Government's Free Universal Primary Education Program
resulted in the return to school in 2003 of approximately 1 million
children who formerly were working; more than 1 million children were
believed still to be working.
Children often worked as domestic servants in private homes, and
during the year, there were reports of abuse of children serving as
domestic employees. Children worked primarily in the informal sector,
mostly in family businesses and usually assisted parents on family
plots. A significant number of workers on tea, coffee, sugar, and rice
plantations were children, who usually worked in family units. However,
deteriorating economic conditions and the effects of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic gave rise to more child labor in the informal sector, which
was difficult to monitor and control. In addition, a large number of
underage children were active in the sex industry (see Section 5). In
view of the high levels of adult unemployment and underemployment, the
employment of children in the formal industrial wage sector in
violation of the Employment Act was less common.
The law establishes definitions of child labor, and, in June, the
Government prepared a National Plan of Action to Eliminate the Worst
Forms of Child Labor. A practical guide to labor inspection has been
developed, and the Government trained labor inspectors and occupational
health and safety officers to report on child labor. Many NGOs also
were active in child labor issues and assisted in the return to school
of child laborers. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that
children, especially in the rural areas, were loaned out as workers to
pay off family debts.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage for blue-
collar workers in the wage sector has 12 separate scales, varying by
location, age, and skill level; however, in many industries, the
minimum wage equaled the maximum wage. On May 1, the Government
announced an 11 percent increase in the minimum wage for workers in
both urban and rural areas; the inflation rate was 10 percent. These
increases were implemented immediately. The lowest minimum wage was
approximately $50 (3,908 shillings) per month in the largest urban
areas and approximately $42 (3,252 shillings) in rural areas. The
minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family. Most workers relied on second jobs, subsistence farming,
informal sector opportunities, or the extended family for additional
support.
Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement generally
received a better wage and benefit package than those not covered. For
instance, the average covered worker received $100 (approximately 8,170
shillings) per month in addition to a housing and transport allowance,
which often constituted 25 to 50 percent of a worker's compensation
package.
The law limits the normal workweek to 52 hours, although nighttime
employees may be employed for up to 60 hours per week. Some categories
of workers had a shorter workweek. As is the case with respect to
minimum wage limitations, the law specifically excludes agricultural
workers. An employee in the nonagricultural sector is entitled to 1
rest day per week, and there are provisions for 21 days of annual leave
and sick leave. The law also provides that the total hours worked
(regular time plus overtime) in any 2-week period not exceed 120 hours
(144 hours for night workers). The Ministry of Labor and Human
Resources Development was responsible for enforcing these regulations;
however, there were reports of violations during the year. Workers in
some enterprises claimed that employers forced them to work extra hours
without overtime pay.
The law sets forth detailed environmental, health, and safety
standards; however, the law was not always followed in practice, and
fines generally were too low to serve as a deterrent to unsafe
practices. EPZs are excluded from these legal provisions (see Section
6.b.). The Ministry of Labor's Directorate of Occupational Health and
Safety Services (DOHSS) has the authority to inspect factories and work
sites; however, the DOHSS lacked statutory authority to inspect
factories in the EPZs. Labor and NGOs continued to criticize health and
safety conditions in the EPZs and around the country. For example, the
unions highlighted problems of sexual harassment in the EPZs since a
large majority of EPZ workers were women. The Tailors and Textile
Workers Union filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labor on behalf of
15 women from the EPZs who reportedly were fired because they were
pregnant.
DOHSS health and safety inspectors may issue notices enjoining
employers from practices or activities that involved a risk of serious
personal injury. Such notices can be appealed to the Factories Appeals
Court, a body of four members, one of whom must be a High Court judge.
The law stipulates that factories that employ at least 20 persons have
a health and safety committee with representation from workers;
however, according to the Government, fewer than half of even the very
largest factories had instituted health and safety committees. Workers
were not forced by law to remain in hazardous conditions; however, many
were reluctant to remove themselves because of the high unemployment
problem and the resulting risk of job loss.
__________
LESOTHO
Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy with King Letsie III as head
of state. Under the Constitution, the King fills a ceremonial role, has
no executive authority, and is proscribed from actively taking part in
political initiatives. In May 2002, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili,
the leader of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party, was re-
elected in free and fair elections. In the 2002 elections, the LCD won
79 of 80 constituency-based seats, and the opposition Lesotho Peoples
Congress (LPC) won the remaining constituency seat; the 40
proportionally elected seats were divided among 9 opposition parties.
Local government elections scheduled for November were postponed
indefinitely, although the Government stated they would be held before
April 2005. The judiciary was independent in law and practice.
The security forces consist of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF), the
Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), and the National Security
Service (NSS). The Prime Minister is the Minister of Defense and
National Security, with direct authority over the LDF and the NSS. The
police force is under the authority of the Minister of Home Affairs and
Public Safety. The LDF continued to be the subject of a national debate
on the structure, size, and role of the armed forces. The NSS and the
LMPS also continued to undergo comprehensive restructuring. Civilian
authorities maintained effective control of security forces. Some
members of the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country, which has a population of approximately 2.2 million,
is landlocked and surrounded by South Africa. Approximately 26 percent
of the adult male work force worked in South Africa. Between 20 and 23
percent of the resident population was engaged in subsistence
agriculture. Private sector activity dominated in the small
manufacturing and construction sectors. Privatization and liquidation
of formerly state-owned enterprises in the agro-industrial and
agribusiness sectors was completed by the beginning of the year.
Manufacturing sector employment exceeded that of government employment.
Textile manufacturing employment exceeded 50,000. The high HIV/AIDS
rate (almost 30 percent) and corresponding low life expectancy (less
than 37 years), along with severe drought during planting season,
negatively affected economic growth.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were
unconfirmed allegations of torture by security forces and credible
reports that the police at times used excessive force against
detainees. Prison conditions were poor, and lengthy pretrial detention
was a problem. There were long delays in trials. Domestic violence was
common, and women's rights continued to be restricted severely in some
areas. Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities was
common. Some worker rights were restricted. Child labor was a problem
in traditional agriculture and in the informal sector.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
In August, the trials for the 25 members of the LDF accused of
killing the Deputy Prime Minister in 1994 concluded. In 2003, 19 of the
25 persons initially arrested were released due to lack of evidence,
and 1 died. The remaining 5 persons were convicted and received prison
sentences ranging from 4 to 12 years.
An internal police investigation into the fatal shooting of two
demonstrators in 2003 resulted in the opening and transmission of
dockets to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for
consideration and advice. This investigation remained ongoing at year's
end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution expressly prohibits such practices;
however, there were allegations that security forces tortured persons
and credible reports that the police at times used excessive force.
There was no action taken against security forces who reportedly
tortured Theko Lerotholi and Malefa Mapheleba in 2003. Lorotholi, an
LDF member arrested for suspicion of armed robbery, lodged a torture
claim against the LMPS with the High Court. No date was set for the
case to begin. There were a number of civil claims against the police
for unlawful detention and assault stemming from this incident.
Prison conditions were poor, and facilities were overcrowded and in
disrepair. Women were housed separately from men, and juveniles were
housed separately from adults. Pretrial detainees often were held with
convicted prisoners.
Prison regulations provide for visiting committees that were made
up of principal chiefs, church ministers, representatives of the
business community, advocates of the High Court, and other citizens.
These committees may visit any prison without the prior knowledge of
the prison director and generally were allowed to do so. The committee
reports its findings to the prison director.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The LMPS is nationally managed, with the country divided into three
regional police districts: North (Berea, Leribe, Butha-Buthe, and
Mokhotlong), Central (Maseru, and Thaba Tseka Districts), and Southern
(Qacha's Nek, Mohale's Hoek, Mafeteng, Quthing). Each district is
headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (equivalent rank of
Colonel). The LMPS suffered from a significant shortage of resources,
which sometimes limited the effectiveness of the police. Corruption was
a problem; however, the Government continued its reform efforts. A
Police Complaints Authority investigated public complaints against
members of the Police Service.
Persons detained or arrested in criminal cases and defendants in
civil cases had the right to legal counsel; however, there was no
system to provide public defenders. The Ministry of Justice and the
nongovernmental community (NGO) maintained a few legal aid clinics. The
law provides for granting bail, which the authorities granted regularly
and generally fairly.
Because of serious backlogs of court caseloads, pretrial detainees
were a significant portion of the prison population, and pretrial
remand could last months or even years.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary consisted of the Court of Appeal (which meets semi-
annually), the High Court, magistrates courts, and customary or
traditional courts, which existed largely in rural areas to administer
customary law. The High Court also provided procedural and substantive
guidance on matters of law and procedure to military tribunals;
however, it did not participate in judgments.
The authorities generally respected court decisions and rulings.
There was no trial by jury. A single High Court judge normally
adjudicated criminal trials with two assessors who served in an
advisory capacity. In civil cases, judges normally heard cases alone.
There was a large case backlog, which led to lengthy delays in trials
(see Section 1.d.).
In the magistrates courts, some accused persons were not advised of
their right to legal representation. Some cases proceeded without legal
representation for the accused.
In civil courts, women and men were accorded equal rights; however,
in traditional and customary courts, certain rights and privileges
accorded to men were denied to women (see Section 5). When traditional
law and custom were invoked in a court case, a male plaintiff could opt
for customary judgments by a principal chief rather than a civil court,
and the judgment was binding legally. This system greatly disadvantaged
women.
Military tribunals have jurisdiction over military cases only.
Decisions by military tribunals can be appealed only to a special
court-martial appeal court, which was composed of two judges from the
High Court, one retired military officer with a legal background, and
the registrar of the High Court.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law does not fully protect citizens' privacy
rights; however, there were no reports that authorities infringed on
citizens' privacy rights during the year. Although search warrants were
required under normal circumstances, the law provided police with wide
powers to stop and search persons and vehicles and to enter homes and
other places without a warrant.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
There were several independent newspapers that routinely criticized
the Government. The official state-owned or state-controlled media
consisted of one radio station, a 1\1/2\ hour daily newscast on a local
television channel, and two weekly newspapers. All reflected official
positions of the ruling party. There were seven private radio stations,
but no private television station. South African and global satellite
television and radio broadcasts were widely available.
Government ministers and other officials initiated a number of
libel and defamation suits against members of the independent media.
Some of these led to out of court settlements. The Mirror, an English
language weekly, settled a case with a former cabinet minister and
member of Parliament. In March, a Member of Parliament sued the Sesotho
language paper Mololi. The case was still pending at year's end.
Internet services were freely available from a number of private
Internet service providers.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom. Although the
Government owned and administered the country's only university, the
academic staff represented the full political spectrum and was free to
express its views.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. Unlike in the previous
year, there were no reports that police killed demonstrators.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The law provides for the granting of refugee status or asylum in
accordance with the definition in the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government continued to cooperate with the office
of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. The Government also has designated
a Commissioner for Refugees. The Government has provided temporary
protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the
1951 U.N. Convention/1967 Protocol; however, the issue did not arise
during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
In the 2002 elections, the LCD party won 79 of the 80 constituency-
based seats, the opposition LPC party won the remaining constituency
seat, and the 40 proportionally elected seats were divided among 9
opposition parties; Prime Minister Mosisili, the leader of the LCD
party, was re-elected. Domestic and international observers concluded
that the elections were free, fair, peaceful, lawful, and transparent.
The Basotho National Party has taken its seats in the National Assembly
and participated in Parliamentary proceedings.
Although there are no laws providing for access to information and
access to government information was incomplete, websites of government
ministries, parastatals, and private organizations provided significant
information.
There were 14 women in the 120-member National Assembly and 12
women in the 33-member Senate. Four women were government ministers,
and two women were assistant ministers. The Speaker of the National
Assembly was a woman.
Approximately 98.5 percent of the population is Basotho. There were
no members of minorities in the 120-member National assembly and none
in the 33-member Senate. There were no members of minorities in the
cabinet.
A provision in the Constitution requires that members of Parliament
be able to speak; however, to date, this provision has not been
invoked. The Minister of Justice, Human Rights, Rehabilitation, Law and
Constitutional Affairs is blind.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
An independent Ombudsman institution exists to protect citizens
against infringement of their rights by public sector agencies. The
Ombudsman's office has intervened on several occasions against the
government and private sector on issues such as: demanding the release
of salary checks of employees withheld unlawfully, reinstatement of
employees illegally suspended from work, compensation for people
relocated to new areas, and compensation and repair of houses for
communities living close to construction sites, such as result from
large-scale development projects.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, color,
sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
birth, or other status, and the Government generally respected these
prohibitions in practice; however, the Constitution also recognizes
customary law as a parallel legal system, and women's inheritance and
property rights were severely restricted under the traditional
chieftainship system.
Women.--Domestic violence against women occurred frequently, and,
although dependable statistics were not available, it was believed to
be widespread. In Basotho tradition, a wife may return to her ``maiden
home'' if physically abused by her husband. Under common law, wife
beating is a criminal offense and defined as assault; however, few
domestic violence cases were brought to trial. Beatings and violence
against women perpetrated by husbands or other male relatives occurred
frequently but was increasingly considered socially unacceptable
behavior.
The law prohibits rape, which is punishable by a minimum sentence
of 5 years imprisonment, with no option for a fine. Prostitution is
illegal and was a problem; police seldom prosecuted offenders. The law
also prohibits sexual harassment; however, in most cases, it was
difficult to prove.
Both traditional law and custom under the traditional chieftainship
system severely limited the rights of women in areas such as property
rights, inheritance, and contracts. Women have the legal and customary
right to make a will and sue for divorce; however, under customary law,
a married woman is considered a minor during the lifetime of her
husband. She cannot enter into legally binding contracts, whether for
employment, commerce, or education, without her husband's consent. A
woman married under customary law has no standing in civil court and
may not sue or be sued without her husband's permission. Government
officials have publicly criticized this customary practice. The
tradition of paying a bride price (lobola) was common. Polygamy was
practiced by a very small percentage of the population.
Women's rights organizations took a leading role in educating women
about their rights under customary and common law, highlighting the
importance of women participating in the democratic process. The
Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, and Recreation funded efforts by
women's groups to sensitize society to the status and rights of women.
Children.--The Child Protection Act of 1980 (CPA) provides for the
protection of children; however, limited resources hampered the
Government's ability to accord children the level of attention they
demand. During the year, Members of Parliament criticized the CPA as
insufficient, and Parliament began work on a new law to replace the
CPA.
The Government devoted substantial resources to primary and
secondary education. Primary education was free. Education was not
compulsory even at the primary levels; however, the Minister of
Education announced plans to make primary education mandatory by 2007.
This proposal had not been acted on at year's end. A substantial number
of children did not attend school, particularly in rural areas where
there were few schools, where children were involved in subsistence
activities in support of their family's welfare, or where families
could not afford the costs associated with school attendance, such as
fees for the purchase of uniforms, books, and materials. UNICEF
estimated that in 2002, 62 percent of boys and 68 percent of girls
attended primary school. The problem of school nonattendance affected
boys disproportionately more than girls. In traditional rural Basotho
society, livestock herding by young boys frequently interfered with
their school enrollment (see Section 6.d.).
Familial stress, poverty, the spread of HIV/AIDS, and divorce led
to a rise in child homelessness and abandonment, creating a growing
number of street children.
Child prostitution was a problem. Young girls, many of whom were
orphans, reportedly moved to urban areas to work as prostitutes. A 2001
UNICEF assessment concluded that child prostitution in the country was
a poverty-driven phenomenon rather than a commercial enterprise and
that the financial arrangements were casual and not the product of
organized criminal syndicates. However, UNICEF and the Government
agreed that while the numbers remained small, the trend toward
commercial prostitution by children under age 18 was a growing problem
in the country. There is little capability within either the police
force or the Department of Social Welfare to address the needs of
children likely to engage in prostitution.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no reports by NGOs, the media, or the
Government that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the
country.
Persons With Disabilities.--Discrimination against persons with
physical disabilities in employment, education, or provision of other
government services is unlawful, and the Government enforced these laws
within its limited means. However, societal discrimination was common.
Laws and regulations stipulate that people with disabilities have
access to public buildings, and buildings completed after this law
entered into force generally complied with the law. The election law
does provide for assisted voting for persons with disabilities. The
Minister of Justice, Human Rights, Rehabilitation, Law, and
Constitutional Affairs is blind; he was appointed to this position in
2001.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Economic and racial tension
between the Chinese business community and the Basotho remained a
problem. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of looting
of Chinese-owned shops.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Under the law, workers have the right
to join and form trade unions without prior government authorization,
and workers exercised this right in practice. The Labor Code prohibits
civil servants from joining or forming unions; however, the law allows
them to form staff associations. The Government regarded all civil
servants as essential employees. Under the Labor Code, prepared with
the assistance of the International Labor Organization, all trade union
federations must register with the Government. The Department of Labor
found that 20 of 43 registered trade unions functioned during the year,
with a total membership of 26,198. There were four registered trade
union federations: The Lesotho Trade Union Congress, the Lesotho
Federation of Democratic Unions, the Lesotho Trade Union Congress, and
the Lesotho Congress of Democratic Unions. The labor and trade union
movement was weak and fragmented. Several small unions functioned in
the public and industrial sectors. The textile sector, which employed
over 50,000 persons, had four trade unions.
The Mounted Police Service Act prevents members of the police
service from belonging to trade unions but has enabled them to
establish a staff association charged with promoting the professional
efficiency and interest of members of the service.
Overall unionized workers dropped from approximately 10 percent of
the work force in 2002 to approximately 2 percent by the end of 2003,
in part because of a dispute between the Lesotho Clothing and Allied
Workers Union and the Factory Workers Union (FAWU). Approximately 8
percent of the male labor force worked in the coal and gold mines of
South Africa, a number that has fallen in recent years due to
retrenchment and mine mechanization. The majority of those who did not
work in mining were engaged primarily in traditional agriculture. A
majority of Basotho mineworkers were members of the South African
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). While the NUM, as a foreign
organization, was not allowed to engage in union activities in the
country, it provided training, constructed agricultural projects, and
performed other social services.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, there was
credible evidence that some employers prevented union organizers from
accessing factory premises to organize workers or represent them in
disputes with owners or managers. Some employees were threatened with
expulsion and loss of employment if they joined unions. There were
reports that some employers harassed union organizers, intimidated
members, and frequently fired union activists, particularly in domestic
industries, such as guard forces; however, there were fewer such
reports than in previous years. During the year, 32 cases of unfair
labor practice were referred to the independent Directorate of Dispute
Prevention and Resolution (DDPR) by unions against employers. The
Commission of Labor, which operated as part of the Labor Ministry, was
charged with investigating allegations of labor law violations (see
Section 6.e.).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for these rights, and the Government generally respected them
in practice; however, some private sector employers tried to restrict
them. There was credible evidence that most employers in the textile
and garment sector used blacklists to deny employment to workers who
had been fired by another employer within that sector. There are no
export processing zones.
The law provides for the right to strike; however, civil servants
were not allowed to strike, and, by definition, all public sector
industrial actions were unauthorized. In the private sector, the Labor
Code requires an escalating series of procedures to be followed by
workers and employers before strike action is authorized. Legal
protection for strikers from retribution has not always been enforced
in cases of illegal strikes.
In April, three FAWU officials were acquitted of charges stemming
from a November 2003 protest march by garment workers demanding better
wages and working conditions. During that protest, police fired into
the crowd, allegedly for marching on an unauthorized route; 2 persons
were killed and over 100 were injured. An internal police investigation
was conducted following the incident; however, no report had been made
public by year's end. Dockets are with the Deputy for Public
Prosecutions for consideration and advice.
The Labor Code establishes the DDPR within the Ministry of
Employment and Labor to provide dispute prevention and resolution
mechanisms; the DDPR was independent of government, and maintained a
record of handling cases promptly.
The Industrial Peace, Advisory, and Promotion Unit of the DDPR held
30 training workshops on topics such as work discipline and grievance
procedures for trade union officials, shop stewards; and management
supervisors drawn from the textile, retail, security, construction,
catering, and telecommunications industries throughout the country. The
training program resulted in a significant reduction of disputes
referred for resolution, down from 2,260 in 2003 to 1,988 during the
year. Of the disputes referred, 1,865 were resolved by year's end.
The Labor Department also handled employee grievances, and there
were no significant backlogs of cases during the year. The Labor
Commission was authorized to order the reinstatement of wrongfully
dismissed employees and the payment of back wages, but it did not have
the authority to impose criminal fines.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are statutory prohibitions against the employment of minors in
commercial, industrial, or nonfamily enterprises involving hazardous or
dangerous working conditions; however, child labor was a problem in the
informal sector. The Ministry of Labor and Employment's Inspectorate
conducted quarterly inspections during the year.
The legal minimum age for employment in commercial or industrial
enterprises is 15 years, and the legal minimum age for hazardous
employment is 18 years; however, children under 14 years of age
reportedly were employed in family-owned businesses. Children under 18
years of age may not be recruited for employment outside of the
country. Child labor laws covered all sectors except the agricultural
sector.
Many urban street children worked in the informal sector. Most jobs
performed by children were gender-specific: Boys (as young as ages 4
and 5) were livestock herders, carried packages for shoppers, washed
cars, and collected fares for minibus taxis; girls were domestic
servants; teenage girls (and a few boys) were involved in prostitution;
and both boys and girls worked as street vendors.
In traditional society, rigorous and occasionally dangerous working
conditions for young livestock herdboys were considered a prerequisite
to manhood, essential to the livelihood of families, and a fundamental
feature of local culture beyond the reach of labor laws. The emphasis
on traditional socialization methods to the exclusion of formal
education continued the cycle of poverty for most youth.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A national minimum wage is
determined annually by the Wage Advisory Board, a tripartite entity
consisting of the Government, trade unions, and employers. The monthly
minimum wage for unskilled laborers was $105 (684 maloti) and $189
(1,129 maloti) for heavy vehicle operators. Minimum wages for workers
in lower skilled jobs did not provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family. Most wage earners supplemented their income through
subsistence agriculture or remittances from relatives employed in South
Africa.
The Labor Code provides for basic worker rights, including a
maximum 45-hour workweek, a weekly rest period of at least 24 hours, 12
days of paid leave per year, and paid sick and public holidays;
however, employers did not always respect these rights in practice.
Required overtime was legal as long as overtime wages were paid for
work in excess of the legally mandated 45-hour workweek, and workers in
the garment industry were paid the proper overtime rate for overtime
hours worked.
The Labor Code requires employers to provide adequate light,
ventilation, and sanitary facilities for employees and to install and
maintain machinery in a manner to minimize the risk of injury;
employers generally followed these regulations. The law provides for a
compensation system for industrial injuries and diseases related to
employment. The Labor Code also empowers the Minister of Labor to make
regulations pertaining to work safety in specific areas, and the
Ministry has exercised this right. The Labor Code does not protect
explicitly the right of workers to remove themselves from hazardous
situations without prejudice to employment; however, sections on safety
in the workplace and dismissal implied that such a dismissal would be
illegal.
Labor inspectors generally conducted unannounced inspections in
factories four times a year.
__________
LIBERIA
Liberia is a republic. The Constitution provides for three branches
of government--executive, legislative, and judicial--but there has been
no effective system of checks and balances, and presidents
traditionally have wielded extraordinary power. In August 2003, the
former government of Liberia and the country's two rebel groups--
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the
Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL)--signed the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the 1999-2003 civil war. Prior to
the signing of the CPA, the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) provided peacekeeping forces (ECOMIL) to separate the warring
parties. In October 2003, U.N. Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) peacekeepers
were deployed to further assist the peace process and provide stability
during the post-conflict transition. In October 2003, the National
Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), headed by Chairman Charles
Gyude Bryant and Vice Chairman Wesley Johnson, replaced the government
of former President Charles Taylor, who fled into exile after being
indicted for war crimes. By June, UNMIL had deployed more than 14,000
peacekeepers and 1,100 international police (CIVPOL) throughout the
country. By October, more than 100,000 former combatants and camp
followers had been disarmed and demobilized under the Disarmament,
Demobilization, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration Program (DDRR).
During the year, the NTGL, which governed under a power sharing
agreement with the CPA and remained highly centralized, extended its
influence into rural areas; however, former LURD, MODEL, and government
combatants retained some influence in those areas, even in areas with
an UNMIL presence. During the year, the country's transition to
democracy was hindered by widespread corruption, a severely damaged
infrastructure, and continuing instability that delayed the return of
thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Elections to restore a constitutional government were scheduled for
October 2005. The judiciary was subject to political influence,
economic pressure, and corruption.
The country's security forces include the Armed Forces of Liberia
(AFL), which are responsible for external security but also have
domestic security responsibilities, the interim Liberian National
Police (LNP), which have primary responsibility for law enforcement,
the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which investigates crime,
the Special Security Service (SSS), which provides executive
protection, the National Security Agency (NSA), which is responsible
for internal and external intelligence, and the Ministry of National
Security, which assists the NSA and is responsible for investigating
financial crimes. The AFL is under the Ministry of Defense, the LNP and
NBI are under the Ministry of Justice, and the SSS, NSA, and Ministry
of National Security are under the Office of the NTGL Chairman. There
also were numerous irregular security services attached to certain key
ministries and parastatal corporations that did not belong to a
permanent, organized military force and whose responsibilities appeared
to be poorly defined. Unlike in the previous year, civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces; however, there
were some instances in which elements of the security forces acted
independently of government authority. Under the NTGL, a few members of
the security forces committed isolated human rights abuses.
The country, with an estimated population of approximately 3.4
million, was very poor with a market-based economy ravaged by the civil
war. Few statistics were available; however, economic activity,
particularly in the informal sector, visibly increased following the
2003-04 deployment of UNMIL forces throughout the country and the
initiation of disarmament exercises. An estimated 80 percent of the
population lived on less than $1 per day, and the country had an
unemployment rate of at least 70 percent. Most of the population
survived on income generated through the informal sector, predominantly
consisting of buying and selling clothing and household effects, and on
remittances from relatives abroad. There was little industry, and
agricultural production remained low due to security concerns in rural
areas; however, unlike in the previous year, the Government generally
paid civil servant salaries. The internal displacement of thousands of
civilians throughout the countryside, particularly in Lofa, Bong, and
Nimba Counties, the absence of police security, an increase in crime as
former combatants sought alternative means of income, and the absence
of infrastructure throughout the country continued to depress the
economy, despite the country's rich natural resources and potential
self-sufficiency in food. Persons controlling former fighters continued
to exploit the country's natural resources for personal profit.
Extortion was widespread in all levels of society.
Prior to the resignation of President Taylor, the Government's
human rights record remained poor, and security forces committed
numerous, serious abuses; however, during the year, the Government
generally respected the human rights of its citizens, although problems
continued in some areas. Interim LNP officers sometimes abused,
harassed, and intimidated persons. Prison conditions remained harsh and
sometimes life threatening. Corruption and official impunity were
problems, and there was little investigation into abuses committed
during the war. The LNP continued to use arbitrary arrest and
detention, and lengthy pretrial detention was common. The judicial
system was unable to ensure citizens' rights to due process and a fair
trial. During the year, the National Transitional Legislative Assembly
(NTLA) threatened to arrest persons who criticized the NTLA. In some
rural areas where the judiciary had not been reestablished, clan
chieftains administered criminal justice through the traditional
practice of trial-by-ordeal; however, unlike in the past, authorities
did not tacitly condone the practice. Incidents of ritualistic killings
persisted. Violence and discrimination against women were problems. The
welfare of children widely remained neglected, and female genital
mutilation (FGM) continued to be practiced. Societal ethnic
discrimination remained widespread, and ethnic differences continued to
generate violence and political tensions. Forced labor persisted in
rural areas. Child labor remained widespread, and there were reports of
forced child labor. There were reports of trafficking, and the
Government obstructed the prosecution of a trafficking case during the
year.
Some former rebel combatants continued to commit human rights
abuses, including the arbitrary detention, extortion, theft, rape, and
battery of civilians, particularly IDPs, forcible conscription,
including of children, and the blocking of humanitarian assistance.
UNMIL peacekeepers, DDRR exercises, and CIVPOL's support for the
interim LNP and training of a new police service improved security
throughout the country and helped facilitate governmental efforts to
improve human rights. Since the NTGL assumed power, there have been no
reports that government security forces were responsible for unlawful
killings, summary executions, disappearances, or torture. There have
also been no reports that the Government restricted freedom of speech
and of the press, detained and intimidated journalists, restricted
freedom of movement, harassed human rights monitors, or discriminated
against particular ethnic groups.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Unlike in the
previous year, there were no reports of political or unlawful killings.
In 2003, former government and rebel combatants killed an undetermined
number of civilians, who were suspected of being rebel or government
sympathizers respectively, by shooting them, burning them alive, or
cutting their throats; numerous IDPs were killed during repeated raids
on their camps. The NTGL took no steps to investigate any of the
summary executions, killings, or other crimes committed during the
1999-2003 civil war.
During the year, CIVPOL investigators and human rights
organizations uncovered evidence of serious human rights abuses
committed by security forces in 2003. The bodies of 20 persons who
appeared to have been executed were discovered at 7 locations in River
Gee and Maryland counties. Government forces were believed to be
responsible for the executions in six of the locations; MODEL forces
were believed to be responsible in one. Six human skulls were found at
a military base in Tubmanburg that was used by both LURD and MODEL
forces. In February, the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission reported
evidence that in 2002, former government forces had massacred hundreds
of civilians near Tubmanburg; men, women, and children reportedly were
herded into trucks, killed, and dumped into a river.
General Benjamin Yeaten, who was believed to have executed or
supervised the 2003 execution of former Deputy National Security
Minister John Yormie and former Deputy Public Works Minister Isaac
Vaye, remained in self-imposed exile at year's end; Yormie and Vaye
were arrested in 2003 for alleged coup plotting against former
President Taylor.
There were no developments in any of the following 2003 cases: The
February AFL stabbing and killing of First Lieutenant Francis Sumo; the
March ATU killing of Alex Boye; the alleged May killings by security
forces of Sierra Leone rebel leader Sam ``Mosquito'' Bockarie and his
family; and the May killing of SSS Officer Richard Taylor.
There were no developments in any of the 2002 reported cases of
killings by security forces.
During the year, former government and rebel combatants were
responsible for civilian deaths. For example, on March 20, a former
MODEL fighter in Buchanan reportedly beat a civilian who refused to
hand over his food; the civilian subsequently died.
On May 17, numerous former soldiers from the Taylor administration
set up roadblocks, smashed cars, and looted shops during a
demonstration to demand immediate payment of the remaining money from
their resettlement grants; one person was killed, and four were
injured.
The NTGL conducted no investigations into summary executions and
other killings committed by MODEL, LURD, or other rebel elements during
the civil war.
Incidents of ritualistic killings, in which human body parts used
in traditional rituals were removed from the victim, occurred during
the year (see Section 2.c.).
Mob violence exacerbated by ethnic conflict, religious differences,
political divisions, vigilantism, and high unemployment resulted in
deaths. For example, on September 13, a dispute between marketeers and
criminals erupted into mob violence that resulted in at least one
death, numerous injuries, and the looting and burning of buildings.
On October 28, a land dispute in Monrovia between Muslim Mandingos
and Christian non-Mandingos erupted into a riot that resulted in 19
deaths, hundreds of injuries, and the looting and burning of
businesses, mosques, and churches. UNMIL forces arrested approximately
250 persons on charges ranging from murder and arson to breaking an
NTGL-imposed curfew. It was unclear whether the violence was triggered
by religious conflict, ethnic differences, or other factors.
b. Disappearance.--Unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports of politically motivated disappearances. During the civil war,
government security forces and rebels were responsible for numerous
disappearances.
The welfare and whereabouts of former Chief of Intelligence
Peterson Marbiah, who disappeared when John Yormie and Isaac Vaye were
arrested in June 2003, remained unknown at year's end (see Section
1.a.).
The 15 persons abducted in September 2003 from Todee by former
government militia remained missing at year's end.
Most of the ethnic Mandingo youths abducted between September 2002
and March 2003 by former government security forces for suspected
involvement with LURD remained unaccounted for at year's end.
There were no developments in the numerous 2002 abductions by
former government militiamen.
During the year, LURD claimed to have investigated the 2003
disappearance of foreign citizen Nabil Hage and uncovered no
information surrounding the incident; Sekou Kamara, the LURD member who
reportedly had been seen wearing Hage's army uniform, remained in self-
imposed exile in Guinea at year's end. In December, UNMIL opened an
investigation into the incident.
There were no developments in other 2003 and 2002 abductions by
LURD.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, in the
past, police and security forces frequently tortured, beat, raped, and
otherwise humiliated persons, particularly during interrogations of
LURD detainees at Gbatala security training base. During the year,
there were no reports of torture; however, interim LNP officers
sometimes abused, harassed, and intimidated persons (see Section 1.d.).
Unlike in the previous year, security forces did not target or
abuse critics of the Government, including journalists, students, and
human rights activists.
During the year, former government and rebel combatants were
responsible for civilian deaths and injuries (see Section 1.a.). During
the first half of the year, former combatants with the Taylor
administration, LURD, and MODEL harassed travelers, displaced persons,
and humanitarian aid workers in areas not under UNMIL control.
Demonstrations by former combatants to protest disarmament, UNMIL
deployments, or the Government's failure to complete payment of
resettlement grants resulted in deaths, injuries, and the looting of
property (see Section 1.a.).
Former combatants who had reorganized as gangs subjected IDP
populations to rape, battery, extortion, and theft (see Section 2.d.).
Sexual violence and rape were common during the civil war.
According to Amnesty International, 73 percent of women over 18 who
registered for DDRR reported some kind of sexual abuse. During the
year, NGOs working in IDP camps reported incidents of rape, including
the rape of children.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of civilian
deaths and injuries as a result of violent clashes among rival security
personnel.
The law prohibits trial-by-ordeal--commonly the placement of a
heated metal object on a suspect's body in an attempt to determine
whether the defendant is telling the truth; however, the practice
reportedly continued in rural areas.
Mob violence during the year resulted in deaths and injuries (see
Section 1.a.).
Prison conditions were harsh and in some cases life threatening;
however, unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government operated unofficial detention facilities where detainees
were tortured. The Government did not provide detainees or prisoners
with adequate food or medical care. Cells at Monrovia Central Prison
were overcrowded, mostly with detainees awaiting trial; however, during
the year, international organizations began providing food and hygiene
to the prison. In some counties, the structure that served as a jail
was a container with bars at one end. There also were reports that
local officials forced prisoners to work for them.
Women were held in separate cells in conditions comparable to those
of the male prisoners and detainees. There were no separate facilities
for juvenile offenders. Women and particularly juveniles were subject
to abuse by guards or other inmates. Convicted prisoners and detainees
awaiting trial were not held in separate facilities.
The Government permitted the independent monitoring of prison
conditions by local human rights groups, the media, and the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Some human rights
groups, including the ICRC, paid regular visits to detainees at police
headquarters and prisoners at the Monrovia Central Prison.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces continued to
arrest and detain persons arbitrarily, although less frequently than in
previous years.
During the year, CIVPOL assisted with the restructuring,
recruitment, training, and equipping of an interim police force until a
full replacement force could be trained. This interim LNP was staffed
with police officers who served under the former Taylor administration,
excluding those who were hired during that administration. The interim
LNP operated independently and retained arrest authority; however,
CIVPOL accompanied LNP officers in joint patrols around Monrovia.
There were reports of police brutality, particularly during
demonstrations. Police handling of mob violence resulted in deaths (see
Section 1.a.). Police had limited logistics and forensic capabilities
and did not adequately investigate many crimes, including murder cases.
When the courts released known criminals for lack of evidence, police
officers often arrested them again on false charges. During the year,
CIVPOL and UNMIL investigated some alleged abuses by the LNP, including
reports that the Deputy Chief of the interim LNP was taking bribes; the
Deputy Chief subsequently was dismissed. However, corruption remained
widespread, and abusers were seldom charged or disciplined. Public
confidence in the police remained low.
The Constitution provides for the rights of the accused, including
warrants for arrests and the right of detainees either to be charged or
released within 48 hours; however, warrants were not always based on
sufficient evidence, and detainees, particularly those without the
means to hire a lawyer, often were held for more than 48 hours without
charge. The law also provides for bail, which was determined primarily
by the severity of the alleged crime. The law provides for prompt
access to counsel; however, the Government did not ensure such access
for all detainees. In the past, security forces sometimes refused to
produce suspects being held in detention without charges even after the
courts issued writs of habeas corpus on the application of human rights
organizations.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists, NGO members,
human rights activists, religious leaders, and students; however, there
were a few arbitrary arrests, and the NTLA threatened to arrest persons
who criticized the NTLA (see Section 2.a.).
Former rebel combatants arbitrarily arrested civilians and IDPs
during the year. For example, in June, former LURD combatants in
Tubmanberg detained a man for 3 days in a small metal cage and denied
him food or water. In a separate incident, LURD combatants on August 1
reportedly assaulted one of five persons they had bound and left
overnight on the Guthrie rubber plantation; the five were released the
following day.
The Constitution provides for the right of a person who is charged
to receive an expeditious trial; however, lengthy pretrial and pre-
arraignment detention remained serious problems. In some cases, the
length of the pretrial detention equaled or exceeded the length of
sentence for the crime.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government used house arrest or held political detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the Constitution provides
for an independent judiciary, judges were subject to political, social,
familial, and financial pressures, and the judiciary was corrupt.
Courts regularly received bribes or other illegal gifts out of damages
that they awarded in civil cases. Defense attorneys often suggested
that their clients pay a gratuity to appease judges, prosecutors, and
police officers to secure favorable rulings. Some judges and
magistrates were not lawyers. By statute members of the bar must be
graduates of a law school and pass the bar examination; however, the
judiciary determined that it was not feasible to retire all judicial
personnel who were not legally trained. There were frequent reports of
executive branch influence over the judiciary.
The judiciary is divided into four levels, with the Supreme Court
at the apex. Unlike in the previous year, all levels of the court
system in Monrovia, including the Supreme Court, operated regularly.
The Government was unable to revitalize the court system outside of
Monrovia due to the war and a lack of trained personnel, a lack of
infrastructure, and inadequate funding. Although judges were assigned
throughout the country, in some cases they were unable to hold court
due to lack of security, supplies, or equipment. Traditional forms of
justice administered by clan chieftains remained prevalent in some
localities (see Section 1.c.).
Under the Constitution, defendants have due process rights;
however, in practice these rights were not always observed. Defendants
in criminal trials enjoy a presumption of innocence and have the right
to an attorney, to confront witnesses in a public trial, and to appeal
adverse decisions; however, many of these protections were not
available to defendants who could not pay bribes. There was no
effective system to provide public defenders, especially in rural
areas. Some local NGOs provided legal services to indigents and others
who had no representation. There continued to be long delays in
deciding cases involving juveniles.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides for the right of privacy and
the sanctity of the home and requires that police obtain a warrant or
have a reasonable belief that a crime is in progress, or is about to be
committed, before entering a private dwelling; unlike in the previous
year, when police and paramilitary officers entered private homes,
churches, and newspaper offices without warrants, the Government
generally respected these rights.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces conducted cordon and search operations or entered homes and
compelled local communities to provide food, shelter, and labor;
however, security forces on occasion extorted money and goods from
citizens. Former rebel combatants continued to compel communities to
provide for them. For example, on January 25, approximately 50 former
MODEL combatants entered the homes of the inhabitants of Timbo village
and stole their food and money.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government surveilled opposition figures or monitored private
communication.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that former
government security forces forcibly conscripted men and boys, including
IDPs; however, former rebel combatants continued the practice (see
Sections 2.d. and 5).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government arrested family members to persuade suspects to turn
themselves in.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government restricted
these rights in practice, although less frequently than in previous
years. Unlike in the past, there were no reports that security agents
detained or assaulted journalists or that cabinet ministers forced
journalists to drop or modify critical articles; however, during the
year, the NTLA threatened to arrest persons who criticized the
legislative body or refused to appear before it. In the past, there
were reports of journalistic self-censorship; however, there were no
such reports during the year. Unlike in previous years, the Government
did not restrict academic freedom. The University of Liberia reopened
in March.
In Monrovia, there were 18 newspapers that published during the
year, with varying degrees of regularity. Two were independent dailies
and five usually appeared at least once a week. Their political
orientation ranged between criticism and support of the Government. All
newspapers were printed through one printing facility; however, unlike
in previous years, the Government did not pressure facility managers
not to print critical articles.
Due to the high price of newspapers, the high rate of illiteracy
(estimated at 75 percent), high transportation costs, and the poor
state of roads elsewhere in the country, newspaper distribution
generally was limited to the Monrovia region. As a result, radio was
the primary means of mass communication.
There were at least five FM stations that regularly broadcast in
Monrovia. Most stations broadcast daily from 5:00 a.m. to midnight.
Call-in radio talk shows were popular and frequently a forum for both
government and opposition viewpoints. Interviews with prominent persons
were broadcast frequently. Unlike in the previous year, the Government
did not pressure radio stations that broadcast critical views.
There were three local television stations; however, television was
limited to those who could purchase sets, generators, and fuel to
provide electricity. For those persons and businesses with satellite
capability, CNN and BBC generally were available.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government harassed, arbitrarily arrested, or assaulted journalists who
criticized the Government; closed or vandalized media outlets;
threatened advertisers who did business with such outlets; required
journalists to apologize in writing prior to releasing them; censored
local reporting on the insurgency; or harassed international
correspondents by suspending their credentials or imposing irregular
accreditation fees.
No action was taken during the year against ATU forces responsible
for the January 2003 torture of Throble Suah, a reporter for the
Liberian Inquirer newspaper.
During the year, journalists reportedly extorted money from
citizens by threatening to publish negative articles about them and
accepted bribes from politicians to publish negative articles about
their opponents.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no attacks on journalists
by unknown persons, rebel abductions of journalists, or looting and
burning of the homes of journalists.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the right of peaceful assembly, and the Government
generally respected this right in practice; however, government
security forces and UNMIL troops forcibly dispersed several violent
demonstrations during the year (see Section 1.a.). In November, the
NTGL announced that demonstrators would be required to seek permits
from the Justice Ministry 72 hours before planned demonstrations;
however, the policy was not enforced.
Interim LNP and UNMIL troops frequently used tear gas to disperse
demonstrations during the year. There were reports of police brutality,
particularly during demonstrations, and reports that UNMIL troops beat
demonstrators.
In January and early March, violent student protests erupted when
the University of Liberia, which had been closed since early 2003,
failed to reopen, as promised; there were no reported injuries, and the
University reopened in March.
No action was taken against security forces who forcibly dispersed
and beat demonstrators in 2003.
The Constitution provides for the right of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. There were 18
registered political parties. Dozens of civil society organizations,
organized around themes such as human rights, women's issues,
development objectives, poverty alleviation, health concerns, and
worker's associations, were active.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. During the year, respect for religious freedom improved.
Since taking office, the NTGL at all levels worked to protect this
right in full and did not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or
private actors. Unlike the former Taylor government, the NTGL did not
harass, marginalize, or attempt to intimidate the Muslim population;
however, religious differences between Muslims and Christians
contributed to mob violence during the year.
All organizations, including religious groups, must register with
the Government; however, traditional indigenous religious groups were
not required to register, and generally did not do so. Registration was
routine, and there were no reports that the registration process was
burdensome or discriminatory in its administration.
Although the law prohibits religious discrimination, Islamic
leaders complained of discrimination against Muslims. During the year,
an increased number of Muslims held senior government positions;
however, many Muslims believed they were bypassed for lower-level civil
service positions. Many Muslim business proprietors believed that the
Government's decision to enforce an old statute prohibiting business on
Sunday discriminated against them.
Some tensions existed between the major religious communities. The
private sector in urban areas, particularly in the capital, gave
preference to Christianity in civic ceremonies and observances, and
discrimination against followers of other organized religions affected
areas of individual opportunity and employment. There was an interfaith
council that brought together leaders of the Christian and Islamic
faiths.
Ethnic, religious, and other differences between Muslim Mandingos
and Christian non-Mandingos in Monrovia contributed to mob violence
(see Section 1.a.). Ethnic tensions continued in Lofa County between
the predominantly Muslim Mandingo ethnic group and the Lorma ethnic
group.
Incidents of ritualistic killings increased during the year due to
the breakdown of law and order in rural counties, including Maryland
County. Little reliable information was readily available about
traditions associated with ritualistic killings in which body parts
used in traditional indigenous rituals were removed from the victim;
however, they continued to occur. The number of such killings was
difficult to ascertain, since police often described deaths as
accidents even when body parts were removed. It was believed that
practitioners of traditional indigenous religions among the Grebo and
Krahn ethnic groups concentrated in the southeastern counties most
commonly engaged in ritual killings. The victims were usually members
of the religious group performing the ritual, and body parts removed
from a member whom the group believed to be powerful were considered to
be the most effective ritually. Ritual killings for the purpose of
obtaining body parts traditionally were committed by religious group
members called ``heart men;'' however, since the 1990-96 civil war,
common criminals also may have sold body parts.
During the first 3 months of the year, there was an increase in the
number of mysterious deaths in and around Monrovia, and residents
blamed such deaths on ritualistic killers; however, no evidence was
found to support their claim.
Nyema Brooks, Ma-Gbanni, and Dio Tyre Dennis, who were arrested and
jailed in 2002 at the Harper Central Prison in Maryland County for the
alleged ritualistic killing of 11th grade student Dio Dennis,
disappeared from the jail after MODEL captured Harper in May 2003; they
were believed to have escaped and fled.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government sometimes did not respect these rights
in practice. As of year's end, government forces effectively controlled
most of the country, including all major border crossings. A few small
areas remained under the control of former LURD and MODEL combatants.
There were reports that government officials harassed, delayed, and
extracted bribes from ethnic Mandingos.
At year's end, there were reports that LNP officers had resumed the
practice of subjecting travelers to arbitrary searches and petty
extortion at checkpoints in and around Monrovia; however, unlike during
the previous year, there were no reports that government forces raped
travelers or beat and robbed IDPS.
After October riots, the Government imposed a curfew in Monrovia
(see Section 1.a.); the curfew was lifted in November.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it. Numerous student activists, opposition figures, and human
rights activists who fled the country during the civil war due to fear
for their personal safety or that of their families returned during the
year.
Relief agencies estimated that at year's end, more than 300,000
IDPs remained in camps, settlements, and communities throughout the
country as a result of the 1999-2003 civil war. Conditions at most
camps were poor, and food, sanitation, and security were inadequate.
During the year, the Government worked with international organizations
to return IDPs to their homes; however, delays in disarmament,
insufficient resources, and lingering perceptions that the Government
was unable to provide security beyond Monrovia and major towns hindered
these efforts. Thousands of IDPs from Grand Kru, Sinoe, Maryland, and
Rivercess counties in the southeast and Lofa and Gbarpolu counties in
the northwest had not returned to their homes by year's end due to
security concerns, lack of transport, and inadequate support. IDP
populations were subject to rape, battery, arbitrary arrest, extortion,
and theft perpetuated primarily by former government and rebel
combatants who had reorganized as gangs.
Unlike in the previous year, government and rebel militias did not
forcibly conscript IDPs to fight against LURD.
Between 250,000 and 300,000 refugees from the country remained in
neighboring countries, primarily in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote
d'Ivoire, and Ghana. Approximately 50,000 refugees have returned to the
country without UNHCR assistance; however, many remained in IDP camps
due to continuing instability in the country, particularly in rural
areas. On September 22, the NTGL, the Government of Ghana, and the
UNHCR signed an agreement for the progressive voluntary repatriation of
42,000 Liberian refugees living in Ghana; approximately 450 had been
repatriated by year's end.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government generally cooperated with the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government
also provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify
as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
Refugees were also subject to abuse, primarily by former government
and rebel combatants who had reorganized as gangs.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in 1997
elections that international observers deemed administratively free and
transparent; however, the elections were conducted in an atmosphere of
intimidation, because most voters believed that military forces loyal
to Taylor would have resumed the 1990-1996 civil war if he had lost.
Because the legislative elections were held on the basis of
proportional representation, Taylor's NPP won control of the former
legislature by the same 75 percent majority that he received in the
popular vote for the presidency. Elections to restore constitutional
government were scheduled for October 2005.
The CPA, negotiated between the warring parties, the registered
political parties, and representatives from civil society, was designed
to end several years of active conflict primarily between the
Government and LURD. As a political compromise, the CPA suspends
certain articles of the Constitution temporarily, but states that
articles not in conflict with the CPA remain in effect. The roles of
president and vice president were replaced by a chairman and vice
chairman, and ministries were apportioned based on political
affiliation. The executive branch is headed by a Chairman and Vice
Chairman. Ministerial positions are apportioned between members of the
former warring parties, the registered political parties, and civil
society. The NTGL has a unicameral legislature, the National
Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA), which replaced the Congress
in October 2003; Bryant assumed the role of Chairman.
The NTLA was sometimes susceptible to executive branch influence;
however, the legislative branch exercised considerably more
independence than it did during the Taylor administration.
The State is highly centralized. The chairman of the NTGL appoints
the superintendents (governors) of the 15 counties in consultation with
the former warring parties; however, the parties frequently complained
that they were not consulted. Municipalities and chieftaincies were
supposed to elect their own officials; however, elections--postponed in
1998 and 2003 due to lack of funds and disorganization--were
rescheduled for no later than October 2005. Local governments had no
independent revenue base and relied entirely on the central Government
for funds. As a result, the Government effectively did not function
outside of Monrovia and one or two larger towns. Education, health
services, and public works were provided by international organizations
and NGOs. Local officials served mainly to lobby the central
Government.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government generally paid civil
service salaries; however, corruption and impunity in the executive and
legislative branches were serious problems. Political groups reportedly
used bribery to buy the loyalty of various constituencies in
anticipation of the scheduled 2005 elections.
The law provides for ``no limitation on the public right to be
informed about the Government and its functionaries''; however, no
procedures for obtaining such information had been established.
Several women held ranking positions in the Government and the
NTGL. There were 4 women in the 76-seat legislature, 3 female cabinet
Ministers, and 1 woman on the 5-person Supreme Court.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Unlike in previous
years, government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to
their views; however, former rebel combatants blocked the delivery of
humanitarian supplies.
Domestic human rights organizations were underfunded and
understaffed, and their personnel lacked adequate training. There were
three coalitions of human rights groups: The National Human Rights
Center of Liberia had nine member organizations; eight other groups
comprised the Network of Human Rights Chapters; and four belonged to
the Federation of Human Rights Organizations. These organizations
sought to increase public discussion of human rights problems. During
the year, several domestic human rights organizations established
branches outside of the capital to visit detainees and prisoners.
During the year, the Government worked to facilitate the free and
safe passage of relief supplies by international NGOs and permitted
visits by the U.N. Security Council, the ICRC, and various U.N.
agencies (see Section 1.c.). However, early in the year, there were
several incidents in which former combatants blocked humanitarian
assistance or otherwise jeopardized humanitarian relief efforts. In
May, a foreign medical relief agency closed its mission after former
security forces of the Taylor administration robbed and intimidated the
agency.
There were no developments in the 2003 case in which unidentified
assailants assaulted and sexually abused three nieces of Ishmael P.
Campbell, a human rights advocate and Vice President of the Liberia Bar
Association.
During the year, the Government created the Independent National
Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) to monitor compliance with human
rights provided for in the CPA and to promote human rights education in
the schools, media, police, and military; however, the INCHR was
largely ineffective due to insufficient funding.
The CPA created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to
provide a forum for the perpetrators and victims of human rights abuses
and to promote reconciliation and rehabilitation; however, the TRC took
few actions during the year and was largely ineffective.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on ethnic
background, race, sex, creed, place of origin, or political opinion;
however, the Government did not effectively enforce these provisions.
There were no laws against gender discrimination, ethnic
discrimination, or FGM. Differences involving ethnic groups, notably
the Krahn, Mano, Gio, Lorma and Mandingo ethnic groups, continued to
contribute to serious political violence and abuses.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was widespread; however,
neither the Government, the courts, nor the media seriously addressed
the problem. Several NGOs in Monrovia and Buchanan continued programs
to treat abused women and girls and to increase awareness of their
rights.
Rape is illegal; however, the Government did not enforce the law,
and rape was common, especially in IDP camps (see Section 2.d.). No
perpetrators were prosecuted during the year.
FGM traditionally was performed on young girls in northern,
western, and central ethnic groups, particularly in rural areas.
Because social structures and traditional institutions, such as the
secret societies that often performed FGM as an initiation rite, were
undermined by the war, many experts believed that the incidence of FGM
had dropped to as low as 10 percent. However, since the end of the
civil war, traditional societies were reestablishing themselves
throughout the country, and the practice of FGM continued. The most
extreme form of FGM, infibulation, was not practiced. The Government
took no action against FGM during the year, and on July 18, the head of
the INCHR publicly condoned FGM on cultural grounds; however, he
subsequently attempted to retract his statements.
Prostitution is illegal; however, it was widespread.
Women never recovered from the setbacks caused by the 1990-96 war,
when many schools were closed and they were prevented from maintaining
their traditional roles in the production, allocation, and sale of
food. In the wake of the 1999-2003 civil war, thousands of women
remained displaced and prevented from pursuing livelihoods or
education.
Women married under civil law can inherit land and property;
however, women married under traditional laws are considered the
properties of their husbands and are not entitled to inherit from their
husbands or retain custody of their children if their husbands die. The
Government prohibits polygyny; however, traditional laws permit men to
have more than one wife. Women's organizations, particularly AFELL,
continued to press for legislation on behalf of inheritance rights in
traditional marriages.
During the year, professional women's groups--including lawyers,
market women, and businesswomen--remained vocal about their concerns
regarding government corruption, the economy, security abuses, rape,
domestic violence, and children's rights. Government officials often
responded negatively to public criticism.
Children.--The Government generally was unable to provide for the
education and health of children. Due to the poor condition of
government schools, many children who attended school, particularly in
Monrovia, went to private institutions. Since many private schools
still needed to be refurbished due to wartime damage, school fees
remained relatively high, thereby making education unattainable for
many school-age children. In both public and private schools, families
of children often were asked to provide their own books, pencils,
paper, and even desks. According to a 2003 UNICEF report, more than
half of school-age children did not attend school.
FGM was performed primarily on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
Child prostitution and trafficking were problems (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
More than 11,000 children were disarmed and demobilized during
UNMIL's DDRR program. ICRC efforts to reunite children who had been
separated from their families during the war, including child soldiers,
continued during the year. At year's end, approximately 145 children
had been reunited with their families; an estimated 300 children
remained scattered within the country and in refugee camps outside of
the country. Former child soldiers who turned over their weapons were
entitled to a 3-month stay in an Interim Care Center (ICC), which
offered medical aid, counseling, reading lessons, and help tracing
families. Many children refused to leave the ICCs due to concerns for
their personal safety and lack of schools or other support in their
communities.
Former rebel combatants continued to forcibly conscript persons,
including children, to serve as porters, laborers, and sex slaves;
however, unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that
government forces or former government militias conducted such
conscriptions.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
There were thousands of children living on the streets of Monrovia;
however, it was difficult to tell who were street children, former
combatants, or IDPs. Nearly all youths witnessed atrocities, and some
committed atrocities themselves. Approximately 100 underfunded
orphanages operated in and around Monrovia; however, many orphans lived
outside these institutions. These institutions did not receive any
government funding and relied on private donations. In December, the
Government closed two orphanages due to ``deplorable conditions'' and
listed another 32 for potential closure.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not expressly prohibit
trafficking in persons, and there were reports that trafficking
occurred. During the year, the Government obstructed the prosecution of
suspected traffickers.
Penal Code provisions against kidnapping, forced labor, and
prostitution could be used to prosecute traffickers; however, the
Government did not prosecute anyone for trafficking during the year. In
March, members of the Ukrainian state security services repatriated
several Ukranian nationals who they claimed had been trafficked to a
local nightclub. In May, LNP and UNMIL's trafficking-in-persons unit
arrested the proprietress of the same nightclub on charges of
kidnapping three Moroccan women; however, the proprietress was released
on bail, and the case was indefinitely suspended due to obstruction by
the Magistrate and Criminal Courts, which delayed the presentation of
evidence and then the trial by not placing the case on the docket. The
Government also refused to prosecute the case unless UNMIL, which does
not pay court fees as a matter of policy, paid such fees; UNMIL charged
that the Government's refusal was an attempt to avoid action on the
case.
NGO estimates of the number of persons trafficked to the country
during the year ranged between 20 and several hundred. Victims were
trafficked from Morocco, Ukraine, and neighboring countries.
There were reports of forced labor, including by children, and the
recruitment of child soldiers (see Section 5, Children, 6.c., and
6.d.). Citizens, including children, reportedly have been trafficked to
the Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone, in some cases for commercial sexual
exploitation.
Persons With Disabilities.--It is illegal to discriminate against
persons with disabilities; however, in practice, they did not enjoy
equal access to public buildings or government services, and no laws
mandate such access. As a result of the civil wars, a large number of
persons had permanent disabilities, in addition to those disabled by
accident or illness. Persons with disabilities faced discrimination,
particularly in rural areas. Babies with deformities often were
abandoned. Some NGOs provided services to persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although the Constitution
prohibits ethnic discrimination, it also provides that only ``persons
who are Negroes or of Negro descent'' may be citizens or own land. Many
persons of Lebanese and Asian descent who were born or have lived most
of their lives in the country were denied full rights as a result of
this racial distinction.
The country has 16 indigenous ethnic groups; each spoke a distinct
primary language and was concentrated regionally. No ethnic group
constituted a majority of the population.
During the year, ethnic, religious, and other differences between
Mandingos and non-Mandingos contributed to mob violence (see Section
1.a.). During the Taylor administration, many Mandingo citizens fled
their homes as a result of discrimination, arbitrary arrests, and
violence; however, during the year, some Mandingos returned to Lofa,
Bong, and Nimba counties, which were controlled by the Mandingo-
dominated LURD.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides workers,
except members of the military and police, the right to associate in
trade unions, and workers exercised this right in practice. The
Constitution also prohibits unions from engaging in partisan political
activity; however, government interference in union activities,
especially union elections and leadership struggles, was common both
before and during the civil war.
The actual power that the unions exercised was extremely limited.
Since the country's work force largely was illiterate, economic
activities beyond the subsistence level were very limited, and the
labor laws tended to favor management.
The law does not prohibit anti-union discrimination; however, there
were no reports of such discrimination during the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--With the
exception of civil servants, workers have the right to organize and
bargain collectively; these rights largely were unused during the year
because of the lack of economic activity. There are no export
processing zones.
A 1984 People's Redemption Council decree nullified labor laws that
provided for the right to strike, but that decree has not been enforced
for years. Due to the destruction of the economy and the estimated 70
percent unemployment rate, strikes were infrequent; however, work
stoppages related to salary arrears from the former Taylor
administration occurred during the year.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
this prohibition was ignored widely in many parts of the country, and
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and
6.d.). Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that logging
and mining companies forcibly recruited workers; however, in some rural
areas, farmers were pressured into providing free labor on ``community
projects'' that often benefited only local leaders. There also were
reports that local officials forced convicts to work for them.
During the year, there were reports that former LURD and MODEL
combatants used forced labor to serve as porters, sex slaves, and to
dig gold and diamonds in their controlled territories.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16 during
school hours in the wage sector; however, enforcement was lax, and
child labor was a serious and widespread problem. The Ministry of Labor
frequently lacked the resources to carry out its mandate. Throughout
rural areas, particularly where there were no schools, small children
continued to assist their parents as vendors in local markets or on the
streets, to take care of younger brothers and sisters, and to work on
family subsistence farms.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that government
security forces forced children to work in the alluvial mining
industry; however, some former government and rebel combatants
continued the practice. Human rights groups reported instances of
forced child labor in some rural areas, particularly in alluvial
diamond mining.
There were no developments in the 2002 defamation suit filed by
legislators against human rights advocates who published a report on
child labor in the southeastern counties.
Rebel combatants continued to forcibly conscript persons, including
children, to serve as porters, forced laborers, and sex slaves.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law requires a minimum wage
of approximately $0.20 (10 ld) per hour not exceeding 8 hours per day,
excluding benefits, for unskilled laborers. The law requires that
agricultural workers be paid $1.20 (60 ld) for an 8-hour day, excluding
benefits. Skilled labor has no minimum fixed wage, but industrial
workers usually received three or four times the wage paid to
agricultural workers. The highly competitive minimum wage jobs provided
a minimal standard of living for a worker and family; however, there
were very few such jobs. Families dependent on minimum wage incomes
also engaged in subsistence farming, small-scale marketing, petty
extortion, and begging. Unlike in the previous year, the Government
generally paid civil service salaries.
The law provides for a 48-hour, 6-day regular workweek with a 30-
minute rest period per 5 hours of work. The 6-day workweek may extend
to 56 hours for service occupations and to 72 hours for miners, with
overtime pay beyond 48 hours.
The law provides for paid leave, severance benefits, and safety
standards, but enforcement was targeted solely against profitable firms
that generally observed these standards. There were government-
established health and safety standards that the Ministry of Labor was
responsible for enforcing; however, the Ministry rarely enforced them.
The law does not give workers the right to remove themselves from
dangerous situations without risking loss of employment.
Due to the country's continued economic problems, most citizens
were forced to accept any work they could find regardless of wages or
working conditions. The Ministry of Labor claimed it lacked the
resources to monitor compliance with labor laws.
The law protects legal, but not illegal, foreign workers.
__________
MADAGASCAR
The country is a multiparty democracy in which the President and a
bicameral legislature share power. President Marc Ravalomanana, who was
elected in 2001, and his party, Tiako-I-Madagasikara (TIM), dominated
political life. Until May 2002, when President Ravalomanana was
declared President, incumbent President Didier Ratsiraka and his party,
Alliance for the Rebirth of Madagascar (AREMA), disputed the results of
the 2001 election, which resulted in widespread violence and numerous
deaths. The December 2002 legislative elections, which international
observers judged as generally free and fair, resulted in an
overwhelming victory for TIM and its alliance partners, the pro-
Ravalomanana National Alliance. In the November 2003 municipal
elections, TIM won a majority of both rural and urban mayoral seats.
The judiciary was inefficient and remained susceptible to corruption
and executive influence.
The Minister for Public Security heads the national police and is
responsible for law and order in urban areas. The Gendarmerie
Nationale, part of the Ministry of National Defense, is responsible for
security in all other areas of the island. Regular army units
occasionally provided logistical support for law enforcement
operations. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of
the security forces. Some members of the security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The country was very poor with a population of 17.5 million; the
economy was largely market-based. Services accounted for 58 percent of
the gross domestic product (GDP), while agriculture employed four-
fifths of the population. Approximately 70 percent of the population
was below the Government's poverty level of approximately 45 cents a
day in income. Cyclones, inflation, and the depreciation of the local
currency affected the economy during the year. Real GDP grew by 5.3
percent during the year.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Prison conditions
were harsh and life threatening. Security forces arbitrarily arrested a
journalist, demonstrators, and church members during the year. Suspects
often were held for periods that exceeded the maximum sentence for the
alleged offenses, and lengthy pretrial detention remained a serious
problem. Some government officials limited freedom of speech and of the
press, and journalists practiced self-censorship. Police forcibly
dispersed demonstrations. Local government officials banned a religious
group. Women continued to face some societal discrimination, and child
labor, including forced labor, was a problem. There were reports of
trafficking in women and girls. During the year, the Government took
major steps to combat trafficking and child labor.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents. Unlike in the previous year, security
forces did not use lethal force to disperse demonstrations.
During the year, no investigation was conducted into the 2002 death
of Roland Ravalomasoa, a supporter of former President Ratsiraka, who
died from injuries sustained during interrogation by security forces.
Despite a 2003 public request by Ravalomasoa's family for an
investigation, the Government maintained no formal request had been
made.
The results of an investigation into the 2002 killing of a Canadian
missionary by suspected pro-Ratsiraka militias were not released by
year's end.
No action was taken in other 2002 killings by security forces.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year.
Several members of the Indo-Pakistani community were kidnapped,
generally by Indo-Pakistani assailants; the motives appeared to be
criminal, and the victims generally were released after payment of
ransom.
No action was taken against the perpetrators of 2002 abductions
attributed to pro-Ravalomanana forces.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution provides for the inviolability of the
person; however, security forces subjected prisoners to physical abuse.
During the year, a gendarme in Antanimora Prison kicked a female
prisoner in the genitals during questioning; the prisoner was unable to
stand or walk for 7 months as a result of her injuries. The gendarme
was arrested and subsequently released after serving an unspecified
period of time.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces raped female prisoners.
Police forcibly dispersed demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
During the year, there were several grenade explosions throughout
the country that appeared to target the homes and property of
government officials and, occasionally, of members of the opposition.
In June, approximately 60 persons were injured when grenades and
Molotov cocktails were thrown at the houses of an opposition party
member and prominent members of President Ravalomanana's TIM party in
Antananarivo, Tamatave, Toliara, Fianarantsoa, and Mahajanga. The
Government arrested 21 persons, 4 of whom were released on bail. The
remaining detainees were still in pretrial detention at year's end. On
November 21, three suspects were arrested after grenades exploded at
various sites in Tamatave. Speculation about the motive of the attacks
ranged from widespread discontent about the price of rice to opposition
attempts to destabilize the Government. None of the suspects had been
charged by year's end.
Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening. The country's 99
facilities, which were built for approximately 13,000 prisoners, held
19,971, according to the Ministry of Justice. Prison cells averaged
less than 1 square yard of space per inmate, and a prisoner's diet
consisted of 100 grams of cassava per day. Families and nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), including the Catholic Prison Chaplains,
supplemented the daily rations of some prisoners. There were reports of
rapes by other prisoners. Medical care was inadequate. Malnutrition,
malaria, tuberculosis, and pneumonia resulted in an unknown number of
deaths during the year. Prisoners could be used as forced labor, and
the Government acknowledged that this occurred during the year (see
Section 6.c.).
The Justice Ministry reported that between January 1 and June 30,
99 prisoners died from various causes, including disease and neglect;
two prisoners held in connection with the 2002 political crisis died
from natural causes.
Women were held separately from men; however, some preschool-age
children shared cells with their incarcerated mothers. Approximately
399 of the country's 19,971 prisoners were under 18; juveniles were not
always held separately from the adult prison population. Pretrial
detainees were not always kept separate from the general prison
population.
The Government generally accepted requests for independent
monitoring of prison conditions. The International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) has permanent offices in the country and was permitted
access to detention centers throughout the country and ongoing access
to detainees held in connection with the 2002 political crisis.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution provides for
due process for persons accused of crimes and prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, the Government did not always respect
these provisions in practice.
There are two national police forces in the country: The National
Police, which has jurisdiction in cities; and the Gendarmerie
Nationale, which is part of the armed forces and has jurisdiction in
all other areas. Corruption persisted throughout both police forces.
The law provides that arrest warrants be obtained in all cases
except those involving hot pursuit; however, often a person was
detained and jailed on no more than an accusation by another person.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the Government
used reservists, who operated outside the normal armed forces chain of
command, to make arrests.
The law provides defendants with a general right to counsel and the
right to be informed of the charges against them; however, the
Government was only required to provide counsel in cases in which
indigent defendants faced charges carrying sentences greater than 5
years. A system of bail exists; however, in practice, it was not
available to many defendants. Magistrates often resorted to an
instrument known as a retaining writ ("mandat de depot") by which
defendants were held in detention for the entire pretrial period or for
periods longer than the maximum sentence on the charges faced.
Security forces detained a journalist, demonstrators, and church
members during the year (see Sections 2.a., 2.b., and 2.c.).
In January, political activist Liva Ramahazomanana, sentenced in
2003 to 2 years' imprisonment for threatening state security and
plotting a coup d'etat, was released after appealing directly to the
President.
Also in January, President Ravalomanana pardoned former Minister of
Public Security Ben Marofo Azaly and his son, who in 2003 were
sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment for compromising the internal
security of the state and inciting tribal hatred.
Long pretrial detention was a serious problem. The law mandates
that a criminal suspect be charged or released within 48 hours of
arrest; however, during the year, the Government detained individuals
for significantly longer periods of time before charging or releasing
them. In October, the Ministry of Justice reported that 13,548 persons,
or approximately two-thirds of the entire prison population, were in
pretrial detention. Poor record keeping, lack of resources, and the
difficulty of access to remote parts of the island hindered the
monitoring of pretrial detainees. Despite legal protections,
investigative detentions often exceeded 1 year. Many detainees spent a
longer period in investigative detention than they would have spent
incarcerated following a maximum sentence on the charges faced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, at all levels, the judiciary was
susceptible to the influence of the executive and at times corrupt.
During the year, the Government charged 12 magistrates in its
continuing campaign against widespread judicial corruption: 1
magistrate was acquitted, 2 were given warnings, 3 were demoted, 2 lost
a year of service, 1 was suspended for a year, 2 were sanctioned but
retained their positions, and the case against 1 was postponed until
2005. During the year, the Government took action against the 12
magistrates indicted for corruption in 2003: 3 were demoted, 2 of whom
faced ongoing legal action; 4 were reprimanded, 2 of whom faced ongoing
legal action; 2 were suspended for 1 year, 1 of whom was subsequently
acquitted and 1 of whom faced ongoing legal action; 1 was suspended for
2 years; and 2 were cleared of all charges.
The judiciary is under the control of the Ministry of Justice and
has four levels. Courts of First Instance hear civil cases and criminal
cases carrying limited fines and sentences. The Court of Appeals
includes a criminal court of first instance for cases carrying
sentences greater than 5 years. The Supreme Court of Appeals hears
appeals of cases from the Court of Appeals. The High Constitutional
Court (HCC) reviews the constitutionality of laws, decrees, and
ordinances. The judiciary also includes specialized courts designed to
handle matters such as cattle theft.
The Constitution provides defendants with the right to a full
defense at every stage of the proceedings, and trials were public.
Defendants have the right to be present at their trials, to be informed
of the charges against them, to confront witnesses, and to present
evidence. The law provides for a presumption of innocence; however, the
presumption of innocence was often overlooked. A 2003 CRS report stated
that the human rights of a person charged with a crime were often
violated, and that there was a ``large gap between the laws that served
to protect the rights of the accused and the implementation of these
laws in fact.''
Military courts are reserved for the trial of military personnel
and generally followed the procedures of the civil judicial system,
except that military officers are included on jury panels. Defendants
in military cases have access to an appeals process. A civilian
magistrate, usually joined by a panel of military officers, presides
over military trials.
The Constitution provides traditional village institutions with the
right to protect property and public order. An informal, community-
organized judicial system called Dina was used in some rural areas to
resolve civil disputes between villages over such issues as cattle
rustling. The law limits Dina remedies to monetary damages. The Dina
process does not ensure internationally recognized standards of due
process; however, there were no reports that Dina resorted to sentences
involving physical force or loss of liberty. Dina decisions may be
appealed through formal judicial channels to a court of general
jurisdiction or to the Office of the Mediator, which investigated and
sought redress through formal judicial authorities.
Of the prisoners detained for their role in the 2002 political
crisis, 18 were still in pretrial detention at year's end, 74 with
sentences of 3 years' imprisonment or less were pardoned, and 2 died
(see Section 1.c.).
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these provisions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government limited
these rights in practice. There were reports that some government
officials pressured the media to curb its critical coverage of alleged
government malfeasance and intimidated journalists. Journalists
practiced self-censorship. The Government did not restrict academic
freedom.
There were eight privately owned major daily newspapers and many
other privately owned national and local news publications that
published less frequently. The Government owned the only nationwide
television and radio networks. Widespread illiteracy and a poorly
developed system for distributing publications printed in the capital
limited the effect of print media.
In June, the Government closed Radio Say in Toliara for
demonstrating a ``lack of respect for the President of the National
Assembly'' and ``inciting tribal hatred.'' The station was not
permitted to resume broadcasting by year's end.
In July, the Betongolo gendarmerie detained without charge Rolly
Mercia, a journalist for the Madagascar Tribune who had published an
article that implicated several government officials in the illicit
export of rosewood; Mercia was released after questioning.
On December 10, security forces seized broadcasting equipment at
Radio Feon'i Toamasina, Radio Sky FM, and Radio ny Antsika after the
stations broadcast opposition criticism of the President; the seizures
were ordered by the Regional Chief and the Ministry of Communications.
The stations, which were subsequently closed for ``insulting President
Ravalomanana'' and ``inciting tribal hatred,'' remained closed at
year's end.
Many journalists privately admitted practicing self-censorship,
particularly at the local level, and there were reports that
journalists were threatened with imprisonment, libel suits, or harm to
their families if they criticized government and opposition officials.
Government agencies and private companies sometimes bribed
journalists, who generally received minimum or below minimum wages, to
ensure positive coverage of certain events.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government at times
limited this right in practice. The Government routinely issued permits
for public meetings and demonstrations.
In June, the Government used tear gas to disperse three
demonstrations by reservists demanding additional payment for their
service during the 2002 political crisis; five reservists were arrested
and awaiting trial at year's end. During one demonstration, a grenade
carried by a demonstrator exploded, resulting in the death of the
demonstrator and injury to 28 others.
No investigation was conducted into any of the 2003 or 2002 cases
in which security forces used live ammunition, teargas, or other force
to disperse demonstrations.
The Constitution provides for the right of association and permits
citizens to organize political parties and associations; however, the
Constitution also explicitly forbids associations that ``call into
question the unity of the Nation, and those that advocate
totalitarianism or ethnic, tribal, or religious segregation.'' There
were numerous political parties.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
Religious organizations were not required to register with the
Ministry of Interior; however, they were urged to do so. There were no
penalties for failure to register.
In August, the Fianarantsoa Prefecture suspended the Universal
Church of the Kingdom of God for inciting public disorder by allegedly
burning a copy of the Bible during a ceremony in which ``Satan's
materials'' were burned. In September, 2 pastors and 15 church members
who participated in the burning were sentenced to 6 months'
imprisonment.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
fear of crime restricted travel in some areas, especially at night.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no curfews.
The Constitution does not specifically prohibit forced exile;
however, the Government did not use it. Former President Ratsiraka and
other members of his administration remained in self-imposed exile at
year's end.
The law does not include provisions for the granting of asylum or
refugee status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum and cooperated with the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting the small number of refugees in the country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens the right to change their
government peacefully; however, some degree of turmoil accompanied the
three changes of government that occurred over the last 13 years.
The country nominally was a democracy in which power was divided
between the executive, a bicameral assembly, an independent judiciary,
and 6 provincial and 22 regional administrations. The President
appoints one-third of the senators.
Political and business leaders disproportionately influenced the
administration of the country. Political parties coalesced around a
single powerful person, usually the president. ``Pensee Unique,'' a
national belief in which dissent was viewed as an attack on societal
harmony, made an effective opposition difficult in practice.
Representatives of the president's political party usually controlled
the National Assembly. The 2002 legislative elections and 4 follow-up
contests held in March 2003 resulted in a substantial majority (106 of
160) of deputies elected from the President's TIM party and the pro-
Ravalomanana National Alliance; only 6 of the country's 160 political
parties were represented in the National Assembly. International
observer teams found the 2002 election process to be transparent and
the results credible, despite some organizational problems.
In the 2001 presidential elections, which were conducted amid
widespread allegations of fraud, former President Ratsiraka received
40.69 percent of the vote, while his main challenger, the then-Mayor of
Antananarivo Marc Ravalomanana received 46.49 percent. From January
2002 to June 2002, both Ravalomanana in Antananarivo and Ratsiraka in
the port city of Toamasina claimed to be the legitimate head of state.
Following mediation by the Organization of African Unity in April 2002,
the HCC gave Ravalomanana the victory, and the Armed Forces, until then
largely neutral, began shifting their support to Ravalomanana.
Ratsiraka and his supporters tightened the blockade around the capital
Antananarivo by attacking its infrastructure, particularly the bridges;
however, the Ravalomanana forces steadily gained control over the
entire country, ultimately forcing Ratsiraka into exile in July 2002.
Widespread, politically motivated conflict resulted in approximately
100 deaths; blockades and infrastructure attacks by pro-Ratsiraka
forces severely disrupted the economy.
A series of grenade attacks during the year may have been
politically motivated (see Section 1.c.).
Corruption in the executive and legislative branches remained a
serious problem. In 2003, the Government established an anti-corruption
council and took significant steps to curb corruption, including the
suspension of 18 mayors for alleged fiscal and administrative
improprieties; however, none of the suspensions led to criminal
charges. During the year, the Government continued to investigate and
prosecute magistrates (see Section 1.e.). In July, the President
announced a national anti-corruption strategy to make the country ``one
of the least corrupt African countries by 2015.'' The strategy included
the establishment of an investigative Independent Anti-Corruption
Bureau, a new anti-corruption tribunal, compliance cells in each
ministry, and a network of drop boxes for public complaints in each of
the country's 111 districts; however, apart from education and
publicity activities, few efforts were conducted during the year to
enforce anti-corruption provisions or to sanction those who violated
them.
Soon after the suspension of the 18 mayors, the Government
announced that municipal elections would be held in November 2003. The
Government claimed the suspensions would not bar the 18 from running;
however, the suspensions complicated preparations for the election, as
did August 2003 legislation that established two different processes
for municipal elections--one for large cities and the other for the
remainder of the country. In cities, the candidate with a plurality
won; in rural communities, a party list system (in which the winner is
the first name on the party list receiving the plurality of votes) was
used. Municipal councils in both urban and rural communities were
chosen using party lists. Logistical problems, including a shortage of
transparent ballot boxes, resulted in the elections being held on two
different dates: November 9 and 23, 2003. The TIM party received 56
percent of rural and 60 percent of urban mayoral seats.
There are no laws that provide for public access to government
information; however, President Ravalomanana has publicly stated that
his three main priorities are ``good governance, transparency, and rule
of law.''
There were 8 women in the 160-member National Assembly elected in
December 2002. Two of the 22 regional administrators appointed in
September were women.
There were six Muslims, one Hindu, and two Chinese-Malagasy members
in the National Assembly. Chinese Malagasy and Muslims also held civil
service positions. Residents of Indian origin were not represented in
the Government because few had citizenship (see Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of local and international human rights groups operated
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their
findings on human rights cases. Government officials were cooperative
and responsive to their views. The Government permitted visits during
the year by NGOs, including the ICRC.
The Constitution requires the Government to create apolitical
organizations that promote and protect human rights. However, the
governmental National Commission for Human Rights has been inactive
since 2002, when its members' terms expired. The Government has offered
no explanation for the delay in naming replacements.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits all forms of discrimination; however, no
specific government institutions were designated to enforce these
provisions.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a problem. Police and
legal authorities generally intervened when physical abuse was
reported. The Penal Code was amended in 2003 to prohibit domestic
violence, expand the definition of rape, and prohibit sexual
harassment.
Prostitution was not a crime; however, related activities, such as
pandering, are criminal. Incitement of minors to debauchery is a crime.
The Ministry of Tourism acknowledged the problem of sexual tourism and
conducted a workshop in July to address the issue.
There were reports of trafficking in women (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Under the law, wives have an equal voice in selecting the location
of the couple's residence and generally received half the couple's
assets if the marriage was dissolved. Widows with children inherit half
of joint marital property. In practice, these requirements were not
always observed. A tradition known as ``the customary third,'' which
provided the wife with the right to only one-third of a couple's joint
holdings, was occasionally observed.
There was relatively little societal discrimination against women
in urban areas, where many women owned or managed businesses and held
management positions in private businesses and state-owned companies.
In 2003, the Ministry of Labor reported that women owned 30 percent of
formal sector companies and 53 percent of informal sector companies.
However, women may not work in positions that might endanger their
health, safety, and morals.
A number of NGOs focused on the civic education of women and girls
and publicized and explained their specific legal protections; however,
due to illiteracy, cultural traditions, and a lack of knowledge about
their rights, few women lodged official complaints or sought redress
when their legal rights were compromised.
Children.--The Ministries of Health, Education, and Population are
responsible for various aspects of child welfare; however, lack of
funding resulted in inadequate services and precluded the compilation
of reliable statistics.
The Constitution provides for tuition-free public education for all
citizen children and makes primary education until age 14 compulsory;
however, according to the World Bank, only 68 percent of primary
school-age children were enrolled (see Section 6.d.). In September and
October, the Government distributed 1.2 million sets of school supplies
to primary school children nationwide as part of the Education for All
program began in 2003.
In June, UNICEF and the Government launched a 3-year campaign to
improve birth registration rates. The country has no uniform birth
registration system, and unregistered children were not eligible to
attend school or obtain healthcare services. A 2000 UNICEF study found
that approximately 2.5 million children under 17 were not registered.
Child prostitution was a problem. According to a continuing study
conducted by the International Labor Organization's International
Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), there were
approximately 700 to 800 child prostitutes in the city of Nosy Be and
more than 2,000 in Toamasina. Some child prostitutes reported earning
several times the average per capita monthly income. Acute poverty and
lack of family support were the primary reasons that children engaged
in prostitution.
There were reports of child trafficking (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child labor, including forced labor, was a problem. In June, the
Ministry of Labor hosted a workshop that approved a national strategy
to combat the Worst Forms of Child Labor (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons, and there were reports of trafficking in women
and girls for prostitution between the country and the neighboring
islands of Mauritius and Reunion. Traffickers may be prosecuted under
provisions of the Penal and Labor Codes that prohibit pedophilia and
sexual tourism; however, there were no reports during the year of
arrests for trafficking.
During the year, the Government took several steps to combat
trafficking. The Government began a review of existing anti-trafficking
legislation, including adoption regulations; shut down several
international adoption rings that were suspected of trafficking under
the guise of adoption; and launched a criminal investigation into a
suspected case of large-scale adoption fraud. Three new Minors'
Brigades (police units that specialized in child welfare) were
established in the provinces, and police raided 3 nightclubs where 53
minors were illegally present. The Government initiated an aggressive
anti-trafficking information campaign and worked with UNICEF to train
police in six provincial cities to protect the rights of minors. The
Ministry of Tourism initiated a program to identify and report tour
operators offering sexual tourism services. The Government also
continued to construct Welcome Centers for the victims of trafficking
and forced labor (see Section 6.d.).
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no official discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or in
access to state services. The law broadly defines the rights of persons
with disabilities and provides for a national commission and regional
sub-commissions to promote the rights of persons with disabilities;
however, neither a national commission nor the regional sub-commissions
had been established by year's end. International NGOs and numerous
local associations, including the Collective of Organizations
Advocating for Persons with Disabilities, advocated for legislation
mandating equal access for persons with disabilities and the
establishment of the National Commission.
During the year, the Government intervened to assist in two cases
in which students had been denied the opportunity to take entrance
exams because of their disabilities; in both cases, the students were
allowed to reschedule their exams. There were 24 state-sponsored
educational facilities in the country for persons with disabilities.
In December, the Government encouraged the employment of persons
with disabilities at national and regional levels of government and
ordered that persons with disabilities be provided with: Medical
treatment in public and private medical centers; employment without
discrimination; eligibility for civil service vacancies; and education
at public schools and vocational training centers, which were
responsible for ensuring accessibility.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Malagasy, of mixed Malay-
Polynesian, African, and Arab descent, were divided into 18 tribes, a
term without pejorative overtones in the country. The vast majority of
Malagasy spoke a single Malagasy language. None of the 18 tribes
constituted a majority. There were also minorities of Indo-Pakistani,
Comorian, and Chinese heritage in the country.
A long history of military conquest and political dominance raised
the status of highland ethnic groups of Asian origin, particularly the
Merina, above that of coastal groups of African ancestry. This
imbalance has fueled an undercurrent of tension between citizens of
highland and coastal descents. Ethnicity, caste, and regional
solidarity often were factors in hiring practices.
An economically significant Indo-Pakistani community, commonly
referred to as Karana, has been present for over a century.
Traditionally engaged in commerce, the Karana number approximately
20,000 persons. Few hold citizenship, which must be acquired through a
native-born Malagasy mother, and many believed they were denied full
participation in society and subject to discrimination.
In August 2003, a law was passed to permit foreigners to own land.
Section 6. Workers Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that public and
private sector workers may establish and join labor unions of their
choosing without prior authorization; however, essential service
workers, including police and military personnel, may not form unions.
Unions were required to register with the Government, and registration
was granted routinely. Ministry of Labor statistics indicate that 14
percent of workers in export processing zone (EPZ) companies and less
than 10 percent of all workers were unionized. Between 70 and 80
percent of the workforce were engaged in agriculture. Despite the
existence of several public employees' unions, few public employees
were union members.
The Labor Code prohibits discrimination by employers against labor
organizers, union members, and unions; however, a December CRS report
on working conditions in the EPZs indicated that some employees did not
join unions due to fear of reprisal. In the event of antiunion
activity, unions or their members may file suit against the employer in
civil court.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for the right of workers to bargain collectively;
however, collective bargaining agreements remained rare. The Labor Code
states that either management or labor may initiate collective
bargaining. The Government set civil servant wages and endorsed minimum
wages proposed by the private sector (see Section 6.e.).
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, including in
EPZs, within parameters fixed by law, and workers exercised this right
during the year. The Labor Code calls for workers to exhaust all
options including conciliation, mediation, and arbitration before
resorting to strikes. Workers in essential services have a recognized
but restricted right to strike; however, they did not exercise this
right during the year.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Code
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
at times the Government did not respect this prohibition, specifically
with respect to prison labor. Prisoners and pretrial detainees were
hired out to private firms and government officials who provided basic
amenities such as food and clothing in return for the prisoners' labor.
In September, the Ministry of Labor released a study highlighting cases
of forced labor among ``pousse-pousse'' (rickshaw) drivers, petty
merchants, and apprentices.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code prohibits persons under age 18 from working at night and at
sites where there is an imminent danger to health, safety, or morals;
however, child labor was a problem. A 2003 statute raised the minimum
age for employment from 14 to 15 years of age.
Nearly 13 percent of urban children and 36 percent of rural
children between the ages of 10 and 14 were intermittently employed,
the vast majority on family farms. Children in rural areas generally
dropped out of school to help on family farms, and urban children often
worked as domestic laborers and servants. In the agricultural sector,
work for children on the family subsistence farm may begin at an even
younger age. In cities, many children worked in occupations such as
transport of goods by rickshaw and petty trading. In 2003, IPEC
reported that children as young as 8 years old were being used in mines
because they could maneuver in cramped spaces more easily than adults.
The Government enforced child labor laws in the formal economic
sector by means of inspectors from the Ministry of Civil Services;
however, enforcement in the much larger informal sector remained a
serious problem.
During the year, the Government took steps to combat forced child
labor and trafficking (see Section 5). In June, the Ministry of Labor
approved a 15-year national plan to combat the worst forms of child
labor, citing child prostitution, stone quarry work, salt marsh work,
domestic labor, gemstone mining, agriculture, and commercial fishing as
areas of particular concern. The plan created a national committee made
up of high-level government, donor, civil society, and religious group
representatives to raise public awareness and coordinate the national
campaign; the committee became operational in August. The Government
continued to construct Welcome Centers for the victims of trafficking
and forced labor and, since July, the Antananarivo Welcome Center
rescued over 200 children employed in the worst forms of child labor,
including prostitution, and reintroduced many victims into the
educational or vocational training system.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code and its
implementing legislation prescribe working conditions and minimum
wages, which were enforced by the Ministry of Civil Service, Labor, and
Social Laws. The law makes separate provisions for agricultural and
nonagricultural work.
In October, the Government passed a decree increasing the monthly
minimum wage from $19.70 (197,000 FMG) to $23.00 (253,000 FMG). The
national minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family, particularly in urban areas. Although most employees
knew what the legal minimum wages were, in practice, those rates were
not always paid. High unemployment and widespread poverty led workers
to accept lower wages.
The standard workweek was 40 hours in nonagricultural and service
industries and 42+ hours in the agricultural sector. Legislation
limited workers to 20 hours of overtime per week; however, there were
reports that employees often were required to work until production
targets were met. A December CRS report on working conditions in the
EPZs indicated that 86 percent of employees surveyed regularly worked
more than 40 hours per week. In some cases, this overtime was
unrecorded and unpaid.
The Labor Code sets rules and standards for worker safety and
worksite conditions. The Ministry of Labor hired 50 new labor
inspectors, bringing the total number to 90, to enforce labor laws
throughout the country; however, these inspectors were able to cover
only the capital effectively. If violators do not remedy cited
violations within the time allowed, they may be sanctioned legally or
assessed administrative penalties. CNAPS, the country's equivalent of
the Social Security Administration, published reports on workplace
conditions, occupational health hazards, and workplace accident trends.
Workers did not have an explicit right to leave a dangerous workplace
without jeopardizing their employment. The Labor Code applies to all
legal workers.
__________
MALAWI
On May 20, the country held its third election since transitioning
to a multiparty democracy in 1994. President Bingu wa Mutharika of the
United Democratic Front (UDF) was elected, succeeding President Bakili
Muluzi, also of the UDF. International observers noted substantial
shortcomings in the electoral process, including inequitable access to
the state-owned media, the ruling party's use of state resources to
campaign, and poor planning and administration by the Malawi Electoral
Commission. Minor violence occurred when the final results were
announced. Opposition parties filed legal challenges to the election
results, which were still pending at year's end. Constitutional power
was shared between a popularly elected president and the 193-member
National Assembly, of which 185 members were elected on May 20. The
ruling party had majority support in Parliament due to alliances with
several other parties and a number of independents. The Government
generally respected the constitutional provisions for an independent
judiciary; however, the judicial system was inefficient and lacked
resources.
The National Police, headed by the Inspector General of Police
under the Ministry of Home Affairs, are responsible for internal
security. The Malawi Defense Force, under the Ministry of Defense, is
responsible for external security. The police occasionally called on
the army for support. While the civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were some
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently
of government authority. Some members of the security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The country was very poor, with a narrow economic base
characterized by a small and highly concentrated industrial sector, low
levels of foreign and domestic investment, and few mineral resources.
The economy was largely market-based; however, parastatal organizations
dominated several sectors. The population was approximately 11.5
million, and agriculture dominated the economy, with over 80 percent of
the labor force employed in the agricultural sector. The Government
continued to move forward with its multisector privatization program
and endorsed private sector participation in infrastructure. The
economy grew by approximately 3.7 percent during the year; however,
wealth remained highly concentrated in a small elite.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Unlike in the
previous year, police negligence or use of excessive force was not
reported to be a factor in detainee deaths. Police on occasion used
excessive force in handling criminal suspects. Prison conditions
remained harsh and often life threatening. There were instances of
arbitrary arrest and detention, and lengthy pretrial detention was a
problem. Security forces at times infringed on some privacy rights. The
Government generally respected freedom of speech and the press;
however, there were some exceptions. Improvements in press freedoms
occurred following the presidential elections. Limited self-censorship
existed. At times police used force against demonstrators, and police
allegedly killed at least one bystander at a political rally. Violence
against women was common, and women continued to experience severe
societal discrimination. Abuse of children remained a problem. The
Government limited workers' rights. Child labor, including instances of
forced child labor, and trafficking in persons were problems. Mob
violence triggered by anger over high levels of common crime resulted
in several instances of mob executions of alleged criminals. HIV/AIDS
was a serious problem in the country.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
confirmed reports of politically motivated killings by the Government
or its agents; however, there was one high-profile case of a death
under mysterious circumstances. On December 28, 2003, Kalonga Stambuli,
a former private business advisor to the previous president, died of
poisoning and strangulation. Prior to his death, newspaper reports
indicated that Stambuli may have had potentially damaging information
about the former president's business activities. A police
investigation was ongoing at year's end.
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports of police
mistreatment of a suspect that resulted in death.
The investigation into the death of Peter Mussa Gama, who died in
police custody in September 2003, remained ongoing at year's end. The
Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) publicly called for compensation
to Gama's family.
Police allegedly killed a 10-year-old girl during a political
demonstration (see Section 2.b.).
On May 23, a man was killed by worshippers at a mosque after he
sought refuge from tear gas fired by police (see Section 2.b.).
Mobs sometimes resorted to vigilante justice in beating, stoning,
or burning suspected criminals to death. On May 17, in Mulanje, persons
beat a man to death after he allegedly vandalized a church and
terrorized a neighborhood. Authorities suspect the man was suffering
from a mental disorder, and police intervened to take the victim to a
hospital where he later died. No arrests were made in the case.
On August 15, a crowd beat a man to death for allegedly
burglarizing a home near Blantyre. A police investigation into the
murder was ongoing at year's end. In another August incident, a man was
beaten to death after being caught allegedly stealing sugar cane near
Kasungu. A suspect was arrested and awaited trial at year's end.
No action was taken by police in any of the 2003 or 2002 cases of
mob killings.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances; however, during the year a key witness in a high-level
corruption case went missing; some reports indicated the man committed
suicide, while others said he was out of the country. Police were
investigating the case at year's end.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were instances of police beating and otherwise abusing detainees and
using excessive force in handling criminal suspects.
The Inspectorate of Prisons' 2002 report noted that police used
beatings and assault to restrain prisoners and to force confessions.
While higher-ranking officials demonstrated familiarity with standards
for the humane treatment of prisoners and publicly condemned prisoner
mistreatment, their subordinates continued to employ unacceptable
techniques. Police sometimes mistreated suspects due to a mistaken
belief that the law required them to present a case (not just charges)
to the court within 48 hours of arrest, and police sometimes resorted
to beatings to obtain information within the time limit. Lack of
financial resources for appropriate equipment, facilities, and training
contributed to mistreatment.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police
assaulted journalists.
Police violently dispersed demonstrations during the year, which
resulted in numerous injuries and at least one death (see Section
2.b.).
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. During the
year, an average of 20 inmates died in prison each month, mostly due to
HIV/AIDS. Overcrowding, inadequate nutrition, substandard sanitation,
and poor health facilities remained serious problems. The prison
system, which was meant to accommodate 6,200 inmates, held 9,220
prisoners, 191 of whom were juveniles. To combat these problems, the
prison department developed and implemented a program to provide health
attendants to each prison. At year's end, each prison in the country
was staffed with at least one health attendant. Programs that provided
community service alternatives for some offenders were utilized
throughout the country.
During the year, the Government began a program with international
donors to renovate the country's four major prisons, and a new prison
was under construction in the northern region. Inmates were encouraged
to grow vegetables and raise livestock. Some prisons were upgraded to
include improved toilet and shower facilities and plumbing.
Although women were not kept in separate facilities, they were
segregated within the prison compound and monitored by female guards.
In the four maximum-security prisons, there were separate facilities
for juveniles; however, the separation was inadequate in practice, and
there were reports of sexual and physical abuse of juvenile prisoners.
In the other prisons, juveniles were routinely incarcerated with
adults. The law requires pretrial detainees to be held separately from
convicted prisoners; however, many prisons could not comply with this
law due to lack of space and inadequate facilities.
During the year, the Inspectorate of Prisons, domestic
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and international NGOs were
permitted to make visits to monitor prison conditions and to donate
basic supplies. The Prison Reform Committee also worked in
collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Inspectorate of
Prisons to visit prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, although there were problems in
practice. The Constitution provides the accused the rights to challenge
the legality of detention, to have access to legal counsel, and to be
released on bail or informed of charges by a court of law within 48
hours; however, these rights seldom were respected in practice.
The country's police force was inefficient, poorly trained, and
inadequately funded. Due to funding limitations, police had extremely
limited resources available for training and equipment, and were
limited in their ability to provide an infrastructure to ensure respect
for human rights. Corruption was widespread. Police continued efforts
to improve investigative skills and to introduce the concept of
victims' rights through workshops and other training exercises,
particularly in the areas of sexual abuse and domestic violence (see
Section 5). The Government continued to seek community involvement in
its comprehensive reform of the police. During the year, civil society
groups conducted workshops for the police on crowd control measures and
management of demonstrations. The country also received foreign
assistance during the year to train officials and procure equipment.
The use of temporary remand warrants to circumvent the 48-hour rule
was widespread (see Section 1.c.). In cases where the court determined
that a defendant could not afford to supply his own counsel, the
Government provided legal services. However, since few persons were
able to afford legal counsel and there were only seven public defenders
in the country, indigent detainees could not all have representation in
a timely manner. Bail frequently was granted to reduce prison
overcrowding, rather than on the merits of an individual's situation.
Police arrested some journalists and demonstrators during the year
(see Sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
Police were accused of arbitrary arrests due to political motives
and were routinely criticized for failing to act impartially with
regard to political demonstrations.
Of the 9,220 persons incarcerated in the country's prisons, 1,595
were pretrial detainees; of the 191 juveniles held, 91 were pretrial
detainees; and of the 58 women held, 37 were pretrial detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the judicial system was inefficient and
was handicapped by serious weaknesses, including poor record keeping, a
shortage of attorneys and trained personnel, heavy caseloads, and lack
of resources.
The Constitution provides for a High Court, a Supreme Court of
Appeal, and subordinate magistrate courts. The Chief Justice is
appointed by the President and confirmed by the National Assembly. The
President appoints other justices, following a recommendation by the
Judicial Service Commission. All justices are appointed until the age
of 65 and may be removed only for reasons of incompetence or
misbehavior, as determined by the President and a majority of the
Parliament.
By law, defendants have the right to a public trial but not to a
trial by jury; however, in murder cases, the High Court used juries of
12 persons from the defendant's home district. Defendants also are
entitled to an attorney, the right to present and challenge evidence
and witnesses, and the right of appeal. The judiciary's budgetary and
administrative problems effectively denied expeditious trials for most
defendants. During the year, the Department of Public Prosecutions had
10 prosecuting attorneys and 7 paralegals. The paralegals served as lay
prosecutors and prosecuted minor cases in the magistrate courts. Lack
of funding and a shortage of attorneys created a backlog, mainly in
murder cases.
On May 18, the National Compensation Tribunal (NCT), which
adjudicated claims of criminal and civil liability against the former
dictatorship of Dr. Hastings Banda, was dissolved as a part of the
democratic transition process. During its existence, the NCT registered
nearly 25,000 claims, of which 342 were compensated fully and 5,247
were awarded interim compensation payments. The NCT's lack of funds
limited its ability to settle claims, but some payments were made
during the year.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government at times infringed on these rights. In March, some civil
society and human rights groups complained when police initiated a
sweep to arrest prostitutes and their clients (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, at times the Government
limited this right. Following the May elections, the Government made
efforts to increase press freedom. Limited self-censorship existed. The
Government did not restrict academic freedom.
A broad spectrum of political and ideological opinion was available
in the country's newspapers, usually without government interference.
Five independent newspapers were available, including one independent
daily and four independent weekly papers.
The state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) dominated the
radio market with its two stations, transmitting in major population
centers throughout the country. News coverage and editorial content
were clearly pro-government.
There were 14 private radio stations, all broadcasting on FM
frequencies with limited coverage and only in urban areas. These
included: Two commercial stations broadcasting in Blantyre; a rural
community radio station run by local women with the help of the Malawi
Media Women's Association; and six religious stations.
Government-owned Television Malawi (TVM) was the country's sole
television broadcaster.
On March 10, the Public Affairs Committee, a civil society group
composed of influential religious leaders, initiated legal action
against MBC and TVM, challenging their bias toward the ruling party.
These challenges generated renewed public interest in the issue of
media freedom.
The ruling party interfered with the state-controlled media's
freedom to interview opposition politicians who were critical of the
Government. For example, on May 13, state-owned MBC radio halted the
broadcast of a live interview with opposition party presidential
candidate and former First Vice President Justin Malawezi. In the
interview, Malawezi made highly critical remarks about the ruling party
and administration, prompting station officials to cut short the time
allotted.
On May 23, police shut down the Malawi Institute of Journalism, an
independent radio station, and arrested four journalists after the
station aired what was described as an ``inflammatory interview'' with
an opposition party spokesperson. In the interview, the spokesperson
called for the closure of airports and roadways to prevent guests from
attending the presidential inauguration, and for the Malawi Defense
Force to assume control of the Government. The reporters were released
from custody and the charges were subsequently dropped.
There were no developments in the October 2003 assault of several
journalists by police at a roadblock.
There were no developments in the formal inquiry into the 2002
assault on a journalist by a UDF parliamentarian.
During the election campaign period, opposition access to the media
was limited. Electoral legislation requires that state-owned media
provide equal access to all political parties during the election
campaign period. However, regulatory bodies and the Malawi Electoral
Commission (MEC) failed to enforce these provisions, resulting in
uneven access to media resources. The ruling party frequently
monopolized resources and used public funds for political campaign
purposes. International election observers uniformly cited the lack of
balanced media coverage as a limiting factor to the overall freedom and
fairness of the electoral process. One political party sued TVM, MBC,
and the MEC over the unfair media coverage.
On May 3, the MEC rebuked both MBC and TVM for not following media
rules and guidelines during the campaign, but later that week withdrew
the allegations and apologized.
Following international and domestic criticism of media access
during the campaign period, officials in the newly elected Mutharika
administration made efforts to reduce media bias.
On July 22, the new Minister of Information publicly called for MBC
and TVM to allow dissenting views. MBC's Director General admitted that
public broadcasters had not been free to interview the opposition for
fear of losing their jobs.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however,
the Internet was not widely used.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, there were instances in
which police limited this right.
Authorities interfered with opposition party political functions,
and in some cases, used violence to disperse crowds. Some opposition
candidates were unable to obtain permits to hold political gatherings.
On February 22, two persons were shot when police used live
ammunition and tear gas to break up an opposition rally at Njamba, near
Blantyre. Police also destroyed a podium and platform erected for the
event. According to police, the gathering, which coincided with a
ruling party rally nearby, was illegal because it lacked proper
permits. Opposition leaders maintained they had a court injunction
allowing the event to take place. MHRC urged the Inspector General of
Police to launch an investigation into the violence, but no action was
taken by year's end.
On May 23, in Blantyre, police allegedly shot 2 protestors and
arrested at least 96 others for rioting over the results of the
presidential election. Police reportedly used live ammunition and tear
gas to stop looting and vandalism immediately following the
announcement of the election results. One man was reportedly beaten to
death by a group of worshippers when he sought refuge from the tear gas
in a nearby mosque (see Section 1.a.). The suspects arrested by police
were released on bail within 48 hours of arrest and were awaiting
trial. An investigation into the shootings was ongoing at year's end.
On May 24, a police officer attempting to break up a political
demonstration allegedly shot 10-year old Epiphania Bonjesi. Bonjesi, a
bystander, bled to death after being shot in the leg. Eyewitness
accounts indicated the bullet was fired by police, and the
investigation was ongoing at year's end. In an out-of-court settlement
in October, the Government paid compensation to Bonjesi's family. There
were unconfirmed reports of one other death as a result of police
attempts to subdue post-election unrest.
No action was taken against police who used excessive force to
disperse demonstrations in 2003.
No action was taken against UDF members who allegedly attacked
Forum for the Defense of the Constitution demonstrators in 2002.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. The Government
required organizations, including political parties, to register with
the Registrar General in the Ministry of Justice, and registration was
routinely granted.
During the year, seven opposition parties united to form the
Mgwirizano Coalition and fielded a common presidential candidate.
Several opposition candidates allied with the ruling party after being
elected.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) de-registered, and its
leadership rejoined the ruling UDF.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
There were no separate requirements for the recognition of
religions, but religious groups must register with the Government.
There were no reports that the Government refused to register any
religious group during the year.
Foreign Christian missionaries experienced occasional delays in
renewing employment permits; however, this appeared to be the result of
bureaucratic inefficiency rather than a deliberate government policy
against foreign missionaries. Missionaries and charitable workers paid
lower fees for employment permits than did other professionals.
During the 2004 presidential and parliamentary campaign period,
some prominent Christian religious leaders frequently spoke about
corruption, the electoral process, and the candidates. The churches'
remarks were often openly critical of the ruling political party. While
candidates and officials took issue with the churches' statements, the
Government did not make attempts to silence religious leaders, other
than declaring that such statements deviate from the proper role of
religious leaders. Churches continued to be a significant source of
political influence, particularly in rural areas.
There were generally amicable relations among the various religious
communities; however, following the 2003 deportation of five Muslims
allegedly associated with al-Qa'ida, violent protests led to the
Muslims' targeting of Christian interests, such as churches and NGOs.
Although tensions increased as a result of these events, there were no
further protests during the year.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits the use of forced exile, and the
Government did not use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum; however, there were long delays in
the process. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in assisting refugees and asylum
seekers.
In August, the Government cooperated with UNHCR in conducting a re-
verification exercise to assess the population of refugees and asylum
seekers in the country. According to UNHCR, the country hosted
approximately 9,100 refugees, primarily from the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, at a refugee center in Dowa. The
majority of refugees resided at the Dzaleka camp, though UNHCR and the
Government made efforts to relocate refugees to a second camp in Luwani
that opened in October 2003. The law does not accept refugees for
permanent resettlement and does not permit them to work or study;
however, while no legal framework existed, the Government routinely
allowed refugees to seek both employment and educational opportunities.
UNHCR, NGOs, and the Government collaborated to provide children in
refugee camps with access to education.
The country also provided temporary protection to certain
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/
1967 Protocol.
In November 2003, the Government signed an agreement with the
Government of Rwanda and UNHCR to voluntarily repatriate approximately
5,500 refugees who fled following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. At
year's end, only a small number of refugees had participated in the
voluntary repatriation.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage for citizens 18 years of age and older.
International election observers found the May 20 presidential and
parliamentary elections to have substantial shortcomings, including
inequitable access to the state-owned media, the ruling party's use of
state resources to campaign, and poor planning by the MEC. Voter
turnout was low compared with the two previous presidential elections.
With approximately 36 percent of the popular vote, President Bingu wa
Mutharika, chosen by former President Muluzi as the UDF candidate, was
elected to serve a 5-year term, defeating opposition coalition
candidate Gwanda Chakuamba, John Tembo of the Malawi Congress Party
(MCP), Brown Mpingajira of the National Democratic Alliance, and Justin
Malawezi, the former first vice president who ran as an independent
candidate. The seats in the National Assembly were divided among
several parties and independents: the UDF had 72 seats; the MCP had 58
seats; the Republican Party had 15 seats; the Alliance for Democracy
had 7 seats; the People's Progressive Movement had 6 seats; the
Movement for Genuine Democratic Change had 3 seats; the People's
Transformation Party had 1 seat; and there were 22 Independent members.
There was no clear-cut ideological difference among the major political
parties. The opposition challenged the outcome of the presidential
vote, but had little success in legal proceedings due to lack of
evidence. Following the election, there were 9 National Assembly
vacancies. In 6 constituencies, election discrepancies prevented
Parliamentary placement. The newly elected President and Vice-President
each won parliamentary seats, but were constitutionally barred from
holding other public offices. One seat was declared vacant after the
winner's opponent successfully challenged the results. By-elections for
these vacancies were scheduled to take place in January 2005.
President Mutharika, Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, and a 27-
member cabinet exercise executive authority. The executive exerted
considerable influence over the legislature; the legislature followed a
hybrid parliamentary system, and consequently a number of Cabinet
ministers also were Members of Parliament.
Although the Government did not prevent the operation of opposition
political parties, the parties continued to allege that the Government
used bribery and other inducements, including violence, to encourage
opposition party divisions and defections of key personnel to the
ruling party. President Mutharika acted quickly on his campaign
promises to eliminate corruption in Government, and the Anti-Corruption
Bureau (ACB) launched several investigations and made several arrests
and indictments of former high-level Government officials. President
Mutharika repeatedly stated that no officials were immune from
prosecution for corruption. The President also replaced the heads of
the ACB and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), which helped
reinvigorate anti-corruption efforts.
Some opposition rallies were cancelled when organizers discovered
at the last minute that the ruling party had decided to hold its own
demonstration at the same venue on the same date or that permits could
not be obtained in time. On occasion, members of the Young Democrats,
the UDF youth wing, also disrupted opposition political rallies (see
section 2.b.).
Sporadic minor violence was common between supporters of rival
political parties.
Public access to information is guaranteed in Article 37 of the
Constitution, and the Government respected this right in practice.
There were 27 women in the 193-seat National Assembly, and there
were 6 women in the 28-member Cabinet. Women comprised approximately 25
percent of the civil service. There were 2 women justices among the 23
Supreme and High Court justices, and a woman was appointed as Inspector
General of Police, the highest-level position in law enforcement.
Three citizens of mixed ethnicity were members of the National
Assembly.
One cabinet minister, who was also an elected Member of Parliament,
was a person with disabilities.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
operated without government restriction, training civic educators,
advocating changes to existing laws and cultural practices, and
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
Government officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their
views.
The Ombudsman was mandated by the Constitution to investigate and
take legal action against government officials responsible for human
rights violations and other abuses. The Ombudsman's freedom of action
was circumscribed by legislation that requires a warrant and a 3-day
waiting period to gain access to certain government records. The
activities of the Ombudsman are subject to judicial review.
The constitutionally mandated MHRC was charged to monitor, audit,
and promote human rights provided for under the Constitution, and to
carry out investigations regarding violations of any human rights.
Despite limited resources, the MHRC issued its 2003 Human Rights Report
during the year, which described numerous complaints of human rights
violations, such as overcrowding and poor sanitation in prisons, lack
of proper medical attention to sick prisoners, long periods of pretrial
detention, police brutality, child abuse, domestic violence, and the
lack of opposition access to the media during elections.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution specifically provides for equal rights for women,
forbids discrimination based on language or culture, and provides for
equality and recognition before the law for every citizen; however, in
practice, the capacity of government institutions to assure equal
rights for all citizens was limited.
Women.--Domestic violence, especially wife beating, was common, and
women seldom discussed the problem openly; however, the press published
frequent accounts of rape and abuse, and the judiciary continued to
impose heavier penalties on those convicted of rape. Police regularly
investigated cases of rape and sexual assault but did not normally
intervene in domestic disputes.
The law does not specifically prohibit female genital mutilation
(FGM), and there were anecdotal reports that a few small ethnic groups
practiced it.
While prostitution is not illegal per se, living off the wages
earned through prostitution, owning a brothel, or forcing another
person into prostitution are illegal. In March, based on a presidential
directive, authorities began a campaign to combat prostitution. Dozens
of suspected prostitutes and some of their clients were detained and
appeared before the courts. Some of those detained were convicted and
assessed small fines, while others were found guilty of lesser
violations or released with a warning. Civil society and women's
advocacy groups protested the move as a violation of constitutional
rights and as discriminatory to women, and NGOs offered the detainees
pro bono legal services. A High Court Justice suspended the directive
and no further action was taken.
Under the Constitution, women have the right to full and equal
protection by law and may not be discriminated against on the basis of
gender or marital status; however, in practice, discrimination against
women was pervasive, and women did not have opportunities equal to
those available to men. Women had significantly lower levels of
literacy, education, formal and nontraditional employment
opportunities, and access to resources to increase agricultural
productivity. The literacy rate among women between the ages of 15 and
45 was 46 percent; male literacy in the same age group was
approximately 79 percent.
Women often had less access to legal and financial assistance, and
wives often were victims of discriminatory and illegal inheritance
practices in which the majority of the estate was taken by the deceased
husband's family. Women usually were at a disadvantage in marriage,
family, and property rights; however, awareness of women's legal rights
continued to increase, and women began to speak out against abuse and
discrimination. Households headed by women were represented
disproportionately in the lowest quarter of income distribution; 52
percent of the country's full-time farmers were women. Women typically
worked more hours than men to complete the same farm tasks because they
rarely had comparable tools and equipment, and they remained
responsible for all household tasks. Women also had limited access to
agricultural extension services, training, and credit. Gender training
for agricultural extension workers and the gradual introduction of
rural credit programs for women have increased; however, few women
participated in the limited formal labor market, where they constituted
less than 5 percent of managerial and administrative staff.
The law provides for a minimum level of child support, widows'
rights, and the right to maternity leave; however, only individuals who
utilized the formal legal system benefited from these legal
protections.
The Government addressed women's concerns through the Ministry of
Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Services. The President appointed
a well-respected woman with a long history of successful social
advocacy and program management to head this ministry. Women's issues,
including gender balance in political representation, were central in
the May elections.
Children.--The Constitution provides for equal treatment of
children under the law, and during the year, the Government continued a
high level of spending on children's health and welfare.
The Government provided free primary education for all children,
although education was not compulsory. Families were responsible for
book fees and purchasing uniforms. Students from very poor families had
access to a public book fund. Girls, especially in rural areas, have
historically been unable to complete even a primary education and
therefore were at a serious disadvantage in finding employment. During
the year, the University of Malawi released a report on the status of
free primary education since its inception in 1994. The report noted
that over the past decade, the Government increased its education
budget annually, but the increases were not proportional to increasing
student enrollment. Student dropout rates marginally decreased each
year since free education was introduced, but the study concluded that
rates remained high. The 2002 Malawi Demographic Household and
Education Data Survey's report indicated that gender gaps in primary
school attendance were small but that boys were much more likely to
attend secondary school than girls. There also were large gaps in
achievement levels between girls and boys.
In March, the Government took steps to respond to a UNICEF study
that showed a number of girls entered into sexual relationships with
teachers for money, became pregnant, and subsequently left school. The
study also found that many girls left school because of violent
behavior by some teachers. In response, the Government expanded legal
protection of students subjected to exploitation and inappropriate
relationships at school.
More than half of the country's children lived in poverty, mostly
in rural areas. Children in rural households headed by women were among
the poorest. Only one-third of children had ready access to safe
drinking water, infant mortality was high, and child malnutrition was a
serious problem. A few charitable organizations attempted to reduce the
number of child beggars in urban areas; however, the problem of street
children worsened as the number of orphans whose parents died from HIV/
AIDS increased. Extended family members normally cared for such
children and other orphans.
There were societal patterns of abuse of children. Kupimbira, a
societal practice that allows a poor family to take out a loan for
cattle or money in exchange for their daughter, regardless of age, has
re-emerged over the last few years, according to press reports. The
media also reported on the sexual abuse of children, especially in
relation to traditional practices of initiation, though anecdotal
evidence indicated these practices were becoming less common. While
rites to initiate girls into their future adult roles still were
secret, information suggested that abusive practices were widespread
and very damaging.
During the year, the Government worked with UNICEF, international
donors, and various NGOs to create and implement a Child Justice Act to
ensure juveniles suitable access to the justice system. In July, a
court dedicated to children's issues was established in Blantyre. The
Ministry of Home Affairs, in conjunction with UNICEF, worked to
establish 37 victim's support units nationwide.
FGM was performed in rare cases on girls (see Section 5, Women).
The trafficking of children for sexual purposes was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking). The belief that children were unlikely to be
HIV positive and the widespread belief that sexual intercourse with
virgins can cleanse an individual of sexually transmitted diseases,
including HIV/AIDS, contributed to the sexual exploitation of minors.
Child labor, including instances of forced child labor, was a
problem (see Section 6.d.). Child prostitution occurred.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons specifically, and trafficking was a problem. The extent of
human trafficking was undocumented. Police and the Ministry of Gender,
Child Welfare, and Community Services handled cases brought to the
attention of authorities. The Penal Code contains several provisions
relating to prostitution and indecency that could be used to prosecute
traffickers. Since 2001, seven cases involving trafficking in persons
have been prosecuted; however, there were no arrests or prosecutions of
suspected traffickers during the year, and no cases were brought to the
attention of authorities.
Although the age of sexual consent is 14, there was no age
specified for the protection of minors from sexual exploitation, child
prostitution, or child pornography. During the year the government
worked with UNICEF and NGOs to refine child protection laws (see
Section 5, Children).
The country is a source for women and children trafficked for
sexual purposes locally and to brothels abroad, particularly in South
Africa. Victims trafficked to South Africa were typically between 14-
and 24-years-old, and were recruited with offers of marriage, study, or
employment in South Africa. According to the International Organization
for Migration (IOM), sex tourists, primarily from Germany, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, lured children into sexual
relationships with them while in the country. Poverty and low
educational levels contributed to such exploitation. Traffickers
involved in land border trafficking to South Africa were typically
long-distance truck drivers and local businesswomen.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of persons being
trafficked to Europe, or being stranded in European brothels.
On July 28, the President chaired an inter-ministerial meeting
dealing with the issue of human trafficking; on July 29 high-level
government officials participated in a seminar to discuss how best to
combat human trafficking. In September, the Ministry of Home Affairs
hosted a 3-day regional anti-trafficking conference.
Due to extremely limited resources, the Government was unable to
provide funding for NGO services to victims of trafficking. During the
year, police contacted NGOs for assistance when presented with possible
victims.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Constitution provides for the
support of persons with disabilities through greater access to public
places, fair opportunities in employment, and full participation in all
spheres of society; however, the Government generally did not enforce
the laws in practice, due to extremely limited resources. Reported
violations were taken seriously and the President publicly declared
that students with disabilities should have equal access to education
and other government services. The Government has not mandated
accessibility to buildings and services for persons with disabilities.
There were both public and privately supported schools and training
centers that assisted persons with disabilities. There also were
several self-supporting businesses run by and for persons with
disabilities. The Minister of Social Development and Persons With
Disabilities was a person with disabilities.
During the 2004 elections, some accommodations were made for voters
with disabilities. Voters requiring assistance were permitted to bring
an assistant into the voting booth with them.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Homosexuality is
illegal, although there were no prosecutions for homosexuality during
the year. In previous years, this law was used to strengthen cases
against men accused of molesting young boys.
Societal discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS was
widespread and inhibited access to treatment; many individuals
preferred to keep silent about their health rather than seek help and
risk being ostracized. The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training
(MOLVT) conducted a public relations program to reduce the stigma
associated with having HIV/AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and
join trade unions and workers exercised this right in practice;
however, union membership was low due to the small percentage of the
workforce in the formal sector, the lack of awareness of worker rights
and benefits, and a resistance on the part of many employees to join
unions. Army personnel and police could not belong to trade unions, but
other civil servants were allowed to form unions. Union leaders
estimated that 12 percent of the formal sector workforce belonged to
unions; however, accurate statistics on the numbers of union members
were not available. Employers, labor unions, and the Government lacked
sufficient knowledge of their legitimate roles in labor relations and
disputes, which limited their effectiveness in the implementation and
enforcement of the law.
Unions must register with the Registrar of Trade Unions and
Employers' Organizations in the MOLVT, and registration was routinely
granted. At year's end, 26 unions were registered.
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination by employers and
requires that employers reinstate workers dismissed because of union
activities. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of persons
who were fired for their membership in unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Unions have the
right to organize and bargain collectively, and the Government
protected this right in practice. The law requires that at least 20
percent of employees (excluding senior managerial staff) belong to a
union before such a union can engage in collective bargaining at the
enterprise level and at least 15 percent union membership for
collective bargaining at the sector level. The law provides for the
establishment of industrial councils in the absence of collective
agreements for sector-level bargaining. Industrial council functions
included wage negotiation, dispute resolution, and industry-specific
labor policy development. In practice, the law was not effectively
implemented due to lack of sufficient knowledge of the law among
employers, trade unions, and government officials.
The law allows members of a registered union to strike or go
through a formal mediation process overseen by the MOLVT, and workers
exercised this right in practice. A strike can only occur after all
settlement procedures established in a collective agreement (an
understanding, not necessarily signed, reached by both parties to
attempt mediation) and conciliation efforts have failed. Laws do not
specifically prohibit retaliation against strikers. There was no
prohibition on actions against unions that were not registered legally.
Members of a registered union in ``essential services'' only have a
limited right to strike. Essential services were specified as services
whose interruption would endanger the life, health, or personal safety
of the whole or part of the population, as determined by the Industrial
Relations Court (IRC).
Arbitration rulings were legally enforceable; however, in practice,
due to the lack of funding and 2-year case backlog, the IRC could not
monitor cases and enforce the laws adequately.
At year's end, 14 firms held licenses to operate under export
processing zone (EPZ) status, and all were operational. The full range
of labor regulations applied to the EPZs; however, union organizers
said they had little access to workers in the EPZs. The 2002
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) survey noted
that companies in the EPZs were also resistant to union activity.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
such labor occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.). According to the ICFTU,
bonded labor involving entire families was widespread on tobacco
plantations. Tobacco tenants have exclusive arrangements, often
unwritten, with the estate owners to sell their crop and to buy inputs
such as fertilizer, seed, and often food. These costs, in addition to
rent charges, often were greater than the artificially low price
received for the tobacco crop, leading to a situation of debt and
bonded labor to repay the input and other costs.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Constitution defines children as persons under 16 years of age, and the
law prohibits the employment of persons less than 14 years of age;
however, child labor was a problem. The law also prohibits the
employment of children less than 18 years of age in work that was
hazardous, harmful, or interferes with their education. There was no
special legal restriction on children's work hours, though during the
year the Government began work on a code of conduct to specify work
hours for children. There was significant child labor on tobacco and
tea farms, subsistence farms, and in domestic service, largely as a
result of extreme poverty and longstanding cultural traditions. One
local NGO reported that in urban areas, it was common to find young
girls working outside of their family as domestic servants, receiving
little or no wages. School-aged children often worked as vendors. The
results of a May 2002 MOLVT study on child labor in the country were
released in July. The study indicated that 72 percent of children were
in school, and 84 percent of children were working either in or outside
of their homes.
In October, an International Labor Organization (ILO) report noted
a rise in the number of children doing ``ganyu'' (piecework) on the
land to earn money to buy food or support their families. According to
the ILO, 11 percent of children ages 10 and 11 were informally
employed, and an estimated 42 percent of young people between ages 15
and 19 participated in the labor market.
Budgetary constraints hindered minimum work age and child labor law
enforcement by police and MOLVT inspectors. In 2003, the Government
trained approximately 120 labor officers in child labor monitoring, and
has held refresher training since that time. During the year, the MOLVT
youth committees in rural areas monitored and reported on child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The MOLVT sets separate urban
and rural minimum wage rates based on recommendations of the Tripartite
Wage Advisory Board (TWAB) composed of representatives of labor,
Government, and the private sector. However, the TWAB encountered
problems due to inefficient organizational structure and inadequate
funding, which hindered timely and accurate revision of the wage rate
recommendations. The urban minimum wage amounted to approximately $0.53
(MK 56) per day; in all other areas, it was approximately $0.38 (MK 40)
per day. Minimum wage rates did not provide a decent standard of living
for a worker and family. Wage earners often supplemented their incomes
through farming activities. The MOLVT lacked the resources to enforce
the minimum wage effectively. However, the minimum wage largely was
irrelevant for the great majority of citizens, who earned their
livelihood outside the formal wage sector.
The maximum legal workweek was 48 hours, with a mandatory weekly
24-hour rest period. The laws require payment for overtime work and
prohibit compulsory overtime. In practice, employers frequently
violated statutory time restrictions.
The law includes extensive occupational health and safety
standards; however, MOLVT enforcement of these standards was erratic.
Workers--particularly in industrial jobs--often worked without basic
safety clothing and equipment. Workers dismissed for filing complaints
about workplace conditions have the right to file a complaint at the
labor office or sue the employer for wrongful dismissal. Workers have
the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without
jeopardy to continued employment; however, given the low level of
education of most workers and the high level of unemployment, workers
were unlikely to exercise this right.
Mechanisms for protecting internationally recognized worker rights
were weak. There were serious manpower shortages at the MOLVT; as a
result, there were almost no labor standards inspections.
The law protects foreign workers in correct legal status. Illegal
foreign workers were subject to deportation.
__________
MALI
Mali is a constitutional democracy that continued to implement a
decentralized form of government. In May 2002, General Amadou Toumani
Toure was elected to a 5-year term as President. The presidential and
legislative elections were judged generally free and fair by
international and domestic observers; however, there were some
administrative irregularities. The former ruling party, Alliance for
Democracy in Mali (ADEMA), lost its majority in the National Assembly,
and no party held a clear majority. During the year, President Toure
reshuffled the cabinet and expanded the cabinet to 28 ministers,
including 10 former sub-ministerial offices, and appointed a new Prime
Minister. The Government organized simultaneous urban and rural
communal elections for the first time. The judiciary continued to be
subject to executive influence, and there were reports of corruption in
the courts.
Security forces are composed of the army, air force, Gendarmerie,
National Guard, and police. The army and air force are under the
control of the civilian Minister of Defense. The National Guard is
administratively under the Minister of Defense; however, it responds to
taskings from the Minister of Internal Security and Civil Protection.
The police and Gendarmerie are under the Ministry of Internal Security
and Civil Protection. The police and gendarmes shared responsibility
for internal security; the police were in charge of urban areas only.
While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of
the security forces, there were isolated instances in which elements of
the security forces acted independently of government authority. There
were no reports that security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country was very poor with a market-based economy, and its
population was approximately 12 million. Most of the work force was
employed in the agricultural sector, particularly farming and animal
husbandry. The per capita gross national product was approximately
$240, which provided most of the population with a low standard of
living, although there was a sizable middle class. The economy depended
heavily on foreign assistance. Desertification, deforestation, soil
degradation, and social limitations, including a low literacy rate and
a high population growth rate (2.2 percent), contributed to poverty.
The inflation rate remained low, and public sector wages were adjusted
to keep pace with inflation. Poor infrastructure, minimal foreign
investment, administrative inefficiency, and corruption also were
important factors in limiting economic growth.
The Government generally respected its citizens' human rights;
however, there were problems in some areas. Prison conditions remained
poor. Occasionally police arbitrarily arrested and detained persons.
The judicial system's large case backlog resulted in long periods of
pretrial detention and lengthy delays in trials. Domestic violence
against women was widespread. Discrimination against women persisted,
and social and cultural factors continued to sharply limit economic and
educational opportunities for most women. Female genital mutilation
(FGM) was widespread, although educational campaigns against FGM were
ongoing. The civil unrest in Cote d'Ivoire and the increased control at
the country's southern border significantly slowed child trafficking
with Cote d'Ivoire; however, trafficking remained a problem especially
within the country and with other neighboring countries. Hereditary
servitude relationships continued to informally link different ethnic
groups. Despite provisions in the Labor Code against child labor,
regulations were often ignored in practice and child labor remained a
problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of politically motivated killings by the Government or its
agents; however, two students were killed in a confrontation with riot
police.
On November 30, one student died during confrontation between
different student groups. After rumors spread that the student died
while in police detention, violent student demonstrations broke out on
December 3 and 4. Two students died after being trampled during a
confrontation between the riot police and the students. Following
investigations, two police officers, one senior government official,
and four students remained in detention without charge at year's end.
The detention of police and government officials suggested possible
police involvement, although the investigation was ongoing at year's
end.
Inter-ethnic conflict resulted in deaths during the year (see
Section 5).
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions were poor. Prisons continued to be overcrowded,
medical facilities and access were inadequate, and food supplies were
limited. Men and women were separated in Bamako prisons; however,
outside the capital, men and women remained housed in the same building
but in separate cells. In Bamako, juvenile offenders usually were held
in the same prison as adult offenders, but they were kept in separate
cells. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights monitors,
provided that administrative procedures were followed. Nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and other monitors were required to submit a
request to the prison director who then forwarded it to the Ministry of
Justice. Although these administrative procedures were in place for
several years, the Government began enforcing them during the year.
Approvals were routinely granted and took up to 1 week. Several
organizations, including the Malian Association of Human Rights, the
Malian Association of Women Lawyers, and other nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) visited prisoners and worked with women and
juvenile prisoners to improve their conditions. According to an NGO,
the administrative process hindered the ability of monitors to
ascertain if there were human rights violations.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions; however, on occasion, police arrested and detained
persons arbitrarily.
The national police force is organized into various divisions. Each
district has a commissioner who reported to the Regional Director at
national headquarters. The police force was moderately effective but
had problems with lack of resources and training. Corruption existed
within the police force.
Judicial warrants are required for arrest. Normally, the
complainant delivered the warrant, which stipulated when the person was
to appear at the police station. In some cases, the police served the
warrant, based on a request from an influential relative of the
complainant or if they received a bribe to execute the warrant.
Frequently, in cases where a monetary debt was owed, the arrested
person resolved the case at the police precinct, and the police
received a portion of the recovered money.
The Constitution provides that suspects must be charged or released
within 48 hours and that they are entitled to counsel; however, in
practice, detainees were not always charged within the 48-hour period.
Limited rights of bail or the granting of conditional liberty existed,
particularly for minor crimes and civil matters. On occasion, the
authorities released defendants on their own recognizance.
Administrative backlogs and an insufficient number of lawyers,
judges, and courts often caused lengthy delays in bringing persons to
trial. In extreme cases, individuals remained in prison for several
years before coming to trial. Local lawyers estimated that
approximately half of prison inmates were pretrial detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the executive branch continued to exert
influence over the judicial system. The Ministry of Justice appointed
and had the power to suspend judges; it supervised both law enforcement
and judicial functions. The President headed the Superior Judicial
Council, which oversaw judicial activity. Domestic human rights groups
alleged that there were instances of bribery and influence peddling in
the courts. The Government continued its campaign against corruption
(see Section 3).
The Supreme Court has both judicial and administrative powers. The
Constitution provides for a separate Constitutional Court that oversees
issues of constitutionality and acts as an election arbiter. The
Constitution also provides for the convening of a High Court of Justice
with the power to try senior government officials in cases of treason.
Except in the case of minors, trials were public, and defendants
had the right to be present and have an attorney of their choice.
Defendants and attorneys had access to government evidence relevant to
their cases. Defendants are presumed innocent and have the right to
confront witnesses and to appeal decisions to the Supreme Court. Court-
appointed attorneys were provided for the indigent without charge.
Village chiefs, in consultation with the elders, decided the
majority of disputes in rural areas. If these decisions were challenged
in court, only those found to have legal merit were upheld.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Police
searches were infrequent and required judicial warrants.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom.
The independent media was active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction. Most of the previously reported 42 private
newspapers and journals have disappeared, primarily due to a lack of
financial resources. In the average week, about 15 different newspaper
editions were published in Bamako, some appearing daily or weekly and
others appearing occasionally. On the average day, there were about 10
to 12 different newspapers available for purchase. Most were small
editions and only the government paper had a firm funding base. All
newspapers were required to register with the Ministry of
Communications; however, registration was routine.
The Government controlled the only television station and 1 of more
than 125 radio stations; however, all broadcasting media presented a
wide range of views, including those critical of the Government. The
relative expense of newspapers and television, coupled with a low
literacy rate, made radio the most prevalent medium of mass information
and communication. In addition to commercial radio stations, private or
community radio broadcasters included those run by associations and
others directed toward smaller villages (the latter two radio services
enjoyed special tax advantages).
A number of foreign broadcasters operated in Bamako through local
media. Domestic reception and distribution of foreign satellite and
cable television were permitted and fairly widespread, especially in
Bamako. There were no private television stations that broadcast
domestically produced programs.
The law regulates the press and provides for substantial criminal
penalties, including imprisonment, for libel and for public injury to
the Head of State, other officials, and foreign diplomats; these laws
leave injury undefined and subject to judicial interpretation. However,
the Government has never prosecuted journalists on criminal libel
charges. The case of three reporters arrested in October 2003 on
charges of defaming an attorney was still pending, and the journalists
were freed while awaiting trial.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet. Licenses to
operate Internet servers were granted freely, but were prohibitively
expensive.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. The law requires groups
that wish to hold public meetings to obtain the mayor's permission;
however, such permission was granted routinely during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Government required that all public associations, including
religious associations, register with the Government. The registration
process was routine and not burdensome. Traditional indigenous
religions were not required to register.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. Police
routinely stopped and checked both citizens and foreigners to restrict
the movement of contraband and to verify vehicle registrations. Some
police and gendarmes used the occasion to extort bribes.
The Constitution specifically prohibited forced exile; the
Government did not use it.
According to both U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
government estimates, there were approximately 16,000 refugees in the
country. Of the 11,000 Mauritanians who sought refuge in 1989, only
6,844 remained in refugee camps in the western part of the country.
Approximately 50 percent of refugees lived in urban areas,
including Sierra Leonians, Ivorians, and Liberians. The Government had
a transit center located 120 miles from Bamako, where it hosted
approximately 100 of the most vulnerable refugee and asylum applicants.
The center had a capacity of approximately 300 persons and could be
expanded to hold 900. The country received most of its refugees from
Cote d'Ivoire and a small number from Liberia during the year.
The law provides for the granting of refugee status or asylum to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. A national committee in charge of refugees operated
with institutional assistance from the office of the UNHCR. The
Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. On April 24 and 25 the Government
and UNHCR repatriated over 200 Liberian refugees back to Monrovia. The
refugees lived in the southern city of Sikasso following their
departure from Ghana in late February.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
Under the Constitution, the President is Chief of State and
Commander in Chief of the armed forces and is elected for a 5-year term
with a limit of two terms. The President appoints the Prime Minister,
other members of the Government, and high military officers as mandated
by the Constitution.
In 2002, presidential elections were held, and General Amadou
Toumani Toure won more than 60 percent of the vote even without the
support of a political party. Independent international and domestic
observers judged the elections to be generally free and fair and
without evident fraud; however, there were some administrative
irregularities.
Legislative elections in 2002 were also considered to be generally
free and without evident fraud; however, there were some administrative
irregularities. Shifting alliances had an impact on the composition of
the National Assembly. The former majority party, ADEMA, held 37 of 147
seats after losing 13 seats to the Union for the Republic and Democracy
(URD); the Rally for Mali (RPM) party and its allies held 65; and the
remaining 26 seats were held by other smaller political parties and
independents. No one party or coalition held a majority.
On April 29, President Toure reshuffled the 18-person cabinet and
expanded the cabinet to 28 ministers, including 10 former sub-
ministerial offices. On May 2, President Toure appointed a new Prime
Minister, Ousmane Issoufi Maiga.
Communal elections were held on May 30, and the election process
was reported to be generally orderly and transparent. The former ruling
party ADEMA was the principle winner in the polls gaining 28 percent of
10,789 seats in the country's 703 communes. Its rivals, RPM and URD
obtained 13 and 14 percent of seats, respectively. Six other well-known
parties share 16 percent of the seats, with a coalition of lesser-known
parties holding 11 percent. Independents did not do as well as some
observers anticipated. Voter turnout, at 43.05 percent, was the highest
since the 1991 political referendum.
There was no evidence of widespread fraud or coercion; however,
minor incidents occurred in almost all regions of the country. A
village in the western region of Kayes and another in the central
region of Segou failed to participate in the process because they
refused the selection of another village as their polling station. In
separate incidents, militants whose candidate was disqualified removed
voting equipment in the northern regions of Gao and Kidal to prevent
the voting process. Approximately 20 persons were under police
investigation for possession of stolen voter cards. No charges had been
filed against them at year's end.
Local governments benefited from central government subsidies, but
they were also able to collect local taxes to support their operations.
Decentralization changed traditional power relationships between
government and the governed and relieved formerly powerful civil
servants of their authority. The Government has passed many laws that
allow greater financial autonomy in the areas of education, health, and
infrastructure. Elected officials, especially in the southern regions,
made some progress. However, in the lesser economically developed
northern regions of the country, some mayors and other local officials
were coping with difficulties stemming from revenue collection and
local development programs. Effective service delivery strongly
influenced citizens' perception and confidence in elected leaders and
trust of Government; however, local service delivery deteriorated where
financial and administrative capacity was weak.
Corruption continued to hamper the Government's development
efforts.
On May 10, the Supreme Court installed Sidi Sosso Diarra, Auditor
General, and Modibo Diallo, Deputy Auditor General, to head the Office
of the Auditor General Office, which served as an added prevention
against corruption. The Auditor General's Office is an independent
authority designed to monitor the management of public resources and
all public institutions, public companies, local and private
associations, and NGOs that receive public financing.
On August 8, 16 civil servants, including the former Director and
Deputy Director of Customs, the former Director of Mines, ministerial
advisors, and businessmen were convicted of corruption for abusing a
government business tax benefit program. Many of the convicted misused
the program by creating fictitious businesses and providing false
justification for reimbursement of custom taxes. The sentences ranged
from 2-years to 18-months, with three people receiving suspended
sentences.
The law provides for public access to government information and
administrative documents for the press and any citizen. If an
information request is refused, the person inquiring can appeal to an
administrative court and the appeal must be handled within 3 months.
A total of 15 women held seats in the 147-member National Assembly.
There were 5 female cabinet members in the 28-seat Cabinet. Five women
served on the Supreme Court out of 33 justices, and 3 women served on
the Constitutional Court out of 9 justices.
The National Assembly had 14 members of historically marginalized
pastoralist and nomadic ethnic minorities representing the northern
regions of Gao, Timbuktu, and Kidal. The Cabinet also had two
representatives of the northern regions, the Minister of Health and the
Minister of State Reforms and Institutional Relations.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were generally cooperative and responsive to their views. Some of these
groups included the Malian Association for Human Rights, a smaller
Malian League of Human Rights, and a local chapter of Amnesty
International. The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) had
offices in Bamako, Timbuktu, and Gao.
On July 26, armed assailants attacked seven ICRC workers on their
way to assist victims in the northeastern region of Bourem still
suffering from the effects of the 2003 floods; there were no injuries.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on social origin,
color, language, sex, or race, and while the Government generally
respected these provisions in practice, social and cultural factors
gave men a dominant role.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse,
was tolerated and common; no statistics were available on the extent of
the problem. Assault in marriage was a crime; however, police were
reluctant to enforce laws against or intervene in cases of domestic
violence. Many women were reluctant to file complaints against their
husbands because they were unable to support themselves financially.
FGM was common, especially in rural areas, and was performed on
girls at an early age. According to domestic NGOs, approximately 95
percent of adult women had undergone FGM. The practice was widespread
among most regions and ethnic groups, was not subject to class
boundaries, and was not religiously based. There were no laws against
FGM, and the Government did not propose legislation prohibiting FGM.
Human rights organizations fighting FGM lobbied the National Assembly
to pass a law against FGM. However, the Government passed a decree in
1999 that prohibited the practice of FGM in health centers. As a
result, FGM no longer was practiced openly and was more commonly
practiced on toddlers mostly in rural areas.
In 1999, the Government instituted a two-phased plan to eliminate
all forms of FGM by 2008. The education phase of the national plan was
ongoing. According to a human rights organization fighting FGM, the
educational phase (through workshops, videos, and theater) made some
impact in cities, where the practice noticeably decreased, especially
on children of educated couples. In many instances, FGM practitioners
agreed to stop the practice in exchange for an income generating
activity. The National Committee Against Violence Towards Women linked
all the NGOs active in preventing FGM, and various NGOs campaigned
against FGM.
Women had very limited access to legal services due to their lack
of education and information, and because family law favored men. Women
particularly were vulnerable in cases of divorce, child custody, and
inheritance rights, as well as in the general protection of civil
rights. The overwhelming factor affecting women's access to legal
services was cost. For example, if a woman wanted a divorce, she had to
pay approximately $60 (30,000 CFA francs) to start the process, an
amount most women did not have.
Despite legislation giving women equal property rights, traditional
practice and ignorance of the law-prevented women from taking full
advantage of the law; even educated women. Prospective spouses chose
between polygynous and monogamous marriages; a marriage could not take
place without both parties' consent. However, when no preference was
specified in the marriage certificate, judges assumed that the marriage
was polygynous. A community property marriage had to be specified in
the marriage contract. Traditional practice discriminated against women
in inheritance matters. For example, men inherited most of the family
wealth, and women received a much smaller portion of estates.
Women's access to employment in the professions and government, and
to economic and educational opportunities, was limited. Women
constituted approximately 15 percent of the labor force. The
Government, the country's major employer, paid women the same as men
for similar work. Women often lived under harsh conditions, especially
in rural areas, where they performed difficult farm work and did most
of the childrearing.
A second 4-year (2004-2008) national plan of action for the
promotion of women was launched early in the year. The program
continued to seek a reduction in inequalities between men and women and
created links between women within the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) countries and throughout Africa. Although the
Government launched the second 4-year plan, no analysis or evaluation
of the results of the first 4-year plan was conducted.
Several women's rights groups, such as the Association of Malian
Women Lawyers and the Association of Women in Law and Development,
worked during the year to highlight problem areas in the law, mainly
the family code, through activities such as debates, conferences, and
women's rights training. Training was targeted to reach magistrates,
police officers, and religious and traditional leaders, while providing
legal assistance to women.
Children.--The Government was committed to providing for children's
welfare and rights. Several laws protect children and provide for their
welfare. An ordinance enumerates the rights of children and provides
for government positions in each region of child ``delegates,'' whose
role would be to safeguard the rights and interests of children. The
ordinance also creates special courts for children and specified
protections for children in the legal system; however, there was no
juvenile court system at year's end.
Education was tuition free and, in principle, open to all, although
the majority of students left school by the age of 12. Students had to
provide their own uniforms and supplies to attend public schools. While
primary school was compulsory up to the age of 12, only 53.4 percent of
children in the 7-12 age group (45.7 percent of girls and 61.4 percent
of boys) received a basic education owing to a lack of primary schools,
especially in rural areas where 80 percent of the population lived. Net
enrollment of children in junior high school was 18.6 percent, of which
13.8 percent were girls. Shortages of teachers and materials, poverty,
and cultural tendencies to place less emphasis on education of girls
also affected the rate of girl's enrollment and education. Literacy
rates among girls remained significantly lower than for boys. A 1998
government estimate reported a 12 percent literacy rate for women.
The Government solicited financial assistance from the business and
sporting communities to provide a means of education to children in the
country. On June 16, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of
Solidarity launched a program to recruit businessmen and women and
sport celebrities to contribute financially to children's education in
the country. Approximately 300 children were sponsored in the program.
The country had Koranic schools, which taught only the Koran, and
Medersas that taught not only the Koran, but also reading, writing, and
mathematics. There were 852 registered Medersas teaching at the primary
school level with 140,194 students; 10 percent of all students
attending primary school during the year. While these schools were by
statute private, the Government's policy was support to them by
providing textbooks and providing some teacher training and pedagogic
to support Medersa schools. There was a department at the Ministry of
Education charged with monitoring and supporting Medersas. There were
reports that children who attended Koranic schools spent more time
begging on the streets than learning in the classroom. The Koranic
schools were independent institutions that depended on donations from
parents and the money the children (known as garibouts) received from
begging on the streets. They received no funding from the Government,
and were not part of the Government's educational system. The
Government believed it was the responsibility of the Islamic leaders to
modernize and monitor Koranic schools. Koran schoolteachers reported
that they requested the Government's assistance in providing basic
reading and writing materials.
The Social Services Department investigated and intervened in cases
of reported child abuse or neglect. According to local human rights
organizations, reported cases were rare; however, statistics were
unreliable.
The marriage code allows girls under the age of 15 to marry
provided they receive special permission from a judge. Women's rights
organizations opposed this provision of law as contradicting
international conventions that protect children through the age of 18.
FGM was commonly performed on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
Child labor and trafficking in children were problems (see Sections
5, Trafficking and 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons but specifically prohibits trafficking in children; however,
children were trafficked during the year. Child trafficking is
punishable by 5 to 20 years in prison. There also are laws that
prohibit the contractual use of persons without their consent.
Penalties increased if a minor was involved; however, these penalties
were not imposed during the year.
During the year, three women were arrested in Segou region for
trafficking for prostitution and one man at the Guinea border for
trafficking young girls to become housemaids in Conakry. Though legal
protections and measures were in place, parents were reluctant to
follow through with charges and cases often languished unresolved
within the justice system. At year's end, investigations were ongoing
and no charges had been announced in previous year's cases.
Both the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children, and the
Family and the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service handled the problem
of trafficking. Both ministries, in cooperation with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Territorial Administration,
developed a program to identify and rehabilitate victims, educate the
population, and strengthen the legal system with regard to the movement
and trafficking of minors.
The Government signed a bilateral agreement with Burkina Faso and
Senegal, and during the year assisted in the repatriation of 19
children to Burkina Faso.
In past years, child trafficking to plantations in Cote d'Ivoire
based on coercion or deception of children and their families by
organized networks of traffickers was prevalent; however, civil unrest
in Cote d'Ivoire and the increased control at the country's southern
border significantly altered trafficking routes, slowing the flow to
Cote d'Ivoire and increasing the flow to other neighboring countries.
The country has become a point of origin, transit, and destination for
trafficking. Most of the trafficking occurred within the country's
borders during the year. Children were trafficked to the rice fields in
the central regions; boys were trafficked to mines in the southeast;
and girls were trafficked for involuntary domestic servitude in Bamako.
The victims were usually from the central regions of the country and
not from a specific ethnic group. Women and girls were trafficked from
Nigeria for sexual exploitation. Traffickers were mainly from the
country.
The Government worked closely with international organizations and
NGOs and local NGOs to coordinate the repatriation and reintegration of
trafficking victims. Fifty-four children were repatriated from Senegal
during the year. Welcome centers in Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, and Bamako
assisted in returning trafficked children to their families.
On March 22, the International Organization for Migration organized
a sub-regional workshop involving participants from Cote d'Ivoire,
Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Guinea on child trafficking during the year.
Parents were required to carry travel passes for children, a
measure intended to curb child trafficking. Following information
campaigns during the year and in 2003, the public was aware of the
usefulness of the travel document in the fight against child
trafficking. There were no reports that these documents hindered
legitimate travel during the year.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no specific legislation
protecting the rights of persons with physical or mental disabilities
or mandating accessibility to public buildings; however, the Government
did not discriminate against persons with physical disabilities in
regard to employment, education, and other state services. The
Government had not made provisions for persons with disabilities in
these areas. There was no societal discrimination against persons with
disabilities; however, in view of the high unemployment rate, persons
with physical disabilities often were unable to find work.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There was inter-ethnic violence
between the Arabs and the Kountas in the north. Sporadic fighting
between Kountas and Arabs occurred in the Gao area over the past 5
years primarily over resources, and because the Kountas were always in
leadership positions, although they were fewer in number. Following the
transition to democratic rule and elections, leadership roles have
changed. Mediation sessions have been held; however, hostilities
between the two communities continued to fester.
On August 7 in the Gao region, three Arabs and approximately seven
Kountas were killed during a flare up of inter-ethnic hostilities
between the two communities. An investigation of the clash was ongoing
at year's end.
On August 12, a criminal court sentenced 17 out of 23 persons
charged with assassination, arson, destruction of fields and various
goods, and cattle raiding stemming from a May 2003 dispute over a local
pond in Kela and Salamale, southwest of Bamako. The 17 found guilty
received a 5-year sentence; the remaining 6 were acquitted.
Approximately three persons had been killed and nine severely wounded
in the clash.
On September 11, prisoners, including men convicted of murder
during the 1998 Arab/Kounta conflict escaped in a well-organized
jailbreak. Efforts to locate escapees were unsuccessful.
On October 18, a customs officer was killed during a confrontation
between two Tuareg communities of Kidal. The customs officer
volunteered to act as a mediator between the two factions, but was
ambushed and killed by members of one of the factions. One of the
assailants was arrested and charged.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and the Labor Code
specifically provides for the freedom of workers to form or join unions
and protects freedom of association, and workers exercised this right
in practice. Only the military, the Gendarmerie, and the National Guard
were excluded from forming unions. Virtually all salaried employees
were organized, including teachers, magistrates, health workers, and
senior civil servants.
Neither the Constitution nor the Labor Code prohibits anti-union
discrimination, but there were no reports of anti-union behavior or
activities during the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised this right in
practice. The growth of independent unions led to more direct
bargaining between these unions and their employers. Wages and salaries
for workers belonging to the National Union of Malian Workers (UNTM)
Federation and the Syndicated Confederation of Malian Workers (CSTM)
were set by tripartite negotiations between the Ministry of Labor,
labor unions, and representatives of the National Council of Employers
of the sector to which the wages applied. Civil service salary levels
were pegged nationally to an index established by the Government. These
negotiations usually set the pattern for unions outside the UNTM. The
Ministry of Labor had an office that dealt with labor disputes and
acted as a mediator in labor disputes between employers and employees.
There are no export processing zones.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike; however, there
were restrictions in some areas. For example, civil servants and
workers in state-owned enterprises were required to give 2 weeks'
notice of a planned strike and enter into mediation and negotiations
with the employer and a third party, usually the Ministry of Labor and
State Reforms. The Labor Code prohibits retribution against strikers,
and the Government generally respected this requirement in practice.
Several strikes, including by teachers, police officers, foreign
service officers, and magistrates, occurred during the year. These
strikes generally were settled within a few days.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and
6.d.).
The law prohibits the contractual use of persons without their
consent; penalties include a fine and hard labor. The penalties
increase significantly if a minor, defined as someone less than 15
years of age, was involved.
There were some reports that de facto slavery, long reported to
have existed in northern salt mining communities, evolved to wage labor
in recent years; however, reliable evidence about labor conditions in
those remote facilities remained unavailable. Hereditary servitude
relationships continued to informally link different ethnic groups,
particularly in the north.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code has specific policies that pertain to child labor; however,
these regulations often were ignored in practice and child labor was a
problem. The Labor Code permits children between the ages of 12 and 14
to work up to 2 hours per day during school vacations with parental
approval. Children between the ages of 14 and 16 may work up to 4+
hours per day with the permission of a labor inspector, but not during
nights, on Sundays, or on holidays. Children between the ages of 16 and
18 could work in jobs that physically were not demanding; boys could
work up to 8 hours per day and girls up to 6 hours per day. The
Government implemented a new plan of action against child labor during
the year. The plan, led by the Minister of Labor, focused on educating
and training children.
The vast number of children who worked in rural areas, helping with
family farms and herds, and those who worked in the informal sector,
for example, as street vendors were not protected by laws against
unjust compensation, excessive hours, or capricious discharge.
Child labor predominated in the agricultural and domestic help
sectors and, to a lesser degree, in craft and trade apprenticeships,
and cottage industries. Apprenticeship, often in a family member's or a
parent's vocation, began at an early age, especially for children
unable to attend school.
The authorities enforced Labor Code provisions through inspectors
from the Ministry of Labor and State Reforms, who conducted surprise
inspections and complaint-based inspections; however, resource
limitations restricted the frequency and effectiveness of oversight by
the Labor Inspection Service, and the Service operated only in the
formal sector.
The National Campaign Against Child Labor, led by the International
Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC)-Mali, was responsible
for investigating abusive forms of child labor. IPEC relied on labor
inspectors appointed by the Government in Bamako and in regional labor
offices throughout the country. Investigations were held when NGOs or
the media provided information that there was abusive child labor.
There were no cases of child labor investigated during the year.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that children were
kidnapped and sold into effective slavery during the year.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code specifies
conditions of employment, including hours, wages, and social security;
however, in practice, many employers either ignored or did not comply
completely with the regulations. The national minimum wage rate, set
during the year, was approximately $53 (28,000 CFA francs) per month.
Workers had to be paid overtime for additional hours. The minimum wage
did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The minimum wage was supplemented by a required package of benefits,
including social security and health care. While this total package
could provide a minimum standard of living for one person, in practice,
most wage earners supported large extended families and supplemented
their income by subsistence farming or employment in the informal
sector.
The legal workweek was 40 hours (45 hours for agricultural
employees), with a requirement for at least one 24-hour rest period.
The Social Security Code provides a broad range of legal protections
against hazards in the workplace, and workers' groups brought pressure
on employers to respect parts of the regulations, particularly those
affecting personal hygiene. However, with high unemployment, workers
often were reluctant to report violations of occupational safety
regulations. The Labor Inspection Service of the Ministry of Labor
oversaw these standards but limited enforcement to the modern, formal
sector. It was not effective in investigating and enforcing workers'
safety and was insufficiently funded for its responsibilities.
Workers had the right to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations and request an investigation by the Social Security
Department, which was responsible for recommending remedial action
where deemed necessary; it was not known if any worker had done so.
__________
MAURITANIA
Mauritania is a highly centralized Islamic republic dominated by a
strong presidency. The Constitution provides for a civilian government
composed of a dominant executive branch, a senate, and a national
assembly. President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, head of the ruling
Republican Social Democrat Party (PRDS), has governed since 1984, first
as head of a military junta and since 1992 as head of an elected
civilian government. Taya was reelected President with more than 67
percent of the vote in November 2003. The leading opposition candidate
was arrested just before election day, released on the eve of election
day, then arrested again the day after day elections. Opposition
candidates alleged widespread fraud, but they chose not to contest the
election's results via available legal channels. Several political
parties remained banned, and the Government refused two new political
parties' requests for official recognition. The judiciary was subject
to significant pressure from the executive through the latter's ability
to appoint and pressure judges.
The Ministry of Defense directs the armed forces and Gendarmerie;
the Ministry of Interior directs the National Guard and police. The
armed forces are responsible for national defense. The National Guard
performs police functions throughout the country in areas in which city
police are not present. The Gendarmerie is a specialized paramilitary
group responsible for maintenance of civil order in and outside
metropolitan areas. The civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control of the security forces; however, authorities arrested
over 100 military, police, and Gendarmerie officers in August,
September, and October on charges of coup plotting. Some members of the
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country had an estimated population of 2.9 million and had a
market-oriented economy. Persistent drought, widespread
desertification, and the largest locust invasion in at least 15 years
have severely harmed the country. Mauritania suffers from rapid
urbanization, extensive unemployment, pervasive poverty, and a
burdensome foreign debt. The concentration of much of the country's
wealth in the hands of a small elite, including the President's tribe
and related Moor tribes, as well as a lack of transparency and
accountability in certain areas of governance, impeded economic growth.
The country received foreign assistance from bilateral and multilateral
sources.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. The
Government circumscribed citizens' ability to change their government.
There were some reports that the police beat detainees, and there were
unconfirmed reports of torture. The Government took action against some
members of security forces who committed abuses; however, impunity
remained a problem. Prison conditions were harsh. Security forces used
arbitrary arrest and detention and illegal searches. Although lengthy
pretrial detentions continued, the length of pretrial detentions grew
shorter due to an increased number of general and specialized courts.
The Government continued its program of judicial reform and training.
At times, the Government restricted freedom of speech, the press, and
assembly. The Government limited freedoms of association and religion.
The Government refused to recognize officially some nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and human rights organizations. Discrimination
against women continued. Female genital mutilation (FGM) remained a
serious problem, despite some government efforts to halt the practice.
Trafficking in persons was a problem. Ethnic tensions continued, and
the largely southern-based ethnic groups remained underrepresented in
political life, and some of their members felt excluded from effective
political representation. Despite government efforts to eradicate the
practice, local and international reports continued that slavery in the
form of involuntary servitude persisted, particularly in remote regions
of the country where a barter economy still existed. In addition,
former slaves or descendants of slaves continued to work voluntarily
for former masters or others in highly dependent relationships that
constituted extreme servitude. Child labor in the informal sector was
common.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents. The trial of the two policemen charged
with killing Amadou Kane, in August 2003, began in June. The government
prosecutor charged the policemen with involuntary manslaughter and
chose not to put the policemen into pretrial confinement. The trial
continued at year's end.
There were no developments in the 2003 drowning of Taleb Boubacar
on the Nouakchott beach or in the official investigation into the
killing of a teenager in Kaedi.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were
reports that police beat criminal suspects in custody. Several
allegations of torture, in particular, of torture at the Ouad Naga and
police school prisons, remained unconfirmed.
In October, Al-Jazeera broadcasted several images of bound and
hooded men at the police school and Ouad Naga prison in connection with
the coup attempts and plots during 2003. The Government categorically
denied that prisoners at either prison had been tortured, and, at
year's end, continued to work on an ICRC request for an official visit
to these prisons.
Lawyers and family members of 129 soldiers detained in connection
with the June 2003 coup attempt continued to allege that security
forces tortured the detainees (see Section 1.d.). Neither media nor
detainees provided conclusive evidence of torture.
Prison conditions remained harsh, although human rights activists
reported that prison administration continued to show improvement. In
some prisons, serious overcrowding persisted, and sanitation facilities
remained inadequate, reportedly contributing to diseases such as
tuberculosis, diarrhea, and dermatological ailments. Medical supplies,
mainly provided by an international NGO, remained insufficient in all
prisons. Prisoners with high-level government connections and with
families to bring them food, medicines, and reading material fared
better than the less privileged or citizens from other countries. In
June, the Government provided food, bedding, medicines, and clothing to
the Beyla prison in Nouakchott; however, budget allocations to improve
food and nutrition, medical services and supplies, and bedding and
cleaning supplies were not sufficient. Guard force management generally
enforced regulations against beatings and torture; however, there
continued to be credible reports of beatings of detainees at the
Commissariat outside the Nouakchott prison. The nationwide prison
capacity was 700, and, in September, the prison population was
approximately 1,000. The prison population in Nouakchott was 405
persons. There were 381 men, 8 women, and 16 minors; minors were held
in separate facilities. Local NGOs approvingly noted that the
Government did not imprison any female rape victims during the year, in
contrast to past practice.
Female prisoners have separate facilities with female guards and a
communal garden. Children of female prisoners remained with their
mothers, or the Ministry of Justice gave temporary custody of the
children to another family member. The Noura Foundation, an NGO working
in the prison, provided education and domestic training to the female
prisoners. UNICEF, in collaboration with the Catholic NGO CARITAS and
the Noura Foundation, provided services such as job training and sport
activities in the juvenile detention centers. Pretrial detainees were
frequently held with convicted prisoners, as a result of over crowding
problems in the prisons.
The Government permitted prison visits by NGOs, diplomats, and
international human rights observers. Foreign diplomats visited some
prisons during the year. The International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) had access to prisons but did not conduct prison visits during
the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there were frequent reports
that the police arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens.
The police, who are under the control of the Ministry of the
Interior, lacked equipment and training, which often weakened attempts
to enforce the law. Corruption was believed to be endemic at all levels
of the police. Police generally acted with impunity. The Government
often did not hold security officials accountable or prosecute security
officials for abuses.
The application of constitutional safeguards continued to vary
widely from case to case. The law requires that courts review the
legality of a person's detention within 48 hours of arrest. The police
may extend the period for another 48 hours, and a prosecutor or court
can detain persons for up to 30 days in national security cases. Only
after the prosecutor submits charges does a suspect have the right to
contact an attorney. While one article of the law provides detainees
with the right to prompt judicial determination of the charges against
them, an older law allows the Government to detain persons for up to 30
days without a judicial determination. The Government frequently
adhered to the older law, particularly during politically turbulent
periods. There is a provision for granting bail, but it was rarely
used. The Government continued its judicial system reforms, which
included creating specialized appeals courts and training judges in
specialized legal fields abroad during the year.
In August, the Government briefly detained, but released the same
day, several religious leaders on unspecified charges. The arrests
appeared to be based on alleged political activities rather than
religious beliefs. Several Islamist leaders--Jemil Mansour, Imam Dedew,
and Moktar Mohamed Moussa--were arrested on multiple occasions during
the year, allegedly for taking pictures of prisoners who claimed to
have been tortured. The three men remained in pretrial confinement and
under investigation, but had not been formally charged with any crime,
at year's end.
During the year, the Government arrested several military officers
and civilians allegedly involved in coup plotting (see Section 3).
The 129 detainees held in connection with the June 2003 coup
attempt were moved to a prison southeast of Nouakchott where
conditions, particularly in the summer heat, were reported to be very
harsh. Multiple reports alleged that, for periods of several weeks at a
time, prisoners were not allowed access to lawyers or family.
According to some neutral observers, police in some regions
arrested former criminals and demanded bribes for their release.
Pretrial detention was a common practice. Some indicted detainees were
released before trial without explanation.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for the
independence of the judiciary; however, in practice, the executive
branch exercised significant influence over the judiciary through its
ability to appoint and pressure judges. In addition, poorly educated
and poorly trained judges who were susceptible to social, financial,
and tribal pressures limited the judicial system's fairness.
There is a single system of courts with a modernized legal system
that conformed with the principles of Islamic law (Shari'a).
Departmental, regional, and labor tribunals are the courts of first
instance at the lower level. The 53 departmental tribunals, composed of
a president and magistrates with traditional Islamic legal training,
heard civil cases involving sums less than $39 (10,000 ouguiya) and
family issues, such as domestic, divorce, and inheritance cases. A
total of 13 regional tribunals accepted appeals in commercial and civil
matters from the departmental tribunals and heard misdemeanors cases.
At the middle level, three courts of appeal, each with seven chambers
(civil, commercial, administrative, and penal chambers, as well as
criminal, minors, and labor courts) heard appeals from the regional
courts and have original jurisdiction for felonies.
The Supreme Court was nominally independent and was headed by a
magistrate appointed to a 5-year term by the President. The Supreme
Court reviewed decisions and rulings made by the courts of appeal to
determine their compliance with the law and procedure. Constitutional
review was within the purview of a six-member Constitutional Council,
composed of three members named by the President, two by the National
Assembly president, and one by the Senate president. The Supreme
Council of Magistrates, over which the President presided, undertook
annual review of judicial decisions; the president and senior vice
president of the Supreme Court, the Minister of Justice, three
magistrates, and representatives from the Senate and National Assembly
were members of this council. The annual review was intended to
determine whether courts applied the law correctly and followed proper
procedures. Reviews also served as a basis for evaluating the reform
process and reassigning judges based on their qualifications.
The Constitution provides for due process and the presumption of
innocence until proven guilty by an established tribunal. All
defendants, regardless of the court or their ability to pay, have the
legal right to representation by counsel during the proceedings, which
were open to the public. If defendants lack the ability to pay for
counsel, the court appointed an attorney from a list prepared by the
National Order of Lawyers, which provided a defense free of charge. The
law provides that defendants may confront witnesses, present evidence,
and appeal their sentences, and these rights generally were observed in
practice.
Shari'a provides the legal principles upon which the law and legal
procedure are based, and courts did not treat women as the equals of
men in all cases (see Section 5).
The minimum age for children to be tried was 12. Those between the
ages of 12 and 18 were convicted tried and sentenced to the juvenile
detention center. There was a special court to hear the cases of
children under the age of 18. Children who appeared before the court
received more lenient sentences than adults, and extenuating
circumstances received greater consideration in juvenile cases.
With international assistance, the Government continued a program
to improve judicial performance and independence by organizing all laws
and statutes into a single reference text and training officials
throughout the justice system. Separate tribunals for specific types of
disputes held court sessions more frequently. In August and September,
several Islamic magistrates and legal clerks participated in a training
program abroad that emphasized exposure to international legal
concepts, including foundations of business law and property law.
The Government opened the trial of 181 men, who were charged with
either participating in the June 2003 coup attempt or with plotting
other coups, in late November. Defense lawyers alleged several
procedural irregularities at the trial, including the presence of
military officers on a tribunal that judged civilians as well as
soldiers and the prosecution's demand for the death penalties for up to
18 men based solely on their signed confessions, not on any material
evidence. The trial was ongoing at year's end.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law requires judicial warrants to execute home
searches; however, the authorities reportedly often ignored this
requirement.
Government surveillance of dissidents and the political opposition
was believed to continue; however, the extent to which the Government
used informants was unknown.
There were a number of reports that some government officials
misappropriated land under the land reform system, confiscating the
land of southern ethnic groups or the land traditionally held by Black
Moors and distributing it to their friends and family. However, the
Government intervened in Barkeol and ensured that most of the
misappropriated land was returned to its traditional owners, with other
former owners receiving compensation for the loss of their land.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government continued
to restrict these rights through prepublication press censorship by the
Interior Ministry. In a few cases, media groups were refused access to
public forums or censored for criticizing the Government. The
Government did not restrict academic freedom.
All newspapers must register with the Ministry of the Interior;
registration was routine. Two daily newspapers, Horizons and Chaab,
were government owned. There were approximately 25 privately owned
newspapers that published on a regular basis. These journals were
weeklies and reached limited audiences. NGOs and the privately owned
press openly criticized the Government and its leaders. Antigovernment
tracts, newsletters, and petitions circulated widely in Nouakchott and
other towns. Newspapers, journals, and privately published books were
exempt from all taxes on materials used to produce them.
Radio was the most important medium in reaching the public, and the
official media strongly supported government policies. All broadcast
media (radio and television) were government owned and operated. The
Government continued to deny, or simply not respond to, private
applications to establish domestic radio stations.
Using satellite receivers and dish antennas, citizens could receive
worldwide television broadcasts.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that journalists
were arrested during the year.
The Press Law requires publishers to submit copies of newspapers to
the Ministries of Interior and Justice before distributing them. The
Ministry of the Interior reviewed all newspaper copy prior to
publication and usually authorized sales and distribution within 2 to 3
days. However, the Press Law provides that the Minister of the Interior
can stop publication of material that discredits Islam or threatens
national security. The Ministry censored one weekly edition of an
independent newspaper.
In September, the Government banned Al Jawahir, an independent
Arabic-language newspaper, as a result of its alleged financial links
to Libya. The Government had accused Libya of backing a coup plot in
August (see Section 1.d.).
The Arab-language private newspaper, Ar-Raya, closed by the
Government in 2003 as a result of its links with Islamist political
leader Jemil Mansour, remained closed during the year.
A senior member of the ruling political party sued four independent
newspapers for libel after they published articles in their local
newspapers in April, alleging that he embezzled funds from the sale of
an oil refinery. The case was settled out-of-court.
Opposition parties' access to government radio and television
broadcast facilities was extremely limited.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government sometimes
restricted this right in practice.
The law requires that all recognized political parties and NGOs
apply to the local prefect for permission to hold large meetings or
assemblies. On November 8 and 9, police used tear gas to disperse
demonstrations in Nouakchott. In May, the Government refused to allow a
lawyers' organization to hold a press conference in Nouakchott on the
grounds that the organization was not officially recognized. The
Government refused several formal requests by recognized opposition
parties to hold marches and press conferences.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government limited this right in practice, and circumscribed the
efforts of some groups by denying them official recognition. All
political parties must register with the Ministry of the Interior. At
least 15 organized political parties and a wide array of NGOs, many of
them highly critical of the Government, functioned openly, issued
public statements, and chose their own leadership; however, the
Government banned or refused to authorize several parties. The
Government has not yet granted some NGOs official standing but did not
prevent them from functioning (see Section 4). The Government did not
recognize any new NGOs or associations during the year.
The Government refused two new political parties' requests for
official recognition, and continued to ban the political parties Action
for Change, Union of Democratic Forces-New Era (UFD-EN), An-Nouhoud,
and Taliaa (Vanguard). The Government did recognize one new,
opposition-based political party named ``Sawab.''
The Government's prohibition against forming the Convention for
Change party remained in force.
In June, the African Commissions on Human and People's Rights
stated that the Government's 2000 banning of the UFD-EN was a violation
of Article 10 of the African Charter of Human and People's Rights.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution establishes the country
as an Islamic republic and decrees that Islam is the religion of its
citizens and the State; the Government limited freedom of religion.
However, Christians in the foreign community and the few Christian
citizens practiced their religion openly and freely.
The Government did not register religious groups; however, NGOs had
to register with the Ministry of the Interior (see Section 2.b.). This
included humanitarian and development NGOs affiliated with religious
groups.
Although there is no specific legal prohibition against
proselytizing by non-Muslims, in practice, the Government prohibited
proselytizing by non-Muslims through the use of the Press Act, which
bans the publication of any material that is against Islam or
contradicts or otherwise threatens Islam. However, there were no
reports that the Government punished persons for violating this
provision during the year. The Government viewed any attempts by
Christians to convert Muslims as undermining society; however, the
Government also restricted suspected Islamic extremists. There were no
known non-Muslim groups engaging in proselytizing, and foreign
Christian NGOs limited their activities to humanitarian and development
assistance.
Under the Press Act, the Government may restrict the importation,
printing, or public distribution of Bibles or other non-Islamic
religious literature, and, in practice, Bibles were neither printed nor
publicly sold in the country. However, the possession of Bibles and
other Christian religious materials in private homes was not illegal,
and Bibles and other religious publications were available among the
small Christian community.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice; however, in some
regions, persons lacking identity cards could not travel freely. The
Government set up roadblocks where gendarmerie, police, or customs
officials checked the papers of travelers and often demanded bribes;
however, during the year, the Government generally maintained fewer
roadblocks and reduced the time taken in questioning and conducting
vehicle searches. There were fewer reports of more stringent searches
in the southern border areas.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that
there were between 15,000 and 20,000 refugees from the 1989-91 crisis
remaining in Senegal, although refugees have continued to return
independently in small numbers and have benefited from small-scale
agroforestry, health, and sanitation projects continued by NGOs and
humanitarian workers. Cooperation by local authorities in addressing
restitution and citizenship matters varied greatly, depending on
individual officials and the returnee's region. Many returnees received
their original homes, some property, and all or a portion of their land
(see Section 1.f.). Throughout the Chemama or the Senegal River Valley
region, returnee communities were reestablishing their agricultural
production; however, recovery of land titles remained the primary
issue. Timely restoration of identity papers varied, and some of those
who returned in 1995 have not yet received identification cards. In
some regions, persons lacking identity cards could not travel freely.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, or the 1967 African Union
Convention on the status of refugees, but the Government has
established a system for providing such protection. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees status or asylum.
The Government provided temporary protection to refugees from
neighboring countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Western Sahara,
and Guinea-Bissau. The Government also accepted the UNHCR's
registration of approximately 400 asylum seekers, mostly from Sierra
Leone and Liberia.
The country hosted more than 50,000 nationals of other West African
countries who sought refuge and employment, primarily in Nouakchott and
Nouadhibou. An estimated 60 percent of the country's small-craft
fishermen were Senegalese.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government; however, this right was circumscribed in practice.
Although civilians occupied all ministerial-level positions, some
members of the Military Council that ruled from 1984 to 1992, in
addition to President Taya, remained in positions of power within the
executive branch, the National Assembly, the armed forces, and
government-owned enterprises.
President Taya won the November 2003 elections with 67 percent of
the vote amid reports of fraud, particularly in the southern part of
the country. The Government did not invite international and local
diplomatic observers to observe the voting process, although it did
permit one international organization to visit the country during the
elections. The leading opposition candidate, Mohamed Haidallah, was
arrested the day before the election, released, and re-arrested the day
after the election. Opposition candidates alleged that the Government
conducted a fraudulent election but chose not to contest the election's
results via available legal channels, reportedly because the leading
opposition candidate's imprisonment immediately following the elections
prevented him from taking any legal action.
The Government arrested and tried 181 persons, mostly military
officers, including Major Saleh Ould Hanenna, the leader of the
``Knights of Change,'' for their involvement in three separate attempts
to stage a coup to overthrow President Taya. The trial continued at
year's end.
The Government reportedly harassed the sons of former president and
current opposition leader Mohamed Haidallah on several occasions during
the year, allegedly in connection with criminal activity.
There were no laws permitting public access to government
information, by either citizens or non-citizens. Requests for such
access were routinely refused, usually without a specific reason being
given.
Women have the right to vote and formed the majority of registered
voters in the November 2003 presidential elections. There were 3 women
in the 81-seat National Assembly and 6 women in the 56-seat Senate.
Three of the 15 members of the Executive Bureau of the ruling PRDS were
women, and a woman headed the Union for Democracy and Progress party, a
part of the ruling coalition. Women occupied some senior government
positions: Three cabinet-level posts including the Minister of Labor,
two secretaries of state (Women's Affairs and New Technologies), the
deputy director of the President's Cabinet, and the President's
Minister-Counselor. Women were well represented in the Secretariat of
Women's Affairs, including a number from minority ethnic groups. Aicha
Mint Jeddane registered in the 2003 presidential elections as the
country's first female presidential candidate. Her campaign platform
focused on promoting women's issues.
The 56-member Senate had 3 Black Moors, 4 Halpulaars, 3 Soninkes,
and the remaining 46 were of either White Moor or mixed White Moor/
Black Moor heritage. The 81-member National Assembly had 9 Black Moors,
8 Halpulaars, 2 Soninkes, and 2 Wolof. Minorities such as the Black
Moors, Halpulaars, Soninkes, and Wolofs were underrepresented in senior
government positions. However, Sghair Ould M'Bareck was appointed as
the country's first Black Moor Prime Minister in July 2003 and
reappointed in mid-November 2003, and the first Black Moor woman to
occupy a ministerial level position was appointed Minister of Public
Records on November 2003. Of the Government's 22 ministerial posts, 2
incumbents were Black Moor, 2 were Halpulaar, and 1 was Soninke; the
remaining 14 were of either White Moor or mixed White Moor/Black Moor
ethnicity (see Section 5). The full 26-member Cabinet, including
secretaries of state, had 2 Black Moors, 3 Halpulaars, and 1 Soninke.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Several domestic and international human rights groups generally
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were
somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. The Government did
not officially recognize a number of NGOs, and denied these NGOs the
ability to deal with government officials, as well as the ability to
request government assistance.
There were three organizations concerned with overall human rights
issues. The oldest is the Mauritanian League for Human Rights (LMDH), a
government-recognized body with a strong track record of defending
government policies. A second organization, the Mauritanian Association
for Human Rights (AMDH), was still unrecognized during the year (see
Section 2.b.). While not affiliated with the opposition, the AMDH had
many opposition members, and the AMDH was more critical of the
Government than the LMDH, particularly on the unresolved abuses of the
1989-91 period. The International Study and Research Group on Democracy
and Economic and Social Development in Africa (GERDDES-Africa) was not
officially recognized. The Government has not responded to the
applications of these organizations on the grounds that they were
ethnically based organizations that were divisive and in violation of
the law; however, the unrecognized organizations generally carried out
their activities unimpeded by the Government. Many of the other
organizations, including 14 unregistered associations such as the anti-
slavery NGO SOS-Esclaves, were active in addressing human rights issues
such as slavery, refugees, and the 1989 expellees.
Unlike in the previous year, no international human rights
organizations visited the country during the year. An International
Labor Organization (ILO) contact team visited the country in May.
In August, the U.N.-based Committee for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) reported that slavery, FGM, and racial
discrimination remained ongoing problems in the country.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equality before the law for all
citizens, regardless of race, national origin, sex, or social status,
and prohibits racial or ethnic propaganda; however, in practice, the
Government often favored individuals on the basis of ethnic and tribal
affiliation, social status, and political ties. Societal discrimination
against women, strongly rooted in traditional society, was endemic,
although the situation continued to improve.
Women.--Abuse and domestic violence are illegal, and human rights
monitors and female lawyers reported that domestic violence was rare,
particularly among the Moor population. The police and judiciary
occasionally intervened in domestic abuse cases, but women in
traditional society rarely sought legal redress, relying instead upon
family and ethnic group members to resolve domestic disputes.
Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal, and there was one known
conviction under this law during the year. In this case, the victim was
a foreign national, and the perpetrators received light sentences,
ranging from time served to 2 years minus time served. According to NGO
reporting, the incidence of unreported rape was high. A credible local
NGO's 2000 study found approximately 330 cases of rape in Nouakchott.
Of the 330 cases, 140 had been reported as rape to medical staff. The
remaining 190 had not been reported as rape, but the NGO concluded that
the cases fit the medical profile for violent sexual assault. The study
added that 46 percent of these 330 assaults were group assaults.
Prostitution is illegal; however, NGO reporting indicated that it
was a growing problem in some urban areas, particularly among Afro-
Mauritanian and Black Moor women.
Traditional forms of mistreatment of women continued, mostly in
isolated rural communities, but these practices appeared to be on the
decline. One form of such mistreatment was the forced feeding of
adolescent girls (gavage) prior to marriage, which was practiced only
among White Moors tribal groups. While there was no law prohibiting
gavage, the Government made it a policy to end the practice. Reports
during the year indicate that very few women are currently subjected to
gavage.
FGM was practiced among all ethnic groups. It was performed most
often on young girls, often on the 7th day after birth and almost
always before the age of 6 months. According to the most recent
internationally sponsored study in 2001, three-fourths of all women
between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to FGM. Local experts
agreed that the least severe form of excision was practiced and not
infibulation, the most severe form of FGM. The practice of FGM has
decreased in the modern urban sector.
The Government and international NGOs continued to coordinate anti-
FGM efforts. These efforts focused on eradicating the practice in
hospitals, discouraging midwives from practicing FGM, and educating
populations in some areas on the issue. The High Islamic Council of
Mauritania, the Islamic Scholar Association, and the National Forum for
Women's Rights continued to emphasize the serious health risks of FGM
and emphasize that FGM was not a religious requirement. The Government
continued intensive media and educational campaigns against FGM during
the year. Government hospitals and licensed medical practitioners were
barred from performing FGM, and several government agencies worked to
prevent others from carrying on this practice. According to several
women's rights experts, the campaign against FGM appeared to be
changing attitudes towards the practice; however, there were reports
during the year that midwives performed FGM in local hospitals in
violation of the Government's ban.
Women have legal rights to property and child custody, and, among
the more modern and urbanized population, these rights were recognized.
By local tradition, a woman's first marriage, but not subsequent
marriages, requires parental consent. In accordance with Shari'a as
applied in the country, marriage and divorce do not require the woman's
consent, polygyny is allowed, and a woman does not have the right to
refuse her husband's wish to marry additional wives. In practice,
polygyny was very rare among Moors but was common among other ethnic
groups. It was common in Moor society for a woman to obtain, at the
time of marriage, a contractual agreement that stipulated that her
husband must agree to end their marriage if he chose an additional
wife. Arranged marriages also were increasingly rare, particularly
among the Moor population. Women frequently initiated the termination
of a marriage, which most often was done by repudiation of husband or
wife rather than divorce. The reported rate of divorce among Moors
remained 37 percent, with a remarriage rate of 72.5 percent. In July,
the National Assembly voted against a proposal to provide women the
same rights for a divorce that are available to men.
Women still faced legal discrimination. The testimony of two women
was necessary to equal that of one man. The courts grant only half the
amount of an indemnity to the family of a woman who has been killed
that they award for a man's death. The Personal Status Code provides a
framework for the consistent application of secular law and Shari'a-
based family law, but this Code has yet to be implemented. For example,
formulas applied to property distribution varied widely from case to
case. In addition, the validity of and right to establish prenuptial
agreements was not always respected. However, women did not face legal
discrimination in areas not addressed specifically by Shari'a. The law
provides that men and women receive equal pay for equal work. While not
applied universally in practice, the two largest employers, the civil
service and the state mining company, observed this law. In the modern
wage sector, women also received family benefits, including 3 months of
maternity leave.
The Government sought to open new employment opportunities for
women in areas that were traditionally filled by men, such as health
care, communications, police, and customs services. Women became more
involved in the fishing industry and established several women's
fishing cooperatives.
The Secretariat for Women's Affairs worked with many NGOs and
cooperatives to improve the status of women. The Government, women's
groups, and national and international NGOs organized meetings,
seminars, and workshops throughout the year to publicize women's
rights.
Children.--The law makes special provision for the protection of
children's welfare, and the Government had programs to care for
abandoned children; however, inadequate funding hampered these
programs. Education continued to receive the largest share of the
national budget at 18 percent. The Government relied on foreign donors
in such areas as child immunization.
The Government required attendance at school for 6 years, but full
implementation of universal primary education was not scheduled to be
completed until at least 2007, primarily because the Government lacked
the financial resources to provide educational facilities and teachers
throughout the country, especially in remote areas. There was a
moderate increase in the official attendance rate, which increased to
91.7 percent during the year from 90 percent in 2001. Classes were
fully integrated, including boys and girls from all social and ethnic
groups. Children of slave families were allowed to attend school. There
were no legal restrictions on the education of girls. An estimated 90
percent of school-age girls attended elementary school in 1998 and
1999, compared with 88 percent for boys. At the secondary level, female
students constituted 44 percent of those enrolled. Despite these
increases, enrollment in the southern and eastern parts of the country
remained at a lower level. Female students made up 21.2 percent of the
university's enrollment for the 2001-2002 academic year. Female
students also constituted 30.5 percent of enroll in technical schools.
The official literacy rate for women remained at 32 percent, compared
with 50 percent for men. Almost all children, regardless of sex or
ethnic group, attended Koranic school between the ages of 5 and 7 and
gained at least rudimentary skills in reading and writing Arabic.
FGM was commonly performed on young girls (see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking in children occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem, particularly in the informal sector (see
Section 6.d.)
Local NGOs estimated that there were up to 400 street children,
largely as a result of poverty and of the urbanization of formerly
nomadic families; however, the Government implemented a program to
assist families with street children and to encourage their school
attendance.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking
in persons; the Government did not prosecute or sentence anyone under
this law during the year.
The country was a source and destination for men, women, and
children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor. Multiple NGO
reports suggested that forced labor took several possible forms (see
Section 6.c.). Slavery-related practices, and possibly slavery itself,
persisted in isolated areas of the country where a barter economy still
prevailed. Several reports suggested that young girls from remote
regions, and possibly from western Mali, worked as unpaid housemaids in
some wealthy urban homes. An unknown number of Talibes, or young boys,
nearly all from Pulaar tribes, begged in the streets as part of a
``work-study'' arrangement with some ``marabouts,'' or religious
teachers, for receiving religious instruction.
There were no reports that government officials participated in,
facilitated, or condoned trafficking. The Government did not provide
assistance or protection services to trafficking victims, but did allow
one NGO to provide limited assistance to Talibes.
The Government took measures to improve border security to combat
trafficking in persons. Although no traffickers have been apprehended,
these measures have resulted in arrests for alien smuggling.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not provide specifically
for persons with disabilities; however, there were no reports of
government or societal discrimination against persons with
disabilities. The Government does not mandate preference in employment
or education or public accessibility for persons with disabilities;
however, it did provide some rehabilitation and other assistance for
persons with disabilities. NGOs have become increasingly active in
raising public awareness of issues affecting persons with disabilities.
The school for the deaf and the blind in Nouakchott operated 6
classrooms and enrolled 67 students during the year; however, the
school lacked sufficient trained staff.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic minorities faced
societal discrimination. Ethnic and cultural tension and discrimination
arose from the geographic and cultural divides between Moor and Black
African. The Moors were divided among numerous ethno-linguistic tribal
and clan groups and further distinguished racially as either White Moor
or Black Moor, although it often was difficult to distinguish between
the two by skin color. White Moor tribes and clans, many of whom were
dark-skinned after centuries of intermarriage with Berbers and sub-
Saharan African groups, dominated positions in government and business.
The Black Moor subgroup remained politically and economically weaker
than the White Moor subgroup. Concentrated in the south, the Halpulaar
(the largest non-Moor group), the Wolof, and the Soninke ethnic groups
were underrepresented in the military and security sectors.
The Constitution designates Arabic as the official language and
Arabic, Pulaar, Soninke, and Wolof as the country's national languages;
however, successive governments--both civil and military--have pursued
various policies of ``Arabization'' in the schools and in the
workplace.
Ethnic rivalry significantly contributed to political divisions and
tensions. Some political parties tended to have readily identifiable
ethnic bases, although political coalitions among them were
increasingly important.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was no evidence of
either societal violence or systematic government discrimination
directed at practicing homosexuals. Although Shari'a outlaws
homosexuality under certain conditions, secular laws did not, and the
Government did not arrest or prosecute any homosexuals during the year.
There was no evidence of systematic discrimination by either
society or the Government against persons with HIV/AIDS; however,
taboos and beliefs associated with the disease caused victims in some
areas to face isolation or exclusion.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom
of association and the right of citizens to join any labor
organization, and workers exercised this right in practice. All workers
except members of the military and police were free to associate in and
establish unions at the local and national levels. To be legally
recognized, a union is required to have the authorization of the Public
Prosecutor who can provisionally suspend a trade union at the request
of the Ministry of the Interior if it believes that the union has not
complied with the law. However, the Government has the power to decide
whether to recognize a trade union (see Section 6.b.).
The majority of the labor force was in the informal sector, with
most workers engaged in subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry;
only 25 percent were employed in regularly paid positions. However,
nearly 90 percent of industrial and commercial workers were organized.
In July, the Government approved an updated labor code that brought the
country closer into line with ILO-specified international norms (see
Section 6.b.). The code provided criminal penalties for slavery.
Laws provide workers with protection against anti-union
discrimination, and employees or employers may bring labor disputes to
three-person labor tribunals administered jointly by the Ministries of
Justice and Labor with the participation of union and employer
representatives.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides that unions may organize workers freely without government or
employer interference, and workers exercised this right in practice.
General or sector agreements on wages, working conditions, and social
and medical benefits were negotiated in tripartite discussion and
formalized by government decree. Wages and other benefits could also be
negotiated bilaterally between employer and union, and the results of
such negotiations were filed with the Directorate of Labor. Although
the Directorate has the ability to change the negotiated settlement
between labor and business, there were no known cases of such action
during the year. There are no export processing zones.
The law provides workers with the right to strike, and workers
exercised this right during the year. However, strikes in the private
sector must be preceded by submission of a non-conciliation or
negotiation-breakdown report. Once a referral is made to arbitrate a
dispute, the tripartite arbitration committee may automatically
terminate any strike. Some unions believed the new code of rendered
strikes ineffective by requiring advance notification. Some trade union
representatives stated that there was little social dialogue except in
response to worker actions in a dispute.
The Government can dissolve a union for what it considered an
``illegal'' or ``politically motivated'' strike; however, no unions
were disbanded during the year.
The Government ratified an updated Labor Code during the year. The
updated Code included significant improvements in health-care
entitlements, including the introduction of maternity leave; an
improved paced-arbitration system; and a series of laws prohibiting
forced labor in any form.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, the law
only applies to the relations between employers and workers, and there
were credible reports such practices occurred. Slavery is illegal;
however, there were still areas where the attitude of master and slave
prevailed.
The updated Labor Code, which came into effect in July, includes
criminal penalties for human trafficking in all of its recognized forms
and includes increased criminal penalties for contracting to benefit
from forced labor and for exploiting forced labor as part of an
organized criminal network.
In May an ILO team visited the country to investigate allegations
of the persistence of forced labor; however, a report had not been
released by year's end.
Citizens continued to suffer from the country's heritage of
slavery. Slavery has been officially abolished; however, the practice
of chattel slavery was once a tradition. Numerous reports suggested
that some members of the long-dominant White Moor community continued
to expect or desire the servitude of Black Moors. The nature of these
reports also suggested that such attitudes impeded the goal of
eliminating all remnants of slavery and related practices, a goal to
which both the Government and major opposition parties were committed.
Slavery-related practices, and reports of slavery itself, persisted
most strongly in those remote regions of the east and southeast where a
barter economy existed, where education levels were generally low, and
where a greater need existed for manual labor in work such as herding
livestock and tending fields.
A system of officially sanctioned slavery, in which government and
society joined to force individuals to serve masters, did not exist.
However, there continued to be reports that slavery in the form of
forced and involuntary servitude persisted in some remote areas. The
unrecognized NGO SOS-Esclaves publicized several accounts of newly
escaped slaves during the year. These reports, while not conclusive
proof of the persistence of slavery, strongly suggested that slavery
and related practices persisted mainly among a few nomadic groups and
small villages in remote rural regions where a barter economy exists.
Voluntary servitude also persisted, with some former slaves and
descendents of slaves continuing to work for former masters in exchange
for some combination of money, lodging, food, or medical care. The
reasons for the persistence of such practices varied widely among the
different ethnic groups; however, a barter economy, poverty, and
persistent drought provided few economic alternatives for many and left
some former slaves and descendents of slaves vulnerable to exploitation
by former masters. There were reports that some former slaves in some
sedentary communities continued to work for their former masters or
others without remuneration to retain access to land they traditionally
farmed. Although the law provides for distribution of land to the
landless, including to former slaves, this law has been enforced in
only a few cases. Deeply embedded psychological and tribal bonds also
made it difficult for many individuals who had generations of forebears
who were slaves to break their bonds with former masters or their
tribes. Some persons continued to link themselves to former masters
because they believed their slave status had been religiously ordained
and they feared religious sanction if that bond were broken.
Adult females with children faced greater difficulties and could be
compelled to remain in a condition of servitude.
There were no reported judicial cases directly related to slavery
during the year; however, there were a few cases indirectly related to
slavery through issues of child custody and inheritance. Human rights
NGOs stated that the absence of such cases was attributable to judges'
strong preference for out-of-court arbitration to avoid entering
slavery-based allegations in the official record.
The Commissariat for Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and
Integration focused on addressing the consequences of slavery. The
Government focused on education, literacy, and agrarian reform to
remedy the economic consequences of slavery-related practices. However,
the Government's record in cases in which an individual's civil rights
were violated because of status as a former slave was poor. When
complaints were filed with the Government that involved the detention
of individuals against their will, the Government intervened in
accordance with the law, although sometimes only after considerable
pressure and time.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law provides that children cannot be employed before the age of 14 in
the nonagricultural sector or under age 13 in the agricultural sector
unless the Minister of Labor grants an exception due to local
circumstances; however, child labor in some parts of the informal
sector was common and a significant problem, particularly within poorer
inner-city areas. The law states that employed children between the
ages of 14 and 16 should receive 70 percent of the minimum wage and
that those between the ages of 17 and 18 should receive 90 percent of
the minimum wage. Young children in the countryside were commonly
employed in herding, cultivation, fishing, and other significant labor
in support of their families' activities. Young children in urban areas
often drove donkey carts and delivered water and building materials. In
keeping with longstanding tradition, many children served
apprenticeships in small industries and in the informal sector.
Reporting by some human-rights NGOs, including SOS-Esclaves, strongly
suggested that domestic employment, often unpaid, of girls as young as
7 in wealthier homes was a growing problem. There was no child labor in
the modern industrial sector.
The Government had a labor inspectorate with the authority to refer
violations directly to the appropriate judicial authorities; however,
these inspectors lacked the basic resources, such as transport and
office equipment, needed to enforce existing child labor and other
labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum monthly wage for
adults increased to $42 (11,300 ouguiya) but was not enforced. The
nationally mandated minimum monthly wage did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family.
The standard, legal, nonagricultural workweek could not exceed
either 40 hours or 6 days without overtime compensation, which was paid
at rates that were graduated according to the number of supplemental
hours worked. Domestic workers and certain other categories could work
56 hours per week. The Labor Directorate of the Ministry of Labor is
responsible for enforcement of the labor laws, but, in practice,
inadequate funding limited the effectiveness of the Directorate's
enforcement.
The Ministry of Labor also is responsible for enforcing safety
standards but did so inconsistently, due to inadequate funding. In
principle, workers could remove themselves from hazardous conditions
without risking loss of employment; however, in practice they could
not.
The law protects legal but not illegal foreign workers, and foreign
workers could join unions.
__________
MAURITIUS
The Republic of Mauritius is a parliamentary democracy governed by
a prime minister, a council of ministers, and a national assembly. In
September 2003, the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, became Head
of State, while the Deputy Prime Minister, Paul Raymond Berenger,
became Prime Minister. The power sharing agreement was negotiated
during the 2000 electoral season between the two coalition government
parties, the Mauritian Socialist Movement (MSM), and the Militant
Mauritian Movement (MMM). National and local elections, supervised by
an independent commission, take place at regular intervals. According
to international and local observers, the 2000 national elections were
free and fair and resulted in a victory for the opposition MSM and the
MMM coalition. There were numerous political parties, and politics were
open and vigorous. The judiciary is independent.
The Mauritius Police Force (MPF), responsible for internal
security, includes a paramilitary Special Mobile Force. The country
does not have a military force separate from the MPF. The Coast Guard,
the Special Mobile Force, and police all report to the Commissioner of
Police. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the
security forces. Some members of the security forces committed human
rights abuses.
The market-based economy consisted of labor-intensive, export-
oriented manufacturing (mainly textiles), sugar, tourism, and nascent
financial services and information technology sectors. During the year,
the country's population was estimated at approximately 1.2 million. In
2003, economic growth was estimated at 4.6 percent. Wages kept pace
with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were
reports that police abused suspects and detainees. Unlike in the
previous year, police did not restrict freedom of assembly. Violence
and discrimination against women and abuse of children continued to be
problems. There were some restrictions on the rights of workers in the
Export Processing Zone (EPZ). Child prostitution and child labor
occurred.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
During the year, a prison official and seven prisoners were charged
with manslaughter for the 2001 beating death of a man in prison. The
trial was ongoing at year's end.
At year's end, the judicial inquiries into the two deaths in police
custody in 2002 were completed; however, the Director of Public
Prosecution (DPP) had not decided whether to proceed with prosecution.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there continued
to be reports of abuses by police. For the second consecutive year, the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) criticized police for continued
allegations of brutality. The NHRC received 150 complaints through
November, of which 24 were for alleged physical brutality by police.
Allegations in six cases were that police beat suspects to obtain
confessions. Additionally, the Complaints Investigation Bureau, an
office in the Police Department, received 160 complaints against police
involving alleged brutality or use of force during the year.
In February, press reports alleged that three police officers
stripped and beat a 17-year-old man at a police station after he had
asked the officers to slow down their police car. Authorities did not
take any action against the officers.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, although
there were problems in some areas. In 2003, a report by the Assistant
Commissar of Police and the National Intelligence Unit reported that
the Beau-Bassin Prison was home to drug trafficking, illegal betting,
and sex commerce. In June, a daily newspaper reported that there had
been little progress by the Prime Minister's office to improve the
prisons since the 2003 report. Food, water, and medical care were
available to all prisoners, and sanitation was adequate.
On April 27, a 25-year-old prisoner of the Beau-Bassin prison
alleged that he was beaten unconscious by members of the prison
security squad. According to press reports, the prisoner had complained
to prison officials about the mattress in his cell, and prison security
forces allegedly beat him in retribution. Afterward, a short prisoner
uprising took place, with approximately 200 prisoners refusing to eat
dinner and re-enter their cells. Police and an internal prisons
investigation found that no brutality took place.
In October, a weekly newspaper alleged that officers of the
Rehabilitation Youth Center (RYC), a halfway house for male child
offenders, had sexually and physically abused inmates. No action
against the officers was taken; however, an official of the Ministry of
Social Security, which has responsibility for the center, said that the
Ministry would put video cameras throughout the center in response to
the abuse reports.
During the year, 1 prisoner died in custody and 11 died in prison.
According to the Prisons Service, all those in custody died either from
suicide or natural causes.
Women were held separately from men, and juveniles were held
separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were held separately from
convicted prisoners. HIV positive prisoners were held separately from
the general prison population.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent observers.
During the year, the press, the NHRC, and international organizations
made regular prison visits. At least one nongovernmental organization
(NGO) was actively involved in rehabilitation of prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The MPF is a national force headed by a Commissioner of Police who
has authority over all security and police forces, including the
Special Mobile Forces, a paramilitary unit that shares responsibility
with police for internal security. Unlike in past years, there were no
reports that the security forces were trained inadequately to prevent
or control rioting, or to investigate violent crimes. During the year,
the Independent Commission Against Corruption continued an
investigation against the second in command of the Central
Investigative Bureau for staying at a luxury hotel free of charge.
The law requires that all arrested persons must be charged, read
their rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to an
attorney, and brought before the local district magistrate within 48
hours; these rights generally were respected. The law permits a 36-hour
detention of suspects without legal counsel; however, police in some
cases delayed suspects' access to defense counsel. Minors and those who
did not know their rights were more likely not to be provided prompt
access. A suspect can be detained for up to 1 week, after which the
issue of bail is brought before a magistrate. Alternatively, with
agreement from police, the accused may be released on bail the same day
as the arrest.
The Dangerous Drugs Act allows law enforcement authorities to hold
suspected drug traffickers for up to 36 hours without access to bail or
legal counsel.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, which has
appellate powers, and a series of lower courts. Final appeal may be
made to the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.
The DPP determines which court hears particular cases based on the
severity of the crime and anticipated punishment. All crimes carrying
the death penalty or life imprisonment are sent to the Supreme Court,
crimes of a medium level of severity are sent to the intermediate
courts, and less serious cases are handled by the district courts.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction. More than a dozen privately owned newspapers
presented varying political viewpoints and expressed partisan views
freely. The Government has the ability to counter press criticism by
using strict libel laws; however, the Government did not use these
measures. Libel suits between private parties were common.
Three independent, private radio stations operated during the year.
Domestic television was government owned and is regulated. Foreign
international news services, such as the United Kingdom's Sky News,
France's Canal Plus, and Cable News Network, were available to the
public by subscription.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. Police permission is
required for demonstrations and mass meetings, but such permission was
not refused during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
Religious organizations and faiths that were present in the country
prior to independence, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of
England, the Presbyterian Church, the Seventh-day Adventists, Hindus,
and Muslims, receive a lump-sum payment every year from the Ministry of
Finance based upon the number of adherents, as determined by a 10-year
census. Newer religious organizations (which must have a minimum of
seven members) were registered by the Registrar of Associations and
were recognized as legal entities with tax-free privileges. No groups
were refused registration.
Underlying tensions between various ethnic and religious groups
persisted, but there were no violent confrontations during the year.
Some ethnic minorities, particularly those of Creole and Muslim
background, alleged that within the upper echelons of the civil
service, a glass ceiling prevented them from promotion to the higher
levels of government.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, but the Government
did not grant refugee status or asylum on the grounds that the country
was small, had limited resources, and did not wish to become a haven
for large numbers of refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
According to international and local observers, national elections
held in 2000 were free and fair. The opposition MSM/MMM federation
defeated the governing Labor Party/Parti Mauricien Xavier Duval
coalition.
In September 2003, the President, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, who
formerly served as Prime Minister, became Head of State, while Paul
Raymond Berenger, who formerly served as Deputy Prime Minister, became
Prime Minister. In accordance with the Constitution, the President is
nominated by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Berenger assumed his position as part of a power-sharing
agreement negotiated in 2000 between the two parties of the ruling
coalition, the MSM and the MMM. The agreement stipulated that the
leader of the MSM would lead the Government for the first 3 years of
the 5-year term, after which the head of the MMM would take over as
Prime Minister, and the MSM leader would become President. This
transition occurred on schedule in 2003, making Berenger the first
Christian, non-Indian-descent head of government since independence.
In 2002, the island of Rodrigues successfully held its first
elections for a regional elected assembly. The creation of the assembly
was a first step toward a decentralized and autonomous island of
Rodrigues. The assembly worked with the central Government in
controlling funds for Rodrigues.
Although historically the Hindu majority dominated politics, there
were no groups that were excluded from the political system.
There was a public perception that corruption existed in the
legislative and executive branches. The law provided for access to
government information, and the Government generally complied with
requests.
There were 4 women in the 70-seat National Assembly, and there was
1 female minister in the 24-member Cabinet.
Candidates for the National Assembly were required to identify
themselves with one of four distinct ethnic groupings--Hindu, Muslim,
Sino-Mauritian, or general population. For these purposes, ``general
population'' was the category used to describe primarily the Creole and
Franco-Mauritian communities. Based on these 4 categories, the 70-seat
National Assembly had 37 Hindus, 21 members of the general population,
11 Muslims, and 1 Sino-Mauritian, and among the 24 members of the
Cabinet, there were 16 Hindus, 3 Muslims, and 1 Sino-Mauritian. In
November, one minister from the general population category resigned
because of political disagreements with the Prime Minister, thus
reducing the general population number in the Cabinet to four members.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The NHRC investigated complaints of human rights abuses and was
composed of a commissioner, who must be a former Supreme Court judge,
and three other members, one of whom must be a lawyer or a judge with
10 years of experience, and two of whom must have experience in the
human rights field. The NHRC is authorized to investigate abuses by any
public servant, but it could not investigate complaints that were
already the subject of an inquiry by the DPP, the Public Service
Commission, or the Disciplined Forces Service Commission. The NHRC had
the authority to visit centers of detention or prisons and to assess
and make recommendations on conditions. The NHRC tries to resolve
complaints through conciliation, but if that is not successful, it can
forward cases to the DPP (if criminal in nature), to the service
commissions, or to the responsible authority in question. During the
year, the NHRC received 24 complaints of police brutality (see Section
1.c.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis
of race, caste, place of origin, political opinion, color, or sex, and
the Government generally enforced these provisions. Some societal
discrimination occurred.
Women.--The law criminalizes domestic violence and provides the
judicial system with power to combat this problem; however, in
practice, domestic violence against women, particularly spousal abuse,
was a problem. Many victims chose not to prosecute or report their
attacker, presumably due to cultural pressures. In June, the Ministry
of Women's Rights, Child Development, and Family Welfare, in
collaboration with the Ministry of Health, released a guide for medical
practitioners to help identify victims of family violence. In 2001, the
NGO SOS Femmes reported that 84 percent of the women surveyed said they
were victims of physical abuse.
The law criminalizes the abandonment of one's family or pregnant
spouse for more than 2 months, the nonpayment of court-ordered food
support, and sexual harassment; however, many women remained in abusive
situations for fear of losing spousal financial support. A magistrate
can order a spouse to pay child support, but there were reports that
some spouses stopped working to avoid payment.
Although specific laws make rape illegal, including spousal rape,
it was a problem.
Prostitution is illegal; however, there were reports of
prostitution during the year.
Traditionally, women have played subordinate roles in society, and
societal discrimination continued; however, women had access to
education, employment, and government services.
In October, a report sponsored by the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) and prepared by Global Women Business Leaders found that
women were underrepresented in board membership and the decision-making
level in the private sector; the report suggested steps to improve the
situation, but no remedial steps had been taken by year's end.
The Sex and Discrimination Act affords women broadly defined wage
protections, and the law was generally respected in practice.
In the agricultural sector, the law protects women from being
forced to carry loads above certain weight limits; however,
remuneration was determined by the amount that one was able to carry
during a period of time. As a result, women working in agriculture were
often paid less than men because they carried loads that weighed less.
Children.--The Government placed strong emphasis on the health and
welfare of children and displayed a commitment to expand educational
opportunities for children. In 2003, the Government created an
Ombudsman for Children's Issues and made the position responsible for
ensuring that the rights, needs, and interests of children are given
full consideration by government, private authorities, individuals, and
associations.
Education is tuition free and compulsory until the age of 12. Books
are free for primary school, but not for secondary school. Those
parents that could not afford books could apply to the Government for
an exemption and receive books free of charge. According to the
Ministry of Education, in 2003, attendance at the primary level was
nearly 100 percent, but only 68 percent at the secondary level. The
majority of children finished a secondary level of education. Girls and
boys were treated equally at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary
levels.
The Government provided full medical care for children.
Under the law, certain acts compromising the health, security, or
morality of a child are crimes; however, the Government was unable to
enforce complete compliance with the law. During the year, the Child
Development Unit received 3,141 reports of child abuse. Of this figure,
there were 148 cases of parental physical abuse, 78 cases of
intercourse with minors (under age 16), and 48 cases of physical abuse
by nonfamily members. Private voluntary organizations claimed that the
problem was more widespread than was acknowledged publicly. The state-
funded National Children's Council and the Ministry of Women's Rights,
Family Welfare, and Child Development administered most government
programs. Both provided counseling, investigated reports of child
abuse, and took remedial action to protect affected children.
Under the law, children involved in child pornography and
prostitution are offered social aid, while adult offenders are
prosecuted; however, child prostitution was a problem, and the
Government targeted child prostitution as a top law enforcement and
prevention priority. The Government continued a 5-year action plan to
combat child prostitution. The Ministry of Women, Child Development,
and Family Welfare ran a hotline for reporting cases of child
prostitution. Some NGOs formed regional awareness networks and
developed training materials for educators. For example, in July,
Soroptimist International initiated a pilot project in two colleges
aimed at preventing child commercial sexual exploitation. There was a
Drop-in Center where child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation
could be rehabilitated.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in children,
but it does not specifically mention trafficking in adults; in
addition, a study commissioned in 2002 by the Ministry of Women,
Development, and Family Welfare, UNDP, and the University of Mauritius
estimated that there were approximately 2,600 child prostitutes in the
country (see Section 5, Children).
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no overt discrimination in
employment, education, or in the provision of other state services
against persons with disabilities, including mental disabilities;
however, the law did not require that work sites be accessible to
persons with disabilities, making it difficult for persons with
disabilities to fill many jobs, and there was no law mandating access
to buildings for persons with disabilities. The law requires
organizations that employ more than 35 persons to set aside at least 3
percent of their positions for persons with disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution explicitly protects
the right of workers to associate in trade unions, and there was an
active trade union movement. Approximately 350 unions represented
115,000 workers. Many unions were small, having fewer than 1,000
members, and 10 major labor federations served as umbrella
organizations for these smaller unions. With the exception of police,
the Special Mobile Force, and persons in government services who were
not public officers, workers were free to form and join unions and to
organize in all sectors, including in the EPZ.
The Mauritian Labor Congress (MLC) asserted that union membership
was low in the EPZ in part because employers in the EPZ intimidated
employees and restricted access to union organizers (see Section 6.b.).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
protects the right of employees to bargain collectively with their
employers, and workers exercised this right. The National Remuneration
Board (NRB), whose chairman was appointed by the Minister of Labor, set
minimum wages for nonmanagerial workers. Most unions negotiated wages
higher than those set by the NRB. Approximately 13 percent of the labor
force worked for national or local government.
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised
this right in practice. However, the Industrial Relations Act (IRA)
requires a 21-day cooling-off period, followed by binding arbitration;
in practice, this had the effect of making most strikes illegal. The
Government has 21 days to respond to any labor dispute referred to the
Ministry of Labor. If the Government does not respond within 21 days by
referring the case either to the Permanent Arbitrary Tribunal or to the
Industrial Relations Commission, the proposed strike can be carried
out. The IRA states that worker participation in an unlawful strike is
sufficient grounds for dismissal, but workers may seek remedy in court
if they believe that their dismissals are unjustified. The IRA grants
the Prime Minister the prerogative to declare any strike illegal if he
considers that it ``imperils the economy.''
National labor laws covered EPZ workers; however, only 10 percent
of EPZ workers were unionized. There are some EPZ-specific labor laws,
including the provision for 10 hours per week of mandatory paid
overtime at a higher wage than for ordinary working hours. Some
employers reportedly established employer-controlled work councils for
workers in the EPZ, effectively blocking union efforts to organize at
the enterprise level. Approximately 70,000 persons worked in the EPZ.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor outside the EPZ, including by children, and
there were no reports that such practices occurred. Labor laws that
cover the EPZ allow for 10 hours of compulsory overtime a week and
compulsory work on public holidays, although at a higher hourly wage.
According to the International Labor Organization's Committee of
Experts, the Merchant Shipping Act contains provisions that were not
compatible with international standards regarding forced labor. Certain
breaches of discipline, such as by seamen, were punishable by
imprisonment.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under age 15 and limits the
employment undertaken by youth between ages 15 and 18; however, while
the Government generally respected this law in practice, there were
problems with child labor. According to the law, the penalties for
employing a child are a fine of no more than $72 (2,000 rupees) and a
term of imprisonment not to exceed 1 year.
According to the Ministry of Women's Rights, Child Development, and
Family Welfare, 1,600 children between the ages of 12 and 14 were
employed or looking for work in 2000. Child labor in homes, on farms,
and in shops was common on the island of Rodrigues.
Children unable to attend secondary school often sought
apprenticeships in the trades. Vocational schools trained students who
failed the primary education certificate exam at the end of the 6th
year of primary education.
The Ministry of Labor is responsible for the enforcement of child
labor laws and the investigation of reports of child labor abuses, and
in practice, conducted frequent inspections. The Ministry employed 45
inspectors to investigate all reports of labor abuses, including those
of child labor. During the year, there were 19 cases of child labor
reported.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government administratively
established minimum wages, which varied according to the sector of
employment, and mandated that the minimum wage rise each year based on
the inflation rate. The minimum wage for an unskilled worker in the EPZ
was $14 (398 rupees) per week, while the minimum wage for an unskilled
factory worker outside the EPZ was approximately $20 (550 rupees) per
week. These wages did not provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family, but the actual market wage for most workers was much
higher due to a labor shortage and collective bargaining. Minimum wages
for employees in the distributive trade and catering sector were
increased about 20 percent during the year. The standard legal workweek
in the industrial sector was 45 hours. According to the MLC, 10 hours
of overtime a week is mandatory at certain textile factories in the EPZ
(see Section 6.b.).
The Government set health and safety standards, and Ministry of
Labor officials inspected working conditions and ensured compliance
with the law; however, the small number of inspectors limited the
government's enforcement ability. Inspections were announced and
unannounced. Voluntary employer compliance with safely regulations
helped reduce the number of occupational accidents, with the Ministry
of Labor reporting a general trend downward in the number of industrial
accidents over the past 10 years. During the year, there were 652
occupational accidents, 21 of which were fatal. In 2003, there were 25
fatalities. Workers had the right to remove themselves from dangerous
situations without jeopardizing their continued employment, and they
did so in practice.
In March, an amendment to the Labor code raised the penalty for
workers who are abused, assaulted, threatened, or subjected to other
offensive behavior in the workplace from $72 (2,000 rupees) to $2700
(75,000 rupees) and imprisonment not exceeding 2 years.
Since foreign workers often did not speak English, French, or
Creole, it was difficult for them to demand their rights, which were
the same as those of citizen employees, including the right to belong
to a union. Illegal foreign workers, when identified, were deported.
__________
MOZAMBIQUE
Mozambique is a republic with a constitutional government, headed
by President Armando Guebuza who was elected in December in generally
free and fair elections that were marred by some irregularities. The
irregularities did not affect the outcome of the presidential election,
but did result in the opposition losing two or three seats in the
National Assembly. The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO)
won 160 seats in the 250-seat National Assembly, and the opposition
coalition of the Mozambique National Resistance-Electoral Union
(RENAMO-UE) won the remaining 90 seats. FRELIMO has ruled the country
since independence in 1975, dominating both policymaking and
implementation. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, the executive branch dominated the courts. The courts lacked
adequate resources, were chronically understaffed, susceptible to
corruption, and largely ineffectual.
The forces responsible for internal security under the Ministry of
Interior (MOI) include: The Criminal Investigation Police (PIC), the
Mozambican National Police (PRM), and the Rapid Intervention Force
(FIR). The political opposition claimed that the FIR operated in
support of the ruling party. An additional security body, the State
Information and Security Service (SISE), reports directly to the
President. The military, which is responsible for both internal and
external security, continued to suffer from lack of funds. While
civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the
security forces, there were some instances in which members of the
security forces acted independently of government authority. Members of
the security forces committed serious human rights abuses.
The economy was market-based and gross domestic product growth for
2003 was approximately 7 percent. The country had a population of
approximately 18.5 million. Nearly 80 percent of the workforce was
employed in agriculture, mostly on a subsistence level; however, high
unemployment and underemployment in the formal and informal sectors
continued. The poverty rate fell from 69 percent in 1996 to 54 percent
during the year; however, food insecurity continued in many regions due
to poor climactic conditions. The industrial and agricultural minimum
wage kept pace with inflation; however, the wages of most salaried
workers--such as police, teachers, and government workers--did not keep
pace with inflation.
Corruption continued to be a problem in the public and private
sectors; however, the Government took steps to address it during the
year. HIV/AIDS had a growing impact on the economy, particularly in the
depressed port city of Beira, where prevalence reached 30 percent.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
Police continued to commit numerous abuses, including unlawful
killings, beatings in custody, and arbitrary arrests and detentions.
Prison conditions remained extremely harsh and life threatening;
several prisoners died due to the harsh conditions. Despite efforts to
clear long-standing case backlogs, prison overcrowding was widespread
and lengthy pretrial detention was common. Police harassed and
arbitrarily detained journalists. The Government at times infringed on
freedom of movement. Domestic violence against women, as well as
widespread discrimination against women in employment and property
rights, remained significant problems. The abuse and criminal
exploitation of street children, including child prostitution,
continued in urban areas. Trafficking in women and children was a
problem. Discrimination against persons with disabilities and child
labor remained problems.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings by the Government or its agents during
the year; however, there continued to be reports of unlawful killings
by security forces.
In March, police in Matola shot and killed two young men who were
suspected of being car thieves. Police had not announced by year's end
whether they were investigating the incident.
The Mozambican League of Human Rights (LDH) released a report in
2003 that alleged that from 2000 to 2002, the police continued to
harbor ``squadrons of death'' that were responsible for summary
executions and operated with impunity. The report cites activities in
the Maputo suburbs of Matola Rio, Boane, and Costa do Sol.
In May, LDH reported that at the maximum-security jail in Beira,
Sofala Province, police shot and killed a prisoner, Mjdane Pedro, while
he was allegedly trying to escape. In a separate incident, three other
prisoners--Tom Daimone, Thimba Machava and Faustino Silva--were shot
and killed for disobeying prison authorities. All four cases were under
official investigation by provincial authorities at year's end.
No action was taken against the guard who in March 2003 transferred
three inmates into a smaller cell in Mogovolas district; the inmates
died of suffocation.
In January, police declined to initiate a formal investigation into
the shooting death of four persons detained in a police station in the
southern city of Matola in November 2003. The situation in Montepuez
remained tense because the Government refused to reveal publicly the
names of the more than 100 detainees who were jailed for participating
in a RENAMO protest march and subsequently died of asphyxiation in
2000.
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that police killed
persons during demonstrations.
In September 2003, members of the Community Police shot and killed
13-year-old Aderito Francisco Cumbe in the Maputo neighborhood of T3.
According to the police, random bullets hit the boy when the police
were trying to scare away persons who had raided a house.
Extremely harsh prison conditions, often leading to serious
illness, continued to result in the deaths of several persons in
custody (see Section 1.c.).
The Government continued to cooperate with international
organizations in de-mining efforts to remove the hundreds of thousands
of mines planted between 1960 and 1990. The National De-mining
Institute (IND) recorded 6 deaths resulting from landmine accidents in
2003, although IND believes the figure may not be accurate due to the
difficulty in gathering data nationwide. During the year, there were 3
mine-related deaths and 25 mine casualties were reported to IND, the
majority in Sofala province. Representatives of several nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) working in the de-mining field believed that IND's
data collection was inadequate, and that the actual death and casualty
numbers were at least twice as high as reported.
The slow progress in the investigation into the 2001 killing of the
Banco Austral manager Antonio Siba-Siba Macuacua continued to receive
widespread media coverage as an example of the difficulty of
confronting corruption. Press reports have linked high-level government
officials to the case. The PIC continued to investigate the crime, but
no charges were filed by year's end.
Occasional mob and vigilante killings continued in both urban and
rural areas due to general public frustration with the rising incidence
of crime. During the year, mob violence resulting in the deaths of
suspected criminals was reported throughout the country. On October 23,
an angry crowd in the small town of Maxixe, Inhambane attacked the home
of two brothers suspected of murdering a local businessman. After
intervention by the police, the crowd was dispersed without any
fatalities taking place. On November 10, a mob in Maxixe reportedly
with many of the same individuals attacked the house of a local
businessman, under the pretense that he was involved in trafficking in
body parts. Police killed two individuals and wounded several others
during a shootout with the mob.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
Unlike in the previous year, no criminal suspects disappeared and
there were no reports that armed RENAMO members kidnapped members of
FRELIMO.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution expressly prohibits such practices;
however, police continued to commit serious abuses, and torture,
beatings, death threats, physical and mental abuse, and extortion
remained problems. During the year, human rights advocates reported
complaints of torture, including several instances involving the sexual
abuse of women, beating, illegal detention, and death threats.
There were reports that police abused prostitutes and street
children (see Section 5).
Political party members attacked and beat members of other
political parties during the year (see Section 3).
Prison conditions were extremely harsh and life threatening.
Two National Directorates of Prisons (DNPs), one under the Ministry
of Justice (MOJ) and the other under the MOI, operated prisons in all
provincial capitals. Approximately 7,180 detainees were held in jails
and prisons administered by the MOJ during the year. Most prisoners
received only one meal per day, consisting of beans and flour. It has
been customary for families to bring food to prisoners; however, there
were occasional reports that guards demanded bribes in return for
allowing the delivery of food to the prisoners.
There continued to be many deaths in prison, the vast majority due
to illness and disease; however, some prisoners reportedly died from
poisoning during the year. In a series of prison visits conducted in
2003 and during the year, the LDH found many health problems among
prisoners due to overcrowding and poor to non-existent medical care.
Healthy prisoners and sick prisoners were regularly kept in the same
cells; in Nampula, prisoners suffering from skin diseases, malaria, and
tuberculosis were kept together with healthy prisoners.
Overcrowding in prisons was a serious problem. In September, in
Maputo Central Prison the LDH found there were 2,538 detainees in a
facility built for 800. In Gondola, Manica Province, and in Moatize,
Tete Province, the two jails visited were holding twice as many as the
facilities were meant to hold. Beira Central Prison received a large
amount of negative publicity during the year, including reports that it
had more than 700 inmates housed in a facility built for 120 and
significant health problems, including the spread of HIV through
unwanted sexual encounters.
The Penal Code stipulates that the legal minimum age for detention
is 16 years; however, in a visit conducted in January by LDH to Maputo
Central Prison and Maputo Civil Jail, the LDH found at least three
cases of minors in detention awaiting trial for petty crimes, some for
more than a year. LDH considered this to be typical of prisons across
the country.
MOI and MOJ facilities, while separate, often were connected
physically. Military and civilian prisoners were held in the same
prisons.
Women were held in separate areas of prisons from men. Prisons
occasionally housed young children, usually infants, brought there by
mothers sentenced for long periods when no other caregivers were
available. There were documented reports that minors under the age of
16 were housed with adults in the general population.
In MOI facilities, detainees who had not yet been charged were held
with prisoners sentenced for serious offenses that specify maximum
security. In MOJ facilities, detainees who had been charged but not yet
tried were held with prisoners who had been tried and sentenced to
prison for relatively minor cases where moderate security imprisonment
was deemed sufficient.
International as well as domestic human rights groups may have
access to prisoners at the discretion of the MOJ and MOI; however,
officials sometimes cited unsanitary conditions or security risks as
reasons to delay or cancel visits. During the year, the LDH visited
several jails and prisons in the Maputo area and in the provinces.
During the year, the National Assembly's Legal Affairs Committee and a
group of local lawyers conducted separate visits to prisons in Beira
and Maputo.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, in practice the police
continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain citizens.
The police were poorly paid, received no raises during the year
despite 13 percent inflation, and lacked professionalism. Corruption
extended throughout the ranks, and police used violence and detention
to intimidate persons from reporting abuses. Police reportedly extorted
money from street vendors, many of whom were widowed or divorced women,
sometimes beat the women and stole their merchandise. The investigative
unit of the police, the PIC, was often criticized for impeding criminal
investigations.
Security officials often detained persons for spurious reasons and
demanded identification documents, which must be carried by citizens at
all times, for the sole reason of extorting payments (see Section
2.d.). Many victims chose not to seek police assistance because of
police demands for bribes or a lack of confidence that the police would
help. Increased human rights awareness campaigns broadcast on national
television by the anti-corruption NGO Etica have resulted in a
perception that such cases are decreasing.
Professional training for new police officers increased during the
year; approximately 500 officers from across the country received human
rights training.
Under the Penal Process Code, only persons caught in the act of
committing a crime can be held in detention; however, this provision
was seldom enforced. Under the law, the maximum length of investigative
detention is 48 hours, during which a detainee has the right to
judicial authorities review of the case, after which the detainee can
be detained up to another 60 days while the case is investigated by the
PIC. In certain cases where a person is accused of a very serious
crime, detainees may be held up to 252 days. The law provides that if
the prescribed period for investigation has been completed, and no
charges have been brought, the detainee must be released. However, MOJ
officials noted that some police lacked adequate training and did not
know how to charge a person properly. In many cases, the authorities
either were unaware of regulations or ignored them, often also ignoring
a detainee's constitutional right to counsel and to contact relatives
or friends.
The bail system remained poorly defined, and prisoners, their
families, and NGOs continued to complain that police and prison
officials demanded bribes to release prisoners.
The Supreme Court Commission for Strengthening of the Law tried to
address the problem of overcrowding of jails and prisons by proposing a
series of measures, including conversion of sentences to fines and
suspension of sentences for those charged with crimes with maximum
sentences of less than 2 years of jail. However, many public figures
suspected that certain criminals might benefit from these changes by
bribing judges in lieu of paying fines or serving sentences. The
Commission's recommendations have not yet been implemented, but are
supposed to be considered by both the National Assembly and the
Attorney General's office in early 2005.
There were several reports that police harassed and arbitrarily
detained journalists (see Section 2.a.).
There were reports that detainees spent longer in pretrial
detention than the sentence they received. The law provides suspects
with the right to be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours of
being detained; however, this often was not enforced. In June 2003,
members of the National Assembly's Legal Affairs Committee reported
that four detainees had been held for more than 4 years and another
four for more than 5 years without their detention ever having been
formalized. The parliamentary committee also found that 33 inmates had
been held illegally for periods in excess of 2 months without being
brought before a magistrate.
Due to lack of resources, Maputo city judicial authorities stopped
holding expedited trials at the central prison and the top security
prison. The expedited trials had previously been done in an effort to
reduce overcrowding and prolonged pretrial detention.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however the executive, and by extension the
FRELIMO party, continued to dominate the judiciary, which was
understaffed and managed by inadequately trained appointees. The
judicial system suffered from a lack of transparency and often did not
act in compliance with the principles of promotion and protection of
human rights. Of the 128 districts in the country, only 92 had
functioning courts, leaving the remainder with no formal courts at the
district level.
Although salaries for judges and court staff were increased in 2003
in an effort to combat corruption, bribe-taking, chronic absenteeism,
unequal treatment, deliberate delays and omissions in handling cases
continued to be problems during the year. The Anti-Corruption Unit
(UAC) in the Attorney General's office reported that there were 116
reports of allegedly corrupt acts, primarily accepting bribes from
defendants and siphoning public funds, by judges and government
officials in 2003. In 2003, only three persons were brought to trial in
such cases and none were found guilty.
Justice Mario Mangaze, the President of the Supreme Court, presided
over the Higher Judicial Magistrates' Council (CSMJ), the body
responsible for overseeing professional behavior among magistrates,
which in 2003 initiated 21 disciplinary proceedings against 9 judges
and 12 law officers. Disciplinary action by CSMJ reportedly decreased
during the year. CSMJ regulations allow judges who have been accused of
misconduct to appeal decisions and also provides for the immediate
removal of judges whose appeal is denied.
The President of the Republic appoints the president and vice
president of the highest tribunal, the Supreme Court. Supreme Court
nominations initially are prepared by CSMJ, which submits a list of
qualified potential Supreme Court nominees to the President. CSMJ
members are elected by their peers: Four are elected by the National
Assembly and two are appointed by the President; members tended to be
either FRELIMO members or FRELIMO-affiliated. No National Assembly
approval is needed for other judicial appointments, which are also
appointed by the President.
There are two complementary formal justice systems: The civil/
criminal system and the military system. The Supreme Court administers
the civil/criminal system and the Ministry of National Defense
administers the military courts. Civilians are not under the
jurisdiction of, or tried in, military courts. The Supreme Court also
hears appeals, including military cases. Below the Supreme Court there
are provincial and district courts. There are appeals courts in all
provinces; however, few of these courts were staffed by formally
trained judges. There also are courts that exercise limited,
specialized jurisdiction, such as the administrative court, the customs
court, and the maritime court. A Constitutional Council was charged
with determining the constitutionality of laws and decrees, supervising
the electoral process, declaring and validating electoral results, and
ruling on electoral disputes. Persons 16 years and younger fall under
the jurisdiction of a court system for minors, and the Government can
send minors to correctional, educational, or other institutions. As
with the provincial and district courts, the specialized and minor
court systems were ineffective due to a lack of qualified
professionals.
Persons accused of crimes against the Government were tried
publicly in regular civilian courts under standard criminal judicial
procedures. A judge may order a closed trial because of national
security interests or to protect the privacy of the plaintiff in cases
concerning sexual assault. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction
over Members of Parliament and other persons who are immune from trial
in the lower courts.
In regular courts, all accused persons in principle are presumed
innocent and have the right to legal counsel and appeal; however,
authorities did not always respect these rights. Although the law
specifically provides for public defenders, such assistance generally
was not available in practice, particularly in rural areas, and most
citizens were unaware of this right and did not possess the means to
obtain any form of legal counsel. A study by the University of Eduardo
Mondlane, released in December, indicated that 90 percent of the 2,700
prisoners in Machava Prison (Maputo Province) did not have access to
legal counsel. Some NGOs continued to offer limited legal counsel at
little or no cost to both defendants and prisoners.
Although there was a 30 percent increase in the number of attorneys
in the country over the past 2 years, the increase in young attorneys
was not sufficient to address the immediate need for qualified judges
and other judicial personnel. Of the 186 judges nationwide, fewer than
50 had law degrees, even though the law requires it.
Outside the formal court system, a number of local customary courts
and traditional authorities adjudicated matters such as estate and
divorce cases. These courts were staffed by respected local arbiters
who had no formal training but who exercised a substantial judicial and
executive role.
There were no confirmed reports of political prisoners; however,
RENAMO continued to claim that all persons held in connection with the
2000 nationwide demonstrations were political prisoners, and continued
to consider those convicted and sentenced also to be political
prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however,
opposition party members alleged that government intelligence services
and ruling party activists monitored telephone calls, conducted
surveillance of their offices, followed the movements of opposition
members, used informants, and attempted to disrupt party activities in
certain areas of the country such as Montepuez and Nampula provinces.
By law, police need a warrant to enter homes and businesses, and also
to monitor telephone calls.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press; however, in practice there were some
restrictions on these rights. Police harassed and arbitrarily detained
journalists; however, unlike in previous years, there were no reports
of violence against journalists. Journalists generally practiced self-
censorship regarding politically sensitive issues.
There were five independent weekly newspapers published in Maputo
and six other independent weekly journals published in provincial
capitals. Only a small minority of the population received news
directly through the print media.
The daily newspapers Noticias and Diario de Mocambique, and the
weekly newspaper Domingo, largely reflected the views of the ruling
party; however, these media sources also demonstrated a willingness to
critically examine government actions. For example, in June and July,
all of these newspapers provided extensive coverage of the Government's
conflict with a group of retirees over an extended dispute over
pensions. Nonetheless, many observers believed that these newspapers
focused more on highlighting government projects and accomplishments,
especially near elections.
Government stations were the only broadcasters capable of
countrywide transmission; however, there were local and independent
broadcasts in most urban areas, and the number of radio stations
increased markedly during the year. Government media continued to show
greater transparency in reporting and some independence of editorial
content. Radio Mozambique, the public's most widely broadcast source of
information, is government-owned; however, its news coverage generally
was considered unbiased and fair. Radio Mozambique regularly broadcast
public debates on key issues that included a variety of participants
with differing opinions.
In addition to Radio Mozambique, there were 43 community-based, 4
religious, and 16 commercial private radio stations, most of which used
local languages in addition to Portuguese and which covered most of the
country. This reflects a nearly 200 percent increase in community-based
radio and a significant increase in commercial radio during the year.
TV Mozambique (TVM) continued to demonstrate strong bias towards
the Government. For example, in July TVM refused to broadcast nine
commercials already paid for by author Bernabe Ncomo, who had written a
book that contradicted the official FRELIMO version of history
regarding the independence struggle. TVM returned the money to Ncomo,
alleging that the commercial contained political campaign messages;
however, the newspaper Savana later published the text of the
commercial that appeared to have no political content.
Portuguese Television for Africa (RTP Africa), a station owned by
the Government of Portugal, also transmitted throughout the country.
Privately owned television transmission continued to be limited to
Maputo.
International media were allowed to operate freely; however, they
were comprised mostly of broadcast media. Foreign radio programs
reached all major population centers and reported local news via local
part-time reporters. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and the
Radio Difusao Portugal (RFI) carried news in Portuguese but broadcast
most of the day in English and French, respectively. The only
international print medium operating was LUSA, the Portuguese News
Agency. International television news was available via cable in Maputo
and via satellite nationwide.
Police and other officials harassed and arbitrarily detained
journalists during the year. For example, on May 1, the district
administrator in Mocuba, Zambezia Province, indefinitely suspended
Oliveira Malei, a reporter and newsreader from Licunga Community Radio,
for criticizing both the poor state of roads in Mocuba and the town's
funeral services. Malei was compulsorily transferred to the Zambezian
provincial capital, Quelimane, where he was confined in an abandoned
storehouse. A reporter from the newspaper Noticias visited Malei in
confinement and reported he had malnutrition and malaria.
While criticism of the President was not prohibited, the law
provides that in cases of defamation against the President, truth is
not a sufficient defense. This law was not tested in court during the
year and the provision was not invoked, despite considerable verbal and
written criticism of the President.
No libel charges were filed against any news medium during the
year.
In January 2003, six men, led by Anibal Dos Santos Jr., commonly
known as ``Anibalzinho,'' were sentenced to prison terms ranging from
23 to 28 years for the 2000 execution-style shooting of Carlos Cardoso,
an investigative journalist who was the founder and editor of the news
fax agency Metical.
On May 9, Anibalzinho escaped from prison for the second time in
less than a year and was later found in Canada. All local and
international media outlets--print, television, and radio--covered the
Anibalizinho case closely during the year. Most news outlets also
covered the politically sensitive link between Anizbalzinho and
Nyimpine Chissano, the President's son, who many alleged was connected
to the Cardoso case. In December, the Canadian Government decided to
deport Anibalizinho in early 2005. On December 16, the Supreme Court
decided to declare a re-trial of Anibalizinho, a decision that
effectively re-opens the unresolved Cardoso case. All the major news
outlets in the country reported this situation in detail.
The media reported freely on the voter registration process, with
special attention paid in September to first-time registration of
voters outside the country. Media coverage of the presidential election
campaign was widely considered to be more even-handed than during the
previous presidential election in 1999, even among the government-
aligned media outlets. Minor party candidates received regular daily
coverage along with the major candidates from FRELIMO and RENAMO.
Despite this, RENAMO has made many complaints about TVM's campaign
coverage being biased. Journalists were able to cover the campaign and
the two election days without substantial difficulty.
The Government did not limit access to the Internet, and a growing
number of Internet service providers operated during the year.
The Government generally did not restrict academic freedom;
however, there were reports that teachers at the university, secondary,
and primary school level felt compelled to lead campaign activities for
FRELIMO, particularly in the central and northern provinces. Many
teachers were asked to teach children the FRELIMO campaign song in
school rather than the national anthem. There were also reports of
teachers in secondary and primary school not being hired because of
their known political affiliations.
In August, after Eduardo Namburete, dean of the communication
school and press officer for the state-run University of Eduardo
Mondlane, declared that he would work for the opposition party RENAMO
in the election campaign, he was forced by university administrators to
step down from his position as head of the communication school and the
press office, but retained his status as a professor at the university.
In December, Namburete was elected to the National Assembly as a RENAMO
parliamentarian.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, authorities used force to
disperse several demonstrations during the year. The law regulates
public demonstrations but does not apply to private gatherings held
indoors and by individual invitation, nor does it affect religious
gatherings or election campaigning.
In early 2003, the Madjermanes, a group of several hundred
Mozambican citizens who worked in the former East Germany in the 1990s,
began regular Friday demonstrations to protest the Government's refusal
to pay pensions that the group claimed were owed to them. Police
officer Albitro Curva remained in prison awaiting trial for the
shooting death of Virgilio Amade during a Madjermane demonstration in
September 2003. Following the shooting, the police and leaders for the
Madjermane signed an agreement to regulate future demonstrations. In
July 2003, police dispersed a group of Madjermanes who were preparing
for their Friday march; seven were injured. The authorities had imposed
a restriction on circulation on main streets of Maputo during the
African Union summit, which was seen to override the previously signed
agreement.
Police continued to crack down on Madjermane marches during the
November 2003 electoral campaign, accused participants of tearing down
FRELIMO electoral posters, and arrested Madjermane leader Alberto
Mahuai, who was detained and interrogated for 3 days. Marches stopped
after this detention, but weekly marches resumed in April. On June 30,
the Madjermane demonstrators escalated their protest by occupying part
of the National Assembly building. The demonstrators left peacefully
after meeting with a government official, but claiming their concerns
were being ignored, forced their way into the German Embassy on July
13. A group of 41 Madjermanes occupied the German Embassy for 4 days.
After negotiation with the German Embassy staff, the demonstrators left
peacefully, and local police who were on guard did not harm anyone. The
pension issue has still not been resolved by year's end.
The law provides for freedom of association; however, both the
Government and the law imposed some limits on this right. A political
party is required to demonstrate that it has no regional, racial,
ethnic, or religious exclusiveness and must secure at least 2,000
signatures of citizens to be recognized (see Section 2.c.). There were
41 registered political parties, 6 of whom registered during the year.
A government decree regulates the registration and activities of
foreign NGOs. Non-political foreign NGOs and religious organizations
are required to register with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation (MFA), providing significant detail on their organization's
scope, staffing, and finances. Domestic NGOs must register with the
MOJ. The registration process for foreign NGOs was not transparent and
regularly took several months. Some NGOs have reported that they had to
make illegal payments in order to stay in operation.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The law requires religious institutions and missionary
organizations to register with the MOJ, reveal their principal source
of funds, and provide the names of at least 500 followers in good
standing. The Christian Council reported that not all religious groups
registered, but that unregistered groups worshiped unhindered by the
Government.
Occasionally missionaries were received with hostility. For
example, in July, 15 foreign missionaries were expelled from the
northern town of Montepuez by the local government on suspicion of
being RENAMO spies; however, they re-established their activities in
other parts of the country. At times tensions were high as a result of
the activities of foreign Christian missionary groups in the majority
Muslim northern provinces.
The law governing political parties specifically forbids religious
parties from organizing, and any party from sponsoring religious
propaganda. The Independent Party of Mozambique (PIMO), a predominantly
Muslim group without representation in Parliament, took positions based
on Muslim religious principles, advocated moral behavior, and
criticized the Government for corruption. PIMO and its presidential
candidate, Ya'qub Sibindy, were able to campaign during the year
without hindrance from the authorities.
Most places of worship nationalized by the Government have been
returned to their respective religious organizations; however, the
Catholic Church and certain Muslim communities complained that some
other properties such as schools, health centers, and residences
unjustly remained in state hands and continued to request their return.
The Directorate for Religious Affairs is mandated to address the issue
of the return of church properties. The return of properties such as
schools and health clinics has been delayed because of the Government
claims that it needs time to construct new facilities.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, at times the Government infringed upon them.
Police traffic checkpoints established for safety or security
concerns occasionally affected freedom of movement. To reduce
harassment and confiscation of travelers' possessions at the borders,
customs supervisors levied disciplinary fines and fired abusive customs
agents. In large cities, the police often stopped foreign pedestrians
and ordered them to present original passports or resident papers,
sometimes refused to accept notarized copies, and fined or detained
those who failed to show proper documents (most persons do not carry
the originals of documents due to the risk of theft). Police also
detained local citizens routinely for failure to carry identity papers
and extorted bribes (see Section 1.d.).
The Constitution prohibits exile, and the Government did not use
it.
The law provides for the granting of refugee status or asylum in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protections to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum in principle, but this right was not
always respected in practice. Many refugees who have received
certification from UNHCR have had difficulty receiving refugee
certification from the Government. This has impeded the refugees'
ability to gain employment and move freely within the country. Media
reports suggested that only 850 of the over 8,000 reported refugees in
country have received refugee status from the Government's refugee
certification agency, INAR. Media reports have also accused INAR
officials of extracting bribes from refugees in exchange for
certification.
As of December, the estimated population of refugees was 8,100. The
majority, 4,500, were at Marratane refugee center near Nampula; over 60
percent of the refugees were men. There were 16 nationalities
represented at the camp, with over 90 percent from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda. Refugee camp conditions met
minimal standards, although some refugees claimed to fear attack by
fellow refugees on the basis of ethnicity. Conflicts among rival
Congolese groups and between Rwandans and Congolese were reported by
UNHCR during the year, but no acts of physical violence were reported.
In December 2003, the Government, UNHCR, and the Government of
Rwanda signed a tripartite agreement that would allow for the voluntary
repatriation of the approximately 1,000 Rwandan refugees in the
country. However, only a handful of Rwandan refugees have been
repatriated by year's end.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
During the year, citizens freely exercised their right to vote in
the country's third multiparty general elections. Voting day procedures
generally followed international norms; however, the political campaign
season and the vote count were marred by irregularities in isolated
parts of the country.
Tensions between supporters of the two major parties, RENAMO and
FRELIMO, continued throughout the year. The most notable incident
occurred in July in Inhaminga, Sofala Province, when local police
detained two RENAMO members for beating up a FRELIMO delegate and his
wife. In reaction, a large crowd of RENAMO members stormed the police
station and released the suspects. This led to a response by a large
contingent of the FIR police fighting with RENAMO loyalists over the
next 3 days. At least one FIR member was killed, but no RENAMO
loyalists were killed in the altercation. In subsequent months, there
were reports of further altercations between RENAMO and the FIR in
Sofala, leading to injuries but no deaths.
There were also several reports that FRELIMO loyalists in Tete
Province destroyed a local RENAMO party headquarters, with no response
by law enforcement.
The 40-day campaign season leading up to the general elections was
mostly peaceful, reportedly more so than previous campaigns, but
observers reported multiple incidents in which members of one party
were harassed and beaten by members of another party, particularly in
rural areas. Altercations generally involved rock throwing, fistfights,
and destruction of property; no killings were reported. Police
generally declined to intervene in disputes, siding de facto with the
aggressor party. FRELIMO used significant federal funds and resources
for campaign purposes, in violation of election law.
The elections held on December 1 and 2, were peaceful. Voter
turnout was lower than in past presidential elections, estimated near
40 percent. On December 22, Armando Guebuza of FRELIMO was declared the
winner with 64 percent of the vote, compared with 32 percent for Afonso
Dhlakama of RENAMO; three minor parties received the remaining votes.
The National Elections Commission managed the voting process; the
Commission consisted of a FRELIMO majority and a RENAMO minority. In
several cases, the election authorities were not able to get voting
materials to rural areas, many of which were predominantly pro-RENAMO,
by the morning of December 1, which reduced the ability for some to
vote. Election observers were allowed to observe the voting process and
vote tabulation at the polling stations on December 2, but were not
always able to watch the subsequent vote counting at the provincial or
national level, leaving open the possibility of fraud. In some cases,
most notably in Changara district of Tete province, and also in parts
of Niassa and Gaza provinces, reported results implied unrealistically
high voter turnouts and caused journalists and observer missions to
allege pro-FRELIMO ballot-stuffing. However, the final presidential and
legislative election results closely tracked the parallel vote counts
carried out by observers. Guebuza and FRELIMO won the elections with a
large majority of the vote. Observer missions and journalists alleged
that irregularities in Tete Province appeared to have been significant
enough to tilt that province's representation in the National Assembly
more strongly in favor of FRELIMO.
In late December, RENAMO issued complaints of election fraud to the
National Election Commission, asking for a repeat of the election. The
Commission rejected RENAMO's major claims but did recognize that some
problems had taken place, and did alter the results in Zambezia
province, switching one National Assembly seat from FRELIMO to RENAMO.
Also, the Commission forwarded cases of fraud in Tete to the provincial
prosecutor's office for possible further action but did not alter the
results. RENAMO has since forwarded its complaints to a Constitutional
Council for further review.
The November 2003 municipal elections were considered by
international observers to be generally free and fair; however, there
were concerns about irregular vote counts in the Beira municipal
election, which took 3 weeks to resolve before RENAMO was finally
determined the winner. In the end, FRELIMO won 28 and RENAMO 5 of the
country's 33 municipalities. Voter turnout was low throughout the
country, estimated by the Government at 24 percent. Smaller parties
participated in the elections, but received few votes.
Throughout the year, there was an intense national debate over the
enfranchisement of emigrants. FRELIMO officially supported the right of
emigrants to vote; however, most opposition parties, including RENAMO,
were suspicious of FRELIMO's willingness to operate the country's
embassies impartially, and therefore advocated denying emigrants the
franchise. In July, the National Electoral Commission decided that
Mozambican expatriates in South Africa, Swaziland, Malawi, Tanzania,
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Portugal, and Germany would be registered to
vote for the first time in the nation's history. During the September
registration period, over 47,000 new voters were registered in these
countries, nearly 70 percent of them in South Africa. Reports indicated
that only FRELIMO had a significant organizational presence in this
registration process.
From June 28 through July 15, citizens were able to register for
the December elections. This time period was smaller than the 30-day
period available in past years, leading to complaints by opposition
parties (particularly RENAMO) that they did not have sufficient time to
get all the voters in their rural base registered.
Corruption was widely perceived to be endemic in the executive and
legislative branches, particularly among the various ministries. Much
of the public discussion on corruption still focused on older high
profile cases, such as the murders of journalist Carlos Cardoso and
banker Antonio ``Siba-Siba'' Macuacua in 2000 and 2001, respectively.
New cases of corruption were slowly coming to light. The Anti-
Corruption Unit (UAC) in the Attorney General's office was actively
investigating public siphoning of funds by high-ranking officials in
various ministries; however, no new charges were filed during the year.
In August, the National Assembly passed a revised corruption law, which
many observers believe will make it easier to investigate and prosecute
corruption by government officials.
The UAC continued investigating several public figures, including
the Director of the National Institute of Social Action (INAS), an
organization under the Ministry of Women and Social Action created to
provide government assistance to economically vulnerable populations,
for siphoning of public funds during the year. No new charges were
filed during the year. During the year, the UAC extended its activities
outside of the capital by opening regional offices in Beira and
Nampula.
There are no laws providing for the right of public access to
information and in practice the Government restricted citizens' right
to public information.
Prior to the December elections, there were 102 women in the 250-
member National Assembly, and women held 3 of the 23 ministerial
positions and 5 of the 18 vice ministerial positions in the Cabinet. In
the December elections, 87 women were elected to the National Assembly.
The female Minister of Planning and Finance, Luisa Diogo, also assumed
the role of Prime Minister, generally considered the second most
powerful position in the Government. FRELIMO's policy mandated that at
least 30 percent of the party's two governing bodies must be women.
During the year, the Political Commission and Central Committee
fulfilled this mandate.
Members of many ethnic groups held key positions in both the
legislative and executive branches; there was no compelling evidence
that specific ethnic groups were excluded. Leadership positions within
FRELIMO traditionally have been dominated by the Shangaan ethnic group,
while those in RENAMO traditionally have been dominated by the N'dau
ethnic group.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups operated
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their
findings on human rights cases; however, registration procedures for
NGOs were often lengthy. While the Government did cooperate with NGOs,
many NGOs believed that the Government was slow to respond to their
requests. The Government responded to human rights-related inquiries
from the LDH, Etica, and other NGOs on a case-by-case basis.
Section 5 Discrimination, Social Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution forbids discrimination based on race, sex, or
disability; however, in practice discrimination against women, persons
with disabilities, and persons with HIV/AIDS persisted.
Women.--Although official statistics were not kept, reports
indicated that domestic violence against women--particularly spousal
rape and beating--was widespread. Many women believed that their
spouses had the right to beat them, and cultural pressures discouraged
women from taking legal action against abusive spouses. Hospitals
usually did not attribute evidence of physical abuse to domestic
violence. There is no law that defines domestic violence as a crime;
however, laws prohibiting rape, battery, and assault can be used to
prosecute domestic violence. The NGO All Against Violence (TCV), which
registered 620 cases of domestic violence in 2003, noted that many
women did not report such cases due to fear of retaliation by their
husbands or inaction by the police.
For years, TCV has served as a monitoring and educational group for
problems of domestic and sexual abuse of women and children; however,
during the year, the organization largely collapsed due to lack of
funding, leaving an information gap.
The law prohibits rape, but not spousal rape. The law was not
effectively enforced, and rape trials rarely occur. Many of these
suspects are held for an extended period of pretrial detention until a
settlement is made.
Prostitution is illegal; however, the practice was widespread and
particularly prevalent along major transportation corridors and border
towns where long-distance truckers stayed overnight. Young women with
unemployed parents were at the greatest risk for being drawn into
prostitution. There were reports that police officers sexually abused
prostitutes and demanded money in exchange for allowing them to work;
such cases were rarely reported in the media.
Numerous development organizations and health-oriented NGOs
emphasized programs to improve women's health and increasingly focused
resources on combating the spread of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted
diseases among sex workers.
Sexual harassment was regarded as pervasive in business,
government, and education, although no formal data existed.In August,
the new revised Family Law was adopted, which raises the marriage age
to 18 for both sexes, eliminates husbands' de facto status as heads of
families, and legalizes civil, religious, and common law unions. The
law does not legally recognize polygyny; however, women in polygynous
marriages are granted full marital and inheritance rights. The law is
particularly important because many, perhaps most, citizens are married
through customary law rather than religious ceremony; the law clarifies
women's legal rights with regard to property, child custody, and other
issues.
The adoption of the Family Law increases the status of women and
standardizes rights that had previously varied greatly within the
country, depending on regional interpretation of customary law;
however, many women knew little or nothing about the new law, and
customary law will still be practiced de facto in many parts of the
country. In some places, a woman had no recourse to the judicial branch
for enforcement of the rights provided her by the civil codes,
particularly in the northern part of the country, while other areas
respected access to the judicial branch for women in common law
marriages. Women were the primary cultivators of family land in the
country; however, under customary law, they have had no rights to the
disposition of the land.
The Constitution grants citizenship to the foreign-born wife of a
male citizen, but not to the foreign-born husband of a female citizen.
Women continued to experience economic discrimination in practice.
Women constituted slightly more than half the population but were
responsible for two-thirds of economic production. Women in the
workplace received lower pay than men for the same work. According to
parliamentarians women were subject to sexual harassment and to
discrimination in hiring because of potential absences on maternity
leave; although the labor law entitles a woman to 60 days of maternity
leave, employers often violated this right.
Children.--The Government made children's rights and welfare a
priority; however, significant problems remained. With the assistance
of the Community Development Foundation (FDC) and UNICEF, the
Government undertook a legal review of children's rights; however, it
had not resulted in any policy changes by year's end.
Although the law provides for tuition-free primary education,
school officials regularly charged a matriculation fee for each child,
which was a significant financial burden for many families. Children
with a certificate that testifies that the parents are below a certain
poverty level do not pay any matriculation fees; however, often this
was not respected in practice. Primary education was compulsory through
the fifth year; however, there were few educational facilities, which
limited enrollment. The number of primary schools in the country
increased slightly during the year; however, schools were still
overcrowded, and there was widespread corruption in the school system.
In January, the Ministry of Education reported that over 1 million
children of school age would be unable to attend primary school during
the year due to lack of space in classrooms. The Ministry also reported
that 2.8 million children were enrolled in primary school in 2003,
which meant that approximately 30 percent of all children did not
attend primary school. The Ministry of Education estimates that nearly
50 percent of primary school graduates will move on to secondary school
this year, representing a significant mark-up in recent years. Many
secondary schools still do not have a full curriculum through the
twelfth grade and graduation rates are very low. Girls continued to
have lower enrollment numbers than boys at the secondary school level,
especially in rural areas, due to family decisions regarding education.
Newspapers frequently reported that the parents of school children
had to bribe teachers or officials to enroll their children in school.
Parents were often willing to make payments because they knew classroom
space was insufficient for all children wishing to attend school,
particularly from the eighth grade onward. Other reports indicated that
girls exchanged, or were forced to exchange, sex with teachers for
passing grades.
The Government took steps to address the problems of the
approximately 500,000 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in the country.
Several government agencies, including the Ministries of Health and
Women and Social Action developed programs to provide health assistance
and vocational education for HIV/AIDS orphans. The problem was highly
visible in public discourse and received significant media attention.
The National Institute of Statistics estimated that 55 percent of
child deaths in the country resulted from malnutrition or related
illnesses. During the year, the Government expanded a vaccination
initiative and a program to manage childhood illnesses.
The Ministry of Women and Social Action and other agencies worked
together with UNICEF to develop a plan to increase the number of
registered births. The majority of children in the country had not been
formally registered, which limited their potential access to education
and health care. To address this problem, in August legislation
extending registration from 60 to 90 days of the date of birth was
signed into law.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police beat
street children.
The trafficking of children for sexual exploitation remained a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor remained a problem (see Section 6.d.).
The country continued to have a problem with street children. There
are no reliable numbers on the number of street children nationwide;
however, the NGO Rede de Crianca, comprised of 33 community
organizations that work with youth in Maputo, identified 3,419 street
children who work in their programs.
The Maputo City Women and Social Action Coordination Office
continued its program of rescuing abandoned orphans and assisting
single mothers who head families of three or more persons. They also
offered special classes to children of broken homes in local schools.
Other NGO groups sponsored food, shelter, and education programs in all
major cities. ASEM, in Beira, also provided counseling to parents who
had expelled children from their homes, which usually happened when a
wife has children who were unacceptable to a new husband.
Trafficking in Persons.--There are no specific laws that prohibit
trafficking in persons, and there were numerous reports of trafficking.
Trafficking in persons can be prosecuted under violations of labor,
immigration, and child labor laws committed while trafficking. In 2002,
there were seven cases in which exploiters were charged with indecent
assault of a minor; penalties ranged from 2 to 8 years.
Exploitation of children below the age of 15 continued, and child
prostitution remained a problem. The law does not specify an age of
sexual consent; however, offering or procuring of prostitution and
pornography of any form, including that of children, is illegal under
the Penal Code. Sexual abuse of a child under 16 also is illegal under
the Penal Code. Persons engaged in child prostitution, use of children
for illicit activities, child pornography, child trafficking, or forced
or bonded labor may be punished by prison sentences and fines; however,
perpetrators of these crimes rarely were identified and prosecuted and
punishments were not commensurate with that of a serious crime.
The country is a point of origin for trafficked women and children.
Poverty, a history of child migration, and weak border controls all
contributed to trafficking. In May 2003, the IOM reported that
approximately 1,000 Mozambican women and children were trafficked to
South Africa every year. The report noted that victims include both sex
workers and non-sex workers. Many of the women trafficked were sold to
brothels in Johannesburg or sold as concubines or ``wives'' to
mineworkers in South Africa. Boys were trafficked as laborers on South
African farms. Victims came from both urban and rural backgrounds and
were often promised better jobs in South Africa. Once there, they were
threatened with their legal status and forced to work for little or no
pay. Traffickers included small networks of citizens based in Maputo
and Nampula, and there were reports that organized crime groups were
involved.
Child prostitution appeared to be most prevalent in Maputo, Nampula
and Beira, and at border towns and overnight stopping points along key
transportation routes. Child prostitution reportedly was growing in the
Maputo, Beira, and Nacala areas, which have highly mobile populations
and a large number of transport workers. Child prostitution was
reported in Sofala and Zambezia province. Some NGOs were working with
child prostitutes by providing health care, counseling, and training in
other vocations.
The law prohibits the access of minors to bars and clubs; however,
the Government did not have adequate resources to enforce the law
effectively. During the year, the Government trained police to aid
child prostitutes and held a series of seminars to assist police in
handling cases of child sexual abuse.
Investigations into the 2003 cases of two street vendors accused of
trying to sell two children to a ``witch-doctor'' in the Maputo suburb
of Magoanine and a Burundian citizen was arrested in Cuamba, in the
northern province of Niassa, accused of abducting four young girls with
the intent of trafficking them out of the country were ongoing at
year's end.
During the year, the Government continued its Campaign Against
Trafficking of Children, which included various anti-trafficking and
public awareness programs. In addition, the Government continued a
pilot program at three police stations to assist child victims of
trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides that citizens with
disabilities shall enjoy fully the same rights that it provides for all
citizens; however, the Government provided few resources to implement
this provision. Representatives of disabled groups and injured veterans
frequently protested that societal discrimination continued against
persons with disabilities. Approximately 1.9 percent of citizens have
physical or mental disabilities.
Concerns of persons with disabilities included access to
socioeconomic opportunities and employment, accessibility to buildings
and transportation, and a lack of wheelchairs. The only provisions that
the Government has enacted for accessibility to buildings and
transportation for persons with disabilities were in the electoral law
governing the needs of voters with disabilities in the polling booths.
Special access facilities were rare. There were few job opportunities
for persons with disabilities in the formal sector.
The Government only provided four schools nationwide for the
hearing and vision impaired and for persons with physical and mental
disabilities. The government-operated mental health facilities;
however, conditions were extremely poor.
The Association of Disabled Mozambicans (ADEMO), the primary
advocacy group in the country for persons with disabilities, reported
that the Government was beginning to have a more positive attitude
towards persons with disabilities. The group worked closely with the
Government to start a disabled sports federation, which it expects to
be launched by year's end. ADEMO also reported that in August the
Government offered duty exemption for 500 wheelchairs donated by the
Wheelchair Foundation.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There was no systematic
mistreatment or discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity;
however, the FRELIMO Government traditionally has included at all
levels a large number of southerners, mostly from the Shangaan ethnic
group, which has engendered complaints from residents of other parts of
the country. There also were complaints that the Government favored
economic development in the southern part of the country over other
areas. The Government has taken several steps to address such concerns:
The central and northern provinces feature prominently in the
Government's 5-year development plan, economic and social plan, poverty
alleviation strategy, and investment incentive program, and the
President, Prime Minister, and Cabinet members continued to spend a
significant amount of time in the provinces during the year. The
executive, judicial, and legislative branches included officials from
central and northern parts of the country in senior positions.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS
were often fired from their jobs or rejected by their families,
according to the Special Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human
Rights (UNCHR), who visited the country in December 2003.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides that all
workers are free to join or refrain from joining a trade union, and
workers exercised these rights in practice. Membership among the
country's 13 unions was approximately 200,000, which is approximately 3
percent of the available work force. A much higher percentage of
workers in the formal sector were in labor unions. Some unions alleged
that the Organization of Mozambican Workers, the largest union
federation, was not independent of FRELIMO.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
protects the right of workers to organize and engage in collective
bargaining. Less than 2 percent of the work force was in collective
bargaining contracts. The Government did not set private sector
salaries; existing unions were responsible for negotiating wage
increases. The Consultative Commission on Labor met periodically to
negotiate changes in the minimum wage. The Center for Arbitration,
Conciliation, and Mediation helped settle business-to-business problems
through binding arbitration.
The Constitution explicitly provides for the right to strike, with
the exception of civil servants, police, military personnel, and other
essential services (which include sanitation, fire fighting, air
traffic control, health care, water, electricity, fuel, post office,
telecommunications, and funeral services), and workers exercised this
right in practice. The law specifies that strikers must notify police,
the Government, union, and employers 48 hours in advance of intended
strikes. The law forbids retribution against strikers, the hiring of
substitute workers, and lockouts by employers. Specific labor disputes
generally were arbitrated through special workers' committees, formally
recognized by the Government.
There are export processing zones (EPZs) in Maputo and in Beira.
Workers in EPZs are subject to the same labor regulations as other
workers, and worker rights were generally respected in practice.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there
were no reports that such practices occurred in the formal economy;
however, children in rural areas were used as labor to settle financial
and other disputes (see Section 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law regulated child labor; however, child labor remained a problem. In
the wage economy, the minimum working age without restrictions is 18
years of age. The law permits children between the ages of 15 and 18 to
work subject to certain restrictions and the employer is required to
provide for their education and professional training and to ensure
conditions of work that are not damaging to their physical and moral
development. Children between the ages of 12 and 15 are permitted to
work under special conditions authorized jointly by the Ministries of
Labor, Health, and Education. For minors under 18 years, the maximum
workweek is 38 hours, and the maximum workday is 7 hours. Minors under
18 years of age are not permitted to work in unhealthy or dangerous
occupations or those requiring significant physical effort. Children
must undergo a medical examination before beginning work. By law,
children must be paid at least the minimum wage or a minimum of two-
thirds of the adult salary, whichever is higher.
Because of high adult unemployment in the formal sector, few
children were employed in regular wage positions; however, children,
including those under the age of 15, commonly worked on family farms;
independently in seasonal harvests or commercial plantations, where
they were paid on a piecework basis and principally involved picking
cotton or tea leaves; or in the urban informal sector, where they
performed such tasks as guarding cars, collecting scrap metal, working
as vendors, and selling trinkets and food in the streets. The
International Labor Organization estimated that between 30 and 35
percent of children ages 10 to 14 were working in the informal sector.
Children also were increasingly employed as poorly paid domestic
laborers.
Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS often were forced to work because
they were left without any adult family members or with only extended
family members who were unable to support them. Forced child labor was
a problem. Children in rural areas were used as labor to settle
financial and other disputes, with their families delegating the
children to work for limited periods of time to settle debts.
The Ministry of Labor is authorized to regulate child labor in both
the informal and formal sectors. Labor inspectors may obtain court
orders and use police to enforce compliance with child labor
provisions, and violations of child labor provisions are punishable
with fines. Enforcement mechanisms generally were adequate in the
formal sectors but remained inadequate in the regulation of informal
child labor. The Labor Inspectorate and police forces lacked adequate
staff, funds, and training to investigate child labor cases, especially
in areas outside of the capital. The Government provided training for
police on child prostitution and abuse (including pornography);
however, there was no specialized child labor training for the Labor
Inspectorate. The Government disseminated information and provided
education about the dangers of child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--During the year, there was an
approximately 15 percent increase in the minimum wage to $55 (1,100,000
meticais) per month for industrial workers and $39 (790,000 meticais)
per month for agricultural workers; however, neither minimum wage
provided a decent standard of living for an average worker and family.
Many workers turned to a second job, if available; maintained their own
gardens; or depended on the income of other family members to survive.
Only a small percentage of laborers worked at the minimum wage level.
Less than 10 percent of workers were in salaried positions, and the
majority of the labor force was employed in subsistence farming and the
informal sector. Although the industrial sector frequently paid above
minimum wage, there was little industry outside of the Maputo area.
The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage
rates in the private sector and the Ministry of Planning and Finance in
the public sector. Violations of minimum wage rates usually were
investigated only after workers registered a complaint. It was
customary for workers to receive benefits such as transportation and
food in addition to wages.
The standard legal workweek is 40 hours, but can be extended to 48
hours. After 48 hours, overtime must be paid at 50 percent over base
hourly salary. Overtime is limited by law to two hours per day and 100
hours per year. Foreign workers are protected under the law.
Worker complaints about employers deducting social security
contributions from wages but failing to pay them into accounts and lack
of access to the Social Security system continued during the year.
In the small formal sector, health and environmental laws enacted
to protect workers; however, the Ministry of Labor enforced these laws
ineffectively, and the Government only occasionally closed firms for
noncompliance. There continued to be significant violations of labor
legislation in many companies and services. In the first 6 months of
the year, the Ministry of Labor estimated that there were 154
industrial accidents, 6 of which resulted in death. Most of these
accidents were blamed on unsafe practices or the lack of safety
equipment. Workers have the right to remove themselves from work
situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardy to
their continued employment; however, in practice this right was
restricted by threats of dismissal and peer pressure.
__________
NAMIBIA
Namibia is a multiparty, multiracial democracy. Sam Nujoma, the
leader of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) and
President since the country's independence in 1990, will step down at
the end of his term in March 2005. On November 15 and 16, citizens
elected Minister of Lands, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation Hifikepunye
Pohamba to be the next President. International and domestic observers
agreed the general elections were generally free and reflected the will
of the electorate despite some irregularities; SWAPO won three-quarters
of the seats in the National Assembly. The judiciary was independent
but at times inefficient.
The police, including the paramilitary Special Field Force (SFF),
supervised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Namibian Defense
Force (NDF), supervised by the Ministry of Defense, shared
responsibility for internal security. The Namibian Central Intelligence
Service (NCIS) has responsibility for national security-related
intelligence inside and outside the country. Civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of
the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The market-based economy was heavily dependent on mining, fish, and
tourism; the population was 1.8 million. More than 50 percent of the
working population was engaged in subsistence agriculture. The per
capita income of approximately $1,870 masked extreme disparity between
the income levels of black citizens and white citizens, which resulted
in large part from the pre-independence apartheid regime; however, the
living standards of black citizens continued to improve. White citizens
and foreign interests still largely controlled ranching. Unemployment
exceeded 30 percent and affected primarily the black majority.
Government policies continued to promote equality through education,
job creation, and promotion of entrepreneurial opportunities for the
historically disadvantaged.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were serious problems in several areas.
Security forces killed and abused citizens during arrests and
detentions. Some security force members who committed abuses were
arrested and tried; however, the Government did not take action in
other cases. Problems with arbitrary arrest and lengthy pretrial
detention continued. A large court backlog, due primarily to resource
constraints, resulted in lengthy delays of trials. High-level
government officials continued to respond to criticism of ruling party
and government policies with verbal abuse. There continued to be
pressure on journalists who worked for government-owned media outlets
not to criticize the Government. Violence against women and children,
including rape and child abuse, continued to be a serious problem.
Women also continued to experience serious legal and cultural
discrimination. Racial and ethnic discrimination and serious
disparities in education, health, employment, and working conditions
persisted, as did discrimination against indigenous persons. There were
reports of forced labor, including by children. Child labor was a
problem; however, the Government continued its efforts to end this
practice. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that Angolan
Armed Forces (FAA) soldiers intimidated and abused civilians.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings by the Government or its agents; however, security
forces killed two persons during the year. On July 15, a police officer
shot and killed Francis Sikwai Musanza, who allegedly was fishing
illegally. On December 16, police shot and killed Jeffrey Shalulu, who
had escaped from Otjiwarongo police cells, where he was awaiting trial.
No further information was available about either case.
During the year, the Prosecutor General declined to press charges
against an NDF member who in 2003 shot and killed Mohamed Sawana.
There were no developments in the 2003 police beating of Alilo
Ndungula, who subsequently died.
There were no further developments in 2002 killings by security
forces.
Unexploded ordnance killed and injured several persons during the
year. For example, on July 7, unexploded ordnance killed Dirk Jansen at
Otjomuise. The police Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit and NDF
operational clearance teams participated in demining activities during
the year.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
There were no developments, and none were expected, in the 2002
disappearance of Fransisco Chivela, who security forces detained on
suspicion of being a ``UNITA bandit.''
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
security forces sometimes beat or otherwise abused persons, including
persons held in custody.
Unlike in previous years, no prisoners alleged that they had been
tortured.
Despite a police directive that prohibited the use of sjamboks
(heavy leather whips), security forces continued to use them.
In May, Steven Visagie, who fled custody at the Walvis Bay Police
Cells and subsequently was rearrested, charged in a media report that
security forces used tear gas in cells ``for no reason.''
On August 31, police held down, kicked, and arrested four
foreigners they reportedly mistook for thieves. The foreigners, who
were released, did not press charges.
During the year, the Government took action against some security
force members who abused persons in 2003. For example, a court martial
convicted and fined the officer who abused one of the female NDF
recruits who filed charges of mistreatment in July; the case of the
other recruit was dismissed for lack of evidence. A court martial was
scheduled for March 2005 to try NDF members who harassed and beat Beau
Pietersen and Hatani Mao Eichab for refusing to remove their earrings.
The Prosecutor General declined to prosecute the NDF member who in
2003 allegedly shot Sonette Benson in the leg.
Paramilitary units also abused persons. In February, SFF members
reportedly beat Theophillus Ambondo, allegedly for transporting maize
meal in a government vehicle on the weekend.
On November 14, at Kayira-yira village, SFF members reportedly beat
Lyasintu Mendosa before taking him to the Rundu police, who
subsequently transported Mendosa to the hospital; on November 16, he
was discharged from the hospital to appear in the Magistrate's Court on
charges of possessing marijuana. No further information was available
on the case.
There were no developments in the June 2003 case in which SFF
members allegedly assaulted George Petrus.
During the year, media and human rights groups continued to report
on the ongoing court cases that resulted from security forces
responding with violence to secessionist attacks in 1999 (see Sections
1.d. and 1.e.). More than 100 related cases were pending at year's end.
During the year, some citizens of the Mafwe ethnic group complained
of police harassment in the form of repeated interrogations about the
1999 secessionist attacks at Katima Mulilo (see Section 1.d.).
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of intimidation and
abuse of civilians in the northern border areas by FAA soldiers.
Unexploded ordnance continued to injure persons; however, there
were no reports of injuries from landmines during the year (see Section
1.a.).
Conditions in prisons and military detention facilities were
Spartan; however, they generally met international standards. There
were incidents of overcrowding and poor maintenance. Victims of abuse
were able to pursue legal remedies. The Ministry of Prisons and
Correctional Services administered the country's prisons and jails and
continued to work to improve conditions.
In January, Josef Kandjimba died in police custody; Kandjimba's
family charged that his death resulted from police failure to take him
to a December 2003 medical checkup.
Female prisoners were held separately from male prisoners. The
Government also made efforts to separate juvenile offenders from adult
criminals, and there were separate facilities for child offenders in
Windhoek and Mariental; however, in many rural areas, juveniles
continued to be held with adults. There were several pilot programs
that provided alternatives to incarceration for juvenile offenders.
Pretrial detainees generally were held separately from convicted
prisoners.
The Government continued to grant nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) regular access to prisons and prisoners. The International
Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) requested and received prison
access.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest or detention except in situations of national
emergency; however, security forces at times did not observe these
prohibitions.
The country's 10,000-member national police force (NAMPOL) is
highly centralized with regional commands responsible to the Inspector
General of Police, who reports to the Minister of Home Affairs.
Approximately half of NAMPOL's overall complement is assigned to the
SFF, a paramilitary unit made up primarily of combatants from the
former People's Liberation Army of Namibia; SFF members were assigned
to guard duty, checkpoints, and the maintenance of public order. NAMPOL
lacked the resources, training, and personnel to consistently deter or
investigate street crime.
The police continued to make use of a human rights training course
and a human rights training manual designed by the Legal Assistance
Center (LAC). At times security force members accused of committing
abuses were arrested and tried in military courts or the civilian
criminal justice system; however, in other cases, the Government did
not take any action against those responsible for abuses.
Persons who were arrested must be informed of the reason for their
arrest and must be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours of their
detention. Those accused are entitled to defense by legal counsel of
their choice, and those who cannot afford a lawyer are entitled to
state-provided counsel; however, in practice, many accused persons in
remote and rural areas were not represented by counsel, primarily due
to the lack of resources. Prisoners generally had access to legal
counsel and family during regular visiting hours. Detainees had access
to their lawyers prior to trial. There was a functioning bail system in
place, and the LAC reported that it generally was observed except in
rural areas, where persons often were unaware of their legal rights.
On January 2, police at an Ondangwa roadblock arrested Shefeni
Daniel Linekela for being a suspected illegal immigrant. Linekela, who
was detained for 5 days, was released without charge.
Under a state of emergency, the Constitution permits detention
without trial, although the names of detainees must be published in the
Government's gazette within 14 days, and their cases must be reviewed
within 1 month by an advisory board appointed by the President.
During the 1999 state of emergency declared in response to Caprivi
Liberation Army (CLA) attacks in Katima Mulilo, the security forces
detained several hundred suspected CLA members and sympathizers, most
of whom were released after 2 weeks. Trial proceedings began in October
2003; 120 suspects remained in detention at Grootfontein at year's end
(see Section 1.e.).
The seven refugees who were arrested on related charges of high
treason after being forcibly returned from Botswana in December 2003
remained in detention at year's end; their trial was scheduled for
early 2005.
Citizens who were arrested arbitrarily used civil suits as legal
recourse in many cases. In October, the High Court awarded damages of
$2,000 (NAD 12,000) to Luiza Lomba, a citizen who was detained as an
illegal immigrant in 2000.
The case of Aurelio Samakupa Sondjamba, who filed damages against
the Government after his 2002 release from prison after being held for
2 years without charge, was settled out of court during the year;
Sondjamba was awarded compensation.
The 2002 civil suit filed by Anna Shingenge, who was detained by
King Munkundi of the Ongandjera Traditional Authority for 7 months, was
settled out of court under confidential terms.
There was no further information on the 2002 arrest of three
persons who remained in detention at year's end for suspected
involvement with the CLA.
A trial must take place within ``a reasonable time,'' or the
accused must be released. Human rights organizations have criticized
the length of time that pretrial detainees were held, which has
extended beyond 1 year in some cases (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the court system at times was
inefficient. During the year, government and ruling party officials
harshly criticized High Court Judge Elton Hoff.
The formal court system has 3 levels: 30 magistrates' courts; the
High Court; and the Supreme Court. The latter also served as a court of
appeals and as a constitutional review court.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial with a
presumption of innocence until proven guilty; however, this right was
limited somewhat in practice by long delays in hearing cases in the
regular courts and the uneven application of constitutional protections
in the traditional system.
The lack of qualified magistrates and other court officials and the
high cost of legal aid resulted in a serious backlog of criminal cases,
which often translated into delays of up to 1 year or more between
arrest and trial, contravening constitutional provisions for the right
to a speedy trial. Some of those awaiting trial were incarcerated in
the same conditions as those of convicted criminals.
During the year, procedural issues continued to dominate the high
treason trial of 120 detainees arrested in connection with the 1999
attacks on government institutions at Katima Mulilo (see Section 1.d.).
On February 24, High Court Judge Hoff ordered the release of 13 of the
120 detainees after ruling that the court did not have jurisdiction
because of irregularities in their extradition from Botswana and
Zambia. After their release, the 13 were rearrested on the same
charges. The Government appealed the High Court's ruling to the Supreme
Court, which overturned the decision on July 21. High Court criminal
proceedings for all 120 suspects were initiated on August 23,
subsequently postponed, and rescheduled to resume in January 2005.
During the year, the Government and ruling party officials harshly
criticized Judge Hoff and his decision to release the 13 detainees. The
Deputy Minister of Enviroment and Tourism called the Judge ``disloyal
and unpatriotic,'' and SWAPO Party Youth League Secretary Paulus Kapia
denounced Hoff and the human rights organizations that defended him.
The Law Society charged Ilonga and Kapia with contempt of court;
however, no trial date had been set by year's end.
Most rural citizens first encountered the legal system through the
traditional courts, which dealt with minor criminal offenses such as
petty theft and infractions of local customs among members of the same
ethnic group. The law delineates which offenses may be dealt with under
the traditional system. The law defines the role, duties, and powers of
traditional leaders and provides that customary law is invalid if it is
inconsistent with provisions of the Constitution.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides all citizens with the right
to privacy and requires arresting officers to secure a judicial warrant
before conducting a search, except in situations of national emergency;
government authorities generally respected these rights in practice,
and violations were subject to legal action.
Under the law, the NCIS is authorized to conduct wiretaps,
intercept mail, and engage in other covert activities inside and
outside the country to protect national security; however, wiretaps and
covert surveillance required the consent of a judge.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, subject to reasonable restrictions
in situations such as a state of emergency, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice; however, high-level
government officials sometimes responded to criticism of the Government
and ruling party with verbal abuse. There also were reports of
government pressure on reporters who worked for government-owned media.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
The Government contributed financially to the New Era newspaper and
the Namibia Press Agency, both parastatals. The ruling SWAPO party
owned one publication, Namibia Today. There were six independent
newspapers. Reporters for independent newspapers continued to criticize
the Government openly and did not engage in self-censorship.
The Government owned and operated the Namibian Broadcasting
Corporation (NBC) Radio and Television. NBC television and nine radio
services that broadcast in English and indigenous languages were the
most widely heard and influential media in the country. During the
year, there were reports of government influence on NBC operations and
editorial content as well as self-censorship by the staff. There were
nine private radio stations, one private television station, and a
private cable and satellite television service that broadcast
international news and entertainment programs. The ruling SWAPO party
owned 51 percent of this cable service.
Government departments were precluded from advertising in The
Namibian newspaper or purchasing it with state funds because of the
newspaper's critical coverage of the President and the Government.
Political parties, including the ruling SWAPO party, advertised in The
Namibian.
During the year, high-level government and ruling party officials
sharply and publicly criticized journalists in response to perceived
criticism of the Government or ruling party; however, there were fewer
such incidents than in previous years. Such verbal attacks did not
appear to have significantly affected the aggressive style of the
independent media.
There were no restrictions on Internet access or use. There were
growing numbers of domestic web pages, and the major newspapers had
popular websites.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, except in situations
of national emergency, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice. Organizers of public meetings were required to
obtain prior police approval, but many public gatherings took place
without such approval and without interference by the Government.
Unlike in the previous year, security forces did not disperse
demonstrations during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, except in situations of national emergency, and the Government
generally enforced these rights in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum; however, the Government required individual status
determinations for asylum cases. The Government cooperated with the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. The Government also provided
temporary protection to certain individuals who may not qualify as
refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
At year's end, the population at the Osire Refugee Camp was
approximately 10,000. Approximately 90 percent of this population was
from Angola; the remaining refugees were from the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and other African countries. During the
year, 3,000 refugees voluntarily returned to Angola. The Government
generally did not permit refugees and asylum seekers to work or live
outside the Osire refugee camp. Education through grade 10 was
available to all refugees at the camp, and the Government facilitated
further secondary education for students with financial sponsorship at
schools outside the camp. Some tension with local farmers persisted;
farmers accused some refugees of stealing firewood, and refugees
claimed they were not paid for informal labor.
The Government continued to maintain strict control over civilian
access to the Osire refugee camp; however, the ICRC, the UNHCR, and the
UNHCR's NGO partners had regular and unrestricted access to the camp.
Most of the approximately 1,000 Caprivi refugees--primarily
Barakwena San--who in 2003 returned to the country from Botswana had
assimilated into their communities by year's end.
In July, the Botswana Court of Appeal rejected the Government's
appeal to have 13 alleged Caprivi secessionists extradited to face
charges of murder and high treason. During the year, 2 of these
individuals died of natural causes; the remaining 11 were being
detained while the UNHCR reviewed their refugee claims.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right during the
year in presidential, parliamentary, regional, and local elections.
The Constitution establishes a bicameral Parliament and provides
for general elections every 5 years and regional elections every 6
years. Members of the National Assembly are elected on a party list
system on a proportional basis. National Council members are elected
from within popularly elected Regional Councils.
Presidential and parliamentary elections were held on November 15
and 16. Hifikepunye Pohamba, SWAPO Party candidate and Minister of
Lands, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation, was elected President with
76.4 percent of the vote; SWAPO won 55 of 72 elected National Assembly
seats. International and domestic observers characterized both
elections as free and reflecting the will of the electorate despite
some irregularities. Observers criticized the inefficient vote
tabulation system and the unequal access to media coverage and campaign
financing. In the National Assembly, 6 opposition parties won a total
of 17 seats: The Congress of Democrats Party, the Democratic Turnhalle
Alliance, the United Democratic Front, the National United Democratic
Organization, the Republican Party, and the Monitor Action Group. The
inauguration of President-elect Pohamba and the National Assembly was
scheduled for March 2005.
Legislation--including the 2003 Anti-Corruption Bill--and
institutions--including the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of
the Auditor-General--were in place to combat public corruption;
however, corruption and lack of transparency were growing problems.
During the year, there were notable cases of malfeasance in several of
the country's parastatals. Reports of corruption in the Airports
Company, the Social Security Commission, and the Roads Authority
received widespread media coverage. The Anti-Corruption Bill had not
been implemented by year's end due to budgetary constraints.
No laws provided for public access to government information;
however, the Government generally provided such access.
Women held 20 seats in the 78-seat National Assembly. There was a
Women's Caucus in Parliament that reviewed legislation for gender
sensitivity. There were 5 female ministers, including the Attorney
General, and 5 female deputy ministers among the 45 ministerial and
deputy ministerial positions.
Historic economic and educational disadvantages limited the
participation of the indigenous San ethnic group in politics; however,
a member of the San community represented the SWAPO party in the
National Assembly. Virtually all of the country's other ethnic
minorities were represented in Parliament and in senior positions in
the Cabinet. Members of smaller ethnic groups held the offices of Prime
Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Speaker of the National Assembly.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases; however, high-level
government officials continued to use harsh language in response to NGO
criticism of the ruling party and government policies. Government and
ruling party officials continued to attack verbally human rights NGOs,
including the National Society for Human Rights. For example, at a
March 9 press conference, the Secretary of SWAPO's Youth League charged
that the LAC, the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), and the
Society of Advocates were unpatriotic and ``self-declared defenders of
the enemies of the Namibian people.'' At a November 12 SWAPO rally, two
Ohangwena regional councilors referred to the NSHR staff as
``traitors.'' Despite verbal attacks, NGOs continued to criticize
government policies freely.
During the year, representatives of international human rights
organizations visited the country.
There was an autonomous ombudsman, with whom the Government
cooperated.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, creed,
gender, or religion, and specifically prohibits ``the practice and
ideology of apartheid''; however, the Government did not effectively
enforce these prohibitions.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including beating and
rape, was widespread. Traditional attitudes regarding the subordination
of women exacerbated problems of sexual and domestic violence. Domestic
violence is against the law, and the law defines rape in broad terms
and allows for the prosecution of spousal rape. There continued to be
significant attention paid to the problems of rape and domestic
violence. In some Magistrate's Courts, there were special courtrooms to
protect vulnerable witnesses from open testimony; the courtrooms
featured a cubicle made of one-way glass and child-friendly waiting
rooms.
Women and Child Protection Units, staffed with police officers
trained to assist victims of sexual assault, were located in nine
cities; during the year, the PEACE Center and other NGOs continued to
provide training to these units. Police reported an increase in the
number of women who reported rape and domestic violence.
The Constitution prohibits discrimination against women, including
employment discrimination; however, men dominated positions in upper
management. The Ministry of Labor and the Employment Equity Commission,
which reports to the Minister of Labor, were responsible for problems
involving discrimination in employment; the Ministry of Women Affairs
and Child Welfare was responsible for advocating for women's rights.
The Ministry of Justice's Law Reform and Development Commission
advocated for women's rights in legislation, such as the Maintenance
Act. The law prohibits discriminatory practices against women married
under civil law; however, women married under customary (traditional)
law continued to face legal and cultural discrimination. Traditional
practices that permitted family members to confiscate the property of
deceased men from their widows and children still existed.
Children.--The Constitution enumerates children's rights, including
those in the area of education and health, and during the year,
approximately 20 percent of government expenditures were designated for
education and 15 percent for health care; however, in practice,
resource constraints and untrained support staff resulted in inadequate
attention to child welfare.
The Constitution provides children with the right to primary and
junior secondary education (grades 1 to 10); however, the numerous
fees, which included fees for uniforms, books, boarding costs, and
school improvement, placed a heavy burden on students' families, and
precluded some children from attending school. In general, more girls
than boys were enrolled in secondary schools. Many San children did not
attend school.
During the year, the Government took several steps to provide
medical care and other assistance to the approximately 100,000 HIV/AIDS
orphans and other vulnerable children.
Child abuse was a serious and increasingly acknowledged problem.
The authorities vigorously prosecuted crimes against children,
particularly rape and incest. The law protects children under 18 years
of age by criminalizing sexual exploitation, child pornography, and
child prostitution. The age of sexual consent was 16 years. During the
year, the Government provided training for police officials to improve
the handling of child sex abuse cases. Centers for abused women and
children worked actively to reduce the trauma suffered by abused
children.
There were a few reports of child prostitution, and parents as well
as perpetrators were liable in such cases. For example, an
investigation during the year into the disappearance of a 7th grade
pupil at Narraville Primary School revealed that students as young as
11 and 12 were involved in sexual relations with older men; in some
cases, parents seeking additional income reportedly had encouraged such
activities. The school called an emergency meeting of the parents to
address the issue, the State opened a charge sheet, and the Women and
Child Protection Unit of the police initiated an investigation.
The growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans increased the vulnerability
of children to sexual abuse and exploitation.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The Prevention of Organized Crime Act,
which was enacted in November, specifically prohibits trafficking in
persons, and there were no reports of persons being trafficked to,
from, or within the country. The law also prohibits slavery,
kidnapping, forced labor, including forced prostitution, child labor,
and alien smuggling. Traffickers were subject to fines of up to
$166,000 (NAD 1 million) or up to 50 years' imprisonment.
There were a few reports of child prostitution (see Section 5,
Children).
Persons With Disabilities.--While discrimination on the basis of
disability is not addressed in the Constitution, the Labor Act
prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in
employment; however, enforcement in this area was ineffective. Although
there was no legal discrimination against persons with disabilities,
societal discrimination persisted. The Government legally does not
require special access to public buildings for persons with
disabilities, and some ministries remained inaccessible to them.
Although some municipal governments have installed ramps and special
curbing for persons with disabilities at street crossings, physical
access for those with disabilities remained a problem. Disability
issues continued to receive greater public attention than in previous
years, with wider press coverage of the human rights problems that
confront persons with disabilities. During the year, the Electoral
Commission of Namibia took steps to accommodate voters with
disabilities, including the provision of Braille templates for ballots
in the presidential and national assembly elections.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Despite constitutional
prohibitions, societal, racial, and ethnic discrimination persisted.
Many nonwhites continued to complain that the Government was not moving
quickly enough to provide education, health, housing, employment, and
access to land. Some citizens continued to accuse the Government of
providing more development assistance and professional opportunities to
the majority Ovambo ethnic group. There also were reported cases of
black farm workers suffering discrimination in remote areas at the
hands of white farm owners.
Indigenous People.--The San, the country's earliest known
inhabitants, historically have been exploited by other ethnic groups.
By law, all indigenous groups participate equally in decisions
affecting their lands, cultures, traditions, and allocations of natural
resources; however, San and other indigenous citizens have been unable
to exercise fully these rights as a result of minimal access to
education, limited economic opportunities under colonial rule, and
their relative isolation. The Government has taken measures to end
societal discrimination against the San, including seeking their advice
about proposed legislation on communally held lands and increasing
their access to education; however, many San children did not attend
school. In February, the LAC filed charges on behalf of 18 members of
the San community against more than 20 communal farmers who allegedly
beat them after accusing the San of stock theft; the case was pending
at year's end. NGOs reported a decrease in complaints that San were
unable to obtain proper and accurate identification documents.
The Government's authority to confer recognition or withhold it
from traditional leaders, even in opposition to local preference, was
controversial because of the leaders' influence on local events,
including local police powers. In some cases, the Government withheld
recognition from genuine traditional leaders for political reasons.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--On December 8, the
Government signed into law a new Labor Act, which removed the previous
law's protection of homosexuals from employment discrimination. During
the year, senior government officials continued to make disparaging
public remarks about homosexuals. For example, in a May 6 parliamentary
debate, Justice Minister Albert Kawana called homosexuality ``illegal
and criminal.''
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom
of association, including freedom to form and join trade unions, and
workers exercised this right in practice. A survey by trade unions
indicated that approximately 140,000 of the 280,000 workers in the
formal sector were unionized. Farm workers and domestic servants
working on rural and remote farms often were ignorant of their rights,
and unions experienced obstacles in attempting to organize these
workers; as a result, they reportedly suffered abuse by employers. The
law provides a process for employer recognition of trade unions and
protection for members and organizers.
The law specifically protects both union organizers and striking
workers from employer retaliation; however, the scarcity of judges and
lack of expertise in labor law caused lengthy and unnecessary delays in
such cases.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides employees with the right to bargain individually or
collectively and to recognize the exclusive collective bargaining power
of the union when a majority of the workers were members of that union;
workers exercised these rights in practice. Collective bargaining was
not practiced widely outside the mining and construction industries,
which had centralized, industry-wide bargaining. Almost all collective
bargaining was at the workplace and company level. The Ministry of
Labor cited lack of information and basic negotiation skills as factors
hampering workers' ability to bargain with employers successfully.
Except for workers providing essential services such as jobs
related to public health and safety, workers have the right to strike
once conciliation procedures are exhausted and 48-hour notice has been
given to the employer and labor commissioner; legal strikes were
conducted during the year. Under the law, strike action can be used
only in disputes involving specific worker interests, such as pay
raises. Disputes over worker rights, including dismissals, must be
referred to a labor court for arbitration. The law protects workers
engaged in legal strikes from unfair dismissal.
There are export processing zones (EPZs) at the Walvis Bay and
Oshikango industrial parks and a number of single-factory EPZs outside
of these parks. The law applies to EPZs, and unions have been active in
the EPZs since their establishment.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there
continued to be media reports during the year that farm workers
(including some children on family-owned commercial farms) and domestic
workers often received inadequate compensation for their labor and were
subject to strict control by employers. Given the Ministry of Labor's
resource constraints, labor inspectors sometimes encountered problems
in gaining access to the country's large, family-owned, commercial
farms to investigate possible labor code violations.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Criminal penalties and court orders were available to the Government to
enforce child labor laws; however, such action involved a complicated
legal procedure, and child labor was a problem. Under the law, the
minimum age for employment is 14 years, with higher age requirements
for night work and in certain sectors such as mining and construction.
Children below the age of 14 often worked on family-owned commercial
farms and in the informal sector, and some also worked in communal
areas.
The Government has taken steps to end child labor abuses. During
the year, the Ministry of Labor continued to hire additional
inspectors, who used revised inspection checklists to include specific
inquiries on International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 182
concerns. The Ministry continued to work together to monitor abuses
with ILO representatives, who visited the country during the year. The
Government also continued to work with NGOs to assist the victims of
child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no statutory minimum
wage law; however, the mining, construction, and agricultural sectors
set basic levels of pay through collective bargaining. However, a 2003
survey by the Namibian Farmworkers Union claimed that nearly 40 percent
of 200 farms surveyed paid their workers less than minimum wage. In
Windhoek's historically disadvantaged high-population density areas,
minimum wages for workers did not provide a decent standard of living
for a worker and family. Wage levels for the less educated majority
remained very low.
The standard legal workweek is 45 hours and required at least one
36-hour rest period per week. An employer may require no more than 10
hours per week of overtime. The new Labor Act mandates 24 workdays of
annual leave per year, at least 30 workdays of sick leave over a 3-year
period, and 3 months of maternity leave paid in part by the Social
Security Commission. However, in practice, these provisions were not
always observed or enforced rigorously by the Ministry of Labor.
The Government mandates occupational health and safety standards,
and the Labor Act empowers the President to enforce these standards
through inspections and criminal penalties. Labor laws generally were
implemented efficiently; however, the Ministry of Labor still lacked an
adequate number of trained inspectors to monitor adherence to such
labor regulations as providing overtime pay and social security by some
companies, especially small, family-owned operations. The law requires
employers to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of their employees.
It provides employees with the right to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations; however, some workers did not have this
right in practice.
The law accords the same rights to legal foreign workers as to
citizens.
__________
NIGER
Niger is a republic that returned to democracy in 1999, following
coups d'etat in 1996 and 1999, and continued efforts to consolidate a
democratic system and a constitutional government. On December 4,
Tandja Mamadou was elected to his second 5-year presidential term with
65 percent of the vote in an election that international observers
called generally free and fair. Four parties joined the ruling
coalition of the National Movement for the Development of Society
(MNSD) and the Democratic and Socialist Convention (CDS) to win 88 of
the 113 seats in the National Assembly. On December 24, Tandja re-
appointed MNSD party president Hama Amadou as Prime Minister. The
judiciary continued to show signs of independence; however, family and
business ties could influence lower court decisions, and there were
reports that the executive branch influenced the judicial process.
Judicial corruption and inefficiency were problems.
Security forces consist of the armed forces, composed of the Army
and Air Force; National Forces for Intervention and Security (FNIS),
composed of the Republican Guard and the Saharan Unit for Security;
gendarmerie (paramilitary police); and national police. The armed
forces, under the Ministry of Defense, were responsible for internal
and external security; the gendarmerie, also under the Defense
Ministry, had primary responsibility for rural security; the FNIS,
under the Interior Ministry, was responsible for domestic security and
the protection of high-level officials and federal buildings; and the
national police, also under the Interior Ministry, were responsible for
urban law enforcement. Civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control of the security forces. A few members of the security
forces committed human rights abuses.
The economy was market based and depended primarily on subsistence
farming, herding, small trading, and informal markets. Approximately 15
percent of the economy was in the formal sector, primarily in light
industry and government services. Approximately 61 percent of the
population of 11.2 million lived on less than a $1 a day, and the
country's per capita income was less than $200 a year. The rate of
economic growth in 2003 was 3 percent; the Government's projection for
the rate of growth by year's end was 4.1 percent. Drought, locust
infestation, deforestation, soil degradation, high population growth
rates, and exceedingly low literacy were problems.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. During the year,
security forces killed and abused persons, although there were fewer
such incidents than in previous years. Prison conditions remained poor
and sometimes life-threatening, and prolonged pretrial detention
remained a problem. Police arrested a journalist and an opposition
politician during the year. Unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports that the Government limited freedom of speech, the press, or
academic freedom. Security forces also forcibly dispersed violent
student protests and injured numerous demonstrators. The Government
continued to ban several Islamist organizations that engaged in or
threatened violence. Domestic violence and societal discrimination
against women continued to be serious problems. Female genital
mutilation (FGM) persisted, despite a government ban on the practice.
There was societal discrimination against persons with certain
disabilities and ethnic minorities, and reports continued of a form of
slavery or servitude. Child labor and forced or compulsory labor,
including by children, occurred. There were reports of trafficking,
including child prostitution.
During the year, the Government took steps to decentralize and to
consolidate democratic institutions by holding generally free and fair
presidential, legislative, and municipal elections.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, security forces killed persons during the year.
On January 27, Adam Amenge, the President of the local chapter of
the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD) Party in
Tchirozerine, Agadez region, was killed; Rhissa Ag Boula, the then-
Minister of Tourism, was implicated in the case and resigned. On
February 19, Ag Boula was charged with complicity to murder and placed
under preventative detention in the prison in Say, where he remained at
year's end awaiting trial. On June 30, 9 of 12 other persons arrested
in connection with the killing were granted provisional release. There
were allegations that the killing was politically motivated; however,
other observers claimed the motivation was personal.
In March, in Agadez, police shot and killed an alleged murderer as
he tried to flee the scene of the crime; one police officer was
prosecuted, fined, and sentenced to 3 years in jail.
On August 10, armed men attacked 3 buses along the Agadez-Arlit
road in the northern region of Agadez; the attacks resulted in 3
deaths, 14 injuries, and the kidnapping of 2 gendarmes, who were among
the passengers. The armed men escaped and the whereabouts of the
gendarmes remained unknown at year's end.
There were no developments in the 2002 killings of a protester and
two soldiers.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that persons
died from landmines.
There were no reports of ethnic violence during the year.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
On August 10, armed men kidnapped two gendarmes, who remained
unaccounted for at year's end (see Section 1.a.).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were a few reports that security forces beat and abused persons.
In May, security forces in Tera detained without charge a health
worker for refusing medical treatment to the child of a Republican
Guard; the health worker, who was released after 48 hours, reportedly
was beaten and humiliated in detention. The case was under
investigation at year's end.
In June, security forces in the area of Tesker reportedly beat and
abused persons after civilians in the area had killed a soldier during
a fight in March. Local human rights organizations, which provided
legal assistance to the claimants, condemned the security forces; the
case was under investigation at year's end.
Police used tear gas to disperse student protests (see Section
2.b.).
During the year, the three gendarmes from Torodi convicted in 2003
of using excessive force during a 2002 interrogation appealed the
judgment; the case was pending in the Appeals Court at year's end.
During the year, armed persons claiming to reconstitute the Air and
Azawak Liberation Front (FLAA), a former Tuareg rebel group, attacked
vehicles and passengers in the northern region of Agadez. On June 5,
self-proclaimed FLAA members attacked vehicles and stole money and
valuables from the passengers; on July 8, another group attacked
passenger vehicles and demanded the release of Rhissa Ag Boula, a
former leader of the Tuareg rebellion and the former Minister of
Tourism (see Section 1.a.).
Conditions in all 35 of the country's prisons were poor and life
threatening. Prisons were underfunded, understaffed, and overcrowded.
For example, in Niamey's Civil Prison, there were approximately 700
prisoners in a facility built for 350; more than 400 of these were
awaiting trial at year's end. In 2003, a new maximum security prison
was completed in Koutoukale for dangerous criminals, but it did little
to relieve the prison system's severe overcrowding. Family visits were
allowed, and prisoners could receive supplemental food, medicine, and
other necessities from their families; however, nutrition and health
conditions were poor, and deaths occurred from AIDS, tuberculosis, and
malaria.
Corruption among prison staff was rampant. Prisoners could bribe
officials to leave prison for the day and serve their sentences in the
evenings. Some prisoners bribed officials to serve their sentences in
the national hospital.
Prisoners were segregated by gender, and minors and adults were
incarcerated separately; there was one juvenile detention center.
Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
Human rights observers, including the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC), were granted unrestricted access to prisons and
detention centers and visited them during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the law prohibits detention without
charge in excess of 48 hours; however, police at times violated these
provisions.
The police force, which was under the direction of the Ministry of
Interior, was ineffective, primarily because of inadequate resources.
Basic supplies, such as vehicle fuel, radios, uniforms, handcuffs,
batons, and badges were scarce. Patrols were sporadic, and emergency
response time in Niamey could take 45 minutes. Police training was
minimal, and only specialized police units had basic weapons-handling
skills. In December 2003, the National Assembly adopted legislation
granting police more decision-making authority and increased
compensation; however, corruption remained pervasive.
If police failed to gather sufficient evidence within the detention
period, the prosecutor can give the case to another officer, and a new
48-hour detention period begins. Poor communications hindered accurate
identification of detainees and could result in prolonging the 48-hour
detention period. A defendant has the right to a lawyer immediately
upon detention, and bail is available for crimes carrying a penalty of
less than 10 years' imprisonment. Widespread ignorance of the law and
lack of financial means prevented many of the accused from taking full
advantage of these rights.
Security forces detained a journalist and an opposition politician
during the year (see Section 2.a.).
Police, acting under authority granted them by the Security Law,
occasionally conducted sweeps to detain suspected criminals.
In July, the remaining cases of the persons arrested in January
2003 following the 2002 mutinies were reassigned to the new Military
Court and were pending trial at year's end.
There were serious backlogs in the judicial system. Despite legal
limits to the pretrial confinement period of indicted persons,
detention frequently lasted months or years; some persons have been
waiting as long as 6 years to be charged.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the executive branch sometimes
interfered with the judicial process. In civilian matters, there were
credible reports that family and business ties influenced lower court
decisions. Judges sometimes feared reassignment or having their
financial benefits reduced if they rendered a decision unfavorable to
the Government. Nevertheless, there continued to be evidence of
increased judicial independence. In May, the Constitutional Court ruled
against changes proposed by the Government to the Electoral Code. In
2002, the Constitutional Court noted that the Government did not have
the right to remove the Sultan of Zinder from his position; the Sultan
still faced fraud charges at year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no court proceedings that
occurred in the absence of defendants and their counsel.
Defendants and prosecutors could appeal a verdict, first to the
Court of Appeals, then to the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals
reviewed questions of fact and law, while the Supreme Court reviewed
only the application of the law and constitutional questions. There
also were customary courts.
Defendants have the right to counsel, to be present at trial, to
confront witnesses, to examine the evidence against them, and to appeal
verdicts. The Constitution affirms the presumption of innocence. The
law provides for counsel at public expense for minors and indigent
defendants charged with crimes carrying a sentence of 10 years or more.
Although lawyers complied with government requests to provide counsel,
the Government generally did not remunerate them. Widespread ignorance
of the law prevented many accused from taking full advantage of these
rights. There was only one defense attorney known to have a private
practice outside the capital, although lawyers traveled to various
locations of the country to provide legal assistance as requested.
A military court was established in November 2003 and provides the
same rights as civilian courts; however, it cannot try civilians.
Traditional chiefs could act as mediators and counselors and had
authority in customary law cases as well as status under national law,
where they were designated as auxiliaries to local officials. Chiefs
collected local taxes and received stipends from the Government, but
they had no police or judicial powers and could only mediate, not
arbitrate, customary law disputes. Customary courts, located only in
large towns and cities, try cases involving divorce or inheritance.
They were headed by a legal practitioner with basic legal training who
was advised by an assessor knowledgeable in the society's traditions.
The judicial actions of chiefs and customary courts were not regulated
by law, and defendants could appeal a verdict to the formal court
system. Women did not have equal legal status with men in the
traditional and customary courts and did not enjoy the same access to
legal redress (see Section 5).
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law generally requires that police conducting a
search have a warrant, normally issued by a judge; however, police
reportedly often conducted routine searches without warrants. Under the
State Security Law, police may conduct searches without warrants when
they have strong suspicion that a house shelters criminals or stolen
property.
In February, the five officers and one civilian whose homes were
searched without warrant in 2002 and then were charged with high
treason were granted provisional release; the case was transferred to
the new Military Court.
No action was taken against Republican Guards who in 2003 allowed
Malian bandits of the same ethnic group to steal food and livestock
from citizens living near the border in the Tillaberi region; however,
the Government held meetings with affected communities during the year.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and unlike in the previous year,
the Government generally respected these rights in practice and did not
restrict academic freedom. Unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports that the Government closed down radio stations; however,
security forces arrested a journalist and an opposition politician
during the year.
The Government published a French-language daily newspaper, Le
Sahel, and its weekend edition. There were approximately 12 private
French-language weekly or monthly newspapers, some of which were
affiliated loosely with political parties. The private press criticized
government actions.
Since literacy and personal incomes were both very low, radio was
the most important medium of public communication. The government-owned
radio station La Voix du Sahel transmitted 14 hours per day, providing
news and other programs in French and several local languages. There
were several private radio stations, including Radio France
International, Africa Number One, and Radio Bonferey; five were owned
locally and featured popular news programs in local languages,
including Djerma and Hausa. These private radio stations generally were
less critical of the Government than were the private newspapers. The
government-operated multilingual national radio service generally
provided equitable broadcasting time for all political parties;
however, opposition parties complained of inequitable access to media
during local and national elections during the year.
Television was a far less important medium than radio. The
government-owned Tele-Sahel and TAL-TV broadcast programming in French
and other major national languages. A private television station, TV
Tenere, also broadcast local and foreign programming. The director of a
private radio station operated a wireless cable television service for
the capital, offering access to international channels.
The news coverage of the state-owned media reflected government
priorities. Presidential activities and conferences dealing with
development issues always were reported. Analysis or investigative
reporting on domestic topics was extremely rare.
Foreign journalists circulated and reported freely. Strict
accreditation requirements were imposed on domestic and foreign
journalists; however, there were no reports that any journalists had
been denied accreditation. During the year, the CSC continued to allow
domestic broadcasting services to rebroadcast programs of foreign
origin, such as Voice of America, British Broadcasting Corporation,
Deutsche Welle programs, and Radio France International (RFI).
Unlike during the previous year, the Government did not use
existing law to criminalize slander and libel and to prosecute,
convict, and imprison critics.
On August 12, the Government arrested Moussa Kaka, the editor of a
private radio station and a correspondent for RFI. Beginning in June,
Kaka had broadcast reports on an alleged reactivation of the Tuareg
rebellion in the north. On August 11, RFI aired an interview between
Mohamed Ag Boula and Kaka, who was subsequently charged with conspiracy
and failure to advise authorities of criminal activities. Kaka was
released from custody on August 16 and instructed to remain at the
disposal of the court for further investigation. Charges against him
were pending at year's end.
On December 7, the Government arrested Sanoussi Jackou, president
of the Nigerien Party for Self-Reliance and owner of the independent
Newspaper La Roue de l'Histoire, on charges of inciting ethnic hatred;
on November 21, Jackou had appeared on a radio talk show and allegedly
insulted an ethnic group. On December 16, Jackou was sentenced to 1
month in prison and fined $100 (50,000 CFA); an appeal had been filed
by year's end.
On January 6, Maman Abou, the owner and editor of the weekly Le
Republicain newspaper, was provisionally released; Abou had been
arrested in November 2003 on defamation and theft charges after he
published a July 2003 article that accused the Government of awarding
several contracts to its supporters without going through a competitive
bidding process. Charges against Abou were still pending at year's end.
During the year, the CSC rescinded its decision to withdraw the
temporary broadcasting licenses of 11 stations; in 2003, the Government
had withdrawn the licenses, which allegedly had been issued improperly.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet or censor
websites.
b. Freedom of Assembly and Association.--The Constitution provides
for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respected this
right. The Government retained the authority to prohibit gatherings
either under tense social conditions or if advance notice (48 hours)
was not provided. Political parties, including a coalition of
opposition political parties, legally were permitted to hold
demonstrations within a defined area.
Police forcibly dispersed demonstrations during the year. On
January 23, police used tear gas to disperse students at Abdou Moumouni
University who were demonstrating violently against scholarship
arrears, poor housing conditions, the closure of the university food
service, and the lack of student transportation; some of the students
were injured. Eleven of the students, who barricaded main roads, set
tires on fire, and damaged private vehicles, were arrested and charged
with disturbing public order and damaging public property; all 11 were
released after 10 days. On September 30, security forces again used
tear gas to disperse student demonstrators at the University.
No action was taken against police who forcibly dispersed
demonstrators in 2003 and 2002.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however,
citizens may not form political parties based on ethnicity, religion,
or region.
The seven militant Islamic organizations banned by the Government
in 2002 remained banned (see Section 2.c.). During the year, two
representatives from one of the banned organizations were released; the
two had been arrested in 2002.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice, as long as persons respected public order, social peace, and
national unity.
No religious group was subsidized; however, Islam is the dominant
religion and the Islamic Association, which acts as an official
advisory committee on religious matters to the Government, had biweekly
broadcasts on the government-controlled television station. On
government-controlled media, Christian programs generally broadcast
only on special occasions, such as Christmas and Easter; however, the
independent media regularly broadcast such programs.
Religious organizations must register with the Interior Ministry.
This registration was a formality, and there was no evidence that the
Government ever refused to register a religious organization.
During the spring, Muslim preachers urged violent resistance to a
U.N.-sponsored polio vaccination, claiming it was a plot by Westerners
to sterilize Muslim children. In reaction, the Government temporarily
detained the preachers on the grounds of inciting a riot.
In 2002, the Government banned seven militant Islamic organizations
on the grounds that these organizations were responsible for
``disturbing the peace.'' No mainstream Islamic organizations or human
rights organizations have challenged the legality of the bans, which
still were in effect at year's end.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for freedom of movement
and restricts neither emigration nor repatriation, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. Security forces at
checkpoints monitored the travel of persons and the circulation of
goods, particularly near major population centers, and sometimes
demanded payments or bribes; however, there were fewer reports of such
actions than in previous years. There were occasional reports of
banditry, sometimes violent, during the year (see Section 1.c.).
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and there were no reports
of its use.
The law does not provide for granting of asylum or refugee status
in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, although the country is a signatory to
the Convention. The Government has not established a system for
providing protection to refugees. In practice, the Government provides
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution, but did not routinely grant refugee or
asylum status. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The UNHCR's regional office in
Benin was responsible for refugee assistance and protection in the
country; the Government's interministerial National Refugee Eligibility
Committee performed refugee prescreening duties. The Government also
provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as
refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol, and has offered
asylum to several thousand persons primarily from Mali and Chad. A few
Chadian refugee families remained in the country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to change their
government, and citizens were able to exercise that right during the
municipal, legislative, and presidential elections held during the
year. On December 4, Tandja Mamadou was elected to his second 5-year
presidential term with 65 percent of the vote in an election that
international observers called generally free and fair; however,
international observer groups noted some irregularities on election
day. A coalition composed of the MNSD, CDS, the Rally for Social
Democracy, the Rally for Democracy and Progress, the Nigerien Alliance
for Democracy and Progress, and the Social Party for Nigerien Democracy
backed Tandja and won 88 of the 113 seats in the National Assembly.
On July 24, local elections were held for approximately 3,700
council members from 265 newly created communes. The ruling coalition
won 74 percent of the seats, and the opposition Nigerien Party for
Democracy and Socialism won 22 percent of the seats.
The country has a power sharing presidential system with the
President as head of state and the Prime Minister as head of
government. The President must choose the Prime Minister from a list of
three persons presented by the majority party or coalition in the
National Assembly. On December 24, Tandja re-appointed MNSD party
president Hama Amadou as Prime Minister.
The Constitution provides for a representative one-chamber National
Assembly and an independent judiciary. Citizens 18 years of age and
over can vote, and voting is by secret ballot.
Official corruption occurred, and the Government publicly
acknowledged that it was a problem; however, no officials were
prosecuted for corruption during the year.
There were no laws that provided for public access to government
information; however, many documents could be obtained from individual
ministries and the National Archives.
Women traditionally have played a subordinate role in politics. The
societal practice of husbands' voting their wives' proxy ballots
effectively disenfranchised many women in the 1999 elections; however,
female voter turnout substantially increased during local, legislative,
and presidential elections held during the year. There were 14 woman in
the 113-seat National Assembly and 6 female ministers in the Cabinet.
The law mandates that women receive 25 percent of senior government
positions and fill 10 percent of elected seats; women won at least 10
percent of the approximate 3,700 local counsel positions during the
July elections.
All major ethnic groups were represented at all levels of
government. There were eight seats in the National Assembly designated
for representatives of ``special constituencies,'' specifically ethnic
minorities and nomadic populations. President Tandja, who reportedly is
half Peul and half Kanouri, is the country's first president who is not
from either the Hausa or the Djerma ethnic groups, which make up
approximately 56 percent and 22 percent, respectively, of the country's
population.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Several independent human rights groups and associations generally
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings and conclusions that often were highly critical of the
Government. Government officials often were unresponsive to their views
and denied allegations of human rights abuses. The ICRC was active in
the country.
The mandate of the Commission on Human Rights and Fundamental
Liberties, which the Government created and funds, includes
communication, advocacy, and investigation of human rights abuses. In
2002, the Government recommended adding civil servants from the
Ministries of Justice, Interior, Social Development, and Labor to the
Commission; however, this restructuring reduced the representation from
civil society and limited the Commission's independence.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex, social
origin, race, ethnicity, or religion; however, in practice, there were
instances of societal discrimination against women, children, ethnic
minorities, and persons with disabilities, including limited economic
and political opportunities.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was widespread, although
reliable statistics were not available. Wife beating reportedly was
common. Families often intervened to prevent the worst abuses, and
women may (and did) divorce because of physical abuse. While women have
the right to seek redress for violence in the customary or modern
courts, few did so due to ignorance of the legal system, fear of social
stigma, or fear of repudiation. Women's rights organizations reported
that prostitution often was the only economic alternative for a woman
who wanted to leave her husband.
Rape is a crime punishable by 10 to 30 years' imprisonment
depending upon the circumstance and age of the victim. Reliable
statistics were not available.
FGM was practiced by certain ethnic groups; approximately 20
percent of women in the country had undergone FGM, according to a 1999
World Health Organization global study. Clitoridectomy was the most
common form of FGM. FGM is against the law, and under the law, those
convicted of practicing FGM and their accomplices face prison sentences
from 6 months to 3 years; if the victim of FGM dies, the practitioner
can be sentenced from 10 to 20 years' imprisonment. The Government also
took an active role in combating FGM and worked closely with local
NGOs, community leaders, UNICEF, and other donors to develop and
distribute educational materials at government clinics and maternal
health centers and participated in information seminars and publicity.
Prostitution, which is illegal, was more prevalent in big cities
and near major mining and military sites.
Sexual harassment was criminalized, and violators face prison
sentences from 3 to 6 months and fines from $20 to $200 (10,000 to
100,000 CFA francs). If the violator is in a position of authority, the
prison sentence is from 3 months to 1 year and the fine is increased to
from $40 to $400 (20,000 to 200,000 CFA francs).
Despite the Constitution's provisions for women's rights, deep-
seated traditional and religious beliefs resulted in discrimination in
education, employment, and property rights. Discrimination was worse in
rural areas, where women did much of the subsistence farming as well as
childrearing, water- and wood-gathering, and other work. Despite
constituting 47 percent of the work force, women remained
underrepresented in civil service and professional employment.
Legal rights as heads of household applied only to men; divorced or
widowed women, even with children, were not considered to be heads of
households. In the east, there were reports that some women were
cloistered and could leave their homes only if escorted by a male and
usually only after dark.
National service, which lasted from 18 months to 2 years, was
mandatory for all young men and women who completed university studies
or professional training. Men were allowed to serve in the military as
part of their national service obligation; however, even though women
were allowed to serve in the military, they could meet their national
service obligation only by serving as teachers, health service workers,
or technical specialists.
In December, the Ministry of Social Development's office to promote
and protect women's rights became a separate ministry, the Ministry of
Women's Promotion and Child Protection. The Government continued to
work toward the passage of the Family Law, which addresses many
fundamental rights of women.
Children.--Although the Constitution provides that the Government
should promote children's welfare, financial resources for this purpose
were extremely limited. The minimum period of compulsory education was
6 years; however, according to the Ministry of Basic Education, only
approximately 50 percent of children of primary school age attended
school, and approximately 60 percent of those who finished primary
schools were boys. The majority of young girls were kept at home to
work and were married at a young age, rarely attending school for more
than a few years. This resulted in a female literacy rate of 9 percent
compared with 25 percent for males as reported in a 2002 UNESCO report.
Literacy rates, particularly for girls, were even lower in rural areas.
Some families entered into marriage agreements under which young
girls from rural areas were sent by the age of 10 or 12 and sometimes
younger to join their husband's family under the tutelage of their
mother-in-law.
FGM was performed on young girls in many parts of the country by
certain ethnic groups (see Section 5, Women).
The trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children was
a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Infanticide occurred, and 80 percent of the female prison
population were charged with the crime. According to the Ministry of
Justice, infanticide resulted from severe economic conditions.
There were many displaced children, mostly boys, begging on the
streets of the larger cities. Most of these boys came from rural areas
and were indentured to Koranic schools by their parents due to economic
hardships (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons, and there were reports that persons were
trafficked to, from, and within the country. Traffickers could be
prosecuted under a 2003 revision of the penal code that criminalizes
slavery; sentences for conviction ranged from 10 to 30 years'
imprisonment.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no prosecutions of
traffickers during the year.
The Ministries of Justice, Interior, and Social Development shared
responsibility for combating trafficking in persons. The National
Commission for the Coordination of the Fight Against Trafficking in
Persons continued its work during the year.
There was evidence that the country is a transit point for persons
trafficked between Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali;
final destinations also included North African and European countries.
The country is a destination for a small number of trafficked persons.
Internal trafficking also occurred, and there was anecdotal evidence
that clandestine networks victimized young girls who worked as
household helpers.
Internal trafficking of young boys for labor and young girls for
prostitution from rural to urban areas occurred. There were credible
reports of underage girls being drawn into prostitution, sometimes with
the complicity of the family. There also were reports that child
prostitution was especially prevalent along the main East-West highway,
particularly between the towns of Birni N'konni and Zinder. Child
prostitution is not criminalized specifically, and there was no precise
age of consent; however, the law prohibits ``indecent'' acts toward
minors. It was left to a judge to determine what constituted an
indecent act. Such activity and a corollary statute against ``the
incitement of minors to wrongdoing'' were punishable by 3 to 5 years in
prison.
There also were reports of internal trafficking that included the
indenturing of boys to Koranic teachers. In response to economic
hardship, some rural parents sent their sons to learn the Koran in the
cities where, in return for their education, the boys supported their
teachers by begging on the streets or doing manual labor.
Trafficking in persons generally was conducted by small-time
operators who promised well-paid employment in the country. Victims,
primarily from neighboring countries, were escorted through the
formalities of entering the country, where they found that their
employment options were restricted to poorly paid domestic work or
prostitution. Victims had to use a substantial portion of their income
to reimburse the persons who brought them to the country for the cost
of the trip. Compliance was enforced by ``contracts,'' which were
signed by illiterate victims before they departed their countries of
origin; alternatively, the victim's travel document simply was seized.
A local nongovernmental organization (NGO) also reported that some
rural children were victims of domestic trafficking in which the victim
(or his/her family) was promised a relatively decent job only to be
placed in a home to work as a servant.
The Government provided no services for trafficking victims;
however, it supported the efforts of the ICRC and CARITAS in providing
food, temporary shelter, and primary health care.
During the year, the Government sponsored anti-trafficking
information and education programs, including an International Labor
Organization (ILO) outreach campaign to traditional chiefs.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Constitution mandates that the
State provide for persons with disabilities; however, the Government
had not implemented regulations to mandate accessibility to buildings,
transportation, and education for those with special needs. Limited
government health care benefits were available to persons with
disabilities, and NGOs provided many services and programs. Societal
discrimination existed against persons with disabilities, particularly
mental disabilities and leprosy.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Hausa and Djerma ethnic
groups made up approximately 56 percent and 22 percent, respectively,
of the country's population. These two groups also dominated government
and business, and many believed that nepotism existed along ethnic
lines. Tandja Mamadou was the country's first president who is neither
Hausa nor Djerma. Minority ethnic groups, such as Tuaregs, Arabs,
Peuls, Toubous, and Kanouris, were represented through special
constituencies in the National Assembly; minority representation at the
municipal level increased as a result of the July elections. In the
past, many of these ethnic groups asserted that the Hausa and Djerma
groups discriminated against them. The Government increased educational
opportunities and health care access by constructing schools and health
clinics in remote areas, often to the benefit of ethnic minorities.
During the annual Cure Salee and other festivals of desert nomads, the
Government provided medical, veterinary, and legal services; however,
some nomadic ethnic minorities continued to be dissatisfied with
government efforts to meet their unique needs.
During the year, there were reports of continued banditry in the
north that may have involved former Tuareg rebels (see Section 1.c.).
Limited security issues existed in the south as a result of
continued conflict over land use between farming and herding groups.
On November 20, in the town of Fassi, a longstanding dispute
between farmers and herders over grazing land erupted into violence
when herders beat the son of a farmer. In retaliation, residents of the
farming town burned down the herders' village, which resulted in the
deaths of 13 persons and the injuring of 30 others. Authorities
arrested several suspects, and an investigation was ongoing at year's
end.
During the year, there no developments in the October 2003
retaliatory killings of Tuaregs by a group of Toubou; conflicts between
the two groups, who were nomadic herders, resulted from disputes over
grazing areas and water points.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Despite strong
government efforts to discourage discrimination against persons with
HIV/AIDS, societal discrimination against such persons occurred.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides formal
recognition of workers' right to establish and join trade unions, and
workers exercised this right in practice; however, more than 95 percent
of the work force was employed in the nonunionized subsistence
agricultural and small trading sectors.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--In addition to
the Constitution and the Labor Code, there is a basic framework
agreement between unions, employers, and the Government that defines
all classes and categories of work, establishes basic conditions of
work, and defines union activities. The Labor Code is based on ILO
principles, and it protects the right to organize. In private and
state-owned enterprises, unions used their right to bargain
collectively without government interference for wages above the legal
minimum and for more favorable work conditions. Collective bargaining
also existed in the public sector. There are no export processing
zones.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, except for
security forces and police, and workers exercised this right in
practice.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Code
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, except for legally convicted
prisoners, and slavery is prohibited; however, a traditional form of
slavery or servitude still was practiced by the Tuareg, Djerma, and
Arab ethnic minorities, particularly in remote northern regions and
along the border with Nigeria.
Persons born into a traditionally subordinate caste were often
expected to work without pay for those above them in the traditional
social structure. According to Timidria, a local human rights NGO that
actively worked against the practice, 7 percent of the population
worked under such conditions. Individuals could legally change their
situations; however, most did not and accepted their circumstances. In
2003, Timidria conducted a survey of 11,000 persons born into
servitude; 80 percent reportedly indicated that the persons for whom
they worked determined who they married and whether their children
attended school.
The 2002 case of a Tuareg man from Tanout who claimed he was
threatened with castration for planning a revolt against the person he
worked for was pending at year's end.
The Labor Code does not prohibit specifically forced or compulsory
labor by children, and there were credible reports of underage girls
being drawn into prostitution and of underage boys working as laborers
in mines, slaughterhouses, and rice fields (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law permits child labor in nonindustrialized enterprises under certain
conditions; however, law and practice prohibit child labor in
industrial work, and child labor was a problem.
Children under the age of 14 must obtain special authorization to
work, and those 14 to 18 years of age were limited to a maximum of 4+
hours per day and certain types of employment so schooling may
continue. The law requires employers to ensure minimum sanitary working
conditions for children. Ministry of Labor inspectors were responsible
for enforcing child labor laws; however, resource constraints limited
their ability to do so.
Child labor practically was nonexistent in the formal (wage)
sector, and there were no known instances of the use of child labor in
factories; however, children worked in the unregulated agricultural,
commercial, and artisan sectors, and some--including foreign--youths
were hired in homes as general helpers and baby sitters for very low
pay.
The majority of rural children regularly worked with their families
from a very early age--helping in the fields, pounding grain, tending
animals, getting firewood and water, and other similar tasks. Some
children were kept out of school to guide a blind relative on begging
rounds. Others sometimes were employed by Koranic teachers to beg in
the streets (see Section 5).
Child labor also occurred in the largely unregulated gold mining
sector and in slaughterhouses. Children working in gold mines were
particularly vulnerable to poor ventilation, collapse hazards, and
insufficient lighting; they also were susceptible to alcohol and
substance abuse.
The Ministry of Labor, which was responsible for implementing ILO
Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, continued working
with UNICEF and the International Program on the Elimination of Child
Labor to complete the first phase of a program to determine the extent
of the problem. The program addressed four areas: Improving conditions
in underground gold mines around Komabongu; increasing awareness about
child labor at the national slaughterhouse in Niamey; teaching
marketable skills to street children in Birni N'konni; and reducing
labor hours and teaching marketable skills to children who worked in
agriculture on islands in the Niger River around Tillaberi.
Forced and compulsory labor by children occurred (see Section 5).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code establishes a
minimum wage for salaried workers of each class and category within the
formal sector; however, minimum wages did not provide a decent standard
of living for workers and their families. The lowest minimum wage was
$40.00 (20,000 CFA francs) per month. Additional salary was granted at
$2.00 (1,000 CFA francs) per month per child. Government salaries have
largely been paid on time. Most households had multiple earners
(largely in informal commerce) and relied on the extended family for
support.
The legal workweek was 40 hours with a minimum of one 24-hour rest
period; however, for certain occupations, the Ministry of Labor
authorized longer workweeks of up to 72 hours. There were no reports of
violations during the year.
The Labor Code also establishes occupational safety and health
standards; however, due to staff shortages, inspectors focused on
safety violations only in the most dangerous industries: Mining,
building, and manufacturing. The gold mining industry was largely
unregulated. Although generally satisfied with the safety equipment
provided by employers, citing in particular adequate protection from
radiation in the uranium mines, union workers in many cases were not
well informed of the risks posed by their jobs. Workers have the right
to remove themselves from hazardous conditions without fear of losing
their jobs; however, in most cases this did not occur in practice.
__________
NIGERIA
Nigeria is a federal republic composed of 36 states and a capital
territory, with an elected president and a bicameral legislature
drawing their authority from the 1999 Constitution. In April 2003,
President Olusegun Obasanjo of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was
reelected to a 4-year term after being declared winner in elections
that were marred by what international and domestic observers termed to
be serious irregularities and fraud, including political violence. The
elections also resulted in the ruling PDP claiming 70 percent of the
seats in the national legislature and 75 percent of the state
governorships. Throughout the year, opposition parties continued to
challenge the election in court. On December 20, an election tribunal
voided part of the 2003 election results, including the entire result
of Ogun State, President Obasanjo's home state, and found that there
was significant rigging, but by a 3-1 vote, declined to overturn the
election. The opposition immediately announced that it would appeal the
verdict to the Supreme Court in 2005. Although the judicial branch
remained susceptible to executive and legislative branch pressures, the
performance of the federal courts exhibited growing independence. State
and local judiciary were significantly influenced by political leaders
and suffered from corruption and inefficiency more than the federal
court system.
The Federal Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is tasked with law
enforcement and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) reports directly
to the President. Internal security is the duty of the State Security
Service (SSS), which reports to the President through the National
Security Advisor. Police were unable to control ethno-religious
violence on numerous occasions during the year, and the Government
continued its reliance on the army in some cases. While civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security
forces, there were some instances in which elements of the security
forces acted outside the law. Members of the security forces committed
numerous human rights abuses.
The Central Bank reported that country's market-based economy grew
10.2 percent in real terms in 2003. Inadequate infrastructure, endemic
corruption, and general economic mismanagement hindered economic
growth. Most of the population of approximately 137 million was rural
and engaged in small-scale agriculture, which accounted for only 35.8
percent of gross domestic product. Increased unemployment was a
problem. Much of the country's wealth remained concentrated in the
hands of a small elite. Corruption, nontransparent government
contracting practices, and other practices favored the wealthy and
politically influential, including a banking system that impeded small
and medium investor access to credit and regulatory and tax regimes
that were not always enforced impartially. Wages and benefits have not
kept pace with inflation. There were numerous work stoppages at
different levels of government due to salary nonpayment. The
International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 96 million
citizens lived below the poverty line and were vulnerable to
malnutrition and disease.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit serious abuses. Nationwide local
government elections held during the year were not generally judged
free and fair and therefore abridged citizens' right to change their
government. Security forces committed extrajudicial killings and used
excessive force. There were several politically motivated killings by
unknown persons during the year. Security forces regularly beat
protesters, criminal suspects, detainees, and convicted prisoners.
There were fewer reported incidents of torture by security agents than
in previous years. Impunity was a problem. Shari'a courts sentenced
persons to harsh punishments including amputations and death by
stoning; however, there were no reports of amputation or stoning
sentences carried out during the year. Prison conditions were harsh and
life threatening, and conditions contributed to the death of numerous
inmates. Security forces continued to arrest and detain persons
arbitrarily, including for political reasons. Prolonged pretrial
detention remained a serious problem. The judicial system often was
incapable of providing criminal suspects with speedy and fair trials.
Government authorities occasionally infringed on citizens' privacy
rights.
The Government at times restricted freedom of speech and press. The
Government continued placing limits on freedom of assembly, citing
security concerns. Some state governments placed limits on some
religious rights, and some government programs discriminated between
religious groups. The Government occasionally restricted freedom of
movement for security reasons in areas of unrest and used lethal force
at checkpoints. Domestic violence and discrimination against women
remained widespread. Female genital mutilation (FGM) remained widely
practiced in some parts of the country, and child abuse and child
prostitution were common. Intercommunal violence remained a problem.
Some militant members of ethnic groups throughout the country,
particularly in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, continued to
commit serious abuses, including unlawful killings. Ethnic and regional
discrimination remained widespread, and localized religious
discrimination and violence persisted. Restrictions on worker rights
continued. Some persons, including children, were subjected to forced
labor. Child labor continued to be a problem. Trafficking in persons
for purposes of prostitution and forced labor was a problem, and
collusion of government officials in trafficking was alleged. Vigilante
violence continued throughout the country, particularly in parts of the
South.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents.
National police, army, and security forces committed extrajudicial
killings or used excessive force to apprehend criminals and to disperse
protestors during the year, when crowds were perceived by police as
possibly becoming violent. Police and the armed forces were instructed
to use lethal force against suspected criminals and suspected vandals
near oil pipelines in the Niger Delta Region. Multinational oil
companies and domestic oil producing companies often hired private
security forces and subsidized living expenses for police and soldiers
from area units assigned to protect oil facilities in the volatile
Niger Delta region. Freelance security forces and former security
forces accounted for a portion of the violent crime committed during
the year.
The Federal anticrime taskforce, also known as ``Operation Fire for
Fire,'' was among the most frequent human rights offenders. Operation
Fire for Fire was established in response to widespread public calls
for the Government and police to address violent crime more vigorously.
Police and anticrime taskforce personnel committed extrajudicial
killings in the apprehension and detention of suspected criminals.
There were widespread complaints that Operation Fire for Fire has given
a largely untrained police force broad latitude in using deadly force.
In most cases, police officers were not held accountable for excessive
or deadly force, or for the deaths of persons in custody. They
generally operated with impunity in the apprehension, illegal
detention, and sometimes execution of criminal suspects (see Section
1.d.).
During the year, police, military, and anticrime personnel
continued to regularly use lethal force against suspected criminals. On
December 28, the Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, announced
that police killed 1,694 ``suspected armed robbers'' during the year.
For example, in a coordinated operation on September 11 and 12,
police in Bauchi and Zamfara States killed 11 suspected armed robbers
and arrested 5 others. In a press conference, the Bauchi police command
announced that 36 armed robbers had been killed over a 2-month period.
On October 18, Kaduna residents tried to exhume 10 to 19 bodies
from a common grave in a local cemetery. Police had allegedly buried
the bodies that morning. Residents of the area believed the bodies were
of activists who had been arrested during the previous week's fuel
strike. While convening a panel to investigate the deaths, the Kaduna
State governor claimed that they were armed robbers killed in a
exchange of gunfire. The panel had not produced its findings by year's
end.
No further action was taken during the year in the 2003 cases of
killings of suspected criminals by police in Ado Ekiti, Enugu State,
Kubwa, or Bauchi State.
Criminal suspects died from unnatural causes while in official
custody, usually as the result of neglect and harsh treatment (see
Section 1.c.). For example, on February 4 in Edo State, Prince Vincent
Omo-Oribhabor, a 65-year-old PDP chieftain, died less than 24 hours
after police arrested him. The body was immediately embalmed before it
was released to the family, making an autopsy impossible.
In August, in Jigawa State, an accused rapist was beaten and killed
by four policemen while being transported to a police station for
questioning. No action was taken against the four policemen.
Harsh and life-threatening prison conditions and denial of proper
medical treatment also contributed to the deaths of numerous inmates.
There was no action in the 2003 death of Haruna Mohammed while in
police custody during the year.
Security forces committed other unlawful killings during the year.
In several cases, police accidentally killed persons while attempting
to disperse crowds. For example, on October 15, the second day of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, police killed two persons and wounded
three or four others in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State in
northwest Nigeria. A crowd had approached the state government's
building to demand annual Ramadan gifts from the Zamfara State
Governor. Police at the gates stopped the crowd from advancing, a
scuffle ensued, and police opened fire. No action was taken against the
police officers by year's end.
There was no action taken in the 2003 cases of the police shootings
of a debtor's pregnant wife and a commercial motorcycle rider.
Violence and lethal force at police and military roadblocks and
checkpoints continued during the year. For example, on June 3 in Ekiti
State, police killed two and injured four in a commercial bus when the
driver could not pay a $0.15 (20 naira) bribe.
In June use of in Kwara State, a police inspector shot a member of
the National Union of Road Transport Workers who attempted to intercede
for a commercial driver arguing with police over a bribe.
There was no further action taken in the 2003 cases of bribe-
related killings in Ebonyi, Jigawa, and Delta States.
Police and military personnel used excessive and sometimes deadly
force in the suppression of civil unrest, property vandalization, and
interethnic violence (see Sections 5 and 6.b.). There were reported
occurrences of summary executions, assaults, and other abuses carried
out by military personnel and paramilitary mobile police across the
Niger Delta.
In response to public pressure or formal requests from state
governments, the Federal Government continued to deploy the army in
troubled areas during the year. During the ethno-religious crisis in
parts of Plateau State, the military was deployed to quell the violence
(see Section 2.c.). Similarly, in parts of Benue State, especially in
the Kwande Local Government Area (LGA), the military was deployed to
assist the police in maintaining peace. There were reports of excessive
force in these two operations.
In 2003, the Government began ``Operation Restore Hope,'' a joint
task force comprising approximately 5,000 army, naval, air force, and
mobile police personnel under the command of Army General Zamani, in
response to violence in the Niger Delta region (see Section 5). In June
and September, the Government established additional task forces to
respond specifically to increased violence in Rivers State. During the
year, task force personnel and militant youths had numerous skirmishes
and encounters. Amnesty International estimated 500 casualties in
Rivers State and surrounding areas. Human rights organizations have
accused the military and police of harassment, extortion, and excessive
use of force in the region.
There were several killings by unknown persons that may have been
politically motivated. For example, on February 6, unknown assailants
killed Chief Aminasoari K. Dikibo, the former national vice-chairman of
the ruling PDP. No arrests were made by year's end.
On March 7, Chief Philip Olorunnipa, the chairman of the Kogi State
electoral commission, was killed in his home in Adumo Kabba. Four days
earlier, Luke Shigaba, the former Bassa LGA chairman was also killed.
No arrests were made in either case by year's end.
On October 12, Jerry Agbeigbe, a prominent labor activist and
former president of the National Association of Pilots and Engineering,
was shot and killed. At year's end, three suspects were in custody, but
had not been tried.
There were no developments in the 2003 killings of Uche Ogbonnaya
and Marshall Harry.
Of the suspects charged in 2002 with the murder of Justice Minister
and Attorney General Bola Ige, five, including Senator Iyiola Omisore,
were released in April. Seven others, including prime suspect Ademola
Adebayo and six other aides of the slain Minister, were released in
October due to insufficient evidence.
There were no known developments in the reported 2002 cases of
politically motivated killings by unknown assailants.
Politically-related violence occurred throughout the country during
nationwide LGA elections, especially when PDP candidates were announced
as winners in contested local government elections, in some cases after
another candidate had been declared the winner. For example, in January
in Kontagora, Niger State, at least seven persons were killed during a
riot following the release of local government election results.
In March, in Donga, Taraba State, 30 civilians and 1 soldier were
killed when protests over the local government election results turned
violent. The military was called in to restore order, but fired live
ammunition into the crowd. The crowd then beat one soldier to death.
Also, in March in Burutu and Asaba, Delta State, up to five persons
were killed during a riot after the announcement of local election
results in which all PDP candidates were declared the winners.
There were no developments in the following 2003 cases of electoral
violence: The February killings of seven persons in Benue State, and
the May killings of eight persons in Delta State.
Killings carried out by organized gangs of armed robbers remained
common during the year. In most southeastern states, state governments
supported vigilante groups, the most well-known of which was the
``Bakassi Boys,'' officially known as the Anambra State Vigilante
Service. Like most vigilante groups, the Bakassi Boys sometimes killed
suspected criminals rather than turn them over to police. Although some
killings continued, the influence of the Bakassi Boys and other
vigilante groups in the Southeast diminished during the year.
Other organized vigilante groups continued to commit numerous
killings of suspected criminals. For example, on May 14, a vigilante
group in Yobe State killed a shop owner, claiming he had confessed to
armed robbery. The same group killed two others, allegedly for being
``godfathers'' to gangs of armed robbers. The Yobe State governor
publicly praised the leader of the group, Sarkin Baka, for his actions.
On May 17, three suspected armed robbers were beaten and burned to
death by a vigilante group in Ebonyi State. A group leader claimed the
three had launched an unsuccessful attack on some residents.
No action was taken against members of vigilante groups who killed
or injured persons during the year or in previous years, although
police reportedly harassed members of such groups.
Reports of street mobs apprehending and killing suspected criminals
diminished during the year, and there were no developments in cases
from previous years.
Lethal interethnic, intraethnic, and interreligious violence
occurred at increased levels from previous years (see Sections 2.c. and
5). Sporadic communal violence continued between Tivs, Jukuns, and
other tribes in Adamawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Nassarawa, and Plateau
states during the year, killing hundreds of persons.
Tensions between members of ethnic groups in the oil-producing
areas and employees and contractors of oil companies remained high. On
April 23, two foreign oil services contract workers, a local contract
worker, and two local security personnel were killed in an apparent
botched kidnapping attempt by unknown actors. One foreign contract
worker was critically injured. No persons were arrested by year's end.
During the year, fighting between and among rival student affinity
groups, commonly known as cults, in higher institutions led to the
killing of persons and destruction of property. In August, 33 students
died due to cult rivalries' violence; 15 from Ebonyi State University
and 18 from Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Smaller
scale clashes in a number of schools around the country led to
significant destruction of property. Isolated clashes included cases of
personal injury and rape. Cultism activities expanded during the year
to include clashes between all-female cult groups.
There was no resolution in the 2003 or 2002 cases involving deaths
in cult clashes.
b. Disappearance.--There were reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year. For example, the Government still had
not responded to a court order to release a Kaduna central mosque imam
whom the Government has detained since May 2003. The imam was assumed
still to be in custody, although there were no updates during the year.
During the year, there were few reports of hostage situations in
the country. In July, workers of Forasol Drilling West Africa in
Bayelsa State commandeered an oil rig to protest the company's
employment policies. The workers held nine expatriate employees for a
day, until the state governor negotiated their safe release. In
December in Bayelsa State, members of the Iduwini National Movement for
Peace and Development commandeered a seabulk vessel contracted to Shell
Nigeria. The men released most of the crew, but held one Croatian crew
member for ransom and other concessions. Within a few days, Bayelsa
State officials negotiated the release of the crew member, who was
freed unharmed.
In previous years, some kidnappings, particularly in the Delta,
appeared to have been part of longstanding ethnic disputes over
resources. Due to limited manpower and resources, police and armed
forces rarely were able to confront the perpetrators of these acts,
especially in the volatile Delta region.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and the law
provides for punishment of such abuses; however, during the year,
police, military, and security force officers regularly beat
protesters, criminal suspects, detainees, and convicted prisoners.
Police physically mistreated civilians regularly in attempts to extort
money from them. The law prohibits the introduction into trials of
evidence and confessions obtained through torture. In some cases,
persons died from torture in custody (see Section 1.a.).
Different formulations for criminal law of Islamic Shari'a were in
place in 12 northern states (see Section 2.c.). Shari'a courts
delivered ``hudud'' sentences such as amputation for theft, caning for
fornication and public drunkenness, and death by stoning for adultery,
but no death sentence has been carried out. Because no applicable case
has been appealed to the federal level, federal appellate courts have
yet to decide whether such punishments violate the Constitution (see
Section 1.e.). Stoning and amputation sentences have been overturned on
procedural or evidentiary grounds, but have not been challenged on
constitutional grounds. Caning is also a punishment under common law in
the Northern Region Penal Code and has not been challenged in the
courts as a violation of the Constitution. In some cases, convicted
persons are allowed to choose to pay a fine or go to jail in place of
receiving strokes of the cane. These sentences were usually carried out
immediately, while all sentences involving mutilation or death allow 30
days for appeal.
In September in Bauchi State, Daso Adamu, a nursing mother, was
sentenced to death by stoning after admitting to having sex with her
first husband after her second husband absconded. The man was freed for
lack of evidence. In October, she was released on bail on the grounds
that she was breastfeeding. In December, a Shari'a appeals court
vacated the conviction and sentence, ruling that her pregnancy was
insufficient evidence to convict her.
In October in Bauchi State, Hajara Ibrahim was sentenced to death
by stoning for adultery after becoming pregnant outside of wedlock.
According to the Shari'a court that convicted her, she confessed to
having sex with a man who had promised to marry her. The man was
released for lack of evidence. The defendant appealed the sentence,
stating that she should have been charged with the lesser crime of
fornication, rather than adultery. In November, a Shari'a appeals court
overturned the conviction and sentence, ruling that she had never
consummated an arranged marriage, and therefore should never have been
charged with adultery.
During the year, there were several other cases with sentences of
stoning or amputation pending appeal or sentence implementation. No
stoning or amputation sentences were carried out during the year.
Security forces tortured persons, although there were fewer reports
of torture than in previous years. For example, three police officers,
one infected with HIV/AIDS and another with syphilis, were accused of
abducting, raping and torturing two female students of the Enugu State
University of Science and Technology on September 27. In October, the
three policemen were arrested and charged in this case, and dismissed
from the police force.
On June 3, in Kwara State, a police officer shot at a bus outside
Ilorin, wounding a university student. The policeman was dismissed from
the force.
There were no updates in the 2003 cases of the suspected rapist
beaten by police in Ogun State, the three Ekiti State legislators
beaten by mobile policemen, or the case of the two policemen arrested
in Lagos for allegedly raping prostitutes they had arrested.
Security forces beat journalists during the year (see Section
2.a.).
There were numerous ethnic clashes during the year (see Sections
2.c. and 5), in which the number of persons who were beaten or injured
severely was higher than in previous years. The military was generally
able to respond quickly because military units were already deployed in
some areas when violence broke out. Police generally lacked the
resources to control communal violence.
Prison and detention conditions remained harsh and life
threatening. Most prisons were built 70 to 80 years ago and lacked
functioning basic facilities. Lack of potable water, inadequate sewage
facilities, and severe overcrowding resulted in unhealthy and dangerous
sanitary conditions. Some prisons held 200 to 300 percent more persons
than their designed capacity. The Government acknowledged overcrowding
as the main cause of the harsh conditions common in the prison system.
Prolonged pretrial detention contributed to the overcrowding (see
Section 1.d.).
Disease was pervasive in the cramped, poorly ventilated facilities,
and chronic shortages of medical supplies were reported. Prison inmates
were allowed outside their cells for recreation or exercise only
irregularly, and many inmates had to provide their own food. Only those
with money or whose relatives brought food regularly had sufficient
food; petty corruption among prison officials made it difficult for
money provided for food to reach prisoners. Poor inmates often relied
on handouts from others to survive. Beds or mattresses were not
provided to many inmates, forcing them to sleep on concrete floors,
often without a blanket. Prison officials, police, and security forces
often denied inmates food and medical treatment as a form of punishment
or to extort money from them. Harsh conditions and denial of proper
medical treatment contributed to the deaths of numerous prisoners.
According to the NGO Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action
(PRAWA), dead inmates promptly were buried on the prison compounds,
usually without notifying their families. A nationwide estimate of the
number of inmates who died in the country's prisons was difficult to
obtain because of poor record keeping by prison officials.
No further information was available on the 2003 case of the Lagos
inmates placed in intensive care after a tuberculosis outbreak.
In practice, women and juveniles were held with male prisoners,
especially in rural areas. The extent of abuse in these conditions was
unknown. In most cases, women accused of minor offenses were released
on bail; however, women accused of serious offenses were detained.
Although the law stipulates children shall not be imprisoned, juvenile
offenders were routinely incarcerated along with adult criminals. The
Prison Service officially required separation of detainees and
convicted prisoners; however, in practice the method of confinement
depended solely on the capacity of the facility. As a result, detainees
often were housed with convicted prisoners.
The Government allowed international and domestic NGOs, including
PRAWA and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), regular
access to prisons. PRAWA and the ICRC published newsletters on their
work. The Government admitted that there were problems with its
incarceration and rehabilitation programs and worked with groups such
as these to address those problems.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.-- The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces generally did
not observe these prohibitions. Police and security forces continued to
use arbitrary arrest and detention.
The NPF is tasked with law enforcement. Each state unit was
commanded by an Assistant Inspector General. The Constitution prohibits
local and state police forces. The NPF continued its aggressive
anticrime campaign dubbed ``Operation Fire for Fire,'' which was
responsible for human rights abuses and did not noticeably decrease the
incidents of violent crime nationwide (see Section 1.a.). Corruption
was rampant, usually taking the form of bribes at highway checkpoints,
and in 2003, more than 250 police were arrested during the year and
another 300 dismissed from service for corruption. In addition, in
2003, more than 30 officers around the country were arrested in
connection with armed robbery. Police generally operated with impunity
in the apprehension, illegal detention, and sometimes execution of
criminal suspects.
Police and security forces were empowered to make arrests without
warrants based on a reasonable suspicion that a person had committed an
offense; they often abused this power. Under the law, police may detain
persons for 24 hours before charging them with an offense. The law
requires an arresting officer to inform the accused of charges at the
time of arrest and to take the accused to a police station for
processing within a reasonable amount of time. By law, police must
provide suspects with the opportunity to engage counsel and post bail.
However, police generally did not adhere to these procedures in
practice. Suspects routinely were detained without being informed of
the charges, denied access to counsel and family members, and denied
the opportunity to post bail for bailable offenses. Detainees often
were kept incommunicado for long periods of time. The provision for
bail often was arbitrary or subject to extrajudicial influence. In many
parts of the country, there was no functioning system of bail, so
suspects were held in investigative detention for prolonged periods of
time. Numerous suspects alleged that police demanded payment before
they were taken to court to have their cases heard. If family members
attended court proceedings, police often demanded an additional
payment.
Persons who happened to be in the vicinity of a crime when it was
committed normally were held for interrogation for periods ranging from
a few hours to several months. After their release, those detained
frequently were asked to return repeatedly for further questioning.
There were several politically motivated arrests during the year.
For example, on May 27, 20 members of the Movement for the
Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) were arrested
in Ebonyi State and taken to Abuja, where they were held without
charges until October, when they were charged with conspiracy to commit
treason and released on bail. In September, 53 MASSOB members were
arrested in Lagos, but charges were not filed; most were released on
bail by year's end.
In August, three Owu tribal elders in Ogun State were arrested and
held for 2 days after speaking out against President Obasanjo's
annulment of the election of the new Owu leader.
Security forces detained journalists during the year (see Section
2.a.).
During the year, police arrested demonstrators and labor leaders
during strikes (see Sections 2.b. and 6.b.).
Members of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), a militant Yoruba
group operating in the Southwest that claims its objective is to
protect the collective rights of the Yoruba within the federation,
continued to be arrested and detained without trial. Some members were
charged as armed robbers and tried accordingly. However, relations with
police continued to improve, and OPC operated freely during the year.
There were no updates in the reported 2002 cases of arbitrary
arrest and detention.
Lengthy pretrial detention remained a serious problem. Serious
backlogs, endemic corruption, and undue political influence continued
to hamper the judicial system (see Section 1.e.). Mid-year data from
the Prisons Service indicated that 23,742 prisoners, approximately 60
percent of total prisoners, were detainees awaiting trial. Multiple
adjournments in some cases led to serious delays. Police cited their
inability to securely transport detainees to trial on their trial dates
as one reason why so many were denied a trial. The National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) reported that some detainees were held because
their case files had been lost. Some state governments released inmates
detained for significant periods of time without trial.
In September, an Ikorodu High Court responded to the 2002 suit
filed by 350 inmates challenging the constitutionality of their
detention without trial and ordered the release of 280 Kirikiri Prison
inmates who were awaiting trial. The Lagos State Ministry of Justice
appealed the ruling. On October 30 and 31, 120 inmates were released
for counseling and rehabilitation to NGOs and religious organizations.
The rest remained in detention at year's end.
The persons charged in the 1996 attempted murder of Alex Ibru had
not been tried by year's end (see Section 2.d.). Hamza Al Mustapha, one
of the defendants, was charged in October with plotting to overthrow
President Obasanjo's Government from his jail cell, although Al
Mustapha supposedly was held incommunicado.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judicial branch remained
susceptible to executive and legislative branch pressure. Decisions at
the federal level exhibited greater independence. Political leaders
influenced the judiciary, particularly at the state and local levels.
Understaffing, underfunding, inefficiency, and corruption continued to
prevent the judiciary from functioning adequately. Citizens encountered
long delays and frequent requests from judicial officials for small
bribes to expedite cases.
The Ministry of Justice implemented strict requirements for level
of education and length of service for judges at the Federal and State
levels. However, there were no requirements or monitoring body for
judges at the local level, and corruption and miscarriages of justice
were common.
The recommendations of the 1993 Esho Panel, set up to investigate
corruption in the judiciary, called for the ``withdrawal'' of 47
judicial officials. No judges have been removed for irregularities
cited in the Panel's report.
The regular court system is composed of federal and state trial
courts, state appeals courts, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the
Federal Supreme Court. There are Shari'a (Islamic) and customary
(traditional) courts of appeal in states that use those bases for civil
or criminal law, including in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja).
Courts of the first instance include magistrate or district courts,
customary or traditional courts, Shari'a courts, and for some specified
cases, the state high courts. The Constitution also provides that the
Government establish a Federal Shari'a Court of Appeal and Final Court
of Appeal; however, the Government had not yet established such courts
by year's end.
The nature of a case usually determined which court had
jurisdiction. In principle, customary and Shari'a courts had
jurisdiction only if both plaintiff and defendant agreed; however, in
practice, fear of legal costs, delays, distance to alternative venues,
community pressure, and individual preference caused many litigants to
choose the customary and Shari'a courts over other venues. In some
states, cases involving only Muslims must be heard by a Shari'a court.
Other states with Shari'a law permitted Muslims to choose common
law courts for criminal cases; however, societal pressure forced most
Muslims to use the Shari'a court system.
According to the Constitution, persons charged with offenses have
the right to an expeditious trial. Criminal justice procedures call for
trial within 3 months of arraignment for most categories of crimes;
however, there were considerable delays, often stretching to several
years, in bringing suspects to trial (see Section 1.d.). Most detainees
were poor and could not afford to pay the costs associated with moving
their trials forward, and as a result they remained in prison.
Wealthier defendants employed numerous delay tactics and, in many
cases, used bribes to persuade judges to grant numerous continuances.
Such practices clogged the court calendar and prevented trials from
starting.
Trials in the regular court system were public and generally
respected constitutionally protected individual rights in criminal
cases, including a presumption of innocence, and the right to be
present, to confront witnesses, to present evidence, and to be
represented by legal counsel. However, there was a widespread
perception that judges were easily bribed or ``settled,'' and that
litigants could not rely on the courts to render impartial judgments.
Many courts were understaffed, and personnel were paid poorly. Judges
frequently failed to appear for trials, often because they were
pursuing other means of income, and sometimes because of threats
against them. In addition, court officials often lacked the proper
equipment, training, and motivation to perform their duties, again
primarily due to inadequate compensation.
In both common law and Shari'a courts, indigent persons without
legal representation were more likely to have their sentences carried
out immediately upon being sentenced, although all accused persons have
the right to appeal. In 2003 The Government instituted a panel of legal
scholars to draft a uniform Shari'a criminal statute to replace
divergent Shari'a statutes adopted by various northern states; however,
the panel did not produce its report during the year, and states
continued to apply their individual codes.
There were no legal provisions barring women or other groups from
testifying in civil court or giving their testimony less weight;
however, the testimony of women and non-Muslims usually was accorded
less weight in Shari'a courts. In violation of mainstream Shari'a
jurisprudence, some Kadis (Muslim judges) subjected women to harsh
sentences for fornication or adultery based solely upon the fact of
pregnancy, while men were not convicted without eyewitnesses unless
they confessed. For example, in September and October in Bauchi State,
two women were sentenced to death by stoning for having sex out of
wedlock, but the two men involved were acquitted for lack of evidence
(see Section 1.c.), although a higher court overturned the women's
convictions.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
authorities at times continued to infringe on these rights.
Police raided homes without warrants during the year.
Police and security forces continued the practice of holding
relatives and friends of wanted suspects in detention without criminal
charge to induce suspects to surrender to arrest. Human rights groups
called for police to end the practice. Purdah, the practice of keeping
girls and women in seclusion from men outside the family, continued in
parts of the country, which restricted the freedom of movement of
women.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government at times
restricted these rights. While there were many private newspapers and
magazines that published freely, there were also numerous attacks
carried out by security forces during the year. Some journalists
practiced self-censorship. The Government owned and controlled most of
the electronic media and some publications; however, there was also a
large and vibrant private domestic press that was frequently critical
of the Government. Following the privatization of the Daily Times, only
one national, government-owned daily newspaper was published, the New
Nigerian. In addition to English, the New Nigerian published a Hausa
edition. Several states owned daily or weekly newspapers that also were
published in English. These publications tended to be poorly produced,
had limited circulation, and required large state subsidies. By year's
end, there were more than 10 major daily newspapers, 6 weekly
newsmagazines, and several sensational evening newspapers and tabloid
publications.
Because newspapers and television were relatively expensive and
literacy levels were low, radio remained the most important medium of
mass communication and information. There was a government-owned
national radio broadcaster, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria,
which broadcast in English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and other languages;
and 51 state radio stations, which broadcast in English and local
languages. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the body
responsible for the deregulation and monitoring of the broadcast media
licensed at least three private radio stations in 2003. There were
nearly a dozen private radio stations operating during the year.
The National Television Station, NTA, was federally owned, and 30
states also operated television stations. There were nine privately
owned television stations that broadcast domestic news and political
commentary. There were five private satellite television services. The
law requires that local television stations limit programming from
other countries to 40 percent and restricted the foreign content of
satellite broadcasting to 20 percent; however, the Government did not
restrict access to, or reception of, international cable or satellite
television.
International broadcasting, principally Voice of America and
British Broadcasting Corporation, as well as Deutsche Welle and others,
broadcast in English and Hausa and were an important source of news in
the country. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that
the Government denied international broadcasting organizations
accreditation renewals.
Effective April 1, the NBC banned live broadcast of foreign news
and programs. The Commission stated the ban was established because it
would be unprofessional for a station to broadcast live any content
over which it had no editorial control.
During the year, there were multiple cases of threats against and
attacks on the press. Security forces beat journalists on several
occasions during the year. For example, on May 4, the police in Enugu
beat journalists covering the appeals court judgment on election
petitions. On June 10, heavily armed police beat eight journalists who
were at the Nigerian Union of Journalists Press Center in Osogbo to
cover a lecture organized by a local NGO working in the areas of
democracy and governance. The police alleged that the organizers of the
lecture constituted a security risk in the state.
Security forces also detained journalists during the year. For
example, on July 4, police in Kano arrested and detained Kola Olalere,
the Kano State correspondent of Nigerian Tribune (which is owned by
Kano State), for allegedly publishing false information on a looming
crisis in Kano. On August 11, police in Jigawa State detained two
photojournalists for over 7 hours for allegedly releasing photographs
that ridiculed the state government. On September 4, the SSS entered
the office of the Lagos independent weekly news magazine, Insider, and
impounded the weekly edition, seized computers, checkbooks, and other
valuables and arrested and detained three members of the staff. The SSS
explained that they took these actions because the publishers of the
magazine had consistently attacked and humiliated the office of
President Obasanjo. The detained journalists were released shortly
after the incidents.
There were incidents in which security forces interfered with
journalists. For example, on April 17, the police in Ondo State seized
the tape recorder of Niyi Bello, The Guardian correspondent, and the
video camera of a NTA crew while they were covering an incident of
police brutality.
On April 22 in Ibadan, police attached to the Ekiti State governor
seized and smashed the camera of a photojournalist on the allegation
that he was trying to take photographs of the governor's official jeep.
On October 15, security agents stopped the broadcast of Port
Harcourt Rhythm Radio's interview with Asari-Dokubo, a militia leader
in the country's Niger Delta region, and threatened the staff with
arrest and closure of the station if they aired the interview.
There were no further known developments in the reported 2002
cases.
In 2003, the Government announced that journalists covering the
National Assembly were required to have all material cleared before
publication. Journalists protested, and the requirement was dropped.
There were no developments in the November 2003 case of the three
editors charged with sedition and criminal defamation in relation to a
magazine article alleging the involvement of government officials in
questionable oil deals.
Editors reported that government security officers sometimes
visited or called to demand information about a story or source. Local
NGOs suggested that newspaper editors and owners underreported actual
human rights abuses and killings due in part to self-censorship. State
broadcasters and journalists remained important tools for governors;
these officials used the state-owned media to showcase the state's
accomplishments and to promote their own political goals.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that foreign
journalists who sought to enter the country to cover political
developments experienced delays in obtaining a visa, were issued only
single entry visas, or were forced to pay bribes to expedite visa
processing, due to their status as journalists. However, on November
27, Time magazine reporter Stephan Farris arrived at Lagos airport on a
flight from Kenya with a valid visa. The SSS detained Farris overnight,
then returned him to immigration officials, who placed him on a return
flight to Kenya, excluding him from the country. The SSS gave no reason
for deporting Farris.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
State governments continued to restrict academic freedom by
controlling curriculum at all levels including mandating religious
instruction. Student groups alleged that numerous strikes, inadequate
facilities, and the rise of cultism (or gangs) on campuses,
particularly in the South, continued to hamper educational progress
(see Section 1.a.).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government respected this
right for pro-government rallies, while opposition gatherings continued
to be restricted. In areas that experienced communal violence, police
and security forces permitted public meetings and demonstrations on a
case-by-case basis.
The Government continued nominally to require organizers of outdoor
public functions to apply for permits, although both government
authorities and those assembling often ignored this requirement.
The law prohibited gatherings whose political, ethnic, or religious
content might lead to unrest. Open-air religious services away from
places of worship remained prohibited in many states due to fears that
they might heighten interreligious tensions. The Ondo State ban on
open-air religious events remained in effect during the year, and the
Kaduna State government ban on processions, rallies, demonstrations,
and meetings in public places was enforced on a case-by-case basis. A
security forces' committee ban on all political, cultural, and
religious meetings in Plateau State was be implemented on an ad hoc
basis. The Government denied opposition permits to rally to opposition
groups.
On May 15, police in Lagos fired tear gas and shot into the air to
disperse a rally organized by human rights groups. Many persons
sustained injuries. Several human rights leaders, including Nobel
Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, were arrested, detained, and later
released.
No action was taken against security forces who killed or injured
persons while forcibly dispersing protests in 2003 or 2002.
The Constitution provides for the right to associate freely with
other persons in political parties, trade unions, or special interest
associations, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Constitution allows the free formation of political
parties. There were 30 parties registered with Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion and while the Federal Government generally respected religious
freedom, there were some instances in which limits were placed on
religious activity to address security and public safety concerns.
The Constitution prohibits state and local governments from
adopting an official religion; however, some Christians have alleged
that Islam has been adopted as a de facto state religion in several
northern states, citing criminal law aspects of Shari'a law and the
continued use of state resources to fund the construction of mosques,
the teaching of Kadis, and pilgrimages to Mecca (``hajj''). However,
several states, including northern states, also used government
revenues to fund Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem. In general,
states, whether dominated by Christians or Muslims, favored the faith
practiced by the majority of residents. Estimates indicated
approximately half of the country's population practiced Islam, more
than 40 percent practiced Christianity, and the remainder practiced
traditional indigenous religions or no religion.
The Constitution provides that states may elect to use Islamic
(Shari'a) laws and courts. There were 12 northern states that have
adopted at least parts of Shari'a law--Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kano,
Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Borno, Zamfara, and Gombe.
Adherence to Shari'a provisions is compulsory for Muslims in some
states and optional in others. Non-Muslims are not required in any
state to submit to Shari'a jurisdiction, although in some states they
have the option, which may work to a defendant's advantage when the
penalty under Shari'a is less severe.
Christian and Islamic groups planning to build new churches or
mosques are required by law to register with the Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC). The CAC did not deny registration to any religious
group during the year. Many nascent churches and Islamic congregations
ignored the registration requirement, and a small number, most notably
those in Abuja, had their places of worship shut down when zoning laws
were enforced.Several northern state governments continued to ban
public proselytizing to avoid ethno-religious violence; however, some
proselytizing groups remained active despite these formal bans, which
generally were enforced on a case-by-case basis.
The Constitution does not require students to receive instruction
in a religion other than their own; however, the Ministry of Education
requires public school students throughout the country to undergo
either Islamic or Christian religious instruction. State authorities
claimed that students were permitted not to attend classes taught in a
religion other than their own and that students may request a teacher
of their own religion to provide alternative instruction. However,
there were often no teachers of ``Christian Religious Knowledge'' in
many northern schools, and of ``Muslim Religious Knowledge'' in some
southern schools.
No further action was taken in the 2003 incident in which members
of the Moslem Students of Nigeria organization were charged with public
disturbance after they invaded primary and secondary schools in Oyo
State.
Although distribution of religious publications was generally
unrestricted, the Government sporadically enforced a ban against
broadcasting religious advertisements on state-owned radio and
television stations.
Although the expanded Shari'a laws technically do not apply to non-
Muslims, the non-Muslim minority has been affected by certain social
provisions of Shari'a, such as the separation of the sexes in public
schools and health and transportation services. Non-Muslims were not
required to wear the hijab during the year. Many social provisions
associated with Shari'a have roots in the country's pre-Islamic
societies and were in practice before the states adopted Shari'a. Most
states have not criminalized alcohol consumption by non-Muslims;
however, in May, Kano State announced that non-Muslims would be fined
approximately $380 (50,000 naira) or sentenced to up to a year in
prison for drinking or selling alcohol other than in certain
restaurants and on military bases.
A number of states with expanded Shari'a law have long sanctioned
private vigilante Shari'a enforcement groups (known as Hisbah); in some
cases these groups had authority to make arrests. The Governor of
Jigawa State mobilized a statewide Shari'a enforcement committee to
arrest, detain, and prosecute Muslim offenders. The Hisbah groups were
not very active during the year.
The law prohibits religious discrimination in employment and other
practices; however, private businesses frequently discriminated on the
basis of religion or ethnicity in their hiring practices and purchasing
patterns. In nearly all states, ethnic rivalries between ``indigenes''
and ``settlers'' led to some societal discrimination against minority
ethnic and religious groups.
Religious differences often mirror regional and ethnic differences.
For example, persons in the North and in parts of the Middle Belt were
overwhelmingly Muslim and from the large Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups
that tended to dominate these areas. Many southern ethnic groups are
predominantly Christian. In many areas of the Middle Belt, Muslim
Fulani tend to be pastoralists, while the Muslim Hausa and most
Christian ethnic groups tended to be farmers or work in urban areas.
Consequently ethnic, regional, economic, and land use competition and
confrontations often coincided with religious differences between the
competing groups.
It is not unusual for two different ethnic groups with a long
history of conflict to have adopted different religions with the effect
of exacerbating existing tensions. For example, retaliatory political
violence in Plateau State escalated during the year. The violence
reached its peak in May when a mainly Christian Tarok militia from a
nearby town in Plateau State massacred more than 500 mainly Muslim
Hausa/Fulani residents in Yelwa village. The massacre occurred after a
February incident in Yelwa in which more than 40 Christian Taroks were
burned to death in a church.
A week later in Kano State, Muslims staged a peaceful rally
protesting the violence against Muslims in Plateau State. The rally
took on a religious dimension when unemployed youth began vandalizing
businesses belonging to Christians and erupted into mob violence in
which more than 300 Muslims and Christians were killed.
In mid-May, after the violence subsided, the Government declared a
state of emergency in Plateau State; however, the state of emergency
did not negatively affect religious freedom.
In June, at least 50 persons were killed in Numan, Adamawa State
during fighting that began over the rebuilding of the central mosque
near a Christian Bachama leader's palace, causing riots between ethnic
Bachama Christians and ethnic Hausa Muslims. In response to the June
violence, the Governor of Adamawa dethroned the Bachama leader and
ordered the relocation of the mosque.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them; however, police
occasionally restricted freedom of movement by enforcing curfews in
areas with ethno-religious violence.
In May, police in the Federal Capital Territory limited the number
of Muslims entering Abuja to attend Friday Juma'at prayers at the
National mosque to minimize attendance at a rally in favor of 2003
opposition presidential candidate.
Curfews were in place in parts of Plateau State after violence
there in May (see Section 2.c.). Parts of Yobe and Borno States
experienced restrictions in movement at times of clashes with the so-
called ``Nigerian Taliban.''
Law enforcement agencies used roadblocks and checkpoints to search
for criminals and to prevent persons traveling from areas of conflict
to other parts of the country where their presence might instigate
retaliatory violence. There were no reports that government officials
restricted mass movements of individuals fleeing ethnic unrest.
Security and law enforcement officials continued to use excessive force
at checkpoints and roadblocks and engage in extortion and violence (see
Section 1.a.).
There was no law that required women to obtain permission from a
male relative to obtain a passport.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that activists and
Abacha regime opponents were questioned upon entry or exit to the
country at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. Unlike in
the previous year, Mohammed Abacha, former military ruler General Sani
Abacha's son, was no longer confined to the city of Kano, but required
permission to travel outside Nigeria, pending arrest and trial for the
1996 attempted murders of Abraham Adesanya, leader of the Yoruba group
Afenifere, and Alex Ibru, publisher of the Guardian newspaper. Ismaila
Gwarzo, national security advisor to former President Abacha, remained
restricted to his hometown in Kano State at year's end.The Constitution
prohibits the expulsion of citizens, and the Government did not use
forced exile.
During periods of ethno-religious violence, numerous persons were
displaced from their places of residence (see Section 5). According to
Amnesty International, tens of thousands of persons were displaced in
the Niger Delta region during the year due to continued ethnic and
communal conflict. In May and June, reprisals to root out criminal
groups displaced many persons, primarily from Ijaw villages. In June
through September, gang fighting in Port Harcourt resulted in thousands
of displaced persons. In August, as the result of an improved although
still tenuous security situation in Delta State, persons displaced by
violence in 2003 began returning to some parts of Warri. However, the
majority of persons displaced in 2003 had not returned by year's end.
The Lagos office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
estimated that 12,000 refugees, mostly ethnic Fulani herders, remained
in Cameroon. In December, 315 of the refugees returned to the country.
At year's end, UNHCR and the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon were
preparing for the return of the remaining refugees who wanted to
return. The UNHCR stated that it was safe for Ogoni refugees to return,
but only a few families were repatriated during the year.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established such a system for providing protection to refugees. In
practice, the Government provided protection against refoulement, the
return of persons to a country where they feared persecution, and
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers through the National Commission for Refugees (NCR), its
Federal Commissioner, and the National Emergency Management Agency
NEMA. The Eligibility Committee (on which the UNHCR had observer
status), governed the granting of refugee status, asylum, and
resettlement, and reviewed refugee and resettlement applications. The
Committee met in January and July. The Committee granted 238 asylum
seekers refugee status; cases were rejected, with 990 cases pending at
year's end.
There were an estimated 9,000 recognized refugees living in the
country. During the year, 1,017 refugees were repatriated to Liberia
and Sierra Leone. Remaining refugees included others from Sierra Leone,
Liberia, Chad, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Refugee camps were generally overcrowded, and refugees' requests for
police and judicial assistance generally received less attention. The
National Commission for Refugees managed the camps and had 10 staff
members based in the camps.
To maintain stability in Liberia, the Government provided asylum
for Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, during the year.
Although the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone requested Taylor's
extradition, President Obasanjo maintained that Taylor would be handed
over only to a democratically elected Liberian government.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully through periodic free and fair elections held on
the basis of universal suffrage; however, citizens' right to change
their government was abridged during nationwide Local Government Area
elections held from January to April and the April 2003 state and
national elections.
Voter registration for the 2003 national elections was carried out
in 2002, and there were charges that millions of eligible voters were
unable to register due to an apparent shortage of registration
materials. In addition, there were allegations of improper hoarding of
registration materials by politicians. A final voters list, required by
law for the elections, was not published.
The 2003 legislative elections were marred by widespread fraud. The
turnout was significantly (under 50 percent) for the 2003 presidential
and gubernatorial elections, which were also marred by widespread
fraud. A total of 31 parties participated in the April 2003 National
Assembly elections, and 19 parties had presidential candidates in the
election. The European Union observer mission categorized the
presidential elections as extremely poor, stating that in the worst six
states, elections effectively were not held, and in the rest of the
country the elections were seriously marred. All major independent
observer groups, international and domestic, had negative statements
about the fairness of elections and cited problems throughout the
country. Problems included ballot stuffing, intentional miscounting,
underage voting, multiple voting, intimidation, and violence, including
political killings (see Section 1.a.). There were numerous attempts to
kill members of political parties during the year. There also were
several cases of politically motivated arrests (see Section 1.d.).
Although all parties participated in the misconduct; observers cited
violations by the ruling PDP significantly more than others. Some
election tribunal cases related to the flawed 2003 elections were still
ongoing at year's end. More than 90 percent of the cases that had been
decided by year's end were simply dismissed on technicalities.
The opposition All Nigeria People's Party challenged the election
of Governor Boni Haruna from the ruling PDP in Adamawa State. On March
25, an electoral tribunal upheld the challenge and cancelled the
election results in 14 of the 21 local government councils are ordered
a fresh round of voting. In July, an appeals court in Jos overturned
the tribunal's verdict, announcing that the initial evidence was
``absolutely inadequate.'' No further appeal was possible according to
electoral law.
On December 20, an election tribunal voided part of the 2003
presidential election results, including the entire result of Ogun
State, President Obasanjo's home state, and found that there was
significant rigging but, by a 3-1 vote, declined to overturn the
election. The opposition immediately announced that it would appeal the
verdict to the Supreme Court in 2005.
INEC's actions during the year continued to raise serious rule of
law questions. INEC again refused to provide the presidential election
tribunal with subpoenaed official documents such as the 2003 election
National Register of Voters, which is legally required before any valid
general election can be held. INEC also refused to provide candidate
lists and voter tally sheets and refused a new request for some states'
official 2003 election returns. In November, INEC testified before the
tribunal that requirements in law for INEC's independence did not apply
to the Electoral Commissioners who run INEC at the national and state
levels; to most of INEC's professional staff; to much of its election-
day staff at polling and collation places; and most importantly, to all
of the returning officers during a presidential election except the
Chairman of INEC (who is directly appointed by the President). For its
few remaining positions where independence was required by the act,
INEC contended that only political party membership was prohibited, and
it was up to challengers (such as the candidate challenging the 2003
presidential election) to provide the membership roll of their
opponent's political party to prove an INEC official had been a member
on a specific day while working for INEC.
The political system remained in transition. The three branches of
the Government acted somewhat independently, although the executive
branch dominated the other two branches.
The Constitution contains provisions for the removal of the
president, vice president, ministers, legislators, and state government
officials for gross misconduct or medical reasons. The press and
legislative investigators scrutinized several public officials closely.
There were multiple court cases in progress stemming from the
disputed May 2003 gubernatorial elections in Anambra State, which
brought Governor Chris Ngige to power. Separately, court cases
continued surrounding the July 2003 abduction of the Governor and the
subsequent removal of his security detail. During this abduction,
mobile police allegedly forced the Governor's resignation, which he
later recanted. In September at the World Igbo ngress, Anambra State
political ``godfather'' Chris Uba claimed that Ngige, his former
protege, had not won his 2003 re-election bid, but that Uba had bribed
the INEC to announce fraudulent results. No action had been taken
against Uba by year's end. On November 10 and 11, roving armed bands
burned several buildings in Anambra State including the governor's
residence and state elections commission building. The police
reportedly did not respond to these arsons. Many accused Uba of being
behind the arsons as part of his ongoing quest to oust Governor Ngige.
On November 12, President Obasanjo convened a security meeting to
discuss the emergency and formed a Presidential Peace Committee, led by
Ebonyi State Governor Sam Egwu, to help resolve the crisis. On November
29, local press reported that gunmen attempted to kill Ngige. However,
the Anambra head of police and a member of Ngige's own staff
subsequently contradicted these press reports. The following day,
several small bombs exploded at the governor's lodge; no one was
injured. Separately on November 29, an appeals court restored the
Governor's full security detail. By year's end, there were no arrests
as a result of the arsons in the state.
Corruption was massive, widespread, and pervasive, at all levels of
the government and society (see Section 1.e.). On November 8, the
Minister of Finance, Ngozi Ikonjo-Iweala, launched the Ministry's Anti-
Corruption Unit to serve as the official forum to report wrongdoing by
Ministry of Finance officials.
The 2003 prosecution of the former Labor Minister and other senior
government officials on corruption charges had not been completed by
year's end.
Men continued to dominate the political arena, and NGOs continued
to protest the limited representation of women in the political
process. Although there were more than 500 ministerial and National
Assembly positions, there were only 3 female ministers, 3 female
senators, and 12 female representatives.
The Constitution mandates that the composition of the federal,
state, and local governments and their agencies, as well as the conduct
of their affairs, reflect the diverse character of the country to
promote national unity and loyalty. The Government was an example of
this diversity: President Obasanjo is a Yoruba from the southwest, the
Vice President is a Fulani from the northeast, and the Senate President
is an Igbo from the southeast. The Government also attempted to balance
other key positions among the different regions and ethnic groups. The
Senate used its oversight role to reject many of President Obasanjo's
ambassadorial appointments and insisted on three appointments from each
state. The political parties also engaged in ``zoning,'' a practice of
rotating positions within the party among the different regions and
ethnic groups to ensure that each region was given adequate
representation. Despite this effort, with more than 250 ethnic groups,
it was difficult to ensure representation of every group in the
Government (see Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views. Criticism of
the Government's past human rights' record was abundant in various
media. Human rights activists continued to complain that President
Obasanjo and members of his Government did not meet with them as
frequently as they did during the early years of his first
administration.
The case in which the Center for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN)
sued the Government over the 2002 seizure of its human rights report
had not been heard by year's end.
The ICRC was active, with offices in Abuja and Lagos under the
direction of a regional delegate. Its primary human rights activities
during the year involved training prison officials on human rights,
sanitation, and prisoner health (see Section 1.c.).
The NHRC, which was tasked with monitoring and protecting human
rights in the country, enjoyed greater recognition by and coordination
with NGOs and worked to establish its credibility as an independent
monitoring body. The NHRC was chaired by retired justice Uche Omo,
included 15 other members, and had zonal affiliates in each of the
country's 6 political regions. Since its inception, the NHRC has been
underfunded. The NHRC was a member of the International Coordinating
Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC).
The Benue Commission, established in 2002 to investigate the 2001
killing of approximately 200 civilians, rape, extortion, and looting in
Benue State by soldiers, submitted its report to the Government in
2003, but the report held no one accountable and made no
recommendations for corrective action.
Civil rights groups released the report of the Human Rights
Violations Investigation Commission, commonly known as the Oputa panel.
The Government held that the Supreme Court had found the panel's
mandate to be unconstitutional, so it planned no further action
regarding the report's findings.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on community, place
of origin, ethnic group, sex, religion, or political opinion; however,
customary and religious discrimination against women persisted, social
discrimination on the basis of both religion and ethnicity remained
widespread, and ethnic and regional tensions continued to contribute to
serious violence, both between citizens and the security forces and
between groups of citizens.
Women.--Domestic violence was widespread and accepted by both men
and women. Reports of spousal abuse particularly wife beating were
common. Police normally did not intervene in domestic disputes, which
seldom were discussed publicly. The Penal Code permits husbands to use
physical means to chastise their wives as long as it does not result in
``grievous harm,'' which is defined as loss of sight, hearing, power of
speech, facial disfigurement, or life-threatening injuries. In more
traditional areas of the country, courts and police were reluctant to
intervene to protect women who formally accused their husbands if the
level of alleged abuse did not exceed customary norms in the areas.
According to the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS),
64.5 percent of women and 61.3 percent of men agree that a husband was
justified in hitting or beating his wife for at least one of six
specified reasons, including burning food and not cooking on time.
Rape was against the law. Rape and sexual harassment continued to
be problems. The practice of demanding sexual favors in exchange for
employment or university grades continued to be common, and rape
continued to be epidemic in universities.
The NDHS estimated the FGM rate at approximately 19 percent among
the nation's female population, and the incidence has declined steadily
in the past 15 years. While practiced in all parts of the country, FGM
was much more prevalent in the southern part of the country. Women from
northern states were less likely to undergo the severe type of FGM
known as infibulation. The age at which women and girls were subjected
to the practice varied from the first week of life until after a woman
delivers her first child; however, three-quarters of the survey
respondents who had undergone FGM had the procedure before their first
birthday. According to the survey, the principal perceived ``benefits''
of FGM include maintaining chastity/virginity before marriage, giving
the victim better marriage prospects, providing more sexual pleasure
for men (primarily according to male respondents), and aiding safe
childbirth.
The Federal Government publicly opposed FGM; however, it took no
legal action to curb the practice. There were no federal laws banning
FGM. Because of the considerable problems that anti-FGM groups faced at
the federal level, most refocused their energies to combat the practice
at the state and LGA levels. Bayelsa, Edo, Ogun, Cross River, Osun, and
Rivers States have banned FGM. However, once a state legislature
criminalized FGM, NGOs found that they had to convince the LGA
authorities that state laws were applicable in their districts. The
Ministry of Health, women's groups, and many NGOs sponsored public
awareness projects to educate communities about the health hazards of
FGM. They worked to eradicate the practice; however, they had limited
contact with health care workers on the medical effects of FGM.
Prostitution was a serious social problem, particularly in urban
areas. A number of states enforced existing laws or introduced laws to
combat prostitution. All states that have adopted Shari'a have
criminalized prostitution, and this ban was enforced with varying
degrees of success. Prostitution was not illegal in Lagos State;
however, authorities used statutes that outlaw pandering as a
justification to arrest prostitutes. Trafficking in women was a problem
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
In some parts of the country, women continued to be harassed for
social and religious reasons. Purdah continued in parts of the far
north (see Section 1.f.).
Women also experienced considerable discrimination. While there are
no laws barring women from particular fields of employment, women often
experienced discrimination through customary and religious practices.
The Nigerian NGOs Coalition expressed concern about continued
discrimination against women in the private sector, particularly in
access to employment, promotion to higher professional positions, and
salary equality. There were credible reports that several businesses
operated with a ``get pregnant, get fired'' policy. Women remained
underrepresented in the formal sector but played an active and vital
role in the country's informal economy. While the number of women
employed in the business sector increased each year, women did not
receive equal pay for equal work and often found it extremely difficult
to acquire commercial credit or to obtain tax deductions or rebates as
heads of households. Unmarried women in particular endured many forms
of discrimination.
The NDHS showed that women had significant control over the income
they generate (73.4 percent make sole decisions on how such income is
to be used), but that men largely controlled decisions about such
problems as children's and women's own health care.
While some women made considerable individual progress both in the
academic and business world, women remained underprivileged. Although
women were not legally barred from owning land, under some customary
land tenure systems only men could own land, and women could gain
access to land only through marriage or family. In addition, many
customary practices did not recognize a woman's right to inherit her
husband's property, and many widows were rendered destitute when their
in-laws took virtually all of the deceased husband's property. Widows
were subjected to unfavorable conditions as a result of discriminatory
traditional customs and economic deprivation. ``Confinement'' was the
most common rite of deprivation to which widows were subjected, and it
occurred predominately in the East. Confined widows were under
restrictions for as long as 1 year and usually were required to shave
their heads and dress in black. In other areas, a widow was considered
a part of her husband's property, to be ``inherited'' by his family.
Shari'a personal law protects widows' property rights, and an NGO
reported that many women have succeeded in protecting their rights in
Shari'a courts. Polygyny continued to be practiced widely among many
ethnic and religious groups.
Women were affected to varying degrees by Shari'a law in the 12
northern states. In Zamfara State, local governments enforced laws
requiring the separation of Muslim men and women in transportation and
health care. In practice, the testimony of women was not given the same
weight as that of men in many criminal courts (see Section 1.e.).
Children.--The Government seldom enforced even the inadequate laws
designed to protect the rights of children. Public schools continued to
be inadequate, and limited facilities precluded access to education for
many children. The Constitution calls for the Government, ``when
practical,'' to provide free, compulsory, and universal primary
education; however, compulsory primary education rarely was provided.
In many parts of the country, girls were discriminated against in
access to education for social and economic reasons. When economic
hardship restricted families' ability to send girls to school, many
girls were directed into activities such as domestic work, trading, and
street vending. The literacy rate for men was 58 percent but only 41
percent for women. Many families favored boys over girls in deciding
which children to enroll in secondary and elementary schools.
Preliminary NDHS data from households showed that net attendance for
boys was 63.7, for girls 56.5.
While most schools in the north traditionally separated children by
gender, the law requires it in Zamfara, Sokoto, and Kebbi State schools
(see Section 2.c.).
Cases of child abuse, abandoned infants, child prostitution, and
physically harmful child labor practices remained common throughout the
country (see Sections 5, Trafficking and 6.d.). The Government
criticized child abuse and neglect but did not undertake any
significant measures to stop customary practices harmful to children,
such as the sale of young girls into marriage. There were credible
reports that poor families sold their daughters into marriage as a
means to supplement their incomes. Young girls sometimes were forced
into marriage as soon as they reached puberty, regardless of age, to
prevent the ``indecency'' associated with premarital sex or for other
cultural and religious reasons. Human rights groups reported an
increase in sexual assaults and rapes of young girls, especially in the
North, and attributed the increase to a fear of AIDS and a resulting
desire for young virgins.
FGM was commonly performed on girls in some parts of the country
(see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, persons were trafficked to, from, and within the country. It
was believed that some individual members of the government facilitated
or condoned trafficking, although no officials were accused,
prosecuted, or convicted.
The law prohibits human trafficking and provides for penalties
including monetary fines, imprisonment, deportation, forfeiture of
assets and passport, and liability for compensation to victims in civil
proceedings. Imprisonment terms range from 12 months to life, while
fines range from $375 (50,000 naira) to $1,500 (200,000 naira).
The National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons
(NAPTIP), established in August 2003, was primary responsibility for
combating trafficking. The NPF and the Nigerian Immigration Service
(NIS) also have antitrafficking units. In addition, the President has a
special assistant for human trafficking and child labor.
With the existence of NAPTIP, enforcement efforts improved during
the year; however, inadequate funding for NAPTIP and other
antitrafficking efforts remained a major constraint. The number of
trafficking cases investigated and prosecuted during the year
increased; however, the precise number of cases pursued was difficult
to determine because of poor record keeping and the overlapping roles
of NAPTIP and the anti-trafficking units of the NPF and NIS.
NAPTIP investigated 35 new cases during the year, and many of the
cases were pending at year's end. NAPTIP made arrests in 13 cases. Four
cases, involving six traffickers, went to court. In November, the High
Court in Edo State delivered the first conviction under the anti-
trafficking law, sentencing a woman to 3 years' imprisonment for
attempting to traffic six girls to Spain.
In the September 2003 case of the repatriation of 400 Beninese
children, the traffickers arrested were released during the year after
a traditional ruler in the area intervened.
The NPF Antitrafficking Task Force was established and staffed 11
units in states with the worst trafficking problems. Units from these
states and the Federal Capital Territory reported 34 cases, involving
111 victims and 51 suspects. Records were not precise enough to
determine which cases reported by the police overlapped with those
tracked by NAPTIP.
The Government collaborated with the Spanish police, the Italian
National Antimafia Bureau, and the police force of the Benin Republic
on investigations in several cases. In November, the Government signed
a memorandum of understanding with the United Kingdom to share
detection methods and equipment and provide medical and financial
support to victims.
The country was a source, transit, and destination country for
trafficked persons during the year. With support from the Italian
government, NAPTIP established a national monitoring center, and the
ILO began adapting software to be used at the center; however, during
the year, records were kept manually and only on a limited scale. No
government or NGO estimates on the extent of trafficking were
available; however, the magnitude of the problem was believed to be
significant. This belief was based on several factors, including the
number of deportees returned to the country and reports of Nigerians
stranded along trafficking routes, particularly in North African
countries. The ILO estimated that 40 percent of child street peddlers
were trafficking victims.
Nigerians were trafficked to Europe, the Middle East, and other
countries in Africa for the purposes of forced labor, domestic
servitude, and sexual exploitation. Girls and women were trafficked for
forced prostitution to Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Cote
d'Ivoire, and the Benin Republic. Children were trafficked for
involuntary domestic and agricultural labor and street peddling within
the country and to countries in West and Central Africa. Both women and
children were trafficked to Saudi Arabia. The country was a destination
country for children trafficked for forced labor from other West
African countries, primarily Benin.
Women and children were most at risk of being trafficked. Boys were
trafficked primarily to work as forced bondage laborers, street
peddlers, and beggars, while girls were trafficked for domestic
service, street peddling, and commercial sexual exploitation.
Trafficking in children, and to a lesser extent in women, occurred
within the country's borders. Children in rural areas were trafficked
to urban centers to work as domestics, street peddlers, merchant
traders, and beggars.
The UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that individual
criminals and organized criminal groups conducted trafficking, often
involving relatives or other persons already known to the victims.
Traffickers employed various methods during the year. Many were
organized into specialties, such as document and passport forgery,
recruitment, and transportation. To recruit young women, traffickers
often made false promises of legitimate work outside the country.
Traffickers also deceived child victims and their parents with promises
of education, training, and salary payments. Once away from their
families, children were subjected to harsh treatment and intimidation.
Traffickers subjected victims to debt bondage, particularly victims
forced into prostitution. In some cases, traffickers employed
practitioners of traditional magic, or juju, to threaten victims with
curses to procure their silence. NAPTIP estimated that 90 percent of
the girls trafficked through Benin routes were placed under juju
curses. Victims were transported by air, land, and sea. Established
land routes to Europe transited Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire,
Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Morocco.
At the institutional level, government authorities do not
facilitate or condone trafficking; however, NAPTIP received reports
from informants and foreign officials that law enforcement officers and
individuals in the immigration and airport authorities collaborated in
trafficking across the country's borders. Victims interviewed by UNODC
identified the complicit and collaborative behavior of police, security
force, immigration, and customs officials. NAPTIP briefed the heads of
police and immigration on the issue. NAPTIP also worked with the
Ministry of Aviation to address corruption among airport officials. The
law provides punitive measures for officials who aid or abet
trafficking; however, during the year, NAPTIP and NPF found no evidence
of official complicity, and no officials were prosecuted, tried, or
convicted for trafficking-related charges.
The Government provided limited funding for assistance to victims.
NAPTIP served as the point of contact for immigration and police
officials when victims were found. Seventy-four victims passed through
the agency during the year. NAPTIP directly provided overnight shelter
to some, but most often, agency officials connected victims to
nongovernmental or international organizations for shelter, counseling,
and reintegration assistance. NAPTIP established a hotline for victims
and anyone seeking or wanting to provide information about trafficking.
In a couple of cases, the Government helped victims repatriate to the
country. NAPTIP also helped to reunite several trafficked children with
their families.
The Ministry of Labor and Productivity, in collaboration with the
ILO, NAPTIP, the police, and other federal agencies, provided food,
transportation, and other logistical assistance to reunite internally
and externally trafficked children with their families.
The Government donated a building for a 10-year period as a 120-bed
shelter in Lagos to be run by the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) and NAPTIP. With foreign government support IOM
renovated the building, which also includes offices for IOM and NAPTIP
staff. On July 22, the shelter opened.
At the state level, the government of Akwa Ibom donated a shelter
for trafficked children and the government of Kano State worked with
UNICEF to establish a shelter for victims.
The Government provided some funding for protection activities. For
victims serving as witnesses, divisional police officers were appointed
to serve as witness protection officers. NAPTIP officials and the
officer worked together to provide assistance. NAPTIP also created a
brochure to let victims know the agency exists to help them if they
would like to pursue prosecution. The brochure was distributed to
deportees returning to the country in hopes that it would encourage
unidentified trafficking victims to come forward. The brochure prompted
at least one woman returned from Italy to contact NAPTIP. Several state
governments in the south continued strong efforts to protect victims.
Victims were no longer criminalized or detained with criminals in cells
as they were in previous years.
Efforts by the Government to prevent trafficking in persons
increased during the year; however, inadequate funding remained a major
constraint. The stakeholder forum established by NAPTIP in 2003
continued. NAPTIP officials met with several major traditional leaders
to raise their awareness about trafficking and the 2003 anti-
trafficking law. NAPTIP also worked with the media to raise awareness
among the public, and officials appeared on national talk shows and
state programs. The Government began implementing the ILO International
Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) West Africa Cocoa
Agriculture Project to prevent the trafficking or employment of
children in association with commercial agriculture, especially cocoa
production.
The Government has established economic and education programs that
may help to prevent trafficking, such as the National Poverty
Eradication Program and the Nigerian Agricultural and Rural Development
Bank. Despite these and other programs, poverty, lack of access to
education, and lack of economic opportunities remained pervasive
problems in the country and fuel the trafficking problem.
Several state governments made significant prevention efforts
during the year, including awareness campaigns among at-risk
populations.
Nongovernmental and international organizations organized
conferences and meetings on trafficking and established prevention and
awareness programs in schools. Groups also worked through the media. A
faith-based foundation in Akwa Ibom State sponsored awareness programs
on television and radio. The ILO began a program in partnership with
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to raise awareness and build media
capacity in eliminating child trafficking and labor.
Persons With Disabilities.--There were no laws that require
accessibility to buildings or public transportation for persons with
disabilities, and the Government did not formulate any policy
specifically ensuring the right of persons with disabilities to work.
Children and women with disabilities faced social stigma, exploitation,
and discrimination, and were often regarded as a source of shame to
their own families. Children with disabilities who could not contribute
to the family economy were seen as a liability, and in some cases were
severely neglected. Literacy rates among various categories of persons
with disabilities were significantly lower than among the general
population, for both men and women. The Federal Government ran
vocational training centers in Abuja to provide training to indigent
persons with disabilities. The individual states also provided
facilities to assist blind and physically incapacitated individuals to
become self-supporting, and persons with disabilities established a
growing number of self-help NGOs.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's population was
ethnically diverse, and consisted of more than 250 groups, many of
which spoke distinct primary languages and were concentrated
geographically. There was no majority ethnic group. The four largest
ethnic groups, which made up two-thirds of the country's population,
were the Hausa and Fulani of the north, the Yoruba of the southwest,
and the Igbos of the southeast. The Ijaw of the South Delta were the
fifth largest group, followed by Kanuri in the far northeast, and the
Tiv in the Middle Belt. Many groups complained of insufficient
representation. Middle Belt and Christian officers dominated the
military hierarchy. Some persons in the North believe that the northern
Hausa were underrepresented in the military.
The Constitution prohibits ethnic discrimination by the Government;
however, claims of marginalization, particularly by members of southern
minority groups and Igbos, continued. In particular, the ethnic groups
of the Niger Delta continued their calls for high-level representation
on petroleum problems and within the security forces. Northern Muslims
accused the Government of favoring Yorubas or Christians from the
Middle Belt for those positions. Traditional linkages continued to
impose considerable pressure on individual government officials to
favor their own ethnic groups for important positions and patronage.
Societal discrimination on the basis of ethnicity was practiced
widely by members of all ethnic groups and was evident in private
sector hiring patterns, de facto ethnic segregation of urban
neighborhoods, and a continuing paucity of marriages across major
ethnic and regional lines. There was a long history of tension among
some ethnic groups (see Section 2.c.).
Ethnic groups claimed environmental degradation and government
indifference to their status in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
Groups such as the Ijaw, Itsekiri, Urhobo, Isoko, and Ogoni continued
to express their unhappiness about their perceived economic
exploitation and the environmental destruction of their homelands, and
incidents of ethnic conflict and confrontation with government
officials and forces continued in the Delta area (see Sections 1.a. and
1.b.).
Interethnic fighting also continued in Warri, Delta State,
resulting in casualties and the displacement of tens of thousands of
local inhabitants. In June, as the result of numerous conflict
resolution efforts, parties agreed to a ceasefire. Interethnic violence
decreased, but did not stop completely. The ceasefire in Warri remained
largely in effect at year's end.
Interethnic fighting elsewhere in the Delta also displaced tens of
thousands of local inhabitants. Violence temporarily abated in the
region in 2003. In 2004, militia groups operating in Port Harcourt and
other areas around the Delta region carried out violent operations. In
September, several persons were killed in Port Harcourt when militia
gangs attacked some neighborhoods around the port area. Militants
claimed they were protesting poverty, inadequate control of local
resources, lack of infrastructure, and environmental degradation,
conditions for which they blamed the Federal Government and
multinational oil companies operating in the area. Some observers
alleged that some of the militants were exploiting the ``cause of the
Niger Delta peoples'' for personal gain and aggrandizement. They
further alleged that many of the militants were thugs and criminals.
Officials from the Presidency negotiated directly with militant leaders
and reached a ceasefire agreement that was implemented by the
government of Rivers State.
Competing economic aspirations among ethnic groups for control of
state and local governments led to violent conflicts during the year.
Conflict over land rights and ownership continued among members of
the Tiv, Kwalla, Jukun, and Azara ethnic groups; each of these groups
resided at or near the convergence of Nassarawa, Benue, and Taraba
States. The Tiv, who were claimed by their opponents to have migrated
to the country later than other inhabitants of the disputed area, were
regarded as interlopers by the other groups, which consider themselves
``indigenous'' ethnic groups. Tivs are the largest ethnic group in much
of Benue and parts of other states.
Communal violence between members of the Ogori and Ekpedo ethnic
groups in Kogi and Edo states continued over boundary and land
disputes. Kogi and Edo state governors declared the disputed land a
``buffer zone,'' and the matter was referred to the National Boundary
Commission in 2003. No further action was taken during the year.
Most people displaced by the violence between Fulani herdsmen and
farmers in Adamawa State in 2003 had returned to their homes by year's
end.
Communal violence escalated in Plateau State, reaching its peak in
May (see Section 2.c.).
There were no developments in previous years' incidents of ethno-
religious violence.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Homosexuality is illegal
under federal law; homosexual practices are punishable by prison
sentences of up to 14 years. In the 12 northern states that have
adopted Shari'a, adults convicted of having engaged in homosexual
intercourse are subject to execution by stoning, although no such
sentences have been imposed.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides all
citizens with the right to form or belong to any trade union or other
association for the protection of their interests, and workers
exercised this right in practice; however, several statutory
restrictions on the right of association and on trade unions remained
in effect.
According to figures provided by the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC),
total union membership was approximately 4 million. Less that 10
percent of the total work force was organized. With the exception of
small number of workers engaged in commercial food processing, the
agricultural sector, which employed the majority of the work force, was
not organized. The informal sector, and small and medium enterprises,
remained largely unorganized.
Workers, except members of the armed forces and employees
designated as essential by the Government, may join trade unions.
Essential workers included government employees in the police, customs,
immigration, prisons, the federal mint, and the Central Bank. Employees
working in a designated Export Processing Zone (EPZ) may not join a
union until 10 years after the start-up of the enterprise (see Section
6.b.).
The country's labor law mandates a single-labor-federation
structure for workers, which has become the NLC. Trade unions are
required to be registered formally by the Government, and a minimum 50
workers per enterprise are required to form a trade union; the
Government formally recognized 29 such unions under the NLC by year's
end. Senior staffers are not permitted to join NLC-affiliated unions
and were organized under the confederation Trade Union Congress (TUC),
which was not registered with the Government. The TUC and its
constituent organizations acted like a union federation and often
cooperated with their NLC counterparts but had no legal status. It was
also denied a seat on the National Labor Advisory Council (NLAC). These
legal restrictions diluted the bargaining strength of workers. The ILO
Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions repeatedly
inquired what steps were being taken to eliminate these restrictions on
the freedom of association.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The labor laws
provide for both the right to organize and bargain collectively between
management and trade unions, and collective bargaining occurred
throughout the public sector and the organized private sector. The
Labor Minister could refer unresolved disputes to the Industrial
Arbitration Panel (IAP) and the National Industrial Court (NIC). Union
officials questioned the effectiveness of the NIC in view of its
inability to resolve various disputes stemming from the Government's
failure to fulfill contract provisions for public sector employees.
Union leaders criticized the arbitration system's dependence on the
Labor Minister's referrals. The Labor Minister made several referrals
to the IAP during the year. The IAP and NIC were active; however, both
suffered from a lack of resources.
Workers had the right to strike; however, certain essential workers
were required to provide advance notice of a strike. In September a
court limited the right to strike to matters pertaining to wages and
conditions of work, thereby prohibiting strikes over matters of
national economic policy. The NLC appealed the ruling; the appeal was
pending at year's end. Worker under a collective bargaining agreement
could not participate in a strike unless their union complied with the
requirements of the law, which included provisions for mandatory
mediation and for referral of the dispute to the Government; however,
in practice the law did not appear to be enforced, and strikes,
including in the public sector, were widespread.
There were several strikes during the year over a government policy
to deregulate fuel prices. In October, the NLC, in association with
various NGOs, organized a 4-day ``stay-at-home'' to protest another
fuel price increase. On October 1, the State Security Service had
detained the president of the NLC, Adams Oshiomhole, for questioning
following the NLC's decision to mobilize the ``stay-at-home'' protest.
Other activists in various places were detained in connection with the
protest, and the staff of the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center in Abuja were
detained several hours by State SSS, then released without explanation,
just after the protest was suspended. On October 11, police reportedly
killed a 12-year-old boy during clashes with protesters in Kaduna; a
man was reported killed in a similar incident in Port Harcourt the
following day. There were allegations that some of the arrested
strikers in Kaduna were killed (see Section 1.a.). The protest was
suspended after 4 days when the Government set up a ``stakeholders
committee'' led by the Senate Vice President, and including NLC
members, which agreed to a fixed price for fuel.
There were no developments in the June 2003 killing of at least 18
persons during a nationwide strike.
There were no laws prohibiting retribution against strikers and
strike leaders, but strikers who believed they were victims of unfair
retribution could submit their cases to IAP, with the approval of the
Labor Ministry. The IAP's decisions were binding on parties but could
be appealed to the NIC; however in practice, the decisions of these
bodies infrequently carried the force of law. Union representatives
described the arbitration process as cumbersome and time-consuming, and
an ineffective deterrent to retribution against strikers.
EPZs in Calabar, Cross River State, and Onne Port, Rivers State,
operated during the year. Workers and employers in these zones were
subject to national labor laws, which; however, provided for a 10-year
amnesty on trade unions, strikes, or lockouts following the
commencement of operations within a zone. In addition, the law allows
the EPZ Authority to handle the resolution of disputes between
employers and employees instead of workers' organizations or unions.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that it occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.), and enforcement of
the law was not effective.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--In
most sectors, the minimum work age is 15 years, which is consistent
with the age for completing educational requirements; however, child
labor remained a problem. The law prohibits employment of children less
than 15 years of age in commerce and industry and restricts other child
labor to home-based agricultural or domestic work. The law states that
children may not be employed in agricultural or domestic work for more
than 8 hours per day. Apprenticeship of youths at the age of 13 is
allowed under specific conditions.
The country made progress toward eliminating the worst forms of
child labor. Awareness was increasing throughout civil society and the
Government showed its commitment to the issue. Despite these advances,
forced child labor and trafficking in children continued during the
year (see Section 5).
Economic hardship resulted in high numbers of children in
commercial activities aimed at enhancing meager family income. Children
frequently were employed as beggars, street peddlers, bus conductors,
and domestic servants in urban areas. Little data was available to
analyze the incidence of child labor. The National Modular Child Labour
Survey Nigeria conducted the only survey available between 2000 and
2001. The survey reported approximately 15 million children working in
the country. Of these, more than 6 million were not attending school
and more than 2 million were working 15 or more hours per day.
A Ministry of Employment, Labor, and Productivity unit dealt
specifically with child labor problems, as well as an inspections
department whose major responsibilities included enforcement of legal
provisions relating to conditions of work and protection of workers;
however, there were fewer than 50 inspectors for the entire country,
and the Ministry conducted inspections only in the formal business
sector, where the incidence of child labor was not a significant
problem. NAPTIP bears some responsibility for enforcing child labor
laws. The agency reportedly received no complaints of child labor,
although it did pursue cases of trafficking in children (see Section
5).
Private and government initiatives to stem the incidence of child
employment continued but were ineffective. The Government implemented
the ILO/IPEC West Africa Cocoa Agriculture Project in the cocoa and
other agricultural sub-sectors to combat hazardous child labor and to
prevent the child trafficking for labor exploitation. Several programs
by NGOs and international organizations worked to address child labor
in the country.
UNICEF conducted a program to remove young girls from the street
peddling trade and relocate them to informal educational settings. ILO
programs worked to involve communities and schools in withdrawing
children from exploitative situations such as street peddling and
prostitution. The programs aimed to reintegrate the children into
school or otherwise provide vocational training.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law sets a minimum wage,
which was reviewed infrequently. Real private sector wages greatly
exceeded the minimum wage. The minimum wage was $56.70 (7,500 naira)
per month for private sector workers and $41.70 (5,500 naira) per month
for public sector workers (with a 13 month year as the law mandates an
extra month's pay for the Christmas holiday). The national minimum wage
did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The Government directed each state administration to establish its own
salary structure based on its ability to pay, but at least the national
minimum wage. Many state governments have stated they were not in a
position to pay the increase to minimum wage without massive layoffs or
the elimination of ghost workers. Ghost workers (who appeared on the
employment rolls but not on the job) remained a significant problem,
although the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) took actions to delete
several thousand ghost workers from its rolls.
The 25 percent wage increase agreed in July 2003 between the NLC
and the Government was not paid. The Government later insisted that
only the public service unions could negotiate for civil servants, not
the NLC.
The law mandates a 40-hour workweek, 2 to 4 weeks annual leave, and
overtime and holiday pay, except for agricultural and domestic workers.
There is no law prohibiting excessive compulsory overtime. The law also
establishes general health and safety provisions, some of which were
aimed specifically at young or female workers. It requires that the
Inspectorate Division of the Ministry of Labor and Employment inspect
factories for compliance with health and safety standards; however,
this agency was greatly underfunded, lacked basic resources and
training, and consequently neglected safety oversight of many
enterprises, particularly construction sites and other nonfactory work.
The law requires employers to compensate injured workers and dependent
survivors of those killed in industrial accidents. The Labor Ministry,
which was charged with enforcement of these laws, has been ineffective
in identifying violators. The Labor Decree does not provide workers
with the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without loss of employment.
The law applies to legal foreign workers; however, not all
multinational companies respected these laws in practice.
__________
RWANDA
Rwanda is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. The largely
Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power in 1994 and formed a
Government of National Unity that functioned during the transitional
period following the civil war and genocide until 2003, when elections
were held. In May 2003, a country-wide referendum resulted in the
approval of a new constitution, which provides for a multiparty system
and nullifies the suspension of political activity, although it
provides few protections for parties and their candidates. In August
2003, the country held its first multicandidate national elections
since independence; President Paul Kagame was elected to a 7-year term
in largely peaceful but seriously marred elections. In September 2003,
President Kagame's party, the RPF, won the majority of the seats during
legislative elections and therefore remained the principal political
force that controlled the Government. The judiciary, which was not
operational for most of the year as the country implemented judicial
reforms, was subject to executive influence and suffered from a lack of
resources, inefficiency, and some corruption.
The Minister of Defense is responsible for external security and
national defense; the Minister of Internal Security is responsible for
civilian security matters as well as supervision of the prisons and the
national police. The Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF), which maintain
external security, and the police, which maintain internal security,
comprise the security apparatus. Following the formal withdrawal of all
its troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2002, the
Government began to reorganize its military establishment to provide
for a smaller force more suitable for territorial defense than for
expeditionary action abroad. Government authorities did not always
maintain effective control of the security forces, and there were
several instances in which elements of the security forces acted
independently of government authority. Some members of the security
forces committed serious human rights abuses.
During the year, there were several unconfirmed reports from
multiple credible sources that RDF troops were at times present in the
eastern part of the DRC, particularly following public threats by the
Rwandan President in November indicating that the Government might send
RDF troops into the DRC to attack Hutu rebels deemed a threat to its
security. There were also reports that RDF military advisors remained
integrated with former Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD/G) forces.
However, the Government publicly denied allegations that RDF troops
were operating in the DRC. During the year, Rwandan rebels in the DRC,
known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR),
conducted attacks in the northwestern region of Rwanda.
The country was very poor, and 60 percent of the population of 8.3
million lived in poverty. The economy is market-based and primarily
driven by the agricultural sector. More than 85 percent of the labor
force was engaged in subsistence agriculture. The 1994 Genocide
destroyed the country's social fabric, human resource base,
institutional capacity, and economic and social infrastructure. Per
capita annual income was $230, and the country experienced an estimated
economic growth rate of 4 percent. Small-scale commercial activities
increased, but the industrial base remained limited. Inflation during
the year was 11 percent, and wages generally did not keep up with
inflation. Drought conditions affected the second harvest season in the
latter part of the year, increasing the cost of food and reducing the
yield in the export tea market.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit serious abuses. The right of citizens to
change their government was effectively restricted. Members of Local
Defense Forces (LDF) committed unlawful killings. The Government
investigated reports that organized groups targeted and killed
witnesses to the 1994 Genocide in certain provinces. There were reports
of politically motivated disappearances. Police often beat suspects in
custody, and torture was a problem. Prison conditions remained life
threatening. Arbitrary arrest and detention and prolonged pretrial
detention remained serious problems. During the year, the Government
released a report that accused human rights groups, journalists,
churches, and local government officials of ``genocide ideology''; the
Government subsequently justified scores of arbitrary arrests and the
effective dismantling of the country's independent human rights
organizations as part of its campaign against ``divisionism.'' The
judiciary did not always ensure due process or expeditious trials. The
Government continued to conduct genocide trials at a slow pace. The
Government restricted freedom of speech and of the press, and it
limited freedom of assembly and association. In several instances,
local government officials restricted the freedom of religion,
particularly for Jehovah's Witnesses. Government officials reportedly
harassed and imprisoned refugees and asylum seekers during the first
half of the year, when the Government was taking over responsibility
for their registration. Societal violence and discrimination against
women and ethnic minorities, particularly the Batwa, were problems.
Child labor was prevalent, and trafficking in persons was a problem.
During the year, armed proxy groups reportedly supported by the
Government, including some ex-RCD/G combatants, continued to operate
and commit serious human rights abuses in the DRC, including killings
and rape.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings by the Government or its agents; however, there were
reports of arbitrary killings by members of the LDF.
On April 29, an LDF member named Micombero beat an 18-year-old
plantation worker to death in Kanama district in Gisenyi Province. By
year's end, it was not known whether officials took any action against
the LDF officer.
On May 14, an LDF officer named Ndacyayisenga, with the complicity
of another LDF officer named Kinyinya, shot and killed Jean Baptiste
Nsekanabo, after he failed to produce his identity card. The LDF
officers were not arrested as of the end of the year.
LDF officers who were arrested for committing abuses in 2003
remained in jail, and none of their cases reached conclusion during the
year.
There were no developments in the 2002 killing in Kigali of RDF
officer Alphonse Mbayire by a soldier in uniform.
Military courts actively prosecuted RDF soldiers accused of
violating the human rights of citizens. On January 28, two soldiers
arrested Protais Ntiruhunwa, a young boy accused of stealing a radio
and took the boy to the barracks and beat him to death. On February 6,
the soldiers were arrested, although the trial was not completed at
year's end. In the case against Sergeant Nyamaswa and Corporal Karangwa
for the April 2003 beating death of an agronomist, Nyamaswa was
acquitted and Karangwa received 5 years in prison on June 26.
Despite the official 2002 withdrawal of its forces from the DRC,
during the year, there were unconfirmed reports from multiple credible
sources, including a panel of U.N. experts, that the Government
continued to provide material support for ex-RCD/G forces operating in
the DRC under former RCD/G commanders such as Colonel Jules Mutebutsi
and General Laurent Nkunda. Unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports that the Government provided support to the Union of Congolese
Patriots.
There continued to be reports throughout the year of killings and
other human rights abuses, including torture, rape, and looting,
committed with impunity in the DRC by both pro-DRC and anti-DRC
government forces, although RDF forces were reportedly no longer
directly involved. Verification of these reports was extremely
difficult, particularly those originating from remote areas and those
affected by active combat in the eastern part of the DRC. The
Government maintained that it no longer had troops in eastern DRC, and
that its influence over former RCD/G combatants was decreasing. It
rejected any responsibility for the numerous serious human rights
abuses committed against civilians by former RCD/G soldiers in the DRC.
During the year, the Government prosecuted nine members of the
military on charges of murder or attempted murder in the DRC prior to
the 2002 withdrawal. For example, on April 24, Private Phenias
Kanyarwanda was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his
Congolese porter. Of the nine tried during the year, two were found
innocent. The highest-ranking official tried during the year was a
corporal, and he was convicted. At year's end, the Government had not
opened any new inquiries into the abuses by its troops in previous
years in the DRC. The appeals of RDF Sergeants Nkusi and Sebuhoro, both
convicted of two 1998 murders by a military court in 2003, were pending
at year's end.
According to several human rights organizations and government
officials, hundreds of witnesses to the Genocide were killed throughout
the country, reportedly to prevent testimonies and undermine the rural
justice system (Gacaca). For example, on June 12, three persons lead by
Jean Munigankiko killed Valentine Mukanzeyimana of Butare Province.
Munigankiko admitted to police that he killed Mukanzeyimana because
Mukanzeyimana had accused him in Gacaca proceedings of having killed
his family. By year's end, police had detained suspects in connection
with some of the killings.
There were reports in the northwest of killings by insurgents who
were allied with persons responsible for the 1994 Genocide. On November
15, an FDLR attack on a village in Gisenyi Province resulted in two
deaths. Such attacks were rare and appeared to be aimed at
destabilizing the tourism economy and the April commemoration of the
10th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide.
The U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based
in Arusha, Tanzania, continued to prosecute genocide suspects during
the year (see Section 4).
b. Disappearance.--There were reports of politically motivated
disappearances within the country.
On April 17, police arrested Jean Damascene Tuyizere of Gisenyi
Province in Gisenyi town. A military intelligence officer questioned
Tuyizere for several days at the police station, after which he was
transferred to an unknown location. Several days later, the prefect of
the province visited the family and said they should be careful not to
travel without their identity cards. By year's end, his family had not
been given news of his whereabouts.
On October 6, police arrested four campaign workers of former Prime
Minister Faustin Twagiramungu, who ran in the 2003 presidential
elections. The families of Jean de Dieu Kwizera, David Habimana, Block
Mugambira, and Jean Paul Kamondo last heard from the four men on
October 21, and by year's end, had been given no news of their
whereabouts.
On November 20, an RDF captain, Jean Leanard Kagabo, disappeared
after police arrested him in Byumba Province. By year's end, his family
had been given no news of his whereabouts.
There were no developments in the 2003 disappearances of two
prominent citizens and four high-level government officials, including
parliamentarian Dr. Leonard Hitimana.
On June 30, the Government released a report on the status of
several ongoing investigations of high-profile disappearances that
occurred in 2003, following the release of a 2003 government report
criticizing the Democratic Republican Movement (MDR), an opposition
party, and calling for its dissolution. According to the report,
Lieutenant Colonel Cyiza, a former Supreme court Vice-President who
disappeared in April 2003, was residing in the DRC; two other military
officers previously reported missing were in Burundi. In both cases,
however, the Government did not provide any proof of these claims. The
report provided no new information on the whereabouts of Dr. Leonard
Hitimana, an MDR member of the National Assembly.
There were no developments in the case of the missing Banyamulenge
(Tutsi) soldiers reportedly arrested in 2002 by the RDF; the Government
continued to deny that any such arrests had occurred.
There were no developments in the reported disappearances of two
persons detained in 2002 at Ndosho in the DRC by RDF and RCD/G forces.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture; however, police officers often
beat suspects at the time of arrest, and on at least one occasion,
security forces reportedly committed acts of torture.
According to a local human rights group, there were 75 reported
cases of torture during the year, not including cases reported by
Jehovah's Witnesses or journalists (see Section 2.a. and 2.c.). For
example, on February 19, an assistant district police chief in Butare
Province, Canisius Mwitabangoma, arrested Mathias Mugabo on charges of
insulting and using ethnic slurs against the police chief. During his
detention, he was beaten with the butt of a bayonet and forced to sleep
naked in his cell. No action had been taken against the police chief at
year's end.
There were numerous reports during the year that police detained
and beat members of Jehovah's Witnesses because they refused to
participate in nighttime security patrols (see Section 2.c.).
There was no development in the 2003 case of the torture of RDF
Major Ngirabatware, who remained in prison at year's end.
There continued to be numerous reports that security forces at
times beat, harassed, or threatened political dissidents, journalists,
and members of NGOs (see Sections 2.a., 2.b., and 4).
During the year, unexploded ordnance that remained from the 1994
civil war caused three deaths and eight injuries.
During the year, ex-RCD/G combatants in the eastern region of the
DRC committed numerous serious human rights abuses, including torture,
beatings, and widespread rape.
Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening. The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has registered
approximately 76,000 prisoners detained on genocide or security-related
charges and estimated that an additional 10,000 prisoners were detained
on charges unrelated to the genocide; however, the Ministry of Justice
routinely referred to the prison population as numbering 87,000. While
the Government was committed to improving prison conditions, chronic
overcrowding remained a major problem. During the year, the Government
completed the construction of two new prisons while closing down the
four remaining cachots (local detention centers) in the country.
Sanitary conditions were extremely poor, and despite continuing
efforts, the Government did not provide adequate food or medical
treatment. The ICRC provided 30 percent of the food in the 16 main
prisons and also provided additional expertise and medical, logistical,
and material support to improve conditions for inmates. Prison deaths
largely were the result of preventable diseases and suspected cases of
HIV/AIDS. There was an undetermined number of deaths in prison reported
during the year. Prisoners may also be hired out to perform work at
private residences and businesses (see Section 6.c.).
Women were detained separately from men, and more than 500 minors
were incarcerated with adults throughout the prison system. During the
year, the Government made efforts to better ensure that minors were
incarcerated separately from adults, as well as efforts to release
children; however, an undetermined number of children classified as
minors remained incarcerated on genocide-related charges at year's end.
Pretrial detainees generally were separated from convicted prisoners;
however, there were numerous exceptions as a result of the large number
of genocide detainees awaiting trial. High profile political prisoners,
such as former president Pasteur Bizimungu, were kept in special
sections of regular prisons.
The ICRC, human rights organizations, diplomats, and journalists
had regular access to the prisons. The ICRC continued its visits to
communal jails and military-supervised jails.
Unlike in the precious year, there were no reports that RCD/G
combatants (or ex-RCD/G combatants) incarcerated persons in the private
residences of rebel military commanders.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution provided legal
safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention; however, authorities
rarely observed them in practice, and security forces continued to
arrest and detain persons arbitrarily.
The National Police was a young organization. The National Police
is headed by the Commissioner General and has two Deputy Commissioners,
one for operations and another for administration. Five Assistant
Commissioners oversee the various units, such as traffic, intelligence,
criminal investigations, protection, and the provincial areas. The
police lacked basic resources such as handcuffs, radios, and patrol
cars. However, they participated in extensive training programs, and
the police academy curriculum included training on human rights,
nonlethal use of force, and professionalism. There was little problem
with corruption or discipline within the police force due to national
pride, strict training, and close monitoring.
The LDF received less training than the National Police and fall
under the Ministry of the Interior, along with locally staffed ``civil
disorder'' units. The LDF performed basic security guard duties
throughout the country and were known to chase illegal street vendors,
petty criminals, and prostitutes away from public areas. While they
have no arrest powers, they reportedly acted with impunity. During the
year, the Government initiated a project to integrate the LDF into the
National Police.
The law requires that authorities investigate and then obtain a
judicial warrant before arresting a suspect. Police may detain persons
for up to 48 hours without a warrant, and formal charges must be
brought within 5 days of arrest; however, these provisions were widely
disregarded during the year. The law permits investigative detention if
authorities believe that public safety is threatened or that the
accused might flee. There is no bail, but the authorities may release a
suspect pending trial, if they are satisfied that there is no risk that
the person may flee or become a threat to public safety and order.
During the year, security forces used arbitrary arrest and
detention frequently. Authorities detained numerous individuals after
they expressed viewpoints unacceptable to the Government, particularly
those who raised complaints about land reform and Gacaca proceedings
(see Section 2.a.).
In Kigali city, police arrested Eric Mutemberezi on April 12, Oscar
Hbarurema on April 13, and Gad Byiringiro on April 14 and accused them
of attempting to recruit young persons to join Rwandan rebels in
Burundi. All were released in June because there was no tangible
evidence against them.
Members of religious groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, were
arrested during the year (see Section 2.c.).
Human rights organizations estimated that more than 300 persons
were detained briefly during the 2003 presidential campaign period;
almost all were reportedly supporters of Faustin Twagiramungu, an
opposition candidate.
There were no developments in the 2003 cases against Leonard
Kavutse, Janvier Munyemana, and Secretary General of the MDR Pierre
Gakwandi, all of whom remained in prison and were awaiting trial at
year's end.
The Government continued to detain ex-combatants who returned to
the country as part of the ongoing peace process between Rwanda and the
DRC; detainees were placed in an 8-to-12-week- reintegration program at
Mutobo, in Ruhengeri Province. The returnees included some children.
The children generally served as porters for ALIR (now called the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR); a few served
as combatants for FDLR. Child soldiers were held separately from the
adult combatants. The Government opened a demobilization center in
January to process and reintegrate rebel child soldiers returning from
the DRC (see Section 5). Authorities frequently allowed detainees at
the demobilization camp at Mutobo to receive visitors, and sometimes to
go home for visits.
Approximately 80,000 individuals accused of genocide continued to
be imprisoned while awaiting trial. The law permits the continued
detention of genocide suspects long enough to allow them to face trial
either in a conventional court or in the Gacaca system (see Section
1.e.). Lengthy pretrial detention was a serious problem, and some
suspects had been in jail since 1994. The Government did not have the
capacity to process cases within a reasonable time. Pretrial detentions
were even longer than in previous years because the court system was
not operational for 10 months of the year (see Section 1.e.).
Mobile groups, whose mandate was to establish or complete files
that indicated the basis for charges for all genocide-related
detainees, continued to operate during the year. Approximately 90
percent of detainees in custody during the year had files; however, the
vast majority of those files were incomplete.
There were numerous reports of political detainees, including MDR
Secretary General Pierre Gakwandi.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was subject to executive
influence and suffered from inefficiency, a lack of resources, and some
corruption. The justice system collapsed during the war and Genocide of
1994. With help from the international community, it continued to
undergo a slow rebuilding process. For example, in July, the Government
dismissed approximately 500 district- and provincial-level judges from
the national court system who were deemed to be unqualified, and it
subsequently appointed more than 230 judges as replacements. Despite
the reforms, the Government did not have the capacity to ensure that
provisions in the Constitution were enforced or that due process
protections were observed.
The ordinary courts operated only during the last 2 months of the
year. For the first 10 months, Parliament debated and passed judicial
reform bills, which restructured the court system and were intended to
strengthen the required qualifications for judges. During this
legislative process, only courts handling high profile cases
functioned. They began hearing cases again in late October, although
the Supreme Court was still redistributing 40,000 pending cases, all of
which were unrelated to the Genocide, at year's end.
There were problems enforcing domestic court orders. For example,
security forces at times ignored court decisions and refused to release
prisoners. In the high profile case against Pasteur Bizimungu, the
Prosecutor's Office refused to implement the court's decision requiring
officials to return material resources confiscated during Bizimungu's
arrest to his family, despite appeals from the family and their lawyer.
An ombudsman is mandated to conduct investigations into judicial
corruption; however, by year's end, no such investigations had been
conducted.
The Constitution provides for the adoption of a system of ordinary
and specialized courts. Ordinary courts included the Supreme Court, the
High Court of the Republic, the provincial courts, and district courts.
Specialized courts included Gacaca courts and military courts.
Although the judicial reforms adopted in July were seen as
providing the framework for a more independent judiciary, observers
raised concerns about the fairness of the process used to appoint and
dismiss judges. Despite meeting the criteria delineated in the new
reforms, several judges were fired. For example, Jean Baptiste
Nsabimana was dismissed despite having a university law degree and 6
years of experience.
The law provides for public trials with the right to a defense (but
not at public expense), a presumption of innocence, and a right to
appeal, and these provisions were generally respected in practice;
however, some appeals cases were subject to lengthy delays. By year's
end, there were between 67 and 100 lawyers in the country, and the
abject poverty of most defendants made it difficult for many of them to
obtain legal representation. An estimated 10 percent of defendants were
able to afford a private lawyer. Lawyers Without Borders continued to
train Gacaca judges but did not provide defense or counsel to those in
need. New court officers continued to be sworn in and assigned to
courts across the country, but the Government did not have a sufficient
number of prosecutors, judges, or courtrooms to hold trials within a
reasonable time. During the first half of the year, the Ministry of
Justice--as part of a campaign to professionalize the judicial sector--
began dissolving the Corps of Legal Defenders, an organization
supported by international donors that provided those accused of
genocide with free legal aid. By year's end, the Corps was no longer
functioning.
During the year, there were trials that did not meet
internationally accepted standards. On June 7, former President Pasteur
Bizimungu, former transport minister Charles Ntakirutinka, and six
other persons believed to be involved with Bizimungu's banned PDR-
Ubuyanja party were found guilty of belonging to a criminal,
antigovernment association; the eight individuals were arrested in 2002
on charges of ``threatening national security by forming a criminal
association.'' A court sentenced Bizimungu to 15 years in prison,
Ntakarutinka to 10 years in prison, and the remaining six to 5 years
each. The trial against Bizimungu and his seven codefendants, which
began in March, was marred by a lack of corroborating evidence against
the defense and was characterized by many international observers as
having fallen short of international standards of fairness and
impartiality. During the course of the trial, Bizimungu's attorney was
detained for 24 hours for contempt of court, the judge prevented the
defense from fully cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses, and the
defense was only allowed to present a limited number of witnesses. The
codefendants lodged an appeal in June, which had not been heard by
year's end.
The RDF continued to dismiss soldiers for indiscipline and criminal
offenses. The RDF routinely tried military offenders in military
courts, which handed down sentences of fines, imprisonment, or both
during the year (see Section 1.a.). The law stipulates that civilians
who were accomplices of soldiers accused of crimes be tried in military
court. Civilians tried in military court had received stolen goods from
soldiers, had acted as accomplices with soldiers to commit theft, or
had participated in rape. Military courts tried fewer than 10 civilians
during the year.
The judiciary focused on resolving the enormous genocide caseload
of more than 80,000 detainees (see Section 1.d.). Unlike in the
previous year, the Government did not continue to implement the program
referred to as the Gisovu, or pre-Gacaca, project, a release program in
which genocide-related detainees and prisoners who were elderly, ill,
or without files were taken to their former villages to allow villagers
to make complaints against them or to confirm that there was no reason
to detain them.
Gacaca courts, a grassroots participatory form of justice, served
as the Government's primary judicial process for adjudicating thousands
of genocide cases. Gacaca courts were established in more than 9,000
villages across the country during the year. Human rights observers
have criticized the Gacaca courts of being biased against those who
acted on behalf of the former government and not trying others who
committed serious human rights violations from 1990 to the present in
support of the current Government. The National Commission for Gacaca
Courts, created in 2003, oversaw the rewriting of the Gacaca law. The
new law, passed on July 19, reduced the number of judges required for a
Gacaca trial, recategorized crimes, and reduced sentences. The Gacaca
law provides for reduced sentences for cooperation and credit for time
served. Lawyers were not permitted to participate officially in Gacaca.
The procedure for observing Gacaca trials made it difficult for human
rights groups to monitor the trials. The training of judges on the new
Gacaca law was still being completed at year's end, and no courts had
progressed beyond the pretrial phase.
In addition to Gacaca courts, genocide-related cases were tried by
the ICTR and by the Government in local courts (see Section 4). Less
than 10 percent of individuals detained as genocide suspects have been
tried in ordinary jurisdictions, and local legal aid organizations
reported that no genocide-related trials took place in the country
during the year.
A section of the Organic Genocide Law is designed to encourage
confessions in exchange for reduced sentences for the vast majority of
those involved in the Genocide. Following efforts by the Government,
international donors, and NGOs to widely advertise the confession
provisions, 65,000 prisoners have confessed since the law was
implemented in 1996. However, only a small number of confessions were
processed due to lengthy administrative review and hearing proceedings,
and the lack of officials to process the confessions through the
system. The testimony of the 63,000 prisoners have implicated as many
as 500,000 additional persons in the Genocide who have not yet been
detained by police.
There were some reports of political prisoners, including former
President Pasteur Bizimungu and seven other persons believed to be
involved with Bizimungu's banned PDR-Ubuyanja party.
Few people had success pursuing their property restitution cases
through the court system, partly because it was not functioning. There
were reports that orphans, ex-combatants, and returning refugees had
difficulty reclaiming their family land.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and
authorities generally respected these prohibitions; however, in August,
security forces began monitoring the homes and telephone calls of two
journalists (see Section 2.a.).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces forcibly entered homes.
Between 1997 and the end of 2001, more than 600,000 persons were
relocated to government-designated resettlement sites in compliance
with a ``villagization'' policy. Although the Government stated that
the move to villages was voluntary, some observers said that government
authorities compelled many persons to move; others may have relocated
out of fear of security forces or insurgents. While villagization
remained government policy, the Government did not compel these persons
to remain in the villages; however, restrictions on where houses could
be built forced some individuals to continue to reside on the
settlement sites. Thousands of persons still lived in inadequate
housing not of their own choosing.
Citizens who served in the military could be recalled to compulsory
duty at any time. After rebel incursions from the DRC into the country
in late March, the Government compelled citizens to participate in
nightly watch patrols; citizens who refused were beaten and detained
(see Section 2.c.).
On November 30, there were unverified reports from numerous
credible sources, including MONUC, that a significant number of armed
men suspected of being RDF soldiers entered the DRC and attacked and
burned villages north of Goma, near the border.
During the year, there were numerous credible reports, including
one by the U.N. Group of Experts, that ex-RCD/G combatants from the
DRC, with the aid of local Rwandan and Congolese officials recruited
for military training--sometimes forcibly--demobilized Rwandan and DRC
soldiers and refugees from the DRC (see Section 2.d.). However, the
Government denied that any recruitment activities occurred.
The Government interfered with the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to
marry according to their faith (see Section 2.c.). Unlike in the
previous year, there were no reports that police harassed family
members of former president Pasteur Bizimungu; however, his family
members reportedly were still unable to gain possession of property
confiscated by government agents in 2002, despite a court order issued
during the year.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government restricted
these rights in practice, and the Government harassed journalists who
expressed views contrary to official views. Most journalists practiced
self-censorship due to fear of government reprisals.
Government authorities detained individuals after they expressed
viewpoints unacceptable to the Government. On April 28, police arrested
Augustin Habimana after he complained in a public meeting to a mayor in
Gisenyi Province that the current Government's policy of forced night
patrols was similar to the policy under the former regime of Juvenal
Habyarimana, and said that the Government should negotiate peace with
the DRC-based rebels rather than use the local population to fight
them. He remained in detention at year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government accused opposition party members of using language that was
``divisionist.''
During the year, the Government continued to exercise tight
controls over the media. The number of newspapers continued to
increase; however, by July, international and local observers generally
agreed that Umuseso was the only independent newspaper remaining in
Rwanda. There were unconfirmed reports during the year that government
agents were attempting to covertly infiltrate Umuseso's staff to
influence the content of the newspaper. There were both privately and
government-owned newspapers, all of which published weekly in English,
French, or Kinyarwanda; however, there were no daily newspapers.
Newspapers were subject to government restrictions.
The Government largely controlled the broadcast media. The law
authorizes private radio and TV broadcasting, subject to the approval
of the Government. During the year, the Government granted licenses to
four private radio stations, three of which began operations by year's
end. Radio Rwanda journalists were civil servants of the National
Office of Information. Foreign media groups, including Voice of
America, Deutsche Welle, and the British Broadcasting Corporation,
broadcast in Kigali. The Government continued to own the only
television station, which was nominally independent of the Government.
During the year, the Government continued to torture, harass, and
threaten the media. On February 22, security forces detained, harassed,
and threatened to kill five journalists, including Robert Sebufirira
and Emmanuel Munyaneza, both of whom worked for the independent
Kinyarwanda weekly, Umuseso. The journalists said they were detained
because they were printing articles that were critical of the
Government and were told during detention not to print such articles
again. By year's end, no action had been taken against the security
forces members of security forces responsible for the reported beating.
In August, security forces began following and monitoring the homes
and telephone calls of Umuseso writers Tharcisse Semana and Madjaliwa
Niyonsaba, both of whom subsequently went into hiding. Both journalists
reportedly received threatening text messages demanding that they never
again write articles critical of the Government.
In September, the Government threatened to close Umuseso for
several months. The newspaper's editorial staff refused to comply with
a request by the High Council of the Press to acknowledge ``mistakes''
and to reveal its sources for a controversial series of articles. The
threat followed 2 years of constant harassment during which the
Government confiscated Umuseso's editions on several occasions. By
year's end, the Information Ministry had not suspended Umuseso.
On November 15, police detained incommunicado two journalists,
Patrice Nsengiyumva, director of the Press House (Maison de la Presse),
and Bonaventure Bizimuremyi, editor of the newspaper Umucyo.
Eventually, authorities allowed them access to attorneys and family
members. They were released a few days later, and by year's end,
judicial investigations were ongoing.
On December 18, six unknown assailants with knives stabbed and
wounded two Umuseso journalists, Mugisha Furaha and Rwango Kadafi,
after reportedly recognizing them as journalists. By year's end, there
were unconfirmed reports that some of the assailants were members of
the military and that police had arrested three of the assailants;
however, no additional information was available.
On December 31, members of the security forces reportedly arrested
Umuseso journalist Didas Gasana at the country's Ugandan border,
detained him for 5 hours, and threatened to kill him. Gasana had
obtained an exit visa to go to Uganda for medical reasons.
No action was taken against police officers who beat three
journalists and a deputy editor in November 2003.
Several journalists remained in self-imposed exile at year's end.
At year's end, several international press freedom advocates
continued to criticize the Government for not allowing Radio Rwanda
journalist Dominique Makeli access to due process; he was arrested in
1994 on charges of inciting genocide.
The Government censored the media during the year by confiscating
newspapers on several occasions. Authorities confiscated Umuseso
editions throughout the year, usually while editors carried the
newspapers from Uganda, where they were printed. In addition, during
the summer, authorities reportedly confiscated all the copies of an
edition published by Ukuri, a local newspaper; the confiscation took
place shortly after the publication of an expose on police corruption.
There were two printing presses, one of which was owned by the
Government. The second was owned by the Catholic Church and was used
only by the Church. Other newspapers had to either use the government
press or print their newspapers in Uganda.
During the year, the Government used criminal libel laws to
suppress criticism from the media. On November 16, the editor of
Umuseso, Charles Kabonero, was tried on criminal charges of
``divisionism'' and defamation after Denis Polisi, a parliamentarian
and secretary general of the ruling party, filed a libel suit against
Kabonero. The suit was filed in response to an article published in
August that alleged Polisi rented office space to several parastatal
bodies and had ambitions to rule the country. The Kigali prosecutor's
office requested a 4-year prison sentence and a fine of $90,000 (50
million francs) for Kabonero. On November 23, Kabonero was found not
guilty of ``divisionism,'' but he was found guilty of defamation and
contempt of a public official. The court ordered Kabonero to pay the
Government a $9 (5,000 francs) fine for contempt and another $6 (3,600
francs) in court fees; it also ordered Kabonero to pay $0.001 (1 franc)
to Polisi for damages.
During the year, Journaliste en danger (JED), an NGO promoting
press freedom in Central Africa, selected local journalists to monitor
the state of press freedom in the country; however, before beginning
work on the project, the monitors declined to fulfill their duties.
According to JED, the monitors declined due to an atmosphere of fear
and a general lack of press freedom in the country.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet or censor
websites during the year.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom; however, the head
of the national university, appointed by the Government, made public
statements describing his role as one of monitoring the university, its
staff, and its students for evidence of ``genocide ideology.''
Following the June release of Parliament's genocide ideology
report, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology fired 37
teachers and suspended 27 high school students on accusations that they
engaged in genocide ideology and other offenses, including sexual
abuse, intent to poison Tutsi, and harassment of genocide survivors.
The Ministry delivered the list of more than 60 educators and students
to police for prosecution. Human rights observers noted that the
Government had a responsibility to prevent the recurrence of genocide;
however, they criticized the Government's use of the ill-defined charge
of genocide ideology, saying that it threatened academic freedom and
freedom of speech, and that it encouraged local officials to fabricate
false charges against persons for personal, political, or economic
gain.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, authorities limited this
right in practice. Authorities legally may require advance notice for
outdoor rallies, demonstrations, and meetings. Authorities generally
prohibited nighttime meetings, particularly after rebel incursions into
the northwest part of the country from the DRC in late March and April.
During the year, there were reports that authorities prevented
meetings by NGOs (see Section 4).
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government limited this right in practice. Private organizations were
required to register, and in practice, the Government generally granted
licenses without undue delay; however, there were some exceptions.
During the year, the Government instituted a new policy for
registration, requiring organizations to obtain letters of support from
every local official in areas in which the organizations intended to
work. This essentially made registration extremely difficult for some
types of organizations, particularly human rights organizations.
During the year, the Government refused registration to The
Community of Indigenous Peoples of Rwanda (CAURWA), a Batwa advocacy
organization (see Section 5).
The Constitution provides for a multiparty system of government and
for the free operation of political organizations; however, the
Government often did not respect these provisions. During the year, the
main opposition party, the Democratic Republican Movement, remained
inactive as a result of the cabinet's May 2003 recommendation to ban
it; although the Supreme Court never acted upon the recommendation, the
MDR was dissolved shortly thereafter when all existing political
parties were required to reregister under a new political party law.
The actions taken by authorities during the 2003 election campaign
period created an atmosphere of fear, so many groups simply chose not
to meet. Members of political parties other than the ruling RPF
reported that, because Rwanda had essentially become a one-party state,
there was no sense in meeting.
All political organizations were obliged to join and attend
meetings of the Forum for Political Organizations, chaired by the RPF
Secretary General. The only new party registered during 2003, the Party
for Peace and Concord (PPC), did not join the RPF coalition. Security
forces harassed its executive committee members, and several members
were forced out of their jobs, including the former Postmaster General,
Dr. Christian Marrara.
The Government continued to harass former members of the MDR and
other opposition figures.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the RCD/G
(or ex-RCD/G) or Uganda People's Congress forces restricted freedoms of
assembly.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, while the Government generally respected this right
in practice, it failed to prevent local authorities from abusing or
restricting religious freedoms, particularly those of Jehovah's
Witnesses.
There were numerous reports that police beat and detained or
arrested members of Jehovah's Witnesses because they refused to
participate in nighttime security patrols. Since March, 209 members of
Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned or detained on alleged security
grounds, 34 of whom faced severe beatings while in detention.
Detentions ranged from 1 day to 1 month in length. Jehovah's Witnesses
members from 6 of the 12 provinces were arrested on charges of
``disobeying government emergency security policy,'' specifically,
refusing to participate in night patrols. In four of the six provinces,
local authorities beat the detained Jehovah's Witnesses.
There were also reports during the year that authorities closed a
Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall and dispersed worshippers.
On August 24, police arrested 16 men and 8 women who were
participating in a Jehovah's Witness service in Mataba, Umutara
Province. They reportedly were imprisoned because they were meeting on
a Tuesday rather than a Saturday. The women were released after 2 days,
and the men after 3 days.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that authorities
detained or harassed Seventh-day Adventists.
Pentecostal Pastor Majyambere remained in detention at year's end
on charges of ``preaching rebellion.''
After 2 years in prison, members of the Mouvement Sacerdotal Marial
were released in June. There was no development in the cases of the
Pentecostal prayer group arrested in March 2003.
The report by the Commission on Genocide Ideology criticized a
number of churches, their activities, and/or their leaders (see Section
4). The report specifically targeted Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day
Adventists, a number of Pentecostal churches, and several Catholic
priests. For example, the report accused a Catholic priest of promoting
genocide ideology because he created an association of micro-credit
borrowers, whose members all belonged to the same ethnic group. In
addition, churches were criticized for allowing Hutu and Tutsi to sit
separately during prayers. The Commission recommended that the
Government should intervene in internal church politics to resolve
leadership conflicts, that a number of associations should be
abolished, and that the Government should counsel churches about which
activities were acceptable. It also called on Parliament to adopt a
special law to govern the functioning of all churches in the country;
however, by year's end, no such law had been adopted.
The law requires that all nonprofit organizations, including
churches and religious organizations, register with the Ministry of
Justice to acquire the status of ``legal entity.'' At year's end, no
application had been denied, and no group's religious activities had
been curtailed as a result of difficulties or delays in the
registration process.
The law does not require that a person who wants to get married at
a ceremony presided over by a government official must put his or her
hand on the national flag, but this practice was enforced throughout
the country. Jehovah's Witnesses had a very difficult time finding
places to marry without this patriotic ceremony, which they objected to
on religious grounds. Jehovah's Witnesses claimed that members of their
faith have been beaten and imprisoned at the place issuing the marriage
certificate, due to their refusal to place their hands on the flag.
According to church officials, in 4 of the country's 12 provinces,
43 children of Jehovah's Witnesses were expelled from secondary schools
between April and June for refusing to salute the national flag or to
sing the national anthem. Church officials raised the issue with
national authorities, but most of the children remained expelled until
the end of the school year.
Some religious leaders were perpetrators of violence and
discrimination during the year, and several clergy members of various
faiths faced charges of genocide in the country's courts and in the
ICTR (see Section 4).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government at times did not respect them in
practice. Citizens had to show identification upon request by security
forces. Citizens must obtain a new national identity card when making a
permanent move to a new district, and these new cards were issued
routinely. In May, government officials forced citizens to return to
the districts listed on their identity cards and said those who refused
to return would face detention.
There were several reports during the year that government
officials delayed passport issuances for, or threatened to confiscate
passports of, political dissidents, most notably Dr. Theoneste
Niyategeka, who ran against President Kagame in the 2003 presidential
elections.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use forced exile; however, some individuals secretly left the country
to live in self-imposed exile because they believed their lives were in
danger. For example, in March, the editor in chief of an independent
Kinyarwanda newspaper, Robert Seburfrira, fled the country after
continuous harassment and torture by security forces. In October,
several persons implicated in the June parliamentary report on genocide
ideology also fled the country, including a Catholic priest and a high
school administrator.
Between February and April, government officials from both Rwanda
and the DRC were pressuring refugees to return to the DRC, according to
DRC refugees in the Gihembe and Kiziba camps, in Rwanda's Byumba and
Kibuye provinces (respectively). Government officials reportedly
entered the camps in plain clothes, posing as refugees, and conducted
unsanctioned meetings designed to encourage the refugees to return to
the DRC. In one case, these officials allegedly pressured the refugees
to sign a letter requesting their immediate repatriation.
By year's end, more than 50,000 Rwandan refugees remained outside
the country; however, approximately 13,000 refugees returned to the
country during the year. According to the UNHCR, more than 10,000
citizens freely returned to the country from the DRC, and another 2,500
refugees were voluntarily repatriated from Uganda.
More than 5,000 Hutu former combatants and accompanying family
members were repatriated to the country as part of an effort to
demobilize, repatriate, and reintegrate Rwandan rebels in the DRC.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but the Government has
established a system providing protection to refugees. The Constitution
recognized the right to asylum ``under conditions determined by law'';
however, there was no law in place to recognize refugees. In practice,
the Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return
of persons to a country where they fear persecution, and it granted
refugee status and asylum; however, the Government was slow to
implement refugee registration procedures, and most persons seeking
asylum or refugee status had to seek private assistance (finding
housing, food, and other supplies) while waiting for formal recognition
by the Government. The Government generally cooperated with the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which was responsible for
granting refugee status until March. The UNHCR continued to assist
refugees and provided temporary protection to approximately 50,900
persons, the vast majority of whom were refugees from the DRC who fled
the DRC during the unrest of 1996.
During the first 6 months of the year, when the Government was
taking over the responsibility of registering refugees and asylum
seekers, there were numerous reports that government officials harassed
and imprisoned refugees and asylum seekers. Some refugees reported that
during February, they were tortured while in prison and others were
intentionally starved. Police and immigration officials in remote
locations were either unaware of their new responsibilities to register
refugees and asylum seekers, or poorly trained to do the job. By year's
end, the reported incidents of harassment were considerably lower.
There were numerous reports, including one prepared by an independent
panel of experts for the U.N. Security Council, that former RCD/G
agents in the DRC entered refugee camps in Rwanda, with the aid of
local Rwandan authorities, to recruit young men, including children, to
join their militia in the eastern DRC; however, some parents of
refugees who left the camps said they sent their children to the DRC
for schooling--not for use as soldiers--and the U.N. report, which
relied heavily on statements by humanitarian aid workers, did not
refute this claim.
During the year, UNHCR supported three monitoring officers who
generally found that returning refugees could negotiate agreements with
persons living on and using their former property. However, in one
case, 200 refugees returning from Uganda chose to return to Uganda
after being unsuccessful in reclaiming their land in Umutara Province.
Local authorities did not actively prevent them from accessing the
land; however, they did not protect refugees' right of return as it
applied to property.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to change their
government peacefully; however, despite peaceful presidential and
legislative elections during 2003, this right was effectively
restricted.
In August 2003, President Paul Kagame won a landslide victory
against two independent presidential candidates. International election
observers, representing both governments and NGOs, noted that the
country's first post-genocide elections, though peaceful, were marred
by numerous irregularities, including ballot stuffing, ``guarded''
polling booths, and irregular ballot counting in at least 2 of the 12
provinces. There also were numerous credible reports that during the
presidential and legislative campaign periods in 2003, Kagame's
opponents and their supporters faced widespread harassment and
intimidation, including detention, which made it virtually impossible
to campaign.
The local level electoral process requires that persons queue
behind the candidate of their choice. Since there is no confidentiality
in the voting process, there is considerable social pressure to select
the RPF candidate. In some districts, this pressure was so great that
no one chose to challenge the RPF candidate. International observers
also expressed concern that approximately half of the provincial and
district officials, elected 2 years ago to 4-year terms, were removed
by unilateral state decision.
During the year, several local elections were held to replace
officials removed from office for ``incompetence'' or ``corruption'';
observers did not consider the election process to be free and fair.
The Constitution, adopted in May 2003, requires that all political
parties register with the Government, and all but one of the parties
that existed prior to May 2003 successfully re-registered (see Section
2.b.). During the year, no party other than the ruling RPF was active
in party building activities such as recruitment and platform
development.
The Constitution provides for a bicameral legislature, consisting
of an 80-seat Chamber of Deputies and a 26-seat Senate. The term for
Deputies was 5 years, while the term for Senators was 8 years, non-
renewable.
In the September and October 2003 legislative elections, President
Kagame's political party, the RPF, won the majority of the seats in the
Chamber of Deputies and Senate. International election observers noted
that the elections, though peaceful, were marred by numerous
irregularities and widespread intimidation against the opposition.
In addition to the RPF, six other political parties were
represented in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate; however, none
were considered to be fully independent of President Kagame and the
RPF.
In accordance with the Constitution, all political organizations
were required to join the Forum for Political Organizations. In
addition, the law regulates the formation, structure, and functioning
of political organizations; it also monitors their use of the media,
management of financial assets, and relations between political
organizations and other institutions. The law outlines a code of
conduct that places tight controls on political organizations. For
example, the law states that political organizations have the ``moral
obligation to condemn any biased ideas and behavior aimed at turning
the State into a State governed by a cluster of politicians.'' The law
also outlines the Government's ability to cancel an organization's
mandate. Political organizations that participated in Forum meetings
during the year reported that they were not allowed to openly discuss
their concerns about political space in the country.
Corruption of government officials was a problem. During the year,
the ombudsman's office, created in 2003 to combat corruption, reported
over 2,000 cases of financial and administrative corruption committed
during the year. Most were cases where a government official used his
or her power to coerce citizens into action.
In January, two prominent government officials resigned or took a
leave of absence before being replaced because of allegations of
corruption. Gerald Gahima, former Prosecutor General and Vice President
of the Supreme Court, was accused of using his position to secure bank
loans. Gahima's brother, Theogene Rudasingwa reportedly took a leave of
absence from his position as Advisor to the President after being
accused of giving government contracts to his construction company.
During the year, security forces intimidated a local hotel into
breaking its contract with a private security company, KK Security, and
hiring Intersec, a security company owned by an RPF investment group.
The law does not provide for access to government information, and
in practice, it remained difficult for citizens and foreigners,
including journalists, to obtain access to government information.
The Constitution requires that at least 30 percent of the seats in
Parliament be reserved for women; women won approximately 40 percent of
the seats during September 2003 legislative elections. At year's end,
there were 8 women in the 26-seat Senate and 39 women in the 80-seat
Chamber of Deputies. In addition, President Kagame appointed 9 women to
ministerial positions, representing 32 percent of the positions in his
cabinet.
Although the Constitution stipulated that marginalized groups
should be represented in the Senate, the Batwa were not explicitly
given such representation.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A variety of domestic and international human rights groups
operated in the country, investigating and publishing their findings;
however, the Government effectively dismantled independent human rights
organizations during the year. The Government generally did not provide
to human rights organizations, or to other governments, systematic
replies or rebuttals to allegations of human rights abuses committed in
the country. The Government tended to be suspicious of local and
international human rights observers. The majority of the domestic
human rights organizations were seen as being only nominally
independent of the Government, and none of the domestic organizations
had the resources to conduct extensive human rights monitoring. The
Government harassed those that attempted to report and act with
significant independence.
During the first half of the year, local NGO activities often were
limited to receiving and compiling reports from citizens about human
rights abuses and conducting selected investigations, primarily because
of resources but also because of some self-censorship. Reports were
published occasionally; statements criticizing specific incidents were
more common.
On June 30, Parliament approved a report by the Commission on
Genocide Ideology that described evidence allegedly showing the
prevalence of ``genocide ideology'' in each of the country's 12
provinces. Based on 6 months of investigations, the report dealt with
cases of harassment of genocide survivors, the activities of the
domestic human rights organization Rwandan League for the Promotion and
Defense of Human Rights (LIPRODHOR) and other NGOs, and allegedly
corrupt leaders of local government, churches, and grassroots
organizations. During the year, the Government used this report to
target perceived critics of the Government (see Sections 2.a. and
2.c.). International observers criticized the report for failing to
adequately define genocide ideology and failing to protect the
principle of presumption of innocence. Simply being accused by the
Government of supporting a genocide ideology was enough to damage the
ability of the accused organizations from being able to work
effectively, even if they were later absolved of guilt.
The report called for the dissolution and prosecution of a number
of civil society organizations and their members. After the release of
the report, independent human rights organizations were effectively
dismantled, and all independent sources of information on the human
rights conditions in the country disappeared in the second half of the
year. The government particularly targeted LIPRODHOR, calling for its
dissolution because it allegedly promoted the idea that the Government
protected and promoted only Tutsi interests. Although LIPRODHOR was not
dissolved, it was forced to rewrite its mandate, and align itself more
closely with Government policy. In June and July, several LIPRODHOR
executive board members fled the country.
Other civil society organizations implicated in the report were
also forced either to stop their activities or rework their programs to
align more closely with government policy. In response to the
parliamentary report, a group of progovernment domestic NGOs created an
NGO ``Platform,'' or collective, to manage the activities of NGOs.
Membership was not voluntary, and the elections for officers were
irregular.
There were reports that authorities prevented NGO meetings during
the year.
On September 6, despite 3 years of negotiations between the
Government and international NGOs on a draft law to manage
international NGOs, the Government proposed an entirely new draft law
to the international NGOs. The proposed new law did not address many of
the compromises made during the previous negotiation and subjected NGOs
to stringent government oversight. No compromise had been reached
between the parties by year's end, but the proposal was widely seen as
an attack on international NGOs.
The Government continued to criticize reports by international
observers and human rights NGOs and was hostile towards those whose
reporting was perceived by the Government to be biased and inaccurate.
In July, a report issued by a U.N. panel accused the Government of
supporting dissidents in the DRC, led by ex?RCD/G commanders such as
Colonel Mutebutsi and General Nkunda, who seized the eastern town of
Bukavu in June, thereby breaking an arms embargo instituted in 2003 by
the U.N. Security Council. In its report, the U.N. Expert Panel on the
Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in
the DRC concluded that the Government's ``ongoing assistance, which
includes the supply of arms and ammunition, continues to threaten the
stability of the [DRC] transitional government and, if unchecked, could
lend itself to a renewed outbreak of hostilities and further jeopardize
regional stability.'' The Government's minister for regional
cooperation described the report as a ``fabrication lacking credible
evidence'' and accused it of being biased.
In December, following unconfirmed MONUC reports that RDF forces
had entered the DRC, the U.N. Security Council sharply criticized the
Rwandan Government and called on it to immediately withdraw troops who
may have crossed the border. A U.N. spokesperson said the U.N. had been
unable to verify information independently because the region was
difficult to access. The Government denied that its troops had entered
the DRC.
The ICTR continued to prosecute genocide suspects during the year.
Since 1994, the ICTR has delivered verdicts on 23 persons, including 6
during the year. Government authorities sporadically prevented
witnesses from attending and giving testimony at the ICTR, which
delayed the judicial process. Relations and cooperation between the
Government and the ICTR improved following the 2003 appointment of
Hassan Bubacar Jallow as the ICTR's Prosecutor. Discussions between the
Government and the Tribunal continued on investigating Rwandan
Patriotic Army (RPA) crimes, or ``revenge killings,'' committed in
1994.
Six genocide trials were completed by year's end. On January 22,
Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, former Minister of Culture and Education, was
sentenced to life imprisonment. On February 25, a lieutenant in the
Armed Forces of the Congo (FAR), Sammuel Imanishimuwe, was sentenced to
life imprisonment. On the same date, Emmanuel Bagambiki, former prefect
of Cyangugu Province, and Andre Ntagerura, former Minister of
Transportation, were both provisionally released. On June 17, Sylvestre
Gacumbitsi, Mayor of Rusumo Commune in Kibungo Province, was sentenced
to 30 years in prison. On July 15, former Minister of Finance Emmanuel
Ndindabahizi was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Twenty-five ICTR trials were in progress at year's end, and 11
cases were under appeal. An additional 17 persons remained in
detention, awaiting trial at the year's end, while 3 persons accused of
genocide awaited transfer to Arusha. Two of the three ICTR
investigators arrested in 2001 on genocide charges were in custody
awaiting trial at year's end; the remaining investigator had been
released from custody but was fired by the ICTR.
In May, the Government publicly criticized efforts by the ICTR to
investigate alleged RPA war crimes and said civilian casualties were
sometimes an unavoidable consequence of military operations.
Section 5. Discrimination Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides that all citizens are equal before the
law, without discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin, tribe, clan,
color, sex, region, social origin, religion or faith opinion, economic
status, culture, language, social status, or physical or mental
disability. The Government generally enforced these provisions;
however, problems remained.
Women.--The law did not specifically prohibit domestic violence,
and domestic violence against women, including wife beating, was
common. Cases normally were handled within the context of the extended
family and rarely came before the courts. Since the courts were being
restructured during the year, no new cases were heard. In recent years,
those convicted of rape generally received sentences of from 20 to 30
years of imprisonment.
A Human Rights Watch study, released September 30, addressed
justice in cases of sexual violence and highlighted that only a few
perpetrators of sexual violence had been prosecuted over the past
decade. The report found that weaknesses in statutory law, insufficient
protections for victims and witnesses, lack of training for authorities
with respect to sexual violence, and poor representation of women among
police and judicial authorities have resulted in an inadequacy on the
Government's part to ensure legal redress and medical assistance.
According to Amnesty International, although an estimated 250,000 to
500,000 women and girls were raped during the Genocide, the survivors
still had almost no opportunity for legal recourse; and although some
organizations estimate that 75 percent of genocide widows were living
with HIV/AIDS, medical care was unavailable to the majority of them.
Prostitution and trafficking were problems (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Women continued to face societal discrimination. Women
traditionally performed most of the subsistence farming. Since the 1994
Genocide, which left numerous women as heads of households, women have
assumed a larger role in the formal sector, and many have run their own
businesses. Nevertheless, women continued to have limited opportunities
for education, employment, and promotion. Government efforts to expand
opportunities for women included a clause in the Constitution providing
that at least 30 percent of the seats in Parliament be reserved for
women; women won approximately 40 percent of the seats during September
2003 legislative elections. Other efforts included scholarships for
girls in primary and secondary school, loans to rural women, and a
Ministry of Gender program to train government officials and NGOs in
methods to increase the role of women in the workforce. The Family Code
generally improved the legal position of women in matters relating to
marriage, divorce, and child custody. The law allows women to inherit
property from their fathers and husbands, and it allows couples to
choose the legal property arrangements they wish to adopt; however, in
practice, it was much more difficult for women to successfully pursue
property claims than for men.
The Ministry of Gender and Women in Development was charged with
handling problems of particular concern to women, and the Minister was
an active advocate of women's rights. A number of women's groups were
extremely active in promoting women's concerns, particularly those
faced by widows, orphaned girls, and households headed by children.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare, and it attempted to provide education and health care to every
child. Children headed at least 65,000 households. The Government
worked closely with international NGOs to secure assistance for
children who were heads of households, and sensitized local officials
to the needs of children in such situations.
Education is compulsory through primary school or until age 12.
While primary school fees were officially waived during the year, most
parents still had to pay the fees to support basic school operations.
School fees routinely were waived for orphans. Public schools lacked
essential and basic supplies and could not accommodate all children of
primary school age. A UNICEF study reported that 400,000 school-age
children were unable to go to school in 1999. Private schools often
were too distant or too expensive to serve as an alternative for many
children. Examination decided entry to secondary school. According to a
UNICEF report published during the year, 67 percent of primary school-
age boys and girls were enrolled in school. Of the children who entered
the first grade, 78 percent reached the fifth grade. Approximately 74
percent of men were literate, compared with 60 percent of women.
Child prostitution was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
During the year, there were reports that former RCD/G forces in the
DRC recruited, sometimes forcibly, children from refugee camps within
Rwanda with the aid of local Rwandan officials (see Section 2.d.). The
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reported that armed groups
in the DRC continued to use approximately 2,000 Rwandan children as
soldiers in Ituri district of the DRC. The Government denied that any
such recruitment activities occurred in the country and that Rwandan
children were being used as child soldiers in the DRC.
The Government's program of demobilization and reintegration
continued during the year, with a number of child soldiers from the DRC
participating in the program. In January, the Government opened a
demobilization center dedicated specifically to children. The
Government participated in an International Labor Organization (ILO)-
International Program for Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) program to
prevent the involvement of children in armed conflicts and support the
rehabilitation of former child soldiers. There were credible reports
that, in some regions, children were recruited to work for the LDF;
however, these were isolated cases.
Child labor was prevalent (see Section 6.d.).
There were approximately 6,000 street children throughout the
country. Local authorities rounded up street children and placed them
in foster homes or government-run facilities. The Gitagata Center still
housed approximately 400 children, the majority of whom were rounded up
in December 2003. The Government supported a ``Childcare Institution''
in each of the 12 provinces that served as safe houses for street
children, providing shelter and basic needs. The Government continued
to work with NGOs throughout the year to address the question of street
children.
Trafficking in Persons.--There was no specific antitrafficking law,
but laws against slavery, prostitution by coercion, kidnapping, rape,
and defilement were available to prosecute traffickers; however, there
were reports of trafficking.
No traffickers have been prosecuted; however, during the year, the
Government actively investigated cases of sex crimes, although it did
not keep separate trafficking statistics. In 2003, the Government
prosecuted 581 persons accused of sexual crimes against children. The
Government was making significant efforts to fight trafficking despite
severe resources constraints.
The Government provided training on sex crimes and crimes against
children to police as part of the police training curriculum. During
the year, the Government worked to open a forensic lab to aid police in
building stronger cases against traffickers; by year's end, the
administrative offices were functioning. During the year, the
Government also monitored immigration and emigration patterns, as well
as border areas that were accessible by road.
The country was a source country for small numbers of women and
children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, domestic
labor, and soldiering. Small numbers of women were trafficked
internally or to Europe for prostitution. A small number of child
victims were trafficked to Burundi and the DRC. There were reports that
local government officials facilitated the trafficking of children for
use as soldiers in the DRC (see Section 5, Children).
Numerous children headed households, and some of these children
resorted to prostitution or may have been trafficked into domestic
servitude. Child prostitution was a problem. Former adult prostitutes
preyed on children from rural areas, recruiting them to work in cities,
often under false pretenses. UNICEF estimated that there were 2,140
child prostitutes in the major cities and several thousand street
children.
The Government identified the worst forms of child labor, and, in
collaboration with UNICEF, identified three NGOs to help children
working in these sectors. The Government also sponsored programs
specifically designed to alleviate poverty among the poorest families,
in which poverty was most often cited as the primary cause of forced
child labor. When the Government dismantled prostitution rings, it
offered women rehabilitation programs, which included work retraining.
Persons With Disabilities.--Although there were no laws restricting
persons with disabilities from employment, education, or other state
services, in practice, few persons with disabilities had access to
education or employment. There was no law mandating access to public
facilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Before 1994, an estimated 85
percent of citizens were Hutu, 14 percent were Tutsi, and 1 percent
were Batwa (Twa). However, Hutus and Tutsis were not clearly distinct
groups since the two have intermarried for generations. The 1994 mass
killings and migrations probably affected the ethnic composition of the
population, but the extent and nature of the changes remained unknown.
With the removal of ethnic labels from identification cards, the
Batwa no longer were officially designated as an ethnic group. During
the year, there were approximately 23,000 Batwa in the country, which
represented less than 1 percent of the population. The Batwa, survivors
of the Twa (Pygmy) tribes of the mountainous forest areas bordering the
DRC, existed on the margins of society and continued to be treated as
inferior citizens by both the Hutu and Tutsi groups.
The Government refused to register CAURWA, an advocacy group for
the Batwa, because its program of advocating on behalf of one ethnic
group was perceived as ``divisive.''
By year's end, no investigation had been made into the case of a
Batwa genocide suspect who died in 2002 during detention at Gikongoro
prison.
There were seven Batwa organizations focused on the protection of
their interests, which included access to land, housing and education,
and the eradication of discrimination against them; however, they
generally were unable to protect their interests due to government
restrictions on using ethnic labels. Because the Government no longer
recognized ethnicity, the Batwa were unable to argue that they needed
special services. Few Batwa had been educated formally. There was one
Batwa on the National Commission for Human Rights, but no explicit
Batwa representation in the Senate, despite a constitutional provision
that allows the president the right to appoint four members to the
Senate ``who shall ensure the representation of historically
marginalized communities.''
Large-scale interethnic violence in the country between Hutus and
Tutsis has erupted on three occasions since independence in 1962,
resulting on each occasion in tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths.
The most recent and severe outbreak of such violence, in 1994, involved
genocidal killing of much of the Tutsi population under the direction
of a Hutu-dominated government and in large part implemented by Hutu-
dominated armed forces called the ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia. The
Genocide ended later the same year when a predominately Tutsi militia,
operating out of Uganda and occupied Rwandan territory, overthrew that
government and established the Government of National Unity, which was
composed of members of eight political parties and which ruled until
the elections in August and September 2003. Since 1994, the Government
has called for national reconciliation and committed itself to
abolishing policies of the former government that had created and
deepened ethnic cleavages. The Constitution provides for the
eradication of ethnic, regional, and other divisions and the promotion
of national unity. Some organizations and individuals accused the
Government of favoring Tutsis, particularly English-speaking Tutsis, in
government employment, admission to professional schooling, recruitment
into or promotion within the army, and other matters; however, the
Government continued to deny this charge.
Incitement to Discrimination.--Following the June release of
Parliament's genocide ideology report and an October Radio Rwanda
broadcast about the same subject, there were reports that local
government officials incited Tutsi citizens to make false accusations
against or discriminate against Hutus. During the year, one case of
discrimination involved a personal conflict between a local Tutsi
official and a Hutu school administrator. The local official accused
the school administrator of threatening Tutsi students. Although the
school administrator was eventually cleared of the charges, he was
forced to leave the district and reported ongoing harassment by
government intelligence officers.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides noncivil servants
with the right to create professional associations and labor unions,
and workers generally exercised this right in practice. The law
specifically excludes civil servants from organizing. The labor
movement was hampered because of the massive disruptions caused by the
1994 Genocide. Unions continued to regroup and assert themselves during
the year; however, the Government and many employers were opposed to
the idea of trade unions operating freely.
More than 85 percent of workers were engaged in small-scale
subsistence farming. Union membership was voluntary and open to all
salaried workers, including public sector employees. Organized labor
represented only a small part of the work force. Approximately 7
percent of the work force worked in the formal (wage) sector, and
approximately 75 percent of those active in the modern sector were
union members.
There were no restrictions on the right of association for noncivil
servants, but all unions must register with the Ministry of Labor for
official recognition. There were no known cases in which the Government
denied recognition. The law prohibits unions from having political
affiliations and from publicly expressing their political,
philosophical, or trade union opinions, which the Central Union of
Rwandan Workers (CESTRAR) has said is tantamount to prohibiting
organizing.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, but there were neither
functioning labor courts nor other formal mechanisms to resolve
complaints involving discrimination against unions. Union activists
have complained that some employers threatened to fire employees who
attempted to join a union. The law requires employers to reinstate
workers fired for union activity; however, there were no reports that
employers had fired employees for this reason.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the protection of workers from employer interference in
their right to organize and administer unions; however, the law does
not include agricultural workers in this provision. The law provides
for collective bargaining, although only CESTRAR had an established
collective bargaining agreement with the Government. In practice, the
Government was intimately involved in the collective bargaining process
since most union members were in the public sector (see Section 6.e.).
There were no export processing zones.
Participation in unauthorized demonstrations could result in
employee dismissal, nonpayment of wages, and civil action against the
union. Authorization was not required for union meetings.
The law provides for the right to strike, except for public service
workers and workers in essential services; however, there were no
strikes during the year. The Minister of Labor decides what constitutes
an essential service. According to the International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions, there is an excessively broad definition of so-
called ``essential'' services in which strikes are prohibited. A
union's executive committee must approve any strike, and the union must
first try to resolve its differences with management according to steps
prescribed by the Ministry of Public Service and Labor. This process
essentially prohibits strikes. There were no demonstrations by union
members during the year.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor; however, prisoners were assigned to work
details, which generally involved rebuilding houses, clearing land, or
other public maintenance duties. Prisoners also may be hired out to
perform work at private residences and businesses. It was unclear how
much pay the prisoners were given in return for their work.
During the year, there were reports of forced coltan mining by
prisoners, as well as other forms of forced labor.
The law does not prohibit specifically forced and compulsory labor
by children, and there were reports that former RCD/G forces in the DRC
forcibly recruited children from refugee camps within Rwanda with the
aid of local Rwandan officials (see Sections 2.d. and 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Except for subsistence agriculture, which occupies approximately 85
percent of the workforce, the law prohibits children under the age of
16 from working without their parents' or guardians' permission and
prohibits children under 16 from participating in night work or any
work deemed hazardous or difficult, as determined by the Minister of
Labor; however, child labor was prevalent. Night work is defined by the
Labor Code as work between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.; children also must have a
rest period of at least 12 hours between work engagements. The minimum
age for full-time employment is 18 years, and 14 years for
apprenticeships, provided that the child has completed primary school.
According to a 2003 U.N. report, 31 percent of children between the
ages of 5 and 14 engaged in child labor, and during the year, children
headed many households.
The Government identified five forms of child labor as those that
should be considered as the ``worst forms of labor,'' including
domestic work outside the family sphere; agricultural activities on
tea, rice, and sugar cane plantations; work in brickyards and sand
extraction quarries; crushing stones; and prostitution. During the
year, child labor persisted in the agricultural sector (particularly on
tea plantations), among household domestics, in small companies, and
the brick-making industry. In addition, child prostitution was a
problem, and there were unconfirmed reports that ex-RCD/G combatants
forcibly recruited refugee children for use as soldiers in the DRC (see
Sections 2.d. and 5). Children received low wages and abuse was common.
The Ministry of Public Service and Labor and the Ministry of Local
Government did not enforce child labor laws effectively. There
continued to be a lack of labor inspectors and labor courts to prevent
child labor.
During the year, the Government took some steps to prevent and
reduce the use of child labor. In July, the Ministry of Labor conducted
training for the country's 12 labor inspectors; 1 day was devoted to
child labor. Throughout the year, the Government conducted a widespread
education campaign on child labor that included radio and television
programs. In addition, the Government continued to support 12 child
labor inspector offices, 1 for each of the country's provinces;
however, the Government was unable to provide them with adequate
resources to effectively identify and prevent the use of child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Public Service
and Labor set minimum wages in the small formal sector. The Government,
the main employer, effectively set most other wage rates as well. There
is no single minimum wage; minimum wages varied according to the nature
of the job. The minimum wages paid did not provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family, and in practice, workers accepted less
than the minimum wage. Often families supplemented their incomes by
working in small business or subsistence agriculture.
Officially, government offices and private sector entities had a
40-hour workweek; the maximum workweek was 45 hours. The Government
mandated that the workday begin at 7 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m., with a
30-minute break for lunch. There was no mandated rest period. The law
regulates hours of work and occupational health and safety standards in
the formal wage sector, but inspectors from the Ministry of Public
Service did not enforce these standards aggressively. Workers do not
have the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without jeopardizing their jobs.
__________
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is a multiparty
democracy. Fradique de Menezes was elected President of the country in
a 2001 election deemed free and fair by international observers. In
2002 parliamentary elections, also deemed free and fair, the Movement
for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democratic Party
(MLSTP) won 24 seats, the Movement for the Democratic Force of Change
(MDFM) coalition won 23 seats, and the Ue-Kedadji coalition won 8
seats; Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira da Costa was named Prime Minister. In
2002, President Menezes dismissed Costa, and a new 13-member coalition
government was formed under Maria das Neves. In September, das Neves
was dismissed for corruption and replaced by Damiao Vaz D'Almeida.
During the year, the Government held town hall meetings throughout the
country to establish a national consensus on the country's priorities;
the search for consensus was one of the military's stipulations to end
the 2003 attempted coup. The judiciary was generally independent but
was subject at times to influence and manipulation.
The Minister of National Defense and Internal Affairs supervises
and controls the military services, the police, and immigration. In
July, the Government raised military salaries 30 percent as part of a
continuing effort to improve soldiers' living conditions and benefits
following the 2003 coup attempt. Civilian authorities maintained
effective control of security forces. There were no reports that
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The mainstay of the mixed economy was the export of cocoa; coffee,
vanilla, and pepper also were produced for export. The population was
approximately 181,500; per capita annual income was $280. Unemployment
remained high. The Government has privatized all state-held land and
was somewhat successful in its efforts at structural adjustment;
however, the country remained highly dependent on foreign aid.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Prison conditions
were harsh, and the judicial system was inefficient. Violence and
discrimination against women occurred, child labor was a problem, and
labor practices on plantations were sometimes harsh.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Unlike in the
previous year, there were no reports of the arbitrary or unlawful
deprivation of life committed by the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
have been reports in the past that security forces at times beat and
abused detainees in custody. There were no reports that police beat
detainees during the year.
Prison conditions were harsh but not life threatening. Facilities
were overcrowded, and food was inadequate. Women and men were held
separately, and juveniles were separated from adults. Because of
overcrowding, some pretrial prisoners were held with convicted
prisoners.
The Government permitted human rights monitors to make prison
visits; however, no visits were made during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports
that security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained demonstrators.
The police force, under the Ministry of Defense, was ineffective
and widely viewed as corrupt. Efforts to reform the Criminal
Investigation Police, a separate agency under the Ministry of Justice,
were hampered during the year by a lack of financial and human
resources.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judicial system at times was
subject to political influence or manipulation. The Government set
judicial salaries, which remained low, and suspicion persisted that
judges may be tempted to accept bribes. During the year, the Government
took steps to strengthen the judiciary.
The legal system was based on the Portuguese model. The court
system had two levels: Circuit courts and the Supreme Court. The
Supreme Court was the appellate court of last resort.
The Constitution provides for the right to fair public trial, the
right of appeal, and the right to legal representation; however, in
practice, the judicial infrastructure suffered from severe budgetary
constraints, inadequate facilities, and a shortage of trained judges
and lawyers, which caused delays from 3 to 9 months in bringing cases
to court and greatly hindered investigations in criminal cases.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights and did not restrict academic freedom.
Two government-run and six independent newspapers and newsletters
were published sporadically, usually on a monthly or bi-weekly basis;
resource constraints determined publishing frequency.
All parties freely distributed newsletters and press releases
stating their views and criticizing the Government, the President, and
one another.
Television and radio were state operated. There were no independent
local stations due to financial and market constraints; however, there
were no laws prohibiting such stations. The Voice of America, Radio
International Portugal, and Radio France International were rebroadcast
locally. The law grants all opposition parties access to the state-run
media, including a minimum of 3 minutes per month on television.
There were no cases of defamation during the year.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice. The Government
required that requests for authorization for large-scale events be
filed 48 hours in advance, and it usually granted the required permits.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
forces killed or injured demonstrators.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for religious
freedom and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
Unlike in the previous year, no curfews were imposed.
The Constitution does not prohibit forced exile; however, there
were no reports of anyone being sent into forced exile.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Regarding the Status
of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. During the year,
there were no reports that the Government granted refugee status or
asylum; there also were no known requests for refugee or asylum status.
The Government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum
seekers.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens have exercised this right in
practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis
of universal suffrage. The Constitution provides for the election of
the President, who as head of state approves the Prime Minister, who
appoints government ministers.
President Menezes was elected in July 2001; in December 2001, he
dissolved the National Assembly and called for new elections. In a
March 2002 election deemed free and fair by international observers,
the MLSTP won 24 seats, the MDFM coalition won 23 seats, and the Ue-
Kedadji coalition won 8 seats; Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira da Costa was
named Prime Minister. In September 2002, President Menezes dismissed
Costa and in October 2002, a 13-member coalition government was formed
under Maria das Neves, the first woman to hold the position of Prime
Minister. In March, four MDFN ministers resigned from the Government;
in September, Menezes dismissed das Neves for corruption and appointed
Damiao Vaz D'Almeida as Prime Minister.
After a July 2003 failed military coup attempt, President Menezes
signed a framework agreement with the rebels, which included a pledge
to establish a national consensus on the country's developmental
priorities. During the year, the Government held the National Forum for
National Reconciliation, which was initiated with 59 town hall meetings
across the country that allowed the first-ever inclusion of the
country's rural population in such decision-making. In the subsequent
3-day plenary session, government leaders and 200 representatives
agreed to a plan of action, which recommended: The conversion from
political party-based to geographically-based representation in the
National Assembly; improvement in living conditions of the army; land
and agricultural reform; establishment of legal and regulatory measures
to manage the country's oil wealth; and improvement in the education
and health sectors.
Official corruption was widespread. During the year, an
investigation into the diversion of funds from the sale of donated rice
implicated Prime Minister das Neves, who was dismissed in September and
subsequently fled the country.
There were no laws that provided for public access to government
information; however, the Government took steps during the year to
improve transparency.
There were 5 women in the 55-seat National Assembly, 1 of the 14
Cabinet Ministers was a woman, and the President of the 3-member
Supreme Court was a woman.
Section 4. Government Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A small number of domestic human rights groups generally operated
in the past without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases; however, with the
general improvement in human rights, such groups were inactive during
the year. Government officials generally had been cooperative and
responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for the equality of all citizens
regardless of sex, race, racial origin, political tendency, creed, or
philosophic conviction. The Government actively enforced these
provisions; however, women faced discrimination.
Women.--While the extent of the problem was unknown, domestic
violence against women occurred, including rape. Although women have
the right to legal recourse--including against spouses--many were
reluctant to bring legal action or were ignorant of their rights under
the law. Tradition inhibited women from taking domestic disputes
outside the family.
The Constitution stipulates that women and men have equal
political, economic, and social rights. While many women have access to
opportunities in education, business, and government, in practice,
women still encountered significant societal discrimination.
Traditional beliefs left women with most child-rearing responsibilities
and with less access to education and to professions; a high teenage
pregnancy rate further reduced economic opportunities for women. An
estimated 70 percent of households were headed by women.
Children.--A number of government and donor-funded programs
operated to improve conditions for children, notably an ongoing malaria
control project and acquisition of school and medical equipment.
Education was universal, compulsory through the 6th grade, and
tuition-free to the age of 15. In practice, some rural students stopped
attending school after the 4th grade. Students were responsible for
buying books and uniforms; however, the Government provided both free
to children from poor families. Enrollment in primary school was
estimated at 74 percent. After grade 6 or age 15, whichever comes
first, education is no longer free; transportation and tuition costs
prevented some poor or rural-based students from attending secondary
school. There were no differences between the treatment of girls and
boys in regard to education.
Nutrition, maternity and infant care, and access to basic health
services have improved, especially in urban areas. Mistreatment of
children was not widespread; however, there were few protections for
orphans and abandoned children.
During the year, a social-services program tried to collect street
children in three centers where they received classes and training.
Conditions at the center were good; however, because of overcrowding,
some children were sent back to their families at night, and these
children frequently ran away. Children who stayed full time at the
center did not run away.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or
within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not mandate access to
buildings, transportation, or services for persons with disabilities.
There were no reports of discrimination against such persons; however,
local organizations have criticized the Government for not implementing
accessibility programs for persons with disabilities as it promised.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
association, and workers generally exercised this right in practice.
Only two unions existed in the very small formal wage sector: The
General Union of Workers and the National Organization of Workers of
Sao Tome and Principe. Both represented government workers, who
constituted the majority of wage earners, and members of farmers'
cooperatives.
There are no laws prohibiting anti-union discrimination; however,
there were no reports of such discrimination.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides that workers may organize and bargain
collectively; however, due to its role as the principal employer in the
wage sector, the Government remained the key interlocutor for labor on
all matters, including wages. There are no export processing zones.
The Constitution provides for the freedom to strike, even by
government employees and other essential workers. During the year,
threatened strikes, mostly by government workers, were averted through
negotiation. There were no laws or regulations prohibiting employers
from retaliation against strikers; however, there were no reports of
retaliation against workers for activities related to labor
organization.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Employers in the formal wage sector generally respected the legally
mandated minimum employment age of 18; however, child labor was a
problem. The law prohibits minors from working more than 7 hours a day
and 35 hours a week. Children were engaged in labor in subsistence
agriculture, on plantations, and in informal commerce, sometimes from
an early age. Although no cases of child labor abuses have been
prosecuted, the law states that employers of underage workers can be
fined.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Working conditions on many of
the cocoa plantations--the largest wage employment sector--were
extremely harsh. The legal minimum wage was $35.57 (350,000 dobras) per
month for civil servants. The average salary for plantation workers did
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family, and
the real value of their pay was further eroded by a 9 percent rate of
inflation. Working two or more jobs was so common that the Government
modified its hours so civil servants could pursue a second career; the
labor law specifies areas in which civil servants may work if they
pursue a second job. Civil servants in ``strategic sectors,'' such as
the court system, the ministries of finance, customs, education, and
the Criminal Investigation Police, earned up to 400 percent more than
their counterparts in the remainder of the public sector.
In the past, plantation workers and their families were provided
free (but inadequate) housing, rudimentary education for their
children, and health care; however, in recent years, most plantations
have moved to a wage-only compensation system.
The legal workweek is 40 hours, with 48 consecutive hours mandated
for rest. Shopkeepers worked 48 hours a week. The law prescribes basic
occupational health and safety standards. Inspectors for the Ministry
of Justice and Labor are responsible for enforcement of these
standards; however, resource constraints hindered their efforts.
Employees have the right to leave unsafe working conditions.
__________
SENEGAL
Senegal is a moderately decentralized republic dominated by a
strong presidency. In 2000, Abdoulaye Wade, backed by a coalition of
opposition parties, became President in an election generally viewed as
both free and fair. The rebel leadership signed a ceasefire with the
Government on December 30. The judiciary was subject to executive
influence and pressure.
The armed forces were professional and generally well disciplined.
The police and the paramilitary gendarmerie are somewhat less
professional and disciplined. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. A few members of the security
forces committed isolated human rights abuses.
The economy is market based with modest foreign investment,
particularly in the tourism sector. The population was estimated at 10
million. The economy is predominantly agricultural. The rate of
economic growth was 6.3 percent, and inflation was well below 1
percent. The Government received external assistance from international
financial institutions and other sources, amounting to 26 percent of
the national budget.
The Government generally respected its citizens' rights; however,
there were problems in some areas. Security forces were responsible for
at least one death during the year. Unlike in the previous year, there
were no reports of torture or that police beat suspects during
questioning; however, arbitrary arrest, prolonged pretrial detention,
and impunity remained problems. Unlike in the previous year, the
Government did not limit freedom of speech or association; however, the
Government detained a private journalist during the year. Domestic
violence, discrimination against women, female genital mutilation
(FGM), trafficking in persons, and child labor remained problems.
There were reports that MFDC (Movement of Democratic Forces of the
Casamance) rebels in Casamance continued to commit armed robberies and
rapes; however the MFDC's violence against civilians and government
forces declined significantly during the year.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings by the Government or its agents; however, gendarmes
killed a civilian protester (see Section 2.b.).
There was no action taken against the government soldiers
responsible for the 2003 killing of a man in Mandina Mancagne.
There were isolated incidents of violence between military and
Casamance rebel forces; however, there were no reports of civilian
casualties. For example, in April, rebels attacked a military de mining
team, which resulted in the deaths of three soldiers.
During the year, newspapers reported three cases of mob violence
that resulted in four deaths. Three victims had been accused of
robbery, and one had been accused of rape.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances during the year.
Human rights groups criticized the Government for its unwillingness
to take responsibility and resolve cases of disappearances linked to
government security forces from previous years.
There were no developments in the 2002 disappearance of five
Casamance fishermen.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such treatment, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them during the year.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police beat
journalists.
Human rights groups said MFDC rebels continued to sexually assault
women in northern Casamance, specifically in the villages of Djibidjone
and Sindian. Rebels used sexual assault as a weapon to gain material
support from villagers. The Government established an office in
Casamance to process claims of sexual abuse; however, it was not open
at year's end.
There were no developments in the investigation into the October
2003 assault on Talla Sylla, leader of the opposition political party
Jef Jel and vocal critic of President Wade. Many NGOs believed the
assault was politically motivated and carried out by individuals close
to President Wade; however, this remained unproven. The case was under
judicial investigation at year's end.
Land mines continue to claim civilian victims in Casamance. During
the year, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Handicap International
reported the cases of 17 landmine victims. It was unclear whether
government forces or rebels laid the mines.
Prison conditions were poor, and prisons remained overcrowded.
During the year, at least five prisoners apparently died of disease
while in custody. Human rights groups claimed prisons did not meet
international standards. The National Organization for Human Rights
(ONDH), a local human rights NGO, identified overcrowding as the major
problem facing the country's prisons. According to media reports, the
Government has not constructed a new prison since 1960. Due to old and
overburdened infrastructure, prisons experienced drainage problems
during the rainy season and stifling heat during the summer. Prisons
lacked doctors and medicine to provide care for sick inmates, forcing
them to be evacuated for treatment.
At year's end, there were no developments, nor were any likely, in
the case of six prison guards accused of torturing Alioune Badara
Mbengue while he was in detention in 2002.
Women generally were held separately from men and juveniles
generally were housed separately from adults. Although pretrial
detainees were usually held separately from convicted prisoners, as
required by law, they were occasionally kept with convicted prisoners
due to limited space. Local NGOs reported that prisoner separation
regulations were not enforced consistently.
The Government permits prison visits by independent human rights
monitors. In August, ONDH began a national survey of prison conditions
with the Government's consent and assistance. Amnesty International's
Dakar bureau commended prison authorities for openly discussing prison
needs and shortcomings, and a U.N High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) representative stated detention procedures had improved.
Representatives of the Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights
(RADDHO) were able to gain access to prisoners during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the authorities at times
arbitrarily arrested and detained persons.
The police force contains 10 departments as part of the Directorate
General of National Safety. In each of the country's 11 regions, police
have at least 1 police station and at least 1 mobile safety brigade.
Dakar has more than 15 police stations, which are spread throughout the
city. Most police chiefs were well educated and well trained. A foreign
government has also helped facilitate training of the police force in a
number of areas, such as crisis response, airport security, hostage
negotiation, and trafficking in persons.
Impunity was a problem. No members of security forces responsible
for human rights violations in the past, including disappearances and
police brutality, were charged or prosecuted during the year; however,
authorities punished some cases of corruption. During the year, the
Government arrested a group of customs officers at the Port of Dakar
for fraudulent and corrupt practices in clearing incoming goods. The
officers were released and were awaiting trial at year's end. In 2003,
a police chief was charged with corruption; however, his case was still
pending at year's end. NGOs that worked with prostitutes accused police
officers of corruption, claiming police officers took money from
prostitutes to overlook noncompliance with the legalized prostitution
regime and other laws.
Although the law specifies that warrants issued by judges are
required for arrests, the law also grants the police broad powers to
detain prisoners for lengthy periods of time before filing formal
charges. Police officers may hold suspects without filing formal
charges for up to 48 hours after arrest, up to 96 hours if authorized
by a public prosecutor, and up to 192 hours in cases involving threats
to state security; and these provisions were respected in practice.
During the first 48 hours of detention, the accused has no access to an
attorney but has the right to a medical exam and possible access to
family. If necessary, a prosecutor can also demand a medical
examination of the accused. The accused has the right to an attorney
after this initial period of detention at his/her own expense. For
those who could afford representation, this right was respected in
practice. The Government does not provide legal aid to indigents prior
to trial. Bail is possible, but was rarely used.
The accused may not be held in custody for more than 6 months
pending trial for minor crimes. In cases involving murder, threats to
state security, and embezzlement of public funds, there are no limits
on the length of pretrial detention. Judges are allowed the time
necessary to investigate these more serious cases. A court may review
such extensions on appeal. Judges could order release pending trial
with the prosecutor's consent. If a prosecutor disagrees with a judge's
decision to order release, the order is frozen until the appeals court
decides to grant or deny the release.
The authorities may detain a prisoner for long periods while
building their case; police were rarely prosecuted for violations of
arrest and detention procedures. Prisoners were routinely held in
custody unless and until a court demanded their release. Despite the 6
month limit on detention for most crimes, the average time between
charging and trial was 2 years. ONDH claimed detainees were held for
years awaiting trial. Judicial backlogs of up to 400 cases contributed
to long periods of pretrial detention. Since judges lacked sufficient
time to review all cases, orders to extend detention were often signed
without individual consideration of the facts to avoid releasing
potentially guilty detainees. The Government continued to detain
foreigners in police custody who had finished serving prison sentences
and were awaiting repatriation. In May, RADDHO criticized authorities
at Dakar's Central Prison for holding foreign nationals in inhumane
conditions while they awaited repatriation. RADDHO claimed 120
detainees were held in a 120 square-yard cell, a charge that prison
authorities disputed.
Military authorities stationed in Casamance continued to reduce the
number of human rights abuses committed by security forces under their
command. Although NGOs confirmed that there were fewer complaints of
arbitrary arrests, lengthy detention, and abuse during detention, there
were no available statistics. Unlike in previous years, there were no
reports that government forces detained Casamancais for suspected
membership in the MFDC.
On July 7, the National Assembly unanimously adopted an amnesty law
for MFDC rebels.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for a
judiciary independent of the executive, the legislature, and the armed
forces; however, in practice, the judiciary was subject to government
influence and pressure. Low pay, poor working conditions, and family
and political ties made magistrates vulnerable to outside pressure.
Since the executive branch controls judicial promotions, judges were
subject to executive influence. During the year, judges were
transferred for what NGOs and the media considered as political
reasons. For example, a senior judge, who had served as the Dean of
Judges in Dakar and as President of the Regional Court of Dakar, was
transferred from Dakar to the Louga region, a move human rights groups
believed resulted from the judge's resistance to political pressure in
a high-profile case in 2003. Ministry of Justice officials have
substantial authority to influence judicial procedures by keeping
suspects in pretrial detention.
Based on French civil law, the judiciary is composed of ordinary
courts and several higher and special courts, including the Council of
State, the Constitutional Council, the Court of Final Appeal, and the
Accounting Court. These courts remained understaffed, and many of the
special courts, including those that deal with unlawful enrichment,
treason, and official malfeasance, were dormant. Muslims have the right
to choose Muslim-based laws contained in the Family Code for marriage
and succession cases. While civil court judges are empowered to preside
over civil and customary law cases, some disputes are turned over to
religious judges for adjudication, particularly in rural areas. There
is a separate system of military courts for the armed forces and
gendarmerie. The right of appeal exists in all courts, including
military courts, except the special Unlawful Enrichment Court, which
was established to try corruption cases against public officials.
Military courts may try civilians only if they were involved with
military personnel who violate military law.
Defendants are presumed innocent and have the right to a public
trial, be present in court, confront witnesses, present evidence, and
have an attorney. Some defendants were denied legal representation at
public expense due to a lack of funds. Evidentiary hearings may be
closed to the public and the press, but defendant and counsel have
access to all evidence presented and may introduce their own evidence
before the investigating judge decides to refer a case for trial. A
panel of judges presides over ordinary courts in civil and criminal
cases. Jurors also sit on the panels during special sessions of the
criminal court.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits arbitrary invasion of the
home, and the Government generally respected this prohibition in
practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; and, unlike in the previous year,
the Government generally respected these rights in practice and did not
restrict academic freedom. However, some journalists reported they felt
intimidated about criticizing the President in the press. The
independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views
without restriction. There were at least 15 independent and 3
government-affiliated dailies and several weekly newspapers and
magazines. Publishers were required to register prior to starting a
publication; however, government approval was routine.
Radio was the most important medium of mass information and the
main source of news for citizens outside urban areas. There were more
than 25 privately owned radio stations, and all of the locally owned
stations broadcast national news and political commentary. Community
radio leaders criticized the lack of transparency in the system for
requesting and granting radio frequencies. After the Ministry of
Communication receives a request for a frequency, the request is
forwarded to the Agency of Regulation and Communication (ART), which
renders a technical judgment based upon frequency strength and
location. Once ART has evaluated the technical feasibility and passed
on its recommendation, the Ministry of Communication decides whether to
grant the frequency.
A government monopoly controlled local television and was an
important source of news. While there were no privately owned domestic
television stations, French- and South African-owned satellite
television services offered international programming and news. Neither
of these international services provided domestic news coverage.
Compared to the previous year, there were fewer reports that
opposition members and journalists were threatened or harassed after
criticizing the President; however, journalists were arrested.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police beat
journalists during the year or that journalists were expelled from the
country.
On July 9, Madiambal Diagne, editor of a private daily newspaper,
was arrested for printing what the Government claimed to be
``confidential'' material and threatening public order. After spending
more than 2 weeks in detention, Diagne was released. Domestic and
international observers criticized Diagne's arrest, and journalist and
civil society groups conducted peaceful demonstrations to demand his
release.
In January, the Court of Appeals overturned Abdou Latif Coulibaly's
2003 3 month prison sentence but upheld a monetary damages award. No
action was taken against police officers who beat journalist Ibrahima
Fall in January 2003.
The High Audiovisual Council (HCA) exists to ensure equitable
coverage between different religious and political viewpoints but, in
practice, lacked the means to do so. A local NGO criticized the HCA for
being inefficient and for lacking coherent policies. As a result,
according to various human rights groups, there was a troubling growth
in radio stations controlled by single religious, political, or ethnic
groups.
In July, the HCA criticized the government run television station
RTS for failing to respect its obligation to broadcast at least once
per month a debate program on national issues reflecting a diversity of
opinions. Shortly after these remarks were made, RTS began broadcasting
a debate program that included opposition political party members. The
HCA also questioned the lack of equal television coverage for all
religious groups. Human rights groups accused RTS of not respecting
pluralism in its broadcasts.
In May, police officials and press representatives met at a
workshop to discuss press freedom and security concerns. According to
the country's largest journalist union, this meeting contributed to the
absence of violent confrontations between journalists and police
officers during the year.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. Local NGOs agreed that
respect for freedom of assembly had improved greatly under President
Wade's administration.
There was one reported killing of a demonstrator during the year.
On September 16, gendarmes were dispatched to manage young
demonstrators demanding electricity for the Casamance rural community
of Mampatim. The gendarmes responded to what they perceived as an
increasingly aggressive demonstration by shooting and killing a 19-
year-old protestor and injuring three other protestors. An
investigation into the incident was ongoing at year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not attempt to
dissolve any organizations.
The Government did not go through with the threatened dissolution
of the Association of Families of the Victims of the Joola, and the
association did not vacate government premises by year's end.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
Any group religious or otherwise that wants to form an association
with legal status must register with the Ministry of Interior in
accordance with the civil and commercial code. Registration was
generally granted.
In January, the Government ordered a police investigation and
provided improved security services for the Archbishop of Dakar
following a threatening letter sent to the Archbishop that contained
death threats against the country's Catholic clergy.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. Some
public employees, including teachers, are required by law to obtain
government approval before departing the country; however, human rights
groups noted that this law was only enforced against teachers and not
other public servants.
Government security forces maintained checkpoints in some parts of
Casamance for security purposes, but freedom of movement increased over
the previous year. There continued to be military checkpoints in
Ziguinchor and near the borders with Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia.
Security forces generally allowed travelers to proceed after checking
documents and searching vehicles.
During the year, there were fewer armed robberies and assaults
committed by MFDC rebels against civilians in Casamance.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
During the 22-year Casamance conflict, tens of thousands of
Casamancais were forced to flee their villages due to fighting, forced
removal, and land mines. Because of improved security conditions,
internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees were returning to
their villages at year's end. During the year, the Government continued
to help returning IDPs and refugees reconstruct their homes and
villages.
The law provides for the granting of refugee and asylum status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee or asylum status. The Government cooperated with the
office of the UNHCR and other such humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. Human rights groups criticized
the 1- to 2-year delays in providing identification documents to
refugees, without which refugees were unable to find work in the formal
sector.
Since conflict with Mauritania in 1989, the country has offered
temporary protection for Mauritanian refugees, who generally lived in
dispersed locations in the river valley along the Mauritanian border
and enjoyed free movement within the country. However, most refugees
could not obtain current refugee documents from the authorities and
sometimes encountered administrative difficulties when using their
expired refugee application receipts. While no formal repatriation
agreement existed, both governments continued to permit generally
unsupervised and largely informal repatriation. Due to the mobile
nature of this population, the absence of identification documents, and
cases of fraud, the exact number of remaining Mauritanian refugees was
unknown. The UNHCR office in Podor and NGOs working with Mauritanian
refugees estimated the number to be approximately 20,000. Several
hundred Bissau Guinean and Anglophone African refugees remained in the
country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
Citizens exercised their right to vote during the 2000 presidential
election that ended the Socialist Party's 40 year domination of
government. After 26 years in the opposition, Abdoulaye Wade, backed by
a coalition of opposition parties, defeated the incumbent president in
what was considered to be a free and fair election. There were reports
of several incidents of pre election violence and minor procedural
irregularities; however, the majority of political parties and civil
society accepted the result. In a 2001 national referendum, 94 percent
of voters accepted a new Constitution.
The 2001 legislative and 2002 local elections took place without
incident. In the 2001 legislative elections, characterized as free and
transparent by international and national observers, President Wade's
coalition won 49.6 percent of the vote and 89 of 120 seats in the
National Assembly. In 2002, President Wade's coalition won 52 percent
of the vote in the first local elections held since 1996. As a result,
President Wade's governing coalition won control of 281 of the 441
rural, regional, and city councils.
There were 78 legally registered political parties.
On August 16, after months of debate on the best method to update
the national voter registration list, the National Assembly adopted a
proposal to redo the entire list, requiring all eligible voters to re-
register or register for the first time. The law also mandated that a
new national identity card would be the sole form of identification
accepted for voter registration. The Government has until early 2006 to
finish the project.
The Ministry of the Interior was responsible for the organization
and implementation of elections, an arrangement opposition political
parties criticized because of the Minister's partisan affiliation with
President Wade. During the year, the National Electoral Observatory
(ONEL) oversaw and supervised elections and had the power to order
bureaucrats to obey electoral laws and initiate legal action against
individuals and parties who violated these laws. Under pressure from
opposition political parties, though, the Government created a
committee tasked with establishing an autonomous electoral committee to
replace ONEL.
The Constitution provides citizens the right to access government
information freely; however, this right was limited in practice.
There were 25 women in the 120-seat National Assembly and 7 women
in the 40-member Cabinet. Political parties often placed women low on
electoral lists, making it difficult for them to win seats in the
National Assembly.
The Government sought ethnic and geographic balance in hiring for
civilian and military positions and in sharing power. There were a
significant number of non-Wolof deputies in the 120-seat National
Assembly and in the 40 member Cabinet. Some of these ethnic minorities
included members of the Diola, Pular, Sereer, and Mancagne tribal
groups.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of human rights groups generally operated without
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on
human rights cases. Government officials were somewhat cooperative and
responsive to their views.
The Government's National Committee on Human Rights had a broad
membership, including government representatives, civil society groups,
and independent human rights organizations. The committee, which
received its budget from the Government, had the authority to
investigate abuses, including torture, on its own initiative. Unlike in
previous years, the Committee did not publish its annual report on
human rights protection in the country.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution states that ``men and women shall be equal in
law'' and prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, class, or
language; however, gender discrimination was widespread in practice,
and the anti discrimination laws often were not enforced. According to
local NGOs working to protect and promote women's rights, women
continued to suffer discrimination.
Women.--Domestic violence is against the law; however, there were
credible reports that domestic violence against women, usually wife
beating, was common. The law criminalizes assaults and provides for a
punishment of 1 to 5 years in prison and a fine. If the victim was a
woman, the prison term and fine are both increased. Domestic violence
that causes lasting injuries is punishable with a prison sentence of 10
to 20 years. If an act of domestic violence causes death, the law
prescribes life in prison. Some women's rights groups felt that the
harsh sentences under the law caused judges to require higher burdens
of proof before finding potential offenders guilty, resulting in fewer
total convictions for domestic violence. The Committee to Combat
Violence Against Women (CLVF), a local NGO that assisted domestic
violence victims, viewed the laws as important but criticized the
Government's failure to permit associations to bring suit on behalf of
victims.
Police usually did not intervene in domestic disputes, and most
persons were reluctant to go outside the family for redress. In an
interview on domestic violence, a practicing attorney told the press
that judges rarely gave maximum sentences for crimes against women.
The law prohibited rape; however, it remained a problem. The law
provides for 5 to 10 years' imprisonment for rape; however, rapes
resulting in death qualify for life imprisonment. The law was rarely
enforced in practice, as it was nearly impossible for victims to
provide judges with sufficient proof to merit convictions. A women's
rights NGO criticized the country's lack of rape shield laws and the
common practice of using a woman's sexual history to defend men accused
of rape.
The Wolof, the country's largest ethnic group, did not practice
FGM; however, other ethnic groups did. Sealing, one of the most extreme
and dangerous forms of FGM, was sometimes practiced by the Toucouleur,
Mandinka, Soninke, and Bambara, particularly in rural areas. In the
regions of eastern Saint Louis, Matam, Tambacounda, Ziguinchor, and
Kolda, where FGM was most prevalent, it was estimated that a majority
of girls undergo FGM. The NGO Tostan estimated FGM was still practiced
in thousands of villages throughout the country, particularly in the
north, northeast, and southeast. In June, the Minister of Family
claimed that almost 100 percent of the women in the country's northern
Fouta region were FGM victims, as were 60 to 70 percent of women in the
south and southeast. The practice extended to urban areas as more
persons left rural villages for cities. Some girls were as young as 1-
year-old when FGM was performed on them.
FGM is a criminal offense under the law, carrying a sentence of 6
months' to 5 years' imprisonment for those directly practicing FGM or
ordering it to be carried out on a third person. Many citizens ignored
the law against FGM. However, the Government has fought to end the
practice. For example, in April, authorities convicted and sentenced
the parents of 11 young girls for forcing them to submit to FGM; a
foreign national was convicted and sentenced for performing the ritual.
The girls were reported to be between the ages of 1 and 7.
The Government had programs to educate women about the dangers of
FGM, and there were national and local governmental action plans
against FGM, piloted by the Ministry of Family, Social Development, and
Solidarity. Despite FGM's continued existence, progress continued in
reducing the practice during the year. Since 1997, 1,367 communities,
more than one quarter of all practicing villages, officially renounced
FGM. Villages that declared themselves against FGM undertook extensive
basic education programs, social mobilization activities, and inter
village and inter generational awareness programs.
Sexual harassment is prohibited by law and punishable by a prison
term of 5 months' to 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of $100 to $1,000
(50,000 to 500,000 francs); however, the Government did not effectively
enforce the law, and sexual harassment was a problem. Women's rights
groups claimed sexual harassment victims found it difficult, if not
impossible, to present sufficient proof to justify prosecutions.
Women faced pervasive discrimination, especially in rural areas
where traditional customs including polygyny and rules of inheritance
were strongest. Under national law, women have the right to choose when
and whom they marry, but traditional practices restricted a woman's
choice. The minimum age of consent to marry is 21 years for males and
16 years for females. Under certain conditions, a judge may grant a
special dispensation for marriage to a person below the age
requirement. This law was not enforced in some communities where
marriages were arranged. Women typically married young (usually by the
age of 16 in rural areas) and averaged 5 live births. Under family law,
a woman's consent is required for a polygynous union; however, once in
a polygynous union, a woman need not be notified or given prior
approval to the man's subsequent marriage. A study of marriage
practices indicated that slightly less than 50 percent of the country's
marriages were polygynous.
Only an estimated 20 percent of women have paid employment, and
traditional practices made it difficult for women to purchase property.
Due to the fact that men are legally considered the head of household,
women paid higher taxes than men for the same salary (they were taxed
as single individuals without children), and employers paid child
allowances to men but not to women.
In urban areas, women encountered somewhat less discrimination and
were more active in government, politics, and business. Urban women
usually received equal pay for equal work. Approximately 14 percent of
lawyers were women. Urban women were more likely to benefit from
government efforts to improve the respect for women's legal rights to
divorce, alimony, and child support, and to seek education and
employment.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare. The Ministry of Family, Social Development and Solidarity is
responsible for promoting children's welfare and is assisted by the
Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, which focus on child
survival and education.
The Constitution provides for free education, and education policy
declares education to be compulsory for children ages 6 to 12; however,
attendance was not enforced. Many children did not attend school for
lack of resources or available facilities.
The Government continued working to improve its education programs
during the year. In December, the Government committed 40 percent of
the national budget to education. Officials also made progress on two
other national education initiatives: ensuring universal education, and
increasing the length of time for compulsory education. The Government
continued to increase the number of classrooms and encouraged more
children, particularly girls, to enter and stay in school. Due to
government, NGO, and international donor efforts, school enrollment
reached almost 80 percent in 2003-2004 school year, with a greater than
77 percent enrollment rate for girls.
Although the situation improved, young girls still encountered
greater difficulties in receiving an education. For example, when
families could not afford for all of their children to attend school,
parents tended to remove their daughters from school, rather than their
sons. Only 23 percent of women over 15 years of age were literate,
compared with 43 percent of men.
To better protect children, the Government made the age of the
victim an aggravating factor for some crimes. If a rape victim is a
minor, the penalty is 10 years' imprisonment. The law punishes sexual
abuse of children (pedophilia) with 5 to 10 years' imprisonment. If the
offender is a family member, the punishment is 10 years. Because of
social pressures and fear of embarrassment, incest remained taboo and
often went unreported and unpunished.
FGM was performed primarily on girls (see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking and commercial exploitation of children were problems
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was still a problem; however, the Government continued
to fight child labor practices (see Section 6.d.).
Many children have been displaced due to the Casamance conflict and
often lived with extended family members, neighbors, or in children's
homes. The Government lacked adequate resources to effectively support
these children. According to NGOs in Casamance, displaced children
suffered from psychological effects of conflict, malnutrition, and poor
health.
Local and international NGOs actively worked to promote children's
rights through workshops and assistance programs.
Trafficking in Persons.--There was no national law prohibiting
trafficking in persons, and trafficking of women and children occurred
in the country. In the majority of cases, traffickers could not be
prosecuted effectively under other statutes. The law does prohibit
pimping and kidnapping, which could be used in some trafficking cases.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights was the Government's coordinator
on human trafficking issues. On July 22, the Government signed a
bilateral accord with Mali to repatriate trafficked Malian children.
Research indicated the country was a source, transit, and
destination point for trafficking. Internal trafficking was also a
problem. Reliable statistics as to the extent of the trafficking
problem were unavailable. Young boys were trafficked from surrounding
nations, such as The Gambia, Mali, and Guinea-Bissau, and internally to
participate in exploitive begging. Young girls were trafficked
internally and sometimes abroad for commercial sexual and labor
exploitation. The country was a transit, source, and destination
country for trafficking of adult women from Nigeria, Guinea, and other
West African countries for sexual and labor practices.
There were no government or NGO estimates on the problem and no
government or NGO campaigns to educate the country against the dangers
of trafficking. The Government offered few assistance or protection
services for victims due to limited resources.
The Government operated a children's center where child trafficking
victims could receive assistance and a child protection hotline to
field calls concerning at-risk children.
Persons With Disabilities.--There were no reports of official
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment,
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state
services.
The Government established schools for children with disabilities
and provided grants for persons with disabilities to receive vocational
training. The Government managed centers for persons with disabilities
in each region where they could receive training and funding for
establishing businesses.
No laws mandate accessibility for persons with disabilities.
In September, police authorities forcibly moved beggars with
disabilities from Dakar for violating anti-begging provisions in the
law; however, these same laws were not enforced among other
populations, such as young children.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's southern
Casamance region, which lies south of The Gambia, is unique in its
multi ethnic composition and the prevalence of Christian and animist
religious beliefs compared with the remaining Islamic regions of the
country. Wolofs, the country's majority ethnic group, were a
significant minority in Casamance. While the country's many ethnic
groups have coexisted relatively peacefully, some observers have cited
inter ethnic tensions between Wolofs and southern ethnic groups as
playing a significant role in the long-running Casamance rebellion that
was characterized by grievous human rights abuses. During the year,
there was little violence in Casamance, and the Government and MFDC
rebel leaders signed a formal ceasefire on December 30.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and the Labor Code
provide all workers with the right of association and the freedom to
form or join unions, and workers exercised this right in practice. The
Labor Code requires the Minister of the Interior to give prior
authorization before a trade union can exist legally, and the
Government can also dissolve trade unions by administrative order;
however, it did not dissolve any trade unions. Approximately 4 percent
of the total work force worked in the private industrial sector, and
most of these workers were unionized. Although they represented a
shrinking percentage of the working population due to a loss in
industrial jobs, the country's 16 labor associations, each consisting
of multiple unions, wielded significant political influence because of
their ability to disrupt vital sectors of the economy and the
significant ties between union and political party leaders.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides unions with the rights to organize and to bargain
collectively, and these rights are protected in practice. The
Constitution and the Labor Code provide for the right to strike, but
with significant restrictions; however, workers exercised this right in
practice. Unions representing members of the civil service must notify
the Government of their intent to strike at least 1 month in advance;
private sector unions must notify the Government 3 days in advance.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in the
one export processing zone.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Constitution bans the exploitation of child labor, and the Government
enforced this ban in the formal sector; however, there were reports
that forced child labor occurred.
In 2003, the Government adopted four regulations on child labor
that set the minimum working age, working hours, working conditions,
and barred children from performing particularly dangerous jobs;
however most child labor occurred in the country's informal economic
sector where labor regulations were not enforced.
The minimum age for employment was 15; however, children under the
age of 15 continued to work in traditional labor sectors, such as
automotive garages, animal husbandry, and fishing, particularly in
rural areas where there was no enforcement of child labor laws. Some
religious instructors in Koranic schools brought young boys from rural
villages to urban areas and held them under conditions of servitude,
forcing them to beg on a daily basis in unsanitary and dangerous
conditions under the threat of physical punishment. Young girls worked
as domestics, usually receiving little to no remuneration for their
work.
On July 22, the Minister of Labor signed a Time-Bound Program with
the International Labor Organization (ILO) to reduce the worst forms of
child labor, which the Government and the ILO identified as child
begging, sexual exploitation of children, underage domestics, fishing,
and animal husbandry. The Ministry of Family worked separately with
UNICEF and the Italian Government to combat child labor.
The Ministry of Labor (MOL) and its Social Security Inspectors were
in charge of investigating and initiating lawsuits in child labor
cases. Inspectors can visit any institution during work hours to verify
and investigate compliance with labor laws. Inspectors can also act on
tips from trade unions or ordinary citizens; however, in practice,
inspectors did not initiate visits because of a lack of resources and
relied on unions to report violators. MOL inspectors closely monitored
and enforced minimum age rules within the small formal wage sector,
which included state owned corporations, large private enterprises, and
cooperatives.
As a result of the 1998 International Program for the Elimination
of Child Labor, which ended in December 2003, some children who worked
as garbage scavengers were placed in apprenticeship and literacy
programs. Young girls employed as underage domestics in Dakar received
vocational training or were returned to their parents. The program also
spurred awareness campaigns to increase girls' enrollment in school and
to educate the public on the dangers of pesticides to children and
adults working in agriculture.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law mandates a monthly
minimum wage, and the Ministries of Labor and Finance determine wage
rates after negotiating with the unions and management councils. The
national minimum wage was $0.42 (209.10 CFA francs) per hour, which did
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
Within the formal sector, the law mandates for most occupations a
standard workweek of 40 to 48 hours with at least one 24 hour rest
period, 1 month per year of annual leave, enrollment in government
social security and retirement plans, safety standards, and other
measures. Enforcement was uneven, particularly outside of the formal
sector.
While there are legal regulations on workplace safety, they often
were not enforced. There is no explicit legal protection for workers
who file complaints about unsafe working conditions. Workers had the
right to remove themselves from situations that endangered health or
safety; however, it was seldom exercised due to high unemployment and a
slow legal system.
__________
SEYCHELLES
Seychelles is a multi-party republic governed by President James A.
Michel and the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF). In April,
ex-President France Albert Rene handed over power to Michel after
serving as President since a 1977 coup. The leader of the opposition
Seychelles National Party (SNP), Wavel Ramkalawan, argued that Rene
misused the handover provision in the Constitution, charging that Rene
wanted to allow Michel to establish himself politically prior to
elections scheduled for 2006; however, the SNP recognized Michel as
President. In 2001, President Rene and the SPPF won reelection with 54
percent of the vote. Some international observers concluded that the
overall result was decided fairly; however, other international
observers said that the election was not entirely free and fair.
December 2002 elections for the National Assembly were judged to be
free and fair by international observers. The President and the SPPF
dominated the country through a pervasive system of political
patronage, control over government jobs, contracts, and resources. The
judiciary was inefficient, lacked resources, and was subject to
executive interference.
The President has complete control over the security apparatus,
which included a National Guard force, the army, the Presidential
Protection Unit, the coast guard, and police. There also was an armed
paramilitary Police Mobile Unit (SMU), which together with police had
primary responsibility for internal security. The army, National Guard
force, and coast guard were responsible for external security and some
internal security. The Presidential Protection Unit was responsible for
the President's security. The civilian authorities maintained effective
control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces
committed human rights abuses.
The economy was market-based, although there was significant
government control over the exchange rate and the import and export of
goods. According to a census conducted in 2003, the population was
82,000. The economy is based primarily on tourism; however, the fishing
industry also is an important sector. The Government estimated the rate
of economic growth to be negative 3 percent in 2003. Wages kept pace
with inflation largely because the Government maintained an
artificially high exchange rate. The lack of progress towards
privatization, shortages of foreign exchange, and the pervasive
presence of inefficient state enterprises led to an economic recession
that continued at year's end.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in several areas. President
Michel was not free to act independently because ex-President Rene and
the SPPF continued to wield substantial power. There was one political
killing. Police brutality was a problem. The Government sometimes
infringed on privacy rights. There were some restrictions on freedom of
the press. Violence against women continued, and child abuse remained a
problem. Women's rights were limited. Discrimination against foreign
workers also was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There was a report
of a politically motivated killing. According to an opposition
newspaper report, on July 25, agents of the Government accidentally
killed Claude Monnaie, confusing him for an opposition party activist.
By year's end, no one was charged.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution forbids torture; however, there were
reports of beatings by security forces. In November, police received a
record number of complaints of police brutality. During the year, the
Supreme Court reported that there were eight cases of police brutality,
all of which were pending at year's end. Unlike in the previous year,
there were no reports of beatings with electrical wires, or of families
denied access in cases where the detainee had been severely beaten.
In mid-November, police officers allegedly beat a man and sexually
abused a woman after police picked up the couple in Anse Royale.
Conditions at the Long Island prison remained Spartan. In 2003, the
Grand Police High Security Prison was established on Mahe for more
violent criminals. During the year, the total number of inmates
increased to 193, of whom 8 were women; there were 16 prisoners under
the age of 23, and 8 were noncitizens. Family members were allowed
monthly visits, and prisoners had access to reading but not writing
materials.
Men were held separately from women, and juveniles were held
separately from adults. Pretrial detainees generally were held
separately from convicted prisoners.
There was no regular system of independent monitoring of prisons;
however, local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
were allowed to visit. During the year, the Assistant Commissioner of
Prisons from Mauritius, a Canadian NGO focused on prison conditions
worldwide, and the African Commission on Human and People's Rights made
visits; however, no local NGO visited the prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits such
practices; however, legal restraints were not always respected.
The Police Commissioner reports to the Defense Forces Chief of
Staff and commands the police and the armed SMU. Regular police are
unarmed and must work with the army on issues of internal security.
The Constitution provides that persons arrested must be brought
before a magistrate within 24 hours, with allowances made for boat
travel from distant islands; however, police did not always uphold this
requirement. For example, according to legal sources, in February, a
man who was suspected of theft was arrested on a Friday, held over the
weekend, and released on a Monday with no charges filed. A similar
situation occurred in June. Despite these isolated examples, police
appeared to have reduced their detention of individuals on a Friday or
Saturday specifically to allow for a longer period of detention without
charge. When the practice was used, police released such persons on
Monday before the court could rule on a writ of habeas corpus.
The law also provides for detention without charge for up to 7 days
if authorized by court order, and, in practice, this provision
generally was respected.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reported cases that police
used extended periods of detention under harsh conditions to extort
confessions from suspects.
Detainees have the right of access to legal counsel, and unlike in
the previous year, there was no reported case of security forces
withholding this right. Free counsel was provided to the indigent. Bail
was available for most offenses.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was inefficient and
subject to executive interference.
The judicial system includes magistrates' courts (or small-claims
court), the Supreme (or trial) Court, the Constitutional Court, and the
Court of Appeal. The Constitutional Court convenes weekly or as
necessary to consider constitutional issues only. The Court of Appeal
convenes three times per year for 2 weeks in April, August, and October
to consider appeals from the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court
only.
All members of the Supreme Court are appointed for 7 years and may
be reappointed by the President on the recommendation of the
Constitutional Appointment Committee. The Chief Justice was a
naturalized citizen, and one other judge was from the country; the
remaining judges were hired from other Commonwealth countries,
including Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Zambia. The Bar
Association criticized the Government for not advertising domestically
that judicial positions were available, since approximately 30 citizens
practiced law either domestically or abroad. There were also several
justices of the peace responsible for small-claims cases, and there
were allegations that many justices of the peace were appointed because
of their affiliation with the SPPF. Legal entities of the Government,
such as the Attorney General's Office, were reluctant to pursue charges
of wrongdoing or abuse of power against senior officials.
Defendants have the right to a fair public trial. Depending on the
gravity of the offense, criminal cases were heard by a magistrates'
court or the Supreme Court. A jury was used in cases involving murder
or treason. Trials were public, and the accused was considered innocent
until proven guilty. Defendants have the right to counsel, to be
present at their trial, to confront witnesses, and to appeal.
An 18 member Family Tribunal heard and decided all matters relating
to the care, custody, access, and maintenance of children, except
paternity cases, which remained under the courts (see Section 5). The
Family Tribunal was empowered to offer protection orders to victims of
family violence. During the year, 451 cases came before the Tribunal,
including a case in which the Tribunal prevented the removal of a child
from the country's jurisdiction.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides for the right to privacy and
freedom from arbitrary searches; however, the Government sometimes
infringed on these rights. The law requires a warrant for police
searches and seizures; unlike in previous years, there were no reports
that members of the police drug squad entered homes and detained
persons without a warrant.
The law requires that all electronic surveillance be justified on
the grounds of preventing a serious crime and approved by a judge;
however, there were reports that the Government maintained telephone
surveillance of some political figures.
There were reports that members of the opposition were barred from
receiving postings in administrative positions in the education sector
(see Section 2.a.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, it also provides for
restrictions on speech ``for protecting the reputation, rights, and
freedoms of private lives of persons'' and ``in the interest of
defense, public safety, public order, public morality, or public
health.'' As a result, both freedom of speech and of the press were
limited because civil lawsuits could easily be filed to penalize
journalists for alleged libel.
The government controlled Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)
continued to ban a local singer's music from being broadcast on the
grounds that the songs were seditious.
The Government had a near monopoly of the media and owned the only
television station, all radio stations the most important means for
reaching the public and the only daily newspaper, the Nation. The
government-owned media adhered closely to the Government's position on
policy issues and gave the opposition and news adverse to the
Government only limited attention. While both opposition parties
published an assortment of newsletters and magazines, there was
publication of only one significant opposition newspaper, the weekly
Regar. Government officials have sued Regar for libel numerous times in
recent years, most recently in 2003. This case had not been heard by
year's end.
In November, the editor of Regar appeared in court to defend the
newspaper's publication, despite a court order not to publish, of a
letter written by three judges to the Chief Justice. The editor was
charged with contempt of court for publishing the article. There was no
resolution to the case at year's end.
Journalists did not practice self-censorship.
The license fees for a private radio or television station were
prohibitively expensive and were a deterrent to the establishment of
such stations. The license fees for a private newspaper were not as
prohibitive.
The law allows the Minister of Information Technology to prohibit
the broadcast of any material believed to be against the ``national
interest'' or ``objectionable''; however, the law was not used during
the year. The legislation also requires telecommunications companies to
submit subscriber information to the Government.
There were no government restrictions on the use of the Internet.
Academic freedom was limited because persons could not reach senior
positions in the academic bureaucracy without demonstrating at least
nominal loyalty to the SPPF. There are no universities; secondary
school teacher appointments were largely apolitical. The Government
controlled faculty appointments to the Polytechnic, the most advanced
learning institution.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice; however, while generally
permitting SPPF rallies, the police on occasion refused to grant such
permission to the SNP.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
Although it was not used during the year, the law allows the Government
to deny passports to any citizen if the Minister of Defense finds that
such denial is ``in the national interest.'' While the resident
departure tax of approximately $49 (SR 250) was payable in local
currency, government foreign exchange regulations and the foreign
exchange shortage hindered many citizens from being able to afford
foreign travel.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
Several claims to reacquire property of some individuals who returned
from voluntary exile following the 1977 coup remained in the court
system, and no action on those cases occurred during the year.
The law provides for the granting of refugee status or asylum in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but the Government has not established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution; however, the issue
did not arise during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in the 2001
presidential elections and in the 2002 National Assembly elections.
Suffrage was universal.
In the 2001 presidential election, approximately 90 percent of
eligible voters participated. President Rene was reelected with 54
percent of the vote; SNP candidate Wavel Ramkalawan received 45
percent, and independent candidate Dr. Philip Boulle received 1
percent. Ramkalawan challenged the election results, accusing the SPPF
of intimidation, vote buying, and election rule misuse, but in 2003 he
withdrew his court case. Observers from the Southern African
Development Community noted ``minor hitches'' but stated their
satisfaction with the election and in particular observed transparency
during vote casting and counting. However, the Commonwealth
Organization observers reported that while the presidential elections
were peaceful, they were not entirely free and fair. Their report
described instances of intimidation during voting and the lack of open
competition during the campaign.
In the 2002 National Assembly elections, judged to be free and fair
by international observers, the opposition SNP party won 11 of the 34
seats.
France Albert Rene's SPPF party continued to use its political
resources and those of the Government to develop a nationwide
organization that extended to the village level. The opposition parties
have been unable to match the SPPF's organization and patronage, in
part because of financial limitations. In the current budget, the SPPF
was allocated $49,300 (SR 271,500), the SNP $38,700 (SR 213,000), and
the Democratic Party $2,800 (SR 15,500). These amounts were based on
percentages received by the political parties nationally in the 2002
legislative elections.
Some members of opposition parties claimed that they lost their
government jobs because of their political beliefs and were at a
disadvantage when applying for government licenses and loans.
There was widespread public perception of corruption in the
executive branch, especially in the process of privatization of
government-owned businesses and government-owned land distribution.
There were reports that recent sales of major government-owned assets
were decided without independent review. There were also complaints in
the opposition newspaper that in at least two cases, the identity of
the purchasers of these properties was never revealed.
There are laws allowing public access to government information;
however, the Government does not enforce them.
There were 10 women in the 34-seat National Assembly, 7 by direct
election and 3 by proportional representation, and there were 2 women
in the 12-minister Cabinet. There were four female principal
secretaries in the government service.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic human rights groups, including churches,
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were generally cooperative and responsive to their views.
The Center for Rights and Development (CEFRAD) had a 5-year action
plan that stressed respect for human rights, participation in a civil
society, and sensible approaches to development; however, CEFRAD did
not claim any results from its 5-year plan by year's end. CEFRAD also
established ties with other national and international NGOs.
In June, the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, a
branch of the African Union, assessed the overall human rights
situation in the country. The group found that the country demonstrated
a broad respect for human rights, but it noted that army involvement in
police operations was a point of concern.
A government-run National Humanitarian Affairs Committee (NHAC)
operates with a diverse range of members from both civil society and
the Government. The International Committee of the Red Cross acts as a
technical adviser to the NHAC.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution affirms the right to be free from all types of
discrimination, but it does not prohibit discrimination based on
specific factors. In practice, there was no overt discrimination in
housing, employment, education, or other social services based on race,
sex, ethnicity, nationality, or disabilities.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, particularly wife beating,
was an increasing problem. Police seldom intervened in domestic
disputes, unless the dispute involved a weapon or major assault. The
few cases that reached a prosecutor often were dismissed, or, if a case
reached court, the perpetrator usually was given only a light sentence.
Rape, spousal rape, and domestic abuse are criminal offenses. There was
growing societal concern about domestic violence and increased
recognition of the need to address it. During the year, one local NGO
held awareness campaigns and training programs for women and girls
regarding domestic abuse.
Prostitution is illegal but remained prevalent.
The law prohibits sexual harassment but was rarely enforced.
The society largely was matriarchal. There were no reports of
societal discrimination against unwed mothers, and more than 70 percent
of births were out of wedlock during the year; fathers were required by
law to support their children. There was no officially sanctioned
discrimination in employment, and women were well represented in
business. Inheritance laws did not discriminate against women.
Children.--The Division of Social Affairs in the Ministry of Social
Affairs and Manpower Development worked to protect children's rights,
and in practice, they were fairly effective, given the resource
constraints.
Children were required to attend school through the 10th grade.
Free public education was available through the secondary level until
age 18. Students had to buy school uniforms but did not have to pay for
books or tuition. However, parents were sometimes asked to contribute
some supplies. Parents contributed up to two thirds of the cost of post
secondary education and training based on their income for both in-
country and overseas schools. According to government figures, all
children between the ages of 6 and 16 attended school, and the
percentages of boys and girls enrolled was roughly equal. There was a
noncompulsory 5th year of secondary school. After completing secondary
school, students can go to the Polytechnic School for Vocational
Training, go abroad for university studies, or go to apprenticeship or
short term work programs. Children in the apprenticeship or short term
work programs received a training stipend, which was less than the
minimum wage.
The age of consent was 15 years. Girls were not allowed to attend
school when they were pregnant, and many did not return to school after
the birth of a child.
Girls and boys had equal access to medical care.
The Family Tribunal was responsible for collecting and disbursing
child support payments made by family members. In December 2003, the
Auditor General confirmed that there were missing child support funds
totaling $255,400 (SR 1,297,615). At year's end, the funds had not been
recovered, and it was unlikely that further action would be taken in
the case. Social security funds were transferred to cover the child
support obligations.
The law prohibits physical abuse of children. Sexual abuse of
children, usually in low-income families, was a problem; however, there
were only a few cases of sexual abuse, generally by stepfathers and
older brothers, reported during the year. Ministry of Health data and
press reports indicated that there were a significant number of rapes
committed against girls under the age of 15. Very few child abuse cases
were prosecuted in court. The strongest public advocate for young
victims was a semiautonomous agency, the National Council for Children.
There was criticism that police failed to investigate vigorously
charges of child abuse.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or
within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no legislation providing for
access to public buildings, transportation, or state services; however,
there was no reported discrimination against persons with disabilities
in housing, jobs, or education.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the right
to form and join unions of their choosing; however, police, military,
prison, and fire fighting personnel may not unionize. Between 15 and 20
percent of the workforce was unionized.
b. Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law provides
workers with the right to engage in collective bargaining; however,
free collective bargaining did not take place. The Government has the
right to review and approve all collective bargaining agreements in the
public and private sectors. There was little flexibility in setting
wages. In the public sector, which employed 57 percent of the labor
force, the Government set mandatory wage scales for employees. The
employer generally set wages in the private sector in individual
agreements with the employee, but, in the few larger businesses, the
Government set wage rates.
The law authorizes the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs to
establish and enforce employment terms, conditions, and benefits, and
in practice, workers frequently obtained recourse against their
employers through the Ministry.
Strikes are illegal without first exhausting arbitration procedures
and are rare.
There is 1 export processing zone, the Seychelles International
Trade Zone (SITZ), with 24 participating companies. The SITZ was bound
only by the Seychelles Trade Zone Act and was not obliged to adhere to
labor, property, tax, business, or immigration laws.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Constitution states that the minimum age for employment is 15,
``subject to exceptions for children who are employed part time in
light work prescribed by law without harm to their health, morals, or
education,'' and in practice, these requirements were followed. It is a
criminal offense punishable by a fine of $1,090 (SR 6,000) to employ a
child under the age of 15. The Ministry of Employment and Social
Services enforced child labor laws and investigated abuses of child
labor. The Ministry handled such complaints within its general budget
and staffing; no cases that required investigation were reported.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no official private
sector minimum wage. However, according to the Ministry of Employment,
the minimum wage is $412 (SR 2,225) per month for public sector
employees. The Government encourages but does not require the private
sector to grant the minimum public sector wage. Even with the free
public services that were available, primarily health care and
education, independent labor unions believed that a single salary at
the low end of the pay scale did not provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family. Private employers historically paid
higher wages than the Government to attract qualified workers; however,
economic problems during the year led to downward pressures on wages.
The legal maximum workweek varied from 45 to 55 hours, depending on
the economic sector; in practice, some workers may work up to 60 hours
per week. Government employees worked fewer hours. Each full time
worker was entitled to a 30 minute break per day and a minimum of 21
days of paid annual leave. Workers were permitted to work overtime up
to 60 additional hours per month. The Government generally enforced
these regulations.
Foreign workers did not enjoy the same legal protections. There
continued to be a growing trend to admit foreign workers, primarily
from China, India, the Philippines, Thailand, and Madagascar, to work
in the construction and commercial fishing sectors, because few
citizens chose to work in these sectors. These workers were sometimes
paid lower wages and forced to work longer hours than citizens.
The Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs has formal
responsibility for enforcing the Government's comprehensive
occupational health and safety regulations, and the Ministry of Health
enforced such standards. During the year, an International Labor
Organization (ILO) team found serious deficiencies in the management
and effectiveness of government monitoring and enforcement efforts;
however, there was no known government response to the ILO criticisms.
Occupational injuries were most common in the construction, marine, and
port industries. Safety and health inspectors rarely visited job sites.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no work-related deaths. Workers
do not have the right to remove themselves from dangerous or unhealthy
work situations without risking their continued employment, and if they
took such action, they were considered as having resigned.
__________
SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected
President and a unicameral legislature. In 2002, the devastating 11-
year civil conflict officially ended, and the Government, backed by a
large U.N. peacekeeping force, asserted control over the whole country.
Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was re-elected President in 2002, and his Sierra
Leone People's Party (SLPP) won a large majority in Parliament. Many
international monitors declared the elections free and fair; however,
there were numerous reports of election irregularities. In May, the
first local government elections in 32 years were held in 311 wards
nationwide. National and international monitors declared the elections
free and fair; however, subsequent claims of substantial electoral
irregularities emerged. The U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL)
handed over responsibility countrywide to the Sierra Leone Armed Forces
(RSLAF) and Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and continued to withdraw its
forces, which by year's end numbered approximately 4,000. In accordance
with the extension of its mandate from the U.N. Security Council,
UNAMSIL rescheduled its complete withdrawal to June 2005. The Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) completed public hearings to air the
grievances of victims and the confessions of perpetrators from the
civil war and released its final report on October 5. During the year,
the Special Court of Sierra Leone (SCSL) war crimes tribunal began
trials of three Civil Defense Force (CDF) indictees and three
Revolutionary United Front (RUF) indictees, while five others awaited
trial. The judiciary generally demonstrated independence, but at times,
it was subject to corruption.
Among the Government's security forces, the SLP officially has
primary responsibility for internal order; however, on occasion, the
RSLAF and UNAMSIL shared responsibility with police in security
matters. The RSLAF is responsible for external security under the
Ministry of Defense. Civilian authorities maintained control of
security forces throughout the year. Some members of the security
forces committed human rights abuses.
The country had a market-based economy and remained extremely poor;
per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was approximately $150, and the
population was approximately 6 million. Approximately two-thirds of the
working population engaged in subsistence agriculture. Limited
agricultural production continued, and industrial mineral companies
began rehabilitating mining sites to resume extraction; illegal diamond
mining continued, but legal exports increased from $75 million in 2003
to $127 million by year's end. Approximately 60 percent of the
Government's budget came from foreign assistance. The infrastructure
was devastated by years of fighting and decades of corruption and
mismanagement.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were serious problems in several areas. One
man died in police custody during the year. Security forces raped women
and children; members of UNAMSIL were accused of murdering a
prostitute. Although conditions in some prisons improved, many
detention centers were overcrowded and unsanitary, which resulted in
numerous deaths during the year. Members of the SLP continued to arrest
and detain persons arbitrarily. There were reports of extortion by
police. Prolonged detention, excessive bail, and insufficient legal
representation remained problems. The Government at times limited
freedom of speech and the press during the year. Criminal libel laws
received extensive press attention during the year with the
imprisonment of a journalist on charges of seditious libel. Instability
in border areas, as well as occasional incursions into the country by
Liberian combatants, who sometimes raided villages for food, continued
during the year. Violence, discrimination against women, and
prostitution remained problems. Female genital mutilation (FGM)
remained widespread. Abuse of children was a problem; however, numerous
children who fought as child soldiers continued to be released and
participated in reintegration programs during the year. There were
reports of trafficking in persons, and new anti-trafficking legislation
was passed by the Parliament. Residents of non-African descent faced
institutionalized political restrictions. Forced labor continued to be
a problem in rural areas. Child labor remained a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, on March 13, a man died at the Central Police Station while in
police custody. Although excessive force was suspected, police sources
claimed that the man was already injured when he was first brought into
custody for fighting. Police released him to a friend after a few
hours, but the man later was returned to the police station, where he
died. Four police were investigated for negligence and reprimanded.
In November 2003, guards severely beat three boys, one to death,
following an escape attempt at a juvenile detention center. During the
year, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs
launched an investigation, and new guards trained in coping tactics
replaced the original guards. The SLP's Criminal Investigation Division
distributed 300 flyers describing the guard accused of murder and
requesting information on his whereabouts; however, he remained at
large at year's end.
The case of three RSLAF soldiers accused of beating a Fullah
businessman to death in June 2003 was still at trial at year's end.
In April, UNAMSIL soldiers were accused of murdering a prostitute,
who was found dead after last being seen with the men. An investigation
was ongoing at year's end.
During the year, a local human rights organization began
preliminary investigations into allegations of the existence of a mass
grave in Kamakwie. UNAMSIL carried out preliminary investigations in
2003 of mass graves found in both Bo and Pujehun Districts. The sites
reportedly included graves in Sahn and Bendu Mahlen, which together may
hold more than 300 bodies.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
Former RUF rebels continued to hold some persons, including women
and children, as forced or common law spouses or laborers. Some women
reportedly remained with their captors due to intimidation by their
captors and a lack of viable options (see Section 5). The Ministry of
Social Welfare, Children, and Gender maintained a database, with the
help of UNICEF, which attempted to track children separated from their
families during the war. International NGOs continued to work to secure
the release of women and children from their captors, often with
government assistance.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were reports that security forces beat and raped persons, and that
police stole, extorted, and accepted bribes.
RSLAF forces and the SLP sometimes acted on individual informal
complaints outside of the established chain of command and scope of
duty (see Section 1.a.). In February, RSLAF soldiers allegedly beat a
farmer in the Pujehun district after the local chief claimed that the
victim owed him palm oil.
There were reports that security forces beat journalists during the
year (see Section 2.a.). There were also reports that security forces
harassed civil society groups that worked on mining issues (see Section
2.b.).
There were reports that security forces raped women and children
during the year. For example, at year's end, a policeman was in custody
at Pademba Road Prison awaiting trial for raping a 12-year-old girl in
Freetown. In August, a police officer in Kenema allegedly impregnated a
prisoner and then fled to Freetown. Although the officer claimed that
their sexual relationship was consensual, his position of authority
over the 18-year-old woman brought into doubt her ability to consent
freely to sexual relations.
A prison officer in Moyamba allegedly raped a female detainee in
2003. The officer had not been charged by year's end.
After a police investigation, the 2003 case against a police
officer accused of raping an elderly woman in Lunsar was dropped for
lack of evidence.
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that UNAMSIL staff
or soldiers raped persons. A UNAMSIL investigation into an alleged rape
of a minor girl in Makeni in May 2003 was being conducted at year's
end. The Personnel Conduct Committee continued to operate, and the
UNAMSIL Human Rights Section held training sessions on preventing
sexual abuse during the year for newly arrived peacekeepers.
In November, a third country national SCSL staff member was
released on bail after being charged for an August rape of a young
girl. Although the victim recanted her testimony, the trial was still
ongoing at year's end. The staff member complained about the lack of
access to medical treatment, legal and diplomatic representation, and
the sanitary conditions at Pademba Road Prison.
In December, the magistrate court in Kenema released and then
ordered the re-arrest of a soldier who had been charged during the year
with raping an 8-year-old girl in Kailahun. The soldier presented
evidence that he was impotent; however, subsequent press reports
indicated that he had a pregnant wife and two children, and the
magistrate concluded that he had made his original decision on false
evidence. At year's end, the SLP had not executed the re-arrest order.
There were no reports of action taken in reported cases of rape
allegedly committed by RSLAF soldiers in previous years.
On multiple occasions, police did not intervene while crowds beat
alleged thieves.
During the year, Guinean forces illegally occupied the Yenga area
in the northern part of the country, and the Government accused them of
trespassing and harassing the indigenous population. In September, the
President of Guinea signed an agreement acknowledging Sierra Leone's
dominion over the land. The presidents of each country assured one
another that there would no longer be a dispute between the countries
over Yenga; however, Guinean forces still occupied the area at year's
end.
Prison conditions improved in some locations during the year;
however, conditions in most facilities were poor. International human
rights observers who visited maximum-security Pademba Road Prison
reported that prisoners had adequate access to food, medical care,
recreation, and vocational skills training. However, in May, an inmate
in the men's unit at Pademba Road Prison presented a formal complaint
to the Freetown Magistrate regarding inadequate medical treatment. In
September, newspapers reported that 15 Pademba Road prisoners began a
hunger strike to protest the poor conditions at the prison, including
inadequate food and unsanitary living quarters. After visits to the
Western Area, Kono, Bombali, Kambia, Port Loko, and Kenema District,
human rights observers reported that conditions frequently fell below
minimum international standards because of overcrowding, unhygienic
conditions, and insufficient medical attention. Such conditions
resulted in numerous deaths during the year.
Many problems resulted from the poor state of the judiciary; for
instance, case backlogs in the courts led to severe overcrowding. There
were approximately 1,400 detainees in facilities built for about half
that number. For example, Pademba Road Prison, which was designed to
house 325 prisoners, held approximately 840 prisoners. In November, a
Commonwealth judge inspected Pademba Road Prison and described the
conditions as ``deplorable.'' After meeting with prisoners, some of
whom had been held for as many as 8 years, the judge said the delay in
justice was a ``time bomb.'' Shortly after the judge's visit, 45
prisoners escaped while being transported from the court to the prison.
There are 12 district prisons in the country, 8 of which were
functioning. A prison renovation program sponsored by the U.N.
Development Program was in progress at all detention facilities to
mitigate overcrowding.
Conditions in holding cells in police stations were extremely poor,
especially in small stations outside of Freetown. During the year,
international monitors visited the SCSL detention facilities and
reported that they met acceptable standards.
Government policy precluded family visits to prisoners at Pademba
Road Prison except in exceptional circumstances and on a case-by-case
basis; however, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC)
provided a messaging service that allowed prisoners to communicate with
their families.
International observers who visited Liberian combatants throughout
the year at Mape and Mafanta Internment Camps reported that conditions
were adequate except that a number of juveniles were held with adults;
however, in February, a Liberian detainee at Mape Internment Camp
reportedly died as a result of unsatisfactory health services.
Approximately 420 former Liberian combatants were detained at the 2
camps at year's end.
According to a U.N. Human Rights report, prisons in Koidu, Bo,
Kenema, and Kabala were using detainees for work outside of the prison
without appropriate compensation.
Male and female prisoners were held separately. Adults and
juveniles were sometimes incarcerated together. Juvenile detainees did
not have adequate access to rehabilitative services, such as education
or vocational training. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted
prisoners.
International monitors, including UNAMSIL and the ICRC, had
unrestricted access to visit Pademba Road Prison and other detention
facilities, including the SCSL detention facilities. Prison Watch, a
local human rights group, reported on detention facilities throughout
the country. Unlike last year, there were no reports that human rights
groups were restricted from visiting detention facilities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, government forces occasionally
arrested and detained persons arbitrarily.
The SLP, which has primary responsibility for maintaining internal
order, received insufficient resources, lacked investigative or
forensic capabilities, and was widely viewed as corrupt and
incompetent. During the civil war, numerous officers were killed or
fled their posts, which resulted in a reduction of the country's police
force from approximately 9,500 officers to 7,000. Budget constraints
have impeded recruitment efforts, as have the lack of basic educational
skills of applicants, many of whom had no schooling during the civil
war. During the year, the Inspector General of Police continued efforts
to increase SLP personnel levels, to bring more accountability to top
SLP officials through systematic rotations, and to assume primary
security responsibility from UNAMSIL. There were approximately 7,900
police officers by year's end.
In February, President Kabbah and Vice-President Berewa visited a
police station in Kono and urged police officers to refrain from
committing human rights violations.
During the year, there were frequent reports that police officers
took bribes at checkpoints, falsely charged motorists with violations,
and impounded vehicles to extort money. However, there were other
anecdotal reports that police behavior in Freetown improved
dramatically during the year; reportedly, police no longer routinely
harassed and demanded payment from businessmen in the Lebanese
community, and there were no makeshift roadblocks in Freetown to extort
money.
The law requires warrants for searches and arrests in most cases;
however, arrest without warrant was common. There were judicial
protections against false charges; however, prisoners often were
detained for prolonged periods on false charges. Detainees have the
right of access to family or counsel; however, access to counsel was
often delayed, and family visits were restricted at maximum-security
Pademba Road Prison (see Section 1.c.). There are provisions for bail,
and there was a functioning bail system; however, international
observers described frequent cases of excessive bail. Many criminal
suspects were held for months before their cases were examined or
formal charges were filed.
There were numerous instances of arrest without charges for purely
civil causes; arrests for breach of contract or debt cases were the
most common. For example, in March, police reportedly detained a woman
in Koidu because of a private business debt.
During the year, police arrested demonstrators (see Section 2.b.).
At year's end, approximately 89 RUF/AFRC/West Side Boys who had
experienced prolonged pretrial detention were charged. During the year,
a visiting Commonwealth judge filed a writ of habeus corpus, leading to
the release of 12 former soldiers who had reportedly rebelled against
the Government and who had been held since 1996. In addition, 16 West
Side Boys were released on August 21. Trials for many of those charged
began on October 22; however, at year's end, no testimony had been
given due to repeated court cancellations.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The judiciary at times was subject to
corruption.
The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, appeals courts,
the High Court, whose justices are chosen by the President, and
magistrate courts. Local chieftaincy courts administer customary law
with lay judges; appeals from these lower courts are heard by the
superior courts.
Judicial presence outside the capital district improved during the
year. By year's end, there were magistrate courts functioning in all 12
judicial districts, which at times were presided over by justices of
the peace. Also, magistrates were permanently stationed at five
provisional headquarters in Bo, Moyamba, Makeni, Port Loko, and Kenema.
The magistrates visited the remaining seven judicial districts at least
once per month.
The Constitution and the law provide for a speedy trial; however,
in practice, the lack of judicial officers and facilities often
produced long delays in the judicial process. Trials were usually fair;
however, there was evidence that corruption influenced some cases. A
majority of cases on the magistrate level were prosecuted by police
officers, many of whom had little or no formal legal training.
Traditional justice systems continued to supplement extensively the
central government judiciary in cases involving family law,
inheritance, and land tenure, especially in rural areas. There were
reports that local chieftains at times exceeded their mandates and
executed harsh punishments. For example, in August, there were reports
of Councils of Chiefs administering flogging as punishment.
In April, associates of the port director severely beat a port
authority official investigating corruption. At the trial, the port
director allegedly bribed all 12 jurors, and the suspect who had been
arrested for the beating was subsequently acquitted and released. The
jurors later were arrested and were in police custody at year's end.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution and law prohibit such practices, and
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
No action was taken against the approximately 100 persons who
destroyed dozens of homes in Kono District in 2002, allegedly to rid
the area of non-Kono persons.
The RSLAF performed frequent border patrols to try to deter attacks
by Liberian combatants who forced some villagers to be porters, and
UNAMSIL maintained a battalion in Kenema that supported border patrols;
however, the porous border with Liberia made such cross-border raids
difficult to stop completely. Raids continued into the early part of
the year.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government at times
limited these rights in practice.
More than 50 newspapers were published in Freetown during the year,
covering a wide spectrum of interests and editorial opinion. Most of
the newspapers were independent, and several were associated with
opposition political parties. Reporting was often politicized and
inaccurate, in large part because of poor training of journalists,
insufficient resources, and a lack of commitment to objectivity.
Corruption among journalists was widespread. The number of newspapers
fluctuated weekly. Newspapers openly and routinely criticized the
Government and its officials, as well as opposition parties and former
rebel forces.
Due to low levels of literacy and the relatively high cost of
newspapers and television, radio remained the most important medium of
public information. Several government and private radio and television
stations broadcast, featuring domestic news coverage and political
commentary.
The Independent Media Commission regulated independent media
outlets. Although it was an independent body, some media observers
alleged that the Government influenced the Commission. The annual
license fee for single channel radio stations previously was $2,000 (4
million Leones when established in 2002), but, because radio
journalists and media monitors claimed that this fee was prohibitively
expensive and would limit severely the number of independent radio
stations, the fee schedule was revised downward during the year. Fees
ranged from $212 (521,000 Leones) for community radio stations
operating at 100 watts to $2,000 (approximately 4.9 million Leones) for
rebroadcasts of programming like Voice of America and British
Broadcasting Corporation. By year's end, all radio stations had paid
the revised fees. Newspapers were charged an annual $42 fee
(approximately 103,000 Leones). By year's end, 21 of 36 newspapers had
paid the fee while the others risked being banned.
In September, the SLP assaulted two journalists outside the CID.
Allegedly, the journalists had gone to CID headquarters seeking
information. No action was taken against the officers responsible.
In September, members of the ruling party, the SLPP, reportedly
beat a journalist because of a story he was investigating. No further
action was taken in this case.
The Public Order Act of 1965 criminalizes both defamatory and
seditious libel; however, the law was rarely applied and only in cases
involving top officials. Punishment for first-time offenders can be up
to 3 years' imprisonment, and subsequent seditious libel offenses can
bring terms of up to 7 years.
On October 5, Paul Kamara, editor of the For Di People newspaper,
was found guilty of seditious libel against President Kabbah. Kamara
received two concurrent 2-year sentences, and his newspaper was banned
from publishing for 6 months. The sentences drew international
attention, and at year's end, the Sierra Leonean Journalists'
Association and other media advocates continued working to secure his
pardon. Also at year's end, For Di People had resumed publishing.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice.
Several large demonstrations took place during the year, including
opposition party political rallies. Although some demonstrations were
marred by violence, most were relatively peaceful. There were no
reported incidents of violent demonstration during the year in
Freetown; peaceful social and cultural assemblies and parades were
frequent.
In February, the Government refused an assembly permit to the
Methodist Women's Organization, a local civil society group. The
Government claimed the group's rally could incite problems. The
Methodist Women appealed the Government's response, but they were
unsuccessful.
In February, Kono authorities reportedly harassed members of the
Campaign for Just Mining, a local civil society group, after it hosted
a public discussion regarding mining practices in the district. Also in
Kono, police harassed and intimidated area agencies that met to discuss
mining practices.
In March, the Criminal Investigative Division (CID) arrested five
men wearing shirts that called for the release of CDF leader Samuel
Hinga Norman. The men were reportedly protesting peacefully outside of
the SCSL, where Norman was being held. Reportedly, the men were
arrested for the controversial message on their clothing. Other
protesters standing outside of the SCSL calling for the extradition of
former Liberian President Charles Taylor were not arrested.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. There were
numerous civic, philanthropic, and social organizations, and the
registration system was routine and nonpolitical. Throughout the year,
the Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP), the political party formed
from the RUF, continued to exist, although it had serious problems with
membership and organization.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, there were frequent reports that police officers who ran
security roadblocks outside of the capital often extorted money from
motorists.
The Constitution does not provide for forced exile, and the
Government did not use it.
The Liberian border remained officially closed, at times, due to
the civil conflict in Liberia; however, authorities permitted refugees,
returnees, and other persons to move between the two countries
regularly. There were some unconfirmed reports of bribery or coercion
at border crossing points. At year's end, the border was open to
official travel.
NGOs estimated that approximately 10,000 to 20,000 unregistered
internally displaced persons (IDPs) remained, mostly in urban areas.
Two camps for war-wounded persons remained open, one in Grafton and
another for amputees in Freetown.
Approximately 26,000 refugees were repatriated during the year,
bringing the total of those repatriated to 245,732 since 2000. An
estimated 1,700 persons remained in refugee camps in Guinea, and 2,700
persons remained in Liberia; smaller numbers remained in Cote d'Ivoire,
the Gambia, Ghana, and other countries; they were expected to integrate
locally in those countries. Approximately 5,900 refugees lived in
camps, while the rest were urban non-camp refugees.
The large influx of IDPs and refugees and the lack of resources
caused tension with local residents; however, there were no reported
incidents of violence. There were numerous reports that refugees and
IDPs returned to find their homes occupied.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol; however, in practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status and asylum and cooperated with the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other organizations in assisting
refugees.
The Government also provided temporary protection to certain
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention
Related to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. During the
year, the Government continued to provide temporary protection to
Liberians who had fled the conflict in their home country. At year's
end, there were approximately 47,000 Liberian refugees living in the
country by year's end, according to the UNHCR. Some camps, at times,
were unable to provide adequate food or shelter for the influx of
refugees, which sometimes caused instability in border areas. However,
UNHCR reported that food provisions were made according to a U.N.
standard of 2,100 calories per day per person and that every family was
given private quarters. UNHCR also reported that they were
rehabilitating the shelters and that vulnerable persons received
priority consideration.
UNHCR and international aid workers reported that refugees were
sexually exploited in camps by locally employed staff of international
NGOs in exchange for extra food and other aid materials. Steps were
taken to combat this problem by conducting sensitization campaigns and
setting up mechanisms for reporting, investigating, and punishing those
responsible; however, reporting and handling of these cases remained
inconsistent.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage; however, the May 2002 elections were marred by
irregularities, although many observers judged them to be free and
fair.
Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in May 2002; 11
political parties were represented in the elections. President Kabbah
of the SLPP was re-elected with 70 percent of the popular vote. The
RUFP fielded presidential and parliamentary candidates, but it won only
1.7 percent of the vote. In Parliament, the SLPP won 83 of the total
112 seats; only 2 other parties won seats. Only the SLPP was
represented in the Cabinet after two cabinet members, who were earlier
considered to be independent, joined the SLPP following the elections.
Many international monitors declared the elections free and fair;
however, there were credible reports of significant abuse of
incumbency, uneven voter registration, manipulation of vote counting,
and partisan action by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). There
also were reports of voter coercion by party bosses and traditional
leaders.
In May, the first local elections in 32 years were held.
International and domestic monitors judged them free and fair at the
time; however, shortly after the election, there was clear evidence of
electoral fraud by the SLPP in Koya III District. Well after the
completion of the elections, evidence of widespread electoral fraud by
both the SLPP and the All People's Congress also emerged.
On September 3, NEC Chairman Eugene Davies resigned, citing
political interference by the Government in the functioning of the NEC,
tampering with the local election results by the SLPP, and inadequate
terms and conditions of work. The NEC was created in 2002 and is
independent from the Government.
Only citizens can vote, and the Citizenship Act restricts the
acquisition of citizenship at birth to persons of ``patrilineal Negro-
African descent.'' Since legal requirements for naturalization
effectively denied citizenship to many long-term residents, a large
number of persons of Lebanese ancestry, who were born and resided in
the country, could not vote (see Section 5). While a small percentage
of the Lebanese population had been naturalized and did vote, others
insisted that naturalization was second-class citizenship and rejected
it.
Corruption in the executive and legislative branches was very
common, according to some senior government officials, and the public
strongly resented that government officials were widely assumed to
divert public funds for private use. The President publicly supported
the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), established in 2001. At year's
end, the ACC had 135 corruption cases under investigation, had won 13
corruption cases, and had secured indictments against 6 high-level
officials.
There were 16 women in the 112-seat Parliament, 3 women in the
Cabinet, and 1 on the Supreme Court. A significant number of women were
employed as civil servants.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated with few government restrictions, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The National Forum for Human Rights (NFHR) served as an umbrella
organization for human rights groups in the country. There were 41
human rights NGOs registered with the NFHR by year's end, and all
reportedly were active. The majority of domestic human rights NGOs
focused on human rights education, while only a few NGOs actively
monitored and reported human rights abuses. The Campaign for Good
Governance oversaw widespread monitoring activities.
Human rights monitors traveled freely throughout the country.
Intensive reporting, data collection, and investigations continued in
formerly rebel-held areas. Representatives of various international
NGOs, foreign diplomats, the ICRC, and U.N. human rights officers were
able to monitor trials and to visit prisons and custodial facilities
during the year.
UNAMSIL had eight provincial human rights offices in addition to
the UNAMSIL Human Rights Section in Freetown, which conducted training,
monitoring, reporting, and advocacy throughout the year. During 2003,
the UNAMSIL Human Rights Section led a campaign to establish a National
Human Rights Commission as mandated by the 1999 Lome Peace Accord. At
year's end, legislation regarding the Commission's mandate had been
passed, but the commission members had not been appointed.
The SCSL, the U.N.-Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal established in
2002 to try those who ``bear the greatest responsibility for the
commission of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and serious
violations of international humanitarian law,'' indicted 13 persons in
2003: Former RUF leader Foday Sankoh; Sam ``Maskita'' Bockarie,
Sankoh's deputy; RUF commander Morris Kallon; AFRC commander Akex Tamba
Brima ; RUF and AFRC/RUF commander Issa Sesay; CDF leader Sam Hinga
Norman; AFRC commander Brima Kamara (AKA Bazzy); AFRC leader Santigie
Kanu (AKA Five-Five); AFRC leader Johnny Paul Koroma (AKA JPK); RUF
commander Augustine Gbao; Kamajor leader Allieu Kondewa; Kamajor leader
Moinina Fofana; and former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Four of
the 13 were not in custody at year's end: Sankoh, who died in July 2003
from a pulmonary embolism while in custody; Bockarie, who was killed in
May 2003 in Liberia; Taylor, who was exiled to Nigeria in 2003; and
Koroma, who escaped from police custody in January 2003 and remained at
large. All of those indicted were charged with crimes against humanity,
violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and of
Additional Protocol II, and other serious violations of international
humanitarian law. Specific charges included murder, rape,
extermination, acts of terror, sexual slavery, conscription of children
into an armed force, attacks on U.N. peacekeepers, and looting and
burning of homes from 1997 to 1999.
Trials for CDF leaders Norman, Fofana, and Kondewa began in June,
and trials for RUF leaders Sesay, Kallon, and Gbao began in July. They
were ongoing at year's end.
On October 5, the TRC, established in 2002 to provide a forum for
publicly airing the grievances of victims and the confessions of
perpetrators from the civil war, released its final report. The report
contained a separate child-friendly version, since children played such
a large role as both victims and perpetrators of violence during the
war. The report concluded that years of bad governance, endemic
corruption, and denial of basic human rights created the conditions
that made the conflict inevitable. The Commission offered a number of
recommendations on legal, political, and administrative reforms, but,
by year's end, the Government had taken no concrete action. By the time
the TRC's hearings were concluded in July, approximately 10,000
citizens had participated in the process.
The U.N. and numerous NGOs, both domestic and international,
continued to educate and sensitize the population about the TRC and the
SCSL, and the Government supported these efforts.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination against women and
provides for protection against discrimination on the basis of race and
ethnicity; however, the Government did not enforce these provisions
effectively.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating,
was common. The police were unlikely to intervene in domestic disputes
except in cases involving severe injury or death. In rural areas,
polygyny was common. Women suspected of marital infidelity often were
subjected to physical abuse; frequently, women were beaten until they
divulged the names of their partners. Because husbands could claim
monetary indemnities from their wives' partners, beatings often
continued until the woman named several men even if there were no such
relationships. There also were reports that women suspected of
infidelity were required to undergo animistic rituals to prove their
innocence.
Rape was recognized as a societal problem and was punishable by up
to 14 years' imprisonment. There were reports that some women and girls
abducted during the war remained with their captors due to intimidation
and a lack of options. There also were reports of the sexual abuse of
refugees in refugee camps (see Section 2.d.). Cases of rape were
underreported, and indictments were rare, especially in rural areas.
Medical or psychological services for rape victims were very limited.
Rape victims were required to obtain a medical report to file charges;
however, government doctors charged $20 (approximately 50,000 Leones)
for such an exam, which was prohibitively expensive for most victims.
Human rights monitors urged the Government to eliminate or lower the
cost of medical reports. The International Rescue Committee (IRC)
expanded its operations since 2003; by year's end, it ran centers in
Freetown, Kenema, and Kono to perform medical examinations and provide
counseling for victims of sexual assault. The IRC also conducted
workshops in Kono, Freetown, Kailahun, Kenema, and Bo.
FGM was practiced widely at all levels of society, although with
varying frequency. The less severe form of excision was practiced.
UNICEF and other groups estimated that 80 to 90 percent of women and
girls had undergone the practice; however, some local groups believed
that this figure was overstated. FGM was practiced on girls as young as
5 years old. No law prohibits FGM. Although a number of NGOs worked to
eradicate FGM and to inform the public about its harmful health
effects, active resistance by women's secret societies, in which FGM
commonly occurred as part of initiation rites, countered efforts to
stop the practice.
In August, a secondary student died from complications derived from
a female circumcision. Police completed an investigation but, by year's
end, no indictments had been filed.
During the year, the Director of Public Prosecutions filed charges
against the 10 women arrested in 2002 in connection with the death of a
14-year-old girl following an FGM rite. The trial continued at year's
end.
Prostitution was widespread and not prohibited by law; however,
prostitutes sometimes were arrested and charged with loitering or
vagrancy. Many women and girls, particularly those displaced from their
homes and with few resources, resorted to prostitution as a means to
support themselves and their children.
The Constitution provides for equal rights for women; however, in
practice, women faced both legal and societal discrimination. In
particular, their rights and status under traditional law varied
significantly depending upon the ethnic group to which they belonged.
All women born in the Western Area, which is governed by General Law,
had a statutory right to own property in their name. Some women born in
the provinces, which are governed by customary laws that vary from
chiefdom to chiefdom, did not. In the Temne tribe, women could not
become paramount chiefs; however, in the Mende tribe, there were
several female paramount chiefs. Women did not have equal access to
education, economic opportunities, health facilities, or social
freedoms. In rural areas, women performed much of the subsistence
farming and had little opportunity for formal education.
In September, the Deputy Minister of Education formally recognized
a study conducted by the British Council, which revealed that girls
were being denied an education more often than boys and that
traditional beliefs were keeping women confined to the household.
Women were active in civic and philanthropic organizations.
Domestic NGOs, such as 50/50 and Women's Forum, raised awareness of
gender equality and women's issues, and they encouraged women to enter
politics as candidates for Parliament.
Children.--The Government was committed to improving children's
education and welfare; however, it lacked the means to provide them
with basic education and health services. The Ministry of Social
Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs had primary responsibility for
children's issues.
The law requires school attendance through primary school; however,
only 42 percent of school-aged children were enrolled in school,
according to UNICEF. Schools, clinics, and hospitals throughout the
country were looted and destroyed during the 11-year insurgency, but,
by year's end, the majority had been rebuilt. A large number of
children received little or no formal education. Formal and informal
fees largely financed schools, but many families could not afford to
pay the fees. The average educational level for girls was markedly
below that of boys, and only 6 percent of women were literate. At the
university level, male students predominated.
FGM was performed commonly on girls (see Section 5, Women).
Child prostitution was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). To
address the issue of child prostitution in the capital, the Freetown
City Council introduced a regulation that would bar minors from
nightclubs, a common venue for commercial sex transactions.
Trafficking in Persons.--During the year, Parliament passed
legislation that prohibited trafficking in persons; however, there were
reports that persons were trafficked from and within the country.
The country was one of origin, transit, and destination for
international trafficked persons. The majority of victims were women
and children. There was no quantitative study on trafficking, and no
specific figures existed on the number of persons trafficked. Children
were trafficked from the provinces to work in the capital as laborers
and commercial sex workers and to diamond areas for labor and sex work.
Persons were trafficked from neighboring countries for domestic and
street labor and for commercial sex work. Persons were trafficked out
of the country to destinations in West Africa, including Nigeria, Cote
d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau for labor and sex work. Persons
were also trafficked to Lebanon, Europe, and North America. The country
served as a transit point for persons from West Africa and possibly the
Middle East.
In an effort to combat the trafficking of persons into the sex
trade, government authorities became more vigilant in their efforts to
close brothels, which were perceived as perpetuating trafficking. The
Government also began to publicize trafficking issues through
government-sponsored radio programs and official statements in the
press.
The SLP takes the lead on trafficking issues. The Government worked
closely with NGOs on trafficking-related issues to develop training
programs but was hampered by a lack of resources and an incomplete
understanding of the problem. The Government supported prevention
programs, including children's education and women's business
initiatives.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no government policy or
program directed particularly at persons with disabilities. No law
mandates accessibility to buildings or provides assistance to persons
with disabilities. Public facility access and discrimination against
persons with disabilities were not considered public policy priorities.
There was no outright discrimination against persons with disabilities
in housing or education; however, given the high rate of general
unemployment, work opportunities for persons with disabilities were
few. A few private agencies and organizations provided job training for
persons with disabilities.
Despite the prevalence of those disabled by polio, there was little
government assistance to this group. For example, in September, the SLP
evicted without notice residents at a facility for polio victims.
Some of the numerous individuals maimed in the fighting, or who had
their limbs amputated by rebel forces, received special assistance from
various local and international humanitarian organizations. Such
programs involved reconstructive surgery, prostheses, and vocational
training to help victims acquire new work skills; however, amputees
complained that they did not receive sufficient assistance compared to
ex-combatants, who received assistance through the demobilization
process.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The ethnically diverse
population consisted of at least 13 ethnic groups that all spoke
distinct primary languages and were concentrated outside urban areas;
however, all ethnic groups besides the Krio used Krio as a second
language. Little ethnic segregation was apparent in urban areas, and
interethnic marriage was common. The two largest ethnic groups were the
Temne in the North and the Mende in the South. Each of these groups was
estimated to make up approximately 30 percent of the population. There
were reports of interethnic tension.
Ethnic loyalty remained an important factor in the Government, the
armed forces, and business. Complaints of ethnic discrimination in
government appointments, contracts, military commissions, and
promotions were common.
Residents of non-African descent faced institutionalized political
restrictions (see Section 3). Legal requirements for naturalization,
such as continuous residence in the country for 15 years, or the past
12 months and 15 of the previous 20 years, effectively denied
citizenship to many locally born residents, notably members of the
Lebanese community.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--On October 5, a
prominent gay activist was killed in her office. Media reports
initially indicated that she was raped repeatedly, stabbed, and her
neck broken. International human rights groups identified the killing
as a possible hate crime. Police investigators were investigating the
case at year's end; however, initial investigation suggested that the
victim died of asphyxia and that there was no evidence of rape or
stabbing. The primary suspect in the case was a recently dismissed
domestic employee, who was also being investigated for theft. At year's
end, the former employee's case was before the court.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of association, and, in practice, workers had the right to join
independent trade unions of their choice. Police and members of the
armed services were prohibited from joining unions. Approximately 30 to
60 percent of the workers in the formal sector in urban areas,
including government workers, were unionized, but attempts to organize
agricultural workers and mineworkers have met with little success. All
labor unions generally joined the Sierra Leone Labor Congress (SLLC),
but membership was voluntary. There were no reliable statistics on
union membership.
The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination against workers
or employer interference in the establishment of unions; however, there
were no reports of such cases during the year. An employee fired for
union activities could file a complaint with a labor tribunal and seek
reinstatement. Complaints of discrimination against trade unions were
made to a tribunal.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Regulation
of Wages and Industrial Relations Act provides the legal framework for
collective bargaining, and the Government protected this right in
practice. Collective bargaining must take place in trade group
negotiating councils, each of which had an equal number of employer and
worker representatives. Most enterprises were covered by collective
bargaining agreements on wages and working conditions. The SLLC
provided assistance to unions in preparations for negotiations; in the
case of a deadlock, the Government could intervene. Although most cases
involving industrial issues continued to go through the normal court
system, the Industrial Court for Settlement of Industrial Disputes
heard approximately 10 cases during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
Workers had the right to strike, although the Government could
require 21 days' notice; workers exercised this right in practice.
No law prohibits retaliation against strikers, even for a lawful
strike; however, the Government did not take adverse action against the
employees and paid some of them back wages.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however,
forced labor remained a problem (see Section 6.d.). Under the
Chiefdom's Council Act, individual chiefs may impose forced labor as
punishment, and have done so in the past. They also may require members
of their villages to contribute to the improvement of common areas, a
practice that occurred only in rural areas. There is no penalty for
noncompliance. There were reports of bonded labor in rural areas, and
debt bondage was common among the thousands of alluvial diamond diggers
and miners.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that Liberian
forces used persons for forced labor.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
During the year, the Government took important steps to create legal
protections against the worst forms of child labor; however, child
labor was a problem. The Government drafted omnibus domestic
legislation to combat child labor modeled on the U.N.'s International
Bill of Rights for Children; however, the draft was not put before
Parliament at year's end. The Ministry of Mineral Resources enforced
regulatory prohibitions against the worst forms of child labor. The
ministry also was charged with protecting children in the country's
vulnerable diamond mining areas; however, enforcement was not always
effective.
Moreover, UNICEF worked closely with the Government to execute
successfully its own post-war reintegration plan in which 98 percent of
registered displaced children, that is, child soldiers, were returned
to their homes.
Nevertheless, child labor remained a problem due to strong
traditions.
Children routinely assisted in family businesses and worked as
petty vendors. Adults employed a large number of street children to
sell, steal, and beg. In rural areas, children worked seasonally on
family subsistence farms. Hundreds of children, including some who were
10 years old and younger, mined in alluvial diamond fields, working for
relatives. Because the adult unemployment rate remained high, few
children were involved in the industrial sector or the formal economy.
Foreign employers hired children to work as domestic laborers
overseas at extremely low wages and in poor conditions. The Department
of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation was responsible for
reviewing overseas work applications to see that no one under the age
of 14 was employed for this purpose; however, the reviews were
ineffective.
The Constitution prohibits forced and bonded labor by children;
however, such practices continued to exist. Unlike last year, there
were no reports of bonded labor by children in rural areas or that
former RUF commanders forced children to mine diamonds. There were
reports that children whose parents sent them to friends or relatives
for education in urban areas were forced to work on the street. There
also were reports that adults asked orphanages for children to be used
as household help.
During the year, the Government made some progress in the areas of
prevention and law enforcement related to impermissible child labor.
Relevant government agencies facilitated the efforts of World Vision,
an NGO that conducts reintegration programs for child laborers. In a
national effort, World Vision registered 389 child prostitutes in
Freetown and between 1,400 to 2,000 child miners in Kono, all of whom
then had access to the NGO's services.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In December, the Government
raised the minimum wage from approximately $9 (21,000 Leones) per month
to approximately $16 (40,000 Leones) per month; this was the first
adjustment in the minimum wage since 1997. The minimum wage did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Most
workers supported an extended family, often including relatives who
were displaced by the insurgency in the countryside. It was common to
pool incomes and to supplement wages with subsistence farming and child
labor (see Section 6.d.).
Although not stipulated by law, the standard workweek was 40 hours
(60 hours for security personnel). Employers negotiated work hours with
employees at the time of hire, and overtime was to be paid if an
employee's workweek exceeded that figure.
Although the Government set health and safety standards, it lacked
the funding to enforce them properly. Trade unions provided the only
protection for workers who filed complaints about working conditions.
Initially, a union could make a formal complaint about a hazardous
working condition; if this complaint was rejected, the union could
issue a 21-day strike notice. If workers were to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without making a formal complaint, they
risked being fired.
The law protects both foreign and domestic workers; however, there
were fewer protections for illegal foreign workers.
__________
SOMALIA \1\
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\1\ The United States does not have diplomatic representation in
Somalia. This report draws in part on non-U.S. Government sources.
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Somalia has been without a central government since its last
president, dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, fled the country in 1991. In
2000, the Djibouti Conference, made up of local and regional leaders,
established a Transitional National Government (TNG) and selected a
245-member Transitional National Assembly (TNA), which elected
Abdiqassim Salad Hassan as Transitional President. Administrations in
the northwest (Somaliland) and northeast (Puntland) of the country did
not recognize the results of the Djibouti Conference, nor did several
Mogadishu-based factional leaders. Since October 2002, the Inter-
Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) has sponsored the Somalia
National Reconciliation Conference (SNRC), which was led by Kenya in
association with Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Uganda.
Representatives of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland did not
participate in the SNRC; however, all other major political and
military leaders attended the conference, as well as elders, religious
leaders, and members of civil society. The SNRC concluded in October,
following the August 29 selection of a 275-member clan-based
Transitional Federal Assembly (TFA), which replaced the TNA, and the
October 10 election of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as Transitional Federal
President. In December, Yusuf Ahmed appointed Ali Mohammed Ghedi as
Prime Minister. All transitional institutions, which were based in
Kenya, had 5-year terms. During the year, the TFA adopted but did not
implement the Transitional Federal Charter, which replaced the 1990
Constitution; however, for the many issues about which the Charter is
silent, the Constitution still applies. There is no national judicial
system.
In the northwest, the self-declared Republic of Somaliland
continued to proclaim its independence within the borders of former
British Somaliland but did not have international recognition.
Somaliland's Government included a parliament, a functioning civil
court system, executive departments organized as ministries, six
regional governors, and municipal authorities in major towns.
Presidential elections, deemed credible and significantly transparent,
were held in April 2003 and resulted in a close victory for the ruling
United People's Democratic Party (UDUB).
Leaders in the northeast proclaimed the formation of the State of
Puntland in 1998. In 2001, traditional elders elected Jama Ali Jama as
the President of Puntland. Yusuf refused to accept the elders'
decision, and he seized by force the town of Garowe, reportedly with
Ethiopian support. In 2002, President Yusuf seized Bosasso and
controlled Puntland in general. In addition to Yusuf's and Jama's
competing claims on the Puntland presidency, General Adde Musse in 2003
attempted to seize Puntland with Somaliland support. After intensive
mediation efforts by traditional elders, Musse reconciled with Yusuf,
and the two shared power. With the October election of Yusuf as
Transitional Federal President, Puntland Vice President Mohammed Abdi
Hashi succeeded as interim President until January 8, when the Puntland
Parliament elected General Adde Musse as President.
During the year, serious inter-clan and intra-clan fighting
continued in the central regions of Hiran and Middle Shabelle, the
southern regions of Bay, Bakol, Gedo, Lower Shabelle, Middle Juba,
Lower Juba, and in Mogadishu. Infighting among factions of the
Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), which controlled Bay and Bakol,
continued as RRA leaders fought to assert control over Baidoa. No group
controlled more than a fraction of the country's territory.
Clan and factional militias, in some cases supplemented by local
police forces, continued to function with varying degrees of
effectiveness throughout the country. Police and militia members
committed numerous, serious human rights abuses throughout the country.
The country's population was estimated to be 8.3 million. The
country was very poor with a market-based economy in which most of the
work force was employed as subsistence farmers or nomadic herders.
Drought, floods, ethnic fighting, the Indian Ocean tsunami, and the
displacement of more than 400,000 persons exacerbated the country's
already extremely poor economic situation. Unemployment and
malnutrition were widespread. The livestock ban imposed by Saudi Arabia
continued in effect at year's end.
The country's human rights record remained poor, and serious human
rights abuses continued. Citizens did not have the right to change
their government because of the absence of an established central
authority. Politically motivated killings occurred, and numerous
civilians were killed in factional fighting. Kidnapping remained a
problem. Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening.
Arbitrary arrest and detention remained problems. Impunity was a
problem. In most regions, the judicial system relied on some
combination of traditional and customary justice, Shari'a (Islamic)
law, and the pre-1991 Penal Code. Citizens' privacy rights were
limited. There were restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly,
association, religion, and movement. Violence and discrimination
against women, including the nearly universal practice of female
genital mutilation (FGM), continued. Abuse of children remained a
problem. Abuse and discrimination against clan and religious minorities
in the various clan regions persisted. There was no effective system
for the protection of workers' rights, and there were isolated areas
where local gunmen forced minority group members to work for them.
Child labor and trafficking in persons remained problems.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Political violence
and banditry have been endemic since the 1991 collapse of the central
government and the Siad Barre regime. Since that time, tens of
thousands of persons, mostly noncombatants, have died in inter-
factional and inter-clan fighting. The vast majority of killings during
the year resulted from clashes between militias or from unlawful
militia activities; several occurred during land disputes, and a small
number involved common criminal activity. Numerous killings continued
as a result of inter-clan and intra-clan fighting between the following
groups: The RRA sub-factions in Bay and Bakol regions; the Somali
National Front sub-factions in north Gedo; the Awlyahan and Bartire
sub-clans in Buale; the Dir and Habargidir sub-clans in Galkacyo; the
Dir and Marehan sub-clans in Galgudud; the former TNG and gunmen in
Mogadishu; Abgal intra-clan fighting in and around Jowhar; Habar Gidir
intra-clan fighting in Mudug; Puntland's forces and those of Somaliland
in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag; and General Mohammed Said
Hersi Morgan's Somali Patriotic Movement and those of the Juba Valley
Alliance in Kismayu.
During the year, hundreds of civilians were killed, mostly by
militia members. For example, on February 29, fighting between Marehan
and Dir militiamen in Herale village in Galgudud resulted in 12 deaths
and numerous injuries; the fighting reportedly was triggered by the
April 2003 killing of a Marehan businessman by Dir clansmen. In May,
fighting in Mogadishu between 2 militias from the same clan who were
loyal to 2 separate businessmen resulted in more than 100 civilian
deaths, hundreds of injuries, and thousands of internally displaced
persons (IDPs). On September 22 and October 29, fighting between
Somaliland and Puntland forces in the disputed Sool and Sanag regions
resulted in more than 200 deaths. Between December 1 and 6, factional
fighting in Gelinsor town in Mudug resulted in approximately 100
deaths, numerous injuries, and thousands of IDPs.
No action was taken against the responsible members of the security
forces or militias who committed killings in 2002 and 2003.
There were landmines throughout the country; however, statistics on
the number of deaths caused by landmines were not available at year's
end. According to the NGO Geneva Call, 40 persons were killed by
landmines in 2003.
Attacks against humanitarian and NGO workers resulted in at least
two deaths during the year (see Section 4). There were no further
developments in the investigations into the 2003 killings of four
humanitarian and NGO workers.
During the year, there were several apparently politically
motivated killings by unknown assailants. In each case, the victim had
made statements in support of the deployment of international
peacekeeping forces to the country to facilitate the relocation of the
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) from Kenya to Mogadishu, a
proposal opposed by various armed groups: Some preferred the protection
of individual cabinet members' militias to the imposition of foreign
forces, particularly those drawn from neighboring countries; other
groups were believed to be allied with domestic Islamist groups opposed
to any central government. On November 5, in Mogadishu, unknown gunmen
shot former General Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, who died from his injuries on
November 9. On November 9, two masked men shot and killed Mohammed
Hassan Takow as he walked from a mosque to his home; Takow was the
personal assistant to warlord Mohammed Dere. During the year, four
other former senior military commanders from the Siad Barre regime who
publicly supported the deployment of peacekeepers were shot and killed.
No suspects had been identified in these cases or in other politically
motivated cases from previous years.
Inter-clan fighting resulted in numerous deaths during the year.
For example, inter-clan fighting during May and June in Bulo Hawa
resulted in approximately 60 deaths, numerous injuries, and more than
3,000 IDPs. Among the dead was Mohammed Hassan Ali, a prominent local
doctor, and seven children killed when a bomb they had found exploded.
On August 14, 17 persons were killed and more than 30 others injured as
a result of fighting between the Luway and Dabarre sub-clans of the
Digil-Mirifle clan in Tuger Hosle village, Dinsor. There were no
developments in the reported killings due to inter-clan fighting in
2003 and 2002.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances, although cases easily might have been concealed among
the thousands of refugees and displaced persons.
During the year, there were numerous kidnappings by militia groups
and armed assailants who demanded ransom for hostages. The Dr. Ismael
Jumale Human Rights Center (DKJHRC) reported that at least 200
abductions occurred in Mogadishu during the year. For example, on
October 31, gunmen kidnapped a businessman in Mogadishu and demanded a
ransom of $25,000 (385 million shillings); the businessman was released
after negotiations between his family and elders representing the
kidnappers.
There were no investigations or action taken against the
perpetrators of kidnappings that occurred during the year, in 2003, or
in 2002.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter prohibits
torture, and the Puntland Charter prohibits torture ``unless sentenced
by Islamic Shari'a courts in accordance with Islamic law''; however,
there were some reports of the use of torture by the Puntland and
Somaliland administrations and warring militiamen against each other or
against civilians. Observers believed that many incidents of torture
were not reported. Prison guards beat inmates in prison.
On August 15, in Hargeisa, Somaliland police arrested and detained
16-year-old Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh and Omar Jama Warsame, her taxi driver,
on espionage charges; both allegedly were beaten in detention, and
Dualeh claimed that six policemen tortured and raped her. The
Government charged that Dualeh, who was arrested at the home of Vice
President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, was trying to obtain secret information
about Yasin; Dualeh claimed that she had mistaken the Vice President's
home for that of a deputy minister, who she claimed was a relative. On
December 15, Dualeh was tried as an adult without legal representation
and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. The four attorneys retained by
local human rights activists to represent Dualeh were detained and
sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment after they asked the judge to
withdraw from the case due to alleged bias; on December 11, the
attorneys were released on appeal after they paid a fine. Human rights
groups, including Amnesty International, petitioned the Government to
release Dualeh or retry her as a juvenile with legal representation.
Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin Dualeh subsequently
``pardoned'' Dualeh, who was released on December 12.
Security forces, police, and militias also injured persons during
the year. Acts of violence, including several killings, continued
against supporters or members of the new TFG (see Section 1.a.).
There continued to be reports of rapes, largely committed by
militia members; the DIJHRC reported 31 such cases in 2003. In a
November 16 press release, the Mogadishu-based Somali Young Women
Activists reported that former TNG militiamen displaced, robbed, and
sexually assaulted the members of more than 20 families in the Lower
Shabelle region. There continued to be reports of rapes of Somali women
and girls in refugee camps in Kenya during the year. The majority of
the rapes were perpetrated by Somali bandits who crossed over the
border; a small number of the rapes were committed by Kenyan security
forces and police. During the year, there were 16 reported rapes and 9
defilements of Somali refugees in Kenyan refugee camps, according to
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The rapes usually
followed looting attacks by bandits and occurred when women and girls
left the camps to herd goats or collect firewood or at night when
bandits entered the refugee camps. Many of the rapes reportedly
resulted in pregnancies.
There were several attacks on humanitarian and NGO workers by
militia and other groups, which resulted in deaths and injuries (see
Section 4).
No action reportedly was taken against TNG, Somaliland, and
Puntland forces, warlord supporters, or members of militias responsible
for torturing, beating, raping, or otherwise abusing persons in 2003 or
2002.
Although reliable statistics were not available, a large number of
persons were killed and injured as a result of inter-factional and
inter-clan fighting (see Section 1.a.).
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Hareryale, a
prison built to hold 60 inmates, reportedly held hundreds of prisoners
during the year, including children. Overcrowding, poor sanitary
conditions, a lack of access to adequate health care, and an absence of
education and vocational training persisted in prisons throughout the
country. Tuberculosis was widespread. Abuse by guards reportedly was
common in many prisons. The detainees' clans generally paid the costs
of detention. In many areas, prisoners were able to receive food from
family members or from relief agencies. Ethnic minorities made up a
disproportionately large percentage of the prison population.
Men and women generally were held separately; however, juveniles
frequently were held with adults in prisons. A major problem continued
to be the incarceration of juveniles at the request of families who
wanted their children disciplined. Pretrial detainees and political
prisoners were held separately from convicted prisoners.
The Puntland Administration permitted prison visits by independent
monitors. Somaliland authorities permitted prison visits by independent
monitors, and such visits occurred during the year. The DIJHRC visited
prisons in Mogadishu during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--In the absence of constitutional
or other legal protections, various factions continued to engage in
arbitrary detention.
Corruption within the various police forces was endemic. Police
forces throughout the country engaged in politics. The former TNG had a
3,500-officer police force and a militia of approximately 5,000
persons. In Somaliland, more than 60 percent of the budget was
allocated to maintain a militia and police force composed of former
troops. Abuses by police and militia members were rarely investigated,
and impunity was a problem.
On August 15, Somaliland police arbitrarily arrested, detained, and
allegedly tortured a 16-year-old girl (see Section 1.c.).
Authorities in Puntland and Somaliland arrested journalists during
the year (see Section 2.a.).
On September 18, gunmen from the Puntland town of Eyl boarded a
Yemeni ship in the Indian Ocean, detained the crew, and demanded money;
there were unconfirmed reports that the ship was carrying arms. After
Puntland authorities sent a group of elders to meet with the community
of Eyl and to negotiate with the gunmen, the crew was released; no
action was taken against the gunmen.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The unimplemented Transitional
Federal Charter provides for an independent judiciary; however, there
is no national judicial system. The Charter also provides for a High
Commission of Justice, a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, and courts
of first reference. Some regions established local courts that depended
on the predominant local clan and associated factions for their
authority. The judiciary in most regions relied on some combination of
traditional and customary law, Shari'a, the Penal Code of the pre-1991
Siad Barre Government, or some elements of the three. For example, in
Bosasso and Afmadow, criminals were turned over to the families of
their victims, who then exacted blood compensation in keeping with
local tradition. Under the system of customary justice, clans often
held entire opposing clans or sub-clans responsible for alleged
violations by individuals.
There were three functioning Shari'a-based entities--one in the
Daynile area and two in the Beledweyne area; however, both largely
acted as administrative units, not courts.
The Somaliland Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, the judiciary was not independent in practice. Although
Somaliland has a Constitution based on democratic principles, it
continued to use the pre-1991 Penal Code. There was a serious lack of
trained judges and of legal documentation in Somaliland, which caused
problems in the administration of justice. Untrained police and other
persons reportedly served as judges.
The Puntland Charter has been suspended since the infighting
between Abdullahi Yusuf and Jama Ali Jama began in 2001. The Charter
provides for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was not
independent in practice. The Puntland Charter also provides for a
Supreme Court, courts of appeal, and courts of first reference. In
Puntland, clan elders resolved the majority of cases using traditional
methods; however, those with no clan representation in Puntland were
subject to the Administration's judicial system.
The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter provides for the
right to be represented by an attorney. The right to representation by
an attorney and the right to appeal did not exist in those areas that
apply traditional and customary judicial practices or Shari'a. These
rights more often were generally respected in regions that continued to
apply the former government's Penal Code, such as Somaliland and
Puntland; however, during the year, Somaliland police tried a 16-year-
old girl as an adult, denied her legal representation, and sentenced
her to 5 years' imprisonment (see Section 1.d.).
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter
provides for the sanctity of private property and privacy; however,
looting and forced entry into private property continued in Mogadishu,
although on a smaller scale than in previous years. The Puntland
Charter and the Somaliland Constitution recognize the right to private
property; however, authorities generally did not respect this right in
practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The unimplemented Transitional
Federal Charter and the Somaliland Constitution provide for freedom of
speech and the press; however, there were incidents of harassment,
arrest, and detention of journalists in all areas of the country,
including Puntland and Somaliland. The Puntland Charter provides for
freedom of the press ``as long as they respect the law''; however, this
right was not respected in practice.
A law requires all media to register with the Minister of
Information and imposes penalties for false reporting; however, the law
had not been enforced by year's end. Critics alleged that if enforced,
the law would provide authorities with censorship powers.
The print media consisted largely of short, photocopied dailies,
published in the larger cities and often linked to one of the factions.
Several of these newspapers nominally were independent and criticized
faction leaders.
Somaliland has two daily newspapers--one government and one
independent. There also was an English language weekly newspaper.
The majority of citizens obtained news from foreign news
broadcasts, primarily the British Broadcasting Corporation, which
transmitted a daily Somali-language program. The major faction leaders
in Mogadishu, as well as the authorities of Somaliland, operated small
radio stations. An FM station begun in 2002 by the TNG continued to
operate. A radio station funded by local businesses operated in the
south, as did several other smaller FM stations in various towns in
central and southern parts of the country.
Journalists were harassed during the year. For example, on January
21, Puntland authorities in Garowe briefly detained Ali Bashi Mohammed
Haji, a reporter from Radio Banadir, and Mohammed Sadak Abdu Guunbe, a
reporter from Radio Shabelle, for allegedly sending sensitive political
reports to their radio stations in Mogadishu; Puntland authorities
later apologized.
On April 21, Puntland authorities arrested Abdishakur Yusuf Ali,
editor of the independent weekly War-Ogaal, after he published an
article accusing Puntland Finance Minister Abdirahman Mohamud Farole of
corruption in connection with food relief; on June 1, Ali was released.
On August 31, the Republican Police in Somaliland arrested Hassan
Said Yusuf, editor-in-chief of the independent Somali-language daily
Jamhuuriya and its weekly English-language edition, for publishing
false information; Yusef had published an article the previous day that
criticized Somaliland's position on the SNRC talks in Kenya. On
September 5, Yusuf was released on bail, and on October 4, he was
acquitted of all charges.
There were no further developments in the 2002 and 2003 cases in
which journalists were harassed and arrested.
In September 2003, Somaliland's information minister, Abdullahi
Mohammed Duale, issued a statement banning independent television and
radio stations in Somaliland, alleging that they posed a threat to
national security; the ban remained in effect at year's end. Somaliland
Television, which operated under a temporary license, was exempt from
the ban.
Authorities did not restrict access to the Internet.
There were restrictions on academic freedom, and academicians
practiced self-censorship. Abdi Samatar, a professor and vocal critic
of the Somaliland administration, was banned from travel to Hargeisa,
Somaliland, because of his academic research. In Puntland, academics
were required to obtain a government permit before conducting academic
research. There were two universities in Mogadishu, two in Somaliland,
and one in Puntland; however, there was no organized higher education
system in most of the country.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The unimplemented
Transitional Federal Charter and the Somaliland Charter provide for
freedom of assembly; however, the lack of security effectively limited
this right in many parts of the country. The ban on demonstrations
continued; however, demonstrations occurred throughout the country
during the year. The Government of Somaliland banned political
demonstrations following the closely contested April 2003 multiparty
elections (see Section 3).
The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter provides for freedom
of association; however, the Charter was not enforced during the year.
The Puntland Charter provides for freedom of association; however, the
Puntland Administration banned all political parties. The Somaliland
Constitution provides for freedom of association, and this right was
generally respected in practice. Legislation that governs the formation
of political parties limits the number of political parties allowed to
contest general elections to three. An ad hoc commission, nominated by
the President and approved by the House of Representatives, was
responsible for considering applications. The law provides that
approved parties that win 20 percent of the vote in Somaliland
elections would be allowed to operate. There were three approved
parties operating after the April 2003 elections.
Professional groups and local NGOs operated as security conditions
permitted.
c. Freedom of Religion.--There was no legal provision for the
protection of religious freedom, and there were some limits on
religious freedom. The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter
establishes Islam as the national religion. Some local administrations,
including Somaliland and Puntland, have made Islam the official
religion in their regions.
Only Shafi'iyyah, a moderate Islamic doctrine followed by most
citizens, is allowed in Puntland. Puntland security forces monitored
religious activities very closely.
Under the regulations in Somaliland, religious schools and places
of worship are required to obtain the Ministry of Religion's permission
to operate. The Ministry must approve entry visas for religious groups,
and certain unspecified doctrines were prohibited. In Puntland,
religious schools and places of worship must receive permission from
the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs to operate; such
permission was granted routinely.
Proselytizing for any religion except Islam is prohibited by law in
Puntland and Somaliland and effectively blocked by informal social
consensus elsewhere in the country. Christian-based international
relief organizations generally operated without interference, as long
as they refrained from proselytizing.
Non-Sunni Muslims often were viewed with suspicion by members of
the Sunni majority. There was strong social pressure to respect Islamic
traditions. Organized Islamic fundamentalist groups, whose goal was the
establishment of an Islamic state, were actively engaged in the private
sector and in political activities throughout the country.
The small Christian community kept a low profile. Christians, as
well as other non-Muslims who proclaimed their religion, sometimes
faced societal harassment.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The unimplemented Transitional Federal
Charter and the Puntland Charter provide for freedom of movement;
however, this right continued to be restricted in some parts of the
country. Checkpoints manned by militiamen loyal to one clan or faction
inhibited passage by other groups. In the absence of a recognized
national government, most citizens did not have the documents needed
for international travel.
In October, militiamen from the Juba Valley Alliance installed
checkpoints in and around the town of Kismayu, prevented passage, and
demanded tolls from travelers. In November, the checkpoints were
removed after negotiations with local leaders.
The law does not prohibit forced exile; however, none of the
authorities used forced exile during the year.
In December, the U.N. estimated that there were 400,000 IDPs in the
country, most of them women and children. Of this number, approximately
150,000 lived in Mogadishu, with another 15,000 in the southern port
city of Kismayo, and the remainder scattered around the country. The
majority of IDPs reportedly lived in old schools and former government
buildings. The U.N. estimated that approximately 205,000 Somalis were
living as refugees in neighboring countries.
As security conditions continued to improve in many parts of the
country, refugees and IDPs returned to their homes. According to UNHCR
figures, 18,030 Somali refugees were repatriated during the year: 8,422
were from Djibouti; 9,513 from Ethiopia, 78 from Kenya; 3 from Libya; 4
from South Africa; and 10 from Yemen. Despite sporadic harassment,
including the theft of humanitarian provisions from convoys by
militiamen, repatriation generally took place without incident. In
September 2003, the U.N. Independent Expert on Human Rights visited
several IDP camps in Somaliland and found them among the worst he had
visited. He reported that the camps were overcrowded, had poor
sanitation, and there was little or no access to employment and
education. No local, regional, or U.N. authorities have taken
responsibility for the camps.
The 1990 Constitution and unimplemented Transitional Federal
Charter do not include provisions for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the definition in the 1951 U.N. Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and there was
no official system for providing such protection; however, in practice,
government authorities provided some protection against refoulement,
the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. The
Government granted refugee status or asylum. A small number of
Ethiopian refugees remained in the country, mostly in the northeast
near Bosasso. The authorities in Somaliland have cooperated with the
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers.
On July 15, an unidentified group of gunmen forced 172 Tanzanian
refugees to vacate the camp in which they had lived since late 2001. By
year's end, some of the Tanzanian refugees had voluntarily returned to
their home country while approximately 100 others were scattered in
Mogadishu.
There were reports of rapes of Somali women and girls in refugee
camps in Kenya (see Section 1.c.).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
In the absence of a fully functioning central government, citizens
cannot exercise the right to change their government. In most regions,
local clan leaders functioned as de facto rulers. Although many such
groups derived their authority from the traditional deference given
clan elders, most faced opposition from clan groups and political
factions.
In 2000, the Djibouti Conference, made up of local and regional
leaders, established the TNG and selected the 245-member TNA, which
elected Abdiqassim Salad Hassan as Transitional President.
Administrations in the northwest (Somaliland) and northeast (Puntland)
of the country did not recognize the results of the Djibouti
Conference, nor did several Mogadishu-based factional leaders.
In 2002, in Eldoret, Kenya, the IGAD-sponsored SNRC convened more
than 400 delegates representing all clans and a wide spectrum of
political, military, and traditional leaders to form a new government;
Somaliland did not join the conference. Early in 2003, the SNRC moved
to Nairobi, where a transitional charter was adopted but subsequently
contested by several factions. In September, the SNRC adopted the
Transitional Federal Charter for a 5-year TFG, which replaced the TNG,
and selected a 275-member TFA, which replaced the TNA. On October 10,
the TFA elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the former President of
Puntland, as Transitional Federal President; Abdullahi Yusuf
subsequently appointed Ali Mohammed Ghedi as Prime Minister. On
December 6, the President and Prime Minister swore in a new cabinet,
which, on December 11, received a vote of no confidence in the TFA;
there was no functioning cabinet at year's end.
Representatives of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland did not
recognize the results of the SNRC as having any validity in its
territory.
Presidential elections in Somaliland were held in April 2003, with
the participation of three political parties: The Democratic United
Peoples' Movement, the Solidarity Party (Kulmiye), and the Party for
Justice and Democracy. The incumbent UDUB President, Dahir Riyale
Kahin, won by only 80 votes. Kulmiye initially disputed the results;
however, it was resolved through mediation by traditional elders.
Unofficial diplomatic observers considered the elections credible and
sufficiently transparent. Parliamentary elections, which have been
repeatedly postponed, were scheduled for March 2005.
In Somaliland, there is a constitution and bicameral parliament
with proportional clan representation, and an elected president and
vice president. The Hargeisa authorities have established functioning
administrative institutions in virtually all of the territory they
claim, which equaled the boundaries of the Somaliland state that
achieved international recognition briefly in 1960 before entering into
a union with the country. In 2001, a referendum was held with 97
percent of voters supporting Somaliland independence.
In 1998, Puntland declared itself a regional government during a
consultative conference with delegates from six regions, including
traditional community elders, the leadership of political
organizations, members of legislative assemblies, regional
administrators, and civil society representatives. Representatives of
Puntland-based sub-clans chose Abdullahi Yusuf as President. Puntland
has a single chamber quasi-legislative branch known as the Council of
Elders, which played a largely consultative role. Political parties
were banned in Puntland. Regional elections in Puntland were held
during 2001; however, President Yusuf refused to step down. In November
2001, elders elected Jama Ali Jama as the new President of Puntland,
and he assumed power in Garowe. Yusuf refused to accept the decision
and militarily seized Garowe, which forced Jama to flee to Bosasso. In
2002, Yusuf occupied Bosasso and declared himself President of Puntland
in 2002. During 2003, General Adde Musse, a former army general,
organized Jama Ali Jama's militiamen, drawn primarily from the Majerten
Osman Mohamoud sub-clan, and established a base in Somaliland. General
Musse's forces attacked Puntland twice from their base in Somaliland
without success. Puntland traditional elders then intervened and
brokered a peace agreement between Musse and Yusuf, which was signed in
May 2003. In May 2003, the two joined their forces and began sharing
power. Mohammed Abdi Hashi, Yusuf's vice president, assumed the
presidency of Puntland after Yusuf's election in October as TFG
President.
Somaliland and Puntland continued to contest the Sanaag and Sool
regions and the Buhodle district during the year (see Section 1.a.).
Both governments maintained elements of their administrators at the
Sanaag and Sool regions, and both governments exerted influence in
various communities.
Official corruption was endemic throughout the country, and there
were no laws that provided for public access to government information.
There were 22 women in the 275-seat TFA; in the TFG, there were 1
female minister and 4 deputy ministers. A woman held the post of
Foreign Minister in the Somaliland Government; in addition, several
women were important behind-the-scenes figures in the various factions.
There were 5 women in the 69-seat Puntland Council of Elders.
Minorities held 31 seats in the TFA.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without official restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Authorities were
somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. Several local human
rights groups were active during the year, including the Mogadishu-
based DIJHRC, Isha Baidoa Human Rights Organization in Bay and Bakol
regions, and KISIMA in Kismayu. The DIJHRC investigated the continuing
causes of conflict in the Mogadishu area, conducted effective human
rights monitoring, protested the treatment of prisoners before the
Islamic Shari'a courts, and organized periodic demonstrations for
peace. KISIMA monitored human rights and organized peace marches in
Kismayu. The Mogadishu-based Somali Journalists Network monitored human
rights violations against journalists in Mogadishu. The Mogadishu-based
Center for Research and Dialogue, women's NGOs, and other members of
civil society also played an important role in galvanizing support in
the country for the reconciliation talks in Kenya.
Numerous international organizations operated in the country during
the year, including the Red Cross, CARE, Save the Children, and various
de-mining agencies such as the Halo Trust. The TNG and Somaliland
authorities permitted visits by U.N. human rights representatives
during the year.
Security problems complicated the work of local and international
organizations, especially in the south. There were reported incidents
of harassment against NGOs, resulting in at least two deaths.
On March 19, unknown gunmen shot and killed an employee of the
German Agency for Technical Assistance and a security escort after
ambushing their vehicle outside of Berbera, Somaliland; another
passenger was injured. Five suspects were arrested and awaiting trial
at year's end; the motive for the killings remained unclear at year's
end.
Attacks on NGOs also disrupted flights and food distribution during
the year. In April, clan militia ambushed a Gedo Health Consortium
rented vehicle near Bula Hawa in apparent retaliation for the theft of
electronic items and a generator by a rival clan; the driver was
seriously injured. On August 15, after a plane carrying an IGAD
delegation landed at Baidoa airstrip, a man entered the plane and
threatened the delegates with a hand grenade; the man was disarmed and
allowed to depart the aircraft with no charges filed against him.
Despite threats in Jowhar and Kismayu, authorities did not close
any NGOs during the year.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter prohibits
discrimination on the basis of sex and national origin; however,
societal discrimination and violence against women and widespread abuse
of children continued to be serious problems. The Somaliland
Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and national
origin; however, these rights were not respected in practice.
Women.--Domestic violence against women occurred. Women suffered
disproportionately in the civil war and in the strife that followed.
There was no information available on the prevalence of domestic
violence in the country. There are no laws that specifically address
domestic violence; however, both Shari'a and customary law address the
resolution of family disputes (see Section 1.e.). Police and militia
members raped women, and rape was commonly practiced in inter-clan
conflicts (see Section 1.c.). Laws prohibiting rape exist; however,
they generally were not enforced. There were no laws against spousal
rape. There were no reports that rape cases were prosecuted during the
year. There were reports of rapes of Somali women and girls in refugee
camps in Kenya during the year (see Section 1.c.).
FGM was a widespread practice. There were estimates that
approximately 98 percent of women have undergone FGM. The majority of
women were subjected to infibulation, the most severe form of FGM. In
Somaliland, FGM remained illegal under the Penal Code; however, the law
was not enforced. In Puntland, legislation prohibited FGM in
northeastern areas of the country; however, in practice the law was not
enforced strictly. U.N. agencies and NGOs have made intensive efforts
to educate persons about the danger of FGM; however, no reliable
statistics were available on the success of their programs.
Prostitution is illegal; however, it was practiced. Because it is
culturally proscribed, it was not reported.
Women were subordinated systematically in the country's
overwhelmingly patriarchal culture. Polygyny was permitted, but
polyandry was not. Under laws issued by the former government, female
children could inherit property, but only half of the amount to which
their brothers were entitled. Similarly, according to the Shari'a and
local tradition of blood compensation, those found guilty in the death
of a woman must pay only half as much to the aggrieved family than for
a male victim.
Several women's groups in Mogadishu, Hargeisa (Somaliland), Bosasso
(Puntland), and Merka (Lower Shabelle) actively promoted equal rights
for women and advocated the inclusion of women in responsible
government positions. During the year, the local NGO Save Somali Women
and Children held a number of workshops on women's and children's
rights, including a regular monthly ``Gender Forum'' in which women
gathered to discuss women's rights.
Children.--Children remained among the chief victims of the
continuing violence. Boys as young as 14 or 15 years of age have
participated in militia attacks, and many youths were members of the
marauding gangs known as ``morian'' (parasites or maggots). Even in
areas with relative security, the lack of resources limited the
opportunity for children to attend school. Approximately 10 to 20
percent of the school-age population attended school; more boys than
girls were enrolled in school. There were three secondary schools in
Somaliland and several secondary schools in Mogadishu; however, only 10
percent of those few children who entered primary school graduated from
secondary school. Parents generally paid fees for their children's
education. Schools at all levels lacked textbooks, laboratory
equipment, and running water. Teachers were trained poorly and paid
poorly. The literacy rate was estimated at 25 percent throughout the
country; however, reliable statistics did not exist. There was a
continued influx of foreign Muslim teachers into the country to teach
in private Koranic and Madrassa schools. These schools were inexpensive
and provided basic education; however, there were reports that these
schools required the veiling of small girls and other conservative
Islamic practices normally not found in the local culture.
Medical care was rudimentary, and only a small percentage of
children had access to adequate medical facilities.
There was no information available on the prevalence of child abuse
in the country; however, it occurred. There were reports of rapes of
Somali girls in refugee camps in Kenya during the year (see Section
1.c.).
FGM was performed on approximately 98 percent of girls (see Section
5, Women).
Child prostitution was practiced; however, because it is culturally
proscribed, it was not reported.
Trafficking in children for forced labor was a serious problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
In 2003, the U.N. Independent Expert on Human Rights visited
Kismayo, Lower Juba, Bosasso, Puntland, and Hargeisa, Somaliland. He
reported that children were recruited as soldiers in Puntland and that
many juveniles were incarcerated with adults by their parents for
disciplinary problems (see Section 1.c.).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The pre-1991 Penal Code prohibits
trafficking; however, there were reports of trafficking during the
year. The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter does not
specifically prohibit trafficking. The number of women being trafficked
from the country appeared to be small.
Trafficking in children for forced labor was a serious problem.
There were reports of a significant increase in the smuggling of
children out of the country to relatives and friends in western
countries where they worked or collected welfare and sent money back to
family members in the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--In the absence of a functioning state,
the needs of persons with disabilities were not addressed. There were
several local NGOs in Somaliland that provided services for persons
with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--More than 85 percent of
citizens shared a common ethnic heritage, religion, and nomadic-
influenced culture. In most areas, members of groups other than the
predominant clan were excluded from effective participation in
governing institutions and were subject to discrimination in
employment, judicial proceedings, and access to public services.
Minority groups and low-caste clans included the Bantu (the largest
minority group), the Benadiri, Rer Hamar, Brawanese, Swahili, Tumal,
Yibir, Yaxar, Madhiban, Hawrarsame, Muse Dheryo, and Faqayaqub.
Intermarriage between these groups and mainstream clans was restricted.
Some of these groups had limited access to whatever social services
were available, including health and education. Members of minority
groups continued to be subjected to killings, harassment, intimidation,
and abuse by armed gunmen of all affiliations.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The 1990 Constitution and the
unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter provide workers with the
right to form unions; however, the civil war and factional fighting
have resulted in the absence of any legal protection for workers'
rights and the disintegration of the country's single labor
confederation, the then government-controlled General Federation of
Somali Trade Unions. In view of the extent of the country's political
and economic breakdown and the lack of legal enforcement mechanisms,
trade unions did not function freely.
The unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter, the Puntland
Charter, and the Somaliland Constitution establish the right of freedom
of association, but no unions or employer organizations existed.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Wages and work
requirements in the traditional culture were established largely by ad
hoc bartering based on supply, demand, and the influence of the
worker's clan.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The pre-1991 Penal
Code and the unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter prohibit forced
or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were reports
that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.). Local clan
militias generally forced members of minority groups to work on banana
plantations without compensation. There were reports that in Middle and
Lower Juba, including the port of Kismayu, Bantus were used as forced
labor.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
pre-1991 Labor Code and the unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter
prohibit child labor; however, child labor was a problem, and there
were child soldiers (see Section 5). Formal employment of children was
rare, but youths commonly were employed in herding, agriculture, and
household labor from an early age. Substantial numbers of children
worked. In 2002, it was reported that 32.5 percent of children between
the ages of 5 and 14 worked; however, the percentage of children
engaged in labor was believed to be even higher during the year. The
lack of educational opportunities and severely depressed economic
conditions contributed to child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no organized effort by
any of the factions or de facto regional administrations to monitor
acceptable conditions of work during the year.
__________
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which
constitutional power is shared between the President and the
Parliament. President Thabo Mbeki led the African National Congress
(ANC) party, which increased its seats to 279 in the 400 seat National
Assembly after a free and fair national election in April. Parliament,
in turn, elected the President. The Government included ministers and
deputy ministers from the Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO) and the
New National Party (NNP), but was dominated by the ANC. The judiciary,
including the Constitutional Court, was independent but overburdened.
The South African Police Service (SAPS), which is overseen by the
Department of Safety and Security, has primary responsibility for
internal security, and the South African National Defense Force
(SANDF), which is overseen by the Department of Defense, is responsible
for external security but also has domestic security responsibilities.
The SANDF and the SAPS border control and policing unit shared
responsibility for border control. The Government continued to train
and organize the Directorate of Special Operations, dubbed the
Scorpions, to coordinate efforts against organized crime and
corruption. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of
the security forces. Members of the security forces committed serious
human rights abuses.
The country has a market based economy. According to mid-year
population estimates by Statistics South Africa, the country had a
population of approximately 46.6 million. The manufacturing and
services (including government) sectors, accounted for approximately 20
percent of the gross domestic product, while the agricultural and
mining sectors each represented approximately 4 percent. The economy
grew at a rate of 1.9 percent in 2003. Average monthly wages rose by
8.5 percent while the average consumer inflation rate in 2003 was 6.2
percent. The distribution of income and wealth remained highly skewed
along racial lines and between urban and rural citizens. Approximately
60 percent of the black African population and approximately 3 percent
of the white population lived below the poverty line. Official
unemployment remained high at 27.8 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were serious problems in several areas. Deaths
due to the use of excessive force by security forces and deaths in
police custody were serious problems. Some members of the police beat,
raped, tortured, and otherwise abused suspects and detainees. The
Government took action to investigate and punish some of those
involved. Prisons were severely overcrowded, and some prison employees
and other prisoners abused and assaulted prisoners physically and
sexually. The judiciary was overburdened, and lengthy delays in trials
and prolonged pretrial detention were problems. Xenophobia continued to
be a problem. Violence against women and children remained serious
problems, and discrimination against women and persons with
disabilities also remained problems. Child labor, including forced
child labor, was a problem. Child prostitution and trafficking in
persons were serious problems. Vigilante violence and mob justice
continued throughout the country.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, police use of lethal force during apprehensions resulted in a
significant number of deaths, and deaths in police custody were a
problem. The Government investigated and punished some abusers and
worked to prevent future abuses.
For example, on January 4, two Witdraai police officers, Inspector
Johannes Liebenberg and Constable Wayne van Wyk, allegedly shot and
killed a Khomani San civilian who was trying to break into a house (see
Section 5). The Government's Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD)
investigated the case and forwarded it to the Director of Public
Prosecution (DPP) who began prosecuting the officers for murder. On
January 13, SAPS members allegedly shot and killed a civilian who was
fleeing the scene of a crime. The ICD investigated the case and
forwarded it to the DPP who ordered that a formal inquest be held.
The ICD investigated deaths in police custody and deaths as a
result of police action, and continued to improve their cooperation
with the SAPS. According to the ICD, there were 380 deaths as a result
of police action. Between April 1, 2003 and March 31, there were 334
deaths in police custody that resulted from a variety of causes,
including natural causes.
In October, SAPS members Superintendent Buitendag, Inspector
Austin, and Inspector Pansegrouw were acquitted due to insufficient
evidence on charges related to the 2002 torture and killing of
Inspector Leonard Hlagala.
There were reports of deaths resulting from political violence
between ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters in KwaZulu-Natal
in the run-up to the April 14 national and provincial elections. Press
reports estimated that there were at least 10 and perhaps as many as 30
politically related deaths between late 2003 and the April election,
compared with 325 political fatalities during the 1999 election, of
which 190 were in KwaZulu-Natal. The media also quoted KwaZulu-Natal
Premier S'bu Ndebele as saying the killing of Kasavelin Stanley Chetty,
an Esourt councilor, was ``politically motivated.'' According to press
reports, the killing was preceded by a series of death threats to
councilors who defected to the ANC.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of politically
motivated killings between the United Democratic Movement and the ANC
in Western Cape.
Fear and the threat of violence still existed in the rural areas.
Violence in the province was mainly taxi-related but had political
overtones as the process to transform and formalize the IFP-dominated
taxi industry continued. Approximately 12 taxi owners and 16 passengers
were killed in KwaZulu-Natal taxi-related shootings since November
2003. On December 4, unknown assailants opened fire and injured 18
members of a taxi association. Other forms of violence such as faction
fighting remained higher than in other provinces.
The trial of 22 right wing Afrikaners charged with murder, high
treason, terrorism, and sabotage in the 2002 Soweto bombings was
ongoing at year's end.
The appeal of right wing Afrikaners Leon Peacock, Hercules Viljoen,
and Alan Rautenbach, who plotted to blow up the Vaal Dam in 2001 and
were convicted of sabotage had not been heard by year's end.
Episodes of vigilante action and mob justice were reported. While
exact figures were not available, vigilante attacks were particularly
prevalent in Gauteng, the Western Cape, and KwaZulu Natal. On May 22,
approximately 500 residents in Gauteng attacked two men accused of
murders in the area and killed them by ``necklacing'' (placing tires
around their necks and setting them on fire). On June 22, a man killed
in the same manner was found on a farm in Gauteng. On August 1, a group
in the Eastern Cape necklaced and killed three men accused of raping a
young girl.
The trial against 14 individuals accused of hacking to death 7
persons in 2002 was on going at year's end. Twelve persons were charged
with the deaths of Adam Potgieter and Samuel Moletsane in December 2002
and the trial was scheduled to begin in 2005.
A vigilante group called Mapogo A Mathamaga continued to grow in
membership and reportedly had more than 90 branches and 50,000 members
throughout the country, including offices in at least 9 cities. Mapogo
targeted persons they suspected of property crimes against their
members, tortured suspected criminals, and beat persons with clubs and
whips. The group operated under several other names, such as Mapogo
Crime Stop, making their activities difficult to regulate.
In 2002, Bertrams Pringle, Willie Skhosana, and Mapogo member
Robert Van der Colff were charged with murder for beating Adam
Potgieter and Samuel Moletsane to death for allegedly stealing
construction equipment. The trial was postponed to February 2005.
Numerous court cases involving People Against Gangsterism and Drugs
(PAGAD), an anti-crime group with an anti-government bias, continued
throughout the year. At the start of the year, prosecutors reported
there were 55 PAGAD-related cases or appeals still awaiting trial.
Judicial proceedings against a number of PAGAD members, including
Abubakar Jacobs, Ebhrahim Jeneker, Mogamat Issacs, Faizel Samsodien
were not concluded at year's end. PAGAD leader Salie Abader's suit
against authorities for ``wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution''
following his acquittal in 2002 for a killing had also not concluded by
year's end.
On October 18, the Cape High Court imposed two life sentences on
PAGAD member Mogamat Phadiel Orrie, who was charged with the murder of
Cape Town couple Yusuf and Fahiema Enous in a state Witness Protection
Program safe-house in December 2000.
PAGAD leader Abdus-Salaam Ebrahim remained in jail, charged with
participating in the 1996 murder of a Cape Town gang leader. Members of
the armed wing of PAGAD, the so-called G-force, such as Mansoer Legget,
Ebrahim Jeneker, and Abdullah Maansdorp, were all serving multiple life
sentences. In May, the trial of PAGAD member Shaheem ``Doc'' Ismail
resumed for the attempted killing of a Cape Town judge. Also in May,
PAGAD gunman Faizel ``Bunnylick'' Samsodien received a 25-year jail
sentence for a 1999 shooting of members of a rugby team. A third trial
began in late May of five PAGAD members from Delft for three killings
in 1999.
There continued to be reports that xenophobia led to a number of
violent attacks on foreigners (see Section 5). From December 24 to 26,
a number of attacks on Somali refugees took place in the Western Cape,
Eastern Cape and Gauteng. Seven Somali nationals were killed during
these incidents, one in Khayelitsha, three near George, one in
Johannesburg and one in Port Elizabeth. At year's end, police were
investigating the cases, but no arrests were made. In September 2003,
Catholic social workers in Cape Town claimed that xenophobia was a
major contributing factor in the deaths of as many as 28 refugees
during the previous 18 month period. There were no developments by
year's end in the case of three Angolans and one citizen killed in
January 2002 in clashes between locals and refugees in the Joe Slovo
area in Milnerton, a Cape Town suburb.
Killings and other violent crimes against farmers and on some
occasions members of their families continued in rural parts of the
country. There was widespread concern among white farmers that they
were targeted for racial and political reasons; however, according to
police and academic studies of farm attacks, the perpetrators
reportedly were common criminals motivated by financial gain. It also
was reported that in the majority of cases, the perpetrators were not
farm workers. According to Agriculture South Africa (AgriSA), 838 farm
attacks and 75 farm killings took place in 2003 and 652 farm attacks
and 86 farm killings took place by the end of October. The Independent
Committee on Motives for Farm Attacks' report was released in September
2003 and found the perpetrators in the great majority of cases appeared
to be common criminals motivated by financial gain. Security forces
continued to be viewed as responding to attacks, rather than preventing
them.
On February 18, farm owner Mark Scott Crossley and farm workers
Richard Mathebula and Simon Mathebula were charged with murder after
the remains of Nelson Chisale--a former farm laborer--were found in a
lion camp. The three allegedly beat the former employee and tossed him
into an enclosure at a breeding project for rare white lions. The three
were denied bail and the case was postponed until January 2005. The
case against a fourth man, Richard Mnisi, was withdrawn when he became
a state witness.
On June 21, a white employer, Jewell Crossberg, shot and killed a
farm worker (and Zimbabwean national), Jelous Dube, in Musina.
Crossberg told police he had mistaken his victim for a baboon, but
farmworkers who witnessed the shooting said the killing was triggered
by the victim's failure to report to work the day before. Crossberg was
arrested but released on bail of $1,230 (R8,000). Some expressed
concern about the manner in which the bail application was handled,
saying that it was ``very unusual'' that a culprit could be taken
straight to the court without first being sent to a police cell.
On February 17, the High Court in Nelspruit found Gerrit Maritz, a
white employer, guilty of the February 2003 killing of farm worker
Jotham Mandlaki for failing to show up for work and sentenced him to 2
years in prison or a fine of $5,538 (R36,000). Several human rights
groups expressed shock at the lightness of the sentence.
In Limpopo Province, where traditional beliefs regarding witchcraft
remained strong, there were occasional reports of attacks on persons
accused of witchcraft by their rural communities (see Section 1.f.).
Traditional leaders cooperated with Ministry of Safety and Security
programs and reported threats against persons suspected of witchcraft
to the police. The press reported that on November 9 two men killed
four elderly women accused of witchcraft in Nontshinga Village in the
Eastern Cape. One of the suspects wanted in connection with the murders
was shot and killed by police after attacking a police officer and the
second suspect remained under arrest at year's end. Some of the
suspects accused of the February 2003 killing of a man suspected of
involvement in witchcraft in KwaZulu Natal remained in custody at
year's end and the trial was scheduled to begin in February 2005.
Muti killings--killing, especially of children, to obtain body
parts for traditional healing--continued during the year. On July 30,
attackers hacked off a young boy's hand, ear, and genitals. The boy
died 10 days later. SAPS estimated that there were an average of 150 to
300 such killings each year.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution's Bill of Rights prohibits such
practices; however, some police officers beat, raped, tortured, and
otherwise abused suspects. Some incidents of torture and ill treatment
by police and SANDF members occurred during interrogation, arrest,
detention, and searches of persons' homes.
In 2002, a SAPS member allegedly assaulted a pregnant woman and
solicited a bribe to stop the case against her minor son, whom he was
investigating. The ICD investigated charges of assault with intent to
do grievous bodily harm; however, the Director of Public Prosecutions
declined to prosecute the case.
During the year, the police officer who set a dog on Titus Mahlatse
in July 2003 was acquitted on the basis that the victim gave
contradictory statements.
Incidents of police harassment against foreigners continued,
particularly during coordinated police raids of areas where foreign
nationals resided. Some state hospitals reportedly routinely refused
emergency treatment to indigent foreigners, despite regulations that
required such treatment.
The press reported that many refugee seekers claimed they were
whipped, beaten and subjected to other brutal treatment at the hands of
immigration personnel. The Director of South Africa's Home Affairs
Department promised to investigate these allegations; however, no
investigation had begun by year's end. Four South African soldiers who
were arrested in August at Madimbo military base near Beitbridge on
allegations of ambushing, stripping, raping, and robbing illegal
Zimbabwean immigrants. They subsequently appeared in court facing
various charges.
There were reports that police abused homosexuals (see Section 5).
In July, there were reports that SANDF troops, stationed in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of the U.N. peacekeeping
mission, raped young girls. An independent U.N. investigation team from
the Office of Internal and Oversight Services was sent to investigate
allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children by peacekeeping
soldiers from various countries. A SANDF colonel was sent home after he
was accused of molesting his young male interpreter; however, the
colonel was not investigated or prosecuted after his return to South
Africa.
Vigilante action and mob justice resulted in attacks on suspected
criminals, some of whom were killed (see Section 1.a.).
There were incidents in which white employers abused their black
African farm laborers. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) claimed
that rural police and courts refused to arrest or prosecute whites in
many cases.
Most prisons did not meet international standards, and prison
conditions did not always meet the country's minimum legal
requirements. Severe overcrowding in some prisons led to poor health;
as many as 75 inmates may occupy a cell designed to hold 40 inmates.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS), which manages prisons,
reported in its 2003-04 annual report that there were 240 prisons in
the country with a total capacity of approximately 114,787. There were
184,576 prisoners in custody of whom 53,876 were awaiting sentences,
putting overcrowding at 63 percent. This overcrowding was especially
visible among prisons for juveniles. For example, a 332 percent
occupation rate was reached in the juvenile section of the Durban
prison; however, the Government began building new prisons during the
year.
The natural death cases in the country's prisons, primarily due to
HIV/AIDS, increased sharply over the past few years and continued to
grow.
Prison employees and other prisoners abused and assaulted prisoners
physically and sexually. There were reports that some detainees
awaiting trial contracted HIV/AIDS through rape. According to the
Institute for Security Studies (ISS), some of the inmates intentionally
infected other inmates with HIV/AIDS in a process called ``slow
poison'' to control or punish them. Approximately 42 percent of all
prisoners were living with HIV/AIDS. In 2003, the DCS identified health
as a priority; however, health services remained inadequate.
There were reports that prison employees stole food and money from
prisoners. According to NGOs, 70 percent or more of prisoners used
drugs, provided to them illegally by guards or other persons with
access to them. In many of these cases, offending police or
correctional officers were suspended or expelled from their services.
The Jali Commission, which the President appointed in 2002,
continued to investigate allegations of corruption and sexual abuse in
prisons. The Commission began in 2002 and reported finding widespread
irregularities involving prisoners leaving the premises illegally,
nepotism, drug trafficking, irregular appointments of personnel, and
massive medical aid fraud. In 2003, the Commission also highlighted
evidence of extortion, abuse of parole procedure, abuse of disciplinary
enquiries and appeal procedures, and educational qualifications fraud.
On July 28, the head of Grootvlei Prison, Tatolo Setlai, who
allowed prisoners to secretly videotape corrupt activities in the jail
in 2002, was acquitted on 20 criminal charges. Of the 22 wardens
implicated on footage taken by the prisoners, 19 were dismissed, 1 died
of natural causes, and 2 faced disciplinary hearings.
Violence among prisoners, particularly sexual violence, was a
serious problem.
Human rights groups raised serious concerns regarding C MAX
prisons, which were designed to hold the country's most dangerous
criminals, including the Government's criteria for transferring
prisoners from other prisons to a C MAX facility and the restrictive,
solitary conditions of the prisons.
Problems remained at the Lindela Repatriation Center, the largest
detention facility for undocumented immigrants in the country,
particularly as a result of the overcrowding of cells. The Department
of Home Affairs conducted sweeps of squatter camps and sent illegal
immigrants to Lindela to await repatriation. Some of the refugees
alleged that Home Affairs employees, Lindela employees, and police
requested bribes. Male and female prisoners were held separately.
Juveniles were sometimes held with adults. There were credible
reports that youths held with adults were vulnerable to sexual
exploitation, including rape. Pretrial detainees were generally held
together with convicted prisoners.
Some immigrant children detained in the Lindela Repatriation Center
received the same general treatment as adult detainees and, most were
provided with separate sleeping facilities from adults only after
October. In contrast to 2003, children were provided with food and
clothing. In February, as a result of a court case brought by Lawyers
for Human Rights, some children were transferred to Dyammbo Youth
Center.
The Government generally permitted independent monitoring of prison
conditions, including visits by human rights organizations; however,
organizations were sometimes told that only lawyers were able to visit
prisoners and some groups were routinely denied access. The Judicial
Inspectorate visited all prisons regularly.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions; however, prolonged pretrial detention continued to
be a problem.
SAPS is the primary instrument of state policing, with a presence
throughout the country. The SAPS, under the Ministry of Safety and
Security, continued its major restructuring and transformation from a
primarily public order security force to a more accountable, community
service oriented police force; however, it remained ill equipped,
overworked, and undertrained. According to the 2003-04 SAPS annual
report, there were 106,233 police officers and 28,624 civilians working
in SAPS, with a shortage of personnel estimated to be 20,000. The
majority of police resources remained focused on former white areas and
business districts, and police service was unevenly distributed across
the provinces, ranging from 313 residents per police officer in the
Free State to 669 residents per police officer in Limpopo Province.
SAPS continued to create partnerships between local police forces
and the communities they served. Municipalities also maintained
metropolitan police forces in major cities under local control, such as
in Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, and Cape Town; however, SAPS
continued to have deficiencies in mid level leadership and
institutional memory that were detrimental to its overall performance.
The ICD received 1,473 allegations of criminal offences by police.
There were 101 cases of corruption, representing a 3.8 percent decrease
from the previous year. There was a 47 percent increase in reports of
serious criminal offences allegedly committed by SAPS members and a
27.6 percent increase in incidents of misconduct; most cases were for
neglect of duty (86.4 percent). The other cases related to failure or
refusal to perform duties and gross discourtesy.
Broad efforts to reform police practices continued, and the ICD
investigated reports of police misconduct and corruption; however, the
number of reported incidents of abuse increased. The Government made
efforts to address abuses with an official anti torture policy and
training programs for police and SANDF officers that included human
rights.
The Bill of Rights provides that every detained person has the
right to be informed promptly of the reasons for their detention; to be
advised promptly of the right to remain silent and the consequences of
waiving that right; to be charged within 48 hours of arrest; to be
detained in conditions of human dignity; to consult with legal counsel
at every stage of the legal process; to communicate with relatives,
medical practitioners, and religious counselors; and to be released
(with or without bail) unless the interests of justice require
otherwise. Courts and police generally respected these rights; however,
there continued to be a problem with prison conditions and bringing
detainees to trial expeditiously.
Human rights groups, judges, and judicial scholars continued to
express concern about the Criminal Procedure Second Amendment Act,
which mandates minimum jail sentences and prohibits bail in certain
cases.
According to ISS, prisoners waited an average of 3 months, but some
as long as 2 years, for a trial. At any time during the year, 28,000
persons waited for more than 3 months for a trial. This problem
primarily was the result of an understaffed, underfunded, and
overburdened judiciary (both magistrates and prosecutors) (see Section
1.e.).
The National Director of Public Prosecution (NDPP) was preparing
cases against persons who were denied amnesty, failed to apply for
amnesty, or were implicated in human rights abuses during the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process. In the first case, charges
were brought against Gideon Nieuwoudt, Johannes van Zyl, and Johannes
Koole for the Pebco Three killing in 1985 (see Section 4).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the judiciary was understaffed,
underfunded, and overburdened.
The Constitutional Court is the highest court for interpreting and
deciding constitutional issues, while the Supreme Court of Appeal is
the highest court for interpreting and deciding other legal matters.
The lower courts include Magistrates' Courts, Divorce Courts, Small
Claims Courts, and Courts of Chiefs and Headmen. Magistrates' Courts--
including regional and district courts--have civil and criminal
jurisdiction. The country also has a range of special courts, including
the Labor Appeals Court, Labor Court, Land Claims Court, Special Income
Tax Courts, Special (Consumer) Court, and the Electoral Court.
Judges and magistrates hear criminal cases and determine guilt or
innocence. There is a presumption of innocence for criminal defendants.
The law requires that a panel of lay assessors, along with a
magistrate, hear cases involving murder, rape, robbery, indecent
assault, and assault leading to serious bodily harm. The two assessors
may overrule magistrates on questions of fact. Magistrates also can use
assessors in an advisory capacity in bail applications and sentencing.
The Bill of Rights provides for due process, including the right to
a fair, public trial within a reasonable time after being charged, and
the right to appeal to a higher court. It also gives detainees the
right to state funded legal counsel when ``substantial injustice would
otherwise result''; however, a general lack of information for accused
persons regarding their rights to legal representation and the
Government's inability to pay for these services were continuing
problems.
The Government operated 46 justice centers in the country, composed
of the Departments of Justice, Correctional Services, Welfare and
Health, and SAPS, to speed up the administration of justice, free up
the court rolls, and alleviate overcrowding in prisons. However,
serious backlogs in the numbers of cases that have gone to trial
remained.
There was public concern regarding the capacity of the criminal
justice system to deal with the high level of crime, and instances of
vigilante justice reflected this concern (see Section 1.a.).
There were no reports of political prisoners.
The Land Claims Court settled cases previously screened and
evaluated by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights. Claims only
could be filed for land dispossessions that occurred after the
promulgation of the Natives Land Act of 1913. The Commission ceased
accepting applications after 1998, but the cases have moved slowly,
which caused increasing tension and frustration. At the end of March,
48,825 restitution claims were settled, involving 662,307
beneficiaries. Of this figure, 17,631 claims resulted in the
restoration of land. The rest resulted in financial compensation
remedies; however, the budget for restitution was inadequate to meet
the demands of the restitution program.
On January 28, the President signed into law the Restitution of
Land Rights Amendment Bill, which allows the Minister of Agriculture
and Land Affairs to ``purchase, acquire in any other manner, or
expropriate land'' to speed up the restitution process. Before land may
be expropriated, the Minister is required to give adequate notice of
the intention and arrange for fair compensation. The Bill allows
landowners recourse through the courts if they feel the compensation
amount received is not adequate. There were no expropriations by year's
end.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
there were a few allegations of police abuse and other criticisms
against government legislation and practice.
There were a few allegations of police abuses during sweeps and
home searches. In July, residents of Salt River in Cape Town claimed
that police assaulted them and damaged their homes after allegations
that they hid drugs. In August, residents of Woodstock in Cape Town
complained about police officials' heavy-handed approach during the
confiscation of drugs, ammunition, and cash in a surprise raid.
In 2002, the Regulations of Interception and Provision of the
Communication Related Information Bill, which provides for state
monitoring of all telecommunications systems for criminal
investigations, including cell phones, the Internet, and e mail, was
signed into law. However, the Bill had not been implemented by year's
end.
The Promotion of Access to Information Act is to assist authorities
in obtaining personal information and is used solely in criminal
investigations; however, opposition parties and human rights NGOs
objected to its broadly defined provision that enabled the Government
to access an individual's personal information.
A 2003 South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) report
indicated that there were reports of farmers illegally evicting farm
residents.
There were reports that persons accused of witchcraft were attacked
and driven from their villages in rural communities (see Section 1.a.).
Some survivors of attacks and their families were living in ``witch
villages,'' which had no running water or electricity, for safety in
Limpopo Province. Although some persons returned to their homes, many
persons remained in the villages and requested government assistance
for schools and basic infrastructure, some of which was provided.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom; however, these rights can be limited by law in some
circumstances. Several apartheid era laws that remained in force posed
a potential threat to media independence.
The independent media was active and expressed a wide variety of
views; however, some journalists expressed concern that the Government
heavily influenced and wanted to control the media.
Print media reached only 20 percent of the population, and most
major newspapers experienced a drop in readership during the year. Due
to socio-economic and demographic circumstances, the majority of the
population received news through radio broadcasts from the government-
owned South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and community radio
stations.
The SABC continued to own and control the majority of the
television and radio outlets. The SABC was managed by black African
executives and provided broadcasting in the country's main African
languages. SABC offered news coverage of the Government and the leading
opposition parties, but the opposition accused it of pandering to the
ANC when it gave exclusive and complete coverage to President Mbeki's
January 11th speech on the ANC's election manifesto. Further
allegations of the ANC's desire to control the SABC were raised when
former SABC news editor and ANC stalwart Snuki Zikalala was appointed
Managing Director of News and Current Affairs at SABC on April 15.
Low power, not for profit community radio stations continued to
play an important role in informing the mostly rural public; however,
they often had difficulty producing content and maintaining staff.
Government broadcast regulators regularly issued new community radio
licenses and also withdrew a few for non-compliance with the terms of
issuance. At least two radio stations that were refused, Alex Radio and
Radio Pretoria, appealed to the Constitutional Court to overturn the
decision. Their cases were pending at year's end.
SABC TV, which broadcast in seven languages, reported on March 11
that 89 percent of all television viewers watched SABC channels at some
point during the day. The SABC's three channels together reached 18.1
million viewers.
The only commercial television station, e.tv, reached 37 percent of
the total population. Most of e.tv's schedule consisted of newscasts
and foreign produced programs. E.tv continued to struggle to provide
its mandated 30 percent locally produced content, and sought to have
certain aspects of its licensing agreement relaxed. Midi Television, a
black owned consortium composed of a number of associations and
syndicates representing workers, women, and persons with disabilities,
held majority ownership of e.tv. Satellite programming was also
available.
There were several government agencies with media related
responsibilities, such as the Independent Communications Authority of
South Africa (ICASA). The ICASA was not completely independent from the
Department of Telecommunications.
High ranking government officials on occasion reacted sharply to
media criticism of government programs and problems and at times
accused journalists, particularly black African journalists and
editors, of disloyalty and white journalists and editors of racism.
Some journalists believed that the Government's sensitivity to
criticism caused self censorship in the media.
Several laws remained in effect that permitted the Government to
restrict the publication of information about the police, the national
defense forces, prisons, and mental institutions. While these laws were
not used often, journalists perceived them to be a threat to
constitutional rights. In July, during a riot in Diepsloot, police
invoked an apartheid-era law to restrict the access of the media,
stating it was for the journalists' own safety.
The Foreign Publication Board reviewed and judged written and
graphic materials published in or imported into the country. The Board
had the power to edit or ban books, magazines, movies, and videos, and
it regularly exercised that power, mostly regarding pornographic
material.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
On September 1, a protester was shot and killed in Johannesburg; at
year's end, the Government was investigating whether the victim was
killed by security forces, a private security firm, or by another
demonstrator.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. Cases of discrimination against a person on the grounds of
religious freedom can be taken to the Constitutional Court.
While there were occasional reports of desecration and vandalism or
verbal or written harassment, no violent incidents reported.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution does not prohibit forced exile; however, there
were no reports of forced exile during the year.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. The law also provides for
a broader definition of refugee status to be granted if a person
satisfies the definition set forth in the 1969 Organization of African
Union's Convention on Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee
Problems in Africa. In practice, the Government provided protection
against refoulement, the forcible return of persons to a country where
they feared persecution. The Government granted refugee status and
asylum. The Immigration Act, which was signed into law in 2002, was
amended during the year. These amendments included updating and
amending the schedule of countries exempt or not exempt from visas;
providing a 14-day non-renewable transit permit for refugees; and
changing the powers and composition of the Immigration Advisory Board.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. According to incomplete
statistics provided by the Department of Home Affairs, the Government
received 16,532 new asylum applications during the first 9 months of
the year. The majority of recognized refugees came from the DRC,
Angola, and Somalia; there also were refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, and
the Republic of the Congo.
Lawyers for Human Rights criticized the Department of Home Affairs
for not following the provisions of the Immigration Act and the Refugee
Act. Applicants for asylum and NGOs assisting refugees reported that
immigration authorities requested bribes to process applications for
permits to remain in the country. There were reports that police and
immigration officials abused refugees and asylum seekers (see Section
1.c.). Lawyers for Human Rights also reported asylum seekers being
denied entry and repatriated immediately upon arrival at airports
without benefit of formal asylum processing.
On March 9, the Constitutional Court ruled on whether certain
provisions of the Immigration Act that allowed immigration officers to
declare persons at ports of entry illegal foreigners and have them
detained. The Court recognized that persons believed to be illegal
foreigners have the right to due process and administrative justice.
Despite numerous procedural safeguards, efforts to combat a growing
illegal immigration problem occasionally resulted in the Government
wrongfully deporting aliens who were in the country legally. In late
2003, the Government denied entry to a group of Liberian asylum
seekers; however, there were no reports of the forced return of persons
to countries where they feared persecution during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. On April 14, the third democratic national election
was held. The election was largely peaceful; however, a few incidents
of political violence occurred in KwaZulu-Natal in the weeks before the
election. The IFP registered a number of complaints with the
Independent Electoral Commission including large numbers of special
votes, posters being removed or defaced, individuals being threatened
because of political affiliation, and other incidents of intimidation.
The IFP challenged the legitimacy of the election in KwaZulu-Natal at
the Electoral Court; however, they later withdrew its court action and
accepted the election results.
Thabo Mbeki was reelected for a second term as President and Head
of State. Three parties the ANC, the NNP, and the AZAPO shared
executive power. ANC members occupied 26 of the 28 ministerial
positions and increased its parliamentary strength in the election,
from 266 seats to 279. The official opposition, the Democratic
Alliance, increased its seats from 38 to 50. Twelve political parties
were represented in Parliament. Both the IFP and the NNP lost support;
however, the NNP was represented in government as a result of an
earlier agreement with the ANC. On August 6, the NNP announced that it
would merge with the ANC but elected representatives would continue to
hold their seats in the national and provincial legislatures as NNP
members until September 2005.
There continued to be reports of inter party rivalry and violence
during the year (see Section 1.a.).
The two houses of Parliament are the National Assembly (NA), with
400 members, and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), with 90
members. The NCOP, created to give a greater voice to provincial
interests, was mandated to approve legislation that involved shared
national and provincial concerns according to a schedule in the
Constitution and to concur on other legislation. There was an 18 member
Council of Traditional Leaders that the Constitution accords an
advisory role in matters of traditional law and authority.
The Government made progress in the fight against corruption;
however, there was still a widespread view that corruption was
prevalent within the Government, particularly in the police and the
Department of Home Affairs. In April, Parliament passed the Prevention
and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, which for the first time
defines the scope of corrupt activities, as well as complements several
existing anti-corruption laws. Government anti-corruption entities also
made significant progress by expanding their operations and working
towards greater interagency cooperation.
In July, head of the NDPP Bulelani Ncguka resigned amidst media
reports that parliamentarians and their travel agents misused official
vouchers to pay for personal expenses. An internal parliamentary
investigation starting in 2003 audited the accounts of as many as 179
parliamentarians for misusing up to $2.5 million (R16 million). The
incident became public after 7 travel agents were arrested in
connection with the alleged scam, and in August the ``Scorpions'' unit
of the NDPP submitted to Parliament the names of 23 parliamentarians
that they wanted to question in connection to the scandal. No
politicians had been charged by year's end; however, the investigation
remained ongoing.
The Promotion of Access to Information Act of 2000 provides for
access to information. The Government generally complied with the Act,
but there were problems with implementation. Civil society
organizations, such as IDASA and the Open Democracy Advice Center,
complained of lack of compliance, based on a study conducted in 2003.
More than two-thirds of requests for information went unanswered or
were answered outside the period provided for in the legislation. If a
government department refuses to provide information, an internal
appeal can be launched. If this also fails, the requestor may appeal a
decision to the High Court. This is a timely and costly process, and
consequently excludes groups or individuals who cannot afford the
process. Results of the study also indicated a bias against journalists
of newspapers perceived to be critical of the Government. In November
2003, IDASA launched a court case against four political parties under
the Promotion of Access to Information Act to disclose the private
sources of funding.
The Government and ANC promoted women's participation in
government. There were 131 women in the 400 seat NA, and 21 women among
the 54 permanent delegates of the NCOP. Women occupied three of four
parliamentary presiding officer positions (speaker and deputy speaker
of the NA, and chair of the NCOP). Women held 12 of 28 ministerial
positions, as well as 10 of 21 deputy ministerial slots.
There were approximately 140 members of minorities, i.e. non-black
Africans in the NA. There were 6 members of minorities in the cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were generally cooperative and responsive to their views. Many
organizations participated in governmental bodies that gathered public
input and tried to fashion policies related to human rights.
The UNHCR and the National Consortium on Refugee Affairs continued
their ``Roll Back Xenophobia'' campaign to raise public awareness of
the situation and rights of refugees and the difference between
refugees and economic migrants. The campaign entered its second phase,
focusing on a more holistic approach towards ending xenophobia through
partnerships with the Department of Home Affairs, SAPS, and the South
African Council of Churches.
The government created SAHRC was responsible for promoting the
observance of fundamental human rights at all levels of Government and
throughout the general population. The SAHRC also has the power to
conduct investigations, issue subpoenas, and hear testimony under oath.
On June 23, the SAHRC launched the fifth Economic and Social Rights
Report, which reviewed the Government's performance in promoting
housing, food, water, social security, education, land, environment,
and health rights. The SAHRC also focused on a variety of other human
rights problems, including racism, freedom of expression, person with
disabilities, refugees, and prisoners.
The Office of the Public Protector investigated abuse and
mismanagement by the Government, and acted as an office of last resort
to which citizens reported unfair treatment by government entities.
Such complaints generally took the form of concerns over lost pension
checks or unfair hiring practices. The office handled an increasing
number of complaints but was hampered by severe resource constraints.
The TRC, created to investigate apartheid era human rights abuses,
made recommendations for reparations for victims, and granted amnesty
in return for full disclosure of politically motivated crimes. The TRC
concluded its activities at the end of 2001 and released its final
report in March 2003. In April 2003, the President announced a one time
payment of $4,600 (R30,000) to 18,000 apartheid victims approved by the
TRC. At the end of October, more than 16,000 victims already received
payments; however, 1,800 had not been paid due to incorrect banking and
other details. The Khulumani Victims Support Group continued to lobby
the Government for additional reparations.
During the year, the first TRC-related case since the 1990s was
prosecuted by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Former security
agents Gideon Nieuwoudt, Johannes ``Slang'' (Snake) van Zyl, and
Johannes Koole were charged with three counts of kidnapping, murder,
and assault to do grievous bodily harm, in connection with the 1985
killings of the ``Pebco Three,'' Qaquwili Godolozi, Champion Galela,
and Sipho Hashe. The TRC denied amnesty to Nieuwoudt, Van Zyl, Herman
Barend du Plessis, and Gerhardus Johannes Lotz for failure to make a
full disclosure. They were arrested and released on bail during the
year. The case was postponed to April 2005, pending the review
proceedings of the amnesty re-hearing case, also involving Nieuwoudt.
Gideon Nieuwoudt, former security police intelligence unit head in
the Eastern Cape in the 1980s, also re-applied for amnesty along with
two former colleagues, Wybrand du Toit and Marthinus Ras, for the so-
called Motherwell killings in 1989. They admitted to killing Warrant
Officer Glen Mgoduka, Sergeant Amos Faku, Sergeant Desmond Mpipa, and
Xolile Sakati, were convicted in criminal court for the murders, and
were refused amnesty after an initial hearing in 1997. In a civil case
in 2001, the Cape High Court ordered their application to be heard
again by a new panel and their amnesty hearing began on March 22.
Closing arguments were heard on September 28 and 29, and the applicants
were awaiting a decision from the amnesty committee at year's end.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race,
disability, ethnic or social origin, color, age, culture, language,
sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or marital status; however,
entrenched attitudes and practices, as well as limited resources,
restricted the practical effect of these protections in some cases. The
Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act
places a responsibility on the State and any person in the public
domain to promote equality. The Act addresses discrimination in a broad
context in the workplace, health care, education, services, pensions,
and other socio economic areas.
Women.--There was a high rate of domestic violence, including
physical, sexual, emotional, and verbal abuse, as well as harassment
and stalking of former partners. The law defines victims of domestic
violence, facilitates the serving of protection orders on abusers,
requires the police to take victims to a place of safety, and allows
police to seize firearms at the scene and arrest abusers without a
warrant. The law extends legal protection from domestic abuse to
persons who are not in legal or common law marriages. Violating a
protection order is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 5 years,
or 20 years if additional criminal charges are brought.
Societal attitudes and a lack of infrastructure, resources, and
training for law enforcement officials hampered the implementation of
domestic violence legislation, and it was difficult for women's cases
to be prosecuted effectively. It was believed that the number of women
who filed complaints represented only a fraction of those who suffered
abuse, and doctors, police officers, and judges often treated abused
women poorly. According to estimates from NGOs, one in four women were
in abusive relationships.
The Government financed 25 shelters for abused women; however,
there was a need for more shelters, particularly in the rural areas.
The SAPS was in the process of converting all Child Protection Units
(CPU) to Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offenses (FCS)
Units; at year's end, there were 22 CPUs and 40 FCSs. FCS investigating
officers and other police officers were trained annually in gender
sensitivity. The Government conducted domestic violence awareness
campaigns, such as the annual 16 Days of Activism.
Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal; however, it remained a
very serious problem. According to the 2002-03 SAPS annual report, the
incidence of rape decreased slightly in comparison with previous years,
although it still remained extremely high due to a poor security
climate and societal attitudes condoning sexual violence against women.
According to Amnesty International, only 1 out of 35 rapes in the
country was reported to the authorities. The 2002-03 SAPS report noted
that 90 percent of rape victims were known to their rapists, 45 percent
of all rapists were HIV positive, and approximately 14 percent of all
victims were younger than 12 years old. Only 5 percent of all rape
cases ended with a conviction, with 40 to 60 percent of cases being
withdrawn; however, SAPS reported an increase in the number of sexual
offense convictions to 471. Although judges in rape cases generally
followed statutory sentencing guidelines, women's advocacy groups
occasionally criticized judges for using questionable criteria, such as
the victim's behavior or relationship to the rapist, as a basis for
imposing lighter sentences.
Rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment of black African female
farm workers by farm owners, managers, and by other farm workers were
common.
The Government operated 52 sexual offenses courts throughout the
country, designated waiting rooms for victims, established counseling,
installed more than 2,000 intermediary facilities at courts, and
trained judicial officers. The SOCA established five rape care centers,
known as Thuthuzela centers, which specialized in rape care management
and streamlined a network of existing investigative, prosecutorial, and
medical and psychological services in the hospital where it was
located.
In December 2003, two adults and a minor were arraigned on homicide
charges after a group of men in Khayelitcha raped Lorna Mlosana and
beat her to death after they found out she was HIV/AIDS positive. In
January, the accused were denied bail and they remained in detention
awaiting trail at year's end.
Virginity testing occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, especially related to
the Reed Dance ceremony in which only ``maidens'' could participate.
Polygyny continued to be practiced by several ethnic groups. Exacting a
bride price (``lobola'') also was a traditional practice of some ethnic
groups.
The law specifically prohibits female genital mutilation (FGM) as
unfair discrimination, and the Commission for Gender Equality, the
Study of Violence and Reconciliation, and People Opposed to Women Abuse
all reported that there were no cases of FGM during the year.
Prostitution is illegal; however, it was widespread and practiced
rather openly, including in a number of brothels. On October 4, seven
police officers were arrested on charges of corruption and extortion
for demanding sex from prostitutes in return for not arresting them.
There were reports that women were trafficked into the country for
prostitution, or were trafficked to foreign territories such as China
and Macao (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, sexual harassment
remained a widespread problem. On March 18, in the Cape High Court a
woman won the first case of its kind when she successfully sued her
employers for failing to protect her against sexual harassment.
Discrimination against women remained a serious problem despite
equal rights under family law and property law with regard to
inheritance, divorce, and custody of children, and equal legal rights
under the judicial system. In practice women experienced economic
discrimination in areas such as wages, extension of credit, and access
to land. For example, township housing transfer schemes favored
existing titleholders who tended to be men. Rural areas were often
administered through traditional structures that do not typically grant
land tenure to women, which was a precondition for access to housing
subsidies. On July 30, the Constitutional Court heard three cases
fighting to repeal the law that prohibits black African women from
inheriting property unless specified in a will. The SAHRC brought one
of these cases as a class action suit for women and children in similar
circumstances.
On October 15, in another case, the Constitutional Court ruled that
the practice of allowing the eldest male descendant to inherit
everything and exclude children whose parents were not married is
unconstitutional and invalid. The judgment also provided a formula for
calculating inheritances, including for children of unmarried parents
and partners in polygynous unions.
Women, particularly black African women, typically had lower
incomes and less job security than men. Most women were engaged in
poorly paid domestic labor and micro enterprises, which did not provide
job security or benefits.
In July, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Commission for
Employment Equity reported that in 2001 and 2002 there was a drop in
representation of females at professional and middle management levels.
According to the report, black females were especially less likely to
hold high-level positions. Women never held more than 21 percent of top
management positions and earned on average 76 percent of what their
male counterparts earned. The Presidency continued its efforts towards
gender equity in its offices. After the April 14 election, President
Mbeki increased the number of women in the cabinet to 12 out of 28, and
appointed 4 women as premiers in the country's 9 provinces.
Female farm workers often experienced discrimination and their
access to housing often was dependent on their relationship to male
farm workers. Many female farm workers were denied maternity leave in
violation of the law or were allowed only enough time to give birth
before having to return to work.
The Department of Trade and Industry provided incentive grants to
promote the development of small and medium businesses and micro
enterprises for women, young persons, and persons with disabilities.
A number of governmental bodies and NGOs monitored and promoted
women's human rights. Numerous active women's rights groups focused on
such areas as violence against women and the economic advancement of
women.
Children.--The Government was generally committed to children's
welfare.
The law provides greater educational opportunities for
disadvantaged children traditionally black African children through a
uniform system for the organization, governance, and funding of
schools. It mandates compulsory education from ages 7 to 15 and ensures
that children cannot be refused admission to public schools due to a
lack of funds. According to the 2003 Review of Public School Financing,
96 percent of 7 to 15 year olds and 88 percent of 16 to 19 year olds
were enrolled in school. While in general, there were comparable
attendance numbers for boys and girls, a number of factors, including
unplanned pregnancies, domestic responsibilities (particularly in rural
areas), and gender stereotypes contributed to high drop out rates and
lower secondary school pass rates for girls.
Approximately 60 percent of nonpersonnel education resources were
devoted to the 40 percent most needy schools. Each of the nine
provincial departments of education had responsibility for the schools
in their provinces, which resulted in the uneven distribution of
educational facilities. The disparity affected the poorer provinces of
Eastern Cape, Limpopo, and KwaZulu Natal most severely. The
availability and quality of primary schooling continued to be a
problem, especially in rural areas where schools often were not easily
accessible or where children worked (see Section 6.d.). In May, Human
Rights Watch (HRW) reported that children attending farm schools, which
are public schools on private commercial farms (13 percent of all
state-funded schools), were among the poorest in terms of resources and
were vulnerable to the farmers on whose land they occupied. Most
schools in rural and urban KwaZulu Natal reportedly faced many problems
of inadequate learner support materials, long vacant teaching posts,
overcrowding, late pupil registration, and vacation time vandalism. To
address these problems, the Government continued to build new schools
and introduced basic skills development and prevocational training into
the curriculum.
There continued to be reports of widespread rape, sexual abuse,
sexual harassment, and assaults of girls at school by teachers,
students, and other persons in the school community. The law requires
schools to disclose sexual abuse to the authorities; however,
administrators often concealed sexual violence or delayed disciplinary
action. The level of sexual violence in schools also increased the risk
for girls of contracting HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted
diseases, as well as unwanted pregnancies. Girls were often raped on
the school premises, and the victims' age generally ranged from 4 to
14. Alcohol and substance abuse by perpetrators was often a
contributing factor.
Although the law prohibits corporal punishment in schools, there
were reports that teachers used physical violence to discipline
students. On June 1, the press reported that a student at Phezulu High
School died from a brain aneurysm after being beaten by the principal
for being late. The principal reportedly was suspended. The South
African Council of Educators was also investigating two other reports
of abuse of students by teachers. In addition, there continued to be
racially motivated violence among students in schools. On April 7, the
case against a white mother, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend
for assault and defamation following a November 2003 attack on Nosipho
Mkhize, a black African girl in Cape Town, was heard in the Blue Downs
Equality Court, and the court ordered the mother, Shannon Ferreira, to
pay $1,538 (R10,000) to a charity of Mkhize's choice. On July 6, the
charges of defamation and assault, which were brought in a civil case,
were dropped and the parties reached an out of court settlement that
included a public apology to Nosipho Mkhize and her family.
The Government continued to increase its social welfare programs to
children affected by poverty and the loss of parents. The number of
children who received child support, care dependency, and foster care
grants grew from 349,000 in 2000 to approximately 3.9 million by the
end of 2003. The Government progressively extended child support grants
to cover children up to the age of 14.
In practice it sometimes was difficult for persons, including
children, in rural areas to obtain access to health care facilities and
other social welfare programs.
HIV/AIDS activists, physicians and opposition parties continued to
widely criticize the Government for failing to adequately protect young
children from HIV/AIDS transmission through the provision of anti
retroviral (ARV) medication to pregnant and breast feeding women.
Although the Government responded to a Constitutional Court finding
that they must provide programs to prevent the transmission of HIV from
mothers to children by expanding the number of antenatal clinics
providing nevirapine to HIV positive mothers, the national and
provincial governments did not implement the program in all provinces
in a timely way. Significant improvements were achieved in three
provinces and programs were being developed in other provinces during
the year. Following research reports, the Government again raised
concerns about the use of nevirapine mono-therapy for the prevention of
transmission from mothers to their children and this was likely to
further delay effective program implementation. The Government was
unable to provide for the rapidly growing number of children who were
affected by HIV/AIDS, including both infected children and AIDS
orphans.
Following extensive consultations, in November 2003, the cabinet
approved guidelines and a plan of action by the Department of Health to
guide government implementation of anti-retroviral treatment through
public health facilities. This was linked to large budget increases and
President Mbeki's announcement of a target of 53,000 citizens in
treatment by March 2005. Implementation of programs to reach this goal
was very slow as provinces undertook facility certification and staff
training.
Violence against children, including domestic violence and sexual
abuse, remained widespread. While there was increased attention to the
problem, a lack of coordinated and comprehensive strategies to deal
with violent crimes continued to impede the delivery of needed services
to young victims.
There were fewer reports of child rape during the year than in
previous years; however, it remained a serious problem. Over the past
few years, the country had several nationwide campaigns against
violence towards women and children that may account for part of the
progress. Between February 2002 and June 2003, the police reported
21,494 cases of rape of children, no including attempted rape.
Observers believed that these figures represented a small percentage of
the actual incidents of child rape, because most cases involved family
members and were not reported. The country had a low conviction rate
for rape and child abuse. The minimum sentence for rape of a child was
life in prison; however, judges have the discretion to grant more
lenient sentences. In a prominent case in July, a child rapist and
murderer was given six life sentences.
The law prohibits virginity testing, but was not always enforced.
For example, virginity testing occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, especially
related to the Reed Dance ceremony in which only ``maidens'' could
participate.
Traditional male circumcision was still prevalent in various parts
of the country. Initiation practices, which included circumcisions,
continued during the year; however, there were fewer reports of deaths
as a result of them. The House of Traditional Leaders attempted to
address the issue of unsafe initiation practices and designed
strategies to prevent deaths and the spreading of diseases, such as
HIV/AIDS. On March 3, the Western Cape provincial government launched
an initiation village in Cape Town to ensure a clean, safe, and healthy
environment to prevent deaths or serious injury for young men who
undergo the initiation. The Department of Health in the Eastern Cape
provided 30 vehicles during the June initiation season to monitor
initiation practices and also provided mobile clinics to give medical
care where needed. The private medical sector also became involved to
prevent deaths. In June, a Pretoria medical clinic offered free
circumcisions to 50 initiates.
In contrast with previous years, there were no reports of FGM.
Child prostitution increased during the year (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
NGOs provided shelter, medical, and legal assistance for child
prostitutes and a hotline for victims of child abuse. The Government
donated land and buildings for various shelters for victims of sexual
abuse, street children, and orphans.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons, and trafficking in persons was a problem. The
Government worked on a comprehensive anti-trafficking bill; however, it
was not passed by year's end. Despite this, the Government used a
number of already existing laws to prosecute traffickers for offences,
such as prostitution and sexual exploitation of children, related or
integral to their trafficking activities. These laws include the Child
Care Act, the Sexual Offenses Act, the Domestic Violence Act, and the
Prevention of Organized Crime Act.
The law prohibits the commercial sexual exploitation of children,
sexual intercourse with children under 16, and permitting a female
under 16 to stay in a brothel for the purpose of prostitution. A 2003
government-established task team continued to develop a plan of action
to combat the sexual exploitation of children.
The Government was prosecuting a high profile case against a
prominent brothel and several child prostitution cases in Cape Town at
year's end. In one case, the Court made a decision based on existing
legislation including abduction. Deportations were used in cases
involving trafficking in persons victims from other countries and
perpetrators of major offenses were fined.
The media reported that on November 18 police rescued 14 girls
between the ages of 10 and 15 from several houses in Rosettenville,
Johannesburg, where a Nigerian child prostitute syndicate was holding
them. As part of this operation, police reportedly arrested 59
Nigerians, 57 in Johannesburg and 2 in Durban.
Several anti-trafficking in persons conferences and an awareness
campaign were organized. A police unit operated at the Johannesburg
International Airport to check for potential trafficking in persons
with some successes; however, there was evidence of corruption at low
levels of the police, immigration customs, and private services at the
airport. Police reported officers sometimes helped traffickers move
victims out of the transit area of the airport for minimal amounts of
money. The border police incorporated trafficking in persons into their
training manuals, and both police and judicial officials continued to
receive training in anti-trafficking in persons activities.
The country cooperated with neighboring countries; however, police
units handling trafficking problems were understaffed and information
sharing with neighbors was sometimes hindered by corruption. The
country used its 52 Sexual Offenses courts to handle trafficking cases
and relied heavily on NGOs to provide witness protection.
The country was a transit and destination point for the trafficking
of persons, including children, from other countries in Africa, Asia,
and Europe for prostitution and forced labor. Domestic and
international organized crime syndicates trafficked women into the
country for the sex industry. The extent of trafficking operations was
not known. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported
there were 12 major routes for trafficking operations, such as from
Lesotho, China, Malawi, and Eastern Europe to the country.
Child prostitutes were often highly sought after because of the
belief they were more likely to be disease-free. The NGO Molo Songololo
estimated that there were approximately 30,000 children working as
prostitutes in the country.
Although there was considerable variation in the profiles of
trafficked persons and their traffickers, in most cases traffickers
lured women with promises of employment, marriage, or educational
opportunities abroad.
According to the IOM, there were several major criminal groups in
the country that trafficked women: Bulgarian and Thai syndicates, the
Russian and the Chinese Mafia, and African criminal organizations,
mainly from the DRC. Traffickers also included male citizens and
African refugees.
Trafficked women and children who worked in the sex industry often
lived with other trafficked victims in segregated areas; were
frequently under constant surveillance; usually had no money or
identifying documents; were often indebted to the agents who arranged
their travel; often worked long hours, in some cases up to 18 hours
each day, on weekends, and when ill; and sometimes were fined by their
trafficker for infractions of strict rules.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Constitution prohibits
discrimination on the basis of disability; however, in practice
government and private sector discrimination in employment existed.
Society increasingly was open to the protection of the rights of
persons with disabilities. The law mandates access to buildings for
persons with disabilities; however, such regulations rarely were
enforced, and public awareness of them remained minimal. The National
Environmental Accessibility Program, an NGO comprising persons with
disabilities as well as service providers, had a presence in all nine
provinces to lobby for compliance with the regulations and to sue
offending property owners when necessary. The law provides persons with
disabilities with protection from harassment and, in conjunction with
the Employment Equity Act, also provides guidelines on the recruitment
and selection of persons with disabilities, reasonable accommodation
for persons with disabilities, and guidelines on proper handling of
employee medical information; however, enforcement of this law was
limited. The law also requires employers with more than 50 workers to
create an affirmative action plan with provisions for achieving
employment equity for persons with disabilities. It was estimated that
persons with disabilities constituted only 0.02 percent of the public
service workforce, compared with 5.9 percent of the general population.
In August, the Legal Resources Center filed a class action suit in
the Pretoria High Court representing 50,000 citizens who were disabled
by work-related accidents in the previous 11 years. They claimed the
Government had reneged on its statutory obligation to provide them with
their source of income.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits
discrimination and requires employers with 50 or more employees to
ensure that previously disadvantaged groups, defined for legal purposes
as Blacks including ``Africans,'' ``Colored,'' and ``Asians,'' are
represented adequately at all levels of the workforce; however, they
remained underrepresented in the workforce, particularly at the
professional and managerial levels. The Government continued efforts to
reorganize and redesign the educational, housing, and health care
systems to benefit all racial and ethnic groups in society more
equally.
Notwithstanding the country's anti-discrimination legislation, the
Commission for Employment Equity reported in its July 2003 annual
report that racial imbalances in the workplace still existed, and that
only 19 percent of positions at the top management level in 2002 were
held by Blacks and approximately 31 percent of professionally qualified
employees were Black. The report makes it clear that Black women by far
remained the worst off in terms of the number and quality of senior or
skilled jobs. Employers cited a lack of training and development, poor
recruitment processes, and an antagonistic corporate culture as the
main impediments to affirmative action.
There were an overwhelming number of Black workers in unskilled,
low paid jobs, where they amounted to 83 percent of the workforce. In
occupations such as newspaper venders, garage attendants, car washers,
gardeners, and garbage collectors, Blacks accounted for 98 percent of
the workforce.
The armed forces struggled with the process of integrating black
Africans into the predominantly white officer corps. In contrast to
2003, there were no reports of racism among SANDF troops in the DRC.
Xenophobia led to attacks on foreigners. Foreigners faced harsh
reactions from anti immigrant groups such as the Unemployed Masses of
South Africa, which criticized immigrants for job losses. The SAHRC
held hearings on xenophobia from November 2 to 4 to investigate the
extent of xenophobia in the country, and its human rights implications.
Testimonies told how foreigners are often mistreated and discriminated
against by police and the business community, and how the situation is
worsened by corruption within the Department of Home Affairs and the
SAPS. The SAHRC is scheduled to issue a report to Parliament, offering
guidance on action to combat this problem; however, the report had not
been issued by year's end.
The continued killings of mostly white farm owners by black African
assailants created concern among white farmers that they were being
targeted for racial and political reasons (see Section 1.a.). There
also were reports that white employers abused and killed black African
farm laborers, and complaints that the white employers received
preferential treatment from the authorities (see Section 1.a.).
On April 13, the media reported that there was an outbreak of
violence against Indian residents in Free State province.
Indigenous People.--The Khoikhoi, nomadic herders of cattle and
sheep, were the first indigenous people in the country, and lived
mainly in the southwestern Cape. Only a few thousand Khoikhoi remained,
some of whom worked as farmers or laborers on farms. Under the law the
Khoikhoi have the same political and economic rights as other citizens;
however, their participation was limited, due to fewer opportunities,
minimal access to education, and relative isolation.
The SAHRC conducted an inquiry into alleged human rights violations
against the Khomani San community in the Andriesvale-Askham area in the
Kalahari on October 26-29. The police shooting and killing of a
community member, Optel Rooi, in January sparked the SAHRC hearing. The
community alleged the police did not investigate the community's
complaints, and that the police assaulted them physically and verbally.
The community also alleged negligence by the Land Claims Commission, by
not supporting them after the community received 6 farms valued at $2.3
million (R15 million) in 1999. The SAHRC concluded the hearing. The
report has not been made public, but the DPP decided to prosecute
Inspector Johannes Liebenberg and Constable Wayne van Wyk for the
murder of Optel Rooi.
The media reported that the Northern Cape government's land reform
program resettled 500 to 1,000 San families in February from
Schmidtsdrift to Platfontein in the Northern Cape. Provincial
authorities also implemented a similar project in Killarney and with
the Moso Emerging Crop Trust project.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was some official
and societal violence and discrimination against homosexuals. The press
reported that police assaulted a homosexual man in Khayelitsha, Western
Cape on June 14, and that Khayelitsha police laughed at a gay man who
reported an assault. A lesbian claimed that two policemen beat and
raped her on September 9 and 10 because they wanted to show her what
happens to a woman ``who tries to be a man.'' The officers claimed that
she was drunk and resisted arrest. An investigation into the incident
was ongoing at year's end.
Although the Government conducted campaigns to reduce or eliminate
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, the social stigma
associated with HIV/AIDS remained a general problem. There were reports
of human rights abuse of HIV infected or affected individuals by their
families and communities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for freedom of
association, and workers exercised this right in practice. All workers
with the exception of members of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA)
and the Secret Service, were entitled to join a union. Union membership
in the private sector continued to decline steadily, as a result of job
layoffs and declining formal sector employment. Total union membership
was approximately 3.9 million persons, which constituted approximately
26 percent of the economically active population, with 485 registered
unions.
Although labor laws protected farm workers, some farm workers'
unions encountered difficulties trying to organize workers because
union organizers were considered trespassers on private property. In
addition, farm workers or farm residents who attempted to organize were
harassed, dismissed, and evicted. The DOL and unions enlisted the
cooperation of AgriSA, the national farmers' organization, to educate
farmers about workers' rights and to improve working conditions. The
DOL reported that 4.5 percent of the agricultural labor force was
unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law defines
and protects the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively
and workers exercised these rights in practice.
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised
this right in practice. Although members of the SANDF were allowed to
join a union, they were prohibited from striking. Strikes by workers in
essential services, such as police and hospital workers, are
prohibited. If disputes between workers in essential services and their
employees cannot be resolved through collective bargaining or
conciliation, they are referred to arbitration. There are no export
processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and
6.d.). According to DOL officials, there were no figures available for
children subjected to compulsory labor, but there was anecdotal
evidence that children of tenants were forced to work for landowners
for little or no wages, in return for the child's family occupying land
or accommodation (see Section 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor is prohibited by law; however, it remained a problem in the
informal sector. The Government generally enforced child labor laws in
the formal sectors of the economy; however, child labor was widespread
in informal and agricultural sectors, particularly in the former
homeland areas. The death of parents by HIV/AIDS has increased the
number of children who have to support themselves.
The law prohibits employment of a child who is under 15 years of
age; who is under the minimum school-leaving age (where the age is 15
or older); or who is over 15 but under 18, if the employment is
inappropriate for the child's age, or if the work places at risk the
child's well being, education, physical, or mental health, or
spiritual, moral, or social development, or has been prohibited by the
Minister of Labor through various regulations.
Child laborers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique worked in the country
on commercial farms, for the taxi industry, or as domestic servants.
There were reports that children were forced into prostitution and
anecdotal evidence that some children worked in conditions that
amounted to bondage (see Section 5, Trafficking).
During the year, the DOL recruited, trained, and empowered
inspectors to follow up on transgressors and enforce existing policies.
Violation of the laws regulating child employment is punishable by a
maximum prison sentence of 3 years or a fine of $2,308 (R15,000). In
July, a North West farmer was found guilty of 24 charges of child labor
and sentenced to 2 years in jail or a fine of $2,300 (R15,000). The
farmer had employed children from surrounding villages, one as young as
age 8, to harvest peanuts. DOL inspectors also were investigating a
case of child labor against a Ventersdorp commercial farmer in the
North West Province that involved a 13-year-old boy who was seriously
injured while allegedly working on the farm.
In some cases, DOL inspectors opted to resolve the problem of child
labor through counseling of employers, parents, and children or by
enlisting the services of professionals in the welfare and education
departments. There were also reports that inspectors had difficulty
gaining access to farms where incidents of child labor were reported.
The DOL started an awareness program aimed at educating farmers
about the rights of children.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no legally mandated
national minimum wage; however, the Government set minimum wages by
occupation, though not all occupations had yet come under review.
Annual negotiations between employers or employee associations and
unions set wage rates on an industry-by-industry or plant-by-plant
basis for unionized workers in the formal economy. Such negotiated
wages generally were sufficient to provide a decent standard of living
for a worker and family; however, in those sectors in which workers
were not organized sufficiently to engage in the collective bargaining
process many unskilled or rural workers were unable to provide a decent
standard of living for themselves and their families.
The law gives the Minister of Labor the authority to set wages,
including for farm laborers and domestic workers. In March 2003, the
Minister of Labor introduced a minimum wage for farm workers and in
November 2003 increased the minimum wage to $132.60 (R861.90) a month
in urban areas and to $107.70 (R700.05) a month in rural areas.
According to the DOL, compliance with the minimum wage rate ranged from
65 to 90 percent, depending on province. In March, the Minister of
Labor ordered that the wages of farm workers be increased by between 9
and 10 percent annually.
Minimum hourly rates for domestics depended on the number of hours
worked and could range from $0.60 (R3.88) to $0.80 (R5.23). The
Government also extended the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) benefits
to vulnerable workers such as domestics and farm workers, which
increased their security in the workplace. The DOL reported that the
majority of domestic employers complied with the dispensation on
minimum wages and conditions of work. DOL inspectors conducted home
visits to check whether employers were complying with the Domestic
Worker Sectoral Determination and the UIF Act.
In February, the Labor Court ordered a Durban textile firm to pay
$18,461 (R120,000) to 60 of its workers for failing to comply with
sectoral minimum wages.
The law standardizes time and a half pay for overtime, establishes
a 45 hour workweek, and authorizes 4 months of maternity leave for
women. A ministerial determination exempted businesses employing fewer
than 10 persons from certain provisions of the law concerning overtime
and leave.
Occupational health and safety issues were a top priority of trade
unions, especially in the mining, construction, and heavy manufacturing
industries, and the country's industrial and mining processes were
dangerous and sometimes deadly. The law provides for the right of mine
employees to remove themselves from work deemed dangerous to health or
safety. In addition, a tripartite mine health and safety council and an
inspectorate of mine health and safety were responsible for enforcing
the act and monitoring compliance with its provisions. The law
specifically makes it an offense for a company to discriminate against
an employee who asserted a right granted by the law (for example, to
leave a hazardous work site) and required mine owners to file annual
reports that provided statistics on health and safety incidents for
each mine being worked.
Four firms in KwaZulu-Natal were inspected in a blitz action on
March 29 and 30, and 17 contravention orders were issued on health and
safety violations. In April, the Labor Court fined a KwaZulu-Natal firm
$4,154 (R27,000) for failure to maintain a safe working environment in
2001 following a female employee's birth of still-born twins after
emergency services could not enter a locked building.
There were no laws or regulations, other than in the mining
industry, that permitted workers to remove themselves from work
situations deemed dangerous to their health or safety without risking
loss of employment; however, the law protects employees from
retaliation who disclosed dangerous workplace conditions to the
appropriate authorities.
On September 1, an explosion at a Sasol plastics plant killed 11
workers and injured 142 employees. Workers at the plant and the
Congress of South African Trade Unions representatives claimed that
there had been inadequate oversight of safety procedures. Sasol, the
DOL, and police launched a probe into the incident.
Despite government efforts to improve the plight of farm workers,
working conditions on farms generally remained poor. A 2000 DOL survey
found that employment conditions in the agricultural sector were
deplorable and the majority of farm workers ``live in circumstances of
absolute and relative poverty''; the majority of farm workers were not
unionized; and they were exploited by employers. Some white farmers
still gave the predominantly black farm workers cheap alcohol (a system
of payment known as ``tot'') in lieu of wages, according to a SAHRC
report released in September 2003. Farmers continued to illegally evict
workers; set their dogs on their employees; there was lack of access to
service delivery; lack of compliance with labor legislation; lack of
information on HIV/AIDS; and unacceptable levels of violence and crime
against farm workers and farm owners.
Many farmers did not accurately measure working hours, and they
often required their laborers to work 11 hours per day and 6 days per
week. In addition, 12 hour days were common during harvest time, and
few farmers provided overtime benefits. HRW reported low wages and the
absence of basic services in farm workers' housing.
Health and safety regulations often were not observed during the
use of chemicals in agricultural work. An investigation continued
during the year into the June 2003 death of an employee while cleaning
an underground tank at a wine farm in the Western Cape.
Illegal foreign workers had no protection under the law. They often
were reported to be underpaid and forced to work long hours in very
poor, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions.
__________
SUDAN
Sudan has an authoritarian government in which all effective
political power lies in the hands of President Omar Hassan al Bashir
and the National Congress (NC) Party inner circle, who have been in
power since a 1989 military coup instigated and supported by the
fundamentalist National Islamic Front (NIF). In 1999, Bashir broke with
the ideological leader of the NIF, Hassan al Turabi, disbanded
Parliament, suspended parts of the Constitution, and declared a state
of national emergency that abrogated basic liberties and remained in
effect at year's end. In 2000, Bashir was reelected, and his NC/NIF
political party won 340 out of 360 seats in the Parliament in deeply
flawed elections boycotted by all major opposition parties. NC/NIF
members and supporters continued to hold key positions in the
Government, security forces, judiciary, academic institutions, trade
unions, professional associations, and the media. The judiciary was not
independent and was subject to outside influence from the executive and
security forces.
The regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),
under Kenyan leadership, continued to seek an end to the country's 21-
year North-South civil war. A cessation of hostilities, first signed in
2002, was extended and was largely respected during the course of the
year, although there were some violations by both sides. On December
31, representatives of the Government and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement Army (SLPM/A) initialed a comprehensive peace agreement to be
signed formally on January 9, 2005. All of the protocols, including
those on wealth-sharing, power-sharing, and the status of the three
contested areas were signed in June. The Civilian Protection Monitoring
Team (CPMT) and the Joint Military Commission operating in the Nuba
Mountains had considerable success in monitoring and curbing serious
abuses during the year.
In Darfur, government and government-supported militia (jinjaweed)
committed serious abuses during the year, including razing hundreds of
villages of African tribes. Information available by September 9
indicated that genocide had been committed in Darfur, and the
Government and the jinjaweed bore responsibility. A U.N. International
Commission of Inquiry was investigating this issue at year's end. The
World Health Organization reported that, as a result of the conflict,
at least 70,000 civilians died, more than 1.5 million civilians were
internally displaced, and an estimated 200,000 refugees fled to
neighboring Chad.
In addition to the regular police and the Sudan People's Armed
Forces, the Government maintained an external security force, an
internal security force, a militia known as the Popular Defense Forces
(PDF), and a number of police forces. The security forces were under
the effective control of the Government. Members of the security forces
committed numerous, serious human rights abuses.
The country's mostly agricultural economy continued to be crippled
by the civil war, destruction of infrastructure, economic
mismanagement, and the existence of more than 4 million internally
displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in a country with an estimated
population of 38 million. The country took further steps towards
transitioning from a socialist to a market based economy; however, the
Government and NC supporters remained heavily involved in the economy.
Corruption, mismanagement, and increasing military expenditures limited
the impact of increased oil revenue and Islamic banking and financial
assets. The Government took important steps to reform its finance and
foreign exchange systems. Real gross domestic product grew an estimated
5.9 percent.
The Government's human rights record remained extremely poor, and,
although there were improvements in some areas, numerous, serious
problems remained. Citizens were unable to change their government
peacefully. Security forces and associated militias were responsible
for extrajudicial killings and disappearances. Government forces,
allied militias, and insurgent groups killed and injured thousands of
civilians in conflict. Security forces regularly beat, harassed,
arbitrarily arrested, and detained incommunicado opponents or suspected
opponents of the Government, and there were reports of torture.
Security forces and associated militias beat refugees, raped women
abducted during raids, and harassed and detained IDPs. Government
security forces and pro government militias acted with impunity.
Prison conditions remained harsh and life-threatening, and
prolonged detention remained an issue. The Government used arbitrary
arrest and detention under state of emergency provisions. The
authorities did not ensure due process in civilian or military courts.
The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. Humanitarian
relief flights significantly improved access throughout the South
during the year; however, obstructions to humanitarian access,
particularly to the Darfur region, continued.
The Government continued to restrict freedom of speech, press,
assembly, association; restricted freedom of religion and movement; and
arrested and harassed those who exercised these rights. There were
credible allegations of conversions of non Muslims to Islam as a
condition of employment or other privileges. Members of local human
rights NGOs were occasionally harassed. Violence and discrimination
against women and abuse of children remained problems. Female genital
mutilation (FGM) remained widespread, although it was becoming less
common. Abductions and trafficking in persons occurred but appeared to
decline. Discrimination and violence against ethnic minorities, and
government denial of workers' rights persisted. Security forces and
associated militias were responsible for forced labor (including forced
child labor) and forced military conscription of underage young men.
Child labor was widespread. Credible sources indicated that, unlike in
previous years, slavery did not appear to be a significant problem.
Antigovernment insurgent groups and associated militia forces also
committed numerous, serious abuses. The SPLM/A, the Sudanese Liberation
Army (SLA), and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were guilty of
abuses including killings, beatings, rape, robbery, destruction of
property, forced conscription, restricting freedom of movement of
populations under their control, kidnapping, restricting access of
relief workers and supplies, and killing of NGO workers.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of politically motivated killings by the Government or its
agents; however, there were reports of numerous extrajudicial killings
(see Section 1.g.).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that government
forces and allied militia pursued a systematic scorched earth policy
aimed at removing populations from the areas of the oil pipeline and
oil production; however, violence in Darfur increased significantly.
The Government attacked civilian facilities and housing, which resulted
in numerous civilian deaths, including of children (see Section 1.g.).
Deaths resulted from landmines during the year (see Section 1.g.).
In September, two men died while in government custody after being
arrested in a crackdown on supporters of Hassan Al-Turabi. The
Government reported that they arrested two members of the security
services in connection with this incident, but no known action had been
taken by year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police
killed persons while forcibly dispersing demonstrations.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that forced
conscriptions resulted in deaths.
There was a rash of violence, with killings committed by both the
Government and SPLM/A, in the Shilluk Kingdom after Dr. Lam Akol
defected from the government-affiliated SPLM-United to the main SPLM/A.
The CPMT confirmed that government-supported militias killed two
Shilluk farmers on April 2. The CPMT also confirmed that, on June 4,
SPLM/A soldiers killed 24 civilians working as charcoal makers on Akrwa
Island; they killed another person the next day.
Violence continued in the oil producing areas. On April 6, SPLA
soldiers attacked a Sudan Pile Company vehicle traveling on the Leer-
Adok oil road, killing two civilians and injuring another.
Rebel groups operating throughout the country were responsible for
killings (see Section 1.g.).
Interethnic conflict resulted in deaths during the year (see
Section 5).
Genocide committed by the Government and jinjaweed occurred in
Darfur during the year (see Section 1.g.).
b. Disappearance.--There were continued allegations that the
Government was responsible for the arrest and subsequent disappearance
of persons suspected of supporting rebels; however, unlike in previous
years, there were no such allegations that this took place in
government controlled zones in the South and the Nuba Mountains.
There were no confirmed reports of abductions in the southern part
of the country, largely due to the cessation of hostilities in much of
the South. In the past 15 years, an estimated 15,000 Dinka women and
children have been abducted; between 10,000 and 12,000 persons,
primarily Dinka, remained abducted or unaccounted for at year's end.
Observers believed that some of those abducted in the past were sold
into de facto slavery as forced laborers, while some others were
drafted into the military. In some cases, the abductees escaped or
eventually were released or ransomed; in other cases, they were killed.
Few persons who were previously abducted were returned during the year.
The Committee to Eradicate the Abduction of Women and Children
(CEAWAC) continued to report a lack of necessary funding to document,
rescue, and transport abductees back to their families (see Section 5).
The Government did not identify the abductors or forced labor owners
and has not prosecuted them.
There were no further developments, and none were expected,
regarding approximately 10,000 persons abducted by government supported
militia in northern Bahr el Ghazal during the last 20 years.
There were multiple reports during the year that rebel forces in
Darfur abducted persons, including government officials and
humanitarian aid workers (see Section 4).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of abductions by
SPLA forces and allied militias.
There also were reports of periodic intertribal abductions of women
and children in the Eastern Upper Nile (see Section 5).
The Ugandan Lords Resistance Army (LRA) kidnapped children in
Uganda and brought them into the southern part of the country (see
Section 5).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
government security forces continued to torture, beat, and harass
suspected political opponents and others. Impunity continued to be a
serious problem.
In accordance with Shari'a, the Criminal Act provides for physical
punishments including flogging, amputation, stonings, and
``crucifixion'' the public display of a body after execution. The
Government officially exempts the 10 southern states, in which the
population is mostly non-Muslim, from Hudud law--the part of Shari'a
which permits physical punishments, including flogging, amputation, and
stoning. During the year, there were a number of sentences of flogging
and cross-amputation, but few were carried out.
On April 14, a young Christian woman was fined and lashed for not
wearing a headscarf. The case of a 16-year-old girl convicted of
adultery in 2003 and sentenced to 100 lashes received media attention
when a human rights lawyer won the suspension of her sentence in late
January because she was a Christian and a minor. There was no further
information regarding the appeal of Mohamed Hassan Hamdan, a 16-year-
old sentenced in October 2003 to ``cross amputation'' for armed
robbery.
At least one person died as a result of torture while in the
custody of government security forces in Khartoum (see Section 1.a.).
On January 5, Waiel Taha, a student at the University of Khartoum
who was active in the Sudan Organization Against Torture, was arrested.
While in detention, he was hit in the genitals, beaten with a water
hose, and threatened with rape. He was later released.
There were reports that government security forces tortured and
beat persons suspected of supporting the rebels in Darfur. Amnesty
International (AI) provided numerous reports of beatings and torture of
persons detained in Darfur, including one incident in mid-March
following an SLA attack on Buram in which a number of civilians were
arrested and subsequently beaten with sticks and gun butts, tied
upside-down to a tree, and tied together in the back of a truck for 4
days without food and water.
There were also reports of detentions and torture by the rebels in
Darfur. The African Union's Ceasefire Commission for Darfur (AU CFC)
reported that, on October 27, the SLA stopped 3 commercial buses and
detained 18 Arab passengers, whom they took to an SLA base and beat
repeatedly.
Security forces beat and mistreated refugees and injured persons
while dispersing demonstrations (see Sections 2.b. and 2.d.).
Soldiers, PDF members, and pro government militia forces raped
women (see Section 1.g.). There was a clear and documented pattern of
rape and sexual abuse directed at IDPs of all ages in Darfur (see
Sections 1.g. and 5).
Government forces and allied militias were responsible for injuring
many civilians during attacks on rebel forces, during raids on civilian
settlements, and during bomb attacks on civilian targets (see Section
1.g.).
SPLM/A and affiliated forces were responsible for a number of
civilian injuries and for raping women (see Section 1.g.).
Prison conditions remained harsh, overcrowded, and life-
threatening. Most prisons were old and poorly maintained, and many
lacked basic facilities such as toilets or showers. Health care was
primitive, and food was inadequate. Prison officials arbitrarily denied
family visits to prisoners. High ranking political prisoners reportedly
often enjoyed better conditions than did other prisoners.
The Government routinely mistreated persons in custody. There were
reports that security forces held detainees incommunicado; beat them;
deprived them of food, water, and toilets; and forced them to sleep on
cold floors.
Male and female prisoners were held separately.
Juveniles often were held with adults. To provide proper care for
their children, many women prisoners took the children into the prison
where education was unavailable.
Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government did not permit regular visits to prisons by human
rights observers. No independent domestic human rights organizations
monitored prison conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention without charge; however, in practice, the
Government continued to use arbitrary arrest and detention under the
state of emergency provisions.
There are a number of police forces, including regular police
units, the Popular Police Force (PPF), and Public Order Police (POP).
The PPF is a parallel pro government force that received higher pay
than the regular police. The POP is a law enforcement entity that
enforced Islamic law (Shari'a), including enforcing proper social
behavior, such as restrictions on alcohol and ``immodest dress.''
Effectiveness varied depending on the strength of the local militias
and security forces. Police corruption was a problem, and police
officers supplemented their incomes by extorting bribes from the local
civilians.
Under the Constitution and the Criminal Code, an individual may be
detained for 3 days without charge, which can be extended for 30 days
by order of the Director of Security and another 30 days by the
Director of Security with the approval of the prosecuting attorney.
Under the National Security Act, which supercedes the Criminal Code, an
individual accused of violating national security may be detained for 3
months without charge, which the Director of Security may extend for
another 3 months. Under the state of emergency, the Government is not
constrained by the National Security Act and reportedly detained
individuals indefinitely without judicial review. Security forces often
held persons, including criminal detainees, incommunicado for long
periods of time in unknown locations without access to their lawyers or
family members.
The law allows for bail, except for those accused of crimes
punishable by death or life imprisonment, and there was a functioning
bail system.
In general, the Government detained persons for a few days before
releasing them without charge or trial; however, there were exceptions,
particularly for persons perceived as political opponents.
There were reports that security forces tortured, detained without
charge, and held incommunicado political opponents (see Sections 1.a
and 1.c.). Detentions of such persons generally were prolonged.
Security forces arrested numerous persons suspected of supporting the
rebels in Darfur, some of whom were tried, convicted, and sentenced to
death under Special Courts (see Section 1.e.). Security forces
frequently harassed political opponents by summoning them for
questioning, forcing them to remain during the day without questioning,
and then ordering them to return the following day--a process that
sometimes continued for weeks.
Authorities continued to detain political opponents of the
Government. There was an increase in detentions of members of Hassan
al-Turabi's Popular National Congress (PNC), including several major
crackdowns leading to dozens of arrests and detentions, which the
Government claimed were in response to coup plotting. Turabi himself
has been held without charge since September. A trial of 28 persons
charged with coup plotting was ongoing at year's end (see Section
1.e.). Several supporters of the eastern-based Beja Congress were
detained in Kassala and Port Sudan, including 12 members arrested in
Port Sudan on October 12.
Journalists were arrested and detained during the year (see Section
2.a.).
Security forces continued to detain persons because of their
religious beliefs and activities (see Section 2.c.). Detentions based
nominally on religion generally were of limited duration; however, the
Government routinely accused persons arrested for religious reasons of
common crimes and national security crimes, which resulted in prolonged
detention. Security forces often targeted southern women in IDP camps
because they produced and sold a traditional home brewed alcohol; such
women were arrested and imprisoned for up to 6 months under Shari'a.
Vagrant children accused of committing crimes were detained for
indefinite periods (see Section 5).
Unlike in the previous year, arrests and detentions of members of
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society groups were
infrequent (see Section 4).
Some sources believed that the SPLM/A still held several hundred
prisoners of war (POWs) in indefinite detention at year's end; however,
it was unknown whether this was indeed the case.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was largely subservient
to the President or the security forces, particularly in cases of
crimes against the state.
A Judiciary Committee nominates and the President appoints the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As the senior judge in the judicial
service, the Chief Justice also controlled the judiciary. The President
appoints the Constitutional Court's seven members. On occasion, courts
displayed a degree of independence. For example, appeals courts
overturned several decisions of lower courts in political cases,
particularly decisions from public order courts. However, political
interference with the courts regularly occurred. Ali Dosa, a Member of
Parliament arrested on charges of working with the Darfur rebels, was
imprisoned for several months, although his parliamentary immunity was
never lifted.
The judicial system includes four types of courts: Regular courts;
military courts; special courts; and tribal courts. Tribal courts were
in place in rural areas to resolve disputes over land and water rights,
and family matters. Within the regular court system, there are civil
and criminal courts, appeals courts, and the Supreme Court. Special
Courts in Darfur operated during the year under the state of emergency
to try crimes against the state. The Criminal Act governs criminal
cases, and the Civil Transactions Act applies in most civil cases.
Shari'a is applied in the North but not by courts in the South. There
continued to be reports that non Muslims were prosecuted and convicted
under Shari'a ``hudud'' laws (see Section 1.c.). Public order cases
were heard in criminal courts.
The Constitution provides for fair and prompt trials; however, this
was not respected in practice in many cases. Trials in regular courts
nominally met international standards of legal protections. The accused
normally have the right to an attorney, and the courts are required to
provide free legal counsel for indigent defendants accused of crimes
punishable by death or life imprisonment; however, there were reports
that defendants frequently did not receive legal counsel and that
counsel in some cases could only advise the defendant and not address
the court. There were reports that the Government sometimes denied
defense counsel access to the courts. For example, in September, 28
persons were put on trial for allegedly plotting a coup in March. On
October 25, the presiding judge banned the defendants' lawyers from
representing them and ordered them to pick new counsel or accept
government-appointed lawyers. The judge's decision was upheld on
appeal, and the trial remained pending at year's end.
Only military personnel were tried in military courts. Military
trials, which sometimes were secret and brief, did not provide
procedural safeguards. At military trials, the defendant's attorney,
called a friend of the defendant, may advise the defendant but may not
address the court. Military trials did not provide an effective appeal
from a death sentence. Witnesses may be permitted to appear at military
trials.
The Special Courts Act created special three person security courts
to deal with a wide range of offenses, including violations of
constitutional decrees, emergency regulations, some sections of the
Penal Code, as well as drug and currency offenses. Special courts,
composed primarily of civilian judges, handled most security related
cases. Attorneys could advise defendants as friends of the court but
normally could not address the court. Lawyers complained that they
sometimes were granted access to court documents too late to prepare an
effective defense. Sentences usually were severe and implemented at
once; however, death sentences were referred to the Chief Justice and
the Head of State. Defendants could file appellate briefs with the
Chief Justice. Special Courts operated in Darfur, as allowed under the
state of emergency.
Emergency tribunals, composed primarily of military judges,
continued to try banditry cases, particularly in Darfur. Defendants
were not permitted access to legal representation. The emergency
tribunals ordered sentences such as death by stoning and amputations
during the year. Sentences were carried out quickly, with only 1 week
allowed for appeal to the district chief justice. Emergency tribunals
ordered executions during the year. Unlike last year, there were no
confirmed reports that persons were executed the day after sentencing.
Lawyers who wished to practice were required to maintain membership
in the government-controlled bar association. The Government continued
to harass members of the legal profession who it viewed as political
opponents; some were detained, including the Director of the Darfur
Lawyers Association, Mohamed Adomo, who was later released.
Civil authorities and institutions did not operate in parts of the
rebel held South and the Nuba Mountains. Parts of the South and the
Nuba Mountains fell outside effective judicial procedures and other
governmental functions. According to credible reports, government units
summarily tried and punished those accused of crimes, especially for
offenses against civil order.
Magistrates in SPLM/A held areas followed a penal code roughly
based on the 1925 Penal Code. The SPLM has a judicial system of county
magistrates, county judges, regional judges, and a court of appeals.
While officials have been appointed for most of these positions, the
court system did not function in many areas due to lack of
infrastructure, communications, funding, and an effective police force.
Some cases were heard at the magistrate and county levels. The SPLM
recognized traditional courts or ``Courts of Elders,'' which usually
heard matters of personal affairs such as marriages and dowries, and
based their decisions on traditional and customary law. Local chiefs
usually presided over traditional courts. Traditional courts
particularly were active in Bahr el Ghazal. In rural areas outside
effective SPLM control, tribal chiefs applied customary laws.
There were reports of political prisoners. A considerable, but
unknown, number of persons were imprisoned for political reasons but on
ostensibly non-political charges.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government routinely violated these rights in practice. Security forces
frequently conducted night searches without warrants and targeted
persons suspected of political crimes.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security
personnel routinely opened and read mail or monitored telephones, and
there were no reports of government forces occupying political party or
NGO offices.
The Government continued to restrict the ownership of satellite
dishes by private citizens through use of its licensing requirement;
however, satellite dishes were widely available. A wide network of
government informants conducted surveillance in schools, universities,
markets, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Government razed squatter and IDP dwellings in the oil producing
regions or that government forces and allied militia pursued a scorched
earth policy aimed at removing populations from the areas of the oil
pipeline and oil production, as the cessation of hostilities largely
held.
Government armed forces and allied militias burned and looted
villages and stole cattle (see Section 1.g.). The CPMT verified a
number of incidents, including the March 8 looting of cattle and
property and the torching of the local school in the village of Obei by
government troops and affiliated militias.
Fighting in Darfur destroyed hundreds of villages as well as cattle
and other property. Both government-affiliated and rebel forces were
guilty of looting and razing villages and IDP camps (see Section 1.g.).
The Government continued forcibly to conscript citizens for
military service, including high school age children (see Section 5).
A Muslim man may marry a non Muslim, but a Muslim woman cannot
marry a non Muslim, unless he converts to Islam (see Section 5);
however, this prohibition was not observed or enforced universally,
particularly in the South and among Nubians. Non Muslims may adopt only
non Muslim children; no such restrictions apply to Muslim parents.
The SPLM/A generally was not known to interfere with privacy,
family, home, or correspondence in areas that it controlled; however,
rebel factions continued forcibly to conscript citizens, including
children of high school age. In Darfur, there were reports that
opposition forces forcibly conscripted men and boys.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of the SPLA
forcibly recruiting refugees in northern Uganda.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal and External Conflicts.--Since the civil war resumed in the
South in 1983, fighting between the Government and insurgents,
interethnic conflict, and famine has resulted in the death of more than
2 million persons and displacement of more than 4 million persons,
including at least 2 million in Khartoum alone. During the year, the
war in the western region of Darfur widened.
While all sides in Darfur violated international law and
international humanitarian law, information available by September 9
indicated that genocide had been committed in Darfur, and the
Government and the jinjaweed bore responsibility. U.N. Security Council
(UNSC) Resolution 1564 established a U.N. Commission of Inquiry to
investigate whether or not genocide had been committed, and its report
was expected in January 2005.
The conflict in Darfur has roots in both government neglect of the
region and ethnic tensions between nomadic pastoralists and sedentary
farming communities, exacerbated by scarce resources and the
Government's support of the nomad militias. The fighting intensified
dramatically in 2003 and during the year when the SLA and JEM attacked
government bases, and the Government intensified its support of the
nomad militias. Reliable reports indicated that Government and Arab
militia forces destroyed a large number of villages of African tribes,
and there were tens of thousands of deaths. At year's end, there were
more than 1.5 million IDPs in Darfur, and another 200,000 civilians
fled into Chad where the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
coordinated a massive refugee relief effort. More than 70,000 people
reportedly died as a result of the violence and forced displacement.
The Government continued to support the largely Arab nomad militia,
known as jinjaweed, which terrorized and killed civilians and burned,
raped, and pillaged the region.
Government and government-supported militias routinely attacked
civilian villages, killing thousands. Typically, mounted jinjaweed
forces, often in concert with regular government forces, conducted the
attacks. Despite the Government's November commitment to refrain from
aerial bombardment, helicopter gunships and Antonov bombers continued
to support attacks against some villages, usually where rebel
combatants were located. Some of the most serious aerial bombing
attacks took place after November 9, many of which the Government
either denied or claimed were defensive in nature. While some of that
aerial attacks were conducted in support of military operations,
credible NGO reported indicated that aerial attacks and pillaging by
the jinjaweed were also conducted in areas vacated by opposition rebels
and that many of the aerial attacks appeared to be indiscriminate.
Victims and NGOs stated that, in the attacks, helicopters often used
rockets (including flechette rounds) and cannon fire, usually against
rebel forces, including those holding villages. Killings and rapes
during these attacks were common.
The press, AI, and HRW reported the following incidents: In
February, there were reports of a government and jinjaweed coordinated
an attack on Tawila, in which 67 persons were reportedly killed and
numerous women raped. On March 19, there were credible reports that
members of the armed forces and military intelligence arrested eight
males from Jeway Kheen and put them in a military camp for 9 days
before transferring them; their whereabouts were unknown. Also in
March, members of the jinjaweed militia arrested and then killed 168
individuals from 10 villages in Wadi Saleh Province in western Darfur.
On May 24, a jinjaweed attack on a village south of Nyala killed 50
civilians. On May 28, an Antonov airplane accompanied by two helicopter
gunships bombed a crowded village near El Fashir, capital of South
Darfur, killing 12 persons. According to AI, on July 12, a bombing
attack by fixed-wing aircraft on the village of Donki Dereisa in South
Darfur in support of an attack by government and jinjaweed forces
resulted in approximately 150 deaths. In November and December, the
pace of attacks and aerial bombings accelerated. On December 18,
helicopter gunships supported a Government offensive against the rebel-
held South Darfur town of Labado, a town with a large humanitarian
presence. Several humanitarian relief workers were killed during this
period.
Jinjaweed forces routinely raped women who ventured from IDP camps
in search of wood or water. The Government made a limited effort to
address the problem of sexual violence in Darfur (see Section 5). In
February, the U.N. reported that members of the jinjaweed raped 41
schoolgirls and teachers in an attack on Tawila. In June, jinjaweed
militia raped 40 women from an IDP camp in Western Darfur. Effective
responses by human rights and advocacy groups were occasionally
hampered by intimidation and difficulties in accessing Darfur.
All sides were responsible for violations of humanitarian law,
often in an escalating cycle of retaliation. For example, on November
20, 9 SLA members were ambushed between Tawila and Korma, which led to
SLA attacks on Tawila that killed at least 14. The SLA attacks were
followed by government attempts to retake the town, which included
aerial bombardment of civilians.
Cooperation with U.N.-sponsored relief operations was often
inadequate, although there was some improvement. The Government
initially hindered NGO access and ability to supply needed food and
other resources. After a sustained campaign of international pressure,
the Government improved humanitarian access considerably in all
regions, particularly Darfur. Rebel forces and bandits also obstructed
the flow of humanitarian assistance to the Darfur region and were
responsible for attacks on humanitarian workers.
An AU-led international monitoring force was present in Darfur;
however, security remained a major problem, and reports of violence
remained common at year's end.
There were reports that the Government and government-supported
militia tortured and beat persons suspected of supporting the rebellion
in Darfur (see Section 1.c.).
The rebel groups in Darfur were also responsible for numerous
abuses during the year. For example, the AU CFC verified that, on
August 22, SLA forces attacked the village of Gangbeda, injuring two
persons and killing and injuring the villages' camels. In another AU-
documented incident, the SLA attacked 20 policemen, killing 5 and
injuring 7 others. Rebels attacked commerce on the roads, including
humanitarian aid shipments, and seized goods, vehicles, and persons.
Rebel attacks against ``soft'' government targets, such as police
stations, contributed to the rise in lawlessness.
In the southern war zone, the SPLM/A controlled large areas of the
states of Equatoria, Bahr el Ghazal, and Upper Nile and also operated
in the southern portions of the states of Darfur, Kordofan, and Blue
Nile. The Government controlled a number of the major southern towns
and cities, including Juba, Wau, and Malakal. Military activity
decreased due to the continuance of the cessation of hostilities first
signed in 2002; however, there was an outbreak of violence in the
Shilluk Kingdom in the spring (see Section 1.a.). All sides in the
fighting were responsible for human rights abuses and violations. The
SPLM/A and its northern allies controlled the border area with Eritrea
and continued to occupy the symbolically important town of Hamesh
Khoreb with units of the Beja Congress rebels. The Government continued
efforts to strengthen its control of the oil-producing areas in western
Upper Nile, partially by employing local militias.
Government forces routinely killed, injured, and displaced
civilians, and destroyed clinics and dwellings intentionally during
offensive operations. There were confirmed reports that government-
supported militia intentionally attacked noncombatant civilians, looted
their possessions, and destroyed their villages. For example, the CPMT
verified a mid-March attack by government-aligned militia forces on the
village of Pakang, west of Malakal. In another case, the CPMT
determined that a government militia force entered the South Sudan
National Park and killed civilians near the village of Mapel.
During the violence in the Shilluk Kingdom (see Section 1.a.),
government troops, government-affiliated militia, and government police
attacked villages around Malakal and razed numerous villages,
destroying as many as 700 homes, stealing cattle, and displacing tens
of thousands of persons.
There were no reports that the Government prosecuted or otherwise
penalized attacking militias or made efforts to protect civilian
victims from attacks; government forces provided logistic and
transportation support, and weapons and ammunition to pro government
militias throughout the country.
The CPMT was located in Rumbek, Malakal, and Khartoum; it was
staffed by experienced personnel, investigated numerous violations, and
found that both sides committed human rights abuses.
The CPMT substantiated numerous reports that government forces
raped women throughout the South. There were also reports that
government-affiliated militias, as well as SPLM/A forces, raped women
during the year.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no CPMT reports of
sustained violence on the Bentiu-Adok Road.
There was no further information regarding POWs once reported held
in government-controlled areas. The Government did not acknowledge
holding any POWs; the SPLM alleged that they were killed during the
years of fighting.
There were 15 death and 30 injuries attributed to landmines
previously laid by the Government to protect garrison towns and from
landmines left by the SPLM/A and its allies during the war. Other than
one unconfirmed report, it appeared that no new mines were laid in the
South. However, landmines were used in the Darfur conflict, and deaths
resulted from landmines during the year. The U.N. Mine Action Service
reported four mine incidents in Darfur during the year. In November, a
landmine reportedly killed a government official during near the oil
pipeline.
The SPLM/A and allied insurgent forces displaced, killed, and
injured civilians, raped women, and destroyed clinics and dwellings
intentionally. For example, the CPMT reported that, on July 21, SPLA
forces attacked civilians transporting bamboo through Malakal: Four
persons were killed, three of them executed by shots to the head and
chest.
The SPLM/A, which has taken a number of POWs over the years, often
cooperated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
allowing them regular visits to the POWs (see Section 1.c.).
There were credible reports of SPLM/A and SLA taxation and theft of
relief supplies. The SPLM/A leadership repeatedly committed itself to
eliminating these practices; however, in practice, it appeared unable
consistently to enforce compliance with those commitments by its forces
in the field.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of thought, expression, and of the press ``as regulated by
law''; however, the Government severely restricted these rights in
practice. Government detentions, intimidation, and surveillance of
journalists and suspensions of newspapers continued to inhibit open
discussion of political issues, although such discussions did take
place in public forums, particularly after mid-year. Journalists
practiced self censorship, and the Government confiscated entire issues
of newspapers if it objected to an article.
There were a large number of daily newspapers, mainly in urban
areas, and differing political views were reflected to some extent.
Several newspapers also reprinted articles from the international
press, some of which were critical of government policies. There was
one formally government-controlled newspaper in Arabic and one in
English, although security services also controlled other newspapers. A
number of independent publications were under intensive scrutiny during
the year and experienced intimidation, interruption, and arrest of
their editors.
The Government directly controlled radio and television and
required that they reflect government policies. Television has a
permanent military censor to ensure that the news reflected official
views. During the year, the first private FM radio station began
operating in Khartoum, broadcasting music. The Government often charged
that the international, particularly the Western, media had an anti
Sudan and anti Islam bias. Some foreign radio broadcasts were available
in the country.
In spite of the restrictions on ownership of satellite dishes,
citizens had access to foreign electronic media; the Government did not
jam foreign radio signals. In addition to domestic and satellite
television services, there was a pay cable network, which directly
rebroadcast uncensored foreign news and other programs.
During the year, the Government eased restrictions on foreign
journalists and allowed them access to Darfur. A few journalists and
photographers were detained for taking pictures of slums, taking
pictures without a license, or publishing news accounts unflattering to
the Government; however, all were quickly released, and none were
charged with any crimes.
A number of journalists and editors were arrested and detained
during the year. For example, on January 14, the editor of one
newspaper was arrested and only released after paying $28,000 (SDD 7.28
million), which the Government claimed was a tax. Security forces
summoned the chief editor of Al-Sahafa, and the chief editor of Al-Wan
was detained for 18 days during September. The Government commonly
employed the tactic where state's attorneys summoned the editors of
newspapers and detained them all day so that they could not do their
work.
There was no further information on journalist Yusuf al-Beshir
Musa, whom security forces arrested in May 2003.
The Government exercised control of news reporting, particularly of
political topics, the war, and criticism of the Government--
particularly regarding government actions and policies in Darfur,
through the National Press Council and security forces. Newspapers were
prohibited from publishing articles about the war with the exception of
information provided by the Ministry of Defense or official government
statements. Nevertheless, the local press did report the findings of
the CPMT investigations.
The National Press Council, which was directly responsible to the
President, applied the Press Law. It was charged with licensing
newspapers, setting press policy, and responding to complaints. In the
event of a complaint, it could warn a newspaper or suspend it for up to
15 days. It also could suspend a newspaper indefinitely and suspend
journalists for up to 2 weeks. The National Press Council consisted of
21 members: 7 selected by the President; 5 from the National Assembly;
7 directly elected by journalists from the Journalists' Union; and 2
selected by the Journalists' Union leadership. Observers believed the
Journalist's Union was government-controlled. The National Press
Council suspended journalists and newspapers during the year.
During the year, the National Security Office imposed restrictions
on press freedom by suspending publications, confiscating already
printed editions, conducting pre publication censorship, and
restricting government advertising to pro government media only.
Newspapers Al-Adwa, Al-Ayam, Al-Sahafa, al-Wan, and the Khartoum
Monitor were targeted during the year. For example, in March, a court
closed the Alazaminah Times for 3 days for publishing a report linking
a government media official to the security forces; in September and
October, two issues of Al-Adwa were confiscated; and the November 22
issue of Alwan newspaper was confiscated. No newspapers remained closed
at year's end.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
The Government restricted academic freedom. In public universities,
the Government appointed the vice chancellors, who were responsible for
running the institutions. While many professors lectured and wrote in
opposition to the Government, they exercised self censorship. Private
universities were not subject to direct government control; however, in
some cases, professors also exercised self censorship. The Government
continued to determine the curriculum.
The Government continued to harass university student groups.
Although university students elected opposition parties' student
unions, the Government harassed the student unions, took their files,
destroyed their computers, and arrested and detained their members. On
October 9, Khartoum University students burned down a building to
protest a new identification policy to monitor certain students.
The SPLM/A and the umbrella opposition National Democratic Alliance
provided few opportunities for journalists to report on their
activities. The SPLM/A restricted the freedom of speech among
populations under its control.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government continued to
severely restrict this freedom. All rallies and public demonstrations
in the country are banned, and no permits were authorized or issued.
The authorities generally permitted only government-authorized
gatherings and routinely denied permission for or disrupted gatherings
they perceived were politically oriented. The Government used the state
of emergency as an excuse to restrict gatherings.
Islamic orders associated with opposition political parties,
particularly the Ansar (the Umma Party) and Khatimia (the Democratic
Unionist Party or DUP) continued to be denied permission to hold large
public gatherings during most of the year.
Security forces used excessive force, including beatings, tear gas,
and firing of live ammunition to disperse unapproved demonstrations.
For example, in Khartoum, at least 10 persons were injured late in the
year when riot police using tear gas and batons broke up a
demonstration by students from Darfur, who were asking for an end to
the violence there.
No action was taken against security forces who used excessive
force in 2003 or 2002.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government severely restricted this right in practice. There were 20
officially registered political parties; however, the law includes
restrictions that effectively prohibit traditional political parties if
they were linked to armed opposition to the Government. The Political
Parties Act allows some formerly banned political parties to resume
their activities; however, the parties were required to notify the
registrar in writing to participate in elections. Observers believed
that the Government controlled professional associations.
The Government restricted diplomatic, international, and regional
organizations' contact with local political organizations that the
Government considered to be waging war against it.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, in practice, the Government continued to place many
restrictions on non-Muslims, non-Arab Muslims, and Muslims from tribes
or sects not affiliated with the ruling party. The Government, which
came into power in 1989 with a goal of Islamization, treated Islam as
the state religion, declaring that Islam must inspire the country's
laws, institutions, and policies. The three Naivasha Protocols signed
on May 26 and the Nairobi Declaration of June 5 confirm the principle
of freedom of religion and address how Islamic law (Shari'a) will be
applied throughout the country, but they have not yet been implemented.
There were reports that security forces harassed and at times
threatened use of violence against persons on the basis of religious
beliefs and activities, although it was sometimes unclear whether they
were harassed for religious or political reasons.
Religious organizations and churches were subject to the same
restrictions placed on nonreligious corporations. Religious groups were
supposedly required to register to be recognized or to assemble
legally; however, in practice, registration reportedly was no longer
necessary, and the churches, including the Catholic Church, have
declared they are not NGOs and declined to register. Registered
religious groups were supposed to be exempt from most taxes, but the
churches reported that they remained subject to taxes and import
duties.
While, in general, non-Muslims were allowed to worship freely in
their places of worship, religious minority rights were not protected,
since the Government treated Islam as the state religion with an open
policy of Islamization freely promulgated. Authorities continued to
restrict the activities of Christians, followers of traditional
indigenous beliefs, and other non Muslims, as well as certain Islamic
groups.
Some non-Muslim businessmen complained of petty harassment and
discrimination in awarding of government contracts and trade licenses.
There also were reports that some Muslims received preferential
treatment regarding limited government services, such as access to
medical care, and in court cases involving Muslim against non-Muslim.
However, non-Arab Muslims and Muslims from tribes and sects not
affiliated with the ruling party, such as in Darfur and the Nuba
Mountains, stated that they were treated as second-class citizens and
were discriminated against in government jobs and contracts in the
North and government-controlled southern areas.
The use and construction of houses of worship required government
approval. Applications to build mosques generally were granted in
practice; however, the process for applications to build churches was
more difficult, and the last permit was issued around 1975. The
Guidance and Endowment Minister stated that his ministry had granted
permission for new places of worship but that the local authorities
denied permission based on criteria developed for their areas, such as
that no similar church may be within a certain radius of the proposed
construction and that there be a minimum number of worshippers for that
church in the locality.
Under the Criminal Act, non Muslims may convert to Islam; however,
conversion by a Muslim was punishable by death. In practice,
authorities usually subjected converts to intense scrutiny, ostracism,
and intimidation, and encouraged them to leave the country.
Although some non-Muslims have converted to obtain or keep a job,
for promotions and job advancement, or for other social services or
benefits, there was no evidence of forced conversions during the year.
Some church leaders said that security forces in the south, in an
attempt to garner votes for the referendum on north-south unity
scheduled to be held 6 years after the peace agreement is signed, were
rewarding persons for converting to Islam.
PDF trainees, including non Muslims, were indoctrinated in the
Islamic faith. In prisons and juvenile detention facilities, government
officials and government supported Islamic NGOs pressured and offered
inducements to non Muslim inmates to convert. Some persons in the
government controlled camps for IDPs reportedly at times were pressured
to convert to Islam. Children, including non Muslim children, in camps
for vagrant minors were required to study the Koran, and there was
pressure on non Muslims children to convert to Islam. Unlike in
previous years, there were no credible reports of abductions and forced
conversion of children from Christian and other non-Muslim families.
Christian religious workers, including priests and teachers, like
almost all visitors, experience delays in getting visas to visit the
country. The visas were generally issued, sometimes after very lengthy
delays or after the person could no longer travel. The Government
controlled the travel of all visitors to a number of conflict areas by
refusing or delaying travel permit issuance.
Muslims could proselytize freely in the government-controlled
areas, but non Muslims were forbidden to proselytize.
Children who have been abandoned or whose parentage was unknown
regardless of presumed religious origin were considered Muslims and
could be adopted only by Muslims.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that Islamic
students abused non-Sudanese African students.
In SPLM/A controlled areas, Christians, Muslims, and followers of
traditional indigenous beliefs generally worshiped freely; however,
many of the region's Muslim residents have departed voluntarily over
the years. The SPLM officially favored secular government; however,
Christians dominated the SPLM, and local SPLM authorities often had a
very close relationship with local Christian religious authorities.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government restricted these rights in practice.
Movement generally was unhindered for citizens outside the war
zones; however, travelers who failed to produce an identity card at
checkpoints risked arrest. Foreigners needed permits for domestic
travel outside of Khartoum, which could be difficult to obtain and were
sometimes refused. Foreigners must register with the police on entering
the country, obtain permission to move from one location to another,
and re register at each new location within 3 days of arrival.
Foreign NGO staffs had major problems obtaining entry visas as well
as work or travel permits for Darfur. There were numerous reports of
delays and restrictions being imposed. In mid-year, under international
pressure, the Government eased these restrictions and, in most cases,
issued visas within 48 hours, although there was still a notification
requirement for those going to Darfur.
Foreign diplomats could travel to many locations without a
government escort but had to notify the Government of travel to Darfur,
which at year's end was not blocked, although early in the year there
had been some problems. Visitors were sometimes denied travel or their
travel was deferred due to the Government's delays in granting travel
authorization.
The Government denied exit visas to some categories of persons,
including policemen and physicians, and maintained lists of political
figures and other citizens who were not permitted to travel abroad. For
example, in November a member of Hassan al-Turabi's PNC was not allowed
to travel to Kenya, and, in December, a DUP member was denied
permission to travel.
Women cannot travel abroad without the permission of their husbands
or male guardians; however, this prohibition was not enforced strictly,
especially for NC members.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
Opposition leaders remained in self imposed exile in Cairo, Asmara, and
other locations during the year.
The SPLM/A restricted freedom of movement among populations under
its control. Citizens from the North or from government-controlled
areas reportedly were denied permission to enter SPLM areas and were
treated as foreigners. Insurgent movements in the South also required
foreign NGO personnel to obtain permission before traveling to areas
that they controlled; however, they generally granted such permission.
NGO workers who have worked in government held areas encountered
problems receiving permission to work or travel in insurgent held
areas.
There were estimates that up to 4 million persons were displaced
internally due to the civil war. The U.N. estimated that at least 1.5
million persons had been displaced by the conflict in Darfur and that
another 200,000 had fled to Chad. Tens of thousands of persons, largely
southerners and westerners displaced by famine and civil war, continued
to live in squatter slums ringing Khartoum. Refugee International
researchers estimated that more than 300,000 refugees and displaced
persons returned home during the year.
There were frequent reports of abuses committed against IDPs,
including rapes, beatings, and attempts by the Government to forcibly
return persons to their homes. The Government forcibly emptied some IDP
camps; for example, on November 2, the Government closed two camps (Al
Jeer and Otash), using tear gas to drive IDPs out. The Government
stated that it merely was moving IDPs to newer, better camps. There
also were numerous credible reports that government troops harassed
IDPs or denied persons access to camps. On August 3, police reportedly
removed 50 newly arrived men from Kalma camp. On August 5, 48 students
who attempted to enter Kalma camp were arrested, detained, and then
released. There were credible reports that the Government arrested
Darfurian IDPs who spoke with foreign observers. In December, the
Government publicly committed itself to the principle of voluntary
relocation of IDPs in cooperation with the U.N. and NGOs, and the
International Organization for Migration reported a few voluntary
returns. The U.N. reported that IDPs lived in a climate of fear.
The Government pressured IDPs to return home against their wishes.
In one instance, foreign observers, visiting an IDP return site in Sani
Deleiba set up by the Government, discovered that IDPs who had been
forced home and promised assistance to rebuild their homes received two
small bowls of sorghum and a piece of plastic sheeting.
The UNHCR reported that there were approximately 572,000 Sudanese
refugees in neighboring countries, largely due to the conflict in the
South. The largest number was in Uganda, with approximately 223,000.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but the Government has not established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government generally provided protection against refoulement, the
return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. The
Government granted refugee status or asylum; however, there was no
standard determination procedure, and there were reports of the forced
return of refugees to their countries of origin. The Government
cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian assistance
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers and accorded
refugees generally good treatment. The UNHCR reported that there were
approximately 327,000 refugees in the country, primarily from Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Chad, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and
Somalia. Approximately 150,000 refugees were in camps, and the rest
were scattered in urban areas throughout the country. The Government
also provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify
as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol; however, no
statistics were available for the year.
There were reports that government officials mistreated refugees,
including through beatings and arbitrary arrests. Refugees could not
become resident aliens or citizens, regardless of their length of stay.
The Government allowed a large number of refugees to work.
Improved security in the South due to the ceasefires increased the
return of displaced populations into areas of origin that were severely
affected by the war and lacked basic services. A number of refugees and
displaced persons voluntarily returned to the country during the year,
particularly to the Nuba Mountains region.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, in practice citizens had no genuine
opportunity to change their government. Presidential and parliamentary
elections were held in 2000, and there were allegations of serious
irregularities, including official interference, electoral fraud,
inadequate opportunities for all voters to register, and inadequate
election monitoring. All major opposition parties boycotted the
election. President Bashir was elected to another 5 year term, and the
NC/NIF won 340 out of 360 seats in Parliament in the deeply flawed
process.
In 1999, President Bashir disbanded the Parliament, suspended
portions of the 1998 presidentially decreed Constitution, and decreed a
state of national emergency, which suspended basic civil liberties.
Parliament resumed in 2001; however, with 98 percent of the Parliament
in the ruling NC Party, the Parliament did not act independently of the
President. The state of emergency remained in effect at year's end,
and, on December 21 Parliament voted to extend it for another year.
The law allows the existence of political parties; however, the
Government continued to routinely deny permission for and disrupt
gatherings that it viewed as politically oriented (see Section 2.b.).
Security forces arrested, detained, and on occasion, beat political
opponents during the year (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). The major
opposition political parties for the most part remained marginalized
from the political process; however, as the peace negotiations
progressed during the year, opposition parties became more vocal in
their demand for inclusion, and the Government sought the support of
some to add legitimacy to the agreements. Hassan al-Turabi's PNC
remained a proscribed political organization.
The Government continued summarily to dismiss military personnel as
well as civilian government employees whose loyalty it considered
suspect in a process called ``separation for public interest.''
Throughout the year, a number of military officers were fired because
they were either from Darfur or did not support the ruling party
strongly enough.
The federal system of government was developing a structure of 26
states, with governors and senior state officials appointed by the
President. The Government described this strategy as a possible
inducement to the rebels for accommodation through a principle of
regional autonomy; however, southerners were underrepresented in the
central Government, and local appointees were not universally viewed as
representative of their constituencies.
The NGO Transparency International reported a widespread perception
of corruption.
There were no laws providing for public access to government
information.
Women had the right to vote. There were 12 women in the 360 seat
Parliament. There were two women in the Cabinet, two female State
Ministers, and seven women on the Supreme Court.
There were approximately 55 southerners in the 360 seat Parliament,
and approximately 30 Christians in the Council of Ministers.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Various local human rights groups were active in the country, but
they suffered from occasional government harassment. The Government was
generally uncooperative with and unresponsive to domestic human rights
groups, and one human rights leader, Mudawi Ibrahim, has been detained
twice.
Events in Darfur brought heightened levels of scrutiny from
international NGOs, which the Government often resisted, although it
did allow a number of human rights groups to visit the country. The
Government initially made it very difficult for NGOs to operate in
Darfur by denying visas, holding up the clearance of equipment and
supplies at customs, denying permission to travel within the country,
and harassing the humanitarian community, although visa issuance and
access for humanitarian workers improved somewhat later in the year.
Rebel attacks on relief convoys continued, as did government ripostes.
Access in the South continued to improve as the cessation of
hostilities continued, although there were still some problems, notably
in Southern Blue Nile.
In October, AI visited the country, as did Human Rights Watch,
which made its first visit to the country in 5 years. Both groups were
allowed to travel throughout the country. The president of the ICRC
visited the country twice and delivered to the Government and rebel
leaders confidential reports on human rights violations and
recommendations for addressing these violations.
Rebels reportedly abducted NGO workers in Darfur. On October 10, a
mine explosion killed two Save the Children staff members who were
driving in Darfur. In December, rebels executed two other NGO workers
at a roadblock near Nyala. In mid-December, three female Save the
Children national staff were raped and their four male colleagues were
beaten.
The U.N. also sent a number of different teams to the country to
investigate the human rights situation and events in Darfur. The U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Secretary-General's
Special Representative for the Prevention of Genocide visited the
country, and the office of the UNHCR deployed monitors to Darfur. A
UNSC Resolution created an International Commission of Inquiry to
investigate events in Darfur; the team began its mission in Khartoum on
November 7 and was carrying out its mandate at year's end.
The Human Rights Advisory Council, a government body composed of
representatives of human rights offices in 22 government ministries and
agencies whose rapporteur was the Solicitor General for Public Law, was
charged with investigating human rights complaints. The Council took no
known actions during the year.
The National Assembly has a broadly representative human rights
committee, which had responsibility for investigating and reporting on
human rights abuses to the Assembly. There was no information on
reports or recommendations it made during the year.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, or
religious creed; however, discrimination against women and ethnic
minorities continued. Mechanisms for social redress, particularly with
respect to violence against women and children, were ineffective.
Women.--Violence against women was a problem; however, since
reliable statistics did not exist, its prevalence was unknown. Many
women were reluctant to file formal complaints against such abuse,
although it was a legal ground for divorce. The police normally did not
intervene in domestic disputes.
Displaced women from the South were vulnerable to harassment, rape,
and sexual abuse. The Government did not address the problem of
violence against women, nor was it discussed publicly. The punishment
for rape under the Criminal Act varies from 100 lashes to 10 years
imprisonment to death. In most cases, convictions were not publicized;
however, observers believed that sentences often were less than the
maximum provided for by law. Pregnant unmarried women and young girls
were convicted during the year of adultery (see Section 1.c.).
Women in Darfur were particularly vulnerable. Credible reports of
rape were widespread. There were many reports of women who were raped
if they left their IDP camps to gather food or wood. The Government was
slow to acknowledge the severity of the problem, although it eventually
appointed a commission to investigate rape allegations. The commission
was neither active nor effective in stopping assaults against women.
The problem was exacerbated because local authorities often required
rape victims to file a police report before they could receive medical
treatment, despite an August 21 decree that waived the requirement.
U.N. and NGO sources confirmed that the decree was not regularly
observed. Women distrusted the police and rarely filed a police report.
FGM remained widespread, particularly in the North, although it was
becoming less common as a growing number of urban, educated families
abandoned the practice. Unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports that women displaced from South to North imposed FGM on their
daughters. Some families, in a compromise with tradition, adopted the
least severe form of FGM, ``sunna,'' as an alternative to infibulation.
No form of FGM was illegal under the Criminal Code; however, the health
law forbade doctors and midwives from performing infibulation. The
Government did not support FGM and actively campaigned against it, as
did the SPLM in its zone of control. One local NGO worked to eradicate
FGM.
Prostitution is illegal but widespread.
Trafficking in women remained a problem but declined in scope
during the year (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, such harassment
reportedly occurred, although reliable statistics were not available.
Some aspects of the law discriminated against women, including many
traditional law practices and certain provisions of Shari'a as
interpreted and applied by the Government. In accordance with Islamic
law, a Muslim woman has the right to hold and dispose of her own
property without interference, and women are ensured inheritance from
their parents. However, a widow inherits one-eighth of her husband's
estate; of the remaining seven-eighths, two-thirds goes to the sons and
one-third to the daughters. It is much easier for men than for women to
initiate legal divorce proceedings.
Because, under Islamic law, a non-Muslim woman is viewed as taking
on the religion of her husband at marriage, a Muslim man may marry a
Christian or Jew, and their children will be considered Muslim. The
same is not true for a Muslim woman, who cannot legally marry a non-
Muslim unless he converts to Islam. Since traditionalist marriages are
not licensed or recognized as official by the State, this prohibition
usually was neither observed nor enforced in areas of the South not
under government control or among Nubans (most of whom are Muslims).
Women cannot travel abroad without the permission of their husbands
or male guardians; however, this prohibition was not enforced strictly,
particularly for NC members.
Women generally were not discriminated against in the pursuit of
employment; however, women were not allowed to work after 10 p.m., in
theory limiting their employment opportunities. Nonetheless, many women
did work after 10 p.m., and in official positions such as airport
security. Women were accepted in professional roles. More than half the
professors at Khartoum University were women.
Various governmental bodies have decreed that women must dress
modestly according to Islamic standards, including wearing a head
covering; however, in general, police rarely enforced such decrees.
Women often appeared in public wearing trousers or with their heads
uncovered. These acts violated regulations against indecency, but the
POP generally only issued warnings for improper dress.
A number of women's groups were active, focusing on a wide range of
social and economic issues.
Children.--The Government's commitment to children's rights and
welfare was uneven. Education was compulsory through grade eight;
however, according to UNICEF, approximately half of school age children
attended primary school. There were wide disparities among states and
some gender disparity especially in the eastern and western regions;
for example, enrollment was 78 percent in Khartoum State and only 26
percent in South Darfur State. In the North, boys and girls generally
had equal access to education (50 percent and 47 percent,
respectively), although girls were more affected by early marriage and
the fact that many families with restricted income choose to send sons
and not daughters to school.
Although there was little data on enrollment rates, it was
estimated that the vast majority of the school age children of IDPs
were not receiving an education because of inadequate facilities or
because they could not afford the fees. Nomadic groups also were
disadvantaged. In the urban areas of the South, primary school age
children in basic education were estimated at 68 percent of all boys
and 67 percent of all girls. The Government officially required that
young men between the ages of 17 and 19 enter military or national
service to be able to receive a certificate upon leaving secondary
school; the certificate was a requirement for entry into a university.
More than 60 percent of university students were women, in part,
because men were conscripted for war.
There were significant inequalities in access to health services
for children living in different areas of the country. UNICEF reported
the under-5 mortality rate at 93 per 1,000 and the rate of low
birthweight at 31 percent.
The Government operated camps for vagrant children called
reformation camps. Police typically sent homeless children who had
committed crimes to these camps, where they were detained for
indefinite periods. Health care and schooling at the camps generally
were poor, and basic living conditions often were primitive. All of the
children in the camps, including non Muslims, must study the Koran, and
there was pressure on non Muslims to convert to Islam (see Section
2.c.). Male teenagers (and, in the South, some girls) in the camps
often were conscripted into the PDF. Conscripts faced significant
hardship and abuse in military service, often serving on the frontline.
There were reports that abducted, homeless, and displaced children were
discouraged from speaking languages other than Arabic or practicing
religions other than Islam.
FGM was performed frequently on girls (see Section 5, Women).
A large number of children suffered abuse, including abduction,
enslavement, and forced conscription (see Sections 1.b., 5,
Trafficking, and 6.c.). The Government and government-allied militias
forcibly conscripted young men and boys into the military forces to
fight in the civil war. Unlike in the previous year, there were no
reports that the South Sudan Unity Movement conscripted boys.
Although rebel factions forcibly conscripted citizens, including
children, the SPLM/A also continued to demobilize child soldiers.
The ICRC cooperated with UNICEF to remove child soldiers from the
South.
Trafficking in Persons.--Although the law does not prohibit
specifically trafficking in persons, the Constitution specifically
prohibits slavery and forced labor; however, there were reports that
persons were trafficked from and within the country. There were fewer
reports during the year that government and government-supported
militias abducted women for use as domestic servants, forced labor, or
concubines (forced marriages) due to the continuation of the North-
South cessation of hostilities.
In addition to constitutional provisions, there are laws
criminalizing specific conduct mentioned by the U.N. Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. Criminal law
(Shari'a) and the State of Emergency Law prohibit all forms of sexual
exploitation. Penalties include fines and imprisonment; however, no
prosecutions took place under these laws during the year.
Unlike in previous years, there were no credible reports that
children were transported to the Persian Gulf to be used as jockeys in
camel races or as laborers.
There were credible reports that intertribal abductions of women
and children continued in the South. Victims frequently became part of
the new tribal family, with most women marrying into the new tribe;
however, some victims were used for labor or sexual purposes. As
intertribal fighting in the South decreased, the number of abductions
also appeared to decline. The Government acknowledged that abductions
occurred and that abductees were sometimes forced into domestic
servitude and sexual exploitation. The CEAWAC and its 22 Joint Tribal
Committees investigated abduction cases and sought to facilitate the
safe return of victims. The CEAWAC documented 764 abduction cases in
2003 and reunified 196 abductees with their families.
During the past 19 years, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
kidnapped more than 20,000 Ugandan children, took them back to the
southern part of Sudan, and forced them to become sex slaves, pack
animals, or soldiers. Many of them have been killed. The Government
permitted the Ugandan army access to the South to pursue the LRA.
Although Ugandan military operations significantly reduced LRA numbers,
the LRA continued to operate in the South and to hold child abductees.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Government did not discriminate
against persons with disabilities but has not enacted any special
legislation for persons with disabilities, such as mandating
accessibility to public buildings and transportation. The law requires
equal educational opportunities for persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population was a multi-
ethnic mix of more than 500 Arab and African tribes with numerous
languages and dialects. Northern Muslims, who formed a majority of
approximately 16 million persons, traditionally dominated the
Government. The southern ethnic groups fighting the civil war (largely
followers of traditional indigenous religions or Christians) numbered
approximately 6 million. Although an oversimplification, the fighting
in Darfur has been characterized in racial terms, as Arab Muslims
against black African Muslims (see Section 1.g.).
The Muslim majority and the Government continued to discriminate
against ethnic minorities in almost every aspect of society. Citizens
in Arabic speaking areas who did not speak Arabic experienced
discrimination in education, employment, and other areas.
There were occasional reports of intertribal abductions of women
and children in the South, primarily in the eastern Upper Nile. The
abductions were part of traditional warfare in which the victor took
women and children as a bounty and frequently tried to absorb them into
their own tribe. There were traditional methods of negotiating and
returning the women who were taken in these raids. Many of these women
were raped and ``chose'' to ``marry'' their abductors, rather than
return home where they would be stigmatized.
There were deaths in conflicts between ethnic groups, such as
continued fighting between Dinka and Nuer or among Nuer tribes.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Homosexuality is a
crime, but no one has been convicted on the charge.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--The Government and
government supported militias actively promoted hatred and
discrimination, using standard propaganda techniques to incite tribal
violence.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of association for economic and trade union purposes; however,
the Government denied this right in practice. The Trade Union Act
established a trade union monopoly in the Government. Only the
government-controlled Sudan Workers Trade Union Federation (SWTUF) can
function legally, and all other unions were banned. The Government
prescribed severe punishments, including the death penalty, for
violations of its labor decrees. The International Labor Organization
has frequently noted that the situation of trade union monopoly is
contrary to the principles of freedom of association. The International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions continued to recognize the
``Legitimate'' Sudan Workers Trade Union Federation (SWLTUF)--the
national trade union center that functioned prior to the ban--which
operated in exile.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that union
leaders were detained.
The law does not prohibit anti union discrimination by employers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
denies trade unions autonomy to exercise their basic right to organize
or to bargain collectively. The Labor Code defines the objectives, the
scope of their activities, and their organizational structures and
alliances. Union funds were the control of the auditor general.
Labor organizing committees have the right to organize and bargain
collectively; however, in practice, government control of the steering
committees meant that the Government dominated the process of setting
wages and working conditions. A tripartite committee comprising
representatives of the Government, the government-controlled SWTUF, and
business set wages. The continued absence of labor legislation allowing
for union meetings, the filing of grievances, and other union activity
greatly reduced the value of these formal rights. Local union officials
raised some grievances with employers, although few raised them with
the Government. There were credible reports that the Government
routinely intervened to manipulate professional, trade union, and
student union elections (see Section 2.a.).
Specialized labor courts adjudicated standard labor disputes;
however, the Ministry of Labor has the authority to refer a dispute to
compulsory arbitration.
Strikes were considered illegal unless the Government granted
approval, which has never been given. In most cases, employees who
tried to strike were subject to employment termination; however,
workers who went on strike during the year were not terminated.
There is one export processing zone located in Port Sudan, which is
exempt from regular labor laws.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices continued (see Sections 5 and
6.d.). Unlike in previous years, credible sources indicated that
slavery did not appear to be a significant problem.
The Government continued to deny that slavery and forced labor
existed, but CEAWAC acknowledged that abductions had occurred (see
Sections 1.b. and 5).
Both the Government and rebel factions continued to conscript men
and boys forcibly into the fighting forces (see Section 5).
The SPLM/A and affiliated forces continued to force southern men to
work as laborers or porters.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Constitution provides that the Government protects children from
exploitation; however, the Government did not enforce the provisions,
and child labor was a serious problem. Although the legal minimum age
for workers was 18 years, the law was not enforced in practice. Young
children worked in a number of factories, and severe poverty produced
widespread child labor in the informal and rural farming economy.
There were reports that children were forcibly conscripted (see
Section 5).
Child labor existed in SPLM/SPLA held areas, particularly in the
agricultural sectors. Child labor in such areas was exacerbated by lack
of schools, extreme poverty, and the lack of an effective legal minimum
age for workers.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In April, the Ministry of Labor
and Administrative Reform, the Sudanese Businessmen, and Employers
Federation, and the SWTUF agreed to raise the minimum wage to $48 (SDD
12,500) per month. The Ministry of Labor, which maintained field
offices in most major cities, was responsible for enforcing the minimum
wage, which employers generally respected. Workers who were denied the
minimum wage could file a grievance with the local Ministry of Labor
field office, which then was required to investigate and take
appropriate action. There were reports that some workers, including
postal and health workers, were not paid their regular wages. The
Central Bank failed to pay severance pay to fired workers who sued in
court for their severance pay. At year's end, they still had not been
paid.
The workweek was limited by law to an 8 hour day, with a day of
rest on Friday, which generally was respected. For manual laborers,
there were limits on the number of hours worked per week and provisions
for premium pay for work above the standard workweek.
Although the laws prescribe health and safety standards, working
conditions generally were poor, and enforcement by the Ministry of
Labor was minimal. The right of workers to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without loss of employment is not recognized.
Legal foreign workers had the same labor rights as domestic
workers. Illegal workers had no such protections and, as a result,
typically worked for lower wages in worse conditions than legal
workers. Southern IDPs generally occupied the lowest paying occupations
and were subject to economic exploitation in rural and urban industries
and activities.
__________
SWAZILAND
Swaziland is a modified traditional monarchy with executive,
legislative, and limited judicial powers ultimately vested in the King
(Mswati III). The King ruled according to unwritten law and custom, in
conjunction with a partially elected parliament and an accompanying
structure of published laws and implementing agencies. Municipal
elections during the year and 2003 parliamentary elections increased
representative government; however, political power continued to rest
largely with the King and his circle of traditional advisors, including
the Queen Mother. The judiciary was generally independent; however, the
King and other government officials infringed on the judiciary's
independence by attempting to influence or reverse court decisions.
Both the Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force and the Royal Swaziland
Police are responsible for external and internal security. The police
are under the authority of the Prime Minister, while the Defense Force
reports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some communities questioned
the ability of the police to operate effectively at the community level
and have formed community police. Civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. Some members of the security
forces and the community police committed numerous human rights abuses.
The country had a free market economy, with relatively little
government intervention; its population was approximately 1.1 million.
The majority of citizens were engaged in subsistence agriculture and
the informal marketing of agricultural goods, although a relatively
diversified industrial sector accounted for the largest component of
the formal economy. Unemployment continued to grow and over 40 percent
of the working age population was unemployed or underemployed. The 2003
gross domestic product growth rate was 2.2 percent. A 3-year drought
and HIV/AIDS rate of approximately 40 percent had a severe negative
impact on economic conditions.
The Government's human rights record was poor, and the Government
continued to commit serious abuses. Citizens were not able to change
their government peacefully. There were a few instances of arbitrary
killings by security forces. Police used excessive force on some
occasions, and police tortured and beat some suspects. Lengthy pretrial
detention and police impunity were problems. The Government infringed
on citizen's privacy rights. The Government continued to limit freedom
of speech and of the press. The Government restricted freedom of
assembly and association and prohibited political activity. The police
on several occasions harassed political activists. There were some
limits on freedom of movement. Legal and cultural discrimination,
violence against women, and abuse of children remained problems.
Trafficking in persons occurred. Some societal discrimination against
mixed race and white citizens persisted. Worker rights remained
limited.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, there were a few reports of arbitrary killings by security
forces.
For example, on May 21, Mandla Mathousand Ngubeni, who was in
police custody in Matsapha on suspicion of stealing money from his
workplace, died after police allegedly tortured and suffocated him.
Following complaints from Ngubeni's family, the Prime Minister
appointed a senior magistrate to conduct an inquest into the death. The
Magistrate passed her findings to the Prime Minister's Office, but they
had not been made public by year's end.
On October 28, soldiers on patrol near Matsamo border crossing shot
and killed two unarmed brothers who fled when the soldiers discovered
they were trying to smuggle an automobile across the border. The police
were investigating the incident at year's end.
On December 13, soldiers near the Lundzi border post shot and
killed a suspect trying to smuggle an automobile into the country.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law does not specifically prohibit such practices,
although under the Prisons Act correctional facility officers may be
prosecuted if they engage in such practices; however, government
officials employed them. Security forces used torture during
interrogation and abused their authority by assaulting citizens and
using excessive force in carrying out their duties.
There were credible reports that police beat criminal suspects and
occasionally used the ``tube'' style of interrogation, in which police
suffocate suspects through the use of a rubber tube around the face and
mouth. According to media reports, police used the Kentucky method of
interrogation in which the arms and legs of suspects are bent and tied
together with rope or chain, and then the person is beaten.
On May 31, during a class boycott at Ndwandwe High School in
Mankayana, police detained seven students for several hours and beat
them. As a result, some of the students received hospital treatment. In
June, a man complained in court that after his arrest for allegedly
attacking a policeman, other police officers beat him severely in the
groin.
There was no action taken against members of the security forces
responsible for the 2003 beating of a Swaziland Federation of Trade
Unions (SFTU) member or 2002 beating of a woman accused of theft.
Police also banned and forcibly dispersed demonstrations (see
Section 2.b.).
Government prisons and detention centers remained overcrowded, and
conditions were generally poor. The application of a decree denying
bail for a variety of offenses resulted in the continued overcrowding
and other unfavorable conditions in facilities where suspects were held
during pretrial detention (see Section 1.d.). There were reports that
torture, lack of basic hygiene, and unsafe sexual practices, including
forced sexual intercourse, were spreading HIV/AIDS among the prisoners.
Women were held in separate prison facilities, and there was one
juvenile detention facility in Mdutjane; however, at times children
(age 3 and under) of female inmates lived with their mothers in the
women's prison. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that
male guards forced female prisoners to have sex.
The Government routinely permitted prison visits by diplomats,
journalists, human rights monitors, and representatives of
international organizations. During the year, the local Red Cross
visited several prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, arbitrary arrest and lengthy pretrial
detention were problems.
The police force was generally professional; however, it suffered
from a lack of resources and personnel, as well as bureaucratic
inefficiency. There were credible allegations that the force was
susceptible to political pressure. The Government generally failed to
prosecute or otherwise discipline police officers for abuses. No
independent body had the authority to investigate police abuses;
however, an internal complaints and discipline unit investigated
reports of human rights abuses by the police but did not release these
results to the public. Courts have invalidated confessions induced
through physical abuse and have ruled in favor of citizens assaulted by
police.
The law requires warrants for arrests, except when police observe a
crime being committed or believe that a suspect might flee. Detainees
may consult with a lawyer of their choice and must be charged with the
violation of a statute within a reasonable time, usually 48 hours, or,
in remote areas, as soon as the judicial officer appears.
Although the courts have invalidated the Non-Bailable Offenses
Order the Government continued to limit the provisions for bail for
crimes appearing in it. The Minister of Justice may amend the list by
his own executive act. The mere charge of the underlying offense,
without any evidence that the suspect was involved, was sufficient to
employ the non-bailable provision. The non-bailable offense provision
exacerbated ongoing judicial problems such as lengthy pretrial
detention, the backlog of pending cases, and detention center
overcrowding. During the year, police continued to detain suspects even
though they had paid bail; however, by year's end, all suspects who had
posted bail had been released. Some suspects were held in pretrial
detention for periods that exceeded their sentence.
Arbitrary arrest was a problem.
There were no developments in the 2002 detention of a young woman
and the grandfather of Chief Mtfuso.
Lengthy pretrial detention was common, sometimes lasting for
several years. The police justify pretrial detention on the basis that
they are collecting evidence of the crime and releasing the detainee
would allow the person to influence witnesses.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the King has certain judicial powers,
and government officials, including the King, the Prime Minister, the
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and the traditional
governor of the royal family infringed on the judiciary's independence
by attempting to influence or reverse court decisions. High Court
judges resisted pressure to yield any powers to those outside the
judiciary; however, the Government often ignored judgments that did not
favor them. For example, the Government refused to release from
detention some suspects who had paid their bail (see Section 1.d.).
On May 4, the industrial court reinstated the Clerk of Parliament,
who in 2002 had been transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and
stripped of his administrative power by the Prime Minster. The Clerk
resumed his duties in June.
In November, after meetings between the judges of the Court of
Appeals and the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, and the Prime
Minister's public statement on September 1 that the Government would
respect the Court's judgments, the judges of the Court of Appeals
resumed their functions. The judges had all resigned in 2002 after the
Government declared that it would disregard the Court's ruling that
held that King Mswati had no authority to rule by decree until a new
constitution was put in place. When the Court of Appeals was
reconstituted on November 10, it immediately threatened not to hear
cases as the Government had not complied with a 2002 court decision to
return 200 residents evicted from 2 chiefdoms (see Section 1.f.).
However, once the Minister of Justice agreed to the return of the
evictees on November 11, the Court of Appeals resumed hearing cases
even though the first evictee did not return until the end of November
and the remaining evictees had not returned by year's end.
The case against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for
obstruction of justice in connection with his involvement in a car
accident several years ago was pending before the High Court at year's
end. The Government charged the DPP after he brought obstruction of
justice and sedition charges against the Attorney General based on his
attempted coercion of the High Court judges.
Judicial powers are vested in a dual system, one based on Western
law, the other based on a system of national courts that followed
unwritten traditional law and custom. In treason and sedition cases,
the King can circumvent the regular judiciary by appointing a special
tribunal, which may adopt rules and procedures different from those
applied in the High Court; however, this power has not been used since
1987.
The Western-type judiciary consists of the Court of Appeals
(composed entirely of expatriate, usually South African, judges), the
High Court, and magistrate courts, all of which are claimed to be
independent of executive and military control; however, the November
events regarding the eviction case showed that the Royal family still
does not always respect the Court of Appeals' rulings. The evictees
were permitted to return not because of the court's ruling, but rather
because they finally agreed to accept the King's (by then deceased)
representative as chief. The expatriate judges serve on 2-year
renewable contracts; local judges serve indefinitely with good
behavior. In magistrate courts, defendants are entitled to counsel at
their own expense. Court-appointed counsel is provided in capital cases
or when difficult points of law are at issue. There is no trial by
jury. There are well-defined appeal procedures up to the Court of
Appeals, the highest judicial body. A lack of an independent court
budget, lack of trained manpower, inadequate levels of salary
remuneration, and poor casework management remained problems for the
judiciary.
Most citizens who encountered the legal system did so through the
traditional courts. The authorities may bring residents of the country
to these courts for minor offenses and violations of traditional law
and custom. In traditional courts, defendants are not permitted formal
legal counsel but can speak on their own behalf, call witnesses, and
are assisted by informal advisors. Sentences are subject to review by
traditional authorities and can be appealed to the High Court and the
Court of Appeals. The public prosecutor legally has the authority to
determine which court should hear a case, but in practice the police
usually made the determination. Accused persons have the right to
transfer their cases from the traditional courts. Prolonged delays in
trials were common.
The King appoints traditional chiefs. Chiefs' courts have limited
civil and criminal jurisdiction and are authorized to impose fines up
to approximately $50 (300 emalangeni), and prison sentences of up to 3
months; however, chiefs' courts only were empowered to administer
customary law ``insofar as it is not repugnant to natural justice or
morality,'' or inconsistent with the provisions of any law in force.
Accused persons are required to appear in person without representation
by a legal practitioner or advocate, but the defendant may appeal the
court's decision.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law requires a warrant from a magistrate before
police may search homes or other premises; however, at times police did
not respect this requirement. Police officers with the rank of sub-
inspector or higher have the authority to conduct a search without a
warrant if they believe that evidence might be lost through the delay
in obtaining a warrant. Searches without warrants occurred. For
example, in February, police officers stopped and searched the vehicles
of approximately 30 members of the People's United Democratic Movement
(PUDEMO) who were returning from a Women's League Congress in South
Africa. The police confiscated some documents.
There were instances of physical surveillance by the police on
members of labor unions and banned political groups. For example, on
May 1, police and military used video cameras to record meetings of
union members.
Despite an order issued by the Court of Appeals in 2002, the
Government continued to block the return of residents of kaMkhweli and
Macetjeni, who were evicted for refusing to transfer their allegiance
from their traditional chiefs to Prince Maguga, a brother of the King,
who claimed authority over the two areas in 2002. On three occasions
during the year, police prevented Macetjeni evictee Madeli Fakudze,
brother to one of the deposed chiefs, from returning to his home.
Following the Justice Minister's statement on November 11 that the
evictees were free to return, Madeli Kakudze went to his home. Police
re-evicted him 2 days later. Fakudze appealed to the King, who ordered
that Fakudze be allowed to return to his home. Fakudze did so in late
November. The Government said it would allow all 200 evictees to return
in phases; by year's end, only 1 evictee had returned.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and the Press.--The law does not provide for
freedom of speech or of the press, and the Government limited these
rights in practice. The Government also discouraged critical news
coverage of the royal family, and journalists practiced self-censorship
in regard to the immediate royal family and national security policy.
There was one daily independent newspaper and one daily newspaper
owned by Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, the King's investment company. Both
newspapers covered a wide variety of sensitive topics and criticized
government corruption, inefficiency, and waste; however, the Government
used the same media to rebut such allegations. With some exceptions,
the Government continued to withhold its advertising from the
independently owned daily newspaper.
There were two government-owned radio stations and one independent
radio station, which broadcast religious programs. There was a
privately owned television station, which was officially independent;
however, the owner's mother is the daughter of the previous king,
Sobhuza, and its reporting favored the status quo. The government-owned
television and radio stations, the most influential media in reaching
the public, generally followed official policy positions. Government
broadcast facilities retransmitted Voice of America and British
Broadcasting Corporation news programs in their entirety.
Private companies and church groups owned several newsletters and
magazines.
The editors and owners of the largest daily newspaper, the Times of
Swaziland (TOS), have on several occasions been summoned to one of the
royal residences where they were required to explain news articles or
editorials deemed to be disrespectful of the monarchy. These visits
have usually been followed by retractions or apologies from the TOS. In
July, a TOS reporter was physically attacked by a senator and her
husband after the reporter implicated her in an extramarital affair.
The senator's husband detained the reporter in his car and then
released him after the reporter agreed not to follow up on the story.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
The practice of self-censorship and the prohibition on political
gatherings restricted academic freedom by limiting academic meetings,
writings, and discussion on political topics.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law does not
provide for freedom of assembly, and the Government restricted this
right in practice. A decree prohibits meetings of a political nature,
processions, or demonstrations in any public place without the consent
of the Commissioner of Police. The authorities routinely withheld
permission to hold such meetings.
During the year, the police forcibly dispersed several
demonstrations and meetings. On September 23, during the celebration of
the 21st anniversary of the PUDEMO, police detained six PUDEMO members
for 3 hours and beat six others, who were treated at a nearby clinic
for their injuries. On October 16, in Macetjeni, the Operational
Support Service, a special police unit, used stun grenades to disperse
a crowd of 200 who were attending a prayer service organized to honor
Macetjeni residents evicted in 2002 (see Section 1.f.).
During the year, police harassed, arrested, and disrupted the
meetings of prodemocracy activists and members of banned political
parties. On April 17, police halted a procession in support of human
rights in Big Bend, organized by the Swaziland Agricultural Plantations
Union and the National Constitutional Assembly, a nongovernmental
organization (NGO) that advocates separation of powers and observance
of human rights. On June 24, police arrested and questioned a leader of
the banned Ngwane National Liberatory Congress Women's Wing, and seized
protest signs displayed inside the Bosco Skills Center in Manzini
during ceremonies in observance of African Child Day; she was released
later that day.
In August, police used tear gar to disperse a Swaziland Youth
Conference rally.
Unlike the previous year, the police did not ban or disperse any
meetings held by workers' unions.
There was no action taken against police officers responsible for
forcibly dispersing demonstrations in 2003 or 2002.
The law does not provide for freedom of association, and the
Government restricted this right in practice. Political parties were
banned, although political organizations operated without calling
themselves parties (see Section 3).
c. Freedom of Religion.--There is no formal legal provision for
freedom of religion; however, the Government generally respected
freedom of religion in practice, although authorities on occasion
disrupted or cancelled prayer meetings that were considered to have
political objectives.
New religious groups or churches are expected to register with the
Government upon organizing in the country. There is no law describing
the organizational requirements of a religious group or church. All
religions were recognized unofficially. Groups were registered
routinely, and there were no reports that any groups was denied
registration during the year.
On September 2, in Lomahasha, three primary school children who are
members of the Jehovah's Witnesses were expelled from school for
refusing to pray during school assemblies.
Government permission was required for the construction of new
religious buildings. Non-Christian groups sometimes experienced minor
delays in obtaining permits from the Government.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law does not provide for these
rights, and the Government placed some limits on them in practice.
Citizens may travel and work freely within the country; however, under
traditional law, a married woman requires her husband's permission to
apply for a passport, and an unmarried woman requires the permission of
a close male relative. Nonethnic Swazis sometimes experienced lengthy
processing delays when seeking passports and citizenship documents, in
part due to the prejudice that mixed-race and white persons were not
real citizens (see Section 5). Political dissenters often had their
citizenship questioned and could experience difficulty in obtaining
travel documents. The Constitutional Review Commission made a
recommendation that effectively could render a child stateless should
it be born to a Swazi mother and a foreign father; however, the draft
constitution had not been ratified by year's end.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
The Government treated several thousand ethnic Swazis living across
the border in South Africa, who were not citizens, as virtually
indistinguishable from citizens and routinely granted them travel and
citizenship documents.
On July 1, in an attempt to control emigration, especially the
exodus of nurses seeking overseas employment, the Government blocked
overseas employment agencies from obtaining or transferring foreign
currency, which is necessary to make arrangements for jobs abroad. This
effectively stopped citizens from being able to gain employment abroad.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. According to
the UNHCR, there were an estimated 1,000 refugees in the country, the
majority from central Africa and Angola.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens are not able to change their government peacefully. The
King retains ultimate executive and legislative authority, and
political parties are prohibited. Passage of legislation by Parliament
requires the King's assent to become law, which he is not obliged to
give. When Parliament is not in session, the King can legislate by
decree under his residual emergency powers. The King chooses the Prime
Minister and, in consultation with the Prime Minister, also chooses the
Cabinet, many senior civil servants, and the heads of government
offices.
According to law, 55 seats in the 65-seat House of Assembly are
popularly contested, and the King appoints the remaining 10 members. In
October 2003, parliamentary elections took place that commonwealth
observers concluded were not free and fair and that Parliament has no
real authority. Election procedures generally were carried out in an
orderly fashion; however, police arrested several persons for using
forged voter registration certificates and for trying to vote more than
once. Alleged irregularities led to legal challenges in three
constituencies. PUDEMO boycotted the elections; however, members of
other organized but banned political groups participated, and three
opposition members were elected to Parliament. As required by law, the
elected members of the House of Assembly nominated 10 members from the
public to serve in the Senate (upper house). The King appointed an
additional 20 Senate members.
In March, elected Member of Parliament Marwick Khumalo was forced
to relinquish his position as Speaker of the House under pressure from
the King's advisors, due to personal differences with the members of
the royal family.
In May 2003, the Constitutional Drafting Committee released a draft
Constitution, and the Government commenced a civic education program in
each administrative center (Tinkhundla) to allow citizens to comment on
the draft. Because only individuals and not groups were permitted to
comment on the draft constitution, many civic groups complained that
the process of drafting the constitution was not inclusive. In
addition, many civic groups have criticized the content of the
constitution, claiming, among other things, that there is no separation
of powers. Both the House of Assembly and Senate passed the
Constitution but because the two sides could not agree on the final
version, the King is expected to call in February 2005 to ratify a
single version.
Several traditional forums existed for the expression of opinion,
including community meetings, national councils, and direct dialogue
with area chiefs; however, these local channels were not intended as a
vehicle for political change.
Chiefs were custodians of traditional law and custom and were
responsible for the day-to-day running of their chiefdom and
maintaining law and order. For example, chiefs had their own community
police who could arrest a suspect and bring the suspect before an inner
council within the chiefdom for a trial. Chiefs were an integral part
of society and acted as overseers or guardians of families within the
communities and traditionally reported directly to the King. Local
custom mandates that chieftaincy is hereditary.
The press reported that some Members of Parliament engaged in
fraud, kickbacks and scams, and three sitting Members of Parliament
were free on bail pending trial for fraud. The former Speaker of the
House of Assembly was alleged to have misappropriated $8,000 (50,000
emalangeni) while in office and fraud charges were leveled against the
Chair of the Swaziland Electricity Board. There were credible reports
that unqualified businesses were awarded contracts due to the owners'
relationship with government officials.
There is no law permitting public access to government documents,
and public documents were difficult to access. For example, few persons
were able to obtain copies of the draft constitution while it was being
debated by Parliament.
Women generally had full legal rights to participate in the
political process; however, in accordance with societal practice,
widows in mourning (for periods that can vary from 6 months to 3 years)
are prevented from appearing in certain public places and in close
proximity to the King, and as a result, can be excluded from voting or
running for office. There were 5 women in the 65-member House of
Assembly, 10 women in the 30-seat Senate, and 3 female ministers in the
Cabinet. Two women served as principal secretaries, the most senior
civil service rank in the ministries.
There were 3 members of minorities in the 30-seat Senate. There
were no members of minorities in the House of Assembly or in the
Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were generally receptive but unresponsive to their views. Human rights
groups spoke out on a number of occasions, criticizing the lack of
accountability and transparency in the Government. In October, Amnesty
International issued a report criticizing the absence of rule of law
and making a series of recommendations for the draft constitution. By
year's end, the Government had not acted on any of these
recommendations.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
In general, the law does not prohibit discrimination based on race,
sex, disability, language, or social status and women and mixed race
citizens sometimes experienced governmental and societal
discrimination. Labor law forbids employers from discriminating on the
basis of race, sex, or political affiliation.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, particularly wife beating,
was common, despite traditional restrictions against this practice.
Women have the right to charge their husbands with assault under both
the Western and the traditional legal systems, and urban women
frequently did so, usually in extreme cases when intervention by
extended family members failed to end such violence. Rural women often
had no relief if family intervention did not succeed, because the
traditional courts could be unsympathetic to ``unruly'' or
``disobedient'' women and were less likely than the modern courts to
convict men for spousal abuse. The press reported that a chief
threatened a woman with eviction for refusing to wear mourning clothes
for her deceased husband.
Rape also was common and regarded by many men as a minor offense.
Additionally, a sense of shame and helplessness often inhibited women
from reporting such crimes, particularly when incest was involved. In
the modern courts, the acquittal rate was high and sentences were
generally lenient. On September 18, at the Manzini bus terminal in
front of a cheering crowd, bus conductors and taxi drivers raped and
sexually assaulted an 18-year-old student because she was wearing a
miniskirt. Police arrested three suspects in the case and the suspects
remained in custody at year's end.
Prostitution is illegal, and beginning in July police mounted a
campaign to enforce the law prohibiting it. Some sex workers, afraid of
being arrested, abandoned apartments rented for such purposes. To
combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, government officials encouraged an NGO to
distribute condoms in public places, including where prostitutes were
known to congregate.
The law provides some protection from sexual harassment, but its
provisions were vague and largely ineffective. Several NGOs provided
support for victims of abuse or discrimination. Despite the law's
requirement for equal pay for equal work, men's average wage rates by
skill category usually exceeded those of women.
Women occupy a subordinate role in society. In both civil and
traditional marriages, wives are legally treated as minors, although
those who married under civil law may be accorded the legal status of
adults, if stipulated in a signed prenuptial agreement. A woman
generally must have her husband's permission to borrow money, open a
bank account, obtain a passport, leave the country, gain access to
land, and, in some cases, obtain a job.
The dualistic nature of the legal system complicated the issue of
women's rights. Since unwritten law and custom govern traditional
marriage, women's rights often were unclear and changed according to
where and by whom they were interpreted. Couples often married in both
civil and traditional ceremonies, creating problems in determining
which set of rules applied to the marriage and to subsequent questions
of child custody and inheritance in the event of divorce or death. In
traditional marriages, a man may take more than one wife.
In 2002, King Mswati allegedly instructed his agents to take three
young women into royal custody while he considered whether to marry
them. During 2002 and 2003, the King took 2 of the 3 women to be his
10th and 11th wives. The mother of one of the women sued the monarchy
alleging that her daughter was kidnapped by royal emissaries, but she
later postponed the suit indefinitely. The third woman was reportedly
living with the Queen Mother, but had not been taken as a wife. In
August, the King selected a 16-year-old girl as his most recent
fiancee.
A man who marries a woman under civil law legally may not have more
than one wife, although in practice this restriction sometimes was
ignored. Traditional marriages consider children to belong to the
father and to his family if the couple divorce. Children born out of
wedlock are viewed as belonging to the mother. Under the law, a woman
does not pass citizenship automatically to her children. Inheritances
are passed through male children only.
Women routinely executed contracts and entered into a variety of
transactions in their own names. The Ministry of Home Affairs is
responsible for coordinating women's issues, but took no notable
actions during the year. Although gender sensitization was not part of
the formal school curriculum, some schools organized debates and other
mechanisms to address gender issues. The University of Swaziland Senate
also had a subcommittee that encouraged students and faculty to hold
seminars and workshops on gender issues.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare, but the growing number of orphans and vulnerable children
(OVC) challenged that commitment. The Government passed a number of
laws that directly addressed children's issues. The Government did not
provide free, compulsory education for children; the Government paid
teachers' salaries while the student paid fees for books and
contributed to the building fund. The Government promised to pay for
OVC tuition and school fees by November 30, but failed to do so.
Supplemental money sometimes must be raised for building maintenance,
including teachers' housing. In rural areas, families favor boys over
girls if they do not have enough money to send all their children to
school. The country had a 70 percent primary school enrollment rate.
Children were required to start attending school at the age of 6 years.
Most students reached grade 7, the last year of primary school, and
many went on to finish grade 10. The public school system ends at grade
12. A government task force continued to educate the public on
children's issues.
In general medical care for children was inadequate and
characterized by long waits for medical care, poor nursing care in
public hospitals, and overcrowded and understaffed hospitals. Most
prescription drugs were available in urban facilities, but rural
clinics had inadequate supplies of certain drugs.
Child abuse was a serious problem, and the Government did not make
specific efforts to end such abuse. Rape of children was also a serious
problem, with news reports of rapes of children 1-year-old and younger.
Children convicted of crimes sometimes were caned as punishment. The
law prohibits prostitution and child pornography, provides protection
to children under 16 years of age from sexual exploitation and sets the
age of sexual consent at 16 years of age; however, female children
sometimes suffered sexual abuse, including by family members. There
were reports that Mozambican and Swazi girls worked as prostitutes in
the country (see Section 5, Trafficking). Children, including street
children, were increasingly vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
Child labor was a problem (see section 6.d.).
There was a growing number of street children in Mbabane and
Manzini. A large and increasing number of HIV/AIDS orphans were cared
for by aging relatives or neighbors, or struggled to survive in child-
headed households. Some lost their property to adult relatives. The
National Emergency Response Committee on HIV and AIDS, a private group
partly funded by the Government and by international aid, and other
NGOs assisted some AIDS orphans. With over 10 percent of households
headed by children, UNICEF supported school feeding programs,
established a number of neighborhood care points and provided
nutritional support to children weakened by AIDS.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons, and there were reports of trafficking. Underage Mozambican and
Swazi girls reportedly worked as prostitutes in the country. A women's
organization in South Africa estimated that 15 Swazi women per month
were trafficked into South Africa for purposes of ``forced
cohabitation'' often involving sexual abuse. There is no government
agency specifically responsible for combating trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. There are no laws
that mandate accessibility for persons with disabilities to buildings,
transportation, or government services; however, government buildings
under construction included improvements for those with disabilities,
including accessibility ramps.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Governmental and societal
discrimination was practiced widely against nonethnic Swazis, namely
white persons and persons of mixed race. Although there were no
official statistics, an estimated 2 percent of the population were
nonethnic Swazis. Nonethnic Swazis have experienced difficulty in
obtaining official documents, including passports (see Section 2.d.).
Nonethnic Swazis also suffered from other forms of governmental and
societal discrimination such as needing special permits or stamps to
buy a car or house, delays in receiving building permits for houses,
and difficulties in applying for a bank loan.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Societal discrimination
against homosexuals was strong, and homosexuals often concealed their
sexual preferences.
The Government prohibits persons who are HIV positive from joining
the military. There is a social stigma associated with being HIV
positive, and this discouraged persons from being tested; however,
education was slowly eroding the cultural prejudice.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right to
form associations, including trade unions, and workers exercised this
right in practice; however, the Government continued to harass labor
unions. Workers in ``essential services'' such as the police, may not
form unions. Approximately 80 percent of the formal private sector was
unionized.
In May, an International Confederation of Federal Trade Unions
delegation visited the country to investigate reports that the police
and the military could not form an association, violating the ILO
convention; however, it had not reported any finding by year's end.
On May 1, at the Labor Day celebration, police and military used
video cameras to record meetings of union members.
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination; however, anti-union
discrimination continued to be prevalent, and manufacturers continued
to refuse to recognize duly elected unions. In the case of unfair
dismissal, the court can order reinstatement and compensation for the
employee, as well as fine the employer. Union leaders made credible
charges that management in various industries dismissed workers for
union activity. The allegations of union discrimination were most
common in the garment sector.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Collective
bargaining was widespread, and several collective bargaining agreements
were reached during the year. There are no export processing zones.
The Industrial Relations Act (IRA) does not permit ``strikes'';
however, it provides that employees who are not engaged in ``essential
services'' have the right to participate in peaceful protest action to
promote their socioeconomic interests. The law details the steps to be
followed when disputes arise and provides penalties for employers who
conduct unauthorized lockouts; however, penalties were not imposed for
the lockouts that occurred during the year. The IRA empowers the
Government to mediate employment disputes and grievances through the
Labor Advisory Board. When disputes arose, the Government often
intervened to reduce the chances of a protest action, which may not be
called legally until all avenues of negotiation have been exhausted,
and a secret ballot of union members has been conducted. The IRA
prohibits protest actions in ``essential services,'' which included
police and security forces, correctional services, fire fighting,
health, and many civil service positions.
The country participated in the 2003 ILO Annual Conference.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and the Government
generally enforced this prohibition effectively; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking). The
SFTU cited the 1998 Administrative Order as a form of forced labor,
because it reinforced the tradition of residents performing tasks for
chiefs without receiving compensation and allowed the chiefs to fine
their subjects for failing to carry out the manual labor.
d. Prohibition of Child labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits child labor; however, child labor was a problem. The law
prohibits the hiring of a child below the age of 15 in an industrial
undertaking, except in cases where only family members were employed in
the firm, or in technical schools where children were working under the
supervision of a teacher or other authorized person. Legislation limits
the number of night hours that can be worked on schooldays, and limits
children's work hours overall to 6 per day and 33 per week. Employment
of children in the formal sector was not common; however, children
below the minimum age frequently were employed in the agricultural
sector, particularly in the eastern cotton-growing region. Children
also were employed as domestic workers, and as herd boys in rural
areas. Children were victims of prostitution and trafficking in persons
(see Section 5). The Ministry of Labor was responsible for enforcement,
but its effectiveness was limited by personnel shortages.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was a legally mandated
sliding scale of minimum wages depending on the type of work performed.
The minimum monthly wage for a domestic worker was approximately $50
(300 emalangeni), for an unskilled worker $70 (420 emalangeni), and for
a skilled worker $100 (600 emalangeni). These minimum wages generally
did not provide a worker and family with a decent standard of living.
Wage arrears, particularly in the garment industry, were a problem.
Labor, management, and government representatives have negotiated a
maximum 48-hour workweek in the industrial sector except for security
guards, who worked up to six 12-hour shifts per week. The law permits
all workers 1 day of rest per week. Most workers received a minimum of
12 days' annual leave. The IRA provides for overtime pay. The Labor
Commissioner conducted inspections in the formal sector; however, the
results of these inspections generally did not result in enforcement of
the law. In particular, there were allegations that women who tried to
take maternity leave were dismissed, that employers paid employees at
casual or probationary wage scales regardless of their position or
length of service, and that some supervisors physically abused
employees.
The law provides for protection of workers' health and safety. The
Government set safety standards for industrial operations, and it
encouraged private companies to develop accident prevention programs;
however, the Labor Commissioner's office conducted few safety
inspections because of staffing deficiencies and an alleged desire not
to ``scare off foreign investors.'' Workers had no formal statutory
rights to remove themselves from dangerous work places without
jeopardizing their continued employment, nor did any collective
bargaining agreements address the matter. There were extensive
provisions allowing workers to seek redress for alleged wrongful
dismissal; these provisions frequently were invoked.
__________
TANZANIA
The United Republic of Tanzania is a multiparty state led by the
President of the mainland, Benjamin Mkapa. The Zanzibar archipelago,
although integrated into the country's governmental and party
structure, has its own president and parliament and continues to
exercise considerable autonomy. In 2000, President Mkapa was elected to
a second term, and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party made
significant gains in elections that were considered free and fair on
the mainland, but which were seriously marred by irregularities and
politically motivated violence on Zanzibar. The national judiciary was
formally independent but was under-resourced, corrupt, inefficient, and
subject to executive influence.
The police force, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has primary
responsibility for maintaining law and order. Citizens' patrols known
as ``Sungusungu'' continued to support the police force, including in
refugee camps. The military was composed of the Tanzanian People's
Defense Force (TPDF). The People's Militia Field Force (FFU) was a
division of, and directly controlled by, the national police force.
While civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security
forces, there were some instances in which elements of the security
forces acted independently of government authority. Members of the
security forces committed numerous human rights abuses.
The country continued its transition from a centrally directed
economy to a market-based economy. Agriculture provided 82 percent of
employment for the population of approximately 37 million, according to
2002 estimates. In 2003, the gross domestic product growth rate was 5.3
percent. Wages did not keep pace with inflation during the year. The
Government encouraged foreign and domestic investment; however,
pervasive corruption, mismanagement, poor infrastructure, and a large
external debt constrained economic progress. In addition, an estimated
HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of between 9.6 percent and 24 percent
continued to place an increasing burden on the country's resources
through rising medical expenditures, absenteeism from work, labor
shortages resulting from morbidity and mortality, and training of
replacement labor.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. Citizens'
right to change their government was severely circumscribed in the 2000
general elections on Zanzibar; the May by-elections on the mainland
were marred by detentions and intimidation, and harassment of
opposition parties increased dramatically from the previous year.
Security forces committed unlawful killings. Police officers tortured,
threatened, and otherwise mistreated suspected criminals and prisoners
during the year. Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening;
however, some improvements were made during the year. Arbitrary arrest
and prolonged detention remained problems. Pervasive corruption
continued. The Government limited freedom of privacy, speech, the
press, assembly, and association. The Government forcibly expelled
refugees and refused persons seeking asylum or refugee status. The
Government pressured Burundian refugees to repatriate voluntarily. In
the west, anti-refugee resentment and hostility continued. The
Commission on Human Rights and Good Governance investigated several
cases of abuse during the year. Sexual and gender-based violence and
discrimination against women and girls remained problems, including in
refugee camps. Female genital mutilation (FGM) remained a serious
problem in some regions of the country. Trafficking of children and
child prostitution were problems. Discrimination against national,
racial, and ethnic minorities and persons with HIV/AIDS persisted.
Workers' rights were limited and child labor continued to be a serious
problem. Mob justice remained widespread and resulted in several
unlawful killings.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, security forces continued to use excessive, lethal force
against citizens.
During the year, the police killed several suspected criminals. In
May, police killed a suspected criminal when he reportedly tried to
escape apprehension in Zanzibar. In June, police killed two suspected
criminals in Mwanza.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of killings in
police custody.
There were no reported prosecutions of police who killed suspects
in 2002, 2003, or during the year.
During the year, the use of excessive force by security forces
resulted in at least two deaths. During the mainland's local elections
in November, police shot and killed a 17-year-old boy after a mob
burned government vehicles and police fired their weapons at a Dar es
Salaam voting site. An investigation was pending at year's end.
On December 1, outside a voter registration office on the island of
Pemba, a member of a paramilitary unit fired into a crowd, killing a
16-year-old student and seriously wounding two other persons. According
to the island's regional police commander, a mob had thrown stones at
members of the paramilitary unit during the registration of voters. At
year's end, police were investigating the killing.
There was no additional information available about the reported
cases of killings in 2002 by security forces.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that organized
vigilante groups, known in Swahili as Sungusungu, committed unlawful
killings during neighborhood patrols.
There was no additional information available about the 2003
killing by vigilantes of a night guard in coastal Tanga.
At year's end, there was no additional information on the status of
four Sungusungu members arrested and charged with the September 2003
killing of suspected thief Haridi Hussein in Lukobe village, Morogoro.
Mob justice against suspected criminals persisted, despite
government warnings against it. Throughout the year, the media reported
numerous incidents in which mobs killed suspected thieves; the suspects
were stoned, beaten, hacked to death with machetes, or doused with
gasoline and set on fire. For example, in January, a mob caught and
killed a suspected thief in Dar es Salaam. At the end of July, a mob
killed a suspected rapist in Zanzibar.
The Government sometimes prosecuted cases of mob justice, but
government officials reported difficulties in prosecuting cases due to
the unwillingness of witnesses to cooperate.
During the year, on Zanzibar, authorities conducted three
investigations into killings that resulted from mob justice in recent
years. Two investigations were unable to find sufficient evidence to
continue with prosecution. One case was pending in the courts at year's
end.
During the year, villagers reportedly killed a refugee suspected of
stealing (see Section 2.d.).
In some instances, the widespread belief in witchcraft,
particularly in Shinyanga region, led to the killing of alleged witches
by those claiming to be their victims or aggrieved relatives of their
victims, or by mobs. In July, local Swahili newspaper Nipashe reported
that more than 1,000 persons were killed on suspicion of witchcraft
since 1995. A 2002 report by the World Health Organization estimated
that 500 elderly women accused of witchcraft--often connected with an
event such as crop failure--were killed every year.
During the year, the Government prosecuted some individuals accused
of killing suspected witches and denounced the practice of killing
those suspected of witchcraft. For example, in early August, a mob
armed with machetes, stones, and knives killed seven persons accused of
practicing witchcraft in Makete in Iringa region. Police charged 22
persons with these murders. By year's end, no additional information
was available on this case.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
continued to be numerous reports that police officers tortured,
threatened, and otherwise mistreated suspected criminals and prisoners
during the year. Beatings and floggings were the methods most commonly
used. The Government seldom prosecuted police for abuses.
On May 14, police were accused of pulling on a suspected detainee's
genitals in Shinyanga. There was no additional information available
about this case by year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police used
torture to extract confessions. There were no further developments in
the September 2003 torture of Sasi Marwa.
Caning and other forms of corporal punishments were used in schools
(see Section 5). Local government officials and courts occasionally
used caning as a punishment for both juvenile and adult offenders.
Overall use of caning in schools and by courts was declining.
There were numerous reports that the TPDF beat civilians without
cause. For example, after the death of a soldier in Arusha in early
April, soldiers went on a rampage, beating civilians indiscriminately.
An estimated 20 civilians were injured, some severely. By year's end,
there were no reports that any disciplinary action had been taken
against these soldiers.
During the year, city police in Dar es Salaam continued to use
excessive force and confiscate the goods of petty street traders while
attempting to relocate them.
There was no action taken against police officers responsible for
the September and November 2003 beatings with clubs of Dar es Salaam
street traders.
Security forces used excessive force to disperse large gatherings
(see Sections 2.b. and 2.c.).
In remarks published on January 20 about the police's use of force,
Speaker of the National Assembly Pius Msekwa said police had legal
authority to use force, including beating up unruly suspects.
In remarks published May 25, Inspector General of the Police Omar
Mahita, speaking at a human rights workshop, said police officers
should respect the Constitution and stop abusing and harassing members
of the public. In addition, during the year, opposition party
parliamentarians denounced the use of excessive force by police.
There was no additional information in the case of the January 2002
bomb explosions in Zanzibar Town.
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. The prisons,
some of which were built during the colonial era, were designed to hold
between 2,000 and 2,699 persons; however, on August 1, the total prison
population was 43,526. Three prisons--Maswa, Babati, and Kahama--were
overcrowded by over 1,200 percent. A total of 45 percent of all
prisoners were awaiting trial. In 2003, the Chief Commissioner said
that the Government was financially incapable of building more prisons
and remand houses.
The Community Services Act allows persons convicted of minor
offenses to be sentenced to community service instead of jail time;
however, by year's end, the Act still had not been used. During the
year, the Government trained police and magistrates in the
implementation of the Community Services Act.
A National Parole Board was responsible for identifying prisoners
eligible for parole. During the year, the board released on parole 253
prisoners. Since 1999, the National Parole Board has released 728
prisoners.
Prisoners were subjected to poor living conditions. The daily
amount of food allotted to prisoners was increased during the year;
however, authorities did not allow convicted prisoners to receive food
from outside sources except for religious reasons. For example, during
the month of Ramadan, Muslim prisoners were allowed to receive food
from outside sources for their evening meal. Authorities often moved
prisoners to different prisons without notifying prisoners' families.
In violation of the law, some rural district courts forced remandees
who were awaiting trial to pay for their upkeep and transport.
Prison dispensaries offered only limited treatment, and friends and
family members of prisoners generally had to provide medication or the
funds with which to purchase it. Diseases were common and resulted in
numerous deaths. According to government officials, the leading causes
of death in order of occurrence were tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS
plus tuberculosis, and malaria. There were reports that guards abused
prisoners during the year.
During the year, the Government's Human Rights and Good Governance
Commission released a report on prison conditions. Based on visits to
selected prisons throughout the country, the report identified serious
overcrowding and poor living conditions as persistent problems.
Following the report's release, the Prisons Department increased
prisoners' food rations, procured mattresses for prisoners, and changed
prisoners' uniforms.
The Prisons Act requires prisoners to be separated based on age and
gender, and female prisoners were held separately from male prisoners
in practice. Unlike in the previous year, women sent to remand prison
did not report that they were forced to sleep naked and subjected to
sexual abuse by wardens.
Because there were very few juvenile detention facilities in the
country, juveniles frequently were not separated from adult prisoners
during the day. Juveniles are handled separately under the Department
of Social Welfare, which manages juvenile courts and juvenile remand
homes. Prisoners between the ages of 18 and 21 are considered ``young
prisoners'' and slept separately from the older adult prison
population. There was one separate youth prison in Morogoro.
Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners; they were
allowed to receive food from the outside.
There were no developments in the case of deceased prisoner Issa
Shabani, whose family accused the Ukonga prison guards in September
2003 of beating him to death and covering up their action.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of deaths in
custody.
By year's end, no trial date was set for 5 police officers charged
in the 2002 case of 17 prisoners who suffocated to death in an
overcrowded jail cell in Mbeya.
Local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and diplomatic observers
were permitted to monitor prison conditions; however, international
organizations did not request permission to monitor prison conditions
during the year. The ICRC visited prisoners at the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Arusha. The Government permitted the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to visit prisons holding
refugees in Dar es Salaam and in the west.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, arbitrary arrest and detention were
problems.
The police force was underfunded and inefficient. The use of
excessive force, police corruption, and impunity were serious problems.
Citizens often complained that police were slow to investigate crimes
and prosecute criminals. Although police are not attorneys, they
prosecute most crimes in the lower courts; many judicial experts
criticized this arrangement, saying that it allowed police to
manipulate evidence in many criminal cases and sometimes resulted in
cases being thrown out of court. According to NGO reports, police often
lost evidence, and suspects with sufficient means successfully avoided
prosecution by bribing police officers. Communities perceived a general
lack of protection amid an increase in crimes committed by armed
criminals. The general lack of trust in the police force and in the
court system contributed to a high incidence of mob justice during the
year (see Section 1.a.).
There was no additional information about the internal
investigation of a police officer accused of harassing and attempting
to obtain a bribe from a local businessman. Despite these actions and
those of the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB), there continued to
be numerous reports in the press and complaints from civil society
groups and citizens about police corruption during the year (see
Section 3).
During the year, the Government revamped the training curriculum
for new police officers in accordance with international human rights
standards.
The People's Militia Laws grant legal status to the traditional
Sungusungu neighborhood and village anticrime groups. Local governments
appoint the members with the help of individual households who decide
which among them will join the Sungusungu watch. The Sungusungu were
most commonly found in rural areas such as the Tabora, Shinyanga, and
Mwanza regions, and in refugee camps. Members of Sungusungu have
authorities similar to those given to police, including the authority
to arrest persons; however, Sungusungu do not have the authority to
carry firearms. They carry wooden clubs for their protection. In
return, they were expected to be held accountable for any abuses.
Residents of a neighborhood in which Sungusungu operated were required
by law and custom to either donate a small sum to the Sungusungu for
patrols or, if they did not have money, to provide one person from
their household to participate in patrols.
In refugee camps, in addition to a regular police contingent,
Sungusungu groups composed of refugees acted as security forces.
The law requires that a person arrested for a crime, other than a
national security detainee as defined under the Preventive Detention
Act, be charged before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest; however,
in practice the police often failed to comply with this provision. In
some cases, accused persons were denied the right to contact a lawyer
or talk with family members. Prompt access to counsel was limited by
the lack of lawyers practicing in rural areas.
The law restricts the right to bail and imposes strict conditions
on freedom of movement and association when bail is granted. Judges set
bail on a discretionary basis based on the merits of each case;
however, there was no provision for bail in cases of murder or armed
robbery. Bribes often determined whether bail was granted.
Under the Preventive Detention Act, the President may order the
arrest and indefinite detention without bail of any person considered
dangerous to the public order or national security. This act requires
that the Government release detainees within 15 days of detention or
inform them of the reason for their detention. The law allows a
detainee to challenge the grounds for detention at 90-day intervals.
The Preventive Detention Act was not used during the year. The Court of
Appeals ruled that the Act cannot be used to deny bail to persons not
considered dangerous to society; despite this ruling, however, the
Government has not introduced corrective legislation. The Government
has additional broad detention powers under the law, which permit
regional and district commissioners to arrest and detain for 48 hours
persons who may ``disturb public tranquility.''
The Government arbitrarily arrested numerous persons, particularly
supporters and members of opposition political parties. Arbitrary
political arrests increased during the year (see Section 3).
For example, following a series of bombings in March on Zanzibar,
police arrested 45 individuals and reportedly detained members of the
Civic United Front (CUF), a political party, and of a religious NGO,
Uamsho (see Section 2.c.). All of the individuals arrested in
connection with the bombings were released within 2 months; the police
did not confirm that any had been charged. One member was allegedly
beaten while in custody.
In May, police arbitrarily arrested several members of the
opposition party CHADEMA in Karatu district. All members were
eventually released and no charges were brought.
Police continued to make arbitrary arrests and use the threat of
them to extort money.
By year's end, there were no developments in the 2002 case of
opposition leader Christopher Mtikila, who was accused of making
seditious comments about the nationality of President Mkapa.
Police arrested refugees for leaving the camps without permits (see
Section 2.d.).
Authorities acknowledged that some prisoners waited several years
for trial, sometimes because they did not have the means to bribe
police and court officials. Observers estimated that approximately 5
percent of persons held in remand ultimately were convicted, and often
those convicted already had served their full sentences before their
trials were held. A government official estimated that it took up to 5
years for homicide cases to reach the High Court. By year's end, some
suspects had spent as many as 10 years in prison without having their
cases heard before a court. The chairman of the Commission on Human
Rights and Good Governance, Justice Robert Kisanga, criticized the
criminal justice system, and highlighted a need to explain why suspects
were detained for so long without trial.
There was no additional information available about the cases of 12
inmates in Keko who had been imprisoned for as many as 10 years without
trial, or a civil suit against the Government by 18 CUF members who
spent more than 2 years in prison without being convicted.
During the year, President Mkapa issued presidential pardons for at
least 8,185 prisoners.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained underresourced,
corrupt, inefficient, and subject to executive influence, although
there were no reports of executive interference during the year.
Independent observers continued to criticize the judiciary,
particularly at the lower levels, as corrupt and inefficient, and they
questioned the system's ability to provide a defendant with an
expeditious and fair trial. Clerks took bribes to decide whether or not
to open cases and to hide or misdirect the files of those accused of
crimes. Magistrates occasionally accepted bribes to determine guilt or
innocence, pass sentences, withdraw charges, decide appeals, and
determine whether cases were judged as civil or criminal matters. In
addition, there were few courts available to citizens, and the cost of
traveling to the nearest court was often prohibitive.
The Government made no progress in addressing judicial corruption.
Judicial ethics committees failed to offer recommendations to improve
the credibility and conduct of the judiciary.
The legal system has five levels of courts combining the
jurisdictions of tribal, Islamic, and British common law. Christians
and Muslims are governed by criminal law. In family law and civil
matters, Christians are governed by customary law, which is composed of
approximately 120 types of tribal law, unless they can prove to a judge
that customary law does not apply to them (for example, if they have
not been living in a traditional community or are foreigners). In
certain civil matters such as marriage, divorce, child custody, and
inheritance, Muslims are governed by Islamic law. Islamic law was
applied only to adjudicate civil cases in which both parties were
Muslims. In family matters, the content and application of some
customary and religious laws were discriminatory towards women (see
Section 5).
The court system consists of primary courts, district courts,
magistrates' courts, a High Court on Zanzibar and one on the mainland,
and a Court of Appeal, which serves as the highest court for both the
mainland and Zanzibar. Primary courts, which are present in each
administrative region, have jurisdiction for civil suits related to
customary and Islamic law, and civil and Christian matrimonial suits.
Judges were appointed by the Chief Justice, except those for the Court
of Appeal and the High Courts, who were appointed by the President. All
courts, including Islamic courts, were staffed by civil servants.
Zanzibar and the mainland have separate judicial systems, with the
exception of the Court of Appeal. Zanzibar's court system, excluding
its Kadhi courts, generally parallels that of the mainland. In
Zanzibar, Kahdi Courts operate in place of primary courts. The Kadhi
courts have jurisdiction in civil cases arising from Islamic law and
custom. The Kadhi court system consists of Kadhi courts and the Court
of the Chief Kadhi. Appeals from the Court of the Chief Kadhi go to the
High Court of Zanzibar for final rulings; cases in the Kadhi system
cannot be appealed to the Court of Appeal. All other cases can be
appealed to the Court of Appeal. Cases concerning Zanzibar
constitutional issues were heard only in Zanzibar's courts.
While the majority of judges on Zanzibar were Muslim, there were
very few Muslim judges, if any, on the mainland; consequently, some
Muslim groups complained that it was inappropriate for Christian judges
on the mainland to continue administering Islamic law for Muslims in
family matters.
Criminal trials were open to the public and to the press; courts
were required to give reasons on record for holding secret proceedings.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act excludes everyone except the interested
parties from trials of terrorist suspects and suppresses information to
protect the identity of witnesses in those trials.
There was no trial by jury. The law provides for a right to defense
counsel only for serious offenses. The Chief Justice assigns lawyers to
indigent defendants charged with serious crimes such as murder,
manslaughter, and armed robbery. There were only a few hundred
practicing lawyers in the country, and most indigent defendants charged
with lesser crimes did not have legal counsel. The law prohibits
counsel from defending clients in primary or district level courts. The
law provides for the presumption of innocence, and provides criminal
defendants with the right of appeal.
There was a separate court for young offenders; however, this court
was underutilized and many juvenile offenders were tried in adult
courts. Some cases continued to be sent through the traditional court
system, where they were processed faster due to a less significant
backlog than in the regular civil court system. The law provides for
military tribunals; however, military tribunals have not been used
since independence. Military courts did not try civilians. Defendants
in civil and military courts could appeal decisions to the High Court
and the Court of Appeal.
In 2003, the Government, in cooperation with the local community
and with funding from donor countries, began a pilot program known as
Quick Start to rehabilitate court facilities and increase the number of
primary courts. By year's end, the program was only active in Arusha
and Manyara regions.
Unlike in the previous year, Burundian mediation councils no longer
handled domestic abuse cases for Burundian refugees in Tanzania's
refugee camps. In refugee camps, Burundi mediation councils, mostly
composed of male refugee elders, often handled minor offenses. Serious
offences, including rape and murder, were supposed to be investigated
by police stationed in the camps and referred to the national courts
for prosecution. However, in practice, national courts did not
adequately prosecute most cases involving refugees. Refugee camps were
affected by delays and limited access to courts.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution generally prohibits such actions
without a search warrant; however, the Government did not consistently
respect these prohibitions in practice. The Prevention of Terrorism Act
permits the police to conduct searches without a warrant in certain
urgent cases; there were no reports that the act has ever been
implemented in practice.
Only courts can issue search warrants; however, the law also
authorizes searches of persons and premises without a warrant, if
necessary, to prevent the loss or destruction of evidence connected
with an offense, or if circumstances are serious and urgent. In
practice, members of security forces rarely requested warrants and
often searched private homes and businesses at will.
The security forces reportedly monitored telephones and
correspondence of some citizens and foreign residents.
The Zanzibar Government enforced the Zanzibar Spinsters and Female
Divorcees Protection Act, which makes it a criminal offense for any
woman to become pregnant out of wedlock, under punishment of
incarceration. In theory, the law could also be applied to men;
however, because DNA testing was not available in Zanzibar, only women
have been sentenced under the law. From 2000 to the end of 2003, 47
cases were brought to court, and 30 women have served jail time. During
the year, one woman was convicted under the act but served a suspended
sentence. Female members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives
advocated appeal or reform of the law; however, by year's end, no
changes had been made to the law.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the
Sungusungu forced widows to remarry.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech, but does not expressly provide for freedom of the
press, and in practice, the Union Government partially limited these
rights, and the semi-autonomous Zanzibar Government heavily limited
these rights. The only private newspaper published on Zanzibar, Dira,
remained banned. The law limits the media's ability to function
effectively. The print media were subject to considerable government
restrictions, including the enforcement of a code of ethics. Although
the code is considered voluntary, the Government has fined and
suspended newspapers under this code. Libel laws that impose criminal
penalties intimidated journalists, and journalists practiced self-
censorship. On the mainland, the Government allowed political opponents
unrestricted access to the media. There were no reports that the
Government restricted academic freedom.
Citizens on the mainland generally enjoyed the right to discuss
political alternatives freely; however, freedom of speech was severely
restricted. The law requires political parties to support the
continuation of the Union. Opposition political party members and
others openly criticized the Government and ruling party; however,
under the law, persons using ``abusive language'' against the country's
leadership were subject to arrest. Harassment of opposition parties
increased dramatically from the previous year.
Authorities occasionally restricted political and religious speech
by Muslims during the year (see Section 2.c.).
The mainland and Zanzibar have separate media policies. During the
year, there were more than 110 newspapers published in English and
Kiswahili, including 19 dailies and 53 weeklies. Many of the mainland's
newspapers were privately owned. There were a dozen periodicals in the
country, some of which were owned or influenced by political parties,
including the CCM and the CUF. Mainland publications, including one
government-owned newspaper, regularly reported events that portrayed
the Government critically.
Approximately 26 radio stations and 15 television stations
broadcast in Dar es Salaam and in a few other urban areas. Many radio
stations and all but one television station were privately owned. The
Government occasionally circumscribed activities of the broadcast
media; for example, radio stations could not broadcast in tribal
languages. On Zanzibar, the Government controlled radio and television;
however, many residents were able to receive mainland broadcasts. In
April, the Ministry of Information withdrew its decree requiring all
radio stations to broadcast government-produced news programs at
specified times during the day.
Unlike in previous years, the Zanzibar Government did not use the
Zanzibar News Act to harass, detain, or interrogate journalists.
However, many press freedom advocates said the existence of the Act
severely limited freedom of the press, and Reporters Without Borders
stated that there was no press freedom in Zanzibar.
There were a few reports of harassment of the media during the
year. For example, in April the CCM Director for Information, Enzi
Talib, reportedly harassed journalist Salma Said and chased her out of
his office. The accounts of the confrontation conflicted: The
journalist said she was harassed for reporting that was critical of the
CCM; the party official alleged that the journalist had sold stolen
press credentials to foreign journalists.
During the year, the Zanzibar Government issued a provisional
passport to Ali Nabwa, the editor of the banned newspaper Dira, after
immigration officials revoked his citizenship in 2003.
Journalists and NGOs belonging to the Media Law Reform Project
continued to complain that the Government has deliberately weakened
press freedom and limited information to the press through several
laws, including the Newspaper Registration Act, the National Security
Act, the Regional Commissioner's Act, and the libel law. For example,
journalists who reported arrests could be charged with obstructing
police activity under the Police Act. Other laws authorize the
Government to prevent television filming of the swearing-in of
opposition Members of Parliament (M.P.s). Media groups continued to
call for the abolishment of what they deemed to be draconian
legislative prohibitions. In addition, they criticized the lack of
access to government information and protection for journalists'
sources and whistle blowers.
On November 24, the High Court of Zanzibar ruled that Dira, which
the Government banned in November 2003, had violated registration
procedures and could not resume publishing; the Court made no ruling on
whether Dira had violated media ethics. At year's end, Dira's
management was reapplying for a new license.
The Government reportedly continued to pressure newspapers
throughout the year to suppress or change articles unfavorable to it.
During the year, there continued to be reports that the Government
withheld lucrative government advertising from newspapers deemed too
critical of the administration. In addition, according to press freedom
observers, the Government attempted to weaken the media by maintaining
prohibitively high taxes on newsprint and advertising.
Early in the year, President Mkapa said that the media should
explain to the public how it earned enough capital to operate, rather
than criticize the Government.
Libel law, which imposes criminal penalties for defamation,
intimidated journalists and caused many to practice self-censorship.
While the law specifies that the plaintiff has the burden of proof for
demonstrating malicious intent, many media observers criticized the
courts for ignoring this provision, and for imposing heavy, politically
motivated penalties on the media. As of May, there were more than 80
libel suits pending in high courts, with damages demanded ranging
between $47,000 to $9 million (50 million to 10 billion shillings).
In August, in an effort to facilitate media self-regulation, the
Government appointed 12 media professionals as ``assessors,'' in charge
of assisting courts to evaluate a journalist's or publication's efforts
in newsgathering, writing, editing, or broadcasting.
On February 20, the Tanzanian High Court fined the Kenyan weekly,
The East African, $927,000 (1 billion shillings) in damages in a
defamation case. Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, former secretary general of the
Organization of African Unity, filed the suit in response to a 2002
editorial that said the diplomat had defended a former commerce
minister against corruption charges. The Court also ordered The East
African to publish an apology.
Lack of media access to government information remained a serious
problem. Civil service regulations prohibit government workers from
divulging government information to the media, effectively allowing
only a handful of high-level government representatives to relay
information to the media (see Section 3).
During the year, the Government continued to be unresponsive to
journalists' requests for information, although it made efforts to
improve. The Government continued to place information officers in
ministries and to build the capacity of a Communications Directorate,
which was opened under the President's office in 2003; however, by
year's end, some ministries still lacked an information officer. The
changes were intended to increase transparency and access to
information; however, press freedom observers and government officials
criticized the creation of the Communications Directorate for
duplicating the functions of Maelezo, the Government's information
services department. Some journalists criticized the Communications
Directorate for being inaccessible; many noted that it was too early to
conclude that access to government information had improved.
During the year, the Media Council operated with limited
effectiveness as a mediator between the public and the media. The
Council supported press clubs; it also sought to resolve defamation
disputes before they reached a court of law, and to adjudicate cases in
which journalists allegedly infringed on the voluntary code of
professional ethics. Typically, the Media Council is allotted 3 months
to mediate a dispute, including the negotiation of the extent of
damages and an appropriate compensation, if applicable. After 3 months
of unsuccessful negotiation, then the plaintiff may take the case to
court. As of September, the Council had mediated more than 20 cases,
and none had gone to court.
According to the Media Institute of Southern Africa, freedom of the
press continued to be threatened by lack of training, mediocrity, low
salaries, and corruption in the profession of journalism.
There were no reports that the Government restricted access to the
Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government limited this
right in practice. Security forces interfered with citizens' rights to
assemble peacefully, particularly for political rallies or
demonstrations on several occasions. To hold rallies, organizers are
required to obtain police permission in advance. Police have the
authority to deny permission on public safety or security grounds or if
the permit seeker belonged to an unregistered organization or political
party. Authorities arrested citizens for assembling without the
appropriate permit. The Government sometimes prevented opposition
parties from holding rallies. For example, on January 8, police banned
a demonstration on Zanzibar by a new political party, SOFT, Solidarity
of Force Three.
On June 24, police banned Ibrahim Lipumba, the chairman of CUF,
from addressing a rally.
Authorities forcibly dispersed religious gatherings during the year
(see Section 2.c.).
In March, the Government banned the religious organization Uamsho
from holding a demonstration (see Section 2.c.).
On April 20, police reportedly used excessive force to disperse
student demonstrators protesting a new Student Loan Bill at the
University of Dar es Salaam.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government limited this right in practice. The Government imposed
stringent registration requirements for political parties, and
unregistered parties were prohibited from holding meetings, recruiting
members, or fielding candidates (see Section 3).
The Registrar of Political Parties has sole authority to approve or
deny the registration of any political party and is responsible for
enforcing strict regulations on registered parties. Under the law,
citizens may not form new political parties independently, but must
comply with certain requirements to register them with the Office of
the Registrar.
Parties that the Government granted provisional registration may
hold public meetings and recruit members. Provisionally registered
parties have 6 months to submit lists of at least 200 members in 10 of
the country's 26 regions, including 2 regions in Zanzibar, to secure
full registration and to be eligible to field candidates for election.
During the year, the Government implemented the 2002 NGO Act, which
requires all NGOs to register with a government-appointed NGO
Registration Board. Failure to register or meet any of the Act's other
requirements is a criminal offense (see Section 4). There were no
reports that NGOs were denied registration on the mainland. The
Zanzibar Human Rights Association's registration request, which has
been pending for several years, remained pending at year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not suspend
registration of religious NGOs on the grounds that many were being
formed for the purpose of evading taxes.
The Tanzanian People's Party and the Popular National Party, which
were deregistered in 2002 for a lack of compliance with their
respective constitutions, remained unregistered at year's end.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, there were some limits on freedom of religion.
In March, Zanzibari police used tear gas to disperse a
demonstration by Uamsho (also known as the Islamic Revival or Center
for Islamic Propagation), an umbrella organization for fundamentalist
Muslim organizations. The group does not recognize Zanzibar's Mufti Law
and therefore had refused to seek a permit from the mufti's office as
required. The Office of the Mufti and the police had publicly warned
Uamsho that its demonstration would be illegal. Reportedly, the
demonstrators included some minors and were armed with stones and
machetes. Seven demonstrators suffered minor injuries when the police
broke up the demonstration. Police arrested 32 demonstrators; 2 Uamsho
leaders faced charges in connection with the demonstration, and by July
they had been released on bail, and their case was pending.
On May 28, Zanzibari police arrested Islamic activist Sheikh Kurwa
Shauri; no charges were filed. The Government of Zanzibar subsequently
deported Shauri to Dar es Salaam, in accordance with a 1993 government
order by then President Salmin Amour, which banned Shauri from the
island after he was accused of disrupting the peace and fomenting
inter-religious conflict.
By March, the Government had dropped all charges against six
Muslims arrested in 2003 for sedition against Christianity and the
Government, and all had been released by year's end.
The Government banned religious organizations from involvement in
politics. Politicians are prohibited by law from using language
designed to incite one religious group against another or to encourage
religious groups to vote for certain political parties. The law imposes
fines and jail time on political parties that campaign in houses of
worship or educational facilities.
Government policy forbids discrimination against any individual on
the basis of religious beliefs or practices; however, individual
government officials allegedly favored persons who shared the same
religion in the conduct of business.
Societal violence based on religion occurred on occasion. During
March, there was a series of small explosions and firebombings in and
near Stonetown on Zanzibar; the targets included a vehicle belonging to
a church and the mufti's house, which was damaged slightly. The police
arrested 45 persons, including some Uamsho members, in connection with
the bombings; the Uamsho members alleged that they were beaten while
they were in custody. In May, Zanzibari police confirmed that they had
released these individuals. Uamsho representatives said that none of
their members faced charges in the bombings.
During the year, there were other attacks on Zanzibar that appear
to have been motivated by religious conflict. In April, practitioners
of traditional religion burned portions of a tourist hotel on Zanzibar
because the proprietor refused to allow them to practice rituals that
would purportedly rid the hotel of witches. In May, unknown
perpetrators used human waste to desecrate a church on Zanzibar's Pemba
Island.
While Muslim-Christian relations remained generally stable in rural
areas, tensions increased during the year in urban centers due to some
Muslim groups' claims of discrimination in government hiring,
education, and law enforcement practices. The Muslim community claimed
to be disadvantaged in terms of its representation in the civil
service, government, and parastatal institutions, in part because both
colonial and early post-independence administrations refused to
recognize the credentials of traditional Muslim schools. As a result,
there was broad Muslim resentment of certain advantages that Christians
were perceived to enjoy in employment and educational opportunities.
Muslim leaders complained that the number of Muslim students invited to
enroll in government-run schools was not equal to the number of
Christian students.
There were reports that at certain Muslim religious rallies in
urban centers, some participants publicly criticized Christianity,
which, on occasion, resulted in fighting. The Government made some
efforts to resolve the tensions between Muslim and Christian
communities. For example, in May, Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete, a
Muslim, attended a choir service at a Pentecostal Church.
During the year, Muslim fundamentalist organizations engaged in
increasingly confrontational proselytizing in Zanzibar, Morogoro,
Mwanza, and Dar es Salaam. Anti-Christian slogans became more prevalent
in newspapers and pamphlets, and on clothing. Muslims threatened
tourist establishments in Zanzibar, warning proprietors who catered to
Western customers that they risked retribution for serving alcohol. On
the mainland, Christian evangelical organizations also reportedly
engaged in confrontational proselytizing, including the distribution of
leaflets branding Muslims as ``unbelievers'' or ``servants of Satan.''
In addition, Christian newspapers increasingly criticized Islamic
practices and reprinted articles that were perceived to be anti-Muslim.
There were signs of increasing tension between secular Muslims and
Muslim fundamentalists, as the latter believed that the former had
joined with the Government for monetary and other benefits. Some Muslim
groups accused the Government of being a Christian institution, and
charged that Muslims in power were interested only in safeguarding
their positions.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them; however,
bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption delayed implementation in
practice, and respect for the right of asylum deteriorated during the
year.
Mainlanders were required to show identification to travel to
Zanzibar, although the requirement largely was ignored in practice.
Zanzibaris needed no special identification to travel to the mainland.
Mainlanders were not allowed to own land in the islands, except in
partnership with foreign investors. There was no prohibition against
mainlanders working in the islands; however, in practice few
mainlanders were hired.
Police and the TPDF sometimes set up roadblocks in rural parts of
the country and in Zanzibar. Government officials manning these
roadblocks sometimes solicited bribes to allow passage.
Passports for foreign travel at times were difficult to obtain,
mostly due to bureaucratic inefficiency and officials' demands for
bribes.
The Constitution does not permit the forced exile of its citizens,
and the Government did not use forced exile in practice.
During the year, the Legal and Human Rights Center (LHRC) alleged
that the Citizenship Act continued to be used by the director of
immigration services to reject citizenship for reasons of personal
prejudice.
The citizenship of Ali Nabwa, the managing editor of Dira, has not
been restored; however, he had not been deported by year's end.
The law provides for the granting of refugee and asylum status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government frequently did not provide protection against refoulement,
the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution; on a
number of occasions, particularly in October and November, the
Government refouled refugees and refused persons seeking asylum or
refugee status. The Government also deported between 400 and 700
persons whom it claimed were Burundians living in local villages in
Ngara district. The Government at times did not cooperate with the
UNHCR during the year. For example, on some occasions, the Government
did not allow the UNHCR to be present at screenings for refugees as
they arrived at the border or did not inform the UNHCR about arrival of
new asylum seekers.
The Government applied ad hoc asylum procedures. The determination
of refugee status rests solely with the Minister of Home Affairs (MHA),
who was authorized to grant or reject applications for asylum. The MHA
can declare any group of persons to be refugees by notice in the
Government Gazette, and the Government determined Burundians and
Congolese to be prima facie refugees. The Minister may also decide on
cases individually. These individuals are required by law to register
with the Director for Refugee Services and subsequently appear before a
National Eligibility Committee (NEC) in which the UNHCR participates as
an observer. In practice, this procedure was not observed. Cases were
not heard by the NEC and instead were decided by local government
officials.
Despite the MHA's mandate, the army and regional and district
commissioners exercised a great deal of independent control over
refugees in their regions. For example, the district commissioners,
including the District Commissioner of Kibondo, continued to restrict
access into and out of the camps and to prohibit refugees from leaving
camps without a permit. Refugees caught outside the restricted areas
were arrested, imprisoned, and deported to the countries from which
they sought refuge, often without due process. Relatives of the accused
often were not notified of their detention. In addition, the TPDF
screened refugees as they arrived at the border and sometimes did not
allow the UNHCR to be present.
In Kigoma, government officials (immigration, police, and MHA)
screened new arrivals at the only official entry point in Kigoma,
Kibirizi 1; the regional commissioner closed the other points in 2003.
They often rejected asylum seekers and immediately handed them to
Immigration Services for deportation. The majority of these refugees
were Burundians. Unlike in the previous year, government officials
permitted the UNHCR to have access to rejected cases, and sometimes
allowed it access to the screening process.
During the year, the Kibondo District Commissioner repeatedly
visited camps and urged refugees to return home; however, unlike in the
previous year, there were no reports that the Kibondo District
Commissioner ordered the staff of refugee way stations not to receive
new refugees arriving from Burundi.
At year's end, the number of UNHCR-assisted refugees in the country
was approximately 407,000: Approximately 249,000 Burundian refugees,
153,000 Congolese refugees, 2,000 refugees of mixed origin, and almost
200 Rwandan refugees living in 12 UNHCR-assisted camps in the
northwest; there were also approximately 200,000 Burundian refugees who
arrived prior to 1994 who were not being assisted by the UNHCR. In
addition, there were approximately 3,000 Somalis living in a settlement
camp near the coast receiving some UNHCR assistance. Many Burundian
refugees continued to return home under the perceived threat of
refoulement. In addition, the UNHCR, with strong encouragement from the
Government, increased efforts to facilitate returns to designated areas
in Burundi that were considered secure. At year's end, the UNHCR had
assisted in the repatriation of 82,930 refugees since January 1. Unlike
in the previous year, there were no UNHCR reports that the Government
did not register refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), or that police were informally controlling groups of DRC
refugees along the border. Rwandans no longer qualified for prima facie
refugee status. The Government's relations with the UNHCR deteriorated
during the later half of the year. During the year, the Government
reportedly pressured the UNHCR to speed up the facilitated repatriation
program. In January 2003, the Government expelled the head of a UNHCR
sub-office in Ngara; he was not allowed back in the country.
During the year, there was a sharp increase in the number of
reports indicating that the Government refused persons seeking asylum
or refugee status.
On March 2, government officials imprisoned two Burundian refugees
in the western part of the country and subsequently forced them to
return to Burundi. In addition, during the first quarter of the year,
in Kibondo district, security forces arrested eight other refugees and
forcibly returned them to Burundi.
During October and November, the Government refused to grant asylum
to approximately 100 asylum seekers, most of whom came from Kirundo
province in Burundi.
The Government's application of immigration laws to refugees
instead of applying the 1998 Refugees Act continued to be a problem.
Sentences under Immigration laws are more stringent than those under
the Refugees Act. After serving their sentences under the Immigration
Act, asylum seekers and refugees often were issued Prohibited Immigrant
Notices and deported.
For example, on March 21, two Burundian refugees were arrested and
immediately deported to Burundi.
Anti-refugee sentiment among the 2 million citizens living in
refugee-affected areas of the country was high due to pressure on local
resources; the belief that refugees were responsible for an increase in
crime, small arms trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and environmental degradation;
and the provision of goods and services for refugees that were not
available to the local population. However, many services offered by
the UNHCR, NGOs, and international organizations, in particular health
care and road improvement projects, were available to the local
population. In December, President Mkapa announced that the Government
would not allow a new influx of Burundian refugees to enter the country
if the political situation in Burundi deteriorated.
The UNHCR, with government cooperation, continued to provide
security for refugees, including the training of local camp security
guards and the provision of subsidy payments, vehicles, and radios to
police; however, during the year, crime--including at least two
killings and several rapes and robberies--was a serious problem in and
around the refugee camps. Between June and August, there was a sharp
increase in crime in the northwest district of Ngara. There was also a
sharp increase in crime in the Kigoma region during the latter part of
the year. Government officials blamed refugees for the increase in
crime; however, it was unclear who was responsible for the crimes.
According to Refugees International, during the year, several refugees
complained repeatedly about the inaction of police and refugee security
guards and their lack of capacity to prevent violence and provide
protection.
In May, according to the U.N. World Food Program, villagers in
Kibondo district reportedly killed a refugee suspected of stealing food
items from their village.
It is illegal for refugees to live outside of the camps or
settlements, or to travel outside of their respective camps without
permission. However, refugees often had to travel more than 5 miles to
collect firewood because local supplies were inadequate; these
refugees, usually women and children, were subject to theft, physical
abuse, and rape. There were a number of police positions funded to
patrol the camps. There were reports that police based in refugee camps
sexually exploited female refugees. Woman and children sometimes
engaged in prostitution in the refugee camps. Under the Refugees Act,
refugees must obtain permits to work, and during the year, authorities
strictly enforced restrictions on movement, which imposed economic
difficulties on refugees who had been illegally farming or doing
business outside the camps for several years.
There were reports that some refugees engaged in vigilante justice
within camps, occasionally beating other refugees. There was
significant hostility and resentment against Burundian refugees during
the year and continuing concern regarding violence allegedly
perpetrated by some armed Burundian and Rwandan refugees. Local
officials reported incidents of banditry, armed robbery, and violent
crime, allegedly perpetrated by refugees in the areas surrounding
refugee camps. Rape and domestic violence remained problems in refugee
camps. The UNHCR, in coordination with the Government and local NGOs,
continued programs to increase awareness about sexual and gender-based
violence and deal with abuses in the camps.
The Government did not adequately investigate, prosecute, or punish
perpetrators of abuses in refugee camps. There were mediation councils
in the refugee camps and police patrols in the camps, but many cases
were not referred to local authorities.
According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers,
children continued to be recruited as soldiers from the country's
refugee camps (see Section 5).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, this right was circumscribed severely
in the 2000 general elections on Zanzibar, and again in May by-
elections held in two districts on the mainland. Serious irregularities
were also observed in some districts in local elections in November.
There were general elections in 2000, in which the ruling CCM's
candidate Benjamin Mkapa was elected President with 71 percent of the
vote. In the parliamentary elections, the CCM won 202 of the 232
elected seats. In the Zanzibar presidential election, Abeid Amani
Karume defeated the candidate from the opposition CUF party. On the
mainland, international observers concluded that the elections were
free and fair and conducted peacefully; however, four separate
international observer teams concluded that the vote on Zanzibar was
marred by irregularities, voter intimidation, and politically motivated
violence. In addition, 16 CUF members were expelled from the National
Parliament after they boycotted the legislature to protest the Zanzibar
election results.
Although the 2003 by-elections held in 17 districts on Zanzibar
were generally considered to be free and fair, in the May by-elections
on the mainland, government offices dominated by the ruling CCM party
frequently denied permits requested by opposition parties for rallies
or demonstrations, arbitrarily detained opposition members, and
intimidated and harassed opposition supporters.
On May 30, by-elections for a parliamentary seat formerly held by
opposition member of the United Democratic Party (UDP) John Cheyo were
conducted in Bariadi, Shinyanga. During the campaign period before the
election, there were reports that police detained 30 UDP supporters and
then released them. Cheyo also alleged that police fired at a UDP
vehicle.
On May 30, by-elections were conducted for village councilor seats
formerly held by the Tanzania Labor Party (TLP), an opposition party,
in Moshi Rural. On five different occasions during the campaign, police
arrested Thomas Ngawaiya, an M.P. and member of the TLP. After a party
meeting the evening before the election, unidentified persons in two
vehicles forced the car containing Ngawiya and three TLP councilors to
the side of the road, beat them, stabbed one, and vandalized the car.
No action was taken against the perpetrators.
In November, local elections were held on the mainland. The
elections were marred by violent confrontations, burned ballots, long
delays prior to voting, and one death (see Section 1.a.). The
Government re-administered the local elections the following week in
148 of the Dar es Salaam region's 387 electoral areas.
During the year, opposition political parties complained that the
National Electoral Commission was not independent since all
commissioners were appointed by the President, and were presumed to be
CCM party loyalists. Opposition political parties criticized the ward
executive officers responsible for registering voters because they
considered the officers to be subject to CCM influence. The law
prohibits independent candidates who are not running with a registered
political party; requires all standing M.P.s to resign if they join
another party; requires all registered political parties to support the
union with Zanzibar; and forbids parties based on ethnic, regional, or
religious affiliation.
On semi-autonomous Zanzibar, a separate Zanzibar Electoral
Commission (ZEC) is responsible for voter registration and for the
conduct of elections for Zanzibari offices. The Muafaka Accord,
negotiated between the CCM and the CUF following the 2000 elections,
provided for the ZEC to establish a permanent voters' registry in 2003;
although the registry was not completed in 2003, the ZEC had begun to
register voters on Zanzibar by year's end and was expected to complete
the registry by April 2005, in advance of the general elections. At
some registration sites, there were violent confrontations between
paramilitary forces and citizens, one of which resulted in death (see
Section 1.a.). In December, the ZEC temporarily closed as many as 10 of
the 58 registration centers that were active in December, reportedly
due to violence or the threat of violence. During the year, the CUF
alleged that the Government transferred paramilitary units from the
mainland or from pro-CCM districts of Zanzibar into pro-CUF districts,
where they registered to vote in the 2005 general elections; the CCM
denied the charges.
By year's end, 16 political parties were registered. CCM controlled
296 seats, approximately 93 percent of the seats, in the National
Assembly.
The Government restricted political opponents by denying their
permit requests to hold rallies, harassing them, and detaining them for
short periods of time (see Section 1.d.).
There were reports during the year that police in Zanzibar
arrested, detained, and harassed CUF members (see Section 1.d.).
Election law provides for outgoing M.P.s to receive $20,000 (20
million shillings) as a ``gratuity,'' which incumbents continued to use
in their re-election campaigns to facilitate their return to the
national assembly. Several NGOs criticized this provision and said it
made it extremely difficult for aspiring parliamentary candidates from
the opposition parties to mount effective and fair competition.
On Zanzibar, both CCM and CUF have active youth wings. Each accused
the other party's youth wing of committing violent attacks. During the
year, members of the CUF youth wing were accused of stoning CCM offices
and of the July 10 stoning of the car belonging to a CCM administrative
officer.
On March 25, Deputy Ministry for Home Affairs John Chilligati
banned the CUF youth wing from practicing karate. The Deputy Minister
was quoted as saying that the opposition should not have their own
armies and that judo and karate were military exercises.
On June 15, unidentified youths beat and robbed CUF party Chairman
Ibrahim Lipumba when he was visiting a school in Bukoba; the CUF
alleged that the attack was politically motivated.
Despite significant changes in the past decade, corruption remained
a pervasive problem throughout the Government. There was a strong
public perception of corruption in the executive branch.
There was little accountability in most government entities. The
Ministry of Finance has estimated that 20 percent of the Government's
budget in each fiscal year is lost to corruption, including theft,
fraud, and fake purchasing transactions. According to the Controller
Auditor General's annual report, more than half of the Ministry of
Health's budget could not be accounted for. In 2002, only 20 out of 117
districts received a clean audit by the Controller Audit General.
Transparency International reported in its annual Corruption
Perceptions Index for 2004 that citizens perceived slightly less
corruption than in the previous year.
The Good Governance Coordination Unit (GGCU) is charged with
implementing anti-corruption legislation and with coordinating anti-
corruption efforts; however, this three-person unit continued to be
severely underresourced. The GGCU continued to collect information from
all the ministries and publish quarterly reports, which detailed the
implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan
(NASCAP), allegations of fraud and waste, and actions taken.
The PCB, the Government's leading anti-corruption entity, is
responsible for investigating cases of corruption on the mainland and
referring them to the courts for prosecution. The PCB does not operate
in Zanzibar because corruption law is not a union matter. The PCB lacks
constitutional recognition, and is under the authority of the office of
the President, two factors that hindered its ability to resist
political pressures and prosecute high-level corruption cases. The
PCB's Director General served at the pleasure of the President and had
no security of tenure. During the year, the PCB continued to refer
cases to the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP); however, the prosecution
of corruption cases remained slow and inefficient. The PCB usually
required 2 years to investigate a case of corruption. If the PCB
referred the case, the DPP typically required an additional 2 years to
review the case's merits and decide whether to prosecute it. Only about
5 percent of corruption cases reported to the PCB's regional offices
during the last 5 years have been heard by a court of law.
Between 1995 and June, the PCB received 10,319 reports of
corruption and investigated 9,507 of them. Of the cases investigated,
357 were prosecuted, resulting in 48 convictions. No high-level
government leaders were tried on corruption charges during the year. As
of June, 5,387 cases were pending with the PCB. According to the head
of the PCB's investigation unit, the PCB had 38 prosecutors. As of
September, the PCB had 73 district offices in every mainland region, a
hotline for the public to report cases of corruption, and a total of
about 730 investigators. Anti-corruption activists criticized the
Government for not providing the PCB with the capacity to monitor the
implementation of recommendations that the PCB made to institutions.
According to the PCB, most corruption-related complaints involved
mining; land matters, particularly title deed fraud; energy; and
investment. The lack of regulations for the program to privatize state
entities was also a source of corruption complaints. According to anti-
corruption NGOs, most allegations of corruption involved the Tanzania
Revenue Authority, local government officials, licensing authorities,
hospital workers, and the media.
During the year, the Government took steps to fight corruption,
acting through the GGCU, the PCB, the Commission for Human Rights and
Good Governance, and the Ethics Secretariat. During the year, the
Government raised the wages of civil servants to reduce the temptation
to commit corruption. In addition, the Government continued to build
the PCB's capacity, providing for an average of 100 new additional
investigators to join the PCB each year. The Government's Commission
for Leadership Ethics received the annual declarations of wealth by
certain public leaders.
The Zanzibari House of Representatives has denied the request of
the Union Government's Ethics Secretariat to open an office on the
isles. An office of the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance
existed on the isles, but at year's end, it still had no mandate from
the Zanzibar Government to investigate corruption cases.
During the year, human rights observers, members of the political
opposition, and legal experts continued to accuse the CCM of engaging
in corruption during elections because of CCM's use of provisions in
the country's election law that allow candidates to offer hospitality,
gifts, and favors--known as ``takrima''--to constituents during
campaigns. The groups said the law--by not defining limits on the form,
amount, or duration of the hospitality that candidates can provide to
the electorate--continued to provide a ``loophole for corruption.''
During the year's debate on the ethical nature of takrima, some
political figures said the law allowing for takrima promoted the
African tradition of providing hospitality and encouraged citizen
participation in the electoral process; however, many observers
expressed concern that the practice of takrima gave the CCM party undue
influence, particularly because the CCM party received significantly
larger government subsidies under the law than other parties. East
African Court of Justice Judge Joseph Warioba, who chaired a
presidential commission that produced a landmark report on corruption
in 1996, said corruption was rampant in the political arena during the
year. Warioba, a former Prime Minister, also said that takrima allowed
politicians to buy votes by offering goods and cash to individuals and
communities; however, there were no confirmed reports of vote buying
during the year. Voting procedures witnessed by election observers
during the year included provisions for a secret ballot and provided
significant safeguards against a direct quid pro quo exchange of a
bribe for a ballot cast. The practice of takrima nonetheless gave the
wealthier parties undue influence in electoral politics. According to
Edward Hoseah, the director of the PCB's investigations unit, the
Government needed to draw a clear line between hospitality and bribery
to avoid further encouraging electoral corruption.
Civil society's contribution to anti-corruption efforts increased.
In its annual human rights report, the LHRC reported that corruption
remained a widespread problem, and that the Government had only
``scratched the surface.'' Media experts noted that, despite frequent
articles and editorials on corruption, investigative reporting was
scarce and that the media itself suffered from corruption.
During the year, the Government investigated and prosecuted some
cases of corruption. For example, in a high-profile case in February, a
top administrator of Zanzibar's Joint Presidential Supervisory
Commission was forced to resign after an internal investigation
revealed that he had embezzled donor funding that had been intended for
the implementation of Zanzibar's bi-partisan Muafaka Accord. The
administrator was later arrested while trying to flee the country. The
case was pending at year's end.
In July, police arrested a Mbulu district magistrate on charges of
bribery. By year's end, no additional information was available.
In November, according to the Guardian newspaper, authorities
arrested and charged two investigation officers with the Iringa
Regional Crimes Office, Station Sergeant Deogratias Chale and Sergeant
Germanus Ngaliluwula, with soliciting and receiving a bribe from a
citizen, who paid the bribe after the officers threatened to arrest
him. The case was under investigation at year's end.
During the year, international donors criticized the Government for
its reluctance to take needed steps to fight corruption.
There were no laws that provided for access to information held by
the Government, and in practice, citizens' access to Government
information was very limited. Government officials estimated that 90
percent of all government documents were classified, including
administrative forms (see Section 2.a.).
By law, persons holding certain public offices must make a formal
declaration of their wealth to the Public Leaders' Ethics Secretariat,
but the declaration forms were not made public, and it remained
difficult for members of the public or journalists to gain access to
this information. Persons seeking to access a form were required to pay
a fee of about $3 (3,000 shillings) and provide written justification
for the request. Some of the forms were shared with the PCB during the
year.
Early in the year, Parliament established the Parliamentary Online
Information System (POLIS) to increase access to government
information. POLIS was intended to make politics and policy making more
understandable and accessible to the public. By year's end, POLIS'
reach remained limited, since only about 300,000 of the country's 37
million citizens had Internet access; opposition politicians noted that
most parliamentarians lacked Internet access.
The Constitution requires that women occupy at least 20 percent of
seats in Parliament, and women are appointed by their respective
political parties to serve in these seats, popularly known as ``Special
Seats.'' There were 60 women in the 295-seat legislature; 12 female
M.P.s were elected members of the CCM; 47 female M.P.s occupied the
Special Seats; and 1 female M.P. was nominated--although not appointed
by year's end--by President Mkapa. Women occupied seven seats in the
Zanzibar House of Representatives. There were three women in the
cabinet of the national Government, and one in the cabinet of the
Zanzibar Government. In addition, one woman served as a justice of the
Court of Appeal.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic human rights groups generally operated
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their
findings on human rights cases. The Government generally was
cooperative and responsive to their views, although many human rights
organizations reported the Government did not respond or was slow to
respond to requests for information. The government-mandated
registration process has been used to limit NGO activities. The
Government of Zanzibar reportedly interpreted the existence and actions
of NGOs as anti-government. In addition, there were reports that many
parliamentarians harbored mistrust towards NGOs and believed they
existed solely to make money.
Active domestic human rights NGOs included the Center for Human
Rights Promotion, the LHRC, Tanzania Media Women's Association (TAMWA),
and Tanzania Women Lawyers' Association. There were also many smaller
local human rights NGOs based outside of Dar es Salaam. The Zanzibar
Legal Services Center was one of the few active human rights
organizations on Zanzibar. All of these organizations were independent
of the Government. Government representatives met with domestic human
rights NGOs, responded to their inquiries, and participated in training
seminars, such as those concerning international humanitarian law, FGM,
child labor, and women's rights.
The 2002 NGO Act requires all NGOs to register with a government-
appointed NGO Coordination Board (see Section 2.b.). NGOs were
concerned that this law could be used to limit their operations, and
the Government could use the denial of registration as a political
tool. During the year, NGOs and the Government worked cooperatively to
consider revisions to the law to address these problems.
In May, the NGO Coordination Board was established, but it had not
registered any NGOs by year's end.
The 2002 NGO Act does not apply to Zanzibar. The Government of
Zanzibar has not responded to requests for registration by the African
Human Rights and Justice Protections Network, which has been pending
since 1994. The Government allowed the Lawyer's Environmental Action
Team (LEAT) to reregister after having revoked its license in 2003, and
LEAT operated during the year.
At year's end, the Zanzibar Human Rights Association's registration
request, which had been pending for several years, remained pending.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act, which imposes strong sanctions on
NGOs suspected of ties to terrorism, had not been implemented by year's
end; however, Muslims believed it unfairly targeted their religiously
affiliated NGOs.
In June, 24 journalists, in cooperation with the LHRC, founded the
country's first Human Rights Press Club, which was intended to
research, monitor, investigate and report on relevant human rights
problems.
On May 14, armed assailants killed an NGO worker in Ngara district
after they attacked a UNHCR-owned truck, which bore visible logos of
both the UNHCR and a local NGO. After an exchange of gunfire with the
assailants, members of the truck's police escort ran out of ammunition
and fled. A worker with the local NGO Tanganyika Christian Refugee
Services (TCRS) who refused to give the assailants his valuables was
shot and later died from blood loss. The road on which the attack took
place had been subject to banditry in the past, and it was not clear
whether the assailants had targeted the UNHCR, the TCRS, or other local
NGOs. By year's end, police detained some Burundian refugees for
questioning in relation to the attack; however, no one was charged for
the crime.
During the year, there were numerous international human rights
NGOs working directly and indirectly on human rights in the country.
The Government allowed international humanitarian organizations to have
free and open access during a prolonged drought at the beginning of the
year.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda War Crimes (ICTR)
continued to be hosted in Arusha. The Government has been supportive of
and cooperative with the ICTR.
The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance accepted
outside requests for and initiated investigations into human rights
abuses committed by the Government, companies, or individuals, such as
police brutality, corruption, and violations of women's rights. The
majority of the cases brought to the Commission have been labor
grievances. The Commission is also mandated to act as a plaintiff in a
trial; however, it does not have judicial powers. Furthermore, it has
no jurisdiction over matters pending before a court or other tribunal
(the Commission can make recommendation for remedies but courts must
decide on them), any dispute that involves the President of the country
or the President of Zanzibar, or relations between the Government and a
foreign state or international organization. NGOs viewed the
Commission's work favorably, and some sent cases to the Commission for
investigation; however, some were critical of the Commission. During
the year, in a case involving the eviction of small-scale miners, LEAT
alleged that two Commissioners were biased in favor of a mining
company. The Government cooperated with the Commission during the year.
The Commission has no legal mandate to operate in Zanzibar but
retained an office there.
During the year, the Commission actively investigated complaints,
visited regions to explain the Commission's mandate, heard evidence in
a land displacement case, and released a report on the poor conditions
in the country's prisons (see Section 1.c.). During the 12 months
following July 2003, the Commission resolved 1,464 complaints and
received 2,683 new complaints. However, the Commission remained
underfunded, understaffed, and overburdened by a caseload of more than
5,500 unresolved complaints.
In December, the Commission ruled that District Commissioner Thomas
Ole Sabaya and a police commissioner were guilty of ordering the
forcible eviction of 135 villagers from Nyamuma, in the Mara Region,
and the burning of their houses and food supplies to displace them from
the Serengeti National Park in 2001. The Commission ordered the
Government to compensate the villagers within 3 months and resettle
them on the land from which the Government forced them.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on nationality,
ethnicity, political affiliation, race or religion; however, the
Government did not always effectively enforce these prohibitions.
Discrimination based on sex, age, or disability was not prohibited
specifically by law but was discouraged publicly in official statements
and by government policies. Discrimination against women; refugees;
national, racial, and ethnic minorities; and persons with HIV/AIDS
persisted, and societal ethnic tensions continued to be a problem.
Women.--Domestic violence against women remained widespread. The
law does not specifically prohibit spousal battery. Cultural, family,
and social pressures prevented many women from reporting abuses to
authorities, and action rarely was taken against perpetrators of
physical abuse against women. Police often had biases against pursuing
domestic abuse cases; however, unlike in the previous year, there were
no reports that police demanded bribes to investigate allegations.
There was no available information about the number of domestic abusers
prosecuted or convicted. Traditional customs that subordinate women
remained strong in both urban and rural areas, and local magistrates
often upheld such practices. wife beating was an acceptable practice
and occurred at all levels of society. Women have been punished by
their husbands for not bearing children. TAMWA estimated that as many
as 50 percent of women were beaten by their husbands. Women who sought
advice from mainland legal aid clinics most commonly cited domestic
abuse as the reason for wanting a divorce. Generally, women tolerated
domestic abuse for a long time before seeking a divorce. The courts
recognize domestic violence as grounds for divorce.
The law provides for life imprisonment for persons convicted of
rape; however, rape continued to be a serious problem. Several persons
were prosecuted and convicted for rape and battery under the law during
the year. Sexual and gender-based violence continued to be a problem in
the refugee camps (see Section 2.d.).
There was no available information about estimates of the number of
rape cases. One official estimated in 2003 that the majority of rape
cases went unreported, and only 5 percent of actual rape cases were
filed in a court of law. According to the Vuga Deputy Court Magistrate,
between 2000 and June 2003, 118 rape cases were filed at the Vuga
Resident Magistrate's Court in Zanzibar; by year's end, there was no
information available on the number of those cases that were still
pending. According to a Zanzibar High Court judge, courts often
rejected cases due to a lack of evidence. Some police reportedly
advised rape victims to clean themselves before going to hospitals for
examinations, which contributed to the removal of important evidence.
In 2003, Zanzibar's Ugunja island had only one hospital that conducted
post-rape examinations, and it did so only on Thursdays. Since rape
victims had to wait for as long as 6 days for examinations, much
crucial evidence was lost. During the year, the Government's Unguja
hospital changed its policy, and began conducting post-rape
examinations during all regular operating hours. However, the only
public hospital on Pemba Island continued to conduct post-rape
examinations only once a week. Rape and sexual abuse of girls and women
with disabilities reportedly was prevalent during the year.
The law partially criminalizes female genital mutilation (FGM);
however, enforcement continued to be extremely lax, and by year's end,
an estimated 18 percent of the country's female population, about 4
million women, had undergone FGM. Data from anti-FGM activists
suggested that the prevalence of the procedure was declining somewhat,
but the data also suggested that the average age of victims had
decreased to less than 10 years old, with some newborns reportedly
undergoing FGM. In Singida region, FGM was often performed on infants
who had become sick with malaria or other diseases, so that any
deleterious effects resulting from the procedure would not raise
suspicion among neighbors and relatives. FGM was practiced by
approximately 20 of the country's 130 tribes and was most prevalent in
11 mainland regions, including Arusha, Singida, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro
and Dar es Salaam. In the rest of the country, the prevalence rate of
FGM was estimated to be less than 5 percent. In some regions,
practitioners continued to openly perform mass circumcisions involving
hundreds of girls annually. The most common types of FGM were the
excision of the clitoris and labia minora; however, infibulation, the
most severe form of mutilation, was also practiced, mainly in the
northern highlands and the central zone.
The law prohibits the practice of FGM on any female younger than 18
years of age. Penalties range from 5 to 15 years of imprisonment, or a
fine not exceeding $277 (300,000 shillings), or both. The law does not
provide legal protection for women 18 years of age or older, and does
not establish a minimum fine. The law was largely perceived to target
the parents or relatives of the victim; it was not widely perceived to
target the practitioners, or ``ngaribas,'' hired to perform FGM.
During the year, five arrests and two successful prosecutions were
reported. In Singida region, a 1-year-old girl died in April following
a circumcision. The girl's father reported the case, and police
arrested the victim's mother and grandmother, who had arranged the
circumcision. Both were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.
No action was taken in the 2002 death of a young girl following an
FGM procedure in Dodoma.
Enforcement of the anti-FGM law was difficult because many police
officers and many communities were not aware of the law; police did not
have adequate resources to protect victims; and victims were often
reluctant to testify against family members and neighbors who forced
them to undergo FGM. Some witnesses feared reprisals from supporters of
FGM. For example, in one incident during the year, members of a
community in Dodoma region brandished machetes and threatened a
neighbor who had reported a case of FGM to local authorities.
Corruption also made it difficult to enforce the anti-FGM law. Some
villagers reportedly have given local leaders sums as great as $277
(300,000 shillings) to be allowed to have their daughters circumcised,
without fear of arrest or prosecution. In addition, most cases have
been dismissed from courts under the pretense of lack of evidence,
often despite strong evidence from the victims and even confessions
from their parents or guardians, or the FGM practitioners.
Reducing the practice of FGM remained difficult because some
regional government officials favored or profited from the practice, or
feared speaking out against it because of the perceived political
consequences of opposing FGM and the power of traditional leaders who
supported FGM. The communities that were aware of the law prohibiting
FGM viewed it as an unjust threat to a cultural tradition. A lack of
medical information on the harmful and long-term health effects of FGM
remained a problem. Many communities believed FGM increased fertility,
reduced sexual desires leading to prostitution, and reduced infant
mortality. Many fathers believed they would receive higher ``bride
prices'' for daughters who had undergone FGM. In addition,
practitioners of FGM, ngaribas, relied on the practice for income. Cash
payments usually varied between $1 (1,000 shillings) and $5 (5,000
shillings); non-cash payments have involved one goat per circumcision
performed.
The Government developed a National Plan of Action for the
Elimination of FGM, but it was not widely circulated. During the year,
many anti-FGM activists continued to criticize the central Government
for its a lack of commitment to hold some M.P.s and local government
officials accountable for failing to enforce the anti-FGM law.
During the year, the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Network (AFNET)
and a coalition of anti-FGM NGOs engaged in awareness-raising
activities and conducted research on FGM. During the year, anti-FGM
groups continued to sensitize the ngaribas about the harmful effects of
FGM and train them for other lines of work.
The law prohibits prostitution; however, prostitution, including
child prostitution, remained common. Poor rural woman and young girls
immigrating to urban areas were most at risk. There were reports during
the year that female refugees engaged in prostitution, although the
number of such reports decreased from the previous year.
The law prohibits sexual harassment against women in the workplace.
Male colleagues sometimes harassed women seeking higher education, and
the authorities largely ignored the practice. The extent of the problem
was unknown.
The Constitution provides for equality of woman; however,
inheritance, marriage, and land laws do not consistently support full
equality, and in practice women's rights often were not respected. The
Ministry of Gender, Community Development, and Children and the
Ministry of Justice were responsible for protecting the legal rights of
women. Women generally were not discouraged from seeking employment
outside the home; however, in the public sector, which employed 80
percent of the salaried labor force, certain statutes restricted
women's access to some jobs or hours of employment (see Section 6.e.).
While progress on women's rights was more noticeable in urban areas,
strong traditional norms still divided labor along gender lines and
placed women in a subordinate position. Discrimination against women
was most acute in rural areas, where women were relegated to farming
and raising children and had almost no opportunity for wage employment.
Civil society activists reported widespread discrimination against
women in matters of inheritance. The Land Act, which came into effect
during the year, overrides customary law if customary law denies women
their right to use, transfer, and own land; however, the land courts
that were supposed to hear these cases had not been established by
year's end. Women's rights of co-occupancy was recognized by the law;
however, this provision was not enforced in practice, and married women
whose unions had not been legalized under customary, Hindu, Muslim,
Christian, or civil marriage laws were particularly vulnerable when
they separated from their husbands, either by divorce or death.
The immigration laws discriminate against women by penalizing women
who marry foreigners. If a Tanzanian woman marries a foreign man, the
foreign man is not eligible to apply for citizenship or a residency
permit. Since the Government does not recognize dual citizenship, the
Tanzanian woman who marries a foreign man may have difficulty residing
legally in the country, and in practice, the woman may be forced to
give up her Tanzanian citizenship. This increasingly was a problem in
the refugee camps for women who married Burundian men.
Women in Zanzibar and on many parts of the mainland faced
discriminatory restrictions on inheritance and ownership of land and
other property because of concessions by the Government and courts to
customary and Islamic law. For example, many of the regional tribal
laws that compose the country's customary law completely prohibit
widows from inheriting land from their deceased husbands, even when
land is marital property, and subject the widows to being inherited by
men from her husband's family. While provisions of the Marriage Act
provide for certain inheritance and property rights for women residing
on the mainland, the Act is not applicable in Zanzibar. In addition,
the application of customary, Islamic, or statutory law depended on the
lifestyle and stated intentions of the male head of household. The
courts have upheld discriminatory inheritance claims, primarily in
rural areas.
Under Zanzibar law, unmarried women under the age of 21 who become
pregnant were subject to 2 years' imprisonment (see Section 1.f.).
Several NGOs organized workshops and seminars, and some ran legal
aid clinics addressing a wide range of woman right's issues.
Children.--Government funding of programs for children's welfare
increased during the year. The Government made some constructive
efforts to address children's welfare, including working closely with
UNICEF and other international and local organizations to improve the
well being of neglected children and of the country's estimated 2
million orphans.
The law provides for 7 years of compulsory education through the
age of 15. Primary education was compulsory, free, and universal on
both the mainland and Zanzibar; however, there were inadequate numbers
of schools, teachers, books, and other educational materials to meet
the demand. Fees were charged for enrollment beyond Form 2, the
equivalent of the second year of high school; as a result, some
children were denied an education. Parents had to pay for books and
uniforms. In some cases, children were unable to attend school because
poorly paid teachers demanded money to enroll them or because teachers
were absent. The primary school dropout rate was between 30 and 40
percent. UNICEF stated that the net primary school enrollment/
attendance rate was 47 percent. The literacy rate was approximately 70
percent; for girls, it was 57 percent compared with 80 percent for
boys. The rate of girls' enrollment in school was lower than that of
boys and generally declined with each additional year of schooling.
Only 6 percent of boys and 5 percent of girls were enrolled in
secondary school. In some districts, the attendance of girls continued
to decline because girls often had to care for younger siblings, do
household work, and enter early marriages, often at the behest of
parents. Despite a law to permit pregnant girls to continue their
education following maternity absences, the practice of forcing
pregnant girls out of school continued.
Corporal punishment in schools was a problem.
During the year, several NGOs, including UNICEF and World Vision,
had HIV/AIDS awareness programs for children.
FGM was performed on girls, primarily in the central region and
among the pastoralist tribes (see Section 5, Women).
The law criminalizes child prostitution and child pornography, and
under the law, sexual intercourse with a child under 18 years is
considered rape regardless of consent; however, the law was not
effectively enforced in practice. At an ILO workshop, the Zanzibar
Labor Minister, citing a report published in 2001 by the International
Labor Organization (ILO), said sex tourism involving the commercial
sexual exploitation of children under the age of 18 remained a problem
in Zanzibar (see Section 5, Trafficking).
It was customary for girls as young as 14 years of age to be
considered adults for the purposes of sexual intercourse and marriage.
Child marriages are sanctioned under the law with parental consent for
girls 12 years of age and older. There were reports of child
prostitution and other forms of trafficking in children (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, which
identified an unspecified NGO as its source, the recruitment of
children from the country's refugee camps for use as child soldiers
continued during the year. UNHCR personnel working in the refugee camps
designated for Burundians investigated these allegations, but they were
unable to confirm the recruitment of any children. During the year,
UNICEF reported that there were no sudden declines in the school
attendance rates of refugees, which they said would have given an
indication of the recruitment of child soldiers.
Trafficking in persons, including children, and commercial sexual
exploitation were problems (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
UNICEF estimated there were 2 million child orphans, most of them
orphaned by AIDS. There were significant numbers of street children in
both Dar es Salaam and Arusha. Street children had limited access to
health and education services because they lacked a fixed address and
money to purchase medicines or pay for uniforms or books. In the
refugee camps, orphans were generally absorbed into other families.
Those who were not absorbed generally qualified as extremely vulnerable
individuals and received additional support and counseling.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit all forms of
trafficking, and there were reports that persons were trafficked to,
from, and within the country. The Sexual Offences Special Provisions
Act prohibits trafficking of persons, but not forced labor, and
trafficking remained a problem. Trafficking was punishable by 10 to 20
years of imprisonment, or a fine of $100 (100,000 shillings) to $300
(300,000 shillings). Other laws could be used to prosecute trafficking,
such as labor laws against forced and bonded labor. According to the
Ministry of Home Affairs, two cases of trafficking were reported during
the year. Of the six trafficking cases reported since 2001, four cases
were still pending in courts at year's end. The remaining two cases
were under investigation.
On September 26, police reportedly arrested 31 persons suspected of
forming part of an international trafficking ring. The ring used the
country as a transit point, along with Kenya and South Africa, for
trafficking persons from India to the U.S.
On July 14, a court heard the case of a woman and a man arrested
for allegedly trafficking five children from the Iringa region to Dar
es Salaam, but the children, who were the key witnesses, were not
available to testify. By year's end, the police were attempting to find
the children to recommence the hearing.
Police continued to investigate the rise of child trafficking in
Iringa region. By year's end, no additional prosecutions had resulted
from this investigation.
According to Zanzibar Labor Minister Iddi Ramadhani Mapuri, citing
a rapid assessment report published in 2001 by the ILO, children under
the age of 18, most of whom were allegedly from the mainland, were
engaged in commercial sexual exploitation in Kiwengwa and Nungwi on
Northern Ugunja.
The Ministry of Labor, Youth Development, and Sport; the Ministry
of Community Development, Women's Affairs, and Children; and the police
share responsibility for combating trafficking. The Government
cooperated with authorities in other countries on international
trafficking and sexual abuse cases. In a case pending at year's end,
the Government was cooperating with Interpol to extradite a British man
wanted for sexual abuse of children in India. He was operating a series
of homes for street children and orphans in the country.
The country was a source and destination country for trafficked
persons. Children were trafficked from rural to urban areas for work
(see Section 6.d.). The ILO and UNICEF reported that children who left
home to work as domestic laborers (``house girls'') in other towns or
villages often were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation. There
were unconfirmed reports that women and girls may have been trafficked
to South Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. The country
was also a destination for trafficked persons from India and Kenya.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that persons from
the mainland were trafficked to Zanzibar to work as prostitutes or in
the tourism industry.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that children in
the country's large refugee population were highly vulnerable to being
trafficked to work on farms; however, although UNHCR personnel were not
able to verify the report, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child
Soldiers reported that some refugee children were recruited as soldiers
during the year (see Section 5, Children).
Children in low-income families were at significant risk of being
trafficked, and girls were more vulnerable than boys since girls were
considered more of an economic burden on their families. Girls who
completed primary school but did not enter secondary school were at
particularly high risk. The country was also experiencing a boom in the
number of child-headed households as more adults succumbed to HIV/AIDS-
related disease and death, leaving their dependents at very high risk
for child labor and trafficking.
The methods of trafficking varied. Some trafficking victims were
sent with assistance from their family; some went on their own to
escape life in rural areas; and some were brought by someone who had
offered to help them find work in the city, legitimate or otherwise.
The Center for Human Rights Promotion reported that men recruited
village girls who had completed primary school but were not entering
secondary school. They offered the girls money and employment, and
promised a better life if the girls accompanied them to urban areas.
These girls reportedly ended up in prostitution or domestic labor.
Another method of trafficking that occurred in the country was the
traditional practice of low-income parents entrusting a child to a
wealthier relative or respected member of the community, who was
charged with caring for the child as one of his or her own. Some
persons took advantage of this traditional practice and placed the
child in a situation where he or she was at risk of being exploited or
abused. Sometimes placement and transport to households was organized
by small-scale free-lance agents who recruited children from rural
villages.
There was no evidence of institutional involvement in trafficking
by government agencies; however, there were reports that government
officials or their relatives engaged in trafficking. There were also
isolated reports that some police officials accepted bribes to ignore
commercial sexual exploitation. The Government took no action against
government officials engaged in trafficking.
The Government provided short-term medical training and health care
supplies to an NGO working with trafficking victims, and in cases where
trafficked foreign women were arrested for prostitution, the women were
repatriated to their country of origin. The Government also
participated in the ILO's Timebound Program to Eliminate the Worst
Forms of Child Labor, to help end child prostitution and child domestic
labor (see Section 6.d.). Under the Timebound Child Labor Program,
small domestic NGOs worked with trafficking victims, including child
prostitutes and domestic laborers, to provide them with education,
shelter, and legal information.
The Government took some steps to prevent trafficking in persons. A
child labor committee, which included local government officials,
identified children who were particularly vulnerable to trafficking and
determined eligibility for additional services. There were no
government or NGO media campaigns to inform the public about the
dangers of trafficking specifically, but there were media campaigns to
educate persons about the worst forms of child labor.
Persons With Disabilities.--Although there was no official
discrimination against persons with disabilities, in practice, persons
with physical disabilities effectively were restricted in their access
to education, employment, and other state services due to physical
barriers. The Government did not mandate access to public buildings,
transportation, or government services for persons with disabilities
and provided only limited funding for special facilities and programs.
Rape and sexual abuse of girls and women with disabilities was
reportedly prevalent.
The Department of Social Welfare has responsibility for
coordinating disabilities matters. The Ministry of Education, the
Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Labor were responsible for
enforcing the protection of rights of persons with disabilities for
education, legal claims, and labor rights respectively.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Asian population, which was
viewed unfavorably by many African citizens, consisted of approximately
50,000 persons. There were no laws or official policies that
discriminated against Asians; however, as the Government continued to
place more emphasis on market-oriented policies and privatization,
public concern regarding the Asian minority's economic role increased.
During the year, there were reports of sporadic violent clashes
between pastoralist and agriculturalists, but none resulted in death.
For example, on June 26, pastoralists were alleged to have injured five
farmers in Mbeya region.
Indigenous People.--Pastoralist tribes experienced discrimination
in schools for wearing traditional dress or ornaments. Government
policy requires all children attending schools to wear uniforms.
The Barabaig and other nomadic persons in the north continued to
seek compensation for past government discrimination, which included
government efforts to make them adopt a more modern lifestyle and to
restrict their access to pastoral lands that were turned into large
government wheat farms.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--In August, the Zanzibar
President assented to a bill that outlaws homosexuality and lesbianism.
The law, which took effect in September, establishes a penalty of up to
25 years of imprisonment for men who engage in homosexual
relationships, and 7 years for women in lesbian relationships. By
year's end, there were no reports that anyone was punished under the
law. Homosexuals faced societal discrimination.
The Tanzania Parliamentarians' AIDS Coalition addressed
discrimination against persons infected with HIV/AIDS. However, there
were reports that discrimination--including limitations on housing,
healthcare, and education--continued to occur against the estimated 3.5
million persons in the country living with HIV/AIDS. There were
isolated reports that private employers fired or did not hire persons
based on the perception that they had HIV/AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and
join unions without prior authorization; however, in practice, many
private sector employers adopted anti-union policies or tactics that
limited this right. All workers, including those classified as
essential service workers, were permitted to join unions. The Union and
Zanzibar Governments do not share the same labor laws, and they enforce
them separately. The labor law that applies to the mainland applies to
both public and private sector workers. The mainland's law requires a
trade union for employees to consist of at least 20 members, and for
employers, 4.
In April, the President assented to two labor bills that Parliament
passed after consultations with unions and employers; however, by
year's end, the Ministry of Labor had not implemented the new laws
because it had not yet established transitional arrangements, such as
training for labor dispute mediators.
The labor law in Zanzibar applies only to private sector workers.
Workers are not allowed to join mainland-based labor unions. In
addition, the Zanzibar labor law requires that a union consist of 50
members to be registered, and it stipulates that trade union officers
must possess a sufficiently high literacy level.
The sole labor federation, the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania
(TUCTA), had 317,000 members, which constituted less than 2 percent of
the total workforce of 18 million. Approximately 27 percent of the
workforce that is engaged in paid, ``formal sector'' employment was
unionized. In the agricultural sector, which was the country's single
largest employer, an estimated 5 to 8 percent of the work force was
unionized.
On the mainland, the law permits the Registrar of Trade Unions to
impose large fines, imprisonment, or both for failing to register a
trade union. The Registrar also was permitted to deregister the smaller
of two trade unions when more than one existed in an industry and to
order the smaller union to rescind memberships. The Registrar can
suspend a trade union for contravening the law or the union's own
rules, suspend a union for 6 months on grounds of public order or
security, and invalidate a union's international trade union
affiliation if certain internal union procedures are not followed. The
Registrar did not use these powers during the year; however, union
leaders and other labor rights observers continued to criticize the
excessive powers that the law vests in the Registrar of Trade Unions.
In any given mainland trade union, only one union leader may be
legally occupied full time in carrying out his trade union functions.
All others must work full time in the enterprise or industrial sector
in which they have been elected.
On the Zanzibar isles, particularly on the island of Pemba,
political opposition members claimed that the Government discriminated
against them in hiring. The Government was the largest employer in the
isles.
On the mainland, the Security of Employment Act prohibits
discriminatory activities by an employer against union members;
however, during the year, there were several reports of anti-union
discrimination in the formal private sector. Employers found guilty of
anti-union activities were required under the law to reinstate workers.
The Warioba Commission found that bribes often determined whether a
worker dismissed from his job was actually reinstated. Most labor
unions reported that private sector employers, particularly those that
privatization and economic reforms have attracted to the country,
practiced anti-union discrimination. Some of these investors reportedly
have threatened to terminate or lay-off employees who want to join
trade unions. Some employers also have not allowed unions to call for
and hold recruitment meetings at their work places. For example, at
Geita Gold Mining, Ltd (GGM), the code of conduct and access agreement
signed between the mining union, TAMICO, and GGM prohibits workers who
have joined TAMICO from undertaking any trade union activity at the
work place, including meetings. To gain access to workers, trade union
officials had to request access permission from management 3 days in
advance of a visit. GGM management effectively denied recognition to
the mining union TAMICO. According to a study TUCTA conducted during
the year, approximately 85 percent of the interviewed workers reported
the use of pressure by management, including the threat of termination
of employment, to discourage workers who wanted to join TAMICO.
At the Analabs Company, a subcontractor for GGM, Simon Martin, a
chairperson of a newly formed trade union branch, reportedly was
transferred to another region of the country, and when he reported for
work at his new station in January, he was dismissed on accusations of
theft. The Industrial Court ordered Analabs to reinstate the worker
after the company failed to provide evidence to support the charges;
however, as of year's end, management had refused to implement the
order. In addition, on August 2, about 900 GGM workers went on strike
after management refused to discuss TAMICO's demands for recognition
and after reconciliation by the Ministry of Labor's Labor Commission
failed. The case was referred to the Industrial Court on August 18. No
additional information was available at year's end.
There were reports during the year that some employers were
deducting union dues from workers' paychecks, but they were late in
sending the dues to unions or they failed to send remittances
altogether. For example, in the case of the Tanzania Local Government
Workers' Union (TALGWU), as of January 2002, local governments owed
TALGWU approximately $195,000 (210 million shillings).
The labor law in Zanzibar does not protect trade union members from
anti-union discrimination, and there were several reports of anti-union
discrimination during the year in Zanzibar.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for collective bargaining, and workers and employers practiced
it freely during the year; however, the law does not apply to the
public sector. The Government set wages administratively for employees
of the Government and state-owned organizations, who number less than 5
percent of the work force.
On the mainland, workers had the legal right to strike, only after
they exhausted protracted mediation and conciliation procedures leading
ultimately to the Industrial Court. A union that is not satisfied with
the decision of the Industrial Court could conduct a legal strike if a
minimum of two-thirds of its members voted in favor of striking;
however, this vote must be taken in the presence of a government labor
officer, which some labor rights observers said made it intimidating
for unions in the public sector to decide to strike. The mediation and
conciliation procedures can prolong a dispute for months without
resolving it.
On the mainland, there were no laws prohibiting retribution against
legal strikers. During the year, there were at least three formally
sanctioned strikes. In addition, frustrated workers staged illegal
wildcat strikes and walkouts pending a resolution of their cases in the
Industrial Court.
On Zanzibar, the law prohibits all workers from striking.
There are two Export Processing Zones on Zanzibar and three on the
mainland. EPZ working conditions on the mainland were comparable to
those in other areas; however, on Zanzibar, there were unconfirmed
reports of labor abuses. Labor law protections applied to EPZ workers.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, it does not specifically
cite forced labor by children, and there were reports that such
practices occurred (see Section 6.d.). Subsequent laws have limited the
prohibition by allowing for unpaid work for community development
projects and prison labor. In some rural areas, villagers still were
obligated by law to work without pay in the village community gardens
or on small construction projects such as repairing roads.
According to a survey of the mining company GGM, conducted during
the year by TUCTA, 85 percent of GGM workers interviewed reported that
they were forced by circumstances to work overtime, under perceived
threat of termination.
The Prisons Act allows for prisoners to work without pay on
projects within the prison, such as on agriculture so that the prison
could be self-sufficient. In practice, prisoners were used to do forced
labor on projects outside of the prison, such as road repair and
government construction projects.
There continued to be reports that forced and compulsory labor by
children occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--On
the mainland, the law establishes 15 years as the minimum age for
contractual employment and prohibits children from working near
machinery, or engaging in underground work; however, this provision was
often not respected in practice, and child labor continued to be a
problem. The mainland's law provides that children between the ages of
12 and 15 may be employed on a day-to-day basis, but they must have
parental permission, may only work between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6
p.m., and must return to the residence of their guardian at night.
Employers are obliged to maintain registers listing the age of workers,
working conditions, the nature of employment, and commencement and
termination dates. The Employment Ordinance, however, does not apply to
children working on family farms or herding livestock.
According to a comprehensive survey conducted by the Ministry of
Labor between 2000 and 2001, almost 40 percent of children between 5
and 17 years old (4.7 million out of an estimated 12 million children)
were engaged in economic activities. Of these 4.7 million children, the
survey estimated that 1.2 million were engaged in the worst forms of
child labor. These ``worst forms of child labor'' included the sectors
of commercial agriculture, mining, domestic service, or prostitution.
Approximately 76 percent of all working children worked in commercial
agriculture. The survey estimated the overall labor force participation
rate of children to be 60 percent in rural areas and 28 percent in
urban areas.
The ILO and UNICEF reported that children who left home to work as
domestic laborers in other towns or villages often were subjected to
commercial sexual exploitation. According to the Conservation Hotel,
Domestic, and Allied Workers Union (CHODAWU) and the ILO, the majority
of domestic child laborers in the country were girls, mostly between
the ages of 13 and 15. Most of them worked between 12 and 14 hours each
day, 7 days a week, without rest or being compensated for the extra
time worked; sometimes they worked under abusive and exploitative
conditions. According to a 2003 survey by the TAMWA, almost 60 percent
of a sample of house girls said they had been pressured into having sex
or were forced to have sex with the males in the families they served.
The ILO estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 children engaged in seasonal
employment on commercial farms, sometimes in hazardous conditions. In
mining regions, between 1,500 and 3,000 children worked in unregulated
gemstone mines as ``snake boys,'' crawling through narrow tunnels to
help position mining equipment and working with explosives. Children
could also be found working as fishermen, barmaids, street vendors, car
washers, and garbage scavengers, among other jobs. They also worked in
semi-skilled crafts such as carpentry and auto repair. Girls as young
as 7 years old, and increasingly boys, were involved in prostitution
within the country and were sometimes trafficked (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
During the year, there was a sharp increase in the use of child
labor in the Zanzibar isles, according to Zanzibar Labor Minister Iddi
Ramadhani Mapuri, who drew information from a rapid assessment report
published in 2001 by the ILO. Mapuri said the use of child labor in
Zanzibar was becoming rampant and that combating it would require the
immediate cooperation of many institutions. The report he cited
indicated that children were being used in fishing, clove picking,
domestic labor, petty business such as selling cakes, and commercial
sexual exploitation near tourist attractions (see Section 5,
Trafficking in Persons).
The Labor Ministry is responsible for enforcement of labor laws;
however, there were only about 30 labor inspectors in the country.
Their capacity to monitor labor laws was limited, and their meager
salaries made them vulnerable to corruption. Prosecutions were few.
By year's end, the Ministry of Labor was developing a community-
based monitoring system to gather information and identify child labor
trends, partly to compensate for the lack of labor inspectors. The
Labor Ministry lacked a centralized database for information on
enforcement activities, so it remained difficult to determine the
number of labor investigations, indictments, or prosecutions conducted
annually; labor experts in the country estimated the number to be
minimal. District or community level Child Labor Coordinating
Committees and subcommittees identified and monitored cases of child
labor, but they did so with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Representatives of the ILO, UNICEF, and local NGOs state that these
problems were not due to a lack of political will to fight child labor
but rather to a lack of resources.
Several government ministries, including the Ministry of Labor,
Youth Development, and Sports, have special child labor units. The
Government continued to implement, in collaboration with the ILO, a
``Timebound Program to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor.'' The
program sought to eliminate child labor in commercial agriculture,
mining, domestic work, and prostitution in 11 districts by 2010. The
program builds capacity, develops media programs, identifies children
most in need of withdrawal, and provides rehabilitation, education, and
alternative training for rescued children. By year's end, the ILO
reported that about 9,000 children had been withdrawn from the worst
forms of child labor since 2002.
Under the Timebound Program, several local NGOs continued to
identify and withdraw children from exploitative child labor. The Kiota
Women's Health and Development Organization worked to rehabilitate
exploited girls who work as prostitutes or domestic servants. Another
organization, CHODAWU, established village level inspections to
identify cases of exploitative labor. CHODAWU also coordinates with
grassroots child labor committees to withdraw children from
exploitative situations.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage for
employment in the formal sector was $53 (48,000 shillings) per month.
Even when supplemented with various benefits such as housing, transport
allowances, and food subsidies, the minimum rate did not always provide
a decent standard of living for a worker and family, and workers
depended on their extended family or on a second or third job. Despite
the minimum wage, most workers, particularly in the growing informal
sector, were paid much less; it reportedly was not rare for domestic
workers to earn around $6.50 (7,000 shillings) per month.
There were many reports that employers regularly fired employees
shortly after hiring them; employers reportedly used this tactic to
avoid having to adhere to a law requiring them to provide certain
benefits and salary minimums to employees who have worked for them for
more than 3 months.
There was no standard legal workweek for private sector workers;
however, a 5-day, 40-hour workweek was in effect for government
workers. Most private employers retained a 6-day, 44- to 48-hour
workweek. In general, women could not be employed between 10 p.m. and 6
a.m., although this restriction was usually ignored in practice.
Several laws regulate safety in the workplace. The Ministry of
Labor and Social Welfare and Youth Development managed an Occupational
Health and Safety Factory Inspection System; however, its effectiveness
was limited. Labor standards were not enforced in the informal sector,
and a large percentage of the workforce was employed in the informal
sector.
Workers could sue an employer through their union if their working
conditions did not comply with the Ministry of Labor's health and
environmental standards. A labor complaint must be filed before a labor
officer, who convenes a hearing where the employer and employee state
their cases. The employee or employer can appeal that decision to the
Minister of Labor and Social Welfare and Community Development. Some
labor officers accepted bribes from employers not to accept or certify
these complaints. There were no reports that workers who lodged and won
such complaints faced retribution; however, workers did not have the
right to remove themselves from dangerous situations without
jeopardizing their employment if they lodged a complaint and lost.
Legal foreign workers have the same wage and working condition rights
as other workers.
__________
TOGO
Togo is a republic dominated by President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who
came to power in 1967 following a military coup. Eyadema and his Rally
of the Togolese People party (RPT), strongly backed by the armed
forces, continued to dominate political power and maintained firm
control over all levels of the country's highly centralized government.
In 2002, the newly elected National Assembly modified the Constitution,
which had limited the President to two 5-year terms, and permitted
President Eyadema to seek re-election. Contrary to a public statement
that he would not seek re-election, President Eyadema ran against four
opposition party leaders and one independent candidate in June 2003,
and his RPT party declared victory, claiming 57.22 percent of the vote.
The election was marred by voter inability to access their registration
cards, and the Government failed to investigate allegations of
irregularities, including intimidation of opposition party monitors and
the stuffing of ballot boxes. The executive branch continued to
influence the judiciary.
The security forces consist of the army (including the elite
Presidential guard), navy, air force, the Surete Nationale (including
the national police), and the Gendarmerie. The police and Gendarmerie
perform domestic intelligence functions. Approximately 75 percent of
the army's officers and soldiers are from the President's Kabye ethnic
group. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective
control of the security forces, there were a few instances in which
elements of the security forces acted independently of government
authority. Members of the security forces committed serious human
rights abuses.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, approximately 72
percent of the country's estimated working population of 2.3 million
(out of an estimated population of 5 million) was engaged in
agriculture, but there was also an active commercial sector.
Approximately 4 percent of the population was engaged in the private
commercial and industrial sector, 2 percent in the public sector, and
22 percent in the informal sector. Economic growth continued to lag
behind population growth. Anti-corruption efforts continued, but the
Government's budgetary and fiscal discipline continued to be weak.
International and bilateral donors announced the release of some funds
and laid out conditions that must be met for the resumption of full
assistance.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were a few improvements, serious problems remained. Citizens' right to
change their government was restricted in practice. Security forces
committed unlawful killings and beat civilians. Impunity was a serious
problem. The Government jailed and at times tortured political
opponents and critics of the Government. Prison conditions remained
very harsh. Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems. Prolonged
pretrial detention was common. The judiciary did not ensure fair and
expeditious trials. Security forces infringed on citizens' privacy
rights. The Government and the security forces restricted freedom of
speech and of the press and harassed journalists and political
opponents. The Government restricted freedom of assembly, association,
and movement. The National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) continued
to be dominated by supporters of the President. The Government did not
impede work of international NGOs during the year. Violence and
societal discrimination against women remained problems. Female genital
mutilation (FGM) persisted among some ethnic groups. Trafficking in
women and children remained a problem. Favoritism among certain ethnic
groups remained a problem. The Government limited workers' rights to
collective bargaining. Child labor was a problem.
In April, the Government began formal political consultations with
the European Union. Subsequently, the Government adopted a new press
code; released 500 prisoners, including some described by opposition
parties and human rights groups as political prisoners, and began
discussions with the political opposition.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, during the year, two persons died of alleged abuse while in
custody. On January 7, Kouma Tengue was arrested for assaulting and
injuring a young man. He died 3 days later while in police detention in
Keve, a small town in the southeastern region. The private press,
Togolese League of Human Rights (LTDH), and the International
Federation of Leagues of Human Rights (FIDH) reported that Tengue's
autopsy revealed that he died from a violent shock (his face and body
bore signs of beating) and not by drowning as the security officer
maintained.
On August 14, Army Lieutenant Innocent Kondoh Kpandang died in the
civil prison of Lome after 15 months in detention for alleged
participation in coup-plotting. According to press reports Lieutenant
Kpandang died after prison officials refused to allow him access to
medical treatment for a chronic condition.
The Government took no action against the security force members
who killed three civilians in two separate clashes related to the June
2003 presidential election.
Unlike in the previous years, there were no deaths resulting from
clashes during demonstrations.
There was no action taken, nor was any action likely to be taken,
in the cases of unlawful killings from previous years.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture and physical abuse of prisoners
and detainees; however, there were reports such practices occurred.
Some former prisoners credibly claimed that security forces beat them
during detention; however, there were fewer reports than in previous
years. The LTDH and the FIDH reported that Kouma Tengue died from
beatings while in custody (see Section 1.a.). Impunity remained a
problem, and the Government did not publicly prosecute any officials
for these abuses.
Security forces reportedly detained and tortured opposition members
(see Section 1.d.).
Security forces harassed, intimidated, and beat journalists (see
Section 2.a.).
Security forces forcibly dispersed demonstrations and injured
persons (see Section 2.b.).
There was no action taken, nor was any likely to be taken, against
those responsible for the 2002 alleged beating of two opposition Action
Committee for Renewal (CAR) party members by security forces.
Prison conditions remained very harsh, with serious overcrowding,
poor sanitation, and unhealthy food. In December, Lome's central
prison, meant to hold 500 prisoners, held 1600 inmates, including 64
women prisoners. More than 85 percent of inmates were pretrial
detainees. Medical facilities were inadequate, and disease and drug
abuse were widespread. Sick prisoners reportedly had to pay
approximately $2.75 (1,500 CFA francs) to guards before being allowed
to visit the infirmary. There were reports that prison security
officials sometimes withheld medical treatment from prisoners (see
Section 1.a.). Lawyers and journalists reported that prison guards
charged prisoners a small fee to shower, use the toilet, or have a
place to sleep.
The children of convicted women were often incarcerated with their
mothers, who were housed separately from the male prisoners. Juvenile
prisoners were held separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were not
held separately from convicted prisoners.
Unlike in previous years, local NGOs were allowed access to all
prisons in the country. An international NGO, Human Rights
Certification (HRC), visited prisons during the year to investigate the
presence of political prisoners; local NGOs, African Committee for the
Promotion and Support of Human Rights and the African Center for the
Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture and Repression, also visited
prisons in June and reported lack of medical facilities. The LTDH was
allowed full access after the Government began consultations with the
European Union (EU)in April.
Diplomatic representatives were given access to their detained
citizens.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government generally
disregarded these prohibitions.
Police were generally ineffective and corrupt. Security Forces for
the Presidential Election was established to avoid possible clashes
during elections and was composed of members of various police units;
however, it was disbanded after the 2003 elections. Impunity was a
problem. The Government in general did not investigate or punish
effectively those who committed abuses, nor did it prosecute persons
responsible in previous years for unlawful killings and disappearances.
The law authorizes judges, senior police officials, prefects, and
mayors to issue warrants. Although detainees have the right to be
informed of the charges against them, police sometimes ignored this
right. The law allows authorities to hold arrested persons
incommunicado without charge for 48 hours, with an additional 48-hour
extension in cases deemed serious or complex. Family members and
attorneys officially had access to a detainee after 48 or 96 hours of
detention; however, authorities often delayed, and sometimes denied,
access. The law stipulates that a special judge conduct a pretrial
investigation to examine the adequacy of evidence and decide on bail;
however, in practice detainees often were held without bail for lengthy
periods with or without the approval of a judge.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not use brief
investigative detentions of less than 48 hours to harass and intimidate
opposition activists and journalists.
The Government at times resorted to false charges of common crimes
to arrest, detain, and intimidate opponents. For example, on May 20,
Marc Palanga, the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) leader in Kara, was
released after spending 15 months in prison. He had been arrested in
February 2003 on suspicion of gun possession and accused of making
false allegations against Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Gnassingbe, the
President's son and former commander of the Kara Para commando military
base during an earlier detention. Palanga was finally tried and
sentenced on May 3 to 7 months in prison for assaulting gendarmes and
assisting with the prison escape of Mazama Katassa; he was released 17
days later. Palanga reported that he had been beaten regularly while in
detention.
On May 28 Daniel Koffi Aganon, UFC youth president, and Vincent
Godevi, UFC youth member, were sentenced to 8 years in prison for
alleged possession of arms. They had been arrested in June 2003 for
organizing demonstrations and distributing political handouts
protesting the 2003 presidential election results. The Government
released them and other prisoners on August 17 under a presidential
amnesty.
Aganon reported that during his 3-month detention he was beaten
with a police baton while his hands and feet were tied, in an attempt
to force a confession. Aganon reported that police also beat Vincent
Godevi while in custody.
In December, various media outlets reported that Hemou Kpatcha,
former prefet, was incarcerated in October for providing Togolese
identification documents to former Prime Minister and regime critic
Agbeyome Kodjo in the 1980s. At year's end, Kpatcha had been detained
for 2 months without formal charges. The Government refused to answer
inquiries from human rights NGOs and refused to allow them to meet with
Kpatcha.
After forcibly dispersing demonstrations during the year, members
of the security forces arrested and detained participants, sometimes
without charges (see Section 2.b.).
A shortage of judges and other qualified personnel, as well as
official inaction, resulted in lengthy pretrial detention--in some
cases several years--and confinement of prisoners for periods exceeding
the time they would have served if tried and convicted. Lawyers
estimated that in December 85 percent of the prison population was
pretrial detainees (see Section 1.c.).
One of the Government's 22 commitments to the European Union was to
release all political prisoners; however, the Government claimed it
held no political prisoners or detainees. The Government subsequently
released an estimated 500 prisoners after a monitoring visit by HRC
raised questions about why some were in detention. Many of the released
prisoners had been detained for months without trial (see Section
1.e.).
The military officers and soldiers arrested in May 2003 for
connections to the alleged coup-plotting of Lieutenant Colonel Kouma
Bitenewe were not among the estimated 500 prisoners released in August.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice the executive branch
continued to exert control over the judiciary.
There were three associations of magistrates in the country: The
Union of Magistrates of Togo (SMT), the National Association of
Magistrates (ANM), and the Professional Association of Magistrates of
Togo (APMT). A majority of the APMT members were supporters of
President Eyadema. Judges who belonged to the pro Eyadema APMT
reportedly received the most prestigious assignments, while judges who
advocated an independent judiciary and belonged to the ANM and SMT
often were assigned to second-tier positions. For example, in Lome, the
presidents of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Court of Appeals
and First Instance Court were members of the APMT as were the Public
Prosecutor and the Attorney General. In Kara, the president of the
Court of Appeals and the president of the First Instance Court were
members of the APMT.
The Constitutional Court stands at the apex of the court system.
The civil judiciary system includes the Supreme Court, Appeals Courts,
and First Instance Court. A military tribunal exists for crimes
committed by security forces; its proceedings are closed. The court
system remained overburdened and understaffed.
The judicial system employs both traditional law and the Napoleonic
Code in trying criminal and civil cases. Trials are open to the public,
and judicial procedures generally are respected. Defendants have the
right to counsel and to appeal. The Bar Association provides attorneys
for the indigent. Defendants may confront witnesses and present
evidence on their own behalf.
In rural areas, the village chief or council of elders is
authorized to try minor criminal and civil cases. Those who reject the
traditional ruling can take their cases to the regular court system,
which are the starting point for cases in urban areas.
Although the Government stated that there were no political
prisoners in the country, they released 500 prisoners during the year.
Those released included seven members of the main opposition party UFC,
who were arrested in 2003 for various alleged misdeeds at the time of
the presidential election. The UFC confirmed that Daniel Koffi Aganon,
youth leader and Vincent Godevi, UFC youth member, arrested in June
2003, and their comrades Ayi Hillah, Ahlin Kokou Byll, Kossi Nayo,
Georges Damessi, and Epiphane Tossavi, arrested in May 2003, and
convicted on May 28, were released on August 17 (see Section 1.d.). On
August 17, the Government also released the former Mayor of Lome who
was accused of corruption and misappropriation of public funds and
detained for nearly 3 years without trial.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
security forces often infringed on these rights. In criminal cases, a
judge or senior police official may authorize searches of private
residences, and in political and national security cases the security
forces need no prior authorization. Unlike in previous years, there
were no reports that police conducted searches without warrants.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that security
forces entered private residences for the purpose of disrupting
meetings among opposition political figures.
In June, former president of the National Assembly and regime
critic Dahuku Pere addressed a letter to the Minister of Interior
requesting the return of three boxes of documents gendarmes confiscated
when they searched the house of Kpindji-Nade Alfa, a member of Pere's
political party, in June 2003. At year's end, the Government had taken
no action on this request.
Citizens believed that the Government monitored telephones and
correspondence, although such surveillance was not confirmed.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, while there were some
improvements in the media environment, there continued to be
significant problems. The Government sometimes harassed and intimidated
journalists. Independent newspapers were not permitted to circulate in
Kara until mid-July. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports
that security forces interfered with the distribution of newspapers.
There were reports that the Government interfered with radio stations
during the year. Journalists practiced self censorship.
On August 24, the National Assembly approved a revised press code
which eliminated most prison sentences but maintained them for
journalists who: Iincite ethnic or racial hatred; incite the population
to violate national laws; incite armed and security forces to
rebellion; or incite the population to theft and destruction of
property. In addition, any person or organization that publishes
articles under a false name could be subject to a prison term. The
revised code also increases financial penalties against journalists
accused of a range of transgressions, including insulting or reporting
false information regarding the president or other government
officials. The law sets standards of professionalism for journalists
and requires that the licenses of journalists be revoked if they are
convicted more than once of offenses such as defamation or if they
violate standards of professional conduct. In addition, the law
requires independent newspapers to ensure their reporting staffs are at
least one-third ``professional journalists,'' a status accorded only by
the Government.
The Constitution established the High Authority of Audiovisual and
Communications (HAAC) to provide for the freedom of the press, ensure
ethical standards, and allocate frequencies to private television and
radio stations. Although nominally independent, in practice the HAAC
operated as an arm of the Government. In November, the Government
annulled the 1996 law that established the HAAC, and passed a new law
which specified that the HAAC is independent from all political and
administrative authorities. Other changes included increasing the
number of HAAC seats from seven to nine and specifying that journalists
or communications specialists must fill at least two seats. Under the
new law, three seats are chosen by the President, three by the Senate,
and three by the National Assembly. The law also allows the HAAC to
manage its budget independently of the Government. In July 2003, the
Togolese Council of Editors of Private Press (CTEP) received a
substantial grant from President Eyadema ostensibly intended to
strengthen the professionalism of independent journalists. Media
organizations that predate the CTEP, including the Association of Press
Editors and Union of Editors and Press insisted that the Government
used the CTEP to guide resources to select publications.
On September 16, President Eyadema reportedly convoked CTEP members
to his office to demand that they reinstate Lucien Messan as chairman
after the organization removed him from his position on September 3,
apparently due to lack of transparency in his management of the
organization's funds. Messan was reinstated effective October 1.
There was a lively independent press, most of which was heavily
politicized, and some of which was highly critical of President
Eyadema. More than 15 privately owned newspapers were published with
some regularity. The only daily newspaper, Togo-Presse, was government-
owned and controlled. There were several independent newspapers that
published on weekly and biweekly schedules. The official media heavily
slanted their content in favor of the President and the Government.
Radio remained the most important medium of mass communication.
Some private radio stations broadcast domestic news; however, they
offered little of the political commentary and criticism of the
Government that was widespread in the print media.
The government-owned Togo Television was the only major television
station in the country. Four smaller television stations operated
during the year but their broadcasts were limited to certain geographic
areas. TV-2, RTDS, and TV7 carried France-based TV-5's international
news programming, and TV-Zion's content was of a primarily religious
nature. TV2 also carried weekly political debates through two programs,
Le Club de la Presse (until it was canceled) and Metro Express, a
weekly political forum where governing and opposition party leaders,
human rights organizations, and other observers participated in
discussions on political issues and participants criticized the
Government.
In one-instance members of the security forces beat journalists,
and there were a few reports that government officials harassed members
of the media; however, here were fewer reports than in previous years.
There were no reports of journalists arrested or detained during the
year. On May 15, in a widely distributed letter addressed to the human
rights organization LTDH, Yves Kpeto of Radio Nana FM claimed that
while covering a student demonstration on the University of Lome campus
on April 30, security forces beat him, newspaper reporter Kwamivi
Amouzouvi, and some University students. Kpeto wrote that the beatings
took place in front of two Government ministers. Security forces
confiscated Kpeto's microphone, diskette, and identification cards. The
microphone and the identification cards were returned 4 days later. The
diskette, which contained an interview with the Minister of Higher
Education and the president of the University, were not returned to
Kpeto.
In August, President Eyadema convoked Philip Evegnon, editor of the
weekly newspaper Point of the Week (Le Point de la Semaine), and
questioned Evegnon about anti-government remarks he had made on Le Club
de la Presse, a live television program. According to press reports,
the director of the television station that carried the program, Jaures
Tcheou, resigned after the Minister of Communication threatened him.
The program was cancelled shortly thereafter.
At year's end, the trial of Kodjo Saliadin had not been held.
Saliadin, editor of the private journal Tribune du Peuple, was charged
with ``Outrage to the National Police'' for an article that alleged a
UFC activist, Anoumou Ekoe, had been arrested, and subsequently
released, for participating in a UFC demonstration in September 2002.
There were reports that the Government interfered with two radio
stations during the year. In October the HAAC ordered Radio Maria, a
religious radio station, to stop airing a political debate program. The
HAAC claimed that Radio Maria did not have the correct license to
broadcast political content; however, the 1999 Decree on the General
Requirements and Obligations of Private Radio and TV stations states
that radio stations may broadcast political programs but not political
advertising. British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) began broadcasting its
French-language program in the country on November 11. The Government
ordered BBC to cease transmission on November 22, shortly after it
aired an interview with exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, and
BBC remained off the air at year's end.
There was no pre-publication censorship of print media in law or
practice; however, journalists practiced varying degrees of self
censorship. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that
security forces interfered with the distribution of newspapers.
Opposition party websites were inaccessible at the beginning of the
year; however, after the Government began consultations with the EU,
the websites became accessible.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not restrict
academic freedom; however, security forces maintained a presence at the
University of Lome. According to students and professors, a government
informer system continued to exist and gendarmes went undercover on
campus and attended classes.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government often
restricted this right in practice. During the year opposition parties
held one demonstration that occurred without incident. Government
officials prohibited, and security forces forcibly dispersed, student
gatherings.
If a political party wishes to hold a demonstration or rally on
public property, it is required to notify the Minister of the Interior;
however, if a political party intends to hold a rally on private
property, notification is legally not required.
Security forces forcibly dispersed student demonstrations during
the year. In February, security forces permanently assigned to the
University of Lome campus prevented students from holding a special
general assembly to discuss student benefits. Security forces used tear
gas to disperse the students.
On April 30, security forces dispersed a student demonstration on
the University of Lome's campus called to protest the irregular payment
of educational allowances and what students saw as preferential
treatment accorded their counterparts at the new University of Kara in
the northern region. Students reacted by destroying University
property, including school buses, setting two police and one military
vehicle on fire, and breaking the windshields on private vehicles and
gendarmerie transport trucks. Security forces beat protesters, and
arrested 15 persons. On May 24, nine persons, including six students,
were sentenced to 18 months in prison in connection with the April
campus clashes after a rushed trial and presentation of evidence that
legal observers described as flimsy. The judge also convicted a
photographer and two moto-taxi drivers. On September 7, the President
pardoned the nine.
On July 30, the president of the University of Lome expelled Jean-
Paul Edoh Nunyava Oumolou and suspended six student representatives for
organizing the campus demonstrations in April. The suspended students
claimed that the Government punished them because they refused to read
a statement prepared by a former government official. The statement--
which was read on camera by other students--accused opposition parties
of inciting the demonstrations to disrupt the EU-Togo consultations.
The student representatives who read the statement on television were
not suspended. Oumolou was arrested December 20 while distributing a
flyer on the University campus. Oumolou was charged with incitement to
violence and destruction of property in connection with the April
demonstration on the University campus. At year's end, Oumolou was
being held at the Central Prison of Lome, awaiting trial.
The UFC member convicted for inciting a riot that resulted in the
death of one civilian in the northern city of Mango in September 2003
was sentenced to 26 months in prison and pardoned by the President in
April.
Under the Constitution, citizens have the right to organize
associations and political parties; while there were improvements in
this area, the Government denied official recognition to some
associations, including some human rights groups such as LTDH, the
country's first independent human rights group. Unlike in the previous
year, political parties were able to elect officers and register;
opposition party offices were permitted to operate in most towns in the
central and northern regions.
There were many NGOs; they were required to register with the
Government. The Government established requirements for recognition of
associations and non-governmental organizations. The Interior Ministry
issues official recognition. Upon filing with the Ministry,
associations are given a receipt allowing them to begin operations. The
Civil Security Division also has enforcement responsibilities when
there are problems or complaints concerning an association or an
organization. If an application provides insufficient information for
recognition to be granted, the application remains open indefinitely.
Members of groups that are not officially recognized could organize
activities but do not have legal standing.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Government has established requirements for recognition of
religious organizations outside the country's three main faiths, Roman
Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam, which were officially
recognized. Other religions were required to register as associations.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International Religious
Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government restricted them in practice. Armed
security checkpoints and arbitrary searches of vehicles and individuals
were common. Undisciplined acts of some soldiers manning roadblocks,
such as frequent demands for bribes before allowing citizens to pass,
impeded free movement within the country.
In June, former president of the National Assembly and regime
critic Dahuku Pere sent a letter to the Minister of Interior asking the
Government to issue a passport and identity card to his son, Roland
Hezuwe Pere, and return identity papers confiscated in July 2003. Pere
also claimed that police confiscated his own identity card and the
passports and nationality and birth certificates of Jean-Francois Komi
Kodjo, Holasse Djidjoe Kodjo, and Kekeli Kodjo, children of former
Prime Minister Agbeyome Kodjo. At year's end, the Government had not
responded to Pere's letter.
On September 27, police issued a national identity card and
returned nationality and birth certificates to Marc Palanga, the UFC
leader in Kara. His previous national identification card had been
confiscated at the time of his March 2003 detention, and the
nationality and birth certificates were seized in June when he applied
for a new national identity card. Police refused to return two of
Palanga's vehicles.
On May 12, a judge lifted a prohibition on travel outside the
country previously imposed on senior UFC leaders Jean-Pierre Fabre and
Patrick Lawson. The police returned Fabre's passport and national
identity card on May 13. The travel ban and document seizure took place
after police charged Fabre and Lawson with public disorder in May 2003,
apparently in connection with a political demonstration which turned
violent and the fire bombings of two Total gas stations. The Government
did not allow Lawson to leave the country to attend a seminar abroad in
January.
On July 28, the Government provided a new Togolese passport to
Paris-based opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio through the
facilitation of the Catholic Community of Sant'Egidio. The Government
seized Olympio's Ghanaian passport in April 2003. In October, the UFC
party reported that the Government returned the Ghanaian passport to
Ghanaian authorities who returned it to Olympio.
The Government permitted citizens to use a national identity card
instead of a passport for travel to other member countries of the
Economic Community of West African States.
The Constitution prohibits exile, and the Government did not employ
it; however, several opposition and human rights workers remained in
self-imposed exile because they feared arrest. Former Army Chief of
Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Kouma Bitenewe, who fled to Benin in May 2003
after he claimed that members of the Kara Paracommandos Regiment headed
by Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Gnassingbe, son of the President, attacked
him in Kara, remained outside the country at year's end.
Although the law does not provide for the granting of refugee
status and asylum in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating
to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, in practice, the
Government has established a system for providing protection to
refugees. The Government provided protection against refoulement, the
return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. The
Government granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated
with the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees during the year.
In 2002, UNHCR estimated there were 11,000 refugees from Ghana
living in the North, near the cities of Bassar, Sotouboua, and Dankpen.
A voluntary repatriation program for 508 Ghanaian refugees was not
implemented because of unrest and instability in Ghana along the Togo-
Ghana border in 2003 and during the year. According to the Government,
there were approximately 800 refugees (mostly from Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo) registered in Lome and an approximate
1,200 additional refugees living in rural villages. According to UNHCR
estimates, approximately 1,198 Togolese refugees lived in Benin and
another 800 in Ghana.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to change their
government peacefully; however, the Government restricted this right in
practice. The Government and the State remained highly centralized.
President Eyadema's national government appointed the officials and
controlled the budgets of all subnational government entities including
prefectures and municipalities, and influenced the selection of
traditional chiefs. The National Assembly exercised no real oversight
of the executive branch of the Government. The National Assembly
largely approved the proposals of the President and the executive
branch. Isolated cases of violence and irregularities that the
appropriate governmental bodies failed to investigate marred the June
2003 presidential election. Observers invited for the election were
supported by the Government and did not include groups with
internationally recognized reputations as objective and neutral
observers. The presence of heavily armed forces created an intimidating
atmosphere. The military intimidated and harassed opposition parties.
Following the June 2003 presidential elections, three opposition
parties filed complaints with the Independent Electoral Commission
(CENI), which referred them to the Constitutional Court. The opposition
parties alleged numerous irregularities in the voting process. Neither
the CENI nor the Constitutional Court seriously investigated these
irregularities. The entire process, including the decision not to
investigate the complaints, lacked transparency. In the end, the
Government announced that President Eyadema won with 57.22 percent of
the vote, a figure that could not be confirmed independently.
The Government began formal consultations in April with the EU. At
the April 14 ceremony launching this process, the Government made 22
commitments in the areas of democracy, human rights, and the rule of
law, which included holding a national dialogue with the traditional
opposition and civil society; revision of the electoral framework and
press code; ensuring freedom of association for political parties;
organization of fair, transparent legislative and local elections;
release of all political prisoners; and ensuring the independence of
the judiciary and the national human rights commission.
A national dialogue with the traditional opposition and civil
society began during the year; however, the opposition parties
complained that, although invited to several meetings with the
Government, they were not consulted about the agenda or structure of
the dialogue. They further criticized the Government for insisting on
presiding over the process itself and for declaring that the Government
would be the final arbiter of any suggestions for action made by the
opposition.
Long-delayed legislative elections were held in 2002, but the
principal opposition parties boycotted the races. President Eyadema's
RPT party won 72 out of 81 seats in the National Assembly. Three
parties and one independent candidate all supportive of the Government
shared the remaining nine seats. The Government said voter turnout was
67 percent, a figure contested by the main opposition parties as well
as some of the government-sponsored international election observers.
There were reports of intimidation and fraud.
Legislation passed in 2003 provides for the creation of prefecture,
municipal, and regional councils; however, local elections scheduled
for December 2003 were postponed and not rescheduled in during the
year. One of the Government's commitments to the EU was to hold local
elections within 12 months of April 14. The legislation empowers
members of the regional councils to vote for two-thirds of members of
the Senate (with the other third appointed by the President), which,
along with the National Assembly, would comprise a bicameral
Parliament. The legislation only provides Senate members the power to
review proposed legislation.
Former National Assembly president and regime critic Dahuku Pere
has not been paid the pension and lump-sum payment to which he is
entitled as a former Parliamentarian, since his October 2002 departure
from the National Assembly.
Official corruption was a problem. The Anti-Corruption Commission
(CAC), established in 2001, was generally ineffective. According to the
Government's official poverty reduction strategic paper, prepared in
conjunction with the World Bank and U.N. Nations Development Program
(UNDP), corruption and lack of transparency in the management of public
funds was a problem throughout the Government.
There were 5 female members in the 81-member National Assembly, and
there were 5 female ministers in the President's 26-member Cabinet.
Members of southern ethnic groups were underrepresented in the Cabinet
relative to their percentage of the general population.
Section 4. Government Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Government generally allowed groups to investigate alleged
violations of human rights; however, the Government occasionally
threatened or hindered the activities of human rights activists and was
inconsistent in following up on investigations of abuses. There were
several domestic private human rights groups, including the LTDH, the
Center for Observation and Promotion of the Rule of Law, and the
Togolese Association for the Defense and Protection of Human Rights.
Years of government threats and intimidation of human rights leaders,
combined with a lack of results from human rights initiatives, have led
some human rights groups to become inactive.
The lack of official recognition made it harder for some human
rights groups to acquire technical and financial support from
international organizations. For example, LTDH, the first independent
human rights group in the country, was still unable to acquire official
recognition.
In June, FIDH, in cooperation with LTDH, published a report
critical of the country's human rights situation. When the Government
convoked LTDH to participate in discussions of the country's political
situation, government ministers reprimanded LTDH for working with a
foreign organization to damage the country's image. LTDH asserted that
at the same meeting, the Minister of Interior vowed to continue to
block issuance of official recognition to the organization.
On March 3, the Ministry of Interior prohibited a human rights
NGO--ONUTA--from conducting a series of seminars focused on democracy
and political tolerance. The Ministry demanded that ONUTA harmonize its
planned program with the views of the Government.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of the
Government impeding the work of international NGOs during the year.
The CNDH continued to be dominated by supporters of the President.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of ethnic
group, regional or family origin, sex, religion, social or economic
status, or personal, political, or other convictions; however, the
Government did not provide effective redress for discrimination
complaints. Discrimination against women remained a problem, as did
favoritism among certain ethnic groups. Members of President Eyadema's
Kabye ethnic group and other northern ethnic groups dominated much of
the public sector, especially the military. Individuals with HIV/AIDS
faced social discrimination, including rejection by their immediate
families.
Women.--Domestic violence against women continued to be a problem.
Police generally did not intervene in abusive situations, and women
were not made aware of the formal judicial mechanisms that would give
them protection. As a result, the police rarely intervened in domestic
violence incidents. According to an indigenous women's rights NGO, wife
beating was estimated to affect approximately 6 percent of married
women.
FGM continued to be practiced on approximately 12 percent of girls.
The most commonly practiced form of FGM was excision, which usually was
performed on girls a few months after birth. Most of the larger ethnic
groups did not practice FGM. FGM is illegal and penalties for
practitioners ranged from 2 months to 5 years in prison as well as
substantial fines. The law was rarely applied because most FGM cases
occurred in rural areas where neither the victims nor the police
understood the law. Traditional customs often superseded the legal
system among certain ethnic groups. The Government continued to sponsor
seminars to educate and campaign against FGM. Several NGOs, with
international assistance, organized educational campaigns to inform
women of their rights and how to care for victims of FGM.
The Constitution declares women equal under the law; however, women
continued to experience discrimination, especially in education,
pension benefits, and inheritance as a consequence of traditional law.
A husband legally could restrict his wife's freedom to work or control
her earnings. In urban areas, women and girls dominated market
activities and commerce; however, harsh economic conditions in rural
areas, where most of the population lived, left women with little time
for activities other than domestic tasks and agricultural fieldwork.
The Labor Code, which regulated labor practices, requires equal pay for
equal work, regardless of gender; however, this provision generally was
observed only in the formal sector. Under traditional law, which
applied to the vast majority of women, a wife has no maintenance or
child support rights in the event of divorce or separation and no
inheritance rights upon the death of her husband. Polygyny was
practiced.
The Ministry of Social Affairs, Promotion of Women, and Protection
of Children, along with independent women's groups and related NGOs,
continued to campaign actively during the year to inform women of their
rights.
Children.--Although the Constitution and family code laws provided
for the protection of children's rights, in practice government
programs often suffered from a lack of money, materials, and
enforcement. Although the law protected children, there were many
practices that discriminated against children, especially girls.
The Government provided education in state schools, and school
attendance is compulsory for both boys and girls until the age of 15.
According to the Government's official poverty reduction strategic
paper, prepared in conjunction with the World Bank and UNDP,
approximately 57 percent of children aged 5 to 11 years, mostly boys,
attended school. In that age group, approximately 61 percent of boys
and 53 percent of girls started primary school; however, only an
estimated 43 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls reached secondary
school. Approximately 3 percent of boys and 0.6 percent of girls
reached the university level, literacy rates were 69 percent for adult
men and 38 percent for adult women. The General Directorate of
Education Planning in the Ministry of Education estimated one-third of
the national budget was spent on education.
Orphans and other needy children received some aid from extended
families or private organizations but little from the Government. There
were social programs to provide free health care for poor children. In
rural areas, traditionally the best food was reserved for adults,
principally the father.
FGM was performed on approximately 12 percent of girls (see Section
5, Women).
There were reports of trafficking in children (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit specifically
trafficking in persons, although other statutes against kidnapping,
procuring, and other crimes linked to trafficking were used to arrest
traffickers, and trafficking was a problem. Prosecution of traffickers
was made difficult by the lack of legislation defining and
criminalizing trafficking. The country remained a country of origin,
transit, and destination for trafficking in persons, primarily
children. More young girls than boys were the victims of trafficking.
Trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution or nonconsensual
labor as domestic servants occurred.
Local committees were voluntarily set up in every region, and
without financial or legal support, these committees investigated
reports of trafficking. The Government had little or no funding to
investigate traffickers or trafficking rings. The police had limited
success in intercepting victims of trafficking, and prosecution of
traffickers was rare. Most persons that security forces arrested or
detained for trafficking ultimately were released for lack of evidence.
No records were available of the number of individual traffickers who
were prosecuted during the year.
Government agencies involved in anti-trafficking efforts included
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Protection and Promotion for Family
and Children, the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of the Interior; the
Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Labor; and the security forces
(especially police, army, and customs units). The Government cooperated
with the Governments of Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria under a Quadripartite
Law allowing for expedited extradition among those countries.
The majority of the country's trafficking victims were children
from the poorest rural areas, particularly those of Kotocoli, Tchamba,
Ewe, Kabye, and Akposso ethnicities and mainly from the Maritime,
Plateau, and Central regions. Adult victims usually were lured with
phony job offers. Friends or family acquaintances usually approached
children. Children sometimes were trafficked abroad by parents misled
by false information. Sometimes parents sold their children to
traffickers for bicycles, radios, or clothing.
Children were trafficked into indentured and exploitative
servitude, which amounted at times to slavery. Victims were trafficked
elsewhere in West Africa and to Central Africa, particularly Cote
d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria; Europe, primarily France and Germany; and the
Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. Children were trafficked to Benin
for indentured servitude and to Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana for domestic
servitude. Boys were trafficked for agricultural work in Cote d'Ivoire
and domestic servitude and street labor in Gabon. They were fed poorly,
clothed crudely, cared for inadequately, given drugs to work longer
hours, and not educated or permitted to learn a trade. There were
reports that young girls were trafficked to Nigeria for prostitution.
The country was a transit point for children trafficked from
Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Nigeria. There were credible
reports that Nigerian women and children were trafficked through the
country to Europe (particularly Italy and the Netherlands) for the
purpose of prostitution.
The International Labor Organization/International Program for the
Elimination of Child Labor (ILO/IPEC) office in Lome reported that from
September 2003 to August, local committees and security forces
intercepted 1,837 children aged 6 to 17 in the process of being
trafficked.
Traffickers were believed to be men and women of Togolese,
Beninese, and Nigerian nationalities.
The Government provided limited assistance for victims, hindered
primarily by a lack of resources. Terre des Hommes, an NGO, assisted
recovered children until their parents or next-of-kin could be
notified. Assistance was also available from a government-funded Social
Center for Abandoned Children. NGOs have taken the lead in addressing
this concern. CARE International-Togo worked with three local NGOs--
Terre des Hommes, La Colombe, and Ahuefa--on reinsertion of trafficked
children, sensitization of parents and communities, keeping children in
schools, and supporting women's income-generating activities. During
the year, ILO/ IPEC worked with other NGOs to increase awareness of the
trafficking problem and to encourage the Government to pass and enact a
law setting fines and penalties for anyone caught in the process of
trafficking children.
During the year, local government officials worked closely with
NGOs to conduct public awareness campaigns. ILO/IPEC assisted the
Government in organizing and training regional and local committees,
and in sensitizing and educating parents on the dangers of child
trafficking and labor throughout the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Government did not mandate
accessibility to public or private facilities for persons with
disabilities. Although the Constitution nominally obliged the
Government to aid persons with disabilities and shelter them from
social injustice, the Government provided only limited assistance in
practice. There was no overt state discrimination against persons with
disabilities and some held government positions. However, persons with
disabilities had no meaningful recourse against private sector or
societal discrimination, and in practice there was discrimination
against persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population included members
of approximately 40 ethnic groups that generally spoke distinct primary
languages and were concentrated regionally in rural areas. Major ethnic
groups included the Ewe (between 20 and 25 percent of the population),
the Kabye (between 10 and 15 percent), the Kotokoli (between 10 and 15
percent), the Moba (between 10 to 15 percent), and the Mina
(approximately 5 percent). The Ewe and Mina were the largest ethnic
groups in the southern region and the Kabye was the largest group in
the less prosperous northern region.
Although prohibited by law, members of all ethnic groups routinely
practiced societal favoritism on the basis of ethnicity. In particular,
favoritism by southerners for southerners and by northerners for
northerners was evident in private sector hiring.
The relative predominance in private sector commerce and
professions by members of southern ethnic groups, and the relative
prevalence in the public sector and especially the security forces of
members of President Eyadema's Kabye group and other northern groups,
were sources of political tension. Political parties tended to have
readily identifiable ethnic and regional bases: The RPT party was more
represented among northern ethnic groups than among southern groups;
the reverse was true of the UFC and CAR opposition parties.
In addition, due to the congruence of political divisions and
ethnic and regional divisions, human rights abuses motivated by
politics at times had ethnic and regional overtones.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides most
workers with the right to join unions; however, security forces,
including firefighters and police, did not have this right.
The Constitution also prohibits discrimination against workers for
reasons of sex, origin, beliefs, or opinions. The Ministry of Economy
and Finance estimated that the country's total workforce was
approximately 1.6 (out of an estimated working population of 2.3
million persons). Approximately, 72 percent of the working population
was in the agriculture sector where employment was not stable and wages
were low. The informal sector provided for an estimated 22 percent of
total employment. Approximately 60 to 70 percent of the formal sector
workforce were union members or supporters.
The Labor Code prohibits foreign nationals from performing
administrative or management functions in trade unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
nominally provides workers with the right to organize and bargain
collectively; however, the Government limited collective bargaining to
producing a single nationwide agreement that had to be negotiated and
endorsed by representatives of the Government, labor unions, and
employers. All formal sector employees were covered by the collective
bargaining agreement that set nationwide wage standards for all formal
sector workers. The Government participated in this process both as a
labor-management mediator and as the largest employer in the formal
sector, managing numerous state-owned firms that monopolized many
sectors of the formal economy. Individual groups in the formal sector
could attempt to negotiate agreements more favorable to labor through
sector-specific or firm-specific collective bargaining, but this option
was rarely used.
The Constitution provides most workers the right to strike;
however, security forces and government health workers did not have
this right. There is no specific law prohibiting retribution against
strikers by employers. There were no strikes during the year.
The law allows the establishment of export processing zones (EPZs).
Many companies had EPZ status, and approximately 80 were in operation.
The EPZ law provides exemptions from some provisions of the Labor Code,
notably the regulations on hiring and firing. Employees of EPZ firms
did not enjoy the same protection against anti-union, as did other
workers. Workers in the EPZs were prevented from exercising their
freedom of association because unions did not have free access to EPZs
or the freedom to organize workers.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law does not
specifically prohibit forced compulsory labor, including by children,
and children sometimes were subjected to forced labor, primarily as
domestic servants (see Sections 5, Trafficking and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14 in
any enterprise; however, child labor was a problem, with many children
being employed in the agricultural sector, working on family farms.
Some children started working as young as 5 years of age. These
children routinely missed at least two-thirds of the school year. In
some cases, children worked in factories.
For some types of industrial and technical employment, the minimum
age is 18. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor enforced these age
requirements but only in the formal sector in urban areas. In both
urban and rural areas, particularly in farming and small scale trading,
very young children traditionally assisted in their families' work. In
rural areas, parents sometimes placed young children into domestic work
in other households in exchange for one-time fees as low as $25 to $35
(12,500 to 17,500 CFA francs).
The Ministry of Social Affairs, Promotion of Women, and Protection
of Children was responsible for enforcing the prohibition of the worst
forms of child labor; however, few resources were allotted for its
implementation, and enforcement was weak.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government sets minimum
wages for different labor categories, ranging from unskilled through
professional positions. In practice less than the official minimum wage
often was paid, mostly to unskilled workers. Official monthly minimum
wages ranged from approximately $20 to $33 (10,000 to 16,000 CFA
francs) and did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family. Many workers supplemented their incomes through second jobs
or subsistence farming. The Ministry of Labor was responsible for
enforcement of the minimum wage system but did not enforce the law in
practice.
Working hours of all employees in any enterprise, except for the
agricultural sector, normally are not to exceed 72 hours per week; at
least one 24-hour rest period per week is compulsory, and workers is
expected to receive 30 days of paid leave each year. The law requires
overtime compensation, and there are restrictions on excessive overtime
work; however, the Ministry of Labor's enforcement was weak, and
employers often ignored these provisions.
A technical consulting committee in the Ministry of Labor sets
workplace health and safety standards. It may levy penalties on
employers who do not meet the standards, and employees have the right
to complain to labor inspectors of unhealthy or unsafe conditions
without penalty. In practice, the Ministry's enforcement of the various
provisions of the Labor Code was limited. Large enterprises are obliged
by law to provide medical services for their employees and usually
attempted to respect occupational health and safety rules, but smaller
firms often did not.
Workers have the legal right to remove themselves from unsafe
conditions without fear of losing their jobs; however, in practice some
could not do so.
Labor laws do not provide protection for legal or illegal foreign
workers.
__________
UGANDA
Uganda is a republic led by President Yoweri Museveni, who
continued to dominate the Government following his reelection to a
second 5-year term in 2001. He has ruled since 1986 through the
Movement, an organization that continued to receive state support and
function both as a political party and a state institution. Movement
supporters remained in firm control of the legislative branch. Election
observers believed that the 2001 presidential and parliamentary
elections generally reflected the will of the electorate; however, both
were marred by serious irregularities, particularly in the period
leading up to the elections, such as severe restrictions on political
party activities, incidents of violence, voter intimidation, and fraud.
In March 2003, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional two sections
of law that prevented political parties from operating while the
``Movement System'' remained in place; however, severe restrictions on
political activity continued, particularly for opposition parties. The
judiciary generally was independent but remained understaffed, weak,
and inefficient; in addition, the President had extensive powers of
judicial appointment.
The Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) was the key security
force, and a civilian served as Minister of Defense. The Internal
Security Organization (ISO) remained under the direct authority of the
President, and was an intelligence-gathering body; however, its
operatives occasionally detained civilians. The Chieftancy of Military
Intelligence (CMI), under UPDF control, detained civilians suspected of
rebel and terrorist activity. The police were organized as a national
force under the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The UPDF
continued ``Operation Iron Fist'' in its 18-year war against rebels of
the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the northern and eastern portions
of the country and in southern Sudan. A ceasefire announced by the
Government on November 14 expired on December 31 after the two sides
failed to agree on terms for its extension. Local leaders formed Local
Defense Units (LDUs) to reinforce government efforts to protect
civilians from LRA attacks. The country provided the use of its
airfields and other logistical support for international peacekeepers
operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); however, there
continued to be allegations that security force members and some
government officials supported militia activities in the DRC and
profited from illegal trade. While civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were
frequent instances in which elements of the security forces acted
independently of government authority. Members of the security forces
committed numerous serious human rights abuses.
The country's population was approximately 25.3 million. The
economy grew at a rate of approximately 6 percent during the year.
Agriculture accounted for approximately one-third of the gross domestic
product, and foreign economic assistance accounted for approximately
half of government expenditures. The privatization of state-owned
enterprises continued. Despite government efforts to curb corruption,
perceptions of widespread corruption were cited by potential investors
as a major concern.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
Domination by the Movement of the political process and continued
restrictions on political party activity limited the right of citizens
to change their government. Security forces committed unlawful killings
and were responsible for short-term disappearances. Torture by security
forces and beating of suspects to force confessions were serious
problems. Security forces were responsible for incommunicado detention,
and prison conditions remained harsh and frequently life threatening.
The Government punished some security force officials who were guilty
of abuses; however, impunity remained a problem. Arbitrary arrest and
detention, including those of opposition supporters, and prolonged
pretrial detention were problems. Poor judicial administration, lack of
resources, a large case backlog, and lengthy trial delays limited due
process rights, including the right to a fair trial. Security forces at
times infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The Government at times
restricted freedom of speech, the press, and association, and severely
restricted freedom of assembly. There were some limits on freedom of
religion and movement. Domestic violence against women, rape, and abuse
of children, particularly sexual abuse, remained serious problems.
Discrimination against women and persons with disabilities remained
problems. The Government worked with nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) to combat the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), which
occurred in some parts of the country. The Government at times employed
child soldiers. Trafficking in persons was a serious problem,
particularly the trafficking of children by the LRA. Vigilante justice
remained a problem. There continued to be limits on worker rights.
Forced labor, including by children, occurred, and child labor was
common, mostly in the informal sector.
The LRA, led by Joseph Kony, committed numerous, serious abuses and
atrocities. The LRA increased attacks in the northern and eastern parts
of the country during the first half of the year, and rebels routinely
killed, maimed, tortured, and abducted civilians, including children.
The LRA used children as soldiers, held children and others in slave-
like conditions, and subjected female captives to rape and other forms
of severe sexual exploitation during the year. Between 32,000 and
52,000 children known as ``night commuters'' traveled from conflict
areas or internally displaced persons (IDP) camps each night to urban
centers to avoid abduction by the LRA.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Unlike during the
previous year, there were no reports of politically motivated killings
or executions by the Government or its agents; however, security forces
committed unlawful killings during the year and were responsible for at
least three deaths as a result of torture.
On March 2, the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JATF) publicly
denied having executed or detained without trial Ismael Muviru,
Mutwabil Walakira, Captain Sewamuwa Daudi, and another unnamed man;
Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed the four men were executed without
trial in September 2003. The UPDF, the Uganda Human Rights Commission
(UHRC), and the independent Foundation for Human Rights Initiative
(FHRI) reported that they had investigated the allegations and could
not find any evidence to verify the claim. There also was no known
response to newspaper appeals for the public to come forward with any
information on the case.
There were no developments in any of the other executions committed
by security forces in 2003 and 2002.
During the year, there were credible reports that persons died as a
result of torture by security forces. For example, on March 26, in
Mayuge District, police arrested Jackson Muluta and Aloysius Mugabi on
charges of theft; later the same day, the police reported that both men
had died. An autopsy conducted on Muluta revealed that he died of a
hemorrhage after his skull was fractured and his spleen ruptured. The
Uganda Prison Services, which denied torturing either man, conducted a
separate autopsy that attributed Muluta's death to hypoglycemia.
On July 20, in Mukono District, Isa Masifu died in his Lugazi
police cell after being tortured; two other suspects were severely
beaten. Seven policemen were arrested on torture and murder charges and
were awaiting trial at year's end.
There were no reports of any action taken against security forces
responsible for 2003 or 2002 deaths that resulted from torture.
During the year, police use of excessive force while pursuing
suspected criminals resulted in deaths. For example, on January 20, in
Kasese, an LDU officer shot and killed a man suspected of stealing a
goat; a child standing nearby was also killed after being hit by a
stray bullet. Police were deployed to prevent a mob from killing the
LDU officer, who was subsequently arrested. No further information was
available at year's end.
On March 17, in Kampala, police shot and killed Siraj Mwaike, a
suspected mugger, as he fled arrest in Kampala.
On April 28, police shot and killed taxi driver Faisal Bagyeraki,
who was wanted for numerous traffic violations, after Bagyeraki refused
to stop at a roadblock in Mbarara; two other persons were injured in
the incident. On May 10, after public demonstrations against
Bagyeraki's killing, police officers Herbert Bamwine and Herbert
Natukwatsa were arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder;
both officers remained in prison awaiting trial at year's end.
There were no developments in 2003 or 2002 security force killings
of criminals as a result of the use of excessive force.
Police forcibly dispersed meetings and demonstrations, which
resulted in one death and numerous injuries (see Section 2.b.).
During the year, security forces killed numerous civilians during
anti-LRA operations (see Section 1.g.).
LRA attacks continued during the year and resulted in thousands of
deaths (see Section 1.g.).
LRA landmines resulted in deaths and injuries (see Section 1.g.).
Raids by armed cattle rustlers of the Karamojong ethnic group
continued during the year in Katakwi, Kotido, Kumi, Nakapiripirit,
Moroto, Kaberamaido, Pader, Lira, and Kapchorwa districts in the
northeast. These raids resulted in the deaths of more than 100 persons
and the displacement of thousands. The Government continued its
Karamoja disarmament program during the year (see Section 5). UPDF
forces killed numerous persons during clashes with armed Karamojong
warriors during the year.
Interethnic violence resulted in deaths (see Section 5).
Incidents of vigilante justice were reported frequently during the
year. There were numerous instances in which mobs beat, stoned, or
burned to death individuals suspected of petty theft, witchcraft, or
infidelity. For example, on June 11, residents of Kinoni Village near
Mukono burned a suspected thief to death. On July 14, a mob of
motorcyclists smashed the head of a passenger, poured gasoline on his
body, and set him on fire for not paying the transport fee in Mbarara
town.
During the year, authorities prosecuted persons who engaged in mob
violence. For example, in March, six persons were tried for murder by
mob justice in Nakasongola District. On June 3, Kamuli police arrested
15 persons for lynching Samuel Tigawalana, who was suspected of
witchcraft.
There were reports of actual or attempted ritual killings of
children during the year (see Section 5).
Ethnic Pokot warriors killed civilians during the year. On April 10
and 13, Pokot rustlers from Kenya killed two civilians during a cattle
raid in Kabei subcountry, Kapchorwa District. In a separate attack,
Pokot rustlers from Kenya and the country killed 8 civilians in Namalu
sub-country, Nakapiripit District.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances due to action by government forces; however, there
continued to be reports of disappearances during the year. In most
cases, the missing person was located after a period of incommunicado
detention in the custody of security forces (see Section 1.d.).
On October 30, armed men in uniform apprehended James Kashaija, a
supporter of opposition leader Kizza Besigye, at his home in Kampala,
according to witnesses; Kashaija's whereabouts were unknown at year's
end.
On February 2, the High Court in Kampala ordered the Army Commander
to produce Captain Robert Ruteinama, who had been in military detention
since his December 2003 arrest by security forces. The Army failed to
produce Ruteinama, did not confirm or deny the arrest, and had not
responded to the court by year's end.
Former Makerere University guild president Peter Ojur, who
reportedly disappeared after he returned to the country in January 2003
after military training abroad, reappeared; Ojur was detained for
several weeks in 2003 by security forces.
Rebel groups have abducted approximately 38,000 persons since 1986,
according to UNICEF. The LRA continued to abduct thousands of civilians
for training as guerrillas; most victims were children and young adults
whom the LRA forced into virtual slavery as laborers, soldiers, guards,
and sex slaves (see Sections 1.g. and 5).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were widespread and credible reports that security forces tortured and
beat suspects in unregistered detention facilities to force
confessions. Between January and December, the UHRC received 2,249
complaints of mistreatment; 179 of those complaints involved torture.
The UHRC Tribunal confirmed many of these complaints and ordered the
Government to compensate the victims. Security units involved in
torture included the regular police, the UPDF, and the Violent Crimes
Crack Unit (VCCU); on occasion, such torture resulted in death (see
Section 1.a.).
On December 4, unidentified persons abducted and tortured Sam
Aniga, a driver employed by Ogenga Latigo, an opposition Member of
Parliament (M.P.); Aniga, who was released after 48 hours, had refused
to answer questions about Latigo's alleged secret meetings.
In June 2003, at Makindye military barracks, the UHRC visited
prisoners who claimed to have been arrested and tortured by the VCCU;
the prisoners bore signs of torture. On April 21, the UHRC reported its
findings to Parliament; however, no investigation had been conducted by
year's end.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that members of
the LDUs, who frequently lacked training, mistreated prisoners and
detainees; however, some LDU members committed abuses during the year,
including killings (see Section 1.g.).
Police and security forces harassed and detained opposition
activists (see Sections 1.d. and 2.b.).
There were reports that UPDF soldiers raped persons, particularly
in conflict areas (see Sections 1.g. and 5).
During the year, the UHRC Tribunal awarded compensation to several
persons who had been abused by security forces. For example, on April
1, the UHRC Tribunal awarded approximately $35,000 (60 million
shillings) to Fred Bagole as compensation for being tortured by
military intelligence in Kampala District in 2001.
On April 14, the UHRC Tribunal awarded approximately $20,500 (35
million shillings) to Jackson Cherop as compensation for his illegal
arrest and torture by UPDF officers in Mbale District in 2002. In
December, the Tribunal awarded $31,000 (54 million shillings) to the
family of Edrissa Omulago Isabirye, who died as a result of torture by
the VCCU in 2002.
However, the Government has not compensated many complainants for
the violation of their rights by police and security forces. In May,
the UHRC revealed that the Government owed approximately $412,000 (700
million shillings) awarded by the tribunal to approximately 50 persons.
No action was taken during the year against security organizations
that reportedly tortured prisoners in Kigo Prison or CMI personnel who
were illegally arresting and torturing persons to force them to pay
their financial debts; in July 2003, the UHRC testified of such
incidents before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. No
action was taken against VCCU officers responsible for the 2003 torture
of Bumali Mubiri and Sam Okiring.
There were no further developments in the reported 2002 cases of
torture or abuse by security forces.
During the year, civilians were killed, injured, and displaced as a
result of security force operations against the LRA (see Section 1.g.).
During the year, the LRA continued to commit numerous atrocities,
including the killing, torturing, and kidnapping of civilians,
primarily children (see Section 1.g.).
There were numerous instances in which mobs attacked suspected
thieves and other persons known or suspected to have committed crimes
(see Section 1.a.). Motivated in part by distrust or misunderstanding
of the formal judicial system, these mobs engaged in stonings,
beatings, and other forms of mistreatment. Such mistreatment included
tying suspects' wrists and ankles together behind their backs,
stripping suspects of their clothes, parading them through the streets,
and other forms of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
For example, in July, a mob in Mayuge District tried to lynch Peter
Isabirye, a traditional healer, for allegedly kidnapping and murdering
a 2-year-old boy. No action was taken against the mob or Isabirye, who
escaped the mob after police intervention.
Prison conditions remained harsh and frequently life threatening,
primarily as a result of the Government's severely inadequate funding
of prison facilities. In addition, there were several reports that
security forces and guards tortured inmates. Prison conditions came
closest to meeting international standards in Kampala, where prisons
provided medical care, running water, and sanitation; however, these
prisons also were among the most overcrowded. There were an estimated
19,000 inmates in the country's prisons and police cells. By one
estimate, the country's prisons held approximately three times their
planned capacity. The central prison system continued to work with NGOs
and the donor community to improve prison buildings, water and
sanitation systems, food, and the provision of uniforms; however,
progress was minimal during the year. Although the law provides for
access to prisoners by their families, ignorance of this right and fear
of prison authorities often limited family visits. Prisoners held on
treason charges complained that security officers kept files on and
harassed their visitors. The UHRC reported that it received allegations
that officers in charge of police cells sometimes demanded bribes to
allow visits.
On August 3, approximately 340 inmates at Bushenyi government
prison went on strike to protest lengthy pretrial detentions and the
July torture by prison wardens of inmate Moses Barishaba. Prison
authorities turned over to police the staff members alleged to have
committed the torture.
Inmates at most prisons grew maize, millet, and vegetables;
however, the UHRC accused prison farms of overworking inmates (see
Section 6.c.).
The Community Service Act seeks to reduce prison congestion by
allowing minor offenders to do community service instead of being
imprisoned. Since 2001, 1,726 offenders have been sentenced to
community service in 4 pilot districts. By year's end, the program had
been expanded to 10 additional districts.
There were a number of deaths in custody, some due to torture (see
Section 1.a.). Prisons were believed to have high mortality rates from
overcrowding, malnutrition, diseases spread by unsanitary conditions,
HIV/AIDS, and lack of medical care; however, accurate estimates were
unavailable. According to the Prisons Department, 230 inmates died in
custody between January and October. Approximately 60 percent of these
deaths were due to HIV/AIDS-related diseases. During the year,
government agencies sponsored or participated in several conferences on
the judicial system and prison conditions and worked with international
and domestic human rights organizations on prison reform efforts.
Female prisoners were held in segregated wings with female staff in
most prisons; conditions were severely substandard. Due to lack of
space in juvenile facilities, juveniles often were held in prisons with
adults. The central prison system maintained one juvenile prison and
four remand homes. School facilities and health clinics in all five
juvenile institutions were grossly inadequate; prisoners as young as 12
performed manual labor from dawn until dusk. Severe overcrowding also
was a problem at juvenile detention facilities and in women's wings.
The remand home in Kampala, designed for 45 inmates, held more than 80
children. In Kampala jails, pretrial detainees were kept separate from
convicted prisoners; however, in the rest of the country, due to
financial constraints, pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners
sometimes were held together.
During the year, the Government permitted access to prisons by the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), foreign diplomats, and
local NGOs, principally FHRI and the Uganda Prisoners' Aid Foundation.
The UHRC visited numerous prisons and reported on its findings
publicly; however, the UHRC also complained that it was not given
access to UPDF detention facilities or ``safe houses.'' Prison
authorities required advance notification of visits, a process that was
sometimes subject to administrative delays.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits such
practices; however, members of the security forces arrested and
detained citizens arbitrarily during the year.
The police force was widely perceived to be ineffective. Major
constraints included low pay and lack of vehicles, equipment, and
training. Police committed numerous abuses, and impunity was a problem.
Widespread corruption resulted in the dismissal of some local police
officials during the year. In conjunction with the UHRC, the UPDF
continued a training program to educate officers on internationally
recognized human rights standards. In addition, the police, UPDF, and
the Prisons Department used a human rights manual in their training
programs. The UPDF made attempts to improve relations between soldiers
and civilians.
The Police Human Rights Desk received 300 allegations of police
abuse during the year and reported that approximately 140 complaints
had been resolved by year's end.
LDUs operated principally in rural areas. Such forces consisted
entirely of volunteers and were authorized to carry arms. Their
principal purpose was to provide defense to populations affected by
rebellions. However, in some cases, they also participated in offensive
military operations and carried out police functions. The structure and
legal mandate of LDUs were often unclear. Some LDU members committed
abuses during the year, including killings.
Under the Constitution, search warrants issued by competent judges
or prosecutors are required to make arrests; however, in practice,
suspects often were taken into custody without warrants. Despite a
provision that suspects must be charged within 48 hours of arrest, many
persons were detained for more than 48 hours without being charged.
Suspects must be brought to trial or released on bail within 120 days
(360 days for a capital offense); however, if the case is presented to
the court before the expiration of this period, there is no limit on
pretrial detention. Detainees must be informed immediately of the
reasons for their detention, although authorities did not always
enforce these procedural protections in practice. Suspects must have
access to a lawyer; however, there was no provision ensuring family
visitation. The Constitution provides for bail in all but capital cases
and cases of treason.
The Anti-Terrorism Act permits suspects to be held for more than 48
hours without charge and states that persons convicted of terrorist
acts that ``directly result in the death of any person'' shall be
sentenced to death; however, no death sentences were carried out during
the year. Several persons were detained under the Anti-Terrorism Act
during the year (see Section 2.c.).
Security forces arbitrarily arrested political activists during the
year. On July 16, the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party announced
that it was searching for 15 members who had been arrested in July and
detained by the CMI in Lira District; 7 members were subsequently
located in police stations. C.P. Okello, one of the seven, claimed to
have been tortured by the CMI. On July 16, a court in Lira charged five
of the missing members--Francis Odong, Gaba Otim, Joseph Eteng, Kenneth
Oting, and Cyprian Okello--with treason. At year's end, seven members
were in detention and eight remained unaccounted for.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no arrests of journalists.
Mass arrests during police sweeps for criminals remained a problem.
For example, on January 20, police in Masindi arrested 400 persons
after several criminal killings were committed in the area; it was
unknown how many remained in detention at year's end. On July 21,
police in Rubaga division in Kampala arrested 100 persons for being
idle and disorderly; 40 were released on bond, and 60 were detained at
Old Kampala Police Station. It is unknown how many remained in
detention at year's end.
The number of persons still being held as a result of 2003 mass
arrests in Kampala, Mbale, and Gulu remained unknown.
During the year, the Government released and sometimes compensated
persons who had been arbitrarily arrested. On June 15, the High Court
awarded Pascal Gakyaro, a supporter of the Reform Agenda (RA) political
group, approximately $17,500 (30 million shillings) as compensation for
his unlawful arrest and detention in January 2003; Gakyaro claimed to
have been tortured during his 8 days in detention. On June 23, the
Court Martial withdrew charges of terrorism and released Corporal
Patrick Olupot and Umaru Okello, who were arrested in May 2003. On
August 13, 22 members of a Muslim group were set free after treason
charges were withdrawn; the 22 were arrested in 2003 for allegedly
financing the ADF.
On May 17, the UHRC awarded approximately $1,700 (3 million
shillings) to Stephen Mwebaze, who was detained illegally for 10 days
in 1999.
It was unknown whether the 10 men arrested without charge by the
JATF in August 2003 remained in unofficial detention centers in
Kampala; 4 other persons arrested with the 10 were executed in 2003.
No action was taken during the year against the UPDF officer who
ordered the illegal 2003 arrest of Gulu State Attorney Sydney Asubo.
The 2002 case of policeman Benson Ikonyat, who was charged with
terrorism after being found with army uniforms and guns at Amusu
village, was ongoing at year's end.
There were no developments in other 2002 cases of arbitrary arrest
or detention.
Legal and human rights groups criticized the excessive length of
detention prior to trial, which in many cases amounted to several
years; such lengthy pretrial detentions both violated the
constitutional rights of the detainees and contributed substantially to
prison overcrowding (see Section 1.c.). Pretrial detainees comprised 60
percent of the prison population. The average time in pretrial
detention was between 2 and 3 years. During the year, the UHRC heard
several cases brought by prisoners challenging the length of their
detention.
During the year, there were reports that civilians were detained in
military barracks and unregistered detention facilities known as safe-
houses. There were credible allegations that the CMI ordered detainees
held incommunicado at police stations or in so-called safe houses. For
example, on April 27, the High Court ordered CMI chief Colonel Noble
Mayambo to produce Titus Kiwanuka, who had been detained without charge
in military barracks since March 12; Kiwanuka was subsequently charged
and moved to Kigo Prison, where he was awaiting trial at year's end.
There were reports of political detainees (see Section 2.b.).
During the last 2 years, the Government has arrested and charged with
treason more than 40 persons for collaborating with the People's
Redemption Army (PRA); none of the 40 had been tried by year's end. For
example, on November 22 and December 13, security forces detained,
respectively, Joseph Musasizi, the brother of 2001 presidential
candidate Kizza Besigye, and George Owakukiroru, an elected official in
the Rukungiri district government; both Musasizi and Owakukiroru, who
were members of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), were
being detained at year's end. During November and December, the CMI
arrested 16 persons, most of whom were opposition supporters, on
charges of treason; all 16 were being detained at year's end.
The RA alleged in 2003 that more than 280 of its members had been
arrested in 2003 and 2002 due to their political opinions. The
Government maintained that the arrests were lawful and that some of
those arrested would be prosecuted for treason.
RA supporter Dan Magarura, who in 2003 was arrested on treason
charges, was released on bail in September 2003.
Patrick Biryomumaisho Kirasha and four others accused in 2003 of
recruiting persons for the PRA rebel group remained in detention at
year's end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the President had extensive legal
powers of judicial appointment. The President appoints Supreme Court,
High Court, and Court of Appeal judges with the approval of Parliament.
The President also nominates, for the approval of Parliament, members
of the Judicial Service Commission, who make recommendations on
appointments to the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme
Court. The judiciary ruled against the Government on several high-
profile cases during the year; however, judicial corruption was a
serious problem. For example, a High Court judge was accused during the
year of soliciting a $500,000 (850 million shillings) bribe; the case
was pending at year's end. The lower courts remained understaffed,
weak, and inefficient.
The Supreme Court ruled against the Government on several cases:
The January 29 decision that invalidated a constitutional amendment on
parliamentary rules; the February ruling that struck down a section of
the Penal Code that prohibited the publication of ``false news''; and
the September 2 ruling that provisions of the 2000 Referendum Act were
unconstitutional (see Section 3).
The highest court was the Supreme Court, followed by the Court of
Appeal, which also functioned as the Constitutional Court for cases of
first instance, the High Court, the Chief Magistrate's Court, local
council (LC) level three (sub-county) courts, LC level two (parish)
courts, and LC level one (village) courts. A minimum of six justices
could sit on the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
The LC courts had the authority to settle civil disputes, including
land ownership and debt cases, and criminal cases involving children.
These courts, often the only ones available to villagers, reportedly
exceeded their authority by hearing criminal cases, including murder
and rape. LC court decisions could be appealed to magistrates' courts;
however, there often were no records made at the village level, and
some defendants were not aware of their right to appeal. Unlike in the
previous year, there were no reports of bribery and discrimination
against women in some rural LC courts.
The civilian judicial system contained procedural safeguards,
including bail and the right of appeal; however, an inadequate system
of judicial administration and a lack of resources, resulting in a
serious backlog of cases, limited the right to a fair trial. During the
year, the High Court reduced its backlog from 84 to 51 cases. All
nonmilitary trials were public.
Many defendants could not afford legal representation. The
Constitution requires that the Government provide an attorney for
indigent defendants accused of capital offenses, but there rarely was
enough money to retain adequate counsel. The Uganda Law Society (ULS)
operated legal aid clinics in four regional offices, although services
remained limited due to funding constraints. The ULS also assisted
defendants in military courts. The local chapter of Uganda Women
Lawyers Association and the FHRI practiced public interest law from
offices in Kampala. The Law Development Center operated a legal aid
clinic to address cases involving children and those accused of petty
crimes. A public defense service also operated; however, it lacked
government funding and relied solely on donor support.
Specialized courts also existed. The Industrial Court (IC)
arbitrated labor disputes. Commercial courts resolved commercial
disputes, improved commercial justice, and reduced case backlogs.
The military court system often did not assure the right to a fair
trial. Although the accused had the right to legal counsel, some
military defense attorneys were untrained and could be assigned by the
military command, which also appointed the prosecutor and the
adjudicating officer. The law establishes a court-martial appeals
process; however, a sentence passed by a military court, including the
death penalty, could be appealed only to the senior leadership of the
UPDF. Under circumstances deemed exigent, a field court martial could
be convened at the scene of the crime; however, the law does not permit
an appeal under this provision. In 2002, the ULS filed a petition
challenging the execution of soldiers under field court martial without
the right of appeal; the case had not been resolved at year's end.
During the first 8 months of the year, the VCCU arrested and
detained at least 1,100 suspects on various counts, including
terrorism, aggravated robbery, murder, illegal possession of firearms,
and desertion. The VCCU used military courts to try by court martial
civilians found in possession of military property. The Government
continued to arrest and charge persons for treason, especially captured
rebel fighters, and opposition supporters (see Section 1.d.). During
the year, numerous human rights abuses continued to be committed in
connection with treason cases, including political detention, detention
without charge, detention in unregistered and unofficial locations, and
mistreatment, including torture.
The 2000 amnesty law applies to all persons involved in
insurgencies since the Movement came into power in 1986. Between
January and December, 3,048 former LRA combatants were granted amnesty;
7,613 former combatants have received amnesty since 2000. The amnesty
law was extended through December.
There was at least one political prisoner. Bright Gabula Africa,
whose death sentence for treason was upheld by the Supreme Court in
1995, remained imprisoned pending the outcome of his appeal to the
Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, a largely autonomous
constitutional body.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however,
there were some exceptions. Although the law requires that police
obtain search warrants before entering private homes or offices, at
times police did not obtain warrants prior to searches.
The Anti-Terrorism Act authorizes certain law enforcement officials
to intercept communication to detect and prevent terrorist activities.
There continued to be reports that prison officials routinely
censored prisoners' mail.
There were reports that the Government punished family members of
suspected criminals and political opposition members, and some family
members of political opponents to the Government had difficulties at
border crossings while leaving the country (see Section 2.d.).
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal and External Conflicts.--Security forces tortured and abused
civilians suspected of collaborating with the LRA; however, unlike in
previous years, there were no reports that security forces killed
suspected collaborators.
During the year, security forces killed and injured numerous
civilians, including noncombatant children abducted by the LRA, during
anti-LRA operations in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
Some observers charged that UPDF tactics, including extensive use of
helicopter gunships, resulted in deaths and injuries to such children
and that the UPDF failed to protect noncombatants during engagements
with the LRA. The UPDF denied such allegations, noting that more than
80 percent of LRA fighters were child soldiers, which made it difficult
to distinguish between combatants and noncombatants during engagements
with the LRA.
On April 4, at an IDP camp in Gulu, the UPDF's 309 Brigade fired a
mortar and killed five civilians. In two separate incidents on December
19, LDU soldier Simon Ogwanga shot and killed a civilian in an IDP camp
in Aloi sub-country, and LDU soldier Tom Ocen shot and killed two
children in Kwera sub-county. Both soldiers were arrested and awaiting
trial at year's end.
There also were persistent and credible reports that the UPDF
failed to protect civilians threatened by the LRA. On February 5, for
example, more than 40 persons were killed during an LRA attack on the
Abiya IDP camp in Lira District under the protection of a small UPDF
force; most of the UPDF unit had left to collect their pay, and the
unit's commander allegedly had gone to Kampala without authorization.
Security forces were sometimes implicated in widespread reports of
rape and sexual violence against women and girls. In some instances,
perpetrators were punished after victims complained; however, most such
incidents went unpunished, in part because the procedures for making
such complaints were not widely known.
There were no new developments in the following 2003 killings by
UPDF forces: The February killing of a Sudanese national; the July 22
and 24 killings of 21 civilians by UPDF helicopter gunships; and the
October 2003 killings of two civilians by a UPDF soldiers in Gulu.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that UPDF
members were responsible for killings and other abuses in the DRC;
however, militia groups operating in the area committed serious human
rights abuses. Some of the worst abuses occurred in parts of
northeastern DRC that were under UPDF influence. There were credible
reports security forces and some government officials provided material
support to armed groups operating in Ituri. Militia fighting resulted
in the deaths of hundreds of civilians from the DRC. Independent
observers often found access difficult due to hazardous security
conditions and frequent impediments imposed by authorities.
LRA attacks increased during the first half of the year, and there
were numerous atrocities. Civilians were summarily executed, often by
gruesome methods, to terrorize local populations or as retribution for
violating various LRA edicts, such as the prohibition on riding
bicycles. LRA rebels also attacked private homes, schools, churches,
and IDP camps in which persons were killed, injured, raped, mutilated,
or abducted. During the year, LRA attacks resulted in the deaths of
several thousand persons, including children; numerous injuries; and
the destruction of homes and property.
During the first 3 weeks in February, LRA attacks in Lira district
IDP camps resulted in more than 250 deaths and the displacement of
283,000 persons. For example, on February 21, in Lira District, LRA
rebels attacked the Barlonyo IDP camp, killed more than 200 persons,
and abducted an unknown number. Most of the dead, who were
predominantly women and children, were burned alive when rebels set
fire to thatched roofs in the camp. Other civilians were killed by
rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank weapons. The UPDF conceded that
local militia had marshaled little resistance, were unable to operate
their weapons properly, and suffered from ``command problems.''
On May 28, LRA rebels killed 2 persons and abducted 17 during an
attack on Gweno-twom village in Gulu District.
On June 8, LRA rebels killed 25 civilians, abducted 26 persons,
including children, and burned 600 thatched huts in Abok IDP camp in
Apac District.
No action was taken against LRA rebels who were responsible for
numerous killings in 2003 and 2002.
The LRA continued to use landmines, which resulted in deaths and
injuries during the year. For example, on February 25, a vehicle hired
by a BBC crew hit a landmine on Lira-Okwang road; one solder died, and
the driver was seriously injured.
The LRA continued to abduct thousands of civilians for training as
guerrillas; most victims were children and young adults whom the LRA
forced into virtual slavery as laborers, soldiers, guards, and sex
slaves (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government at times
restricted these rights in practice. In addition, the law criminalizes
offenses committed by the media and limited the media's ability to
function effectively. The Government at times harassed and intimidated
journalists, who continued to practice self-censorship. The Government
did not restrict academic freedom.
On February 23, the Uganda Law Council upheld the regulation
prohibiting lawyers from making public statements on legal matters that
were before court; however, the ban continued to be widely disregarded
without penalty.
Private media were generally free and outspoken. There were many
privately owned publications and broadcasts. The New Vision, a
government-owned daily newspaper, sometimes included reporting that was
critical of the Government. The Monitor, the country's largest
independent daily newspaper, consistently was critical of the
Government. During the year, four independent weekly newspapers began
publication. The East African, a Kenya-based weekly publication that
provided extensive reporting on the country, continued to circulate
without government hindrance.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that persons
were arrested for publicly criticizing the Government.
The Government continued to operate Radio Uganda, the only national
radio station, and one television station (UTV), whose reporting was
not considered to be independent. At year's end, there were at least 60
private radio stations in operation, with another 60 awaiting
licensing. Several independent media outlets broadcast daily or weekly
political talk shows, including recorded off-site radio public debates
called ``ekimeeza'' (table talk), which were often very critical of the
Government.
On November 25, Minister of Information James Nsaba Buturo
instructed the Uganda Broadcasting Council to revoke the licenses of
those stations that ``abuse the President or use offensive language and
fail to correct the behavior.'' Buturo also announced that no
additional licenses would be issued for stations seeking to broadcast
in Kampala; in 2003, the Broadcasting Council proposed regulations that
would limit the number of FM radio stations, allegedly to prevent
overburdening the airwaves and adversely affecting the quality of
broadcasting. Critics charged that the restrictions targeted
independent radio, which was the primary news source for 80 percent of
the population.
There were four local private television stations and numerous
private television stations available via satellite.
Unlike in the previous year, no journalists were arrested or
detained; however, journalists were harassed during the year. On June
18, six journalists covering a court martial that involved army
corruption were convicted by the same tribunal of contempt of court.
Some of the six, who were sentenced and released without detention,
were not provided legal counsel. At least some of the convictions were
being appealed at year's end.
There were no developments in the ongoing trial of Vincent Matovu,
who was arrested in January 2003 and charged with sedition for the
publication of two articles.
Unlike in previous years, the Government did not ban broadcasts or
publications due to editorial content; however, on April 16, the
Government banned the tabloid Entango Ya Rukundo for allegedly
publishing pornographic material.
On February 11, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision declared
unconstitutional the law prohibiting publication of ``false
information.'' On February 21, the Government dropped its case against
two editors and a journalist for the Monitor on charges of publishing
``false news'' that threatened national security. The case arose from a
Monitor report on an alleged UPDF helicopter crash in 2002.
During the year, the Government cited national security as grounds
to suppress media reporting that criticized the Government or its
handling of the LRA conflict, particularly reports that the LRA had
killed UPDF soldiers. In January, army spokesperson Shaban Bantariza
accused two Monitor journalists of being LRA rebel collaborators; the
two journalists had covered the killing of UPDF soldiers by LRA rebels.
In September, Vice President Gilbert Bukenya accused the electronic
media of ``painting a false image of the Government.''
On September 19, the Government lifted its June 2003 ban on
reporting by journalist Frank Nyakairu, who had contributed to a story
about an alleged 2002 UPDF helicopter crash.
In March 2003, the UPDF warned that media outlets that published or
broadcast classified information or abetted soldiers in leaking
information would be subject to punishment, including the possibility
of court-martial.
In November 2003, the Attorney General banned the media from
reporting the declarations of assets and liabilities made by the
country's political leaders; however, no action has been taken against
journalists who published such information.
Media laws require that journalists be licensed to meet certain
standards, such as possessing a university degree in journalism or the
equivalent. A 1994 law also provides for a Media Council with the power
to suspend newspapers and deny journalists access to state information.
On January 14, the Media Council held its first meeting.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that citizens
harassed journalists. No investigations were conducted into 2003
attacks by ruling party members of Imelda Namutebi in February and
Hadija Nakitende in December.
The Government did not limit access to the Internet.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police
forcibly dispersed university political debates.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law restricts
freedom of assembly, particularly for political groups, by prohibiting
any activities that interfere with the Movement system of governance;
in practice, security forces often enforced these restrictions. For
groups legally authorized to operate, permits were not required for
public meetings; however, groups were required to notify the police
prior to such gatherings. Police denied permission to hold public
rallies to several opposition political groups during the year and, on
several occasions, disrupted or forcibly dispersed opposition meetings
and other events. Security forces arrested and detained opposition
members.
Mainstream political opposition groups, including the FDC, the
Democratic Party (DP), and the UPC, generally complied with government
restrictions to hold meetings only in enclosed spaces; however, the
ruling Movement had frequent public demonstrations in support of
President Museveni and his efforts to eliminate presidential term
limits.
During the year, security forces arrested and intimidated members
of the opposition and disrupted numerous rallies and political events.
On April 1, the Inspector General of Police, Major General Edward
Katumba Wamala, directed police officers to arrest members of any
unregistered political organization that held or was attempting to hold
a political rally.
On January 25, police in Mukono District detained four members of
the Popular Resistance Against Life Presidency (PRALP) for attempting
to organize illegal meetings; the four reportedly were released the
same day, but were instructed to report to court every month.
On February 29, police in Kampala arrested two members of Uganda
Young Democrats, affiliated with the opposition DP, for organizing an
illegal assembly. On March 2, the two were released; the case was
pending trial at year's end.
On March 5, in Jinja, government supporters dispersed a political
meeting organized by the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum (PAFO); several
persons were injured, including an M.P. with disabilities who was
pushed through a ground-floor window. The attackers reportedly had been
paid approximately $800 (1.5 million shillings) by progovernment
officials to disrupt the meeting, which was attended by several
opposition M.P.s. PAFO officials charged that local police, who did not
intervene, had been ordered to step aside. A December 17 report by a
parliamentary select committee charged two local officials with primary
responsibility for the incident, but recommended that all those
responsible be prosecuted.
On May 23, police briefly detained supporters of two rival
candidates who clashed at a campaign rally in Mbale.
On June 5, police in Kyotera, Masaka District arrested and detained
17 PRALP activists for attempting to hold an illegal assembly. The 17,
who were released after 1 week, did not appear for their October 14
court hearing; in December, police issued an arrest warrant for the 17.
On August 7, police accidentally shot and killed a secondary
student during a street battle between Muslims and Christians in
Kyazanga Town, Masaka District. Several others were injured in the
incident.
On August 14, in Bugiri, the Resident District Commissioner fired
live bullets in the air to disperse a meeting of the National Freedom
Party; police subsequently arrested several members of the group for
holding an illegal assembly.
On August 18, the police in Kampala detained and questioned M.P.
Ken Lukyamuzi for 2 hours for allegedly ``inciting violence'' at a
public rally in July.
Police also blocked other types of demonstrations during the year.
For example, on May 4, anti-riot police in Kasese prevented a
demonstration by residents over alleged harassment of their chairman by
district councilors.
In June, police in Mbarara dispersed a Uganda Youth Alliance
conference because the group had not sought permission to hold such a
gathering.
The Government reportedly settled out of court with the parents of
freelance journalist Jimmy Higenyi, who was killed by police in 2002
during a UPC rally.
No further action was taken against the members of the police who
forcibly dispersed demonstrations in 2003 or 2002.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government severely restricted this right in practice, particularly for
opposition political parties and organizations (see Section 3). NGOs
were required to register with the NGO Board, which included
representation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as other
ministries.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, in practice, the Government imposed some
restrictions.
The law requires religious groups and foreign missionaries to
register with the Government; failure to register is a criminal
offense. The Government continued to refuse registration to the World
Last Message Warning Church due to continuing suspicions arising from
the killings of more than 1,000 citizens in Kanungu in 2000. There were
no reports that the Government refused to grant such registration to
any other religious organization.
Several religious groups, which had been shut down by police as
suspected ``cults'' in previous years, remained closed at year's end.
In addition, bans against nighttime prayer meetings by evangelical
churches, reportedly for security and noise abatement reasons, were
still in effect in residential areas of several districts. For example,
in October, police in Kayunga banned night prayers to reduce insecurity
in the district.
The May 2003 closure of Prophetess Nabaasa Gwaja's worship center
in Ntuusi village remained in effect at year's end.
There were reports that security officials harassed Muslims;
however, the Government maintained that certain Muslim suspects were
detained on charges of treason and terrorism, not on religious grounds.
On March 25, antiterrorism police in Kampala arrested two Muslim
religious leaders and five other suspects on treason charges. The
Muslim religious leaders claimed they were arrested for their religious
beliefs, but the Government insisted they were arrested for recruiting
for the ADF. The men were in detention awaiting trial at year's end.
Muslims occupied positions of authority in local and central
government; however, some Muslim leaders claimed that the number of
positions did not reflect their percentage of the population.
The LRA was responsible for attacks against religious institutions
during the year. On May 18, LRA rebels abducted Anglican Bishop
Benjamin Ojwang and 11 other persons from the Bishop's home in Kitgum;
the abductees were rescued that night by UPDF forces. In June 2003, LRA
leader Joseph Kony ordered the LRA to ``destroy all church missions and
kill all priests in northern Uganda.''
No action was taken against LRA rebels responsible for killing,
injuring, and abducting religious workers in 2003.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government at times limited them in practice. Some
local officials reportedly demanded payment of fees before writing a
letter of introduction on behalf of individuals changing their
residence. A married woman must obtain her husband's written permission
on her passport application if children are to be listed on her
passport.
On February 7, security agents seized the passport of Joseph
Musasizi, the brother of exiled opposition leader Kizza Besigye, and
prevented him from traveling abroad; on February 9, Musasizi's passport
was returned to him.
On August 17, William Onyanga, a supporter of Kizza Besigye and
Lira District Council speaker, was blocked from traveling to South
Africa.
Continued attacks by the LRA and Karamojong warriors caused many
ethnic Acholis and Iteso to leave their homes for urban centers, IDP
camps, and villages guarded by the UPDF and LDUs. According to the U.N.
office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, there were more
than 1.3 million registered IDPs as a result of this violence. At
year's end, the number of IDPs per affected district were: Gulu,
558,765; Kitgum, 267,078; Pader, 279,589; and Lira, 298,197.
During the year, the LRA killed and injured numerous persons during
attacks on IDP camps (see Section 1.g.). In the north, security forces
continued their policy of maintaining UPDF detachments at IDP camps as
a means of protecting civilians and denying support to the LRA.
Security and health conditions in the approximate 200 IDP camps
remained precarious, and several were the targets of large-scale rebel
attacks (see Section 1.g.).
In April, in Adjumani District, LRA rebels in groups of 7 to 20
began attacking Sudanese refugee settlements in Adjumani; approximately
20,000 Sudanese refugees fled the camps.
Approximately 25,000 citizens of the country were refugees in the
DRC, Sudan, and Kenya during the year.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the definition of the 1951 U.N. Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol; however, the
Government has established a system for providing protection to
refugees. In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution. The Government granted refugee status or asylum and
generally cooperated with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting
refugees and asylum seekers. Unlike during the previous year, the
Government did not forcibly relocate refugees or deny UNHCR access to
camps.
The Government provided temporary protection to individuals who may
not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol,
and also provided land for temporary resettlement to citizens from
neighboring countries. This practice was extended to significant
numbers of refugees during the year. More than 70 percent of the
approximately 220,000 refugees in the country were from southern Sudan;
there also were refugees from the DRC, Rwanda, and other countries.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government; however, Movement domination of the Government and some
restrictive constitutional and statutory provisions limited citizens'
effective exercise of this right. On November 17, the Constitutional
Court declared sections of the 2002 Political Parties and Organizations
Act (PPOA) that restricted political meetings and the registration of
political parties unconstitutional; a 2003 court decision ruled that
PPOA sections that prevented political parties from operating while the
``Movement System'' remained in place were unconstitutional. However,
during the year, both national and local government officials continued
to interpret the law to restrict opposition political activities.
The Constitution provides for an autonomous, independently elected
president and a 305-member unicameral parliament whose members are
elected to 5-year terms. The President dominated the Government, and
Movement supporters remained in control of the Parliament. However,
members of the Movement disagreed on several critical issues, including
whether the constitutional presidential term limit should be lifted.
Supporters of President Museveni retained a majority in Parliament, but
not necessarily in sufficient numbers to pass constitutional
amendments.
In 2001, six candidates competed in the presidential elections,
including President Museveni and Kizza Besigye. President Museveni was
reelected with 69.3 percent of the vote. The presidential election
generally reflected the will of the population; however, there were
many complaints of irregularities prior to and on election day,
particularly regarding the voting process. There also were numerous
reports of election-related violence and intimidation by both the
Government and the opposition.
In 2001, elections were held for the 214 directly elected
parliamentary seats. The elections generally reflected the will of the
population; however, there were numerous instances of election-related
intimidation and violence. The number of opposition M.P.s increased to
35 from 12, including 9 UPC M.P.s and at least 6 M.P.s from the DP.
Others were affiliated loosely with the DP, and the affiliation of
several other M.P.s was unclear. There were 230 M.P.s elected from the
Movement Party, giving it a clear majority; however, a number of
moderate Movement M.P.s kept their seats in spite of President
Museveni's active campaigning for their opponents.
A 2002 parliamentary committee that investigated violence and
irregularities in the 2001 presidential, parliamentary, and LC
elections recommended that acting Army Commander Major General James
Kazini, Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs Major Kakooza Mutale,
Brigadier Julius Oketa, and other security personnel be further
investigated and prosecuted for alleged crimes related to election
violence; however, by year's end, no action had been taken.
The 2000 referendum on the role of political parties resulted in
the indefinite extension of the Movement form of government and the
indefinite continuation of restrictions on political parties. On June
25, the Constitutional Court ruled that numerous provisions of the 2000
Referendum Act, which established the rules and procedures for
conducting the 2000 referendum, were unconstitutional; however, on
September 2, the Supreme Court overturned parts of the Constitutional
Court's ruling and validated the results of the referendum. Despite the
referendum, the PPOA set rules for the registration and operation of
political parties. These rules were highly restrictive, and many
parties refused to register under the PPOA. In March 2003, the Supreme
Court declared unconstitutional Sections 18 and 19 of the PPOA, which
prohibit political parties from holding rallies, taking part in
election campaigning, or holding offices outside Kampala; however,
restrictions on both registered and unregistered opposition parties
continued during the year. The Government restricted non-Movement
political gatherings and dispersed numerous political meetings not
sanctioned by the Movement (see Section 2.b.).
The ruling Movement regularly held rallies, conducted political
activities, and in 2003 registered the National Resistance Movement-
Organization, a new political party that generally operated without
restriction. Some new parties, which registered under the 2002 PPOA,
have been allowed to function, as have political parties that existed
in 1986, when the Movement assumed power; however, there were
significant limitations. During the year, many parties refused to
register and continued to challenge the PPOA in the courts; however,
nine opposition parties registered following the November
Constitutional Court ruling.
On April 8, the Resident District Commissioner in Rukungiri
instructed local officials to bar opposition candidates from
campaigning at funerals or weddings.
During the year, the Electoral Commission organized parliamentary
and district by-elections in Kamuli, Mbale Municipality, Bushenyi,
Kabale, and Bukomansimbi. Observers characterized these elections as
generally free and fair; however, there were some irregularities. For
example, in Kamuli District, the presiding officer and polling
assistants were arrested for ``election malpractices.'' Several local
council elections organized during the year by the EC were considered
generally free and fair.
In September 2003, the Cabinet presented a list of its suggestions
for constitutional change to the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC)
that included the introduction of a multiparty system, increasing
executive authority over the legislature, and the lifting of
presidential term limits. After the CRC submitted its report to
Parliament, the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee on December
21 recommended the rejection of some of the Government's proposed
amendments, but made no recommendation on the lifting of presidential
term limits. No action had been taken on the report's recommendations
by year's end.
Corruption continued to be a major problem. Despite credible
evidence of wrongdoing, there were no prosecutions during the year of
senior officials accused of corruption. The law requires the
declaration of wealth by government officials and their family members,
and the Government enforced the law during the year. A hotline
established in 2003 by the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity continued
to receive reports of corruption.
The 2003 courts-martial of army officials suspected of maintaining
under-strength units and pocketing salary payments for so-called
``ghost soldiers'' was ongoing at year's end.
The Constitution provides for public access to government
information, and on January 29, the Supreme Court overturned a
provision of the 2000 Constitution Amendment Act that would have
restricted such access.
The Constitution requires elections through electoral colleges for
the 81 seats reserved for special interest groups in Parliament: 56
seats were reserved for women; 5 for organized labor; 5 for persons
with disabilities; 5 for youth; and 10 for the army, which were
selected by the UPDF High Command, chaired by President Museveni.
The Government used quotas in an aggressive effort to place women
in positions of authority. In 2001, women won 12 nonreserved seats for
the 295-member Parliament and held a total of 72 seats. There were 3
female ministers and 12 female junior ministers in the President's 66-
member Cabinet. One woman served as Deputy Speaker, another as Deputy
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and a woman headed the CID.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were responsive to their views; however, in August 2003,
President Museveni issued a statement calling on civil society
organizations to avoid involvement in partisan politics. Active
domestic groups included the FHRI; FIDA-U; Human Rights Focus; the
National Association of Women's Organizations of Uganda; the
International Federation of Human Rights; and the Human Rights and
Peace Center of Makerere University. Government officials continued to
attend conferences and seminars hosted by NGOs on social problems and
cooperated with NGOs on legal and prison reforms.
No action was taken on the Government's March 2003 call for a code
of NGO conduct to minimize corruption.
The Government allowed visits by the ICRC, UNHCR, and several
international human rights NGOs, including Amnesty International, HRW,
and the International Justice Mission. On July 16, the ICRC resumed
operations in the country after a 3-year suspension that followed the
2001 killings of six relief workers in the Ituri District of the DRC,
an area then controlled by the UPDF. During the year, the ICRC resumed
its visits to prisons, police stations, and military detention
facilities.
The Constitution establishes the UHRC as a permanent independent
body with quasi-judicial powers. The President appointed the UHRC's
eight-member board. Under the Constitution, the UHRC may subpoena
information and order the release of detainees and the payment of
compensation for abuses. In several cases during the year, the UHRC
Tribunal awarded compensation to complainants who had proven their
allegations against government organs (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). The
UHRC continued to pursue suspected human rights abusers, including
high-level officials in the Government and military, and had branches
countrywide, including in Gulu, Soroti, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Jinja,
and Moroto. The UHRC Tribunal headquarters in Kampala received 1,080
new cases during the year, including some against senior government
leaders and military and police officials. In September, the Government
withdrew previous constitutional proposals to abolish the UHRC.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
disability, language, or social status; however, the Government did not
enforce the law in matters of locally or culturally accepted
discrimination against women, children, persons with disabilities, or
certain ethnic groups. Continued instability in the northern region led
to violations of the rights of some Acholi, an ethnic group that
comprises a significant part of the population; LRA rebels, although
predominantly Acholi themselves, were responsible for the most serious
human rights violations.
Women.--Violence against women, including rape, remained common. A
2003 Johns Hopkins University study indicated that one in three women
living in surveyed rural areas experienced verbal or physical threats
from their partners, and 55 percent sustained physical injuries as a
result of domestic abuse. The law prohibits assault, battery, and rape;
however, there were no laws that specifically protected women from
spousal abuse. Many law enforcement officials continued to view wife
beating as a husband's prerogative and rarely intervened in cases of
domestic violence. Women remained more likely to sue for divorce than
to file rape or assault charges against their husbands.
A 2003 HRW report concluded that married women were particularly
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection as a result of forced sex in marriage
by husbands with multiple partners or wives. HRW's report identified
numerous social and legal obstacles to women's ability to protect
themselves against HIV/AIDS infection in abusive relationships.
The law requires that bride prices be nonrefundable gifts to the
parents of the bride. In March 2003, civil society organizations
recommended to the CRC that bride prices be abolished; however, no
action had been taken by year's end.
Thousands of women and girls were victims of abduction and rape by
rebel forces. There also were reports that women were raped by the UPDF
(see Sections 1.c. and 5, Children).
FGM was practiced by the Sabiny ethnic group, located in rural
Kapchorwa District, and the Pokot ethnic group along the northeastern
border with Kenya. There were approximately 10,000 Sabiny and
approximately 20,000 Pokot in the country. Among the Sabiny, initiation
ceremonies involving FGM were carried out every 2 years. In August, an
official in Moroto District confirmed more than 84 cases of FGM in his
sub-county; in 2003, there were 30 cases. In Kapchorwa District, there
were 594 cases of FGM during the year, according to an anti-FGM
organization.
There was no law against FGM, but the Government, women's groups,
and international organizations continued programs to combat the
practice through education. These programs, which received some support
from local leaders, emphasized close cooperation with traditional
authority figures and peer counseling. Significant press attention to
these ongoing efforts brought public attention to the problem during
the year.
Prostitution was illegal; however, it was common. There were no
credible statistics available on the occurrence of prostitution,
including child prostitution, during the year.
There were reports of trafficking in women, girls, and babies
during the year (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment also was common. For example, in January, the
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children reported that
security forces, teachers, and others in the north sexually abused
female ``night commuters,'' the adults and children who fled their
homes each night to seek shelter from LRA attacks and abductions. In
March, Parliament registered complaints from women being asked for
sexual favors during job interviews.
Traditional and widespread societal discrimination against women
continued, especially in rural areas. Many customary laws discriminate
against women in the areas of adoption, marriage, divorce, and
inheritance. In many areas, women could not own or inherit property or
retain custody of their children under local customary law. Traditional
divorce law in many areas requires women to meet stricter evidentiary
standards than men to prove adultery. Polygyny is legal under both
customary and Islamic law. In some ethnic groups, men can ``inherit''
the widows of their deceased brothers. Women did most of the
agricultural work but owned only 7 percent of the agricultural land.
During the year, employers in the private sector frequently failed to
apply the statutory provision that provides women maternity leave.
There were limits on a married woman's ability to travel abroad
with her children (see Section 2.d.).
Numerous NGOs sponsored conferences and training programs on
women's rights throughout the country. There were several active
women's rights groups in the country.
Children.--The Government demonstrated a commitment to improving
children's welfare. Education received the largest percentage of the
national budget. The Government did not enforce effectively the
Children's Statute, which outlines broad protections for children,
because of the large proportion of children in the population
(approximately half of the country's population was under 15), staffing
and fiscal constraints on the judiciary, and cultural norms. The law
stipulates parents' responsibilities and provides extensive protection
for children in a wide variety of areas, including financial support,
foster care placement, adoption, determination of parentage, and
treatment of children charged with offenses. The law also prohibits
children from taking part in any activity that was likely to injure the
child's health, education, or mental, physical, or moral development;
however, the Government often did not enforce these prohibitions.
The Government continued the Universal Primary Education (UPE)
program, which provided free education through the seventh grade;
however, education was not compulsory. UPE increased funding for
education, provided additional skills training for teachers, and
reduced the textbook to student ratio; however, some provisions had not
been implemented fully by year's end. Strained finances, corruption,
instability in some areas, infrastructure problems, and inadequate
teacher training prevented full implementation. The UPE program made
education more accessible financially; however, parents still had to
pay for school supplies and some school costs.
According to UNICEF, the country's primary school enrollment rate
was 86 percent for both boys and girls. Girls and boys theoretically
had equal access to education in the lower grades; however, the
proportion of girls in higher school grades remained low because
families traditionally favored boys when making educational decisions.
Boys also were more likely to finish primary school and performed
better on examinations for admission into secondary school. The
Government continued several programs to promote a national plan for
the education of girls. According to the 2002-03 National Household
Survey, only 59 percent of adult women were literate compared with 80
percent of adult men.
Child abuse remained a serious problem, particularly rape and other
sexual abuse of girls, offenses known as ``defilement.'' Defilement
applied to all cases of sexual contact outside of marriage with girls
younger than 18 years of age, regardless of consent or the age of the
perpetrator. The perpetrators of defilement often were family members,
neighbors, or teachers. During the year, 1,878 persons were convicted
of defilement, and 1,818 suspects were awaiting trial at year's end.
Defilement carried a maximum sentence of death; however, no court
sentenced persons convicted of defilement to death during the year. In
practice, defilement cases often were settled by a payment to the
girl's parents.
During the year, teachers were arrested for defilement. For
example, the Arua District education officer reported that between June
and October, three teachers were arrested for defilement.
Corporal punishment is banned; however, many schools used it. In
April, the UHRC summoned to testify Fabian Bahemuka and Fedeli Muleme,
teachers of St. Aloysius Bukalagi Primary School, in Mpigi District,
for allegedly caning a pupil into a coma in 2002. During the year, the
UHRC tribunal mediated a settlement that required the teachers to pay
the pupil's family $115 (200,000 shillings).
There were credible allegations of actual and attempted ritual
killings of children during the year. For example, in February, police
in Kayunga District arrested and detained two traditional healers for
allegedly attempting to murder an 11-year-old boy; no further
information was available.
There were no developments in the February 2003 and May 2003 ritual
killings of children. There were no developments in 2002 ritual
killings of children.
The marriage of young girls by parental arrangements was common,
particularly in rural areas.
FGM was performed on girls in the Sabiny and Pokot ethnic groups
(see Section 5, Women).
Child prostitution and trafficking were problems (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
The legal recruitment age for military service was 18 years;
however, persons below the age of 18 occasionally enlisted, sometimes
with the collusion of local officials. During the year, there were
reports that the Government continued to recruit children into the
UPDF. Other children were reported to have been recruited into LDUs.
The UPDF denied that it had actively recruited child soldiers, but said
some might have been allowed to join through deception or oversight.
However, other reports indicated that the UPDF detained some former LRA
child combatants for unacceptably long periods, and in some cases, used
them on intelligence and reconnaissance missions.
During the year, the UPDF collaborated with UNICEF to identify and
remove 300 to 400 underaged soldiers from the 60,000-soldier UPDF.
There were also efforts to identify and remove underaged recruits from
LDUs, where underage recruitment reportedly was a more serious problem.
There were an estimated 2 million children who had lost one or both
parents. This large number of orphans resulted from wars and other
instability, population dislocation, and HIV/AIDS.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Approximately 12,000 children have been abducted during the last 2
years, and the LRA continued to abduct children and, at clandestine
bases, to force them into virtual slavery as laborers, soldiers,
guards, and sex slaves. In addition to being beaten, raped, and forced
to march until exhausted, abducted children were forced to participate
in the killing of other children who attempted to escape. More than 85
percent of LRA forces were made up of children whom the LRA abducted
and forced to fight as rebels; most LRA rebels were between the ages of
11 and 16.
During the year, the UPDF rescued numerous children abducted by the
LRA; 15,000 children have returned from LRA captivity since the
conflict began. The UPDF's Child Protection Unit continued to provide
treatment to returned abductees upon arrival at military facilities. It
also escorted ex-abductees to NGO facilities, which provided assistance
and counseling to the children and their families. The Government also
worked closely with NGOs in the north to facilitate their assistance
programs for amnesty seekers and rescued children; however, these
programs were primarily financed by donors. The Amnesty Commission
provided orientation to officials in Sudan to better assist applicants,
including former abducted child soldiers, to enter the amnesty program.
Between 32,000 and 52,000 children known as ``night commuters''
traveled from conflict areas or IDP camps each night to urban centers
to avoid abduction by the LRA. In March, the U.N. estimated that nearly
18,800 children commuted nightly into Gulu town, 11,000 in Kitgum, and
11,000 in a Kalongo Hospital in Pader District. During the year, the
Government cooperated with NGOs to establish shelters for such children
in tented dormitories and other semi-permanent structures; in other
cases, children slept under balconies or on the grounds of schools,
churches, and hospitals. Conditions ranged from harsh to adequate.
There were credible reports that many displaced girls became involved
in prostitution.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons; however, it prohibits trafficking-related
offenses. The penalty for the procurement of women for purposes of
prostitution or detention with sexual intent is up to 7 years'
imprisonment; the penalty for trading in slaves is up to 10 years'
imprisonment. A range of sentences up to the death penalty can be
imposed for defilement (sex with minors). Forced labor is a
misdemeanor. There were reports that persons were trafficked to, from,
or within the country. During the year, persons were arrested for
trafficking-related offenses; however, none reportedly were convicted.
In addition to trafficking related to LRA abductions (see Sections
1.b. and 5), adults and children were trafficked internally for labor,
commercial sexual exploitation, and criminal activities.
During the year, there were media reports that several women from
South Asia were trafficked to the country under false pretenses and
forced into prostitution; some of the women also claimed that they had
been tortured and raped. On June 30, police arrested the owner of the
restaurant where some of the women were found. A parliamentary
committee reportedly planned to investigate the extent of the
trafficking of South Asian women to the country; however, no action had
been taken by year's end.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the SPLA
forcibly recruited Sudanese refugees in the north for service in their
forces.
The Government, through the military and civilian agencies,
continued efforts to combat LRA trafficking in persons. The Government
began Operation Iron Fist in 2002 to eradicate the LRA threat and has
continued to offer amnesty to former rebels, providing resettlement
packages with educational benefits and vocational training. The
Government also established protected camps garrisoned by the UPDF that
have helped to prevent abductions (see Sections 1.b. and 2.d.).
Persons With Disabilities.--The Constitution provides persons with
disabilities ``a right to respect and human dignity''; however,
widespread discrimination by society and employers limited job and
educational opportunities for such persons. There was no statutory
requirement that buildings be accessible for persons with disabilities.
There was a Minister of State for Disabled Persons, and five seats in
Parliament were reserved for representatives of persons with
disabilities. There was also a Department for Disabled Persons within
the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development; however, this
institution lacked sufficient funding to undertake or support any
significant initiatives.
The Children's Act required that children with disabilities be
given necessary special facilities; however, in practice inadequate
funding hampered enforcement of this provision.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Civil strife in the north and
east led to the violation of the rights of members of the Acholi,
Langi, and Ateso ethnic groups, who primarily resided in the districts
of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, Lira, Apac, and Soroti. LRA rebels, who
themselves largely were Acholi, committed abuses against ethnic Acholi
and other ethnic groups. The LRA in particular was implicated in the
killing and kidnapping of Acholi tribe members (see Section 1.g.).
During the year, the UPDF committed abuses against ethnic Acholi during
combat operations against the LRA. Ethnic Acholi leaders also
complained that outsiders were attempting to take advantage of
continuing instability to steal their land.
Inter-ethnic violence between the Langi and Acholi ethnic groups
resulted in deaths. On February 25, a joint force of UPDF troops and
police fired in the air after a peace march commemorating the victims
of the February 21 LRA attack on Barlonyo IDP camp became violent. One
person was shot to death by the joint force, and four persons were
lynched by the mob; there were numerous injuries. Observers reported
that approximately 500 members of the Langi ethnic group broke away
from the demonstration to attack Acholis and their property and that
the violence appeared to be exacerbated by February 24 anti-Acholi and
anti-foreign broadcasts on Lira radio.
During the year, raids by armed Karamojong warriors in Katakwi,
Kotido, and Kapchorwa Districts in the northeast resulted in
approximately 100 deaths. The raids reportedly exacerbated ethnic
tensions in the northeast (see Section 1.a.). The Government's
mandatory disarmament program for Karamoja, which has caused
confrontations between the UPDF and the Karamojong, continued, and
negotiations continued for a Karamojong-led solution. The UPDF and
police continued efforts to improve security conditions by arresting
cattle rustlers and preventing cross-border incursions.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--Anti-Acholi messages on Lira
radio throughout the evening of February 24 contributed to the violence
in a February 25 demonstration (see Section 5, National/Racial/Ethnic
Minorities).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of every person to join workers' associations or trade unions;
however, the Government at times did not respect this right in
practice. Employers often did not observe the requirement to recognize
a union. The right to form unions extended to civil servants; however,
many ``essential'' government employees were not permitted to form
unions, including police, army, and management-level officials
throughout government. The Government failed to enforce the rights of
some employees to join unions in newly privatized industries and
factories.
The law allows unionization if 51 percent or more of the work force
support it and if the proposed union represents at least 1,000
employees. These requirements effectively prevented workers in
important parts of the private sector from forming unions, especially
in the textile, hotel, and construction sectors.
The law does not prohibit anti-union discrimination by employers,
and union activists were not protected sufficiently from retribution
for union activities; however, there were no reported incidents of
government harassment of union officials during the year. There were
reports that several private companies urged workers not to take part
in unionization efforts.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively; however,
the right to organize was rarely defended by the Government, and true
collective bargaining occurred only in the small private sector of the
modern economy. There are no export processing zones.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike; however, the
Government seldom defended this right, and government policy required
labor and management to make ``every effort'' to reconcile labor
disputes before resorting to strike action. This directive presented
unions with a complicated set of restrictions. If reconciliation did
not appear to be possible, labor had to submit its grievances and give
notification of the strike to the Minister of Labor, who usually
delegated the dispute to the IC. In principle, IC rulings were final,
but in practice, they could be appealed to the High Court, an option
often taken by employers. The Minister of Labor generally did not
permit strikes in the absence of a determination from the IC that
``every effort'' had been exhausted. The Government only took limited
action on organized labor complaints; however, frustrated laborers
often went on strike anyway.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.). Prison
officials hired out prisoners to work on private farms and construction
sites, where the prisoners often were overworked. Throughout the
country, prison officials routinely supplemented their meager wages
with cash crops grown by prisoners on the prison grounds (see Section
1.c.). Male prisoners performed arduous physical labor while female
prisoners produced marketable handicrafts such as woven basketry.
Juvenile prisoners performed manual labor, often for 12 hours per day.
Compensation, when paid, generally was very low.
There were also complaints that the UPDF forced ethnic Acholi
citizens to clear roadways in war-affected regions of the north.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits employers from hiring workers below the age of 18;
however, child labor was common, especially in the informal sector.
Demographics contributed to the problem of child labor; half of the
population was under 15 years of age. Many children left school and
went into agricultural or domestic work to help meet expenses or
perform the work of absent or infirm parents, a situation common
throughout the country (see Section 5). The problem was particularly
acute among the large orphan population.
In urban areas, children sold small items on the streets, were
involved in the commercial sex industry, worked in shops, or begged for
money (see Section 5). Children were also employed in the tea
harvesting sector.
In the past, smuggling was one of the larger informal industries
and employed large numbers of child laborers at the borders with Kenya
and Tanzania; however, there were no reports of such activity during
the year.
The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, a
lack of resources prevented the Government from enforcing this
prohibition effectively. There were reports the UPDF used former LRA
child soldiers on reconnaissance and intelligence missions (see Section
5).
The LRA often forced abducted children into virtual slavery as
guards, laborers, soldiers, and sex slaves (see Section 5).
The Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development enforced the
law on child labor; however, financial constraints limited the
Ministry's efforts. The Government made efforts to decrease the
incidence of child labor during the year. The Government coordinated
its efforts to stop child labor through the National Steering Committee
on Child Labor, which brought together representatives of the Ministry
of Gender, Labor, and Social Development; the Ministry of Education and
Sports; the Ministry of Local Government; the Federation of Uganda
Employers; the National Organization of Trade Unions; NGOs;
journalists; and academicians. The Government organized a number of
child labor awareness workshops, disseminated printed information, and
sponsored radio and television discussions to educate the public on
child labor issues. Several human rights NGOs continued programs during
the year aimed at removing children from hazardous work.
The Government also cooperated with the ILO, foreign governments,
and NGOs in several initiatives to combat child labor, including the
education and reintegration of children into their communities.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum legal wage was $3.50
(6,000 shillings) per month, a rate set in 1984; however, this wage was
not enforced effectively in practice. The Government and the private
sector negotiated a new rate in 2003; however, no minimum wage
legislation had been passed by year's end. The existing minimum wage
did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
In industries that employed workers on an hourly basis, the normal
workweek was 40 hours. There was no legal maximum workweek; however,
employers were supposed to pay a time-and-a-half rate for each
additional hour worked beyond a 48-hour workweek. Many industries paid
workers incrementally to avoid overtime and circumvent the prohibition
on child labor. Many companies employed workers as ``casual laborers''
or ``contract workers'' to avoid providing benefits.
The law establishes some occupational health and safety standards.
The Workers' Compensation Act provides compensation, based on monthly
salaries, for workers injured or killed at work. The Ministry of
Gender, Labor, and Social Development's Department of Occupational
Health was responsible for enforcement of occupational safety
regulations; however, in practice, inspections were rare, primarily due
to the lack of vehicles and funding for inspection trips. There were
fatal accidents at several construction projects. The limited
occupational safety regulations under the law did not prevent the
dismissal of workers who refused to perform dangerous work; however,
strong unions in certain dangerous industries protected such workers.
Foreign workers are protected under the Occupational Health and
Safety Law. The law does not exclude illegal workers; however, illegal
workers who filed claims risked government scrutiny of their employment
status and possible prosecution or deportation.
__________
ZAMBIA
Zambia is a republic governed by a president and a unicameral
national assembly. Since 1991, multiparty elections have resulted in
the victory of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD). MMD
candidate Levy Mwanawasa was elected President in 2001, and the MMD won
69 out of 150 elected seats in the National Assembly. Domestic and
international observer groups noted general transparency during the
voting; however, they cited several irregularities. Opposition parties
challenged the election results in court, and judicial deliberations
were ongoing at year's end. The anti-corruption campaign launched in
2002 continued during the year and resulted in numerous arrests and
prosecutions. The judicial system was hampered by inefficiency,
corruption, and lack of resources.
The police, divided into regular and paramilitary units under the
Ministry of Home Affairs, have primary responsibility for maintaining
law and order. The Zambia Security Intelligence Service (ZSIS), under
the Office of the President, is responsible for intelligence and
internal security. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of
the security forces. Members of the security forces committed numerous
serious human rights abuses.
The economy was market based with a population of 10.4 million.
Approximately 60 percent of the labor force worked in agriculture,
although agriculture contributed only 15 percent to the gross domestic
product. Economic growth was projected at 4.6 percent for the year;
wages generally failed to keep pace with an inflation rate of 17.5
percent. The Government's efforts to rein in public spending resulted
in the resumption of balance of payment support from donors and debt
forgiveness. Approximately 73 percent of the population lived below the
poverty line.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
Police officers committed several unlawful killings and tortured, beat,
and otherwise abused criminal suspects and detainees. Some police
officers who committed these abuses were disciplined or remained in
detention pending trial; however, most did so with impunity. The lack
of professionalism, investigatory skill, and discipline in the police
force remained a serious problem. Prison conditions were harsh and life
threatening. Arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention, and long delays in
trials were problems. The police infringed on citizens' privacy rights.
The Government restricted speech and press freedom. Police forcibly
dispersed demonstrations and obstructed rallies of the political
opposition, labor unions, and civil society groups. The Government
ordered and then rescinded the dissolution of NGOs during the year.
Violence and discrimination against women remained widespread. Child
abuse, trafficking in persons, and discrimination against persons with
disabilities were problems. Workers' rights were limited, and child
labor remained a serious problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings by the Government or its agents; however, security
forces committed numerous unlawful killings during the year. The Legal
Resources Foundation (LRF), an independent human rights organization
that counseled victims' families and represented them in actions
against the Government, consistently investigated and publicized such
incidents.
Police killed several persons during apprehension and in custody.
On March 21, police in Kitwe arrested, detained, and beat Michael
Kalunga and Davie Mwape for possession and consumption of illegally
brewed alcohol; on March 25, Kalunga and Mwape died in detention as a
result of the beatings. Eight other persons arrested and detained on
the same charge as Kalunga and Mwape were beaten; five remained in
custody awaiting trial at year's end. No action was taken against the
responsible police by year's end.
On December 25, 2003, police in Nakonde arrested and beat 28-year-
old Fridah Mulenga following allegations that she had abandoned an 8-
month-old child. On December 6, when Mulenga was released, she
complained of severe chest pains and was admitted to a hospital; on
January 7, she died. No action was taken against the responsible police
by year's end.
During the year, there were incidents of accidental killings by
police. For example, on March 15, in Livingstone, police in pursuit of
two fleeing prisoners shot and killed Lydia Monga, a bystander. The
officer who fired the shots was charged with murder, detained, and
awaiting trial at year's end.
Police forcibly dispersed demonstrations during the year; at least
one person was killed (see Section 2.b.).
On January 20, witnesses testified in court that Lusaka police
officers Davis Nyirenda and Ignatius Machilika, who were charged with
the May 2003 shooting to death of Tombozgani Chirambo, were responsible
for Chirambo's death; however, the magistrate released the two
policemen for insufficient evidence. The 2003 complaint filed by
Chirambo's family, which prompted the arrest of the officers, was still
pending at year's end.
No action was taken against police responsible for the 2003
killings in custody of Chomba Mulamba, Tobias Kapenda Tembo, and
Chisenga Chisenga.
The results of the inquest into the 2002 killing by police of
Alison Phiri and David Nkwambwa were not released by year's end.
There was no known action taken in the 2002 killings by police
officers.
Mob violence, which generally targeted suspected thieves, witches,
or persons suspected of sexual impropriety, resulted in killings during
the year. For example, on September 21, a mob in Lusaka beat to death
an unidentified man who was caught trying to break into a house. Police
made no arrests in such cases during the year.
Unlike during the previous year, there were no reports that Mai Mai
rebels from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) killed
civilians.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, police
frequently used excessive force when apprehending, interrogating, and
detaining criminal suspects or illegal immigrants. Authorities
detained, interrogated, and physically abused family members or
associates of criminal suspects in attempts to identify or locate
suspects. Officers who tortured, beat, or otherwise abused suspects
generally were not disciplined or arrested for such acts, although
local human rights organizations, particularly LRF, were active in
pressing for such action.
On January 16, police in Chingola arrested, detained, and tortured
local resident Nkumbwa Daniel Jones, who allegedly stole copper
concentrates from the truck he was driving. To extract a confession,
police beat Jones as he hung immobilized and upside down from a metal
bar swing known as a ``kampelwa''; Jones was also denied food, water,
and medical treatment for several days. Only after intervention by the
Permanent Human Rights Commission did police allow Jones to obtain
medical attention for his injuries. The LRF filed a lawsuit against the
officers; no further action was taken in the case by year's end.
In early March, Munali police arrested Aliyele Sakala on suspicion
of having stolen goods valued at approximately $20 (94,000 kwacha).
While in custody, police beat Sakala and tied his arms and legs to the
door of his cell for 3 days, which left him partially paralyzed; police
claimed that Sakala's injuries resulted from epileptic seizures. The
LRF and police investigated the allegations; however, no further
actions were taken by year's end.
On March 30, police in Nakonde arrested Adam Simukwai on suspicion
of harboring suspects in a cattle-rustling case. During apprehension
and while in custody, police severely beat Simukwai and broke his leg.
Police pledged to investigate the abuse; however, no results had been
released by year's end.
On March 28, President Mwanawasa's mother, Mirriam Mokola, suffered
third-degree burns in an Ndola bus accident. Following Mokola's death
on April 9, police handcuffed the driver of the bus, Humphrey Mumba, to
his hospital bed. The handcuffs prevented Mumba, who also was badly
burned, from turning over in his bed, which complicated his recovery.
After media reports on the incident, President Mwanawasa ordered that
the handcuffs be removed. On April 16, the responsible police officer
was charged with police misconduct; however, no action had been taken
on the charges by year's end.
The 2003 LRF suit filed against the police on behalf of Webster
Mfula, who was tortured for 3 days in detention, still was pending in
the courts at year's end. No arrests had been made by year's end.
No action was taken against police officers responsible for the
2003 torture of Kalengo Kalowani and Shebo Silumelume.
During the year, several victims of state-sponsored torture
following the 1997 coup attempt filed compensation claims. In January
court proceedings, Major Bilex Mutale and Angel Suza sued former Drug
Enforcement Commission Deputy Commissioner Teddy Nondo, former
Commissioner of Police Emmanuel Lukonde, and Attorney General George
Kunda for damages resulting from false imprisonment and torture
following their 1997 arrest. Mutale and Suza charged that police used
the kampelwa during beatings; that they were denied food, water, and
bedding for 6 days; and that they were denied access to legal
representation, medical facilities, and access to their families. The
case was still pending at year's end.
Some traditional rulers continued to use corporal punishment, which
is illegal. On April 1, police in the Copperbelt arrested Chief Mushili
of the Lamba people for assaulting and extorting from his subjects; the
results of court proceedings were unknown at year's end. In late
September, subjects of Chief Matipa in Northern Province publicly
admonished their Chief for routinely beating his subjects with a cane
and whip.
Police occasionally demanded sex from female detainees as a
condition for their release, according to human rights groups. For
example, on November 10, local media reported that a female detainee at
Livingstone Central Police cells consented to have sex with an unnamed
officer in exchange for her release from custody. When the officer
failed to release her, she complained to the supervising officer. The
results of the police investigation were unknown at year's end.
On June 22, a Kabwe court sentenced police officer Joel Mukena to
15 months in prison for raping an unnamed female detainee in April 2003
and then facilitating her unlawful release from custody.
No action was taken against police who in 2003 sexually assaulted
Mary Goma and Linda Zulu.
Police officer Joseph Chitambo, who was charged with theft and
extortion in 2003, still was awaiting trial at year's end.
There were no further developments in the 2002 cases of police
beatings or rapes.
Mob violence, which generally targeted suspected thieves, witches,
or persons suspected of sexual impropriety, resulted in killings and
injuries during the year (see Section 1.a.). On September 23, an angry
mob near Ndola threatened to lynch a suspected wizard who was
implicated by the movement of a coffin being carried to the cemetery;
the mob withdrew when the suspected wizard, who was injured in the
attack, agreed to pay approximately $10 (50,000 kwacha) in damages.
Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening. The country's
prisons, which were built to hold 5,500 inmates, held more than 13,200
prisoners, and inmates in Lusaka Central Prison were forced to sleep
sitting upright. Severe overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate
medical facilities, meager food supplies, and lack of potable water
resulted in serious outbreaks of disease, including dysentery, cholera,
and tuberculosis. After a severe outbreak of diarrhea in one prison,
officials discovered that the inmates were being fed rotten cornmeal;
officials stopped serving the cornmeal. Prisoners in another detention
center had no toilets, chamber pots, or buckets. During the year,
Lusaka Central Prison averaged one prisoner death a day from
tuberculosis, according to the Prison's Assistant Superintendent.
Women and men were held separately in prison; however, juveniles
often were not held separately from adults. Infants and young children
of incarcerated women were held along with their mothers. As of July 1,
20 children were being held with their incarcerated mothers at Lusaka
Central Prison.
Pretrial detainees were not held separately from convicted
prisoners.
Prisoners with mental disabilities were not held separately from
the general prison population. On September 9, a detainee with mental
disabilities attacked and assaulted magistrate Richard Choonga as
Choonga inspected the prison.
During the year, there were several deaths of prisoners due to
neglect. For example, LRF reported that three inmates at Lusaka Central
Prison died of cholera between March 29 and April 1 after they failed
to receive medical care. Between October 1 and 15, 15 inmates at Lusake
Central Prison died from suffocation due to high temperatures and
overcrowding in the cells.
The Government permitted prison visits by both domestic and
international NGOs and by resident foreign diplomats during the year.
Provincial human rights committees periodically inspected prison
conditions; LRF continued its prison visits during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, the Government did not respect these
prohibitions. Criminal suspects were arrested on the basis of
insubstantial evidence or uncorroborated accusations.
Police posts in towns throughout the country reported to one of
nine provincial police stations, which in turn reported to the central
police command in Lusaka. Lack of professionalism, investigatory skill,
and discipline in the police force remained serious problems. Human
rights training during the year raised police awareness of human
rights; however, the use of excessive force continued, and corruption
was widespread.
Low salaries and substandard government housing exacerbated police
corruption, as did poor working conditions, characterized on March 29
by Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Peter Mumba as a ``national
disaster.'' Police released prisoners in exchange for bribes, detained
citizens in private debt disputes for a portion of the payment owed,
extorted money at roadblocks, and required document processing ``fees''
or ``gas money'' to commence investigations. Some police officers
arrested on corruption or abuse charges were convicted and sentenced to
prison; however, most went unpunished unless an NGO took up the case on
behalf of the victim. Punishment, if any, usually came years after the
abuse was committed, and the accused officers often remained on duty in
the interim.
The Government took some steps to address these problems. During
the year, the Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA), which was
established in 2003 to provide the public with a place to direct
complaints of police harassment and abuse, received 406 complaints of
police misconduct. During the year, the PPCA resolved or referred the
majority of cases received in 2003 and directed the police Inspector
General (IG) to dismiss 3 officers and to reprimand 4 others. On
February 12, President Mwanawasa instructed the Minister of Home
Affairs to compel the IG to implement PPCA directives against officers
found guilty of perpetrating such abuses; in 2003, the IG claimed that
the PPCA lacked the statutory authority to direct him to take such
action. In March, the IG dismissed four officers found guilty of abuse
by the PPCA.
The law requires that authorities obtain a warrant before arresting
a person for some offenses; however, other offenses had no such
requirement. Suspects being arrested were informed of their rights,
including the immediate right to an attorney. The law requires that
suspects appear before a magistrate within 24 hours of their arrest;
however, detainees were frequently held for longer periods because
prosecutors routinely required that officers collect additional
evidence before presenting cases to a magistrate. There was a
functioning bail system; however, prisons were overcrowded in part
because of the numerous offenses for which bail is not granted,
including treason, murder, aggravated robbery, and violations of
narcotics laws, as well as lesser offenses such as motor vehicle theft.
Indigent detainees and defendants rarely had the means to post
bail. The Government's legal aid office, which employed only nine
attorneys, is responsible for providing representation for indigent
detainees and defendants in criminal or civil cases; however, in
practice, few received assistance.
Police frequently arrested individuals as a pretext for stealing
their property or extorting bribes; however, there were fewer reports
of such incidents than in previous years. For example, on January 19,
police arrested Cephas Phiri, a passenger on a Lusaka minibus, when
money from a nearby vehicle went missing. After searching all of the
passengers, the police arrested Phiri when they found he had $17.77
(83,500 kwacha). Phiri, who was detained for 5 days, demanded his money
upon his release; however, the police refused and threatened to
rearrest him. The LRF intervened on Phiri's behalf; however, the
outcome was unknown at year's end.
Police stations frequently became ``debt collection centers,''
where police officers acting on unofficial complaints detained debtors
without charge until they paid the complainants; in return, the police
received a percentage of the payments. Officers found engaging in this
practice reportedly were disciplined. For example, on April 26, Lusaka
police arrested Bernard Mulendema, who had sold property on consignment
and failed to compensate the owner. On April 30, the arresting officer
offered to release Mulendema from custody if he paid $21 (100,000
kwacha). Mulendema informed the Anti-Corruption Commission, which
arrested the officer on corruption charges; the outcome of the case was
unknown at year's end.
Police arbitrarily arrested family members of criminal suspects
(see Section 1.f.).
Authorities detained five journalists during the year (see Section
2.a.).
The Government also threatened to arrest the members of an
organization that it claimed was unregistered (see Section 2.b.).
Pretrial detention often was prolonged. In criminal cases, the law
requires that a detainee be charged and brought before a magistrate
within 24 hours; in practice, police held most detainees for more than
1 month from the time of detention to the first appearance before a
magistrate. In some cases, defendants were awaiting trial for as long
as 2 to 3 years. In past years, some defendants waited as long as 10
years for completion of appeals processes that reached the Supreme
Court. These long delays were a result of inadequate resources,
inefficiency, lack of trained personnel, labor unrest, and broad rules
of procedure that give wide latitude to prosecutors and defense
attorneys to request adjournments (see Section 1.e.). Attorneys and
family members were permitted access to pretrial detainees.
On February 11, police in the Lusaka suburb of Chilenje arrested
five men on suspicion of aggravated robbery. Despite being scheduled
for March court dates, the detainees had not been brought before a
magistrate by year's end.
In May, the Lusaka High Court ruled that the Government was liable
for holding Crispin Samulula in custody from 1996 to 2001 without
trial. The Government appealed the decision, and the case was pending
at year's end.
On October 13, UPND treasurer general Tiens Kahenya sued the
Government for damages resulting from his imprisonment from December
2002 to April 2003.
During the year, the Government took some steps to reduce the
length of pretrial detentions. On March 1, the Government opened a
circuit court at Kamfinsa Prison in Kitwe to expedite the cases of
detainees. During the year, the Government also began construction on a
new court complex near Lusaka Central Prison to accelerate the judicial
process.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the judicial system was hampered by
inefficiency, corruption, and the lack of resources. The President
nominates and the National Assembly confirms the Chief Justice and
other members of the Supreme Court.
Courts continued to act independently and at times made judgments
and rulings critical of the Government. For example, on January 5, the
Lusaka High Court blocked the Government's deportation of journalist
Roy Clarke (see Section 2.a.). On December 17, the Lusaka High Court
rejected the Government's decision to deregister SACCORD (see Section
2.b). On December 24, the Lusaka High Court ruled against the Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting Services on an issue involving
appointments to the Independent Broadcasting Authority.
During the year, the Government continued to investigate and
prosecute senior officials allegedly involved in corruption during the
administration of former President Chiluba.
The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction for all legal and
constitutional disputes. The High Court, which held regular sessions in
all nine provincial capitals, has authority to hear criminal and civil
cases and appeals from lower courts. Magistrate courts have original
jurisdiction in some criminal and civil cases; local, or customary,
courts handled most civil and petty criminal cases in rural areas.
Trials in magistrate courts were public, and defendants had the
opportunity to confront their accusers and present witnesses; however,
many defendants lacked the resources to retain a lawyer, and the
limited resources of the Government's legal aid department meant that
legal aid was unavailable for many citizens. Courts were congested, and
there were significant delays in trials while the accused remained in
custody (see Section 1.d.). In many cases, at least 6 months elapsed
before a magistrate committed the defendant to the High Court for
trial. Following committal, preparation of the magistrate court record
for transmittal to the High Court took months, or, in some cases, as
long as a year. Once a case reached the High Court for trial, court
proceedings lasted an average of 6 months. Approximately 30 of 72
magistrate positions were filled by fully qualified attorneys; the rest
were filled by lay magistrates.
Local courts employ the principles of customary law, which vary
widely throughout the country. Lawyers are barred from participating in
proceedings in such courts, and there are few formal rules of
procedure. Presiding judges, who usually were prominent local citizens,
have substantial power to invoke customary law, render judgments
regarding marriages, divorces, inheritances, and other civil
proceedings, and rule on minor criminal matters. Judgments often were
not in accordance with the Penal Code; for example, they tended to
discriminate against women in matters of inheritance (see Section 5).
During the year, judiciary workers went on strike to protest
government changes to income tax rates and salary adjustments for civil
servants (see Section 6.b.).
During the year, magistrates frequently did not appear at court as
scheduled; reports indicated that the no-shows were designed to
pressure the Government for better conditions of service for
magistrates (see Section 6.b.).
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government frequently did not respect these prohibitions in practice.
The law requires a search or arrest warrant before police may enter a
home, except during a state of emergency. Police routinely ignored this
requirement and often arrested alleged criminals at their homes without
an arrest warrant.
The Constitution grants the Drug Enforcement Commission and the
ZSIS authority to wiretap telephones for probable cause.
Authorities sometimes detained, interrogated, and physically abused
family members of criminal suspects to obtain their cooperation in
identifying or locating suspects. For example, on March 4, local media
reported that police in Livingstone had arrested the husband, mother-
in-law, and two other relatives of a bank teller who stole money from
her workplace and fled to South Africa. The Permanent Human Rights
Commission (PHRC) condemned the detention of the family members and
demanded their immediate release. The family members were released
following questioning by the police; however, the suspect remained at
large at year's end.
In April, police in Lusaka reportedly arrested the son of a suspect
wanted in connection with a debt dispute after they were unable to
locate the suspect. The police subsequently held the son in custody
until the boy's sister paid the suspect's debt.
The 2003 lawsuit brought by Joshua Chinyama against the police for
the detention of his children was still pending at year's end.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government at times
restricted these rights in practice. The law includes provisions that
may be interpreted broadly to restrict these freedoms. Journalists in
the government-owned media generally practiced self-censorship;
however, the private print media routinely criticized the Government.
On January 15, Livingstone police arrested and threatened to
prosecute Patson Kabayame for insulting President Mwanawasa; Kabayame
was released after several weeks in custody. Kabayame had criticized
the President for revoking recognition of Kabayame's older brother as a
traditional chief.
A number of privately owned newspapers questioned government
actions and policies, and these circulated without government
interference. The government-controlled Times of Zambia and Zambia
Daily Mail were two of the most widely circulated newspapers.
In addition to the government-controlled radio station, there were
several church-related radio stations, 6 private commercial radio
stations, and 12 community radio stations in the country. A Catholic
radio network, Radio Yatsani, officially had permission to rebroadcast
programs from Vatican Radio and news clips from the BBC; however, it
first had to have excerpts approved by the Ministry of Information, a
process that effectively eliminated timely rebroadcasts. On January 1,
the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) ordered
Breeze FM, a commercial radio station in Chipata, to stop relaying BBC
broadcasts; MIBS claimed that Breeze FM's license permitted local and
regional broadcasts only.
The government-owned ZNBC was the principal local-content
television station, and opposition political parties and civil society
groups complained that government control of the station and of two
major newspapers limited their access to mass communication. For
example, on February 17, ZNBC cancelled without prior notice a program
in which Leonard Hikaumba, the President of the Zambia Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU), was scheduled to discuss controversial remarks
made by the Minister of Finance and National Planning concerning a
government wage freeze; the cancellation followed intervention by the
Office of the President.
Several private television stations, including foreign media,
broadcast locally, although none included local news coverage.
Multichoice, a telecommunications company based in South Africa, and
CASAT provided satellite and analog wireless subscribers with
television services, which included broadcasts of foreign news sources.
The police harassed and arrested journalists during the year. On
January 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed Post columnist Roy
Clarke, a foreign national who had lived in the country for more than
30 years, that he would be deported within 24 hours; Clarke had
criticized President Mwanawasa in a January 1 Post article (see Section
2.b.).
On January 28, police assaulted and arrested Daily Mail
photojournalist Mackson Wasamunu while he photographed police officers
confiscating the goods of illegal street vendors; Wasamunu was released
6 hours later with an apology from the police, who damaged his cameras
and confiscated his film. Wasamunu filed a complaint against the
arresting officers; no further information was available at year's end.
On February 20, police briefly detained Joseph Ngenda and Dennis
Mwiiya, two Radio Lyambai journalists, for allegedly inciting persons
to riot after the station broadcast a program that accused a local man
of being a wizard; angry residents had assaulted the accused wizard and
burned his home.
On December 20, police assaulted and detained for 4 hours
journalists Kangwa Mulenga, Eddie Mwanaleza, Mutuna Chanda, and
Brighton Phiri, who were reporting on demonstrations against the
constitutional review and adoption process; Mulenga was injured during
the assault. The Minister of Information later expressed regret over
the police abuse.
During the year, the Government interfered with radio and
television stations. For example, the Minister of Information and
Broadcasting Services indicated that she would forward to Parliament
her own nomination list for board membership of ZNBC and the
Independent Broadcasting Authority, modifying the list submitted by the
nominations panel, which has statutory authority to nominate such
candidates. Six local media organizations subsequently petitioned the
High Court to nullify any nominations that had not originated with the
nominations panel. On December 25, the Lusaka High Court ruled in favor
of the media bodies and ordered the Minister to forward the list
provided by the nominations panel.
During the year, the assets of the private television station
Omega, which police raided and closed in November 2003, were
liquidated; the station remained closed during the year.
The Government exercised considerable influence over the
government-owned media, including reviewing articles prior to
publication and censuring individuals responsible for published
articles or programs deemed offensive by the Government. As a result,
journalists in the government-owned media generally practiced self-
censorship, and the government-owned media continued to be supportive
of the Government.
In response to headlines and stories alleging official corruption,
those accused and others brought numerous libel suits against the
media. For example, on January 7, Deputy Minister of Mines Stephen
Mukuka sued the Zambian Daily Mail newspaper and the Times Printpak
newspaper for libel in response to June 2003 articles that accused
Mukuka of using his ministerial position to acquire illegally a house
from Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, a former mining parastatal; the
outcome of the case was unknown at year's end.
On May 24, Deputy Minister of Commerce Geoffrey Samukonga sued the
Zambia Daily Mail and Patson Phiri, one of the newspaper's reporters,
for libel in response to May 21 and 23 articles that accused Samukonga
and his nephews of stealing donated rice intended for Chawama
residents; the outcome of the case was unknown at year's end.
On September 15, a Lusaka High Court judge ordered the National
Mirror newspaper to pay $312,500 (1.5 billion kwacha) in libel damages
to lawyers Mutembo Nchito and Nchima Nchito; the Mirror implied in its
August 14-20 edition that the Nchito brothers had misappropriated a
client's money. It was unknown at year's end if the National Mirror had
appealed the judgment.
The 2003 libel suit filed by the Permament Secretary of the
Ministry of Home Affairs against the Monitor newspaper remained pending
at year's end.
During the year, there were numerous defamation suits filed by
political leaders. At the March funeral of former Patriotic Front
Member of Parliament (M.P.) Alex Manda, PF president Michael Sata
accused the MMD, the Government, and State House Deputy Minister Webby
Chipili of having murdered Manda. In response, Home Affairs Minister
Ronnie Shikapwasha threatened to arrest Sata. On April 8, Sata referred
to Chipili as a ``serial killer.'' On August 10, the Ndola local court
ordered Sata to pay Chipili approximately $500 (2.5 million kwacha) in
damages. Sata appealed, and the case was pending at year's end.
In a separate case, the Lusaka High Court on July 27 ordered
Michael Sata and the Post newspaper to each pay approximately $4,000
(20 million kwacha) to Finance and National Planning Deputy Minister
Mbita Chitala; Sata in a 2002 Post article had accused Chitala of
falsely implicating Zambia Alliance for Progress president Dean
Mung'omba and Sesheke M.P. Princess Nakatindi Wina in the 1997
attempted coup. Sata's appeal was pending at year's end.
On September 23, the Lusaka High Court found Sport, Youth, and
Child Development Deputy Minister George Chulumanda liable for damages
for August 8 statements that criticized Sata; Chulumanda's appeal was
pending at year's end.
The law provides that investigative tribunals can call as witnesses
journalists and media managers who print allegations of parliamentary
misconduct. Failure to cooperate with a tribunal can result in charges
of contempt punishable by up to 6 months in jail. The media criticized
these provisions as clear infringements of freedom of the press and as
a means for parliamentarians to bypass the court system.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom. Although the law
gives the University Council a mandate to address faculty concerns, the
Minister of Education was empowered to appoint the members of the
Council; some academics criticized this provision as an infringement of
academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government interfered
with this right in practice.
During the year, government officials, opposition leaders, and NGOs
continued to criticize the Public Order Act (POA), which requires rally
organizers to notify police 7 days in advance of a rally, and which
police often used to deny rally permits.
On January 10, police revoked the rally permit of B.Y. Mwila, the
former president of the Zambia Republican Party (ZRP); the revocation
reportedly was made at the behest of Sylvia Masebo, ZRP Secretary
General and Minister of Housing and Local Government. Mwila, who had
been expelled from the ZRP in 2003 after he allegedly confiscated voter
registration materials, had refused to recognize the expulsion.
On May 18, police briefly detained PF president Michael Sata for
marching without a permit; supporters had spontaneously followed Sata
as he left the Ndola local court, where he was the defendant in a
defamation suit brought by Copperbelt Deputy Minister Webby Chipili
(see Section 2.a.). Police released Sata after he apologized for the
incident.
On July 16, police refused to issue a permit for a demonstration
organized by the Citizens Forum to protest the gratuities paid to
M.P.s; police cited security concerns as the reason for the refusal.
The Citizens Forum appealed the decision to the Minister of Home
Affairs, who declined to overturn the decision.
On December 20, police briefly detained and released on bond 11
UPND M.P.s, 4 journalists, and 53 other persons demonstrating against
the Government's method and timing of adopting a new constitution;
police charged that the organizers had failed to adhere to POA
notification requirements. A preliminary court hearing was scheduled
for January 2005.
During the year, police forcibly dispersed demonstrations, which
resulted in one death. On September 27, police in Sesheke shot and
killed a high school student during a demonstration that became violent
when students stoned the police station and cut its telephone lines;
the demonstrators were protesting the slapping of a student the
previous week by a police officer. Police promised to investigate the
shooting, which occurred when a student tried to release prisoners
being held in the police station; the results of the investigation had
not been released by year's end.
On occasion, police failed to intervene during violent
demonstrations. On January 26, armed police stood by and watched as 200
MMD members assaulted supporters of journalist Roy Clarke; the
supporters had gathered outside of the Lusaka High Court for Clarke's
deportation hearing (see Section 2.a.). The Government reportedly had
ordered the police not to interfere, a charge denied by the Police IG.
No investigation was conducted into the March 2003 killing by
police of a student demonstrator.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government placed some limits on this right in practice. All
organizations must formally apply for registration to the Registrar of
Societies. In most cases, authorities routinely approved these
applications; however, during the year, the Government deregistered an
NGO and threatened to ban an organization and to arrest its members.
On July 5, Home Affairs Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha attempted to
ban the Oasis Forum (a civil society umbrella organization that
frequently criticized the Government) for failing to register with the
Registrar of Societies; Shikapwasha threatened to arrest Forum members
who continued to use the organization's name. The Government charged
that while the Forum's individual member organizations were properly
registered, the Oasis Forum itself was not registered; the Forum
countered that such a general registration was unnecessary due to the
Forum's informal structure and the registration of its individual
participants. On September 12, Minister of Justice George Kunda
announced that the Forum's disagreement with the Government's
constitutional review process and mode of adoption of a new
constitution was a usurpation of executive power and could be punished
as treason; however, the Government later rescinded its decision to ban
the organization, which continued to operate ``unregistered.''
In November, Shikapwasha ordered the immediate deregistration of
the Southern African Center for Constructive Resolution of Disputes
(SACCORD), alleging that the NGO had conducted ``activities which are
inimical and a danger to state security.'' When SACCORD requested the
specific grounds for deregistration, Shikapwasha said the action was
final and that he was not legally obliged to give SACCORD an
explanation. On December 17, the Lusaka High Court overturned
Shikapwasha's decision, and on December 24, the Government announced
that it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court; however, there
were no further court actions by year's end.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. Although the Constitution declared the country a Christian
nation, the Government in practice generally respected the right of all
faiths to worship freely.
The Government required the registration of religious groups, and
the Government approved all applications for registration from
religious groups without discrimination.
On March 15, police charged Boyd Kanyanta and Iqbal Patel, the
former operators of an Islamic school in Lusaka, with attempted bribery
of a police officer; in 2003, the school was closed, and both men were
arrested on child abuse charges due to the school's harsh conditions.
The child abuse charges were subsequently withdrawn. Kanyata and Patel
had offered officer Tresford Kasale approximately $1,000 (5 million
kwacha) to destroy pending deportation orders against them and to
recommend that the school be reopened; the policeman who refused the
bribe was promoted. On December 13, a Lusaka magistrate acquitted the
two men of bribery, resulting in the clearance of all charges against
them.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, at times the Government limited them in practice.
Police continued to man numerous roadblocks around the country to
control criminal activity, enforce customs and immigration regulations,
check drivers licenses, and inspect vehicles for safety compliance.
Police at times extorted money and goods from motorists at these
roadblocks. On April 15, Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Peter Mumba
urged the public not to pay bribes or traffic fines at roadblocks.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
The law does not provide for the granting of refugee status or
asylum in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; however, the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government also provided
temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees
under the 1951 U.N. Convention Related to the Status of Refugees/1967
Protocol.
The UNHCR estimated that there were approximately 194,000 refugees
in the country at year's end, most of whom were Angolans and Congolese;
104,000 of the refugees were in formal camps.
In March and early April, more than 2,000 Rwandan and Congolese
refugees fled Mai Mai rebel violence in the DRC and entered Luapula and
Northwestern Provinces. On April 4, Home Affairs Deputy Minister
Kennedy Sakeni pledged that the Government would deport the refugees in
Luapula Province, who had quickly integrated into the local community;
however, no refugees had been deported by year's end. On October 16 and
17, 3,000 Congolese fled into the country when rebels captured the town
of Kilwa in the DRC; most of the refugees, who had refused resettlement
in refugee camps, returned home a week later after DRC troops
recaptured the town.
Voluntary repatriation of Angolan refugees continued during the
year, and more than 27,000, primarily from the Meheba, Nangweshi, and
Mayukwayukwa camps, were repatriated by year's end. On May 17, UNHCR
and government officials announced that only 107 Rwandan refugees out
of a total of 5,000 had agreed to voluntary repatriation.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government, and citizens exercised this right in practice through
periodic elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. Under the
Constitution, the President exercises broad authority. The National
Assembly ratifies major appointments and theoretically has broad
powers.
In 2001, 11 political parties contested the presidential elections.
Levy Mwanawasa, the MMD presidential candidate, was elected with 29
percent of the vote; runner-up Anderson Mazoka, the UPND candidate, won
27 percent of the vote. The remaining 44 percent of the vote was
divided among the other nine opposition candidates. The MMD won 69 out
of 150 elected parliamentary seats, leaving it slightly short of a
majority; the remaining 81 elected seats were divided among several
opposition parties and 1 independent member. Although noting general
transparency during the voting, domestic and international observer
groups cited irregularities in the registration process and problems in
the tabulation of the election results. The MMD's use of government
resources during campaigns, including the government-owned media,
called into question the fairness of the elections. Opposition parties
further alleged that significant vote rigging took place during the
elections.
Anderson Mazoka, the UPND runner-up in the 2001 presidential
election, Christon Tembo of the Forum for Democracy and Development,
and Godfrey Miyanda of the Heritage Party challenged the election
results; on October 8, the Supreme Court heard final testimony in the
case, which remained pending at year's end.
There were numerous irregularities in the by-elections held since
2001. Former ZRP president B. Y. Mwila was arrested in connection with
the confiscation of voter registration materials, UPND elections
committee member Andrew Banda was arrested on charges of obstructing
the chief registrar, and UPND M.P. Crispin Sibetta was arrested for
``conduct likely to cause a breach of peace''; all three were released
on bond. The charges against Mwila and Sibetta were subsequently
dropped, and Banda was acquitted by a magistrate's court. UPND and
Zambian Republican Party (ZRP) activists also seized voter registration
cards and equipment to stop what they contended was illegal voter
registration for the July 2003 by elections in Nangoma and
Mwansabombwe.
In its report on the period prior to the May 26 by-elections in
Kantanshi constituency, the Foundation for Democratic Process expressed
concern about the MMD's use of government resources in electioneering,
vote buying, and intimidation. The MMD distributed mosquito nets, bags
of rice, corn meal, and traditional beer to local residents. On May 21,
press reports suggested that the Ministry of Lands accelerated the
handover of former state-owned houses to their new tenants in Mufilira
in hopes of winning support for the MMD in the Kantanshi by-election.
During the year, rival party activists occasionally clashed. On
July 28, police in Kitwe briefly detained Copperbelt PF secretary Davis
Mwila for assaulting MMD security guard Jason Mwngani; PF activists
also assaulted Ndola District Commissioner Victor Konie during the
incident. The case was pending at year's end.
During the year, the Government continued to investigate and
prosecute senior officials allegedly involved in corruption during the
administration of former president Chiluba (see Section 1.e.). The
Government also filed corruption charges against several officials of
the current administration and former military commanders, including:
Lieutenant Generals Wilford Funjika, Sande Kayumba, and Geojago
Musengule, who were charged in separate cases of procurement fraud; and
Samuel Musonda, the former managing director of a state-owned bank, who
was accused of abuse of office. Their trials were ongoing in civilian
courts at year's end.
The Government worked with NGOs and the international community to
eliminate the causes of corruption: Parliamentary oversight of the
executive branch operations was strengthened; the Auditor General,
which published a candid report on corruption during the year, acquired
greater independence; and the Anti-Corruption Commission increased its
prosecution and public educational activities.
Despite these efforts, there remained a widespread public
perception that corruption was pervasive in almost all government
institutions. Controls over government funds and property were often
weak, investigative units often lacked authority and personnel, and
officials dealing with the public frequently demanded illicit payments
with impunity.
The law does not provide for public access to government
information; however, in practice, the Government provided information
to media and interested parties on an ad hoc basis. With the exception
of information related to the Zambian Defense and Security Forces, the
Government was generally forthcoming with information.
Constitutional amendments barring citizens of partial or full
foreign ancestry from the presidency violated the prohibition on
discrimination based on place of origin. These amendments also prohibit
traditional chiefs, who were accorded authority and privileges as
chiefs, from running for political office unless they resigned their
chieftainships.
During the year, the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC)
concluded its campaign to solicit public views concerning the
formulation of a new constitution; however, the results were not
released by year's end. Members of civil society and the political
opposition criticized the CRC and demanded that its recommendations be
transmitted directly to a constituent assembly rather than to the
President.
There were 19 women in the 158-seat Parliament (150 members were
elected, while 8 others were appointed by the President); 2 elected
ethnic Asians also held seats.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally cooperated with such groups; however, during the year, the
Government attempted to deregister the Oasis Forum and SACCORD (see
Section 2.b.).
Some domestic human rights organizations, including the Law
Association of Zambia, Women for Change, the Catholic Commission for
Justice and Peace, the Southern African Commission for Conflict
Resolution and Disputes, and the Zambia Civic Education Association,
continued to press for a more transparent democratic electoral system.
Human rights, development, and election NGOs monitored by elections
during the year and organized civic education activities to improve
voter participation and information.
On April 2, Parliament approved the appointment of a new set of
commissioners on the PHRC; the positions had been vacant since May
2003. On July 16, the PHRC opened a permanent regional office in Ndola.
The Commission oversaw human rights committees in all provincial
capitals, interceded on behalf of persons whose rights it believed were
denied by the Government, and spoke on behalf of detainees and
prisoners. Independent human rights groups complained that the PHRC was
understaffed, underfinanced, and lacked sufficient authority to enforce
its recommendations.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, tribe,
sex, place of origin, marital status, political opinion, color, or
creed; however, discrimination against women and persons with
disabilities remained a problem.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a serious problem, and
wife beating and rape were widespread. Domestic assault is a criminal
offense. The police Victim Support Unit (VSU) was responsible for
handling problems of domestic assault, wife beating, mistreatment of
widows by the deceased husband's relatives, and ``property grabbing'';
however, in practice, the police often were reluctant to pursue reports
of domestic violence and preferred to encourage reconciliation. On
January 28, the IG of Police, Zunga Siakalima, announced the formation
of a sexual crimes unit to respond to the growing number of sexual
assault cases. The Government and NGOs expressed continued concern
about violence against women.
The law prohibits rape, and courts generally sentenced rapists to
hard labor; there were 642 cases of rape in 2003.
Prostitution is illegal, and police routinely arrested street
prostitutes for loitering; however, there were no reliable statistics
on the number of prostitutes in the country.
Trafficking in women was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Both the Constitution and the law entitle women to equality with
men in most areas; however, in practice, women were severely
disadvantaged in formal employment and education. Married women who
were employed often suffered from discriminatory conditions of service.
Sexual harassment in the workplace was common. Women had little
independent access to credit facilities; in most cases, they remained
dependent on their husbands, who were required to co-sign for loans. As
a result, few women owned their own homes. Some small financial
institutions allowed women to sign independently for loans.
Customary law and practice also place women in a subordinate status
with respect to property, inheritance, and marriage, despite
constitutional and legal protections. Polygyny is permitted if the
first wife agrees to it at the time of her wedding. Under the law, the
children of a deceased man equally share 50 percent of an estate; the
widow receives 20 percent; the man's parents receive 20 percent; and
other relatives receive 10 percent. The widow's share must be divided
equally with any other women who can prove a marital relationship with
the deceased man, thus granting inheritance rights to other wives,
mistresses, and concubines. However, under the traditional customs
prevalent in most ethnic groups, all rights to inherit property rested
with the deceased man's family. In practice, property grabbing by the
relatives of the deceased man remained widespread, although increased
training of local court officials may have resulted in a slight
decrease in the practice. Many widows were ignorant of the law, and as
a result, received little or nothing from the estate. The fines that
the law mandates for property grabbing were extremely low. The police,
through its VSU, treated instances of property grabbing as criminal
offenses.
During the year, representatives of civil society campaigned
against the common traditional practice of ``sexual cleansing,'' under
which a widow had sex with her late husband's relatives as part of a
cleansing ritual. On May 1, Chief Kaputa of Northern Province joined
other traditional leaders in banning the practice in his chiefdom.
On June 15, the Government hosted a UNICEF-sponsored International
Symposium on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Against Women and
Children on forced marriage, sexual cleansing, and gender violence.
NGOs that predominantly represented women's interests were
particularly active as lobbying organizations. The NGO Coordinating
Committee, an umbrella organization for women's NGOs, was influential
in the Oasis Forum, which continued to conduct civic education programs
on the issue of constitutional reform.
Children.--The Government sought to improve the welfare of
children, but scarce resources and ineffective implementation of social
programs continued to adversely affect the welfare of children. The
Ministry of Sport, Youth, and Child Development; the Ministry of
Education; the Ministry of Labor; and the Ministry of Community
Development and Social Services had responsibility for improving child
welfare. During the year, the Government began implementation of a
strategy to provide shelter and protection to street children,
including prostitutes.
Government policy provided for free basic education for the first 9
years of elementary school; however, education was not compulsory, and
many children did not attend school. The Government has eliminated
school fees and mandatory uniforms for primary education students to
increase school attendance by children of impoverished families, which
has reversed the decline in primary school attendance. The net
enrollment ratio for children of primary school age increased from 66
percent in 1999 to 72 percent by year's end. Inadequate educational
facilities and a scarcity of educational materials were problems. Some
areas have established community schools; however, these schools had
fewer resources than public schools and required contributions from
parents. The number of girls and boys in primary school was
approximately equal; however, fewer girls attended secondary school.
The Government continued its collaboration with UNICEF on the Program
for the Advancement of Girls' Education to work with families and
community leaders to keep girls in school and to bring back those that
have left.
On August 17, the local court in Mufumbwe district fined the
parents of 20 girls who had been removed from school $6 (30,000 kwacha)
each; the girls, aged 13 to 16, were forced into marriages after
becoming pregnant. The court also fined the 20 boys responsible for the
pregnancies $6 (30,000 kwacha) each for interfering in the girls'
education. The court subsequently called on the VSU and the office of
the District Commissioner to educate the public about gender-based
violence and child abuse.
There were approximately 1 million children under the age of 15 in
the country who were orphaned, primarily as a result of HIV/AIDS. These
children faced greater risks of child abuse, sexual abuse, and child
labor. Approximately 75 percent of all households were caring for at
least one orphan, and approximately 7 percent of households were headed
by children due to the death of both parents. The Government instituted
programs to increase public awareness of HIV/AIDS.
Child abuse was a problem. Approximately 1,500 cases of child
sexual abuse were reported annually, according to police statistics.
During the first 3 months of the year, the VSU reported a 24-percent
increase in child sexual abuse over the preceding year.
On February 15, Thomson Seke, who was ill, died in jail while
awaiting trial for the 2003 assault and murder of his stepsister; the
stepsister had died of a sexually transmitted disease.
The results of the police investigation of witness tampering in the
2003 child sexual assault case involving Chief Mpezeni had not been
released by year's end
There are laws that criminalize child prostitution; however, child
prostitution was widespread, and the law was not enforced effectively.
The presence of an estimated 30,000 street children in Lusaka
contributed to the proliferation of street begging and prostitution.
The laws against pornography and the sexual exploitation of children
under the age of 21 were sporadically enforced.
Trafficking for sexual exploitation occurred (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits the trafficking of
children under the age of 18, as well as trafficking in women for
immoral activities; however, there were reports that persons were
trafficked to, from, and within the country. During the year, the
Parliament passed comprehensive child labor legislation (see Section
6.d.).
Persons convicted of trafficking were subject to a fine of between
$40 (200,000 kwacha) to $200 (1 million kwacha), imprisonment of 5 to
25 years, or both. Convictions of abduction, assault, or seeking to
have sex with a minor carried penalties up to life imprisonment with
hard labor.
In February, the Immigration Department arrested a citizen of Kenya
who had smuggled 27 east African nationals through the country and on
to South Africa for purposes of trafficking, according to media
reports.
On July 26, Mwana Mutale offered to sell two children to a local
businessman. Mutale was charged with a felony, and the case remained
pending at year's end.
During the year, Congolese nationals Bangu Kasenge and Delphine
Bakuna Chibwabwa were tried for trafficking two girls, age 13 and 14,
to Ireland in 2002; Chibwabwa subsequently had married the 13-year-old.
The case was pending at year's end.
Women from the country were trafficked to South Africa for
prostitution, and the country was used as a transit point for regional
trafficking of women for prostitution to South Africa. During the year,
there were reliable reports that women were trafficked to the country
for commercial sex work.
On September 13, Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Peter Mumba
announced that the Government had formed a human trafficking committee
designed to focus attention, strategies, and resources to combat the
practice; however, no actions had been taken by year's end.
Persons With Disabilities.--Persons with disabilities faced
significant societal discrimination in employment and education. The
Government took steps to ameliorate their hardships, including
establishing a national trust fund to provide loans to persons with
disabilities to help them start businesses, but its efforts were
limited by scarce resources. The Government did not legislate or
otherwise mandate accessibility to public buildings and services for
persons with disabilities.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The law prohibits
``carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature'';
however, it does not specifically outlaw homosexuality.
The Government actively discouraged societal discrimination against
those living with HIV/AIDS; however, there was strong societal
discrimination against such individuals, and more than 60 percent of
the population believed that persons infected with HIV/AIDS should not
be allowed to work.
On October 15, President Mwanawasa called on all citizens to get
tested for HIV and cited early testing as the key to curbing AIDS-
related deaths and the increase of orphans in the country.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution recognizes the right
of workers to form and belong to trade unions, and workers exercised
these rights in practice.
Only 11 percent of the eligible workforce was employed in the
formal sector; approximately 60 percent of the formal sector was
unionized. On April 23, Home Affairs Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha
announced that police officers would not be allowed to join a trade
union; however, no action was taken to enforce the ruling.
The Industrial and Labor Relations Act (IRA) establishes the
procedures for registration, which were somewhat burdensome. For
example, no organization can be registered unless it had at least 100
members, and with some exceptions, no trade union may be registered if
it claimed to represent a class or classes of employees already
represented by an existing trade union or eligible for membership in an
existing trade union. Unions may be deregistered under certain
circumstances; however, the IRA provides for notice, reconsideration,
and right of appeal to an Industrial Relations Court.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not deregister
unions. The United Transport and Taxis Association, Bus Driver and
Motor Taxis Association, and Passengers Transport Association, all of
which were deregistered in 2003 for allegedly promoting anarchy,
remained deregistered.
The law prohibits discrimination by employers against union members
and organizers; however, the law was not always enforced.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The right to
collective bargaining, without government interference, is protected in
law and freely practiced. Employers and unions in each industry
negotiated collective bargaining agreements through joint councils in
which there was no government involvement. Civil servants and teachers,
as public officials, negotiated directly with the Government. There are
no export processing zones.
All workers have the legal right to strike, except those engaged in
essential services; however, there has not been a legal strike since
1993. In addition to the Zambia Defense Force, the judiciary, the
police, the prison service, and the Security Intelligence Service, the
law defines as essential services any activity relating to the
generation, supply, or distribution of electricity; to the supply and
distribution of water; to sewerage; to fire departments; and to the
maintenance of safe and sound conditions in underground working
environments such as shafts and machinery in the mining sector. The law
permits strikes only after all other legal recourse has been exhausted.
Those procedures were very cumbersome. The law prohibits employers from
retribution against employees engaged in legal union activities.
Workers engaged in illegal strikes did not enjoy this protection.
The Government has responded to striking civil servants with
threats of mass firing and arrests, and revocation of rally permits.
Such threats were seldom carried out; however, on February 16, then-
Vice President Nevers Mumba warned labor that participants in a planned
February 18 strike to protest government tax and wage reforms would be
breaking the law. The state telecommunications firm subsequently
suspended 20 employees for attending a pre-strike meeting, and the
government-owned Zambia National Commercial Bank suspended 9 workers
who observed the strike; all employees were reinstated by year's end.
During the year, the Government paid many civil servants a portion
of their outstanding housing allowances; labor leaders continued to
press the Government for full and rapid payment.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there
were no reports that such practices occurred. The law authorizes the
Government to call upon citizens to perform labor in specific
instances, such as during national emergencies or disasters. The
Government also may require citizens to perform labor that was
associated with traditional civil or communal obligations, as when all
members of a village were called upon to assist in preparing for a
visit by a traditional leader or other dignitary; however, there were
no reports of such activities during the year.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
legal minimum age for employment of children is 16 years, and the Labor
Commissioner effectively enforced this law in the industrial sector,
where there was little demand for child labor; however, child labor was
a problem in subsistence agriculture, domestic service, and informal
sectors, where children under the age of 16 often were employed and the
law was not enforced.
Child labor was most concentrated in the hotel and catering
industries, construction, farming, transportation, prostitution, and
household work. Acute family poverty levels and economic factors
contributed to child labor, and the problem was compounded by the HIV/
AIDS epidemic, which produced a growing number of orphans. During the
year, the President signed into law comprehensive child labor
legislation that prohibits all forms of slavery and procuring or
offering a child for illicit activities, including prostitution.
Approximately 600,000 children were in the work force. While
approximately 87 percent of working children worked in the agricultural
sector, children continued migrating to urban areas and living as
street children due to growing numbers of orphans resulting from the
death of both parents due to HIV/AIDS. In urban areas, children
commonly engaged in street vending.
During the year, the Government increased its budget to combat
child labor from $12,000 (60 million kwacha) to $115,000 (577 million
kwacha). The Government also initiated a child labor awareness campaign
that included workshops for M.P.s, provincial departmental leaders,
teachers, and trade union officials; radio programs to spearhead the
campaign; and drama groups to sensitize local communities.
As of September 2003, 4,060 children were prevented from entering
the labor market, and 4,487 children were withdrawn from hazardous work
and provided with education, training, and other services by direct
action programs carried out by NGOs under the National Program on the
Elimination of Child Labor. The National Steering Committee of the
National Country Program on Child Labor coordinated efforts at
addressing the root causes of child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage for
nongovernment workers, whose wages and conditions of employment were
not regulated through collective bargaining, was determined by category
of employment. Based on a 48-hour workweek, the legal maximum for
nonunionized workers, a general worker earning the minimum wage would
receive $15.36 (76,800 kwacha) per month. The minimum wage did not
provide a worker and family with a decent standard of living; most
minimum wage earners supplemented their incomes through second jobs,
subsistence farming, or reliance on the extended family.
With respect to unionized workers, wage scales and maximum workweek
limits were established through collective bargaining. In practice,
almost all unionized workers received salaries considerably higher than
the nonunionized minimum wage. The minimum workweek for full-time
employment was 40 hours, which was the normal workweek. The law
requires 2 days of annual leave per month of service. The Government
effectively enforced these standards.
The law also regulates minimum health standards in industry, and
city and district councils were responsible for enforcement. The
Inspector of Factories under the Minister of Labor handled factory
safety; however, staffing shortages limited enforcement effectiveness.
The law protects the right of workers to remove themselves from work
situations that endangered health or safety without jeopardy to their
continued employment; however, workers did not exercise this right in
practice. The Government has acted when well-known occupational health
problems existed, such as by requiring underground mine workers to
receive annual medical examinations.
__________
ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe is a republic in which President Robert Mugabe and his
Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) have
dominated the executive and legislative branches of the Government
since independence in 1980. President Mugabe was reelected in March
2002 in elections that were deemed not free and fair, and which were
preceded and followed by a government sanctioned campaign of violence.
Although the Constitution allows for multiple parties, opposition
parties and their supporters were subjected to significant intimidation
and violence by the ruling party and security forces. The Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) was the country's only viable opposition party;
it held 50 out of 120 elected parliamentary seats at year's end. During
local and parliamentary by elections held during the year, there were
reports of violence in the pre election periods and other
irregularities, and the election processes overall had serious flaws.
Corruption among government officials was widespread. The Constitution
provides for an independent judiciary; however, the Government
installed judges sympathetic to government policies, sanctioned
intimidation against sitting judges, and ignored judgments with which
it did not agree.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is responsible for maintaining
law and order. Although the ZRP officially is under the authority of
the Ministry of Home Affairs, in practice some roles and missions were
controlled by the President's Office. The Zimbabwe National Army and
Air Force under the Defense Ministry are responsible for external
security; however, there were cases in which they were called upon for
domestic operations. The Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), under
the Minister of State for National Security in the President's Office,
is responsible for internal and external security and has powers of
arrest. While supposedly a youth service training program, some
graduates of the National Youth Service were used for security related
activities. Senior government and ruling party members tightly
controlled the security forces and directed activities of security-
related elements of National Youth Service graduates (youth militias).
Members of the security forces and youth militias committed numerous,
serious human rights abuses.
An estimated 60 percent of the population of approximately 12
million worked in agriculture. Political paralysis, a drought,
corruption, a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, excessive government
spending, manipulation of interest rates, money supply growth in excess
of 300 percent, and government sanctioned land occupations led to
economic decline characterized by inflation, diminished agricultural
harvests, reduced foreign investment and tourism, acute foreign
exchange shortages, disruptions in the fuel and food supply,
accelerating unemployment, and shrinking real incomes. During the year,
the country's gross domestic product dropped 5 percent. Wages
continually lagged behind inflation, which fluctuated during the year
but was 150 percent at year's end. According to authoritative
estimates, approximately 80 percent of the population lived below the
poverty line.
The Government's human rights record remained very poor, and it
continued to commit numerous, serious abuses. President Mugabe and his
ZANU PF party used intimidation and violence to maintain political
power. A systematic, government sanctioned campaign of violence
targeting supporters and perceived supporters of the opposition
continued during the year. Security forces committed at least one
extrajudicial killing. Ruling party supporters, with material support
from the Government, continued their occupation of commercial farms,
and in some cases killed, abducted, tortured, intimidated, raped, or
threatened farm occupants. Security forces, government-sanctioned youth
militias, and ruling party supporters tortured, raped, and otherwise
abused persons perceived to be associated with the opposition; some
persons died from their injuries. Prison conditions remained harsh and
life threatening. Official impunity for ruling party supporters who
committed abuses was a problem. Arbitrary arrest and detention remained
problems, and lengthy pretrial detention emerged as a problem.
Infringements on citizens' privacy continued. The Government continued
its far reaching ``fast track'' resettlement program under which most
large scale commercial farms were designated for seizure without fair
compensation.
The Government continued to restrict freedom of speech and of the
press, academic freedom, freedom of assembly, and the right of
association for political organizations. The Government at times
restricted freedom of movement. Thousands of farm workers continued to
be displaced internally due to the ongoing land resettlement policies,
and the Government prevented international organizations and local
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from assisting them on some
occasions. Opposition supporters were displaced by threats of violence.
During the first half of the year, there were reports that the
Government's Grain Marketing Board (GMB) routinely and publicly denied
handouts of maize meal to suspected MDC supporters; there were no such
reports during the second half of the year. The Government attacked and
arrested members of civil society and human rights NGOs and accused the
NGOs of sponsoring opposition political activity. Societal violence
against women remained widespread, and discrimination against women and
persons with disabilities, abuse of children, and child prostitution
remained problems. There were occasional reports of trafficking in
persons. The President and his Government promoted widespread
resentment against the white minority. The Government violated worker
rights. Child labor was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were reports
of three political killings, one by a government official, one by a
military official, and one by a ruling party supporter. All of those
killed in political violence were MDC activists or supporters. Army and
police units participated in or provided logistical support to
perpetrators of political violence and generally permitted their
activities.
On January 4, ZANU-PF supporters beat to death Alexander Chigega
while he was at home in Madziva. Approximately 30 ZANU-PF youths went
around the village assaulting all known MDC supporters. His wife and
children were also beaten while trying to protect him. Chigega died on
the way to the hospital, and his wife and son were later admitted at
Bindura Hospital after sustaining severe injuries in this assault.
Chigega's wife reported that she identified several of the assailants,
all from their village. No official action was taken by year's end.
On February 8, four war veterans and a soldier were ransacking the
farm manager's home at a farm owned by MDC Member of Parliament (M.P.)
Roy Bennett, when they were confronted by a large group of Bennett's
farmworkers. According to witnesses, the intruders then retreated and
fired several shots, and one of the shots hit Shemi Chimbarara, a
farmworker, killing him instantly. A member of the Zimbabwe National
Army was arrested and charged with murder. There were no further
developments in the case by year's end.
On March 28, ZANU-PF supporters in three trucks arrived at the home
of MDC candidate James Makore and threw stones at the MDC activists
guarding Makore's premises. The MDC activists retaliated by throwing
stones back at the ZANU-PF supporters. According to witnesses, Minister
without Portfolio Elliott Manyika stood in the back of one of the
trucks and shot MDC supporter Francis Chinozvina in the chest. Manyika
also shot Arthur Gunzvenzve, another MDC supporter, in the leg.
Chinozvina died at the scene and Gunzvenzve was taken to a hospital
where he was treated and released. Police investigated, but no one was
prosecuted by year's end. Chinozvina's parents filed a civil suit for
wrongful death against Manyika, which was still pending at year's end.
According to reports from multiple organizations, including Amnesty
International (AI), as many as 10 persons died in September after riot
police tear gassed their homes during an eviction of farmers (see
Section 1.f.).
A High Court acquitted eight MDC members, including MDC M.P. and
Treasurer Fletcher Dulini Ncube, accused in the 2001 killing of
Bulawayo War Veterans Chairman, Cain Nkala. Several trial witnesses
alleged in court that the police used torture to extract confessions
and desired testimony. Two of the six fled the country 1-month after
giving an interview to a South African newspaper on their ordeal in
jail while awaiting the trial; an MDC spokesman said they had been
receiving threats and had been stalked since the publication of the
article.
There were no developments in the following cases from 2003: The
January killing of Tonderai Mangowiro, a ZANU-PF member, allegedly by
MDC members; the March case of a suspected CIO abduction, torture, and
killing of Steven Tonora, who was accused of burning a Zimbabwe United
Passenger Company Bus in Hatfield; the reported government arrest,
rape, torture, beatings, and deaths of MDC supporters including Richard
Tonderayi Machiridza, involved in the MDC-organized stayaway in March;
the May killing of MDC Secretary for Information and Publicity for
Mufakose, David Matinyarare by ZANU-PF supporters; and the June killing
of MDC member Tichaona Kaguru by ZANU-PF supporters.
There were no further developments in the reported 2002 killings.
Harsh prison conditions and a high incidence of HIV/AIDS were
widely acknowledged to have contributed to a large number of deaths in
prison; however, some deaths in custody and prison may have been due to
abuse or other causes (see Section 1.c.).
During the year, officials uncovered mass graves of civilians
killed by soldiers in the country's war of independence in the 1960s
and 1970s as part of an effort to locate and bury victims individually.
The Government found and reburied the remains of over 5,000
individuals.
b. Disappearance.--During the year, there were multiple reports of
politically motivated kidnapping committed by ZANU-PF supporters and
one reported kidnapping committed by MDC supporters. Domestic human
rights organizations believed that there were disappearances in rural
areas that were not reported due to fear of retribution by pro-
government factions. Abductees were often tortured. The Government
often did not investigate abductions and torture of MDC supporters.
On January 4, ZANU-PF youths abducted an MDC supporter in
Dzivaresekwa. He reported that he and a colleague were interrogated,
stoned, slapped, and beaten with sticks and that the assailants also
tore at his clothes, tied a rope around his neck, and pulled him around
the house, threatening to kill him. He sustained injuries to his head
and hands. No official action was taken by year's end.
On May 19, seven MDC supporters reportedly abducted and then
released Elias Mushavi, a ZANU-PF supporter, while he was buying some
food with a colleague. Police arrested the suspects at the MDC
Headquarters at Harvest House in Harare the following day; however, no
trial dates had been set by year's end.
On July 26, youth supporters of ZANU-PF abducted Bob Makone,
brother of senior MDC official Ian Makone and brother-in-law of MDC
candidate for Parliament Theresa Makone. He was forced to attend a
rally held by Minister of Education Aeneas Chigwedere, tortured, and
held overnight. The same youths returned to the Makone home and
threatened Theresa Makone with death for planning to run for
Parliament. No official action was taken.
No action was taken against those responsible for the 2003
abduction of MDC member Mthulisi Mloyi, who was abducted while putting
up MDC rally posters.
There were no further developments in the reported 2002 cases of
disappearance.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
security forces tortured, raped, and otherwise abused persons. There
continued to be reports that police used excessive force in
apprehending and detaining criminal suspects. Government supporters
continued to torture suspected opposition members and farm laborers.
Human rights groups reported physical and psychological torture
perpetrated by government supporters in parts of the country. Unlike
the previous year, there were no reports that ruling party supporters
set up torture chambers to brutalize opposition supporters. The
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum reported 170 cases of torture during
the first 11-months of the year. National youth training camps were a
source of ruling party-directed youth militia forces, which were
deployed to harass and intimidate suspected MDC supporters with
impunity. There were reports of indoctrination against political
opposition and conflicting reports on the camps' inclusion of
paramilitary skills and torture methods in the curriculum (see Section
5).
Security forces were involved in incidents of political violence,
including instances of soldiers and persons in military uniforms
beating civilians, particularly in areas suspected of heavy support for
the opposition.
In January, Roy Bennett, MDC M.P. for Chimanimani and owner of a
large farm, claimed that the newly appointed Governor of Manicaland,
Lieutenant General Mike Nyambuya, organized a violent looting spree by
members of the army and government supporters at his farm and that
several farm workers were hospitalized after soldiers beat them. In
April, he said that Nyambuya had war veterans, CIO agents, and
Agricultural Rural Development Authority workers occupy the farm. Army
and police personnel sealed off the farm and prevented workers from
leaving. ZANU-PF supporters forced farm workers to attend ZANU-PF
rallies. Those suspected of being MDC supporters were beaten. No
official action was taken by year's end.
On May 29, a mob of ZANU-PF activists who were armed with machetes
and axes attacked an MDC activist while he and other MDC supporters
were attending a colleague's memorial service. The MDC activist and
other MDC supporters fought back and managed to overpower the
assailants. The MDC activist claimed that the assailants reported the
matter to the Machipisa Police and that police then arrested two of the
MDC supporters. No further official action was taken by year's end.
In October, CIO agents kidnapped and beat the president of the
Zimbabwe National Students Union, Philani Zamchiya. They accused him of
organizing disturbances to coincide with the announcement of the
verdict in MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai's treason trial. Zamchiya
escaped by jumping out of the moving truck where he was held and
beaten. Passersby discovered him unconscious and took him to the
hospital. Three suspected CIO agents forced their way into his hospital
ward, claiming to be investigating the attack and demanding information
on his activities. His lawyers suspected the three CIO agents were the
same ones who beat Zamchiya and moved him to a private location while
he recovered. He was released from the hospital in early December. The
Government did not arrest anyone in connection with this incident.
On several occasions in the days leading up to the Zengeza
parliamentary by-election youth militia attacked MDC-supporters (see
Section 3).
Persons perceived as supporting the opposition, including teachers,
civil servants, health workers, and laborers, were singled out for
assault or intimidation by ruling party supporters. In March, three
pregnant women were reportedly assaulted. One, who was 4 months
pregnant, was allegedly assaulted by ZANU-PF youths based at the home
of a ZANU-PF Women's Leader. The youths reportedly assaulted her with a
chain on her back, buttocks, and legs and also broke her arm as she was
trying to shield her face from a blow and protect her stomach. No
official action was taken. In most cases, the national police did not
halt acts of political intimidation or violence, arrest the
perpetrators, or investigate political crimes.
The Government prosecuted ruling party supporters for violence,
mostly for intra-party violence. In October, at the instruction of Vice
President Joseph Msika, police in Bulawayo opened an investigation into
the kidnapping and torture of four ZANU-PF youths by CIO operatives who
mistook the youths for MDC supporters. In November, 13 youths were
arrested and charged for violent clashes between supporters of rivals
for the ZANU-PF nomination for M.P. in Masvingo South. Also in
November, the ZANU-PF youth chairman for Gokwe, Joseph Musekiwa, was
sentenced to 8 years for raping a woman in the campaign period prior to
the 2002 presidential election. Musekiwa boasted in court that nothing
would happen to him because of his membership in ZANU-PF. In December,
two ZANU-PF M.P.s were arrested on charges of inciting or participating
in intra-party violence (see Section 1.d.).
There were no developments in the following 2003 cases: The January
arrest and beating of MDC M.P. for St. Mary's (near Harare) Job
Sikhala, Gabriel Shumba, a human rights lawyer, and three other MDC
members at Nyamutamba Hotel; the January abduction and beating of
Barnabas Mangodza, Jameson Gadzirai, Joseph Rose, and Richard Mudekwe
by youth militia members; the March abduction and beating of Raphinos
Madzokere, the MDC district secretary for Mashonaland East; the March
home invasion and beating of Margaret Kulinji, secretary of the MDC's
women's league; the June attack by ZANU-PF supporters on mourners who
attended the funeral wake of MDC official Tichaona Kaguru; and the
October assault of a ZANU-PF official and subsequent attacks on MDC
houses.
No further action was taken in the reported 2002 cases of torture
and beatings by security forces, ZANU PF supporters, and war veterans.
War veterans and ZANU PF supporters continued to harass,
intimidate, and abuse journalists considered to be sympathetic to the
opposition during the year (see Section 2.a.).
Security forces repeatedly used force, including tear gas, to
disperse nonviolent gatherings and demonstrations; security forces also
beat participants and demonstrators, which resulted in injuries (see
Section 2.b.).
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum reported that at least two
politically motivated rapes were committed during the year but noted
that the figure likely was grossly underreported due to cultural
taboos. The attacks targeted MDC supporters and their families. For
example, on February 6, a worker at MDC M.P. Roy Bennett's farm
reported that she was raped by a war veteran residing on a section of
Bennett's property. The war veteran then ordered her to go to her rural
home and never be seen again at Bennett's farm. She reported her ordeal
to the farm management but not to police.
There continued to be reports of rape at national youth service
training camps (see Section 5).
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. The
Government's 47 prisons were designed for a capacity of 16,000
prisoners; however, they held approximately 25,000. Overcrowding
continued to be a problem. Shortages of food and clothing and poor
sanitary conditions persisted, which aggravated outbreaks of cholera,
diarrhea, and HIV/AIDS related illnesses. Researchers reported that the
HIV prevalence rate among prisoners was estimated to be as high as 60
percent and that AIDS was a major cause of deaths in detention.
The estimated 2,000 female prisoners were held in separate
cellblocks from male prisoners. Juveniles were not held separately from
adults.
Pretrial detainees generally were held in group cells until their
bail hearings. Once detainees were charged, if they were refused bail,
they were held in a separate remand prison.
The law provides that international human rights monitors have the
right to visit prisons; however, government procedures and requirements
made it very difficult to do so. Permission was required from the
Commissioner of Prisons and the Minister of Justice, which sometimes
was not granted or took 1 month or longer to obtain. A local NGO and
church groups were granted access on a number of occasions during the
year, but at least one local NGO that deals with prisoners' issues was
denied access.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, some laws effectively weakened
this prohibition, and security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained
persons repeatedly.
The police are centrally controlled, with the command center in
Harare. The police are further divided with provincial headquarters
overseeing two to three district headquarters, each of which supervise
up to seven stations. Police effectiveness was reduced over the year
because of an increase in crime and a decrease in resources, both human
and material. It was difficult for police to remain impartial due to
increased politicization within the force's upper echelons. There were
also reports that untrained or unqualified personnel were placed in the
lower levels solely because of their membership in ZANU-PF. Corruption,
particularly within the traffic branch, increased due, in part, to low
salaries.
The law requires that police inform an arrested person of the
charges before being taken into custody. Warrants of arrest issued by
the courts were required except in cases of serious crimes or where
there was the risk of evidence disappearing. Although a preliminary
hearing before a magistrate is required within 48 hours of an arrest
(or 96 hours over a weekend), the law was disregarded if a person did
not have legal representation. Police typically arrested individuals
accused of political crimes on Fridays, which permitted them to be
detained legally until Monday. In several cases, police claimed not to
know where they were holding a detained individual, which delayed a
hearing on bail release.
There was a continuing problem, particularly in rural areas, in
which victims or witnesses of crimes who reported to the police were
charged themselves with the crimes of the perpetrators or other crimes.
In May, ZANU-PF supporters abducted and beat Demadema Ntinti Ncube and
Luke Sibanda, MDC activists in Lupane. Upon their release, Ncube and
Sibanda went to the Lupane police station to report the abduction.
There, they were arrested for reported violence against ZANU-PF
supporters.
The Criminal Procedures and Evidence Act substantially reduced the
power of magistrates to grant bail without the consent of the Attorney
General or his agents; however, in practice a circular issued by the
Attorney General giving a general authority to grant bail lessened the
negative effect of the law. High Court judges granted bail
independently.
In June, Parliament passed the Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Amendment Act, which allows the police to hold persons suspected of
committing economic crimes for up to 4 weeks without bail. In February,
James Makamba, a senior ZANU-PF Central Committee member, was arrested
and charged with illegally dealing in foreign currency; Makamba's
extended detention prompted the Act. Makamba pled guilty at his trial.
In April, Finance Minister Christopher Kuruneri was arrested, also
charged with dealing illegally in foreign currency. His applications
for bail were deferred or denied, and he remained in custody awaiting
trial at year's end.
Detainees often were not allowed prompt or regular access to their
lawyers. Authorities often informed lawyers who attempted to visit
their clients that detainees were ``not available.'' Family members
sometimes were denied access unless accompanied by an attorney.
Detainees, particularly those from rural areas without legal
representation, sometimes were held incommunicado. Family members and
attorneys often were not able to verify that a person had been detained
until the detainee appeared in court.
The Official Secrets Act and Public Order and Security Act (POSA)
grant the Government a wide range of legal powers, and give extensive
powers to the police, the Minister of Home Affairs, and the President
to prosecute persons for political and security crimes that are not
defined clearly.
Police continued to detain farmers in connection with seizing their
land despite court orders confirming their title.
Police arbitrarily arrested journalists during the year (see
Section 2.a.).
Police arrested persons holding meetings and during the forcible
dispersal of gatherings (see Section 2.b.).
Police arrested religious leaders during the year (see Section
2.c.).
M.P.s, both from MDC and ZANU-PF were arrested during the year. MDC
M.P. Roy Bennett was sentenced to prison by Parliament for an incident
in which he pushed a Cabinet Minister, an offense that normally would
be punished by a fine. ZANU-PF M.P. Chris Kuruneri was arrested and
being held on charges of externalizing foreign currency, a practice
that ws common.
Police arrested seven other MDC M.P.s including Evelyn Masaiti,
Tichaona Munyanyi, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Job Sikhala, Bennie
Tumbare Mutasa, Nelson Chamisa, and Paul Madzore. Most were held for a
short time then released. Police arrested two ZANU-PF M.P.s, Phone
Madiro and Kindness Paradza, for intra-party violence between their
supporters and those of other contestants vying for ZANU-PF candidacy
in their constituencies, and ZANU-PF M.P. Philip Chiyangwa was detained
by CIO and charged with selling state secrets to a foreign government.
At year's end, a trial date had not been set in the case of Justice
Benjamin Paradza. In February 2003, police detained him overnight and
charged him with obstruction of justice for trying to influence a
fellow judge in a murder case. The Supreme Court ruled that his arrest
was unconstitutional since the law requires investigations of judges to
be carried out by a tribunal of judges. A tribunal composed of judges
from the region was to try Paradza in April to determine if he should
be removed as a judge, but the tribunal was postponed. Separately, a
criminal trial before the High Court was postponed because the
presiding judge in the case recused himself due to the fact that he and
Paradza fought together in the liberation war.
There were no developments in the May 2003 arrest of students
accused of distributing prohibited material and inciting student
arrest.
There were no further developments in the 2002 reported cases.
Prolonged pretrial detention remained a problem and some detainees
were incarcerated up to 4 years before their trials because of a
critical shortage of magistrates and court interpreters. There was a
backlog of up to 60,000 cases.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was under intense
pressure to conform to government policies, and the Government
repeatedly refused to abide by judicial decisions.
The law provides for a unitary court system, consisting of
headmen's courts, chiefs' courts, magistrates' courts, the High Court,
and the Supreme Court. Civil and customary law cases may be heard at
all levels of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court.
Judges are appointed to serve until the age of 65 and may extend
their terms until the age of 70 if they remain in good physical and
mental health. The Constitution provides that they may be removed from
the bench only for gross misconduct and that they cannot be discharged
or transferred for political reasons. Unlike in previous years, there
were no reports that the Government arrested judges or coerced them to
resign. However, magistrates, who are part of the civil service rather
than the judiciary, heard the vast majority of cases and continued to
come under intense political pressure after some of their decisions
were interpreted as running counter to government interests.
The Government and police routinely failed to enforce court
decisions that went against their interests, and the Government
routinely continued to delay payment of court costs or judgments
awarded against it.
In December 2003 Judge President of the Administrative Court,
Justice Michael Majuru resigned from the court. Majuru, who was the
presiding judge in a controversial case involving the Government and
the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of The Daily
News, was forced to resign after the official press reported that he
was under probe for having told a member of the public that he would
rule in favor of the ANZ. In July, Majuru, who was in exile at year's
end, claimed publicly that Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa had asked
him what the judgment in the case would be and expressed concern that
Majuru would rule against the Media and Information Commission. Majuru
also claimed that he was offered a farm by Enoch Kamushinda, chairman
of the GMB and Zimbabwe Newspapers.
Other judicial officers such as prosecutors and private attorneys
also faced political pressure. In April 2003, war veterans attacked
Levison Chikafu, a senior public prosecutor at the Magistrate's court
in Mutare, after they forced their way into his office and demanded to
know why ``he had granted bail to MDC supporters.'' Despite this
pressure, Chikafu was promoted to the position of prosecutor in the
Attorney General's office in Harare.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial; however,
this right frequently was compromised due to political pressures. Every
defendant has the right to a lawyer of his choosing; however, according
to a local attorney, most defendants in magistrates' courts did not
have legal representation. In criminal cases, an indigent defendant may
apply to have the Government provide an attorney, but this was rarely
granted except in capital cases where the Government provided an
attorney for all defendants unable to afford one. Litigants in civil
cases can request legal assistance from the NGO Legal Resources
Foundation or Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights. All litigants were
represented in the High Court.
Attorneys sometimes were denied access to their clients during the
year. For example, in April, police assaulted and arrested University
of Zimbabwe (UZ) professor Tinashe Chimedza, who was addressing
students on the topic of academic freedom. His lawyers witnessed the
assault, then were denied access to Chimedza after his arrest. While
the lawyers were waiting, police detained one for inappropriate dress.
In September, attorneys were denied access to a foreign citizen and two
others who were detained after conducting a workshop on peace-building.
The right to appeal exists in all cases and is automatic in cases
in which the death penalty is imposed. Trials were open to the public,
except in certain security cases. Defendants enjoy a presumption of
innocence, the right to present witnesses, and the right to question
witnesses against them, and defendants and their attorneys generally
had access to government held evidence relevant to their cases;
however, some defendants were denied the right to wear civilian attire
to court. In January, ZANU-PF M.P. Phillip Chiyangwa was forced to
appear in court in a prison uniform. In March, businessman and ZANU-PF
Politburo member James Makamba was brought in to court in shackles and
leg irons. In each case the court eventually recognized the rights of
the defendants and permitted them to wear civilian attire.
On October 15, the High Court issued a verdict in the first treason
trial of MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai was found not
guilty of plotting a military coup and assassination of President
Mugabe. At year's end, MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai faced a second
charge of treason for his role in the 2003 MDC-organized stayaways.
Tsvangirai's passport was returned to him at the first trial's
conclusion and was not confiscated in connection with the second charge
(see Section 2.d.).
Military courts deal with court martials and disciplinary
proceedings for military personnel. Police courts, which can sentence a
police officer to confinement in a camp or demotion, handle
disciplinary and misconduct cases. Defendants in these courts have the
right to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Zimbabwe Women's Lawyers Association (ZWLA) reported that most
magistrates in the country were not aware of some of the contents of
the Sexual Offenses Act (SOA) or that the law was in effect. ZWLA's
research illustrated that many magistrates continued to make judgments
based on old laws.
There was a large volume of rape cases in the Harare victim
friendly courts, which consisted of individual magistrates designated
to try family cases. These courts were understaffed, in part because
many magistrates sought more lucrative employment outside the country.
There was one political prisoner, Roy Bennett (see Section 1.d.).
He was permitted to see his wife for 20 minutes every other week. There
were no reports of international humanitarian organizations being given
access to him.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government did not respect these provisions. Security forces searched
homes and offices without warrants; the Government was believed to
monitor some private correspondence and telephones, particularly
international communications; and the Government forcibly dispersed
persons from their homes.
During the year, soldiers, police, war veterans, and other ruling
party supporters repeatedly entered the Chimanimani farm of MDC M.P.
Roy Bennett in violation of several High Court orders prohibiting them
from doing so. The ruling party supporters beat and abducted farm
workers, in one instance raped a worker, killed cattle and wildlife,
and threatened and harassed and prevented Bennett from returning (see
Section 1.c.).
Unlike previous years, police did not conduct house to house
searches in the suburbs of Harare and Bulawayo.
The law permits the Government to monitor and intercept e mails
entering and leaving the country, and security services reportedly have
used this authority to monitor e mail communication, although the
extent of this monitoring was unknown.
The Land Act permits the immediate government seizure of all
commercial farming land. Since 2002, the Government has dispossessed
approximately 4,000 of 4,500 white commercial farmers. Most of the
remaining 500 white-owned commercial farmers entered into business
agreements with blacks to protect their farms from land reform. During
the year, the Government attempted to seize some farms by attacking the
black business partners. The Government seized some of these farms,
most notably Kondozi Farm, whose black part owner, Edwin Moyo, was
vilified in the government-controlled press. The Government has issued
acquisition notices on most of the remaining 500, but the process was
often lengthy, and acquisition has been at the rate of approximately 1
farm per week during the year. The Land Acquisition Amendment, which
passed Parliament in January, scales back due process protections for
property owners and expands the categories of properties that may be
confiscated under the Government's land reform program.
There were numerous reports that government officials had acquired
multiple farms and evicted previously resettled small scale farmers
from the land.
According to a local NGO, ZANU PF supporters attacked and damaged
or destroyed the homes of more than 100 opposition supporters and
commercial farmers.
In May, there were reports that 30 MDC supporters and their
families in Chipinge were living in the bush following attacks at their
homes by ZANU-PF activists. Twenty of the MDC supporters were treated
for minor injuries at local health centers and two others were treated
at a private hospital for more serious injuries. Police in Chipinge
confirmed the attacks, but no arrests had been made by year's end.
In September and October, the Government evicted and burned the
homes thousands of families accused of squatting on farms acquired by
the Government in Mashonaland West, Mashonland East, and Manicaland.
Amnesty International and other organizations reported that as many as
10 persons died as the result of tear gassing of farmers' homes at one
of the farms. The Government blocked international organizations from
assisting the newly displaced farmers.
There was no action taken, nor was any likely, in the reported 2003
or 2002 cases of arbitrary interference with citizens' homes.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of expression; however, legislation limits this freedom in the
``interest of defense, public safety, public order, state economic
interests, public morality, and public health,'' and the Government
restricted this right in practice. A semi-independent newspaper was
closed during the year. Security forces arbitrarily detained and
harassed journalists; however, unlike the previous year, there were no
reports that security forces beat journalists. Journalists practiced
self censorship.
The Government continued to restrict freedom of speech,
particularly by independent sources or those making or publicizing
comments critical of President Mugabe. POSA also makes it an offense to
make statements that will engender feelings of hostility towards the
President. In November and December, three individuals were arrested
under POSA for criticizing Mugabe in public. They were fined and
released.
Several major daily newspapers and one local language tabloid
belonged to the Mass Media Trust (MMT), a holding company heavily
influenced by the ZANU PF. The Government, through the MMT, controlled
two daily newspapers, the Chronicle and the Herald. The news coverage
in these newspapers generally focused on the activities of government
officials, negatively portrayed opposition parties and other anti-
government groups, and also downplayed events or information that
reflected adversely on the Government. The government controlled media
generally portrayed President Mugabe and the Government favorably,
although rivals of the Minister for Information and Publicity within
ZANU-PF rarely received favorable coverage. The Daily Mirror, a daily
semi-independent newspaper owned by ZANU-PF interests, offered
increasingly critical coverage of government policy and ruling party
interests and aired the views of the opposition and critics of the
Government. The Ministry for Information and Publicity controlled the
Zimbabwe Inter Africa News Agency wire service.
There were two independent major weeklies (the Independent and the
Standard), a semi-independent weekly (the Financial Gazette) and three
monthlies that continued to operate despite threats and pressure from
the Government. The major independent newspapers continued to monitor
government policies and publish opposition criticism; however, most of
them also continued to exercise self censorship in reporting due to
growing government intimidation and the continuing prospect of
prosecution under criminal libel and security laws.
During the year, the Government closed down The Tribune, a semi-
independent weekly owned by ZANU-PF member Kindness Paradza when the
newspaper became increasingly critical of the Government.
The only independent daily newspaper, The Daily News, which was
closed by the Media and Information Commission (MIC) in 2003, remained
closed at year's end. The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on all
appeals related to this case, and the MIC continued to refuse to
register The Daily News. At year's end it only published an on-line
edition from South Africa, with a smaller, core staff.
Radio remained the most important medium of public communication,
particularly for the majority of the population living in rural areas.
The Government continued to control all domestic radio broadcasting
stations through the state owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC), supervised by the Ministry for Information and Publicity. There
were credible reports that the Minister of Information routinely
reviewed ZBC news and repeatedly excised reports on the activities of
groups and organizations opposed to or critical of the Government.
There were two independent short-wave radio broadcasts to the country
during the year; however, they were not widely listened to because few
citizens had access to short-wave radios. Voice of America (VOA)
broadcast a 1 hour program daily on short wave and AM featuring
interviews with local opinion makers on a range of topics in English,
Shona, and Ndebele. Short Wave Radio Africa broadcast daily from the
United Kingdom, using local sources and reporters. Voice of the People,
whose offices were bombed in 2002, broadcast daily from the
Netherlands.
The Government controlled all domestic television broadcasting
stations, and the ZBC owned and operated television broadcasting
facilities. ZBC banned all international programs and permitted only
programs produced locally or by Africans. Throughout the year, ruling
party music videos were aired regularly during the day, promoting the
fast track land redistribution program.
At year's end, the Government continued to refuse to lease
broadcast time to Joy TV, the only privately licensed television
station, and it remained off the air. Although the Government invited
applications for a second national television network in March 2003,
application and license fees were prohibitively expensive.
International television broadcasts were available freely through
private satellite firms; however, the expense and the requirement that
payment must be made exclusively in foreign currency made it
unavailable to most citizens.
Journalists were arrested during the year. The Government arrested
and prosecuted editors and journalists who contributed to published
stories critical of government policies or security force operations.
On January 10, Zimbabwe Independent editor Iden Wetherell, news
editor Vincent Kahiya, and reporter Dumisani Muleya were arrested and
charged with criminal defamation for publishing a story that President
Mugabe commandeered an Air Zimbabwe plane for travel on personal
business. They were all released on bail. No trial had taken place by
year's end. On January 14, another reporter, Itai Dzamara, and the
general manager, Raphael Kumalo, were arrested; both were released and
only Dzamara was charged. No trial had taken place by year's end.
On May 19, The Standard editor Bornwell Chakaodza and reporter
Valentine Maponga were arrested and charged under POSA with publishing
false statements prejudicial to the state following an article that
stated the family of a killed mining company executive blamed senior
government officials for plotting his death. The journalists were
charged then released. Police rearrested them 2 days later; they were
released on bail, and no further action was taken by year's end.
During the year, ANZ Directors Brian Mutsawu, Michael Mattison,
Pfungwa Kupara, and Washington Sansole were acquitted on all charges
related to their September 2003 arrest for operating a media business
without MIC registration. Sixteen Daily News reporters were also
arrested and charged in 2003 for allegedly breaching the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) for practicing
journalism without accreditation from the MIC; however, there were no
developments on their case during the year.
In October, the Government announced that opposition parties would
be allowed access to the state media in the run up to the March 2005
parliamentary elections, but the government-controlled Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation rejected MDC radio advertisements. The
Government subsequently indicated that the MDC would be afforded access
to the state media should it end its boycott of elections and agree to
participate in the 2005 parliamentary elections. At year's end,
opposition parties did not have access to state media.
There were no developments in the January 2003 detention of
journalists and an MDC councilor investigating the food crisis.
On February 16, the Herald fired sports editor Robson Sharuko and
journalists Tendai Ndemera and Rex Mphisa, for writing for VOA.
There were no new developments in the reported 2003 or 2002 cases
of harassment, abuse, and detention of journalists.
The Broadcasting Services Act, which Parliament's legal committee
found to be unconstitutional but is still in force, gives the Minister
of Information final authority in issuing and revoking broadcasting
licenses. The Act allows for one independent radio broadcaster and one
independent television broadcaster but requires them to broadcast with
a government controlled signal carrier. Legal rights groups criticized
the Act for limiting free speech.
The Government continued to deny broadcasting licenses to
independently owned Radio Dialogue and Capitol Radio.
POSA makes it an offense to publish or communicate false statements
prejudicial to the state. Legal experts have criticized this section
saying that it imposes limits on freedom of expression beyond those
permitted by the Constitution. An extremely broad Official Secrets Act
makes it a crime to divulge any information acquired in the course of
official duties. In addition, anti defamation laws criminalize libel of
both public and private persons.
Under AIPPA, mass media companies and journalists must register for
accreditation. Companies must pay burdensome application fees, and
journalists were often required to pay application fees in U.S.
dollars, which were difficult to obtain.
In November, Parliament passed an amendment to AIPPA, which, among
other provisions, imposes penalties, including jail time, on
journalists operating without accreditation. There were no developments
in Peta Thornycroft's Supreme Court challenge of the legality of the
charge against her under the AIPPA, for ``posing as a journalist.''
No arrests were made in the 2002 bombing of Voice of the People's
offices by year's end.
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports of citizens being
banned from entering the country as journalists; however, foreign
correspondents were regularly denied visas during the year. A Sky News
television crew invited by ZANU-PF to conduct an interview of President
Mugabe was initially detained in their hotels by the Ministry of
Information for not obtaining press visas; however, they were
eventually able to conduct the interview.
The Government banned the satirical play ``Super Patriots and
Morons,'' about an intolerant dictator. The play had already been
staged when it was banned. The Government gave no justification for the
banning.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however,
the law permits the Government to monitor all international e mail
messages entering and leaving the country (see Section 1.f.).
The Government restricted academic freedom. The University of
Zimbabwe Amendment Act and the National Council for Higher Education
Act restricts the independence of universities, making them subject to
government influence, and extends the disciplinary powers of the
university authorities against staff and students. The Ministry of
Higher Education and Technology controlled the state universities and
appointed their Chancellors and Vice Chancellors; the Ministry also
appoints the Deans of Faculty, and most members of the University
Council.
There continued to be reports of schoolteachers whose contracts of
employment were cancelled because they supported the MDC.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice through laws such as POSA, which many legal
experts believed were unconstitutional. The police repeatedly used
force to break up nonviolent demonstrations by its critics and erect
roadblocks in urban areas to prevent public gatherings from taking
place. POSA does not require permits for meetings or processions, but
it requires that organizers notify the police of their intentions to
hold a public gathering 7 days in advance. Failure to do so results in
criminal prosecution as well as civil liability. Although most groups
that conducted meetings did not seek permits, some groups informed the
police of their planned events and were denied permission, or their
requests went unanswered. Police insisted that their permission was
required to hold public gatherings, and they disrupted many events
whether or not permission was sought. Police personnel attended many
political meetings without invitation, ostensibly to protect attendees
from potential violence by unruly persons. Reportedly, the CIO also
routinely sent personnel undercover to monitor meetings perceived as
being anti-government.
Police frequently refused to permit campaign rallies and meetings
by the MDC.
In February, police arrested Sifiso Mpofu, MDC Councilor for Nkayi,
reportedly for inviting politicians to his victory celebrations despite
having obtained police clearance. He was detained overnight and then
arrested and held for 3 days later that week for holding a residents'
meeting without police clearance. The Government declined to prosecute.
On May 29, riot police prevented the MDC from holding its
provincial assembly meeting for Midlands South. MDC party officials
claimed that they sought police clearance the previous week to hold the
meeting but had not received a response.
On July 2, ZANU-PF youths attacked an MDC provincial assembly
attended by several MDC leaders, including Morgan Tsvangirai, in
Mvurwi. The MDC applied for and received permission to hold the
meeting; however, police provided no support. Police later blamed MDC
youths for provoking the attack. Police had not made any arrests by
year's end.
In July and August, police barred MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai
from addressing several meetings convened for grassroots officials
throughout the country.
In September, police broke up a dinner at MDC M.P. Nelson Chamisa's
residence and arrested the M.P. and several guests for holding a
meeting without proper authorization. All were released, and the case
was not prosecuted.
Unlike previous years, police did not prevent public meeting of
religious members.
Police arrested numerous demonstrators during the year. For
example, on February 4, police arrested 118 protestors and beat
approximately 50 in an afternoon demonstration organized by the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) in support of a new
constitution. NCA president Lovemore Madhuku was beaten severely and
dumped, semi-conscious, on a road near the edge of town. Those arrested
were later released. Authorities took no further action on the matter.
There were no developments in the October 2003 arrest of NCA
demonstrators.
On September 1, police arrested approximately 30 demonstrators and
injured others in an NCA demonstration to protest the Non-Governmental
Organizations Bill. NCA had notified police of the demonstration but
did not receive permission.
Police arrested several female members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise!
(WOZA) several times in Bulawayo. Each time the women were released
after a few days and usually had to pay a fine. In September, police
arrested several members of WOZA on a march from Bulawayo to Harare to
protest the NGO Bill, then under consideration by Parliament. In
August, 48 women went on trial for participating in a demonstration
against POSA in July 2003; the women were all acquitted. There were no
developments in the May 2003 arrest of WOZA members.
There were no developments in the March 2003 arrest of 80 persons
under POSA for displaying posters critical of President Mugabe during 3
World Cup cricket matches in Bulawayo.
There was no action taken against police who used excessive force
to disperse a number of demonstrations or rallies in 2003 or 2002.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government restricted this right in practice for political
organizations. Organizations generally were free of governmental
interference as long as their activities were viewed as nonpolitical.
ZANU PF supporters, sometimes with government support or acquiescence,
intimidated and abused persons perceived to be associated with the
opposition (see Sections 1.a., 1.b., 1.c., 1.d., and 1.f.). The
Government harassed some NGOs it believed were opposed to government
policies with raids on their offices, inquiries into their activities,
and obstacles to renewing work permits of foreign employees (see
Section 4).
The formation of political parties and unions was not restricted;
however, the Government interfered with activities of political parties
and unions during the year (see Sections 6.a. and 6.b.).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, a law that criminalizes both purporting to practice
witchcraft and accusing persons of practicing witchcraft reportedly was
viewed as restrictive by some practitioners of indigenous religions.
Church leaders and members who criticized the Government continued
to face intimidation, arrest, detention, and possible deportation, in
the case of foreigners.
In March, the Government charged the Catholic diocese of Hwange and
the Catholic Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo for allegedly exchanging
foreign currency illegally. Observers suggested that the charges were
intended to put pressure on the Church to desist from criticizing the
Mugabe regime.
The Government does not require religious institutions to be
registered; however, religious organizations that run schools or
medical facilities must register those specific institutions with the
appropriate ministry involved in regulating those areas.
In August 2003, the Islamic Convent of the Strict Observance
complained that the Lord's Prayer in the school curriculum contravened
the Constitution, which protects freedom of conscience; however, it
withdrew its complaint the same month.
Witchcraft widely understood to encompass attempts to harm others
not only by magic but also by covert means of established efficacy such
as poisons traditionally has been a common explanation for diseases of
which the causes were unknown. Although traditional indigenous
religions generally included or accommodated belief in the efficacy of
witchcraft, they generally approved of harmful witchcraft only for
defensive or retaliatory purposes and purported to offer protection
against it.
The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, passed in November,
incorporated the previous Witchcraft Suppression Act (WSA), which
criminalized purporting to practice witchcraft, accusing persons of
practicing witchcraft, hunting witches, and soliciting persons to name
witches. The new Act removes the prohibitions on witch hunting and
accusing another person of being a witch. The law defines witchcraft as
``the use of charms and any other means or devices adopted in the
practice of sorcery,'' and provides punishments for intending to cause
disease or injury to any person or animal through the use of
witchcraft.
There was some tension between the Government and some of the
indigenous African churches, and between mainstream Christian churches
and practitioners of traditional indigenous religions, because of the
latters' preference for prayer over science-based medical practices.
Some members of the indigenous churches believed in healing through
prayer only and refused to have their children vaccinated or treated.
Human rights activists also criticized these indigenous churches for
their sanctioning of marriages for underage girls.
Muslims complained of discrimination by private employers who
refuse to allow them sufficient time to worship at their mosques on
Fridays.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government at times restricted them in practice.
During the year, police continued to routinely erect armed
roadblocks in and around cities and rural districts, especially during
election periods, before demonstrations, and before opposition
meetings. Police claimed that they were looking for criminals, smuggled
goods, or illegal weapons, but legal rights groups asserted that it was
a measure designed to discourage or limit opposition organizing.
Roadblocks established by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) along
the main highways from South Africa and Botswana to search for foreign
currency remained in place. Police also searched for and confiscated
smuggled maize at roadblocks on major roads. Under the law, the quasi-
governmental GMB was the only purchaser of grain in the country;
however, prompted by the increasing price of maize meal in stores, some
city-dwellers began purchasing grain privately in the rural areas.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that opposition
supporters had difficulty obtaining passports or were questioned by
immigration officials.
During the year, travel bans and visa requirements on a variety of
persons remained in effect. Among those affected were British
government officials, members of the British Parliament, a foreign
human rights activist, and journalists. Foreign correspondents were
denied visas during the year.
After MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai was found not guilty in the
first charge of treason against him, authorities returned his passport.
He immediately left the country but was detained at the airport and his
passport photocopied upon his return. At year's end, his passport
remained in his possession.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile and, unlike the previous
year, there were no reports that the Government employed it. A number
of persons, including former government officials, left the country,
claiming to escape repression, and remained in self imposed exile at
year's end.
According to local NGOs, up to 500,000 farm workers were internally
displaced at year's end due to the ongoing land resettlement policies,
and the Government prevented international organizations and local NGOs
from assisting them on some occasions. The Government told IOM and ICRC
not to assist newly displaced farmers because it would discourage them
from returning to their home villages (see Section 1.f.). Some
displaced farm workers reportedly were living on other farms or on
previously unsettled land without reliable sources of food and water;
others with relatives or friends in urban areas. In most cases, ZANU PF
supporters who were farm squatters ordered the farm workers to leave so
that they could plant their own crops on the property. Other internally
displaced persons (IDPs) were persons forced to leave their homes by
government supporters because of perceived support for the opposition.
According to the human rights NGOs, more than 115 MDC supporters
were displaced internally during the year; however, the number of
unreported cases likely was higher. The Government has condoned and
even encouraged an environment of lawlessness that permits war veterans
and other ruling party supporters to force opposition members and
supporters from their homes without consequences for the perpetrators
(see Section 1.f.). In most cases, police did not intervene.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government generally cooperated with the office
of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees d asylum seekers. The
Government also provided temporary protection to certain individuals
who did not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol
and provided it to 39 persons in 2003, according to UNHCR.
According to UNHCR, there were 13,090 refugees and 637 asylum
seekers in the country in 2003. The largest groups of refugees and
asylum seekers continued to be from the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.
The 2002 case of sexual abuse of female refugees at the Tongogara
Camp remained pending at year's end.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, this right was restricted in practice
because the political process continued to be tilted heavily in favor
of ZANU PF, which has ruled continuously since independence in 1980.
The Government manipulated the electoral process to effectively
disenfranchise voters and to skew elections in favor of ruling party
candidates.
There were many reports of violence in the days leading up to the
Zengeza parliamentary by-election held March 27 and 28 (see Section
1.c.). ZANU-PF youths were present at some polling stations and driving
around the area during the election. There were reports that MDC voters
were intimidated away from polling stations.
There were fewer reports of violence in the Lupane parliamentary
by-elections; however, intimidation was widespread. There were reports
that the government-appointed District Administrator gave traditional
village leaders instructions to organize residents to vote and to keep
track of how they voted. There were also reports that ZANU-PF campaign
meetings were advertised as community meetings.
For the first time since the 2002 presidential elections, the
Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) formally accredited Harare-based
diplomats to observe parliamentary by-elections, but diplomats did not
have full access to campaign events. Diplomatic observers reported
several instances of voting irregularities during the voting days.
In March 2002, President Mugabe was declared the winner of a
presidential election after a campaign in which violence and
intimidation were used nationwide against MDC supporters, and in which
the electoral rules were manipulated to favor the ruling party.
International observer missions from the Commonwealth and the South
African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum described the
electoral process as fundamentally flawed, while a large mission from
the European Union (EU) withdrew before the election when the
Government refused to accredit the delegation leader.
On June 10, the High Court dismissed without explanation the first
phase, which revolved around constitutional and legal objections, of
the MDC's 2002 lawsuit, which sought nullification of the election
results and a repeat of the election due to claims of numerous
electoral irregularities. The second phase, involving factual evidence
and witness testimony regarding the election's conduct, had not
commenced by year's end.
In 2002, the High Court nullified the results of the 2000
parliamentary election in four constituencies but upheld the results in
four others. The respective parties appealed all eight cases to the
Supreme Court. In November, two ZANU-PF M.P.s lost their appeal in the
Supreme Court of a High Court decision nullifying their elections. The
two continued to occupy their seats at year's end. In December, the
Supreme Court upheld the election of ZANU-PF MP Saviour Kasukuwere,
dismissing the appeal of MDC candidate Godfrey Mumbamarwo. The other
five cases were not heard by year's end.
During the first half of the year, there were reports that the
Government's GMB continued to restrict distribution of maize meal to
ruling party supporters in some areas. There were no reports of this in
the second half of the year.
The President may unilaterally declare a state of public emergency
for a period of up to 14 days; has sole power to dissolve Parliament
and to appoint or remove a vice president and any minister or deputy
minister; and directly appoints 20 of the 150 M.P.s, including 12 non-
constituency M.P.s and 8 provincial governors who sit in Parliament.
The President also exerts great influence on the process by which the
country's chiefs (traditional rulers) select 10 of their number to sit
as M.P.s. All 30 of the appointed M.P.s have been consistent ZANU PF
supporters.
The legislature, which traditionally has been subordinate to the
executive branch, has a viable opposition that called on the Government
to be accountable and transparent. Parliamentary question time was used
to force debate and disclosure, and parliamentary committees held
public hearings on a range of issues, produced reports critical of the
executive branch, and induced meaningful changes to government
legislation.
There were reports that the Government removed from the civil
service and the military persons who were perceived as opposition
supporters.
On April 16, Minister of Local Government, Ignatius Chombo, fired
the elected MDC mayor of Harare, Elias Mudzuri, and subsequently fired
19 MDC councilors. Mudzuri had been suspended in April 2003 and a
commission was set up to investigate him. A November 2003 High Court
ruling declared that the commission had been improperly formed and that
the evidence it gathered could not be used to fire Mudzuri. Under the
law, an election must be held within 90 days of a mayor vacating the
office. Instead, Chombo appointed the deputy mayor, Sekesayi
Makwavarara, who was elected as MDC but switched in August to ZANU-PF,
as acting mayor. The remaining MDC councilors, who had remained on the
Council after Mudzuri's and 19 colleagues' firing, resigned in protest.
On December 9, Chombo appointed an eight-member commission, led by
Makwavarara, to run the city.
On December 9, Parliament passed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Bill, despite an adverse report from the committee in Parliament that
determines the constitutionality of all bills. The Bill establishes an
electoral commission, largely appointed by the President, and regulates
the provision of voter education. The Bill was initially criticized by
the MDC and human rights NGOs for not establishing an independent
commission and for restricting voter education. However, according to
the final legislation, the commissioners are to be recommended by
Parliament and appointed by the President, and the Bill allows their
dismissal only for cause.
On December 16, Parliament passed a separate, Electoral Bill to
replace the current Electoral Act. The Electoral Bill clarifies some of
the functions of the Electoral Supervisory Commission and the
Registrar-General, both constitutional bodies; sets of the procedures
for registration of voters; creates an Electoral Court to deal with
registration disputes; and details some aspects of the conduct of
elections. The MDC and human rights groups criticized the Bill for
disenfranchising many citizens. The Bill, as did the previous Electoral
Act, requires citizens to be resident in a particular constituency in
order to vote, thus preventing expatriate citizens from voting.
Absentee ballots are only provided for diplomats and armed forces.
Despite these criticisms, the Government proclaimed that these two
laws made it compliant with SADC standards and principles for
democratic elections. The President had not signed either bill by the
end of the year, but he was expected to sign both in early 2005.
There were institutional problems with the management and
supervision of elections, and the ESC, the Elections Directorate, the
Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Registrar
General's Office had overlapping mandates. Although the Ministry of
Justice technically administered the Electoral Act, the Registrar-
General's Office fell under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The ESC
generally was hampered by an insufficient budget and an overburdened
staff seconded from the Ministry of Justice. It also lacked authority
to order the correction of irregularities, including of the voters'
roll, which contained a large number of redundancies and errors. The
Government invested immense powers in the presidency through the
Electoral Act, including full control of voters' rolls and
registration, and the ability to change district lines without notice
on the eve of an election. Electoral officers often did not operate in
a fully open and transparent manner. Civil society groups and the
opposition called for a creation of a new voters' roll because of
problems with the current roll.
During the year, the Registrar-General gave the MDC access to the
voter rolls used in the 2002 presidential election.
The ruling party's candidates continued to benefit from the ZANU
PF's control of the state owned firms that dominated the country's
economy, from its control of the state monopolized broadcast media (see
Section 2.a.), and from its control over state funds granted to
political parties.
The Citizenship Act requires all citizens with a claim to dual
citizenship to renounce their claim to foreign citizenship under the
laws of the foreign country by January 2002 to retain their citizenship
and the right to vote. The Act also revokes the citizenship of persons
who fail to return to the country in any 5 year period. Legal rights
groups described the legislation and regulations as a government
attempt to disenfranchise citizens of perceived opposition leanings;
the more than 500,000 commercial farm workers, many of whom have
origins in neighboring countries; and the approximately 30,000 mostly
white dual nationals. Many persons with dual citizenship experienced
difficulty complying with the regulations because many other countries
do not provide procedures for repudiating citizenship. The Citizenship
of Zimbabwe Amendment Act of 2003, which went into effect early in the
year, removes the renunciation requirement for persons born in the
country with parents from SADC countries or who were born in SADC
countries with parents from Zimbabwe.
There was perceived widespread corruption in government. Government
efforts to combat corruption were selective and generally seen as
politically motivated. Targeted persons, including senior ZANU-PF
Central Committee member James Makamba and Finance Minister Christopher
Kuruneri, were often charged with externalizing foreign currency, which
was a common practice among the political and business elites (see
Section 1.d.).
In June 2003, the President announced that any official who used
his or her official position to acquire more than one farm under land
reform must surrender all but one. The Presidential Land Resettlement
Committee, chaired by Minister for Lands, Land Reform, and Resettlement
John Nkomo attempted to recover the excess properties, but the
committee reported during the year that most officials found ways to
keep multiple farms.
The Government stated that the AIPPA was intended to improve public
access to government information; however, the law contains provisions
that restrict freedom of speech and press, and these elements of the
law were the ones the Government most enforced.
There were 16 women in the 150 seat Parliament, including the
Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and there were 4 female ministers and 1
female deputy minister in the Cabinet. In addition, there was one
female governor. Women participated in politics without legal
restriction; however, according to local women's groups, husbands,
particularly in rural areas, commonly directed their wives to vote for
the husband's preferred candidates. The ZANU PF congress allotted women
1 out of every 3 party positions and reserved 50 positions for women on
the party's 180 member Central Committee, which was one of the party's
most powerful organs.
There were 7 members of minority groups in the Cabinet, including
Vice President Joseph Msika. There were 33 members of minority groups
in the 150-seat Parliament, including 29 Ndebele, 3 whites, and 1
Tonga.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups operated
in the country with government restrictions, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. The Government
monitored their activities closely and was generally unresponsive to
their concerns.
The Non-Governmental Organizations Bill replaces the Private and
Voluntary Organizations Act. The NGO Bill requires a much more rigorous
process of registering, requires that NGOs open their financial records
to a government-appointed NGO council, and prohibits activities related
to human rights and governance if the organization is foreign or
receives funding from outside of Zimbabwe. Despite an adverse report
from the committee in Parliament that evaluates the constitutionality
of all bills, Parliament passed the bill on December 9. The President
still had not signed the Bill by year's end.
Domestic NGOs worked on human rights and democracy issues,
including lobbying for revision of POSA and AIPPA, increasing poor
women's access to the courts, constitutional and electoral reform,
raising awareness of the abuse of children, conducting voter education,
preserving the independence of the judiciary, and eliminating torture,
arbitrary detention, and restrictions on freedom of the press and
assembly. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum continued to take the
lead in coordinating reports on human rights violations and abuses.
Several NGOs reported difficulties in carrying out their programs
in rural areas. Rural district councils began implementing ``the NGO
policy,'' although the NGO bill was still in draft. The councils were
requiring that NGOs working in their districts register with the
council, seek a council resolution authorizing their operations, seek
clearance from the provincial governor, and establish a memorandum of
understanding with the relevant ministry.
The Government canceled a U.N. food assessment, and instructed all
international donors and NGOs to cease general feeding programs because
the Government claimed there would be a surplus of food. NGOs were only
permitted to operate targeted programs, such as school feeding
programs.
During the year, the Government closed down some of the HIV/AIDS
programs run by NGOs and churches.
NGO members were arrested or detained during the year, often in
connection with demonstrations or marches (see Section 2.b.).
The Government harassed some NGOs it believed were opposed to
government policies with raids on their offices, inquiries into their
activities, and obstacles to renewing work permits of foreign
employees. For example, police raided the NCA and WOZA offices multiple
times during the year and removed records and pamphlets and posters.
Police usually kept the confiscated material, and no charges were
brought against the organizations.
The Government continued to obstruct the activities of
organizations involved in humanitarian activities. In September, the
U.N. Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator announced
that the Government had requested that the U.N. close its relief and
recovery unit, which focused on coordinating humanitarian activities.
Several international NGOs reported that they were having difficulties
renewing Temporary Employment Permits for their international staff.
In July, the African Union (AU) suppressed a report by the African
Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), which reports to the
AU, based on a human rights fact-finding mission the ACHPR performed in
the country in June 2002. The report, which contained allegations of
government complicity in or acquiescence to a wide range of rights
abuses, including torture and arbitrary arrest of opposition M.P.s and
human rights lawyers, was due to be presented to an Executive Council
meeting in July, but the Executive Council chose not to release it when
Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge objected that the Government had not been
given the opportunity to review the report.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides that ``every person in Zimbabwe'' cannot
be deprived of fundamental rights, such as right to life, liberty, and
security of person, based on his race, tribe, place of origin,
political opinions, color, creed, or sex; however, the Constitution
allows for discrimination, primarily against women, on the grounds of
``customary law.'' Domestic violence and discrimination against women,
abuse of children, and discrimination against persons with disabilities
remained problems. The Government and ruling party discriminated
against the white minority in areas of due process, foreign travel, and
property ownership.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating,
continued to be a serious problem and crossed all racial, ethnic, and
economic lines. The Musasa Project, which sought to empower abused
women through support groups and counseling, saw a steep rise in its
counseling service from 3,259 in 2001 to 4,338 in 2002, and the trend
continued during 2003 and during the year. There is no legislation that
specifically addresses domestic abuse. Authorities often condoned wife
beating. Musasa Project and the Women's Coalition reported that wife
killings remained a problem during the year.
The Sexual Offenses Act (SOA) makes nonconsensual sex among married
partners a crime. The Act provides penalties for up to 10 years in
prison for sexual crimes. It also defines sexual offenses as rape,
sodomy, incest, indecent assault, or an immoral or indecent act with a
child or person with mental disabilities.
There continued to be reports of rape, incest, and sexual abuse of
women. Many cases were not reported because of the social stigma
attached to the crimes and wives' fear that husbands would disown them.
Approximately 1,100 rapes were reported in Harare in 2002. Although the
Government refused to supply figures for 2003 and 2004, the rates were
reportedly higher than in 2002. Human Rights NGO Forum reported two
cases of politically motivated rape during the year; human rights
groups estimated that the actual number of politically motivated rapes
may be much higher (see Section 1.c.). Growing evidence suggested that
authorities took little action to address rapes at National Youth
Service Camps. Musasa Project ran a shelter and a support group for
abused women.
Police had little training in investigating domestic abuse, and it
was usually treated like any other case of common assault or not
investigated to respect the ``privacy of the home.'' If police became
involved, perpetrators were often leveled a minimal fine. When cases
went to court, lengthy sentences for rape and wife beating generally
were imposed; however, women faced many obstacles in filing reports of
rape due to the lack of police training. A ``binding over'' order (an
order to appear in court to respond to an accusation of violent
behavior) was issued based only on actual physical abuse and not on
threats of violence. Courts also did not have the power to oust an
abusive spouse from a couple's home. Systemic problems and lack of
education often meant that police did not respond to women's reports or
requests for assistance.
Unlike previous years, there were no reports of sexual abuse of
female refugees.
Prostitution is illegal; during the year, there were numerous media
reports regarding concerted efforts by police to halt prostitution in
the city center. Police arrested both prostitutes and their clients,
and the government-sponsored Herald newspaper published the names of
arrestees.
There are laws aimed at enhancing women's rights and countering
certain traditional practices that discriminate against women; however,
women remained disadvantaged in society. Illiteracy, economic
dependency, and prevailing social norms prevented rural women in
particular from combating societal discrimination. Despite legal
prohibitions, women still were vulnerable to entrenched customary
practices, including the practice of pledging a young woman to marriage
with a partner not of her choosing and the custom of forcing a widow to
marry her late husband's brother.
The law recognizes women's right to own property independently of
their husbands or fathers. Although unmarried women may own property in
their own names, women married under customary law are not allowed to
own property jointly with their husbands. The Administration of Estates
Amendment Act makes inheritance laws more favorable to widows; however,
the Constitution allows discrimination against women under customary
law and provides that a man's claim to family inheritance takes
precedence over a woman's, regardless of the woman's age or seniority
in the family. For example, in the event of a man's death, the
brother's claim to the inheritance takes precedence over the deceased's
wife. In March, the Supreme Court ruled that, according to customary
law, women's rights to inheritance, ownership of property, and custody
of children were inferior to men's. ``The woman's status is basically
the same as that of any junior male in the family, or a teenager,'' the
Court stated in its judgment, which disinherited Vania Magaya, 52, of
her father's estate in favor of her younger half-brother. Divorce and
maintenance laws were favorable to women, but women generally lacked
awareness of their rights under the law.
According to a government land audit, approximately 17.2 percent of
resettled land was allocated to women by 2003, although they comprised
nearly 80 percent of the rural population. Authorities sometimes asked
married women who were allocated land to register the land in their
husband's names.
Although labor legislation prohibits sexual harassment and
discrimination in employment on the basis of gender, women were
concentrated in the lower echelons of the workforce and commonly faced
sexual harassment in the workplace.
The Ministry of Youth Development, Gender, and Employment did
little to advance the cause of women. The Government gave qualified
women access to training in the military and national service. Although
there have been advances for women within the armed forces, they
continued to occupy primarily administrative positions.
Several active women's rights groups concentrated on improving
women's knowledge of their legal rights, increasing their economic
power, combating domestic violence, and protecting women against
domestic violence and sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Children.--The Government's commitment to children's rights and
welfare remained weak during the year. The Government completed a
National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (NPA for
OVC), which is designed to ensure that orphans and vulnerable children
are able to access education, food, health services, and birth
registration and are protected from abuse and exploitation through
coordinated efforts by government and civil society; however, the NPA
for OVC had not been instituted by year's end because it did not have a
budget. Children, especially those in the rural areas but also an
increasing number of urban dwellers, suffered greatly. Although
legislation was in place to protect children's rights, it was difficult
to administer and enforce.
There was no compulsory education, and schooling was not free.
School fees continued to increase during the year, and enrollment
declined. Many families could not afford to send all of their children
to school. According to the 2002 census data and age specific
population distributions, roughly 72 percent of school age children
attended school. The highest level achieved by most students was
primary level education. The Government continued a program of social
welfare grants for needy children, including funds to assist them with
their education; however, it was underfunded and corruption undermined
the beneficiary selection process. The members of selection committees
in some communities gave grants to their relatives and friends and
denied them to the children of opposition supporters.
In most regions of the country, fewer girls than boys attended
secondary schools. If a family was unable to pay tuition costs, it most
often was female children who left school. The literacy rate for women
and girls over the age of 15 was estimated to be 80 percent, while the
male rate was approximately 90 percent.
The Government sometimes ordered that students entering college,
teacher training schools, or the civil service must present a diploma
from one of the National Youth Service training camps (see Section
6.d.). The stated purpose of the training camps was to instill a sense
of pride in the youths, highlight the history of the struggle for
independence, and develop employment skills; however, a Parliamentary
committee conducted an investigation into conditions at camps and found
that conditions were poor, trainees were subjected to political
indoctrination, and there was no real vocational training.
Child abuse, including incest (long a taboo), infanticide, child
abandonment, and rape continued to be problems during the year. The
Parents and Family Support Network, a local NGO, reported that one in
three children in the country was at risk of physical or emotional
abuse. Another local NGO said that reports of child sexual abuse had
increased to nearly 4,000 between January and August, up from 1,500 for
all of 2003.
Incidents of witchcraft-related child deaths and mutilations were
on the rise during the year. Newspapers reported several instances of
missing children being found murdered with body parts missing, which
led police to suspect the murders were related to witchcraft. The
perpetrators believed that the body parts of young children would bring
good luck. Newspapers reported that persons starting new businesses in
particular would pay for ritual murders to bring luck to their
ventures.
Musasa Project worked closely with the Ministry of Youth
Development, Gender, and Employment Creation to investigate allegations
of rape at the Government's National Youth Service training camps.
Musasa believed that the girls who were subjected to abuse remained
silent out of fear of retribution. Many girls came to the camps because
of the economic suffering in the country. In addition, members of
government-sanctioned militias gang raped adolescent girls as young as
12.
The traditional practice of offering a young girl in marriage as
compensatory payment in interfamily disputes continued during the year.
Arranged marriage of young girls also continued during the year.
Local and regional NGOs had some reports of trafficking of children
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
There were continuing reports of child prostitution (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
The SOA makes it a crime to infect anyone knowingly with HIV/AIDS,
and the Government prosecuted some individuals for the crime.
International experts estimated that HIV/AIDS infected one quarter of
the adult population and killed approximately 3,000 persons every week.
According to an international NGO working with AIDS orphans, deaths
from HIV/AIDS left 980,000 orphans by year's end, and the number was on
the rise. Government funded and private orphanages were filled to
capacity, and the number of street children or those living in adoptive
homes continued to rise dramatically and visibly during the year and
was expected to put a tremendous strain on both formal and traditional
social systems.
At the household level, there was an increased burden on the
extended family, which had traditional responsibility for caring for
orphans. AIDS orphans comprised nearly one-tenth of the country's
population. Many grandparents were left to care for the young, and in
some cases, children or adolescents headed families and were forced to
work to survive. AIDS orphans and foster children were at high risk for
child abuse. Some children were forced to turn to prostitution as a
means of income. According to local custom, other family members
inherit before children, leaving many children destitute. Many of these
children are unable to obtain birth certificates, which then prohibits
them from accessing social services.
At the provincial and national levels, the governments faced
increasing demands for community orphan projects, orphanages, health
care, and school fees. Monies from a universal AIDS levy automatically
deducted from the paychecks of all formal sector wage earners have been
allocated through the National Aids Council to District Action
Committees for some specific programs, including orphan assistance,
income generating projects for children or orphans of AIDS patients,
research for identifying orphan needs and problems and, through the
Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), for school expenses; however,
BEAM paid no school fees for these children during the year.
Several active children's rights groups concentrated on promoting
the well being of children, including protection against child abuse,
and advocating for children's rights.
Trafficking in Persons.--No laws specifically address trafficking
in persons, and there continued to be infrequent reports that persons
were trafficked, particularly women and children, from and through the
country to South Africa for prostitution and forced labor. Common law
prohibits abduction and forced labor, and the SOA makes it a crime to
transport persons across the border for sex. Traffickers also can be
prosecuted under other legislation, such as immigration and abduction
laws. The primary government authority to combat trafficking is the
ZRP, which relied on NGOs to alert them to any cases.
The SOA provides for a maximum fine of $5.60 (Z$35,000) or
imprisonment of up to 7 years for those convicted of prostituting
children under 12 years of age. It also provides for a maximum fine of
$8.06 (Z$50,000) and a maximum prison sentence of 10 years for
``procuring another person to become a prostitute and have sex whether
inside or outside Zimbabwe.'' However, the Act had little impact on the
status of children.
A few NGOs, including South Africa based Molo Songololo, Harare
based Save the Children Norway-Zimbabwe, and Connect had some reports
of both trafficking and child prostitution. Trafficking in children
occurred only in isolated instances. Prostitution was on the increase
with more female pimps and male prostitutes. There were reports that
women and children were internally trafficked to southern border towns
for commercial sexual exploitation, as well as to South Africa. Save
the Children Norway-Zimbabwe conducted a study at border areas and
found children were sometimes sexually abused by police or immigration
officials when they were being deported back to the country from
Botswana or South Africa. There were unconfirmed reports that girls
trafficked from Malawi to South Africa sometimes transited the country.
The Government funds no protection activities for victims, and no
NGOs have programs specifically designed to work with trafficking
victims. No specific victims of trafficking were identified during the
year. A trafficked person had the option to take his or her case before
the victim friendly courts; however, no cases were filed during the
year.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law specifically prohibits
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, in
access to public places, or in provision of services; however, in
practice the lack of resources for training and education severely
hampered the ability of persons with disabilities to compete for scarce
jobs. The law stipulates that government buildings should be accessible
to persons with disabilities; however, implementation of this policy
has been slow. NGOs continued to lobby to include albinos in the
definition of ``disabled'' under the law. Persons with disabilities
faced harsh customary discrimination. According to traditional belief,
persons with disabilities were considered bewitched, and reports of
children with disabilities being hidden when visitors arrived were
common.
The Government broadcast a regular prime-time show on state media
dedicated to promoting awareness of the rights of persons with
disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to government
statistics, the Shona ethnic group makes up 82 percent of the
population, Ndebele 14 percent, whites less than 1 percent, and other
ethnic groups 3 percent. There were low level tensions between the
African majority and the white minority, between the Shona majority and
the Ndebele minority, and among the various Shona subgroups.
Racial tensions have subsided since independence and remained
relatively low despite the Government's ongoing attempts to blame
whites for the country's economic and political problems. On many
occasions, President Mugabe, members of his Government, and the state
controlled media attempted to reignite resentment of the white
minority. President Mugabe accused the white minority of having too
close ties to their ancestral countries. The Government's far reaching
fast track resettlement program since 2000 has designated most large
scale, white owned commercial farms for seizure with no clear means for
providing compensation, and government supporters assaulted commercial
farmers in their homes and forced hundreds from their property (see
Sections 1.a., 1.c., and 1.f.). Ruling party supporters seldom were
arrested or charged for infringing upon minority rights.
The disproportionate number of Shona-speaking teachers and
headmasters in Matabeleland schools remained a sensitive issue. Members
of the Ndebele community continued to criticize the Government's
unequal distribution of national resources and the Government's failure
to compensate victims of the 1980s Matabeleland killings of an
estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Ndebele civilians.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--President Mugabe
publicly denounced homosexuals, blaming them for ``Africa's ills.''
Although there is no statutory law proscribing the activities of
homosexuals, common law prevents gay men, and to a lesser extent,
lesbians, from fully expressing their sexual orientation and in some
cases, criminalizes the display of affection between men.
On August 4, a mob chased members of the Gays and Lesbians
Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) from the GALZ stand at the Zimbabwe
International Book Fair. A group of youths approached GALZ officials at
the stand and threatened to beat them, after which the GALZ members
fled.
The Government has a national HIV/AIDS policy that prohibits
discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS, and the law aims
to protect against discrimination of workers in the private sector and
parastatals; however, societal discrimination against persons affected
by HIV/AIDS remained a problem. Despite an active information campaign
by international and local NGOs and the Government through its Ministry
of Health and the National AIDS Council to destigmatize HIV/AIDS,
ostracism and condemnation of those affected by HIV/AIDS continued.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--Throughout the year,
government controlled newspapers, radio, and television stations
continued to selectively vilify citizens of European ancestry and to
blame them for the country's problems. Materials used at National Youth
Service Camps identified enemies of the state in racist terms and
demonized whites. During a cash shortage in 2003, the government
controlled newspapers often accused Asians of hoarding millions of
dollars to the detriment of the economy.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Labor Relations Amendment Act
(LRAA) provides private sector workers with freedom of association and
the right to form or join unions without prior authorization, and
workers exercised these rights; however, some pro-Zanu-PF employers
declared their shops off-limits to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU), the national umbrella labor confederation. The LRAA
allows members of the Public Service, as well as other government
employees (with the exception of members of the Disciplined Services)
to form and join unions; however, the Act also retains a prohibition of
strikes by disciplined and ``essential services'' (see Section 6.b.).
Employees in positions designated as managerial were excluded from
general union membership.
At the end of 2003, approximately 25 percent of the formal sector
work force belonged to the 31 unions that form the ZCTU. During the
year, approximately 65 percent of industries were unionized.
The Government and the ZCTU regularly clashed sharply over economic
policy. The Government often did not consult with either the ZCTU or
employers before implementing policy decisions that affected the
workplace, which disrupted labor relations, but the Tripartite
Negotiating Forum (TFN) resumed (see Section 6.b.). During the year,
the Government openly targeted the ZCTU, declaring it aligned with the
opposition MDC. The Government arrested and detained ZCTU leaders at
various labor rallies during the year.
The Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), a government-
created alternative labor body, continued to work closely with ZANU PF.
ZFTU created splinter unions in each sector of the economy, with some
sectors containing up to five splinter unions. In addition to fostering
confusion among workers, splinter unions forced existing unions to
spend scarce resources guarding against declining membership. The
splinter unions did not bargain collectively, handle worker complaints,
or provide worker education. ZANU PF/ZFTU again sponsored May Day
commemorations during the year and attendance at the ZFTU's event was
much higher than the previous year. However, ruling party supporters
assaulted organizers of ZCTU May Day festivities, beating one person
severely.
The LRAA prohibits discrimination by employers against union
members; however, in practice, union members faced discrimination and
harassment. For example, ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo was dismissed
from his job at the postal service, for attending a union conference in
the Sudan. ZCTU appealed the dismissal on the grounds that management
did not follow its own procedures, but Matombo had not been reinstated
by year's end. Complaints of such discrimination were handled by a
Labor Court under the mechanism for resolving cases involving ``unfair
labor practices.'' The determining authority may direct that workers
fired due to anti union discrimination should be reinstated, although
this did not happen in practice.
On October 25, a delegation of the Congress of South African Trade
Unions (COSATU) visited Harare on a fact-finding mission. After being
delayed by immigration at Harare International Airport for 2 hours, the
delegation was admitted to the country. The delegation intended to hold
meetings with both parties, civil society, and ZCTU. On October 26,
while the delegation was in a meeting with ZCTU representatives, police
and immigration officials broke up the meeting and detained the
delegation pending a decision by the Cabinet, which subsequently
decided to deport the group. Immigration officials drove the delegation
members overnight to the Beitbridge border where they were left.
There were no reports of any other labor organizations being denied
entry or being deported.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) continued to criticize
the Government for ongoing interference with the unions' freedom of
association.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The LRAA
provides workers with the right to organize and permits unions to
bargain collectively over wages and conditions of employment and
workers exercised this right in practice; however, government
harassment of union leaders and interference by ZFTU sometimes made
such negotiations difficult. Collective bargaining agreements applied
to all workers in an industry, not just union members. The ZCTU
rejoined the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) discussions, which
included representatives of Government, labor, and business, after the
Government acceded in principle to certain demands by the labor body.
The Minister of Labor retained the power to veto agreements that he
believed would harm the economy; however, he did not involve himself
directly in labor negotiations unless requested to do so by one of the
parties. When no trade union represented a specific sector,
representatives of the organized workers, such as the professional
associations, met with the employer associations, under the mediation
of labor officers from the MPSLSW. Some employment councils had yet to
reach an agreement or were deadlocked awaiting court-supervised
arbitration at year's end.
Employees in positions designated as managerial were excluded from
the collective bargaining process.
The Government continued to use POSA as an excuse for limiting
unions' abilities to meet with and consult their constituencies. For
example, unions were prevented from holding meetings with their
memberships, sometimes with heavy police presence and under threat of
arrest. Although the High Court ruled in 2002 that police could not
monitor ZCTU meetings, the police did not respect that judgment and
continued to monitor ZCTU meetings.
There is no right to strike in the Constitution. Although the LRAA
explicitly recognizes this right, it has been circumscribed with
procedural hurdles including advance notice of 14 days, attempt for
conciliation for 30 days, and possible mandatory referral to binding
arbitration. The Act prohibits ``essential services'' employees from
striking on the grounds that it ``endangers immediately the life,
personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the public.'' The
law defines essential services broadly and includes: Fire personnel,
employees engaged in the supply and distribution of water, employees
providing some veterinary services, revenue agents at ports of entry,
persons in the health care field, transport and communications
employees, railway engineers, licensed electricians, and broadcast
personnel during a state of emergency. The law also allows that ``any
nonessential service may be declared an essential service by the
Minister if a strike in a sector, service industry, or enterprise
persists to the point that the lives, personal safety or health of the
whole or part of the population is endangered,'' and labor groups were
concerned this could negatively impact them. In practice, the
Government harassed and arrested union leaders who called for strikes
and union members who attempted to participate in strikes.
The ICFTU criticized government harassment of unions during the
year.
Managers also were prohibited from striking, and, in some
industries, the Government defined most employees as managers. For the
remaining nonessential employees legally to conduct a strike, more than
50 percent of the company's employees must vote in favor of the action.
If a majority voted to strike, the dispute was referred to a labor
officer, who was given the mandate to attempt mediation for at least 30
days. If mediation was unsuccessful and if the employees were engaged
in an ``essential service,'' and the dispute was a dispute of right
(i.e., interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement, not wages
or conditions of work), either side could refer the dispute to a
government appointed arbitrator. If the employees were not engaged in
an essential service, the labor officer could refer the case to
arbitration if he or she obtained the permission of both parties, or if
the dispute was a dispute of right. Employees could only strike after
the arbitration process was concluded unsuccessfully, and a subsequent
14 day notification process of the intent to strike was concluded.
However, workers protesting health and safety standards or lack of
equipment may strike without the notification and arbitration
procedure.
These government imposed delays prevented most employees and their
unions from ever declaring legal strikes; there were limited labor
actions during the year, including strikes at the national telephone
company and at several golf courses.
No action was taken against security forces who tortured the
Secretary General of the ZCTU in 2002, or against ZFTU members who beat
persons during a strike in May 2002.
ZCTU members were arrested during the year. For example, in
February, four members of the ZCTU Western Regional Committee were
detained by police on a rumor that the ZCTU was organizing a stay-away
that day. The four were interrogated about their involvement in
organizing the stay-away and later released without any charges. The
police threatened to re-arrest them if it turned out that some form of
action had been organized by the ZCTU.
The Export Processing Zones Act states the LRA shall not apply to
workers in export processing zones (EPZs); however, according to the
ZCTU, employers generally applied the same wages and standards in the
EPZs as in the general economy. The ZCTU has negotiated directly with
EPZ employers to allow some unions in the EPZ, although their number
and level of activity remained low.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.). The
traditional practice of offering a young girl in marriage as
compensatory payment in interfamily disputes continued in rural areas
(see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Under the LRAA, child labor is punishable by a maximum fine of $5
(Z$30,000), 2 years' imprisonment, or both and forced labor is
punishable by an undefined fine, 2 years' imprisonment, or both;
however, child labor was common. Under the LRAA, a child between the
ages of 13 and 15 can work as an apprentice or if the work is an
integral part of (or in conjunction with) ``a course of training or
technical or vocational education.'' The law further states that no
person under 18 shall perform any work likely to jeopardize that
person's health, safety, or morals. The status of children between 15
and 18 years of age is not directly addressed, but 15 years of age is
still the minimum for light work, work other than apprenticeship, or
work associated with vocational education.
According to the 2000 National Child Labor Survey, approximately 25
percent of children between the ages of 5 and 17 were involved in some
form of labor. The unemployment rate continued to grow, with some
estimates as high as 80 percent, decreasing the number of children
employed in the formal sector; however, the incidence of children
working in the informal sector continued to increase as more children
worked to fill the income gap left by ill, unemployed, or deceased
relatives. Children often lacked access to necessary safety equipment
and training. Children worked in the agricultural sector, and there
were reports that children worked as domestics and as car watchers. As
a result of the land redistribution program, there were fewer instances
of child labor on commercial farms. Many children sold simple wares on
the streets; others worked in the growing illegal gold panning
industry. In addition, there were reports of an increasing number of
girls engaged in prostitution. Although child labor in the
agricultural, domestic, and informal sectors increasingly was
discussed, the Government and NGOs were unable to gather concrete data
on the number of cases.
Several NGOs reported instances of children working. Child
Protection Society reported that new farmers used children as cheap
labor because they could not complain about working conditions. UNICEF
reported children working as independent contractors so employers could
evade the appearance of employing children. Zimbabwe Domestic and
Allied Workers Union observed employers bringing children from their
rural homes to work as domestics with parental consent. Save the
Children Norway-Zimbabwe reported that sugar businesses along the
Mozambique border at Catiyo used children to sell sugar across the
border, often with the complicity of their parents. Children in the
sugar business were paid less than adults and did not attend school.
Save the Children Norway-Zimbabwe also reported children working on tea
estates, which sent children to school in the morning and to work in
the afternoon and evening.
Nonpayment of wages occurred mostly in the domestic worker sphere
where some employers believed they were doing a child from a rural home
a favor. In addition, employers paid the parents for the child's work.
Relatives often used AIDS-orphaned children as domestics without pay.
There were also unconfirmed reports that police rounded up street
children and took them to work on a farm without pay.
Few new government initiatives to prevent child labor were
implemented. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare promoted its BEAM
and Children in Difficult Circumstances (CDC) programs, which were
designed to pay for school fees (BEAM) and other items such as uniforms
and books (CDC) for children who could not afford to go to school.
Fewer than 18 percent of children benefited from this program. The
Central Statistics Office conducted a labor survey; however, the
results were not released by year's end.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum
wage, except for agricultural and domestic workers. Government
regulations for each of the 22 industrial sectors continued to specify
minimum wages, hours, holidays, and required safety measures; however,
the minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family, and approximately 80 percent of the population lived
below the Government's poverty line. Due to an ineffective monitoring
system, many agricultural and domestic workers were remunerated below
the minimum wage.
Minimum wages in the formal sector changed continuously as a result
of multiple increases in salaries to offset the high inflation rate.
Domestic worker minimum wages were specifically separated from others;
in July, the following monthly minimum wages were published: Gardener,
$14.79 (Z$83,000); cook/housekeeper, $13.39 (Z$90,300); child or
disabled minder, $17.62 (Z$109,245); and child or disabled minder with
Red Cross certification, $21.14 (Z$131,094). The minimum wage did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The maximum legal workweek is 54 hours, and the law prescribes a
minimum of one 24 hour rest period per week. In addition, no worker is
allowed to work more than 12 continuous hours. The Constitution
provides the Public Service Commission with the authority to set
conditions of employment in the public sector.
Many of the basic legal protections did not apply to the vast
majority of farm, mine, and domestic workers. Health and safety
standards were determined on an industry specific basis. The National
Social Security Authority (NSSA) reported an increase during the year
in the number of fatal accidents in the construction, electrical, and
telecommunications industries and cited unskilled contract personnel
performing jobs formerly done by professionals. Labor relations
officers from the MPSLSW were assigned to monitor developments in each
plant to ensure that government minimum wage policy and occupational
health and safety regulations were observed; however, in practice these
offices were understaffed, could not afford to inspect workplaces
routinely, and relied on voluntary compliance and reporting by
employers.
The Government designated the Zimbabwe Occupational Safety Council,
a quasi governmental, advisory body comprised of six representatives
each from the Government, employers, and trade unions, to regulate safe
work conditions; however, budgetary constraints and staffing shortages,
as well as its status as an advisory council, made the council
ineffective. The NSSA continued to experience difficulty monitoring the
thousands of work sites across the country; however, it continued to
close down shops and factories not in compliance. Although workers have
a legal right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without jeopardy to continued employment, in practice they risked the
loss of their livelihood if they did so.
__________
EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
----------
AUSTRALIA
Australia is a constitutional democracy with a federal
parliamentary government. Citizens periodically choose their
representatives in free and fair multiparty elections. John Howard
began his fourth consecutive term as Prime Minister in October; his
Liberal and National Party Coalition Government held 87 of the 150
seats in the lower house of the Federal Parliament. The judiciary is
independent.
The Federal Justice Ministry oversees Australian Federal Police
(AFP) activities, while the state police forces report to the
respective state police ministers. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control over the security forces. There were occasional
reports that police committed human rights abuses.
The country has a mixed, highly developed, market based economy.
Its population was approximately 20.1 million as of June. Per capita
gross domestic product growth was 3.2 percent for the 12 month period
ending September 30. Wages and benefits growth generally exceeded
inflation. Strong regional demand for the country's mineral exports
largely offset the dampening economic effects of low agricultural
production due to a prolonged nationwide drought and the appreciating
Australian dollar.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse; however, there were problems
in some areas. There were occasional reports that police and prison
officials abused persons in custody. Human rights organizations,
refugee advocacy groups, and opposition politicians continued to
express concern about the impact of prolonged mandatory detention on
the health and psychological well being of asylum seekers. Societal
violence and discrimination against women, discrimination against
Aboriginal people, and trafficking in persons also were problems that
the Government was taking steps to address. Some leaders in the ethnic
and immigrant communities and opposition political party members
expressed continued concern about instances of vilification of
immigrants and minorities. There was ongoing criticism of the 1996
Federal Workplace Relations Act by domestic labor unions and the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, particularly in
regard to the law's curbs on trade unions, restrictions on strike
action, and emphasis on individual employment contracts.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents. However, the Australian Institute of
Criminology (AIC), an agency of the Attorney General's Department,
reported that in 2003, 29 persons died in police custody or in the
process of arrest, 6 fewer than the revised total of 35 in 2002. Police
shot and killed three persons; all three shootings were found to be
justifiable. The circumstances of two deaths in police custody were not
established by year's end. In the remaining cases, 11 deaths were
attributed to accidents, 9 to self-inflicted injuries, and 4 to natural
causes. Of seven Aboriginal deaths in police custody, four resulted
from accidents, two from natural causes, and one from self-inflicted
injuries.
During 2003, a Western Australian (W.A.) independent commission
inquired into allegations of police corruption and criminal conduct,
including the unresolved 1988 death in police custody of an 18 year old
youth; Amnesty International (AI) had called for an investigation of
the death. In March, the commission released its report on the W.A.
police service, finding no evidence that police had assaulted the
youth.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were
occasional reports that police and prison officials mistreated suspects
in custody. Some indigenous groups charged that police harassment of
indigenous persons was pervasive and that racial discrimination by some
police and prison custodians persisted (see Section 5).
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. Each
state and territory is responsible for managing its own prisons, which
also house federal prisoners. There are no federal prisons. While
Aboriginals constituted less than 3 percent of the population, they
accounted for 20 percent of the prisoner population as of June 2003
(see Section 5).
In prisons, men and women were held separately; conditions were the
same for both. Pretrial detainees generally were segregated from
convicted prisoners. Juvenile offenders under age 17 generally were
incarcerated in youth detention or training centers but could be
sentenced to custody in an adult prison upon conviction of a serious
criminal offense such as homicide. In immigration detention facilities,
children were held with adults, most often family members (see Section
2.d.).
According to the AIC's annual report on prison deaths, 39 persons
died in prison custody in 2003. Of these, 20 deaths were attributed to
self-inflicted injuries and 17 to natural causes. The remaining two
deaths were categorized as ``unlawful homicides'' (murder or
manslaughter). The report did not distinguish between prisoner-
instigated and guard-instigated homicides.
In 2003, a foreign fisherman died after being detained by
authorities for weeks aboard a boat in the Darwin harbor. In March, the
Northern Territory (N.T.) coroner found that, although the man died
from natural causes, the facilities on the boat where he was held were
inadequate and hampered the provision of emergency medical treatment.
In December, the Government announced that it would cease its practice
of detaining on their boats fishermen found illegally fishing in the
country's waters.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
Each of the country's six state and two territorial jurisdictions
has a separate police force, which enforces state and territorial laws.
The Federal Police enforce Commonwealth laws. The police forces
generally do not have problems with corruption and impunity. State and
territorial police forces have internal affairs units that investigate
allegations of misconduct, and a civilian ombudsman's office that
either can review an investigation upon request of the complainant or
initiate its own inquiry into a complaint.
Police officers may seek an arrest warrant from a magistrate when a
suspect cannot be located or fails to appear; however, they also may
arrest a person without a warrant if there are reasonable grounds to
believe the person has committed an offense. Police must inform
arrested persons immediately of their legal rights and the grounds for
their arrest. The arrested person must be brought before a magistrate
for a bail hearing at the next sitting of the court. Bail generally is
available to persons facing criminal charges unless the person is
considered to be a flight risk or is charged with an offense carrying a
penalty of 12 months' imprisonment or more. Attorneys and families were
granted prompt access to detainees.
Unlike in past years, there were no reports of the indefinite
detention, while awaiting deportation, of immigrant felons who already
had completed their sentences.
In April 2003, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that continued
detention of asylum seekers when there was no real likelihood of the
detainee being removed was unlawful; however, in August, the High Court
overturned the Federal Court decision, ruling that the Government had
the authority to detain asylum seekers, including children,
indefinitely (see Section 2.d.). During the year, some detainees in
immigration detention facilities undertook brief hunger strikes to draw
attention to their prolonged detention (see Section 2.d.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The court system is divided into federal, state, and territorial
courts, which handle both civil and criminal matters. The highest
federal court is the High Court, which exercises general appellate
jurisdiction and advises on constitutional issues. State and
territorial supreme, district, and county courts conduct most major
criminal and civil trials, while the magistrates' and specialists'
courts (such as the children's court and administrative tribunals)
adjudicate less serious criminal and civil cases and conduct
preliminary hearings.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right. In the state district or
county courts and the state or territorial supreme courts, there
generally is a judge and jury. The judge conducts the trial, and the
jury decides on the facts and on a verdict. Defendants have the right
to an attorney, and a government funded system of legal aid attorneys
is available to low-income persons. The defendant's attorney can
question witnesses, present evidence on the defendant's behalf, and
access relevant government held evidence. Defendants enjoy the
presumption of innocence and have the right to appeal the court's
decision or the sentence imposed.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. An
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
In December, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal upheld
a 2003 complaint by the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) that two
Christian pastors and their ministry had vilified Muslims in 2002;
however, the court postponed sentencing (see Section 2.c.). The
defendants maintained that their speech was protected under the
Constitution.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--While the right
to peaceful assembly is not codified in law, citizens exercised it
without government restriction.
There is no explicit right to freedom of association; however, the
Government generally respected this right in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
On January 5, anti-Semitic slogans were burned into the lawns of
the Parliament House in the state of Tasmania. Police launched an
investigation and a public appeal for information; however, they
subsequently ended their active investigation due to a lack of
sufficient evidence to make any arrests in the case.
In February, the Federal Parliament condemned racism against the
Jewish community following publication of an Executive Council of
Australian Jewry report that noted a large increase in anti Semitic
incidents in recent years. The parliaments of the two most populous
states, New South Wales (N.S.W.) and Victoria, also passed motions
condemning anti-Semitism. In the 12-month period ending September 30,
the Council recorded 440 anti-Semitic incidents, a 9 percent decrease
from the number recorded in the previous 12 months. The incidents
ranged from property damage and/or assaults (37 reports) to harassment
and offensive written and electronic media. The Council recorded an
annual average of 279 incidents since reports were first compiled in
1989.
In 2003, the ICV filed a complaint under Victoria's Racial and
Religious Tolerance Act against two Christian pastors and their
ministry organization, who it alleged had vilified Muslims. In late
2003, the Victoria administrative tribunal rejected the defendants'
argument that the case was outside the tribunal's jurisdiction. In
December, the tribunal upheld the ICV's complaint, finding that the two
pastors had presented media about Muslims that was ``essentially
hostile, demeaning and derogatory of all Muslim people. . .and Muslim
religious beliefs and practices,'' but the judge postponed sentencing.
As of year's end, the respondents had not appealed the tribunal's
decision to a higher court.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
Neither the Constitution nor the law addresses exile; however, the
Government did not use it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. The Government has established a system
for providing protection to refugees subject to certain geographic and
time constraints on claims by those who previously sought asylum in a
safe country of transit. In practice, the Government provided
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution. The Government granted refugee status or
asylum.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees.
The Government sets an annual quota on the number of protection
grants it makes. In the 12 month period ending June 30, the Government
granted 13,851 humanitarian class visas, which included an offshore
resettlement component of 11,802 visas (for persons resettled in the
country) and an onshore component of 2,049 visas (for persons already
in the country who were granted asylum). The program's offshore
component was made up of 4,134 refugees (including 393 grants to women
found to be at risk in overseas refugee camps) and 7,668 special
humanitarian grantees. Special humanitarian grantees were displaced
persons subjected to gross violations of human rights, and whose
applications were supported by residents or organizations based in the
country. Of the total number of offshore grants, 71 percent came from
Africa, 24 percent from the Middle East and Southwest Asia, 3 percent
from Europe, and 2 percent from other regions.
Noncitizens arriving at a national border without prior entry
authorization automatically are detained. Legal assistance is provided
upon request to detainees making an initial asylum claim or application
for lawful residence. Individuals may be released pending full
adjudication of their asylum claim only if they meet certain criteria
such as old age, ill health, or experience of torture or other trauma.
However, most did not meet release criteria and were detained for the
length of the asylum adjudication process. They were either released
upon receiving asylum and an appropriate visa or removed once it was
determined that they did not qualify for protection. The Federal
Government oversaw six immigration detention facilities and one
residential housing detention facility within the country. During the
year, asylum seekers intercepted at sea also were housed in offshore
detention centers, administered by the International Organization for
Migration with funding from the Government, in Nauru and on Manus
Island in Papua New Guinea. As of December, onshore detention
facilities, including Christmas Island, held 951 detainees, and the
offshore detention facility in Nauru held approximately 80 detainees,
most of whom had been denied refugee status and were awaiting
repatriation. In May, the sole remaining occupant of the Manus Island
center was granted a temporary protection visa and released. The
Government continued to resettle those detainees granted refugee
status.
In 2001, in response to an influx of boats carrying asylum seekers,
Parliament changed the law to remove retroactively the right of any
noncitizen to apply for a permanent protection visa (i.e., the right to
live and work permanently in the country as a refugee) if that person's
entry was unlawful and occurred in one of several ``excised''
territories along the country's northern arc: Christmas Island, Ashmore
and Cartier Islands, the Cocos Islands, and any sea or resource
installation designated by the Government.
Noncitizens who arrive by boat and have their asylum claims
confirmed are granted a 3 year temporary protection visa (TPV), which
provides full access to medical and social services but does not
authorize family reunification or allow travel abroad with reentry
rights. A permanent protection visa, which gives authority for family
reunification and reentry rights, may be granted to an applicant at any
stage of the asylum adjudication process. Denials of asylum claims may
be appealed on merit grounds to the Refugee Review Tribunal, and on
grounds of legal error to the Federal Court of Australia and, in
certain cases, to the High Court. The Minister for Immigration and
Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs may exercise discretion and grant
a visa after the asylum seeker has exhausted the review process. In
July, the Minister invited 9,500 TPV holders to apply for permanent
visas without requiring them to leave the country to make their
applications.
Long delays in processing asylum applications were not a
significant problem during the year; however, a small number of asylum
seekers remained in detention, some for years, despite having exhausted
the appeal process. They could not be returned to their home country
because they lacked travel documents or could not obtain necessary
transit visas. In July, the High Court overturned the Federal Court of
Australia's 2003 ruling that the indefinite detention of asylum seekers
was unlawful.
The country's immigration laws and detention policy continued to be
criticized by human rights and refugee advocacy groups, which charged
that the sometimes lengthy detentions violated asylum seekers' human
rights.
As of July, 59 children were held in onshore immigration detention
centers, and an additional 33 were held on Nauru. In April, the High
Court overturned the Family Court's 2003 ruling that, under the U.N.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Family Court jurisdiction
extended to children in detention. In 2003, the Family Court had
ordered that five Pakistani children should be released from detention
and placed into the care of a charitable welfare group. Following the
High Court's April decision, the Immigration Minister deputized the
charitable group's staff as detention officers so that the children
could remain in their care.
In May, the government funded, but independent, Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) published the findings of its 2
year investigation into children in immigration detention. The report
concluded that the country's laws requiring child asylum seekers to be
held in mandatory immigration detention breached the U.N. Convention on
the Rights of the Child, to which the country is a party. The
Government rejected the commission's major findings and recommendations
as ``unbalanced'' and ``backward looking.''
There were no reports of the forced return of persons to countries
where they feared persecution, before their asylum claims were
considered and rejected. However, in 2003 and during the year, refugee,
church, and human rights groups expressed concern about the
Government's practices in repatriating unsuccessful asylum seekers.
The Government has agreements with a number of countries under
which unsuccessful asylum claimants may be returned involuntarily to
their home countries. In 2003, a church human rights and refugee
advocacy group released an interim report on both voluntary and
involuntary returnees; it stated that many had disappeared or died in
their home country. The Government rejected the group's assertions,
stating that they could not be independently verified. The group also
raised its allegations during a parliamentary committee meeting in
2003; however, the committee did not respond. In September, the group
raised the issue again in its final report on the country's treatment
of asylum seekers. The Government agreed to consider the report;
however, a government spokesperson reportedly stated that the group
appeared to be repeating its 2003 claims, which the Government already
had rejected.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage and mandatory voting. In October, citizens elected a
coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party to a fourth 3
year term of office. The opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) won
all six state and territorial elections held in 2002 and 2003 and was
reelected to government in Queensland and the Australian Capital
Territory during the year; at year's end, the ALP controlled all eight
state and territorial legislatures.
The federal, state, and territorial governments have freedom of
information (FOI) laws, which provide the public with access to
government information. FOI requests generally are subject to both an
application and a processing fee. Federal law enables a person to
access and correct inaccurate personal information held by government
ministries and agencies, and to access other government information
that has not been exempted to protect essential public interests or the
private or business affairs of others. An applicant, including foreign
media, may appeal a government decision to deny a request for
information to the quasi-legal Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT);
an adverse AAT decision may be appealed to the Federal Court of
Australia.
There are no legal impediments to public office for women and
indigenous people. Both the Government and the opposition have declared
their intent to increase the numbers of women elected to public office.
As of October, there were 57 women in the 226 seat Federal Parliament,
3 female ministers in the 17 member Federal Government Cabinet, and 6
female ministers in the 30 member Federal Government Ministry. There
was one woman among the eight Premiers and Chief Ministers of the six
states and two territories, the Chief Minister of the Northern
Territory (N.T.).
Aboriginals generally were underrepresented among the political
leadership (see Section 5). The sole Aboriginal Senator was not
reelected in October; his term will expire on June 30, 2005. No
Aboriginals were elected to the Federal Parliament during the year. In
2002, an Aboriginal woman was elected to the Tasmanian state parliament
and another was elected to the N.S.W. state parliament. In 2001, an
Aboriginal woman was elected to the W.A. state parliament (the first
indigenous woman to be elected to a state legislature) and four
Aboriginals, including a woman, were elected to the N.T. legislative
assembly.
The first Chinese-born Senator was elected to the Federal
Parliament in 1998, but did not run for reelection in October; his term
will expire on June 30, 2005.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. The Government in
general cooperated with human rights groups.
The government funded, but independent, HREOC investigates
complaints of discrimination or breaches of human rights under the
federal laws that implement the country's human rights treaty
obligations. HREOC resolves complaints in relation to employment,
provision of goods and services, access to accommodation, and inciting
racial hatred. Each state and territory has its own antidiscrimination
board or equal opportunity commission that also resolves complaints of
discrimination. In the 12 months ending June 30, the number of
discrimination complaints received by HREOC fell to 1,113, a decrease
of approximately 10 percent from the 1,271 complaints received in the
previous 12 month period. Approximately 51 percent of all cases were
not accepted, either because they did not fall within HREOC's mandate
or because no discrimination was shown. Another 38 percent were
resolved through conciliation, and 10 percent were withdrawn before
action could be taken.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Federal laws prohibit discrimination based on sex, disability,
race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin, marital status, or
age. An independent judiciary and a network of federal, state and
territorial equal opportunity offices effectively enforced the law.
Women.--The law prohibits violence against women, including spousal
rape and abuse; however, violence against women remained a problem. In
2002, there were 17,850 victims of sexual assault recorded by the
police. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), sexual
assaults increased nearly 6 percent compared with 2001; the victims in
80 percent of the cases were female. In 2002, the sexual assault
victimization rate was 91 per 100,000 persons, the highest number since
statistics first were recorded in 1993. Domestic violence was
particularly prevalent in Aboriginal communities.
All states and territories except W.A. have enacted legislation
making it a crime to perform female genital mutilation (FGM) or to
remove a child from the jurisdiction for the purpose of having FGM
performed; maximum penalties range from 7 to 21 years' imprisonment.
The N.S.W. Women's Minister revealed that 40 women had been treated for
the effects of FGM in the 12 months ending November 30, 2003. There
were no reports of new cases or prosecutions for the offense during the
year.
Prostitution is legal or decriminalized in several states and
territories, and the governments of Victoria, Queensland, and the
Australian Capital Territory license brothels operating within their
borders. However, many brothels operated illegally. In some locations,
state funded sexual health services employees visited brothels to
educate workers about sexual health matters and to prevent worker
mistreatment. Local governments or prostitution licensing authorities
inspected brothels to assure compliance with planning laws and
licensing requirements, including health and safety regulations.
However, government officials faced difficulties enforcing health and
safety standards in illegal brothels. Trafficking in persons, primarily
women from Asia, for prostitution was a limited problem (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
The Sex Discrimination Act prohibits sexual harassment. The
independent Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, which is part of
HREOC, undertakes research, policy, and educational work designed to
eliminate discrimination between men and women.
According to the HREOC July 2003-June 2004 annual report, sex
discrimination complaints fell by 7 percent during the reporting period
compared with the previous reporting period. Of the 353 new cases filed
during the reporting year, women filed 86 percent and 88 percent were
employment related.
The Office for Women (OFW), formerly the Office of the Status of
Women, monitors women's rights and advises the Federal Government on
issues affecting women. In October, the OFW published a report on
domestic violence, entitled ``The Cost of Domestic Violence to the
Australian Economy,'' which found that domestic violence cost the
economy $6 billion (A$8.1 billion) in the 12 month period from July
2002 to June 2003. The report ranked domestic violence among the top
five risks to women's health.
There were highly organized and effective private and public
women's rights organizations at the federal, state, and local levels.
Women have equal status under the law, and the law provides for pay
equity. In June, the ABS estimated that women's full-time total average
weekly earnings were 82 percent of men's.
Children.--The Government demonstrated its strong commitment to
children's rights and welfare through its publicly funded educational
and medical care systems. While the structure of education varied among
states and territories, all children between 6 and 15 years of age are
entitled to 9 to 10 years of compulsory and free education. A 2002 ABS
survey found that the full time school participation rate for 15 year
olds was 92.5 percent. The Government provided universal health
insurance coverage to all citizens and lawful residents from birth on a
copayment basis. The Government also provided a minimum benefit of 16.8
percent of the cost of a first child's childcare to all parents (with a
smaller benefit for additional children), which increased to as much as
100 percent for the lowest income families.
State and territorial child protection agencies investigate and
institute prosecutions of persons for child neglect or abuse. The
Federal Government's role in child abuse prevention is limited to
funding research and education campaigns, developing an action plan
against the commercial exploitation of children, and funding community
based parenting programs. According to the Federal Department of Family
and Community Services, the number of substantiated cases of child
abuse and neglect grew approximately 43 percent from 1992 to 2002. In
January, the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) issued a
report on its investigation into allegations of mismanagement within
the state children's services department and neglect of foster children
placed by the department. It found that the allegations were
substantiated and called for the creation of a separate child safety
administration. The Queensland government accepted all of the CMC
report's recommendations and announced a $115 million (A$154 million)
budget increase to implement the recommendations.
The Government has enacted tough criminal laws aimed at restricting
the trade in, and possession of, child pornography; the law allows
suspected pedophiles to be tried in the country regardless of where the
crime was committed. The Child Sex Tourism Act prohibits child sex
tourism and related offenses for the country's residents and citizens
overseas and provides for a maximum sentence of 17 years' imprisonment
upon conviction. Since 1994, 19 persons have been charged under the
act; as of December 10, there were 13 convictions, 3 dismissals, and 3
ongoing cases. During the year, the Government continued its awareness
campaign to deter child sex tourism, through the distribution of
materials to citizens and residents traveling overseas. Child
protection NGOs raised community awareness of child trafficking. There
were no reports of children being trafficked into the country during
the year (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The practice of parents unlawfully sterilizing children with
disabilities was a continuing problem. The High Court has determined
that physicians who sterilized a child without authorization from the
federal Family Court would be subject to criminal and civil action. In
2002, a report into the sterilization of girls and young women with
disabilities, commissioned by the federal Sex Discrimination
Commissioner, found that the official data were unreliable and that
anecdotal evidence suggested that girls continued to be sterilized in
numbers that far exceeded the number of lawful authorizations.
In April, the High Court overturned a 2003 ruling by the Family
Court that the Family Court's jurisdiction extended to children in
immigration detention facilities (see Section 2.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
but the country continued to be a destination for some trafficked women
in the sex industry.
Legislation enacted in 1999 targets criminal practices associated
with trafficking, and other laws address smuggling of migrants. Under
the Federal Migration Act, smuggling of persons in all forms is
prohibited and carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment. The
2001 Border Protection Act authorizes the boarding and searching in
international waters of vessels suspected of smuggling or trafficking
in persons. In 2002, the Commonwealth Criminal Code was modified to
provide for sentences of up to 20 years' imprisonment for ``people
smuggling'' aggravated by exploitation. Under the Commonwealth Criminal
Code, conduct that amounts to slavery, or exercising a power of
ownership over another person, carries a maximum penalty of 25 years'
imprisonment. Under the Child Sex Tourism Act, it is an offense for
citizens or residents to travel abroad to engage in sex with minors
under 16 years of age (see Section 5, Children).
In 2003, 10 persons appeared in court on trafficking in persons
offenses in 3 separate cases, but the court had not issued its
decisions in the cases as of year's end. During the year, four
additional persons were charged with trafficking in persons offenses in
two separate cases; both cases were pending at year's end.
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous
Affairs, the Australian Customs Service, and the AFP have lead roles in
combating trafficking in persons. The AFP's Transnational Sexual
Exploitation and Trafficking Team, a 23 member mobile strike force
established under the Government's 2003 national action plan for
eradicating trafficking in persons, is responsible for investigating
trafficking syndicates operating in the country and abroad. State
police forces worked closely with the AFP to develop a comprehensive
policing strategy to counter the crime of trafficking in persons.
Some women, primarily from China and Southeast Asia, were brought
into the country for the purpose of prostitution, sometimes entering
with fraudulently obtained tourist or student visas. Many of these
women traveled to the country voluntarily to work in both legal and
illegal brothels, but some reportedly were deceived or coerced into
debt bondage or sexual servitude. Authorities believed that sex
trafficking networks were composed primarily of individual operators or
small crime groups that often relied on larger organized crime groups
to procure fraudulent documentation for the trafficked women. In June,
a federal parliamentary committee issued a report on its yearlong
inquiry into the national criminal intelligence agency's response to
sex trafficking and the adequacy of federal antitrafficking laws. The
report recommended that the Government broaden the criminal code to
include nonsexual forms of compulsory labor and hasten its ratification
of the U.N.'s trafficking protocol. The report noted wide variations in
NGO estimates of the number of trafficked women; while it was unable to
provide definitive numbers, the report estimated that a ``relatively
small'' number among an estimated 300 women who travel to the country
for work in the sex industry each year were subjected to sexual
servitude. In response to the report, the Government restated its
commitment to eradicate sex trafficking and take action on the report's
recommendations.
In 2002, the Government established the position of Ambassador for
People Smuggling Issues, with responsibility for promoting a coherent
and effective international approach to combating trafficking in
persons (particularly in the Asia Pacific region), assisting in the
negotiation of international agreements for the return and resettlement
of persons brought illegally into the country, and working for the
prosecution of traffickers in persons. The Ambassador coordinates the
country's participation in the Bali Process on People Smuggling,
Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, which Australia
and Indonesia jointly established in 2002. In 2003, the Government
signed antitrafficking agreements with Cambodia, Burma, Laos, and
Thailand to improve international cooperation and police investigations
of trafficking syndicates. The Government also funded awareness
campaigns in source countries. In 2003, the Government also began
funding the $6.4 million (A$8.5 million) Asia Regional Cooperation to
Prevent People Trafficking project. Underway in four countries
Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia the project focused on
strengthening the criminal justice process to combat trafficking in
persons.
In October 2003, the Government launched its national Action Plan
to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons, which included additional
antitrafficking legislation, enhanced cooperation among other countries
and state and local law enforcement authorities, new visa procedures to
facilitate the cooperation of trafficking victims with law enforcement
personnel, and additional social services for victims. The Government
also took significant steps to improve efforts by police and
immigration officials to distinguish trafficking victims from illegal
migrants and to provide victims with assistance, including counseling
and temporary shelter. Victims willing to cooperate with authorities to
investigate and prosecute traffickers qualify for a temporary visa and
a range of social services.
Within the country, the Government began an awareness campaign
targeting the sex industry and the community at large and widely
publicized criminal cases against traffickers.
There were no NGOs devoted solely to trafficking victims.
Nonetheless, assistance was available through NGOs that ran shelters
for women and youth; sex worker organizations; the NGO Project Respect,
which assisted women to escape prostitution and combated sex
trafficking of women; and Childwise, which campaigned against the
commercial sexual exploitation of children in the country and through
sex tourism overseas. Some NGOs received government funding; others
were funded privately. Local NGOs and the press were instrumental in
bringing to the authorities' attention the presence of illegal migrant
women and girls in brothels and massage parlors, and raising public
awareness of the problem.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment; education; access to
premises; provisions of goods, services (including health services),
and facilities; accommodation; purchase of land; activities of clubs
and associations; sport; and the administration of federal laws and
programs, and the Government effectively enforced the law. The
Disability Discrimination Commissioner, which is part of HREOC,
promotes compliance with federal laws that prohibit discrimination
against persons with disabilities. The Commissioner also promotes
implementation and enforcement of state laws that require equal access
and otherwise protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The law
also provides for mediation by HREOC of discrimination complaints,
authorizes fines against violators, and awards damages to victims of
discrimination.
The 2004 HREOC report stated that 483 disability complaints were
filed during the July 2003-June 2004 reporting year, including 201
complaints of discrimination based on physical disability, 122
complaints of discrimination based on psychiatric disability, and 33
complaints based on learning disabilities. Of these, 54 percent were
employment related and 25 percent concerned the provision of goods and
services. The practice of parents unlawfully sterilizing children with
disabilities was a continuing problem (see Section 5, Children).
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although Asians comprised less
than 5 percent of the population, they made up approximately 40 percent
of new immigrants. A marked increase in unauthorized arrivals by boat
from the Middle East from 1998 to 2001 heightened public concern that
``queue jumpers'' and alien smugglers were abusing the country's
refugee program. Leaders in the ethnic and immigrant communities
continued to express concern that increased numbers of illegal arrivals
and violence at migrant detention centers had contributed to incidents
of vilification of immigrants and minorities.
Between February and July, several Asian businesses and a synagogue
in W.A.'s capital city of Perth were firebombed or sprayed with racist
graffiti. The attacks were widely condemned by political, religious,
and community leaders. In August, a Perth court convicted three men,
two of whom were associated with the Australian Nationalist Movement
(ANM), a neo-Nazi group, for their roles in the attacks; the two ANM
associates were sentenced to jail terms of 7 and 10 months
respectively, and the third man received a suspended 6-month sentence.
That same month, the ANM leader and suspected instigator of the attacks
was arrested and charged with criminal damage to cause arson; the case
was still pending at year's end.
According to the 2004 HREOC annual report, the number of racial
discrimination complaints fell by 13 percent during the reporting year.
Of 159 reported cases, 42 percent involved employment; 20 percent
involved provision of goods, services, and facilities; and 19 percent
alleged ``racial hatred.'' Persons born outside the country filed 64
percent of the complaints, and Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders
filed 32 percent.
Indigenous People.--Since 1990, Aboriginals and Torres Strait
Islanders have been able to participate in government decisionmaking
through the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Commission (ATSIC).
In 2002, indigenous people elected 380 representatives to 35 regional
councils and the Torres Strait Regional Authority in triennial
elections. These representatives in turn choose 18 commissioners, who
make up the ATSIC Board. The 2002 election had the highest voter
participation since elections were first held in 1990.
In 2002, in response to continued claims of corrupt dealings by
ATSIC board members, the Government initiated a review of ATSIC's
functions and operations. In November 2003, the review body issued its
final report, which recommended replacing the 18 member ATSIC board
with a 10 member ATSIC national executive body, with 8 members elected
from among the chairs of 35 regional councils and 2 government
appointed members.
In July 2003, faced with several allegations of improper behavior,
ATSIC's Deputy Chairman resigned, and the Minister for Indigenous
Affairs suspended the Chairman in August 2003. The Commission elected
an ATSIC Regional Councilor as Acting Chairman. In December 2003, the
Chairman was found guilty on appeal of obstructing police during a pub
brawl in Victoria and fined $564 (A$750). The ATSIC board unanimously
called on the Government to lift the Chairman's suspension immediately
on the ground that his conviction did not warrant his dismissal. The
Minister for Indigenous Affairs indicated that the Government would not
reinstate the Chairman, since it intended to abolish ATSIC. In August,
the Federal Court ruled that the Government acted unlawfully when it
suspended the Chairman, and the ATSIC board reelected him. The
Government indicated that it would appeal the court's decision but had
not done so by year's end.
On July 1, the Government transferred ATSIC's functions to federal
civil service departments, and on November 6, it established the
National Indigenous Council, a government appointed 14-person advisory
council, to replace ATSIC. However, by year's end, Parliament had not
passed the Government's bill to abolish ATSIC; instead, the Senate
initiated an inquiry to examine the administration of indigenous
affairs, with a report scheduled for 2005. Also during the year, the
ATSIC board took measures to mount a court challenge to the
Government's administrative dissolution of ATSIC.
While some Aboriginal groups claimed that the Government's attempt
to abolish ATSIC was an attempt to silence its indigenous critics,
other Aboriginal groups welcomed the move as an attempt to refocus the
domestic indigenous policy debate on improving health and social
conditions and away from ATSIC's leadership team, which they viewed as
impeding ATSIC's effectiveness.
The Government's approach toward Aboriginals emphasized a
``practical reconciliation'' aimed at raising the health, education,
and living standards of indigenous people. A wide variety of government
initiatives and programs sought to improve all aspects of Aboriginal
and Torres Straits Islander life. In 2003-04, the Government spent
approximately $195 million (A$260 million) on the indigenous-specific
community housing and infrastructure program; a further $347 million
(A$462 million) on indigenous education and training programs; $278
million (A$371 million) on indigenous-specific health services; and $79
million (A$105 million) on indigenous employment programs. However,
indigenous citizens continued to experience significantly higher rates
of imprisonment, inferior access to medical and educational
institutions, greatly reduced life expectancy rates, higher levels of
unemployment, and general discrimination, which contributed to a
feeling of powerlessness. Poverty and below average educational
achievement levels contributed significantly to Aboriginal
underrepresentation in national, territorial, and state political
leadership (see Section 3).
According to a joint ABS and Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare study released in 2003, the life expectancy of an indigenous
person remained 20 years less than that of a non indigenous person, and
the indigenous infant mortality rate was 2.5 times the rates found in
non indigenous populations. In 2001, reported rates of tuberculosis and
hepatitis A and B among indigenous people were, respectively, 3.7 times
greater, 4.3 times greater, and 3.6 times greater than rates among the
non indigenous. According to the Department of Family and Community
Services, indigenous youth were 2.5 times more likely than non
indigenous youth to leave school before graduation. The ATSIC 2002- 03
annual report highlighted findings in a 2001 report that 37 percent of
indigenous students did not achieve a grade 5 mathematical competency
benchmark, and 33 percent of indigenous students in grade 5 were below
the national reading benchmark, compared with 10 percent of the non
indigenous population against both benchmarks. The ATSIC report also
noted that poor access to labor markets contributed to the high
indigenous unemployment rate, which was 20 percent in 2001, almost 3
times greater than the non indigenous unemployment rate. Unemployment
rose to over 34 percent when indigenous persons given employment as
part of government assisted employment programs were included.
Although Aboriginal adults represented only 2.2 percent of the
adult population, according to the ABS they accounted for approximately
20 percent of the total prison population and were imprisoned at 15
times the rate of non indigenous people as of June 2002. More than 45
percent of Aboriginal men between the ages of 20 and 30 years had been
arrested at some time in their lives. In 2001, Aboriginal juveniles
accounted for 55 percent of those between the ages of 10 to 17 in
juvenile correctional institutions. Human rights observers noted that
socioeconomic conditions gave rise to the common precursors of
indigenous crime, including unemployment, homelessness, and boredom.
Indigenous groups charged that police harassment of indigenous
people, including juveniles, was pervasive and that racial
discrimination by police and prison custodians persisted. Human rights
groups and indigenous people alleged a pattern of mistreatment and
arbitrary arrests occurring against a backdrop of unofficial yet
systemic discrimination.
On February 15, police in the Sydney suburb of Redfern clashed with
a group of Aboriginals angered by the death of a 17 year old Aboriginal
youth from injuries incurred in a bicycling accident the previous day.
Rioters threw bricks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails at police during
the 9-hour melee, injuring approximately 40 officers. The youth's
parents alleged that police were harassing him at the time of the
accident; police responded that they were not chasing the youth when
the accident occurred but were in the area looking for another person
who was a suspect in a robbery. The police arrested 11 persons for acts
committed during the incident. In August, a coroner's investigation
cleared police of any involvement in the youth's death.
On November 26, hundreds of residents on Queensland's Palm Island
rioted after government officials released the postmortem results on a
36 year-old indigenous man who had died in police custody after being
detained for public drunkenness. The rioters destroyed the island's
police station and courthouse. The postmortem results showed that the
man had suffered a ruptured liver, internal bleeding, and broken ribs;
the police reported that the detainee sustained the injuries during a
scuffle with a police officer and a fall onto concrete steps. The
coroner's report had cleared the police of responsibility in the man's
death; however, the Queensland government commissioned the Crime and
Misconduct Commission to investigate the case.
A 2002 W.A. inquiry into family violence and sexual abuse found
that indigenous women in W.A. accounted for as many as 50 percent of
all domestic violence incidents although they constituted less than 3
percent of the population. Indigenous women were 45 times more likely
to be victims of violence than non indigenous women and 10 times more
likely to die as a result. In May 2003, prominent indigenous leader and
former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner Mick Dodson highlighted the prevalence of domestic
violence in indigenous communities and called upon indigenous men to be
more accountable for the problem. In the 12 months ending June 30, the
Federal Government spent approximately $4.5 million (A$6 million) to
support 13 Family Violence Prevention Legal Service Centers in remote
areas and 39 Regional Family Violence Prevention Programs. In July
2003, the federal and state governments launched a multifaceted action
plan to tackle indigenous violence and announced seven priority areas
for government funding, including reducing alcohol and substance abuse,
increasing child safety and well being, creating safe places in the
community, and promoting shared leadership. During the year, the
Government allocated $90 million (A$120 million) over 4 years to
combating child abuse and family violence in indigenous communities. A
2001 Northern Queensland study into indigenous violence found that 70
to 90 percent of all assaults were committed under the influence of
alcohol or drugs. In August 2003, the Government allocated $7.9 million
(A$10.5 million) over 4 years to help divert Aboriginals and Torres
Strait Islanders from alcohol and drug abuse and $4.6 million (A$6.1
million) for NGO indigenous treatment programs.
In 1998, the Government established a national network of Link Up
offices to provide family tracing, reunion, and other support to
indigenous families separated as a result of past government practices.
In the 12 months ending June 30, the Government spent $2.8 million
(A$3.7 million) on family tracing and reunion services.
The National Native Title Tribunal resolves native land title
applications through mediation. The tribunal also acts as an arbitrator
in cases where the parties cannot reach agreement about proposed mining
or other development of land. In 2002, ATSIC noted that the 1993 Native
Title Act, as amended in 1998, provided gains for Aboriginal people but
still did not address adequately the needs of native title claimants.
Aboriginal leaders were pleased by the removal of a time limit for
lodging native title claims but expressed deep concern about the
weakening of Aboriginal rights to negotiate with non Aboriginal
leaseholders over the development of rural property. Aboriginal groups
continued to express concern that the amended act limited the future
ability of Aboriginal people to protect their property rights. In 2002,
the High Court ruled that native title rights did not extend to mineral
or petroleum resources and that, in cases where leasehold rights and
native title rights were in conflict, leaseholder rights prevailed.
The $970 million (A$1,290 million) indigenous land fund is a
special account that provides an ongoing source of funds for indigenous
people to purchase land for their use. It is separate from the Native
Title Tribunal and is not for payment of compensation to indigenous
people for loss of land or to titleholders for return of land to
indigenous people.
The NGO Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra was set up in a small
structure on public land opposite the Old Parliament building over 30
years ago and worked to publicize Aboriginal grievances. The tent
embassy, which also encompassed an itinerants' camp, still existed at
year's end, despite fire damage in 2003 and again in August and
continued efforts to relocate it by the Government and some local
indigenous groups, who asserted that it was not representative of the
entire indigenous community. Other Aboriginal NGOs included groups
working on native title issues, reconciliation, deaths in custody, and
Aboriginal rights in general. International NGOs, such as AI, also
monitored and reported on indigenous issues and rights.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--In December 2003, the
N.S.W. Government released a study of violence against homosexuals,
which found that more than half of the survey participants had
experienced one or more forms of abuse, harassment, or violence in the
previous 12 months. The report also found that two or more persons who
were unknown to the victim perpetrated most incidents of harassment or
violence and that homosexuals of Middle Eastern background suffered
exclusion, assaults, and stalking from family or community members.
Federal and various state laws prohibit discrimination on the
grounds of HIV positive status. In the 12 months ending June 30, there
were no discrimination complaints lodged with the federal Disability
Discrimination Commissioner, which is part of HREOC, on the grounds of
HIV/AIDS status. In 2002, a La Trobe University study of HIV positive
persons found that 37.7 percent received less favorable access to
health services. The study also found that 22.1 percent received less
favorable treatment regarding insurance, and 11.1 percent received less
favorable treatment regarding accommodation.
In June, the Government enacted the Age Discrimination Act, which
makes it unlawful to discriminate against persons because of their age
in the areas of employment, education, accommodation, provision of
services (including health services, insurance, and pensions), and the
administration of federal laws and programs. The Government exempted
the following areas from the law: Federal laws governing taxation,
social security, migration, and private pensions; state laws; certain
health programs; and youth wages or compliance with enterprise
agreements and employment contracts. In June, the Government appointed
the Sex Discrimination Commissioner as acting Age Discrimination
Commissioner.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers, including
public servants, the right of association domestically and
internationally and protection against anti-union discrimination, and
workers exercised these rights in practice. A 2003 ABS survey indicated
that union membership had remained constant over the previous 12 months
at 23 percent of the workforce.
Unions carried out their functions free from government or
political control.
The 1996 Federal Workplace Relations Act (WRA) contains curbs on
union power, restrictions on strikes (see Section 6.b.), and limits on
redress and compensation claims by dismissed employees. The umbrella
trade union organization, the Australian Council of Trade Unions
(ACTU), has objected to the law, alleging that it violates the right to
assembly provided for in several ILO conventions that the Government
has signed, including ILO Convention 87 on the Freedom of Association
and Protection of the Right to Organize. The primary curb on union
power is the abolition of closed shops and union demarcations. This
provision in theory could create many small and competing unions at the
enterprise level, but thus far there have been few changes in existing
union structures.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Federal, state,
and territorial laws provide workers with the right to organize and
bargain collectively, and workers exercised this right in practice.
Since passage of the WRA in 1996, negotiation of contracts covering
wages and working conditions shifted from the centralized awards system
of the past to enterprise level agreements certified by the Australian
Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). The WRA provides that the AIRC
may certify multibusiness agreements only if they are in the ``public
interest.'' In the 12 month period ending June 30, the AIRC certified
8,549 enterprise agreements, an increase of 31 percent from the number
certified in the previous 12 months. The WRA also provides for the
negotiation of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) between employers
and individual workers, which are subject to fewer government
regulations than awards or enterprise bargaining agreements; however,
AWAs must improve upon the basic working conditions contained in a
relevant same-sector award. The Office of the Employment Advocate
received notification of 150,170 AWAs during the July 2003-June 2004
reporting period, an increase of 30 percent compared with the previous
reporting period. Of the 546,885 AWAs made in the past 7 years, more
than 35 percent were in retail trade, property and business services,
and manufacturing industries.
Federal law first recognized an implicit right to strike in 1994.
The WRA significantly restricts this right; it subjects strikers to
heavy fines for taking industrial action during the life of an
agreement and contains tougher secondary boycott provisions. The WRA
confines strikes to the period when unions are negotiating a new
enterprise agreement and specifies that strikes must concern matters
under negotiation. This is known as ``protected action.'' Protected
action provides employers, employees, and unions with legal immunity
from claims of losses incurred by industrial action. In 1999, a union
successfully challenged the WRA's restriction on strike action in
federal court. The court refused to grant an injunction against the
union for taking industrial action outside of a bargaining period
because the action was in support of maintaining existing wages and
conditions. The upper house of Parliament has rejected on many
occasions the Government's proposed changes to the Trade Practices Act,
which would provide companies with resort to legal action if they were
subject to secondary boycotts.
During the year, there were no national strikes of significance,
but there were short localized strikes by health care professionals,
transport workers, customs officers, and construction workers. The
Bureau of Statistics reported 716 industrial disputes for the 12 months
ending June 30, an increase of nearly 2 percent from the previous year;
during the same period, total workdays lost due to strikes rose by 125
percent to 550,900.
During the year, the ACTU continued its efforts to increase the
minimum wage, protect employee entitlements in the face of numerous
company collapses, and extend family friendly policies in the
workplace. Throughout the year, unions continued a successful campaign
for paid maternity leave provisions in many collective agreements.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law does not
explicitly prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by children;
however, there were no reports that such practices occurred.
Trafficking in women was a limited problem (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There is no federally mandated minimum age of employment, but state
imposed compulsory educational requirements, enforced by state
educational authorities, effectively prevented most children from
joining the work force full time until they were 15 or 16 years of age.
Federal and state governments monitored and enforced a network of laws,
which varied from state to state, governing the minimum school leaving
age (see Section 5), the minimum age to claim unemployment benefits,
and the minimum age to engage in specified occupations. The ACTU also
monitored adherence to these laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Although a formal minimum wage
exists, it has not been directly relevant in wage agreements since the
1960s, since most workers received higher wages through enterprise
agreements or individual contracts. In May, the AIRC increased the
federal minimum award wage by $14.30 (A$19) to $351 (A$467.40) per
week. Differing minimum wages for individual trades and professions
covered approximately 80 percent of all workers; all rates provided a
decent standard of living for a worker and family.
Most workers were employees of incorporated organizations. A
complex body of applicable government regulations, as well as decisions
of applicable federal or state industrial relations commissions,
prescribe a 40 hour or shorter workweek, paid vacations, sick leave,
and other benefits. The minimum standards for wages, working hours, and
conditions are set by a series of ``awards'' (basic contracts for
individual industries). In 2002, the AIRC refused the ACTU's request to
set a standard for ``reasonable working hours'' but allowed workers to
refuse without penalty to work ``unreasonable'' overtime.
Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial increase in
the percentage of the workforce regarded as temporary workers. In 2001,
there were 2.1 million persons (27 percent of the workforce) employed
as casual or temporary workers, even though government statistics
indicated that over 50 percent had been employed in the same job for
over 12 months, and 67 percent worked regular hours. Such employees
were not entitled to certain employment benefits such as sick leave or
annual leave but were paid at a higher hourly wage rate.
Federal or state occupational health and safety laws apply to every
workplace. The law provides federal employees with the right to cease
work without endangering their future employment if they believe that
particular work activities pose an immediate threat to individual
health or safety. Most states and territories have laws that grant
similar rights to their employees. At a minimum, private sector
employees have recourse to state health and safety commissions, which
investigate complaints and demand remedial action.
Labor law protects citizens, permanent residents, and migrant
workers alike. Migrant worker visas require that employers respect
these protections and provide bonds to cover health insurance, worker
compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, and other benefits.
Past reports of abuse of foreign workers generally involved permanent
residents who performed work in their homes in the clothing and
construction industries. There were no such reports during the year.
There were no reports of worker rights abuses in any of the
country's five dependent territories of Macquarie and Heard Islands,
Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Island, and Norfolk Island.
__________
BRUNEI
Brunei Darussalam is a small, wealthy, Islamic country ruled by the
same family for over 600 years. A British Protectorate from 1888, it
became fully independent and sovereign in 1984. After a failed
rebellion in 1962, the then Sultan invoked an article of the
Constitution that allowed him to assume emergency powers for 2 years.
These powers were renewed regularly, most recently in March under the
present ruler, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. The state of emergency
places few limits on the Sultan's power. In September, the Sultan named
an appointed Legislative Council, an institution that had been
suspended for 20 years. The council was expected to have a limited role
in recommending and approving legislation. The Sultan also served as
Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Finance, Chancellor of
the national university, Superintendent General of the Royal Brunei
Police Force, and Head of the Islamic faith. The Constitution does not
specifically provide for an independent judiciary, and the Sultan
appoints all higher court judges and has the authority to remove them,
although he has never done so. The courts appeared to act
independently.
The police force and an Internal Security Department (ISD) are
responsible for law enforcement and maintenance of order. The Sultan
maintained control over both. There were no reports that security
forces committed human rights abuses.
The country's large oil and natural gas reserves, coupled with its
population of 358,000, gave it a per capita gross domestic product of
approximately $13,300. The Government used its substantial oil and gas
revenues and investment income to provide its citizens a wide range of
services and benefits that included free schooling and medical care,
subsidized housing, and jobs. During the year, the non-oil and gas
component of the economy suffered its 6th year of stagnation. Foreign
workers made up approximately 40 percent of the labor force.
There were problems in the Government's human rights record,
particularly in the area of civil liberties; however, there was some
improvement in government transparency and tentative steps toward a
more representative government. Citizens did not have the right to
change the government, and they generally avoided political activity of
any kind because of the official atmosphere of disapproval concerning
such activities. Citizens did not exercise freedom of speech, freedom
of press, freedom of assembly, or freedom of association. The
Government used the Internal Security Act (ISA) to detain persons.
Other human rights problems continued, including restrictions on
religious freedom. Occasional spousal violence against women remained a
concern, although the Government addressed the matter at many levels.
Discrimination against women was a problem. Labor rights were
circumscribed, and foreign workers sometimes were subjected to
exploitation, although the Government took steps to protect foreign
workers and began limited prosecution of errant employers.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits mistreatment of prisoners, and there
were no reports of such mistreatment. Caning is mandatory for 42 drug
related and other criminal offenses, and it was included as part of the
sentence in 80 percent of criminal convictions. Canings were carried
out in the presence of a doctor, who had the authority to interrupt the
punishment for medical reasons. Prison conditions generally met
international standards. Juveniles typically served their sentences in
adult detention centers, but several young offenders were housed at a
government rehabilitation center. During the year, construction
continued on a second rehabilitation facility for young offenders. Male
and female offenders were housed separately. Prisoners received regular
medical checkups. Detention cells at police stations were Spartan.
There were no reports that human rights monitors requested prison
visits; however, foreign diplomats had consular access to detained
nationals. Family members were permitted to visit prisoners and bring
food.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law provides for a prompt
judicial determination regarding the validity of an arrest. However,
those provisions, like the Constitution itself, may be partially or
wholly superseded through invocation of the emergency powers. The ISA
permits the Government to detain suspects without trial for renewable
2-year periods. ISA detainees are denied the right to a trial and legal
counsel, and they are not presumed to be innocent. In the past,
information on detainees was made public only after their release.
During the year, all ISA arrests were publicly announced.
The police force and the ISD are under the direct control of the
Prime Minister's Office. Both groups were considered free of major
corrupt practices; however, there were reports of petty corruption
among traffic police. Unlike in previous years, there were no
prosecutions of police or ISD members for corrupt or criminal acts.
Normally a magistrate must endorse a warrant for arrest. On rare
occasions, warrants are issued without this endorsement, such as when
police are unable to obtain the endorsement in time to prevent the
flight of a suspect. Police officers have broad powers to make arrests,
without warrants, of persons caught in the physical act of committing a
crime.
In February, the Government detained 16 persons under the ISA for
involvement in a counterfeit ring. In March, the Government detained
three persons--Major (Retired) Haji Muslim bin Haji Awang Tengah;
Noordin bin Haji Ahmed Noor, a former senior police officer; and Haji
Abdul Radzak bin Haji Awang Damit, a businessman--under the ISA for
treason and ``subversive actions, detrimental to the country's
security.'' The Government did not bring formal charges against the
three, but a press release accused Noordin of selling and leaking
government secrets to an unnamed foreign country. Major Muslim was
accused of leaking government secrets to Haji Abdul Radzak, who used
the information in a local Internet forum.
On July 10, authorities released six individuals who had been
detained under the ISA since September 2003 for suspected association
with Al-Arqam, a banned Muslim organization. Government officials
maintained that the detentions had been for security rather than
religious reasons (see Section 2.c.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Government used the ISA to
detain without trial three persons it accused of treason and subversion
(see Section 1.d.). It used the same act to detain 16 individuals for a
major counterfeiting offense that it said could have destabilized the
country's economy.
The Constitution does not provide specifically for an independent
judiciary, but the courts appeared to act independently, and there were
no known instances of government interference with the judiciary. All
higher court judges are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the
Sultan.
The judicial system consists of five levels of courts, with final
recourse in civil cases available through the Privy Council in London.
Procedural safeguards include the right to defense counsel, an
interpreter, a speedy trial, and to confront accusers. There is no
legal provision to provide affordable legal counsel for poor
defendants, except in capital cases. Such defendants may act as their
own lawyers in court.
The secular law, based on English common law, provides citizens
with a fair and efficient judicial process. Shari'a (Islamic law)
supersedes secular law for Muslims in some areas, including divorce,
inheritance, and some sexual crimes. Shari'a is not applied to non-
Muslims. During the year, lawyers trained in both secular law and
Shari'a continued to work on a proposed alignment of the country's two
legal systems into a single, comprehensive legal code. A law society,
or bar association, to promote lawyers' public accountability was
established in July 2003, but it did not convene during the year.
The law lacks provisions to allow companies or individuals to sue
the Government, which traditionally resolves disputes with generous,
non negotiable settlements or in some cases simply refuses to settle.
There were no reports of political prisoners, but information on
possible detainees was very difficult to obtain.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law permits government intrusion into the privacy
of individual persons, families, and homes. Shari'a permits enforcement
of ``khalwat,'' an Islamic prohibition on the close proximity of a
Muslim and a member of the opposite sex other than a spouse or other
close male relative. There were numerous reports of religious
enforcement officers entering homes, buildings, and vehicles to detain
suspects.
The Government monitored the private e-mail and Internet chat room
exchanges of citizens that it believed to be subversive. The Government
employed an informer system as part of its internal security apparatus
to monitor suspected dissidents.
Members of the civil service, the country's main employer, were
prohibited from joining political parties (see Section 2.b.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Under the emergency powers in
effect since 1962, the Government significantly restricted freedom of
speech and freedom of the press. Constitutional amendments adopted
during the year allow members of the newly appointed Legislative
Council to ``speak their opinions freely,'' but they are prohibited
from using language or exhibiting behavior deemed to be
``irresponsible, derogatory, scandalous or injurious,'' and they may be
disqualified for ``disloyalty'' to the Sultan among other offenses.
In 2001, legislation that codified existing practice further
reduced press freedom. Among other restrictions, it requires local
newspapers to obtain operating licenses and prior government approval
of foreign editorial staff, journalists, and printers. The law also
gives the Government the right to bar distribution of foreign
publications, and it requires distributors of foreign publications to
obtain a government permit. The law allows the Government to close a
newspaper without prior notice or showing cause. Journalists deemed to
have published or written ``false and malicious'' reports can be
subjected to fines or prison sentences.
Prior to the promulgation of the 2001 legislation, foreign
newspapers or magazines with articles that were found to be
objectionable, embarrassing, or critical of the Sultan, the royal
family, or the Government were not allowed into the country at times.
Magazine articles with a Christian theme reportedly were censored (see
Section 2.c.). However, the growing access to fax machines, the
Internet, and satellite transmissions made it increasingly difficult to
keep such material from entering the country.
The country's largest circulation daily newspaper, the Borneo
Bulletin, practiced self-censorship in its choice of topics to avoid
angering the Government. However, letters to the editor often included
comments critical of the Government's handling of certain social,
economic, and environmental issues. On occasion, the Government
responded to public opinion on some issues concerning social or
environmental problems. There was a Malay-language newspaper, the Media
Permata, that circulated approximately 5,000 copies. There also were
several Chinese language newspapers.
Although the Government owned the country's only television
station, three Malaysian television channels were available. Two
satellite television networks also were available and offered a total
of 28 different channels, including the Cable News Network, the British
Broadcasting Corporation World News, and several entertainment and
sports channels.
The Government's tolerance of political criticism was not tested
because there was no organized opposition. In the past, the Government
has arrested those who attempted to propagate unwelcome political
views. The Borneo Bulletin continued to heed advice from the police not
to publish any reports about the activities of the Consumers'
Association of Brunei, a quasi-human rights organization (see Section
4).
After the detention of two persons involved in disseminating on a
locally hosted Internet forum criticism of the Government and the royal
family deemed ``subversive'' by the Government, fear of government
surveillance reduced the number of visitors to the few existing forums.
The Government also was believed to have periodically blocked access to
at least one forum hosted outside the country, although a fourth forum
opened early in the year. The country's primary Internet service
provider was state owned.
The Government generally respected academic freedom; however, some
researchers chose to publish from overseas and under a pseudonym when
they perceived that subject matter pertaining to the country would not
be well received. There were no politically oriented student
associations.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Under the
emergency powers in effect since 1962, the Government significantly
restricted the right to assemble. Freedom to assemble for political
purposes was not tested during the year.
Political parties are allowed, but they may not engage in
``activities that endanger people.'' Civil servants and security force
personnel, who together made up 60 percent of all employed citizens,
are not permitted to join political parties. There were two registered
parties in the country, the Brunei Solidarity National Party (PPKB) and
the Brunei People's Awareness Party (PAKAR). Both parties pledged their
support to the Sultan and the system of government, although they
criticized administrative deficiencies. During the year, the parties
largely were inactive, their few activities often went unpublicized,
and they were hindered by membership restrictions. However, several
members and former members of political parties were consulted
informally about the program of the resumed Legislative Council.
The few nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were based locally and
generally were professional, business, or social associations. An NGO
seeking to operate in the country is required to apply for permission
under the Companies Act and provide a list of members. The Government
continued to restrict the activities of international service
organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis, and the Lions, which developed
out of the established business community. Religious regulations
promulgated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the State Mufti's
Office prohibit Muslims from joining these organizations.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution states, ``The religion of
Brunei Darussalam shall be the Muslim religion according to the Shafi'i
sect of that religion: Provided that all other religions may be
practiced in peace and harmony by the person professing them in any
part of Brunei Darussalam.'' The Government controlled mosques, and the
Ministry of Religious Affairs prepared the weekly Friday sermons
delivered in mosques countrywide. In 1993, the Government participated
in issuing the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, which affirms the right of all
persons to a wide range of human rights, including freedom of religion.
However, the Government restricted the practice of non-Islamic
religions and of non-Shafi'i Islamic groups.
The Government reinforced the legitimacy of the hereditary monarchy
and the observance of traditional and Islamic values through a national
ideology known as the Melayu Islam Beraja, or ``Malay Muslim
Monarchy.'' Constitutional provisions allow for the full and
unconstrained exercise of religious freedom; however, the Government
routinely restricted the practice of non-Muslim religions by
prohibiting proselytizing; occasionally denying entry to foreign clergy
or particular priests, bishops, or ministers; banning the importation
of religious teaching materials or scriptures such as the Bible; and
denying requests to expand or build new churches, temples, and shrines.
There has been a Catholic apostolic prefecture in the country since
1998 headed by an ethnic Chinese Bruneian Prefect. While not permitted
to build new premises, Christian churches were given permission to
repair and expand premises on safety grounds. All non-Shafi'i religious
groups are required to register as associations under the Societies
Act, but in 2003 two Christian groups were denied permission to
register, which is required by law for a group to worship communally.
An organization that fails to register can face charges of unlawful
assembly. Only Islamic groups belonging to the Shafi'i school are
permitted to organize public religious processions; however, during the
year, a limited number of public lion dances to celebrate the Chinese
Lunar New Year were allowed.
Muslims who wished to change or renounce their religion faced
considerable difficulties. Born Muslims faced official and societal
pressure not to leave Islam. Permission from the Ministry of Religious
Affairs must be obtained, and there were no reports of anyone
requesting such permission. During the year, there were instances of
persons, often foreign women, who converted to Islam as a prelude to
marrying Muslims, as required by the country's Islamic law. If the
marriages took place, these women faced intense official pressure not
to return to their former religions or encountered extraordinary delays
in obtaining permission to do so. There were cases of divorced Muslim
converts who, because of official and societal pressure, remained
officially Muslim.
The Government investigated and used its internal security
apparatus--including such measures as surveillance, investigation, and
detention--against persons whom it considered to be purveyors of
radical Islam, non-Muslims who attempted to proselytize, and religious
groups that did not belong to the official religion. It has banned the
Baha'i faith and the Islamist Al-Arqam movement and detained a number
of the latter's followers. In July, the Government released six members
of the movement who had been detained since September 2003. Before
their release, the six underwent several months of ``rehabilitation,''
which entailed physical and psychological pressure, public
renunciations, and re-education. A seventh man, Mohammed Ashadi Haji
Sulaiman, who had been arrested later than the six, remained in
detention at year's end. Unlike in previous years, the Government did
not detain evangelical Christians for alleged subversive activities.
Non-Muslims who proselytize may be arrested or detained and held
without charges for an extended period of time.
During the year, the Government continued work on a proposed
alignment to combine the country's secular law and Shari'a into a
single, comprehensive legal code. The authorities enforced some Shari'a
regulations and in April arrested 46 Muslims for not performing Friday
prayers. Thirty-two of those arrested were foreigners. The offenders
were fined and later released. There was a marked increase in arrests
for other offenses under Shari'a, such as ``khalwat'' and consumption
of alcohol.
During the year, the Government routinely censored magazine
articles on other faiths by blacking out or removing photographs of
crucifixes and other Christian religious symbols. In addition,
government officials prevented the public display, distribution, and
sale of items featuring non-Islamic religious symbols.
The Ministry of Education requires courses on Islam or the national
ideology, the Malay Muslim Monarchy, and prohibits the teaching of
other religions. The Ministry requires that all students, including
non-Muslims, follow a course of study on the Islamic faith and learn
Arabic script. The International School of Brunei and the Jerudong
International School were exempt from these requirements. Private
Christian schools are not allowed to give Christian instruction and are
required to give instruction on Islam. However, the Government did not
prohibit or restrict parents from giving religious instruction to
children in their own homes.
The Government requires residents to carry an identity card that
states the bearer's religion. Visitors to the country are asked to
identify their religion on their landing cards.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Government restricts the movement of
former political prisoners during the first year of their release.
Generally, the Government does not restrict the freedom of movement of
citizens, visitors, and permanent residents. Government employees, both
citizens and foreigners working on a contractual basis, must apply for
approval to go abroad, which was granted routinely.
Under a colonial-era law, the Sultan may forcibly exile, either
permanently or temporarily, any person deemed to be a threat to the
safety, peace, or welfare of the country. However, since independence
there have been no cases of banishment of citizens.
The country is not party to the 1951 Convention on the status of
refugees or the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees. No
legal provision exists for granting temporary refuge or refugee status
to those seeking such refuge or asylum. Under the law, persons arriving
without valid entry documents and means of support are considered
illegal immigrants and are refused entry. There were no reported cases
of individuals seeking temporary refuge during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens did not have the right to change their government
peacefully, and civil servants are not permitted to join political
parties. In September, the Sultan named a fully appointed Legislative
Council, which he revived after a 20-year suspension. However, the
Council had no powers independent of the Sultan. Political authority
and control rested entirely with the Sultan, while the Council provided
a forum for public discussion of proposed government programs as well
as administrative deficiencies. Members of the Sultan's appointed
Cabinet served as his principal advisors.
Individuals sought to express their views or to influence
government decisions and policies by posting messages to Internet
discussion boards, writing letters to local newspapers, and petitioning
the Sultan or handing him letters when he appeared in public (see
Section 2.a.).
The country has attempted, with limited success, to
institutionalize a form of popular representation based on a
traditional system of village chiefs elected by secret ballot by all
adults. Candidates must be approved by the Government and must be Malay
or of a recognized indigenous race. These leaders are expected to
communicate constituents' wishes through a variety of channels,
including periodic meetings, chaired by the Home Affairs Minister, with
several officials appointed by the Sultan. Regular meetings between
senior government officials and ``Mukim'' (a group of villages)
representatives allowed for airing of local grievances and concerns.
In September, in addition to reviving the Legislative Council, the
Sultan also announced changes to the Constitution that consolidated his
executive powers while providing for limited elections to the
Legislative Council. Amendments to royal succession to include the
Sultan's sons from a second (now divorced) wife also were approved.
There were reliable reports of concealed corruption in the
Government. The Government has announced a ``zero tolerance'' policy
for corrupt policy and has successfully prosecuted a number of low-
level officials. The Government also began prosecuting a former
Minister of Development on charges of corruptly awarding government
projects and accepting bribes. The case had not been decided at year's
end.
In 2000, the Government declared its intention to be more
transparent. While there has been some minor improvement, the
Government continued to restrict and classify as confidential any
information on the Government's and the royal family's financial
dealings, particularly regarding expenditures, revenues, and incomes.
The lack of a representative, democratic government seriously
limited the role of both men and women in government and politics,
although women were limited to a greater extent. There were no women
ministers in the Government or the Legislative Council, although the
Sultan's sister, Princess Masna, was the second-ranking official in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and there were women ambassadors, judges,
and other senior officials.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Consumers' Association of Brunei (CAB), established in 2002,
attempted to address human rights but was impeded by the Government
from doing so. In the past, the CAB has publicized poor working and
living conditions of foreign workers involved in protest work stoppages
(see Section 6.e.). In 2002, the organization received a letter from
the Commissioner of Police requesting CAB to show reason why it should
not be deregistered for exceeding its mandate, which primarily focused
on consumer rights. Senior CAB members reportedly were subjected to
surveillance. The association was able to show evidence of its mandate
to address workers' rights, but subsequently the local media did not
publicize the association's activities.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution does not contain specific provisions prohibiting
discrimination based on race, sex, disability, language, or social
status.
Women.--The extent of spousal abuse was unknown. During the year,
there were approximately 80 reported cases of domestic violence against
women. The criminal penalty for a minor domestic assault is 1 to 2
weeks in jail and a fine. An assault resulting in serious injury is
punishable by caning and a longer jail sentence.
A special unit, staffed by female officers, existed within the
police department to investigate domestic abuse and child abuse
complaints. A hotline was in service for persons to report domestic
violence. The Ministry of Culture's Social Affairs Services (SAS) Unit
provided counseling for women and their spouses. During the year,
approximately 20 female domestic abuse victims were sheltered at the
Taman Noor Hidayah, a shelter run by the SAS unit. According to press
reports, the female victims were restricted to the shelter while
waiting for their cases to be brought to court. The reports increased
pressure on the shelter residents to leave the shelter and drop charges
to avoid social stigma.
Islamic courts, staffed by both male and female officials, offered
counseling to married couples in domestic violence cases. Officials did
not encourage wives to reconcile with flagrantly abusive spouses, and
the Islamic courts recognized assault as grounds for divorce.
Female domestic servants, most of whom were foreign workers (see
Sections 6.c. and 6.e.), also were subjected to abuse. While the level
of violence in society generally was low, beating servants or refusing
them the right to leave the house on days off was more prevalent. Since
most foreign female domestics were highly dependent on their employers,
those subject to abuse often were unwilling or unable to bring
complaints, either to the authorities or to their governments'
embassies. However, when such complaints were brought, the Government
generally was quick to investigate allegations of abuse and impose
fines and punishment as warranted. Several workers settled assault
cases out of court with their employers. One foreign embassy maintained
a shelter for domestics involved in disputes with employers and was
active in protecting their citizens' rights.
Prostitution is illegal. Women who entered the country for purposes
of prostitution generally were tried, sentenced, and deported swiftly
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
In accordance with certain Islamic traditions, women are denied
equal status with men in a number of important areas such as divorce,
inheritance, and custody of children. However, the law permits female
citizens to pass their nationality on to their children and to own
property and other assets, including business properties.
Although men were eligible for permanent positions in government
service whether or not they had university degrees, women without
university degrees were eligible to hold government positions only on a
month-to-month basis. Women in month-to-month positions received
slightly less annual leave and fewer allowances than their male and
female counterparts in permanent positions.
There were no separate pay scales for men and women, and in recent
years, there has been a major influx of women into the work force.
Women served in a wide variety of capacities in the police and armed
forces. The number of female university graduates increased, and nearly
two-thirds of the national university's entering class was female.
Religious authorities strongly encouraged Muslim women to wear the
``tudong,'' a traditional head covering, and most women did so. Most
government departments and the uniformed services required female
Muslims and non Muslims to wear the tudong as part of their dress code.
All government schools, as well as the national university and other
educational institutions, also pressured non-Muslim students to wear
the tudong as part of these institutions' uniforms.
Children.--No statistics were published regarding the welfare of
children. The strong commitment to family values within society, the
high standard of living, and government funding for children's welfare
provided most children a healthy and nurturing environment. Education
is free, compulsory, and universal for the first 9 years, after which
it is still free but no longer compulsory. With a few exceptions,
involving small villages in extremely remote areas, nutritional
standards were high and poverty was almost unknown. Medical care for
all citizens, including children, was subsidized heavily and widely
available. Approximately 20 young female rape and sexual abuse victims,
between 9 and 15 years of age, were housed at the government sponsored
Taman Noor Hidayah women's shelter. The penalty for the rape of a minor
is imprisonment for 8 to 30 years and caning with not fewer than 12
strokes.
Trafficking in Persons.--A statute outlaws sexual exploitation and
trafficking of women and girls. In addition, a variety of other laws,
primarily those related to prostitution and the protection of minors,
could be applied against sex traffickers. The country has been a
destination for a small number of persons trafficked for sexual
exploitation from China and within the region. There were very few
identifiable cases of trafficking, and the majority of women who
entered the country as sex workers were considered to have done so
voluntarily. Immigration, labor, and religious regulations that
criminalize prostitution also served to deter trafficking. There were
reports of foreign household laborers who worked under harsh conditions
and whose freedom of movement was restricted (see Section 6.e.).
In December, the Government introduced a specific antitrafficking
law under which a person convicted of trafficking persons, harboring
smuggled persons, or endangering the lives or safety of trafficked or
smuggled persons can be fined up to $606,060 (B$1 million), imprisoned
for up to 30 years, and caned. A person convicted of facilitating
trafficking or smuggling persons can be fined up to $30,303 (B$50,000)
and imprisoned for up to 10 years. Immigration and other law
enforcement officials have begun receiving training to investigate and
prosecute suspected offenders to deal with trafficked victims under the
terms of the new law.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not mandate accessibility
or other assistance for persons with disabilities. The Government
attempted to provide educational services for children with
disabilities; however, these efforts did not meet international norms.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were a sizeable number of
``stateless'' persons and permanent residents, mostly ethnic Chinese,
including persons born and raised in the country, who were not
automatically accorded citizenship and its attendant rights. They had
to travel abroad as stateless persons and did not enjoy the full
privileges of citizenship, including the right to own land. Stateless
persons and permanent residents also were not entitled to subsidized
medical care. In June 2003, a reform to the nationality law allowed
some older, stateless persons and some permanent residents over age 50
to acquire citizenship by passing an oral rather than a written
nationality test. All stateless persons and permanent residents became
entitled to free education at government schools and other vocational
and technical institutions.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Trade unions are legal and
independent but must be registered with the Government. All workers,
including civil servants other than those serving in the military and
those working as prison guards or police officers, may form and join
trade unions. In practice, there was no union activity in the country.
The Government did not encourage unions or facilitate their formation,
and employers in the industrial sector did not encourage foreign
workers to form unions. The three registered trade unions were in the
oil sector, had a total membership of less than 5 percent of that
industry's work force, and were inactive. There were over 100,000
foreign workers in the country, including almost 20,000 garment
industry workers, none of whom were members of any trade union.
The law permits the formation of trade union federations but
forbids affiliation with international labor organizations. The country
has ratified none of the International Labor Organization's (ILO) eight
Fundamental Conventions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There was no
union activity in the country, and questions of government interference
in union matters and employer discrimination against union members did
not arise. There is no legal foundation for collective bargaining, and
strikes are illegal. Wage and benefit packages were based on market
conditions.
There is a free trade zone in Muara Port, known as the Muara Export
Zone (MEZ). The labor laws are fully applicable in the MEZ.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that some foreign domestic workers worked under unacceptable
conditions (see Section 6.e.). Other workers, most notably in the
garment industry, signed contracts with employment agents or other
sponsors in their home countries that reduced their promised salaries
through payments to the agencies or sponsors. In 2003, the Government
forbade wage deductions to agencies or sponsors and mandated that
employees receive their full salaries. However, the payment by foreign
workers of high fees to manpower agents to obtain work in the country
continued.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Various laws prohibit the employment of children under the age of 16.
Parental consent and approval by the Labor Commission is required for
those under the age of 18. Female workers under 18 may not work at
night or on offshore oil platforms. The Department of Labor (DOL),
which is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, effectively enforced
laws on the employment of children. There were no reports of violations
of the child labor laws.
The Government adhered to the standards of ILO Convention 182 on
the worst forms of child labor, but it is not a member of the ILO.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Due to the ongoing economic
downturn and reduced government hiring, unemployment has grown in
recent years. However, most citizens who had employment commanded good
salaries. There is no minimum wage. The standard workweek is Monday
through Thursday and Saturday, with Friday and Sunday off, allowing for
two 24-hour rest periods each week. Overtime is paid for work in excess
of 48 hours per week, and double time is paid for work performed on
legal holidays. Occupational health and safety standards are
established by government regulations. The DOL inspected working
conditions on a routine basis and in response to complaints. The DOL
generally enforced labor regulations effectively. However, enforcement
in the unskilled labor sector was lax, especially for foreign laborers.
The DOL may close any workplace where health, safety, or working
conditions are unsatisfactory, and it has done so. The law permits a
worker to leave a hazardous job site without jeopardizing his
employment, but generally this did not occur.
At least 100,000 foreign nationals worked in the country. There
were reports of foreign maids and other domestic workers who worked
exceptionally long hours, did not have a rest day, and whose liberty
was severely restricted. There also were isolated reports of employers
who beat domestic employees or did not provide them with adequate food.
The Government prosecuted some cases; employers found guilty of abuses
typically were fined and asked to compensate the victim.
Government protective measures for foreign workers included arrival
briefings for workers, inspections of facilities, and a telephone
hotline for worker complaints. Government mediation continued to be the
most common means used to resolve labor disputes. Abusive employers
faced criminal and civil penalties. When grievances cannot be resolved,
repatriation of foreign workers is at the expense of the employer, and
all outstanding wages must be paid. The majority of abuse cases were
settled out of court by the payment of financial compensation to the
worker by the errant employer.
In February, the country amended its immigration laws by
introducing retroactive prison sentences and caning for overstaying
workers and illegal immigrants seeking work, as well as for workers
employed by companies other than their initial sponsor. While the
majority of prosecutions were for long-term overstayers, many workers
were in illegal status owing to their former employers' negligence.
Diplomatic missions appealed to the Government to delay the
introduction of caning penalties and not apply the law retroactively.
The Government delayed the introduction of caning penalties until June.
Several hundred workers were duped by foreign and local manpower
agents into paying high recruitment fees to obtain a 3-month short-term
work contract. Many of the workers subsequently were not able to
transfer to standard 2-year contracts, and some lapsed into illegal
immigration status. Diplomatic missions also appealed to the Government
for leniency for these persons, and the Government granted their
request. The Government acted to close this loophole by requiring
employment agencies to register and limiting work permit renewals to
registered agents.
Beginning in June, the Government also used the Labor Act's
provisions to prosecute errant employers who employed illegal
immigrants or did not process workers' documents, rendering them in
illegal status. In addition, it began prosecuting employers for not
paying workers' salaries. In one case, the court ordered a citizen to
pay 17 months' salary arrears to his maid or serve a 9-month jail term.
__________
BURMA
Since 1962, Burma has been ruled by a succession of highly
authoritarian military regimes dominated by the majority Burman ethnic
group. In 1990, pro-democracy parties won more than 80 percent of the
seats during generally free and fair parliamentary elections, but the
junta refused to recognize the results. The current controlling
military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is the
country's de facto government, with subordinate Peace and Development
Councils ruling by decree at the division, state, city, township, ward,
and village levels. On October 19, hardliners further consolidated
their power by ousting former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and appointing
Soe Win. From May through July, the SPDC reconvened a National
Convention (NC) as part of its purported ``Road Map to Democracy.'' The
NC excluded the largest opposition party and did not allow free debate.
The judiciary was not independent and was subject to military control.
The Government reinforced its rule with a pervasive security
apparatus. Until its dismantling in October, the Office of Chief
Military Intelligence (OCMI) exercised control through surveillance,
harassment of political activists, intimidation, arrest, detention,
physical abuse, and restrictions on citizens' contacts with foreigners.
After October, the Government's new Military Affairs Security (MAS)
assumed a similar role, though apparently with less sweeping powers.
The Government justified its security measures as necessary to maintain
order and national unity. Members of the security forces committed
numerous serious human rights abuses.
Although resource rich, the country is extremely poor. The
estimated annual per capita income was approximately $225. Most of the
population of more than 50 million lived in rural areas at subsistence
levels. More than 4 decades of economic mismanagement and endemic
corruption have resulted in widespread poverty, poor health care,
declining education levels, poor infrastructure, and continuously
deteriorating economic conditions. During the year, poor economic
policymaking, lingering consequences of the 2003 private banking sector
collapse, and the economic consequences of international sanctions
further weakened the economy.
The Government's extremely poor human rights record worsened, and
the Government continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Citizens
still did not have the right to criticize or change their government.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of government-
affiliated agents killing pro-democracy activists. Security forces
continued to carry out extrajudicial killings. Disappearances
continued, and security forces raped, tortured, beat, and otherwise
abused prisoners and detainees. Citizens were subjected to arbitrary
arrest without appeal. Arrests and detention for political dissent
occurred on numerous occasions. During the year, the Government
arrested at least 85 democracy supporters, primarily members of the
country's largest pro democracy party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), although it subsequently released 42. The remaining 43
were charged, tried, and imprisoned.
The Government detained many of them in secret locations without
notifying their families or providing access to due legal process or
counsel. During the year, the Government released approximately 59
persons who were arrested and sentenced to prison following the
Government orchestrated May 2003 attack on NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since May 2003, the Government has released 151 of 153 individuals who
were arrested or detained after the attack, including 7 of the 9
members of the NLD Central Executive Committee. However, Aung San Suu
Kyi and NLD Vice Chairman U Tin Oo remained under house arrest, and all
NLD offices, except the Rangoon headquarters, remained closed. The
Government did not investigate the May 30 attack.
During the year, the Government released at least 100 long term
political prisoners, many of whom had already completed their
sentences. At year's end, an estimated 1,500 security detainees
remained in prison. In November and December, the SPDC announced it had
released 14,318 convicts, citing ``improper deeds'' of the disbanded
National Intelligence Bureau. The Government did not offer evidence to
support its claim of mass prison releases and only 76 of those released
were considered political prisoners. Prison conditions remained harsh
and life threatening, and facilities were Spartan, but prisoners'
rights continued to improve as a result of efforts by the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which continued to have regular
access.
The Government regularly infringed on citizens' privacy; security
forces continued to monitor systematically citizen's communications,
search homes without warrants, and relocate persons forcibly without
just compensation or legal recourse. The Government also continued to
forcibly relocate large ethnic minority civilian populations,
confiscate land and property, use forced labor, and conscript child
soldiers. The Government also forced conscription of the civilian
population into militia units. The Government did not take steps to
prosecute or punish human rights abusers.
The Government continued to restrict severely freedom of speech,
press, assembly, association, and movement. The Government restricted
freedom of religion, coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions,
and imposed restrictions on religious minorities. Acts of
discrimination and harassment against Muslims continued. Security
forces continued to monitor systematically citizens' movements and
continued to restrict freedom of movement, in particular, foreign
travel by young female citizens.
The Government did not permit domestic human rights organizations
to function independently and remained hostile to outside scrutiny of
its human rights record. It refused several requests by the U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights (UNSRHR), Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to
visit. Senior government officials also refused to meet the UNSRHR
outside the country. The Government allowed the International Labor
Organization (ILO) to operate a liaison office in Rangoon; however,
some individuals who sought to report incidents of forced labor were
detained or subjected to criminal prosecution.
Violence and societal discrimination against women remained
problems, as did discrimination against religious and ethnic
minorities. Trafficking in persons, particularly in women and girls
primarily for the purpose of prostitution, remained widespread, despite
some efforts to address the problem. The Government continued to
restrict worker rights, ban unions, and use forced labor for public
works and for the support of military garrisons. Forced child labor
remained a serious problem, despite recent ordinances outlawing the
practice. The forced use of citizens as porters by the military
including mistreatment, illness, and sometimes death continued, as did
forced recruitment of child soldiers.
Ethnic armed groups including the Karen National Union (KNU), the
Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), and the Shan State Army
South (SSA South) also reportedly committed human rights abuses,
including killings, rapes, forced labor, and conscription of child
soldiers, although on a lesser scale than the Government.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Unlike in previous
years, there were no known instances of government-affiliated agents
killing pro-democracy activists. In March, the Shan Human Rights
Foundation (SHRF) reported a commander from Light Infantry Battalion
514 beat a civilian to death in front of a military checkpoint in Mong
Kung Township, Shan State for refusing to provide his vehicle for
forced labor.
In July, there was an unverified, but credible report that Maung
Aye, a theft suspect, died after being beaten while in police custody
(see Section 1.c.).
The Government refused to investigate, or to take any
responsibility for, the May 2003 attack by government affiliated forces
on an NLD convoy led by party leader Aung San Suu Kyi near the village
of Depeyin. During the attack, the assailants used bamboo staves and
metal pipes to kill or injure at least six pro democracy supporters
including four NLD members: San Myint, Tin Maung Oo, Thein Toe Aye, and
Khin Maung Kyaw. Also killed were Min Zaw Oo, a student; and U Panna
Thiri, a Buddhist monk. There were credible reports of two more victims
who later died of their injuries. Villagers and survivors of the attack
reported that the attackers might have killed as many as 70 pro
democracy supporters accompanying the NLD convoy, but there was no
official verification of this number. By year's end, the fate of other
injured persons, including 47 pro democracy supporters from the convoy,
remained unknown. Of the 10 missing NLD members injured in the attack,
8 fled to Thailand, 1 (Tun Aung Kyaw) died, and 1 remained in hiding.
According to credible reports, throughout the night following the
attack, security forces clashed with and may have killed scores of
villagers, students, and Buddhist monks in the villages surrounding the
attack site. The Government did not acknowledge the alleged killings in
the surrounding villages. Diplomatic observers received credible
reports that 16 injured attackers were hospitalized at a military base
in Monywa, Sagaing Division, and subsequently released on July 2. The
Government did not credibly investigate any of the attacks.
Officials reportedly involved in the assault were not held
accountable and in fact continued to be promoted. On October 19,
Lieutenant General Soe Win, reportedly involved in planning the attack,
was promoted to Prime Minister, the third highest ranking position in
the SPDC. Regional commander Major General Soe Naing, reliably reported
to be responsible for executing the attack, was made commander of the
Irrawaddy Division. Deputy Regional Commander, Brigadier General Ohn
Myint, was promoted to commander of the military's Coastal Command.
Reliable sources reported that Lieutenant Colonel Than Han, Chairman of
Shwebo District, Sagaing Division Peace and Development Council, the
senior regional political figure responsible for the attacks, was
promoted to brigadier general and appointed director of Police
Operations.
Similarly, there were no reports that the Government took action to
investigate or prosecute soldiers involved in any of the 2003 killings
reported by the SHRF and the KNU: two farmers accused of being or
helping Shan soldiers in Namhsan Township, Shan State; a displaced
farmer in Lai Kha Town in Shan State; a farmer at a remote farm in Shan
State; and two Karen village chiefs.
There also were no reports that the Government took action to
investigate or prosecute soldiers involved in the following acts
reported in 2002: the killing of 10 persons, including 6 children, and
the injuring of 9 in Karen State; the robbery and killing of 6
civilians near the Thailand border in Shan State; and the killing of 10
villagers in Kholam, Shan State.
In August 2002, the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions (ICFTU) reported that army troops killed an official of the Free
Trade Union of Burma (the Kawthoolei Education Workers Union) (see
Section 6.a.).
There were several unverified reports of deaths due to security
forces using civilians to clear landmines; however, reported incidents
declined from previous years due to a temporary cease fire between the
Government and the KNU (see Section 1.g).
Some armed ethnic groups also reportedly committed killings during
the year. According to the government newspaper, The New Light of
Myanmar, on August 1, the Shan United Revolutionary Army killed five
farmers in Namhsan Township.
b. Disappearance.--Private citizens and political activists
continued to ``disappear'' for periods ranging from several hours to
several weeks or more, and many persons never reappeared. Such
disappearances generally were attributed to authorities detaining
individuals for questioning without informing family members and the
army's practice of seizing private citizens for porterage or related
duties, often without notifying family members (see Section 6.c.).
Diplomatic observers reported an improved response by police
authorities to requests for information on missing or incarcerated
individuals. No improvement was reported regarding requests for
information directed to the military or military intelligence services.
In many cases, individuals who were detained for questioning were
released soon afterward and returned to their families.
In late January, Nyan Gyi, an NLD youth member from South Dagon
Township, disappeared. Family members initially were unable to trace
him, but eventually learned through the relative of another prisoner
that he was in Insein prison and on trial. At year's end, he still was
being denied access to family members and lawyers.
There was no further information on the 17 cases mentioned in a
2003 Amnesty International (AI) report of persons who disappeared while
in Government detention in 2002.
The whereabouts of persons seized by military units to serve as
porters, as well as prisoners transferred for labor or porterage
duties, often remained unknown. Family members generally learned of
their relatives' fates only if fellow prisoners survived and later
reported information to the families.
There were no developments in the August 2003 case of a 15 year old
student and three or four other youths who disappeared from a Rangoon
teashop and were believed to have been forcibly taken by the Government
for military portering.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--There are laws that prohibit torture; however, members of
the security forces reportedly tortured, beat, and otherwise abused
prisoners, detainees, and other citizens. They routinely subjected
detainees to harsh interrogation techniques designed to intimidate and
disorient. In June, four members of the NLD were taken into custody,
interrogated, and forced to stand on stools for 3 days. The four were
forced to sign false written confessions that led to prison sentences
of up to 15 years for violating the Emergency Provision Act of 1950,
the Unlawful Association Act of 1908, and the Immigration Act of 1947
(amended in 1950 and 1962). The court ruled the three sentences would
not have to be served consecutively, but rather the defendants would
serve the longest of the three counts (7 years). The son of the most
prominent member of this group also was taken into custody and beaten
by OCMI agents before being released.
Reliable sources reported that on February 24, authorities at
Insein prison beat NLD member Khin Maung Oo unconscious. Also in
February, there was an unverified report that Rangoon police and
firemen beat San Htay for unknown reasons. In July, there was an
unverified but credible report that Maung Aye, a theft suspect, died
after being beaten while in police custody.
The military routinely confiscated property, cash, and food, and
used coercive and abusive recruitment methods to procure porters.
Persons forced into porterage or other labor faced extremely difficult
conditions, beatings, lack of food, lack of clean water, and
mistreatment that at times resulted in death.
Karen sources reported that human rights abuses in Karen State
declined significantly after cease fire talks between the SPDC and the
KNU began in January; however, subsequent reports indicated that the
military continued to commit abuses, including beatings, rape, forced
mine clearing, and forced labor, against villagers in Karen State and
Tanintharyi Division.
In September, a credible source in Karen State reported that
soldiers from the pro government Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)
raped several young Buddhist nuns (ages 8 11).
The Government did not investigate the 2003 reports that a DKBA
commander and government soldiers used threats and beat villagers in
Karen State to recruit forced laborers.
Eyewitnesses reported that during the May 2003 attack on the NLD,
government affiliated attackers raped several female democracy
supporters. The Government did not investigate these allegations.
Throughout the year, there were credible reports of government
soldiers raping women who were members of ethnic minorities in Karen
State, Shan State, and Mon State.
In December 2003, OCMI agents arrested and later sent Kyaw Ye Win
and Khin Hla Hla Su Win to Ywathagyi psychiatric hospital for
demonstrating in front of Rangoon City Hall for the release of all
political prisoners. There was no further information on this case at
year's end.
Prison and labor camp conditions generally remained harsh and life
threatening; however, during the year, the ICRC reported the Government
did a better job meeting standards set by existing regulations. The
Department of Prisons operated approximately 35 prisons and
approximately 70 labor camps throughout the country (see Section 6.c.).
In prisons, food, clothing, and medical supplies reportedly were in
very short supply. Bedding consisted of a single mat on the floor.
Prisoners were forced to rely on their families, who were allowed to
visit once every 2 weeks for 15 minutes per visit, for basic
necessities. Prisoners were held without being charged for weeks or
months, and until a prisoner was officially charged with a crime,
families could not visit or send critical supplementary food. HIV/AIDS
infection rates in prison reportedly were high due to communal use of
single syringes for injections and sexual abuse by other prisoners. In
March, unverified reports indicated that the Government revoked access
by prisoners to periodicals and television granted following a visit
from the UNSRHR in 2003.
The Government continued to deny prisoners adequate medical care;
however, the ICRC reported that a joint working group consisting of the
ICRC, the Department of Prisons, and the Ministry of Health created a
central medical service for all prisons. Ministry of Health
professionals staffed the service with key personnel trained by the
ICRC.
During the year, the health of several political prisoners
deteriorated. On February 24, imprisoned student leader Htay Kywe
suffered a life threatening deterioration in his health following a
routine operation. He was released on October 26 (see Section 1.d.).
Other prominent political prisoners who suffered deteriorating health
included: student leader Ko Ko Gyi; NLD Members of Parliament elect
(M.P.s-elect) Dr. Than Nyein and U Naing Naing; and journalists Htwe
Myint (released on December 11) and U Win Tin.
On December 8, Dr. Than Nyein, who suffers from liver disease, was
not permitted to keep a previously scheduled doctor's appointment.
Instead, he was transferred to Paungte Prison, where medical care is
not available.
During the year, three prisoners died in custody. On January 28,
Shwe Tin, an executive of a defunct political party, died at Taungoo
Prison. Min Thu, a former student leader and a lawyer, died on June 12
at Insein Prison. The Prison Department authority did not inform family
members of these deaths. On October 19, Zaw Myo Htet died from severe
liver disease while in custody. In 2003, at least three political
prisoners died in custody.
During the year, three political prisoners died of untreated
medical conditions shortly after being released. On July 20, NLD member
and artist Wa-ne Soe died of liver cancer within a month of his
release. Shortly thereafter, Than Win died of liver cirrhosis. On July
25, well known poet and NLD member Kyi Tin Oo died after an early
release on March 26 due to liver complications contracted while in
prison.
The health of Soe Win, an M.P. elect for the pro democracy Party
for National Democracy, improved during the year, though he remains
blind in one eye due to injuries received during detention in June
2003. In July 2003, the Government claimed he had attempted suicide,
but did not provide any information or proof of an investigation into
this case. In September 2003, 74 year old Tin Aye, former Chairman of
the University Student Union, died 1 month after the Government
released him from a lengthy prison sentence. Aung Zaya, chairman of the
Democratic Party for New Society, who was released in 2003 after 11
years in detention, became paralyzed from abuse and inadequate medical
attention during his imprisonment; his ill health and disability
continued during the year.
According to the Government, political detainees were separated
from common criminals, juveniles from adults, and men from women.
According to the ICRC, the Government's stated position was that
political prisoners should not be subjected to hard labor.
During the year, the ICRC conducted periodic visits to all prisons
in the country, with the goal of visiting each at least once a year.
The ICRC reports that as a result of a constructive dialogue with the
Government on prison problems it has the right to talk in private with
prisoners; to make repeated visits as desired; and to have full access
to prisoners. ICRC visits to labor camps began in March 2000 and
continued during the year. There reportedly were approximately 70
camps, but many were temporary, existing only long enough to complete a
specific work project. The Government allowed the ICRC to perform its
traditional services, such as providing medications, delivering letters
to and from prisoners, and providing support for family visits to
prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--During the year, the Government
continued to rule by decree and was not bound by any constitutional
provisions providing for fair public trials or any other rights. There
is no provision in the law for judicial determination of the legality
of detention, and the Government routinely used arbitrary arrest and
incommunicado detention. The Penal Code allows authorities to extend
sentences after prisoners have completed their original sentence, and
the Government makes regular use of this provision (see Section 1.c).
The police are auxiliary forces of the military and are under
direct command of military officers. They primarily deal with common
crimes and do not handle political crimes. The Myanmar Police Force is
administratively under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Corruption and
impunity were serious problems due to a government imposed system
whereby police were required to collect funds for their operations.
Police typically required victims to pay substantial sums for crime
investigations, and police often extorted money from the civilian
population.
MAS (formerly OCMI) officers are responsible for arresting persons
suspected of ``political crimes'' that are perceived to threaten or
undermine the Government. Upon arrest, MAS/OCMI officers, or in some
cases police officers, take prisoners to MAS/OCMI regional
interrogation centers where MAS/OCMI officers interrogate the arrested
person for a period ranging from hours to months and can charge the
person with a crime at any time during the interrogation. A hood
frequently was placed on those accused or suspected of political crimes
upon arrest.
On December 3, Thet Naung Soe attempted to go on hunger strike in
prison to demand the release of all political prisoners. His family
tried to visit him, but the jailors showed them a note written in his
own handwriting that he did not wish to meet his family at the time. A
prison official indicated that Thet Naung Soe had refused food and was
in the prison hospital.
The Government continued to arrest and detain citizens for extended
periods without charging them, often under the Emergency Act of 1950,
which allows for indefinite detention. In 2002, OCMI officers arrested
Shwe Maung for making a symbolic golden hat for Aung San Suu Kyi and
placed him in a dark cell for 4 months before charging him with
``keeping stolen goods,'' and sentencing him in February 2003 to 3
years imprisonment.
On April 9, the Government sentenced 11 members of the Mandalay
Division NLD to between 7 and 22 years in prison for ``illegal
association'' with an exile group in Thailand. In early June, OCMI
detained NLD Township Executive members from Magwe and Rangoon
Divisions Than Than Htay and Tin Myint on similar charges. They were
interrogated for several weeks before being transferred to Insein
Prison. Later in June, authorities arrested Ye Ye Win, San Ya, and Ye
Htet, members of NLD in Theinzayat Township in Mon State, accused them
of contacting exile groups in Thailand, and held them incommunicado. In
September, a court sentenced them to 7-years imprisonment. On September
24, Than Than Htay and Tin Myint, along with one other NLD member, were
found guilty of violating three counts of Burmese law and sentenced to
7 years in prison. The Government had no credible evidence against
them.
In mid February, the OCMI transferred NLD Vice Chairman U Tin Oo
(arrested following the May 2003 Depeyin attack) from Kalay Prison,
Sagaing Division, to his residence in Rangoon where he remains under
house arrest. In mid April, the Government released NLD Chairman U Aung
Shwe and Secretary and Party Spokesman U Lwin from house arrest where
they had been since the 2003 attack. Only Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo
remain under house arrest. During the year, authorities further
restricted the conditions of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by
removing her personal security detail and limiting visits by her
personal physician.
At year's end, the Government had released 151 of 153 arrested
during and immediately following the Depeyin attack; however, in the
months following the attack, the Government detained at least 270
additional NLD members, political supporters, and affiliated monks
across the country. Some of them were charged with political crimes,
and some were simply detained arbitrarily. At year's end, all but
approximately 90 had been released.
On December 2, NLD representative Dr. Mying Naing was arrested for
``reckless driving'' and causing injury to a pedestrian in Shwebo,
Sagaing Division. Although the victim admitted it was her fault, Dr.
Mying Naing was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment. On December 2, NLD
member U Kyaw Swe was arrested in Chaung Oo, Sagaing Division on
charges of possessing an unregistered motorcycle and obstructing
authorities in the line of duty. He was sentenced to 2 years
imprisonment in Monywa Prison on December 8. On December 6, 11 NLD
members from Bogalay Township, Irrawaddy Division were arrested for
refusing to sign a statement that they would not hold an NLD
celebration on National Day. On December 19, five NLD members were
arrested for allegedly possessing and distributing a leaflet titled
``An Appeal to the Masses,'' which was published by a dissident group
in Mae Sot, Thailand.
In January 2003, the OCMI arrested two Buddhist nuns for shouting
pro democracy slogans and handing out pamphlets in front of the Rangoon
City Hall and a third nun for opposing the arrest of her colleagues.
Denied legal representation, the nuns were subsequently sentenced to 13
years in prison. In June 2003, OCMI officers arrested Myo Khin, Myat
Gyi, Maung Maung Lay, and Ne Win of the Rangoon Division NLD for
demanding that authorities reopen the NLD office in Bahan Township,
Rangoon. Family members were denied access to them for months, and they
reportedly were sentenced to 7 years in Insein Prison. Only after the
convictions did the Government allow family members and lawyers to
visit the prisoners. In September 2003, OCMI officers and local police
arrested Phone Aung for demonstrating outside Rangoon City Hall calling
for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. A court sentenced him in mid
December 2003 to 14 years at Insein Prison. He did not have legal
representation during the judicial process, and was denied access to
his family.
In 2002, the Government arrested at least 30 political activists in
Rangoon including educator Hla Htut Soe, Buddhist monk U Veda (lay
name, Maung Maung Aye), and 2 lawyers, U Aye and U Myint Yi. Also among
those arrested was Hla Tun, an NLD M.P.-elect from the 1990 election
who was not known to have been active in the NLD since he was released
from prison in 1999. According to international press reports the
Government sentenced approximately a dozen of the activists to prison
terms of 3 to 22 years.
Elected M.P.s were harassed and pressured to resign. In northern
Shan State, local authorities pressured Sai Tun Aung of the Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy to resign. Than Htay, an elected
member (NLD) from Lashio, resisted pressure from the Government to
leave his post. Consequently, local authorities arrested him and
charged him with four counts of violating the Customs Act, the Export-
Import Act, and the Wireless and Telegraph Act. The police arrested
Than Htay because his son, who owned a legally registered shop selling
electronic equipment, had sold an ``illegal'' cordless telephone and
electronic equipment to a customer. Than Htay was not connected to his
son's business operationally, although he owned the building in which
it was located.
The Government routinely extends prison sentences under the Law
Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements. The
Minister of Home Affairs has the right to extend unilaterally a prison
sentence on six separate occasions for 2 months, that is, for up to 1
year. The SPDC Chairman, Senior General Than Shwe, can add 5 years to a
sentence. In March 2003, Kyaw Hsan, a 74 year-old M.P. elect and
retired army colonel, completed his politically motivated 10 year
prison term and was being released; however, when in sight of his
family at the prison gate he was forced to return to his cell. He
finally was released on November 19. In 2003, in Mandalay, 10 political
prisoners, including Ne Win, Tin Aye Yu, Tin Myint, Tin Aye, Zarni
Aung, Thein Than Oo, Kyaw Sein Maung, Naing Myint, Htay Nyunt, and Soe
Myint, completed their terms, but were not released. Naing Myint was
released on November 26. At various times in 2003 and during the year,
the Government released prisoners being held under this law. At year's
end, the Government was holding approximately 27 students and political
activists in prison beyond the expiration of their sentences, including
Ko Ko Gyi, who was reportedly in poor health.
Following the October ouster of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, the SPDC
initiated three prisoner releases. In November and December, the SPDC
released 14,318 convicts, citing ``improper deeds'' of the disbanded
OCMI. Only 76 of those released were considered political prisoners.
Credible reports indicate that most, if not all, of the 90
remaining political prisoners arrested formally in connection with the
May 2003 Depeyin attack have been sentenced. However it is possible
that the Government is holding some indefinitely, without formal
sentencing, under the Law Safeguarding the State from the Danger of
Subversive Elements. The ICRC restored family links for most of those
detained in connection with the May 2003 attacks.
Authorities continued to detain private citizens and political
activists, some of whom disappeared, at times temporarily (see Section
1.b.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The judiciary is not independent
of the Government. The SPDC appoints justices to the Supreme Court who,
in turn, appoint lower court judges with the approval of the SPDC.
These courts then adjudicate cases under decrees promulgated by the
SPDC that effectively have the force of law. The court system includes
courts at the township, district, state, and national levels.
During the year, the Government continued to rule by decree and was
not bound by any constitutional provisions providing for fair public
trials or any other rights. Although remnants of the British era legal
system formally were in place, the court system and its operation
remained seriously flawed, particularly in regard to the handling of
political cases. The misuse of blanket laws including the Emergency
Provisions Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Habitual Offenders
Act, and the Law on Safeguarding the State from the Danger of
Subversive Elements and the manipulation of the courts for political
ends continued to deprive citizens of the right to a fair trial.
Pervasive corruption further served to undermine the impartiality of
the justice system.
There is a fundamental difference between criminal and political
trial procedures. Some basic due process rights, including the right to
be represented by a defense attorney, generally were respected in
criminal cases, but not in political cases that the Government deemed
especially sensitive. In criminal cases, defense attorneys generally
are permitted 15 days to prepare for trial, are permitted to call and
cross examine witnesses, and can be granted a 15 day delay for case
preparation; however, their primary purpose is to bargain with the
judge to obtain the shortest possible sentence for their clients.
Reliable reports indicate that senior junta authorities dictate
verdicts in political cases, regardless of the evidence or the law.
Political trials are not open to the public.
None of the NLD members or the hundreds of pro democracy supporters
arrested in association with the May 2003 Depeyin attack were given
public trials. In December 2003, police arrested Thet Lwin, a driver
for a Canadian mining company, for driving his expatriate supervisor in
the vicinity of the Rangoon residence of Aung San Suu Kyi. He was held
incommunicado, and his family had to seek ICRC assistance to learn of
his whereabouts. In February, a closed court sentenced Thet Lwin to 7
years in prison under a criminal charge (abuse of narcotics).
During the year, there was one new arrest of a lawyer with NLD
connections (see Section 2.a). NLD members generally appeared to be
able to retain the counsel of lawyers without fear of the lawyers being
imprisoned; however, lawyers were not always told when trials would
begin. Approximately 14 lawyers remained imprisoned at year's end. Most
had been sentenced prior to 1998, when the Government made it easier
for political prisoners to retain legal counsel.
During the year, the majority of political prisoners released had
completed or nearly completed their sentences, or were in poor health.
Senior military authorities dictated the release of political
prisoners, and the Government required most political prisoners to sign
a release form agreeing to serve the remainder of their terms if
rearrested for any reason. For example, following the May 2003 attack
on Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD members, the Government detained M.P. elect
Hla Min for 1 month, released him, and immediately re imprisoned him to
serve the remainder of a previous prison term. The Government released
him again in late 2003.
At year's end, international officials with regular access to
prisons reported that they have files on 3,600 individual prisoners
whom they consider potentially vulnerable to abuse: security detainees,
minors, foreign citizens and others in need of protection. Among these,
there were some 1,500 ``security detainees": political prisoners
(approximately 1,300), arms merchants, violators of state security
laws, and those accused of fostering religious disturbances. The last
group had the largest increase during the year.
In late 2003 and early 2004, the Government released 24 NLD M.P.s
elect who had been arrested on and around May 2003, including: Dr. Zaw
Myint Maung, Yaw Si, Khun Myint Htun, U Do Daung and Chit Htwe. Among
the verifiable releases of long term political prisoners by year's end
were: on January 30, NLD M.P. elect Myint Naing (incarcerated in 1991
for unlawful association); on June 4, two M.P.s-elect of the Mon
National Democratic Front (MNDF) Dr. Min Soe Lin and Dr. Min Kyi and
MNDF Executive Nai Ngwe Thein; on July 12, the Vice Chairman of the
Arakan League for Democracy and journalist U Thar Ban; on July 15,
former student leader Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw; on October 15 and November
1, respectively, student activists Htay Kywe and Dr. Ne Win; on
November 19, student leader Min Ko Naing, NLD M.P.s-elect U Kyaw San, U
Ohn Maung, U Toe Po, and Dr. May Win Myint. Other political prisoners
were also released on November 19, November 26, and December 12. A
total of 76 known political prisoners were freed in the three separate
releases.
Three long term political prisoners died shortly after their
release from prison during the year (see Section 1.c). Dr. Than Nyein,
an M.P.-elect from the NLD and the brother in law of former-Prime
Minister General Khin Nyunt, had his 7 year prison term extended in
September despite being terminally ill with liver cancer.
The Government granted Aung San Suu Kyi's brother authority to file
a second suit against her seeking half ownership of the family
compound. In 2002, the judge presiding over the case ruled that he had
the right to inherit the property under Buddhist customary law. At
year's end, the suit was ongoing. A final decision was postponed
because the Government prohibited lawyers from having access to Aung
San Suu Kyi.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The abrogated 1974 Constitution did not provide for
rights to privacy, and authorities infringed routinely on citizens'
privacy rights. Through its pervasive intelligence network and
administrative procedures, the Government systematically monitored the
travel of all citizens and closely monitored the activities of many
citizens, particularly those known to be active politically.
Forced entry without a court order is legal. The law requires that
any person who spends the night at a place other than his registered
domicile inform the police in advance. Any household that hosts a
person not domiciled there must, according to the law, maintain and
submit a guest list to the police. However, the law is selectively
enforced. Security forces significantly increased surveillance of
civilians following the May 2003 Depeyin attack and also after bombings
that occurred in Rangoon during the year and in 2003. Ward level SPDC
officials stepped up unannounced nighttime checks of residences for
unregistered visitors. During the year, the Government sentenced NLD
party members Than Than Suu Win and Ye Myint to 7-days hard labor for
failing to register as overnight guests while in Rangoon.
Security personnel regularly screened private correspondence and
telephone calls and monitored normally protected communications. In
June, a foreign investigation team found an eavesdropping device in the
wall of its Ambassador's meeting room. In March 2003, the UNSRHR found
a listening device in a prison interview room.
The authorities generally continued to discourage citizens from
subscribing directly to foreign publications (see Section 2.a.).
The Government continued to control and monitor closely the
licensing and procurement of all two way electronic communication
devices. Possession of an unregistered telephone, facsimile machine, or
computer modem was punishable by imprisonment (see Section 2.a.). For
example, users of unregistered cordless telephones in the country face
up to 3 years' imprisonment and a steep fine.
Weak private property rights and poor land ownership records
facilitated involuntary relocations of persons by the Government. The
law does not permit private ownership of land; it recognizes only
different categories of land use rights, many of which are not freely
transferable. Post colonial land laws also have revived the pre
colonial tradition that private rights to land were contingent upon the
land being put to productive use.
For decades successive military governments have applied a strategy
of forced relocation against ethnic minority groups in an effort to
deny support to armed ethnic groups. Such forced relocations continued
during the year. The forced relocations reportedly often were
accompanied by rapes, executions, and demands for forced labor to build
infrastructure for villagers and military units (see Sections 1.c.,
1.e., and 2.d.). There continued to be reports during the year of
forced relocations to new towns, but the Government provided a grace
period of 1 year for residents of apartments on 50th street in Rangoon
to move to Dagon Seikkan in East Rangoon. Similarly, the residents of
600 houses in Shwe Lin Pann village in Hlaing Tharyan are still in
their residences after objecting to forced relocation to make way for a
road construction project.
Reports of forced relocation in urban areas lessened; however, the
Government reportedly continued to forcibly relocate households for
``security'' reasons. In Rangoon, persons were forced to leave homes or
dwellings located on property that could be used for commercial gain.
In some cases, those forced to move were poorly compensated. During the
year the Government gave notices to retired civil servants to move from
at least two locations in Rangoon by 2005. In 2003, the Government
forced retired civil servants, who had lived for generations in
downtown Rangoon, to move out with inadequate compensation. Senior
Government officials ignored appeals, and under duress many residents
accepted relocation to apartments estimated to be worth approximately
10 percent of the value of their vacated homes. There were numerous
reports that government troops looted and confiscated property and
possessions from forcibly relocated persons, or persons who were away
from their homes. These materials often were used for military
construction. Diplomatic representatives reported that commandeering
privately owned vehicles for military or VIP transport without
compensating the vehicle owners was also commonplace throughout the
country.
A September 2002 report by a highly respected private citizen in
Thailand estimated more than 2,500 villages have been destroyed or
forcibly relocated by Government forces since 1996, displacing more
than 600,000 citizens. The report estimated that more than 350,000 of
these citizens were moved to government controlled ``relocation
centers,'' while the remainder lived in hiding. This practice was
particularly widespread in Shan, Kayah, and Karen States, and in areas
of Mon State and Bago Division. In these areas, thousands of civilian
villagers were displaced from their traditional villages, which often
were burned to the ground and moved into settlements tightly controlled
by SPDC troops in strategic areas. In other cases, villagers who fled
or were driven from their homes found shelter in the forest, frequently
in heavily mined areas without adequate food, security, or basic
medical care.
The forced relocations often generated large refugee flows to
neighboring countries or to parts of the country not controlled by the
Government. In some areas, the Government replaced the original
occupants with ethnic Burmans. In other areas, army units forced or
attempted to force ethnic Karen to relocate to areas controlled by the
DKBA.
The Government has the right to confiscate property without paying
compensation. During the year, there were several credible, but
unverified, reports of this occurring across the country. For example,
in March the Government evicted families and seized land in Chin State
to make way for an India Burma Thailand highway project. In July, the
military expropriated the land of 150 households in Ye Township, Mon
State, for new military buildings. In 2003, diplomatic observers
reported the Government ordered families to exhume corpses of their
relatives from a cemetery to make way for construction of a condominium
project on the outskirts of Rangoon.
During the year, there were several reports of government
mistreatment and exploitation of farmers. For example, in January OCMI
detained five farmers from Letkhopin village, Irrawaddy Division, for
expressing grievances about uncompensated confiscation of farmland.
During the year, there were credible reports that the military
confiscated, without compensation, thousands of acres of farmland in
Mon State. The Government also reportedly confiscated land in northern
Shan State when farmers could not repay loans taken out to buy and
plant a type of Chinese rice hybrid never planted before in Shan State,
which the Government had required the farmers to plant. In 2003, there
were reports that civil servants in several areas confiscated
established farm plots, forcing farmers to buy less desirable land to
continue their livelihood. There was no information on the 82 farmers
arrested in February 2003 by local authorities in Kyungyangon,
Irrawaddy Division, for not providing their paddy rice production quota
to the Government. Nor was there any further information on the fate of
the 43 farmers sought by Sagaing Division SPDC officials for failure to
pay their paddy quota.
Military personnel also routinely confiscated livestock, fuel, food
supplies, fishponds, alcoholic drinks, vehicles, or money. Such abuses
have become widespread since 1997, when the Government ordered its
regional commanders to meet their logistical needs locally rather than
rely on the central authorities. As a result, regional commanders
forced contributions of money, food, labor, and building materials from
civilians throughout the country (see Sections 1.c. and 6.c.).
In violation of international humanitarian law, both army and
insurgent units used forced conscription, including conscription of
children (see Sections 1.g. and 6.c.).
Government employees generally were prohibited from joining or
supporting political parties; however, this proscription was applied
selectively. In the case of the Government's mass mobilization
organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA),
the Government used coercion and intimidation to induce many persons,
including nearly all public sector employees and students, both to join
the union and to attend meetings in support of the Government (see
Section 2.a.).
Marriages between female citizens and foreigners were officially
banned, and the Government ordered local attorneys not to be witnesses
to such marriages. However, the ban was not enforced.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal and External Conflicts.--Since independence in 1948, large
numbers of ethnic insurgent groups have battled government troops for
autonomy or independence from the Burman dominated state. Since 1989,
17 groups have concluded cease fire agreements with the Government.
Under the agreements, the groups have retained their own armed forces
and performed some administrative and economic functions within
specified territories inhabited chiefly by members of their own ethnic
groups.
However, a few groups maintained active resistance, including the
Chin National Front, the Naga National Council, the Arakan-Rohingya
Solidarity Organization, the SSA-South, the KNPP, and the KNU through
its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army. The largest of
these, the KNU, began peace talks with the Government in December 2003
leading to a temporary ceasefire. However, there were credible reports
of renewed attacks on villages in Karen State in September after the
rainy season ended.
Beginning in mid-November there were credible reports that the army
attacked Karen villages in Shwegyin Township, Nyaunglebin District, of
western Karen State, burning houses and rice stores. An estimated
20,000 baskets of paddy rice were destroyed. As many as 4,781 civilians
were displaced and were prevented from returning. The attacks ceased by
the end of the year, but construction of three new military camps and
the dislocation of civilians continued.
In November and December, there were credible reports of army
attacks on civilians in Taungoo District, northern Karen State, which
displaced more than 3,000 residents. Reportedly they were used as
forced labor to construct roads into former KNU-held territory. These
projects were ongoing at year's end.
There were credible reports from Mon Township of northern
Nyaunglebin District, Karen State that local villagers were forced to
tear down their homes and were then used as forced labor to construct a
new army camp at Mawdalaw. Construction continued at year's end.
There were credible reports that attacks continued against civilian
populations in Kayah State throughout the year. Army troops reportedly
continued to pursue Karenni displaced persons who had fled to Taungoo
and Papun Districts of northern Karen State.
An SSA South source reported that in early August, Burmese Army
troops harassed villagers in Lechar and Limkhay Townships, accusing
them of being spies for the SSA South.
In 2003, diplomatic representatives received credible first hand
accounts that in 2002, government troops tortured and detained seven
Karen clergymen in Pa-an, Karen State, and in Mawlamyine, Mon State.
The soldiers also confiscated 13 cows, 5 bullock carts, and household
goods, and extorted money before burning down 2 churches and 11 houses.
Two clergymen were held for 2 months before release and were forced to
sign a statement saying they were not mistreated. The Government
ordered the National Investigation Bureau, a division of the National
Police Force, to investigate the incident; however, there was no
information that the Government prosecuted any of the soldiers for the
abuses.
Incidents of rape in conflict areas and other ethnic minority areas
continued. In January, the Thai based Human Rights Foundation of
Monland issued a report documenting five cases of rape by elements of
the Burmese Army during an offensive against ethnic rebels in southern
Mon State that began in December 2003. The report also asserted that
rape of local women was standard practice by Burmese Army troops,
especially by the 299th Light Infantry Brigade, which took three local
Mon women per day to military bases to work, after which soldiers raped
the women. The Government did not investigate any of the cases, despite
their being documented, and failed to respond officially to the report.
In April, a report, ``Shattering Silences,'' by the Thai based
Karen Women's Organization documented 125 instances of Burmese Army
soldiers raping local women since 1988--including 3 cases in January
and February. Reportedly half of the rapes were by high ranking
military officers. Of the cases documented, reportedly only one
resulted in punishment. The Government refused to investigate these
cases, and instead issued a statement that the report was an attempt to
discredit and derail the Government's ``Road Map to Democracy.''
Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that on April 16, a Shan woman
was gang raped by Burmese Army soldiers near the Thai border.
NGOs reported that Burmese Army soldiers raped numerous women in
Shan State and other ethnic regions in 2002 and 2003. In April 2003, a
captain raped a 20 year old woman in Shan State, while another soldier
restrained her husband. The woman and her husband later reported the
rape to SPDC authorities in the area; however, after no action was
taken they began to fear for their safety and fled across the border to
Thailand. In August 2003, a captain and 20 other soldiers gang raped a
woman in Shan State. The captain then threatened to punish the village
headman and the villagers if anyone reported the rape. There was no
information that the Government investigated these abuses.
During the year there were no Government investigations into the
SHRF and Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) 2002 report alleging that
the Burmese Army used rape as a systematic weapon of war against the
ethnic populations in Shan State.
The Government denied the SHRF/SWAN allegations of systematic rape
and ordered three internal reviews. The Government stated it provided
copies of its report on the investigations to the international
community and to the UNSRHR. However, according to the UNSRHR, military
and other government personnel with no special skills or experience in
investigating human rights allegations undertook the investigations.
Despite continued international pressure for independent assessments,
these investigations reportedly consisted of prearranged, large,
collective, and public meetings with local officials, organized by
military personnel. The Government did not allow the UNSRHR to visit
areas of conflict in Shan State to corroborate the information from his
own interviews with refugees in Thailand. There were no new
developments in the reported August 2002 rape of a 4-year-old child by
an army captain in Yusomoso.
There is no information that the Government investigated or
prosecuted anyone for the following rape cases in 2002: The case of two
soldiers who beat and raped a woman doing laundry near Keng Tung
Township and threw her unconscious into the river, the case of six or
seven soldiers who reportedly raped two women in Mong Khak Township, or
the hundreds of other cases reported by NGOs.
In central and southern Shan State, security forces continued to
engage the SSA South. The military maintained a program of forced
relocation of villagers in that region that reportedly was accompanied
by killings, rapes, and other abuses of civilians. AI reported in 2002
that 90 percent of the civilians from Shan State interviewed in
Thailand said they had been subjected to unpaid forced labor by the
military within the previous 18 months.
Despite ongoing abuses, Karen NGO sources indicated that human
rights abuses in Karen State had declined significantly since the peace
talks between the SPDC and the KNU began in December 2003.
There were no developments in the following cases from 2003: In
June 2003, combined troops of the Burmese Army and a DKBA unit arrested
and tortured a villager in Noeaw lar village, Pa-an Township. When he
later escaped, the troops extorted $450 (450,000 kyat) and a cow from
his mother. In July 2003, soldiers extorted $200 (200,000 kyat) worth
of food from the villagers in Sha zi bo village and abducted a woman
from Zi pyu gon village. At year's end, it was not known if she had
been released. Also in July 2003, in Nyaunglaybin district, government
troops shot and killed a man from Thaw nge doe village, Kyauk kyi
Township, and took $50 (50,000 kyat) from his body.
From August until mid October 2003, government soldiers reportedly
forced villagers from Na Bue Township to porter ammunition and supplies
and to act as mine sweepers for the troops. Many villagers and
prisoners have been killed or injured from resulting landmine
explosions.
According to a 2002 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, government
troops conscripted children as young as the age of 11 (see Section 5).
The Government did not allege any serious abuses by insurgent
groups during the year, though it did blame Thai based exile groups for
several small bombs that exploded near the Rangoon central train
station on June 26. Some members of the insurgent groups committed
serious abuses in 2003. For example, according to a government report,
the KNU blew up a cinema hall in May 2003 in Phyu Township, Bago
Division, injuring 50 persons. The KNU denied responsibility. UNICEF,
AI, and HRW reported that insurgent groups as well as government forces
recruited child soldiers (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law permits the Government to
restrict freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and in practice,
the Government continued to restrict these freedoms severely and
systematically during the year. The Government continued to arrest,
detain, convict, and imprison citizens for expressing political
opinions critical of the Government, and for distributing or possessing
publications in which opposition opinions were expressed (see Sections
1.d. and 1.e.). Security services also monitored and harassed persons
believed to hold antigovernment opinions.
Legal restrictions on freedom of speech have intensified since
1996, when the Government issued a decree prohibiting speeches or
statements that ``undermine national stability.'' In all regions of the
country, the Government continued to use force to prohibit all public
speech critical of it by all persons, including persons elected to
Parliament in 1990, and by leaders of political parties. The Government
has pursued this policy consistently since 1990 with few exceptions.
In July 2003, the OCMI arrested five editors of the sports journal
First Eleven, alleging they were involved in a plot against the junta.
Some speculated, however, that they were actually arrested for
publishing articles exposing corruption in local sports. The Government
released three of the editors but charged the other two: Zaw Thet Htwe,
a former student leader, and Soe Pa Pa Hlaing, daughter of an
imprisoned NLD M.P. elect. In November 2003, the Government sentenced
Zaw Thet Htwe to death and released Soe Pa Pa Hlaing. In May, the
Government commuted the death sentence to a 3 year term.
The NLD continued to press for substantive dialogue on political
reform and publicly voiced criticisms of the policies and actions of
the Government (see Sections 1.a.and 1.d.). In July, the NLD began
collecting signatures on a letter to the SPDC calling for the release
of Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo and for the reopening of party
offices. In mid-August, authorities arrested nine NLD supporters and
sentenced them to lengthy prison terms. On November 5 and 6,
authorities in Danubyu Township arrested three NLD members: U Han Sein,
U Than Htut and U Win Maung. They were held for 2 weeks with no charges
and brought to court on November 19, allegedly for illegally
``distributing leaflets.'' However, the leaflets were legally printed
and sealed in an envelope at NLD headquarters. Consequently, they were
tried on a different charge of violating State Law and Order
Restoration Council Order 3/90, which restricted the right to assemble
and campaign, and ordered to pay a fine of $5 (5,000 kyat)--about 2
weeks wages--or face 2 months imprisonment. They paid the fine and were
released. They plan to lodge an appeal in the Divisional Court.
Many prominent writers and journalists remained in prison for
expressing their political views. The Paris based organization
Reporters Sans Frontieres reported that at least 15 journalists
remained in prison at the end of 2003, including Ohn Kyaing, better
known by his pen name Aung Wint, who wrote articles in favor of
democracy and also was an NLD M.P. elect from Mandalay. He has been in
prison since 1990. Government censorship boards prohibited publication
or distribution of works authored by those in prison.
The Government released four journalists during the year: On March
1, Aung Zin Min, a poet and magazine editor; on March 12, Kyi Tin Oo, a
poet and journalist, who died on July 24 (see Section 1.b); on April 9,
cameraman Khin Maung Win (``Sonny'') who had served a 7 year sentence
for filming an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi and sending the tapes
abroad; on July 12, U Thar Ban, a lawyer and author (see Section 1.e.).
On the anniversary of the May 30, 2003 Depeyin attack, the OCMI
arrested and detained for 1 week nine NLD youth members for
distributing U.N. Development Program issued pamphlets with the text of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Burmese around Rangoon.
Also in May, a court sentenced former British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) stringer Ne Min to 15 years in prison for passing information to
Thai based exile groups. On July 27, the Government arrested Kachin
filmmakers Lazing La Htoi and No Htoi for producing a documentary about
the recent flooding in Kachin State. The film documented flood related
deaths, contradicting the official version of the flooding. The
authorities subsequently released the two.
The Government owned and controlled all daily newspapers and
domestic radio and television broadcasting facilities. These official
media remained propaganda organs of the Government and usually did not
report opposing views except to criticize them. The only partial
exception was the Myanmar Times, an English and Burmese language weekly
newspaper, targeted at the foreign community in Rangoon. The paper's
co-owner, U Myat Swe, and his father, former OCMI officer, Brigadier
General Thein Swe, were arrested in the wake of former Prime Minister
Khin Nyunt's ouster in October. Although the Myanmar Times was both
censored and pro government, the newspaper occasionally reported
criticisms of government policies by the U.N. and other international
organizations.
All privately owned publications remained subject to prepublication
censorship by state censorship boards. Due in part to the time required
to obtain the approval of the censors, private news periodicals
generally were published weekly. However, since 1996 the Government has
given transferable waivers of prepublication censorship for weekly
periodicals. As a result, weekly tabloids proliferated. Government
controls encouraged self censorship, and publications generally did not
report domestic political news or sensitive economic and political
topics.
Imported publications remained subject, in principle, to
predistribution censorship by state censorship boards, and possession
of publications not approved by the state censorship boards remained a
serious offense. The Government also restricted the legal importation
of foreign news periodicals and discouraged subscriptions to foreign
periodicals (see Section 1.f.); however, foreign newspapers could be
purchased in Rangoon. Some foreign newspapers and magazines were
distributed uncensored.
The Government issued few visas to foreign journalists and held
only a few of press conferences on political subjects. In previous
years, the authorities detained and deported some journalists who
entered the country as tourists; there were no such actions during the
year. However, a correspondent for the BBC's Burmese Service, who
entered the country as a tourist, was told verbally to leave. Another
correspondent for the same organization, who also entered the country
as a tourist, was not bothered while in the country. During the year,
the Government held several press conferences, including one on
narcotics control and another on the explosions at the Rangoon central
train station. Burmese representatives of international media
organizations were allowed to attend.
Due to widespread poverty, limited literacy, and poor
infrastructure, radio remained the most important medium of mass
communication. News periodicals rarely circulated outside urban areas.
The Government continued to monopolize and control the content of the
two domestic radio stations. Foreign radio broadcasts, such as those of
Radio Free Asia, the Voice of America, the BBC, and the Democratic
Voice of Burma remained the principal sources of uncensored
information. Ownership of small Chinese made radio receivers increased
significantly in recent years.
The Government continued to monopolize and to control tightly all
domestic television broadcasting, offering only three channels,
including an armed forces channel. The general population was allowed
to register satellite TV receivers for a fee. Illegal satellite
television was also available, but access to satellite television
remained far beyond the reach of the vast majority of the impoverished
population. The Television and Video Law makes it a criminal offense to
publish, distribute, or possess a videotape not approved by a state
censorship board; however, this law was selectively enforced. In
August, Aung Kyin, an M.P.-elect from Myaungmya Township, Irrawaddy
Division, was arrested--along with three other members of the NLD--for
allegedly distributing illegal videotapes. The authorities released all
four after a few days following Aung Kyin's resignation from the Party.
The Government strictly monitors and censors all cultural events.
On June 20, according to media sources, OCMI arrested the members and
concert organizers of a hip hop band, after it performed its first
concert at the Strand Hotel in Rangoon. Sources reported that the
detainees were taken to an unknown location for interrogation, and
subsequently released on July 9.
The Government systematically restricted access to electronic
media. All computers, software, and associated telecommunications
devices were subject to registration, and possession of unregistered
equipment was punishable by imprisonment (see Section 1.f.).
Until October, OCMI operated the more popular of the country's two
Internet service providers (ISP), offering expensive, censored Internet
service to those who could afford it. After October, the army signal
corps and the Ministry of Communications took control of the ISP. There
are several Internet cafes; however, access was costly and the
Government restricted full access to the World Wide Web and prohibited
the use of commercial free e mail providers. The Government also
monitored all e mail communications.
The Government restricted academic freedom. University teachers and
professors remained subject to the same restrictions on freedom of
speech, political activities, and publications as other state
employees. The Ministry of Education routinely warned teachers against
criticizing the Government. It also instructed them not to discuss
politics at work, prohibited them from joining or supporting political
parties or from engaging in political activity, and required them to
obtain advance approval for meetings with foreigners. Like all state
employees, professors and teachers are required to join the USDA, the
Government's mass mobilization organization. Teachers at all levels
also continued to be held responsible for the political activities of
their students. Foreigners were not permitted on university campuses
without prior approval and were not allowed to attend any meetings
involving students, including graduation ceremonies.
In recent years, the Government took a number of measures to limit
the possibility of student unrest. Undergraduate campuses were moved to
remote areas, teachers and students were warned that disturbances would
be dealt with severely, and most on campus dormitories were closed. The
quality of education deteriorated to such an extent that many students
opted to use self study or private tutoring. Immediately after the May
2003 attack on the NLD, the Government closed the University of
Distance Education and the Rangoon Arts and Science University for 3
weeks. The Government placed heavy security around other schools that
were open, even during summer vacation.
The Government tightly controlled the limited number of private
academic institutions in the country as well as what they were allowed
to teach. Similar controls extended to Buddhist monastery-based
schools, Christian seminaries and Sunday schools, and Muslim Madrassas.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law limits
the freedom of assembly, and the Government restricted it in practice.
An ordinance officially prohibits unauthorized outdoor assemblies of
more than five persons, although the ordinance was not enforced
consistently. The Government forced civil servants to join the USDA, a
pro government mass organization created by the SPDC, and organized
mass rallies of USDA members in support of the Government's seven step
road map to democracy.
On April 17, the Government allowed the NLD to re open its Rangoon
headquarters, closed following the May 2003 attack. However, all other
NLD offices remained closed by Government order and the NLD could not
conduct party activities outside its headquarters building. The nine
other legally registered political parties were required to request
permission from the Government to hold meetings of their members.
During the year, meetings occurred outside the NLD offices without
Government permission, such as regular Tuesday visits by an NLD women's
group to Rangoon's Shwedagon Pagoda; however, OCMI watched these
``illegal'' activities closely, and the Government prohibited those
participating from wearing political pins, badges, and jackets.
The Government continued to bar the Parliament elected in 1990 from
convening. On May 17, the Government reconvened the NC, disbanded since
1996, as part of a democracy road map that would ``nullify'' the
results of the 1990 election and approve a new constitution. However,
the Government did not allow the participation of the NLD and other pro
democracy parties, did not allow delegates to the NC to discuss the
Convention outside of the NC site, and threatened to enforce harsh laws
against any who criticized the NC or the draft constitution.
Government authorities prohibited a delegation of NLD members from
paying their respects at the tomb of Aung San, the father of Aung San
Suu Kyi, on Martyrs' Day (July 19).
The Government at times interfered with the assembly of religious
group members (see Section 2.c.).
The Government restricted freedom of association, particularly in
regard to members of the NLD, pro democracy supporters, and those who
contacted exile groups. During the year there were several arrests and
sentences for ``illegal contact'' with cross border exile groups,
especially the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB) and NLD
Liberated Areas (see Sections 1.b, 1.d, and 2.a). Over the years, the
Government continued to coerce NLD members, including NLD M.P.s-elect,
to resign from their party positions. The Government fired at least
five civil servants for showing support for Aung San Suu Kyi during her
2003 countrywide travels.
AI reported that in January the Government sentenced seven students
from Dagon University to between 7 and 15 years in prison for forming
an illegal association (a sports club) in June 2003.
The Government compelled civil servants to join the USDA pro junta
mass organization. The Government coerced secondary school and college-
level students to join when registering for classes. The Government
also coerced skilled trades workers and professional association
members to join the USDA.
In general, freedom of association existed only for government
approved organizations, including trade associations, professional
bodies, and the USDA. Few secular, nonprofit organizations existed, and
those that did took special care to act in accordance with Government
policy. There were 10 legally registered political parties, but most
were moribund.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Government has governed without a
constitution since 1988. Constitutional support for religious freedom
does not exist. Most religious adherents registered with the
authorities generally were free to worship as they chose; however, the
Government imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and
promoted Buddhism over other religions in some ethnic minority areas.
In practice, the Government also restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy
to promote human rights and political freedom.
There were no reported incidents of religious violence during the
year. However, in October and November 2003, there were several
incidents of Buddhist Muslim violence near Mandalay and in Rangoon.
Muslim groups in Rangoon claimed that 11 persons were killed and 2
mosques were destroyed near Mandalay. It was unclear what sparked these
clashes. Although it was slow to react to the incidents in Mandalay,
the Government reacted quickly in Rangoon, sending troops into Muslim
neighborhoods and imposing a strict curfew on Buddhist monasteries.
This latter action caused resentment among many Buddhist monks, and the
authorities arrested several monks for not observing the curfew.
Overall, the Government arrested approximately 70 Buddhists, including
44 monks, and 70 Muslims for their participation in the violence. The
fate of the monks and Buddhists is not known, but a Muslim group
reported that in December 2003 a court sentenced 30 Muslims from near
Mandalay to prison and sentenced 1 person to death for their role in
the violence and the death of a senior Buddhist monk.
The Government's pervasive internal security apparatus sought to
infiltrate or monitor meetings and activities of virtually all
organizations, including religious ones. Religious activities and
organizations also were subject to restrictions on freedom of
expression and association.
Virtually all organizations, religious or otherwise, must be
registered with the Government. Although an official directive exempted
``genuine'' religious organizations from registration, in practice only
registered organizations were allowed to buy or sell property or open
bank accounts. Thus, most religious organizations registered with the
Government. In addition, the Government provided some utilities at
preferential rates to recognized religious groups. There was no
official state religion; however, the Government continued to show
preference for Theravada Buddhism, the majority religion. For example,
the Government continued to fund two state run Buddhist universities in
Rangoon and Mandalay. The Government also hosted the World Buddhist
Summit from December 9 11.
The Government continued its efforts to control the Buddhist clergy
(Sangha). It tried members of the Sangha for ``activities inconsistent
with and detrimental to Buddhism'' and imposed on the Sangha a code of
conduct that was enforced by criminal penalties. In a November report,
the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma estimated
that there are approximately 300 monks and novices in Burma's prisons.
In December 2003, 26 monks from Mahagandayon Monastery in Rangoon were
defrocked and then sentenced by the Government to 7 to 18 years in
prison for refusing to accept offerings from a senior military
official. The Government also subjected the Sangha to special
restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of association. The
military Government prohibited any organization of the Sangha other
than the nine state recognized monastic orders under the authority of
the State Clergy Coordination Committee (Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee).
The Government prohibited all religious clergy from being members of
any political party.
The Government continued to restrict the building of religious
structures by minority religious groups and limited the educational and
proselytizing activities of these groups.
In most regions of the country, Christian and Muslim groups that
sought to build small churches or mosques on side streets or other
inconspicuous locations occasionally were able to proceed, but only
based on informal approval from local authorities. These groups
reported that formal requests encountered long delays, generally were
denied, and could be reversed by a more senior authority. In June, a
Chin human rights group reported that a more senior military official
reversed a local commander's decision to allow construction of a new
Baptist church in southern Chin State.
The Government appeared to discriminate against non Buddhists at
the upper levels of the public sector. There are no non Buddhist
members in the SPDC, in the Cabinet, or among active flag rank officers
of the armed forces. The Government actively discouraged Muslims from
entering military service, and Christian or Muslim military officers
who aspired to promotion beyond the rank of major were encouraged to
convert to Buddhism. In some ethnic minority areas, such as Chin State,
there were reports that the SPDC offered troops financial and career
incentives to marry Christian Chin women, teach them Burmese, and
convert them to Buddhism.
The Government discourages proselytizing by all clergy.
Evangelizing religions, like some Christian denominations and Islam,
were most affected by these restrictions. In general, the Government
has not allowed permanent foreign religious missions to operate in the
country since the mid 1960s, when it expelled nearly all foreign
missionaries and nationalized almost all private schools and hospitals.
There continued to be evidence that Christian Chins were pressured
to attend Buddhist seminaries and monasteries and were encouraged to
convert to Buddhism. In April, an exile Chin human rights group
reported that local authorities forced 15 Chin pastors to participate
in Buddhist New Year events to demonstrate ``unity'' with Burman
Buddhists. The same human rights group claimed that local government
officials lodged the children of Chin Christians in Buddhist
monasteries in which they were given religious instruction and
converted to Buddhism without their parents' knowledge or consent.
Reports suggested that the Government sought to induce members of the
Naga ethnic group in Sagaing Division to convert to Buddhism by similar
means.
Religious publications remained subject to control and censorship
(see Section 2.a.). Translations of the Bible and Koran into indigenous
languages could not be imported legally; however, with the Government's
permission, Bibles in indigenous languages could be printed locally.
Citizens and permanent residents of the country were required to
carry Government issued national registration cards that often
indicated religious affiliation and ethnicity. There appeared to be no
consistent criteria governing whether a person's religion was indicated
on his or her identification card. Citizens also were required to
indicate their religion on some official application forms, such as for
passports.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--Although the Government restricted
freedom of movement, most citizens, with a few exceptions such as
Muslims traveling to and from Rakhine State and some political party
members, were able to travel within the country. However, citizens'
movements were monitored, and they were required to notify local
officials of their whereabouts (see Section 1.f.). Movement was limited
in areas of armed conflict. Citizens were subjected to arbitrary
relocation.
The Government continued to hold NLD leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and U
Tin Oo under house arrest and rigorously curtailed freedom of movement
of other opposition political leaders. Early in 2003, government
affiliated groups increasingly harassed democratic opposition members
during travel outside of Rangoon, culminating in the attack in May 2003
and the subsequent arrest, detention, and eventual release of most of
the survivors (see Sections 1.d. and 2.b.). The Government maintained
close control over ethnic leaders' movements, requiring them to seek
permission from the Government before making any domestic trips.
Ethnic minority areas previously affected by conflict, such as the
large Karen areas of Irrawaddy Division, continued to experience tight
controls on personal movement, including frequent military checkpoints,
monitoring by OCMI, and military garrisons. ``Informal taxes,'' or
bribes, were extracted at checkpoints in border areas. In Rakhine
State, many controls and checkpoints applied only to the Muslim
population (see Section 5).
The Government tightly controlled the movement of Muslim Rohingyas,
who are not granted full citizenship rights, in Maungdaw, Buthidaung,
and Rathedaung Townships along the Bangladesh border. The Government
also required other noncitizens, generally ethnic South Asians or
Chinese, to obtain prior permission to travel internally. Nonetheless,
the country's borders with China, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India
remained very porous with significant undocumented migration and
commercial travel occurring during the year.
An ordinary citizen needs three documents to travel outside the
country: a passport from the Ministry of Home Affairs; revenue
clearance from the Ministry of Finance and Revenue; and a departure
form from the Ministry of Immigration and Population. In 2002, in
response to the trafficking in persons problem, the Government
tightened the documentation process in ways that hinder or restrict
international travel for the majority of women.
New passport procedures went into effect on August 6 that allow
citizens to retain their passports after completing trips abroad
through their validity dates, namely: 1 year for incidental travel; 3
years for dependents; 4 years for employment; and 18 months for those
traveling on business. The Government also announced that it intended
to issue up to 3,000 ``e passports'' for businessmen that contain
electronic chips, which make them machine readable. These passports
would be valid for 3 years.
The Government carefully scrutinized prospective travel abroad for
all passport holders. Rigorous control of passport and exit visa
issuance perpetuated rampant corruption, as applicants were forced to
pay bribes of roughly $300 (300,000 kyat), the equivalent of a yearly
salary, to around $1,000 (1 million kyat) for a single woman under 25
years of age. The board that reviews passport applications denied
passports on political grounds. College graduates who obtained a
passport (except for certain official employees) were required to pay a
fee to reimburse the Government for the cost of their education.
Citizens who emigrated legally generally were allowed to return to
visit relatives, and some who lived abroad illegally and acquired
foreign citizenship also were able to return.
The Government loosened its restrictions on travel outside of
Rangoon by foreign diplomats and foreign U.N. employees based in
Rangoon to allow travel to designated tourist sites without prior
permission; all other travel required advance permission. The
Government waived the requirement for employees of the ILO and the
ICRC. The Government required all foreign and local residents, except
diplomats, to apply for authorization to leave the country.
Restrictions on nonresident foreigners' travel to some areas of the
country were relaxed. The Government also inaugurated a ``visa on
arrival'' system, which still required predeparture application for a
visa via the Internet. The country's embassies now generally issue
tourist visas, valid for 1 month, within 24 hours of application.
However, certain categories of applicants, such as human rights
advocates, journalists, diplomats, and political figures regularly were
denied entry visas unless traveling under the aegis of a sponsor
acceptable to the Government and for purposes approved by the
Government.
The abrogated 1974 Constitution did not provide for forced exile,
and the Government did not use forced exile.
The Government has not established legal arrangements to accept
Burmese citizens deported from other countries; however, in the past,
the Government has accepted the return of several thousand illegal
migrants from Thailand and has begun preliminary discussions with
international organizations on the potential repatriation of Karen
refugees now living in Thailand.
There were a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in
the country. According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, there were
at least 600,000, and possibly as many as 1 million IDPs in the country
at year's end (see Section 1.f.).
During the year, despite the start of peace talks between the SPDC
and the KNU, the military continued to abuse thousands of villagers and
drove them from their homes, particularly during military campaigns in
Karen, Kayah, and Shan States (see Section 1.f.). Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW) and other Thai based NGOs reported that in January and
February more than 5,000 Karen and Karenni persons were displaced in
the area along the Karen Karenni state border because of army
offensives. CSW also reported in June and July that the army and its
allied Karenni Solidarity Organization launched offensives, which
displaced more than 1,000 Karenni villagers living near the Karen State
border.
Karen groups reported that most fighting in central Karen State
stopped as of February. However, there were credible reports of renewed
attacks on villages in Karen State after the rainy season ended in
September (see Section 1.g.).
Harassment, fear of repression, and deteriorating socio economic
conditions continued to force many citizens to leave for neighboring
countries and beyond. In border regions populated by minority ethnic
groups, the Government continued its practices of forced labor,
confiscation of lands, compulsory contributions of food, and forced
relocations. These policies produced hundreds of thousands of refugees
in neighboring countries such as Thailand, China, India, Malaysia, and
Bangladesh. The UNHCR reported that 30,000 to 40,000 Chin refugees and
economic migrants were living in difficult conditions on the India side
of the border at the end of the year and that several thousand of these
individuals were pressured to return to Burma. Some returned while
others remained in India. During the year, there were credible reports
that security forces burned villages in Nyaunglebin district of Karen
State and prevented the villagers from returning (see Section 1.g.).
Rohingya Muslims who returned to Rakhine State were not stigmatized
for having left, but were discriminated against for being Rohingya.
Returnees claimed that they faced restrictions on their ability to
travel, to engage in economic activity, to get an education, and to
register births, deaths, or marriages.
In February, the Government gave permission to the UNHCR to send
assessment teams into areas of Karen State, Mon State, and Tanintharyi
Division (along the Thai border) previously off limits. The Government
cooperated with UNHCR in allowing initial familiarization visits to
begin planning for local villages to receive some or all of the
refugees now resident in Thailand.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
There were no reports that persons formally sought asylum in the
country during the year. There were no reports of forced repatriation.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change their Government
Citizens did not have the right to change their government. The
SPDC continued to prevent the Parliament elected in 1990 from
convening. The military junta continued its systematic use of coercion
and intimidation to deny citizens the right to change their government.
Since 1962, active duty military officers have occupied the 13 most
important positions in the central Government and in local governments,
and the SPDC placed active duty or retired military officers in most
key senior level positions in all ministries. At year's end, active
duty or retired military officers occupied 33 of 38 ministerial level
posts, including the Prime Minister, and also the mayoral posts in
Rangoon and Mandalay.
Following the NLD's victory in the 1990 elections, the military
junta refused to implement the election results and disqualified,
detained, or imprisoned many successful candidates (see Sections 1.d.
and 1.e.). During the year at least four NLD M.P.s-elect fled the
country.
In 1998, the NLD leadership organized the Committee to Represent
the People's Parliament (CRPP) on the basis of written delegations of
authority from a majority of the surviving M.P.s elect of the 1990
Parliament. The CRPP considered itself as acting on behalf of the
Parliament until the Parliament is convened. In retaliation the
Government launched a sustained and systematic campaign to destroy the
NLD without formally banning it; the authorities pressured many
thousands of NLD members and local officials to resign and closed party
offices throughout the country. At year's end, a total of 12 M.P.s
elect remained in prison for political reasons; Sein Hla Oo, Ohn
Kyaing, and Khin Maung Swe, have been in prison since the early 1990s
under harsh conditions.
In the 1990 election, 392 NLD members won seats. Of that number,
132 remain elected members. Self-exiles (19), deaths (71), and forced
resignations or barring (170) account for the balance. Those in the
last category resigned for various reasons. For example, the USDA
staged rallies of ``no confidence'' against some of the elected
members. The USDA and OCMI officials pressured the families, as well as
the members themselves. In addition, the NLD expelled 25 of its members
for breach of party discipline. Nine of the expelled M.P.s were allowed
to become independent M.P.s by the government Election Commission. The
CRPP has not disqualified any elected members.
On May 17, the Government reconvened the NC, first convened from
1993-96, as part of a democracy road map that would nullify the results
of the 1990 election and adopt a new constitution. The Government
convened the NC with more than 1,000 handpicked delegates, including
representatives from 17 ethnic cease fire groups. However, it
effectively barred participation by the major political parties,
including the NLD and others that won seats in the 1990 elections, and
prohibited free debate on the drafting of a new constitution. The
Government threatened 5 to 20 years in prison for any criticism of the
process. The NC adjourned for a recess on July 9.
In a January report to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the
UNSRHR noted that the Government's road map to democracy must ``firmly
entrench human rights principles'' for it to be successful. After the
Government convened the NC without the NLD or other opposition
political parties, the UNSRHR noted on June 1 that the NC process was
thus far a ``meaningless and undemocratic exercise.''
In a statement submitted to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) on
August 30, the Special Rapporteur noted that the concerns regarding the
NC process expressed in the January report have not been addressed;
and, ``that the necessary steps to ensure minimum democratic conditions
for the reconvening of the NC have not been taken.'' In his statement
to the United Nations Third Committee on October 28, the UNSRHR
asserted that ``a credible process of national reconciliation and
political transition is not possible without two fundamental
conditions: the early release of all political prisoners, and the
relaxation of restrictions which continue to hamper the ability of
political parties and ceasefire partners to operate.'' He also said it
was ``essential'' that the Government resume cooperation with the U.N.
Secretary General's envoy Razali Ismail.
Corruption is systemic at all levels of the Government and society.
It is considered by economists and businesspersons to be one of the
most serious barriers to investment and doing business in the country.
A Byzantine and capricious regulatory environment fostered corruption.
The authorities rarely and inconsistently enforce the anti
corruption statute--they usually do so only when the junta's senior
generals want to take action against an official whose egregious
corruption has become an embarrassment. On November 7, the SPDC
published an explanation of deposed Prime Minister Khin Nyunt's ouster
that included charges of ``bribery and corruption'' against the former
junta member. Other accounts suggest these charges were accurate, but
he has yet to be put on trial or examined in any other form of public
hearing. Hundreds of Khin Nyunt's family and associates were detained
or interrogated in the wake of his ouster. The junta also claimed it
had convicted 186 ``personnel'' from the military and three civilian
departments for their involvement in corruption at Muse, a border
checkpoint managed by OCMI.
The Government did not provide access to most official documents,
nor is there a law allowing for it. Most Government data is classified
or controlled. Government policymaking was not transparent, with
decision-making confined to the top layers of government, and new
government policies rarely were published or explained openly.
Women were excluded from political leadership. There were no female
or ethnic minority members of the SPDC, cabinet, or Supreme Court.
Members of certain minority groups also were denied full
citizenship and a role in government and politics (see Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Government did not allow domestic human rights organizations to
function independently, and it remained generally hostile to outside
scrutiny of its human rights record.
In addition to the ICRC and several U.N. agencies, approximately 35
nonpolitical, international humanitarian NGOs operated in the country.
A few others have established a provisional presence while undertaking
protracted negotiations necessary to establish permanent operations in
the country. Some international humanitarian NGOs and U.N. agencies
reported an increase in contact with regional government officials and
some government ministries demonstrated an increased willingness to
engage on previously taboo subjects such as trafficking in persons,
HIV/AIDS, child soldiers, and education.
In February, the Government and the UNHCR signed an agreement to
allow UNHCR access to previously off limits conflict areas in Karen
State and Tanintharyi Division (see Section 2.d). The UNHCR
subsequently made ``assessment'' trips to the region, but it has not
established a permanent presence there.
The Government continued to restrict the travel of foreign
journalists, NGO staff, some U.N. agency staff, and diplomats in some
regions. Human rights advocates regularly were denied entry visas
unless traveling under the aegis of a sponsor acceptable to the
Government and for purposes approved by the Government (see Section
2.d.). The Government's monitoring of the movements of such foreigners,
its frequent interrogation of citizens concerning contacts with
foreigners, its restrictions on the freedom of expression and
association of citizens, and its practice of arresting citizens who
passed information about Government human rights abuses to foreigners
all impeded efforts to collect or investigate human rights abuses.
Reports of abuses, especially those committed in prisons or ethnic
minority areas, often emerged months or years after the abuses
allegedly were committed and seldom could be verified.
Some international NGOs and U.N. agencies were required to have a
government representative accompany them on field visits, at the NGOs'
expense--though this rule was not consistently enforced (see Section
1.f.).
Despite repeated requests, the Government did not permit the UNSRHR
to visit the country during the year. In 2003, the UNSRHR visited the
country twice. He cut short his first visit when he discovered an
electronic listening device installed in a government controlled room
where he was interviewing a political prisoner. In his January report
to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the UNSRHR noted that the
``events'' of May 2003 ``have resulted in a setback for human rights in
Burma.'' The UNSRHR called on the Government to conduct a ``full and
independent'' inquiry into the Depeyin attack. He also reiterated his
call for an investigation into ``serious human rights abuses'' in
ethnic minority areas--namely Shan State.
In his August 30 report, the Special Rapporteur took note of the
Government's cooperation with the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the
Child. However, in view of the prevailing situation, the Special
Rapporteur stated in August that the conclusions and recommendations
contained in his January report remained valid.
On October 28, in a statement to the UNGA, the UNSRHR reported the
information he had received during the reporting period, ``indicates
that the situation with regard to the exercise of fundamental human
rights and freedoms in Myanmar has not substantially changed, and may
have even worsened. The effects of the events of 30 May 2003 in Depeyin
have yet to be fully reversed and those responsible for the attacks,
injuries and deaths continue to enjoy impunity.''
Nevertheless, the ICRC continued to operate freely in the country
conducting its normal range of operations (protection, physical
rehabilitation, basic hygiene and healthcare).
In July 2003, OCMI arrested 11 and sentenced 9 persons to death for
``conspiracy against the government,'' for their alleged role in a coup
plot. In November 2003, a court sentenced three of those arrested in
July, Naing Min Kyi, Shwe Man, and Aye Myint, to death in part for
having contacts with the ILO and the Thai based labor group the FTUB.
Subsequent ILO diplomatic efforts led to a special appeals court
reducing the death sentences to 3 years' imprisonment for Naing Min Kyi
and Aye Myint. The special court reduced Shwe Man's sentence to life in
prison. An October decision further reduced Shwe Man's sentence to 5
years, and the sentences of the others to 2 years.
The Government's Human Rights Committee was chaired by the Minister
of Home Affairs and included the Chief of Police. During the year,
members of the Human Rights Committee attended seminars on trafficking
and juvenile justice hosted by U.N. agencies. In 2003, the UNHCR
conducted refugee law and human rights seminars. The Australian
Government suspended its human rights training program after the May
2003 attack. The Government received ILO complaints of labor violations
and stated that it was conducting investigations into the violations,
however there were no known arrests or public prosecutions of officials
for labor violations (see Section 6).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses and Trafficking in Persons
The SPDC continued to rule by decree and, due to the abrogation of
the 1974 Constitution, was not bound by any constitutional provisions
concerning discrimination.
Women.--Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse,
is a problem; however, because the Government did not release
statistics regarding spousal abuse or domestic violence, it is
difficult to measure.
Rape is illegal; however, spousal rape is not a crime unless the
wife is under 12 years of age. Married women often lived in households
with extended families, where social pressure tended to protect the
wife from abuse. The Government did not release statistics regarding
rape; however, the Government stated that rape was not common in
populous urban areas, but occurred more often in remote areas.
Nonetheless, it was generally considered unsafe for women to travel
during hours of darkness without a male escort and employers typically
had to supply a bus or truck to return female workers to their homes at
night. Use of taxis at night was considered particularly hazardous for
women because of the risk of rape or robbery. Prostitutes traveling at
night typically must pay substantial additional fees to taxi operators
or risk being raped, robbed, or turned over to the police. There are
credible reports from NGOs and diplomatic sources that prostitutes
taken into police custody were sometimes raped or robbed by the police.
Incidents of rape in conflict areas and other ethnic minority areas
continued (see Section 1.g.).
Prostitution is prohibited by law and punishable by 3 years in
prison; however, it was growing in prevalence, particularly in some of
Rangoon's ``border towns'' and ``new towns,'' which were populated
chiefly by poor families that were relocated forcibly from older areas
of the capital. In 2003, there were credible reports that a large
number of female prostitutes were imprisoned and subjected to abuse
while incarcerated. The Government and at least one international NGO
operated schools and other rehabilitation programs for former
prostitutes.
There were no laws against sexual harassment.
Consistent with traditional culture, women kept their names after
marriage and often controlled family finances. However, women remained
underrepresented in most traditional male occupations, and women
continued effectively to be barred from a few professions, including
the military officer corps. Poverty affected women disproportionately.
Women did not receive equal pay for equal work on a consistent basis.
Women legally were entitled to receive up to 26 weeks of maternity
benefits; however, in practice these benefits often were not accorded
them.
There were no independent women's rights organizations, though
there were several with some relationship to the Government. The
Myanmar National Committee for Women's Affairs (and its subgroup the
Myanmar National Working Committee for Women's Affairs), in the
Ministry of Social Welfare, had branches in all 14 states and divisions
and was the primary government organization responsible for
safeguarding women's interests. The Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation,
established in December 2003 and chaired by the wife of Prime Minister
Lieutenant General Soe Win, was the primary ``nongovernmental'' women's
rights organization. The Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare
Association, a government controlled agency, provided assistance to
mothers. The Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs' Association, a professional
society for businesswomen, provided loans to women for starting new
businesses.
Children.--Children under the age of 18 constituted approximately
40 percent of the population. Children were at high risk as destitute
parents take them out of school to beg or to work in factories and
teashops. Some were placed in orphanages. With few or no skills,
increasing numbers of children worked in the informal economy or in the
streets where they were exposed to drugs, petty crime, risk of arrest,
sexual abuse and exploitation, and HIV/AIDS.
There was no adequate child protection or juvenile justice system.
Efforts in this regard are severely constrained by lack of resources.
The Department of Social Welfare (DSW) was in charge of the provision
of limited social welfare services, and there were only a few
officially appointed social workers.
The Government cooperated with the U.N. Committee on the Rights of
the Child. In June, the Committee's chairman visited the country.
UNICEF reported close working relationships with the DSW and the
Ministry of Education, where it worked to support primary education and
instruction in minority languages. Faith based organizations, Buddhist
monks and nuns, and private community based groups also provided
educational and other support for children.
The Government continued to allocate minimal resources to public
education. According to the latest available statistics, in fiscal year
2003-04 (April March), official expenditures for all civilian education
were equivalent to 1.3 percent of the Government budget. Public
schooling was ostensibly provided free through the 10th standard
(around age 16). However, on average, public school teachers' pay was
equal only to approximately $7 (7,000 kyat) per month, far below
subsistence wages, forcing many teachers to leave the profession, or
demand payments from their students. Thus, many families had to pay to
send their children to school, even at the primary level. In some areas
where families were not able to afford unofficial payments, teachers
generally ceased work. In response to official neglect, private
institutions began to provide assistance in education, despite a legal
ban on private schools.
Education is compulsory through the 4th standard. UNICEF reports
that 50 percent of primary school students drop out of school before
finishing the 4th standard. Rates of school attendance and educational
attainment decreased during the year, largely due to rising formal and
informal school fees as the Government diverted expenditures from
health and education to the armed forces. There was no difference in
the attendance rate of boys and girls.
The Government promoted Buddhist monastic schools in rural areas
and subsidized Buddhist universities in Rangoon and Mandalay. In ethnic
minority areas, the Government often banned teaching in local
languages.
Children also suffered greatly from the Government's severe neglect
of health care. Although the Government doubled its budget for the
Ministry of Health in FY 2003-04, it still amounted to only 1.2 percent
of total Government expenditures. There were no reports that the
Government discriminated between boys and girls in the provision of
health care. In 2001, the latest data available, official studies
sponsored by U.N. agencies found that, on average, 109 of 1,000
children died before reaching the age of 5 years, and that only 1 out
of 20 births in rural areas was attended by a doctor. A joint Ministry
of Labor and U.N. Populations Fund (UNFPA) study in 2001 indicated
that, among children under 5 years of age, 7.9 percent were severely
malnourished. A joint Ministry of Health and UNICEF report in 2000
indicated that on a national level 35.3 percent of children under 5 are
moderately to severely underweight, 33.9 percent are moderately to
severely underdeveloped, and 9.4 percent are moderately to severely
emaciated. The World Health Organization considered the country's
health care system to be extremely poor.
The law prohibits child abuse. The Government stated that child
abuse was not a significant problem; however, the Government did not
release supporting statistics. On May 26, the U.N. Committee on the
Rights of the Child met to consider the country's second periodic
report. The Committee issued its concluding observations on June 4,
noting that it remained ``seriously concerned at the lack of
appropriate measures, mechanisms, and resources to prevent and combat
domestic violence, including physical and sexual abuse and neglect of
children; the limited number of services for abused children; as well
as the lack of data on the aforementioned.''
Child prostitution and trafficking in girls for the purpose of
prostitution especially Shan girls who were sent or lured to Thailand
continued to be a major problem. In Rangoon and Mandalay, diplomatic
representatives noted widespread employment of female prostitutes who
appeared to be in their early teens and for whom there was reportedly a
high demand. Additionally, some brothels offered young teenage
``virgins'' to their customers for a substantial additional fee. The
June U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child report commented: ``The
Committee is concerned over the increasing number of child victims of
sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography, especially
among those engaged in child labor and street children. Concern is also
expressed at the programs for the physical and psychological recovery
and social reintegration of child victims of such abuse and
exploitation which remain insufficient and inadequate.''
The official age of enlistment in the army is 18 years. In the
past, army recruitment drives have targeted children to meet quotas for
the ostensibly all volunteer army, but anecdotal evidence, at least in
Rangoon, suggests this practice is now not as common. Nevertheless,
there was evidence of forced recruitment of child soldiers by the army.
Ethnic minority cease fire and insurgent groups also forcibly
conscripted child soldiers, and there were numbers of child soldiers
with these forces, particularly the United Wa State Army.
In his report on January 5, the UNSRHR expressed ``deep concern
about reported cases of boys forcibly recruited by the military they
range in age from 14 to 16 years old and were sent to support military
activities in some ethnic area.'' He further noted, ``worrying
indications that this practice may be widespread among government
troops as well as among insurgent armies.'' On that same day, the
Government established the Committee for Preventing Recruitment of
Child Soldiers, which met again on August 4 and purportedly issued new
rules and regulations to punish those who recruit child soldiers. In
March, diplomatic observers received a report that the authorities had
arrested more than a dozen children in Rangoon and forced them into
military service.
In March and April, the ILO notified the Government of nine
allegations of forced recruitment of children into the military. Two of
the cases involved boys who had been sentenced to prison, or who were
facing court martial for desertion. The Government investigated and
reported to the ILO on eight of these cases, but claimed no incidents
of forced recruitment. In two cases, the military released the boys who
returned home, but there was no further action. In five cases the
Government insisted the boys were above 18 years old. The Government
was unable to find one of the alleged child soldiers.
The June U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child report welcomed
the establishment of the Government's child soldier committee, but
noted the Committee remained ``concerned by the impact of the armed
conflicts on children, especially the use of children below the age of
15 years as soldiers by both government armed forces and armed ethnic
groups.''
According to a U.N. source, on November 12, a military conscription
unit of three soldiers visited Se Ywa village of Thongwa Township,
Rangoon Division. Four youths were required to accompany the soldiers
to the military conscription center at Mingaladon, Thongwa Township.
Residents say that the youths were subsequently sent to Military
Training Center No. 6 in Pathein. The parents of the students filed
complaints with the Government's Committee for Preventing Recruitment
of Child Soldiers.
A 14 year-old boy was picked up by a trishaw driver while en route
home from school in November 2002 and ``enlisted'' in the Army. The
boy's parents wrote to the newly established Committee for Preventing
Recruitment of Child Soldiers in April and were able to trace their son
to an Army post in Lashio (Shan State). His Battalion Commander was
subsequently ordered by the Directorate of Military Training to send
the young soldier to a Military Language School in Shan State. The
parents now know where their son is located, although he is not with
them.
In 2002, an M.P. elect from Karen State filed a police report that
a 15 year old boy was missing minutes after arriving in Rangoon railway
station. The Rangoon police suggested looking for him at the Hmawby
army recruit camp near Rangoon, where the M.P. elect found three sets
of parents also looking for their children. Six boys were brought
forward and the M.P. elect was able to identify and retrieve the boy.
Several international NGOs and agencies promoted the rights of
children in the country, including ICRC, World Vision, Save the
Children UK, CARE, UNICEF, the U.N. Development Program, and foreign
governments. UNICEF expanded its operations in May to open a separate
child protection section. On July 12 13, UNICEF, in conjunction with
the Supreme Court of Burma, ran a ``National Workshop on Juvenile
Justice and Child Protection'' that concluded an action plan aimed at
strengthening the existing juvenile justice system.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there are laws that are used against traffickers,
such as those that prohibit kidnapping; and, the Suppression of
Prostitution Act and the Child Law, which include provisions against
the sale, abuse, or exploitation of children.
There are laws specifically against child prostitution and child
pornography; however, they were not effectively enforced. An NGO
reported in May that the Government arrested, tried, and convicted a
foreigner for sexual abuse of a child. This was reportedly the first
such conviction. Reports from Thailand indicated that the rising
incidence of HIV infection there increased the demand for supposedly
``safer,'' younger prostitutes, many of whom came from Burma.
Trafficking in children within the country also appeared to be a
growing problem; however, there were no reliable statistics regarding
its extent.
According to the Government, 335 traffickers received jail
sentences ranging from under 5 years (78) to life imprisonment (2) from
July 2002 July 2004. The largest number (177) received sentences of
between 5 and 10 years. According to government figures, 412 cases were
filed during the same period, resulting in 166 convictions. Government
data show Thailand as the primary destination for trafficking victims
(nearly 80 percent), with much smaller numbers going directly to China,
Bangladesh, and India. The Ministry of Home Affairs also reported that
it had distributed information about human trafficking to some 702,000
persons living in border areas during the period, 2001-2004.
Officials recognized the importance of preventing trafficking and
prosecuting traffickers. Although the Government was active on these
fronts, its effectiveness was unclear at year's end. The Government
expanded cooperation with international and local NGOs. On April 28,
the Government issued the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters law,
which allows for international cooperation to pursue transnational
crime (including trafficking). Over the course of the year, the
Government hosted ministerial level meetings, in coordination with the
U.N., with countries in the region to discuss the problem of
trafficking in persons.
The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking
met in Rangoon, October 27-29, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding
pledging mutual cooperation on the problems involved and to develop a
related action plan. Senior government and cabinet-level officials from
Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam all participated.
During the year, U.N. agencies and NGOs credited the Government for
demonstrating political will to combat trafficking and for improvement
in cooperation with the international community. In March, the
Government formed a new office of Transnational Organized Crime, headed
by a police brigadier general to handle nonnarcotics related
transnational crimes. This office includes a 40 person unit responsible
for trafficking in persons.
The Government made limited progress on trafficking in persons
during the year. The Government's pervasive security controls,
restrictions on the free flow of information, and lack of transparency
prevented a meaningful assessment of trafficking in persons activities
in the country. While experts agreed that human trafficking from the
country was substantial, no organization, including the Government, was
able or willing to estimate the number of victims. The Government did
not allow an independent assessment of its reported efforts to combat
the problem.
Trafficking of women and girls to Thailand and other countries,
including China, India, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan,
and countries in the Middle East for sexual exploitation, factory
labor, and as household servants, was a problem. Shan and other ethnic
minority women and girls were trafficked across the border from the
north; Karen and Mon women and girls were trafficked from the south.
There was evidence that internal trafficking generally occurred from
poor agricultural and urban groups to areas where prostitution
flourished (trucking routes, mining areas, and military bases) as well
as along the borders with Thailand, China, and India. Men and boys also
reportedly were trafficked to other countries for sexual exploitation
and labor. While most observers believed that the number of these
victims was at least several thousand per year, there were no reliable
estimates.
Human traffickers appeared to be primarily free lance, small scale
operators using village contacts that fed into more established
trafficking ``brokers.''
The Ministry of Home Affairs stated there is no complicity of
Government officials in trafficking; however, corruption among local
government officials was widespread and NGOs reported that Government
officials were complicit in trafficking, although it appears limited to
local or regional officials turning a blind eye to trafficking
activities. NGOs also report that individual Burmese police officials
were likely involved in extorting money from economic migrants and
others leaving the country.
In recent years, the Government has made it difficult for single
women to obtain passports or marry foreigners ostensibly to reduce the
outflow of women as victims of trafficking (see Sections 1.f. and
2.d.). In addition, there are regulations forbidding females under the
age of 25 from crossing the border unless accompanied by a guardian.
However, most citizens who were forced or lured into prostitution
crossed the border into Thailand without passports. According to the
Department of Social Welfare, the Government has begun to help locate
families of trafficking victims and to assist in their repatriation.
The Government has a repatriation center on the Thai Burma border,
which has processed an estimated 10,500 illegal migrants (not just
trafficking victims) since 2001. In May, three female trafficking
victims were repatriated from Malaysia and six from Thailand and
reunited with their families. On August 10, 20 female victims were
repatriated from Thailand.
The Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation and the Social Welfare
Department provided some counseling and job training for trafficking
victims before they were returned to their families. The Social Welfare
Department also provided training to Government officials on the
recognition and provision of assistance to victims of human
trafficking. The Government provided medical attention and shelter to
trafficking victims returning from Thailand. However, Government
funding for these programs was very limited. There were no reports of
victims being arrested after their return to Burma. There were no
reports of trafficking victims filing suit against traffickers.
A number of NGOs offered poverty alleviation and education programs
designed to counter trafficking. Reportedly these programs have been
moderately successful. On May 18 19, UNICEF organized with several
government entities, U.N. agencies, and NGOs, a workshop on
``Monitoring and Combating Trafficking and Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children.'' The workshop was aimed at expanding
awareness of trafficking among involved government agencies and
developing strategies for intervention.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Government did not actively
discriminate against persons with disabilities in employment, access to
health care, education, or in the provision of other state services,
but there were few resources assisting persons with disabilities. There
were no laws mandating accessibility to buildings, public
transportation, or government facilities, and persons with disabilities
faced societal discrimination. There were several small, local and
international organizations that assisted persons with disabilities,
but most such persons had to rely exclusively on their families to
provide for their welfare.
Military veterans with disabilities received benefits on a priority
basis, usually a civil service job at equivalent pay. In principle,
official assistance to nonmilitary persons with disabilities included
two thirds of pay for up to 1 year of a temporary disability and a tax
free stipend for permanent disability; however, the Government did not
provide any private sector job protection for persons who became
disabled.
The Ministry of Health is responsible for medical rehabilitation of
persons with disabilities and the Ministry of Social Welfare is
responsible for vocational training. The Government operates three
schools for the blind, two for the deaf, two rehabilitation centers for
adults, and two for children. There are four schools for the blind run
by local NGOs. All of the Government schools and programs were very
poorly funded. The ICRC provided orthopedic assistance to those who
have lost limbs to land mines through clinics and outreach programs in
conflict areas.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Wide ranging governmental and
societal discrimination against minorities persisted. Animosities
between the country's many ethnic minorities and the Burman majority,
which has dominated the Government and the armed forces since
independence, continued to fuel active conflict that resulted in
serious abuses during the year. These abuses included reported
killings, beatings, torture, forced labor, forced relocations, and
rapes of Chin, Karen, Karenni, Shan, Mon, and other ethnic groups by
SPDC soldiers. Some armed ethnic groups also may have committed abuses,
but on a much smaller scale than the Burmese Army (see Sections 1.a.,
1.c., 1.f., and 1.g.).
Only persons who were able to prove long familial links to the
country were accorded full citizenship. Native born but nonindigenous
ethnic populations (such as Chinese, Indians, Bengalis, and Rohingyas)
were denied full citizenship and were excluded from government
positions. Members of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State
continued to experience severe legal, economic, and social
discrimination. The Government denied citizenship to most Rohingyas on
the grounds that their ancestors did not reside in the country 1 year
prior to the start of British colonial rule in 1824, as required by the
country's highly restrictive citizenship law.
On June 4, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed
concern ``over the situation of the children of the Bengali people
residing in Northern Rakhine Region, also known as the Rohingyas, and
of children belonging to other ethnic, indigenous or religious
minorities; and in particular, that many of their rights are denied,
including the rights to food, to health care, to education, to survival
and development, to enjoy their own culture and to be protected from
discrimination.''
Rohingya Muslims did not have access to state run schools beyond
primary education because the Government reserved secondary state
schools for citizens. Those excluded were also ineligible for most
civil service positions.
Forced labor of Muslims continued to be widespread in Rakhine
State. Forced labor of minority ethnic groups was still prevalent in
eastern border areas and in Chin State (see Section 6.c.).
Persons without full citizenship faced restrictions in domestic
travel (see Section 2.d.). They also were barred from certain advanced
university programs in medicine and technological fields.
Ethnic minority groups generally used their own languages. However,
throughout all parts of the country controlled by the Government,
including ethnic minority areas, Burmese remained the language of
instruction in state schools. Even in ethnic minority areas, most
primary and secondary state schools did not offer instruction in the
local ethnic minority language. There were very few domestic
publications in indigenous minority languages.
There were reports that the Government resettled groups of Burmans
to various ethnic minority areas (see Section 1.f.).
There were ethnic tensions between Burmans and nonindigenous ethnic
populations, including Indians, many of whom were Muslims, and a
rapidly growing population of Chinese, most of whom emigrated from
Yunnan Province. They increasingly dominated the economy of the
northern part of the country.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Many citizens view
homosexuals with scorn. The penal code contains provisions against
``sexually abnormal'' behavior that have been used to bring charges
against gays and lesbians who have drawn unfavorable attention to
themselves.
Nevertheless, homosexuals have a certain degree of protection
through societal traditions. Transgender performers commonly provide
entertainment at traditional observances. Some are spirit (``nat'')
worshipers and, as such, they have special standing in the society.
They participate in a well established week long festival held near
Mandalay every year. The event is considered a religious event, free of
sexual overtones or activities, and is officially approved by the
Government. No one, including the military or police, interferes with
the festival.
During a 2 month period in 2002, Government border officials had
administered involuntarily HIV/AIDS tests to returning citizens. Those
who tested positive were forced first into a hospital and then into a
detention center. The Foreign Minister reported this situation to the
Ministry of Health as discrimination, and the Health Ministry ended the
practice. Nevertheless, HIV positive patients were discriminated
against, as were the doctors who treated them. The Government worked to
address this issue and has drafted a protocol for Voluntary
Confidential Counseling and Testing for HIV/AIDS that is intended to
provide protection for the right to privacy. It was not promulgated by
year's end.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The 1926 Trade Unions Act, which
remains in effect, permits workers to form trade unions only with the
prior consent of the Government; however, no free trade unions existed
in the country.
The ICFTU reported that in August 2002 army troops killed an
official of the FTUB, a proscribed organization based in Thailand. The
troops forced Mya Than, a village headman who was widely known for his
trade union activities, to porter for the army, and then killed him in
retaliation for an attack by opposition forces. The Government
officially responded to this report by stating that Mya Than was killed
by an anti personnel mine while portering for the Burmese Army. In
2003, other FTUB activists reportedly were arrested for talking to the
ILO about forced labor. These three activists originally were sentenced
to death, but later had their punishment reduced to prison terms of 5
and 2 years respectively (see Sections 4 and 6.c).
There were no internationally affiliated unions because unions are
banned. The Government forbade seafarers who found work on foreign
vessels through the Seafarers Employment Control Division from contacts
with the International Transport Workers' Federation, and the
Government often refused to document seafarers who were abroad. Without
proper documentation it is not possible for a seafarer to find regular
employment abroad.
The Government has criminalized contact with the Thai based FTUB
claiming it is a ``terrorist group;'' however, the Government has not
made this case to the ILO through the relevant formal procedure. During
the year and in 2003, the Government arrested and sentenced persons in
part for their contacts with the FTUB and other Thai based exile groups
(see Section 1.b, 1.d, 2.a, and 2.b).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Government
does not allow unions; therefore, workers did not have the right to
organize and bargain collectively. The Government's Central Arbitration
Board, which once provided a means for settling major labor disputes,
has been dormant since 1988. Township level labor supervisory
committees existed to address minor labor concerns.
The Government unilaterally set wages in the public sector. In the
private sector, market forces generally set wages; however, the
Government has pressured joint ventures not to pay salaries greater
than those of ministers or other senior Government employees. Some
joint ventures circumvented this with supplemental pay or special
incentive systems. Foreign firms generally set wages near those of the
domestic private sector, but followed the example of joint ventures in
awarding supplemental wages and benefits.
According to the law, workers generally are prohibited from
striking, although a small number of workers purportedly are accorded
the right to strike. The last reported strike was in 2000, when an
employer retracted a promise to pay piece rates. Subsequently, 30
employees were detained, many for up to 3 months. All the employees
lost their jobs.
There are no export processing zones; however, there were special
military owned industrial parks, such as Pyin Ma Bin, near Rangoon,
which attracted foreign investors, and the 2,000 acre Hlaingthaya
Industrial Zone in Rangoon where several companies operated.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Forced or compulsory
labor remained a widespread and serious problem, particularly among
minority groups. The penal code provides for the punishment of persons
who imposed forced labor on others. The Government did not arrest
anyone under this statute; however, the ILO reported six cases brought
to court by alleged victims during the year. Of the six, three were
being processed, two were dismissed, and one person withdrew his
charges.
Throughout the country, international observers verified that the
Government routinely forced citizens to work on construction and
maintenance projects. Citizens also were forced to work in the military
owned industrial zones.
Reports of forced labor for building and maintaining economic
infrastructure have declined from a peak during the mid-1990s,
particularly in the ethnically Burman central regions.
In December, a foreign corporation settled cases in U.S. courts
regarding atrocities committed by Burmese army soldiers, who allegedly
forced others to work on the construction of a pipeline.
In contrast, the Government's use of forced labor in support of
military garrisons or operations remained particularly serious in
ethnic or religious minority regions. The ILO has corroborated UNHCR's
reports of a ``serious resurgence'' in forced labor in Rakhine State,
where the Prime Minister had ordered the military to construct six new
bridges. The ILO continued to call upon the Government to stop the use
of forced labor; however, the local authorities have ignored the
central government's instructions to ``cease and desist'' the practice.
The Rangoon based ILO Liaison Office reported that the Government's
orders to end forced labor had been widely, if unevenly, disseminated,
and their impact on reducing forced labor was limited and not
sustained.
Over the past 5 years, the ILO and other international agencies
have seen changes in the Government's approach to conscripting forced
labor. The ILO reported that military units tend to no longer issue
written orders to village heads to provide forced labor, and instead
gave verbal instructions. The ILO also reported that in some cases the
Government substituted demands for forced labor with demands for forced
contributions of materials, provisions, or money. Throughout the year
there were frequent and widespread reports of soldiers forcing
contributions from ethnic minority villagers. During the year, the ILO
reported that it appears the Government occasionally paid for forced
contributions, but the payments were usually well below prevailing wage
rates. Diplomatic representatives did not receive any reports of the
Government paying for forced contributions.
The ILO reports that since 2002, the Government increasingly
substituted prisoners not sentenced to hard labor for civilians as
forced laborers, possibly due to international pressure not to use
civilians. During the year, the military continued to take prisoners
from jails in Shan State and elsewhere for use as porters. In October
2003, during its offensive against the KNU, the army reportedly used
more than 300 prisoners as porters.
A draft agreement with the ILO to establish a facilitator to help
forced labor victims seek remedies under the law, first postponed after
the May 2003 attack on the NLD, was again postponed in March following
revelations that the Government had sentenced nine persons to death
(later commuted to prison sentences) in part for contacting the ILO.
The charge was later amended to include illegal contact with the
outlawed Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (see Section 4 and later
in this Section). All references to the ILO were removed from the
charge on October 14, following review of the case by a Special
Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court. In the same judgment, the
sentences of two of the defendants were reduced from 3 to 2 years. The
sentence of a third defendant was reduced from life imprisonment to 5
years in jail with hard labor.
Authorities often allowed households or persons to substitute money
or food for labor for infrastructure projects, but widespread rural
poverty forced most households to contribute labor. Parents routinely
called upon children to help fulfill their households' forced labor
obligations (see Section 6.d.).
During the year, diplomatic officials did not receive reports of
forced labor for building major civil infrastructure projects in
central Burma. However, reports of forced labor for smaller projects in
villages nationwide persisted. Forced labor also continued to be used
countrywide to maintain existing civil infrastructure, including
transportation and irrigation facilities. On June 4, an ILO report
indicated citizens had brought 40 cases of forced labor (including
forced recruitment of child soldiers) to the Rangoon office's attention
during the year. This was the first year, according to the ILO, that
private citizens voluntarily approached the ILO to report alleged
violations. In September 2003, the local chairman of Chaungnet Village
in Magwe Division forced one person from each household to clear the
bushes on Rangoon Magwe Highway. Those who refused were fined $5 (5,000
kyat).
In ethnic regions, reports of forced labor were common. According
to the ICFTU, villagers were ordered to build or repair military camp
infrastructure and to perform other tasks within the camps, such as
standing guard. Credible sources in the local NGO community have also
reported that villagers have been required to bring lumber, at their
own expense, to construct and repair military facilities. The ILO
office in Rangoon witnessed in mid May a case of villagers in Tiddim
and Falam Townships in Chin State forced to widen the main road between
the two towns. In January and February, AI reported several cases in
Buthitaung and Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State. In these cases the
military or members of a border task force consisting of the police,
military intelligence, internal security, customs officials and the
Immigration and Manpower Department commandeered villagers to stand
sentry, build roads, cut wood, and to construct government buildings.
The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) also reported several cases
of forced labor in southern Chin State during the year. In these cases
local military officials forced village leaders to provide workers for
road projects, military building construction, and farm work. The CHRO
reported local military officials arrested one village chief in June
because his village's workers did not complete their assigned road
building task.
In June 2003, Earth Rights International reported villagers stated
that forced labor in their area was coordinated at an institutional
level by the military. Every village head in a sample district of rural
eastern Burma was required to attend a weekend meeting to receive the
latest demands from the army for forced labor. The labor that was
extracted from the villages in the region was never adequately
compensated and refusal to work only invited punishment. The Government
suspended a program begun in mid 2003 that compelled many civil
servants and one person from each family to attend an unpaid 45 day
militia training program.
The ILO and other international observers reported a decline in
forced labor and other abuses in Karen State since the KNU and SPDC
achieved a temporary cease fire in January. However, in 2003, the KNU
released credible but unconfirmed reports of widespread use of forced
labor in conflict areas along the eastern border. In July 2003,
soldiers forcibly recruited 500 porters in Mone Township to carry food
supplies for the army. Those unable to carry a load had to pay $5
(5,000 kyat) each. Also in July 2003, soldiers ordered 13 Kaw thay doe
villagers from Tan ta bin Township to cut bamboo and fence the army
camp, and soldiers forced 6 villagers from Kaw thay doe village, Tan ta
bin Township, and 3 Ga mu doe villagers to carry military supplies.
Since 2003, the Government has allowed ILO staff to operate out of
a Rangoon office and travel throughout the country. The ILO must give
notice to the government when its staff members plan to travel to
restricted areas, and local authorities monitor their movements in some
cases. ILO local and foreign staff can travel unaccompanied, but
central government officials alert local authorities to their
movements.
In 2002, the Government established a committee, chaired by the
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, to implement measures against forced
labor. The ILO office in Rangoon reported 46 cases of forced labor to
the committee during the year. So far, the committee has responded to
approximately half of these cases, denying that any forced labor
existed. The committee did not implement adequate mechanisms for the
reporting, investigation, and prosecution of incidents of forced labor.
The ILO office in Rangoon has reported cases in which the
organization's local contacts have been detained and interrogated for
providing information about forced labor. In November 2003, a court
sentenced three persons, Naing Min Kyi, Shwe Man, and Aye Myint, to
death in part for having contacts with the ILO and the FTUB. However,
their sentences were subsequently reduced to prison terms (see Section
4).
Forced recruitment of soldiers was widespread. Credible reports
indicated that the Government would not allow soldiers to leave the
army at the end of their enlistment without first recruiting three or
four replacements, even if it required forced recruitment. Forced
recruitment of police forces followed the same pattern.
Civil service pay and government pensions are negligible. For
example, senior medical doctors earn $10 (10,000 kyat) a month. Civil
servants are not allowed to retire at will or terminate employment to
leave for other sectors.
The law does not specifically prohibit forced and bonded labor by
children, and forced labor by children continued to be a serious
problem (see Section 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law sets a minimum age of 13 for the employment of children, but in
practice the law was not enforced. Child labor has become increasingly
prevalent and visible. Working children were highly visible in cities,
mostly working for small or family enterprises. In the countryside,
children worked in family agricultural activities. Children working in
the urban informal sector in Rangoon and Mandalay often began work at
young ages. In the urban informal sector, child workers were found
mostly in food processing, street vending, refuse collecting, light
manufacturing, and as tea shop attendants. According to 2002 official
statistics, 6 percent of urban children worked, but only 4 percent of
working children earned wages; many were employed in family
enterprises.
The law does not specifically prohibit compulsory labor by children
and children were subjected to forced labor. Authorities reportedly
rounded up teenage children in Rangoon and Mandalay and forced them
into porterage or military service (see Section 5).
The DSW provides support and schooling for a small number of
children who were orphaned or in some other way estranged from their
families. One of the aims of this assistance is to help the children
become more capable of resisting exploitation in the future.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Only government employees and
employees of a few traditional industries were covered by minimum wage
provisions. The minimum daily wage for salaried public employees was
$0.10 (100 kyat) for what was in effect an 8 hour workday. Various
subsidies and allowances supplemented this sum. Neither the minimum
wage nor the higher wages earned by senior officials provided a worker
and family with a decent standard of living. Low and falling real wages
in the public sector have fostered widespread corruption and
absenteeism. In the private sector, urban laborers earned approximately
$0.80 (800 kyat) per day, while rural agricultural workers earned
approximately half that rate. Some private sector workers earned
substantially more; a skilled factory worker earned approximately $4
(4,000 kyat) per day.
A surplus of labor, a poor economy, and lack of protection by the
Government continued to foster substandard conditions for workers. The
1964 Law on Fundamental Workers Rights and the 1951 Factories Act
regulate working conditions. There is a legally prescribed 5 day, 35
hour workweek for employees in the public sector and a 6 day, 44 hour
workweek for private and state enterprise employees, with overtime paid
for additional work. The law also allows for a 24 hour rest period per
week, and workers were permitted 21 paid holidays per year; however, in
practice, such provisions benefited only a small portion of the
country's labor force, since most of the labor force was engaged in
rural agriculture or in the informal sector. The laws are generally
enforced in the government sector, but there are frequent violations by
private enterprises.
Numerous health and safety regulations existed, but in practice the
Government did not make the necessary resources available to enforce
the regulations. Although workers may in principle remove themselves
from hazardous conditions, in practice many workers could not expect to
retain their jobs if they did so.
__________
CAMBODIA
Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with an elected government.
On October 14, Prince Norodom Sihamoni was chosen by the Cambodian
Throne Council to succeed his father as the constitutional monarch and
head of state. The most recent National Assembly elections were held in
July 2003. Politically motivated violence, including killings, was
significantly lower than in previous elections; however, voter
intimidation by local officials in addition to technical problems with
the registration process and preparation of voter lists effectively
disenfranchised many citizens. The ruling Cambodian People's Party
(CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen won 73 of the 123 seats in the National
Assembly, the royalist National United Front for a Neutral, Peaceful,
Cooperative, and Independent Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) party won 26 seats,
and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) won 24 seats. The CPP and
FUNCINPEC formed a coalition government, but the CPP dominated the
Government. The SRP served as a vocal opposition, but has been excluded
from membership in the National Assembly commissions. Although the law
provides for an independent judiciary, in practice, the judiciary was
subject to legislative and executive influence and suffered from
corruption.
The National Police, an agency of the Ministry of the Interior
(MOI), has primary responsibility for internal security. Military
police are permitted to arrest civilians only when authorized by local
governments. Although civilian authorities nominally controlled the
security forces, in practice, security forces answered to the CPP
leadership. Some members of the security forces committed serious human
rights abuses.
The country has a free market economy. Approximately 84 percent of
the population of 13.8 million engaged in subsistence farming.
According to official figures, annual gross domestic income in 2003 was
estimated at $297 per capita; however, this figure did not accurately
represent purchasing power, especially in urban areas. Foreign aid
accounted for at least 50 percent of the Government's budget. In 2003,
the economy grew at an estimated real rate of 5.2 percent, and it was
expected to grow at 4.5 percent during the year. The country had a
thriving garment export industry; however, corruption and the lack of a
viable legal system made it difficult to attract foreign investment.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit abuses. During the year, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) estimated there were at least four political
killings and three alleged political killings, although motivations for
killing often were difficult to ascertain. Military and police
personnel were responsible for both political and nonpolitical
killings; however, there was no credible evidence that these killings
were officially sanctioned. There were credible reports that some
members of the security forces beat and otherwise abused persons in
custody, often to extract confessions. National and local government
officials often lacked the political will and financial resources to
act effectively against members of the security forces suspected of
human rights abuses. There also were politically motivated killings
committed by persons not in the security forces. Prison conditions
remained harsh, and the Government continued to use arbitrary arrest
and prolonged pretrial detention. Democratic institutions, especially
the judiciary, remained weak. Politically related crimes rarely were
prosecuted. Citizens often appeared without defense counsel and thereby
effectively were denied the right to a fair trial. The Government
largely controlled the content of television broadcasts and influenced
the content of most radio broadcasts. The authorities regularly
interfered with freedom of assembly. Societal discrimination against
women remained a problem, and domestic violence against women and abuse
of children were common. There were frequent land disputes, and the
Government and courts consistently did not resolve them in a just
manner. Although the number of trade unions grew and they became more
active, anti-union activity by employers and nonenforcement of labor
laws by the authorities also continued. Compulsory and forced child
labor continued to be a problem in the informal sector of the economy.
Domestic and cross-border trafficking in women and children, including
for the purpose of prostitution, was a serious problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--NGOs estimated that
there were four politically motivated and three possibly politically
motivated killings during the year.
In January, three SRP activists were shot and killed in two
separate incidents. On January 10, gunmen shot and killed one activist
in Kompong Cham Province. One suspect was arrested by police and
subsequently acquitted in July after a trial in the provincial court.
On January 15, two other activists were killed in their house in
Banteay Meanchey. In the latter incident, seven suspects were arrested
and confessed to robbery and murder. At least four of the suspects were
members of the CPP. Five of the seven suspects were released; two
suspects were convicted of murder and each was sentenced to 17 years in
prison and a $5,000 (20 million riel) fine payable to the families of
the victims.
On January 22, the President of the Free Trade Union Workers of
Cambodia, Chea Vichea, was shot and killed near a busy street in Phnom
Penh. Chea Vichea was a union activist affiliated with the SRP. Charges
were brought against two individuals in the case, but were dropped due
to lack of evidence. The investigating judge that dropped the charges
was transferred, and the prosecutor protested the dismissal of the
case. The Appeals Court overturned the dropping of charges and ordered
the Municipal Court to continue the investigation. At year's end, both
suspects remained in custody pending further investigation of the case.
On January 25, unidentified assailants shot and killed a FUNCIPEC
deputy village chief in Kompot Province. The perpetrators fled the
scene following the shooting and were still at large at year's end. A
warrant has been issued for their arrest.
On May 7, Ros Savannareth, a factory-level union leader, was killed
in Phnom Penh. Two men on a motorbike pulled alongside the victim's
motorbike and shot and killed him. A soldier from a paratroop unit was
arrested as a suspect in the killing. The suspect was currently
awaiting trial.
There were allegations of politically motivated killings before and
after the July 2003 National Assembly elections. NGOs estimated there
were 33 possibly politically motivated killings during this period;
however, it was often difficult to determine whether the motive for
these murders was political. For example, in February 2003, the Abbot
of the Phnom Ettarus Pagoda, Sam Bunthoeun, was killed. He had
encouraged monks to register for the National Assembly elections after
a pro CPP Buddhist patriarch had forbidden monks to register to vote.
No suspects were ever arrested. According to authorities, the
investigation remained open. Also in February 2003, two armed men shot
Om Radsady, advisor on foreign affairs to National Assembly President
Prince Norodom Ranariddh. Although the killing was believed to be
politically motivated, police arrested two soldiers who confessed they
had shot Om Radsady because they wanted to steal his cell phone. In
October 2003, a municipal court sentenced the two to 20 years in
prison. Despite the sentence, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights
(CCHR) and other local NGOs doubted the court findings. In August 2003,
the 16 year old daughter of an SRP activist was shot and killed by a
pro CPP village chief. The police arrested the village chief, but court
officials ordered the victim's family to accept a monetary payment and
a suspended 2-year sentence. The SRP activist subsequently filed a
lawsuit with the Appeals Court and moved his family to avoid reprisal
for filing the suit. The case was pending at the Appeal's court at
year's end. In October 2003, Chuor Chetharith, a reporter for pro-
FUNCINPEC Taprohm Radio and an MOI official, was shot and killed by two
men in front of the Taprohm radio station. No suspects were arrested at
year's end. His family left the country. Taprohm Radio criticized the
Government, and the killing occurred 4 days after Prime Minister Hun
Sen publicly warned FUNCINPEC that leaders of political parties should
control their broadcast media.
In 2002, the country held its first local elections. The U.N.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) reported that
prior to the elections, 22 political activists (5 in 2000, 12 in 2001,
and 5 in 2002), including candidates and family members, were killed in
20 separate incidents under suspicious circumstances. Human rights
monitoring groups agreed that at least seven of these cases were
politically motivated. UNHCHR reported that there were serious
shortcomings in the police investigations of these killings.
During the year, credible NGO reports indicated that members of the
military, military police, and civilian police forces were implicated
in 66 cases of extrajudicial killings. While authorities took legal
action in 90 percent of the cases, only 5 percent of the cases resulted
in prosecution.
On August 18, a member of the military died from injuries sustained
from a severe beating. His company commander and the commander's
brother-in-law, seen dropping the victim off at his home after the
injuries were sustained, were suspected of involvement in the beating.
In mid-December the provincial court in Kratie, where the incident
occurred, issued an arrest warrant for the two suspects. The suspects
appeared in court at the end of December and were being held pending
investigation.
In July, a prisoner awaiting trial was beaten to death. The police
officer suspected of administering the beating was a relative of the
party engaged in a dispute relating to the prisoner. No legal action
has been taken against the officer and reports indicated that he was
transferred to a different position.
In June 2003, anti riot police shot a union striker during a
demonstration; a policeman was killed in the same incident.
The number of landmine casualties remained high. Between January
and November, there were 322 landmine casualties and 477 casualties due
to unexploded ordinance (UXO). There were 772 landmine and UXO
casualties in 2003 and 847 in 2002.
During 2003, there were several high profile killings by unknown
actors that remained unsolved. For example, in April 2003, Judge Sok
Sethamony of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court was shot and killed in his
car on his way to work. Military police subsequently arrested three
suspects who police claimed had links to the Cambodian Freedom Fighters
(CFF). In April, the suspects were released due to lack of evidence. No
additional suspects have been arrested.
Touch Srey Nich, a popular singer who recorded a collection of
songs with political content for FUNCINPEC, was shot three times by
unidentified gunmen in late 2003. Srey Nich survived the shooting, but
was paralyzed; her mother was killed in the incident. This attack was
viewed by some as political, while others have alleged personal
motives. By year's end, there were no arrests in the case.
In October 2003, the Appeals Court held a new trial of Chhouk Rin,
a former Khmer Rouge commander, for his role in a 1994 train ambush.
The following month, the Appeals Court sentenced him to life
imprisonment. Chhouk Rin's lawyer filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Since Chhouk Rin was originally acquitted by the Phnom Penh Municipal
Court, the law stipulates he may not be incarcerated until the appeals
process is exhausted. The case was pending at the Supreme Court at
year's end.
Vigilante justice, as well as killings of alleged witches and
sorcerers, continued during the year. Vigilante mob violence, in the
form of large crowds of bystanders apprehending and attacking suspected
thieves at the scene of the crime, resulted in 26 attacks and 19 deaths
during the year. In June, three individuals were killed after locals
accused them of sorcery. Two suspects were arrested. In August, a
healer was shot and killed at his home; residents believed the victim
practiced sorcery. Government prosecutions of those responsible for mob
violence were rare.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits torture and physical abuse of
prisoners; however, beatings and other forms of physical mistreatment
of prisoners continued to be a serious problem. During the year, there
were credible reports that military and civilian police officials used
physical and psychological torture and severely beat criminal
detainees, particularly during interrogation. A local NGO reported that
in interviews with prisoners in 18 prisons, 106 claimed to have been
tortured, 65 of this group while in police custody and 41 while in
prison. Members of the police and security force who carried out abuse
often were protected from prosecution or disciplinary action by local
government authorities, despite some central Government efforts to
curtail or eliminate violations of prisoners' rights and to address
problems of accountability.
Prison conditions did not meet international standards and were
life-threatening. The MOI's Prisons Department is responsible for both
pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners held inside prisons. During
the year, prison conditions remained harsh, and government efforts to
improve them were hampered by lack of funds and weak enforcement. Human
rights organizations cited a number of serious problems, including
overcrowding, medical and sanitation problems, food and water
shortages, malnutrition, and poor security. During the year, a local
NGO that monitored 18 of the country's 24 prisons noted that the
population of those prisons had increased and that all 18 prisons were
overcrowded. In August, Tackhmau Prison, with a capacity of 110
prisoners, held 266. In some prisons, after escape attempts, use of
shackles and the practice of holding prisoners in small, dark cells
continued. Government ration allowances for purchasing prisoners' food
routinely were misappropriated and remained inadequate, which
exacerbated malnutrition. Regulations permitted families to provide
prisoners with food and other necessities, and prisoners depended on
such outside assistance; however, families often were compelled to
bribe prison officials to be allowed to provide assistance. During the
first 6 months of the year, NGOs reported that 58 prisoners died for
lack of food or medication or disease caused or aggravated while
incarcerated.
In July, a pretrial detainee in Takeo Province under police custody
was beaten to death (see Section 1.a.).
In 2002, three police officers were suspended and charged with
manslaughter for the 2001 beating death of a prisoner in Prey Veng
Province. Criminal charges were filed at the provincial court, but the
court failed to take action against the officers. Some of the suspects
have since been promoted.
In most prisons, there was no separation of adult prisoners and
juveniles, of male and female prisoners, or of persons convicted of
serious crimes and persons detained for minor offenses.
The Government continued to allow international and domestic human
rights groups to visit prisons and prisoners and to provide human
rights training to prison guards. However, NGOs reported that on
occasion cooperation from local authorities was limited. The MOI
continued to require that lawyers, human rights monitors, and other
visitors obtain letters of permission from the Ministry prior to
visiting prisoners. The Ministry withheld such permission in some
cases. NGOs were not allowed to interview prisoners in private.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government generally did
not respect these prohibitions. During the year, a number of persons
were arrested without warrants, and human rights groups reported 66
cases of persons illegally detained by police.
A 2002 sub-decree established the General Commissariat of the
National Police, which is under the supervision of the MOI, manages all
civilian police units. The police forces are divided into those who
have the authority to make arrests, those who do not, and the judicial
police. During the year, there were reports of police receiving
protection money from illegal businesses and suspects being released
due to police corruption. There was a climate of impunity for some
criminals.
The law allows the police to take a person into custody and conduct
an investigation for 48 hours before charges must be filed; however,
the authorities routinely held persons for extended periods before
charging them. Accused persons legally are entitled to a lawyer;
however, prisoners routinely were held for several days before gaining
access to a lawyer or family members. The investigating judge gathers
evidence before determining whether to try a case. One NGO reported
that during the year there were 125 complaints of pretrial detention
that lasted longer than the prescribed 6 months. In May 2003, four
persons were arrested and accused of supporting a Jemaah Islamiya
terrorist. They were never granted a preliminary hearing. In December,
three of the suspects were convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment, while a fourth was acquitted. According to Amnesty
International, the Government claimed that appeals made by the defense
attorneys reset the clock, and therefore the 6 month rule was not
violated. The Appeals Court hearing was interpreted as a new trial by
the Government, allowing for an additional 6 months of detention. Many
prisoners, particularly those without legal representation, had no
opportunity to seek release on bail. According to the UNHCHR, such
prolonged detention largely was a result of the limited capacity of the
court system.
In April, a suspected member of the CFF turned himself in after
detonating a bomb in Koh Kong and shooting at the local police chief.
He was awaiting trial at year's end. Fourteen additional alleged CFF
members have been arrested since November 2003. Three alleged CFF
members were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 15 years in
April. Seven have been released, and the remaining four were awaiting
trial. Charges included membership in an illegal armed group and
membership in a terrorist organization.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the Government did not respect this
provision in practice. The courts were subject to influence and
interference by the executive branch, and there was widespread
corruption among judges.
The court system consists of lower courts, an appeals court, and a
Supreme Court. The Constitution also mandates a Constitutional Council,
which is empowered to review the constitutionality of laws, and a
Supreme Council of the Magistracy, which appoints, oversees, and
disciplines judges. The composition of both of these bodies heavily
favored the CPP.
Trials are public. Defendants have the right to be present and
consult with an attorney, confront and question witnesses against them,
and present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf; however, trials
typically were perfunctory, and extensive cross examination usually did
not take place.
A lack of resources, low salaries, and poor training contributed to
a high level of corruption and inefficiency in the judicial branch, and
in practice, the Government did not ensure due process.
Defendants are entitled by law to the presumption of innocence and
to the right of appeal; however, because of pervasive corruption,
defendants often were expected to bribe judges to secure a verdict. A
citizen's right to appeal sometimes was limited by difficulty in
transferring prisoners from provincial prisons to the appeals court in
Phnom Penh. Many appeals thus were heard in the absence of the
defendant.
Judges and prosecutors often had little legal training. UNHCHR has
on a number of occasions printed and provided copies of the country's
laws to all judges. In 2003, the Royal School for Judges and
Prosecutors reopened and accepted its first class of students since the
1960s. The first 50 graduates were in legal internships at year's end.
The introduction of newly trained lawyers also resulted in significant
improvements for those defendants provided with counsel, including a
reduced pretrial detention period and improved access to bail; however,
there remained a critical shortage of trained lawyers throughout the
country, particularly outside Phnom Penh. Persons without the means to
secure counsel often effectively were denied the right to a fair trial.
Sworn written statements from witnesses and the accused usually
constituted the only evidence presented at trials. The accused's
statements sometimes were coerced through beatings or threats, and
illiterate defendants often were not informed of the content of written
confessions that they were forced to sign. In cases involving military
personnel, military officers often exerted pressure on judges to have
the defendants released without trial.
Court delays or corrupt practices often allowed accused persons to
escape prosecution. Government officials or members of their families
who committed crimes sometimes seemed to enjoy impunity. Although the
courts prosecuted some members of the security forces for human rights
abuses, impunity for most of those who committed human rights abuses
remained a problem. Most national and local government officials
continued to lack the political will and financial resources to act
effectively against military or security officials suspected of human
rights abuses.
The Judicial Reform Council made no significant progress in
fulfilling its mandate to develop and implement reform measures. In
2002, the Government established a second legal and judicial reform
council amid criticisms that the Judicial Reform Council's co chairs, a
Cabinet Minister, and the Supreme Court President, lacked sufficient
independence. In May 2003, the Council for Legal and Judicial Reforms
(CLJR) produced a draft Justice Sector Program and held workshops with
civil society, donors, and other interested parties. During the year,
the Council cooperated with donors to implement the Justice Sector
Program, and forwarded numerous draft laws to the National Assembly for
approval, including draft laws on the Statute of Magistrates,
Administrative Court, and amendments to the law on the Organization and
Functioning of the Supreme Council of Magistracy. In addition, in
November the CLJR forwarded Action Plans for legal reform goals to the
Council of Ministers.
The Supreme Council of the Magistracy disciplined two judicial
officials for misconduct during the year. In both cases, controversial
rulings rather than issues of ethical or legal misconduct formed the
basis for disciplinary action, which took the form of reassignment from
the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to less desirable provincial court
postings. Legal observers charged that the Supreme Council of the
Magistracy was subject to political influence and did not protect
effectively the independence of the judiciary.
In January 2003, court officials' salaries were raised from
approximately $20 (80,000 riel) per month to between $330 and $640 (1.3
and 2.5 million riel) per month in an attempt to reduce instances of
misconduct and corruption. Observers agreed that the culture of
corruption and lack of independence of the judiciary remained the same,
and there has been no discernable positive impact from the salary
raise. Human rights groups continued to report that the Government
demonstrated its control of the courts by ordering the rearrest of
suspects released by the courts or through extrajudicial processes.
Judges cited examples of interference from high ranking officials
tasking them to make rulings in line with political priorities. In
2002, the Prime Minister allegedly ordered that inappropriate criminal
charges against his former foreign business partner in a civil dispute
involving allegations of breach of contract be dropped.
Lawyers also noted that, in violation of the law, some police and
prison officials, with apparent support from other government
officials, have denied them the right to meet prisoners in private or
for adequate lengths of time. After the January 2003 anti Thai riots,
family members and human rights groups noted they did not have access
to the 57 individuals detained by the Government while the
investigation was underway.
There is a separate military court system, which suffered from
deficiencies similar to those of the civilian court system. The legal
distinction between the military and civil courts sometimes was ignored
in practice, and civilians have been called for interrogation by
military courts with no apparent jurisdiction in their cases.
In 2001, a law was promulgated to establish Extraordinary Chambers
to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to justice for genocide, crimes against
humanity, and war crimes committed from 1975 through 1979. The
Government had sought assistance and cooperation from the U.N. since
1997, as well as financial assistance from foreign donors, to make the
tribunal operational. In May 2003, the U.N. General Assembly approved a
draft agreement between the U.N. and the Government for prosecution of
crimes during the Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge) period. On October
4, the National Assembly unanimously ratified the agreement with the
U.N., and on October 5, the National Assembly passed the amendments
necessary to make the tribunal operational. Negotiations were ongoing
between the U.N. and potential donors to meet the required target
funding to begin the tribunal.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides for the privacy of
residences and correspondence and prohibits illegal searches; however,
the police routinely conducted searches and seizures without warrants.
There were no reports that the Government monitored private electronic
communications.
Since the forced collectivization during Khmer Rouge rule and the
return of thousands of refugees, land ownership often has been unclear,
and most landowners lacked adequate formal documentation of ownership.
Following the end of the Khmer Rouge insurgency, a rush to gain
possession of lands near potentially lucrative cross border trade
routes exacerbated the ownership problem. Widespread land speculation
in recent years has fueled disputes and increased tensions between poor
rural communities and wealthy speculators. In 2002, the Ministry of
Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction established a
commission to settle disputes over land that has not been registered
nor given a land certificate. Despite a slight improvement in services,
the commission continued to perform its functions slowly due to a lack
of finances, training, and experience. The courts under the Ministry of
Justice remained responsible for resolving disputes in cases where land
had been registered or disputants had been given land titles.
During the year, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning,
and Construction began implementing a 2001 land law to protect land
ownership and deeds. Problems of inhabitants being forced to relocate
continued to occur when powerful officials or businessmen colluded with
local authorities. NGOs reported that during the year there were 356
individual and collective land disputes affecting 10,958 families. Some
of those expelled successfully contested these actions in court, but
the majority lost their cases, possibly due to corruption in the court
system. At year's end, a number of appeals were pending in the Appeals
Court or Supreme Court. One dispute pending resolution was a complaint
filed by an official in the Ministry of Women's Affairs against 306
families accusing them of land grabbing. Villagers accused the official
of forcing them to sell land at below market prices.
In August, police forcibly evicted 250 families and beat protestors
in a dispute over land in Poipet owned by the Minister of Rural
Development. A Supreme Court eviction order issued in July that
resulted in the evictions was the culmination of a 5 year dispute over
ownership rights.
At year's end, a dispute originally affecting approximately 1,800
families over a road project between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City
had been settled for all but 143 families. Complaints were made to the
Inter-Ministerial Resettlement Committee for compensation in 2002,
2003, and during the year, charging that the compensation offered was
inadequate.
In the wake of an October 18 speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen
concerning redistribution of land from speculators to the poor,
thousands of villagers in Sihanoukville began a program of land
grabbing on vacant plots owned by wealthier members of the community or
absentee landlords. Authorities issued arrest warrants for 29
individuals in connection with this act, eventually arresting 17
suspects. At year's end, 11 had been released, while 6 others remained
in police custody pending trial.
In November, a major land dispute occurred involving hundreds of
villagers in Pursat and Kompong Chnnang and the Pheapimex Company. The
dispute involved a 741,000-acre land concession granted to Pheapimex by
the Government. During the protests in front of the company's worksite,
a grenade was thrown into the crowed, injuring 8 persons. Police have
not made any arrests in the attack. Provincial authorities have
demanded Pheapimex halt operations, but the company continued
development of the site.
Unlike previous years, there were no reported cases of relocations
due to community development projects by the Phnom Penh Municipality.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom; however, there continued to be some problems. The Constitution
implicitly limits free speech by requiring that it not affect adversely
public security. The Constitution also declares that the King is
``inviolable.''
The Press Law provides journalists with a number of rights,
including a prohibition on prepublication censorship and protection
from imprisonment for expressing opinions. However, the Press Law also
includes a vaguely worded prohibition on publishing articles that
affect national security and political stability. The press published a
large number of news items critical of the Government, including
frequent, highly personal criticism of the Prime Minister, the
President of the National Assembly, and other senior officials.
Although limited in circulation, newspapers were a primary source
of news and political opinion. All major political parties had
reasonable and regular access to the print media. In general,
newspapers were aligned politically. Although the Press Law does not
specifically permit newspapers, in practice major newspapers published
in the Khmer language received support from various political parties.
There were an estimated 20 Khmer language newspapers published
regularly. Of these, half were considered pro CPP, one third were
considered to support the FUNCINPEC Party, and one was considered to
support the opposition SRP. During the year, four provincial newspapers
began printing local news. In addition, daily newspapers were published
in French, English, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Two other English
newspapers were published regularly. Although the three largest
circulation newspapers were considered pro CPP, most newspapers
criticized the Government frequently, particularly with respect to
corruption. Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly President
Prince Norodom Ranariddh frequently came under strong attack by
opposition newspapers.
The Government, the military forces, and the ruling political party
continued to dominate the broadcast media and to influence the content
of broadcasts. According to a 2001 report by the UNHCHR, the procedures
for licensing and allocation of radio and television frequencies to the
media were not impartial. The SRP and independent human rights advocacy
groups aligned with the opposition have been unable to obtain broadcast
licenses.
There were seven television stations, all controlled or strongly
influenced by the CPP. Government control severely limited the content
of television and radio broadcasting. The Ministry of Information
controlled national television and radio stations broadcast taped
sessions of the National Assembly's debates; however, in several
instances, these broadcasts were censored. National radio and
television stations regularly broadcast some human rights, social
action, public health, and civil society programming produced by
domestic NGOs.
There were reports of harassment of persons working for the print
and broadcast media. On February 23, a print media journalist was
handcuffed and beaten by National Park authorities while trying to
photograph mistreatment of villagers by authorities. During the year,
authorities detained seven journalists in four separate incidents on
charges ranging from document forgery to alleged extortion.
Shortly after the January 2003 anti Thai riots, both the owner of
independent radio station Beehive/FM 105 and the editor in chief of the
Khmer language Newspaper Rasmei Angkor were arrested and charged with
broadcasting and printing false information (see Section 2.b.). They
were released on bail after being detained 2 weeks. In October 2003,
Chuor Chetharith, reporter for pro FUNCINPEC Taprohm Radio and former
FUNCINPEC aide, was killed in front of the Taprohm radio station (see
Section 1.a.).
The Voice of Democracy (VOD) radio program produced by the CCHR was
broadcast on two private radio stations and included independent and
often anti-government views. The program became extremely popular;
however, it faced several challenges to its ability to broadcast during
the year. In June, the FUNCINPEC-aligned owners of one radio station
removed VOD from its program list after VOD criticized that party's
leader. Since February 2003, the Ministry of Information has refused to
grant the CCHR a license to operate a radio station, claiming that
Phnom Penh already had too many radio stations and newspapers.
Defamation and libel suits have increased during the year, with
seven newspapers charged with defamation and six reporters arrested
during the first 8 months of the year. Two of the reporters were
convicted of defamation and ordered to pay financial compensation to
plaintiffs, who in both cases were members of the Government.
The media reportedly engaged in some self censorship during the
year. After the July 2003 elections, the media engaged in self
censorship on several occasions after calls from CPP and FUNCINPEC to
limit criticism of either party.
Media access to National Assembly sessions is mandated by the
Constitution. The Government does broadcast National Assembly sessions
on television; however, it continued to restrict media access to
government facilities. In April 2003, the National Assembly banned
journalists from entering its grounds without authorization from the
Assembly's Secretary General. This ``security'' directive was issued a
few hours after the defection of three FUNCINPEC parliamentarians and
four other royalist figures to the opposition SRP. It also followed
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema's closure of the traditionally public
weekly municipal meetings.
Government authorities removed publications from the public purview
during the year. In December, the Government confiscated a book
accusing senior government officials of the CPP party of genocide in
the Khmer Rouge era. In February 2003, local authorities removed copies
of a controversial booklet that insinuated that Prime Minister Hun
Sen's wife played a role in the death of the popular actress, Piseth
Pilika; however, the booklets were sold at the SRP's headquarters and
published at the printing house without government interference.
The Government did not restrict Internet access, which was
available widely in larger towns.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, but the Government did not
respect this right in practice. The Government requires that a permit
be obtained in advance of a march or demonstration. The Government
routinely did not issue permits to groups critical of the ruling party.
Throughout the year, the Government cited the January 2003 anti Thai
riots, the need for stability during discussions leading to the
formation of a new government, and public security as reasons for
denying permits. Police forcibly dispersed groups that assembled
without a permit, often resulting in minor injuries to some
demonstrators. The Government broke up five demonstrations that were
denied permits and three assemblies of local teachers' associations. In
January, a demonstration by the opposition Khmer Front Party in front
of the National Assembly was disbanded. Four demonstrators were
arrested and forced to sign pledges not to protest in the future. In
June, police broke up a demonstration by several hundred persons who
were protesting alleged ``land grabbing'' by officials, and blocked
access along a national highway. Police allegedly used clubs and
electric batons to subdue the protestors.
The Government also failed to protect peaceful demonstrators from
violence. In November, villagers gathered outside the Pheapimex Company
involved in a land dispute were attacked when a grenade was thrown into
the crowd, injuring eight. Authorities failed to arrest any suspects or
to provide security for the protest (see Section 1.f.).
Supporters of both the ruling and opposition parties hosted rallies
and street parades during the 2003 elections campaign.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice; however, the
Government did not enforce effectively the freedom of association
provisions of the Labor Law (see Section 6.a.).
The Government did not coerce or forbid membership in political
organizations. Political parties normally were able to conduct their
activities freely and without government interference. Human rights
organizations reported that some local authorities warned members of
certain political parties that if they continued to support those
parties they would face a loss of residency rights, confiscation of
property, and a ban on using local infrastructure. During the year, the
ruling coalition parties threatened to remove immunity of Sam Rainsy
and several SRP parliamentarians in connection with politically-
motivated lawsuits filed against them. At year's end, no action was
taken by the National Assembly to lift their immunity.
Membership in the Khmer Rouge, which ruled the country from 1975 to
1979 and subsequent to its overthrow conducted an armed insurgency
against the Government, is illegal, as is membership in any armed
group.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Constitution also prohibits discrimination based on
religion, and minority religions experienced little or no official
discrimination. Buddhism is the state religion, and over 95 percent of
the population is Buddhist. Most of the remaining population is ethnic
Cham Muslims.
In January 2003, the Ministry of Cults and Religions issued an
order prohibiting public proselytizing. During the year, this order was
only enforced during the siesta hours.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution and law provide for
these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, there were several reports of restrictions on journalists and
human rights groups traveling to Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces
after the Montagnard (hill tribes) unrest in neighboring Vietnam in
April. Aid workers reported that they were asked to provide official
permission from the local authority to travel in the provinces.
The Government placed no restrictions on foreign travel. The
Government also placed no restrictions on emigration or on the return
of citizens who had left the country.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it. In 2002, one FUNCINPEC member resigned his seat in
Parliament and remained in self imposed exile.
In March 2002, the Government signed a memorandum of understanding
with the United States to facilitate the return of deportable Cambodian
nationals; 127 persons had been repatriated from the United States by
year's end. In 2002, 36 repatriated Cambodians were detained for a
period of up to several weeks upon their arrival, and some reportedly
were forced to pay bribes during this detention period. The Government
subsequently respected the rights of these individuals and their
efforts to integrate themselves into society. During the year, a NGO
provided reintegration assistance to those repatriated.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status, and
the country is a signatory of the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; however, in practice the
Government did not consistently respect the law and has not implemented
legislation pertaining to the 1951 U.N. Convention. There were credible
reports that Vietnamese Montagnards seeking asylum were deported
without proper review, despite a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) presence in the country. UNHCR maintained its Phnom Penh
office, but closed its Ratanakiri office in April in response to
requests from local authorities. However, since July, UNHCR has made
numerous trips to Ratanakiri to collect groups of Montagnards that have
fled Vietnam. The Government permitted UNHCR to transport these asylum
seekers to Phnom Penh, where UNHCR processed them for resettlement
abroad. Thirteen of the Montagnards returned to Vietnam by their own
choice. At year's end, UNHCR was still working to resettle the
remaining Montagnards. There were reports that Vietnamese authorities
offered incentive awards to Cambodian border police who returned
Vietnamese refugees to Vietnam and that Vietnamese secret police were
active on the Cambodian side of the border.
Asylum seekers who reached the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh were
processed with government cooperation. During the year, 836 Montagnard
refugee cases were processed at the UNHCR refugee facilities in Phnom
Penh. An additional 61 individuals of other nationalities were
processed by UNHCR during the year.
In 2002, the UNHCR reached an agreement with the Government and
with the Government of Vietnam to facilitate voluntary repatriation of
Montangards. The agreement collapsed in early 2003, the camps were
dismantled, and the remaining refugees were moved to Phnom Penh for
resettlement. Since May 2003, all of the approximately 900 Montagnard
refugees authorized for resettlement in 2002 have been resettled to
third countries.
On September 5, the Government took seven North Korean asylum
seekers into custody in Phnom Penh. On September 24, the international
press reported that the seven arrived in South Korea for resettlement.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens generally exercised this right in
practice through periodic elections on the basis of universal suffrage.
Suffrage is voluntary for all citizens over the age of 18. Voter
turnout for the July 2003 National Assembly elections was approximately
83 percent. The CPP won 73 seats in the election, while FUNCINPEC won
26 seats and the SRP won 24 seats. In July, the CPP and FUNCINPEC
formed a nominal coalition government, but the CPP dominated the
Government
All election observer groups took note of improvements in the July
2003 elections; however, they concluded the elections still fell short
of international standards. Politically motivated violence remained a
problem, but was less than during previous elections. Local NGOs
reported as many as 33 killings were possibly politically motivated
during the election period. The Government took action against only
some alleged perpetrators and addressed other misconduct
inconsistently.
Technical problems with the registration process and preparation of
voter lists effectively disenfranchised many citizens. There were also
incidents of voter intimidation by local officials. The National
Election Commission (NEC) failed to establish a credible process to
resolve election complaints, including charges of political
intimidation, gift giving, vote buying, and procedural irregularities.
The appointment of NEC members by the MOI was not transparent and left
the NEC open to charges of political influence by the ruling CPP.
There were improvements in media access for registered parties, and
open political debate and multi party debates were televised nationally
for the first time; however, electronic media coverage still heavily
favored the ruling CPP. In June 2003, at least six private radio and
television stations refused to sell airtime to political parties, a
move that critics viewed as CPP inspired. The National TV of Cambodia
was the sole television station to broadcast news of the general
elections; however, five private radio stations sold airtime to
political parties.
Some NGOs and political parties alleged that membership in the
dominant CPP party provided advantages, such as gifts or access to
government emergency aid.
There were no limitations on political participation in traditional
society; however, Buddhist sect leader Tep Vong, who was believed to be
pro-government, published an edict urging monks not to vote in the 2003
elections.
The Government did not prohibit youth wings of political parties,
but also did not restrict the activities of the pro CPP Pagoda Boys
Association when it held counter opposition demonstrations. However,
unlike in previous years, there were no reports of activity by the
Pagoda Boys Association during the year.
In 2002, the Government held its first nationwide commune, local
level elections. The election results loosened the CPP's 23 year hold
on local governance. The CPP won 7,703 council members seats
nationwide, FUNCINPEC won 2,211 member seats, and the SRP won 1,346
member seats. Although CPP commune chiefs remained in 99 percent of the
1,621 communes, as a result of the elections, power was shared with
other parties in all but 148 communes. The transfer of power to the
newly elected Commune Councilors was smooth. At year's end, the MOI had
yet to issue instructions for elected commune councils to implement the
Commune Administration Law describing the power, duties, and functions
of the councils.
During the commune level election campaign period, NGOs reported 25
FUNCINPEC and SRP activists and candidates were killed under suspicious
circumstances, including 7 killings that human rights monitoring
organizations agreed were motivated politically.
Traditional culture has limited the role of women in government;
however, women took an active part in the July 2003 National Assembly
elections. The number of women in the National Assembly, Senate, and
high level government positions increased. There were 22 women in the
123 seat National Assembly. There were also 11 women in the 61 seat
Senate. After the formation of the new Government, there were 24 women
working as ministers, secretaries of state, under secretaries of state,
and for the NEC. Women also served as advisors, and there were 12
female judges at the Municipal, Provincial, and Appeals Court levels.
The Dean of the Royal School of Judges and Prosecutors was also a
woman. After the 2002 local elections, women held 933 (8.3 percent) of
the 11,261 commune council seats.
Minorities also took part in the Government. There were 6 members
of minorities 2 Cham, 3 tribal, 1 Thai in the 123 seat National
Assembly. There also were 6 members of minorities--2 Cham, 2 tribal,
and 2 Thai in the 61 seat Senate. At least eight officials in senior
positions in the Government were from minority groups.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. The Government
generally cooperated with human rights workers in performing their
investigations; however, there were numerous reports of lack of
cooperation or even intimidation by local authorities throughout the
country.
There were approximately 40 NGOs involved in human rights
activities; however, only a small portion of them actively were
involved in organizing training programs or investigating abuses.
While the central government generally was cooperative, human
rights NGOs faced a variety of threats and harassment from local
officials. These took the form of restrictions on gatherings sponsored
by NGOs, verbal intimidation, threats of legal action, bureaucratic
obstruction, and other acts of interference.
During the year, there were credible threats against the safety of
local NGO staff providing shelter to trafficked victims and conducting
anti trafficking advocacy and investigations. The threats were made by
traffickers and followed raids and operations that threatened their
interests. In contrast to previous years, NGOs investigating illegal
logging activity were not known to have been harassed.
In 2002, the Government and UNHCHR signed a memorandum of
understanding, which extended the UNHCHR's activities in the country
for 2 more years. UNHCHR was in the process of renewing the memorandum
at year's end. During the year, the UNHCHR conducted activities related
to human rights and the judiciary, and maintained its headquarters in
Phnom Penh and a regional office in Battambang.
The Cambodian Human Rights Committee, which the Government
established in 1998, was largely inactive. The Committee does not have
regular meetings or a transparent operating process. In April, the
Committee issued a report for the first quarter of the year detailing
mob killings, but did not address the killing of union leader Chea
Vichea and other serious human rights issues.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
color, language, religious beliefs, or political views; however, the
Government did not always protect these rights.
Women.--Domestic and international NGOs reported that violence
against women, including domestic violence and rape, was common. The
law prohibits rape and assault. Spousal rape and domestic abuse are not
recognized as separate crimes. A case of spousal rape could be
prosecuted as ``rape,'' ``causing injury,'' or ``indecent assault,''
but such charges were rare. The MOI investigated 270 cases of rape
between January and November, arresting 297 perpetrators. One local NGO
reported 387 cases of violence against women from January through
October; 22 cases resulted in death, and 306 cases resulted in injury.
The NGO also reported 267 cases of rape between January and October,
resulting in 6 deaths. Of these cases, 171 involved minors. The
authorities normally declined to become involved in domestic disputes,
and the victims frequently were reluctant to issue formal complaints.
Of 135 lawsuits filed in courts, 18 suspects were arrested, but none
have been tried.
Prostitution is prohibited constitutionally; however, there is no
specific legislation against working as a prostitute. Trafficking in
women for the purpose of prostitution was a serious problem, despite
laws against procuring and kidnapping for purposes of sexual
exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking). Despite sporadic crackdowns
on brothel operators in Phnom Penh, prostitution and trafficking
related to it continued to be a problem. A 1997 Commission on Human
Rights report to the National Assembly reported 14,725 working
prostitutes. In 2003, a statistical study generally supported this
figure by estimating that there were 18,256 working prostitutes in the
country.
The Labor Law has provisions against sexual harassment in the
workplace, and the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that
sexual harassment in the industrial sector was rare. Sexual harassment
was not known to be a problem in other sectors of the economy.
The Constitution contains explicit language providing for equal
rights for women, equal pay for equal work, and equal status in
marriage. In practice, women had equal property rights, the same legal
status to bring divorce proceedings, and equal access to education and
some jobs; however, cultural traditions continued to limit the ability
of women to reach senior positions in business and other areas.
Demographic trends and a history of conflict have resulted in
increasing labor force participation on the part of women. According to
the most recent Labor Force Survey, conducted in 2001, women made up 52
percent of the population; 60 percent of agricultural workers; 85
percent of the business work force; 70 percent of the industrial work
force, a result of the high proportion of women working in garment
factories; and 60 percent of all service sector workers, which was
dominated by the tourism industry. Women often were concentrated in low
paying jobs and largely were excluded from management positions. Men
make up the vast majority of the military, police, and civil service.
A large number of NGOs provided training for poor women and widows
and addressed social problems such as spousal abuse, prostitution, and
trafficking. A media center produced and broadcast programming on
women's issues. NGOs provided shelters for women in crisis.
Children.--The Constitution provides for children's rights, and the
Government made the welfare of children a specific goal. The Government
relied on international aid to fund most child social welfare programs,
resulting in only modest funds for problems that affect children.
Children were affected adversely by an inadequate education system.
Education was free, but not compulsory, through grade nine. Many
children either left school to help their families in subsistence
agriculture, began school at a late age, or did not attend school at
all. A 2003 Ministry of Education (MOE) report stated that primary
school enrollment was 90 percent of eligible children, but only 21
percent of eligible students had access to secondary education. Despite
an extensive school construction program, schools were overcrowded and
lacked sufficient equipment. In rural areas, schools often provided
only a few years of education. According to MOE data, 52 percent of
schools lacked drinking water and 41 percent had no toilets. Less than
5 percent of primary school teachers had completed high school.
Teachers' salaries were irregularly paid and inadequate to support a
decent standard of living, leading to demands for unofficial payments
from parents, which the poorest families could not afford. The
Government did not deny girls equal access to education; however,
families with limited resources often gave priority to educating boys.
In many areas, schools were remote, and transportation was a major
problem. This particularly affected girls because of safety concerns in
traveling between their homes and schools.
Children frequently suffered from malnutrition, and the health care
system was inadequate. In 2002, infant mortality was estimated at 96
per thousand. It was also estimated that the mortality rate for
children under the age of 5 years was 138 per thousand.
Child abuse was believed to be common, although there were no
statistics available. A domestic NGO estimated there were more than
1,200 children living on the streets of Phnom Penh who had no
relationship with their families, and more than 10,000 children that
worked on the streets, but returned to their family homes in the
evenings. It was estimated that there were between 500 and 1,500
children living on the streets in provincial towns. In June, the
Governor of Phnom Penh began a controversial roundup of street children
who were deemed ``an eyesore to the outside tourists.'' The news
reported that government officials stated the children were being sent
to an NGO in Banteay Meanchey Province for drug rehabilitation. Many
children were dropped off on the roadside outside the city and
subsequently made their way back to Phnom Penh; however, some children
were never accounted for, and no NGO claimed to have received them.
Sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 15 is illegal;
however, child prostitution and trafficking in children were common
(see Section 5, Trafficking). In 2000, the Government adopted a 5 year
plan against child sexual exploitation that emphasized prevention
through information dissemination and protection by law enforcement
(see Section 5, Trafficking). During the year, there were at least four
cases in which foreigners were charged with pornography violations or
pedophilia. Rape of children remained a serious issue, and 57 cases of
rape involving children below 10 years of age were reported between
January and October.
The illegal purchase and sale of infants and children for
prostitution and adoption was a serious problem. During the year, raids
on brothels rescued numerous underage girls who were trafficked to the
country for prostitution. There were no reported cases of individuals
or organizations purchasing infants or children to sell for profit to
unwitting adoptive families; this was due primarily to the moratorium
on adoptions in place for the United States, France, and the United
Kingdom. Some of these children were exploited. In some cases, the
perpetrators encouraged women to give up their children under false
pretenses. For example, the perpetrators promised to care for the
children temporarily, but then refused to return them.
Child labor was a problem in the informal sector of the economy
(see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, persons were trafficked to, from, and within the country. The
Law on the Suppression of Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Exploitation of
Humans (the Trafficking Law) establishes a prison sentence of 15 to 20
years for any person convicted of trafficking in persons under 15 years
of age; the penalty is from 10 to 15 years for trafficking persons over
the age of 15. In October, at the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial
Initiative Against Trafficking meeting, the country joined five other
countries in the region in signing a memorandum on regional anti-
trafficking cooperation including a commitment to prepare country-
specific plans of action. A local NGO reported 150 arrests of suspected
traffickers and rescue of 672 victims during the year. Approximately
one fifth (134) of these cases involved underage girls. The trafficking
law contains no provisions to protect foreign victims from being
charged under the country's immigration laws, but during the year there
were no reported cases of trafficking victims being treated as illegal
immigrants.
Enforcement of the anti trafficking laws and prosecution of
perpetrators continued to be uneven; however, there was some
improvement in prosecution and conviction rates. The MOI reported that
during the year police investigated 106 trafficking cases, arresting
113 individuals and rescuing 366 victims under the Trafficking Law.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police arrested 52 suspected traffickers and
rescued 202 trafficking victims, including 45 underage victims. A local
NGO reported that only 7 of the 150 trafficking suspects arrested
during the year were successfully prosecuted by year's end, with 75
released for lack of evidence and the remainder awaiting trial. A legal
advocacy NGO brought 50 trafficking cases to court during the year. Of
the 14 cases that went to trial, convictions were obtained against 6
traffickers with sentences ranging from 2 years' to 20 years'
imprisonment. Additionally, the convicted traffickers were ordered to
pay $400 to $600 (1.6 million to 2.4 million riel) to each victim as
compensation. There were no reports of cases settled out of court. In
February, a New Zealander was convicted of debauchery and sentenced to
20 years. In August, another New Zealander was convicted of debauchery
for sexually abusing 4 boys age 11 to 16 and sentenced to 10 years in
prison in addition to being ordered to pay $2,000 (8 million riel) to
each victim as compensation.
Several government ministries were active in combating trafficking.
In 2000, the Government adopted a 5 year plan against child sexual
exploitation that emphasized prevention through information
dissemination and protection by law enforcement. The Government has
established mechanisms for monitoring and reporting on the plan and has
established a Department of Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile
Protection. There were specialized MOI anti trafficking departments in
7 provinces and anti trafficking units in the remaining 17 provinces.
The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation
(MOSAVY) worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
to repatriate trafficked victims from Thailand to Cambodia and from
Cambodia to Vietnam. However, repatriation to Vietnam continued to be a
long and arduous process. In addition, the MOSVY worked with UNICEF and
local NGOs to manage community based networks aimed at preventing
trafficking. The Ministry of Women's Affairs continued a public
education campaign against trafficking, focusing on border provinces.
In June 2003, the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Thailand to pursue joint investigations of transnational traffickers.
Most adult and child victims were trafficked for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. Estimates of the number of trafficking
victims in the sex industry ranged from 2,000 to more than 3,000,
approximately 80 percent of whom were Vietnamese women and girls. Some
Vietnamese women and girls were trafficked through the country for
exploitation in the commercial sex trade in other Asian countries.
One study estimated that 88,000 citizens worked in Thailand as
bonded laborers at any given time; many were exploited in the sex
industry or were employed as beggars, particularly children. Similarly,
children were trafficked to Vietnam for begging.
Trafficking victims, especially those trafficked for sexual
exploitation, faced the risk of contracting sexually transmitted
diseases, including HIV/AIDS. In some cases, victims were detained and
physically and mentally abused by traffickers, brothel owners, and
clients.
Traffickers used a variety of methods to acquire victims. In many
cases, victims were lured by promises of legitimate employment. In
other cases, acquaintances, friends, and family members sold the
victims or received payment for helping deceive them. Young children,
the majority of them girls, were often ``pledged'' as collateral for
loans by desperately poor parents; the children were responsible for
repaying the loan and the accumulating interest. Local traffickers
covered specific small geographic areas and acted as middlemen for
larger trafficking networks. Organized crime groups, employment
agencies, and marriage brokers were believed to have some degree of
involvement.
It was believed widely that some law enforcement and other
government officials received bribes that facilitated the sex trade and
trafficking in persons. High ranking government officials or their
family members reportedly operated, had a stake in, or received
protection money from brothels that housed trafficking victims,
including underage sex workers. There were no known prosecutions of
corrupt officials for suspected involvement in trafficking in persons.
The MOSVY referred trafficking victims to NGOs. Most assistance to
victims was provided by local NGOs and international organizations. The
Government participated as a partner in a number of these efforts;
however, its contributions were hampered severely by limited resources.
Some victims were encouraged by NGOs and the MOI to file complaints
against perpetrators; however, in the general climate of impunity,
victim protection was problematic, and victims often were intimidated
into abandoning their cases.
During the year, NGOs worked with the Ministry of Women's Affairs
to repatriate nine victims of sex trafficking from Malaysia. The MOI
was conducting an investigation into the trafficking of women and girls
to Malaysia for sex.
The Government has established specialized anti trafficking and
juvenile protection units in several provinces, which raided a number
of brothels. The raids of the specialized unit in Phnom Penh resulted
in the rescue of 68 victims of human trafficking, 36 of whom were under
the age of 18. Other police units also conducted raids of brothels and
rescued numerous prostitutes, including underage workers. The
Government provided most rescued victims with protection, while working
with NGOs to either reunite the victims with their families or to place
them in a shelter. Trafficking victims, especially those exploited
sexually, faced societal discrimination, particularly in their home
villages and within their own families, as a result of having been
trafficked.
In December, the Ministry of Interior's Anti-Trafficking and
Juvenile Protection Police raided a notorious Phnom Penh hotel,
detaining 8 suspected traffickers and placing 83 women and girls from
the hotel under NGO care. A day after the raid the suspects were
released by police, and a mob of family members and other unidentified
persons removed or caused to be released 91 women and girls from the
NGO shelter, including the 83 women and girls taken from the hotel. The
Government subsequently failed to protect the women and girls during
the process of an investigation that was still pending at year's end.
It has not yet been determined how many of these women and girls were
trafficking victims.
During the year, there were no reported cases of trafficking
victims being treated as illegal immigrants. Although the Government
protected persons who admitted they were victims of trafficking, there
were cases in 2002 in which victims, who claimed they were 18 and had
entered prostitution willingly, were treated as deportable aliens.
Repatriation to Vietnam continues to be a long and arduous process.
During the year, the Government, together with the ILO, IOM,
UNICEF, and local and international NGOs cosponsored a national forum
against trafficking. Four child delegates selected during this event
then represented the country at a regional trafficking forum convened
as a complementary advocacy effort to the Coordinated Mekong
Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking.
The Government used posters, television, radio, and traditional
local theater to raise public awareness of human trafficking. In 2001,
the Ministry of Women's Affairs launched a major information campaign
as part of a 3 year education project in conjunction with IOM. The IOM
continued to work with the Ministry throughout the year to expand this
project to all provinces.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Government does not require that
buildings or government services be accessible to persons with
disabilities. The Government also prohibits persons with even minor
disabilities from being teachers in public schools. In the most recent
figures available dating from 1999, it was reported that there were
170,000 persons with disabilities, including 24,000 persons missing at
least 1 limb and 6,744 persons missing more than 1 limb. Disability due
to landmines accounted for 11.5 percent of the total population of
persons with disabilities, while disability due to congenital problems
and disease accounted for 53 percent. During the year, there were
approximately 800 landmine and unexploded ordinance casualties.
Programs administered by various NGOs brought about substantial
improvements in the treatment and rehabilitation of persons who had
lost limbs; however, persons who had lost limbs faced considerable
societal discrimination, particularly in obtaining skilled employment.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Citizens of Chinese and
Vietnamese ethnicity constituted the largest ethnic minorities. Ethnic
Chinese citizens were accepted in society; however, animosity toward
ethnic Vietnamese, who were seen as a threat to the nation and culture,
continued. The rights of minorities under the 1996 nationality law are
not explicit; constitutional protections are extended only to ``Khmer
people.''
Preceding the July 2003 National Assembly elections, the SRP,
FUNCINPEC, and a number of smaller political parties exploited anti
Vietnamese sentiment. Political parties attempted to disenfranchise
thousands of ethnic Vietnamese citizens by challenging their voter
registration rights, and at least at one polling station a mob
prevented ethnic Vietnamese from voting. In addition, student groups
continued to make strong anti Vietnamese statements. They complained of
political control of the CPP party by the Vietnamese government, border
encroachment, and other problems for which they held ethnic Vietnamese
persons at least partially responsible. There was increased ethnic
tension after the 2003 elections, which resulted in the burning of
homes of Vietnamese and tense relations in several areas of Kandal
Province.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Societal discrimination
against those infected with HIV/AIDS remained a problem in rural areas;
however, discrimination was moderated by HIV/AIDS awareness programs.
There was no official discrimination against those infected with HIV/
AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Labor Law provides workers with
the right to form professional organizations of their choosing without
prior authorization, and all workers are free to join the trade union
of their choice; however, the Government's enforcement of these rights
was selective, and two trade unionists were killed during the year (see
Section 1.a.). Membership in trade unions or employee associations is
not compulsory, and workers are free to withdraw from such
organizations; however, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training
(MOLVT) has accepted the charter of at least one union that requires
workers to obtain permission before they may withdraw. The Labor Law
does not apply to civil servants, including teachers, judges, and
military personnel, or to household servants. Personnel in the air and
maritime transportation industries were not entitled to the full
protections of the law but were free to form unions.
Most workers were subsistence rice farmers, and although there was
an expanding service sector, most urban workers were engaged in small
scale commerce, self employed skilled labor, or unskilled day labor.
Only a small fraction (estimated at less than 1 percent) of the labor
force was unionized, and the trade union movement was still nascent and
very weak. Unions suffered from a lack of resources, training, and
experience. Unions were concentrated in the garment and footwear
industries, where approximately 50 to 60 percent of the 250,000 workers
were union members. The Cambodian Tourism and Service Workers
Federation, formed in 2003, represented over 3,500 hotel, casino, and
airport workers. The 1 public sector union, the Cambodia Independent
Teachers Association (CITA), was registered as an ``association'' and
represented 5,300 members. Local and provincial authorities, acting on
the Government's orders, banned most of CITA's activities.
The Labor Law requires unions and employer organizations to file a
charter and list of officers with the MOLVT. The MOLVT has registered
675 factory unions, 18 national labor federations, and 1 national
confederation (an alliance of several like-minded federations) since
the Labor Law went into effect in 1997, including 175 unions, 5
federations, and 1 confederation during the year. During the year,
there were no complaints that the Government failed to register unions
or labor federations; however, some unions and federations complained
of unnecessary delays and costs. Although all unions collect dues from
members, none was able to operate without outside sources of financial
support.
Two major labor federations and several unaffiliated factory unions
are independent. Eleven registered labor federations have ties to the
Government or CPP affiliated individuals within the Government. There
was credible evidence of management involvement in some labor unions.
In some factories, management appeared to have established their own
unions, supported pro management unions, or compromised union leaders.
Independent union leaders complained that the Cambodian Confederation
of Trade Unions (CCTU)--a newly formed confederation comprised of the
11 pro government, pro management labor federations--frequently
intervened in the affairs of other unions and extorted money from
management in exchange for discouraging workers from conducting legal
strikes and demonstrations. Some labor unionists alleged that CCTU
representatives threatened rival union leaders as well as employers.
The CCTU has effectively supplanted the Cambodian Labor Solidarity
Organization, a government-affiliated NGO that claimed to protect
workers and the economy from disruptive union activists and intimidated
and used violence against unionists and other workers.
Union activists frequently were the targets of violence. On January
22, Chea Vichea, President of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of
Cambodia (FTUWKC), was killed on a busy street in Phnom Penh (see
Section 1.a.). On May 7, Ros Sovannareth, President of the Trinonga
Komara Garment Union and a steering committee member of the FTUWKC was
killed (see Section 1.a.). In addition the International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions reported that on June 23, Lay Sophead, the
president of a union affiliated with the FTUWKC, was attacked and left
for dead. Lay Sophead recovered and applied for a position in another
factory; however, her application was turned down in an apparent act of
anti-union discrimination.
Following the death of Vichea, several trade unionists reported
receiving threats, including Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian
Independent Teacher's Association, and FTUWKC General Secretary Sum Som
Neang, who has fled the country. In addition, Vichea's partner left the
country and was granted asylum in another country.
During the post-election political deadlock, the Government's
enforcement of the right of association and freedom from anti-union
discrimination was poor and MOLVT activities declined significantly.
The Government's enforcement efforts were further hampered by a lack of
political will and by confused financial and political relationships
with employers and union leaders. The Government also suffered from a
lack of resources, including trained, experienced labor inspectors, in
part because it did not pay staff adequate salaries. The MOLVT often
decided in favor of employees, but rarely used its legal authority to
penalize employers who defied its orders. There were credible reports
of anti union harassment by employers, including the dismissal of union
leaders, in more than 25 garment factories and other enterprises during
the year. On several occasions, dismissed union leaders accepted cash
settlements after unsuccessfully appealing to the Government to enforce
Labor Law provisions requiring their reinstatement; however, there were
some cases in which the Government upheld labor rights. For example,
the Government suspended the export privileges of a garment factory in
which a manager abused and threatened a unionist. In addition,
according to MOLVT statistics, 92 companies were fined for Labor Law
violations between December 2003 and November.
Unions may affiliate freely, but the law does not address
explicitly their right to affiliate internationally.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Law
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively; however,
the Government's enforcement of these rights was inconsistent. Wages
were set by market forces, except in the case of civil servants, whose
wages were set by the Government.
Since passage of the Labor Law in 1997, there has been confusion
about the overlapping roles of labor unions and elected shop stewards.
The Labor Law provides unions the right to negotiate with management
over wages and working conditions and allows unions to nominate
candidates for shop steward positions. The law provides shop stewards
the right to represent the union and to sign collective bargaining
agreements; however, in practice, most factories elected shop stewards
before a union was present in the enterprise. Many unions had no
legally enforceable right to negotiate with management if a nonunion
shop steward had been elected. In addition, the law specifically
protects elected shop stewards from dismissal without permission from
the MOLVT, but grants no such protection to elected union leaders. In
2000, MOLVT issued a regulation that gave trade unions roles comparable
to those of shop stewards and extended protection from dismissal to
certain union officers within an enterprise; however, these protections
for union leaders have not proved effective.
There were 18 collective bargaining agreements registered with the
Government, most of which were conciliation agreements between labor
and management, which did not meet international collective bargaining
standards. Only two genuine collective bargaining agreements existed
within the garment industry. These agreements provided additional
health and welfare provisions such as extra sick leave and maternity
leave, factory clinic upgrades, and union controlled welfare funds. In
2001, the Government issued a regulation establishing procedures to
allow unions to demonstrate that they represent workers for purposes of
collective bargaining. This regulation also establishes requirements
for employers and unions regarding collective bargaining and provides
union leaders with additional protection from dismissal. The Bureau of
Labor Relations facilitates the process of union registration and
certification for most representative status for unions, a status that
entitles a union representing an absolute majority of workers in a
given enterprise to represent all of the workers in that establishment.
The MOLVT granted most representative status to 56 unions, enabling
them to represent workers for purposes of collective bargaining. Other
unions that have applied for this status and had not yet received it
complained of unnecessary bureaucratic delays.
In 2002, the ILO initiated a program to prevent and resolve labor
disputes. A tripartite labor arbitration council launched by the ILO in
May 2003 has received 139 collective worker and management dispute
cases. Of these cases, 123 were resolved (82 through arbitral awards
and 41 through conciliation during the arbitration process); 12 cases
were pending at year's end.
The Labor Law provides for the right to strike and protects
strikers from reprisal. The MOLVT reported that 79 strikes occurred
during the year, most of which violated the 7 day strike notice
requirement. Union leaders, in contrast, maintained that twice as many
strikes had actually taken place, the majority of which were legal.
Unions complained that a severe lack of MOLVT involvement during the
period of political deadlock had led to a dramatic increase in
industrial action.
The Government allowed most strikes, and police intervention
generally was minimal and restrained, even in those cases where
property damage occurred. During the period of political deadlock
between the July 2003 elections and the formation of the new
government, the Government disapproved most demonstration requests,
citing security concerns as justification. Police presence at the few
demonstrations that occurred tended to be excessive and often included
a specialized police intervention unit. In October, police used a water
hose against 1,700 workers in Sihanoukville who conducted an
unauthorized strike following the mass dismissal of 41 workers.
The Government allowed some demonstrations to take place without
significant interference, including a march in honor of slain union
leader Chea Vichea (see Section 1.a.) that was attended by thousands of
his supporters and a 250 person funeral procession for another union
leader who was murdered in May (see Section 1.a.).
In spite of the provisions in the law protecting strikers from
reprisals, there were credible reports of workers being dismissed on
spurious grounds after organizing or participating in strikes. In some
cases, strikers were pressured by employers to accept compensation and
to leave their employment. Employees at two luxury hotels were fired
following an April strike, which they maintained was legal. The
employees alleged that management locked them out of the hotel when
they refused to sign a statement waiving their legal right to strike in
the future. After 5 months of negotiations, management and workers
signed a memorandum of understanding in September to rehire 60 percent
of the workers with backpay and to provide severance packages to the
remaining workers.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Law
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including forced labor by
children; however, the Government did not enforce its provisions
adequately. Involuntary overtime remained widespread. Under the Labor
Law, legal overtime work cannot exceed 2 hours daily and must be
voluntary; however, in practice, overtime was often extended beyond the
legal limit and employers used coercion to force employees to work.
Workers often faced fines, dismissal, or loss of premium pay if they
refused to work overtime.
There also were reports of isolated cases of forced labor by
domestic servants.
Forced child labor was a serious problem in the commercial sex
industry (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Government has adopted laws to protect children from exploitation in
the workplace.
The Labor Law establishes 15 years as the minimum age for
employment and 18 years as the minimum age for hazardous work. The law
permits children between 12 and 15 years of age to engage in ``light
work'' that is not hazardous to their health and that does not affect
school attendance. A tripartite Labor Advisory Committee is responsible
for defining what constitutes work that is hazardous to the health,
safety, and morality of adolescents, as well as consulting with the
MOLVT to determine which types of employment and working conditions
constitute ``light work.''
Of children between the ages of 5 years and 17 years, 53 percent
were employed. One third of these children were over the age of 14
years, and 71 percent of them were engaged in agricultural, farming, or
forestry activities; 21 percent of working children were sales or
service workers, and 7 percent were engaged in production work.
During the year, the ILO reported that there was no evidence that
child labor was a problem in the garment sector. Historically, child
labor has been extremely rare in the garment industry, although young
workers occasionally misrepresented their age to gain employment. Lack
of credible civil documents made it difficult for employers to guard
against this, and most garment factories had policies that set the age
of employment above the legal minimum age of 15 years.
The most serious child labor problems were in the informal sector.
Some observers noted that existing regulations do not address the
problem of child labor in the informal sector adequately. MOLVT was
working with the ILO to identify gaps in existing legislation
proscribing child labor and to develop measures to fully implement the
relevant conventions. With assistance from the ILO, MOLVT established a
child labor unit to investigate and combat child labor. The Government
has developed a national plan that will serve as a framework for
policies and interventions against the worst forms of child labor.
The Constitution prohibits forced or bonded child labor; however,
forced child labor was a serious problem in the commercial sex industry
(see Section 5). Although law enforcement agencies had authority to
combat child prostitution, they failed to do so in a sustained,
consistent manner. Widespread corruption, lack of transparency,
inadequate resources, and staffing shortages remained the most
challenging obstacles.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Law requires the MOLVT
to establish minimum wages based on recommendations from the Labor
Advisory Committee. By law, the minimum wage can vary regionally. In
2000, the Labor Advisory Committee approved a minimum wage of $44
(175,500 riel) per month, but this only extended to the garment and
footwear industries. Most garment and footwear factories respected the
minimum wage. There was no minimum wage for any other industry.
Garment workers earned an average of $65 (260,000 riel) per month,
including overtime and bonuses. Prevailing monthly wages in the garment
sector and many other professions were insufficient to provide a worker
and family with a decent standard of living. Civil service salaries
also were insufficient to provide a decent standard of living,
requiring government officials to secure outside sources of income, in
many cases by obtaining second jobs or collecting bribes.
The Labor Law provides for a standard legal workweek of 48 hours,
not to exceed 8 hours per day. The law stipulates time and one half for
overtime and double time if overtime occurs at night, on Sunday, or on
a holiday; however, the Government did not enforce these standards
effectively. Workers in many garment factories reported that overtime
was excessive or involuntary or that they were required to work 7 days
per week. Outside the garment industry, regulations on working hours
were rarely enforced.
The Labor Law states that the workplace should have health and
safety standards adequate to ensure workers' well being. The Government
enforced existing standards selectively, in part because it lacked
trained staff and equipment. Work-related injuries and health problems
were common. Most large garment factories producing for markets in
developed countries met relatively high health and safety standards as
conditions of their contracts with buyers. Working conditions in some
small scale factories and cottage industries were poor and often did
not meet international standards. The Government issued several
instructions on workplace standards, and more detailed regulations
awaited approval by the Labor Advisory Committee before they could be
promulgated. Penalties are specified in the Labor Law, but there are no
specific provisions to protect workers who complain about unsafe or
unhealthy conditions. Workers who removed themselves from unsafe
working conditions risked loss of employment.
The Labor Law applies to all local and foreign workers. A Ministry
of Labor regulation limits the number of foreign workers an employer
can hire to 10 percent.
__________
CHINA
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is an authoritarian state in
which, as specified in its Constitution, the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP or Party) is the paramount source of power. Party members hold
almost all top government, police, and military positions. Ultimate
authority rests with the 24-member political bureau (Politburo) of the
CCP and its 9-member standing committee. Leaders made a top priority of
maintaining stability and social order and were committed to
perpetuating the rule of the CCP. Citizens lacked the freedom to
express opposition to the Party-led political system and the right to
change their national leaders or form of government. Socialism
continued to provide the theoretical underpinning of national politics,
but Marxist economic planning has given way to pragmatism, and economic
decentralization has increased the authority of local officials. The
Party's authority rested primarily on the Government's ability to
maintain social stability; appeals to nationalism and patriotism; Party
control of personnel, media, and the security apparatus; and continued
improvement in the living standards of most of the country's 1.3
billion citizens. The Constitution provides for an independent
judiciary; however, in practice, the Government and the CCP, at both
the central and local levels, frequently interfered in the judicial
process and directed verdicts in many cases.
The security apparatus is made up of the Ministries of State
Security and Public Security, the People's Armed Police, the People's
Liberation Army (PLA), and the state judicial, procuratorial, and penal
systems. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of
the security forces. Security policy and personnel were responsible for
numerous human rights abuses.
The country's transition from a centrally planned economy toward a
market based economy continued. Although state-owned industry remained
dominant in key sectors, the Government has taken steps to restructure
major state-owned enterprises (SOEs), privatized many small and medium
SOEs, and allowed private entrepreneurs increasing scope for economic
activity. Rising urban living standards; a burgeoning middle class;
greater independence for entrepreneurs; the reform of the public
sector, including government efforts to increase transparency and
eliminate administrative hurdles; and expansion of the private sector,
including foreign-invested enterprises, continued to increase workers'
employment options and reduce state control over citizens' daily lives.
The country faced many economic challenges, including reform of
SOEs and the banking system, growing unemployment and underemployment,
an aging population, the need to construct an effective social safety
net, and rapidly widening income gaps between coastal and interior
regions and between urban and rural areas. In recent years, between 100
and 150 million persons voluntarily left rural areas to search for
better jobs and living conditions in cities, where they were often
denied access to government-provided economic and social benefits,
including education and health care. The Government continued to relax
controls over migration from rural to urban areas, and many cities took
steps to expand the rights of migrants and their dependents to basic
social services. In the industrial sector, continued downsizing of SOEs
contributed to rising urban unemployment that was widely believed to be
much higher than the officially estimated 4 percent, with many sources
estimating the actual figure to be as high as 20 percent. The
Government reported that urban per capita disposable income in 2003 was
$1,028 and grew by 9 percent over the previous year, while rural per
capita cash income was $317 and grew by 4 percent. Official estimates
of the percentage of citizens living in absolute poverty showed little
change from the previous year. The Government estimated that 30 million
persons lived in poverty, and the World Bank estimated the number whose
income does not exceed one dollar per day to be 100 to 150 million
persons.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses. Citizens
did not have the right to change their government, and many who openly
expressed dissenting political views were harassed, detained, or
imprisoned, particularly in a campaign late in the year against
writers, religious activists, dissidents, and petitioners to the
Central Government. Authorities were quick to suppress religious,
political, and social groups that they perceived as threatening to
government authority or national stability, especially before sensitive
dates such as the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and
other significant political and religious occasions. However, the
Constitution was amended to mention human rights for the first time.
Abuses included instances of extrajudicial killings; torture and
mistreatment of prisoners, leading to numerous deaths in custody;
coerced confessions; arbitrary arrest and detention; and incommunicado
detention. The judiciary was not independent, and the lack of due
process remained a serious problem. The lack of due process was
particularly egregious in death penalty cases, and the accused was
often denied a meaningful appeal. Executions often took place on the
day of conviction or on the denial of an appeal. In Xinjiang, trials
and executions of Uighurs charged with separatism continued. Government
pressure continued to make it difficult for lawyers to represent
criminal defendants. The authorities routinely violated legal
protections in the cases of political dissidents and religious figures.
They generally attached higher priority to suppressing political
opposition and maintaining public order than to enforcing legal norms
or protecting individual rights. According to 2003 government
statistics, more than 250,000 persons were serving sentences in
``reeducation-through-labor'' camps and other forms of administrative
detention not subject to judicial review. Other experts reported that
more than 310,000 persons were serving sentences in these camps in
2003.
Throughout the year, the Government prosecuted individuals for
subversion and leaking state secrets as a means to harass and
intimidate, while others were detained for relaying facts about Chinese
human rights issues to those outside the country. Among those detained
or convicted on such charges were Christian activists Zhang Rongliang,
Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi, and journalists Zhao Yan,
Shi Tao, Li Guozhu and members of the independent PEN Center's China
branch. The Government detained individuals administratively to
suppress dissent and intimidate others. In April and June, authorities
detained many who planned 15th anniversary commemorations of the 1989
Tiananmen massacre, including activist Hu Jia and ``Tiananmen Mothers''
organization founders. Similarly, military officials detained Dr. Jiang
Yanyong because he wrote to government leaders requesting an official
reassessment of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
The number of individuals serving sentences for the now-repealed
crime of counterrevolution was estimated at 500 to 600; many of these
persons were imprisoned for the nonviolent expression of their
political views. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) estimated that as
many as 250 persons remained in prison for political activities
connected to the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations.
The authorities granted early release from prison to Tibetan nun
Phuntsog Nyidrol in February and China Democracy Party (CDP) co-founder
Wang Youcai in March. Counterrevolutionary prisoners Liu Jingsheng and
Chen Gang were also released during the year, after their sentences
were reduced. However, many political prisoners, including Internet
activists Xu Wei, Yang Zili, and Huang Qi; Uighurs Rebiya Kadeer and
Tohti Tunyaz; journalists Zhao Yan and Jiang Weiping; labor activists
Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang; civil activist Mao Hengfeng; Catholic
Bishop Su Zhimin; Christian activists Zhang Rongliang, Zhang Yinan, Liu
Fenggang, and Xu Yonghai; Tibetans Jigme Gyatso, Tenzin Deleg, and
Gendun Choekyi Nyima; Inner Mongolian cultural activist Hada; CDP co-
founder Qin Yongmin; and political dissident Yang Jianli remained
imprisoned or under other forms of detention, some in undisclosed
locations.
The Government used the international war on terror as a pretext
for cracking down harshly on suspected Uighur separatists expressing
peaceful political dissent and on independent Muslim religious leaders.
The human rights situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and in
some Tibetan regions outside the TAR also remained poor (see Tibet
Addendum).
The Government maintained tight restrictions on freedom of speech
and of the press, and a wave of detentions late in the year signaled a
new campaign targeting prominent writers and political commentators.
The Government regulated the establishment and management of
publications, controlled broadcast and other electronic media, censored
some foreign television broadcasts, and jammed some radio signals from
abroad. During the year, publications were closed and otherwise
disciplined for publishing material deemed objectionable by the
Government, and journalists, authors, academics, Internet writers, and
researchers were harassed, detained, and arrested by the authorities.
Although the scope of permissible private speech has continued to
expand in recent years, the Government continued and intensified
efforts to monitor and control use of the Internet and other wireless
technology, including cellular phones, pagers, and instant messaging
devices. During the year, the Government blocked many websites, began
monitoring text messages sent by mobile phones, and pressured Internet
companies to censor objectionable content. NGOs reported that 43
journalists were imprisoned at year's end.
The Government severely restricted freedom of assembly and
association and infringed on individuals' rights to privacy. The
authorities harassed and abused many who raised public grievances,
including petitioners to the Central Government. The Government
outlawed public commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. Thousands
of individuals protesting forced evictions and workplace and health
issues were detained during the year. Petitioner issues were
increasingly considered suspect by the Government, and petitioner
leader Ye Guozhu was arrested in August while seeking permission to
hold a 10,000-person rally against forced eviction.
While the number of religious believers in the country continued to
grow, the Government's record on respect for religious freedom remained
poor, and repression of members of unregistered religious groups
increased in some parts of the country. Members of unregistered
Protestant and Catholic congregations, Muslim Uighurs, and Tibetan
Buddhists, including those residing within the TAR (see Tibet Addendum)
experienced ongoing and, in some cases, increased official
interference, harassment, and repression. Government officials
increased vigilance against ``foreign infiltration under the guise of
religion.'' The Government detained and prosecuted a number of
underground religious figures in both the Protestant and Catholic
Church. Among them, Protestants Liu Fengang, Xu Yonghai, and Zhang
Shengqi were sentenced for sending to overseas organizations
information that the Government considered sensitive.
The extent of religious freedom varied significantly from place to
place. The Government continued to enforce regulations requiring all
places of religious activity to register with the Government. Many
provincial authorities required groups seeking to register to come
under the supervision of official, ``patriotic'' religious
organizations. Religious worship in many officially registered
churches, temples, and mosques occurred without interference, but
unregistered churches in some areas were destroyed, religious services
were broken up, and church leaders and adherents were harassed,
detained, or beaten. At year's end, scores of religious adherents
remained in prison because of their religious activities. No visible
progress was made in normalizing relations between the official
Patriotic Catholic Church and Papal authorities, although both the
Government and the Vatican stated that they were ready to resume
negotiations aimed at establishing diplomatic relations. The Government
continued its crackdown against the Falun Gong spiritual movement, and
tens of thousands of practitioners remained incarcerated in prisons,
extrajudicial reeducation-through-labor camps, and psychiatric
facilities. Several hundred Falun Gong adherents reportedly have died
in detention due to torture, abuse, and neglect since the crackdown on
Falun Gong began in 1999.
Freedom of movement continued to be restricted. However, the
Government continued to relax its residence-based registration
requirements. The Government denied the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) permission to operate along its border with North
Korea and deported several thousand North Koreans, many of whom faced
persecution and some of whom may have been executed upon their return,
as provided in North Korean law. Abuse and detention of North Koreans
in the country was also reported.
The Government did not permit independent domestic NGOs to monitor
human rights conditions. However, in September, the U.N. Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention visited Beijing, Sichuan, and the TAR and toured
10 detention facilities. Although the Government extended invitations
to the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Torture and the U.N. Special
Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance, those visits did not occur by
year's end. The Government also extended an invitation to the leaders
of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, but the
visit did not occur due to restrictive conditions that the Government
placed on the visit. In December, the Government postponed a planned
seminar by the Organization for Economic Cooperation on Socially
Responsible Investment, which resulted in the cancellation of a visit
by the OECD's Trade Union Advisory Council to discuss labor issues.
Violence against women, including imposition of a coercive birth
limitation policy that resulted in instances of forced abortion and
forced sterilization, continued to be a problem, as did prostitution.
Discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, and minorities
persisted. Trafficking in persons continued to be a serious problem.
Labor demonstrations, particularly those protesting nonpayment of
back wages, continued. Workplace safety remained a serious problem,
particularly in the mining industry. The Government continued to deny
internationally recognized worker rights, including freedom of
association. Forced labor in prison facilities remained a serious
problem.
Significant legal reforms continued during the year, including a
Constitutional amendment specifically to include protection of
citizens' human rights and legally obtained private property for the
first time. In July, the Government enacted the Administrative
Procedures Law, which prohibits government agencies from violating
citizens' rights or seizing property without clear legal authority. A
new infectious disease law was enacted prohibiting discrimination
against people with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B, and employment
discrimination against those with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B was
outlawed. Treatment of some migrant workers was improved in many major
cities through the passage of laws intended to guarantee migrant
children access to public education and to protect migrant workers'
rights to receive their salary on a regular basis. The Government
enacted reforms related to interrogation of detainees, fighting
corruption, procedures for requisitioning land, confiscation of
personal property, extending social security, regulating religion, and
providing legal aid. At year's end, it remained unclear how widely
these reforms would be implemented and what effect they would have.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--During the year,
politically motivated and other arbitrary and unlawful killings
occurred. While no official statistics on deaths in custody were
available, state-run media reported that 460 people were killed by law
enforcement officials and over 100 seriously injured through abuse or
dereliction of duty in 2003. In August, the Sichuan Provincial
Procuratorate issued a report stating that, in the first half of the
year, 118 individuals in Sichuan Province died and 10 were severely
injured due to malfeasance by police and prison officials. In June,
state-run media reported that in Guizhou Province police beat Jiang
Zongxiu to death after she was detained administratively for
distributing Bibles (see Section 2.c.). In April, Gu Xianggao died in
police custody in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. Public security
officials offered compensation to his family in connection with his
death. In these cases, officials denied that the deaths occurred
because of police abuse, but others who viewed the bodies stated that
beatings had occurred (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.).
Several hundred Falun Gong adherents reportedly have died in
detention due to torture, abuse, and neglect since the crackdown on
Falun Gong began in 1999 (see Section 2.c). Some groups based abroad
estimated that as many as 2,000 Falun Gong practictioners have died as
a result of official persecution.
Trials involving capital offenses sometimes took place under
circumstances involving severe lack of due process and with no
meaningful appeal. Executions often took place on the day of conviction
or appeal. For example, on international antidrug day, June 26, dozens
of prisoners were executed, many within hours of their trial and
conviction. In Xinjiang, executions of Uighurs accused by authorities
of separatism, which some observers claimed were politically motivated,
were reported (see Section 5). The Government regarded the number of
death sentences it carried out as a state secret. However, in March, a
National People's Congress deputy asserted that nearly 10,000 cases per
year ``result in immediate execution.'' The statement sparked calls for
reform, including returning the power to issue death sentences from
provincial courts to the Supreme People's Court (SPC) and eliminating
the death penalty for economic and other nonviolent crimes.
Nonetheless, media reports stated that approximately 10 percent of
executions were for economic crimes, especially corruption. SPC and
Ministry of Justice officials stated that the 10,000 executions per
year figure is exaggerated. Amnesty International (AI) reported that
China executed more persons than any other country. Some foreign
academics estimated that as many as 10,000 to 20,000 persons are
executed each year.
b. Disappearance.--The Government used incommunicado detention. The
law requires notification of family members within 24 hours of
detention, but many individuals were held without notification for
significantly longer periods, especially in sensitive political cases.
Dr. Jiang Yanyong and his wife were detained on June 1 and held
incommunicado for several weeks in connection with a letter he wrote to
government leaders about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre (see Section
2.d.). New York Times researcher Zhao Yan also was held for several
days in September before authorities notified his relatives and
employer (see Section 2.a.).
By year's end, the Government had not provided a comprehensive,
credible accounting of all those missing or detained in connection with
the suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations. Public calls for
a reassessment of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre increased during the
year, especially around the 15th anniversary of the crackdown.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Prison Law forbids prison guards from extorting
confessions by torture, insulting prisoners' dignity, and beating or
encouraging others to beat prisoners; however, police and other
elements of the security apparatus employed torture and degrading
treatment in dealing with some detainees and prisoners. While senior
officials acknowledged that torture and coerced confessions were
chronic problems, they did not take sufficient measures to end these
practices. Former detainees reported credibly that officials used
electric shocks, prolonged periods of solitary confinement,
incommunicado detention, beatings, shackles, and other forms of abuse.
Since the crackdown on Falun Gong began in 1999, several hundred
Falun Gong adherents reportedly died in custody due to torture, abuse,
and neglect (see Section 2.c.). During the year, the Government
arrested Falun Gong members and formally charged them with
manufacturing claims that they were tortured.
During the year, police continued to use torture to coerce
confessions from criminal suspects. A Supreme People's Procuratorate
(SPP) investigation uncovered more than 4,000 cases of official abuse,
including torture and extracting confessions through coercion, from
2001 to 2003. Lawyers and other observers continued to point to the
December 2003 conviction and execution of crime syndicate figure Liu
Yong on corruption charges as a prominent example of the Government
ignoring evidence of torture in the interest of fighting crime. Liu was
sentenced to death in 2002, but Beijing-based defense attorneys
discovered evidence that a key witness' confession was coerced through
torture. As a result, the Liaoning High Court overturned Liu's death
sentence in August 2003. Yielding to public opposition to the ruling,
the SPC reinstated the death penalty in December 2003, and Liu was
executed the same day.
Mao Hengfeng, a Shanghai housing activist and organizer sentenced
to reeducation through labor for staging ``disorderly visits'' to
Government offices, reportedly suffered various forms of torture. She
reportedly was held with drug addicts who were allowed to abuse her,
was strapped to her bed for hours at time, was force-fed an
unidentified medicine that turned her mouth black, and, on one
occasion, had her limbs pulled in different directions for a period of
2 days.
The Government made some efforts to address the problem of torture
during the year. Some provincial governments issued regulations
stipulating that judges and police who used torture to extract
confessions from suspects would face dismissal. In May, the SPP
announced a 1-year campaign to punish officials who infringed on human
rights, including officials who coerced confessions through torture or
illegally detained or mistreated prisoners. In August, the Government
issued new regulations governing the length and conditions of
interrogation for pretrial detainees, including protections for
pregnant women, juveniles, and the elderly. Police officers who
tortured suspects faced dismissal and criminal prosecution in some
cases. For example, in June two police officers in Bazhou, Hebei
Province, were sentenced to life in prison and a suspended death
sentence after torturing a suspect to death and hiding the body in
2001. In July, two Sichuan Province police officers were sentenced to
12 years and 1 year in prison, respectively, in another case in which a
suspect died after being tortured.
During the year, there were reports of persons, including Falun
Gong adherents, sentenced to psychiatric hospitals for expressing their
political or religious beliefs (see Section 1.d.). Some reportedly were
forced to undergo electric shock treatments.
Petitioners and other activists sentenced to administrative
detention also reported being tortured. Such reports included being
strapped to beds or other devices for days at a time, being beaten,
being forcibly injected or fed medications, and being denied food and
use of toilet facilities.
The Ministry of Justice administered more than 670 prisons with a
population of over 1.5 million inmates, according to official
statistics. In addition, 33 jails for juveniles housed over 19,000
juvenile offenders. The country also operated hundreds of
administrative detention centers, which were run by security ministries
and administered separately from the Ministry of Justice and the formal
court system (see Section 2.d.)
Conditions in penal institutions for both political prisoners and
common criminals generally were harsh and frequently degrading.
Prisoners and detainees often were kept in overcrowded conditions with
poor sanitation. Prison capacity became an increasing problem in some
areas, including Guangdong Province. Food often was inadequate and of
poor quality, and many detainees relied on supplemental food and
medicines provided by relatives. Some prominent dissidents were not
allowed to receive supplemental food and medicine from relatives.
Political prisoners often were kept segregated from each other and
placed with common criminals, who sometimes beat political prisoners at
the instigation of guards. Xu Guang, a former CDP member released from
prison in September, stated that he was beaten and placed in a metal
cage for 2 months after he commemorated the anniversary of the 1989
Tiananmen massacre while in Qiaoci Prison in Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Province. Newly arrived prisoners or those who refused to acknowledge
committing crimes were particularly vulnerable to being beaten in
prison. In January, political dissident He Depu was reportedly beaten
by guards at Beijing No. 2 Prison and made deaf in one ear. Authorities
acknowledged He's deafness, but asserted that he was already deaf when
he entered prison, a claim denied by his family members. Prolonged use
of electric shocks and use of a rack-like disciplinary bed were
reported at Inner Mongolia's Chifeng Prison. Inner Mongolian cultural
activist Hada was among those tortured, according to credible NGO
reports. Chinese prison management relied on the labor of prisoners
both as an element of punishment and to fund prison operations (see
Section 6.c.).
Adequate, timely medical care for prisoners continued to be a
serious problem, despite official assurances that prisoners have the
right to prompt medical treatment if they become ill. In August,
businessman Wu Daiyou died in a Chongqing prison. His family claimed he
contracted tuberculosis in prison and died because authorities denied
him needed medical treatment. Political prisoners continued to have
difficulties obtaining medical treatment, despite repeated appeals on
their behalf by their families and the international community. Foreign
citizen Jude Shao suffered a serious heart ailment in a Shanghai prison
that authorities were unable to treat. Foreign legal residents Yang
Jianli and Wang Bingzhang suffered strokes in prison, but authorities
rejected their requests for outside medical care. Others with health
concerns included Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer; democracy
activists Qin Yongmin, Hua Di, and He Depu; Internet writers Yang Zili
and Luo Yongzhang; labor activists Xiao Yunliang, Yao Fuxin, Hu Shigen,
and Zhang Shanguang; civil activist Mao Hengfeng; Inner Mongolian
activist Hada; and religious prisoners Zhang Rongliang, Liu Fenggang,
Xu Yonghai, Gong Shengliang, Chen Jingmao, and Bishop Su Zhimin. During
the year, some political prisoners went on hunger strikes in prison to
protest their treatment.
Special prisons to segregate HIV-positive prisoners and provide
care to those with HIV/AIDS were established during the year, including
facilities in Henan and Zhejiang Provinces. In July, supporters of a
Shangqiu, Henan Province AIDS orphanage and school, which the
Government claimed was operating illegally, were detained for
contesting the closure of the institution. Wang Guofeng and Li Suzhi,
who have HIV, claimed they received inadequate treatment while detained
and that authorities refused to provide them with test results or allow
them to travel to Beijing to see specialists after they were released
on bail. The Government stated they were denied imported HIV
medications because such medicines likely were smuggled into the
country.
Acknowledging guilt was a precondition for receiving certain
privileges, including the ability to purchase outside food, make
telephone calls, and receive family visits. Prison officials often
denied privileges to those, including political prisoners, who refused
to acknowledge guilt or obey other prison rules. After CCP activist
Wang Bingzhang told jailers he intended to stage a hunger strike,
prison staff withheld prison visits, letters, telephone privileges, and
other communication for 6 months as punishment. Foreign Falun Gong
member Charles Lee staged a hunger strike to protest forced
``reeducation'' sessions he was given in prison. Some prominent
political prisoners, however, received better than standard treatment.
Conditions in administrative detention facilities, such as
reeducation-through-labor camps, were similar to those in prisons.
Beating deaths occurred in administrative detention. The March 2003
death of university graduate Sun Zhigang in a custody-and-repatriation
camp designed to hold illegal migrants focused public attention on
abuses in the administrative detention system. Under the custody-and-
repatriation system, police detained and forcibly repatriated to their
home provinces migrants, petitioners, and political activists caught
without an identification card, work permit, or temporary residence
permit. Public outcry following Sun's death played an important role in
the State Council's decision, in June 2003, to abolish the custody-and-
repatriation system and convert custody-and-repatriation camps across
the country into voluntary humanitarian aid shelters for the homeless.
Initial reports indicated that most current residents of the camps are
indeed there voluntarily. In June, a facility employee who urged
inmates to beat Sun was sentenced to death. During the year, one inmate
was given a suspended death sentence, and 17 others received prison
sentences in connection with Sun's death.
Deaths in reeducation-through-labor camps led to calls to reform or
abolish that system as well. Reform of the reeducation-through-labor
law was placed on the legislative agenda of the National People's
Congress (NPC), but no concrete steps were taken to enact a new law
during the year. Scholars publicly discussed reforms, including
introducing judicial oversight of reeducation-through-labor sentences,
allowing lawyers to participate in hearings prior to reeduction
sentences, limiting the types of behavior punishable by reeducation,
establishing alternatives to incarceration, and shortening the maximum
term of reeducation.
Sexual and physical abuse and extortion were reported in some
detention centers. Forced labor in prisons and reeducation-through-
labor camps was also common.
The Government generally did not permit independent monitoring of
prisons or reeducation-through-labor camps, and prisoners remained
inaccessible to most international human rights organizations. However,
the Government hosted a visit by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention that included visits to 10 detention facilities in Beijing,
Chengdu, and the TAR (see Section 1.d.). The Government also agreed to
invite the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Torture, but the visit stalled,
in part because of the Government's refusal to allow him to visit
prisons without advance notice (see Section 4). By year's end, the
Government had not announced any progress in talks with the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on an agreement for
ICRC access to prisons, although there were several rounds of
consultations between the ICRC and the Government about allowing the
ICRC to open an office in Beijing. Monthly working level meetings
intended to renew cooperation on the U.S.-China Prison Labor Memorandum
of Understanding continued during the year, and visits were conducted
in July, September, and December (see Section 6.c).
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Arbitrary arrest and detention
remained serious problems. The law permits authorities, in some
circumstances, to detain persons without arresting or charging them,
and persons may be sentenced administratively to up to 3 years in
reeducation through-labor camps and other administrative detention
facilities without a trial. Because the Government tightly controlled
information, it was impossible to determine the total number of persons
subjected to new or continued arbitrary arrest or detention. According
to 2003 official government statistics, more than 250,000 persons were
in reeducation-through-labor camps. Other experts reported that more
than 310,000 persons were serving sentences in these camps in 2003.
According to published reports of the Supreme People's Procuratorate,
the country's 340 reeducation-through-labor facilities had a total
capacity of about 300,000 people. In addition, special administrative
detention facilities existed for drug offenders and prostitutes. In
2002, these facilities held over 130,000 offenders, and the number
reportedly has increased. An additional form of administrative
detention for migrants and homeless persons, known as custody and
repatriation, was abolished in 2003 and converted into a system of over
900 voluntary humanitarian aid shelters (see Section 1.c.). According
to official statistics, those facilities had served more than 670,000
people from August 1, 2003 to November 30, 2004. The Government also
confined some Falun Gong adherents, petitioners, labor activists, and
others to psychiatric hospitals.
Approximately 500 to 600 individuals continued to serve sentences
for the now-repealed crime of counterrevolution. Many of these persons
were imprisoned for the nonviolent expression of their political views
(see Section 1.e.).
The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) coordinates the country's law
enforcement, which is administratively organized into local, county,
provincial, and specialized police agencies. Recent efforts have been
made to strengthen historically weak regulation and management of law
enforcement agencies; however, judicial oversight is limited and checks
and balances are absent. Corruption at the local level was widespread.
Police officers reportedly coerced victims of crimes, took individuals
into custody without due cause, arbitrarily collected fees from
individuals charged with crimes, and mentally and physically abused
victims and perpetrators. The SPP investigated approximately 1,980
police officials for dereliction of duty in the period from January to
September. Among them was a Hunan Province police official who was
sentenced to 6 months in prison for failing to investigate the
abduction and rape of a 9-year-old girl. Public interest lawyers also
sued police in a Hunan Province village for failing to investigate the
murder of a young woman, allegedly committed by her police officer
boyfriend. Through September, the SPP filed 938 corruption cases
against 1,078 officials working in prisons, jails, and other detention
facilities.
Extended, unlawful detention by security officials remained a
serious problem. The SPP reported that from 1998 through 2002 there
were 308,182 persons detained for periods longer than permitted by law.
In 2003, the Government initiated a campaign to resolve cases of
extended, unlawful detention. According to state media, 7,064 criminal
suspects endured extended unlawful detention during the year (including
some whose detention was prolonged from 2003). Courts reviewed and
resolved 6,775 of those cases from January to October 2004, leaving
only 289 cases unresolved, the Government stated. In March, the SPC and
SPP reported to the National People's Congress that they had reviewed
nearly 30,000 extended detention cases in 2003, including many that
dated back several years, and resolved nearly all. In most cases, those
detained unlawfully were formally charged or convicted, but a few,
including Internet writer Liu Di, were released. Procuratorates in
Hainan and Guizhou Provinces formally punished local police officers
who unlawfully extended a suspect's term in custody.
According to the Criminal Procedure Law, police may unilaterally
detain a person for up to 37 days before releasing him or formally
placing him under arrest. After a suspect is arrested, the law allows
police and prosecutors to detain him for up to 6 and one-half months
before trial while a case is being further investigated. In practice,
pretrial detention in some cases lasted for a year or longer. Dissident
Yang Jianli was held without conviction for more than 2 years before
his verdict and 5-year sentence on espionage and illegal entry charges
was announced in May. Originally detained in April 2002, he was not
tried until August 2003. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
found that the country's pretrial detention of Yang Jianli violated the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.
The law stipulates that authorities must notify a detainee's family
or work unit of his detention within 24 hours. However, in practice,
failure to provide timely notification remained a serious problem,
particularly in sensitive political cases. Under a sweeping exception,
officials are not required to provide notification if doing so would
``hinder the investigation'' of a case. In some cases, police treated
those with no immediate family more severely. Police continued to hold
individuals without granting access to family members or lawyers, and
trials continued to be conducted in secret. Detained criminal suspects,
defendants, their legal representatives, and close relatives were
entitled to apply for bail, but, in practice, few suspects were
released pending trial.
The Criminal Procedure Law does not address the reeducation-
through-labor system, which allows non-judicial panels of police and
local authorities, called Labor Reeducation Committees, to sentence
persons to up to 3 years in prison-like facilities. The committees can
also extend an inmate's sentence for an additional year. Defendants
legally were entitled to challenge reeducation-through-labor sentences
under the Administrative Litigation Law. They could appeal for a
reduction in, or suspension of, their sentences; however, appeals
rarely were successful. Many other persons were detained in similar
forms of administrative detention, known as ``custody and education''
(for example, for prostitutes and their clients) and ``custody and
training'' (for minors who committed crimes). A special form of
reeducation center was used to detain Falun Gong practitioners who had
completed terms in reeducation through labor, but whom authorities
decided to detain further.
According to foreign researchers, the country had 20 ``ankang''
institutions (high-security psychiatric hospitals for the criminally
insane) directly administered by the Ministry of Public Security. Some
dissidents, persistent petitioners, and others were housed with
mentally ill patients in these institutions. ``Patients'' in these
hospitals were reportedly given medicine against their will and
forcibly subjected to electric shock treatment. The regulations for
committing a person into an ankang facility were not clear. Credible
reports indicated that a number of political and trade union activists,
``underground'' religious believers, persons who repeatedly petitioned
the Government, members of the banned China Democratic Party, and Falun
Gong adherents were incarcerated in such facilities during the year.
These included Wang Miaogen, Wang Chanhao, Pan Zhiming, and Li Da, who
were reportedly held in an ankang facility run by the Shanghai Public
Security Bureau. The Government negotiated with the World Psychiatric
Association to resolve a motion pending in previous years that would
have expelled the country from the organization for using psychiatric
facilities to incarcerate political prisoners, but a planned WPA visit
to the country did not take place.
Administrative detention was frequently used as a vehicle to
intimidate political activists and prevent public demonstrations (see
Section 2.b.). For example, authorities detained several persons in the
period before the April ``Qingming'' memorial holiday as a means to
prevent public commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. Tiananmen
Mothers organization co-founders Ding Zilin, Jiang Xianling, and Huang
Jinping were detained at separate locations in late March. AIDS
activist Hu Jia also was detained after he stated his intention to
commemorate the anniversary on their behalf. All were released
eventually, but some were prevented from returning to Beijing until
after the holiday was over. On June 1, military officials detained
retired PLA doctor Jiang Yanyong, who in 2003 had helped focus
international attention on the spread of Severe Acquired Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) in Beijing, because he wrote to government leaders
requesting a reassessment of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. The 72-year-
old Jiang and his wife, Hua Zhongwei, were interrogated in an
undisclosed location. Hua was released on June 15. Jiang was released
without charges on July 20, but he was forbidden to speak with
journalists or foreigners, and he remained in a form of house arrest.
Dr. Jiang also was pressured not to leave the country to accept an
award (see Section 2.d.).
Arrests on charges of revealing state secrets, subversion, and
common crimes were used during the year by authorities to suppress
political dissent and social advocacy. Citizens were detained and
prosecuted during the year under broad and ambiguous state secrets laws
for, among other actions, disclosing information on criminal trials,
meetings, and government activity. The number of persons executed each
year has been deemed by the Government to be a state secret.
Information could retroactively be classified a state secret by the
Government. Dozens of citizens writing on the Internet or engaging in
on-line chat about political topics were detained on state secrets and
subversion charges during the year (see Section 2.a.). More than 100
intellectuals signed a petition urging the Government to revise the
subversion law because its use in the prosecution of Internet writer Du
Daobin contradicted the constitutional guarantee of free speech.
In September, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited
detention facilities in Beijing, Sichuan Province, and the TAR.
Although satisfied with its access, the Working Group noted that all
four recommendations from its 1997 visit to China still had not been
implemented and continued to be serious problems. First, the law lacks
a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Second, it fails to
define ``endangering national security'' so that overly broad
prosecutions can and do occur. Third, the law includes no protection
for those peacefully exercising rights protected by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Fourth, no ``real judicial control''
exists over the reeducation-through-labor system. The Working Group
noted the Government's announced plan to adopt legislation that would
address deficiencies in reeducation through labor and regulate the use
of psychiatric institutions in administrative detention.
Police sometimes harassed and detained relatives of dissidents.
Journalists also were detained or threatened during the year, often
when their reporting met with the Government's or local authorities'
disapproval (see ection 2.a.). For example, New York Times researcher
Zhao Yan was detained in September shortly after the newspaper
published an article correctly predicting the resignation of Jiang
Zemin as chairman of the Central Military Commission. The newspaper
denied that Zhao had any involvement with the story, and prosecutors
did not disclose the basis for the charges, citing state secrets laws
(see Section 2.a.). In December, farmers' advocate and writer Li
Boguang and three members of the independent PEN Center promoting
writers' freedoms were among those detained in what appeared to be a
campaign targeting writers (see Section 2.a.). Local authorities used
the Government's campaign against cults to detain and arrest large
numbers of religious practitioners and members of spiritual groups,
including Christian leader Zhang Rongliang (see Section 2.c.).
The campaign that began in 1998 against the China Democracy Party
(CDP), an opposition party, continued during the year. Dozens of CDP
leaders, activists, and members have been arrested, detained, or
confined as a result of this campaign. Since December 1998, over 40
core leaders of the CDP have been given severe punishments on
subversion charges. Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai, and Qin Yongmin were
sentenced in 1998 to prison terms of 13, 12, and 11 years,
respectively. Xu Wenli and Wang Youcai were released on medical parole
to the United States in December 2002 and March 2004, respectively. Qin
remained in prison at year's end. During the year, Sang Jiancheng was
sentenced to a 3-year prison term in connection with an open letter
calling for political reform and a reappraisal of the official verdict
on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre signed by 192 activists, including
former CDP members, prior to the 16th Party Congress in November 2002.
Internet writer Ouyang Yi, one of the signers of the open letter, was
released after serving a 2-year prison sentence in December, but other
signers of the letter remained jailed.
Since the Government banned the Falun Gong spiritual group in 1999,
criminal proceedings involving accused Falun Gong activists were held
almost entirely outside the formal court system. In December, a Beijing
attorney sent an open letter to the National People's Congress
highlighting issues of arbitrary detention and unlawful process in
cases involving Falun Gong. The letter focused on the April detention
and subsequent administrative sentencing of his client, Huang Wei of
Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, who was released in 2002 from a 3-year
reeducation sentence for Falun Gong activities. On April 13, Huang was
detained again, his home was searched, and a security official signed
Huang's name on a confession, according to the open letter. Huang was
sentenced on June 3 to three more years of reeducation in connection
with Falun Gong. When Huang tried to sue the Government in protest, his
attorney was denied permission to see his client. According to the
letter, court and prison authorities told the attorney that only the
``610 Office'' of the Ministry of Justice could address Falun Gong
matters. In the process, the letter described how judges explained that
courts are under strict orders not to accept Falun Gong cases and that,
in such cases, the courts do not follow normal pretrial procedures. The
attorney's letter concluded that such treatment of accused Falun Gong
adherents was unlawful.
The campaign against separatism in Xinjiang specifically targeted
the ``three evils'' of extremism, splittism, and terrorism as the major
threats to Xinjiang's social stability. Because authorities in Xinjiang
regularly failed to distinguish carefully among those involved in
peaceful activities in support of independence, ``illegal'' religious
activities, and violent terrorism, it was often difficult to determine
whether particular raids, detentions, arrests, or judicial punishments
targeted those seeking to worship, those peacefully seeking political
goals, or those engaged in violence (see Section 5).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution states that the
courts shall, in accordance with the law, exercise judicial power
independently, without interference from administrative organs, social
organizations, and individuals. However, in practice, the judiciary was
not independent. It received policy guidance from both the Government
and the Party, whose leaders used a variety of means to direct courts
on verdicts and sentences, particularly in politically sensitive cases.
At both the central and local levels, the Government frequently
interfered in the judicial system and dictated court decisions. Trial
judges decide individual cases under the direction of the trial
committee in each court. In addition, the Communist Party's Law and
Politics Committee, which includes representatives of the police,
security, procuratorate, and courts, has authority to review and
influence court operations at all levels of the judiciary; the
Committee, in some cases, altered decisions. People's Congresses also
had authority to alter court decisions, but this happened rarely.
Corruption and conflicts of interest also affected judicial decision-
making. Judges were appointed by the People's Congresses at the
corresponding level of the judicial structure and received their court
finances and salaries from those government bodies. This sometimes
resulted in local authorities exerting undue influence over the judges
they appointed and financed.
The Supreme People's Court (SPC) is the highest court, followed in
descending order by the higher, intermediate, and basic people's
courts. These courts handle criminal, civil, and administrative cases,
including appeals of decisions by police and security officials to use
reeducation through labor and other forms of administrative detention.
There were special courts for handling military, maritime, and railway
transport cases.
Corruption and inefficiency were serious problems in the judiciary
as in other areas (see Section 3). Safeguards against corruption were
vague and poorly enforced.
In recent years, the Government has taken steps to address systemic
weaknesses in the judicial system and to make the system more
transparent and accountable to public scrutiny. In 2003, the SPP
prosecuted 9,720 officials involved in investigating, prosecuting, or
adjudicating criminal cases. In its March report to the National
People's Congress (NPC), the SPC reported that 794 judges were
investigated for corruption in 2003, and 52 faced criminal prosecution.
SPC regulations require all trials to be open to the public, with
certain exceptions, such as cases involving state secrets, privacy, and
minors. The legal exception for cases involving state secrets was used
to keep politically sensitive proceedings closed to the public and even
to family members in some cases. Under the regulations, ``foreigners
with valid identification'' are to be allowed the same access to trials
as citizens. As in past years, foreign diplomats and journalists sought
permission to attend a number of trials only to have court officials
reclassify them as ``state secrets'' cases, thus closing them to the
public. Some trials were broadcast, and court proceedings were a
regular television feature. A few courts published their verdicts on
the Internet.
Citizens continued to use the court system to seek legal redress
against government malfeasance. According to official statistics,
110,199 administrative lawsuits were filed against the Government in
2002, slightly fewer than in the previous year. Administrative actions
were affirmed 18 percent of the time, transferred 23 percent of the
time, and dismissed or rejected 59 percent of the time, according to
those 2002 statistics. Decisions of any kind in favor of dissidents
remained rare.
Court officials continued efforts to enable the poor to afford
litigation by exempting, reducing, or postponing court fees. During the
year, new regulations went into effect requiring law firms and private
attorneys to provide some legal aid. Criminal and administrative cases
remained eligible for legal aid, although the vast majority of
defendants still went to trial without a lawyer. During the year,
courts waived over $128 million (RMB 1.057 billion) in litigation
costs. Legal aid to migrant workers accounted for 137,656 cases; in
most cases, migrant workers sued for unpaid wages. State media claimed
that the number of attorneys in the country increased to 102,000, but
the supply of legal aid attorneys remained inadequate to meet demand.
For example, the number of registered legal aid attorneys in Guangdong
Province dropped 25 percent in 2003, and no legal aid agency existed in
45 counties in Guangxi Province. Nonattorney legal advisors and
government employees provided the only legal aid options in many areas.
During the year, the conviction rate in criminal cases remained
over 95 percent. In 2003, 730,355 of the 747,096 persons (97.7 percent)
whose criminal cases were resolved at trial were found guilty and
received criminal punishment. Of this number 158,562 (21.2 percent)
were sentenced to terms of imprisonment of 5 years or greater. In
practice, criminal defendants often were not assigned an attorney until
a case was brought to court. In many politically sensitive trials,
which rarely lasted more than several hours, the courts handed down
guilty verdicts immediately following proceedings. Defendants who
refused to acknowledge guilt often received harsher sentences than
those who confessed. There was an appeals process, but appeals rarely
resulted in reversals.
Police and prosecutorial officials often ignored the due process
provisions of the law and of the Constitution. The lack of due process
was particularly egregious in death penalty cases. There were over 60
capital offenses, including nonviolent financial crimes such as
counterfeiting currency, embezzlement, and corruption. Executions were
often carried out on the date of conviction (see Section 1.a.). The SPC
reported that, in 2003, it reviewed 300 serious criminal cases,
including capital cases, and affirmed 182 of them. Tibetan Lobsang
Dondrub was executed in January 2003 for his alleged connection to a
series of bombings in 2002. His execution occurred despite government
assurances that he would be afforded full due process and that the
national-level Supreme People's Court would review his sentence (see
Tibet Addendum). The Government regarded the number of death sentences
it carried out as a state secret. Minors and pregnant women were
expressly exempt from the death sentence, although AI reported that a
few criminals who were under age 18 at the time they committed an
offense were executed as a result of courts' failure properly to
determine their age. On March 8, Gao Pan was allegedly executed for a
murder committed in August 2001, when he was not yet 18 years old.
The Criminal Procedure Law falls short of international standards
in many respects. For example, it has insufficient safeguards against
the use of evidence gathered through illegal means, such as torture,
and it does not prevent extended pre- and posttrial detention (see
Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). Appeals processes failed to provide sufficient
avenue for review, and there were inadequate remedies for violations of
defendants' rights. Furthermore, under the law, there is no right to
remain silent, no protection against double jeopardy, and no law
governing the type of evidence that may be introduced. The mechanism
that allows defendants to confront their accusers was inadequate;
according to one expert, only 1 to 5 percent of trials involved
witnesses. Accordingly, most criminal ``trials'' consisted of the
procurator reading statements of witnesses whom neither the defendant
nor his lawyer ever had an opportunity to question. Defense attorneys
have no authority to compel witnesses to testify. Anecdotal evidence
indicated that implementation of the Criminal Procedure Law remained
uneven and far from complete, particularly in politically sensitive
cases.
The Criminal Procedure Law gives most suspects the right to seek
legal counsel shortly after their initial detention and interrogation;
however, police often used loopholes in the law to circumvent
defendants' right to seek counsel. Defendants in politically sensitive
cases frequently found it difficult to find an attorney. In some
sensitive cases, lawyers had no pretrial access to their clients, and
defendants and lawyers were not allowed to speak during trials. Even in
nonsensitive trials, criminal defense lawyers frequently had little
access to their clients or to evidence to be presented during the
trial. Defendants in only one of every seven criminal cases had legal
representation, according to credible reports citing internal
government statistics. Government-employed lawyers often were reluctant
to represent defendants in politically sensitive cases. The percentage
of lawyers in the criminal bar reportedly declined from 3 percent in
1997 to 1 percent in 2001.
Defense attorneys rarely entered not guilty pleas on behalf of
their clients, choosing instead to argue only for mitigation of the
sentence. In June, a Hubei Intermediate Court scheduled the trial of
Internet dissident Du Daobin on less than a week's notice, in part to
prevent Du's Beijing-based defense counsel from appearing in court and
presenting a not guilty plea. The local attorney who defended Du
declined to submit a not guilty plea, citing fear of pressure by local
authorities.
Some lawyers who tried to defend their clients aggressively
continued to face serious intimidation and abuse by police and
prosecutors, and some were detained. According to Article 306 of the
Criminal Law, defense attorneys could be held responsible if their
clients commit perjury, and prosecutors and judges in such cases have
wide discretion in determining what constitutes perjury. In May,
prominent Beijing defense attorney Zhang Jianzhong was released after
serving a 2-year sentence under Article 306. Chinese legal scholars
claimed he was singled out for being too effective at representing
criminal defendants, and approximately 600 lawyers signed a petition
demanding that Zhang be found not guilty. According to the All-China
Lawyers Association, since 1997 more than 400 defense attorneys have
been detained on similar charges, and such cases continued during the
year.
During the year, Chinese and foreign lawyers, law professors, legal
journals, and jurists held seminars and publicly debated systemic legal
reform. Among the suggested reforms were the introduction of a more
transparent system of discovery, the abolition of coerced confessions,
abolition of all forms of administrative detention, a legal presumption
of innocence, an independent judiciary, improved administrative laws,
restriction on use of the death penalty, reform of the media's
interaction with the court system, and adoption of a plea bargaining
system.
Government officials continued to deny holding any political
prisoners, asserting that authorities detained persons not for their
political or religious views, but because they violated the law;
however, the authorities continued to confine citizens for reasons
related to politics and religion. Tens of thousands of political
prisoners remained incarcerated, some in prisons and others in labor
camps. The Government did not grant international humanitarian
organizations access to political prisoners.
Western NGOs estimated that approximately 500 to 600 persons
remained in prison for the repealed crime of ``counterrevolution,'' and
thousands of others were serving sentences under the State Security
Law, which Chinese authorities stated covers crimes similar to
counterrevolution. Persons detained for counterrevolutionary offenses
included labor activist Hu Shigen; writer Chen Yanbin; Inner Mongolian
activist Hada; and dissidents Yu Dongyue, Zhang Jingsheng, and Sun
Xiongying. Foreign governments urged the Government to review the cases
of those charged before 1997 with counterrevolution and to release
those who had been jailed for nonviolent offenses under the old
statute. During the year, the Government held expert-level discussions
with foreign officials on conducting such a review, but no formal
review was initiated. However, a number of ``counterrevolutionary''
prisoners were released during the year, some after receiving sentence
reductions, including Liu Jingsheng in November and Chen Gang in April.
Amnesty International has identified more than 80 persons by name
who remained imprisoned or on medical parole for their participation in
the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations; other NGOs estimated that as many as
250 persons remained in prison for political activities connected to
the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations.
The authorities granted early release from prison to Tibetan nun
Phuntsog Nyidrol in February and CDP co-founder Wang Youcai in March.
In March, Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer received a 1-year sentence
reduction on her 8-year sentence for supplying state secrets to
foreigners, but she was scheduled to remain in prison until August
2006. Many others, including Internet activists Xu Wei, Yang Zili, and
Huang Qi; journalists Zhao Yan and Jiang Weiping; labor activists Yao
Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang; Catholic Bishop Su Zhimin; Christian activists
Zhang Rongliang, Zhang Yinan, Liu Fenggang, and Xu Yonghai; Tibetans
Jigme Gyatso, Tenzin Deleg, and Gendun Choekyi Nyima; Uighur writer
Tohti Tunyaz; CDP co-founder Qin Yongmin; and political dissident Yang
Jianli remained imprisoned or under other forms of detention during the
year. Political prisoners generally benefited from parole and sentence
reduction at significantly lower rates than ordinary prisoners.
Criminal punishments could include ``deprivation of political
rights'' for a fixed period after release from prison, during which the
individual is denied the limited rights of free speech and association
granted to other citizens. Former prisoners also sometimes found their
status in society, ability to find employment, freedom to travel, and
access to residence permits and social services severely restricted.
Former political prisoners and their families frequently were subjected
to police surveillance, telephone wiretaps, searches, and other forms
of harassment, and some encountered difficulty in obtaining or keeping
employment and housing.
Officials confirmed that executed prisoners were among the sources
of organs for transplant. Transplant doctors stated publicly in
September 2003 that ``the main source [of organ donations] is voluntary
donations from condemned prisoners,'' but serious questions remained
concerning whether meaningful or voluntary consent from the prisoners
or their relatives was obtained. There was no national law governing
organ donations, but a draft law was under consideration during the
year. A Ministry of Health directive explicitly states that buying and
selling human organs and tissues is not allowed. In 2003, the first
local law regulating organ donation was passed in Shenzhen, prohibiting
the sale or trade of human organs. The impact of this law in practice
remained unclear. As of year's end, there were no reports of other
localities passing a similar law. There were no reliable statistics on
how many organ transplants occurred using organs from executed
prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home,
Correspondence.--The Constitution states that the ``freedom and privacy
of correspondence of citizens are protected by law''; however, the
authorities often did not respect the privacy of citizens in practice.
Although the law requires warrants before law enforcement officials can
search premises, this provision frequently was ignored; moreover, the
Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate could issue search
warrants on their own authority. Cases of forced entry by police
officers continued to be reported.
During the year, authorities monitored telephone conversations,
facsimile transmissions, e-mail, text-messaging, and Internet
communications. Authorities also opened and censored domestic and
international mail. The security services routinely monitored and
entered residences and offices to gain access to computers, telephones,
and fax machines. All major hotels had a sizable internal security
presence, and hotel guestrooms were sometimes bugged and searched for
sensitive or proprietary materials.
Some dissidents were under heavy surveillance and routinely had
their telephone calls monitored or telephone service disrupted. The
authorities frequently warned some dissidents and activists not to meet
with foreigners. During the year, police in Beijing ordered several
dissidents not to meet with Western journalists or foreign diplomats,
especially before sensitive anniversaries, at the time of important
Government or Party meetings, and during the visits of high-level
foreign officials. These events also sparked greater surveillance,
short-term detention, and harassment of dissidents. The authorities
also confiscated money sent from abroad that was intended to help
dissidents and their families.
Security personnel monitored and harrassed relatives of prominent
dissidents, particularly during sensitive periods. For example,
security personnel followed the family members of political prisoners
to meetings with Western reporters and diplomats. Dissidents and their
family members routinely were warned not to speak with the foreign
press. Police sometimes detained the relatives of dissidents.
Official poverty alleviation programs and major state projects have
included forced relocation of persons to new residences. The Government
estimated that at least 1.2 million persons have been relocated for the
Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze River.
Forced relocation because of urban development continued and, in
some locations, increased during the year. Protests, some of which
included thousands of participants, over relocation terms or
compensation were common, and some protest leaders were prosecuted
during the year (see Sections 2.b. and 3). Some evictions in Beijing
were linked to construction for the 2008 Olympics.
In urban areas, many persons historically depended on government-
linked work units for housing, healthcare, and other aspects of
ordinary life. With the increase in market activities and private
business, these benefits have changed so that newer employees at some
government-linked work units no longer enjoy all of these benefits. For
example, most work units now provide housing subsidies to employees,
instead of directly alloting housing. Similarly, the work unit and the
neighborhood committee have become less important as means of social
and political control. Government interference in daily personal and
family life continued to decline for most citizens. For example, work
unit permission is no longer required before obtaining a divorce.
Under the country's family planning law and policies, citizens in 6
of the country's 31 provinces still were required to apply for
government permission before having a first child, and the Government
continued to restrict the number of births. Penalties for out-of-plan
births still included social compensation fees and other coercive
measures.
The Population and Family Planning Law, the country's first formal
law on the subject, entered into force in 2002. The National Population
and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) enforces the law and formulates
and implements policies with assistance from the China Family Planning
Association, which had 1 million branches nationwide. The law is
intended to standardize the implementation of the Government's birth
limitation policies; however, enforcement continued to vary from place
to place. The law grants married couples the right to have one child
and allows eligible couples to apply for permission to have a second
child if they meet conditions stipulated in local and provincial
regulations. Many provincial regulations require women to wait 4 years
or more after their first birth before making such an application.
According to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the spacing requirement
was removed in 5 and relaxed in 10 of the 30 counties across 30
provinces participating in UNFPA's ``Country Program V.'' The NPFPC
reported that the spacing requirement was removed in the provincial
regulations of Hainan, Jilin, and Shanghai, and UNFPA reported that the
requirement was relaxed by 15 other provincial-level governments.
The law requires counties to use specific measures to limit the
total number of births in each county. Both the Constitution and the
family planning law further require couples to employ birth control
measures. According to a September 2002 U.N. survey, the percentage of
women who select their own birth control method grew from 53 percent in
1998 to 83 percent in UNFPA-assisted counties in 2000. The law requires
couples who have an unapproved child to pay a ``social compensation
fee,'' which sometimes reached 10 times a person's annual income, and
grants preferential treatment to couples who abide by the birth limits.
Officials often strongly encouraged women with multiple children to
undergo sterilization, such as tubal ligation, according to multiple
reports. Although the law states that officials should not violate
citizens' rights, neither those rights nor the penalties for violating
them are defined. The law provides significant and detailed sanctions
for officials who help persons evade the birth limitations.
The law delegates to the provinces the responsibility for drafting
implementing regulations, including establishing a scale for assessment
of social compensation fees. The National Population and Family
Planning Law requires family planning officials to obtain court
approval for taking ``forcible'' action, such as confiscation of
property, against families that refuse to pay social compensation fees.
The one-child limit was more strictly applied in the cities, where
only couples meeting certain conditions (e.g., both parents are only
children) were permitted to have a second child. In most rural areas
(including towns of under 200,000 persons), where approximately two-
thirds of citizens lived, the policy was more relaxed, generally
allowing couples to have a second child if the first was a girl or
disabled. Local officials, caught between pressures from superiors to
show declining birth rates, and from local citizens to allow them to
have more than one child, frequently made false reports. Ethnic
minorities, such as Muslim Uighurs and Tibetans, were subject to much
less stringent population controls (see Tibet Addendum). In remote
areas, limits often were not enforced, except on government employees
and Party members.
The 2000 census enumerated the fertility rate at 1.3 births per
woman, but later the Government adjusted the figure upward to 1.8
births per woman. According to the U.N., the fertility rate does not
exceed 1.7. According to Chinese census authorities, the yearly growth
rate of the population is 0.7 percent per year. Media reports indicated
that some parts of the country had zero or even negative population
growth, while the growth rate continued to increase elsewhere.
Authorities continued to reduce the use of targets and quotas.
Authorities who still used the target and quota system required each
eligible married couple to obtain government permission before the
woman became pregnant. In some counties, only a limited number of such
permits were made available each year, so couples who did not receive a
permit were required to wait at least a year before obtaining
permission. Counties that did not employ targets and quotas allowed
married women to have a first child without prior permission. UNFPA
research showed, and the NPFPC confirmed, that 25 of China's 31
provincial-level governments had done away with the requirement for
birth permits before conceiving a first child, the principal mechanism
for enforcing targets and quotas. Some targets remained, such as in
Liaoning Province which continues to set provincial targets in its 5-
year plan, despite having abolished birth permits four years ago and
having eliminated target-setting at the city, county and township
levels. UNFPA reports that only Fujian, Henan, Jiangxi, and Yunnan
Provinces and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region still required
birth permits.
The country's population control policy relied on education,
propaganda, and economic incentives, as well as on more coercive
measures such as the threat of job loss or demotion and social
compensation fees. Psychological and economic pressure were very
common; during unauthorized pregnancies, women sometimes were visited
by birth planning workers who used threats, including that of social
compensation fees, to pressure women to terminate their pregnancies.
The fees were assessed at widely varying levels and were generally
extremely high. According to provincial regulations, the fees ranged
from one-half to 10 times the average worker's annual disposable
income. Local officials have authority to adjust the fees downward and
did so in many cases. Additional disciplinary measures against those
who violated the child limit policy by having an unapproved child or
helping another to do so included job loss or demotion, loss of
promotion opportunity, expulsion from the Party (membership in which
was an unofficial requirement for certain jobs), and other
administrative punishments, including, in some cases, the destruction
of property. In the cases of families that already had two children,
one parent was often pressured to undergo sterilization, according to
reliable reports. These penalties sometimes left women little practical
choice but to undergo abortion or sterilization. Rewards for couples
who adhered to birth limitation laws and policies included monthly
stipends and preferential medical and educational benefits. During the
year, the NPFPC began a number of programs to encourage smaller
families. For example, new pension benefits were made available for
those who adhered to birth limitation laws.
Seven provinces--Anhui, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jilin,
and Ningxia--require ``termination of pregnancy'' if the pregnancy
violates provincial family planning regulations. An additional 10
provinces--Fujian, Guizhou, Guangdong, Gansu, Jiangxi, Qinghai, Sichuan
Shanxi, Shannxi, and Yunnan--require unspecified ``remedial measures''
to deal with out-of-plan pregnancies. Article 33 of the 2002 law states
that family planning bureaus will conduct pregnancy tests and follow-up
on married women. Some provincial regulations provide for fines if
women do not undergo periodic pregnancy tests. For example, in Hebei
the range was $24 to $60 (RMB 200 to 500), and in Henan it was $6 to
$60 (RMB 50 to 500).
At the same time, because of economic development and other
factors, such as limited housing size, both parents working full-time,
and high education expenses, couples in major urban centers often
voluntarily limited their families to one child.
The Population and Family Planning Law delegates to the provinces
the responsibility for implementing appropriate regulations to enforce
the law. By year's end, all provincial-level governments except the TAR
had amended their regulations to conform with the new law. Anhui
Province, for example, passed a law permitting 13 categories of
couples, including coal miners, some remarried divorcees, and some farm
couples, to have a second child. The law does not require such
amendments, however, unless existing regulations conflict with it.
Existing regulations requiring sterilization in certain cases are not
contradicted by the new law, which says simply that compliance with the
birth limits should ``mainly'' be achieved through the use of
contraception.
Central Government policy formally prohibits the use of physical
coercion to compel persons to submit to abortion or sterilization.
Because it is illegal, the use of physical coercion was difficult to
document. A few cases were reported during the year. In June, officials
in Jieshou City, Anhui Province, forced a woman to be sterilized, and
state media reported that the woman was injured when she jumped out of
a window in the operating room in an attempt to avoid the procedure. In
the same city, another woman committed suicide when her relatives were
detained in population schools, facilities designed to provide
reeducation to those who violate family planning guidelines. The use of
population schools as detention centers was condemned by Central
Government officials. According to state-media reports, the local
officials responsible for the detentions were fired or sanctioned
administratively. In response, NPFPC officials ordered an
investigation, sent a letter to each province condemning the actions in
Anhui Province, and called on all provincial-level family planning
officials to focus on ``implementing the rule of law.'' Earlier in the
year, media reports noted that a drug offender in Gansu Province was
forced to have an abortion before her trial on charges punishable by
the death sentence.
Senior officials stated repeatedly that the Government ``made it a
principle to ban coercion at any level,'' and the NPFPC has issued
circulars nationwide prohibiting birth planning officials from coercing
women to undergo abortions or sterilization. However, the Government
does not consider social compensation fees and other administrative
punishments to be coercive. Under the State Compensation Law, citizens
also may sue officials who exceed their authority in implementing birth
planning policy, and, in a few instances, individuals have exercised
this right. The NPFPC has set up a hotline for use by UNFPA project
county residents to lodge complaints against local officials.
Corruption related to social compensation fees reportedly decreased
after the 2002 passage of State Council Decree 357, which established
that collected ``social compensation fees'' must be submitted directly
to the National Treasury rather than retained by local birth planning
authorities. NPFPC officials reported in 2002 that they responded to
more than 10,000 complaints against local officials.
In order to delay childbearing, the Marriage Law sets the minimum
marriage age for women at 20 years and for men at 22 years. It
continued to be illegal in almost all provinces for a single woman to
bear a child, and social compensation fees have been levied on unwed
mothers. The Government stated that the practice of levying social
compensation fees for ``pre-marriage'' births was abolished on an
experimental basis in some counties during the year and was relaxed in
cases where couples promptly registered their marriages. In 2002, Jilin
Province passed a law making it legal, within the limits of the birth
limitation law, for an unmarried woman who ``intends to remain single
for life'' to have a child.
Laws and regulations forbid the termination of pregnancies based on
the sex of the fetus, but because of the intersection of birth
limitations with the traditional preference for male children,
particularly in rural areas, many families used ultrasound technology
to identify female fetuses and terminate these pregnancies (see Section
5). The use of ultrasound for this purpose is prohibited specifically
by the Population Law and by the Maternal and Child Health Care Law,
both of which mandate punishment of medical practitioners who violate
the provision. According to the NPFPC, few doctors have been charged
under these laws. The most recent official figures, from November 2000,
put the overall male to female sex ratio at birth at 116.9 to 100 (as
compared to the statistical norm of 106 to 100), and, in some parts of
the country, the ratio was even more skewed. For second births, the
national ratio was 151.9 to 100. Several localities experimented with
new measures to address the sex ratio imbalance. These included
restricting promotions for officials in extremely unbalanced areas of
Shaanxi Province and limiting abortions after 14 weeks for pregnancies
that were authorized by a birth or family planning permit in Guiyang.
During the year, the NPFPC launched a ``Care for the Girl Child''
initiative in 11 pilot counties to raise awareness of the sex ratio
imbalance and to improve protection of the rights of girls.
In 2003, a new Marriage Law abolished a requirement that couples
have premarital examinations to determine if they were at risk for
passing on debilitating genetic diseases. In addressing the risk of
genetic disease, the Maternal and Child Health Care Law continued to
recommend abortion or sterilization in some cases. In practice,
however, most regions of the country still did not have the medical
capacity to determine accurately the likelihood of passing on
debilitating genetic diseases.
Lack of informed consent was a general problem in the practice of
medicine throughout the country.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution states that
freedom of speech and freedom of the press are fundamental rights to be
enjoyed by all citizens; however, the Government tightly restricted
these rights in practice. The Government interpreted the Party's
``leading role,'' as mandated in the preamble to the Constitution, as
circumscribing these rights. The Government continued to threaten,
arrest, and imprison many individuals for exercising free speech. A
wave of detentions late in the year appeared to signal a new campaign
against writers. Internet essayists in particular were targeted. The
Government strictly regulated the establishment and management of
publications. The Government did not permit citizens to publish or
broadcast criticisms of senior leaders or opinions that directly
challenged Communist Party rule. The Party and Government continued to
control print, broadcast, and electronic media tightly and used them to
propagate Government views and Party ideology. All media employees were
under explicit, public orders to follow CCP directives and ``guide
public opinion,'' as directed by political authorities. Formal and
informal guidelines continued to require journalists to avoid coverage
of many politically sensitive topics. These public orders, guidelines,
and statutes greatly restricted the freedom of broadcast journalists
and newspapers to report the news and led to a high degree of self-
censorship. The Government continued an intense propaganda campaign
against the Falun Gong.
Journalists who reported on topics that met with the Government's
or local authorities' disapproval continued to suffer harassment,
detention, and imprisonment. In January, the chief editor and six staff
members of Guangdong Province's Southern Metropolitan Daily newspaper
were detained for alleged economic crimes. Three of the editors were
prosecuted in March on corruption charges that many observers viewed as
retaliation for the newspaper's muckraking coverage of stories such as
the emergence of SARS in 2003, its brief recurrence in 2004, and the
2003 beating death of college graduate Sun Zhigang in a custody and
repatriation camp (see Section 1.c). The news group's general manager
Yu Huafeng was sentenced to 12 years inprisonment for embezzlement, and
former editor Li Minying received an 11-year sentence for taking
bribes. In June, their sentences were reduced on appeal to 8 and 6
years, respectively. Current editor-in-chief Cheng Yizhong was released
in August after charges against him were dropped. In September, New
York Times employee Zhao Yan was detained and later formally charged
with leaking state secrets shortly after the newspaper published an
article correctly predicting the resignation of Jiang Zemin as chairman
of the Central Military Commission. The newspaper denied that Zhao had
any involvement with the story, and prosecutors did not disclose the
basis for the charges, citing state secrets laws. Zhao Yan had
previously published several articles on rural protests for China
Reform magazine. Another farmers' advocate who had also worked with
Zhao Yan, Li Boguang, was detained December 14. In addition, Liaoning
Province anti-corruption reporter Jiang Weiping remained jailed, as did
Sichuan local official Li Zhi, who was convicted in 2003 of
``subverting state power'' after writing on the Internet to expose
official corruption. The Committee to Protect Journalists again
assessed China as ``the world's leading jailer of journalists,'' with
43 journalists imprisoned at year's end.
A wave of detentions late in the year appeared to signal a new
campaign targeting writers, political commentators, and academics. In
November, Li Guozhu was detained for passing to foreign journalists
information and photographs about ethnic violence in Henan Province
(see Section 5). On November 24, Hunan Province journalist Shi Tao was
detained under suspicion of leaking state secrets. On December 13,
organizers of the independent PEN Center, which defends writers'
freedoms, were detained and later released. Those detained included Yu
Jie, Liu Xiaobo, and Zhang Zuhua. They had previously published
articles in defense of Shi Tao and held an awards ceremony honoring the
author of a banned book on the 1950s. Editor Wang Guangze of the 21st
Century Business Herald was dismissed from his job, editor Chen Min of
China Reform magazine was temporarily detained, and the New Weekly
newspaper in Wuhan was ordered closed during this period. The week of
December 6, People's Daily twice published editorials urging
authorities to silence speech that provokes trouble and to provide
greater control over the Internet.
In addition to criminal prosecution of writers, some government
officials used civil lawsuits to block controversial writings. In
August, the Fuyang Intermediate People's Court in Anhui Province heard
a libel action against authors Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao over their
book ``China Peasant Survey'' (Nongmin Diaocha). The book, which was a
best-seller until it was banned from further distribution in the
spring, describes abuse and extortion of farmers by officials. One
official named in the book, former Linquan County Communist Party
secretary Zhang Xide, sued the authors and publishing house for libel.
Scholars and attorneys stated that the lawsuit and high damages sought
of approximately $25,000 (RMB 200,000) were intended to intimidate the
publisher and inhibit criticism.
Newspapers could not report on corruption without government and
party approval, and publishers published such material at their own
risk. During the year, journalists and editors who exposed corruption
scandals frequently faced problems with the authorities, and the
Government continued to close publications and punish journalists for
printing material deemed too sensitive. The State Press and Publication
Administration ordered the influential bimonthly journal ``Strategy and
Management'' closed indefinitely during the year, although the
Government claimed that business reasons, not editorial ones, were
behind the closure.
In August, authorities detained and deported two foreign
individuals and two journalists for displaying a banner in Beijing
reading ``No Olympics for China until Tibet is Free.''
Some citizens continued to speak out and publish on controversial
topics, despite the Government's restrictions on freedom of speech and
the press. For example, scholar Cao Siyuan, who convened a symposium on
constitutionalism, freedom of speech, and direct elections in 2003 that
attracted government attention, continued to publish but remained under
surveillance by authorities. Huang Jingao, Party Secretary of Lianjiang
County, Fujian Province, wrote an open letter critical of endemic
corruption that was published on websites and in the People's Daily in
August. Following the publication of the letter, he was sanctioned, and
his duties were restricted by party officials in Fujian.
The scope of permissible private speech continued to expand.
Controversial political topics could be discussed privately and in
small groups without punishment, so long as the speaker did not publish
controversial views or disseminate them to overseas audiences.
Censorship related to health issues continued. In early 2003,
Government censorship of news concerning SARS was largely responsible
for slowing the public health response to the disease. But after May
2003, when the Government publicly acknowledged the spread of the
disease, the Government permitted greater reporting about SARS and
other infectious diseases. As a result of lessons learned during the
SARS epidemic, the Shanghai Municipal Government named its first public
spokesperson. Nonetheless, in January, when Guangdong Province's
Southern Metropolitan Daily newspaper reported on the reemergence of
SARS cases, an editor and six journalists working for the newspaper
were temporarily detained. Three of them later faced criminal
corruption charges. Also, Dr. Jiang Yanyong, who exposed the spread of
SARS in Beijing in April 2003, was detained for 45 days in June and
July. Dr. Jiang's detention likely was a response to his open letter on
the 1989 Tiananmen massacre (see Section 1.d.), rather than a direct
reaction to his writings about SARS. Government restrictions on the
press and the free flow of information also affected accurate reporting
on HIV/AIDS. Those seeking to bring attention to the plight of AIDS
orphans in Henan Province faced continued pressure to remain silent and
were warned against speaking to journalists. However, in April, Vice
Premier Wu Yi stated that the Government ``would strictly investigate
and affix responsibility'' for those who hide, delay, or fail to report
HIV/AIDS. In August, concerns were raised that the country failed to
report outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry. Reporting on outbreaks
of the disease in bird and animal populations was inconsistent, but
there were no reports that media coverage of the outbreak was
suppressed.
In 2003, the Government ended the practice of requiring government
work units to subscribe to official newspapers, forcing many official
newspapers to compete for readership or face insolvency. As a result,
677 newspapers were closed between September 2003 and March 2004.
Journalists noted that the pressure to expand circulation sometimes
conflicted with state control and censorship dictates because one way
to expand readership was to provide accurate reporting about
controversial topics.
There were a few privately owned print publications, but they were
subject to pre- and post-publication censorship. There were no
privately owned television or radio stations, and the Government had
authority to approve all programming, although it occasionally did not
preview all programs.
The publishing industry consists of three kinds of book businesses:
Approximately 560 government-sanctioned publishing houses, smaller
independent publishers that cooperated with official publishing houses
to put out more daring publications, and an underground (illicit)
press. Government-approved publishing houses were the only
organizations legally permitted to print books. No newspaper,
periodical, book, audio, video, or electronic publication may be
printed or distributed without the printer and distributor being
approved by the relevant provincial publishing authorities and the
State Press and Publications Administration (PPA). The Communist Party
exerted control over the publishing industry by preemptively
classifying certain topics as off-limits; selectively rewarding with
promotions and perks those publishers, editors, and writers who adhered
to Party guidelines; and punishing those who did not adhere to Party
guidelines with administrative sanctions and blacklisting. Some
independent publishers took advantage of a loophole in the law to sign
contracts with government publishing houses to publish politically
sensitive works. These works generally were not subject to the same
multi-layered review process as official publications of the publishing
houses.
Underground printing houses have been targets of periodic campaigns
to stop all illegal publications (including pornography and pirated
computer software and audiovisual products). These campaigns sometimes
had the effect of restricting the availability of politically sensitive
books.
Many intellectuals and scholars, anticipating that books or papers
on political topics would be deemed too sensitive to be published,
exercised self-censorship. Overt intervention by the PPA, responsible
for all printing and distribution in the country, and by the Party
Central Propaganda Department, which provides editorial guidelines for
all media, mostly occurred after publication. In areas such as economic
policy or legal reform, there was far greater official tolerance for
comment and debate. Criticism of Central Government authorities
continued to remain largely off-limits.
Among books banned during the year were ``China Peasant Survey,''
and ``The Past Does Not Go Up In Smoke,'' a collection of essays
dealing with the effect of political tumult in the 1950s and 1960s on
the lives of prominent Chinese intellectuals. In January, authorities
issued regulations restricting publication of books on constitutional
reform to three official publishing houses. In 2002, the Department of
Cultural Affairs in Urumqi, Xinjiang, ordered the destruction of
thousands of books on Uighur history and culture. The books detailing
and documenting Uighur history originally had been published with the
approval of the authorities.
The authorities continued to jam, with varying degrees of success,
Chinese-, Uighur-, and Tibetan-language broadcasts of the Voice of
America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC). English-language broadcasts on VOA generally were
not jammed, unless they immediately followed Chinese-language
broadcasts, in which case portions of the English-language broadcasts
were sometimes jammed. Government jamming of RFA and BBC appeared to be
more frequent and effective. Internet distribution of ``streaming
radio'' news from these sources often was blocked. Despite jamming, in
the absence of an independent press, overseas broadcasts such as VOA,
BBC, RFA, and Radio France International had a large audience,
including activists, ordinary citizens, and even government officials.
The Government prohibited some foreign and domestic films from
appearing in the country. Television broadcasts of foreign programming,
which were restricted largely to hotel and foreign residence compounds,
also suffered from occasional censorship of topics including sensitive
political issues. In southern China, where television programming from
Hong Kong was available, ``public service announcements'' frequently
interrupted news items critical of the Government.
The Government continued to encourage expanded use of the Internet;
however, it also took steps to increase monitoring of the Internet and
continued to place restrictions on the information available. Over 80
million persons regularly used the Internet, including those in urban
and rural areas, according to surveys conducted during the year. In
July, the Government began implementing new measures to monitor and
filter text-messaging. The measures were designed to control for
politically sensitive content and to stop the spread of pornography.
The country's Internet control system employed more than 30,000
persons and was allegedly the largest in the world. According to a 2002
Harvard University report, the Government blocked at least 19,000 sites
during a 6-month period and may have blocked as many as 50,000. At
times, the Government blocked the sites of some major foreign news
organizations, health organizations, educational institutions,
Taiwanese and Tibetan businesses and organizations, religious and
spiritual organizations, democracy activists, and sites discussing the
1989 Tiananmen massacre. The number of blocked sites appeared to
increase around major political events and sensitive dates. The
authorities reportedly began to employ more sophisticated technology
enabling the selective blocking of specific content rather than entire
websites in some cases. Such technology was also used to block e-mails
containing sensitive content. The Government generally did not
prosecute citizens who received dissident e mail publications, but
forwarding such messages to others sometimes did result in detention.
Internet usage reportedly was monitored at all terminals in public
libraries.
The Ministry of Information Industry regulated access to the
Internet while the Ministries of Public and State Security monitored
its use. Regulations prohibit a broad range of activities that
authorities have interpreted as subversive or as slanderous to the
state, including the dissemination of any information that might harm
unification of the country or endanger national security. Promoting
``evil cults'' was banned, as was providing information that ``disturbs
social order or undermines social stability.'' Internet service
providers (ISPs) were instructed to use only domestic media news
postings, record information useful for tracking users and their
viewing habits, install software capable of copying e-mails, and
immediately end transmission of so-called subversive material. Many
ISPs practiced extensive self-censorship to avoid violating very
broadly worded regulations. A study released in 2003 by Reporters
Without Borders reported that only 30 percent of messages with
``controversial content'' were allowed onto Chinese ``chatroom''
websites. The remaining 70 percent of messages were filtered out by
censors or removed by the site host.
Several individuals were jailed for their Internet publications
during the year. On March 16, Shanghai resident Ma Yalian was sentenced
to 18 months' reeducation through labor for posting articles on legal
websites about her attempts to stop destruction of her home. Ma's web
postings described police harassment of petitioners and suicide
attempts outside government offices. In May, freelance journalist Liu
Shui was sentenced to 2 years' administrative detention in Shenzhen in
what NGOs claimed was retaliation for essays about reassessing the 1989
Tiananmen massacre and political reform that he wrote and posted on the
Internet. Former Hubei Province civil servant Du Daobin was convicted
of inciting subversion in June for his Internet writings about
democracy. Du's prison sentence was suspended, but he appealed his
conviction, arguing that his trial was unfair and that his writings did
not incite subversion and were protected free speech (see Section
1.e.). In August, house Christians Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai, and Zhang
Shengqi were convicted of disclosing state intelligence after using the
Internet to send reports about the abuse of house Christians to
overseas organizations. They were sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison
(see Section 2.c.). In September, Shenyang Internet writers Kong
Youping and Ning Xianhua were sentenced, respectively, to 15 and 12
years in prison on charges of ``subversion of state power'' for posting
articles and poems in support of the CDP. In November, Hunan Province
journalist Shi Tao was detained, reportedly on state secrets charges.
Shi had previously written for Contemporary Trade News and published an
on-line article in April opposing the detention of Tiananmen Mothers'
organization co-founder Ding Zilin. The NGO Reporters Without Borders
called China ``the biggest jail in the world for cyberdissidents.'' The
Committee for the Protection of Journalists reported that the country
had 43 journalists jailed at year's end.
In addition to imprisoning several persons during the year for
disseminating information through the Internet, the Government detained
several individuals for using the Internet to express support for other
detained Internet activists. Liu Di was detained for a year after she
expressed sympathy for Sichuan website manager Huang Qi and wrote pro-
reform articles on-line. Huang ran a website that contained postings
discussing the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre until it was closed
down, and he was detained on June 3, 2000. In November 2003, Liu Di was
released after a court found that the evidence against her was
insufficient; however, some persons detained for supporting her
remained in custody at year's end. Among them, Kong Youping was
sentenced to 15 years in prison in September for political writings,
including many that expressed support for Liu Di.
The Government's ``Public Pledge on Self Discipline for China's
Internet Industry'' continued during the year. More than 300 companies
signed the pledge, including the popular Sina.com and Sohu.com, as well
as foreign-based Yahoo!'s China division. Those who signed the pledge
agreed not to spread information that ``breaks laws or spreads
superstition or obscenity.'' They also promised to refrain from
``producing, posting, or disseminating pernicious information that may
jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability.'' The China
Internet Association adopted a ``self-regulatory pledge'' for search
engine services during the year that was viewed by many as even
stricter than the Government's self discipline pledge.
As of July, the China Internet Network Information Center said
there were 87 million Internet users, 22 percent of whom access the web
at Internet cafes. As of 2002, the country had more than 200,000
licensed Internet cafes, and a number of unlicensed ones as well.
During the year, state media reported that several municipalities
cracked down on illegal Internet cafes, including over 2,000 illegal
cafes in Shenzhen. On April 27, the Ministry of Culture announced that,
by the end of the year, all Internet cafes must install software that
allows Government officials to monitor customers' web usage. Internet
users at the cafes often are subject to surveillance. A May 24 China
Newsweek article reported that at one popular Beijing Internet cafe
with 320 computers, eight employees served as Internet monitors, while
10 other staff members walked around the room to check if customers
were accessing ``illegal'' websites. Patrons caught entering such sites
were given warnings. Most places sporadically enforced regulations
requiring patrons to provide identification when using Internet cafes.
In response to the health crisis caused by SARS, the authorities closed
all the nation's Internet cafes in April 2003. Beijing cafes stayed
closed until August 2003, while cafes in Shanghai and Sichuan reopened
sooner.
In February, the Government announced that it would invest nearly
$6 million (RMB 49.8 million) to create a new system to control
political publication on the Internet. Monitoring and censorship of
Internet bulletin boards and chatrooms was especially strict at the
time of sensitive anniversaries or key political meetings. For example,
in September, a popular bulletin board at Beijing University was closed
in the period before the Fourth Party Plenum meeting, and Internet
censorship also increased before the March NPC session. In September, a
local newspaper reported that authorities in Liaoning Province shut
down an Internet website devoted to exposing official corruption, even
though the website's administrator had obtained prior official
approval.
In July, the Government began censoring text messages distributed
by mobile telephone. According to state media, the campaign was
designed to stop the spread of pornographic messages by phone, as well
as to block circulation of illicit news and information. All text
messaging service providers were required to install filtering
equipment to monitor and delete messages deemed offensive by
authorities. In the first week of the campaign's operation, the
Government reportedly fined 10 companies and forced 20 others to close
for failure to comply. As with print, broadcast, and Internet media,
the Propaganda Department determined banned topics. In 2003, mobile
phone users sent approximately 220 billion text messages, according to
China Telecom.
The Government did not respect academic freedom and continued to
impose ideological controls on political discourse at colleges,
universities, and research institutes. Scholars and researchers
reported varying degrees of control regarding issues they could examine
and conclusions they could draw. For example, several professors were
warned against calling for abolition of reeducation through labor. In
March, Beijing University professor Jiao Guobiao published a criticism
of Chinese censorship, listing his ``14 Evils of the Central Propaganda
Department.'' In August, his university threatened him with dismissal
and indefinitely suspended him from teaching. Guangxi Normal University
Professor Chen Qin reportedly suffered a stroke in July while being
interrogated by security officials concerning his on-line essays
criticizing political and social institutions. Scholar Xu Zerong
remained in prison for ``illegally providing state secrets'' by sending
sensitive reference materials on the Korean War to a contact in Hong
Kong. Scholars studying religion reported that, during the year, the
official Protestant church blocked some publications it found
objectionable.
The Government continued to use political attitudes as criteria for
selecting persons for the few government-sponsored study abroad
programs, but did not impose such restrictions on privately sponsored
students. More than 7,200 students studied abroad, a record according
to the China Scholarship Council.
Researchers residing abroad also were subject to sanctions from the
authorities when their work did not meet with official approval. In
July, a Chinese-born overseas scholar was detained in Shanghai for 2
weeks and then forced to leave the country after being charged with
disclosing state secrets in the course of his academic research on
reform of the household registration system.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, the Government
severely restricted this right in practice. The Constitution stipulates
that such activities may not challenge ``Party leadership'' or infringe
upon the ``interests of the State.'' Protests against the political
system or national leaders were prohibited. Authorities denied permits
and quickly moved to suppress demonstrations involving expression of
dissenting political views.
At times, police used excessive force against demonstrators.
Demonstrations with political or social themes were often broken up
quickly and violently. The vast majority of demonstrations during the
year concerned economic and social issues such as land, housing,
health, and welfare. Land disputes, industrial disputes, and anti-
government protests were the three main causes of civil disturbances,
according to a 2004 study of publicly reported protests. Citing
government statistics, government-run Outlook magazine reported that
over 58,000 ``mass incidents'' took place during 2003, more than 6
times the number reported 10 years earlier. Some of these
demonstrations included thousands of participants. According to
government statistics reported in Hong Kong, more than 2.3 million
people took part in petitions, marches, and sit-ins in urban areas in
2003, while over 8 million participated in demonstrations in rural
areas. Ministry of Public Security publications indicated that the
number of demonstrations continued to grow and that protesters were
becoming more organized.
Authorities detained potential protesters before the anniversary of
the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and other sensitive events to head off
public demonstrations (see Section 1.d.). In the period before the
April ``Qingming'' holiday, which has often served as a time of public
commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen events, regulations were passed
outlawing Tiananmen commemorative activities. In late March,
``Tiananmen Mothers'' organization co-founders Ding Zilin, Jiang
Xianling, and Huang Jinping were confined in separate locations to
prevent them from meeting with other victims' family members to
commemorate the death of their relatives in the June 4, 1989 violence.
In early April, when AIDS activist Hu Jia stated his intention to
commemorate the anniversary in their absence, he was also detained. All
were released but some were prevented from returning to Beijing until
after the holiday was over. On June 1, retired PLA doctor Jiang Yanyong
and his wife were also detained in the period before the anniversary of
the 1989 Tiananmen massacre (see Section 2.d.). Western media reported
that approximately 20 people were detained and taken away from
Tiananmen Square on June 4 for attempting to commemorate the 1989
events.
Labor protests over restructuring of SOEs and resulting
unemployment continued, and the number of such protests increased
slightly over 2003, although they remained smaller in scale than the
large labor protests which occurred in 2002. In February, a protest by
some 2,000 workers seeking severance benefits from Hubei Province's
bankrupt, state-owned Tieshu textile factory was suppressed by force.
Nine workers were detained, and four faced criminal charges. In July,
23 laid-off coal miners from Heilongjiang Province threated a mass
suicide from the roof of a building near the Supreme People's Court
when their petitions for compensation went unanswered. They were
detained, and miners traveling to Beijing to support them were stopped
by police. Protests by migrant laborers and construction workers, who
demonstrated when employers withheld their salaries or underpaid them,
continued. The Government passed legislation requiring that companies
pay such workers and stepped up enforcement measures against some
delinquent employers during the year (see Section 6.b.).
Protests, some of which included thousands of participants,
concerning land, housing, and forced evictions were also widespread.
The jailing of former Shanghai housing lawyer Zheng Enchong in October
2003, after his advocacy for hundreds of Shanghai residents displaced
in a controversial urban redevelopment project, prompted demonstrations
by his supporters in March. Similarly, Beijing and Tianjin-based
housing petitioners and victims of forced eviction policies were
detained in August and September to prevent them from holding a planned
10,000-person rally (see Section 3). On August 1, in Fujian Province's
Wanli village, police officers beat hundreds of farmers who protested
government land seizures.
The Government continued to wage a severe political, propaganda,
and police campaign against the Falun Gong movement. The sustained
government crackdown against the movement, which the Government banned
in 1999, continued, and there were no reports of public protests during
the year. In many cases, Falun Gong practitioners were subject to close
scrutiny by local security personnel, and their personal mobility was
tightly restricted, particularly at times when the Government believed
public protests were likely.
Activist Li Dan was beaten and Pan Zhongfeng was detained in
Shangqiu, Henan Province, during a July demonstration protesting
closure of an AIDS orphanage and school.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government restricted this right in practice. Communist Party policy
and government regulations require that all professional, social, and
economic organizations officially register with, and be approved by,
the Government. Ostensibly aimed at restricting secret societies and
criminal gangs, these regulations also prevented the formation of truly
autonomous political, human rights, religious, spiritual,
environmental, social, labor, and youth organizations that might
challenge government authority. Since 1999, all concerts, sports
events, exercise classes, or other meetings of more than 200 persons
require approval from Public Security authorities. In practice, much
smaller gatherings ran the risk of being disrupted by authorities in
some places.
No laws or regulations specifically govern the formation of
political parties. But the China Democracy Party (CDP) remained banned,
and the Government continued to surveil, detain, and imprison current
and former CDP members (see Section 3).
According to government statistics on NGOs, at the end of 2003,
there were approximately 142,000 social organizations, including 1,736
national-level and cross-provincial organizations, 21,030 provincial
organizations, 48,731 local and county-level organizations registered
with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and others. NGOs were required to
register with the Government. To register, an NGO must find a
government agency willing to serve as the NGO's organizational sponsor,
have a registered office, and hold a minimal amount of funds. Experts
estimated that there were between one and two million unregistered
NGOs. Although the registered organizations all came under some degree
of government control, some were able to develop their own agendas.
Some had support from foreign secular and religious NGOs. Some were
able to undertake limited advocacy roles in such public interest areas
as women's issues, the environment, health, and consumer rights.
According to government guidelines, NGOs must not advocate non-party
rule, damage national unity, or upset ethnic harmony. Groups that
disobeyed guidelines and unregistered groups that continued to operate
could face administrative punishment or criminal charges. In addition,
there were 124,000 private, nonprofit corporations registered in 2003,
an increase of 11.7 percent over 2002. Many of these groups functioned
like NGOs, with 90,000 operating in the education and health fields,
9,037 in labor, 7,792 in civil society, 1,777 providing social
services, and 728 in legal services. During the year, the Government
passed a new law regulating charitable foundations and gave NGOs
greater autonomy to establish the amount of their membership dues.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religious belief and the freedom not to believe; however, the
Government sought to restrict religious practice to government-
sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship and to
control the growth and scope of the activity of religious groups. There
are five official religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism,
and Catholicism. A government-affiliated association monitored and
supervised the activities of each of the five faiths. Membership in
religions grew rapidly. While the Government generally did not seek to
suppress this growth outright, it tried to control and regulate
religious groups to prevent the rise of sources of authority outside
the control of the Government and the Party.
Overall, government respect for religious freedom remained poor,
although the extent of religious freedom varied widely within the
country. Freedom to participate in officially sanctioned religious
activity increased in many areas of the country, but crackdowns against
unregistered groups, including underground Protestant and Catholic
groups, Muslim Uighurs, and Tibetan Buddhists (see Tibet Addendum)
continued and worsened in some locations. The Government continued its
repression of groups that it determined to be ``cults'' and of the
Falun Gong spiritual movement in particular.
All religious groups and spiritual movements were required to
register with the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA,
formerly known as the central Religious Affairs Bureau) or its
provincial or local offices (still known as Religious Affairs Bureaus
(RABs)). SARA and the RABs were responsible for monitoring and judging
the legitimacy of religious activity. SARA and the Communist Party's
United Front Work Department provided policy ``guidance and
supervision'' over implementation of government regulations on
religious activity.
In January, a national work conference on religion organized by
SARA was held to ``strengthen religious work.'' According to official
media, the conference recommended that officials guard against
Christian-influenced ``cults'' and avoid negative influences, including
``foreign infiltration under cover of religion.'' Conference attendees
also raised concern about circulation of foreign religious materials
addressing the growth of Christianity in the country, including a
documentary film entitled ``The Cross'' and a book entitled ``Jesus in
Beijing.'' Subsequently, many provinces convened their own local work
conferences. In March, the 10th National Committee of the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) recommended revising
the CPPCC Charter to permit the ``freedom of religious belief.'' On
November 30, the State Council issued new regulations governing
religious affairs, shifting the national system of registration from
one focused on religious sites to one focused on religious
organizations and individuals. The new regulations made no reference to
the five official religions.
A national campaign to require religious groups to register or to
come under the supervision of official ``patriotic'' religious
organizations continued during the year. Some groups registered
voluntarily, some registered under pressure, some avoided officials in
an attempt to avoid registration, and authorities refused to register
others. Some unofficial groups reported that authorities refused them
registration without explanation. The Government contended that these
refusals were mainly the result of failure to meet requirements
concerning facilities and meeting spaces. Many religious groups were
reluctant to comply with the regulations out of principled opposition
to state control of religion or due to fear of adverse consequences if
they revealed, as required, the names and addresses of church leaders
and members.
Local authorities' handling of unregistered religious groups,
particularly Protestant ``house churches,'' varied widely. In certain
regions, Government supervision of religious activity was minimal, and
registered and unregistered Protestant and Catholic churches existed
openly side-by-side and were treated similarly by the authorities. In
such areas, many congregants worshipped in both types of churches, and
congregants in unregistered churches procured Bibles at official
churches. In some parts of the country, unregistered house churches
with hundreds of members met openly, with the full knowledge of local
authorities, who characterized the meetings as informal gatherings to
pray, sing, and study the Bible. In other areas, house church meetings
of more than a handful of family members and friends were strictly
proscribed. House churches often encountered difficulties when their
membership grew, when they arranged for the regular use of facilities
for the purpose of conducting religious activities, or when they forged
links with other unregistered groups. As a result, urban house churches
were generally limited to meetings of a few dozen members or less,
while meetings of unregistered Protestants in small cities and rural
areas could number in the hundreds.
Leaders of unauthorized groups were sometimes the targets of
harassment, interrogation, detention, and physical abuse. Police closed
scores of ``underground'' mosques, temples, seminaries, Catholic
churches, and Protestant ``house churches,'' including many with
significant memberships, properties, financial resources, and networks.
Authorities particularly targeted unofficial religious groups in
locations where there were rapidly growing numbers of unregistered
churches or in places of long-seated conflict between official and
unofficial churches, such as with Catholics in Baoding, Hebei Province
or with evangelical underground Protestant groups as in Henan Province
and elsewhere.
The Government in many areas intensified pressure against
Protestant house churches and their leaders during the year. In
January, house Christian activists Qiao Chunling, Xu Yongling, and Zeng
Guangbo reportedly were detained because of their alleged effort to
communicate with foreigners about activities of house churches. House
Christian activists in several regions were prevented from leaving
their homes during the meeting of the National People's Congress in
March. In June, the government-run Legal Daily newspaper reported that
Jiang Zongxiu had died in police custody in Guizhou Province after
being detained for distributing Bibles. Her body showed signs of
physical abuse, and reliable reports indicated that she had been beaten
in administrative detention. A Legal Daily editorial comment condemned
local officials for mistreating Jiang. In April, more than 100 members
of the Three Classes of Servants Church reportedly were detained in
Heilongjiang Province, and most were later released. In June, dozens of
leaders of the China Gospel Fellowship Protestant Church reportedly
were detained in Wuhan, Hubei Province, but they were later released.
In July, more than 100 house church leaders from Anhui Province were
reportedly detained in Xinjiang while on a religious retreat. The same
month, some 40 house church leaders were detained while attending a
religious training seminar in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. In August,
more than 100 house Christians were reportedly detained while on a
religious retreat in Kaifeng, Henan Province. On August 6, Beijing-
based Christian activist Liu Fenggang, Beijing homeless advocate Dr. Xu
Yonghai, and Jilin Internet writer Zhang Shengqi were convicted and
sentenced to 3, 2, and 1 years in prison, respectively, on charges of
providing national intelligence overseas. The charges stemmed from an
article Liu wrote and allegedly distributed to the foreign-based
Chinese Christian magazine Christian Life Quarterly, which discussed
persecution of other Chinese Christians and destruction of house
churches. On September 11, Beijing-based pastor Cai Zhuohua was
detained for his involvement in printing and distributing Christian
literature. In December, underground church leader Zhang Rongliang was
detained in Henan Province, and his whereabouts remained unknown at
year's end. House church historian Zhang Yinan, who was detained in
2003, remained in a reeducation-through-labor camp in Pingdingshan
County, Henan Province. Gouxing Philip Xu, however, reportedly was
released from a reeducation-through-labor camp in June after being
detained in 2002 in Shanghai.
A number of Catholic priests and lay leaders also were beaten or
otherwise abused during the year, prompting Vatican officials formally
to protest mistreatment. In Hebei Province, where approximately half of
the country's Catholics reside, friction between unofficial Catholics
and local authorities continued. Hebei authorities have forced many
underground priests and believers to choose between joining the
Patriotic Church (the officially sanctioned Catholic Church) or facing
fines, job losses, periodic detentions, and, in some cases, the removal
of their children from school. Some Catholics have been forced into
hiding. In June, the Vatican formally protested the detention earlier
in the year of three underground Catholic bishops from Hebei Province.
Two were released shortly after their detention, although the
whereabouts of 84-year-old Zhao Zhendong of Xuanhua City remained
unclear at year's end. Underground Bishops Wei Jingyi of Heilongjiang
Province and Jia Zhiguo of Hebei Province reportedly were detained for
a few days before being released in March and April, respectively. Jia
Zhiguo reportedly was again detained for several days in June, along
with two other underground bishops. In August, eight underground clergy
in Quyang County, Hebei Province, reportedly were detained while
attending a religious retreat. At Christmas, a priest in Zhejiang
Province, Wang Zhongfa, was reportedly detained, and religious services
for both Catholics and Protestants were disrupted. There were
conflicting reports about 76-year-old Shandong Province Bishop Gao
Kexian, whom some sources claimed died in prison during the year.
Reliable sources also reported that Bishop An Shuxin, Bishop Zhang
Weizhu, Father Cui Xing, and Father Wang Quanjun remained detained in
Hebei Province. There was no new information about underground Bishop
Su Zhimin, who has been unaccounted for since his reported detention in
1997. Reports suggested that he had been held in a form of house
arrest. The Government continued to deny taking coercive measures
against him and stated he was traveling as a missionary.
During the year, local officials destroyed several unregistered
places of worship around the country. In Zhejiang Province, there were
continued reports that churches and shrines were closed or destroyed,
although less often than in 2003. Zhejiang authorities often claimed
that destroyed buildings were not zoned for religious activities, or
were unsafe, or both. In February, a fire killed 39 worshippers and
destroyed a makeshift temple in Zhejiang's Haining City. Visitors to
Xinjiang Autonomous Region reported that mosques also have been
destroyed, although some attributed the demolition as much to inter-
religious conflict between Hui and Uighur Muslims as to government
antagonism. In August, members of the Buddhist Foundation of America
reported that a temple they had helped to restore in Tongliao, Inner
Mongolia, was closed and the rededication ceremony cancelled by local
officials. Spiritual leader Dechan Jeren (Yu Tianjian) was detained,
and government authorities claimed he had misled followers about his
status as a living Buddha.
The Government continued to restore or rebuild some churches,
temples, mosques, and monasteries damaged or destroyed during the
Cultural Revolution, and new facilities were constructed during the
year. In March, the Government began construction of two new Protestant
churches in Beijing, the first new churches to be constructed in the
capital since 1949. Similarly, the site of the 135-year-old former Holy
Trinity Cathedral in Shanghai was renovated at government expense and
reopened as headquarters of the official Protestant China Christian
Council and Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The number of restored and
rebuilt temples, churches, and mosques remained inadequate to
accommodate the increase in religious believers. The difficulty in
registering new places of worship led to serious overcrowding in
existing places of worship in some areas. Some observers cited the lack
of adequate meeting space in registered churches to explain the rapid
rise in attendance at house churches and ``underground'' churches.
The law does not prohibit religious believers from holding public
office; however, party membership is required for almost all high-level
positions in Government, state-owned businesses, and many official
organizations. During the year, Communist Party officials again stated
that party membership and religious belief were incompatible. The
Routine Service Regulations of the People's Liberation Army state
explicitly that service members ``may not take part in religious or
superstitious activities.'' Party and PLA personnel have been expelled
for adhering to Falun Gong beliefs.
Despite official regulations encouraging officials to be atheists,
in some localities as many as 25 percent of Party officials engaged in
some kind of religious activity. Most of these officials practiced
Buddhism or a folk religion. The National People's Congress (NPC)
included several religious representatives. Two of the NPC Standing
Committee's vice chairmen are Fu Tieshan, a bishop and vice-chairman of
the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, and Pagbalha Geleg Namgyal,
a Tibetan reincarnate lama. Religious groups also were represented in
the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an advisory
forum for ``multiparty'' cooperation and consultation led by the CCP,
and in local and provincial governments.
Official religious organizations administered local religious
schools, seminaries, and institutes to train priests, ministers, imams,
Islamic scholars, and Buddhist monks. Students who attended these
institutes had to demonstrate ``political reliability,'' and all
graduates must pass an examination on their political as well as
theological knowledge to qualify for the clergy. The Government
permitted registered religions to train clergy and allowed limited
numbers of Catholic and Protestant seminarians, Muslim clerics, and
Buddhist clergy to go abroad for additional religious studies, but some
religion students have had difficulty getting passports or obtaining
approval to study abroad. In most cases, foreign organizations provided
funding for such training programs.
Both official and unofficial Christian churches had problems
training adequate numbers of clergy to meet the needs of their growing
congregations. Because of restrictions and prohibitions on religion
between 1955 and 1985, no priests or other clergy in official churches
were ordained during that period. Thus, as senior clerics retire, there
were relatively few experienced clerics to replace them. The Government
stated that the official Catholic Church had trained more than 900
priests in the past decade.
Traditional folk religions such as Fujian Province's ``Mazu cult''
were still practiced in some locations. They were tolerated to varying
degrees, often seen as loose affiliates of Taoism or as ethnic minority
cultural practices. However, at the same time, folk religions were
labeled ``feudal superstition'' and sometimes were repressed because
their resurgence was seen as a threat to Party control. In recent
years, local authorities have destroyed thousands of shrines; however,
there were no reports of widespread destruction during the year.
Buddhists made up the largest body of organized religious
believers. The traditional practice of Buddhism continued to expand
among citizens in many parts of the country. Tibetan Buddhists in some
areas outside of the TAR had growing freedom to practice their faith.
However, some government restrictions remained, particularly in cases
in which the Government interpreted Buddhist belief as supporting
separatism, such as in some Tibetan areas and parts of the Inner
Mongolian Autonomous Region. Visits by emissaries of the Dalai Lama
occurred in 2002, 2003, and September, 2004. Lodi Gyari, the Dalai
Lama's representative to the United States, was a member of the
September delegation (see Tibet Addendum).
Regulations restricting Muslims' religious activity, teaching, and
places of worship continued to be implemented forcefully in Xinjiang.
In some areas of Xinjiang where ethnic unrest has occurred, officials
restricted the building of mosques and the training of clergy.
Authorities reportedly continued to prohibit the teaching of Islam to
children under the age of 18 in some areas where ethnic unrest has
occurred, although children studied Arabic and the Koran without
restriction in many other areas. For example, local officials have
stated that persons younger than 18 are forbidden from entering mosques
in Xinjiang, but this policy was enforced unevenly. Authorities also
reserved the right to censor imams' sermons. In particular, imams were
urged to emphasize the damage caused to Islam by terrorist acts in the
name of the religion.
Fundamentalist Muslim leaders received particularly harsh
treatment. In 2000, the authorities began conducting monthly political
study sessions for religious personnel; the program reportedly
continued during the year. In August, eight Uighur Muslims in Hotan
District were reportedly charged with endangering state security, and
scores were detained on charges of engaging in ``illegal religious
activities.'' Because of government control of information coming from
Xinjiang, such reports were difficult to confirm.
There were numerous official media reports that the authorities
confiscated illegal religious publications in Xinjiang. The Xinjiang
People's Publication House was the only publisher allowed to print
Muslim literature, and stores reported that those selling literature
not included on Government lists of permitted items risked closure. In
addition to the restrictions on practicing religion placed on party
members and government officials throughout the country, teachers,
professors, and university students in Xinjiang were not allowed to
practice religion openly. Officials also reportedly restricted mosque
building in some areas of Xinjiang, especially where unrest had
occurred. However, in other areas, particularly in areas traditionally
populated by the non-Central Asian Hui ethnic group, there was
substantial religious building construction and renovation. Mosque
destruction, which sometimes occurred in Xinjiang, occasionally
resulted from intra-religious conflict.
The Government permitted Muslim citizens to make the Hajj to Mecca
and in some cases subsidized the journey. A record number of nearly
10,000 Muslims made the Hajj during the year, nearly half of whom went
with government-organized delegations. Other Muslims made the trip to
Mecca via third countries. According to international Uighur groups,
Uighur Muslims had greater difficulty getting permission to make the
Hajj than other Muslim groups, such as Hui Muslims, and some Uighurs
elected not to attempt to go for fear of repercussions.
The Government and the Holy See had not established diplomatic
relations, and there was no Vatican representative on the Mainland. The
Government stated that the role of the Pope in selecting bishops, the
status of underground Catholic clerics, Vatican recognition of Taiwan,
and the canonization of controversial Catholic missionaries on Chinese
National Day in 2000 remained obstacles to improved relations. During
the year, the Government stated that the political activities of Hong
Kong Diocese Bishop Joseph Zen in the Hong Kong SAR had become a
further obstacle to normalization of relations with the Vatican.
Nonetheless, Bishop Zen paid a public visit to Shanghai in April.
The Government's refusal to allow the official Catholic Church to
recognize the authority of the Papacy in many fundamental matters of
faith and morals caused many Catholics to reject the official Catholic
Church. Most bishops of the official Catholic Church were, in fact,
recognized by the Vatican. However, friction between bishops who have
been consecrated with Vatican approval and others consecrated without
such approval continued, producing leadership conflicts. Foreign media
reported that, at the consecration ceremony of some bishops during the
year, both government and Vatican approval was stated publicly.
The increase in the number of Christians resulted in a
corresponding increase in the demand for Bibles, which were available
for purchase at most officially recognized churches and some
bookstores. Although the country had only one government-approved
publisher of Bibles and distribution had been a problem in the past,
the shortage of Bibles in previous years appeared largely to have
abated. Members of underground churches complained that the supply and
distribution of Bibles in some places, particularly rural locations,
was inadequate. Official churches said they discouraged the sale of
Bibles outside the church to protect their copyright and financial
interests, not to restrict distribution. They emphasized that versions
of the Bible are available for less than $1 (RMB 8.3). Individuals
could not order Bibles directly from publishing houses, making it
difficult for some Christians to buy Bibles in volume. Customs
officials continued to monitor for the ``smuggling'' of Bibles and
other religious materials into the country, but there were no new cases
of significant punishments for Bible importation. There were credible
reports that the authorities sometimes confiscated Bibles and other
religious material in raids on house churches.
Regulations enacted in 1994 and expanded in 2000 codified many
existing rules involving religious practice by foreigners, including a
ban on proselytizing. However, for the most part, the authorities
allowed foreign nationals to preach to other foreigners, to bring in
religious materials for personal use, and to preach to citizens at
churches, mosques, and temples at the invitation of registered
religious organizations. Religious worship by foreigners was permitted
in unregistered facilities so long as citizens did not attend the
services. In a number of major cities, regular worship services for
foreigners were held, including Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish,
and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints services. Foreigners
were barred from conducting missionary activities, but some foreign
religious groups were involved in education and providing social
services.
Some foreign church organizations came under pressure to register
with government authorities, and some foreign missionaries whose
activities extended to citizens were expelled or asked to leave the
country. The Government stated that those asked to leave had violated
the law. In addition, the Government banned foreign-produced materials
about Christianity in the country, including the documentary film ``The
Cross'' and the book ``Jesus in Beijing.''
The authorities continued a general crackdown on groups considered
to be ``cults.'' Premier Wen Jiabao, in his address to the NPC in
March, stressed that government agencies should strengthen their anti-
cult work. These ``cults'' included not only Falun Gong and various
traditional Chinese meditation and exercise groups (known collectively
as ``qigong'' groups) but also religious groups that authorities
accused of preaching beliefs outside the bounds of officially approved
doctrine. Groups that the Government labeled cults included Eastern
Lightning, the Servants of Three Classes, the Shouters, the South China
Church, the Association of Disciples, the Full Scope Church, the Spirit
Sect, the New Testament Church, the Way of the Goddess of Mercy, the
Lord God Sect, the Established King Church, the Unification Church, and
the Family of Love. Authorities accused some in these groups of lacking
proper theological training, preaching the imminent coming of the
Apocalypse or holy war, or exploiting the reemergence of religion for
personal gain. The Eastern Lightning group was accused by the
Government and some other unregistered Christian groups of involvement
in violence.
Actions against such groups continued during the year. In April,
over 100 members of the evangelical group the ``Servants of Three
Classes'' were detained in Harbin, Heliongjiang Province. Most were
released, but Gu Xianggao died in custody, allegedly as a result of
beatings by police (see Section 1.c.) Police also continued their
efforts to close down an underground evangelical group called the
``Shouters,'' an offshoot of a pre-1949 indigenous Protestant group. In
2001, Gong Shengliang, founder of the South China Church, was sentenced
to death on criminal charges including rape, arson, and assault. In
2002, an appeals court overturned his death sentence, and Gong was
sentenced to life in prison. In the retrial, four women from his
congregation claimed that, prior to the first trial, police had
tortured them into signing statements accusing Gong of raping them. The
four women, who were found not guilty of ``cultist activity'' in the
retrial, were nonetheless immediately sent to reeducation-through-labor
camps. In the retrial, the court also dropped all ``evil cult'' charges
against the South China Church. During the year, elderly church member
Chen Jingmao reportedly was abused in prison for attempting to convert
inmates to Christianity.
The extent of public Falun Gong activity in the country continued
to decline considerably, and practitioners based abroad reported that
the Government's crackdown against the group continued. Since the
Government banned the Falun Gong in 1999, the mere belief in the
discipline (even without any public manifestation of its tenets) was
sufficient grounds for practitioners to receive punishments ranging
from loss of employment to imprisonment. Although the vast majority of
the tens of thousands of practitioners detained since 1999 have been
released, many were detained again after release (see Section 1.e.),
and thousands reportedly remained in reeducation-through-labor camps.
Those identified by the Government as ``core leaders'' have been
singled out for particularly harsh treatment. More than a dozen Falun
Gong members have been sentenced to prison for the crime of
``endangering state security,'' but the great majority of Falun Gong
members convicted by the courts since 1999 have been sentenced to
prison for ``organizing or using a sect to undermine the implementation
of the law,'' a less serious offense. Most practitioners, however, were
punished administratively. In addition to being sentenced to
reeducation through labor, some Falun Gong members were sent to
detention facilities specifically established to ``rehabilitate''
practitioners who refused to recant their belief voluntarily after
release from reeducation-through-labor camps. In addition, hundreds of
Falun Gong practitioners have been confined to mental hospitals (see
Section 1.d.).
Police in the past often used excessive force when detaining
peaceful Falun Gong protesters. During the year, allegations of abuse
of Falun Gong practitioners by the police and other security personnel
continued. According to the foreign-based Global Mission to Rescue
Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners, 1,047 Falun Gong practitioners,
including children and the elderly, have died since 1997 as a result of
official persecution (see Section 1.c.). Other groups based abroad
estimated that as many as 2,000 practitioners have died in custody.
During the 2003 SARS epidemic, the Government launched new
accusations that Falun Gong practitioners were disrupting SARS-
prevention efforts. State-run media claimed that, beginning in April,
Falun Gong followers ``incited public panic'' and otherwise
``sabotaged'' anti-SARS efforts in many provinces by preaching that
belief in Falun Gong will prevent persons from contracting SARS.
Authorities detained hundreds of Falun Gong adherents on such charges,
including 69 in Jiangsu Province during May 2003 and 180 in Hebei
Province during June 2003, according to state-run media. At year's end,
their whereabouts remained unknown.
As recently as 2003, the Government continued its effort to round
up practitioners not already in custody and sanctioned the use of high-
pressure tactics and mandatory anti-Falun Gong study sessions to force
practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. Even practitioners who had not
protested or made other public demonstrations of belief reportedly were
forced to attend anti-Falun Gong classes or were sent directly to
reeducation-through-labor camps, where in some cases, beatings and
torture reportedly were used to force them to recant. These tactics
reportedly resulted in large numbers of practitioners signing pledges
to renounce the movement.
The Government taught atheism in schools. While the Government
claimed that there were no national-level regulations barring children
from receiving religious instruction, in some regions local authorities
barred persons under 18 from attending services at mosques, temples, or
churches.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration and Repatriation.--Although the Government maintained
restrictions on the freedom to change one's workplace or residence, the
national household registration and identification card system
continued to erode, and the ability of most citizens to move within the
country to work and live continued to expand. However, the Government
retained the ability to restrict freedom of movement through other
mechanisms. Authorities heightened restrictions periodically during the
year, particularly before politically sensitive anniversaries and to
forestall demonstrations.
The Government's ``hukou'' system of national household
registration underwent further liberalization during the year, as the
country responded to economic demands for a more mobile labor force.
Nonetheless, many persons could not officially change their residence
or workplace within the country. Government and work unit permission
were often required before moving from city to city. It was
particularly difficult for peasants from rural areas to obtain
household registration in some economically more developed urban areas.
There remained a ``floating population'' of between 100 and 150 million
economic migrants who lacked official residence status in cities.
Without official residence status, it was difficult or impossible to
gain full access to social services, including education. Further,
migrant workers were generally limited to types of work considered
least desirable by local residents, and they had little recourse when
subject to abuse by employers and officials. In some major cities,
access to education for children of migrant workers continued to
improve during the year, and some cities began to offer migrants some
other social services free of charge. Many cities and provinces
continued experiments aimed at abolishing the distinction between urban
and rural residents in household registration documents, including
Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui, Hebei, Hubei, and Sichuan
Provinces. However, other localities, including Zhengzhou in Henan
Province, re-established registration requirements during the year to
halt the drain on public resources that had resulted from an influx of
migrants. In June 2003, the administrative detention system of custody
and repatriation applied to migrants was abolished and replaced by a
network of aid shelters offering services to migrants, but it remained
unclear at year's end how these reforms would be implemented (see
Section 1.d.).
Prior to sensitive anniversaries, authorities in urban areas
rounded up and detained some ``undesirables,'' including the homeless,
the unemployed, migrant workers, those without proper residence or work
permits, petty criminals, prostitutes, and the mentally ill or
disabled. Dissidents reported that the authorities restricted their
freedom of movement during politically sensitive periods and visits by
foreign dignitaries, including on some occasions removing suspected
dissidents from Beijing.
Under the ``staying at prison employment'' system applicable to
recidivists incarcerated in reeducation-through-labor camps,
authorities have denied certain persons permission to return to their
homes after serving their sentences. Some released or paroled prisoners
returned home but were not permitted freedom of movement. Former senior
leaders Zhao Ziyang and Bao Tong remained under house arrest in Beijing
for their role in the 1989 Tiananmen protests, and security around them
routinely was tightened during sensitive periods.
The Government permitted legal emigration and foreign travel for
most citizens. Passports were increasingly easy to obtain in most
places, although those whom the Government deemed to be threats,
including religious leaders, political dissidents, and some ethnic
minority members continued to have difficulty obtaining passports (see
Tibet Addendum). According to media reports, more than 2.6 million
mainland tourists have traveled to Hong Kong since the Government
relaxed restrictions on such travel.
There were reports that some academics faced travel restrictions
around the year's sensitive anniversaries, particularly the June 4
anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and there were
instances in which the authorities refused to issue passports or visas
on apparent political grounds. Members of underground churches
sometimes were refused passports and other necessary travel documents.
Some Falun Gong members also had difficulty in obtaining passports. On
June 1, Dr. Jiang Yanyong and his wife were detained while en route to
pick up a visa to travel abroad to visit their daughter. They were held
for 7 and 2 weeks, respectively, because he wrote to government leaders
requesting an official reassessment of the Tiananmen massacre. He was
released in July, but remained in a form of house arrest. Dr. Jiang
also was pressured not to accept the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public
Service and was not permitted to travel to a September awards ceremony
in the Philippines.
Similarly, visas to enter the country were sometimes denied for
political reasons. For example, some foreign academics who had been
critical of the country continued to be denied visas. Some others who
intended to discuss human rights or rule of law issues also were denied
visas. For foreigners whose business did not raise political
sensitivities, the Government introduced a long-term residence permit
during the year.
The law neither provides for a citizen's right to repatriate nor
otherwise addresses exile. The Government continued to refuse reentry
to numerous citizens whom it considered to be dissidents, Falun Gong
activists, or troublemakers. Although some dissidents living abroad
have been allowed to return, dissidents released on medical parole and
allowed to leave the country often were effectively exiled. Activists
resident abroad have sometimes been imprisoned upon their return to the
country.
The Government's refusal to permit some former reeducation-through-
labor camp inmates to return to their homes constituted a form of
internal exile.
Although a signatory of the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the country has no laws or
regulations that authorize the authorities to grant refugee status. The
Government largely cooperated with the UNHCR when dealing with the
resettlement of ethnic Han Chinese or ethnic minorities from Vietnam
and Laos resident in the country. During the year, the Government and
UNHCR continued ongoing discussions concerning the granting of
citizenship to these residents. Since the late 1980s, the Government
has adopted a de facto policy of tolerance toward the small number of
persons, fewer than 100 annually, from other nations who registered
with the Beijing office of the UNHCR as asylum seekers. The Government
permitted these persons to remain in the country while the UNHCR made
determinations as to their status and, if the UNHCR determined that
they were bona fide refugees, while they awaited resettlement in third
countries. However, the Government continued to deny the UNHCR
permission to operate along its northeastern border with North Korea,
arguing that North Koreans who crossed the border were illegal economic
migrants, not refugees.
During the year, several thousand North Koreans were reportedly
detained and forcibly returned to North Korea, where many faced
persecution and some of whom may have been executed upon their return,
as provided in North Korean law. Several hundred North Koreans were
permitted to travel to Seoul after they had entered diplomatic
compounds or international schools in China, and approximately 1,900
arrived in South Korea via third countries such as Mongolia, Vietnam,
Thailand, and Cambodia, most after transiting through China. There were
numerous credible reports of harassment and detention of North Koreans
in the country. The Government also arrested and detained foreign
journalists, missionaries and activists, as well as some Chinese
citizens, for providing food, shelter, transportation, and other
assistance to North Koreans. According to NGOs, the Government
reportedly allowed North Korean security forces to enter China to
forcibly repatriate North Korean citizens during the year.
While UNHCR reported that more than 2,000 Tibetans each year
continued to cross into Nepal, the Government continued to try to
prevent many Tibetans from leaving (see Tibet Addendum).
In October 2003, the Government executed Uighur Shaheer Ali after
he and another Uighur were forcibly returned to China in 2002 from
Nepal, where they had been granted refugee status by UNHCR (see Section
5).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens lack the right to change their government peacefully and
cannot freely choose or change the laws and officials that govern them.
While recent reforms allow citizens to elect members of village
committees, which are not considered to be government bodies, and
representatives to local people's congresses, the Communist Party
continued to control appointments to positions of political power.
According to the Constitution, the National People's Congress (NPC)
is the highest organ of state power. Formally, it elects the President
and Vice President, selects the Premier and Vice Premiers, and elects
the Chairman of the State Central Military Commission. In practice, the
NPC Standing Committee oversees these elections and determines the
agenda and procedure for the NPC under the direct authority of the
CCP's Politburo Standing Committee. The NPC does not have the power to
set policy or remove Government or Party leaders.
Under the 1987 Organic Law of Village Committees and its 1998
amendments, all of the country's approximately 1 million villages were
expected to hold competitive, direct elections for subgovernmental
village committees. Beginning in 1987, rural citizens voted directly
for their local village committees, which were not considered
government bodies. Most provinces already have held four or five rounds
of village committee elections, according to the Ministry of Civil
Affairs. Foreign observers who have monitored local village committee
elections judged the elections they observed, on the whole, to have
been fair. However, the Government estimated that one-third of all
elections had serious procedural flaws. Corruption and interference by
township level and Party officials continued to be a problem in some
cases.
The 1979 Election Law governs elections of legislative bodies at
all levels. Under this law, citizens have the opportunity to vote for
local people's congress representatives at the county level and below,
although in most cases the nomination of candidates in those elections
was strictly controlled. People's congress delegates above the county
level are selected by legislators at the level below. For example,
provincial-level people's congresses select delegates to the NPC.
Beginning in late 2002, a practice began of naming local Communist
Party secretaries to concurrently serve as the head of the local
people's congress. This move dramatically strengthened Party control
over these legislatures.
Although the Party controls appointments of officials to government
and Party positions at all levels, some township, county, and
provincial elections featured experiments with increased competition,
including self-nomination of candidates, campaign speeches by
candidates, public vetting of nominees, and a two-tiered indirect
election system. In October, the Election Law was amended to permit
preliminary elections to establish the list of candidates for direct
elections in certain, limited situations.
The CCP retained a monopoly on political power and forbade the
creation of new political parties. The Government continued efforts to
suppress the China Democracy Party (CDP), an opposition party that had
attracted hundreds of members nationwide within a few months of its
founding in 1998. Public security forces had previously arrested nearly
all of the CDP's leaders: Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai, and Qin Yongmin were
sentenced in 1998 to prison terms of 13, 12, and 11 years,
respectively. Xu Wenli and Wang Youcai were released on medical parole
to the United States in December 2002 and March 2004, respectively, but
Qin remained in prison. At the time of the 16th Party Congress in 2002,
authorities targeted many remaining activists for signing an open
letter calling for political reform and a reappraisal of the official
verdict on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre (see Section 1.d.). More than 40
current or former CDP members remained imprisoned or held in
reeducation-through-labor camps during the year, including Zhao
Changqing, Sang Jiancheng, He Depu, Yao Zhenxiang, Han Lifa, Dai
Xuezhong, and Jiang Lijun. In December, Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province
activists were interrogated and a few, including Yang Tianshui and Wang
Rongqing, were detained after they publicly proposed that the NPC draft
a political party law.
Freedom of information regulations were enacted in many locations
during the year, aimed at improving the public's communication with and
supervision over local government initiatives. In Wuhan, freedom of
information regulations were used in August to force a state-owned
enterprise (SOE) to provide a laid-off worker with information about
SOE restructuring. In July, a lawsuit was filed in Shanghai to force a
local land office to comply with a citizen's request for information.
The Government experimented with other forms of public oversight of
government, including telephone hotlines and complaint centers,
administrative hearings, increased opportunity for citizen observation
of government proceedings, and other forms of citizen input in the
local legislative process, such as hearings to discuss draft
legislation. For example, citizen feedback was an important factor in
selecting the site for a new airport in Hubei Province. Most major
cities have introduced at least one of these mechanisms for citizens to
provide input and feedback on government performance. The experiments
have been generally well-received by the public.
Corruption remained an endemic problem. According to the Auditor
General, embezzlement and misuse of public funds affected 75 percent of
commissions and ministries under the State Council and accounted for
approximately $170 million (RMB 1.4 billion) missing from the Central
Government's 2003 budget. Transparency International continued to rank
China among the worst countries in the world for bribery. Economists
estimated that the cost of corruption may exceed 14 percent of gross
domestic product.
The courts and Party agencies took disciplinary action against some
public and Party officials during the year. According to the Supreme
People's Procuratorate (SPP), prosecutors at all levels in 2003
investigated 39,562 cases of abuse of official power involving 43,490
individuals. They prosecuted 22,761 cases involving 26,124 individuals.
From January to November, prosecutors investigated 42,258 officials, up
one percent from 2003. During the 5-year period ending in 2002, 83,308
public officials were convicted for graft or bribery, a 65 percent
increase over the previous 5-year period, according to the Supreme
People's Court (SPC). In April 2003, the Minister of Supervision
reported that 860,000 corruption cases were filed against Party members
from 1997 to 2002, resulting in more than 137,000 expulsions and
disciplinary action in more than 98 percent of cases. The Party's
Central Discipline and Inspection Commission (CDIC) reported that
174,580 officials at various levels were disciplined for breaking laws
and Party discipline in the period from December 2003 to November 2004.
Of those, 8,691 lost Party membership and were prosecuted, according to
state media reports. In some cases, the CDIC reportedly acted as a
substitute for sanctions by the courts and other legal agencies.
During the year, citizens seeking to petition the Central
Government for redress of grievances faced harassment, detention, and
incarceration. Tens of thousands of citizens sought to redress
grievances through petitions to the Central Government. Among them, Mao
Hengfeng, a Shanghai housing activist and organizer, was sentenced in
April to 18 months in a reeducation-through-labor facility for staging
``disorderly visits'' to government offices in support of her petition
efforts. In August, two women were sentenced to 3 years reeducation
after they and four others climbed atop a building near the central
Zhongnanhai compound and threatened to commit suicide to protest the
Government's neglect of their petitions. In August, Beijing-based
petitioner leader Ye Guozhu was arrested for planning to hold a rally
to protest forced evictions. He was tried in November, but the outcome
of the trial was not available by year's end.
During the year, Central Government officials stated that
provincial cadres would be evaluated, in part, on the number of
petitions to Beijing coming from their provinces. This initiative aimed
to improve accountability by provincial officials and to encourage them
to resolve those complaints deemed legitimate. While a few cases were
favorably resolved, most petitions languished. In some cases,
provincial officials of ``Letters and Visits'' offices and local police
pursued petitioners to Beijing and forcibly returned them to their home
provinces. Such detentions often went unrecorded. In November 2003 and
March 2004, Jiang Meili, the wife of imprisoned Shanghai housing
attorney Zheng Enchong, was pursued to Beijing, abducted, and forced
back to Shanghai by local ``Letters and Visits'' officials. She was
seeking legal opinions from Beijing scholars and attorneys to support
her husband's appeal of a 2003 conviction for ``disclosing state
secrets'' in Shanghai housing disputes. In Hebei Province's Tangshan
County, over 11,000 people signed a petition protesting corruption over
land distribution and demanding recall of the local party secretary.
When petition leader Zhang Youren carried the petition to Beijing in
March, he was detained and forced back to Tangshan, where he was
released. In July, Zhang was detained again. In the period before a key
Party meeting in September, authorities rounded up thousands of the
approximately 50,000 homeless petitioners living in temporary shanties
known as Beijing's ``petitioners village.'' Many were forcibly returned
to their home provinces. In December, Liaoning Province resident Qu
Huiqian was detained at the State Council complaints office in Beijing
while petitioning for her father's right to free housing as a retired
military official. According to published reports, she was beaten
unconscious by local officials from Liaoning Province and left in a
ditch in Beijing. Hundreds of petitioners were also reportedly detained
in sports stadiums or forced back to their home provinces at the time
of the March NPC session. Some were reportedly sent to psychiatric
facilities.
The Government placed no special restrictions on the participation
of women or minority groups in the political process. However, women
still held few positions of significant influence at the highest rungs
of the Party or government structure. There was one woman on the 24-
member Politburo; she concurrently held the only ministerial post (out
of 28) occupied by a woman. There was also one woman among the five
State Councilors. The head of a key Communist Party organization, the
United Front Work Department, was a woman. In the country's 28
ministries, only 14 women served at the level of vice minister or
higher. Women freely exercised their right to vote in village committee
elections, but only a small fraction of elected members were women. As
of the end of 2003, there were 12.3 million female Party members,
making up over 18 percent of the 66.4 million members of the Communist
Party. Women constituted 20.2 percent of the NPC and 13.2 percent of
the NPC Standing Committee. The 16th Party Congress in 2002 elected 27
women to serve as members or alternates on the 198 person Central
Committee, a slight increase over the total of the previous committee.
Minorities constituted 14 percent of the NPC, although they made up
approximately 9 percent of the population. All of the country's 55
officially recognized minority groups were represented in the NPC
membership. The 16th Party Congress elected 35 members of ethnic
minorities to serve as members or alternates on the Central Committee
and one ministerial-level post was held by an ethnic minority. However,
minorities held few senior Party or government positions of significant
influence.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Government did not permit independent domestic NGOs to monitor
openly or to comment on human rights conditions. It was difficult to
establish an NGO, and the Government tended to be suspicious of
independent organizations; most existing NGOs were quasi-governmental
in nature and were closely controlled by government agencies (see
Section 2.b.). However, an informal network of dissidents in cities
around the country has become a credible source of information about
government actions taken against activists. The information was
disseminated outside of the country through organizations such as the
Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic
Movement in China and the New York-based Human Rights in China.
The press regularly printed articles about officials who exceeded
their authority and infringed on citizens' rights. However, the
Government remained reluctant to accept criticism of its human rights
record by other nations or international organizations and criticized
reports by international human rights monitoring groups, claiming that
such reports were inaccurate and interfered with the country's internal
affairs. Individuals were charged with and often convicted of
``disclosing state secrets'' during the year after passing information
to human rights NGOs based abroad (see Sections 1.c. and 2.a.). The
Government maintained that there were legitimate, differing approaches
to human rights based on each country's particular history, culture,
social situation, and level of economic development. The Government
established the China Society for Human Rights, a ``nongovernmental''
organization whose mandate was not to monitor human rights conditions,
but to defend the Government's views and human rights record.
The Government had active human rights dialogues with Australia,
Canada, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, the
United Kingdom, and the European Union. In March, the Government
announced that it was suspending its human rights dialogue with the
United States in reaction to the U.S. decision to table a resolution
critical of the country's human rights record at the U.N. Commission on
Human Rights 2004 session. The U.S. did not agree to schedule a new
round of dialogue with China because of the lack of sufficient concrete
results from the last round, held in December 2002. The Government also
terminated some legal reform cooperation with the United States and
U.S.-supported organizations.
The Government continued its unofficial dialogue on human rights
and prisoner issues with a San Francisco-based human rights group.
Visits by the group's exective director, including a prison visit,
occurred during the year.
In September, members of the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention visited Beijing, Sichuan Province, and the TAR (see Section
1.d.). The Government agreed to invite the U.N. Special Rapporteur on
Torture and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, but
those visits did not take place by year's end. The Government also
extended an invitation to the leaders of the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom, but the visit did not occur due to
restrictive conditions that the Government placed on the visit.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
There were laws designed to protect women, children, persons with
disabilities, and minorities. However, in practice, some societal
discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, and disability persisted.
Women.--Violence against women was a significant problem. There was
no national law criminalizing domestic violence, but Articles 43 and 45
of the Marriage Law provide for mediation and administrative penalties
in cases of domestic violence. Over 30 provinces, cities, or local
jurisdictions have passed legislation specifically to address domestic
violence. According to a survey by the All-China Women's Federation, 16
percent of women had been beaten by their husbands. In 2002, women's
federations at all levels received 36,600 complaints about family
violence, up nearly 40 percent over the previous year, while the number
of letters received complaining of family violence was nearly 30,000,
up nearly 30 percent. Two-thirds of children were victims of family
violence during their lives, according to the China Society for Human
Rights. Actual figures were believed to be higher because spousal abuse
still went largely unreported. According to experts, domestic abuse was
more common in rural areas than in urban centers. In response to
increased awareness of the problem of domestic violence, there were a
growing number of shelters for victims. Rape is illegal, and some
persons convicted of rape were executed. The law does not expressly
recognize or exclude spousal rape.
The Central Government prohibits the use of physical coercion to
compel persons to submit to abortion or sterilization. However, intense
pressure to meet birth limitation targets set by government regulations
(see Section 1.f.) has resulted in instances of local birth planning
officials reportedly using physical coercion to meet government goals.
In addition, women faced a disproportionate burden due to the
government's enforcement of its birth limitation laws and practices,
which require the use of birth control methods (particularly IUDs and
female sterilization, which according to government statistics
accounted for over 80 percent of birth control methods employed) and
the abortion of certain pregnancies.
According to expert estimates, there were 1.7 to 5 million
commercial sex workers in the country. The increased commercialization
of sex and related trafficking in women trapped thousands of women in a
cycle of crime and exploitation and left them vulnerable to disease and
abuse. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, one in five
massage parlors in the country was involved in prostitution, with the
percentage higher in cities. A 2004 Guangdong Province survey found
that 74.2 percent of massage parlor workers were involved in
prostitution. Unsafe working conditions were rampant among the saunas,
massage parlors, clubs, and hostess bars that have sprung up in large
cities. Research indicated that up to 80 percent of prostitutes in some
areas had hepatitis. In light of this and, in particular, of the
growing threat of AIDS among sex workers, the U.N. Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Committee in 1998
recommended that due attention be paid to health services for female
prostitutes.
Although the Central Government and various provincial and local
governments have attempted to crack down on the sex trade, there have
been numerous credible reports in the media of complicity in
prostitution by local officials. Actions to crack down on this
lucrative business, which involved organized crime groups and
businesspersons as well as the police and the military, had limited
results. In August, an investigation of prostitution at entertainment
facilities in Guangdong Province led to the permanent closure of 15
percent and temporary closure of another 40 percent of the facilities
investigated, according to state-run media. There have been instances
in which persons involved in organizing and procuring prostitutes have
been prosecuted.
No statute outlaws sexual harassment in the workplace, and the law
does not specifically define sexual harassment. In 2003, Beijing courts
accepted and issued judgments in their first sexual harassment cases.
There was no reliable data about the extent of sexual harassment, and
the law did not specifically define sexual harassment. Experts
suggested that many victims of sexual harassment did not report it out
of fear of losing their jobs, but awareness was growing. State media
reported that a television series on sexual harassment aired on many
channels.
The Government has made gender equality a policy objective since
1949. The Constitution states that ``women enjoy equal rights with men
in all spheres of life.'' The Law on the Protection of Women's Rights
and Interests provides for equality in ownership of property,
inheritance rights, and access to education. Policies that once
allotted work unit housing only to the husband in a couple have become
gender-neutral, and an April Supreme Court interpretation emphasized
that housing rights are shared equally, even in cases of divorce.
Nonetheless, many activists and observers increasingly were concerned
that the progress that has been made by women over the past 50 years
was being eroded. They asserted that the Government appeared to have
made the pursuit of gender equality a secondary priority as it focused
on economic reform and political stability.
The Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests was
designed to assist in curbing gender-based discrimination. However,
women continued to report that discrimination, sexual harassment,
unfair dismissal, demotion, and wage discrepancies were significant
problems. Efforts have been made by social organizations as well as by
the Government to educate women about their legal rights, and there was
anecdotal evidence that women increasingly were using laws to protect
their rights.
Women's networks, involving lawyers, activists, and the press, were
active in Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities, highlighting problems
and calling for solutions to gender-based discrimination.
Nevertheless, women frequently encountered serious obstacles to the
enforcement of laws. According to legal experts, it was very hard to
litigate a sex discrimination suit because the vague legal definition
made it difficult to quantify damages. As a result, very few cases were
brought to court. Some observers also noted that the agencies tasked
with protecting women's rights tended to focus on maternity-related
benefits and wrongful termination during maternity leave rather than on
sex discrimination, violence against women, and sexual harassment.
The All China Women's Federation reported that 47 percent of laid-
off workers were women, a percentage significantly higher than their
representation in the labor force. Many employers preferred to hire men
to avoid the expense of maternity leave and childcare, and some even
lowered the effective retirement age for female workers to 40 years of
age (the official retirement age for men was 60 years and for women 55
years). Lower retirement ages also had the effect of reducing pensions,
which generally were based on years worked. Some employers required
that women be below the age of 30 to qualify for certain jobs.
The law provides for equal pay for equal work. However, a 1999
Government survey found that urban women were paid only 70.1 percent of
what men received for the same work, while women in rural areas
received only 59.6 percent of male peasants' incomes. Average incomes
of female executives and senior professionals were only 57.9 percent
and 68.3 percent of their male colleagues' salaries. Women have borne
the brunt of the economic reform of state owned enterprises. Most women
employed in industry worked in lower skilled and lower paid jobs and in
sectors, such as textiles, which were particularly vulnerable to
restructuring and layoffs. Women accounted for 60 percent of those
below the poverty line in the country.
UNESCO reported during the year that less than 2 percent of women
between the ages of 15-24 were illiterate, adding that 15 percent of
women 15 years and older were illiterate. The female illiteracy rate
was double that for men. Official government statistics claimed that
the illiteracy rate among women ages 15-40 was 4.2 percent.
A high female suicide rate continued to be a serious problem. Many
observers believed that violence against women and girls,
discrimination in education and employment, the traditional preference
for male children, the country's birth limitation policies, and other
societal factors contributed to the especially high female suicide
rate.
While the gap in the education levels of men and women was
narrowing, men continued to constitute a disproportionate number of the
relatively small percentage of the population that received a
university-level education. According to figures released by the All-
China Women's Federation, in 2002 women made up 44.0 percent of
university students and 46.7 percent of all high school students.
However, women with advanced degrees reported an increase in
discrimination in the hiring process as the job distribution system
opened up and became more competitive and market driven. According to
Government statistics, 98.5 percent of girls nationwide were enrolled
in elementary school, but it was widely believed that the proportion of
girls attending school in rural and minority areas was far smaller than
in cities.
Children.--The Constitution prohibits maltreatment of children and
provides for compulsory education. The country has outlawed child labor
and trafficking in children, but serious problems in those areas
persisted.
The Constitution provides for 9 years of compulsory education for
children, but in economically disadvantaged rural areas, many children
did not attend school for the required period and some never attend.
Public schools were not allowed to charge tuition, but after the
Central Government largely stopped subsidizing primary education in the
early 1990s, many public schools began to charge mandatory fees to meet
revenue shortfalls. Such fees made it difficult for poorer families to
send their children to school or to send them on a regular basis. Some
charitable schools have opened in recent years in rural areas, but not
enough to meet demand. Children of migrant workers in urban areas also
often had difficulty attending school. For these families, excessive
school fees were a significant problem. The Government campaign for
universal primary school enrollment by 2000 (which was not met) helped
to increase enrollment in some areas. It also reportedly led some
school officials to inflate the number of children actually enrolled.
In 2003, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
visited the country. Following the visit, the Special Rapporteur
reported that the Government failed to provide education to many
children of migrant workers and prohibitted children from receiving
religious education. The Special Rapporteur expressed serious concern
about the recent privatization of the costs of public education,
reporting that the Government compels parents to pay nearly half the
costs of public education, making education inaccessible to many
children. The Special Rapporteur also recommended the immediate
prohibition of the practice of children performing manual labor at
their schools to raise funds.
An extensive health care delivery system has led to improved child
health and a continued decline in infant mortality rates. According to
the 2000 Census, the infant mortality rate was 28.4 per 1,000.
According to UNICEF statistics, the mortality rate for children under 5
years of age was 37 per 1,000 live births. The Law on the Protection of
Juveniles forbids infanticide; however, there was evidence that the
practice continued. According to the National Population and Family
Planning Commission, only a handful of doctors have been charged with
infanticide under this law. The law prohibits discrimination against
disabled minors and codifies a variety of judicial protections for
juvenile offenders. The physical abuse of children can be grounds for
criminal prosecution.
Despite government efforts to prevent kidnapping and the buying and
selling of children, these problems persisted in some rural areas, and
children also were trafficked for labor purposes (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
In 2004, Guangzhou and Chengdu cities established the country's
first specialized juvenile courts designed to protect minors' rights
and interests. Authorities arrested 69,780 juveniles in 2003 and
approximately 19,000 juveniles were incarcerated in formal prisons.
Abolition of the system of custody and repatriation in 2003 (see
Section 1.c.) reduced the number of children detained administratively.
Nonetheless, more than 150,000 homeless ``street children'' lived in
cities, according to state-run media. Many did not live with their
parents and survived by begging. Juveniles were required by law to be
held separately from adults except when facilities were insufficient.
In practice, children sometimes were detained without their parents,
held with adults, and required to work (see Sections 1.d. and 6.c.).
In 2003, 3-year-old Li Siyi starved to death at home in Chengdu,
Sichuan Province, after police detained her mother for stealing two
bottles of shampoo and reportedly ignored the mother's pleas to check
on the girl. On August 19, two police officers were convicted of
dereliction of duty in the case and sentenced to 2 and 3 years in
prison.
Female infanticide, sex-selective abortions, and the abandonment
and neglect of baby girls remained problems due to the traditional
preference for sons and the birth limitation policy (see Section 1.f.).
Many families, particularly in rural areas, used ultrasound to identify
female fetuses and terminate pregnancies. An official study in Hainan
Province found that 68 percent of abortions were of female fetuses. In
a 2002 survey, 35 percent of women in one rural township admitting to
having an abortion because of preference for a male child. Official
figures from November 2000 put the overall male-female sex ratio at
birth at 116.9 to 100 (as compared to the statistical norm of 106 to
100). For second births, the ratio was 151.9 to 100. Female babies also
suffered from a higher mortality rate than male babies, contrary to the
worldwide trend. State media reported that infant mortality rates in
rural areas were 27 percent higher for girls than boys. Neglect of baby
girls was one factor in their lower survival rate. One study found the
differential mortality rates were highest in areas where women had a
lower social status and economic and medical conditions were poor.
The Law on the Protection of Juveniles forbids the mistreatment or
abandonment of children. According to the latest available figures,
compiled in 1994, the number of children abandoned annually was
approximately 1.7 million, and the number may have grown over the
subsequent decade despite the fact that, under the law, child
abandonment is punishable by a fine and a 5-year prison term. The vast
majority of children in orphanages were female, although some were
males who were either disabled or in poor health. Medical professionals
frequently advised parents of children with disabilities to put the
children into orphanages.
The Government denied that children in orphanages were mistreated
or refused medical care but acknowledged that the system often was
unable to provide adequately for some children, particularly those with
serious medical problems. A 1997 revision of the adoption law made it
easier for couples to adopt. However, adopted children were counted
under the birth limitation regulations in most locations. As a result,
couples who adopted abandoned baby girls, for example, were sometimes
barred from having additional children.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in women and
children; however, trafficking in persons and the abduction of women
for trafficking remained serious problems. The country was both a
source and destination country for trafficking in persons. Most
trafficking was internal for the purpose of providing lower middle
income farmers with brides or sons. Some cases involved trafficking of
women and girls into forced prostitution in urban areas, and some
reports suggested that certain victims, particularly children, were
sold into forced labor.
Internal trafficking was a significant problem. The Ministry of
Public Security estimated that at least 9,000 women and 1,000 children
were kidnapped and sold illegally each year.
Some experts suggested that the demand for abducted women was
fueled by the shortage of marriageable brides, particularly in rural
areas. The serious imbalance in the male-female sex ratio at birth, the
tendency for many village women to leave rural areas to seek
employment, and the cost of traditional betrothal gifts all made
purchasing a bride attractive to some poor rural families. Some
families recruited brides from economically less advanced areas. Others
sought help from criminal gangs, which either kidnapped women and girls
or tricked them by promising them jobs and an easier way of life and
then transporting them far from their home areas for delivery to
buyers. Once in their new ``family,'' these women were ``married'' and
raped. Some accepted their fate and joined the new community; others
struggled and were punished.
There were reports that women and girls from Burma, Laos, North
Korea, Vietnam, and Russia were trafficked into the country either to
work in the sex trade or to be forced to marry Chinese men. Past
reports noted that trafficking of North Korean women and girls into the
country to work in the sex industry was reportedly widespread in the
northeastern part of the country, but reliable sources suggested that
the practice has decreased. According to press reports, North Korean
brides were sold for approximately $38 to $150 (RMB 315 to RMB 1,245).
Women reportedly also were trafficked from Vietnam into the country for
the purpose of forced marriage.
Citizens were trafficked from the country for sexual exploitation
and indentured servitude in domestic service, sweatshops, restaurants,
and other services. There were reports that citizens were trafficked to
Australia, Belgium, Burma, Canada, Hungary, Italy, Japan (illegal
immigrants held in debt bondage), Malaysia, the Netherlands (for the
purpose of sexual exploitation), Singapore, Sri Lanka (for sexual
exploitation), Taiwan, the United Kingdom (for sexual exploitation),
and the United States.
At times, trafficked persons became entangled with alien smuggling
rings, which often had ties to organized crime and were international
in scope. Persons trafficked by alien smugglers paid high prices for
their passage to other countries, where they hoped that their economic
prospects would improve. There were credible reports that some promised
to pay from $30,000 to $50,000 (RMB 248,000 to 415,000) each for their
passage. Upon arrival, many reportedly were forced to repay the
traffickers for the smuggling charges by working in specified jobs for
a set period of time. They often also were forced to pay charges for
living expenses out of their meager earnings. The conditions under
which these trafficked persons had to live and work were generally
poor, and they were often required to work long hours. The smuggling
rings that trafficked them often restricted their movements and
confiscated their often fraudulent travel documents. Victims of
trafficking faced threats of being turned in to the authorities as
illegal immigrants and threats of retaliation against their families at
home if they protested the situation in which they found themselves.
Persons who were trafficked from the country and then repatriated
sometimes faced fines for illegal immigration upon their return; after
a second repatriation, such persons could be sentenced to reeducation
through labor. Alien smugglers were fined $6,000 (RMB 49,600), and most
were sentenced to up to 3 years in prison; some have been sentenced to
death.
Kidnapping and the buying and selling of children continued to
occur, particularly in poorer rural areas. There were no reliable
estimates of the number of children trafficked. Domestically, most
trafficked children were sold to couples unable to have children; in
particular, boys were trafficked to couples unable to have a son.
During the year, media reported arrests in the case of 76 baby boys
sold in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, and a case of 200 children, mostly
boys, who were kidnapped in Kunming, Yunnan Province. However, baby
girls also were trafficked. During the year, 52 people were convicted
in a March 2003 case in which 28 girls were found packed in suitcases
on a bus from Yulin, Guangxi Province. The babies were purchased in
Yulin for $24 (RMB 200) to be resold for $240 to $360 (RMB 1992 to RMB
2988) to families in Anhui and Henan Provinces to work or serve as
child brides. The oldest was 5 months of age; one baby died en route.
Two leaders of the ring were sentenced to death. Children were also
trafficked for labor purposes. Children trafficked to work usually were
sent from poorer interior areas to relatively more prosperous areas;
traffickers reportedly often enticed parents to relinquish their
children with promises of large remittances that their children would
be able to send to them.
The purchase of women was not criminalized until 1991, with the
enactment of the NPC Standing Committee's ``Decision Relating to the
Severe Punishment of Criminal Elements Who Abduct and Kidnap Women and
Children.'' This decision made abduction and sale separate offenses.
Arrests of traffickers have decreased from the peak in 2000, when a
nationwide crackdown was initiated. That year, more than 19,000 persons
were arrested and more than 11,000 were sentenced to punishments,
including, in a few cases, the death penalty. In May, two men were
sentenced to death in Yunnan Province after being convicted of
trafficking 22 women to Guangdong Province and forcing them into
prostitution. According to official media reports, from 2001 to 2003,
police freed more than 42,000 kidnapped women and children. More than
22,000 suspects were arrested, and police solved 20,360 cases involving
kidnapped women and children. Official statistics indicate that during
the year authorities registered 3,343 cases involving trafficking of
women and children (a 76.2 percent increase from 2002); uncovered 2,966
new cases of trafficking (an 87.1 percent increase from 2002); and
rescued a total of 8,949 trafficked women and children (an 18.7 percent
decrease from 2002). During the year, 5,043 suspects were arrested, and
3,144 were referred for prosecution. In Guangdong Province alone, 68
prosecutions were undertaken against traffickers from 2002 to June 2004
and officials rescued more than 100 children.
Despite government efforts to eliminate trafficking in women and
children, the problem persisted. Demand far outstripped the available
supply, making trafficking a profitable enterprise for those willing to
risk arrest and prosecution. The Government also continued to struggle
with the pervasive problem of official corruption (see Section 3).
There were reports of complicity of local officials in the related
problem of alien smuggling, as well as reports of the complicity of
local officials in prostitution, which sometimes involved trafficked
women. Hong Kong-based media reported in November that a Guangdong
police official was arrested after allegedly providing thousands of
visas to prostitutes traveling to Hong Kong and Macao, some of whom had
reportedly never been to the place of visa issuance. In some cases,
village leaders sought to prevent police from rescuing women who had
been sold as brides to villagers.
Agencies involved in combating trafficking included the MPS, the
SPC, the SPP, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Central Office in
Charge of Comprehensive Management of Public Order, and the Legislative
Office of the State Council. It was Central Government policy to
provide funds to provincial and local police to house victims and
return them to their homes. Government-funded women's federation
offices provided counseling on legal rights, including the options for
legal action against traffickers, to some victims. The All-China
Women's Federation assisted Chinese victims in obtaining medical and
psychological treatment.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law protects the rights of persons
with disabilities; however, the reality for persons with disabilities
lagged far behind legal dictates, and many did not receive or have
access to special assistance or to programs designed to assist them.
According to the official press, all local governments have drafted
specific measures to implement the law.
As attention began to focus on the Special Olympics and Paralympics
to be held in the country in 2007-08, the press increasingly publicized
the plight of persons with disabilities and the Government's efforts to
assist them. State media reported that the Government increased its
planned 2004 spending on infrastructure improvements for persons with
disabilities to approximately $15.75 million, up from $12.5 million in
2003. The Government, at times in conjunction with NGOs such as the
Lions Club International or the Special Olympics, sponsored a wide
range of preventive and rehabilitative programs. For example, several
thousand blind persons have been trained in therapeutic massage. The
goal of many of these programs was to allow persons with disabilities
to be integrated into society. However, misdiagnosis, inadequate
medical care, pariah status, and abandonment remained common problems.
According to reports, doctors frequently persuaded parents of
children with disabilities to place their children in large government-
run institutions, often far from the parents, and in which care was
often seriously inadequate. Those parents who chose to keep children
with disabilities at home generally faced difficulty in getting
adequate medical care, day care, and education for their children.
Government statistics showed that almost one quarter of the
approximately 60 million persons with disabilities lived in extreme
poverty. Unemployment among adults with disabilities remained a serious
problem. The Government's official strategy was to integrate persons
with disabilities into the mainstream work force, but efforts to do so
were limited and confronted a cultural legacy of discrimination and
neglect. Standards adopted for making roads and buildings accessible to
persons with disabilities were subject to the Law on the Handicapped,
which calls for their ``gradual'' implementation; compliance with the
law was lax. Students with disabilities were discriminated against in
access to education. The Higher Education Law permits universities
legally to exclude candidates for higher education who have
disabilities.
The Maternal and Child Health Care Law forbids the marriage of
persons with certain specified contagious diseases or certain acute
mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. If doctors find that a couple
is at risk of transmitting disabling congenital defects to their
children, the couple may marry only if they agree to use birth control
or undergo sterilization. The Population and Family Planning Law
requires local governments to employ such practices to raise the
percentage of healthy births.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the 2000 census,
the total population of the country's 55 officially recognized ethnic
minorities was 106.4 million, or 8.4 percent of the total population.
In addition to these 55 ethnic minorities and the dominant Han ethnic
group, some citizens identified themselves as members of unrecognized
ethnic minorities. Most minority groups resided in the areas they
traditionally have inhabited. The Government's avowed policy on
minorities calls for preferential treatment in marriage regulations,
birth planning, university admission, and employment. Programs have
been established to provide low interest loans, subsidies, and special
development funds for minority areas. Nonetheless, in practice,
minorities faced discrimination by the majority Han culture. Most of
the minorities in border regions were less educated than the national
average, and job discrimination in favor of Han migrants remained a
serious problem. Racial discrimination was the source of deep
resentment by minorities in some areas, such as Xinjiang, Inner
Mongolia, and Tibetan areas. For example, ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang
did not have equal access to newly created construction jobs associated
with development projects; Han workers were brought in from Sichuan and
elsewhere to work, particularly on technical projects such as oil and
gas pipelines. The Government did not openly recognize racism against
minorities or tension among different ethnic groups as problems.
Government development policies have long been in place to improve
minority living standards. However, while overall standards of living
for those in minority areas have improved as a result of these
policies, real incomes in minority areas, particularly for minorities,
remained well below those in other parts of the country. The majority
Han Chinese have benefited disproportionately from government programs
and economic growth, even in minority areas. Many development programs
have disrupted traditional living patterns of minority groups, and have
included, in some cases, the forced evacuation of persons (see Section
2.d.).
Since 1949, government policy has resulted in a significant
migration of Han Chinese to Xinjiang. According to a Government White
Paper released in 2003, approximately 8.25 million of Xinjiang's 19.25
million official residents were Han Chinese, up from 300,000 Han in
1949. Approximately 8 million Xinjiang residents were Uighurs.
Signficant numbers of Kazakhs, Hui, Tajiks, and other minorities also
lived in Xinjiang. Official statistics underestimated the Han
population of Xinjiang because the Government did not count as part of
the official population the thousands of Han who were long-term
``temporary workers.'' The migration of ethnic Han into Xinjiang in
recent decades has caused the Han-Uighur ratio in the capital of Urumqi
to shift from 20:80 to 80:20 and was a source of Uighur resentment.
According to the 2000 census, non-Tibetan residents of the TAR
comprised 6 percent of the population, but that figure did not include
a large number of long-term Han residents. Their presence caused
resentment among some Tibetans (see Tibet Addendum).
In many areas with a significant population of minorities, there
were two-track school systems that used either standard Chinese or the
local minority language. Students could choose to attend schools in
either system. However, graduates of minority language schools
typically needed 1 year or more of intensive Chinese before they could
handle course work at a Chinese language university. Despite the
Government's efforts to provide schooling in minority languages, the
dominant position of standard Chinese in government, commerce, and
academia put graduates of minority schools who lacked standard Chinese
proficiency at a disadvantage. The vast majority of Uighur children in
Xinjiang attended Uighur-language schools and generally received an
hour's Chinese language instruction per day. During the year, the
government allocated an additional US$9 million (RMB 74.25 million) to
promote Chinese-language instruction in Xinjiang.
The CCP has an avowed policy of boosting minority representation in
the Government and the CCP, and minorities constituted 14 percent of
the NPC, which was higher than their percentage in the population. A
1999 government white paper reported that there were 2.7 million
minority officials in the Government. The 2003 Government White Paper
states that there are 348,000 minority cadres in Xinjiang, accounting
for 51.8 percent of all Party members in the autonomous region. Many
members of minorities occupied local leadership positions, but few held
positions of influence in the local Party apparatus or at the national
level. For example, 63 percent of Xinjiang's deputies to the NPC were
ethnic minorities. However, in most areas, ethnic minorities were shut
out of positions of real political and economic power, which fed their
resentment of Han officials holding the most powerful Party positions
in minority autonomous regions.
Tensions between ethnic Han citizens and Uighurs in Xinjiang
continued, and the authorities continued to restrict political, civil,
and religious freedoms (see Section 2.c.) in the region. A campaign
that began in 1997 to stress unity and to condemn ``splittism'' and
religious extremism showed no signs of abating. During the year,
authorities continued to prohibit activities they deemed separatist in
nature, announced tightened security measures, and mounted campaigns to
crack down on opposition.
The campaign against separatism in Xinjiang specifically targeted
the ``three evils'' of extremism, splittism, and terrorism as the major
threats to Xinjiang's social stability. Because the Government
authorities in Xinjiang regularly grouped together those involved in
``ethnic separatism, illegal religious activities, and violent
terrorism,'' it was often unclear whether particular raids, detentions,
or judicial punishments targeted those peacefully seeking to express
their political or religious views or those engaged in violence. Many
observers raised concerns that the Government's war on terror was being
used as a pretext for cracking down harshly on Uighurs expressing
peaceful political dissent and on independent Muslim religious leaders.
In December 2003, the Government published an ``East Turkestan
Terrorist List,'' which labelled organizations such as the World Uighur
Youth Congress and the East Turkestan Information Center as terrorist
entities. These groups openly advocated East Turkestan independence,
but with the exception of one group, the East Turkestan Islamic
Movement (ETIM), there was no available evidence that they advocated
violence to achieve this goal. The U.N. has designated ETIM a terrorist
organization.
Uighurs were sentenced to long prison terms and sometimes executed
during the year on charges of separatism. During the strike-hard
campaign, which officially concluded in 2003, authorities stated they
prosecuted more than 3,000 cases in Xinjiang and held mass sentencing
rallies attended by more than 300,000 persons. By its own account, the
Government broke up 22 groups engaged in what it claimed were
separatist and terrorist activities and meted out 50 death sentences to
those charged with separatist acts from January to August. In July, two
Muslim Uighurs reportedly were executed after being convicted in Aksu
City, Xinjiang, of illegally organizing the East Turkestan People's
Party and using armed tactics to split the country. Approximately 15
others were convicted of separatism and sentenced to long prison terms
in the same case. In October 2003, Uighur Shaheer Ali was executed
after being convicted of terrorism. He had been repatriated forcibly
from Nepal in 2002, where he had been interviewed by the UNHCR and
granted refugee status.
For many Uighurs, the ongoing imprisonment of Uighur businesswoman
Rebiya Kadeer symbolized the Government's mistreatment of Uighurs. In
2000, a Xinjiang court sentenced Kadeer, a former member of the
provincial-level Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, to
8 years in prison on charges of ``passing state intelligence'' to
foreigners; according to an official press report, the intelligence she
was accused of passing included newspaper articles and a list of names
of persons whose cases had been handled by the courts. Kadeer, her son,
and her secretary were arrested in 1999 while on their way to meet a
visiting foreign delegation. Kadeer reportedly suffered various health
problems in prison. Some foreign observers believed Kadeer was singled
out for her activism on behalf of Uighurs and for her husband's
involvement with Uighur causes and Radio Free Asia. In March, Kadeer
received a 1-year sentence reduction for good behavior. The Government
claimed she had recognized that she was a victim of ``splittism'' and
remained ``on the side of the Party and the people.'' She was due for
release in August 2006. On October 18, Uighur Dilkex Tilivaldi was
detained after meeting a foreign journalist, and his whereabouts
continued to be unknown.
Other Uighurs whose work emphasized pride in cultural identity have
also been harassed and detained by the Government. Writer and
translator Abdulghani Memetemin was convicted in June 2003 on charges
of sending state secrets abroad and sentenced to 9 years in prison for
translating news articles into Chinese from the Uighur language and
forwarding official speeches to the East Turkestan Information Center.
In late 2001, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitary Detention ruled that
Uighur scholar and researcher of Xinjiang's ethnic minorities Tohti
Tunyaz had been arbitrarily detained. He was sentenced in 1999 to an
11-year prison term for ``inciting separatism'' and ``illegally
acquiring state secrets'' and remained in prison at year's end.
Possession of publications or audiovisual materials discussing
independence or other sensitive subjects was not permitted, and,
according to reports, possession of such materials resulted in lengthy
prison sentences.
Officials in the region claimed that the campaign against
separatism was necessary to maintain public order. In March, Xinjiang's
chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi said the campaign had improved security,
noting in published reports that, since the start of 2003, there were
no explosions or assassinations in the region and no tourists were
killed in Xinjiang.
Han control of the region's political and economic institutions
also contributed to heightened tension. Although government policies
brought tangible economic improvements to Xinjiang, Han residents have
received a disproportionate share of the benefits. The majority of
Uighurs were poor farmers, and 25 percent were illiterate. Regulations
require Uighurs to use Mandarin Chinese characters for their names on
identification documents.
In July, Guizhou University Law School dean Yuan Hongbing and
former colleague Zhao Jing applied for asylum during a business trip to
Australia. Yuan, an ethnic Mongolian who had been arrested in 1994 for
dissident writings and political organizing, stated that he had decided
to remain in Australia in order to publish his writings on the
situation of ethnic Mongolians and Tibetans. Inner Mongolian cultural
activist Hada also continued to serve a 15-year sentence during the
year.
In October, violence erupted near Zhongmou Township in Henan
Province after an ethnic Hui taxi driver struck and killed a 6-year-old
Han girl. Ethnic reciminations followed involving Han and Hui from
several villages. In the end, dozens from both ethnic groups were
killed or wounded. The Government closed Zhongmou to outsiders for
several weeks and imposed a ban on domestic and foreign news reporting
about the incident. Farmers' rights advocate Li Guozhu was detained in
November after visiting the area, interviewing locals about the
violence, and allegedly relaying his findings to foreign journalists.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--No laws criminalize
private homosexual activity between consenting adults. The 1997
criminal code abolished the crime of ``hooliganism,'' which had
previously been used to prosecute gay men and lesbians. In 2001,
medical authorities removed homosexuality from the national diagnostic
handbook of psychiatric disorders. In May, prohibitions on
homosexuality were dropped from regulations governing the behavior of
individuals serving sentences. In July, the country's delegation to the
15th annual AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, included
representatives of an NGO advocating gay rights. Gay men and lesbians
stated that official tolerance has improved in recent years. However,
societal discrimination and strong pressure to conform to family
expectations deter most individuals from publicly discussing their
sexual orientation.
During the year, the Government officially outlawed discrimination
against persons with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B under a new Contagious
Disease Law and adopted regulations forbidding employment
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B. However,
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS remained widespread in
many areas. Hospitals and physicians often refused to treat HIV-
positive patients.
In February, the Government created the State Council AIDS office,
putting policy formation regarding the AIDS issue at the highest
Government level. The Government also introduced the China CARES
Program, the goal of which was to provide care and treatment to 60,000
poor, rural people with HIV/AIDS. The program began in 51 pilot
counties in April and added an additional 76 counties in June. The day
before World AIDS Day, President Hu Jintao publicly shook hands with an
AIDS patient and spoke about the need for the country to address the
disease candidly without stigma. Regulations were also revised to
permit, for the first time, those with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B to work
as civil servants.
Information about the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country
remained difficult to gather and assess. Officials acknowledged that
over 1 million citizens were infected with HIV, although the Government
had not updated its official estimate of 840,000 persons infected.
Activist Li Dan was beaten and Pan Zhongfeng detained in Shangqiu,
Henan Province, during a July demonstration protesting closure of an
AIDS orphanage and school. Henan Province activists Wang Guofeng and Li
Suzhi claimed they received inadequate treatment while detained and
that authorities refused to provide them with test results or allow
them to travel to Beijing to see specialists after they were released
on bail (see Section 1.c.).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom
of association. However, in practice, workers were not free to organize
or join unions of their own choosing. The All-China Federation of Trade
Unions (ACFTU), which was controlled by the Communist Party and headed
by a high-level Party official, was the sole legal workers'
organization. The Trade Union Law gives the ACFTU control over the
establishment and operation of all subsidiary union organizations and
activities throughout the country, including enterprise-level unions.
The Trade Union Law also allows workers to decide whether to join
official unions in their enterprises. There were no reports of
repercussions for the small percentage of workers in the state-owned
sector that had not joined. Independent unions are illegal.
Although the ACFTU and its constituent unions had a monopoly on
trade union activity, their influence over the workplace diminished
with the economic reforms of recent years. ACFTU unions were relatively
powerless to protect the tens of millions of members who have lost
their jobs or had their wages or benefits delayed or cut in the massive
restructuring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), although, at the
national level, the ACFTU may provide policy input on these issues. The
unions have also provided some benefits and reemployment assistance to
affected workers. The ACFTU had difficulty organizing in the country's
rapidly growing private and foreign-invested sectors, where union
membership during the year was estimated to be less than 20 percent.
With declines in the state-owned sector and organizational weakness
outside the state sector, the ACFTU's membership declined from nearly
100 percent of the urban workforce during the height of the planned
economy to approximately 50 percent in recent years. The ACFTU reported
a membership of 130 million at the end of 2003, out of an estimated 256
million urban workers.
The existence of an enormous rural labor force, some 490 million
out of a total labor force of approximately 750 million, also
complicated the organization and protection of workers. Farmers did not
have a union or any other similar organization. Of some 130 million
rural residents working in township and village enterprises, only a
very small percentage were represented by unions. A ``floating''
migrant labor force of over 100 to 150 million persons has proven
especially difficult to organize and protect, although state-run media
reported that the ACFTU had stepped up a campaign to bring migrant
workers into the union and that community unions for migrants had been
established in a number of cities. Some migrants gravitated to
temporary or seasonal low-wage work in urban areas where their
household was not registered under the country's ``hukou'' system (see
Section 2.d.). Many migrants, including substantial numbers of young
women, were attracted to the growing private sector where unions were
few and where their desire to earn more than they could in rural areas
made them easy to exploit.
The ACFTU has shown some interest in adapting its organization to
the needs of labor in a market economy. Local ACFTU federations have
allowed a few limited experiments in more open union elections and
decision-making. These included freely electing, by secret ballot, the
leadership of ACFTU affiliated unions at several foreign-owned
factories in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces in 2002 and 2003, although
no new elections were reported during the year. At the national level,
the ACFTU has had input into shaping the country's system of labor laws
and regulations. In particular, the ACFTU actively pushed amendments to
the Trade Union Law, passed in 2001, that give greater protection to
union organizing efforts and legitimize union activity in the private
sector, including foreign-invested enterprises, and will now allow
migrant workers to become union members. In September, the ACFTU
revised its Constitution to provide that the union's basic
responsibility is to safeguard workers' legitimate rights and
interests. Despite the ACFTU's stated goals to organize these new
groups of workers, there had been very limited gains as of year's end.
During the year, the Government took specific actions against
illegal union activity, including the detention and arrest of labor
activists. In April, Chen Kehai and Zhao Yong, workers from the Tieshu
Textile Factory in Suizhou, Hubei Province, were tried under summary
proceedings and convicted on charges of disturbing public order for
their involvement with a labor protest at the factory. A third worker,
Zhu Guo, reportedly was tried and convicted on charges of assembling a
crowd to disturb social order. Four other Tieshu workers were sentenced
to reeducation through labor (see Section 2.b.).
Other labor activists, detained in previous years, were reportedly
still in detention at year's end. In May 2003, Yao Fuxin and Xiao
Yunliang, leaders of a large labor protest in Liaoyang City, Liaoning
Province, who were detained in March 2002, were sentenced to 7 and 4
years in prison for subversion, based largely on allegations that they
had made contact with the CDP in 1998, several years before the workers
protests. Many observers believed that the sentences were largely in
retaliation for their role in the labor protests and in exposing
official corruption. Prison authorities continued to deny the two
activists' applications for medical parole. Other labor activists
reportedly still in detention included Hu Mingjun, Wang Sen, Wang
Miaogen, Zhang Shanguang, Li Wangyang, Li Jiaqing, Miao Jinhong, Ni
Xiafei, Li Keyou, Liao Shihua, Yue Tianxiang, Guo Xinmin, He Zhaohui,
Peng Shi, Wang Guoqi, and labor lawyer Xu Jian.
The country was a member of the International Labor Organization
(ILO) and had ratified core ILO conventions prohibiting child labor,
the worst forms of child labor, and discrimination in remuneration
between male and female workers. At year's end, the Government had not
ratified other core conventions regarding the right of association, the
right to collective bargaining, and the prohibition against compulsory
labor.
In March 2003, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU) amended an existing complaint to the ILO, adding allegations of
freedom of association violations in the handling of the Tieshu Textile
Factory matter. At year's end, the Government had not replied to the
ILO's communications with respect to this matter.
The ACFTU had active ties with foreign trade union organizations
and had a cooperative relationship with the ILO's China office. In
2002, the ACFTU gained a deputy workers' member seat on the ILO's
Governing Body, a seat it lost in 1990 during the crackdown following
the Tiananmen Square massacre. The ICFTU has publicly condemned the
country for its denial of the right of free association, in particular
for arresting labor activists. Pursuant to a 2001 Memorandum of
Understanding with the ILO, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security
(MOLSS) held the China Employment Forum in April. MOLSS also hosted the
annual meeting of the International Social Security Association (ISSA)
in September. On December 3, the Development Research Center of the
State Council announced that a seminar on Socially Responsible
Investment was postponed and visas for some participants rescinded. As
a result, a long-planned visit by the OECD's Trade Union Advisory
Council did not take place. The ACFTU also cooperated with the U.N.
Development Program on a program to develop market-based approaches to
help laid-off workers start their own businesses. Part of the program
was designed to assist unions to adapt to a new labor relations model.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Law
permits collective bargaining for workers in all types of enterprises;
however, in practice, genuine collective bargaining still did not
occur. Under the law, collective contracts are to be developed through
collaboration between the labor union (or worker representatives in the
absence of a union) and management, and should specify such matters as
working conditions, wage scales, and hours of work. The law also
permits workers and employers in all types of enterprises to sign
individual contracts, which are to be drawn up in accordance with the
collective contract. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security in
January promulgated new regulations, which took effect in May,
governing collective contracts.
The country's shift toward a market economy and changing labor
management relations created pressures for collective bargaining that
would include more genuine negotiations and take workers' interests
into greater account. The Trade Union Law specifically addresses
unions' responsibility to bargain collectively on behalf of workers'
interests. However, given the non-democratic, Party-dominated nature of
the country's unions, collective bargaining fell far short of
international standards. Workers had no means to formally approve or
reject the outcome of collective contract negotiations and, without the
right to strike, only a limited capacity to influence the negotiation
process.
In the private sector, where official unions were few and
alternative union organizations were unavailable, workers faced
substantial obstacles to bargaining collectively with management.
Workplace-based worker committees, serve as the vehicle for worker
input into state-owned enterprise policies. These weakened during the
year, and where they existed, the committees were often little more
than rubber stamps for deals predetermined by enterprise management,
the union, and the CCP representative.
The Trade Union Law provides specific legal remedies against anti-
union discrimination and specifies that union representatives may not
be transferred or terminated by enterprise management during their term
of office. These provisions were aimed primarily at the private sector,
where resistance to unions was common. The degree to which these
provisions were enforced was unknown. Anti-union activity was virtually
unknown in the state-owned sector.
Neither the Constitution nor the Labor Law provides for the right
to strike. The Trade Union Law acknowledges that strikes may occur, in
which case the union is to reflect the views and demands of workers in
seeking a resolution of the strike. Some observers interpreted this
provision to offer at least a theoretical legal basis for the right to
strike. However, the Government continued to treat worker protests as
illegal demonstrations, indicating that there was still no officially
accepted right to strike. In addition, no other types of planned worker
action were allowed.
During the year, the profound economic and social changes affecting
workers continued to produce labor-related disputes and worker actions
(see Section 2.b.). Most worker protests involved actual and feared job
losses, wage or benefit arrears, allegations of owner/management
corruption, or worker dissatisfaction with new contracts offered in
enterprise restructuring. The Government took swift action to halt
protests. Police detained protest leaders and dispersed demonstrations.
In some cases, management, often at the direction of the Government,
subsequently offered payments that met at least a portion of
protesters' demands. The most noteworthy recent labor protests involved
thousands of organized workers and sympathizers demonstrating in
Liaoyang, Liaoning Province, in 2002. The workers protested alleged
corruption in the closure of a major local SOE, the loss of jobs, and
wage and benefit irregularities. Two protest leaders, Yao Fuxin and
Xiao Yunliang, were convicted on subversion charges and sentenced in
May 2003 (see Section 6.a.). After the protests, the former manager of
the SOE was convicted of smuggling. The local Government fired
Liaoyang's police chief and demoted a top Party official in the city.
During the year, worker protests also occurred at private companies. In
March and April, significant strikes occurred at factories of Stella
International in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. A series of incidents of
unrest, including strikes, ended in the detention of over 75 workers on
charges of destruction of property, including three workers under age
18. Ten workers were convicted of destruction of property in the
incidents but were released on December 31 as a result of court action
that either suspended their sentences or lifted criminal sanctions.
The Labor Law provides for mediation, arbitration, and court
resolution of labor disputes. Under these procedures, cases are to be
dealt with first in the workplace, through a mediation committee, then,
if unresolved, through a local arbitration committee under government
sponsorship. If no solution is reached at this level, the dispute may
be submitted to the courts. According to the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security, 134,700 disputes involving 477,000 workers were
submitted to arbitration during the first half of the year. The
Ministry's yearly statistical report stated that 226,391 disputes
involving 800,000 workers were handled during the year, increases of
approximately 22.8 percent and 31.7 percent, respectively, over the
previous year. The vast majority of cases, 223,503 (98 percent) were
resolved. Of these, 67,765 cases (30 percent) were resolved by
mediation, 95,774 (43 percent) were resolved by arbitration and 59,954
(27 percent) were resolved by other means. In 2002, 10,823 (4.7
percent) of total cases were collective labor disputes.
Observers differed over the effectiveness of these dispute
resolution procedures. Workers reportedly had little trust in the
fairness of workplace mediation. They viewed unions, which played a
major mediation role, as inclined to favor management. Workers favored
arbitration over workplace mediation, although they often looked with
suspicion on the local government role in the process. There appeared
to be increasing recognition, including among government officials,
that some aspects of the dispute resolution system needed revision.
Laws governing working conditions in Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
were not significantly different from those in effect in the rest of
the country. Lax enforcement of these laws by provincial and local
officials was a serious problem in the SEZs, as in other parts of the
country. Wages in the SEZs and in the southeastern part of the country
generally were higher for some categories of workers. Officials
acknowledged that some investors in the SEZs were able to negotiate
``sweetheart'' deals with local partners that bypassed labor
regulations requiring the provision of benefits and overtime
compensation. Some foreign businesses in the SEZs had ACFTU-affiliated
unions, and management reported positive relations with union
representatives, in part because the ACFTU discouraged strikes and work
stoppages.
c. Prohibition on Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced and compulsory labor, and the Government denied that forced or
compulsory labor was a problem; however, forced labor was a serious
problem in penal institutions. Citizens were consigned without judicial
process to nal labor institutions (see Section 1.c.) that, by law and
policy, utilized labor as a means of reform and reeducation.
Reeducation-through-labor detainees and prisoners and pretrial
detainees in the regular prison system were required to work, often
with little or no remuneration. Diplomatic observers generally were
unable to gain access to reform institutions to evaluate allegations
about the treatment of prisoners. In some cases, prisoners worked in
facilities directly connected with penal institutions; in other cases,
they were contracted to nonprison enterprises. Facilities and their
management profited from inmate labor.
In 1992, the U.S. and Chinese Governments signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU), followed by an implementing statement of
cooperation (SOC) in 1994. These agreements expressed the intention of
the governments to cooperate to ensure that prison-made products were
not exported to the United States. Chinese cooperation under the MOU
and SOC improved during the year. Regular monthly working-level
meetings were held from December 2003 through the end of the year.
Visits to three prison-related facilities were conducted in February,
July and December, and the cases related to these facilities were
closed. At year's end, the backlog of cases remained substantial. The
Government continued to explicitly exclude from the agreements reform-
and reeducation through labor institutions.
The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children, but
some child trafficking victims were reportedly sold into forced labor
(see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16, but the
Government had not adopted a comprehensive policy to combat child
labor. The Labor Law specifies administrative review, fines, and
revocation of business licenses of those businesses that illegally hire
minors. The law also stipulates that parents or guardians should
provide for children's subsistence. Workers between the ages of 16 and
18 were referred to as ``juvenile workers'' and were prohibited from
engaging in certain forms of physical work, including labor in mines.
The Government continued to maintain that the country did not have
a widespread child labor problem and that the majority of children who
worked did so at the behest of their families, particularly in
impoverished rural areas, to supplement family income. Child workers in
rural areas appeared to work primarily in township and village
enterprises and in agriculture. In urban areas, they often worked as
menial and street laborers. State-run media reported on children
working at a Tianjin knitting mill and, in 2003, on children working at
a handicrafts company in Fuzhou, in factories in Shanghai and
Guangzhou, and in a hotel in Anhui Province. Some students worked in
light industrial production within or for their schools. Some observers
believed that coalmines, which often operated far from urban centers
and out of the purview of law enforcement officials, also occasionally
employed children. The existence of a large adult migrant labor force,
often willing to work long hours for low wages, reduced the
attractiveness of child labor for employers. State-run media reported
on province-wide investigations into child labor by provincial labor
and social security bureaus and on investigations done at the request
of reporters.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Law provides for broad
legal protections for workers on such matters as working hours, wages,
and safety and health. The Trade Union Law invests unions with the
authority to protect workers against violations of their legal rights
or contractually agreed conditions of work. The Law on the Prevention
and Treatment of Occupational Diseases and the Production Safety Law
identify responsibilities for work-related illness and accidents and
provide for specific penalties for violation of the law. In November,
the Government promulgated regulations on labor inspections, which
expand the powers of government inspectors and increase penalties
against employers for failure to pay the minimum wage, for being in
arrears on wages, and for unreasonably withholding wages. However,
there remained a substantial gap between the law's formal provisions
for work conditions and the actual situation in the workplace.
There was no national minimum wage. The Labor Law allows local
governments to set their own minimum wage according to standards
promulgated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. In January,
the Ministry promulgated a new regulation on minimum wages. The
regulation, which took effect in March, sets out the formula by which
localities set the minimum wage; expands the range of employers
required to observe the minimum wage to include individually-owned
enterprises with fewer than eight employees, public institutions, and
social organizations; and provides for an hourly minimum wage for part-
time workers. The regulation states that the departments of labor and
social security at or above the county level are responsible for
enforcement of the law. The regulation also provides that where the
ACFTU finds an employer in violation of the regulation, it shall have
the power to demand that the department of labor and social security
deal with the case; at year's end, it was unclear whether the union had
exercised this right. Widespread official corruption and efforts by
local officials to attract and keep taxpaying, job-producing
enterprises that might otherwise locate elsewhere undercut enforcement
of the minimum wage provisions. Wage arrearages to employees of state-
owned and private enterprises were common. During the year, the
Government pledged to clear up wage arrearages in the construction
industry within 3 years. State-run media reported that by year's end,
98.4 percent of the $4 billion (RMB 33.2 billion) owed to migrant
workers for work on construction projects had been repaid.
The Labor Law mandates a 40-hour standard workweek, excluding
overtime, and a 24-hour weekly rest period. It also prohibits overtime
work in excess of 3 hours per day or 36 hours per month and mandates a
required percentage of additional pay for overtime work. However, these
standards were regularly violated, particularly in the private sector.
They were particularly ignored in enterprises that could rely on a vast
supply of low-skilled migrant labor. In many industries, such as
textile and garment manufacturing, compulsory overtime reportedly was
common, often without overtime pay. Some areas of the country in which
wages and working conditions reportedly were substandard, including
parts of Guangdong Province, experienced shortages of workers during
the year. During the year, auditors found that some factories routinely
falsified overtime and payroll records. There also were reports of
workers being prevented from leaving factory compounds without
permission.
Occupational health and safety concerns remained serious. The poor
enforcement of occupational health and safety laws and regulations
continued to put workers' lives at risk. The State Administration for
Work Safety (SAWS), which was administratively joined with the State
Administration for Coal Mine Safety Supervision (SACMSS), was
responsible for providing a nationwide framework for work safety. With
enactment of the Work Safety Act in 2002, the Government gave SAWS/
SACMSS a specific, detailed legal framework for its responsibilities.
SAWS/SACMSS staffed nearly 70 field offices throughout the country. In
January, SAWS promulgated regulations requiring companies in the
mining, construction, dangerous chemicals, fireworks, and explosives
industries to obtain work safety licenses as a prerequisite to doing
business. SAWS also promulgated regulations governing work safety in
the construction and electrical industries. In 2003, SAWS was given
responsibility for workplace health supervision and inspection. The
Ministry of Health was responsible for prevention and treatment of
occupational illness. Some provincial and local governments have
followed the national pattern of establishing separate work safety
agencies. However, enforcement of national health and safety standards,
which was the responsibility of governments below the national level,
remained very weak.
Workplace health and safety did not improve significantly during
the year, and there continued to be a high rate of industrial
accidents. According to official statistics, from January to November,
there were 13,268 work-related accidents, resulting in 14,595 deaths,
compared with 15,597 workplace accidents, resulting in 17,315 deaths,
for all of 2003. Coalmines were by far the most deadly workplaces. From
January to November, 3,413 mine accidents occurred, killing 5,286
persons, a decrease of 253 accidents (6.9 percent) and 451 deaths (7.9
percent) from the previous year. SAWS claimed that the rate of 3 deaths
per million tons of coal mined was the lowest in the country's history.
Coalmine accidents comprised approximately 27 percent of all non-
traffic, non-fire-related workplace accidents but accounted for
approximately 40 percent of corresponding workplace deaths. Industrial
accidents involving chemical leaks also caused numerous deaths and
injuries. Enterprise owners and managers sometimes failed to report
accidents and health problems. Local officials also often underreported
such incidents. As a result, the actual number of workplace deaths and
casualties was likely far higher.
The high rate of coal mining accidents highlighted serious
enforcement problems in that sector. An October gas explosion in a
Henan mine reportedly killed 147 miners. In November, 166 miners were
killed in a single accident at a state-owned mine in Shaanxi Province,
sparking reportedly violent protests by relatives of miners.
In recent years, the Government has closed tens of thousands of
small coalmines, many of them illegal operations. Despite these
efforts, many mines reopened illegally soon after closing. Observers
attributed the enforcement problem in the coalmining sector primarily
to corruption, a need to sustain employment in poor areas where many of
the most dangerous mines were located, and the paucity and poor
training of inspectors.
Government officials and media have stressed the need to control
workplace accidents. In June, Vice Premier Huang Ju called for adopting
effective preventive measures to stem industrial accidents. In April,
following the blowout of a natural gas well, which killed 243 and
injured more than 4,000 persons, a State Council Executive Committee
Meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao accepted the resignation of the
general manager of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The
deputy manager of the CNPC subsidiary, an engineer, drilling team head,
drilling technician, and two workers were prosecuted and received
prison sentences for their role in the accident.
Fewer than half of rural enterprises met national dust and poison
standards. Many factories that used harmful products, such as asbestos,
not only failed to protect their workers against the ill effects of
such products, but also failed to inform them about the hazards.
Almost 46 million workers participated in the country's work-injury
insurance system at the end of 2003, an increase of 1.69 million over
the previous year. In recent years, small but growing numbers of
workers also began to use lawsuits to pursue work injury and illness
claims against employers.
The Work Safety Law provides that employees have the right, after
spotting an emergency situation that threatens their personal safety,
to evacuate the workplace. Employers are forbidden to cancel the labor
contracts, or reduce the wages or benefits, of any employee who takes
such action. There was little information about how this law was
applied in practice.
TIBET
The United States recognizes the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and
Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties in other provinces to be a
part of the People's Republic of China. The Department of State follows
these designations in its reporting. The preservation and development
of Tibet's unique religious, cultural, and linguistic heritage and the
protection of its people's fundamental human rights continue to be of
concern.
Respect for Integrity of the Person.--The Government's human rights
record in Tibetan areas of China remained poor. However, in positive
developments, the Government permitted a third visit to the country by
the Dalai Lama's representatives and released some political prisoners,
including Tibetan Buddhist nun Phuntsog Nyidrol. The Government
controlled information about all Tibetan areas, and in addition,
strictly controlled access to the TAR, making it difficult to determine
accurately the scope of human rights abuses. Authorities continued to
commit serious human rights abuses, including extra-judicial killing,
torture, arbitrary arrest, detention without public trial, and lengthy
detention of Tibetans for peacefully expressing their political or
religious views. The overall level of repression of religious freedom
in the TAR remained high. Conditions generally were less restrictive in
Tibetan areas outside of the TAR, although there were some exceptions.
Individuals accused of political activism faced ongoing harassment
during the year. There were reports of imprisonment and abuse of some
nuns and monks accused of political activism. Security was intensified
during sensitive anniversaries and festival days in some areas, and
activities viewed as vehicles for political dissent, including
celebration of some religious festivals, were suppressed. There were
reports of small-scale political protests in a number of Tibetan areas.
The lack of independent access to prisoners and prisons made it
difficult to ascertain the number of Tibetan political prisoners or to
assess the extent and severity of abuses. The Tibet Information Network
(TIN) estimated that approximately 145 Tibetans were imprisoned on
political grounds, approximately two-thirds of whom were monks or nuns.
Approximately 60 political prisoners remained in TAR Prison in Lhasa,
most serving sentences on the charge of ``counterrevolution,'' which
was dropped from the Criminal Law in 1997. Chinese authorities have
stated that acts previously prosecuted as counterrevolutionary crimes
continue to be considered crimes under China's anti-subversion laws.
TIN's analysis indicated that the majority of Tibetan political
prisoners were incarcerated in Lhasa and western Sichuan Province. The
overall number of political prisoners in Tibetan areas dropped slightly
compared to 2003, according to this analysis, but rose in Tibetan
autonomous areas of Sichuan Province in connection with several high-
profile cases.
In October, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that police in Qinghai's
Golog Prefecture shot and killed Tibetan Buddhist religious leader
Shetsul after he and other monks demanded that the police pay for
medical treatment for injuries suffered while in custody.
In January, RFA reported that authorities in Sichuan's Tawu County,
Kardze Prefecture, had arrested students Nyima Dorjee and Lobsang
Dorjee for putting up pro-independence posters on local government
buildings.
On February 12, Choeden Rinzen, a young monk at Lhasa's Ganden
Monastery, reportedly was arrested for possession of a picture of the
Dalai Lama and a Tibetan national flag.
In April, RFA reported that authorities in Qinghai's Tsolho
Prefecture had arrested Tibetan singer Namkha, as well as composer and
Tibetan Buddhist monk Bakocha, for their music's implicit political
content. Authorities reportedly confiscated CDs of Namkha and Bakocha's
music. Authorities released both individuals in early May.
In May, Chinese state media reported that authorities jailed a
Tibetan named Penpa after he admitted to causing a May 20 explosion
near a television tower near Lhasa.
In September, RFA reported that authorities in Sichuan's Kardze
Prefecture sentenced Tibetan Buddhist monks Chogri and Topden and
layman Lobsang Tsering to 3-year jail terms for putting up pro-
independence posters. The three were reportedly among a group of 60
individuals detained on July 27 at a reception ceremony at Chogri
Monastery in Draggo County, Kardze. Witnesses claimed that police beat
some of those detained. It was believed that the other 57 individuals
initially detained had been released by year's end.
Also in September, authorities in the TAR's Nagchu Prefecture
reportedly arrested Tibetans Dejor, Tsering Dawa, and Datsok after a
clash with Chinese workers over a mining project. They reportedly also
arrested Tibetans Nyima Tenzen and Sonam Nyidup, who protested the
detention by shouting pro-independence slogans in a bar.
On February 24, authorities released Tibetan Buddhist nun Phuntsog
Nyidrol from Lhasa's TAR Prison (also known as Drapchi Prison)
approximately 1 year before her sentence was due to expire. She had
received a 9-year sentence for taking part in a peaceful demonstration
in support of the Dalai Lama in 1989. Authorities extended her sentence
to 17 years after she and other nuns recorded songs about their
devotion to Tibet and the Dalai Lama in 1993 but reduced that sentence
by 1 year in 2001 According to Human Rights Watch, following her
release, the Chinese government imposed restrictions on Phuntsog
Nyidrol's movement and association.
On April 18, authorities reportedly released Tibetan Buddhist monk
Ngawang Oezer from TAR Prison upon completion of his 15-year sentence
for participating in pro-independence activities at Drepung Monastery.
In August, observers confirmed the release of Kunchok Choephel
Labrang and Jigme Jamtruk, two monks from Labrang Tashikyil Monastery,
Gansu Province. Authorities reportedly arrested the monks in April 2003
for possessing booklets containing speeches of the Dalai Lama.
In October, authorities released Geshe Sonam Phuntsog, a religious
leader from Darge Monastery in Kardze County, Kardze Prefecture,
Sichuan Province. Authorities arrested Sonam Phuntsog in 1999 and
sentenced him to a 5-year term for ``inciting splittism,'' traveling to
India to visit the Dalai Lama, and holding long-life prayer ceremonies
for the Dalai Lama.
During the year, authorities did not respond to international calls
for an inquiry into the case of Nyima Dragpa. A monk from Nyatso
Monastery in Sichuan's Kardze Prefecture, Nyima Dragpa died in custody
in October 2003, allegedly from injuries sustained during severe
beatings.
On January 15, Yeshe Gyatso, a former member of the Chinese
People's Consultative Conference, died at his home in Lhasa at the age
of 71. TAR authorities had arrested Yeshi Gyatso in June 2003 on
charges of splittism and sentenced him to 6 years' imprisonment but
released him in November 2003 in ill health.
Prominent religious leader Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, arrested in April
2002 for his alleged connection to a series of bombings, remained
imprisoned under a death sentence with a 2-year reprieve, although
officials indicated to international observers in December that his
suspended death sentence would likely be commuted to life in prison in
accordance with Chinese law and practice. Tenzin Deleg's former
associate, Lobsang Dondrub, was executed on January 26, 2003, for his
part in the alleged bombings. Lobsang Dondrub's execution occurred
despite Chinese Government assurances that both individuals would be
afforded full due process, and that the national-level Supreme People's
Court would review their sentences.
Many other political prisoners also remained in prison or detention
at year's end, including former Tibet University student Lobsang
Tenzin, arrested in 1988 in connection with the death of a policeman
during riots in Lhasa and currently surving an 18-year sentence in the
TAR's Pome Prison; Tibetan Buddhist monk Jigme Gyatso, arrested in 1996
for founding a Tibetan youth organization and serving a 15-year
sentence in Lhasa's TAR Prison; farmers Sonam Dorje and Lhundrub Dorje,
arrested in 1992 for unfurling a Tibetan flag and shouting pro-
independence slogans, respectively serving 15- and 13-year sentences at
TAR Prison; and monks Kalsang Dondrub and Ngawang Dondrub, sentenced in
2003 on charges of ``endangering state security'' for nonviolent
political activities. Chadrel Rinpoche, released in 2002 after 6 years
and 6 months in prison for leaking information about the selection of
the Panchen Lama, was reportedly still under house arrest near Lhasa.
Requests to meet with him by foreign government officials continued to
be denied.
As in the rest of China, the security apparatus employed torture
and degrading treatment in dealing with some detainees and prisoners.
Detainees released in 2003 reported credibly that officials used
electric shocks, prolonged periods of solitary confinement,
incommunicado detention beatings, and other forms of abuse. Tibetans
repatriated to China from Nepal in May 2003 reportedly suffered
torture, including electric shocks, exposure to cold, and severe
beatings, and were forced to perform heavy physical labor. Their family
members also were pressured for bribes to secure their release.
Prisoners were subjected routinely to ``political investigation''
sessions and were punished if deemed to be insufficiently loyal to the
State.
Legal safeguards for Tibetans detained or imprisoned were the same
as those in the rest of China and were inadequate in both design and
implementation. Most judges had little or no legal training.
Authorities worked to address this problem through increased legal
education opportunities. According to an official of the TAR Higher
People's Court, all seven cities and prefectures had established legal
assistance centers, and 1,248 residents had received assistance by the
end of 2003. However, some persons accused of political and other
crimes did not have legal representation. Moreover, their trials were
cursory and were closed if issues of state security were involved.
Under the law, maximum prison sentences for crimes such as
``endangering state security'' and ``splitting the country'' were 15
years for each count, not to exceed 20 years in total. Such cases
mainly concerned actions perceived to be in support of Tibetan
independence, and activities did not have to be violent to be illegal
or to draw a heavy sentence.
An unknown number of Tibetans were serving sentences in
``reeducation-through-labor'' camps and other forms of administrative
detention not subject to judicial review. Conditions in administrative
detention facilities, such as reeducation-through-labor camps, were
similar to those in prisons. In July, state media reported that
authorities had established a new reeducation-through-labor camp in the
TAR's western Ngari Prefecture. The 40,000 square-foot camp reportedly
could accommodate 200 inmates.
Prisoners in Tibetan areas were generally subject to the same
conditions regarding forced labor as those in other areas of China.
Forced labor was used in some prisons, detention centers, reeducation-
through-labor facilities, and at work sites where prisoners were used
as workers. The law states that prisoners may be required to work up to
12 hours per day, with 1 rest day every 2 weeks, but these regulations
often were not enforced.
Family planning policies permitted Tibetans and members of other
minority groups to have more children than Han Chinese. Urban Tibetans,
including Communist Party members, were generally permitted to have two
children. Rural Tibetans were encouraged, but not required, to limit
births to three children. These regulations were not strictly enforced.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
reported that 2,427 Tibetan new arrivals approached UNHCR in Nepal
during the year, of whom 2,338 were found to be ``of concern'' and of
whom 2,318 were provided with basic assistance; the remaining 89
Tibetan new arrivals departed for India without being registered or
processed by UNHCR. In August, a TAR tourism official stated that
approximately 400 TAR residents had traveled abroad in the first 8
months of the year, an increase over a total of 300 in 2003. Many
Tibetans, particularly those from rural areas, continued to report
difficulties obtaining passports. The application process was not
transparent, and residents of different Tiebtan areas reported
obstacles ranging from bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption to
denials based on the applicant's political activities or beliefs.
Police in China have stated that passport regulations permit them to
deny passports to those whose travel will harm the national security
and national interests.
Due in part to such difficulties and in part to the difficulty many
Chinese citizens of Tibetan ethnicity encountered in obtaining entry
visas for India, it was difficult for Tibetans to travel to India for
religious and other purposes. The Government placed restrictions on the
movement of Tibetans during sensitive anniversaries and events and
increased controls over border areas at these times. Nevertheless,
thousands of Tibetans from China, including monks and nuns, visited
India via third countries and returned to China after temporary stays.
In February, RFA reported that the majority of Tibetans who transited
Nepal to India were young Tibetans, whose ages ranged from 6 to 30, and
that the main reason they migrated was the lack of Tibetan-language
educational facilities and opportunities for religious education.
There were reports of arbitrary detention of persons, particularly
monks, returning to China from Nepal. Detentions generally lasted for
several months, although in most cases no formal charges were brought.
In January, and again in September, there were reports that the Nepali
government cooperated with Chinese authorities to repatriate Tibetans
who crossed the border. NGOs reported that some individuals were
detained and mistreated upon their return to China. For example, the
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy stated that when monks
Gedun Tsundue and Jamphel Gyatso crossed back into China in February
after studying in India, they were detained for 4 months and fined $545
(RMB 4,500) each. In July, RFA reported that Tibetan Buddhist monks
Tenzen Samten and Thubten Samdup remained in detention at Shigatse's
Nyari Prison 5 months after being arrested while attempting to cross
the border from Nepal into China. According to RFA, the two monks were
arrested with two other individuals, Sherab and Nawang Namgyal, in
February.
The Government also regulated foreign travel to the TAR. In
accordance with a 1989 regulation, foreign visitors (excluding
individuals from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) were required to obtain
an official confirmation letter issued by the Chinese Government before
entering the TAR. Most tourists obtained such letters by booking tours
through officially registered travel agencies. In July, state media
announced that foreign tourists would enjoy ``unrestricted access to
all 70 counties of the TAR.'' However, TAR authorities were unable to
confirm the change, and travelers reported that many restrictions
remained in place. Official visits to the TAR were supervised closely
and afforded delegation members very few opportunities to meet local
persons not previously approved by the authorities. Foreigners could
travel freely in most Tibetan areas outside the TAR. In March,
authorities lifted restrictions on foreign travel to the last four
closed counties in Sichuan's Ngaba Prefecture.
Freedom of Religion.--Overall, the level of repression in Tibetan
areas remained high and the Government's record of respect for
religious freedom remained poor during the year. The Constitution of
the People's Republic of China provides for freedom of religious
belief, and the Government's May White Paper on ``Regional Ethnic
Autonomy in Tibet'' stated, ``Tibetans fully enjoy the freedom of
religious belief.'' However, the Government maintained tight controls
on religious practices and places of worship in Tibetan areas. Although
the authorities permitted many traditional practices and public
manifestations of belief, they promptly and forcibly suppressed
activities they viewed as vehicles for political dissent or advocacy of
Tibetan independence, such as religious activities venerating the Dalai
Lama (which the Chinese government described as ``splittist'').
The atmosphere for religious freedom varied from region to region.
Conditions were generally more relaxed in Tibetan autonomous areas
outside the TAR, with the exception of parts of Sichuan's Kardze
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Most abbots and monks in Tibetan areas
outside the TAR reported that they had greater freedom to worship, to
conduct religious training, and to manage the affairs of their
monasteries than their coreligionists in the TAR; however, restrictions
remained. The Associated Press reported that, in November, Communist
officials met with Buddhist leaders in Qinghai Province and warned that
the Buddhist leaders would be punished if they failed to win greater
support for Beijing's policies toward the exiled Dalai Lama and greater
acceptance among their followers for Gyaltsen Norbu, the boy picked by
the PRC as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second most
prominent figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
Most Tibetans practiced Tibetan Buddhism and, to a lesser extent,
the traditional Tibetan Bon religion. This held true for many Tibetan
government officials and Communist Party members. Bon includes beliefs
and ceremonies that practitioners believe predate the arrival of
Buddhism in Tibet in the 7th century. Approximately 615 Tibetan
Buddhist religious figures held positions in local people's congresses
and committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference in the TAR. However, the Government continued to insist that
Communist Party members and senior employees adhere to the Party's code
of atheism, and routine political training for cadres continued to
promote atheism. Government officials confirmed that some Religious
Affairs Bureau (RAB) officers were members of the Communist Party and
that religious belief is incompatible with Party membership. However,
some lower level RAB officials practiced Buddhism.
Security was intensified during the Dalai Lama's birthday,
sensitive anniversaries, and festival days in the TAR and in some other
Tibetan areas as well. In June, observers reported that students and
faculty at Tibet University were restrained from participating in
religious devotions connected to the Sagadawa festival. The prohibition
on celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday on July 6 continued. In
August, some Lhasa residents privately expressed unhappiness with city
authorities' plans to fix the date of the Drepung Shodon festival,
which traditionally varied according to the Tibetan lunar calendar, on
August 18th in order to promote tourism. However, residents were
reportedly permitted to carry out observances on the traditional date a
week later.
On May 23, the Government issued a White Paper on ``Regional Ethnic
Autonomy in Tibet,'' in which it urged the Dalai Lama to drop his ``bid
for Tibetan independence'' and stated ``the possibility of instituting
another social system does not exist.'' In September, the Government
extended invitations to emissaries of the Dalai Lama to visit Tibetan
and other areas of China. The delegation visited Guangdong, Beijing,
and Tibetan areas of western Sichuan Province. This marked the third
visit of emissaries of the Dalai Lama to China in as many years. In
September 2002, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, the Dalai Lama's
representatives to the United States and Europe respectively, traveled
to Beijing, Lhasa, and other cities and met with a number of government
officials. These were the first formal contacts between the Dalai
Lama's representatives and the Government since 1993. They made a
second trip to China in June 2003 to meet with Chinese officials and
visited Shanghai, Beijing, and Tibetan areas in Yunnan Province.
Additionally, Gyalo Thondup, the Dalai Lama's elder brother, visited in
July 2002, making his first trip to the TAR since leaving in 1959 and
subsequently has made additional private visits to China. The
Government asserted that the door to dialogue and negotiation were
open, provided that the Dalai Lama public affirmed that Tibet and
Taiwan were inseparable parts of China.
Government officials maintained that possessing or displaying
pictures of the Dalai Lama was not illegal. Authorities, however,
appeared to view possession of such photos as evidence of separatist
sentiment when detaining individuals on political charges. Pictures of
the Dalai Lama were not openly displayed in major monasteries and could
not be purchased openly in the TAR. In August, TAR Deputy Chairman Wu
Jilie told visiting western journalists that not displaying the Dalai
Lama's photo was the voluntary choice of most TAR residents. During the
year, diplomatic and other observers saw pictures of a number of
religious figures, including the Dalai Lama, displayed more widely in
Tibetan areas outside the TAR. The Government also continued to ban
pictures of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama
as the Panchen Lama. Photos of the ``official'' Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen
Norbu, were not publicly displayed in most places, most likely because
most Tibetans refuse to recognize him as the Panchen Lama. In February,
RFA reported that authorities had warned Tibetans in two counties of
Sichuan's Kardze Prefecture that they would lose their land if they did
not surrender pictures of the Dalai Lama. There were no reports that
this warning was enforced. However, in Sichuan's Karzde Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture and Litang, authorities reportedly conducted
house to house searches in 2003 and confiscated private displays of the
Dalai Lama's photo.
The Government's May White Paper stated that the TAR had over
46,000 Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns and more than 1,700 venues for
Tibetan Buddhist activities. Officials have cited almost identical
figures since 1996, although the numbers of monks and nuns dropped at
many sites as a result of the ``patriotic education'' campaign and the
expulsion from monasteries and nunneries of many monks and nuns who
refused to denounce the Dalai Lama or who were found to be
``politically unqualified.'' These numbers represented only the TAR,
where the number of monks and nuns was very strictly controlled;
approximately 60,000 Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns lived in Tibetan
areas outside the TAR, according to informed estimates.
Government officials closely associated Buddhist monasteries with
pro-independence activism in Tibetan areas of China. Spiritual leaders
encountered difficulty re-establishing historical monasteries due to
lack of funds, general limitations on monastic education, and denials
of government permission to build and operate religious institutions,
which officials in some areas contended were a drain on local resources
and a conduit for political infiltration by the Tibetan exile
community. The Government stated that there were no limits on the
number of monks in major monasteries, and that each monastery's
Democratic Management Committee (DMC) decided independently how many
monks the monastery could support. Many of these committees, however,
were government-controlled, and, in practice, the Government imposed
strict limits on the number of monks in major monasteries, particularly
in the TAR. The Government had the right to disapprove any individual's
application to take up religious orders; however, the Government did
not necessarily exercise this right in practice during the year.
Authorities curtailed the traditional practice of sending young boys to
monasteries for religious training by means of regulations that forbade
monasteries from accepting individuals under the age of 18.
Nevertheless, some monasteries continued to admit younger boys, often
delaying their formal registration until the age of 18.
The Government continued to oversee the daily operations of major
monasteries. The Government, which did not contribute to the
monasteries' operating funds, retained management control of
monasteries through the DMCs and local religious affairs bureaus.
Regulations restricted leadership of many DMCs to ``patriotic and
devoted'' monks and nuns and specified that the Government must approve
all members of the committees. At some monasteries, government
officials also sat on the committees.
The quality and availability of high-level religious teachers in
the TAR and other Tibetan areas remained inadequate; many teachers were
in exile, older teachers were not being replaced, and those remaining
in Tibetan areas outside the TAR had difficulty securing permission to
teach in the TAR. In recent years, DMCs at several large monasteries
began to use funds generated by the sales of entrance tickets or
donated by pilgrims for purposes other than the support of monks
engaged in full-time religious study. As a result, some ``scholar
monks'' who had formerly been fully supported had to engage in income-
generating activities. Some experts were concerned that, as a result,
fewer monks will be qualified to serve as teachers in the future. While
local government officials' attempts to attract tourists to religious
sites provided some monasteries with extra income, they also deflected
time and energy from religious instruction. There were reports of
disagreements between monastic leaders and government officials over
visitors, vehicle traffic, and culturally inappropriate construction
near monastic sites. However, in July, authorities permitted resumption
of the Geshe Lharampa examinations, the highest religious examination
in the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, at Lhasa's Jokhang Temple for
the first time in 16 years.
Government officials have stated that the ``patriotic education''
campaign, which began in 1996 and often consisted of intensive, weeks-
long sessions conducted by outside work teams, ended in 2000. However,
officials stated openly that monks and nuns continued to undergo
political education, likewise known as ``patriotic education,'' on a
regular basis, generally less than four times a year, but occasionally
more frequently, at their religious sites. Some religious leaders also
held local political positions. Since primary responsibility for
conducting political education shifted from government officials to
monastery leaders, the form, content, and frequency of training at each
monastery appeared to vary widely. However, conducting such training
remained a requirement and had become a routine part of monastic
management.
In January, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsog, the charismatic founder of the
Serthar Tibetan Buddhist Institute (also known as Larung Gar) in
Sichuan Province's Kardze Prefecture, died while receiving medical
treatment in the provincial capital Chengdu. Founded in 1980, the
Institute grew to house 10,000 monks and nuns before authorities moved
to destroy structures and expel students from the site in 2001,
ultimately reducing the population to approximately 4,000. After a
year's absence officially attributed to medical treatment, Khenpo Jigme
Phuntsog returned to the Institute in 2002. As recently as May 2003,
conflicts over attempts to rebuild some structures resulted in arrests
and the enforced closure of the Institute to outsiders. After the
abbot's death, Sichuan authorities forbade the province's Buddhist
monks from attending his funeral; nonetheless, eyewitnesses reported
that tens of thousands of Tibetan and Han monks defied the order to pay
their respects.
The Karmapa Lama, leader of Tibetan Buddhism's Karma Kagyu sect and
one of the most influential religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism,
remained in exile following his 1999 flight to India. The Karmapa Lama
stated that he fled because of the Government's controls on his
movements and its refusal either to allow him to go to India to be
trained by his spiritual mentors or to allow his teachers to come to
him. Visitors to Tsurphu Monastery, the seat of the Karmapa Lama, noted
that the population of monks remained small and the atmosphere remained
subdued.
The Government routinely asserted control over the process of
finding and educating reincarnate lamas. The Panchen Lama is Tibetan
Buddhism's second most prominent figure, after the Dalai Lama. The
Government continued to insist that Gyaltsen Norbu, the boy it selected
in 1995, is the Panchen Lama's 11th reincarnation. The Government
continued to refuse to allow access to Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy
recognized by the Dalai Lama in 1995 as the 11th Panchen Lama (when he
was 6 years old), and his whereabouts were unknown. Government
officials have claimed that the boy is under government supervision, at
an undisclosed location, for his own protection and attends classes as
a ``normal schoolboy.'' All requests from the international community
for access to the boy to confirm his well-being have been refused.
While the overwhelming majority of Tibetan Buddhists recognized the boy
identified by the Dalai Lama as the Panchen Lama, Tibetan monks claimed
that they were forced to sign statements pledging allegiance to the boy
the Government selected. The Communist Party also urged its members to
support the ``official'' Panchen Lama. Gyaltsen Norbu made his third
highly orchestrated visit to Tibetan areas in summer 2004, and his
public appearances were marked by a heavy security presence.
Similarly, the child the Government approved as the seventh
reincarnation of Reting Rinpoche was not accepted by many of the monks
at Reting Monastery in 2000 because the Dalai Lama did not recognize
his selection. The Pawo Rinpoche, who was recognized by the Karmapa
Lama in 1994, lived under strict government supervision at Nenang
Monastery. In 2001, NGOs reported that he was denied access to his
religious tutors and required to attend a regular Chinese school.
In July, Tibetan and Chinese intellectuals succeeded in their
petition drive to prevent Han Chinese sportsman Zhang Jian from
swimming across Lake Namtso in the TAR, which many Tibetan Buddhists
hold sacred.
In its May White Paper, the Government claimed that since 1949 it
had contributed approximately $36 million (RMB 300 million) to renovate
and open over 1,400 monasteries and to repair cultural relics, many of
which were destroyed before and during the Cultural Revolution. In the
same document, the Government claimed to have allocated an additional
$40 million (RMB 330 million) since 2001 for the second phase of the
renovation of the Potala Palace, as well as the renovation of the
Norbulingka Palace (another former residence of the Dalai Lama in
Lhasa) and Sakya Monastery, the seat of the Sakya sect of Tibetan
Buddhism in rural southern TAR. Despite these and other efforts, many
monasteries destroyed during the Cultural Revolution were never rebuilt
or repaired, and others remained only partially repaired. Government
funding of restoration efforts ostensibly supported the practice of
religion, but also promoted the development of tourism in Tibetan
areas. Most recent restoration efforts were funded privately, although
a few religious sites also received government support for
reconstruction projects during the year.
Economic Development and Protection of Cultural Heritage.--The TAR
is one of China's poorest regions, and Tibetans are one of the poorest
groups; malnutrition among Tibetan children continued to be widespread
in many areas of the TAR. The Central Government and other provinces of
China heavily subsidized the TAR economy, which, according to official
government statistics, grew by an average annual rate of more than 10
percent for the last decade. Over 90 percent of the TAR's budget came
from outside sources, and residents of the TAR benefited from a wide
variety of favorable economic and tax policies. Tibetan autonomous
areas outside the TAR benefited to varying degrees from similar
favorable policies. Government development policies helped raise the
living standards of most Tibetans, particularly by providing better
transportation and communications facilities. However, Han Chinese
benefited disproportionately from the Government's development policies
in Tibetan areas.
In June, state media reported that Tibetans and other minority
ethnic groups made up 78 percent of all government employees in the
TAR. However, Han Chinese continued to hold key positions, including
Party Secretary of the TAR. A similar situation continued to pertain to
areas outside the TAR.
Some Tibetans reported that they experienced discrimination in
employment for some urban occupations and claimed Han were hired
preferentially for many jobs and received greater pay for the same
work. This situation was partially attributed to Han contractors'
practice of hiring through connections in their home cities. In recent
years, some Tibetans reported that it was more difficult for Tibetans
than Han to get permits and loans to open businesses. The widespread
use of the Chinese language in urban areas and many businesses limited
employment opportunities for Tibetans who did not speak Chinese.
Fundamental worker rights recognized by the International Labor
Organization, including the right to organize and the right to bargain
collectively, which were broadly denied in the rest of China, were also
denied in Tibetan areas.
According to China's 2000 census, the population of Tibetans in the
TAR was 2,427,168. The population of Tibetans in autonomous prefectures
and counties outside the TAR was 2,927,372. Tibetans made up 94 percent
of the population of the TAR. Government-sponsored development and the
prospect of new economic opportunities attracted migrant workers from
China's large transient population to the region, resulting in a net
increase in the non-Tibetan share of the population (chiefly China's
Muslim Hui minority and Han Chinese) from approximately 4 percent in
1990 to 6 percent in 2000. However, census figures did not include a
large number of long-term Han Chinese residents, such as cadres,
skilled workers, unskilled laborers, military and paramilitary troops,
and their dependents. In Tibetan areas outside the TAR, Tibetans
increased their majority share as natural population growth outpaced
net migration by non-Tibetans. Migrants to the TAR were overwhelmingly
concentrated in cities and towns, while Tibetans continued to make up
nearly 98 percent of the population in rural areas. One official
estimate put the number of Han Chinese residents in Lhasa at 100,000
out of a total population of 409,500, while many observers estimated
that more than half of Lhasa's population was Han Chinese. Small
businesses run by Han Chinese and Hui migrants--mostly restaurants and
retail shops--predominated in cities throughout the Tibetan areas.
The Dalai Lama, Tibetan experts, and other observers expressed
concern that development projects and other Central Government policies
initiated in 1994 and reemphasized and expanded at the ``Fourth Tibet
Work Conference'' in 2001, including the Qinghai-Tibet railroad, would
continue to promote a considerable influx of Han Chinese, Hui, and
other ethnic groups into the TAR. They feared that the TAR's
traditional culture and Tibetan demographic dominance would be
overwhelmed by such migration
Rapid economic growth, the expanding tourism industry and the
introduction of more modern cultural influences also have disrupted
traditional living patterns and customs and threatened traditional
Tibetan culture. In Lhasa, the Chinese cultural presence was obvious
and widespread. Residents lacked the right to play a role in protecting
their cultural heritage.
In February, an audiotape smuggled out of China, purportedly made
by Tibetan workers, alleged that Chinese authorities were mishandling
the renovation of the Potala Palace in Lhasa by making culturally
inappropriate architectural decisions. In September, Lhasa Deputy Mayor
Ou Guoxiang announced a project to give Lhasa a more traditional
``Tibetan look'' by renovating buildings along the main streets of the
building. Ou stated that the project had been conceived in response to
concerns about Lhasa's urban development plans raised during the June-
July 2003 UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting.
Both Tibetan and Chinese are official languages in the TAR, and
both languages were used on public and commercial signs. However, the
Chinese language was spoken widely, and Chinese was used for most
commercial and official communications. The dominant position of the
Chinese language in government, commerce, and academia left many young
Tibetans seeking to get ahead with little choice but to use Chinese
rather than Tibetan.
Official government media reports in 2003 stated that 92 percent of
eligible students in the TAR attended primary school and 61 percent
attended middle school and that 80 percent of the counties in the TAR
had instituted 6-year compulsory education and 17 percent had 9-year
compulsory education. However, in practice, many pupils in rural and
nomadic areas received only 1 to 3 years of schooling. Official
statistics put the illiteracy rate for young and middle-aged TAR
residents at 37 percent, but some observers believed it to be much
higher in some areas.
The Government has established a comprehensive national Tibetan-
language curriculum, and many elementary schools in Tibetan areas used
Tibetan as the primary language of instruction. However, Tibetan
students were also required to study Chinese language, Chinese was
generally used to teach certain subjects, such as arithmetic, and Han
Chinese students in Tibetan areas generally had the option to attend
exclusively Chinese-medium schools. In middle and high schools--even
some officially designated as ``Tibetan'' schools--teachers often used
Tibetan only to teach classes in Tibetan language, literature, and
culture and taught many classes in Chinese. As a practical matter,
proficiency in Chinese was essential to receive a higher education.
China's most prestigious universities provided instruction only in
Chinese, while the lower-ranked universities established to serve
ethnic minorities allowed study of only some subjects in Tibetan. In
general, opportunities to study at Tibetan-medium schools were greater
in the TAR, while opportunities to study at privately funded Tibetan-
language schools and to receive a traditional Tibetan-language
religious education were greater in Tibetan areas outside the TAR.
Authorities in Tibetan areas required professors and students at
institutions of higher education to attend political education sessions
and limited course studies and materials in an effort to prevent
separatist political and religious activities on campus. The Government
controlled curricula, texts, and other course materials.
There were no formal restrictions on women's participation in the
political system, and women held many lower-level government positions.
However, as in the rest of China, women were underrepresented at the
provincial and prefectural levels of government.
Prostitution was a growing problem in Tibetan areas, as it was
elsewhere in the country. Hundreds of brothels operated semi-openly in
Lhasa. Up to 10,000 commercial sex workers may have been employed in
Lhasa alone. Some of the prostitution occurred at sites owned by the
Party, the Government, and the military. Most prostitutes in the TAR
were Han Chinese women, mainly from Sichuan. However, some Tibetans,
mainly young girls from rural or nomadic areas, also worked as
prostitutes. The incidence of HIV/AIDS among prostitutes in Tibetan
areas was unknown, but lack of knowledge about HIV transmission and
economic pressures on prostitutes to engage in unprotected sex made an
increase in the rate of HIV infection likely.
The TAR Tourism Bureau continued its policy of refusing to hire
Tibetan tour guides educated in India or Nepal. Government officials
have stated that all tour guides working in the TAR were required to
seek employment with the Tourism Bureau and to pass a licensing exam on
tourism and political ideology. The Government's stated intent was to
ensure that all tour guides provide visitors with the Government's
position opposing Tibetan independence and the activities of the Dalai
Lama. The Tourist Bureau's monopoly did not extend to Tibetan areas
outside the TAR, and some tour guides educated abroad reportedly moved
to those areas to seek employment.
The Tibetan-language services of Voice of America and RFA, as well
as of the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet, suffered from the same jamming of
their frequencies by Chinese authorities as their Chinese-language
services. However, Tibetans were able to listen to the broadcasts at
least some of the time. Unlike in 2003, there were no reports during
the year that Tibetans were subject to intimidation and fines for
listening to foreign-language broadcasts.
In February, the Tibet Information Network reported that TAR
authorities had banned Tibetan author Oser's book, ``Notes on Tibet,''
for its politically ``sensitive'' content.
In March, RFA reported that authorities had instituted political
education activities at Lhasa-based TV-3 for airing a program that
showed the Tibetan national flag. The station director reportedly was
demoted.
Although the Government made efforts in recent years to restore
some of the physical structures and other aspects of Tibetan Buddhism
and Tibetan culture damaged or destroyed during the Cultural
Revolution, repressive social and political controls continued to limit
the fundamental freedoms of Tibetans and risked undermining Tibet's
unique cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's
Republic of China (PRC). The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on the
Question of Hong Kong, and the Basic Law, the SAR's constitution
approved by the PRC in 1990, specify that Hong Kong will enjoy a high
degree of autonomy except in matters of defense and foreign affairs.
This autonomy under the ``one country, two systems'' formula in effect
since 1997 has been tested severely this year. The Basic Law provides
for the protection of fundamental rights and calls for progress toward
universal suffrage and further democratization after a 10-year period,
starting with Hong Kong's July 1, 1997, reversion to Chinese
sovereignty. The Chief Executive is chosen by a selection committee
composed of 800 directly elected, indirectly elected, or appointed
individuals. The Chief Executive appoints and supervises a cabinet of
principal officers. The Basic Law significantly circumscribes the power
of the legislature, the Legislative Council (Legco). In September 12
elections, voters directly elected 30 members of the Legco from
geographic constituencies and indirectly elected 30 from functional or
occupational constituencies. Despite isolated allegations of voter
intimidation prior to the election and some irregularities on election
day, the voting was considered free and fair. Majorities are required
in both the geographic and the functional constituencies to pass
legislation introduced by individual legislators. Members may not
initiate legislation involving public expenditure, political structure,
government operations, or government policy. The judiciary is
independent, and the Basic Law vests Hong Kong's highest court with the
power of final adjudication. Under the Basic Law, however, the Standing
Committee of the PRC's National People's Congress (NPC) has the power
of final interpretation of the Basic Law.
An effective police force under the firm control of civilian
authorities maintained public order. The Independent Police Complaints
Council, made up of public members appointed by the Chief Executive,
monitored and reviewed the work of an office that investigated public
complaints against the police. The 4,000 Chinese troops sent to Hong
Kong in 1997 to replace the British military garrison have maintained a
low profile and have not performed or interfered in police functions.
Hong Kong's free market economy is an international trade,
shipping, and finance center as well as a principal platform for trade
and investment with the PRC. The economy grew 7.5 percent during the
year, with no inflation. Per capita gross domestic product was
approximately $23,000. The population was approximately 6.8 million.
The Government generally respected the human rights of residents,
and the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing with
individual instances of abuse. In April, the Standing Committee of the
NPC ruled out universal suffrage in the next elections for Chief
Executive in 2007 and Legco in 2008. This was an initiative of the
central authorities that cut short local debate and raised questions
about the PRC's willingness to permit Hong Kong to operate with a high
degree of autonomy. Human rights problems included: Limitations on
residents' ability to change their government and limitations on the
power of the legislature to affect government policies; allegations of
intimidation of journalists and other media figures; violence and
discrimination against women; discrimination against ethnic minorities;
restrictions on workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively;
and trafficking in persons for the purposes of forced labor and
prostitution.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of arbitrary or unlawful deprivations of life committed by the
Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law forbids torture and other abuse by the police.
There were allegations of assault by police officers during the year.
Disciplinary action can range from warnings to dismissal. Criminal
proceedings may be undertaken independently of the disciplinary
process. The Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) investigates
allegations of excessive use of force and the Independent Police
Complaints Council (IPCC), a body composed of public members appointed
by the Chief Executive, monitors and reviews their work.
During the first half of the year, CAPO received 218 allegations of
assault by police officers against persons in custody and 130
allegations of assault against persons not in custody, out of a total
of 21,562 arrests. Of the 218 allegations of assault by police officers
against persons in custody, 107 case investigations were completed and
endorsed by the IPCC, and none were substantiated: 79 were withdrawn,
22 were deemed ``not pursuable,'' 4 were judged to be false, 1 was
judged ``no fault,'' and 1 was judged ``unsubstantiated.'' The
remaining 111 cases were pending as of June 30. Of the 130 allegations
of assault against persons not in custody, 62 case investigations were
completed and endorsed by the IPCC, and none were substantiated: 45
were withdrawn, 13 were deemed ``not pursuable,'' 1 was judged to be
false, and 3 were judged ``unsubstantiated.'' The remaining 68 cases
were pending as of June 30. In response to concerns about the police
being responsible for investigating their own misconduct, the
Government drafted a bill to provide a statutory basis for the IPCC,
which would allow it to set up its own secretariat, receive funding to
hire its own permanent staff, and initiate investigations.
Prison conditions generally met international standards. Men and
women were housed separately, juveniles were housed separately from
adults, and pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
prisoners. For the first 6 months of the year, the average occupancy
rate for Hong Kong's 24 prisons was 114 percent. Overcrowding was most
serious in maximum security prisons, which operated at an average
occupancy rate of 136 percent. The Government continued to address the
problem of prison overcrowding by remodeling existing buildings to
provide space for additional prisoners and redistributing the prison
population. In addition, the Immigration Department expected its new
Detention Center in Tuen Mun, due to be completed in 2005, to hold 400
additional people and eliminate the need to put immigration offenders
in prison or other correctional facilities.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers.
Local justices of the peace regularly inspected prisons, and, as a
standard procedure, these visits were unannounced.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Common law, legal precedent, and
the Basic Law provide substantial and effective legal protection
against arbitrary arrest or detention, and the Government generally
observed these provisions in practice. Suspects must be charged within
48 hours or released. During the year, the average length of pre
conviction incarceration did not exceed 48 days.
The police force is led by a uniformed Police Commissioner who
reports to the Secretary for Security--a member of the Chief
Executive's Cabinet. The force had 28,695 officers and was divided into
5 departments with both headquarters and regional formations.
Corruption was not a significant problem within the force. Police
officers are subject to disciplinary review by CAPO and IPCC in cases
of alleged misconduct (see Section 1.c.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Basic Law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The judiciary, underpinned by the Basic Law's
provision that Hong Kong's common law tradition be maintained,
generally provided citizens with a fair and efficient judicial process.
Under the Basic Law, the courts may interpret those provisions of the
Basic Law that address matters within the limits of the SAR's high
degree of autonomy. The courts also interpret provisions of the Basic
Law that touch on PRC central government responsibilities or on the
relationship between the central authorities and the SAR, but before
making final judgments on these matters, which are unappealable, the
courts must seek an interpretation of the relevant provisions from the
Standing Committee of the NPC. The Basic Law requires the courts to
follow the Standing Committee's interpretation of Basic Law provisions.
Judgments previously rendered are not affected. The NPC's mechanism for
interpretation is its Committee for the Basic Law, composed of six
mainland and six Hong Kong members. The Chief Executive, the President
of the Legislative Council, and the Chief Justice nominate the Hong
Kong members. Human rights and lawyers' organizations have expressed
concern that this process, which circumvents the Court of Final
Appeal's power of final adjudication, could be used to limit the
independence of the judiciary or could degrade the courts' authority.
In the controversial 1999 ``right of abode'' case (concerning the right
of certain persons to reside in Hong Kong), the Government, after
losing the case in the Court of Final Appeals, sought a
reinterpretation of relevant Basic Law provisions from the NPC. There
have been no such appeals of court decisions to the NPC since 1999.
The Court of Final Appeal is the SAR's supreme judicial body. An
independent commission nominates judges. The Chief Executive is
required to appoint those nominated, subject to endorsement by the
legislature. Nomination procedures ensure that commission members
nominated by the private bar have a virtual veto on the nominations.
The Basic Law provides that, with the exception of the Chief Justice
and the Chief Judge of the High Court, who are prohibited from residing
outside of Hong Kong, foreigners may serve on the courts. In 2004,
approximately 23 percent of judges and judicial officers were
expatriates. Judges have security of tenure until retirement age
(either 60 or 65, depending on the date of appointment).
Under the Court of Final Appeal is the High Court, composed of the
Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance. Lower judicial bodies
include the District Court, which has limited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters; the magistrates' courts, which exercise jurisdiction
over a wide range of criminal offenses; the Coroner's Court; the
Juvenile Court; the Lands Tribunal; the Labor Tribunal; the Small
Claims Tribunal; and the Obscene Articles Tribunal.
The law provides for the right to a fair public trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right in practice. Trials
are by jury except at the magistrate court level. The judiciary
provides citizens with a fair and efficient judicial process.
Under prosecution rules, there is a presumption of guilt in
official corruption cases. Under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, a
current or former government official who maintains a standard of
living above that commensurate with his official income or controls
monies or property disproportionate to his official income is, unless
he can satisfactorily explain the discrepancy, guilty of an offense.
The courts have upheld this practice.
According to the Basic Law, English may be used as an official
language by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. For
historical reasons and because of the courts' reliance on common law
precedents, almost all civil cases and most criminal cases were heard
in English. In recent years, the Government has developed a bilingual
legal system. It has increased the number of officers in the Legal Aid
Department proficient in spoken Cantonese and written Chinese and
extended the use of bilingual prosecution documents and indictments.
All laws are bilingual, with the English and Chinese texts being
equally authentic. All courts and tribunals may operate in either
Cantonese or English. Judges, witnesses, the parties themselves, and
legal representatives each may decide which language to use at any
point in the proceedings.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy,
family, home, and correspondence, and the Government generally
respected these prohibitions in practice. Interception of
communications is conducted under the Telecommunications Ordinance and
the Post Office Ordinance. Wiretaps require authorization from the
Chief Executive for interception operations, but a court issued warrant
is not required. The Government did not reveal the number of wiretaps
and mail interceptions the Chief Executive authorized.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCO),
established under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO), works
to prevent the misuse, disclosure, or matching of personal data without
the consent of the subject individual or the commissioner. Some
Government departments are exempted to combat social welfare abuse and
tax evasion. Violations of the PDPO can be either criminal or civil
offenses. Between June 2003 and June 2004, the PCO investigated 1,109
complaints of suspected breaches of the ordinance, completing action on
1,047. The PCO found violations of the PDPO in 26 of these cases, with
none resulting in prosecution. The PCO found insufficient evidence to
prosecute in 243 of the cases, while the remaining cases were resolved,
rejected, or withdrawn after preliminary inquiries.
The PDPO is not applicable to PRC government organs in Hong Kong.
At year's end, the Government was still considering whether it should
be made applicable to PRC bodies. Under certain exemptions for purposes
related to safeguarding the security, defense, or international
relations of Hong Kong, and for the prevention, detection, or
prosecution of a crime, Hong Kong authorities may be allowed to
transfer personal data to a PRC body.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice. During the year, allegations of intimidation by
pro-Beijing groups and individuals prior to the September elections
raised questions about these rights. Most Hong Kong media outlets are
owned by businesses with interests on the mainland, making them
vulnerable to self-censorship.
In February and March, the PRC media and local pro-PRC newspapers
ran a series of articles defining patriotism in Hong Kong. The debate
started with an article in the PRC-owned China Daily citing former
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's statement that ``only patriots should
govern Hong Kong'' and relating this criterion to the political debate
over universal suffrage in Hong Kong. The PRC media later published
guidelines for patriotic actions, and a local pro-PRC paper printed the
names of those in Hong Kong perceived to be ``unpatriotic.'' In the
midst of the debate, Jiang Zemin, former president and then Chairman of
the Chinese Central Military Commission accused Hong Kong's independent
Apple Daily newspaper and two radio hosts of being ``hostile forces,''
according to the local East Week magazine.
In May, two popular radio talk show hosts known for their
antigovernment and anti-PRC rhetoric abruptly left their shows due to
alleged intimidation. The two asserted that a man claiming to represent
senior Beijing officials asked them to stop broadcasting until after
the September election. Police questioned the man but made no arrest. A
third talk show host received a phone call from a retired mid-level PRC
official, which he perceived as a threat to his family. Subsequently,
the PRC caller stated publicly that he had no intention of threatening
the talk show host. In September, one of the talk show hosts was
elected to the Legco, and, in October, another became host of a local
television show. At year's end, the government investigations into
these allegations continued.
In July, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)
raided seven newspapers with a warrant to seize documents related to a
corruption case. ICAC staff also searched the homes of some
journalists. The raided newspapers included pro-PRC, independent, and
pro-democracy newspapers. In August, the Court of First Instance ruled
ICAC's search warrant was ``wrong in fact and in law.'' On October 11,
the Court of Appeal dismissed ICAC's appeal on technical grounds but
said that ICAC had acted lawfully. The Hong Kong Journalists'
Association, Hong Kong Federation of Journalists, News Executives'
Association, and the Newspaper Society all issued statements condemning
the raids as violating freedom of the press. The acting head of ICAC
said the agency respects the freedom of the press, but that it had to
strike a balance between press freedom and the administration of
justice.
The Telecommunications Ordinance gives the Government wide ranging
powers to ban messages when it ``considers that the public interest so
requires.'' In practice, the Government has never invoked this law.
The Basic Law's Article 23 requires the Government to enact
legislation prohibiting treason, secession, sedition, subversion
against the Central People's Government, theft of state secrets, and
links with foreign political organizations that are harmful to national
security. In 2003, proposed legislation met with active and widespread
public opposition. The Government withdrew the bill and stated publicly
that it had no plans to reintroduce the legislation.
Individuals criticized the Government publicly and privately
without reprisal, and many persons spoke freely to the media and used
the media to voice their views. Political debate was vigorous. Varying
viewpoints, including stories and opinions critical of the SAR and PRC
Governments and statements by leading Chinese dissidents and pro-
independence Taiwan activists, were carried by the mass media, in
public forums, and by political groups.
During the year, newspapers published a wide variety of opinions,
including some sharply critical of the NPC's decision ruling out
universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008. Newspapers also carried opinions
on sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tibet, PRC leadership dynamics,
Communist Party corruption, and human rights. There were 16 daily
newspapers, all privately owned in name although 4 were supported
financially--and guided editorially--by the PRC (Wen Wei Po, Ta Kung
Pao, the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, and the China Daily). The non-PRC-
owned newspapers, hundreds of periodicals, four commercial television
stations (broadcast and cable), and two commercial radio stations
operated freely.
The Government-owned Radio Television Hong Kong continued to enjoy
the editorial independence granted to it in its framework agreement
between the Government and the station's Director of Broadcasting.
International media organizations operated freely. Foreign
reporters needed no special visas or government-issued press cards for
Hong Kong.
There were no restrictions on the use of the Internet.
The Basic Law provides for academic freedom, and the Government
generally respected that freedom in practice. There was independent
research, a wide range of opinions, and lively debate on campuses. On
July 12, the Legco passed a bill requiring publicly funded schools
operated by voluntary bodies to set up school management committees
including parents and teachers by 2012. The Anglican and Catholic
Churches feared that these new rules could dilute their authority to
manage the schools they sponsor.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Basic Law
provides for freedom of assembly and the Government generally respected
this right in practice. The Government routinely issued the required
permits for public meetings and demonstrations.
Under the law, demonstration organizers must notify the police of
their intention to demonstrate 1 week in advance. The police accept
shorter notice if groups can satisfy the Commissioner of Police that
earlier notice could not have been given for a march involving more
than 30 persons and for an assembly of more than 50 persons. The police
must explicitly object within 48 hours. No reply indicates no
objection. The Public Order Ordinance, which pre-dates the 1997
handover and which empowers police to object to demonstrations on
national security grounds, has never been invoked. If the police
object, demonstration organizers may appeal to a statutory appeals
board comprising members from different sectors of society. Both the
board's proceedings and the police's exercise of power are subject to
judicial review.
During the first half of the year, there were about 1,075 public
meetings and processions, roughly half of which required notification.
The police did not object to any demonstrations in the first half of
the year.
On January 1, about 100,000 people rallied in support of universal
suffrage and greater democracy with chants of ``return power to the
people'' and ``one man, one vote.'' On July 1, 200,000 to 400,000
people marched through central Hong Kong again in support of universal
suffrage and greater democracy. These events were legally sanctioned
and peaceful.
In addition to holding assemblies and marches on Hong Kong related
issues, groups continued to demonstrate freely on issues sensitive to
the central authorities. On June 4, approximately 50,000 to 80,000
people attended a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 15th anniversary
of the 1989 massacre in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Falun Gong practitioners regularly conducted public protests
against the crackdown on fellow practitioners in the PRC. In November,
the Court of Appeal overturned the 2002 convictions of 16 Falun Gong
practitioners who had been fined for obstructing the Central Government
Liaison Office. The court upheld convictions against some of the Falun
Gong practitioners for obstructing and assaulting policemen during
their protest. The ruling affirmed that ``fundamental freedoms'' of
assembly, demonstration, and expression were protected under the Basic
Law.
The Basic Law provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Since the 1997
handover, no applications for registration have been denied. During the
first half of the year, the Societies Licensing Office of the police
registered 974 new organizations.
The Societies Ordinance requires that new societies apply for
registration within 1 month of establishment. The Government may refuse
registration in the interest of national security, public safety,
public order, or the protection of the rights and freedom of others.
The Government also may refuse to register a political body that
receives support from a foreign political organization or a Taiwan-
based political organization. There have been no public reports that
the Government has refused registrations under the Societies Ordinance
this year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Basic Law provides for freedom of
religion, the Bill of Rights Ordinance prohibits religious
discrimination, and the Government generally respected these provisions
in practice.
Religious groups are not required to register with the Government
and are exempt specifically from the Societies Ordinance. Catholics
freely and openly recognized the Pope as the head of the Church, and
the Vatican maintained a Diocese in the SAR overseen by a local Bishop.
According to the Basic Law, the PRC Government has no authority over
religious practices in the SAR.
Some groups, such as the Falun Gong and various traditional Chinese
meditation and exercise groups (known collectively as ``qigong''
groups) that do not consider themselves religions, have registered
under the Societies Ordinance. In July, a Falun Gong practitioner
claimed that the group had submitted 72 applications to rent a
government venue for its 2001 and 2002 conferences but was told each
time that the venues were already booked. According to the Falun Gong
practitioner, the group later discovered that, on the relevant dates,
one of the requested venues was empty. Similarly, a private hotel
canceled a Falun Gong banquet room booking because of the group's
``terrorist risk.'' According to press reports, Falun Gong successfully
sued the hotel in small claims court.
During April and May, the Government barred 41 Falun Gong
practitioners from entering the SAR for ``security reasons.'' Most of
the practitioners were attempting to attend Falun Gong's annual
conference at a privately owned facility. Approximately 350
practitioners were granted entry to attend the conference of
approximately 700 persons.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and
Repatriation.--The Basic Law provides residents freedom of movement
within Hong Kong, freedom of emigration, and freedom to enter and leave
the territory, and the Government generally respected these rights in
practice, with some prominent exceptions. Most residents obtained
travel documents freely and easily from the SAR Government. There were
limits on travel to the mainland imposed by the PRC Government.
As was the case before the handover, the Government does not
recognize the Taiwan passport as valid for visa endorsement purposes.
The law does not provide for, and the Government did not use,
forced exile.
The Government continued to deny some prominent overseas dissidents
entry or visas to enter Hong Kong. In April, 12 Falun Gong
practitioners from Taiwan and Macau were barred from entering Hong Kong
for what officials described as ``security reasons'' (see Section
2.c.). In May, the Government denied a request to allow two 1989
Tiananmen Square student leaders to enter the SAR to participate in a
conference focused on the Tiananmen Square massacre. Earlier in the
year, other Tiananmen Square student leaders had been allowed to enter
to engage in uncontroversial activities.
PRC authorities do not permit some Hong Kong human rights activists
and pro-democracy legislators to visit the mainland. During the year,
however, there were several prominent exceptions. In April, three pro-
democracy Legco members traveled to Shenzhen to meet with the Deputy
Chief of NPC Legislative Affairs Commission. In July, a political
activist filmmaker was permitted to visit Shanghai, and, in September,
his PRC-issued entry and exit permit was renewed for 10 years. In
August, PRC officials denied entry to a prominent Democratic Party
leader but later said this had been a bureaucratic mistake. And on
September 30, nine newly elected lawmakers from the pro-democracy
coalition went to Beijing to attend National Day celebrations.
The 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its
1967 Protocol do not extend to Hong Kong, and the SAR eliminated its
temporary protection policy, which was extended only to Vietnamese in
1998. On a case-by-case basis, the Director of Immigration has
discretion to grant refugee status or asylum in cases of exceptional
humanitarian or compassionate need, but the Immigration Ordinance does
not provide foreigners any right to have asylum claims recognized. The
Government practice is to refer refugee and asylum claimants to a
lawyer or to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR). Those granted refugee status, as well as those awaiting UNHCR
assessment of their status, receive a UNHCR subsistence allowance but
are not allowed to seek employment or enroll their children in local
schools. The UNHCR worked with potential host country representatives
to resettle those few persons designated as refugees. Government policy
is to repatriate all illegal immigrants, including those who arrive
from the mainland, as promptly as possible. During the first half of
the year, 1,683 illegal PRC immigrants were repatriated to the
mainland.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Residents' right to change their government is limited by the Basic
Law, which provides for the selection of the Chief Executive by an 800-
person selection committee (composed of individuals who are either
directly elected, indirectly elected, or appointed), the direct
election of only 30 of the 60 Legislative Council members, and the
inclusion of appointed members to the elected district councils. The
approval of the Chief Executive, two-thirds of the legislature, and two
thirds of Hong Kong's National People's Congress delegates is required
to place an amendment to the Basic Law originating in Hong Kong on the
agenda of the PRC's National People's Congress, which has the sole
power to amend the Basic Law.
The Government is authorized to exercise a high degree of autonomy
and to enjoy executive, legislative, and independent judicial power. It
contains an executive branch staffed by a professional and independent
civil service, and a two-tiered legislative branch consisting of the
Legislative Council and 18 district councils. The Basic Law provides
for selection of a Chief Executive in 1997 and 2002 by the Election
Committee made up of 800 local residents.
The Basic Law permits amendment of the Chief Executive selection
process by a two-thirds majority of the Legislative Council, with the
consent of the Chief Executive and the National People's Congress
Standing Committee. The Basic Law states that ``the ultimate aim is the
selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination
by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with
democratic procedures.'' Similarly, the Basic Law states that the
``ultimate aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative
Council by universal suffrage.''
In April, the NPC Standing Committee issued a self-initiated
interpretation of the Basic Law cutting short local debate and
rejecting universal suffrage for Hong Kong in the 2007 and 2008
elections. The NPC also determined that the current 50-50 ratio for
directly elected geographic seats and indirectly elected functional
constituency seats in Legco must remain indefinitely in place. In
addition, the NPC narrowed the circumstances in which Legco members
would be permitted to initiate legislation. The NPC decision left room
for amendments to the election processes, albeit strictly within the
limits dictated by the NPC Standing Committee. During the year, a Task
Force on Constitutional Development solicited local views on selecting
the Chief Executive and the Legco in 2007 and 2008 in line with the
NPC's determination. In December, the Task Force issued a report, which
included, among other ideas: Expanding the Election Committee size from
800 to between 1,200 and 1,600 and broadening its representation;
broadening the representation and size of the group, currently about
163,500 voters, that selects Election Committee members; and increasing
the number of seats in the Legco from 60 to between 70 and 80, while
maintaining the balance between geographic and functional
constituencies. The Chief Secretary, who heads the Government's civil
service, said that the proposals made clear that the people expect the
Government to move eventually toward the goal of universal suffrage.
In September, Legislative Council members were elected to 4-year
terms; 30 members were elected directly from geographic districts
through universal suffrage, and 30 from functional or occupational
constituencies. Candidates who considered themselves democracy
advocates won 18 of the 30 seats elected on a geographic basis and 25
seats overall. There were 199,539 persons eligible to vote in the
functional constituencies.
Prior to the September elections, several newspapers reported that
some pro-PRC companies and organizations were demanding that staff use
their mobile phone cameras to photograph their ballots. In response to
these allegations, which pro-PRC candidates denied, the Electoral
Commission banned mobile phone cameras in the polling booths and
removed booth curtains so that polling officials could view booth
activity. No incidents of ballot photographing were reported.
The Government was criticized for not having enough ballot boxes at
the polls on Election Day. Ballot box shortages forced some polling
stations to close temporarily and caused long lines and delays. There
were accusations that some election officials opened sealed ballot
boxes in order to make room for additional ballots. Premature opening
of ballot boxes is considered a violation of international election
standards. There were no accusations of ballot tampering connected with
the incidents, and it was generally believed that there was no
systematic effort to illegally alter the outcome of the election. The
Electoral Affairs Commission conducted an investigation and issued a
report in December stating that a ballot box design flaw led to the
problems but that the integrity of the election was not affected.
The Electoral Affairs Commission received more than 1,600
complaints on Election Day--up from 1,427 complaints during the 2000
election. Approximately 25 percent involved complaints about the
nuisance caused by candidates' loudspeakers, advertisements, and
telephone canvassing. Election guidelines call for campaign-free zones
outside the polling stations, specify how advertisements should be
prepared, recommend that advertisements carry the name and address of
the publisher, and require all statements to be factually accurate.
Approximately 10 percent of the complaints were about voting
arrangements, such as long lines and the shortage of ballot boxes.
There were six complaints of bribery and one complaint of coercion. The
Electoral Affairs Commission promised to investigate thoroughly all
complaints. Meanwhile, the ICAC received and is working on 87
complaints regarding the election--up slightly from 2000.
The Basic Law substantially limits the ability of the legislature
to influence policy by requiring separate majorities among members
elected from geographical and functional constituencies to pass a bill
introduced by an individual member. Another Basic Law provision
prohibits the Legislative Council from putting forward bills that
affect public expenditure, political structure, or government
operations. Bills that affect government policy cannot be introduced
without the Chief Executive's written consent. The Government has
adopted a very broad definition of ``government policy'' in order to
block private member bills, and the President of the Legislative
Council has upheld the Government's position.
The Executive Council (Exco) functions as the Chief Executive's
cabinet. Exco includes 11 political appointees who run the 11 policy
bureaus, and the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, and Justice
Secretary, who are also political appointees. These 14 members are
chosen by the Chief Executive and approved by the PRC Government. The
Exco also includes members of two political parties, a labor leader,
and two other private citizens, also appointed by the Chief Executive.
District Councils are responsible for advising the Government on
matters affecting: (1) the well being of district residents; (2) the
provision and use of public facilities; and (3) the use of public funds
allocated for local public works and community activities. The District
Council Ordinance gives the Chief Executive authority to appoint 102
out of 529 of the District Councilors, and he exercises this power in
practice.
Hong Kong sends 36 delegates to the PRC's National People's
Congress (NPC). In 2002, Hong Kong's NPC delegates were elected to a 5-
year term by an NPC-appointed committee of 955 residents. Politicians
and human rights activists criticized the election process as
undemocratic and lacking transparency. In September, for the first time
in Hong Kong's history, two local NPC delegates won directly elected
seats in the Legco. One NPC delegate lost his bid for a directly
elected Legco seat.
The Government vigorously and with apparent success combated
official corruption through the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and the
Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The law provides for access to government information, and, in
practice, such information was provided to both citizens and non-
citizens with exceptions that are narrowly defined and could be
appealed.
Women hold 11 of the 60 Legislative Council seats (the same number
as in the previous Legislative Council) and made up between 17 and 23
percent of membership in the major political parties. The President of
the previous Legislative Council was a woman, as are the heads of
several government departments. More than one-third of civil servants
were women, and 2 of the 15 most senior Government officials were
women.
There were no ethnic minorities in the Legislative Council, but
there were a number of ethnic minorities in senior civil service
positions.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. These organizations
had unrestricted contacts with the local community and with groups
overseas. Government officials were generally receptive to, and
respectful of, their views. Prominent human rights activists critical
of the PRC also operated freely and maintained permanent resident
status in Hong Kong, but overseas dissidents sometimes had difficulty
gaining entry to the SAR.
Under the Basic Law, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social,
and Cultural Rights apply to Hong Kong. The PRC Government transmits
Hong Kong's reports, mandated under these covenants, without editing,
to the U.N. The SAR Government and several domestic NGOs have testified
before several U.N. human rights committees, including the U. N. Human
Rights Commission in Geneva. The hearings, including the Commission's
concerns, have received widespread and balanced press coverage.
The Office of the Ombudsman has wide powers to investigate and
report on public grievances stemming from administrative actions of the
executive branch and other designated public bodies. The Ombudsman may
protect complainants when publishing investigative reports. In addition
to responding to public complaints, the Ombudsman also initiates
investigations. The Ombudsman has the option of reporting directly to
the Chief Executive if organizations refuse to act upon his
recommendations, or if the violations are considered serious. The Chief
Executive is bound by law to present such reports to the legislature.
The Ombudsman (Amendment) Ordinance, passed in 2001, strengthened the
independence of the Ombudsman by de-linking the office from government
systems and processes. It empowers the office to set terms and
conditions of appointment for staff and to manage its own financial and
administrative matters.
The Ombudsman does not have oversight authority over the police,
the Independent Commission Against Corruption, or the Office of the
Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, although it may investigate
complaints of noncompliance with the code on access to information by
government departments, including the police and the Independent
Commission Against Corruption. With regard to election-related
complaints, the Ombudsman may investigate only those complaints made
against the Registration and Electoral Office, not those made against
the Electoral Affairs Commission.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
The Basic Law provides that all Hong Kong residents are equal
before the law. The Bill of Rights Ordinance, which incorporates into
law the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, entitles
residents to the civil and political rights recognized therein
``without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.'' The ordinance applies only to the
Government, public authorities, and persons acting on their behalf. It
does not apply to private persons or entities. Three pieces of anti-
discrimination legislation--the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the
Disability Discrimination Ordinance, and the Family Status
Discrimination Ordinance--make it illegal for any person or entity
(public or private) to discriminate on the grounds of sex, marital
status, pregnancy, disability, or family status, and prohibits behavior
such as sexual harassment, harassment or vilification on the grounds of
disability, and discriminatory advertising. The Disability
Discrimination Ordinance also protects persons with HIV/AIDS from
discrimination, and permits them to take legal action or seek
assistance from the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) through the
formal complaint process.
The EOC was established in 1996 to help eliminate discrimination
and to promote equality of opportunity without regard to gender,
disability, and family status. In December, the Government appointed
the former Privacy Commissioner to a 5-year term as EOC Commissioner.
During the first half of the year, the EOC received 275 complaints,
of which 261 required investigation and conciliation. The Commission
concluded 381 cases, including cases from previous years. Of these, 168
were discontinued for various reasons, including withdrawal by the
complainant, agreement reached before an investigation was completed,
and a lack of substance. Of the remaining concluded cases, 114 were
successfully conciliated. Legal assistance remains available for
unsuccessful complainants.
Women.--Local public health officials remain concerned about
violence against women, particularly among new immigrants from the
mainland. The Domestic Violence Ordinance allows a woman to seek a 3
month injunction, extendable to 6 months, against her husband. Domestic
violence also may be prosecuted as common assault. The Government
enforced the law and prosecuted violators, but sentences typically
consisted only of injunctions or restraining orders. During the first
half of the year, there were 3,298 cases of domestic violence reported
to the Social Welfare Department, which receives reports from the
police, social workers, the Health Department, and volunteer
organizations.
The Government funded programs such as family life education
counseling, a hotline service, temporary housing, legal aid, and child
protective services. It also sponsored public education and media
programs through the Women's Commission to promote public awareness and
encourages women to seek early professional assistance.
There were 46 cases of rape reported to the police during the first
half of the year and 70 in all of 2003. The 2002 Statute Law
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill criminalizes marital rape. In 2003, the
legislature passed an amendment to the Crimes Ordinance expressly
clarifying that the term ``unlawful sexual intercourse'' could be
applied both outside and inside the bounds of marriage. During the
first half of the year, 492 indecent assault cases were reported to the
police.
In April, Amnesty International criticized the Government for
failing to take appropriate action prior to the killings of a mother
and her two daughters. The police launched an internal investigation
after acknowledging that the woman sought help at a police station
hours before her husband allegedly killed her. An investigation by the
Social Welfare Department determined that the local district government
where the killings occurred lacked adequate social services to deal
with its expanding population. In November, the Secretary for Health,
Welfare and Food announced that more resources would be allocated to
tackle the problem of domestic violence.
The number of women seeking help from the crisis center for victims
of sexual violence more than tripled from 2001. The center handled 99
cases in the first half of the year. A study released by the center
during the year showed that many women were reluctant to come forward,
with one in six victims waiting as long as 10 years before reporting an
attack.
Prostitution is legal, but there are laws against activities such
as causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the
prostitution of others, or keeping a vice establishment. Hong Kong is a
transit and destination point for persons trafficked for the purposes
of sexual exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking.).
The Sex Discrimination Ordinance prohibits sexual harassment of
women seeking employment or already working in an organization. The EOC
reported 40 sexual harassment complaints in the first half of the year.
In August, the Government agreed to amend the ordinance to extend the
definition of sexual harassment in schools in order to prevent sexually
hostile environments. The change, proposed by the EOC, would close a
loophole that allowed behavior in schools that is banned in the
workplace. It covers conduct not specifically directed at a person,
such as chanting obscene slogans or displaying posters with sexual
content. The changes were proposed in response to allegations of sexual
harassment at a Chinese University orientation camp in 2002.
Women faced discrimination in employment, salary, welfare,
inheritance, and promotion. A survey released in March found that
nearly 80 percent of women workers feel they are the victims of
discrimination.
Women entered professional fields, including sciences and
engineering, law, teaching, accounting, social sciences, health, and
medicine, in growing numbers. As of June, 35.1 percent of professionals
employed in these fields were women. About 21 percent of judicial
officers and judges were women. In the Legislative Council, women held
11 of the 60 seats. According to a survey released in February, about
three-quarters of private companies have women in senior management
positions, and women occupied more than a quarter of the senior
management posts. Women were still disproportionately represented in
the lower echelons of the work force.
The law treats men and women equally in inheritance matters,
although women still faced discrimination based on traditional
practices, such as in the inheritance of homes in rural areas of the
New Territories.
Children.--The Government supported children's rights and welfare
through well-funded systems of public education, medical care, and
protective services. The Education Department provided schooling for
children between 6 and 15 years of age and placement services for non-
Chinese speaking children. Education is free and compulsory through
grade nine. The Government supported programs for custody, protection,
day care, foster care, shelters, small group homes, and assistance to
families.
The Government provided subsidized, quality medical care for all
children who are residents.
In 2003, legislation raised the age of criminal responsibility for
children from 7 to 10 years. During the first half of the year, there
were 86 youths under the age of 16 who were incarcerated: 19 in prison,
15 in training centers, 25 in detention centers, 25 in rehabilitation
centers, and 2 in drug addiction treatment centers.
Statistics on child abuse and exploitation were limited. During the
first half of the year, there were 459 child abuse cases reported to
the police: 257 involved physical abuse (referring to victims under 14
years of age) and 202 involved sexual abuse (referring to victims under
17 years of age).
In December 2003, the Government enacted the Prevention of Child
Pornography Ordinance, which criminalizes the making, production,
distribution, publication, advertising, and possession of child
pornography. It also prohibits the procurement of children for making
pornography, extends the application of certain sexual offense
provisions to acts committed against children outside of Hong Kong, and
prohibits any arrangement or advertising relating to commission of
those acts. In May, police used the new law to conduct a sweep of child
pornography websites and arrested 18 persons.
The Government provided parent education programs in all 50 of the
Department of Health's Maternal and Child Health Centers, which
included instruction on child abuse prevention. The Social Welfare
Department commissioned research on domestic violence, including child
abuse. The police maintained a child abuse investigation unit and a
child witness support program. A Child Care Center Law helps prevent
unsuitable persons from providing childcare services and facilitates
the formation of mutual help childcare groups. There are substantial
legal penalties for mistreatment or neglect of minors.
Trafficking in Persons.--There is no law prohibiting trafficking in
persons. There are various laws and ordinances that allow law
enforcement authorities to take action against traffickers. Despite
robust efforts by the SAR Government to stop such activities, Hong Kong
was a point of transit and destination for persons trafficked for
sexual exploitation and forced labor from China and Southeast Asia. It
was difficult for the Government to identify trafficking victims from
among the larger group of illegal immigrants.
Traffickers have used forged or illegally obtained travel documents
to attempt to smuggle persons through the Hong Kong airport. During the
first half of the year, authorities intercepted 1,288 forged travel
documents and arrested 12 persons for related offenses.
A Hong Kong University study on the trafficking of women for the
purposes of prostitution found that from 1990 to 2000, there were 39
cases of women lured to Hong Kong with false promises of legitimate
employment who were forced or coerced to work as prostitutes. Large
numbers of illegal immigrant women from the mainland voluntarily
engaged in prostitution with the reported assistance of organized
criminal groups.
Prostitution is legal, but there are laws against some related
activities that make prostitution illegal in certain circumstances (see
Section 5, Women). The authorities combat illegal prostitution by
nonresidents through strict immigration controls and by arresting and
prosecuting illegal prostitutes and their employers. During the first
half of the year, 5,133 nonresident women prostitutes were arrested.
Most of those arrested were deported rather than formally charged. The
police do not keep statistics on the number of persons arrested who are
employers of prostitutes. However, the Crimes Ordinance stipulates that
a person who controls another person for purposes of prostitution can,
upon conviction and indictment, be imprisoned for 14 years, and a
person who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of
prostitution of another can be sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
During the first half of the year, 41 persons were convicted of these
offenses, and, in 2003, 119 people were convicted. The majority of
those convicted were sentenced to immediate imprisonment.
During the year, there were no known reports of persons being
trafficked into the SAR to work as domestics.
Provisions in the Immigration Ordinance, the Crimes Ordinance, and
other relevant laws enabled law enforcement authorities to take action
against trafficking in persons. The courts can impose heavy fines and
prison sentences for up to 14 years for such activities as arranging
passage of unauthorized entrants into Hong Kong, assisting unauthorized
entrants to remain, using or possessing a forged, false or unlawfully
obtained travel document, and aiding and abetting any person to use
such a document. The Security Bureau is responsible for combating
migrant trafficking and overseeing the police, customs, and immigration
departments, which are responsible for enforcing anti-trafficking laws.
Law enforcement officials received special training on handling and
protecting victims and vulnerable witnesses, including victims of
trafficking.
The Government provided legal aid to those taking legal action
against an employer, and immunity from prosecution for those who assist
in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. The Social Welfare
Department and local NGOs also provided an array of social services to
victims of trafficking. The Government did not provide funding to
foreign or domestic NGOs for services to victims. The Government also
tried to prevent trafficking by distributing pamphlets, in a wide range
of languages, to workers about their rights.
Persons With Disabilities.--Discrimination against physically and
mentally disabled persons persisted in employment, education, and the
provision of some public services. The Disability Discrimination
Ordinance calls for improved building access and sanctions against
those who discriminate. Also, the Buildings Ordinance was amended in
2003 to update design requirements. However, despite inspections and
the occasional closure of noncompliant businesses, access to public
buildings (including public schools) and transportation remained a
serious problem for persons with disabilities.
The Government offered an integrated work program in sheltered
workshops and provided vocational assessment and training. No
comprehensive statistics were available on the number of persons with
disabilities in the work force, but the last government survey
conducted in 2000 estimated that there were approximately 269,500
persons with one or more disabilities, including 225,600 persons with
physical disabilities and 52,700 with mental disabilities. According to
the survey, of the 269,500 persons with disabilities, 52,500 were
employed and 59,700 were considered ``economically active,'' including
small business owners and street vendors. However, a consortium of
organizations representing persons with disabilities reported in 2002
that approximately 700,000 residents were disabled, about half of whom
were able to work. As of June 30, there were 3,162 persons with
disabilities employed as civil servants out of a total civil service
work force of 163,101. During the first half of the year, the Labor
Department's Selective Placement Division found jobs for 1,057 of 2,226
disabled job seekers. Approximately 10,400 students out of a school
population of 840,000 (1.2 percent) were disabled.
The EOC sponsored a variety of activities to address discrimination
against persons with disabilities, including youth education programs,
distributing guidelines and resources for employers, carrying out media
campaigns, and co-sponsoring seminars and research.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--At year's end, a bill to
prohibit racial discrimination in employment, education, provision of
goods and services, use and renting of facilities or household
properties, consultative and mandatory organizations, lawyers'
apprenticeship practices, and government and public bodies was on the
Legco's agenda for 2004 05.
The Government's legally non-binding ``Code of Practice for
Employers,'' put into place in 2001 and designed to prevent
discrimination, states that race, among other factors, should not be
considered when hiring employees. The Government's Race Relations Unit
funded numerous projects promoting racial harmony.
Minorities, who make up approximately 5.1 percent of the
population, were well represented in the civil service and many
professions. Foreign domestic workers, most of whom are from the
Philippines and Indonesia, may be vulnerable to discrimination. An
Indonesian Migrant Workers Union was established in 2000 to unite
Indonesian domestic helpers throughout Asia to protect members from
abuse and exploitation. The organization served the approximately
87,850 Indonesian domestic helpers who worked in the SAR. Similar
organizations worked for the interests of Philippine domestic helpers,
of whom there were approximately 121,500.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of
association and the right of workers to establish and join
organizations of their own choosing. Trade unions must register under
the Trade Unions Ordinance. The basic precondition for registration is
a minimum membership of seven persons. The Trade Unions Ordinance does
not restrict union membership to a single trade, industry, or
occupation and the Government did not discourage or impede the
formation of unions. Trade unions were independent of political parties
and the Government.
During the first half of the year, 12 new unions were registered,
while 3 were deregistered; there were 698 registered trade unions. In
2003, 21.8 percent of the 3,066,800 salaried employees and wage earners
belonged to a labor organization.
The Employment Ordinance includes provisions that protect against
anti-union discrimination. Violation is a criminal offense with a
maximum fine of $12,800 (HK$100,000). Employees who allege such
discrimination have the right to have their cases heard by the Labor
Relations Tribunal. The Tribunal may order reinstatement of the
employee, subject to mutual consent of the employer and employee. The
Tribunal may award statutory entitlements (for instance, severance pay)
and compensation. The maximum amount of compensation is $19,230
(HK$150,000). Some labor activists have complained that the Labor
Tribunals tended to push conciliation rather than issue orders.
The Basic Law commits the SAR to 41 International Labor
Organization (ILO) conventions, and the Government has amended labor
legislation and taken administrative measures to comply.
The Employment and Labor Relations (Miscellaneous Amendments)
Ordinance permits the cross-industry affiliation of labor union
federations and confederations and allows free association with
overseas trade unions. Notification of the Labor Department within 1
month of affiliation is required.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--In 1997, the
pre-handover Legislative Council passed three laws that greatly
expanded the collective bargaining powers of workers, protected them
from summary dismissal for union activity, and permitted union activity
on company premises and time. Had they not been amended, the new
ordinances would have enabled full implementation of ILO Conventions
87, 98, and 154. However, in 1997, after consultation with the Labor
Advisory Board, the Provisional Legislature repealed the Employee's
Right to Representation, Consultation, and Collective Bargaining
Ordinance and the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance, and amended the
Trade Union (Amendment) Ordinance. The repeals removed the new
legislation's statutory protection against summary dismissal for union
activity; the Government asserted that existing law already offered
adequate protection against unfair dismissal arising from anti-union
discrimination.
The 1997 Employment and Labor Relations (Miscellaneous Amendments)
Ordinance removes the legal stipulation of trade unions' right to
engage employers in collective bargaining. The ordinance bans the use
of union funds for political purposes, requires the Chief Executive's
approval before unions can contribute funds to any trade union outside
of the SAR, and restricts the appointment of persons from outside the
enterprise or sector to union executive committees. In a few trades
such as tailoring and carpentry, wage rates were determined
collectively in accordance with established trade practices and customs
rather than a statutory mechanism, but collective bargaining was not
practiced widely. Unions were not powerful enough to force management
to engage in collective bargaining. The Government did not engage in
collective bargaining with civil servants' unions.
The Workplace Consultation Promotion Unit in the Labor Department
facilitated communication, consultation, and voluntary negotiation
between employers and employees. Tripartite committees for each of nine
sectors of the economy included representatives from trade unions,
employers, and the Labor Department.
Work stoppages and strikes are legal. There are some restrictions
on this right for civil servants. Although there is no legislative
prohibition of strikes, in practice, most workers had to sign
employment contracts that typically stated that walking off the job is
a breach of contract, which could lead to summary dismissal.
There were a number of labor stoppages during the year, including a
series of strikes by swimming pool lifeguards concerning staff and pay
cuts. Chicken wholesalers struck over an avian flu-related ban on
imports of mainland origin chicken.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor. Although the law does not specifically
prohibit forced or compulsory labor by children, there were no reports
that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Employment of Children Regulations prohibit employment of children
under the age of 15 in any industrial establishment. Children 13 and 14
years of age may work in certain non industrial establishments, subject
to conditions aimed at ensuring a minimum of 9 years' education and
protecting their safety, health, and welfare. The Labor Department
conducted regular workplace inspections to enforce compliance with the
regulations. During the first half of the year, the Labor Department
conducted 57,936 inspections and discovered one violation of the
Employment of Children Regulations, resulting in the assessment of $450
(HK$3,500) in fines. The regulations limit work hours in the
manufacturing sector for persons 15 to 17 years of age to 8 hours per
day and 48 hours per week between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. They also prohibit,
for persons under 18 years of age, overtime in industrial
establishments with employment in dangerous trades.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no statutory minimum
wage except for domestic workers of foreign origin. Aside from a small
number of trades where a uniform wage structure exists, wage levels
customarily are fixed by individual agreement between employer and
employee and are determined by supply and demand. Some employers
provided workers with various kinds of allowances, free medical
treatment, and free subsidized transport. The average wage generally
provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Two-
income households were the norm. There are no regulations concerning
working hours, paid weekly rest, rest breaks, or compulsory overtime.
The minimum wage for foreign domestic workers was approximately
$419 per month (HK$3,270). The standard workweek was 48 hours, but many
domestic workers worked far longer hours. The standard contract law
requires employers to provide foreign domestic workers with housing,
worker's compensation insurance, travel allowances, and food or a food
allowance in addition to the minimum wage, which together provide a
decent standard of living. Foreign domestic workers can be deported if
dismissed. During the first half of the year, 48 foreign domestic
workers filed suit for maltreatment.
The Occupational Safety and Health Branch of the Labor Department
is responsible for safety and health promotion, enforcement of safety
management legislation, as well as policy formulation and
implementation.
The Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, the
Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, the Boilers and Pressure
Vessels Ordinance, and their 35 sets of subsidiary regulations regulate
safety and health conditions. During the first half of the year, the
Labor Department conducted 61,707 inspections of workplaces and issued
983 summonses, resulting in a total of $1,312,500 (HK$10,237,900) in
fines. Worker safety and health has improved over the years, but
serious problems remained, particularly in the construction industry.
During the first half of the year, there were 9,820 occupational
injuries, of which 3,934 were classified as industrial accidents. There
were 10 fatal industrial accidents. Employers are required under the
Employee's Compensation Ordinance to report any injuries sustained by
their employees in work-related accidents. There is no specific legal
provision allowing workers to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations without jeopardy to continued employment.
MACAU
Macau, a 13-square-mile enclave on the south China coast, reverted
from Portuguese to Chinese administration in 1999. As a Special
Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC),
Macau enjoys a high degree of autonomy except in defense and foreign
affairs, and its citizens have basic freedoms and enjoy legally
protected rights. The Basic Law is the SAR's constitution, promulgated
by PRC's National People's Congress (NPC) in 1993. The 1987 Sino-
Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law specify that the SAR is
to continue to enjoy substantial autonomy and its economic system and
way of life are to remain unchanged for the first 50 years under PRC
sovereignty. The Government is led by a chief executive, chosen by a
300-member election committee, which in turn is chosen by a preparatory
committee composed of 60 SAR and 40 mainland representatives appointed
by the NPC. In August, the committee re-elected Edmund Ho to a second
term as Chief Executive. The most recent legislative elections were in
2001, when voters elected 10 of the legislature's 27 members in direct
elections based on geographical constituencies. Interest groups in
functional constituencies elected 10 others, and the Chief Executive
appointed the remaining 7 members. There are limits on the types of
bills that may be initiated by individual members of the legislature.
The judiciary is independent.
The Public Security Police, which was created at the time of the
handover through a merger of the various police force branches, has
primary responsibility for law enforcement and maintenance of public
order. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the
police. The People's Liberation Army maintained a garrison of
approximately 800 soldiers in the SAR. According to the Macau Garrison
Law, the Chief Executive can call on the garrison to maintain public
order, but it has never been used for this purpose. There were no
reports that security forces committed human rights abuses.
The market-based economy was fueled by textile and garment exports,
infrastructure investment, and construction, along with tourism and
gambling. The population was approximately 461,000. The economy grew at
an annual rate of 30.5 percent in the first 9 months of the year.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. These problems
included the limited ability of citizens to change their government,
limits on the legislature's ability to initiate legislation, and a lack
of legal protection for strikes and collective bargaining rights.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
There were no reports of suspicious deaths in custody. The Public
Prosecutions Office filed a criminal investigation concerning one of
the Judiciary Police officers involved in the 2002 death of a prisoner
in custody. An investigation into the conduct of a second officer was
ongoing at year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and the Government
generally respected these provisions in practice. During the year,
there were 21 reports of police brutality, compared with no reports in
2003.
Prison conditions met international standards, and the Government
permitted visits by independent human rights observers. As of October,
the prison population was 872, almost one-quarter of whom were from the
PRC. At year's end, the SAR and the PRC had not reached an agreement on
prisoner transfers. Female prisoners were held separately from male
prisoners, juveniles were held separately from adults, and pretrial
detainees were separated from convicted prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions. Civilian authorities, specifically the Secretary for
Security, supervised and controlled the police. The Public Security
Police was well disciplined. The Commission Against Corruption acted to
preclude problems with corruption.
Police must present persons remanded in custody to an examining
judge within 48 hours of detention. The examining judge, who conducts a
pretrial inquiry in criminal cases, has a wide range of powers to
collect evidence, order or dismiss indictments, and determine whether
to release detained persons. The accused person's counsel may examine
the evidence. The law provides that cases must come to trial within 6
months of an indictment. The estimated average length of pretrial
incarceration was 3 to 6 months. Judges often refused bail in cases
where sentences could exceed 3 years.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. According to the Basic Law, the courts have the
power of final adjudication in all cases that are within the authority
of the SAR. The courts also may rule on matters that are ``the
responsibility of the Central People's Government or concern the
relationship between the central authorities and the [Special
Administrative] Region''; however, before making their final judgment
(a judgment not subject to appeal), the courts must seek an
interpretation of the relevant provisions from the NPC's Standing
Committee. When the Standing Committee makes an interpretation of the
provisions concerned, the courts, in applying those provisions, ``shall
follow the interpretation of the Standing Committee.'' The Standing
Committee must consult the NPC's Committee for the Basic Law of the SAR
before giving an interpretation of the law. This committee is composed
of 10 members, 5 from the SAR and 5 from the mainland. The Chief
Executive, the President of the Legislative Assembly, and the President
of the Court of Final Appeal nominate the SAR members.
The Basic Law provides for the use of Portuguese, in addition to
Chinese, as an official language by executive authorities, the
legislature, and the judiciary. The need to translate laws and
judgments from Portuguese and a severe shortage of local bilingual
lawyers and magistrates have hampered development of the legal system.
At year's end, there were 105 lawyers in private practice in the SAR,
of whom 14 spoke Mandarin and Cantonese and 27 spoke only Cantonese.
The Government sponsored a postgraduate training program for
magistrates who had received legal training outside of the SAR. The
judiciary was relatively inexperienced and lacked locally trained
lawyers. The first law school in the SAR opened in the early 1990s.
According to the Basic Law, the Chief Executive appoints judges at
all levels, acting on the recommendation of an independent commission,
which he appoints. The commission is composed of local judges, lawyers,
and ``eminent persons.'' The Basic Law stipulates that judges must be
chosen on the basis of their professional qualifications. Judges may be
removed only for criminal acts or an inability to discharge their
functions. Except for the Chief Justice, who must be a Chinese citizen
with no right of abode elsewhere, judges may be foreigners.
There are four courts: the Primary Court, with general jurisdiction
of first instance; the Administrative Court, with jurisdiction of first
instance in administrative disputes; the Court of Second Instance; and
the Court of Final Appeal.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and the judiciary
generally enforced this right. By law, trials are open to the public,
except when publicity could cause great harm to the dignity of the
persons, to public morals, or to the normal development of the trial. A
decision to close off a trial must be revoked if those factors cease to
exist, and the verdict must always be delivered in public. The Criminal
Procedure Code provides for an accused person's right to be present
during proceedings and to choose an attorney or request that one be
provided at government expense. The Organized Crime Ordinance provides
that ``certain procedural acts may be held without publicity and that
witness statements read in court are admissible as evidence.'' There
also are additional restrictions on the granting of bail and suspended
sentences in organized crime cases.
The judiciary provides citizens with a fair and efficient judicial
process; however, at times, a period of up to a year passed between the
filing of a civil case and its scheduled hearing.
A Public Prosecutor General heads the Public Prosecutions Office.
It enjoys substantial autonomy from both the executive and the
judiciary. The Basic Law stipulates that the Public Prosecutions
Office's functions must be carried out without interference, and the
Government generally respected the law in practice.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. A judge's
authorization is required for any official interference in these areas.
Any evidence obtained by means of wrongful interference in private
life, home, correspondence, or telecommunications without the consent
of the concerned person may not be used in court.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. Local law
also protects a citizen's right to petition the Government and the
legislature.
The print media included eight Chinese-language dailies, three
Portuguese-language dailies, one Portuguese-language weekly, and six
Chinese-language weeklies. There were three television networks: Two
broadcast in Mandarin, and the other included a mix of Portuguese,
English, and Cantonese programming. Macau Radio broadcast in both
Portuguese and Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin). Hong Kong and
international newspapers were widely available. The dominant
newspapers, mainly Chinese-language, supported PRC government positions
in their editorial line, while some of the Portuguese-language press
published articles critical of mainland policies, such as those
regarding Tibet and Falun Gong. The Union for Democracy Development
Macau (UDDM), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) headed by pro-
democracy legislators, charged that newspapers did not give equal
attention to liberal and pro-democracy voices. At least three leading
daily newspapers and a leading Hong Kong daily newspaper sold in the
SAR provided extensive coverage of pro-democracy activities. The press
regularly published articles critical of the Government, with opinion
columns often directly criticizing government officials.
Article 23 of the Basic Law obliges the SAR to enact legislation
that would forbid any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion
against the PRC Government; theft of state secrets; or links to foreign
political organizations harmful to national security. At year's end,
the Government had not enacted any such legislation. The Portuguese law
dealing with crimes against state security became null and void after
the handover, and no new law has replaced it.
There were no government-imposed limits on Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respected this
right in practice. Under local law, individuals and groups intending to
hold peaceful meetings or demonstrations in public places are required
to notify the president of the relevant municipal council in writing at
least 3 days, but no more than 2 weeks, in advance of the event. No
prior authorization is necessary for the event to take place. Local law
also provides criminal penalties for government officials who
unlawfully impede or attempt to impede the right of assembly and for
counter-demonstrators who interfere in meetings or demonstrations.
The law provides for freedom of association, and the Government
generally respected this right in practice. The law neither provides
for, nor prohibits establishment of, political parties. Under the
Societies Ordinance, persons can establish ``political organizations.''
Several such organizations existed, including the pro democracy New
Democratic Macau Society, headed by a legislator. Civic associations
and candidates' committees may present candidates for geographic and
functional constituencies (see Section 3). Article 23 of the Basic Law
obliges the SAR to enact laws to prohibit foreign political
organizations from establishing ties with domestic political
organizations or bodies. At year's end, the Government had not enacted
such legislation.
Falun Gong practitioners were allowed to continue their exercises
and demonstrations in public parks.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Basic Law provides for freedom of
conscience and religious belief as well as freedom to preach and to
conduct and participate in religious activities, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. The Freedom of Religion
Ordinance provides for freedom of religion, privacy of religious
belief, freedom of religious assembly, freedom to hold religious
processions, and freedom of religious education. There is no state
religion.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice. Approximately
100,000 residents held Portuguese European Union passports, and an
increasing number held SAR passports that allowed visa-free entry to
many countries, including EU member states. Most residents also held
special permits that allowed travel to and from the mainland. There was
a separate pass for travel to and from Hong Kong.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government granted
refugee status or asylum and provided protection against refoulement,
the return of persons to a country where they feared prosecution. The
Migration Department cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees in handling refugees. As of November, there were no refugee
cases.
In 2002, the SAR enacted the Internal Security Legal Framework,
which allows the Government to refuse entry or expel any nonresident
considered inadmissible or constituting a threat to internal security,
or suspected of having a relationship with transnational crime or
terrorism. During the year, no person was refused entry based on
suspicion of having a connection to terrorism; 131 persons were refused
entry based on suspicion of having a relationship with transnational
crime; and 4,465 persons were refused entry for internal security
reasons, primarily for violations of immigration law.
During the year, 317 illegal migrants and 4,660 overstayers were
returned to the mainland.
The Basic Law prohibits forced exile by guaranteeing the right of
permanent residents to leave and enter the SAR, and the Government
respected the law.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Basic Law restricts citizens' ability to change their
government. The Government is led by a chief executive, chosen by a
300-member election committee, which in turn is chosen by a 100-member
preparatory committee, composed of 60 SAR and 40 mainland
representatives appointed by the NPC.
An election law enacted in April expanded the number of election
committee members from 200 to 300, but it did not otherwise move the
SAR closer to universal suffrage. A pro-democracy legislator refused a
seat on the election committee after his efforts failed to widen
further its membership.
In August, Chief Executive Edmund Ho was re-elected to a second 5-
year term with 296 of the 300 election committee votes.
The Legislative Assembly, elected in 2001, is composed of 27
members: 10 elected directly from geographical constituencies; 10
elected indirectly by local community interests such as business,
labor, professional, welfare, cultural, educational, and sports
associations; and 7 appointed by the Chief Executive. Legislative
elections are held every 4 years, and the Basic Law stipulates that the
number of legislators is to increase gradually in subsequent elections.
After 2009, the rules regarding the Assembly's composition may be
altered by a two thirds majority of the total membership and with the
approval of the Chief Executive, who has veto power. The Basic Law does
not provide for universal suffrage or for direct election of either the
legislature or the Chief Executive.
There are limits on the types of legislation that legislators may
introduce. The Basic Law stipulates that legislators may not initiate
legislation related to public expenditure, the SAR's political
structure, or the operation of the Government. Bills relating to
government policies must receive the Chief Executive's written approval
before they are submitted.
A 10-member Executive Council functions as an unofficial cabinet,
approving all draft legislation before it is presented in the
Legislative Assembly.
In 2000, the legislature passed a law reconstituting the pre
handover High Commission Against Corruption as the Commission Against
Corruption (CAC). The CAC investigates public-sector corruption and has
the power to arrest and detain suspects. From January to October, the
CAC received 804 complaints against public officials in a variety of
agencies. The CAC opened 68 files, of which 67 were criminal cases and
1 was an administrative grievance. The CAC transferred eight cases to
the Public Prosecutions Office. A monitoring body established to review
complaints of maladministration or abuse by the CAC received no
complaints from January through October.
The executive branch published online, in both Chinese and
Portuguese, an extensive amount of information including laws,
regulations, ordinances, government policies and procedures, and
biographies of government officials. The Government also issued a daily
press release on topics of public concern. However, the information
provided by the legislature was less extensive. For example, it did not
publish a legislative agenda or a list of pending bills.
Five of the 27 Legislative Assembly members (3 directly elected, 1
indirectly elected, and 1 appointed), including the President of the
Assembly, were women. Women held a number of senior positions
throughout the Government (see Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Domestic human rights groups functioned without government
restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human
rights. Local human rights groups, such as the Macau Association for
the Rights of Laborers and the New Democratic Macau Association,
continued to operate.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Basic Law stipulates that residents shall be free from
discrimination, irrespective of their nationality, descent, race, sex,
language, religion, political persuasion, ideological belief,
educational level, economic status, or social condition, and the
Government effectively enforced the law. In addition, many local laws
carry specific prohibitions against discrimination. For example, under
the law that establishes the general framework for the educational
system, access to education is stipulated for all residents regardless
of race, religious belief, or political or ideological convictions.
Women.--The Government effectively enforced criminal statutes
prohibiting domestic violence and prosecuted violators. Domestic
violence is punishable by 1 to 15 years in prison. In the case of
spousal abuse and violence against minors, the penalty is 2 to 8 years'
imprisonment, and 5 to 15 years if the abuse leads to the death of the
victim.
The Government provided hospital treatment for victims of abuse,
and medical social workers counseled victims and informed them about
social welfare services. The Government may provide victims of domestic
violence with public housing until their complaints are resolved, but
it did not reserve facilities expressly for this purpose.
Private and religious groups sponsored programs for victims of
domestic violence, and the Government supported and helped to fund
these organizations and programs. The Bureau for Family Action, a
government organization subordinate to the Department of Family and
Community of the Social Welfare Institute, helped female victims of
domestic violence by providing a safe place for them and their children
and furnishing advice regarding legal actions against the perpetrators.
A family counseling service was available to persons who requested such
services at social centers. Two government-supported religious programs
also offered rehabilitation programs for female victims of violence.
From January to October, 13 cases of spousal abuse and 10 cases of
family violence were reported to the Social Welfare Institute. The law
on rape covers spousal rape. From January to October, there were 13
reported rapes.
Prostitution is legal, but procuring is not. Trafficking in persons
also is illegal, and there were cases of trafficking in women for the
purposes of prostitution (see Section 5, Trafficking).
There is no law specifically addressing sexual harassment, although
there is a law prohibiting harassment in general.
Equal opportunity legislation applicable to all public and private
organizations mandates that women receive equal pay for equal work,
prohibits discrimination based on sex or physical ability, and
establishes penalties for employers who violate these guidelines. The
law allows for civil suits, but few women took their cases to the Labor
Affairs Bureau or other entities. There were no cases alleging sexual
discrimination during the year.
Women held a number of senior positions in the Government. The
Chairperson of the Legislative Assembly, the Secretary for Justice and
Administration on the Executive Council, and the Commissioner for Audit
were women. In September, 7 women were among 10 newly appointed judges
and public prosecutors. Women also have become more active and visible
in business. However, wage discrimination occurred in certain sectors
of the job market, notably construction.
Children.--The Government protected the rights and welfare of
children through the general framework of civil and political rights
legislation that protects all citizens. For example, the Criminal Code
provides for criminal punishment for sexual abuse of children and
students, statutory rape, and procuring that involves minors.
School attendance is compulsory for all children between ages 5 and
15. Basic education was provided in government-run schools and
subsidized private schools, and it covered the preprimary year, primary
education, and general secondary school education. The Education
Department provided assistance to families that could not pay school
fees. The children of illegal immigrants were excluded from the
educational system. Experts believed that only a few children were
affected by this exclusion. The Government provided free medical care
for all children. Child abuse and exploitation were not widespread
problems. From January to October, seven cases of child abuse were
reported to the Social Welfare Institute. During the same period, 120
cases of offenses against the physical integrity of minors, including
10 cases of family violence, were reported to the Office for Security
Coordination. From January to October, the Government received two
reports of rape of minors and five reports of sexual abuse of minors.
Trafficking in Persons.--The Law on Organized Crime makes
trafficking in persons a crime punishable by 2 to 8 years in prison,
and the Government effectively enforced the law. The law increases this
penalty by one-third (within minimum and maximum limits) if the victim
is under 18 years of age. If the victim is under 14 years of age, the
penalty is increased by 5 to 15 years. If the trafficker rapes the
victim, the two offenses are treated as different crimes.
Prostitution is not a crime, but living off the proceeds of
prostitution is illegal. Prostitutes primarily were from Russia,
mainland China, and Vietnam. While most were believed to be witting
participants in the commercial sex industry, 17 women complained of
being brought to the SAR under false pretenses and 5 complaints of
abuse.
There were no government assistance programs in place for victims
of trafficking. There were no local NGOs specifically dealing with the
problem of trafficking; however, there were charitable organizations
that provided assistance and shelter to women and children who were the
victims of abuse.
Persons With Disabilities.--There were no reports of discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or
provision of state services. The law mandates access to buildings for
persons with disabilities, and the Government generally enforced these
provisions in practice.
The Social Welfare Institute provided financial and rehabilitation
assistance to persons with disabilities, and it helped fund 24
rehabilitation facilities and 11 rehabilitation associations. These
services included day centers, preschool training and education
centers, vocational training and employment centers, and rehabilitation
bus service. Other special programs helped persons with physical and
mental disabilities gain better access to employment, education, and
public facilities. For facilities that received financial support,
approximately 80 percent of their income came from the Government. In
2003, the Government provided approximately $3.3 million (25.4 million
patacas) in subsidies to such facilities and programs. During the year,
37 NGOs provided services for persons with disabilities and received
regular assistance from the Social Welfare Institute and subsidies from
other governmental departments. During the 2003-04 school year, 14
schools had programs for persons with disabilities and provided special
education programs for 724 students with disabilities.
The law mandates accessibility for persons with reduced mobility to
public administration buildings, buildings open to the public,
collective dwellings, and pavements. The Government's Social Security
fund may grant subsidies for the elimination of architectural barriers
to facilitate access by persons with a physical or behavioral
disability. Many sidewalks and public buildings have been modified to
comply with the law.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although no specific laws
prohibit discrimination on the basis of racial or ethnic background,
the Government generally respected the rights of ethnic minorities,
particularly the Macanese (Eurasians who comprise approximately 2
percent of the population). Although Portuguese officials no longer
dominated the civil service, the government bureaucracy and the legal
system placed a premium on knowledge of the Portuguese language, which
was spoken by approximately 2 percent of the population. The Chinese
language has official status and the use of Chinese in the civil
service has grown in recent years.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of
workers to form and join unions of their choice without previous
authorization or excessive requirement, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice. The Basic Law stipulates that
international labor conventions that applied before the handover are to
remain in force and are implemented through the laws of the SAR. The
UDDM has expressed concern that local law contains no explicit
provisions that bar discrimination against unions. The law also
specifically excludes public servants and migrant workers from labor
law protections.
Nearly all private sector unions were part of the pro China
Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), and they tended to stress the
importance of stability and minimum disruption of the work force. The
UDDM and some local journalists claimed that the FTU was more
interested in providing social and recreational services than in
addressing trade union issues such as wages, benefits, and working
conditions. At year's end, there were 173 registered independent trade
unions, including 3 new unions that registered during the year. All
classes of workers have the right to join a union. At year's end,
approximately 79 percent of public sector employees were members of a
union. There was no data on private sector unionization.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides that agreements concluded between employers and workers shall
be valid, but there is no specific statutory protection that provides
for the right to collective bargaining; however, the Government did not
impede or discourage collective bargaining. Market forces determined
wages. Unions tended to resemble local traditional neighborhood
associations, promoting social and cultural activities rather than
workplace issues. Local customs normally favored employment without the
benefit of written labor contracts, except in the case of migrant labor
from the mainland and the Philippines. Pro-PRC unions traditionally
have not attempted to engage in collective bargaining.
There is no specific protection in local law from retribution if
workers exercise their right to strike. The Government has argued that
striking employees are protected from retaliation by labor law
provisions that require an employer to have ``justified cause'' to
dismiss an employee, and the Government generally enforced these
provisions. Strikes, rallies, and demonstrations are not permitted in
the vicinity of the Chief Executive's office, the Legislative Assembly,
and other key government buildings. There were no reports of labor
protests, strikes, or work stoppages during the year.
Workers who believe that they have been dismissed unlawfully may
bring a case to court or lodge a complaint with the Labor Department or
the High Commissioner against Corruption and Administrative Illegality,
who also functions as an ombudsman.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits minors under the age of 16 from working, although minors
between the ages of 14 and 16 can be authorized to work on an
``exceptional basis.'' Some children reportedly worked in family-run
businesses and on fishing vessels, usually during summer and winter
vacations. Local laws do not establish specific regulations governing
the number of hours these children can work, but International Labor
Organization conventions are applied. The Labor Department enforced the
law through periodic and targeted inspections, and violators were
prosecuted. The Labor Department Inspectorate did not conduct
inspections specifically aimed at enforcing child labor laws, but it
would issue summonses when such violations were discovered in the
course of other workplace inspections. No violations of child labor
laws were reported during the year.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Local labor laws establish the
general principle of fair wages and mandate compliance with wage
agreements, but there is no mandatory minimum wage. Average wages
provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family. There
were no publicly administered social security programs, but some large
companies provided private welfare and security packages.
Labor legislation provides for a 48-hour workweek, an 8-hour
workday, paid overtime, annual leave, and medical and maternity care.
Although the law provides for a 24-hour rest period for every 7 days of
work, workers frequently agreed to work overtime to compensate for low
wages. The Labor Department provided assistance and legal advice to
workers on request.
The Labor Department enforced occupational safety and health
regulations, and failure to correct infractions could lead to
prosecution. During the year, the Labor Department inspectorate
conducted 1,835 inspections and uncovered 2,761 violations carrying
fines worth $191,000 (1.479 million patacas). There were two work
related deaths during the first half of the year. Although the law
includes a requirement that employers provide a safe working
environment, no explicit provisions protect employees' right to
continued employment if they refuse to work under dangerous conditions.
Migrant workers, primarily from the PRC, made up approximately 9
percent of the work force. They often received less than local
residents for performing the same job, lived in controlled dormitories,
worked 10 to 12 hours per day, and owed large sums of money to labor-
importing companies for purchasing their jobs. They had no collective
bargaining rights and no legal recourse in the case of unfair
dismissal.
__________
TAIWAN
Taiwan is a multiparty democracy. The 2000 victory of Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian followed
more than 50 years of rule by the Kuomintang (KMT) and marked the first
transition from one political party to another in Taiwan's history.
President Chen was re-elected with 50.1 percent of the popular vote on
March 20. The campaign was marred by a shooting incident in which
President Chen and his running mate Vice-President Annette Lu were
slightly wounded the day before the vote. The opposition protested the
result. The elections generally were regarded as free and fair. Under
the 1947 Constitution, the president appoints the premier, who heads
the Executive Yuan or Cabinet. Constitutional amendments adopted in
1997 provided the Legislative Yuan (LY) with the authority to dismiss
the Cabinet with a no-confidence vote. On December 11, a pro-opposition
coalition made up of the KMT and the People First Party won 114 seats
in the 225-seat LY in free and fair elections. The DPP and the
generally pro-government Taiwan Solidarity Union won 101 seats. The
Judicial Yuan (JY) is constitutionally independent of the other
branches of the political system, and the Government respected the
judiciary's independence in practice.
The National Police Administration (NPA) of the Ministry of
Interior (MOI), the NPA's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), and the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Investigation Bureau are responsible for law
enforcement relating to internal security. The police and security
agencies were under effective civilian control. The police occasionally
committed human rights abuses.
Taiwan has an export-oriented, free-market economy. Liberalization
of the economy has to some extent diminished the dominant role that
state-owned and party-run enterprises previously played in such major
sectors as finance, transportation, utilities, shipbuilding, steel,
telecommunications, and petrochemicals. Services and capital- and
technology-intensive industries were the most important sectors.
Services account for two-thirds of economic output, manufacturing
almost a third, and agriculture less than 2 percent. Major exports
included computers, electronic equipment, machinery, and textiles. The
23 million citizens generally enjoyed a high standard of living and an
equitable income distribution.
The authorities generally respected the human rights of citizens;
however, there were problems in some areas. Instances of police abuse
of persons in custody, official corruption, violence and discrimination
against women, child prostitution and abuse, and trafficking in women
and children occurred.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that no
violence, threat, inducement, fraud, or other improper means shall be
used against accused persons; however, there were credible reports that
police occasionally physically abused persons in their custody.
The law allows suspects to have attorneys present during
interrogations, primarily to ensure that abuse does not take place (see
Section 1.d.). The MOJ claimed that each interrogation is audiotaped or
videotaped and that any allegation of mistreatment is investigated.
Nonetheless, lawyers and legal scholars noted that abuses most often
occurred in local police stations where interrogations were not
recorded and when attorneys often were not present. Beginning in
September 2003, in addition to audiotaping or videotaping interrogation
sessions, the presence of two police officers was required at every
session. If the presence of two officers could not be secured, the
interrogation report must note this and the reason why. As of October
2003, 695 of 1,912 interrogation rooms were fully equipped with audio
recorders and video cameras. The remaining 1,217 interrogation rooms
were scheduled to be equipped with audio/video equipment over the next
few years. The NPA instructed that all construction planning for police
stations include audio/video interrogation rooms and itemized costs for
these facilities in their short-, medium-, and long-term budget
proposals. Since September 2003, the Criminal Code provides that
criminal charges must be based on legally obtained evidence and that
confessions, whether by defendants or accomplices, unsupported by other
evidence shall not be sufficient to convict defendants; confessions
alleged to be illegally obtained must be investigated before proceeding
to other evidence.
Law enforcement agencies remained weak in scientific investigative
skills; however, the NPA continued efforts to upgrade its crime
laboratory technology and train crime scene examiners.
The NPA stated that regulations forbid abuse of suspects and that
police who abuse suspects are punished. Detainees who are abused
physically have the right to sue the police, and confessions obtained
through torture are inadmissible in court proceedings. According to the
Government, there were no such cases during the year.
Although the primary responsibility for investigating torture and
mistreatment lies with prosecutors, the Control Yuan, a coequal branch
of the political system that investigates official misconduct, also
investigates such cases. According to the Government, instilling
respect for human rights was a part of basic police training, and, in
recent years, the Central Police University, the Taiwan Police College,
and police departments strengthened human rights and legal education in
the student curriculums and personnel training. Human rights groups
acknowledged the improvements.
Corporal punishment is forbidden under military law, and the
Ministry of National Defense implemented several programs in recent
years to address the problem. In 2002, a law was passed establishing
committees for the protection and promotion of servicemen's rights and
interests. Nonetheless, in November 2003, in the LY opposition
legislators raised incidents of military hazing. The Premier said that
the Government would investigate these cases and promised more actively
to ensure the protection of human rights in the military. An August
Control Yuan report stated that the number of servicemen who had died
while on duty had decreased from 408 in 1995 to 180 in 2002. Statistics
on the specific causes of death were not available.
Prison conditions generally met international standards. Male
prisoners were segregated from female prisoners, juveniles from adults,
and pretrial detainees from convicted prisoners. However, overcrowding
at the 47 prisons and overly long stays at detention centers for
illegal aliens remained problems. Recent NPA initiatives reduced the
average stay at detention centers for illegal aliens from 78 days in
2001 to 46.5 days in 2003. According to the MOJ, from July 2002 to July
2003 prison overcrowding increased from 2,321 to 5,018 inmates, or from
4.4 to 9.6 percent. Expansion and construction projects to counter
overcrowding were underway, and as of June, prisons were 3,834 inmates
over capacity or 7.3 percent.
The authorities permitted prison visits by human rights monitors.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the authorities generally observed this
prohibition. Police legally may detain without a warrant anyone they
suspect of committing a crime for which the punishment would be
imprisonment of 5 years or more, when there is ample reason to believe
the person may flee. Police may question persons without a formal
summons when circumstances are too urgent to report to a public
prosecutor. However, immediately after detaining a suspect, the
authorities must apply to a prosecutor for a warrant to detain the
arrestee for up to 24 hours and must give written notice to the
detainee or a designated relative or friend, stating the reason for the
arrest or questioning. If the prosecutor rejects the application for a
warrant, the police must release the detainee immediately. Indicted
persons may be released on bail at judicial discretion.
The NPA of the MOI has administrative jurisdiction for all police
units. City mayor and country magistrates appoint city and county
police commissioners from among candidates recommended by the NPA. The
mayors and magistrates are responsible for maintaining order and
assessing the performances of the police commissioners in their
jurisdictions. Observers believed that an historical and cultural
tradition of corruption hindered police effectiveness. The December
2003 Police Duty Act provides police officers with guidelines for
evaluating ``probable cause.'' Human rights advocates complained that
the law does not address all of their concerns, and they remained
concerned about police corruption despite the Government's reforms.
By law, prosecutors must apply to the courts within 24 hours after
arrest for permission to continue detaining an arrestee. The duration
of this pretrial detention is limited to 2 months, and the courts may
approve a single extension of 2 months. Limits also apply to detention
during trial. If a crime is punishable by less than 10 years'
imprisonment, then no more than 3 extensions of 2 months each may be
granted during the trial and appellate proceedings. During a second
appeal, only one extension may be granted. The authorities generally
observed these procedures, and trials usually took place within 3
months of indictment.
The Code of Criminal Procedure requires the police to inform a
suspect during an interrogation of the specific charges in question,
the right to remain silent, the right to counsel, and the right to ask
the police to investigate evidence that would be favorable to the
suspect. If the charges are amended subsequently, the police must
inform the suspect. The authorities generally respected a detainee's
request to have a lawyer present during the investigation phase. When a
detainee requests legal counsel, police must wait at least 4 hours for
a lawyer before proceeding with an interrogation. Although the law
requires that indigent persons be provided legal counsel during trials,
it does not provide for legal counsel during interrogations. However,
revisions to the Code of Criminal Procedures, which the NPA began
implementing in September 2003, provided additional protection to
indigent persons during interrogations. The revised Code requires that
confessions from interrogations conducted in the evenings generally not
be used as evidence; that allegations that a confession was obtained
illegally be investigated before it be used in a trial (see Section
1.c.); that, with the exception of urgent circumstances when such
equipment is unavailable, interrogations be audiotaped or videotaped;
and that when written reports of interrogations are in conflict with
evidence in audiotapes and videotapes the contradictory interrogation
not be used as evidence. However, some human rights advocates continued
to complain that the rules did not provide adequate protection since
suspects often did not have legal representation during police
interrogation. In addition, informed observers reported that the
``public defense counsels'' did not appear until the final argument of
a trial and that they seldom spent adequate time discussing the case
with their clients. In response to this complaint, beginning in
February 2003, courts were allowed to appoint private attorneys or
public defense counsels to detainees. The courts require, in a first
trial, that counsels interview a detainee at least once before each
hearing and, in an appeal, whenever the detainee requests an interview.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. Although the Government has made efforts to
eliminate corruption and to diminish political influence in recent
years, residual problems remained.
The JY has taken several measures to reduce political influence on
judges. An independent committee using secret ballots decides judicial
appointments and promotions. Judicial decisions no longer are subject
to review by presiding judges, except in the case of decisions by
``assistant judges.'' The judges themselves decide upon distribution of
cases. Finally, judges and the President of the JY are prohibited from
taking part in political activities. In January 2003, six
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including academics, human rights
activists, and legal experts, founded a 15-member committee to monitor
the grand justices nomination process. During the year, the committee
continued to monitor the performance of individual grand justices.
The Government's anti-corruption campaign reinforced the JY's
efforts to eliminate judicial corruption. Although the JY was still
coordinating a proposed code of judicial conduct with legal experts and
other government agencies; the proposals resulted in revised precepts
for evaluation of judicial performance and strengthened reviews of
judges' financial disclosure reports. In addition, a human rights
course was part of the JY training program. These factors reduced the
incidence of judicial misconduct; however, there continued to be
complaints of corruption on the part of individual judges. In August,
the MOJ established a special task force to examine corruption charges
against judicial personnel and announced that 10 senior officials were
under investigation.
The JY is one of the five coequal branches of the political system.
The JY is headed by a president and a vice president and also contains
the 15-member Council of Grand Justices, which interprets the
Constitution as well as laws and ordinances. Subordinate JY organs
include the Supreme Court, high courts, district courts, the
Administrative Court, and the Committee on the Discipline of Public
Functionaries. The Administrative Court also provides judicial review.
The law provides the right of fair public trial, and this generally
was respected in practice. Judges, rather than juries, decide cases;
all judges are appointed by, and are responsible to, the JY. In a
typical court case, a single judge interrogates parties and witnesses
not a defense attorney or prosecutor. The judge may decline to hear
witnesses or to consider evidence that a party wishes to submit if the
judge considers it irrelevant; a refusal to hear evidence may be a
factor in an appeal. Trials are public, but attendance at trials
involving juveniles or potentially sensitive issues that might attract
crowds may require court permission.
A defendant has the right to an attorney. If the defendant is
charged with committing a crime for which the penalty is 3 or more
years' imprisonment or if the defendant is indigent, the judge may
assign an attorney. Attorneys assigned to defendants generally assisted
once an indictment was filed and at trial but usually were not present
during police interrogations. Although the Government took measures to
strengthen the effectiveness of defense representation, some human
rights lawyers argued that more improvements were necessary (see
Section 1.d.). The law states that a suspect may not be compelled to
testify and that a confession shall not be the sole evidence used to
find a defendant guilty. All convicted persons have the right to appeal
to the next higher court level. Persons sentenced to terms of
imprisonment of 3 years or more may appeal beyond that level. The
Supreme Court automatically reviews life imprisonment and death
sentences. In July, the Council of Grand Justices ruled it was
unconstitutional to allow the confessions of accomplices to be used as
the only evidence to convict a defendant.
In 2002, criminal procedure legislation made judges impartial
adjudicators of lawsuits rather than law enforcers for the Government
obligated personally to help gather evidence for prosecutors. The
revision, which elevates the status of judges' over that of
prosecutors, requires prosecutors to bear the full responsibility for
investigations and charges them with the duty of convincing the judge
of the guilt of the accused.
On November 4, the High Court rejected an opposition lawsuit
contesting the March presidential election and upheld President Chen's
victory (see Section 3). Chen's lawyer was quoted to say, ``we must all
believe and respect the independence of the justice system.'' The
defeated candidate vowed to appeal and termed the court's ruling the
``darkest day in the history of Taiwan's judiciary.''
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution and the Criminal and Civil Codes
contain provisions protecting privacy. The Code of Criminal Procedure
requires prosecutors to obtain judicial approval of search warrants,
except when ``incidental to arrest'' or when there are concerns that
evidence may be destroyed. However, critics claimed that the incidental
to arrest provision not only is unconstitutional but also often is
interpreted broadly by police to justify searches of locations other
than actual arrest sites. According to the NPA, warrantless searches
are allowed only in special circumstances, such as to arrest an escapee
or if facts indicate that a person is in the process of committing a
crime. In any such case, the police must file a report with the
prosecutor or court within 24 hours. A police officer who carries out
an illegal search may be sued for illegal entry and sentenced to up to
1 year in prison.
In 2001, the Council of Grand Justices ruled that the Police
Administration Law (PAL), which had been used to give police wide
discretion in searching persons in public places and stopping vehicles
for inspections, did not entitle police to make such searches unless a
clear risk to public safety had been established. Noting that such
searches could infringe on freedom of movement, privacy, and the right
to property, the Council instructed the NPA to revise the PAL in
accordance with its ruling immediately. The revision to the PAL was
passed by the LY in June 2003, and the Government started implementing
it in December 2003. The revised law clearly stipulates the limitation
of police authority and allows citizens to demand compensation for
illegal practices by the police.
The Telecommunications Protection and Control Law imposes severe
penalties for unauthorized wiretapping. The Telecommunications Law and
the Code of Criminal Procedure provide that judicial and security
authorities may file a written request to a prosecutor's office to
monitor telephone calls to collect evidence against a suspect involved
in a major crime, and the MOJ and the police used wiretapping as an
investigative tool. According to the MOJ, in the past 2 years the
number of approved wiretaps have increased from approximately 10,000 in
2002 to 13,834 in 2003 and to 10,707 during the first 7 months of the
year. Officials attributed the increase to investigations into alleged
vote-buying cases during local and national elections. The law also
regulates wiretapping by the intelligence services.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the authorities generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom.
Print media represented the full spectrum of views within society.
However, some political influence still persisted with respect to the
electronic media, particularly broadcast television. The existence of
approximately 100 cable television stations, some of which carry
programming openly critical of the various political parties, mitigated
the importance of this influence. Moreover, in December 2003, the LY
approved legislation that bars the Government, political parties, and
political party officials from owning or running media organizations.
The Government and the parties are required to divest themselves of
stakes in all television and radio broadcast companies within 2 years.
Government and party officials who serve as board members or hold
managerial positions in media companies were obligated to sever their
media ties within 6 months. The legislation also mandates the formation
of a National Communications Commission (NCC) to replace the Government
Information Office (GIO) in overseeing the operations of the broadcast
media. The NCC is expected to begin operations in 2005. By the end of
2003, all government offices and many politicians had complied with the
new legislation, and during the year government and party officials no
longer held positions in the media. However, opposition officials
accused the Government of using its advertising spending to influence
media coverage of the news and to promote ruling party candidates in
the national elections.
Nevertheless, some scholars and opposition party officials have
alleged that the Government exercises too much power and influence
through the GIO's authority to regulate programming and the radio and
television licensing process. During the year, the GIO continued to
implement a broadcasting reorganization plan that will restructure
public-owned radio networks and reorganize the distribution of
frequencies. The reorganization requires several KMT-controlled
broadcasting companies, particularly the Broadcasting Corporation of
China (BCC), to return some existing frequencies to the Government for
redistribution in the media market. The BCC has the largest number of
frequencies in Taiwan and had agreed in 1992 to return 14 frequencies
used to block radio broadcasting from mainland China.
Controls over radio stations were more limited than those over
television stations and gradually were being liberalized. In a June
report to the LY, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications
said it had fined more than 300 unlicensed radio stations fines
totaling more than $590,000 (NT$20 million). In July, the GIO
introduced a plan to ease the process for underground stations to
register with the government in an effort to legitimize underground
stations throughout the island.
There is a vigorous and active free press. Some have asserted that
the market is unable to support its large broadcasting and print media
industry, and that their financially precarious existence made many
media enterprises reliant on government advertising revenue and
government-controlled banks loans and hence reluctant to go to far in
criticizing the Government. The Government denied charges of media
manipulations and asserted that it has minimal direct control over the
advertisement market. According to the GIO, the government's
advertising budget was approximately $30 million (NT$1 billion) during
the fiscal year, which accounted for about 4 percent of the $735-880
million (NT$25-30 billion) advertising market. In 2002, the Government
raided the offices of Next Magazine and confiscated 160,000 copies of
an issue containing an article about $100 million (NT$3.5 billion) in
secret funds established by former President Lee Teng-hui and used as
well by the current administration for diplomatic missions and policy
initiatives. The Taiwan High Court Prosecutor's Office charged a
reporter at the magazine with breaching national security. The case is
still pending and has not been brought to trial, but the reporter is
actively employed as a journalist by a daily newspaper. In July 2003,
the Taiwan High Court sentenced a former journalist who reported the
details of a military exercise in 2000 to 18 months in prison and 3
years probation. The accused appealed the decision, and in August, the
Taiwan High Court reduced his prison term to 1 year and suspended the
sentence for 3 years. The police may seize violent or pornographic
material based on the offences against morals and public order
provisions of the Criminal Code and the Child and Adolescent Sexual
Prevention Statue. The police must request search warrants from
prosecutors to conduct such seizures.
The GIO required that any publications imported from mainland China
be sent to the GIO Publications Department for screening before sale or
publication and still sought to ban the importation of publications
that advocated communism or the establishment of united front
organizations, endangered public order or good morals, or violated
regulations or laws. Nevertheless, a wide variety of China-origin
material was readily accessible to Taiwan readers through the Internet.
Beginning in July 2003, the GIO eliminated the requirement that China-
origin material be converted to traditional characters before being
published in Taiwan. However, cable television systems are still
required to send imported material to the GIO for screening and to
convert the subtitles to traditional characters before broadcasting.
The quality of news reporting was erratic, and, at times, the media
trampled on individuals' right to privacy. The media often taped and
aired police interrogations and entered hospital rooms when the patient
was unable to prevent this.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the authorities generally
respected this right in practice. Permits required for outdoor public
meetings were granted routinely. The National Security Law gives the
Government the authority to prevent demonstrations advocating communism
or the division of the national territory. However, demonstrations
advocating independence have taken place without government
interference.
Opposition political parties sponsored a series of demonstrations
to protest the March presidential election and to demand a recount. On
April 1, the Taipei city police rejected a request to hold
demonstrations every Sunday from April 3 to May 20 in front of the
presidential palace and at another location. The police explained that
the applicants had not demonstrated an urgent need to hold such
demonstrations in front of the presidential palace and the police were
concerned about the security of the site noting difficulties the police
had encountered clearing demonstrators from the site on March 27. On
April 10, tens of thousands of persons participated in an opposition-
sponsored demonstration near the presidential palace. Late in the day,
after most of the participants and the principal opposition figures had
left the site, the rally turned violent toppling scaffolding and police
barricades, stoning a police station, and attacking journalists. Police
eventually pushed the demonstration out of the site, detaining an
estimated 10 persons. The police announced that 86 police officers, 55
demonstrators, and 17 journalists suffered minor injuries. Opposition
politicians alleged excessive police use of force, television coverage
for the most part showed demonstrators using violent tactics.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; and the
authorities generally respected this right in practice. The Civic
Organization Law requires all civic organizations to register.
Registration was granted routinely.
Under the Civic Organization Law, the Constitutional Court holds
the power to dissolve political parties. Grounds for dissolution
include objectives or actions that are deemed to jeopardize the
existence of the ``Republic of China.'' The Constitutional Court heard
no cases under this law during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the authorities generally respected this right in
practice. Religious organizations may register with the central
authorities through their island-wide associations under the Temple
Management Law, the Civic Organizations Law, or the chapter of the
Civil Code that governs foundations and associations; however,
registration is not mandatory.
Registered organizations operate on a tax-free basis and are
required to make annual reports of their financial operations. While
individual places of worship may register with local authorities, many
chose not to register and operated as the personal property of their
leaders. In the past, concern over abuse of tax-free privileges or
other financial misdeeds occasionally prompted the authorities to deny
registration to new religions whose doctrines were not clear, but there
were no reports that the authorities sought to suppress new religions
during the year.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The authorities did not restrict freedom
of internal travel. Foreign travel by passport holders was common.
Nonresident passport holders usually were issued ``overseas
Chinese'' passports and must seek entry permits for travel to Taiwan.
According to the National Security Law, entry permits may be refused
only if there are facts sufficient to create a strong suspicion that a
person is engaged in terrorism or violence. Reasons for entry and exit
refusals must be given, and appeals may be made to a special board. No
exit or entry permit refusals were reported during the year. Holders of
nonresident passports who normally reside abroad may return and regain
their household registration, a document required to vote or
participate as a candidate in an election.
Since 1987, the authorities have relaxed substantially strictures
against tourism by residents to the Chinese mainland, and such travel
was common. Although the LY enacted legislation to remove restrictions
that were previously in existence for national security reasons and to
permit Chinese from the mainland to visit for business, academic, or
tourism purposes, many mainlanders were refused visas because they
could not convince an immigration officer that they would not abandon
their residence on the mainland to become economic migrants to Taiwan.
In March, a new regulation requires mainland Chinese spouses applying
for a national identification card to pass a security clearance by a
panel of officials (see Section 5).
All travelers from the mainland are required to have invitations
from sponsors and are subject to approval by the Mainland Affairs
Council (MAC). Regulations governing visits by mainland tourists, which
took effect in 2003 state that mainland tourists are not allowed to
change their itineraries after arriving in Taiwan, must travel in a
group, stay at designated hotels, and return to their hotel rooms by 10
p.m. In addition, travel agencies responsible for arranging the visits
are required to deposit a guarantee of $29,000 (NT $1 million), which
is confiscated if any of the tourists are involved in any legal
problems or are reported missing. There are also restrictions on
mainland visitors who come to Taiwan for family and business purposes.
They are required to report their location to the police on a regular
basis and cannot seek employment in Taiwan. The authorities permit
People's Republic of China (PRC) correspondents to be posted to the
island for up to 1 month per visit. According to the MAC, four PRC
media agencies took advantage of this to cover news in Taiwan. In July,
the MAC announced it would allow a fifth mainland Chinese news service
to station two of its correspondents in Taiwan. During the first 6
months of the year, 2,166 PRC scholars, 1,079 artists, and 636
journalists visited Taiwan to participate in cross-straits exchanges.
At year's end, a draft asylum law was under review in the Executive
Yuan. The draft law excludes persons from the PRC, Hong Kong, and
Macau. These persons are subject to the Mainland Relations Act (MRA).
While the authorities were reluctant to return to the mainland those
who might suffer political persecution, they regularly deported to the
mainland, under provisions of the MRA, mainlanders who illegally
entered the island for what are assumed to be economic reasons. During
the year, two PRC democracy activists entered Taiwan illegally
presumably in hopes of seeking asylum in a third country. They have
been placed in detention centers for illegal mainland immigrants.
Some detention centers for illegal immigrants continued to be
overcrowded, and detainees complained about long stays at the centers
while waiting to be repatriated. The NPA continued to improve its
facilities and provided human rights training for detention center
personnel. The average stay at detention centers for non-PRC illegal
aliens was reduced from 78 days in 2001 to 55 days in 2002. During the
year, the average stay was 60 days. The Bureau of Entry and Exit
faulted mainland Chinese authorities for delays in repatriation. The
average stay of PRC illegal aliens was 172 days. In the first 6 months
of the year, the authorities arrested 1,181 PRC illegal aliens and
deported 851 back to China. The authorities allowed some detained
illegal aliens from mainland China to return to the mainland by
airplane via Hong Kong at their own expense. In addition, the
authorities repatriated other mainland Chinese directly from the island
of Matsu or allowed them to fly back to China via a third country,
rather than taking them to detention centers in Taiwan.
The Constitution does not provide for forced exile, and it was not
practiced.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens have the right to change their government peacefully, and
citizens exercised this right in practice. In 2000, for the first time
an opposition party candidate was elected President, winning a 39
percent plurality in a 3-person race. In March, President Chen was
reelected to a second 4-year term with 50.1 percent of the popular vote
in a two-way race. Generally free and fair popular elections for the LY
have taken place four times since 1992. Most recently in December, when
an opposition coalition of the KMT and the People First Party won 114
seats, the ruling DPP and its partner the Taiwan Solidarity Union won
101 seats, and independents and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union won
10 seats. Voter turnout was a record low 59 percent; 7 percent below
the 2001 LY elections and 21 percent lower than the March 20
presidential election.
The extremely close result of the March presidential election
challenged the country's democratic institutions. The opposition
coalition attacked the legitimacy of the election based on: Errors and
alleged fraud in the counting of votes; the fact that two referendums
were conducted simultaneously with the vote; a mobilization of military
and police that may have disenfranchised a number of presumably pro-
opposition voters; accusations that the President staged the
assassination attempt that immediately preceded the vote; and the
assumption that the President benefited from a sympathy vote even if he
had nothing to do with orchestrating the assassination attempt.
Opposition partisans demonstrated against the result with some of the
demonstrations involving violence (see Section 2.b.), and the
opposition challenged the results in the courts. The courts in a series
of decisions have upheld the President's reelection, and the courts'
decisions generally have been respected, albeit with considerable
opposition grumbling.
In November 2003, the LY passed and President Chen signed a
Referendum Law, which gives the power to initiate referendums to the LY
and to popular initiatives, except for so-called ``defensive
initiatives'' in instances of imminent danger. On March 20, President
Chen called such a ``defensive referendum'' on the basis of the PRC's
refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan. Neither of two
referendum questions won support from a majority of all eligible voters
as required under the law to be effective, but both measures did win
support from a majority of those who cast ballots. Opposition parties
accused the President of abusing the ambiguously worded defensive
referendum clause for political purposes, and, as noted, this was one
of the issues on which they attacked the legitimacy of the election.
In August, the LY passed a set of constitutional amendments that,
if approved by a special session of the National Assembly, will halve
the number of LY seats and create single-member districts. The
revisions also will eliminate the National Assembly and permit the
public to confirm or reject future constitutional revisions passed by
the LY.
The Chen administration made significant progress in its efforts to
eliminate corruption and vote buying. In 2003, prosecutors indicted a
total of 1,276 persons in 640 cases of alleged corruption. Of these,
687 were government officials and 65 were elected officials. Of the 687
government officials, 1 percent were considered senior level, 30
percent mid level, and 59 percent low level. Of the 65 elected
officials, 77 percent were members of town councils, 15 percent were
city and county council members, and 8 percent were national-level
legislators. In the first 7 months of the year, prosecutors indicted
227 government officials on corruption charges. In April, the Taiwan
High Court convicted 17 of 44 Kaohsiung City Council members of
offering or accepting bribes in December 2002 elections for Council
speaker and deputy speaker. Sentences ranged from 6 months to 3 years.
In August, the MOJ announced plans to set up a 24-hour telephone
hotline for complaints against government officials for corruption.
The law and regulations allow the public to request access to
regulations, plans, statistics, contracts, treaties, meeting records,
and other unclassified government information.
The Constitution provides for equal rights for women, and their
role in the political sphere increased. In March, Vice President
Annette Lu was reelected to a second term. In May, Yeh Chu-lan became
the first female Deputy Premier. Of 36 cabinet members, 8 are women.
Two of 25 Control Yuan members and 3 of 20 Examination Yuan members
were women. A number of women also held important political party
positions. Two of the 15 members of the DPP Central Standing Committee
and 8 of the 34 members of the DPP Central Executive Committee were
women. Eight of the 31 members of the KMT Central Standing Committee
were women. Forty-seven members of the 225-member LY were women.
Moreover, the Constitution and the law stipulates that at least one of
every five seats in multimember constituencies must go to a woman even
if male candidates receive more votes.
Aborigine representatives participated in most levels of the
political system. They held eight reserved seats in the LY, half of
which were elected by plains Aborigines and half by mountain
Aborigines. The proportion of legislative seats allocated to Aborigines
was almost twice their approximately 2 percent of the population. An
Aborigine served as Chairman of the Council of Aboriginal Affairs.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
often were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equality of citizens before the law
``irrespective of sex, religion, race, class, or party affiliation.''
It also provides for the rights of persons with disabilities and there
are no laws that prohibit homosexual activities. While the authorities
were committed to protecting these rights, discrimination against some
groups continued.
Women.--Violence against women, including domestic violence and
rape, remained a serious problem. Domestic violence was especially
widespread. The authorities funded domestic violence hotlines, which
also handled calls for assistance from victims of sexual assault and
child abuse. A domestic violence specialist unit was added to police
stations to provide expertise on the issue. During the year, Taipei
City funded and a women's NGO staffed help desks at the Shihlin and
Taipei South District Courts to assist victims in the judicial process.
Because many victims could not distinguish between the domestic
violence hotline and the regular emergency help line, in May 2003, the
MOI launched a pilot program in Tainan city and county police stations
in which persons could register for protection. Having information
about each individual's circumstance and social workers readily
available improved police response time. During the year, the pilot
program remained confined to Tainan; local officials elsewhere
increased their involvement in such cases to ensure that victims got
protection and assistance as soon as possible. The Domestic Violence
and Protection Control Law allows prosecutors to take the initiative in
investigating complaints of domestic violence without waiting for a
spouse to file a formal lawsuit. Although some cases were prosecuted,
strong social pressure discouraged abused women from reporting
incidents to the police to avoid disgracing their families.
Rape also remained a serious problem, and its victims were
stigmatized socially. Experts estimated that the number of rapes was 10
times the number reported to the police. The law permits the
prosecution of the crime of rape without requiring the victim to press
charges. Under the law, rape trials may not be open to the public
unless the victim consents. The Code of Criminal Procedure establishes
the punishment for rape as not less than 5 years' imprisonment, and
those convicted usually were given sentences of 5 to 10 years in
prison. According to the NPA, in the first 6 months of the year, there
were 898 cases of rape or sexual assault. During the first 7 months of
the year, MOJ statistics reported that 276 persons were indicted for
rape or sexual assault and 216 were convicted. Spousal rape is a crime.
By regulation, doctors, social workers, police, and prosecutors jointly
question victims of sexual abuse to reduce the number of times a victim
is questioned.
The law requires all city and county governments to set up domestic
violence prevention and control centers. The centers provided victims
with protection, shelter, legal counseling, and other services on a 24-
hour basis. By the end of 2003, all major cities and counties in Taiwan
had set up call centers. During 2003, these centers consulted with
77,004 persons, set up follow-up files on the cases of 27,284 persons,
helped obtain 9,753 court protection orders (under the law, a judicial
order may be obtained to prohibit violators from approaching victims),
and assisted in obtaining emergency shelter for 1,418 persons. During
2003, 1,925 persons were indicted for committing domestic violence, and
1,932, including some persons indicted in earlier years, were convicted
for committing domestic violence. By the end of 2002, there were: 39
women's welfare service centers (23 public, 3 private, and 13
contracted out to NGOs) that had served 487,000 persons, 27 women
shelters with a total capacity of 305 persons that had served 1,092
persons, and 7 single-parent family service centers with a total
capacity of 283 persons that had served 359 persons. Also in 2002,
101,623 women received assistance from the Government that totaled
$8.25 million (NT$280,353,370).
Prostitution, including child prostitution, was a problem. In 1999,
the LY banned prostitution, and the exempted legally registered
brothels and prostitutes have now been phased out. There were reports
of a growing trend of young women, often well-educated, entering into
part-time prostitution. There also were credible reports of a small
number of women being trafficked onto the island for purposes of
prostitution (see Section 5, Trafficking) and reports of a larger
number of women who entered for purposes of engaging in prostitution.
Sexual harassment was a problem, which the Government actively
addressed.
The law prohibits sex discrimination. Many sections of the legal
code that discriminated against women have been eliminated. For
example, women are no longer required to adopt their husband's last
name after marriage, and a number do not, and the citizenship law now
permits transmission of citizenship through either parent.
The Gender Equality in the Workplace Act provides for equal
treatment with regard to salaries, promotions, and assignments. The law
also stipulates that measures be taken to eliminate sexual harassment
in the workplace. Women's advocates noted that women continued to be
promoted less frequently and worked for lower pay than their male
counterparts and that women were not granted maternity leave or were
forced to quit jobs due to marriage, age, or pregnancy. According to
the Council on Labor Affairs, salaries for women averaged 85 percent of
those for men performing comparable jobs. Most city and county
administrations set up committees to deal with complaints of sexual
discrimination in the workplace.
Sixty women's organizations formed the National Union of Taiwan
Women to promote women's rights.
Children.--The Constitution includes provisions to protect
children's rights, and the authorities were committed to supporting
them. Education for children between 6 and 15 years of age is free and
compulsory, and this rule was enforced. According to government
statistics the percentage of school-age children attending primary
school was 99.94 percent and those attending junior high school 99.86
percent. Children were provided health care under the national health
insurance plan.
Child abuse was a significant problem. In 2003, there were 5,465
reported cases of child abuse according to MOI statistics, an increase
of almost 20 percent over 2002. The Government and some private
organizations have increased public awareness of child abuse and
domestic violence, which is likely a major reason for the increase in
reported cases. Following the 1999 enactment of the Domestic Violence
Control Law, 21 city and county governments established domestic
violence protection centers, the goal of which is to protect women,
children and senior citizens from violence. Services include a 24-hour
hotline, emergency assistance, shelter, medical treatment and
examination, counseling for victims, legal assistance, and education
and training. Under the law, any persons discovering cases of child
abuse or neglect must notify the police, social welfare, or child
welfare authorities; child welfare specialists must make such
notification to local county or city governments within 24 hours, and
the governments must respond with appropriate measures within 24 hours.
The local county or city officials must submit a request for an
investigation to a supervisory agency within 4 days. Both the MOI's
Social Affairs Department and NGO specialists monitored cases to ensure
that these requirements were followed. The MOI provided guidance to
city and county governments for approximately 4,000 day care facilities
in their localities and for children's halfway houses and education
centers. Financial subsidies were provided to low-income families with
children in day care facilities and to local governments to promote
child protection efforts. According to the MOI Child Affairs Bureau,
the island's 31 children's settlement and education centers had a total
capacity of 2,789 and housed 2,126 children at the end of 2003. A
hotline accepted complaints of child abuse and offered counseling.
Courts are authorized to appoint guardians for children who have lost
their parents or whose parents are deemed unfit.
A juvenile court in Kaohsiung handled criminal cases. The court
employed 24 juvenile counselors. There were three juvenile detention
centers on the island.
Although no reliable statistics were available, child prostitution
was a problem, particularly among aboriginal children (see Section 5,
Trafficking). Most child prostitutes ranged in age from 12 to 17 years.
The juvenile welfare law enables juvenile welfare bodies, prosecutors,
and victims to apply to courts for termination of guardianship of
parents and the appointment of qualified guardians if parents have
forced their children into prostitution. If children are engaged in
prostitution of their ``own free will'' and the parents are incapable
of providing safe custody, the courts may order competent authorities
to provide counseling for not less than 6 months and not more than 2
years. However, legal loopholes and cultural barriers remained
obstacles to enforcement. According to well-informed observers, the
practice of aboriginal families selling their children into
prostitution no longer existed.
According to some reports, brothel owners used violence, drug
addiction, and other forms of coercion to prevent child prostitutes
from escaping. The law provides for up to 2 years' incarceration for
customers of prostitutes under the age of 18. In 2003, 1,072 persons
were indicted, and 1,259 were convicted (including some indicted in
previous years) for violation of the law. From January to July, 431
persons were indicated and 791 were convicted. The law also requires
the publication of the names of violators in newspapers. In March, the
Taipei city government published the names of 116 persons convicted of
patronizing child prostitutes in 2003. In 2002, police rescued 598
child prostitutes, including 568 citizens, 27 PRC nationals, and three
other foreign nationals, of whom 54 were male and 544 female. During
the same period, local governments provided shelter to 1,077 rescued
children--503 in emergency shelters, 431 in temporary shelters, and 143
in half-way schools. According to MOI statistics, police found 401
child prostitutes in 2003, and local governments provided 509 rescued
children with temporary shelter, and 759 with counseling services. The
law prohibits the media from running advertisements involving the sex
trade and imposes penalties on citizens arrested abroad for having sex
with minors; these laws were enforced in practice
Trafficking in Persons.--The Statute for the Prevention of Child
and Juvenile Sexual Trafficking empowers the authorities to prosecute
any person who forces a child below the age of 18 to engage in sex or
sells or pawns such a child by other means. Provisions in the Criminal
Code can also be used to prosecute traffickers in persons above the age
of 18. Trafficking in persons was a problem.
The island remained a significant transit point and, to a lesser
extent, a destination for trafficked persons. There were reports of
organized crime rings trafficking small numbers of women for the
purpose of prostitution. The majority of cases involved women from
mainland China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. Criminal
gangs in mainland China reportedly used deceptive measures to recruit
and procure young women who were then trafficked to Taiwan-based
organized crime gangs who arranged sham marriages to enable them to
obtain visas to enter Taiwan and exploited them for purposes of
prostitution. Many of the victims were aware that they were to work as
prostitutes, but were deceived by the traffickers about what their pay
and working and living conditions would be upon arrival. Once in
Taiwan, they were kept isolated, their passports were held, and they
were threatened with violence if they did not cooperate. Small numbers
of young Malaysian women, primarily ethnic Chinese, were trafficked to
Taiwan for sexual exploitation. Burmese also were trafficked to Taiwan.
The authorities, academic experts, and NGO experts claimed that the
number of trafficking victims had decreased significantly in recent
years. During the first 7 months of the year, according to the MOJ, 102
persons were indicted and 162 were convicted in trafficking cases.
Taiwan remained a significant transit point for persons from
mainland China attempting to travel illegally to the United States and
other countries. Some of these illegal migrants became trafficking
victims in the destination countries. The law criminalizes alien
smuggling.
Police were trained in handling trafficking, prostitution, and
cases of domestic violence. The Government worked with NGOs to provide
counseling and medical assistance to victims as needed. Foreign victims
of trafficking were repatriated as quickly as possible.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities and sets minimum fines for various
violations. New public buildings, facilities, and transportation
equipment must be accessible to persons with disabilities, and, in
practice, this requirement was generally met. Violations of the law
resulted in fines of $1,765 to $8,824 (NT$60,000 to NT$300,000).
Existing public buildings were to be brought into conformity by 1995;
however, as of mid-year, there did not appear to be a substantial
effort aimed at refitting older buildings to accommodate persons with
disabilities.
According to MOI statistics, as of March, there were 861,631
persons with disabilities. One-third of the total were severely
disabled and received shelter or nursing care from the authorities. The
Disabled Welfare Law requires large public and private organizations to
hire persons with disabilities equal to 2 and 1 percent of their work
force, respectively. Organizations failing to do so must pay, for each
person with disabilities not hired, 50 percent of the basic monthly
salary approximately $227 (NT$8,000)) into the Disabled Welfare Fund,
which supports institutions involved in welfare for persons with
disabilities. Many organizations complained that it was difficult to
find qualified workers with disabilities, and they appeared to prefer
to pay the fines. Both the central and local governments established
committees for the protection of persons with disabilities.
Indigenous People.--The only non-Chinese minority group consists of
the aboriginal descendants of Malayo-Polynesians, who were well
established on the island when the first Chinese settlers arrived.
According to MOI statistics, as of March, there were 449,593
Aborigines, who accounted for about 2 percent of the population. More
than 70 percent were Christian, while the dominant Han Chinese were
largely Buddhist or Taoist. The civil and political rights of
Aborigines are protected under law. The National Assembly amended the
Constitution in 1992 and again in 1997 to upgrade the status of
aboriginal people, protect their right of political participation, and
to ensure their cultural, educational, and business development. In
addition, the authorities instituted social programs to help Aborigines
assimilate into the dominant Chinese society. The Government increased
the budget of the cabinet-level Council of Aboriginal Affairs from $164
million (NT$5.6 billion) in 2003 to $196 million (NT$6.6 billion) this
year.
During the school year, 264 schools nationwide offered aboriginal-
language classes in primary schools. The Ministry of Education
encouraged university education for Aborigines and worked to preserve
aboriginal culture, history, and language through the establishment of
aboriginal studies centers. To compete for government contracts the law
requires that a firm with at least 100 employees must include among its
employees a minimum of 1 percent of Aborigines and 1 percent of persons
with disabilities.
To address a longstanding grievance regarding their inability to
own their ancestral land, President Chen signed a partnership document
with representatives from all aborigine tribes recognizing their land
rights and allowing some form of autonomy. The Council of Aboriginal
Affairs, in addition to continuing the investigation and mapping of
traditional tribes and their territories, coordinated with other
ministries to draft or amend legislation on issues such as development
in the Aborigine reservations, zoning, national parks, and hot spring
tourism.
According to Council of Aboriginal Affairs statistics, in the 2002-
2003 school year, 98.99 percent of aborigine children completed
elementary school.
The sale of aborigine children into prostitution by their parents
reportedly no longer occurred.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--According to a 2003
survey conducted by the Taiwan Homosexual Human Rights Association,
more than 30 percent of homosexuals in Taiwan said they suffered
discrimination. Societal discrimination against persons with HIV and
AIDS was a problem, and some politicians made derogatory remarks about
persons with HIV and AIDS. However, the National Health Insurance
provides free screening and treatment, including anti-retroviral
therapy for all HIV-infected nationals.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Most workers in Taiwan have been
allowed to form unions and to associate for many years. However,
domestic employees do not have association rights and all teachers,
civil servants, and defense industry workers are excluded from all laws
protecting the right to strike and unionize. President Chen, during his
re-election campaign this year, pledged to amend the Constitution to
give all workers the right to association and collective bargaining.
Until 1995, teachers, civil servants, and defense industry workers
had no legal basis to form any type of worker association. In 1995, the
JY ruled that the right of association is protected by the
Constitution. In June 2002, the LY passed the Civil Servants
Association Law, which affords civil servants the right to organize
professional associations but does not permit them to organize labor
unions or to strike. Under the Teachers' Law, teachers may organize
associations to bargain with school administrators but they are not
allowed to organize labor unions or to strike. In September 2002, more
than 100,000 teachers from around the island gathered in Taipei to
protest not being allowed to form unions and to strike. In December
2003, teachers joined together to establish a national teachers' union
to enhance teacher rights. In June, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA)
denied a certification request by the teachers' union on the grounds
that teachers are precluded from forming unions under the Labor Union
Law. The dispute between the CLA and proposed union is under
litigation, and amendments to the Teachers Law and the Labor Union Law,
which would permit unionization was pending in the LY at year's end. In
April, the Kaohsiung Municipal Government decided not to apply the
Labor Law to teachers and allowed them to form unions based on the
Local Autonomy Law. At year's end, legislation protecting defense
workers' right to association had not been proposed.
A number of laws and regulations limit the right of association.
While labor unions may draw up their own rules and constitutions, they
must submit those rules and constitutions to their county and city
governments as well as the CLA national labor federation for review.
Labor unions may be dissolved if they do not meet certification
requirements or if their activities disturb public order. During the
year, there were no reports of political interference in labor union
affairs. However, some of the labor union leaders work closely and
cooperate with political parties that support them.
Workers other than teachers, civil servants, and defense industry
workers are protected by the Labor Law. Under the Labor Union Law,
employers may not refuse employment to, dismiss, or otherwise unfairly
treat workers because they are labor union members. The Labor Union Law
requires that labor union leaders be elected regularly by secret
ballot, and in recent years, workers have sometimes rejected
management-endorsed union slates. However, in practice, employers
sometimes dismissed labor union leaders without reasonable cause or
laid them off first during employee cutbacks, and according to the
Taiwan Labor Front, the law has no specific penalties for violations.
Labor unions may form confederations, and island-wide labor
federations, included the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions
(previously known as the National Federation of Industrial Unions), the
Chinese Labor Unions Federation, and the National Trade Union
Confederation.
The percentage of workers who were labor union members did not
increase in recent years in the face of a series of factory closure
layoffs, the shift from manufacturing to service industries, and the
small-scale and poor organization of most unions. As of March,
approximately 29 percent of the 10.2 million-person labor force
belonged to 4,189 registered labor unions.
In 1971, the People's Republic of China replaced Taiwan in the
International Labor Organization (ILO). However, Taiwan's Chinese
Federation of Labor attends the ILO annual meetings as an affiliate of
the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Except for the
categories of workers noted above, the Labor Union Law and the
Settlement of Labor Disputes Law give workers the right to organize and
bargain collectively.
The Collective Agreements Law provides for collective bargaining
but does not make it mandatory. The 314 collective agreements in force
in March 2003 involved roughly 28 percent of industrial labor unions
and covered a relatively small proportion of the total workforce.
Employers set wages generally in accordance with market conditions.
The law governing labor disputes recognizes the right of labor
unions to strike but imposes restrictions that in practice make legal
strikes difficult and seriously weaken collective bargaining. For
example, the authorities require mediation of labor/management disputes
when they deem the disputes to be sufficiently serious or to involve
``unfair practices.'' The law forbids both labor and management from
disrupting the ``working order'' when either mediation or arbitration
is in progress. The law mandates stiff penalties for violations of no-
strike and no-retaliation clauses. Employers in the past sometimes
ignored the law and dismissed or locked out workers without any legal
action being taken against them, although no such cases were reported
during the year.
Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, there were 36 strikes, of
which 23 involved workers at bus companies seeking increased pay and
reduced hours. According to CLA data, there were no strikes during the
year. Labor unions of state-run enterprises, such as Taiwan Tobacco and
Liquor Co., Taiwan Power Company, and Chunghwa Telecom, have
successfully used strike-threat, mass leave, and protest to slow down
the process of privatization. During the September 2003 Moon Festival
Holiday, one of the busiest travel periods of the year, the Taiwan
Railway Workers Union attempted a de facto strike by calling a general
meeting of all its members to protest the Government's goal of
privatizing the Taiwan Railway Administration. This job action was
generally ineffective as the trains were kept running, but, in the wake
of a threatened Lunar New Year strike during the year, the authorities
agreed to postpone privatization of the railways and to absorb all
debts of the Taiwan Railway Administration. In November 2003, the LY,
in response to a request by trade union leaders, agreed to establish an
advisory committee to monitor the privatization of state-run
enterprises to ensure a fair, open, and impartial process.
Firms in export processing zones were subject to the same laws
regarding treatment of labor unions as other firms and followed normal
practices including honoring collective bargaining agreements with
their unions.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including forced and compulsory labor by
children; however, there were several cases of forced child
prostitution prosecuted by the authorities (see Section 5).
In 1992, 66 women who had been forced to work as ``comfort women''
(women who, during World War II, were forced to provide sex to soldiers
of the Japanese Imperial Government) registered with the Taipei Women's
Rescue Foundation (TWRF). In 1999, TWRF helped nine of those still
alive to file a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court seeking
compensation of $81,300 (10 million Japanese Yen) per person and a
formal apology from the Japanese Government. In October 2002, the Tokyo
District Court ruled against the women. TWRF has filed an appeal in the
Tokyo High Court. At present, only seven of the nine women are still
alive.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Standards Law (LSL) stipulates age 15, the age at which
compulsory education ends, as the minimum age for employment. County
and city labor bureaus enforced minimum age laws effectively. The Child
Welfare Law, the Juvenile Welfare Law, and the Child and Juvenile
Sexual Transaction Prevention Act protect children from debt bondage,
prostitution, pornographic performances, and other illicit activities
specified in ILO Convention 182.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Standards Law (LSL)
addresses rights and obligations of employees and employers, but the
law was not well enforced in areas such as overtime work and pay or
retirement payments. By the end of 2003, the LSL covered 5.9 million of
Taiwan's 7.0 million salaried workers. Those not covered included
teachers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, and domestic workers. The
CLA conducted publicity campaigns to increase public awareness of the
law and operated telephone hotlines to accept complaints of LSL
violations. In June, the LY passed the Labor Pension Act, which
requires employers to put 6 percent of monthly wages into individual
employee accounts. Employees who covered under the Labor Standards Law
will be included in the act. The accounts will be associated with the
individual employee, not the employer, and be portable. The act will
take effect in July 2005 with a 1-year grace period.
The CLA did not increase the minimum monthly wage, which has
remained at $465 (NT$15,840) since 1998. While sufficient in less
expensive areas, this wage did not assure a decent standard of living
for a worker and family in urban areas such as Taipei. However, the
average manufacturing wage was more than double the legal minimum wage,
and the average for service industry employees was even higher. Legal
working hours are 84 hours per 2-week period. In the public sector,
there is a 5-day workweek. According to a CLA survey, 53 percent of
private enterprises also have reduced the normal workweek to 5 days. To
reduce the impact of the reduction in working hours on businesses, in
the LY amended the LSL to allow business to calculate work hours on an
8-week base, so that firms can arrange work hours in such a way as to
reduce the amount of overtime work.
The law provides standards for working conditions and health and
safety precautions and gives workers the right to remove themselves
from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to continued
employment. However, critics alleged that the CLA did not effectively
enforce workplace laws and regulations because it employed too few
inspectors. During the year, there were 277 inspectors available for
the approximately 280,000 enterprises covered by the Occupational
Safety and Health Law. However, by combining health inspections with
safety inspections, the number of health and safety inspections
increased 21 percent from 71,848 in 2002 to 86,774 in 2003. The CLA
maintained that it had strengthened its safety checks at workplaces
with a greater risk of worker injury and it offered training programs
to help workers protect their rights. Since many enterprises were
small, family-owned operations employing relatives unlikely to report
violations, actual adherence to the hours, wage, and safety sections of
various labor laws was difficult to document but was believed to be
minimal in these smaller enterprises.
The CLA has adopted a series of measures to restrict the number of
foreign workers in major public construction projects, key
manufacturing investment projects, and the manufacturing sector, thus
reducing the number of foreign workers by 15,000 workers per year over
the past several years. The number of legal foreign workers decreased
from 327,000 in 2000 to approximately 300,000 at the end of 2003. By
May, however, the number of foreign workers increased to 304,000
largely due to Taiwan's economic recovery and the lifting of a ban from
allowing foreign workers to work on major public construction projects.
Of the 304,000 foreign workers 102,000 are from Thailand, 86,000 from
the Philippines, 70,000 from Vietnam, and 45,000 from Indonesia.
The law stipulates that foreign workers who are employed legally
receive the same protection as local workers. However, the CLA in 1998,
allowed family maids, including foreign family maids, to be exempted
from the LSL, denying them the right to safeguards provided to
citizens. Moreover, authorities stated that in many cases, illegal
foreign workers, many from Thailand and the Philippines, received board
and lodging from their employers but no medical coverage, accident
insurance, or other benefits enjoyed by citizens. In response to
deteriorating economic conditions, the Government adopted a proposal by
the Economic Development Advisory Conference allowing room and board
expenses for foreign workers to be treated as in-kind payments and
deducted from foreign workers' pay. The CLA set the ceiling of these
deductions at $117 (NT$4,000) per month.
Illegal foreign workers also were vulnerable to employer
exploitation in the form of confiscation of passports (making it
difficult to change employers), imposition of involuntary deductions
from wages, and extension of working hours without overtime pay. There
also were reports that foreign workers often paid high agency fees to
obtain jobs. In addition, observers reported that conditions in many
small- and medium-sized factories that employed illegal foreign labor
were dangerous, due to old and poorly maintained equipment. Observers
alleged that legal foreign workers were sometimes similarly exploited.
The CLA urged employers not to mistreat foreign workers, and employers
were subject to the same penalties for mistreating foreign workers as
for mistreating citizen workers. In an effort to reduce broker fees,
the CLA revoked permits of agencies charging excessive fees, and local
governments inspected agency hiring practices. The CLA also negotiated
direct hire agreements with labor-sending countries, and encouraged
NGOs to establish nonprofit employment service organizations to assist
foreign laborers in locating employment.
In November 2002, the CLA rescinded regulations requiring the
deportation of foreign laborers who became pregnant and further amended
regulations to allow them to switch to jobs with lighter workloads. The
CLA has established 24 offices around the island to provide counseling
and other services to foreign workers, and it provided financial
assistance to city and county governments to conduct inspections of
places where foreign workers were employed. It also attempted to reduce
the number of illegal foreign workers.
__________
EAST TIMOR
East Timor became a fully independent republic in May 2002,
following approximately 2 years under the authority of the U.N.
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The country has a
parliamentary form of government with its first parliament formed from
the 88-member Constituent Assembly chosen in free and fair, U.N.-
supervised elections in 2001. The 29-member Cabinet is dominated by the
Fretilin Party, which won the majority of assembly seats. Mari
Alkatiri, Fretilin's Secretary General, is Prime Minister and Head of
Government, and Xanana Gusmao, elected in free and fair elections in
2002, is President and Head of State. UNTAET's mandate ended with
independence, but a successor organization, the U.N. Mission of Support
in East Timor (UNMISET), was established. The Constitution provides
that ``laws and regulations in force continue to be applicable to all
matters except to the extent that they are inconsistent with the
Constitution.'' Under this provision, many Indonesian and UNTAET laws
and regulations remain in effect. Regulations providing for an
independent judiciary generally were respected; however, the judicial
system was inefficient and, at times, inconsistent.
UNMISET maintains responsibility and command of the U.N. Peace
Keeping Force (UNPKF) and the U.N. Police Forces (UNPOL). On May 20,
UNMISET ceded authority for maintaining internal security to the
national police force (PNTL, or Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste) and
external security to the national defense force (F-FDTL, or Falintil-
Forca Defesa Timor-Leste). The UNPKF remained as a rapid response force
and border patrol. UNPOL operations were limited to a small advisory
unit to assist in the development of the PNTL. The PNTL is responsible
to the civilian Minister of the Interior. According to the
Constitution, F-FDTL is responsible to the Superior Council for Defense
and Security, a civilian body headed by the President; however, at
year's end, the Superior Council had not been established, and F-FDTL
was supervised by the civilian Secretary of State for Defense. Civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security
forces; however, there were a few instances in which members of the
security forces acted independently of government authority. Some
members of the PNTL and F-FDTL committed human rights abuses.
The country is extremely poor, with two-thirds to three-fourths of
the population of 924,000 persons engaged in subsistence agriculture.
Per capita gross domestic product was approximately $430. The majority
of the population had basic shelter and sufficient food supplies. An
estimated 70 to 80 percent of the country's infrastructure was severely
damaged by the systematic scorched-earth campaign that Indonesian
military and militia forces conducted in 1999 as they withdrew. The
rural agricultural economy has recovered significantly, but the country
remained dependent on imported food. Coffee remained the territory's
only significant export. In 2002, the country concluded an interim
agreement with Australia to share revenue from a portion of the
potentially lucrative Timor Gap oil and gas region. Property ownership
disputes and the lack of a comprehensive commercial code hindered
investment and related long-term development. Urban unemployment and
wage and price inflation remained significant problems. Most observers
believed that the country would remain heavily dependent on foreign
assistance for the next several years.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were
numerous reports of excessive use of force and abuse of authority by
police officers. Prolonged pretrial detention was a problem. The rights
to due process and to an expeditious and fair trial often were denied
or restricted, largely due to severe shortages of resources and lack of
trained personnel in the legal system; there also were reports of abuse
of authority by government officials. It was not clear how many
refugees or displaced persons wished to return to the country but
feared reprisals from militias in West Timor or attacks and harassment
by returnees suspected of being former militia members. Domestic
violence against women was a problem, and there were instances of rape
and sexual abuse. The country lacked the infrastructure to care
adequately for persons with mental or physical disabilities. Child
labor in the informal sector occurred, and there were reports of
trafficking in persons.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
There were no developments in the investigation of the September
2003 killing of fugitive militia leader Francisco Vegas Bili Atu by a
member of the PNTL. While the officer claimed the shooting was in self-
defense, there were credible reports that excessive force may have been
used. There also were no developments in the case of the former militia
members arrested after attacking a bus near Aidabaleten in February
2003, in which two persons were killed and several others injured.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and the
Government generally respected the prohibition against torture;
however, there were incidents of cruel or degrading treatment by police
officers. For example, on April 3, a member of a foreign military team
on an official training mission suffered a broken nose and severe
bruising from a beating by police officers after he allegedly left the
scene of a traffic accident. The Professional Standards Unit (PSU) of
the PNTL investigated the officers involved and recommended discipline
to the PNTL Commissioner. At year's end, the Ministry of the Interior
had referred the case to the Office of the Prosecutor General for
possible criminal prosecution but had not imposed administrative
discipline against the perpetrators, and at least one of the officers
involved had been promoted to a position of greater authority. On May
24, several PNTL officers assaulted two men who appeared intoxicated at
a cockfight in Dili. The officers sprayed the men with pepper spray and
punched and kicked them. The officers reportedly continued to beat the
men while they were in police custody. The case was investigated by the
PSU, which forwarded a report to the PNTL Commissioner; at year's end,
no action had been taken against the officers. On June 18, several
members of the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) of the PNTL assaulted a
security guard at a Dili restaurant. A UIR officer kicked the security
guard and beat him with a baton. The victim claimed to have been
knocked unconscious. The PSU investigated the case, and a criminal case
was pending at year's end, but all officers involved remained on active
duty. On September 22, a man driving an overloaded car was stopped by
members of the UIR accompanied by the Minister of the Interior. When
the man argued with a UIR officer about the legality of the number of
persons in his car, the UIR officer beat the man, in the presence of
the Minister of the Interior, until the victim began to bleed. The
driver reported the incident to the President, who asked the Government
to investigate the matter. The Office of Human Rights in the Prime
Minister's Office reportedly was investigating the incident.
On July 20, police officers dispersed a nonviolent demonstration in
the parking lot of the Palacio do Governo, which holds the offices of
the Prime Minister and other senior government officials. When the
demonstrators refused a request to move their demonstration across the
street, police used tear gas and excessive force to disperse the group.
UIR officers beat several protesters, including some who were
attempting to flee or who had been placed in police custody. In August,
17 members of the Comite Popular de Defesa-Republica Democratica de
Timor-Leste (CPD-RDTL), a fringe political movement that sometimes
claims to be the true government of the country, were arrested without
a warrant in the village of Viqueque. The men initially were taken from
Viqueque to Baucau, where they were detained for several days before
being taken to Dili. There were allegations that the men were beaten
and deprived of food during their detention. After a court in Dili
ordered the men released, they were transported to Viqueque. One man
died, presumably from exhaustion, while walking from Viqueque to his
village.
There were no developments in the July 2003 case in which a police
officer reportedly participated in beating and burning with cigarettes
a 16-year-old deaf and mute boy who had been accused of petty theft.
Between November 10 and November 28, members of the PNTL beat
several CPD-RDTL members in remote areas of Covalima district. Police
also fired what they claimed were warning shots, but the CPD-RDTL
members claimed the shots were fired at them. These attacks appeared to
have been in retaliation for the destruction of a bridge near Suai,
allegedly by CPD-RDTL members. Since no complaint was lodged with the
PSU, no government agency opened an investigation.
Occasional clashes between members of the PNTL and the F-FDTL
remained a problem. In January, a confrontation in Los Palos, in which
a number of PNTL officers were temporarily detained by F-FDTL soldiers,
led to the creation of an independent commission by the President to
investigate the problems faced by F-FDTL and recommend solutions. On
December 16, a group of F FDTL soldiers ransacked a PNTL station where
a sergeant in the armed forces had been detained and allegedly
mistreated. Another PNTL officer was beaten at his home by two F-FDTL
soldiers, allegedly because of his involvement in the case, and there
were reports of retaliatory attacks by PNTL members on F FDTL members.
This incident prompted senior government officials to call for a
coordinated effort to resolve outstanding issues between the police and
the armed forces. At year's end, the only concrete actions that had
been taken were a series of high-profile goodwill meetings and a soccer
game between the PNTL and the F-FDTL, in which the President served as
referee.
There were reports of sexual abuse by police officers during the
year. In May, three PNTL officers, including a police subinspector,
were credibly accused of raping a 16-year-old girl. The PNTL officers
allegedly forced the girl into a police vehicle at gunpoint and took
her to a police training compound on the outskirts of Dili, where the
rape took place. The officers were suspended from duty and briefly held
in prison to await trial; however, by year's end, the officers had been
released. At least three other officers, including one who had
previously been implicated in the assault on the foreign military team
member, were accused of raping the girl on previous occasions. These
officers also were released pending further investigation of the
incident. The PSU conducted an investigation, and the case was
forwarded to the Prosecutor General; however, at year's end, no
administrative actions had been taken on this case, and no date was set
for trial. On September 11, an off-duty police officer forcibly entered
the home of a 12-year-old girl who allegedly had been statutorily raped
by the officer's 19-year-old brother. The officer reportedly threatened
the girl and her parents with his pistol and baton. After initially
claiming the incident was a ``family matter,'' police opened an
investigation. At year's end, no administrative action had been taken.
The delay or refusal by police to investigate allegations of rape or
domestic violence was a common problem (see Section 5).
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
prison facilities were deteriorating, and there were a few reports of
undisciplined behavior by prison guards. At Gleno prison, the
deterioration of infrastructure gave rise to safety and security
concerns, and there were severe water shortages as well as reports of
mistreatment of prisoners.
There were no developments in the criminal case filed against a
guard who, in June 2003, reportedly beat and injured an inmate at
Baucau prison while other guards watched.
Becora prison, which had a separate cellblock for juveniles, was
used to incarcerate juvenile prisoners unless they requested to be
incarcerated elsewhere. There were no separate juvenile facilities at
the Gleno or Baucau prisons. All female prisoners were held in separate
facilities in Gleno and Baucau. There were two full-time social workers
to deal with juveniles, women, the elderly, and mentally ill inmates.
All prisons operated at or very near capacity throughout the year.
There were no reports of severe overcrowding.
The Government permitted prison visits by the International
Committee of the Red Cross and independent human rights observers.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there were a few instances in
which these provisions were violated. In a number of cases, persons
were arrested and detained but ultimately not charged with crimes.
Although this sometimes happened due to misunderstandings or because an
investigation exculpated the suspect, the circumstances of other cases
suggested that law enforcement officers may have held detainees as a
form of punishment. For instance, on November 7, two former PNTL
officers, who had recently resigned to accept positions as security
guards with an embassy, were arrested and detained for 48 hours by
direct order of the Minister of the Interior, allegedly because they
had not properly resigned from PNTL; however, they were accused of no
crime, and the penalties prescribed by law for violations of internal
police disciplinary regulations do not include detention.
The PNTL remained poorly equipped and undertrained, and there were
numerous credible allegations of abuse of authority (see Section 1.c.),
mishandling of firearms, and corruption. Reports of abuse of authority
and unprofessional conduct increased after policing authority was
transferred from the U.N. to the PNTL.
The PSU investigated allegations of police misconduct and reported
its findings to the PNTL Commissioner. Cases of severe misconduct were
referred to a newly established committee chaired by a vice minister of
the Ministry of the Interior. At year's end, this committee had a
backlog of approximately 75 cases. During the year, some officers were
punished for relatively minor misconduct, and, in at least two cases,
police officers were convicted and sentenced for assaults committed
while on duty; however, by year's end, no action had been taken in a
number of cases involving serious misconduct, and some of the alleged
perpetrators were promoted to positions of greater authority. There
were allegations that personal connections within the police force were
a factor in some cases.
The PNTL often were slow to respond, willing to overlook required
procedures, or ill-equipped to complete an investigation or arrest. In
March, police reportedly claimed they had no vehicle available to
investigate the case of a woman who died under suspicious circumstances
in Liquica. Victims and suspects often were transported in the same
vehicle, due to the limited availability of transportation.
In a few cases, police were influenced by political pressures. In
March, a district police commander was suspended after he refused
instructions from his superiors to stop a rally in Suai held by an
opposition party. In July, a CPD-RDTL member was arrested without a
warrant after he and other members of the group hung antigovernment
banners and as they reportedly were planning an antigovernment
demonstration.
During the year, there was increased concern within society and
among international observers regarding the independence of the police.
For example, on March 26, the Minister of the Interior reinstated a UIR
officer who had been dismissed on March 10 after an investigation by
the PSU found him guilty of assaulting a civilian. Newspaper reports
quoted the Minister to the effect that perhaps the ``foreigner'' (the
victim) had denigrated or sneered at the police officer or offended
him, or that the PNTL officer believed that he had been denigrated. In
November, the Minister ordered the arrest and detention of two police
officers who had resigned, although there was no apparent legal basis
for the detention (see Section 1.d.).
Government regulations require a hearing within 72 hours of arrest
to review the lawfulness of the arrest and detention and also to
provide the right to a trial without undue delay. However, because of a
shortage of magistrates, many suspects were forced to wait longer than
72 hours for a hearing. This situation was particularly acute in areas
that did not have a local magistrate or where authorities lacked means
to transport suspects to a hearing. Some prosecutors, in violation of
regulations, granted police the authority to detain persons beyond 72
hours.
A 2003 ruling by the Court of Appeals stated that the pretrial
detention limit of 6 months and the requirement that such detentions be
reviewed every 30 days need not apply in cases involving certain
serious crimes; however, the 30-day review deadline was missed in a
large number of cases involving less serious crimes, and a majority of
the prison population consisted of pretrial detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary. The law provides that judges shall perform their
duties ``independently and impartially'' without ``improper
influence.'' UNTAET regulations, still in force, include a Prosecution
Law that requires public prosecutors to discharge their duties
impartially. These provisions generally were respected.
The court system includes four district courts (Dili, Baucau, Suai,
and Oecussi) and a national Court of Appeals in Dili. The Ministry of
Justice is responsible for administration of the courts and prisons and
also provides defense representation. The Prosecutor General is
responsible for initiating indictments and prosecutions. The Government
had difficulty establishing the justice sector institutions and
recruiting and training qualified judges, prosecutors, and defense
attorneys. The judiciary's shortage of personnel, as well as
bureaucratic and managerial inefficiency, contributed to the inability
to provide for expeditious trials (see Section 1.d.). The lack of
qualified prosecutors and technical staff for the office of the
Prosecutor General led to a backlog of more than 3,000 cases by year's
end.
The Appeals Court, responsible for adjudicating appeals from the
district courts, became fully functional and heard its first cases in
July 2003. Until a Supreme Court is established, the Appeals Court
remains the country's highest tribunal.
Personnel shortages affected the entire legal system, but it
disproportionately affected the operations of the Baucau, Oecussi, and
Suai district courts, which operated at irregular intervals. The
shortage of trained personnel also led to trials that did not fulfill
prescribed legal procedures. For instance, in one case, the prosecutor
did not appear for a scheduled hearing, and the judge ordered a court
clerk, who also was a law student, to serve in lieu of the prosecutor
so that the hearing could go forward. The arrival of four international
judges in October was designed in part to clear the district courts'
backlog, but at year's end, it was not clear what effect these judges
would have.
Most trial judges and prosecutors had been trained only in
Indonesian law and received their legal education in the Indonesian
language, while most appellate judges and many senior government
officials were trained elsewhere and spoke little or no Indonesian. The
Court of Appeals operated primarily in Portuguese. The UNTAET
regulations, many of which still are in force, were available in
English, Portuguese, and Indonesian, as well as in Tetum, the language
most widely spoken in the country. Laws enacted by Parliament, intended
to supplant gradually the Indonesian laws and UNTAET regulations, were
published only in Portuguese, and many litigants, witnesses, and
criminal defendants were unable to read the new laws. As of October 1,
a decision by the Superior Council of Magistrates required that trials
be conducted solely in Portuguese and Tetum.
The Serious Crimes Unit (SCU), established by UNTAET in 2000, is
responsible for investigations and indictments concerning genocide, war
crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, sexual offenses, and torture
that occurred in 1999. By year's end, the SCU had filed 95 indictments
against 391 persons. Of these, 290 indictees remained at large in
Indonesia with little chance of being returned to stand trial. In 2000,
UNTAET established the Special Panels on Serious Crimes within the Dili
District Court to try those charged with the mass killings and other
gross human rights violations committed in 1999. The two Special
Panels, each of which consists of two foreign judges and a local judge,
have exclusive and ``universal'' jurisdiction to adjudicate cases
concerning these human rights violations. By year's end, the Special
Panels had handed down 76 convictions, 2 acquittals, and 2 indictment
dismissals; a total of 9 indictments involving 20 defendants and 1
appeal were pending. Pursuant to U.N. Security Council resolutions, the
SCU ceased investigating cases in November. The Special Panels for
Serious Crimes were scheduled to cease operations on May 20, 2005. The
Ad Hoc Tribunal, based in Indonesia, failed to achieve accountability
for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor in 1999. The U.N.
has stated its intention to appoint a Commission of Experts to evaluate
the Ad Hoc Tribunal and the SCU and recommend the next steps for
achieving accountability. In December, the Governments of Indonesia and
East Timor agreed to form a bilateral Truth and Friendship Commission
to address a broad range of bilateral issues, including accountability.
At year's end, the upcoming dissolution of the SCU led to increased
public support for an international tribunal or other mechanism to
bring to justice those indictees who remained at large in Indonesia.
The SCU worked very closely with the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of East Timor (CAVR, or Comissao de Acolhimento, Verdade e
Reconciliacao de Timor Leste). While the SCU is mandated to investigate
and prosecute crimes against humanity committed in 1999, the CAVR
investigated less egregious human rights violations that occurred
between April 1974 and October 1999. CAVR also facilitated
reconciliation between victims and perpetrators of these violations
(see Section 4). The CAVR was scheduled to publish its final report and
cease operations in July 2005.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however,
there were a few reports of arbitrary interference with privacy,
family, home, and correspondence. For example, in 2003, the Government
seized the home of a popular opposition leader on questionable legal
grounds and repeatedly has ignored court orders barring any
construction on the property until the legal ownership is determined.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, there were a few instances
in which government officials attempted to interfere with the press. An
editor of one of the two major local newspapers cited several instances
in which senior government officials cautioned the editorial staff
against overt criticism of various ministries and the police force. In
addition, government officials reportedly instructed the television
station to cease broadcasting images of police assaulting civilians
after a July 20 demonstration (see Section 1.c.). The journalist who
made the film reported that government officials told him that he
should not make the film available to others.
There were two daily newspapers, three weeklies, and several
newspapers that appeared sporadically. Their editorials frequently
criticized the Government and other political entities; however, fear
of defamation suits inhibited the willingness of some media outlets to
criticize the Government. Libel and defamation are criminal offenses
under Indonesian statutes that have remained in force pending enactment
of a criminal code, but no prosecutions were brought under these
statutes.
The Public Broadcast Service (PBS) owned and operated a radio
station and a television station. The PBS radio service was available
throughout the country. The PBS broadcast television was available only
in Dili and Baucau. In addition to the PBS radio station, there were 16
community radio stations, including at least 1 in each district. Radio
was the most important news medium for most of the country.
There were no legal or administrative restrictions on Internet
access.
The Government generally did not restrict academic freedom;
however, in April, the Council of Ministers issued a decree law
requiring that academic research on Tetum and other indigenous
languages be approved by the National Language Institute (INL). It gave
the INL the power to refuse to authorize linguistic research that ``has
no scientific merit'' or that ``would not be advantageous to the
country.'' Foreign researchers must obtain authorization from the INL
``under penalty of manifest illegality.'' There were no reports during
the year that this law had been applied to prevent academic research or
to punish researchers.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedom of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights; however, there were a few
cases in which these rights were violated. In March, PNTL officers
raided a house in the village of Uatulari where an opposition party was
holding a public meeting. Police claimed that the party had not
obtained a permit for the meeting; however, under the law, a permit is
not necessary for a meeting in a private home. The persons in the
meeting were detained at the local police station for several hours
before being released.
In December, the Parliament approved a bill that would impose
greater restrictions on the freedom of assembly. For example, the law
as introduced would have required protesters to remain at least 500
meters away from any government building or foreign embassy. Although
Parliament amended the bill to reduce this distance to 100 meters, the
bill as passed would also prohibit demonstrations that challenge the
constitutional order or ``transgress against the respect and
consideration due'' to the President or a Cabinet member. The ``respect
and consideration'' provision states that it is ``without prejudice to
the right to criticize.'' At year's end, the President had yet to
promulgate or veto the legislation.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. More than 90 percent of the population was Roman Catholic,
and there were small Protestant and Muslim minorities. Generally,
religious minorities were well integrated in society.
Between November 21 and December 1, a group of Muslims of Malay
descent who had occupied a Dili mosque for 3 years were deported to
Indonesia. The group had experienced difficulty integrating into
society and obtaining citizenship. Ethnic Timorese Muslims have not
faced the same difficulties.
During the year, there were some reports that Protestant
evangelists and their converts had been threatened and, in some cases,
assaulted by members of the communities in which they were
proselytizing, and that the legal system was slow to respond to these
charges.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The conflicts in 1999 and anti-independence militia activity in
2000 and 2001 resulted in 250,000 East Timorese fleeing their homes and
crossing the border into West Timor. By 2003, roughly 225,000 had
returned home. During the year, an additional small number of refugees
returned from West Timor.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status to persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating
to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum; however, there were concerns that the
country's regulations governing asylum and refugee status may preclude
genuine refugees from proving their eligibility for such status. For
example, persons who wish to apply for asylum have only 72 hours to do
so after entry into the country. Foreign nationals already present in
the country have only 72 hours to initiate the process after the
situation in their home country becomes too dangerous for them to
return safely. A number of human rights and refugee advocates
maintained that this time limit contravenes the 1951 Convention. These
advocates also expressed concern that no written reasons are required
when an asylum application is denied.
There were nine applicants for asylum during the year. At year's
end, three had been accepted along with three others who had applied in
2003 under the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) mandate.
After the promulgation of the 2003 Immigration and Asylum Act, the
Government assumed responsibility from UNHCR for adjudicating asylum
claims. Throughout the year, UNHCR continued to mentor immigration
officials to ensure that asylum applications were processed according
to treaty guidelines. The Government instituted a process whereby all
asylum applications must be approved by the Minister of the Interior.
There was concern that this could lead to unnecessary delays.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully through periodic elections. In 2002, Xanana
Gusmao was inaugurated as the first President, and, in accordance with
the Constitution, the members of the Constituent Assembly were sworn in
as the first National Parliament. Mari Alkatiri became the first Prime
Minister of the country. The 88-member Assembly, elected in 2001, was
charged with writing a constitution, which was completed in 2002 and
came into effect upon independence. Some observers criticized the
provision under which the Constituent Assembly automatically became the
Parliament and a parliamentary election is not required until 5 years
after independence.
Corruption in the executive and legislative branch was not
considered a significant problem; however, there were credible rumors
of petty corruption at the nation's port. In addition, customs and
border officials were suspected of facilitating the smuggling of
gasoline, tobacco, and alcohol across the border from neighboring
Indonesia. In March, a company filed a lawsuit against Australia,
Indonesia and other parties, alleging the parties had stolen the
company's right to develop oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.
Included in the suit were accusations that senior executive and
legislative officials in East Timor accepted several million dollars in
bribes from a rival firm. The suit was ongoing at year's end.
The Constitution stipulates that all legislation, Supreme Court
decisions, and decisions made by government bodies must be published in
the official gazette. Failure to publish them renders them null and
void. Regulations also provide for public access to court proceedings
and decisions. In addition, rules governing the national budget and
accounts ensure public access. The country's draft petroleum fund law
was consistent with internationally acceptable principles of
transparency and oversight.
There were 23 women in the 88-seat Assembly. Women held two senior
cabinet positions--Minister of State and Minister of Finance and
Planning--and three vice minister positions. One of the three judges on
the Appeals Court was a woman.
The country's small ethnic minority groups were well integrated
into society. The number of members of these groups in Parliament and
other government positions was uncertain. Both the Prime Minister and
the Secretary of State for Defense were members of ethnic minority
groups.
During the year, independent election authorities, assisted by
UNMISET advisors, carried out a voter registration, and the list of
registered voters was published for public scrutiny in October. Local
elections using the new list began in December and were scheduled to be
completed by June 2005. Technical difficulties plagued the first day of
polling on December 18; however, the national election commission moved
quickly to rectify the problems.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) have played an active role in assisting and
advising in the development of the country, and numerous NGOs were
established over the last 3 years.
According to the controversial 2003 Immigration and Asylum Act,
foreigners are prohibited from taking part in political activities.
This provision could preclude foreigners and international NGOs from
assisting labor unions or projects to promote the development of civil
society, and it could also allow the Government to restrict noncitizens
from monitoring the criminal or judicial systems. In addition, the law
allows the Government to prohibit foreigners from holding conferences
and cultural exhibitions if the Government believes that the activities
would jeopardize the interests of the country. An exception in the law
exempts activities contracted by government institutions, funded by
bilateral or multilateral assistance programs, and aimed at training or
strengthening democratic institutions that are constitutional and
regulated by law or strictly academic in nature. In November 2003,
government officials threatened to use the act against the
International Republican Institute (IRI), apparently in response to
press reports that characterized the results of an IRI-sponsored public
opinion poll as unfavorable to the Prime Minister. Members of
Parliament told the IRI that the President of Parliament had ordered
them to stop attending meetings of the Women's Caucus that were
sponsored by the IRI.
On April 27, Parliament promulgated a law establishing the
constitutionally mandated Office of the Provedor (Ombudsman) for Human
Rights and Justice, although by year's end, the position had not yet
been filled. Parliament reconvened in a special session on August 16 to
consider the three nominees for the position; however, none of the
candidates obtained a majority vote, and the President of Parliament
announced that the process for nominations would be reopened.
Parliament again attempted to elect a Provedor on October 25. However,
neither of the 2 remaining candidates received an absolute majority,
due to the absence of 10 members of Parliament. A third election for
Provedor was to be scheduled for early 2005.
The CAVR, charged with inquiring into past human rights violations,
is headed by 7 national commissioners and 29 regional commissioners in
6 regional offices. The CAVR seeks truth and reconciliation through
testimonials by victims and perpetrators of human rights violations.
The CAVR held numerous reconciliation meetings in locations throughout
the country. In December 2003, the CAVR held a 4-day public hearing on
internal political conflict between 1974 and 1976, in which several
victims and current government leaders publicly discussed the breakdown
of relations among domestic political parties and subsequent violence
and related human rights violations during the period between
Portugal's decision to decolonize the country in 1974 and Indonesia's
intervention in late 1975. In March, the CAVR held its final public
hearing, dedicated to the topic of violence against children. Twelve
witnesses testified on the effect of the various stages of the armed
struggle on the lives of children, both before and during the
Indonesian occupation.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Government regulations prohibit all forms of discrimination.
Nonetheless, violence against women was a problem, and discrimination
against women, persons with disabilities, and members of minority
groups occurred.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a significant problem
and sometimes was exacerbated by the reluctance of authorities to
respond aggressively to cases of alleged domestic violence. In some
cases, a lack of resources was used to justify official inaction and
failure to investigate or prosecute cases involving violence against
women.
Failures to investigate or prosecute, as well as long delays, also
were common in cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse. For example, the
PNTL conducted an investigation in a 2003 case in which a woman
allegedly was raped by a member of the F-FDTL. However, at year's end,
the case had been delayed and postponed numerous times, and it had not
been heard by the district court.
Government regulations prohibit persons from organizing
prostitution; however, under Indonesian laws still in force,
prostitution itself is not illegal. Nevertheless, women accused of
prostitution often were arrested, and some were mistreated while in
detention. The Government deported some foreign women for alleged
prostitution on the ground that they had violated the terms of their
visas.
There were no reports of gender-based employment discrimination
during the year; however, women usually deferred to men when job
opportunities arose at the village level.
Some customary practices discriminate against women. For example,
in some regions or villages where traditional practices hold sway,
women may not inherit or own property.
UNTAET created a Gender Affairs Unit that has continued as the
Office for the Promotion of Equality within the Prime Minister's
office. The unit provided training to women entering public service and
attempted to ensure that women had a voice in government and civil
society structures.
The East Timorese Women's Forum and East Timorese Women Against
Violence offered some assistance to female victims of violence and
established a women and children's shelter for victims of domestic
violence and incest. Other NGOs supported women through microcredit
lending.
Children.--The Constitution stipulates that primary education shall
be compulsory and free; however, no legislation has been adopted
establishing the minimum level of education to be provided, nor has a
system been established to provide for free education. According to a
U.N. study, approximately 25 percent of primary education age children
nationwide were not enrolled in school; the figures for rural areas
were substantially worse than those for urban areas. Only 30 percent of
children in lower secondary education (ages 13 to 15) were enrolled,
with an even greater difference between urban and rural areas. At least
10 percent of children did not begin school. These statistics were
fairly consistent for both male and female students.
The low rate of vaccinations against communicable diseases was a
serious problem. The U.N. estimated that only 5 percent of children
between 12 and 23 months had been fully vaccinated, and 58 percent of
children in this age range had not received any vaccinations. Under the
U.N.'s Extended Program on Immunization, vaccinations and refrigeration
equipment have been supplied to clinics in locations around the
country. However, accessibility to these clinics and the lack of
understanding of the need for vaccinations remained problems.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in women and
children, whether for prostitution or for forced labor; however, during
the year, there were several reports of women and girls trafficked into
the country for prostitution. In most reported trafficking cases, the
victims and the traffickers were foreign nationals. While both PNTL and
UNPOL conducted raids on brothels and massage parlors in Dili during
the year, there were credible reports that some police and customs
officials were guilty of collusion with such establishments or with
those who trafficked foreign women into the country to work in these
establishments. In October 2003, authorities raided a Dili hotel and
discovered a foreigner running a brothel with five women who had been
recruited in Thailand with promises of employment as masseuses. Once in
Dili, they were required to engage in prostitution. The women were not
allowed to leave the establishment without permission, and their
passports were confiscated by the brothel's owner. In court, the women
were issued a deportation order, and at least one woman returned to
Thailand. UNMISET officials and local NGO leaders cited several
instances in which foreign women, usually of Chinese, Indonesian, or
Thai origin, reported that they had been trafficked to the country and
were being held against their will. For example, two Indonesian women
interviewed by a local NGO stated that they had been hired by a
businessman in Jakarta to work as housekeepers in a Dili hotel. When
they arrived in Dili, the man confiscated their passports and confined
the women to his house, telling them that they had to work as
prostitutes to pay back their travel expenses.
UNMISET and the Government established a working group to monitor
and control trafficking. The Alola Foundation, an NGO headed by First
Lady Kirsty Sword Gusmao, provided assistance to female victims of
trafficking and advised the Government on trafficking-related issues.
Persons With Disabilities.--Although the Constitution protects the
rights of persons with disabilities, the Government has not enacted
legislation or otherwise mandated accessibility to buildings for
persons with disabilities, nor does the law prohibit discrimination
against persons with disabilities. There were no reports of
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment,
education, or the provision of other state services; however, difficult
access to schools in many districts resulted in many children with
disabilities not attending school. Training and vocational initiatives
did not give attention to the needs of persons with disabilities.
During the year, some persons with mental disabilities faced
discriminatory or degrading treatment due in part to a lack of
appropriate treatment resources. On February 8, a man suffering from a
mental illness was arrested after he allegedly assaulted two police
officers. The man was placed in Becora prison, which did not have
facilities for mentally ill prisoners, and he was not provided access
to psychiatric care until UNMISET officials referred the case to the
Ministry of Health. In February, policed detained a mentally ill man
for several days in a police station because there were no mental
health facilities to care for him.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Relations are generally good
between the ethnic Timorese majority and members of several small
ethnic minority groups; however, there were occasional reports of
discrimination against ethnic Chinese (who are less than 1 percent of
the population) and ethnic-Malay Muslims. An historic tension between
residents of the eastern part of the country, whose cultures and
languages are partly of Papuan origin, and the Austronesian inhabitants
of the western part of the country had largely subsided by the time of
independence, but it was an occasional aggravating factor in personal
and political disputes.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The country has a labor code based on
the International Labor Organization's standards. The law permits
workers to form and join worker organizations without prior
authorization. Unions may draft their own constitutions and rules and
elect their representatives; however, attempts to organize workers
generally have been slowed by inexperience and a lack of organizational
skills. During the year, the Government established official
registration procedures for trade unions and employer organizations.
The Immigration and Asylum Act prohibits foreigners from
participating in the administration of trade unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--While
collective bargaining is permitted, workers generally had little
experience negotiating contracts, promoting worker rights, or engaging
in collective bargaining and negotiations.
The law provides for the right to strike, but few workers exercised
this right during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Government
regulations prohibit forced and compulsory labor, including by
children; however, there were reports that in November, PNTL officers
in Covalima district forced members of CPD-RDTL to perform labor as a
form of punishment.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code largely prohibits children under 18 from working; however,
there are circumstances under which children between the ages of 15 to
18 can work, and there are even exceptional exemptions for children
under 15. The minimum age did not apply to family-owned businesses, and
many children worked in the agricultural sector. In practice,
enforcement of the Labor Code outside of Dili was limited.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Code does not
stipulate a minimum wage; however, employers generally used and
employees expected a wage of $85 per month as a minimum standard. This
amount provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The Labor Code provides for a maximum workweek of 40 hours per week and
standard benefits such as overtime, minimum standards of worker health
and safety, and days off. As required by the Labor Code, the Government
nominated members to the National Labor Board and the Labor Relations
Board. These boards received several weeks of training and began work
early in the year. There are no restrictions on the rights of workers
to file complaints and seek redress within these codes or other
legislation. Workers have the right to remove themselves from hazardous
conditions without jeopardizing employment; however, it was not clear
that they could avail themselves of this right in practice. The law
treats all workers, legal and illegal, the same in terms of wages and
working conditions.
__________
FIJI
Fiji is a constitutional republic with an elected President, Prime
Minister, and Parliament. Ethnicity remained a dominant factor in the
country's politics, economy, and society. Following an attempted coup
d'etat in 2000 that resulted in the overthrow of the lawfully elected
government, free and fair elections were held in 2001, and the
political situation improved. A dispute between the ruling party and
the opposition over the composition of the Cabinet was settled in
November when both sides agreed not to pursue the issue further. The
Vice President, a government minister, and the Deputy Speaker of
Parliament were sentenced to periods of imprisonment ranging from 1 to
6 years for their participation in a coup attempt in May 2000. The
Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the
judiciary at times has been subject to political pressure.
National security is monitored and acted upon by the National
Security Council (NSC), which is composed of the Prime Minister; the
Ministers of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Attorney General; the
Commissioner of Police; and the Commander of the Republic of Fiji
Military Forces (RFMF). During the year, the civilian authorities
generally maintained effective control of the unarmed civilian police
force and the RFMF. There were occasional complaints of human rights
abuses by the police. Most, if not all, were investigated, and
individual members of the police have been charged and tried. There
were no reports the RFMF committed human rights abuses.
The population of approximately 845,000 is multiracial and
multicultural. Indigenous Fijians make up 51 percent; Indo Fijians
(descendents of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent) 42 percent;
and Asians, Caucasians, and other Pacific Islanders make up the rest.
Indo Fijian families dominated the business sector and enjoyed higher
average incomes; however, indigenous Fijians were the majority in
government ministries and made up the vast majority of members of the
armed forces. Sugar and tourism accounted for more than half of foreign
exchange earnings. The inefficient sugar industry was hampered by
industrial disputes and an outmoded infrastructure; however, tourism
grew strongly during the year. Foreign investment, depressed in recent
years, showed signs of recovery. Skilled workers and professionals
continued to emigrate in large numbers.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas. The
Constitution establishes an ethnically based electoral system, and
government policies on hiring, education, and land tenure provide
protection for indigenous Fijian interests. The ethnic divide between
the governing indigenous Fijian-based Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) and
the Indo-Fijian-based Fiji Labor Party (FLP) remained a recognized
obstacle to long-term political stability, and ethnic discrimination
remained a serious problem. On several occasions, Members of Parliament
(M.P.s) made racist remarks about Indo-Fijians. Evictions of Indo
Fijian tenant farmers by indigenous Fijian landowners continued to
occur. Occasional police abuse of detainees and suspects occurred.
Other human rights problems included restrictions on freedom of
assembly, violence and discrimination against women, and some instances
of abuse of children. A proposal to replace the country's industry
constituted Media Council with a government-controlled organization
continued to raise concern.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were some reports of abuses by police. The number of cases of police
abuse significantly declined compared to previous years. Reported
incidents of beatings and other abuse of apprehended persons and
prisoners were investigated and, when appropriate, offending officers
were prosecuted and jailed. All such cases appeared to be isolated
incidents, not condoned by supervisory officers.
The Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit is required to
investigate complaints of police brutality. The law permits corporal
punishment as a penalty for criminal acts, but no cases were reported.
In response to public concern regarding police brutality, the Human
Rights Commission (HRC) conducted training courses for police field
investigators, sergeants, and prison officers.
Prison conditions did not meet international standards. The prison
system was seriously underfunded, with deteriorating infrastructure and
poor delivery of essential services, including food and sanitation.
Courts released prisoners on bail to minimize their exposure to an
environment described as ``overcrowded, unsanitary, degrading, and
inhumane'' by a sitting judge who, in response to prisoner complaints,
made a surprise visit to the Suva prison. Human rights organizations
have received credible reports of prisoner abuse by guards; however,
there were no indications that abuse was officially condoned. Men and
women were held separately, juveniles were held separately from adults,
and pretrial detainees were separated from convicted prisoners.
During the year, the International Committee for the Red Cross
(ICRC) was given access to all prisoners. Family members also were
permitted to visit prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The Government continued a program initiated in 2003 to improve the
police force and address the problem of corruption. Allegations of
corruption, once rampant in the police force, were investigated, and
charges and prison sentences have resulted. Some officers were removed
from the force.
The law provides that a person may be arrested only if police
believe a law has been broken or is about to be broken. Arrested
persons must be brought before a court without ``undue delay.'' This
requirement normally was interpreted to mean within 24 hours, with 48
hours as the exception. Detainees have the right to a judicial review
of the grounds for their arrest; however, allegations of incommunicado
and arbitrary detention continued to occur on occasion.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary at times has been subject
to political pressure.
The country's judicial structure is patterned on the British
system. The principal courts are the magistrate courts, the High Court,
the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. Eight of nine Supreme Court
justices are expatriate judges, who often were used in key cases at
lower levels. Except for the Family Court, there are no special courts.
Military courts try members of the armed forces. Magistrate courts try
the large majority of cases. In addition to its jurisdiction in serious
civil and criminal cases, the High Court is granted special-interest
jurisdiction on behalf of the public and is empowered to review alleged
violations of individual rights.
Defendants have the right to a public trial and to counsel. Trials
in the High Court provide for the presence of assessors (citizens
randomly selected to represent the community); cases in magistrate
courts do not. Many rape and sexual assault cases were heard in the
magistrate courts; since magistrates are not authorized to impose
sentences longer than 5 years in prison, this resulted in light
sentences in most domestic or family law cases. The Legal Aid
Commission provided counsel to some indigent defendants, a service
supplemented by voluntary services from private attorneys. The right of
appeal exists but often was hampered by delays in the process. Bail was
granted freely. The courts had a significant backlog of cases, and
processing was slowed by, among other things, a shortage of
prosecutors. Some defendants faced lengthy pretrial detention.
The law sometimes treated women differently from men. In some
instances, there was a presumption of reduced competence and thus
reduced responsibility for women. For example, only women can be
charged with infanticide; if a man kills an infant, the act is treated
as murder, a more serious charge. A female defendant in an infanticide
case was presumed to have diminished mental capacity, and sentences
were reduced or suspended accordingly.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Government generally respected the privacy of the
home. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, and National Disaster
Management, responsible for national defense, security, and law
enforcement, used its broad investigative and enforcement powers to
maintain selective surveillance and the almost constant employment of
police checkpoints at random locations on roads throughout the country.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, although the Public Order Act and
other laws prohibit actions that incite racial antagonism, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
The Media Council's Complaints Committee, a private watchdog group
of media and academic figures, accepted complaints related to the media
and published its findings during the year. Most of the complaints
cited inappropriate media activity, including invasions of privacy;
there were no complaints regarding government pressure on, or
interference with, the media.
In 2003, the Government proposed changes to the Media Council that
would replace the current body with a government constituted council.
Public reaction was strongly negative. At the end of the year, the
Government's plans remained on hold but had not been withdrawn.
A variety of opinions, including criticism of the Government, were
heard in all major media outlets. Political figures and private
citizens spoke out regarding the country's political situation and
against the Government. Letters and editorials critical of the
Government were published in the three English language dailies. The
Government generally did not interfere in the daily operations of the
media.
Legislation pertaining to the press is contained in the Newspaper
Registration Act and Press Correction Act. Under these acts, all
newspapers must be registered with the Government before they can
publish. The acts give the Minister of Information sole discretionary
power to order a newspaper to publish a ``correcting statement'' if, in
the minister's view, a false or distorted article was published. A
newspaper refusing to publish the minister's correction can be sued in
court and, if found guilty, fined. Individuals in such cases can be
fined, imprisoned for 6 months, or both. These acts authorize the
Government to arrest any person who publishes ``malicious'' material.
This would include anything the Government considered false that could
create or foster public alarm or result in ``detriment'' to the public.
However, this authority has never been used.
The country's television news production was owned and operated by
Fiji One, one of only two national noncable television stations. A
trust operating on behalf of the provincial governments owned 51
percent of Fiji One; private individuals and interests owned the other
49 percent. The Government owned the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation,
which operated four radio stations. There were several thriving
independent radio stations broadcasting in English, Fijian, and Hindi.
The Television Act permits the Government to influence programming
content. There was no attempt to use the programming authority during
the year.
In the past, government holdings in Fiji TV One, the Fiji Post, and
the Fiji Sun raised questions regarding the independence of the press.
However, these and other media outlets frequently criticized the
Government. Muted criticism of the traditional chiefly system has also
appeared.
The Fiji News Council worked to improve journalistic standards,
safeguard media independence, and resolve complaints from the public.
The Fiji Islands Media Association, an affiliate of the Pacific Islands
News Association, also provided training opportunities for journalists
and implemented a media code of ethics.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
Academic freedom was generally respected; however, government work
permit stipulations and University of the South Pacific contract
regulations effectively deterred most university employees from
participating in domestic politics. Many academics wrote for the media
and included disclaimers in their work to preclude contract or work
permit problems.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the right to assemble for political purposes, subject to
restrictions in the interest of public order. Although civic
organizations frequently were granted permits to assemble, political
demonstrations and marches generally were denied permits.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this provision in practice. Opposition
parties operated without government interference and issued public
statements freely.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. Religious groups were not required to register. The
Government did not restrict foreign clergy and missionary activity or
other typical religious activities. Religious differences are largely
along ethnic lines; most ethnic Fijians are Christians, and most Indo
Fijians are Hindu, with a sizable minority of Muslims. The Government
protected the rights of all religious groups. The major holidays of
Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam were celebrated nationally.
The role of religion was tied closely to existing racial
antagonisms and continued to be a political problem. Prominent figures
in the Methodist Church and allied political parties continued to
advocate the establishment of a Christian state. This position received
public support from several M.P.s. The Church has displayed strong
nationalist sympathies.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government has broad powers to limit freedom of
movement in the interest of national security. Unlike in previous
years, access to Nukulau Island, site of a maximum security detention
center for persons charged with treason, was granted to family members,
the clergy, and ICRC representatives.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
practice it.
The law includes provisions for providing refugee and asylum status
in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees.
In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the forced return of persons to a country where they
feared persecution. The Government granted refugee status or asylum.
However, in the past, the Government has been reluctant to grant
temporary protection without assurances that the asylum seeker would be
moved to a third country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. The 1997 constitutional amendments reduce some of
the ethnically based factors that abridged the right of citizens to
change their government. Under the amended Constitution, the Prime
Minister and the President may be of any race. The amendments establish
a 71 member lower house with 25 seats open to any ethnicity and 46
seats allocated to different ethnic communities. The unprecedented open
seats are apportioned into districts of approximately equal population.
Of the 46 communal seats, 23 are allotted to indigenous Fijians, 19 to
Indo Fijians, 3 to ``general voters'' (for the most part mixed race,
Caucasian, and East Asian voters), and 1 to Rotumans (an ethnically
distinct Polynesian group). These allotments were generally
proportional to the ethnic composition of the country's population. The
amendments also establish an alternate voting system for elections to
the lower house to replace the first past the post system of the
previous constitution. The Senate remains an appointed body with 32
members, of which the President approves 14 members nominated by the
Great Council of Chiefs, 9 nominated by the Prime Minister, 8 nominated
by the opposition leader, and 1 nominated by the Council of Rotuma.
Several persons prominently and publicly involved in the 2000 coup were
named to the Senate by the Prime Minister.
On November 26, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase of the ruling SDL
party, and Mahendra Chaudhry, leader of the opposition FLP, agreed not
to pursue further the dispute over the composition of the Cabinet. The
disagreement began when the Qarase Government excluded Chaudhry's FLP
from the new Cabinet after the 2001 elections, although according to
the Constitution, the FLP had received enough votes to be offered
positions in the Cabinet. Chaudhry took legal action against Qarase;
the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional provision and instructed
the Prime Minister to offer cabinet seats to Chaudhry's party.
Subsequent negotiations between the two sides regarding cabinet
portfolios had proved unsuccessful until the November agreement.
Indo-Fijians, who account for 42 percent of the population,
continued to be egregiously underrepresented at all levels in the
Government, from the Senate to the lowest ranking police constable or
soldier. These inequities are to some extent enshrined in the
Constitution, which mandates that 14 of Parliament's 32 Senators be
appointed by the Fijian Great Council of Chiefs and 1 by the Rotuma
Council. Therefore, the support of only two additional Senators is
needed to give indigenous Fijians effective control in the Senate.
There were continued calls for action against persons implicated
but not charged in the May 2000 coup attempt, a November 2000 mutiny,
and a separate, abortive mutiny conspiracy in December 2000. Several
conspirators were tried and sentenced during the year. On August 5, the
Vice President, a government minister, and the Deputy Speaker of
Parliament were sentenced to periods of imprisonment ranging from 1 to
6 years for their participation in a coup attempt in May 2000. On
December 15, a court-martial convicted the final group of military
suspects charged in the coup attempt and sentenced them to periods
ranging from 3 to 8 years in prison.
Allegations of nonaccountability, corrupt travel, financial
mismanagement, and conflicts of interest regarding officials and
ministries continued to be raised by the media. Several cases of
improper bidding and supply were under investigation in the Ministry of
Works and Energy, and officials there and in other ministries were
relieved of duty because of allegations of impropriety.
In some ministries, government transparency was virtually
nonexistent. The Constitution gives the Auditor General (AG) rights of
access to audit all government bodies, whether national or local.
However, early in the year the AG complained to Parliament that
``verbal and written requests in the past 2 years'' for information
from ministries and departments of government ``have been greatly
unsuccessful'' and met with resistance by the heads of the units
concerned.
The country's 71 seat House of Representatives included 1 appointed
and 5 elected female M.P.s, while the 32 member Senate included 2
women. After the 2001 election, four ethnic Fijian women were appointed
to the Cabinet (two as ministers and two as assistant ministers). Women
also played important roles in the chiefly system and could be chiefs
in their own right.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The HRC appeared to be impartial and independent, and it continued
to receive and investigate requests for assistance, some involving
alleged abuses by the military, police, and prison officials. HRC work
was hampered by Constitutional Redress Rules, which stipulate that
human rights cases must be filed in the High Court within 30 days of a
complaint.
There were also several small, foreign based organizations that
concentrated on local human rights causes, including the Coalition for
Democracy in Fiji (with offices in New Zealand and Australia) and two
United Kingdom based groups, the International Fiji Movement and the
Movement for Democracy in Fiji. There was little interaction between
the Government and these groups.
The ICRC continued to operate an office in the country.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, place
of origin, political opinion, color, or creed. It also provides
specific affirmative action provisions for those disadvantaged as a
result of such discrimination. A compact included in the Constitution
specifically provides for affirmative action and ``social justice''
programs to secure effective equality of access to opportunities,
amenities, and services for ethnic Fijians and Rotumans and for all
disadvantaged citizens and groups. The Constitution cites the
``paramountcy'' of Fijian interests as a guiding principle for the
protection of the rights of indigenous citizens. The Government
generally enforced these constitutional provisions effectively,
although there were problems in some areas.
Women.--Domestic abuse, rape, and incest were major problems.
Reliable estimates indicated that 10 percent of women had been abused
in some way. An active women's rights movement addressed the problem of
domestic violence. Police have adopted a ``no drop'' rule, under which
they prosecute cases of domestic violence even when the victim does not
wish to press charges. Nonetheless, cases of domestic abuse and incest
often were dismissed by courts or received minimal sentences. The
traditional practice of reconciliation between the aggrieved parties
sometimes was taken into account to mitigate sentences in domestic
violence cases, particularly in cases of incest.
The women's rights movement pressed for serious punishment for
rape. Sentences varied widely. Women's groups continued to urge that
all rape cases be heard in the High Court, where lengthier sentences
are available. However, the law accords an accused rapist the right to
choose between the High Court and magistrates' courts. Since there have
been no effective prosecutions for marital rape, women's activists
continued to press for inclusion of marital rape in a new Domestic
Violence Bill on which public hearings were held in November by the
Attorney General's office.
Prostitution is illegal, although it can be found, particularly in
Suva. The law prohibits sex tourism as well as sexual harassment;
neither was considered to be a significant problem.
Suva, Ba, Labasa, and Lautoka have women's crisis centers funded by
foreign governments. The centers offered counseling and assistance to
women in cases of domestic violence, rape, and other problems, such as
child support. The NGO Femlink Pacific distributed information at the
grassroots level and encouraged community based dialogue. The Ministry
of Women provided a Gender Awareness Program to educate soldiers and
police officers about women's concerns.
Under the Constitution, male and female citizens enjoy equal rights
in regard to the granting of residence for spouses, and with regard to
the registration and racial designation of children for purposes of
enrollment on electoral rolls and entitlement to ethnic, communal
property rights. The 2003 Family Law established ``no fault'' divorce.
Women had full rights, in law and practice, of property ownership
and inheritance, and a number were successful entrepreneurs. Other than
a prohibition on working in mines, there were no legal limitations on
the employment of women. Women generally were paid less than men for
similar work.
Children.--The Government devoted 19 percent of the national budget
to education and also worked to improve children's health and welfare.
School is mandatory until age 15. The inability of some families to pay
school fees and bus fare limited attendance for some children.
The Government provided free medical care for children at public
health centers and hospitals. Government nurses provided free
immunizations for children in primary schools.
Societal changes have undermined traditional village and extended
family based structures. Outgrowths of these changes have included
increased child abuse and a number of homeless youths in urban areas.
Some youths found employment in the informal sector. Children worked on
the streets, in homes as domestics, and in auto repair shops. Homeless
children often were seen on the street working as shoeshine boys or
involved in prostitution. Child prostitution, along with prostitution
in general, appeared to increase during the year and affected both the
ethnic Fijian and Indo Fijian communities.
Children's testimony was largely inadmissible in courts unless
corroborated by an adult.
The 2003 Family Law established that illegitimate children have the
same rights as legitimate children.
Trafficking in Persons.--There are no laws that specifically
address trafficking in persons, although laws against procuring a woman
to become a prostitute, kidnapping, and bonded and forced labor could
be used to prosecute traffickers. There were no substantiated reports
of trafficking in persons to, from, or within the country during the
year.
There was an increase during the year in persons arriving in or
transiting the country with altered or falsified travel documents. The
police believed that an organized Asian criminal network in the country
coordinated these and other illegal movements of persons. However, most
appeared to be economic migrants rather than victims of trafficking.
Child prostitution also was a problem, affecting both the ethnic
Fijian and Indo Fijian communities (see Section 5, Children).
The Government did not sponsor or provide assistance to any
programs to combat or prevent trafficking in persons.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Constitution provides for equality
before the law of all persons, including persons with disabilities, and
discrimination against the physically disabled in employment,
education, and the provision of state services is illegal. However,
there was no legislation or mandated provision for accessibility for
persons with disabilities, and there was little or no enforcement of
laws protecting persons with disabilities.
The Fiji National Council for Disabled Persons worked to protect
the rights of persons with disabilities. Several voluntary
organizations also promoted attention to the needs of persons with
disabilities.
Persons with mental disabilities largely were separated from
society and normally were supported at home by their families. There
were a few special schools for persons with mental disabilities;
however, their costs limited access.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Tension between ethnic Fijians
and Indo Fijians has been a longstanding problem. While the
Constitution notes that ``the composition of state services at all
levels must be based on the principle of reflecting as closely as
possible the ethnic composition of the population,'' it also specifies
the ``paramountcy of Fijian interests'' as a protective principle (see
Section 3).
Senators appointed by the Prime Minister made numerous racial slurs
directed against Indo Fijians. During the year, the SDL Government
worked to ensure the political supremacy of ethnic Fijians. The
majority of valid complaints to the HRC dealt with racial and ethnic
equality problems.
Land tenure remained a highly sensitive problem. Ethnic Fijians
communally hold more than 80 percent of arable land, the Government
holds another 8 percent, and the remaining is freehold. Ethnic Fijians'
traditional beliefs, cultural values, and self identity are tied to the
land. Most cash crop farmers were Indo Fijians, leasing land from
ethnic Fijian landowners through the Native Land Trust Board. Many Indo
Fijians, particularly farmers, believed that the absence of secure land
tenure discriminated against them. Many traditional, communal
indigenous Fijian landowners, in turn, felt that the rental formulas
included in the Agricultural Land Tenure Agreement (ALTA) discriminated
against them. Racial tensions and grievances over low rents for
agricultural lands resulted in several alleged illegal evictions of
Indo Fijians and reoccupations of land by native Fijian landowners.
There also were reports of Fijian landowners extorting higher rents
from their Indo Fijian tenants. Almost none of these violations were
prosecuted.
The Government has pressed strongly for changes in the existing
ALTA to accommodate landowner concerns; however, Parliament took no
action on the matter during the year.
The minority Chinese community continued to grow dramatically,
primarily through illegal immigration. There was a steep rise in
illegal activities, including murder, allegedly connected to Chinese
organized crime. A special police unit, the Asian Crime Unit,
investigated criminal activity within the ethnic Chinese community.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law protects the right of workers
to form and join unions, elect their own representatives, publicize
their views on labor matters, and determine their own policies, and the
authorities respected these rights in practice. However, the law
permits restrictions to these rights in the interests of defense,
public safety, public order, public morality, or public health, or to
protect the rights and freedoms of other persons. An estimated 36
percent of the work force was unionized.
All unions must register with, but are not controlled by, the
Government. The major central labor body was the Fiji Trades Union
Congress (FTUC), which in the past was associated closely with the
opposition FLP; other unions operated under its auspices. In recent
years, the FTUC has adopted a more independent political stance. The
country's other important union grouping was the Fiji Island Council of
Trade Unions. While certain unions were ethnically based, both Indo
Fijians and ethnic Fijians held leadership roles in the trade union
movement.
The Employment Act makes it an offence for an employer to victimize
any worker or make it a condition of employment for a worker not to
belong to a union. Numerous cases of victimization of workers who
expressed an inclination to join a union were reported to the Ministry
of Labor. However the ministry did not protect workers effectively from
anti-union discrimination, and no employer was prosecuted.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers have
the right to organize and bargain collectively. Employers are required
to recognize a union if more than half of the employees in a workplace
have signed membership cards; no ballots are held to determine
representation. The Government has the power to order recalcitrant
employers to recognize unions, and it has done so. Traditional key
sectors of the economy, including sugar and tourism, were heavily
unionized; however, although the law encouraged unionization, union
organizers' jobs were not protected, resulting in low unionization in,
for example, the country's garment factories. Employers reserved the
right to fire union organizers, and some workers were afraid to
unionize. Wage negotiations generally were conducted at individual
companies rather than on an industry wide basis.
Strikes are legal, except in connection with union recognition
disputes, and trade unions can conduct secret strike ballots without
government supervision. To carry out a legal strike, organizers must
give an employer 28 days' notification. The Ministry of Labor also must
be notified of the dispute and receive a list of all striking employees
and the starting date and location of the strike. This requirement is
intended to give organizers, unions, employers, and the ministry time
to resolve the dispute prior to a strike. Most disputes, including
those in which strike action was deemed illegal, were settled by
referral to a Permanent Arbitrator.
Union officials operated without interference during the year.
Organizers were more vulnerable, particularly when operating on company
premises, although in theory they have legal protection. Intimidation
of workers often made organizing difficult.
Export processing zones (EPZs) are subject to the same laws as the
rest of the country. However, the FTUC has been unsuccessful in
obtaining collective bargaining agreements in EPZs and claimed that
intimidation of workers by employers was widespread. The FTUC argued
that because of illegal and intimidating practices, including threats
of loss of work for those active in organizing workers, unions were
effectively prevented from representing workers in the EPZs.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
specifically prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by
children, and there were no confirmed reports that such practices
occurred. However, media reports and NGOs alleged that work conditions
in some garment factories might include forced or bonded labor and
excessive work hours.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
legal system was inadequate to protect the rights of children. The
Government has adopted some laws to protect children from exploitation
in the workplace, but enforcement was lax. Children under the age of 12
may not be employed in any capacity. Children under age 15 may be
employed only outside of school hours in family enterprises and not in
the industrial sector. Persons between the ages of 15 and 17 may be
employed in certain occupations not involving heavy machinery; however,
they must be given specified hours and rest breaks. In practice, the
Ministry of Labor had few or no resources to investigate reports of
child labor or to charge offending employers. There were only two
inspectors at the Ministry of Labor who conducted regular annual
workplace inspections, and there were no investigators to follow up
reports of violations. During the year, migration of rural youth to
urban areas continued, and youths continued to find employment in the
informal sector, including work as shoeshine boys, casual laborers, and
in prostitution.
The laws and regulations concerning child labor are inadequate, and
the infrastructure for implementing them was lacking. There were no
adequate enforcement remedies and no comprehensive policy to eliminate
the worst forms of child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was neither a national
minimum wage nor a limit on maximum hours for working. Certain sectors
had minimum wages set by the Ministry of Labor. Minimum wage levels
provided a sparse but adequate standard of living for a worker and
family in all sectors other than the garment industry, where no minimum
wage applied. There were no regulations on maximum hours of work for
adult males. Other than a prohibition from working in mines, there were
no limitations on female employment. Workers in some industries,
notably transportation and shipping, worked excessive hours. Factory
housing for garment workers was overcrowded.
There are workplace safety regulations, a Worker's Compensation
Act, and an accident compensation plan. However, government enforcement
of safety standards suffered from a lack of trained personnel and lags
in compensation hearings and rulings. Unions generally monitored safety
standards in organized workplaces; however, many work areas did not
meet standards and were not monitored by the Ministry of Labor for
compliance. The law accords employees the right to remove themselves
from a hazardous work site without jeopardizing their employment, but
most feared the loss of their jobs if they did so.
There were a growing number of nonunionized and sometimes illegal
immigrant workers (predominantly ethnic Chinese), particularly in the
garment sector.
__________
INDONESIA
Indonesia is a republic with a presidential system and three
branches of government. The President is head of state and serves a 5-
year term for a maximum of two terms. On October 20, Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, the country's first popularly elected president, was
inaugurated after defeating incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which convenes once a year,
has the power to amend the Constitution. Routine legislative affairs,
including enacting legislation, are the responsibility of the House of
Representatives (DPR). During the year, the Government made further
progress in its transition from 3 decades of repressive and
authoritarian rule to a more pluralistic and representative democracy.
The country held successful legislative elections and free, fair, and
peaceful direct presidential elections. Previously, the legislature
chose the president. The Government further reduced the formal
political role of the police and military, who relinquished their
appointed seats in the DPR in October, when the new legislature was
sworn in. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, in practice, the courts remained subject to outside
influences, including the executive branch.
The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) formally have responsibility for
external defense, and the Indonesian National Police for internal
security; however, in practice, the division of responsibilities
remained unclear. They are known collectively as the security forces.
The military played a role in internal security matters, particularly
in conflict areas such as Aceh, the Moluccas, Central Sulawesi, and
Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya). There was considerable friction
between the police and the TNI, but joint operations were common in
conflict areas. A civilian defense minister oversees the military but
in practice exercised only limited control over TNI policy and
operations. The military and the police continued to wield significant
political influence as well as economic power through businesses
operated by security force members, their proxies, and foundations. The
security forces showed greater willingness to hold accountable human
rights violators within their ranks; during the year, hundreds of
soldiers were court-martialed, and dozens of police officers were
dismissed or otherwise disciplined. However, most such disciplinary
actions involved low-level officers and sometimes mid-level officers
who committed lesser crimes, such as beatings, and in some cases
punishments did not match the crime. Members of the security forces
continued to commit numerous serious human rights violations,
particularly in areas of separatist conflict.
During the year, the economy, which increasingly was market driven,
grew by an estimated 4.8 percent; however, this failed to reduce
unemployment or absorb the estimated 2.5 million new job seekers
entering the market every year. The population was approximately 238
million. The poverty rate fell from 27 percent in 1999 to 16 percent in
2002; however, it increased slightly to an estimated 17.5 percent
during the year. The estimated per capita income was $867. Consumer
demand was the leading force driving economic growth. At year's end,
the northern Sumatra region was struck by an earthquake and a resultant
tsunami, which together left some 240,000 persons dead and missing in
Aceh and North Sumatra Provinces and caused extensive destruction of
infrastructure in Aceh Province.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. Government
agents continued to commit abuses, the most serious of which took place
in areas of separatist conflict. Security force members murdered,
tortured, raped, beat, and arbitrarily detained civilians and members
of separatist movements, especially in Aceh and to a lesser extent in
Papua. Some police officers occasionally used excessive and sometimes
deadly force in arresting suspects and in attempting to obtain
information or a confession. Retired and active duty military officers
known to have committed serious human rights violations occupied or
were promoted to senior positions in the Government and the TNI. Prison
conditions remained harsh. The judicial system was corrupt, which
contributed to the failure to provide redress to victims of human
rights violations or hold perpetrators accountable. Security force
violators sometimes used intimidation and bribery to avoid justice.
Land disputes generated numerous human rights abuses. These frequently
involved forced evictions, some accomplished with lethal force. As in
previous years, the Government jailed some peaceful antigovernment
protestors for ``insulting the President'' or ``spreading hatred
against the Government.'' Politicians and tycoons showed greater
willingness to take legal action against news organizations whose
reporting they found insulting or offensive, and this trend had a
chilling effect on some investigative reporting. Members of the
security forces and other groups sometimes limited freedom of
expression by intimidating or attacking journalists whose articles they
found objectionable. The Government restricted the foreign press from
traveling to conflict areas in Aceh, Papua, Sulawesi, and Maluku.
Authorities occasionally tolerated discrimination against and abuse of
religious groups by private actors. The Government at times restricted
the activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), particularly in
Aceh and Papua. Women were victims of violence and discrimination.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) occurred in some parts of the country,
although the type practiced was largely symbolic in nature. Child
sexual abuse and violence against children remained serious problems.
Trafficking in persons was a serious problem. Discrimination against
persons with disabilities and mistreatment of indigenous people were
problems. The Government allowed new trade unions to form and operate,
but it frequently failed to enforce labor standards or address
violations of worker rights. Forced child labor remained a serious
problem.
Terrorists, civilians, and armed separatist groups also committed
serious human rights abuses.
The country made substantial progress in strengthening its
democracy. There was a series of three national elections, in which
voter turnout was notably high and the transition from defeated
incumbent to newly elected President peaceful. The military and the
police lost their nonelected seats in Parliament. The Government passed
the Domestic Violence Act, which criminalizes domestic violence, and
took steps to address trafficking in persons, including prosecuting
traffickers and beginning to strengthen antitrafficking laws. The
Government issued a decree authorizing the establishment of a 40-member
Papuan People's Council. The Government also took serious legal
measures to bring terrorists to justice.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Security forces
continued to commit unlawful killing of rebels, suspected rebels, and
civilians in areas of separatist activity, where most politically
motivated extrajudicial killings also occurred. There was evidence that
the TNI considered anyone its forces killed in conflict areas to have
been an armed rebel. Security forces also committed nonpolitical
extrajudicial killings. The Government largely failed to hold soldiers
and police accountable for such killings and other serious human rights
abuses in Aceh.
The TNI tried, jailed, and discharged some soldiers for rape,
robbery, and torture; however, no security force members were
prosecuted for unlawful killings in Aceh (see Section 1.d.).
In Aceh, military and police personnel committed extrajudicial
killings and used excessive force against noncombatants. The Government
placed Aceh under martial law from May 19, 2003, until May 18, when the
Government introduced a state of civil emergency. The Government
extended the same extraordinary measures introduced during martial law
to the civil emergency period, including severe restrictions on civil
liberties, and created extraordinary powers for the security forces,
which continued to operate with greatly reduced restrictions. During
the civil emergency period, the TNI continued to use martial law
authority to make arrests, a legal authority normally reserved for the
police. The TNI media center in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, reported that the
TNI killed 1,883 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) insurgents and arrested at
least 1,529 and that 1,137 others surrendered to TNI between May 2003
and November. At year's end, a disastrous tsunami struck the region
resulting in a temporary cessation of hostilities declared unilaterally
by both the TNI and GAM.
Accurate, independent, and up-to-date information on the number of
GAM insurgents and other persons killed in Aceh was difficult to
obtain. According to a coalition of NGOs in Aceh, between January and
October, at least 57 civilians, 251 GAM members, and 21 security
personnel were killed. Martial law administrators limited information,
restricted access for foreign journalists, and forbade contact with the
GAM. Until the tsunami struck on December 26, the Government
effectively prohibited foreign humanitarian aid workers, except for a
limited number of U.N. workers, from entering the province. Data from
different sources, even within the Government, often were
contradictory. NGO sources frequently questioned casualty figures
announced by security forces, and they claimed that the number of
victims was much higher and that many of those killed were civilians.
Security forces and rebels gave conflicting information on victims'
identities, which made it difficult to determine the breakdown of
civilian, rebel, and security force deaths. The press routinely was
under pressure to report only official casualty figures, which may have
underreported both civilian and security force casualties. Police
rarely investigated extrajudicial killings and almost never publicized
such investigations.
Amnesty International (AI) reported that a farmer from Kuala
Simpang subdistrict in East Aceh fled the country after two men in his
village were killed by the military in a month. According to the
farmer, the first person was killed by mistake because he shared the
same name as a suspected GAM member, and the second person was captured
and killed during a sweep for GAM members. Most killings were of young
men suspected of being GAM members; however, there also were reports in
the media of unlawful killings of women and children.
The Government made no progress in establishing accountability in a
number of extrajudicial killings in Aceh in 2003, including the June 16
killing of Muzakkir Abdullah and the May killing of Muhammad
Jamaluddin. There were no known developments in the May 2003 killing by
TNI soldiers of 10 men in Cot Rebo village in Aceh. There also was no
progress made in establishing accountability for extrajudicial killings
in Aceh in 2002, including the June killings of two farmers on Kayee
Ciret Mountain and the August killings of three women in the north Aceh
village of Kandang.
During the year, GAM members killed many soldiers, police, civil
servants, and civilians. In many cases, the victims were killed for
allegedly collaborating with the security forces, while in other cases,
the motive appeared to be criminal. Although many Acehnese feared and
resented the security forces, many also feared and were intimidated by
the GAM because of its extortion and criminal activities and the severe
hardships that the GAM's long-running insurgency has caused for the
Acehnese. On February 5, TNI troops found the bodies of four civilians
in the jungle near Peureulak, East Aceh. The four had died of gunshot
wounds. The TNI believed they had been GAM hostages. On February 11,
GAM rebel Junaidi allegedly shot and killed civilian Cut Musdaifah in
Wakheuh village. According to witnesses, two gunmen forced Musdaifah to
accompany them and shot her when she attempted to escape. On March 24,
GAM rebels allegedly shot and killed local legislature candidate
Muhammad Amin. The TNI believed the GAM was targeting civilians who
supported the coming elections. Also on March 24, a group of armed men
believed to have been GAM rebels shot and killed a paramedic in South
Aceh; the TNI believed extortion was the motive for the attack.
The Government reported limited progress in prosecuting those
responsible for unlawful killings that might have been carried out by
GAM members in previous years, including those of Zaini Sulaiman,
Sukardi, Sulaiman Ahmad, Tengku Safwan Idris, and Nashiruddin Daud. A
police investigation into the 2001 killing of Dayan Dawood, rector of
Banda Aceh's Syiah Kuala University who was shot after offering to
mediate between the GAM and the Government, led to the arrest and
conviction of Mahyeddin bin M. Adan with a 17-year prison sentence.
There were no known developments in the following cases in 2003 and
previous years of unlawful killings that could not be clearly
attributed to either the security forces or GAM rebels: The December
2003 bombing that killed 9 persons at an outdoor concert in Peureulak;
the July 2003 killing of former GAM member Cut Aca Budi; the July 2003
killing of schoolteachers Muslim Sulaiman and his wife Darmawati; the
May 2003 killing of local legislature member Jamaluddin Hasany; the
mass graves discovered in 2003 in Nisam and Permata Districts; the 2002
killings of 6 persons in the town of Lombaro Angan, Aceh Besar
District; the 2002 killings of 2 high school girls in the village of
Gumpueng Tiro, Pidie regency; and the 2001 massacre of 31 persons at a
palm oil plantation in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh.
On September 7, prominent human rights activist Munir Said Thalib
was found dead on a flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands. The Dutch
Government announced that an autopsy report indicated the cause of
death was arsenic poisoning. The incident was under investigation at
year's end.
In Central Sulawesi, political and economic tensions between
approximately equal populations of Christians and Muslims continued to
cause violence. A total of 22 persons died in communal violence, the
same number as in 2003. Unlawful killings included a series of
shootings by unidentified gunmen, continuing a trend that began in
October 2003. On March 30, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Reverend
Freddy Wuisan near Membuke Church in Poso. On May 30, unidentified
gunmen shot and killed prosecutor Fery Silalahi, a Christian, in Palu
after he and his family left a religious service. Silalahi was the lead
prosecutor in the ongoing trial of three accused Bali bombing
accomplices. The fact that assailants shot only Silalahi, leaving his
wife and children unharmed, gave the impression of an assassination. On
July 18, two unidentified assailants shot and killed Reverend Susianti
Tinulele in Palu. These incidents remained unsolved at year's end.
During the year, 12 suspects were arrested for the October 2003 attack
in Beteleme in which at least 14 persons were killed. The Palu District
Court found 11 guilty and handed down prison sentences ranging from 3
to 4 years; 1 suspect was acquitted for lack of evidence. Most
residents reportedly were satisfied with results of the investigation
and trials. There was no progress reported in police investigations of
October 2003 attacks on mainly Christian villages, in which 10 persons
were killed, or of the November 2003 killings of 2 men in the Poso
coastal villages of Kilo Trans, home to ethnic Balinese migrants, and 2
men in the Christian village of Marowo.
In Maluku and North Maluku, unlawful killings increased from 2003
when sectarian violence broke out on April 25 after a commemoration of
the anniversary of the separatist Republic of South Maluku (RMS). In
the violence that followed, at least 40 persons were killed and
approximately 260 were injured. The following weeks were marred by
sporadic violence and small bomb explosions that destroyed
approximately 356 buildings, including a church and a mosque. By June,
the government-brokered peace agreements between the two religious
communities were restored.
The Government reported little progress in establishing
accountability in the following cases in Poso: The July 2003 explosion
of a bomb in a cafe in the village of Sayo, which killed one person and
injured five others; the June 2003 shooting of two men in the village
of Kapompa; the 2002 bombing of a crowded passenger bus, which killed
five persons; and numerous crimes committed in the province by former
Laskar Jihad members.
The Government made some progress during the year establishing
accountability for violence and human rights abuses in the region in
2003 and previous years. In February, Maluku prosecutors filed
indictments against seven persons for the killing of two civilians
during the 1999-2002 sectarian conflict in the region.
In Papua Province, the Government continued to conduct operations
against rebels of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), and OPM rebels
continued their operations against military units. Also in Papua, the
TNI and police continued their joint investigation of the 2002 ambush
that killed 2 American citizens and 1 Indonesian and injured 12 other
persons near a large gold and copper mine near the city of Timika. On
June 16, a foreign court indicted OPM guerilla Anthonious Wamang in
connection with the killings. At year's end, Wamang remained at large,
and the investigation remained open.
The Government made limited progress in establishing accountability
for numerous human rights violations committed in Papua in previous
years, including those committed in Biak, Abepura, Wasior, and Wamena.
During the year, a human rights court in Makassar began proceedings
against police implicated in abuses and killings of Papuans in a 2000
incident in Abepura. The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM),
created and funded by the Government but not a government agency,
completed its report on the 2001 Wasior incident, in which police
allegedly killed 12 civilians following an attack on a police post that
left 5 policemen dead, and the Wamena incident, in which dozens of
residents of the Central Highlands area of Kuyowage allegedly were
tortured by unknown parties during a military operation that followed
the April 2003 break-in at the Wamena armory. The Commission found that
soldiers and police had committed gross human rights violations,
including murder, evictions, and torture. Komnas HAM categorized these
violations as crimes against humanity and, on September 2, submitted
its report to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) for possible
prosecution (see Section 1.c.).
Police frequently used deadly force to apprehend suspects or acted
recklessly in pursuit of suspects, and these actions sometimes resulted
in the deaths of civilians. In other cases, suspects in police custody
died under suspicious circumstances. On July 31, in Poso, police shot
and injured Bambang, a wrongly accused suspect in the July murder of
Reverend Susianti Tinulele. Police alleged Bambang had tried to escape,
but neighbors said he was shot for no reason. On August 29, in Sragen,
Central Java, police shot and killed three suspects who they claimed
tried to escape from police custody. On August 30, in Pekanbaru, police
shot and killed criminal suspects Hermansyah and Ade Candra, allegedly
because the two tried to escape when police demanded to know the hiding
place of their partners.
During the year, the Government made no significant progress
establishing accountability for abuses from 2003, including the fatal
burning by police of burglary suspect Arnoldus Adu in Rote, in East
Nusa Tenggara Province, the beating death of an East Java resident by
police in June, and the alleged suicide of Ihwanuddin, suspected member
of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiya (JI).
The Government made no significant progress during the year in
prosecuting those responsible for the 1998 killing of four students at
Trisakti University and nine demonstrators at Semanggi intersection,
and the 1999 killing of an additional four demonstrators at Semanggi.
Komnas HAM Chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara asked the DPR to
reverse its 2001 decision not to classify these cases as human rights
violations, but at year's end, the DPR had not responded. In June 2003,
the court-martial began of an enlisted man, one of three TNI soldiers
indicted for reckless killing in connection with the 1999 Semanggi
incident. The soldier was accused of shooting and killing student Yap
Yun Hap without orders from his superior. Two other defendants, who
were officers, were to be tried separately. At year's end, all of the
cases were pending in the AGO, awaiting a decision from the DPR.
During the year, bombs exploded in or near the cities of Jakarta,
Ambon, Peureulak, and Poso, among others. On January 10, members of
Sulawesi-based Laskar Jundullah, an extremist organization, bombed a
cafe in Palopo, South Sulawesi, killing four persons. Police arrested
at least eight suspects, including alleged mastermind Agung Abdul
Hamid, whose trial started on October 28. On September 9, suspected JI
members set off a powerful bomb in front of the Australian Embassy in
Jakarta, killing 10 persons and injuring more than 150 others. By
year's end, the Government had arrested at least 19 persons in
connection with the attack, including the suspected mastermind Iwan
Darmawan, also known as Rois.
The Government made significant progress in prosecuting those
responsible for bombings carried out in previous years. Authorities
identified, apprehended, and successfully prosecuted many of those
involved in the August 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in
Jakarta, which killed 12 persons, and the 2002 Bali bombings, which
killed 202 persons. Those trials were scheduled to start in early 2005.
In total, police investigators had arrested more than 130 JI-related
suspects since 2002. By year's end, courts in Denpasar, Bali; Palu,
Central Sulawesi; Lamongan, East Java; and Jakarta had convicted
approximately 80 persons in connection with a series of terror attacks
since 2001. Following the 2002 bombings in Makassar, South Sulawesi,
the Makassar District Court convicted 18 suspects and acquitted
another. In October, police captured Agung Abdul Hamid, the suspected
mastermind behind the Makassar bombings and the January 10 South
Sulawesi bombing.
Mobs carried out vigilante justice on many occasions, but reliable
statistics on its prevalence were not available. Incidents of theft or
perceived theft triggered many such incidents. For example, on August
16 in Bogor, West Java, a mob attacked and killed Ilham Kurniawan for
stealing a motorcycle. On August 21 in Palembang, South Sumatra, a mob
mistook a man named Junaedi for a thief and beat him to death. No
official action was taken against those responsible for these killings.
Police and soldiers clashed on a number of occasions during the
year. On March 22, more than 100 TNI soldiers from Battalion 143 in
South Lampung attacked a police post at Rajabasa bus terminal. The
clash stemmed from a personal dispute, and regional military commander
Major General Syahrial BP Peliung later apologized to police and
promised to take disciplinary action against the soldiers involved. At
the end of the year, four privates were under investigation for the
incident. On November 25, TNI members killed one police officer and
seriously injured three others when they attacked a police post in East
Aceh over a dispute involving palm oil business interests. Twenty-five
TNI soldiers were arrested for their participation in the attack.
At schools, universities, police training centers, and other
institutions, upperclassmen, or superiors sometimes physically
mistreated underclassmen or subordinates, continuing a practice that
dated back many years. During the year, a number of such incidents
resulted in death. On February 23, police in Bandung, West Java, named
12 students of the State Sunan Gunung Djati Islamic Institute as
suspects in the death of fellow student Imam Nawawi, who died during an
extracurricular activity the previous week. Eight were accused of
beating Nawawi to death. Police authorities reportedly took no further
action regarding the September 2003 deaths of five recruits in Palu,
Central Sulawesi, who were victims of hazing by members of the Police
Mobile Brigade (Brimob). In September 2003, in Sumedang, West Java,
upperclassmen at the government-run Public Administration Institute
(STPDN) allegedly strangled sophomore Wahyu Hidayat. An STPDN student
said upperclassmen beat Wahyu to teach him a lesson in loyalty after he
failed to appear at a flag-raising ceremony on Independence Day. On
April 15, 10 students were convicted and sentenced to 7 to 10 months in
jail in connection with the death. Prosecutors had sought up to 5 years
in prison for the defendants (see Section 1.c.).
b. Disappearance.--During the year, dozens of disappearances
occurred, most frequently in Aceh Province, and large numbers of
persons who disappeared over the past 20 years, mainly in conflict
areas, remained unaccounted for. The Government reported little
progress in prosecuting those responsible for disappearances that
occurred in previous years.
According to a coalition of human rights NGOs, 46 civilians and 4
GAM members were kidnapping victims as of November; the same
organization reported 130 civilians and 3 GAM kidnapping victims in
2003.
The security forces were implicated in some disappearances. An
eyewitness report to AI claimed a 16-year-old boy working in a rice
paddy was shot in the ankle when he tried to run away from a soldier.
The boy was subsequently captured, and his whereabouts were unknown at
year's end. The Government made no significant progress ascertaining
the whereabouts of those who disappeared in 2003, including Mukhlis and
Zulfikar, members of the local NGO Link for Community Development,
after plainclothes military intelligence officers detained them in the
town of Bireuen.
The GAM also abducted persons during the year. Elementary school
teachers Muhammad Amin Alwi and Hasballah were forcibly taken by 10
armed men in military uniforms in Nagan Raya regency. The TNI believed
the men were members of the GAM, because students reported that the
kidnappers used an Acehnese dialect and complained the school had not
helped in their struggle since martial law was implemented. In June
2003, in the East Aceh area of Peureulak, journalist Ersa Siregar of
Rajawali Citra Televisi, cameraman Fery Santoro, driver Rahmatsyah, and
the wives of two TNI officers were taken hostage by the GAM. One of the
wives, Cut Soraya, was pregnant. Ersa Siregar was killed in December
2003 during a firefight between GAM and marines. After lengthy
negotiations between the GAM and the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), Ferry Santoro was released in May along with 150 other
civilian hostages, including the two wives of TNI officers. Soraya
reported being beaten by her captors and ultimately miscarried.
In Papua, there were no credible reports of disappearance. The
Government did not report any progress in prosecuting those responsible
for disappearances that occurred in previous years, including those of
Martinus Maware, Mathius Rumbrapuk, or Hubertus Wresman.
In Central Sulawesi, Maluku, and North Maluku, there were no
credible reports of disappearance during the year. The Government made
some progress in prosecuting those responsible for disappearances that
occurred in Central Sulawesi in 2002. During the year, 14 soldiers were
court-martialed and received punishments ranging from dishonorable
discharge to 4 years in prison over abductions and extrajudicial
killings committed in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso in December
2002. The TNI accused 2 lieutenants and 12 privates of kidnapping
dozens of civilians in the Toyado area but declined to make their names
public. The soldiers allegedly abducted the civilians in December 2002,
after one of their commanders was shot in the head during a clash
between Christians and Muslims in the Sepe area. Some of the abducted
civilians turned up dead, while others remained missing at year's end.
The Government made no additional progress in prosecuting those
responsible for the 1996 attack by hundreds of progovernment civilians
and soldiers on the Jakarta headquarters of what was then the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI); 5 persons died and 23 persons
disappeared in the attack. The Central Jakarta District Court charged
five persons, three of them civilians, with vandalism and assault
during the attack: Retired Colonel Budi Purnama, Lieutenant Suharto,
Mochammad Tanjung, Jonathan Marpaung, and Rahimmi Illyas. However,
Petrus Kurniawan, a key figure in a group pressing for accountability,
called the trial an ``orchestration,'' saying the defendants were field
operators, not the leaders behind the attack. During the year, police
investigators again submitted to prosecutors six dossiers on the case,
but prosecutors returned the case files to the police, saying the files
were incomplete. Named in the dossiers were Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso,
who in 1996 served as Jakarta's military commander; former State
Intelligence Chief Zacky Anwar Makarim; Brigadier General Syamsiar
Wangsamihardja; former Jakarta Police Chief Hamami Nata; Central
Jakarta police official Abubakar Nataprawira; Colonel Haryanto; and
former PDI Chairman Soerjadi.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Criminal Code makes it a crime punishable by up to 4
years in prison for any official to use violence or force to elicit a
confession; however, law enforcement officials widely ignored such
statutes in practice. Security forces continued to employ torture and
other forms of abuse. The Government made some efforts to hold members
of the security forces responsible for acts of torture. During the
year, the use of torture to obtain confessions from suspects was most
apparent in Aceh.
Torture was sometimes used to obtain confessions, punish suspects,
and seek information that incriminated others in criminal activity.
Security forces also allegedly used torture to extort money from
villagers. Reliable figures on the number of incidents of torture that
occurred during the year were difficult to obtain. Physical torture
cases included random beatings and acts involving hair, nails, teeth,
and genitals. Heat, suffocation, electricity, and suspension by the
feet were also used. Psychological torture cases reportedly included
food and sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, and forced witnessing
or participation in acts of torture.
During the year, press restrictions in Aceh Province limited media
reports on cases of torture there. However, a coalition of human rights
NGOs reported 77 cases of civilians and 7 GAM members tortured,
compared with 256 civilians and 16 GAM members tortured in 2003. The
NGO Kontras reported that 214 civilians were tortured. In September,
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported widespread abuse of prisoners in Aceh
by security forces. HRW reported that 24 of 35 Acehnese prisoners
interviewed claimed they had been tortured and forced to confess
involvement with the GAM. Examples of torture in the report included
electric shocks and beatings with wooden beams and gun butts. The
Government announced it would investigate the allegations contained in
the HRW report. AI reported that in January, members of Brimob arrested
a small shop owner suspected of being a GAM intelligence officer. He
was held for 24 hours, during which Brimob members allegedly beat him
in the face with the butt of a rifle and broke his nose. He also
allegedly was burned by cigarettes on his arms, stomach, and thighs. AI
representatives reported seeing dozens of burn marks still visible when
they met with him in May. He was released and fled the country after
his village paid $22 (198,000 rupiah) to Brimob.
The Government reported no progress in prosecuting those
responsible for acts of torture committed in Aceh in 2002 or 2003,
including the beating and burning of civilian Rizki Muhammad.
In November 2003, in the Papuan city of Wamena, suspects Jigibalom
and Tenius Murib were arrested for stealing weapons from a military
arsenal. The two were ill but were denied proper medical attention.
Also in Wamena, unidentified gunmen raided a government armory in April
2003. TNI officials detained for questioning suspect Yapenas Murib, who
later died in TNI custody (see Section 1.a.). The Government did not
investigate his death. Komnas HAM completed an investigation into
reports that dozens of residents of the Central Highlands area of
Kuyowage were tortured by unknown parties during a military operation
that followed the break-in at the Wamena armory. Komnas HAM concluded
that military forces tortured villagers and committed other gross human
rights violations. The Government did not report any progress in
prosecuting those responsible for this or other acts of torture
committed in Papua in 2003 or 2002, including the torturing to death of
Yanuarius Usi.
In early August, suspected JI member Saifudin Umar, alias Abu Fida,
was found seriously injured in an East Java hospital. He claimed to
have been secretly arrested and tortured by police. Police admitted
arresting Abu Fida on the grounds that he had helped hide two JI
fugitives; however, police denied torturing him. The Government made
progress arresting and prosecuting those responsible for cases of
torture in East Java. On January 19, three police officers were
arrested for allegedly torturing two college students in Surabaya. On
September 6, the Padang District Court in West Sumatra convicted and
handed down 18-month prison sentences to five police officers accused
of torturing to death narcotics suspect Faisal.
Rapes occurred in conflict zones (see Section 5). Human rights
advocates blamed many of the rapes on soldiers and police. Statistics
were unavailable, but credible sources provided a number of accounts
that involved soldiers and police. Kontras reported that during the
year of martial law in Aceh, 47 women and 29 children were victims of
violence, including rape. The extent to which rape was a problem in
Aceh was hard to assess, due to social stigma, the lack of reporting,
and access to the region. The Council of the Central Information for
Referendum Aceh (SIRA) reported nine cases of rape by military
personnel in Aceh. The NGO Aceh Sehabat confirmed a report that on July
24, three TNI soldiers raped a 16-year-old girl in Kampung Meureu Baro-
Indrapuri over a period of several months, leaving her pregnant. Family
and friends reportedly knew that the girl was being raped but did
nothing to stop it due to fear for their safety.
At schools, universities, police training centers, and other
institutions, upperclassmen or superiors sometimes physically
mistreated underclassmen or subordinates, a practice that dated back
many years. During this period, a number of such incidents resulted in
death (see Section 1.a.).
The Government failed to make progress in establishing
accountability for the 1998 riots, which included acts of torture and
other attacks against ethnic Chinese women in Jakarta, Solo, Medan, and
other cities. In 2003, an investigative team from Komnas HAM
investigated the incident, received the testimony of dozens of
witnesses, and identified 20 suspects. However, at the end of the
investigation, team leader Solahuddin Wahid declined to name publicly
the suspects, some of whom were members of the police and military. The
team summoned 86 civilians, mostly witnesses, to testify; all but 5
complied. The team also summoned 48 government, military, and police
officials, of whom only 3 complied. Among those who did not comply were
former armed forces commander Wiranto, TNI spokesman Major General
Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and the former commander of the Army's Strategic
Command Reserve (Kostrad), retired Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto.
Komnas HAM prepared a 1,500 page report on the riots and in September
2003 forwarded the report to the AGO, with the expectation that the AGO
would conduct an investigation of its own. However, on March 4, the AGO
returned the report to Komnas HAM, reportedly because it lacked
testimony from key members of the security forces.
In Aceh Province, following the introduction of martial law in May
2003, more than 603 school buildings, the majority of them elementary
schoolhouses, were burned. The Government attributed the arson attacks
to the GAM, which has a history of destroying public buildings,
including schools, because they were the most visible symbols of
government presence and also because security forces often used
abandoned government facilities as barracks or village headquarters.
The GAM denied these allegations. By the end of the year, the
Government had rebuilt 328 of the schools, but several hundred schools
reportedly were destroyed by the December 26 tsunami. Human rights
groups in Aceh reported that security forces continued the practice of
marking houses of families of suspected GAM members with a red ``X'' or
``GAM,'' thereby stigmatizing the inhabitants and in many cases leading
to their ostracization.
No progress was made in the investigation of the alleged
intentional revenge burning by Brimob of 80 shops and homes in Keude
Seuneddon, North Aceh, in a 2003 incident that occurred immediately
after the killing of 2 Brimob officers.
On September 28, approximately 150 members of the Betawi
Brotherhood Forum (FBR), a group of criminals who claimed to be native
Jakartans, raided a number of nightspots in the Jakarta areas of
Cilincing and Muara Baru, saying the businesses were immoral and should
close within a week. Police officers reportedly stood by as FBR members
terrorized the nightspots. It was the FBR's first major attack since
its 2002 attack against members of the Urban Poor Consortium at the
Jakarta office of Komnas HAM. On June 27, self-described FBR members
also forced the closure of a church in East Jakarta (see Section 2.c.).
In October, the month of Ramadan, FBR gangs invaded nightclubs and
other establishments that they believed were open inappropriately
during the holy month. Eight FBR members were arrested for their
actions. Several hundred stick-wielding persons from the Islam
Defender's Front (FPI) attacked a popular Jakarta nightclub. Some
police officials reportedly acquiesced in the attack, but after other
high profile leaders criticized the attack, police deployed more than a
thousand extra officers to patrol the streets. Four FPI members were
arrested.
Conditions at the country's 365 prisons and detention centers were
harsh, and overcrowding was widespread. Facilities frequently were two
or three times over capacity. Guards regularly mistreated inmates and
extorted money from them. Unruly detainees were held in solitary
confinement for up to 6 days on a rice-and-water diet. The wealthy or
privileged had access to better treatment in prison. In July, the
country's most famous inmate, Hutomo ``Tommy Suharto'' Mandala Putra,
son of former President Suharto and convicted of arranging the killing
of a judge, was flown aboard a helicopter to stay in the luxury Kartika
Pavillion Suites at the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital for 6 days. Tommy
Suharto did not appear for seven court appearances for health reasons.
A team of 10 doctors detected a possible tumor behind Suharto's left
eye and a stomach ulcer but ultimately declared him able to conduct
normal activities.
Prison authorities held female inmates separately from men but in
similar conditions. Most children convicted of serious crimes were sent
to juvenile prisons. However, until they were convicted, most juveniles
were held with adults at detention centers. In theory, prisons held
those convicted by courts, while detention centers held those awaiting
trial; however, in practice, pretrial detainees at times were held with
convicted prisoners.
There were no official restrictions on prison visits by human
rights monitors, and prison officials granted varying degrees of
access. The ICRC made some visits to prisoners during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Criminal Procedures Code
contains provisions against arbitrary arrest and detention but lacks
adequate enforcement mechanisms, and authorities routinely violated it.
The Code provides prisoners with the right to notify their families
promptly, and it specifies that warrants must be produced during an
arrest. Exceptions are allowed if, for example, a suspect is caught in
the act of committing a crime. The law allows investigators to issue
warrants; however, at times, authorities made arrests without warrants.
No reliable statistics existed on how many arbitrary arrests and
detentions took place during the year.
The President appoints the Indonesian National Police Chief,
subject to DPR confirmation. The Police Chief reports to the President
but is not a full member of the Cabinet. The Indonesian National Police
consist of approximately 250,000 officers deployed to each of the 33
provinces. Despite decentralization, the police have largely maintained
their centralized hierarchy, in which local police forces formally
reported to the national headquarters rather than to local governments.
During the year, police generally improved their professionalism
and effectiveness at fighting crime, and they succeeded in apprehending
a large number of suspects in terrorist attacks. Overall
professionalism of the police remained low, as did respect for human
rights and effectiveness at investigating human rights abuses. Impunity
and corruption remained significant problems. The extent of wrongdoing
within the nation's police forces was difficult to gauge. Police
commonly extracted bribes, from minor payoffs in traffic cases to large
bribes in criminal investigations. According to police, 36 members of
the national police force were investigated for human rights violations
during the year. Punishments varied from demotion to criminal
prosecution.
A defendant may challenge the legality of his arrest and detention
in a pretrial hearing and may sue for compensation if wrongfully
detained; however, defendants rarely won pretrial hearings and almost
never received compensation after being released without charge.
Military and civilian courts rarely accepted appeals based on claims of
improper arrest and detention. The Criminal Procedures Code limits
periods of pretrial detention. Police are permitted an initial 20-day
detention, which can be extended to 60 days; prosecutors may detain a
suspect 30 days initially, with a 20-day extension permitted.
Prosecutors may extend police detention periods, and a district court
may further extend prosecutors' detention of a suspect. The district
and high courts may detain a defendant up to 90 days during trial or
appeal, while the Supreme Court may detain a defendant 110 days while
considering an appeal. In addition, the Criminal Procedures Code allows
detention periods to be extended up to an additional 60 days at each
level if a defendant faces a possible prison sentence of 9 years or
longer, or if the individual is certified to be mentally or physically
disturbed. Authorities generally respected these limits in practice.
In areas of separatist conflict, such as Aceh and Papua, police
frequently and arbitrarily detained persons without warrants, charges,
or court proceedings. Kontras reported that in Aceh such detentions
occurred frequently because of suspected connections with GAM members.
According to HRW, 60 percent of arrests in 2003 were made without a
warrant. Additionally, none of the 35 detainees in Aceh that HRW
interviewed during the year reported being shown an arrest warrant when
they were arrested in 2003. The authorities rarely granted bail. The
authorities frequently prevented access to defense counsel during
investigations and limited or prevented access to legal assistance from
voluntary legal defense organizations. At least one person died in
custody during the year.
The 2002 terrorism decree and the March 2003 antiterrorism law
allowed the use in court of evidence from wiretaps, video recordings,
and other surveillance. The Government applied this law in the cases of
at least five individuals associated with the GAM. They included former
negotiators Teuku Kamaruzzaman, Teuku Muhamad Usman, Amni bin Ahmad
Marzuki, Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, and Nasiruddin bin Achmed. In October
2003, the Banda Aceh District Court convicted the five for acts of
terrorism and sentenced them to between 12 and 15 years in prison. On
June 1, the Supreme Court rejected their appeal.
There were no reports of political detainees during the year.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for
judicial independence. In practice, the judiciary became increasingly
independent but remained heavily influenced at times by the executive
branch. The judiciary also continued to be influenced by military,
business interests and politicians. On April 1, as required by law, the
Justice Ministry transferred administrative and financial control over
the judiciary to the Supreme Court. The new constitutional court
demonstrated significant independence and, in some major cases, ruled
against the Government. Previously, judges were civil servants employed
by the executive branch, which controlled their assignments, pay, and
promotion. Low salaries continued to encourage corruption, and judges
were subject to pressure from government authorities, which often
influenced the outcome of cases. In August, the TNI transferred
administrative control of the military courts to the Supreme Court.
Under the Supreme Court is a quadripartite judiciary of general,
religious, military, and administrative courts. The law provides for
the right of appeal, sequentially, from a district court to a high
court to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court does not consider factual
aspects of a case but rather the lower court's application of the law.
Parallel to the Supreme Court is the Constitutional Court, which is
empowered to review the constitutionality of laws, settle disputes
between state institutions, dissolve political parties, resolve
electoral disputes, and decide allegations of treason or corruption
against the President or Vice President. The judicial branch
theoretically is equal to the executive and legislative branches, and
it has the power of judicial review of laws passed by the DPR;
government regulations; and presidential, ministerial, and
gubernatorial decrees. In practice, the judiciary was less influential
than the executive and legislative branches, and it often was heavily
influenced by the executive branch.
In the country's 2,418 district courts, a panel of judges conducts
trials by posing questions, hearing evidence, deciding on guilt or
innocence, and assessing punishment. Judges rarely reversed initial
judgments in the appeals process, although they sometimes lengthened or
shortened sentences. Both the defense and prosecution can appeal
verdicts.
The law presumes that defendants are innocent until proven guilty.
It also permits bail, which was used in practice but rarely in areas of
separatist conflict. Court officials sometimes accepted bribes in
exchange for granting bail. Defendants have the right to confront
witnesses and call witnesses in their defense. An exception is allowed
in cases in which distance or expense is deemed excessive for
transporting witnesses to court; in such cases, sworn affidavits may be
introduced. The courts allowed forced confessions, particularly in
conflict areas, and limited the presentation of defense evidence.
Defendants have the right to avoid self-incrimination but generally
were required to give testimony before the conclusion of a trial.
However, in practice, defendants regularly refused to answer questions.
The Criminal Procedures Code gives defendants the right to an
attorney from the time of arrest and at every stage of examination. The
law requires counsel to be appointed in cases involving capital
punishment or a prison sentence of 15 years or more. In cases involving
potential sentences of 5 years or more, the law requires the
appointment of an attorney if the defendant is indigent and requests
counsel. In theory, indigent defendants may obtain private legal
assistance, but in practice, few actually obtained the services of an
attorney. In many cases, authorities quietly persuaded defendants not
to hire an attorney. In many cases, procedural protections, including
those against forced confessions, were inadequate to ensure a fair
trial.
Widespread corruption continued throughout the legal system. In
October 2003, the World Bank reported that endemic corruption was
compromising law and order. Bribes influenced prosecution, conviction,
and sentencing in countless civil and criminal cases. Most judges
earned $200 to $225 (1.8 million to 2.03 million rupiah) per month,
while a judge with three decades' experience earned approximately $660
(5.94 million rupiah) per month. Key individuals in the justice system
not only accepted bribes but appeared to turn a blind eye to other
government offices suspected of corruption. During the year, the
Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) named the AGO as the state institution with
the most ``irregularities'' in its use of state funds. In 2003, BPK
repeatedly accused the AGO and police of not following up on cases of
suspected corruption that had been referred to them, stating that,
since 2001, the BPK had reported 6,162 cases of suspected corruption to
the AGO and police but that only 505 cases--approximately 8 percent--
had been investigated by both offices.
In August 2003, the Legal Review journal investigated the buying of
verdicts in corporate civil lawsuits at district courts, high courts,
and the Supreme Court. Based on information obtained from leaked
corporate memos and other sources, the Review published a list that
estimated the ``price of victory'' in a court case from as little as
$8,300 (74.7 million rupiah) at the Bandung District Court to as much
as $600,000 (54 billion rupiah) at the Supreme Court.
Apart from the handful of soldiers who were tried in human rights'
courts, hundreds of low-level and sometimes mid-level soldiers were
tried in military court, even for offenses that involved civilians or
occurred when soldiers were not on duty. If a soldier was suspected of
committing a crime, military police investigated and then passed their
findings to military prosecutors, who decided whether or not to prepare
a case. Military prosecutors, like military judges, were managed
administratively by the TNI but were responsible to the AGO and the
Supreme Court for the application of laws. However, under the ``one
roof system'' adopted by the judiciary during the year, administrative
control of military and religious courts was scheduled to transfer
gradually to the Supreme Court. Trials are conducted before a three-
person panel of military judges. Appeals are made to the Military High
Court; such appeals may question matters of fact or law. A Military
Supreme Court bases its rulings only on the application or
interpretation of law. Some civilians complained about the brevity of
prison sentences handed down by military courts. TNI legal officials
responded that all troops sentenced to terms of 3 months or longer were
discharged from the armed forces, regardless of their record or length
of service, and claimed this constituted a significant punishment.
Gross human rights violations can be adjudicated by four district
courts. The law provides for each court to have five members, including
three noncareer human rights judges, who are appointed to 5-year terms.
Verdicts can be appealed to the standing high court and the Supreme
Court. The law provides for internationally recognized definitions of
genocide, crimes against humanity, and command responsibility, but it
does not include war crimes as a gross violation of human rights.
In August 2003, the Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal for East Timor
concluded its trial phase in Jakarta with the conviction of Major
General Adam Damiri of crimes against humanity. Damiri, who remained
free on appeal, became the 6th of 18 tribunal defendants convicted in
connection with atrocities that occurred during April 1999 and
September 1999 in 3 East Timor locations: Liquica, Dili, and Suai. On
July 29, the Jakarta High Court overturned the convictions of Damiri,
Noer Muis, Hulman Goeltom, and Sudjarwo. This court later acquitted and
freed Abilio Jose Soares, who was the only convict to have served
prison time. The sentence of Eurico Guterres was reduced on appeal from
10 years to 5 years in prison. He appealed the case to the Supreme
Court and, at year's end, remained free. Subsequently, the AGO appealed
to the Supreme Court to review the Jakarta High Court's decision to
overturn the convictions of Noer Muis, Hulman Goeltom, Sudjarwo, and
Guterres. The AGO also appealed to the Supreme Court to review the
district court's decision to acquit Tono Suratman. All five cases were
under review at year's end. East Timor's Serious Crimes Unit indicted a
total of 391 individuals for crimes against humanity committed during
and after the 1999 referendum; however, 290 of these individuals
remained at large with little chance of being returned to East Timor to
stand trial. The U.N. stated its intention to send out a Commission of
Experts to evaluate the Ad Hoc Tribunal and Serious Crimes Unit and to
recommend next steps for achieving accountability. As a possible
alternative to a Commission of Experts, the Governments of Indonesia
and East Timor agreed in December to form a bilateral Truth and
Friendship Commission to address accountability.
In 2003, the ad hoc human rights tribunal for the 1984 Tanjung
Priok incident, in which dozens and perhaps hundreds of persons were
shot and killed, held its first court sessions in Jakarta. Panels
consisting of 5 judges heard the cases of 16 defendants, including
retired Major General Pranowo; retired Army Major General Rudolf Adolf
Butar-Butar; Army Major General Sriyanto Mutrasan, the commander of
Army Special Forces (Kopassus); and other high-ranking active or former
military officers. All of the defendants faced charges of crimes
against humanity. The tribunal sentenced Butar-Butar to 10 years in
prison and found 13 others guilty and sentenced them to 2 or 3 years in
jail, far less than the 10-year sentences that prosecutors had
requested. At year's end, all 14 convicted persons remained free as the
high court considered their appeals. Some Tanjung Priok victims
reported that they had received death threats from soldiers at the
courthouse. Some of the defense teams argued that charges of crimes
against humanity were unfairly being applied retroactively to their
clients. The tribunal generated considerable domestic interest as the
first human rights court to hear a case involving crimes against
humanity committed during Suharto's rule.
In March, the Supreme Court confirmed the acquittal of suspected JI
leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on treason charges and reduced his prison
sentence for minor immigration charges from 3 years to 18 months.
Ba'asyir's critics were upset that he was not convicted on the primary
charge of planning treason and stated that his sentence of 18 months
was not adequate for the crime. On April 30, police rearrested Ba'asyir
as his jail sentence expired. In October, the South Jakarta District
Court began proceedings against him on terrorism charges for allegedly
authorizing the 2002 Bali bombing as JI ``Emir'' and for his alleged
role in the conspiracy that led to the August 2003 attack on the
Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Prosecutors also charged him with
involvement in a foiled plot to attack national police headquarters in
Jakarta as well as his connection to an arms and explosives cache that
police seized in 2003 in the Central Java town of Semarang. At year's
end, the trial remained underway (see Section 2.b.).
In September, the Central Jakarta District Court found Tempo
Magazine chief editor Bambang Harymurti guilty of criminal libel and
sentenced him to a year in prison. NGOs and journalists complained the
1999 Press Law rather than the Criminal Code should have been applied
in the case. The use of the Press Law would have provided plaintiff
Tomy Winata the right of reply or imposed a fine on Tempo rather than
the threat of a prison sentence. At year's end, Harymurti remained free
pending the outcome of his appeal (see Section 2.a.).
Many suspected GAM members were denied their right to a fair trial.
Defendants rarely had counsel present during interrogations and usually
had no counsel during court proceedings. Defendants rarely were able to
confront their accuser: The prosecution usually based its cases on
testimony given by witnesses to government investigators; neither
witnesses nor investigators appeared in court, and only written witness
statements were submitted. Prosecutors rarely produced physical
evidence, which they claimed was not available because it consisted of
military weapons. A lawyer with a legal aid organization told AI that,
in nearly 100 cases handled by his organization, only 2 defense
witnesses agreed to appear.
On September 7, the DPR passed legislation to establish a ``Truth
and Reconciliation Commission'' to investigate human rights violations
before making recommendations to the President to grant amnesty to
abusers and rehabilitation to their victims. The legislation would
allow the commission to recommend amnesty for a confessed violator in
cases where the victim does not consent. Once the commission has
resolved a case, it cannot later be filed in human rights court. At
year's end, the executive branch had not promulgated the law or
established the commission.
On October 12, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan inaugurated
the first Shari'a (Islamic law) courts in Aceh. Under the new system,
19 district religious courts and 1 court of appeals are scheduled to
begin hearing cases. The courts are to hear only cases involving
Muslims and use decrees formulated by the Aceh local government rather
than the Penal Code but (see Section 2.c.). In the most visible initial
effect, authorities began enforcing dress codes for Muslim women.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law requires judicial warrants for searches except
for cases involving subversion, economic crimes, and corruption. The
law also provides for searches without warrants when circumstances are
``urgent and compelling.'' Security officials occasionally broke into
homes and offices. The authorities occasionally spied on individuals
and their residences and listened in on telephone calls. There were
reports that the Government occasionally infringed upon privacy rights
of migrant workers, particularly women, returning from abroad. Corrupt
officials sometimes subjected migrants to arbitrary strip searches,
stole their valuables, and extracted bribes at special lanes set aside
at airports for returning workers.
Land disputes generated charges of unfair evictions and excessive
force by the public security officials. The NGO Jakarta Resident Forum
estimated that public security officials evicted at least 20,000
persons during the year, compared with 40,000 in 2003. In Sumatra,
local communities involved in the pulp and paper industry reportedly
continued to experience persistent human rights abuses, including land
seizures, by police and corporate security guards. HRW also alleged
that companies such as Arara Abadi routinely seized local residents'
land for plantations, with little or no compensation.
The National Identity Card (KTP), which all citizens are required
to carry, identifies the holder's religion. NGOs charged that the KTPs
undermined the country's pluralistic tradition and endangered
cardholders who traveled through an area of interreligious conflict.
Members of the five religions officially recognized by the Government--
Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism--had little
or no trouble obtaining accurate identification cards; however, members
of minority religions frequently were denied either a card or one that
accurately reflected their faith. Additionally, low-level officials and
village heads, responsible for issuing KTPs, often demanded small
bribes or made the process inordinately bureaucratic, which made it
difficult for disadvantaged groups such as itinerant workers, the poor,
and the homeless to obtain KTPs.
In many parts of the country, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua,
local residents believed that the government-sponsored transmigration
program interfered with their traditional ways of life, land usage, and
economic opportunities. During the year, the program moved at least
87,678 households from overpopulated areas to 369 more isolated and
less developed areas in 24 different provinces. The Government sent at
least 12,329 households to Central Kalimantan, making that province
again the top destination. However, transmigration was far less than
during the Suharto era.
The Government used its authority, and at times intimidation, to
appropriate land for development projects, often without fair
compensation. In other cases, state-owned companies were accused of
endangering resources upon which citizens' livelihood depended.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, the Government at
times restricted these rights in practice. During the year, the
Government jailed at least seven peaceful antigovernment protestors
convicted of ``insulting the President'' or ``spreading hatred against
the Government.'' In addition, politicians and powerful businessmen
more often filed criminal or civil complaints against journalists whose
articles they found insulting or offensive. Also during the year,
journalists faced increasing threats or violence.
In September, trials of six student and labor activists for
insulting the former President during an April 3 demonstration opened
in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The defendants were Rudi Hartono, the
chairman of the Makassar National Democratic Student League; Ihsar
Yatim; Al Ilyas Akbar, director of the Association of the Indonesian
Poor; Muhammad Anshar, chairman of the National Front for United
Indonesian Labor Unions; Wahida Baharuddin Upa; and Petrus Pice
Jailahi, director of the Makassar Legal Aid Institute. On December 23,
another student was arrested for insulting the President when he
allegedly burned a photograph of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
In Aceh Province, press freedom was severely curtailed during the
year. Martial law and civil emergency administrators restricted access
by foreign journalists and diplomats, blocked cellular telephones, and
forbade contact with the GAM. Journalists in Aceh experienced serious
difficulties operating under martial law and the civil emergency. A
government decree required that each news coverage activity ``be
supported by written permission by the head of Aceh's Emergency
Military Authority''; however, enforcement of the decree was erratic.
In practice, only foreign journalists and local journalists reporting
for foreign news organizations were required to obtain the permits.
There was no direct censorship, but local journalists were intimidated
by army spokesmen's criticism of specific stories, as well as by
passionate calls by military commanders for journalists to report
``patriotically.'' Journalists also were concerned that critical
reporting could cause them to lose access to military press briefings.
Finally, the uncertain security situation limited access to many areas.
The Government lifted restrictions on domestic journalists when it
ended martial law in May but maintained restrictions on foreign
journalists. As a practical matter, journalists in the province
appeared reluctant to exercise their press freedoms fully, due to fear
of possible reprisals by the GAM or by government authorities. Although
foreign journalists were not formally banned from traveling to the
Provinces of Papua, Maluku, and North Maulu or to the towns of Sampit,
Poso and Palu, the Government issued an appeal for foreign journalists
not to enter those areas in particular and often rejected their
requests to do so. According to a Jakarta-based broadcasting station, a
radio journalist was beaten by Brimob and TNI personnel after being
caught interviewing an individual in a military-designated ``black
area'' (areas in Aceh considered to be a GAM stronghold, including
North Aceh, East Aceh, Pidie, and South Aceh Provinces).
Journalists faced violence and intimidation from police, soldiers,
government officials, rebels, thugs, students, and ordinary citizens.
During the year, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) recorded
at least 17 physical attacks against journalists as well as 8
nonphysical acts that included death threats and lawsuits. For example,
on July 13, East Nusa Tenggara journalist Benny Djahang was ``poked and
throttled'' by provincial council member John Oga while attending a
plenary session of the East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Council. The
attack reportedly was in response to a story Djahang had written the
previous week detailing the arrest of Oga and two other councilors.
The Government made little or no progress prosecuting those
responsible for violent attacks against journalists in Aceh in 2003,
including those against TVRI cameraman Jamaluddin, Waspada newspaper
journalist Idrus Jeumpa, and 68H radio journalist Alif Imam Nurlambang.
According to AJI, unlike in 2003, there were no reports of
journalists expelled from Aceh.
In March 2003, persons linked to tycoon Tomy Winata entered Tempo
Magazine's headquarters in Jakarta and criticized an article that
implied Winata stood to benefit from a fire that destroyed a Jakarta
market. They assaulted Tempo journalists, including chief editor
Bambang Harymurti, at the headquarters and later at a police station.
Tempo lawyers reported the matter to the authorities and sued the
assailants, but judges exonerated the group's leader. Winata's
attorneys responded by initiating four lawsuits (two civil and two
criminal), which free press activists asserted were attempts to
intimidate the media. On September 14, the Jakarta High Court
overturned two district court decisions in civil suits against Tempo,
finding in favor of Tempo and dismissing fines levied by the district
court against the magazine. However, 2 days later, the Central Jakarta
District Court found Tempo guilty of criminal libel and sentenced
Bambang Harymurti to a year in prison; the court acquitted Tempo
journalists Ahmad Taufik and Teuku Iskandar Ali. Human rights observers
called the decision a blow to press freedom in the country and
criticized prosecutors' decision to use the Criminal Code on Libel
instead of the 1999 Press Law. At year's end, Harymurti remained free
pending a high court decision on his appeal.
On December 23, the former general manager of the newspaper Radar
Jogja was sentenced to 9 months in jail for defamation after he
published articles alleging the general manager of a competing
newspaper was sexually harassing a member of his staff. The judge in
the case refused to tell the press why he applied the Criminal Code on
Libel rather than the available 1999 Press Law.
During the year, government officials filed three other criminal
cases against journalists under the same Criminal Code on Libel.
During the year, the Government took no legal action against any
person responsible for crimes committed against journalists in 2003.
However, in 2003, the Central Jakarta District Court ordered Jakarta
Governor Sutiyoso to apologize to a reporter intimidated by a city
public order officer who tried to prevent him from covering an eviction
in 2002. Sutiyoso lost his appeal to a high court and appealed to the
Supreme Court. The appeal remained under consideration at year's end.
Pervasive corruption among journalists and the lack of an
enforceable journalistic code of ethics compromised the integrity of
some journalists.
During the year, the Government implemented the 2002 Broadcasting
Law, which included measures for issuing licenses for additional
frequencies and establishing an impartial broadcasting commission.
Despite numerous incidents of violence and intimidation of the
press, there were positive developments. Unity among journalists and
their commitment to protect their colleagues appeared to have
strengthened. Some members of the press also continued aggressive
reporting on such issues as corruption, the conflict in Aceh, and
environmental degradation. Regional media increasingly prospered. In
addition, moderate Islamic publications increased in number and
popularity.
The government-supervised Film Censorship Institute continued to
censor domestic and imported movies for content that it deemed
pornographic or religiously offensive. In August, the institute ordered
the local movie ``Kiss Me Quick'' pulled from cinemas after religious
leaders complained that it would encourage young persons to have sex.
By law, Communist teachings cannot be disseminated or developed.
The Government did not restrict Internet use or content.
The law provides for academic freedom, and the Government respected
this provision.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in certain areas. The law generally does not require permits
for public social, cultural, or religious gatherings; however, any
gathering of five or more persons related to political, labor, or
public policy requires police notification, and demonstrations require
a permit.
During the year, police used excessive force at a number of
demonstrations. For example, on May 1 in Makassar, South Sulawesi,
police forcibly entered the campus of the Indonesian Muslim University
and injured 65 students demonstrating against the arrest of radical
Muslim cleric and suspected JI leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. Demonstrators
reportedly had taken a police officer hostage on the campus and had
attacked two others. The violent police response led to the dismissal
of the regional police chief and several other senior officers. Police
investigated the incident and named 22 police suspects, 8 of whom were
convicted for collective violence in public and sentenced to between 7
and 12 months. On February 26, police forcefully broke up a peaceful
demonstration by the Bandung Student Executive Body. Dozens of students
were injured, 23 of whom were taken to the hospital.
In July, the treason trial of 17 alleged activists of the Maluku
Sovereignty Front began over the April separatist rally that sparked
renewed violence. In August, the Ambon District Court began the trials
of 36 others charged with treason in relation to April and May rallies
that ended in violence.
There were reports of counterprotesters violating the right to
peaceful assembly in the case of labor disputes.
The Government did not report any progress in prosecuting those
responsible for the 2002 forcible dispersal by Jakarta police of
participants in a massive rally against the reelection of Governor
Sutiyoso. Similarly, no arrests were made in connection with the
distribution of food containing cyanide at the same rally. In addition,
no arrests were made regarding the 2002 attack in the Central Java city
of Semarang on two antipoverty activists by persons who claimed to be
members of the ruling PDI P, nor were arrests made in connection with
the March 2003 attack on students in East Java by PDI-P members.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government restricted the exercise of this right in areas of separatist
conflict. Although the Papua Special Autonomy Law permits flying a flag
symbolizing Papua's cultural identity, police prohibited the flying of
the Papuan Morning Star flag, identified with the armed separatist
struggle.
There were reports of restrictions on peaceful assembly in Aceh,
where NGOs and activists faced strict restrictions on their activities
during martial law and the civil emergency. Organizers of events
frequently were required to submit in advance the names of speakers and
the text of their speeches for approval, which was frequently denied.
This led to caution and self-imposed restrictions by those organizing
events. Outside of Banda Aceh, the province remained closed to
foreigners. In April, police dispersed a group of university students
demonstrating in conjunction with SAMAN (Solidarity for Acehnese
Students Nusantara) to demand an end to martial law; police arrested a
coordinator of the demonstration but later released him. The security
forces continued to enforce a prohibition on flying the GAM flag in
Aceh. Political rallies and meetings in conjunction with the
legislative and presidential elections were allowed and occurred
without significant incident.
At year's end, Muhammad Nazar, chairman of SIRA, remained in
detention. Nazar was arrested in February 2003 for planning a public
rally in Lhokseumawe.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for ``all
persons the right to worship according to his or her own religion or
belief'' and states that ``the nation is based upon belief in one
supreme God.'' The Government generally respected the former provision,
but only five major faiths--Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism,
Hinduism, and Buddhism--received official recognition in the form of
representation at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Other religious
groups were able to register with the Government, but only with the
Ministry of Home Affairs and only as social organizations. These groups
experienced official and social discrimination. The law does not
recognize atheism, and in practical terms, it requires all persons to
identify themselves with one of the five faiths acknowledged by the
Government.
The civil registration system continued to discriminate against
members of minority religions. Civil Registry officials refused to
register the marriages or the births of children of animists,
Confucians, members of the Baha'i faith, and others because they did
not belong to one of the five officially recognized faiths. Hindus,
despite official recognition of their religion, sometimes had to travel
some distance to register marriages or births because local officials
could not or would not perform the registration. Persons whose religion
was not one of the five officially recognized faiths, as well as
persons of Chinese descent, had difficulty obtaining a KTP, which was
necessary to register marriages, births, and divorces. Several NGOs and
religious advocacy groups urged the Government to delete the religion
category from the KTPs (see Section 1.f.).
Men and women of different religions experienced difficulties in
marrying and in registering a marriage. The Government refused to
register a marriage before a religious marriage ceremony had taken
place. However, very few religious officials were willing to take part
in a wedding involving a man and woman of different faiths. For this
reason, some soon-to-be brides and grooms converted to their partner's
religion. Others resorted to traveling overseas to wed.
Foreign missionaries who obtained visas generally were allowed to
work without serious restriction.
During the year, the Government took no concrete steps to implement
controversial provisions of the Education Law that require schools to
provide religious instruction to students in their own faith.
As in previous years, some political parties advocated amending the
Constitution to adopt Shari'a on a nationwide basis, but most
parliamentarians and the country's largest Muslim social organizations
remained opposed to the proposal.
In March 2003, in Aceh Province, the Government began
implementation of Shari'a by issuing a presidential decree establishing
Islamic law courts. On October 12, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir
Manan inaugurated the first Shari'a courts in Aceh. Under the new
system, 19 district religious courts and 1 court of appeals were
scheduled to begin hearing cases. The courts were to hear only cases
involving Muslims and not use the Penal Code but rather ``qanuns,''
decrees formulated by local governments. The Lhokseumawe city
government established qanuns for that city and began recruiting
Islamic law monitors, down to the village level. The qanuns covered
issues such as ``immoral behavior.'' For example, extramarital contact
between a man and woman would be punishable by public lashings or a
fine of up to $555 (4.9 million rupiah). Other qanuns banned gambling
and the production, distribution, or consumption of alcohol. A Muslim
found guilty of consuming alcohol would receive 40 lashes. Some in Aceh
worried that implementation of Shari'a would provide new powers to
already-distrusted law enforcement institutions and provide
opportunities to intrude on private religious matters, such as whether
an individual attends Friday prayers.
Women's groups helped to draft local regulations to avoid
provisions that might restrict women's rights. However, because there
were no women in the Aceh Consultative Assembly except secretaries and
other lower-ranking service positions, women remained largely
marginalized. During the year, jilbab (headscarf) inspections by
various groups were frequent. There was a three-step process for women
in violation. After issuing two written warnings, authorities referred
the matter to a Shari'a court. In Banda Aceh, police took women in
improper Islamic dress and detained them for brief periods in the
Shari'a enforcement office, where the women were lectured on
appropriate attire. Local governments and groups in other areas also
undertook campaigns to promote conformance by women with the precepts
of Shari'a (see Section 5). Some women told reporters that they felt
humiliated when detained for dress code violations.
In some municipalities, local leaders applied stricter Islamic
practices. For example, in the West Java regency of Cianjur, a local
regulation required all Muslim civil servants to wear Islamic clothing
every Friday and attend congregational noon prayer. Virtually all women
complied with the regulation, and women's groups, including Women's
Solidarity (Solidaritas Perempuan), stated that women were afraid not
to comply. On January 12, the mayor of the Jakarta suburb Tanggerang
ordered public employees to wear Islamic clothing on Fridays. In
Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, the regent instituted limited Shari'a laws
that forbade alcohol and required the wearing of Islamic clothes and
obligatory daily Muslim prayers. However, these regulations applied
only to Muslims and were not enforced.
As in previous years, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan,
many local governments ordered either the closure or limited operating
hours of various types of ``entertainment'' establishments. For
instance, on October 9, the municipal governments of Kendari, Medan,
Palembang, and Pekanbaru ordered the closure of all discotheques,
massage parlors, karaoke outlets, pubs, and bars during Ramadan.
However, authorities said they would allow bars and karaoke outlets in
hotels catering to foreign tourists to remain open. The Medan
government ordered the closure of such establishments on December 24
and 25 in observance of Christmas. Enforcement of the orders varied.
Political and economic tensions between Christians and Muslims in
the eastern provinces of Central Sulawesi, Maluku, and North Maluku
continued to cause sectarian violence, resulting in unlawful killings
(see Section 1.a.).
During the year, more than 10 churches were attacked, compared with
7 churches in 2003. In addition to attacks in the capital cities of
Central Sulawesi and Maluku, there were attacks in the West Java
communities of Purwodadi, Margahayu, Tangerang, Bogor, Banten; the
Jakarta communities of Ciputat and Pamulang; and the Central Java city
of Yogyakarta. Attacks consisted of vandalism, arson, shootings, mob
violence, and forced closures. One mosque was destroyed in Maluku
during the year.
Due to renewed violence in Ambon in April and May, interreligious
tolerance and cooperation between Christians and Muslims in Maluku,
North Maluku, and Central Sulawesi remained poor. In the Moluccas,
local governments continued to reunite many government offices that
since 1999 had separated into Christian and Muslim units.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution allows the Government
to prevent persons from entering or leaving the country, and sometimes
the Government restricted freedom of movement. The Law on Overcoming
Dangerous Situations gives military forces broad powers in a declared
state of emergency, including the power to limit land, air, and sea
traffic; however, the Government did not use these powers.
The Government continued to restrict freedom of movement through a
system of ``travel letters,'' which were required for travel within
Maluku, Aceh, and Papua. Enforcement was inconsistent.
On May 19, then President Megawati issued a decree ending martial
law in Aceh and establishing a state of civil emergency, which remained
in effect at year's end. The decree returned overall government
authority for the province to the governor, but the Provincial Civil
Emergency Administration (PDSD), headed by the provincial chief of
police, maintained power to issue emergency measures to control travel,
trade, transport, and other civilian activities.
The Government instituted new controls on the movement of residents
in Aceh by issuing new national identity cards specific to Aceh. These
cards required the signatures of the holder's local military commander,
local police chief, and village head. Acehnese who wished to travel or
leave the province had to produce these cards at security checkpoints
along main highways. Failure to produce the card was cause for arrest.
In practice, the cards were easily obtained, and there was no evidence
that the policy resulted in restriction of movement. In Aceh, those
outside Banda Aceh also had to obtain from police a travel letter that
described the purpose and length of trip and also name the persons the
traveler would meet. In conflict areas, individuals also were required
to report to police to leave villages to fish, tend fields, or leave
their village, which significantly hindered their ability to earn a
livelihood.
The Government also controlled movements to close avenues of supply
to GAM rebels. In the remote Lokop District of East Aceh, home to 30
villages and a heavy rebel presence, TNI units monitored and controlled
food shipments moving in and out of villages and limited shipments to
TNI-linked suppliers. Soldiers also limited the amount of food each
family could purchase, which resulted in malnutrition, according to the
Aceh branch of Kontras. In addition, troops reportedly restricted the
hours that fishermen could fish and the hours that rice farmers could
work in their fields.
In Central Kalimantan, where ethnic violence in 2001 prompted
approximately 130,000 ethnic Madurese migrants to leave, mainly to
Madura and East Java, at least 45,000 voluntarily returned to
Kalimantan. However, in the interim, a number of regency governments,
including those of Barito Utara, Barito Selatan, and Kotawaringin
Barat, had introduced regulations that prohibited the return of ethnic
Madurese unless they could prove they had previously lived in the area
and did not have a criminal record. Relations between Madurese and
indigenous Dayaks remained poor. The West Kalimantan city of Sambas
remained effectively inaccessible to its former Madurese residents.
The Government prevented at least 412 persons from leaving the
country during the year. The AGO and the High Prosecutor's Office
prevented most of these departures. Some of those barred from leaving
were delinquent taxpayers, while others were involved in legal
disputes. There were reports of the Government barring the exit of some
foreigners without proper application of the law.
In June, the Government expelled Sidney Jones, country director for
the international NGO International Crisis Group (ICG) (see Section 4).
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The country continued to make progress reducing the number
internally displaced persons (IDPs). The U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that there were
1,478,736 IDPs in the country during the year, compared with 587,000 in
2003. OCHA reported that there were 6,946 IDPs in Aceh as of June, but
this number increased considerably as a result of the December 26
tsunami. According to the Coalition of NGOs for Aceh and Kontras, there
were still two refugee camps in Aceh before the tsunami. The
Government's military operation in Aceh did not produce a large flow of
IDPs outside the borders of the province. Some IDPs lived in emergency
shelters, while others stayed with host families or were integrated
into local communities. The Government dealt with many aspects of
crisis but continued to rely on international organizations and donors
to assist with most IDPs' needs. In theory, IDPs had three options:
Return to their place of origin, start anew in their current location
with the Government's assistance, or resettle through a relocation
program. In some cases, including in North Sumatra, governmental
assistance amounted to a one-time payment of approximately $1,000 (9
million rupiah) per family.
In June 2003, on the North Maluku island of Ternate, thousands of
IDPs who claimed that the governor had stolen aid earmarked for their
return to Halmahera Island clashed with police and soldiers. No
injuries were reported. On September 24, the Ambon District Court began
hearing the trial of Husni Lessy, head of organizational guidance and
social assistance at the Maluku Social Welfare Office. Lessy, who was
responsible for the distribution of rice to IDPs from January to
September 2002, faced charges of demanding ``commissions'' before
distributing rice. He was accused of demanding more than $18,888 (170
million rupiah) in kickbacks and costing the State as much as $555,555
(4.1 billion rupiah) in losses. NGO activists who worked with IDPs
reported that, in conflict areas, the Government was doing little or
nothing to see that compensation was provided for losses suffered or
that justice was done to those responsible. Activists reported that
IDPs were vulnerable to trafficking in persons, and others warned that
widespread violence could re-ignite at any time in some regions.
Although the law does not include provisions for granting refugee
status or asylum to persons who meet the definition in the 1951 U.N.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol,
there were no reports of the forced return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution. The Government cooperated with the U.N.
High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), which maintained an office in
Jakarta. At year's end, there were 113 U.N.-recognized refugees and 60
asylum seekers living in the country. Some were applicants and others
were dependents. Most were from Iraq, Afghanistan, or Somalia. Some of
the refugees had been accepted by Western resettlement countries but
had not yet departed.
The above figures did not include approximately 10,000 former
refugees from East Timor who resided in West Timor at year's end. In
2003, the Government and UNHCR stated that the remaining East Timorese
in West Timor would no longer be considered refugees. Most of these
former refugees resided in makeshift camps in the West Timor regencies
of Atambua and Kupang. Many of these individuals did not want to return
to their homeland; others wanted to return but apparently felt
constrained by those opposed to returning. According to the labor
rights group Jakarta Solidarity Center, hundreds of Burmese fishermen,
refugees apparently forced to work on Thai fishing boats, either
escaped or were abandoned in Tual, a small island in Maluku, where they
lived in difficult conditions. Immigration officials forcibly
repatriated a number of Burmese fishermen via foreign fishing vessels.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
During the year, the implementation of several constitutional
amendments increased the ability of citizens to change their
government. The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in
practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis
of universal suffrage. They exercised this right in peaceful
legislative elections on April 5 and the country's first direct
presidential election on July 5, with a second round on September 20,
when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono defeated the incumbent President
Megawati. The Constitution provides for general elections every 5
years. During most of the year, the police and armed forces continued
to hold 38 appointed seats jointly in the DPR and 10 percent of the
seats in provincial and district parliaments; however, in accordance
with a 2002 amendment to the Constitution, the security forces lost
their appointed DPR seats in October with the inauguration of the new
legislature. DPR members automatically are members of the MPR, which
until October included regional and government appointed
representatives. On October 1, the MPR became a fully elected body
consisting of the 550 DPR members (50 seats were added pursuant to a
law adopted in 2003) and the 128 members of the House of Regional
Representatives (DPD).
Domestic and international observers monitored the legislative and
presidential elections, organized by an independent election
commission, and considered the elections largely free and fair.
The MPR can amend the Constitution and issue decrees, functions it
performed in the first of its ``annual sessions,'' held in 2000. A key
demand of the post-1998 reform movement was an overhaul of the 1945
Constitution, which was seen as having fostered the development of past
authoritarian regimes. In the First Amendment of the Constitution, the
1999 MPR passed curbs on executive power, including a limit of two 5-
year terms for the President and Vice President. In 2000, the MPR
adopted the Second Amendment, which contained many important changes,
including provisions for protection of human rights, regional autonomy,
and further separation of powers. During its 2001 session, the MPR
amended the Constitution to provide for direct presidential and vice-
presidential elections, a bicameral legislature with a regional
representatives chamber, and a Constitutional Court with the power of
judicial review of legislation, certain election disputes, and
impeachment proceedings. This court was inaugurated in 2003. In 2002,
the MPR approved the Fourth Amendment, which requires presidential and
vice-presidential candidates to run together on a single ticket. It
provides for a second round of direct voting if no candidate receives a
majority of votes cast and at least 20 percent of the vote in half of
the provinces. The MPR retained authority to amend the Constitution but
was no longer empowered to establish broad guidelines of state policy.
The constitutional changes also restricted the MPR's authority to
impeach the President. The 1999-2002 amendments make the President and
the Vice President directly accountable to the electorate.
All adult citizens are eligible to vote except active duty members
of the armed forces, convicts serving a sentence of 5 years or more,
persons suffering from mental disorders, and persons deprived of voting
rights by an irrevocable verdict of a court of justice. Former members
of the banned Indonesian Communist Party are allowed to vote, and,
following a Constitutional Court ruling during the year, they may now
run for office. This ruling marked an important step forward in
restoring the basic rights of victims of Suharto's New Order regime.
There was a widespread domestic and international perception that
corruption was a part of daily life when dealing with authorities in
the executive and legislative branches. The need to tackle corruption
was a high-profile issue in the year's election campaign. President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono bemoaned that corruption was ``systemic'' to
the country, and this was a major focus of his administration's initial
100-day program.
Two versions of a Freedom of Information act were before the DPR
for consideration at year's end: One represented a governmental draft,
and the other contained NGO input. Despite the absence of such a law,
the AJI reported no problems obtaining unclassified public documents
from the Government. The exception to this rule was in Aceh, where
information could be obtained only from the TNI Media Center.
There were no legal restrictions on the role of women in politics.
A woman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, served as President until October,
when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was inaugurated as President; however,
under President Megawati, women accounted for only 2 of the 33 cabinet
ministers and 8 of the 45 Supreme Court justices. On October 20,
President Yudhoyono appointed women to 4 of his Cabinet's 36 seats. In
February 2003, the DPR passed an election law that included a
nonbinding call for parties to select women for at least 30 percent of
the candidate slots on their party lists. In this year's elections, 61
women were elected to the 550-seat DPR, an increase from 1999, when 44
women held seats in the 500-seat DPR. In the DPD, women comprised 27 of
the 128 members.
There were no legal restrictions on the role of minorities in
politics. There were 365 members of minorities (defined as persons from
outside of Java and neighboring Madura Island) in the 500-seat outgoing
DPR. There were no statistics for the 2004-09 DPR. There were 12
members of minorities in President Megawati's 33-member Cabinet. While
most of Megawati's cabinet members were Javanese, Sundanese, or
Madurese, minority members were of Bugis, Batak, Acehnese, Minang,
Flores, Balinese, Banjar, Arab, or Chinese heritage. President
Yudhoyono's Cabinet also consisted of a plurality of Javanese, with
others being of Sundanese, Bugis, Batak, Acehnese, Papuan, Balinese,
Arab, or Chinese heritage.
In Papua, the Government's plan to divide the province into three
continued to generate significant opposition from NGOs, religious
leaders, community leaders, and the Papuan governor. Legislation called
for the creation of the two additional provinces of West Irian Jaya and
Central Irian Jaya. However, the subsequent 2001 Law for Special
Autonomy in Papua makes clear that partition is possible only with
approval of the Papuan People's Council (MRP) and the Papuan
legislature. Nevertheless, the Government established the West Irian
Jaya Province, although it delayed creation of Central Irian Jaya. On
November 11, the Constitutional Court annulled the 1999 law
partitioning Papua into three provinces but ruled that West Irian Jaya
could continue to exist, since it was functioning in accordance with
constitutional principles. In December, President Yudhoyono issued a
decree authorizing the creation of a 40-member Papuan People's Council.
The council would have input into the appointment of the governor and
deputy governor of Papua Province, as well as provincial-level
legislation affecting indigenous Papuans. The council would consist of
one-third religious figures, one-third representatives of tribal
organizations, and one-third women's groups. However, the central
Government reserved veto power over candidates for the MRP whom it
deemed objectionable.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Domestic human rights organizations reported being subject to
monitoring, harassment, and interference by the Government; however,
they remained active in advocating improvements to the Government's
human rights performance. Komnas HAM reported that, since 2000, 14
human rights activists had been killed and that no perpetrators been
brought to justice. However, there were no reports of any human rights
activists killed during the year. Many NGOs, particularly those in
Aceh, accused security forces of obstructing their activities. Unlike
in the previous year, there were no reports that organized groups
attacked members or offices of NGOs.
In Aceh, NGOs experienced intense government interference. The
security forces repeatedly summoned domestic NGO activists for
questioning regarding possible links to the GAM, which prompted between
100 and 200 activists to leave the province. The Government effectively
prohibited foreign humanitarian aid workers from the province, except
for a limited number attached to U.N. agencies. According to AI, once
the provincial governor took over as head of the Civil Emergency
Authority, he extended existing restrictions on international
humanitarian organizations. Access reportedly was especially poor in
those regions designated by the military as ``black areas.'' AI
believed that some of these areas had not been accessed by independent
humanitarian organizations since May 2003.
The Government criticized NGOs that questioned its policies. In
June, the former Government expelled Sidney Jones, ICG Country
Director. Jones appeared to have been expelled because of the
Government's displeasure with her portrayal of its handling of
politically sensitive issues (see Section 2.d.).
On June 30, the court ruled in favor of Major General Nurdin
Zainal, who in 2003 had sued two persons of the NGO Institute for Human
Rights Study and Advocacy (ELS-HAM) and four newspaper editors for
defamation. The lawsuit stemmed from a press conference ELS-HAM held in
the wake of a 2002 ambush near Timika. ELS-HAM appealed the verdict.
There was no progress in the case of six FBR members involved in a
2002 attack against activists of the Urban Poor Consortium at the
Jakarta office of Komnas HAM. The six cases remained on appeal to the
Jakarta High Court at year's end. The Government reported no progress
in prosecuting the perpetrators of the 2002 shooting in Papua of
several family members of Johannes Bonay, executive director of ELS-
HAM.
The Government generally viewed outside investigations or foreign
criticism of its human rights record as interference in its internal
affairs. The security forces and intelligence agencies tended to regard
with suspicion foreign human rights organizations, particularly those
operating in conflict areas. Government monitoring of foreigners was
apparent in some conflict areas. Some domestic human rights
organizations expressed concern about possible negative consequences of
contacting foreigners.
A number of government agencies and affiliated bodies addressed
human rights problems, including the Ministry of Law and Human Rights,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment,
and Komnas HAM. However, in 2003, Komnas HAM's efforts to expose human
rights violations and bring perpetrators to account were undermined by
a number of court decisions regarding Komnas HAM's jurisdiction or
authority. For example, in June 2003, a Jakarta court refused to
subpoena former and active military officers who had ignored Komnas HAM
summonses to face questioning over the 1998 riots, which claimed more
than 1,200 lives. By law, severe human rights violations that occurred
before 2000 could be investigated only by an ad hoc human rights court,
not Komnas HAM. Such a court could be formed only at the suggestion of
the DPR, but for the DPR to know enough about an incident to approve
the formation of a court, a thorough investigation was necessary. The
resulting stalemate continued to block progress toward accountability.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution does not explicitly prohibit discrimination based
on gender, race, disability, language, or social status. It provides
for equal rights for all citizens, both native and naturalized.
However, in practice, the Government failed to defend these rights
adequately.
Women.--Violence against women remained poorly documented.
Nationwide figures were unavailable, but the NGO Mitra Perempuan-
affiliated Women's Crisis Centers (WCC) conducted a 13-city survey from
April 2003 to March. WCC found 300 cases of violence against women in
Jakarta, 33 in Bandung, 14 in Purwokerto, 25 in Surakarta, 53 in
Jombang, 14 in Banda Aceh, 22 in Bengkulu, 25 in Bandar Lampung, 10 in
Palembang, 7 in Pontianak, 10 in Manado, 30 in Makassar, and 32 in
Kupang. The local press reported that violence against women continued
to increase. Two types of crisis centers were available for abused
women: Government-run centers in hospitals and NGO centers operated in
the community. During the year, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment
successfully lobbied for the passage of the Domestic Violence Act,
presented the antitrafficking bill to the DPR, and supported the
election law's target of 30 percent female candidates for legislative
office. The Ministry also worked on issues of child protection,
including trafficking.
The Domestic Violence Act that passed in the DPR on September 14
criminalizes domestic violence. Physical violence is punishable by
imprisonment for up to 15 years or $5,000 (45 million rupiah).
Psychological violence is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years
or $1,000 (9 million rupiah). Sexual violence is punishable by
imprisonment for up to 20 years. At year's end, there were no
prosecutions.
Rape was a problem. It is punishable by 4 to 12 years in jail.
Although the Government jailed perpetrators for rape and attempted
rape, convicted rapists most commonly were sentenced to the minimum or
less. Reliable nationwide statistics were unavailable. The definition
of rape is narrow and excludes heinous acts that would commonly be
treated as rape in other countries.
Rapes by members of the security forces were most numerous in Aceh.
Human rights activists expressed concern that rapes were underreported
in the province, partly because of reluctance by victims to do so. SIRA
stated that military personnel committed nine rapes in Aceh but that no
cases of rape or sexual harassment had been reported to the
authorities. During the year, the TNI prosecuted 15 personnel for rape.
It was unclear whether GAM rebels committed rape during the year,
although there were numerous reports that GAM members committed rape in
previous years.
Over the past several years, many police stations set up a
``special crisis room,'' where female officers received criminal
reports from victims of sexual assault and trafficking, and where
victims found temporary shelter.
The Guidelines of State Policy, legal statutes adopted by the MPR,
state that women have the same rights, obligations, and opportunities
as men. However, the guidelines also state that women's participation
in the development process must not conflict with their role in
improving family welfare and the education of the younger generation.
Marriage law designates the man as the head of the family. Women in
many regions of the country, particularly in Papua, complained about
differential treatment based on gender.
The legal differentiation between a woman and a girl was not clear.
The Marriage Law sets the minimum marriageable age at 16 for a woman
(and 19 for a man), but the Child Protection Law states that persons
under age 18 are children.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision,
was practiced in some parts of the country, including West Java. The
most recent data available, from a 2002 study in areas where FGM was
prevalent, indicated that pain, suffering, and complications were
minimal. Two types of persons, midwives and local traditional
practitioners, performed the procedure. Researchers said the midwives'
procedure involved the tearing, cutting, or piercing of part of the
genitals but not the removal of tissue. Most of the local traditional
practitioners, on the other hand, said that they customarily removed
tissue, but the extent of this removal remained unclear. Similarly, it
was unclear whether the removed tissue was from the clitoris, labia
minora, or elsewhere. Some NGO activists dismissed any claims of
mutilation, saying the ritual as practiced in the country was largely
symbolic. During the year, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the
Ministry of Women's Empowerment became more engaged in the prevention
of FGM and its practice by midwives in clinics. The MOH, World Health
Organization, and Ford Foundation planned to sponsor efforts in January
2005 to sensitize and share information regarding the status of FGM
practices and to mobilize prevention efforts with the religious
community, NGO advocates, and medical providers. The MOH worked on, but
did not finalize, an official policy statement prohibiting FGM from
being practiced in government clinics by health care providers. The MOH
included the prevention of FGM as a subject in training curricula for
traditional birthing attendants and midwives.
Prostitution is not specifically addressed in the Penal Code.
However, the code refers to ``crimes against decency/morality,'' which
many interpret to apply to prostitution. Child prostitution is illegal
under the Penal Code and the 2002 Child Protection Act. While contrary
to societal and religious norms, prostitution was widespread and
largely tolerated. Security forces reportedly participated in the
running of brothels or protection rackets, which shielded brothels from
prosecution. International sex tourism took place, especially on the
islands of Batam and Karimun, both near Singapore.
Sexual harassment is against the law. Although it is not explicitly
mentioned, sexual harassment is actionable under the Criminal Code.
According to a statement during the year by the State Ministry of
Women's Empowerment, 90 percent of women and 25 percent of men have
been victims of sexual harassment in the work place.
Divorce was open to both men and women. Muslims who sought divorce
generally turned to the Islam-based family court system as a faster and
cheaper alternative to the national court system. Non-Muslims obtained
divorces through the national court system. Due to prejudicial
attitudes, women often faced a heavier evidentiary burden than men,
especially in the family court system. Although both Islamic and
national courts may award alimony, many divorcees received no alimony,
since there was no system to enforce such payments. Men and women both
keep the separate property they owned before marriage. If there is no
prenuptial agreement, joint property is divided equally. The Marriage
Law requires a woman who has become divorced to wait a certain period
of time before remarrying, while a man can remarry immediately.
The Citizenship Law stipulates that a child's citizenship is
derived solely from the father. Children of citizen mothers and foreign
fathers are considered foreigners and must have visas to remain in the
country until age 18, when they can apply for citizenship. These
children are prohibited from attending public schools. In cases when a
citizen mother lived abroad with her foreign husband, divorce could
involve child custody problems. The children of foreign women married
to citizen men also faced difficulties. A foreign woman married to a
citizen can obtain citizenship after 1 year, if desired.
During the year, the Government continued to implement Shari'a in
Aceh (see Section 2.c.). The most visible impact on women's rights
appeared to be the enforcement of dress codes.
Women faced considerable discrimination in the workplace, both in
terms of obtaining positions and in gaining fair compensation for labor
performed. In 2003, the International Labor Organization's (ILO)
Jakarta office reported that on average, women's earnings were 68
percent of that of men workers. In 2002, the Government stated that 14
percent of women civil servants were in positions of authority, but
only 38 percent of all civil servants were women, which meant that only
5 percent of civil servants in positions of authority were women.
Some activists said that, in manufacturing, employers relegated
women to lower-paying, lower-level jobs. Many female factory workers
were hired as day laborers instead of as full-time permanent employees,
and companies were not required to provide benefits, such as maternity
leave, to day laborers. According to the Government's Central
Statistics Bureau, in 2002, the unemployment rate was higher for men
than for women. If a husband and wife both worked for a government
agency, the couple's head-of-household allowance was given to the
husband. There were reports that female university graduates received
an average salary that was 25 percent less than that of their male
counterparts.
A number of organizations promoted women's rights or otherwise
addressed women's issues during the year, including Solidaritas
Perempuan, Mitra Perempuan, LBH-Apik, and the International Catholic
Migration Commission (ICMC).
Children.--The Government stated its commitment to children's
rights, education, and welfare, but it devoted insufficient resources
to fulfill that commitment. In practice, most schools were not free of
charge, and poverty put education out of reach of many children. Child
labor and sexual abuse were serious problems. Although girls and boys
ostensibly received equal educational opportunities, boys were more
likely to finish school. In January 2003, the leader of the National
Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) identified the most
pressing problems related to the country's youth as child labor, child
trafficking, child prostitution, street children, children in conflict
areas, and undernourished children. The National Child Protection Act
addresses economic and sexual exploitation of children as well as
adoption, guardianship, and other problems; however, some provincial
governments did not enforce its provisions.
Children were casualties in areas of armed conflict. In Maluku,
following the anniversary of the RMS movement in April, an unidentified
person shot a 9-year-old child in Ambon. AI reported that in May, TNI
used children, wives, and other relatives of GAM members from three
different villages as human shields. They were instructed by TNI
soldiers to hold bags of rice in front of themselves for shielding and
walk through the forest ahead of soldiers searching for GAM members.
The operation lasted from May 16 through May 18. According to AI, the
TNI also used children to spy, cook, clean, and communicate. Local NGOs
reported to AI that the GAM also used children, forcing them to act as
informants, participate in arson, collect ``taxes,'' cook, and provide
supplies. In addition, the GAM reportedly used teenagers as combatants.
A newly established police child welfare hotline recorded a total
of 576 cases of violence against children in East Java in the first 3
months of the year. The increase in reported cases was likely the
result of this new, more effective reporting mechanism rather than a
reflection of a dramatic increase in actual cases of violence against
children. Police received reports of domestic violence, sexual
violence, and neglect.
By law, children are required to attend 6 years of elementary
school and 3 years of junior high school; however, in practice, the
Government did not enforce these requirements. According to 2002 UNICEF
data, school enrollment rates were 96 percent for children ages 7 to
12, 79 percent for children ages 13 to 15, and 49 percent for children
ages 16 to 18.
Monthly fees for public schools varied from province to province
and were based on average incomes. Some parents continued to find it
difficult to afford to send their children to school. Including
tuition, transportation costs, and school materials, primary and
secondary schools could cost a family between $444 and $778 (4 million
to 7 million rupiah) per year for each student. It was unclear how many
children were forced to leave school to help support their families. In
some areas of the country, parents and watchdog groups complained that
corruption among public servants severely undermined the quality of
education. Indonesian Corruption Watch reported that some principals in
East Java, West Java, and North Sumatra bribed Education Ministry
officials to secure funding for their schools.
During the year, conflicts or the lingering effects of conflicts
disrupted the education of some children. For example, during the
renewed sectarian conflict in Ambon, Maluku, two Islamic schools were
destroyed and several others were temporarily closed due to unsafe
conditions. In Aceh Province, more than 603 school buildings were
burned following the introduction of martial law in May 2003. The
Government rebuilt 328 of these schools during the year; however,
several hundred schools were destroyed by the December 26 tsunami.
Many children grew up in poor health conditions. Malnutrition
remained a serious problem. The country's infant mortality rate
remained high. According to the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey
published in December 2003, there were 35 deaths for every 1,000 live
births. There was improvement in under-5 mortality, but a lack of
improvement in infant mortality led the Government to increase its
focus on newborn healthcare.
The number of street children across the country was unknown.
Komnas PA estimated 50,000 nationwide, while a 2002 Family Health
International study estimated the number at nearly 71,000. During the
year, an NGO estimated the number of street children in the 12 largest
cities had decreased slightly.
Substantial numbers of street children were apparent in Jakarta and
the Provinces of East Java, West Java, North Sumatra, and South
Sulawesi. Surabaya, in East Java, was home to approximately 8,000
street children, many reportedly susceptible to sexual abuse and
violence. Approximately 40 shelters in the province provided services
to such children. In August 2003, the Jakarta city government announced
that it would establish a dormitory housing between 600 and 1,000
street children. The city government also agreed to pay for the
children's schooling and provide a stipend of approximately $58
(522,000 rupiah) to the children's parents to help them set up home
businesses. The shelter had not been opened by year's end. The
Government continued to provide some shelters throughout the country,
administered by local NGOs, and paid for the education of some street
children. One NGO estimated that 5,000 children lived in these
shelters. During the year, the Government designated $1 million (9
million rupiah) to alleviate the problem of street children in Bandung,
West Java, but the program was unsuccessful, reportedly due to
corruption.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children continued to be a
serious problem. The number of child prostitutes in the country was
unclear; however, an ILO assessment estimated there were approximately
21,000 child prostitutes on the island of Java. In October 2003, a team
of NGO and government health officials visited a prostitution complex
in Riau Province and estimated that 30 to 40 percent of the 365 female
sex workers there were under 18 years of age. Many teenage girls were
forced into or found themselves caught in debt bondage. At times, law
enforcement officials treated child sex workers as criminals rather
than victims. Women's rights activists and religious groups accused
government officials, including police and soldiers, of operating or
protecting brothels that employed underage prostitutes. Corrupt civil
servants issued identity cards to underage girls, facilitating entry
into the sex trade. According to the Surabaya Social Department, of the
6,703 sex workers in that city and its environs, 30 percent were under
the age of 18. There also were reports of sexual exploitation of boys.
NGOs reported long-active pedophile rings operating in Bali, and
authorities arrested, tried, and convicted at least one man, an
Australian, for pedophilia there.
During the year, there were cases in which employment brokers paid
parents advances of future salaries to be earned by their daughters.
The child was required to repay the employment brokers. Researchers
described a ``culture of prostitution'' in some parts of the country,
where parents encouraged their daughters to work as big-city
prostitutes and send the proceeds home.
NGO observers said many girls were forced into prostitution after
failed marriages they had entered into when they were 10 to 14 years of
age. There was no obvious violation of the law, because their paperwork
identified them as adults due to the fact they were once married.
Child abuse is prohibited by law, but government efforts to combat
child abuse generally have been slow and ineffective. NGOs reported
that it continued to take excessively long to bring a child rape case
to court and that mechanisms for reporting and dealing with child abuse
were vague.
Child labor was a problem. In January 2003, the ILO reported that 8
million children under 18 were doing the work of adults (see Section
6.d.).
During the year, the Government began implementing a 1997 juvenile
justice law that called for the creation of a juvenile court system. In
cities where a juvenile court had not been established, ordinary courts
adjudicated such cases. On August 13, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir
Manan inaugurated the country's first juvenile court, located in
Bandung, West Java. Komnas PA reported that more courts were starting
to involve social workers in children's trials but that financial
constraints kept social workers from being available at all such
trials.
A number of NGOs promoted children's rights, including Child
Advocacy Network, National Commission on Child Protection, Center for
Study and Child Protection, and Foundation for Indonesian Child
Welfare.
Trafficking in Persons.--Trafficking in persons is illegal under
the Penal Code and the 2002 Child Protection Act; however, these laws
are not comprehensive in their definition of trafficking. During the
year, persons were trafficked to, from, and within the country for the
purposes of prostitution and forced labor, including instances of debt
bondage.
In 2002, a national action plan to counter trafficking of women and
children was approved by presidential decree. It identifies specific
roles for the Government and civil society at both the national and
local levels, and it includes goals for lawmaking and law enforcement.
The Child Protection Act prohibits economic and sexual exploitation of
children and also child trafficking. The act specifies severe criminal
penalties and jail terms for persons who violate children's rights,
including trafficking in persons. During the year, the Government
finalized a comprehensive antitrafficking bill, and President Megawati
submitted the bill to the DPR in August. The Government, with the help
of NGOs, conducted public education efforts on trafficking. In January,
North Sulawesi Province enacted the country's first broad province-
level antitrafficking in persons law. On September 30, the DPR passed
legislation concerning the protection of migrant workers and the law on
domestic violence.
The Criminal Code lacks an adequate legal definition of trafficking
in persons. The Solidarity Center and the ICMC identified laws that
could be applied in cases of trafficking and related offenses. The
Penal Code prohibits trade in women and male minors but is silent on
female minors. The Child Protection Act provides for prison sentences
of 3 to 15 years plus fines for child traffickers. In many cases,
police and prosecutors continued to use the Penal Code against
traffickers because they lacked familiarity with the relatively new
Child Protection Act. However, the number of prosecutions based on the
act increased. In the past, judges rarely sentenced traffickers to more
than 3 years in prison. However, during the year, judges imposed
increasingly heavy sentences on child traffickers, with some
convictions resulting in 5- or 6-year jail terms. On September 16, a
North Sumatra court sentenced Desi Prisanti Siregar to 13 years in jail
for the trafficking of nine young women and girls into the sex trade in
Malaysia.
Reliable figures were not available on the number of persons
trafficked. A study by the Solidarity Center and ICMC estimated there
were between 2.4 and 3.7 million women and children who worked in the
vulnerable categories of migrant workers, sex workers, and child
domestic workers (see Section 5, Children). Within these categories,
the estimated total number of children ranged from 254,000 to 422,000.
These were not estimates of victims but rather of women and children
vulnerable to trafficking.
During the year, the Government, NGOs, and the media reported that
women were trafficked to Malaysia, Japan, the Middle East (including
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other
destinations. Malaysia was the destination for the greatest number of
credibly documented cases of female trafficking victims.
During the 12-month period ending in February, police investigated
125 cases of trafficking in women and children, involving 160
traffickers and 85 victims. Police submitted 67 of these cases for
prosecution. At least 25 suspects were convicted. During the year,
trafficking convictions increased to approximately 35 convictions,
according to preliminary data.
In June and July, police arrested six traffickers identified as the
Rizal gang, reportedly responsible for selling hundreds of women as
prostitutes in Malaysia. A Jakarta court convicted the six gang members
in November but sentenced them to only 4 or 5 months in jail.
The Singkawang District of West Kalimantan remained well known as
an area from which poor, ethnic Chinese women and teenage girls between
the ages of 14 and 20 were recruited as ``mail order'' brides for men
primarily in Taiwan but also in Hong Kong and Singapore. In some cases,
the women were trafficked for sex work and slavery-like servitude.
In many cases, traffickers recruited girls and women under false
pretenses. One tactic was to offer young women in rural areas jobs as
waitresses or hotel employees in distant regions, including island
resorts. After the new recruits arrived and incurred debts to their
recruiters, they learned that they had been hired as prostitutes.
Many trafficking victims became vulnerable to trafficking during
the process of becoming migrant workers. Many unauthorized recruiting
agents operated throughout the country and were involved in trafficking
to various degrees, and some government-licensed recruiting agents also
were implicated in trafficking. Recruiting agents often charged
exorbitant fees leading to debt bondage and recruited persons to work
illegally overseas, which increased the workers' vulnerability to
trafficking and other abuses.
The basic 3-month course that all police officers received did not
include training on countertrafficking in persons. During the year,
international agencies continued to provide police with specific
training with regard to trafficking. Trafficking falls under the
purview of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). In 2003, the
police established a separate antitrafficking unit within CID with
operational and coordinating responsibilities. As a result,
coordination within the police force and between the police and other
interested departments on trafficking in persons improved somewhat
during the year.
The national police headquarters issued new instructions to
district police chiefs to break up trafficking rings, assist victims,
and report cases to national headquarters. However, credible sources
noted that individual security force members were involved in setting
up and protecting brothels. Traffickers and brothel owners reportedly
paid protection money to security force members. Apart from police and
soldiers, some government officials were complicit in trafficking,
particularly in the production of false documents. The prevalence and
ease of obtaining fraudulent national identity cards, which could
document children as adults, contributed to the trafficking problem.
Within society and the Government, there was continued reluctance to
acknowledge that prostitution was a major problem.
Domestic NGOs, with international support, led efforts to monitor
and prevent trafficking, frequently in coordination with government
agencies. These NGOs included the Consortium for Indonesian Migrant
Workers Advocacy, LBH-Apik, Women's Aid and Protection Group, Women's
Coalition (Koalisi Perempuan), and Solidaritas Perempuan.
In 2003, the Government cooperated with Australia in investigating
a trafficking ring sending Indonesian women into sexual servitude in
Australia. Bilateral police cooperation led to the trial of at least
one trafficker in Australia and the arrest of others in Indonesia. The
Government also cooperated with Malaysia to investigate trafficking.
The Government at various levels and to varying degrees assisted
victims of trafficking, both domestically and abroad. National- and
local-level assistance efforts increased compared with previous years
but remained small in comparison with the scope of the problem. In
general, government assistance was modest and focused on citizens
trafficked abroad, while domestic assistance was minimal. Over the
year, the Government and community groups established a number of new
shelters for trafficking victims, including shelters in Batam, Riau
Islands. The police increased the number of police women's desks, units
established to help women and children who fall victim to violence
including trafficking. The women's desks provided temporary shelter,
special police handling, and some level of legal services for victims.
The women's desks often cooperated with local NGOs to provide medical
and psychological services and longer term shelter. However, distrust
of police discouraged some victims from using these desks.
The Government's policy is to ``treat persons who are trafficked
not as criminals but as victims who need help and protection.'' During
the year, the People's Welfare Coordinating Ministry and the Ministry
of Women's Empowerment reinforced this policy in public settings and
training programs for police and other officials. However, local
government and police practice varied, particularly in the lower ranks
of law enforcement agencies. Local governments, exercising greater
authority under the country's decentralization program, sometimes
enacted laws or regulations that tended to treat trafficked sex workers
as criminals, contrary to national policy. In many instances,
government officials and police actively protected and assisted
victims. In other cases, police treated victims such as trafficked sex
workers as criminals, subjected them to detention, and took advantage
of their vulnerability to demand bribes and sexual services. The media
and lower-level officials, including police, often failed to protect
victims' identities and commonly provided victims' names to the public.
The Government encouraged victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of traffickers. The Government reported that victims
frequently were reluctant or refused to provide testimony due to shame
and fear of retribution against themselves or their families.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law mandates access to buildings
for persons with disabilities; however, the Government did not enforce
this provision. The Disability Law requires companies that employ more
than 100 workers to set aside 1 percent of their positions for persons
with disabilities. However, the Government did not enforce the law, and
persons with disabilities faced considerable discrimination. The law
also mandates accessibility to public facilities for persons with
disabilities; however, extremely few buildings and virtually no public
transportation facilities provided such accessibility. Recent
statistics on the number of persons with disabilities were not
available. In 1999, the U.N. estimated the percentage of such persons
at 5.4 percent of the population, or approximately 12 million persons;
the Government put the number at 3 percent, or approximately 7 million
persons. The Government classified persons with disabilities into four
categories: Blind, deaf, mentally disabled, and physically disabled.
The Constitution requires the Government to provide them with care;
however, ``care'' is not defined, and the provision of education to
children with disabilities never was inferred from the requirement.
In urban areas, only a few city buses offered wheelchair access,
and many of those have had their hydraulic lifts vandalized, rendering
them unusable. In other cases, the space reserved for wheelchairs was
occupied by other passengers because the bus conductors could earn more
money.
In 2003, the Government stated the country was home to 1.3 million
children with disabilities but only 50,000 of them attended school. The
true number of such children was believed to be much higher. The law
provides children with disabilities with the right to an education and
rehabilitative treatment. A government official alleged that many
parents chose to keep their children with disabilities at home;
however, many schools refused to accommodate such children, stating
they lacked the resources to do so. According to the Government, there
were 700 schools dedicated to educating children with disabilities; all
but 41 of them were run privately. Some young persons with disabilities
resorted to begging for a living.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Government officially
promotes racial and ethnic tolerance. Ethnic Chinese accounted for
approximately 3 percent of the population, by far the largest
nonindigenous minority group, and played a major role in the economy.
Instances of discrimination and harassment of ethnic Chinese
Indonesians declined compared with previous years. On April 14, then
President Megawati publicly called on Immigration officials to stop
asking ethnic Chinese citizens for a Republic of Indonesia Citizenship
Certificate (SBKRI), a document not required of non-Chinese citizens;
however, many ethnic Chinese citizens reported they were still
frequently asked to show one. An attorney advocate for the rights of
ethnic Chinese stated that more than 60 articles of law, regulation, or
decree were in effect that discriminated against ethnic Chinese
citizens. NGOs such as the Indonesia Anti-Discrimination Movement urged
the Government to revoke these articles.
In September 2003, approximately 50 ethnic Chinese families in the
West Java city of Tangerang protested in front of the Tangerang Council
building over the alleged sale of land traditionally used as a Chinese
cemetery. The families complained that the sale of the land for a
commercial development prevented them from being able to bury their
dead beside loved ones. City councilors agreed to review the case, but
there were no developments by year's end.
During the year, some ethnic Chinese citizens complained that the
Government had not done enough to prosecute those responsible for the
1998 violence against them and their businesses.
In Papua, TNI authorities estimated the number of OPM guerillas at
620. These guerillas were poorly armed with an estimated 150 weapons
ranging from modern M-16s to outdated Mausers. Indigenous Papuans
complained that they were underrepresented in the civil service of that
province; however, due largely to the partial implementation of the
Special Autonomy Law and the creation of 14 new regencies in Papua,
there was a large increase in the number of government positions for
ethnic Papuans.
Unlike in 2003, there were no reports of overt discrimination
against Acehnese outside the province. However, some Acehnese reported
that they were not comfortable saying they were from Aceh, faced extra
scrutiny when trying to leave the country, and resented having a
different identity card.
Indigenous People.--The Government views all citizens as
``indigenous,'' with the exception of ethnic Chinese; however, it
recognizes the existence of several ``isolated communities'' and their
right to participate fully in political and social life. These
communities include such groups as the myriad Dayak tribes of
Kalimantan, families living as sea nomads, and the 312 officially
recognized indigenous groups in Papua. During the year, indigenous
people remained subject to widespread discrimination, and there was
little improvement in respect for their traditional land rights. Mining
and logging activities, many of them illegal, posed significant social,
economic, and logistical problems to indigenous communities. The
Government failed to stop domestic and multinational companies, often
in collusion with the local military and police, from encroaching on
indigenous people's land.
In Sumatra, where there were many lowland tropical forests,
corporate interests continued to take over lands traditionally claimed
by indigenous communities, who relied on them for rice farming and
rubber tapping. HRW and other NGOs reported that the creation of huge
plantations to serve the paper and pulp industry threatened the
livelihoods of many indigenous people. Some indigenous people
unsuccessfully filed land claims with the authorities. In 2003, in the
Sumatran subdistrict of Porsea, local citizens and environmental
groups, including WALHI, condemned the Government's decision to reopen
a pulp company, PT Toba Pulp Lestari (formerly PT Indorayon), which was
closed in 2002. The company's pulp mills were blamed for far-reaching
environmental degradation, and at least five persons involved in the
dispute had been killed in recent years. Komnas HAM noted that both
sides in the dispute had committed significant human rights violations.
Unlike in previous years, indigenous peoples in Sulawesi reportedly
did not protest development projects in their traditional lands.
In Papua, tensions continued between indigenous Papuans and
migrants from other provinces, between residents of coastal and inland
communities, and among tribes. Some in the indigenous community accused
the newcomers of price gouging and condescension, while some newcomers
claimed that indigenous Papuans treated them with resentment and
suspicion.
In Central Kalimantan, relations between indigenous Dayaks and
ethnic Madurese transmigrants remained poor in the wake of 2001
interethnic violence. However, at least 45,000 displaced ethnic
Madurese returned to Central Kalimantan during the year. Relations
between the two groups also remained poor in West Kalimantan, where
former residents of Madurese descent were obstructed in their attempts
to reclaim their property.
Human rights activists said that the government-sponsored
transmigration program violated the rights of indigenous people, bred
social resentment, and encouraged the exploitation and degradation of
natural resources on which many indigenous persons relied. In some
areas, such as parts of Sulawesi, the Malukus, Kalimantan, Aceh, and
Papua, relations between transmigrants and indigenous people were
hostile. Some indigenous groups claimed that they received less
government support than transmigrants, and some transmigrants claimed
that in some cases they were moved to areas with undesirable land or
where the land's ownership was in dispute.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was some societal
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. Some individuals received
prejudicial treatment at medical centers, saw their confidential
laboratory results released, or had their identity published in a
newspaper. In most if not all such cases, the Government failed to take
corrective action. However, the Government encouraged tolerance, took
steps to prevent new infections, and drew up plans to subsidize
antiretroviral drugs.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The 2000 Trade Union Act provides
broad rights of association for workers, and workers exercised these
rights. The law allows workers to form and join unions of their choice
without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and workers
did so in practice. The law stipulates that 10 or more workers have the
right to form a union, with membership open to all workers, regardless
of political affiliation, religion, ethnicity, or gender. Private
sector workers are by law free to form worker organizations without
prior authorization, and unions may draw up their own constitutions and
rules and elect representatives. The Government records, rather than
approves, the formation of a union and provides it with a registration
number. Under the law, 86 union federations notified the Ministry of
Manpower and Transmigration (the Manpower Ministry) of their existence.
In addition, more than 18,000 workplace-level units registered with the
Manpower Ministry.
According to an ILO estimate made during the year, the country's
total labor force consisted of approximately 100 million workers, 42
percent of whom worked in the agricultural and forestry sector. The
Government estimated total trade union membership at 9.7 million
workers, just below 10 percent of the total workforce. However, if
compared to the country's 23.8 million regular employees (a category
that excludes the self-employed, employers, casual workers, and unpaid
workers), union membership would reach almost 41 percent.
The law allows the Government to petition the courts to dissolve a
union if it conflicts with the state ideology of Pancasila or the
Constitution, or if a union's leaders or members, in the name of the
union, commit crimes against the security of the State and are
sentenced to at least 5 years in prison. Once a union is dissolved, its
leaders and members may not form another union for at least 3 years.
There were no reports that the Government dissolved any unions during
the year.
In May, a Jakarta court dismissed all charges filed by prosecutors
against leaders of the Indonesian Seafarers' Union, thereby upholding
their 2001 election. Former Manpower Ministry officials, who led the
union during the Suharto era, had convinced prosecutors to argue that
the 2001 election was invalid and that former union officials should
resume control over the union.
The Labor Union Act prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers
and others against union organizers and members, and it provides
penalties for violations; however, the Government did not effectively
enforce the law in many cases. There were frequent, credible reports of
employer retribution against union organizers, including dismissals and
violence, that were not prevented effectively or remedied in practice.
Some employers warned employees against contact with union organizers.
Some unions claimed that strike leaders were singled out for layoffs
when companies downsized. Legal requirements existed for employers to
reinstate workers fired for union activity, although in many cases the
Government did not enforce this effectively.
The Indonesia National Workers Struggle Front charged that
employers dismissed its officials from at least five companies,
allegedly because of their union activities. In March, the Indonesian
Prosperity Trade Union Confederation (KSBSI) filed a freedom of
association complaint with the ILO regarding PD. Jaya Bersama, a
Jakarta company processing birds' nests for Chinese cooking, and its
firing of 11 union officials and members allegedly for their union
activities. In response, in May the Manpower Ministry conducted a labor
inspection that found numerous labor violations, including child labor,
but took no corrective action. According to accounts by the Seafarers
Union of Burma (SUB), police in Tual, North Maluku, arrested and
allegedly beat six Burmese SUB members because of their attempts to
organize Burmese fishermen present in the country. Police claimed they
acted because of immigration violations, not at the behest of Thai
fishing boat captains, as SUB had alleged. The Government deported the
six Burmese sailors.
The law recognizes civil servants' freedom of association and right
to organize. In 2002, employees of several ministries began to form
employee associations, and union organizations began to seek members.
Unions also sought to organize state-owned enterprise (SOE) employees,
although they encountered some resistance from enterprise management,
and the legal basis for registering unions in SOEs remained unclear.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference; however, the
Government often did not protect this right in practice. The law
provides for collective bargaining and allows workers' organizations
that register with the Government to conclude legally binding
collective labor agreements (CLAs) with employers and to exercise other
trade union functions. The law includes some restrictions on collective
bargaining, including a requirement that a union or unions represent
more than 50 percent of the company workforce to negotiate a CLA.
In 2003, the DPR passed the Manpower Development and Protection Act
(Manpower Act), which regulates collective bargaining, the right to
strike, and general employment conditions. The act does not apply to
SOEs. The ILO provided technical assistance in the development of the
law, which generally meets ILO standards. Some unions remained opposed
to the law, claiming it contains inadequate severance benefits,
insufficient protection against arbitrary terminations, insufficient
restrictions against outsourcing, and legalization of child labor under
some conditions. The Government continued to issue implementing decrees
for the Manpower Act.
In January, the President approved the Industrial Relations
Disputes Settlement Act that, together with the 2000 Trade Union Act
and the 2003 Manpower Act, constitutes the revised legal basis for
industrial relations and worker rights. The Disputes Settlement Act
stipulates a new system of tripartite labor courts, replacing the
previous tripartite committees. The act also outlines settlement
procedures through mediation and arbitration. The ILO provided
assistance in the development of the law. The Government had not
established the new labor court system by year's end.
According to the Manpower Ministry, in July there were 9,122 CLAs
in effect between unions and private companies. Company regulations,
allowed for under government regulations, substituted for CLAs in
another 36,274 companies, many of which did not have union
representation. In addition, in 2003 there were 59 labor agreements in
effect between unions and state enterprises and another 65 agreements
between nonunionized workers and state enterprises. The Manpower Act
requires that employers and workers form bipartite bodies (joint
employer/worker committees) in companies with 50 or more workers, a
measure to institutionalize bipartite communications and consensus
building. However, the number of such bodies did not increase
significantly after passage of the act.
All workers, whether or not they are union members, have the legal
right to strike, except for public sector workers and those involved in
public safety activities. The law allows workers in these latter
categories to carry out strikes if they are arranged not to disrupt
public interests or endanger public safety. Private sector workers
exercised their right to strike, as did those in state enterprises,
although the latter group did so with less frequency. The large
majority of government-recorded strikes involved nonunion workers.
Unions or workers' representatives must provide 7 days' notice to carry
out a legal strike. The law calls for mediation by local Manpower
Ministry officials but does not require government approval of strikes.
In previous years, workers and employers rarely followed dispute
settlement procedures, and workers rarely gave formal notice of the
intent to strike because Manpower Ministry procedures were slow and had
little credibility among workers. The 2003 passage of the Manpower Act
did not significantly change this situation.
The underpayment or nonpayment of legally required severance
packages precipitated strikes and labor protests. The Solidarity Center
documented cases in which foreign employers in the garment and footwear
industry, faced with falling orders and plant closures, fled the
country to avoid making legally required severance payments.
Labor activists also reported that factory managers in some
locations employed thugs to intimidate and assault trade union members
who attempted to organize legal strike actions. At times, the police
intervened inappropriately and with force in labor matters, usually to
protect employers' interests. On September 8, approximately 200 police
assaulted striking workers at PT Shamrock Manufacturing Corporation in
Medan, a clash that injured several workers and police. The workers had
been on strike for 1 month, following the company's dismissal of 14
union officials affiliated with the Medan Independent Workers Union.
The company also had employed local thugs to put down the strike,
according to media sources. To develop standards of conduct in labor
disputes, the national police participated fully in an ILO worker
rights training program initiated during this period.
Pending implementation of the 2004 Disputes Settlement Act and its
new labor court system, regional and national labor dispute resolution
committees continued to adjudicate charges of antiunion discrimination.
The committees' decisions could be appealed to the State Administrative
Court. However, due to a history of adverse decisions for labor and the
long time necessary to process disputes, sometimes requiring years,
many unions believed that these committees were not realistic
alternatives for settling disputes. As a result, workers frequently
presented their grievances directly to Komnas HAM, the DPR, or NGOs.
Administrative decisions in favor of dismissed workers usually took the
form of monetary awards but rarely reinstated workers. The law required
that employers obtain the approval of the labor dispute resolution
committee before firing workers, but employers often ignored the law in
practice.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
export processing zones (EPZs). However, nongovernmental observers,
including the Solidarity Center, described stronger antiunion sentiment
and actions by employers in EPZs.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced labor or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there
were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
The Government tolerated forms of compulsory labor practiced in the
migrant worker recruitment process. The unscrupulous practices of
migrant worker recruiting agencies, or Perusahan Jasa Tenaga Kerja
Indonesia (PJTKI), and poor enforcement of government regulations often
led to debt bondage and extended, unlawful confinement. According to
press reports and research by the Solidarity Center, recruiting
agencies frequently kept migrant workers in holding centers for months
before sending them abroad. While in the holding centers, migrant
workers normally did not receive pay, and recruiters often did not
allow them to leave the centers. In most instances, workers were forced
to pay recruiters for the cost of their forced stay, which resulted in
large debts to the recruiters. In what the Solidarity Center and other
NGOs described as commonplace, the Jakarta Post newspaper reported in
July that guards at a migrant worker holding center caught and beat a
prospective worker, Fadijah, who attempted to escape from the center in
South Jakarta. Local residents rescued Fadijah and took the guards to a
local police station. Tired of waiting for a promised job in Malaysia,
Fadijah reported that she tried to return to her home but the PJTKI
would not allow her to leave the center until she had paid a debt of
$280 (2.5 million rupiah).
Forced and compulsory labor by children occurred (see Section
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits children from working in hazardous sectors and the worst
forms of child labor, to include mining, skin diving, construction,
prostitution, and offshore fishing platforms. However, the Government
did not enforce these laws effectively. Law, regulations, and practice
acknowledged that some children must work to supplement family incomes.
The Manpower Act prohibits the employment of children, defined as
persons under 18, with the exception of those 13 to 15 years of age,
who may work no more than 3 hours per day and only under a number of
other conditions, such as parental consent, no work during school
hours, and payment of legal wages. The law does not appear to address
exceptions for children ages 16 to 17.
The National Child Protection Act addresses economic and sexual
exploitation, including child prostitution, child trafficking, and the
involvement of children in the narcotics trade. The law provides severe
criminal penalties and jail terms for persons who violate children's
rights. During the year, the Government prosecuted a small number of
cases under this act.
The Government has a national action plan to eliminate the worst
forms of child labor, as well as separate national action plans for
combating trafficking and for eliminating the commercial sexual
exploitation of children.
Child labor remained a serious problem in the country. An estimated
6 to 8 million children exceeded the legal 3-hour daily work limit,
working in agriculture, street vending, mining, construction,
prostitution, and other areas. More children worked in the informal
than the formal sector. Some children worked in large factories, but
their numbers were unknown, largely because documents verifying age
could be falsified easily. Children worked in industries such as rattan
and wood furniture, garment, footwear, food processing, and toy making,
and also in small-scale mining operations. Many girls between 14 and 16
years of age worked as live-in domestic servants. The ILO informally
estimated that 700,000 children worked as servants. Many child servants
were not allowed to study and were forced to work long hours, received
low pay, and generally were unaware of their rights.
The law and regulations prohibit bonded labor by children; however,
the Government was not effective in eliminating forced child labor,
which remained a serious problem. A significant number of children
worked against their will in prostitution, pornography, begging, drug
trafficking, domestic service, and other exploitative situations,
including a small number on fishing platforms (see Section 5).
Enforcement of child labor laws remained largely ineffective.
Despite legislative and regulatory measures, most children who worked,
including as domestics, did so in unregulated environments. Anecdotal
evidence suggested that local labor officials carried out few child
labor investigations.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Provincial and district
authorities, not the central Government, establish minimum wages, which
vary by province, district, and sector. Provincial authorities
determined provincial minimum wage levels based on proposals by
tripartite (workers, employers, and government) provincial wage
commissions. The provincial minimum wage rates establish a floor for
minimum wages within the province. Local districts set district minimum
wages using the provincial levels as references. Districts also set
minimum wages in some industrial sectors on an ad hoc basis. Provinces
and districts conducted annual minimum wage rate negotiations, which
often produced controversy and protests.
The minimum wage levels set by most local governments did not
provide a worker and family with a decent standard of living. Most
province-level minimum wage rates fell below the Government's own
calculation of basic minimum needs. Jakarta offered the highest minimum
wage level $74 (671,550 rupiah) per month, while East Java stipulated
the lowest at $34 (310,000 rupiah) per month. In December, workers in
Jakarta protested the Governor's decision to raise the monthly minimum
wage by only 6 percent to $78 (711,843 rupiah), which fell below the
government-determined minimum living standard. Employers argued that
increasing wage rates, among a number of other factors, made the
country's workers less competitive internationally and limited job
growth in the industry.
Local manpower (Disnaker) officials are responsible for enforcing
minimum wage regulations. Enforcement remained inadequate, particularly
at smaller companies and in the informal sector. In practice, official
minimum wage levels applied only in the formal sector, which accounted
for 35 percent of the workforce.
Labor law and ministerial regulations provide workers with a
variety of benefits. Persons who worked at more modern facilities often
received health benefits, meal privileges, and transportation. The law
also requires employers to register workers with and pay contributions
to the state-owned insurance agency JAMSOSTEK; however, at year's end,
companies had registered only 23 million workers, according to
JAMSOSTEK.
The law establishes a 40-hour workweek, with one 30-minute rest
period for every 4 hours of work. Companies often required a 5-and-a-
half or 6-day workweek. The law also requires at least 1 day of rest
weekly. The daily overtime rate was 1.5 times the normal hourly rate
for the first hour and double the hourly rate for additional overtime,
with a maximum of 3 hours of overtime per day and no more than 14 hours
per week. Workers in industries that produced retail goods for export
frequently worked overtime to meet contract quotas. Unions complained
that companies relied upon excessive overtime in some electronics
assembly plants, to the detriment of workers' health and safety.
Observance of laws regulating benefits and labor standards varied
between sectors and regions. Employer violations of legal requirements
were fairly common, resulting in some strikes and protests. The
Manpower Ministry continued to urge employers to comply with the law;
however, government enforcement and supervision of labor standards were
weak.
Both law and regulations provide for minimum standards of
industrial health and safety. In practice, the country's worker safety
record was poor. As revealed in press reports, JAMSOSTEK recorded
105,846 occupational accidents in 2003, an increase from 103,804 in
2002. Local Disnaker officials have responsibility for enforcing health
and safety standards.
In larger companies, the quality of occupational health and safety
programs varied greatly. Health and safety standards in smaller
companies and in the informal sector tended to be weaker or
nonexistent. Workers are obligated to report hazardous working
conditions, and employers are forbidden by law from retaliating against
those who do report hazardous working conditions; however, the law was
not enforced effectively.
__________
JAPAN
Japan is a parliamentary democracy based on its 1947 Constitution.
Sovereignty is vested in the citizenry, and the Emperor is defined as
the symbol of state. Executive power is exercised by a cabinet,
composed of a prime minister and ministers of state, which is
responsible to the Diet, a two house parliament. The Diet, elected by
universal suffrage and secret ballot, designates the Prime Minister,
who must be a member of that body. The most recent national elections
were in July. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito Party
make up the current coalition government headed by Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi. The judiciary is generally independent.
The Self-Defense Forces are responsible for external security and
have limited domestic security responsibilities. The well organized and
disciplined police force is effectively under the control of the
civilian authorities. However, there continued to be credible reports
that police committed some human rights abuses.
In spite of a lengthy economic downturn, the industrialized, free
market economy continued to provide the approximately 127,580,000
residents with a high standard of living and high levels of employment.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There continued
to be credible reports that police and prison officials physically and
psychologically abused prisoners and detainees. Violence against women
and children, child prostitution, and trafficking in women were
problems. Women, the Ainu (the country's indigenous people), the
Burakumin (a group whose members historically were treated as
outcasts), and alien residents experienced varying degrees of
discrimination, some of it severe and longstanding.
According to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) figures, the Legal Affairs
Bureau offices and civil liberties volunteers dealt with 359,971 human
rights related complaints and 18,786 reports of suspected human rights
violations during 2003. Staffing constraints and limited legal powers
make this administrative system weak, and many of these cases were
ultimately resolved in the courts.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents during the year.
In 2002, an inmate at Nagoya Prison died after guards, as a
disciplinary measure, used leather handcuffs and body belts too tightly
cinched (see Section 1.c.). In 2001, two Nagoya prison guards
reportedly sprayed a high-power water hose at an ``unruly'' inmate,
resulting in his death the following day. In April, one guard was given
a suspended 2-year prison sentence; the second guard's case remains
open. In the outcome of his March 2003 trial, the warden was warned to
prevent further abuses by his subordinates.
In November 2003, relatives of a deceased prisoner and three former
inmates sued the Government for abuses suffered in Nagoya prison
between 2001 and 2002. At year's end, several civil cases against
Nagoya prison guards were still pending.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and the Penal
Code prohibits violence and cruelty toward suspects under criminal
investigation; however, reports by several bar associations, human
rights groups, and some prisoners indicated that police and prison
officials sometimes used physical violence, including kicking and
beating, as well as psychological intimidation, to obtain confessions
from suspects in custody or to enforce discipline. The National Police
Law permits persons to lodge complaints against the police with
national and local public safety commissions. These commissions may
direct the police to conduct investigations. However, public confidence
in the system remained low, and allegations persisted that the police
and the public safety commissions remained lax in investigating charges
of police misconduct.
The Constitution and the Criminal Code include safeguards to ensure
that no criminal suspect can be compelled to make a self incriminating
confession or be convicted or punished in cases where the only evidence
against the accused is his own confession. The appellate courts
overturned some convictions in recent years on the grounds that they
were obtained as a result of coerced confessions. In addition, civil
and criminal suits alleging abuse during interrogation and detention
have been brought against some police and prosecution officials.
Approximately 90 percent of all criminal cases going to trial
included confessions, reflecting the priority the judicial system
placed on admission of guilt. Confession was regarded as the first step
in the rehabilitative process. The Government maintained that the high
percentage of confessions, like the high conviction rate, reflected a
higher standard of evidence needed to bring about indictment in the
judicial system.
During the year, the use of leather restraining body belts was
abolished. Softer leather handcuffs without body belts were instituted
as substitute restraining devices.
Prison conditions met international standards; however, several
facilities were overcrowded, unheated, and medically understaffed.
Prisoners were not allowed to purchase or receive supplementary
food. While death records are kept for 10 years, many of them lacked
detailed explanations regarding the cause of death. The prison deaths
and abuses made public in 2003 have sparked an ongoing review of the
prison system (see Section 1.a.).
Prisons operated at an average 117 percent capacity. In some
institutions, two inmates were placed in cells designed for one inmate,
and eight or nine in cells meant for six.
In spite of the MOJ's request in 2001 for installation of heaters
in prisons, most facilities remained unheated and without air
conditioning. Inmates were not given sufficient clothing and blankets
to protect themselves against cold weather, and there continued to be
cases of frostbite among the prison population, particularly in Niigata
Prefecture.
According to prison officials at Fuchu and Yokohama prisons,
medical attention was inadequate. The MOJ's Corrections Bureau likewise
acknowledged that correctional facilities lacked medical preparedness.
The Government's Project Team on Medical Issues of Correctional
Institutions continued to consult with related organizations on such
issues as increasing medical staff, upgrading medical conditions during
nights and weekends, and strengthening cooperative relationships with
medical institutions in the community. In May, the Minister formed a
subcommittee to improve prison medical facilities.
According to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA), the
authorities may read letters sent or received by prisoners. If the
content is deemed ``inappropriate,'' the letter may be censored or
confiscated. All visits with convicted prisoners were monitored;
however, prisoners whose cases were pending were allowed private access
to their legal representatives.
The MOJ is not required to inform a condemned inmate's family prior
to the person's execution. Human rights organizations reported that
lawyers also were not told of an execution until after the fact and
that death row prisoners were held for years in solitary confinement
with little contact with anyone but prison guards. Parole may not be
granted for any reason, including medical and humanitarian reasons,
until an inmate has served two-thirds of his or her sentence.
The JFBA and human rights groups have criticized the prison system,
with its emphasis on strict discipline and obedience to numerous rules.
Prison rules remained confidential. While the Prison Law Enforcement
Regulation stipulates that the maximum time prisoners may be held in
single cells is 6 months, wardens continued to have broad leeway in
enforcing punishments selectively, including ``minor solitary
confinement,'' which may be imposed for a minimum of 1 and not more
than 60 days. Prisoners were sometimes forced to kneel motionless in an
empty cell for several hours at a time; however, foreigners and the
handicapped were allowed to sit on a hard stool, at the discretion of
the prison warden.
In December, the Upper House passed both a Crime-Victims law and a
revision to the 1908 Prison Law. The Crime-Victims law calls for
compensation and counseling for crime victims, upholding victims'
rights, and providing victims with criminal investigation information.
Aimed at toughening penalties against felons, the Penal Code revision
establishes new charges for gang rape, increases maximum prison terms
and penalties for life-threatening crimes, and extends the statute of
limitations for prosecuting capital offenses from 15 to 25 years.
In February 2003, the Government ratified the Convention on the
Transfer of Sentenced Persons, allowing foreign prisoners to petition
to serve their sentences in their home country. The Government added
the stipulation that prisoners must serve at least one-third of their
sentence in Japan before petitions will be considered. Since February
2003, 27 American prisoners have applied for transfers, but only 1 has
been returned to the United States; 9 others have either completed
their sentences while waiting or withdrew their requests.
Women and juveniles were housed in separate facilities from men;
however, male prison guards sometimes guarded women prisoners. During
the year, a male prison warden was charged with ``violence and cruelty
by a special public officer'' for engaging in sexual acts with a female
inmate awaiting trial. During the year, some women's detention
facilities were operating over stated capacity. Pretrial detainees were
held separately from convicted prisoners.
While the Government limited access by human rights groups to
detention facilities, prison visits were allowed. However, Amnesty
International reported that human rights groups were not allowed access
to Nagoya prison because of ongoing court cases related to alleged
abuses.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions. The law provides for judicial determination of the
legality of detention. Persons may not be detained without charge, and
prosecuting authorities must be prepared to demonstrate that probable
cause exists to detain the accused. Under the law, a suspect may be
held in detention at either a regular detention facility or
``substitute'' (police) detention facility for up to 72 hours. A judge
must interview suspects prior to detention. A judge may extend
preindictment custody by up to two consecutive 10 day periods based on
a prosecutor's application. These extensions were sought and granted
routinely. Under extraordinary circumstances, prosecutors may seek an
additional 5-day extension, bringing the maximum period of
preindictment custody to 28 days.
The National Police Safety Commission oversees the National Police
Agency (NPA), which has six internal bureaus: The Secretariat, the
Administration Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Bureau, the Traffic
Bureau, the Security Bureau, and the Communications Bureau; and
regional bureaus in Shikoku, Kyushu, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, and
Chugoku. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Communications Division and the
Hokkaido Prefecture Police Communications Division functioned as local
units with more autonomy than the units under regional jurisdictions.
In addition, each prefecture has a prefectural police safety commission
as well as a prefectural police agency, which was primarily funded by
the prefecture's budget. In 2003, there were 14,111 kobans (police
boxes) located throughout the country. Corruption and impunity were not
problems within either the national or the prefectural police forces.
Under the Criminal Procedure Code, police and prosecutors have the
power to control or limit access by legal counsel when deemed necessary
for the sake of an investigation. Counsel may not be present during
interrogations at any time before or after indictment. As a court-
appointed attorney is not approved until after indictment, suspects
must rely on their own resources to hire an attorney before indictment,
although local bar associations provided detainees with limited free
counseling. Critics charged that access to counsel was limited both in
duration and frequency; however, the Government denied that this was
the case. Incommunicado detention could be used for up to 23 days.
Critics charged that allowing suspects to be detained by the same
authorities who interrogated them heightened the potential for abuse
and coercion. The Government countered that cases of persons sent to
police detention facilities tended to be those in which the facts were
not in dispute. An MOJ regulation permits officials to limit the amount
of documentation related to ongoing court cases retained by prisoners.
The Law for Expediting Court Procedure became effective in 2003.
The average trial period in 2003 was 3.2 months for criminal cases and
8.2 months for civil cases. The length of time before a suspect was
brought to trial depended on the nature of the crime, but rarely
exceeded 3 months from the date of arrest; the average was 1 to 2
months.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The Cabinet appoints judges for 10-year terms,
which can be renewed until judges reach the age of 65. Justices of the
Supreme Court can serve until the age of 70, but face periodic review
through popular referendums.
There are several levels of courts, including high courts, district
courts, family courts, and summary courts, with the Supreme Court
serving as the final court of appeal. Normally a trial begins at the
district court level, and a verdict may be appealed to a higher court,
and ultimately, to the Supreme Court. The Government generally
respected in practice the constitutional provisions for the right to a
speedy and public trial by an impartial tribunal in all criminal cases.
Although most criminal trials were completed within a reasonable length
of time, cases occasionally took several years to work their way
through the trial and appeals process.
In July 2003, the Diet passed legislation aimed at reducing the
average time required to complete criminal trials and civil trials that
include witness examination. Its provisions include hiring substantial
numbers of additional court and MOJ personnel, revising bar
examinations, establishing new graduate law schools to increase the
overall number of legal professionals three-fold by 2010, and requiring
that courts and opposing litigants jointly work to improve trial
planning by allowing for earlier evidence collection and disclosure.
The advisory panel on judicial reform released the official standards
for setting up graduate law schools, and in March, 68 universities (22
public and 46 private) opened new law schools.
The July 2003 law also makes the Supreme Court responsible for
accelerating proceedings in lower courts, imposes a 2 year time limit
for courts to bring criminal and civil trials to conclusion, and
requires the Government to take the legal and financial measures
necessary to accomplish these goals.
A defendant is informed of the charges upon arrest and is assured a
public trial by an independent civilian court with defense counsel and
the right of cross-examination. There was no trial by jury; however, a
judicial reform bill passed in May will allow serious criminal cases to
be tried by a six-person, randomly selected jury and panel of judges.
The law was scheduled to take effect in 2009.
The defendant is presumed innocent. The Constitution provides
defendants with the right not to be compelled to testify against
themselves as well as to free and private access to counsel; however,
the Government contended that the right to consult with attorneys is
not absolute and can be restricted if such restriction is compatible
with the spirit of the Constitution. Access sometimes was abridged in
practice; for example, the law allows prosecutors to control access to
counsel before indictment, and there were allegations of coerced
confessions (see Section 1.d.). Defendants are protected from the
retroactive application of laws and have the right of access to
incriminating evidence after a formal indictment. However, the law does
not require full disclosure by prosecutors, and material that the
prosecution does not use in court may be suppressed. Critics claimed
that legal representatives of defendants did not always have access to
all needed relevant material in the police record. A defendant who is
dissatisfied with the decision of a trial court of first instance may
appeal to a higher court.
No guidelines mandate the acceptable quality of communications
between judges, lawyers, and non-Japanese speaking defendants, and no
standard licensing or qualification system for certifying court
interpreters exists. A trial may proceed even if the accused does not
understand what is happening or being said. Foreign detainees
frequently claimed that police urged them to sign statements in
Japanese that they could not read and were not translated adequately.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
In April 2003, the Public Security Investigation Agency extended
surveillance of the terrorist group Aleph (formerly known as Aum
Shinrikyo) because the Government declared the group still posed a
danger to society.
In 2002, the Defense Agency confirmed reports that it had violated
a law protecting personal information when it compiled lists of
citizens seeking official documents. A privacy bill to prevent such
actions passed the Diet in May 2003.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective
judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to
ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
In July 2003, the Diet passed legislation prohibiting the
solicitation of sex from minors through the Internet (see Section 5).
The Japan Internet Providers Association and the Telecom Services
Association expressed concerns about the definitions of child
prohibited sites and about the actions providers are required to take
to prevent illegal use of Internet sites.
Academic freedom was not restricted. The Science, Technology, and
Education Ministry's authority to order revisions to elementary,
middle, and high school textbooks based on national curriculum
guidelines remained a source of domestic and international controversy.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedom of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
Members of the Unification Church alleged that police did not
respond to allegations of forced deprogramming of church members. While
deprogramming cases decreased during the year, a Unification Church
spokesman reported that prosecutors dropped two cases due to
insufficient evidence. Although one member reportedly was kidnapped by
her family during the year, the Unification Church did not report the
case to police. Concerns remained regarding the tendency of officials
to judge deprogramming as a family matter. Unlike in previous years,
members of the Jehovah's Witnesses reported that their religious rights
were respected by the Government during the year.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
Citizens have the right to travel freely both within the country
and abroad, to change their place of residence, to emigrate, and to
repatriate voluntarily. Citizenship may be forfeited by naturalization
in a foreign country or by failure of persons born with dual
nationality to elect citizenship at the required age.
The law does not permit forced exile, and it was not used.
The law provides for the granting of refugee status or asylum to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government
provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a
country where they feared persecution, but did not routinely grant
refugee or asylum status. The Government cooperated with the office of
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees.
In May, the Diet passed a bill abolishing the 60-day application
deadline previously required for aliens seeking refugee status. The
previous refugee recognition law stipulated that those seeking refugee
status had to apply within 60 days upon arriving in Japan or within 60
days of learning that they were likely to be persecuted in their home
country. An alien recognized as a refugee has access to educational
facilities, public relief and aid, and social welfare benefits.
Government records indicated that 523,617 persons were detained in
2003 at immigration detention centers. According to media reports,
several deportations were carried out in secret. In July, two Kurdish
families staged a 72-day protest against their deportation orders in
front of the United Nations University in Tokyo.
In recent years, the Government has granted refugee and asylum
status to those claiming fear of persecution in only a small number of
cases. A nongovernmental organization (NGO), in a statement to the U.N.
Subcommission on Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, noted that,
from 1982 to December 2002, 301 persons were accepted as refugees. The
Government considered that most persons seeking asylum in the country
did so for economic reasons. In 2003, there were approximately 7,900
refugees and asylum seekers in the country, of whom an estimated 7,700
were Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. Out of 336 refugee claims
submitted in 2003, the Government granted asylum to 10 persons from
Burma, Burundi, and Iran and issued long-term residence permits based
on humanitarian considerations to 16. As part of its ongoing family-
reunification program for close relatives of Indochinese refugees
resettled in earlier years, the Government admitted 147 refugees from
Vietnam and Cambodia in 2003.
In May, a law was passed granting the Justice Minister authority to
issue temporary-stay permits to persons seeking asylum. While this law
provides a way for asylum seekers to have legal status in the country
during the refugee recognition process, in practice it was quite
difficult to obtain such permits.
In January 2003, the Immigration Bureau began to give detailed,
written explanations of decisions not to grant refugee status to
asylum-seekers and opened an information office at Narita Airport for
potential asylum seekers.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
The country is a parliamentary democracy governed by the political
party or parties able to form a majority in the lower house of its
bicameral Diet. The LDP and the Komeito Party formed the existing
coalition government. Except for a brief hiatus in the 1990s, the LDP
has been the dominant party in every government since the mid-1950s.
General elections were held in November 2003, and elections for the
Upper House were held in July.
According to NPA figures for January through June, there were 43
arrests involving political corruption for such charges as bribery,
bid-rigging, and violation of the Political Funds Control Law. This was
an increase of 14 cases from the previous year for the same time
period.
In recent years, the numbers of women holding public office has
slowly increased. As of July, women held 34 of 480 seats in the Lower
House of the Diet and 33 seats in the 242-seat Upper House. As of
September, there were two women in the Cabinet. As of April, 4 of the
country's 47 governors were women.
No figures were available at the national level regarding minority
political participation.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without governmental restrictions, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views, although the
Government restricted access by human rights groups to detention
facilities (see Section 1.c.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
creed, gender, social status, or family origin, and the Government
generally respected these provisions.
Women.--Violence against women, particularly domestic violence,
often went unreported due to social and cultural concerns about shaming
one's family or endangering the reputation of one's spouse or children.
Consequently, NPA statistics on violence against women probably
understated the magnitude of the problem. According to NPA statistics,
there were 12,568 cases of alleged domestic violence and 1,499
restraining orders issued in 2003. Police took action in 41 cases in
which court orders were violated. Between April and September, the 120
prefectural consultation centers received 24,818 cases of domestic
violence consultations. Of the total 103,986 consultations since fiscal
2002, 99.6 percent were for women.
The law allows district courts to impose 6-month restraining orders
on perpetrators of domestic violence and to sentence violators up to 1
year in prison or impose fines of up to $9,520 (1 million yen).
According to Supreme Court figures from January through September,
1,579 applications for restraining orders against abusive spouses were
sought, and 1,256 were issued. The orders either banned perpetrators
from approaching their victims or ordered them to move away from the
home, or both. The law also covers common-law marriages and divorced
individuals; it also encourages prefectures to expand shelter
facilities for domestic abuse victims and stipulates that local
governments offer financial assistance to 40 private institutions
already operating such shelters.
The revision to the Law for the Prevention of Spousal Violence and
the Protection of Victims passed in May expanded the definition of
spousal violence to include mental, sexual, and physical abuse and
increased the length of restraining orders from 2 weeks to 2 months.
NPA statistics reported 2,472 rapes in 2003. Husbands have been
prosecuted for spousal rape; usually these cases involved a third party
who assisted in the rape. In light of several high-profile gang rapes
in 2003 involving college students at Waseda University, the Upper
House passed a bill in December making gang rape an offense punishable
by a minimum penalty of 4 years in prison. In November, a former
student was sentenced to 14 years in prison for raping two women at a
party organized by the ``Super Free'' student group, as well as a third
woman in December 2001. All 13 other defendants received jail sentences
of up to 10 years. Many local governments responded to the need for
confidential assistance for abused women by establishing special
women's consultation departments in police and prefectural offices.
Local governments and private rail operators continued to implement
measures designed to address the widespread problem of groping and
molestation of female commuters. Several railway companies have
introduced women-only rail cars on various trains, and the Tokyo
Metropolitan Assembly revised its anti-groping ordinance to make first-
time offenders subject to imprisonment.
Trafficking in women remained a problem (see Section 5,
Trafficking). Prostitution is illegal, but it occurred.
The Constitution and the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Law
prohibit sexual discrimination; however, sexual harassment in the
workplace remained widespread. The National Personnel Authority
established workplace rules in an effort to stop harassment in public
servants' workplaces. A 1999 revision to the EEO Law includes measures
to identify companies that fail to prevent sexual harassment, but it
does not include punitive measures to enforce compliance, other than
allowing names of offending companies to be publicized. A number of
government entities have established hotlines and designated ombudsmen
to handle complaints of discrimination and sexual harassment.
Women made up 40.5 percent of the labor force, and women between
the ages of 15 and 64 had a labor force participation rate of 48.5
percent. Although the Labor Standards and the EEO laws prohibit wage
discrimination, in 2003, the average hourly wage for women was only
67.8 percent of the hourly wage for men. There was a significant salary
income gap between men and women in 2003, with 64 percent of female
employees earning $28,571 (3 million yen) or less per year, as compared
with 18 percent of all male employees, according to Cabinet Office
statistics. Much of this disparity resulted from the ``two-track''
personnel administration system found in most larger companies under
which new hires were put either in the managerial track (for those
perceived as having executive potential) or the general track (for
those engaged in basic office work).
Advocacy groups for women and persons with disabilities continued
to press for a government investigation, a formal government apology,
and compensation for sterilizations that were carried out between 1949-
92.
Several cases filed by women forced to work as ``comfort women''
(prostitutes) during World War II were finalized during the year. In
February, the Tokyo High Court rejected an appeal by 7 Taiwanese former
``comfort women,'' while in November the Supreme Court dismissed a
damage suit filed in 1991 by 35 Korean wartime ``comfort women.'' In
December, the Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal by 4 Chinese former
``comfort women,'' and the Supreme Court rejected a suit filed in 1993
by 46 Filipina wartime ``comfort women.''
Children.--The Government is committed to children's rights and
welfare, and in general the rights of children were protected
adequately. Boys and girls have equal access to health care and other
public services. Education is free and compulsory through the lower
secondary level (age 14 or ninth grade). Education was available widely
to students who met minimum academic standards at the upper secondary
level through the age of 18. Society places an extremely high value on
education, and enrollment levels for both boys and girls through the
free upper secondary level exceeded 96 percent.
Public attention was focused increasingly on reports of frequent
child abuse in the home. The law grants child welfare officials the
authority to prohibit abusive parents from meeting or communicating
with their children. The law also bans abuse under the guise of
discipline and obliges teachers, doctors, and welfare officials to
report any suspicious circumstances to 1 of the 182 nationwide local
child counseling centers or to a municipal welfare center. In May 2003,
the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare reported that 108 children
died as a result of child abuse since the enactment of the Child Abuse
Prevention Law in 2000. In 2003, there were a record 23,738 cases of
child abuse, up almost 2 percent from 2002, according to the Cabinet
Office. Approximately 50 percent of the cases involved violence, and 40
percent were cases of parental neglect. Child welfare centers likewise
reported a record 26,573 calls in 2003, an increase of 2,800 calls from
the previous year. Although the Government offered subsidies to local
governments to combat record-high child abuse, only 13 percent accepted
the offer. Most of the local governments declining the subsidies stated
they could not afford to pay their share of the bill.
Incidents of violence in schools and severe bullying (``ijime'')
also continued to be a societal and government concern. According to
the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, public
elementary school children committed a record 1,777 violent acts in the
2003 academic year, an increase of 27 percent from the previous school
year, including acts of violence committed both on and off school
grounds. In all 35,392 violent acts were committed in public
elementary, junior high, and high schools during the 2003 academic
year. Overall, cases of bullying rose 5.2 percent.
Student-on-student violence accounted for 50 percent of the
violence by students in public schools. In June, a sixth-grader
murdered her classmate, and a junior high school student pushed a 5-
year-old boy off the fourth floor of an apartment building. The MOJ's
Office of the Ombudsman for Children's Rights provided counseling
services for children 18 years of age and younger who had been victims
of bullying. In May, a High Court overturned a 2002 lower court ruling
and ordered seven persons to pay a total $548,600 (57.6 million yen) to
parents of a 13-year-old boy killed in a bullying incident in 1993.
Teenage prostitution, dating for money, and child pornography
continued to be problems. According to the Cabinet Office's white
paper, there were 722 sex-related crimes associated with dating sites
during the year. Easy access to web sites through mobile phones with
Internet access made it easier for strangers to set up encounters with
juveniles. In July 2003, the Diet passed a law criminalizing the use of
the Internet for child pornography and prostitution (see Section 2.a.).
Children under the age of 14 cannot be held criminally responsible
for their actions. Under juvenile law, juvenile suspects are tried in
family court and have the right of appeal to an appellate court. Family
court proceedings are not open to the public, a policy that has been
criticized by family members of juvenile crime victims. For the last
several years, juvenile crime has shown a trend toward more serious
offenses such as murder, robbery, arson, and rape.
The Tokyo prefectural government continued programs to protect the
welfare of stateless children, whose births their illegal immigrant
mothers had refused to register for fear of forcible repatriation.
Trafficking in Persons.--The Constitution prohibits holding persons
in bondage, and the Government employed a variety of labor and
immigration statutes to carry out limited trafficking-related
prosecutions; however, there are no specific laws that prohibit
trafficking in persons. In April, the Government created a senior
coordinator presiding over an inter-ministerial committee for anti-
trafficking efforts. In December, the Government released its Action
Plan to combat trafficking in persons. Focusing on prevention,
prosecution, and protection of trafficking victims, the Action Plan
calls for a review of ``entertainer'' visas, strengthened immigration
control, revision of the Penal Code to make trafficking in persons a
crime, and added protection of victims through shelters, counseling,
and repatriation assistance.
Trafficking of women and girls into the country was a problem.
Women and girls, primarily from Thailand, the Philippines, and Eastern
Europe, were trafficked into the country for sexual exploitation and
forced labor. Women and girls from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, South
Korea, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia also were trafficked into the
country in smaller numbers. The country was a destination for illegal
immigrants from China who were trafficked by organized crime groups and
held in debt bondage for sexual exploitation and indentured servitude
in sweatshops and restaurants. The Government reported that some
smugglers used killings and abduction to enforce cooperation.
There was evidence that trafficking took place within the country,
as some recruited women subsequently were forced, through the sale of
their ``contracts,'' to work for other employers. Child prostitution
was a problem (see Section 5, Children).
In May, according to media reports, a sex club boss and a brothel
operator became the first persons charged with human trafficking in the
country, after forcing two underage Japanese girls to work as
prostitutes to repay debts they had incurred at the club.
Although reliable statistics on the number of women trafficked to
the country were unavailable, human rights groups reported that up to
200,000 persons, mostly Southeast Asian women, are smuggled annually
into the country and forced to work in the sex industry. In 2003, the
NPA arrested 41 individuals for trafficking-related offenses, 8 of whom
were traffickers. Of these individuals, 36 were convicted, 14 received
prison terms, 17 received fines, and 5 received both a fine and prison
term. In February 2003, 17 prefecture police offices and the Tokyo
Metropolitan police simultaneously raided 24 strip clubs and rescued 68
trafficking victims. The NPA also participated in 16 transnational
investigations. During the year, efforts were underway to improve
screening of travelers arriving in Japan from key source countries of
trafficking and to tighten the issuance of ``entertainer'' visas, which
are often used by traffickers.
The Government does not consider an individual who has willingly
entered into an agreement to work illegally in the country to be a
trafficking victim, regardless of that person's working conditions.
Thus, government figures may understate the problem, as persons who
agreed to one kind of work found themselves doing another, or were
subject to force, fraud, or coercion.
Traffickers were prosecuted for crimes ranging from violations of
employment law to immigration violations. A government-funded study
released in 2000 found that nearly two-thirds of foreign women surveyed
following arrests for immigration offenses reported that they were
working in the sex industry under duress.
Many women who were trafficked into the country, particularly from
the Philippines, entered legally on entertainment visas.
``Entertainers'' are not covered by the Labor Standards Law and have no
minimum wage protections.
Brokers in the countries of origin recruited women and ``sold''
them to intermediaries, who in turn subjected them to debt bondage and
coercion. Agents, brokers, and employers involved in trafficking for
sexual exploitation often had ties to organized crime.
Women trafficked to the country generally were employed as
prostitutes under coercive conditions in businesses licensed to provide
commercial sex services. Sex entertainment businesses are classified as
``store form'' businesses such as strip clubs, sex shops, hostess bars,
and private video rooms, and as ``nonstore form'' businesses such as
escort services and mail order video services, which arrange for sexual
services to be conducted elsewhere. According to NGOs and other
credible sources, most women who were trafficked to the country for the
purpose of sexual exploitation were employed as hostesses in ``snack''
bars, where they were required to provide sexual services off-premises.
Trafficking victims generally did not realize the extent of their
indebtedness, the amount of time it would take them to repay the debts,
or the conditions of employment they would be subjected to upon
arrival. According to Human Rights Watch, the passports of women
trafficked to work in ``dating'' bars usually were confiscated by their
employers, who also demanded repayment for the cost of the woman's
``purchase.'' Typically, the women were charged $28,570 to $47,620 (3
million to 5 million yen), their living expenses, medical care (when
provided by the employer) and other necessities, as well as ``fines''
for misbehavior added to the original ``debt'' over time. How the debt
was calculated was left to the employers; the process was not
transparent, and the employers reportedly often used the debt to coerce
additional unpaid labor from the trafficked women. Employers also
sometimes ``resold,'' or threatened to resell, troublesome women or
women found to be HIV positive, thereby increasing their debt and
possibly worsening their working conditions.
Many women trafficked into the sex trade had their movements
strictly controlled by their employers and were threatened with
reprisals, perhaps through members of organized crime groups, to
themselves or their families if they tried to escape. Employers often
isolated the women, subjected them to constant surveillance, and used
violence to punish them for disobedience. There were reports that some
brokers used drugs to subjugate victims. Many trafficked women also
knew that they were subject to arrest if found without their passports
or other identification documents. Few spoke Japanese well, making
escape even more difficult.
Domestic NGOs and lawyers compiled credible anecdotal evidence
suggesting that some individual police officials returned trafficking
victims to their employers when these individuals sought police
protection. NGOs also reported that police sometimes declined to
investigate suspected brokers when presented with information obtained
from trafficking victims.
Except for the Tokyo Metropolitan and Kanagawa Prefectural
Government, which funded locally based NGOs assisting victims of
trafficking, the Government did not assist victims of trafficking other
than to house them temporarily in detention centers for illegal
immigrants or facilities established under the Anti-prostitution Law,
or by referral to shelters run by NGOs. Generally these trafficking
victims were deported as illegal aliens. During the year, the
Government administratively decided not to treat victims as immediately
deportable criminals, allowing the Government to develop its cases
against traffickers. Victims without documentation or sufficient funds
to return to their country of origin were sometimes detained for long
periods. Several NGOs throughout the country provided shelter, medical
aid, and legal assistance to trafficking victims.
During the year, government officials met with destination-country
officials and participated in a Southeast Asian study tour to research
trafficking issues. The Government has instituted tighter entertainer
visa issuance and intends to cut the number of such visas issued to
women from the Philippines from 80,000 to 8,000 a year. In 2003, the
Cabinet Affairs Office conducted a campaign to heighten public
awareness of violence against women and trafficking, while the NPA
produced a training video on trafficking and distributed it to all
police offices to improve their awareness of trafficking. In 2003, the
Government disbursed $3 million (315 million yen) to UNICEF, the
International Labor Organization (ILO), the U.N. Development Program,
and the Philippine government to alleviate poverty, raise awareness of
the dangers of trafficking, and promote alternative economic
opportunities for women.
Persons With Disabilities.--There were an estimated 3.4 million
persons over the age of 18 with physical disabilities and roughly 3
million with mental disabilities. Although not generally subject to
overt discrimination in employment, education, or in the provision of
other state services, persons with disabilities faced limited access to
public transportation, ``mainstream'' public education, and other
facilities. The Deliberation Panel on the Employment of the
Handicapped, which operates within the Ministry of Labor, has mandated
that private companies with 300 or more employees hire a fixed minimum
proportion of persons with disabilities. The penalty for noncompliance
is a fine.
The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings for persons
with disabilities; however, the law on construction standards for
public facilities allows operators of hospitals, theaters, hotels, and
similar enterprises to receive low-interest loans and tax benefits if
they build wider entrances and elevators to accommodate persons with
disabilities.
The Law to Promote the Employment of the Handicapped includes those
with mental disabilities. The law also loosened the licensing
requirements for community support centers that promote employment for
persons with disabilities, and it introduced government subsidies for
the employment of persons with mental disabilities in part-time jobs.
In 2003, workers with disabilities employed by private companies
comprised on average 1.5 percent of the total number of regular
employees, somewhat less than the legally stipulated rate of 1.8
percent. While nearly 70 percent of large corporations (1,000 or more
employees) fell short of this goal, several large corporations had
special divisions for workers with disabilities, including Omron, Sony,
and Honda. For example, 80 percent of Omron's Kyoto factory staff of 82
had disabilities, with the majority having severe disabilities. These
employees earn an average of $29,000 (3 million yen) per year, which is
above the minimum wage.
At the end of 2002, all prefectural governments and 91.5 percent of
local city governments had developed basic plans for citizens with
disabilities. In June, the Disabled Persons Fundamental Law was
revised, obligating all municipalities to draw up formal plans for the
disabled.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Burakumin, Koreans, and alien
workers experienced varying degrees of societal discrimination, some of
it severe and longstanding.
The approximately 3 million Burakumin (descendants of feudal era
``outcasts''), although not subject to governmental discrimination,
frequently were victims of entrenched societal discrimination,
including restricted access to housing and employment opportunities.
According to the MOJ, there were nearly 1.85 million legal foreign
residents as of 2002. The largest group, at approximately 625,400, was
ethnic Koreans, followed by Chinese, Brazilians, and Filipinos. Despite
improvements in legal safeguards against discrimination, Korean
permanent residents (most of whom were born, raised, and educated in
Japan) were subject to various forms of deeply entrenched societal
discrimination. Harassment and threats against pro-North Korean
organizations and persons reportedly have increased since the 2002
admission by North Korea that it had kidnapped more than a dozen
Japanese citizens. Other foreigners also were subject to
discrimination. There was a widespread perception among Japanese
citizens that foreigners committed many crimes. According to a
government survey released in May, more than 70 percent of citizens
worried that an increase in the number of illegally employed foreign
workers could undermine public safety and result in human rights abuses
against the workers themselves. Nevertheless, more than 80 percent said
the country should accept foreign laborers conditionally or
unconditionally.
A controversial Immigration Bureau website launched in February
allows informants to report the name, address, or workplace of any
suspicious foreigners for such reasons as ``causing a nuisance in the
neighborhood'' and ``causing anxiety.'' In the face of protests from
human rights groups, the site was amended in March to remove the preset
reasons, but remained operational at year's end.
In 2001, Hokkaido police investigated death threats made against a
foreign-born naturalized citizen who had sued a bathhouse for refusing
him entrance on the basis of race and the Otaru Municipal Government
for failing to take measures to stop discriminatory entrance policies.
In November 2002, the Sapporo District Court ordered the bathhouse to
pay the plaintiff $29,000 (3 million yen) for subjecting the plaintiff
to racial discrimination. The court rejected the claim against the
Otaru Municipal Government, saying that the International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination does not require
local governments to institute ordinances to stamp out discrimination.
In September, the Sapporo High Court rejected the appeal.
By law, aliens with 5 years of continuous residence are eligible
for naturalization and citizenship rights, including the right to vote;
however, in practice, most eligible aliens choose not to apply for
citizenship, partly due to fears that their cultural identity would be
lost. Obstacles to naturalization included broad discretion available
to adjudicating officers and great emphasis on Japanese-language
ability. Naturalization procedures also required an extensive
background check, including inquiries into the applicant's economic
status and assimilation into society. Koreans were given the option of
adopting a Japanese surname. The Government defended its naturalization
procedures as necessary to ensure the smooth assimilation of foreigners
into society. Alien permanent residents may live abroad for up to 4 or
5 years without losing their right to permanent residence in the
country.
In September 2003, the School Education Law was amended to allow
graduates of 21 non Japanese language schools to become automatically
eligible to take university entrance examinations. Previously all
students of non-Japanese language schools were required to pass a
state-run high school equivalency test to qualify for the examinations.
The amended law also enabled universities to set their admissions
criteria at their own discretion. During 2003, many national
universities also admitted graduates of non-Japanese language schools
other than the 21 schools included in the School Education Law
amendment.
Indigenous People.--The Ainu are a people descended from the first
inhabitants of the country. Under an 1899 law, the Government pursued a
policy of forced assimilation, imposing mandatory Japanese-language
education and denying the Ainu their right to continue traditional
practices. The law also left the Ainu with control of approximately
0.15 percent of their original land holdings and empowered the
Government to manage communal assets.
After a 1997 court ruling, the Diet passed a law that recognized
the Ainu as an ethnic minority, required all prefectural governments to
develop basic programs for promoting Ainu culture and traditions,
canceled previous laws that discriminated against the Ainu, and
required the Government of Hokkaido to return Ainu communal assets.
However, the law stopped short of recognizing the Ainu as the
indigenous people of Hokkaido, failed to address whether they deserved
special rights as a distinct ethnic group, and did not mandate civil
rights protection for the Ainu. A nonbinding accompanying resolution
referred to the Ainu as a legal minority. The U.N. Special Rapporteur
to the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations stated that the
Ainu never had entered into a consensual juridical relationship with
any state and noted that the lack of such an agreement deprived them of
their rights. Many Ainu criticized the Law to Promote Ainu Culture for
not advancing Ainu political rights and criticized the Government for
not providing funds for noncultural activities that would improve Ainu
living conditions or financial status. The Japan Ainu Association, a
nationwide organization of Ainu, lobbied the Government for economic
assistance and greater social welfare benefits. Although Ainu-language
newspapers, radio programs, and academic programs studying Ainu culture
have increased, the Ainu continued to face societal discrimination.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of workers to associate freely in unions. In 2003, approximately
10.5 million workers, 19.6 percent of all employees, belonged to labor
unions. Unions were free of government control and influence. The
Japanese Trade Union Confederation, which represented 6.8 million
workers and was formed in 1989 through the merger of several
confederations, was the largest labor organization.
Some public employees, including members of the Self-Defense
Forces, police, and firefighters are not permitted to form unions or to
strike. These restrictions have led to a long-running dispute with the
ILO Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations
over the observance of ILO Convention 98 concerning the right to
organize and bargain collectively. The Committee has observed that
these public employees have a limited capacity to participate in the
process of determining their wages and has asked the Government to
consider measures it could take to encourage negotiations with public
employees. The Government determines the pay of government employees
based on a recommendation by the independent National Personnel
Authority.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides unions with the right to organize, bargain, and
act collectively. These rights were exercised freely, and collective
bargaining was practiced widely. The Constitution provides for the
right to strike, and workers exercised this right in practice.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
provides that no person shall be held in bondage of any kind.
Involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime, is prohibited.
Although children were not specified in the provision, this legal
prohibition against forced or compulsory labor applies equally to
adults and to children. In practice, there were no reports of persons
held in bondage or involuntary servitude apart from trafficking
victims.
Former Allied prisoners of war and Chinese and Korean workers
continued to press claims in Japanese civil courts and in complaints to
the ILO for damages and compensation for forced labor during World War
II. During the year, the United State Supreme Court rejected appeals
from former prisoners of war and others who claimed they were forced to
work for private Japanese companies as slave laborers during World War
II. In July, overturning a district court's 2002 decision against
Chinese plaintiffs, a high court ordered Nishimatsu Construction
Company to pay $261,900 (27.5 million yen) in compensation to a group
of World War II slave laborers. In January 2003, a U.S. federal appeals
court dismissed a number of lawsuits by former prisoners of war and
civilians who alleged they had been forced to labor for private
Japanese firms during World War II.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Constitution bans the exploitation of children. Both societal values
and the rigorous enforcement of the Labor Standards Law protect
children from exploitation in the workplace. By law, children under the
age of 15 may not be employed, and those under age 18 may not be
employed in dangerous or harmful jobs.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages are set on a
regional (prefectural) and industry basis, with the input of tripartite
(workers, employers, public interest) advisory councils. Employers
covered by a minimum wage must post the concerned minimum wages, and
compliance with minimum wages was considered widespread. Minimum wage
rates ranged according to prefecture from $5.77 (606 yen) to $6.76 (710
yen) per hour. Minimum wage rates were considered sufficient to provide
a worker and family with a decent standard of living.
The Labor Standards Law provides for a 40-hour workweek for most
industries and mandates premium pay for hours worked over 40 in a week,
or 8 in a day. However, labor unions frequently criticized the
Government for failing to enforce maximum working hour regulations in
smaller firms.
Activist groups claimed that employers exploited or discriminated
against foreign workers, who often had little or no knowledge of the
Japanese language or their legal rights. The Immigration Bureau of the
MOJ estimated that, as of January, there were more than 200,000 foreign
nationals, primarily from South Korea, the Philippines, China,
Thailand, and Malaysia, residing illegally in the country, with the
majority of them engaged in manual labor.
The Government tried to reduce the inflow of illegal foreign
workers by prosecuting employers of such workers. According to NPA
figures, 175 persons were charged with ``illegal employment
assistance'' during the first half of 2002. The Immigration Law
provides for penalties against employers of undocumented foreign
workers. Maximum fines for illegal employment assistance were raised to
$29,000 (3 million yen) in December. Suspected foreign workers also may
be denied entry for passport, visa, and entry application
irregularities. The Government continued to study the foreign worker
issue, and several citizens' groups were working with illegal foreign
workers to improve their access to information on worker rights.
The Ministry of Labor effectively administered various laws and
regulations governing occupational health and safety, principal among
which is the Industrial Safety and Health Law. Standards were set by
the Ministry of Labor and issued after consultation with the Standing
Committee on Safety and Health of the Central Labor Standards Council.
Labor inspectors have the authority to suspend unsafe operations
immediately, and the law provides that workers may voice concerns over
occupational safety and remove themselves from unsafe working
conditions without jeopardizing their continued employment.
__________
KIRIBATI
Kiribati is a constitutional republic that occupies 33 small
islands scattered across 1.4 million square miles of the central
Pacific Ocean. The country has a popularly elected president and a
legislative assembly of 42 members--40 are elected by universal adult
suffrage, the Rabi Island Council in Fiji nominates 1, and the Attorney
General is an ex officio member. The most recent parliamentary and
presidential elections, held in May and July 2003 respectively, were
considered free and fair. Anote Tong of the Boutokan te Koaua Party was
elected President and took office in July 2003. The government party
and allied independents together held 25 legislative seats. Elected
village councils run local governments in consultation with traditional
village elders. The judiciary is independent.
The country has no military force. Australia and New Zealand
provide defense assistance. A police force of 284 sworn officers and
200 constables, headed by a commissioner who reports directly to the
Office of the President, is responsible for internal security. The
civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security
forces. There were no reports that security forces committed human
rights abuses.
The country has a mixed economy. The Government owned and operated
most enterprises; however, there were some privately owned enterprises.
The population of over 90,000 was primarily Micronesian, with a
significant component of Polynesian origin. Economic activity consisted
primarily of subsistence agriculture and fishing. Remittances from
sailors employed on overseas merchant vessels and foreign development
assistance also were important sources of revenue. The islands'
isolation and meager resources severely limited prospects for economic
development. The rate of economic growth in 2003 was approximately 1.4
percent, and the per capita gross domestic product was approximately
$786.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing
with individual instances of abuse; however, the Government retained
some limits on freedom of the press. In the country's traditional
culture, women occupy a subordinate role and have limited job
opportunities. Violence against women and child abuse in urban areas
were problems.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them. Traditional village
practice permits corporal punishment for criminal acts and other
transgressions. On some outer islands, village associations
occasionally ordered strokes with palm fronds to be administered for
public drunkenness and other minor offenses, such as petty theft.
Prison conditions generally met international standards. There were
separate prisons for men and women. Children under age 16 were not
incarcerated. There was no separate facility for juvenile offenders age
16 or older. Juveniles age 16 to 17 generally may be detained no longer
than 1 month in the adult facility; however, for more serious offenses,
such as murder, juveniles over the age of 16 can be held in custody for
more than 1 month and can be sentenced to longer terms. Pretrial
detainees who did not meet bail were housed with convicted prisoners.
Family members and church representatives were allowed access to
prisoners. Diplomats and senior judicial officials visited the prisons,
including some unannounced visits, and reported no problems. During the
year, there were no reported requests by local human rights groups or
nonresident international human rights observers to visit prisons. The
Government has not formulated a policy concerning such visits.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The Commissioner of Police and Prisons, who reports directly to the
Office of the President, heads the police force. There are three
superintendents under the commissioner responsible, respectively, for
crime and security, prisons, and administrative functions. The police
force was reasonably effective in maintaining law and order. Police
corruption generally was not a problem, and there were no reported
instances where the police acted with impunity.
The law requires that arrested individuals be informed of their
rights, which include the right to legal counsel during questioning and
the right not to incriminate themselves. Two police officers must be
present at all times during questioning of detainees, who also are
provided the option of writing and reviewing statements given to
police. Those taken into custody without a warrant must be brought
before a magistrate within 24 hours or within a reasonable amount of
time when arrested in remote locations. Many individuals were released
on their own recognizance pending trial, and bail was granted routinely
for many offenses. Detainees were allowed prompt access to legal
counsel.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary consists of magistrate courts, a High Court, and a
Court of Appeal. The law provides for the right to a fair public trial,
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The
Constitution provides that an accused person be informed of the charges
and be provided adequate time and facilities to prepare a defense. The
law also provides for the right to confront witnesses, present
evidence, and appeal convictions. Defendants facing serious criminal
charges are entitled to free legal representation. Procedural
safeguards are based on English common law and include the presumption
of innocence until proven guilty.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such practices, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and with some limitations, the
Government generally respected these rights in practice. Under the
Newspaper Registration Act, newspapers are required to register with
the Government. On September 15, the Legislative Assembly repealed the
2002 amendments to the act that had given the Government authority to
deregister a newspaper if it was found to have published material
deemed to be offensive, was likely to encourage or incite crime, or
affected the ``credibility or reputation of any person.''
The country had three weekly newspapers: one government-owned, one
church-owned, and one privately owned. The Government also owned AM and
FM radio stations in Tarawa. There was one privately owned FM radio
station. Churches published newsletters and other periodicals. High
costs limited the availability of foreign print media and Internet
access, but there were no government-imposed limitations.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice. The Constitution
prohibits government restrictions on citizens' freedom of movement;
however, it does not restrict such actions by village councils.
The Constitution provides for the forced expulsion from the country
of a convicted person, if ``in the interests of'' defense, public
safety, order, morality, health, or environmental conservation. The
Government has not used forced exile. However, on rare occasions,
village associations have banished persons from a specific island
within the country, usually for a fixed period of time. The legality of
this form of punishment has never been challenged.
The Government has not established a system for providing
protection to refugees. There were no reports of the forced return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. There were no
applications for refugee resettlement or asylum during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. To be elected, a candidate must secure at least
half the valid votes cast; if there is no first-round winner, a runoff
election is held. The President exercises executive authority and is
elected for a 4-year term. The elected Legislative Assembly nominates
at least three, and no more than four, presidential candidates from
among its members. Under the Constitution, the President is limited to
three terms. The most recent parliamentary elections were held in May
2003. Opposition leader Anote Tong of the Boutokan Te Koaua Party was
elected President in July 2003. The elections were considered free and
fair.
Nepotism, based on tribal, church, and family ties, is prevalent.
The Auditor-General (AG) is responsible for oversight of government
expenditure; however, in reality the AG lacked sufficient resources,
and findings of misappropriations and unaccounted-for funds were
generally ignored, or the investigations were inconclusive.
There are no specific rights of citizens or the media to government
information.
There were 2 women, including the Vice President, in the 42-member
Parliament, and 4 women held permanent secretary positions. No women
sat on the High Court. Minority persons have held cabinet positions in
the past. The President and several Members of Parliament are of mixed
descent.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There were no restrictions on the formation of local human rights
nongovernmental organizations, but none have been formed. There were no
restrictions on operations by international human rights groups. During
the year, there were no reported allegations of human rights abuses by
the Government and no known requests for investigations.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
creed, national origin, or sex, and the Government observed these
prohibitions in practice; however, only native I-Kiribati (those with
Kiribati ancestry) may own land. Society is fundamentally egalitarian
and has no privileged class.
Women.--Spousal abuse and other forms of violence against women
were significant problems. Alcohol abuse frequently was a factor in
attacks on women. The law does not address domestic violence
specifically, but general common law and criminal law make assault in
all forms illegal. Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime, and the
law was enforced when charges were brought to court. However, it is
believed that such prosecutions were relatively infrequent for cultural
reasons.
Prostitution is not illegal but was not common; procuring sex and
managing brothels are illegal. The law does not specifically prohibit
sex tourism; however, there were no reports of such activity. Obscene
or indecent behavior is banned.
The law does not prohibit sexual harassment; although it sometimes
occurred, it generally was not regarded as a major problem.
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex; however,
the traditional culture, in which men are dominant, impeded a more
active role for women in the economy. Nevertheless, women were slowly
finding work in unskilled and semiskilled occupations. The Government
increased its hiring and promotions of women; women filled many
government office positions and teaching positions. The Employment
Ordinance prohibits night work by women except in seven exempt
occupations, including health worker, business manager, and hotel, bar,
and restaurant worker; however, there were no reported prosecutions
based on this ordinance. Statistics generally were not well collected
in the country, and data on the participation of women in the work
force and on comparative wages were unavailable. Women have full rights
of ownership and inheritance of property as well as full and equal
access to education.
Children.--Within its limited financial resources, the Government
made adequate expenditures for child welfare. Primary education is
compulsory, free, and universal for children between the ages of 6 and
14 years. In practice, the Government did not enforce primary school
attendance. Unofficial estimates indicated that more than 50 percent of
all children attended school, and there was no significant gender
discrimination. The approximately 40 percent of primary school
graduates who pass a national examination qualify for 3 additional
years of subsidized junior secondary and 4 years of subsidized senior
secondary education; a small fee was charged to other students who
wished to matriculate at these levels.
The Government provided free national medical service; however,
there were no doctors on the outer islands. The central hospital in
Tarawa provided basic medical services but not intensive care
facilities. There were no reports of gender bias in the provision of
health services.
Chronic alcohol abuse leading to child abuse (physical, neglect,
and occasionally sexual) continued to be a problem.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no reports that persons were trafficked
to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not specifically prohibit
discrimination against persons with disabilities; however, there were
no complaints of discrimination in employment, education, or the
provision of other state services for persons with mental or physical
disabilities. Accessibility of buildings for persons with disabilities
has not been mandated; accommodations for persons with disabilities
were basically nonexistent.
The central hospital on Tarawa had a wing for persons with mental
disabilities, and there was a psychiatrist working on Tarawa. Foreign-
based aid workers and the World Health Organization cooperated with the
Ministry of Health to conduct outer-island workshops for health
workers.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom
of association, and workers are free to join and organize unions;
workers exercised these rights in practice.
Over 90 percent of the work force was occupied in fishing or
subsistence farming, but the small wage sector had a relatively strong
and effective trade union movement. An estimated 10 percent of wage-
earning workers were union members. In 1982, 7 registered trade unions
merged to form the Kiribati Trade Union Congress (KTUC), which had
approximately 2,500 members. There were no official public sector trade
unions; however, public sector nurses and teachers belonged to
voluntary employee associations similar to unions and constituted
approximately 30 to 40 percent of total union and association
membership.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
protects workers from employer interference in their right to organize
and administer unions. The Government did not control or restrict union
activities; however, unions must register with the Government.
Collective bargaining is provided for under the Industrial Relations
Code. The Government sets wages in the large public sector. However, in
a few statutory bodies and government-owned companies, employees could
negotiate wages and other conditions. In the private sector, individual
employees also could negotiate wages with employers. In keeping with
tradition, negotiations generally were nonconfrontational. There were
no reports of antiunion discrimination, and there were mechanisms to
resolve any complaints that might arise.
The law provides for the right to strike. However, strikes are
rare; the last one took place in 1980.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that
such practices occurred. The prohibition does not mention specifically
forced and compulsory labor by children; however, there were no reports
that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under age 14. Children through
the age of 15 are prohibited from industrial employment and employment
aboard ships. Labor officers from the Ministry of Labor and Human
Resources Development generally enforced these laws effectively.
Children rarely were employed outside the traditional economy.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no minimum wage. There
is provision for a minimum wage at ministerial discretion, but it has
never been implemented. Income tended to be pooled within the extended
family, and the standard income appeared adequate to provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family. There is no legislatively
prescribed workweek. Workers in the public sector (80 percent of the
wage-earning work force) worked 36 hours per week, with overtime pay
for additional hours.
Employment laws provide rudimentary health and safety standards for
the workplace. For example, employers must provide an adequate supply
of clean water for workers and ensure the existence of sanitary toilet
facilities. Employers are liable for the expenses of workers injured on
the job. However, the Government's ability to enforce employment laws
was hampered by a lack of qualified personnel. Workers do not have the
right to remove themselves from hazardous work sites without risking
loss of employment.
There are no laws specifically to protect foreign workers; however,
there were no significant numbers of foreign workers and no reports of
mistreatment. Some foreign volunteers and missionaries worked in the
schools.
__________
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA \1\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The United States does not have diplomatic relations with the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North Korea does not allow
representatives of foreign governments, journalists, or other invited
guests the freedom of movement that would enable them to assess fully
human rights conditions there. This report is based on information
obtained over more than a decade, updated where possible by information
drawn from recent interviews, reports, and other documentation,
including refugee testimony. While limited in detail, this information
is nonetheless indicative of the human rights situation in North Korea
today.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) is
a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il, General
Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party (KWP). In 1998, the Supreme
People's Assembly reconfirmed Kim as Chairman of the National Defense
Commission and designated that position the ``highest office of
state.'' Kim's father, the late Kim Il Sung, was declared ``eternal
president.'' The titular head of state is Kim Yong Nam, the President
of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. Elections for the
687-member Assembly were held in August 2003. Only the KWP and two
small satellite parties participated. The elections were not free. The
Kim family remained the object of an intense personality cult, and the
regime continued to cling to ``juche,'' an ideology of extreme self-
reliance, even though the population was dependent on international aid
for survival. The judiciary is not independent.
The country is one of the world's most militarized societies. The
Korean People's Army (KPA) continued to overshadow the KWP as Kim Jong
Il's chief instrument for making and implementing policy. The KPA is
the primary organization responsible for external security. A large
military reserve force and several quasi-military organizations,
including the Worker-Peasant Red Guards and the People's Security
Force, assist it. In addition, an omnipresent internal security
apparatus includes the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the State
Security Department, and the KWP. Members of the security forces have
committed numerous serious human rights abuses.
The country's traditional highly centralized and tightly controlled
economy has broken down under the stress of chronic shortages of food
and fuel. Citizens increasingly have sought employment in the informal
economy. Most citizens must supplement limited amounts of government-
subsidized rations with food purchased in markets. Heavy military
spending, estimated at between one-quarter and one-third of gross
domestic product, has constrained and skewed economic development. The
country has not taken the steps towards transparency that would make it
eligible for membership in international financial institutions. Its
poor credit rating, stemming from default on its foreign debt, sharply
limited the amount of funds it was able to borrow commercially. Despite
significant inflows of international assistance over the past decade,
harsh economic and political conditions have caused tens of thousands
of persons to flee the country. To stabilize the economy, in July 2002,
the Government launched an economic reform that raised wages and
prices, devalued the currency, and gave managers more decision-making
authority. These changes sparked a dramatic rise in inflation and a
quickening of commercial activity but failed to re-energize industrial
growth. The Government permitted an increase in the number of private
vendors to compensate for the contraction of food supplied through the
public distribution system. Corruption appears to be a growing problem
as economic controls loosen.
The Government's human rights record remained extremely poor, and
it continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Citizens did not have
the right to change their government. There continued to be reports of
extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detention,
including of many persons held as political prisoners. Prison
conditions were harsh and life-threatening, and torture reportedly was
common. Pregnant female prisoners reportedly underwent forced
abortions, and in other cases babies reportedly were killed upon birth
in prisons. The constitutional provisions for an independent judiciary
and fair trials were not implemented in practice. The regime subjected
citizens to rigid controls over many aspects of their lives. In April,
the Supreme People's Assembly enacted a new Penal Code. According to
the new Penal Code, capital punishment applied only to ``serious'' or
``grave'' cases of four ``anti-state'' and ``anti-nation'' crimes.
Citizens were denied freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and
association; all forms of cultural and media activities were under the
tight control of the KWP. Little outside information reached the
general population except that which was approved and disseminated by
the Government. The Government restricted freedom of religion,
citizens' movement, and worker rights. In April, the U.N. Commission on
Human Rights (UNCHR) called for the appointment of Special Rapporteur
Vitit Muntarbhorn to examine the human rights conditions in the
country, but he was not allowed to visit the country to carry out his
mandate. Although the country accepted meetings with European Union
(EU) and U.N. officials on human rights issues, the Government
maintained that most international human rights norms, particularly
individual rights, were illegitimate, alien, and subversive to the
goals of the State and Party. There were widespread reports of
trafficking in women and girls among refugees and workers crossing the
border into China. Only government-controlled labor unions are
permitted.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Defector and
refugee reports over several years indicate that the regime has
executed political prisoners, opponents of the regime, some repatriated
defectors, and others, including military officers suspected of
espionage or of plotting against Kim Jong Il. In April, the Government
enacted a new Penal Code by decree of the Supreme People's Assembly
Presidium. The new code provides the death penalty for only the most
``serious'' or ``grave'' cases of four ``anti-state'' or ``anti-
nation'' crimes. These crimes include active participation in a coup or
plotting to overthrow the State; acts of terrorism for an anti-State
purpose; treason, which includes defection or handing over state
secrets; and, suppressing the People's Movement for national
liberation. In the past, prisoners have been sentenced to death for
such ill defined ``crimes'' as ``ideological divergence,'' ``opposing
socialism,'' and ``counterrevolutionary crimes.'' In some cases,
notably at the height of the famine in the 1990s, executions reportedly
were carried out at public meetings attended by workers, students,
school children, and before assembled inmates at places of detention.
Border guards reportedly had orders to shoot to kill potential
defectors. Similarly, according to defectors, prison guards were under
orders to shoot to kill those attempting escape from political
concentration camps.
Defectors have reported that government officials prohibit live
births in prison. Forced abortion and the killing of newborn babies
reportedly were standard prison practices (see Section 1.c.).
Religious and human rights groups outside the country reported that
members of underground churches have been killed because of their
religious beliefs and suspected contacts with overseas evangelical
groups operating across the Chinese border (see Section 2.c.).
Many prisoners reportedly have died from beatings, disease,
starvation, or exposure (see Section 1.c.).
b. Disappearance.--The Government reportedly was responsible for
cases of disappearance. Defectors in recent years have claimed that
individuals suspected of political crimes often were taken from their
homes by state security officials and sent directly, without trial, to
camps for political prisoners. There are no practical restrictions on
the ability of the Government to detain and imprison persons at will
and to hold them incommunicado.
Numerous reports indicated that ordinary citizens are not allowed
to mix with foreign nationals, and Amnesty International (AI) has
reported that a number of citizens who maintained friendships with
foreigners have disappeared.
In the past, the Government has been involved in the kidnapping
abroad of South Koreans, Japanese, and other foreign nationals. In
2002, Kim Jong Il acknowledged to Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi the
involvement of DPRK ``special institutions'' in the kidnapping of
Japanese citizens between 1977 and 1983 and said that those responsible
had been punished. Five surviving victims were allowed to visit Japan
in October 2002, and they decided to remain there. Japan also sought an
accounting for 10 Japanese said to be dead or never to have entered
North Korea and hopes to gain answers regarding 20 other cases of
suspected abductions of Japanese nationals. Negotiations between the
two countries continued, but have produced few positive results.
Many South Koreans are believed to have been abducted in the 1970s
and 1980s. The South Korean Government has compiled a list of 486 South
Korean citizens, most of whom were fishermen, detained since the 1950-
53 Korean War.
In 2000, Reverend Kim Dong Shik reportedly was kidnapped by North
Korean agents in China near the North Korean border. Relatives and
human rights activists claimed that Kim was targeted for assisting the
defection of North Korean refugees to South Korea. In December, South
Korean officials announced that they were questioning a North Korean
agent who had confessed to taking part in the abduction.
There were other reports of kidnapping and hostage-taking,
apparently intended to intimidate ethnic Koreans living in China and
Russia. The Government continued to deny that it had been involved in
kidnappings of non-Japanese foreign nationals.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--In its 2001 submission to the U.N. Human Rights Committee,
the Government claimed that torture is prohibited by law; however, many
sources confirm its practice. According to a report by the U.S.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (USCHRNK), torture ``is
routine and severe.'' Methods of torture included severe beatings;
electric shock; prolonged periods of exposure; humiliations such as
public nakedness; confinement to small ``punishment cells,'' in which
prisoners were unable to stand upright or lie down, where they could be
held for several weeks; being forced to kneel or sit immobilized for
long periods; being hung by one's wrists; being forced to stand-up and
sit-down to the point of collapse; and, forcing mothers recently
repatriated from China, to watch the infanticide of their newly born
infants. Defectors reported that many prisoners have died from torture,
disease, starvation, exposure, or a combination of these causes.
Over the years, there have been reports from defectors alleging the
testing on human subjects of a variety of chemical and biological
agents. During the year, media reports included several defector
accounts of alleged testing of lethal gas on human subjects, but these
reports have not been verified.
Reportedly, North Korean officials prohibited live births in prison
and forced abortions were regularly performed, particularly in
detention centers holding women repatriated from China. According to
defectors who were imprisoned in the 1990s, in cases of live birth, the
child was immediately killed. According to reports, the reason given
for this policy was to prevent the birth of half-Chinese children. In
addition, guards sexually abused female prisoners.
Prison conditions were harsh; starvation and executions were
common. ``Reeducation through labor'' was a common punishment,
consisting of forced labor, such as logging, mining, or tending crops
under harsh conditions, and reeducation consisting of memorizing
speeches by Kim Jong Il and being forced to participate in self-
criticism sessions after labor. Visitors to the country observed
prisoners being marched in leg irons, metal collars, or shackles. In
some places of detention, prisoners were given little or no food and
were denied medical care. Sanitation was poor, and prisoners reported
they were rarely able to bathe or wash their clothing and had no change
of clothing during months of incarceration.
In June 2002, Lee Soon-ok, a woman who spent several years in a
prison camp before defecting to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in
1994, testified before the U.S. Senate that the approximately 1,800
inmates in her camp typically worked 16 to 17 hours a day. Lee
witnessed severe beatings and incidents of torture involving forcing
water into a victim's stomach with a rubber hose followed by guards
jumping on a board placed across the victim's abdomen. Lee also
testified that chemical and biological warfare experiments were
conducted on inmates by the army. Other defectors reported similar
experiences. At Camp 22 in Haengyong, approximately 50,000 prisoners
worked under conditions that reportedly resulted in the death of 20 to
25 percent of the prison population annually in the 1990s.
In October 2003, Kim Yong, a former police Lieutenant Colonel, told
USCHRNK that, as an inmate in a political prison camp, he had been
forced to kneel for long periods with a steel bar placed between his
knees and calves, been suspended by his handcuffed wrists, and
submerged in waist deep cold water for extended periods.
Other witnesses who testified before the U.S. Congress in 2002
stated that prisoners held on the basis of their religious beliefs
generally were treated worse than other inmates (see Section 2.c.).
The Government did not permit inspection of prisons by human rights
monitors.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--There are no restrictions on the
ability of the Government to detain and imprison persons at will and to
hold them incommunicado. Family members and other concerned persons
reportedly find it virtually impossible to obtain information on
charges against detained persons or the length of their sentences.
Judicial review of detentions does not exist in law or in practice.
An estimated 150-200,000 persons were believed to be held in
detention camps in remote areas for political reasons. Using commercial
satellite imagery to locate the camps and point out their main
features, defectors claimed that these camps covered areas as large as
200 square miles. The camps contained mass graves, barracks, work
sites, and other prison facilities. The Government denied the existence
of political prison camps. In recent years, the Government reportedly
reduced the total number of prison camps from approximately 20 to less
than 10, but the prison population was consolidated rather than
reduced. In 2003, a defector who had been a ranking official in the
Ministry of Public Security told USCHRNK that conditions in the camps
for political prisoners were extremely harsh and prisoners were not
expected to survive. In the camps, prisoners received little food and
no medical provisions.
Entire families, including children, have been imprisoned when one
member of the family was accused of a crime (see Section 1.f.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution states that
courts are independent and that judicial proceedings are to be carried
out in strict accordance with the law; however, an independent
judiciary does not exist. The Constitution mandates that the Central
Court is accountable to the Supreme People's Assembly, and the Criminal
Code subjects judges to criminal liability for handing down ``unjust
judgments.'' Furthermore, individual rights are not acknowledged. The
Public Security Ministry dispensed with trials in political cases and
referred prisoners to the State Security Department for punishment.
Little information was available on formal criminal justice procedures
and practices, and outside observation of the legal system has been
limited to show trials for traffic violations and other minor offenses.
The Constitution contains elaborate procedural protections. It
states that cases should be heard in public, except under some
circumstances stipulated by law. The Constitution also states that the
accused has the right to a defense, and when trials were held, the
Government reportedly assigned lawyers. Some reports noted a
distinction between those accused of political crimes and common
criminals, and stated that the Government afforded trials or lawyers
only to the latter. There was no indication that independent,
nongovernmental defense lawyers exist. The Government considered
critics of the regime to be political criminals.
Past reports have described political offenses as including sitting
on newspapers bearing Kim Il Sung's picture, mentioning Kim Il Sung's
limited formal education, or defacing photographs of the Kims.
Common criminals were occasionally amnestied on the occasion of Kim
Il Sung's or Kim Jong Il's birthday.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides for the inviolability of
person and residence and the privacy of correspondence; however, the
Government did not respect these provisions in practice. The regime
subjected its citizens to rigid controls. The Government relied upon a
massive, multilevel system of informers to identify critics and
potential troublemakers. Whole communities sometimes were subjected to
security checks. The possession of ``anti-state'' material and
listening to foreign broadcasts are crimes that could subject the
transgressor to harsh punishments, including up to 5 years of labor
reeducation. If the transgressor is accused of using the anti-state
material in a plot against the Government, the maximum punishment is
death.
The Government monitored correspondence and telephone
conversations. Telephones essentially are restricted to domestic
service, although some international service was available on a very
restricted basis. In recent years, the Government established a
cellular phone network. In the aftermath of the April train explosion
at Ryongchon, it reportedly banned cell phone use by the general
population. The telephone system used by foreigners in the country was
independent of the broader system. Persons reportedly have been placed
under surveillance through their radio sets, and imprisoned and
executed for statements made at home that were critical of the regime.
The Constitution provides for the right to petition. However, when
anonymous petitions or complaints about state administration were
submitted, the State Security Department and Ministry of Public
Security sought to identify the authors, who could be subjected to
investigation and punishment.
In the late 1950s, the regime began dividing society into three
main classes: ``core,'' ``wavering,'' and ``hostile.'' Security ratings
were assigned to each individual; according to some estimates, nearly
half of the population was designated as either ``wavering'' or
``hostile.'' Loyalty ratings determined access to employment, higher
education, place of residence, medical facilities, and certain stores.
They also affected the severity of punishment in the case of legal
infractions. Citizens with relatives who fled to the Republic of Korea
at the time of the Korean War still appeared to be classified as part
of the ``hostile class.'' Between 20 and 30 percent of the population
is considered potentially hostile. Members of this class still were
subject to discrimination, although defectors reported that their
treatment had improved greatly in recent years. There is some evidence
that the regime has softened these restrictions, for example, by
portraying persons with a bad class background who are hard workers
favorably in feature films. In addition, the economic reforms have
eroded the rigid class restrictions to some extent.
Citizens of all age groups and occupations were subject to
intensive political and ideological indoctrination. The cult of
personality of Kim Jong Il and his father and the official ``juche''
ideology declined somewhat, but remained an important ideological
underpinning of the regime, approaching the level of a state religion.
Under Kim Jong Il, the regime has emphasized a ``military first''
policy, purportedly necessitated by the external threat. Indoctrination
is intended to ensure loyalty to the system and leadership, as well as
conformity to the State's ideology and authority. The necessity for the
intensification of such indoctrination is repeatedly stressed by the
regime. The country attributed the collapse of the Soviet Union to
insufficient ideological indoctrination and corrupt foreign influences.
Indoctrination was carried out systematically: Through the mass
media, in schools, and through worker and neighborhood associations.
Kim Jong Il has stated that ideological education must take precedence
over academic education in the nation's schools, and he also called for
the intensification of mandatory ideological study and discussion
sessions for adult workers. Indoctrination also involved mass marches,
rallies, and staged performances, sometimes involving hundreds of
thousands of persons.
Collective punishment was practiced. Entire families, including
children, have been imprisoned when one member of the family was
accused of a crime. In November 2003, an investigator for a human
rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) said that punishment could be
extended to imprison three generations of a family for life at hard
labor. Refugees have also documented this practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and the press; however, the Government prohibited the
exercise of these rights in practice. Articles of the Constitution that
require citizens to follow ``socialist norms of life'' and to obey a
``collective spirit'' take precedence over individual political and
civil liberties.
The Government sought to control virtually all information. The
Government carefully managed visits by foreigners, especially foreign
journalists. In April, the Government denied journalists access to the
scene of a train explosion at Ryongchon station that killed hundreds of
persons, although foreign diplomats were granted access. On occasion,
when it served its agenda, the Government allowed foreign media to
cover certain events. During visits by foreign leaders, groups of
foreign journalists were permitted to accompany official delegations
and to file reports. In all cases, journalists were strictly monitored.
They were not generally allowed to talk to officials or to persons on
the street, and cellular or satellite phones were confiscated for the
duration of a visitor's stay.
Domestic media censorship was enforced strictly, and no deviation
from the official government line was tolerated. During the year,
Reporters Without Borders (RWB) reported that a state radio journalist
was punished for mistakenly referring to a deputy minister as minister.
He reportedly was sent to a ``revolutionization'' camp for several
months. The regime prohibits listening to foreign media broadcasts
except by the political elite, and violators are subject to severe
punishment. Radios and television sets, unless otherwise altered,
received only domestic programming; radios obtained from abroad must be
altered to operate in a similar manner. During the year, there was
evidence that radios were more accessible than in the past, due
primarily to corrupt border guards. Some NGOs have reported that more
defectors had listened to foreign broadcasts than in previous years.
RWB reported that the authorities designated radio sets as ``new
enemies of the regime'' on June 13, after human rights activists
announced their intention to send transistor radios by balloon into the
country.
Private telephone lines operated on a system that precluded making
and receiving international calls; international phone lines were
available only under very restricted circumstances. Some deluxe hotels
in Pyongyang offered Internet service for foreign visitors, but for
citizens, Internet access was limited to high-ranking officials with a
``need to know.'' This access was provided via international telephone
lines to a provider in China.
The Government severely restricted academic freedom and controlled
artistic and academic works. A primary function of plays, movies,
operas, children's performances, and books is to buttress the cult of
personality surrounding Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government did not
respect this provision in practice. The Government prohibits any public
meetings without authorization.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government did not respect this provision in practice. There are no
known organizations other than those created by the Government.
Professional associations existed primarily to facilitate government
monitoring and control over the organizations' members.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for ``freedom of
religious belief;'' however, in practice the Government severely
restricted religious freedom, including organized religious activity
except that which is supervised by officially recognized groups linked
to the Government. The Constitution also stipulates that religion
``should not be used for purposes of dragging in foreign powers or
endangering public security.'' Genuine religious freedom did not exist.
The cult of personality of Kim Jong Il and his father and the
official ``juche'' ideology remained important ideological
underpinnings of the regime, approaching the level of a state religion.
Refusal on religious or other grounds to accept the leader as the
supreme authority exemplifying the State and society's needs is
regarded as opposition to the national interest and may result in
severe punishment.
Several government sponsored religious organizations served as
interlocutors with foreign church groups and international aid
organizations. Foreigners who met with representatives of these
organizations believed that some were genuinely religious, but noted
that others appeared to know little about religious dogma, liturgy, or
teaching.
The number of religious believers was unknown, but has been
estimated by the Government at 10,000 Protestants, 10,000 Buddhists,
and 4,000 Catholics. In its July 2002 report to the U.N. Human Rights
Committee, the Government reported the existence of 500 ``family
worship centers.'' Some unconfirmed reports indicated that such worship
centers were tolerated as long as they do not openly proselytize or
have contact with foreign missionaries. In addition, an undetermined
number of persons belonged to underground Christian churches that
operated in secrecy and without the approval of the Government.
The Chondogyo Young Friends Party, a government-sponsored group
based on a traditional Korean religious movement, also remained in
existence, with approximately 40,000 practitioners.
Most of the 300 Buddhist temples in the country were regarded as
cultural relics, but in some of them religious activity was permitted.
Two Protestant churches under lay leadership and a Roman Catholic
church (without a resident priest) operated in Pyongyang. Several
government-controlled schools for religious education exist, including
3 year religious colleges for training Protestant and Buddhist clergy
to serve in the government-sponsored places of worship. A religious
studies program also was taught at Kim Il Sung University. In September
2003, construction reportedly was completed on the Pyongyang
Theological Academy, a government sponsored graduate institution for
pastors and evangelists. The Unification and Russian Orthodox Churches
were building churches in Pyongyang.
Many religious figures have visited the country in recent years,
including papal representatives and religious delegations from the
Republic of Korea, the United States, and other countries. Overseas
religious relief organizations have been active in responding to the
country's food crisis; however, they have been denied access to many
areas of the country and their movement restricted and closely
monitored. Foreigners who visited the country stated that church
services contained political content supportive of the regime in
addition to religious themes.
Persons engaging in religious proselytizing have been arrested and
were subject to harsh penalties, including imprisonment and prolonged
detention without charge. The regime appeared to have cracked down on
unauthorized religious groups in recent years, particularly those with
ties to overseas evangelical groups operating across the border in
China. The Government appeared especially concerned that religiously-
based South Korean relief and refugee assistance efforts along the
northeast border with China were becoming entwined with political
goals, including opposition to the regime. Some repatriated defectors
who had established contacts with religiously based South Korean groups
reportedly have been executed or received other especially harsh
treatment due to these contacts.
Religious and human rights groups outside the country continued to
provide numerous unconfirmed reports that thousands of members of
underground churches have been beaten, arrested, detained in prison
camps, tortured, or killed because of their religious beliefs. The
regime continued to view religious believers belonging to underground
congregations or with ties to evangelical groups in North China as
subversive.
However, members of government-recognized religious groups did not
appear to suffer discrimination, perhaps because, as some reports
claimed, they had been mobilized by the regime. Persons whose parents
were believers but who themselves were nonpracticing were able to rise
in recent years to at least the mid-levels of the bureaucracy. Such
individuals, as a category, suffered broad discrimination in the past.
In testimony given in the early 1990s, witnesses said that
prisoners held on the basis of their religious beliefs generally were
treated worse, sometimes much worse, than other inmates. One such
witness, a former prison guard, testified that those believing in God
were regarded as insane, since authorities taught ``all religions are
opiates.'' He recounted an instance in which a woman was kicked
repeatedly and left with her injuries unattended for days because a
guard overheard her praying for a child who was being beaten.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for the
``freedom to reside in or travel to any place''; however, the
Government did not respect these rights in practice. In the past, the
regime has controlled internal travel strictly, requiring a travel pass
for any movement outside one's home village. Numerous reports in recent
years suggested that internal travel rules have been relaxed to allow
citizens to search for food, conduct local market activities, or engage
in enterprise-to-enterprise business activities. However, only members
of a very small elite and those with access to remittances from
overseas had access to personal vehicles. The Government strictly
controlled permission to reside in, or even to enter, Pyongyang, where
food supplies, housing, health, and general living conditions were much
better than in the rest of the country.
The regime only issues exit visas for foreign travel to officials
and trusted businessmen, artists, athletes, academics, and religious
figures. Short-term exit papers were also available for residents on
the Chinese border to enable visits with relatives in bordering regions
of China. In addition, others were able to obtain papers to engage in
small-scale trade in the immediate bordering Chinese provinces.
The Government routinely uses forced internal resettlement and has
relocated many tens of thousands of persons from Pyongyang to the
countryside, although not always as punishment for offenses. For
example, although disabled veterans are treated well, other persons
with physical and mental disabilities, as well as those judged to be
politically unreliable, have been sent out of the city into internal
exile.
The Government did not allow legal emigration, although officials
in border areas reportedly have often taken bribes from or simply let
pass persons crossing the border with China without required permits.
Since the mid-1990s, substantial numbers of North Koreans have
crossed the border into China and some have proceeded to the Republic
of Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, and other Asian countries. Many
of those who crossed into China during the year returned to North
Korea. The Chinese government denied the UNHCR permission to operate
along its border with the DPRK and several thousand North Koreans were
reportedly detained and forcibly returned to North Korea, where many
faced persecution and some of whom may have been executed upon their
return.
The Penal Code criminalizes defection and attempted defection,
including the attempt to gain entry to a foreign embassy for the
purpose of seeking political asylum. Individuals who cross the border
with the purpose of defecting or seeking asylum in a third country are
subject to a minimum of 5 years of ``labor correction.'' In ``serious''
cases, defectors or asylum seekers are subject to an indefinite term of
imprisonment and forced labor, confiscation of property, or death. Many
would-be refugees who were returned involuntarily have been imprisoned
under harsh conditions, some have been executed and pregnant women have
been forced to have abortions or witness the killing of their infants
after birth (see Section 1.a.). Some sources say that the harshest
treatment is reserved for those who have had extensive contact with
Christian missionaries.
Under new regulations that may be aimed at differentiating between
defectors and the migrants that illegally leave the country to seek
economic opportunity in China, the Penal Code stipulates a sentence of
up to 2 years of ``labor correction'' for the lesser crime of illegally
crossing the border. Several NGOs operating in the region confirm that
repatriated migrants have been subject to less severe punishments upon
their return to North Korea in recent years. In previous years, some
migrants have stated that border guards had orders to shoot to kill
persons attempting to cross the border into China and that the regime
reportedly retaliated against the relatives of some of those who
managed to leave the country. However, there is some evidence that
suggests that because bribery and corruption was rampant, these orders
were not strictly enforced during the year.
AI reported that in September, Chang Gyung Chul and Chang Gyung Soo
were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for their unauthorized exit
from the country. Their cousin Chang Mi Hwa reportedly was sentenced to
5 years' imprisonment and was thought to be under house arrest. The
three were detained in Shanghai and repatriated to North Korea.
During the year, deportations of North Koreans from China
continued. Most observers estimated that since 1994 there have been at
least tens of thousands, and perhaps several hundred thousand North
Koreans in China. Most crossed the border illegally in small groups to
seek food, shelter, and work. Some have settled semi-permanently in
Northeastern China, while others travel back and forth across the
border. Since 2000, the Chinese government sporadically has sought out
and forcibly repatriated large numbers of these persons, whom Chinese
authorities regarded as illegal economic migrants. Deportations
appeared to have risen in 2001 and 2002 after North Koreans began
seeking onward travel to South Korea through high-profile tactics such
as seeking asylum in diplomatic missions. Deportations continued,
albeit at what appeared to be a slower pace than in previous years.
During the year, 1,894 North Koreans were able to travel to the
Republic of Korea after seeking refuge primarily in South Korean
diplomatic missions in China and other countries. Notable incidents
included the airlift of 468 North Koreans from an unidentified third
country, and, in September, 44 North Koreans scaled the walls of the
Canadian Embassy in Beijing in an attempt to seek asylum.
North Koreans in Russia also suffered serious human rights abuses.
Many were workers employed under harsh conditions under contracts
entered into by the North Korean authorities with Russian firms. Many
such North Koreans in Russia had their passports and other
identification confiscated by North Korean border guards and faced
severe hardship due to their lack of any identification. However, many
workers were there voluntarily. Work abroad is highly sought after and
most workers are vetted by the party for their ideological health and
background.
For several years beginning in the 1990s, the country permitted a
few of the thousands of Japanese wives with North Korean husbands to
make short trips to visit their families in Japan. Because of the
abduction controversy, these visits have been suspended.
Since the June 2000 inter-Korean summit, there have also been
several family reunions in the North and the South involving hundreds
of persons.
The Government has permitted an increasing number of overseas
Koreans to visit relatives in North Korea over the past decade The pro-
North Korean groups arranging these visits charge application fees of
several thousand dollars.
Although a member of the U.N., the country did not participate in
international refugee forums. The Government had no known policy or
provision for refugees or asylees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens do not have the right to change their leadership or
government peacefully. The KWP and the KPA, with Kim Jong Il in
control, dominate the political system. Very little reliable
information is available on intra-regime politics. The legislature, the
Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), meets only a few days per year to
rubber-stamp resolutions presented to it by the party leadership.
The regime justifies its dictatorship with arguments derived from
concepts of collective consciousness and the superiority of the
collective over the individual, appeals to nationalism, and citations
of the juche ideology. The authorities emphasize that the core concept
of juche is ``the ability to act independently without regard to
outside interference.'' Originally described as ``a creative
application of Marxism-Leninism'' in the national context, juche is a
malleable philosophy reinterpreted from time to time by the regime as
its ideological needs changed.
In an effort to give the appearance of democracy, the Government
has created several ``minority parties.'' Lacking grassroots
organizations, they exist only as rosters of officials with token
representation in the SPA. Their primary purpose appeared to be
promoting government objectives abroad as touring parliamentarians.
Free elections did not exist, and the regime criticized the concept of
free elections and competition among political parties as an
``artifact'' of ``capitalist decay.''
Elections to the SPA and to provincial, city, and county assemblies
are held irregularly and are not free and fair. Elections were held in
1990, 1998, and in August 2003; the outcomes of all were virtually
identical.
Women reportedly made up 20 percent of the membership of the SPA,
but only approximately 4 percent of the membership of the Central
Committee of the KWP.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There are no independent domestic organizations to monitor human
rights conditions or to comment on violations of such rights, and the
Government is unlikely to allow them to be formed. The government's
North Korean Human Rights Committee has denied the existence of any
human rights violations in the country.
In July 2001, a North Korean delegate reporting to the U.N. Human
Rights Committee dismissed reports of human rights violations in the
country as the propaganda of ``egoistic'' and ``hostile forces''
seeking to undermine the sovereignty of the country.
The Government has ignored requests for visits by international
human rights organizations, and none were known to have visited since a
1996 AI visit.
The NGO community and numerous international experts continued to
testify to the grave human rights situation in North Korea.
A number of countries that have established relations with the
country in recent years have sought to engage it on human rights. In
2001 and 2002, North Korean officials and EU representatives held
dialogues on human rights. North Korea emphasized that it had ratified
most U.N. human rights instruments. Human rights concerns were further
addressed during political consultations during the year. In April
2003, the UNCHR for the first time adopted a resolution on the
situation of human rights in the country. The resolution, among other
things, expressed ``deep concern about reports of systemic, widespread
and grave violations of human rights `and note(d) with regret that the
authorities' have not created the necessary conditions to permit the
international community to verify these reports'.'' In April, the UNCHR
called for the appointment of a special rapporteur on human rights in
the country, but he was not allowed to visit the country to assess the
situation according to his mandate. In September, the United Kingdom
sent a delegation to Pyongyang for formal discussions on human rights
which achieved little in terms of progress.
Although not involved in monitoring human rights, the World Food
Program (WFP) visited 161 of the country's 203 counties during the year
to monitor food distribution and survey nutritional needs. The number
of WFP monitoring visits has increased substantially since the WFP
first established its presence in the country in 1995. However,
starting in the fall, the North Korean government refused a larger
proportion of requests for monitoring visits than it had in recent
years. In addition, the WFP ceased to visit and distribute food to nine
counties due to new access restrictions by North Korean authorities. As
a result, regular access has been reduced to 152 out of a total 203
counties. The North Korean government has never permitted monitoring
visits to certain areas of the country it has deemed ``sensitive.'' The
government also has never permitted monitoring visits to be made on a
random or short-notice basis, thus limiting their effectiveness in
verifying that aid reached intended recipients on a sustained basis.
Another monitoring shortcoming is that the Government has not provided
the WFP a full list of the institutions (schools, orphanages,
hospitals, etc.) that receive the food. The WFP has also not been
allowed to bring in native Korean speakers for its staff; however, WFP
staff has been permitted to study the Korean language. For the second
year, South Korean monitoring teams were allowed to observe briefly the
distribution of food provided on a bilateral basis. For every 100,000
tons of food delivered, the Republic of Korea was allowed to send three
monitoring teams to visit any of the previously agreed-upon
distribution points.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution grants equal rights to all citizens. However, the
Government denied its citizens most fundamental human rights in
practice, and there was pervasive discrimination on the basis of social
status.
Women.--The Constitution states ``women hold equal social status
and rights with men''; however, although women were represented
proportionally in the labor force, few women had reached high levels of
the Party or the Government. In addition, there are indications that
the number of women in the workforce has been declining since the
economic reforms were instituted. There is no evidence that this
decline is the result of a Government policy; rather, it is probably
the consequence of widespread factory closures.
There was no information available on domestic and general societal
violence against women; women prisoners reportedly were subject to rape
and forced abortions (see Section 1.c.).
Working-age women, like men, are required to work. They were thus
required to leave preschool age children in the care of elderly
relatives or in state nurseries. According to the Constitution, women
with large families are to work shorter hours. There were reports of
trafficking in women and young girls among North Koreans crossing the
border into China (see Section 5, Trafficking). During the year,
approximately two-thirds of the refugees who found safe haven in South
Korea were women.
Children.--The State provides compulsory education for all children
until the age of 15. However, in the past, some children were denied
educational opportunities and subjected to other punishments and
disadvantages as a result of the loyalty classification system and the
principle of ``collective retribution'' for the transgressions of
family members (see Section 1.f.). However, there was some evidence
that the rigidity of the loyalty classification system has eroded.
Like others in society, children were the objects of intense
political indoctrination; even mathematics textbooks propound party
dogma. In addition, foreign visitors and academic sources reported that
children from an early age were subjected to several hours a week of
mandatory military training and indoctrination at their schools. School
children sometimes were sent to work in factories or in the fields for
short periods to assist in completing special projects or in meeting
production goals.
The WFP reported feeding 3.36 million children during the year. A
nutrition survey carried out in 2002 by UNICEF and the WFP, in
cooperation with the Government, found that in the sample of 6,000
children, 20 percent were underweight and 39 percent were stunted. This
was an improvement compared to a 1998 UNICEF/WFP survey. Although
UNICEF and WFP did not have unrestricted access in carrying out these
surveys, the general conclusion of improvement in the nutritional
situation of children is considered valid. A new survey was carried out
during the year, but the results had not been released by year's end.
In practice, children did not enjoy any more civil liberties than
adults. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly
expressed concern over de facto discrimination against children with
disabilities and the insufficient measures taken by the State to ensure
that these children had effective access to health, education, and
social services, and to facilitate their full integration into society.
Information about societal or familial abuse of children is
unavailable. There were reports of trafficking in young girls among
persons crossing the border into China (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--There were no known laws specifically
addressing the problem of trafficking in persons, and trafficking was a
growing problem. There were widespread reports of trafficking in women
and young girls into China. Some were sold by their families or by
kidnappers as wives or concubines to men in China; others fled on their
own volition to escape starvation and deprivation. A network of
smugglers reportedly facilitated this trafficking. Many such women,
unable to speak Chinese, were held as virtual prisoners, and some were
forced to work as prostitutes.
Persons With Disabilities.--Traditional social norms condone
discrimination against persons with physical disabilities. Apart from
veterans with disabilities, persons with disabilities were almost never
seen within the city limits of Pyongyang, and several defectors and
other former residents reported that persons with disabilities
routinely were relocated to rural areas. Furthermore, some NGO reports
claimed that these persons were predominantly sent to the northeastern
part of the country. However, recent visitors to Pyongyang have
reported seeing persons with disabilities on the streets of the
capital. There are no legally mandated provisions for accessibility to
buildings or government services for persons with disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom
of association; however, this provision was not respected in practice.
There are no known labor organizations other than those created by the
Government. The KWP purports to represent the interests of all labor.
There is a single labor organization, the General Federation of Trade
Unions of Korea. Operating under this umbrella, unions function on the
classic ``Stalinist model,'' with responsibility for mobilizing workers
to support production goals and for providing health, education,
cultural, and welfare facilities.
The country is not a member of the International Labor
Organization, but does have observer status.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers do not
have the right to organize or to bargain collectively. Factory and farm
workers are organized into councils, which do have an impact on
management decisions. Unions do not have the right to strike.
There is one special enterprise zone (SEZ) in the Rajin-Songbon
area. The same labor laws that applied in the rest of the country
applied in the Rajin-Songbon SEZ, and workers in the SEZ were carefully
screened and selected. The Kaesong Industrial Complex (IC) began
operating in December eight miles north of the Demilitarized Zone with
15 South Korean companies selected for the pilot phase. While the
workers for the Kaesong IC were also screened and selected, special
regulations were negotiated between the two Koreas in 2002 and 2003 for
the management of the area. The respective Assemblies of both North and
South Korea approved the Kaesong Industrial Complex Act. Per this
agreement, North Korean workers in the Kaesong IC are guaranteed a
monthly minimum wage. All companies will be managed by South Korean
staff who have the authority to make all labor management decisions in
their company, including who is hired and who is let go.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--In its 2000 and 2001
reports to the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the Government claimed that
its laws prohibit forced or compulsory labor. However, the Government
frequently mobilized the population for construction projects and for
mass demonstrations and performances. ``Reformatory labor'' and
``reeducation through labor'' were common punishments for political
offenses. Forced and compulsory labor, such as logging and tending
crops, was common among prisoners.
The Constitution requires that all citizens of working age must
work and ``strictly observe labor discipline and working hours.''
According to the new Penal Code, failure to meet economic plan goals
can result in 2 years of ``labor correction.''
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for ployment.--
According to the Constitution, the State prohibits work by children
under the age of 16 years, and the Penal Code crimalizes forced child
labor. School children may be assigned to factories or farms for short
periods to help meet production goals, and to other work like snow
removal on major roads.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--No data was available on the
minimum wage in state-owned industries. Since the July 2002 economic
reforms, wages have become the primary form of compensation, and
factory managers have had more latitude to set wages and provide
incentives. Workers are expected to use some of their increased income
to pay for services that had been provided either free or at highly
subsidized rates by the State, such as rent for housing and fees for
transportation. While access to education and medical care may
technically remain free, educational materials and medicines appear
available only for purchase in markets. At the Kaesong Industrial
Complex, South Korean companies paid North Korean workers $57.50 per
month, of which $50 will go directly to the worker and $7.50 will go to
the Government as a social insurance fee.
Class background and family connections may be as important as
professional competence in deciding who receives a particular job, and
foreign companies that have established joint ventures report that all
their employees must be hired from registers screened by the
authorities. Unlike the previous Penal Code, the new code does not
address persistent tardiness.
The Constitution stipulates an 8-hour workday; however, several
sources reported that most laborers worked from 12 to 16 hours daily
when factories were operating. Some of this additional time appeared to
include mandatory study of the writings of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
The Constitution provides all citizens with a ``right to rest,''
including paid leave, holidays, and access to sanitariums and rest
homes funded at public expense; however, the state's willingness and
ability to provide these services is unknown. Paid leave was provided
on public holidays, but on some holidays some persons were required to
participate in mass demonstrations involving extra hours of
preparation.
Many worksites were hazardous, and the rate of industrial accidents
was high. The Constitution recognizes the state's responsibility for
providing modern and hygienic working conditions. The Penal Code
criminalizes the failure to heed ``labor safety orders'' pertaining to
worker safety and workplace conditions only if it results in the loss
of lives or other ``grave loss.'' In addition, workers do not have an
enumerated right to remove themselves from hazardous working
conditions.
__________
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
The Republic of Korea (Korea) is a constitutional democracy
governed by a president and a unicameral legislature. Citizens
regularly choose their representatives in free and fair multiparty
elections. In December 2002, President Roh Moo-hyun was elected to a 5-
year term of office. On March 12, the National Assembly impeached the
President over campaign irregularities. Following the impeachment vote,
in accordance with the Constitution, the Prime Minister assumed the
duties of President. In April, in a free and fair election, President
Roh's Uri Party obtained a majority 151 of 299 National Assembly seats.
The Constitutional Court reinstated the President shortly after the
April election. The judiciary is generally independent.
Responsibility for maintaining internal security lies with the
National Intelligence Service (NIS), the National Police Administration
(NPA), and the Defense Security Command (DSC). The NIS and the DSC are
legally barred from involvement in domestic politics, although the NIS
is authorized to investigate organizations believed to support the
Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).
Some members of the police committed occasional human rights abuses.
The country has an estimated per capita income of $13,000 for its
estimated 48.3 million persons. In December, unemployment was 3.6
percent, and the rate of inflation was also 3.6 percent. With an
estimated growth rate of 4.5 to 4.7 percent, the economy depended on
key exports including electronics, automobiles, chemicals, ships, and
steel.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. The police and
prison personnel at times physically and verbally abused detainees,
although such abuses have declined in recent years. The National
Security Law (NSL) curtailed free speech and press, peaceful assembly
and association, and free travel. Domestic violence, rape, and child
abuse remained serious problems. Women and minorities continued to face
legal and societal discrimination. The country was a country of origin,
transit, and destination for trafficking in persons. As a country of
origin, women were trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation to the
United States, sometimes through Canada, as well as to other Western
countries and Japan. The Government implemented strict laws to curb
prostitution and human trafficking and to aid trafficking victims. Many
public sector employees did not enjoy the right of association.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by the
Government or its agents.
The Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths continued to
investigate and redress cases of government-sanctioned torture and
killing of pro-democracy activists under the military regimes of the
past. Since its inception in 2000, the Commission has reviewed 85 cases
and confirmed 30 cases of suspicious deaths.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Penal Code prohibits mistreatment of suspects, and
officials generally observed this prohibition in practice. The
Government ordered investigating authorities to protect the human
rights of suspects, and allegations of abuse by the authorities of
those in custody continued to decline. However, some nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) alleged that police sometimes abused persons in
custody. During the year, there were 26 cases of guards allegedly using
excessive force. In some of these cases, the guards were accused of
using improper restraints on prisoners. The Ministry of Justice stated
that these allegations were all investigated and found to be without
merit. In recent years, under the National Public Service Law and
criminal law, a number of police and security officials accused of
abuse or harassment have been punished or disciplined through demotion,
pay cuts, and dismissal. During the year, no police officials were
charged under criminal law for abuses committed while on duty; however,
as of July, police were disciplined pursuant to administrative
procedures 632 times.
During the year, there were occasions when demonstrators used
violent tactics; however, unlike in previous years there were no
reports that police used excessive force.
The Government continued to investigate past abuses. By year's end,
the Commission for the Restoration of Honor and Compensation to
Activists of the Democratization Movement, established to review cases
in which political activists may have been tortured, had reviewed 8,182
cases since 2000 and determined that compensation was due in 499 of
them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government continued to upgrade penal facilities. By year's end, the
Government began operating two new facilities to ease overcrowding,
implemented new reception systems, and upgraded its information
systems. It also implemented a new vocational training program, with
special programs for women and persons with disabilities.
A new law outlawed consecutive solitary confinement and reduced the
maximum period of solitary confinement from 2 months to 1 month. The
new law also abolished the use of leather belts to bind the upper body
of prisoners. Nevertheless, the NGO Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC),
in a report to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, criticized the
conditions of detention in disciplinary cells, found the guidelines for
determining the period of solitary confinement too ambiguous, and
objected to the continued use of long chains and facemasks to
discipline prisoners. The ALRC alleged that the padded helmet-style
facemasks were used to punish prisoners; however, the authorities
stated that the masks were used to prevent violent prisoners from
harming themselves or others.
Inmates had access to reading materials, telephones, and television
broadcasts. Education in computers and foreign languages, occupational
training programs, and an Inmate Employment Center helped inmates
prepare to resume normal lives. Most prisoners were allowed to receive
up to five visitors four to six times per month. Some prisoners were
allowed unlimited visits. Model prisoners who had served more than one-
third of their sentences were allowed unsupervised meetings with
visitors and were exempt from mail censorship. Some were eligible for
overnight leave. Pregnant inmates received special treatment, including
supplementary food, for the full term of their pregnancies and were
allowed to live with their babies for up to 18 months. Pregnant inmates
also received prenatal care for the full term of their pregnancies.
Female inmates were not searched by male prison guards without the
prior consent of the prison warden, and a female guard was present
during such searches.
Female prisoners were segregated from male prisoners, and juveniles
were segregated from adults. Pretrial detainees were separated from
convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted visits by independent human rights
observers. The National Human Rights Commission monitored prison
conditions through a prisoner petition system, in which prisoners could
submit suggestions through a petition box in each prison. The
Commission also conducted investigations and studies on medical
equipment and facilities in prisons, provision of medical services, and
conditions in military prisons. Human rights NGOs are allowed to visit
prisons by appointment and to submit recommendations to prison
authorities. The International Committee of the Red Cross has the right
to visit prisons; however, it does not maintain a presence in the
country.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Laws regarding arrest and
detention are vague, and prosecutors had wide latitude. For example,
the NSL defines espionage in broad terms and permits the authorities to
detain and arrest persons who commit acts viewed as supporting North
Korea, and therefore deemed dangerous to the country. The NSL permits
the imprisonment for up to 7 years of anyone who ``with the knowledge
that he might endanger the existence or security of the State or the
basic order of free democracy, praised, encouraged, propagandized for,
or sided with the activities of an anti-state organization.'' The legal
standard for what constitutes ``endangering the security of the State''
is vague. Thus, persons have been arrested for what appeared to be the
peaceful expression of views that the Government considered pro-North
Korean or anti-state. In September, the Seoul High Court upheld the
conviction of Min Gyeong-woo, an executive member of the Pan-Korean
Alliance for Reunification, for notifying the Alliance's North Korean
headquarters about the activities of student movements in South Korea,
praising the North Korean political system, and possessing ``anti-State
materials'' such as pro-North Korea books and documents. Between
January 2003 and July 2003, 43 persons were arrested for violating the
NSL, and 9 persons remained in custody as of year's end. One high-
profile case was that of Professor Song Du-yul, a longtime resident of
Germany convicted of supporting the North Korean regime. He was
sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment, but was released in July (see
Section 2.d.).
Because of the vagueness of the NSL and the invocation of
classified security threat information regarding the Korean Peninsula,
the Government is relieved of the burden of proof that any particular
speech or action in fact threatens the nation's security.
The U.N. Human Rights Committee has termed the NSL ``a major
obstacle to the full realization of the rights enshrined in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.'' In October, the
ruling party submitted a bill to the National Assembly that, if passed,
would abolish the NSL. However, due to a lack of consensus, National
Assembly action on the NSL was postponed until 2005.
The NPA is under the Ministry of Government Administration and Home
Affairs. The approximately 93,000 member force has a national
headquarters in Seoul, 5 special agencies, including the Maritime
Police, 13 provincial headquarters, 220 police stations, and 3,389
branch offices. The NPA was considered well disciplined, and corruption
and impunity were not major problems.
The Criminal Code requires warrants in cases of arrest, detention,
seizure, or search, except if a person is apprehended while committing
a criminal act or if a judge is not available and the authorities
believe that a suspect may destroy evidence or escape capture if not
quickly arrested. In such emergency cases, judges must issue arrest
warrants within 48 hours after the suspect is apprehended, or, if a
court is not located in the same county, within 72 hours. Police may
detain suspects who appear voluntarily for questioning for up to 6
hours, but must notify the suspects' families. The police generally
respected these requirements.
Authorities normally must release an arrested suspect within 20
days unless an indictment is issued. An additional 10 days of detention
is allowed in exceptional circumstances. Consequently, detained
suspects were a relatively small percentage of the total prison
population.
The Constitution provides for the right to representation by an
attorney, including during police interrogation. There were no reports
of access to legal counsel being denied. There is a bail system, but
human rights lawyers said bail generally was not granted for detainees
who were charged with committing serious offenses, might attempt to
flee or harm a previous victim, or had no fixed address.
Typically, on several occasions during the year, the Government
grants special pardons or reinstatements of civil rights to persons,
including some imprisoned for violations of the NSL or for engaging in
violence during labor demonstrations. In May, the Government pardoned
1,489 prisoners.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. Of the nine justices on the Constitutional
Court, three are appointed by the President, three are elected by the
National Assembly, and three are designated by the chief justice of the
Supreme Court. Although judges do not receive life appointments, they
cannot be fired or transferred for political reasons. The Prosecutor's
Office, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), has
shown increased independence and impartiality in recent years.
Local courts are presided over by judges who render verdicts in all
cases. There is no trial by jury. Both defendants and prosecutors can
appeal a verdict or a sentence to a district appeals court and to the
Supreme Court. Constitutional challenges can be taken to the
Constitutional Court.
The Constitution provides defendants with a number of rights in
criminal trials, including the presumption of innocence, protection
against self-incrimination, freedom from retroactive laws and double
jeopardy, the right to a speedy trial, and the right of appeal.
Although the Constitution prohibits double jeopardy, the courts have
interpreted this provision to mean that a suspect cannot be indicted or
punished more than once for the same crime. However, the prosecution
can appeal a not guilty verdict or a sentence it considers excessively
lenient; thus, a suspect may in fact be tried more than once for the
same crime. When a person is detained, the initial trial must be
completed within 6 months of arrest. These rights generally were
observed. Trials are open to the public, but a judge may restrict
attendance if he believed spectators might disrupt the proceedings.
Judges generally allowed considerable scope for examination of
witnesses by both the prosecution and defense. Cases involving national
security and criminal matters are tried by the same courts. Although
few convictions were overturned, appeals often resulted in reduced
sentences. Death sentences are appealed automatically.
It was difficult to estimate the number of political prisoners
because it was not clear whether particular persons were arrested for
exercising the rights of free speech or association, or were detained
for committing acts of violence or espionage. Minganhyup, an NGO,
estimates that the police arrested, tried, and convicted 189 political
prisoners during the year, including 37 for violating the NSL and 55
for violating the Assembly and Demonstration Law.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. However, some human
rights groups were concerned about possible governmental abuse of
eavesdropping. According to Privacy International, some human rights
groups argued that a considerable amount of illegal wiretapping,
shadowing, and surveillance photography still occurred, and they
asserted that the lack of an independent body to investigate whether
police had employed illegal wiretaps hindered the effectiveness of the
anti-wiretap law. The Anti-Wiretap lays out broad conditions under
which the Government may monitor telephone calls, mail, and other forms
of communication for up to 2 months in criminal investigations and 4
months in national security cases. According to the Ministry of
Information and Communication, there were 917 government wiretappings
between January and June, an increase of 14.8 percent from the second
half of 2003.
The Government continued to require some released prisoners to
report regularly to the police under the Social Surveillance Law.
The NSL forbids citizens from listening to North Korean radio in
their homes or reading books published in North Korea if the Government
determines that the action endangers national security or the basic
order of democracy in the country. However, this prohibition was rarely
enforced, and the viewing of North Korean satellite telecasts in
private homes is legal. The Government also allows the personal perusal
of North Korean books, music, television programs, and movies as a
means to promote understanding and reconciliation with North Korea.
North Korean books were sold openly in a few shops.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. However, under the NSL, the Government may limit the
expression of ideas that authorities consider Communist or pro-North
Korean. Broad interpretations of the NSL allowed for restrictions on
peaceful dissent. Proposals to annul or substantially revise the NSL
were under review in the National Assembly at year's end. An
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
The ruling party introduced a bill that would limit the market
share of any one daily newspaper to 30 percent. Under the bill, it
would be illegal for the combined market share of any three newspapers
to be more than 60 percent. The country's largest circulation
newspapers, which would be adversely affected by this legislation, were
considered pro-opposition. In addition, the party also plans to
restrict the total amount of advertising that a newspaper can carry.
The NGO community has expressed concern that the law would be used to
control the printed press sector. The Government dropped a series of
libel lawsuits filed last year against several newspapers.
The state-owned radio and television network maintained a
considerable degree of editorial independence in its news coverage. A
member of the Korean Federation of University Student Councils, an
illegal group also known as ``Hanchongryn,'' was indicted on charges of
producing and distributing pro-North Korean materials.
The Government blocked violent and sexually explicit Web sites, and
required site operators to rate their site as harmful or not harmful to
youth. In response to a lawsuit by some who alleged the Government's
actions infringed on their ``right to happiness,'' the Seoul District
Court ruled in October that it is lawful to prohibit the manufacture
and distribution of pornography. On January 4, the Government's Youth
Protection Committee removed homosexuality from the list of harmful
materials to youth. Thus, unlike in the past, homosexual Web sites were
not automatically blocked.
In November, the Government blocked access to 31 overseas-based
pro-North Korean Web sites that were categorized as harmful to the
public by the police and the state intelligence agency. In March, two
students were arrested and charged for breaking electoral law by
distributing political cartoons online.
Hanchongryn continued to maintain that police informants were
posted on university campuses.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice. The Law on Assembly and
Demonstrations prohibits assemblies that are considered likely to
undermine public order. The Law requires that the police be notified in
advance of demonstrations of all types, including political rallies.
The police must notify organizers if they consider an event
impermissible under this law; however, demonstrations routinely were
approved.
In October 2003, the Constitutional Court found that provisions of
the law that made it a crime to hold demonstrations within 100 yards of
a foreign mission were unconstitutional. In January, the National
Assembly amended the law to try to meet the constitutional strictures.
In March, civic organizations organized huge downtown candlelight
gatherings to protest the impeachment of the President. Although the
NPA stated that the rallies were illegal, the Government permitted the
rallies, which were peaceful and included children and older persons.
During the year, demonstrators on several occasions used steel bars
to attack police. They also sometimes used trucks to disrupt traffic.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Associations
operated freely, except those deemed by the Government to be seeking to
overthrow the Government.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Government currently provides no exemption or alternative
civilian service for those who have a religious objection to duty in
the armed forces. According to the Justice Ministry, during the year
874 persons, most of whom are Jehovah's Witnesses, were imprisoned
(serving sentences or awaiting trial in prison) for refusing to serve
their military duty. They were allowed to conduct their own religious
services in prison.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--Most citizens could move freely
throughout the country; however, police had discretion to restrict the
movements of some former prisoners. Foreign travel generally was
unrestricted; however, the Government must approve travel to North
Korea. To obtain approval, potential visitors must demonstrate that
their trip does not have a political purpose and is not undertaken to
praise North Korea or criticize the Government. During the year, the
Government continued to promote the expansion of North-South
government, economic, cultural, and tourism-related contacts. However,
travelers to North Korea who did not receive government permission were
subject to arrest upon their return. There was one such case during the
year.
In the past, the Government forbade some citizens convicted of
politically related crimes from returning to the country, and some
citizens still faced sanctions if they chose to return. For example,
dissident scholar Song Du-yul returned to the country in September 2003
after 37 years of self-imposed exile and was accused of being a member
of the Korean Worker's Party (the North Korean Communist Party). In
March, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Song to 7 years in
prison. Song, however, was released from jail in July and returned to
Germany.
The country is a party to the 1951 Convention on the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. In
practice, the Government provided protection against refoulement, the
return of persons to a country where they feared persecution; however,
the Government did not routinely grant refugee or asylum status.
Government guidelines provide for offering temporary refuge in the case
of a mass influx of asylum seekers. The Government also provided an
alternative form of protection, a renewable, short-term permit, to
those that met a broader definition of ``refugee.'' According to the
UNHCR, the frequent rotation and limited training of immigration
officers and a complicated deliberation process that required 2-tiered
meetings of 12 governmental and nongovernmental council members
prevented timely action. Case determination normally took from 2 to 3
years. In addition, some asylum seekers were not well-counseled on
their rights. There were some instances of improper actions, such as
consulting the embassy of the origin country for information. Unlike in
previous years, asylees were provided with competent and independent
interpreters and there were no reported cases of applicants being told
that they had no reason to seek asylum.
During the year, the Government continued its longstanding policy
of accepting refugees from North Korea. At year's end, 1,894 former
North Koreans had resettled in the country, resulting in a total
population of 6,304 former North Koreans living in South Korea.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercise this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage for all citizens 20 years of age or older. Elections
are held by secret ballot.
The Constitution provides for the direct election of the president
to a single 5-year term; the president may not stand for re-election.
Representatives to the National Assembly are elected under a dual
system of direct and proportional representation. Voters cast one vote
for a candidate from their electoral district and a separate vote for a
party; the percentage of votes for each party determines the number of
that party's candidates who are elected as proportional
representatives. The National Assembly members serve terms of 4 years
and are not subject to a term limit. A free and fair National Assembly
election was held in April. The Uri Party obtained a majority 152 of
299 National Assembly seats. The opposition Grand National Party won
121 seats.
After an investigation into illegal presidential campaign funds
during the 2002 presidential election, the prosecution indicted 40
politicians, including 23 incumbent lawmakers. Most of those indicted
retired from politics or were not re-elected in the April National
Assembly elections. In October, the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office
announced that it had indicted 46 lawmakers on charges of violating
election laws during the April elections. At year's end, most of these
cases were still pending. However, the court sentenced Choi Don-woong,
a conservative opposition politician, to 1 year in jail; presidential
confidant Ahn Hee-jeong to 1 year in jail; and Kim Young-il, also of
the opposition, to 2 years of prison. Former lawmaker Lee Sang-soo was
sentenced to probation.
President Roh gave prosecutors ``free rein'' to investigate
political parties and politicians for corruption and even encouraged
investigations targeting his own party. In addition to the pending
election law prosecutions, there were ongoing corruption prosecutions
in several executive agencies. For example, nine officials of the
Ministry of Information and Communication faced bribery charges, and
military prosecutors investigated a general alleged to have illegally
intervened in the promotion process. According to the Korea Independent
Commission Against Corruption, the overall ``cleanness level'' of the
Government rose to 8.46 out of a possible 10, up from 7.71 in 2003, and
6.43 in 2002. The country has a Freedom of Information Act, which went
into effect in 1998.
According to new election laws applied to the April general
election, 50 percent of each party's candidates on the proportional
ballot had to be women while 30 percent of each party's geographical
candidates had to be women. As a result, there were 39 women in the
299-seat legislature. At year's end, 3 of the 19 National Assembly
committees were chaired by women. In the Supreme Court, 1 of 14
Justices was a woman, and in the Cabinet, 1 of 19 Ministers was a
woman.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views. Through civil society
support programs, the Government spent over $12.2 million
(approximately 12.7 billion won) during the year supporting 565 NGOs.
The National Human Rights Commission continued to monitor and
investigate human rights violations. Members of the National Human
Rights Commission were not permitted to be present at interrogations,
but they were authorized to visit prisons and correctional institutions
and to meet with persons who had been arrested and were in custody.
The work of the National Human Rights Commission was augmented and
complemented by that of the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious
Deaths (see Section 1.a.) and the Commission for the Restoration of
Honor and Compensation to Activists of the Democratization Movement
(see Section 1.c).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution and law forbid discrimination on the basis of
gender, religion, disability, age, social status, regional origin,
national origin, ethnic origin, physical condition or appearance,
marital status, pregnancy and child delivery, family status, race, skin
color, thought or political opinion, record of any crime for which
punishment has been fulfilled, sexual orientation or medical history,
and the Government generally respected these provisions. However,
traditional attitudes limited opportunities for women and persons with
disabilities. Ethnic minorities, primarily foreign workers, were very
small in number and faced both legal and societal discrimination. While
courts have jurisdiction to decide discrimination claims, many of these
cases were instead handled by the National Human Rights Commission, an
independent government agency established in 2001. Between November
2001 and August, the Commission handled 9,410 cases of alleged human
rights violations and 806 cases of discriminatory conduct.
Women.--Violence against women remained a problem. The Prevention
of Domestic Violence and Victim Protection Act defines domestic
violence as a serious crime and enables authorities to order offenders
to stay away from victims for up to 6 months. Offenders may also be
placed on probation or ordered to see court designated counselors. The
law also requires police to respond immediately to reports of domestic
violence. Between January and September, the Ministry of Justice
reported 11,614 cases of domestic violence and prosecuted 1,703 cases.
Rape remained a serious problem. Between January and September,
there were 5,206 reported cases of rape and 3,840 prosecutions. Many
rapes were believed to have gone unreported because of the stigma
associated with being raped. The activities of a number of women's
groups increased awareness of the importance of reporting and
prosecuting rapes, as well as of offenses such as sexual harassment in
the workplace. According to women's rights groups, cases involving
sexual harassment or rape frequently went unprosecuted, and
perpetrators of sex crimes, if convicted, often received light
sentences. The penalty for rape is 3 years' imprisonment; if a weapon
is used or two or more persons commit the rape, punishment may be a
maximum of life imprisonment.
Prostitution is illegal, but widespread. However, the Government
began a crackdown on prostitution in September. At year's end, an
estimated several hundred thousand women were engaged in some manner in
the prostitution industry. A 2003 study found that the country's sex
trade had generated up to $22 billion (approximately 23.3 trillion won)
in profits.
The law defines sexual harassment as a form of gender
discrimination. The Gender Discrimination Prevention and Relief Act
covers almost all kinds of human relations--including, for example,
relations between teachers and students, citizens and civil servants.
Nevertheless, sexual harassment continued to be a problem. In June, a
poll found that 18.4 percent of working women experienced sexual
harassment.
The Family Law permits women to head a household, recognizes a
wife's right to a portion of the couple's property, and allows a woman
to maintain greater contact with her children after a divorce. Although
the law helped abused women who chose to divorce, the stigma of divorce
remained strong, and there was little government or private assistance
for divorced women. These factors, plus the fact that divorced women
had limited employment opportunities and had difficulty remarrying, led
some women to stay in abusive situations. However, according to a
Ministry of Health and Welfare report, 47.4 percent of marriages end in
divorce. The Government has established some shelters for battered
women and has increased the number of childcare facilities, giving
women in abusive situations more options. However, women's rights
groups said these measures fell far short of effectively dealing with
the problem.
Women were subordinate to men legally, socially, and economically.
Despite the passage of equal employment opportunity legislation, few
women worked as company executives, and sexual discrimination in the
workplace remained a problem. According to the Korea Women's
Development Institute, the average working woman earned 63 percent of
what a man made in a comparable job. The Equal Employment Act has been
revised to impose tougher penalties on companies found to discriminate
against women in hiring and promotions. Under the law, the Presidential
Commission on Women's Affairs (the precursor of the existing Ministry
of Gender Equality) is granted the authority to investigate sexual
discrimination cases in the workplace. A company found guilty of
practicing sexual discrimination could be fined up to $4,399(5 million
won) and have its name published in the newspaper. The law also
provides for a public fund to support victims in seeking legal redress.
Nevertheless, some government agencies' preferential hiring of
applicants with military service (nearly always men) perpetuated legal
barriers against women, despite a Constitutional Court ruling that such
preferential hiring discriminated against women and persons with
disabilities and is unconstitutional.
Women had full access to education, and social mores and attitudes
were changing gradually. For example, the major political parties made
more efforts to recruit women, and an increasing number of women
occupied key party positions, including chairperson of the main
opposition party. The military and service academies also continued to
expand opportunities for women.
The Government provided an allowance of $565 (640,000 won) per
month to 128 former ``comfort women'' (women who, during World War II,
were forced to provide sex to soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army).
Children.--The Government demonstrated its commitment to children's
rights and welfare through public education. The Government provided
high-quality elementary education to all children free of charge.
Education is compulsory through the age of 15, and most children
obtained a good secondary education. High quality health care was
widely available to children.
As public awareness of the problem of child abuse continued to
grow, the number of reported cases increased. The most recent figures
reflect that from 2001 until 2003, 3,197 children under 12 years of age
were victims of violent crimes. The Ministry of Health and Welfare
established a central prevention center and 17 branch offices to
provide child victims with medical aid and counseling and serve as an
education resource for offenders and family members. The Ministry also
established a hotline for reports of abuse. In January, the Government
revised the Law on Child Welfare to impose additional punishment on
habitual offenders. The Seoul metropolitan government also ran a
children's counseling center that investigated reports of abuse,
counseled families, and cared for runaway children.
The Youth Protection Law provides for prison terms of up to 10
years and a fine of $8,840 (10 million won) per minor hired for owners
of entertainment establishments who hire persons under the age of 19.
The Commission on Youth Protection also expanded the definition of
``entertainment establishment'' to include facilities, such as
restaurants and cafes, where children were hired illegally as
prostitutes. The Juvenile Sexual Protection Act establishes a maximum
sentence of 20 years' imprisonment for the sale of the sexual services
of persons younger than 19 years of age. It also establishes prison
terms for persons convicted of the purchase of sexual services of youth
under the age of 19 (see Section 5, Trafficking). Based on this law,
the Commission publicized the names of those who had committed sex
offenses against minors. During the year, personal information on 553
sex offenders was available to the public.
The traditional preference for male children continued, although it
was less evident among those in their twenties and thirties. Although
the law bans fetal testing except in cases in which a woman's life is
in danger, hereditary disease could be transmitted, or in cases of rape
or incest, such testing and the subsequent abortion of female fetuses
frequently occurred. The Government expressed concern about the
widening disparity between male and female birth rates and stepped up
an education campaign aimed at eradicating gender-preference abortions,
which are already prohibited by law.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
nevertheless, the country was a country of origin, transit, and
destination. As a country of origin, women were trafficked primarily
for sexual exploitation to the United States, sometimes through Canada,
as well as to other Western countries and Japan. Relatively small
numbers of economic migrants, seeking opportunities abroad, were
believed to have become victims of trafficking as well.
In September, the country implemented two new significant and
sweeping laws against prostitution and human trafficking. The laws
toughen penalties and provide enhanced services and protections for
victims of the sex trade. Police have also launched a public awareness
campaign, a victim support hotline, and a reward system for information
leading to the arrest of traffickers. The Juvenile Sexual Protection
Act imposes lengthy prison terms for persons convicted of sexual crimes
against minors (see Section 5, Children). The NPA and the MOJ were
principally responsible for enforcing these laws. No laws specifically
address sex tourism.
The country was a major transit point for alien smugglers,
including traffickers of primarily Asian women for the sex trade and
domestic servitude. Women from many countries, but primarily from
China, were trafficked through the country to the United States and
many other parts of the world. There were reports of the falsification
of government documents by travel agencies; many cases involved the
trafficking or smuggling of Chinese citizens to Western countries. In
addition to trafficking by air, much transit traffic occurred in the
country's territorial waterways by ship.
Women from Russia, other countries of the former Soviet Union,
China, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries were
trafficked to the country for sexual exploitation. They were recruited
personally or answered advertisements and were flown to Korea, often
with entertainer visas. Once in the country, employers in some
instances held victims' passports. The Government has restricted
issuance of certain types of entertainer visas. As of September, the
number of foreign women holding entertainer visas had decreased by 50
percent since June 2003. Between January and December, police arrested
536 persons for prostitution or trafficking and prosecuted 85. The
others were released because there was insufficient evidence or legal
basis to prosecute. The MOJ and NPA cooperated with NGOs and foreign
embassy officials in investigating and attempting to resolve various
trafficking-related issues and disputes. In November, the Ministry of
Justice initiated an international anti-trafficking working group to
increase information sharing among affected countries. There was no
credible evidence that officials were involved in trafficking.
The Government developed a network of shelters and programs to
assist victims. As of November, approximately 700 Korean women were
housed in 32 shelters and approximately 70 foreign women were in 2
shelters. Victims were also eligible for medical, legal, vocational,
and social support services. Many of these services were provided in
conjunction with NGOs.
The Government and NGOs were actively involved in an education
campaign to inform the public about new anti-prostitution and anti-
trafficking laws.
Persons With Disabilities.--Discrimination against persons with
disabilities in employment, education, or the provision of other state
services is illegal. The law states, ``No one shall be discriminated
against in all areas of political, economic, social, and cultural life
on the grounds of disability.'' The Government took measures to
increase opportunities and access for persons with disabilities.
Although many public facilities remained inadequate, most Seoul
sidewalks were designed to alert the sight impaired, intersections had
audible cross-signals, and as of June, there were 425 elevators and
1,149 wheelchair lifts in the 513-station subway system.
Firms with over 300 employees are required by law either to hire
persons with disabilities or pay a fine. Nevertheless, the hiring of
persons with disabilities remained significantly below target levels.
Persons with disabilities made up less than 1 percent of the work
force. According to the Ministry of Labor, the sum of penalties issued
to companies for failing to met a 2 percent job quota for the disabled
rose to $112.7 million (118.4 billion won) during the year, a 13.9
percent increase from 2003.
During the year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare established a
new rehabilitation center with 50 rooms, 126 welfare centers, and 230
apartments and shelters. The Ministry also provided persons with
disabilities with reimbursement for medical expenses and spare
rehabilitation appliances and mobile phones.
During the year, the Government also provided additional financial
benefits to persons with disabilities, mainly through a new allowance
and loan system and through cutting tolls on expressways. Additionally,
the Government supplied vehicles, upgraded education programs, and
sourced certain products and services from companies that hired persons
with disabilities. During the year, groups representing persons with
disabilities protested the opening of a new bullet train that did not
have sufficient accommodations for the disabled.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country is racially
homogeneous, with no sizable populations of ethnic minorities. Except
in cases of naturalization, citizenship is based on parentage, not
place of birth, and persons must show their family genealogy as proof
of citizenship. Naturalization is a difficult process requiring
detailed applications, a long waiting period, and a series of
investigations and examinations. Because of the difficulty of
establishing Korean citizenship, those not ethnically Korean remained
``foreign,'' thus disqualifying them legally from entering the civil
service and, in practice, being hired by some major corporations.
Foreign workers continued to report difficult working conditions. Some
complained of excessively aggressive police crackdowns on illegal
migrants. Amerasians faced no legal discrimination, but informal
discrimination was prevalent.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Complaints of age
discrimination arose during the year when some major employers refused
job applications from job seekers that had been looking for work for
longer than 1 year. In response, the Korea Employees Federation urged
employers to eliminate age-related hiring restrictions
The country is known to have about 8,000 persons with HIV or AIDS.
The AIDS Prevention Act, enacted in 1987, ensures the confidentiality
of persons with HIV/AIDS and protects individuals from discrimination.
The Ministry of Labor reports no cases of sexual orientation or HIV/
AIDS discrimination. However, according to a November report by a Seoul
National University professor, persons with HIV/AIDs in the country
suffer from severe discrimination and social isolation, even losing
ties with their own families.
On February 26, Lim Tae-hoon was detained for refusing to perform
armed service on the grounds of discrimination against gay, bisexual,
and transsexual persons by military officials. He called for an
expansion of the alternative civilian service to include gay, bisexual,
and transgender conscientious objectors.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides workers,
except public officials, with the right to associate freely. Since
1999, most government employees have been able to form bargaining units
and negotiate with management, but have been unable to strike.
Labor law changes authorized the formation of competing unions
starting in 2002, but implementation was postponed until 2006 by mutual
agreement among members of the Tripartite Commission, which includes
representatives of the Government, one of two major labor federations,
and management (see Section 6.b.). According to the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the consequence of a lack
of competing unions is that employers can create their own management-
controlled unions. All unions are required to notify the authorities
when formed or dissolved.
The ratio of organized labor in the entire population of wage
earners was approximately 11 percent, or 1.5 million unionists from a
total of 14 million workers. The country has two national labor
federations, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the
Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), and an estimated 1,600 labor
unions.
The Government recognizes a range of labor federations, including
independent white-collar federations representing hospital workers,
journalists, and office workers at construction firms and at government
research institutes. Labor federations not formally recognized by the
Labor Ministry have generally operated without government interference.
The FKTU and the KCTU were affiliated with the ICFTU. Most of the
FKTU's constituent unions maintained affiliations with global union
federations, as did the KCTU Metalworkers Council.
In September, the ICFTU found that parts of the labor law violated
freedom of association principles, notably with regard to the absence
of union rights for many public servants and the intervention by the
state in international trade union affairs.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution and the Trade Union Law provide for the right of workers
to collective bargaining and collective action, and workers exercised
these rights in practice. This law also empowers workers to file
complaints of unfair labor practices against employers who interfere
with union organizing or who discriminate against union members.
Employers found guilty of unfair practices can be required to reinstate
workers fired for union activities. However, forced reinstatement has
been used less frequently because employers have taken extra
precautions when laying off union members. A Tripartite Commission
subcommittee on the protection of civil servants' basic rights exists.
Unions engaged in collective bargaining. Although government
employees (except for certain blue collar public officials) are not
granted the right to organize and bargain collectively, they have
established public official ``workplace associations,'' which may make
recommendations, but may not engage in collective bargaining.
Under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, unions
must submit a request for mediation to the Labor Relations Commission
before a strike. In most cases, the mediation must be completed within
10 days; in the case of essential services, within 15 days. Labor laws
prohibit retribution against workers who have conducted a legal strike
and allow workers to file complaints of unfair labor practices against
employers.
Strikes are prohibited for most government officials and for those
who produce mainly defense goods. By law, unions in enterprises
determined to be of ``essential public interest''--including railways,
utilities, public health, the Bank of Korea, and telecommunications--
can be ordered to submit to government-ordered arbitration. However, in
practice the Government rarely imposed arbitration.
Through December 15, there were 457 strikes, with major strikes
taking place in the financial, health, transportation, steel, and
automobile industries. During this time period, the number of workers
involved in strikes increased to 183,959 persons from 131,926 persons
last year. However, the number of lost working days fell to 1,160,000
days from 1,271,126 days in 2003. The strikes were generally peaceful.
In November, the Government arrested 112 persons in connection with
an illegal strike organized by the Korean Government Employees Union
(KGEU). The strike was illegal because the KGEU is not a legally
authorized entity, and public workers do not have the right to strike.
There is no independent system of labor courts. Semi-judicial
agencies such as the Central and Local Labor Relation Commissions
mediate or arbitrate labor disputes based on the Trade Union and Labor
Relation Adjustment Act. Each commission is composed of equal numbers
of representatives of labor and management, plus neutral experts who
represent the ``public interest.'' The Labor Relations Commission can
decide on remedial measures in cases involving unfair labor practices
and can mediate or arbitrate labor disputes in sectors deemed essential
to public welfare.
Under the labor laws, persons who assist trade unions or employers
in a dispute are required to register with the Ministry of Labor. Those
who fail to do so face a large fine or a maximum sentence of 3 years'
imprisonment.
The Government originally designated enterprises in the two export
processing zones (EPZs) as public interest enterprises. Workers in
these enterprises gradually were given the rights enjoyed by workers in
other sectors of the economy; however, foreign companies are exempt
from many of these labor standards. Foreign-invested enterprises
located in free economic zones are exempt from Articles 54, 57, and 71
of the Labor Standards Act, which mandate monthly leave, paid holidays,
and menstruation leave for women; Article 31 of the Honorable Treatment
and Support of Persons of Distinguished Services to the State Act,
which gives preferential treatment to patriots, veterans, and their
families; Article 24 of the Employment Promotion and Vocational
Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act, which obligates companies with
over 300 persons to recruit persons with disabilities for at least 2
percent of its workforce; Article 12 of the Employment Promotion for
the Aged Act, which encourages companies to reserve 3 percent of their
workforce for workers over 55 years of age; and Articles 4 and 12 of
the Act on the Protection of the Business Sphere of Small and Medium
Enterprises and Promotion of Their Cooperation, which restrict large
companies from participating in certain business categories. Labor
organizations are permitted in EPZs.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and it was not known
to occur. The Constitution provides that no person shall be punished,
placed under preventive restrictions, or subjected to involuntary
labor, except as provided by law and through lawful procedures.
Some foreign workers alleged difficult working conditions and
unduly harsh treatment by police during crackdowns on illegal labor.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Standards Law prohibits the employment of persons under age 15
without a special employment certificate from the Labor Ministry.
Because education is compulsory through middle school (approximately
age 15), few special employment certificates were issued for full-time
employment. To obtain employment, children under age 18 must obtain
written approval from either parents or guardians. Employers can
require minors to work only a limited number of overtime hours and are
prohibited from employing them at night without special permission from
the Labor Ministry. These regulations were enforced through regular
inspections and child labor was not considered a problem. A civic group
filed a lawsuit during the year that alleged several fast food
franchises violated the labor law by not paying minors monthly wages
and forcing them to work illegal nightshifts.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage is reviewed
annually. As of September, the minimum wage was $2.21 (2,510 won) per
hour, $17.71 (20,080 won) per day, or $502.25 (567,260 won) per month.
The FKTU and other labor organizations asserted that the existing
minimum wage did not meet the basic requirements of urban workers.
However, the money an average blue-collar worker took home in overtime
and bonuses significantly raised the total compensation package.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1.4 million persons
(2.9 percent of the population) lived below the poverty level. Another
3.2 million persons were classified as living in ``potential extreme
poverty.''
As of July, the 5-day workweek system was adopted for employees of
large conglomerates, publicly-owned companies, banks, and insurance
companies with 1,000 registered workers or more, reducing working hours
to 40 hours a week. Companies with more than 300 employees are
scheduled to adopt the shortened workweek by July 2005, those with over
100 by July 2006, those with over 50 by July 2007 and those with over
20 by July 2008. Labor laws mandate a 24-hour rest period each week.
Labor laws also provide for a flexible hours system, under which
employers can require laborers to work up to 44 hours during certain
weeks without paying overtime, so long as average weekly hours for any
given 2-week period do not exceed 40 hours. If a union agrees to a
further loosening of the rules, management may ask employees to work up
to 56 hours in a given week. Workers may not be required to work more
than 12 hours per working day. Unions claimed that the Government did
not enforce adequately the maximum workweek provisions at small
companies. The amended Labor Standards Law also provides for a higher
wage for overtime. However, the overtime premium is scheduled to be
reduced from 150 percent of the base wage to 125 percent concurrent
with the reduction in weekly working hours.
Foreign workers, mostly from China, Bangladesh, Mongolia, the
Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and
Pakistan, often faced difficult working conditions and sometimes
complained of unduly aggressive police crackdowns. In July, the
Government initiated a crackdown on illegal foreign labor. By December,
the Government had expelled approximately 20,000 workers and encouraged
approximately 24,000 to leave voluntarily. Some foreign workers also
complained that they were forced to pay into the pension system, but
were unable to get their money back.
In July, the Government implemented a new work permit system
designed to increase protections for foreign workers while easing the
labor shortage in manufacturing businesses. Under the new system,
permit holders may work in certain industries only and have limited job
mobility, but generally enjoy the same rights and privileges, including
the right to organize, enjoyed by domestic workers. The Industrial
Trainee System, an often-criticized system through which foreign
workers may work for 2 years following 1 year of training, is still in
place.
Foreign workers working as language teachers continued to complain
that the language institutes for whom they work frequently violated
employment contracts.
At the beginning of the year, contract and other ``nonregular''
workers accounted for 49 percent of the workforce. In general,
nonregular workers performed the same work as regular workers, but
received only 61.3 percent of the wages. Further, most were ineligible
for national health and unemployment insurance and other benefits. The
Government announced plans to grant annual salaries in place of hourly
pay to 100,000 of the 234,000 nonregular workers in the public sector,
and full-time status to 30,000 by year's end. This plan triggered
protests from excluded nonregular workers as well as the trade unions.
The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency is responsible for
implementing industrial accident prevention activities. The Government
set health and safety standards, but the accident rate was high by
international standards. By the end of June, there were 43,278
casualties related to industrial accidents, including 1,393 fatalities.
These figures represent a slight improvement from the same period in
2003, when approximately eight workers died each day. The Government
credits prevention activities carried out by the Ministry of Labor,
including the imposition of sanctions on work places having a high rate
of accidents. According to the Korea Occupational Safety and Health
Act, an employer may not dismiss or otherwise disadvantage an employee
who interrupts work and takes shelter because of an urgent hazard that
could lead to an industrial accident.
__________
LAOS
The Lao People's Democratic Republic is an authoritarian,
Communist, one-party state ruled by the Lao People's Revolutionary
Party (LPRP). Although the 1991 Constitution, amended in 2003, outlines
a system composed of executive, legislative, and judicial branches, in
practice, the LPRP continued to control governance and the choice of
leaders at all levels through its constitutionally designated ``leading
role.'' In 2002, the National Assembly reelected the President and Vice
President and ratified the President's selection of a prime minister
and cabinet. The judiciary was subject to executive influence.
The Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) maintains internal security,
but shares the function of state control with the Ministry of Defense's
security forces and with party and popular fronts (broad-based
organizations controlled by the LPRP). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
with MoPS support, is responsible for oversight of foreigners. The MoPS
includes local police, immigration police, security police (including
border police), and other armed police units. Communication police are
responsible for monitoring telephone and electronic communications. The
armed forces are responsible for external security, but also have
domestic security responsibilities that include counterterrorism and
counterinsurgency activities and control of an extensive system of
village militias. The LPRP, and not the Government, exercised direct
control of the security forces. This control was generally effective,
but individuals and units within the security forces on occasion acted
outside the LPRP's authority. Some members of the security forces
committed serious human rights abuses.
The country is extremely poor, with an estimated population of 5.7
million. The economy is overwhelmingly agricultural, with 85 percent of
the population engaged in subsistence agriculture. The sharp income
inequality between participants in the monetary economy and those in
the subsistence economy was demonstrated by the fact that the mean
annual per capita income was $330 and the per capita gross domestic
product was estimated at $1,700. The country has emerged as a market
economy, but the Government continued to play a key role in economic
planning. It officially welcomed foreign investment and was gradually
strengthening its legal framework, including laws to protect property
and individual rights, but a reluctance to embrace far reaching reforms
has slowed the process. The country was heavily dependent on official
foreign aid, which accounted for as much as 18 percent of GDP. Many
families relied heavily on remittances from family members living or
working abroad.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it
continued to commit serious abuses. Citizens did not have the right to
change their government. Members of the security forces abused
detainees, especially those suspected of insurgent or anti-government
activity. The Government continued to pursue remnant bands of
insurgents, resulting in an unknown number of civilian and military
casualties. Prisoners were sometimes abused and tortured and prison
conditions were harsh and sometimes life threatening. Police used
arbitrary arrest, detention, and surveillance. Lengthy pretrial
detention and incommunicado detention occurred frequently. The
judiciary was subject to executive, legislative, and LPRP influence,
was corrupt, and did not ensure citizens due process. The Government
infringed on citizens' privacy rights and restricted freedom of speech,
the press, assembly, and association. The Government continued to
restrict freedom of religion, and police and provincial authorities
arrested and detained approximately 30 Christians, although most of
them were released after short periods of detention. At year's end,
three members of religious communities were in custody or under arrest
for their religious beliefs. In some areas, local authorities continued
to pressure ethnic minority Protestant communities to renounce their
faith. Christians were expelled from their villages for refusing to
renounce their religion. Authorities in some areas refused requests
from Christian congregations to build new churches or to reopen closed
churches, and refused permission for congregations to hold home worship
services. The Government imposed some restrictions on freedom of
movement. Societal discrimination against women and minorities
persisted, although the Government supported a policy of encouraging
greater rights for women, children, persons with disabilities, and
minorities. Trafficking in women and children was a problem. The
Government restricted some worker rights.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--In August, an ethnic
Hmong man died while under incarceration, allegedly as the result of
beatings by police (see Section 1.c.).
There were no new developments in the 2003 case of the Christian
and former policeman in Attapeu Province who was allegedly killed by
police.
Since 2002, a series of attacks on buses by suspected insurgents
and counterinsurgency operations by the military have resulted in an
unknown number of deaths of civilians and military forces. Many of
these deaths occurred among the ethnic Hmong insurgents. According to
the testimony of two alleged witnesses, on May 19 in the Saisomboun
Special Zone, Lao People's Army (LPA) soldiers attacked a group of
Hmong gathering food for an insurgent camp. Five youths--four girls and
one boy--were killed. One of the alleged witnesses reported that the
soldiers raped the girls before killing them. After the attack, the
bodies were documented with video footage taken by this witness. The
Government at first denied that the incident took place. It later
reported to the U.N. Special Rapporteurs that its internal
investigation of the incident had determined that it was a
``fabrication.'' The veracity of the incident remained undetermined.
The Government promised insurgents who surrendered to authorities
food, medicine, and resettlement assistance. In February and March,
between 700 and 800 insurgents and their families surrendered in Xieng
Khouang, Vientiane, and Luang Prabang Provinces and the Saisomboun
Special Zone. They were resettled in Luang Prabang Province and in a
remote area of Xieng Khouang Province. Another small insurgent band
surrendered in northern Vientiane Province in late September.
Government forces reportedly pursued those insurgent elements that did
not surrender, and fighting between insurgents and Government security
forces continued through the year. There were reports that insurgent
bands in Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang, and Bolikhamsai Provinces and in
the Saisomboun Special Zone suffered numerous casualties. Many of these
casualties were reportedly women and children.
A wave of small-scale bombings that began in 2003 continued during
the year. Several small explosions in Vientiane and Savannakhet Cities
caused some property damage and resulted in some injuries. One death,
reportedly of an intending bomber, occurred when a bomb exploded
prematurely. A group calling itself the Free Democratic Government
Committee of the Lao People claimed responsibility for these
explosions, which were apparently designed to attract international
attention. Many of the explosions occurred at visible tourist sites and
sometimes coincided with major festivals and events, such as the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum in
Vientiane in February and the ASEAN Summit in November.
b. Disappearance.--According to sources, police allegedly were
involved in the January disappearance of an ethnic Hmong schoolteacher,
Cher Wa Yang, in the Saisomboun Special Zone. Witnesses reported seeing
him in a remote area in an altercation with police just before his
disappearance. His motorcycle was later recovered from a reservoir, but
his body was not found. At year's end, Saisomboun officials reported
the disappearance was still under investigation.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution and the Penal Code prohibit torture. In
practice, members of the police and security forces sometimes subjected
prisoners, especially those suspected of associations with the
insurgency, to torture and other abuses; however, there were anecdotal
reports that abuse has decreased in recent years. Detainees sometimes
were subjected to beatings, long-term solitary confinement in
completely darkened rooms, and in many cases were detained in leg
chains or wooden stocks for long periods. Former inmates in prisons
have reported that chaining and manacling prisoners, degrading
treatment, and solitary confinement in small unlit rooms were standard
forms of punishment in larger prisons, while smaller provincial or
district prisons employed manacles and chains as a means of preventing
prisoners from escaping.
Prison conditions vary widely, but in general are harsh and on
occasion life threatening. Prisoners in larger, state-run facilities in
Vientiane generally fared better than those in provincial prisons, and
the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) has had some success in
bringing about improved conditions in these larger facilities,
including better treatment by guards. In all facilities, food rations
were minimal, and most prisoners relied on their families for their
subsistence. Most larger facilities allowed prisoners to grow
supplemental food in small vegetable gardens. Prison wardens set prison
visitation policies. Consequently, in some facilities families could
make frequent visits, but in others, visits were severely restricted.
Credible reports indicated that ethnic minority prisoners and some
foreign prisoners, especially Africans, were treated particularly
harshly. Incommunicado detention was used as an interrogation device
and against perceived problem prisoners; however, there have been fewer
reports of its use in recent years.
Although most prisons had some form of clinic, usually with a
doctor or nurse on staff, medical facilities were extremely poor, and
in practice medical treatment was unavailable. In some facilities
prisoners could arrange treatment in outside hospitals if they could
pay for the treatment and the expense of a police escort.
In August, police in Vientiane Province reportedly arrested an
ethnic Hmong man, Khoua Lee Her, formerly village chief of Ban Houay
Yang village in Houaphanh Province, suspected of having harbored
villagers involved in armed attacks against LPA soldiers in October
2003. Authorities transferred Her to Houaphanh Province, where in mid-
August he died while incarcerated, allegedly as the result of beatings
by police.
Prison conditions for women were similar to those for men. Prisons
held both male and female prisoners, although they were placed in
separate cells.
In some prisons, juveniles were housed with adult prisoners. The
Government has proposed constructing a separate juvenile detention
center, but international organizations have advocated that the
Government establish segregated facilities for juveniles within
existing facilities to avoid having juveniles incarcerated far away
from their homes.
The Government has provided limited access to some detention
facilities to nongovernmental organization (NGO) and U.N. personnel
monitoring the status of juveniles in the prison system and has given
representatives of foreign governments limited access to provincial
prisons; however, the Government did not permit independent monitoring
of prison conditions, including by foreign individuals or
organizations. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
continued its longstanding efforts to establish an official presence in
the country to carry out its mandate of monitoring prison conditions;
however, by year's end the Government had not granted the ICRC's
request.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution and law
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, in practice, the
Government did not respect these provisions, and arbitrary arrest and
detention remained problems. Police sometimes used arrest as a means of
intimidation or to extract bribes. Police exercised wide latitude in
making arrests, relying on exceptions to the requirement for arrest
warrants for those persons in the act of committing a crime or for
``urgent'' cases. Incommunicado detention was a problem; however, it
was used less frequently than in the past (see Section 1.c). There is a
1-year statutory limit for detention without trial; the length of
detention without a pretrial hearing or formal charges by law also is
limited to 1 year. The OPG has reportedly made efforts to ensure all
prisoners were brought to trial within the 1-year limit, but these
limits often were ignored. The OPG must authorize police to hold a
suspect pending investigation. Authorization is given in 3-month
increments, and, in theory, after a maximum of 1 year, a suspect must
be released if police do not have sufficient evidence to bring charges.
Access to family members and a lawyer was not assured. There is a bail
system, but its implementation was arbitrary and in practice often
amounted to a bribe to prison officials for the prisoner's release. A
statute of limitations applies to most crimes. In practice, alleged
violations of criminal laws have led to lengthy pretrial detentions
without charge and minimal due process protection of those detained.
Authorities sometimes continued to detain prisoners after they had
completed their sentences, particularly in cases where prisoners were
unable to pay court fines.
During the year, government authorities arrested and detained
approximately 30 Christians, compared with approximately 50 Christians
arrested the previous year. In January, authorities in Attapeu Province
released 11 Christians who had been detained in December 2003 on
suspicion of possessing ``poisons''; however, their detention appears
to have been for their religious activities. In April and May,
authorities in Savannakhet Province detained 12 ethnic Brou Christians
for religious activities, releasing them on May 28. In July,
authorities in northern Vientiane Province arrested four ethnic Khmu
Christians, allegedly for their involvement in a scam to buy tractors
in which villagers lost several hundred dollars. The four men were
released on December 23. In August, police in Luang Namtha Province
arrested two ethnic Mien Christians for proselytizing; they were
released in November. A Christian pastor in Savannakhet was arrested in
October and was still in detention at year's end. In most cases,
religious detainees were released shortly after their arrest, but the
detentions often had a negative effect on religious activity of local
Christian communities. According to confirmed reports, there was one
untried religious detainee at year's end.
Police continued to arrest without charges any persons suspected of
involvement with the insurgency. In August, police in Vientiane
Province reportedly arrested an ethnic Hmong man, Khoua Lee Her.
Reportedly Khoua Lee Her was suspected of having harbored villagers
involved in armed attacks against LPA soldiers in October 2003 (see
Section 1.c.). An ethnic Hmong couple arrested in Vientiane Province in
mid-2003 on suspicion of involvement with the insurgency was released
in March, with no charges filed. In October, authorities released two
ethnic Hmong youth from Samkhe prison. The two had been detained in
Saisomboun Province in 2001 on suspicion of involvement with the
insurgency and held without trial.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of police
administratively overruling court decisions by detaining exonerated
individuals. Local police at times continued to detain persons who had
been ordered released by higher authorities.
There were no known instances of the police being reprimanded or
punished for such behavior. The OPG has made efforts to encourage
police to abide by the law in regard to the detention of suspects, but
acknowledged that police continued widely to ignore these provisions.
An unknown number of persons were in detention for suspicion of
violations of criminal laws concerning national security, particularly
persons suspected of insurgent activities. In the past, security-
related laws were sometimes applied to routine criminal actions to
justify long periods of incarceration without trial.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for the
independence of the judiciary and the OPG; however, senior government
and party officials influenced the courts, although to a lesser degree
than in the past. Impunity was a problem, as was corruption.
Reportedly, some judges can be bribed. Under the 2003 amendments to the
Constitution, the National Assembly Standing Committee appoints judges
for life terms; the members of the National Assembly elect the Standing
Committee. The Assembly may remove judges from office for
``impropriety.'' Since 1991, only one judge at the district level has
been removed for improper behavior.
Under the amended Constitution, the People's Courts have four
levels: District courts, municipal and provincial courts, the Court of
Appeals, and the Supreme People's Court. During the year, the Supreme
Court established a Commercial Court, Family Court, and Juvenile Court.
However, only the Commercial Court had begun hearing cases by the end
of the year. Decisions of the lower courts are subject to review by the
Supreme Court, but decisions by military courts are not subject to the
Supreme Court's review. Both defendants and prosecutors in civilian
courts have the right to appeal an adverse verdict. There are instances
in which civilians may be tried in the military courts, but this was
rare.
The Constitution provides for open trials in which defendants have
the right to defend themselves with the assistance of a lawyer or other
person. The Constitution requires that the authorities inform persons
of their rights. The law states that defendants may have anyone assist
them in preparing a written case and accompany them at their trial;
however, only the defendant may present oral arguments at a criminal
trial. The Lao Bar Association, with a membership of nearly 50
attorneys, operates under the direction of the Ministry of Justice. Its
members are private attorneys that court litigants may select for
trials. For several reasons, including lack of funds, a shortage of
attorneys, and a general perception that attorneys cannot affect court
decisions, most defendants did not have attorneys or trained
representatives. Under the law defendants enjoy a presumption of
innocence; however, in practice, trial judges usually decided a
defendant's guilt or innocence in advance, basing their decisions on
the result of police or Prosecutor's Office reports. Reliance on these
reports created a presumption that the defendant was guilty. Most
trials were little more than pro forma examinations of the accused,
with a verdict having already been reached. Most criminal trials ended
in convictions. Trials that involved some criminal laws relating to
national security, state secrets, children under the age of 16, or
certain types of family law were closed.
Most of the country's 450 judges had only basic legal training, and
many had few or no references upon which to base their decisions. The
National Assembly's Legal Affairs Committee occasionally reviewed
Supreme Court decisions for ``accuracy'' and returned cases to the
Court or the OPG for review when it felt a decision had been reached
improperly.
In June 2003, police in Xieng Khouang Province arrested two foreign
journalists, their foreign translator, and their three ethnic Hmong
porters on charges of having conspired with ethnic Hmong villagers in
the killing of a local militia villager. Two of the three porters
remained in prison at year's end despite criticism from human rights
groups. A third member of the group escaped from custody.
In addition to the unknown number of short- and long-term political
detainees (see Section 1.d.), there were eight known political
prisoners. Two former Royal Lao Government officials arrested in 1975,
Colonel Sing Chanthakoumane and Major Pang Thong Chokbengvoun, were
serving life sentences after trials that were not conducted according
to international standards. Two former government officials, Latsami
Khamphoui and Feng Sakchittaphong, were arrested in 1990 for advocating
a multiparty system and criticizing restrictions on political liberties
and were not tried until 1992. They were released in early October
after 14 years of confinement in a reeducation camp, but authorities
continued to detain them under loose house arrest. The two were allowed
finally to travel to Vientiane and rejoin their families on December 4,
and the Government offered no objection to their departure from the
country if they chose to travel abroad. Five persons arrested in
October 1999 for attempting to organize a pro-democracy demonstration
in Vientiane were tried and given long sentences, later reduced on
review by the OPG to 5 to 10 years, for anti-government activities.
According to witnesses, one of these five, Khamphouvieng Sisa-at, died
in Samkhe prison in late 2001 as a result of punishment by camp guards.
The Government has not responded to inquiries from the international
community and human rights organizations regarding Khamphouvieng Sisa-
at's death.
Other political prisoners may have been arrested, tried, and
convicted under laws relating to national security that prevent public
court trials; however, the Government was silent on the matter, and
there was no reliable independent method to ascertain accurately their
total number.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Government limits citizens' privacy rights, and
the Government's surveillance network is vast. Security laws allow the
Government to monitor individuals' private communications (including e-
mail and cell phones) and movements.
The Constitution prohibits unlawful searches and seizures; however,
police at times disregarded constitutional requirements to safeguard
citizens' privacy, especially in rural areas. By law, police must
obtain search authorization from a prosecutor or court; however, in
practice, police did not always obtain prior approval. The Penal Code
generally protects privacy, including that of mail, telephone, and
electronic correspondence; however, the Government often violated these
legal protections.
MoPS monitored citizens' activities; in addition, an informal
militia in both urban and rural areas, operating under the aegis of the
military, had responsibility for maintaining public order and reporting
``undesirable elements'' to the police. The militia usually was more
concerned with petty crime and instances of moral turpitude than with
political activism, although in remote rural areas where the insurgency
was active, the militia also played a role in providing security
against insurgents and robbers. Members of the LPRP's many ``front''
organizations, including the Lao Women's Union, the Youth Union, and
the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC), serve as watchdogs over
the citizenry at all levels of society. MoPS also maintains a network
of secret police whose job is to monitor the citizenry in order to
prevent acts that threaten the Government.
Although the Government permitted the public sale of leading
foreign magazines and newspapers, restrictions on publications mailed
from overseas were enforced, albeit loosely (see Section 2.a.).
There were six Internet service providers. The Prime Minister's
Office has stated that it intended to monitor and control more actively
Internet communications by the country's nearly 4,000 subscribers;
however, most Internet sites, including those critical of the
Government, were accessible to users. More than 40 Internet cafes in
Vientiane and other larger towns catered to foreigners, but were also
accessible to citizens.
During the year, the Government continued its program to relocate
highland slash-and-burn farmers, most of whom belong to ethnic minority
groups, to lowland areas, in keeping with the Government's plan to end
opium production by 2005 and slash-and-burn agriculture by 2010.
District and provincial officials used persuasion and, in some cases,
verbal orders to encourage villages to relocate, especially in the
northern provinces. Although the Government's resettlement plan called
for compensating farmers for lost land and resettlement assistance,
this assistance was not available in many cases, or was insufficient to
give relocated farmers the means to adjust to their new homes and new
way of life. Moreover, in some areas, farmland allocated to relocated
villagers was of poor quality and unsuited for intensive rice farming.
The result was that in some districts relocated villagers experienced
increased poverty, hunger, malnourishment, susceptibility to disease,
and increased mortality rates. The Government relied on assistance from
NGOs, bilateral donors, and international organizations to cover the
needs of those recently resettled, but such assistance was not
available in all areas.
On October 16, district authorities and military in Thathom
district of the Saisomboun Special Zone ordered nearly 70 ethnic Khmu
Christians in Phiengsavat village to leave the province. The Christians
were given only minutes to prepare, forcing them to leave behind nearly
all their personal possessions. The group was transported by military
truck to neighboring Bolikhamsai Province, where they were left near
the district capital of Bolikhan with no provisions. On October 23,
military trucks from Bolikhamsai Province transported the group to
Sayaboury Province, which the Khmu had left in 2000. Sayaboury
officials arranged for the group to resettle in Luang Prabang Province.
Although central government sources claimed the group was expelled
because they had resettled in Thathom illegally, religious sources
noted only Christians were forced to leave, while other recent
immigrants were allowed to remain in Phiengsavath.
The Government allowed citizens to marry foreigners, but only with
prior approval. Premarital cohabitation was illegal. Although the
Government routinely granted permission to marry, the process was
lengthy and burdensome and offered officials the opportunity to solicit
bribes. Marriages to foreigners without government approval could be
annulled, with both parties subject to arrest or fines.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government severely
restricted political speech and writing in practice. The Government
also prohibited most criticism that it deemed harmful to its
reputation. The Penal Code forbids slandering the State, distorting
party or state policies, inciting disorder, or propagating information
or opinions that weaken the State. Citizens who lodged legitimate
complaints with government departments generally did not suffer
reprisals, but criticism of a more general nature, or targeting the
leadership, could lead to censure or arrest.
All domestic print and electronic media are state-owned and
controlled. Local news in all media reflected government policy.
Television talk shows and opinion articles referred only to differences
in administrative approaches. Although domestic television and radio
broadcasts were closely controlled, the Government made no effort to
interfere with television and radio broadcasts from abroad. In
practice, many citizens routinely watched Thai television or listened
to Thai radio, including news broadcasts. Citizens had 24-hour access
to Cable News Network and the British Broadcasting Corporation, as well
as other international stations accessible via satellite and cable
television. The Government required registration of receiving satellite
dishes and a one-time licensing fee for their use, largely as a
revenue-generating scheme, but otherwise made no effort to restrict
their use. In addition, a Chinese-owned company provided cable
television service to subscribers in Vientiane. This government-
registered cable service offered Thai and international news and
entertainment programs without restriction from authorities. A few
Asian and Western newspapers and magazines were available through
private outlets that had government permission to sell them.
Foreign journalists must apply for special visas and generally were
accompanied by an official escort. Although such visas normally were
granted, persons traveling on journalist visas were restricted in their
activities. The authorities did not allow journalists free access to
information sources, but some journalists were allowed to travel
without an official escort. In cases where an escort was required,
journalists must pay a daily fee for their services. The Government
established special procedures for journalists covering the 10th ASEAN
Summit in November in Vientiane. These procedures did not require
journalists to have an escort, but did require them to register with
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if they wished to report stories other
than the ASEAN Summit meeting.
The authorities also prohibited the dissemination of materials
deemed to be indecent, to undermine the national culture, or to be
politically sensitive. Any person found guilty of importing a
publication deemed offensive to the ``national culture'' faced a fine
or imprisonment for up to 1 year. The Prime Minister's Decree on the
Administration and Protection of Religious Practice (Decree 92),
promulgated in 2002, permits the publication of religious material with
permission from the LFNC. In practice, although several religious
groups have sought such permission, no Christian or Baha'i groups
received authorization to publish religious material by year's end (see
Section 2.c.).
Films and music recordings produced in government studios must be
submitted for official censorship; however, foreign films and music
were easily available in video and compact disc format. The Ministry of
Information and Culture has attempted repeatedly to impose restrictions
aimed at limiting the influence of Thai culture in Lao music and
entertainment. These restrictions were widely ignored and appeared to
have little effect.
The Government controlled all domestic Internet servers and
occasionally blocked access to those Internet sites that were deemed
pornographic or were critical of government institutions and policies.
The Government also sporadically monitored e-mail. Highly restrictive
regulations regarding Internet use by citizens significantly curtail
freedom of expression. ``Disturbing the peace and happiness of the
community'' and ``reporting misleading news'' are criminal acts. In
2003, the Prime Minister's Office consolidated government control over
Internet service (see Section 1.f.). However, the Government's ability
to enforce such regulations was limited.
The Constitution provides for academic freedom; however, the
Government restricted it, although over the past several years, it has
relaxed its restrictions in certain areas. Curriculum in schools,
including private schools and colleges, is tightly controlled by the
Ministry of Education to ensure that no subjects are taught that might
raise questions about the political system. Both citizen and noncitizen
academic professionals conducting research in the country may be
subject to restrictions on travel and access to information and Penal
Code restrictions on publication. As the sole employer of virtually all
academic professionals, the Government exercised some control over
their ability to travel for research or to obtain study grants;
however, the Government, which once limited foreign travel by
professors, actively sought such opportunities worldwide and approved
virtually all such proposals.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice. The Penal Code prohibits participation in an
organization for the purpose of demonstrations, protest marches, or
other acts that cause ``turmoil or social instability.'' Such acts are
punishable by a prison term from 1 to 5 years. If defendants were tried
for crimes against the State, they could face sentences of up to 20
years or possible execution.
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to organize and
join associations; however, the Government restricted this right in
practice. The Government registered and controlled all associations and
prohibited associations that criticized the Government. Political
groups other than popular front organizations approved by the LPRP were
forbidden. Although the Government restricted many types of formal
professional and social associations, informal nonpolitical groups met
without hindrance. The Government has quietly allowed the creation of
some associations of a business nature; for example, allowing hotel
owners and freight forwarders to create their own business
associations.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, the authorities, particularly at the local level,
interfered with this right in practice.
In 1999, two members of the Lao Evangelical Church, Nyoht and
Thongchanh, were arrested in Oudomsai Province and charged with treason
and sedition, although their arrests appear to have been for their
proselytizing activities. Nyoht was sentenced to 12 years in prison and
Thongchanh to 15 years. Both men remained in prison at the end of the
year.
Although the state is secular, the Party and the Government paid
close attention to Theravada Buddhism, which was followed by more than
40 percent of the population and was the faith of nearly all of the
country's ethnic Lao population. The Constitution does not recognize a
national religion, but the Government's support for and oversight of
temples and other facilities and its promotion of Buddhist practices
gave Buddhism an elevated status among the country's religions.
There are two semi-religious government-recognized holidays--Boun
That Luang and the end of Buddhist Lent--that are also major political
and cultural celebrations. The Government recognized the popularity and
cultural significance of Buddhist festivals, and most senior officials
openly attended them.
The Constitution prohibits ``all acts of creating division of
religion or creating division among the people.'' The LPRP and
Government interpreted this section as inhibiting religious practice by
all persons, including the Buddhist majority and a large population of
animists. Although official pronouncements acknowledged the positive
benefits of religion, they also emphasized its potential to divide,
distract, or destabilize. The Constitution notes that the State
``mobilizes and encourages'' Buddhist monks and novices and priests of
other religions to participate in activities ``beneficial to the nation
and the people.''
The authorities continued to be suspicious of non-Buddhist
religious communities, including some Christian groups, in part because
these faiths did not share Theravada Buddhism's high degree of
direction and incorporation into the government structure. Some
authorities have in the past criticized Christianity in particular as a
Western or imperialist ``import.'' Local authorities, apparently in
some cases with encouragement from some officials in the central
Government or Communist Party, singled out Protestant groups as a
target of abuse. Protestant churches' rapid growth since the early
1990s, contact with religious groups abroad, aggressive proselytizing
on the part of some members, and independence of central government
control all have contributed to Government and Communist Party
suspicion of the churches' activities.
In 2002, the Prime Minister's Office issued a Decree on the
Administration and Protection of Religious Practice. The decree, which
has the effect of law, is designed to specify clearly the range of
activities permitted religious groups or practitioners. The decree
permits minority religious groups to engage in a number of activities
that previously had been considered illegal, such as proselytizing and
printing religious material; however, it requires religious groups or
individuals to obtain permission in advance for these activities, in
most cases from the LFNC, the party-controlled organization that
oversees religious issues on behalf of the Government. Although the
intent of the decree is to clarify the rights and responsibilities of
religious groups, many minority religious leaders complained that the
decree was too restrictive in practice. The requirement that religious
groups obtain permission, sometimes from several different offices, for
a broad range of activities greatly limited the freedom of these
groups.
Between 250 and 300 Protestant congregations conducted services
throughout the country. The LFNC has recognized two Protestant groups:
the Lao Evangelical Church (LEC) (the umbrella Protestant church) and
the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Nominally all Protestant
congregations in the country belong to one of these two organizations,
although in practice some congregations operated independently. Both
the LEC and the Seventh-day Adventist Church own properties in
Vientiane and other cities.
In most parts of the country, members of long-established
congregations had few problems in practicing their faith, although
long-time congregations in some parts of Savannakhet and Luang Prabang
Provinces continued to face restrictions from local authorities. The
majority of incidents of harassment of Christian congregations took
place in areas where Christianity had only recently spread. The
authorities sometimes advised new congregations to join other religious
groups with similar historical roots, despite clear differences between
the groups' beliefs. Decree 92 establishes procedures for new
denominations to register with the LFNC. However, in March the National
Front issued guidance to provincial and district National Front offices
indicating that all Protestant groups must operate under the umbrella
of the LEC or the Seventh-day Adventist Churches. In spite of this
guidance, the authorities allowed several congregations not affiliated
with the LEC or Seventh-day Adventists to continue their worship
unhindered.
The Government's tolerance of religion varied by region. The LFNC
often sought to intervene with local governments in cases where
minority religious practitioners, particularly Christians, had been
harassed or mistreated; however, incidents of religious intolerance by
local officials continued in some areas. Although authorities in a few
urban areas, notably Vientiane City, Savannakhet, and Pakse, were
relatively tolerant of Christian religious practice, government
authorities in many regions restricted the practice of properly
registered religious groups. Officials in some areas of Savannakhet,
Attapeu, Vientiane, Bolikhamsai, and Luang Namtha Provinces arrested
and detained some religious believers without charges (see Section
1.d.). In addition, Christians in some areas of Savannakhet Province
were pressured to renounce their faith. Local officials threatened to
withhold government identification cards and household registers and to
deny educational benefits to those who did not comply.
The Roman Catholic Church was unable to operate effectively in the
highlands and much of the north, and the Catholic Church in the
northern part of the country was largely moribund. The small Catholic
communities in Luang Prabang, Sayaboury, and Bokeo Provinces
sporadically held services in members' homes, but there were no priests
in the area and pastoral visits from Vientiane were infrequent.
However, the Church had an established presence in five of the most
populous central and southern provinces, where Catholics were able to
worship openly. There were three bishops, one each in Vientiane,
Thakhek, and Pakse, as well as a fourth bishop for Luang Prabang who
resided in Vientiane and traveled infrequently to his bishopric.
During the year, local authorities arrested or detained
approximately 30 Christians, in most cases releasing them within weeks.
The Government generally permitted major religious festivals of
established congregations to be held without hindrance. During the
year, there were no reports of authorities restricting the celebration
of major religious holidays by Christian congregations.
Followers of the Baha'i faith were able to practice their religion
without hindrance in Vientiane City, but in Savannakhet and Khammouane
Provinces, small groups of Baha'i continued to face restrictions from
local authorities. The small Muslim community in Vientiane, made up
almost exclusively of foreign nationals, was able to practice its
religion without hindrance.
Animists generally experienced no interference from the Government
in their religious practices, which varied extensively among the
approximately 70 identified ethnic groups and tribes in the country;
however, the Government actively discouraged animist practices that it
regarded as outdated, unhealthful, or illegal, such as the practice in
some tribes of infanticide of infants born with birth defects or of
keeping the bodies of deceased relatives in homes.
During the year, officials in Vientiane City closed a house church
that had served a small ethnic Khmu community. Officials continued to
refuse permission for a Christian congregation in Phone Ngam village,
Muang Feuang district, Vientiane Province to reconstruct a church torn
down by district officials 2 years earlier. Officials in Savannakhet
refused requests by the Christian congregation in Khamsan village that
their church building, seized by authorities several years earlier, be
returned to them. Elsewhere, authorities continued to deny requests by
local congregations to construct permanent church buildings.
Authorities in some areas continued to use intimidation or threats of
expulsion to force Christians to renounce their religious faith,
particularly in parts of Savannakhet, Attapeu, Bolikhamsai, and Luang
Prabang Provinces. On October 16, district authorities and military in
Thathom district of the Saisomboun Special Zone ordered nearly 70
ethnic Khmu Christians in Phiengsavat village to leave the province
(see Section 1.f.).
The LFNC directs the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Association. Since
1996, monks studying at the National Pedagology School were no longer
required to study Marxism-Leninism as part of their curriculum, and the
integration of Communist ideology into Buddhist instruction has waned
greatly in recent years. Some temples have been permitted to receive
support from Theravada Buddhist temples abroad, to expand the training
of monks, and to focus more on traditional teachings. In addition, many
monks traveled abroad, particularly to Thailand, for formal religious
training.
Reportedly officials in some areas were suspicious of persons who
converted to Christianity, but, during the year, there were no reports
of the harassment or arrest of recent converts.
The Government strictly prohibited foreigners from proselytizing,
although it permitted foreign NGOs with religious affiliations to work
in the country. Foreign persons found distributing religious material
may be arrested or deported. In April, four American citizens were
expelled from Laos for distributing movie CDs with a Christian
religious content. Although Decree 92 on Religious Practice permits
proselytizing by religious practitioners as long as they obtain
permission for such activities from the LFNC, the National Front has
not granted such permission, and persons found evangelizing risked
harassment or arrest. In August, officials in Muang Long district of
Luang Namtha Province arrested two ethnic Yao Christians for
proselytizing among local Yao villages.
The Government permits the printing, import, and distribution of
Buddhist religious material, but has made no such concessions to the
printing or import of religious material and literature by non-Buddhist
faiths. Decree 92 authorizes the printing of religious material,
provided permission is obtained from the LFNC, but the LFNC has not
granted such permission to Christian congregations. The Government
required and usually granted permission for formal links with
coreligionists in other countries; however, in practice, the
distinction between formal and informal links was unclear, and
relations with coreligionists generally were established without much
difficulty (see Section 2.a).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Migration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government restricted some of them in practice.
Citizens who traveled across provincial borders are not required to
report to authorities; however, in designated security zones,
roadblocks and identity card checks of travelers were conducted
occasionally. Citizens who sought to travel abroad were required to
apply for an exit visa. The Government usually granted such visas;
however, officials at the local level have denied permission to apply
for passports and exit visas to some persons seeking to emigrate.
Access by foreigners to certain areas, such as the Saisomboun Special
Zone, an administrative area operated by the military forces, or remote
districts in Xieng Khouang and Bolikhamsai Provinces, where anti-
government insurgents continue to operate, was restricted.
The Government did not use forced exile; however, a small group of
persons, who fled the country during the change in government in 1975
and were tried in absentia for anti-government activities, did not have
the right of return.
Between 1980 and 1999, more than 29,000 citizens who sought refugee
status in Thailand, China, and other countries returned to Laos for
permanent resettlement under monitoring by the U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR). Other persons who had fled the country after 1975
have returned from abroad to resettle voluntarily, outside the
oversight of the UNHCR. In general, returnees have been subject to
greater scrutiny by the authorities than other citizens. Nevertheless,
many who fled after the change of government in 1975 have visited
relatives, some have stayed and gained foreign resident status, and
some have reclaimed citizenship successfully. Some refugee returnees
carry government-issued identification cards with distinctive markings,
ostensibly for use by authorities. Such cards tend to reinforce a
pattern of societal discrimination against the returnees.
The Constitution provides for asylum and the protection of
stateless persons under the law, but the country is not a signatory to
the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the
Government did not provide protection against refoulement, the return
of persons to a country where they feared persecution, and did not
routinely grant refugee or asylum status.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens do not have the right to change their government. Although
the 1991 Constitution, amended in 2003, outlines a system composed of
executive, legislative, and judicial branches, the LPRP continued to
control governance and the leadership at all levels through its
constitutionally designated ``leading role.'' The Constitution provides
for a representative National Assembly, elected every 5 years in open,
multiple-candidate, fairly tabulated elections, with voting by secret
ballot and universal adult suffrage; however, it legitimizes only a
single party, the LPRP. Election committees, appointed by the National
Assembly, must approve all candidates for local and national elections.
Candidates need not be LPRP members, but, in practice, almost all were.
There is a widespread public perception that many officials of the
executive branch are corrupt.
The National Assembly chooses a standing committee generally based
on the previous standing committee's recommendation. Upon the
committee's recommendation, the National Assembly elects or removes the
President and Vice President. The standing committee also has
supervision of administrative and judicial organizations and the sole
power to recommend presidential decrees. It also appoints the National
Election Committee, which has powers over elections (including approval
of candidates). Activities of the standing committee were not fully
transparent.
The National Assembly, upon the President's recommendation, elects
the Prime Minister and other Ministers of the Government. The 109-
member National Assembly, elected in February 2002 under a system of
universal suffrage, approved the LPRP's selection of the President at
its inaugural session in April 2002, and, in the same session, it
ratified the President's selection of a new prime minister and cabinet.
The National Assembly may consider and amend draft legislation, but
only permanent subcommittees of the Assembly may propose new laws. The
Constitution gives the right to submit draft legislation to the
National Assembly standing committee and the ruling executive
structure.
There are no laws providing for public access to government
information, and, in general, the government closely guarded the
release of any information pertaining to its internal activities,
seeing such secrecy as necessary for ``national security.''
There were 22 women in the 109-member National Assembly. Three
members of the 53-member LPRP Central Committee were women, 1 of whom
was also a member of the 7-member standing committee in the National
Assembly. There were no women in the Politburo or the Council of
Ministers.
There were 9 Lao Soung (highland dwelling tribes) and 19 Lao Theung
(mid-slope dwelling tribes) in the 109-member National Assembly; most
members of the Assembly were ethnic Lao, who also dominated the upper
echelons of the Party and the Government. Three cabinet ministers were
members of ethnic minority groups.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There are no domestic nongovernmental human rights organizations,
and the Government does not have a formal procedure for registration.
Any organization wishing to investigate and publicly criticize the
Government's human rights policies would face serious obstacles, if it
were permitted to operate at all.
The Government in general does not respond in writing to requests
for information on the human rights situation from international human
rights organizations; however, the Government has instituted a human
rights dialogue with a foreign government and has accepted training in
U.N. human rights conventions from several international donors.
The Government maintains contacts with the ICRC; government
officials and military officers have received ICRC training on human
rights law and the Geneva Conventions. The Government continued to
translate international human rights and humanitarian law conventions
with ICRC support. During the 1990s, the Government permitted U.N.
human rights observers to monitor the treatment of more than 29,000
refugees who returned to the country for resettlement under UNHCR
auspices (see Section 2.d.). The UNHCR office in the country closed at
the end of 2001, with the Commissioner's determination that the
office's monitoring role had been completed and former refugees had
been successfully reintegrated; however, since the closing of the UNHCR
office, the Government has not permitted UNHCR monitors based in
Thailand to conduct monitoring visits to the country.
A human rights unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department
of International Treaties and Legal Affairs has responsibility for
investigating allegations of human rights violations. This unit rarely
responded to inquiries regarding individual cases. The Foreign Ministry
on occasion responds to inquiries from the U.N. regarding its human
rights situation. In August, the Deputy Foreign Minister responded to
an inquiry from the U.N. regarding the status and condition of 16 Lao
citizens who were extradited from Thailand to stand trial for their
part in a politically motivated attack against the Lao customs post at
Chong Mek-Vangtao in July 2000.
In the aftermath of the alleged massacre of Hmong villagers in May,
the Government refused calls by the international community to conduct
a full and transparent investigation. However, the Government did
permit limited access by international organizations and NGOs to
provide food assistance to former insurgents who had accepted
government resettlement offers.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal treatment under the law for all
citizens without regard to sex, social status, education, faith, or
ethnicity. The Government at times took action when well-documented and
obvious cases of discrimination came to the attention of high-level
officials, although the legal mechanism whereby a citizen may bring
charges of discrimination against an individual or organization was
neither well developed nor widely understood among the general
population.
Women.--There were reports that domestic violence against women
occurred, although it did not appear to be widespread. Spousal abuse is
illegal. Rape reportedly was rare. In cases of rape that were tried in
court, defendants generally were convicted with penalties ranging from
3 years' imprisonment to execution. Spousal rape is not illegal.
Trafficking in women and girls for prostitution was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking). Prostitution is illegal, with penalties
ranging from 3 months to 1 year in prison.
Sexual harassment was rarely reported, but the actual extent of
sexual harassment was difficult to assess. Although sexual harassment
is not illegal, ``indecent sexual behavior'' toward another person is
illegal and punishable by 6 months' to 3 years' imprisonment.
The Constitution provides for equal rights for women, and the Lao
Women's Union operated nationally to promote the position of women in
society. The Family Code prohibits legal discrimination in marriage and
inheritance. Discrimination against women was not generalized; however,
varying degrees of traditional, culturally based discrimination
persisted, with greater discrimination practiced by some hill tribes.
Many women occupied responsible positions in the civil service and
private business, and in urban areas their incomes were often higher
than those of men.
In recent years, the Government increased support for development
programs designed to improve the position of women in society,
including in the political system. During the year, the National
Assembly passed a new Law on Women, with anti-trafficking provisions as
well as provisions protecting women and children from domestic
violence. The law defines trafficking and violence against women and
children as criminal actions and provides for the protection of victims
internally and by international agencies. The law closely follows
provisions of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) to both of which the country is signatory.
Children.--Although the Government has made children's education
and health care a priority in its economic planning, funding for
children's basic health and educational needs was inadequate, and the
country had a very high rate of infant and child mortality. Education
is free and compulsory through the fifth grade; however, fees for
books, uniforms, and equipment, among other factors, precluded children
from rural areas and poor urban families from complying. According to
government statistics, 80 percent of primary school-age children, 50
percent of junior high school-age children, and 25 percent of high
school-age children were enrolled in school; the U.N. Development
Program estimated that almost 40 percent of children never attended
school at all and only 10 percent entered secondary school. There was a
significant difference in the treatment of boys and girls in the
educational system: female literacy was 48 percent versus 70 percent
for males; however, men and women attended the national university in
approximately equal numbers.
The law prohibits violence against children, and violators were
subject to stiff punishments. Reports of the physical abuse of children
were rare.
Trafficking in girls for prostitution and forced labor was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). Other forms of child labor
generally were confined to family farms and enterprises (see Section
6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The Penal Code prohibits abduction and
trade in persons as well as detaining persons against their will,
procuring, and prostitution; however, trafficking in persons,
particularly women and children, was a problem. The National Assembly
passed a Law on Women during the year, which includes provisions
protecting women and children from trafficking and from domestic
violence (see Section 5, Women). The country was primarily a country of
origin for trafficking in persons and, to a much lesser extent, a
country of transit. The primary destination country was Thailand. There
was almost no effective border control. There was little reliable data
available on the scope and severity of the problem until recently, when
studies indicated that the scale of economic migration out of the
country, mostly by young persons between the ages of 15 and 30, was far
greater than previously had been supposed. About 7 percent of the total
sample population in three southern provinces migrated, either
seasonally or permanently; approximately 45 percent of them were male
and 55 percent were female. An unknown number of these migrants were
actually trafficked in some sense of the term. The studies suggest that
it is not the most impoverished who are likely to migrate. A small
number of citizens were trafficked to China and other third countries.
The majority of trafficking victims have been lowland Lao, although
small numbers of highland minority women have also been victimized by
traffickers. These groups are particularly vulnerable because they do
not have the cultural familiarity or linguistic proximity to Thai that
Lao-speaking workers can use to protect themselves from exploitative
situations. A much smaller number of trafficked foreign nationals
transited through Laos, especially Burmese and Vietnamese.
Many labor recruiters in the country were local persons with cross-
border experience and were known to the trafficking victims. For the
most part, they had no connection to organized crime, commercial sexual
exploitation, or the practice of involuntary servitude, but their
services usually ended once their charges reached Thailand, where more
organized trafficking operations also operated.
There were few reports of official involvement in trafficking;
however, anecdotal evidence suggested that local officials knew of
trafficking activities, and some may have profited from them.
To date, the Government has prosecuted five traffickers, according
to available information. All were prosecuted under other criminal
statutes, since an anti-trafficking law has not yet been enacted. The
Government has established an anti-trafficking police unit to
investigate human trafficking cases. The police occasionally arrested
both citizens and foreigners for having sexual relations outside of
marriage, which is prohibited under the law. Sexual relations with
foreigners are forbidden under what the government refers to as a
``special law.''
The Government previously denied that there were cases of child
prostitution in the country; however, in recent years it has become
more actively involved in countering the worst forms of trafficking and
the exploitation of underage persons, chiefly through cooperation with
international NGOs working on trafficking problems.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW) has a unit devoted
to children with special needs, including protection of trafficking
victims and prevention of trafficking. The Ministry also maintains a
small-scale repatriation assistance center for returned victims of
trafficking. However, the unit's effectiveness was limited by a small
budget, inadequate international assistance, and a lack of trained
personnel. The MLSW and the Lao Women's Union have conducted pilot
studies on anti-trafficking information campaigns and are now pursuing
more active interventions in conjunction with NGOs. Financial
constraints limited the contributions the Government could make, but it
did offer the services of ministerial personnel and venues to NGOs
doing anti-trafficking work.
The Lao Women's Union and the Youth Union, both party-sanctioned
organizations, offered educational programs designed to educate girls
and young women regarding the schemes of recruiters for brothels and
sweatshops in neighboring countries and elsewhere. These organizations
were most effective in disseminating information at the grassroots
level.
Some victims have been punished for improper documentation or for
crossing the border illegally. Despite a new Memorandum of
Understanding with Thailand regarding border control and a decree
allowing citizens to work abroad, this practice continued, especially
in the provinces, where some local authorities have ordered illegal
border crossers into reeducation seminars and subjected them to fines.
In September, the Ministry of Public Security issued a directive
forbidding the use of fines for illegal border crossing. Such fines
also would be outlawed under the pending anti-trafficking law. With
support from UNICEF, the National Commission for Mothers and Children
continued an active program of support for victims.
Persons With Disabilities.--With donor assistance, the Government
implemented limited programs for persons with disabilities, especially
amputees. The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings or
government services for persons with disabilities, but the Labor and
Social Welfare Ministry has established some regulations regarding
building access and some sidewalk ramps in Vientiane. The Lao National
Commission for the Disabled has promulgated regulations to protect the
rights of persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Constitution provides for
equal rights for all minority citizens, and there is no legal
discrimination against them; however, societal discrimination
persisted. Moreover, critics have charged that the Government's
resettlement program for ending slash-and-burn agriculture and opium
production has adversely affected many ethnic minority groups,
particularly in the north. The program requires that resettled persons
adopt paddy rice farming and live in large communities, ignoring their
traditional livelihoods and community structures. The program has led
to an active debate among international observers about whether the
benefits of resettlement promoted by the Government -providing access
to markets, schools, and medical care for resettlees--outweigh the
negative impact on traditional cultural practices.
Less than half the population is ethnic Lao, also called ``lowland
Lao.'' Most of the remainder, probably around 60 percent, is a mixture
of at least 47 distinct upland hill tribes whose members, if born in
the country, are citizens. There were also ethnic Vietnamese and
Chinese minorities and a small community of South Asian origin,
particularly in urbanized areas. The Law on Nationality provides a
means for foreigners to acquire citizenship, and each year some
foreigners, mostly Vietnamese and Chinese, acquire Lao citizenship. The
Government encouraged the preservation of minority cultures and
traditions; however, due to their remote location and inaccessibility,
minority tribes had little voice in government decisions affecting
their lands and the allocation of natural resources.
The Hmong are one of the largest and most prominent highland
minority groups. There were a number of Hmong officials in the senior
ranks of the Government and LPRP, including at least five members of
the LPRP Central Committee. However, societal discrimination against
the Hmong continued, and some Hmong believe their ethnic group cannot
coexist with the ethnic Lao population. This belief has fanned
separatist or irredentist beliefs among some Hmong. In recent years,
the Government focused some limited assistance projects in Hmong areas
in order to address regional and ethnic disparities in income. The
Government also provided for Hmong and Khmu language radio broadcasts.
The increased number of attacks by Hmong insurgents against
civilian and military targets, coupled with the outbreak of a localized
uprising in Houaphanh Province in August 2003, heightened ethnic
tensions and aroused the government leadership's suspicion of Hmong
irredentist desires. These heightened security problems also resulted
in increased efforts by security forces to eliminate scattered pockets
of insurgents living in remote jungle areas. Several foreign
journalists visited these groups during the year, highlighting their
plight in the international press. These press articles alleged that
the groups continued to be pursued by government military forces, in
spite of official government denials that it was engaged in any form of
military action against its citizens. Recent video evidence and witness
testimony of an attack by Lao soldiers against a group of unarmed
ethnic Hmong youth has added to the controversy (see Section 1.a.).
For several years, the Government has had a vaguely defined policy
of giving resettlement assistance and ``amnesty'' to those insurgents
who surrender to authorities. At least partially in response to charges
that it was trying to kill all insurgent elements, the Government used
family members of insurgents still living in the forest and former
insurgents to approach these groups to urge them to surrender to
authorities. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, small groups
took up this offer and received small amounts of resettlement
assistance from the Government, especially in Vientiane, Bolikhamsai,
and Xieng Khouang Provinces and in the Saisomboun Special Zone. In some
areas, such as in Bolikhamsai, this amnesty program included job
training, land, and equipment for farming. However, in some cases, this
assistance was less than had been promised. Moreover, because of their
past activities, amnestied insurgents continued to be the focus of
government suspicion and scrutiny. The Government refused offers from
the international community to assist these surrendered insurgents
directly, but quietly allowed some aid from the U.N. and other
international agencies to reach them as part of larger assistance
programs.
The Constitution states that foreigners and stateless persons are
protected by ``provisions of the laws,'' but, in practice, they did not
enjoy the rights provided for by the Constitution.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There is no official
discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation.
Within lowland Lao society, there is wide and growing tolerance of
homosexual practice, although societal discrimination persists.
The Government has actively promoted tolerance of persons with HIV/
AIDS. There was no official discrimination against those with HIV/AIDS,
but social discrimination existed. The Government conducted awareness
campaigns during the year to educate the population and promote
understanding toward those with HIV/AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Under the law, labor unions may be
formed in private enterprises as long as they operate within the
framework of the officially sanctioned Federation of Lao Trade Unions
(FLTU), which in turn is controlled by the LPRP. However, most of the
FLTU's approximately 77,000 members worked in the public sector.
The Government employed the majority of salaried workers, although
this situation was changing as the Government privatized state
enterprises and otherwise reduced the number of its employees.
Subsistence farmers made up an estimated 85 percent of the work force.
The FLTU was free to engage in contacts with foreign labor
organizations, which during the year included contacts with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations Trade Unions and the Asia-
Pacific American Labor Alliance. The FLTU was a member of the World
Federation of Trade Unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There is no
right to organize and bargain collectively. The Labor Code stipulates
that disputes be resolved through workplace committees composed of
employers, representatives of the local labor union, and
representatives of the FLTU, with final authority residing in the
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. Labor disputes reportedly were
infrequent. The Government sets wages and salaries for government
employees, while management sets wages and salaries for private
business employees.
Strikes are not prohibited by law, but the Government's ban on
subversive activities or destabilizing demonstrations (see Section
2.b.) made a strike unlikely, and none were reported during the year.
The Labor Code stipulates that employers may not fire employees for
conducting trade union activities, for lodging complaints against
employers about labor law implementation, or for cooperating with
officials on labor law implementation and labor disputes, and there
were no reports of such cases during the year. Workplace committees
were one mechanism used for resolving complaints; however, there was no
information on how effective these committees were in practice.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Code
prohibits forced labor except in time of war or national disaster,
during which time the State may conscript laborers. The Code also
prohibits forced or compulsory labor by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Under the Labor Code, children under age 15 may not be recruited for
employment, except to work for their families, provided the work is not
dangerous or difficult. Many children helped their families on farms or
in shops, but child labor was rare in industrial enterprises. Some
garment factories reportedly employed a very small number of underage
girls. The Ministries of Public Security and Justice are responsible
for enforcing these provisions. Enforcement was ineffective due to a
lack of inspectors and other resources.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The daily minimum wage was about
$0.40 (4,000 kip), which was insufficient to provide a decent standard
of living for a worker and family. Most civil servants received
inadequate pay. Some piecework employees, especially on construction
sites, earned less than the minimum wage.
The Labor Code provides for a workweek limited to 48 hours (36
hours for employment in dangerous activities). The Code also provides
for at least 1 day of rest per week.
The Labor Code provides for safe working conditions and higher
compensation for dangerous work. Employers are responsible for
compensating a worker injured or killed on the job, a requirement
generally fulfilled by employers in the formal economic sector. The
Labor Code also mandates extensive employer responsibility for those
disabled while at work. During the year, this law was enforced
adequately. Although workplace inspections reportedly have increased
over the past several years, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare
lacked the personnel and budgetary resources to enforce the Labor Code
effectively. The Labor Code has no specific provision allowing workers
to remove themselves from a dangerous situation without jeopardizing
their employment.
There were a number of illegal immigrants in the country,
particularly from Vietnam and China, and they were vulnerable to
exploitation by employers. Some illegal immigrant Vietnamese children
worked selling goods on the streets of Vientiane.
__________
MALAYSIA
Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and 3 federal territories
with a parliamentary system of government based on periodic multiparty
elections. Opposition parties actively contest elections but face
significant obstacles in competing with the ruling National Front
coalition, which has held power for more than 45 years. March national
elections were conducted in a generally transparent manner, but the
opposition complained of the ruling coalition's exploitation of the
powers of incumbency. Opposition parties won 10 percent of the seats in
the Parliament, and an opposition party retained control of one state
government. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, government action, constitutional amendments, legislation, and
other factors undermined judicial independence and strengthened
executive influence over the judiciary. The September decision by the
country's highest court to overturn the 2000 sodomy conviction of
former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was widely regarded as an
indication of judicial independence.
The Royal Malaysian Police have primary responsibility for internal
security matters. The police report to and are under the control of the
Ministry of Internal Security, which was created in April out of the
Home Affairs Ministry. Members of the police committed occasional human
rights abuses.
The country has a free market economy and a population of
approximately 25.1 million. The economy grew at 5.2 percent in 2003 and
was estimated to have grown by approximately 6.5 percent during the
year. The Government continued expansionary fiscal and monetary
policies and took an active role in managing the export-oriented
economy. Services and manufacturing accounted for 57 percent and 30.4
percent, respectively, of the gross domestic product. The unemployment
rate remained approximately 3.5 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. The Government
acknowledged that it restricted certain political and civil rights to
maintain social harmony and political stability. Police killed a number
of persons in the course of apprehending them, and there were deaths in
custody as well. Other problems included police abuse of detainees, use
of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other statutes to arrest and
detain persons without charge or trial, persistent questions about the
impartiality and independence of the judiciary, and restrictions on
freedoms of press, association, and assembly. There continued to be
some restrictions on religious freedom. Longstanding policies gave
preferences to ethnic Malays in many areas. The country was a source
and destination for trafficking in women and girls for the purposes of
prostitution. Limitations on workers rights and instances of
discrimination and exploitation of indigenous groups and migrant
workers were problems.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, security forces killed persons during the year. Local
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that police killed 7
persons while apprehending them, down from 27 such killings in 2003.
Local NGOs reported that 2 persons died in police custody during the
year, down from 11 such deaths in 2003.
In 2003, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) stated
that it was aware of ``numerous'' complaints of deaths in police
custody, police brutality, and negligence. In July, Suhakam reported
that in 2003, three police officers were arrested and charged in
connection with deaths in custody. In October, the press reported that
a police officer was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to 6
years in prison in connection with the 2003 killing by other inmates of
a detainee in Batu Pahat jail. The Criminal Procedure Code empowers
magistrates and public prosecutors to investigate such killings and
charge those responsible under the Penal Code, and inquiries were begun
in five cases dating from 2003 and 2004; however, no such prosecutions
were brought forward during the year. In August, the Government agreed
to compensate the family members of six men killed by police in 1998.
In 2002, the High Court found the police officers guilty of murderous
assault, but did not sentence them to any punishment.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--No constitutional provision or law specifically prohibits
torture; however, laws that prohibit ``committing grievous hurt''
encompass torture. According to the Government, every report of abuse
of prisoners is investigated; however, the Government routinely did not
release information on the results of internal police investigations,
and whether those responsible for abuses were punished was not always
known. There were press reports of alleged torture or mistreatment by
the police. Local NGOs stated that police sometimes subjected criminal
suspects and illegal alien detainees to physical and psychological
torture during interrogation and detention. In May, the international
NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that some prisoners were subjected
to sexually humiliating questioning and were made to stand semi-naked
for long periods. The Government denied these allegations. In July,
Suhakam representatives visited the prison where the prisoners were
allegedly mistreated and told the press that they found no evidence of
such treatment.
In February, a coalition of 44 NGOs and 6 political parties called
on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to address instances of abuse
of police powers. In April, the Prime Minister launched a National
Integrity Plan directed at reducing corruption, graft, and abuse of
power. The Police Commission, which is chaired by Prime Minister
Abdullah in his capacity as Internal Security Minister, reported that
in 2003, disciplinary actions were initiated against 1,138 police
personnel, compared with 1,012 in 2002. Offenses noted in the report
included accepting bribes, theft, and rape; punishments included
suspension, dismissal, and demotion. The report cited the strict
monitoring effort aimed at improving the public image of the police
force as the reason for the increase in the number of personnel
sanctioned. In September, the press reported that during the year,
plainclothes police regularly investigated police officers who appeared
to be living beyond their means.
In 2003, the High Court reversed a Sessions Court's acquittal and
convicted a police constable for the 2002 rape of two foreign women who
were in custody at the time of the rape (see Section 5).
In February, police arrested 17 demonstrators and used water
cannons forcibly to disperse dozens of others who were protesting
alleged abuse of police powers (see Section 2.b.).
Unlike in previous years, there were no confirmed reports that the
police aided logging companies' intimidation tactics in appropriating
land from indigenous communities in Sarawak.
Criminal law prescribes caning as an additional punishment to
imprisonment for those convicted of some nonviolent crimes, such as
narcotics possession, criminal breach of trust, and alien smuggling.
The immigration law, in effect since 2002, prescribes up to six strokes
of the cane for both illegal immigrants and their employers. Judges
routinely included caning in sentences of those convicted of such
crimes as kidnapping, rape, and robbery. Some state Shari'a (Islamic)
laws, which bind only Muslims, also prescribe caning (see Section
1.e.). The caning, which was carried out with a 0.5-inch-thick wooden
cane, commonly caused welts and sometimes caused scarring. Males over
50 and women are exempted from caning. According to the provisions of
the 2002 Child Act, male children 10 years of age and older may be
given up to 10 strokes of a ``light cane'' (see Section 5).
Prison overcrowding was a serious problem. In July, Suhakam
reported that overcrowding was a common feature in all prisons it
visited. In August, the Government acknowledged that the nation's
prisons held 42,284 inmates, 10,000 above designed capacity.
The law provides that young boys and girls may be placed in
judicially approved places of detention. Children have the right to
remain with their imprisoned mothers until the age of 3 years and can
stay beyond that age with approval of the Director General of Prisons.
Men and women were detained in separate facilities. Convicted prisoners
were segregated from pretrial detainees.
Special security prisoners were detained in a separate detention
center (see Section 1.d.). In 2003, a number of persons released from
detention under the ISA claimed that during the initial stages of their
detention they were subjected to intensive interrogation and
disoriented by isolation, deliberately interrupted sleep, and abusive
treatment by police (see Section 1.d.).
NGOs and international organizations involved with migrant workers
and refugees made credible allegations of inadequate food and medical
care, poor sanitation, and abuse by guards in government camps for
illegal immigrants. According to reliable reports, this overcrowding
and related poor health conditions contributed to the deaths of several
detainees. Suhakam, which visited the camps in 2003, found detainees
endured hot, uncomfortable, and cramped living conditions. During the
year, hundreds of Acehnese and Burmese asylum seekers were detained in
camps for illegal immigrants pending deportation to Indonesia and Burma
(see Section 2.d.). Some individuals convicted of violating the
immigration law were subject to caning. In 2003, Suhakam confirmed that
they found detainees with fresh scars at Semenyih camp and said that it
amounted to cruel and inhuman treatment. In September, the local press
reported that 139 illegal immigrant detainees launched a hunger strike
at Semenyih detention camp to protest overcrowding, poor sanitary
conditions and rotten food.
The Government does not have any agreement with the International
Committee of the Red Cross that permits visits to prisoners. NGOs and
the media generally were not permitted to monitor prison conditions.
However, in June, the Government invited the media to inspect Kamunting
prison in response to allegations that ISA detainees there were being
abused. Access to illegal alien detention camps was restricted,
although officials from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
were given regular access to several camps to identify and interview
potential refugees (see Section 2.d.). In addition, Suhakam officials
visited various camps and prisons at different times during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law permits police to arrest
individuals for some offenses without a warrant, and police may hold
suspects for 24 hours without charge. A magistrate may extend the
period for up to 2 weeks. Although the police generally observed these
provisions, Suhakam reported that in 2002 some detainees were held
beyond the 2-week limit. Suhakam also noted that police sometimes
released suspects and then quickly rearrested them on new but similar
charges. In one 2002 case, a detainee was consecutively held in this
manner for a total of 77 days. Police often denied detainees access to
legal counsel and questioned suspects without giving them access to
counsel. Police justified this practice as necessary to prevent
interference in ongoing investigations. Judicial decisions generally
upheld this practice. In July, the Royal Commission for Police Reform
recommended that detention procedures be reviewed to prevent abuse.
Modeled on the British system, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is
under the command of the IGP, who reports to the Minister of Internal
Security. The IGP is responsible for organizing and administering the
police force. The functions of the police generally are divided into
five areas: The enforcement of law and order; the maintenance of
national peace and security; the prevention and detection of crimes;
the arrest and prosecution of offenders; and the gathering of security
intelligence. Consisting of 80,000 officers, the PDRM generally was
regarded as well organized and efficient. During the year, there were
some allegations of corruption and police abuse of detainees. In 2003,
the Prime Minister (who is concurrently Internal Security Minister)
announced that a Royal Commission would be set up to review issues
within the police force such as police brutality, poor service, and
corruption. In a preliminary August report the Commission found that
there were indications of corruption at every level and that excessive
force was used against detainees. During the year, the PDRM in
conjunction with Suhakam organized training courses throughout the
country to inform police officers about the importance of human rights.
In July, the IGP directed the Commander of the Police Training Center
to include human rights awareness training in its training modules.
Three laws permit the Government to detain suspects without
judicial review or the filing of formal charges: the ISA, the Emergency
(Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, and the Dangerous
Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures).
The ISA, enacted in 1960 during an active communist insurgency,
empowers the police to hold for up to 60 days any person who acts ``in
a manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia.'' The Internal
Security Minister may authorize further detention for periods of up to
2 years. Some of those released before the end of their detention
period are subject to ``imposed restricted conditions'' for the
remainder of the originally authorized detention period. These
conditions limit freedom of speech, association, and travel outside the
country. Since the ISA's inception, over 4,000 persons have been
detained under it.
Even when there are no formal charges, the ISA requires that the
authorities inform detainees of the accusations against them and permit
them to appeal to an advisory board for review every 6 months. However,
advisory board decisions and recommendations are not binding on the
Internal Security Minister, are not public, and often are not shown to
the detainee. Local human rights NGOs claimed that the police at times
intimidated and harassed family members of ISA detainees to prevent
them from taking legal action against the police.
The 1988 amendments to the ISA circumscribed judicial review of ISA
detentions. The Bar Council has asserted that ISA detentions should be
subject to full judicial review; however, the courts did not concur
with this interpretation and limited their review to procedural issues.
Detainees freed by judicial order nearly always were detained again
immediately. Following several successful procedural challenges to ISA
detentions, in 2003, the Federal Court ruled that the courts should not
intervene in matters of national security and public order.
According to the Government, the goal of the ISA is to control
internal subversion. In October, the Government stated that there were
101 persons in detention under the ISA, of whom 87 were suspected of
involvement in terrorism. Among those detained were members of the
opposition Islamic Party (PAS), including Nik Adli, son of the PAS
leader.
There were no new reports of the Government using the ISA against
political opponents during the year; however, the ISA, and the threat
of invoking the ISA, have in the past been used to intimidate and
restrict political dissent. For example, in 2001, the Government used
the ISA to detain 10 political activists who were leaders of, or
closely associated with, the opposition National Justice Party
(Keadilan), claiming that they represented a threat to national
security. In 2002, the Federal Court ruled that the detentions were
unlawful; however, as the Court's rulings focused on the police's
initial 60-day detention order and not on the Internal Security
Ministry's subsequent 2-year detention, the six remained in prison
until 2003, when they were released. Two of those released claimed that
their police interrogations were limited to questions about their
political beliefs and personal life and not about the alleged offenses
for which they initially were detained.
Opposition leaders and human rights organizations continued to call
on the Government to repeal the ISA and other legislation that deprived
persons of the right to defend themselves in court. In 2003, after
nearly a year of reviewing the case, Suhakam publicly urged the
Government to release the six Keadilan detainees and recommended that
the ISA be rewritten to ensure that the Government could not use it
against political opponents. Suhakam also recommended that ISA
detainees have access to legal counsel within 24 hours of detention and
to families within 48 hours. The Suhakam 2002 annual report noted that
detention without trial constituted a violation of human rights. In its
2003 report, Suhakam said the ISA was used with greater restraint
during the year.
The Government stated that the implementation of preventive
detention measures to combat terrorism by foreign governments
underscored the country's continued need for the ISA. However, in 2003,
the Minister of Legal Affairs said that the Government was reviewing
the ISA and would incorporate Suhakam's recommendations into its
report.
Under the Emergency Ordinance, the Internal Security Minister may
issue a detention order for up to 2 years against a person if he deems
it necessary to protect public order, or for the ``suppression of
violence, or the prevention of crimes involving violence.''
Provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures)
give the Government specific power to detain suspected drug traffickers
without trial for up to 39 days before the Internal Security Minister
must issue a detention order. Once an order is issued, the detainee is
entitled to a hearing before a court, which may order the detainee's
release. Suspects may be held without charge for successive 2-year
intervals with periodic review by an advisory board, whose opinion is
binding on the Minister. However, the review process contains none of
the procedural rights that a defendant would have in a court
proceeding. The police frequently detained suspected narcotics
traffickers under this act after the traffickers were acquitted of
formal charges. During the first 9 months of the year, the Government
detained over 1,589 persons under the act.
The Restricted Residence Act allows the Minister of Internal
Security to place criminal suspects under restricted residence in a
remote district away from their homes for 2 years. The Ministry is
authorized to issue the restricted residence orders without any
judicial or administrative hearings. The Government continued to
justify the act as a necessary tool to remove suspects from the area
where undesirable activities were being conducted. During the year, the
press reported the arrests of three organized crime figures allegedly
involved in prostitution and human trafficking who were subsequently
detained under the Restricted Residence Act. In September, the Deputy
Minister of Internal Security told the press that 140 persons had been
placed on restriction during the year under this act.
Immigration laws were used to detain illegal immigrants. The
detainees were not accorded any administrative or judicial hearing and
were released only after their employers proved their legal status.
Those who were able to produce legal documents normally were released
immediately; those who were unable to prove their legal status often
were held for extended periods before deportation. Illegal immigrants
were kept in detention camps that were separate from prisons. No
codified legal distinction is made between illegal workers, refugees,
and trafficking victims (see Sections 1.c. and 2.d.).
Crowded and understaffed courts often resulted in lengthy pretrial
detention, sometimes lasting several years.
The Criminal Procedure Code allows the detention of a person, whose
testimony as a material witness is necessary in a criminal case, if
that person is considered likely to flee.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, over the last 20 years government
action, constitutional amendments, legislation restricting judicial
review, and other factors limited judicial independence and
strengthened executive influence over the judiciary. The secular legal
system is based on English common law. Trials are public, although
judges may order restrictions on press coverage. Defendants have the
right to counsel, bail is usually available, and strict rules of
evidence apply in court. Defendants may make statements for the record
to an investigative agency prior to trial. Limited pretrial discovery
in criminal cases impeded defendants' ability to defend themselves.
High Courts have original jurisdiction over all criminal cases
involving serious crimes. Minor civil suits are heard by Sessions
Courts. Juvenile Courts try offenders below 18 years of age. The
Special Court tries cases involving the King and the Sultans. The Court
of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction over High Court and Sessions Court
decisions. The Federal Court, the country's highest court, reviews
Court of Appeal decisions.
The Government limited judicial independence significantly through
a 1988 constitutional amendment that provided that judicial powers
would be conferred by Parliament rather than being vested directly in
the courts. The amendment also conferred certain judicial powers on the
Attorney General, including the authority to instruct the courts on
which cases to hear, the power to choose venues, and the right to
discontinue cases. The Attorney General has control and direction of
all criminal prosecutions under the Criminal Procedure Code and has
assumed responsibility for judicial assignments and transfers. Since
1988, senior judges have been appointed based on the recommendation of
the Prime Minister.
In recent years, members of the bar, NGOs, and other observers have
expressed serious concern about the general decline of judicial
independence, citing a number of high-profile instances of arbitrary
verdicts, selective prosecution, and preferential treatment of some
litigants and lawyers. The most widely criticized such case was that of
former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. In 1998, after a peaceful
demonstration in which he called for then-Prime Minister Mahathir's
resignation, Anwar was detained for alleged corruption and sodomy. In a
1999 trial flawed by political interference, Anwar was convicted of
corruption and sentenced to 6 years in prison. Appeals in 2000 and 2002
were denied, and Anwar completed the sentence in 2003 after it was
reduced to 4 years for good behavior. In September, the Federal Court,
the country's highest, dismissed Anwar's petition to reconsider its
2002 appeal decision, leaving Anwar ineligible to participate in
politics until 2008.
In 2000, Anwar was convicted on a separate charge of sodomy and
sentenced to 9 years in prison, to be served consecutively with the
corruption sentence. In September, the Federal Court ruled that the
trial court had misdirected itself, and that Anwar's conviction for
sodomy was unjust. The panel vacated the conviction and ordered Anwar
released. International observers applauded the decision and credited
Prime Minister Abdullah for encouraging greater judicial independence.
Amnesty International (AI) hailed the decision as ``an historic
milestone in the restoration of confidence in the rule of law and
respect for human rights in Malaysia.''
Defendants are presumed innocent and may appeal court decisions to
higher courts. The Courts of Judicature Act limits a defendant's right
to appeal in some circumstances. The Government stated that the limits
expedited the hearing of cases in the upper courts, but the president
of the Bar Council said that the act imposed too many restrictions on
appeals.
The Essential (Security Cases) Regulations restrict the right to a
fair trial by lowering the standard for accepting self incriminating
statements by defendants as evidence in firearm and certain national
security cases. The regulations also allow the authorities to hold an
accused for an unspecified time before making formal charges.
Even when the Essential Regulations are not invoked, police
sometimes used other tactics to limit the legal protections of
defendants. For example, during a trial, police may summon and
interrogate witnesses who have previously given testimony that was not
helpful to the prosecution. Human rights advocates accused police of
using this tactic to intimidate witnesses. Police also have used raids
and document seizures to harass defendants.
Contempt of court charges also restricted the ability of defendants
and their attorneys to defend themselves; however, the use of such
charges appeared to be decreasing.
Certain provisions of the Anti-Corruption Act impinge on the
presumption of a defendant's innocence. A 1997 amendment to the act
requires that an accused prove that he acquired monetary and other
assets legally.
Shari'a laws administered by state authorities through Islamic
courts bind Muslims, the large majority of whom are ethnic Malays.
These laws vary from state to state. In 2002, the Government
established a committee to recommend ways to harmonize Shari'a laws
throughout the country; any recommendations must be adopted by
individual state legislatures. The Shari'a courts do not give equal
weight to the testimony of women. Many NGOs also complained that women
did not receive fair treatment from Shari'a courts, especially in
matters of divorce and child custody (see Section 2.c.).
Indigenous peoples in Sarawak and Sabah have a system of customary
law to resolve matters such as land disputes between tribes.
Additionally, Penghulu (village head) courts may adjudicate minor civil
matters, but these were rarely used.
The military has a separate system of courts.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such practices; however, authorities
infringed on citizens' privacy rights in some cases. Provisions in the
security legislation allow the police to enter and search without a
warrant the homes of persons suspected of threatening national security
(see Section 1.d.). Police also may confiscate evidence under these
acts. Police used this legal authority to search homes and offices,
seize books and papers, monitor conversations, and take persons into
custody without a warrant.
The Anti-Corruption Act empowers the Attorney General to authorize
the interception of mail and the wiretapping of telephones. Information
obtained in this way is admissible as evidence in a corruption trial.
The law permits the Internal Security Ministry to place criminal
suspects under restricted residence in a remote district away from
their homes for 2 years (see Section 1.d.).
The Government bans membership in unregistered political parties
and in unregistered organizations (see Section 2.b.).
Certain religious issues posed significant obstacles to marriage
between Muslims and adherents of other religions (see Section 2.c.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, some important
legal limitations exist, and in practice, the Government restricted
freedom of expression, and journalists practiced self-censorship.
According to the Government, restrictions on this freedom were imposed
to protect national security, public order, and friendly relations with
other countries.
The Constitution provides that freedom of speech may be restricted
by legislation ``in the interest of security (or) public order.'' For
example, the Sedition Act prohibits public comment on issues defined as
sensitive, such as racial and religious matters. In practice, the
Sedition Act, Official Secrets Act (OSA), criminal defamation laws, and
some other laws were used to restrict or to intimidate dissenting
political speech.
In 2003, the Government amended the election law to make it an
offense for a candidate to ``promote feelings of ill-will, discontent,
or hostility.'' Violators could be disqualified from running for
office, and during the March national elections, both the Elections
Commission Chairman and the Prime Minister warned candidates not to
violate the amended law (see Section 3). No one was charged under the
provision.
In past years, senior government officials ascribed seditious or
treasonous motives to critics of government policies, although many
persons still criticized the Government publicly. In 2003, government
officials warned that political parties that raised sensitive issues
and threatened national stability would be charged under the Sedition
Act. In 2003, the editor of the opposition paper Harakah was fined
$1,300 (5,000 ringgit) for publishing an allegedly seditious article in
1999 regarding the Anwar Ibrahim trial. In 2002, opposition leader Lim
Kit Siang and a number of his colleagues were arrested for distributing
leaflets that criticized then-Prime Minister Mahathir's declaration
that the country was an Islamic state. During the year, there were no
reports of the Government using the Sedition Act to silence critics.
In the past, the Bar Council and other NGOs called for a review of
certain provisions of the OSA, accusing the Government of using the act
to cover up corruption. In 2000, Ezam Noor, a former aide to Anwar
Ibrahim, was charged under the OSA with disclosing secret Anti
Corruption Agency reports to the media. In 2002, Ezam was convicted of
the charge and sentenced to 2 years in prison, but he was released on
bail in 2003, and, in April, the Court of Appeal vacated the lower
court's judgment. The appellate judge strongly criticized the
Government's handling of the case and described the legal provisions
used against Ezam as ``obnoxious, draconian and oppressive.''
The English and Malay press provided generally uncritical coverage
of government officials and policies and usually gave only limited and
selective coverage to political views of the opposition or political
rivals. Editorial opinion almost always reflected government positions
on domestic and international issues. However, during the year the
mainstream press printed interviews with senior opposition leaders that
included criticism of government policy. Observers believed this was an
indication that the administration of Prime Minister Abdullah had
relaxed some press restrictions.
Print journalism was dominated by eight daily newspapers--two each
in English and Malay and four in Chinese. One of the parties in the
ruling coalition owned or controlled a majority of shares in each of
the English and Malay dailies, and two of the Chinese dailies.
Politically well-connected tycoons owned the other two Chinese language
newspapers. Self-censorship and biased reporting in the print media
were not uniform and the English-, Malay-, and Chinese-language press
sometimes provided balanced reporting on sensitive issues.
The Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) limits press
freedom. Under the act, domestic and foreign publications must apply
annually to the Government for a permit. The act was amended to make
the publication of ``malicious news'' a punishable offense, to expand
the Government's power to ban or restrict publications, and to prohibit
court challenges to suspension or revocation of publication permits.
According to the Government, this amendment was made to ensure that
``distorted news'' was not disseminated to the public. Government power
over annual license renewal and other policies created an atmosphere
that inhibited independent or investigative journalism and resulted in
extensive self-censorship. In 2002, the then-Deputy Home Affairs
Minister told Parliament that, from the beginning of 2001 until October
2002, 1,345 publications and printing premises were inspected and 2,305
volumes of publications were confiscated under the act. Government
officials continued to argue that the act helped to preserve harmony
and to promote peaceful coexistence in a multiracial country.
The Government sometimes directly restricted the dissemination of
information that it deemed embarrassing or prejudicial to national
interests. For example, the Government continued its policy of not
allowing public disclosure of air pollution index readings or deaths
due to dengue fever. On August 18, the official news agency, Bernama,
conveyed an instruction to all media, reportedly from the Prime
Minister's Department, not to report anything related to the outbreak
of bird flu. On August 19, the Prime Minister's Department denied that
the instruction had come from it, and the Deputy Minister of
Information told reporters that although Bernama had the responsibility
to report and express government policy, it did not have the right to
instruct other media on how to treat the news.
In 2003, the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate Court sentenced human rights
monitor Irene Fernandez to 12 months' imprisonment for malicious
publication of false material. The sentence was suspended pending
appeal. The charge under the PPPA stemmed from a 1995 memorandum
entitled ``Abuse, Torture and Dehumanized Treatment of Migrant Workers
at Detention Camps.'' The magistrate rejected Fernandez's interviews as
hearsay and noted that Fernandez had made no effort to visit the camps
personally (the Government generally does not allow NGOs to visit the
camps).
Publications of opposition parties, social action groups, unions,
and other private groups actively covered opposition parties and
frequently printed views critical of government policies. However, the
Government retained significant influence over these publications by
requiring the annual renewal of publishing permits and limiting
circulation only to organization members. In the past, the PAS
newspaper, Harakah, was the target of several ruling party-sponsored
libel suits. Harakah was the only major Malay- or English-language
print media forum for opposition views, and its circulation rivaled
that of mainstream newspapers. Since 2000, under government stricture,
Harakah has been limited to publishing only twice monthly instead of
twice a week.
Most major newspapers have online editions, which generally fall
outside government regulations, as they are not required to have
publication permits. In 2003, the ruling party youth movement, United
Malays National Organization Youth (UMNO Youth), lodged a complaint
against independent Internet news provider Malaysiakini over a letter
published on the website that allegedly contained seditious remarks. In
response, police raided the daily's offices, confiscating 15 computers
and 4 servers, and shutting down the company's online service for over
10 hours. While the Government continued to deny Malaysiakini formal
press accreditation, its reporters were allowed to cover government
functions and ministers' press conferences.
Printers, who also must have their permits renewed annually, often
were reluctant to print publications that were critical of the
Government.
In 2003, the Government interfered with the timely release and
distribution of several foreign magazines, including the Far Eastern
Economic Review and The Economist. Government officials, including
then-Prime Minister Mahathir, continued to accuse the foreign media of
harboring ill intentions toward the country and of deliberately
misrepresenting the country's political and economic environment by
focusing on negative news. In 2003, the then-Deputy Home Minister said
the Government would consider a ban against any foreign magazine that
made unfounded allegations against the country and its leaders.
The electronic media was restricted more tightly than the print
media. Radio and television stations almost uniformly were supportive
of the Government's news coverage and commentary. News of the
opposition was restricted tightly and reported in a biased fashion. In
the period before the March elections, opposition representatives said
they were unable to have their views heard and represented on the
country's television and radio stations.
During the year, two new television stations joined an already
crowded market of three stations and one cable network. The privately
owned television stations had close ties to the ruling coalition and
were unlikely to provide a forum for the opposition parties. In 2002,
the Government did not approve a longstanding license application for a
state radio station in opposition controlled Kelantan State.
Broadcasting licenses only permit Malay-language news from 8:00 to 9:00
p.m., except on a Ministry of Information channel. During the year, one
of the new stations appealed the terms of its license agreement and
began broadcasting the 8:00 p.m. news in English. Their appeal was
denied, and the English broadcasts ceased. Internet television faced no
such restrictions. In 2001, PAS launched its own Internet television
studio, with daily broadcasts.
The Government censored books and films for profanity, nudity, sex,
violence, and certain political and religious content. Television
stations censored programming in line with government guidelines. Some
foreign newspapers and magazines were banned, and, infrequently,
foreign magazines or newspapers were censored, most often for sexual
content. However, the increased prevalence of the Internet vitiated
such restrictions. The Government maintained a ``blacklist'' of local
and foreign performers, politicians, and religious leaders who were not
allowed to appear on television or radio broadcasts. The Government
continued to try to block the production, distribution, and sales of
unauthorized video compact discs (VCDs) and digital video discs (DVDs),
especially those with pornographic or sensitive political content.
The Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) requires certain
Internet and other network service providers to obtain a license. In
the past, the Government stated that it did not intend to impose
controls on Internet use, but noted that it would punish the ``misuse''
of information technology under the CMA. During the year, the
Government did not use licensing provisions under the CMA to interfere
with Internet access or to restrict Internet content.
The Government generally restricted remarks or publications that
might incite racial or religious disharmony; it also attempted to
restrict the content of sermons at mosques in the states controlled by
the ruling coalition. Some state governments banned certain Muslim
clergymen from delivering sermons. The Religious Affairs Department
continued to conduct background checks on all clergymen. The Government
also cracked down on the distribution and sale of the opposition
party's VCDs and audiocassettes.
The Government places some restrictions on academic freedom,
particularly the expression of unapproved political views, and the
Government enforced restrictions on teachers and students who expressed
dissenting views. In 2002, the Government began to require that all
civil servants, university faculty, and students sign a pledge of
loyalty to the King and the Government. Opposition leaders and human
rights activists claimed that this was intended to restrain political
activity among civil servants, academics, and students. Although
academics sometimes were publicly critical of the Government, there was
clear self censorship among public university academics whose career
advancement and funding depended on the Government. In 2001, senior
government officials said that teachers who opposed the Government and
students who took part in anti-government activities would face
disciplinary actions, including dismissal and expulsion. In 2003, a
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia lecturer who was pursuing his doctorate
had his scholarship revoked after he was found to have been involved in
anti-government activity. Also in 2003, seven university students were
denied the right to continue their studies after being charged with
illegal assembly.
Private institution academics practiced self-censorship as well,
fearing that the Government might revoke the licenses of their
institutions. The law also imposes limitations on student associations
and student and faculty political activity (see Section 2.b.).
The Government has long stated that students should be apolitical
and used that assertion as a basis for denying parties access to
student forums. According to student leaders, students who signed anti-
government petitions sometimes were expelled or fined. The Government
enforced this policy selectively and did not refrain from spreading
government views on political issues among students and teachers.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, in practice, the
Government placed significant restrictions on this right. This right
may be limited in the interest of security and public order, and the
Police Act requires police permits for all public assemblies except for
workers on picket lines. The decision to grant a permit theoretically
rests with the district police chief; however, in practice, senior
police officials and political leaders influenced the grant or denial
of some permits. Police granted permits routinely to government and
ruling coalition supporters; however, they used a more restrictive
policy with government critics. In 2003, opposition activists attending
a political forum organized by PAS were arrested for illegal assembly.
Similarly, in 2003, an outdoor march in support of rape victims was
cancelled after police refused a permit on grounds of ``public
security.'' However, in the period before the March elections the
Elections Commission announced that public rallies by political parties
would be permitted, subject to appropriate police permits. Although
permits often were difficult to obtain due to the short duration (7
days) of the campaign period, police generally allowed many rallies to
be held without interference (see Section 3).
During the year, Suhakam released its fourth annual report, which
reiterated the Commission's earlier criticism of government imposed
restrictions on freedom of assembly. In 2001, Suhakam released a report
highlighting the fact that the right of assembly is provided for in the
Constitution; it recommended easing police permits for gatherings,
setting up a special ``speaker's corner,'' and reviewing laws that
restrict the right to free assembly. In April, police arrested 15
persons for taking part in an illegal assembly on the anniversary of
the corruption conviction of Anwar Ibrahim. The 13 men and two women
were arrested in front of Suhakam's offices in Kuala Lumpur.
The Constitution provides for the right of association; however,
the Government placed significant restrictions on this right and
certain statutes limit this right. Under the Societies Act, only
registered, approved organizations of seven or more persons may
function as societies. The Government sometimes refused to register
organizations or imposed conditions when allowing a society to
register. The Government prohibited the Communist Party and affiliated
organizations from registering and has blocked the registration of the
Socialist Party of Malaysia since 1999 (see Section 1.f.). The
Government also has the power to revoke the registration of an existing
society for violations of the act, a power that it enforced selectively
against political opposition groups.
The Universities and University Colleges Act also restricts freedom
of association. This act mandates university approval for student
associations and prohibits student associations and faculty members
from engaging in political activity. Many students, NGOs, and
opposition political parties called for the repeal or amendment of the
act. A number of ruling coalition organizations and politicians also
supported reexamination of the act, but the Government argued that the
act still was necessary.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, the Government placed some restrictions on this
right. Sunni Islam is the official religion, and the practice of
Islamic beliefs other than Sunni Islam was significantly restricted.
Non-Muslims, which include large Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Sikh
communities, were free to practice their religious beliefs with few
restrictions. The Government provides financial support to an Islamic
religious establishment and also provides more limited funds to non-
Islamic religious communities. State authorities impose Islamic
religious laws administered through Islamic courts on all ethnic Malays
(and other Muslims) in some matters but generally did not interfere
with the religious practices of the non-Muslim community. In 2003,
then-Prime Minister Mahathir used anti-Semitic language during his
address to the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC). Prime Minister Abdullah, who succeeded Mahathir 2 weeks after
the OIC speech, subsequently emphasized religious tolerance towards all
faiths. During the year, the Government promoted Islam ``Hadhari,''
which emphasized tolerance towards other religions and a moderate,
progressive interpretation of Islam.
The Registrar of Societies, under the Ministry of Home Affairs,
registers religious organizations. Registration enables organizations
to receive government grants and other benefits.
In practice, Muslims are not permitted to convert to another
religion. In several recent rulings, secular courts have ceded
jurisdiction to the Islamic courts in matters involving conversion to
or from Islam. In 2000, an Islamic court sentenced four persons to 3-
year prison terms for not recanting their alleged heretical beliefs and
``return(ing) to the true teachings of Islam.'' The court rejected
their argument that they were not subject to Islamic (Shari'a) law
because they had ceased to be Muslims. Dismissing their appeal, the
Court of Appeal ruled in 2002 that only the Islamic court is qualified
to determine whether a Muslim has become an apostate. In July, the
Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal decision and returned the case
to the Shari'a court to enforce the sentence.
In April, the Kuala Lumpur High Court held that only the Islamic
Court had jurisdiction over a suit by a non-Muslim mother to nullify
the conversion of her two children to Islam without her agreement. The
father converted to Islam after he became estranged from his wife and
allegedly converted his two infant children in order to gain custody
over them. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism,
Christianity, Hinduism, and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) said the ruling
``tramples over the rights of non-Muslim parents.'' The mother filed an
appeal and in July the Court of Appeal granted custody to the mother
but prohibited the mother from influencing the children's religious
education.
The Government generally respected non-Muslims' right of worship;
however, state governments have authority over the building of non-
Muslim places of worship and the allocation of land for non-Muslim
cemeteries. Approvals for building permits sometimes are granted very
slowly. In 2003, the Minister of Housing and Local Government announced
that building permit approvals would no longer be required for
construction of places of worship. However, minority religious groups
reported that state governments still sometimes blocked construction
using restrictive zoning and construction codes.
Proselytizing of Muslims by members of other religions was strictly
prohibited, although proselytizing of non-Muslims faced no obstacles.
The Government discouraged but did not ban distribution in peninsular
Malaysia of Malay language translations of the Bible, Christian tapes,
and other printed materials. The distribution of Malay language
Christian materials faced few restrictions in the East Malaysia states
of Sabah and Sarawak.
While representatives of non-Muslims do not sit on the immigration
committee that approves visa requests from members of the clergy, the
MCCBCHS is asked for its recommendation.
The Government continued to monitor the activities of the Shi'a
minority, and state religious authorities reserved the right to detain
members of what they considered Islamic ``deviant sects,'' i.e., groups
that do not follow the official Sunni teachings, without trial under
the ISA. According to the Government, no individuals were detained
under the ISA for religious reasons by year's end.
The Government is concerned that ``deviationist'' teachings could
cause divisions among Muslims. Members of such groups can be arrested
and detained, with the consent of the Islamic court, in order to be
``rehabilitated'' and returned to the ``true path of Islam.'' The
Selangor Religious Department detained 66 members of a deviationist
group in 2003 and arrested 96 followers of another deviationist sect in
April.
The Government generally restricted remarks or publications that
might incite racial or religious disharmony. This included some
statements and publications critical of particular religions,
especially Islam. The Government also restricted the content of sermons
at mosques. In recent years, both the Government and the opposition
Islamic party have attempted to use mosques in the states they control
to deliver politically oriented messages. Several states have attempted
to ban opponent-affiliated imams from speaking at mosques. Some states
also have announced measures including more vigorously enforcing
existing restrictions on the content of sermons and replacing mosque
leaders and governing committees.
For Muslim children, religious education according to a government-
approved curriculum is compulsory. There were no restrictions on home
instruction, and private schools may offer a non-Islamic religious
curriculum as an option for non-Muslims.
In 2002, the Government implemented a policy that requires all
Muslim civil servants to attend Islamic classes taught by government-
approved teachers.
In family and religious matters, all Muslims are subject to Shari'a
law. According to some women's rights activists, women are subject to
discriminatory interpretations of Shari'a law and inconsistent
application of the law from state to state.
In the past, state governments in Kelantan and Terengganu have made
efforts to restrict Muslim women's dress. However, since the defeat of
the opposition Islamic party (PAS) in Terengganu and its near defeat in
Kelantan in the March elections, which many observers interpreted as a
rejection by voters of the strict form of Islam promoted by PAS, the
two state governments have backed away from enforcing dress codes for
any women.
Efforts by the PAS-led governments of Terengganu and Kelantan to
implement Shari'a criminal law (see Section 5), which would impose
Islamic penalties for theft, robbery, illicit sex, drinking alcohol,
and the renunciation of Islam, have been challenged in Federal Court,
and the cases were still pending as of year's end. In 2003, the then-
Deputy Prime Minister stated that police could not enforce Islamic
criminal law (``hudud'') until the Attorney General decided on the
matter and that the Criminal Procedure Code was still in effect in
Terengganu.
The Government has a comprehensive system of hiring and other
preferences for ethnic Malays and members of a few other groups, known
collectively as ``bumiputras,'' most of whom are Muslim (see Section
5).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, the Government restricted these rights in some circumstances.
The eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak control immigration and require
citizens from peninsular Malaysia and foreigners to present passports
or national identity cards for entry. In 2002, the Federal Court ruled
that Sabah's exclusive control on immigration was provided for in the
Constitution and could not be challenged. In 2003, a prominent local
human rights activist was denied entry to Sarawak, allegedly due to her
anti-logging positions, and returned to peninsular Malaysia. NGOs
claimed that some citizens were blacklisted and not permitted to travel
outside of Malaysia as they might ``tarnish the reputation'' of the
country.
The Government regulated the internal movement of provisionally
released ISA detainees. The Government also used the Restricted
Residence Act to limit movements of those suspected of some criminal
activities (see Section 1.d.).
Citizens must apply for government permission to travel to Israel.
The country is not a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol; and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees. It sometimes
granted temporary refuge to asylum seekers. In April, the Prime
Minister offered to establish refugee camps in northern Malaysia to
house potential refugees escaping violence in southern Thailand.
In 2003, the police arrested over 240 Acehnese asylum seekers
outside the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur. Following the arrests, then-
Prime Minister Mahathir threatened that they would not be allowed to
seek political asylum and would be deported; however, many of those
arrested subsequently were resettled to other countries. In July, the
Government arrested 40 asylum seekers holding UNHCR temporary
protection papers. International organizations and a number of human
rights NGOs protested. During the year, the Government continued to
deport some asylum seekers and refugees but has also allowed certain
asylum seekers and persons of concern to remain pending resettlement to
other countries. Reportedly the Government had decided to accord some
10,000 Rohingyas (Muslims from Burma) refugee status.
In 2003, Suhakam called on the Government to reconsider caning as a
penalty for illegal immigrants alleging that it amounts to cruel and
inhumane treatment. The new immigration law, in effect since 2002,
provides for 6 months in prison and up to six strokes of the cane for
immigration violations. In practice, due to delays in processing travel
documents, many illegal immigrants were detained in camps for over a
year (see Section 1.d.).
The Government does not distinguish between asylum seekers and
illegal immigrants, and detained them in the same camps. Detention
facilities were overcrowded and lacked medical facilities. Local human
rights NGOs alleged that detainees were provided inadequate food and
sometimes were abused.
The Constitution provides that no citizen may be banished or
excluded from the Federation. However, according to the terms of a 1989
peace agreement, Chin Peng, the 80-year-old former leader of the
communist insurgency in the country, lives in exile in Thailand and has
been denied permission to return to the country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic elections; however, while votes generally were
recorded accurately, there were irregularities that affected the
fairness of elections.
In practice, opposition parties were unable to compete on equal
terms with the governing coalition (which has held power at the
national level since independence in 1957) because of significant
restrictions on campaigning, freedom of assembly, freedom of
association, and access to the media. Nevertheless, opposition
candidates campaigned actively, with some success in state and national
elections. In the March national elections, opposition parties captured
20 of 199 parliamentary seats and 52 out of 453 state seats.
The country has a parliamentary system of government with a
bicameral legislature. National elections are required for the lower
chamber at least every 5 years and have been held regularly since 1957.
Members of the upper chamber, the Senate, are appointed. The Malay-
based UMNO party dominates the ruling National Front coalition. Since
1969, the National Front coalition always has maintained at least a
two-thirds majority in parliament, which enables the Government to
amend the Constitution at will. Over the years, power increasingly has
been concentrated in the Prime Minister. In 2003, Mahathir Mohamad, who
had been Prime Minister since 1981, retired and relinquished power to
his deputy, Abdullah Badawi. In national elections held in March, the
ruling coalition captured 90 percent of total parliamentary seats.
The lack of equal access to the media was one of the most serious
problems encountered by the opposition in the March national elections
(see Section 2.a.). Government-owned stations and the country's private
television stations had virtually no impartial reporting on the
opposition. The mainstream English- and Malay-language newspapers
carried biased coverage of domestic politics as well. In addition,
opposition parties alleged that they faced difficulties in placing paid
advertisements in newspapers.
Opposition leaders claimed that the Election Commission, which is
responsible for holding and monitoring elections, did not carry out its
duties impartially. The Election Commission is nominally independent
but was perceived to be under the control of the Government. NGOs were
permitted to form independent election watch organizations, but were
accorded no special privileges.
There were numerous opposition complaints of irregularities by
election officials during the March campaign; however, most observers
concluded that they did not substantially alter the results. Complaints
included unregistered names, broken computers, and late opening of
polling stations, all of which prevented some persons from voting. In
the state of Selangor, Election Commission officials extended the
polling period by 2 hours in apparent contravention of elections laws.
The Election Commission blamed many of the glitches on last-minute
increases in the number of polling stations and associated voter rolls,
which the Commission alleged threw the process into disarray.
Opposition leaders complained that local government officials who
served as election officers were not always neutral.
More serious allegations were lodged of voter rolls being inflated
by illegally registered ``phantom'' voters, who reportedly included
voters from other districts brought in to vote in tightly contested
districts, non-registered voters using fictitious names or the names of
dead voters still listed on the voter rolls, and non-citizens illegally
registered to vote. The opposition claimed that 70,000 phantom voters
in Terengganu were used to swing the vote in favor of the ruling
coalition. Opposition parties also complained about their inability to
monitor postal votes (absentee ballots) cast by police and military
personnel. The Government, citing security concerns, did not allow
party agents to monitor postal vote boxes on military and police
installations.
Ballots were marked with a serial number that could be matched
against a voter's name. While there was no evidence that the Government
ever traced individual votes, some opposition leaders alleged that the
potential to do so influenced some voters, particularly civil servants.
The Constitution states that parliamentary constituencies should
have approximately equal numbers of eligible voters, although the same
section states that greater weight should be given to rural
constituencies. The Government conducted a nationwide electoral
redistricting exercise during 2002. In 2003, 25 new parliamentary seats
were added primarily in states in which the ruling coalition is strong.
The opposition complained that the two states it controlled prior to
the March elections did not get any new seats and that the
redistricting was undertaken by the Government to weaken the
opposition. Observers agreed that the redistricting favored Government
candidates for parliamentary seats but believed it had less influence
on elections for state seats.
The Elections Commission lifted the ban on political rallies for
the March elections; however, to hold a rally, organizers needed to
file an application with the police 14 days in advance of the proposed
event. With only 17 days between the announcement of the election and
polling, and only 7 days of formal campaigning permitted, it was
difficult to comply with this requirement. Nonetheless, the opposition
held many rallies during the campaign.
In 2003, Parliament amended the election law making it an offense
for a candidate to ``promote feelings of ill-will, discontent or
hostility.'' The Elections Commission warned that violators would be
disqualified. Opposition candidates complained that this law restricted
their ability to criticize government policies at public functions.
Under the electoral law, unsuccessful candidates may appeal
election results to special election courts in instances of alleged
fraud, vote tampering, or other infractions of electoral rules.
However, in 2002, Parliament passed an amendment to the electoral law
forbidding judicial scrutiny of voter rolls after the Election
Commission has certified them.
Over the years, Parliament's function as a deliberative body has
deteriorated. Legislation proposed by the Government rarely was amended
or rejected. Legislation proposed by the opposition never was given
serious consideration. Opposition opportunities to hold legislation up
to public scrutiny have diminished. In September, a member of
Parliament from the opposition Democratic Action Party was suspended
without pay for 6 months after failing to apologize to the
parliamentary Speaker for ``misleading the House'' on the question of
whether or not M.P.s had to raise their hands when taking their oaths
of office. The 1995 parliament amended its rules to strengthen the
power of the Speaker and to curb parliamentary procedures frequently
used by the opposition. The amendments empowered the Speaker to ban
members he considered unruly for up to 10 days, imposed limits on
deputies' ability to pose supplementary questions and revisit non-
germane issues, and established restrictions on the tabling of
questions of public importance. Further measures in 1997 and 1998
limited even more severely members' opportunities to question and
debate government policies. In 2001, an amendment to the parliamentary
Standing Orders permitted the Speaker to edit written copies of
members' speeches before the speeches were delivered. Nonetheless,
Government officials often faced sharp questioning in Parliament,
although this was not always reported in detail in the press.
After the 1969 intercommunal riots, the Government abolished
elected local government in favor of municipal committees and village
chiefs appointed by state governments. Some politicians and NGO
activists advocated the reintroduction of local government elections.
Even some ruling party municipal officials noted that local bodies were
simply ``rubber stamps'' for the Government.
In recent years there has been a widely held perception of
widespread corruption and cronyism within the ruling coalition and in
government institutions. In his first few months in office Prime
Minister Abdullah publicly denounced corruption, canceled a high-
profile project tainted by cronyism, called for strengthening of the
Anti-Corruption Agency, proposed the creation of a civil service ethics
training institute, and pushed government institutions to be more
responsive to the public. In February, both the former managing
director of a government-owned steel company and the then-federal
Minister for Land and Cooperative Development were arrested in separate
cases on corruption-related charges. In November, UMNO suspended 16
members for possible vote buying in party elections.
Women faced no legal limits on participation in government and
politics, and the Government proposed a ``plan of action for the
advancement of women'' to redress inequalities that did exist. At
year's end, 3 of 33 cabinet ministers were women. Women held 20 of 193
seats in the House of Representatives, and they held 19 of 70 seats in
the Senate. In 2003, noting the low percentage of women in the
legislature, the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development
asserted, ``It is a simple fact of life that women operate in a very
unequal workplace environment.'' In August, the Prime Minister
announced that 30 percent of decision-making posts in Government would
be allocated to women.
Ethnic minorities were represented in cabinet-level positions in
Government, as well as in senior civil service positions. The political
dominance of the Malay majority meant, in practice, that ethnic Malays
held the most powerful senior leadership positions. Non-Malays filled
10 of the 35 cabinet posts and 20 of 38 deputy minister positions. An
ethnic Chinese leader of a component party of the ruling coalition was
Chief Minister of Penang State.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international NGOs, including the Bar
Council and other public interest groups, devoted considerable
attention to human rights. The Government generally tolerated their
activities but often did not respond to their inquiries or press
statements. Under Prime Minister Abdullah, there generally was a more
cooperative atmosphere toward human rights NGOs. The 16-member
commission established to conduct a review of the police included an
official of the opposition political party PAS, the president of the
national chapter of Transparency International, the president of the
Bar Council, and the executive secretary of Women's Aid Organization.
In May, the Prime Minister met with representatives of 30 NGOs involved
with human rights, social work, native rights, and environment and
stated that he valued their role as ``watchdogs of society.'' Also in
May, the Kuala Lumpur High Court released human rights activist Irene
Fernandez' passport allowing her travel to an overseas conference
(Fernandez had been convicted in 2003 on a charge of ``publishing false
news.'') In June, the police joined with Fernandez' organization
Tenaganita to establish a 24-hour hotline to assist foreign domestic
workers who were abused or cheated by their employers.
The Government generally did not encourage international human
rights organizations to form domestic branches; however, it usually did
not restrict access by representatives of those organizations. The
Government did not allow AI to set up a branch as an NGO; however, AI
incorporated itself as a business and was able to function much like an
NGO.
Suhakam has come to be seen by many analysts as a credible monitor
of the human rights situation in the country and a check on police
activities that previously lacked oversight. Suhakam is not empowered
to inquire into allegations relating to ongoing court cases and must
cease its inquiry if an allegation under investigation becomes the
subject matter of a court case. In July, in its fourth annual human
rights report, Suhakam criticized deaths in police custody and
detentions without trial, repeated its opposition to government-imposed
restrictions on freedom of assembly, reiterated concerns about the ISA,
and highlighted the need to develop a national plan of action to
counter trafficking in persons.
During the year, Suhakam commissioners traveled throughout the
country to educate community leaders, including police officials, on
the purposes of the Commission and the importance of human rights.
Commissioners also made several visits to prisons throughout the
country to monitor conditions. In 2003, Suhakam released a report on
the condition of ISA detainees. The report noted some human rights
violations and outlined 18 recommendations aimed at improving
conditions. Some observers credited Suhakam with the 2003 release of
six opposition activists detained under the ISA.
Analysts acknowledged Suhakam as one of the few institutions in
society with any ability to challenge, however tentatively, executive
control. In 2003, Suhakam itself noted that a major challenge that
remained unresolved was the slow government response to their reports
on major issues that touched on fundamental liberties. In 2003, the
then-Deputy Prime Minister (now Prime Minister) praised Suhakam for
playing a positive and constructive role in the national dialogue on
human rights.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal protection under the law and
prohibits discrimination against citizens based on religion, race,
descent, or place of birth. In 2001, Parliament unanimously approved a
constitutional amendment barring discrimination on the basis of sex;
however, discrimination based on some of these factors persisted. For
example, government policies gave preferences to ethnic Malays in
housing, home ownership, the awarding of government contracts,
educational scholarships, and other areas. Neither the Constitution nor
other laws explicitly prohibited discrimination based on physical or
mental disabilities, but the Government promoted greater public
acceptance and integration of persons with disabilities.
Women.--Violence against women remained a problem. Reports of rape
and spousal abuse drew considerable government, NGO, and press
attention. According to the local NGO Women's Aid Organization (WAO),
there were over 2,500 cases of domestic violence reported during the
year.
The Domestic Violence Act addresses violence against women in the
home; however, women's groups criticized the act as inadequate and
called for amendments to strengthen it. In their view, the act fails to
protect women in immediate danger by requiring separate reports of
abuse to be filed with both the Welfare Department and the police,
causing delay in the issuance of a restraining order against the
perpetrator. Women's rights activists also highlighted the fact that,
because the act is a part of the Penal Code, legal protection for
victims is limited to cases in which visible evidence of physical
injury is present, despite its interpretation to include sexual and
psychological abuse. In June, WAO said that the lack of co operation
among the police, the social welfare department, and the judiciary
continued to be a problem.
Although the Government, NGOs, and political parties established
shelters and offered other assistance to battered spouses, activists
asserted that support mechanisms for victims of domestic violence
remained inadequate. The police established a Sexual Investigations
Unit at each police headquarters as part of a nationwide effort to help
victims of sexual crimes and abuse. Police responses and sensitivity to
complaints of domestic violence improved, but women's rights activists
claimed that the police needed additional training in handling domestic
abuse as well as rape cases. In 2003, the Minister for Women, Family
and Community Development urged the Government to place female officers
at each police station to deal with victims who are often reluctant to
lodge reports with male personnel. In 2003, the Prime Minister directed
all district police stations to establish units specially trained to
minimize the trauma faced by victims of sex crimes and domestic
violence.
Some Shari'a experts have urged Muslim women to become more aware
of the provisions of Shari'a that prohibit spousal abuse and provide
for divorce on grounds of physical cruelty. However, provisions in
state Shari'a laws generally prohibit wives from disobeying the lawful
orders of their husbands and present an obstacle to women pursuing
claims against their husbands in Shari'a courts. Muslim women were able
to file complaints in the civil courts.
Spousal rape is not a crime. Theoretically a man who raped his wife
could face charges of assault; however, reportedly no man has been
convicted under such circumstances. In August, Suhakam and local NGOs
called on the Government to amend the Penal Code to include spousal
rape as an offense.
Reports of rape were common in the press and among women's rights
groups and NGOs. According to the press, 1,462 women were raped in the
first 10 months of the year. Many government hospitals have set up
crisis centers where victims of rape and domestic abuse could make
reports without going to a police station. NGOs and political parties
also cooperated in providing counseling for rape victims. However,
cultural attitudes and a perceived lack of sympathy from the largely
male police force resulted in many victims not reporting rapes.
According to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
and a leading women's NGO, only 10 percent of rape cases were reported
to the police. In 2003, the Penal Code was amended to increase the
punishment for rape to include imprisonment for a term of from 5 to 30
years, caning, and a fine. In May, a man was sentenced to caning and 45
years in prison on three counts of rape. While some rapists received
heavy punishments, including caning, women's groups noted that other
rapists received inadequate punishments. In 2002, a police constable
was acquitted of charges of raping two foreign women who were in police
custody. The Sessions Court ruled that the acts had been consensual.
Following sharp public criticism of the verdict, the Attorney General's
office filed an appeal. In 2003, the High Court overturned the Sessions
Court's decision and sentenced the policeman to 15 years in prison.
In the past, some NGOs reported instances of female genital
mutilation (FGM) in rural areas, but there have been no reports of such
practices in recent years.
Prostitution is illegal and was prosecuted. Statistics were
available only for foreigners arrested on immigration charges with
suspected involvement in prostitution. In 2003, the number of such
persons arrested was 5,584 compared to 4,132 arrested in 2001. Police
attributed the increase to more vigorous enforcement efforts.
The country was a source and destination country for trafficking in
women for purposes of prostitution (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The Government's Code of Practice on the Prevention and Eradication
of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace provides a detailed definition of
sexual harassment and attempts to raise public awareness of the
problem, but women's groups advocated passage of a law on sexual
harassment in lieu of the voluntary code of conduct. The Malaysian
Employers Federation opposed any attempt to legislate against sexual
harassment in the workplace, arguing that government imposed policies
would unduly restrict the management of labor relations. Since the
Code's 1999 introduction, the number of reported incidents of sexual
harassment has risen.
In August, the Human Resources Ministry said that the Employment
Act would be amended to include a provision requiring all companies to
appoint an officer from among senior management to handle sexual
harassment in the workplace.
Polygyny is allowed and practiced to a limited degree. Islamic
inheritance law varies by state, but it generally favors male offspring
and relatives. However, one state, Negeri Sembilan, provides for
matrilineal inheritance. The number of women obtaining divorces under
the provisions of Shari'a that allow for divorce without the husband's
consent, while small, was increasing steadily.
Women's rights advocates asserted that women still face
discriminatory treatment in Islamic courts due to prejudicial
interpretation of Islamic family law and the lack of uniformity in the
implementation of family laws among the various states. In 2002, the
Sultan of Selangor, who is also the senior Islamic figure in the state,
acknowledged the bias against women of Shari'a court judges.
Non-Muslim women are subject to civil (secular) law. The
Guardianship of Women and Infants Act gives mothers equal parental
rights. Four states extend the provisions of the bill to Muslim
mothers. Women's groups urged all states to do the same. In 2002,
Parliament approved an amendment to the Group Settlement Act that gives
wives a joint stake in land awarded to their husbands.
The Government undertook a number of initiatives to promote
equality for women and the full and equal participation of women in
education and the work force. Women were represented in growing numbers
in professional positions; however, in 2003 the Minister of Women,
Family and Community Development noted that, while 46 percent of public
sector staff were women, only 15 percent held key posts. The media
reported in August that women made up 12 percent of the police force.
In the scientific and medical fields, women made up more than half of
all university graduates, and the total representation of women at
universities increased from 29 percent in 1970 to over 50 percent of
the student population in recent years. According to the national union
of bank employees, 65 percent of members were women, but only one out
of eight principal banking officials was a woman. In August, the Prime
Minister announced that 30 percent of decision-making posts in
Government would be allocated to women.
Children.--The Government has demonstrated a commitment to
children's rights and welfare and allocated approximately 25 percent of
the national budget to education. The Government provides free
education for children through 15 years of age. Although primary
education is compulsory, there is no enforcement mechanism governing
school attendance. Actual attendance at primary school is 96 percent,
while secondary school attendance is 82 percent. A variety of programs
provided low cost health care for most children.
The Child Act incorporates the principles of the U.N. Convention on
the Rights of the Child, prescribing severe punishments for child
trafficking, abuse, molestation, neglect, and abandonment. It also
mandates the formation of a Children's Court, which the Government
stated would better protect the interests of children; however, the
court has not yet been established. The act allows caning of male
children between the ages of 10 and 18 years, who may receive a maximum
of 10 strokes with a ``light cane.''
The Government recognized that sexual exploitation of children and
incest were problems. Incest in particular was a problem in rural
areas. A 2002 amendment to the Penal Code provides for from 6 to 20
years' imprisonment and caning for individuals convicted of incest. The
Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development reported 306 cases
of incest in 2002. In September, the local press reported that in a
survey of 133 convicted sex predators, 23 percent of the victims of
sexual offenses were daughters of the offender. However, under the
Evidence Act, the testimony of children is accepted only if there is
corroborating evidence. This poses special problems for molestation
cases in which the child victim is the only witness. Some judges and
others recommended that the Evidence Act be amended to accept the
testimony of children and that courts implement special procedures to
hear the testimony of children.
Statutory rape occurred and was prosecuted. However, Islamic law
provisions that consider a Muslim girl an adult after she has had her
first menstruation sometimes complicated prosecution of statutory rape.
Such a girl may be charged with ``khalwat'' or ``close proximity'' (the
charge usually used to prosecute premarital or extramarital sexual
relations), even if she is under the age of 18 and her partner is an
adult. Thus Shari'a courts sometimes punished the victims of statutory
rape. Moreover, Shari'a courts sometimes were more lenient with males
who were charged with ``close proximity.'' However, in many cases
Muslim men were charged and punished for statutory rape under secular
law.
Child prostitution existed, but child prostitutes often were
treated as delinquents rather than victims. According to police
statistics, in 2002, 97 girls under 18 were detained and sent to
rehabilitation centers for involvement in immoral activities (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor occurred in certain areas of the country (see Section
6.d.).
Sabah state had a problem of street children. Estimated to number
anywhere from a few score to a few hundred, they were born in the
country to illegal immigrant parents who have since been deported.
These children lacked citizenship and access to government provided
support.
Trafficking in Persons.--There is no law that specifically and
comprehensively criminalizes trafficking in persons. However, the Child
Act prohibits all forms of trafficking of children under 18, and the
Penal Code comprehensively addresses trafficking for the purpose of
prostitution. The Government also uses other laws, such as the
Immigration Act, the Restricted Residence Act, and the ISA to prosecute
traffickers.
The country was a source, transit, and destination country for
trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation. Women and girls
from Thailand and the Philippines were trafficked through the country
to destinations such as Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and the United
States. Young women primarily from Indonesia, China, Thailand, and the
Philippines were trafficked into the country for sexual exploitation.
These women often worked as karaoke hostesses, ``guest relations
officers,'' and masseuses. Some foreign women and girls employed as
domestic servants were held in conditions that amounted to forced labor
(see Section 6.e.).
In 2003, the police arrested 5,584 foreign prostitutes. According
to the police, members of the Bar Council, and Suhakam, many foreigners
found to be involved in prostitution were possible victims. There were
allegations of corruption among law enforcement personnel since some
trafficking victims were known to pass through two or more ports of
entry without travel documents. One NGO alleged that high level
business and political officials were involved in trafficking. In 2003,
the police eliminated a human smuggling syndicate including Malaysian
Airlines and Malaysian airport officials.
Some Malaysian women and girls were trafficked for sexual purposes,
mostly to Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, but also to Japan,
Australia, Canada, and the United States. According to police and
Chinese community leaders, female citizens who were victims of
trafficking were usually ethnic Chinese, although ethnic Malay and
ethnic Indian women worked as prostitutes domestically. Police and NGOs
believed that criminal syndicates were behind most of the trafficking.
Trafficking victims were kept compliant through involuntary
confinement, confiscation of travel documents, debt bondage, and
physical abuse. During the year, there were a number of reports of
foreign women escaping from apartments where they were held and forced
to serve as unwilling prostitutes. According to news reports, these
women said that they were lured to the country by promises of
legitimate employment and were forced into prostitution upon their
arrival in the country.
In 2002, the Government amended the Penal Code to include extensive
provisions prohibiting buying or selling any person, using deceitful
means to bring anyone into or out of the country, and wrongfully
restraining (defined to include using threats, withholding clothing, or
holding a person's passport) any person with the intention that that
person will be used for the purposes of prostitution. Punishment for
these offenses includes a maximum 15-year prison term, caning, and a
fine, to be determined at the discretion of the sentencing judge. In
2003, police prosecuted 24 cases under a trafficking statute, charged
and tried 10 persons and convicted 7. There were 145 trafficking
victims involved in these prosecutions. Additionally, in 2003, 49
suspected traffickers were arrested under the Prevention of Crime
Ordinance, and 70 cases of suspected trafficking were prosecuted under
the Immigration Act. In March, the police arrested two of the country's
top criminals alleged to be involved in trafficking and sent them to
detention camps for 2 years under the Prevention of Crime Ordinance.
The Government assisted some underage prostitutes and rescued some
trafficked women and girls during the year. In 2002, 97 underage
prostitutes were sent to rehabilitation centers. The Malaysian Chinese
Association (the largest ethnic Chinese political party in the ruling
National Front coalition) reported that in 2003, it assisted 73
trafficking victims in escaping from vice syndicates. However, police
had no comprehensive policy to protect victims of trafficking. Police
often arrested or deported possible trafficking victims for immigration
offenses. The police and members of the Bar Council legal aid bureau
advised that this was the fastest way to expedite victims' return to
their home countries. Trafficking victims who exhibit signs of physical
abuse may be sent to a women's shelter instead of being detained by the
police; however, permission from the police to allow victims to reside
in a shelter was sometimes difficult to obtain. In December, the
Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development opened a shelter
specifically intended for foreign women who were victims of
trafficking.
A number of NGOs with government support provided shelter for
trafficking victims and assisted in repatriating them to their home
countries. In April, Suhakam hosted a counter-trafficking forum
attended by NGOs, police, immigration officials, prosecutors, and
representatives from the diplomatic community. In October, a follow-up
workshop, involving similar attendees as well as speakers from the
International Organization for Migration, outlined a national plan of
action to combat human trafficking and provide greater protection to
victims.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Government did not discriminate
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or in the
provision of other state services. A public sector regulation reserves
1 percent of all public sector job openings for persons with
disabilities. In 2003, the Prime Minister ordered that all buildings be
made disabled-friendly. However, few public facilities were adapted to
the needs of persons with disabilities, and the Government has not
mandated accessibility to transportation for persons with disabilities.
New government buildings were generally outfitted with a full range of
facilities for persons with disabilities. In August, the Human
Resources Ministry announced a plan to create 3-4,000 jobs annually for
the disabled. The budget for the 2005 fiscal year included additional
tax benefits for persons with disabilities and their spouses.
In 2001, the Government announced the Code of Practice for the
Employment of Persons with Disabilities in the Private Sector as a
guideline for all government agencies, employers, employee
associations, employees, and others to place suitable persons with
disabilities in private sector jobs. Suhakam has recommended
legislation to address discriminatory practices and barriers facing
persons with disabilities and has organized dialogues among persons
with disabilities, government departments, and NGOs to promote
awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities.
Special education schools existed, but were not sufficient to meet
the needs of the disabled population. The Government undertook many
initiatives to promote public acceptance of persons with disabilities,
to make public facilities more accessible to persons with disabilities,
and to increase budgetary allotments for programs aimed at aiding them.
Recognizing that public transportation was not disabled-friendly, the
Government reduced the excise duty for persons with disabilities on
locally made cars and motorcycles by 50 percent. The most recent
statistics indicated that persons with disabilities made up 7 percent
of the population.
Indigenous People.--Indigenous people (the descendants of the
original inhabitants of the peninsular region of the country and the
Borneo states) generally enjoyed the same constitutional rights as the
rest of the population. However, in practice, federal laws pertaining
to indigenous people of the peninsular region, known as the Orang Asli,
vest considerable authority in the Minister for Rural Development to
protect, control, and otherwise decide issues concerning this group. As
a result, indigenous people, particularly in peninsular Malaysia, had
very little ability to participate in decisions that affected them.
The ``Orang Asli,'' who numbered approximately 147,000, were the
poorest group in the country. According to government statistics, over
80 percent of the Orang Asli lived below the poverty level. In 2002,
the Cabinet approved the formation of a national advisory council for
the development of Orang Asli. However, only 5 out of 17 council
members were Orang Asli. In 2003, the Government announced development
projects for the Orang Asli totaling $26.3 million (100 million
ringgit) for the 2004 fiscal year focused on improving the health, pre-
school education, infrastructure, and economic activities. Nonetheless,
according to a local NGO, the percentage of Orang Asli living below the
poverty line increased during the year.
Under the Aboriginal People's Act, the Orang Asli who had been
granted land on a group basis were permitted to live on reserves but
did not possess land rights. Observers reported that, over the years,
the total area of land reserved for Orang Asli had decreased, and some
land previously set aside as Orang Asli reserve had been rezoned for
development. In 2003, Suhakam called on the Government to resolve
outstanding disputes involving native customary land of the Orang Asli.
The uncertainty surrounding Orang Asli land ownership made them
vulnerable to exploitation. Logging companies continued to encroach on
land traditionally held by Orang Asli and indigenous groups in the
Borneo states. In 2003, the press reported that the Orang Asli of the
Air Banum Resettlement Scheme were prevented from fishing and gathering
forest produce by government security forces. Also in 2003, Orang Asli
in Pahang state were arrested for attempting to block logging trucks
from entering their land. The press reported that they were later
released on bail, and the logging project was cancelled. In 2002, the
High Court ruled in favor of an Orang Asli group, the Temuans, as the
rightful owners of land used for the construction of the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport and ordered the Selangor state government to give
compensation. The state government appealed the decision, and the case
was still pending at year's end.
Indigenous people in Sarawak continued to protest encroachment by
state and private logging and plantation companies onto land that they
consider to be theirs under native customary rights. In 2002, for
example, a court refused an injunction to stop two timber companies
from conducting logging activities in an area that approximately 200
indigenous people in Miri, Sarawak, claimed was their ancestral land.
The indigenous persons appealed the ruling, and a decision was still
pending at year's end.
Laws allowing condemnation and purchase of land do not require more
than perfunctory notifications in newspapers to which indigenous people
may have no access. In past years, this led to indigenous people being
deprived of their traditional lands with little or no legal recourse.
Suhakam reported that the Bakun Dam project in Sarawak encroached
upon the native land of the Penans and that this encroachment caused
the degradation of the forests around Penan villages and the pollution
of their water supply. The Commission also noted that the development
of oil palm plantations encroached on traditional lands.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Government maintained
extensive preferential programs designed to boost the economic position
of the Malay majority, which remained poorer on average than the
Chinese minority. Such preferential programs and policies limited
opportunities for non Malays in higher education, government
employment, business permits and licenses, and ownership of land.
According to the Government, these programs were instrumental in
ensuring ethnic harmony and political stability. Ethnic Indian
citizens, who did not receive such privileges, remained among the
country's poorest groups.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Although there are no
laws that prohibit homosexuality per se, laws against sodomy and
``carnal intercourse against the order of nature'' exist and are
enforced. Religious and cultural taboos against homosexuality were
widespread. The Government's response to HIV/AIDS was generally non-
discriminatory, although much of society continued to stigmatize AIDS
sufferers.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--By law, most workers have the right
to engage in trade union activity, but only 8.5 percent of the labor
force was represented by the 609 trade unions. Those restricted from
joining a union include workers categorized as ``confidential'' and
``managerial and executive,'' as well as defense and police officials.
With certain limitations, unions may organize workplaces, bargain
collectively with employers, and associate with national federations.
In theory, foreign workers can join a trade union; however, the
Immigration Department placed conditions on foreign workers' permits
that effectively barred them from joining a trade union (see Section
6.e.).
The Trade Unions Act prohibits interfering with, restraining, or
coercing a worker in the exercise of the right to form trade unions or
in participating in lawful trade union activities. However, contrary to
International Labor Organization (ILO) guidelines, the act restricts a
union to representing workers in a ``particular establishment, trade,
occupation, or industry or within any similar trades, occupations, or
industries.'' The Director General of Trade Unions may refuse to
register a trade union and, in some circumstances, may also withdraw
the registration of a trade union. When registration is refused,
withdrawn, or canceled, a trade union is considered an unlawful
association.
Trade unions from different industries may join in national
congresses, but the congresses must register as societies under the
Societies Act (see Section 2.b.).
Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) officials continued to
express frustration about delays in the settlement of union recognition
disputes. While the Industrial Relations Act requires that a union be
recognized within 21 days of application, it was not uncommon for
unions to go unrecognized for 1 to 4 years. During the year, there were
101 applications for trade union recognition under the Industrial
Relations Act. According to the Ministry of Human Resources, there were
10 court challenges by private companies to decisions authorizing the
formation of unions. In August, the press reported that the employees
of Euromedical Industries finally managed to get their union recognized
after 29 years of court appeals.
Government policy inhibited the formation of national unions in the
electronics sector, the country's largest industry. The Government
believed that enterprise level unions were more appropriate for this
sector. According to MTUC officials, 150,000 electronics workers were
unable to organize and only 8 in house unions were formed in the
electronics industry. Collective bargaining agreements are limited in
those companies designated as having ``pioneer status.'' According to
the ILO, the Government has promised to repeal this statute since 1994.
Unions maintained independence both from the Government and
political parties, although individual union members may belong to
political parties. Although union officers by law may not hold
principal offices in political parties, individual trade union leaders
have served in Parliament. Trade unions were free to associate with
national labor congresses, which exercised many of the responsibilities
of national labor unions, although they cannot bargain for local
unions.
There are two national labor organizations. The MTUC is a society
of trade unions, in both the private and government sectors, registered
under the Societies Act. As such, the MTUC does not have collective
bargaining or industrial action rights, but provides technical support
for affiliated members. Government sector unions had opportunities to
affiliate with the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and
Civil Service, a federation of trade unions registered under the Trade
Unions Act. Trade unions were also permitted to affiliate with
international trade union organizations, such as global union
federations and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions,
subject to the approval of the Director General of Trade Unions.
Although the law grants public servants the right to organize at the
level of ministries and departments, the Government did not respond to
ILO requests for specific information on the numbers and categories of
civil servant employees covered or details regarding the collective
bargaining agreements reached. There were three national joint councils
representing management and professional civil servants, technical
employees, and non technical workers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers have
the legal right to organize and bargain collectively, and collective
bargaining was widespread in those sectors where labor was organized.
Charges of discrimination may be filed with the Ministry of Human
Resources or the Industrial Court. Critics alleged that the Industrial
Court was slow in adjudicating worker complaints when conciliation
efforts by the Ministry of Human Resources failed. However, others
pointed out that the Industrial Court almost always sided with the
workers in disputes. In the past, employers reportedly often ignored
Industrial Court judgments with impunity. In 2002, the number of
Industrial Court chairpersons was increased from 14 to 21 to address
the problem of backlogged cases.
The Government holds that issues of transfer, dismissal, and
reinstatement are internal management prerogatives; therefore, they are
excluded from collective bargaining, which is not in accordance with
ILO standards. The Minister of Human Resources can suspend for up to 6
months any trade union deemed to be used for purposes prejudicial to or
incompatible with security or public order.
Although strikes are legal, the right to strike is severely
restricted. The law contains a list of ``essential services'' in which
unions must give advance notice of any industrial action. The list
includes sectors not normally deemed essential under ILO definitions.
The Government stated these essential services were considered crucial
to the economy and the public interest. The MTUC officials said that
requirements imposed by the authorities were so stringent that it was
almost impossible to strike. According to the Ministry of Human
Resources statistics, there were 2 strikes and lockouts involving 57
workers in 2003. Employees in the public sector do not have the right
to collective bargaining.
The Industrial Relations Act requires the parties to notify the
Ministry of Human Resources that a dispute exists before any industrial
action may be taken. The Ministry's Industrial Relations Department
then may become involved actively in conciliation efforts. If
conciliation fails to achieve settlement, the Minister has the power to
refer the dispute to the Industrial Court. Strikes or lockouts are
prohibited while the dispute is before the Industrial Court. The act
prohibits employers from taking retribution against a worker for
participating in the lawful activities of a trade union. When a strike
is legal, these provisions prohibit employer retribution against
strikers and leaders. However, some trade unions questioned the
effectiveness of the provisions.
Companies in free trade zones (FTZs) must observe labor standards
identical to those in the rest of the country. Many workers in FTZ
companies were organized, especially in the textile and electrical
products sectors. The ILO continues to object to legal restrictions on
collective bargaining in pioneer industries.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and the Government generally
enforced this prohibition. Certain laws allow the use of imprisonment
with compulsory labor as punishment for persons who express views
opposed to the established order or who participate in strikes.
However, these laws were not applied and appear to be constitutionally
prohibited.
Some of the estimated 260,000 foreign women employed as household
workers have been subjected to physical abuse and forced to work under
harsh conditions.
The Government prohibits forced and compulsory labor by children,
and there were no reports that such practices occurred in the formal
sector (some child domestics were working in conditions amounting to
forced labor).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act prohibits the employment of
children younger than the age of 14. The act permits some exceptions,
such as light work in a family enterprise, work in public
entertainment, work performed for the Government in a school or in
training institutions, or work as an approved apprentice. In no case
may children work more than 6 hours per day, more than 6 days per week,
or at night.
Child labor occurred in certain areas of the country. There was no
reliable estimate of the number of child workers. Most child laborers
worked informally in the agricultural sector, helping their parents in
the field. However, only adult members of the family received a wage.
In urban areas, child labor could be found in family food businesses,
night markets, and small-scale industries. Government officials did not
deny the existence of child labor in family businesses but maintained
that foreign workers have largely replaced child labor and that the
Government vigorously enforced child labor provisions. In practice,
mechanisms for monitoring workplace conditions were inadequate, and the
resolution of most abuse cases were often left to private, for profit
labor agencies that were themselves often guilty of abuses. Bilateral
labor agreements between Indonesia and Malaysia do not provide adequate
protections for domestic workers.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no minimum wage, as
the Government preferred to allow market forces to determine wages.
Prevailing market wages generally provided a decent living. Wage
Councils, which were established by the Wage Council Act of 1947 to
provide a recommended minimum wage in those sectors in which the market
wage was determined insufficient, had little impact on wages in any
sector. According to MTUC officials, the Wage Councils had not met for
more than 13 years, and their recommended wages have long been
obsolete.
Plantation workers generally received production-related payments
or daily wages. In 2003, the National Union of Plantation Workers
(NUPW) and the Malaysian Agriculture Producers Association agreed on a
monthly minimum wage for palm oil plantation workers of $92 (350
ringgit) per month. Proponents of the agreement said that productivity
incentives and bonuses raised the prevailing wage to nearly $184 (700
ringgit). In 2003, rubber plantation workers were provided with a
similar minimum guarantee.
Under the Employment Act, working hours may not exceed 8 hours per
day or 48 hours per workweek of 6 days. Each workweek must include a
24-hour rest period. The act also sets overtime rates and mandates
public holidays, annual leave, sick leave, and maternity allowances.
The Labor Department of the Ministry of Human Resources is responsible
for enforcing these standards, but a shortage of inspectors precluded
strict enforcement.
Significant numbers of contract workers, including numerous illegal
immigrants, worked on plantations and in other sectors. According to
statistics from the NUPW, foreign workers made up 50 percent of the
plantation work force; however, the true number may have been higher
since illegal immigrants were not counted. Working conditions for these
laborers compared poorly with those of direct-hire plantation workers,
many of whom belonged to the NUPW.
Work related accidents were especially high in the plantation
sector. According to the Human Resources Ministry, 14 percent of all
reported industrial accidents during the year occurred on plantations.
Foreign workers in the construction and other sectors, particularly
if they were illegal aliens, generally did not have access to the
system of labor adjudication. In 2002, government investigations into
this problem resulted in a number of steps to eliminate the abuse of
contract labor. For example, in addition to expanding programs to
regularize the status of immigrant workers during the year, the
Government investigated complaints of abuses, attempted to inform
workers of their rights, encouraged workers to come forward with their
complaints, and warned employers to end abuses. Like other employers,
labor contractors may be prosecuted for violating the labor laws.
The Workmen's Compensation Act covers both local and foreign
workers, but provides no protection for foreign domestic workers.
According to the Government, foreign domestic workers are protected
under the Employment Act, particularly as regards wages and contract
termination. However, employers sometimes failed to honor the terms of
employment and abused their domestic servants. The terms of the
contract for Indonesian domestic workers are vague and open to abuse.
The contract provides for a monthly salary of $100 (380 ringgit), but
does not specify the number of working hours per day. HRW and local
NGOs reported that many Indonesian domestic workers were required to
work 14-18 hours a day, seven days a week. The contract for Filipina
domestic workers included more comprehensive protections. During the
year, the Government was negotiating a new memorandum of understanding
with Indonesia to provide better protections for domestic workers, but
as of year's end it had not been signed. Some workers alleged that
their employers subjected them to inhuman living conditions, withheld
their salaries, and physically assaulted them. In May, the local and
international press reported the case of an Indonesian domestic worker
who was beaten and abused by her employer. The employer was arrested
and charged on four counts of causing grievous hurt, which carry a
maximum sentence of 67 years. In August, HRW reported that such cases
were common and that the Government failed to protect Indonesian
household workers. However, local NGOs advised that workers have the
right to take legal action against abusive employers. According to
NGOs, the courts generally have sided with employees and ruled that
employers must pay all back salary and compensate plaintiffs for
injuries.
Legal and illegal foreign workers from Indonesia, the Philippines,
Burma, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, and other countries
constituted approximately 20 percent of the work force. Illegal foreign
workers have no legal protection under the labor laws and have no legal
recourse in cases of abuse.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) covers all sectors of
the economy except the maritime sector and the military. The act
established a national Occupational Safety and Health Council, composed
of workers, employers, and government representatives, to set policy
and coordinate occupational safety and health measures. It requires
employers to identify risks and take precautions, including providing
safety training to workers, and compels companies that have more than
40 workers to establish joint management-employee safety committees.
The act requires workers to use safety equipment and to cooperate with
employers to create a safe, healthy workplace. Employers or employees
that violate the OSHA are subject to substantial fines or imprisonment
for up to 5 years. There are no specific statutory or regulatory
provisions that provide a right for workers to remove themselves from
dangerous workplace conditions without arbitrary dismissal.
__________
MARSHALL ISLANDS
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a self-governing nation
under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The
Constitution provides for executive, legislative, and judicial
branches. The legislature consists of a 33 member Parliament (Nitijela)
and a Council of Chiefs (Iroij), which serves a largely consultative
function dealing with custom and traditional practice. In November
2003, the Nitijela was elected in free and fair elections. The
President is elected by majority Nitijela vote and appoints his Cabinet
from its membership. In January, the Nitijela elected President Kessai
Note to a second 4 year term. The judiciary is independent.
The national police under the Ministry of Justice and local police
forces are responsible for internal security. Under the Compact of Free
Association, the United States is responsible for the country's
external defense. The civilian authorities maintained effective control
of the security forces. There were no reports that security forces
committed human rights abuses.
The mixed economy is heavily dependent on transfer payments from
the United States under the Compact. Such payments constituted
approximately 70 percent of the country's estimated $100 million gross
national product. According to 2002 data, the population of
approximately 56,600 was of Micronesian origin and concentrated
primarily on the Majuro and Kwajalein Atolls. Coconut oil, copra, and
tuna exports, tourism, import and income taxes, an open ship registry,
a tuna loining plant, ship chandlering, and fishing licensing fees
generated limited revenues. However, in September, the loining plant, a
major employer, closed due to financial problems. Economic growth in
2002, the latest figure available, was approximately 4 percent, but
annual labor force growth of approximately 7 percent combined with
government austerity measures resulted in a decline in real wages over
the past several years. The U.S. dollar is the national currency.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and the judiciary provide effective means of
dealing with individual instances of abuse; however, there were
problems in a few areas. Prison conditions did not meet international
standards. Violence against women and child abuse continued to be
problems.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution forbids such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions did not meet international standards. Most
prisoners were held in a single large, inadequately lighted dormitory
with inadequate nighttime supervision. There was no program to ensure
regular access to daily outside activity. Some male juveniles were held
together with adults; as juvenile crimes increased in number and
seriousness over the past several years, the courts began to try more
male juveniles as adults and to order them held with the general prison
population. Pretrial detainees were not separated from the general
prison population. Female prisoners, including juveniles, were held
under house arrest.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent human rights
observers.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
There is a national police force and local police forces. Police
officers do not carry firearms, and police generally used the minimum
force necessary to detain a suspect. There were no reports of
significant police corruption.
Warrants are required for arrests and are issued by the courts.
Detainees may request bond immediately upon arrest for minor offenses;
most serious offenses require the detainee to remain in jail until a
hearing can be arranged, normally the morning after arrest.
Families had access to detainees, and detainees have the right to
lawyers of their choice. There is a functioning system of bail, and the
State provides a lawyer if the defendant is indigent.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary consists of a Supreme Court with appellate
jurisdiction, a High Court with general jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters and appellate jurisdiction over subordinate courts at
the district and community levels, and a Traditional Rights Court with
jurisdiction in cases involving matters of customary law and
traditional practice. The Cabinet appoints judges. Few citizens were
trained in the law, and the judicial system relied heavily on
noncitizen public prosecutors and defense attorneys. Most lower court
judges were citizens; the higher courts relied on noncitizen judges, in
part to prevent conflicts of interest in the small, highly interrelated
society. The Chief Justice of the High Court is a foreign national
appointed for a 10-year term. The incumbent succeeded a foreign
national judge suspended in 2002 after he was charged with
misappropriating government travel funds. At year's end, the case
against the suspended judge was in abeyance because of his refusal, on
the basis of a medical condition, to return to the country.
During the year, the High Court Chief Justice worked, with foreign
assistance, to develop a judicial training program and improvements in
trial procedures.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction. However, the Government refused permission
for the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Women United Together in the
Marshall Islands (WUTMI) to broadcast its outreach programs on the
government-owned radio station.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For more detailed information, see the 2004 International Religious
Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution and law do not prohibit forced exile; however, the
Government did not employ this practice.
Although not a signatory, the Government adheres to the 1951 U.N.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol,
and it cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees; however, it
has granted asylum in the past.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Executive power is centralized in the President and
his Cabinet. Citizens 18 years of age and older elect the Nitijela and
mayors by secret ballot every 4 years. Elections for the 33-member
Nitijela were held in November 2003; President Kessai Note's United
Democratic Party won a majority of the seats. There were no serious
allegations of electoral fraud. However, the complex electoral system,
which grants voters the option of voting where they have land rights
instead of where they reside, requires almost every polling place to
provide for voters from many other districts. A significant number of
absentee ballots also were cast in the 2003 elections. As a result,
several close elections generated formal complaints against election
officials for alleged mishandling of ballots and other problems,
including some allegations of favoritism. The courts upheld the
decisions of the electoral commission in all of the cases, except for
one that was still pending at year's end. Complainants protested the
courts' reluctance to overturn the commission; the Attorney General's
office noted that disinterested, foreign-national judges heard several
of the appeals.
There are no restrictions on the formation of political parties,
although many candidates prefer to run independently or loosely aligned
with informal coalitions. Political activity by foreigners is
prohibited.
According to the general audit report of 2003, performed by an
independent accounting firm, government corruption was a problem,
including instances of misuse of public funds and irregularities in the
collection of certain taxes. The Attorney General's office is
responsible for investigating cases of alleged corruption, but only a
few cases have been prosecuted. In 2003, the Auditor General and the
Finance Minister were replaced and the Finance Ministry reorganized in
an effort to increase accountability.
There is no legislation that provides for public access to
government information, and the Government routinely denied such
access. Although there is no specific statutory basis for denying such
information, the Government has taken the position that the burden for
overcoming a denial of access rests with the public, and a court filing
showing the reason the information is required is often necessary.
There are no legal impediments to women's participation in
government and politics; however, traditional attitudes of male
dominance, women's cultural responsibilities, traditionally passive
roles, and the generally early age of pregnancies made it difficult for
women to obtain political qualifications or experience. There was 1
woman in the Nitijela and 8 women in the 12-seat House of Iroij. There
were no female judges. Society is matrilineal, and traditional
leadership and land ownership powers generally are derived from one's
mother's lineage. The traditional authority exercised by women has
declined with growing urbanization and movement of the population away
from traditional lands; nonetheless, many observers believed women
continued to be a significant social force.
There were several hundred non-ethnic Marshallese who were
citizens. Only one, appointed as ambassador to his country of origin,
was a member of the national government.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Human rights groups generally operated without government
restriction, but few local groups have been formed. The Government was
not always responsive to NGOs' concerns. The women's NGO WUTMI worked
on women's, children's, and family issues and played a significant role
in social issues.
No international human rights organization expressed interest or
concern regarding the country or visited the country.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,
race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national
or social origin, place of birth, family status or descent, and the
Government observed these provisions.
Women.--Spousal abuse was common. Domestic violence was not
condoned, and most assaults occurred while the assailant was under the
influence of alcohol. The Government's health office provided
counseling for reported spousal and child abuse cases, but many cases
apparently went unreported. Rape and assault are criminal offenses, but
women involved in domestic violence were reluctant to prosecute spouses
in the court system. Women's groups under the WUTMI umbrella continued
to publicize women's issues and promote a greater awareness of women's
rights. According to a 2003 WUTMI survey, more than 80 percent of
Marshallese women had been affected by spousal abuse. Violence against
women outside the family occurred, and women in urban centers risked
assault if they went out alone after dark.
There is no legal age of consent. The law criminalizes only
``forced'' rape and does not specifically cite sexual assault, domestic
violence, or sexual abuse.
In September, a judge convicted a foreigner of assaulting his
girlfriend in public, including kicking her as she was lying on the
ground and threatening to kill her, and sentenced him to a year in
prison. However, citing mitigating factors, the judge suspended the
sentence and substituted 2 days in jail, a $100 fine, 200 hours of
community service, and 3 years' probation.
In 2003, the Nitijela made prostitution illegal, and in June, a
Chinese prostitute was prosecuted successfully under the new law.
However, prostitution continued, especially on the Majuro and Kwajalein
Atolls. Organized prostitution was run primarily by foreigners and
catered mainly to the crews of foreign fishing vessels. There were no
specific reports of violence against prostitutes, although the
Government assumed that it existed.
There is no law against sex tourism, but none has been reported.
Sexual harassment is not prohibited by law and was not considered a
widespread or serious problem.
The inheritance of property and of traditional rank is matrilineal,
with women occupying positions of importance in the traditional system.
No instances of unequal pay for equal work or of sex-related job
discrimination were reported. Many educated women held prominent
positions, particularly in government. However, while female workers
were very prevalent in the private sector, many were in low-paying jobs
with little prospect for advancement.
Children.--The Government showed commitment to children's welfare
through its programs of health care and free education, but these have
not been adequate to meet the needs of the country's sharply increasing
population.
Education is free, compulsory, and universal. In August, despite
government shortcomings in enforcing the existing compulsory education
law, the Nitijela passed a law that expanded compulsory education from
6- to 14-year-olds to 4- to 18-year-olds. The plan was to enroll 5-
year-olds in kindergarten as a first step; however, the Government
lacked the resources to implement the increased mandate. There was no
difference between the attendance rates of boys and girls.
It was estimated that up to 20 percent of elementary school-age
children did not attend school on a regular basis. In many cases, this
was because they lived too far away from a school or their families
could not afford the monthly registration fee (which varied by school
but averaged approximately $10) or incidental expenses. Admission to
high school is by competitive examination; not all children qualified
to attend. The Government's enrollment report indicated that only two-
thirds of those completing eighth grade attended high school.
Approximately 50 percent--or one-third of those who started elementary
school--eventually graduated.
There were five public high schools in the country: Two in Majuro
and one each on Jaluit, Kwajalein, and Wotje.
The Government provided subsidized essential medical services for
all citizens, including children.
Child abuse and neglect are criminal offenses; however, public
awareness of children's rights remained low. The law requires teachers,
caregivers, and other persons to report instances of child abuse and
exempts them from civil or criminal liability as a consequence of
making such a report. However, there were few reports and few
prosecutions. Child abuse and neglect were considered to be on the
increase. During the year, three prosecutions begun in 2003 for sexual
assaults against minors resulted in convictions. In June, a man was
convicted of rape, kidnapping, and assault and battery in the assault
of a 4 year old child, and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. In
September, a 15 year old youth was acquitted of rape, but convicted of
kidnapping and assault and battery and sentenced to 10 years'
imprisonment in the assault of a 5 year old child. In November, a 15
year old youth was convicted of rape, kidnapping, and assault and
battery in the assault of a 9 year old child; he received a 10 year
prison term.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit specifically
trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that persons
were trafficked to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no apparent discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or the provision of other state services; however, there
were no building codes and no legislation mandating access for persons
with disabilities.
There were approximately 50 persons who could be medically defined
as psychotic. When these individuals demonstrated dangerous behavior,
they were imprisoned with the general prison population and visited by
a doctor. On occasions when prison officials protested disruptions
caused by this practice, other arrangements, such as house arrest, were
made.
There were no reports of discrimination against persons with mental
disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of free association in general, and the Government interpreted
this right as allowing the existence of labor unions, although none
have been formed to date. With few major employers, there were few
opportunities for workers to unionize, and the country has no history
or culture of organized labor.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There is no
legislation concerning collective bargaining or trade union
organization. However, there were no legal impediments to the
organization of trade unions or to collective bargaining. Wages in the
cash economy were determined by market factors in accordance with the
minimum wage and other laws.
The Constitution does not provide for the right to strike, and the
Government has not addressed this issue.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits involuntary servitude, and there were no reports of its
practice among citizens. Officials suspected that some forced or
compulsory labor existed among the illegal alien population; however,
they were unable to uncover specific cases during the year.
The law does not specifically prohibit forced and compulsory labor
by children; however, there were no reports that such practices
occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Children typically were not employed in the wage economy, but some
assisted their families in fishing, agriculture, and other small-scale
domestic enterprises. There is no law or regulation setting a minimum
age for employment of children.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law establishes a minimum
wage of $2.00 per hour for both government and private sector
employees. In 1999, the government approved a lower minimum wage of
$1.50 per hour for employees at the country's tuna loining plant to
encourage investment in the plant. That minimum wage remained in effect
for plant employees during the year. The national minimum wage did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. However,
in the subsistence economy, extended families were expected to help
less fortunate members, and there were often several wage earners to
support each family. The Ministry of Resources and Development
adequately enforced the minimum wage regulations. Foreign employees and
Marshallese trainees of private employers who had invested in or
established a business in the country were exempt from minimum wage
requirements. This exemption did not affect a significant segment of
the workforce.
There is no legislation concerning maximum hours of work or
occupational safety and health. On Sunday, most businesses were closed,
and persons generally refrained from working.
A government labor office makes recommendations to the Nitijela on
working conditions, such as the minimum wage, legal working hours and
overtime payments, and occupational health and safety standards in
accordance with International Labor Organization conventions. The
office periodically convenes board meetings that are open to the
public. No legislation specifically gives workers the right to remove
themselves from situations that endanger their health or safety without
jeopardy to their continued employment, and no legislation protects
workers who file complaints about such conditions.
The law protects foreign workers in the same manner as citizens.
__________
FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA
The Federated States of Micronesia is composed of four states:
Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Political legitimacy rests on the
popular will expressed by a majority vote through elections in
accordance with the Constitution. There are three branches of
government: An executive branch led by a president who also serves as
head of state; a unicameral legislature, elected from the four
constituent states, that elects the President from among its members;
and a judiciary that applies laws and procedures that closely parallel
those of the United States. Elections for Congress were held in March
2003; they generally were considered to be free and fair, and resulted
in a major change in the government. The incumbent President and
Speaker of Congress both were defeated. Senator Joseph J. Urusemal was
chosen as President in May 2003. Individual states enjoy significant
autonomy and have their own constitutions and governmental systems.
Traditional leaders retain considerable influence in some states. The
judiciary is independent.
The country has no security forces apart from national police and
state public safety officers. Under the Compact of Free Association,
the United States is responsible for the country's external defense.
The civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security
forces. There were a few reports of human rights abuses by the police.
The economy is market based but dominated by the large governmental
sector. The population was approximately 107,000 according to the 2000
census, mostly of Micronesian origin. The economy depended heavily on
financial assistance from the United States. Fishing, tourism, and
subsistence agriculture, the major investment sectors, totaled only 5
percent of economic activity. Estimated real economic growth was 3.3
percent during the year; however, real wages declined an estimated 2.4
percent. The U.S. dollar is the national currency.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing
with individual instances of abuse; however, there were problems in
some areas. Traditional customs distinguish among persons on the basis
of social status and sex. There was continued evidence of spousal abuse
and child neglect, and government efforts to address such problems were
constrained by traditional society.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed torture; however, there were
occasional reports of physical abuse by police.
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
during the year, Pohnpei and Chuuk States' underfunded Corrections
Divisions failed to provide nutritionally adequate meals to prisoners.
During the year, a former inmate in the Chuuk State jail died shortly
after his release, allegedly as a result of injuries received when he
was beaten by another inmate while in custody.
Each of the four state jails includes a separate cell for female
prisoners. Since women rarely were detained, these cells typically were
used to separate disruptive male prisoners from the general prison
population. There were no designated juvenile detention facilities;
however, juvenile crime was rare, and the states typically have decided
against incarceration of juveniles. Pretrial detainees usually were
housed together with convicted prisoners. All four states used jail
cells to house persons with mental illnesses but no criminal background
(see Section 5).
The question of prison visits by human rights observers did not
arise during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
Each state has a Department of Public Safety composed of police,
corrections, fire, and emergency response functions. The directors of
public safety are state cabinet-level positions. The Government has a
small national police force reporting to the Department of Justice.
Some municipalities also have small police forces. In Chuuk State,
political considerations influenced police hiring, leading to an
oversized and underqualified force. There were reports of police
favoritism toward relatives and occasional reports of physical abuse by
the police. Many citizens preferred to rely on customary and
traditional remedies to resolve criminal and civil matters.
Laws governing arrests, warrants, access to counsel, and bail are
patterned on U.S. law. All defendants have the right to counsel;
however, the Public Defender's Office was underfunded, and not all
defendants received adequate legal assistance in practice. Bail usually
was set at low levels except in cases involving flight risk.
In 2002, when national government officials attempted to serve a
search warrant on the mayor of Udot in Chuuk State, they were disarmed
and briefly detained by a crowd of the mayor's supporters, including
local police. The mayor and the director of public safety were charged,
respectively, with abuse of power and obstruction of justice; the case
still was pending at year's end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The President, with the advice and consent of
the legislature, appoints the three justices of the Supreme Court. Each
state also has a supreme court, and some municipalities have community
courts. Some states have additional courts to deal with land disputes.
The formal legal system coexists with traditional, mediation-based
mechanisms for resolving disputes and dealing with offenders at the
local level.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are public,
although juveniles may have closed hearings. Despite these provisions,
cultural resistance to litigation and incarceration as methods of
maintaining public order allowed some persons to act with impunity.
Serious cases of sexual and other assault and even murder have not gone
to trial, and suspects routinely were released indefinitely. Bail, even
for major crimes, usually was set at low levels.
In August, the then-Speaker of Congress, Jack Fritz, was convicted
on charges of misuse of public funds (see Section 3). The conviction of
Fritz and his confederates was widely viewed as a victory for an
independent judiciary.
Delays in some judicial appointments and underfunding of the court
system hampered the judiciary's ability to function efficiently.
Shortages or unavailability of court personnel and services
occasionally hampered the right to a speedy trial. One appeal of a
felony conviction in Pohnpei, pending since 2000, ended with the
defendant's release in August and his return to the United States.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom.
The national Government and the four states maintained public
information offices. There was a biweekly national newspaper, the
Kaselehlie Press. Yap also had a privately published weekly newspaper,
the Yap Networker. On Kosrae, the first edition of a new newspaper, the
Sinlaku Sun Times, appeared in September. Newspapers have published
politically sensitive stories.
Each of the four state governments controlled a radio station that
broadcast primarily in the local language. Credible sources reported
that the Chuuk State government censored politically sensitive domestic
news for its public radio station. The station was off the air from
late 2003 to October due to technical problems. Religious groups
operated private radio stations. The populations of Pohnpei, Chuuk, and
Kosrae increasingly had access to live satellite broadcast information
from around the world and tape delayed broadcasts of programming by the
major U.S. networks.
The Internet played an important role in allowing citizens in the
four states, as well as those residing outside the country, an
opportunity to share views and opinions. The Government did not
restrict Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
During political campaigns, citizens often questioned candidates at
public meetings and social gatherings. Formal associations were not
common, but nongovernmental organizations increased in number,
including organizations for students and women.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
movement within the country. It does not address foreign travel,
emigration, and repatriation, but in practice none of these were
restricted.
The Constitution and law do not explicitly prohibit forced exile;
however, statutes that prescribe punishments for crimes do not provide
for the imposition of exile, and the Government did not employ it.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees; however,
there were no reports of the forced return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution. The status of three Vietnamese who
arrived in Yap by boat in 1998 and were granted temporary entry permits
remained unresolved at year's end.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
The 14-member Congress is elected by popular vote from each state;
the Congress then chooses the President and Vice President from among
its 4 at large senators by majority vote. Elections for Congress were
held in March 2003. In May 2003, the President and Vice President were
selected, and the two at large seats they vacated were filled in a July
2003 by election. In November, an election was held to replace Chuuk
Senator Jack Fritz, who resigned his seat following his conviction for
misuse of government funds.
The election cycle resulted in a new President and Speaker and a
substantial turnover in Congress. The elections were generally free and
fair; however, the national Attorney General filed charges against one
election worker in Chuuk State who had withheld a ballot from a voter
in the March election. The case remained pending at year's end.
State governors, state legislators, and municipal governments are
elected by direct popular vote. There are no restrictions on the
formation of political groups; however, there have been no significant
efforts to form political parties, and none exist. Political support
generally was sought from family and allied clan groupings, as well as
religious groups.
There was a public perception that government corruption was a
problem, particularly in Chuuk State. In January, following the
indictments in 2003 of then-Speaker of Congress and longtime legislator
from Chuuk Jack Fritz, one other Member of Congress, and two former
Members on charges relating to misuse of government funds, delegates
from Chuuk introduced a bill to grant amnesty to Members of Congress
prosecuted or accused of such offenses retroactive to independence in
1986. The bill's first reading generated strong public opposition, and
the bill died in committee. On August 3, a court convicted Fritz on
four counts of misuse of government funds. His associates also were
convicted. On August 20, Fritz resigned from Congress, reportedly as a
condition for receiving a lighter sentence than originally recommended
by the prosecution; his conviction constitutionally barred him from
future public office. He was sentenced to a fine of $4,000 and a 1-year
suspended prison term. On August 23, the Supreme Court upheld his
conviction.
Legislative hearings and deliberations are open to the public.
Information from other branches of government also was accessible;
however, retrieval sometimes was complicated and delayed by the loss or
mishandling of records and by the concern of lower level administrative
personnel with verifying that release of the particular information
requested was permissible. There were no reported cases of government
denial of access to media or interested parties; however, there were
only a small number of media outlets, and their reporting resources
were limited.
Cultural factors in the male-dominated society limited women's
representation in government and politics. Women held mid-level
positions at both the federal and state level, and a woman held the
federal cabinet-level position of Public Defender.
There was 1 woman in the 23 seat Pohnpei State legislature and no
women in the other state legislatures or in the national legislature.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There were no known requests for investigations of alleged human
rights violations during the year; international human rights groups
never have raised concerns about the country. Although there were no
official restrictions, no local groups concerned themselves exclusively
with human rights. There were groups that addressed problems concerning
the rights of women and children, and the Government cooperated with
these groups.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Although the Constitution provides explicit protection against
discrimination based on race, sex, language, or religion, there was
extensive societal discrimination, notably discrimination and violence
against women. Government enforcement of these constitutional
provisions was weak. 03
Women.--Reports of spousal abuse, often severe, continued during e
year. Although assault is a crime, there are no specific laws against
domestic abuse, and there were no governmental or private facilities to
shelter and support women in abusive situations. Effective prosecution
of offenses was rare. In many cases, a victim decides against
initiating legal charges because she is pressured by family, fearful of
further assault, or convinced that the police will not involve
themselves actively in what is seen as a private family problem. Rape
is a crime; however, few cases were reported or prosecuted. There were
a number of reports of physical and sexual assaults against women
outside the family context, according to police and women's groups.
Such assaults were perpetrated against both citizens and foreigners. In
this traditional society, unmarried women sometimes were considered to
have invited such violence by living or traveling alone.
Within the traditional extended family unit, violence, abuse, and
neglect directed against spouses or children were deemed offenses
against the family, not just the individuals, and were addressed by a
complex system of familial sanctions. However, with increasing
urbanization, and monetization of the economy, greater emphasis has
been placed on the nuclear family, and the traditional methods of
coping with family discord began breaking down. No government agency,
including the police, has succeeded in replacing the extended family
system or in addressing the problem of family violence directly.
Prostitution is not legal, nor was it a major problem. The law does
not prohibit sex tourism specifically, but it was not a problem. The
law does not prohibit sexual harassment, which appeared to be
pervasive, although seldom reported.
Women have equal rights under the law, including the right to own
property, and there were no institutional barriers to education and
employment. Women received equal pay for equal work and were well
represented in the lower and middle ranks of government. However, there
was extensive societal discrimination against women. Nonetheless, women
were active and increasingly successful in private business and
enterprises. There was an active National Women's Advisory Council that
lobbied the Government, and several small nongovernmental groups were
interested in women's issues, particularly those associated with
spousal and family violence and abuse. The Women's Interest Section of
the Department of Health, Education and Social Affairs works to protect
and promote women's rights.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's welfare
through its programs of health care and education; however, these
programs were inadequate to meet the needs of the population,
particularly in an environment in which the extended family was
breaking down. Health officials and religious leaders started peer
support and family care groups to address factors that may contribute
to youth suicides.
A compulsory education law requires all children to begin school at
age 6; however, not all did so. A shortage of qualified teachers and
lack of textbooks hampered progress. Education was free, and there was
no difference between the education of boys and girls. Education levels
differed among the states, but, on average, 75 percent of children
finished 8th grade, 55 percent finished 9th grade, and 35 percent
finished high school. Children may leave school when they reach the age
of 14 or after completing the 8th grade, whichever comes first.
The Government administered an immunization program throughout the
country and provided some vitamin supplements.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit specifically
trafficking in persons; however, unlike in the previous year, there
were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the
country. In 2003, Congress passed legislation to regulate foreign labor
recruiters as part of a strategy to control abusive recruitment
practices; however, the Government had not promulgated implementing
regulations by year's end. The amended Compact of Free Association,
which came into effect in December 2003, also mandates such
regulations.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination in
public service employment against persons with disabilities. Children
with physical or mental disabilities, including learning disabilities,
were provided with special education, including instruction at home if
necessary; however, such classes were dependent on foreign funding.
There were no reports of discrimination against persons with
disabilities; however, they usually did not seek employment outside the
home.
Neither laws nor regulations mandate accessibility to public
buildings or services for persons with disabilities. Some private
businesses provided special parking spaces and wheelchair ramps.
Some persons with mental illnesses, but no criminal background,
were kept in jails rather than cared for in hospitals. However, during
the year, the authorities began to provide separate rooms in jails for
persons suffering from mental illness.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country is made up of many
ethnic groups with distinct cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The
Constitution prohibits noncitizens from purchasing land, and a 2002 law
limits the occupations that noncitizens may fill. The national Congress
grants citizenship to non Micronesians only in rare cases. There is no
permanent residency status. However, for the most part, noncitizens
shared fully in the social and cultural life of the country.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Under the law, citizens have the
right to form or join associations, and national government employees
by law may form associations to ``present their views'' to the
Government without coercion, discrimination, or reprisals. For a
variety of reasons, including the fact that most private-sector
employment was in small scale, family-owned businesses and citizens
were not accustomed to collective bargaining, there were neither
associations nor trade unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--No law deals
specifically with trade unions or with the right to collective
bargaining, and there were no reports of collective bargaining
agreements during the year. Individual employers, the largest of which
are the national and state governments, set wages. There is no specific
right to strike.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
specifically prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred. This prohibition does not mention
specifically forced and compulsory labor by children; however, there
were no reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There is no law establishing a minimum age for employment of children.
In practice, there was no employment of children for wages; however,
children often assisted their families in subsistence farming and in
family owned shops.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The four state governments have
established minimum wage rates for government workers. Pohnpei has a
minimum hourly wage rate of $2.00 for government and $1.35 for private
sector workers. The other three states have established minimum hourly
rates only for government workers: $1.25 for Chuuk, $1.49 for Kosrae,
and $0.80 for Yap. The minimum hourly wage for employment with the
national Government is $2.64. These minimum wage structures and the
wages customarily paid to skilled workers were sufficient to provide a
decent standard of living for a worker and family. The minimum wage was
enforced through the tax system, and this mechanism was believed to be
effective.
There are no laws regulating hours of work (although a 40 hour
workweek is standard practice) or prescribing standards of occupational
safety and health. A federal regulation requires that employers provide
a safe workplace. The Department of Health has no enforcement
capability; working conditions varied in practice.
There is no law for either the public or private sector that would
permit workers to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without jeopardy to their continued employment.
Yap State permitted foreign laborers to work in garment
manufacturing enterprises. At the factories, the foreign laborers were
paid at a lower rate than citizens, worked longer hours per day, and
worked a 6 day week in contrast to the 5 day week for citizens.
However, working and living conditions generally were regarded as good.
Workers were not subjected to abuse or deported without cause; they
have the right to a hearing if facing deportation. Foreign workers have
the right to form unions; however, they have not done so.
Working conditions on board some Taiwan- and People's Republic of
China (PRC) owned fishing vessels operating in the country's waters
were very poor. Crewmen reported a high incidence of injuries, beatings
by officers, and nonpayment of salary. In October, a PRC citizen
working on a Taiwan registered ship was partially paralyzed due to
spinal cord injuries sustained in a fall.
__________
MONGOLIA
Mongolia continued its transition from a highly centralized,
Communist-led state to a full-fledged, multiparty, parliamentary
democracy, although these gains have not yet been consolidated. The
1992 Constitution established a hybrid presidential-parliamentary
system of government. The demarcation of powers between the president
and the prime minister has been the subject of several constitutional
amendments and court challenges. The president, who is also the
commander-in-chief, is elected directly by voters for a 4-year term;
the next election was scheduled for May 2005. Parliament (State Great
Hural), with the agreement of the president, selects the prime
minister, who is nominated by the majority party. On June 27, a new
Parliament was elected in national, direct elections, and on August 20,
a Prime Minister took office. On October 17, the country held elections
for local assemblies. The results divided 76 seats evenly between the
incumbent Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) and the
Motherland Democracy Coalition (MDC), a coalition of 3 parties. Three
independent candidates and a candidate for the Republican Party (one
seat) also were elected. The campaign and balloting process were
considered marred by violations and irregularities. Re-counts were held
in several districts; the court stayed a re-vote in one district and
declared invalid a re-vote in another district. Despite widespread
dissatisfaction with the conduct of the election, the MPRP and the MDC
accepted the results and formed a coalition government. The judiciary
is constitutionally independent; however, it was vulnerable to
corruption and subject to outside influence.
Security forces are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Defense (MOD), the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs (MOJHA), and
the General Intelligence Agency (GIA). Military forces under the MOD
are responsible for external security, but civil defense is subordinate
to the MOD, giving the MOD a role in internal security. During
peacetime, border security forces are under MOJHA control. National
police operate under the MOJHA. The GIA, formerly the State Security
Agency, is responsible for internal security and foreign intelligence
collection and operations; its civilian head has ministerial status and
reports directly to the Prime Minister. Downsizing of the military
forces continued. The civilian authorities maintained effective control
of the security forces. In September, the first noncareer-military
Minister of Defense was named, replacing a predecessor who had retired
from the military to accept the position. Some members of the security
forces committed human rights abuses, including the abduction of a
citizen in France.
After several years of stagnation, the economy grew an estimated 6
percent during the year. There also was a very large and growing amount
of unreported economy activity. Unemployment and underemployment
remained high. The country continued to privatize state-owned entities,
and the private sector produced approximately 75 percent of the gross
domestic product. The population was 2.4 million with a population
growth rate of 1.4 percent, and per capita income was approximately
$480 per year. The country relied heavily on foreign economic
assistance. The mainstays of the economy continued to be copper and
other mining activity; livestock raising; and food, wool, and hide
processing industries. A growing trade and small entrepreneurial sector
in the cities provided basic consumer goods. Lack of transportation and
other infrastructure, legal and regulatory deficiencies, corruption,
bureaucratic obstacles, and the small domestic market discouraged
foreign investment.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Members of the
police at times beat prisoners and detainees. Pretrial detention
conditions continued to be poor, although there were some marginal
improvements during the year. There were no deaths reported in
detention centers, but a number of prisoners died of disease in prison.
Arbitrary arrest and lengthy detention were problems, as was
corruption. Government enforcement of compliance with moral strictures
and tax laws may have intimidated the media and resulted in self
censorship by the press. The Minister of Justice and other officials
used criminal libel suits to harass journalists and politicians who
published views critical of the Government. Harassment by some
officials of religious groups seeking registration persisted. Domestic
violence against women was a serious problem; however, efforts to
assist victims continued to increase during the year. Child abuse and
child labor also were problems. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
reported that 7 female citizens were trafficked to Poland during the
year; NGOs also reported 148 documented cases of child prostitution in
2003.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents. The 1998 killing of the Minister of
Infrastructure, which was suspected of being politically motivated,
remained under investigation at year's end. The inability to solve this
case continued to be a major problem for the Government.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, while
reports of such actions diminished, police (especially in rural areas)
occasionally beat prisoners and detainees, and the use of unnecessary
force in the arrest process was common. During the year, the Prison
Administration completed installation of television monitoring systems
in all 22 central prisons, which contributed to a significant decline
in the number of prisoners and detainees beaten by guards. The Supreme
Court ordered the reinvestigation of the case of five persons who
allegedly were tortured in 2000 and 2001 while in pretrial detention.
Questions were raised concerning evidence presented at the trial and
the absence of legal counsel for the defendants during the early months
of their detention. At year's end, the results of the investigation
were pending.
In general, pretrial detention and prison facilities were poor,
providing insufficient food, heat, and medical care, thereby
threatening the health and life of inmates. Overcrowding declined in
prisons and detention centers. For example, the number of prisoners in
the central detention facility in Ulaanbaatar, which in the past housed
800 to 1,000 inmates, was reduced to 461. During the year, 325 prison
staff members, including 159 guards, 46 social workers, and 80 medical
staff, received human rights training. The MOJHA's Department for the
Enforcement of Court Decisions monitored conditions in prisons and
detention facilities, but new laws and procedures were not publicized
widely, especially in the countryside, and citizens were not always
aware of their rights with respect to detention and arrest.
Many inmates entered prison infected with tuberculosis or
contracted it in prison. The Government's tuberculosis hospital
provided treatment for a large number of prisoners and better isolated
infected persons from the general prison population. The number of
inmates who died of the disease continued to decline significantly.
All female prisoners were held separately in one central prison in
Ulaanbaatar. In detention centers throughout the country, women also
were held separately from men. Convicted juveniles were housed
separately from adults. At year's end, there were 105 children in a
separate facility for juvenile prisoners in Ulaanbaatar; the facility
was designated as a training center. Outside of Ulaanbaatar, juveniles
between the ages of 14 and 18 who were charged with crimes were kept in
the same detention centers as adults, unsegregated from the adult
population.
Improvements in detention and prison conditions outside of the
capital were minimal. However, families had better access to inmates,
alleviating some of the difficulty in obtaining food and clothing. At
least two domestic and six foreign NGOs worked to improve conditions in
prisons and detention centers by distributing clothing, food, and
books, and by providing English-language instruction and vocational
training in computers and trades.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights monitors,
foreign diplomats, and journalists. Amnesty International, the U.N.
Development Program's (UNDP) human rights monitor, diplomatic
representatives, local journalists, and other observers have visited
detention centers as well as prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution provides that
no person shall be searched, arrested, detained, or deprived of liberty
except by law, and these protections have been incorporated into the
Criminal Code; however, arbitrary arrest and detention remained
problems. General public awareness of basic rights and judicial
procedures, including rights with regard to arrest and detention
procedures, was limited. Police may arrest persons suspected of a crime
and hold them for up to 72 hours before a decision is made to prosecute
or release them. Under the Criminal Code, a court order must be
requested to continue holding a suspect after 24 hours have elapsed. If
the requested order is not granted within 72 hours, the suspect must be
released. Prosecutors do not have authority to issue warrants. A
detainee has the right to a defense attorney during this period and
during all subsequent stages of the legal process. If a defendant
cannot afford a private attorney, the Government must appoint an
attorney. However, in practice, many detainees were not made aware of
this right and did not assert it. There was a shortage of state
attorneys, and the low quality of attorney training and the
bureaucratic obstacles faced by attorneys and defendants were chronic
problems. Detainees may be released on bail with the agreement of the
prosecutor. The maximum pretrial detention (with a court order) is 24
months; an additional 6 months are allowed for particularly serious
crimes such as murder. According to administrative regulation, if a
person is wrongly charged with a crime, the Government must restore the
person's rights and reputation and compensate him, but this regulation
very rarely was followed in practice.
In August 2003, GIA officers abducted a citizen from France and
returned him for questioning in connection with the 1998 assassination
of former Minister of Infrastructure Zorig. The officers acted without
the knowledge, consent, or cooperation of the French Government or law
enforcement authorities, or of the authorities of Belgium and Germany,
which they transited when they brought the person back. The Government
claimed that the person was returned pursuant to a court order to serve
the remaining time on a fraud conviction. The court order appeared to
have been issued after the abduction took place. At year's end, the
person was in prison serving the remainder of his 11 year sentence for
fraud.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, corruption and outside influence were
problems.
The judiciary consists of local courts, provincial courts, and the
Supreme Court. The 11-member Supreme Court is the court of final
appeal, hearing appeals from lower courts and cases involving alleged
misconduct by high-level officials. Local courts primarily hear routine
criminal and civil cases; provincial courts hear more serious cases,
such as murder, rape, and grand larceny, and also serve as the appeals
court for lower court decisions. The Constitutional Court, separate
from the criminal court system, has sole jurisdiction over
constitutional questions. The General Council of Courts, an
administrative body within the MOJHA, nominates candidates for
vacancies on the courts; the President has the power to approve or
refuse such nominations. The council also is charged with protecting
the rights of judges and providing for the independence of the
judiciary.
According to law, all accused persons have the right to due
process, legal defense, and a public trial. Closed proceedings are
permitted in cases involving state secrets, rape cases involving
minors, and other cases as provided by law. The Constitution provides
that defendants are innocent until proven guilty; however, in practice,
this provision was rarely observed in the courts. Defendants may
question witnesses and appeal decisions.
There were no reports of political prisoners. Each September, the
Government publicly pays respect to the memory of victims of the
political repression from 1922 through the 1960s. Since 1991, of
approximately 36,000 persons who were repressed, 28,606 have been
absolved of accusations leveled against them. The Government has
provided approximately 550 apartments and ``gers'' (a traditional
nomadic dwelling) to surviving victims or the victims' spouses. In
addition, the State Rehabilitation Commission has provided compensation
to other family members of victims in the form of cash grants of $500
and $1,000 (500,000 and 1 million tugrik). Since 1991, 16,077 persons
have received more than $14.6 million (14.8 billion tugrik) in
compensation. The program, originally scheduled to end in 2000, was
extended to February 2006.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. The head
of the GIA, with the knowledge and consent of the Prime Minister, may
direct the monitoring and recording of telephone conversations. The
extent of such monitoring was unknown. Police wiretaps must be approved
by the Prosecutor's Office and are authorized for 2 weeks at a time.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not respect academic
freedom.
A variety of newspapers and other publications represented major
political party viewpoints as well as independent views. The media law
bans censorship of public information and future legislation that would
limit the freedom to publish and broadcast. This law also bars state
ownership or financing of the media or media organizations.
Nonetheless, the state continued to own the vast majority of radio and
television stations and frequency licenses. The law took effect without
agreement on regulations and procedures for the privatization of
assets, and its implementation has been difficult and controversial.
Lack of transparency and of a truly independent licensing authority has
inhibited the ability of domestic and foreign broadcast companies to
compete fairly with politically connected business interests and senior
party officials for broadcast frequencies.
The Government monitored all media for compliance with
antiviolence, antipornography, antialcohol, and tax laws. In April, a
journalist was ordered to be detained for 3 months in solitary
confinement after being charged with libeling a Member of Parliament. A
court ordered her release after 23 days in detention. Credible reports
indicated that police briefly detained 30 journalists for questioning
following a political commentator's dissemination of a column critical
of the Minister of Justice. While there was no direct government
censorship, the press alleged indirect censorship in the form of
government harassment such as frequent libel lawsuits and tax audits.
The law places the burden of proof on the defendant in libel and
slander cases. As a result, some media practiced self-censorship.
Nonetheless, independent media outlets at times were strongly critical
of the Government. The Minister of Justice and other officials used
criminal libel suits to harass political opponents and journalists who
expressed or published views critical of the Government. Due to
transportation difficulties, uneven postal service, and fluctuations in
the amount of newsprint available, access to a full range of
publications was restricted in outlying regions.
While the print media was relatively open and free, the electronic
media--television and radio--continued to be monopolized by government
and business entities or individuals associated with the former MPRP
government. Despite the law prohibiting the Government from owning mass
media, the MPRP while in government continued to monopolize Mongol TV
and Radio, the only stations capable of broadcasting nationwide. In
October, the new ``Consensus Government'' stated that it would convert
Mongol TV and Radio into a public broadcasting entity.
An estimated 70 percent of households had television sets, and
there were seven television stations, including a local station
controlled by the Ulaanbaatar mayor's office. During the year, two of
the private television stations and the station controlled by the
Ulaanbaatar mayor's office were granted licenses to broadcast
nationwide. Ulaanbaatar residents received broadcasts from other
countries in Asia, Europe, and North America by commercial satellite
and cable television systems.
State-owned radio was the major source of news in the countryside.
Local entities reported difficulties in acquiring licenses for local
radio stations. For example, the MPRP-appointed governor of Gobi-Altai
Province refused to approve applications for radio licenses from local
entities associated with opposition political parties. The MPRP-
appointed governor of Dornod Province refused to issue a broadcast
license to the Democratic Party. However, one independent radio station
broadcast widely, and there were an increasing number of small local FM
stations. The Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Company
broadcast in English only, over FM radio frequencies leased from
private media interests. The media presented both opposition and
government views.
Access to the Internet was available, and the Government did not
interfere with its use.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, the law limits proselytizing, and some groups that
sought to register faced bureaucratic harassment.
The Constitution explicitly recognizes the separation of church and
state. However, although there is no official state religion,
traditionalists believe that Buddhism is the ``natural religion'' of
the country. The Government contributed to the restoration of several
Buddhist sites that are important religious, historical, and cultural
centers; it did not otherwise subsidize Buddhism.
Religious groups are required to register with the MOJHA. However,
the registration process was decentralized with several layers of
bureaucracy, and officials sometimes demanded bribes in exchange for
authorization. Local assemblies have the authority to approve
applications at the local level. In general, it appeared that
difficulties in registering primarily were the consequence of actions
by local officials and attempts to extort financial assistance for
projects not publicly funded. During the year, 10 new Christian
churches registered in Ulaanbaatar. Some of these churches had been
active and seeking registration since 1994.
Under the law, the Government may supervise and limit the number of
places of worship and clergy for organized religions; however, there
were no reports that the Government did so during the year.
The law does not prohibit proselytizing, but it forbids the use of
incentives, pressure, or ``deceptive methods'' to introduce religion.
In addition, a Ministry of Education directive bans mixing foreign
language or other training with religious instruction. The edict was
enforced, particularly in the capital area.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
However, due to continued harsh winter weather and drought conditions,
an increased number of persons sought shelter in the capital, and the
authorities continued to use bureaucratic obstacles, such as increasing
fees for residency applications, to prevent new arrivals from
qualifying for residency and social benefits in the capital.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The country is not a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Regarding
the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and it has no laws for
granting refugee status. In practice, the Government provided
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution, but it did not routinely grant refugee
or asylum status. The Government continued talks with U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representatives on refugee and asylum
issues.
Small groups of North Koreans continued to enter the country from
China. The Government's concerns about potentially growing numbers of
North Korean migrants increased opposition to accession to the 1951
Convention.
The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. However, in recent years,
authorities have denied entry to some persons claiming refugee status,
having determined that these persons were ``economic immigrants'' and
not refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage; however, the campaign and balloting process in the
June national election were widely considered marred by violations and
irregularities. The Constitution limits the President to two 4-year
terms. Presidential, parliamentary, and local elections are held
separately, also for 4-year terms.
On June 27, in a national election widely regarded as flawed, 76
percent of the eligible voters cast votes for the 76-seat national
Parliament. Nine parties (three in coalition) contested the election.
The results split 72 seats evenly between the former ruling MPRP and
the MDC, a coalition composed of the Democratic Party, Mongolian
Democratic New Socialist Party, and the Civic Will Party. Three
independents and a Republican Party candidate also were elected.
The campaign and balloting processes were marred by violations and
inconsistencies. President Bagabandi, the major political forces, and
domestic as well as foreign observers complained of numerous
irregularities and violations committed by political parties,
individual candidates, and members of the appointed district election
committees. Domestic NGOs and observers documented widespread illegal
use of state property and civil service workers, primarily by the MPRP,
for campaign activities. Approximately 10 percent of the population
moved from one district or precinct to another during the final 2 weeks
of the campaign to exploit so-called ``transfer voter'' provisions in
the law. These provisions resulted in many disputes and, in at least
one precinct, had the effect of disenfranchising resident voters.
Observers also reported abuses related to control of mobile ballot
boxes, police intimidation, fraudulent ballots, multiple voting,
ejection of political party and foreign observers from polling
stations, and ballot-box stuffing. Both the MPRP and the MDC called for
re counts in many districts. The MPRP formally challenged and requested
re-votes in two districts. The MDC took the cases to the new
administrative court, which stayed the re-vote in one district and
ruled invalid the re-vote in another district. At year's end,
candidates continued to pursue their challenges through appeals in the
courts.
Protracted inter- and intra-party negotiations produced a ``Grand
Coalition'' or ``Consensus'' Government, in which the MPRP and MDC
divided parliamentary standing committee and cabinet positions. The
Speaker of the Parliament (and second in the chain of command after the
President) and the Prime Minister (third in the chain of command) were
from different parties, as were the ministers and vice ministers of the
13 ministries. Several new parliamentary standing committees and
ministries, as well as a new deputy prime minister position, were
created to accommodate the need for balance between the political
forces. In addition, the parties agreed to exchange the positions of
Speaker and Prime Minister after 2 years, when the MDC would nominate
the Speaker and the MPRP would nominate the Prime Minister.
The Constitution provides that the Prime Minister, in consultation
with the President, shall submit executive branch proposals to
Parliament. Members of Parliament may serve as cabinet ministers.
There were 18 registered political parties; 5 were represented in
Parliament.
Corruption was perceived to be a growing problem. Government and
parliamentary decisionmaking was not sufficiently transparent, and open
public legislative hearings were rare. The State Secrets Law inhibits
freedom of information and government transparency and accountability.
There were public calls not only to amend the law but also to implement
the equivalent of a ``freedom of information act.''
There were no legal impediments to the participation of women or
minorities in government and politics. There were 5 female members in
the 76-member Parliament, including a vice speaker. There was one
female minister and one female vice-minister. Women and women's
organizations were vocal in local and national politics and actively
sought greater female representation in government policymaking.
There were three members of the ethnic Kazakh minority group
serving in Parliament.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
With UNDP assistance, a local representative in each provincial
assembly monitored human rights conditions, among other duties.
The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) consists of three
senior civil servants nominated by the President, the Supreme Court,
and the Parliament for terms of 6 years. The NCHR was responsible for
monitoring human rights abuses, initiating and reviewing policy
changes, and coordinating with human rights NGOs. The NCHR reported
directly to Parliament. In its 2003 report, as in its 2001 and 2002
reports, the NCHR criticized the Government for abuses of the power of
arrest and detention, poor conditions in detention and prison
facilities, lengthy detentions without trial, and failure to implement
laws. The reports also faulted Parliament and the courts for failure to
protect human rights fully.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution states that ``no person shall be discriminated
against on the basis of ethnic origin, language, race, age, sex, social
origin, or status,'' and that ``men and women shall be equal in
political, economic, social, cultural fields, and family.'' The
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice. There was
no official discrimination against those with HIV/AIDS; however, some
social discrimination existed.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a serious problem. Rape
and domestic abuse are illegal, and offenders can be prosecuted after
formal charges have been filed. There is no law specifically
prohibiting spousal rape. Rape, including spousal rape, also was a
problem. During the year, the number of reported cases increased nearly
5 percent.
In May, Parliament passed a law against domestic violence to become
effective January 1, 2005. The law states that ``Domestic violence
shall mean any intentional act or failure to act by a person with
respect to another person that infringes upon the latter's human
rights, freedom, or any act that causes threat or contains a threat to
cause harm.'' The law covers family members and also cohabitants not
registered as married in the state registry, as well as persons who are
in the custody of a family due to adoption, being nursed, or over whom
a family member has guardian status. The law empowers central and local
authorities to implement national policy to combat and prevent domestic
violence, fund such activities from the national budget, and enlist the
support and cooperation of NGOs in their efforts. The law requires
police to accept and file complaints, visit the site of incidents,
interrogate the offender and witnesses, explain the law, impose
administrative criminal penalties, bring victims to refuge, and
transfer custody of relatives if necessary. Police may also detain an
offender temporarily, send drunken offenders to ``sobering houses,''
and inform social workers and advise relevant authorities on
restrictions to place on an offender. The law outlines the role of
social welfare organizations and NGOs and confidentiality provisions
for victims. The law provides for the following sanctions on offenders:
expulsion from home or separate accommodations, prohibitions on the use
of jointly owned property, prohibitions on meeting victims,
prohibitions on access to minors, compulsory training aimed at behavior
modification, and compulsory treatment for alcoholism.
There were no reliable statistics regarding the extent of domestic
abuse, but qualified observers believed that it affected as much as
one-third of the female population. Approximately 98.5 percent of those
who committed violent crimes in the home were men, and women typically
were the victims. In recent years, domestic abuse appeared to become
more violent; different statistical sources stated that between 10 and
24 percent of murders occurred in the home. During the year, murders of
women were 18 percent of all murder cases. After many years of
government and societal denial, there was increasing public and media
discussion of domestic violence, including spousal and child abuse.
However, the perception remained that domestic abuse was either a
family issue or not a problem. In recent years, economic and societal
changes have created new stresses on families, including loss of jobs,
inflation, and lowered spending on social and educational programs.
Some statistics showed that more than 60 percent of family abuse cases
were related to alcohol abuse. The high rate of alcohol abuse
contributed to increased instances of family abuse and abandonment and
added to the number of single-parent families, most of which were
headed by women. Women were hesitant to prosecute cases of domestic
abuse because of likely long-term detention of spouses and the
resulting loss of household income.
Prostitution is illegal. The national police documented 148 cases
of underage prostitution in 2003.
There were reports that some female and teenage citizens worked in
the sex trade in Asia and Eastern Europe; an unknown number of them may
have been trafficked (see Section 5, Trafficking).
There are no laws against sexual harassment.
The Family Law details rights and responsibilities regarding
alimony and parents' rights, and it is intended to bring about timely
dispute settlement and ameliorate the causes of some domestic violence.
The National Center Against Violence operated branches in two districts
of Ulaanbataar and eight provinces. One shelter for victims of domestic
abuse existed in the country, largely funded by foreign charitable
organizations.
The law stipulates the obligations regarding divorce, custody, and
alimony for the parent caring for children. It provides for more speedy
resolution of divorce cases when the relevant agencies have determined
that domestic violence is involved.
The Constitution provides men and women with equal rights in all
areas. By law, women are to receive equal pay for equal work and have
equal access to education. Women represented approximately half of the
work force, and a significant number were the primary wage earners for
their families. The law prohibits women from working in certain
occupations that require heavy labor or exposure to chemicals that
could affect infant and maternal health, and the Government effectively
enforced these provisions. Many women occupied midlevel positions in
government and the professions, and many were involved in the creation
and management of new trading and manufacturing businesses.
There was no separate government agency to oversee women's rights;
however, there was a national council to coordinate policy and women's
interests among ministries and NGOs, and the Ministry of Social Welfare
and Labor had a Division for Women and Youth Issues. There were
approximately 40 women's rights groups that concerned themselves with
issues such as maternal and child health, domestic violence, and equal
opportunity.
Children.--Increased stress on the family structure and throughout
society has had adverse effects on many children, and the Government
has been unable to keep pace with the educational, health, and social
needs of this most rapidly growing segment of its population, although
it is committed to children's rights and welfare in principle. The
Government provided children with free and, by law, compulsory public
education through the age of 16; however, family economic needs and
state budgetary difficulties made it difficult for some children to
attend school. In practice, female children over the age of 15 had
better opportunities to complete their education than male children,
because teenage males often were required to work at home, and schools
generally were located far from homes (see Section 6.d.). In addition,
there continued to be a severe shortage of teachers and teaching
materials at all educational levels.
Although the society has a long tradition of communal raising of
children, societal and familial changes have orphaned many children.
The Government was more willing than in the past to admit the extent of
the problem, but it lacked the resources to improve the welfare of
children who have become victims. NGOs continued to assist orphaned and
abandoned children. The Government did not publish statistics on street
children; however, the 2002 census identified approximately 1,300
homeless youths between 7 and 18 years of age. Of those, 840 lived in
shelters provided by 21 children's centers sponsored by international
NGOs. Groups working in the field disagreed on the number of street
children, but they estimated that there were as many as 3,000. Female
street children, who accounted for one third of all street children,
sometimes faced sexual abuse. The Government established the National
Committee for Children to address this and other child welfare
problems. The Government supported two government-funded but privately
owned and administered shelters, one for children from birth to age 3
and the other for children from 3 to 16 years of age. While these
facilities received some government funding, it was inadequate, and
foreign aid helped sustain the orphanages.
There was growing awareness that child abuse, often associated with
parental alcoholism, was a problem. In conjunction with efforts to
counter violence against women, NGOs have begun to address the problem.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law specifically prohibits trafficking
in women and children; however, there was evidence that female and
teenage citizens working in the sex trade in Asia and Eastern Europe
may have been the victims of trafficking rings. The country was both a
source and transit point for trafficking.
In 2003, the national police documented 148 cases of underage
prostitution. Also in 2003, police investigated 7 cases involving 19
suspects accused of trafficking 60 women to Hong Kong, Macau, and South
Korea. During the year, NGOs reported that seven women were trafficked
to Poland from the country. Authorities detained and subsequently
denied entry to two foreign nationals (one British and one South
Korean) for alleged trafficking of women.
Although most officials and NGOs found it difficult to estimate the
extent of the trafficking, increasing attention was focused on the
problem. In May, the former Ministry of Infrastructure, which had
oversight responsibility for the tourist industry, worked with UNICEF
and tourist companies to develop a voluntary code of conduct to protect
minors from sexual exploitation in the travel and tourist industry.
The primary targets of trafficking schemes were middle-class girls
and young women, ranging in age from 14 to approximately 28, who were
lured abroad by offers to study or work. It was not difficult to
traffic persons across the country's borders. Some NGO experts believed
that members of the police sometimes were involved in trafficking young
women and helping facilitate their movement across borders.
Persons With Disabilities.--The labor law prohibits discrimination
in employment and education against persons with disabilities, and it
requires the Government to provide benefits according to the nature and
severity of the disability, which the Government did. The Law on Social
Protection of the Disabled charges provincial governors and the
Ulaanbaatar governor with the responsibility to work with provincial
councils and the Ulaanbaatar city council to develop and implement
measures to protect persons with disabilities. However, NGOs claimed
that the Government did little to implement such measures, and in
practice, most persons with disabilities could not find jobs. The law
requires companies employing more than 50 persons to hire at least 3
persons with disabilities, and the Government provided tax benefits to
enterprises that hired persons with disabilities, whom some firms hired
exclusively. Persons injured in industrial accidents have the right to
reemployment when ready to resume work, and the Government offered free
retraining at a central technical school. There were several
specialized schools for youths with disabilities, but these students
also were free to attend regular schools. There is no law mandating
access to buildings for persons with disabilities, which made it
difficult for these persons to participate fully in public life.
Persons with disabilities have demonstrated for higher government
subsidies. Government pensions for persons with disabilities were
approximately $40 (40,000 tugrik) per month. Approximately 30 NGOs
participated in activities assisting the approximately 40,000 persons
with disabilities in the country.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution entitles all workers
to form or join unions and professional organizations of their
choosing, and the Government respected this right in practice. Union
officials estimated that union membership remained constant at
approximately 400,000, which represented less than half of the
workforce. Workers who were self-employed or worked at small firms
generally did not belong to unions. No arbitrary restrictions limited
who could be a union official, and officers were elected by secret
ballot.
In 2003, the leadership of the Association of Free Trades Unions
merged with the Mongolian Trade Unions Confederation, in effect leaving
only one trade union confederation in the country.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
regulates relations between employers, employees, trade unions, and the
Government. The Government's role is limited to ensuring that contracts
meet legal requirements concerning hours and conditions of work. Wages
and other conditions of employment are set between employers, whether
state or private, and employees, with trade union input in some cases.
The Labor Dispute Settlement Commission resolves disputes involving an
individual; disputes involving groups are referred to intermediaries
and arbitrators for reconciliation. The law provides for the right to
strike, and workers exercised this right in practice. If an employer
fails to comply with a recommendation, employees may exercise their
right to strike. The law protects workers' right to participate in
trade union activities without discrimination.
Persons employed in essential services, which the Government
defines as occupations critical for national defense and safety,
including police, utility, and transportation workers, do not have the
right to strike.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law specifically
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
enforcement was irregular.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law in general prohibits children under the age of 16 from working,
although those who are 14 or 15 years of age may work up to 30 hours
per week with parental consent. Those under 18 may not work at night,
engage in arduous work, or work in hazardous occupations such as mining
and construction. Enforcement of these prohibitions, as well as all
other labor regulations, was the responsibility of state labor
inspectors assigned to regional and local offices. These inspectors
have the authority to compel immediate compliance with labor
legislation, but enforcement was limited, due to the small number of
labor inspectors and the growing number of independent enterprises.
Children worked informally in petty trade, scavenging in dumpsites,
scavenging coal from abandoned mines, and herding animals. Increasing
alcoholism and parental abandonment made it necessary for many children
to have an income to support themselves, their siblings, and sometimes
their parents. Estimates placed the number of children in the labor
force as high as 58,000.
In addition, due to economic pressures, fewer children, especially
teenage boys in the countryside, stayed in school until age 18 (see
Section 5). Children most often herded family livestock, but reports of
children working in factories or coalmines continued.
The Government prohibits forced and compulsory labor by children
and generally attempted to enforce this prohibition. However, forced
labor by children occurred.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage
established for the year was under $30 (30,000 tugrik) per month. This
minimum wage, which applied to both public and private sector workers
and was enforced by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor, was
insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and
family. Virtually all civil servants earned more than this amount, and
many in private businesses earned considerably more. Some employees
received housing benefits.
The standard legal workweek is 40 hours, and there is a minimum
rest period of 48 hours between workweeks. By law, overtime work is
compensated at either double the standard hourly rate or by giving time
off equal to the number of hours of overtime worked. Pregnant women and
nursing mothers are prohibited by law from working overtime. For those
16 and 17 years of age, the workweek is 36 hours, and overtime work is
not allowed. These laws generally were enforced in practice.
Laws on labor, cooperatives, and enterprises set occupational
health and safety standards. However, the near-total reliance on
outmoded machinery and problems with maintenance and management led to
frequent industrial accidents, particularly in the mining, power, and
construction sectors. Enforcement of occupational health and safety
standards was inadequate. The labor monitoring unit employed only 73
inspectors to inspect a growing number of enterprises throughout the
country. According to the law, workers have the right to remove
themselves from dangerous work situations and still retain their jobs.
There were a small number of foreign workers in the country who
generally enjoyed the same protections as citizens.
__________
NAURU
The Republic of Nauru adopted a unicameral form of parliamentary
democracy upon gaining independence in 1968. The Parliament, elected at
least triennially, consists of 18 members from 14 constituencies. The
Parliament elects the President, who is both chief of state and head of
government, from among its members. The most recent parliamentary
elections, held in November, were free and fair. The presidency has
changed 14 times in the past 3 years; in June, Parliament reelected
Ludwig Scotty with a clear majority. The judiciary is independent.
The country has no armed forces, although it has a small police
force, with fewer than 100 members. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the police force. There were no reports that
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country's population was approximately 12,000. The economy
previously was based almost entirely on the mining of dwindling
phosphate deposits. The government-owned Nauru Phosphate Corporation
(NPC) controlled the mining industry and placed a large percentage of
its earnings in long-term investments meant to provide national revenue
after the phosphate reserves are exhausted. However, financial
mismanagement and corruption led to severe and chronic shortages of
basic goods and utilities as well as some domestic unrest. The closure
of most mining operations in recent years has left the country
dependent upon foreign aid and receipts from hosting asylum-seeker
detention centers funded and managed by the Government of Australia. In
February, in response to international money laundering concerns, the
Government closed its offshore banking operations, suspended its
investor passport program, and updated its banking laws and financial
sector legislation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. Human rights advocates
continued to express concerns about poor living conditions and alleged
arbitrary detention of asylum seekers held in the country, under an
agreement with the Government of Australia, since 2001. In September,
Australia closed one of the two asylum seeker centers in Nauru.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by the
Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
The Government attempted to meet international prison standards
within its limited financial means and in accordance with local living
standards; however, prison conditions were basic, and food and
sanitation were limited. There were separate accommodations for
pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners, for men and women, and for
adults and juveniles.
The country hosted a refugee processing and detention center,
funded by the Government of Australia, that held 58 asylum seekers at
year's end (see Sec. 1.d. and 2.d.). Most of the detainees were
citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a small number from other
South Asian countries, intercepted at sea en route to Australia in
2001, and who sought resettlement in Australia or other developed
countries. Australian human rights organizations expressed concern
about conditions at the detention center, including problems with the
water quality and power supply. Water quality and power supply problems
were common in the country as a whole. Since 2001, Amnesty
International and other Australia-based human rights groups have
protested that journalists, human rights activists, doctors, lawyers,
and clergy members have been denied visas to visit asylum seekers held
in the detention centers. A series of hunger strikes by detainees
appear to have been resolved through negotiation and agreements by
Australian authorities to review detainees' records and claims.
There were no local human rights groups, and the question of visits
to local prisons by human rights observers was not raised. Prison
visits by church groups and family members were permitted.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The police may hold a person for no more than 24 hours without a
hearing before a magistrate.
There were no reported cases of corruption in the police force.
Since 2002, the Australia-based Catholic Commission for Justice,
Development, and Peace has asserted that the detention of asylum
seekers in the country was not being handled in accordance with the
country's Constitution, since these individuals had been detained by
Australia without first being brought before a recognized court for a
hearing. In August, the Australian court ruled that the detention of
the asylum seekers was legal.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The Supreme Court is the highest court addressing constitutional
issues; it is presided over by the Chief Justice. The Appellate Court,
composed of two judges, hears appeals of Supreme Court decisions on
other matters. Parliament cannot overturn court decisions. Under the
Appeals Act, cases may be reviewed by the High Court of Australia on
Criminal and Civil Actions, but this rarely was done. A Resident
Magistrate, who is also the Registrar of the Supreme Court, presides
over the District Court and the Family Court as Chairman of a three-
member panel. The Constitution further provides for two quasi-courts,
the Public Service Appeal Board and the Police Appeal Board. The Chief
Justice presides over both as chairman, with two members for each
board.
Defendants may have legal counsel, and a representative for the
defense is appointed, when required, ``in the interest of justice.''
Bail and traditional reconciliation mechanisms rather than the formal
legal process were used in many cases--usually by choice, but sometimes
under communal pressure. Contract workers from Kiribati and Tuvalu
working in the mining sector did not have recourse to effective
communal assistance and were disadvantaged in complaints against
citizens. There were only three trained lawyers in the country, and
many persons were represented in court by ``pleaders,'' trained
paralegals certified by the Government.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective
judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to
ensure freedom of speech and of the press, including academic freedom.
The country had no regular print media. Occasional publications
included the Government Bulletin. In addition, The Visionary, a
newsletter published sporadically by the opposition party Naoero Amo,
provided an independent and critical view of the Government. The
Visionary was particularly vocal regarding the country's economic
crises during the year. The country's sole radio station was owned and
operated by the Government; it broadcast Radio Australia and British
Broadcasting Corporation news reports. Local television included
government-owned Nauru TV, as well as a privately owned sports network.
The Government was the sole Internet service provider in the
country, but it did not monitor or censor content.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, the Government restricted this right in some cases.
In recent years, the Government has prevented Mormons and members of
Jehovah's Witnesses from practicing their religion freely on some
occasions, and members of these religions were subjected to arbitrary
licensing and immigration requirements.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
By regulation, foreign workers were required to apply to their
employers for permission to leave the country during the period of
their contracts; however, the scaling down of most mining operations in
the early part of the year mooted the regulation. A few hundred
expatriate workers left the country during the year, but approximately
6,000 have elected to remain, many of whom continued to work, hoping to
collect months of back pay owed them.
Neither the Constitution nor law prohibits forced exile; however,
the Government did not use it.
The Government has not formulated a formal policy regarding
refugees, asylees, or temporary protection. However, the Government
cooperated with the office of the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. The country has accommodated
asylum seekers as a processing center for Australia and other
countries. These asylum seekers were held in facilities funded by the
Government of Australia, with day-to-day supervision provided by
officials of the International Office on Migration and local
authorities. Most of the asylum seekers were from South Asia and
claimed to be fleeing political persecution. Throughout the year, some
asylum seekers were resettled, primarily in Australia and New Zealand.
At year's end, 58 asylum seekers remained in detention in the country
(see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Government also can be changed by a petition from
the Members of Parliament. Although the country's politics are based
more on clan than party membership, persons with diverse points of view
have been elected to Parliament.
Parliament elects the President. There have been six changes in
government since January 2003. Following general elections in November,
Ludwig Scotty was reelected President by Parliament, after a
dissolution and new election gave his reform supporters a clear
majority.
In parliamentary elections, voting by secret ballot is compulsory
for all citizens over the age of 20. Multiple candidates stood for all
parliamentary seats in each election.
Once one of the richest countries in the world when measured on a
per capita basis, the country has been reduced to defaulting on
obligations because of government mismanagement and corruption by
former officials and hired administrators at all levels. The country
does not have legislation regulating the conduct of senior officials;
therefore, corruption cannot be investigated without specific
parliamentary actions, which has not been yet undertaken.
There are no legal impediments to participation in politics by
women. However, the dominance of traditional clans in national politics
limited participation by women, and there were no women in the 18-seat
Parliament or in the Cabinet. During the year, participation by women
in party-based politics increased, and women held many senior civil
service positions, including Permanent Secretary and Cabinet Secretary-
level jobs.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There were no restrictions on establishing local groups that
concern themselves specifically with human rights, but no groups have
been formed. The Australia-based Catholic Commission for Justice,
Development, and Peace repeated concerns about alleged arbitrary
detention of asylum seekers, asserting that detainees were not being
held in accordance with the country's Constitution (see Section 1.d.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
sex, disability, language, or social status, and the Government
observed these provisions.
Women.--The Government did not track incidents of physical and
domestic abuse against women. However, credible reports indicated that
sporadic abuse, often aggravated by alcohol use, occurred. Families
normally sought to reconcile such problems informally, and, if
necessary, communally. The judiciary and the Government treated major
incidents and unresolved family disputes seriously.
Spousal rape is not a crime, but police investigate and file
charges if allegations of rape are made against a spouse. Prostitution
is illegal and was not widespread. Sexual harassment is a crime and was
not a serious problem.
The law grants women the same freedoms and protections as men. The
Government officially provides equal opportunities in education and
employment, and women are free to own property and pursue private
interests. However, in practice, societal pressures limited
opportunities for women to exercise these rights fully. There was a
Women's Affairs Office to promote professional opportunities for women.
Children.--The Government devoted adequate resources for education
and health care for children. Education is compulsory until age 16.
Child abuse statistics were not compiled, but alcohol abuse sometimes
led to child neglect or abuse. There were no reported cases of child
abuse or child prostitution during the year.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking; however, there were no reports of persons trafficked to,
from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no reported discrimination in
employment, education, access to health care, or in the provision of
state services to persons with disabilities. However, no legislation
mandates services for persons with disabilities or access to public
buildings. Persons who applied to the Health Department could obtain
government assistance in building access ramps to homes and workplaces.
There are no formal mechanisms to protect persons with mental
disabilities; however, the Government at times provided essential
services to families of such persons.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Workers from other Pacific
Islands experienced some discrimination. Foreign workers were provided
free housing; however, the shelters were often poorly maintained and
overcrowded. In the past, some foreign workers alleged that the police
rarely acted on their complaints against citizens.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the right
of citizens to form and belong to trade unions or other associations.
However, the country has virtually no labor laws, nor does it have any
formal trade unions. Past efforts to form unions were discouraged
officially. The transient nature of the mostly foreign work force also
hampered efforts to organize the labor force.
b. Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Although there were
no legal impediments, collective bargaining did not take place. The
private sector employed only approximately 1 percent of salaried
workers. For government workers, public service regulations determine
salaries, working hours, vacation periods, and other employment
matters.
The right to strike is not protected, prohibited, or limited by
law.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
forbids forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and the
Government effectively enforced these prohibitions.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law sets age 17 as the minimum age of employment. The only two large
employers, the Government and the NPC, honored this rule. Some children
under the age of 17 worked in small, family-owned businesses.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wage rates for office
workers and manual laborers provided an adequate, if modest, standard
of living for a worker and family. However, due to the Government's
near-permanent lack of funds during the year, public service salaries
often went unpaid, frequently for months at a time. Most families lived
in simple but adequate housing, and almost every family owned some sort
of motor vehicle. The Government set the minimum yearly wage
administratively for the public sector. Since 1992, that rate has been
$6,562 ($A9,056) for those 21 years of age or older. The rate is
progressively lower for those under 21 years of age. Employers
determined wages for foreign contract workers based on market
conditions and the consumer price index. Usually foreign workers and
their families received free housing, utilities, medical treatment, and
often a food allowance. Some noncitizen contract workers complained
about conditions in company living compounds.
By regulation, the workweek in both the public and private sectors
was 36 hours for office workers and 40 hours for manual laborers.
Neither law nor regulations stipulate a weekly rest period; however,
most workers observed Saturdays and Sundays as holidays.
The Government sets health and safety standards. The NPC had an
active safety program that included an emphasis on worker education and
the use of safety equipment such as helmets, safety shoes, and dust
respirators. The NPC had a safety officer specifically responsible for
improving safety standards and compliance throughout the company.
__________
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy, with executive authority
vested in a 20-member Cabinet led by the Prime Minister. Queen
Elizabeth II is Chief of State and is represented by the Governor
General. The 120-member Parliament is elected in a mixed-member,
proportional representation system, with 7 seats reserved for members
of the native Maori population. Citizens periodically choose their
representatives in free and fair multiparty elections. The most recent
elections were held in 2002. The Labor Party won 52 parliamentary seats
and formed a minority coalition government with the Progressive
Coalition Party and support from the centrist United Future Party. A
parliamentary election was scheduled for 2005. The judiciary is
independent.
The Minister of Police oversees the national police. The civilian
authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. A few
members of the police committed isolated human rights abuses.
The country has a market-based, mixed economy. As of June, the
population was approximately 4.1 million. Gross domestic product grew
4.4 percent during the fiscal year that ended June 30. Wages grew at
2.3 percent over the fiscal year and inflation at 2.4 percent. An
appreciating exchange rate hurt the trade sector; however, rising world
commodity prices contributed to strong growth in export volumes.
Government social programs offered substantial benefits to
disadvantaged persons.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. The Government generally
respected the human rights of citizens living in its territories of
Tokelau, Niue, and the Cook Islands.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
In August, police shot and killed a man who had attacked his wife
and police officers with a knife. This was the first fatal killing of a
suspect in more than 4 years. In December, a homicide investigation
found that the shooting was justified and reasonable. A Police
Complaints Authority investigation was ongoing at year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
During the year, there were some complaints that individual members
of the police committed abuses. The Independent Police Complaints
Authority handled complaints of police abuse, ranging from use of
abusive language to allegations of complicity in deaths.
In June, Parliament passed a new Corrections Act, whose provisions
were scheduled to come into force in mid-2005. The objectives of the
act were to eliminate private management of prisons, establish
individual management plans for prisoners, and make prisoners' minimum
entitlements more consistent with U.N. standards.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by human rights observers. Prison
overcrowding was a problem during the year. In response, the Government
used double bunking at prisons, reopened a previously closed unit at
Tongariro Prison, converted male units for use by female inmates, and
used police and court cells. In November, the Government approved
funding for additional construction on existing prison sites that would
add 213 beds to the country's prison capacity over the next 2 years. As
of June 30, the male inmate population was 6,177, and total prison bed
capacity was 6,173; the female inmate population was 378, and the total
bed capacity was 380.
Maori made up 15 percent of the general population but were 49.5
percent of the prison population as of November. The Government sought
to reduce Maori recidivism through special programs to integrate Maori
cultural values into the rehabilitation program (see Section 5).
In the 12-month period ending June 30, there were 3 serious
assaults on staff by inmates and 30 assaults of inmates on other
inmates. During the same period, there were 15 recorded deaths in
custody, including 8 assumed suicides and 1 assumed homicide.
In December, the Government released the result of an investigation
begun in 2003 by the State Services Commission into the use of
excessive force by the Canterbury Prison Emergency Response Unit, also
known as the ``goon squad.'' The report found that failings of
management in the Corrections Department allowed the unit to develop an
inappropriate militaristic culture. The Corrections Department
disciplined most individuals involved with the unit, and the Government
declared that it would review institutional changes to avoid similar
incidents. The Government has appealed civil suits brought by affected
prisoners that awarded compensatory damages. The appeals were ongoing
at year's end.
In October 2003, nine inmates of Auckland's Paremoremo Prison
Behavioral Management Regime (BMR) brought a case against the
Department of Corrections, alleging that the practices employed by the
BMR, a special unit that isolates prisoners who pose a risk to staff or
other inmates, constituted torture. In September, the Wellington High
Court awarded compensation of $91,000 ($NZ130,000) to five of the
claimants. The case was being appealed at year's end.
Male and female inmates normally were housed separately. Pretrial
detainees were housed separately from convicted prisoners to the extent
possible.
Juvenile detainees come under the jurisdiction of Child, Youth, and
Family Services (CYFS) rather than the police. CYFS operated 90 beds
for juveniles serving residential orders and detainees; an additional 6
CYF beds were available for juveniles sentenced to imprisonment for
indictable offenses by an adult court.
In June, a provision expired that had allowed juveniles age 15 or
older accused of serious offenses to be remanded into an adult penal
institution. In the 15-month period over which the provision was in
effect, young persons spent 1,014 nights in police cells rather than in
youth justice residences.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions. The chief executive of the Department of Corrections may
order a 14-day extension to detention in a police jail; further
extensions must be authorized by a Visiting Justice.
The Police Commissioner, appointed by the Governor General, is the
chief executive of the police force and reports to the Minister of
Police. A Board of Commissioners, consisting of the Commissioner and
two Deputy Commissioners, is responsible for high-level leadership and
makes decisions on police strategy, governance, and performance
management. The police are organized into 12 districts. There are three
operational branches: General Duties, Criminal Investigation, and
Traffic Safety. Allegations of corruption or impunity are referred to
the Independent Police Complaints Authority, which can refer cases
directly to Parliament. The police generally did not have problems with
corruption and impunity.
Police may arrest a suspect without a warrant if they have
reasonable cause. Police also may request a warrant from a District
Court judge. Police may enter premises without a warrant to arrest a
person if they reasonably suspect the person of committing a crime on
the premises, or if they have found the person committing an offense
and are in pursuit. Police must inform arrested persons immediately of
their legal rights and the grounds of their arrest.
After a suspect has been arrested and charged, police have the
power to release the person on bail until the first court appearance.
That bail comes to an end at the first court appearance and is distinct
from court bail. Court bail is granted unless there is good reason to
believe that the suspect will flee or is likely to be a danger to the
community. Police bail is not normally granted for more serious
offences such as serious assault or burglary. Attorneys and families
were granted prompt access to detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. On July 1, the Supreme Court replaced the Privy
Council in London as the country's highest court of appeal. The Supreme
Court is composed of the Chief Justice and four other judges appointed
by the Governor General. Below the new Supreme Court is the Court of
Appeal; it hears appeals from the High Court, which has original
jurisdiction for major crimes and important civil claims. The High
Court also hears appeals from lower courts and reviews administrative
actions. Remaining original jurisdiction rests with the 66 district
courts. Special courts include the Employment Court, family courts,
youth courts, the Maori Land Court, the Maori Appellate Court, and the
Environment Court. The country's military forces have their own court
system, with a Courts Martial and a Courts Martial Appeals Court. The
law provides for the right to a fair trial and affords defendants the
rights found in other common-law jurisdictions. An independent
judiciary generally enforced these rights.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. An
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
In August and September, headstones of Jewish graves were destroyed
or desecrated in and around Wellington and Wanganui. In one of the
incidents in the Wellington area, a Jewish prayer house was burned
down. The Government condemned these actions, and an investigation was
ongoing at year's end. In late September, racist letters, some
containing pork, were mailed to members of Wellington's Somali
community and other Muslims. The heads of the city's Muslim and Jewish
communities were quick to proclaim their belief that both the anti-
Semitic and anti-Muslim attacks were the work of someone outside their
communities who wished to incite racial tension between the two groups.
In October, a person was charged with sending the letters. The
government-funded Human Rights Commission actively promoted tolerance
and antibias on the issue.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
There is no statutory authority for imposing a sentence of exile,
and the Government did not practice forced exile. The Bill of Rights
provides every citizen the right to enter the country.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. The Government also provided
protection to certain individuals who fall outside of the definition of
the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967
Protocol. Under its refugee quota, the Government resettles up to 750
UNHCR-approved refugees per year. In the 12-month period that ended
July 30, the Government approved 247 persons.
During the year, Amnesty International and other human rights
groups expressed concern about the continued detention of Ahmed Zaoui,
a former member of the Algerian Parliament who traveled to the country
from Malaysia in 2002 on a false passport and requested asylum. In
August 2003, the Refugee Status Appeals Authority (RSAA) concluded that
Zauoi met the definition of a refugee. However, the Security
Intelligence Service had issued a Security Risk Certificate in March
2003 declaring that Zaoui was a threat to national security, a claim
the RSAA disputed. Following 10 months in solitary confinement, Zaoui
was transferred to Auckland Central Remand Prison, where he remained in
detention until November, when the Supreme Court judged that he was
eligible for bail. In December, Zaoui was released on bail while the
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security evaluated Zaoui's risk
status, a process that was expected to take 6 to 12 months.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through
periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal
suffrage. Parliamentarians are elected under a mixed-member,
proportional representation system. In the most recent general
elections, held in 2002, the Labor Party won 52 of 120 parliamentary
seats and formed a minority government with the Progressive Coalition
Party (2 seats) and support from the centrist United Future Party (8
seats); Helen Clark remained Prime Minister. The Labor Party also had a
cooperation agreement with the Green Party (9 seats). Three other
political parties were represented in Parliament: The National Party
(27 seats), New Zealand First (13 seats), and the ACT party (8 seats).
In June, Labor Member of Parliament Tariana Turia resigned, cofounded
the Maori Party, and won her seat back in a July by-election.
The 1982 Official Information Act and the 1987 Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act Government provide for public
access to government information, to be provided within 20 working days
of a request. Information must be made available unless a good reason,
such as concern for national security, exists for not doing so. The
requestor must be provided with an estimate of any fees before the
information is provided.
Women participated fully in political life. There were 34 women in
the 120-seat Parliament. There were 6 women (including the Prime
Minister) on the Executive Council, which comprises 25 ministers (19
within the Cabinet and 6 outside the Cabinet). The Cabinet included
five women. The Prime Minister, the Attorney General, and the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court were women; the Governor General, who
represents the Queen, also was a woman. There were 2 women in the 25-
seat Parliament of the dependent territory of the Cook Islands and 2
women in the 20 seat Parliament of the dependent territory of Niue.
Seven seats in Parliament are reserved for persons of Maori
ancestry. The number of Maori seats is adjusted every 5 years, based on
the number of persons of Maori ancestry who register to vote on the
Maori electoral roll.
There were 20 Maori in Parliament, including the 7 reserved seats,
3 members of Pacific Island origin, and 1 member each of East and South
Asian heritage. The Cabinet included at least five members with Maori
ancestry.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The Human Rights Commission (HRC), a U.N.-accredited national human
rights institution, investigated complaints of human rights violations
and unlawful discrimination and acted as a conciliator. The HRC, which
presents an annual report to Parliament, is funded by the Government
but acts independently.
In September, the HRC issued a comprehensive report that assessed
the country's compliance with international and domestic standards in a
range of areas. The report found that while human rights standards
generally were high, children and young persons were most at risk for
human rights abuse.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex,
religion, disability, and national or ethnic origin, and the Government
actively enforced it.
Women.--Violence against women affected all socioeconomic groups.
According to a National Survey of Crime Victims conducted in 2001 and
released in 2003, an estimated 32 percent of Maori, 17 percent of
persons of European ancestry, and 12 percent of Pacific Islanders
reported violent abuse by a heterosexual partner at least once in their
lifetime; these figures included both men and women. One in four of the
women included in the survey reported experiencing violent behavior
from a partner at least once. In the year ending June 30, there were
2,228 convictions involving assault by a male on a female. Of these
convictions, 52 percent involved Maori men, 30 percent men of European
ancestry, and 12 percent Pacific Islanders. Although Maori women and
children constituted less than 10 percent of the population,
approximately half the women and children who used the National Council
of Independent Women's Refuges were Maori.
The Government continued its ``Te Rito'' program, a national
strategy to address all forms and degrees of domestic violence. The
Government partially funded women's shelters, rape crisis centers,
sexual abuse counseling, family violence networks, and violence
prevention services.
The law penalizes spousal rape. During the year, the Government
prosecuted and convicted a small number of persons for spousal rape or
unlawful sexual connection with a spouse. Rape crisis groups existed
throughout the country and included centers focusing specifically on
Maori and Pacific Islanders.
It is illegal to perform female genital mutilation (FGM) or to
remove a child from the country to carry out the procedure; violations
of the law are punishable by up to 7 years in prison. The Government
funded a national FGM education program. There were no FGM cases
reported during the year.
The 2003 Prostitution Reform Act legalized prostitution. The
legislation sets a minimum age of 18 to work in the sex industry, gives
prostitutes the same workplace protections as other industries, and
provides for a licensing regime for brothels. The law also eliminates a
client's defense of claiming ignorance that a sex worker was less than
18, and it extends culpability to any person who receives financial
gain from an act involving an underage sex worker. The law prohibits
sex tourism, and citizens who commit child sex offenses overseas can be
prosecuted in New Zealand courts. During the year, there were no
reports of abuse or of the involuntary detention of women involved in
prostitution. There were reports that some foreign commercial sex
workers had their passports withheld by employers until bonds were
repaid (see Section 5, Trafficking, and Section 6.c.). The law
prohibits sexual harassment. The HRC offered sexual harassment
prevention training. The Ministry of Women's Affairs addresses problems
of discrimination and gender equality, and there is a Minister of
Women's Affairs in the Cabinet. While the law prohibits discrimination
in employment and in rates of pay for equal or similar work, the
Government acknowledged that a gender earnings gap persisted in
practice. In 2003, the Ministry of Women's Affairs undertook a pay
equity project with the Department of Labor, and in April it provided
recommendations to the Government. As a result, the Government began
the development of audit and gender-neutral job evaluation tools,
created processes for remedial settlements of pay equity claims, and
set up a unit dedicated to this issue within the Department of Labor.
Children.--The law provides specific safeguards for children's
rights and protection. The Government demonstrated its commitment to
children's rights and welfare through its well-funded systems of public
education and medical care. The Government provides 12 weeks of
government-funded, paid parental leave to care for children born after
July 2002. The office of the Commissioner for Children played a key
role in monitoring violence and abuse against children.
The law provides for compulsory, free, and universal education
through age 16, and the Government effectively enforced the law. The
Government provided free health care to all children under age 5. Child
abuse continued to be of concern to the Government. According to a
September 2003 UNICEF report, from 1994 to 1998, there were 1.2 deaths
from physical abuse per 100,000 children. From July 2001 to June 2002,
6,892 children were assessed as abused or neglected. This resulted in a
child abuse rate of 6.9 children for every 1,000 children under 17, a
slight increase from the July 2000-June 2001 statistic of 6.7 children
per 1,000. During the same period, there were approximately 2,026
reported cases of physical abuse, 1,262 cases of sexual abuse, and
2,121 cases of severe emotional abuse of children. Ten Maori children
per 1,000 were reported abused or neglected, compared with 6 per 1,000
for non-Maori children. The Government promoted information sharing
between the courts and health and child protection agencies to identify
children at risk of abuse. During the 7-month period ending June 30,
there were 13,953 applications to Family Court under the Guardianship
Act and 4,778 applications under the Domestic Violence Act. There were
193 convictions involving assaults on children in the year ending June
30. Commercial sexual exploitation of children remained a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
The Department of Internal Affairs' Censorship Compliance Unit
actively policed Internet child sex abuse images and prosecuted
offenders. The Government maintains extraterritorial jurisdiction over
child sex offenses committed by the country's citizens abroad.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to or from the
country. No new cases of internationally trafficked persons have been
brought to the attention of the authorities since 2001. There was no
national plan or coordinated government response to deal with the
problem of trafficking. The Government has signed the relevant
international instruments dealing with trafficking and has adopted
tough domestic legislation to criminalize trafficking with penalties of
up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $321,337 ($NZ 500,000).
Laws against child sexual exploitation and slavery carry penalties of
up to 14 years in prison.
Trafficking in children to work in the sex industry was a problem.
The Government worked with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to
combat trafficking in children. The Government had a National Plan of
Action against the Commercial Exploitation of Children developed in
concert with NGOs. The Prostitution Reform Act made it illegal to have
sex with an individual under 18 years of age. Assistance programs for
victims of debt bondage were implemented through the HRC, the Mayor of
Auckland, the police, the Immigration Service, and NGOs, including
ECPAT NZ, the Prostitutes Collective, and the Shakti Migrant Services
Trust's Women's Refuge. Other initiatives included distribution of
pamphlets about the unacceptability of commercial sexual exploitation
of children and peer counseling programs.
The country's main urban areas were the primary destination for
trafficked persons. The HRC worked effectively with the Government and
NGOs to ensure that trafficked individuals were treated as victims
rather than criminals.
Shakti Migrant Services Trust, an antitrafficking NGO, provided
reports of prostitution and abuse resulting from the immigration of
Indian women for arranged marriages. The Trust reported that some of
these women were forced to work long hours, treated as virtual slaves,
and in some cases forced into prostitution. The Government provided
funding for health services for trafficked persons, for the HRC to
coordinate antitrafficking activities, and for the New Zealand
Prostitutes Collective to provide peer counseling and assistance to
trafficked persons. The major urban areas had support networks for
trafficked individuals, including mechanisms to provide safehouses and
repatriation.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
places and facilities, and the provision of goods, services, and
accommodation. Compliance with access laws varied. The Government is
prohibited from discrimination on the basis of disability, mental or
physical, unless such discrimination can be ``demonstrably justified.''
The HRC reported that during the year, it received more complaints of
discrimination based on disability than for any other type of
discrimination. In September, the HRC issued a report that concluded
persons with disabilities were more likely to experience human rights
abuses than the general population. During the year, both the HRC and
the Mental Health Commission continued to address mental health issues
in their antidiscrimination efforts.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Pacific Islanders, who made up
6.5 percent of the population, experienced societal discrimination and
accounted for approximately 10 percent of prison inmates. The
Department of Corrections continued its strategy to reduce the crime
rate among Pacific Islanders through the use of culturally based
techniques. Asians, who made up less than 5 percent of the population,
also reported discrimination.
Indigenous People.--Approximately 15 percent of the population
claimed at least one ancestor from the country's indigenous Maori or
Moriori minorities. The law prohibits discrimination against the
indigenous population; however, there was a continuing pattern of
disproportionate numbers of Maori on unemployment and welfare rolls, in
prison, among school dropouts, in infant mortality statistics, and
among single-parent households. In February, the Government created the
position of Coordinating Minister for Race Relations. The Minister was
tasked with reviewing all government policies and programs to ensure
that they were directed at persons in need, without racial bias. The
review was ongoing at year's end.
Maori inmates continued to constitute half the prison population.
The Government addressed the problem of recidivism among Maori through
Maori focus units and special cultural assessments of Maori offenders.
Government policy recognized a special role for indigenous people
and their traditional values and customs, including cultural and
environmental issues that affected commercial development. The Ministry
of Maori Development, in cooperation with several Maori NGOs, sought to
improve the status of indigenous people. A special tribunal established
in 1975 continued to hear Maori tribal claims to land and other natural
resources stemming from the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.
On November 19, legislation was enacted that regulates ownership of
the foreshore (the land between high and low tide) and the seabed. The
legislation was the focus of protests by Maori groups asserting
customary title to the land and by non-Maori groups opposing such
claims. Concerns over the impact of proposed legislation on Maori
customary rights resulted in the resignation of Labor M.P. Tariana
Turia, who then helped to found the Maori Party (see Section 3).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers the right to
form and join organizations of their choice without previous
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised this
right in practice. The principal labor organization was the Council of
Trade Unions, a federation that included unions representing various
trades and locations. Nearly all unionized workers were members of the
council. A few small, independent labor unions also existed. As of
March 1, unions represented approximately 22 percent of all wage
earners.
Labor organization was rudimentary in the territory of Tokelau
(population 1,500) and in the Freely Associated State of Niue
(population 1,700). In the more developed Associated State of the Cook
Islands (population 19,000), most workers in the public sector, the
major employer, belonged to the Cook Islands Workers' Association, an
independent local union. Industrial relations in the Cook Islands are
governed by a simplified version of national legislation. The law
prohibits uniformed members of the armed forces from organizing unions
and bargaining collectively. Sworn police officers (which includes all
uniformed and plainclothes police but excludes clerical and support
staff) are barred from striking or taking any form of industrial
action. However, police have freedom of association and the right to
organize and to bargain collectively. Disputes that cannot be settled
by negotiation between the Police Association and management are
subject to compulsory, final-offer arbitration.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right of workers to organize and contract
collectively, and workers exercised this right in practice.
The Employment Relations Act (ERA) governs industrial relations and
promotes collective bargaining. In 2003, the Government conducted a
technical review of ERA legislation, prompted by the ratification by
the Parliament of ILO Convention 98 on the right to organize and
bargain collectively. In October, a revised ERA became law that
included the extension of employee collective bargaining rights, an
expansion of the definition of good faith, and new problem solving
processes. The changes became effective December 1. There are no
provisions of law allowing lesser labor protections in export
processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. Inspection and legal
penalties ensured respect for provisions against forced labor. There
were no reports of the involuntary detention of women involved in
prostitution; however, there were reports that some foreign commercial
sex workers had their passports held by employers until bonds were
repaid.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Department of Labor inspectors effectively enforced a ban on the
employment of children under the age of 15 in manufacturing, mining,
and forestry. Children under the age of 16 may not work between the
hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. By law, children enrolled in school may not
be employed, even outside school hours, if such employment would
interfere with their education.
There were reports of children involved in the commercial sex
industry (see Section 5).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A 40-hour workweek is
traditional. There are legal limits regarding hours worked. There is
premium pay for overtime work. The law does not provide specifically
for a 24-hour rest period weekly; however, management and labor have
accepted the practice, and it was the norm. The law provides for a
minimum 3-week annual paid vacation and 11 paid public holidays. The
minimum wage was approximately $5.46 ($NZ8.50). Combined with other
regularly provided entitlements and welfare benefits for low-income
earners, this wage generally was adequate to provide a decent standard
of living for a worker and family. There was a separate youth minimum
wage of approximately $4.37 ($NZ6.80) for younger workers (ages 16 to
17). A majority of the work force earned more than the minimum wage.
Extensive laws and regulations govern health and safety issues. Under
these rules, employers are obliged to provide a safe and healthy work
environment, and employees are responsible for their own safety and
health, as well as ensuring that their actions do not harm others.
Workers have the legal right to strike over health and safety
issues, as well as the right to withdraw from a dangerous work
situation without jeopardy to continued employment. Department of Labor
inspectors effectively enforced safety and health rules, and they had
the power to shut down equipment if necessary. The Department of Labor
normally investigated reports of unsafe or unhealthy working conditions
within 24 hours of notification.
__________
PALAU
Palau is an independent nation in free association with the United
States. The Constitution provides for executive, judicial, and
legislative branches and free and fair elections. The President, the
Vice President, and members of the legislature, the Olbiil Era Kelulau,
are elected for 4 year terms. In free and fair elections held on
November 2, President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr. was reelected, and
Camsek Chin was elected Vice President. The country is organized
politically into 16 states. The Council of Chiefs, consisting of the
highest traditional chiefs from each state, advises the President on
traditional laws and customs. The judiciary is independent.
The Ministry of Justice oversees the national police force. The
country also has a Marine Law Enforcement Division that patrols its
borders. Under the Compact of Free Association, the United States is
responsible for the country's external defense. The civilian
authorities maintained effective control over the security forces.
There were no reports that members of the security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The small, market based, mixed economy was sustained largely by
transfer payments from the United States. The population was
approximately 19,980 according to a 2002 estimate. The Government
employed approximately 30 percent of the work force. The rate of
economic growth was 2.3 percent in 2002, the latest figure available.
The consumer price index rose approximately 1 percent during the year.
Wages and benefits generally kept pace with inflation. Traditional
subsistence agriculture and fishing diminished as persons continued to
move to urban areas in search of employment. An increasing number of
Chinese farmers operated vegetable farms that competed with indigenous
farmers. The U.S. dollar is the national currency.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in a few areas. Traditional
customs sustain a value system that discriminates between persons on
the basis of social status and sex. Domestic violence and child neglect
continued to be problems. Societal discrimination and some abuse
against certain foreign workers, who accounted for nearly 28 percent of
the population and 69 percent of the paid work force, also were serious
problems. There were reports of persons being trafficked to the country
from the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Philippines, and Taiwan.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
However, during the year, the country's sole prison continued to suffer
from overcrowding resulting from increased convictions and mandatory
sentences for firearms and drug related offenses. The prison had
separate quarters for men, women, juveniles, and pretrial detainees.
Members of the Palau Red Cross Society, which is affiliated with
the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,
have visited the prison. Government health and sanitation officials
also inspected the prison regularly.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The Bureau of Public Safety within the Ministry of Justice is the
country's primary law enforcement agency, and performs both police and
emergency response functions. It has a force of approximately 145
officers. Law enforcement personnel received training both locally and
in other countries. The police generally were considered effective.
Since 2000, the overall crime rate has fallen, and investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions for drug offenses have increased. Police
corruption and impunity were not major problems. An internal affairs
officer within the bureau investigates reports of police misconduct.
There also is a special prosecutor within the Ministry of Justice, with
authority to investigate reports of misconduct by government employees.
Warrants for arrests are prepared by the Office of the Attorney
General and signed by a judge. Detainees had prompt access to family
members and lawyers. If a detainee could not afford a lawyer, the
Public Defender or a court appointed lawyer was available. There was a
functioning system of bail.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the National Court,
and the Court of Common Pleas. The President appoints judges to the
Supreme Court and National Court from a list submitted by the Judicial
Nominating Commission. Appointments are for life.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The Government has
an independent special prosecutor and an independent public defender
system.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction.
The Government did not limit Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Government required religious organizations to obtain charters
as nonprofit organizations from the Office of the Attorney General.
This process was not protracted, and the Government did not deny any
groups charters during the year.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it.
The law does not provide for the granting of refugee status or
asylum in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The issue of
cooperation with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees never has
arisen.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
The Constitution provides for executive and legislative branches.
The legislature, the Olbiil Era Kelulau, consists of 2 houses: The 9
member Senate and the 16 member House of Delegates. Legislators are
elected by popular vote every 4 years. The President and Vice President
also are elected every 4 years, and there is no limit on the number of
their terms, except that the President may serve only two consecutive
terms. Although there have been political parties in the past, there
were none during the year. On November 2, President Tommy E.
Remengesau, Jr. was reelected, and Camsek Chin was elected Vice
President.
Government corruption was a problem, which the Government took some
steps to address. The Special Prosecutor has the authority to
investigate allegations of corrupt practices. In October, an employee
of the Koror State Government was charged with cashing for his personal
use $30,000 in checks intended for the state government. The case was
still pending at year's end. In 2003, the Special Prosecutor charged
many legislators (7 senators and all 16 delegates) with misuse of
government funds. The legislators agreed to pay restitution, including
civil penalties. In 2003, a state governor served 6 months in jail for
misuse of state funds.
In July 2003, the Chairman of the Palau State Public Land
Authority, a paramount chief, was convicted of assaulting a foreign
national legal advisor with a baseball bat and sentenced to 3 years'
imprisonment, with 2 years suspended. The attorney had criticized the
chief's conduct as Land Authority Chairman. In June, the President
granted a conditional pardon to the chief that commuted the remaining
prison sentence and removed the conviction from the public record,
although he let stand other conditions of the original sentence,
including damages awarded to the victim. The President stated that he
considered the views of traditional and political leaders in deciding
to grant the pardon. At year's end, the chief remained Chairman of the
Land Authority.
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to examine
government documents and observe official deliberations of any
government agency, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
There are no legal impediments to women's participation in
government and politics. Women constituted 14 percent of state
government legislators, down from 16 percent at the end of 2003. There
were no women in the Olbiil Era Kelulau, and no women served as state
governors during the year. No women were elected to office in the
November elections. One of the three associate justices of the Supreme
Court was a woman. There were 2 members of minorities in the 16-member
House of Delegates.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restraint, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights issues. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,
race, place of origin, language, religion or belief, social status, or
clan affiliation, and the Government generally observed these
provisions.
Women.--There were many incidents of violence against women,
primarily domestic abuse. Alcohol and illegal drug abuse increasingly
contributed to this problem. According to the Office of the Attorney
General, the Government's Public Health Office, and women's groups,
only a few such cases are reported to the authorities. Although assault
is a criminal offense, women were reluctant to prosecute their spouses.
The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and such crimes
were not common.
Prostitution is illegal; however, it was a problem. There were
reports of women being trafficked to the country from the PRC, Taiwan,
and the Philippines to work in karaoke bars as hostesses and
prostitutes (see Section 5, Trafficking). There were no prosecutions
for prostitution during the year.
Sex tourism is illegal, and it was not a problem. Sexual harassment
is illegal and did not appear to be a major problem.
No information was available on the disposition of two cases
alleging sexual harassment that were brought in 2003.
The inheritance of property and of traditional rank is matrilineal,
with women occupying positions of importance within the traditional
system. Women serve by presidential appointment as bureau directors for
human resources and clinical services. There were no reported instances
of unequal pay for equal work or sex related job discrimination.
Since 1993, local women's groups have organized an annual women's
conference that focuses on women's and children's issues, including
health, education, drug abuse, prostitution, and traditional customs
and values. Government officials, including the President, Vice
President, ministers, and traditional chiefs, have participated in the
conference to discuss these issues. The 11th Annual Women's Conference
held in April continued its focus on previously discussed issues and
problems.
Children.--The Government provided a well funded system of public
education and medical care for children. There was no difference in the
treatment of girls and boys in educational opportunities, or in the
availability of scholarships to attend postsecondary education abroad.
Education was mandatory from ages 6 to 17; it was free and universal.
Of the 94 percent of school age children who attended school, 97
percent finished elementary school, and 78 percent completed high
school. Girls and boys received equal treatment in health care
services.
Although there have been a few instances of child abuse, cases have
been prosecuted successfully by the Office of the Attorney General.
Children's rights generally were respected, although there were reports
of instances of child neglect, which was a byproduct of the breakdown
of the extended family. Commercial sexual exploitation of children was
neither accepted within society nor practiced.
The Annual Women's Conference held in April included discussion of
children's issues, such as education and the problem of drug abuse
among youth (see Section 5, Women).
Trafficking in Persons.--Neither the Constitution nor the law
specifically prohibits trafficking in persons; however, there are laws
against slavery, fraud, and prostitution. There were reports of women
and some men being trafficked to the country from the PRC, Taiwan, and
the Philippines to work in karaoke bars as hostesses and prostitutes,
as domestics in private homes, and on construction sites (see Section
6.c.).
The Divisions of Immigration and Labor are involved in combating
trafficking; however, the Government lacked the resources and expertise
to address the problem in practice. There was no formalized assistance
available for victims, and victims normally were detained, jailed, or
deported if they committed a crime such as prostitution. There were no
NGOs that specifically addressed trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--The National Code includes a Disabled
Persons' Anti Discrimination Act and a Programs and Services for
Handicapped Children Act, and the Government enforced the provisions of
these acts. There was no discrimination reported against persons with
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the
provision of other state services. The law mandates access to buildings
for persons with disabilities, and the Government generally enforced
these provisions in practice. Most government and business buildings
had such access. The public schools have established special education
programs to address problems encountered by persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits noncitizens
from purchasing land or obtaining citizenship. The rapid increase over
the past several years in foreign workers, who, according to 2002
figures, constituted nearly 28 percent of the population and 69 percent
of the work force, was viewed negatively by a majority of citizens.
Foreign residents were subjected to some forms of discrimination and
were targets of petty, and sometimes violent, crimes, as well as other
random acts against person and property. Foreign residents made
credible complaints that crimes against noncitizens were not pursued or
prosecuted by authorities with the same vigor as crimes against
citizens.
Certain foreign nationals experienced generalized discrimination in
employment, pay, housing, education, and access to social services,
although the law prohibits such discrimination. While precise data was
lacking, there continued to be anecdotal reports of the abuse of
foreign workers by employers (see Section 6.e.).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of all persons to assemble peacefully and to associate with
others for any lawful purpose, including the right to join and organize
labor unions. However, there were no active labor unions or other
employee organizations; the majority of businesses were small-scale,
family-run enterprises employing relatives and friends.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There is no law
concerning trade union organization, including collective bargaining,
although there are no legal impediments to either. Wages in the cash
economy were determined by market factors.
The Constitution does not provide for the right to strike, and the
Government has not addressed this issue.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits slavery or involuntary servitude except to punish crime. The
law does not prohibit specifically forced or compulsory labor by
children; however, there were no reports that such practices occurred.
Instances were reported of foreign workers, particularly domestic
helpers and unskilled laborers, who were forced to accept jobs
different from those for which they were recruited. The freedom of
foreign workers to leave employment situations not to their liking may
be hindered by verbal threats or the withholding of passports and
return tickets to the country in which they were recruited.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Constitution states that the Government shall protect children from
exploitation. There is no minimum age for employment. Children
typically were not employed in the wage economy, but some assisted
their families with fishing, agriculture, and other small scale family
enterprises. By regulation, no foreigner under the age of 21 may be
admitted into the country for employment purposes, and the Government
enforced this regulation effectively.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law sets the minimum wage at
$2.50 per hour. Foreign workers are not included under the minimum wage
law. It generally was assumed that legislators specifically exempted
foreign contract workers from the minimum wage law to ensure a
continued supply of low cost labor in industries that the legislators
often control. The national minimum wage provided a decent standard of
living for a worker and family. Anecdotal evidence indicated that
unskilled workers for commercial firms (usually foreigners) were paid
only $1.50 to $2.00 per hour. However, foreign workers usually were
provided, in addition to their wages, basic accommodations and food at
no or nominal cost. Although these wages were low, the country
continued to attract large numbers of foreign workers from the
Philippines and the PRC. There were more than 4,980 foreign nationals
with work permits in the country; of these, 59 percent were from the
Philippines, 9 percent from the PRC, and 7 percent from Southeast Asia.
There is no legislation concerning maximum hours of work, although
most businesses are closed on either Saturday or Sunday. The Division
of Labor has established some regulations regarding conditions of
employment for nonresident workers. The Division may inspect the
conditions of the workplace and employer provided housing on the
specific complaint of the employees, but actual enforcement was
sporadic. Working conditions varied in practice. No law specifically
gives workers the right to remove themselves from situations that
endanger their health or safety without jeopardy to their continued
employment, and no law protects workers who file complaints about such
conditions.
Reports of mistreatment of foreign workers by their employers
continued during the year. The foreign workers most likely to be abused
were those who worked under contracts as domestic helpers, farmers,
waitresses, beauticians, hostesses in karaoke bars and massage parlors,
construction workers, and other semiskilled workers, the majority of
whom were from the Philippines, the PRC, and Taiwan. The most commonly
reported abuses included misrepresentation of contract terms and
conditions of employment, withholding of pay or benefits, substandard
food and housing, and, at times, physical abuse. In a number of
instances, local authorities took corrective action when alerted by
social service and religious organizations to which foreign workers had
turned for assistance. Nonetheless, foreign workers often were
reluctant to seek legal redress for fear of losing their employment
and, thus, permission to remain in the country.
__________
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Papua New Guinea has a federal parliamentary system based on
universal adult suffrage. Voters elect a unicameral parliament with 109
members from all 19 provinces and the National Capital District. The
most recent general elections were held in June 2002; there were
localized instances of voter intimidation, violence, and influence
peddling. A coalition government, led by Prime Minister Michael Somare,
was formed following the election. The judiciary is independent, but
was hampered by inefficiency.
The Government has constitutional authority over the Defense Force,
the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, and the National Intelligence
Organization. The constabulary maintains internal security, assisted
from time to time by the Defense Force, including during elections. The
Defense Force is responsible for external security. While civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security
forces, there were some instances in which elements of the security
forces acted independently of government authority. Members of the
constabulary committed a number of serious human rights abuses.
The economy is market based and relied heavily on agriculture and
commodity exports. The population was approximately 5.5 million
according to a 2001 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimate,
and there are more than 800 distinct indigenous languages and tribes.
Cyclical commodity prices, frequent changes of government complicating
long-term economic planning, and lack of political will during a number
of years to implement sound economic policies resulted in persistent
macroeconomic stagnation. Crime, especially in urban areas, was a
critical problem. Approximately 85 percent of the population resided in
isolated rural villages and engaged in subsistence and smallholder
agriculture. Real gross domestic product has shown negligible growth
over the past 5 years. Per capita income has steadily declined in
recent years and was estimated at $740 in 2003. However, the economy
improved during the year, due primarily to rising commodity prices and
improved control over government spending, and wages and benefits
generally kept pace with inflation. In October, a volcano erupted on
Manam Island, destroying crops and causing villagers in the vicinity to
flee their homes. During the year, the country received approximately
$260 million in development assistance from Australia, its largest
trade partner and aid provider.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas. Police
committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, used excessive force when
arresting and interrogating suspects, and engaged in excessively
punitive and violent raids. The Government on occasion investigated
allegations of abuse and prosecuted those believed responsible. Prison
conditions in several areas continued to be poor. Court understaffing
reduced court hearings and increased pretrial detention periods. Police
infringed on citizens' privacy rights. In the past, the Government
limited freedom of assembly in the form of marches or demonstrations;
there reportedly were no applications for permits for marches or
demonstrations during the year. Extensive violence and discrimination
against women were problems, and child abuse appeared to be a growing
problem. Discrimination against persons with disabilities persisted,
and violence among tribes in both urban and rural areas remained a
serious problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The police killed
several persons during the year. According to police reports, most
killings occurred during gunfights with criminal suspects who were
resisting arrest. There were no reported deaths in custody during the
year.
All police shootings are investigated by the police department's
internal affairs office and reviewed by a coroner's court. If the court
finds that the shooting was unjustifiable or due to negligence, the
police officers involved are tried. Families of persons killed or
injured by police may challenge the coroner's finding in the National
Court, with the assistance of the Public Solicitor's Office. Cases of
accidental shootings of bystanders by police during police operations
are also investigated and reviewed by a coroner's court.
In the past few years, due to the availability of modern weapons,
there have been an increasing number of deaths resulting from violent
tribal conflicts (see Section 5).
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution forbids torture and other cruel or
degrading treatment or punishment; however, individual members of the
police frequently beat suspects during arrests, interrogations, and in
pretrial detention. In March, Wewak police physically assaulted a group
of village elders when the elders entered the police station to serve a
court summons. In May, two police officers from Kundiawa were charged
with raping a 17-year-old girl. In June, a 13-year-old rape victim from
Manus Island alleged that the police officer investigating her case
sexually assaulted her. In December, two police officers were charged
with raping a female detainee in the Mendi station lockup in November.
Although abuses such as citizens being permitted to beat suspects
reportedly did not occur during the year, no action was taken against
offenders from previous years.
In April, a small group of soldiers used Molotov cocktails to
destroy several homes and businesses in a Port Moresby suburb in
response to an ethnically charged altercation with local residents.
Prison conditions were poor. According to the Minister for
Correctional Services, at year's end, there were more than 3,300
detainees, of whom approximately 90 percent were male. During most of
the year, 15 of the country's 17 jails were operational. The prison
system suffered from serious underfunding. During most of the year,
prisons closed because of life-threatening conditions remained closed;
in October, Bomana prison reopened after undergoing expansion and
renovations funded by Australia. During the year, the jail in Hawi,
which had closed in 2002 due to lack of funding, also reopened after
renovation. Some prisons in urban areas were seriously overcrowded. In
rural areas, infrequent court sessions and bail restrictions for
certain crimes exacerbated overcrowding (see Section 1.d.).
Male and female inmates were housed separately. There were no
separate facilities for juvenile offenders; however, in some prisons,
juveniles were provided with separate sleeping quarters. Pretrial
detainees were not separated from convicted prisoners.
Prisoners were often confined in crowded conditions in police
stations. Prison guards' living conditions were as poor as those of the
prisoners. Prison escapes were common, even from high security
installations. In November, over 30 prisoners escaped from the police
lockup in Buka.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile.--The Constitution
prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally
observed these prohibitions.
The country has a national police force, the Royal Papua New Guinea
Constabulary, headed by a commissioner who reports to the Minister for
Internal Security. A new commissioner was appointed in 2002 and
replaced much of the police leadership in an effort to address
corruption and inefficiency; however, corruption and impunity remained
problems. During the year, some police officials were suspended for
involvement in corruption or other criminal activity. Police
effectiveness was impeded both by a serious lack of resources and by
clan rivalries; within the constabulary, clan members often attempted
to thwart remedial or disciplinary actions against fellow members of
their clan. In September, the Minister for Internal Security published
a highly critical report on the administration and operation of the
police force. Among other problems, the report cited widespread police
corruption and abuses, inadequate resources, poor discipline, and lack
of accountability. The report also recommended a plan of action for
reforming the institution. The report's publication coincided with the
launch of the Australian-sponsored Enhanced Cooperation Program, under
which over 200 Australian Federal Police officers were sent to work
alongside the constabulary to improve police practices.
Under the law, to make an arrest, police must have reason to
believe that a crime was committed, is in the course of being
committed, or will be committed. A warrant is not required, and police
made the majority of arrests without one. Citizens may make arrests
under the same standards as the police, although this was rare in
practice. Police, prosecutors, or citizens may apply to a court for a
warrant; however, police normally did so only if they believed it would
assist them in carrying out an arrest. During the year, there were
reported instances of politicians directing or bribing police officials
to arrest or intimidate individuals seen as political enemies or as
possible whistle-blowers on corruption or misuse or theft of public
assets.
Under the law, only National or Supreme Court judges may grant bail
to persons charged with willful murder or aggravated robbery. In all
other cases, the police or magistrates may grant bail. Arrested
suspects have the right to legal counsel, to be informed of the charges
against them, and to have their arrests subjected to judicial review.
Access to counsel by detainees was not a problem during the year. Due
to very limited police and judicial resources and a high crime rate,
suspects often were held in pretrial detention for long periods of
time. Pretrial detention is subject to strict judicial review through
continuing pretrial consultations; however, the slow pace of police
investigations and occasional political interference or police
corruption frequently delayed cases for months. Additionally, circuit
court sittings were infrequent because of a shortage of judges and
travel funds, delaying both the trial process and the rendering of
decisions. Some detainees have been held in jail for more than 2 years
because of the shortage of judges.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal
and has original jurisdiction on constitutional matters. The National
Court hears most cases and appeals from the lower district courts
established at the provincial level. There also are village courts
headed by lay persons (generally local chiefs, known as ``big-men''),
who judge minor offenses under both customary and statutory law.
The legal system is based on English common law. The Constitution
provides for due process, including a public trial, and the court
system generally enforced these provisions. Defendants have the right
to an attorney. The Public Solicitor's office provides legal counsel
for those accused of ``serious offenses'' who are unable to afford
counsel. Serious offenses are defined as charges for which a sentence
of 2 years or more is the norm. Defendants and their attorneys may
confront witnesses, present evidence, plead cases, and appeal
convictions. The shortage of judges created delays both in the process
of trials and in the rendering of decisions (see Section 1.d.). During
the year, development aid was provided for some training and education
of the judiciary.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such action; however, there
were instances of abuse. Police raids and searches of the homes or
settlements of suspected criminals or other wrongdoers often were
marked by a high level of violence and property destruction. Police
units operating in highland regions sometimes used intimidation and
destruction of property to suppress tribal fighting (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. The combined circulation of the two daily English-language
newspapers was less than 60,000. A weekly newspaper in Melanesian
Pidgin (the national ``lingua franca'') also was published. All
newspapers expressed independent coverage, included a variety of
editorial viewpoints, and reported on controversial issues such as
alleged abuses by police, cases of alleged corruption by government
officials, and political opposition views. There was no evidence of
officially sanctioned government censorship; however, newspaper editors
complained of intimidation tactics aimed at influencing coverage. In
November, immigration officials at the international airport seized the
passport of an Australian journalist conducting research on police
brutality and illegal logging operations and prevented her from leaving
the country. The passport was returned after 2 days. Also in November,
police allegedly seized the camera of a photographer for The National
newspaper when he tried to photograph an altercation between police and
a shop owner in Port Moresby.
The sole domestic television broadcaster, EMTV, was purchased by a
private Fijian company in December; reception was limited to the
capital and provincial centers. The two local cable companies were
independent. The government-owned National Broadcasting Corporation
operated two radio networks whose effectiveness was limited by
inadequate funding and deteriorating equipment. Based in Port Moresby,
a privately owned radio network, NAU-FM, was expanding to other areas
of the country. There were a small number of local radio stations in
cities other than Port Moresby.
Internet access was privately operated and becoming common in
cities; the Government did not restrict it.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government often has
limited this right in practice. Public demonstrations require police
approval and 14 days' notice. Police, asserting a fear of violence from
unruly spectators, rarely gave approval. Police reportedly received no
requests for such approval during the year.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Associations
wishing to open a bank account and conduct financial transactions must
register with the government. The process of registration was slowed by
bureaucratic inefficiency, but there was no policy of denying
registration. International affiliation of church and civic groups was
permitted freely.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Department of Education set aside 1 hour per week for
religious instruction in the public schools. Religious representatives
taught the lessons, and parents chose the class their children would
attend. Children whose parents did not wish them to attend the classes
were excused.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
Although a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the Government has not enacted
enabling legislation and has not established a system for providing
protection to refugees. In practice, the Government provided temporary
protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the
1951 Convention or 1967 Protocol.
During the year, the Government provided protection for several
hundred persons who fled the Indonesian province of Papua (formerly
Irian Jaya). Several hundred more lived in informal, unrecognized camps
adjacent to the border with Indonesia. A reservation to the 1951
Convention regarding the issuance of travel documents restricted the
travel of some persons from the Indonesian province of Papua living in
a refugee camp in the western part of the country. However, during the
year, approximately 120 persons from Indonesian Papua were moved from a
refugee camp at Vanimo to a new settlement in the isolated East Awin
region of Western Province. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
organized the resettlement, with cooperation from the Government. There
were no known forced returns of Papuans to Indonesia.
During the year, the sole detainee at the detention camp on Manus
Island was released and left the country for Australia. The camp,
administered by the International Organization for Migration with
Australian funding, had held asylum seekers interdicted at sea by
Australia.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Voters elect a unicameral parliament with 109
members from all 19 provinces and the National Capital District. Any
citizen may stand for election. Because of the large number of
candidates, some Members of Parliament (M.P.s) have won election with
less than 10 percent of the total votes cast.
The most recent general election was held in June 2002. Of the 109
seats in Parliament, 77 changed hands. Prime Minister Michael Somare
formed a coalition government following the election. Fraud, voter
intimidation, theft of ballot boxes, and violence, including rape and
murder, marred the election in some parts of the country, and the polls
were declared failed in six electoral districts in the Southern
Highlands. New elections in those districts, financed by Australia and
accompanied by very little violence, were held successfully in April
2003.
The law provides that a losing candidate may dispute an election
result by filing a petition with the National Court. Such petitions may
question actions of the winning candidate and his supporters or allege
malfeasance by the election officials. The procedure is fair, but time
consuming and expensive both to initiate and to defend. Following the
2002 election, 83 such petitions were filed against winning candidates.
A number of the petitions were successful, and new elections were held
in those cases.
In August 2001, the Government signed a peace agreement with
Bougainville rebels, and progress toward the establishment of an
autonomous Bougainville government has been made. The Bougainville
autonomous interim authority was established as a governing body
pending approval of a new constitution and the holding of elections. In
December, a new provisional constitution was approved, and elections
are scheduled for 2005. The U.N. Observer Mission in Bougainville,
scheduled to close at year's end, was extended for 6 months.
The weapons-surrender program mandated in the 2001 Bougainville
peace agreement and carried out under U.N. supervision was declared
successful and formally concluded in 2003, but the collection of
weapons continued during the year.
Corruption at all levels of government was widely perceived to be a
serious problem, primarily because clan-related obligations continued
to undermine allegiance to constituents or to the country as a whole.
According to press reports, in February, the National Capital District
city manager fired the chief auditor for the National Capital District
Commission (NCDC) after the auditor conducted an investigation that
uncovered bribery and other misappropriation of NCDC funds by NCDC
staff and others. At year's end, the auditor had not been reinstated.
In November, an M.P. and former minister of public works was
convicted of failing to account for approximately $535,000 (1.7 million
kina) in public funds during his 1992-1997 tenure as minister; he was
acquitted on 31 other misconduct charges on grounds of insufficient
evidence. In December, he was removed from office.
During the year, there were media reports of alleged illegal
payments by private companies to the Attorney General for settling, out
of court, financial claims by the companies against the Government. In
September, the Attorney General was charged with two counts of
improperly authorizing out-of-court settlements and was suspended from
office; he allegedly assaulted a government official who attempted to
serve him with documents concerning the suspension. He denied the
charges and stated his intention to file defamation suits against those
involved in making the charges against him. Later the same month, he
was reinstated in office after winning a temporary injunction from the
National Court. As of year's end, he remained in office, but his
government employment contract, due to expire in early January 2005,
had not been renewed.
No law provides for public access to government information. The
Government published frequent public notices in national newspapers and
occasional reports on specific issues facing the Government; however,
it generally was not responsive to individual requests, including media
requests, for access to government information.
One woman was elected to the 109-seat Parliament in the 2002
elections, compared with 2 in the previous Parliament. She was named
the Minister for Welfare and Social Development, the only Cabinet
position held by a woman. There were no female Supreme Court justices
or provincial governors.
There were five members of minorities (non-Melanesians) in the
Parliament. Of these five M.P.s, two were in the Cabinet and two were
provincial governors.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There were no official barriers to the formation of human rights
groups. The Government cooperated with human rights nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), both domestic and international, but at times was
slow in responding to their requests for information. The International
and Community Rights Advocacy Forum, an umbrella group, concentrated on
human rights and the environment during the year.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal protection under the law
irrespective of race, tribe, place of origin, political opinion, color,
creed, religion, or sex. Despite these constitutional and other legal
provisions, women often faced discrimination. Geographic diversity
prevents any one tribe or clan from dominating the country. Successive
governments, based on loose coalitions, have consistently avoided
favoring any group. Skirmishes and conflicts tended to be based on
disputes between clans over issues such as boundaries, land ownership,
and injuries and insults suffered by one clan at the hands of another;
they were not ethnically based.
Women.--Violence against women, including domestic violence and
gang rape, was a serious and prevalent problem. Domestic violence was
common and is a crime. However, since most communities viewed domestic
violence as a private matter, few victims pressed charges and
prosecutions were rare. Traditional village mores, which served as
deterrents, were weakening and were largely absent when youths moved
from their village to a larger town or to the capital. Although rape is
punishable by imprisonment and sentences were imposed on convicted
assailants, few rapists were apprehended. The willingness of some
communities to settle incidents of rape through material compensation
rather than criminal prosecution made the crime difficult to combat. In
December, the Madang provincial governor was charged with raping a 17-
year-old high school student during the National Governors' Conference
in September. The case had not gone to trial by year's end.
Violence committed against women by other women frequently stemmed
from domestic disputes. In areas where polygyny was still customary, an
increasing number of women were charged with the murder of another of
their husband's wives. According to one report, 65 percent of women in
prison were there for attacking or killing another woman.
In August, the head of the National Council of Women called for
stronger criminal penalties for perpetrators of violent acts against
women.
The Constitution and laws have provisions for extensive rights for
women dealing with family, marriage, and property issues. Some women
have achieved senior positions in business, the professions, and the
civil service. However, traditional discrimination against women
persisted. Many women, even in urban areas, were considered second-
class citizens. Village courts tended to impose jail terms on women
found guilty of adultery, while penalizing men lightly or not at all.
Circuit riding National Court justices frequently annulled such village
court sentences. By law, a district court must endorse orders for
imprisonment before the sentence is imposed. Polygyny and the custom in
many of the country's tribal cultures of paying a bride price tended to
reinforce the view that women were property. In addition to the
purchase of women as brides, women also sometimes were given as
compensation to settle disputes between clans. The courts have ruled
that such settlements denied the women their constitutional rights.
According to statistics published in the UNDP's 1999 country report
on human development, women were gaining rapidly in literacy and
education. Adult literacy rose to 73 percent; 65 percent of women were
literate, compared with 86 percent of men. However, there were
approximately 15 percent fewer girls in primary schools than boys.
According to Ministry of Health statistics, the maternal mortality rate
was 370 deaths per every 100,000 live births during the period 1985-
1997.
Prostitution is illegal; however, the laws were not enforced and
the practice was widespread. There were no reports of sex tourism
during the year. Sexual harassment is not illegal, and it was a
widespread problem. There is an Office of Women's Affairs in the Office
of Church and Family Services of the Ministry of Provincial Affairs;
however, due to funding constraints, it was not active during the year,
and it had little effect on the Government's policy toward women.
Children.--Independent observers generally agreed that the
Government did not dedicate significant resources to protecting the
rights and welfare of children. Religious and secular NGOs operated
programs to protect and develop youth and children. In the past,
children were well cared for within the family and under traditional
clan and village controls; however, preliminary, small-scale studies
indicated that this situation has changed over the last decade,
especially in areas where households have become isolated from the
extended family support system and depend on the cash economy for a
livelihood.
According to a report prepared by the Government and UNICEF, sexual
abuse of children was believed to be frequent. There were some cases of
commercial sexual exploitation of children in urban areas. Many
villages were geographically isolated, and malnutrition and infant
mortality rates were very high. Nearly 70 of every 1,000 children born
did not survive their first year. Primary education was not free,
compulsory, or universal; substantial fees were charged. In 1999, the
Asian Development Bank reported a primary school enrollment rate of 91
percent for boys and 78 percent for girls; many children did not
progress further. Government-provided free medical care for citizens,
including children, was no longer available due to budget cuts and
deteriorating infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. Many
children did not have effective medical care.
Trafficking in Persons.--Although the Constitution does not
prohibit trafficking in persons, there was no evidence that persons
were trafficked to, from, or within the country. However, over the last
5 years, the Government investigated allegations of corruption among
officials dealing with passport issuance and immigration. These
allegations centered on the organized circumvention of immigration
controls; often this involved the issuance outside of regulations of
residence and work permits for Chinese or South Asian nationals
migrating to the country. Nevertheless, there was concern that the
country may be used as a route for trafficking in persons to Australia.
Persons With Disabilities.--Through the National Board for the
Disabled, the Government provided funds to a number of NGOs that
provided services to persons with disabilities. The Government did not
provide programs or services directly. Apart from the traditional clan
and family system, services and health care for persons with
disabilities did not exist in several provinces. There was no
legislation mandating accessibility to buildings. Persons with
disabilities faced discrimination in education, training, and
employment. Most persons with disabilities did not find training or
work outside the family structure. The Government provided free
consultation and treatment for persons with mental disabilities;
however, such services were rarely available outside major cities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Centuries-old animosities among
isolated tribes, a persistent cultural tradition of revenge for
perceived wrongs, and the lack of police enforcement sometimes resulted
in violent tribal conflict in the highland areas. In the last few
years, the number of deaths resulting from such conflicts has risen due
to the availability of modern weapons.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The AIDS/HIV Management
and Protection Act, which came into effect during the year, makes it
illegal to impede the access of any person to goods or services for
protection against HIV infection, including relevant medical care and
information; prohibits the termination of employees because of AIDS/HIV
status; gives the Ombudsman and the courts authority to deal with
unlawful discrimination against persons with AIDS/HIV; and provides for
criminal penalties for intentional transmission of the HIV virus. There
were no reports of government discrimination against persons with AIDS/
HIV; however, there was a strong societal stigma attached to AIDS/HIV
infection, and there were reports that companies have separated HIV
positive employees after learning of their condition. In July, a woman
from Ketarobo village reportedly was beaten and burned by fellow
villagers because she had AIDS, and died after being taken to a
hospital in a nearby town.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right to
form and join labor unions, subject to registration by the Department
of Industrial Relations. The Government did not use registration to
control unions; however, an unregistered union has no legal standing
with the Department of Labor and Employment or before the courts and
thus cannot operate effectively. About half of the 250,000 wage earners
in the formal economy were organized and were members of approximately
50 trade unions. Most of the unions representing private-sector workers
were associated with the Trade Unions Congress. The Public Employees
Association represented an estimated 23,000 persons employed by
national, provincial, and municipal governments, or one-third of the
public sector work force. The law prohibits anti-union discrimination
by employers against union leaders, members, and organizers; however,
it was enforced selectively. Unions were independent of the Government
and of political parties.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for the right to engage in collective bargaining
and to join industrial organizations, and workers exercised these
rights in practice. Under the law, the Government has discretionary
power to cancel arbitration awards or declare wage agreements void when
they are contrary to government policy. The International Labor
Organization criticized this law. The Department of Industrial
Relations and the courts are involved in dispute settlement. Wages
above the minimum wage are set through negotiations between employers
and employees or their respective industrial organizations.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, and there were
no government efforts to hinder either public- or private-sector unions
from exercising this right. The law prohibits retaliation against
strikers; however, it was not always enforced. Employees of some
government-owned enterprises went on strike on several occasions during
the year, primarily to protest against privatization policies. These
strikes were brief and ineffective.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
forbids slavery and all forms of forced or compulsory labor, including
that performed by children, and there were no reports that such
practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Employment Act establishes the minimum working age as 18. However,
children between the ages of 11 and 18 may be employed in a family-
related business or enterprise provided they have parental permission,
a medical clearance, and a work permit from a labor office. This type
of employment was rare, except in subsistence agriculture.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Minimum Wage Board, a quasi-
governmental body with labor and employer representatives, sets minimum
wages for the private sector. The national youth wage, for new entrants
into the labor force between 16 and 21 years of age, was set at 75
percent of the adult minimum wage. Although it is above the national
per capita income, the adult minimum wage of $6.55 (22.96 kina) per
week, unchanged since 1992, did not provide a decent standard of living
for a worker and family who lived solely on the cash economy. During
the year, as has been the case annually for nearly a decade, the
Minimum Wage Board recommended a large increase in the minimum wage;
however, the Government disagreed, and no increase was implemented.
The law regulates minimum wage levels, allowances, rest periods,
holiday leave, and overtime. Although the Department of Labor and
Employment and the courts attempted to enforce the minimum wage law,
enforcement was not effective. The law limits the workweek to 42 hours
per week in urban areas and 44 hours per week in rural areas. The law
provides for at least one rest period of 24 consecutive hours every
week; however, enforcement was lax. Enforcement of the Industrial
Health and Safety Law and related regulations is the responsibility of
the Department of Labor and Employment. The law requires that work
sites be inspected on a regular basis; however, due to a shortage of
inspectors, inspections took place only when requested by workers or
unions. Workers' ability to remove themselves from hazardous working
conditions varied by workplace. Unionized workers had some measure of
protection in such situations.
The law protects legal foreign workers. The few illegal foreign
workers lacked full legal protection.
__________
PHILIPPINES
The Philippines is a democratic republic with an elected president,
an elected bicameral legislature, and a fractious, but functioning
multiparty system. Although the executive traditionally sets the
political agenda, the legislature plays an active role in policy
formation. On May 10, approximately 74 percent of registered Filipinos
voted in national elections for president and both houses of Congress,
and for provincial- and local-level officials. President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo won the presidential election, and her allies took the
most seats in Congress. The election was marred by violence, and there
were many charges of vote buying. Slow counting of votes also led to
serious allegations of electoral fraud and disenfranchisement. The
Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the
judicial system suffered from corruption and inefficiency.
The President is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP). The Department of National Defense directs the AFP,
and the Department of Interior and Local Government has authority over
the civilian Philippine National Police (PNP). The AFP, which has
primary responsibility for counterinsurgency operations, also has
duties in traditional law enforcement efforts, including the pursuit of
kidnappers, whose actions remained a chronic criminal problem. Local
civilian militias help provide security in certain conflict areas. The
civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the
security forces; however, some elements of the security forces,
including police, soldiers, and local civilian militias, committed
human rights abuses. Since the 1986 overthrow of the Marcos regime,
some elements of the armed forces have undertaken extra-constitutional
actions, including coup attempts. There continued to be occasional
rumors of coup plotting.
The country has a market-based, mixed economy. The service sector
accounted for approximately 47 percent of gross domestic product, the
industrial sector 33 percent, and agriculture 20 percent. However,
agriculture accounted for approximately 37 percent of total employment.
Overseas worker remittances, estimated at more than $7.6 billion per
year, and tourism were important sources of foreign exchange. The
population is estimated at 84 million, with an annual growth rate of
2.36 percent. According to the most recent Family Income and
Expenditure Survey, the richest 30 percent of families earned 66.3
percent of national income, while the poorest 30 percent received
approximately 8 percent. Approximately 40 percent of the population
lived beneath the poverty threshold of $255 per year. Poverty was more
severe in rural areas, with an estimated 49 percent of the rural
population unable to meet basic needs. Environmental problems include
rapid deforestation, damage to coral reefs and fish stocks, and
significant water and air pollution.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas. Some
elements of the security services were responsible for arbitrary,
unlawful, and, in some cases, extrajudicial killings; disappearances;
torture; and arbitrary arrest and detention. The physical abuse of
suspects and detainees remained a problem, as did police,
prosecutorial, and judicial corruption. As in past years, the
constitutionally mandated Commission on Human Rights (CHR) described
the PNP as the worst abuser of human rights. Police and local
government leaders at times appeared to sanction extrajudicial killings
and vigilantism as expedient means of fighting crime and terrorism.
Prison conditions were harsh. Judges and prosecutors remained poorly
paid, overburdened, and susceptible to corruption and the influence of
the powerful; they often failed to provide due process and equal
justice. Long delays in trials were common. The Supreme Court undertook
efforts to ensure speedier trials and to sanction judicial malfeasance,
and is in the midst of a 5-year program to increase judicial branch
efficiency and raise public confidence in the judiciary. Despite
efforts by reformist leaders in all three branches of the Government to
strengthen the rule of law and the protection of human rights, a
pervasive weakness in the rule of law contributed to a widely held
belief that official justice is beyond reach. Some local military and
police forces harassed human rights activists. Violence against women
and abuse of children continued to be problems. Societal discrimination
against Muslims persisted. The law provides for worker rights, but its
implementation and enforcement were not always effective. Child labor
continued to be a problem. The use of underage workers in domestic
service persisted. Child prostitution continued to be a problem, as did
trafficking in women and children.
A long-standing, nationwide Communist insurgency continued to
operate in various regions of the country; its military arm, the
terrorist New People's Army (NPA), committed numerous human rights
violations, including political assassinations, kidnappings, and
torture. The small, terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) committed some
kidnappings and killings of hostages and local residents. The NPA and
ASG continued to use children both as soldiers and as noncombatants.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Police forces and
anti-government insurgents committed a number of arbitrary and unlawful
killings. The CHR investigated 130 complaints of killings between
January and September, down from 201 complaints for the same period in
2003. The CHR included killings by anti-government insurgents in its
investigations, though the majority of the cases involved the security
forces and local officials. The nongovernment organization (NGO) Task
Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) documented six instances of
summary executions of civilians by government forces and insurgents
through June, the same number of cases as last year; however, the
number of victims--eight, is two more than for the same period in 2003.
In combating criminal organizations, security forces sometimes
resorted to the summary execution of suspects, or ``salvaging.'' Police
and military spokesmen at times explained these killings as the
unavoidable result of a shoot-out with suspects or escapees. Statements
by various local government officials have condoned extrajudicial
killings as an acceptable means to fight crime. The CHR suspected PNP
members in a majority of the human rights violations involving deaths
that it investigated through June.
On November 16, security forces fired into a crowd of striking
workers at a sugar plantation in Tarlac Province, killing an estimated
12 persons and wounding more than 100. Two children were asphyxiated by
tear gas used as a crowd-control measure. The Government condemned the
killings, and the PNP removed the regional and provincial police
chiefs. At year's end, investigations of the incident were underway.
Summary killings by vigilante groups continued to rise in Davao
City, Mindanao, where the mayor was alleged to be linked to the
vigilantes. Most of the victims were suspected of involvement in
illegal drug trade or other criminal activities. According to TFDP, 67
suspected criminals were killed in Davao between January and August,
though it is unclear how many of these deaths may be the result of
common crime, as opposed to vigilante-style slayings. No witnesses have
come forth to testify in any of these killings.
On August 24, two gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed a well
known human rights activist, Jacinto ``Rashid'' Manahan, on a street in
Davao. National media decried the killing, which many news sources
ascribed to the vigilantes alleged to be responsible for other killings
in Davao during the year.
After waiting for over 2 years for family members to claim the
remains of 49 slain persons, authorities in Zamboanga, Mindanao,
decided to bury these victims of various execution-style killings.
Residents said that no one would come forward to talk to the
authorities about the remains for fear of reprisal from police,
soldiers, or vigilante groups all suspected by the local citizens to
have been involved in these murders.
The April 2003 Mindoro Oriental case of abduction and killing of
two members of a team of human rights advocates, allegedly by AFP
soldiers, resulted in no charges. A joint investigation by the National
Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) resulted
in no charges against the head of the army unit assigned to maintain
peace and order in the region, Colonel Jovito S. Palparan, Jr. Palparan
subsequently was promoted to brigadier general, although the CHR, which
has non binding authority to clear on military promotions, withdrew its
clearance on his promotion.
In February, three human rights workers were allegedly killed by
the military in Mindoro Oriental. Also in February, another similar
killing was reported in Mindoro Occidental.
In recent years, there have been deaths as a result of military
hazing (see Section 1.c.). On June 16, a PNP cadet died allegedly from
maltreatment while on training. His family requested an investigation
by the NBI, but, by year's end, no investigation had been launched.
Government forces killed a number of civilians during domestic
conflicts with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the
terrorist groups ASG and NPA (see Section 1.g.).
Journalists were also targets for murder. During the year, 10
journalists were killed in work-related slayings according to the
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Task Force ``Newsmen.'' No
one was convicted in these cases during the year, nor in the more than
50 other journalist killings since 1988 (see Section 2.a.).
On June 7, at least 10 armed men shot and killed the police chief
of Angat, Bulacan, in an ambush. The NPA claimed responsibility for the
attack, stating that its assassins had killed the police chief because
of his ``anti-revolutionary operations'' and for leading several
operations against the NPA and monitoring the movement of rebels in
Angat.
According to the PNP, there were 192 incidents of election related
violence between January 1 and May 26, resulting in 121 deaths and 208
injuries, fewer violent instances than the last election year, 2001,
but more casualties, including a higher number of candidates who were
victims. The pre-election period was more violent than election day or
the post-election period. In general, violent activity took place in
connection with local level contests, and stemmed from long standing
rivalries. Observers noted more violence in Mindanao than the rest of
the country, ranging from pre-election intimidation to killings on
election day. While the NPA was often mentioned as a security threat
during the campaign period, there were few reports of NPA-related
violence.
Judges continued to be assaulted and killed in the line of duty.
During the year, three judges were murdered. Two of the cases remained
under investigation, and criminal charges were filed in the third case.
A feud between two indigenous tribes appeared to be the motive in the
latter case. As of September, there were nine outstanding cases of the
killing of judges pending--five still under investigation and four
already filed in court.
There were no developments in the 2002 bombing case in Datu Piang,
Mindanao.
In August, as a confidence-building measure to facilitate possible
government-MILF peace talks, the Government dropped criminal charges
against 185 MILF leaders and members for the 2003 Davao airport and
seaport bombings. The Government continued to hold in jail five MILF
members whom it believed were directly involved in the bombing.
The terrorist ASG continued to kidnap and torture civilians and
(see Section 1.b.). Unlike last year, there were no reports of
beheadings of civilians.
Communist insurgents, mainly from the NPA, killed political
figures, military and police officers, and civilians, including
suspected military and police informers and foreign tourists. Peace
negotiations between the Government and the political arm of the
Communist Party, the National Democratic Front (NDF), made no
significant progress.
b. Disappearance.--Government forces were believed to be
responsible for disappearances. The domestic NGO Families of Victims of
Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) reported 18 disappearances between
January 1 and September 8, 3 fewer than in the full year of 2003. FIND
suspected government security forces in each of these cases. As of
September 8, 8 of the victims had been found alive in detention, while
10 remained missing.
The courts and police failed to address adequately complaints of
victims' families concerning past disappearances in which government
security forces were suspected. Disappearance itself is not a crime
under the law; evidence of a kidnapping or killing is required in order
for charges to be filed. FIND and Amnesty International's (AI) Manila
office continued to support the efforts of victims' families to press
charges; however, in most cases, evidence and documentation were
unavailable. Convictions were rare, and FIND reported that only 14
cases were pending in court at year's end. Judicial inaction on the
vast majority of disappearances contributed to a climate of impunity
that continued to undermine public confidence in the justice system.
In July, authorities arrested Ibno Alih Ordonez, a suspected
commander of the terrorist ASG, on charges of kidnapping dozens of
people, some of whom were tortured to death. The Government had offered
a $17,900 (P1 million) bounty for his capture.
On August 18, 10 armed men reportedly abducted 3 members of the
left-wing political party, Bayan Muna, in Manila. Bystanders reportedly
were informed that the incident was related to an operation against
suspected bank robbers. The local police station had no record of
arrested persons. As of September 8, efforts to locate the missing
victims had been unsuccessful. FIND believes the Intelligence Service
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) was responsible for the
incident.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits torture, and evidence obtained
through its use is inadmissible in court; however, members of the
security forces and police routinely abused and sometimes tortured
suspects and detainees. The CHR provides the police with mandatory
human rights training, including primers on the rights of suspects, and
higher level PNP officials appeared receptive to respecting the human
rights of detainees; however, rank-and-file awareness of the rights of
detainees remained inadequate.
The TFDP stated that torture remained an ingrained part of the
arrest and detention process. Common forms of abuse during arrest and
interrogation reportedly included striking detainees and threatening
them with guns. Less common forms included the placing of plastic bags
over heads to deprive detainees of air. The TFDP reported that
arresting officers often carried out such beatings in the early stages
of detention.
Within the AFP, the CHR observed greater sensitivity to the need to
prevent human rights violations. CHR is required to certify that any
officer being considered for promotion does not have a history of human
rights violations (see Section 4); however, a negative CHR finding does
not preclude promotion. The CHR also vets PNP officers at the senior
superintendent level (equivalent to full colonel). Nevertheless, abuses
still occurred. Human rights activists complained of abuses by security
forces against suspected ASG and NPA members in captivity. According to
the Moro Human Rights Center, members of the AFP beat ASG suspects.
According to the TFDP, members of the AFP held a 50-year-old
resident of Parang, Maguindanao, naked in a secluded room where they
beat, applied electric shock, and threatened to maim and kill him while
attempting to extract a confession of involvement in the January 4
bombing there.
From January to June, the TFDP reported 8 cases of torture,
involving 21 victims, down from 11 cases for the same period last year.
On November 16, police fired into a crowd of striking sugar
plantation workers, killing an estimated 12 and wounding more than 100
(see Section 1.a.).
Prisons frequently lacked basic infrastructure, and conditions were
harsh. Provincial jails and prisons were overcrowded, had limited
exercise and sanitary facilities, and provided prisoners with an
inadequate diet. The Government reported that jails in the metropolitan
Manila area were operating at 323 percent of capacity. The intensified
campaign against illegal drugs caused a significant upsurge in the
inmate population, and only 3.5 percent of detainees were able to post
bail. Administrators budgeted a daily subsistence allowance of about
$0.63 (P35) per prisoner. Prison inmates often depended on their
families for food because of the insufficient subsistence allowance and
the need to bribe guards to receive food rations.
As a result of the overcrowding, some inmates took turns sleeping,
and others slept on their feet. The slow judicial process exacerbated
the problem. Some prison wardens reportedly allowed wives or children
to move in with inmates or stay in the prison compound because they
could help feed the prisoners. Lack of potable water and poor
ventilation continued to cause health problems in jails.
According to Department of Interior and Local Government records,
there were an estimated 57,824 inmates in overcrowded detention centers
nationwide.
According to regulation, male and female inmates are to be held in
separate facilities, and, in national prisons, overseen by guards of
the same sex; however, there have been anecdotal reports that these
regulations were not uniformly enforced. In provincial and municipal
prisons, male guards sometimes supervised female prisoners directly or
indirectly. Although prison authorities attempted to segregate
children, in some instances, they were held in facilities not fully
segregated from adult male inmates. In Bureau of Immigration (BI)
detention facilities, male and female inmates were segregated by sex,
but male guards oversaw both sexes.
There were reports of widespread corruption among guards. Guards
demanded that prisoners pay to receive food, to use sanitary
facilities, and to avoid beatings by other prisoners. Jail
administrators reportedly delegated to senior inmates authority to
maintain order. The CHR and TFDP reported that beatings by prison
guards and other inmates were common but that prisoners, fearing
retaliation, refused to lodge complaints. Corruption appeared to be a
problem at higher levels of authority within the prison system as well.
Favored inmates reportedly enjoyed access to outside contacts, enabling
them to have access to prostitutes and drugs.
There were reports that guards abused prisoners. In 2001, AI
reported that women in police custody were particularly vulnerable to
sexual and physical assault by police and prison officials. Victims
often were afraid to report incidents (see Section 5). Some detainees
at BI detention centers reportedly gained release by making cash
payments to guards.
Through December 15, the PNP recorded a total of 35 successful
prison escapes encompassing 115 prisoners. Of the escapees, 54 remained
at large, while 61 were recaptured. Police blamed the escapes on
lenient security and the poor quality of detention facilities.
International monitoring groups, including the ICRC, were allowed
free access to jails and prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution requires a
judicial determination of probable cause before issuance of an arrest
warrant and prohibits holding prisoners incommunicado or in secret
places of detention; however, in a number of cases, police arrested and
detained citizens arbitrarily. From January through July, the TFDP
documented 38 cases of illegal arrest and detention involving 310
victims.
Detainees have the right to a judicial review of the legality of
their detention and, except for offenses punishable by a life sentence
or death (when evidence is strong), the right to bail. Authorities are
required to file charges within 12 to 36 hours of arrests made without
warrants, depending on the seriousness of the crime. Due to the slow
judicial process, lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem (see
Section 1.e.).
The 113,000-member PNP has deep-rooted institutional deficiencies.
The National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective
Management reported that 69 erring policemen were dismissed from
service from January through October. Of the 1,343 administrative cases
filed against PNP officers and personnel, 638 were resolved, 352 were
still under preliminary investigation, and 353 underwent summary
hearings.
On July 5, five men belonging to the 80th Infantry Battalion of the
Philippine Army but dressed in civilian clothing arrested a community
organizer in Montalban, Rizal Province. Four days later, a Quick
Response Team mission headed by FIND located him at the Montalban
Police Station. The arrestee, who had never been charged with a crime,
was released after the response team arrived.
Various human rights NGOs maintained lists of incarcerated persons
they alleged to be political prisoners; estimates usually ranged from a
few to over 200. Typically there was no distinction in these lists
between detainees and prisoners, and the majority of persons on these
lists have not been convicted (see Section 1.e.).
The NPA, as well as some Islamic insurgent groups, were responsible
for a number of arbitrary detentions, often in connection with informal
courts set up to try military personnel, police, local politicians, and
other persons for ``crimes against the people'' (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judicial system suffered from
corruption and inefficiency. Personal ties and sometimes venality
undermined the commitment of some government employees to ensure due
process and equal justice. The result was impunity for some wealthy and
influential offenders and widespread skepticism that the judicial
process would produce fair outcomes.
Judges continued to be assaulted and killed in the line of duty
(see Section 1.a.).
The national court system consists of four levels: Local and
regional trial courts; a national Court of Appeals divided into 17
divisions; a 15-member Supreme Court; and an informal local system for
arbitrating or mediating certain disputes outside the formal court
system. The ``Sandiganbayan,'' the Government's anticorruption court,
hears criminal cases brought against senior officials. A Shari'a
(Islamic law) court system, with jurisdiction over domestic and
contractual relations among Muslim citizens, operates in some Mindanao
provinces.
The Constitution provides that those accused of crimes be informed
of the charges against them, have the right to counsel, and be provided
a speedy and public trial. Defendants are presumed innocent and have
the right to confront witnesses against them, to present evidence, and
to appeal convictions. The authorities respected the right of
defendants to be represented by a lawyer, although poverty often
inhibited a defendant's access to effective legal representation.
Skilled defense lawyers staffed the Public Attorney's Office (PAO), but
their workload was large and resources were scarce. The PAO provides
legal representation for all indigent litigants at trial; however,
during arraignment, courts may at their option appoint any lawyer
present in the courtroom to provide counsel to the accused.
According to the Constitution, cases should be resolved within set
time limits once submitted for decision: 24 months for the Supreme
Court; 12 months for the Court of Appeals; and 3 months for lower
courts. However, these time limits are not mandatory, and, in effect,
there are no time limits for trials.
The judicial system was unable to ensure expeditious trials for
detained persons. The average trial takes about 2 years. Progress is
impeded due to lengthy delays between hearings and the fact that trials
are not heard all at once, but in short sessions over time and as
witnesses become available. Furthermore, there was a widely recognized
need for more prosecutors, judges, and courtrooms. Of the total 2,130
trial court judgeships (including Shari'a courts), 688 or 32 percent
were vacant, slightly lower than last year's 717 vacancies or 34
percent. Courts in Mindanao and other poorer provinces had higher
vacancy rates than the national average. Shari'a court positions were
particularly difficult to fill because of the requirement that
applicants be members of both the Shari'a Bar and the Integrated Bar.
Although Shari'a courts do not have criminal jurisdiction, the MILF
asserted that its Islamic law courts do. The NPA continued to subject
military personnel, police, local politicians, and other persons to its
so-called courts for ``crimes against the people.'' The NPA executed
some of these ``defendants.''
International and domestic NGOs criticized many court proceedings
that resulted in death sentences, stating that the judicial system did
not ensure the rights of defendants to due process and legal
representation. At times, defendants in death penalty cases lacked
adequate legal representation at the time of arrest, indictment, or
trial. By law, the Supreme Court reviews all death sentences. The
President lifted a 3-year moratorium on the application of the death
sentence in July 2003; however, no executions have been carried out.
Various human rights NGOs maintained lists of incarcerated persons
they alleged to be political prisoners; estimates usually ranged from a
few to over 200. Typically there was no distinction in these lists
between detainees and prisoners, and the majority of persons on these
lists have not been convicted. Some face murder, kidnapping, and other
serious charges, while others were charged with lesser offenses such as
possession of drugs or firearms. Some NGOs asserted that it was
frequent practice to make politically motivated arrests of persons for
common crimes and to continue to detain them after their sentences
expired. Often it was difficult to distinguish between persons possibly
incarcerated for political reasons and those for common crimes. The
Government used NGO lists as one source of information in the conduct
of its pardon, parole, and amnesty programs, but it did not consider
the persons listed to be political detainees or prisoners. As a
goodwill gesture to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NDF,
the Government released 10 persons whom NGOs claimed were political
prisoners in May, in addition to three female prisoners released
earlier. The Government has publicly committed itself to releasing more
prisoners on this list. Through July, the Office of the President
returned to the Board of Pardons and Parole 58 requests for
presidential action, with instructions to restudy the cases. Of these,
31 were granted partial or full pardon.
The Government permitted access to alleged political prisoners by
international humanitarian organizations.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides that a judge may issue
search warrants on a finding of probable cause; however, while the
Government generally respected restrictions on search and seizure
within private homes, searches without warrants occurred. Judges
declared evidence obtained illegally to be inadmissible.
The Government generally respected the privacy of its citizens;
however, leaders of Communist organizations complained of what they
described as a pattern of surveillance on their activities.
Forced resettlement of urban squatters, who made up at least 30
percent of the urban population, continued during the year, although to
a lesser extent than in previous years. A few pockets of urban informal
settlers were forcibly relocated temporarily while resettlement
projects were being developed and implemented in Metro Manila. The law
provides certain protections for squatters; eviction was often
difficult, especially because politicians recognized squatters' voting
power. Government relocation efforts were constrained by budget
problems, and the issuance of land titles to squatters targeted by
displacement was limited.
Although the Government itself did not use forced conscription,
there were reports of forced conscription in southern Mindanao into
local indigenous peoples' paramilitary units with links to the AFP. The
AFP denied these allegations. Reports of abuses by vigilante groups in
southern Mindanao continued throughout the year. Some suspected that
local government officials or members of the armed forces supported the
vigilante groups.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal Conflicts.--Some citizens groups complained that the AFP, in
confronting the terrorist ASG, the NPA, and the separatist MILF,
illegally detained citizens, torched houses, displaced residents, and
shelled villages suspected of being ASG strongholds. The AFP defended
its actions (see Sections 1.a., 1.d., and 2.d.).
In February, the CHR conducted forensic examinations of persons
killed in reported exchanges of gunfire in the Western Police District
in Metro Manila. The examinations indicated that some of these persons
had been shot in the back. Based on these findings, the CHR concluded
that police in the Western District had committed extrajudicial
killings.
In March, NPA fighters ambushed PNP officers; the PNP unit
allegedly returned fire without regard to three civilians who were
caught in the crossfire. The three were killed during the incident.
In November, an interagency human rights organization fact-finding
team concluded that AFP soldiers had executed two teenage boys in
Catarman, Northern Samar. The Army claimed that the boys had been
caught in crossfire.
In April, two minors were shot and injured when the National Anti-
Kidnapping Task Force mistook them for rebels. The two girls were
passengers in a car driven by another teenager that turned back from a
police checkpoint rather than try to pass through.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD), some persons displaced from conflict areas in Mindanao were
able to rehabilitate and reconstruct their homes with aid from DSWD and
local governments. Others, whose communities were destroyed by the
armed conflict, were resettled.
The ASG kidnapped and tortured civilians during the year. There
were reports that the ASG killed citizens whom it suspected of being
government informants. Clashes between the AFP and ASG occurred
throughout the year, mostly in the Zamboanga peninsula and Sulu
archipelago.
During the year, the NPA killed political activists, mayors, other
civilians, and military and police personnel. The NPA also harassed
businesses and burned buses to enforce the collection of
``revolutionary taxes.'' The AFP reported that the NPA killed 91
civilians and attacked 26 private companies from January through
August. The NPA continued actively to recruit minors both as combatants
and noncombatants (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
Several television and radio stations were owned by the State,
having been sequestered following the fall of the Marcos regime in
1986. Most print and electronic media were privately owned. The
independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views
without restriction. Broadcast and print media were freewheeling and
often criticized for lacking rigorous journalistic ethics. They tended
to reflect the particular political or economic orientations of owners,
publishers, or patrons, some of whom were close associates of present
or past high-level political officials. Special interests often used
bribes and other inducements to solicit one-sided and erroneous reports
and commentaries that supported their positions.
Journalists continued to be the victims of summary killings. In the
first 8 months of the year, eight journalists were killed, the highest
figure in 20 years. Murder charges have been filed in four of the
cases, while the rest remained under investigation. According to a
special task force formed by the President this year, of the 24 murder
cases involving journalists brought since 1984, only 2 resulted in
convictions, 4 were dismissed, while 18 remained pending. The National
Union of Journalists accused the police and the Government of failing
adequately to investigate these killings and of subjecting journalists
to harassment and surveillance.
On July 31, three unidentified gunmen shot and killed Ilocos Norte
radio commentator, Roger Mariano. Prior to his killing, Mariano had
exposed alleged fraud at the local electric cooperative and criticized
illegal gambling operations. The case remained under investigation,
with no arrests made.
On August 5, in Batangas, a lone gunman shot and killed a newspaper
writer who had discussed the murder and rape cases of a local
``barangay'' (neighborhood) chairman in his column. On September 2,
police arrested the chairman on murder charges. The chairman's nephew,
who was the suspected gunman, remained at large.
On August 13, only 1 day after the slaying of a Laguna journalist,
Mindanao-based radio commentator, Edward Balida, was shot at a public
market while parking his motorcycle. Balida was a vocal supporter of
the Government's anti-drug campaign.
On September 13, a former policeman in Western Mindanao, a suspect
in the 2002 killing of journalist Edgar Demalerio, surrendered to
authorities after 2 weeks of negotiations. On his daily radio program,
Demalerio had repeatedly criticized local police officers for their
failure to curb the illegal drug trade, gambling, and killings in
Pagadian City and Zamboanga.
By year's end, there had been no convictions in any of the cases of
journalists killed in the last 3 years.
The Government did not restrict Internet use.
School administrators reportedly warned several student journalists
against publishing critical commentaries and articles, and students on
some campuses complained of military surveillance. The Government did
not otherwise interfere with academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
Although the law requires that groups request a permit to hold a
rally, the Government at times followed an unwritten policy of allowing
rallies to occur without requiring the filing of a request.
On November 16, police fired into a crowd of striking sugar
plantation workers, killing an estimated 12 and wounding more than 100
(see Section 1.a.).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. Although Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism, was
the predominant religion, there is no state religion, and under the
Constitution church and State are separate.
Muslims were the largest minority religious group in the country.
There was widespread debate over the exact size of the Muslim
population, as some officials and observers claimed that security
concerns in western Mindanao prevented census takers from conducting
accurate counts outside urban areas. Estimates ranged from 3.9 million
to 7 million, or 5 to 9 percent of the population. Muslims resided
principally in Mindanao and nearby islands, but there were Muslim
communities throughout the country.
Historically, Muslims have been marginalized by the Christian
majority. The national culture, with its emphasis on familial, tribal,
and regional loyalties, creates informal barriers whereby access to
jobs or resources is provided first to those of one's own family or
group network. Muslims reported difficulty renting rooms in boarding
houses or being hired for retail work if they used their real names or
wore distinctive Muslim dress. As a result, some Muslims used Christian
pseudonyms and did not wear distinctive dress when applying for housing
or jobs.
The Government's campaign against the terrorist ASG has led some
human rights NGOs to accuse the police and military of unfairly
targeting Muslims for arrest and detention. However, most observers
believed that discrimination against Muslims was grounded on cultural
differences, not religious beliefs or practices. There also were
reports of Muslim discrimination against Christians in areas where
Muslims were the majority.
Intermittent government efforts to integrate Muslims into political
and economic society have achieved only limited success. Many Muslims
claimed that they continued to be underrepresented in senior civilian
and military positions and cited the lack of proportional Muslim
representation in national government institutions (see Section 3).
Predominantly Muslim provinces in Mindanao lagged far behind the rest
of the country in most aspects of socioeconomic development. Poverty
levels in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were roughly
twice as high as the national average, with per capita income of $274
(P15,344) per year.
The teaching of religious classes in public schools was permitted
with the written consent of parents, provided that there was no cost to
the Government. The Department of Education required schools to ensure
the protection of the religious rights of students. These measures
included allowing Muslim girls to wear their head coverings (``hijab'')
and not requiring them to wear shorts during physical education
classes.
The Commission on Higher Education, a government agency that
oversees public and private higher education in the Philippines,
offered study grants for some former Muslim separatists who could not
afford to study in college due to financial constraints. The program
aimed to contribute to peace and order by upgrading the education of
these individuals.
In August, the Department of Education and a team of Muslim
educators approved a new curriculum for public elementary schools in
the ARMM and privately run madrassas. The curriculum was designed to
integrate the madrassas into the mainstream educational system by
teaching English, Filipino, and other mainstream subjects, in addition
to courses in Arabic, ``Bangsamoro'' (a term describing the various
Philippine Muslim groups) history, and Islamic studies. The Department
of Education estimated that approximately 100,000 students attended
madrassas nationwide.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. Travel
abroad was limited only in rare circumstances, such as when a citizen
has a pending court case. Government authorities discouraged travel by
vulnerable workers to areas in which they face personal risk (see
Section 5).
In July, the Government banned all Filipinos from traveling to Iraq
to work as contractors. The Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) sought to limit departures for work abroad to
persons the POEA certified as qualified for the jobs. More than 8.67
million citizens worked overseas and remitted money home. Such
remittances amounted to approximately 9.2 percent of the gross national
product.
Forced exile is illegal, and the Government did not use it.
Continuing clashes between the AFP and the MILF, NPA, and ASG have
displaced thousands of persons within the country. In June, the
Government began building a shelter in Palimbang to help some 700
families, who have been displaced by fighting between AFP and MILF
guerrillas in the area. Other agencies, including the U.N. Development
Program, the Mindanao Emergency Relief Network, and the Red Cross,
provided food and other essential items such as medicine, blankets,
mosquito nets, and soap to the 3,000 evacuees.
The country is a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; however, there is no
comprehensive legislation that provides for granting refugee status or
asylum. In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution, and granted refugee status or asylum. The Refugee Unit in
the Department of Justice determined which asylum seekers qualify as
refugees; such determinations in practice implemented many of the basic
provisions of the 1951 Convention. The Government cooperated with the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and with other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. The Government also provided
temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees
under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol and provided it to
approximately 2,000 persons during the year.
The Government continued to allow approximately 2,000 former asylum
seekers from Vietnam to remain in the country although all had been
found not to be refugees under the UNHCR-administered Comprehensive
Plan of Action in the 1990s. There was popular support, particularly
from the Roman Catholic Church, for allowing permanent residency for
those unsuccessful asylum seekers who did not wish to repatriate and
were ineligible for resettlement in other countries. The Government has
neither forced the repatriation of this group nor granted them
permanent asylum.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through
periodic elections that largely were free and fair and held on the
basis of universal suffrage.
On May 10, national elections were held for president, senators,
representatives, provincial governors, and local government officials.
Turnout for the election was high--with approximately 74 percent of
eligible voters participating; however, voting was marred by numerous
irregularities. From April to July, a consortium of three international
NGOs (National Democratic Institute, International Republican
Institute, and the International Foundation for Election Systems)
performed an election monitoring survey in the country. They concluded
that an antiquated voting system, system error, and improper management
of registration databases disenfranchised thousands of voters.
Widespread reports indicated that local politicians and their
supporters continued to engage in vote buying and that conditions were
inadequate to ensure that balloting was secret. Observers also received
reports of NPA activists imposing ``Permission to Campaign'' fees on
local candidates.
Multiple political parties were able to present candidates for
office, raise funds, and mobilize voters. However, parties tended to be
personality-driven, dynastic and family influences were strong, and
issues generally were less important. Campaign financing, anti-dynasty,
and other political party laws and provisions often were not observed.
Election-related violence remained a serious problem (see Section
1.a.).
The May election marked the first time that overseas Filipinos were
able to vote. Of the 354,000 registered overseas voters, 230,000 or 65
percent actually voted in 577 precincts worldwide. This represented a
small portion of the estimated 8.67 million Filipino overseas workers.
The low rate of registration was attributed to lack of information
about the procedures, inaccessible registration centers, strict
employers who did not allow overseas workers to take a day off, and the
requirement that voters execute an affidavit to return to the country
to reside within 3 years.
In compliance with the registration residence requirement, the
Commission on Elections did not allow first time voters among squatters
in urban poor communities to register for the elections unless they
could prove that they were bona fide residents of their locale. NGOs
estimated that this deprived one million squatters of the right to
vote. Among those who did register in squatter communities vote buying
was common, and many residents accepted bribes to vote in a certain way
or to act as ``flying voters,'' voting in several precincts.
A justifiable public perception of corruption in the executive and
legislative branches remained high.
The Constitution provides for a right to information on matters of
public concern, and the Supreme Court has affirmed this provision.
However, an NGO noted that denial of such information occurred when the
information related to an anomaly or irregularity in government
transactions. Moreover, much government information was not available
electronically and was difficult to retrieve.
There were no restrictions in law or practice on participation by
women and members of minorities in politics. Many women, including the
President, held positions of leadership and authority. There were 4
women in the 24-seat Senate and 35 women in the 236-seat House of
Representatives. There were 5 women in the 23-member Cabinet and 5
female associate justices in the 15-member Supreme Court.
Along with many other citizens, Muslims, in particular, argued that
the method of electing senators from a nationwide list favored
established political figures from the Manila area, to the disadvantage
of Muslims. Election of senators by region would require a
constitutional amendment, and many Muslims and members of other groups
underrepresented in the national legislature favored such an amendment.
There were no Muslim cabinet members and no Muslim senators. There were
10 Muslim members in the 236-seat House of Representatives, including
some elected from Christian majority districts.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A large and active group of human rights NGOs generally operated
without government interference, investigating and publishing their
findings on human rights cases. Most government officials, including
those of the CHR, were responsive to NGO views. Many domestic NGOs were
critical of the Government's human rights record; these NGOs also
criticized previous governments' human rights records. While
acknowledging that respect for human rights has improved under
President Macapagal-Arroyo, many NGOs criticized the Government for
being overzealous in its efforts to defeat the various insurgencies in
the country. These groups cited indiscriminate arrests, torture of
suspects, and the shelling of civilian areas the AFP suspected of
harboring insurgents.
Some NGOs have expressed concern over what they perceived as
hostile government rhetoric toward human rights activists. NGOs also
have expressed concerns over statements by various local government
officials that condoned extrajudicial killings as an acceptable means
to fight crime. A well known human rights activist, Jacinto ``Rashid''
Manahan, was the victim of an apparent extrajudicial killing in Davao
in August (see Section 1.a.).
Member organizations of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights
Advocates, a leading NGO network, monitored human rights problems and
sought redress through their contacts with government agencies, the
Congress, and the CHR. Human rights activists continued to encounter
occasional harassment, mainly from security forces or local officials
from the area in which incidents under investigation took place.
The CHR was created in 1987 pursuant to the 1987 Constitution. It
replaced the Presidential Committee on Human Rights. The CHR is an
independent agency mandated to protect and promote human rights. It is
empowered to investigate all human rights violations and to monitor the
Government's compliance with international human rights treaty
obligations. The CHR has non binding authority to clear on military
promotions. The Commission has a chairperson and four members. CHR
monitoring and investigating continued to be hamstrung by insufficient
resources. Approximately one-third of the country's 42,000 barangays
had Human Rights Action Centers, which coordinated with CHR regional
offices; however, the CHR's regional and subregional offices remained
understaffed and underfunded. The CHR was allocated $3.75 million (P210
million) for the year, up 7 percent from 2003.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination against women, children,
and minorities; however, vague regulations and budgetary constraints
hindered implementation of these protections.
Women.--Violence against women, both in and out of the home,
remained a serious problem. The law does not specifically address the
problem of domestic violence; complaints are filed under the charge of
``physical injury.'' The Government did not disaggregate statistics to
indicate the number of physical injury cases that result from domestic
violence. During the year, the National Commission on the Role of
Filipino Women compiled and published the following statistics: The PNP
reported 2,381 cases of wife battering and physical injuries to women
in the first 6 months of the year. This number appeared to underreport
significantly the level of violence against women in the country. A
survey done in 2003 by the NGO, Social Weather Station, resulted in the
following admissions by male respondents: 12 percent admitted having
physically harmed women (39 percent of these respondents indicated
violence against their wife, 15 percent against their girlfriend, and 4
percent against their partner). The same survey queried women on why
they didn't report violence. The reasons most cited were:
Embarrassment; not knowing how or to whom to report; belief that
nothing would be done; and believing it was too small of a thing.
The PNP and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
both maintained women's help desks to assist victims of violence
against women and to encourage the reporting of crimes. With the
assistance of NGOs, officers received gender sensitivity training to
deal with victims of sexual crimes and domestic violence. Many PNP
stations included female officers.
Rape continued to be a serious problem. According to the latest
statistics from the Center for Women's Resources, from January to
September 2003, there were 3,913 rape cases. Police statistics showed a
decline in rape cases during the period from January to October from
1,159 in 2003 to 868. There were reports of rape and sexual abuse of
women in police or protective custody. These often involved women from
marginalized groups, such as suspected prostitutes, drug users, and
lower income individuals arrested for minor crimes.
The law provides for the death penalty in cases of rape. Although
spousal rape and abuse also are illegal, enforcement was ineffective.
Some NGOs argued that courts' imposition of death sentences for rape
convictions inhibited some victims, particularly relatives of the
accused, from pressing charges.
Prostitution is illegal, but was a widespread problem. Many women
suffered exposure to violence through their recruitment, often through
deception, into prostitution (see Section 5, Trafficking). Penalties
for prostitution are light, but detained prostitutes were subjected to
administrative indignities and extortion. The DSWD continued to provide
temporary shelter and counseling to women engaged in prostitution.
Officials believed that this helped only a small percentage of victims.
Some local officials condoned a climate of impunity for those who
exploited prostitutes. There were no convictions under the provision of
the law criminalizing the act of engaging the services of a prostitute.
Sex tourism was a serious problem. Trafficking in women and
children for sexual exploitation and forced labor were problems. A 2003
anti-trafficking law outlawed a number of activities specifically
related to trafficking and provided stiff penalties for convicted
offenders (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment in the workplace was thought to be widespread yet
underreported due to victims' fear of losing their jobs. Female
employees in special economic zones (SEZs) were particularly at risk;
most were economic migrants who had no independent workers'
organization to assist with filing complaints. Women in the retail
industry worked on 3- to 5-month contracts and were reluctant to report
sexual harassment for fear their contracts would not be renewed.
The law does not provide for divorce, although the courts generally
recognize the legality of divorces obtained in other countries. The
Government recognizes religious annulment, but the process can be
costly, which precludes annulment as an option for many women. Many
lower income couples simply separated informally without severing their
marital ties. The Family Code provides that in child custody cases
resulting from annulment, illegitimacy, or divorce in another country,
children under the age of 7 are placed in the care of the mother unless
there is a court order to the contrary. Children over the age of 7
normally also remained with the mother, although the father could
dispute custody through the courts.
In law, but not always in practice, women have most of the rights
and protections accorded to men. Women continued to face some
discrimination in employment, despite the fact that more women than men
entered secondary and higher education. Unemployment rates for women
were consistently higher than for men. In August, the Asian Development
Bank released a gender assessment report that highlighted unemployment
of women and poor family planning as major contributors to poverty in
the country.
The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, composed of
10 government officials and 13 NGO leaders appointed by the President,
acted as an oversight body whose goal is to press for effective
implementation of programs benefiting women.
Children.--The Government devoted considerable resources to the
education, welfare, and development of children. The Department of
Education had the largest budget of any cabinet department.
Nevertheless, children faced serious problems.
Elementary and secondary education is free, but the quality of
education remained poor due in part to inadequate resources. During the
year, according to Department of Education figures, the annual per
pupil expenditure for basic education was $108 (P6,021). Congress cited
fiscal constraints in explanation. The Department of Education reported
that it needs $2.22 billion (P124.7 billion), but reportedly was
allotted $1.95 billion (P109.5 billion) (12.7 percent of the national
budget) for the year. The Department of Education estimated that 25
percent of students drop out between grades one and three, and 33
percent between grades one and six. Nearly 60 percent of children who
start school do not complete grade 10. The situation is even worse for
indigenous children (see Section 5, Indigenous People).
According to government reports, 68.3 percent of children are well
nourished, and 64 percent were fully immunized. The child mortality
rate was 48 out of 1,000 children under age 5. In 2000, an NGO
estimated that 30 to 40 percent of preschool children in the five-
province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao suffered from
malnutrition. Most of the malnourished children were in villages in
Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Tawi-Tawi Provinces. According to the
latest UNICEF data, at the end of 2001, nationwide 30.6 percent of
children under age 5 were moderately or severely underweight.
Child abuse remained a problem. DSWD offices served 7,847 victims
of child abuse from January to September, 71 percent of them were
girls. Some 53 percent of the girls were victims of sexual abuse, up
from 44 percent last year, while the majority of the boys had been
abandoned or neglected. Several cities ran crisis centers for abused
women and children. The problem of foreign pedophiles continued to be
reported in the press, and the Government continued to prosecute
accused pedophiles. Children also were victims of police abuse while in
detention for committing minor crimes. In July, the University of the
Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies began an
appraisal of child pornography in the country. Two years ago, a series
of articles in the newspaper People's Journal identified the country as
a leading producer of child pornographic materials, particularly on the
Internet.
Child prostitution continued to be a serious problem (see Section
5, Trafficking).
Children were targeted for recruitment as combatants and
noncombatants by the NPA and ASG. The NPA claimed that it assigned
persons 15 to 18 years of age to self-defense and noncombatant duties;
however, there were reports that the NPA continued to use minors in
combat. An official from the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the
Peace Process estimated that children made up as much as 19 percent of
the NPA's fighting force. The Council for Welfare of Children, in a
July report, estimated that children constituted some 13-18 percent of
the armed rebel combatants. In the last several years, the AFP on
numerous occasions captured or killed NPA fighters who turned out to be
minors.
The ASG also recruited teenagers to fight and participate in
criminal activities. There were reports that a significant number of
ASG members staffing the groups' camps were teenagers. The AFP said
that some Islamic schools in Mindanao served as fronts to indoctrinate
children and that the ASG used children as couriers and spies.
According to UNICEF and International Labor Organization (ILO)
studies, approximately 2 million children were exposed to hazardous
working environments, such as in quarries, mines, and at docksides (see
Section 6.d.).
The Government estimated that there were at least 22,000 street
children nationwide, although some NGOs believed the number to be much
higher. Welfare officials believed that the number increased as a
result of widespread unemployment in rural areas. Many street children
appeared to be abandoned and engaged in scavenging or begging.
A variety of national executive orders and laws provide for the
welfare and protection of children. Police stations have child and
youth relations officers to ensure that child suspects are treated
appropriately. However, the procedural safeguards were often ignored in
practice. Many child suspects were detained for extended periods
without access to social workers and lawyers and were vulnerable to
torture and other ill treatment. There were also reports that many
children detained in jails appeared to have been arrested without
warrants.
A number of NGOs actively promoted children's rights.
Trafficking in Persons.--Trafficking in persons is prohibited under
a comprehensive anti trafficking law passed in 2003, which defines
several activities related to trafficking as illegal and imposes stiff
penalties--up to life imprisonment--for convicted offenders.
Nonetheless, trafficking remained a problem in the country. The first
trial under the new Trafficking Law began in January and was still
underway at year's end. Several other cases were pending, but trials
had not yet begun.
Although the Government investigated several trafficking-related
cases under the old laws, its efforts were hampered by resource
constraints. In August, four prosecutors were assigned to focus on
trafficking cases and to complete preliminary investigations within 60
days. The principal investigative agencies were the National Bureau of
Intelligence, the Bureau of Immigration, and the PNP's Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group. The Government cooperated with
international investigations of trafficking. Some high profile cases
involved syndicates that trafficked women to neighboring countries.
Several cases involving women trafficked to Malaysia resulted in
notable arrests in August and September.
The country was a source, transit, and destination country for
internationally trafficked persons. Internal trafficking was also a
problem. Reliable estimates on the number of individuals trafficked
were not available. The most serious problem appeared to be the
trafficking of women across international borders to destinations in
Asia (especially Japan), Europe, the Middle East, and North America for
purposes of sexual exploitation. Organized criminal gangs typically
trafficked persons from China through the country to other
destinations, although occasionally the country was the final
destination.
Both adults and children were trafficked domestically from poor,
rural areas in the southern and central parts of the country to major
urban centers, especially metro Manila and other cities on Luzon. A
significant percentage of the victims of internal trafficking were from
Mindanao and were fleeing the severe poverty and violence of their home
areas. The Visayan Islands were also a source of trafficking. Women
were far more at risk to be victims of trafficking than men, and girls
were more at risk than boys.
NGOs estimated that approximately 60,000 children were involved in
the commercial sex industry. Most of these children were girls, and
nearly all had dropped out of school. These children come from very
poor families with unemployed or irregularly employed parents.
The Virlanie Foundation, a local child protection NGO, estimated
that there were at least 20,000 child prostitutes in the country, most
in the Metro Manila area. It offered housing, training, and counseling
services to child prostitutes. An ILO program, with the goal of
removing 1,200 children from the commercial sex industry, was underway.
Traffickers targeted persons seeking overseas employment. Most
recruits were females ages 15 to 22 from poor farming families. The
traffickers generally were private employment recruiters and their
partners in organized crime. Many recruiters targeted persons from
their own hometowns. The primary method used to approach victims was
the promise of a respectable and lucrative job.
There was anecdotal evidence that some lower level officials (such
as customs officers, border guards, immigration officials, local
police, or others) received bribes from traffickers or otherwise
facilitated trafficking.
Victims faced health risks, such as sexually transmitted or other
infectious diseases, and were vulnerable to beatings, sexual abuse, and
humiliation.
The Government devoted significant resources to assist and protect
victims. The concept of a trafficked person as a victim rather than a
perpetrator was particularly strong. The Government, in conjunction
with NGO partners, assisted victims by providing temporary residency
status and relief from deportation; shelter; and access to legal,
medical, and psychological services.
The DSWD and many private groups have established shelters and
rehabilitation centers. DSWD provided economic aid to victims,
including residential care. Additional protective services included
hotlines for reporting cases and the operation of 24 hour halfway
houses in 13 regions of the country to respond to victims. Although the
Government provided some funding to domestic and foreign NGOs for
services to victims, religious groups, multinational donor agencies,
and private foundations typically funded most of the budgets for these
NGOs.
The Government rarely deported or charged victims of trafficking
with crimes; however, police sometimes charged alleged prostitutes with
vagrancy. No reliable statistics indicating whether these individuals
were victims of trafficking were available.
Victims may file civil suits or seek legal action against
traffickers. Most victims who chose to do so filed charges of illegal
recruitment. However, the Government lacked the resources to pursue
these cases effectively.
Numerous government agencies and officials, as well as NGOs and
international organizations, continued to support public information
campaigns against trafficking. The Government supported programs to
prevent trafficking, such as the promotion of women's participation in
economic decision-making and efforts to keep children in school. The
Government provided skills training to women, lessening the need for
them to go to urban centers or overseas for employment. However,
funding remained limited.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for equal physical
access for persons with both physical and mental disabilities to all
public buildings and establishments and for ``the rehabilitation, self
development, and self-reliance of disabled persons and their
integration into the mainstream of society.'' The Department of Labor
and Employment's (DOLE) Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) maintained
registers of persons with disabilities indicating their skills and
abilities. BLE monitored private and public places of employment for
violations of labor standards regarding persons with disabilities and
also promoted the establishment of cooperatives and self-employment
projects for persons with disabilities.
Estimates of the number of persons with disabilities in the country
ranged from 1 million to 3.5 million. Advocates suspected the data were
incomplete due to the social stigma attached to persons with
disabilities. It was estimated that most persons with disabilities were
less than 65 years of age and lived at home with their families.
Assisted living centers were understaffed and underfunded.
Advocates for persons with disabilities contended that equal access
laws were ineffective because implementing regulations were weak,
funding was inadequate, and government programs were inadequately
focused on integration. Many public buildings, particularly older ones,
lacked functioning elevators. Many schools had architectural barriers
that made attendance difficult for persons with disabilities.
Government efforts to improve access to transportation for persons
with disabilities have been halting. Only one of Manila's light rail
lines was wheelchair-accessible, and many stops had out-of-service
elevators. Buses lacked wheelchair lifts, and there were reports of
drivers who failed to stop for passengers in wheelchairs. A limited
number of sidewalks had wheelchair ramps, but garbage cans and street
vendors often blocked access. Many of the sidewalk wheelchair ramps
were crumbling or too steep. The situation was worse in many smaller
cities and towns.
Indigenous People.--Indigenous people live throughout the country
but primarily in the mountainous areas of northern and central Luzon
and in Mindanao. They account for approximately 16 percent of the
national population. Although no specific laws discriminate against
indigenous people, the remoteness of the areas that many inhabit and
cultural bias prevented their full integration into society. Indigenous
children suffered from lack of basic services, health, and education.
A report by the Department of Education revealed that indigenous
children were falling behind in the quality of education. By one
estimate, only 424 of Baguio City's 4,424 elementary graduates met the
minimum standards for moving to the next level. An official of the
Tebtebba Foundation suggested that indigenous children frequently
skipped school as a way to avoid the racial discrimination they faced
in the classroom.
Because they inhabit mountainous areas also favored by guerrillas,
indigenous people suffered disproportionately from armed conflict.
Their lands were often the sites of armed encounters, and various
parties to the fighting have recruited many indigenous people.
The 1997 Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act, which was intended to
implement constitutional provisions to protect indigenous people,
established a National Commission on Indigenous People, which was
staffed by tribal members empowered to award certificates of title to
lands claimed by indigenous persons in the country. It awarded such
``ancestral domain lands'' on the basis of communal rather than
individual ownership, impeding sale of the lands by tribal leaders. The
law requires a process of informed consultation and written consent by
the indigenous group to allow mining on tribal lands. The law also
assigns indigenous groups the responsibility to preserve forest,
watershed, and biodiversity areas in their domains from inappropriate
development. Although the Government has been slow to implement the
legislation, primarily because of strong opposition from mining and
agribusiness interests, some limited progress has been made.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and laws provide for
the right of workers, including most public employees, with the
exception of the military and the police, to form and join trade
unions. Trade unions are independent of the Government. Unions have the
right to form or join federations or other labor groups.
As of September, there were 149 registered labor federations and
more than 15,553 private sector unions, compared with 19,928 reported
in 2003. The 1.6 million union members represented approximately 4.3
percent of the total workforce of 36.5 million. The number of firms
using contractual labor, primarily large employers, continued to grow.
As of September, the Bureau of Labor Relations reported 1,434
public sector unions, compared with 1,358 in 2003. Total public sector
union membership was nearly 273,385 up from 247,853 in 2003.
Allegations of intimidation and discrimination in connection with
union activities are grounds for review as possible unfair labor
practices before the quasi-judicial National Labor Relations Commission
(NLRC). However, unions maintained that widespread ignorance of basic
standards and rights was a major obstacle to union organization. Before
disputes reach the NLRC, the DOLE provides the services of a mediation
board, which settles most of the unfair labor practice disputes raised
as grounds for strikes before the strikes may be declared. DOLE,
through the mediation board, also worked to improve the functioning of
labor-management councils in companies that already had unions.
Unions have the right to affiliate with international trade union
confederations and trade secretariats. Two of the largest trade union
federations, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the
Federation of Free Workers, were affiliated with the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation
of Labor, respectively.
The ICFTU alleged that a new union may be registered only if it
represents at least 20 percent of workers in a bargaining unit, and
that the law requires an excessively high number of unions--10--before
a federation can be formed. The ICFTU currently has two complaints
pending before the ILO regarding these requirements.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for the right to organize and bargain
collectively. The Labor Code provides for this right for employees both
in the private sector and in government-owned or controlled
corporations. A similar right is afforded to most government workers.
Between 5-10 percent of the work force was organized. Collective
bargaining was freely practiced. The number of workers covered by
collective bargaining agreements rose to 270,721 or about 16 percent of
union members. There are no special laws or exemptions from regular
labor laws in export processing zones.
Subject to certain procedural restrictions, strikes in the private
sector are legal; however, unions are required to provide strike
notice, respect mandatory cooling-off periods, and obtain majority
member approval before calling a strike. By law, the reason for
striking must be relevant to the labor contract or the law, and all
means of reconciliation must be exhausted. The Secretary of Labor and
Employment may intervene in some labor disputes by assuming
jurisdiction and mandating a settlement if the Secretary decides that
the industry involved in the strike is vital to national security. For
the first 8 months of the year, DOLE reported that there were 33
strikes, 32 percent more than the previous year). Between January and
May there had been 11 strikes involving some 2,400 workers.
The Labor Code provides that union officers who knowingly
participate in an illegal strike may be dismissed and, if convicted,
imprisoned for up to 3 years; however, according to the DOLE, there
never has been a conviction under this provision.
Trade union officials reported that underpayment of the minimum
wage and the use of contract employees to avoid the payment of required
benefits were common practices, including in the government-designated
SEZs, where tax benefits were used to encourage the growth of export
industries. Dismissal or threatened dismissal of union members also was
common, and there were reports that some workers were fired after
merely speaking with union organizers. Some companies reportedly
offered cash to employees who agreed to identify union organizers and
required employees to work overtime in order to disrupt union meetings.
Labor groups alleged that companies in the SEZs have used frivolous
lawsuits as a means of harassing union leaders.
Labor law applies uniformly throughout the country, including the
SEZs; however, local political leaders and officials who govern the
SEZs have attempted to frustrate union organizing efforts by
maintaining union-free or strike-free policies. A conflict over
interpretation of the SEZ law's provisions for labor inspection created
further obstacles to the enforcement of workers' rights to organize.
Despite objections from the DOLE, local SEZ directors claimed authority
to conduct their own inspections as part of the zones' privileges
intended by Congress. Hiring often was controlled tightly through SEZ
labor centers. In organizing efforts, union successes in the SEZs have
been few and marginal. Some mainstream unions avoided a major
unionizing effort in the lower wage SEZ industries, such as the garment
industry. They considered it unpromising in view of both the
organizers' restricted access to the closely guarded zones and the
rapid turnover of the young, mainly female staff who worked on short-
term contracts in the zones' many electronics and garment factories.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced labor, including forced and compulsory labor by children;
however, despite the Government's efforts, there were some reports of
forced and compulsory labor, particularly by children, mainly in
prostitution, drug trafficking, and other areas of the informal sector
(see Sections 5, and 6.d.). The legal minimum age for employment as a
domestic worker is 15; however, an estimated 3.7 million children 17
years of age or younger, including many under 15, were so employed,
compared with 4 million children reported in last year's survey. A more
stringent legal regime and a government program in cooperation with a
foreign government may account for part of this decline. Some
recruiters reportedly brought girls between the ages of 13 and 17 to
work in Manila or Cebu under terms that involved a ``loan'' advanced to
their parents that the children were obliged to repay through their
work. The DOLE continued to address the problem of underage workers in
family work settings by prosecutions and fines of violators (see
Sections 5, and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15, except
under the direct and sole responsibility of parents or guardians, or in
cases in which employment in cinema, theater, radio, or television is
essential to the integrity of the production. The law allows employment
of those between the ages of 15 and 18 for such hours and periods of
the day as are determined by the Secretary of Labor but forbids the
employment of persons under 18 years of age in hazardous or dangerous
work. However, child labor remained a problem, and a significant number
of children were employed in the informal sector of the urban economy
or as unpaid family workers in rural areas--some as bonded laborers
(see Section 6.c.). The most recent government survey reported
approximately 3.7 million working children, approximately 2.4 million
of whom were exposed to hazardous working environments, such as
quarries and mines, docksides, and fishing boats.
Most child labor occurred in the informal economy, often in family
settings, and the Government rarely sought to prosecute a poor family
because it had a working child. Nevertheless, the Government, in
coordination with a number of domestic NGOs and international
organizations, implemented programs to develop other, safer options for
children, return them to school, and offer families viable economic
alternatives to child labor. Although the Government made attempts to
devote more resources to child labor programs, resources remained
inadequate.
The Government and NGOs implemented programs to prevent the
engagement of children in exploitative child labor. DOLE worked with
domestic NGOs to educate communities on child labor and provided
counseling and other activities for children. DOLE and the Department
of Education worked with NGOs, UNICEF, and the ILO International
Program on the Elimination of Child Labor to assist children to return
to school. The Government also imposed fines and instituted criminal
prosecutions for child labor violations in the formal sector, such as
in manufacturing. DOLE continued its efforts to rescue exploited child
workers, rescuing 146 minors in 58 different operations between January
and September. The Employers Confederation of the Philippines pursued
an active and highly visible program against child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage did
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
Tripartite regional wage boards set minimum wages. In January and
February, a round of wage increases was implemented in most regions of
the country. The highest rates were in the National Capital Region
(NCR) and the lowest in rural regions. The minimum daily wage for NCR
nonagricultural workers was $5.36 (P300). Although this represents an
increase of 20 pesos over last year, it still did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family in the NCR. The lowest
minimum wages were in the ARMM, where the daily agricultural wage was
$2.64 (P138). The regional wage board orders covered all private sector
workers except domestic servants and other persons employed in the
personal service of another person. Boards outside the NCR exempted
some employers because of factors such as establishment size, industry
sector, involvement with exports, financial distress, and level of
capitalization. These exemptions excluded substantial additional
numbers of workers from coverage under the law. Unions have filed
complaints about the minimum wage exemption policies.
In practice, violation of minimum wage standards was common, and
large numbers of workers received less than the minimum wage set for
their area. Many firms hired employees for less than the minimum
apprentice rates, even if there was no approved training in their
production-line work. Inspections of Metro Manila commercial firms by
DOLE in August revealed 52 percent were out of compliance with the
prevailing minimum wage rate in the region. They acknowledged that the
shortage of inspectors made the law difficult to enforce. In addition
to fines, the Government also made use of administrative procedures and
moral suasion to encourage employers to voluntarily rectify violations.
Complaints about nonpayment of social security contributions, bonuses,
and overtime were particularly common with regard to companies in SEZs.
By law, the standard legal workweek is 48 hours for most categories
of industrial workers and 40 hours for government workers, with an 8-
hour per day limit. The Government mandates an overtime rate of 125
percent of the hourly rate on ordinary days and 130 percent on rest
days and holidays. The law mandates 1 day of rest each week. However,
there is no legal limit on the number of overtime hours that an
employer may require. The DOLE conducted only sporadic inspections to
enforce limits on workweek hours. The Labor Inspectorate was not
considered effective.
The law provides for a comprehensive set of occupational safety and
health standards. The DOLE has responsibility for policy formulation
and review of these standards, but with too few positions allocated for
inspectors nationwide, local authorities often must carry out
enforcement. DOLE officials acknowledged that the number of inspectors
was not adequate for the number of work sites to be inspected. DOLE
launched a campaign to promote safer work environments in small
enterprises. Statistics on actual work-related accidents and illnesses
were incomplete, as incidents (especially in agriculture) were
underreported. Workers do not have a legally protected right to remove
themselves from dangerous work situations without risking loss of
employment.
The Government and several NGOs worked to protect the rights of the
country's 8.67 million overseas citizens, most of whom are temporary or
contract workers. The Government placed financial sanctions and
criminal charges on domestic recruiting agencies found guilty of unfair
labor practices. Although the POEA registered and supervised domestic
recruiters' practices successfully, the authorities sometimes lacked
sufficient resources to ensure workers' protection overseas. It sought
cooperation from receiving countries and proposed migrant worker rights
conventions in international forums. The Government also provided
assistance through its diplomatic missions in countries with
substantial numbers of migrant workers.
The labor laws protect foreign workers in the country. Foreign
workers must obtain work permits and may not engage in certain
occupations. Typically their work conditions were better than those
faced by citizens.
__________
SAMOA
Samoa is a parliamentary democracy that incorporates certain
traditional practices into its governmental system. The Constitution
provides for a head of state; a unicameral legislature elected by
universal suffrage and, in practice, composed primarily of the heads of
extended families, or ``matai''; the protection of land rights and
traditional titles; and other fundamental rights and freedoms. In 2001,
the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) won reelection to its sixth
consecutive term as the governing party. The election was marred by
charges of bribery. In 2001, as a result of election challenges filed
by losing candidates, the Supreme Court ordered four by elections; the
HRPP won all four. Executive authority is vested in the Head of State
with the Government administered by the Cabinet, which consists of the
Prime Minister and 12 ministers chosen by him. All laws passed by the
Legislative Assembly need the approval of the Head of State, Malietoa
Tanumafili II, who holds the position for life. The Legislative
Assembly is to elect his successors for 5 year terms. The judiciary is
independent.
The civilian authorities maintained effective control over the
small national police force, but it had little effect beyond Apia, the
capital city. The country has no defense force. There were no confirmed
reports that security forces committed human rights abuses. Enforcement
of rules and security within individual villages is vested in the
``fono'' (Council of Matai), which settles most internal disputes.
Judgments by the fono usually involve fines or, more rarely, banishment
from the village.
The economy is market based. The population was approximately
199,000 as of December 2003, according to the Government Statistics
Department. More than 60 percent of the workforce was engaged primarily
in agriculture. The country was heavily dependent on foreign aid and on
remittances sent to family members by the more than 100,000 citizens
living abroad. The Government reported a 3.5 percent increase in gross
domestic product (GDP) in 2003, with a per capita GDP of approximately
$1,850. Wages and benefits did not keep pace with inflation, which was
nearly 13 percent for the year.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. The law and the
courts addressed some of these problems. Political discrimination
against women and non matai was a problem. Societal pressures and
customary law may interfere with the ability to conduct fair trials.
Those who do not conform to accepted societal values may face pressure,
threats, violence, and banishment. However, in April 2003, the Supreme
Court overturned a lower court ruling and found that a village fono had
acted illegally when it banished some residents for their religious
activities. The ruling affirmed that both statutory and customary laws
are subject to the individual rights provided for in the Constitution.
Violence against women and children was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, in July, police officer Tupou Ainu'u was charged with murder
in the death of a man in police custody. In September, the charge was
reduced to manslaughter. The officer allegedly arrested the victim for
disorderly conduct and took him to the Apia police station, where the
victim continued to be disorderly. According to the officer, he
attempted to subdue the victim, and in the ensuing altercation, the
victim fell backward and struck his head on the wall and floor,
rendering him unconscious. The victim was transported to a hospital,
but was pronounced dead on arrival. Ainu'u pleaded not guilty and was
suspended pending the outcome of his trial, scheduled for February
2005.
There were no further developments in the 2002 case of
parliamentary by election candidate Taliaoa Taamilosaga and three other
persons, whose deaths in a fire were ruled homicides. Due to a lack of
evidence, no one was charged in the case, although the police file
remained open at year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally appeared to meet international
standards, although they were fairly basic with respect to food and
sanitation. Prison policy permitted inmates with medical conditions to
retain their respective medications and to take them as prescribed;
however, during the year, a diabetic paraplegic prisoner died after he
was locked in an isolation cell as punishment for suspected marijuana
use and reportedly did not have access to his medication. The case was
referred to the Police Commissioner for investigation. According to the
Commissioner, the prisoner had his medications at the time of his death
and a postmortem examination found that the prisoner's death was not
related to his medications.
Within the country's sole prison, men and women were housed
separately, juveniles were held separately from adults, and pretrial
detainees were separated from convicted prisoners.
There were no known requests by independent human rights observers
to visit the prison; however, the Government indicated that it would
permit such visits. The Government also permitted visits by family
members and church representatives.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The country's police, prison guards, and firefighters all belong to
a consolidated national service. A commissioner appointed to a fixed 3
year term of office heads this service. He is assisted by four
assistant commissioners and reports to the Minister of Police.
Corruption and impunity were not significant problems among the police;
however, a lack of resources limited police effectiveness.
The law provides for issuance by the Supreme Court of an arrest
warrant based on sufficient evidence, and the Government generally
adhered to this provision in practice. The law provides for the right
to a prompt judicial determination regarding the legality of detention,
and the authorities generally respected this right in practice.
Detainees are informed within 24 hours of the charges against them, or
they are released. Detainees were allowed prompt access to family
members and a lawyer of their choice. If the detainee is indigent, the
Government provides a lawyer. There was a functioning system of bail.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary consists of the District Court, the Lands and Titles
Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeals. The Court of
Appeals is the highest court. It has appellate jurisdiction only and
can review the rulings of any other court. It is composed of a panel of
retired New Zealand judges and sits once a year for several weeks.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right. The accused must be charged
within 24 hours. A trial judge examines evidence and makes a
determination as to whether there are grounds to proceed. Trials are
public, and defendants have the right to be present and to timely
consultation with an attorney, at public expense if required.
Defendants may confront witnesses and present witnesses and evidence on
their own behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to
government held evidence, and defendants have the right to appeal a
verdict.
However, many civil and criminal matters were handled by village
fono, which varied considerably both in their decisionmaking style and
in the number of matai involved in the decisions. The 1990 Village Fono
Act gives legal recognition to the decisions of the fono and provides
for limited appeal to the Lands and Titles Court and to the Supreme
Court. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the Village Fono Act may
not be used to infringe upon villagers' freedom of religion, speech,
assembly, or association. More recent court decisions reinforced this
principle (see Section 2.c.).
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law provides substantive and procedural safeguards
against invasion of the home or seizure of property, including a
requirement for search warrants, which are issued by the judicial
branch. However, there was little or no privacy in villages. While
village officials by law must have permission from a judge to enter a
resident's home without the resident's consent, there can be
substantial societal pressure on the resident to grant such permission.
In accordance with traditional law, village fono may impose a
punishment of banishment (see Section 2.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. The law requires journalists to reveal their sources in the
event of a defamation suit against them; however, there has been no
court case invoking this law.
Three English language newspapers and a number of Samoan language
newspapers were published regularly. In January, the Safotu village
fono reportedly imposed a fine (consisting of several food items) on a
journalist for the Samoa International newspaper for publishing a story
deemed damaging to the village.
The Government operated one of the country's two television
stations. There were five private radio stations, and a satellite cable
system was available in parts of Apia. In addition, approximately one
third of the population was within the broadcast area of the television
station in American Samoa.
The Government did not restrict Internet use.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. In 2000, the Supreme
Court ruled that the Village Fono Act may not be used to infringe upon
villagers' freedom of religion, speech, assembly, or association (see
Sections 1.e. and 2.c.).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Constitution acknowledges ``an Independent State based on
Christian principles and Samoan custom and traditions.'' Although
Christianity is favored constitutionally, there is no official or state
denomination.
The Constitution grants each person the right to change religion or
belief and to worship or teach religion alone or with others; however,
in practice, the matai often choose the religious denomination of the
extended family. In past years, despite the constitutional protection,
village fono in the name of maintaining social harmony within the
village sometimes banished or punished families that did not adhere to
the prevailing religious belief in the village. However, civil courts
take precedence over village fono in matters involving the exercise of
constitutional rights, and courts have ordered families readmitted to
their villages. During the year, there were no new cases of individuals
being banished by villages due to their practicing religion differently
from that practiced by the village majority. However, in February, the
Lands and Titles Court ordered the Salamumu village fono to readmit 3
families, consisting of approximately 80 persons, who were banned from
the village in 1998 for organizing Bible study classes with the
intention of establishing a new church there. In February, the families
returned to Salamumu and, at year's end, were living there without
incident. The court's order was the latest in a series of judicial
decisions in recent years that affirmed that all laws, whether
statutory or customary, are subject to the individual rights provided
for in the Constitution.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, villages are governed by traditional law, and village fono
have the authority, which they regularly employed, to ban citizens from
village activities or to banish them from the village--one of the
harshest forms of punishment in this collective society--for failing to
conform to village laws or to obey fono rulings. In some cases, civil
courts have overruled banishment orders (see Sections 1.e. and 2.c.).
The law prohibits exile, and the Government did not use it.
The Government actively supported emigration as a ``safety valve''
for the pressures of a growing population, especially for potentially
rebellious youths, and because it generated income through remittances.
The country is a signatory of the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; however, the Government
has not enacted enabling legislation or established a system for
providing protection to refugees. Nevertheless, the authorities have
indicated that they would conform to international norms if such cases
should arise. The Government was prepared to cooperate with the office
of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees; however, the need did not arise
during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens have the right to change their government through direct
multiparty elections held on the basis of universal suffrage; however,
women's right to serve in elected office is restricted by the fact that
few of them are family heads (matai). While the Constitution gives all
citizens above the age of 21 the right to vote and run for office, by
social custom candidates for 47 of the 49 seats in the Legislative
Assembly are drawn from the approximately 25,000 matai. The
Constitution reserves the remaining 2 seats for ``at large'' voters
(primarily citizens who are not of full Samoan ethnic heritage and lack
strong ties to one of the 47 village based electoral districts). Matai
are selected by family agreement; there is no age qualification.
Although women sometimes are selected, 95 percent of matai are men.
Matai control local government through the village fono, which are open
to them alone.
The HRPP has dominated the political process, winning six
consecutive elections since 1982. Although candidates were free to
propose themselves for electoral office, in practice, they usually
required the approval of the senior matai of the villages within their
electoral district.
In the March 2001 elections, the HRPP won 23 seats and declared
victory 2 weeks later when 5 opposition party members switched to the
HRPP. The elections were marred by charges of bribery, and 10 losing
candidates initially filed election challenges. In August 2001, the
Attorney General intervened to foreclose further challenges and thereby
prevented as many as 40 additional challenges from being filed. In
September 2001, following a series of trials, the Supreme Court ordered
four by elections. The HRPP won all four.
Retaliation was directed against witnesses who testified in the
bribery cases. In March 2001, the Afega village fono banished 10
persons and their families for giving evidence in such a case; however,
in June 2001, the Supreme Court overturned the village fono order, and
the persons returned to their village. Some candidates who ran against
the wishes of their village fono were banished. For example, in January
2001, Aeau Peniamina Leavai, former Speaker of Parliament, and his
family were banned from entering his village of Falealupo, reportedly
because he ran for Parliament against the wishes of the village fono.
In 2002, the authorities determined that the deaths in a fire of four
persons, including a candidate in a parliamentary by election who had
refused to withdraw in favor of the village leadership's preferred
candidate, were homicides (see Section 1.a.).
On March 20 and November 26 respectively, by elections were held to
fill seats left vacant by the deaths of two Members of Parliament; HRPP
candidates won both seats. At year's end, the HRPP held 32 of the
Parliament's 49 seats.
There were no prohibitions on the formation of opposition parties,
and there were several such parties.
Government corruption did not appear to be a major problem,
although there were some instances of corrupt practices such as bribery
and misuse of public funds. During the year, charges were brought
against several current and former Ministry of Health employees for
theft of government funds; the alleged incidents occurred in 2002. At
year's end, the cases were pending, and investigation into the alleged
financial irregularities at the Ministry was continuing. The Chief
Executive Officer of the Ministry, during whose tenure the alleged
offenses occurred, was suspended in September; his employment contract
expired in November.
The 1988 Ombudsman Act provides for an ombudsman with the authority
to investigate complaints by both citizens and noncitizens concerning
administrative actions by government agencies, officials, or employees,
including allegations of corruption. Under the act, the Ombudsman may
require the Government to furnish the Ombudsman with information
relating to any matter that is the subject of a complaint.
Under the 1974 Government Proceedings Act, government information
is subject to disclosure to parties to any civil proceeding involving
the government, unless the information is considered privileged or, in
the opinion of a Minister of Government, its disclosure would harm the
public interest.
There were 3 women in the 49 member legislature, and 1 woman in the
13 person Cabinet. The political rights of citizens who are not of
ethnic Samoan heritage are addressed by the reservation of two
parliamentary seats for ``at large'' voters. One cabinet minister was
an at large M.P. of mixed European Samoan heritage. Citizens of mixed
European Samoan or Chinese Samoan heritage were well represented in the
civil service.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
disability, language, or social status. Citizens of foreign heritage
constituted approximately 3 percent of the population; they were not
subjected to discrimination.
Politics and culture reflect a heritage of matai privilege and
power, and members of certain families have some advantages. While
there was discrimination against women and non matai, who only
occasionally reached high office, women (and particularly the few
female matai) played an important role in society.
Women.--While the law prohibits the abuse of women, social custom
tolerates their physical abuse within the home; such abuse was common.
The role and rights of the village fono and tradition prevented police
from interfering in instances of domestic violence, unless there was a
complaint from the victim which village custom strongly discouraged.
While police received some complaints from abused women, domestic
violence offenders typically were punished by village fono, but only if
the abuse was considered extreme (that is, visible signs of physical
abuse). Village religious leaders also may intervene in domestic
disputes. The Government punished persons responsible for extreme
assault cases, including by imprisonment.
The Government did not keep statistics on domestic abuse cases, but
acknowledged the problem to be one of increasing concern. Under a
project funded by the Australian government and attached to the
Ministry of Police, the Government was working to develop an
interagency approach to combat domestic violence. One aim of the
project was to train police officers to respond to domestic disputes
and to work with NGOs to support their counseling of victims and
abusers. At year's end, proposed options to accomplish the project's
goals were under consideration by the Government.
Many cases of rape still go unreported because tradition and custom
discourage such reporting; spousal rape is not illegal. Nonetheless,
the authorities noted an increasing number of reported cases of rape,
as women slowly became more forthcoming with the police. Rape cases
that reached the courts were treated seriously. Convicted offenders
often were given sentences of several years' imprisonment.
Prostitution is illegal; it existed, but was not a major problem.
The law does not address sex tourism specifically; however, it was not
a problem. The law prohibits sexual harassment; it was not a widespread
problem but was believed to be underreported.
Women have equal rights under the Constitution and statutory law,
and the traditional subordinate role of women is changing, albeit
slowly, particularly in the more conservative parts of society. The
Ministry of Women, Community, and Social Development oversees and helps
secure the rights of women. In order to integrate women into the
economic mainstream, the Government sponsored literacy programs and
training programs for those who did not complete high school.
Children.--The Government made a strong commitment to the welfare
of children through the implementation of various youth programs by the
Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. Education is formally
compulsory through age 14; however, the Government did not enforce this
law, and the children of families that could not pay the required
school fees were unable to attend. Boys and girls were treated equally
and attended school in approximately equal percentages. Most children
attended school through junior high school. The Government provided
health care for children at public hospitals for minimal charge. Law
and tradition prohibit severe abuse of children, but both tolerate
corporal punishment. The police have noted an increase in reported
cases of child abuse, which was attributed to citizens becoming more
aware of the need to report the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse
of children. The Government aggressively prosecuted such cases. There
were no reports of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The NGO
Mapusaga o Aiga (Women against Domestic Violence) provided limited
educational programs on children's rights.
There was one privately run behavior modification camp for foreign
children with emotional or behavioral problems. The children were
enrolled in the camp by their parents.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit specifically
trafficking in persons; however, unlike in the previous year, there
were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the
country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law pertaining specifically
to the status of persons with disabilities or regarding accessibility
to public buildings for them. Tradition dictates that families care for
persons with disabilities, and this custom was observed widely in
practice. There were no reports of discrimination against persons with
disabilities in the areas of employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. Many public
buildings were old, and only a few were accessible to persons with
disabilities. Most new buildings provided better access, including
elevators in most multistory buildings.
The Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development has
responsibility for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Workers legally have unrestricted
rights to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. There
were no practical limitations to union membership, and approximately 20
percent of the private sector workforce was unionized. The Public
Service Association, which represents government workers (an important
sector of the work force), also functions as a union.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--While workers
have the legal right to engage in collective bargaining, they seldom
have practiced it, due to the relative novelty of union activity. The
Public Service Association engages in collective bargaining on behalf
of government workers, including bargaining on wages. Under the
provisions of the Labor and Employment Act, arbitration and mediation
procedures are in place to resolve labor disputes, although such
disputes rarely arise.
The Supreme Court has upheld the right of government workers to
strike, subject to certain restrictions imposed principally for reasons
of public safety. Workers in the private sector have the right to
strike, but there were no strikes during the year. The Ministry of
Labor adjudicates any cases of anti union discrimination or of
retribution against strikers or union leaders on a case by case basis.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the sole export processing zone.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, in this
collective society, persons, including minors, frequently were called
upon to work for their villages. Most persons did so willingly;
however, the matai may compel those who do not.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Under the law, it is illegal to employ children under 15 years of age
except in ``safe and light work.'' The Ministry of Labor refers
complaints about illegal child labor to the Attorney General for
enforcement; however, no cases were prosecuted during the year.
Children frequently were seen vending goods and food on Apia street
corners. The Government has not made a definitive determination as to
whether this practice violates the country's labor laws, which cover
only persons who have a place of employment. Although the practice may
constitute a violation of the law, local officials mostly tolerated it.
There were no reports of compulsory labor by children; however, the law
does not apply to service rendered to the matai, some of whom required
children to work for the village, primarily on village farms (see
Section 6.c.). The extent of this practice varied by village, but it
generally did not significantly disrupt children's education.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law establishes a 40 hour
workweek for the private sector and an hourly minimum wage of $0.55
(WS$1.60). An advisory commission to the Minister of Labor sets minimum
wages. Wages in the private sector are determined by competitive demand
for the required skills. The national minimum wage sufficed for a
decent standard of living for a worker and family when supplemented by
the subsistence farming and fishing in which most families engaged. The
law provides that no worker should be required to work for more than 40
hours in any week.
The law also establishes certain rudimentary safety and health
standards, which the Attorney General is responsible for enforcing.
However, independent observers reported that the safety laws were not
enforced strictly, except when accidents highlighted noncompliance.
Many agricultural workers, among others, were protected inadequately
from pesticides and other dangers to health. Government education
programs were addressing these concerns. The law does not apply to
service rendered to the matai. While the law does not address
specifically the right of workers to remove themselves from a dangerous
work situation, a report of such a case to the Commissioner of Labor
would prompt an investigation, without jeopardy to continued
employment. Government employees are covered under different and more
stringent regulations, which were enforced adequately by the Public
Service Commission.
The law protects foreign workers; minimum wage and working
conditions standards apply equally to them.
__________
SINGAPORE
Singapore is a parliamentary republic in which politics is
dominated overwhelmingly by the People's Action Party (PAP), which has
been in power since the country gained autonomy from the United Kingdom
in 1959. Opposition parties exist, and elections take place at regular,
constitutionally mandated intervals; however, the PAP holds 82 of 84
elected parliamentary seats and all ministerial positions. The
judiciary is efficient and constitutionally independent; however, there
is a general perception that it reflects the views of the ruling party
in politically sensitive cases. Moreover, a variety of executive
actions are exempt from judicial review. Government leaders used court
proceedings, in particular defamation suits, against political
opponents and critics.
The police are responsible for routine security within the country
and for border protection, including action against illegal immigrants.
Military forces are responsible for external defense. The Internal
Security Department (ISD) in the Ministry of Home Affairs is authorized
by the Internal Security Act (ISA) to counter perceived threats to the
nation's security such as espionage, international terrorism, threats
to racial and religious harmony, and subversion. The Government
maintained effective control over all security activities. There were
no reports that security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country has a free market economy, and wealth is distributed
broadly. Its population is approximately 4.1 million, with foreign
workers accounting for nearly one-fifth of the total. Key economic
sectors include financial and business services, manufacturing of
semiconductors and telecommunications equipment, petroleum refining and
petrochemical production. After more than 30 years of high growth
rates, economic performance has been inconsistent since 2000. In 2003,
the economy grew an estimated 1.1 percent, but on the back of renewed
export demand, it has expanded dramatically in the first half of the
year, with gross domestic product increasing 12.5 percent and projected
to reach 8.1 percent for the year. Unemployment peaked at 5.5 percent
in the third quarter of 2003, as the city-state grappled with
structural changes in the economy; during the year, unemployment was
3.4 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were significant problems in some areas. The
Government has broad powers to limit citizens' rights and to handicap
political opposition, which it used in practice. Caning, in addition to
imprisonment, was a routine punishment for numerous offenses. The
Government continued to rely on preventive detention to deal with
espionage, terrorism, organized crime, and narcotics. The authorities
sometimes infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The Government
continued to restrict significantly freedom of speech and freedom of
the press, as well as to limit other civil and political rights.
Government pressure to conform resulted in the practice of self
censorship among journalists. Government leaders continued to use court
proceedings and defamation suits against political opponents and
critics. These suits, which have consistently been decided in favor of
government plaintiffs, chilled political speech and action and created
a perception that the ruling party used the judicial system for
political purposes. Restrictions on indoor public events were partially
relaxed during the year, and there was a moderate level of ongoing
debate in newspapers and on the Internet on various public issues. A
``Speakers' Corner'' continued to provide a public forum for persons to
address a range of issues; however, government restrictions on its use,
including prohibitions against the discussion of sensitive ethnic or
religious issues, inhibited free speech. The Government significantly
restricted freedom of assembly and freedom of association. Jehovah's
Witnesses and the Unification Church are banned; however, freedom of
religion generally was otherwise respected. Some violence and
discrimination against women occurred. Trafficking in persons occurred.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by the
Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions. In March, a detainee charged
with stealing $120,000 (S$200,000) from a Housing Development Board
office claimed that, while he was under interrogation in July 2003,
police officers used physical means to force him to confess and also
threatened to arrest his wife. The judge ruled that the confession was
involuntary, refused to allow it into evidence, and subsequently
acquitted the man of all charges. As of March, the Police Force had not
taken any action against the officers accused of using ``physical
means'' because the detainee had not lodged a complaint prior to the
trial.
In previous years, there were a small number of cases involving
alleged police mistreatment of detainees. Persons who alleged
mistreatment were permitted to bring criminal charges against
government officials suspected of involvement. The media reported fully
on allegations of police abuse, and the Government took action against
abusers. In April, the High Court reinstated a police officer after he
had won an appeal of the decision dismissing him in 2000 for allegedly
slapping three female detainees.
The Penal Code mandates caning, in addition to imprisonment, as
punishment for approximately 30 offenses involving the use of violence
or threat of violence against a person, such as rape and robbery, and
for nonviolent offenses such as vandalism, drug trafficking, and
violation of immigration laws. Caning is discretionary for convictions
on other charges involving the use of force, such as kidnapping or
voluntarily causing grievous hurt. All women, men over age 50 or under
age 16, and anyone determined medically unfit are exempt from
punishment by caning. Although statistics for the year were not
available, caning was a commonly administered punishment.
Prison conditions, while Spartan, generally were believed to meet
international standards. However, a member of an opposition party who
served a 5-week prison sentence in 2002 said after his release that he
and other sick bay inmates had been chained to their beds at night. The
Government responded that the inmates were restrained to minimize the
risk of hurting themselves, medical staff, or other inmates.
Male and female prisoners were held separately, and juveniles were
held separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were held separately
from convicts. Persons detained under the ISA also were held in
separate facilities.
The Government did not allow human rights monitors to visit
prisons; however, diplomatic representatives were given consular access
to citizens of their countries.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law provides that, in most
instances, arrests be carried out following the issuance of an
authorized warrant; however, some laws, such as the ISA, provide for
arrests without warrants. Those arrested under warrants must be charged
before a magistrate within 48 hours. The majority of those arrested are
charged expeditiously and brought to trial. A functioning system of
bail exists, but there are no commercial bail bond services available.
Those who face criminal charges are allowed counsel, and the Law
Society of Singapore administered a criminal legal aid plan for those
who could not afford to hire an attorney. In death penalty cases, the
Supreme Court appoints two attorneys for defendants who are unable to
afford their own counsel.
The police force was well trained and highly disciplined.
Corruption was not a problem, and the police effectively maintained
internal law and order.
Some laws--the ISA, the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act
(CLA), the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA), and the Undesirable Publications
Act (UPA)--have provisions for arrest and detention without a warrant
or judicial review. The ISA has been employed primarily against
suspected security threats. Historically, these threats have been
Communist-related; however, in recent years, the ISA has been employed
against suspected terrorists. Opposition politicians have called for
the abolition of the ISA, but the Government has rejected these calls,
claiming that citizens accept the act as an element of the nation's
security. The CLA historically has been employed primarily against
suspected organized crime and drug trafficking.
The ISA and the CLA permit preventive detention without trial for
the protection of public security, safety, or the maintenance of public
order. The ISA gives broad discretion to the Minister for Home Affairs
at the direction of the President to order detention without filing
charges, if the latter determines that a person poses a threat to
national security. The initial detention may be for up to 2 years and
may be renewed without limitation for additional periods of up to 2
years at a time. Detainees have a right to be informed of the grounds
for their detention and are entitled to counsel. However, they have no
right to challenge the substantive basis for their detention through
the courts. The ISA specifically excludes recourse to the normal
judicial system for review of a detention order made under its
authority. Instead, detainees may make representations to an advisory
board, headed by a Supreme Court justice, which reviews each detainee's
case periodically and must make a recommendation to the President
within 3 months of the initial detention. The President may concur with
the advisory board's recommendation that a detainee be released prior
to the expiration of the detention order, but he is not obligated to do
so.
At year's end, 36 detainees were being held under the ISA as
suspected terrorists. Of these detainees, 34 were suspected of
belonging to the Jemaah Islamiyah, an Al-Qa'ida-affiliated terrorist
group, and 2 were suspected of membership in the Philippines-based Moro
Islamic Liberation Front. The first arrests of 15 suspected terrorists
occurred in 2001; another group of 22 was arrested in August and
September 2002, of whom 19 were detained and 3 were released under
Restriction Orders (ROs); a person subject to an RO must seek official
approval for a change of address or occupation and for overseas travel
and participation in any public organization or activity. One new
suspect was detained during the year. In January, the Ministry of Home
Affairs announced that ISA ROs had been issued for 12 men with
suspected terrorist affiliations.
The CLA comes up for renewal every 5 years, and when Parliament
renewed it in September, it also passed an amendment that will allow
taking DNA samples. Under the CLA, the Minister for Home Affairs may
order preventive detention, with the concurrence of the Public
Prosecutor, for an initial period of 1 year, and the President may
extend detention for additional periods of up to 1 year at a time. The
Minister must provide a written statement of the grounds for detention
to the Criminal Law Advisory Committee (CLAC) within 28 days of the
order. The CLAC then reviews the case at a private hearing. CLAC rules
require detainees be notified of the grounds of their detention at
least 10 days prior to this hearing, in which a detainee may represent
himself or be represented by a lawyer. After the hearing, the Committee
makes a written recommendation to the President, who may cancel,
confirm, or amend the detention order. However, persons detained under
the CLA may have recourse to the courts via an application of a writ of
habeas corpus. Persons detained without trial under the CLA are
entitled to counsel, but they may challenge only the substantive basis
for their detention to the CLAC. The CLA is used almost exclusively in
cases involving narcotics or criminal organizations and has not been
used for political purposes. According to the most recent official
figures, 211 persons were in detention under the provisions of the CLA
in 2003, down from 463 in 1998 and 1,263 in 1988. Persons who allege
mistreatment while in detention may bring criminal charges against
government officials alleged to have committed such acts.
Both the ISA and the CLA contain provisions that allow for modified
forms of detention such as curfews, residence limitations, requirements
to report regularly to the authorities, limitations on travel, and, in
the case of the ISA, restrictions on political activities and
association.
The MDA permits detention without trial. Under the MDA, the
director of the Central Narcotics Bureau also may commit--without
trial--suspected drug abusers to a drug rehabilitation center for a 6-
month period, which is extendable by a review committee of the
institution for up to a maximum of 3 years. According to the most
recent statistics available, from January to September 2003, 225
persons were committed to drug rehabilitation centers. Under the
Intoxicating Substances Act, the CNB director may order the treatment
for rehabilitation of a person believed to be an inhalant drug abuser
for up to 6 months. Other sections of the MDA allow for capital
punishment or conviction of persons found guilty of narcotics
trafficking offenses (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision; however, in practice, laws that limit judicial review permit
restrictions on constitutional rights. Some judicial officials,
especially Supreme Court judges, have ties to the ruling party and its
leaders. The President appoints judges to the Supreme Court on the
recommendation of the Prime Minister and in consultation with the Chief
Justice. The President also appoints subordinate court judges on the
recommendation of the Chief Justice. The term of appointment is
determined by the Legal Service Commission, of which the Chief Justice
is the Chairman. Under the ISA and the CLA, the President and the
Minister of Home Affairs have substantial de facto judicial power,
which explicitly (in the case of the ISA) or implicitly (in the case of
the CLA) excludes normal judicial review. These laws provide the
Government with the power to limit, on vaguely defined national
security grounds, the scope of certain fundamental liberties that
otherwise are provided for in the Constitution.
Government leaders historically have used court proceedings, in
particular defamation suits, against political opponents and critics
(see Sections 2.a. and 3). Both this practice and consistent awards in
favor of government plaintiffs raised questions about the relationship
between the Government and the judiciary and led to a perception that
the judiciary reflected the views of the ruling party in politically
sensitive cases. One of the more prominent of these cases was a
defamation suit brought by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and then
Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew against opposition leader Chee Soon Juan
for comments Chee made during the 2001 election campaign. Chee, stating
that he was unable to retain competent local counsel, requested that
the judge allow a foreign attorney to represent him. The request was
denied, and Chee, representing himself, lost at a summary judgment
proceeding in 2002. In February 2003, Chee again represented himself at
his appeal, but the appeal was denied in April 2003. At year's end, the
case was pending with the High Court to determine damages.
The judicial system has two levels of courts: The Supreme Court,
which includes the High Court and the Court of Appeal; and the
subordinate courts. Subordinate court judges and magistrates, as well
as public prosecutors, are civil servants whose specific assignments
are determined by the Legal Service Commission, which can decide on job
transfers to any of several legal service departments. The subordinate
courts handle the great majority of civil and criminal cases in the
first instance. The High Court may hear any civil or criminal case,
although it generally limits itself to civil matters involving
substantial claims and criminal matters carrying the death penalty or
imprisonment of more than 10 years. The Court of Appeal is the highest
and final court of review for matters decided in the subordinate courts
or the High Court. In addition, the law provides for Islamic courts
whose authority is limited to Islamic family law, which is applicable
only to Muslims. Supreme Court Justices may choose to remain in office
until the mandatory retirement age of 65, after which they may continue
to serve at the Government's discretion for brief, renewable terms at
full salary. The Constitution permits the Prime Minister or the Chief
Justice to convene a tribunal to remove a justice ``on the ground of
misbehavior or inability...to properly discharge the functions'' of
office, but this provision has never been used.
The judicial system provides citizens with an efficient judicial
process. In normal cases, the Criminal Procedures Code provides that a
charge against a defendant must be read and explained to him as soon as
it is framed by the prosecution or the magistrate. Defendants enjoy a
presumption of innocence and the right of appeal in most cases. They
have the right to be present at their trials and to be represented by
an attorney; the Law Society administers a criminal legal aid plan for
those who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Since November 2003, the
Attorney General's Chambers has conducted a pilot Criminal Case
Management System, which accelerates the provision of relevant
documents to defense counsel. Defendants also have the right to
question opposing witnesses, to provide witnesses and evidence on their
own behalf, and to review government-held evidence relevant to their
cases. Trials are public and heard by a judge; there are no jury
trials. Despite the general presumption of innocence, the MDA
stipulates that a person who the prosecution proves has illegal
narcotics in his possession, custody, or control shall be assumed to be
aware of the substance, and places the burden on the defendant to prove
otherwise. The same law also stipulates that, if the amount of the
narcotic is above set low limits, it is the defendant's burden to prove
he did not have the drug for the purpose of trafficking. Convictions
for narcotics trafficking offenses carry lengthy jail sentences or the
death penalty, depending on the type and amount of the illegal
substance. Persons charged with a capital offense under the MDA have
the right to a public trial and to appeal conviction.
The Constitution extends these rights to all citizens; however,
persons detained under the ISA or CLA are not entitled to a public
trial. In addition, proceedings of the advisory board under the ISA and
CLA are not public (see Section 1.d.).
A two-tier military court system has jurisdiction over all military
servicemen, civilians in the service of the Armed Forces, and
volunteers when they are ordered to report for service. The system
handles approximately 450 cases each year. The Military Court of Appeal
has the jurisdiction to examine an appeal from a person convicted at a
subordinate military court. Trials are public and the defendants have
the right to be present. An accused individual also has the right to
defense representation.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution does not address privacy rights. The
Government generally respected the privacy of homes and families;
however, it had a pervasive influence over civic and economic life and
sometimes used its broad discretionary powers to infringe on these
rights. Normally the police must have a warrant issued by a court to
conduct a search; however, they may search a person, home, or a
property without a warrant if they decide that such a search is
necessary to preserve evidence. The Government has wide-ranging
discretionary powers under the ISA, CLA, MDA, and UPA to conduct
searches without a warrant if it determines that national security,
public safety and order, or the public interest is at risk. Defendants
may request judicial review of such searches.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Internal Security
Department and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Board, have
extensive networks for gathering information and conducting
surveillance and highly sophisticated capabilities to monitor telephone
and other private conversations. No court warrants are required for
such operations. The law permits government monitoring of Internet use.
It was believed that the authorities routinely monitor telephone
conversations and the use of the Internet; however, there were no
confirmed reports of such practices during the year. It is widely
believed that the authorities routinely conducted surveillance on some
opposition politicians and other government critics; however, no such
reports were substantiated during the year.
In pursuit of what it considers the public interest, the Government
enforced ethnic ratios for publicly subsidized housing, where the
majority of citizens live and own their own units. The policy was
designed to achieve an ethnic mix more or less in proportion to that in
society at large (see Sections 1.d. and 5). When a housing development
is at or near the limit for a particular ethnic group, the policy could
mean owners find it difficult to sell their apartments or are forced to
sell at a lower price to a person of the underrepresented group.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and freedom of expression but permits official
restrictions on these rights, and, in practice, the Government
significantly restricted freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The Government's authoritarian style fostered an atmosphere inimical to
free speech and a free press. Government intimidation and pressure to
conform resulted in the practice of self-censorship among journalists;
however, there continued to be some limited progress towards greater
openness during the year, including a moderate level of ongoing debate
in newspapers and on the Internet on various public issues.
Under the ISA, the Government may restrict or place conditions on
publications that incite violence, counsel disobedience to the law,
have the potential to arouse tensions in the country's diverse
population, or might threaten national interests, national security, or
public order. While the ISA has not been invoked in recent years
against political opponents of the Government, political opposition and
criticism remained restricted by the Government's authority to define
these powers broadly. In the past, occasional government references to
speech that it considered ``out-of-bounds'' were understood to be
implicit threats to invoke the ISA; however, these limits are not
codified, and journalists and others generally believed these
limitations have shifted toward greater tolerance in recent years.
Government leaders urged that news media support the goals of the
elected leadership and help maintain social and religious harmony. In
addition, strict defamation and press laws and the Government's
demonstrated willingness to respond vigorously to what it considered
personal attacks on officials sometimes led journalists and editors to
moderate or limit what was published.
On August 22, newly inaugurated Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
announced that beginning September 1, citizens no longer needed police
approval to speak at indoor public gatherings unless the topic impinged
on race or religion. Foreigners still needed a permit, and police
further specified that any such indoor public gatherings had to be held
in enclosed spaces that were not within hearing or view of non-
participants.
Prior to this relaxation, under the Public Entertainment and
Meetings Act (PEMA), a permit was required for virtually any form of
public speech or entertainment (see Section 2.b.). In 2002, opposition
leader Chee Soon Juan was charged under the PEMA for holding an
unauthorized rally outside the Istana, the government compound that
houses the offices of the President and Prime Minister; Chee served 5
weeks in prison rather than pay the $1,715 (S$3,000) fine.
In 2000, the Speakers' Corner opened in a financial district park;
however, government restrictions limited the ability to speak freely.
Prospective speakers must be citizens, must show their identification
cards, and are required to register in advance with the police.
However, they do not need to obtain a public entertainment license.
Speakers Corner rules were relaxed during the year to allow exhibitions
and performances; however, sound amplification is still banned. A list
of registered speakers was posted on a notice board outside the police
station. While it was not necessary to declare speech topics in
advance, government regulations governing the Speakers' Corner state
that ``the speech should not be religious in nature and should not have
the potential to cause feelings of enmity, ill will, or hostility
between different racial or religious groups.'' In 2002, opposition
figure Chee Soon Juan was fined $1,715 (S$3,000) for a speech
criticizing the government ban on schoolgirls wearing the ``tudung,'' a
headscarf that some Muslims consider a religious requirement (see
Section 2.c.); under the Constitution, anyone fined more than $1,140
(S$2,000) cannot run for Parliament for 5 years.
The Government strongly influenced both the print and electronic
media. Two companies, Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. (SPH) and
MediaCorp, own all general circulation newspapers in the four official
languages--English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. MediaCorp is wholly
owned by the government investment company. SPH is a private holding
company with close ties to the Government; the Government must approve
(and can remove) the holders of SPH management shares, who have the
power to appoint or dismiss all directors or staff. As a result, while
newspapers printed a large and diverse selection of articles from
domestic and foreign sources, their editorials, coverage of domestic
events, and reporting of sensitive foreign relations issues closely
reflected government policies and the opinions of government leaders.
However, columnists' opinions and letters to the editor expressed a
moderate range of opinions on public issues. In October, an annual
survey of journalists conducted by the international nongovernmental
organization (NGO) Reporters Without Borders ranked the country as
147th out of 167 countries in terms of press freedom; the
organization's report on the country noted strong government and ruling
party influence over the media as well as continued censorship and self
censorship.
Government-linked companies and organizations operated all
broadcast television channels and almost all radio stations. Only one
radio station, the British Broadcasting Corporation World Service, was
completely independent of the Government. Some Malaysian and Indonesian
television and radio programming can be received, but satellite dishes
are banned, with few exceptions. However, cable subscribers have access
to three foreign television news channels and many entertainment
channels, including some with news programs.
A substantial number of foreign media operations were located
within the country. The law requires foreign publications that report
on politics and current events in Southeast Asia to register, post a
$114,286 (S$200,000) bond, and name a person in the country to accept
legal service. The Government has granted exemptions to 14 of the 17
publications to which these requirements could apply. Nonetheless,
these requirements strengthen the Government's control over foreign
media. Under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, the Government may
limit the circulation of foreign publications that it determines
interfered with domestic politics. The importation of some publications
is barred, although a wide range of international magazines and
newspapers can be purchased uncensored. Newspapers printed in Malaysia
may not be imported. The circulation of the Asian Wall Street Journal
and the Far Eastern Economic Review, both foreign publications, was
limited (or ``gazetted''). The Government has raised the allowed
circulation of publications to correspond more or less to actual
demand. The Government also may ban the circulation of domestic and
foreign publications under provisions of the ISA and the UPA. In 2001,
Parliament passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Act that empowers
the Minister for Information, Communication, and the Arts to
``gazette'' or place formal restrictions on any foreign broadcaster
deemed to be engaging in domestic politics. Once gazetted, a
broadcaster can be required to obtain express permission from the
Minister to continue broadcasting in the country. The broadcaster also
may have restrictions imposed on the number of households receiving its
programming and can be fined up to $57,000 (S$100,000) for failing to
comply with this provision.
The country's defamation laws make it relatively easy for some
plaintiffs to win substantial judgments for damages and legal costs.
Conviction on criminal defamation charges can result in a prison
sentence of up to 2 years, a fine, or both. Threats of defamation
actions often persuaded newspapers and others to apologize and pay
damages for perceived slights, a situation which prompted general
caution in expressing criticism. Critics charged that government
leaders used defamation lawsuits or threats of such actions to
discourage public criticism and intimidate opposition politicians and
the press. The unbroken success of government leaders' suits in the
last decade has fostered public caution about political speech, has
prompted a culture of self-censorship within the news media, and has
inhibited opposition politics. During the last decade, ruling party
leaders sued opposition politicians J.B. Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan,
and Tang Liang Hong for defamation several times. The Government argued
that these individuals repeatedly had defamed ruling party leaders, who
then acted to clear their names. In 2001, then Senior Minister Lee Kuan
Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong sued opposition leader Chee Soon
Juan for defamation (see Section 1.e.).
In September, the Economist magazine announced that it had agreed
to pay damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor
Lee Kuan Yew in connection with an article published in its August 14
issue. The article was taken to imply that nepotism had played a part
in the appointment of Ho Ching, the Prime Minister's wife, to head
Temasek Holdings, the country's key state investment entity. Newspaper
accounts reported that the amount paid was $229,000 (S$380,000) plus
legal costs.
In 2002, the Bloomberg news service publicly apologized and agreed
to pay $340,000 (S$595,000) in damages to then Prime Minister Goh and
Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for an Internet-distributed Bloomberg
column that accused them of nepotism in regard to the Ho Ching
appointment at Temasek.
The Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) censored broadcast media
and Internet sites. The Ministry of Information, Communication, and the
Arts (MICA) censored all other media, including movies, video
materials, computer games, and music. Banned publications consisted
primarily of sexually oriented materials but also included some
religious and political publications. Both SBA and MICA developed
censorship standards with the help of a citizen advisory panel. The
ISA, the UPA, and the Films Act allow the banning, seizure, censorship,
or restriction of written, visual, or musical materials by these
agencies if they determine that such materials threaten the stability
of the State, are pro-Communist, contravene moral norms, are
pornographic, show excessive or gratuitous sex and violence, glamorize
or promote drug use, or incite racial, religious, or linguistic
animosities. The Films Act bans political advertising using films or
videos, as well as films directed towards any political purpose. Other
restrictions tightly control the types of campaign materials that can
be distributed by or about candidates and parties during an election.
The Media Development Authority (MDA) has the power to sanction
broadcasters for airing what it believes to be inappropriate content,
and it has exercised this power in the past. All content airing between
6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. must be suitable for viewers of all ages.
Polls indicated strong public support for continued censorship of sex
and violence in films; in July, a (Government) Censorship Review
Committee report cited polling data that 70 percent of the public was
satisfied with existing censorship practices and recommended few
changes. A list of banned films was available on the MDA website.
Certain films that have been barred from general release may be allowed
limited showings, either censored or uncensored, with a special rating.
In practice, censorship standards have been significantly relaxed in
recent years for live theater performances. Plays with overtly sexual
or anti-ruling party themes have been permitted.
The SBA regulates access to material on the Internet, using a
framework of website licenses. Internet service providers (ISPs) are
not required to submit content for approval before posting but are
required to ensure that content complies with the SBA's Internet Code
of Conduct. It also regulates Internet material by licensing the ISPs
through which local users are required to route their Internet
connections. Such services act as a filter for content that the
Government considers objectionable and could block access to certain
sites. While the Government did not consider regulation of the Internet
to be censorship, the SBA directed service providers to block access to
websites that, in the Government's view, undermined public security,
national defense, racial and religious harmony, and public morals. The
SBA has ordered ISPs to block 100 specific websites that the Government
considered pornographic; officials stated that this step was largely
symbolic since means existed to circumvent the blocking. The SBA
indicated it does not intend to monitor the Internet or e-mail use but
to block access to material that contains pornography or excessive
violence or incites racial or religious hatred. Those responsible for
sites that violate the Code of Practice can face charges, including
fines. The Government has not taken official action against any ISPs
for violating the code.
Political and religious websites must register with the MDA.
All public institutions of higher education and political research
institutions are linked closely to the Government. Although faculty
members are not technically government employees, in practice they were
subject to potential government influence. Academics spoke and
published widely and engaged in debate on social and political issues.
However, they were aware that any public comments outside the classroom
or in academic publications that ventured into prohibited areas--
criticism of political leaders or sensitive social and economic
policies, or comments that could disturb ethnic or religious harmony or
that appeared to advocate partisan political views--could subject them
to sanctions. Publications by local academics and members of research
institutions rarely deviated substantially from government views.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides citizens the right to peaceful assembly but permits Parliament
to impose restrictions ``it considers necessary or expedient'' in the
interest of security, public order, or morality; in practice, the
Government restricted this right. Public assemblies of five or more
persons, including political meetings and rallies, require police
permission; however, during the year the Government relaxed rules (see
Section 2.a.) so that citizens no longer need permits for some indoor
speaking events. Spontaneous public gatherings or demonstrations were
virtually unknown. The Government closely monitored political
gatherings regardless of the number of persons present. Persons who
wished to speak at a public function, excluding functions provided by
or under the auspices of the Government, needed to obtain a public
entertainment license from the police; however, since 2001, regulations
have exempted some cultural events (such as Chinese operas or lion
dances), requiring 7-day advance notice to the police in lieu of a
permit. In the past, opposition politicians routinely experienced
delays before being notified of decisions on their applications for
speaking permits, although the Government claimed that the delays came
only when applications were submitted late. According to the police,
the normal processing time for an application was 7 working days from
the date of receipt.
In December, the police denied a public entertainment license for
an indoor party marketed to the homosexual community, citing concerns
that the event was ``likely to be organized as a gay party, which is
contrary to the public interest.'' The Government had allowed the event
in prior years and, in August, had licensed a third annual 3 day
festival advertised to homosexuals throughout Asia, an event that
attracted approximately 8,000 participants. In December 2003, the
police denied a public entertainment license for a forum on Burma
organized by the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia and the
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, asserting that ``the proposed event is
likely to be contrary to the public interest.'' The police did grant a
license for a December 2003 event organized by an NGO to present the
Human Rights Defender award to J.B. Jeyaretnam, former Member of
Parliament (M.P.) and former Secretary General of the Workers' Party.
Most associations, societies, clubs, religious groups, and other
organizations with more than 10 members are required to register with
the Government under the Societies Act. The Government denied
registration to groups that it believed were likely to have been formed
for unlawful purposes or for purposes prejudicial to public peace,
welfare, or public order. From 1999 to 2003, authorities denied
registration to 10 of 1,236 groups seeking registration. The Government
has absolute discretion in applying criteria to register or dissolve
societies. The Government prohibits organized political activities
except by groups registered as political parties or political
organizations. This prohibition limits opposition activities and
contributes to restricting the scope of unofficial political expression
and action (see Section 3). The prohibition affected the PAP less
because of its long domination of the Government and its overwhelming
parliamentary majority; the PAP traditionally has been able to use
nonpolitical organizations such as residential committees and
neighborhood groups for political purposes far more extensively than
opposition political parties. Political parties and organizations are
subject to strict financial regulations, including a ban on receiving
foreign donations. Due to laws regulating the formation of publicly
active organizations, there were few NGOs, apart from nonpolitical
organizations such as religious groups, ethnically affiliated
organizations, and providers of welfare services.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, the Government banned some religious groups. The
Constitution provides that every citizen or person in the country has
the right to profess, practice, or propagate his religious belief so
long as such activities do not breach any other laws relating to public
order, public health, or morality.
All religious groups were subject to government scrutiny and must
be registered under the Societies Act. The Maintenance of Religious
Harmony Act (MRHA) gives the Government the power to restrain leaders
and members of religious groups and institutions from carrying out
political activities, ``exciting disaffection against'' the Government,
creating ``ill will'' between religious groups, or carrying out
subversive activities. The act was prompted by activities that the
Government perceived as threats to religious harmony, including
aggressive and ``insensitive'' proselytizing and the ``mixing of
religion and politics.'' Violation of a restraining order issued under
the MRHA is a criminal offense. The act also prohibits judicial review
of its enforcement or of any possible denial of rights arising from its
implementation.
The Government played an active but limited role in religious
affairs. It did not tolerate speech or actions, including those of a
religious nature, which adversely affected racial and religious harmony
and sometimes issued restraining orders barring participation in such
activities. The Presidential Council for Religious Harmony reviews such
orders and makes recommendations to the President on whether to
confirm, cancel, or alter a restraining order. The Presidential Council
for Minority Rights examines all pending legislation to ensure it is
not disadvantageous to a particular group, reports to the Government on
matters that affect any racial or religious community, and investigates
complaints. The Government also supported citizen access to traditional
religious organizations by assisting religious institutions to find
space in public housing estates where most citizens lived. The
Government maintained a semi official relationship with the Muslim
community through the Islamic Religious Council (MUIS), which was
established under the Administration of Muslim Law Act. The MUIS
advises the Government on the Muslim community's concerns, maintains
regulatory authority over Muslim religious matters, and oversees a
mosque-building fund financed by voluntary payroll deductions.
Under the Societies Act, the Government banned meetings of
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Unification Church. The Government
deregistered and banned Jehovah's Witnesses in 1972 on the grounds that
its approximately 200 members refused to perform obligatory military
service, salute the flag, or swear oaths of allegiance to the State.
The Government regarded such refusals as prejudicial to public welfare
and order. While the Government did not outlaw the profession or
propagation of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and does not arrest
members merely for being believers, the result of deregistration was to
make meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses illegal. The community numbered
approximately 2,000 in the country, and Jehovah's Witnesses continued
to refuse to perform national military service. The Government also
banned all written materials published by the Jehovah's Witnesses'
publishing affiliates, the International Bible Students Association and
the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. A person in possession of
banned literature can be fined up to $1,140 (S$2,000), and for holding
a meeting, the fine can be as high as $2,285 (S$4,000). During the
year, the authorities briefly detained 11 persons for attempting to
bring Jehovah's Witnesses publications into the country.
During the year, the Ministry of Education indefinitely suspended
four children for failing to sing the national anthem and participate
in the flag ceremony, down from eight suspensions in 2003. There have
been 34 such cases since 2000. All 34 students made alternate schooling
arrangements; none have returned to public school. The students can
return if they are prepared to sing the anthem, salute the flag, and
say the pledge of allegiance.
Missionaries, with the exception of members of Jehovah's Witnesses
and representatives of the Unification Church, were permitted to work,
publish, and distribute religious texts. However, while the Government
did not prohibit evangelical activities in practice, it discouraged
activities that could upset inter-communal relations, such as
unsolicited public proselytizing.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides citizens the
right to move freely throughout the country; however, while the
Government generally respected this right in practice, it limited this
right in a few respects. For example, citizens' choice of where to live
sometimes was limited by the Government's policy of assuring ethnic
balance in publicly subsidized housing, in which the great majority of
citizens lived (see Sections 1.f. and 5). The Government required all
citizens and permanent residents over the age of 15 to register and to
carry identification cards. The Government may refuse to issue a
passport and did so in the case of former ISA detainees. Under the ISA,
a person's movement may be restricted (see Section 1.d.). According to
official press releases, at year's end, there were 17 suspected
terrorists subject to such restrictions.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the country did not
employ forced exile.
The right of voluntary repatriation was extended to holders of
national passports. The Government actively encouraged citizens living
overseas to return home or at least to maintain active ties with the
country. A provision of law allows for the loss of citizenship by
citizens who resided outside the country for more than 10 consecutive
years, but it was not known to have been used.
Men are required to serve 24 months of national service upon
turning 18 years of age. They also are required to undergo reserve
training up to the age of 40 (for enlisted men) or 50 (for officers).
Male citizens with national service reserve obligations are required to
advise the Ministry of Defense if they plan to travel abroad. Boys age
11 to 16 years are issued passports that are valid for 2 years and are
no longer required to obtain exit permits. From the age of 16 until the
age of enlistment, male citizens are granted 1-year passports and are
required to apply for exit permits for travel that exceeds 3 months.
The law stipulates that former members of the Communist Party of
Malaya (CPM) residing outside the country must apply to the Government
to be allowed to return. They must renounce communism, sever all
organizational ties with the CPM, and pledge not to engage in
activities prejudicial to the country's internal security. In addition,
the law requires them to submit to an interview by the Internal
Security Department and to accept any restrictive conditions imposed on
them.
The law does not provide for the granting of refugee status or
asylum to persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating
to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the
Government provides protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, but does not grant
refugee or asylum status. A small number of ethnic Chinese from
Indonesia have entered the country as visitors for temporary stays
during episodes of racial or religious strife.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully. Opposition parties are free to contest
elections, and the voting and vote-counting systems are fair and free
from tampering; however, the PAP, which has held power continuously and
overwhelmingly for more than 4 decades, has used the Government's
extensive powers to place formidable obstacles in the path of political
opponents. In the 2001 elections, the opposition contested 29 of 84
seats and won only 2 seats. There were no allegations of irregularities
in the casting or counting of votes, but the opposition continued to
criticize what it described as PAP abuse of its incumbency advantages
to handicap opposition parties. The PAP maintained its political
dominance in part by developing voter support through effective
administration and its record in bringing economic prosperity to the
country, and in part by manipulating the electoral framework,
intimidating organized political opposition, and circumscribing the
bounds of legitimate political discourse and action. The belief that
the Government might directly or indirectly harm the employment
prospects of opposition supporters inhibited opposition political
activity; however, there were no confirmed cases of such retaliation.
As a result of these and other factors, opposition parties were unable
to seriously challenge the ruling party. The PAP claimed that the lack
of an effective opposition was due to disorganization, weak leadership,
and a lack of persuasive alternative policies.
The country has a parliamentary system in which the majority party
in Parliament has the authority to constitute the Government, which is
headed by a Prime Minister. The parliamentary term is for no more than
5 years after the first sitting of Parliament following a general
election. Parliament may be dissolved early by presidential
proclamation, which normally follows a request by the Prime Minister.
Elections must be held within 3 months of Parliament's dissolution.
Following the 2001 elections, the PAP held 82 of 84 elected seats; the
opposition Singapore People's Party and the Workers' Party each held 1
seat. A constitutional amendment requires at least three opposition
members in Parliament even if fewer than three are elected. Following
the elections, the Government allotted a non constituency seat to
Singapore Democratic Alliance candidate Steve Chia, the opposition
candidate who had obtained the highest share of the vote without
winning a seat. In addition to regular M.P.s and non-constituency
M.P.s, the Constitution allows a parliamentary committee to select and
the President appoint Nominated M.P.s to serve 2 -year terms without
facing election. Non-constituency M.P.s and Nominated M.P.s can
participate in parliamentary debate and can vote on some, but not all,
types of legislation. In November, a new nine-member slate of Nominated
M.P.s replaced the Nominated M.P.s who took office in 2002.
The PAP has an extensive grassroots system and a carefully
selected, highly disciplined membership. The establishment of
government-organized and predominantly publicly funded Community
Development Councils (CDCs) has further strengthened the PAP's
position. The Councils promote community development and cohesion and
provide welfare and other assistance services. The PAP dominates the
CDCs even in opposition-held constituencies and has used the threat of
withdrawing publicly funded benefits. During the last two election
campaigns, the Prime Minister and other senior government officials
warned voters that precincts that elected opposition candidates would
have the lowest priority in government plans to upgrade public housing
facilities. This statement heightened concerns among some observers
about voters' genuine freedom to change their government.
The PAP completely controlled key positions in and out of
government, influenced the press and courts, and limited opposition
political activities. Often these means were fully consistent with the
law and the normal prerogatives of the Government, but the overall
effect (and many argued the ultimate purpose) was to disadvantage and
weaken political opposition. For example, the Government dramatically
altered the boundaries of election districts only 17 days before the
2001 general election, abolishing some constituencies and adjusting the
borders of many other constituencies. Since 1988, it has changed all
but nine single-seat constituencies into Group Representational
Constituencies (GRCs) of three to six parliamentary seats, in which the
party with a plurality wins all of the seats. According to the
Constitution, such changes are permitted to ensure ethnic minority
representation in Parliament; each GRC candidate list must contain at
least one Malay, Indian, or other ethnic minority candidate. However,
these changes made it more difficult for opposition parties, all of
which had very limited memberships, to fill multimember candidate
lists.
Although political parties legally were free to organize, they
operated under the same limitations that applied to all organizations,
and the authorities imposed strict regulations on their constitutions,
fundraising, and accountability (see Section 2.b.). There were 24
registered political parties in the country; however, only 6 of these
were active. Political parties and organizations were subject to strict
financial regulations, including a ban on receiving foreign donations.
Government regulations hindered attempts by opposition parties to rent
office space in government housing or to establish community
foundations. In addition, government influence extended in varying
degrees to academic, community service, and other NGOs.
The Films Act bans political films and recorded televised programs,
putting opposition parties at a disadvantage. The ban, which ostensibly
exists to prevent the sensationalist or emotional effect that video or
film productions could have on political issues, applies to the PAP as
well as to the opposition parties. Nonetheless, it had the effect of
denying opposition parties, which already received far less coverage
than did the PAP in the government-influenced press and media, a
potential outlet for their political messages. The law regulates the
use of the Internet by political parties and others for political
purposes during election campaigns (see Section 2.a.).
The threat of civil libel or slander suits, which government
leaders have often used against political opponents and critics and
consistently won, had a stifling effect on the full expression of
political opinion and disadvantaged the political opposition (see
Section 2.a.). Large judgments in libel suits can lead to bankruptcy,
and, under the law, bankrupt persons are ineligible to sit in
Parliament. The Penal Code also provides for criminal defamation
offenses.
In the past, the Government also used parliamentary censure or the
threat of censure to humiliate or intimidate opposition leaders.
Government entities also used libel or slander suits, and dismissal
from positions in government-related entities, to intimidate prominent
opposition politicians.
The duties of the President are largely ceremonial. Nonetheless,
the President has significant budget oversight powers, as well as some
powers over civil service appointments and internal security affairs.
The President is popularly elected for a 6-year term from among
candidates who are approved by a constitutionally prescribed committee
to meet specified requirements. Candidates cannot be nominated for the
position if they are members of political parties. No election was held
for President in 1999, after the committee decided that the government-
backed candidate met the constitutional requirements, but that the
other two nominees did not. The Government placed significant obstacles
in the way of opposition political figures' presidential candidacies.
For example, opposition members were much less likely to satisfy the
requirement that candidates have experience in managing the financial
affairs of a large institution, since many of the country's large
institutions are government-run or linked to the Government. Opposition
political figures asserted that such strict compliance requirements
weakened their parties.
There are no laws that specifically provide for public access to
government information; however, significant amounts of information are
available on government websites.
Voting is compulsory, and women and minorities voted at
approximately the overall 95 percent rate in contested constituencies.
There is no legal bar to the participation of women in political life;
women held only 10 of the 84 elected parliamentary seats, an increase
from 6 female M.P.s in the previous Parliament. After the August
Cabinet reshuffle, there were two female ministers of state, although
none of cabinet rank. Three of the 14 Supreme Court justices were
women.
There are no restrictions in law or practice against minorities
voting or participating in politics; they actively participated in the
political process and were well represented throughout the Government,
except in some sensitive military positions. Malays make up
approximately 15 percent of the general population and hold
approximately the same percentage of regularly elected seats in
Parliament. Indians make up approximately 7 percent of the general
population and hold approximately 10 percent of the regularly elected
seats in Parliament. Minority representation in Parliament is, in part,
the result of a legal requirement that candidate slates in every multi-
seat constituency have at least one minority representative. There was
one ethnic Malay minister and three ethnic Indian ministers. Three of
the 14 members of the Supreme Court were ethnic Indian; there were no
Malays on the Court.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Efforts by independent organizations to investigate and evaluate
government human rights policies faced the same obstacles as those
faced by opposition political parties. NGOs were subject to
registration under the Societies Act (see Section 2.b.). Some domestic
NGOs criticized restrictions on human rights or suggested changes that
would relax or remove restrictions.
There is a Presidential Council on Minority Rights that monitors
pending legislation for anything possibly disadvantageous to minorities
(see Section 5).
In recent years, the Government permitted international human
rights organizations to observe human rights related court cases. In
February 2003, two representatives from the Lawyer's Committee on Human
Rights attended opposition figure Chee Soon Juan's appeal of a summary
judgment in the defamation suits filed against him by then Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong and then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew (see
Section 1.e.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law
and entitled to the equal protection of the law, and the Government
generally respected these provisions in practice. The Constitution
contains no explicit provision granting equal rights for women and
minorities. Mindful of the country's history of inter-communal tension,
the Government took measures to ensure racial, ethnic, religious, and
cultural nondiscrimination. Social, economic, and cultural benefits and
facilities were available to all citizens regardless of race, religion,
or sex. Men do not have the right to seek alimony from their wives in
cases of divorce or separation. Women are not required to perform
national service; virtually all males must fulfill 24 months of
fulltime national service at the age of 18, with continuing reserve
requirements thereafter. In August, the Prime Minister announced that
medical benefits for male and female civil servants would be equalized;
previously, dependants of male civil servants had greater access to
subsidized health care.
Women.--The Penal Code and the Women's Charter criminalize domestic
violence and sexual or physical harassment; however, violence or abuse
against women occurred. A victim of domestic violence can obtain court
orders barring the spouse from the home until the court is satisfied
that the spouse has ceased aggressive behavior. The number of court
orders for protection against violent family members has increased in
recent years, in part because the definition of violence includes
intimidation, continual harassment, or restraint against one's will.
The Penal Code prescribes mandatory caning and a minimum imprisonment
of 2 years for conviction on any charge of ``outraging modesty'' that
caused the victim fear of death or injury. The press gave fairly
prominent coverage to instances of abuse or violence against women.
There were several organizations that provided assistance to abused
women. The Association of Women for Action and Research ran a hotline
that offered counseling and legal advice. The Family Protection and
Welfare Service, an office of the Ministry of Community Development,
Youth, and Sports, documented physical and psychological abuse, and
provided counseling and other support services to abused women. The
Star shelter accepted children, women, and men, and can accommodate up
to 30 persons. The Government enforced the law against rape, which
provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and caning for offenders.
Under the law, rape can only be committed by a man, and spousal rape is
not a crime; however, husbands who force their wives to have
intercourse can be prosecuted for other offenses, such as assault.
The country's laws neither ban nor authorize prostitution; however,
public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute, and
maintaining a brothel are illegal. The authorities periodically carried
out crackdowns on solicitation for prostitution and arrested and
deported foreign prostitutes, particularly when their activities took
place outside informally designated red light areas. In practice,
police unofficially tolerated and monitored a limited number of
brothels; prostitutes in such establishments were required to undergo
periodic health checks and carry a health card.
Women accounted for 55 percent of civil service employees. They
enjoyed the same legal rights as men in most areas, including civil
liberties, employment, commercial activity, and education. The Women's
Charter gives women, among other rights, the right to own property,
conduct trade, and receive divorce settlements. Muslim women enjoyed
most of the rights and protections of the Women's Charter. For the most
part, Muslim marriage law falls under the administration of the Muslim
Law Act, which empowers the Shari'a (Islamic law) court to oversee such
matters. The laws allow Muslim men to practice polygyny, although
requests to take additional spouses may be refused by the Registry of
Muslim Marriages, which solicits the views of an existing wife or wives
and reviews the financial capability of the husband. There were 340
applications for polygynous marriage from 1999 to 2003, 109 were
approved, about 0.5 percent of all Muslim marriages during that period.
Both men and women have the right to initiate divorce proceedings;
however, in practice, women faced significant difficulties that often
prevented them from pursuing proceedings, especially the lack of
financial resources to obtain legal counsel.
Women constituted 42 percent of the labor force and were well
represented in many professions, but they held few leadership positions
in the private sector. They were still overrepresented in low wage jobs
such as clerks and secretaries; however, there were some women who held
senior corporate leadership positions. Salaries for women ranged
between 62 and 100 percent of men's salaries depending on the
occupational grouping. The wage gap has narrowed in recent years; in
some specific occupations, women earn more than their male
counterparts. Observers noted that the wage differential was smaller in
professional jobs and that wage disparities could be attributed in part
to differences in average educational levels and work experience. In
2002, the Government eliminated a quota on the number of female medical
students who can be admitted to the National University.
There were no specific laws prohibiting stalking or sexual
harassment, and sexual harassment was not considered a significant
issue. However, the Miscellaneous Offences Act and laws prohibiting
insults to modesty were used successfully to prosecute such offenses.
In April, Parliament amended the Constitution to eliminate the
inequality whereby female citizens could not automatically transmit
citizenship to their children born abroad, but male citizens could.
Children.--The Government demonstrated its strong commitment to
children's rights and welfare through its well-funded systems of public
education and medical care. Access to public education and medical care
was equal for all children. In 2003, a law made compulsory 6 years of
public (or government-recognized private) education for all children.
Although school attendance previously was not compulsory, virtually 100
percent of children were enrolled through grade 6, and the dropout rate
for secondary school was low. The Children and Young Persons Act
established protective services for orphaned, abused, disabled, or
``troubled'' children, and created a juvenile court system. The
Ministry of Community Development, Youth, and Sports worked closely
with the National Council for Social Services to oversee children's
welfare cases. Voluntary organizations operated most of the homes for
children, while the Government funded up to 50 percent of all child
costs, which included normal living expenses and overhead, as well as
expenses for special schooling, health care, or supervisory needs. In
some cases, the Government covered 100 percent of such costs.
Child prostitution occurred. Between January and November,
approximately 1 percent of the 4,600 persons arrested for prostitution
were found to be under age 18. In 2003, the Ministry of Home Affairs
found 21 children under the age of 18 who it suspected were involved in
prostitution; the figure for 2002 was 66. Sexual intercourse with girls
under the age of 16 is illegal, but there is no legal prohibition on
commercial sex with ``consenting'' partners aged 16 and 17. The
authorities have the power to detain persons under the age of 21 who
are believed to be engaged in prostitution, as well as to prosecute
those who organize or profit from prostitution, who bring women or
girls to the country for prostitution, or who coerce or deceive women
or girls into prostitution.
The Ministry for Community Development, Youth, and Sports sponsored
activities promoting children's causes, including family stability.
This agency and several NGOs focused on keeping fathers involved in
their children's lives and on preventing child abuse.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons occurred.
The three major laws that govern trafficking and prostitution are
the Women's Charter, the Children and Young Person's Act, and the Penal
Code. Trafficking in women and children, whether or not it is related
to prostitution, is punishable by up to 5-years imprisonment, a $5,700
(S$10,000) fine, and caning. Traffickers could be prosecuted under the
Penal Code's ``wrongful constraint'' provision, which carries maximum
punishments of 10 years imprisonment and a fine. Convicted traffickers
could be found guilty of violating more than one law. There was no
specific campaign to combat or prevent the use of fraud or coercion to
recruit foreign women as prostitutes, although some persons were
prosecuted and punished for crimes involving such acts.
Authorities prosecuted some cases of trafficking. In May 2003,
authorities charged five individuals with forcing a 12-year-old
Malaysian girl into prostitution after promising her employment as a
maid. Two of those charged pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12
years in prison; one of these two was also sentenced to be caned six
strokes. The trial of the other three lasted 10 days. One was convicted
of rape and sentenced to 12 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.
The other two were convicted of conspiring to recruit men to rape the
girl. One was sentenced to 12 years and six strokes of the cane; the
other received a 13-year sentence, 12 strokes of the cane, and a $5,700
(S$10,000) fine.
Almost all sex workers were foreign; most originated in Thailand,
the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, or Sri
Lanka. Observers believed that almost all foreign prostitutes were
aware when they entered the country that they were going to be employed
as prostitutes. While prostitution is not legally an offense, public
solicitation is illegal. Police periodically carried out crackdowns on
prostitutes, particularly those operating outside informally designated
red light areas (see Section 5, Women). Foreign prostitutes detained in
these raids usually were deported quickly. Foreign prostitutes and
maids were deported immediately if they tested positive for pregnancy
or HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases.
In practice, successful investigation and prosecution of
trafficking in persons required that victims remain in or return to the
country to testify. Victims were urged by police to remain in the
country until a case was prosecuted, and generally they did; however,
some abused domestics left and were brought back to testify. Victims
did not receive government assistance during this period or at other
times and indicated they sometimes were not granted permission for
alternative employment and were dependent on support from their
embassy. Laws prohibiting the harboring, aiding, or abetting of illegal
immigrants could hamper assistance to trafficking victims by putting
NGOs in the position of harboring a victim who has no legal status;
however, no such cases are known to have occurred. The authorities
notified embassies of the arrest of nationals, including for
prostitution-related offenses, and allowed consular access. Prostitutes
rarely contacted embassies voluntarily, unless detained for
solicitation or immigration offenses during police sweeps. However,
victims of crimes, including domestics alleging abuse, sometimes
requested and received assistance from their embassies.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Government maintained a
comprehensive code on barrier-free accessibility; this established
standards for facilities for persons with physical disabilities in all
new buildings and mandated the progressive upgrading of older
structures. There was no legislation addressing equal opportunities for
persons with disabilities in education or employment; however, the
National Council of Social Services, in conjunction with various
voluntary associations, provided an extensive job training and
placement program for persons with disabilities. The Government also
ran vigorous campaigns to raise public awareness of issues confronting
persons with disabilities and the services available to them. A tax
deduction of up to $57,000 (S$100,000) was available to employers to
defray building modifications to benefit employees with disabilities.
Informal provisions in education have permitted university
matriculation for the visually impaired, deaf, and for students with
physical disabilities. There were 20 special education schools that
enrolled more than 4,000 students. It is expected that upon completion
of retrofitting, one out of every eight schools will be accessible to
handicapped students. Beginning in 2003, the Government provided funds
for 6 childcare centers to take in 60 children with special needs.
The Government allowed a tax deduction of up to $2,000 (S$3,500)
per individual for families caring for a sibling, spouse, or child with
a disability. Mental and physical disabilities were treated in the same
way. Press coverage of the activities and achievements of persons with
disabilities was extensive, and discrimination or abuse of persons with
disabilities did not appear to be a problem.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic Malays constituted
approximately 15 percent of the population. The Constitution
acknowledges them as the indigenous people of the country and charges
the Government to support and to promote their political, educational,
religious, economic, social, cultural, and language interests. The
Government took steps to encourage greater educational achievement
among Malay students as a key to economic advancement. However, ethnic
Malays have not yet reached the educational or socioeconomic levels
achieved by the ethnic Chinese majority, the ethnic Indian minority, or
the Eurasian community. Malays remained underrepresented at senior
corporate levels, and, some assert, in certain sectors of the
Government and the military. This reflected their historically lower
educational and economic levels, but some argued that it also was a
result of employment discrimination. The Government has issued
guidelines that call for eliminating language referring to age, gender,
or ethnicity in employment advertisements; restrictive language
pertinent to job requirements, such as ``Chinese speaker'' or
``physically strong'' remains acceptable. These guidelines were
generally followed.
The Presidential Council on Minority Rights examined all pending
bills to ensure that they were not disadvantageous to a particular
group. It also reported to the Government on matters that affected any
racial or religious community and investigated complaints.
The Government enforced ethnic ratios for publicly subsidized
housing, where the majority of citizens lived and owned their own
units, a policy designed to achieve an ethnic mix more or less in
proportion to that of society at large.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Some individuals with
HIV/AIDS claimed that they were socially marginalized and faced
employment discrimination if they revealed they were suffering from the
disease. The Government discouraged discrimination, supported
initiatives that counter misperceptions about HIV/AIDS, and praised
employers that welcome workers with HIV/AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides all
citizens with the right to form associations, including trade unions;
however, Parliament may impose restrictions based on security, public
order, or morality grounds. The right of association was restricted by
the Societies Act, and by labor and education laws, and regulations.
Under these laws, any group of 10 or more persons is required to
register with the Government. The Trade Unions Act authorizes the
formation of unions with broad rights, albeit with some narrow
restrictions such as prohibitions on the unionization of uniformed
personnel or government employees. The Amalgamated Union of Public
Employees was declared exempt from these provisions, and its scope of
representation was expanded over the years to cover all public sector
employees except the most senior civil servants.
The Trade Unions Act restricts the right of trade unions to elect
their officers and whom they may employ. Foreigners and those with
criminal convictions may not hold union office or become employees of
unions. However, the Minister of Manpower could grant exemptions. The
Government granted two foreign citizens permission to serve on the
executive committee of the Airline Pilots Association of Singapore, the
Singapore Airlines pilots' union. In December 2003, the Government
revoked this permission and urged both Singapore Airlines and the
pilots to adopt moderate positions in upcoming contract negotiations
(see Section 6.b.). The Trade Unions Act limits the objectives on which
unions can spend their funds and prohibits payments to political
parties or the use of funds for political purposes. According to
government statistics, the national labor force was made up of
approximately 2.12 million workers, nearly 390,000 of whom were
represented by 70 unions. Almost all of the unions (which represented
virtually all of the union members) were affiliated with the National
Trade Union Congress (NTUC), an umbrella organization with a close
relationship with the Government.
The NTUC acknowledged that its interests were linked closely with
those of the ruling PAP, a relationship often described by both as
symbiotic. The NTUC's Secretary General, Lim Boon Heng, a PAP M.P., was
a member of the Cabinet as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Young PAP M.P.s with no union experience were often elected to
leadership positions in the NTUC or a member union. The NTUC policy
prohibited union members who supported opposition parties from holding
office in affiliated unions. In 2002, the branch chairman of an NTUC-
affiliated union was stripped of his position and his union membership
because he had been elected secretary general of the Singapore
Democratic Alliance, an opposition body. While the NTUC is financially
independent of the PAP, the two share a common ideology and work
closely with management in support of non-confrontational labor
relations. The NTUC is free to associate regionally and internationally
and is a member of the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions. The country is a member of the International Labor
Organization.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective
bargaining was a normal part of labor-management relations in the
industrial sector. Collective agreements must be certified by the
tripartite Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC) before going into effect.
The IAC could refuse certification at its discretion on the ground of
public interest. Transfers and layoffs were excluded from the scope of
collective bargaining. However, in practice, employers did consult with
unions on both issues, and the Tripartite Panel on Retrenched Workers
issued guidelines calling for early notification to unions of layoffs.
Disputes could be settled through discussions with the Ministry of
Manpower. If conciliation fails, the parties may submit their cases to
the IAC. In limited situations, the law provides for compulsory
arbitration, which has not been used since 1980. Agreements between
management and labor were renewed every 2 to 3 years, although wage
increases were negotiated annually. The National Wages Council (NWC), a
group composed of labor, management, and government representatives,
issues yearly guidelines on raises and bonus pay that serve as the
starting point for bargaining agreements. Subject to negotiation in
each enterprise, up to 10 percent of salaries were considered
``variable'' each month, allowing companies to eliminate that portion
of pay if there were financial problems. The intent is to enable
companies to adjust wages quickly and minimize job losses in a changing
business environment.
Workers in ``essential services'' are required to give 14 days
notice to an employer before striking, and there is a prohibition on
strikes by workers in the water, gas, and electricity sectors. Other
workers have the legal right to strike but rarely did so. There were no
specific laws that prohibited retaliation against strikers. The law
provides that before striking, unionized workers must vote in favor of
the strike by secret ballot.
Most disagreements are resolved through informal consultations with
the Ministry of Manpower. If conciliation fails, the disputing parties
usually submit their case to the Industrial Arbitration Court, which is
composed of representatives from labor and management, and chaired by a
judge. Besides these labor dispute mechanisms and the close working
relationship and shared views among labor, management, and the
Government, the maintenance of labor peace has been a product of high
economic growth rates, regular wage increases, and a high degree of job
mobility in a virtual full-employment economy. In addition, the widely
held view that labor conflict would undermine the country's economic
competitiveness and attractiveness to investors, compounded with a
cultural aversion to confrontation, helped to maintain a harmonious
labor situation.
The most visible labor story during the year involved the Singapore
Airlines (SIA) pilots' union, the only significant union not affiliated
with the NTUC. In 2003, SIA cut pilots' pay in response to a sharp
travel slump amid the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
epidemic; once the airline's profits rebounded, the pilots sought to
regain some of their losses. In December 2003, citing the ``strategic''
importance of SIA to the country's economic success, the Government
publicly warned the pilots' union against unreasonable contract
demands. In March, the Government rescinded the permanent resident
status of a Malaysia-born SIA pilot, who had been identified by then
Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew as having instigated a shakeup in the
pilots' union leadership; the pilot had lived in the country for 26
years. On April 20, the Trade Unions Act was amended to rescind the
right of union members to vote on collective bargaining agreements--
unlike other unions, only the pilots' union had its members take such a
vote on contracts. In September, SIA and the pilots reached an
agreement that brought overall pay levels back to pre-SARS levels, but
the increase was channeled into the variable component of the pay
package.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred. Under sections of the Destitute
Persons Act, any indigent person may be placed in a welfare home and
assigned suitable work.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Government enforced the Employment Act, which prohibits employment of
children under the age of 12. Restrictions on the employment of
children between the ages of 12 and 16 are rigorous and fully enforced.
Children under the age of 14 generally are prohibited from employment
in the industrial sector. Exceptions include family enterprises;
children may work in a business in which only members of the same
family are employed. A child of 12 or older may be employed in light
work, subject to medical clearance. Employers have to notify the
Commissioner of Labor within 30 days of hiring a child between the ages
of 14 and 16 and attach a medical certification of the child's fitness
for employment. The incidence of children in permanent employment was
low, and abuses were almost nonexistent.
Ministry of Manpower regulations prohibit night employment of
children and restrict industrial work for children between the ages of
14 and 16 to no more than 7 hours a day, including the hours spent in
school. Children may not work on commercial vessels, with moving
machinery, on live electrical apparatus lacking effective insulation,
or in any underground job. The Minister of Manpower effectively
enforced these laws and regulations.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There are no laws or regulations
on minimum wages or unemployment compensation; however, the NWC, a
tripartite body consisting of representatives from government, labor,
and business, monitored the economy and made annual recommendations to
the Government concerning wage guidelines. The labor market offered
good working conditions and relatively high wages, which provided a
decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The Employment Act sets the standard legal workweek at 44 hours and
provides for 1 rest day each week. In his National Day Rally speech in
August, the Prime Minister announced that the Government would move to
a 5-day, 44-hour workweek.
The Ministry of Manpower effectively enforces laws and regulations
establishing working conditions and comprehensive occupational safety
and health laws. Enforcement procedures, coupled with the promotion of
educational and training programs, were implemented to reduce the
frequency of job-related accidents. While a worker had the right under
the Employment Act to remove himself from a dangerous work situation,
his right to continued employment depended upon an investigation of the
circumstances by the Ministry of Manpower.
Because of a domestic labor shortage, approximately 600,000 foreign
workers were employed legally, constituting about 30 percent of the
total work force. There were no reliable estimates of the number of
foreigners working illegally. Most foreign workers were unskilled
laborers and household servants from other Asian countries. Foreign
workers faced no legal wage discrimination; however, they were
concentrated in low-wage, low-skill jobs and were often required to
work long hours. Most foreign construction workers live on worksites in
substandard conditions.
Although the great majority of the approximately 140,000 maids
(mainly from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka) worked under
clearly outlined contracts, their low wages, dependence on their
employers for food and lodging, and relative isolation made them
vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse. In response to concern about
cases of maid abuse, the Government amended the Penal Code in 1998 to
increase the punishment for confining or sexually or physically abusing
a maid. The authorities fined or imprisoned employers who abused maids,
often with great publicity. Prison sentences have ranged from 7 weeks
for one woman to 6 years and 12 strokes of the cane for a male employer
convicted on three counts of molesting his maid. Substantiated cases of
abuse of foreign maids fell by almost 50 percent following the 1998
amendment strengthening legal penalties. In 2002, there were 43
substantiated cases of maid abuse compared with 89 in 1998. Debate on
how to prevent abuse of maids is ongoing. In September, the Government
announced that it would raise the minimum age for maids from 18 to 23
and require at least 8 years of formal education. Between 8,000 and
9,000 new maids arrive in the country each month; all new maids and new
employers of maids must undergo mandatory training. The curriculum
includes such topics as maid's rights and responsibilities.
Most maids worked 6 days per week from very early morning until
late in the evening. Many contracts allowed only 1 day off per month.
Contracts often stipulated that, even when not working, a maid was
required to remain on the premises unless on official duties or on her
day off. Maids often had to set aside most or all of their wages for
the first several months of employment to reimburse their placement
agents. Work permits for low-wage foreign workers could be cancelled if
a worker applied to marry or married a citizen or permanent resident.
The Employment Act protects foreign workers, such as the many
employed in the construction industry; however, domestic servants are
not covered by the act and are not eligible for limited free legal
assistance from the Government. However, the Ministry of Manpower
offered conciliation services for all employees, foreign or local. The
Foreign Workers Unit of the Ministry of Manpower provided free advisory
and mediation services to foreign workers experiencing problems with
employers. The Government allowed complainants to seek legal redress.
__________
SOLOMON ISLANDS
The Solomon Islands has a modified parliamentary system of
government consisting of a single-chamber Legislative Assembly of 50
members. Executive authority is vested in the Prime Minister, who is
elected by a majority vote of Parliament, and his Cabinet. A new
Parliament was elected in 2001 with Sir Allan Kemakeza as Prime
Minister; elections were considered generally free and fair. Between
1998 and July 2003, conflict between two of the main ethnic groups in
the country--the Malaitans and the Guadalcanalese--led to a serious
deterioration in the human rights situation, with numerous abuses
committed by the police and by militant groups on both sides. Thousands
of Malaitans residing on Guadalcanal were forced from their homes.
Although a peace agreement formally ending the conflict was signed in
2000, subsequent governments had limited success in restoring peace. In
July 2003, the Regional Assistance Mission for Solomon Islands (RAMSI),
a multinational police-centered force organized by Australia, arrived
in the country at the invitation of the Government to assist in
restoring law and order and rebuilding the country's institutions. By
year's end, law and order largely had been restored, weapons were
confiscated and destroyed, and high-profile offenders were arrested.
The judiciary is independent.
A police force under a civilian police commissioner is responsible
for law enforcement, internal security, and border security. Following
the 2000 takeover of Honiara, the capital, by Malaitan militants, the
police force became factionalized and did not function effectively.
Prior to RAMSI's arrival, some members of the security forces, in
particular the paramilitary police unit and untrained former militants
who had been taken into the police force in 2001 as ``special
constables,'' committed numerous serious human rights abuses. During
the year, approximately 350 police from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji,
and other countries in the region remained as part of the RAMSI
peacekeeping force. RAMSI initially included a strong military
component; however, the security situation stabilized so quickly that
the military element was substantially withdrawn. At year's end,
approximately 160 troops remained. Since RAMSI's arrival, the special
constables have been demobilized and the police reorganized. A number
of police officers were arrested for offenses committed during the
ethnic conflict. During the year, the civilian authorities maintained
effective control over the security forces. There were no confirmed
reports that security forces committed human rights abuses; however,
there were a few allegations of police mistreatment.
The economy is market based. Approximately 75 percent of the
population of 480,000 engaged to some extent in subsistence farming and
fishing and had little involvement in the cash economy. The formal
sector of the economy was on the brink of collapse at the time of
RAMSI's intervention. There was some improvement during the year, with
economic growth estimated at 5 to 6 percent and modest inflation;
however, although no official statistics were available, anecdotal
evidence suggested that the economy was still losing jobs and wages
were stagnating. During the year, a Malaysian-owned company signed an
agreement to resume limited operations at Solomon Islands Plantation
Limited, a palm oil producer closed in 1999 due to the ethnic conflict.
In addition, an Australian consortium reached agreement with former
operators to design proposals for reopening the Gold Ridge Mine on
Guadalcanal, closed since 2000.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. During the year,
there were a few violent incidents linked to the ethnic conflict.
Further improvements were made in the judicial system, but case
backlogs remained a problem. Violence and discrimination against women
continued to be problems.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
On December 22, an Australian Federal Police officer attached to
RAMSI was shot and killed while on patrol in Honiara. Police arrested
two suspects and charged them with murder in the case, which still was
pending at year's end.
In January 2003, a masked gunman shot and killed retired Police
Commissioner Sir Frederick Soaki in Auki, Malaita, where he was helping
to prepare workshops organized by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP).
Police arrested a police sergeant for the murder; however, he escaped
from custody. Subsequently, he reportedly went to a police station in
Auki, fired an automatic rifle in the station, and fled. At year's end,
he was still at large.
In April, citing lack of sufficient evidence, the High Court
dismissed murder charges against two men accused of the 2003 beheading
of an Australian Seventh Day Adventist missionary in Malaita.
It remained unclear how many of those responsible for the many
killings and other human rights abuses committed by both security
forces and civilians during the half-decade of conflict and breakdown
in law and order prior to RAMSI's arrival in 2003 would be investigated
or prosecuted; however, in 2003 and during the year, RAMSI investigated
and arrested a number of police officers and militants who allegedly
had committed murder and other criminal acts, and brought them to trial
(see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). At year's end, the trials were ongoing.
Former Guadalcanal Liberation Front leader Harold Ke'ke, who was
arrested in 2003 and charged with murder and other crimes, remained in
pretrial detention; his case was expected to come to trial early in
2005.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances. During the ethnic conflict, more than 100 persons were
abducted and possibly killed by militants.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
confirmed reports of such practices by the police during the year.
There were a few allegations by detainees that they were mistreated by
police during questioning. During the violence prior to the arrival of
RAMSI, there were numerous reports of acts of torture and mistreatment
attributed both to members of the police and to Malaitan and
Guadalcanalese militants.
Reportedly between August 16 and 19, a group of persons in the Gold
Ridge area of Guadalcanal burned down at least 30 houses and committed
other acts of violence against residents, including torture, rape and
robbery, allegedly as retaliation against supporters of arrested former
militant Stanley Kaoni. In September, police arrested several suspects
in the case; they were awaiting trial at year's end.
In 2003 and during the year, RAMSI took action to apprehend and
charge persons allegedly responsible for human rights abuses and other
criminal acts. More than 240 persons, including approximately 40 police
officers and Ke'ke and other militants, were arrested. More than 600
charges were lodged against them. Some of those arrested were tried and
convicted during the year, while others were awaiting trial at year's
end.
At year's end, prison conditions generally met international
standards. Prisoners at Rove Prison in Honiara were housed in a newly
constructed building. Each cell had a toilet. The facility included a
recreation area, kitchens, and a family visitation center. Prisoners
received three basic meals a day.
In 2002, the national Ombudsman visited the small provincial jail
at the regional capital of Gizo and announced that conditions there
were in breach of human rights standards. RAMSI undertook some
renovations in 2003 and during the year at both Gizo and another
provincial prison at Aiki. Overcrowding at those facilities was
alleviated by transferring persons jailed for serious offenses to Rove
Prison, where more space was available.
On August 10, between 100 and 200 inmates broke out of their cells
at Rove Prison, occupied part of the compound, and reportedly threw
stones at police; no serious injuries were reported and order was
restored following negotiations between the authorities and inmates.
The Government and RAMSI initiated an inquiry into the incident;
however, no findings had been made public by year's end. Following the
riot, some inmates filed a petition with the High Court complaining
about their treatment. The court ruled that segregating inmates
classified as high security risks in conditions similar to a punishment
regime was unlawful and unreasonable. The court also mandated certain
improvements in the prison diet and exercise regimen. The acting
Commissioner of Prisons subsequently stated that the court's orders
were being implemented.
Men and women were held separately. Rove Prison had separate
facilities for juveniles. Pretrial detainees were held separately from
convicted prisoners. In a change from prior practice, hardened
criminals were held separately from first-time offenders.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers,
including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC
also facilitated visits to Rove Prison by family members of some
prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest and Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
A commissioner, who reports to the Minister of Police, heads the
police force of approximately 1,100 members. During the year, a British
police official served as Commissioner on a contract funded by the
British Government and the European Union (EU). Three other British
officers were funded under the same program.
Prior to RAMSI's arrival, the police were largely ineffectual.
Corruption was a problem, and there was a lack of accountability for
police officers involved in abuses. The situation improved after
RAMSI's arrival. By late 2003, nearly 40 police officers, including
some of senior rank, had been arrested on more than 90 charges,
including murder, assault, intimidation, robbery, and inappropriate use
of firearms. During the year, some of the arrested officers, including
at least two former police superintendents, were tried and convicted of
criminal offenses and received prison terms; others, including two
deputy commissioners, were awaiting trial at year's end. RAMSI also re-
established 16 police stations throughout the country. During the year,
the police service established an inspection unit to monitor staff
discipline and performance. A new Police Training College also was
established; its first two classes of officers graduated during the
year.
The law provides for a judicial determination of the legality of
arrests. Officials found to have violated civil liberties are subject
to fines and jail sentences. There was a functioning system of bail.
However, during the year, delays in adjudication of the large number of
cases before the courts resulted in lengthy pretrial detention for some
prisoners (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system consists of a High Court, a Court of Appeals,
and magistrates' courts. Accused persons are entitled to counsel. RAMSI
expanded the Office of the Public Solicitor, bringing the number of
public prosecutors up to seven.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
Judicial trial procedures normally operated in accordance with
British common law, with a presumption of innocence, right of appeal,
access to attorneys, and right to confront witnesses.
In an effort to improve judicial functioning and increase the
capacity of the courts to adjudicate cases, RAMSI built two new
courthouses and hired additional judges. Nonetheless, backlogs in the
investigation and prosecution of cases remained at year's end.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. However, during the
period of violence and with the breakdown of law and order in 2000,
there was widespread looting and burning of homes in rural Guadalcanal,
including by police. In August, a group of residents from the Gold
Ridge area of Guadalcanal reportedly burned down over 30 homes of
alleged supporters of a former militia leader (see Section 1.c.).
From 1999 to 2001, militants from all sides forced inhabitants from
their homes. The forced expulsions ended during 2001, following the
departure of virtually all non Guadalcanalese from the areas of
Guadalcanal Province adjacent to Honiara (see Section 2.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom.
During the year, print and broadcast media continued to operate on
a regular basis. There was a privately owned daily and a privately
owned weekly newspaper. The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation
(SIBC), a statutory body directly under the Prime Minister's office,
broadcast to most of the country. There also were two privately owned
FM radio stations. Two television channels broadcast Australia's Asia-
Pacific service and BBC International to Honiara and its environs.
Given the high rate of illiteracy, radio broadcasting was more
influential than the print media. At least two nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) published periodic news journals; their
environmental reporting frequently was critical of the Government's
logging policy and foreign logging companies' practices.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that in January,
assailants chased, verbally harassed, and attempted to assault Charles
Kadamana, a photographer for the Solomon Star newspaper; Kadamana
escaped without injury, although the assailants ripped his shirt.
Kadamana was attacked after he photographed former police official
James Kili, who had just been sentenced to 5 years in prison for crimes
committed during the ethnic conflict. According to local media reports,
relatives of Kili were believed to be responsible for the incident.
In 2002, then-Minister for Communications Daniel Fa'funua and
several armed supporters allegedly coerced the Solomon Star newspaper
into paying him $5,000 for publishing an article that he claimed had
insulted him. In late 2003, police arrested Fa'funua after an unrelated
incident; among other offenses, he was charged with ``demanding money
with menaces'' in the Solomon Star case. In February, he was convicted
and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Internet use was expanding, and privately operated Internet cafes
were available in Honiara and Gizo; the Government did not limit or
control Internet access. International donor organizations helped fund
improvements to the Internet infrastructure, including solar powered e-
mail systems set up in several provinces as a means of improving
communications with outlying areas.
Foreign assistance enabled the country's College of Higher
Education to operate pending its restructuring.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice. Demonstrators must obtain permits,
which generally were granted.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, but at times
the Government restricted this right. The Government outlawed the
principal militant groups. Other groups associated freely, and a good
governance oversight group, the Civil Society Network, which emerged in
2001, continued to raise issues of concern with the Government (see
Section 4).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The public school curriculum included 30 minutes daily of religious
instruction, the content of which was agreed upon by the Christian
churches; students whose parents did not wish them to attend the class
were excused. However, the Government did not subsidize church schools
that did not align their curriculums with governmental criteria.
Although theoretically non-Christian religions can be taught in the
schools, there was no such instruction in practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Government placed no restrictions on
the movement of citizens within or out of the country.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it. Native-born citizens may not be deprived of citizenship on any
grounds.
During the violent phase of the conflict on Guadalcanal, an
estimated 30,000 Malaitans, Guadalcanalese, Western Province persons,
and others living on Guadalcanal were displaced from their homes as a
result of armed conflict and intimidation. Approximately 20,000
displaced Malaitans subsequently resettled on their home island of
Malaita. By year's end, most of the remaining displaced persons had
returned to their home villages, including approximately 1,500
Guadalcanese displaced from Guadalcanal's Weathercoast by acts of
violence and intimidation committed by militant leader Harold Ke'ke and
his followers prior to Ke'ke's arrest in August 2003. The Government
provided very limited help to internally displaced persons, who
generally relied on their extended families and subsistence farming for
survival. The national Red Cross Society, funded by the EU, provided
some assistance.
Although a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the Government has not enacted
domestic legislation or established a system for providing protection
to refugees. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Red Cross in assisting
refugees and has not returned persons to a country where they feared
persecution.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage for persons 18 years of age and over. The Government
is a modified parliamentary system consisting of a single-chamber
Legislative Assembly of 50 members. Executive authority is vested in
the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The 2001 national parliamentary
elections were regarded as generally free and fair, although there was
evidence of vote buying and of coercion by armed persons in a number of
constituencies. On several occasions since independence, changes of
government resulted from either parliamentary votes of no confidence or
the resignation of the Prime Minister.
Successive governments were unable effectively to address the
violence that began in 1998 between the Malaitan and Guadalcanalese
ethnic groups (see Section 5), despite the 2000 peace agreement that
formally ended the conflict and mandated the surrender of weapons. In
2003, RAMSI instituted a weapons amnesty that resulted in the
confiscation and destruction of approximately 3,700 firearms. RAMSI
also implemented reform of the police force (see Section 1.d.) and
provided assistance to the Finance Ministry for budget stabilization
and to the justice sector for improving the effectiveness of the legal
system. The aid included both funding of improvements and provision of
civilian expertise, with approximately 50 personnel placed in key
government agencies.
Government corruption and impunity in both the executive and
legislative branches were serious problems, compounded by the breakdown
in law and order that resulted from the ethnic conflict. During the
year, RAMSI worked with the Government and NGOs to reform the public
service, including publication of a plan for an independent leadership
integrity commission and administrative reorganization of existing
``watchdog'' agencies such as the Auditor General and the Ombudsman's
Office. Also during the year, a number of provincial officials attended
workshops abroad on good governance. In October, police charged a
former East Honiara Member of Parliament with multiple counts of
official corruption involving the granting of certificates of
naturalization to Chinese nationals. At year's end, he was awaiting
trial.
No law provides for public access to government information. In
practice, the Government generally was responsive to inquiries from the
media during the year.
Traditional male dominance has limited the role of women in
government. There were no women in the 50-member Parliament. During the
year, three women were appointed as permanent secretaries in the
Government.
There were three members of minorities (non-Melanesians) in the
Parliament, two of whom were in the Cabinet. In addition, one of the
Prime Minister's advisors was a member of a minority.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There are no restrictions on the formation of organizations to
monitor and report on human rights. The NGO Solomon Islands Development
Trust has both development and human rights objectives. The ICRC also
operates in the country. The Government generally cooperated with human
rights organizations and requested assistance from the U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights in formulating policies to restore peace
and justice.
Numerous domestic NGOs operated freely; most were engaged in
developmental or religious activity. In 2001, a number of NGOs and
individual citizens established an umbrella organization, the Civil
Society Network, to provide oversight of government activity. It
regularly criticized practices such as the remission of taxes and
custom duties for associates of high-ranking government officials. The
Government did not interfere in its operations.
The Constitution provides for an ombudsman, with the power to
subpoena and to investigate complaints of official abuse, mistreatment,
or unfair treatment. While the Ombudsman's Office has potentially far-
ranging powers, it was limited by a shortage of resources. It organized
occasional workshops and undertook a few tours during the year.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides that no person--regardless of race, place
of origin, political opinion, color, creed, or disability shall be
treated in a discriminatory manner with respect to access to public
places. The Constitution further prohibits any laws that would have
discriminatory effects and provides that no person should be treated in
a discriminatory manner by anyone acting in an official capacity.
Despite constitutional and legal protections, women remained the
victims of discrimination in this tradition-based society. Unemployment
was high, and there were limited job opportunities for persons with
disabilities.
Women.--Statistics were unavailable, but incidents of domestic
violence appeared to be common. The law does not address domestic
violence; however, there are provisions against common assault and
rape. In the rare cases of domestic abuse that were reported, charges
often were dropped by the victims before the court appearance or the
case was settled out of court. The magistrates' courts dealt with
physical abuse of women as with any other assault, although
prosecutions were rare. In part due to the breakdown in law and order
and the lack of an effective, functioning police force after June 2000,
women and teenage girls in particular were vulnerable to abuse,
including rape, and many rapes have been reported since the ethnic
conflict began in 1998. Following RAMSI's arrival, rape charges were
brought against a number of persons. As part of a new police
curriculum, officers were given specialized training on how to work
with victims of rape.
According to a study by Amnesty International based on interviews
conducted in the country in April, violence against women, including
rape and domestic abuse, remained a serious problem, with nearly 200
rapes reported to police in the first 6 months of the year. Among the
reasons cited for the failure to report many incidents of abuse were
pressure from male relatives, fear of reprisals, feelings of shame, and
cultural taboos on discussion of such matters.
The law accords women equal legal rights, including the right to
own property. However, in this traditional society, men are dominant
and women are limited to customary family roles. This situation has
prevented women from taking more active roles in economic and political
life. A shortage of jobs also inhibited the entry of women into the
work force. The majority of women are illiterate; this was attributed
in large part to cultural barriers. The National Council of Women and
other NGOs attempted to make women more aware of their legal rights
through seminars, workshops, and other activities. The Government's
Women Development Division also addressed women's issues.
Prostitution is illegal, but the statutes were not enforced. There
is no law against sex tourism. Following media reports in October of a
prostitution ring in Honiara that catered to Asian men and other
expatriates, the police opened an investigation and subsequently closed
an establishment operated by the group. Asian women found working there
were deported.
Sexual harassment is not prohibited by law and was a problem.
Children.--Within the limits of its resources, the Government was
committed to the welfare and protection of children. During the year,
major foreign assistance helped to bolster the educational system,
which had languished over the previous 5 years. With assistance from
RAMSI, all of the country's schools were operating by year's end, and
an additional 1,500 classrooms were being built. However, education was
not compulsory, and, according to some estimates, less than 60 percent
of school-age children had access to primary education; the percentages
of those attending secondary and tertiary institutions were much
smaller. A higher percentage of boys than girls attended school. School
fees required of all students were very high relative to local incomes.
Primary school fees were scheduled for elimination in 2005.
The Constitution grants children the same general rights and
protections as adults. Existing laws are designed to protect children
from sexual abuse, child labor, and neglect. Children generally were
respected and protected within the traditional extended family system,
in accordance with a family's financial resources and access to
services, although some cases of child abuse were reported. Virtually
no children were homeless or abandoned. All medical care for children
was free; however, the lack of resources seriously reduced the quality
and availability of medical care.
Several hundred children (generally boys) under the age of 18 were
active combatants during the ethnic conflict or assisted in militants'
camps. Many of these underage militants joined criminal gangs
immediately following the conflict, but as of year's end, most had
returned to their villages and reentered civil society. However, some
unemployed youth in urban areas were involved in petty crime.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no reports that persons were trafficked
to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law or national policy on
persons with disabilities, and no legislation mandates access to
buildings for such individuals. Their protection and care are left to
the traditional extended family and NGOs. With high unemployment
countrywide and few jobs available in the formal sector, most persons
with disabilities, particularly those in rural areas, did not find work
outside of the family structure.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for protecting the
rights of persons with disabilities.
The country had one educational facility for children with
disabilities, which was supported almost entirely by the Red Cross. A
new education unit opened at the College of Higher Education to train
teachers in the education of persons with disabilities. Such training
was made compulsory for all student teachers at the college.
Persons With mental disabilities were cared for within the family
structure; there were no government facilities for such persons.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country is composed of over
27 islands with approximately 70 language groups. In the precolonial
era, these groups existed in a state of continual warfare with one
another, and even today many islanders see themselves first as members
of a clan, next as inhabitants of their natal island, and only third as
citizens of their nation. Over the past century, and particularly since
World War II, many persons from the poor, heavily populated island of
Malaita settled on Guadalcanal, the island on which the capital of
Honiara is located. The tensions and resentment between the
Guadalcanalese and the Malaitans on Guadalcanal culminated in violence
beginning in 1998 (see Sections 1.c., 1.f., and 2.d.), when
Guadalcanalese militants began a campaign of threats and intimidation
against Malaitans on Guadalcanal. Scores of Malaitans were killed or
injured by Guadalcanalese militants. Approximately 30,000 persons,
mainly Malaitans, fled their homes as a result of the conflict.
Civilians were the victims of abuses by both sides; such abuses
reportedly included abductions, torture, rape, forced resettlement,
looting, and the burning of homes. Ethnic tension between Malaitans and
Guadalcanalese was greatly reduced with the presence of RAMSI in the
country.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Same-sex relationships
are illegal. In January, a woman was arrested and charged with indecent
practice between persons of the same sex. She was convicted and
sentenced to a jail term.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution implicitly
recognizes the right of workers to form or join unions, to choose their
own representatives, to determine and pursue their own views and
policies, and to engage in political activities. The courts have
confirmed these rights, and workers exercised them in practice. Only
about 10 to 15 percent of the population participated in the formal
sector of the economy. Approximately 60 to 70 percent of wage earners
were organized (approximately 90 percent of employees in the public
sector and 50 percent of those in the private sector).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and to bargain collectively, and
unions exercised these rights. Wages and conditions of employment are
determined by collective bargaining, usually at the level of individual
firms. If a dispute between labor and management cannot be settled
between the two sides, it is referred to the Trade Disputes Panel (TDP)
for arbitration. The three-member TDP, composed of a chairman appointed
by the judiciary, a labor representative, and a business
representative, is independent and neutral.
The law permits strikes. Private sector disputes usually were
referred quickly to the TDP for arbitration, either before or during a
strike. In practice, the small percentage of the work force in formal
employment meant that employers had ample replacement workers if
disputes were not resolved quickly. However, employees are protected
from arbitrary dismissal or lockout while the TDP is deliberating.
Early in the year, several hundred workers went on strike at the
Russell Islands Plantation Estate, Limited (RIPEL). The National Union
of Workers alleged that RIPEL made improper offshore export sales of
copra and cocoa; the company alleged that striking workers had engaged
in criminal activities, including occupying company buildings and
threatening company managers. Although the High Court declared the
strike illegal, the standoff continued at year's end.
The law protects workers against anti-union activity, and there
were no areas where union activity was officially discouraged.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and,
normally, except as part of a court sentence or order, there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law forbids labor by children under the age of 12, except light
agricultural or domestic work performed in the company of parents.
Children under age 15 are barred from work in industry or on ships;
those under age 18 may not work underground or in mines. The Labor
Division of the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, and Industry is
responsible for enforcing child labor laws. Given low wages and high
unemployment, there was little incentive to employ child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage rate is $0.50
per hour (SI$2.50) for all workers except those in the fishing and
agricultural sectors, who receive $0.35 (SI$1.75). The legal minimum
wage did not provide a decent standard of living for an urban family
living entirely on the cash economy. However, most families were not
dependent solely on wages for their livelihoods.
The law regulates premium pay, sick leave, the right to paid
vacations, and other conditions of service. The standard workweek is 45
hours and is limited to 6 days per week. There are provisions for
maternity leave and for premium pay for overtime and holiday work.
Both an active labor movement and an independent judiciary provided
enforcement of labor laws in major state and private enterprises. The
Commissioner of Labor, the Public Prosecutor, and the police are
responsible for enforcing labor laws; however, they usually reacted to
complaints rather than routinely monitoring adherence to the law. The
extent to which the law was enforced in smaller establishments and in
the subsistence sector was unclear. Safety and health laws appeared to
be adequate. The Safety at Work Act requires employers to provide a
safe working environment and forbids retribution against an employee
who seeks protection under labor regulations or removes himself from a
hazardous job site. Laws on working conditions and safety standards
apply equally to foreign workers and citizens.
__________
THAILAND
Thailand is a democratically governed constitutional monarchy. The
King exerts strong informal influence but has never used his
constitutionally mandated power to veto legislation or dissolve the
elected bicameral Parliament. In 2001, a coalition government led by
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai Party was formed
following the January general elections. The election process was
viewed as generally free and fair; however, it was marred by widespread
vote buying and the killing of some political canvassers during the
campaign. Parliamentary elections were scheduled for February 6, 2005.
Violence attributed to Muslim separatist insurgents in the southern
part of the country resulted in almost daily reports of violence
against government authorities and civilians at year's end. The
judiciary is independent but was subject to corruption.
While the civilian authorities generally maintained effective
control of the security forces, in some instances elements of the
security forces acted independently of government authority. The
national police force is under the direct authority of the Police
Commissioner, who reports to the Prime Minister. The military forces
are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. With the
exception of specific, limited military authority along the country's
borders, the police have responsibility for internal security. Elements
of both the armed forces and the police had a reputation for
corruption. Some members of the security forces committed serious human
rights abuses.
The economy was market oriented with a strong tradition of private
enterprise, although state enterprises played a significant role in
some sectors. The country had a population of approximately 64 million.
Gross domestic product (GDP) growth was estimated to be 6 to 7 percent
for the year. Annual per capita income was approximately $2,237.
According to the National Statistical Office, approximately 40 percent
of all employed workers were employed in the agricultural sector,
although agriculture only accounted for approximately 10 percent of
GDP. There was a lack of transparency in bureaucratic decisionmaking,
and some areas of Government remained vulnerable to corruption.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were significant problems in some areas.
Separatist violence in the extreme southern region of the country
resulted in the deaths of more than 180 persons at the hands of
security forces. Heightened tensions due to the violence and increased
security measures led to occasional clashes with the police and to
growing resentment among the local populace in the affected region of
the country. Police occasionally beat suspects to coerce confessions.
The Government announced investigations in many instances but failed to
prosecute vigorously those who committed such abuses, contributing to a
climate of impunity. A culture of corruption persisted in many parts of
the civilian bureaucracy and in some units of the security forces.
Routine demands for bribes undermined the rule of law and permitted the
continuation of various illegal activities, including trafficking in
persons, sexual exploitation, and prostitution. Conditions in prisons
and some provincial immigration detention facilities remained poor.
Prolonged pretrial detention, including of aliens, remained a problem.
The judiciary suffered from corruption, and, at times, security forces
infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The media, while still vigorous,
feared lawsuits against individuals or media outlets and practiced some
self-censorship. There were some restrictions on freedom of religion
and freedom of movement. At times, the Government hindered the activity
of some human rights groups. The 1997 Constitution increased legal
protections for women and persons with disabilities; however, some
inequities in the law remained, and some protections were not enforced.
Violence and societal discrimination against women were problems.
Trafficking in women and children were serious problems, as were
coerced prostitution and labor. Societal discrimination against hill
tribes and religious and ethnic minorities continued. Workers' freedom
to associate was undermined by deficient legal protections, their right
to bargain collectively was inadequately protected, there were reports
of forced labor, and the worst forms of child labor occurred in the
country.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
confirmed reports of politically motivated killings by the Government
or its agents; however, security forces continued to use excessive,
lethal force against criminal suspects and committed or were connected
to numerous extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings.
On April 28, elements of the police and military killed more than
100 persons while repelling multiple attacks in Yala, Pattani, and
Narathiwat Provinces by unnamed separatist Muslim men. Of this total,
32 were killed at Krue Se mosque in Pattani, when security forces
stormed the mosque after a 9-hour standoff. According to an official
independent commission report on the Krue Se mosque incident, the
commander on the scene ordered the raid after failed negotiations and
the deaths of three soldiers. Civilian authorities in Bangkok,
including the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of security, claimed that
the raid was conducted without their approval. The commission concluded
that force was used when negotiations would have been more appropriate
and that the level of force employed was excessive. There were at least
two other reports of civilian deaths at the hands of security forces
after the April clashes. On September 6, Ilmin Nehlae reportedly was
shot in the back and killed while under control of paramilitary
rangers. Four paramilitary soldiers were charged with murder. At year's
end, a special judiciary panel was established to determine whether the
case should be tried by a civilian or a military court.
On June 21, environmental activist Charoen Wataksorn was shot and
killed while returning home after testifying at the Parliament against
the purchases of public land to be used for a proposed coal-fired power
plant. Five persons--two gunmen and three ``masterminds''--were charged
in connection with his killing, including a provincial official. The
gunmen remained in custody, while the three others were granted bail.
On October 25, 78 Muslim detainees being transported to an army
camp after a violent demonstration in Tak Bai, Narathiwat Province,
died from asphyxiation after police and military forces stacked them
horizontally onto truck beds for transport in numbers far surpassing
the capacity of the vehicles. In December, an independent commission
issued a report concluding that three senior security officials,
including the Fourth Army commanding general, failed to perform
properly their duty and responsibility to monitor their subordinates in
transporting detainees in a humane manner. The commission stated that
seven persons remained missing. The commission suggested no legal
action or punitive recommendations, but the Government directed the
Ministry of Defense to conduct a military disciplinary investigation of
the three senior officers cited in the report, and it also directed the
Police Department to conduct a criminal investigation. In addition, the
Government established a committee to provide assistance and
compensation to victims and their families.
During the year, at least a dozen provincial or district level
officials or their political operatives, such as canvassers, were
killed. Police investigations indicated that many of incidents were
``politically motivated,'' but in some cases personal or business
disputes were the suspected motive.
On September 17, Rapin Ruankaew, a Pattani provincial court judge,
was shot and killed by three gunmen on his way to work. Police arrested
a student of a local ``pondok'' Islamic school. Three other alleged
accomplices remained at large.
No progress was reported in the investigations into the
extrajudicial killings of approximately 1,300 suspected drug
traffickers during the Government's 3-month ``War on Drugs'' campaign
from February through April 2003. The Narcotics Control Board chaired
two committees investigating the killings. The Government maintained
that the deaths were the result of disputes between those involved in
the drug trade. Local and international human rights groups, including
the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), disputed this claim and
called for thorough investigations of all extrajudicial killings.
When the Government investigated extrajudicial killings, it
prosecuted few of the accused police or military officers. Senior
prosecutors and nongovernmental organization (NGO) legal associations
claimed that most cases against police or military officers accused of
extrajudicial killings eventually were dismissed because regulations
outlined in the Criminal Code require public prosecutors to rely
exclusively upon the recommendations of the police when determining
whether to bring a case for criminal prosecution. The resulting routine
exoneration of police officers contributed to a climate of impunity
that persisted in preventing any major change in police behavior. It
also discouraged relatives of victims from pressing for prosecution.
Procedures for investigating suspicious deaths, including deaths
occurring in police custody, required among other things that the
prosecutor, a forensic pathologist, and a local administrator
participate in the investigation and that family members have legal
representation at the inquests. However, these procedures often were
not followed. Families rarely took advantage of a provision in the law
that allows them to bring personal lawsuits against police officers for
criminal action during arrest. There was no information available to
determine how many cases were settled out of court. However, in cases
in which suits were filed, the official charged often compensated the
family of the deceased, and the lawsuit was waived. Compensation varied
widely, from $3,750 (150,000 baht) to $75,000 (3 million baht).
There continued to be no developments in the 2002 killings in
Chiang Rai, where police officers killed several civilians suspected of
drug trafficking.
According to the Ministry of Interior's Investigation and Legal
Affairs Bureau, during the first 9 months of the year, 1,632 persons
died in prison or police custody, 131 due to the actions of police
officers (see Section 1.c.). Authorities attributed most of these
deaths to natural illness. Following an investigation into the January
2003 death of a detainee at the Kanchanaburi police station, the
provincial public prosecutor charged a police corporal with murder; the
trial continued at year's end.
No one was charged in the 2003 deaths of detainees in the Muang
Surathani police station, despite an aggressive investigation by the
NHRC, which suspected that the victims died from beatings by policemen.
The victims' cellmates were charged with murder; their case was
referred to the criminal court, but no progress was made during the
year.
Beginning in April, there were almost daily reports of separatist
violence against government representatives, including teachers and
court officials. Occasional bombings, sometimes in public areas,
resulted in death and injury.
According to the Thailand Mine Action Center, through October, 11
persons were reported killed and 8 injured by landmines in border
areas. Some of these incidents were caused by land mines from former
conflicts on the Laotian and Cambodian borders, while others were
attributed to recent conflicts on the Burmese border.
b. Disappearance.--On March 12, Muslim attorney and human rights
activist Somchai Neelapaijit disappeared. Somchai, who represented five
Muslim defendants charged with raiding a military camp in Narathiwat
Province on January 4, also was the lead attorney for three persons
suspected of membership in the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization.
In April, five police officers were charged with kidnapping and robbery
in the Somchai case and released on bail in June. A trial date was set
for August 9, 2005. At year's end, Somchai remained missing.
The media, human rights NGOs, and some members of the opposition
Democrat Party petitioned the Government to investigate reported
disappearances of mostly Muslim men in some southern provinces,
particularly Narathiwat. In June, five men illegally detained Sukip-li
Asae in Narathiwat. After villagers intercepted the vehicle used to
abduct Asae, uniformed police officers freed him. The five men later
were identified as police officers. At year's end, an internal police
investigation was pending, but no charges had been filed.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution and the Criminal Code prohibit such
practices; however, NGOs and legal organizations continued to report
that some members of the police occasionally tortured and beat suspects
to obtain confessions. During the year, there were newspaper reports of
numerous cases in which citizens accused police of using brutality,
threatening false charges, and extorting bribes. Investigations were
undertaken in most of the cases, including several in which the accused
police officers were suspended pending the result of internal
investigations.
In November, a 28-year-old man and his 17-year-old wife, who gave
birth to a child in her prison cell, were freed from Lumpini police
station in Bangkok after being held for 102 days. No criminal charges
were filed by police, who claimed they arrested the couple on July 27
for suspected theft of computer equipment. The couple also claimed that
police beat them and robbed them of their personal items. Police Major
Kriangsak Thipchoi later was temporarily suspended from the police
force, pending an investigation by an internal police panel.
Also in November, police in Ayutthaya and Uthai Provinces
reportedly tortured a man after arresting him for suspected robbery.
Police beat and applied electric shock to the man's genitals to coerce
a confession. Twenty-three members of the police were transferred to
Bangkok in connection with the incident, pending an internal police
investigation.
On March 10, five suspects in the January 4 Narathiwat military
camp raid alleged that police beat and administered electric shocks to
them to obtain confessions. The suspects filed a formal complaint with
the Ministry of Justice through their lawyer, Somchai Neelapaichjit,
who was missing at year's end (see Section 1.b.). The suspects were
transferred to a prison in Bangkok, and in May, all charges related to
the January 4 incident were dropped. However, only one suspect was
freed; the other four were rearrested by Narathiwat police on unrelated
charges. Police opened an internal investigation of the officers
suspected of abuse, but at year's end no criminal charges had been
filed.
Six local officials remained free on bail in connection with the
May 2003 killing of six Burmese laborers in Mae Sot. The officials were
relieved of their duties and their cases referred to the criminal
court, but no trial date had been set at year's end.
In July, the police sergeant accused in the 2002 rape of a female
detainee at a Bangkok police station was sentenced to 18 years in
prison. Also in July, a 36-year-old Karen man accused in a 2002 bus
attack in Ratchaburi Province was exonerated of all wrongdoing and
freed. He was granted special resident status so that he could remain
in the country with his family.
There were no developments in the trial of three soldiers accused
of the 2002 alleged rape of two female refugees from Burma.
Prison conditions were poor and severely overcrowded but, in
general, did not pose a serious threat to the life or health of
inmates. The total prison population of approximately 170,500 inmates
was held in 139 prisons and detention centers designed for a maximum of
100,000 prisoners. Sleeping accommodations were insufficient. Medical
care in prisons was inadequate, but the number of full-time medical
professionals increased significantly. The Corrections Department
employed 17 full-time doctors, 147 full-time nurses, and 6 full-time
dentists. There were 17 part-time doctors to supplement the permanent
medical staff. Construction was completed on a 500-bed hospital at
Klong Prem Prison, but the hospital had not opened at year's end.
Prison authorities sometimes used solitary confinement of not more than
3 months to punish difficult male prisoners who consistently violated
prison rules or regulations. They also used heavy leg irons to control
prisoners who were deemed at risk of escape and often for prisoners
serving life sentences or on death row.
Male and female prisoners in official detention centers and prisons
were segregated. However, approximately 11 percent of the total prison
population were pretrial detainees, who were not segregated from the
general prison population. Men, women, and children often were held
together in police station holding cells pending indictment. Juveniles
were held separately in 34 of the 76 provinces, but they were detained
with adults in some regions of the country.
Conditions in Bangkok's Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center
continued to improve during the year; however, conditions in nine
provincial detention centers remained poor. Immigration detention
facilities were administered by the Immigration Police Bureau, which
reported to the Prime Minister's Office, and were not subject to many
of the regulations that governed the regular prison system. There were
credible reports that guards physically abused detainees in some
detention centers. Overcrowding and a lack of basic medical care
continued to be serious problems.
On February 20, 8 persons under the custody of the Immigration
Police were killed and 18 seriously injured in a vehicle accident while
being transported for removal to the Burmese border. The truck-style
vehicle, originally designed to seat 20 passengers, was loaded with
more than 100 persons, including 4 children.
Access to prisons was not restricted, and the Government permitted
visits by independent human rights observers and the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, government forces occasionally
arrested and detained persons arbitrarily. In practice, the system for
issuing arrest warrants was subject to misuse by police officers who
provided false evidence to courts to obtain arrest warrants. Under the
Constitution, persons must be informed of likely charges against them
immediately after arrest and must be allowed to inform someone of their
arrest. Detainees have the right to have a lawyer present during
questioning; however, police often ignored this right in practice.
Foreign prisoners sometimes were pressured to sign confessions without
the benefit of a competent translator.
The Royal Thai Police (RTP) is under the direct supervision of the
Prime Minister and a 20-member Police Commission. The RTP consisted of
approximately 200,000 officers in 10 geographic regions. The Police
Commissioner-General is appointed by the Prime Minister and subject to
cabinet and royal approval. Border Patrol Police have special authority
and responsibility in border areas to combat insurgent or separatist
movements.
Corruption remained widespread among police officers. Police
officials complained that low pay made them susceptible to bribes.
There were reports that police tortured, beat, and otherwise abused
detainees and prisoners, generally with impunity. Complaints of police
abuse can be filed directly to the superior of the police officer
accused, the Office of Inspector General, or the Police Commissioner-
General. The NHRC, the Law Society of Thailand, the National Counter
Corruption Commission (NCCC), and the Office of the Prime Minister also
accept complaints of police abuse and corruption, as does the Office of
the Ombudsmen. When the Police Department receives a petition, an
internal investigation committee first takes up the matter and may
temporarily suspend the officer during the investigation. Various
administrative penalties exist, and serious cases can be referred to
the criminal court. During the year, the Police Inspector General
received 77 petitions alleging police abuse or corruption. In nine
cases, officers were found guilty, and disciplinary or administrative
punishments were given out. The NCCC received 157 petitions alleging
police abuse or corruption. No figures were available on actions taken
by the NCCC on these complaints. The RTP increased professional
training at the Central Police Academy and provincial police training
schools.
The Constitution provides defendants the right to bail, and the
Government generally respected this right. However, some human rights
groups reported that police frequently did not inform detained suspects
of their right to bail or refused to recommend bail after a request for
bail was submitted by suspects to the court.
Some police officers were involved in prostitution and trafficking
in women and children (see Section 5). In August, the Police
Department, after an internal investigation, reinstated four police
colonels who had been removed from active duty in July 2003 for
allegedly accepting financial and sexual bribes. The status of
approximately 40 other officers involved in this case was unknown.
The law requires the police to submit criminal cases to prosecutors
for the filing of court charges within 48 hours of arrest, with
extensions of up to 3 days permitted. Police may seek court permission
to hold suspects for additional periods (up to a maximum of 82 days for
the most serious offenses) to conduct investigations. Laws and
regulations place offenses for which the maximum penalty is less than 3
years under the jurisdiction of the district courts, which have
different procedures. In these cases, police are required to submit
cases to public prosecutors within 72 hours of arrest. Lawyers reported
that police rarely brought cases to court within the 48-hour period. As
in previous years, several Burmese activists were arrested and held
generally on immigration violation charges.
Pretrial detention of criminal suspects for up to 60 days was
common. Some foreigners from countries without diplomatic
representatives in the country faced trial delays of many months.
Approximately 20,000 prisoners were freed in August as part of the
72nd birthday celebrations honoring Her Majesty Queen Sirikit.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, while the judiciary generally was
regarded as independent, it was subject to corruption and influence.
In addition to an independent Constitutional Court, the civilian
judicial system has three levels of courts: courts of first instance,
courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court. A separate military court
hears criminal and civil cases pertaining to military personnel as well
as those brought during periods of martial law (last imposed in 1992).
The Constitutional Court is charged with interpreting the Constitution.
Islamic (Shari'a) courts hear only civil cases concerning members of
the Muslim minority. The law provides for access to courts or
administrative bodies to seek redress, and the Government generally
respected this right.
In February, the Constitutional Court upheld two antiterrorist
decrees issued by the Prime Minister in August 2003 that provide
punishments ranging from fines to the death penalty for terrorist
crimes. This marked the first use of a provision in the Constitution
that allows Parliament to refer executive decrees to the Constitutional
Court for review.
There is no trial by jury. A single judge decides trials for
misdemeanors; two or more judges are required for more serious cases.
Trials often required years to complete because they ran sporadically,
typically convening for a single day every few months. In January, new
court procedures were enacted to provide for continuous processing of
cases, rather than sporadic procedural court dates over a typical 2- to
3-year period. However, there remained a large backlog of pending court
cases, resulting in an average wait of 12 to 18 months for most trials.
While most trials are public, the court may order a closed trial,
particularly in cases involving national security, the royal family,
children, or sexual abuse. Justices nominated to the Constitutional
Court or Supreme Administrative Court must be confirmed by the Senate;
all other judges are career civil servants whose appointments are not
subject to parliamentary review.
The Constitution provides for the presumption of innocence.
Defendants tried in ordinary criminal courts enjoy a broad range of
legal rights, including access to a lawyer of their choosing. A
government program provided free legal advice to the poor, but indigent
defendants were not provided with counsel at public expense
automatically. The court was required to appoint an attorney in cases
where the defendant was a minor and in cases where possible punishment
was imprisonment. Most free legal aid came from private groups,
including the Law Society of Thailand and the Thai Women Lawyers
Association.
The Constitution and the Criminal Code provide for access to
counsel for criminal detainees; however, lawyers and human rights
groups claimed that local police often ignored this procedure and
conducted interrogations of suspects without providing access to an
attorney.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home or
Correspondence.--With limited exceptions, the Constitution prohibits
such actions, and the Government generally respected these prohibitions
in practice. With a few exceptions, including crimes in progress, the
Constitution requires police to obtain a warrant from a court prior to
conducting a search. The Criminal Procedure Code provides standardized
procedures for issuing warrants.
Police continued to conduct warrantless searches for narcotics in
villages in the northern provinces. Such operations are permitted under
both the Constitution and the 1976 Narcotics Prevention and Suppression
Act in cases in which there is reasonable suspicion and an urgent
search is deemed necessary. Some academic groups claimed that the
searches were arbitrary and violated the villagers' civil rights.
Security services monitored persons, including foreign visitors,
who espoused extremist or highly controversial views.
Section 2. Respect For Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution, with some
exceptions, provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice and did not
restrict academic freedom. However, continued harassment and
intimidation of journalists and editors encouraged self-censorship. On
at least one occasion, libel laws were used to suppress criticism. Bans
on some Internet sites occurred for the first time.
Under the Constitution and laws, the Government may restrict
freedom of speech and freedom of the press to preserve national
security, maintain public order, preserve the rights of others, protect
public morals, and prevent criticism of the royal Family and insults to
Buddhism.
The Government generally respected freedom of speech. Individuals
could criticize the Government publicly and privately without official
reprisal. The Government did not attempt to impede criticism through
such means as monitoring political meetings.
The Constitution makes it unlawful for the Government to censor,
ban, license, or restrict print or broadcast media, except by specific
legislation in times of crisis. Journalists generally were free to
comment on government activities without fear of official reprisal.
Media criticism of political parties, public figures, and the
Government was common and vigorous. However, the media practiced self-
censorship, particularly with regard to the monarchy and issues
involving national security. Self-censorship for fear of other
political or economic repercussions, such as reassignment to other
duties in a publication, termination of a broadcast program, or removal
from a role in the production or presentation of a broadcast program,
also was evident.
In December 2003, the Chiang Mai Criminal Court acquitted four
noncommissioned army officers arrested in connection with the 2000
nonfatal shooting of the editor in chief of a Chiang Mai daily
newspaper. The editor appealed the decision. Police continued to
investigate the February 2003 death of Thai Rath newspaper reporter
Surapong Ritthi.
Despite constitutional provisions, many observers expressed
concerns regarding the independence of the press. On May 3, the Thai
Journalists' Association issued a report stating that challenges to the
media's rights and freedom had become more intense and serious. On
September 1, Human Rights Watch condemned the Government's ``increasing
pressure'' on the media and the use of libel suits to quell criticism.
According to some members of the Thai Journalists Association, the
Government used various means to increase control over the media,
including direct control through ownership, the threat of withdrawing
financial support and advertisements, constraints on the flow of
information, and direct pressure on critical journalists and activists.
Newspapers and magazines generally were independently owned. During
the year, investors with connections to politicians purchased large
shares in some newspaper businesses, including the purchase of more
than 10 percent of the Nation Multimedia Group, an organization widely
viewed as an opposition media group.
State entities controlled and owned almost all radio and television
stations. The military services retained ownership of 214 radio and
television stations, ostensibly for national security purposes. Other
owners of national broadcast media included the Government's Public
Relations Department.
Television and radio stations must renew their licenses every year,
and radio signals were broadcast via government transmitters. Stations
are required by law to broadcast 30 minute government-produced
newscasts twice daily. The Shin Corporation, which belonged to Prime
Minister Thaksin's family, owned iTV, the country's only independent
television station. However, iTV's programmers generally were free to
determine the nature and content of the station's broadcasts.
Media reform efforts to establish an independent National Broadcast
Commission (NBC) to assign broadcast frequencies and regulate the
broadcast sector remained stalled. In 2003, the Supreme Court rejected
a selection committee's proposed NBC membership list due to a lack of
transparency in the selection process. At year's end, the names of 14
candidates were forwarded to the Senate, which was to select the final
7 members comprising the NBC.
Repeated delays in the implementation of the broadcast reforms
resulted in attempts by some to establish their own community radio
studios and transmitters. Because current broadcast regulations
restrict radio frequencies to government entities, these independent
community radio stations technically operated outside the law. A 2003
state community radio policy allowed the stations to continue ``extra-
legal'' operations until laws and regulations were amended. By the end
of the year, over 1,000 independent community radio broadcast stations
were in operation. On September 3, the Government Public Relations
Department (PRD) announced plans to allow 1,500 community radio
stations and permit such stations to broadcast 6 minutes of commercials
a day but limit them to 30 watts of power, a 30-foot antenna, and a
range of 15 to 18 miles. The PRD has attempted to assert its regulatory
control over the community radio stations, citing a 2003 cabinet
resolution empowering the department to regulate all radio stations.
The PRD, with the approval of the Deputy Prime Minister, attempted to
register all community radio stations by the end of the year. Many
community radio operators nationwide opposed these efforts. According
to press reports, on December 14, approximately 200 members of the
National Community Radio Federation threatened to stage a public
protest if the PRD's efforts to register all community radio stations
went forward. They expressed concerns that, if placed under PRD
supervision, ruling government political parties could use the stations
as campaign tools. By mid-December, despite PRD warnings that all
unlicensed community radio operators would be arrested after February
2005, the PRD had received only approximately 500 applications.
Unlike in previous years, journalists were not subject to arrest or
violence by the police or other government forces. Likewise, there were
no reports of criminal, racist, rebel, or terrorist elements
threatening journalists. There also were no reports that the Government
revoked the visas of foreign journalists or confiscated newspapers or
magazines.
The Government did not directly censor the media. The law permits
police closure of newspapers or printing presses in times of war or
national emergency, but only with a court order. It also allows police
to restrict or confiscate publications and other materials for
disturbing the peace, interfering with public safety, or offending
public morals. No such closures or seizures occurred during the year,
nor did the Police Special Branch issue any official warnings. Books
normally were not censored and circulated freely. Police have the
authority to ban the importation of publications but did not exercise
it.
Self-censorship appeared to have increased. In February, the
management of the respected English-language Bangkok Post removed its
editor via promotion. While the Post insisted the change was motivated
by business concerns, media insiders widely believed the move was
occasioned by the editor's sometimes critical stance towards the
administration. Soon after the editor's removal, 80 Post journalists
signed a statement deploring the ``ominous signs'' of political
interference and demanding continued editorial independence. The editor
continued to publish bylined editorials critical of the Government.
The Government reportedly attempted to intervene in the editorial
departments of other newspapers via pressure on the newspapers'
advertisers or allies to end their support if the newspapers continued
to be critical of the Government.
Advertising revenue considerations also reportedly compromised
editorial independence. During the year, the Thai Journalists'
Association claimed some newspapers reconsidered criticism of
government figures who purchased advertising or controlled the
advertising placements of large government-owned entities.
Television stations occasionally censored or ``blacked out''
portions of programming that they deemed politically sensitive or
pornographic. Such self-censorship was more common at state-controlled
stations. A censorship board in the Office of the Prime Minister
reportedly advised broadcasters either verbally or by letter of
specific programs deemed inappropriate or offensive and advised
programmers to be more careful in the future.
During the year, there were several court cases in which entities
in the Government or associated with it used libel laws in apparent
attempts to suppress media criticism. In June, a criminal court
accepted a libel case filed by the Shin Corporation against Supinya
Klangnarong, Secretary General of the NGO Campaign for Popular Media
Reform; the small, Thai-language Thai Post newspaper; and Thai Post's
three editors. The suit stemmed from a July 2003 Post story in which
Supinya said that it appeared the Shin Corporation was a major
beneficiary of the Prime Minister's policies. The Shin Corporation also
filed a $10 million (400 million baht) civil case against the same
defendants. The criminal case was scheduled to begin July 2005, and the
civil case arraignment was to follow the criminal case. Supinya stated
that the suit had discouraged her from further criticizing specific
businesses.
In another high-profile case, in 2002, four Constitutional Court
judges and a state prosecutor filed a libel suit against Prasong
Soonsiri, a former foreign minister and columnist for the opposition
Naew Na newspaper. Prasong had written an article quoting academics who
criticized the Court's acquittal of Prime Minister Thaksin in the 2001
asset-concealment case. On December 3, a criminal court found Prasong
not guilty of defaming the judges but guilty of contempt of court by
failing to respect the acquittal verdict. Prasong received a 1-year
suspended sentence and had to pay a fine of $175 (7,000 baht). The
verdict was generally seen as a victory for Prasong.
Responding to allegations that the freedom of speech provided for
in the Constitution was restricted by these uses of libel law, during
the year, the Prime Minister stated that freedom of speech ``must not
violate others' rights and there are laws for people to sue.''
The Police Special Branch sent a number of ``letters of
cooperation'' requesting the media to be cautious when reporting
sensitive political or social issues, including news that could affect
national security negatively. Although these ``letters of cooperation''
had no legal standing, they may have inspired self-censorship. In
March, the Nation reported that it had acquired a copy of one of these
letters, sent from the National Police to a supervisor of a police-
owned radio station. The letter instructed the recipient to ensure that
an evening news discussion program exclude criticism of the
Government's plan to privatize major state enterprises. The letter,
signed by a police captain, said the PRD wanted daily tapes of the
program hosted by journalist and political activist Samarn Sri-ngarm to
ensure that opposition to privatization plans had not been broadcast.
Samarn's program soon was taken off the air. The Police Special Branch,
the only entity authorized to issue such letters, told diplomatic
representatives that it had not authorized the letter.
Cultural events were more directly censored, usually for reasons of
public decency. Under the 1930 Film Act, theater owners and
broadcasters must submit films they plan to show to the film censorship
board for review. The board is composed of officials representing the
Ministry of Education, the Ministry of University Affairs, the
military, the Department of Religious Affairs, and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. The board may ban a film if its requirement that
portions of the film be deleted are not met. Reasons for censoring
films include violating moral or cultural norms and disturbing the
public order or national security. Theater owners and broadcasters
frequently censored films themselves before submitting them to the
board. According to the board, 4 of the 282 films submitted for review
in 2003 were banned--3 South Korean and 1 American. Officers at the
censorship board cited sexual situations and nudity as the main reasons
for banning the four films.
During the year, for the first time, the Government censored the
Internet directly. Newspapers reported that in December 2003, the
Information and Communications Technology Ministry set up a Cyber
Inspector Team to monitor and ban websites featuring pornography and
other inappropriate content. The chairman of the Cyber Inspector Team
and an advisor to the Prime Minister said the organization was created
in November 2003 and had more than 100 volunteers surveying
``unsuitable'' websites, such as pornography sites and sites offering
illegal products. The Government began distributing a growing blacklist
of websites, both domestic and foreign, to government and private
Internet service providers (ISPs) to be blocked. Compliance by the ISPs
in blocking routine access to these websites was universal. Most of the
sites blocked were deemed pornographic; however, some were blocked for
promoting violent opposition to the Government or secession. According
to the Cyber Inspector Team, by May 13, they had ``closed'' 1,574
websites. All carried content concerning pornography, pornographic
material, anti-Thai goods and services messages, or illegal products
and services. The Government announced that an additional 2,500
websites were blocked in December and included sites hosted within and
outside the country.
Following violence in the south, the Government enhanced efforts to
block websites viewed as threatening to national security. On August
15, a press report said authorities blocked access to the Pattani
United Liberation Organization (PULO) website, which advocated southern
Muslim separatist ideas and violence. The authorities accused PULO of
supporting the unrest. Internet providers enforced the ban, informing
their customers that they had blocked access to the website.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. Permits are not required
for private meetings or gatherings unless held on public property or
organized by foreign nationals; these are granted routinely. Private
associations must register with the Government; such registration was
approved routinely.
On October 25, more than 80 persons died in Pattani, most while in
the custody of security forces, after being detained following a
violent demonstration calling for the release of 6 persons arrested for
illegal weapons sales (see Section 1.a.). There were no other reports
that security forces forcibly disrupted demonstrations during the year.
In December, charges against 20 of the 32 protesters arrested in
2002 after demonstrating in Hat Yai against a gas pipeline were
dropped, and the remaining 12 were freed on bail. In July, the Songkhla
Provincial Court accepted a lawsuit filed by a local NGO against a
provincial police commander involved in the 2002 clashes between police
and demonstrators, which left dozens injured.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, it restricted the activities of some groups. The
Constitution requires that the monarch be a Buddhist. The state
religion in effect is Therevada Buddhism; however, it is not designated
as such.
The Government played an active role in religious affairs. The
Religious Affairs Department, which is located in the Ministry of
Education, registered religious organizations. Under the Religious
Organizations Act, a new religion can be registered if a national
census shows that it has at least 5,000 adherents, represents a
uniquely recognizable theology, and is not politically active. To
register, a religious organization also is required to be accepted into
one of the five officially recognized ecclesiastical groups: Buddhist,
Muslim, Catholic (which includes four Protestant sub-groups), Brahmin-
Hindu, and Sikh. Since 1984, the Government has not recognized any new
religious groups. Government registration conferred some benefits,
including access to state subsidies, tax-exempt status, and
preferential allocation of resident visas for organization officials.
Unregistered religious organizations did not receive these benefits but
operated freely in practice.
The Constitution requires the Government ``to patronize and protect
Buddhism and other religions.'' The Government subsidized the three
largest religious communities (Buddhist, Islamic, and Christian) by
allocating approximately $45.8 million (1.83 billion baht) during the
fiscal year to support these groups. These funds supported Buddhist and
Muslim institutes of higher education, religious education programs in
public and private schools, daily allowances for monks and Muslim
clerics who held administrative and senior ecclesiastical posts, and
travel and healthcare for monks and Muslim clerics. This figure also
included an annual budget for the renovation and repair of Buddhist
temples and Muslim mosques, the maintenance of historic Buddhist sites,
and the daily upkeep of the Central Mosque in Pattani. The Government
provided funding to Christian organizations to support social welfare
projects. Catholic and Protestant groups could request government
support for renovation and repair work but did not receive a regular
budget to maintain church buildings, nor did they receive government
assistance to support their clergy. Private donations to registered
religious organizations were tax deductible.
Religious instruction in Buddhism and Islam was required in public
schools at both the primary (grades 1 through 6) and secondary (grades
7 through 12) education levels. Students in each grade also took a
course called ``Social, Religion, and Culture Studies.'' The course
contained information on all five of the recognized religions in the
country. Students who wished to pursue indepth studies of any religions
could study at a religious school and transfer credits to a public
school.
In May, the Government began registration of over 200 traditional
Islamic ``pondok'' schools in the Provinces of Yala, Pattani, and
Narathiwat. In the past, these previously unregistered Islamic
religious schools had no government oversight or funding.
The Government permitted foreign missionary groups to work freely
throughout the country. The number of officially registered foreign
missionaries was limited to a religious and denominational quota
established in 1982, but religious organizations reported that
unregistered missionaries were able to proselytize. Activities of
Muslim professors and clerics were subjected to disproportionate
scrutiny on national security grounds.
Muslims, who represented between 5 and 10 percent of the country's
population nationwide and constituted the majority in four of the five
southernmost provinces, also experienced some economic discrimination.
The Government attempted to address the problem by maintaining
longstanding policies designed to integrate Muslim communities into
society through developmental efforts and expanded educational
opportunities.
Under the 1935 Civil Servant Uniform Act, Muslim female civil
servants were not permitted to wear headscarves when dressed in civil
service uniforms. Muslim female civil servants who were not required to
wear uniforms were allowed to wear headscarves. In practice, most
female civil servants were permitted by their supervisors to wear
headscarves if they wished to do so, particularly in the country's
southernmost provinces.
The 1962 Sangha Act specifically prohibits the defamation or insult
of Buddhism and the Buddhist clergy. The Penal Code prohibits the
insult or disturbance of religious places or services of all of the
recognized religions in the country.
Violence committed by suspected Islamic militants in the southern
provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla, and Yala affected the
ability of some Buddhists in this predominantly Muslim region to
undertake the full range of their traditional religious practices.
During the year, unknown assailants killed at least four Buddhist monks
and attacked several Buddhist temples and one Chinese shrine. In three
incidents, unknown assailants beheaded Buddhist civilians and left
notes warning that other Buddhists might share the same fate. A number
of monks reported that they no longer were able to travel freely
through southern communities. Monks also claimed that, out of fear of
being targeted by militants, laypersons sometimes declined to assist
them in their daily activities.
On almost a daily basis, militants continued to kill government
officials, such as teachers and railway employees, in the southern part
of the country. Many officials presumed that the killing of Buddhist
monks and laypersons who apparently were targeted solely because of
their religious beliefs was intended to increase interfaith tensions.
Interfaith tension varied greatly from district to district, and, in
some locales, even from village to village. The violence contributed to
an atmosphere of fear and suspicion in the southern provinces; however,
it did not result in open communal conflict.
The Government stationed troops to protect religious practitioners
and structures in communities where the potential for violence existed
and provided armed escort for Buddhist monks where necessary. The
Government also offered compensation to the families of 106 Islamic
militants killed while attacking security forces on April 28 and
allocated funds for the restoration of the Krue Se Mosque, which
soldiers damaged during the fighting (see Section 1.a.).
Government officials reportedly continued to monitor Falun Gong
members, although with decreased vigilance. The Falun Gong group in the
country submitted an application to register as an association with the
National Cultural Commission and an application with the police to
print and distribute a weekly magazine. At the end of the year, both
requests were pending consideration by authorities, but the group was
able to print and distribute religious materials both in Thai and
Chinese on a small, informal basis for free distribution.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for the right
of citizens to change their residence or workplace, and the authorities
generally respected this right in practice; however, there were some
exceptions. Longstanding written restrictions remained in effect on the
travel and domicile of certain Vietnamese resident aliens who
immigrated to the country in 1945 and 1946 and on Chinese who
immigrated between 1953 and 1961. In addition, other longtime
noncitizen residents, including hundreds of thousands of ethnic Shan
and tens of thousands of other members of tribes, were required to seek
permission from local authorities or the army for foreign and domestic
travel. Registered resident aliens moved freely within the country.
There were periodic unconfirmed reports that the Government
continued to monitor the movements of Tibetan and democracy activists,
as well as members of the Falun Gong.
The Government limited the economic sectors and provinces in which
migrant workers may hold jobs. The Government offered legal
registration for illegal migrant workers. Approximately 1.2 million
migrants registered (see Section 6.e.).
The Government did not extend displaced person status to the many
members of the Shan ethnic minority who crossed the border fleeing the
effects of forced relocation, other human rights violations, and
sporadic fighting in Shan State, Burma. However, in May 2002, the
Government granted temporary shelter to approximately 450 Shan who fled
fighting in Burma across the border from Chiang Mai Province. In 2002,
the Government announced plans to repatriate the group. The Government
later delayed the repatriation following an appeal by NGOs. No effort
was made by the Government to repatriate the group, and local civilian
and military authorities said they would be allowed to stay as long as
their home districts in Burma were unsafe to return to. At year's end,
the group, numbering 650 persons, remained in the country; some were
staying at temporary shelters provided by the Government, while others
were residing with relatives in the country.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
practice it.
The law does not provide for granting asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol; however, the Government cooperated with
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. During the year, the Government
continued to provide temporary protection to Lao asylum seekers and
many Burmese. The Government continued to allow the UNHCR to monitor
and provide protection to more than 140,000 Burmese refugees designated
by the Government and the UNHCR as ``persons of concern'' living in 9
camps along the frontier with Burma. However, the Government prohibited
the UNHCR from maintaining a permanent presence in the border camps and
officially registering new refugees.
In July, the Government deported 16 Lao nationals convicted of
illegal immigration and weapons violations. The UNHCR was denied access
to these persons to assess claims made through their attorney for
political asylum.
Along the border with Burma, the Government generally provided
temporary protection to new arrivals. In 1999, provincial refugee
screening committees were established to determine eligibility to enter
the refugee border camps. Entrance was limited to those fleeing actual
fighting rather than on broader grounds of persecution on the basis of
race, religion, ethnic group, social class, or political opinion. Since
2002, Ministry of Interior (MOI) officials in the border provinces have
opted not to convene refugee screening committees. The UNHCR and the
MOI continued discussions on reconstituting these boards. The
unregistered population in the refugee camps continued to increase. In
late November, the UNHCR began updating its earlier camp census using a
computerized registration that included photographs, fingerprints, and
family histories of all those living in the nine camps. This process
was expected to be completed by mid-2005.
The Government allowed NGOs to provide food, medical services,
housing, and other services to Burmese refugees near the border.
However, the Government did not allow NGOs to aid ethnic Shan refugees.
Government officials periodically arrested Burmese outside designated
camps as illegal aliens, including some recognized as ``persons of
concern'' by the UNHCR. Those arrested generally were taken to the
border and released without being turned over to Burmese authorities.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to choose or
change their government peacefully through free and fair elections
based on universal suffrage. The country is a democratically governed
constitutional monarchy.
Since 1992, there have been five national multiparty elections,
which transferred power to successive governments through peaceful,
democratic processes. The King exerts strong informal influence but
never has used his constitutionally mandated power to veto legislation
or dissolve the elected bicameral Parliament. Voting is compulsory.
Eligible voters who fail to exercise their franchise, except for those
excused, are subject to the loss of certain rights, including the right
to be a candidate in future elections. The Constitution prohibits
Buddhist monks and nuns from seeking public office. The most recent
parliamentary elections were held in January 2001. The election process
generally was viewed as free and fair; however, it was marred by
widespread vote buying, a recurrent problem. Exercising its
constitutional mandate to prevent election fraud, the Election
Commission dismissed polling results and held a total of 5 rounds of
re-votes in 72 constituencies due to ``election irregularities.''
During the campaign before the 2001 vote, there were 25 killings of
political canvassers, at least some of which were motivated politically
(see Section 1.a.). In February 2001, the coalition Government of Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai Party was formed. The next
general election was scheduled to be held February 6, 2005.
Corruption in the executive branch was widely acknowledged by the
public. The acceptance of bribes by police and local government
authorities for routine services was common. The NCCC reported that,
through June, it had more than 6,000 pending investigations of
corruption of government officials; of these, 1,122 had been reported
during the year. In November, former Public Health Minister Rakkiat
Sukthana began serving a 15-year prison sentence for corruption. Two
other high-profile cases involved a former Member of Parliament (M.P.)
and a provincial vice governor. The Constitutional Court barred the
former M.P. from any political activity for 5 years. The vice governor
was relieved of his duties, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office
confiscated some of his assets. In August, the Prime Minister announced
a ``war on corruption.'' At year's end, details of this effort had not
been released in detail to the public.
The Constitution and the 1997 Official Information Act both provide
access to public information. If a government agency denies a citizen's
request for information, a petition may be made to the Official
Information Commission. From January to July, 124 petitions and 103
appeals were made. Approximately 99 percent of the petitions were
approved. Requests for public information may be denied for reasons of
national security, law enforcement, and public safety.
There were 40 women among the 453 remaining members of the 500-
member House of Representatives and 21 women in the 200-member Senate.
(During the year, a total of 47 members of the House resigned to be
able to run for reelection, which reduced the number of House members
to 453.) There were 2 women in the 35-member Cabinet. Although half of
civil service employees were women, only 15 percent held senior
positions. Few ethnic minorities held positions of authority in
national politics. Muslims from the south held significant elected
positions, although they continued to be underrepresented in appointed
local and provincial government positions. There were 8 Muslim and 2
Christian Senators, and 16 Muslim and 3 Christian Members of the House
of Representatives. Two M.P.s were hill tribesmen.
Noncitizen members of hill tribes were barred from participating in
the political process (see Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights
organizations generally operated without government restriction,
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
Government officials often were cooperative and responsive to their
views. Several international organizations have a permanent presence in
the country, including the ICRC and many U.N. agencies. However, NGOs
that dealt with sensitive political issues, such as the Burmese
democracy movement, faced periodic harassment.
Very few NGOs were accorded tax-exempt status, which sometimes
hampered the ability of domestic human rights organizations to secure
adequate funding.
The Government met and cooperated with visitors from the ICRC and
the UNCHR throughout the year. In November, the UNCHR Special
Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings requested
permission to visit the country following the incident in Tak Bai in
October (see Section 1.a.). At year's end, the Government had not
publicly announced a date for the visit.
The NHRC was active during the year. As an independent government
entity, it submitted an annual evaluation of the human rights situation
to the National Assembly, proposed policies and recommendations for
amending laws to the National Assembly, promoted measures to educate
citizens on human rights, and investigated human rights abuses. Modest
staffing and resources, as well as the lack of power to prosecute or to
punish violators, hampered the NHRC's ability to carry out its mandate.
In August, the NHRC released a draft report on the human rights
situation covering the years 2001 to 2003. The report accused the
Government of significant human rights violations, including
extrajudicial killings in the 2003 ``war on drugs.'' Other allegations
included government interference with the media and executive branch
circumvention of the required legislative approval for government
projects. The report accused the Government of ``regressing toward a
culture of authoritarianism, instead of progressing to a culture of
human rights.''
In July, military authorities searched the quarters of 15 students
from Prince of Songkhla University who were working as human rights
volunteer researchers under the auspices of the NHRC. According to the
NHRC, the students stopped working on human rights issues for the
commission due to fear for their personal safety. In May, media reports
indicated that some NHRC commissioners received written death threats
following the commission's investigations of alleged human rights
abuses in the southern region of the country.
Both Houses of Parliament maintained subcommittees on human rights.
The Senate subcommittee was active in investigating allegations of
human rights abuses in the south.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal treatment under the law without
respect to race, sex, religion, disability, language, or social status;
however, in practice, some discrimination existed, and government
enforcement of equal protection statutes was uneven.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a significant problem
and occurred across all social classes. Specific laws concerning
domestic violence have not been enacted. A few domestic violence crimes
were prosecuted under Penal Code provisions for assault or violence
against the body of a person. Domestic violence often went unreported,
and the police often were reluctant to pursue reports of domestic
violence. Reliable statistics on rates of domestic violence were
difficult to obtain. A 2003 study by the Institute for Population and
Social Research at Mahidol University found that up to 41 percent of
the women surveyed in Bangkok had experienced some type of physical or
sexual violence. NGO-supported programs designed to aid victims
included emergency hotlines, temporary shelters, counseling services,
and a television program that intended to increase awareness of
domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, and other issues involving women. The
Government's ``one-stop'' crisis centers, located in state-run
hospitals, continued to care for abused women and children but faced
budget difficulties.
Rape is illegal. Through July, the Police Department reported 2,966
reported rape cases nationwide. There are no provisions for prosecuting
spousal rape. According to academics and women's rights activists,
rapes and domestic assaults were underreported, in part because law
enforcement agencies were perceived to be incapable of bringing
perpetrators to justice. Police sought to change this perception and
encouraged women to report sexual crimes through the use of teams of
female police officers who operated in metropolitan Bangkok police
stations and in three other provinces. The Criminal Code specifies a
range of penalties for rape or forcible sexual assault, depending on
the age of the victim, degree of assault, and the physical and mental
condition of the victim after the assault. The minimum penalty is
imprisonment for 4 to 20 years and a fine of $200 to $1,000 (8,000 to
40,000 baht). If firearms or explosive are used, or if it is a serial
rape, the penalty increases to 15 to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine
of $750 to $1,000 (30,000 to 40,000 baht). Life imprisonment or
execution is possible for cases in which the victim is injured or
killed. A sentence of 4 to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine ranging
from $200 to $1,000 (8,000 to 40,000 baht) is imposed for statutory
rape of a child under 15 years of age. If the victim is under 13, the
jail term ranges from 7 years' to life imprisonment. The Criminal Code
also provides that any individual convicted of the same criminal
offense for the second time within 2 years is liable to increased
penalties for recidivism. Police officials increasingly used these
powers, and the Government reported 211 persons arrested (in 103 cases)
in 2003. Eighty-six cases were referred for prosecution. There were 11
convictions, mostly from arrest cases dating to 2002 and 2003. Victims
of sexual abuse were eligible to receive state financial aid of up to
$750 (30,000 baht).
Prostitution is illegal, but it flourished. Prostitution often was
protected by local officials with a commercial interest in it (see
Sections 1.d. and 5, Trafficking). Trafficking in women and children
for prostitution was a serious problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Government and NGO estimates of the number of women and children
engaged in prostitution varied widely. Many NGOs and government
departments reported a figure of 200,000 persons, which was considered
conservative. In 2000, the Commission on Women's Affairs estimated that
approximately 20 percent of prostitutes were children. There were
reports that women were forced into prostitution in border areas, but
the number of such cases was difficult to determine. The majority of
prostitutes were not kept under physical constraint, but a large number
worked under debt bondage (see Section 5, Trafficking). The
Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act makes child prostitution
illegal and states that customers who patronize child prostitutes are
subject to criminal sanctions. Parents who allow a child (defined as
under 18 years of age) to enter the trade also are subject to criminal
sanctions. During the year, there were three arrests and no
prosecutions of parents who allowed a child to enter the trade. NGOs
and government agencies provided shelter, rehabilitation, and
reintegration programs for children and women involved in the sex
industry.
Sex tourism was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The Labor Protection Act makes sexual harassment illegal but covers
only persons working in the formal private sector. NGOs claimed that
the legal definition of harassment was vague and made the prosecution
of harassment claims difficult. No sexual harassment cases were
prosecuted during the year. A senior politician accused of sexually
harassing a female journalist in 2002 withdrew his libel lawsuit
against her newspaper after the newspaper announced that the alleged
incident was only a ``misunderstanding.''
The Constitution provides for the equality of all citizens;
however, some inequalities in the law remained. For example, a man may
sue for divorce on the grounds that his wife committed adultery, but a
woman faces the additional legal burden of proving that her husband
publicly has acknowledged another woman as his wife. Assets are shared
equally at divorce. Women born in wedlock inherit property on an equal
basis from their parents; women born out of wedlock must prove before a
court their parental relationship to receive their inheritance.
Women had equal access to higher education, and more than half of
university graduates were women. However, police and military academies
(except for the nursing academy) did not accept female students,
although a significant number of instructors at the military academies
were women. Women constituted 48 percent of the labor force and held an
increasing share of professional positions. Women also were able to own
and manage businesses freely. Government regulations require employers
to pay equal wages and benefits for equal work, regardless of gender.
Nonetheless, discrimination in hiring was common, and there was a
significant gap between the average salaries earned by men and women
because women were concentrated in lower-paying jobs. In practice,
women also received lower pay for equal work in virtually all sectors
of the economy. A 2001 Ministry of Labor survey revealed that, on
average, men earned 17 percent more than women.
The National Human Rights Commission Act specifies that at least
one-third of the members of the NHRC be women; during the year, 5 of
the 11 commissioners were women. The Women and Constitution Network, a
league of 52 women's organizations, advocated legal reforms to address
inequities in the treatment of women. It continued to play an important
role in securing the inclusion of gender-equality clauses in
legislation that created new government organizations mandated by the
Constitution.
Children.--The Constitution provides children equal protection
under the law. Education is compulsory through grade 9 and free through
grade 12. In general, girls and boys attended primary and secondary
schools in equal numbers. An estimated 96 percent of children completed
grade 6, and 48 percent completed grade 12. Young girls were prohibited
by religious practice from enrolling in religious schools restricted to
Buddhist monks or novices.
Although there were 52 Juvenile Observation and Protection Centers
nationwide, children were tried in the same courts as adults and
detained with adults in some regions of the country.
The Criminal Code provides for the protection of children from
abuse, and laws on rape and abandonment carry harsher penalties if the
victim is a child. During the year, police were reluctant to
investigate abuse cases, and rules of evidence made prosecution of
child abuse difficult. The law is designed to protect witnesses,
victims, and offenders under the age of 18, and procedures allow
children to testify on videotape in private surroundings in the
presence of a psychologist, psychiatrist, or other social worker with a
judge's consent. However, many judges declined to use videotaped
testimony, citing technical problems and the inability to question
accusers and defendants directly in court. Persons charged with
pedophilia are charged under appropriate age of consent and
prostitution laws. Victims' testimony is handled under the provisions
of the Child Friendly Procedure Act.
Trafficking in children, including for commercial sexual
exploitation, remained a serious problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Pedophilia continued, both by citizens and by foreign sex tourists. The
Government, university researchers, and NGOs estimated that there were
as many as 30,000 to 40,000 prostitutes under 18 years of age, not
including foreign migrants. The Prostitution Prevention and Suppression
Act of 1996 made child prostitution illegal and provided for criminal
punishment for those who use prostitutes under 18. Parents who allow a
child to enter the trade also are punishable. However, custom and
tradition made it rare that children accused their parents in court
proceedings. Despite press reports detailing a number of such cases,
only three arrests occurred.
Child labor remained a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Although it was difficult to estimate the numbers, there were
believed to be approximately 20,000 street children in major urban
centers. Many were thought to come from neighboring countries,
especially Cambodia and Burma. Bangkok authorities attempted to provide
shelters; however, resources were inadequate, and many of the children
reportedly avoided the shelters for fear of being detained and expelled
from the country.
There were many local NGOs that worked to promote children's rights
in the country. Employers' organizations, such as the Employers'
Confederation of Thailand, also were involved in child labor issues.
These organizations received good working support from the Government.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, the country was a source, transit, and destination for
trafficking in women and children for a variety of purposes, including
indentured servitude, forced labor, and prostitution. Some local
officials, immigration officers, and police reportedly either were
involved in trafficking directly or took bribes to ignore it. Penalties
vary according to the age of the victim and the method of trafficking.
In general, the law provides for imprisonment of a year to life
imprisonment and a fine of $50 to $1,000 (2,000 to 40,000 baht). For
offenses against children between 15 and 18 years of age, the potential
punishment is 3 to 15 years of imprisonment and a fine of $150 to
$1,000 (6,000 to 40,000 baht). For offenses against children under 15
years of age, the penalty ranges from 5 to 20 years' imprisonment and a
fine of $250 to $1,000 (10,000 to 40,000 baht). If the offence is
committed with deceit, threat, physical assault, immoral influence, or
other mental coercion, the sentences and fines may be increased by one-
third.
In January, the Parliament amended the Anti-Money Laundering Act to
include the 1997 Measures in Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking
in Women and Children Act as a predicate offense. During the year,
officials acted to seize assets of suspected traffickers in six cases.
In general, the Government cooperated with governments of other
countries in the investigation of transnational crimes, including
trafficking. The receiving country generally initiated trafficking case
investigations in instances where Thailand was the origin country. The
Government intensified efforts to investigate rings associated with
smuggling female citizens abroad. The law allows for extradition of its
nationals; however, no citizens were extradited for trafficking-related
offenses. Several requesting-country nationals charged with
trafficking-related crimes, including pedophilia, were extradited to
Japan, Australia, and Germany.
There were no reliable estimates of the magnitude of the
trafficking phenomenon in the country. Some portion (thought by the
U.N., NGOs, and the Government to be a minority) of the estimated
200,000 to 300,000 sex industry workers in the country were either
underage or in involuntary servitude or debt bondage. These
organizations believed women and children (particularly girls) tended
to be the most frequent trafficking victims. Although it drew less
attention, anecdotal evidence suggested that the trafficking of men,
women, and children into other labor fields, such as commercial
fisheries or sweatshop work, was a significant portion of all
trafficking. Several discoveries were made of groups of young migrant
women and girls, particularly from Laos, employed in indentured
servitude and in physical constraint in sweatshops. NGOs assisted some
victims to obtain back wages from abusive employers.
Within the country, women were trafficked from the impoverished
northeast and the north to Bangkok for sexual exploitation. However,
internal trafficking of women appeared to be on the decline, due to
prevention programs and better economic opportunities. Women also were
trafficked to Japan, Malaysia, Bahrain, Australia, South Africa,
Europe, and the United States, chiefly for sexual exploitation but also
for sweatshop labor. Men were trafficked into the country for
commercial fisheries and farm, industrial, and construction labor.
Prosecution of traffickers of men was complicated by the lack of
coverage contained in the 1997 Trafficking in Women and Children Act.
Women and men were trafficked from Burma, Cambodia, the People's
Republic of China (PRC), and Laos for labor and sexual exploitation.
Boys and girls were trafficked chiefly from Burma and Cambodia
primarily for sexual exploitation and to work in begging gangs. Young
children, either orphans or those sold by their families, were among
them. Entire families occasionally were trafficked for labor in
sweatshops. Underage boys reportedly were brought into the country for
specialized work in which small size was an advantage. According to
domestic NGOs, girls between the ages of 12 and 18 continued to be
trafficked from Burma, southern PRC, and Laos to work in the commercial
sex industry. Social workers noted that young girls were prized because
their clients believed that they were free of sexually transmitted
diseases. Persons trafficked from the PRC often were in transit to
other countries, although women and girls from Yunnan Province
generally were destined for brothels in the north. Generally victims
from Yunnan Province were lured into the country with promises of
restaurant or household work and then were pressured or physically
forced into prostitution.
The U.N. Economic and Social Council and NGOs believed that the
lack of citizenship status for some hill tribe women and children was a
strong risk factor for becoming victims of trafficking. Although
members of this group were not a large percentage of trafficking
victims, they were found in disproportionately large numbers in
situations entailing the worst forms of trafficking.
Trafficking within the country and from neighboring countries into
the country tended to be perpetrated by loosely organized small groups
that often had close ties in the source communities. Burmese, Laotian,
Cambodian, and Thai individuals were involved in labor trafficking
along the border. Informal chains of acquaintance often were used to
recruit trafficking victims. In some cases, the traffickers themselves
were former victims, particularly where the sex industry was the
destination. There were credible reports that low-ranking police and
immigration officials transported women destined for brothels from the
border to Bangkok and other areas of the country.
The trafficking of Thai prostitutes abroad, and that of Chinese
nationals using the country as a transit point, was done by
sophisticated and well-financed international criminal syndicates that
sometimes cooperated with each other and at other times competed
violently. Low- and mid-ranking immigration police officers at
Bangkok's international airport also were implicated in facilitating
the travel of Thai sex workers and Chinese nationals using false
passports and other documentation.
Police personnel were poorly paid and were accustomed to taking
bribes to supplement their income.
The majority of prostitutes were not kept under physical
constraint, but a large number worked in debt bondage. Brothel
procurers reportedly advanced parents a substantial sum against their
child's future earnings, frequently without the consent of the child
involved, who was then obligated to work in a brothel to repay the
loan.
Many female citizens were trafficked to Japan for sexual
exploitation. Traffickers promised victims lucrative legitimate
employment or made false promises regarding wages, working conditions,
or the nature of the work. According to Human Rights Watch, upon the
victims' arrival in Japan, the traffickers confiscated their passports,
demanded repayment for their ``purchase,'' charged the victims for
living expenses and care, and fined them for misbehavior. Traffickers
often restricted the women's movements, threatened them and their
families, isolated them, and used violence to punish them for
disobedience.
Because foreign women frequently were unable to speak the language
and were considered illegal immigrants, they were particularly
vulnerable to physical abuse and exploitation. Some women were lured
into the country with promises of jobs as waitresses or domestic
helpers but ended up working as prostitutes. Illegal immigrants had no
rights to legal counsel or health care if arrested. The amnesty
provisions available under UNHCR auspices did not apply to such women.
In May, a series of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between
government agencies and between the Government and domestic NGOs
provided some detailed police procedures to assist with the problem of
trafficked persons being detained by the authorities. The agreements
stated that the training of police officers would include instructions
to treat such persons as victims of human trafficking rather than as
illegal immigrant workers. Instead of being deported, they become the
responsibility of the Public Welfare Department. However,
implementation of the MOUs continued to be erratic during the year, due
to insufficient training of law enforcement officials and their
unfamiliarity with the law.
Official corruption facilitating the worst forms of trafficking in
persons was generally at the low- and mid-levels. There was no evidence
that high-level officials benefited from or protected the practice.
Compromised local police protected brothels and other sex venues from
surprise raids. Corrupt immigration officials assisted (both indirectly
and directly) the movement of Burmese, Lao, and Chinese women and girls
into the country, and of Chinese victims out of the country to the
United States and other destinations. Officials found complicit in any
part of the illegal economy rarely were prosecuted but instead were
moved to positions thought to limit opportunities for future
corruption.
Several NGOs, both local and international, and government agencies
worked with trafficking victims. However, the Government faced severe
budgetary limitations on its ability to fight trafficking and to aid
its victims.
In general, victims pending repatriation were brought to
government-run shelters or, in the case of noncitizens, to NGO-run
shelters. The repatriation process took up to 6 months. Through
September, the main government shelter in Bangkok received
approximately 385 women and children from neighboring countries and 287
Thai citizens, including women found in voluntary prostitution and
domestic abuse cases. There were no reliable statistics on how many of
these persons were victims of trafficking. The Government provided
food, medical care, and limited psychological counseling.
Trafficking victims received limited legal assistance from NGOs and
Department of Welfare officials, and they generally were informed of
the option of pursuing legal action against the trafficking
perpetrators. However, relatively few opted to do so; language
barriers, illiteracy, distrust of government officials, the lengthy
legal processes, and fear of the traffickers played a role. Trafficking
victims illegally in the country were not allowed to obtain employment
while awaiting repatriation, even if they were involved in legal
proceedings against the trafficker.
In February, police began an information campaign in Bangkok and
Pattaya to increase public awareness of trafficking. More than 50,000
posters detailing the various forms of the crime were placed at public
transportation venues, along heavily traveled roads, and in residential
neighborhoods. Pamphlets were distributed at police stations and
neighborhood police boxes. A hotline number for reporting suspected
cases was included in the campaign.
The Government entered into cooperative arrangements with local
industries, especially the hotel industry, to encourage youth
(particularly girls) to find employment outside of the sex industry and
other areas of exploitative work. Vocational training programs aimed at
high school students also received funding. Although the vocational
training was not intended explicitly for trafficking prevention, the
practical effect was to increase the range of choices for recent school
graduates.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Constitution provides for access to
public facilities and prohibits employment and education discrimination
against persons with disabilities; however, the Government did not
enforce these laws effectively.
The Constitution mandates access to public buildings for persons
with disabilities, but laws implementing the provisions have not been
enacted. The regulation that makes compliance mandatory was not
enforced during the year. Persons with disabilities who register with
the Government are entitled to free medical examinations, wheelchairs,
and crutches.
Activists continued to work to amend laws that allow employment
discrimination against persons with disabilities.
The Government provided 5-year interest-free small business loans
for persons with disabilities. At year's end, 4,820 persons with
disabilities had been granted loans totaling $2.4 million (96 million
baht).
During the year, an estimated 225,000 children with disabilities
attended school. The Government reported that 12,550 students were
enrolled in the 43 special schools for students with disabilities; the
remaining were enrolled in regular public schools. Nationwide, there
were 9 government-operated and 15 NGO-operated training centers for
persons with disabilities. However, with little education, very few
adults with disabilities were able to find employment. Many of those
who found employment were subjected to wage discrimination. A 1991 law
requires private firms to hire 1 person with a disability for every 200
other workers or contribute to a fund that benefits persons with
disabilities, but this provision has never been enforced. Government
officials estimated that between 20 and 30 percent of firms disregarded
the law. Some state enterprises had discriminatory hiring policies.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Chinese Nationalist remnants
and children of Vietnamese immigrants who resided in five northeastern
provinces lived under laws and regulations that could restrict their
movement, residence, education, and occupation (see Section 2.d.).
Indigenous People.--Members of hill tribes without proper
documentation, who accounted for approximately half of the estimated 1
million members of hill tribes, continued to face restrictions on their
movement, could not own land, and were not protected by labor laws,
including minimum wage requirements. The law provides that citizenship
is not automatically granted to children born to persons living
illegally or without status in the country. Lack of citizenship could
make hill tribe persons vulnerable to other abuses and exploitation,
such as trafficking (see Section 5, Trafficking). They sometimes were
denied adequate education and health care. Those residing in national
parks or wildlife sanctuaries were subject to eviction. As noncitizen
residents, they also were barred from participating in the political
process (see Section 3).
In 2000, the Ministry of Interior, through two Cabinet resolutions,
redefined the category of hill tribe residents eligible for citizenship
to include previously undocumented tribal persons, now collectively
called ``highlanders.'' The definition includes persons who formerly
were defined either as indigenous or migrants. The regulations are
designed to ease the requirements to establish citizenship by allowing
a wider range of evidence, including testimony from references, and
empowering local officials to decide cases. Approximately one-half of
the potentially eligible candidates have received citizenship since the
regulations were enacted. Activists reported that widespread corruption
and inefficiency at all levels, including among highland village
headmen and government officials, contributed to a backlog of pending
citizenship applications, which remained an obstacle for many hill
tribe persons to obtain full citizenship.
On July 23, 41 persons were arrested for illegally trespassing on
national forest land. Those arrested were members of the Palaung hill
tribe minority group and did not have citizenship; at year's end, they
remained in prison in Chiang Mai.
A total of 105 of the 1,243 persons in Chiang Mai Province whose
citizenship had been revoked regained citizenship through genetic
testing. They had lost their citizenship in 2002 when Government
officials claimed that irregularities in the issuance of their
identification documents invalidated their claim to citizenship. The
remainder of the persons won a ruling in Chiang Mai Administrative
Court that restored their citizenship, but the Government appealed the
ruling in the Supreme Administrative Court. Individual appeals with the
Ministry of Interior on a case-by-case basis continued at year's end.
Hill tribe members continued to be objects of societal
discrimination arising from the belief that they were involved in drug
trafficking and environmental degradation. Hill tribes occasionally
were subjected to indiscriminate searches of villages for illegal drugs
(see Section 1.f.). In Chiang Rai, provincial authorities required all
drug addicts to register with village committees and to join the
program. Those who registered were granted immunity from prosecution.
The program was aimed at separating drug addicts from drug traffickers.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The spread of HIV/AIDS
was estimated to have infected approximately 1.8 percent of the
population. During the year, the Government took measures to improve
its support of persons with HIV/AIDS. For example, the Government
provided funds to HIV/AIDS support groups, continued public debate at
the highest levels of political leadership, sustained public education
and media campaigns to alter unsafe behavior, started effective pilot
projects to help lead policy, and included all segments of society in
the fight against the transmission of the disease. Societal
discrimination against persons with AIDS most often was found in the
form of a psychological stigma associated with rejection by family,
friends, and community. There were reports of persons dying due to
psychological withdrawal after being abandoned by their family. Reports
of workplace discrimination were received by local AIDS hotlines,
confirming that some employers refused to hire persons who tested
positive following employer-mandated blood screening.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all private sector
workers to form and join trade unions of their choosing without prior
authorization; however, the law provides inadequate protection of
workers who participate in union activities. Union leaders and academic
observers reported that employers often discriminated against workers
seeking to organize unions. During the year, employers used loopholes
in the Labor Relations Act to fire union leaders prior to government
certification of unions. Trade union leaders can be dismissed for any
reason, provided severance payment is made. In such circumstances, the
law does not provide for reinstatement. In cases where the labor court
finds that dismissal was for union activity and was illegal,
reinstatement is provided for, but there are no punitive sanctions for
employers.
Union officials must be full-time employees of the enterprise. This
prohibition against permanent union staff limited the ability of unions
to organize and be politically active. The Labor Relations Act also
allows only two outside government-licensed advisors to a union. Union
leaders and outside observers complained this restriction interfered
with the ability to train union members and develop expertise in
collective bargaining.
Less than 4 percent of the total work force but nearly 11 percent
of industrial workers and over 50 percent of state enterprise workers
were unionized. Cultural traditions, unfamiliarity with the concept of
industrial relations, efforts by the Government to diminish union
cohesiveness, and the sizeable agricultural and informal sectors (where
unions are not permitted) were cited as reasons for low rates of labor
organization.
State enterprise employees can join organizations of workers in the
private sector, but only at the level of confederations. This
restriction effectively divided the trade union movement along public
and private sector lines. However, unofficial contacts at the union
level between public and private sector workers continued, and the
Government did not interfere with these relationships.
Some corrupt private sector union leaders were exploited by
politicians or employers, but public unions generally operated
independently of the Government and other organizations. Internal
conflicts, corruption, and a lack of leadership weakened the labor
movement.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right of citizen private-sector workers to organize
and bargain collectively; however, the Government's efforts to protect
this right were weak. The Labor Relations Act defines the mechanisms
for collective bargaining and for government-assisted conciliation and
arbitration in cases under dispute. In practice, genuine collective
bargaining occurred only in a small fraction of workplaces, and, in
most instances, it continued to be characterized by a lack of
sophistication on the part of worker groups and autocratic attitudes on
the part of employers. Wage increases for most workers came as a result
of increases in the minimum wage rather than as a result of collective
bargaining. The process of setting minimum wages locally through
provincial tripartite committees may further limit union influence;
many of these provincial committees excluded labor representatives and
placed factory managers on the wage committees to represent worker
interests. The minimum wage increase in the year did not keep pace with
inflation. The Government sets wages for both civil servants and state
enterprise employees under the State Enterprise Labor Relations Act
(SELRA) (see Section 6.e.).
The Government has the authority to restrict private sector strikes
that would affect national security or cause severe negative
repercussions for the population at large; however, it seldom invoked
this provision and did not do so during the year. Labor law also
forbids strikes in ``essential services,'' which is defined much more
broadly than in the International Labor Organization (ILO) criteria,
and includes sectors such as telecommunications, electricity, water
supply, and public transportation as essential services. The law also
prohibits termination of employment of legal strikers; however, some
employers used unfavorable work assignments and reductions in work
hours and bonuses to punish strikers. Employers are legally permitted
to hire workers to replace strikers. SELRA provides public sector
employees in state enterprises the same rights to organize as exist in
the private sector. SELRA prohibits lockouts by employers and strikes
by state enterprise workers. Ongoing antiprivatization protests by
state enterprise employees of the Electrical Generating Authority of
Thailand were undermined by management threats of demotions and
undesirable work assignments against some workers who assembled outside
of work hours. Strike action in the private sector was constrained by
the legal requirement to call a general meeting of trade union members
and to have a strike approved by 50 percent of unionists. During the
year, there was 1 legal strike involving 1,700 workers, and there were
4 lockouts involving 1,876 workers.
The law prohibits antiunion actions by employers; however, it also
requires that union committee members be full-time employees of the
company, which makes them vulnerable to employers seeking to discipline
workers who serve as union officials or who attempt to form unions.
A system of labor courts exercises judicial review over most
aspects of labor law for the private sector. Workers also may seek
redress for grievances through the Tripartite Labor Relations
Committee. The law authorizes the Ministry of Labor to refer any
private sector labor dispute for compulsory arbitration by a
government-appointed group other than the Labor Relations Committee.
Although the legal authority seldom was used, the ILO viewed this
provision as acceptable only in defined essential services. Redress of
grievances for state enterprise workers is handled by the State
Enterprise Relations Committee. Labor leaders generally were satisfied
with the treatment that their concerns received in these forums,
although they complained that union leaders unjustly dismissed were
awarded only back wages with no punitive sanctions against the
employer. This limited any disincentive for employers to fire union
organizers and activists.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
export processing zones (EPZs), in which wages and working conditions
often were better than national norms because of the preponderance of
foreign-based multinational firms. However, union leaders alleged that
employers' associations were organized to cooperate in discouraging
union organization. Unions existed in the automobile and petroleum
production facilities located in EPZs.
Noncitizen migrant workers, whether registered or illegally
present, did not have the right to form unions or serve as union
officials; however, registered migrants may be members of unions
organized and led by citizens. From July through September, the
Ministry of Labor offered a registration program for foreign workers
residing illegally in the country, most of whom were from Burma. Few,
if any, of the 1.2 million migrants who registered joined unions.
Attempts by registered migrant factory workers in factories to
carry out work stoppages to demand minimum and back wages led to mass
deportations, resulting from apparent collusion between factory owners
and local government immigration officials.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, except in
the case of national emergency, war, or martial law; however, the
Government was unable to enforce these provisions effectively in the
large informal sector. During the year, there were reports of
sweatshops in which employers prevented workers, primarily foreign
migrants, from leaving the premises. There were no estimates of the
number of such sweatshops, but the growing number of migrants from
Burma, Cambodia, and Laos increased the opportunities for such abuse.
NGOs and the ILO reported that thousands of underage boys and girls
were brought into the country for labor on farms or in sweatshops, and
very young children were used to work in street begging gangs.
Forced and bonded labor by children occurred (see Section 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--In
general, sufficient legal protections exist for children in the formal
economic sector. The Labor Protection Act is the primary law regulating
employment of children under the age of 18. Employment of children
under 15 is prohibited in compliance with ILO Convention 138, which the
Government ratified in May. However, the law does not cover the
agricultural and informal sectors, including domestic work, which
employ the majority of persons in the workforce, including many child
workers. The minimum working age is coordinated with the mandatory
national educational requirement. To comply with ILO convention 182,
the Government drafted a national strategy to eliminate the worst forms
of child labor. At year's end, approval by the Cabinet was pending the
appointment of a national-level subcommittee to implement the strategy.
However, child labor remained a problem, particularly in small-scale
industry and agricultural sectors. Contradictory statistical surveys by
various government agencies, which largely ignored foreign children and
those in illegal industries, made an estimate of the scope of the
phenomenon difficult.
The law permits the employment of children between the ages of 15
and 18 only in ``light work,'' where the lifting of heavy loads and
exposure to toxic materials or dangerous equipment or situations is
limited. The law prohibits employment of children at night (from 10
p.m. to 6 a.m.), or in places in which alcohol is served. It was
estimated that approximately 1 million children worked on family farms.
NGOs reported that 2 to 4 percent of children between the ages of 6 and
14 worked illegally in urban areas; such children were at risk of
becoming victims of other abuses of labor laws. Most underage workers
in urban areas worked in the service sector, primarily in gasoline
stations, small-scale industry, and restaurants. Child labor was not
evident in larger export-oriented factories. However, there was no
comprehensive survey of child labor in smaller enterprises, since NGOs
did not have access to shop house factories. A 2002 survey by the
National Statistics Office reported 10,728 children were employed in
domestic work. NGOs reported child domestic workers were predominantly
foreign, migrating from Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. Most were in the
country illegally, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation.
Minimum wage and age provisions of the Labor Protection Act do not
apply to domestic workers, some of whom were believed to be under 15
years of age.
The worst forms of child labor occurred in the country. Children
(usually foreign) were exploited in street selling, begging, and
prostitution in urban areas, sometimes in a system of debt bondage.
Some were sold or otherwise trafficked by parents or other relatives
(see Section 5). An ILO study noted that drug merchants in Bangkok used
male children as delivery boys. Narcotics sellers preferred boys
because they were undemanding and were not charged as adults if
arrested. Instead, they were remanded to police-run correctional homes.
The Ministry of Labor is the primary agency charged with enforcing
child labor laws and policies. During the year, there were 2,354 labor
inspection officers, including labor ministry officials and policemen
who registered as labor inspection officers. Enforcement of child labor
laws was not rigorous, and inspectors usually responded only to
specific public complaints, reports of absences by teachers, or reports
in newspapers. Their inclination when dealing with violators was to
negotiate promises of better future behavior rather than seek
prosecution and punishment. Inspection of private homes to monitor the
welfare of child domestic workers was hampered by the legal requirement
to obtain a warrant. In 2003, 1,869 child labor inspections and
investigations were performed; 64 resulted in fines or other penalties.
The Government funded 200,000 scholarships for poor citizen and
stateless children (children of ethnic minorities born in the country).
The intent of the scholarship program was to provide educational
opportunities for children who otherwise might be forced by poverty to
find work. In July, the Government registered 79,200 migrant children
15 years of age and younger, the first time minors had been given
temporary residence permits under migrant labor policy. Government
officials stated the new measure would permit foreign children access
to the public school system. NGOs reported that this new provision was
implemented only if the employer of the migrant parent provided
evidence regarding the parent's status to school authorities. In most
cases, the employer did not do so.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage ranged from
$3.33 to $4.23 (133 baht to 169 baht) per day, depending on the cost of
living in various provinces. The minimum wage was set by provincial
committees that sometimes included only employer representatives. This
wage was not adequate to provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family. With extended family members' financial
contributions, the minimum wage provided the basis for a marginally
adequate overall standard of living. The official poverty rate was 78
cents (31 baht) per day, which permitted survival only in areas where
subsistence agriculture was possible. The Ministry of Labor is
responsible for ensuring that employers adhere to minimum wage
requirements (applicable to the formal sector); however, nationwide,
academics estimated one-third of formal sector workers received less
than the minimum wage, especially those in rural provinces. Despite
encouragement of employees to report violations to labor inspectors,
the enforcement of minimum wage laws was mixed. Many labor laws,
including the minimum wage law, do not apply to undocumented workers,
primarily hill tribe members and illegal aliens. An estimated 1 to 2
million unskilled and semiskilled migrant workers worked for wages that
were approximately one-half the minimum wage.
The Government mandated a uniform workweek of 48 hours, with a
limit on overtime of 35 hours per week. Employees engaged in
``dangerous'' work, such as in the chemical, mining, or other
industries involving heavy machinery, legally may work a maximum of 35
hours per week and are not permitted overtime. The petrochemical
industry is excluded from these regulations.
Working conditions varied widely. The official rate of injury from
industrial accidents remained relatively constant over the last 10
years at 4.5 percent of the total work force. The Ministry of Labor
stated that the average annual rate of work-related deaths was 15 per
100,000 workers. However, these rates applied only to industrial sector
workers; the rate of incidents occurring in the larger informal and
agricultural sectors, and among migrant workers, was thought to be
higher. Occupational diseases rarely were diagnosed or compensated, and
few doctors or clinics specialized in them. Stress-related disorders
and complications resulting from botched abortions were reported by
medical workers treating the 50,000 young migrant women employed in
textile factories along the Burma border. In medium-sized and large
factories, government health and safety standards often were applied,
but enforcement of safety standards was lax. In the large informal
sector, health and safety protections were substandard.
Provisions of the Labor Protection Act include expanded protection
for pregnant workers by prohibiting them from working on night shifts,
overtime, holidays, or working with dangerous machinery or on boats.
Employers of migrant women often fired workers who became pregnant.
The Ministry of Labor promulgates health and safety regulations
regarding conditions of work; however, the inspection department
enforced these standards ineffectively, due to a lack of human and
financial resources. There is no law affording job protection to
employees who remove themselves from dangerous work situations.
Redress for workers injured in industrial accidents was rarely
timely or sufficient. Few court decisions were handed down against
management or owners involved in workplace disasters.
__________
TONGA
The Kingdom of Tonga is a constitutional monarchy stretching over
170 islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. Political life is dominated
by the King, the nobility, and a few prominent commoners. The
unicameral legislative assembly consists of the Cabinet; 9 nobles
elected by the 33 hereditary peers; and 9 representatives elected by
the general population in periodic free and fair elections. The
Constitution requires that parliamentary elections be held every 3
years. The most recent election was held in 2002; the next
parliamentary election is scheduled for March 2005. The judiciary
generally is independent; however, there were allegations that it
occasionally was subject to royal influence.
The security apparatus consists of the Tonga Defense Services (TDS)
and a police force. The civilian authorities maintained effective
control of the security forces. The Minister of Defense controls the
430-man TDS force; the Minister of Police and Prisons directs the
police force. There were no reports that members of the police
committed human rights abuses.
The country had a population of approximately 100,100 and a per
capita gross domestic product of approximately $1,660. The economy was
based primarily on the cultivation of tropical and semitropical crops.
The rate of economic growth was approximately 2.8 percent. Wages and
benefits largely kept pace with inflation. The demand for imported
goods and products led to a substantial trade deficit, which was offset
largely by remittances from overseas citizens, foreign aid, and, to a
lesser degree, tourism.
The Government's human rights record remained poor. Citizens do not
have the right to change their government. At times, the authorities
infringed on freedom of speech and press by confiscating newspapers. On
October 8, a Tongan court determined that such actions were
unconstitutional and ordered restrictions removed; the Government
promptly took steps to comply. In addition, during the year, a
defamation suit brought by a government minister in 2003 against a
newspaper over a story alleging perjury was dismissed. Some women
suffered from domestic violence; women also faced discrimination as
well as limited employment and economic opportunities. In practice, the
right to form labor unions was restricted by the lack of implementing
regulations.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, on
June 18, two prison escapees claimed they were tortured for prison
infractions. One maintained he was stripped to his underwear, chained
to a concrete deck, and exposed to the elements for 2 days. The other
alleged he was also stripped and then chained by his wrists to outdoor
cell bars above his head in ``a mosquito infested area'' for 2 days.
The Government did not challenge the claims, and no action against
officials responsible was reported.
Prison conditions were Spartan but reflected local living
standards. There were separate facilities for pretrial detainees and
convicted prisoners, men and women, and adults and juveniles. Church
representatives and family members were permitted to visit prisoners.
No nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) attempted to monitor prison
conditions, and the permissibility of such visits did not arise.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions. The Constitution provides for the right to judicial
determination of the legality of arrest, and this was observed in
practice. There are no statutory limits on the length of time a suspect
may be held prior to being charged. There were no reports of preventive
detention or other lengthy pretrial detention. The law permits
unlimited access by counsel and family members to detained persons;
however, there reportedly were instances in which detainees were denied
legal counsel.
The police force is composed of approximately 400 officers under
the control of the Minister of Police and Prisons. Incidents of bribe-
taking and other forms of corruption reportedly occurred.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The judiciary generally provided citizens with a
fair and efficient judicial process. The judiciary, whose highest-
ranking judges historically have been foreign nationals, was generally
independent; however, on occasion it was subject to royal influence.
Judges hold office ``during good behavior'' and otherwise cannot be
dismissed during their terms.
The court system consists of the Supreme Court (which has original
jurisdiction over all major cases), the Police Magistrates' Court, a
general court, a court-martial for the TDS, a court tribunal for the
police force, and a court of review for the Inland Revenue Department.
The Court of Appeal is the highest court. The King's Privy Council
presides over cases relating to disputes over titles of nobility and
estate boundaries. According to the Constitution, the King, with the
consent of the Privy Council, has the right to commute death sentences
in cases of murder or treason, the only crimes for which capital
punishment can be imposed. Under the same statutes, the King may also
commute sentences and free prisoners.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. A court may not
summon anyone without providing a written indictment stating the
charges. Defendants are presumed innocent, are entitled to counsel,
have a right of appeal, and are entitled to bail; lawyers have free
access to defendants.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, at times the authorities
infringed on these rights.
There were eight newspapers and newsmagazines in print: three
weeklies, one of which was government owned; three monthlies; one
bimonthly; and one quarterly. There were two privately owned television
stations and one government-owned station. The government-owned radio
station broadcast on AM and FM frequencies. There were three privately
owned radio stations. Government-controlled media outlets were
criticized for exercising self-censorship.
On October 8, the Chief Justice ruled that the November 2003
Newspaper Act and Media Operators Act were invalid and
unconstitutional. This followed the May 2003 ruling that a government
ban on the Taimi 'o Tonga was illegal. These attempts to control the
press had spurred strong public opposition. Following the October 8
judgment, the Government promptly took measures to comply with the
judgment, and on October 15, the Taimi 'o Tonga resumed distribution.
The Human Rights and Democracy Movement in Tonga alleged the
Government regularly censors foreign-origin news reports about the
country.
While there was little editorializing in the government-owned
media, opposition opinion in the form of letters to the editor, along
with government statements and letters, appeared regularly. From time
to time, the national media carried comments critical of government
practices and policies, including some by prominent citizens.
The law allows suits by government officials and other individuals
against media outlets that publish allegedly defamatory remarks. A
former Minister of Justice brought a suit against the Tonga Star
newspaper in 2003 for defamation of character. In November, the former
Minister lost both his suit and his attempt to claim legal fees from
the newspaper.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom or Internet
access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. However, the Constitution states that Sunday, the Sabbath, is
to be ``kept holy'' and that no business can be conducted ``except
according to law.'' Although an exception is made for hotels and
resorts that are part of the tourism industry, the Sabbath day business
prohibition was enforced strictly for all businesses, regardless of the
business owners' religion. At year's end, the Legislature amended the
law to expand the number of businesses that could operate on Sunday.
Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) guidelines require that
religious programming on Radio Tonga be confined ``within the limits of
the mainstream Christian tradition.'' The TBC did not allow members of
the Baha'i Faith to discuss the tenets of their religion or to refer to
the founder, Baha'ullah, by name. Similarly, the TBC did not allow the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) to discuss its
founder, Joseph Smith, or the Book of Mormon by name. However, members
of the Baha'i Faith used a privately owned radio station for program
activities and the announcement of functions, and Mormons and members
of some other faiths were permitted to use Radio Tonga for the
announcement of church activities and functions. A government-owned
newspaper occasionally carried news articles about Baha'i activities or
events, as well as those of other faiths.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice. Citizens were free
to travel within the country and abroad.
The Constitution and law do not prohibit forced exile, but the
Government did not employ it in practice.
The Government has not established a system for providing
protection to refugees. No person was known to have applied for refugee
status. The issue of the provision of temporary protection has never
arisen.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens do not have the ability to change their leaders or the
system of government. The King and 33 hereditary nobles dominated
political life. They asserted authority largely through control of
substantial landholdings and their dominant numbers in the legislative
assembly (Parliament). While the Constitution allows the monarch broad
powers, many of which do not require the legislative branch's
endorsement, at times the King permitted the legislative system to
operate without his guidance. The King appoints the Prime Minister and
appoints and presides over the Privy Council (called the Cabinet when
the King is not presiding), which makes major policy decisions. The
Cabinet is composed of nine ministers and two governors; it included
both nobles and commoners, all serving at the King's pleasure. The
King's son, Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, served as Prime Minister.
During most of the year, the Prince also held five other ministerial
portfolios, including defense and foreign affairs; however, he gave up
the latter two portfolios in September.
The unicameral legislative assembly consists of the Cabinet, nine
nobles elected by their peers, and nine representatives elected by the
general population. The King appoints the Speaker from among the
representatives of the nobles. Cabinet members and nobles usually voted
as a bloc.
In September, seven of the representatives elected by the general
population submitted proposals for political reform to the legislative
assembly. One proposal called for a referendum in 2005 that would amend
the Constitution to give citizens the right to elect all members of
Parliament, and another would give the King the power to appoint the
Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers from among the elected
Parliamentarians. On November 11, the Prime Minister announced that
four new ministers would be appointed after the March 2005 election--
two selected from elected nobility and two from elected representatives
of the people. This would mark the first time for elected
representatives of the people to serve in the Cabinet.
Only citizens 21 years or older and resident in the country may
vote. Parliamentary elections in 2002, deemed to be free and fair,
resulted in a strong showing for pro-democracy candidates on the main
island of Tongatapu. The royalist political group Kotoa was a
counterweight to the pro-democracy movement. The next parliamentary
elections were scheduled for March 2005.
In 2002, the Government launched an economic and public sector
reform program, led by a Cabinet Reform Committee composed of five
teams. The teams included members of the Chamber of Commerce and
provided the only opportunity for the general population to participate
in the reform program. Late in 2003, the Government began implementing
the program, and in June it began a survey of work performed by higher-
paid public servants.
No woman has ever served as a government minister. During the year,
there were no female Members of Parliament. A woman may become queen,
but the Constitution forbids a woman to inherit other noble titles or
become a chief.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There are no legal barriers to the formation of domestic human
rights NGOs. Some domestic NGOs dealt with human rights issues, but
none undertook investigations of alleged violations. During the year,
there were no restrictions on operations by international human rights
groups and no known requests for investigations.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Social, cultural, and economic facilities were available to all
citizens regardless of race or religion, but members of the hereditary
nobility had substantial advantages, including control over most land
and a generally privileged status. It was possible for ordinary
citizens to hold cabinet positions in government and to accumulate
great wealth and status in the private sector.
Women.--Societal violence against women seldom was publicized, but
it was a growing problem. Incidents of domestic violence generally were
addressed in traditional ways within families or by village elders.
Such abuse seldom was reported to the police. Domestic violence can be
prosecuted under laws against physical assault. Abused wives sometimes
returned to their families if mediation failed. There were shelters,
most church affiliated, for abused and troubled women, and the Free
Wesleyan Church operated a hotline for women in trouble.
Rape is punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to 15 years.
The law does not recognize spousal rape and states that carnal
intercourse by a man and his wife shall not under any circumstance be
deemed rape.
Prostitution per se is not illegal, but activities such as
soliciting in a public place, procuring, operating a brothel, and
trading in women are criminal offenses. Sexual harassment is not a
crime, but physical sexual assault could be prosecuted as indecent
assault.
Women held several significant government posts, including
Secretary to the Cabinet in the Prime Minister's Office and Secretary
of Foreign Affairs. Women also headed the Office of Crown Law and the
Government Central Planning Office. The majority of commissioned
officers in the police force were women. For a woman to rise to a
position of leadership, she usually needed the support of the nobility.
The King's mother reigned for 46 years, and a royal princess was among
the country's most prominent businesspersons. Some female commoners
held senior leadership positions in business.
Inheritance laws, especially those concerned with land,
discriminate against women. Women can lease land but not own it. Under
the inheritance laws, the claim to a father's estate by a male child
born out of wedlock takes precedence over the claim of the deceased's
widow or daughter.
The Center for Women and Children, an NGO under the auspices of the
Catholic Church, focused on domestic abuse and improving the economic
and social conditions of women and also offered counseling to women in
crisis.
Children.--The Government is committed to children's human rights
and welfare, and it provides some funding for children's welfare.
Education is compulsory from ages 6 to 14. Education was available for
all children through Form 6 (high school). Almost all children attended
school.
The Government provided free basic medical care to children. Child
abuse was rare, and the extended family generally participated in child
rearing.
Trafficking in Persons.--While the law does not specifically
address trafficking in persons, violators could be prosecuted under
antislavery statutes. There were no reports that persons were
trafficked to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There are no mandated provisions for
services for persons with disabilities. There were no reported
complaints of discrimination in employment, education, or provision of
other government services. The education of children with special needs
has been a longstanding priority of the Queen.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the Ministry of
Labor, ownership and operation of food retail stores in the country has
been legally restricted to citizens since the early 1980s. However, the
retail sector in many towns has become increasingly dominated by
foreigners, particularly Chinese nationals. During the year, the
Immigration Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attempted to
enforce the restrictions in an effort to curb growing illegal
immigration. Although some foreigners left as a result of the policy,
others moved to nonrestricted sectors of the economy.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Workers gained the right to form
unions under the 1963 Trade Union Act, but regulations on the formation
of unions were never promulgated, and there were no unions. The
Friendly Islands Teachers Association and the Tonga Nurses Association
were incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act; however, they
had no formal bargaining rights under the act.
The act provides workers with the right to strike; however,
implementing regulations never have been formulated. There were no
reports of strikes during the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective
bargaining is permitted by law, but there was no record of it being
utilized during the year.
Labor laws apply in all sectors of the economy, including the two
small export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for
Employment.--Although there is no legislation prohibiting child labor,
the practice did not exist in the wage economy.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no minimum wage law,
although there are government guidelines for wage levels. Labor laws
and regulations, enforced by the Ministry of Labor, Commerce, and
Industries, limited the workweek to 40 hours. The Ministry of Labor
enforced laws and regulations in the wage sector of the economy,
particularly on the main island of Tongatapu. Enforcement in the
agricultural sector and on the outer islands was limited.
Few industries exposed workers to significant danger, and
industrial accidents were rare. The Government seldom addressed
industrial safety standards, including the right of workers to remove
themselves from dangerous work situations.
__________
TUVALU
Tuvalu is a parliamentary democracy. The head of state is Queen
Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor General, who must be a
citizen of the country. The country has no formal political parties. In
2002, citizens elected a 15-member unicameral Parliament in free and
fair elections. A prime minister is selected by Parliament. The
judiciary is independent.
The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the 70
member police constabulary, the country's only security force. There
were no reports that security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country has a population of approximately 10,000 persons on 9
atolls, scattered over approximately 350,000 square miles of the
central South Pacific Ocean, containing approximately 10 square miles
of dry land. The primarily subsistence economy relied mainly on
coconuts, taro, and fishing. Remittances from citizens working abroad,
the sale of postage stamps, and the sale of fishing licenses to foreign
vessels provided additional foreign exchange. The country also relied
on interest income generated by the Tuvalu Trust Fund and sales of the
``.tv'' Internet country designation, which earned approximately $3.3
million in 2003. The country's isolation limited opportunities for
economic development.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. Traditional customs and
social behaviors, often considered equivalent to law, have led to some
social discrimination. Allegations of nonaccountability, financial
mismanagement, and conflicts of interest regarding officials of all
four government ministries continued to be voiced. Parliamentary
travel, management of the country's Internet designation rights, and
the acceptances of high-value gifts by government officials have also
been criticized. Women traditionally occupy a subordinate role, with
limits on their job opportunities.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them. Local hereditary
elders exercised considerable traditional authority, including the
right to inflict corporal punishment for infringing customary rules,
which can be at odds with the national law. However, during the year,
there were no reports of corporal punishment.
The country has one minimum-security prison facility, which is
segregated by sex. Adults were held at this facility, and children were
remanded to their family's custody. The men's section could accommodate
35 inmates, the women's section 20. During the year, the number of
prisoners was far below the maximum capacity; there were no female
prisoners at year's end. There also was a holding cell at the police
station for detentions of less than 24 hours. Pretrial detainees were
usually released on their own recognizance. Pretrial detainees charged
with a serious crime, such as homicide, could be held in the prison; in
practice, this did not occur.
Detentions longer than a week were rare; more commonly, a person
was jailed overnight on charges of inebriation. While prison conditions
were somewhat Spartan, they generally met international standards, and
complaints were minimal.
The question of prison visits by human rights groups did not arise.
Visits by church groups and family members were permitted.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The police may hold a person for no more than 24 hours without a
hearing before a magistrate. There were no reports of police abuse.
Warrants are required but rarely were necessary in a state with a
population so small that the police as a group literally knew every
citizen.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
There is a two-tier judicial system. Higher courts include the
Privy Council, the Court of Appeal, and the High Court. Lower courts
consist of senior and resident magistrates, the Island Court, and the
Land Court. The High Court is presided over by an expatriate Chief
Justice appointed by the Governor General and generally holds court
once a year.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The Constitution
provides that the accused must be informed of the nature of the offense
with which they are charged and provided the time and facilities
required to prepare a defense. The People's Lawyer (public defender)
expressed concern that bureaucratic delays sometimes resulted in
several months passing before an accused was informed of the charges.
The right to confront witnesses, present evidence, and appeal
convictions is provided by law. Procedural safeguards are based on
English common law. The services of the independent People's Lawyer are
paid by the Government and available to all citizens without charge.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the media, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
In 2001, the country's sole radio station, formerly controlled by
the Government, was converted by statute to the status of a public
corporation, the Tuvalu Media Corporation (TMC). According to the TMC's
charter, the Secretary to Government serves as the Chairman of the
Board, and the Prime Minister's duties include oversight of the TMC. In
practice, all copy to be broadcast by the TMC must be approved by the
Secretary to Government, and he reportedly has blocked or delayed
stories favorable to the opposition. Videotapes circulated freely and
were widely available; however, pornography in all forms is illegal.
There were no government restrictions on Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that
villages banned new religious groups. In 2003, the island council of
Nanumanga reportedly banned the newly formed Tuvalu Brethren Church.
The head of the Tuvalu Brethren Church filed a complaint against the
island council. In September, the High Court heard the case but at
year's end had not rendered a decision.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government
generally observed this prohibition.
The Government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. No
person has applied for refugee status, and the issue of the provision
of temporary protection has never arisen. The Government has not
formulated a policy regarding refugees, asylees, or temporary
protection. There were no reports of the forced return of persons to a
country where they feared persecution.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Citizens freely and directly elect a 15-member
unicameral Parliament whose normal term is 4 years. Each of the
country's nine atolls is administered by a six-person council, also
elected by universal suffrage to 4-year terms. The minimum voting age
is 18 years.
The Cabinet consists of the Prime Minister, elected by secret
ballot from among the Members of Parliament (M.P.s), and four other
ministers, appointed and removed from office by the Governor General,
with the advice of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister may appoint
or dismiss the Governor General on behalf of the British monarch. The
Prime Minister may be removed from office by a parliamentary vote of no
confidence.
Elections held in 2002 were free and fair. Of the 15 members
elected to Parliament, 6 were serving their first term. The new
Parliament elected Saufatu Sopoanga, a former civil servant, as Prime
Minister. In August, Sopoanga lost a parliamentary vote of confidence.
However, he continued to hold office in a ``caretaker'' capacity until
October 12, when Maatia Toafa, a Sopoanga ally, was named Prime
Minister.
There were no formal political parties; however, Parliament
informally was divided between a faction that supported the Sopoanga
Government and a faction that did not.
From November 2002 to October 2003, then Prime Minister Sopoanga
refused to convene Parliament to avoid a likely no-confidence vote that
would have removed him from power. Further delaying tactics kept
Sopoanga in office, even though for most of that period, the opposition
held a majority in Parliament. However, the August election, occasioned
by a vote of no confidence in Sopoanga, replaced pro-government
parliamentarians with members of the former opposition.
Laws against corruption are weak. Allegations of nonaccountability,
corrupt travel, financial mismanagement, and conflicts of interest
regarding officials of all four government ministries continued to be
voiced. Parliamentary travel to Taiwan, management of the country's
``.tv'' rights, and acceptance of high-value gifts by government
officials have also been criticized.
Laws provide for annual, public, ministerial reports, but
publication was spotty and often nonexistent. The Auditor-General's
Office, responsible for providing government oversight, was
underfunded, lacked serious parliamentary support, and as a consequence
continued to lack adequate staff and resources.
Participation by women in government and politics was limited,
largely due to cultural traditions. There were no female M.P.s or
cabinet ministers.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
While no known barriers block their establishment, there were no
local nongovernmental organizations concerned solely with human rights.
Some human rights advocates operated under the aegis of the Tuvalu
Association of Nongovernmental Organizations, which was composed
primarily of religious organizations. The People's Lawyer, who served
as a public defender, also monitored sentencing, equality before the
law, and human rights issues in general. This institution was supported
by the Government, which frequently sought its advice. At times, it has
been critical of the Government; however, there have been no
allegations of human rights violations committed by the Government and
no known requests for investigations.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
creed, sex, or national origin, and the Government observed these
prohibitions. However, a scarcity of wage-paying jobs and the
traditional culture limited women's job opportunities.
Women.--Violence against women was rare. Domestic violence was
relatively infrequent and was not a source of societal concern. Rape is
a crime punishable by a minimum sentence of 5 years' imprisonment;
however, spousal rape is not included in the legal definition of this
offense. The People's Lawyer has sought to broaden public knowledge of
women's rights, particularly in regard to spousal rape and domestic
abuse.
Prostitution and sex tourism are illegal. While there are no laws
prohibiting sexual harassment, the Penal Code provides specific
recourse against indecent behavior, which includes lewd touching.
Women increasingly held positions in the health and education
sectors and were more active politically. In an economy with few wage-
paying jobs, women held the clear majority of clerical and retail
positions. In 2000, the Government established a Women's Department in
the Ministry of Internal Affairs; however, it took no significant
action during the year.
Children.--The Government provided commensurate funding for
children's welfare within the context of its total available resources.
Education was compulsory for children through age 13. Students competed
for academic scholarships to attend universities overseas or
participated in vocational training focusing on subsistence farming and
maritime training for men and computer or other business training for
women.
The Government provided free medical care for children through age
18.
There were no reports of child abuse.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits procurement of persons
within and across borders for purposes of prostitution, but it does not
mention or prohibit trafficking specifically. However, there were no
reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There were no known reports of
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment,
education, or in the provision of other state services. There are no
mandated accessibility provisions for persons with disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of association. Workers were free to organize unions and choose
their own labor representatives, but most of the population lacked
permanent employment and was engaged in subsistence activity.
Public sector employees such as civil servants, teachers, and
nurses, who totalled fewer than 1,000 persons, were members of
professional associations that did not have union status. The only
registered trade union, the Tuvalu Seamen's Union, had approximately
600 members, who worked on foreign merchant vessels.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for conciliation, arbitration, and settlement procedures in
cases of labor disputes. Although there are provisions for collective
bargaining, in practice private sector employers set wages. Both
private and public sectors generally used nonconfrontational
deliberations in a local, multipurpose meeting hall to resolve labor
disputes rather than use legal procedures.
The law provides for the right to strike, but no strike has ever
taken place.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits children under the age of 14 from working. The law also
prohibits children under 15 years of age from industrial employment or
work on any ship and stipulates that children under the age of 18 are
not allowed to enter into formal contracts, including work contracts.
Children rarely were employed outside the traditional economy of
subsistence farming and fishing.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage, set by the
Government, was sufficient to allow a worker and family in the wage
economy to maintain a decent standard of living. The biweekly minimum
wage in the public (government) sector was $91.65 ($A130), regardless
of sex and age. In most cases, the private sector adopted the same
minimum wage rate.
The Labor Office may specify the days and hours of work for workers
in various industries. By law, the workday is set at 8 hours. The
majority of workers were outside the wage economy.
The law provides for rudimentary health and safety standards. It
requires employers to provide an adequate potable water supply, basic
sanitary facilities, and medical care. The Ministry of Labor, Works,
and Communications is responsible for the enforcement of these
regulations, but in practice it provided only minimum enforcement.
Workers can remove themselves from work situations that endanger
health or safety without jeopardy to their jobs; the law also protects
legal foreign workers.
__________
VANUATU
Vanuatu is a parliamentary democracy. The Constitution provides for
parliamentary elections based on universal suffrage every 4 years,
through which citizens may change their government freely. The 52
member Parliament elects the Prime Minister as the Head of Government.
An electoral college composed of the Members of Parliament (M.P.s) and
the chairmen of the country's six provincial government councils elects
the President as the Head of State. The latter's powers are largely
ceremonial, except when appointing judges or acting on the advice of
the Council of Ministers, who are appointed by the Prime Minister.
There also is a Council of Chiefs that provides recommendations on
matters relating to custom and traditional practices. Political
legitimacy is based on majority rule. Parliamentary majorities have
been unstable. The most recent elections, held in July, were considered
generally free and fair. After much parliamentary maneuvering, a
coalition government was formed with Serge Vohor of the Union of
Moderate Parties (UMP) as Prime Minister; however, on December 11,
Parliament ousted Vohor in a vote of no confidence and elected Ham Lini
to replace him. The judiciary is generally independent of executive
interference, although there were tensions between the two branches
during the year.
The Police Commissioner commands the country's small police force,
including its paramilitary wing, the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF). The
country has no military force; the VMF has both domestic and external
security responsibilities. The civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the police; however, police officials
on occasion have acted peremptorily or at the direction of senior
politicians attempting to settle scores or intimidate opponents. There
were reports that a few members of the police committed human rights
abuses.
The economy is market based, with tourism the biggest source of
foreign exchange. The population was approximately 213,000, more than
80 percent of whom were engaged in subsistence farming and fishing. The
service sector, composed primarily of government, tourism, and an
offshore financial sector, was the largest component of the formal
economy. Real gross domestic product grew by 1.6 percent in 2003. Wages
and benefits generally kept pace with inflation. Per capita income was
estimated at $1,180 in 2003, a decrease since independence in 1980 when
adjusted for inflation. In February, Cyclone Ivy struck the country and
extensively damaged infrastructure, housing, crops, and water supplies.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas, including poor
prison conditions, arrests without warrants, an extremely slow judicial
process, restrictions on access to government-owned radio and
television stations by the political opposition, and violence and
discrimination against women.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed torture. There were a few
reports of abuses by police.
Prison conditions were poor at both the small, dilapidated central
prison in Port Vila and the prison in Luganville, where conditions
generally were regarded as worse than in Port Vila. Security at both
facilities also was poor. Inmates were treated humanely to the extent
allowed by the meager resources of the prison system.
Female prisoners were held in a separate facility. Pretrial
detainees usually were held in the police lockup rather than the
prison. During the year, with foreign government assistance, the
holding cells at the Port Vila police station were enlarged, and
prisoners were provided access to modern sanitary facilities.
The Government permits prison visits by independent human rights
observers.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these provisions.
The Commissioner of Police heads the police force of approximately
600 officers, including approximately 200 members of the VMF, a
paramilitary unit with responsibility for responding to both internal
and external security threats or other situations requiring the use of
force. The Police Services Commission administers the employment of all
police officers and selects the commissioner. The police generally were
considered effective but were hampered by a lack of resources and by
internal rivalries. Corruption and impunity were not major problems;
however, there were some instances of corruption, and there have been
some instances in which police have acted without proper authorization
at the behest of politicians.
In September, the Chairman of the Police Services Commission was
removed and the Police Commissioner and Mobile Force Commander were
suspended after the police reportedly attempted to arrest the Prime
Minister in connection with a contempt of court charge filed by the
Public Prosecutor after the Prime Minister made disparaging remarks in
Parliament about the Supreme Court's Chief Justice. The Supreme Court
subsequently dismissed the charge. At year's end, appeals of the
suspensions were pending in the courts.
The constitutional provision that suspects must be informed of the
charges against them generally was observed in practice. A warrant
issued by a court is required for an arrest; however, police made a
small number of arrests without warrants during the year, and the
Government deported a foreign national wanted by French authorities
despite a court order barring his deportation.
A system of bail operated effectively; however, some persons not
granted bail spent lengthy periods in pretrial detention due to
judicial inefficiency (see Section 1.e.). Detainees were allowed prompt
access to counsel.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, there were tensions between the
executive and the judiciary during the year regarding the case of a
foreign national deported by the Government despite a court order
barring such action and regarding criticism by Prime Minister Vohor of
the Supreme Court's Chief Justice (see Section 1.d.).
Magistrates' courts deal with most routine legal matters. There
also are island courts at the local level, with limited jurisdiction in
civil and criminal matters. The Supreme Court, an intermediate-level
court, has unlimited jurisdiction over criminal and civil matters and
considers appeals from the magistrates' courts. The President appoints
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after consultation with the
Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition; the three other
justices are appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial
Services Commission. The Appeals Court is the highest appellate court.
It comprises at least three judges, including at least two judges from
the Supreme Court, and often includes senior judges from other common-
law countries in the region. Judges cannot be removed without cause.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. However, the
judiciary was relatively weak and inefficient, and some defendants
spent extended periods in pretrial detention as a result. The judicial
system is derived from British common law. The courts uphold
constitutional provisions for a fair public trial, a presumption of
innocence until guilt is proven, a prohibition against double jeopardy,
a right of judicial determination of the validity of arrest or
detention, and a right of appeal to a higher court.
Judges, prosecutors, and police complained about large case
backlogs due to a lack of resources and limited numbers of qualified
judges and prosecutors. Years can pass before a case is brought to
trial.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution or the law prohibits such actions,
and the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, during the year, Prime
Minister Vohor stated that opposition parliamentarians could not appear
on the government-owned television or radio stations without his prior
permission. He granted no such permission during the year.
The Government controlled the country's one AM and one FM radio
station and a limited service television station that broadcast only to
the capital of Port Vila and the second-largest city, Luganville. The
television station provided daily English and French news service.
Access to international news and information also was available through
subscription satellite television service from two private providers.
There was one independent daily newspaper and two privately owned
semiweekly newspapers. During the year, most international
correspondents, government-owned media, and the independent press
reported criticisms of political leaders freely and apparently without
hindrance. However, at times, some individual politicians and their
supporters have attempted to intimidate the media, although with no
apparent effect.
The Government did not limit access to the Internet; the Internet
and e-mail were increasingly used by business and commercial leaders in
Port Vila and other major towns, but both computers and Internet access
were out of reach for most citizens in the subsistence economy.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Government provided some financial assistance for the
construction of churches affiliated with member denominations of the
Vanuatu Christian Council, provided grants to church operated schools,
and paid teachers' salaries at church operated schools in existence
since the country's independence in 1980. These benefits were not
available to non Christian religious organizations. Government schools
also scheduled weekly religious education classes conducted by
representatives of Council churches. Students whose parents did not
wish them to attend the classes were excused. Non Christian religions
were not permitted to give religious instruction in public schools.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution does not address forced exile, but the Government
did not employ it.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status to persons who meet the definition in the 1951 U.N. Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the
Government has not established a system for providing protection to
refugees. There were no refugee or asylum cases reported during the
year. The Government has no association with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Parliamentary elections are held every 4 years. The
52-member Parliament elects the Prime Minister as the Head of
Government. The Electoral College, composed of M.P.s and the chairmen
of the country's six provincial government councils, elects the
President for a 5 year term. The President's powers are largely
ceremonial except when appointing judges and acting on the advice of
the Council of Ministers; however, the President has the power to
pardon or reduce the sentence of persons convicted of criminal
offenses. This power has been used in the past to absolve political
figures of criminal convictions.
Parliamentary majorities have been unstable, with frequent motions
for votes of no confidence in the government. In October, Parliament
passed proposed amendments to the Constitution that, among other
things, would bar no confidence motions in the first and last years of
a parliament's 4-year term. The amendments would become effective only
if approved in a national referendum, which had not been scheduled as
of year's end.
National parliamentary elections held in July were considered
generally free and fair. Additional police were dispatched to the
island of Tanna after alleged supporters of two unsuccessful candidates
intercepted police escorting ballot boxes to the capital after the
election and reportedly burned several of the boxes. The Government
charged 10 persons for their alleged involvement in the incident,
including the 2 candidates. No further action was taken in the case by
year's end. Following the election, Prime Minister Serge Vohor of the
UMP assembled a coalition parliamentary majority and formed the
Government. However, on December 11, amid allegations of corrupt
dealings, Vohor lost a motion of no confidence in Parliament; Ham Lini
of the National United Party was elected to replace him as Prime
Minister.
Government corruption was a problem. In May, then-President Alfred
Masing Nalo, who had been elected in April, was removed from office
after it was revealed that he had a criminal record, including a
conviction for receiving property dishonestly. In August, lawyer Kalkot
Matas Kelekele was elected President to replace him. Prime Minister
Vohor appointed as his Foreign Minister a former prime minister who was
convicted of forgery in 2002 and sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment; he
was released several months later, after the then-President pardoned
him on medical grounds, and was reelected to Parliament. The Public
Service Act and related guidelines provide for the appointment of
public servants on the basis of merit; however, in practice, political
interference at times has hampered the effective operation of the civil
service.
No law provides for public access to government information. In
practice, governmental response to requests for information from the
media has been mixed.
Traditional attitudes regarding male dominance and customary
familial roles hampered women's participation in economic and political
life. There were 2 women in the 52-member Parliament. There was one
woman in the Cabinet, appointed in December.
There were at least two members of minorities in the Parliament,
one of whom was in the Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There are no restrictions on the formation of human rights
organizations. Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), such as the
National Council of Women and the Family Health Association, included
human rights education as part of their programs. A number of domestic
and international human rights groups operated without government
restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human
rights cases. Government officials tolerated their views.
A government ombudsman is appointed to a 5-year term by the
President in consultation with other political leaders. The 1998
Ombudsman's Act, passed in the wake of parliamentary anger over the
previous Ombudsman's vigorous investigations of official corruption,
requires that the Public Service Commission, not the Ombudsman, appoint
members of the Ombudsman's staff and authorizes the presence of legal
counsel during interviews with the Ombudsman.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
place of origin, religious or traditional beliefs, political opinions,
language, or sex; however, women remained victims of discrimination in
the tradition-based society.
Women.--Violence against women, particularly wife beating, was
common, although no accurate statistics exist. There are no specific
laws against domestic violence; courts occasionally prosecuted
offenders using common law assault as a basis for prosecution. However,
most cases of violence against women, including rape, went unreported
because women, particularly in rural areas, were ignorant of their
rights or feared further abuse. Although rape is a crime, with a
maximum penalty of life imprisonment, spousal rape is not cited
specifically in the law, and police frequently were reluctant to
intervene in what were considered domestic matters. There were no
government programs to address domestic violence, and media attention
to the abuse was limited. There were some facilities for abused women
run by churches and other NGOs. In 2002, the civil procedure rules were
revised to give greater protection to victims of domestic violence by
giving magistrates authority to issue domestic violence protection
orders. These changes were advocated by NGOs such as the National
Council of Women and the Vanuatu Women's Center that also played an
important role in educating the public about domestic violence.
In March, the head of the National Council of Women expressed
concern about alleged abuse of a female finance department worker by a
senior government official. According to press reports, the official
publicly slapped and abused the employee because he wanted priority
given to processing a payment request; the official denied the reports.
Prostitution is illegal and was not regarded as a serious problem.
Although there is no law against sex tourism, none has been reported.
Sexual harassment is not illegal and was a problem. During the year,
the Commissioner of Police and a high ranking chief both made widely
publicized statements against sexual harassment.
While women have equal rights under the law, they are only slowly
emerging from a traditional culture characterized by male dominance, a
general reluctance to educate women, and a widespread belief that women
should devote themselves primarily to childbearing. In 2000, a
disproportionate number of women's positions were abolished during
downsizing of the public service sector. In 2000, as part of the
Government's reform program, policies were drafted to guide the
Department of Home Affairs in protecting and furthering the rights of
women; however, these have not been implemented. The majority of women
entered into marriage through ``bride-price payment,'' a practice that
has encouraged men to view women as property. Women also were barred by
tradition from land ownership. Many female leaders viewed village
chiefs as major obstacles to social, political, and economic rights for
women. Women interested in running for public office received
encouragement and help from the NGO Vanuatu Women in Politics.
Children.--Access to education was limited, and school attendance
was not compulsory. Less than 35 percent of all children advanced
beyond elementary school due to a shortage of schools and teachers
beyond grade six. Boys tended to receive more education than girls.
Although attendance rates were similar in the early primary grades
(approximately 79 percent for boys and 78 percent for girls), fewer
girls advanced to the higher grades. A significant portion of the
population, perhaps as high as 50 percent, was functionally illiterate.
Medical services were free, and there was a program of immunization;
however, the Government had few resources for medical care,
particularly in outlying provinces where there were no hospitals.
Child abuse was not believed to be extensive; however, the
Government did little to combat the problem. NGOs and law enforcement
agencies reported increased complaints of incest and rape of children
in recent years but no statistics were available. Children generally
were protected within the traditional extended family system. Members
of the extended family, particularly paternal uncles, played an active
role in a child's development. Virtually no children were homeless or
abandoned.
Trafficking in Persons.--The Constitution and the law do not
prohibit specifically trafficking in persons; however, there were no
reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no governmental or national
policy on persons with disabilities and no legislation mandating access
to buildings for them. There were no special programs to assist persons
with disabilities. Their protection and care was left to the
traditional extended family and to voluntary NGOs. Due to high rates of
unemployment, there were few jobs available for persons with
disabilities. Persons with mental illness generally did not receive
specialized care; they usually were attended by members of their
extended families.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Most of the population is made
up of Melanesians. Small minorities of Chinese, Fijians, Vietnamese,
Tongans, and Europeans generally were concentrated in two towns and on
a few plantations. Most of the land belongs to indigenous tribes and
cannot be sold, although it sometimes was leased to others. Within the
limits of this system of land tenure, there generally were no reports
of discrimination against ethnic minorities; however, under a law
passed in 2003, only indigenous farmers can grow kava, a native herb,
for export. There was no evidence of ethnic discrimination in the
provision of the limited basic services that the Government provided.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the
right to organize and join unions, and workers exercised this right in
practice. Approximately 25,000 persons participated in the formal
economy as wage earners. Combined union membership in the private and
public sectors was approximately 1,000. The five existing trade unions
are independent of the Government. They are grouped under an umbrella
organization, the Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions (VCTU). All workers
are permitted to join unions. The high percentage of the population
still engaged in subsistence agriculture and fishing precluded
extensive union activity. Unions require government permission to
affiliate with international labor federations. The VCTU is a member of
the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Unions exercise
the right to organize and bargain collectively. They negotiate wages
and conditions directly with management. If the two sides cannot agree,
the matter is referred to a three member arbitration board appointed by
the Minister of Home Affairs. The board consists of one representative
from organized labor, one from management, and the senior magistrate of
the Magistrate's Court. While a dispute is before the board, labor may
not strike and management may not dismiss union employees. However,
unions and management generally reached agreement on wages without
arbitration. Complaints of anti union discrimination are referred to
the Commissioner of Labor; however, none were reported during the year.
While the law does not require union recognition, it prohibits anti-
union discrimination once a union is recognized. The law prohibits
retaliation for legal strikes. In the case of private-sector employees,
complaints of violations would be referred to the Labor Department for
conciliation and arbitration. In the public sector, the Public Service
Commission would handle complaints of violations. Unions are required
by law to give 30 days' notice of intent to strike and to provide a
list of the names of potential strikers.
There were no major strikes during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits children under 12 years of age from working outside of
family-owned agricultural production, where many children assisted
their parents. The employment of children from 12 to 18 years of age
was restricted by occupational category and conditions of labor,
including employment in the shipping industry and nighttime employment.
The Labor Department effectively enforced these laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A legislated minimum wage was
enforced effectively by the Labor Department. Since 1995, it has been
approximately $143 (16,000 vatu) per month for both urban and rural
workers. The minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living
for an urban worker and family. However, most families were not
dependent solely on wages for their livelihood, supplementing incomes
through subsistence farming. Various laws regulated benefits such as
sick leave, annual vacations, and other conditions of employment, such
as a 44-hour maximum workweek that included at least one 24-hour rest
period. The Employment Act, enforced by the Labor Department, includes
provisions for safety standards. Workers have the right to remove
themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to their
continued employment. However, the safety and health law was inadequate
to protect workers engaged in logging, agriculture, construction, and
manufacturing, and the single inspector attached to the Labor
Department could not enforce the law fully.
Laws on working conditions and safety standards apply equally to
foreign workers and citizens.
__________
VIETNAM
Vietnam is a one-party state, ruled and controlled by the Communist
Party of Vietnam (CPV). The CPV's constitutionally mandated leading
role and the occupancy of all senior government positions by party
members ensured the primacy of Politburo guidelines and enabled the
party to set the broad parameters of national policy. In recent years,
the CPV gradually reduced its formal involvement in government
operations and allowed the Government to exercise significant
discretion in implementing policy. The National Assembly remained
subject to CPV direction; however, the Government continued to
strengthen the capacity of the National Assembly. The National Assembly
members were chosen in May 2002 elections in which candidates were
vetted by the CPV's Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), an umbrella group
for the country's mass organizations. Approximately 90 percent of
elected delegates were CPV members. The National Assembly continued to
play an increasingly independent role as a forum for local and
provincial concerns and as a critic of local and national corruption
and inefficiency and made progress in improving transparency in the
legal and regulatory systems. The judiciary was subject to the
influence of the CPV and the Government.
Internal security primarily is the responsibility of the Ministry
of Public Security (MPS); however, in some remote areas, the military
is the primary government agency and provides infrastructure and all
public safety functions, including maintaining public order in the
event of civil unrest. The MPS controls the police, a special national
security investigative agency, and other internal security units. It
also maintained a system of household registration and block wardens to
monitor the population, concentrating on those suspected of engaging,
or being likely to engage in, unauthorized political activities;
however, this system has become less pervasive in its intrusion into
most citizens' daily lives. While the civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were reports
that elements of the security forces acted independent of government
authority. Members of the public security forces committed numerous
human rights abuses.
The country of over 82 million persons was undergoing a rapid
transition from a wholly central planned economy to a ``socialist-
oriented market economy.'' During the first 6 months of the year, the
gross domestic product growth rate was approximately 7 percent and the
inflation rate (the Consumer Price Index) rose 7.2 percent. The
agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors employed 59.04 percent of
the labor force and accounted for 21.1 percent of total economic
output. The private sector, including independent farming and household
businesses, comprised 88.2 percent of the labor force, while the state
sector accounted for 10.3 percent, and the foreign invested sector 1.5
percent. Industry and construction contributed 41.3 percent of total
economic output, while services accounted for 37.6 percent. During the
first half of the year, official development assistance disbursements
achieved $630 million. In the last 10 years, overall poverty levels
decreased significantly; as of 2003, approximately 26 percent of the
population lived below the poverty line. Particularly in Ho Chi Minh
City and Hanoi, economic reforms have raised the standard of living and
reduced CPV and government control over, and intrusion into, citizens'
daily lives; however, many citizens in isolated rural areas, including
members of ethnic minorities in the Northwest Highlands, Central
Highlands, and the central coastal regions continued to live in extreme
poverty. There was a growing income and development gap between urban
and rural areas and within urban areas. Unemployment and
underemployment remained significant problems.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it
continued to commit serious abuses. The Government continued to deny
citizens the right to change their government. Several sources reported
that security forces shot, detained, beat, and were responsible for the
disappearances of persons during the year. Police also reportedly
sometimes beat suspects during arrests, detention, and interrogation.
Incidents of detention of citizens and foreign visitors, including
detention for peaceful expression of political and religious views,
continued. Prison conditions were harsh, but not unduly so given the
country's level of economic development. The Government denied some
citizens the right to fair and expeditious trials. The Government
continued to hold political and religious prisoners. The Government
restricted citizens' privacy rights, although the trend toward reduced
government interference in the daily lives of most citizens continued.
The Government significantly restricted freedom of speech, freedom of
the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association. The
Government continued its longstanding policy of not tolerating most
types of public dissent and increased efforts to monitor and control
citizen's access and use of the Internet; however, the Government
allowed elected officials and ordinary citizens in approved forums
somewhat greater freedom of expression and of assembly. Security forces
continued to enforce restrictions on public gatherings and travel in
some parts of the country, particularly in the Central Highlands and
the Northwest Highlands. The Government prohibited independent
political, labor, and social organizations; such organizations existed
only under the control of the VFF. The Government restricted freedom of
religion and prohibited the operation of unregistered religious
organizations. Participants in unregistered organizations faced
harassment as well as possible detention and imprisonment. The
Government imposed limits on freedom of movement of some individuals
whom it deemed a threat. The CPV continued efforts to strengthen the
mechanism for citizens to petition the Government and for victims of
injustice to obtain compensation. The Government made significant steps
in improving legal transparency for businesses. The Government did not
permit human rights organizations to form or operate. In an effort to
respond to international criticism of human rights issues, investigate
allegations of misdeeds and better implement regulations protecting
human rights, the Government established the inter-ministerial Steering
Committee on Human Rights Issues. Violence and discrimination against
women as well as child prostitution remained problems, although the
Government took steps to combat these social ills. Although the
Government took steps to combat trafficking in persons, trafficking in
women and children for the purpose of forced prostitution within the
country and abroad continued to be a problem, and there were reports of
the trafficking of women to China and Taiwan for forced marriages.
Discrimination against some ethnic minorities continued to be a
problem. The Government restricted some core worker rights, such as
freedom of association; however, it cooperated with the International
Labor Organization (ILO) and international donors to improve
implementation of the labor law. There were reports that children
worked in exploitative situations; however, the Government recognized
child labor as a problem and attempted to address it.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, there were reports of killings by security forces.
On April 10, ethnic minorities protested in numerous locations in
the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Nong, Dak Lak, and Gia Lai. In
some of the protests, individuals carried clubs and threw rocks at
police officers. In a number of cases, police reportedly responded to
by beating and firing upon demonstrators. The Government reported the
deaths of three protestors, all at the hands of other demonstrators.
Reports from inside the country and from nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) monitoring the situation from abroad suggested that many
protestors were killed by police, or fled into the jungle where some
died from their wounds, afraid to seek medical treatment. Credible
estimates put the number of protestors killed by police at least in
double digits; some international organizations report that the figures
may be much higher (see Section 2.b.).
Police in the Northwest Highlands reportedly beat to death
Protestant believers Vang Seo Giao in July 2003 and Mua Bua Senh in
2002. Also in 2003, police in Nam Dinh Province beat to death Tran Minh
Duc, who had been detained following a domestic dispute. No action was
taken against officials involved in these killings. Authorities
continued to investigate three other deaths in custody from 2002,
including: The case of three police officers in Quang Nam Province who
reportedly killed Nguyen Ngoc Chau while questioning him on murder
charges; the case of two police officers in Vinh Phuc Province charged
in the death of Khong Van Thoi; and the case of two prison guards in
Hai Duong Province charged with manslaughter in the killing of prison
inmate Pham Van Dung.
b. Disappearance.--There were credible reports that some members of
ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands and Northwest Highlands
who were either arrested or detained did not return to their families.
In 2002, in Dak Lak Province, police twice detained large numbers
of Protestant villagers for worshipping without official approval. In
both cases, most of those arrested were released after a few days, but
as many as 70 of the villagers did not return. Police reportedly denied
continuing to detain them.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits physical abuse; however, police
sometimes beat suspects while arresting them or while they were in
custody. In 2002, police reportedly beat to death at least two
detainees (see Section 1.a.).
Diplomatic officials received a written report that in November
2003, militia soldiers and local officials in Nam Nga village, Lai Chau
Province, allegedly raped two girls, destroyed several houses, killed
livestock, and destroyed fences, allowing animals to enter fields and
trample crops, in an attempt to punish individuals in the village for
practicing Protestantism (see Section 1.f.).
Prisoners, including those held for political reasons, were
reportedly moved arbitrarily to solitary confinement, where they were
deprived of reading and writing materials, for periods of up to several
months.
Prison conditions reportedly often were harsh, but generally did
not threaten the lives of prisoners. Overcrowding, insufficient diet,
and poor sanitation remained serious problems in many prisons. Most
prisoners had access to basic health care. Prisoners generally were
required to work, but received no wages (see Section 6.c.). During the
year, visits by select diplomatic observers revealed Spartan, but
generally acceptable conditions in at least two prisons.
Men and women were housed separately. Juveniles were housed
separately from adult populations. Pretrial detainees were generally
held separately from convicted prisoners and were denied visits from
family members, though relatives could provide them with money or
certain supplies. Under revisions to the criminal procedures code that
came into effect in July, pretrial detainees are allowed access to
their lawyers from the point of detention; however, bureaucratic delays
frequently limited initial contact between detainees and their lawyers,
and some detainees particularly political activists--were not permitted
regular access by lawyers until shortly before their trials. Unlike in
previous years, prisoners sentenced to hard labor did not complain that
their diet and medical care were insufficient to sustain good health.
Although political and religious prisoners often were held under harsh
conditions, there was no evidence to suggest their conditions were
significantly different than those for the regular prison population.
During the year, the Government permitted selected diplomatic
observers to visit prisons; however, the Government did not allow the
International Committee of the Red Cross to visit prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, the Government continued to arrest and
detain citizens for the peaceful expression of their political and
religious views.
Domestic police forces are part of the General Department of
People's Police, a division of the MPS. Police organizations exist at
the provincial, district, and local levels, and are subject to the
authority of the people's committees at each level. The police were
generally effective at maintaining political stability and public
order, but NGOs assessed police capacities, especially investigative,
as very low. Police training and resources were inadequate. Corruption
was a significant problem among the police force at all levels.
Internal police oversight structures exist and can be effective, but
they were subject to political influences.
The Supreme People's Procuracy (public prosecutor) issues arrest
warrants, generally at the request of police; however, police may make
an arrest without a warrant on the basis of a complaint filed by any
party. In such cases, the Procuracy must issue retroactive arrest
warrants.
After a suspect is detained, a decision to initiate a formal
criminal investigation must be issued by a judge within 9 days, or the
suspect must be released. Under amendments to the Criminal Code which
took effect in July, this investigative period may last from 3 months
for ``less serious'' offenses (those that may result in less than 3
years' imprisonment) to 16 months for ``exceptionally serious''
offenses (those that may result in over 15 years' imprisonment, life
imprisonment, or capital punishment) and an additional 4 months for
national security cases. The amended code further permits the Procuracy
an additional 2 months at the end of the investigation to consider
whether they want to prosecute the detained, or return the case to the
police for additional investigation. There is no legal limit on the
time that a judge's panel (a body consisting of at least one judge and
two lay assessors) has to rule on a case (see Section 1.e.). Time spent
in pretrial detention usually counted toward time served upon
conviction and sentencing.
Amendments to the Criminal Code that took effect in July grant
defense lawyers access to their clients from the time of detention.
During the investigative period, the amended code provides that defense
lawyers be informed of interrogations and be able to attend them and be
given access to case files and be permitted to make copies of documents
in it. It was not yet clear whether this was respected in practice. In
national security cases, defense lawyers are granted access to clients
only after an investigation has ended. Although the Constitution
provides for legal counsel for all persons accused of criminal
offenses, a scarcity of trained lawyers made this provision difficult
to implement. Counsel generally was provided only to those charged with
crimes that could lead to life imprisonment or the death penalty. Prior
to being formally charged, a detainee has a statutory right to notify
family members, and, in most cases, police informed the family of the
detainee's whereabouts. Family members may visit a detainee only with
the permission of the investigator. Prior to July, the MPS usually
prohibited contact between detainees and their lawyer while the
procurator's office was investigating.
Courts may sentence persons to administrative detention of up to 5
years after completion of a sentence. In addition, according to Article
22 of the revised Ordinance on Administrative Violations, police or
mass organizations can propose that five ``administrative measures'' be
imposed by people's committee chairpersons at local, district, and
provincial levels without a trial. These measures include terms ranging
from 6 months to 2 years in either juvenile reformatories or adult
detention centers and were generally applied to repeat offenders with a
record of minor offenses such as petty theft or ``humiliating other
persons.'' People's committee chairpersons can also impose terms of
``administrative probation'' as defined by Decree 31/CP of 1997. This
generally has been some form of house arrest. In October 2003, the
People's Committee Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced four Unified
Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) monks to 2 years' house arrest.
Citizens seeking to exercise freedom of religion, assembly, and
expression were at times detained by security forces for several days.
There were numerous reports that government officials in the Central
and Northwest Highlands temporarily detained ethnic minority Protestant
believers. For example, in Sapa District, Lao Cai Province, authorities
detained without charge numerous ethnic minority Hmong Protestants in
at least eight different communes during July and August (see Section
2.c.).
On occasion, foreign citizens also were detained and interrogated.
For example, on July 29, U.S. citizen Larry Linh Nguyen was taken from
a taxi in Ho Chi Minh City and handcuffed and blindfolded by
individuals who identified themselves as MPS officers. Mr. Nguyen
reported that he was held for 7 days in an empty house where the
officers deprived him of sleep and aggressively interrogated him about
his alleged affiliation with Vietnamese-American political groups
opposed to the CPV. Mr. Nguyen was reportedly forced to sign and read
before a video camera an affidavit stating that, if he were released,
he would not inform diplomatic officials about his detention. U.S.
citizen Hoang The Lan was detained by public security officers early on
the morning of August 2 in Soc Trang. He was reportedly taken to a
house in Ho Chi Minh City were he was interrogated over a period of 4
days about his involvement with groups that advocate democracy in
Vietnam. Mr. Hoang was reportedly told by the officers not to contact
diplomatic officials about his detention. At least one other foreign
national reported a similar experience, and a second reported a shorter
period of detention and interrogation.
At year's end, UBCV leaders and at least one Hoa Hao follower
remained under formal administrative detention. A number of Buddhist,
Catholic, and Protestant clerics, as well as some writers and political
activists, were subject to varying degrees of informal detention in
their residences (see Sections 2.c. and 2.d.). In addition, activist
groups have alleged that in 2003 and during the year over 2 dozen
ethnic minority Protestant leaders were detained for varying periods,
some may still be detained at year's end.
The Government amnestied prisoners at several times during the
year, including an amnesty of 8,623 prisoners to mark the country's
national day on September 2. Five religious prisoners benefited from
these amnesties.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for the
independence of judges and lay assessors; however, in practice, the CPV
controls the courts at all levels, selecting judges, at least in part,
for their political reliability. The CPV influenced high-profile cases
and cases in which a person was charged with challenging or harming the
CPV or the State. During the year, CPV and government officials likely
exerted control over court decisions by influencing lay assessors and
judges.
The system of appointing judges and lay assessors contributed to
executive control over the judiciary. The President presents a
nomination for the Presiding Judge of the Supreme People's Court (SPC)
to the National Assembly for approval. The President directly appoints
the other members of the SPC upon the recommendation of a committee
including the Presiding Judge of the SPC, members of the Ministries of
the Interior and Defense, the VFF, and the Vietnam Lawyers Association.
At the provincial and district level, the recommending panel is headed
by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Council (the provincial
legislature) and includes members of the Provincial People's Court,
Provincial Department of Personnel, the VFF, and the Provincial
Lawyers' Association. Judges are appointed to 5-year terms. Provincial
and district governments disburse judges' salaries at their respective
levels. In 2002, the Government transferred authority over local courts
from the Ministry of Justice to the SPC, in an effort to increase
judicial independence. There was no evidence that this change had any
effect on the independence of the courts.
Courts of first instance at district and provincial levels include
judges and lay assessors, but provincial appeals courts and the SPC are
composed of judges only. People's councils appoint lay assessors from a
pool of candidates suggested by the VFF. Lay assessors are required to
have ``high moral standards,'' but legal training is not necessary.
Some international observers suggested that the short terms of
appointment for judges and lay assessors and the strong representation
of provincial officials on their nominating boards frequently made
judges and lay assessors subject to political pressures.
The judiciary consists of the SPC; the district and provincial
people's courts; military tribunals; administrative, economic, and
labor courts; and other tribunals established by law. Each district has
a district people's court, which serves as the court of first instance
for most domestic, civil, and criminal cases. Each province has a
provincial people's court, which serves as the appellate forum for
district court cases, as well as court of first instance for other
cases. The SPC is the highest court of appeal and review. The SPC
reports to the National Assembly. Administrative courts deal with
complaints by citizens about official abuse and corruption.
Military tribunals, although funded by the Ministry of Defense
(MOD), operate under the same rules as other courts. The MOD is
represented on the judicial selection panels, and the head of the
military tribunal system is the deputy head of the SPC. Military
tribunal judges and assessors are military personnel, chosen jointly by
the SPC and the MOD, but supervised by the SPC. The law gives military
courts jurisdiction over all criminal cases involving military
entities, including military-owned enterprises. The military has the
option of using the administrative, economic, or labor courts for civil
cases.
The CPV and the Government have established special committees to
help resolve local disputes.
The Supreme People's Procuracy brings charges against an accused
and serves as prosecutor during trials. Under revisions to the Criminal
Procedures Code, which took effect in July, courtroom procedures were
to change from an ``investigative'' system--in which the judge leads
the questioning--to an ``adversarial'' system--in which prosecutors and
defense lawyers advocate for their respective sides. This was intended
to provide more protections for defendants and to prevent judges from
coercing defendants into confessing guilt. The extent to which this
change has been implemented in practice was not known at year's end.
Although the Constitution provides that citizens are innocent until
proven guilty, some lawyers complained that judges generally presumed
guilt.
There was a shortage of trained lawyers and judges, and there was
no independent bar association. Low judicial salaries hindered efforts
to develop a trained judiciary. The few judges who had formal legal
training often had studied abroad in countries with Communist legal
traditions. A Ministry of Justice newspaper reported that, in some
courts, as many as 30 to 40 percent of verdicts were incorrect and that
as many as 50 individuals had been wrongly imprisoned in the first
quarter of the year. The newspaper noted that, according to 2001
statistics, 31.2 percent of judgments in criminal cases made by local
courts had to be re-examined and 46 percent of the verdicts in civil
cases were wrong.
Government training programs to address the problem of inadequately
trained judges and other court officials were underway. Foreign
governments and the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) provided
assistance; however, the lack of openness in the criminal judicial
process and the continuing lack of independence of the judiciary
hampered progress.
Trials generally were open to the public; however, judicial
authorities closed trials or strictly limited attendance in sensitive
cases. Defendants have the right to be present at their trial and to
have a lawyer, although not necessarily the lawyer of their choice.
This right was generally upheld in practice. Defendants unable to
afford a lawyer were generally only provided one in cases involving
capital punishment. The defendant or the defense lawyer has the right
to cross-examine witnesses; however, there were credible reports that
defendants were not allowed access to government evidence in advance of
the trial, to cross-examine witnesses, or to challenge statements.
Lawyers reported that they often had little time before trials to
examine evidence to be presented against their clients. Convicted
persons have the right to appeal. Courts did not publish their
proceedings.
The Government continued to imprison persons for the peaceful
expression of dissenting religious and political views. On July 29,
democracy activist Dr. Nguyen Dan Que was convicted of ``abusing
democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State'' and
sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment. In December 2003, journalist
Nguyen Vu Binh was convicted of ``spying.'' In June 2003, Dr. Pham Hong
Son was convicted under the same charge. In 2002, activist Nguyen Khac
Toan was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for spying. Diplomats and
foreign journalists were refused permission to attend these trials (see
Section 2.a.).
There were no reliable estimates of the number of political
prisoners because the Government usually did not publicize such
arrests, rejected the concept of political and religious prisoners, and
sometimes conducted closed trials and sentencing sessions. There were
at least 9 prisoners known to be held for political reasons and 22
prisoners reportedly held for religious reasons. Some sources had much
higher estimates. Among those imprisoned were political activists Dr.
Nguyen Dan Que, Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Vu Binh, Nguyen Dinh Huy (who
reportedly was suffering from Parkinson's disease), Nguyen Khac Toan,
human rights activist Tran Van Luong, scientist and writer Tran Van
Luong, Nguyen Minh Thi Hoan, and religious persons Father Nguyen Van
Ly, Thich Thien Minh, Bui Tan Nha, Nguyen Thien Phung, Hoang Trong
Dung, Vang Chin Sang, Vang Mi Ly, Ly Xin Quang, and Ly Chin Seng.
The Government claimed that it did not hold any political or
religious prisoners and that persons described as political or
religious prisoners were convicted of violating national security laws
or general criminal laws. As with the general prison population, the
Government did not allow access by humanitarian organizations to
political prisoners.
In March 2003, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly
instructed that victims of judicial mistakes should receive
compensation, and amendments to the Criminal Code that took effect in
July specified procedures for compensating victims. There were no known
cases of individuals receiving monetary compensation for judicial
mistakes; however, Luong Huu Phi of Thai Binh Province had a suit
pending at year's end for having been wrongfully imprisoned for over 5
years. On July 29, the Hanoi People's Procuracy issued a formal public
apology to Hoang Minh Tien, who had been wrongly convicted of
embezzlement and imprisoned for 1 year. Tien was reportedly in
negotiations about financial compensation.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides for the right to privacy of
home and correspondence; however, the Government restricted this right
significantly. Household registration and block warden systems existed
for the surveillance of all citizens, but usually did not intrude on
most citizens. The authorities focused on persons whom they regarded as
having dissenting views, or whom they suspected of involvement in
unauthorized political or religious activities.
Forced entry into homes is not permitted without orders from the
Procuracy; however, in practice, security forces seldom followed these
procedures but rather asked permission to enter homes, with an implied
threat for failure to cooperate. Some individuals refused to cooperate
with such ``requests.'' In urban areas, police generally left when
faced with noncompliance. In October 2003, security officers entered
without permission a house in Gia Lai Province where a foreign diplomat
was conducting a consular interview. The security officers later
blocked the consular officer from entering residences in Dak Lak
Province.
The Government opened and censored targeted persons' mail,
confiscated packages and letters, and monitored telephone
conversations, electronic mail, and facsimile transmissions. The
Government cut the telephone lines and interrupted the cellular phone
service of a number of religious and political activists and some of
their family members.
The Government tightened control of the Internet, issuing a
regulation that requires Internet agents, such as cyber cafes, to
register the personal information of their customers and store records
of Internet sites visited by customers. The Government also monitored
e-mail, searched for sensitive key words, and regulated Internet
content (see Section 2.a.).
The Government did not have a policy of forced resettlement. The
Government resettled some citizens to make way for infrastructure
projects. By law, citizens are to be compensated in such cases, but
there were widespread complaints, including from the National Assembly,
that compensation was not fair or was delayed. Unlike in previous
years, there were no reports that officials forced ethnic minority
Protestants to leave their homes without providing them with
compensation.
Membership in the CPV remained an aid to career advancement and was
vital for promotion to senior levels of the Government; however,
economic diversification made membership in CPV-controlled mass
organizations and the CPV less essential to financial and social
advancement. Opposition political parties were not permitted.
The Government continued to implement a family planning policy that
urged families to have no more than two children; this policy
emphasized exhortation rather than coercion. The Government can deny
promotions and salary increases to government employees with more than
two children.
Local officials harassed some family members of political
activists. In November 2003, officials reportedly raped two girls in
Nam Nga village, Lai Chau Province, to punish their families for
following Protestantism (see Section 1.c.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, the Government
significantly restricted these freedoms in practice, particularly with
respect to political and religious speech. Both the Constitution and
the Criminal Code include broad national security and anti-defamation
provisions that the Government used to restrict severely such freedoms.
In 2003, the NGO Reporters Without Borders claimed that the Government
severely restricted freedom of the press.
A press law requires journalists to pay monetary damages to
individuals or organizations harmed as a result of their reporting,
even if the reports are true. Observers noted that this law limits
investigative reporting. Several media outlets continued to test the
limits of government press restriction by publishing articles that
criticized actions by party and government officials; during the year,
there were press reports about topics that generally were considered
sensitive, such as the prosecution on corruption charges of high-
ranking CPV officials. Nonetheless, the freedom to criticize the CPV
and its senior leadership remained restricted.
The Government exercised oversight through the Ministry of Culture
and Information, supplemented by pervasive party guidance and national
security legislation sufficiently broad to ensure effective self-
censorship by the domestic media.
In early November, Truong Dinh Anh, the editor of an online
newspaper, was criticized in official releases by the Ministry of
Culture and Information for printing readers' comments critical of the
reported purchase of 78 luxury cars by the Government for use at the
Asia-Europe Meeting in Hanoi.
The law allows citizens to complain openly about inefficient
government, administrative procedures, corruption, and economic policy.
Senior government and party leaders traveled to many provinces to try
to resolve citizen complaints. However, in January 2003, the Hanoi
People's Court sentenced four persons to jail terms ranging from 24 to
42 months after they disseminated letters denouncing local land
clearance policies. In August 2003, a court in Dong Nai Province
sentenced four persons to prison terms of 30 to 42 months for inciting
fellow farmers to voice complaints over provincial land use policies.
The Government continued to prohibit speech that questioned the
role of the CPV, criticized individual government leaders, promoted
pluralism or multiparty democracy, or questioned the Government's
policies on sensitive matters such as human rights or the border
agreement with China. The line between what constituted private speech
and public speech in those areas continued to be arbitrary. On December
30, scientists Tran Van Luong and Nguyen Thi Minh Hoan were sentenced
to 21 and 8 months in prison respectively, for having written essays
critical of government economic policies. On July 29, democracy
activist Dr. Nguyen Dan Que was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment
for posting an essay on the Internet that called for less government
censorship. On July 9 and July 14, respectively, activists Tran Khue
and Pham Que Duong were each sentenced to 19 months' imprisonment
including time served after petitioning the Government for democratic
reforms, the establishment of an anti-corruption body, and publication
of the country's border treaties with China. In November 2003,
democracy activist and former revolutionary Tran Dung Tien was
sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment including time served after
signing a letter that criticized the arrest of Duong and Khue. Tran
Khue, Pham Que Duong, and Tran Dung Tien had all completed their prison
sentences and were free at year's end. In December 2003, journalist
Nguyen Vu Binh was convicted of ``spying'' after he had criticized the
country's border agreement with China and sent testimony on human
rights issues in the country to a foreign government. Binh was
sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment and 3 years' house arrest. The
sentence was upheld on appeal on May 5. In June 2003, Dr. Pham Hong Son
was also convicted of ``spying,'' and sentenced to 13 years'
imprisonment and 3 years' house arrest, later reduced on appeal to 5
years' imprisonment, after translating an Internet article titled
``What is Democracy.'' In December 2002, activist Nguyen Khac Toan was
sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for ``spying'' after disseminating
the writings of other democracy activists.
On June 12, the Government reduced by 5 years the prison sentence
imposed on Catholic priest Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, but added a 5-year
administrative detention order to be served after his release. Father
Ly originally was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in 2001 for
``damaging national unity,'' but the sentence stood at 5 years, after
the June reduction and a similar reduction in 2003. In 2001, Father Ly
had submitted written testimony critical of the Government to the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom and frequently spoke out
for political pluralism and complete religious freedom. In September
2003, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced Father Ly's niece,
Nguyen Thi Hoa, and two nephews, Nguyen Truc Cuong and Nguyen Vu Viet,
to sentences ranging from 3 to 5 years' imprisonment for communicating
information on his activities to foreign journalists. In November 2003,
the Ho Chi Minh Court of Appeals reduced the sentences of the three
siblings to time-served.
The Government restricted persons who belonged to unofficial
religious groups from speaking publicly about their beliefs (see
Section 2.c.).
Some persons who expressed alternative opinions on religious or
political issues were not allowed to travel abroad (see Section 2.d.).
The CPV, the Government, and the party-controlled mass
organizations controlled all print and electronic media.
Published reports on high-level government corruption and
mismanagement became more common in recent years. Domestic papers
reported extensively on the corruption trial of former Ministry of
Agriculture official La Thi Kim Oanh and the subsequent dismissal of
the Minister of Agriculture.
In September, the Government unexpectedly blocked press access to
the first 2 days of the Asia-Europe People's Forum, an international
conference on globalization and democracy.
Foreign journalists must be approved by the Foreign Ministry's
Press Center and must be based in Hanoi. The number of foreign staff
allowed was limited, and local staff who worked for foreign media were
required to be registered with the Foreign Ministry. The Government can
withhold or withdraw registration. The Press Center monitored
journalists' activities and decided on a case-by-case basis whether to
approve interview, photograph, film, or travel requests, all of which
in principle must be submitted 5 days in advance. The Press Center
refused requests by foreign journalist to travel to the Central
Highlands in the immediate aftermath of the April 10 protests in the
region. By law, foreign journalists are required to address all
questions to government agencies through the Foreign Ministry, although
it appeared that this procedure often was ignored in practice. Foreign
journalists generally received visas valid for 6 months. During the
year, at least two foreign journalists were threatened with nonrenewal
of their visas as a result of their reporting.
The Government generally required religious publishing to be done
through one government-owned religious publishing house; however, some
religious groups were able to print their own materials or import them,
subject to government approval (see Section 2.c.).
Foreign-language editions of some banned books, such as Duong Thu
Huong's ``Memories of a Pure Spring,'' were sold openly by street
peddlers, and Bao Ninh's previously banned book, ``Sorrow of War,'' was
available in bookstores in Vietnamese-language editions.
Foreign-language periodicals were widely available in cities;
however, the Government occasionally censored articles about the
country. The Government sometimes delayed availability of a foreign
periodical because of sensitive articles. The Government generally did
not limit access to international radio, except to Radio Free Asia and
the Far East Broadcasting Corporation, which it continued to jam. The
Government also jammed the broadcasts of Radio Sweden, but this
appeared to be directed at the Far East Broadcasting Corporation, which
used a similar frequency.
The law limits access to satellite television to top officials,
foreigners, luxury hotels, and the press; however, the law was not
enforced uniformly and an increasing number of persons in urban and
some rural areas had access to uncensored television footage via home
satellite equipment or cable. Cable television, including foreign-
origin channels, was available to subscribers living in urban areas,
although the Government blocked Vietnamese subscribers from receiving
certain news channels, including CNN and the BBC.
The Government censored art exhibits, music, and other cultural
activities. However, the Government generally allowed artists broader
latitude than in past years in choosing the themes for their works.
Many artists received permission to exhibit their works abroad and
received exit permits to attend the exhibits and export permits to send
their works out of the country.
The Government only allowed access to the Internet through a
limited number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), all of which were
State-owned joint stock companies.
In January, the MPS issued a decision forbidding direct access to
the Internet through foreign ISPs, requiring domestic ISPs to store
information transmitted on the Internet for at least 15 days, and
further requiring ISPs to coordinate with the MPS to provide technical
assistance and work space to public security agents to allow them to
monitor Internet activities. The decision also requires Internet
agents--such as cyber cafes--to register the personal information of
their customers, to store records of Internet sites visited by
customers for 30 days, and to cooperate with public security officials.
It was not clear how fully these provisions were being followed in
practice, although many cyber cafes did not register the personal
details of their clients.
The Government used firewalls to block websites it deemed
politically or culturally inappropriate, including sites operated by
exile groups abroad. The Government restricted access to the Radio Free
Asia and Voice of America web sites during the year.
The Government required all owners of domestic web sites, including
those operated by foreign entities, to register their sites with the
Government and to submit their web site content to the Government for
approval.
The Government restricted academic freedom, and foreign field
researchers often were questioned and monitored. However, the
Government permitted a more open flow of information, including in the
university system, than in previous years. Local librarians
increasingly were being trained in professional skills and
international standards that supported wider international library and
information exchanges and research. Foreign academic professionals
temporarily working at universities in the country were allowed to
discuss nonpolitical issues widely and freely in classes; however,
government observers regularly attended classes taught by both
foreigners and citizens. Security officials frequently questioned
persons who attended programs on diplomatic premises or used diplomatic
research facilities. Nevertheless, requests for materials from foreign
research facilities increased. Academic publications usually reflected
the views of the CPV and the Government.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The right of
assembly is restricted in law, and the Government restricted and
monitored all forms of public protest. Persons who wish to gather in a
group are required to apply for a permit, which local authorities can
issue or deny arbitrarily. In general, the Government did not permit
demonstrations that could be seen as having a political purpose.
Persons routinely gathered in informal groups without government
interference; however, the Government restricted the right of some
unregistered religious groups to gather in worship.
There were numerous reports from the Northwest Highlands and
Central Highlands that officials prevented meetings of some Protestant
believers, or dispersed those meetings when they did occur (see Section
2.c.).
On April 10, ethnic minorities conducted unannounced demonstrations
in numerous locations in the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Nong,
Dak Lak, and Gia Lai to protest against lack of economic opportunity,
loss of traditional lands, and restrictions on religion. Some
protestors also called for the establishment of an independent state in
the Central Highlands. In some of the demonstrations, individuals
carried clubs and threw rocks at police officers. The majority of
protestors were peaceful, and a number of demonstrations involved no
violence. In a number of cases, police reportedly responded to the
demonstrations by beating and firing upon protestors. On August 11 and
12, a court in Buon Ma Thuot sentenced Y Tlup ADrong, Y Yuan Bya, Y
Hoang BKrong, Y K'rec Bya, Y Kuang E. Cam, Y Tan Nie, Y Nguyen K'doh, Y
Som H'mok, and Y Bem Nie to between 5 and 12 years' imprisonment for
having taken part in the protests. In mid-November, a court in Dak Nong
Province sentenced 17 ethnic Ede to between 3 and 10 years in prison
for having taken part in the protests. Human rights groups counted at
least 76 Montagnards sentenced to prison for participating in protests
in 2001 and during the year, and some observers estimated the figure
may be considerably higher.
During the course of the year, peaceful small protests of farmers
demanding redress for land rights issues frequently took place in front
of government buildings in Hanoi. Police monitored these protests but
did not disrupt them.
The Government restricted freedom of association. The Government
prohibited the legal establishment of private, independent
organizations, insisting that persons work within established, party-
controlled mass organizations, usually under the aegis of the VFF.
However, some entities, particularly unregistered religious groups,
were able to operate outside of this framework with little or no
government interference (see Section 2.c.).
On May 14, a court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Nguyen The Hanh to
2 years in prison for having been involved with Vietnamese-American
political activist groups during the 2 years he spent outside the
country.
On May 4, a group of lawyers and journalists held a public ceremony
in Hanoi to mark the establishment of ``Lawyers for Justice,'' an
advocacy group to aid victims of the police or legal injustice. On May
11, the leaders of the group were called in to meet with the head of
the Hanoi Bar Association, who declared that their organization was
illegal and that they must disband or be disbarred. Local newspapers
and the Ministry of Justice newspaper carried accounts of these
meetings. Subsequent to the meeting with the head of the Hanoi Bar
Association, the group effectively disbanded.
In July, Tran Khue and Colonel Pham Que Duong were convicted in
separate trials of ``abusing democratic freedoms'' and were both
sentenced to 19 months' imprisonment including time served (they have
since been released). In 2001, Khue and Duong sent a letter to the
party and government leadership seeking permission to form a ``People's
Association to Support the Party and State to Fight Corruption.'' They
later set up a web site--which the Government did not block--that
included contact information, the petition, other documents written by
various democracy activists and a bulletin board where several
individuals recorded their reactions to the proposal. The site
subsequently was removed from the Internet.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution and government decrees
provide for freedom of worship; however, the Government continued to
restrict significantly organized activities of religious groups that it
declared to be at variance with state laws and policies.
According to credible reports, the police arbitrarily detained
persons based upon their religious beliefs and practice, particularly
among ethnic minority groups in the Central and Northwest Highlands. In
2003 and 2002, there were also reports that two Protestants in those
areas were beaten and killed for reasons connected to their faith (see
Section 1.a.).
In June, the National Assembly issued an Ordinance on Belief and
Religion, which took effect on November 15. However, at year's end, the
Government had not issued the regulations required to implement the
ordinance and authorities appeared to continue operating under pre-
ordinance practices. The ordinance largely consolidated already
existing policies regarding religious organizations in the country, but
relaxed some controls on the promotion and transfer of clerics, the
scheduling of religious activities, and the abilities of religious
groups to carry out charitable functions. However, significant
limitations remained on religious education and medical and charitable
work by religious groups.
The Government still requires religious groups to be registered and
used this process to control and monitor church organizations. The
Government officially recognizes Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Protestant,
Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, and Muslim religious organizations. To obtain
official recognition, a group must obtain government approval of its
leadership and the overall scope of its activities. Official approval
is required for the opening of new places of worship, the ordination of
clerics, the establishment of religious teaching institutions, and the
entry of students into those institutions. The Government's approval
process was slow and non-transparent. Annual activities by
congregations had to be registered with authorities, and activities not
on this annual calendar required explicit government approval.
Officially recognized religious organizations were able to operate with
varying degrees of freedom throughout the country, and followers of
these religious bodies were usually able to worship without government
harassment, except in some isolated provinces.
In December, the officially-recognized Evangelical Church of
Vietnam: North (ECVN) held a national convention for the first time in
20 years. The convention initially had been delayed by refusal by the
Government to grant permission, and more recently by reluctance of ECVN
leaders to hold the meeting until they could ensure it would be free
from government interference. The convention allowed the ECVN to vote
on a new leadership board, appoint new pastors and begin a renovation
and expansion program.
In addition to officially recognized religious denominations,
numerous unrecognized denominations operated in the country, including
independent Buddhists, Baptists, Mennonites, Jehovah's Witnesses,
Mormons, Baha'i, independent Cao Dai and Hoa Hao groups, independent
Sunni Muslims, and ethnic Cham Hindus. Some unrecognized Protestant,
Buddhist, and Hoa Hao religious bodies have requested unsuccessfully
official recognition of their organizations in recent years. Activities
of unregistered religious groups were considered illegal by the
authorities, and these groups sometimes experienced harassment. Many
unregistered churches and temples, especially those in urban areas or
belonging to traditional Hindu and Muslim groups, were allowed to
operate without interference. The Government actively discouraged
contacts between the illegal UBCV and its foreign supporters, and
between unofficial Protestant organizations, such as the underground
house churches, and their foreign supporters, although such contacts
continued. Police routinely questioned some persons who held
alternative religious or political views, such as UBCV monks and
certain Catholic priests.
Despite the restrictions on organized activity, the Government
generally allowed persons to practice individual worship in the
religion of their choice, and participation in religious activities
throughout the country continued to grow significantly.
Under threat of physical abuse or confiscation of property, some
ethnic minority Protestants allegedly were made to sign a formal,
written renunciation or to undergo a symbolic ritual, which reportedly
included drinking rice whiskey mixed with animal blood. Others refused,
often with no known negative repercussions.
The Government sometimes prevented Protestants in the Northwest
Highlands and the Central Highlands belonging to unregistered
congregations from gathering to worship, forcing them to worship
secretly in small family groups. In several Northwest Highlands
provinces, provincial officials denied the existence of any religious
believers despite recognition by the Central Government that many
thousands of unregistered Protestants and Catholics resided there.
On October 11, police in Ho Chi Minh City disrupted an unregistered
private bible study seminar and detained 2 unofficial Protestant
pastors and 17 ethnic Hmong house church leaders from the Northwest
Highlands. The 17 Hmong were held overnight and then returned to the
Northwest Highlands. Local officials reportedly interrogated and beat
some of the pastors upon their return.
On June 8, in Ho Chi Minh City, Mennonite house church leader
Nguyen Hong Quang was detained. On November 12, he was sentenced to 3
years' imprisonment. Five of his followers were sentenced to between 9
months and 2 years in prison. Quang and his followers apparently were
convicted as a result of an incident in March in which several of his
followers confronted and scuffled with plainclothes police officers
monitoring his residence. However, some observers connected Quang's
arrest to his broader social activism. During Quang's detention, his
wife continued to operate their unauthorized church, but repeatedly was
harassed by police. One of Quang's followers, Le Thi Hong Lien,
reportedly suffers from mental illness. She was placed in the prison
infirmary, but the prison did not appear to be able to provide her with
appropriate care and treatment.
The international NGO Human Rights Watch reported that security
forces in Kontum Province demolished the chapel of Mennonite Pastor
Nguyen Cong Chinh twice during the year. Authorities reportedly based
their actions on the fact that Chinh had purchased under a false name
the land on which the chapel was built. Other observers noted that at
least one other unregistered Protestant church operates a short
distance away from Chinh's, but suffered no harassment.
In July and August, authorities reportedly detained without charge
over 100 Hmong Protestants--choosing 1 member from each Protestant
family--in at least 5 different communes in Sapa District, Lao Cai
Province. The authorities attempted to force the detainees to renounce
Protestantism, releasing them only when they promised to do so. In
March, police in Kon Tum Province reportedly harassed Protestant
believers at a house church, seized Bibles, and fined the church
organizer. Also that month elsewhere in Kon Tum, police reportedly
detained an unregistered ethnic Gia Rai Protestant pastor three
different times, beating him and attempting to force him to renounce
his faith on each occasion. In 2003, there were several reports of
local officials in Dak Lak and Gia Lai Provinces in the Central
Highlands forcing ethnic minority Protestants to renounce their faith.
In some cases, particularly involving Hmong Protestants, when
authorities prosecuted persons who had organized unauthorized religious
services, they used provisions of the Penal Code that allow for jail
terms of up to 3 years for ``abusing freedom of speech, press, or
religion,'' and terms of up to 2 years for ``causing public disorder.''
The Penal Code establishes penalties ranging from 2 to 15 years'
imprisonment for ``attempting to undermine national unity'' by
promoting ``division between religious believers and nonbelievers.''
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that officials
fabricated evidence.
In December 2003, authorities arrested Hmong house church leaders
Vang Chin Sang, Vang Mi Ly, Ly Xin Quang, Ly Chin Seng, and Ly Xin Vang
from Giap Trung village, Ha Giang Province, for leading ``gatherings
that caused public disorder'' after organizing unauthorized religious
services on four Sundays and two Thursdays in October and November
2003. The five Protestants were later sentenced to prison terms ranging
from 26 to 36 months.
Government officials denied allegations that Protestant house
churches were destroyed or disbanded on the basis that the churches
were unregistered and therefore illegal. In September 2003, police
reportedly destroyed a small Protestant house church in Ho Chi Minh
City.
The Government continued to harass members of the banned UBCV and
prevented them from conducting independent religious activities,
particularly outside their pagodas. In September 2003, UBCV leaders met
in Binh Dinh in what church members characterized as a de facto re-
establishment of the UBCV structure and leadership. Security
authorities intercepted several UBCV leaders leaving the meeting and
returned them to their respective pagodas. During the year, several
UBCV leaders, including Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do, remained
confined to their pagodas and had restrictions on their ability to
travel and meet with followers. In November, Thich Quang Do attempted
to travel to Quy Nhon Province to visit Thich Huyen Quang, who was
hospitalized at that time. Thich Quang Do was blocked from doing so and
was returned to his pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City under police escort.
However, foreign ambassadors were able to meet with Patriarch Thich
Huyen Quang in April and November, and a visiting foreign official met
with Thich Quang Do in November.
The Government continued to restrict the Roman Catholic Church and
effectively maintained veto power over Vatican appointments of Catholic
bishops. The Vatican and the Government reached agreement on mutually
acceptable candidates, and all bishoprics were filled. The Government
restricted the number of Catholic seminaries and the size and frequency
of entering classes, although it did allow an 80 percent increase in
the number of new students in at least one seminary. The Catholic
Church believes the number of priests is insufficient to meet the needs
of believers and has requested permission to increase further the size
and frequency of classes and open a new seminary. The Government has
not granted these requests. Candidates to enter seminary must receive
government approval, and after graduation they must again receive
government approval before being ordained as priests. A number of
clergy reported a continued easing of government control over church
activities in certain dioceses during the year. In many locales, local
government officials allowed Catholic Church officials to conduct
religious education classes (outside regular school hours) and some
charitable activities; however, in other areas, officials strictly
prohibited these activities. Catholic Church leaders indicated a desire
to expand charitable activities after a new ordinance on religion took
effect on November 15; however, this was not possible due to delays in
the implementation of the ordinance.
The authorities amnestied imprisoned unregistered Hoa Hao leaders
Le Quang Liem on August 23; Nguyen Hai Ha, who died 15 days after his
release, on May 31; and Nguyen Van Lia in September. Other church
followers remained in prison. Hoa Hao monks and believers following the
Government approved Hoa Hao Administrative Council (HHAC) were
generally allowed freedom to practice their faith. Between 100 and 200
visitors worshipped at the central Hoa Hao Pagoda in An Giang Province
on a daily basis. Monks and followers who belong to dissident groups or
decline to recognize the authority of the HHAC suffered more
restrictions.
Unregistered Cao Dai sects also were restricted. In August,
authorities arrested Hong Thien Hank, leader of the small To Dinh Tan
Chieu Minh sect in Tien Giang Province. The Government claimed that
Hank had engaged in illegal religious activities, printed and
distributed religious information without permission, and defrauded
believers.
Muslim Association members were able to practice their faith,
including daily prayer and fasting during the month of Ramadan.
The Government restricted and monitored all forms of public
assembly, including assembly for religious activities. Large regularly
scheduled religious gatherings were allowed, such as the Catholic
celebrations at La Vang and the Cao Dai celebrations in Tay Ninh
Province. The Hoa Hao were allowed to hold large public gatherings to
commemorate some traditional anniversaries, but not others.
Open adherence to a religious faith generally did not disadvantage
persons in civil, economic, or secular life, although it likely would
prevent advancement to the highest government and military ranks.
Religious practice does not preclude membership in the CPV. Some
government and CPV officials admitted that they followed traditional
and Buddhist religious practices.
Foreign missionaries may not operate as religious workers in the
country, although many undertook humanitarian or development activities
with government approval.
A government publishing house oversees the publishing of all
religious materials. Many Buddhist sacred scriptures, Bibles, and other
religious texts and publications, including some in ethnic minority
languages, were printed by government approved organizations.
The Government allowed religious travel for some religious persons;
Muslims were able to take the Hajj (although apparently none did so
during the year due to lack of foreign financial support), and more
Buddhist, Catholic, and Protestant officials were able to travel and
study abroad. The Government allowed many bishops and priests to travel
freely within their dioceses and allowed greater, but still restricted,
freedom for travel outside these areas, particularly in ethnic areas.
Many Protestant house church leaders traveled overseas during the year.
Government officials discouraged officially recognized clergy from
entering Son La Province, Lai Chau Province, and some other
``sensitive'' ethnic-minority highlands border provinces.
Persons who were religious practitioners in a non-State recognized
group sometimes were not approved for foreign travel. On August 29,
unregistered Protestant pastor Tran Mai was detained for 8 days after
he allegedly committed immigration law violations when he returned to
the country through Cambodia. In detention, Mai reportedly was
interrogated about his religious activities and connections to
imprisoned Mennonite pastor Nguyen Hong Quang. Protestant pastors
Nguyen Lap Ma and Nguyen Nhat Thong were restricted from traveling or
had to request permission from authorities to travel (see Section
2.d.).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides that citizens
``shall enjoy freedom of movement and of residence within the country--
(and) freely travel abroad and return home--in accordance with the
provisions of the law;'' however, the Government imposed some limits on
freedom of movement. Some local authorities required some members of
ethnic minority groups to obtain permission to travel outside certain
highland areas, including in some cases travel outside their own
villages.
On September 6, the Prime Minister's office released a decision
requiring citizens and resident foreigners to obtain a permit to visit
border areas, defense facilities, industrial zones involved in national
defense, areas of ``national strategic storage,'' and ``works of
extreme importance for political, economic, cultural and social
purposes.''
Local officials reportedly informally discouraged some clergy from
traveling domestically, even within their own provinces.
Officially, citizens had to obtain permission to change their
residence. In practice, many persons continued to move without
approval, especially migrant or itinerant laborers moving from rural
areas to cities in search of work. Moving without permission hampered
persons in obtaining legal residence permits. Foreign passport holders
by law must register to stay in private homes; and local authorities at
times refused to allow foreign visitors to stay with friends and
family. Citizens are also required to register with local police when
they stay overnight in any location outside of their own homes; the
Government appeared to have enforced these requirements more strictly
in some districts of the Central and Northwest Highlands. Police in
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City used that requirement on two occasions to
detain groups of ethnic Hmong house church leaders participating in
private bible-study seminars and return them to their home provinces
(see Section 2.c.).
Authorities barred travel by foreign diplomats to the Central
Highlands after protests took place in the region on April 10. On and
after April 26, diplomats and international press were allowed into the
Central Highlands on several visits. During these visits they were
received by local authorities and closely monitored by and prevented
from deviating from set itineraries by men in plainclothes. Foreign
diplomats visiting the Northwest Highlands were prevented by police
from traveling to some areas.
Although the Government no longer required citizens traveling
abroad to obtain exit or reentry visas, the Government sometimes
refused to issue passports. The Government did not allow some persons
who publicly or privately expressed critical opinions on religious or
political issues to travel abroad.
Citizens' access to passports sometimes was constrained by factors
such as bribery and corruption. Refugee and immigrant visa applicants
sometimes encountered local officials who arbitrarily delayed or denied
passports based on personal animosities, on the officials' perception
that an applicant did not meet program criteria, or to extort a bribe.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that Protestant pastors
who had served time in reeducation camps were denied passports. Some
family members of ethnic minorities granted refugee status abroad were
reissued household registration papers with the missing member removed.
In other cases family members of refugees were unable to obtain
passports to reunite abroad.
The Constitution does not provide for forced internal or external
exile; however, cases amounting to de facto exile exist. In October
2003, several UBCV leaders were forcibly returned to their home pagodas
and placed under official or unofficial house arrest there (see Section
2.c.). Protestant pastor Nguyen Lap Ma has been forced to reside in an
isolated village in Can Tho Province since 1982, but authorities have
allowed him to travel to Ho Chi Minh City for monthly medical check-ups
since he suffered a stroke in 1998. Another Protestant pastor, Nguyen
Nhat Thong, has been forced to reside in a remote village in Binh Thuan
Province since 1979. He has been allowed to travel outside the village
since 1986, but must ask for the permission of local authorities each
time. On January 26, Protestant pastor Tran Dinh Ai, a Vietnamese
citizen and frequent critic of the Government now living abroad, was
refused entry into the country at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat
Airport.
The United States continued to process immigrants and refugee
applicants for admission and resettlement, including Amerasians, former
reeducation camp detainees, former U.S. government employees, family
reunification cases, and returnees from camps of first asylum elsewhere
in the region (under the Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese
Returnees program). Most of these programs were closed to new
applicants nearly a decade ago, with the number of cases in some
categories now in the low double digits. (An exception was the
Amerasian program, which remained open to new applicants; however, this
program remains on hold pending new adjudication guidelines.)
The Government generally permitted citizens who had emigrated
abroad to return to visit. Officially, the Government considers anyone
born in the country to be a citizen, even if they have acquired another
country's citizenship, unless a formal renunciation of citizenship has
been approved by the President. However, in practice, the Government
usually treated overseas Vietnamese as citizens of their adopted
country. Emigrants were not permitted to use Vietnamese passports after
they acquired other citizenship. The Government generally encouraged
visitation by such persons, but sometimes monitored them carefully.
Following the April 10 protests in the Central Highlands a number
of Montagnards hid in forests and rubber plantations, and some
attempted to flee across the border into Cambodia (see Section 2.b.).
Vietnamese police attempted to block these potential refugees and
reportedly crossed the border into Cambodia. The U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) sought to monitor conditions in the Central
Highlands without restriction to ensure the safety of returned
refugees. The Government did not allow this access. Thirteen potential
refugees who received UNHCR protection in Phnom Penh independently
returned to Vietnam in October. According to Vietnamese authorities,
the 13 returned safely to their homes. However, newspapers later
printed accounts that made it clear that the 13 had been interrogated
extensively by authorities upon their return.
On March 12, Pham Van Tuong, a former UBCV monk known as Thich Tri
Luc, was convicted by a court in Ho Chi Minh City of ``fleeing abroad
or defecting to stay overseas with a view to opposing the people's
administration,'' and sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, including 19
months time served. Released March 26, he left for another country in
June, where he was granted refugee status.
The country is not a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating
to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In July, international
NGOs and press reports speculated that the Government allowed more than
450 North Koreans illegally present in Vietnam to travel to South
Korea. Reports from similar sources in August stated that as many as
100 North Korean refugees had been forcibly returned to China.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution does not provide the right for citizens to change
their government peacefully, and citizens could not freely choose and
change the laws and officials that govern them. All authority and
political power is vested in the CPV, and the Constitution delineates
the leadership of the CPV. Political opposition movements and other
political parties are illegal. The CPV Politburo is the supreme
decision-making body in the nation, although it technically reports to
the CPV Central Committee. During the first session of the Ninth
Congress of the CPV in April 2001, the CPV replaced the standing board
with a Secretariat consisting of at least 11 members, to oversee day-
to-day implementation of leadership directives.
The Government continued to restrict public debate and criticism to
certain aspects of individual, state, or party performance determined
by the CPV itself. No public challenge to the legitimacy of the one-
party State is permitted; however, there were instances of unsanctioned
letters critical of the Government from private citizens, including
some former senior party members, which circulated publicly.
The Government strongly encouraged eligible citizens to vote in
elections. Revisions to the Law on Election of Deputies to People's
Councils, issued by the National Assembly in November 2003, provided
for higher numbers of female and minority candidates, more candidates
per position, and fewer party members standing for seats in people's
council elections at all levels. Nonetheless, the party-controlled VFF
approved all candidates for people's councils, as it did for national
and provincial assembly elections. Although voting is not compulsory,
election officials applied many means to persuade citizens to vote,
including using public address systems to ask late voting citizens by
name to come to the polls. The Government claimed a 99.7 percent voter
turnout for the April people's councils election. Proxy voting, while
illegal, appeared widespread. In addition, most voting was over by
10:00 a.m., although polls were required to stay open until 7:00 p.m.
The National Assembly, although subject to the control of the CPV
(all of its senior leaders and 90 percent of its members were party
members), increasingly served as a forum for the expression of local
and provincial concerns and as a critic of corruption and inefficiency.
However, it did not initiate legislation and did not pass legislation
that the CPV opposed. CPV officials occupied most senior government and
National Assembly positions and continued to have the final say on key
issues. Legislators continued to question and criticize ministers in
biannual National Assembly sessions that were broadcast live on
television.
Corruption continued to be a major problem. The Government
publicized efforts to fight corruption, including publicizing budgets
at different levels of government and streamlining government
inspection measures. Cases of government officials accused of
corruption were broadcast widely, including the trial of senior
Ministry of Agriculture official La Thi Kim Oanh, the arrest of nine
Ministry of Trade officials, and the removal of several top district
officials from Phu Quoc island. Two Deputy Ministers of Agriculture
convicted of ``dereliction of duty'' in the Oanh case had their
sentences reduced from imprisonment to probation after the Minister of
Agriculture testified on their behalf. A requirement announced on March
17 that candidates for people's councils publicly declare their assets
was quietly scrapped a short time later.
In accordance with the amended Law on Promulgation of Legal
Normative Documents, the Official Gazette published most legal
documents in its daily publication.
The law provides the opportunity for equal participation in
politics by women and minority groups. Women held a number of important
government positions, including the Vice Presidency. There were 136
women in the 498-seat National Assembly; there were 3 women at the
ministerial level; however, there were no female members of the
Politburo. There were only a few women in provincial-level leadership
positions.
There were 87 ethnic minority members in the 498-seat National
Assembly and 2 ethnic minority members serving in cabinet-level
positions. The CPV General Secretary is a member of the Tay ethnic
minority group; however, the number of minorities in government or
national-level politics did not accurately reflect their percentage of
the population.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
The Government does not permit private, local human rights
organizations to form or operate. The Government generally did not
tolerate attempts by organizations or individuals to comment publicly
on government human rights practices and used a wide variety of methods
to suppress domestic criticism of its human rights policies, including
surveillance, limits on freedom of assembly, interference with personal
communications, and detention. However, the Southern Evangelical Church
of Vietnam (SECV) and Catholic Church did not suffer any apparent
adverse consequences from widely publicized 2003 letters to the
Government criticizing alleged religious oppression of ethnic
minorities in the Central Highlands.
The Government generally prohibited private citizens from
contacting international human rights organizations, although some
activists did so. The Government did not allow visits by international
NGO human rights monitors; however, it did allow representatives from
the press, the U.N., foreign governments and international development
and relief NGOs to visit the Central Highlands in April and May. The
Government criticized almost all public statements on human rights
issues by international NGOs and foreign governments.
The Government generally was willing to discuss human rights
problems bilaterally with some foreign governments. During the year,
several foreign governments held official talks concerning human
rights.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on gender,
ethnicity, religion, or social class; however, enforcement of these
prohibitions was uneven. Some persons formerly interned in reeducation
camps on the basis of association with the pre 1975 government
continued to report varying levels of discrimination as they and their
families sought access to housing, education, and employment. Some
military veterans of the pre-1975 government still faced economic
hardship as a result of past employment restrictions and
discrimination, but none were known still to be incarcerated for their
activities before 1975. These veterans and their families generally
were unable to obtain employment with the Government. This prohibition
was less restrictive than in previous years because of the growth of
job opportunities in the private sector.
Women.--The Penal Code proscribes punishment ranging from warnings
to up to 2 years' imprisonment for ``those who cruelly treat persons
dependent on them''; however, the police and legal system were
generally not equipped to deal with cases of domestic violence.
Officials increasingly acknowledged domestic violence, which also was
discussed more openly in the media. Domestic violence against women
reportedly was common. Hotlines for victims of domestic violence run by
domestic NGOs exist in some major cities, and the Vietnam Women's
Union, a mass organization guided by the CPV, introduced small projects
to counter domestic violence in some areas. Approximately two-thirds of
divorces reportedly were due in part to domestic violence. The divorce
rate has risen in the past few years, but many women remained in
abusive marriages rather than confront the social and family stigma and
economic uncertainty of divorce.
Under the Penal Code, it is a crime to use violence, threaten
violence, take advantage of a person who is unable to act in self-
defense, or resort to trickery to have sexual intercourse with a person
against that person's will. This appears to criminalize rape, spousal
rape, and, in some instances, sexual harassment; however, there were no
known instances of prosecution for spousal rape. NGOs and party-
controlled mass organizations took some steps to establish shelters for
victims of abuse and trained police to deal with domestic violence.
Prostitution is officially illegal but appeared to be tolerated
widely. Some women were coerced to work as prostitutes, and some were
victimized by false promises of lucrative work (see Section 5,
Trafficking). Many more women felt compelled to work as prostitutes
because of poverty and a lack of other employment opportunities.
Estimates varied widely, but some NGOs estimated that there were
300,000 prostitutes in the country, including those who engaged in
prostitution part-time or seasonally. There were reports in 2003 that
some persons in Ho Chi Minh City addicted young women to heroin and
forced them to work as prostitutes to earn money for drugs. Parents
often expected an eldest daughter to assume responsibility for a
significant part of a family's finances. There were reports that some
parents coerced daughters into prostitution or made extreme financial
demands that compelled them to engage in prostitution. The Vietnam
Women's Union as well as international NGOs engaged actively in
education and rehabilitation programs to combat these abuses.
While there is no legal discrimination, women faced deeply
ingrained societal discrimination. Despite provisions in the
Constitution, in legislation, and in regulations that mandate equal
treatment, few women competed successfully for higher status positions.
The Constitution provides that women and men must receive equal pay for
equal work; however, the Government did not adequately enforce this
provision. Despite the large body of legislation and regulations
devoted to the protection of women's rights in marriage as well as in
the workplace, and Labor Code provisions that call for preferential
treatment of women, women did not always receive equal treatment.
Nevertheless, women played an important role in the economy and were
engaged widely in business and in social and educational institutions.
Opportunities for young professional women have increased markedly in
the past few years, with greater numbers of women entering and staying
in the civil service, universities, and the private sector.
The VFF-controlled Women's Union has a broad agenda to promote
women's rights, including political, economic, and legal equality, and
protection from spousal abuse. The Women's Union operated micro-credit
consumer finance programs and other programs to promote the advancement
of women. International NGOs and other international organizations
regarded the Union as effective, but they and Women's Union
representatives believed that more time is required to overcome
societal attitudes that relegated women to lower status than men. The
Government also has a committee for the advancement of women, which
coordinated inter-ministerial programs that affected women.
Children.--International organizations and government agencies
reported that, despite the Government's promotion of child protection
and welfare, children continued to be at risk of economic exploitation.
While education is compulsory through the age of 14, the authorities
did not enforce the requirement, especially in rural areas where
government and family budgets for education were strained and where
children were needed for agricultural labor. Due to lack of classroom
space, most schools operated two sessions, and children attended either
morning or afternoon classes. Some street children both in Ho Chi Minh
City and Hanoi participated in night education courses. The culture's
strong emphasis on education led parents who could send children to
school to do so, rather than to allow them to work. The public school
system includes 12 grades. Over 90 percent of children attended primary
grades; however, the percentage that attended lower and upper secondary
school was much lower. While secondary school enrollments have
increased sharply, they were still at less than 75 percent of eligible
students for lower secondary and less than 50 percent for upper
secondary. Enrollments were lower at all educational levels in remote
mountainous areas, although the Government ran a system of subsidized
boarding schools through the high school level for ethnic minority
students. Religious groups operated some orphanages, despite the
Government's prohibition on such activities, and sent the children to
public schools during the day.
The Government continued a nationwide immunization campaign, and
the government-controlled press regularly stressed the importance of
health and education for all children. While reports from domestic
sources indicated that responsible officials generally took these goals
seriously, concrete actions were constrained by severely limited
budgets. According to UNICEF, despite growth in incomes over the past
decade, severe malnutrition remained a problem; approximately 39
percent of children under 5 years of age were underweight during the
1995-2000 timeframe.
Widespread poverty contributed to continued child prostitution,
particularly of girls, but also of some boys, in major cities. Many
prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City were under 18 years of age. Some child
prostitutes, such as those from abusive homes, were forced into
prostitution for economic reasons.
Some children were trafficked domestically and others were
trafficked to foreign destinations for the purpose of sexual
exploitation. Press reports documented the conviction and imprisonment
of a number of traffickers (see Section 5, Trafficking). Individuals
also were convicted in cases in which parents received payments in
exchange for giving up their infant children for adoption. In addition,
small children and infants were sometimes kidnapped and sold to
traffickers in China. In July, police in Hanoi arrested a woman
suspected of kidnapping six children in the impoverished provinces of
Thanh Hoa and Nghe An for sale in China. Mass organizations and NGOs
continued to operate limited programs to reintegrate trafficked
children into society. During the year, new programs designed to
provide protection and reintegration assistance for trafficking victims
through psychosocial support and vocational training, as well as to
supplement regional and national prevention efforts by targeting at-
risk populations for similar services, started operation in the north
of the country.
According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs
(MOLISA), there were 21,869 street children in the country as of
February 2003. Street children were vulnerable to abuse and sometimes
were abused or harassed by police. International NGOs documented
numerous cases of Cambodian children trafficked to Ho Chi Minh City for
short-term work in begging rings. Police picked up street children in
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and held them in juvenile detention
facilities in advance of the December 2003 Southeast Asia Games.
Trafficking in Persons.--The Penal Code prohibits trafficking in
women and children; however, trafficking in women and children for the
purpose of sexual exploitation was a serious problem. There were no
known cases of trafficking in persons for labor during the year. While
reliable statistics on the number of citizens trafficked were not
available, there was evidence that the number has grown in recent
years. The Social Evils Department of the MOLISA and the Criminal
Police Department of the MPS were the main government agencies involved
in combating trafficking, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice,
the Women's Union, and the Border Guards. The police took an
increasingly active role in investigating trafficking during the year,
including establishing a dedicated anti-trafficking force.
During the year, the Government increased its efforts to prosecute
traffickers. The law provides for prison sentences of 2 to 20 years for
each offense for persons found guilty of trafficking women, and for
between 3 years and life in prison for each offense for persons found
guilty of trafficking children. Hundreds of traffickers have been
convicted and imprisoned. The Government worked with international NGOs
to supplement law enforcement measures and cooperated with other
national governments to prevent trafficking. It also cooperated closely
with other countries within the framework of INTERPOL and its Asian
counterpart. The country hosted an international conference in February
on trafficking and human smuggling as part of the Bali Process.
The country was a source for trafficking in persons. Women were
trafficked primarily to Cambodia and China for sexual exploitation and
arranged marriages. According to one report, between 1990 and 2000,
approximately 20,000 young women and girls were sent to China to become
brides, domestic workers, or prostitutes; however, it was not clear how
many were victims of trafficking. Between 1995 and 2000, approximately
5,000 women and children were trafficked to and escaped from Cambodia.
Some women also were trafficked to Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau,
Thailand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There also
were reports that some women going to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and
China for arranged marriages were victims of trafficking. The
Government estimated that approximately 10 percent of women in arranged
marriages with Chinese men may have become trafficking victims. Women
and children also were trafficked within the country, usually from
rural to urban areas. There were no incidents of trafficking of adult
males domestically or abroad during the year.
Some children were trafficked domestically and others were
trafficked to foreign destinations for the purpose of prostitution. An
NGO advocate estimated that the average age of trafficked girls was
between 15 and 17 years of age. Some reports indicated that the ages of
girls trafficked to Cambodia typically were even lower.
Provincial- and national-level authorities made combating
trafficking in women and children a priority. In September 2003, the
Deputy Prime Minister held a high-level meeting of all relevant
agencies to assess anti-trafficking efforts and to chart a course
forward. As a result of that meeting, MPS coordinated the Government's
interagency anti-trafficking efforts.
There were reports that some women from Ho Chi Minh City and the
Mekong Delta who married men from Taiwan were forced into prostitution
after their arrival in Taiwan. There was reported trafficking in women
to the Macau Special Administrative Region of China with the assistance
of organizations in China that were ostensibly marriage service
bureaus, international labor organizations, and travel agencies. After
arrival, women were forced into conditions similar to indentured
servitude; some were forced into prostitution. In 2002, the Government
suspended the licenses of marriage mediation services and transferred
their function to the Women's Union. The services had helped to arrange
marriages between women and foreigners, primarily Taiwanese men.
Government officials still noted that it is difficult to obtain
information from Taiwanese officials on cases of alleged trafficking in
Taiwan. During the year, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union established
a pilot program to counsel and assist women who plan to become overseas
brides.
Poor women and teenage girls, especially those from rural areas,
were most at risk for being trafficked. MPS and UNICEF research
indicated that trafficking victims can come from any part of the
country, but were concentrated in certain northern and southern border
provinces as well as the central province of Thanh Hoa. Some were sold
by their families as domestic workers or for sexual exploitation. In
some cases, traffickers paid families several hundred dollars in
exchange for allowing their daughter to go to Cambodia for an
``employment offer.'' Many victims faced strong pressure to make
significant contributions to the family income. Others were offered
lucrative jobs by acquaintances. False advertising, debt bondage,
confiscation of documents, and threats of deportation were other
methods commonly used by the traffickers, spouses, and employers.
Individual opportunists and informal networks, as well as some
organized groups, lured poor, often rural, women with promises of jobs
or marriage and forced them to work as prostitutes (see Section 5,
Women). The Government stated that organized criminal groups were
involved in recruitment, transit, and other trafficking-related
activities.
Corruption was a serious problem at all levels, and some officials
were involved in the flow of overseas workers into exploitative
conditions or into trafficking. There were no cases in 2003 indicating
that governmental authorities or security forces facilitate or condone
trafficking in persons. However, the Government has a persistent
problem with corruption, which is particularly severe among street-
level police and border agents. There were several cases in 2003 in
which officers in state-owned enterprises were found to have
facilitated illegal migration through labor export. The Government
prosecuted these cases. In May 2003, three officials from the
Employment Service Center of the Administration Department of the
General Staff Department of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) were found to
have participated in a scheme to send workers to Malaysia, where they
were exploited. One of them was prosecuted by the local police in Thai
Binh Province and the two others by MOD's Criminal Investigation
Division. Also in 2003, the press also reported that the Acting Chief
of the Center for Development and Application of Technology and
Science--an NGO supported in part by the Government--was sentenced to 9
years in prison for involvement in a predatory labor export scheme.
Official institutions, including the MOLISA, the Women's Union, the
Youth Union, and the Committee for Population, Family, and Children,
had active programs aimed at prevention and victims' protection. These
programs included warning women and girls of these dangers,
repatriation programs, and vocational training for teenage girls in
communities considered vulnerable to trafficking. Government agencies
worked closely with the International Organization for Migration and
other international NGOs to provide temporary shelter, some medical
services, education, credit, counseling, and rehabilitation to returned
trafficking victims.
Throughout the year, security agencies with border control
responsibility have also received training in investigative techniques
that can be used to prevent trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law requires the State to protect
the rights and encourage the employment of persons with disabilities;
however, the provision of services to persons with disabilities was
limited. Responsible government agencies worked with domestic and
foreign organizations to provide protection, support, physical access,
education, and employment. The Government operated a small network of
rehabilitation centers to provide long-term in-patient physical
therapy.
Educational opportunities for children with disabilities were poor,
but improving. Just over 10 percent of children with disabilities were
enrolled in school. During the year, the Government worked with the
World Bank and international NGOs to train additional teachers for
students with disabilities.
The law provides for preferential treatment for firms that recruit
persons with disabilities for training or apprenticeship and for fines
on firms that do not meet minimum quotes of 2 to 3 percent of their
workforce for workers with disabilities; however, the Government
enforced these provisions unevenly. Firms with 51 percent disabled
employees can qualify for special government-subsidized loans. In 2002,
the Ministry of Construction enacted the ``Barrier-Free Design and
Construction Code'' and ``Standards for Access for People with
Disabilities,'' which requires that the construction or major
renovation of new government and large public buildings include access
for persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Construction trained
architects and engineers in the new requirements. At year's end, the
Government was developing an enforcement and compliant process to
support these new codes.
International groups also assisted the Government in implementing
programs to increase access by persons with disabilities to education
and employment.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although the Government
officially was opposed to discrimination against ethnic minorities,
longstanding societal discrimination against ethnic minorities was
widespread. In addition, there continued to be credible reports that
local officials sometimes restricted ethnic minority access to some
types of employment and educational opportunities. The Government
continued to implement policies to narrow the gap in the standard of
living between ethnic groups living in the highlands and richer,
lowland ethnic majority Kinh by granting preferential treatment to
domestic and foreign companies that invested in highland areas. The
Government ran special schools for ethnic minorities in many provinces,
including subsidized boarding schools at the high school- and middle
school-levels, and offered special admission and preparatory programs
as well as scholarships at the university level.
The Government resettled some ethnic minorities from inaccessible
areas to locations where basic services were easier to provide;
however, the resettlement sometimes diluted political and social
solidarity of these groups. The Government acknowledged that one of the
goals of resettlement was to impel the minorities to change from
traditional swidden agricultural methods to sedentary agriculture. This
also had the effect of making more land available to ethnic majority
Kinh migrants to the mountainous areas. In August, the Government
announced a suspension of state-sponsored migration programs to bring
settlers to the Central Highlands, and vowed to discourage spontaneous
migration into the area. However, in September, provincial officials
said that they were not aware of a change in migration policy. Large-
scale migration of ethnic Kinh to the Central Highlands in past years
led to numerous land disputes between ethnic minority households and
ethnic Kinh migrants. The loss of traditional ethnic minority lands to
Kinh migrants was an important factor behind the ethnic unrest in the
Central Highlands in 2001 and during the year.
There were numerous credible reports that groups of Montagnards
continued to flee to Cambodia to escape ethnic and religious repression
in the Central Highlands. These numbers increased after the April 10
demonstrations. Government officials continued to harass some highland
minorities, particularly the Hmong in the northwest provinces and
several ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, for practicing their
Protestant religion without official approval (see Section 2.c.).
The Government continued to impose extra security measures in the
Central Highlands, especially after the April demonstrations. There
were numerous reports of Montagnards seeking to cross into Cambodia
being returned to Vietnam by Vietnamese police operating on both sides
of the border, sometimes followed by beatings and detentions; however,
the Government continued to implement measures to address the causes of
the unrest and initiate new measures as well. The Government allocated
land to ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands through a special
program; however, there were complaints that some of the allocated land
was poor (see Section 2.d.).
The Government continued a program to conduct classes in some local
ethnic minority languages up to grade five. The Government worked with
local officials to develop a local language curriculum. The Government
appeared to implement this program more comprehensively in the Central
Highlands than in the mountainous northern provinces. The Government
broadcast radio and television programming in ethnic minority languages
in some areas. The Government also instructed ethnic Kinh officials to
learn the language of the locality in which they worked; however,
implementation was not widespread. Provincial governments implemented
initiatives designed to increase employment, reduce the income gap
between ethnic minorities and ethnic Kinh, and be sensitive and
receptive to ethnic minority culture and traditions.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was no evidence of
official discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS; however, there
remains substantial societal discrimination against persons with HIV/
AIDS.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Workers are not free to join or form
unions of their choosing. Trade unions are controlled by the CPV. All
unions must be approved by and must affiliate with the party-controlled
Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL). The VGCL claimed that it
represented 95 percent of public sector workers and 90 percent of
workers in state-owned enterprises. Approximately 500,000 union members
worked in the private sector, including enterprises with foreign
investment. The vast majority of the workforce lived in rural areas,
engaged in small-scale farming, and was not unionized. The overall
level of unionization of the workforce was 10 percent.
Union leaders influenced key decisions, such as the amendment of
labor legislation, development of social safety nets, and the setting
of health, safety, and minimum wage standards. However, the VGCL
asserted that authorities did not prosecute some violations of the
Labor Law. For example, workers at Thien An Company Ltd in Ho Chi Minh
City conducted three strikes during the year, complaining that the
company repeatedly violated the labor law on matters of wages and
social insurance. Authorities took no legal action against the company.
While the Labor Law states that all enterprise-level and
professional trade unions are affiliated with the VGCL, in practice
hundreds of unaffiliated ``labor associations'' were organized at many
individual enterprises and in occupations such as taxi, motorcycle and
cyclo drivers, cooks, and market porters. The ILO and the UNDP
cooperated on a large multiyear technical assistance program to
strengthen labor law implementation. This involved projects that
encouraged job promotion for young women and improvements in
occupational safety and health, among other objectives. The ILO was
also implementing two projects on eliminating child labor and improving
industrial relations, including collective bargaining and dispute
settlement. In December, the country held its first national dialogue
on industrial relations.
The Labor Law prohibits antiunion discrimination on the part of
employers against employees who seek to organize.
Individual unions legally are not free to affiliate with, join, or
participate in international labor bodies; however, the VGCL had
relations with 95 labor organizations in 70 countries.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Under the law,
the provincial or metropolitan branch of the VGCL was responsible for
organizing a union within 6 months of the establishment of any new
enterprise, and management is required to cooperate with the union. The
Labor Law provides VGCL-affiliated unions the right to bargain
collectively on behalf of workers.
The Labor Law provides for the right to strike if workers follow
the stipulated process of conciliation and arbitration. The law
requires that management and labor first attempt to resolve labor
disputes through the enterprise's own labor conciliation council.
However, many enterprises did not have labor conciliation councils. In
the absence of such a council or if a council fails to resolve a labor
dispute, the dispute is referred to labor arbitration successively at
the district and provincial levels. Individual workers may take cases
directly to the people's court system, but in most cases, only after
conciliation has been attempted and failed. Unions have the right to
appeal decisions of provincial labor arbitration councils to provincial
people's courts or to strike. Because this process was lengthy and the
necessary dispute resolution bodies in many provinces and localities
have never been established, nearly every strike became de jure
illegal.
According to the Ministry of Labor, 60 strikes took place in the
first 6 months of the year. In 2003, 119 strikes occurred, an increase
of 43 over the 2002 number. Of these, 81 were against foreign-invested
enterprises, 35 involved domestic private enterprises, and 3 affected
state-owned firms. Other sources reported 14 strikes against state-
owned firms. For example, in September 2003, nearly 400 workers at a
company in Ho Chi Minh City blocked the entrance to the factory over
unpaid salaries. Also in September 2003, 300 workers demonstrated at
another Ho Chi Minh City factory to protest harsh working conditions.
Although strikes typically did not follow the authorized conciliation
and arbitration process, and thus were of questionable legality, the
Government tolerated them and took no action against the strikers.
Although the VGCL or its affiliate unions did not sanction these
strikes officially, the local and provincial levels of the VGCL
unofficially supported many of them. The Labor Law prohibits
retribution against strikers, and there were no reports of retribution.
In some cases, the Government disciplined employers for the illegal
practices that led to strikes. For example, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported
that in 2002 Doanh Duc Company Ltd. fought with workers who had struck
against the company's violations of the labor law. A Government
inspection team later investigated the incident and ordered the company
to compensate injured workers and asked the police to take measures
against the employer.
The Labor Law prohibits strikes in 54 occupational sectors and
businesses that serve the public or are considered by the Government to
be important to the national economy and defense. A subsequent decree
defined these enterprises to be those involved in: Electricity
production; post and telecommunications; railway, maritime, and air
transportation; banking; public works; and the oil and gas industry.
The law also grants the Prime Minister the right to suspend a strike
considered detrimental to the national economy or public safety.
The same labor laws in effect for the rest of the country govern
the growing number of export processing zones and industrial zones.
There was anecdotal evidence that the Government enforced labor laws
more actively in the zones than outside them.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Law
prohibits all forms of forced and compulsory labor, including by
children; however, there were reports that thousands of children worked
in exploitative situations (see Section 6.d.). Some women were coerced
into prostitution (see Section 5).
Prisoners routinely were required to work for little or no pay.
They produced food and other goods used directly in prisons or sold on
local markets reportedly to purchase items for prisoners.
A government ordinance requires all male citizens between 18 and 45
years of age and women between 18 and 35 years of age to perform 10
days of annual public labor; however, this ordinance was rarely
enforced. The ordinance also allows citizens to find a substitute or
pay a marginal fee instead of working.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor was a problem. The Labor Law prohibits most child labor,
but allows exceptions for certain types of work. The law sets the
minimum age for employment at 18 years of age, but enterprises may hire
children between the ages of 15 and 18 if the firm obtains permission
from parents and the MOLISA. The ILO reported in 2001 that
approximately 20,000 children between the ages of 8 and 14 years worked
part-time or full-time in violation of the Labor Law. That estimate may
be low, since many more children worked in the informal sector, usually
on family farms or in family businesses not within the scope of the
Labor Law.
By law, an employer must ensure that workers under 18 years of age
do not undertake hazardous work or work that would harm their physical
or mental development. Prohibited occupations are specified in the
Labor Law. The Labor Law permits children to register at trade training
centers, a form of vocational training, from 13 years of age. Children
may work a maximum of 7 hours per day and 42 hours per week and must
receive special health care.
There were reports that enterprises, including companies with
foreign investment, have discovered underage workers in their employ.
According to reliable sources, this usually occurred because the worker
had presented false identity documents. Once discovered, the children
lost their jobs, but in many cases the companies paid for their
schooling and promised to reemploy them once they were of age.
In rural areas, children worked primarily on family farms and in
other agricultural activities. In some cases, they began work as young
as 6 years of age and were expected to work as adults by the time they
were 15 years of age. In urban areas, children also work in family-
owned small businesses. Migration from rural to urban settings
exacerbated the child labor problem as unauthorized migrants were
unable to register their households in urban areas. This meant that
their children could not attend public schools and families had less
access to credit. Officials said that juveniles in Education and
Nourishment Centers, which functioned much as reform schools or
juvenile detention centers do elsewhere, were assigned work for
``educational purposes.''
A study of child labor in Ho Chi Minh City found cases in which
parents in poor families entered into ``verbal agreements'' with
employers, who then put their children to work; the children's salaries
were sent directly to the parents.
Government officials have the power to fine and, in cases of
Criminal Code violations, prosecute employers who violate child labor
laws. While the Government committed insufficient resources to enforce
effectively laws providing for children's safety, especially for
children working in mines and as domestic servants, it detected some
cases of child exploitation, removed the children from the exploitative
situations, and fined the employers. International donor assistance
targeted the problem of child labor. In addition, a child labor unit
was established within the MOLISA.
The law prohibits forced and compulsory labor by children; however,
thousands of children worked in exploitative situations and were
trafficked both domestically and internationally for the purpose of
sexual exploitation (see Section 5).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Law requires the
Government to set a minimum wage, which is adjusted for inflation and
other economic changes. The official monthly minimum wage for foreign-
investment joint ventures was $40 (626,000 dong) in urban districts of
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; $35.90 (556,000 dong) in rural districts of
Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and districts of Hai Phong, Bien Hoa City, and
Vung Tau City; and $31.40 (487,000 dong) elsewhere. The Government may
temporarily exempt certain joint ventures from paying the minimum wage
during the first months of an enterprise's operations or if the
enterprise is located in a very remote area, but the minimum wage in
these cases can be no lower than $29.90 (417,000 dong). The official
monthly minimum wage of the State sector was $18.80 (290,000 dong).
This amount remained inadequate to provide a worker and family a decent
standard of living. The new salary policy benefited over 6 million
persons, including 300,000 public servants working in administrative
organizations, CPV bodies, and unions. However, state-owned enterprises
consistently paid more than that minimum wage. The number of workers
who received government-subsidized housing decreased. Many workers
received bonuses and supplemented their incomes by engaging in
entrepreneurial activities. Households frequently included more than
one wage earner.
The Government set the workweek for government employees and
employees of companies in the state sector at 40 hours and encouraged
the private business sector and foreign and international organizations
that employed local workers to reduce the number of hours in the
workweek to 40 hours, but did not make compliance mandatory.
The Labor Law sets normal working hours at 8 hours per day, with a
mandatory 24-hour break each week. Additional hours require overtime
pay at 1.5 times the regular wage, two times the regular wage on weekly
days off, and three times the regular wage on holidays and paid leave
days. The law limits compulsory overtime to 4 hours per week and 200
hours per year. Amendments to the Labor Law in 2002 provide for an
exception in special cases where this maximum can be up to 300 overtime
hours worked annually, subject to stipulation by the Government after
consulting with the VGCL and employer representatives. The law also
prescribes annual leave with full pay for various types of work. It was
unclear how well the Government enforced these provisions.
According to the law, a female employee who is engaged, pregnant,
on maternity leave, or is raising a child under 1 year of age cannot be
dismissed unless the enterprise is closed. Female employees who are at
least 7 months pregnant or are raising a child under 1 year of age
cannot work overtime, at night, or in distant locations.
The Labor Law requires the Government to promulgate rules and
regulations that ensure worker safety. The MOLISA, in coordination with
local people's committees and labor unions, is charged with enforcing
the regulations. In practice enforcement was inadequate because of low
funding and a shortage of trained enforcement personnel. The VGCL
reported that there were 300 labor inspectors in the country, but that
at least 600 were needed. On-the-job injuries due to poor health and
safety conditions in the workplace were a problem. According to MOLISA
statistics, there were 4,089 injuries and 513 fatalities resulting from
3,896 work-related accidents (some involving multiple workers) in 2003;
however, there was evidence that workers, through labor unions, were
effective in improving working conditions. Some foreign companies with
operations in the country have established independent monitoring of
problems at their factories. Companies reported that the MOLISA or
provincial labor agencies performed labor and occupational safety and
health inspections at enterprises when they learned of serious
accidents or when there were reports of hazardous conditions.
The Labor Law provides that workers may remove themselves from
hazardous conditions without risking loss of employment; it was unclear
how well this stipulation was enforced in practice. MOLISA states that
there have been no worker complaints of employers failing to abide by
it.
EUROPE AND EURASIA
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ALBANIA
Albania is a republic with a multiparty Parliament, and a Prime
Minister and a President both elected by Parliament. The Prime Minister
heads the Government; the Presidency is a largely ceremonial position
with limited executive power. In 2003, local elections were held
throughout the country, which were judged to be an improvement over
previous elections, with only a few isolated incidents of
irregularities and violence. The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, corruption and political pressure
limited its ability to function independently and efficiently.
Local police units report to the Ministry of Public Order and are
responsible principally for internal security. The military forces have
a special 151-person ``commando'' unit, which operates in an
antiterrorist role under the Minister of Defense. During times of
domestic crisis, the law allows the Minister of Public Order to request
authority over this unit. The State Intelligence Service (SHISH) is
responsible for both internal and external intelligence gathering and
counterintelligence. Civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control over the security forces. Some members of the
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country had a mixed economy that was in transition from central
economic planning to a free market system. The country continued to
experience slow but steady economic progress; the economy grew by 6
percent. However, approximately 25 percent of the population of
approximately 3.1 million lived below the poverty line. According to
the Government, the unemployment rate was 15.2 percent; however, some
unofficial reports put it as high as 22 percent. The average inflation
was 3.2 percent and public sector wages increased by 10 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were serious problems in several areas. Police
beat and abused suspects, detainees, and prisoners. Prison conditions
remained poor. The police occasionally arbitrarily arrested and
detained persons, and prolonged pretrial detention was a problem.
Official impunity was a problem. The Government occasionally infringed
on citizens' privacy rights. Political interference in the media
occurred less frequently than in previous years. Police reportedly used
excessive force against protestors. Individual vigilante action, mostly
related to traditional blood feuds, resulted in some killings and an
atmosphere of fear in some areas of the country. Societal violence and
discrimination against women and children were serious problems.
Societal discrimination against Roma, the Egyptian community, and
homosexuals persisted. Child labor was a problem. Trafficking in
persons remained a problem, which the Government took some steps to
address.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings; however, security forces killed one person during
the year.
In July, Erigert Ceka, a 17-year-old minor, died as a result of
being beaten by police while in detention. As a result of the death,
the prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against two police guards
who were charged with committing ``arbitrary actions.'' In November,
one guard was sentenced to a 6-month prison term for committing
arbitrary actions in violation of the law while escorting detainees,
and in December, the other police guard was sentenced to an 8-month
prison term for violating the rules of guard service under the military
code and misuse of duty. The cases were being appealed at year's end;
however, the court did not hold anyone accountable for Ceka's death.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reported deaths due to land
mines. However, there were six deaths from mine-related accidents
including a cluster bomb in a training facility that killed two and
injured several, and a antitank mine that killed four others, three of
whom were children.
The country continued to experience high levels of violent crime.
Many killings continued to occur as the result of individual or clan
vigilante actions connected to traditional ``blood feuds'' or criminal
gang conflicts. According to the Ministry of Public Order, at least 10
individuals were killed during the year in blood feuds, which are based
on the medieval Code of Lek Dukagjini (the kanun), which was practiced
by individuals particularly in the northern part of the country. Under
the kanun, only adult males are acceptable targets for blood feuds;
however, women and children often were killed or injured in the
attacks. As a result of blood feuds, during the year, 670 families were
self-imprisoned, 650 families accepted legal procedures rather than
personal vendettas for resolving the conflict, and 54 families were
living under protection outside of the country; 160 children were
prevented from attending school due to fear of revenge, of which 73
were considered to be in serious danger. This was a decrease from 2003
when it was estimated that there were 1,370 families self-imprisoned at
home and 711 children prevented from attending school due to fear of
revenge. Land property conflicts and issues related to human
trafficking remained the main reasons forcing families to enter into
blood feuds. In August, Emin Spahija, the head of the Non-Government
organization (NGO) Peace Missionaries League that worked exclusively on
blood feud issues, was murdered near his house in the city of Shkodra.
Police have not apprehended any suspects in the murder.
Blood feud cases were adjudicated in the Court of Serious Crimes.
Cases of blood killings carry a sentence of 20 years or life
imprisonment. Although blood feud prosecution rates were not available,
estimates indicated that 60 to 65 percent of all cases were brought to
court and nearly all of them ended up at the appellate level.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
Three former officials of the SHISH, who were arrested in 2003 in
connection with the kidnapping of Ziso Kristopulli and Remzi Hoxha in
1995, were released (one in 2003 and two in May) for lack of evidence
and the case was suspended. Although Kristopulli was eventually
released, the whereabouts of Hoxha remained unknown.
Human rights groups, including the Albanian Helsinki Committee
(AHC) and the Albanian Human Rights Group (AHRG), have questioned the
release of the SHISH officials and the suspension of the disappearance
case. In November, the NGOs organized a press event and Amnesty
International wrote a letter to the Prime Minister requesting that the
case be reopened. No actions have taken place so far.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
police at times beat and tortured suspects. The AHC and the AHRG
continued to report that police forces nationwide used torture and
inhumane or excessive treatment; however, both noted that the number of
cases decreased during the year. According to the AHRG, most
mistreatment took place at the time of arrest or initial detention.
Roma and members of the Egyptian community were particularly vulnerable
to police abuse (see Section 5).
In February, according to the AHRG, Niko Puriqi accused the Permeti
Chief of Criminal Police of beating him during pretrial detention. The
police medical examiner verified Puriqi's allegations. Puriqi initially
was accused of theft, although the police later dismissed the charges.
In March, the Chief of Criminal Police received a warning.
In October, Stathi Lako, a 31-year-old man from Korca, was detained
and allegedly mistreated in pretrial detention by three police officers
and the Chief of Office of Serious Crimes, Bajram Hyka. According to
AHC, Lako's involvement with Hyka's daughter was the reason for the
detention. The prosecutor's office has not initiated an investigation
of the case.
In June, Beqir Kaba filed a complaint based on allegations of
illegal arrest and maltreatment by two police officers of Dibra police
commissariat. Following the Ombudsman Office's intervention, the two
police officers were temporarily suspended from work.
In December 2003, the investigation into the 2003 beating of Behar
Dedolli by the police was transferred to the military police and later
suspended due to lack of evidence.
In 2003, Romeno Nexhipi alleged that Fier police beat him after
they asked him to accompany them to the police station. He was sent to
the hospital for treatment, then taken to the police station where he
was held overnight. Nexhipi was subsequently charged with disturbing
the peace and assaulting a police officer; however, the case was
suspended at the year's end.
Alnor Hasa, former Chief of Criminal Police accused of beating a
detainee in 2002, was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment. There were no
developments in the April 2002 Pergjini assault case, which alleged
that three brothers were arrested and beaten by police in reprisal for
a dispute with the officers. The 2002 Azgan Haklaj assault case, in
which charges were filed against four police officers accused of
assaulting Haklaj during his 2001 arrest, was suspended by the
prosecutor's office during the year.
At times police abused and tortured juvenile detainees (see Section
1. a.). According to the Children's Rights Center of Albania (CRCA),
police sometimes used threats, violence, and torture to extract
confessions from minors. In 2003, according to the AHRG, police used
violent means against three minors from Korca, who were witnesses in a
trial, in order to manipulate their testimony to favor the prosecutor.
No actions were taken against the police officers. The prosecutor
charged Gjergji Dabulla with the trafficking of the three minors and
continued to use evidence in the case allegedly extracted from the
minors by violent means.
The AHRG claimed that police targeted the country's homosexual
community. According to the General Secretary of Gay Albania, the
police often arbitrarily arrested homosexuals and then physically and
verbally abused them while they were in detention. In October, the
General Secretary of Gay Albania claimed that he was refused
citizenship because he was homosexual.
There were reports that police beat protesters during the year (see
Section 2.b.).
Conditions inside the prisons and detention centers remained poor,
despite government efforts to address problems such as poor facilities
and overcrowding as well as efforts to transfer convicted inmates from
detention centers to prisons. According to the European Union's
Judicial Reform, Asylum and Migration Operations Section, detainees had
limited access to bathroom and showering facilities, and insufficient
food; in some cases, space and privacy limitations kept them from
engaging in religious practices. Access to employment opportunities for
prisoners did not exist. The prison staff was poorly trained. During
the year, prisoners and detainees rioted in Vlora, Lezha and Lac and
held hunger strikes in pretrial detention centers in Elbasan, Corovoda,
Korca, Malesia e Madhe and in prisons in Tirana and Burrel to protest
poor living conditions, slowness of prisoner transfers from pretrial
detention cells to prison facilities and the absence of prison
employment. There were no reports of injuries or death from riots.
Overcrowding remained a serious problem. This caused substandard
living conditions for prisoners and significant security problems for
the police forces. According to the Ministry of Public Order the
country's overall space capacity for all pretrial detention facilities
amounted to 803, but the actual number of detainees was 1,239. In July,
the Ministry of Justice decided to transfer all convicted felons to
prisons; however, 188 convicted felons still remained in pretrial
detention centers at year's end.
Unlike in previous years, no felons committed suicide.
The transfer of jurisdiction from the Ministry of Public Order to
the Ministry of Justice of all pretrial detention centers mandated by a
2001 law was only partially fulfilled with the pretrial detention
centers of Tirana and Vlora transferred to the Ministry of Justice by
year's end.
Police separated men from women in pretrial detention centers and
prisons. According to NGOs monitoring prison conditions, Prison 325 for
women in Tirana lacked facilities for newborns of those women prisoners
who were pregnant at the time of incarceration. Pretrial detainees were
not separated from convicted prisoners, and juvenile detainees were not
separated from adults due to overcrowding.
The Ministry of Justice reported that 49 minors were serving prison
sentences: 31 in pretrial detention centers in the Ministry of Justice-
run centers in Tirana and Vlora and 18 in Vaqarr--the only prison in
the country that has a special wing for juveniles. Overall, there were
39 minors held in pretrial detention centers excluding those in Tirana
and Vlora. The CRCA noted that juveniles at Vaqarr were mixed with
adult prisoners for showers and leisure activities. As a result, there
were several reports of sexual abuse of juveniles during the year.
According to the CRCA, all minors were denied education in the pretrial
detention system; the Government had not responded to the concern by
year's end.
Unlike in previous years, there were no minor girls serving
sentence in Prison 325 for women.
The Government permitted international human rights observers to
visit both pretrial detention centers and prisons; there were no
reports of refusals to permit access for inspections by domestic
independent human rights monitors. The Government cooperated with the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and with other NGOs.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the police occasionally
arbitrarily arrested and detained persons.
According to the Ministry of Public Order, there were 12,132 police
officers in the Albanian State Police (ASP); the majority of police
officers remained largely untrained, despite assistance received from
foreign governments. A new restructuring of the ASP created two deputy
directorates: One for operations and the other for administration.
Operational Directorates included: Organized Crime and Witness
Protection; Fight Against Terrorist Acts and Cold Cases; Public Order
and Security; Territorial Control and Coordination; and Border Police
and Migration. The overall performance of law enforcement remained
weak. Unprofessional behavior and corruption remained major impediments
to the development of an effective civilian police force. According to
the Ministry of Public Order, only 40 percent of police officers
received training beyond basic training. The State Police's Office of
Internal Control could engage in the prevention, discovery and
documentation of criminal activity committed by police and, during the
year, pursued investigations leading to the arrest of 52 police
officials and the dismissal of 323 for various degrees of misconduct.
In its yearly tabulations, the People's Advocate--a government
ombudsman charged with investigating citizen complaints of public
officials' wrongdoing--reported that it handled 2,520 complaints,
requests, and notifications related to all forms of public corruption
and misconduct. Of those, 19 percent were determined to be legitimate
and were forwarded to the appropriate authorities for further
investigation. Among these 2,520 cases, the People's Advocate received
25 complaints against police officers for excessive force or
maltreatment and determined that 7 were valid, 4 were outside their
jurisdiction, 13 were groundless, and 1 was withdrawn; however, no
further information on their status was available.
Corruption remained a problem among police forces and low salaries
and widespread corruption throughout society made the problem difficult
to combat. The State Police Office of Internal Control reported 223
cases of corruption to the Prosecutor's Office involving 230 police
officers; 32 officers were arrested.
The 1995 Penal Procedures Code sets out the rights of detained and
arrested persons. By law, a police officer or prosecutor may order a
suspect into custody. Detained persons must be informed immediately of
the charges against them and of their rights and a prosecutor must be
notified immediately after the police detain a suspect. Within 48 hours
of the arrest or detention, a suspect must appear before a judge. The
judge has an additional 48 hours to determine whether the suspect may
continue to be detained. In some cases, detained persons have been kept
in pretrial detention longer than 48 hours without a court decision on
whether the prosecutor has sufficient evidence.
The court may order pretrial detention in especially serious cases
that could pose a danger to society. Alternatively, a suspect may be
placed under house arrest. Bail may be required if the judge believes
that the accused otherwise may not appear for trial.
Legal counsel must be provided free of charge if the defendant
cannot afford a private attorney; however, this right was not widely
known and police often failed to inform suspects of it. Access to legal
information remained difficult for citizens. There were numerous cases
in which persons were illegally detained and were unable to contact
their private attorneys. In some cases, the detainees, minors included,
were interrogated without their defense attorneys present. The services
offered by the state bar association were considered inadequate and at
times lacking in professionalism.
During the year, the People's Advocate cited nine complaints of
arbitrary arrests and illegal detention by the police, and specified
that some of the complaints had merit and were forwarded to the
prosecutor's office.
The Penal Procedures Code requires completion of pretrial
investigations within 3 months; however, the prosecutor may extend this
period by 3-month intervals in particularly difficult cases. Lengthy
pretrial detention as a result of delayed investigations remained a
serious problem. The accused and the injured party have the right to
appeal these extensions to the district court. Some prisoners were held
in pretrial detention even after their trial.
There were no confirmed cases of detainees held strictly for
political reasons. The charges against Ekrem Spahia, Chairman of the
Legality Movement Party, in connection with the 1998 murder of a
Democratic Party parliamentarian were subsequently dropped because he
had parliamentary immunity, while the trial of 12 of his supporters
remained pending at year's end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, because of political pressure,
intimidation, widespread corruption, bribery, and limited resources,
much of the judiciary was unable to function independently and
efficiently.
Tension continued between the police, prosecutors, and the
judiciary particularly outside Tirana. Each side cited the failures of
the other as the reason criminals avoided imprisonment; the courts
accused the prosecutors and police of failing to provide the solid
investigation and evidence necessary to prosecute successfully, and the
police alleged that corruption and bribery tainted the courts. The
Judicial Police were responsible, under the direction of prosecutors,
for developing investigations initially conducted by the police.
The judicial system is composed of district courts of first
instance, six courts of appeal, military courts of first instance and
of appeal, and the High Court. There is also a separate and independent
Constitutional Court. The High Court hears appeals from both the
district courts and the courts of appeal, while the Constitutional
Court primarily reviews those cases involving constitutional
interpretation and conflicts between branches of government, and cases
of individuals alleging denial of due process. The Serious Crimes Court
and Serious Crime Court of Appeal became operational during the year
and focused on increasing the effectiveness of the fight against
organized crime and serious crimes and improving the quality of
adjudication.
The President heads the High Council of Justice, which has
authority to appoint, discipline, and dismiss judges of the courts of
first instance and of the courts of appeal. Judges who are dismissed
have the right to appeal to the High Court. In addition to the
President, the Council consists of the Minister of Justice, the head of
the High Court, nine judges of all levels selected by the National
Judicial Conference, and three members selected by Parliament.
The President of the Republic appoints the 17 members of the High
Court and the 9 members of the Constitutional Court with the consent of
Parliament. Parliament has the authority to approve and dismiss the
judges of the Constitutional Court and the judges of the High Court.
According to the Constitution, dismissal may be ordered based on
violation of the Constitution, conviction of a crime, mental or
physical incapacity, or commission of an act that seriously discredits
judicial integrity and reputation. The dismissed judges have the right
to appeal to the Constitutional Court.
The performance of the Bailiffs Office, the body that ensures that
civil judgments are enforced, despite some improvements was poor and,
as a result, many civil judgments were not implemented.
The country has no juvenile justice system, and children's cases
frequently were presented to judges who had not received any education
in juvenile justice. According to the CRCA, recent increases in the
length of sentences given to juveniles were due to lack of training of
judges in juvenile law.
The Constitution provides for the right to a speedy trial; however,
limited material resources, lack of space, and case overload in many
instances prevented the court system from processing cases in a timely
fashion. Long case backlogs were typical, and resulted in suspects
being detained for longer than legal limits (see Section 1.d.).
Defendants, witnesses, and others who do not speak Albanian are
entitled to the services of a translator. Defendants are entitled to a
lawyer, and, under the law, the Government provides lawyers for
indigent defendants, although the quality of representation varied. If
convicted, the accused has the right to appeal the decision within 10
days to the Court of Appeals. During the year, a number of trials,
including some of the country's most important ones, were held in
absentia, for example: The trial against Altin Arapi, the alleged
murderer of the driver of the Prosecutor General; the trial against 13
members, 7 of them in absentia, that organized trafficking in persons
in January that resulted in the death of 29 persons; and the ``Gaxhai''
trial against 5 gang members, 4 of whom were being tried in absentia.
The trial system does not provide for jury trials; the prosecutor
and the defense lawyer have the right to be present in front of a panel
of three judges, and defendants have the right to all the evidence that
will be considered by the judges.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
In July, the Parliament approved a new law on the restitution and
compensation of the properties confiscated during the Communist regime.
Some former landowners, including religious communities, questioned the
law's limitation on property restitution to 60 hectares in total. The
Government has not established a monetary fund to be used for the
purpose of compensation. The Ombudsman received 33 complaints related
to property compensation disputes during the year.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, at
times, the Government infringed on these rights.
In June, 51 Roma families were forced to abandon their homes,
because they blocked the implementation of the local municipality's
territory regulation plan.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the media was active and
largely unrestrained; however, there were serious, fundamental problems
with the use of the media for political purposes. Political
interference in the media occurred less frequently than in previous
years. Publishers and newspaper owners continued to edit news stories
to serve their own political and economic interests and sometimes to
block ones that ran counter to those interests. Journalists continued
to practice self-censorship. There was little transparency in the
financing of media outlets.
Political parties, trade unions, and various societies and groups
published their own newspapers or magazines. The independent media was
active, but was constrained by limited professionalism and lack of
finances. An estimated 200 publications were available, including daily
and weekly newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and pamphlets. Three
newspapers were published in Greek in the southern part of the country,
and 15 Greek papers and magazines were distributed throughout the
south; these dailies and weeklies had very small circulation figures.
The Albanian Radio and Television (RTSh) was the sole public
broadcaster (30 percent of its budget came from the Government, 70
percent from private sources), and it continued to devote most of its
coverage to the Government. RTSh includes a national television channel
and a national radio channel. National radio operated a foreign
language service that broadcasted in seven languages, including Greek.
Television was highly influential; approximately 80 percent of the
public obtained its news and information from television. Television
programming included some responsible journalism; however, political
affiliation was pervasive in programming. Despite some improvements,
the majority of stations were one-sided in their political coverage.
The National Council of Radio and Television (NCRT)--a seven-member
bipartisan body elected by the Parliament, with one appointment by the
President--governed broadcasting issues. The chairman of the Council
resigned in the summer, citing pressure from powerful broadcasters.
Unlike in previous years, physical violence was not used against
journalists.
In January, two reporters of Top Channel were detained briefly for
secretly filming the Prime Minister in the public domain.
In February, security forces detained two ALSAT TV journalists for
several hours and confiscated their videotape of the Prime Minister
visiting a hospital.
Unlike in previous years, no television licenses were revoked for
political reasons.
In May, a group of journalists and editors issued a press release
in which they raised concerns about the Government's efforts to
restrict press freedom. They argued that the Government's arbitrary use
of financial audits and lawsuits against journalists restricted freedom
of the press; however, the Government's position was that the
complaints were generated by ire at more effective tax collection.
Journalists also raised complaints about direct or indirect
censorship by their publishers or editors because of political or
commercial pressure or interests. The absence of employment contracts
for many journalists was cited as a frequent hindrance to unconstrained
reporting. Some media outlets complained that increased frequency of
tax auditing conducted at their offices was in retaliation for
reporting critical of government policies. From March to May and again
in September, the tax auditing office conducted tax inspections of the
newspaper Koha Jone.
Libel carries criminal sentences, from a fine to 2 years
imprisonment. There were a number of high-profile libel suits during
the year involving politicians and well-known journalists. For example,
in January, Prime Minister Nano sued the publisher and Member of
Parliament Nikolle Lesi for libel for claims published in an edition of
his newspaper, Koha Jone, alleging that the Prime Minister
inappropriately awarded himself and his advisers an additional 5 months
worth of salary. The first instance court ruled in favor of the Prime
Minister; however the case was pending hearing in the appellate court
at year's end.
In May, the Xhoana Nano, the wife of the Prime Minister, lodged a
request with the High Court to lift the parliamentary immunity of
Nikolle Lesi in order to pursue criminal charges against him for
publishing unflattering stories about her in his newspaper, Koha Jone.
In September, the High Court ruled in favor of the Prime Minister's
spouse; however, in November, Parliament reversed the decision.
Former Minister of Youth, Culture, and Sport Arta Dade and Minister
of Local Government Ben Blushi sued Democratic Party Chairman Sali
Berisha for libel, and the publishing company that owns the magazine
Spekter sued columnist Fatos Lubonja for libel; Lubonja previously
wrote for the magazine. These cases were pending in the Tirana District
Court or Court of Appeals at year's end. In December, the Chairman of
the New Democrat Party, Genc Pollo, won a libel case against Farudin
Arapi, Chairman of the Pyramid Schemes Assets Commission.
In July, the Democratic Party of Albania cancelled private NEWS 24
TV's accreditation with the party and denied it access to the party's
headquarters for allegedly providing biased reporting. The AHC
denounced the decision as a violation of the Constitution. The case was
pending at year's end.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however,
Internet access remained limited especially outside the capital. The
Government at times restricted academic freedom. For example, Professor
Doka was dismissed as chief of the University of Tirana's Geography
Department for having an ``antinationalistic approach in his work'' for
publishing an atlas which broadened the geographical minority zones.
The Government also, after initial availability, banned publication of
the atlas.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice.
The law requires organizers to notify state police about gatherings
in public places 3 days before the protests. The police may refuse to
permit them only for reasons of national security and public security,
the prevention of terrorist acts, the prevention of crime, the
protection of health or morals, or for traffic reasons; there were no
reports that such denials were made arbitrarily.
There were a few instances where the police maltreated protesters
during the year. In April, protesters clashed with police over the
compensation of former political prisoners and victims of political
persecution for their unpaid labor during their imprisonment or
persecution; many protestors were taken into custody and detained at
the police commissariat for several hours. Police did not press
charges.
During the year, Mjaft, a civic youth movement, organized several
protests and frequently encountered problems with police over
permission to protest. The police pressed charges against some Mjaft
organizers, but no trial had begun by the year's end.
The Constitution provides for the right of association, and the
Government generally respected this right; however, the Constitution
prohibits the formation of any political party or organization that is
totalitarian; incites and supports racial, religious, or ethnic hatred;
uses violence to take power or influence state policies; or is
nontransparent or secretive in character (see Section 3). There were no
reports that this provision was used against any group during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
There is no official religion, and all religions are equal; however,
the predominant religious communities (Sunni Muslim, Bektashi Muslim,
Orthodox, and Roman Catholic) enjoy a greater degree of official
recognition (e.g., national holidays) and social status based on their
historical presence in the country. Religious movements may acquire the
official status of a juridical person by registering with the Tirana
District Court under the Law on Non-Profit Organizations, which
recognizes the status of a nonprofit association regardless of whether
the organization has a cultural, recreational, religious, or
humanitarian character.
While the Government does not require registration or licensing of
religious groups, the State Committee on Cults keeps records and
statistics on foreign religious organizations that contact it for
assistance.
The Albanian Evangelical Alliance, an association of approximately
97 Protestant churches, complained that it had encountered
administrative obstacles to accessing the media. However, Evangelical
Alliance representatives stated that it was not clear whether the
limited access was due to the organization's small size or its
religious affiliations. Religion was not taught in public schools.
There is no law restricting the demonstration of religious affiliations
in public schools; however, some students were not allowed to do so in
practice. According to the Ministry of Education, there were 14
religious schools in the country, with approximately 2,600 students.
In 2003, a male Muslim student was prohibited from having his
diploma photograph taken because he had a beard. The student was
eventually permitted to graduate through the intervention of the Office
of the People's Advocate.
The Government failed to return to the various religious
communities all of the properties and religious objects that were
confiscated under the Communist regime in 1967. In cases where
religious buildings were returned, the Government often did not return
the land surrounding the buildings or provide comparable compensation.
In addition, the Government did not have the resources to compensate
churches adequately for the extensive damage that many religious
properties suffered.
The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania complained that, in
addition to problems in recovering property, it also had difficulty in
retrieving some religious icons from the Government for restoration and
safekeeping and reported some isolated incidents of vandalism to the
churches and crosses.
In June, Kastriot Myftari, author of the book ``Albanian National
Islamism,'' was acquitted of all charges of inciting religious hatred.
Relations among the various religious groups were generally
amicable. However, representatives of the country's Orthodox Church
noted that some churches, crosses and other buildings, were the targets
of vandalism, although these incidents were isolated and believed to be
the result of the country's weak public order rather than due to
religious intolerance. At year's end, the investigation into the 2003
killing of former General Secretary of the Islamic Community Sali
Tivari was ongoing.
Unlike in previous years, the Bektashi community did not experience
intimidation, threats, vandalism, and violence.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
As a result of significant internal migration, many citizens no
longer had local registration and status, which led to a loss of access
to basic services such as education and medical care. In many
educational institutions, students must have, among other documents, an
official document from district authorities that acknowledges they are
inhabitants of the district. The lack of these documents prevented many
students from attending school, with the Roma community especially
affected.
There was little progress on the Ministry of Local Government's
project to create a standardized national identification document.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government provided
protection against refoulement, the return of person to a country where
they feared persecution. The Government granted refugee status or
asylum. The Government also provided temporary protection to
individuals who may not qualify as refugees or asylees under the 1951
Convention/1967 Protocol; this was done for approximately 17
individuals. There is an appeals procedure, but it was not functioning
during the year.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The UNHCR, through the state-
run National Reception Center for Asylum Seekers, provided social and
legal service, health care coverage, insurance, and limited training
support for the country's small refugee community and coordinated
further assistance through a network of NGOs.
In April, together with international organizations (UNHCR, the
International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Organization of
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)), the Government, through the
European Union's CARDs Program, extended the prescreening program to
illegal immigrants stopped at all border crossing points.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
Although municipal elections in 2003 resulted in several reruns,
overall the elections met basic democratic standards and the police,
leadership of the electoral campaigns, some local election officials,
and electoral institutions performed their duties well. However, the
elections were marred by repeated refusals of the political leadership
of the two main parties to accept unfavorable results. The OSCE and the
Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Right's (ODIHR)
recommendations on the municipal elections called for setting up of a
parliamentary bipartisan commission that would address shortcomings in
the election system. From July to December, the bipartisan commission
addressed the shortcomings connected with the Central Electoral
Commission, voter's list, vote counting procedures, and party
financing, among others, to prepare for the upcoming general election
in the summer of 2005. The bipartisan commission's proposed amendments
to the electoral code were pending approval by Parliament at year's
end.
Several political parties participated in the political system; the
Socialist Party (SP) and the Democratic Party (DP) were the two largest
and held a majority of the seats in Parliament. The SP, formed from the
former Communist Party (known as the Party of Labor) in 1991, led the
governing party during the year. Its coalition included the HRUP, the
Social Democratic Party, Agrarian Party, the Democratic Alliance Party
and the Social Democracy Party. SP Party Chairman, Fatos Nano, also
served as Prime Minister. The DP, led by former President Sali Berisha,
was the primary opposition party in the Government.
A political party must apply to the Tirana District Court for
registration and declare an aim or purpose that is not
anticonstitutional or otherwise contrary to law, describe its
organizational structure, and account for all public and private funds
it receives. Registration was granted routinely; however, in April, the
Motherland Party, composed of members from the Muslim community, was
refused registration. The founders of the party reapplied and in
November registration was granted.
Corruption remained a major obstacle to meaningful reform in the
country. The Government has created a special ministerial position to
tackle corruption issues, and also enacted new anticorruption
legislation. In 2003, the High Inspectorate for the Declaration and
Audit of Assets (HIDAA) was established to oversee the financial
disclosures of public officials. Of the 4,160 declaration forms that
HIDAA reviewed during the year, only 2 cases were referred to the
prosecutor's office for further criminal investigation. However, in the
absence of a national conflict of interest law, senior government
officials continued to hold public offices even when it appeared to be
in conflict with their private business interests. During the year, the
prosecutor's office dealt with 376 cases of government officials
accused of abuse of authority and other types of corruption; however,
no major punishments were issued in the cases. In August, Management
System International (MSI) issued a survey that reported that 94
percent of the general public and 90 percent of business managers
believed that corruption among public officials was widespread.
The Constitution guarantees the right to access of information;
according to the Access-to-Information Law, all citizens, including
foreign media, have the right to obtain information about the
activities of government bodies, and of persons who exercise official
state functions. Under this law, persons in offices with public
authority are obligated to release all information, official documents,
except classified documents, state secrets, etc. However, this law has
not been fully implemented and access to information for citizens and
noncitizens remained a problem. For example, a local NGO filed charges
against the Ministry of Education because it denied access to requested
information. The trial continued at year's end.
There were 9 women in the 140-seat Parliament. There was only one
woman in the Cabinet, the Minister of Integration. The major political
parties had women's organizations, and women served on their central
committees; however, overall, women were very poorly represented in the
central and local governments, and few were elected to public office at
any level. During the 2003 municipal government elections, fewer than 3
percent of all candidates were women.
Several members of the Greek minority served in both the Parliament
and the executive branch in ministerial and sub-ministerial positions,
and there was 1 member of the Vlach minority in the 140-seat
Parliament. No other minorities were thought to be represented in
Parliament or the Cabinet.
Family voting occurred everywhere, but it was more common in rural
areas.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were increasingly cooperative and responsive to their views; however,
in some areas--such as violence against women, including domestic
violence, and children's issues--little progress was made. There were
several domestic NGOs active in addressing human rights problems.
Despite the assistance of international donors, the work of these
organizations was hampered by a shortage of funds and equipment.
There were no reports of government restrictions on the activities
of domestic human rights NGOs. The AHC monitored human rights issues as
they related to minorities, security forces, the judiciary, and
elections. The AHRG, in addition to offering legal assistance, ran a
complaint center and conducted police training. Both organizations
operated independently from the Government and often issued press
releases and reports calling for government action. The CRCA was the
only organization that monitored children's rights in the country. The
NGO Citizen's Advocacy Office (CAO), served as a corruption watchdog
and investigative unit; citizens could call the CAO hotline to report
corruption in government.
The Government cooperated with international organizations, such as
the UNHCR, the IOM, and the ICRC, and did not restrict their access to
the country.
The People's Advocate investigated inappropriate, inadequate, or
illegal actions on the part of the Government. Although it lacked the
power to enforce decisions, the People's Advocate acted as a watchdog
for human rights violations. Its most common cases included citizen
complaints of police and military abuse of power, lack of enforcement
of court judgments in civil cases, wrongful dismissal, and land
disputes (see Sections 1.c. and 1.e.). In many cases, the Government
took concrete steps to correct problems in response to the findings of
the People's Advocate; however, disputes between the People's Advocate
and the Prosecutor General hampered cooperation.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex, race,
ethnicity, or language; however, discrimination against women and Roma
minority groups persisted.
Women.--There was no legislation specifically addressing violence
against women or domestic violence; however, violence against women and
spousal abuse remained serious problems. In the country's traditionally
male-dominated society, cultural acceptance and lax police response
resulted in most abuse going unreported. Rape is punishable by law, as
is spousal rape; however, in practice, spousal rape was not reported or
prosecuted. The concepts of spousal rape and sexual harassment were not
well established, and, consequently, such acts often were not
considered crimes by authorities or the public. For this reason, it was
difficult to quantify the number of women who have experienced rape,
domestic violence, or sexual harassment; however, the Counseling Center
for Women and Girls noted that, in 2002, its Tirana hotline received 80
to 100 calls per month from women reporting some form of violence. A
1999 poll conducted by the NGO Advice Center for Women and Girls showed
that 64 percent of women surveyed had experienced some form of
physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; later statistics were not
available.
An NGO maintained a shelter in Tirana for abused women, although
the facility had the capacity to house only a few victims at a time.
The same NGO also operated a hotline that provided advice and
counseling to women and girls.
The law prohibits prostitution; however, it was a problem.
Trafficking in women and children remained a problem (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Many men, particularly those from the northeastern part of the
country, still followed the traditional unwritten code--the kanun--in
which, according to some interpretations, women are considered to be,
and were treated as, chattel. Under the kanun, some interpretations
dictate that a woman's duty is to serve her husband and to be
subordinate to him in all matters.
The February killing of a 21-year-old young woman by her father for
alleged tardiness and the father's subsequent sentence of fewer than 2
years' imprisonment received much attention from the media and the NGO
community; however, the case was not appealed.
Women were not excluded, by law or in practice, from any
occupation; however, they were not well represented at the highest
levels of their fields. The Labor Code mandates equal pay for equal
work; however, this provision was not fully implemented, although women
continued gradually to gain economic power. Women enjoyed equal access
to higher education, but they were not accorded full and equal
opportunity in their careers, and well-educated women were often
underemployed or worked outside their field of training.
In July, Parliament approved a new Law on Gender Equality which
guarantees equal rights for men and women, promotes equal opportunities
in order to eliminate direct and indirect discrimination, and defines
responsibilities for drafting of governmental policies promoting gender
equality. However, some NGOs criticized the new law as poorly written
and inadequately financed. Under the law, the Government's State
Committee on Equal Opportunity was tasked with drafting, promoting and
monitoring gender equality programs for the entire country. However,
the Committee was underfunded and lacked political influence. The new
law also created an advisory body, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on
Gender Equality.
Various NGOs worked to promote women's rights. Some of these groups
successfully promoted public awareness regarding domestic violence and
implemented programs to empower women; however, their ability to lobby
the Government and other prominent individuals to institute actual
change in government policies and practices regarding women's issues
remained limited.
Children.--The Government's commitment to children's rights and
welfare is codified in domestic law; however, in practice, there was
limited commitment.
The law provides for the right to 9 years of free education and
also authorizes private schools. School attendance was mandatory
through the ninth grade (or until age 16, whichever came first);
however, in practice, many children left school earlier than allowed by
law in order to work with their families, especially in rural areas
(see Section 6.d). Parents had to pay for supplies, books, school
materials, and space heaters for some classrooms, which was
prohibitively expensive for many families. The lack of proper
documents--many of which were lost due to internal migration--prevented
many students from attending school (see Section 2.d.). The CRCA
estimated that only 62 percent of girls who finished primary schools
continued on to high school; the percentage was significantly higher
for boys, but figures were not available at year's end. According to
UNICEF, the primary school attendance rate for all children ages 7 to
14 years was 90 percent. The net primary school enrollment rate was 97
percent for both boys and girls.
Equal access to medical care was available in principle for both
boys and girls; however, a high level of bribery in the medical care
system sometimes limited access.
After a decade of significant internal migration, high civil
registration fees have prevented many citizens from registering with
authorities in their actual places of residence. As a result, children
born to these individuals have no birth certificates or other legal
documentation. The law requires parents who do not register their
children within 30 days of the child's birth to go to court, where
fines for not being properly registered in the first place are likely
to be incurred. Thus, the country has a large--and growing--population
of vulnerable, unregistered children, who are at risk for trafficking
or exploitation, particularly from the Roma community.
According to statistics for the year issued by the National
Reconciliation Committee, as many as 160 children remained endangered
by blood feuds involving their families; 73 of those children were
considered to be living in especially dangerous circumstances (see
Section 1.a.).
Child abuse, including sexual abuse, was rarely reported; however,
authorities and NGOs believed that it was prevalent. According to the
Ministry of Public Order, 25 cases of sex crimes against children were
reported during the year. Trafficking in children, although not
widespread, was problematic (see Section 5, Trafficking). In a few
cases, criminals kidnapped children from families or orphanages to be
sold to prostitution or pedophilia rings abroad and there were reports
that some families sold their children to traffickers (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Child labor remained a major problem. NGOs estimated that there
were approximately 50,000 children working part time or full time.
There is no legislation or government policies that regulates this
concern (see Section 6.d.).
Homeless, displaced or street children remained a problem,
especially among Roma children. Roma children lived in extreme poverty
throughout the country. They begged in the street or did other petty
work, and many immigrated to neighboring countries, especially during
the summer.
There is no state authority responsible for children's issues.
Since July, the State Committee of Equal Opportunity, which supplanted
the State Committee for Women and Family, no longer had a mandate over
children's issues.
Various NGOs and international organizations worked on issues
related to trafficking of children. In addition, Save the Children
created an early childhood development program; Catholic Relief
Services sponsored after-school programs and promoted greater community
involvement in the education system, and UNICEF worked to develop a
juvenile justice system.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law criminalizes trafficking in
persons and provides penalties for traffickers; however, trafficking in
persons, particularly women and children, remained a problem. Police
corruption and involvement in trafficking was a problem.
According to the Criminal Code, the penalties for human trafficking
for sexual exploitation or forced labor are: Trafficking in persons (5
to 15 years in prison); trafficking of women for prostitution (7 to 15
years in prison); and trafficking in minors (15 to 20 years in prison).
Aggravating circumstances, such as kidnapping or death, can increase
the severity of the sentence to a maximum term of life in prison.
In February, Parliament approved the addition of fines to the
existing penalties: Those convicted of exploitation for prostitution of
a minor are fined $4,000 to $6,000 (400,000 to 600,000 lek); for women,
the fine is $3,000 to $6,000 (300,000 to 600,000 lek). In addition, the
amended Penal Code states that any government official or public
servant convicted of exploitation for prostitution faces 125 percent of
the standard penalty. In October, Parliament approved a new law that
mandates the sequestration and confiscation of assets if their source
comes from organized crime and trafficking.
The prosecution of traffickers remained a problem; traffickers who
were arrested often were released because of insufficient evidence,
and, if prosecuted, they often were charged for lesser crimes or were
given less than the minimum sentence for trafficking. During the year,
according to the Prosecutor's Office, there were 234 ongoing
trafficking in persons cases and 362 individuals were convicted of
trafficking in persons during the year. For example, two pimps, who
mistreated a girl from Tirana and trafficked her to Italy to work as a
prostitute, were sentenced to 17 and 19 years imprisonment.
In 2003, police arrested several servicemen on suspicion of raping
and trafficking a 16-year-old girl; the girl was smuggled onto the
Bishti i Palles naval base to have sex with conscripted sailors and
held in a semi-abandoned building on the base for two months and
repeatedly raped before she was trafficked to Kosovo. A total of 11
officers and noncommissioned officers--including the 7 participants--
were suspended or reassigned. Prosecutors dropped charges against one
of the girl's alleged traffickers in August, and the trial of eight
sailors and two civilians began in October. Two other individuals
allegedly involved have not yet been formally charged.
The 2003 case against operators of a child trafficking ring in
Durres, involving a port custom officer and the head of local SHISH
office, had not gone to trial by the year's end.
In August, a regional antitrafficking sweep organized through the
Southeast European Cooperative Initiative Center called Mirage III,
resulted in 125 arrests for various forms of trafficking, prostitution,
and smuggling. At year's end, 65 suspects remained incarcerated.
In March, Parliament passed a witness protection law; although the
law entered into force in November, the Government did not implement it
by year's end. This impeded the Government's ability to build strong
cases against traffickers, although cooperation from the international
community led to the relocation and protection of three witnesses
outside of the country during the year. Victims often did not identify
themselves as trafficked persons and were unwilling to testify, due to
fear of retribution from traffickers and distrust of the police.
Cooperation between the police and prosecutors remained weak.
The country was both a source and a transit country primarily for
women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation
and forced labor, including begging. To a lesser extent than in
previous years, the country served as a transit route for trafficked
women and girls. Most trafficked women and girls were transported to
Italy, Greece, and--to a lesser extent--other European countries, such
as Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Norway.
There was a significant increase in the trafficking of children to
Kosovo for exploitation as beggars and for sexual purposes. Traffickers
largely used overland routes such as Albania-Macedonia-Greece or
Albania-Montenegro or falsified documents to transport their victims
via plane or ferry. Internal trafficking increased significantly during
the year.
According to the Ministry of Public Order, there were 4,000
children trafficked from the country between 1992 and 2000. Children
were generally trafficked for forced begging or sexual exploitation.
Roma and Egyptian communities were particularly vulnerable due to
poverty and illiteracy. Children also were trafficked for begging. Such
children often were bought from families, and in a few cases were
kidnapped, reportedly for begging or working abroad.
For example, in November 2003, five persons (two in Korca and three
in Pogradec) received prison sentences ranging from 15 to 20 years for
trafficking newborn babies to Greece. At year's end, the case had been
appealed, after being transferred to the Court of Serious Crimes. Also
in November 2003, there were press reports that an Albanian family sold
their 3-year-old son to an Italian man; Italian authorities
subsequently arrested two persons involved in the sale.
According to the Ministry of Justice, 3,300 unaccompanied Albanian
children lived in Italy, although not all were victims of trafficking.
A 2002 study conducted by the NGO International Social Service reported
that 1,800 unaccompanied Albanian children--many of whom were
trafficking victims--lived in Greece; however, according to Terre des
Hommes, a Swiss child-welfare NGO operating in the country, the number
of children trafficked to Greece has declined in recent years.
Foreign women and girls in transit mostly originated from Serbia
and Montenegro (Kosovo), and--to a lesser extent--Moldova, Romania,
Ukraine, Russia, and Bulgaria. Traffickers typically confiscated
victims' documents, physically and sexually abused them, and sometimes
forced them to work as prostitutes before they left the country. Both
citizens and foreign women trafficked by domestic organized crime
networks were abused, tortured, and raped. Traffickers also threatened
many of the victims' family members.
The main form of recruitment involved marriage under false
pretenses or false promises of marriage, with the trafficker luring the
victims abroad as prostitutes. Due to the poor economic situation, men
and women from organized criminal groups lured many women and young
girls from all over the country by promising them jobs in Italy and
Greece. To a lesser extent, the selling of victims to traffickers by
family members or neighbors or kidnapping, including from orphanages,
occurred, particularly of Roma children.
The police often were involved directly or indirectly in
trafficking. Six police officers were arrested for trafficking, but no
convictions resulted and no other government officials were prosecuted
for trafficking during the year. Lawyers and judges were also
manipulated and bribed, permitting traffickers to buy their way out of
punishment if arrested. During the year, the Ministry of Public Order's
Office of Internal Control investigated only 12 cases of police
involvement in all forms of trafficking.
Government services provided to trafficking victims remained very
limited; however, several NGOs were active in addressing victims'
needs. The IOM operated a reintegration center in Tirana that provided
counseling and medical services, job training, and some legal
assistance. The Vatra Hearth Shelter, an NGO in Vlora, provided similar
services. Both shelters reported that a large percentage of their
caseload in 2003 and during the year involved victims deported to the
country from other European countries.
IOM also had five foster care cases related to trafficking in
persons during the year.
Police treatment of trafficked women continued to improve during
the year. Most police stopped treating trafficked women as criminals
rather than victims and routinely referred them to local and
international NGOs for assistance. Foreign women who were detained at
times lacked translation services or were not given a choice of
lawyers.
With significant input from the NGO community, the Government
prepared a Memorandum of Understanding in April to be signed with
Greece regarding the repatriation of victims of child trafficking. The
Greek government had not signed the agreement by year's end.
Victims of trafficking often faced significant stigmatization from
their families and society. According to the Vatra Hearth Shelter,
there have been many cases where victims of trafficking, minors
included, have been threatened with death by their families because of
their past. Government services available to trafficking victims
remained limited. Re-trafficking became a significant problem, with 141
out of 291 victims sheltered at the Vatra Hearth Shelter during the
year reporting that they had been trafficked at least twice previously
and seven of the victims were under continuous threats from the
perpetrators.
During the year, the Government prepared a national strategy to
combat child trafficking; it was pending approval before the Council of
Ministers by year's end.
The Vlora Antitrafficking Center, which opened in 2001, had not
become fully operational, although it was used as a command post for
Mirage operations. National and international NGOs carried out most of
the country's trafficking awareness campaigns.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was some discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, and the provision of other state services. Widespread poverty,
unregulated working conditions, and poor medical care posed significant
problems for many persons with disabilities. They were eligible for
various forms of public assistance; however, budgetary constraints
greatly limited the amounts they actually received. No law mandates
accessibility to public buildings for persons with disabilities, and
little was done in this regard.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Constitutional protections
against discrimination are applied to all minorities; however, societal
discrimination against members of minority populations persisted,
particularly members of Roma and Egyptian communities. In March, the
Council of Ministers established the State Committee on Minorities. The
Committee reported and represented the interests of all the minorities
vis-a-vis the Government. The Committee is composed of representatives
from the various national and ethnic-linguistic minorities.
According to the Minority Affairs Office, to qualify for national
or ethno-linguistic minority status, a group of individuals must: Share
the same language (different from Albanian), have documentation to
prove its distinct ethnic origin or national identity, have distinct
customs and traditions, or a link to a kinship state outside of the
country. For example, the group known as Egyptians were not given
minority status because they lacked some criteria, such as a distinct
language and traditions, that could define them as a minority. Instead,
the Egyptians were referred to as a community.
The Greeks are the largest national minority, followed by small
groups of Macedonians and Montenegrins; Aromanians (Vlachs) and Roma
are defined as ethno-linguistic minority groups.
The ethnic Greek minority, led by its cultural association Omonia,
collectively pursued grievances with the Government regarding electoral
zones, Greek-language education, property rights, and government
documents. Minority leaders complained of the Government's
unwillingness to recognize the possible existence of ethnic Greek towns
outside communist-era ``minority zones''; to utilize Greek on official
documents and on public signs in ethnic Greek areas; to ascertain the
size of the ethnic Greek population; and to include a higher number of
ethnic Greeks in public administration.
Greek-language public elementary schools were common in much of the
southern part of the country, where most ethnic Greeks lived. Every
village in this zone had its own elementary-middle (9-year) school in
the Greek language, regardless of the number of students, and
Gjirokaster had two Greek language high schools. However, Omonia said
that the ethnic Greeks needed more classes both within and outside the
minority zones. The Minority Affairs Office stressed that the
Government never closed a minority school or class even when the number
of students dwindled as a result of graduation, migration or other
factors. In 2003, Parliament passed an amendment that reauthorized the
inclusion of nationality/ethnicity in the Civil Registry and internal
identification, which was expected to alleviate the difficulty in
proving ethnicity for future requests for minority language schools.
The Roma and the Egyptian communities were among the most
politically, economically and socially neglected groups in the country.
There were reports that police beat Roma and Egyptians during the year
(see Section 1.c.). There were also reports of Roma and Egyptian
families being displaced by police from temporary housing. In June, 51
Roma families were forced to abandon their living quarters (see Section
1.f.).
Members of the Egyptian community tended to settle in urban areas
and generally were more integrated into the economy than the Roma. In
addition to widespread societal discrimination, these groups generally
suffered from high illiteracy, particularly among children, poor health
conditions, lack of education, and marked economic disadvantages. The
Government officially recognized the Roma as an ethno-linguistic rather
than a national minority. By year's end, the Government had not
implemented its National Strategy for the Improvement of Life
Conditions of the Roma Minority. In spite of repeated denials, the
Egyptian community continued to try to obtain minority status from the
Government.
In 2003, the AHRG claimed that police targeted the country's
homosexual community. According to the General Secretary of Gay
Albania, the police often arbitrarily arrested homosexuals and then
physically and verbally abused them while they were in detention.
However, the police denied these charges and stated that when
homosexuals were arrested, it was for violating the law--such as
disturbing the peace--not for their sexual preference.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Workers had the right to form
independent trade unions, and exercised this right in practice;
however, government employees are prohibited from joining unions or
holding strikes. Two major federations acted as umbrella organizations
for most of the country's unions: The Independent Confederation of
Trade Unions of Albania (membership approximately 85,000) and the
Albanian Confederation of Trade Unions (membership approximately
100,000). Both organizations experienced a continued drop in membership
during the year due to unemployment and decreasing employee
satisfaction with the unions. Some unions chose not to join either of
the federations. No union had an official political affiliation, and
the Government did not provide any financial support for unions.
The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination; however, there
were no reports of such discrimination in practice.
Unions were free to join and maintain ties with international
organizations.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Citizens in all
fields of employment, except uniformed members of the armed forces,
police officers, and some court employees, have the constitutional
right to organize and bargain collectively, and the Labor Code
establishes procedures for the protection of workers' rights through
collective bargaining agreements; however, labor unions operated from a
weak position. In practice, unions representing public sector employees
negotiated directly with the Government. Effective collective
bargaining remained difficult, and agreements were difficult to
enforce.
The Constitution and other legislation provide that all workers,
except civil servants including uniformed military, police, and some
court officials, have the right to strike. The law prohibits strikes
that are declared openly to be political or that are judged by the
courts to be political.
In January, the employees of a Ferrous-Chromium factory in Burrel
held a 12-day hunger strike to protest the nonpayment of their
salaries. After intervention of the trade union, the factory paid back-
salaries to the striking employees.
In April, 10 employees of the Urban Transport Park in Tirana held a
5-day hunger strike to protest illegal dismissal. The director of the
park claimed that their strike violated the employment contract.
However, the AHRG and Ombudsman stated that the hunger strike was legal
and that the Director of the park had not abided by the Labor Code in
the firing of the employees. The strike lasted 5 days. By year's end,
employees were not reinstated.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution and
the Labor Code prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by
children; however, such practices occurred (see Sections 5, Trafficking
and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code sets the minimum age of employment at 14 years and limits
the amount and type of labor that can be performed by children under
the age of 16. Children between the ages of 14 and 16 legally may work
in part time jobs during summer vacation. The Ministry of Labor may
enforce minimum age requirements through the courts; however, there
were no reports that enforcement took place. Labor inspections of
factories carried out in the first half of the year found only 0.01
percent of the employees were underage. The majority of factories
inspected were shoe and textile companies. More than 70 percent of the
underage workers were girls. The fine for employing an underage worker
was normally 20 to 30 times the monthly minimum wage of the employee.
The CRCA estimated that roughly 50,000 children under the age of 18
worked either full or part time. UNICEF estimated that 23 percent of
children ages 5 to 14 years in the country were working in between 1999
and 2003. Children considered to be working included those who have
performed any paid or unpaid work for someone who is not a member of
the household, who have performed more than 4 hours of housekeeping
chores in the household, or who have performed other family work. NGOs
reported that labor inspectors, who were charged with investigating
child labor complaints, did not give out fines, penalties, or
convictions to those who violated child labor laws.
There were young children working, some as many as 16 hours a day.
According to the CRCA, the majority of child laborers worked as street
or shop vendors, beggars, farmers or shepherds, drug runners, vehicle
washers, textile factory workers, shoeshine boys, or prostitutes;
however, in Tirana and other cities, children--mostly Roma--worked as
beggars or sold cigarettes and other items on the street; the police
generally ignored this practice. The CRCA also noted that there were
approximately 800 street children in Tirana. Increasing numbers of
children in Tirana fell victim to prostitution and other forms of
exploitation. There were reports that children were trafficked for
forced labor (see Section 5, Trafficking).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage for all
workers over the age of 16 was approximately $110 (10,800 lek) per
month, which was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living
for a worker and family. Remittances from those working abroad were
vital for many families. The law provides for social assistance (income
support) and unemployment compensation; however, these were very
limited, both in terms of the amounts received and the number of
persons actually covered. The average wage for workers in the public
sector was approximately $217 (21,325 lek) per month. Approximately 25
percent of the population lived under the official poverty line.
The Labor Code establishes a 40-hour work week; however, in
practice, hours typically were set by individual or collective
agreements. Many persons worked 6 days a week. By law overtime pay must
be provided and there were mandated rest periods; however, these
provisions were not always observed in practice.
The Government set occupational health and safety standards;
however, it had limited funds to make improvements in the remaining
state-owned enterprises and a limited ability to enforce standards in
the private sector. Actual conditions in the workplace sometimes were
very poor and in some cases dangerous. A number of job-related deaths
were reported in the press during the year, particularly in the
construction and mining industries. The Labor Code lists the safety
obligations of employers and employees but does not provide workers
with the right to leave a hazardous workplace without jeopardy to their
continued employment. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs was
responsible for enforcing health and safety regulations; however, these
regulations were generally not enforced in practice.
__________
ANDORRA
Andorra is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. Two Princes--
the President of France and the Catholic Bishop of Seu d'Urgell Spain--
serve with joint authority as heads of state, and a delegate
represented each in the country. Elections in 2001 chose 28 members of
the ``Consell General,'' (the Parliament) which selects the head of
government. The judiciary is independent.
The country has no defense force and depends on Spain and France
for external defense. Civilian authorities maintained effective control
of the national police, who had sole responsibility for internal
security. There were no reports that security forces committed human
rights abuses.
France and Spain influenced the country's market-based economy
significantly. The country had a population of approximately 72,000.
Commerce and tourism were the main sources of income. The rate of
economic growth was 3.22 percent and wages increased in both the public
and private sectors twice a year to offset inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and the judiciary provided effective means of
dealing with individual instances of abuse. Prolonged pretrial
detention occurred. Violence against women declined; however, violence
against children was a growing problem. Some immigrant workers
complained that they did not have the same labor rights and security as
citizens in practice, despite legal protections.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life by the
Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them. The country is
party to a network of 47 States with prisoner transfer agreements, and
qualifying prisoners were permitted to serve their sentences in their
own country.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
Men and women were held separately, as were juveniles from adults.
Pretrial detainees also were held separately from convicted criminals.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The police are organized into four areas: public security,
technical support, borders and traffic, and crime. Corruption was not a
problem; however, if corruption or serious irregularities were
discovered, then disciplinary proceedings were initiated. Police
received training in and outside Europe. Police responded promptly and
effectively to incidents involving violence.
Police may legally detain persons for 48 hours without charging
them with a crime. Warrants are required for arrest. The law does not
provide individuals under arrest immediate access to an attorney.
Legislation provides for legal assistance beginning 25 hours after the
time of arrest. There was a system of bail.
Lengthy pretrial detention occurred; the Ombudsman criticized the
long period of detention for persons awaiting trial.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The highest judicial body is the five-member Superior Council of
Justice. One member each is appointed by the two Princes; the head of
government; the President of the Parliament; and collectively, members
of the lower courts. Members of the judiciary are appointed for 6-year
terms.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Defendants have
the right to present evidence and consult with an attorney. Defendants
enjoy a presumption of innocence, and they have the right to appeal.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Constitution acknowledges a special relationship between
the Roman Catholic Church and the State, ``in accordance with Andorran
tradition.'' The Catholic Church received no direct subsidies from the
Government.
The Government paid the salaries of teachers who taught optional
Catholic religious classes to students in public schools; the Catholic
Church provided the teachers for these classes.
During the year, the small Jewish community living in the country
did not suffer any violent acts, nor was it the target of any terrorist
organization.
For a more detailed discussion see the 2004 International Religious
Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not
established a system for providing protection to refugees. However, in
practice, the Government provided some protection against refoulement,
the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. The
Government did not grant refugee status or asylum. The Government
cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
Parliamentary elections in 2001, considered free and fair, allowed
the Andorran Liberal Party (the head of the Government's party) to
retain its absolute majority, winning 15 of the 28 seats in Parliament.
The Andorran Democrat Center Party and the Social Democratic Party won
five and six seats respectively. A local group won two seats.
There were 4 women in the 28-seat Parliament, and 3 women held
Cabinet-level positions. There were no members of minorities in the 28-
seat Parliament, and there were no minorities in the Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
An Ombudsman received and addressed complaints, some of which were
against the Government's policies. The Ombudsman was free of government
control and had good cooperation with the Government.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution declares that all persons are equal before the law
and prohibits discrimination on grounds of birth, race, sex, origin,
opinions, or any other personal or social condition, although the law
grants many rights and privileges exclusively to citizens.
Women.--There were reports that violence against women; however,
they decreased by 50 percent from 2003, according to the Andorran
International Association (AIA) and the Andorran Women's Association
(AAW). There were approximately 20 reports of physical abuse against
women compared to 40 in 2003. Women suffering from domestic violence
requested help from the AIA and the AAW but rarely filed a complaint
with the police for fear of reprisal. There is no specific legislation
regarding violence against women, although other laws may be applied in
such cases. Some complaints were reportedly filed with the police
during the year but no figures were available, as the police refused to
make figures public.
The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and forcible sexual
assault, which are punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment. The law
was effectively enforced in practice.
Sexual harassment is not prohibited; however, it was not a problem.
The law prohibits discrimination against women privately or
professionally; however, the AAW reported that in practice, there were
many cases of women dismissed from employment due to pregnancy. Women
did not earn equal pay for equal work; observers estimated that women
earned 25 percent less than men for comparable work although this gap
continued to decrease slowly.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's welfare and
provided a universal system of health care and education. Free,
universal public education began at age 4 and was compulsory until age
16. The Government provided free nursery schools, although their number
continued to be insufficient.
According to the Secretariat of State for the Family, the number of
cases was low; however, child abuse was a growing problem.
On July 10, the Parliament enacted a law to protect children in
danger.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no reports that persons were trafficked
to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law mandates
access to public buildings for persons with disabilities, and the
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice; however,
societal discrimination against persons with disabilities existed on a
small scale, in the form of social and cultural barriers.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Some immigrant workers
complained that they did not have the same labor rights as citizens
(see Section 6.e.). The law gives legal status to the approximately
7,000 immigrants working in the country with no work permits or
residence permits.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and
join unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive
requirements, and workers exercised these rights in practice. Antiunion
discrimination is not prohibited under the law; however, there were no
reports of such discrimination during the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. There is no law that
specifically provides for collective bargaining. Wages are determined
by the annual cost of living. Neither the Constitution nor the law
explicitly provides for the right to strike, and there were no strikes
during the year. There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law does not
prohibit forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were no reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Children under the age of 18 generally were prohibited from working,
except in very limited circumstances. The Labor Inspection Office in
the Ministry of Social Welfare, Public Health, and Labor was
responsible for enforcing child labor regulations and effectively
enforced them.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The official minimum wage of
$6.83 (5.06 euros) per hour and $1,095 (811 euros) per month did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The Labor
Inspection Office enforced the minimum wage.
The workweek was limited to 40 hours, although employers may
require overtime from workers. The legal maximum for overtime hours was
66 hours per month and 426 hours per year.
The Labor Inspection Service set occupational health and safety
standards and took the necessary steps to see that they were enforced.
During the year, the Labor Inspection Service filed approximately 200
complaints against companies for violating labor regulations, and it
had the authority to levy sanctions and fines against such companies.
Although the law authorizes employees to refuse certain tasks if their
employers do not provide the necessary level of protection, no
legislation grants workers the right to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without jeopardizing their continued
employment.
Although the Constitution provides that legal foreign residents are
to enjoy the same rights and freedoms as citizens, some immigrant
workers believed that they did not have the same rights and security.
Many immigrant workers held only ``temporary work authorizations.''
When a job contract expired, they had to leave the country. The
Government prohibited the issuance of work permits unless workers could
demonstrate that they had a fixed address and at least minimally
satisfactory living conditions.
__________
ARMENIA
Armenia is a republic with a Constitution that provides for the
separation of powers; however, the directly elected president has broad
executive powers that are not balanced by the legislature (National
Assembly) or the judiciary. The President appoints the Prime Minister,
most senior government officials, and judges at all levels. In March
2003, President Robert Kocharian was re-elected for a second 5-year
term in elections marred by serious voting irregularities. The May 2003
parliamentary election was flawed similarly and did not meet
international standards. The Constitution provides for an independent
judiciary; however, in practice, judges were subject to pressure from
the executive branch, and corruption was a problem.
The National Police and the National Security Service are
responsible for domestic security, intelligence activities, border
control, and the police force. Both operate independently of any
government ministry. The civilian authorities maintained effective
control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces
committed a number of human rights abuses.
The slow but steady transition from a centralized command economy
to a market economy continued. The country's economy remained primarily
agricultural with manufacturing and expanding service sectors. The
country's population was approximately 3 million. During the year,
gross domestic product grew an estimated 10.1 percent. The inflation
rate was 7 percent; unemployment was estimated at approximately 20
percent, and, in most sectors, wages kept pace with inflation. There
was a high degree of corruption, income inequality, and continued
consolidation of wealth into the hands of a select few. Approximately
43 percent of the population lived below the official poverty rate, a 7
percent decrease from previous years, and there was a large shadow
economy.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
Security forces beat pretrial detainees, and impunity remained a
problem. There were instances of arbitrary arrests and detentions. In
April, police used excessive force to disperse an opposition rally,
detained opposition politicians, and raided opposition party offices.
During the year, the Government helped to create a civilian prison
monitoring board and permitted independent monitoring of prison
conditions. There were reports that the Government limited the right to
privacy. There were some limits on press freedom. Journalists engaged
in self-censorship to avoid problems with government authorities, and
there were some instances of violence against journalists. The law
places some restrictions on religious freedom. In October, the
Government approved the registration of Jehovah's Witnesses as a legal
entity. While the Government took steps to limit trafficking in
persons, violence against women and trafficking of women and children
remained problems. Societal harassment of homosexuals and Yezidis was
also a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of politically motivated killings by the Government or its
agents; however, there were some deaths in the military as a result of
mistreatment.
The Military Prosecutor's Office reported six deaths; however, the
cause of the deaths was unknown. Each case was investigated, but the
Prosecutor did not announce final results.
There was one cease-fire violation along the border with
Azerbaijan. In June, cross-border fire and shelling in the Tavush
region resulted in a number of casualties on both sides.
During the year, there were a few deaths due to landmines, although
reliable statistics were difficult to obtain. All sides involved in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict used landmines, which have been laid along
the 540-mile border with Azerbaijan and along the line of contact.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
government security forces employed them. Witnesses reported numerous
cases of police beating citizens during arrest and interrogation while
in detention. Most cases of police brutality went unreported because of
fear of police retribution. Police used excessive force to disperse
protestors after an 8-hour political rally on April 12 and 13; some
journalists were among those beaten (see Sections 2.a. and 2.b.). Human
rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) also reported claims by
detainees that police beat them during pretrial detention.
In July, a law went into effect that changed the Soviet-era
definition of mental illness. Although there have been no reported
cases of wrongful psychiatric commitment, the law closes an apparent
legal loophole that made unwarranted commitment possible. Under the new
law, a person can only be forcibly committed by a court order and only
if a panel of psychiatrists finds the person to be mentally ill and a
danger to the community.
Although there was no reliable or current reporting on the full
extent of military hazing, human rights NGOs reported that soldiers
continued to complain of frequent hazing. In 2003, a local NGO
estimated that there were 30 hazing incidents. Homosexuals and Yezidis,
a non-Muslim, Kurdish, religious-ethnic group, also reported that they
were singled out for hazing by officers and other conscripts (see
Sections 2.c. and 5). Military officials did not take any significant
measures to limit or stop the hazing.
Mikael Danielyan, director of a human rights organization, was
beaten by four unidentified persons near the entrance to his home (see
Section 4). At year's end, there was no progress in the investigation
of an attack on opposition politician Ashot Manucharian.
Prison conditions remained poor and posed a threat to health.
Holding and detention cells were overcrowded, and most did not have
toilets. Prison authorities did not provide most inmates with basic
hygienic supplies. According to the newly formed Civil Society
Monitoring Board (CSMB), prisoners remained at a high risk to contract
tuberculosis, and adolescents held in juvenile facilities rarely were
provided with the schooling required by law. The CSMB also reported
that, in certain jails, prisoners paid bribes to move into single
occupancy cells and to obtain additional comforts. In some prisons,
monitors noted that prisoners had difficulty mailing letters and that
some prison officials did not facilitate family visits adequately.
Men, women, and juveniles were held in separate prisons, and
pretrial detainees were held separately from prisoners. CSMB monitors
reported that female prisoners had more freedom of movement, and that
their facility was cleaner and better equipped and maintained than
prisons for men.
The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison
conditions by local NGOs and international human rights groups such as
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In June, the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) authorized the CSMB to visit prisons without
giving advance notice; however, the National Police Ministry did not
allow some local monitoring groups to visit holding cells where
detainees could be kept for up to 3 days without charge and where most
abuse was believed to occur.
The ICRC and CSMB had access to all detention facilities, including
holding cells, prisons, and local police stations to conduct
independent monitoring and to meet with detainees and prisoners. Both
reported that prisoners spoke freely and openly about their treatment
and prison conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, in practice, the authorities
continued to arrest and detain criminal suspects without legal
warrants. Impunity was a problem.
The police and the National Security Service (NSS) are jointly
responsible for domestic security, intelligence activities, border
patrols, and the police force. Both are independent government
ministries that lacked training, resources, and established procedures
to implement reforms or to prevent incidents of abuse. Prisoners
reported to local and international monitoring groups that police and
NSS authorities did little to investigate allegations of abuse. As a
result, impunity was a serious problem. Corruption also remained a
large problem in the police force and security service.
To make an arrest, prosecutors and police must first obtain a
warrant from a judge except in cases of imminent flight risk or when a
crime is in progress. Judges rarely denied police requests for arrest
warrants, and police sometimes made arrests without a warrant, often on
the pretext that detainees were material witnesses.
There is no bail system; however, a prisoner may be released to a
form of house arrest under certain circumstances and at the discretion
of the court; however, most defendants remained in detention.
The law also requires police to inform detainees of their right to
remain silent, to make a phone call, and to be represented by an
attorney from the moment of arrest and before indictment; however, in
practice, police did not always abide by the law. Police often
questioned and pressured detainees to confess prior to indictment when
they did not have an attorney present. According to the law, a detainee
must be indicted or released within 3 days of arrest, and this
procedure was followed in practice. Police sometimes restricted access
to detainees by family members.
During protest rallies in the spring, arbitrary detention was a
problem. According to the country's Human Rights Ombudsman and a human
rights NGO, between April 13 and 15 police detained and questioned 115
individuals in connection with an April 12-13 protest rally.
Approximately 35 were held in detention for up to 15 days under a
Soviet-era law that prescribes administrative detention (see Section
2.b.).
On May 20, police detained up to 25 opposition activists in
anticipation of an opposition rally. According to media reports and
opposition sources, the authorities fined and released some of the
activists; however, more than a dozen were detained for up to 10 days
under the administrative detention law for using foul language and
insulting police officers. In most of these cases, defense attorneys
were not allowed to meet with detainees until after court proceedings
were completed. The rallies took place as planned, and they proceeded
peacefully.
Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. According to the
law, a suspect may not be detained for more than 12 months pending
trial; however, in practice, this provision was not always enforced.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys frequently requested trial
postponements on the grounds that they required more time to prepare
for trial.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice, courts were subject to
political pressure from the executive and legislative branches, and
corruption was a problem. Unlike in previous years, lengthy public
trials were not a problem.
The Constitution provides for a three-tier court system. The
highest court is the Court of Cassation. There are also two lower-level
courts: The Court of Appeals; and courts of the first instance. Most
cases originate in courts of first instance; appeals are lodged with
the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation. The Constitutional
Court rules on the conformity of legislation with the Constitution,
approves international agreements, and decides election-related
questions; however, it can only accept cases proposed by the President,
approved by a two-thirds majority of Parliament, and cases on election-
related issues brought by candidates who ran for parliament or
president. These limitations, combined with the judiciary's lack of
independence, prevented the Constitutional Court from ensuring
compliance with the human rights safeguards provided by the
Constitution.
Under the Constitution, the Council of Justice, which is co-chaired
by the President, the Prosecutor General, and the Justice Minister,
appoints and disciplines judges for the courts of first instance,
Courts of Appeals, and the Court of Cassation. The President appoints
the other 14 members of the Justice Council and 4 of the 9
Constitutional Court judges. This authority gives the president
dominant influence in appointing and dismissing judges at all levels.
The Constitution requires that all trials be public except when
government secrets are at issue. Juries are not used in trials; a
single judge issues verdicts in all courts except the Court of
Cassation and the Constitutional Court, where a panel of judges
presides.
Defendants are required to attend their trials unless they have
been accused of a minor crime not punishable by imprisonment. They also
have access to a lawyer of their own choosing, and the Helsinki
Association reported that the Government provided a lawyer to
defendants who requested legal counsel; however, individuals often
chose to defend themselves. More than half of all defendants chose to
argue their own case in court due to the perception that public
defenders colluded with prosecutors.
Defendants may confront witnesses and present evidence. Defendants
and their attorneys may examine the Government's case in advance of
trial. Judges generally granted requests by defendants for additional
time to prepare their cases.
The Constitution provides for the presumption of innocence;
however, in practice this right was not always observed. Prosecutors
often did not begin a trial if they believed they would not obtain a
guilty verdict. As a result, defendants remained in detention during
extended pretrial investigations. Both defendants and prosecutors have
the right to appeal.
The law does not allow detainees to file a complaint prior to trial
to address alleged abuses committed by the Prosecutor's Office, the
police, or other security forces during criminal investigations.
Failure to testify is a criminal offense; detainees must obtain
permission from the police or the Prosecutor's Office to obtain a
forensic medical examination to substantiate a report of torture.
Defense lawyers may present evidence of torture in an effort to
overturn improperly obtained confessions; however, defendants stated
that judges and prosecutors refused to admit such evidence into court
proceedings even when perpetrator(s) could be identified.
There is no military court system; trials involving military
personnel take place in civilian courts, but they are handled by
military procurators. Military prosecutors performed the same functions
as their civilian counterparts and operated in accordance with the
criminal code.
In April, a court of appeals upheld the convictions of some of the
defendants who were convicted for murder and terrorism in the 1999
attacks on the National Assembly. In December 2003, a Yerevan district
court sentenced six persons to life in prison; a seventh received a 14-
year sentence.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits unauthorized searches and
provides for the right to privacy and confidentiality of
correspondence, conversations, and other communications; however, the
Government did not always respect these rights in practice.
Under the law, authorities must obtain permission from a judge, on
the basis of compelling evidence, to wiretap a telephone or to
intercept correspondence; however, in practice the law was not strictly
enforced and some judges arbitrarily granted permission.
In May, an opposition leader complained that authorities had tapped
his telephone.
The law also requires authorities to obtain search warrants, and
allows the judiciary to exclude evidence obtained without a legal
warrant. In several cases, judges refused to issue warrants because of
a lack of compelling evidence and excluded evidence from trials that
was obtained illegally.
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports of forced
conscription of ethnic Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, who by law
are exempt from military service. However, police, at times, maintained
surveillance of draft age men to prevent them from fleeing the country.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government partially
limited freedom of speech, and there were several incidents of
violence, intimidation, and self-censorship.
On April 12, according to several media reports, police detained a
man in the capital for attempting to announce an opposition rally
scheduled for later in the day. He was detained and released after
questioning.
Most newspapers were privately owned with the exception of
Hayastani Hanrapetutyun and its Russian-language version Respublika
Armenia. The state printing house and distribution agency, which
published many of the country's newspapers, functioned as commercial
enterprise with no apparent government intervention. No newspaper was
completely independent of patronage from economic or political interest
groups or individuals. According to the Yerevan Press Club, total
newspaper circulation in the country was 60,000, an increase of 20,000
from the previous year. There were 27 newspapers available in the
capital, 6 of which were published daily and the remainder less
frequently.
Because of low newspaper circulation, most persons in the country
relied on television and radio for news and information. Nationwide,
there were more than 20 radio stations and more than 40 television
broadcasters; most were privately run. In the capital and other
regional cities, private television stations offered generally
independent news coverage of good technical quality; however, the
substantive quality of news reporting on television and radio varied
due to self-censorship by journalists and the stations' dependence on
patronage.
Senior officials within President Kocharian's office continued to
significantly influence state television news coverage by providing
policy guidance to Public TV of Armenia. While the news reporting on
Public TV was mostly factual, it avoided editorial commentary or
criticism of the Government. For example, it provided little coverage
of the April 12 and 13 political demonstrations in the capital (see
Sections 1.d., 2.b. and 3).
In March 2003, Kentron TV, a new, national television channel
affiliated with a widely distributed newspaper with ties to the
opposition, was awarded a broadcast frequency that belonged to A-One
Plus, one of the country's last independent television stations. Some
critics of the decision, made by the National Commission on Radio and
Television, said A-One Plus lost its broadcast license in 2002 because
of sharp critical coverage of President Kocharian's administration.
In October, Kentron television chose to discontinue program
collaboration with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Kentron's director
stated that agents of the Government had not contacted his station
about the program but that it felt pressure to replace the program. In
the past, Kentron TV replaced on-air personalities for lacking
objectivity and being too political.
Major media outlets in the country were generally pro-government.
For example, during the 2003 presidential election campaign, the
majority of the media, including Public TV of Armenia, most private
television stations, and the major state-funded newspaper, all provided
heavily biased news coverage that favored incumbent President
Kocharian.
International media outlets operated freely in the country. Local
stations rebroadcast several Russian television stations and CNN, and
authorities did not censor the few international newspapers and
magazines that were available in the country.
Harassment of journalists was a problem. At an April 5 opposition
rally, men in civilian clothing smashed the video cameras of at least
four journalists, assaulted several reporters, and destroyed filmed
footage of the events. According to eyewitness accounts, police stood
by and did not intervene to stop the attacks. On June 10, a court found
two men guilty of the attack; each was ordered to pay a fine of $188
(100,000 Dram).
On April 13, police beat at least three journalists and destroyed
or confiscated their video cameras after an opposition rally. The
journalists maintained that they had identified themselves to police as
working reporters.
On August 24, a journalist was assaulted after photographing a
luxury villa owned by a Member of Parliament as part of a report he and
a colleague were preparing. In October, a court of first instance
sentenced a man to 6 months in jail for the assault.
There also were unconfirmed reports of incidents of harassment and
intimidation of journalists outside the capital.
There was no official censorship; however, there were continued
reports of intimidation of journalists, and some print journalists
continued to practice self-censorship to avoid problems with the
Government and because of pressure from official sources.
In June, the Government repealed a provision in the criminal code
that punished libel of a public official with up to 3 years'
imprisonment; however, violations were still considered to be a
criminal offence. The revised code increased financial penalties for
libel as well as the penalty for libeling a government official.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet or academic
freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, there were some limits on
this right.
In March and April, authorities denied several requests from
opposition parties for permits to organize rallies and demonstrations
in the capital and other cities. The Government did not interfere when
small rallies took place without permission. However, between April 13
and 15, police detained and questioned 115 persons in connection with
an April 12 and 13 protest rally that attracted an estimated 7,000
persons; approximately 35 persons were detained for up to 15 days (see
Sections 1.d. and 3).
On April 13, at approximately 2:00 a.m., police used excessive
force to disperse hundreds of protesters who remained in front of the
National Assembly and had blocked a major city street for more than 8
hours. A number of protesters sought treatment for injuries at a local
hospital, some of which were caused by police use of flash grenades,
water cannon, and batons. Police also beat several journalists who
covered the opposition rallies (see Section 2.a.) and ransacked
opposition party offices after dispersing the protestors.
On April 28, the National Assembly passed a law that lifted the
requirement to obtain a government permit to organize rallies or
demonstrations. Organizers now must only notify authorities in advance
of their plans for such events. However, the new law, which took effect
in June, limits the locations where demonstrations can be held without
permission. For example, demonstrations in front of government offices,
monuments, and venues where another rally or public event is taking
place still require a police permit. The law also empowers police to
break up illegal rallies and demonstrations, particularly those that
encourage violence and the overthrow of the Government.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however,
there were some limits on this right. Registration requirements for all
political parties, associations, and secular and religious
organizations remained cumbersome, exacting, and time-consuming. In
2003, the Government compelled some human rights and political
organizations to revise their bylaws several times before approving
their registration application; however, during the year, no human
rights groups or political organizations reported problems with
registration.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, there were some restrictions in practice. The
Armenian Apostolic Church has formal legal status as the national
church, and enjoys some privileges not afforded to other faiths.
The law grants specific rights to minority religious groups that
register with the National Registrar. Religious organizations that are
not registered cannot publish newspapers or magazines, rent meeting
places on government property, broadcast television or radio programs,
or sponsor official visitors.
In October, the State Registrar registered the Jehovah's Witnesses
as a legal entity. The group had applied for registration 13 times
since 1995. In November, senior members of the Armenian Apostolic
Church called on the Government to reverse the registration, saying the
group's activities ran counter to the country's interests. The
Government ignored these requests.
The law prohibits ``proselytizing,'' which is not defined in the
law, by minority religions and bans foreign funding for foreign-based
churches; however, neither ban was enforced and members of Jehovah's
Witnesses reported gains in membership.
Unregistered religious organizations may not import large shipments
of religious literature; only small quantities were allowed into the
country for private use. The law also requires all religious
organizations, except the Armenian Apostolic Church, to obtain prior
permission to engage in public religious activities, travel abroad, or
to invite foreign guests to the country; however, in practice, no
travel restrictions were imposed on any religious denomination.
The Jewish community reported several incidents of verbal
harassment during the year. The director of ALM TV frequently made
anti-Semitic remarks on the air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans, a
small, ultranationalist group, called for the country to be
``purified'' of Jews and Yezidis.
In May, Jewish groups complained to government authorities about
the distribution of anti-Semitic literature. Authorities said the
imported literature apparently violated the Law on Distributing
Literature Inflaming National Hatred and recommended that the groups
file a complaint with the Prosecutor General's office. However, neither
police nor Jewish groups were able to identify the importers, and
Jewish leaders had not taken any formal action by year's end.
On September 17, offices of the Jewish community in Yerevan
received a message that vandals had damaged the local memorial to the
victims of the Holocaust. Several photographs of the memorial were
taken, and the vandalism was reported immediately to the local police,
the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the government-owned television
channel. A television crew arrived at the site together with an
official from the Jewish community in Yerevan and discovered that the
memorial had been wiped clean, apparently by the park guard. There was
no further investigation into the incident.
Yezidi leaders reported that police and local authorities subjected
their religious community to discrimination and that a small ultra-
nationalist group, the Union of Armenian Aryans, had called for the
country to be ``purified'' of Yezidis (see Section 5, National
Minorities).
According to observers, the general population viewed
``nontraditional'' religious groups with suspicion and expressed
negative attitudes about Jehovah's Witnesses, because they refused to
serve in the military and misunderstood their proselytizing practices.
Jehovah's Witnesses continued to be targets of hostile sermons by some
Armenian Apostolic Church clerics and experienced occasional societal
discrimination.
As a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, most
of the country's Muslim Azeri population had left by 1991. The few
remaining Muslims in the country kept a low profile. There was no
formally operating mosque, although one surviving 18th century mosque
in the capital remained open for Friday prayers. Although it was not
registered as a religious facility, the Government did not create any
obstacles for Muslims who wished to pray there. Approximately 1,000
Muslims resided in the capital.
In June, a new law on Alternative Military Service, took effect to
exempt conscientious objectors from the draft, and, by year's end, the
National Assembly completed all legal requirements to implement the
law. However, 10 members of the Jehovah's Witnesses remained in prison
for refusing compulsory military service as conscientious objectors
before the law went into effect; 3 others were in pretrial detention
for draft evasion or desertion, and 17 others who were imprisoned, were
released to house arrest after serving one-third of their sentences.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within The Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, in practice, there were some restrictions on these
rights.
The Government generally did not restrict internal movement, and
citizens had the right to change their residence or workplace; however,
corruption and an inefficient bureaucracy hindered citizens' efforts to
register changes.
In April, human rights groups reported that police stopped cars
from entering the capital in an attempt to prevent opposition members
from attending protest rallies.
The law requires authorities to issue passports to all citizens,
expect for convicted felons; however, an exit stamp may be denied to
persons who possess state secrets, are subject to military service, are
involved in pending court cases, or whose relatives have lodged
financial claims against them. An exit stamp is valid for up to 5 years
and may be used without limit. Men of military age must overcome
substantial bureaucratic obstacles to travel abroad.
The Constitution does not prohibit forced exile; however, there
were no reports that the Government employed it.
In December, the Norwegian Refugee Council reported that 4,077
internally displaced persons (IDPs) lived in the country.
During the country's war with Azerbaijan, the Government evacuated
as many as 65,000 persons from the border region, but most returned or
settled elsewhere. Of the 4,077 remaining IDPs, almost two-thirds could
not return to their villages, which are surrounded by Azeri territory.
Others chose not to return because of a collapse of industry near the
border and a fear or landmines. IDPs enjoyed full rights as citizens,
but the Government has not created any special programs to help them
adjust to their new surroundings. There were no reports of abuse of
IDPs.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to most refugees. In
practice, the Government provided protection against refoulement, the
return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. The
Government grants refugee status or asylum; however, during the year,
no refugees were granted asylum; 10 were denied asylum.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
Since 1988, the Government has accepted as many as 360,000 refugees
from Azerbaijan. In February 2003, the law on refugees was amended to
improve temporary protection for an estimated 12,000 ethnic Armenian
refugees from Chechnya and Abkhazia.
During the year, the Government also provided temporary protection
to approximately 96 individuals who did not qualify as refugees under
the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol. Most of these individuals were
ethnic Armenians fleeing war in Iraq.
There was an established procedure to recognize asylum, but border
officials had little training on asylum issues, which, at times, caused
delays at airports and land borders.
Ethnic Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan are eligible for
citizenship upon request, and other ethnic Armenians can generally
receive resident status and citizenship after a slightly longer
process.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of harassment of
refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, the right was restricted in practice
due to continued flaws in elections.
International observers found both the 2003 presidential and
parliamentary elections to be well below international standards. There
were serious irregularities, including ballot box stuffing,
discrepancies in vote counts, partisan election commissions, and wide
use of public resources to support the incumbent president.
Authorities harassed opposition supporters, including arrests.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of punitive job
dismissals. In Yerevan, more than 200 persons were detained between the
2 rounds of the presidential election in February and March 2003 for
participating in unsanctioned campaign rallies.
Opposition candidates filed several legal complaints with the
Constitutional Court challenging the results of the presidential
election. In March 2003, the high court said it had identified
irregularities and criticized the Government's handling of the
electoral process; however, it ruled that there was no constitutional
basis to change the outcome of the election.
From March through May, opposition groups demonstrated in the
capital and other major cities to demand a referendum on the mandate of
the President. At the height of a protest on April 12, approximately
10,000 individuals gathered in front of the National Assembly. Police
used excessive force to disperse some 1,000 protesters in the early
morning hours of April 13 (see Section 2.b.).
Of the 131 seats in the National Assembly, 96 were occupied by pro-
government parties or deputies that make up the governing coalition.
Unaffiliated deputies held 17 seats, most of whom voted frequently with
the pro-government bloc. Opposition candidates and parties secured 22
seats; a few of the unaffiliated deputies voted with the opposition.
Corruption was perceived to be widespread. According to an opinion
survey released in September by a local research institute, a large
majority of citizens believed that corruption exists ``in all spheres
and at all levels'' in the country. A similar survey in 2003 indicated
that citizens believed that corrupt authorities were not truly
committed to fighting corruption.
In January, the Government adopted an ambitious anti-corruption
strategy, and, in March, the President appointed a special commission
to implement it. During the year, the commission primarily focused on
establishing its internal organizational procedures.
In 2003, the Government adopted the Law on Freedom of Information,
which provides for access to information as well as its dissemination
and transparency; however, the law was rarely followed, and most
journalists and officials remained unaware of its provisions.
There were 6 women in the 131-seat Parliament but no women in the
cabinet. There were no ethnic minority representatives in the Cabinet
or in Parliament.
The country's population is homogeneous; at least 98 percent were
ethnic Armenians. Minorities are not prohibited from running for
election, and some have done so.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restrictions, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views.
During the year, more than 20 local religious and human rights
organizations operated in the country.
The Government was generally cooperative with international NGOs,
and there were no reports of government harassment of other
international human rights NGOs.
On March 30, the director of a human rights organization, Mikael
Danielyan, was beaten by four unidentified persons near the entrance to
his home. According to Danielyan, the attack was triggered by an
interview with an Azerbaijani newspaper. According to observers, some
local groups interpreted his remarks about the country's authorities as
traitorous. Danielyan reported the attack to authorities and to the
country's Human Rights Ombudsman. The Prosecutor General opened an
investigation into the case, but Danielyan refused to cooperate with
the investigation. At year's end, there was no significant progress in
the investigation (see Section 1.c.).
In March 2003, the Helsinki Citizen's Association suspected that a
fire at one its regional offices was caused by arson; however, an
investigation later showed the fire began as a result of faulty wiring.
In June, the Government cooperated with a commission from the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which reviewed the
human rights situation in the country. The commission reported that,
while the Government has made some progress, the most important areas
for reform in the near future are election laws, the constitution, and
the judiciary.
In February, the President appointed the country's first Human
Rights Ombudsman, amid questions by numerous human rights NGOs and the
Council of Europe about the ombudsman's independence from the
Government. During the year, the Human Rights Ombudsman created a
public working group focused on securing the rights of minority
religious groups. Local organizations attended the working group
meetings.
However, according to a report released in December, which was
sponsored by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), the ombudsman's
office suffered from internal disorganization and a perceived lack of
independence from the Government during its first year of operation.
The ombudsman acknowledged the report's recommendation to improve the
office's operations.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender,
disability, language, or social status; however, there was societal
discrimination against women, ethnic minorities, and persons with
disabilities.
Women.--There is no law banning domestic violence against women,
and few cases of spousal abuse or other violence against women were
reported during the year; however, such violence was believed to be
widespread.
While there is no recent information on the extent of the problem,
a 2001 survey conducted found that 45 percent of respondents
acknowledged that they were subjected to psychological abuse, and 25
percent considered themselves victims of physical abuse.
Most cases of domestic violence were not reported to police because
victims were either afraid of physical harm and feared that police
would return them to their husbands or were embarrassed to make family
problems public. Several NGOs in the Yerevan and Gyumri areas and in
Martuni provided shelter and assistance to battered women; however, it
was rare for battered women to have psychological or legal counseling.
Rape and spousal rape are illegal and carries a maximum 15-year
prison sentence. By year's end, authorities registered 52 cases of rape
and attempted rape and no deaths in connection with rape. According to
the Prosecutor General's office, authorities identified and prosecuted
51 suspects in rape cases.
Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking). Prostitution and sex tourism is not illegal,
but operating brothels is prohibited. Operating a brothel or other
forms of pimping is punishable by 1 to 10 years' imprisonment.
According to the NGO Hope and Help, there were between 5,000 and
6,000 prostitutes in the country, and approximately 1,500 of them were
registered in the capital.
The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment, although
articles in the criminal code address different aspects of sexual
harassment such as lewd acts or indecent behavior. Many of these
offenses are not clearly defined, but punishments range from fines to
imprisonment. Some offenses are actionable under civil law. However,
societal norms did not consider cases of sexual harassment worthy of
legal action.
The law provides men and women with equal status; however, gender
discrimination existed and was a continuing problem in the public and
private sector.
For example, although the law states that women should receive
equal pay for equal work, a recent survey in Yerevan reported that,
overall, women earned 40 percent of what men earn.
Women generally were not afforded the same professional
opportunities as men and often were relegated to more menial or low-
skill jobs. The law prohibits discrimination in employment and hiring
because of pregnancy; however, the extremely high unemployment rate
made it difficult to gauge how effectively the law was implemented.
More women than men were enrolled in university and postgraduate
programs, but all doctoral candidates were men.
Children.--The Government is committed to protecting children's
rights and welfare; however, it did not have the economic means to
fulfill its commitment.
Education is free, universal, and compulsory through age 14; it is
then optional through age 16 (complete secondary education). According
to a 2003 U.N. Development Program survey, 84.3 percent of students
completed schooling through age 14, and 36.7 percent studied through
age 16. Girls and boys received equal educational opportunities;
however, many facilities were impoverished and in poor condition. Some
teachers were known to demand bribes from parents in return for good or
passing grades for their children. Access to education in rural areas
remained poor, and children's work in fields during harvest season took
precedence over school.
In the Yezidi community, a high percentage of children did not
attend school, partly for family economic reasons and partly because
schools lacked Yezidi teachers and books in their native language.
Free health care was available for all children through age 8 for
treatment of some diseases and for emergency care, but care often was
of poor quality, and the practice of demanding overt or concealed
payment of fees for medical service continued. Boys and girls had equal
access to health care.
Child abuse was a problem; however, the Prosecutor General's office
did not report any cases of child abuse during the year.
Trafficking in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.). However, there was no
reliable or current reporting on the extent of the problem.
In 2003, the Ministry of Social Welfare estimated that there were
130 homeless children in Yerevan. In 2002, a local NGO reported that
nationally there were approximately 900 homeless children and that the
number continued to grow. Abuse of street children did not appear to be
a serious problem.
A number of international agencies, such as UNICEF, World Vision,
the World Bank, and the OSCE, worked with the Government and local
groups to upgrade and improve schools, integrate children with special
needs into schools, and to facilitate government efforts against
trafficking of children.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and offenses committed for ``mercenary purposes'' are crimes according
to a law that took effect in August 2003; however, trafficking in
persons from, through, and to the country remained a problem. There
were reports that border guards and some prosecutors were complicit in
trafficking.
Violations of the law are punishable by fines of up to $12,195 (6.5
million drams), correctional labor up to 2 years, or imprisonment for
up to 8 years, if the crime was committed under aggravated
circumstances. In December 2003, police arrested two men in connection
with trafficking six women into the country. On June 28, three of the
persons were sentenced to between 2 and 4.5 years' imprisonment.
On October 4, police detained a man for allegedly trafficking 11
women to engage in prostitution in Turkey. The same day, police
arrested a woman for allegedly recruiting women to be trafficked to the
United Arab Emirates. Both were charged with pimping, which may carry a
lighter penalty than trafficking. No one was charged under the
trafficking statute during the year.
A governmental Interagency Commission, the National Police, and the
National Security Service are responsible for coordinating and
implementing anti-trafficking policy and for combating trafficking. The
Government actively sought bilateral cooperation with several
trafficking destination countries and regularly shared information with
these partners.
The authorities reported that the country is a source and transit
point for women and girls trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation
to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Russia, Uzbekistan, Greece, and
other European countries. However, there were reports that the country
was also a destination point for trafficked women for sexual
exploitation, particularly from Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
There were no reliable estimates on the number of individuals who
were trafficked. Trafficking organizations typically recruited victims
with the promise of high paying work in another country. Once in the
country of destination, victims were deprived of their travel
documents, locked in hotel rooms, and told that they must ``repay'' the
cost of their travel. There were reports about women who were
encouraged to become recruiters for trafficking rings with a promise of
keeping a percentage of their ``earnings.'' Trafficking victims were at
greatly increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases, and some
reported incidents of physical violence.
Victims reported that some border guards were bribed or worked with
the traffickers. In 2002, a criminal group of police employees and
employees of the country's international airport was uncovered. The
group allegedly assisted traffickers using fraudulent documents to
traffic citizens to the UAE for sexual exploitation. The officials
allegedly received proceeds regularly from some traffickers working in
the UAE. The Prosecutor General opened a criminal investigation into
the case. Two police officers and two airport officials were convicted
for abuse of power in the case. No prosecutions were reported during
the year.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and a local NGO,
Hope and Help, with funding from foreign governments, operated an
assistance program for trafficking victims. The Government did not
offer financial assistance, but referred victims to these
organizations.
Upon their return, many victims feared societal stigma and
discrimination. Government officials did not require victims to aid in
finding and prosecuting traffickers; however, they worked with victims
who were willing to report their cases.
NGOs and the Government increased trafficking prevention
activities, primarily through education and mass media programs to
raise public awareness. The Government trained its consular corps to
identify signs of trafficking. The Government also collaborated with
police in destination countries to apprehend traffickers. Authorities
also established a hot line to connect victims with police; however, it
only worked in certain parts of the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, and in the provision of other state services.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs was responsible for
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities; however, the
ministry lacked the resources to fulfill this responsibility.
It focused primarily on legislative remedies, which were seldom
enforced. For example, the law and a government decree mandated
accessibility to buildings for persons with disabilities; however, in
practice, very few buildings and other facilities were accessible to
persons with disabilities.
Institutionalized patients often lacked medication, and care was
substandard. Hospitals, residential care, and other facilities for
persons with serious disabilities were substandard.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population was
approximately 98 percent ethnic Armenian. The Government did not
discriminate against the small, officially recognized ``national''
communities, although the economic and social situation of such groups
has deteriorated substantially since independence in 1991. National
communities recognized by the Government included Russians, Ukrainians,
Belarusians, Jews, Kurds, Yezidis, Assyrians, Georgians, Greeks, and
Germans. Several hundred Azeris or persons of mixed Azeri heritage
maintained a low profile to avoid possible societal discrimination.
The Constitution grants national minorities the right to preserve
their cultural traditions and language, and the law provides linguistic
minorities with the right to publish and study in their native
language. There were token publications in minority languages. By law,
all children of citizens must be educated in Armenian-language schools.
Virtually all students, including members of the Yezidi and Greek
communities, attended Armenian-language schools, with very few classes
available in their native tongues.
Yezidi leaders continued to complain that police and local
authorities subjected their community to discrimination. The Yezidis,
whose number had been estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 by their leaders,
speak a Kurdish dialect and practice a religion derived from
Zoroastrianism, Islam, and animism. Yezidi leaders cited numerous
incidents of unfair adjudication of land, water, and grazing disputes;
hazing of Yezidi conscripts in the army; and poor police response to
serious crimes committed against Yezidis (see Sections 1.c. and 2.c.).
On occasion, Yezidi children reported hazing by teachers and
classmates. Members of the Yezidi community had tried previously to
address their grievances with the Presidential Advisor on National
Minorities, but they claimed that all their attempts have been ignored.
According to Yezidi community leaders, appeals on their behalf with
respect to alleged discrimination were raised at all levels of the
Government; however, no government responses were forthcoming.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Military officers
targeted homosexuals for hazing. The Helsinki Association reported
cases of police harassment of homosexuals through blackmail, extortion,
and, on occasion, violence.
Unofficial reports suggested that during a routine police
investigation, police threatened to make one homosexual's sexual
orientation public. The man later alleged that police revealed his
homosexuality to his employer, and, shortly thereafter, he quit his
job.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides employees
with the right to form and join trade unions, but employees did not
exercise this right in practice. The law stipulates that the right to
form associations, including political parties and trade unions, may be
limited for persons serving in the armed services and law enforcement
agencies. In practice, labor organization remained weak because of high
unemployment and the weak economy.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Although the
law provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, in
practice, there was no collective bargaining. Factory directors
generally set pay scales without consulting employees. Labor disputes
were arbitrated in regular or economic courts.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike; however, workers
rarely exercised this right because workers did not have the financial
resources to maintain a strike.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Under the law, the minimum age of employment is 16; however, in some
cases, with the permission of the child's parents and labor union,
children may work from age 14 in non-dangerous situations. The law was
unevenly enforced by local community councils, unemployment offices,
and, as a final board of appeal, the courts. Children under the age of
18 are prohibited from working overtime or in harmful and dangerous
conditions, at night, and on holidays.
There were reports that children worked in family businesses and on
family farms, which is not forbidden by law. Children were also
observed on the streets of Yerevan selling newspapers, flowers and
working in local markets.
According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, some
children were involved in family businesses, as well as in other
business activities, such as agriculture, where such activity is not
prohibited by law.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government sets the minimum
wage by decree. The monthly minimum wage of $24 (13,000 drams) did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
Approximately 43 percent of the population lived below the poverty line
of about $2 (1,000 drams) or less per day. An estimated 15.9 percent of
the population was considered extremely poor, with a daily income of
less than $1 (500 drams).
There was a large shadow economy. As much as 40 percent of overall
economic activity, and in some areas, such as retail, as high as 80
percent, took place without being recorded or taxed by local
authorities.
The law defines the workweek as 40 hours and provides for mandatory
rest periods and overtime compensation. In December, the Government
passed legislation that would reset the levels of overtime compensation
and limits on required overtime. The Ministry of Labor and Social
Welfare oversees workers' rights health and safety but took few
affirmative steps to enforce statutory regulations. National
unemployment of 20 percent or more and low wages were a problem.
Workers had the right to remove themselves from dangerous work and
situations that endangered health and safety; however, in practice,
doing so would likely jeopardize their future employment, especially
those persons who worked in the shadow economy.
__________
AUSTRIA
Austria is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which
constitutional power is shared between the popularly elected president
and the 183-member Parliament. Citizens choose their president and
representatives in periodic, free, and fair multiparty elections. In
April, voters elected President Heinz Fischer of the Social Democratic
Party of Austria (SPO) to a 6-year term. In November 2002, the Austrian
People's Party (OVP) received a plurality in parliamentary elections
and renewed its right-center coalition with the Freedom Party (FPO).
The judiciary is independent.
The national police maintain internal security, and the army is
responsible for external security. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. There were reports that
police committed some human rights abuses.
The country's highly developed, market-based economy, with its mix
of technologically advanced industry, modern agriculture, and tourism,
affords the approximately 8 million citizens a high standard of living.
During the year, wages grew slightly faster than inflation. The gross
domestic product grew by slightly less than 1 percent during the year;
there were no serious inequalities in the distribution of income.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were some
reports of abuse by police, which involved occasional beatings, but
primarily verbal abuse, threats, and harassment. Foreign observers
criticized the strict application of slander laws as detrimental to
press reporting. There was some governmental and societal
discrimination against members of some unrecognized religious groups,
particularly those considered to be ``sects.'' There were neo-National
Socialist, rightwing extremist, and xenophobic incidents during the
year. Trafficking in women for forced prostitution remained a problem,
which the Government took steps to combat. In July, the Equal Treatment
Bill implementing the European Union (EU) Anti-Discrimination and Anti-
Racism Guidelines took effect.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
There were no developments in the 2003 killing of a 33-year-old
Mauritanian man who died in custody after being arrested by Vienna
police. Criminal investigations against four policemen, as well as the
emergency physician present, continued at year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were occasional reports that at times police beat and otherwise abused
persons. Government statistics for 2003 showed 988 complaints against
federal police officials; of those, 983 were dropped. In 11 court
cases, 1 officer was convicted of using unjustified force; 73 cases
were pending at the end of 2003. Types of abuse ranged from slander to
kicking and hitting. Some of the violence appeared to be racially
motivated. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups
continued to criticize the police for targeting minorities. During the
year, the Interior Ministry conducted racial sensitivity training
programs for over 2000 police and other officials with NGO assistance.
A committee in the Interior Ministry seeks to ensure that the
police and gendarmerie respect human rights while carrying out their
duties. During the year, the committee issued 11 recommendations
regarding the improvement of human rights in the country, including in
the following areas: The creation of a special institution to implement
predeportation orders; the deportation zone at Vienna Schwechat
airport; minimum standards regarding arrests of suspects;
predeportation arrests of minors; the use of force by police; handling
of illegal immigrants at border checkpoints; the use of language by law
enforcement officials; and a review of law regulating arrest of
suspects.
The Government continued to deny Kosovo authorities' request for
extradition in the case of an Austrian police officer convicted in
absentia for torture committed while serving in Kosovo's civilian
international police in 2003. The officer was recalled to Austria,
where he was allowed to remain on duty while an investigation into his
alleged misconduct proceeded. That investigation remained ongoing at
year's end.
In December, charges arose that army conscripts had been mistreated
during drill exercises at three barracks. The controversial exercises
included mock hostage taking and humiliating captivity practices. In
response to these charges, the Defense Ministry set up an ad-hoc army
investigation panel, which concluded that the conscripts had endured a
``violation of human dignity.'' The Ministry suspended the responsible
army supervisors from duty, and also withdrew oversight competencies
for drilling exercises from a top Ministry official.
Prison conditions generally met international standards. The
Government held male and female prisoners, adults and juveniles, and
pretrial detainees and convicted criminals separately. The Government
permitted independent human rights observers to conduct prison visits.
Some human rights observers criticized the fact that nonviolent
offenders, such as persons awaiting deportation, were incarcerated for
long periods in single cells in inadequate facilities designed for
temporary detention. Some observers argued that the Government should
hold prisoners in more open facilities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The two law enforcement bodies, the police and gendarmerie, have
central command in the Ministry of Interior. In 2003, the Ministry of
Interior initiated an overhaul of the structure of law enforcement
bodies with the goal of merging the police and gendarmerie units. An
initial 3-month trial phase of merged gendarmerie-police units in
selected Vienna districts ended in August and generated strong
criticism from participants. In December, Parliament passed a new
security law, which included implementing legislation for the merger.
The police were generally well trained and disciplined, and there
were no reports of police corruption.
In criminal cases, the law provides for investigative or pretrial
detention for up to 48 hours; an investigative judge may decide within
that period to grant a prosecution request for detention of up to 2
years pending completion of an investigation. The law specifies grounds
required for such investigative detention and conditions for bail. The
investigative judge is required to periodically evaluate an
investigative detention. There is a system of bail.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The Constitution provides for the independence of judges in the
exercise of their judicial office. Judges cannot be removed from office
or transferred against their will. There are local, regional, and
higher regional courts, as well as the Supreme Court. While the Supreme
Court is the highest judicial body, the Administrative Court acts as
the supervisory body over administrative acts of the executive branch,
and the Constitutional Court presides over constitutional issues.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The system of
judicial review provides for extensive possibilities for appeal. Trials
must be public and conducted orally. Persons charged with criminal
offenses are considered innocent until proven guilty.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, the strict application of
slander laws tended to discourage reports of police brutality. Foreign
observers, including the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), have
criticized the use of libel procedures to protect politicians, which
they argued hampered freedom of speech and the press. Those convicted
of libel cannot appeal to the Supreme Court. Publications may be
removed from circulation if they violate laws concerning morality or
public security, but such cases were extremely rare.
The case involving FPO trade unionist Joseph Kleindienst and former
Vienna FPO Secretary Michael Kreissl, accused of bribing police in
2000, concluded in February. The court acquitted both Kleindienst and
Kreissl on all charges.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. However, the Law on the
Formation of Associations states that permission to form an
organization may be denied if it is apparent that the organization
would pursue the illegal activities of a prohibited organization, such
as Nazi organizations.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The status of religious organizations is governed by the 1874 Law
on Recognition of Churches and by the 1998 Law on the Status of
Religious Confessional Communities, which establishes the status of
``confessional communities.'' Religious organizations are divided into
three legal categories, each with different rights, privileges, and
responsibilities (listed in descending order of status): Officially
recognized religious societies, religious confessional communities, and
associations. Government recognition as a religious society has a wide
range of implications, including the authority to participate in the
mandatory church contributions program, which can be legally enforced,
to provide religious instruction in public schools, and to recruit
religious workers to act as ministers, missionaries, or teachers.
Religious societies have ``public corporation'' status, which permits
them to engage in a number of public or quasi-public activities that
are denied to confessional communities and associations.
The law also allows religious groups that are not recognized as
religious societies to seek official status as confessional communities
without the fiscal and educational privileges available to religious
societies. Confessional communities have legal personality, which
permits them to engage in such activities as purchasing real estate in
their own names and contracting for goods and services. In 2003, the
Administrative Court agreed with the 2002 Constitutional Court decision
upholding the Government's 1998 rejection of the Sahaja Yoga group's
application to become a confessional group.
Ten religious groups have constituted themselves as confessional
communities according to the law. Numerous religious groups not
recognized by the State, along with some religious law experts, have
complained that the law's additional criteria for recognition obstruct
claims for recognition and formalize a second-class status for
unrecognized groups. Legal experts questioned the 1998 law's
constitutionality.
In 2003, the ECHR received an appeal by the Jehovah's Witnesses,
arguing that the legal requirement of a 10-year period of existence to
be recognized as a religious group is illegal on administrative
grounds. This appeal remained pending at year's end.
Religious groups that do not qualify for either religious society
or confessional community status may apply to become associations under
the Law of Associations. Associations are corporations under law and
have many of the same rights as confessional communities, including the
right to own real estate. Some groups have organized as associations,
even while applying for recognition as religious societies.
There was some societal discrimination against members of
unrecognized religious groups, particularly those considered to be
``cults'' or ``sects.'' The majority of sects were small organizations
with fewer than 100 members. Among the larger unrecognized groups were
the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church. A large portion
of the public perceived such groups as exploiting vulnerable persons
for monetary gain, recruiting and brainwashing youth, promoting anti-
democratic ideologies, and denying the legitimacy of government
authority.
The conservative OVP held the position that party membership is
incompatible with sect membership if the sect holds a ``menschenbild''
--a view or conception of mankind--fundamentally different from that of
the Party, advocates opinions irreconcilable with the ethical
principles of the Party, or rejects the basic rights granted by
progressively minded constitutional states and in an open society. This
position was used to deny OVP membership to Scientologists.
The Ministry for Social Security and Generations and the City of
Vienna funded a counseling center of a controversial NGO, the Society
Against Sect and Cult Dangers (GSK), that actively works against sects
and cults. GSK distributes information to schools and the general
public and runs a center to counsel persons who believe that sects and
cults have negatively impacted their lives.
The Federal Office of Sect Issues continued to function as a
counseling center for those who have questions about sects and cults.
Under the law, this office is independent of the Government; however,
the Minister for Social Security and Generations appoints and
supervises its head. Some members of the public believed the Federal
Office of Sect Issues and similar offices at the state level fostered
societal discrimination against unrecognized religious groups.
At the end of 2003, the state of Lower Austria's Family Office
withdrew a presentation on its website, which negatively characterized
many religious groups.
Muslims have complained about incidents of societal discrimination
and verbal harassment. Reports indicated several incidences of
discrimination against Muslim women wearing headscarves in schools. In
January, a high school in the state of Upper Austria prohibited
students from covering their heads in school. A Muslim parent filed a
discrimination complaint with local police authorities, who ordered
that his daughter be allowed to wear a headscarf. In response to this
incident, the head of the Upper Austrian State School Council and the
Ministry of Education confirmed that Muslim girls and women had the
right, according to legal provisions on religious freedom, to wear
headscarves.
Sensitivity to and fears of Scientology remained an issue.
Individual Scientologists reported discrimination in hiring.
The NGO Forum Against Anti-Semitism (Forum gegen Antisemitismus)
reported 135 anti-Semitic incidents during the year, including 4
physical attacks. The incidents included name-calling, graffiti/
defacement, threatening letters, anti-Semitic Internet postings,
property damage, vilifying letters and telephone calls, and physical
attacks. The EU's Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia declared
that anti-Semitism in the country was characterized by diffuse and
traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes rather than by acts of physical
aggression.
The law prohibits any form of neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism and any
type of activity in the spirit of National Socialism. It also prohibits
public denial, belittlement, approval, or justification of National
Socialist crimes, including the Holocaust. The Criminal Code prohibits
public incitement to hostile acts, insult, contempt against a church or
religious society, or public incitement against a group based on race,
nationality, or ethnicity, if that incitement could pose a danger to
the public order. The Government strictly enforced its anti-neo-Nazi
legislation and provided police protection for Jewish community
institutions.
Holocaust education was generally taught as part of history
instruction, but also was featured in other subjects under the heading
``political education (civics).'' Religious education classes were
another forum for teaching the tenets of different religions and
overall tolerance. Special teacher training seminars were available on
the subject of Holocaust education. The Education Ministry also ran a
program through which Holocaust survivors talked to school classes
about National Socialism and the Holocaust.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
Government did not restrict free movement within the country or the
right of citizens to change residence or workplace. The law prohibits
forced exile, and the Government did not use it in practice.
Immigrants must show a basic knowledge of the German language and
an understanding of the country's culture when applying for an
immigrant visa. New immigrants who cannot show a basic knowledge at the
time of application need to complete German language and civics courses
by various deadlines. Those who fail to complete these language and
culture requirements could face financial penalties, deportation, or
expulsion. Annual immigration quotas remained static at approximately
8,000 per year.
In 2003, there were 45,126 illegal aliens intercepted at national
borders, a 7 percent decrease from the previous year. Approximately 65
percent of these were asylum seekers. As of August, the number of
illegal immigrants (both illegal workers and trafficked persons)
continued to decrease. Under the ``Dublin II'' Regulation effective
since 2003, asylum seekers could be sent back to the first Dublin
member-state they entered, which in practice would likely be one of the
new EU member states. With the inauguration of the EURODAC
fingerprinting/registration system in 2003, asylum seekers could be
more easily identified if they moved from country to country.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum; however, the Government subscribed to
a safe country of transit policy, which required asylum seekers who
transited a country determined to be ``safe'' to return to that country
to seek refugee status. The Government cooperated with the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
On May 1, a new asylum law entered into force, aimed at expediting
the asylum claim process by requiring a first determination to be made
within 72 hours of the filing of a claim. Under the new law, applicants
whose claims are found to be unjustified can be deported. All other
applications are to be forwarded to the Federal Asylum Office for
further review. If the adjudicator at the Federal Asylum Office
believes the claim to be ``manifestly unfounded,'' or the applicant has
a previous asylum request refusal on record and has not submitted
significant new information or grounds, the adjudicator is required to
refuse the asylum claim. These rejected applicants have limited rights
of appeal and no guarantee they can remain in the country during the
appeals process. The new law also stops the practice of accepting
asylum claims at land borders and introduces a list of ``safe countries
of transit.''
In October, in a legal challenge to the new asylum law, the Supreme
Court upheld the law, but struck down certain provisions as
unconstitutional. These included the provisions that in Dublin cases
allowed the prompt removal of an applicant during the appeal process
and the provision that automatically placed persons filing follow up
applications in deportation detention. While endorsing the law's
general limitation on the presentation of additional evidence in the
appeals process, the court ruled that no such limit should apply in
cases involving torture victims.
In cases where the refugee arrived from a safe country of transit,
the Government returned refugees to that country, rather than the
country from which they originally fled. If the Federal Asylum Office
rejected an asylum claim, the claimant could appeal to the independent
Federal Asylum Senate, then to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Rejected asylum seekers also had recourse to the Constitutional Court
in cases in which they alleged a breach of the European Convention on
Human Rights and Individual Freedoms. The Government also provided
temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees
under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
During the year, there were a total of 24,676 asylum applications,
compared with 32,359 in 2003, a 23.7 percent decrease. The official
approval rate for 2003 was 29.6 percent. The rate dropped to 21.6
percent when ``refoulement decisions''--negative decisions where
applicants cannot be returned to the country of origin because of fear
of prosecution and obtain a temporary right of residence--were counted.
In 2003, the largest groups of applicants were persons from Russia
(predominantly Chechens), Turkey, India, Serbia and Montenegro, and
Afghanistan.
The Government contracted with a private company, European
Homecare, to provide counseling to asylum applicants throughout the
asylum process and encouraged them to return to their country of origin
if their claims were denied. Since July 2003, this company also
provided care and maintenance for asylum seekers at residential
facilities. There have been accusations of injury, violence, and death
occurring at centers operated by European Homecare. For example, in
January, a female asylum seeker in Traiskirchen refugee camp alleged
that a guard raped her. In March, the public prosecutor's office
suspended its investigations citing a lack of grounds on which to
initiate criminal charges.
The new asylum laws define ``government care'' as a form of
voluntary support provided by the Government in cooperation with the
states, municipal authorities and relief organizations. The maximum
number of persons who qualified because of financial hardship (asylum
seekers and otherwise needy applicants) was estimated at approximately
16,000. After lengthy negotiations between the Government and the
states, the two sides agreed on a quota of how many qualified
individuals each state would house and on the division of costs. At
year's end, only two of the nine states met their required quotas.
States argued that the numbers of affected applicants far exceeded the
original estimates. At a special meeting of state governors in
September it was agreed that a more precise definition of criteria for
needy applicants was needed. Followup meetings occurred in November and
early December, but most states still have yet to provide additional
housing.
The Human Rights Advisory Council continued to operate to ensure
that the police and gendarmerie respect human rights while carrying out
their duties.
In August, the Superior Provincial Court in Vienna ruled on civil
charges filed on behalf of the daughter of Marcus Omofuma, an
unsuccessful Nigerian asylum applicant who died after being physically
restrained for violent behavior while being deported to Nigeria,
awarding damages of $13,500 (10,000 euros) to the family.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. In April, voters elected President Heinz Fischer of
the SPO to a 6-year term.
The Constitution provides for full public access to government
information. Authorities can only deny such access if doing so would
violate substantial data protection rights or would involve information
that is of ``national security interest.'' Petitioners can challenge
denials before the Administrative Court. Application of this law has
been largely uncontroversial.
There were 59 women in the 183-seat National Assembly and 18 in the
62-member Federal Assembly. There were 5 women in the 12-member Federal
Cabinet.
Although there was relatively little minority representation at the
national level, no precise statistics were available, since most people
self-identified as Austrians, not as members of minorities.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. In some cases, groups
were dissatisfied with the information supplied by authorities in
response to specific complaints. There were no reports of
discrimination against organizations that report on human rights. The
Human Rights Advisory Council, composed of representatives from the
Justice and Interior Ministries, and NGOs, operated to ensure that the
police and gendarmerie respected human rights while carrying out their
duties.
In May, the Government adopted a revised Equal Treatment Bill,
implementing the EU Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Racism Guidelines. The
bill went into effect on July 1. Opposition parties and NGOs criticized
the Government for having integrated the EU guidelines into existing
legislation, rather than formulating a specific anti-discrimination
law. Although NGOs conceded that the revised law was a positive step,
they criticized the sanctions and fines for noncompliance as too weak.
They also criticized the Government for not comprehensively including
NGOs in the consultation process.
The Austria Convention (Oesterreichkonvent) continued the work
begun in May 2003 on reforming the national Constitution. One committee
focused on streamlining human rights provisions in the Constitution,
including the creation of a list of all fundamental human rights. Final
recommendations were due in early 2005.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law provides for protection against discrimination in
employment, provision of welfare benefits, and other matters, and the
Government generally enforced these provisions effectively. In August,
a public debate took place on expanding the rights of homosexuals.
Women.--Although no accurate statistics were available, violence
against women was a problem. Police and judges enforced laws against
violence; however, media reports estimated that fewer than 10 percent
of abused women filed complaints. The Association of Houses for
Battered Women estimated that one-fifth of the country's 1.5 million
adult women had suffered from violence in a relationship. The law
provides that police can expel abusive family members from family homes
for up to 3 months. In 2003, an injunction to prevent abusive family
members from returning home was applied in 4,180 cases. The Government
also sponsored shelters and helplines for women.
Prostitution is legal; however, trafficking for the purposes of
prostitution is illegal and was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Laws regulating prostitution require prostitutes to register, undergo
periodic health examinations, and pay taxes. Despite the existence of
legal prostitution, illegal prostitution was a problem.
The law prohibits sexual harassment, and the Government effectively
enforced those laws. Of the 2,556 new cases brought to the Ombudsmen
for Equal Opportunity in 2003, 394 were complaints of sexual
harassment. The Federal Equality Commission, as well as the Labor
Court, may order employers to compensate victims of sexual harassment.
There are no legal restrictions on women's rights. A Federal
Equality Commission and a Federal Commissioner for Equal Treatment
oversee laws prescribing equal treatment of men and women.
In 2003, 62.8 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 65 were
employed; on average, women earned only 79 percent of what men earn for
the same work. Women were more likely than men to hold temporary
positions and part-time jobs and also were disproportionately
represented among those unemployed for extended periods.
Although labor laws provide for equal treatment of women in the
civil service, women remained underrepresented. To remedy this
disparity, the law requires hiring women of equivalent qualifications
ahead of men in all civil service areas in which less than 40 percent
of the employees are women, including police; however, there are no
penalties to agencies for failing to attain the 40 percent target.
Female employees in the private sector may invoke equality laws
prohibiting discrimination of women. The Federal Equality Commission
may award compensation of up to 4 months' salary to women who
experienced discrimination in promotions because of their gender. The
Commission may also order compensation for women who were denied a post
despite having equal qualifications. Parents who work for companies
with more than 20 employees and have children under the age of 7 have
the right to work part-time.
Women may volunteer to serve in the military forces. As of
September, there were 246 women serving in the military, out of a
standing force of approximately 35,000, including 4 commissioned
officers. There were no restrictions on the type or location of
assignments of women. Ten women worked in peacekeeping assignments
abroad.
Some women's rights organizations were politically affiliated,
while other groups operated autonomously. They usually received wide
public attention when voicing their concerns. The Government provided
subsidies to these groups.
Children.--The law provides for the protection of children's
rights. Each state government and the federal Ministry for Youth and
Family Affairs has an Ombudsperson for Children and Adolescents whose
main function was to resolve complaints about violations of children's
rights.
While 9 years of education were mandatory for all children
beginning at age 6, the Government also provided free education through
secondary school and subsidized technical, vocational, or university
education. The majority of schoolage children attended school.
Educational opportunity was equal for girls and boys. Comprehensive,
government-financed medical care was available for all children without
regard to gender.
Child abuse was a problem. Although there was no societal pattern
of abuse against children, heightened awareness of child abuse and a
growing number of reports of incidences of abuse led the Government to
continue its efforts to monitor the issue and prosecute offenders.
While doctors were required to report suspected cases of child abuse
and molestation to the police, there were exceptions if the suspected
abuser was a close relative of the victim or if the doctor judged it
necessary for the well-being of the minor. However, in such cases, the
victim's representative was required to contact a youth care officer or
a hospital's child protection unit.
According to the Penal Code, sexual intercourse between an adult
and a child under 14 years of age is punishable with a prison sentence
of up to 10 years; in case of pregnancy of the victim, the sentence can
be extended to up to 15 years.
In 2003, the Interior Ministry reported 731 cases of child abuse,
most involving intercourse with a minor. The same year, the Justice
Ministry reported 193 convictions. Under the law, any citizen engaging
in the sexual abuse of a child in a foreign country is punishable under
Austrian law, even if the actions are not punishable in the country
where the abuse was committed. The law also provides for criminal
punishment for the possession, trading, and private viewing of child
pornography. Exchanging pornographic videos of children is illegal even
if done privately rather than as a business transaction.
The Federal Crime Authority had a special department for cyber
crime, with an anonymous e-mail point of contact for the public to
report on child pornography on the Internet.
Trafficking of children remained a problem (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however there were reports that trafficking occurred. Trafficking in
women for forced prostitution and domestic service was a problem. Child
trafficking was a problem.
Articles 217, 104, and 104a of the Criminal Code, as well as
Paragraph 105 of the Aliens Act, are the key provisions for the
prosecution of traffickers, addressing: Trafficking for prostitution
through deception regarding the purpose of the journey, coercion, or
the use of force; trafficking for the purposes of slavery; alien
smuggling; and the exploitation of aliens without specifically
requiring demonstration of prostitution as a goal or assistance in the
illegal entry of aliens. In February, Parliament passed legislation
that expanded the definition of trafficking to include trafficking of
persons for the exploitation of labor and trafficking of organs. This
legislation entered into effect in May.
Trafficking is illegal and punishable by prison sentences of up to
10 years. Trafficking for purposes of slavery is punishable by a prison
sentence from 10 to 20 years. The maximum penalty for alien smuggling
is 10 years' imprisonment.
The Interior Ministry's Federal Bureau for Criminal Affairs has a
division dedicated to combating human trafficking. Law enforcement
officials have established contacts with authorities in countries of
origin to facilitate the prosecution of suspected traffickers.
The country was a transit point and final destination for women
trafficked from Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, the Balkans, and,
to a lesser extent, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. The
women were trafficked into the country primarily for the purpose of
sexual exploitation. Women also were trafficked from Asia and Latin
America for domestic labor. Police noted increased trafficking of
Bulgarian children to engage in begging and stealing in Viennese
shopping centers. There were also reports that some children were
trafficked for possible sexual exploitation.
There were no accurate statistics on trafficked persons. However,
the number of intercepted illegal immigrants, some of whom some were
believed to be trafficking victims, continued to increase. In 2003, the
NGO LEFOE reported that it assisted 142 victims of trafficking, down
from 208 victims in 2002. The country was particularly attractive to
traffickers because of its geographic location and because citizens of
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria did not
need visas to enter the country. Most trafficked women were brought to
the country with promises of unskilled jobs such as nannies or
waitresses. Upon arrival, they were coerced into prostitution.
According to police, there also were cases of women who knowingly
entered the country to work as prostitutes, but who then, were forced
into dependency akin to slavery. Most victims were in the country
illegally and feared being turned into authorities and deported.
Traffickers usually retained victims' official documents, including
passports, to maintain control over them. Victims of trafficking
reported being subjected to threats and physical violence. A major
deterrent to victim cooperation was widespread fear of retribution,
both in the country and in the victims' countries of origin.
The majority of traffickers arrested by police were citizens;
however, the number of foreigners engaged in trafficking has increased
over the years. Police estimated that a large portion of trafficking
was controlled by organized crime, primarily from Eastern Europe.
The Government provided temporary residence to trafficking victims
who were prepared to testify or who intended to file civil law claims.
However, victims still rarely agreed to testify, due to fear of
retribution. Temporary residency status allowed victims to stay in the
country only during a trial. There were no provisions allowing victims
of trafficking to remain in the country following their testimony;
virtually all victims were repatriated.
LEFOE provided secure housing and other support for victims of
trafficking. The International Organization for Migration sought to put
victims in contact with NGOs in their countries of origin upon their
return. With financial assistance from the Interior Ministry, LEFOE
also continued to operate the Intervention Center for Victims of the
Trade in Women in Vienna, which provided services to trafficked women,
including psychological, legal, and health-related counseling and
assistance, emergency housing, and German language courses. There were
also NGOs in other cities financed by federal and local governments,
which provided counseling and assistance.
The Government worked actively with international and regional
organizations to carry out preventive programs throughout the region.
Government-funded research on the problem of trafficking and NGO
prevention work included anti-trafficking brochures, law enforcement
workshops, and international conferences, funded with the help of
private sources. The Government also funded intervention centers that
provided emergency housing or psychological, legal, and health-related
assistance to victims. The Government was also active in U.N. and
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe international
efforts to combat trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law protects persons with
disabilities from discrimination in housing, education, and employment
and explicitly requires the Government to provide for equal rights for
persons with disabilities ``in all areas of everyday life.'' The law
requires all private enterprises and state and federal government
offices to employ one person with disabilities for every 25 to 40
employees, depending on the type of work. Employers who do not meet
this requirement must pay a fee to the Government, and the proceeds
help finance services for persons with disabilities such as training
programs, wage subsidies, and workplace adaptations. However, many
observers criticized the law for setting penalties too low to
discourage companies from ignoring the requirement. There were no
reports of societal discrimination against persons with disabilities.
In addition to funding a wide range of programs for persons with
disabilities, the Government budgeted $94.5 million (70 million euro)
during the year to fund projects that employed persons with
disabilities.
Federal law mandates access to public buildings for persons with
physical disabilities; however, low fines and insufficient enforcement
resulted in the inaccessibility of many public buildings to persons
with disabilities.
Adults with mental disabilities may be sterilized only in cases
where a pregnancy would be considered ``life-threatening,'' although no
such sterilizations have been performed in recent years. The law
prohibits the sterilization of minors.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law recognizes six national
minority groups: Croats, Czechs, Hungarians, Roma, Slovaks, and
Slovenes. In the past, any community where at least 25 percent of the
population belonged to one of these groups was entitled to bilingual
town signs, education, media, and access to federal funds earmarked for
national minorities. As of September, there was still no decision on
implementation of the 2001 Constitutional Court ruling ordering the
lowering of the standard.
Most human rights groups claimed that Roma faced particular
discrimination in employment and housing. Members of other minority
groups, such as Turks, were not considered indigenous national
minorities and did not have access to the same type of assistance.
However, Turkish citizens benefited from a wide range of language and
job promotion courses. NGOs complained that Africans living in the
country experienced verbal harassment in public.
Statistics for 2003 showed a continued decrease in the number of
neo-Nazi, rightwing extremist, and xenophobic incidents. During 2003,
the Interior Ministry recorded 299 incidents, compared to 326 in 2002.
During the year, the Government continued to express concern over the
activities of extreme-right skinhead and neo-Nazi groups, many with
links to organizations in other countries.
In March, the domestic NGO ZARA, in conjunction with other groups,
released a report entitled ``Racism 2003,'' which found that persons
from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds faced increasing
discrimination from government officials, particularly police, as well
as in the workplace and in housing. The report cited 140 examples of
discrimination faced by immigrants on a daily basis and called for the
strengthening of public education and legal protections for immigrants.
The Government continued its training program designed to combat
racism and educate the police in cultural sensitivity.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides workers the
right to form and join unions without prior authorization or excessive
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. No workers
were prohibited from joining unions. An estimated 47 percent of the
work force was organized into 13 national unions belonging to the
Austrian Trade Union Federation (OGB), which had a highly centralized
leadership structure. Association of national unions with the OGB was
voluntary. Individual unions and the OGB were independent of government
or political party control, although formal factions within these
organizations were allied closely with political parties.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. Collective bargaining is
protected in law and was freely practiced. Approximately 80 percent of
the workforce was under collectively bargained agreements. Almost all
large companies, private or state-owned, were organized. The OGB and
the National Chamber of Commerce and its associations, which
represented the employers, negotiated collective agreements covering
wages, benefits, and working conditions for each industry. The OGB was
exclusively responsible for collective bargaining.
The Constitution and national legislation do not explicitly provide
for the right to strike; however, the Government recognized the right
in practice. There were three legal strikes during the year. The law
prohibits retaliation against strikers, and the Government effectively
enforced the law. A special arbitration court for social affairs, which
is part of the judicial system, generally handled legal disputes
between employers and employees regarding job-related matters. Unions
have access to the arbitration court.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, trafficking
was a problem (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum legal working age is 15 years. The Labor Inspectorate of the
Ministry of Social Affairs effectively enforced this law. The
Government has adopted laws and policies to protect children from
exploitation in the workplace.
There were reports of trafficking of children and child labor (see
Section 5).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no legislated national
minimum wage. Instead, nationwide collective bargaining agreements set
minimum wages by job classification for each industry. The accepted
unofficial annual minimum wage is $13,500 to 14,850 (10,000 to 11,000
euros), and it provided a decent standard of living for a worker and
family.
The Act on Working Hours regulates working hours and limits
standard working hours to 8 hours per day and up to 40 hours per week.
The standard workday may be extended to 10 hours, as long as the weekly
maximum is not exceeded. Statutory provisions cover compulsory time off
on weekends and official holidays. If the workday exceeds 6 hours, a
half-hour break in between is mandatory. An employee also must have at
least 11 hours off between workdays.
Overtime is defined as a period of working hours exceeding the
daily or weekly maximum of the standard working hours. Overtime pay is
150 percent of regular salary. Monetary overtime compensation can be
substituted by compensatory time off. The law limits overtime to 5
hours per week plus up to 60 hours per year. Collective bargaining
agreements may provide for higher limits. In practice, these limits
were frequently exceeded. These laws and regulations were generally
effectively enforced, but there were press reports that indicated some
workers were subject to compulsory overtime.
Foreign workers are subject to the same regulations as domestic
workers.
The Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Social Affairs regularly
enforced laws that provide for mandatory occupational health and safety
standards. Workers may file complaints anonymously with the Labor
Inspectorate, which may bring suit against the employer on behalf of
the employee. However, workers exercised this option rarely; workers
normally relied instead on the Chambers of Labor, which filed suits on
their behalf. The Labor Code provides that workers have the right to
remove themselves from a job if they fear ``serious, immediate danger
to life and health'' without incurring any prejudice to their job or
career, and the Government effectively enforced this law.
__________
AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan is a republic with a presidential form of government.
The Constitution provides for a division of powers between a strong
presidency and parliament (Milli Majlis), which has authority to
approve the budget and to impeach the President. The President
dominated the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of
government. Ilham Aliyev, the son of former president Heydar Aliyev,
was elected President in October 2003 in a ballot that did not meet
international standards for a democratic election due to numerous,
serious irregularities. There were similar irregularities during
parliamentary elections in 2001 and 2003, and some domestic groups
regarded the Parliament as illegitimate. Only 5 of the Parliament's 125
members were opposition members. The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, it was corrupt, inefficient, and did
not function independently.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Ministry of National
Security are responsible for internal security and report directly to
the President. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of
security forces. Members of the security forces committed numerous
human rights abuses.
The Government continued programs to develop a market economy;
however, the pace of reforms was uneven. The population was
approximately 8 million, of which an estimated 2 million lived and
worked abroad. Widespread corruption and patronage reduced competition.
The slow pace of reform limited development outside the oil and gas
sector, which accounted for more than 80 percent of export revenues.
Private commercial agriculture remained weak; subsistence farming
dominated the rural economy. Economic growth was approximately 10
percent. Nationwide poverty decreased, although 44 percent of the
population lived below the poverty level. Unemployment estimates ranged
from 15 to 20 percent.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it
continued to commit numerous abuses. The Government continued to
restrict the right of citizens to peacefully change their government.
There were four deaths that occurred in custody allegedly due to
beatings. Police tortured and beat persons in custody, and used
excessive force to extract confessions. In most cases, the Government
took no action to punish abusers. Prison conditions remained harsh and
life threatening, and some prisoners died as a result of these
conditions; however, the Government permitted independent monitoring of
prison conditions by local and international humanitarian groups.
Arbitrary arrest and detention and lengthy pretrial detention continued
to be problems. After the October 2003 presidential elections,
authorities conducted a wave of politically motivated arrests of more
than 700 persons, including, opposition members, journalists and
election officials. According to Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers, many of the trials of those
accused of post-election violence did not meet OSCE and other
international standards. In a series of presidential pardons, a number
of political prisoners, as defined by the Council of Europe (COE), were
released. Authorities interfered with privacy rights.
The Government continued to restrict freedom of speech and of the
press. Defamation lawsuits brought by officials against independent
journalists and newspapers and high court fines for libel remained
significant problems for the media. The Government restricted freedom
of assembly and did not sanction any demonstrations by opposition
political parties during the year. The Government continued to restrict
freedom of association by harassing domestic human rights activists and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). There were some restrictions and
abuses of religious freedom, and low-level and local government
officials continued to harass minority religious groups. Violence
against women, societal discrimination against women and certain ethnic
minorities, trafficking in persons, and limitations of some worker
rights remained problems.
Despite a cease-fire in effect since 1994, minor outbreaks of
fighting with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh occurred, resulting in six
deaths of civilians and combatants during the year. Armenian forces
continued to occupy an estimated 16 percent of the country's territory,
including Nagorno-Karabakh. The occupation dominated national politics
and undermined democratic and economic development in the country. The
Government did not exercise any control over developments in
territories occupied by Armenian forces, and little verifiable
information was available on the human rights situation there.
Approximately 800,000 Azerbaijanis remained refugees or internally
displaced persons (IDPs) after fleeing or having been forced from their
homes between 1988 and 1993.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, including Freedom
from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of politically motivated killings by the Government or its
agents; however, during the year there were four deaths in custody due
to alleged abuse and mistreatment. Authorities did not prosecute
suspected abusers in these cases (see Section 1.d.).
In March, Etibar Najafov was arrested on misdemeanor charges and
taken to Sabayil District Police Department. Authorities allegedly beat
him during questioning, but the Government reported that he died while
trying to escape from a 2nd floor window. In April, Akif Mirzayev died
in a prison hospital after allegedly being beaten in the Organized
Crime Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs while serving a 5-
year sentence for kidnapping. The Government said he was a drug addict
who had cirrhosis of the liver. In May, Azer Safarov died after
allegedly being beaten at the Sumgayit City Police Station. Authorities
acknowledged arresting Safarov on burglary charges but denied
responsibility for his death. In December, Badal Babayev died after
allegedly being beaten in an Absheron police station. His body was
covered in bruises. Authorities said Babayev died of a heart attack
after he left the police station. Authorities did not conduct further
investigations into any of these cases.
In October 2003, law enforcement officials beat to death one person
at a post-election demonstration that turned violent (see Section
2.b.). There was no development in this case or in the 2002 death of
Beylar Kuliyev, who died in police custody after 10 days of
interrogation.
During the year, the press reported that four army conscripts died
of causes attributed to military hazing.
Occasional cease-fire violations by both sides in the conflict with
Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh resulted in six deaths and injuries to
civilians and soldiers during the year. According to the National
Agency for Mine Actions, landmines killed 13 persons and injured 21
during the year.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued to
urge the Government and Armenia to provide information on the fate of
persons missing in action since the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh
began. Since the early 1990s, the ICRC has collected the names of
approximately 3,100 individuals of various ethnic backgrounds that
remain missing because of the conflict. However, the Government
estimated that approximately 4,850 citizens remained missing and were
allegedly held by Armenia.
During the year, the ICRC assisted in the return of four
Azerbaijani citizens from Armenia at the request of the Government.
c. Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices and provides for
punishment of up to 10 years in jail; during the year, there were fewer
credible reports that security forces beat and tortured detainees and
used excessive force to extract confessions during interrogations and
pretrial detention. However, torture remained a problem.
Following post-election disturbances that turned violent in Baku in
October 2003, MIA personnel detained, tortured, and beat three leading
opposition leaders: Hope Party Chairman Iqbal Agazade, Azerbaijan
Democratic Party (ADP) Secretary General Sardar Jalaloglu, and the
ADP's election secretary Natiq Jabiyev (see Section 3).
In 2003, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented numerous cases of
beatings, torture, and verbal abuse, including threats of rape, by the
MIA's organized crime unit following the post-election violence in
October 2003 (see Section 1.d.). HRW reported that police also severely
beat and tortured detainees to extract confessions and pressured them
to sign false statements to denounce and implicate opposition leaders
in the post-election violence. For example, during the trial of seven
opposition leaders accused of organizing and participating in the post-
election violence, some witnesses testified that they were coerced into
giving false depositions (see Section 1.e.). By year's end, there had
been no investigation into these abuses.
Police also harassed members of certain religious groups, such as
Baptists, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Muslim Juma Mosque
Community, and there were reports of several beatings of members of the
Jehovah's Witnesses (see Section 2.c.). No measures were taken against
police who detained and beat Haji Jubrail Alizade following clashes in
2002 in Nardaran between protesters and police.
Prison conditions remained harsh and sometimes life threatening.
Overcrowding and poor medical care combined to make the spread of
infectious diseases a serious problem. Tuberculosis (TB) remained the
primary cause of death in prisons. The Government reported that 774
prisoners were treated for TB during the year. However, due to the
absence of systematic medical screening, prisoners often started TB
treatment when already seriously ill. Many prisoners relied on families
for food and medicine, who often paid bribes to gain access to
imprisoned relatives.
Harsh prison conditions resulted in deaths during the year.
There were separate facilities for men, women, juveniles, convicts,
and pretrial detainees.
In maximum-security facilities, authorities limited physical
exercise for prisoners, as well as visits by attorneys and family
members. Some pretrial detainees were kept in ``separation cells,''
often located in basements, to conceal evidence of physical abuse and
where food and sleep reportedly were denied to elicit confessions.
During the year, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), which oversees the
prison system, continued a program to improve prison conditions and
renovated five prisons. In 2003, the Government built five new prisons
and several were renovated.
The government permitted visits by international and local
humanitarian and human rights groups. In 2002, the Government extended
the ICRC's access to all detainees and prisoners. The ICRC also had
access to prisoners of war (POWs) and to civilians held in connection
with the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Foreign observers were allowed
to enter maximum-security prisons and to meet with alleged political
prisoners. During the year, human rights activists worked with the MOJ
to create a monitoring group that could visit prisons regularly and
report on conditions. The group worked with the MOJ's Deputy Minister
to increase accountability of prison staff and to improve prison
conditions. In September, the head of one Baku prison was dismissed
after the monitoring group complained to the MOJ about his conduct.
Domestic observers' access to police stations remained restricted.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government generally did
not observe these prohibitions in practice, and impunity remained a
problem.
The MIA and Ministry of National Security are responsible for
internal security and report directly to the President. The MIA
oversees local police forces and maintains internal civil defense
troops. The Ministry of National Security has a separate security
force.
Police corruption mainly consisted of levying spurious and informal
fines for traffic and other minor violations and extracting protection
money from local residents. Police officers received a pay raise during
the year; however, low wages of law enforcement officials continued to
contribute to police corruption.
In most cases, the Government took little or no action to
investigate reports of arbitrary arrest or detention; however, the
Government reported that during the year, it took disciplinary action
against 78 police officers for 57 cases of abuse of human rights and
civil liberties. Of these, 11 officers were dismissed from the Ministry
of Interior, 12 officers were charged criminally, 6 officers were
dismissed from their positions, and 1 officer was demoted.
By year's end, the Government did not arrest any police officers or
announce the results of an investigation into election-related police
clashes with journalists and opposition activists in September and
October 2003.
The Government did not investigate or take any punitive action
against individuals named in a 2003 HRW report that documented numerous
cases of torture and abuse of opposition supporters that were detained
by the MIA's Organized Crime Department following the post-election
violence in October 2003. Several of the officers allegedly involved in
the abuses received promotions during the year, including the Chief of
the Organized Crime Department, who was promoted from Colonel to
General (see Sections 1.c. and 2.b.).
During the year, an international foundation trained more than 160
security officers attached to the Special State Protective Service
(SSPS) in human rights theory, standards, and practices. The officers
who participated in the training were recruited from the SSPS, the
State Border Guard, the Army, and police. The SSPS, a government agency
responsible for protecting the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline,
coordinates pipeline security with different ministries.
Authorities often arbitrarily arrested and detained persons without
legal warrants. The law allows police to detain and question
individuals for 3 hours without a warrant. The Constitution also states
that persons who are detained, arrested, or accused of a crime should
be advised immediately of their rights, reason for arrest, and should
be accorded due process of law; however, authorities did not respect
these provisions in practice.
The Constitution also provides for access to a lawyer from the time
of detention; however, access to lawyers was poor, particularly outside
of Baku (see Section 1.e.). Authorities often restricted family visits
and withheld information from family members; frequently, days passed
before they could obtain any information about detained relatives. Bail
was commonly denied and lengthy pretrial detention was a serious
problem.
Police detained more than 700 persons across the country in October
2003, most of whom were members of the opposition Musavat party,
following post-election demonstrations in Baku that turned violent. Of
126 persons found guilty, 41 were given prison terms, 79 others
received suspended sentences, and 6 received limited liberty sentences.
The trial for the remaining 10 defendants continued at year's end.
Other opposition parties also reported numerous brief detentions before
the October 2003 presidential election.
In August, authorities again detained ADP Secretary Taliyat Aliyev
following an incident outside the trial of seven opposition leaders
charged with participating and organizing the October 2003 post-
election violence (see Section 1.e.). Authorities charged Aliyev with
pressuring a witness to give false testimony and with assaulting and
injuring a police officer and detained him while the charges were
investigated. At year's end, the case had not been tried and Aliyev
remained in detention. Authorities had also detained Aliyev in
September 2003.
As compared with the previous year, there were fewer incidents of
police harassing members of opposition political parties or their
families.
In August, police reportedly threatened the family of Gabil Rzayev,
Deputy Chairman of the Umid (``Hope'') Party, to disclose his
whereabouts. According to party officials, Rzayev sought political
asylum outside the country after he alleged that police tortured him in
detention in September 2003.
On April 2, a three-judge panel convicted Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, the
Imam of the independent Juma Mosque, of inciting and committing
violence in connection with a post-election demonstration in October
2003 that turned violent. He was given a 5-year suspended sentence and
released immediately, having served 4 months in pre-trial detention. On
July 30, authorities detained the Imam again together with 25 members
of the Juma Mosque in connection with activities of the Juma Mosque but
released him the same day (see Sections 2.c. and 4).
Two relatives of former Speaker of Parliament and exiled ADP leader
Rasul Guliyev remained in jail at year's end after convictions for
crimes related to corruption during Guliyev's term in office. In
September, authorities pardoned one other relative who was jailed in
2003.
During the year, President Aliyev pardoned 810 prisoners, including
55 prisoners considered political prisoners by local activists. For
example, in March, 33 persons accused of participating in 2 coup
attempts against the late President Heydar Aliyev were freed. They
included former Prime Minister Surat Huseynov. In May, Faina Kunqurova,
an ADP member convicted on hooliganism charges in 2002, and Jan Mirza-
Mirzoyev, who publicly criticized the Minister of Defense and was
convicted of murder in 2001, were both pardoned. In September, former
separatist leader Alikram Humbatov and four other persons connected
with coup attempts against the late President were freed. None of the
126 persons convicted on charges stemming from the October 2003 post-
election violence were pardoned. Forty-one remained in prison, and the
others were either on suspended sentences or limited liberty.
Also during the year, authorities reportedly released three POWs
from Armenia taken in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
e. Denial of a Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice, judges did not function
independently of the executive branch. The judiciary was corrupt and
inefficient.
The executive branch exerts a strong influence over the judiciary.
The President appoints Supreme and Constitutional Court judges, whom
Parliament confirms. The President appoints lower-court judges without
confirmation, as well as the Prosecutor General and the Deputy
Prosecutor General, both of whom Parliament confirms. The Prosecutor
General hires prosecutors at the district and republic level.
Judges' salaries have steadily increased over several years;
however, there continued to be credible allegations that judges
accepted bribes, which contributed to the overall lack of respect for
the rule of law. There were also credible reports that judges and
prosecutors took instruction from the Presidential Administration and
the MOJ, particularly in cases that drew attention from international
observers.
Judges preside over and direct trials. Courts of general
jurisdiction may hear criminal, civil, and juvenile cases. District
courts try the majority of cases. The Supreme Court may not act as the
court of first instance. One judge hears cases at the district court
level, while a three-judge panel hears cases at the Court of Appeals,
the Court of Grave Crimes, and the Supreme Court. The Constitution
provides all citizens with the right to appeal to the Constitutional
Court. Citizens also have the right to appeal to the European Court of
Human Rights.
The Constitution provides for public trials except in cases
involving state, commercial, or professional secrets or matters
involving confidential, personal, or family matters. The Constitution
provides for the presumption of innocence in criminal cases, pretrial
discovery, a defendant's rights to confront witnesses and present
evidence at trial, a court-approved attorney for indigent defendants,
and appeal for both defendants and prosecutors; however, these
provisions were not generally respected in practice. Foreign and
domestic observers usually were allowed to attend trials. Although the
Constitution prescribes equal status for prosecutors and defense
attorneys, in practice prosecutors' prerogatives outweighed those of
the defense.
The law limits representation in criminal cases to members of a
state-controlled Collegium of Lawyers (bar association), thereby
restricting the public's access to legal representation. In August, the
Government enacted a law that was expected to reform the legal
profession and establish a more independent bar association by allowing
independent lawyers to join the Collegium automatically. However, by
year's end, there was still no independent bar association. The
Government retained control over the Collegium by using a narrow and
questionable interpretation of the new law that prevented most
independent lawyers from joining the bar. Instead, the state-controlled
Collegium instituted examinations for new members and for the right to
argue cases before the Supreme and Constitutional Courts. In December,
several groups of independent lawyers filed lawsuits against the
Collegium and the MOJ challenging the membership rules. At year's end,
one case was decided against the lawyers, and two others were pending.
The Constitution prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence;
however, investigations often focused on obtaining confessions rather
than gathering physical evidence against suspects. Despite defendants'
claims that testimony was obtained through torture or abuse, no cases
based on claims of abuse were dismissed, and there was no independent
forensic investigator to determine the occurrence of abuse (see Section
1.c.). Serious crimes that were brought before the courts were likely
to end in conviction; this was a result of judges requiring only a
minimal level of proof and the close collaboration between prosecutors
and judges. In the rare instance when a judge determined the evidence
presented was not sufficient to convict a defendant, judges could and
did return cases to the prosecutor for additional investigation, in
effect giving the prosecution a ``second chance'' for a conviction.
On October 22, the Court of Grave Crimes found seven opposition
leaders guilty of inciting post-election violence in October 2003 and
sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 30 months to 5 years. On
November 19, the Court of Appeals upheld the convictions. At year's
end, the defendants' appeal was pending with the Supreme Court. The
defendants were: Rauf Arifoglu, Deputy Chairman of the Musavat Party
and Editor-in-Chief of Yeni Musavat newspaper; Arif Hajili, Deputy
Chairman of Musavat Party; Ibrahim Ibrahimli, Deputy Chairman of
Musavat Party; Panah Huseynov, Chairman of the People's Party; Sardar
Jalaloglu, General Secretary of the ADP; Igbal Agazade, Chairman of the
Hope Party; and Etimad Asadov, Chairman of the Karabakh Veterans
Association.
The trial began with pretrial testimony in May and was marked by
lengthy delays and questionable court decisions. In August, several
witnesses testified that they either had been beaten or pressured to
give false depositions against the defendants (see Section 1.c.).
However, the judges neither requested a thorough investigation into the
allegations of torture, nor gave the witnesses' testimony serious
consideration in the conviction and sentencing. The OSCE, in its report
issued after the trials, stated that many of the international rights
that defendants were entitled to were violated, from the time of arrest
through the right to a public and reasoned judgment. Specifically,
officials did not adequately investigate pervasive, credible claims of
torture; the seven defendants did not have adequate access to the
prosecution's evidence or time to prepare a defense once they were
given the materials; there were questions as to the impartiality of the
judges; and the judgment, which rejected the defense's witnesses on
spurious grounds and did not address inconsistencies in witness
testimonies, was not reasoned.
The country also has a military court system with civilian judges.
Cases go either to the Court of Grave Crimes on Military Cases or to
the Collegium on Military Cases under the Court of Appeals and the
Supreme Court.
Local NGOs maintained that the Government continued to hold
political prisoners. However, NGO estimates of the number of political
prisoners varied, due in part to differing definitions of what
constitutes a political prisoner. For example, some reported that the
Government held more than 200 political prisoners, including those
sentenced in connection with the post-election violence in October
2003. During the year, NGO activists forwarded to the COE more than 170
names for consideration as political prisoners.
In 2002, the COE tasked 2 independent experts to examine 716 cases
of individuals whom local NGO activists said were political prisoners.
Using a definition of political prisoners developed by the COE for
Azerbaijan and Armenia, independent experts eliminated 504 names for
lack of accurate information, such as a person was not actually
detained or a person's case had already been investigated. Of the
remaining 212 cases, the COE experts rendered decisions on 104 and
released those findings in July. The COE report stated that the experts
determined that 45 persons were actual political prisoners. Of these
45, 11 were retried (in retrials later determined not to meet
international standards), 34 were pardoned either in 2003 or during the
year, 2 were released following a retrial, and 4 others were released 2
months after a retrial.
At year's end, 9 persons deemed to be political prisoners by the
COE, together with approximately 170 other persons who NGO activists
said were political prisoners, remained in prison.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits arbitrary invasions of
privacy and monitoring of correspondence and other private
communications; however, in practice, the Government restricted privacy
rights.
The Constitution allows for searches of residences only with a
court order or in cases provided by law; however, authorities often
conducted searches without warrants, particularly after the October
2003 election.
It was widely believed that the Ministry of National Security and
MIA monitored telephone and Internet communications, particularly those
of foreigners and prominent political and business figures; however,
there was no evidence to support this claim.
Police continued to intimidate and harass family members of
suspected criminals. In comparison to the previous year, there were
fewer allegations that the authorities interfered with opposition
members and members of their families (see Section 1.d.).
Some local officials continued to prevent Muslims from wearing
headscarves (see Section 2.a.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press and specifically prohibits press
censorship; however, the Government did not respect these rights in
practice.
The Government intimidated and harassed the media, primarily
through defamation suits, prohibitively high court fines for libel, and
through measures that hampered printing and distribution of independent
newspapers and magazines. The print media enjoyed more freedom than the
broadcast media, and there was lively public debate of government
policies. However, the Government continued to control state-run
television and radio, which was the primary source of news and
information for most of the population.
A large number of opposition and independent media outlets operated
during the year. There were more than 40 active independent newspapers
and magazines and 24 television and radio stations. There also were 10
``national'' state newspapers and 80 newspapers funded by city or
district-level officials.
Most newspapers and magazines were printed in government publishing
houses or on private printing presses owned by individuals close to the
Government. The majority of independent and opposition newspapers
remained in a precarious financial position; they continued to have
problems paying wages, taxes, and court fines. These financial
difficulties were worsened by the Government's practice of prohibiting
state businesses from buying advertising in opposition newspapers and
pressuring private business to do the same. In January 2003, the late
President Aliyev suspended until the end of 2005 an estimated $300,000
(1.5 billion manat) in debt that newspapers owed to the state-owned
publishing house. These unpaid debts continued to put indirect pressure
on opposition newspapers by influencing their decision to shut down
temporarily.
Government-run and independent kiosks distributed most newspapers
and periodicals. Distribution of independent and opposition newspapers
outside of Baku was sporadic. Baku-based journalists reported that
authorities in the exclave of Nakchivan continued to block distribution
of opposition newspapers.
In Baku, the Government tightened enforcement on unregistered,
independent newspaper vendors who mainly distributed opposition
newspapers. Authorities claimed that the illegal vendors created
traffic hazards on city streets. In December, the administrator for the
Baku subway system prohibited the sale of opposition newspapers within
the subway system; however, government-affiliated newspapers continued
to be sold. The country's largest independent newspaper distributor,
Gaya, did not report any new closures of its kiosks during the year.
However, it was unable to reopen any of its newsstands that were torn
down in 2002 in an effort to run the company out of business. Gaya
reported that of the 55 newspaper stands it once operated throughout
the country, it retained 36. In June, the Economic Court ruled that the
13 Gaya newsstands dismantled in Baku should be re-opened. The Baku
Executive Authority appealed the court's ruling, and both the Court of
Appeals and the Supreme Court upheld the appeal against Gaya. There
were no independent newsstands in Nakchivan or other parts of the
country.
The Hurriyet newspaper closed in March, and the financial situation
of most other opposition newspapers remained precarious due to
government harassment, high court fines, libel lawsuits, and declining
readership. Unlike previous years, the courts began collecting libel
fines primarily through freezing bank accounts and collecting profits
through distribution agencies, which increased the financial burdens of
some opposition newspapers. During the year, many opposition and
government-run newspapers reduced circulation and several, including
prominent opposition paper Yeni Musavat, reduced periodicity and
stopped printing for short periods because of lack of funds. Other
publications like Monitor Magazine stopped printing at times during the
year because of technical difficulties. However, some government
newspapers also reduced circulation and moderate independent newspapers
like Echo, Zerkalo, and Ayna either maintained their circulation or
slightly increased it.
In addition, Monitor magazine, Yeni Musavat, and Baki Kheber
endured additional difficulties when they were forced to relocate after
landlords threatened them with eviction due to government pressure.
Other opposition newspapers endured threats from the state-owned
publishing house, which stated that it would not print opposition
newspapers with unpaid debts.
Government-controlled radio and television remained the main
sources of news and information for much of the population. The
Government periodically used state-run television to denounce and
harass political parties and leaders who criticized the Government.
Private television channels broadcast the views of both government and
opposition officials, but their programs were not available in all
parts of the country. A total of 36 television and radio channels were
registered with the MOJ, although only 15 television stations and 9
radio stations operated. Most television stations were either
controlled by the Government or by individuals close to the Government.
Radio was oriented largely to entertainment programming. Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and the Voice of America operated without
restriction; however, in January, the MOJ rejected RFE/RL's October
2003 registration application because the paperwork was not in order.
In April, RFE/RL reapplied, and the MOJ approved the application in
May. There were no restrictions on satellite broadcasts by foreign
stations.
Harassment and violence against journalists continued. The
Azerbaijan Committee for the Protection of Journalists (RUH) reported
81 incidents of physical attacks or harassment during the year, in
contrast to 170 during 2003.
In July, unknown persons allegedly kidnapped and beat Aydin
Guliyev, editor of the Baki Kheber newspaper. He was subsequently
released. On July 25, two unknown assailants struck Eynulla Fatulliyev,
a staff writer for Monitor magazine, on the head with a lead pipe. Both
journalists had written articles critical of presidential chief of
staff Ramiz Mekhdiyev; however, there was no evidence to suggest the
attack on Fatulliyev was connected with his work. The Government
continued its investigation into the incidents at year's end.
In 2003, police injured and detained many journalists at various
election-related events (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). Most of the
injuries occurred at election-related demonstration in October 2003.
According to the Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation and RUH, police
beat 54 journalists, detained or arrested 18, and damaged the equipment
of 6 others.
There is no transparent or independent mechanism to issue licenses
for television or radio stations. The National Council for Television
and Radio, which was created in 2002, was responsible for issuing
licenses and for monitoring television and radio broadcasts. However,
it was inefficient and did not function independently of the
Government. Because the Government had not established a fee structure
to obtain a broadcast license, no new television stations could be
licensed within the provisions of the law during the year. At year's
end, nine applications for license renewals from entertainment-oriented
television stations remained pending.
In March, the President vetoed a bill on Public Television and
Radio Broadcasting, sending it back to Parliament for revisions that
would bring it more in line with international requirements set out by
the COE. In September, the President signed a new version of the law,
which provides for a public television channel to be created on the
basis of a second, state-run channel, AZTV2. The primary state-run
channel, AZTV1, would continue operating. International and local NGOs
expressed concern that without abolishing AZTV1, a public television
channel would not have the resources to become an effective alternative
source for news and information.
Libel is a criminal offense; the law allows for large fines and up
to 3 years' imprisonment. According to the RUH, 13 lawsuits were
successfully brought against 7 print media outlets during the year. Six
of these cases resulted in monetary fines, totaling approximately
$69,000 (345 million manat). In contrast, in 2003, 40 libel suits were
brought against 18 journalists and media outlets for total fines of
$325,000 (1,592.5 million manat). In 2002 and 2003, the popular
opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat was successfully sued for libel 22
times with fines totaling approximately $100,000 (500 million manat).
In February, a libel suit brought against the Mukhalifat newspaper
in 2003, ended with a 2-year suspended sentence against the editor and
editor-in-chief. Two of three criminal charges brought in 2002 against
Yeni Musavat's Editor-in-Chief Rauf Arifoglu were pending at year's
end. Arifoglu himself was found guilty in October of inciting post-
election violence in October 2003 (see Section 1.e.).
In August, Baki Kheber editor Aydin Guliyev was sentenced to a 1-
year suspended sentence as a result of a libel suit brought by Jalal
Aliyev, the brother of former president Heydar Aliyev. Guliyev had
reprinted an article from Alternative newspaper; however, Aliyev did
not bring a lawsuit against Alternative newspaper.
In October a district court in Baku ordered Eynulla Fatulliyev to
begin paying a $2,000 (10 million manat) fine for libeling two high-
ranking Ministry of Defense officers in a Monitor Magazine article in
2002 about military hazing. Under the court order, Fatulliyev was
required to pay $2 (10,000 manat) every month for 30 years. In
addition, court executors inventoried Fatulliyev's parents' apartment.
The court also impounded Monitor Magazine's profits from distribution
agencies to pay for its portion of the same libel fine.
The Government required Internet Service Providers to have licenses
and formal agreements with the Ministry of Communications and
Information Technologies. At year's end, there were 21 licensed
providers. Public Internet access at a wide variety of Internet clubs
and cafes cost less than 50 cents (1,500-2,000 manat) per hour;
however, home connectivity and access to affordable computers were
still cost-prohibitive for the average user. Internet usage grew
significantly in Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Mingechevir, Lenkoran, and
Sheki, but it was less common in other parts of the country. There was
no evidence to support the widely held belief that the Government
monitored Internet traffic of foreign businesses and opposition leaders
(see Section 1.f.).
The Government generally did not restrict academic freedom. Several
tenured professors were active in opposition parties; however, some
faculty and students did experience political pressure. Following the
October 2003 election, some professors and teachers said they were
dismissed because of their membership in opposition political parties.
Also in 2003, police harassed and detained Elnur Sadikhov, a university
student and correspondent for the Popular Front Party's (PFP) Azadliq
newspaper in Ganja. Ganja State University subsequently suspended his
enrollment; press reports said Sadikhov had left the country.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice. While the law allows individuals and political
parties to assemble and organize demonstrations, it also requires prior
notification and in some cases a permit from government authorities.
During the year, the Government sanctioned only 1 rally, a gathering of
some 250 persons in September in Baku to protest the planned arrival of
Armenian officers for a NATO exercise.
In May, the PFP applied several times for a permit to hold a
demonstration. The Baku Executive Authority (BEA) repeatedly denied the
requests stating that the issues the PFP wanted to protest were either
being addressed by the Government or were not true. In June, the PFP
sought to overturn the BEA's denials in district court, but the court
upheld the BEA's actions. However, the Court of Appeals overturned the
lower court's ruling and remanded the case back to the district court.
The case remained pending at year's end. The BEA also repeatedly denied
requests from other opposition political parties during the year for
permits, and police frequently broke up pickets and demonstrations, at
times detaining protestors.
In June, members of the Organization of Karabakh Liberation (OKL)
protested the Armenian military presence at a planning conference for a
NATO exercise. Several protestors shoved their way into the conference
room by breaking a glass door. Authorities arrested 15 protestors. In
August, six OKL members were convicted of hooliganism and disrupting
public order; they were sentenced from 3 to 5 years' imprisonment. In
September, the Court of Appeals reversed the jail terms and issued
suspended sentences.
In the months before and after the October 2003 election, the
Government routinely and forcibly disrupted unsanctioned protests.
Police and MIA officers harassed, beat, and detained opposition party
members, demonstrators, and journalists who took part in mostly
peaceful demonstrations and political meetings in Baku, Lenkoran, and
Nardaran. Authorities injured and detained many persons, some of whom
were beat in detention (see Sections 1.c., 1.d., and 2.a.). On October
22, the trial of seven opposition leaders arrested in connection with
the post-election demonstrations in October 2003 ended with guilty
verdicts (see Section 1.e.). They were sentenced to imprisonment of up
to 5 years for inciting clashes between police and protestors.
Following the election, Musavat Party supporters gathered outside
party headquarters to protest election results; security forces broke
up the meeting, harassing and beating many participants. The following
day a large crowd gathered in downtown Baku for an unsanctioned
demonstration that turned violent. Security forces used excessive
force, beating demonstrators, killing 1 person, and injuring at least
300 persons. Several hundred persons were arrested. Of that number, 41
were convicted of crimes related to the disturbances and given moderate
prison terms. Another 79 were found guilty but given suspended
sentences (see Sections 1.c., 1.d. and 1.e.). The trial of the
remaining 10 defendants continued at year's end.
A joint monitoring group, created by an NGO and the MIA in 2003,
continued to work to improve police-journalist interactions at
demonstrations. During the year, the monitoring group distributed
personal identification cards, vehicle identification cards, and
special clothing to distinguish journalists from demonstrators.
During the year, the Government took no action to investigate or
prosecute MIA officers who reportedly beat villagers in Nardaran in
2002.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, in
practice, the Government continued to restrict this right. A number of
provisions allowed the Government to regulate the activities of
political parties, religious groups, businesses, and NGOs, including a
requirement that all organizations register either with the MOJ or the
State Committee on Work with Religious Associations (SCWRA).
Registration was required to rent property, open a bank account, and
function as a legal entity. However, the vague, cumbersome, and
nontransparent registration procedures resulted in long delays that, in
effect, limited citizens' right to associate. There were more than 40
registered political parties (see Section 3).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the law expressly prohibits the Government from
interfering in the religious activities of any individual or group
except in cases where public order and stability may be threatened;
however, several legal provisions allow the Government to regulate
religious groups. There were some abuses, restrictions, and instances
of discrimination against minority religions.
In the northern city of Khachmaz, community members reported that
on several occasions police harassed and detained some Muslims who had
disrupted public order. The police allegedly shaved the detainee's
beards; however, police officials denied detaining anyone for religious
reasons.
The Law on Religion requires religious organizations to register
with the SCWRA. Government authorities gave SCWRA and its chairman,
Rafiq Aliyev, sweeping powers over registration; control over the
publication, import, and distribution of religious literature; and the
power to suspend the activities of religious groups that violate the
law. The registration process was burdensome; there were frequent,
lengthy delays to obtain registration. Religious groups may appeal
registration denials to the courts. Since SCWRA was established in
2001, more than 350 groups have successfully registered. Only
registered religious groups may maintain a bank account, rent property,
and act as a legal entity. Unregistered organizations were vulnerable
to closure as a result of charges that they were engaged in illegal
activities. These restrictions made it difficult, but usually not
impossible, for groups to function.
Several religious groups reported that they were still not
registered despite repeated applications; however, they continued to
function. Unregistered churches included the Greater Grace Baptist
Church, the Baptist community in Neftchala, and Protestant churches in
Sumgayit.
On January 16, authorities ordered the Juma Mosque congregation in
Baku to vacate its premises because of Imam Ilgar Ibrahimoglu's and the
community's political activities. The law prohibits a religious
organization from directly involving itself in political activities,
and Ibrahimoglu was a human rights activist with DEVAMM and head of the
Baku Chapter of the International Religious Liberty Association. The
Juma Mosque congregation, which registered with the MOJ in 1993, has
refused to reregister with SCWRA amid concerns that the new process
might allow the Government to interfere with its practices. On March 1,
the Sabayil District court ordered the mosque to be turned over to the
Icheri Sheher Historical and Architectural National Reserve. The mosque
belongs to city of Baku. On March 11, the community appealed the
eviction. In April, the Court of Appeals upheld the Sabayil District
Court Decision. On June 30, MOJ officials and police began the court-
ordered eviction of the Juma Mosque community from its premises.
The Caucasus Muslim Board, which approves Muslim religious groups,
appointed a new religious leader to replace Ibrahimoglu. The mosque
remained open for worship with the new Imam leading prayers. On July 8,
authorities closed the building for renovation. The following day,
approximately 30 members of the Juma Mosque community started afternoon
prayers on the steps of the mosque. Police used excessive force in
arresting five worshippers. On July 30, police detained 26 members of
the Juma Mosque community, including Ibrahimoglu, who had gathered at a
private home for funeral rites. They were all released several hours
later. On August 11, the Supreme Court upheld the decision to evict the
Juma Mosque community from the historic mosque.
In April, following a flawed trial, a court convicted Ibrahimoglu
of participating in post-election demonstrations in October 2003 and
sentenced him to a 5-year suspended sentence; Ibrahimoglu had already
spent 4 months in pretrial detention (see Section 1.d.). Since his
conviction, Ibrahimoglu has not been allowed to travel outside the
country, including to several OSCE meetings as an official NGO
participant because the law prohibits citizens convicted of criminal
offenses and with suspended sentences from traveling abroad.
Some local authorities at times discriminated against members of
minority religions and harassed nontraditional religious groups. In
many instances, abuses by authorities reflected the popular prejudice
against conversion to Christianity and other nontraditional religions
(see Section 5).
Members of Jehovah's Witnesses also reported that authorities
regularly interfered with their ability to rent public halls for
religious assemblies and, on occasion, fined or detained and beat
individuals for meeting in private homes.
The Government remained concerned about ``foreign,'' primarily
Iranian and Wahhabi Muslim, missionary activity. There were reports
that the Government closed Muslim groups and organizations with alleged
ties to terrorists. In April and September 2003, the Court for Grave
Crimes sentenced six Muslim clerics in Ganja to between 3 and 7 years'
imprisonment for allegedly preparing a forcible seizure of power.
The law prohibits religious proselytizing by foreigners, and this
was strictly enforced. Authorities deported several Iranian and other
foreign clerics operating independently of the organized Muslim
community for alleged violations of the law. Although there were no
legal restrictions on large religious gatherings, authorities
interfered with attempts by the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Pentecostal
``Cathedral of Praise'' to rent halls for religious assemblies.
Some local officials continued to discourage Muslim women from
wearing headscarves in schools. The International Religious Liberty
Association reported that women were still prohibited from wearing them
for identification and passport photos, which complicated voter
registration. In December, a group of women appealed to the European
Court of Human Rights to protest the ban.
Some religious groups, including the Union of Baptists, the
Adventist Church, and the Jehovah's Witnesses reported that some
government ministries continued to restrict and delay the importation
of certain religious literature. However, at the same time, the SCWRA
facilitated the import of some religious materials.
Cases of prejudice and discrimination against Jews in the country
were very limited, and in the few instances of anti-Semitic activity,
the Government was quick to respond. Jewish community leaders
consistently remarked on the positive relationship they have with the
Government and leaders of other religious communities. In April,
however, a rabbi in Baku received a threatening letter prior to the
start of Passover. Authorities responded quickly and took security
precautions to ensure that the festival proceeded without incident. In
July, a new Jewish Community Center was opened in Baku with high-level
government participation. Authorities also reserved one wing of a Baku
school for secular and religious classes for 200 Jewish students.
During the year, several newspapers and television broadcasts
depicted nontraditional religious groups as a threat to the country's
identity. Some of these highly critical reports extended to
humanitarian organizations in the country that had links with foreign
religious organizations. Such hostility was also directed toward
foreign Iranian and Wahhabi Muslim missionary activity, which was
viewed as a threat to stability and peace and an attempt to politicize
Islam. Pro-government media targeted some Muslim communities that the
Government claimed were involved in illegal activities.
In those parts of the country controlled by Armenians, all ethnic
Azerbaijanis have fled, and mosques not already destroyed did not
function. Animosity toward ethnic Armenians elsewhere in the country
forced most Armenians to emigrate, and all Armenian churches, many of
which were damaged in riots that took place more than a decade ago,
remained closed. As a consequence, the estimated 20,000 ethnic
Armenians who remained in the country were unable to attend services at
their traditional places of worship.
The Constitution provides the right to alternative military
service; however, members of the Jehovah's Witnesses continued to have
difficulties exercising this right since there is no legal mechanism to
implement this provision. At year's end, the case of Mahir Baguirov, a
Jehovah's Witness called into military service in 2000 and again during
the year, remained pending with the Supreme Court.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, at times, the Government limited freedom of movement.
IDPs were required to register their place of residence with
authorities and could live only in approved areas. This so-called
``propiska,'' a carryover from Soviet times, was imposed mainly on
persons forced from homes after the Armenian occupation of western
parts of the country. The Government asserted that registration was
needed to keep track of IDPs to provide them with assistance.
Residents of border areas in both the country and Iran traveled
across the border without visas. There were no exit visa requirements.
The law required men of draft-age to register with military officials
before traveling abroad; some travel restrictions were placed on
military personnel with access to national security information.
Citizens charged with criminal offenses were not permitted to travel
abroad. Officials regularly extracted bribes from individuals who
applied for passports.
There were approximately 800,000 refugees and IDPs in the country.
The vast majority fled their homes between 1988 and 1993 as a result of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to the State Statistics
Committee, approximately 200,000 were refugees and 572,000 were IDPs.
There were credible reports that Armenians from outside of the country,
including ethnic Armenian immigrants from the Middle East had settled
in parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and possibly other Azerbaijani territories
occupied by Armenian forces. The Government appealed to the U.N. and
the COE regarding those reports, and an OSCE Fact-Finding Commission
was established to investigate the matter.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
use it in practice.
There were no prohibitions against the return of citizens who left
the country. However, the government agency responsible for
reintegrating citizens who were refused asylum in other countries
lacked the capacity to accommodate these individuals upon their return.
Approximately 20,000 Armenians, almost all of mixed parentage or in
mixed marriages, continued to live in the country. This total does not
include Armenians living in the occupied territories. According to
unofficial estimates, between 200 and 250 ethnic Armenians of mixed
marriages leave the country each year. While official government policy
allowed ethnic Armenians to travel, low-level officials often extracted
bribes or harassed Armenians who applied for passports. According to
the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 43 Armenians of
mixed descent reported to an Azerbaijani NGO that they had problems
with officials in the passport and registration department when
applying for identification cards; applicants who applied with
Azerbaijani surnames encountered no problems except for having to pay
bribes.
The Armenian Government continued to prevent the hundreds of
thousands of Azerbaijanis forced out of their homes in the occupied
territories from returning; however, the Armenian Government did permit
the return of some ethnic Armenians.
In July, the President issued a decree to improve living conditions
and to increase employment for refugees and IDPs. Under the state-run
program, all IDPs are expected to be resettled from camps to newly
constructed housing. According to the Government, it directed $3.14
million (15.7 billion manat) from the State Oil Fund to build housing
and to improve socio-economic conditions of refugees and IDPs. At
year's end, the Government began construction of 5 new settlements in
Agdam and 1 in Agjabedi for 3,600 families.
During the year, the Government received $34 million (170 billion
manat) in assistance from international and domestic humanitarian
organizations for refugees and IDPs. According to the Government, it
also allocated $18 million (88 billion manat) from the country's oil
fund to improve living conditions for IDPs and refugees. In August, the
IDP and Refugee Committee's estimated expenditures were $60.8 million
(297.7 billion manat).
According to the IOM, approximately 40,000 IDPs continued to live
in camps, 60,000 in underground dugout shelters, and 20,000 in railway
cars; however, the Government took steps to relocate 40,000 IDPs out of
railway cars and camps to special settlements. Still, the majority of
IDPs lived at below-subsistence levels, without adequate food, shelter,
education, sanitation, and medical care. At the same time,
approximately 40,000 IDPs lived in settlements provided by the EU,
while another 40,000 lived in housing provided by the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The remainder were scattered among
unfinished buildings, hostels, public health facilities, and the homes
of relatives.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection for refugees. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they faced persecution, and granted refugee
status during the year.
The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. These
organizations reported full and unrestricted access to the refugee
population. Unlike in previous years, all asylum applications were now
sent directly to the Refugee Status Determination Department (RSD) of
the State Committee for Refugees instead of through the UNHCR. By
year's end, a total of 177 residual cases of asylum seekers from
Afghanistan and Iraq (161 Afghans and 16 Iraqis) were handed over to
the RSD. The UNHCR in Baku continued to provide assistance to asylum
seekers while monitoring the RSD's processing of asylum cases and
providing referrals to legal assistance for those whose claims were
rejected.
At year's end, the RSD had received 235 applications for refugee
status for 432 individuals. Of that number, 117 applications came from
the UNHCR; the remaining were new applications. The RSD granted refugee
status to 18 persons during the year.
By year's end, the UNHCR registered 10,764 asylum seekers or
refugees, including the 8,669 Chechens who fled from Russia and 581
Afghans. However, according to re-registration figures, there were only
161 long-term Afghan residents in the country. A small number of new
refugees and asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq, and other countries also
registered during the year.
Under the non-visa regime with Russia, Russian citizens can enter,
exit, and move through the country without a visa, but they were
expected to register with the Baku Police Department within 3 days of
their arrival. However, in practice the majority of asylum seekers from
the Russian Federation did not register and remained in the country
illegally. During the year, the UNHCR received no information regarding
expulsions or deportation of asylum seekers from Russia.
Arbitrary harassment, detention, and arrests of undocumented
Chechens continued to be a problem; however, the UNHCR noted fewer
cases than in the previous year. The laws on residence, registration,
and the status of refugees and IDPs did not apply to Chechens, who were
required to register with the police and not entitled to residence
permits. Chechens may receive a 3-month visa. Chechen children were
allowed to attend public schools. As of September, approximately 700
Chechen children out of an estimated 3,000 attended public schools.
Access to medical services improved for Chechen refugees; however,
access to specialized medical assistance remained problematic.
During the year, the UNHCR reported that police arrested seven
Chechens: Six on suspicion of criminal activity and one for not having
a residence permit. Chechens accused of criminal offenses and wanted by
Russian authorities were extradited to Russia.
The RSD did not accept applications for refugee status from
Chechens. Instead, the UNHCR carried out all functions to provide
Chechens with required assistance and protection to remain in the
country legally. Pursuant to UNHCR guidelines and to the Government's
policy, most refugees from Russia that originate from Chechnya were
considered persons of concern. Only Chechens who registered with the
UNHCR were provided letters of concern, which protected them from
forced repatriation to their homeland. These letters were not travel
documents and were valid for a limited time.
According to IOM, the Government continued to deport illegal
Iranian immigrants, many of whom were economic migrants who continued
to return to the country even after they were deported.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, the Government continued to restrict
this right by interfering in local elections. The Constitution provides
for an independent legislature; however, in practice, Parliament's
independence was minimal, and it exercised little legislative
initiative independent of the executive branch.
The October 2003 presidential election, which formally brought
Ilham Aliyev to power, failed to meet international standards for
democratic elections due to a number of serious irregularities. These
included the lack of a level playing field in the pre-election
campaign, police violence in the pre- and post-election periods, and
partisan election commissions.
Serious irregularities noted by observers included
disenfranchisement of voters because of inaccurate voter lists,
intimidation of voters and election commission members, ballot box
stuffing, and irregularities in vote counting and tabulation. The
Government accredited approximately 2,000 domestic election observers
but banned domestic NGOs that receive foreign assistance from observing
the election.
However, there were some improvements in the October 2003 election,
including application of parts of the Unified Election Code (UEC),
which the President signed into law in May 2003 and is scheduled to
take full effect in 2005. The Government also promptly posted election
results on the Internet; however, the observed irregularities and
insufficient transparency in vote counting and tabulation led to
serious doubts about the accuracy of the 77 percent of the vote
officially recorded for Ilham Aliyev. In the days prior to the
announcement of preliminary results from the October 2003 presidential
elections, the CEC denied OSCE/ODIHR observers access to its documents
and activities, resulting in a lack of transparency during the final
vote count (see Section 4). By year's end, the Government still had not
investigated the irregularities.
In December, nation-wide municipal elections were marred by
widespread fraud and serious irregularities. These included ballot-box
stuffing, forging voters' signatures, multiple voting, voting without
proper identification, and intimidation of election officials and
voters by local government authorities appointed by the presidential
administration. There were also technical problems. For example, in
some districts, up to 110 candidates competed for 19 municipal seats,
which presented precinct commission members with the difficult task of
accurately counting all votes, and many commissions failed to do so.
Most prominent opposition political parties boycotted the election
due to an uneven playing field; however, many opposition candidates
registered as independents. In a positive step to acknowledge the
gravity of the irregularities, the Central Election Commission (CEC)
for the first time forwarded 95 complaints of election fraud to the
Prosecutor General's office for criminal investigation. The law
stipulates up to 1 year in prison for election-related fraud.
The October parliamentary by-elections were also marked by serious
irregularities such as ballot-box stuffing, fraudulent voter lists, and
falsification of figures on precinct protocols. Some voters received
ballots without providing valid identification or by showing invalid
documents, and election observers witnessed poll workers forging
signatures on voter registration lists. Unauthorized persons, including
representatives of local governments, were present in many precincts
during the vote counting and in some cases directed the counting.
Two amendments passed in the 2002 referendum continued to be
controversial. One eliminated the proportional representation system
required for 25 of the 125 seats in Parliament; the second replaced the
Chairman of the Parliament with the Prime Minister in the line of
succession to the presidency, a change that makes it easier for the
President to designate his successor. In August 2003, then President
Heydar Aliyev named his son, Ilham, Prime Minister, which allowed him
to assume unofficially the responsibilities of acting president because
of his father's ill health, and to run as the incumbent in the October
2003 election.
During the year, authorities harassed and evicted opposition
political parties from their offices. Limitations on opposition
activities were particularly acute in certain remote regions, including
Nakchivan where opposition activities were severely limited. The
Government also applied organized pressure against opposition party
members to limit their business activities and dismiss opposition-
linked persons from state-funded jobs.
Throughout the summer, local authorities around the country
interfered with a study on religious freedom conducted by the FAR
Center, a Baku-based research organization. The interference allegedly
occurred because the director of the center had close political ties to
the opposition Musavat party.
In 2003, HRW documented more than 100 job dismissals around the
country of either opposition members or their relatives. Many of those
who were dismissed said their employers warned them before the election
and explicitly told them afterwards that they were dismissed because of
their opposition activity or the activity of their relatives. There
were also credible reports that some election commission members who
refused to sign falsified vote tallies were also dismissed.
At least 20 of the 42 registered political parties were considered
opposition parties (see Section 2.b.). Unregistered political parties
continued to function; however, authorities prevented them, as well as
registered opposition parties, from conducting outdoor gatherings (see
Section 2.b.). Registered parties were able to hold indoor meetings.
Members of unregistered political parties may run for president but
must be sponsored by a registered party or by an independent ``voters'
initiative group.'' Members of unregistered parties also may run for
Parliament, although none was represented in the Parliament. Opposition
members occupied 5 seats in the 125-member Parliament.
The 2003 UEC includes provisions for a new CEC, District Election
Commissions, and Precinct Election Commissions that will come into
force based on the results of parliamentary elections in 2005. The UEC,
which combines four existing election laws and referenda, was drafted
in consultation with international election advisers, including IFES,
the COE, and OSCE/ODIHR. However, the UEC permits establishment of
election commissions structured in favor of the ruling party, and did
not change provisions contained in other legislation that prohibit
domestic NGOs that receive foreign funding from observing elections.
The laws penalizes corruption by outlawing bribery; however, there
was widespread public perception of corruption throughout all facets of
society, including the civil service, government ministries, and the
highest levels of government. The law on bribery carries a sentence of
2 to 7 years for receiving a bribe, and up to 5 years for offering a
bribe. Presentation of a bribe to an official is punishable by 3 to 8
years' imprisonment. According to the General Prosecutor's office, 120
criminal cases related to corruption were opened during the year, with
10 specifically on bribery charges; however, these cases had little or
no impact overall on the prevalence of bribery and corruption in the
country.
In March, the President enacted a new law on corruption by decree,
which is scheduled to take effect in January 2005. It requires public
officials to report annual income, sources of income, property owned,
and financial liabilities. It also prohibits nepotism and limits giving
gifts and direct or indirect financial benefits to public officials or
third parties.
The law provides for public access to government information by
individuals and organizations; however, it does not specify procedures
for obtaining government information.
Although government ministries have separate procedures on how to
request information, they routinely denied requests, claiming not to
possess the information. Individuals have the right to appeal the
denials in court; however, the courts generally upheld the decisions of
the ministries.
There were no legal restrictions on the participation of women in
politics; however, traditional social norms limited women's political
roles, and they were underrepresented in elective offices. The practice
of ``family voting,'' whereby men voted on behalf of their wives and
other female family members, continued. There were 14 women in the 125-
seat Parliament. Several women held senior government positions,
including Deputy Chair of Parliament, Chairperson of the Supreme Court,
and Deputy Chair of the CEC.
Lezghins, Talysh, and Avars continued to serve in Parliament and
Government.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Many domestic and international human rights groups generally
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings on human rights cases. Although the Government
maintained ties with some human rights NGOs and responded to their
inquiries, on occasion, the Government criticized and intimidated some
human rights NGOs and activists, and the MOJ routinely denied or failed
to register some human rights NGOs (see Section 2.b.).
Several NGOs reported that the Government and police at times
refused to protect them from so-called ``provocateurs'' who harassed
and attacked NGO activists and vandalized their property. The NGOs
accused authorities of inciting the harassment and attacks in some
cases. For example, in June authorities in the exclave of Nakchivan
allegedly beat and detained Avaz Hasanov, coordinator for an
international working group on prisoners, hostages, and lost persons in
Karabakh, after he returned from Nagorno-Karabakh. Also in June, the
Ministry of Taxes and MOJ in Nakchivan threatened to close the NGO
Resource Center because it was not registered. The Resource Center had
applied for registration but was denied. However, in October, Nakchivan
authorities approved the Resource Center's registration, making it the
first registered NGO in the exclave. In May, Mahammad Rzayev, a lawyer
working for the resource center who also worked part-time as a regional
correspondent for opposition newspaper Azadliq, was kidnapped and
beaten by police.
In September, in Baku, provocateurs disrupted a major, high-level
NGO conference on coordinating NGO activity for December municipal
elections by shutting off the power and removing tables and chairs. The
same NGO also had problems holding similar conferences throughout the
regions in the weeks leading up to the municipal elections. In
November, Akifa Aliyeva, coordinator of the Ganja branch of the
Azerbaijan Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA) was presented on
television as an enemy of the state after her interview on a peace-
building project between Azerbaijanis and Armenians was edited to
purposely distort her remarks. Individuals subsequently protested at
the HCA offices in Baku and in Ganja.
In early 2003, Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute of Peace and
Democracy, and Eldar Zeynalov, Chairman of the Human Rights Center of
Azerbaijan, were harassed for their work on Nagorno-Karabakh. In
September 2003, the Committee for the Protection of Women's Rights
reported that security officials at the Nakchivan airport refused to
assist a group of human rights activists who were assaulted with eggs
and tomatoes.
In April, the President issued a decree to implement the law on
registering NGOs; however, the registration law remained cumbersome,
and some provisions related to the liquidation of NGOs were vague. For
example, amendments passed in 2003 complicated requirements to register
grants from foreign entities and subjected the funds to a social
security tax of 27 percent on employee salaries. However, grants from a
few countries, which had bilateral agreements with the Government, were
subject to a 2 percent tax on employee salaries. NGOs remained exempt
from value added tax (VAT).
In December, the President issued another decree to establish a
central registration point and eliminate artificial impediments to
registration and other technical improvements. By year's end, no
information was available on whether this decree eased the registration
process. During the year, 168 NGOs were registered.
In September 2003, the MOJ revoked the registration of a Muslim
NGO, Islam-Ittihad, on charges of spreading religious propaganda and
attempting to establish a religious regime. The NGO focused on
preventing alcoholism, narcotics abuse, and helping orphans and
children with thalassemia. The Islam-Ittihad directors, Azer Ramizoglu
and Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, who were both outspoken religious freedom
activists, appealed the decision (see Section 2.c.). In July, the
Supreme Court upheld the MOJ decision.
Foreign diplomats, the ICRC, and COE delegations all had access to
prisons to meet with prisoners (see Section 1.c.). The Government met
with COE rapporteurs who visited the country to monitor political
conditions, and allowed OSCE/ODIHR and other international observers to
monitor the October 2003 election. However, in the days prior to the
announcement of preliminary results from the October 2003 presidential
elections, the CEC denied OSCE/ODIHR observers access to its documents
and activities, resulting in a lack of transparency during the final
vote count (see Section 3).
In 2002, Parliament established the office of an Ombudswoman for
human rights. Citizens may appeal violations committed by the state or
by individuals. The Ombudswoman may refuse to accept cases of abuse
that occurred more than 1 year ago, anonymous complaints, and cases
that are being handled by the judiciary. During the year, the
Ombudswoman traveled around the country to hear human rights complaints
and cooperated with foreign diplomats working on human rights
activities. However, according to local human rights NGOs and
activists, the Ombudswoman's work was ineffective. In December, the
Ombudswoman presented her annual report to Parliament, which was not
made public by year's end.
The Parliament and MOJ also had human rights offices that heard
complaints and followed up with investigations and recommendations to
relevant government bodies. Officials of the human rights office with
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with the diplomatic community to
discuss issues of concern to the international community.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal rights without respect to
gender, race, national origin, language, social status, or political
affiliation; however, in practice the Government did not always respect
some of these provisions.
Women.--Violence against women, including domestic violence,
continued to be a problem. In rural areas, women had no effective
recourse against assaults by their husbands or others; there are no
laws on spousal abuse or rape. Rape is illegal and carries a maximum
15-year prison sentence. The Government stated that 25 rapes and
attempted rapes had been reported during the year. Most rape victims
reportedly knew their assailants but did not report incidents out of
fear and shame.
There were no government-sponsored programs for victims of domestic
violence or rape. In Baku a women's crisis center operated by the
Institute for Peace and Democracy provided free medical, psychological,
and legal assistance for women. Since 2001, the center has provided
services to more than 4,200 women, including 1,700 during the year. An
additional 4,700 women have called the center's hotline. During the
year, the Institute also completed work with Internews on a television
series on women's rights, anti-trafficking, and gender issues, which
was broadcast on regional channels and in Baku.
Prostitution is not a crime; it is an administrative offense
punishable by a fine of up to $100 (500,000 manat). Pimps and brothel-
owners may be sentenced to prison for up to 6 years. The legal age of
consent was 16. Prostitution was a serious problem, particularly in
Baku.
Women nominally enjoy the same legal rights as men; however,
societal discrimination and trafficking in women for sexual
exploitation were problems (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Traditional social norms and poor economic conditions continued to
restrict women's roles in the economy, and there were reports that
women had difficulty exercising their legal rights due to gender
discrimination. For example, women were underrepresented in high-level
jobs, including top business positions. The law prohibits pregnant
women and women with children under the age of 3 from working at night;
pregnant women and women with children under 18 months of age cannot
work more than 36 hours per week.
There were approximately 50 registered NGOs that focused on
problems affecting women. One of the most active, the Society for the
Defense of Women's Rights, provided speech and communication training
for women in politics, and urged political party leaders to appoint
women to high-ranking positions.
Children.--The law requires the Government to protect the rights of
children with regard to education and health care; however, difficult
economic circumstances limited the Government's ability to fulfill its
commitments.
Public education was compulsory, free, and universal until the age
of 17. According to the Ministry of Education, 100 percent of school-
age children attended school during the year; however, UNICEF reported
that the figure was approximately 88 percent. The Government provided a
minimum standard of health care for children, but the overall quality
of medical care was very low.
The law prescribes severe penalties for crimes against children,
and children were generally treated with respect, regardless of gender;
however, there were some reports of abuse of children, including
trafficking (see Section 5, Trafficking).
A large number of refugee and IDP children lived in substandard
conditions in camps and public buildings (see Section 2.d.). In some
cases, children were unable to attend school. In impoverished rural
areas, large families sometimes placed a higher priority on the
education of male children and kept girls to work in the home. Some
poor families forced their children to beg (see Section 6.d.).
A coalition of more than 30 local and international NGOs worked
with the Government, the local community, and international
organizations such as UNICEF and the World Bank, to raise awareness of
children's needs and to build capacity to meet those needs. During the
year, the coalition worked with the World Bank to redistribute the
social benefit package for children and families in need, and began
work on the alternative report to the Government's spring submission on
the status of its obligations under the U.N. Convention on the Rights
of the Child.
From June through December, the coalition taught street children
about healthy lifestyle choices, brought in an occupational therapist
to assess conditions for children with disabilities in orphanages, and
completed a public awareness campaign on the rights of children with
disabilities. The coalition also met routinely with government
officials for talks on the rights of children.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking in persons, although existing provisions of the law are
used to prosecute trafficking cases, and there were reports that men,
women, and children were primarily trafficked from the country for
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Corruption in some government
agencies facilitated trafficking.
While trafficking is not a criminal offense, traffickers may be
prosecuted under laws prohibiting rape, forced prostitution and labor,
and forgery of travel documents. Most trafficking-related crimes
prosecuted during the year carried maximum penalties between 3 and 6
years' imprisonment, except for rape and sexual violence, which both
carry maximum 15-year prison sentences. There also are criminal
penalties for enslaving, raping, and forcing children into
prostitution. During the year, the Government convicted 10 individuals
on trafficking-related crimes. It also arrested 48 individuals and
opened 32 trafficking-related criminal cases.
Numerous government officials and ministries were involved in
efforts to combat trafficking in persons; however, problems remained
with providing formal assistance for victims, corruption, and adopting
anti-trafficking laws. In May, the President signed a decree that
ordered all government bodies to implement a new national action plan
to combat trafficking in persons. The decree named a Deputy Minister of
Internal Affairs as the national coordinator for anti-trafficking
efforts. Since then, the Government created a special anti-trafficking
police unit and began drafting legislation and Criminal Code amendments
to specifically criminalize trafficking in persons.
The MIA improved its capacity to track potential traffickers and
victims transiting through the country's international airport. The
Government regularly collaborated with neighboring countries on anti-
trafficking investigations.
The country was primarily a country of origin and transit for
trafficked women, men, and children for sexual exploitation and forced
labor. Azerbaijani, Russian, and Central Asian women and girls were
trafficked from or through the country to the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), Turkey, and Pakistan for work in the sex industry. In addition,
162 Azerbaijani trafficking victims were identified in other countries,
including 63 in Pakistan, 45 in the UAE, 40 in Turkey, and 14 in India.
Women and girls were trafficked internally from rural areas to the
capital for sexual exploitation. Men were trafficked to Turkey and
Russia for forced labor and boys were trafficked internally for
begging. Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, and migrants from South Asia were
smuggled through the country to Europe--particularly Germany, Sweden,
France, and the Netherlands--and possibly the United States where they
at times had their passports confiscated and were subjected to forced
labor. Traffickers generally targeted women.
Traffickers were either foreigners or ethnic Azerbaijanis who acted
in loose concert with international networks. They approached victims
directly and indirectly through friends and relatives. Traffickers also
used deceptive newspaper advertisements that offered false work abroad.
Traffickers also used fraudulent marriage proposals from men posing
as Iranian businessmen to lure women into prostitution in neighboring
Iran. Traffickers approached some families who willingly married their
daughters to wealthy Iranians without concern for the actual outcome.
There was no evidence of government complicity in facilitating
trafficking in persons; however, NGOs suspected that low-level
government workers and police officers accepted bribes from traffickers
to overlook their activities. During the year, the Government dismissed
the chief of a regional passport registration office and two inspectors
for issuing illegal citizenship identification cards to several
individuals.
There were no government-sponsored anti-trafficking public
education campaigns, and no standardized mechanism to return trafficked
women to the country; however, during the year Azerbaijani consular
officials began to work on an ad hoc basis with international
organizations to repatriate trafficking victims to the country.
The Government reported that by year's end it had sent 150
trafficking victims (141 Azerbaijanis, 6 Uzbeks, 2 Russians, and 1
Georgian) to a special healthcare center.
According to IOM, some Azerbaijanis and third country nationals who
were either victims of trafficking or engaged in prostitution were
deported to the country, primarily from Turkey and the UAE. However,
the Government had no program to assist them.
Several NGOs, like the Institute for Peace and Democracy and Clean
World, and bodies such as the State Committee for Women's Issues,
worked on anti-trafficking activities and programs to prevent
prostitution. The IOM and OSCE provided training for domestic NGOs on
how to operate emergency hotlines, conduct awareness campaigns, and
secure housing for trafficking victims.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was social discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment; however, there were no
credible reports of discrimination in education or access to health
care.
The law gives priority to persons with disabilities to obtain
housing, pension supplements, and discounts for public transportation;
however, the Government did not have the means to fulfill these
commitments. There are no special provisions in the law mandating
access to public or other buildings for persons with disabilities, and
improving access was not a government priority.
Depending on the severity of the mental illness, some individuals
were denied the right to vote.
The Ministries of Health and Labor and Social Welfare were
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
Care in facilities for the mentally ill and persons with disabilities
varied. Some provided adequate care but others lacked qualified
caregivers, equipment, and supplies to maintain sanitary conditions,
and provisions to provide a proper diet. There were no credible reports
of cruel treatment of patients in government-run mental health
facilities. The Ministry of Health continued a program to renovate
state mental health facilities in recognition of the need to provide
better care for persons with mental disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Numerous indigenous ethnic
groups lived in the country, and the Constitution provides them with
the right to maintain their culture and language, and the Government
generally respected these rights; however, there were some problems.
For example, some groups complained that authorities restricted
their ability to teach or print materials in their native languages.
Farsi-speaking Tallish in the south of the country, Caucasian Lezghins
in the north, displaced Meskhetian Turks from Central Asia, and
displaced Kurds from the Armenian-occupied Lachin region reported
incidents of discrimination, restrictions on the ability to teach in
their native languages, and harassment by local authorities.
Some Armenians and persons of mixed Armenian-Azerbaijani descent
said they were denied work, medical care, and education and could not
register their residences due to their ethnicity. The approximately
20,000 citizens of Armenian descent also complained of discrimination
in employment, schooling, housing, and other areas. They said they
experienced discrimination and harassment at work and that local
authorities refused to pay their pensions. Most Armenians concealed
their ethnicity, legally changed the ethnic designation in their
passports, or tried to leave the country. However, some persons of
mixed Armenian-Azerbaijani descent held government jobs. Public figures
in mixed marriages or of mixed-Armenian and Azerbaijani parentage were
at times openly criticized by colleagues in newspapers and on
television and radio.
There was one senior government official responsible for ethnic
minority policy; however, preventing discrimination was not a
government priority.
In the area occupied by ethnic Armenian forces, approximately
600,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were forced to flee their homes during the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (see Section 2.d.). The authorities who
controlled the occupied areas effectively banned ethnic Azerbaijanis
from all spheres of civil, political, and economic life.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Government did not
officially condone discrimination based on sexual orientation; however,
there was societal prejudice against homosexuals, especially with
regard to housing.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for freedom
of association, including the right to form labor unions; however,
there were some restrictions on this right in practice.
Uniformed military and police were prohibited from participating in
trade unions, although civilians working in the Interior and Defense
Ministries were allowed to do so. The law also prohibits managerial
staff from joining a trade union; however, in practice, managers in
state industries often had union dues automatically deducted from their
paychecks. During the year, the Government refused to register a trade
union in the transportation sector because the Government alleged that
it had engaged in criminal activity.
The law prohibits unions from engaging in political activity;
however, some government-aligned unions ignored this prohibition.
Individual members of trade unions were not restricted from political
activity. Trade unions were allowed to draft legislation on labor,
social, and economic matters, but most did not take part in such
activity.
Many of the state-owned enterprises that dominate the formal
economy withheld union dues from workers' pay but did not deliver the
dues to the unions. As a result, unions did not have resources to carry
out their activities effectively.
The overwhelming majority of labor unions continued to operate as
they did under the Soviet system, and remained tightly linked to the
Government; exceptions were independent journalists' unions.
The Azerbaijani Trade Union Confederation (ATUC) had approximately
1.5 million members, including 26 labor federations in various
industrial sectors. Although registered independently, some workers
considered the ATUC a ``yellow union'' because of its close alignment
with the Government.
The Union of Oil and Gas Industry Workers continued to operate
without a vote by rank and file workers, and membership remained
mandatory for the State Oil Company's (SOCAR) 60,000 workers, whose
union dues (1 percent of each worker's salary) were automatically
deducted from their paychecks.
There were no reports of government anti-union discrimination;
however, labor disputes were primarily handled by local courts, which
were widely considered corrupt. There were reports of anti-union
discrimination by foreign companies operating in Baku. Most foreign oil
companies did not allow union membership; however, in July free trade
unions were established in one foreign company and one joint venture
involving a foreign company.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
trade unions to conduct their activities without government
interference; however, in practice, most trade unions were not
independent. The law also provides for collective bargaining agreements
to set wages in state enterprises, and trade unions actively negotiated
with employers, particularly in the formal sector. However, unions
could not effectively participate in negotiating wage levels because
government-appointed boards ran major state-owned firms and set wages
according to a unified tariff schedule. In addition, the Ministry of
Labor reported that the government continued to have limited success in
addressing worker-related issues with foreign companies.
The law provides most workers with the right to strike. Categories
of workers prohibited from striking include high-ranking executive and
legislative officials, law enforcement officers and court employees,
health, electric power, water supply, telephone, fire fighters, and
railway and air traffic control workers. Striking workers who disrupt
public transportation can be sentenced up to 3 years' imprisonment. The
law prohibits retribution against strikers such as, dismissal or
replacement. In July, police twice prevented workers from striking at
Baku Tram Park.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
allows forced or compulsory labor only under states of emergency and
martial law, or in court decisions affecting condemned persons;
although there were no reports of slavery or prison labor imposed by
government authorities, there were reports of forced or compulsory
labor, including trafficking in persons (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law also permits compulsory labor in connection with the
military or extreme situations based on legislative authorization and
under governmental supervision.
Two departments in the General Prosecutor's Office were responsible
for enforcing the prohibition on forced or compulsory labor.
There were continued reports that some military officers used
conscripts as unpaid laborers on construction projects.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law provides for the protection of children from economic exploitation
and from work that is dangerous to their health, and there were few
complaints of abuses of child labor laws.
The minimum age for employment depended on the type of work. In
most instances, the law permits children to begin work at age 15;
however, with the consent of their parents, 14-year-olds may work in
family businesses or at after-school jobs during the day that pose no
hazard to their health. Children under 16 may not work more than 24
hours per week; children between 16 and 18 may not work more than 36
hours per week. The law prohibits employing persons younger than 18 in
jobs with difficult and hazardous work conditions. The Ministry of
Labor and Social Security was responsible for enforcing child labor
laws.
During the year, the Government ratified the ILO Convention 182 on
the worst forms of child labor. The country also joined the European
Charter Article on Protecting Child and Youth Rights.
There were reports that some parents forced their children to beg.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In December, a presidential
decree raised the minimum monthly wage from $20 (100,000 manat) to $25
(125,000 manat). The move followed an increase in July that raised the
minimum from $12 (60,000 manat) to $20 (100,000 manat). The $25 minimum
wage was slightly above the official poverty level of $24 (120,000
manat) set by the Government. However, it was not sufficient to provide
a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
Most workers earned more than the minimum wage, with the average
monthly wage reaching $93 (467,300 manat) during the first 8 months of
the year. Many citizens also relied on extended families or on
remittances from relatives working in Russia for support. The
combination of these funds and other strategies allowed most urban
dwellers to attain a subsistence income level.
The law provides for a 40-hour work week; the maximum daily work
shift is 12 hours. Workers in hazardous occupations may not work more
than 36 hours per week. The law requires lunch and rest periods, which
are determined by labor contracts and collective agreements. The
Government attempted to enforce the contracts and agreements; however,
the Ministry of Labor reported little success in the informal sector,
where most individuals were employed, because of poor cooperation from
private companies.
The law set health and safety standards, but they were widely
ignored; government inspections of working conditions were weak and
ineffective. The ATUC also monitored compliance with labor and trade
regulations, including safety and health conditions. Between 1997 and
year's end, the ATUC reported that it inspected 2,000 enterprises and
organizations and found 28,432 legal and technical violations. The ATUC
said that virtually all of the violations were addressed, and no
official complaints were registered.
Workers could not leave jobs that endangered their health and
safety without fear of losing their jobs. According to the Oil Workers
Rights Defense Council (ORDC), an NGO dedicated to protecting worker
rights in the oil sector, six State Oil Company workers were lost at
sea due to workplace accidents during the year. Another three oil
workers died in other industry-related accidents. Workplace accidents
were also a problem in other sectors of the economy. The law provides
equal rights to foreign and domestic workers, though local human rights
groups, including ORDC, maintained that disparities existed,
particularly in foreign oil companies.
__________
BELARUS
According to its amended Constitution, the country is a republic
with a directly elected president and a parliament consisting of two
chambers. The lower chamber's members are directly elected and the
upper chamber's members are appointed by the president and elected by
regional councils. President Aleksandr Lukashenko, first elected in
1994, has systematically undermined the country's democratic
institutions. Through a series of flawed referenda, manipulated
elections, and undemocratic laws and regulations, he has concentrated
all power in the executive branch and extended his term in office. An
October 17 referendum changed the Constitution and removed term limits
for the office of President. Both the referendum and the parliamentary
elections that took place on the same day failed to meet international
democratic standards. The judiciary is not fully independent and
operates under significant control by the presidential administration.
The Committee for State Security (BKGB) and the Ministry of
Internal Affairs (MVD), both of which report directly to the President,
share law enforcement and internal security responsibilities. The
President and the Presidential Administration exercise control over the
security forces. Members of the security forces committed numerous
human rights abuses.
The economy was largely centrally planned with industry accounting
for approximately 50 percent of economic output. The country had a
population of just under 10 million. The majority of workers were
employed in the state industrial and state agricultural sectors. The
living standards for many segments of society remained low, and wages
in the state sector were lower than the national average. The
International Monetary Fund reported that the gross domestic product
grew by an inflation adjusted rate of 6.4 percent. The rate of
inflation was 20 percent for during the year. The Government reported
that unemployment decreased to 2.4 percent, but most independent
observers believed that hidden unemployment was high.
The Government's human rights record remained very poor and
worsened in some areas, and the Government continued to commit numerous
serious abuses. The Government continued to deny citizens the right to
change their government through a transparent democratic process;
opposition political parties and movements were subjected to increased
pressure through both judicial and extrajudicial measures. The
Government refused to register many opposition parliamentary
candidates. The authorities did not undertake serious efforts to
account for the long term disappearances of well known opposition
political figures and a journalist and continued to discount credible
reports regarding the role of government officials in those
disappearances. Police abuse and occasional torture of prisoners and
detainees continued. Prison overcrowding remained a problem. Security
forces arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens for political
reasons; in addition, individuals were sentenced to jail terms for such
political crimes as defamation of state officials.
The Government continued to restrict the freedoms of speech, press,
assembly, and association. Law enforcement officials arrested and used
excessive force against individuals peacefully protesting electoral and
referendum fraud and also against journalists reporting on such
protests. It intensified pressure on the independent media by closing
numerous newspapers. It further restricted the activities of NGOs by
using legal technicalities to de register them and subjecting them to
frequent tax investigations and other forms of harassment. It imposed
restrictions on religious freedom. The Government shut down most major
registered human rights NGOs, and state security authorities
increasingly harassed those that remained. Societal violence and
discrimination against women remained problems. Trafficking in women
and children remained a problem, although the Government continued
serious efforts to combat it. The authorities intensified their already
severe restrictions on workers' rights to associate freely, organize,
and bargain collectively.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
confirmed reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life
committed by the Government or its agents; however, at least one
individual died in official custody in circumstances suggesting
official culpability.
On January 23, Maksim Khromelyu died in police custody; credible
reports indicate that his body displayed bruising and hemorrhaging
indicative of assault.
There were no credible government efforts during the year to solve
the disappearances and presumed killings of journalist Dmitryy
Zavadskiy in 2000, opposition figures Yuryiy Zakharenko, and Viktor
Gonchar in 1999, and businessman Anatoliy Krasovskiy in 1999 (see
Section 1.b.). Credible evidence indicates that government agents may
have killed Zakharenko, Gonchar, and Krasovskiy because of their
involvement with the political opposition. On April 6, the Government
declared Zavadskiy to be deceased and suspended its investigation of
his abduction for a second time. They first declared in November 2003
that Zavadskiy was deceased and then reversed that declaration and
resumed the investigation in December 2003.
b. Disappearance.--There were no confirmed reports of politically
motivated disappearances during the year.
The earlier disappearances and presumed killings of television
cameraman Dmitryy Zavadskiy, former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuryiy
Zakharenko, 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy Chairman Viktor Gonchar, and
opposition supporter Anatolyy Krasovskiy remained unresolved. There
were credible reports that senior government officials were involved in
the disappearances, and the Government did not make a serious effort to
solve them during the year. On April 8, the U.N. Commission for Human
Rights (UNCHR) approved its second resolution on the disappearances,
urging the Government to conduct an impartial investigation, beginning
with the suspension of those senior officials suspected of involvement.
The UNCHR nominated a Special Rapporteur to examine the country's human
rights performance (see Section 4). The authorities denied a visa to
this Rapporteur in December. On April 28, following an investigation of
the disappearances by its own Special Rapporteur, the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution stating
that the Government had failed to investigate these disappearances and
had covered up the true circumstances of the disappearances (see
Section 4). The Government has not acknowledged the deaths of the other
three.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, police
and prison guards regularly beat detainees and prisoners. The law
restricts the use of force by police and prison officials; however,
human rights monitors repeatedly reported that investigators coerced
confessions through beatings and psychological pressure.
Police and plainclothes officers occasionally beat individuals
while arresting them or holding them in detention. During a July 21
opposition protest, Interior Ministry riot police (OMON) beat 17 year
old Mikhail Avdeyev with truncheons, leaving him with broken ribs and a
hematoma, which led to the removal of his spleen. On October 19, in
breaking up a protest following the constitutional referendum, police
used truncheons and other force against some of the protesters while
arresting them, including United Civic Party leader Anatolyy Lebedko.
Lebedko was hospitalized after his arrest, beating, and a subsequent
brief detention. Police forcibly kept journalists from photographing
the arrest and beating of Lebedko and damaged a video camera in the
process.
Credible reports indicated that prison guards regularly beat
detainees and prisoners and that torture was widespread in prisons.
There were no prosecutions in the March 2003 police beating of Anton
Kishkurno. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) reported that the
district police officer in charge of youth issues was dismissed after
the investigation into the July 2003 beating of Oleg Gnedchik.
Dedovshchina, the practice of hazing new army recruits through
beatings and other forms of physical and psychological abuse,
reportedly continued. The authorities blocked efforts by family members
and human rights monitors to investigate reports of dedovshchina.
On several occasions during the year, unknown persons attacked
political opponents of the Government. On July 1, several unknown
assailants beat prominent opposition parliamentarian Valeriy Frolov and
his driver as they were returning from Moscow; no arrests were made in
the case. No further developments were reported in the 2003 beatings of
school rector Vladimir Kolas, scientists Yevgeniy Babosov and Radim
Goretskiy, and NGO head Oleg Volchek nor was there any indication that
the authorities were pursuing these cases.
Prison conditions remained austere and were marked by occasional
shortages of food and medicine and the spread of diseases such as
tuberculosis, syphilis, and HIV/AIDS. About 1,100 prisoners were
infected with HIV. Leila Zerrougui, the chairperson of the U.N. Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention, who visited the country in August, noted
that conditions in detention centers were worse than those in prisons
because of improper sanitary and living conditions, restrictions on
detainees' rights to make phone calls and receive parcels, and pressure
to confess to wrongdoing. According to human rights monitors,
conditions in prison hospitals were also poor.
The problem of overcrowding eased. The Government reported that the
prison population, which was 52,500 in 2003 decreased to approximately
33,000 in June. In many cases, food provided in prisons did not meet
nutritional requirements or accommodate dietary needs.
According to prison policy, male and female prisoners were held
separately. Juveniles were held separately from adults, and pretrial
detainees normally were held separately from convicted prisoners.
At times, authorities granted human rights monitors access to
observe prison conditions. In August, they allowed a visiting
delegation from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
general access to prisons and detention centers; however, the
Government denied the group access to a BKGB detention center, claiming
that the group did not request the visit in advance. The monitors
indicated that they had not been informed of such a notification
requirement. The ICRC did not seek permission to visit inmates during
the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law limits arbitrary
detention; however, the Government did not abide by these limits.
Authorities continued to use administrative measures to detain
political activists before, during, and after protests (see Section
2.b.). Politically motivated arrests continued, but most of those
arrested were released within a few hours or days.
The Ministry of Interior has authority over the police, but the
BKGB and Presidential Security forces also exercise police functions.
The President has the right to subordinate all security bodies to his
personal command. Petty corruption among police was widespread.
Impunity remained a serious problem. While the law gives individuals
the right to report police abuse to the prosecutor, the Government
often did not investigate abuses by the security forces or hold the
perpetrators accountable.
The law specifies that police may detain an individual for up to 3
hours without providing any explanation for the detention, and the
authorities frequently used this provision to detain opposition members
and demonstrators. Police often detained individuals for several hours
for the ostensible purpose of confirming their identity. On December
22, police detained 70 people about to depart for Kiev to observe the
Ukrainian presidential elections. They were held for 4 hours and
released without charge. The detention prevented the observers from
boarding their scheduled train. The law allows police to detain a
person suspected of a crime for up to 10 days without a formal charge
and up to 18 months once charges are filed, and the authorities
generally did not exceed these limitations. The law gives detainees the
right to petition the court to determine the legality of their
detention. In practice, appeals by suspects seeking court review of
their detentions were frequently suppressed because detention officials
were unwilling to forward the appeals. There is no provision for bail.
The law requires a warrant for searches; however, the Government in
some cases performed searches without a warrant. For example, on June
30, police officers entered Yevgeniy Afnagel's apartment without
presenting a warrant, then arrested Afnagel for attempting to refuse
entry to the officers. There was credible evidence that prosecutors
charged and courts convicted, individuals on false charges. There was
also credible evidence that authorities filed economic charges against
individuals in order to receive monetary payments, in at least one case
extrajudicially.
Despite legal protections, investigators routinely failed to inform
detainees of their rights and conducted preliminary interrogations
without giving detainees an opportunity to consult counsel. Information
obtained from such interrogations was used against the defendants in
court. The Government frequently failed to notify family members when a
detention occurred, including that of a juvenile. For example, on
September 23, police detained tenth grader Aleksandr Ryzhanovsky for 3
hours for passing out anti government leaflets before notifying his
parents, despite the legal requirement for immediate notification.
The Government arbitrarily detained representatives of independent
media (see Section 2.a.). On October 17, police arrested Russian
journalist Pavel Sheremet on allegations of starting a fight in which
Sheremet received serious injuries. Credible reports indicated that
Sheremet was the victim of the assault, not its perpetrator, and that
his detention was related to his journalistic work. Charges against
Sheremet were later dropped. Police on multiple occasions during the
year detained journalists for Russia's REN TV who were covering
protests. Unidentified plainclothes officials working for the security
services also regularly apprehended and detained individuals engaged in
anti government demonstrations and who distributed opposition
materials. Several plainclothes officers apprehended youth group leader
Dmitryy Dashkevich as he shouted, ``Shame'' during an address by
President Lukashenko announcing a referendum that would eliminate term
limits on the presidency and thus permit him to run for a third
presidential term. Police took Dashkevich away in an unmarked van (see
Section 2.a.). On October 19, police arrested 34 opposition activists
for holding an unauthorized rally in the center of the city near the
Presidential Administration; these activists received fines or
administrative detention of up to fifteen days. On July 21, police
arrested 60 individuals during a protest, and one protester was
hospitalized as a result of injuries sustained during the arrests (see
Section 1.c.). Security officials also held some detainees
incommunicado following demonstrations.
In addition to hundreds of anti government protesters, many of whom
authorities held for several hours or days, authorities also held
several prominent political detainees for prolonged periods of time in
pretrial detention. Lengthy pretrial detention was common, although
statistics on the number of persons in pretrial detention and the
average length of such detention were not available. BKGB officers
arrested and detained the former External Economic Affairs Minister and
opposition politician Mikhail Marinich from April 26 until the end of
December on a changing series of charges that included illegal
possession of firearms, illegal possession of classified documents, and
theft of computer equipment and cell phones from an NGO he headed. On
December 30, Marinich was convicted of the theft of the computer
equipment and cell phones and sentenced to 5 years in prison (see
Section 1.e.). U.N. observers were denied access to Marinich to verify
his condition (see Section 1.c.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution subordinates the
judiciary to the executive branch by giving the president the power to
appoint 6 of the 12 members of the Constitutional Court, including the
chairman. The President also appoints the chairmen of the Supreme Court
and the Supreme Economic Court and has the constitutional authority to
appoint and dismiss all district and military judges. One judge was
tried and convicted of corruption during the year. Corruption and
inefficiency in the judiciary were generally due to political
interference in the work of the court system.
The criminal justice system has three tiers: District courts,
regional courts, and the Supreme Court. A Constitutional Court was
established to adjudicate serious constitutional issues; however, it
was dependent on the executive branch. In practice, it did not
challenge presidential initiatives and had no means of enforcing its
decisions.
Prosecutors are also organized into offices at the district,
regional, and republic levels. They are responsible to, and serve at
the pleasure of, the Prosecutor General, who is appointed by the
President. Prosecutors are not independent and do not have the
authority to bring charges against the President or the members of his
executive staff.
The Constitution provides for public trials; however, the courts
frequently held trials in judges' offices, which prevented interested
observers from monitoring certain trials. Judges adjudicate most
trials; juries determine innocence or guilt only in the case of capital
offenses in which the defendant pleads not guilty and demands a jury
trial. Since judges were dependent on the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for
sustaining court infrastructure and on local executive branch officials
for providing personal housing, there were widespread and credible
reports that executive and local authorities dictated the outcome of
trials.
Defendants have the legal right to attend proceedings, confront
witnesses, and present evidence on their own behalf; however, in
practice these rights were not always respected. Those sentenced to
administrative detention often were not notified about trials against
them. For example, on September 24, a court sentenced Nikita Sasim to
15 days of detention for hooliganism without Sasim's presence. On
September 3, in Grodno, a judge denied Valeryy Levonevskiy the right to
present witnesses, arguing that the 10 prosecution witnesses had
provided enough information. On September 7, the judge sentenced
Levonevskiy to 2 years in prison for defaming the President in a poem.
The law provides for unlimited access to legal counsel for detainees
and requires that the court appoint a lawyer for those who cannot
afford one; however, at times these rights were not respected.
A presidential decree that subordinates all lawyers to the MOJ
compromised the independence of lawyers. Several lawyers have claimed
that they were told they would not receive licenses because of their
activities in defense of NGOs or opposition political parties.
The Constitution provides for the right to choose legal
representation freely; however, a presidential decree prohibits members
of NGOs from representing individuals other than members of their own
organizations in court. This decree was used on several occasions
during the year to deny NGO members the right to defend individuals in
court and was also used as a pretext to close certain NGOs (see Section
4). The Constitution establishes a presumption of innocence; however,
in practice defendants frequently had to prove their innocence. In
December, President Lukashenko noted that 93 individuals had been
acquitted during the year; Deputy Justice Minister Aleksandr Petrash
noted that over the first 10 months of the year the courts adjudicated
243,000 administrative cases, 117,000 civil cases and 48,000 criminal
cases. Both defendants and prosecutors have the right to appeal court
decisions, and most criminal cases were appealed; however, appeals
rarely resulted in reversals of verdicts. In an appeal, neither
defendants nor witnesses appear before the court; the court only
reviews the protocol and other documents from the lower court's trial.
On December 20, the Chairman of the Supreme Court stated that annually
only 1.5 percent of all court decisions were overturned on appeal.
A few individuals were held as political prisoners. On September 7,
a Grodno judge sentenced opposition activists Valeryy Levonevskiy and
Aleksandr Vasilevto to 2 years in prison for authoring a poem insulting
President Lukashenko. The judge prevented the men from calling
witnesses during the trial. There were no reported attempts by
humanitarian organizations to visit Levonevskiy or Vasilev during the
year.
On December 30, a court in Minsk sentenced opposition political
figure Mikhail Marinich to 5 years in prison on the charge of having
stolen property belonging to an NGO he headed, even though the NGO had
not claimed that the property was stolen. Marinich, a former government
minister and presidential candidate, was widely regarded as a likely
opponent of President Lukashenko in elections scheduled for 2006.
During the trial, the prosecutor asked numerous questions about
Marinich's political activities, which were unrelated to the charges,
lending credence to accusations the trial was politically motivated.
The court also ordered confiscation of $90,000 found on Marinich's
person at the time of his arrest; the money was also unrelated to the
charges. The BKGB had held him in pretrial detention since April (see
Section 1.d.).
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
these rights were not respected in practice. The interception of
telephone and other communications without a court order is prohibited;
however, in practice authorities continued to monitor residences,
telephones, and computers. The BKGB, MVD, and certain border guard
detachments may use wiretaps, but they must first obtain a prosecutor's
permission; however, the BKGB entered homes, conducted unauthorized
searches, and read mail without warrants. Credible reports indicate
that government agents covertly entered homes of opposition activists
and offices of opposition groups.
The lack of independence of the prosecutor's office rendered the
due process protections relating to wiretaps meaningless. The law
provides penalties for those who obstruct BKGB officers in the
performance of their duties. Any effort to prevent BKGB officers from
entering the premises of a company, establishment, or organization is
an administrative offense, as is any refusal by such entities to allow
audits or to deny or restrict access to company information systems and
databases. Contracts used by the Ministry of Communications for
supplying telephone service prohibit subscribers from using telephone
communications for purposes that run counter to state interests and
public order. The Ministry has the authority to terminate telephone
service to those who breach this provision; however, there were no
reports during the year that the Ministry exercised this authority.
In most circumstances, night searches are prohibited, but this
prohibition was occasionally ignored. On April 17, the Grodno regional
prosecutor's office confirmed that the two men who broke into the
offices of the independent newspaper Den on the evening of March 18
were BKGB officers but refused to explain their actions, citing a law
on state secrets. In the evening of December 22, BKGB officers raided
the offices of the NGO, Partnership, confiscated the group's computers,
and broke its fax machine.
Nearly all opposition political figures reported that authorities
monitored their activities and conversations; the Government did not
deny these reports. During the trial of Mikhail Marinich, the
prosecutor introduced as evidence a number of transcripts of Marinich's
phone conversations that had been recorded by the BKGB (see Section
1.e). Representatives of certain NGOs also said that their
conversations and correspondence were monitored routinely by the
security services. The Prosecutor General declined to investigate
charges of illegal wiretapping brought by members of the opposition.
There was no judicial or legislative oversight of the Presidential
Guard's budget or activities, and the executive branch thwarted
attempts to exercise such oversight. Some officials were themselves
monitored.
Harassment in the form of inspections by security officials and
confiscation of political literature, often without warrants, was
widespread. Targets included opposition candidates and their
supporters. On October 1, police seized large quantities of campaign
leaflets from registered parliamentary candidates Valentina Polevikova
and Aleksandr Dobrovolsky of the United Civic Party (UCP), after
searching a campaign office without providing a warrant. Police
occasionally detained family members of political leaders. Police
detained Valeriy Levonevskiy's eldest son, Dmitryy, on several
occasions after Levonevskiy was initially arrested on May 1. On April
29, prior to a scheduled May 1 protest, which Valeriy Levonevskiy
helped organize, his sons Dmitryy and Vladimir and his daughter
Yekaterina were all detained for handing out leaflets for the protest.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government did not
respect these rights in practice. The Government took serious steps to
stifle independent media. The Ministry of Information suspended 25
independent newspapers and interfered with the efforts of others to
print and distribute. The authorities imposed huge fines on journalists
and editors for criticism of the President or his supporters. The
Government continued to make use of its monopoly on television
broadcasting to present biased news coverage and to minimize the
presentation of opposing points of view, particularly in the period
leading up to the October parliamentary elections and constitutional
referendum.
The law, which prohibits a range of broadly defined activities,
effectively limits freedom of expression. The law provides for
punishment of public insults or libel against the President by up to 4
years' imprisonment, 2 years' khimya (detention in internal exile), or
a large fine. The authorities continued to make use of such laws, which
also penalize insults to other government officials, to stifle press
freedom, to imprison political opponents (see Section 1.e), and, during
the election campaign, to disqualify some opposition candidates and
intimidate others (see Section 3). According to Belarusian Association
of Journalists (BAJ) President Zhanna Litvina, the laws penalizing
slander of officials effectively constituted a ban on press criticism
of the Government. The law also limits freedom of expression by
prohibiting the wearing of masks and use of unregistered flags,
symbols, and placards bearing messages deemed threatening to the state
or public order. In November, a judge in the Grodno region fined Vadim
Saranchukov of the Belarusian National Front for displaying the banned
nationalist white red white flag.
Government authorities fined, warned, or jailed members of the
media, members of opposition, and religious groups, who publicly
criticized the Government. The defamation law makes no distinction
between private and public persons in lawsuits concerning defamation of
character. A public figure who was criticized for poor performance in
office by a media outlet may ask the prosecutor to sue both the
journalist and media outlet that printed the criticism.
On June 9, a district court in Minsk sentenced Oksana Novikova, a
prominent anti Lukashenko protester, to 2 years and 6 months under
house arrest for slandering the President. Prosecutors accused Novikova
of passing out leaflets at the main railway station in Minsk which
contained slanderous information and that accused the President of
serious crimes. These leaflets, which Novikova herself typed and
copied, included a picture of Lukashenko and specifically accused him
of causing the disappearance of various citizens, causing natural gas
to be shut off in February, smuggling, cheating the Government out of
customs revenue by exempting his companies from paying customs fees,
and retaining power illegally.
The highest circulation newspapers and other print media were state
owned and printed only materials supportive of the Government. There
were independent newspapers, including one independent daily, and
magazines, many of which engaged in limited criticism of the
Government. However circulation was small and some of these
publications engaged in self-censorship.
Only the state run radio and the state-run television networks ONT
and Belarusian Television (BT) broadcast nationwide. Russian channels
NTV and RTR were generally available nationwide, although in many parts
of the country only through pay cable services. However, their news
programs were at times blocked from broadcast. Broadcasts from other
countries, including Poland, and Lithuania, could be received in some
parts of the country; however, the Brest local government removed three
Polish channels from local cable providers in December. The reporting
of both ONT and BT was biased heavily in favor of the Government and
sharply critical of opposition politicians and organizations, and both
failed to provide opposing viewpoints. This bias became more pronounced
before the October 17 parliamentary elections and referendum. The BAJ
reported that state channels provided only positive reviews of the
President and Government. State owned media, including television,
radio, and print, continued to marginalize the political opposition by
depicting them in a negative way or by ignoring them altogether. A
third state owned television station, LAD, established in October 2003,
replaced the popular Russian television network Kultura and some other
Russian state television channels. Local independent television
stations operated in some areas and reported local news relatively
unhindered by the authorities; however, most of these stations reported
that they were under pressure not to report on national level issues or
were subject to censorship.
All foreign media correspondents are required to register with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On June 21, the BKGB expelled Mikhail
Podolyak, the Ukranian born deputy chief editor of the independent
newspaper Vremya, accusing him of attempting to harm national
interests, biased coverage, libel, and incitement against the
Government.
Veronika Cherkasova, a journalist for the independent Solidarnost
newspaper, was killed on October 20. While the official investigation
has centered on domestic violence, some members of the independent
media view her death as related to her work, which included critical
articles on the BKGB.
The Government took numerous actions during the year to stifle
independent media. These included: The continued use of libel laws,
limitations on foreign funding, pressure on businesses not to advertise
with independent media and on distributors not to distribute them,
limits on access to newsprint and printing presses, censorship,
restrictions on the import of media related materials, and temporary
suspension of independent and opposition periodicals. Authorities
imposed huge fines on journalists for criticism of the President or his
supporters. Several independent newspapers, including Belorusskaya
Delovaya Gazeta (BDG), Den, and Solidarnost began printing their
materials in Russia because domestic printing presses (mostly state
owned) refused to print them. In August, there were credible reports
that several large Minsk supermarket chains halted sales of the
independent newspapers Belarusskaya Gazeta, Belorusskiy Rynok,
Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta and Narodnaya Volya after Vladimir
Mirgolovskiy, a government official in charge of the markets, suggested
that the stores not sell the newspapers, as they might disturb and
excite citizens during parliamentary elections. These newspapers could
still be purchased from independent sellers, but their circulation was
seriously restricted by these measures.
The Government suspended 25 newspapers during the year, including
11 in the month before the parliamentary elections. On February 11,
Information Minister Vladimir Rusakevich suspended the regional
newspaper Evening Stolin for 3 months. Rusakevich stated the paper was
suspended for covering politics despite its registration as an
entertainment newspaper. Credible reports indicate the closure was
motivated by the newspaper's independent political coverage. In August,
police seized 1,070 copies of the Vremya newspaper, printed in Russia,
from an opposition activist as he brought the paper into the country.
On September 3, the Minister of Information suspended Vremya. On
October 19, foreign journalists were prevented from transmitting
footage of post-election protests.
Independent media underwent numerous inspections from the Ministry
of Information, tax inspectors, and other government bodies. On April
17, the Grodno regional prosecutor's office confirmed that two men who
broke into the offices of the independent newspaper Day on the evening
of March 18 were BKGB officers but refused to provide an explanation
for their actions, citing a law on state secrets (see Section 1.f.).
The Government levied fines against newspapers, journalists, and
editors as another way to stifle the independent press. In the case of
Narodnaya Volya, the country's only independent daily, the courts
imposed huge libel fines against the newspaper, a journalist, and the
person interviewed, for a story that criticized a government official.
In a separate case, Narodnaya Volya was fined for libeling a
progovernment businessman. In August, the courts seized most of
Narodnaya Volya's property until these two large libel fines were paid
a short time later. In November, the deputy editor of the newspaper
fled the country and sought political asylum abroad. According to the
BAJ, independent newspapers, especially in the provinces, engaged in
self censorship due to the Government's use of the libel laws to fine
journalists and editors. On May 26, the government owned Minsk
publishing house Svetoch phoned the editor of Mestnaya Gazeta, an
independent newspaper, to demand that an article about corruption in
the local tax authority be removed. When the editor refused, the
publishing house cancelled the printing job. The publishing house
refused to renew contracts, or enter into contracts, with several other
independent newspapers.
On April 17, authorities interrupted the broadcast of the Russian
channel Rossiya, ostensibly for routine maintenance, during a news
program that had been scheduled to report on recent developments in
Belarusian politics. The broadcasts contained interviews with
opposition members.
The arbitrary use of presidential power, often exercised through
presidential decrees, created additional obstacles to an independent
press. A November 2003 presidential decree ``On Improving the System of
Receipt and Use of Humanitarian Assistance'' was allegedly aimed at
stopping foreign supported seditious activity. The decree specifically
prohibits a broad range of foreign supported activities and was the
basis for a nationwide crackdown during the parliamentary electoral
campaign on independent media outlets and independent NGOs, many of
which were supported by the international community (see Section 3).
The Government successfully discouraged companies that owned
printing presses from printing the legally authorized leaflets of
opposition candidates by threatening them.
The law specifies that the Government may close down a publication
after two warnings about violations of various restrictive laws, and
the authorities continued to pressure independent newspapers through
the use of these warnings. The Government issued 160 warnings against
81 independent newspapers during the year. Regulatory provisions also
grant the authorities power to ban and censor critical reporting; for
example, the State Committee on the Press was given authority to
suspend the publication of periodicals or newspapers for 3 months
without a court ruling. The law also prohibits the media from
disseminating information on behalf of unregistered political parties,
trade unions, and NGOs. During the parliamentary election campaign, the
Ministry of Information ordered the suspension or closure of 11
independent newspapers, citing publication and distribution violations.
In one of these cases, a paper was accused of illegally publishing two
newspapers after the Ministry determined that its television program
guide supplement counted as a separate publication.
The Government tightly controlled the content of television
broadcasts. The Ministry of Information informed radio stations during
the year that they were no longer required to forward copies of the
news stories they had broadcast to the Ministry of Information;
however, the change in the requirement did not noticeably affect the
content of the news presented. Credible reports claimed that during the
year the BKGB was tasked with censoring national television news
broadcasts. The Government banned six popular musical groups from
playing concerts, being played on the radio, and from being distributed
on compact disks or tape after the groups performed at a July 21
opposition concert.
The Ministry of Culture refused to authorize the distribution of a
requiem film about the late writer Vasil Bykov claiming that the film
said nothing about Bykov as a writer and expressing fear that the film
might have a negative influence on the moral and ethical fundamentals
of life within the country. The documentary featured interviews with
friends of the author who regarded Bykov as a great writer. The
Ministry of Culture also banned two films about WWII, alleging that one
attempted to humanize Hitler and the other misrepresented the WWII
guerrilla movement, might insult veterans, and have a negative
influence on the next generation. On two separate occasions clubs
cancelled concerts initiated by and supportive of students of the
closed Belarusian Lyceum. Credible reports indicated these clubs were
encouraged to cancel the concerts because of the Lyceum chairman's
links with the opposition.
The Government's telecommunications company Beltelekom retains a
state monopoly over Internet service, which resulted in high prices,
poor quality, limited service, and allowed the Government to monitor
practically all e-mail. Unlike in previous years, there were no
confirmed instances of authorities selectively cutting off Internet
access, although leading human rights websites were occasionally
inaccessible.
The Government continued to restrict academic freedom, in part by
requiring all educational institutions to teach, and all students to
study, the official state ideology, a concept which combines reverence
for the achievements of the Soviet Union and Belarus under Lukashenko
with advocacy of an authoritarian, Soviet style, political and social
structure. In April, the Ministry of Education announced that all
higher education establishments, regardless of whether they are private
or state run universities, must adhere to state standards. On July 26,
the Government cited a failure to meet ``state standards of education''
when it closed the European Humanities University (EHU), the country's
premier independent university, by depriving it of premises. On
September 23, President Lukashenko declared that the Government had
closed EHU and the Belarusian National Humanities Lyceum, closed in
2003, because the schools sought to educate a new national elite that
would turn the country to the West. In April, the Government closed two
independent think tanks, and pressured other think tanks throughout the
year.
The Government continued to harass students engaged in anti
government activities, such as demonstrations (see Section 2.b.).
Students reportedly were pressured to join the government-backed
Belarusian Republican Youth Movement (BRYM) in order to receive
benefits and rooms in dormitories. Credible reports indicated that
local authorities pressured BRYM members to campaign on behalf of
government candidates. Several members of opposition-oriented youth
groups were expelled from institutions of higher education for their
political activities.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, the Government
severely restricted this right in practice. Police and other security
officials beat, detained, and attempted to coerce confessions from some
demonstrators following several unsanctioned but peaceful
demonstrations.
By law, organizers must apply at least 15 days in advance to local
officials for permission to conduct a demonstration, rally, or meeting.
The local government must respond with a decision no later than 5 days
prior to the scheduled event. A single infraction of these regulations
entitles the Government to shut down the organization concerned.
However, permits to demonstrate either were not granted or were granted
only for demonstrations in obscure, hard to reach locations.
Demonstrators are required by law to pay for any damages that arise
from demonstrations and to pay for the presence of police and medical
personnel, though this requirement was generally not enforced in
practice. Only political parties, trade unions, or registered
organizations may request permission for a demonstration of more than
1,000 individuals. The law also prohibits the wearing of masks and use
of unregistered flags, symbols, and placards bearing messages deemed
threatening to the state or public order (see Section 2.a.).
According to members of opposition parties, authorities frequently
denied permission to opposition groups to meet in public squares in the
center of Minsk. Nevertheless, demonstrations occurred in Minsk,
varying in size from a few participants to approximately 2,000.
However, the demonstrations were always under strict government
surveillance, including open videotaping of the participants by police
and plainclothes security officers. Demonstrations also occurred in
other parts of the country, although less frequently.
On October 2, police interrupted a meeting of a group discussing
plans to register a new NGO, started videotaping the participants, and
arrested former parliamentarian and prominent independent union leader
Sergey Antonchik, the group's leader. Antonchik was sentenced to 15
days of administrative detention for authorizing an unregistered
assembly, even though the meeting was held in Antonchik's office.
Several venues in Minsk refused the request of the opposition Five Plus
coalition to a hold a conference; the IBB Center, a hotel conference
hall in Minsk, reneged on a December 19 agreement to hold the
conference on the next day. Credible sources claimed that the
government, a part owner of the center, ordered the IBB to refuse to
rent its space to the coalition.
There were several reports that police beat demonstrators during
protests. There were also reports that police violently pulled
demonstrators into police vans. In July, special police (OMON)
detained, arrested, and beat approximately 50 individuals during an
unsanctioned protest marking the 10th anniversary of the initial
election of President Lukashenko. Courts sentenced 15 participants to
short detentions and fined 9 others. After OMON police hit 17 year old
Mikhail Avdeyev with truncheons he was hospitalized with several broken
ribs and had his spleen removed (see Section 1.c.). Others traveling in
a van from outside Minsk to participate in this demonstration were
stopped by authorities several times and finally forced to return home
by train. On September 7, plainclothes officers seized Dmitryy
Dashkevich, leader of a youth opposition group, and threw him into an
unmarked bus after he and others shouted, ``Shame!'' during a live
address by President Lukashenko announcing a referendum that would
permit him to extend his presidential tenure. A Minsk court sentenced
Dashkevich to 10 days in prison.
On April 26, police detained several opposition members for
participating in an unauthorized rally marking the 18th anniversary of
the Chernobyl disaster. A Minsk court fined one of the activists,
Lyudmila Gryaznova, approximately $2,000 (4 million Belarusian rubles),
and the Government subsequently refused to place an exit stamp in her
passport until she paid the fine, which she did in June.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
authorities severely restricted this right in practice. The Government
continued to employ an elaborate system of laws and regulations
governing the registration of organizations for the purpose of
restricting the ability of individuals to form associations that might
be critical of, or not susceptible to manipulation by, the Government.
All NGOs, political parties, and trade unions are required to register
with authorities, and it is illegal to act on behalf of an unregistered
organization. Legislation on the registration of public associations
remains extremely strict; registration procedures are costly and
onerous, requiring the number of founders to be specified, their names,
and a legal address for the organization, which is in a nonresidential
building. Individuals listing themselves as members are vulnerable to
retribution. More important, the refusal of the Government to rent
premises to organizations of which it disapproves and the expense of
renting privately owned space forced most organizations to violate the
requirement for a nonresidential address. This in turn led to
deregistrations and denials of registration. During the year, the MOJ
deregistered or denied registration to 1 opposition and 37 NGOs, many
of them because of failure to meet the address requirement. The MOJ
also denied registration to one political party and an unknown number
of NGOs. On August 2, the Supreme Court closed the Party of Labor, a
member of a coalition of leading democratic parties, in part because
the Party of Labor failed to maintain a legal address.
A Commission composed of government officials must review and
approve all registration applications. The Commission continued to base
many of its decisions largely on the political and ideological
compatibility of the applicant organization with the Government. While
the MOJ claimed that it continued to register NGOs, credible reports
indicated that most organizations that were registered during the year
dealt with sports and entrepreneurial interests and none promoted civil
society. On February 24, the MOJ closed the NGO Maladaya Gramada,
citing the group for a violation of the legal residence requirements.
According to the Assembly of Belarusian Pro Democratic NGOs, 2,214 NGOs
were registered as of January 1. All but two national level human
rights NGOs have been deregistered or denied reregistration.
Authorities regularly harassed members and supporters of opposition
parties and confiscated their leaflets and publications (see tion 3).
During the year, the MOJ acknowledged that no political parties had
successfully registered since 1999.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice.
Although the Constitution affirms the equality of religions and
denominations before the law, it also contains restrictive language
that stipulates that cooperation between the state and religious
organizations ``is regulated with regard for their influence on the
formation of spiritual, cultural, and country traditions of the
Belarusian people.'' The Government has negotiated a Concordat and
other arrangements with the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC), an
Exarchate of the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church, which provides
that Church with some privileges not enjoyed by other religious
organizations.
The Committee of Religious and Nationalities Affairs of the Council
of Ministers (CRNA) regulated all religious matters in the country. The
law concerning religion contains a number of very restrictive elements
that were used to hinder or prevent activities of religious groups
other than the BOC.
In March, the National Intellectual Property Center granted the BOC
the exclusive right to use the word ``Orthodox'' in its title and to
use the image of the Cross of Euphrosynia, the patroness saint of
Belarus, as its symbol. This decision could further restrict the
ability of Christian Orthodox faiths not under the jurisdiction of
Moscow, such as the Belarus Autocephalous Orthodox Church (BAOC) and
the True Orthodox faith, to exist in the country.
The law restricts the ability of religious organizations to conduct
religious education, requires all religious groups to receive
governmental approval to distribute literature, and prohibits
foreigners from leading religious organizations. Religious groups that
could not register frequently were forced to meet illegally or in the
homes of individual members. According to the CRNA, 27 religious
denominations were officially registered as of January; however,
authorities continued to refuse legal registration at the national
level to faiths considered to be nontraditional.
All religious organizations were required to reregister with the
authorities by November in keeping with a 2002 law on religion. The law
establishes specific requirements for membership size and years of
activity for religious groups. According to the CRNA, 2,678 of the
2,783 religious communities previously registered did so by the
November 17 deadline. Of the remaining 105, many had dissolved due to
lack of membership; others, such as the Hare Krishnas, were appealing
their registration denial. The CRNA continued to delay the registration
of the Church of Scientology, and the BAOC remained unregistered;
registration of its churches would require the approval of local BOC
bishops.
Although the Greek Catholic Church was officially registered, it
experienced problems with the Government because of historical tensions
between it and the government-favored BOC and because of the Greek
Catholic Church's emphasis on using the Belarusian language. While the
Greek Catholic Church reported that its communities found it easier to
rent facilities for worship than in previous years, they were still not
able to register a monastery because the Church lacked a registered
central association and the monastery did not have the required ten
participants. Lack of a central association also bars the church from
inviting foreign citizens to engage in religious activities.
The Government increased its harassment of some religious groups
based not only upon the law on religion but also on directives that
provide additional rules and requirements for religious groups, which
are not outlined in the law.
Authorities at the oblast level are required, based on a 2002 CRNA
instruction, to assess public opinion before the construction or
reconfiguration of religious buildings for religious purposes.
According to the CRNA, the authorities may deny permission for such
work if the local population opposed it; however, there were no reports
of such a denial occurring during the year.
The leaders of the Light of Kaylasa, a Hindu group, sought asylum
abroad, citing government pressure against the group, and there were no
reports indicating that the group remained active at year's end.
The law allows persons to gather to pray in private homes; however,
it places restrictions on holding rituals, rites, or ceremonies in such
locations and requires permission from local authorities. Several cases
of police interference with prayer meetings in residences occurred
during the year.
Limitations on ownership of, or access to, property for religious
purposes continued to present problems for a number of religious
organizations. Restitution of religious property remained limited.
There was no legal basis for the return of property seized during the
Soviet and Nazi occupations, and legislation restricts the restitution
of property that is being used for cultural or educational purposes.
According to the Government, the law permits residential property
to be used for religious services only after it has been converted from
residential use. This ruling effectively requires all religious
organizations to reregister their properties as religious properties.
Government figures from 2002 showed that 110 religious communities,
including 34 Protestant denominations, registered their property
according to this ruling; however, authorities continued to reject
requests for property registration from many Protestant churches, as
well as other nontraditional faiths. At the end of the year, the
Government rejected registration of a property that the Hare Krishna
community intended to use for religious purposes.
On June 20, Minsk Oblast and CRNA officials reportedly warned a
local BAOC priest to stop his efforts to reconstruct a former BAOC
church in the town of Semkov Gorodok.
According to the Full Gospel Evangelical Christian Church,
authorities continued to deny permission to construct a building for
religious purposes in Minsk. District officials banned four evangelical
groups from leasing premises for church worship in October, citing
violations of safety laws under the Religion and Public Assembly Law.
According to Reverend Boris Chernoglaz, pastor of the Church of Christ,
government officials first tried to press landlords to break the
leasing contracts. When that failed, they resorted to alleging legal
violations to prevent the groups from renting the premises.
Meeting hall officials cancelled or refused to extend agreements
with religious groups to use their facilities, citing a government
decree specifying measures to ensure public order and safety during
public gatherings.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reported publications of
anti Protestant articles in state owned periodicals during the year,
but state owned periodicals continued to publish attacks on other
nontraditional faiths. For example, an April 16 article described the
activities of destructive ``sects'' in the country and claimed there
were 370 such sects. According to the article, the Unification Church,
the Church of Christ, and the Church of Scientology were among the most
dangerous of the sects.
According to bishops of the Union of Evangelical Faith Christians
in Belarus, authorities have been trying to bar children from attending
Protestant churches and Sunday schools. They claim authorities have
repeatedly questioned students about their attendance at Sunday
schools, the church they belonged to, and the names of their pastors
and Sunday school teachers. Teachers reportedly questioned priests of
three churches about the curriculum and qualifications of the
instructors at Sunday schools. At year's end the impact of this
pressure remained unclear.
By law, citizens may speak freely about their religious beliefs;
however, the authorities continued to intervene to prevent, interfere
with, or punish those who proselytized. For example, on April 17, a
court in Mozyr fined three members of the unregistered International
Union of Baptist Churches $176 (380,000 Belarusian rubles) each after
they passed out bibles at a local hospital during Easter. The
Government also fined and detained members of unregistered religious
groups that engaged in illegal religious activity. Police regularly
detained, fined, and jailed numerous Hare Krishnas for illegally
distributing religious literature. Baptists, Pentecostals, and other
Protestants were fined for illegally conducting and hosting religious
services. According to the CRNA, convictions for such offenses were
based on charges of either disturbing public order or illegally
gathering without prior permission.
Foreign missionaries were not permitted to engage in religious
activities outside of the institutions that invited them. The law
requires 1 year, multiple entry, ``spiritual activities'' visas for
foreign missionaries. According to the CRNA, in 2003, religious
associations invited 956 foreign religious workers, including 254 who
arrived specifically to participate in religious activities. Despite
these figures, even religious groups with a long history in the country
continued to experience difficulties in obtaining visas. Since April
2003, Grodno authorities have repeatedly denied registration to a
foreign rabbi because he does not speak Belarusian or Russian. Members
of the Hare Krishna and Protestant communities reported that they were
unable to invite any foreign clergy to participate in religious
activity. In contrast to previous years, there were no reports that the
authorities sought to inhibit the Roman Catholic Church from employing
foreign priests in its activities.
Government officials continued to take a number of actions
indicating a lack of sensitivity toward the Jewish community. Grodno
authorities continued work on a stadium located on the site of a former
Jewish cemetery. Following local and international protests, Grodno
authorities reached an agreement with the local Jewish community on the
treatment and reburial of the remains. Although there were some lapses,
construction on the site was completed, and the local community was
satisfied with the government's cooperation and the disposition of the
remains.
On August 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the local
chapter of the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
(UCSJ), one of the country's primary Jewish human rights organizations,
that it would not be reregistered because the chapter submitted some
documents late.
There were isolated instances of anti-Semitic vandalism during the
year. On November 5, vandals defaced (for the fifth time) a Holocaust
Memorial in Brest. While the Government investigated such incidents and
often assisted in restoring such memorials, no individuals have been
arrested for vandalism of these sites.
Distribution of the anti Semitic and xenophobic newspaper Russki
Vestnik newspaper resumed in February through the state distribution
agency Belsoyuzpechat, despite a May 2003 order by the Prosecutor
General and the Ministry of Information that it be terminated. Sales of
such literature continued throughout the year in government owned
buildings, in stores, and at events affiliated with the BOC. Anti
Semitic and Russian ultra nationalistic literature continued to be sold
at Pravoslavnaya Kniga (Orthodox Bookstore), a store operated by
Orthodox Initiative that sells Orthodox literature and religious
paraphernalia. Anti Semitic literature also continued to be sold at
kiosks selling Orthodox literature, including one located in the
National Academy of Sciences. The CRNA claimed it was difficult to
prevent the distribution of Russian-produced anti-Semitic literature.
In January, the organization Russian National Unity distributed
anti-Semitic leaflets in Gomel, which stated: ``The Jews are trying to
destroy Christianity,'' ``Now hostile activities against the Jews will
begin,'' ``The Jews are the forces of evil,'' and ``The fighters
against God must be exterminated.'' In addition, the letters RNE were
sprayed on the walls of the Jewish Community building in Gomel. No
suspects were arrested at year's end.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
movement; however, in practice a citizen's right to choose his place of
residence was at times restricted. Internal passports served as primary
identity documents and were required for internal travel, permanent
housing, and hotel registration.
In 1999, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional an
article of the Administrative Code barring enterprises, establishments,
and organizations from employing persons without a pass (propiska) or a
registered address. Under that article, employers faced fines for
giving jobs to persons who had no stamp in their passports indicating
that their residence and their new place of employment were located in
the same city or district. Credible reports indicated that police
continued to harass individuals because they were living in a location
other than their legal place of registration.
The Constitution provides for freedom of movement in and out of the
country; however, this right was restricted at times. Official entry
and exit regulations specify that citizens who wish to travel abroad
must first obtain an exit stamp valid for 1 to 5 years. Once the
traveler has a valid stamp, travel abroad is not restricted by further
government requirements and formalities; however, the Government could
intervene to invalidate stamps that had been issued. Authorities
imposed a foreign travel ban on opposition activists Antonina Kovaleva
and Lyudmila Gryaznova. Gryaznova failed to pay a fine of approximately
$2,000 (4 million Belarusian rubles) for staging an unauthorised
opposition march on April 26 marking an anniversary of the Chernobyl
disaster, and the Government invalidated her foreign travel permit on
July 8. Some months after the fine was paid, Gryaznova's ability to
travel abroad was restored.
The law requires travelers to border zones to obtain an entrance
pass (propusk). Some long term election observers of the OSCE's Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) reported problems
gaining permission to travel to the border zones as part of their
mission. ODIHR reported that the application of this law did not appear
to be uniform and their long term observers received conflicting
information about the need to obtain an entrance pass.
The law provides for internal exile, and the Government uses it.
Detention in internal exile is one possible penalty for defaming the
President. For example, Yuriy Bandazhevskiy, a former university rector
and Chernobyl researcher, was serving an 8 year sentence in internal
exile in the Grodno for this offense.
The Constitution provides for the right to emigrate, and the
authorities generally respected this right; however, there were
restrictions for individuals with access to sensitive state information
or citizens involved in criminal investigations. Prospective emigrants
who have been refused the right to emigrate may appeal to the courts.
The Constitution gives aliens and stateless persons the same rights
as citizens, except in cases established by law, international
agreement, or the Constitution.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. Under the refugee law, all
persons who applied for or received asylum are protected against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution; however, the Government often deported individuals seeking
to transit the country from Russia back to Russia, despite the fact
that the UNHCR did not consider Russia to be a safe country for such
purposes. The Government granted asylum during the year to individuals
from Afghanistan and Georgia.
The authorities cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. Since 1997, approximately 3,000
applications for refugee status were filed; of which 732 persons
received refugee status. Of the 719 officially recognized refugees in
the country, the most refugees were from Afghanistan, Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Ethiopia. During the year, 23 individuals
were granted asylum, while 33 asylum applications were rejected. The
UNHCR operated a center in Vitebsk providing temporary accommodations
for 30 persons. The UNHCR also opened a social rehabilitation center
for forced migrants in Gomel, which was designed to accommodate up to
14 refugees at a time for 6 months. On March 18, the UNHCR provided
funds to open a center to provide temporary accommodation for asylum
seekers and illegal migrants at the Minsk National Airport. The center
can house up to 12 individuals. Only two migrants applied for asylum at
the airport in 2003, and two more applications had been received as of
October.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change their Government
The Constitution provides the right for citizens to change their
government peacefully; however, the Government effectively denied
citizens this right. The President dominates all branches of
government. Since his election in 1994 to a 5 year term as the
country's first President, he has consolidated power steadily in the
executive branch. He used a 1996 referendum and another referendum on
October 17 to amend the Constitution to broaden his powers and extend
his term in office, although the Constitutional Court in 1996 ruled
that the Constitution could not be amended by referendum.
The Constitution limits the legislature to meeting twice a year for
a total of no more than 170 days. Presidential decrees issued when the
legislature is out of session have the force of law, except in a few
cases specified in the Constitution. The Constitution also allows the
president to issue decrees with powers equal to that of law in
specific, urgent circumstances, a provision President Lukashenko has
interpreted broadly.
On October 17, the country held parliamentary elections and a
referendum to change the Constitution and eliminate term limits for the
president, thus allowing Lukashenko to run for a third term in 2006.
The elections were neither free nor fair. The Government used
administrative resources to support the referendum and government
backed candidates. An ODIHR observation mission reported that the
election fell significantly short of international standards for
democratic elections, citing the active exclusion of opposition
candidates, detention of opposition campaign workers and domestic
observers, restrictive campaigning rules, unbalanced media coverage,
flawed vote counting, and a lack of transparency in vote tallying.
Other electoral irregularities included the firing and non extension of
employment contracts of opposition candidates and individuals who
worked on their campaigns, and widespread, credible reports of coercion
of individuals to vote early, when oversight was more lax.
Election commissions consisted almost exclusively of government
employees, despite the nomination of opposition candidates to these
bodies. Of the 1,430 members of district election commissions, only 27
represented opposition political parties.
District election commissions (DECs) refused to register several
opposition candidates for parliament, claiming that signatures
presented by the candidates on their registration petitions were
fraudulent. There were reports that authorities had pressured some
signatories to say that they had not signed. The Central Election
Commission (CEC) and the Supreme Court both refused to overturn the DEC
decisions in several cases where individuals whose signatures were
questioned provided sworn testimony that they had indeed signed the
petitions. Former parliamentarian Vladimir Novosyad, former opposition
presidential candidate Vladimir Goncharik, and former Presidential
Administration Head Leonid Sinitsyn all were denied registration
despite providing proof that signatures described by the authorities as
fraudulent were valid. On October 5, a DEC official at Goncharik's
appeal of his nonregistration before the Supreme Court admitted that
his commission only sought to verify signatures supporting certain
candidates.
DECs also deregistered several prominent opposition candidates who
had managed to register, generally on the grounds that they had
employed inappropriate or illegal material in their television and
radio speeches, newspaper articles, or election leaflets. A Vitebsk DEC
removed youth opposition leader Pavel Severinets and opposition
candidate Vladislav Tokarev from the ballot for saying in their
campaign speeches that corruption and red tape permeated the local
government. The Government's Media Supervisory Council, which consisted
exclusively of government officials and members of progovernment
groups, assessed the speeches as defamation. Credible reports indicated
that warnings and deregistration were applied more frequently to
opposition party members than to government-supported candidates.
The BAJ and the OSCE/ODIHR both observed that state media outlets
provided extensive and solely positive coverage of the President while
providing negative coverage of opposition parties and political
figures. State media frequently denigrated opposition political
parties. On May 11, BT aired a special called ``The Road to Nowhere''
accusing the opposition of incompetence and dependence on foreign
sponsors. The broadcast equated campaign training sessions attended by
the opposition with Nazi saboteur training sessions.
Credible reports indicated that local executive committees denied
opposition candidates' requests for opportunities to meet with voters
or allowed meetings only in remote locations, while government
supported candidates were allowed to schedule meetings in populated
locations. Minsk district authorities prohibited opposition candidate
Yuriy Zenkovich from holding rallies on 25 occasions before the
parliamentary elections, citing doubts about Zenkovich's Belarusian
citizenship, even though he presented his passport as proof of
citizenship. They also cited his non payment of legally mandated fees
for police and medical personnel required to be present at such
demonstrations.
The Government engaged in arbitrary tax inspections, safety
inspections, the deregistration of candidates, and confiscation of
printed matter and equipment to immobilize much of the pro-democratic
opposition leading up to the parliamentary elections and Constitutional
referendum.
A September order by the Deputy Prime Minister that all government
employees be moved to fixed-term contracts by October 6 was credibly
viewed as a means of exerting pressure on those employees working on
election committees to falsify results during the October 17 voting.
Early voting was conducted from October 12 until October 16. The
Government reported that early votes composed 20 percent of all votes,
while independent observers put the figure at 25 percent. ODIHR
reported that 20 percent of early voting ballot boxes inspected by
observers on October 17 did not have seals, which were required to
ensure that no ballot tampering took place. Tallies of early votes
showed a higher percentage of support for Lukashenko then among votes
cast on election day.
While few serious violations were noted during the process of
voting, observers noted significant violations during vote tallying.
Observation of vote tallying was restricted; however, when observers
were able to view vote tallying, many reported that the number of votes
listed on protocols did not match the ballots tallied. On thee day
after the election, an individual found over 60 referendum ballots in
the garbage outside of a DEC. All of these ballots contained votes
against the referendum. The voting process was nontransparent for both
local and international observers, which led observers to call into
question the accuracy of reported results.
During the year, the Government used force to disperse
demonstrations by opposition parties (see Section 2.b.).
Corruption in the executive branch of Government was a significant
problem. While some individuals were prosecuted for corruption during
the year, these prosecutions did not represent a serious attempt to
combat corruption. On February 10, President Lukashenko dismissed the
head of the Property Management Division of the Presidential
Administration Galina Zhuravkova and on February 13 he dismissed the
head of the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company Yegor
Rybakov. Police formally charged Rybakov with grand larceny, bribery,
and power abuse and Zhuravkova with large scale embezzlement.
Zhuravkova was later released from custody after paying restitution but
her criminal case is still pending. No resolution to the Yegor
Rybakov's case occurred by year's end.
Laws and government policies severely restrict public access to
government information and the authorities moved to restrict it further
during the year. An April 12 Presidential Edict broadened significantly
the amount of government material considered a state secret. On April
26, BKGB officers arrested Mikhail Marinich, a prominent opposition
member and a former Ambassador and Minister, on accusations of stealing
secret documents. These documents related to Marinich's work as
Minister of External Economic Relations. Credible reports indicate that
the arrest of Marinich was politically motivated and that the
Presidential Edict provided the basis for one of the criminal charges
against Marinich, although this charge was later dropped (see Sections
1.d. and 1.e.).
Of the 110 deputies in the newly elected lower house of parliament,
32 were women, while 18 of the 56 elected members of the upper house of
parliament were women. With the exception of the judiciary, social
barriers against women were strong, and men held virtually all of the
leadership positions. The Ministers of Social Security and Health were
the only female members of the Council of Ministers. The head of the
Government's Central Election Committee was a woman. At a July 20 news
conference, President Lukashenko directed that women should make up
between 30 and 40 percent of the new legislature.
The country was ethnically homogeneous; most minorities have long
been assimilated. There was little ethnic discord. No high level
members of government or parliament identify themselves as members of a
minority.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Several domestic human rights groups were active in the country;
however, authorities hindered their attempts to investigate alleged
human rights violations. The authorities monitored NGO correspondence
and telephone conversations (see Section 1.f.). They also harassed NGOs
by bureaucratic means. The authorities generally ignored reports issued
by human rights NGOs and did not meet with these groups during the
year. Official state media did not report on human right NGOs and their
actions; independent media that reported on human rights' issues were
subjected to closure and harassment (see Section 2.a.).
The Government closed most remaining major registered human rights
NGOs and NGO resource centers during the year, actions viewed by
independent observers as politically motivated. The law requires two
violations before the MOJ can initiate procedures against an NGO. The
violations most frequently cited were discrepancies between the stamp
that had been presented when the organization registered and the one
used on a subsequent occasion, petty inaccuracies in an organization's
letterhead, the use of a mailing address at a residence rather than at
an office, alleged forgeries among the signatures required to obtain
legal registration, and failure to follow the organization's own
bylaws.
On January 28, the Government closed the Independent Society for
Legal Studies (ISLS), citing legal support provided by its members to
other NGOs. The Government closed ``New Group'' for a discrepancy in
its legal address as well as for its provision of assistance to ISLS
during the Government's action to close ISLS. On September 16, the MOJ
initiated a lawsuit to close the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC),
the most prominent registered human rights group in the country, citing
as grounds a September 15 lawsuit filed by BHC alleging the referendum
to remove Presidential term limits was unconstitutional; the MOJ's
lawsuit had not been pursued by the prosecutor by year's end.
The law prohibits individuals from acting on behalf of an
unregistered NGO, and several individuals were prosecuted for this
offense during the year. On August 31, a Zhlobin court fined Vladimir
Katsura $265 (540,000 Belarusian rubles) for acting on behalf of the
unregistered Five Plus coalition.
Government regulations effectively prohibited human rights NGOs
from receiving support from foreign sources. A 2003 Presidential decree
stipulated that international assistance may only be granted to, or
accepted by, an organization that is registered with the Ministry of
Economy. On the receiving side, all non-governmental projects receiving
funds or materials from abroad, including those carried out by
international organizations, must be registered either with the
Ministry of Economy (in cases of technical aid) or with the
Humanitarian Assistance Department of the Presidential Property
Management (in cases of humanitarian relief). Unregistered
organizations are not allowed to receive foreign assistance. Further,
the law specifies that any local body that receives ``illegal'' foreign
aid may be closed after just one violation of these requirements. It is
illegal for unregistered organizations to receive foreign assistance or
provide assistance to other NGOs. A presidential decree, ``On Improving
the System of Receipt and Use of Humanitarian Assistance,'' issued in
November, 2003, and allegedly aimed at stopping foreign supported
seditious activity, specifically prohibits foreign support for a broad
range of activities directed at the ``alteration of the constitutional
order, the overthrow of state power, or the encouragement of such
activities.'' Prohibited activities include the preparation,
administration, and organization of elections and referenda; the
organization of meetings, rallies, demonstrations, pickets, and
strikes; the publication and distribution of promotional materials, and
the organization of seminars and other types of promotional activities
involving the population.
Break ins and questionable tax audits remained problems during the
year. The MOJ ordered a comprehensive audit of the BHC after a court
rejected an order by the tax authorities for the BHC to pay $73,000
(155 million Belarusian rubles) in taxes on foreign assistance received
from the EU (the EU and the Government had signed a memorandum of
understanding providing that the assistance was exempt from taxation).
The country's poor human rights record continued to draw the
attention of many international human rights organizations. Authorities
were increasingly reluctant to discuss human rights with international
NGOs, whose members often had difficulty traveling to the country and
were occasionally expelled from the country. The authorities increased
their harassment, often through tax assessments and inspections, of
international NGOs working in the country. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs refused to reregister the Union of Councils for Jews in the
Former Soviet Union (UCSJ), an affiliate of a foreign based
organization, ostensibly because some of its documents had been
submitted late (see Section 2.c.).
The Government rejected an April 8 UNCHR resolution that urged it
to conduct a transparent investigation of the disappearances of
prominent opposition activists and to suspend or dismiss those
suspected of involvement in such disappearances (see Section 1.b.). The
resolution also stressed the need to establish an independent
judiciary, release journalists imprisoned for political reasons, bring
the actions of its police and security forces into compliance with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and comply with
the various mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights. The UNCHR
named Adrian Severin of Romania as its Special Rapporteur on the human
rights situation in the country; however, the Government refused to
grant Severin a visa to enter the country to conduct his assessment and
stated that it would not cooperate with the UNCHR if it did not agree
with the assessment's findings.
On April 28, PACE reacted to the results of an investigation it had
commissioned on the disappearances of Krasovskiy, Gonchar, Zakharenko,
and Zavadskiy (see Sections 1.a. and 1.b.). It adopted a unanimous
resolution calling on the authorities to conduct a ``truly
independent'' investigation of the disappearances after first
suspending then Prosecutor General Viktor Sheiman, who was accused of
orchestrating the disappearances. The resolution called for maintaining
the suspension the country's earlier Special Guest status and indicated
that until there was substantial progress by the Belarus Government in
investigating the disappearances, the presence of any parliamentarians
from that country in PACE would be inappropriate. The Government
condemned PACE's action.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution states that all citizens are equal before the law
and have the right to equal protection of their rights and legitimate
interests; however, neither the Constitution nor the laws specifically
prohibit discrimination based on factors such as race or sex. Racial
and national groups, women, and persons with disabilities experienced
discrimination.
Women.--Women's groups reported that domestic violence, including
spousal abuse against women, was a significant problem. In January, a
Belarusian delegation to the Commission on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) stated that 30 percent of women
reported suffering from domestic violence. NGOs run crisis centers,
primarily in Minsk. Spousal abuse is punishable under the law, and
women's groups indicated that the police generally enforced these laws
against domestic violence and that the courts generally imposed
appropriate sentences. In 2003, police charged 2,214 individuals with
involvement in domestic violence that included 165 homicides and 380
instances of severe injury. Nevertheless, reluctance among women to
report instances of domestic violence due to fear of reprisal and
social stigma remained widespread.
Rape was a problem. A law against rape exists; however, most women
did not report rape due to shame or fear that the police would blame
the victim. Over 20 percent of women reported experiencing sexual abuse
at least once, according to data released by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security in November. In a survey of 2,000 women, 30 percent
indicated that they had been raped or sexually abused between the ages
of 14 and 17. In addition, sexual harassment was reportedly widespread,
but no specific laws other than those against physical assault deal
with the problem. There is no explicit law against spousal rape and
there have been no prosecutions. Socially, spousal rape was not viewed
as a crime.
Although the authorities and local human rights observers reported
that prostitution was not a significant problem, considerable anecdotal
evidence indicated that it was growing, particularly in regions outside
the main cities. Street prostitution appeared to be growing, and
prostitution rings operated in state owned hotels.
Trafficking in women was a serious problem, which the Government
took some steps to address (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law requires equal wages for equal work; however, it was not
always enforced in practice. Women had significantly fewer
opportunities for advancement to the upper ranks of management or
government. Women held only four high level government positions and
one CEO position in a major company. Women reported that managers
frequently considered whether a woman had children when examining job
candidates.
On May 18, lawmaker Anna Burova called for a gender equality law
that would create a post of commissioner in the Government, which could
supervise and coordinate policies for gender equality; however, at
year's end there was no indication that the Parliament was considering
such legislation. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security bears
responsibility for issues involving gender equality; however, it cannot
issue binding instructions to any other government agency.
The level of women's education was higher than that of men. Women
constituted approximately 58 percent of workers with a higher education
and approximately 66 percent of workers with a specialized secondary
education. A disproportionate number of the unemployed were women.
Women are equal in law to men with regard to property ownership and
inheritance and this was generally respected in practice.
Women's groups were active and focused primarily on child welfare,
environmental concerns (especially the after effects of the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster), the preservation of the family, the promotion of
women to decision making levels in the country, the support of women
entrepreneurs, and combating trafficking. Job training provided the
best results in efforts to increase women's roles in business and
society and to combat trafficking. For example, the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) continued its program, ``Support to
Expanding Public Space for Women in Belarus,'' which provided
leadership seminars, business start up training and an MBA program.
There was an active women's political party.
Children.--The authorities were committed to children's welfare and
health. By law all inhabitants, including children, were entitled to
health care and education, which they generally received, although the
quality of education and medical care was lower outside of major
cities. There was no reported difference between the treatment of girls
and boys in the provision of either health care or education.
Children begin school at the age of 6 and are required to complete
9 years, and this requirement was generally met. The Government made 11
years of education available at no cost and continued to develop a 12
year education program. State run and private higher education was
available, but some private institutions experienced government
harassment or closure based on their curricula (see Section 2.b). The
Government provided alternative modes of education for children with
disabilities, depending upon the severity of their disabilities.
Children with severe disabilities may attend centers located throughout
the country. Assistance offices exist to help children with physical
and mental disabilities integrate into traditional classrooms. The
quality of these programs varied. A law adopted in May provided
children with disabilities the ability to receive education at home,
which some parents utilized. The NGO Belarusian Assistance to Children
and Young Persons with Disabilities promoted the rights of children and
young persons with disabilities.
In the past, the Government has devoted considerable attention to
overcoming the health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident;
however, in response to the insistence of President Lukashenko,
expressed in November, the Government threatened to restrict children's
rehabilitation trips abroad.
Families with children continued to receive government benefits,
such as discounted transportation, but a disproportionate rate of
families with children lived under the poverty line. In October, the
President by edict created financial and housing incentives for
families with three or more children with the aim of increasing the
population and remedying the high levels of poverty for this group.
Child abuse exists; however, there did not appear to be a societal
pattern of abuse of children. According to Ministry of Education
figures released during the year, 40,000 children were neglected.
Orphans and abandoned children accounted for 1.5 percent of children,
2.5 times as many as in 1990.
There were no specific reports of trafficking in children but
informed observers indicated that it existed but was rare (see Section
5, Trafficking).
On February 23, the Government enacted a law allowing military
units to adopt and train orphans between the ages of 14 and 16. The
orphans may not be enrolled as servicemen while still children. The
Government committed itself to providing free food, clothing, housing,
education, medical care, and cash allowances. These children are
required to comply with the rules of the military units where they
live, wear a uniform, obey orders, and join the unit upon reaching the
draft age of 18.
UNICEF's affiliated NGO, the Belarusian Association of UNESCO
Clubs, reported a severe shortage of information on children's issues.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking, particularly trafficking in women, remained a
serious problem. The Government continued to make significant efforts
to combat trafficking; however, three difficulties inhibited this
effort: Corruption among police officers and border guards, lack of
communication among government agencies, and the perception of
trafficked persons as criminals rather than victims.
The Criminal Code penalizes trafficking in persons for the purpose
of sexual or other kinds of exploitation. The Criminal Code also
criminalizes hiring individuals for sexual or other exploitation. The
penalty for trafficking is 5 to 7 years' imprisonment. Severe forms of
trafficking are punishable by up to 15 years' imprisonment. On July 23,
law enforcement authorities secured their first trafficking conviction
under the country's anti trafficking law. The courts sentenced the
trafficker to 6 years in prison and fines for trafficking two teenage
girls to Lithuania in the fall of 2003.
In June, the Government created the Department on Combating
Trafficking in Human Beings. This office remains subordinate to, and
yet independent of, the Drugs and Morals Enforcement Department of the
Ministry of the Interior, which previously dealt with trafficking
issues. Observers noted that the creation of this office was a positive
step in combating trafficking, but many concluded that the Government
needed to clarify the role and power of the new Department in order for
it to be effective.
Attention to trafficking at the border increased, but segments
remain largely uncontrolled. The Ministry of Labor continued to monitor
and license activities of employment agencies offering labor contracts
in foreign countries. Since July 2003, all agencies arranging
employment abroad must be licensed. In some instances, the Ministry
suspended or revoked such licenses for failure to meet established
standards as a legitimate agency or business. The Ministry viewed these
agencies as potential vehicles for trafficking.
The Government collaborated with foreign governments to pursue
trafficking investigations. The Government assisted government agencies
in Germany, England, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Italy, Turkey, and
other nations on various trafficking cases.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated during
the year that 10,000 citizens become victims of trafficking annually,
primarily for sexual exploitation in other countries. The country was
both a country of origin and transit for women trafficked to the
European Union (particularly Germany and Poland), the Middle East
(particularly Israel and Cyprus), Turkey and Russia, Ukraine,
Lithuania, Germany, Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Turkey, Cyprus,
Bahrain, Syria, Greece, Hungary, and Serbia and Montenegro. The open
border with Russia was a particular problem as it allowed easy
trafficking of Russian women to the West or Belarusian women to Russia
and the East. Women and girls under the age of 25 were at particular
risk of trafficking due to ignorance of the risk and lack of domestic
economic opportunities in the country.
Traffickers used force, fraud, and coercion to traffic their
victims. Victims were trafficked mostly from economically depressed
areas, where traffickers recruited through overseas employment offers,
marriage arrangements, and travel agencies. More than half of the
trafficked women were promised jobs as dancers or entertainers without
any mention of prostitution or sexual exploitation. Traffickers often
withheld victims' documents and used physical and emotional abuse to
control victims en route and in the destination country.
Employment agencies, particularly travel and modeling agencies, as
well as individuals with connections overseas, were primarily
responsible for trafficking. Some traffickers had links to organized
crime and drug trafficking, but there was no information on the extent
of this involvement.
Corrupt officials facilitated trafficking by accepting bribes and
turning a blind eye to trafficking. However, the Government began to
crack down on corruption, prosecuting two officials in two different
cases during the year for aiding trafficking. In 2003, the Government
and an international organization collaborated to produce a counter
trafficking operations handbook for police and border guards.
Women seldom reported incidences of trafficking to police, probably
due to the social stigma attached to trafficking crimes, a negative
public opinion about authorities, insufficient protection of victims
and witnesses, and a shortage of reintegration services for victims.
Some victims were deported back to the country and did not receive
special status or assistance as trafficking victims either in the
countries to which they were trafficked or at home. During the year the
IOM assisted 251 victims. The number of victims seeking assistance more
than quadrupled in comparison with 2003. The IOM attributed this growth
to increased public awareness of the problem of trafficking and
improved law enforcement assistance to victims of trafficking. More
than half of the victims referred to the IOM we referred by law
enforcement agencies.
In the summer, the European Community and the UNDP opened the
country's second shelter for victims of trafficking. IOM used the
shelter of a local NGO, Radislava. La Strada opened a mini-shelter in
the early summer. The Government cooperated with NGO and international
organizations in assisting victims but did not directly fund any
assistance programs.
The IOM, UNDP, and La Strada/YWCA conducted national awareness
campaigns and provided training to NGOs in regional towns. La Strada/
YWCA and IOM continued to open and operate hotlines throughout the
country. These hotlines provided opportunities for women to seek
information about agencies, laws, and risks before accepting employment
or marriage offers from overseas. In the summer, the NGOs managed to
switch the hotlines to free ``green line'' numbers and create new
billboards and brochures informing women to call the hotlines before
making decisions to work or live abroad. The Government did not conduct
independent awareness campaigns, but did increase trafficking coverage
in state controlled news.
Persons With Disabilities.--Discrimination against persons with
disabilities in the provision of employment, education, access to
health care, and other state services was a problem. Credible observers
noted that the Government provided significantly more support for
children with disabilities than for adults with disabilities. The law
mandates that transport, residences, and businesses be accessible to
persons with disabilities; however, facilities, including public
transport and government office buildings, often were not accessible.
In 2001, the Government started a 5 year initiative to make all public
buildings accessible to persons with disabilities; however, the
Republican Association of Disabled Wheelchair Users (RADWU) reported
that 4 years into this project, little had changed. Ramps were
installed on the exteriors of some buildings, but the interiors
remained inaccessible. RADWU estimated that over 75 percent of persons
with disabilities were unable to leave their homes without assistance.
Many sidewalks and stores had no ramps and many buildings had only
stairs or small elevators.
The central authorities continued to provide some minimal benefits
and subsidies to persons with disabilities, but according to the RADWU
and the Belarusian Society of the Disabled, most of those benefits were
ineffectual. For example, while persons with disabilities were given a
50 percent discount on rent and utilities, the reduction could only be
claimed if the individual lived alone. Very few could claim the
discount, as there were few homes accessible to persons with
disabilities, and most individuals lived with friends or family who
provided daily mobility. Public transportation was free of charge, but
neither the metro nor the bus system was wheelchair accessible.
The Government prohibited any employer from requiring a person with
disabilities to work more than 7 hours per day. This regulation was
intended to protect the disabled, but actually provided a disincentive
for hiring disabled persons as companies received less work than from a
typical employee. The Government's decision to support only government
run rehabilitation facilities, which were often less well-equipped and
less responsive to needs than NGO facilities, had a negative effect on
the quality of care.
Foreign and domestic charities continued to provide care for
children with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Russian and Belarusian
languages share equal legal status; de facto, however, Russian remained
the predominant and often only language used in government activities
and on government forms. The Government's record in providing services
in the Belarusian language improved slightly during the year.
Authorities were occasionally responsive to requests for use of the
Belarusian language in official activities. They occasionally published
government documents in the Belarusian language. The authorities
continued to limit the availability of early childhood education in
Belarusian. The authorities claimed they only closed those Belarusian
language schools that experienced diminishing enrollment; however,
observers doubted this claim. While several subjects in schools, such
as the history and geography of Belarus, were taught only in
Belarusian, most school content continued to be taught in Russian.
During the year, youth belonging to Russian ultra nationalist
skinhead groups continued to be active. They continued to target
foreigners as well as citizens promoting Belarusian culture. There were
a number of skinhead groups, including the Russian National Union (RNU)
and the National Bolshevik Party. The ultra nationalist RNU targeted
both minorities and oppositionists. Observers noted that the RNU
disrupted an opposition rally in May.
Despite legislation prohibiting the dissemination of hate
literature, events and stores associated with the BOC continued to sell
anti-Semitic literature, though such materials were in small quantities
and not prominently displayed (see Section 2.c). Despite assurances
from the Committee of Religious and Nationalities Affairs (CRNA) that
the Government took all necessary steps to address such manifestations
of hate literature, no concrete steps were observed during the year.
Both the Government and society engaged in significant
discrimination against Roma, who numbered almost 70,000. High
unemployment and low levels of education characterized the Roma
community. On November 9, the Government cited the Roma unemployment
rate at 93 percent. Due to negative stereotypes, other citizens did not
hire Roma. The police harassed Romani women selling produce or telling
fortunes in the marketplace. State media and government officials
portrayed Roma negatively. On June 23, Romulad Andrievski, head of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs' Department of Drug Trafficking, asserted
that at least 50 percent of all Roma were drug dealers; while credible
sources indicated that drug dealing by Roma was a problem, they
regarded the 50 percent figure as exaggerated.
Roma children struggled in the school system; they speak primarily
Romani and Belarusian, but in most Belarusian schools the language of
instruction is Russian. Parents often withheld their children from
kindergarten in an effort to avoid assimilation. As a result, Romani
children were linguistically behind in the all Russian classrooms. It
took 2 to 3 years for the students to catch up; Romani students
reported that their teachers and fellow students often assumed they
were lazy or mentally incompetent when their academic difficulties
actually resulted from language difficulties.
Roma were able to receive higher education in the country's few
private educational institutions, but were often denied access to
higher education in state run universities. The Roma Lawyer's Group
repeatedly petitioned the Government to permit the establishment of a
public Roma school in Minsk, arguing that there were schools for Jews,
Lithuanians, and Poles, but the Roma have no such educational
opportunities. By year's end, there had been no response from the
authorities.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Homophobia and
discrimination against homosexuals were a problem. Although
homosexuality was not a criminal offense, homophobia was widespread and
instances of harassment occurred in all spheres of society. A negative
statement about homosexuals by President Lukashenko in September
demonstrated that negative attitudes towards homosexuals existed at the
highest levels of government.
Instances of discrimination included canceling in May of a concert
by openly gay pop star Boris Moiseyev's performance for the 60th
anniversary of liberation from Nazi occupation. In another incident,
the Music 1 Channel denied a homosexual man permission to post a
message on a televised dating chat room. The channel explained that
they are not allowed to ``propagate non-traditional sexual behavior''
in their programming. Such incidents were not isolated.
According to the UNDP, there was no official discrimination against
persons with HIV/AIDS; however, there was societal discrimination. HIV
infected individuals were afraid to disclose their status for fear of
prejudice based primarily on a lack of understanding of the virus. Even
doctors often strongly feared AIDS and lacked knowledge about the
disease. The UNDP reported that very few medical personnel dealt with
HIV/AIDS patients and HIV-infected women could give birth only at one
department at one hospital. In prisons, HIV-infected inmates faced
strong discrimination and were segregated to minimize risk of injury or
even death at the hands of other prisoners.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution upholds the right of
workers, except state security and military personnel, to form and join
independent unions on a voluntary basis and to carry out actions in
defense of worker rights; however, these rights were not respected in
practice. Measures to suppress independent unions included the
conversion of all government employees to short-term contracts, the
nonextension of employment contracts for some members of independent
trade unions, the arrest of members of independent trade unions for
distributing union literature, the confiscation of union materials, the
denial to union members of access to work sites, excessive fines, and
pressure on union members by managers and state authorities to join
progovernment unions. In a report published October 8, an ILO
Commission of Inquiry criticized the Government for its interference in
trade union activity. The Government continued to pursue the objective
of bringing all trade union activity under its effective control.
During the year, the authorities continued to interfere in the work
of the independent Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (CDTU),
especially regarding activities of independent, affiliated unions. In
June, the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Standards Committee
included the country in its special paragraph on trade union violations
for a third consecutive year and urged the Government to address the
ILO recommendations that it eliminate Government interference in
unions. On October 8, the ILO Commission of Inquiry, established in
November 2003, published a report detailing serious violations of
workers' rights in the country. The ILO report concluded the Government
had violated the ILO Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right
to Organize Convention and the Right to Organize and Collective
Bargaining Convention by using laws on registration to restrict the
formation of trade unions, by failing to take effective measures
against anti union discrimination, and by preventing workers'
organizations from organizing their activities freely.
In November 2003, the Ministry of the Economy informed the ILO that
all activities related to the ILO's technical assistance project to
labor unions must cease, because the registration of the project had
been rejected. The Ministry cited the exclusion of the Federation of
Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) from project activities as the main
reason that registration was denied, even though local branch unions
affiliated with the FTUB participated in project activities throughout
the year.
A 2003 Presidential decree requires trade unions to enroll a
minimum of 10 percent of the workers of an enterprise in order to form
and register a local union. The decree specifies a minimum enrollment
of 500 members for national unions. It also obliged existing registered
unions to reregister and to meet the new requirements. Independent
trade union leaders reported that this decree had the effect of making
registration, and therefore union activities, nearly impossible in many
of the larger state owned enterprises. Some local unions have been
denied registration under this decree. The ILO Commission of Inquiry on
October 8 noted that a Grodno regional court denied registration to the
Belarusian Free Trade Union (FTU) at Khimvolokno, a local business,
because the FTU did not provide documents confirming the FTU met the 10
percent minimum membership requirement.
The authorities continued to threaten employees at state run
enterprises who joined independent trade unions with dismissal. The
FTUB, formerly the Belarusian branch of the Soviet Union's All Union
Central Council of Trade Unions, consisted of approximately 3.9 million
workers and was the largest trade union organization. The independent
CDTU consisted of 4 independent unions totaling 12,000 members.
According to FTUB figures, 92 percent of the workforce was unionized.
The Government forced government employees and employees of state-
owned businesses, who together were a majority of the workforce, to
move to a short term contract system from a lifetime contract system of
employment during the year. A September 2 order by Vice Premier Andrey
Kobyakov threatened ministers and governors that failure to transfer
government officials to fixed term contracts before October 6 would be
``called into account.'' Credible reports indicate that the Government
used the fixed term contract system to dismiss independent union
members and opposition political activists. Although the contract
system allows contracts to be signed for periods up to 5 years, only
one major employer signed contracts of that length. Most contracts were
concluded for 6 months or 1 year terms.
Independent trade unions faced continual Government harassment. The
ILO Commission of Inquiry noted on October 8 that the punishment courts
imposed on union leaders Aleksandr Yaroshuk and Aleksandr Bukhvostov
and lawyer Vladimir Odynets in 2003 was motivated by their union
activities. On September 17, the management of the Belarusian Aerial
Navigation Enterprise informed the former vice president of the
deregistered Belarusian Air Traffic Controllers' Union Oleg Dolbik,
that his contract would not be extended. On September 20, a Grodno
court fined Ivan Roman, a member of the Belarusian Trade Union of
Workers of Radio and Electronic Industry, Automobile Machinery,
Metalworking Industry, and Other Branches of the National Economy
(REPAM) $84 (180,000 Belarusian rubles) for distributing the REPAM
bulletin ``Shaber.'' The MOJ had revoked the registration of the REPAM
on July 22, only 3 months after it granted it. The ministry also
blocked efforts by the Belarusian Trade Union of Workers of Radio and
Electronic Industry (REP), one of the two unions forming the core of
REPAM, to broaden its membership base.
The MOJ closed the Belarusian Party of Labor (BPL) on August 2.
President Lukashenko and Industry Minister Anatolyy Kharlap both set
the removal of party chairman Aleksandr Bukhvostov and party leader
Gennadyy Fedynich from the head of FTUB affiliated unions as a primary
goal for 2003. Bukhvostov was removed from his position as head of the
Agricultural Machinery Workers Union (ASM) in December 2003,
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively; however,
the authorities and state owned enterprises hindered the ability of
workers to bargain collectively and, in some instances, arbitrarily
suspended collective bargaining agreements. An ILO Commission of
Inquiry concluded that several trade unions had been denied the right
to bargain collectively because of the deregistration and
nonregistration of unions. The independent Free Trade Union reported it
had been unable to open negotiations on a collective bargaining
agreement for workers at the Mogilev factory of artificial fiber for
over a year. Unions reported that some enterprises and state agencies
pressured workers to accept individual contracts in lieu of collective
contracts and also altered the duration of the contracts from life to
fixed terms (see Section 6.a.).
The Constitution provides for the right to strike; however, tight
control by the Government over public demonstrations made it difficult
for unions to strike or to hold public rallies furthering their
objectives. During the year, small vendors and workers organized
several small strikes in various regions of the country. However, there
were many instances in which management and local authorities
frustrated workers' attempts to organize strikes by declaring that such
activities would be illegal.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the six special economic zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, except in
cases when the work or service to be performed is fixed by a court's
decision or in accordance with the law on states of emergency or
martial law; however, there were some reports that such practices
occurred. A February 23 law allows the commanding officers of military
units to receive responsibility for orphans from the ages of 14 to 16;
such orphans are required to join the military unit after they reach
the legal draft age. The Government approved several ``subbotniks'' by
which workers ``volunteered'' to work on Saturday and donate the day's
earnings to finance certain social projects. Participation in
subbotniks was technically voluntary but effectively mandatory; workers
who refused to participate were subject to fines and intimidation by
employers and the authorities.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law establishes 16 as the minimum age for employment. With the written
consent of one parent (or legal guardian), a 14 year old child may
conclude a labor contract. The Prosecutor General's office reportedly
enforces this law effectively. However, students were required to
participate in potato harvesting activities.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was $40 (87,000
Belarusian rubles) a month, which was below the countries' minimum
sustenance budget of $60 (130,000 Belarusian rubles) and did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and a family; however,
average real wages improved during the year from approximately $126
(264,000 Belarusian rubles) to $175 (380,000 Belarusian rubles) a
month.
The Constitution and Labor Code set a limit of 40 hours of work per
week and provide for at least one 24 hour rest period per week. In
reality, because of the country's difficult economic situation, a
number of workers found themselves working considerably fewer than 40
hours per week. Reportedly factories often required workers to take
unpaid furloughs caused by shortages of raw materials and energy and a
lack of demand for factory output.
The law establishes minimum conditions for workplace safety and
worker health; however, these standards often were ignored. Workers at
many heavy machinery plants did not wear even minimal safety gear, such
as gloves, hard hats, or welding glasses. A State Labor Inspectorate
existed but did not have the authority to enforce compliance, and
violations often were ignored. During the year, 250 workers died and
840 were seriously injured in workplace accidents. The high accident
rate was due to a lack of protective clothing, shoes, equipment,
failure to observe temperature regulations, the use of outdated
machinery, and inebriation on the job. 46 percent of those who died in
workplace accidents were inebriated. There is no provision in the law
that allows workers to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without risking loss of their jobs.
__________
BELGIUM
Belgium is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch
who plays a mainly symbolic role. The Council of Ministers (Cabinet),
led by the Prime Minister, holds office as long as it retains the
confidence of the lower house of the bicameral Parliament. Federal
parliamentary elections held in May 2003 were free and fair and
resulted in a four-party coalition government. The country is a federal
state with several levels of government, including national, regional
(Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels), community (Flemish, Francophone,
and German), provincial, and local. The judiciary is independent.
The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the
security forces. The Federal Police are responsible for internal
security and nationwide law and order. Local Federal Police branches
operated in all 196 police districts. There were no reports that
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country, which has a population of approximately 10.3 million,
is highly industrialized, with a large private sector and limited
government participation in industry. The primary exports were
machinery and equipment. The economy grew an estimated 2.7 percent
during the year and provided a high standard of living for most
citizens; there was little economic disparity.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and the judiciary provided effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. Racist and xenophobic
violence against Jews and Muslims occurred infrequently. Trafficking in
women and children remained a problem, which the Government took steps
to address.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
During the year, six people were convicted of conspiracy to murder
the former Socialist Party Minister Andre Cools, who was assassinated
in 1991. Socialist Party Minister Alain Van der Biest was implicated in
the conspiracy and committed suicide in 2002.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
There were instances of violence by groups towards Muslims and Jews
(see Section 5).
In July 2003, the Government published its response to a report by
the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT)
based on a 2001 visit. The CPT report made recommendations concerning
the use of force and means of restraint during involuntary movement of
prisoners, but noted that the Government had already taken measures to
reduce risks to prisoners. The report's principal concerns were
violence among prisoners at Andenne Prison, chronic overcrowding at
Antwerp Prison, and the operation of the psychiatric care system in
prisons. In response to the report, the Government adopted specific
articles in the Criminal Code prohibiting torture and inhumane
treatment and prohibited the use of plastic handcuffs and the use of
immobilization techniques that could result in asphyxiation. Other
Government actions to implement the CPT recommendations included
closure of a psychiatric ward at Lantin prison; new measures to combat
prison violence; and a more liberal policy for allowing prisoners
access to medical treatment. Following the July 2003 death of a
prisoner at Lantin penitentiary, a judicial inquiry began into the
actions of two prison guards. The investigation continued and was still
pending at year's end.
Prison conditions varied: Newer prisons generally met international
standards, while some older facilities nearly met international
standards despite their austere physical conditions and limited
resources. During the year, the U.N. Human Rights Committee on the
implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights expressed concern over the level of prison populations.
Overcrowding remained a problem: The prison system, which was designed
to hold 8,133 prisoners, held on average 9,000 prisoners in 2004,
according to government figures. Projects to expand the prison system
by approximately 200 persons were not completed by year's end. To
reduce overcrowding, the Government adopted alternative sentencing,
electronic surveillance at home for about 350 prisoners nearing the end
of their sentences, and entered into agreements with several countries
to return foreign prisoners to their home countries to complete their
sentences. During the year, the psychiatric prison ward capacity was
expanded following criticism of inmate treatment by the International
Prison Observatory. In December, the Government passed a bill on the
fundamental rights of prisoners. Legislation was also enacted and
implemented abrogating legal incapacity status for certain categories
of convicts, such as repeat criminal offenders.
Men and women were held separately. Juvenile prisoners were not
held in adult prisons. However, a juvenile court judge can determine
whether to release or imprison those over age 16. Convicted criminals
and pretrial detainees were not held in separate facilities.
The Government permitted visits by independent monitoring and human
rights groups, and such visits took place during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
The Federal Police Council, an anticorruption unit, and the Federal
Interior Ministry manage the operations of the Federal police forces.
An independent oversight committee monitors police activities and
compiles an annual report for Parliament. The Federal Police were
responsible for internal security and nationwide law and order. The
local police operated branches in all 196 police districts responsible
for local law enforcement. Corruption was not a problem with local or
Federal police, although a parliamentary oversight committee noted an
increase in reported wrongful use of force, racism, and verbal abuse by
police at all levels during the year.
Arrested persons must be brought before a judge within 24 hours.
Pretrial confinement was subject to monthly review by a panel of
judges, which could extend detention based on established criteria, for
example, if the court deemed the arrested person likely to commit
further crimes or attempt to flee if released. There were instances
where lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. The law provides for
bail, but it was not a prevailing practice and was only occasionally
granted. During the year, 39 percent of the prison population consisted
of pretrial detainees. Arrested persons were allowed prompt access to a
lawyer of their choosing or, if they could not afford one, to an
attorney appointed by the State.
Fehriye Erdhal, a Kurdish woman accused of involvement in a 1996
terrorist attack in Turkey, remained under house arrest pending trial
at year's end. Following the Council of State's March 2003 reversal of
a 2000 expulsion order, Erdhal renewed her application for political
asylum, and her asylum case was pending at year's end. By year's end,
the federal prosecutor sought to indict Erdal for arms possession and
membership in a criminal organization.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The criminal judicial system is composed of civil and criminal
courts and their respective courts of appeal. The Courts of First
Instance (district courts) are responsible for civil and commercial
litigation for matters that exceed the jurisdiction of a justice of the
peace. There are five appeal courts and one Supreme Court of Appeal.
The latter verifies that the law has been correctly applied and that no
procedural errors have been committed. When the Supreme Court overturns
a ruling, the case is referred to one of the appeals courts to
reexamine the facts. The criminal courts consist of the magistrate's
court, correctional courts, and the criminal chambers of the court of
appeal. Each province has a Court of Assize, with a public jury judging
the cases. These courts have jurisdiction over all the most serious
crimes and political crimes. The Courts of Assize are courts of first
and last instance and their rulings cannot be appealed.
The High Council on Justice supervises the appointment and
promotion of magistrates. The Council serves as a permanent monitoring
board for the entire judicial system and is empowered to hear
complaints against individual magistrates.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office prosecutes crimes involving nuclear
materials, human trafficking, arms trafficking, human rights
violations, terrorism, crimes against the security of the State, as
well as any case involving foreign perpetrators, victims, or territory.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right. Charges are stated clearly and
formally, and there is a presumption of innocence. All defendants have
the right to be present, to have counsel (at public expense if needed),
to confront witnesses, to present evidence, and to appeal.
The courts rarely used the Summary Trial Act, which allows for the
immediate arrest and summary appearance of criminals caught in the act
of committing a crime.
Peacetime use of military tribunals was abolished on January 1.
Each judicial district has a labor court, which deals with
litigation between employers and employees regarding wages, notice,
competition clauses, and social security benefits. There is also a
magistrate in each district to monitor cases involving religious groups
(see Section 2.c.).
A law adopted in 2003 amended the controversial ``universal
competence'' law, and authorizes jurisdiction over alleged war crimes
and crimes against humanity committed outside the national territory
only when the victim or perpetrator is a citizen or resident of the
country.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. An
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The law accords ``recognized'' status to Roman Catholicism,
Protestantism (including evangelicals and Pentecostals), Judaism,
Anglicanism, Islam, and Orthodox Christianity (Greek and Russian), and
these groups received government subsidies. Nonconfessional
philosophical or secular organizations served as a seventh recognized
``religious'' group, and their organizing body, the Central Council of
Non Religious Philosophical Communities of Belgium, received funds and
benefits similar to those of the six recognized religions.
By law, each recognized religion has the right to provide teachers
at government expense for religious instruction in public and private
schools. For recognized religions, the Government paid the salaries,
lodging, and retirement expenses of clergy members and also subsidized
the construction and renovation of houses of worship. The lack of
recognized status generally did not prevent nonrecognized religious
groups from freely practicing their religions, and citizens generally
practiced their religion without official harassment or impediment.
During the year, the Justice Minister decided to create a committee
to assist in preparing the Muslim representative body, the Muslim
Executive Council, for new elections after an impasse was reached on
how to elect a general assembly and executive council. The Muslim
Executive Council is responsible for appointing religious teachers
(imams) and for the secular administration of cemeteries, buildings,
and food preparation. Continued organizational disputes within the
Muslim community and with the Ministry of Justice associated with the
preparation for these elections have postponed formation of this
council.
Some groups continued to complain that their inclusion on a 1998
parliamentary commission's list of groups that may pose a threat to
society or individuals caused discriminatory action against them. While
the list has no official status, the groups continued to state that the
prominence of the list, and governmental funding of the Center for
Advice on Harmful Sects to monitor some groups from the list, caused
negative assumptions and guilt by association.
In 2002, an independent judge completed his 5 year criminal
investigation into allegations against the Church of Scientology,
clearing the way for a prosecutor to take the case to trial. The
charges related to alleged financial irregularities by some local
church officials, bribery, violation of privacy legislation, and
unlawful exercise of the medical profession. The trial had not started
by year's end.
There is no provision in immigration law for foreign members of
religious groups to enter the country to conduct religious work or for
them to obtain work permits for that purpose. However, various
religious groups, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, continue to receive visas for members from abroad temporarily
to conduct missionary activities.
Political leaders avoided parliamentary debate over the use of
religious symbols in public schools and allowed individual schools to
continue to determine such matters.
Jewish advocacy groups noted 21 anti-Semitic incidents during the
first half of the year and Muslim organizations reported 6 anti-Islamic
incidents. In July, in the most serious incident involving the Jewish
community of Antwerp, a Jewish youth was stabbed. No arrests had been
made by year's end.
In the June 2003 failed car bombing of the synagogue in Charleroi,
a suspect was arrested, declared mentally incompetent, and was detained
at year's end.
In July, three men attacked the asylum center of Ranst (Antwerp
Province), leaving one Muslim asylum seeker hospitalized and two more
injured. Three youths were convicted and sentenced to an institution
for juvenile delinquents until they turn 18 or a judge decides
otherwise, and one 18-year-old youth was given conditional release.
Following the incidents during the year, the Federal Government adopted
an action plan to step up the fight against racism and to protect more
effectively the Jewish community, asylum centers, and mosques. The
Center for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (CEEOR) (Anti-
Racism Center) and federal authorities have created a monitoring unit
to follow these cases.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law includes provisions for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
From January to October, 12,374 asylum applications were submitted,
continuing the downward trend begun in 2000. Approximately 40 percent
of applicants were permitted to continue processing their applications,
having received a stay from the immigration office. Of the 18,817
requests received in 2003, 1,201 applicants obtained political refugee
status.
From January to November, 5,850 persons were repatriated. During
the year, 2,007 non-nationals were stopped at the border (including the
airport). From January to November, there were 396 forced
repatriations. Joint repatriations were organized between the
Government of the Netherlands and the Government of Luxembourg.
The Government, in partnership with the International Organization
for Migration (IOM), provided relocation assistance to unsuccessful
asylum applicants who agreed to repatriate voluntarily to their country
of origin. Unsuccessful applicants who did not leave voluntarily were
subject to forced repatriation. From January to November, there were
2,964 voluntary repatriations.
There are five detention centers for aliens who entered the country
illegally. The detention of minors in these facilities remained
controversial, and the Government indicated that it was exploring new
means for handling underage asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to certain
individuals who fall outside the definition of the 1951 U.N.
Convention/1967 Protocol. Undocumented asylum seekers arriving by air,
whose claims did not appear legitimate as determined by immigration
officials, were not allowed to enter but were held in a closed
detention center at the airport while awaiting forced or voluntary
repatriation. The children of such asylum seekers did not attend
school. Those applicants whose claims appeared to be legitimate were
released to a system of 39 reception centers for shelter and
assistance. The Federal Government, the International Committee of the
Red Cross, and municipalities had a combined 15,375-bed capacity. Use
of these reception centers was provided to 86.6 percent of those
persons who had legitimate claims. The remaining applicants found
private means of support.
Authorities rejected the applications of many refugees from Iran
and Afghanistan. In 2003, approximately 300 Afghan asylum seekers took
refuge in a church to protest the rejection of their applications. Many
also went on a hunger strike. The Interior Minister allowed all of the
protesters to remain in the country for part of the year, some with
families until as late as June, before they had to leave, or they could
file for asylum to have their cases individually reviewed. Since the
law permits a family of asylum seekers resident in the country for at
least 3 years to apply for regularization (4 years for an individual),
the extension meant that many of the 300 would be able to remain in the
country permanently; however, these cases were still pending at year's
end. Fourteen Iranian asylum seekers also went on a hunger strike to
protest the rejection of their applications and were also granted a
temporary stay while their cases were re-examined. These cases also
were still pending at year's end. In 2003, 87 Iranians voluntarily
returned to Iran under IOM auspices.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government
peacefully, and citizens ages 18 and older exercised this right in
practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis
of universal suffrage. Voting in all elections is compulsory, with
failure to vote subject to a nominal fine. Direct popular elections for
parliamentary seats (excluding some Senators elected by community
councils and others elected by Senate members) are held at least every
4 years. Opposition parties operated freely. During the year,
legislation was enacted allowing long-term non-European Union (EU)
immigrants to vote in municipal elections.
The existence of communities speaking Dutch, French, and German
created significant complexities for the Government. Most major
institutions, including political parties, are divided along linguistic
lines. National decisions often take into account the specific needs of
each regional and linguistic group. With three official languages, the
country had a complex linguistic regime, including language
requirements, for various elective and appointive positions. The law
prohibits the official financing of any racist or xenophobic party or
any party that does not respect human rights.
After two lower courts ruled that they were not competent to hear
the case of charges brought against three nonprofit organizations
linked to the Vlaams Blok party, the prosecutor and the CEOOR, an
autonomous governmental entity, appealed to the country's Supreme Court
of Appeals, which remanded the case to the Ghent Court of Appeals. In
April, the Ghent Appellate Court ruled that the three non-profit
organizations, which constituted the Vlaams Blok, violated the
country's anti-racism and anti discrimination legislation. In November,
the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the verdict of the Ghent Appellate
Court. As a result, the Vlaams Blok changed its name to the Vlaams
Belang to avoid further legal action. The Vlaams Blok, which received
public funds from both the Federal and Flemish regional parliaments
under its original name, is now receiving funding under its new name.
There were 52 women in the 150-seat Chamber of Representatives and
26 women in the 71-seat Senate; 5 of the 21 Federal Cabinet ministers
were women, and there were 11 female ministers out of 43 regional
ministers. In 2002, Parliament adopted legislation that requires an
equal number of male and female candidates on party tickets for all
future regional and federal elections.
There was one minority federal cabinet member, six minorities in
the Federal Senate, four in the Federal Chamber, and two in the
regional governments.
The Government provides free access to citizens and noncitizens to
government information; however, there were exceptions, such as
material involving national security.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were very cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability,
language, or social status, and the Government generally enforced these
laws.
Women.--Domestic violence against women remained a problem. In
March, the Government initiated a national plan to prevent domestic
violence that attempted to increase awareness through educational
campaigns; however, the results were not evident by year's end. The law
defines and criminalizes domestic violence with the aim of protecting
married and unmarried partners. The law allows social organizations to
represent victims of domestic violence in court with the victim's
consent. It allows police to enter a home without the consent of the
head of household when investigating a domestic violence complaint.
According to the law's proponents, the police did not use it enough in
practice. By year's end, the Government had not implemented provisions
of the law that required it to establish and maintain a database of
statistics on domestic violence. Spousal rape is illegal, but no data
was available on the number of persons charged or convicted of spousal
rape.
A number of government-supported shelters and telephone help lines
were available across the country. In addition to providing shelter and
advice, many offered assistance on legal matters, job placement, and
psychological counseling to both partners. One of the three regional
governments provided approximately 80 percent of these organizations'
budgets. The law also allows the victim of domestic violence to claim
the family dwelling.
The law prohibits organizing prostitution or assisting immigration
for the purpose of prostitution, but not prostitution itself.
Sexual harassment is illegal. The Government has implemented
procedures to monitor sexual harassment claims. The law provides
victims of sexual harassment the right to sue their harassers. The law
also prohibits discrimination in hiring, working conditions,
promotions, wages, and contract termination. Most cases of sexual
harassment were resolved informally.
The Constitution and the law provide for the equal treatment of men
and women. The Government actively promoted a comprehensive approach to
the integration of women at all levels of decision making. The
Institute for the Equality of Men and Women is authorized to initiate
lawsuits if it finds that equality laws have been violated.
In 2002, the gross average salary for a woman was 85 percent of the
national gross average salary. Almost 51 percent of working age (age 15
to 60) women were gainfully employed, 36.8 percent of these were part-
time.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded a system of public education and
health care and provided free compulsory education from ages 6 to 18.
The Francophone and Flemish communities each subsidized an official
children's rights organization headed by a commissioner.
The Constitution provides that every child has the right to respect
for his or her moral, physical, mental, and sexual integrity. The
Federal Police has a specialized unit dedicated to investigating child
pornography complaints and there are comprehensive child protection
laws. The law provides for severe penalties for child pornography and
persons possessing pedophilic materials. It permits the prosecution of
residents who commit such crimes abroad and provides that criminals
convicted of the sexual abuse of children cannot be paroled without
first receiving specialized treatment and must continue counseling and
treatment upon their release from prison. The law provides for the
protection of youth against sexual exploitation, abduction, and
trafficking.
In June, Marc Dutroux was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment by the Luxembourg Province Court of Assize for rape, drug
trafficking, and forceful detention of six girls and the murder of
three of them. His accomplices, including his wife, were also
convicted. The investigation into these high profile crimes lasted 8
years, was the subject of public outrage and a parliamentary
investigation, and caused a general overhaul of the police and numerous
changes to the criminal code. It also led to the formation of
nongovernmental, governmental, and quasi-governmental organizations
focused on child protection.
There were some reports of abuse of children, although there was no
societal pattern of abuse directed against children.
Child prostitution was a problem but was not widespread, and in
September, the Federal Government initiated a new campaign to prevent
it.
Government and private groups provided shelters for runaways and
counseling for children who were physically or sexually abused. Child
Focus, the government-sponsored center for missing and exploited
children, reported that it handled 2,954 cases in 2003, a nearly 30
percent increase since 2000. Approximately 42 percent of the reported
cases concerned runaways, 23 percent involved abduction by parents, 23
percent were reports of disappearance, and nearly 8 percent were
pedophilia cases. The most marked increase was in the reports of
disappearances. Child Focus also noted that 67 percent of the reported
runaways were girls.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law criminalizes trafficking in
persons; however, the country was both a transit and a destination
point for trafficking in women and children. Despite laws that offer
protection and continued residence in the country to foreign victims of
trafficking who come forward, both governmental and nongovernmental
sources indicated a continuing rise in trafficking of women and minors
for sexual exploitation.
The law provides that persons convicted of violating the anti
trafficking law are subject to 1 to 5 years of imprisonment and
substantial fines. Members of trafficking ``organizations'' and persons
committing offenses that include aggravated circumstances may be
punished by 10 to 15 years of hard labor and higher fines. Penalties
for trafficking of children are more severe and include possible life
imprisonment if the victim is less than 10 years of age.
In July, the Government incorporated the existing trafficking laws
into the criminal code. Death of a trafficking victim can now result in
20 years of imprisonment and a $195,000 (150,000 euro) fine.
An interdepartmental committee provided coordination and
communication between the various agencies and ministries involved in
combating trafficking. This committee met several times annually under
the auspices of the CEOOR. A magistrate was designated in each judicial
district to supervise cases involving trafficking. The Federal
Prosecutor's Office is in charge of coordinating the various anti-
trafficking initiatives. In March, the Government set up a new
Information and Analysis Center on Trafficking. The new center
coordinates data from the CEOOR, Child Focus, several ministerial
departments, the college of prosecuting magistrates, and the office of
the federal prosecutors.
There are anti-trafficking units in both the Federal and local
police forces. The CEOOR identified 330 human trafficking related cases
in the courts in 2001 and 2002: 160 cases involved alien smuggling, 80
were prostitution-related, and 30 concerned labor exploitation.
Sentences for persons convicted under the law ranged from approximately
2 to 10 years' imprisonment and fines of approximately $2,970 to
$33,750 (2,200 to 25,000 euros). However, at least some of the
convictions were related only indirectly to trafficking.
Trafficking victims continued to come primarily from sub-Saharan
Africa (particularly Nigeria), Central and Eastern Europe (particularly
Albania), Chechnya, Iran, and Asia (particularly China). Nigerian and
Albanian victims usually were women between the ages of 21 and 30
trafficked for prostitution. Victims of sexual exploitation were
increasingly women under age 18. Gangs that controlled the trade
sometimes threatened victims with violence, including retribution
against the victims' families in their home countries. Chinese victims
often were young men trafficked for manual labor in restaurants and
sweatshops.
Most cases of trafficking were the work of organized gangs from
Central and Eastern Europe, particularly from Albania. While a growing
number of victims came forward, this rarely led to the identification
or capture of the traffickers. Traffickers not only moved their victims
frequently from city to city within the country, but also used the EU's
open borders to move victims from country to country. Freedom of
movement also made it easy for traffickers to evade arrest if one of
their victims went to the authorities.
The law provides that victims of trafficking who provide evidence
against their trafficker may be granted temporary residence and work
permits and are eligible to receive significant financial assistance
from government-funded reception centers managed by nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs). In each of the country's three regions, the
Government designated and subsidized a nonprofit organization to
provide such assistance. At the conclusion of legal proceedings against
their traffickers, victims generally were granted permanent residence
status and unrestricted work permits. The rights of victims generally
were respected in practice, and they were not treated as criminals. The
CEOOR did not maintain statistics on how many victims of sexual
exploitation were sheltered and assisted.
Anti-trafficking liaison officers were assigned to the country's
embassies in some countries of origin, including Albania, Cote
d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Kazakhstan, and
Ukraine. These officers gathered information about local conditions and
trafficking trends and assisted in establishing anti-trafficking
information campaigns for the local population.
The Government worked closely with the IOM to develop programs to
combat trafficking and to assist its victims. For example, the
Government provided funding for information campaigns in countries of
origin to warn women of the dangers of trafficking. It also provided
funding to the IOM to assist the voluntary return of victims to their
home countries and to assist them in readjusting once they had returned
home. The Government worked closely with and supported NGOs that
combated trafficking.
The Federal Police increased their activity in the port of
Zeebrugge to stem the flow of persons transiting by boat to the United
Kingdom. During the year, the Federal Police intercepted more than
6,000 persons and arrested 26 persons suspected of alien smuggling.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for the protection of
persons with disabilities from discrimination in employment, education,
access to health care, and the provision of other state services. There
were no reports of societal discrimination against persons with
disabilities. The Government mandated that public buildings erected
after 1970 be accessible to such persons and offered subsidies to
encourage the owners of other buildings to make necessary
modifications. However, many older buildings were not accessible.
The Government provided financial assistance to persons with
disabilities. It gave special aid to parents of children with
disabilities and to parents with disabilities. Regional and community
programs provided other assistance, such as job training. Persons with
disabilities were eligible to receive services in any of the country's
three regions, not just in their region of residence.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--In the country's pluralistic
society, individual differences, particularly linguistic preference
rights, were respected. Approximately 60 percent of citizens were
native Dutch speakers, 40 percent French speakers, and less than 1
percent German speakers.
The law prohibits the incitement of discrimination, hate, or
violence based on race, ethnicity, or nationality. It is illegal for
providers of goods or services (including housing) to discriminate on
the basis of any of these factors or for employers to consider these
factors in their decisions to hire, train, or dismiss workers; however,
immigrant communities complained of discrimination, particularly in the
job market. The law also expanded the mandate of the CEOOR to encompass
other discrimination, such as discrimination based on gender, age, and
disability.
Members of the Muslim community, estimated at 350,000, and
principally of Moroccan and Turkish origin, claimed that discrimination
against their community, notably in education and employment and
especially against young men, was greater than that experienced by
other immigrant communities. Only 30 percent of working-age, non-EU
immigrants were employed.
In 2003, the CEOOR, which was tasked with investigating complaints
of discrimination based on race, handled 779 complaints, only 45 of
which led to court action by the Center. Of these, only 17 resulted in
civil claims for damages. One fifth of the complaints were job-related.
During the year, there was an increase in ethnic/religious
incidents, primarily directed towards Muslims and Jews (see section
2.c.).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides workers the
right to associate freely, including the freedom to organize and to
join unions of their own choosing, and workers fully and freely
exercised this right in practice. Approximately 60 percent of employed
and unemployed workers were members of labor unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The right to organize and
bargain collectively was recognized and exercised freely, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for the
right to strike, and workers exercised this right in practice. During
the year, trade unions and employers generally respected the
gentlemen's agreement of 2002 in which both sides pledged to honor the
right to strike; employers would avoid court action against strikes
provided that workers and unions undertook to respect the required
notification period. At year's end, employers expressed concern about a
short plant occupation, which occurred when management announced plans
for a mass layoff. In addition, trade union elections were held during
the year for representatives to the workers council's safety and health
committees. The International Labor Organization has complained that
the absence of specific criteria for the selection of employer and
trade union representatives to the National Labor Council left broad
discretionary power to the Government. There are no export processing
zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age of employment for children was 15. Youths between the ages
of 15 and 18 could participate in part-time work/study programs and
work full-time during school vacations. The labor courts effectively
monitored compliance with national laws and standards. There were no
industries where any significant child labor existed.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly national minimum
wage for workers over 21 years of age was approximately $1,678 (1,243
euros); 18-year-olds must be paid at least 82 percent of the minimum,
19-year-olds 88 percent, and 20-year-olds 94 percent of the minimum.
The national minimum wage, coupled with extensive social benefits,
provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
As of January 2003, the standard workweek could not exceed 38
hours. Many collective bargaining agreements (negotiated by sector) set
standard workweeks of fewer hours and prohibited work on Sundays. The
law requires overtime pay for hours worked in excess of the standard.
Work done from the 9th to the 11th hour per day or from the 39th to
50th hour per week are considered allowable overtime. Longer workdays
are permitted only if agreed in a collective bargaining agreement. The
Ministry of Labor and the labor courts effectively enforced these laws
and regulations.
There are comprehensive provisions in the law for worker safety. In
some cases, collective bargaining agreements supplemented these laws.
Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations that
endanger their safety or health without jeopardy to their continued
employment, and the law protects workers who file complaints about such
situations.
__________
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The 1995 General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (the Dayton Accords) created the independent state of
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), previously one of the constituent
republics of Yugoslavia. The Agreement also created two multiethnic
constituent entities within the state: The Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina (the Federation) and the Republika Srpska (RS), along with
the independent District of Brcko. The Federation has a postwar Bosnian
Muslim (Bosniak) and Croat majority, while the RS has a postwar Bosnian
Serb majority. The Constitution (Annex 4 of the Dayton Accords)
established a federal democratic republic and assigned many
governmental functions to the two entities, which have their own
governments. The Accords also provided for the Office of the High
Representative (OHR) to oversee implementation of civilian provisions.
The OHR has the power to impose legislation and remove officials who
obstruct the implementation of the Dayton Accords. Candidates of the
three main nationalist parties, the Bosniak Party for Democratic Action
(SDA), the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), and the Croatian Democratic
Union (HDZ), won seats to the tripartite BiH Joint Presidency in
elections in 2002 that were regarded as generally free and fair;
Bosnian Croat Dragan Covic, Bosnian Serb Borislav Paravac, and Bosniak
Sulejman Tihic make up the BiH Presidency. In the Federation, the
President, Niko Lozancic, appointed the Prime Minister, Ahmet
Hadzipasic, subject to parliamentary approval. In the RS, the
President, Dragan Cavic, and vice presidents were directly elected,
while the RS National Assembly selected Prime Minister Dragan
Mikerevic. On December 17, Mikerevic resigned from his post in reaction
to international community-sponsored sanctions against the RS for its
failure to arrest indicted war criminals, notably wartime Bosnian Serb
leaders Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. The RS National Assembly had
not approved a new prime minister-designate by year's end. The law
provides for an independent judiciary; however, it remained subject to
influence by nationalist elements, political parties, and the executive
branch.
The Constitution gives the Government of each entity responsibility
for law enforcement. The Stabilization Force (SFOR), led by NATO,
continued to implement the military aspects of the Dayton Accords and
to provide a secure environment for implementation of the nonmilitary
aspects of the settlement. On December 2, SFOR transferred the
stabilization mandate to a European-led force (EUFOR). NATO
headquarters in Sarajevo retained responsibility for overseeing defense
reform, counter-terrorism efforts and cooperation with the U.N.
International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The smaller
European Union Police Mission (EUPM) succeeded the U.N. International
Police Task Force (IPTF). EUPM's mission is to monitor, mentor,
inspect, and raise standards of the local police. In addition to
locally recruited police forces, the entities maintained separate
armies. The armies are under state-level Presidential authority. Entity
governments generally maintained control of security forces. Some
members of the police and security forces in both entities committed a
number of human rights abuses.
The economy remained in the early stages of transition to a market
economy, and a large percentage of the economy remained in the public
sector. The country, with a population of approximately 4.1 million,
had significant levels of both industrial and agricultural production.
The projected economic growth rate for the year was 5 percent. Wages
and benefits were not diminished by inflation, since the country had an
inflation rate of less than 1 percent during the year. Although
statistics varied, unemployment was estimated at 40 percent.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
Police continued to abuse and physically mistreat detainees and other
citizens; however, police accountability for individual abuses
improved. Overcrowding and antiquated facilities continued to be a
problem in prisons. The judiciary in both entities remained subject to
influence by dominant political parties and by the executive branch.
Enforcement of judicial decisions by local authorities improved during
the year; however, obstacles remained due to lack of administrative
capacity in the enforcement courts to handle this caseload.
Infringement of privacy rights occurred and was particularly targeted
towards minority returnees.
Pressure and harassment of the media by authorities and dominant
political parties continued. Incidents included bureaucratic
harassment, intimidation, published insults, and character attacks, and
threatening behavior; however, threats of violence diminished. Academic
freedom was constrained by ethnic favoritism and politicization of
faculty appointments. Both entities Governments' and private groups
continued to restrict religious practice by minorities in majority
areas; religious discrimination remained a problem. Although there were
some restrictions on freedom of movement, the situation continued to
improve. The rate of returns of refugees and displaced persons declined
during the year. The security situation in sensitive return areas and
police responsiveness to incidents targeting minority returnees did not
improve. The RS continued its de facto refusal to take action against
any Serbs indicted by the ICTY; the Federation generally cooperated
with the ICTY, although it did not facilitate any new transfers.
Noncompliance with ICTY obligations continued to undermine the rule of
law in the country.
Isolated instances of political, ethnic, or religious violence
continued. Discrimination against ethnic minorities continued. The
political leadership at all levels continued to obstruct minority
returns in certain localities. Trafficking in women and girls was a
serious problem, which the Government took considerable steps to
address.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
The investigation into the 2002 killing of Zeljko Markovic, Police
Chief of Serb Sarajevo, was ongoing at year's end and police still had
not identified the perpetrator.
On January 15, the Federation Supreme Court upheld the Cantonal
Court's 2003 acquittal of six defendants charged in the 1999 bombing
that killed former Federation Deputy Interior Minister Jozo Leutar.
Domestic courts and the ICTY continued to adjudicate cases arising
from crimes committed during the 1991-95 conflicts (see Sections 1.e.
and 4).
During the year, 16 persons were killed in landmine incidents and
27 were injured. The BiH Mine Action Center cleared 1,658 square miles
of mined territory during the year; 3,016 anti-personnel mines, 210
anti-tank mines, and 1,523 pieces of unexploded ordinance were found
and destroyed.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 persons remained missing from the
wars in 1991-95. During the year, the Federation Commission for Missing
Persons and RS Office for Detained and Missing Persons carried out 454
exhumations of mass or illicit gravesites with the technical forensic
support of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). The
exhumations recovered 997 sets of human remains and 767 partial
remains. In August, officials uncovered one of the largest gravesites,
containing 240 complete bodies and 209 partial remains believed to be
those of Bosniak victims of the notorious Omarska prison camp operated
by Serb militia in the summer of 1992.
In October, the new State Law on Missing Persons created the
national Missing Persons Institute (MPI); however, it was not fully
functional by year's end. The Institute was tasked with absorbing the
entity-level missing persons commissions and continuing the search for
missing persons of all ethnic groups in partnership with the ICMP. The
law also established a statewide central database on the missing and
provides for social benefits to families of missing persons.
During the year, ICMP's DNA laboratory generated 2,588 matches that
may lead to the identification of 1,754 individuals. ICMP also
collected 18,428 blood samples from surviving relatives to assist in
the future identification of the 7,789 missing persons represented by
these samples.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that,
since 1995, it had received requests from family members to trace
21,415 persons missing from the war years. By December 31, a total of
5,590 persons had been accounted for (400 of whom were found alive).
The ICRC chairs the Working Group on Persons Unaccounted For, which
encompasses participants or observers involved in tracing missing
persons. The ICRC and the Red Cross Society of BiH also initiated a
countrywide campaign to gather ante mortem data on missing persons,
which was available to aid in the identification of remains.
The RS government established an independent Srebrenica Commission
in order to comply with March 2003 Human Rights Chamber decision which
ordered the RS Government to inform families of the fate of their
missing relatives from the Srebrenica massacre and to investigate
thoroughly the events giving rise to the massacre and report on the
results of the investigation. The Commission issued an interim report
in June, in which RS authorities took responsibility for the massacre
for the first time. On November 15, the Commission released the final
portion of its report. The Commission found that there were 7,806
confirmed victims. A classified annex of documents implicating an
unknown number of war crimes suspects was turned over to the RS
authorities for investigation. Former RS Prime Minister Mikerevic and
RS President Cavic acknowledged publicly for the first time that large-
scale war crimes took place in Srebrenica and apologized to the
relatives of the victims on behalf of the RS government. The families'
associations reiterated their desire to see the perpetrators of the
massacre brought to justice as soon as possible.
By year's end, 1,438 victims of the Srebrenica massacre had been
buried; 1,304 of them were interred at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial
and Cemetery.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
physical mistreatment of prisoners by police still occurred. According
to the EUPM and the RS and Federation Professional Standards Units
(PSUs), the number of complaints against police officers remained at
approximately the same level during the year as in 2003. Investigations
and accountability into police misconduct improved during the year (see
Section 1.d.).
Reports of violence against minority communities continued in
several areas, particularly in the eastern RS and Herzegovina; however,
police investigation of these incidents and police protection in
general remained at the same level as in 2003 (see Sections 2.d. and
5).
There continued to be numerous violent incidents directed at
returning refugees (see Sections 2.d. and 5). Violence against
journalists, including physical assaults, continued (see Section 2.a.).
Prison standards for hygiene and access to medical care met
prisoners' basic needs; however, overcrowding and antiquated facilities
remained chronic problems. Conditions were worse in police detention
facilities, where overcrowding and inadequate food and hygiene were
chronic problems. Corruption among prison officials continued to be
problematic. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of prison
riots; however, there were some incidents of ethnically motivated
violence in prisons. There were no separate prisons for female or
juvenile inmates. Adult and juvenile female inmates were held together
in separate wings of facilities for adult males. Male inmates under 16
were held separately, while male juveniles aged 16 to 18 were housed
with adult male inmates. Pretrial detainees were held separately from
convicted criminals. Some prisoners were regularly granted weekend
furloughs to visit their families.
The Government permitted visits by independent human rights
observers; international community representatives were given
widespread and generally unhindered access to detention facilities and
prisoners in both entities as well.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitutions of both the
entities and the country prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and
the Government generally observed these prohibitions.
Both the Federation and the RS maintain their own police forces, as
does the District of Brcko, and there are three primary levels of law
enforcement in the country: The state-level BiH Ministry of Security
(MOS), which does not maintain a police force but is supported by the
State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the State Border
Service; the Federation Ministry of Interior (FMUP); and the RS
Ministry of Interior (RSMUP). The RSMUP has a centralized structure
with five public safety centers (PSCs) throughout the RS that report
directly to the RSMUP. The structure of the FMUP is not centralized;
each of the 10 cantons has its own cantonal ministry of interior that
functions autonomously from the FMUP. Neither the FMUP nor the RSMUP
are required to report to the MOS. Although they share information,
these structures function quasi-independently of one another because
each structure has jurisdiction over different offenses. For example,
the MOS has responsibility for state-level crimes, such as terrorism
and trafficking in persons, where the RSMUP and FMUP have
responsibility for local crimes like homicide.
On June 15, the State Parliament passed the Law on the State
Investigation and Protection Agency, giving SIPA executive authority to
investigate serious crimes, including terrorism, trafficking,
narcotics, organized crime, war crimes, and money laundering. By year's
end, SIPA had hired 281 of its projected 800 employees.
Police in the RS generally did not meet target standards of ethnic
representation, as mandated by various agreements; however, the number
of minority police officers in each entity police force increased
slightly.
The EUPM acted in an advisory capacity to entity police forces,
with a limited mandate. Professional Standards Units (PSUs) functioned
as internal affairs investigative units in each of the entity MUPs and
Brcko District. The presence of these units led to the processing of
complaints of police misconduct and discipline of police in accordance
with standard procedures. The FMUP police internal affairs units
investigated 91 complaints regarding excessive use of force during
arrest, and found 7 to be grounded. The investigators concluded that
the amount of force used was appropriate in all cases. There were no
other reported cases of physical mistreatment of detainees or other
citizens by police during the year.
During the year, the RS PSU investigated 951 cases--724 citizen
complaints, 221 supervisor complaints, and 6 cases treated as others. A
total of 69 complaints were determined to be well founded; 23 were
dismissed (4 agreed terminations, 18 statutory limitations and 1
complaint was dropped). In 57 cases assessed as major violations of
duty, initiatives for disciplinary procedures were forwarded to
appropriate prosecutors.
During the year, the Federation PSU investigated 152 cases, 8 less
than in 2003. PSU investigators concluded that 67 complaints were well
founded; 29 were unfounded and 50 were dropped. The 56 cases that were
deemed to be major violations of duty were forwarded to prosecutors for
appropriate disciplinary action.
There were continued reports of corruption at the highest levels.
Investigations conducted by local police in cooperation with the
international community, including the EUPM and SFOR, resulted in
several ministers and police officials being fired or prosecuted (see
Section 3).
The Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) specifically delineates the
manner in which warrants are to be issued and judges, prosecutors, and
police received training on these procedures. The process of obtaining
search and arrest warrants became more routine during the year.
The CPC requires that persons suspected of committing a crime must
be taken before a prosecutor within 24 hours after detention. This
requirement was observed in practice. The prosecutor has an additional
24 hours to determine whether the person should be released or to bring
the person before a judge to decide if they should remain in pretrial
custody. Police are also authorized to detain individuals for up to 6
hours at the scene of a crime for investigative purposes. Detainees are
allowed to request a lawyer of their own choosing (if they are
indigent, a lawyer will be provided for them) and to inform family
members of their detention. In practice, indigent defendants were not
always provided with lawyers, particularly for minor offenses. There
was a functioning bail system. There were no reported cases of
arbitrary arrest or detention during the year.
An individual in pretrial detention has the right to be informed of
all charges against him or her once an indictment has been handed down.
Under the CPC, a trial must be undertaken in a speedy manner and
normally occurs within 3 months of the indictment being issued.
However, a substantial backlog of cases from the old system existed in
all jurisdictions.
Prior to the enactment of the CPC in 2003, prolonged pretrial
detention was a problem. However, under the CPC, pretrial detention
cannot last longer than 1 month after the individual is taken into
custody. Custody may be extended no longer than 6 months in exceptional
cases.
In 2002, the Human Rights Chamber ordered the State and Federation
Governments to pay compensation to each of the six Algerian terrorism
suspects who were transferred to a foreign government's custody. By
year's end, the State Government paid $3,333 (5,000 KM) to the families
of all six suspects; however, the Federation government did not pay any
compensation.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Both the Federation and RS
Constitutions provide for an independent judiciary; however, the
executive branch and political parties exercised some influence over
the judicial system. The judiciary was not always able to protect the
rights of victims and defendants. The internationally supervised
reappointment process of judges and prosecutors was completed to help
curb the influence of political parties on the judiciary. Some judges
and prosecutors who showed independence were sometimes subject to
intimidation, and at times local authorities refused to enforce their
decisions. Judges and prosecutors were reluctant to pursue actively
some serious or politically controversial cases in order to avoid
potential conflict with political leaders or organized crime figures.
Both the Federation and RS Constitutions provide for open and public
trials and provide the accused with legal counsel.
The High Judicial Prosecutorial Councils (HJPC) had the sole
authority to appoint and discipline judges and prosecutors to all
courts. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel oversaw complaints against
judges and prosecutors and recommended punishment or removal as
necessary.
Some politicians and other powerful figures continued to exert
influence on cases. Judicial reform efforts have somewhat reduced the
impact of intimidation efforts by organized crime figures and political
leaders. Despite efforts to streamline court procedures, a large
backlog of unresolved cases remained a problem.
Enforcement of civil judgments remained weak; however, there was
sufficient cooperation from local officials and police in implementing
court decisions. Enforcement problems persisted due to organizational
inefficiency and a large backlog in the enforcement courts. Decisions
of the Constitutional Court were generally respected and implemented in
practice.
Since April, when restructuring of courts and prosecution agencies
in the entities was completed, judicial and prosecutorial posts have
been filled by open competition.
The State-level Court is the highest court in the country. The
court and prosecutor's office are responsible for investigating and
prosecuting crimes enumerated under the Criminal Code in accordance
with the CPC. Both entities have separate Supreme Courts and
Prosecutor's offices, as well as cantonal courts in the Federation,
district courts in the RS, and the municipal courts, which are the
lowest courts in both entities.
Trials are public and the defendant has the right to present his
own defense or to defend himself with the professional aid of an
attorney of his choice. If the suspect or accused does not have a
defense attorney, the CPC stipulates that an attorney shall be provided
if the accused is charged with a crime for which long-term imprisonment
is prescribed. The CPC and Criminal Code provide the defendant with the
right to confront or question the witnesses and to present witnesses
and evidence on his behalf. All defendants have the right to appeal.
Due to limited court budgets, defense attorneys were not always
appointed for indigent defendants in cases where the maximum possible
sentence was less than 10 years.
Implementation of decisions of the Human Rights Chamber, and its
successor institution, the Human Rights Commission of the
Constitutional Court, by local authorities improved somewhat in the RS;
however, both the Federation and the RS failed to comply with a number
of Chamber decisions, especially decisions regarding welfare
compensation and return of real property to lawful prewar owners.
In general, the judicial system as a whole remained unprepared to
prosecute war crimes cases domestically; however, the creation of the
Special Chamber for War Crimes in November significantly improved its
ability to prosecute and adjudicate war crimes at the state level. The
legal framework establishing the Special Chamber and changes to the CPC
and Criminal Code necessary to try war crimes in the country were also
adopted in November.
The local prosecution of war crimes cases proceeded slowly due to
political interference and lack of experience; however, authorities
made some progress during the year with the arrest and trial of
suspects in the domestic courts. The lack of witness protection also
hampered prosecution of organized crime and trafficking in persons.
In January 2003, the Banja Luka District Court Prosecutor issued an
indictment against 11 Prijedor police officers who had detained members
of the Matanovic family. In 2001, police discovered the bodies of
Catholic priest Tomislav Matanovic and his parents, who disappeared
from Prijedor in 1995, in the well of their family residence in
Rizvanovici. The ICTY approved the transfer of this case to the
domestic judicial system. After a number of procedural delays, the RS
Supreme Court ultimately rejected all the defendants' objections in
October and remanded the case to the RS District Court. RS Prosecutor
Branka Milosevic claims that the slow progress in the case was
attributable to the large number of witnesses and the fact that the
procedure was being conducted in accordance with the old CPC. At year's
end, the trial continued in Banja Luka District Court.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
The mandate of the Commission for Real Property Claims (CRPC), an
institution created by Annex VII to process claims for property
wrongfully taken during the 1992-95 war, ended in 2003. The CRPC was
unable to resolve approximately 50,000 private property claims because
they involved conflicting documentary evidence and required a hearing,
which was beyond the CRPC's mandate. Municipal housing authorities
subsequently decided most of these cases, although an estimated 1,300
cases remained unresolved by year's end. These cases were transferred
to municipal authorities for adjudication in December. The necessary
memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the transfer of responsibilities
to the domestic CRPC (DCRPC) was signed in May, 5 months after the end
of the CRPC's mandate. The DCRPC Commissioners began reviewing cases in
mid-October.
The Government had almost completed the implementation of property
law, which requires that all property that was wrongfully taken during
the recent war be returned to its rightful owners. By year's end, the
overall property law implementation rate was 92.95 percent, and 128 out
of 129 municipalities had completed their caseload of claims. The
Federation, the RS and Brcko District returned between 92.8 and 96.1
percent of the property. In an additional 6 percent of cases, municipal
authorities ruled against the claimant, so no repossession took place.
At year's end, Banja Luka was the last municipality still processing
claims.
During the year, the Human Rights Commission of the Constitutional
Court issued 49 decisions on the merits, including cases regarding
violations of property rights, employment discrimination and procedural
violations of the CPC.
During 1998, the Federation army unlawfully took control of
approximately 4,000 abandoned apartments owned by the former Yugoslav
military (JNA). Federation authorities encouraged postwar illegal
occupants of these apartments to purchase them. In the meantime, the
prewar owners of the apartments (former JNA officers, mostly Bosnian
Serbs) began filing claims to return to their property. After
inadequate action by local authorities, several of these cases were
brought before the Human Rights Chamber, which decided that apartments
owned by JNA officers should be returned. Federation authorities
continued to refuse to evict the current residents or to allow prewar
owners to regain possession, in violation of the Dayton rules for
property implementation. The Constitutional Court ruled in September
that the Federation's legislation that prohibits ownership of property
in the Federation by anyone who served in the JNA after May 19, 1992
(effectively disenfranchising all Bosnian Serbs with claims to these
properties) is constitutional. Because most claimants to these
apartments have been allocated apartments elsewhere (mostly in Serbia),
the Court held that the Federation has the right to uphold the legal
principle applied in the former Yugoslavia, which holds that citizens
cannot have tenancy rights to more than one apartment at the same time.
The MOU authorizing the transfer of responsibilities to the DCRPC
specifies that the appeals shall be decided in accordance with
international law except where it conflicts with Bosnian law. The
Constitutional Court's decision suggests that the DCRPC will have to
rule in favor of the current occupants of the JNA apartments, a
position inconsistent with international legal principles; however,
until the DCRPC rules on these cases, the situation remains unresolved.
The Constitutional Court received 1,150 new cases during the year
and processed all but 1 of the 7,065 old cases filed between 1999 and
2003. By year's end, the Court had approximately 840 cases still
pending. Enforcement of Constitutional Court decisions improved
significantly during the year; the relevant government authorities
enforced the Court's orders in all but five cases during the year.
Roma displaced from their property during the war had difficulty
repossessing their property because of discrimination and lack of
adequate information on the necessary procedures (see Section 5). In
many cases, Roma families also lacked documents proving ownership or
had never registered their property with local authorities. This lack
of documentation prevented them from applying for reconstruction
assistance. The legal status of informal Roma settlements also remained
unresolved.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however,
authorities in some areas infringed on citizens' privacy rights.
In the RS, police routinely conducted searches of private homes
without obtaining search warrants, citing emergency provisions in the
law even in routine cases. While this problem was not as common in the
Federation, it occasionally occurred.
There were forced evictions that required police involvement in
during the year, especially in Banja Luka municipality; however, the
overall number of forced evictions was less than in previous years.
Police and local authorities generally understood that property laws
needed to be implemented in a prompt and fair manner. In some
politically sensitive cases, police delayed their intervention in order
to avoid conflict. For example, in Banja Luka, police gave members of
an extremist organization of Croatian Serbs additional time to move out
of the apartments they had been illegally occupying, but ultimately
carried out a number of forcible evictions during the year.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government has not
always respected these rights in practice. Laws safeguarding freedom of
the press were delegated to the cantons in the Federation, and to the
central authorities in the RS.
The constitutional right to freedom of speech is generally
respected in practice. Individuals can criticize the Government without
fear of reprisal and frequently did so.
There were some restraints of freedom of the press and instances of
open threats from government officials still occurred. Unlike in
previous years, media outlets were more commonly subject to less overt
pressure, such as the loss of advertising opportunities and limitations
on access to official information.
The RS adopted the Defamation Law in 2001 and the Federation
adopted it in 2002. The Defamation Law prohibits criminal cases against
journalists for defamation, although they can still be sued in civil
court. The Defamation Law meets international standards for media
legislation; however, courts did not always have sufficient experience
and training to interpret the Defamation Law correctly.
Many independent, privately owned newspapers were available.
Several printing houses operated, precluding the formation of a
publishing monopoly. Dnevni Avaz, whose editorial policy strongly
reflects Bosniak interests, remained the largest circulation daily. In
the RS, the influence of the government-owned printing company and
newspaper, Glas Srpski, has declined from a near monopoly. The
independent, Banja Luka-based newspaper, Nezavisne Novine, ran its own
print shop, which provided printing facilities to other newspapers as
well.
The largest television broadcasters were Federation Television
(FTV) in the Federation and Radio Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS)
in the RS, both entity-level Public Broadcasting System (PBS) stations.
In August, Bosnia and Herzegovina Television launched its program for
the entire country. In addition to a local commercial network of five
stations in both entities (Mreza Plus), there were dozens of small
independent television stations located throughout the country. Radio
broadcasting in the Bosniak-majority areas of the Federation,
particularly in Sarajevo, Zenica, and Tuzla, was similarly diversified.
Opposition viewpoints were fully reflected in the news programs of
independent broadcasters. Independent or opposition radio stations
broadcast in the RS, particularly in Banja Luka. One of these, Nes
Radio, reported a wide variety of political opinions. During the year,
many radio stations broadcasting in Croat-majority areas distanced
themselves from hard-line nationalistic views and covered opposition
viewpoints.
Politicians and government officials also pressured the media by
accusing them of opposing the interests of a given ethnic group, or
betraying the interests of their own ethnic group. Given the communal
tensions in the country, these accusations are used as a form of
intimidation. During the year, members of leading nationalist parties
(SDA and HDZ) accused FTV of being both anti-Bosniak and anti-Croat. In
addition, a popular talk show host was accused of working against
Bosniaks and his family fell victim to verbal harassment several times
during the year (see Section 2.c.).
According to independent media analysts, BiH media outlets
supported or criticized political parties and policies by choice rather
than under coercion. Nevertheless, government officials, particularly
in the RS, occasionally exerted economic pressure by directing the
advertising business of government-owned companies away from media
critical of officials or official policies.
In August, the RS Police Director publicly labeled the journalists
of RTRS and Nezavisne Novine as members of ``a group dedicated to
discrediting him'' and ``a dangerous lobby and domestic enemy.'' The
BiH Coordinating Committee for Journalist Associations (CCJA) strongly
condemned the police director's behavior and demanded his resignation.
The police director ultimately resigned, but for reasons unrelated to
the CCJA's statement.
During the September pre-election campaign in the RS, one of the
candidates for mayor of Banja Luka publicly accused editors of several
independent and public media outlets in this entity of being financed
and influenced by foreign countries. The candidates alleged that a
Banja Luka-based independent newspaper was a branch of the CIA in the
RS, and that the director of public broadcasting was appointed by the
international community to destroy the RS.
The CCJA immediately reacted to these allegations, labeling them a
``call to lynch journalists,'' and making a formal complaint to the
Election Commission of BiH. The Banja Luka representative of the CCJA
said that the journalist in question did not plan to bring a lawsuit
against this candidate. As a result of the complaint, the Election
Commission revoked his candidacy and fined his party approximately
$7,000 (10,500 KM) (see Section 3).
Another ``lynching call'' occurred in October, when unknown persons
put up posters with a photograph of the owner of a Sarajevo-based
independent political magazine, along with his email address and the
address of the magazine. These posters claimed the owner slandered the
head of the Islamic community in the country by characterizing him as
immoral, and called on all those disturbed by this to contact the
owner. According to the magazine, this was the first time in the
history of independent Bosnian journalism that a public ``warrant'' was
issued against a journalist.
Independent media investigating ordinary and organized crime
received several anonymous threats after publishing stories. A
journalist investigating a murder in Sarajevo was verbally attacked in
the street, while another editor received a cell-phone text message
that he would be killed after a suspected criminal, mentioned in the
editor's newspaper, was released from prison. In July, another editor
approached a foreign Embassy with a similar concern. He had been
warned, after publishing a story on local crime, that the criminals
might target him.
In February in the RS, the editor-in-chief of Nezavisne Novine and
the head of the RS Helsinki Committee for Human Rights received
anonymous telephonic death threats. This occurred after Nezavisne
Novine printed a statement by the nongovernmental organization (NGO)
criticizing the work of the RS Ministry of Interior. The Ministry of
Interior reacted by issuing a press release, denying any connection
with the threats.
On September 6, a Mostar daily published a story by Nevres Dedic
about Muamer Topalovic's request to leave prison temporarily to visit
his family. In March 2003, Topalovic was sentenced to 35 years in
prison for murdering three persons and wounding a fourth in a
religiously motivated crime. Angered by the story, Topalovic called
Dedic from prison, demanded a denial and a published apology, and
threatened to murder the journalist. Dedic informed the police about
the threat. An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
Journalists were subject to harassment as a result of a government
wiretapping scandal. The journalists' phones were not tapped; however,
doctored transcripts of conversations they held with a minister and
former BiH President who were under surveillance were published in
newspapers, resulting in threats to the journalists. The BiH Parliament
investigated and concluded that the surveillance was unjustified, of
questionable legality and had resulted in human rights violations.
Parliament made a series of recommendations to the State Government to
prevent such abuses in the future.
During 2003, the Media Helpline was transferred to the CCJA from
under the auspices of international organizations (OSCE and OHR).
Beginning March 1, the Committee functioned as a local organization,
receiving numerous calls from journalists and ordinary citizens from
all parts of the country. On average, it addressed four to five
violations of journalist rights per month. The help line maintains a
web page and published press statements on these violations.
In March, journalists from FTV Gorazde asked for assistance from
the Media Help line because of pressure from the station's director by
restricting their right to report freely and objectively.
The Public Broadcasting Law (passed in 2002) established the PBS
with both entity-level broadcasters as components and codified the
regulatory responsibilities of the state-level Communications
Regulatory Agency (CRA). Additional legislation is needed to clarify
ownership of PBS assets, as well as the licensing and regulatory
relationship between public broadcasters and the CRA.
The CRA functioned effectively under a locally selected Director,
and undertook the selection process to fully nationalize the CRA
Council. In general, the presence of the CRA, and the effectiveness of
its complaints procedure and enforcement provisions, considerably
reduced the level of inflammatory and hate language in the electronic
media. Electronic media operated in a more transparent and properly
regulated broadcast environment than they had previously.
Despite these improvements, the CRA's independence continued to be
hampered by government interference with its budget; however, the CRA
claimed that there was growing recognition within the Government that
the CRA's independence should be respected. Access to revenue from
broadcast license fees was blocked for much of the year in a dispute
with the Council of Ministers, although this was resolved
satisfactorily in August.
Since the adoption of the Defamation Law in 2002, approximately 300
cases were tried in cantonal and district courts in the Federation and
RS. This was three times higher than the number of charges brought in
the 2 years prior to the adoption of the law. Approximately 240 charges
were brought in Federation courts, 170 of them before Sarajevo's
cantonal court. In contrast to 2003, when only 3 cases were concluded
in the Federation, 35 first-degree convictions and 5 second-degree
convictions were handed down in the first 7 months of the year. In the
RS, less than 5 of approximately 50 pending cases have been decided,
leaving a total of about 250 cases undecided.
Although the incidence of defamation charges remained high in the
first 3 months of the year, with some 30 cases filed in Sarajevo Canton
alone, the number filed dropped substantially in the following 3
months, to less than 20. Public figures, politicians most of all,
tended to initiate charges. Journalists also frequently accused
colleagues of defamation.
The compensation sought by those filing charges continued to be
very high. However, in the 40 cases where courts reached decisions, 14
demands were totally rejected, while in most other cases the
compensation awarded was below $5,000 (7,500 KM).
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet. However,
for economic reasons, only about 5 percent of the population had
Internet access.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom; however, academic
freedom was constrained by ethnic favoritism and politicization of
faculty appointments. In Sarajevo, Serbs and Croats complained that
members of the Bosniak SDA party and Bosniaks generally received
special treatment in appointments and promotions at the University of
Sarajevo. The University of Banja Luka continued to limit faculty
appointments almost exclusively to Serbs. The University of Mostar
remained divided into eastern and western branches, reflecting the
continued ethnic divide in the city.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however,
authorities imposed some limits on this right, and indirect pressure
constrained the activities of some groups. A wide range of social,
cultural, and political organizations functioned without interference.
Although political party membership was not forced, many viewed
membership in the leading party of any given area as the surest way for
residents to obtain, regain, or keep housing and jobs in the
government-owned sector of the economy.
The Law on Associations and Foundations allowed NGOs to register at
the national level and therefore to operate throughout the country
without administrative requirements. Some NGOs or associations of NGOs
experienced difficulties at the Registry Office of the Ministry of
Civil Affairs and Communications. If the registration requests were
unusual or complicated, the Registry Office often rejected them without
explanation, forcing organizations to resubmit their requests.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, adherents of minority religions in non-ethnically
mixed areas had their right to worship restricted, sometimes violently.
The new state-level Law on Religious Freedom, passed in both Houses in
January, also provides comprehensive rights to religious communities
and confers upon them a legal status not previously held in the
country.
The RS Government, local governments, and police forces frequently
allowed or encouraged an atmosphere in which abuses of religious
freedom could take place, although there was improvement from previous
years. For example, two Islamic burial ceremonies took place at the
Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial and Cemetery in March and July without
incident. In late December, all the leading bishops of the Catholic and
Serb Orthodox Churches appeared at a joint press conference in Sarajevo
where they emphasized the need for tolerance, reconciliation and
forgiveness among the members of the two Churches. However, on a daily
basis, the absence of a police force willing to protect religious
minorities and a judicial system willing to prosecute crimes against
them, were major obstacles to safeguarding the rights of religious
minorities.
Ethnic symbols, clerics, and religious buildings were often targets
of ethnically motivated religious violence. Local police did not
conduct a serious investigation into several incidents.
In previous years, RS authorities frequently did not intervene to
prevent the violent obstruction of efforts to rebuild some of the 618
mosques and 129 churches in the RS that were destroyed or significantly
damaged during the 1992-95 war. However, approximately 30 mosques have
been rebuilt and reopened without incident in sensitive return areas,
such as Srebrenica in the eastern RS. Administrative and financial
obstacles to rebuilding religious structures continued to impede the
ability of minorities to worship and constrained their return in many
areas.
Under the new state Law on Freedom of Faith and Legal Position of
Churches and Religious Communities, passed in January, religious
communities must register with the state MHRR; however, the four major
established religious communities in the country (Muslim, Serb
Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish) were not required to re-register. Any
new religious group can register itself if it can prove it has at least
300 adult members. Two churches, which existed before the law went into
effect, applied for re-registration during the year and their
applications were pending at year's end. There were no new registration
requests by religious groups during the year.
Parties dominated by a single ethnic group remained powerful and
tended to identify themselves closely with the religion associated with
their predominant ethnic group; however, some political parties were
multi-ethnic. Some clerics characterized hard-line nationalist
political sympathies as part of ``true'' religious practice.
The Constitution provides for proportional representation for each
of the three major ethnic groups in the Government and military.
Because of the close identification of ethnicity with religious
background, this principle of ethnic parity in effect resulted in the
reservation of certain positions in the Government and military for
adherents or sympathizers of certain faiths. The military in the RS was
staffed overwhelmingly by ethnic Serbs and only had Serb Orthodox
chaplains. The Federation military was composed of both separate
Bosniak (Muslim) and Croat (Roman Catholic) units, and integrated
units; Muslim and Catholic chaplains were represented.
Public schools offered religious education classes, which were
mandatory for Serbs in the RS and, in theory, optional in other parts
of the country; however, in practice, they were offered only for
students of the majority religion in that area, amid pressure on the
parents to consent that their children attend religious instruction. In
some cases, children who chose not to attend the religion classes were
subject to pressure and discrimination from peers and teachers. Public
schools in Sarajevo offered only Islamic religion classes. In Croat-
majority West Mostar, minority students in practice did not have the
option to study non-Catholic religions as part of the formal school
curriculum. Orthodox symbols were present in public schools throughout
the RS.
The small Jewish community had approximately 1,000 believers and
was 1 of the 4 recognized religions under the law. Isolated acts of
anti-Semitic vandalism were reported. For example, in September,
several tombstones in the Jewish cemetery in Sarajevo were vandalized.
Jewish leaders alleged that there was a growing tendency for citizens
to mix anti-Israeli sentiment with rare acts of anti-Semitism.
In some communities, local religious figures contributed to
intolerance and an increase in nationalist feeling through public
statements and, on occasion, in sermons. For example, in September,
Cardinal Puljic, the leader of the Catholic Church in the country,
described some elements of the international community as ``anti-
Catholic'' and said that they would like to see Bosnian Catholics
immigrate or assimilate. In November, during Ramadan, a Sarajevo-based
local TV station broadcast the sermon of an imam who belittled the
religious beliefs of non-Muslims in the country.
During Easter, the Catholic Church seminary in Sarajevo was stoned.
In April, unknown perpetrators vandalized a Catholic cemetery in Banja
Luka.
On April 13, unknown perpetrators broke into the Travnik Parish
church in Ovcavero and stole approximately $4000 (6,000 KM).
In May, Federation authorities ordered the removal of crosses that
had been illegally constructed on public land in Stolac; however, they
had not been removed by year's end.
In September, construction materials on the site where a mosque was
being rebuilt in Visegrad were destroyed. Also in September, there was
open conflict between Bosniak returnees and Serbs who had come to
attend mass in an Orthodox church that was illegally constructed on
land belonging to a Bosniak returnee.
In October, gravestones in a Muslim cemetery near Prijedor were
desecrated. In November, two Bosniak minors from Mostar damaged
gravestones in the Catholic cemetery in Potoci.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, some limits remained in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
Accurate statistics on internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the
1992-95 war remained difficult to obtain. According to the UNHCR,
between the end of the war in 1995 and the end of November, 1,004,564
persons who left the country had returned. Of these, 447,767 were
returnees to areas where they represent an ethnic minority. The UNHCR
registered only 15,470 returns through November, of which 13,561 were
minority returns. These numbers are substantially lower than in 2003.
The difficult economic situation in the country remained the most
significant factor inhibiting returns, with many rural areas
experiencing unemployment rates in excess of 60 percent. This coincided
with a marked decrease in available reconstruction assistance. The
security situation for returnees did not improve during the year, and a
hostile atmosphere still existed in many areas. Many returnees cited
the failure to apprehend war criminals as a disincentive to return, as
they did not want to live in the same communities with persons who
committed war crimes and who have not been held accountable for them.
As more time elapsed since the end of the war, many refugees and
displaced persons were creating permanent lives for themselves away
from their prewar homes, and only those with few other options
(including a large number of elderly pensioners) tended to return.
Additionally, the needs for housing continued to outweigh available
resources. Municipal administration taxes on documents that are
necessary for return, such as birth or land certificates, remained
high. Minority returnees often faced societal violence, employment
discrimination, lack of access to health care in the place of return,
and denial of utility services such as electricity, gas, and telephone
by publicly owned utility companies. All of these problems decreased
from previous years, yet continued to persist in hard-line areas. On
December 2, Hrustan Suljic, President of the local Bosniak returnee
community near the central Bosnian town of Teslic, was killed in front
of his family home. Adil Osmanovic, the Vice President of the RS, and
other high-level RS government officials called for an investigation
that was ongoing at year's end.
Serbs continued to return in greater numbers to the Federation than
Croats did to the RS. Croat returns to the RS were low, as only 150
Croats returned to the entire RS during the year. During the year, 780
Bosniaks returned to Srebrenica, the site of the July 1995 massacre of
approximately 8,000 Bosniak men and boys. A total of 117 Bosniaks
returned to Visegrad and Bosnian Serbs in Visegrad continued to return
to the Federation, particularly to Sarajevo, Mostar and Konjic.
In the RS, the Refugee Ministry provided support to Bosniaks and
Croats returning to the RS and to Bosnian Serbs returning to the
Federation. The Federation Ministry for Refugees assisted Croats and
Serbs returning to the Federation and Bosniaks returning to the RS.
Both entity-level Ministries for Refugees provided limited
reconstruction assistance to returnees and also committed part of their
budgets to be implemented through joint projects to be determined by
the BiH State Commission for Refugees (SCR). In October, the SCR agreed
that 30 priority municipalities should receive reconstruction
assistance through the newly established Joint Reconstruction Fund
(JRF). By year's end, the State Government, the RS Ministry for
Refugees and Displaced Persons and Brcko District had paid into the
JRF. However, the Federation Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons
did not make its contribution by the December 31 deadline.
In January, the MHRR took over responsibility for implementation of
Annex VII of the Dayton Accords from the international community. Annex
VII provides for the return of property or adequate compensation to
lawful prewar owners. The administrative structure necessary to
implement Annex VII was in place but progress remained slow. For
example, the State Commission on Returns' ability to make decisions on
reconstruction and return priorities was hindered by nationalist
parties, who were unable to reach agreement on many issues. After many
months of discussions, the SCR compiled a list of 30 priority
municipalities in need of assistance; however, beneficiaries of this
assistance were not selected by year's end.
Some areas of Croat-controlled Herzegovina and some towns in
eastern RS remained resistant to minority returns. This was most often
expressed through official obstruction of returnees' access to local
services (i.e. municipal power and water, education, and health care).
For example, the government-owned RS electric company was obliged to
connect residents who live within 50 meters of an existing power line.
Despite repeated requests, they consistently failed to connect many
eligible returnee households, especially in the Srebrenica-Bratunac
area.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In June, the
MOS enacted the necessary bylaws for implementation of the asylum law.
In practice, the Government provided protection against refoulement,
the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution.
The Government generally cooperated with the UNHCR and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. As a result of the
conflict in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in 1999,
approximately 6,000 citizens fled FRY and came to the country; half
came from Kosovo, while the other half came from other parts of FRY. In
June, the Council of Ministers extended the temporary refugee status of
Kosovo refugees until June 2005; however, the status of all other
refugees expired on June 31. Refugees with pending asylum applications,
regardless of national origin, may remain in the collective centers
until their cases can be decided. According to the latest UNHCR
statistics, 635 refugees from Serbia and Montenegro, including refugees
from Kosovo, remained in 3 collective centers in the country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, the use of coercive tactics by some
nationalist parties precluded full citizen participation without
intimidation. In October 2002, the country held general elections,
which were the first since the Dayton Peace Agreement to be
administered and conducted by state-level authorities. The OSCE judged
them to be largely in line with international standards; however,
problems cited by observers included numerous voters unable to find
their names on voter registers, group voting, and intimidation in a few
cases. Voter apathy and low turnout were also problems. The nationalist
SDA and HDZ parties remained powerful, particularly in Bosniak and
Croat majority areas. The Serb-controlled SDS remained ideologically
committed to Serb cultural and religious authority in the territory of
the RS, where it won a significant plurality in the 2002 elections.
In October, domestic authorities held the first fully-funded and
locally administered elections throughout the country, including the
Brcko District, that were judged free and fair by OSCE and
international observers. The Election Commission removed one candidate
from contention after he made threatening remarks against journalists
during his campaign (see Section 2.a.). In some municipalities,
registered voters were not on voting lists, while some names of
deceased persons were improperly retained. Voter turnout was low,
particularly among voters under 30.
In the Federation, the President appoints the Prime Minister
subject to approval from the bicameral Parliament. Serious ethnic and
political rivalries continued to divide Croats and Bosniaks. In the RS,
the President and Vice Presidents are directly elected, while a Prime
Minister selected by Parliament heads of the Government. The
Parliament, called the RS National Assembly, is elected on a
proportional basis, and the Council of Peoples has the power to review
laws vital to national interest issues of any of the constituent
peoples. The Constitution allows Bosniak, Croat, or Serb
representatives in the RS Council of Peoples to block legislation they
believe threatens their group's vital national interest. In the city of
Brcko, which is a ``self-governing neutral district,'' an
internationally appointed supervisor with executive authority is
empowered to address such issues as taxation, law enforcement, district
management, and composition of the district assembly.
The State Prosecutor questioned one member of the country's
tripartite Presidency regarding his possible involvement in financial
crimes when he was serving as Federation Minister of Finance. The
investigation against him was ongoing at year's end (see Section 1.d.).
In February, state authorities arrested the local Interpol Deputy
Director on corruption charges. His trial in State Court was ongoing by
year's end. The 2003 Law on Civil Service bars citizens from holding
positions of public responsibility if they have pending criminal
indictments against them; however, there were no removals of persons
from office during the year. There was a widespread public perception
that corruption was common among members of Parliament and other senior
officials.
Although the Law on Freedom of Access to Information provides for
citizen access to government records and complies with international
standards for this type of legislation, many government agencies
experienced difficulties in complying with the Law due to lack of
sufficient staff and financial resources. For example, some agencies
have not yet prepared the required registry of documents available and
guidelines for access to them. According to the law, the Government
must provide an explanation for any denial of access. Citizens may
appeal denials in the court system or to the Ombudsmen's offices. There
are no fees associated with access requests, although requestors must
pay photocopying costs for documents longer than 10 pages. Public
awareness of the law's provisions (except among journalists) remained
low.
The Election Law requires that at least 30 percent of political
party candidates be women. These provisions increased the number of
female representatives from 2 percent at the state and entity level and
5 percent on the municipal level in 1996 to approximately 25 percent of
all elected positions after the October municipal elections. There were
7 women in the 42-seat House of Representatives (lower house). Of 15
delegates to the state House of Peoples (upper house), all of which
were appointed by entity legislatures, none were women. In the
Federation legislature, there were 21 women in the 98-seat House of
Representatives. In the RS, there were 15 women in the 83-seat National
Assembly.
Under the Dayton Agreement, only constituent persons--Serbs,
Croats, and Bosniaks--are eligible to be selected for government
positions. There was only one minority in a high government position:
Jacob Finci, a Jewish man who was the Director of the Civil Service
Agency. While other minorities can hold these offices, the law does not
compel their appointment and therefore they remained underrepresented.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. Domestic NGOs
have become more active. For example, the Helsinki Committee of BiH was
active in monitoring the local elections and drawing attention to hate
speech by candidates and religious leaders during the pre-election
campaign.
While NGOs enjoyed relative freedom to investigate human rights
abuses, they rarely were successful in persuading the authorities to
respond to their recommendations. NGOs' interventions were often met
with delays or categorical refusal by government authorities.
The Government cooperated fully with international organizations
such as the OHR, which has special powers over the Government as well
as other international organizations such as the UNHCR, ICRC, OSCE, and
ICMP.
Although the RS National Assembly passed a law on cooperation with
the ICTY in 2001, the RS made no effort to arrest indictees. In the
eastern RS, Foca and Pale remained under sanctions for their
noncooperation with the ICTY. The two most wanted Bosnian war crimes
suspects, wartime commander of the RS Army Mladic and wartime RS
President Karadzic, remained at large.
Many, if not most, of the perpetrators of killings and other brutal
acts committed in previous years remained unpunished, including war
criminals indicted by the ICTY, persons responsible for the
approximately 8,000 killed by the Bosnian Serb Army after the fall of
Srebrenica, and those responsible for approximately 15,000 to 20,000
others still missing and presumed killed as a result of ``ethnic
cleansing'' in the country (see Section 1.b.).
During the year, police transferred 10 persons indicted for war
crimes to the ITCY for prosecution. In addition to the ICTY, 21 arrest
warrants were issued against accused persons who remained at large, and
37 accused persons were transferred and released following the
completion of legal proceedings. Also, eight Bosnian Serbs were
arrested in October for war crimes against Muslims and were transferred
in November from the RS to Sarajevo Cantonal Court where they await
prosecution. The ICTY held 52 accused in custody, while 11 accused have
been provisionally released.
The case in the ICTY against Slobodan Milosevic, the former
President of Serbia and Montenegro (FRY) who was charged with 66 counts
of crimes against humanity in Croatia and Kosovo and genocide in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, remained ongoing at year's end. In February, the ICTY
rendered decisions against Bosnian Serbs Miroslav Deronjic and Ranko
Cesic for war crimes committed in 1992 at the Luka prison camp near
Brcko. Deronjic was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Cesic to 18
years. Also in February, the ICTY also began the trial of Momcilo
Krajisnik, a senior military official in the wartime Bosnian Serb army.
He was charged with two counts of genocide and five counts of crimes
against humanity. His trial was ongoing at year's end. In July, the
ICTY concluded its case against Bosnian Muslim Generals Enver
Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, both charged with war crimes against
Bosnian Serbs and Croats in Central Bosnia in 1993-94. At year's end,
the two were awaiting sentencing in The Hague. The war crimes trial of
Naser Oric, Commander of the Bosnian Army in the Srebrenica area, began
in October and was ongoing at year's end.
The Constitutional Court handles all human rights cases filed after
January 1. The backlog of the Human Rights Chamber, whose mandate ended
in December 2003, was transferred to the Constitutional Court in
January. The Human Rights Commission (HRC), consisting of five judges
from the Human Rights Chamber, was appointed to address this backlog.
By year's end, the HRC had resolved 3,235 of the 8,807 cases it
received. Of the 5,572 cases transferred to the HRC, approximately
2,500 were cases seeking the return of foreign currency accounts
stemming from a series of bank failures in the immediate post-war
period.
The country has nine Human Rights Ombudsmen, three at the state
level, and three each representing the Federation, the RS and Brcko. In
January, three citizens replaced the international Ombudsman at the
state level. Of the three Ombudsmen institutions, the Federation
Ombudsmen were the most active during the year. The Federation and RS
Ombudsmen investigated citizens' complaints of human rights violations
and issued recommendations. The Government rarely implemented their
recommendations, especially in employment discrimination cases.
Cooperation between the entity Ombudsmen and the State Ombudsmen was
not well established. Citizens' remedies for human rights violations
included filing civil suits or seeking assistance from the Ombudsmen.
However, the Ombudsmen's recommendations were not followed in many
cases, and the civil court system had major backlogs.
The Federation, RS and State Parliaments had Human Rights
Committees and Committees for Gender Equality. Although their reports
and recommendations were considered to be independent and unbiased,
they were ignored in practice at all levels of government.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution and the entities' Constitutions broadly prohibit
discrimination in accordance with the principles of international law;
however, discrimination against minorities, women, gays and lesbians,
persons with disabilities and others was pervasive.
Women.--Violence against women, including spousal abuse and rape,
remained a widespread and underreported problem. The Helsinki Committee
for Human Rights in the country estimated in 2003 that 25 percent of
all families have experienced some form of domestic violence. Based on
local surveys, other local NGOs reported incidence of domestic violence
of up to 60 percent. Prevalence was generally higher in rural areas,
and appeared to have increased during the year due in part to the
worsening economic situation in many parts of the country. In a study
conducted by one local NGO, respondents cited alcoholism and poverty as
the two most common triggers for domestic violence against women and
children. Spousal rape and spousal abuse also are illegal in the
Federation and the RS; however, domestic violence usually was not
reported to the authorities. A sense of shame reportedly prevented some
victims of rape from coming forward to complain to authorities. There
was an increased police presence in the field, and NGOs working on
women's issues were active and appealed to the Government and to the
public numerous times to raise public awareness of the issue.
Police received specialized training to handle cases of domestic
violence. Several local NGOs operated the S.O.S. Phone Service, a 24-
hour hotline open to victims of domestic violence for assistance and
counseling. There were five shelters that provided assistance to women
and children who were victims of domestic violence, located in Mostar,
Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Modrica.
Trafficking in women for purposes of sexual exploitation was a
serious problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Prostitution is illegal. Pimping is considered a major crime, but
working as a prostitute or solicitation are minor offenses punishable
by a fine only. Police raids on bars and brothels have driven
prostitution underground and it frequently took place in private
apartments or on an incall and outcall basis. More local women were
working as prostitutes, and single mothers or other vulnerable women,
particularly from economically depressed rural areas, were at higher
risk for recruitment by pimps during the year. NGOs who work on women's
rights issues oppose the legalization of prostitution, which was
proposed by some politicians but never approved in Parliament.
The law does not prohibit sexual harassment and the media reported
that sexual harassment was a very serious problem that was poorly
understood by the general population. There are no accurate statistics
available on the incidence of sexual harassment, but many women
surveyed by NGOs reported experiencing events in their workplaces that
meet the definitions of sexual harassment. Victims of sexual harassment
almost never filed complaints, largely because they did not recognize
their experiences as sexual harassment, often considering them a normal
part of employment for women.
Discrimination against women remained a serious problem. The 2003
state Law on Gender Equality prohibited gender-based discrimination. In
April, the State Government decided to establish a state-level Agency
for Gender Equality; however, it was not functioning by year's end.
Women served as judges, doctors, and professors, although few women
held positions of real economic or political power. Women have been
discriminated against in the workplace in favor of demobilized
soldiers. A small but increasing number of gender-related
discrimination cases were documented. Anecdotal accounts indicated that
women and men generally received equal pay for equal work at
government-owned enterprises but not always at private businesses.
Women in all parts of the country encountered problems with regard to
the nonpayment of maternity leave allowances and the unwarranted
dismissal of pregnant women and new mothers. Many job announcements
openly advertised discriminatory criteria such as age (typically under
35) and physical appearance of female applicants.
Women remained underrepresented in law enforcement agencies,
although progress continued. According to guidelines for accreditation,
police forces should allocate 10 percent of their positions for
qualified female candidates. Most units had about 4 percent, although
some had as many as 20 percent. Overall, the FMUP had 8.5 percent women
police officers and the RSMUP had 19.5 percent women police officers,
mostly in administrative positions. Among the authorized police
officials and crime police in the RS (personnel with powers to
investigate crimes and make arrests), 4.6 percent were women. Several
recent graduating classes from the country's police academies contained
up to 80 percent women. Recent classes also had a larger number of
ethnic minorities compared with past years.
Children.--The Government was generally committed to the rights and
welfare of children. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child is
incorporated by reference in the Dayton Accords and has the effect of
law in both entities. Nevertheless, social services for children were
extremely limited. Children with disabilities lacked sufficient medical
care and educational opportunities.
Education was free and compulsory through the age of 15; however, a
lack of reliable statistics as to attendance and level of school
completed hindered efforts to ensure that all school-age children
received an education.
The presence of Roma in schools was sporadic and Romani children
were often absent from the later grades of primary and secondary
schools. Some NGOs reported that Romani girls often did not attend
school after the fifth grade of primary school, and some of them were
married at 12 to 14 years old. According to the country's yearly
Helsinki Committee Human Rights Report, up to 70 percent of Romani
children did not attend school regularly. Many Romani children were
unable to attend school due to extremely poor living conditions, lack
of proper clothing and the inability to purchase the necessary
schoolbooks. These factors, often combined with verbal harassment from
other students, language problems, and the costs and requirements of
registration, were the most common reasons leading to the exclusion of
Roma from schools, despite a willingness of many parents to enroll
their children. During the year, the OSCE organized a campaign to
encourage Romani parents to legally register their children's births
and to enroll them in school.
Medical care for children in the Federation was controlled solely
at the canton level. Therefore, whether or not children received any
medical care from the Government depended on the budget of the canton
in which they lived. Medical care for children in the RS was controlled
by the RS Ministry of Health. Children up to 15 years of age were
entitled to medical care free of charge under the law; however, in
practice, unless they had medical insurance paid for by their parents,
children often did not receive medical care. There was no
discrimination between boys and girls concerning medical care.
Family violence against children was a problem, but there was no
societal pattern of abuse against children. Police investigated and
prosecuted individual cases of child abuse; however, no statistics on
the prevalence of the problem were available. Children continued to
suffer disproportionately from the societal stress of the postwar era.
Some NGOs estimated that one in four families experienced some form of
domestic violence, including physical, mental or sexual abuse of
children.
Trafficking in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
According to statistics released in 2002 by the MHRR, 118,785 of
the 553,419 displaced persons from the country were children. At year's
end, the UNHCR and the entity refugee ministries launched a re-
registration campaign for displaced persons and refugees.
During the year, five children were killed and one child was
injured in landmine incidents.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons remained a serious problem. There were
reports that police and other officials were involved in trafficking.
Under the new Criminal Procedure Code passed in March 2003,
trafficking in persons is a State-level crime with a sentence of up to
10 years' imprisonment. The Federation and the RS harmonized their
criminal codes and the State-level MOS is responsible for coordinating
anti-trafficking law enforcement activities at all levels of
Government.
Authorities intensified their efforts to combat trafficking during
the year. The State Prosecutor's Office has exclusive jurisdiction over
all trafficking cases and can decide which cases to prosecute at the
State level, and which cases to send to the entity levels. The National
Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, whose mandate includes coordination of
victim protection efforts among NGOs, police, and government
institutions, as well as coordination of law enforcement initiatives,
reports directly to the MOS. By year's end, the National Anti-
Trafficking Coordinator's office completed its update and revision of
the National Action Plan and strategy for implementation for 2005
through 2007.
The Government's major anti-trafficking initiatives, overseen by
the National Coordinator's Office, included the adoption of the new
rulebook on the Protection of Alien Victims of Trafficking in Persons
in April and the new asylum bylaws in June.
The anti-trafficking strike force, a nationwide interagency
investigative task force to combat trafficking in persons, was chaired
by the chief State Prosecutor and includes prosecutors, police, and
financial investigators. It specifically targeted trafficking and
illegal migration. There were four major strike force investigations
that resulted in prosecutions during the year. Since its inception in
2002, the strike force has concluded 209 investigations. These cases
have led to 16 indictments, 2 acquittals and 3 dismissals for lack of
evidence.
The anti-trafficking actions of local authorities were coordinated
within this centralized State level framework for fighting trafficking.
For example, the IPTF-initiated Special Trafficking Operations Program
was replaced by an initiative led by local authorities in coordination
with the EUPM, called the Fight and Intervention Against Human
Trafficking (FIGHT) initiative. In August 2003, the owner of Club Edo
in Kiseljak was arrested for trafficking, and 13 of the women working
in his bar were taken to the Forum of Solidarity, a local NGO that
sheltered trafficking victims. However, none of the 13 women were
identified as trafficking victims by the Government and were deported
from the country 2 months later. In July, the club owner was convicted
of international procuring for prostitution and sentenced to 15 months
in prison.
Local police involvement was primary, with EUPM involvement in
actual operational and organizational issues limited to an advisory
capacity. Under the FIGHT team initiative, each local government unit
had a dedicated trafficking officer, and these officers were
coordinated through their respective entity MUP. Each entity MUP was
represented on the BiH State level Anti Trafficking strike force,
allowing state-level strike force investigations to regularly benefit
from local, on the ground investigation and intelligence work.
In March, a major trafficking investigation resulted in the
conviction of five traffickers from the Prijedor area. Milorad
Milakovic and three co-conspirators pled guilty to charges including
organized crime, human trafficking and recruitment of foreign citizens
for prostitution. They received sentences ranging from 2 to 9 years in
prison and 14 associates were also charged and placed in detention. In
another major trafficking case in Sarajevo, a bar owner, his wife and
another employee were charged with procuring, pandering and tampering
with evidence. The trial was ongoing at year's end.
The country was a destination and transit point, and, to a lesser
extent, a country of origin for women, girls, and in a few cases,
teenage boys trafficked for sexual exploitation. There were allegations
of corruption and official involvement in trafficking. There were no
reliable current estimates on the number of trafficked women and
previous estimates varied considerably. Because police raids have
forced trafficking activities further underground, useful estimates of
the true scope of the problem are difficult to formulate. During the
year, IOM assisted 65 victims, of whom 45 were repatriated. Of the 65
victims, 12 were citizens.
Over 90 percent of trafficked women in the country came from
Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. A significant number may have transited
on to Western Europe, but no reliable estimates were available.
According to the IOM, most victims reported being lured by false job
offers, such as advertisements offering work in Italy or Germany as
dancers, false marriages, waitresses, and domestic servants. Some NGOs
reported that trafficking victims have been lured into the country by
promises of marriage to traffickers or their associates, while others
knowingly entered into false marriages to obtain work and residence
permits. Most trafficked women entered the country through Serbia-
Montenegro. Those who transited the country continued on via Croatia.
The IOM reported Bosnian victims in other parts of Europe and local
NGOs observed some Bosnian victims within the country.
The perpetrators of trafficking came from a variety of backgrounds,
including freelance operators, local crime gangs, and large
international organized crime syndicates. Some employment, travel, and
tourist agencies also fronted for traffickers.
Victims reported working in conditions akin to slavery, with little
or no financial support. They were coerced to remain in these
situations by intimidation, seizure of passports, withholding of food
and medical care, and even physical and sexual assaults.
There continued to be reports of police and other official
involvement in trafficking, particularly at the local level. In
October, border police arrested a member of the RS MUP's elite special
unit near Bijeljina while he was attempting to cross into the country
from Serbia with two suspected trafficking victims in his car. He was
immediately suspended from duty. The investigation was ongoing at
year's end. There were no PSU investigations related to official
involvement in trafficking during the year.
Although the presence of international civilian and military
personnel has contributed to the trafficking problem, the local
population actively sustained it. Anecdotal evidence provided by
trafficking victims suggested that their clientele is now about 70
percent locals and 30 percent internationals, a reversal of the
situation just a few years ago.
During the year, local NGO Forum of Solidarity took over operating
the main shelter in Sarajevo and ran one safe house in Doboj where
victims received medical care, counseling, repatriation assistance and
limited vocational training. Other NGOs ran four additional safe
houses, located in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar and Bijeljina. Police
provided protection for the shelters. Despite these programs, the IOM
and other sources reported that fewer victims sought assistance during
the year, and that shelters were not fully utilized. NGO employees
reported that women told them that they did not trust local police and
feared traffickers would not hesitate to pursue them if they left. With
international assistance, local authorities and NGOs cooperated more to
assist and protect victims.
There were three primary trafficking NGOs in the country: Lara in
Bijelina, La Strada in Mostar, and Forum of Solidarity in Tuzla and
Sarajevo. During the year, NGOs assisted 46 victims of trafficking.
These women were provided basic shelter, medical, psychological, and
legal assistance. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights (UNOHCHR) trained local attorneys to provide legal advocacy to
trafficking victims on a range of criminal and civil issues, including
their legal options regarding their immigration status (asylum,
repatriation or resettlement in a third country) and their legal rights
if they choose to testify against their traffickers.
During the year, cantonal prosecutors arranged the issuance of the
first humanitarian visa given to a trafficking victim. The new
provision for humanitarian visas for victims allowed rehabilitation and
protective services to be provided to them.
The IOM and government authorities initiated a preventative
information campaign against human trafficking geared towards at-risk
youth and victims of trafficking. For the first time, the Government
and IOM also targeted potential consumers of services provided by
trafficked women, namely Bosnian men between 18 and 49. The campaign
defined trafficking and provided information about services available
to trafficking victims, including a national toll-free hotline. Other
NGOs continued to be actively engaged in similar campaigns.
The media focused attention on the human costs of trafficking, as
well as the responsibility of the authorities to combat the problem.
Newspapers reported frequently on law enforcement actions against
traffickers, as well as on allegations of involvement by police. In
November, the AIDS-related death of a Ukrainian trafficking victim in
Mostar prompted national media coverage. Most of the initial coverage
blamed the victim for spreading disease and failed to distinguish
adequately between prostitution and trafficking, but the case raised
awareness of the trafficking problem in the country. Some commentators
criticized the Government and police authorities for not doing more to
fight trafficking in persons.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law in both entities prohibits
discrimination against persons with disabilities; however, there was
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment,
education, access to health care and in the provisions of other state
services. Throughout the country, there was clear discrimination
between different categories of persons with disabilities and the vast
majority of persons with disabilities were unemployed. For example,
persons with disabilities resulting from the war were given a de facto
privileged status that the civilian war disabled and persons who were
born with disabilities did not have. Children with disabilities were
often hospitalized in residential institutions or confined to their
homes and they rarely had opportunities to attend school; however, with
UNICEF assistance, there were 23 classrooms throughout the country for
special needs children, allowing them to receive individualized
education in regular primary schools.
In the Federation, the law mandates that all existing buildings
must be retrofitted to provide access to persons with disabilities by
November 2007. In February, the Federation passed bylaws mandating that
all new buildings must be accessible for persons with disabilities;
however, in practice, buildings rarely were accessible to persons with
disabilities. For example, one NGO for disabled war veterans conducted
an informal survey and found that only two shops in downtown Sarajevo
were wheelchair accessible.
The RS had comparable legal requirements for access, but progress
on retrofitting older public buildings was extremely slow due to lack
of funding and the complexity of the required renovations. Officials
from the RS Ministry of Urbanism, Construction and Ecology met several
times during the year with the Association of Paraplegics and other
disability rights NGOs to inform them about implementation of these new
legal requirements.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic differences remained a
powerful political force in the country; however, mixed communities
existed peacefully in a growing number of areas. To a limited extent,
nationalist Bosnian, Serb and Croat politicians sought to increase the
ethnic homogeneity of the population in areas they controlled by
discouraging IDPs of their own ethnicity from returning to their prewar
homes if they would be in the minority there (see Section 2.d.). The RS
Government was increasingly supportive of Bosniak and Croat returns to
the RS, and Bosniak returns to the Srebrenica area increased; however,
the RS continued to support integration of displaced Bosnian Serbs
within the RS using the war veterans' budget and at the municipal
level, land allocations.
While the incidents of violence decreased overall in the country,
follow-up investigations in a number of cases were problematic. Police
conducted investigations but consistently failed to apprehend and
charge perpetrators of ethnically motivated hate crimes.
On June 25, assailants broke windows in an elementary school in
Novi Seher that serves both Bosniak and Croat students. Only the area
of the school serving the Bosniak returnees was affected in the
incident.
In September, there were a number of incidents involving an
illegally constructed Serb Orthodox church on the land of a Bosniak
returnee in the town of Konjevic Polje, in the eastern RS. On September
11, Serbs seeking to celebrate mass in the church were prevented from
doing so by a group of Bosniaks, and a physical fight ensued. The
landowner was injured in this incident. A few days later, the RS
Ministry of Urban Planning agreed that the building was illegal and
should be relocated; however, the church had not been moved by year's
end.
In a related September incident, two Serb men angry over the
decision regarding the church threatened Refik Begic, the Bosniak
Speaker of Bratunac municipality. Local police quickly intervened and
prevented the incident from escalating to physical violence.
Harassment and discrimination against minorities continued
throughout the country, often centering on property disputes, despite
improvements in some areas. These problems included desecration of
graves, arson, damage to houses of worship, throwing explosive devices
into residential areas, harassment, dismissal from work, threats,
assaults, and even murder.
Discrimination in employment and education remained key obstacles
to sustainable returns. Widespread firing of ethnic minorities during
and after the war has not been reversed in most cases, and members of
the ethnic majority in a region often were hired over minorities in
places where they had been employees. Favoritism was also shown to
veterans and families of those killed during the war. Although
privatization of large state-owned enterprises was conducted under the
supervision of the international community, many smaller enterprises
have been sold to politically well-connected individuals, usually
members of the majority group in their communities. These enterprises
generally did not employ minorities. For example, none of the Croat-
owned businesses in Stolac employed Bosniaks.
The Roma population, estimated to be 40,000 to 80,000, faced
serious difficulties in exercising the full range of fundamental human
rights provided to them under the Constitution. Of particular concern
were issues regarding property rights and access to personal documents.
Roma displaced from their property during the war had difficulty
repossessing it because of discrimination and lack of adequate
information on the necessary procedures. Individuals who were allocated
social housing before the war often remained without housing. Those
living in informal settlements were left in a precarious situation as
local authorities could reallocate the land on which they resided at
any time. Lack of ownership documents also hampered repossession of
property and the provision of reconstruction assistance in cases where
housing was destroyed during the war. Lack of personal documents caused
many Roma to be excluded from public life because they lacked birth
certificates, identification cards or a registered residence. Many Roma
also could not access health care or register to vote. Only a small
number of Romani adults were in full time employment and Roma were
often denied social support; many relied on begging to subsist,
particularly Romani children.
Roma continued to lack access to education. While Romani children
were permitted to attend schools in all areas of the country, their
attendance was often low due to both pressures from within their own
community and from local non-Roma communities discouraging Romani
children from attending their schools.
Students in minority areas frequently faced a hostile environment
in schools that did not provide an ethnically neutral setting.
Obstruction by nationalist politicians and government officials slowed
international efforts to remove discriminatory material from textbooks,
abolish school segregation, and enact other needed reforms. At the
elementary and secondary school level, cantonal governments in the
Federation, and the entity Ministry of Education in the RS politically
pressured school directors. Several schools were directed by hard-line
political figures. A lack of financial resources led to teacher strikes
in the RS and in individual cantons in the Federation.
Administration and legal unification of the 52 cases of ``two
schools under one roof,'' with separate classes for Bosnian Croats and
Bosniaks, did not lead to integrated classrooms, although shared extra-
curricular activities, school entrances and recreation facilities often
resulted. Segregation and discrimination were entrenched in many
schools, particularly in the teaching of national history and religious
education. In the RS, non-Serb teaching staff at elementary and
secondary school levels remained below 5 percent of all teaching staff.
In the Federation, minority teachers comprised between 5 and 8 percent
of all teachers, depending on the Canton.
During the year, the Inter-Entity Textbook Review Commission
continued to review textbooks from the so-called national group of
subjects that were in use in all primary and secondary schools in the
country in order to remove any discriminatory or objectionable
material. However, there were textbooks in use outside the so-called
national group of subjects that were not subject to the review process
but contained material that was inappropriate. For example, the
textbooks on politics and economics used in schools following the
curriculum in Bosnian Croat majority cantons were produced in Croatia
and contained material considered slanderous and hurtful to Serbs.
Other cases were less explicit but were recognized as inappropriate or
controversial.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--While the Constitution
prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, this was
not enforced in practice and homosexuals were frequently discriminated
against. Attempts by gay and lesbian organizations to conduct a pride
march in Sarajevo were met with verbal abuse and physical violence in
which the police were reluctant to intervene. Homosexuals who were open
about their sexuality were frequently fired from their jobs. In some
cases, the dismissal letters explicitly stated that their sexual
orientation was the cause of their termination, making it extremely
difficult to find another job. Some gay teens were harassed at school
and were kicked out or ran away from home after coming out to their
parents.
Media depictions of homosexuality were often very negative. For
example, on September 7, the host of a popular TV talk show stated that
homosexuality is a disease, and that Bosniaks who are homosexual are
``un-Islamic traitors'' who give the world a bad image of Bosniak
people.
According to unreliable government statistics, there were only 64
cases of HIV/AIDS in the country. However, the number was likely higher
as the country lacks any comprehensive testing program. Because testing
was neither anonymous nor confidential and there was great stigma
attached to the diagnosis, very few persons would consider being tested
voluntarily. HIV/AIDS infection was a problem among prostitutes and
victims of trafficking. In November, the AIDS-related death of a
trafficking victim attracted national media attention and prompted a
number of local men to seek testing. Some NGOs reported that several
trafficking victims assisted in their shelters tested HIV-positive
during the year (see Section 5.).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The entity Constitutions and labor
laws allow workers (except members of the military) to form and join
unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive
requirements, and workers did so in practice. In the Federation, the
Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
(SSSBiH) represented most unionized workers. In the RS, the
Confederation of Trade Unions of the Serb Republic (SSRS) represented
most unionized workers.
The law in both entities prohibits discrimination by employers
against union members and organizers, in accordance with ILO standards;
however, this kind of discrimination continued. Practical barriers
existed for employees to bring complaints against employers, such as
high unemployment, a backlogged court system, and the large number of
workers in the gray economy. As a result, protections against
retaliation for union activity were not strong.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize; however, sanctions against
employers who obstruct union organizing were not imposed in practice.
Rates of unionization were lower in private companies, including newly
privatized companies. Some unions reported that employees of private
companies were threatened with dismissal if they joined a union.
Collective bargaining is provided for in the Law on Working Relations
in the RS and in a comprehensive collective bargaining agreement in the
Federation. However, collective bargaining in both entities does not
take the form of voluntary direct negotiation between a union and
individual employers. Rather, collective bargaining agreements largely
apply as work agreements between the Government and workers in the
public sector. In the Federation, there were no collective bargaining
agreements between private employers and unions. In the RS, the general
collective bargaining agreement applies to all workers and is
negotiated between unions, the government, and employers. This general
agreement applies to private companies whether or not their workers are
union members. In the District of Brcko, the labor law requires a
separate law for collective agreements; however, no law on collective
agreements has yet been passed, so workers there effectively did not
have the right to collective bargaining.
The law provides for the right to strike and workers exercised this
right in practice.
In April in the Federation, the SSSBiH staged a protest by several
thousand workers in front of the Federation Government building,
calling for more social protection for workers in the face of new
bankruptcy legislation. In August, workers at a metalworking company
went on strike over non-payment of back wages. In November, workers at
a shoe factory and at a foundry also went on strike over non-payment of
social contributions.
In the RS, the SSRS did not call any strikes. However, sector
strikes did occur. For example, in July, workers at a pipe-producing
factory went on strike over low wages and non-payment of social
contributions.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment of children in the Federation and in the RS
is 15 years and minors between the ages of 15 to 18 must provide a
valid health certificate in order to work. (In Civil Service Laws, the
minimum age is 18). The law prohibits children from performing
hazardous work, such as night work. Although child labor was not known
to be a problem, children sometimes assisted their families with farm
work and odd jobs. Romani children often begged on the streets,
particularly in larger cities.
There were no social programs to prevent the engagement of children
in exploitative child labor besides programs designed to combat
trafficking in persons (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Entity governments are responsible for enforcing child labor laws.
Neither entity has inspectors that are dedicated solely to child labor
inspections; rather, violations of child labor laws are investigated as
part of a general labor inspection. Both entities' labor inspectorates
reported that they have not found significant violations of child labor
laws in the workplace, although they did not conduct any reviews of
children working on family farms.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage in the
Federation was $184 (295 KM) and in the RS the ``minimum price of
work'' used as a base for the salary scale of government employees was
$51 (82 KM); however, neither provided a decent standard of living for
a worker and family. Many workers have outstanding claims for payment
of salaries and pensions. Employers are required by law in both
entities to make mandatory contributions to social funds; in total, the
contribution paid on each monthly salary was 68 percent in the
Federation and 52 percent in the RS. Employers often did not officially
register their employees in order to avoid paying high social welfare
benefits. Workers whose employers did not pay health insurance
contributions were not entitled to public health care.
The legal workweek is 40 hours; however, seasonal workers may work
up to 60 hours per week. The laws require that employers pay overtime
to employees. Overtime is limited to 20 hours (10 mandatory and 10
voluntary) in the Federation. In the RS, overtime is limited to 10
hours, although an employee may volunteer for an additional 10 hours in
exceptional circumstances.
The authorities failed to adequately enforce regulations related to
acceptable work conditions, because of the uncertain legal status of an
overwhelming number of workers. While the labor inspectorates made some
effort to enforce registration of employees, they essentially limited
most elements of labor inspections to the officially registered
workforce. In addition, the courts served as the ultimate recourse for
complaints for a registered worker, and the labor inspectorate in the
RS had to submit fines and penalties for court approval. Given the
backlog in the court system, this recourse was likely not effective. As
a result, many workers essentially worked without protections.
The law provides workers with the right to remove themselves from
situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardy to
their employment; however, this right was not enforced effectively in
practice.
__________
BULGARIA
Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy ruled by a coalition
government headed by Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha. The
Government took office in 2001 following the victory of his National
Movement Simeon II (NMSS) party in parliamentary elections that were
deemed generally free and fair despite some media irregularities.
Following presidential elections in 2001, Georgi Purvanov, former
leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), began his 5-year term in
2002. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however,
the judiciary suffered from corruption and wide-ranging systemic
problems.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is responsible for internal law
enforcement. The National Investigative Service (NIS), which provides
investigative support to prosecutors on serious criminal cases, is a
judicial branch agency and therefore not under direct executive branch
control. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective
control of law enforcement officers, there were some instances in which
law enforcement officers acted independently of government authority.
Some law enforcement officers committed serious human rights abuses.
The country has a market-based economy that was primarily service
based and a population of approximately 7.8 million. At year's end,
gross domestic product growth was estimated at 5.3 percent, and
cumulative inflation was 6.1 percent. While official unemployment in
November was 11.9 percent, down 1.6 percentage points from the
beginning of the year, the National Statistical Institute (NSI)
reported that long-term unemployed persons accounted for over 60
percent of total unemployment.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in several areas. Law
enforcement officers beat and mistreated suspects, prison inmates, and
members of minorities. Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems.
Problems of accountability persisted and inhibited government attempts
to address police abuses. Conditions in some prisons and detention
facilities were harsh. The executive and judicial branches continued to
struggle with wide-ranging systematic problems and suffered from
serious corruption.
There were restrictions on freedom of the press. The Government
restricted freedom of religion for some religious groups and societal
discrimination and harassment of nontraditional religious minorities
persisted but were much less frequent than in previous years. Societal
violence and discrimination against women were problems. Conditions for
children in state institutions were poor, and because of a lack of
funds, the social service system did not assist homeless and other
vulnerable children adequately, notably Roma and children with mental
disabilities. Trafficking in persons was a serious problem, which the
Government took some steps to address. There was some discrimination
against persons with disabilities and a serious problem of
discrimination against Roma. Child labor was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, on March 27, a police officer shot and killed a 25-year-old
Rom in Plovdiv after he reportedly refused to cooperate with police and
ran away during a routine traffic check. The MOI initiated an
investigation and temporarily suspended two officers from duty. The
investigation was ongoing at year's end.
There were no developments in the case against the forest guard
charged with murdering Stoyan Lazarov in August 2003, near Kyustendil.
On November 4, the Sofia Appellate Court heard the appeal of the
five defendants (three Bulgarians and two Ukrainians) sentenced to life
imprisonment in November 2003 for the 1996 murder of former Prime
Minister Andrey Lukanov.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, police
commonly beat criminal suspects, particularly during initial
interrogations.
Criminal suspects in police custody run a significant risk of being
mistreated, most often during initial interrogation. According to the
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), the number of complaints of police
abuse during detention decreased from 50 percent of detainees in 1999
to 30 percent during the year. In July 2003, the MOI issued
instructions for medical personnel in all detention centers to
investigate and document all injuries and traumas suffered by
detainees. Medical examinations were conducted in areas where
nonmedical personnel were not permitted access; prosecutors were
informed if medical personnel believed injuries or traumas were a
result of torture or maltreatment. However, human rights groups claimed
that allegations of police abuse were very seldom properly
investigated, nor were offending officers consistently punished.
On January 16, two police officers unleashed their dog on Assen
Zarev, a Rom, in Sofia, after questioning him about the whereabouts of
some other men. The officers reportedly beat Zarev and threatened to
shoot him. The police released Zarev after firing warning shots to
disperse the gathered crowd and later, the police officers stated that
some of the Roma had assaulted them. Zarev reportedly obtained a
forensic medical certificate, describing injuries consistent with the
allegations of ill treatment.
On March 22, police from the Second Police Station in Plovdiv
handcuffed and beat 22-year-old Boris Daskalov after he was summoned
for questioning. The BHC reported that Daskalov was beaten on the soles
of his feet with rubber truncheons and a piece of cloth placed in his
mouth to silence him. He was released the following day. After
obtaining a forensic medical certificate for the injuries, he filed a
complaint with the military prosecutor. In April, the MOI Inspectorate
confirmed that the police officers exceeded their powers; as a result,
two police officers were dismissed, and their direct supervisor was
demoted.
Under the criminal code, any complaints about police beatings are
required to be heard by judges. Human rights monitors reported that
they received many complaints from persons who were too intimidated to
lodge an official complaint with the authorities. Human rights
observers charged that police sometimes handled minor offenses by
arresting suspects, beating them, and releasing them within a 24-hour
period, so that no judicial involvement was required (see Section
1.d.).
Conditions in some prisons remained harsh and included
overcrowding, inadequate lavatory facilities, and insufficient heating
and ventilation. All prisons were more than 70 years old. The
Government expected that the introduction of a probation system in 2005
would partially alleviate the problem of overcrowding in prisons. At
the end of June, the average prison density was 122.2 percent, with
overcrowding at the prison in Bourgas being the worst (208.4 percent
density); only the youth labor correction hostel in Boichinovtsi, the
women's prison in Sliven, and the prison in Pazardjik were not
overcrowded. The amount and type of food served was based on a table
approved by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in coordination with the
Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance. To meet the minimum
caloric consumption, the average cost of food per day per prisoner was
approximately $0.79 (1.18 leva); however, only two-thirds of that
amount was allocated for food in the prisons budget. Nongovernmental
organization (NGO) prison monitors reported that brutality by prison
guards against inmates continued to be a problem, despite MOI
instructions in August 2003 on detention procedures that were intended
to reduce abuses. There were also reports of brutality among inmates.
The process for prisoners to complain about substandard conditions or
mistreatment did not function effectively. A new detention center
opened during the year in Turgovishte and 13 other detention centers
were closed due to poor and inadequate conditions, bringing the total
number of detention centers to 52. Two more new detention centers (in
Elhovo and Bourgas) were under construction. The MOJ reported that, at
year's end, there were 858 charged persons in the country's detention
centers and 10,871 persons (of whom 348 were arraigned, 1,640 were in
trial phase, and 8,883 were convicted) in the country's 12 prisons.
Men and women were held in separate prisons; the prison in Sliven
was reserved for women. In all prisons, pretrial detainees were held
separately from convicted prisoners. The MOJ also reported that there
were 90 minors in the labor correction hostel in Boichinovtsi, which
was used to hold persons under age 18 and was less restrictive than
prisons.
The Government generally permitted requests by independent
observers to monitor conditions in most prisons and detention
facilities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there were some restrictions
on these rights.
The MOI is responsible for oversight of internal law enforcement
including activities of the National Police, the National Service for
Combating Organized Crime (NSBOP), the National Security Service
(civilian domestic intelligence), the National Gendarmerie Service
(paramilitary police), and the Border Police. Public order services,
such as the National Intelligence Service and National Bodyguard
Service, were not subject to adequate judicial, executive, or
legislative oversight of their activities or budgets. Impunity remained
a problem; problems of accountability inhibited government attempts to
address police abuses.
The MOI reported that 37 complaints of corruption by police
officers were filed with the Military Prosecution Service between
January and October. During the same period, 69 police officers were
fired for corruption.
In March, all police officers received a copy of the 2003 Police
Code of Ethics, which was also included in the training curricula at
the Police Academy and in continuing education programs for police
officers. The curricula at the Police Academy and the Officers' Schools
also included human rights-related training in their mandatory courses.
Training in combating trafficking and assisting trafficking victims was
also offered to active-duty officers (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Although warrants are not always required for arrest, police
normally obtained them from a prosecutor prior to apprehending an
individual. If the person was released within 24 hours without being
charged, there was no judicial involvement in the case (see Section
1.c.). Persons could be detained for no more than 24 hours at the
request of an investigator or police officer; however, detention could
last for up to 72 hours if ordered by a prosecutor.
The law provides for bail, and it was widely used.
The Constitution provides for access to legal counsel from the time
of detention. In 2002, the MOI instituted a standard declaration
process for detainees to indicate their need for access to legal
counsel, medical attention, and family members.
While there were some continuing violations, the Government
generally observed the statutory limit of 1-year for pretrial detention
or 2 years in the case of the most serious crimes. In the event of a
conviction, the time spent in pretrial detention was credited toward
the sentence.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, problems in the judiciary remained,
including a lack of transparent and neutral standards for assigning
cases, poor coordination between magistrates (prosecutors,
investigators, and judges), corruption, and cumbersome procedures.
Human rights groups complained that magistrates sometimes failed to
pursue crimes committed against minorities. There were complaints that
the Supreme Cassation Prosecution led by the Chief Prosecutor failed to
vigorously prosecute serious criminal cases. In addition, the Supreme
Cassation Prosecution refused to cooperate with international observers
that advocated for judicial reform and spoke out against judicial
corruption.
Crime and corruption remained primary concerns of the Government.
The inter-ministerial anticorruption commission, established in 2002,
coordinated the efforts of each government agency's internal
inspectorate in fighting public corruption and engaged in public
awareness campaigns. During the year, the commission received 196
complaints of corruption, of which 11 were referred to the prosecution
service for further action. In addition, the commission referred 40
complaints against magistrates to the Supreme Judicial Council's
anticorruption commission.
While the Government implemented several measures in the fight
against corruption, the European Union (EU) reported that it remained a
problem and said that renewed efforts were needed to combat it,
including tackling high-level corruption. The European Commission's
regular report on Bulgarian accession to the EU, released in October,
cited the need for significant further efforts to fight against
organized crime and corruption, including further reforms of law
enforcement and the judiciary. Few major organized crime figures have
been prosecuted to date and only two have been convicted. According to
the NSBOP, approximately 110 organized crime groups operated in the
country.
Many observers believed that reforms were essential to establish a
fair, impartial, and efficient judicial system. In March, regulations
were enacted to implement the 2003 constitutional amendments limiting
magistrates' immunity and increasing their accountability. Additional
amendments to the constitution and the Judicial Systems Act,
particularly addressing the role of investigators, were prerequisites
to EU accession. During the year, the SJC replaced a large number of
court chairs, head prosecutors, and head investigators at all levels of
the judiciary in response to calls for judicial reform.
Observers noted modest improvement in the efficiency of moving
cases through the criminal system, although many serious systemic flaws
remained. Long delays in trials were common, and investigators and
police continued to struggle with a large backlog of outstanding
investigations.
The court system consists of regional courts, district courts,
appellate courts, military courts (on the district and appellate
levels), the Supreme Court of Cassation, and the Supreme Administrative
Court. The Constitutional Court, which is separate from the rest of the
judiciary, is empowered to rescind legislation that it considers
unconstitutional, settle disputes over the conduct of general
elections, and resolve conflicts over the division of powers between
the various branches of government. Military courts handle cases
involving military personnel (including MOI personnel) and some cases
involving national security matters. As a part of the judiciary,
military courts are independent from the military.
Judges are appointed by the 25-member SJC and, after serving for 5
years, cannot be removed except under limited, specified circumstances.
The 12 justices on the Constitutional Court were chosen for 9-year
terms; one-third were selected by the National Assembly, one-third
appointed by the President, and one-third selected by judicial
authorities. The internal mechanisms that inhibit corruption in the
judiciary were inadequate.
The Constitution stipulates that all courts shall conduct hearings
in public unless the proceedings involve state security or national
secrets, and authorities generally respected this provision. Defendants
have the right to know the charges against them and are given ample
time to prepare a defense. Defendants have the right to family visits
and to examine evidence. To enable a speedy trial, investigations must
last no more than 2 months under normal circumstances, although the
head district prosecutor may extend this to 6 months, and the Chief
Prosecutor may extend this to 9 months. Defendants in criminal
proceedings have the right to confront witnesses; they also have a
right to legal representation in all cases. Romani Baht, a Roma
advocacy NGO, provided legal counsel, particularly in cases of
discrimination and police abuse. When punishment of 10 years'
imprisonment or more could be imposed or when the defendant was a
juvenile, a foreigner, had mental or physical disabilities, or was not
present, the participation of a defense attorney is mandatory. The
right of appeal is provided for and was used widely.
During the year, an NGO appealed the 2003 increase in fees levied
on claimants in civil courts, and the Supreme Administrative Court
overturned the increase. The practice of plea-bargaining had not yet
effectively lightened the caseload for prosecutors. In addition, plea-
bargaining was perceived by many citizens as a way for the wealthy to
buy their way out of charges.
During the year, the Act to Combat Juvenile Antisocial Behavior was
amended to improve due process procedures. The amendments introduced
the right to an attorney during hearings and also transferred local
commissions' competence for imposing stricter measures (i.e. detention
in social or pedagogical boarding schools and educational reform
boarding schools) to regional courts. The amendments also ensure the
right to appeal all decisions of the local commission to the regional
court; regional court rulings for internment in social or pedagogical
and educational reform boarding schools can be appealed to the district
court.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these provisions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights and did not restrict academic freedom. Some NGOs
reported that significant numbers of journalists continued to feel
constrained in their reporting because of media outlet management,
political influence, and outside pressure.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister in June, 266 judges
criticized the manipulation of the media by MOI officials. Domestic
organizations cited politically motivated intimidation and dismissal of
journalists as a major problem.
A variety of newspapers were published freely by political parties
and other organizations representing the full spectrum of public
opinion.
There were no formal restrictions on programming and both
television and radio provided a variety of news and public interest
programming. State-owned media presented opposition views; however,
media observers believed that the inadequacy of existing legislation
left it vulnerable to government pressure. Despite this vulnerability,
Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), the state-owned news agency, was
highly regarded as being unbiased, and the state-owned Bulgarian
National Radio (BNR) was often one of the most outspoken critics of the
Government and its policies.
The state-owned Bulgarian National Television (BNT) broadcast
Turkish-language newscasts, and local affiliates of BNR broadcast
limited Turkish-language programming in regions with ethnic-Turkish
populations. The state-owned Radio Bulgaria increased its Turkish-
language broadcasting from 30 minutes to 3 hours per day and introduced
an hour of Roma-language programming per week. The state-owned Radio
Hristo Botev dedicated over 2,000 hours of its annual 7,800 broadcast
hours to minorities, ethnic issues, and a wide range of religious
affairs. Foreign government radio programs had good access to
commercial radio frequencies.
There were three reported cases of violence or threats of violence
against journalists. On January 16, the editor-in-chief of the Lovech-
based newspaper Naroden Glas, Tsvetan Todorov, reportedly received
death threats for reporting that former Socialist prime minister Zhan
Videnov worked for a local meat processing plant. In mid-February, the
Romani news agency De Facto closed its Sofia office for a week
following a number of anonymous threats. On September 1, following a
small explosion the previous night in front of its offices, the second
largest circulation national daily newspaper 24 Hours received
telephone threats that it could expect even greater explosions if its
journalists continued their investigative reporting about organized
crime groups.
Amendments passed in 2002 to the Radio and Television Act (RTA)
require the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) to issue radio and
television programming licenses only in accordance with the Strategy
for Developing Radio and Television Activities, which was developed by
the CEM and Communications Regulation Commission jointly and submitted
to the National Assembly; however, the National Assembly still had not
approved the Strategy by year's end. As a result, the CEM could not
promulgate new licensing procedures, and it was not clear when the
Government would resume licensing electronic media. While the CEM could
not initiate new tenders for television and radio programming licenses,
it was still able to transfer, amend, revoke, and terminate such
licenses and regulate programming.
In March, the CEM voted five to four to fire BNT Chairman Kiril
Gotsev for his decision over 2 years earlier not to allow the airing of
a rebuttal to comments made in a political talk show. The four
dissenting CEM members said that the motives for dismissal would not
hold up in court and walked out of the meeting after the vote. On
October 14, the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the CEM
decision.
During 2003, the CEM imposed 77 fines against television operators
and 13 fines against radio operators for violations of the RTA. In
November 2003, the CEM revoked the license of Union Television, owner
of the satellite channel Den, citing grave violations of the RTA for
allegedly broadcasting a television show that impaired morals. Union
Television appealed the decision, and in July, the Supreme
Administrative Court overturned the CEM's revocation of Union
Television's license.
Defamation is punishable under the criminal code. In most cases the
courts defined libel and interpreted the law in a manner that favored
journalistic expression. Fines for libel ranged from approximately
$2,000 (3,000 leva) to approximately $6,670 (10,000 leva); fines for
slander ranged from approximately $3,335 (5,000 leva) to $10,000
(15,000 leva). While these fines remained a heavy penalty in the
context of the country's economy, a report issued by the BHC claimed
that most damages and fines assessed in defamation cases were of a
reasonable nature. Amendments to the criminal code in 2002 eliminated
imprisonment as a penalty for defamation. The amended provisions also
removed the need for a prosecutor to file an indictment for slander or
libel by changing the nature of the offense to a private one where
complaints are filed directly by the party subject to slander or libel.
According to the BHC, the number of defamation suits brought against
journalists increased slightly over the past 3 years; however, the BHC
found that only a small number of cases concluded with the journalist
being fined. The majority of defamation cases were brought against
reports about corruption or mismanagement, and the most frequent
plaintiffs were government officials or other persons in public
positions.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
The law prohibits groups that endanger national unity or promote
and incite racial, national, ethnic or religious hatred, violate the
rights of citizens, or seek to achieve their objectives through violent
means. The Government undertook to respect the rights of individuals
and groups to establish freely their own political parties or other
political organizations. Although the Constitution prohibits the
formation of political parties along religious, ethnic, or racial lines
and prohibits citizens' associations from engaging in political
activity, in practice ethnic minority political parties operated during
the year and were active on the local and national level (see Section
3).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice for
some religious groups. The Constitution designates Bulgarian Orthodox
Christianity (BOC) as the ``traditional'' religion and the Government
provided financial support to it, as well as to several other religious
communities perceived as holding historic places in society, such as
the Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Jewish faiths.
All religious groups, with the exception of the BOC, must register
with the Sofia City Court before they can practice their beliefs in
public. Since the Court took over responsibility for registering
religious groups in 2003, the number of registered denominations has
increased, reaching 46 by year's end. The BHC has expressed concern at
the requirement for groups to submit a statement of beliefs when
applying for registration or re-registration, stating that this
constituted an infringement on their freedom of religion. There were
initial fears regarding the exclusive right of Religious Denominations
Directorate of the Council of Ministers to give ``expert opinions'' to
the court regarding registration matters; however, in practice the
Directorate only provides an opinion upon request by the court. Such
opinions have resulted in the rejection of registration for only one
denomination, the Achmadi Muslim Organization of the Muslim Achmadi
Community. However, all applicants have the right to appeal the denial
of registration through the Court of Appeals, where ``expert opinions''
from other sources can be submitted and taken into account. An appeal
by the Achmadi Muslim Organization of the Muslim Achmadi Community was
pending at year's end. Some local branches of nationally registered
denominations experienced problems with local authorities who insisted
that the branches be registered locally; for example, mayors in the
towns of Lovech, Troyan, and Vakarel exceeded their powers by demanding
that local branches of religious organizations provide documentation
not required by law. The law does not require local registration of
denominations, although some municipalities have claimed that it does.
For most registered religious groups there were no restrictions on
attendance at religious services or on private religious instruction. A
Jewish school, three Islamic schools, the university-level Islamic
Higher Institute, a Muslim cultural center, a multidenominational
Protestant seminary, and university theological faculties operated
freely. Bibles, Korans, and other religious materials in the Bulgarian
language were imported or printed freely, and religious publications
were produced regularly. The law prohibits the public practice of
religion by groups that are not registered.
On July 19, the Sofia City Court appointed Fikri Sali, Ridvan
Kadiov, and Osman Osmailov as interim representatives of the Muslim
community pending a civil court settlement of a leadership dispute. On
November 5, the Sofia Appellate Court overruled the appointment of the
triumvirate, stating that the Muslim community's leadership could only
be appointed on its own initiative and not by the Sofia City Court. At
year's end, the Muslim community was still without a legally registered
leadership awaiting the outcome of other court cases filed by opposing
factions in the ongoing leadership dispute. The dispute was a result of
the December 2003 election of two different chief muftis by bodies each
claiming to represent the Muslim community.
On July 20, prosecutors and police intervened in the BOC's 12-year
schism, taking the side of Patriarch Maxim and his ``Holy Synod.'' In a
nationwide operation, priests from the ``Alternative Synod'' were
forcibly evicted from around 250 churches and other properties, which
the ``Holy Synod'' claimed they were illegally occupying. The operation
resulted in several clerics being temporarily detained and police
closing and securing the properties. Following the operation, clerics
from the ``Alternative Synod'' continued to hold religious services
outside of the churches from which they had been evicted, and a number
of the synod's supporters staged protests against what they viewed as
illegal State intervention in an internal church dispute.
A number of religious groups complained that foreign missionaries
and religious leaders experienced difficulties in obtaining and
renewing residence visas in the country. The Law on Foreign Persons has
no visa category explicitly applied to missionaries or religious
workers, and rules for other categories of temporary residence visa
(such as self-employed or business-owner) have been tightened in ways
that reportedly make it more difficult for religious workers to
qualify.
The Jewish Community, the Muslim community, the Catholic Church,
and some Protestant denominations claimed that a number of their
properties confiscated under the Communist government were not
returned. A central problem facing all claimants was the need to
demonstrate that the organization seeking restitution was the same
organization--or the legitimate successor of the organization--that
owned the property prior to 1944. This was difficult because Communist
hostility to religion led some groups to hide assets or ownership and
because documents had been destroyed or lost over the years.
Relations between the major religious communities generally were
amicable; however, discrimination, harassment, and general public
intolerance of nontraditional religious groups remained an intermittent
problem. Human rights groups reported that societal discrimination
against nontraditional religious groups gradually lessened over the
last few years.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of refugee or asylum or refugee
status to persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating
to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they fear persecution; however, the U.N.
High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs, including the BHC,
expressed concern over the Government's handling of claims for refugee
and humanitarian status and reported that there may have been cases in
which possible bona fide refugees were turned away at the border. The
Government generally cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection (``humanitarian
status'') to persons who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951
Convention/1967 Protocol.
Persons entering the country legally are required to request and
file applications for refugee status within 72 hours of entering the
country, except in extraordinary situations. The law allows applicants
for refugee status to be interviewed immediately and, within 3 days of
the interview, applications are reviewed by a competent authority, who
determines whether they merit further processing. The law also provides
for the detention of foreigners who are deemed by the MOI to pose a
threat to national security, or who have committed serious crimes.
The UNHCR, in cooperation with the International Organization for
Migration (IOM), operated three transit centers near the Greek,
Turkish, and Romanian borders used to interview refugee applicants and
assisted the Government with a small reception center in Banya.
From January through November, the State Agency for Refugees
received requests for refugee status from 1,025 persons. During the
same period, refugee status was granted to 17 persons and humanitarian
status given to 234. The leading countries from which applicants
originated were Afghanistan, Iraq, Armenia, Algeria, Iran, and Nigeria.
There is an appeal process.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
In October 2003, local elections were held nationwide and the
opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party and Union of Democratic Forces
gained more electoral positions than the ruling NMSS. Ethnic minority
candidates, as well as the primarily ethnic-Turkish Movement for Rights
and Freedom (MRF), also fared better than in previous local elections.
The elections were deemed generally free and fair.
There was widespread public perception of corruption in all
branches and levels of government.
While freedom of information laws provide for public access to
government information, there were restrictions to such access in
practice. The NGO Access to Information Program reported approximately
140 cases where government institutions denied access to information
throughout the year.
There were no legal restrictions on the participation of women in
government and politics. There were 63 women in the 240-seat National
Assembly. A number of women held elective and appointive office at high
levels in the Government, including one Deputy Prime Minister (who also
was Minister of Economy) and four other ministers. Women also held key
positions in the National Assembly, including one Deputy Speaker and
the chairs of three standing committees and two ad-hoc committees. The
leaders of three of the seven parliamentary groups were women.
There were no legal restrictions on the participation of minorities
in politics; however, the Constitution prohibits ethnically, racially,
or religiously based parties (see Section 2.b.). Despite the
constitutional prohibition, the primarily ethnic-Turkish MRF was
represented in the National Assembly and was the NMSS's junior
coalition partner. Despite the MRF's influential position in local and
national politics, there was increased criticism of the party from both
within the ethnic-Turkish population and from political commentators
for portraying itself as the only guarantor of ethnic peace and
stability while using corruption and intimidation to maintain its
powerful position.
There were 24 minority members of parliament (M.P.s) in the 240-
seat National Assembly and 2 ethnic-Turkish ministers in the Cabinet.
The ethnic-Turkish community's popularly elected representation of 20
ethnic-Turks in the National Assembly roughly corresponded to its size.
There were also two Romani M.P.s and two ethnic-Armenian M.P.s in the
National Assembly; however, while the ethnic-Turkish minority was well-
represented, Roma were underrepresented in appointed government
positions, particularly leadership positions.
In the October 2003 local elections, 3 percent of municipal
councilors elected were Roma, and, according to Romani groups, a
considerable number of Romani mayors also were elected. The National
Association of Municipalities reported that Muslim candidates accounted
for 12.5 percent of municipal mayors and 15.2 percent of municipal
councilors elected in 2003. Over 300 political parties were registered,
including a number of predominantly ethnic-Romani and ethnic-Macedonian
parties.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigations of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Human rights observers
reported uneven levels of cooperation from various national and local
government officials during the year.
In general, human rights observers reported continued receptivity
and dialogue on the part of the Government and law enforcement officers
toward human rights concerns; however, law enforcement practices at the
working level had not changed noticeably.
Despite the passage of the Ombudsman Act in 2003 establishing an
autonomous ombudsman, the National Assembly failed to fill the position
by the year's end.
The Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights was active in
highlighting areas of concern throughout the year and introducing
legislation to combat abuses of human and civil rights.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for individual rights, equality, and
protection against discrimination; however, societal discrimination
existed against women and ethnic minorities, particularly Roma.
The law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, sex,
religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation and provides for the
establishment of a nine-member antidiscrimination commission with
powers to receive and investigate complaints, issue rulings, and impose
sanctions. However, the National Assembly had not appointed the
commission members by year's end. A number of cases were lodged for
breaches of the Protection Against Discrimination Act, and in July, a
Romani woman was awarded damages on the grounds of racial
discrimination for being refused service in a shop.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a serious problem;
however, there were no concrete statistics on its occurrence. In
assault cases resulting in minor bodily injury, the law requires the
victim to initiate criminal proceedings; however, victims often felt
constrained from doing so. Victims also often felt constrained from
reporting other cases of assault, limiting the number of assault cases
prosecuted by the judiciary. Courts and prosecutors tended to view
domestic abuse as a family matter rather than a criminal problem; as a
result, police often were reluctant to intervene in cases of domestic
abuse, even if a woman called them seeking protection or assistance.
The Government did not provide shelter or counseling for women. In
Sofia, the NGO Nadya Center provided shelter to battered women, and the
NGO Animus Association Foundation (AAF) operated a crisis center that
provided short-term emergency shelter for female victims of violence.
There were also 15 crisis centers around the country operated by local
NGOs that provided assistance to female victims of violence. The AAF
reported that it periodically received client referrals from the
police. During the year, the IOM reported sheltering 74 women and 9
girls, and the AAF sheltered approximately 50 women.
While the law does not specifically address domestic abuse, the
Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights approved legislation to address
and combat the problem. The legislation was awaiting final
parliamentary approval at year's end.
The AAF operated a 24-hour hotline for women in crisis, including
victims of trafficking, with trained volunteers as well as professional
therapists to counsel victims. The hotline also provided volunteers who
would assist victims in obtaining other necessary services including
medical exams and treatment, reissued identity documents, and
information on housing and employment opportunities.
Rape is a crime and was prosecuted, although it remained an
underreported crime because of the stigma that society attached to the
victim. Spousal rape, though not specifically addressed in the penal
code, can be prosecuted under the general rape statute; however, in
practice it was rarely prosecuted. Sentences for rape range between 2
and 8 years' imprisonment; sentences increase to between 3 and 10 years
if the victim is a descendent relative. In cases where rape results in
serious bodily injury or suicide of the victim, sentences range between
10 and 20 years.
Prostitution is not prohibited by law; however, a variety of
activities often associated with prostitution, such as pimping, are
illegal. Forced prostitution is illegal and remained a serious problem.
Poor socio-economic conditions contributed to a disproportionate number
of Romani women drawn into organized prostitution.
Trafficking in women was a serious problem (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, it was a widespread
problem. A survey conducted by the Agency for Social Research (ASR) in
2002 found that approximately 40 percent of women had suffered sexual
harassment in the workplace.
The Constitution prohibits privileges or restrictions of rights on
the basis of gender, and women were not impeded from owning or managing
businesses, land, or other real property and do not suffer from
discrimination under inheritance laws; however, women faced some
discrimination in terms of job recruitment. The Protection Against
Discrimination Act prohibits and provides sanctions against gender-
based discrimination.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP) had a number of
programs to address economic discrimination and integrate women into
the mainstream of society and the economy; much NGO activity also was
focused on these areas. Of the women's organizations that existed
mainly to defend women's interests, the two largest were the Women's
Democratic Union in Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Women's Association.
Children.--The Government generally was committed to protecting
children's welfare; however, government efforts in education and health
were constrained by serious budgetary limitations and by outmoded
social care structures. The Constitution mandates school attendance
until the age of 16. Public education was free, but children were
required to pay for books, which was a problem for poor families.
Although female and male primary enrollment rates have evened, overall
enrollment has decreased.
Romani children and ethnic-Bulgarian children generally attended
separate schools, partly due to self-imposed segregated neighborhoods,
although several localities instituted integration programs. Romani
children received an inferior quality of education. Additionally, the
Government was largely unsuccessful in attracting and keeping many
Romani children in school; the NSI and education experts estimated that
between 8 and 9 percent of Romani children have completed secondary
education. Many Romani children arrived relatively unprepared for
schooling; many were not proficient in the Bulgarian language.
The Government and NGOs undertook initiatives to address these
problems. They included free lunches, subsidized textbooks and tuition
costs, teacher's assistants in schools with Roma and ethnic-Turkish
students, and busing programs.
Conditions for children in state institutions were poor. Social
attitudes towards children with disabilities led families to
institutionalize their children if they had disabilities. In 2002,
there were 11,834 children in specialized institutions; however, in
September 2003, the Council of Ministers adopted a National Action Plan
for Reducing the Number of Children in Institutions, and by the end of
2003, the number of children in institutions had decreased by 9 percent
to 10,769. Human rights monitors were sharply critical of the serious
deficiencies in government-run institutions for children, including
orphanages, educational reform boarding schools, facilities for
children with mental disabilities, and shelters for homeless children.
Inadequate budgets, poorly trained and unqualified staff, and
inadequate oversight plagued these facilities. Access to medical care
and proper hygiene was poor.
Violence against children was a problem.
During the year, the Act to Combat Juvenile Antisocial Behavior was
amended to improve due process procedures for juveniles when they were
detained in educational reform boarding schools run by the Ministry of
Education and Science (see Section 1.e.). According to NGOs, living
conditions at these reform schools remained poor, offering few medical,
educational, or social services. At most of these institutions,
residents' needs for food, clothing and teaching materials remained
largely unsatisfied. Mixed-age classes and low levels of staff
motivation considerably impaired the teaching process.
Because prostitution is not illegal, children involved in
prostitution were not officially registered with the MOI's unit for
juvenile crime. However, they were viewed by the MOI as children at
risk. In 2003, there were 543 child prostitutes on file with the MOI.
Child prostitution reportedly was particularly common among Romani
youth.
Trafficking in children was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that Romani
children were targets of arbitrary police detention. Widespread poverty
led many Romani children to turn to begging, prostitution, and petty
crime on the streets.
As part of the National Strategy for the Children of the Street,
the State Agency for Child Protection (SACP) introduced a number of
programs to address the situation of street children. One of these
programs included putting street children in protective custody. In
December, the SACP reported that 625 children were known to be either
living or working on the streets and were primarily involved in
begging, prostitution, or car window washing; approximately 400 of
these children were believed to be exploited by adults.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking was a serious problem, and the country remained
primarily a transit country, and to a lesser extent a country of
origin. There was no evidence of a pattern of official complicity in
trafficking, although a number of individual law enforcement officers
and other government authorities were involved in trafficking.
In March, the National Assembly passed regulations implementing the
2003 Antitrafficking Act, which supplemented the 2002 amendment to the
penal code that made trafficking in persons a criminal offense. The
package of antitrafficking legislation provides protection and
assistance to trafficking victims and promotes cooperation between the
central government, municipal authorities, and NGOs for the development
of programs to combat trafficking. The National Antitrafficking
Commission, the primary coordination and policy-making body for
trafficking issues, was convened and held its first meeting in
December.
The punishment for trafficking in persons may include 1 to 8 years
in prison and fines up to approximately $5,300 (8,000 leva). If
aggravated circumstances exist--for example, a minor or kidnapping was
involved--penalties increase to 2 to 10 years in prison and fines of up
to approximately $6,670 (10,000 leva). Penalties for trafficking
persons across borders increase to 3 to 10 years' imprisonment and
fines of up to approximately $10,000 (15,000 leva). If the act of
trafficking in persons was carried out in connection with organized
crime or constituted a serious repeat offense, penalties increase to 5
to 15 years' imprisonment and fines of up to approximately $13,340
(20,000 leva), and the court could confiscate the traffickers' assets.
A variety of additional laws could be used to prosecute persons for
activities often associated with trafficking. Inducement to
prostitution is punishable by up to 3 years' imprisonment, and the
penalty rises to 10 to 20 years if the crime was performed by or
through an organized crime group, if the victim was a minor under age
18 or legally incompetent, if two or more persons were induced into
prostitution, or if the offense was repeated. Law enforcement officers
complained that because the minimum penalty was less than 5 five years'
imprisonment, they were not permitted to use special investigative
techniques, such as wiretapping, to deal with traffickers.
There were two police units, one within the National Border Police
and the other within the NSBOP, that specifically addressed the problem
of trafficking in persons. The Government investigated cases of
trafficking, and prosecutors filed 24 indictments against a number of
suspected traffickers during the year. The Supreme Court of Cassation
upheld the November 2003 conviction of rapper Vanko 1 and two of his
accomplices.
Victims overwhelmingly were women and girls trafficked for the
purposes of prostitution. Government authorities and NGO observers
reported that there were approximately 275 confirmed victims of
trafficking in 2002 that involved either internal trafficking or
domestic victims trafficked internationally; however, the actual number
of cases may be much higher. Women working in the sex industry formed a
high-risk group for trafficking, and it was not possible to determine
the number of prostitutes who were trafficking victims. According to
the IOM and AAF, there were also cases of trafficking in male children.
Girls and young women were often approached by persons who gained
their trust, frequently other young women and acquaintances or persons
introduced by mutual friends, who described glamorous work
opportunities abroad. Some were sold into bondage to traffickers by
relatives. Victims of trafficking ranged from those who were deceived
into believing that they would have good and respectable employment to
those who expected to work as prostitutes but were unprepared for the
degree of violence and exploitation to which they would be subjected.
Unaccompanied young women trying to cross the border into Macedonia,
Romania, or Turkey reportedly could be at some risk of being abducted
into trafficking. Organized crime groups were responsible for
trafficking, although they used various front companies to pose as
employment agencies or tour operators.
According to AAF, the process of transforming girls into
prostitutes generally took place before they left the country. The
women typically were taken to a large town, where they were isolated,
beaten, and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture.
Some victims from other countries were kept in the country for several
weeks where they were subjected to psychological and physical abuse to
make them more submissive before they were transported to their
destination points. Once the women left the country, their identity
documents were taken away, and they found themselves forced to work as
prostitutes in cities across Europe. Victims routinely reported that
traffickers took away their passports and visas and forced them to stay
illegally in countries. The women could be required to pay back heavy
financial debts to the agency that helped them depart the country,
leaving them in virtual indentured servitude. Traffickers punished
women severely for acts of disobedience and threatened the women's
families and family reputations to ensure obedience.
It was widely believed that some law enforcement officers or other
government authorities were complicit in human trafficking, including
local authorities and customs officials. The bulk of involvement
appeared to consist of accepting bribes to look the other way, although
some officers could have been more involved. Those involved in
facilitating trafficking overwhelmingly were low-level, low-paid
officials in the provinces and border regions.
On November 9, the National Assembly adopted witness protection
legislation. That includes special protection measures available to
witnesses, victims, defendants, suspects, convicts, and experts
providing essential testimony, explanations, or information in
trafficking cases, as well as their close relatives. Victims of crimes
associated with trafficking, including participation in an organized
crime scheme, are also covered by the legislation. Protective measures
for witnesses range from being provided a personal guard and temporary
placement in safe houses to changing residence or workplace to changing
identity in extreme cases. The legislation also provides for witnesses
to be transferred abroad if there are not sufficient security
guarantees in country. Victims generally were not jailed, although they
could be detained for brief periods for questioning until referred to
an NGO for assistance and, if necessary, repatriation. The law provides
victims, not in legal immigration status, with the possibility of
special residency status if they are willing to cooperate with law
enforcement personnel.
The AAF operated a 24-hour hotline for women in crisis that
received 116 calls regarding trafficking of women and children during
the year.
In association with NGOs, the Government conducted trafficking
awareness programs for consular officers posted to Bulgarian embassies
and law enforcement personnel on the legal provisions relating to
trafficking in persons as well as the operational and psychological
treatment for trafficking victims. The IOM continued its trafficking
awareness campaign that began in 2000. The IOM has developed several
regional network groupings of police, prosecutors, and concerned NGOs
to raise awareness of trafficking and offer a referral mechanism that
provides protection and assistance to returning victims. The Government
has made available to the IOM several local shelters and safe houses
(some free of charge, others for a nominal fee) where IOM provides
housing, protection, and reintegration assistance to victims, including
those willing to testify in the prosecution of traffickers.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for a range of
financial assistance for persons with disabilities, including free
public transportation, reduced prices on modified automobiles, and free
equipment such as wheelchairs; however, budgetary constraints limited
the availability of assistance in practice. A survey in 2002 by the
Center for Independent Living (CIL) found that approximately 82 percent
of public buildings were inaccessible to persons with disabilities.
Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities persisted.
Persons with disabilities had access to university training (students
with disabilities were required to pay the university's initial
application fee but were exempt from tuition fees if accepted), to
housing, and to employment; however, architectural barriers were a
great hindrance in many older buildings, including schools and
universities.
Conditions in institutions for persons with disabilities were poor.
NGOs reported that staffing problems, particularly on night shifts in
institutions for adults, posed significant risk to residents. On
February 24, Yoncho Filipov Lazarov, a resident in the Govezhda
facility, died after he was reportedly pushed by an agitated resident.
The facility reportedly did not conduct an internal inquiry to
establish the factors involved in the incident.
There were no developments during the year in the March 2003 case
of a patient beaten to death at the Bastoshevo social institution for
adults with mental disabilities, near the city of Sevlievo. There were
also no further developments in the April 2003 case of a patient
strangled to death by another patient at the Podgumer social
institution for adults with disabilities, near Sofia.
Labor laws intended to protect the interests of persons with
disabilities and create employment opportunities had mixed results.
While the law provides incentives for small firms to hire persons with
disabilities and requires larger businesses to hire a set quota of
persons with disabilities, enforcement of the law was low and other
laws--for example, requiring shorter working hours for workers with
disabilities--often led to discrimination against persons with
disabilities in the hiring process. High unemployment and a poor
economy also undermined initiatives aimed at advancing equal
opportunity for persons with disabilities; the great majority of
persons with disabilities were unemployed.
Persons with mental and physical disabilities, including very young
children, were often separated from the rest of society; the effective
segregation of children with disabilities into special schools lowered
the quality of their education. According to the MLSP, over 2,500
children with disabilities did not attend school; however, according to
the CIL, the number may have been twice as high, despite new by-laws
adopted by the Ministry of Education and Science to provide for the
integrated education of children with disabilities in schools. Many
children with disabilities were institutionalized. The MLSP operated 30
institutions for children and youths with disabilities throughout the
country; 9 of the institutions were for children aged 3 to 10 with
mental disabilities; 20 of the institutions were for children and
youths aged 3 to 18 with mental disabilities; the remaining institution
was for children and youths aged 3 to 25 with physical disabilities.
The law requires improved structural access for persons with
disabilities, and public works have taken this into account; however,
enforcement of this law lagged in existing, unrenovated buildings.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to a 2001 census,
ethnic Bulgarians made up 86 percent and ethnic Turks 9 percent of the
population. Ethnic-Roma were estimated officially to comprise 4.6
percent of the population; however, their actual share was likely
between 6 and 7 percent. A Council of Europe report issued in 2002
estimated that there were 600,000 to 800,000 Roma in the country;
official statistics estimated the number of Roma at 371,000. Ethnic-
Bulgarian Muslims, often termed Pomaks, are a distinct group of Slavic
descent whose ancestors converted from Orthodox Christianity to Islam;
they constituted 2 to 3 percent of the population.
There were no reports of lethal police assaults on Roma; however,
police harassed, physically abused, and arbitrarily arrested some Roma,
and reports of police harassment and torture were documented (see
Section 1.d.). Little progress was made in resolving cases of police
violence against Roma.
Romani activists and NGOs continued to criticize the Government's
lack of progress in implementing its 1999 Program for Social
Integration of Roma; however, there were projects that sought to
improve economic and educational opportunities for Roma, as well as to
address the problem of ineffectual political leadership among the Roma.
One program was the Ethnic Integration and Conflict Resolution project
in Vidin, Kyustendil, and Lom, which provided limited funds to small
enterprises that employed Roma, undertook activities to reduce Romani
drop-out rates, provided tutoring for university enrollment exams, and
created an Institute for Roma Leaders where young Roma could develop
leadership and conciliation skills. The Government and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development continued to fund the
construction of new apartments in Sofia for Roma who were displaced in
2001, and additional construction was carried out in Plovdiv.
Severe unemployment and poverty among the Roma, combined with
generally unfavorable attitudes toward Roma among ethnic Bulgarians and
Turks, contributed to strained relations between the Roma and the rest
of society.
As individuals and as an ethnic group, Roma continued to face high
levels of discrimination. During the summer, in the first of a series
of discrimination cases under the 2003 Protection Against
Discrimination Act, the Sofia City Court found in favor of a Romani
woman who had been refused service in a clothing shop due to racial
discrimination. Romani Baht reported that five of the six cases it
filed during the year under the Act were successful.
During the year, NGOs reported an increased number of racially
motivated assaults on Roma in Sofia. Youths belonging to skinhead
groups, aged between 16 and 23, usually perpetrated the assaults. On
April 30, two men reportedly brutally beat Georgi Angelov, a Rom, and
cut off his ear with a razor blade. Human rights groups reported that
the police failed to effectively investigate this and similar
incidents.
NGOs reported that Roma encountered difficulties applying for
social benefits, and local officials discouraged rural Roma from
claiming land to which they were entitled under the law disbanding
agricultural collectives. Many Roma and other observers made credible
allegations that the quality of education offered to Romani children
was inferior to that afforded most other students. Workplace
discrimination against minorities continued to be a problem, especially
for Roma. Employers justified such discrimination on the basis that
most Roma only had elementary training and little education. Roma
continued to suffer from inadequate access to health care.
There were no places reserved for minority candidates at the Police
Academy; however, there was a special Office for Romani Training
Programs, and bilingual training manuals were published. Ethnic Turks
and Roma held no senior law enforcement positions.
Pomaks remained in an ambiguous position. In the town of Yakoruda,
local officials refused to recognize Pomak identity, and those calling
themselves Pomaks or Bulgarian Muslims alleged discrimination by
government officials.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of all workers to form or join trade unions of their choice, and
workers exercised this right in practice.
Approximately 18.2 percent of the workforce was unionized;
according to individual trade unions and the Democratic Trade Unions
Association, the percentage of the workforce that was unionized
continued to decrease.
The Labor Code prohibits antiunion discrimination and includes a 6-
month period for redress against dismissal as a form of retribution;
however, there was no mechanism other than the courts for resolving
complaints, and the burden of proof in such cases rested entirely on
the employee.
A report by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU) found that unions reported frequent cases of discrimination and
harassment against trade union activists and members, who were
relocated, downgraded, or fired. In the private sector, some employers
had a policy of illegally prohibiting trade union membership within
their enterprise. There were credible reports that some private
employers also forced newly employed workers to sign declarations that
they would not establish or join trade unions. Although such
declarations were not legally binding, such employers reportedly
responded to failure to sign or to honor them by not hiring,
dismissing, or otherwise punishing the employee, and legal recourse
available to employees was neither swift nor sufficient to deter this
practice effectively.
There were reports of cases of employers deducting dues from
workers' salaries but not passing them on to the unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
provides an adequate legal structure for collective bargaining, which
was practiced nationally, regionally, and on the local level; however,
labor unions alleged that many employers failed to bargain in good
faith or to adhere to agreements that were concluded.
The ICFTU reported that collective bargaining was not always
effective in practice. Private employers reportedly often refused to
negotiate collective agreements, delayed negotiations unnecessarily or
refused to sign agreements; in other cases, private employers signed
agreements but did not apply them.
The Labor Code provides for the right to strike, and workers
exercised this right in practice; however, key public sector employees
(primarily military and law enforcement personnel) were subject to a
blanket prohibition against striking.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the country's six export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5,
Trafficking). Children were sometimes forced to work due to economic
conditions, family members, or criminal organizations (see Section
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment at 16 years and the
minimum age for dangerous work at 18 years; employers and the MLSP were
responsible for enforcing these provisions. Child labor laws generally
were enforced well in the formal sector, but NGOs reported that
children were exploited in certain industries (especially small family-
owned shops, textile factories, restaurants, family farms,
construction, and periodical sales) and by organized crime (notably for
prostitution and distribution of narcotics).
On March 16, the National Assembly passed amendments to the
Criminal Code criminalizing and providing sanctions for illegal
employment of children. The sanctions for employers who hire a child
less than age 18 without proper work permits include imprisonment for 6
months and a fine of approximately $335 (500 leva). If the violation
concerns children less than 16 years of age, sanctions are increased to
1-year imprisonment and a fine of approximately $670 (1000 leva).
During the first 9 months of the year, the MLSP's General Labor
Inspectorate (GLI) found 130 violations of child labor regulations.
The Government also approved regulations implementing the 2003
Child Protection Act, the 2003-05 Action Plan against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children, and the National Strategy for Children on the
Street.
There were no official statistics on child labor. The ILO estimated
in 2000 that 14 percent of children ages 5 to 17 years were working.
Children were engaged in paid work outside of the home in the
commercial and service sectors, agriculture, forestry, transportation,
communications, industry, and construction. According to the GLI, there
was an almost 50 percent increase in the number of applications to
employ children, which the GLI attributed to the criminalization of
child labor violations. According to the ILO, children's workdays often
exceeded the 8-hour maximum set by the Labor Code, and sometimes
children did not receive overtime pay for hours worked. Local NGOs
reported that children worked on non-family-owned farms for meager
monetary or in-kind wages such as food, and that institutionalized
children often hired themselves out for agricultural labor for a modest
income during periods when they were allowed out of residential
facilities.
``Worst forms'' of child labor were infrequent, but continued to
include hired heavy physical labor and health hazards on family tobacco
farms, particularly among the ethnic-Turkish minority. During the year,
the Government started participation in a regional ILO program to
eliminate worst forms of child labor, including educational campaigns
about the effects of child labor and implementing interventions aimed
to protect, withdraw, rehabilitate, and reintegrate children engaged in
the worst forms of child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum
wage of approximately $80 (120 leva) did not provide a decent standard
of living for workers and their family.
The Labor Code provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours with at
least one 24-hour rest period per week. The MLSP was responsible for
enforcing both the minimum wage and the standard workweek. Premium pay
for hours worked over 40 per week was supposed to be negotiated between
employers and employees. The Labor Code stipulates that premium pay for
overtime could not be less than 150 percent during workdays, 175
percent during weekends, and 200 percent during official holidays. The
Labor Code prohibits overtime for children less than age 18, pregnant
women, and women with children up to age 6. During the year, amendments
adopted to the Labor Code required a minimum 24-hour rest period, in
addition to premium compensation, for overtime hours worked during the
weekend. Enforcement generally was effective in the state sector but
was weaker in the private sector.
There was a national labor safety program, with standards
established by the Labor Code. The Constitution states that employees
are entitled to healthy and nonhazardous working conditions, and the
MLSP was responsible for enforcing these provisions. However,
conditions in many cases continued to worsen due to budget constraints
and the growth of a private sector that labor inspectors did not
supervise effectively. Protective clothing often was absent from
hazardous areas. The law requires joint employer and labor health and
safety committees to monitor workplace conditions; however,
implementation was slow and these committees remained in developmental
stages at year's end.
Under the Labor Code, employees have the right to remove themselves
from work situations that present a serious or immediate danger to life
or health without jeopardy to their continued employment; however, in
practice, refusal to work in such situations could result in the loss
of employment.
__________
CROATIA
The Republic of Croatia is a constitutional parliamentary democracy
with an independent presidency. The President, Stjepan Mesic, formerly
of the Croatian People's Party, but now independent, serves as head of
state and commander of the armed forces, oversees foreign policy and
the intelligence service, and nominates the Prime Minister who leads
the Government. The November 2003 parliamentary elections were
generally free and fair, despite some irregularities. The Constitution
provides for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary continued
to suffer from political influence at the local level.
The Ministry of Interior (MUP) oversees the civilian national
police, and the Ministry of Defense oversees the military and military
police. The national police has primary responsibility for internal
security; in times of disorder, the Government and President may call
upon the military to provide security. Civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. Some members of the security
forces committed isolated human rights abuses.
The Government worked towards creating a market-based economy. The
population of the country was approximately 4.4 million and real gross
domestic product increased by 3.7 percent. According to the
International Labor Organization (ILO), the average unemployment rate
was 13.8 percent. Wages kept pace with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Twenty-five
ethnic Serbs remained incarcerated after being convicted in
nontransparent politicized trials in past years. Lower courts were
occasionally subject to political influence, and the judicial system
suffered from bureaucratic inefficiency, insufficient funding, and a
severe backlog of cases. The Government made efforts to address the
problem of witnesses sometimes changing their testimony due to
intimidation and an often-hostile local public. The Courts largely
discontinued the practice of pursuing mass and in absentia trials.
Restitution of occupied property to refugees (mostly ethnic Serbs)
returning to the country improved during the year, with most (all but
54) illegally occupied properties vacated; however, while significant
progress occurred, property restitution remained a problem. The
Government did not interfere in the editorial decisions of the print
media; however, electronic media was susceptible to political pressure
and attempts were made to influence reporting on the two national
television stations. Governmental interference in the formation and
operation of associations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) was
limited. Restitution of nationalized property from the Second World War
era remained a significant unresolved problem for all religious
communities. There were some incidents of violence and harassment of
religious minorities. Cooperation with the International Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) improved noticeably, although questions
remained regarding the Government's ability to apprehend and deliver a
prominent Croatian indicted for war crimes. Violence and discrimination
against women occurred. Occasional violence continued toward ethnic
minorities, particularly Serbs and Roma; some faced serious
discrimination. Ethnic tensions in the war affected areas were less
pronounced than in previous years, and abuses, including ethnically
motivated harassment and assaults, occurred less frequently.
Trafficking in women was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
Domestic courts continued to adjudicate cases arising from the
1991-95 conflict in the country and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) (see
Section 1.e.).
During the year, 14 persons were killed, 13 of whom were civilians,
in landmine incidents in the regions of Karlovac, Sisak, Vukovar,
Osijek, Slavonski Brod, and Zadar.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
Government figures during the year showed that 1,176 persons,
mostly ethnic Croats, and 820 ethnic Serbs remained missing in
unresolved cases from the 1991-95 military conflict. Of the 3,999
victims that have been exhumed from mass and individual graves since
the war, 3,187 have been positively identified. The International
Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) assisted in the recovery and
identification of individuals' remains and helping families of missing
persons.
During the year, the bodies of 74 persons missing from the 1991-95
war were exhumed from mass and individual graves. The Government
handled all exhumations and identifications, with the ICTY and
international experts serving primarily as monitors.
In November, the Bureau for Missing Persons collaborated with the
ICMP on a project to take blood samples from approximately 750 family
members of persons who were missing in BiH, Serbia and Montenegro (SaM)
and in the country. The European Union (EU) funded the procedure. The
Bureau also signed an agreement on a joint longer-term project with the
ICMP to exchange blood samples of the missing persons' families.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
NGOs and individuals reported sporadic police abuse and
discriminatory treatment demonstrated toward ethnic minorities. For
example, in March, three special police members beat an ethnic Serb
trainee at the Zagreb Police Academy sports facility. In July, the
police issued a report against the perpetrators for physical assault in
a public place, but no disciplinary measures were undertaken pending
the misdemeanor court ruling on the case.
In April, a young man reported to the Croatian Helsinki Committee
(HHO) that that police in Rijeka beat him and pressured him to withdraw
power of attorney. The Internal Control unit of the police confirmed
that coercive measures were used but stated that it was because he
resisted arrest and attacked police officials. The man reported the
incident to the HHO which followed the case; however, after receiving
the response from police, no further action was taken by any party. In
July, two policemen in Varazdin beat a young man during questioning,
causing internal bleeding that required surgery. The case was widely
publicized, and the media reported that the police took 1 week to
identify the officers responsible. The trial of the suspected officers
was ongoing at year's end.
In December, two police officers from Vinkovci reportedly
physically harassed and injured two men during an interrogation. The
officers were disciplined for failure to report to their superiors on
the interrogation. The Vukovar County police issued an apology, but
denied that the injuries could have been inflicted during the
interrogation. In December, the head of the opposition party sent an
open letter to the Minister of Interior complaining about police
violating human rights, overstepping their authority, and sanctioning
those responsible only after the media reported the incidents. The
police officially denied the allegations as a result of lack of
information.
OSCE follow-up failed to confirm anecdotal reports of poor police
performance during eviction proceedings and court-ordered action.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. Men
and women, juveniles and adults, and pretrial detainees and convicted
prisoners were held separately.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions in practice; however, there continued to be isolated
reports that judges issued arrest warrants in war crimes cases on
ethnic grounds.
There are approximately 21,000 police officers under the authority
of the MUP. The intelligence service is under the authority of the
Government and President. An independent oversight board monitors
intelligence service performance.
Some tension continued at reduced levels between ethnic Serb and
Croat police officers, particularly in the Danube region. The
Government appeared to fulfill its obligation under the 1995 Erdut
Agreement to maintain proportionality in the numbers of ethnic Serb and
Croat police officers in Eastern Slavonia; however, minority
representation in the police outside Eastern Slavonia remained
negligible, and the Government had not fully implemented provisions in
the Constitutional Law on National Minorities that require the hiring
of minorities by year's end. Approximately 3 percent of the force were
minorities. Of the 277 police recruits that completed training during
the year, 20 percent were women and ethnic minorities.
International observers and human rights organizations generally
praised the police for their integrity; however, corruption was
believed to be a lingering problem among some police officers. In
September, two senior police officers in Zagreb were arrested by
authorities on corruption charges. The Ministry of Internal Affairs
continued to update and codify rules of ethical police conduct and
improve the capabilities of the police internal control section.
Reforms were needed in the Ministry of Finance, to which the Customs
Service reports, to improve ethical standards and internal control
capabilities.
Weak police performance, including poor investigative techniques,
insensitivity to ethnic issues, indecisive middle management, and
susceptibility to pressure from hard-line local politicians, remained a
problem, despite Government efforts to address it. These factors
impeded development of local police capability. Throughout the year,
the Ministry of Internal Affairs in coordination with the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expanded a comprehensive
program of police reforms, in part to extend community policing pilot
programs to all regions of the country. In July, the Police Academy
graduated its first training class under a completely redesigned basic
police school developed with international assistance. During the year,
the Police Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs expanded on
programs to provide in-service training for all active police officers;
the goal of these programs was to ensure that every individual police
officer received some form of advanced or refresher training at least
once a year.
Police normally obtain arrest warrants by presenting evidence of
probable cause to an investigative magistrate; however, police can make
arrests without a warrant if they believe a suspect might flee, destroy
evidence, or commit other crimes. The police have 24 hours to justify
an arrest to a magistrate.
Detainees must be given access to an attorney of their choice
within 24 hours of their arrest; if they have none and are charged with
a crime for which the sentence is over 10 years' imprisonment, the
magistrate appoints counsel. The Government generally enforced this in
practice. The magistrate must decide whether to extend a detention for
further investigation within 48 hours of an arrest. Investigative
detention generally lasts up to 30 days; however, trial courts could
extend the period up to 12 months in certain cases. Detainees may be
released on their own recognizance pending further proceedings;
however, most criminal suspects were held in custody pending trial. The
option of posting bail after an indictment is available, but was not
commonly exercised. Detainees are also allowed visits by family
members.
On occasion, government officials failed to inform individuals of
their rights. For example, in October, Intelligence Service counter-
intelligence agents interrogated a freelance reporter without fully
informing her of her rights. The Parliamentary Committee on Human
Rights found that the Intelligence Service had violated her civil
rights and, as a result, the head of the Counter-Intelligence Agency
was removed in December.
There were several war crimes cases in which suspects were held in
pretrial detention for several months on weak evidence.
The failure of some courts to issue timely written verdicts
infringed on the appeals process and was a major cause of extended
detention. Between January and October, the Constitutional Court issued
165 judgments finding unreasonable delays in lower and Supreme Court
rulings and ordered the Government to pay $272,000 (202,000 euros) in
damages. This constituted nearly four times the number of similar
rulings issued in 2003.
Arrests of ethnic Serbs for war crimes continued, but decreased
throughout the year. Of the 23 Serbs arrested during the first 10
months of the year, 21 were subsequently released. In most cases, the
Government dropped charges against the accused or granted amnesty.
Prosecutors generally moved more quickly than in previous years to
initiate criminal proceedings or drop charges altogether and free
suspects, although delays still occurred at all stages of the judicial
process. In some cases, lower courts failed to issue written verdicts
in a timely manner, delaying the appeals process. Some courts also
failed to promptly recommence proceedings when the Supreme Court called
for a retrial. The Supreme Court also exceeded the 3-month period in
which it must consider appeals when the defendant is in detention. In
most cases of arrest on war crimes charges, the subject was released a
few days after charges were dropped; however, in other cases, persons
were detained for longer periods.
Although international observers noted some improvements during the
year, several ethnic Serb defendants convicted in absentia or at
nontransparent trials continued to be held in detention for extended
periods while their appeals progressed slowly through the overburdened
judicial system (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary continued to suffer from
some political influence a backlog of approximately 1 million cases,
and funding and training shortfalls.
Although the Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial
and a variety of due process rights in the courts, the Constitutional
Court determined that at times citizens were denied these rights and
took corrective action. Excessive delays remained a problem;
increasingly, the Constitutional Court awarded damages to persons whose
trial had continued for numerous years without a decision. During the
year, the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) sanctioned the
Government twice for unreasonable delays in property repossession
cases. Additionally, the Government at times ignored Constitutional
Court decisions, particularly with regard to the privatization of
property. The ECHR adjudicated 22 cases against the Government and
found violations in 20 cases. Most lawsuits were filed for lengthy
trials, inaccessibility to the courts and damages caused by terrorist
acts committed by the army and police. Out-of-court settlements were
reached in an additional 44 cases.
The judicial system consists of municipal and county courts,
commercial and misdemeanor courts, an administrative court, and the
Supreme Court. The independent Constitutional Court determines the
constitutionality of laws, governmental acts, and elections. Justices
of the Constitutional Court are elected for 8-year terms by Parliament,
while all other judges are appointed for life after a 5-year interim
term. A parallel commercial court system adjudicates commercial and
contractual disputes. The State Judicial Council (which consists of 11
members, including 7 judges, who serve 8-year terms) is independent of
both the judiciary and the Ministry of Justice and is charged with the
appointment and disciplinary of judges, including removal. The Chief
State Prosecutor is appointed by Parliament and appoints the chief
state attorneys at the county and municipal level; Deputy Prosecutors
are appointed and disciplined by the High Prosecutorial Council.
Serb leaders continued to express concern about discrimination in
the appointment of judges and reported that, on occasion, the State
Judicial Council has either refused candidates or left positions vacant
rather than appoint ethnic Serbs.
There continued to be isolated reports of political influence at
the local level. Some judges made decisions in a nontransparent manner
seemingly at odds with the evidence or the law. In August, the Supreme
Court voided the not-guilty verdict and ordered a retrial in the Lora
Prison war crimes case. Split County Court judge Slavko Lozina was
criticized by the Court for his performance as presiding magistrate in
the case against ethnic Croat prison guards charged with abuse and
murder of ethnic Serb prisoners of war.
The inexperience and lack of systematic training programs,
management standards, and systems for new judges, continued to be
problematic. In March, the Ministry of Justice invested additional
resources into the Judicial Academy (opened originally as the Center
for the Professional Development of Judges and Other Justice
Officials), which began implementing a continuing education program for
judges.
Contributing to the judiciary's case backlog was the regular
appointment of judges to serve on ad-hoc electoral commissions,
reducing their time in the courtroom by as much as 20 percent. By
year's end, the Government had not taken action on an OSCE
recommendation to establish a permanent electoral commission.
Domestic courts continued to adjudicate cases arising from the
1991-95 war. Despite the increased number of war crime cases opened
against police officers and members of the armed forces, questions
remained about the criminal justice system's ability to conduct fair
and transparent trials in these complex and emotionally charged cases.
Observers blamed inadequate training, shortcomings in the legal code,
frequent witness intimidation, and an often-hostile local public for
hampering the war crimes adjudication process. In cooperation with the
ICTY, the Ministry of Justice held a series of seminars from May to
October to help prepare the judiciary to take on war crimes cases
transferred from the ICTY.
International observers noted some improvement in the objectivity
in war crimes decisions, but continued to express concern that the
system was ethnically biased. Although improvements occurred in 2003,
the OSCE concluded that war crimes prosecutions continued to be
motivated more by ethnic considerations than by the impartial
administration of justice.
Although the number of individuals facing war crimes prosecution
during the year decreased compared to 2002 and 2003, the majority of
defendants remained ethnic Serbs. There was still a significantly
different rate of conviction and acquittal depending on the ethnic
identity of the defendant; 67 percent of all ethnic Serbs were found
guilty, whereas only 25 percent of Croats were found guilty. In
addition, from January to October, Serbs represented 23 of 27 persons
arrested, 3 of 3 indicted, 85 of 105 on trial, 9 of 12 acquitted, and
18 of 20 convicted. In absentia proceedings, despite some efforts to
curtail the practice, were applied almost exclusively to ethnic Serb
defendants.
During the year, the Parliament adopted amendments to the criminal
code to bring legal definitions of war crimes into line with
international conventions, ensuring the admissibility of ICTY evidence
in the courts and introducing provisions covering command
responsibility and assistance to perpetrators of war crimes. At year's
end, it remained unclear whether these changes could be applied
retroactively to cases stemming from the 1991-95 conflict.
In 6 of 20 war crimes convictions during the year, the county
courts issued sentences below the 5-year minimum sentence. Two-thirds
of all appeals during the year resulted in reversal of trial verdicts
and remand for a new trial, primarily for the failure of the lower
court to establish facts properly. There were no reported instances of
court verdicts containing inflammatory and derogatory remarks about
ethnic minorities, an improvement from the previous year.
In August, the Supreme Court overturned the Split Country Court
acquittal in the high profile Lora war crimes case, noting that the
lower court had incompletely established facts and excluded crucial
evidence. A new trial of the eight Croatian soldiers accused of the
torture and murder of ethnic Serb prisoners was pending at year's end.
While the panel of judges changed, the Split County Court continued to
show bias in favor of the defendants, ruling in September against
pretrial detention of the suspects, despite their previous failure to
appear in court. When the Supreme Court overturned this decision in
October, police were only able to apprehend four of the eight suspects.
At year's end, the Supreme Court directed the State Prosecutor to
broaden the indictment to include criminal acts committed against
prisoners of war.
In March, the Supreme Court affirmed the 20-year prison sentence of
Bosnian Fikret Abdic for the deaths of 121 civilian detainees and 3
military prisoners between 1993 and 1995.
In April, Lieutenant Nikola Ivankovic was sentenced to 12 years in
prison in the Paulin Dvor case for participation in the 1991 killing of
19 ethnic Serb civilians. A second defendant, Sergeant Enes Viteskic,
was acquitted. The victims were killed in Paulin Dvor in Eastern
Slavonia and buried at a military warehouse. In 1997, their remains
were secretly transferred to a mass grave near Gospic, where they were
discovered by ICTY and Government investigators. The court had not
issued a written verdict by year's end, delaying Ivankovic's appeal.
The Government has not pursued any case regarding the transfer of the
remains.
In June, Stanislov Gavron, a former member of the Croatian special
police unit, was acquitted by the Sisak County Court in the killing of
a Serb civilian in 1992.
In July, the Vukovar County Court convicted six Serbs in the Borovo
group for war crimes against civilians, sentencing them from 7 to 15
years in prison. The Humanitarian Law Center, a Belgrade-based NGO,
monitored the proceedings and concluded that the procedures met the
standards of a fair trial; however, there were some irregularities
regarding the atmosphere in the courtroom.
In September, the second retrial of Mihajlo Hrastov, a former
Croatian member of the Karlovac Police Special Forces, for the murder
of 13 unarmed Yugoslav National Army prisoners of war near Karlovac in
1991, began at the Karlovac County Court. The Supreme Court overturned
two previous acquittals of Hrastov.
Although OSCE observers reported that Hrastov supporters in the
courtroom continued to create an atmosphere of intimidation for
prosecution witnesses and court officials, the Supreme Court denied the
Prosecutor's request to relocate the trial.
In October, the Gospic County Court acquitted Serb Nikola
Cvjeticanin for war crimes against civilians after 33 months of
detention. While his 2002 conviction was overturned by the Supreme
Court in 2003, the County Court did not begin his retrial until May.
The appeal of the acquittal of four retired Croatian soldiers,
charged with killing two elderly Serb civilians near Sibenik in 1995,
remained pending before the Supreme Court.
Bilateral legal discussions on the arrest and extradition from
Australia of former policeman Antun Gudelj, who was convicted and then
improperly amnestied in 1997 for the 1991 murder of Osijek police chief
Josip Reihl-Kir, continued at year's end.
The 1996 Law on General Amnesty does not apply to war crimes. When
investigations failed to substantiate original charges of war crimes,
courts have lowered charges and convicted defendants, allowing them to
grant defendants amnesty. This resolves the case for the court without
further investigation and allows the defendant to go free, but
disregards the future repercussions this criminal record may have on
potentially innocent defendants, particularly in seeking employment.
In October, the chief State Prosecutor completed a case-by-case
review of open war crimes investigations. Approximately 2,000 cases
were dropped as a result of the 2-year review, while 1,900 remain
pending.
Most courts discontinued the practice of convicting persons in mass
in absentia trials, in part due to efforts by the chief State
Prosecutor and the Minister of Justice. In cases monitored by the OSCE
during the year, five convictions were in absentia, all ethnic Serbs.
Defendants convicted in absentia regularly made use of their guaranteed
right for a retrial.
In September, the Gospic County Court acquitted ethnic Serb Dane
Serdar in a retrial of his in absentia war crimes conviction in 1994.
Serdar spent 11 months in detention after returning to the country in
2003, leading the State Judicial Council to fine County Court President
Pavle Rukavina for delays in calling a retrial.
The Vukovar County Court trial against 18 former members of a Serb
paramilitary unit who were charged with genocide and war crimes in the
1991 attack and subsequent occupation of the town of Lovas in Eastern
Slavonia continued at year's end. Only one of the accused was present
during the trial.
In October, the Zadar County Court acquitted Milenko Radak, former
commander of a Serb rebel unit, for war crimes against civilians in the
village of Skabrnja in 1991. Although the court determined Radak
participated in the attack on the village, testimony indicated that he
had not played a role in the execution of civilians. Radak spent 15
months in detention.
At year's end, approximately 21 individuals remained incarcerated
on war crimes or related charges based on politicized or nontransparent
trials. For those who had exhausted their appeal procedures, there was
no mechanism to review their cases other than seeking pardons. There
were no other reports of prisoners incarcerated in politicized trials.
In cases regarding property claims, the laws implicitly favor
ethnic Croats over ethnic Serbs. Approximately 1,750 mostly ethnic Serb
property owners, who fled homes that were later occupied by ethnic
Croats, were unable to access their property. The Government estimated
that 54 houses remained illegally occupied, while the majority are
legally occupied until the Government can provide a suitable
alternative to the temporary occupant. Damage and looting of property
prevented habitation of returned properties. Backlogs in the judicial
system were a further impediment to timely resolution of housing
disputes.
In March, the Government established a commission to expedite
implementation of an agreement with the ethnic Serb party to resolve
refugee returns issues. During the year, the Government intensified its
refugee return efforts, particularly in the areas of reconstruction and
repossession of illegally occupied homes.
During the year, the Government made significant progress in
providing reconstruction assistance, with approximately 80 percent
going to ethnic Serbs; however, the Government did not implement its
plan to facilitate the return of largely ethnic Serb refugees by making
available state housing to those who previously enjoyed occupancy and
tenancy rights outside war-affected areas in the former Socialist
Republic of Croatia. The Government began a public information campaign
in September and extended the deadline for applications from potential
beneficiaries for areas outside war-affected areas until September
2005.
In July, the ECHR determined that termination of one holder's
occupancy or tenancy rights did not violate the right to a home or to
peaceful enjoyment of possessions. Despite that decision, the
Government reconfirmed its interest in providing a housing solution for
all who seek one. In December, the ECHR accepted the case for referral
to the Grand Chamber at the applicant's request.
The 2002 amendments to the Laws on Areas of Special State Concern
(LASSC) introduced measures designed to facilitate property
restitution, in practice the law continues to subordinate the rights of
private property owners to those of temporary users. The Government has
evicted most illegal occupiers of private property. In cases of legal
occupancy, physical repossession of a property by its rightful owner
occurred only when the occupier decided that he or she no longer needed
the property.
The State Attorney is responsible for conducting the eviction
process against those who are illegally occupying houses; however,
prosecutors on occasion did not initiate lawsuits against individuals
who refused to vacate occupied premises.
The LASSC obligated the Office of Displaced Persons and Refugees to
make administrative decisions on repossession. The amended law further
obligates the Government to pay compensation to the legitimate owners
if it failed to return their properties physically by December 2003;
however, approximately 1,500 of 4,000 eligible owners received a
compensation payment.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Police were sometimes unwilling to intervene in housing disputes,
which occasionally involved attack against property, looting, and arson
(see Section 5). There were allegations that the police did not always
remain impartial and uphold the law when it came to housing disputes
between ethnic Croats and ethnic Serbs. For example, in Vojnic, police
did not intervene on any occasion, despite requests from the original
owner that the property was being damaged and that an illegal occupant
renovated the property without proper permits. He continued to use it
for business purposes and was offered alternative housing, but refused
to vacate. Also, near Hrvatski Kostajnica, when a woman whose home was
being looted called police, they took no action, indicating that they
would not take action unless the incident became violent.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and the press, and the Government generally respected
these rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom;
however, government officials attempted to influence national
television.
The privately owned Tisak distributed approximately 75 percent of
the print media. Foreign newspapers and journals were available in
urban areas throughout the country; however, they remained largely
inaccessible to many persons due to their high cost. The Government
owned and operated the national television and radio network (HRT),
which produced the daily newspaper of record. Political parties,
private companies (some foreign-owned), and the Government owned or
influenced various newspaper and magazine outlets.
Print media were becoming increasingly susceptible to promoting
media owners' political and business interests. Media experts indicated
that while political pressure on the media was decreasing, the public
was increasingly subject to reporting described as contrary to the law,
to morals and ethics. These same experts also reported that money was
increasingly controlling and influencing media impartiality, making
journalists vulnerable to pressure by owners and editors.
Despite the 1-year old media law, transparency in media ownership
has not been fully achieved.
The Government did not interfere in the editorial decisions of the
print media; print media were more susceptible to media owners'
political and business interests, and increasingly became tools of
various interest groups. In July, the HHO reported that political
pressure on the media continued to decrease, but that unethical
reporting remained a problem. During the year, one media expert also
expressed concern because of the lack of transparency in media outlets,
for example in ownership structures and financial resources.
Independent television and radio stations existed in the country.
Two out of three national television stations are private television
stations. The first commercial television station, Nova TV, was sold to
Central European Media Enterprises (CME) in July. RTL TV started
broadcasting in April. They, along with public HRT, broadcast on the
national level and broadcast daily independent news programs.
There were reports of incidents involving Government officials who
tried to influence reporters of the national television service, HRT.
In May, a cabinet minister and one of two vice presidents called HRT
during broadcast and demanded that the program editor immediately deny
a story that was being aired and threatened to impose a value-added tax
on the national television subscription fee. In a July television
interview, the same official hinted that the HRT television journalist
was an ethnic Serb and thus inimical to Government projects. There were
also reports of the other Government vice president calling a HRT
television editor and asking them to change a story. In July, a Deputy
Prime Minister phoned a HTV journalist before the airing of a story
claiming that the Government had failed on its promise to establish an
alimony fund. The Deputy tried to convince the journalist to change the
story, although she did not threaten the journalist.
According to HRT's own opinion poll in October, approximately 35
percent of the population relied on the Government-owned evening news
program (HTV). While both privately-owned national television stations,
Nova TV and RTL, were primarily entertainment stations with limited
news offerings, more persons started watching their news programs,
draining viewers from HRT/HTV.
In September, the Speaker of the Parliament expressed
dissatisfaction with HRT's television news programs and announced that
the legislation governing HRT should be changed so that it would result
in personnel changes at HRT's television news services. The leadership
met with HTV representatives to convey numerous objections to HRT's
television coverage, and threatened to abolish HRT's subscription fee
if the situation did not improve. The HHO Media Council and the
Association of Croatian Judges (UHS) condemned the meeting as attempted
political interference in television programming. The press did not
report any such condemnation, but the HHO leader and UHS President said
in separate phone interviews that they held the Speaker of Parliament
responsible for what happened.
Local electronic media was susceptible to political pressure since
most outlets were at least partially owned by local Government.
Approximately 70 percent of the media was partly or fully owned by
local government authorities and, depending on ownership share, was
susceptible to pressure. Approximately 46 percent of local radio
stations depended financially on the support of local authorities and
their annual conference, journalists expressed belief that some of
their colleagues practiced self-censorship as a result.
In August, a Slobodna Dalmacija journalist claimed to have received
death threats from the head of the Lovinac town branch of the ruling
political party, HDZ. The official allegedly threatened her with bodily
harm because he was displeased with her article that said that he
belonged to the committee that decided to erect a monument in a nearby
town to the World War II Ustasha official Mile Budak. Police filed
charges against the official, who denied the allegations. The national-
level deputy speaker of HDZ announced that the official would face
political consequences if the charges were proven.
Parliament passed a new media law on April 30, which aims to ensure
independence of the media, protect the source of information and
copyrights, and limit concentration of ownership in the print media
market. However, the new law does not include sanctions against
journalists who refuse to reveal their sources.
Despite a 2001 amendment to the Criminal Code aimed to
decriminalize it, libel remained a criminal offense. A large number of
libel cases from previous years remained unresolved due to the
inefficient judicial system. In recent years, there were no reports of
politically motivated verdicts in libel cases; however, in July, the
OSCE expressed concern that a journalist was sentenced to prison for
libel. The Split Municipal Court sentenced journalist Ljubica Letinic
to a 2-month suspended prison term. In another case, the editor-in-
chief of the former Novi Brodski List refused to pay a fine for libel
and thus was required to serve a prison term.
The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) agreed in part, that
slander and libel should be eliminated from the Criminal Code and
instead be regulated by the Civil Code. However, the Government took no
steps to decriminalize it during the year.
Although the Croatian News Agency (HINA) became a public
institution in 2001, by year's end, the Government still provided most
of its funding, making it parastatal, even though the Government did
not control its news content.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice.
The law permits assembly for registered demonstrations at approved
locations; while the process for approving or denying the registration
of an assembly was not transparent, there were no reports that it was
used discriminatorily. During the year, there were several peaceful
demonstrations and marches throughout the country organized by labor
groups and farmers' opposed to government policies.
The Constitution provides for the right of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice.
Although the Law on Associations provides for these rights, the Law
on Funds and Foundations grants discretionary power to the Ministry of
Justice over the establishment and internal governance of foundations.
While the law was applied equally to all, the law itself is restrictive
and controlling. For example, the law provides that organizations will
not be entered into the registry if their statutory goals are deemed
trivial or if their property is not deemed sufficient to carry out
their statutory activities. The Government also is permitted notable
influence in the appointment of the organization's management body.
According to the Ministry, registration of a foundation takes up to 6
months, provided that all submitted documents were in order. Currently,
71 foundations are registered.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
There is no official state religion; however, the Roman Catholic
Church enjoyed a historic relationship with the State that was not
shared by other religious groups. Other religious groups also have
agreements with the State, that grant benefits similar to those enjoyed
by the Catholic Church. State financing of salaries of religious
workers; provision of spiritual counseling in state institutions such
as the army, police, and prisons; and the recognition of religious
marriages were among the main points of the agreements. The Government
offered a similar agreement to the Jewish community; however, its
signing fell through in 2003 over the key issue of return of
nationalized property and remained unresolved by year's end.
In 2003, the Government approved a regulation on the registration
of religious communities, granting them the status of a legal person.
The Government reported that it registered 10 religious communities
during the year, which brought the overall number of those registered
to 38.
The Government required that religious training be provided in
schools, although attendance was optional. Eighty-five percent of the
population was Roman Catholic. As stipulated in all agreements signed
with religious communities, schools that met the necessary quota of
seven students of a minority faith per class offered separate religion
classes for the students. In cases where there were not sufficient
numbers of students of a minority faith to warrant separate classes,
students could exercise the option of receiving religious instruction
through their religious community.
Little progress was made in the restitution of nationalized
property to most major religious communities. The Bishopric Conference
reported that the joint sub-commission for property restitution to the
Catholic Church was active during the year and, while the Government
acted in good faith, results varied in different bishoprics. In June,
in exchange for nationalized property, the Church took over a former
hospital building in Osijek. In September, Rijeka University provided
the Church with a building to compensate for the church-owned property
that it has been using.
The Serbian Orthodox Church, the second largest claimant of
property after the Catholic Church, reported that its joint restitution
sub-commission with the Government had not met with the Government
during the year. In June, it reported one restitution, that of a
building that houses County offices in Karlovac. According to sources,
the current Government made no progress in reconstruction of some 25
churches that the previous Government approved and for which it had
begun project documentation. However, the Government approved funding
in November for reconstruction of the St. Nicholas church in the center
of Karlovac. Reports indicated continued improvement of the general
atmosphere and cooperation with the Government, but noted a lack of
concrete results. Similarly, the Jewish community has not recovered a
synagogue in Bjelovar, properties in Zagreb, or holiday resort
buildings in Ravna Gora and Crikvenica. In June, the Jewish community
of Osijek repossessed land in Vukovar where a synagogue was once
located. In June, a member of the municipal council in Dubrovnik
commented on a potential Jewish hotel investor that when ``choosing
between Serbs and Jews, Jews were still a greater evil.'' Local
authorities and the Government condemned the comments; the local branch
of the ruling HDZ party took no disciplinary action against the party
member.
Despite overall reports of increasing tolerance towards Orthodox
Serbs, sources reported that the climate in the Dalmatia region had
generally deteriorated throughout the year. In addition to threats from
the local population, they reported a lack of responsiveness and
protection from police. For example, in the village of Kistanje, there
were reports of persistent harassment of the Orthodox clergy and the
ethnic Serb population.
In June, the Orthodox priest in Kistanje was forced to move to a
nearby village after repeated threats and after his house was pelted
with stones. Police did not investigate. Local Orthodox Serb children
who attend religious classes were frequently harassed and beaten by
other students.
In July, Orthodox parish priests in Sibenik and Zadar were harassed
in the city streets and complained of insufficient police response.
In August, unidentified perpetrators overturned five tombstones at
an Orthodox cemetery in Podum. In two separate incidents in August and
September, unidentified perpetrators sent threatening letters and set
on fire Muslim-owned cars in the village of Gunja in Eastern Slavonia.
In September, a fascist Ustasha symbol was sprayed on the new door
to the church in Kistanje. Police identified no suspects. In Knin,
individuals on several occasions, including in September, shouted
phrases such as ``Kill the Serb'' at the Orthodox clergy outside the
church of St. Pokrov, but police reportedly declined to take action.
The Muslim Community faced harassment and discrimination on
isolated occasions. The Muslim Community reported that local
authorities were slow in approving plans and issuing permits for
building a mosque in Rijeka. Leaders partly ascribed the stalling to a
renewed pressure in December from the local population, which wrote
letters opposing construction in that location. The Islamic Community
accepted a project plan by in September and submitted the plan to the
city in November.
In June, a Muslim flag was burned at the entrance to the Muslim
cemetery in Osijek. In July, unknown perpetrators desecrated 24 tombs
at the same cemetery. They set fire to wreaths on the grave of the
recently deceased wife of the local Imam and sprayed swastikas and
fascist messages on 24 graves. Police investigated; preliminary
indications were that a group of local youths was behind the incident.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. All
persons must register their residence with the local authorities and,
under exceptional circumstances, the Government legally may restrict
the right to enter or leave the country if necessary to protect the
``legal order, health, rights, or freedoms of others.''
Freedom of movement continued to be constrained for returning
refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), who lost tenancy
rights and experienced difficulties in regularizing their status
because they had no permanent residence (domicile), which is a
precondition for acquisition of a civilian ID.
International observers remained concerned that fear of arrest of
ethnic Serbs for war crimes, often based on weak evidence, dissuaded
some refugees from returning. Of the 25 ethnic Serbs arrested on war
crimes charges, 20 were returnees. The Constitution prohibits forced
exile of citizens, and the Government did not employ it.
The Government's procedures to verify and document citizenship
improved during the year; however, there were some reports of
obstruction by some local officials. Some local officials applied
procedures inconsistently, for example, refusing applicants who listed
their permanent address as a collective center. Cases existed in which
Serb returnees experienced difficulties in obtaining identity cards and
other forms of documentation that would allow them to verify their
citizenship status.
The law distinguishes between those who have a claim to Croatian
ethnicity and those who do not and requires non-Croats to satisfy more
stringent requirements. These requirements prevented some ethnic Serbs
from obtaining citizenship, which led to discrimination in other areas,
such as housing return. While their citizenship applications were
pending, applicants were denied social benefits, including medical
care, pensions, free education, and employment in the civil service.
An ongoing impediment to the return and reintegration of ethnic
Serb refugees was the frequent failure of the Government to recognize
or ``convalidate'' their legal and administrative documents from the
period of the 1991-95 conflict. Without such recognition, citizens
(almost exclusively ethnic Serbs) remained unable to resolve a wide
range of problems, including pensions, disability insurance, and the
ability to establish work experience.
The new Law on Foreigners entered into force on January 1. The
law's transitional provisions enabled former habitual residents to
return and regularize their status. The law states that if they return
within 12 months, they will be reinstated into their pre-war status as
former habitual residents without any further requirements, such as
meeting housing and financial criteria, and could subsequently apply
for citizenship. During the year, the MUP issued 160 identity cards to
foreigners and conducted a review of 76 permanent residency documents
of Croatian Serb returnees who were habitual residents of the country
prior to 1991. However, international monitors reported that the
Ministry followed different procedures and varied its interpretation of
its own internal guidelines from case to case. In December, the
Government extended the deadline for applications to regularize status.
Due to a lack of information, many potential claimants were unaware of
the possibility to regulate their status. The Ministry initiated a
procedure to cancel the permanent residency status of 2,700 persons.
A significant number of IDPs remained in the country, although not
all were under the Government's direct care (approximately 1,698 ethnic
Serb IDPs in the Croatian Danube Region did not hold official IDP
status). In December, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
reported that there were 7,540 IDP's in the country (mostly ethnic
Croats originating from the Danube region) and 3,656 refugees (mostly
from BiH). These numbers did not fully reflect an additional 140,000
former refugees (nearly all ethnic Croats from BiH) who have become
citizens and residents of the country.
President Mesic and the Prime Minister continued to make public
statements encouraging the return and reintegration of all citizens to
their prewar homes.
Despite an ongoing government program to reconstruct thousands of
homes damaged in the 1991-95 war, government officials, NGOs, and
international observers assessed that the returns process was nearing
its completion with significant changes in the ethnic composition of
most communities. The return of ethnic Croats to their prewar domiciles
was virtually complete. An OSCE survey indicated that the majority of
Croatian Serb refugees did not want to return to their prewar
domiciles. While ethnic tensions continued in the Danube region and
parts of Dalmatia, the overall security situation was stable (see
Section 5). The largest disincentive to returns was the poor state of
the regional economy and the absence of a concrete solution that
provides housing to former tenancy rights holders.
The restitution of occupied private property to (mostly ethnic
Serb) refugees returning to the country significantly accelerated the
process of reconstructing damaged housing. The Government worked on
reconstructing 9,000 housing units during the year. Property
restitution improved, although the Government continued to give
preference to the rights of temporary occupiers, mostly ethnic Croats,
over those of the legal owners.
Looting of occupied properties remained a problem; an estimated
one-fifth such houses were looted before being returned to the legal
owner. The number of legally occupied properties decreased from
approximately 3,500 in January to approximately 1,197 in September. The
problem of illegal occupancy cases was reduced from approximately 500
cases in January to approximately 54 in December; however, the process
did not always result physical repossession or return of refugees as
the Government often purchased the refugees' homes at favorable prices.
The issue of former-tenancy rights holders of socially-owned property
remained largely unaddressed, preventing these persons (mostly ethnic
Serbs) from returning to their prewar apartments (see Section 1.e.).
The Government allowed free access to all displaced persons by
domestic and international humanitarian organizations and permitted
them to provide assistance.
The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian and
international organizations in assisting refugees and returnees. By the
end of December, in returns organized by the UNHCR and the Government,
12,478 persons who were refugees in the former Yugoslavia were
repatriated to the country. According to the Government, approximately
115,148 refugees (mostly ethnic Serbs) have returned to the country
since 1995.
A new asylum law entered into force in July and provides for the
granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 U.N.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol,
and the Government has established a system for providing protection to
refugees. In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution. During the year, the Government did not grant asylum to
any asylum seeker.
Asylum seekers also have access to a judicial review with the
Administrative Court, which was limited to procedural issues. In May,
the Government approved funding for construction of a state asylum
reception center, scheduled to open in late 2005. In July, the
Government entered into an agreement with the Croatian Red Cross that
covers the maintenance costs of the interim asylum center, pending
opening of the Government center. In August, the Government appointed
an appeals commission to conduct a substantive review of cases of
asylum seekers who were rejected in the first instance. UNHCR expressed
concern that the commission appointments were under Government
influence. The UNHCR closely followed up on individual cases that were
deported or returned by government authorities to BiH and SaM.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: the Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections on the basis of universal
suffrage; the OSCE judged the 2003 parliamentary elections to be free
and fair, however, it expressed a few concerns including the
legislative framework for elections, the short timeframe available for
election administration, the accessibility of out-of-country voting
(particularly for refugees in SaM and BiH), and the lack of
transparency in campaign financing.
The Citizenship Law and electoral legislation grant citizenship,
and thereby the right to vote, on purely ethnic grounds to ethnic
Croats abroad with no genuine link to the country; however, in 2000,
the Government failed to ensure that many Croatian Serbs, who fled in
1995 and who wished to assume the responsibilities of citizenship,
could document their citizenship in order to vote and ultimately to
return. At year's end, the law still had not been amended to rectify
this problem and create equal citizenship conditions regardless of
ethnicity.
Corruption was perceived to be widespread; however, the Government
took steps to address it. NGO surveys and anecdotal evidence indicated
that for citizens, two areas of most common corruption were in health
service and land registration. The Ministry of Justice, with help from
the international community, began to make progress in the latter area.
Early during the year, several nominations for assistant minister
posts were withdrawn after allegations of corruption were raised. A new
parliamentary Commission for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest was
formed during the year; however, political infighting and an overly
broad mandate limited its effectiveness. For the first time officials
had to publicly declare their assets.
During the year, an increasing number of allegations of corruption
by senior government or ex-government officials were investigated,
including cases against former Foreign Minister Mate Granic and Nevenka
Tudjman, the daughter of late-President Franjo Tudjman. However, at
year's end, prosecutors had failed to secure a conviction in a high-
level corruption case.
The powers of the Government's Office for the Prevention of
Corruption and Organized Crime (``USKOK'') were strengthened during the
year to close gaps in its authority to manage criminal investigations.
However, the country's institutional ability to combat corruption
remained unproven. The failure of USKOK to secure more than a few
indictments demonstrated the immaturity of the judicial system to
handle corruption investigations, stemming in part from the lack of a
common definition of what constitutes corruption. The investigation of
a former foreign minister (and president of one of the parties in the
ruling coalition) highlighted the failings of the investigative and
judicial systems, but was ostensibly free of political interference.
A new, more comprehensive judicial reform program implemented by
the Justice Ministry early in the year includes reform and
specialization of the judiciary to improve the efficiency and raise the
level of expertise of the court system.
Government transparency was addressed in a 2003 law that guarantees
the right to access government information. In September, several
international organizations recommended improved education of and
implementation by public authorities of the law, which is unevenly
applied.
There were 33 women in the 152-seat Parliament, including 2 women
in positions of Deputy Speaker. There were 4 women in the 15-seat
cabinet, including the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of
Justice. There were 4 women out of 13 Constitutional Court Justices and
20 women out of 40 Supreme Court Justices.
The electoral law reserves up to eight parliamentary seats for
ethnic minorities. There were 11 members of minorities in the 152-seat
Parliament, of which 8 were elected as minority representatives.
Minority participation in the November 2003 elections was mixed, but
generally stronger than in 2000, as voters elected three M.P.s to
represent the country's Serb minority, and one each for the Italian and
Hungarian communities.
The law stipulates that ethnic minorities must be represented in
local government bodies, provided the census shows that a minority
group constitutes at least a specified percentage of the local
population. This provision of the law was generally implemented
following an agreement in December 2003 between the Government and the
Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS).
In 2003, the SDSS signed an agreement with the Government in
exchange for a commitment from the Government on the full return of
refugees, the restitution of illegally used Serb property within 6
months, and compensation for destroyed property outside of areas
covered by the existing Reconstruction Act. The agreement also
committed the Government to fulfill, within 3 months, provisions within
the Constitutional Law on National Minorities that guarantee minority
representation in local and regional Government units. This commitment
was generally carried out by local and regional elected representative
bodies; however, the Government's commitment to ensure proportional
representation in the police, judiciary and public services was not
systematically addressed.
During the year, the Government established the National Minorities
Council and supported training for local minorities councils, which
were designed to advise local government bodies on policy issues of
interest to minority communities. However, these local minority
councils remained under-funded and not fully engaged.
In November, Prime Minister Sanader signed with his Serbian
counterpart Kostunica an agreement on mutual protection of ethnic
minorities. The agreement binds the governments to preserve the current
level of minority rights protection and domicile countries are bound
financially to assist preservation of respective minorities' cultural
identity.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were often cooperative and responsive to their views.
There were no reports of Government harassment of NGOs. The
Government's Office for Cooperation with NGOs and other Government
ministries and offices were active in coordinating and promoting NGO
and Governmental efforts on human rights and civil society.
The Government generally cooperated with the ICTY but at year's
end, one of the most wanted ICTY indictees remained at large. The ICTY
liaison office in Zagreb reported that the Government's cooperation
with the court has markedly improved. The Government complied with all
outstanding requests for information and evidence. In July, the
Government transferred former Croatian Army General Mirko Norac,
already serving a 12-year sentence on domestic war crimes charges, to
The Hague to stand trial for the murder of civilians in the 1993 Medak
Pocket operation. Former General Rahim Ademi voluntarily surrendered to
the tribunal to face the same charges. In May, six Bosnian Croats
turned themselves in and were subsequently transferred to ICTY. The
Government facilitated their transfer to ICTY and provided guarantees
for their pre-trial release. Questions remained about the Government's
diligence in tracking down 2001 indictee former General Ante Gotovina.
The lack of progress in locating Gotovina called into question the
seriousness of the Government's efforts to fulfill its legal and
political commitments to the ICTY.
The parliamentary Ombudsman for human rights received and acted on
individual citizens' complaints; however, its authority to order
compliance from Government ministries was limited. In December, the
Parliament unanimously appointed the new Ombudsman. Aside from the
Ombudsman's office, Parliament maintained an independent human rights
committee tasked with human and minority rights and a separate gender
equality committee. Both committees, in cooperation with ministry and
other experts, were effective in drafting and recommending laws, in
establishing relevant committees at the local level, and in raising
awareness of their issues.
The Government's Office for Human Rights is the primary office
responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing the
Government's human rights policies. The Office was generally effective
in cooperating with NGOs and the international community. It launched
awareness-raising campaigns to promote general tolerance and care for
disadvantaged and elderly persons and coordinated activities to prevent
trafficking in persons.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on gender, age and race;
however, discrimination against women, ethnic Serbs, and Roma
continued.
Women.--Police statistics showed that domestic violence against
women was on the rise with over 50 percent more cases registered in the
first 3 months of the year than in the same period of the previous
year. The number of registered victims in that period was 3,426, of
which women comprised over 66 percent. Alcohol abuse, the psychological
consequences of war, and poor economic circumstances were generally
considered aggravating factors. The law provides that a domestic
violence case may be initiated by persons other than the victim,
including by the police. Under this law family violence is treated as a
misdemeanor; penalties range between $166 to $1,660 (1,000 to 10,000
Kuna) or up to 60 days in prison. Under the Criminal Law, for the same
acts, perpetrators can face up to 3 years in prison. NGOs complained
that the courts were slow to schedule first hearings, issued few
convictions, and administered only minimum prison sentences and fines.
NGOs specializing in domestic violence criticized the police rulebook
that left discretion to police to assess the threat levels when
administering restraint orders and other measures. The law requires
that witnesses or those with knowledge of domestic violence or child
abuse--such as teachers, counselors, or health workers--report their
suspicions to relevant authorities.
In December, the Government adopted a 2-year strategy on protection
from family violence consisting of short- and long-term measures. The
measures focused on family violence prevention, including amending
present legislation to bring it in line with international standards
and training of all relevant agencies and the judiciary.
The OSCE reported that it had not received any complaints regarding
police performance in handling domestic violence cases. During the
year, NGOs actively participated in drafting the national strategy on
protection against family violence, but complained that no budget for
its implementation was attached. Their cooperation with state
institutions was mixed; they received reduced levels of state funding,
but commended the police for better handling of domestic violence
cases.
Four shelters existed for victims of domestic violence (one in
Karlovac, and Caritas operated shelters in Rijeka, Osijek, and
Sibenik). In addition, there were hotlines, counseling, and legal
assistance programs targeting victims of domestic violence.
Rape and spousal rape are illegal under the Penal Code; however,
NGOs reported that many women did not report rape or spousal rape.
According to a survey conducted by Autonomna Zenska Kuca in 2003, 34
percent of women have experienced unwanted sexual relations at least
once in their lifetime.
Prostitution is illegal but occurred.
Trafficking in women for the purposes of sexual exploitation
remained a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace; however, it
was a problem. According to a survey conducted during the year by
Poslovni Forum, over 17 percent experienced sexual harassment in the
workplace at some point in their career. According to trade unions, the
problem was most pronounced in the textile and leather, trade, and
catering industries. The Ombudsman and unions reported that they were
working on sexual harassment cases, although many women were reluctant
to take action for fear of reprisal.
The labor law prohibits gender discrimination; however, in
practice, women generally held lower paying positions in the work
force. Government and union statistics showed that women constituted an
estimated 45 percent of the formally employed work force and, in
August, they represented 58 percent of those registered as unemployed.
The average women's wages were 10 percent below men's wages; even in
the trade and textile processing industry, where women constitute the
majority of the workforce, they were paid significantly less. In March,
the Croatian State Institute for the Protection of the Family,
Maternity, and Youth released a study that showed half the companies
surveyed did not have a single woman in a senior managerial position
and less than 3 percent of companies had more than four women in such
positions. Anecdotal evidence gathered by NGOs suggested that women
held the preponderance of low-level clerical, labor, and shop-keeping
positions. Women constituted a larger proportion of the unemployed--54
percent--and pension statistics indicated that women's salaries
averaged 26 percent less than those of their male counterparts. Women
often were among the first to be laid off in times of corporate
restructuring.
The office of the Gender Ombudsman became fully functional during
the summer and focused on monitoring the implementation of the Gender
Equality Law including the submission of mandatory action plans for
state institutions and public companies. The Government's Office for
Gender Equality, established in March, was responsible for the
implementation of the Gender Equality Law and drafting the state gender
policy. During the year, the office focused on building the
institutional network and assisting in the establishment of gender
equality commissions in counties where they were still absent. It also
organized seminars to assist these commissions in drafting gender
equality action plans required by the new law. Parliament's Gender
Equality Committee drafted amendments to several laws that affect women
and children and criticized relevant ministries including the Ministry
of Family, for their failure to draft projects, resulting in funds
going unused.
The Croatian Women's NGO Network supported the activities of 50
NGOs from across the country. There were several NGOs that had an
impact nationally on women's issues.
Children.--The Government was generally committed to the rights and
welfare of children. Education was free and mandatory through grade
eight (generally age 14). The majority of students continued their
education until the age of 18, with Roma being the only notable
exception. Romani children faced serious obstacles in continuing their
education, including discrimination in schools and a lack of family
support. An estimated 10 percent of Romani children begin primary
school, and only approximately 10 percent of these go on to secondary
school. Schools provided free meals for children, and subsidized
daycare facilities were available in most communities, even for
infants. Medical care for children was free.
NGOs operating hotlines for sexual abuse victims reported numerous
cases of child abuse, although there was no societal pattern of child
abuse. The Ministry of Health and Social Care reported that there were
62 cases of criminal acts against children in 2003 and noted a steady
increase of such criminal activities since 2001. Of these criminal
acts, 56 were related to child abuse and pornography, and 6 to
international prostitution. Amnesty International reported on the
inability of authorities to prevent violence among children in social
care institutions and expressed concern that minors were placed in
institutions with adults. In October, the U.N. Committee on the Rights
of the Child voiced concern about the violation of children's right to
privacy in the media. The committee recommended that authorities take
necessary measures to ensure that the media fully respect a child's
right to privacy. In response, the State Prosecutor instructed the
media on domestic legislation that prohibits publication of information
revealing a child's identity if it endangers the child's well-being.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in person;
however trafficking in women was a problem. The amended Criminal Law
became effective in October. It contains an article that defines
trafficking in persons as a crime separate from slavery and provides
penalties between 1 and 10 years for traffickers. The minimum penalty
for trafficking crimes committed against a minor is 5 years'
imprisonment. In additional, if the crime was committed by a criminal
organization and resulted in a death, the penalty is 5 years to life
imprisonment. During the year, no persons were prosecuted under the new
law, although there was one trafficking-related conviction under the
law against slavery.
According to the Office of the State Prosecutor, one person was
charged and three reported for trafficking in persons during the year.
One person was convicted and three were reported for establishing
slavery; eight persons were either reported or indicted for organized
prostitution. The MUP reported 19 persons as victims of trafficking
during the year, mostly foreign citizens from SaM, BiH, Ukraine and
Russia.
Police awareness of the problem has improved significantly;
however, failure to identify trafficked women among illegal aliens
smuggled into the country was a serious problem that resulted in a
significant underestimate of the trafficking problem in the country. In
2003 and during the year, the police academy provided comprehensive
training for border police and organized crime police. Trafficking in
persons training was added to the academy's curriculum.
The country was primarily a transit country for women trafficked to
other parts of Europe for prostitution, as well as a lesser but
increasing, source and destination country for trafficked women. Women
from Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and other countries
reportedly were trafficked through BiH and SaM to the country, where
some remained to work as prostitutes or were trafficked to other
destinations. Women were transported through the country by truck or
boat. In addition, women from Albania, BiH, Bulgaria, Hungary,
Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, and SaM were detained in
incidents of illegal entry into the country; some of these women were
believed to be victims of trafficking. Refugees, displaced persons, and
young persons are most at risk of being trafficked. Anecdotal
information indicated that international organized crime groups, local
groups, and travel or marriage agencies were responsible for
trafficking. The average age of reported victims was 24 years. Victims
were subject to violence, intimidation, withholding of documents, and
threats by traffickers.
There were no confirmed reports that government officials were
involved in trafficking.
There were support services available for trafficking victims. The
Government provided shelter for trafficking victims and either deported
them or provided residency documents. In 2003, the Government
established a shelter for victims; local NGOs and the IOM, in
cooperation with the Ministry, provided services to the shelter. In
addition, three reception centers were established, in cooperation with
the Croatian Red Cross--in Western, Central, and Southern Croatia--to
accommodate victims temporarily. The Government also assisted an NGO to
operate a hotline.
In January, a witness protection law entered into force that
defined the conditions under which state protection is granted when a
witness' life, health, freedom, or property are threatened; however, it
was not used in any trafficking-related case during the year.
On December 15, the Government adopted a national action plan that
was created by an independent working group of government, civil
society, and international organization members. The plan is supposed
to be implemented starting in 2005.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was isolated discrimination
against person with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care and in the provision of other state services.
The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities;
however, the Government did not always enforced these provisions and
the law did not mandate that facilities be retrofitted. As a result,
access to public facilities was limited.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Constitutional protections
against discrimination are applied to all minorities; however, in
practice, a pattern of open and sometimes severe discrimination
continued against ethnic Serbs and Roma. There was some discrimination
against minorities in schools. For example, textbooks used derogatory
adjectives in reference to minorities.
Local and international NGOs reported a tangible improvement in the
atmosphere for ethnic minorities during the year, attributed in part to
the 2003 agreement with the ethnic Serb party. On several occasions,
the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet visited the homes of
ethnic Serb returnees and expressed the Government's commitment to
ensuring returns of ethnic minorities and their equal treatment.
However, violence against Serbs occurred occasionally. In March, two
persons physically assaulted an elderly Serb in his house in Zemunik
Gornji, injuring his shoulder, destroying furniture and stealing
several household items. The police investigated and identified three
minors from the nearby village of Skabrnja. The local population
protested against the investigation; however, the perpetrators were
charged.
In June, a group of Croatian soccer fans physically attacked a Serb
family in the village of Sotin in Eastern Slavonia. A woman sustained a
head injury and two other family members were slightly injured. Police
charged the attackers with disturbing public order.
In July, a young ethnic Serb was physically attacked in a cafe in
the coastal town of Vodice. Four ethnic Croats verbally abused him and
hit him with bottles and ashtrays causing injuries that required
hospitalization. The police initially fined perpetrators for a
misdemeanor charge and disturbing public order.
The OSCE reported on several ethnically related incidents where the
perpetrators were charged with misdemeanor offenses, such as disturbing
public order, rather than criminal offenses. In a majority of the
cases, police and prosecutors were reluctant to identify the cases as
ethnic discrimination.
In several areas, including in administration of justice,
employment, housing, and freedom of movement ethnic, Serbs were
discriminated against (see Section 1.e. and 2.d.). Ethnic Serbs in war-
affected regions continued to be subject to harassment and
discrimination.
In August, a plaque honoring a Government minister from the fascist
Ustasha regime was placed by members of the diaspora outside a church
in the Lika region. The incident drew immediate condemnation from the
President and Government and, in the presence of police, the Government
removed the monument. In addition, several municipalities removed
street names honoring the same individual. Also in August, the
Government removed another monument in the town of Slunj commemorating
a fascist military leader.
In December, police pressed charges against seven persons who
displayed Ustasha insignia at the gathering of the local guard
association from the Second World War. Fifty persons participated in
the event during which photos of Ustasha leader Ante Pavelic and the
fugitive general Ante Gotovina were displayed in a hall and then
carried through the town. The Speaker of Parliament and the Mayor of
Zadar, (where the demonstration was held) condemned the incident.
In August, an ethnic Serb hoisted a flag with a Chetnik coat of
arms and a slogan on the roof of his house in Borovo Selo near Vukovar.
The police confiscated the flag and pressed charges against the house's
owner.
Vandalism and looting of Serb property, including ethnic Serb
housing, was also a problem. There was also one report of destruction
of ethnic Serb housing. On two occasions during the year, a Serb NGO
headquarters was broken into and data regarding Serb returnees, a
camera and a computer were stolen. In the past 5 years, the
organization has experienced eight break-ins and believes they were
politically motivated. Police identified no suspects.
In February, local NGOs registered a series of incidents involving
Serb returnees in the Zadar hinterland area. In most cases, police
conducted investigations, but rarely discovered perpetrators or made
arrests. The newly reconstructed house of a Serb returnee in the
village of Biljane Donje, which was repeatedly vandalized, looted and
subjected to arson, was set on fire again in February accompanied by
the note that there was no return for Chetniks. In May, OSCE and
government representatives visited the village drawing widespread media
attention and the house was subsequently reconstructed. The police
investigated, but did not identify the perpetrators.
In February, an ethnic Serb returnee reported that the windows in
his reconstructed house in the village of Gornja Obrijez in Western
Slavonia were shot at.
A newly reconstructed house belonging to an ethnic Serb in Lisane
Tinjske was damaged and looted on several occasions during the year.
Violence, harassment, and discrimination against Roma continued.
The 2001 census counted only 9,463 Roma in the country, but officials
and NGOs agreed that the true number may be between 30,000 and 40,000.
Roma faced many obstacles, including language (many Roma,
particularly women, had only limited Croatian language skills), lack of
education, lack of citizenship and identity documents, high
unemployment, and widespread societal discrimination. Romani NGOs
estimated that 25 percent of Roma did not have citizenship documents
and thus could not obtain papers necessary to acquire social benefits,
employment, voting rights, and property restitution.
In December, the Government adopted an action plan aimed at
integrating Roma into the society in the next 10 years. The plan
complements the national program for Roma adopted in 2003. The MUP
formed mobile teams to educate Roma on the procedure for obtaining
citizenship and other documents. In March and May, the Government
organized a training seminar for Romani youth on participation in
state- and local-level decision-making processes with support of the
OSCE and Council of Europe. A local NGO began a pilot project for Roma
and other vulnerable children with the goal of integrating them into
society and educating teachers and parents. According to the Council of
Europe only 1.8 percent of Roma had temporary employment and only 6.5
had permanent jobs. It was estimated that 21,000 Roma live on social
assistance.
International organizations and local NGOs continued to report the
practice of holding separate classes (allegedly of lower quality) for
Romani students in the northern part of the country. A 2003 case
regarding segregation of primary school classes in the northern
Medjimurje region remained pending before the Constitutional Court at
the year's end. In December, the European Center for Roma Rights (ECRR)
and HHO filed a lawsuit against the country with ECRR in Strasbourg
seeking justice for 15 Roma children who were allegedly subjected to
racial discrimination in elementary schools. HHO complained that the
Ministry of Education ceased to fund pre-school education for Roma
children, which existed in six schools in Medjimurje in 2003.
The HHO noted that at least four primary schools included in the
indictment continued the practice of segregated classes during the
year. The schools failed to organize mixed primary school classes after
receiving pressure from parents; they cited a lack of social and
psychological skills of Romani children as grounds for their failure.
In January, several dozen residents of the village of Drzimurec-Strelec
protested against the building of a new wing of a primary school for
Romani children, who constituted a majority in the first four grades.
Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and County authorities
renovated the building, and the school opened for the start of the
school year. HHO commended schools in Drzimurec Strelec and Orehovica
for continuing to employ Roma assistants who were helping students to
overcome the language barrier.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was some societal
discrimination against homosexuals. In November, four youths attacked
the home of the president of a gay rights group, throwing a garbage can
against his house and a brick through the window. The victim was able
to identify the perpetrators; the police brought charges against the
perpetrators for damaging property but not criminal charges for
threatening the victim.
A recent survey of employers showed that one-third would not
willingly employ workers who declared themselves to be homosexuals.
Another third answered that they would employ homosexuals in their
companies as long as they fulfilled all the criteria for the position.
The remaining third claimed that sexual preference played no factor
whatsoever in their employment polices.
Societal discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS remained an
issue. In November, the media carried sensationalist articles on a
trafficking victim in Mostar who died from AIDS.
In December, a man from Split was publicly accused of intentionally
spreading HIV; though the allegations were later rescinded, the man
claimed he was forced to close his business due to public pressure.
In September, HIV-infected sisters Ela and Nina began the school
year without incident, in contrast from the previous year, when parents
protested that their children might attend classes with an HIV-infected
student and withdrew their children from the school.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Workers are entitled by law to form
or join unions of their own choosing, and workers exercised this right
in practice. Approximately 64 percent of workers were members of
unions. Unions generally were independent of the Government and
political parties.
The Labor Code prohibits antiunion discrimination and expressly
allows unions to challenge firings in court and, unlike in previous
years, there were no reports of antiunion discrimination. In general,
citizens' attempts to seek redress through the legal system were
seriously hampered by the inefficiency of the court system, where cases
often languished for months or years before reaching a final resolution
(see Section 1.e.).
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective
bargaining and the right to organize are protected by law, and workers
exercised this right in practice.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike with some
limitations. Members of the armed forces, police, government
administration, and public services were not permitted to strike.
Workers may only strike at the end of a contract or in specific
circumstances mentioned in the contract after they have gone through
mediation. Both public and private sector workers conducted strikes
during the year. When negotiating a new contract, workers are required
to go through mediation before they can strike over a new contract.
Labor and management must jointly agree on a mediator if a dispute goes
to mediation.
If a strike is found to be illegal, any participant may be
dismissed and the union held liable for damages.
Following mediation in a labor dispute at Agrokombinat ``Belje'' in
June 2003, unions played a positive role in promoting transparency of
the firm's purchase during the year, criticizing the interference of
local officials in the privatization process.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits all forced or compulsory labor, including by children;
however, there were reports that it occurred (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment of children is 15 years, and it was enforced
by the Ministry of Economy, Labor, and Entrepreneurship in connection
with the ombudsman for children and the state inspectorate. Workers
under the age of 18 are prohibited from working overtime, at night, or
under dangerous conditions. During the year, the Ombudsman for Children
began operation and for the first time opened investigations on two
possible cases of child labor.
The law proscribes the worst forms of child labor. Recent changes
to the criminal code have criminalized trafficking in children for
purposes of sexual exploitation and labor. A national ombudsman for
children coordinates the country's efforts to prevent the exploitation
of children and to assist in removing children from exploitative
situations.
Since April 2003, in which five violations over the previous 16
months of child labor laws were found, no new data has been released.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum monthly net
wage of $276 (1,850 Kuna), which applies to all workers, did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The
average monthly net wage was $757 (4,352 kuna), which does not meet the
minimum cost of living as calculated by the country's largest trade
unions.
Nonpayment and late payment of wages continued to be a serious
problem. According to the Croatian Federation of Independent Trade
Unions, in 2002, out of a workforce of 1.8 million, 48,400 employees
did not get paid for their work, down from 165,000 in 1999.
The labor law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours and
workers are entitled to receive time-and-a-half pay for any work beyond
that. Workers are entitled to a 30-minute daily break, a 24-hour rest
period during the week, and a minimum of 18 days of paid vacation leave
annually. The Labor Code stipulates conditions for overtime work, and
limits overtime to 10 hours per week. The Government's Labor
Inspectorate must be notified if overtime work for an individual
employee continues for more than 4 consecutive weeks, or more than 12
weeks during a calendar year, or if the overtime work of all employees
of a certain employer exceeds 10 percent of the total working hours in
a particular month. Overtime by minors is prohibited. Pregnant women,
mothers of children under 3 years of age, and single parents of
children under 6 years of age, may work overtime only if they freely
gives their consent in writing to perform such work.
Health and safety standards are set by the Government and were
enforced by the Ministry of Health; however, in practice industries
often do not meet the standards for worker protection. The State
Inspectorate (an independent governmental inspection and compliance
agency) had jurisdiction over enforcement of health and safety laws at
the workplace and annually compiled data on injuries and health and
safety code violations. In 2003, the Inspectorate received 162 reports
of employers violating work safety regulations. According to 2002
statistics, an average of 25,500 persons annually suffered injuries at
work, of which 40 resulted in death. Under the law, workers may remove
themselves from hazardous conditions at work and have recourse through
the courts if they believe that they have been dismissed wrongfully for
doing so; however, according to the State Inspectorate, workers did not
exercise this right in practice and normally only reported employers
after they had left their job.
__________
CYPRUS
Since 1974, the southern part of Cyprus has been under the control
of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, while the northern part
has been ruled by a Turkish Cypriot administration, which proclaimed
itself the ``Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'' (``TRNC'') and has
not been recognized by any country except for Turkey. A substantial
number of Turkish troops remained on the island. A buffer zone or
``green line'' patrolled by the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
(UNFICYP) separated the two parts.
On May 1, the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union (EU). EU
laws and regulations were not enforced in the territory under the
control of the ``TRNC.''
republic of cyprus
The Republic of Cyprus is a constitutional republic and multiparty
presidential democracy. Tassos Papadopoulos was elected president in
February 2003. There is clear separation of the executive, legislative
and judicial branches. The judiciary is generally independent and well-
respected.
Police are responsible for law enforcement and are under the
authority of the Ministry of Justice. The civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of
the police committed human rights abuses.
The economy operated on free market principles, although there were
significant administrative controls. Approximately 718,000 persons
lived in the government-controlled area. The economy had a robust,
service-oriented sector (including tourism) with a declining
manufacturing base and a small agricultural sector. For the year,
inflation was estimated at 4.1 percent and economic growth at 2
percent. Wages and benefits kept pace with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police abuse of
detainees continued to be a problem. Violence against women persisted.
Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation remained a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of politically motivated killings by the Government or its
agents; however, there was one death of a person in police custody.
On May 12, 29-year-old Ionis Ambrosiades died in custody at the
Limassol police station. Authorities reportedly determined that the
death was a suicide. Police conducted a disciplinary investigation and
found the officers on duty guilty of neglect of duty.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
The Government participated in the autonomous, tripartite (U.N.,
Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot) U.N. Committee on Missing Persons in
Cyprus (CMP) as it continued its efforts to account for persons who
remained missing after the intercommunal violence beginning in 1963-64
and the events beginning in July 1974. After years of inactivity, the
CMP began meeting again in August. During the year, no remains of Greek
Cypriots were identified. According to the Government, 1,493 Greek
Cypriots remained missing.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and the
Government generally respected these provisions in practice; however,
there were reports that police abused detainees. Following the January
2003 report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
(CPT) regarding police ill-treatment and torture of detainees, police
officers participated in vocational and educational training at home
and abroad, including conferences dealing with human rights,
xenophobia, and discrimination, some of which focused on arrest,
interrogation, and detention.
There continued to be reports that police engaged in heavy-handed
tactics and degrading treatment of suspects. In the two cases of police
abuse in 2003 brought before the courts, one officer was convicted of
common assault and fined $445 (200 pounds) and the other convicted of
assault causing bodily harm and fined $3,340 (1,500 pounds). Both
officers kept their jobs.
The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Amnesty International
reported that on several occasions in April and May, Greek Cypriot
police stripped and searched Turkish Cypriots crossing the green line
at the Ledra Palace checkpoint and on two occasions beat Turkish
Cypriots. There were no charges filed and no reports that police
investigated the incidents. At least two Turkish Cypriot newspapers
reported that a Turkish Cypriot woman was strip-searched at a
checkpoint.
The press reported additional instances of police abuse. On June
21, two police officers arrested and allegedly beat a member of the
ethnic minority Greek Pontian community in Paphos. The following day, a
demonstration against alleged police brutality turned violent, and
police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Four police officers and
four Pontians were injured in the incident. On July 1, the press
reported that a disciplinary probe had been ordered following
allegations that a Nicosia police acting sergeant beat a teenage
suspect while he was in custody. The officer was not on duty that day
but was present during the interrogation of the suspect who had been
brought in on suspicion of abducting and ``defiling'' a minor. The
Chief of Police ordered an investigation and suspended the officer from
duty; the acting sergeant was formally charged with common assault, and
the case was before the Nicosia District Court for trial at year's end.
On July 28, the office of the Ombudsman released its annual report
that included citizens' complaints of ill-treatment by police. The
report called for the establishment of a watch-dog organization to
monitor the police consisting of government officials and
representatives from NGOs. The report noted that foreigners had filed
complaints of police mistreatment and suggested that foreigners
therefore undergo medical exams upon their arrest and release. The
report also recommended that police be allowed to interrogate detainees
only in the presence of the detainee's lawyer.
Charges dating from 2003 that police in Limassol beat a then 17-
year-old and his father were withdrawn.
On February 28, an officer at Limassol police headquarters
allegedly raped a Moldovan woman in her cell. The woman had been in
detention following her arrest for working illegally on the island. The
chief of police ordered the officer's immediate arrest and suspension
and opened a disciplinary investigation against him. The committee
appointed for the trial demanded the officer's resignation and he was
charged with rape. Criminal proceedings against him were pending at
court at year's end.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, although
there were some problems.
In January, journalists toured the Nicosia Central Prison and
reported that overcrowding was one of the prison's biggest problems.
Although the prison's capacity was 274 inmates, it held 433 inmates at
the time of the visit. Approximately half of the inmates were
foreigners, approximately 80 percent of whom were imprisoned for
entering or living in the country illegally. Overcrowding forced
inmates to sleep in corridors and television rooms, and some juvenile
detainees were forced to share cells with convicted criminals. The
Government provided no assistance for the rehabilitation of drug
abusers or support for inmates reintegrating into society following
incarceration. The National Organization for the Protection of Human
Rights (Ethnopad) called on the Government to instigate reforms to
address these and other serious problems in the prison system and to
stop imprisoning debtors and illegal immigrants.
On February 12, the Council of Europe published a report on the
June 2003 visit by its Commissioner for Human Rights which noted that
the new construction and renovation at Nicosia's main prison helped
address the problem of overcrowding but that the imprisonment of
debtors and illegal immigrants remained a concern.
In July, there were several press reports that police and prison
officials subjected Turkish Cypriots and foreigners imprisoned in
Nicosia's Central Prison to discriminatory treatment. Some inmates
alleged that the police, prison wardens, and Greek Cypriots regularly
beat and abused them. They claimed that the authorities did not answer
their calls for protection and prevented some inmates from reporting
mistreatment without prison officials present. The prisoners also
alleged authorities denied them bail and speedy trials.
Women prisoners were held separately from men. Juveniles were
generally held separately from adults, although there were press
reports of exceptions due to overcrowding. Pretrial detainees were held
separately from convicted criminals.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent human rights
observers and the CPT visited prisons in December.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
The police are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and
Public Order. The President appoints the chief of the police. The
police force is divided into headquarters (with six departments), six
district divisions (including one inactive district located in the area
under the Turkish Cypriot administration), and seven police units that
provided specialized services. Although there were individual cases of
misconduct reported during the year within the police force, there were
no serious cases of police corruption or bribery. The assistant chief
of police for administration typically handled investigations into such
cases and recommended appropriate disciplinary measures to the chief of
police.
Judicially issued arrest warrants were required. Persons may not be
detained for more than 1 day without referral of the case to the courts
for extension of the period of detention. Most periods of investigative
detention did not exceed 8 to 10 days before formal charges were filed.
Attorneys generally had access to detainees; bail was permitted. The
Government claimed the right to deport foreign nationals for reasons of
public interest whether or not they had been charged with or convicted
of a crime.
There were no reports of political detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
Most criminal and civil cases begin in district courts, from which
appeals may be made to Supreme Courts. There are no special courts for
security or political offenses.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
During the year, Greek Cypriots continued to pursue property suits
against the Government of Turkey in the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) for the loss of property located in the area under Turkish
Cypriot administration since 1974. On September 3, the ECHR held a
hearing on the admissibility of a property case brought by Greek
Cypriot Xenides-Arestis against Turkey. The purpose of the hearing was
to determine whether domestic remedies had been exhausted, given that
the ``TRNC Assembly'' had enacted legislation and set up a committee to
deal with Greek Cypriot compensation claims in June 2003. A decision on
admissibility was pending at the end of the year. There were no
developments on any of the other 500 cases that the Government
estimated Cypriots had filed against Turkey at the ECHR or on any of
the approximately 45 property cases in which the Government had
exercised its right to intervene.
On September 24, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Turkish
Cypriot Arif Mustafa who sought the return of property in the south,
which he abandoned in 1974 and which was seized but not expropriated by
the Government under the authority of the so-called Caretaker law. The
Attorney General appealed the case, but a hearing date was not set by
the end of the year.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom.
Opposition newspapers frequently criticized the authorities.
Independent newspapers and periodicals proliferated. There were seven
major daily newspapers, one weekly, and six major magazines. Several
private television and radio stations competed effectively with
government-controlled stations. International broadcasts were available
without interference throughout the island, including telecasts from
Turkey and Greece.
In the weeks leading up to the April 24 referendum on the Annan
settlement plan, there were reports that the Government had pressured
the media to support its position on the plan. In the week immediately
before the referendum, two major Greek Cypriot media outlets refused to
give the U.N. Special Envoy and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement
programming time on their broadcasts. The head of the single major
party that supported the Annan plan filed a protest with the Council of
Europe alleging manipulation of the media in the pre-referendum period.
The Government imposed significant restrictions on Turkish (as
opposed to Turkish Cypriot) journalists crossing the green line to
cover news events in the government-controlled area.
In July, the vice chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Advertisers
Association alleged that Greek Cypriot newspapers had refused to carry
advertisements for businesses located in north Cyprus. During the year,
a few newspapers briefly carried Turkish Cypriot advertisements, but
dropped them after readers and editorial board members complained.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Constitution specifies that the Greek Orthodox Church of
Cyprus, which was not under the authority of the mainland Greek
Orthodox Church, has the exclusive right to regulate and administer its
internal affairs and property in accordance with its holy canons and
charter. The Constitution also states that the Turkish Cypriot
religious trust, the Vakf (the Muslim institution that regulates
religious activity for Turkish Cypriots), has the exclusive right to
regulate and administer its internal affairs and property in accordance
with Vakf laws and principles. No legislative, executive, or other act
may contravene or interfere with the Orthodox Church or the Vakf. The
Armenian Orthodox Church, Maronite Christians, and ``Latins'' (Roman
Catholics) are also recognized by the Constitution.
The Government did not require other religious groups to register
unless they desired to engage in financial transactions, such as
maintaining a bank account, in which case they had to register as a
nonprofit company.
Missionaries have the legal right to proselytize, but the
Government closely monitored missionary activities. It is illegal for a
missionary to use physical or moral compulsion to make religious
conversions. The police may investigate missionary activity based on a
citizen's complaint. Police could also open an investigation if
missionaries might be involved in illegal activities threatening the
security of the Government, constitutional or public order, or public
health and morals. In the past, there were occasional apprehensions but
no arrests under these laws; however, no detentions were reported
during the year.
The Government required children in public primary and secondary
schools to take instruction in the Greek Orthodox religion. Parents of
other religions may request that their children be excused from such
instruction. While these children were exempted from attending
religious services, some Jehovah's Witnesses parents reported that
their children were not excused from all religious instruction.
In September, the Turkish Cypriot authorities permitted a group of
worshippers to attend a religious ceremony at Agias Mamas Church near
Morphou, north Cyprus. Days before the ceremony, a bomb went off in the
empty church, set allegedly by Turkish Cypriot nationalists seeking to
disrupt the event. The Government strongly discouraged pilgrims from
attending the event, ostensibly on safety grounds.
Although Turkish Cypriots reported that unused mosques in the south
were vandalized, the Government routinely carried out maintenance and
repair of mosques in the area under its administration.
While members of Jehovah's Witnesses reported some difficulties in
claiming conscientious objector status and exemption from compulsory
reserve military service in the National Guard in the past, there were
no reports of such problems during the year. While the law provides for
exemption from active military service for conscientious objectors, it
does not provide for an exemption from reserve duty. Legal proceedings
against several members of Jehovah's Witnesses for failure to appear
for reserve duty were suspended in 2002 pending a revision of the law.
There were no new legal cases during the year.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Government did not restrict Greek Cypriots from traveling to
north Cyprus, but generally discouraged them from staying at former
Greek Cypriot-owned properties, gambling in the north, or buying or
developing property there. The Government prohibited Turkish nationals
from crossing from the north to the south.
For part of the year, the Government did not permit foreigners who
had entered the country via ports in north Cyprus to cross into the
government-controlled area. On June 3, the Government revised its
policy regarding green line crossings to allow EU citizens and citizens
of other countries not subject to a visa requirement entering Cyprus
from ports in north Cyprus to cross the green line into the government-
controlled areas. However, the Government continued to block any effort
by Turkish Cypriot authorities or international parties to open Ercan
Airport or any port in north Cyprus for travel to destinations other
than Turkey.
An investigation ordered by the Council of Ministers into the July
2003 denial of entry at Larnaca Airport to a foreign citizen of Turkish
Cypriot origin resulted in two immigration officers from the Aliens and
Immigration Unit being found guilty of neglect of duty and punished
with a ``strict reprimand.''
In April 2003, the Government announced measures to facilitate
Turkish Cypriot movement to and within government-controlled areas and
access to Government services. However, it did not implement key
aspects of the measures. On July 30, the Government announced a new
``Green Line Regulation'' that included measures to facilitate movement
of vehicles such as trucks, taxis, and coaches across the buffer zone.
Since April 2003, Greek Cypriot checkpoint police have not required
Turkish Cypriots to give advance notice of their intent to travel to
the south or their planned itinerary and return date. The Government
did not limit the length of their stay, although most did not stay
overnight. Turkish Cypriots could drive their personal vehicles,
provided they had arranged insurance with a provider in the Greek
Cypriot community.
Turkish Cypriots have increasingly obtained Republic of Cyprus
passports; during the year, the Government issued 14,908 passports to
Turkish Cypriots.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 protocol. In practice, the Government provided
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution. During the year, the Government
recognized 14 applicants as refugees and granted them asylum status.
During the year, the Government's asylum unit received asylum
applications for 9,284 individuals and processed approximately 5,000
cases. As of June, there were approximately 8,628 pending cases,
including some from the previous year, and 370 persons with official
refugee status. At year's end, nine cases were under consideration for
humanitarian reasons. Qualifying refugees were permitted to stay and
were given temporary work permits; however, they were generally not
granted permanent resettlement rights. The Government generally
cooperated with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR). During the year, the UNHCR received fewer than 10 cases from
north Cyprus and none from the south. The law provides for temporary
protection for those persons who do not meet the definition of a
refugee or asylee.
During the year, a local NGO reported several complaints from
asylum seekers who alleged they were physically and psychologically
abused by police; the complaints were directed to the Ombudsman and the
Ministry of Justice. At year's end, neither the Ombudsman nor the
Ministry had taken any publicly announced action on the complaints.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. On May 1, the country joined the EU.
In February 2003, President Tassos Papadopoulos was elected in
generally free and fair elections to a 5-year term with the support of
the AKEL (Restoration Party for the Working People), EDEK-Socialist
Movement (United Central Democratic Union), and DIKO (Democratic Party)
parties. Elections for the House of Representatives are held every 5
years or less and were last contested in 2001.
On April 24, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots voted in separate,
simultaneous referenda on the plan proposed by U.N. Secretary General
Kofi Annan (the ``Annan Plan'') to reunify the island after 30 years of
division. The plan was not adopted because, although 65 percent of
Turkish Cypriots voted to accept it, 76 percent of Greek Cypriot voters
rejected the proposal.
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, the Government sent
letters to public servants, Central Bank employees, and police telling
them that their rights and pensions would not be safeguarded under the
Annan plan, an interpretation of the plan's provisions that was not
shared by U.N. mediators.
There were also numerous press reports that some Greek Cypriot
supporters of the Annan plan were verbally and physically harassed for
their political views by opponents of the plan. Some supporters were
reportedly intimidated to the point that they would not publicly
identify themselves as plan proponents. ``Yes'' stickers in favor of
the plan were removed from public and private properties and replaced
with ``no'' stickers, and some ``yes'' billboards and information
kiosks were vandalized. In one incident, a threat was made against a
teenager at his school in the form of graffiti that reportedly
identified the student by name and stated that ``the 'no' [to the Annan
plan] would be written in your blood.'' After reporting the incident,
one newspaper received a phone threat that the teenager would be ``the
first victim after the referendum.''
Under the Constitution, voting takes place on a communal basis;
separate electoral rolls are required for Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
The Government has concluded that Turkish Cypriots living in the
government-controlled area were constitutionally barred from voting in
Republic of Cyprus elections, although they may travel to the north to
vote in elections. Greek Cypriots and Maronites living in the north
were eligible to vote in elections but must travel to the south to
exercise that right.
On June 22, the ECHR ruled that the Government had violated the
right of a Turkish Cypriot living in the government-controlled area to
free elections and to freedom from discrimination when it refused his
request to be added to the electoral registry ahead of the 2001
parliamentary elections. The ECHR awarded him approximately $4,725
(3,500 euros) for incurred expenses. The Court also required the
Government to enact legislation to prevent future violations of the
same articles of the European Human Rights Convention; the Government
had not enacted such legislation by year's end.
On June 17, the media reported that one of the country's newly
elected representatives to the European Parliament had allegedly
exported historical artifacts and solicited a bribe of approximately
$22,250 (10,000 pounds) from a police officer to ensure that the
officer would be acquitted of attempted manslaughter charges. There
were reports that the Government attempted to cover up the incident
until a newspaper published a confidential police report detailing the
alleged exchanges between the pathologist and the police officer. On
September 16, the Attorney General requested the European Parliament to
lift the official's parliamentary immunity to enable the police to
investigate the charges against him.
There are no laws providing public access to government
information. Civil servants were not allowed to give access to
government documents without first obtaining permission from the
relevant minister. During the year, there were no reported cases of
persons being denied access to government information.
Women held 9 seats in the 56-seat House of Representatives, and
some held cabinet-level, judicial, and other senior positions.
There were no members of minorities among parliamentarians in the
56-seat the House of Representatives. In addition to their political
voting rights, the small Maronite, Armenian, and ``Latin'' communities
also elected special nonvoting representatives from their respective
communities who sat in the House of Representatives.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international independent human rights
groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating
and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government
officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
A number of NGOs considered themselves human rights groups;
however, they generally were concerned with alleged violations of the
rights of Greek Cypriots by Turkish Cypriots or Turks. NGOs with a
broader human rights-related mission included groups promoting
awareness of domestic violence, migrant support, and those concerned
with allegations of police brutality.
The U.N., through the autonomous tripartite CMP, continued its
efforts to account for persons missing after the intercommunal violence
beginning in 1963-64 and the events beginning July 1974 (see Section
1.b.).
During the year, the government Ombudswoman received complaints
from citizens and foreigners living on the island and conducted
independent investigations. Her office enjoyed generally good
cooperation with other government bodies. Following a Council of
Ministers decision in July 2003, the Office of the Ombudswoman took on
responsibility for two new EU-mandated authorities, the Racism and
Discrimination Authority and the Equal Rights in Labor Authority. The
Ombudswoman released a wide-ranging annual report and a limited number
of single-issue reports.
The House of Representatives' Committee on Human Rights is made up
of 10 House members who serve 5-year terms. The committee discusses
wide-ranging human rights issues, including trafficking in persons,
prison conditions, and the rights of foreign workers. The executive
branch does not exercise control over the committee, which can help
formulate policy by introducing some types of legislation; it can also
recommend amendments and approve or reject Government-proposed
legislation.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law provides for protection against discrimination based on sex
or national, racial, or ethnic origin, and the Government generally
enforced such laws; however, there were problems in the treatment of
Turkish Cypriots living in the government-controlled area.
Women.--Spousal abuse was a problem and continued to receive
attention. An NGO working with domestic abuse victims reported that,
during the year, the number of telephone calls to its hotline had
increased 15.8 percent. The NGO reported that 614 individuals, of whom
85 percent were women, 7 percent children, and 8 percent men, called
claiming to be victims of domestic violence. The NGO also operated a
shelter for victims of domestic violence in Nicosia that served 25
women and 18 children during the year.
The law establishes clear mechanisms to report and prosecute family
violence and provides that the testimony of minors and experts such as
psychologists may be used as evidence to prosecute abusers. The law
also provides for prison terms for the abuse of family members;
however, very few court cases resulted in convictions. Doctors,
hospital workers, and education professionals are required to report
all suspected cases of domestic violence to the police. Many victims
refused to testify in court, and, under the law, spouses cannot be
compelled to testify against each other. In cases where a spouse was
the victim and only witness, and she refused to testify, the courts
were forced to drop the case.
The law criminalizes rape and spousal rape with a maximum sentence
of life in prison. Most convicted offenders received considerably less
than the maximum sentence.
The law does not prohibit ``voluntary'' prostitution; however, it
is illegal to live off the profits of prostitution, and police
routinely arrest pimps and prostitutes under this section of the
criminal code. Procuring a woman for prostitution is a misdemeanor.
Sexual exploitation and trafficking of adults and children is a felony.
There were credible reports that women continued to be trafficked for
sexual exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace; however, such
incidents largely were unreported.
In June 2003, a senior editor at the semi-governmental news agency
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) was found guilty of sexual
harassment and actual bodily harm charges stemming from a 2002 incident
involving a female television reporter and presenter. The courts fined
the defendant approximately $2,225 (1,000 pounds). In June, the Supreme
Court ordered CyBC to lift its employment suspension of the defendant.
The defendant's appeal of the fine was pending at year's end.
Women generally have the same legal status as men. Women married to
foreigners have the right to transmit citizenship automatically to
their children. Laws requiring equal pay for men and women performing
the same work were enforced effectively at the white-collar level.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare. It funded public education and health care for
those who could not afford it. There was no difference in the health
care and educational opportunities available to boys and girls. Free
education was available at all levels through the age of 18. Education
was compulsory up to the age of 15 or 9 years of education.
Approximately 85 percent of the population was eligible to receive free
public health care.
Child abuse was a problem. During the year, there were 46 cases of
child abuse reported to the Welfare Department. The Government policy
is to prosecute all cases of reported child abuse that are backed with
substantial evidence; however, prosecution statistics were not
available at year's end. During the year, the court for the first time
handed down a decision in a child abuse case in which taped victim
testimony was admitted as evidence. In that case, the court convicted
and sentenced the defendant to 7 months in prison.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law criminalizes trafficking in women
and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and women
trafficked into the country for the purpose of prostitution was a
problem. The law is gender-specific and does not address internal or
labor trafficking. There were allegations of police corruption.
It is a felony to engage in the sexual exploitation and trafficking
of adults, with or without their consent, and children. The court may
order persons convicted of trafficking to pay part or all of the
expenses incurred for the provision of protection, temporary shelter,
medical care, and psychiatric care for victims. The court may also
order persons convicted to pay compensation to the victim, including
repatriation expenses. Responsibility for combating trafficking was
shared by the Ministries of Justice, Labor, and the Interior and the
Attorney General's office.
It is a misdemeanor to procure a woman for prostitution.
During the year, police opened investigations in 91 cases involving
194 persons for crimes related to prostitution and sexual exploitation.
Of these, the courts found persons in 9 cases guilty of living off the
earnings of prostitution and had 24 cases pending trial at the end of
the year. The courts acquitted the defendants or dismissed charges in
eight cases; in another four cases, charges were dropped for lack of
evidence. At the end of the year, there were 4 cases pending with the
Attorney General's office and 22 cases still under investigation. The
police charged 20 persons with trafficking in persons and sexual
exploitation; all of their cases were pending at the end of the year.
In a November 2003 report on trafficking, the Ombudsman stated that
the country was both a destination and transit point for women being
channeled into the sex industry and that immigration authorities were
fully aware and, to a great extent, tolerant of the situation. However,
the Ombudsman's annual report, released in July, did not assert that
the country was a transit point for trafficking victims.
The November 2003 report concluded that ``essentially nothing had
been done'' by the Government to combat trafficking. The report found
the legal framework for combating trafficking to be generally
satisfactory but made recommendations for improving implementation of
existing regulations. The report also recommended that trafficking and
sexual exploitation of minors be addressed by separate legislation.
Since release of the report, the police have formed an antitrafficking
unit and the Government has established an interagency working group
and a ministerial group to address the problem.
The country was a destination for women trafficked from Eastern
Europe, primarily Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Russia, Belarus, and
Bulgaria. There were no reliable statistics on the number of
trafficking victims; however, 62 victims reported pressed charges
during the year. Some East European women entered government-controlled
areas of the country on temporary 3-month ``artiste'' visas (renewable
for an additional 3 months, but then requiring at least a 6-month
absence from the island) to work at a specific cabaret or nightclub.
The Government issued 2,933 such visas during the year. Additionally,
some East European women entered the country on work visas as barmaids
with set contracts and terms of employment, while others entered on
tourist visas and worked illegally.
Foreign women working as ``artistes'' or barmaids were vulnerable
to trafficking and exploitation. In some cases, women reportedly were
forced to surrender their passports, perform sexual services for
clients, or were not paid their full salaries. In one case, a 28-year-
old Russian woman reported that an acquaintance arranged for her to
work as a barmaid. Employment conditions were agreed by phone before
she left Russia. When the victim arrived in the country, she found the
living conditions her employer provided unsanitary and completely
inadequate, and a bar employee constantly watched her. Her boss forced
her to give him her passport and did not pay her. Besides serving
drinks, the victim was forced to clean the bar and drink with clients.
One night, her boss forced her to go with a client, who raped her. A
Russian man helped her escape and locate a shelter for trafficking
victims. The victim chose to return home after spending some time at
the shelter.
There was also evidence of a new category of female victims coming
from China on student visas who then engaged in prostitution or in some
cases found themselves victims of sexual exploitation.
There have been allegations of corruption in the Police Immigration
Unit. While not admitting corruption was a problem, the Ministry of
Justice changed the unit's entire staff in 2003 and advocated regularly
reassigning the unit's personnel to prevent corruption.
The law obligates the Government to provide protection and support
for trafficking victims by allowing them to remain in the country to
press charges or by facilitating their return home. Of the 62 victims
who pressed charges against their traffickers, 47 asked for police
protection. The law also requires the Government to provide shelter,
medical, and psychiatric care to trafficking victims until they have
recovered from the trauma of their experience. The Government may
appoint a guardian for victims to advise and give counsel and to
represent the victim with the appropriate government agency. Victims
may sue traffickers for damages.
The Government maintained that most women who qualified as
trafficking victims chose to return to their home countries voluntarily
without testifying in court. There were reports that cabaret owners and
``artiste'' agents pressured women to withdraw complaints made about
their situations or not to follow through with their intention to
testify in court.
NGOs that protect the rights of women and immigrant workers were
available to assist trafficking victims and reported that they received
one to two requests for assistance per month.
In January, the Russian Orthodox Church in Limassol opened a
shelter for trafficking victims funded in part by the Orthodox Church
of Cyprus. A Russian psychiatrist was available to assist victims.
During the year, a total of 27 trafficking victims stayed in the
shelter. Of these, 5 returned to their home country without filing
charges; 6 were already witnesses in police cases when they came to the
shelter and later found employment in different clubs; 12 had cases
pending; 3 were in the shelter but refused to file charges; and 1
returned to the nightclub from which she had originally fled. There was
no formal referral process between the police and the shelter, and the
police typically housed victims in government-subsidized homes for the
elderly.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was generally no discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, access to healthcare,
or in the provision of other state services. Persons with disabilities
who apply for public sector positions are entitled to preference if
they are deemed able to perform the required duties and if their
qualifications are equal to those of other applicants. The law mandates
that new public buildings and tourist facilities be accessible to all;
however, enforcement of the law was weak.
On May 1, an amended People with Disabilities Law based on EU
directives came into force; however, it had not been fully implemented
by year's end. The new law extends the Ombudsman's authority to cover
discrimination based on disabilities in both the private and public
sector.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Constitutional or other legal
mechanisms prohibit discrimination. The 1975 Vienna III Agreement
remains the legal source of authority regarding the treatment of
Turkish Cypriots living in the south. The Government effectively
enforced the agreement, which provides for the voluntary transfer of
populations, free and unhindered access by the UNFICYP to Turkish
Cypriots living in the south, and facilities for education, medical
care, and freedom of religion.
The Government no longer keeps statistics on the number of Turkish
Cypriots living in the government-controlled areas due to the free
movement of persons fostered by the April 2003 opening of the
checkpoints and the fact that Turkish Cypriots are not required to
report to the Government when they settle in the south. Some of the
Turkish Cypriots living in the government-controlled area reportedly
faced difficulties in obtaining identification cards and other
government documents, particularly if they were born after 1974. There
were no reports of Turkish Cypriots subjected to surveillance by the
Greek Cypriot police during the year. Turkish Cypriots made few formal
complaints to UNFICYP about their living conditions in the south.
Complaints most often concerned the lack of affordable accommodation.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--The Government continued to
use textbooks, particularly on history, at the primary and secondary
school level that included inflammatory language derogatory of Turkish
Cypriots and Turks. The Government has complained about language used
in Turkish Cypriot textbooks that is derogatory of Greek Cypriots.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--All workers, except for members of
the police and military forces, have the legal right to form and join
unions of their own choosing without prior authorization, and workers
did so in practice. Police officers were permitted only to join
associations that have the right to bargain collectively but not to go
on strike. More than 70 percent of the workforce belonged to
independent unions.
Unions maintained their independence from the Government; however,
the major trade unions were affiliated closely with the AKEL, EDEK and
DISY political parties.
Antiunion discrimination is illegal; however, union leaders
contended that private sector employers were able to discourage union
activity because the enforcement of labor regulations was sporadic and
penalties for anti-union practices were minimal. Parties to a dispute
could request mediation by the authorities.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--By law, unions
and confederations are free to organize and bargain collectively. This
right was generally observed in practice, and most wages and benefits
were set by freely negotiated collective agreements; however, Greek
Cypriot collective bargaining agreements were not enforceable. In the
rare instances in which persons claimed that such agreements were
infringed upon, the Ministry of Labor was requested to investigate. If
the Ministry was unable to resolve the dispute, the union could call a
strike to support its demands.
All workers have the right to strike. Authorities have the power to
curtail strikes in ``essential services,'' although this power was used
rarely in practice. There were several major strikes during the year.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the export processing zone (EPZ) in the port of Larnaca.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that it occurred (see Section 5). There were also
reports that foreign maids and illegal foreign workers were subject to
the nonpayment of wages and the threat of deportation (see Section
6.e.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment in an ``industrial undertaking'' is 16.
Labor inspectors enforced the law effectively.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage, reviewed
each year, was approximately $725 (345 pounds) per month for shop
assistants, practical nurses, clerks, hairdressers, and nursery
assistants. The wage rose to approximately $770 (367 pounds) after 6
months' employment. Neither amount provided a decent standard of living
for a worker and family. All other occupations, including unskilled
workers, were covered under collective bargaining agreements between
unions and employers within the same economic sector. The wages set in
these agreements were significantly higher than the minimum wage.
The legal maximum workweek was 48 hours, including overtime. Actual
working hours were determined by collective agreements between the
unions and employers. In the private sector, the workweek was typically
39 hours for white-collar workers and 38 hours for blue-collar workers.
In the public sector, the workweek was 38 hours during the winter and
35 hours in the summer. Labor inspectors effectively enforced these
laws.
There were press reports of the mistreatment of maids and other
foreign workers. Such reports usually involved allegations that maids,
often from East or South Asia, were mistreated by their employers or
fired without cause in violation of their contracts. The law protects
domestic workers who file a complaint with the Labor Ministry from
being deported until their cases have been adjudicated; however, many
women did not complain to authorities out of fear of deportation.
In July, the media reported that following the country's EU
accession, the Ministry of Labor experienced a substantial increase in
the number of complaints of labor exploitation. Foreign workers,
primarily from Eastern Europe, reportedly were forced to work up to 13
hours a day, 7 days a week, for very low wages.
The law requires employers to provide insurance liability coverage
for work-related injuries. Workers may remove themselves from dangerous
work conditions without risking loss of employment. According to labor
union officials, these laws were enforced effectively. Factory
inspectors processed complaints and inspected businesses to ensure that
occupational safety laws were observed.
north cyprus
Since 1974, the northern part of Cyprus has been governed by a
Turkish Cypriot administration that proclaimed itself the ``Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus'' (``TRNC'') in 1983. The ``TRNC'' is not
recognized by any country except Turkey. Rauf Denktash was declared
``president'' of the TRNC in 2000. ``Parliamentary'' elections in
December 2003 were generally free and fair and resulted in the
formation of a multiparty coalition government that elevated Mehmet Ali
Talat to the position of ``prime minister.'' The judiciary is generally
independent. The ``TRNC'' ``constitution'' is the basis for the basic
laws that govern north Cyprus.
Police are responsible for law enforcement. They are under the
jurisdiction of the ``prime ministry'' but operate under the authority
of the armed forces. There were instances in which civilian authorities
did not maintain effective control of the police, but rather police
took their orders from military officers. Members of the police
committed one reported case of human rights abuse.
The economy operated on free market principles, although there were
significant administrative controls. Approximately 220,000 persons
lived in north Cyprus. The economy was handicapped by restrictions
imposed by the Republic of Cyprus and by international institutions and
relied heavily on subsidies from Turkey. It was basically service-
oriented, with a smaller tourism and trade base but a larger
agricultural sector than the Republic of Cyprus. For the year,
inflation was estimated at 24.6 percent and economic growth at 5.4
percent. Wages and benefits were generally adjusted in line with the
rate of inflation.
Authorities generally respected the human rights of citizens living
under their control; however, there were problems in some areas. Police
reportedly abused some suspects and detainees. After September,
military courts no longer tried civilians unless they committed a
military offense. The authorities reportedly subjected members of the
Greek Cypriot community living in the north to surveillance. The
authorities filed criminal charges against journalists for their
reporting. Authorities' cooperation with the UNHCR was uneven. Turkish
Cypriot authorities took some steps to improve the conditions of Greek
Cypriots and Maronites living in the territory under their control, but
these groups remained subject to discriminatory treatment.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life by the government
or its agents.
During the year, there were no developments in the ECHR
investigation into the 1996 killing of Kutlu Adali.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
Authorities continued to participate in the autonomous, tripartite
(U.N., Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot) U.N. Committee on Missing
Persons in Cyprus (CMP) as it continued its attempts to account for
persons who remained missing after the intercommunal violence beginning
in 1963-64 and the events beginning in July 1974.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The basic law prohibits such practices, and authorities
generally respected this in practice; however, there were reports that
police abused detainees.
During the year, there was one credible report of police abuse. In
September, police beat a Turkish Cypriot during an arrest; police did
not investigate the case because the victim did not file a complaint.
Unlike the previous year, police did not prevent any
demonstrations.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, although
there were some problems. Inmates complained of poor prison conditions,
particularly overcrowding.
Women were held separately from men; however, there were no
separate cells for juveniles in prison. Pretrial detainees were held
separately from convicted criminals.
Authorities permitted prison visits by independent human rights
observers, although no such visits occurred during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The basic law prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, at times police did not
observe these prohibitions.
The Chief of Police reports to the Turkish Cypriot general holding
the ``security portfolio,'' and the general is under the supervision of
the ``prime ministry.'' The police are divided into eight functional
divisions and five geographic divisions. While there were no serious
corruption or bribery cases within the police, there were individual
cases of misappropriation, and officers were punished and discharged
from the force. The office of the ``Attorney General'' worked in
conjunction with an officer from the Inspection Division (or
occasionally the Criminal Investigative Division) to conduct
investigations into allegations of police misconduct. During the year,
no investigations resulted in the prosecution of officers for the abuse
of detainees.
Judicially issued arrest warrants were required. No person could be
detained for more than 1 day without referral of the case to the courts
for extension of the period of detention. However, for a serious crime,
one could be held without being charged. Most periods of investigative
detention did not exceed 8 to 10 days before formal charges were filed.
Attorneys generally had access to detainees; bail was permitted.
Police at times did not observe legal protections, particularly at
the time of arrest. In some instances, suspects were not permitted to
have their lawyers present when testimony was taken, in contravention
of the basic law. Suspects who demanded the presence of a lawyer were
sometimes threatened with stiffer charges or physically intimidated. A
high percentage of cases were closed based on confessions or written
testimonies taken during initial police interrogation under these
conditions. Such cases generally did not reach the courts.
There were no developments in the 2001 ECHR case brought by Greek
Cypriot Panicos Tziakourmas. The case was still pending at year's end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The basic law provides for an
independent judiciary, and authorities generally respected this
provision in practice.
Most criminal and civil cases begin in district courts, from which
appeals are made to Supreme Courts. There were no special courts for
security or political offenses, although civilians could be tried in
military courts until September.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
In December 2003, the Government of Turkey paid Titina Loizidou
approximately $1.5 million (1.12 million euros) following an ECHR
decision to provide restitution and compensation to Loizidou for the
loss of the use of her property. The issue of returning Loizidou's
house was pending with the COE at year's end.
In July 2003, the ECHR ruled against Turkey in two separate but
similar cases involving the loss of Greek Cypriot property in north
Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus estimated that Greek Cypriots had filed
approximately 500 cases against Turkey at the ECHR. By year's end, the
ECHR had not reached a decision on any of the approximately 45 similar
cases in which the Republic of Cyprus had exercised its right to
intervene.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The basic law prohibits such actions; however, there
were reports that police subjected Greek Cypriots and Maronites living
in the north to surveillance (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The basic law governing north
Cyprus provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and Turkish
Cypriot authorities generally respected these rights in practice and
did not restrict academic freedom; however, authorities continued to
pursue criminal charges against a number of journalists.
There were 12 newspapers that operated independent of government
control; however, most had a political party affiliation or bias. There
were two television channels operated by Turkish Cypriot authorities
and four private channels. In addition to three small, university-run
radio stations, eight private radio stations operated. Authorities
operated three radio stations and security forces ran one radio
station. International broadcasts were available without interference
throughout the island, including telecasts from Turkey and Greece.
In November 2003, authorities filed criminal charges against five
journalists with the daily newspapers Kibris and Ortam for insulting
the army in their reports about police actions against demonstrators in
the village of Doganci in March 2003. The journalists faced possible
prison sentences of 21 to 81 years and were informed that they would be
summoned to appear before a Turkish military court. However, in
September, the ``National Assembly'' enacted a law that prevents
civilians from being tried in military courts. Authorities have not
scheduled a trial for the five journalists, and the charges remained
pending at year's end.
At year's end, charges of libel and defamation filed in 2002
against several journalists from the opposition newspaper Afrika
remained pending in Turkish Cypriot district and military courts.
On February 17, authorities withdrew criminal charges pending
against a Turkish Cypriot history teacher and individual members of a
union who had protested on her behalf. In 2001, the teacher published
an article critical of Turkey and its military. In response, the
authorities charged her with defamation and suspended her from her
teaching position. Supported by the union, the teacher reported to her
job despite the suspension, and authorities charged her and several
others with trespassing on school property.
Authorities at times restricted the ability of journalists to cross
the buffer zone to cover news events. The ``Press Information
Office's'' policy was to provide escorts for Greek Cypriot journalists
covering events in the north during business hours and to provide
escorts for groups of Greek Cypriot journalists and for journalists
covering important meetings regardless of the time of day. This policy
was not strictly enforced, and Greek Cypriot journalists reported that
they were permitted to cover some events in the north without an
escort. Authorities required Greek Cypriot journalists to wear yellow
jackets with a ``TRNC'' flag on them to cover official visits, such as
those of Turkish officials.
On June 23, police refused to allow a Turkish journalist to enter
the north from the government-controlled area. Police at a buffer zone
checkpoint reportedly told the journalist that he had entered the
island illegally when he used the Larnaca airport, and therefore he
would not be permitted to cross the green line.
Authorities did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The basic law
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the authorities
generally respected these rights in practice. Unlike in the previous
year, there were no reports that the police blocked or dispersed
demonstrations.
Charges against organizers of the March 2003 demonstration in the
village of Doganci remained pending at year's end.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The ``TRNC constitution'' provides for
freedom of religion, and authorities generally respected this right in
practice. There are also ``constitutional'' and legal prohibitions
against religious discrimination. Non-Muslims were allowed to practice
their religions.
The ``TRNC constitution'' permits the Turkish Cypriot religious
trust, the Evakf (the Muslim institution that regulates religious
activity for Turkish Cypriots), to regulate and administer its internal
affairs and property in accordance with Evakf laws and principles.
Following the April 2003 decision by authorities to relax crossing
restrictions, Greek Cypriots and Maronites reported relatively easy
access to most religious sites in north Cyprus but were still
prohibited from visiting religious sites located in military zones.
On August 27, a bomb exploded in the doorway of Agias Mamas Church
near the town of Guzelyurt/Morphou. No one was hurt in the incident.
Although no one claimed responsibility, it was widely believed that
Turkish Cypriot nationalists planned the attack to disrupt a Greek
Cypriot religious ceremony, which was to be held several days later. In
the end, the church was repaired, and the ceremony took place on
September 1 and 2. This was the first time in 30 years that Greek
Cypriots had been able to hold services in the church; however, Turkish
Cypriot authorities did not allow the Greek Cypriot organizers to ring
the church bell as part of the ceremony.
Greek Cypriots reported that vacant Orthodox churches had been
vandalized and religious icons removed. Missionaries have the legal
right to proselytize, but authorities closely monitored missionary
activities.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The basic law provides for these rights,
and they were generally respected in practice.
In April 2003, authorities relaxed many green line crossing
restrictions and abolished both the $2.15 (1 pound) crossing fee and
the requirement of advance permission. Authorities opened two
additional checkpoints to facilitate the flow of personal vehicles
across the buffer zone. Since April 2003, Turkish Cypriots traveling to
the south have not needed prior permission from authorities nor have
they had to provide an itinerary and the purpose of their travel.
Authorities required Greek Cypriots to obtain a ``visa'' to visit
the north, although this was relatively easy after April 2003.
For part of the year, Greek Cypriots were required to present their
passports at the checkpoints along the buffer zone, something many were
reluctant to do. On May 26, authorities stopped requiring Greek
Cypriots to show their passports, although identification cards were
still required, and travelers had to fill out a ``visa form.''
Authorities did not accept identification written only in Greek. Greek
Cypriots were permitted to drive their personal vehicles in the north,
provided they arranged insurance with a provider in the Turkish Cypriot
community. They were allowed to spend up to 3 nights in the north as
long as they stayed in a hotel and provided receipts; however, this was
not strictly enforced. Turkish Cypriots flew in and out of Larnaca
Airport in the south without obstruction.
Authorities maintained restrictions on the 403 Greek Cypriots and
140 Maronites living in enclaves in north Cyprus. During the year, the
authorities limited overnight stays by child relatives of enclaved
Greek Cypriots and Maronites to a ``reasonable period,'' with
extensions possible. Immediate relatives of enclaved Greek Cypriots
were exempt from the requirement that they stay at a hotel and instead
could stay with their relatives.
At year's end, Turkish and Turkish Cypriot forces continued to
operate a checkpoint adjacent to the Greek Cypriot village of Strovilia
and the British eastern Sovereign Base Area that restricted UNFICYP
movement.
Turkish Cypriots had difficulty traveling to most countries because
only Turkey recognizes travel documents issued by the ``TRNC,'' and
most Turkish Cypriots used Turkish travel documents instead. Since
April 2003, Turkish Cypriots increasingly obtained Republic of Cyprus
passports from the Government.
The basic law prohibits forced exile, and the authorities did not
employ it.
The basic law does not provide for the granting of asylum or
refugee status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol. Authorities have not
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
authorities did not provide protection against refoulement, the return
of persons to a country where they feared persecution. Individuals who
requested asylum were directed to the UNHCR; however, there were
reports that not all individuals who wished to seek asylum were
permitted to do so.
Authorities' cooperation with the UNHCR was uneven. During the
year, working with the assistance of a local NGO, the UNHCR continued
examination of the asylum claims of 4 persons who entered north Cyprus
in accordance with official procedures. Their cases remained pending at
year's end. Authorities arrested 172 illegal immigrants who arrived in
north Cyprus without proper documentation and subsequently deported
them to their countries of origin without the opportunity to apply for
asylum through the UNHCR.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The basic law provides Turkish Cypriots the right to change their
government peacefully, and they exercised this right in practice
through periodic, democratic elections held on the basis of universal
suffrage.
On April 24, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots voted in separate,
simultaneous referenda on the settlement plan proposed by U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan (the ``Annan plan'') that would have
reunified the island after 30 years of division. While 65 percent of
Turkish Cypriots voted to accept the Annan plan, 76 percent of Greek
Cypriot voters rejected the proposal.
Turkish Cypriots choose a leader and a representative body every 5
years or less. In December 2003, ``parliamentary'' elections resulted
in an even 25-25 split of seats in the ``National Assembly'' between
parties favoring a solution to the division of the island based on the
Annan plan and parties favoring the status quo. A coalition
``government'' formed shortly thereafter elevated Mehmet Ali Talat, one
of the leading figures supporting a settlement, to the position of
``Prime Minister.'' There were numerous reports that the parties in
power before the December 2003 election misused public resources in
support of their campaigns. They reportedly distributed public-sector
jobs to supporters, exerted control over the publicly owned media, used
monetary incentives to pressure Turkish-origin voters to vote for the
status quo, and engaged in other similar activities. By year's end, the
new ``government'' was investigating three cases of the previous
``government's'' alleged practice of distributing land and bogus
``citizenships'' in an attempt to sway election results. The previous
``government's'' role in a banking sector bankruptcy case was also
under investigation.
Greek Cypriots and Maronite residents were prohibited from
participating in Turkish Cypriot elections; they were eligible to vote
in Greek Cypriot elections, but must travel to the south to exercise
that right. Officials in the north representing Greek Cypriots and
Maronites were appointed by the Republic of Cyprus and were not
recognized by Turkish Cypriot authorities.
Corruption, cronyism, and lack of transparency were perceived to be
serious problems in the legislative and executive branches, although no
high profile cases came to light. During the year, the Republic Turkish
Party (CTP)-Democratic Party (DP) coalition made significant
improvements over past administrations in dealing with these problems.
Women held three seats in the 50-seat ``National Assembly'' and
some cabinet-level, judicial, and other senior positions. There were no
minorities represented in the ``National Assembly.''
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international independent human rights
groups generally operated without restriction from the authorities,
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
Officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Human rights groups were generally only concerned with alleged
violations of Turkish Cypriot rights by Greek Cypriots.
The U.N., through the autonomous tripartite CMP, continued its
efforts to account for persons who remained missing after the
intercommunal violence beginning in 1963-64 and the events beginning
July 1974 (see Section 1.b.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The basic law provides for protection against discrimination based
on sex or national, racial, or ethnic origin. While the authorities
generally respected such laws, serious problems remained concerning the
treatment of Greek Cypriots and Maronites.
Women.--Domestic violence was a problem, but there was little
discussion of it in public. The law prohibits domestic violence;
however, cases were rare in the legal system, since they were typically
considered a family matter.
The basic law provides for no minimum sentence for individuals
convicted of rape, including spousal rape; the maximum sentence is life
imprisonment. The authorities and police effectively handled and
prosecuted rape cases, including cases of spousal rape. There were no
NGOs to support rape victims.
There were some reports that women were trafficked to north Cyprus
for the purposes of sexual exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The basic law contains no provision specific to sexual harassment;
however, victims could pursue such cases under other sections of the
criminal code. Sexual harassment was not discussed widely, and any such
incidents largely were unreported.
Women generally have the same legal status as men. Women married to
foreigners have the right to transmit citizenship automatically to
their children. The law on marriage and divorce provides for relatively
equal treatment of husbands and wives. In cases of divorce, the court
decides on a fair distribution of the family's assets, with each
partner assured a minimum of 30 percent.
Laws requiring equal pay for men and women performing the same work
were enforced effectively at the white-collar level; however, women
working in the agricultural and textile sectors were routinely paid
less than their male counterparts.
Children.--Authorities were strongly committed to children's rights
and welfare; they funded public education and health care for those who
could not afford it. There was no difference in the health care and
educational opportunities available to boys and girls. Education
through the age of 15 was free and compulsory. Publicly funded health
care was available to the entire population; however, patients faced
long waits for services in public medical facilities.
On August 4, the U.N. brokered an agreement between the Government
of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot authorities to reopen the
Rizokarpasso Gymnasium, a high school for enclaved Greek Cypriot
students located in the largest Greek Cypriot village in the Karpas
peninsula. Until the Rizokarpasso Gymnasium reopened in September,
parents had been forced to choose between keeping their children with
them and sending them to the south for further education. Authorities
did not permit children or families who moved south to return to live
permanently in north Cyprus.
Authorities screened all textbooks sent to Greek Cypriot elementary
schools from the south, which caused lengthy delays in their
distribution and shortages of up-to-date textbooks.
There were no reported cases of child abuse; however, as with
domestic violence, there were social and cultural disincentives to
seeking legal remedies for such problems.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit
trafficking, and there were some reports that women were trafficked to
north Cyprus for the purpose of prostitution.
Procurement for prostitution is a misdemeanor, and a law designed
to regulate the hiring of women in nightclubs provides penalties for
women and employers who engage in prostitution.
Turkish Cypriot authorities issued ``artiste visas'' to women,
primarily from Eastern Europe, permitting their entry into north Cyprus
to work in nightclubs. There were credible reports that these women
engaged in prostitution and that some women were coerced. Authorities
denied the existence of trafficking during most of the year but later
admitted the problem was a concern and began to allocate resources to
combat it. In December, Turkish Cypriot authorities took action in
response to specific information about a named victim of trafficking.
After interviewing the woman and determining that she did not wish to
remain on the island, authorities repatriated her to her country of
origin.
There were no NGOs available to provide assistance to trafficking
victims.
Persons With Disabilities.--The ``TRNC constitution'' prohibits all
forms of discrimination, including against persons with disabilities,
and there were no reported restrictions on access to employment,
education, health care, or government services. The law does not
mandate access to public buildings and other facilities for persons
with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The ``TRNC constitution''
prohibits discrimination. The 1975 Vienna III Agreement remains the
legal source of authority regarding the treatment of Greek Cypriots and
Maronites; however, the authorities' noncompliance with some of the
agreement's provisions made daily life difficult for the 403 Greek
Cypriots and 140 Maronites residents.
Greek Cypriots and Maronites in the north alleged that they were
routinely subject to surveillance. Representatives of both communities
complained that their phones were tapped and that Turkish Cypriot
authorities occasionally broke into their homes.
UNFICYP access to Greek Cypriots and Maronites remained limited.
Although the Vienna III Agreement provides for medical care by a doctor
from the Greek Cypriot community, only care provided by Turkish Cypriot
doctors registered with authorities was permitted. Greek Cypriots and
Maronites were still unable to leave property to heirs residing in the
south.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--School authorities continued
to use textbooks at the primary and secondary levels that included
inflammatory language derogatory of Greek Cypriots. Beginning in March,
the ``Ministry of Education'' began revising the history syllabus and
textbooks used in schools after concluding that the existing text
encouraged students to view Greek Cypriots as enemies and the EU as a
``rotten apple.''
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--All workers, except members of the
police and military forces, have the legal right to form and join
unions of their own choosing without prior authorization, and workers
did so in practice. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of private sector
workers and all public sector workers belonged to labor unions.
Some companies established company-led unions then pressed workers
to join them. Officials of independent labor unions stated that
authorities created rival public sector unions to weaken the
independent unions.
In 2003, there were press reports that public sector authorities
discriminated against members of pro-solution labor unions who
participated in political activities, including demonstrations. In some
cases, individuals were passed over for promotion or were reassigned to
undesirable jobs or locations.
The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination. Union leaders
contended that private sector employers were able to discourage union
activity because the enforcement of labor regulations was sporadic and
penalties, such as reassignment to and undesirable location or denial
of promotion, for antiunion practices were minimal.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--By law, unions
and confederations are free to organize and bargain collectively, and
they did so in practice. Authorities did not compile the number of
persons covered by collective bargaining agreements; however, union
officials informally estimated that 98 percent of workers in the public
sector and 1 percent of workers in the private sector were unionized.
A special commission composed of five representatives each from
organized labor, employers, and the authorities reviewed wage levels
several times a year for both private and public sector workers and
established corresponding cost-of-living wage increases.
The law provides for the right to strike; however, employers have
an unrestricted right to hire replacement workers in the event of a
strike, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the right. In addition,
authorities have the power to curtail strikes in ``essential
services,'' although this power was used rarely in practice.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the export processing zone in the port of Famagusta.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The authorities
prohibited forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that illegal migrant workers were subject to the
nonpayment of wages and the threat of deportation (see Section 6.e.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment in an ``industrial undertaking'' is 16
years, and children may be employed in apprentice positions at the age
of 15. There were labor inspectors who enforced the law effectively;
however, it was common in family-run shops for children to work after
school, and the press reported that children as young as age 11 worked
in orchards during school holidays.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage of $447 (627
million Turkish lira) per month was subject to frequent review because
of high inflation and did not provide a decent standard of living for a
worker and family.
The legal maximum workweek was 38 hours in the winter and 36 hours
in the summer. Labor inspectors effectively enforced these laws.
The authorities enforced occupational safety and health regulations
sporadically. Factory inspectors processed complaints and inspected
businesses to ensure that occupational safety laws were observed;
however, workers who filed complaints did not receive satisfactory
legal protection and could face dismissal.
A significant percentage of the labor force consisted of illegal
migrants, mainly from Turkey. There were frequent allegations that such
workers were subject to mistreatment, including the nonpayment of wages
and threats of deportation. In September, the ``National Assembly''
approved a measure, aimed at persons of Turkish origin, requiring
foreigners who entered the north to have passports and to register
their documents if they planned to work.
__________
CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech Republic is a constitutional democracy with a bicameral
Parliament, led by a parliamentarily elected President as head of
state, and a presidentially appointed Prime Minister as head of
government. In 2003, Parliament elected Vaclav Klaus as President. Free
and fair elections held in June 2002 resulted in a coalition government
under Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla. In July, the Government fell, and
the same three coalition parties formed a new government under former
Deputy Prime Minister Gross. As the leader of the strongest party,
Gross was appointed Prime Minister by the President, and he then
selected a Cabinet, which was accepted through a vote of confidence in
the Chamber of Deputies. There were no irregularities in the process of
forming the new Government. The judiciary is independent.
The Ministry of the Interior oversees the police. The civilian
internal security service, known as the Security and Information
Service, reports to the Parliament and the Prime Minister's office
through the Interior Minister. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces and military. A few members of
the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country's economy was market-based, and its population was
approximately 10.2 million. The economy grew by 2.5 percent through
September. Inflation held steady at 0.1 percent, while wages grew by
6.3 percent. The workforce was employed primarily in industry, retail,
and construction.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Occasional police
violence and use of excessive force remained a problem. Long delays in
trials were a problem. There was some violence and discrimination
against women and children. Occasional skinhead violence and
discrimination against Roma, particularly regarding housing, remained
problems. Romani children continued to be sent to special remedial
schools at a disproportionate rate. Trafficking in persons was a
problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearances.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were reports that police used excessive force, particularly against
Roma.
In August, charges of police brutality filed jointly by two
expatriates, one Briton and one New Zealander, were dismissed due to
lack of evidence. The men claimed that, after they were detained for
not paying their bill at a Prague bar on April 9, Municipal Police
officers initially took them to the local police station, but later
drove them to an abandoned area, where they kicked and beat the men
repeatedly with truncheons. Both received hospital treatment following
the incident. Their lawyer filed an appeal in the case, which was
pending at the end of the year.
Five officers, who allegedly broke into a Romani family's home
while off duty in May 2003 and racially insulted and beat the family
members, were tried during the year. Three of the officers were found
not guilty, and all charges against them were dismissed. The other two
officers were dismissed from their positions, and their trial remained
ongoing at year's end.
There were reports that police and prosecutors increasingly
recognized that there were ethnic or racial motives for crimes;
however, some observers criticized the police for their ineffectiveness
in investigating such crimes (see Section 5).
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
However, there was overcrowding in many prisons, and as of June of this
year, the prison system was at 115.6 percent of capacity.
A July 1 amendment to the Criminal Code that requires half of an
inmate's earnings from prison work to be returned to the state to pay
for damages, prison costs, or court costs spurred protest by roughly
one-third of the 1,000 inmates at Vinarice prison.
Women and men were held separately, juveniles were held separately
from adults, and pre-trial detainees were held separately from
convicted prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
The State Police are responsible for enforcing the law and were
generally effective in doing so, although some instances of police
corruption were reported. The Ministry of Interior oversees the police.
The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Interior is responsible for
investigating allegations of police misconduct. During the year, the
Government continued an active effort to recruit Roma to serve in law
enforcement and improve police relations with the Romani community (see
Section 5).
According to the Ministry of Interior, the number of investigated
cases of abuse of authority by police and Ministry officials declined
during the year to 129 from 252 in 2003. In 2003, 110 public officials
were convicted of abuse of authority; this year, only 1 was convicted.
In 2003, there were 104 investigated cases of bribery; 75 public
officials were convicted, and of these, 45 were given suspended
sentences, 14 were fined, and 4 received unconditional sentences.
During the year, there were 210 investigated bribery cases and 97
convictions; of these convictions, 54 were given suspended sentences.
Cases of corruption were most prevalent in traffic and insurance fraud
investigations.
Persons suspected of crimes were apprehended openly, with warrants
based on sufficient evidence and issued by a prosecutor, and brought
before an independent judiciary. Police may hold persons without charge
for up to 48 hours, during which time they have the right to counsel,
although they may not contact family members. After 48 hours, police
must have determination from a judge and prosecutor that the suspect
will be charged before they can hold the suspect further. When the
judge and prosecutor decide to charge the suspect, the suspect may
contact family members.
The law allows bail except for certain serious crimes.
Under the law, pretrial detention may last no longer than 4 years
and then only for cases considered ``exceptionally grave'' under the
Criminal Code. Lengthy pretrial detention and long delays in trials
were problems and were primarily due to judicial inefficiency,
financial constraints, and staff shortages. In practice, the average
length of pretrial detention during the first half of the year was 143
days, few pretrial detainees were held for longer than 2 years. A
suspect may petition investigating authorities at any time for release
from detention.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, structural and procedural deficiencies,
as well as a lack of training and resources, hampered the effectiveness
of the judiciary. There were allegations of judicial corruption,
particularly surrounding bankruptcy and commercial courts.
The court system consists of district, regional, and high courts.
The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal. The separate
Constitutional Court has final authority for cases concerning the
constitutionality of legislation. Judges are nominated by the Minister
of Justice and appointed for life by the President. The Senate must
confirm Constitutional Court judges.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right. There was a large backlog of
cases. Approximately half of appealed cases were returned to lower
court for retrial. During the year, the European Court for Human Rights
(ECHR) ruled against the Government in 24 cases related to the slow
pace of court proceedings; at year's end, approximately 70 cases
concerning the country were being processed by the ECHR, most of which
are related to the excessive length of court proceedings. In April, the
Government offered compensation to 25 persons with cases at the ECHR
against slow court proceedings in an attempt to lessen the overall
number of disputes.
In January, a new hotline at the Ministry of Justice was
established, via which citizens can report on suspected corruption.
Within the first 8 months of the year, the hotline received 277 calls;
of these, 46 were accusations towards judges, 17 against prosecutors.
These cases were reviewed, and 12 were fully investigated by police;
none of the accusations were proven.
The Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of
Communism continued to investigate actions taken by government
authorities and Communist Party members during the 1948-1989 Communist
regime. During the year, the case regarding Pavel Minarik, who
allegedly plotted an attack on the Munich headquarters of Radio Free
Europe in the mid-1970s, was sent back to police and prosecutors for
further investigation. In October 2003, the High Court sentenced Karel
Hoffmann to 6 years in prison for his role in halting radio broadcasts
during the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion; the 80-year-old Hoffmann began
serving his 4-year sentence in August but was released after 3 weeks on
health grounds. Petr Zak, a former senior state security official who
in 2003 received a 3-year sentence for participation in antidissident
raids, successfully appealed the court's decision and, as a result, had
the sentence overturned.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
There were no instances in which the Government failed to enforce
court orders with respect to restitution or compensation for takings of
private property under domestic law.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however, there were
some allegations of forced sterilization of Romani women and that
municipal governments forced Roma to relocate (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction.
The law calls for prison terms of between 6 months and 3 years for
persons who publicly deny the Nazi Holocaust or the Communist genocide
had taken place. The law also prohibits publishing information that
incites hatred based on race, religion, class, nationality, or other
group affiliation.
In January, the Prague Municipal Court re-imposed an overturned 3-
year sentence on Michal Zitko for supporting a movement aimed at
suppressing human rights. In 2000, Zitko was arrested on charges of
slandering a race, nation, or belief for publishing an edition of
Hitler's book ``Mein Kampf.'' The re-imposition of Zitko's original
sentence followed expert testimony that his publication could have
influenced Neo-Nazi groups in the country.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected this right in practice; however, it may legally
restrict assemblies that promote hatred and intolerance, advocate
suppression of individual or political rights, or otherwise jeopardize
the safety of participants. Permits normally are required for
demonstrations, but police rarely interfered with spontaneous, peaceful
demonstrations.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Organizations,
associations, foundations, and political parties were required to
register with local officials or the Interior Ministry, but there was
no evidence that this registration was either coercive or arbitrarily
waived.
The law prohibits political parties from conducting activities of
any kind at universities; however, students were allowed to form their
own political groups.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Ministry of Culture oversees a voluntary, two-tiered
registration process for religious groups. For the first tier, groups
must have 300 adult permanent resident members. If a group wishes to
attain the second tier registration level, at which they can have
special rights (such as teaching religion in state schools, delegating
persons to perform clerical activities in the military, qualifying for
government financial subsidies, and being entitled to perform marriages
and establish church schools), a religion must have been registered for
10 years and obtain signatures equal to 1 signature per every 1,000
citizens as per the last census. Very few small or less established
religions were able to obtain the required signatures to obtain second
tier registration.
Several unregistered religious groups have criticized the law as
prejudicial against smaller religions. Some critics also argued that
completing registration at the second tier level necessary for
government subsidies would be difficult to attain due to the 10-year
observation period. If a church wishes, it can register as a civic
association rather than go through the above process to be permitted to
perform fundraising activities. There were 26 officially recognized
groups, one of which, the Association of Muslim Centres, registered
during the year, the first time a Muslim organization was officially
registered as a religious entity in the country.
All religious groups officially registered with the Ministry of
Culture are eligible to receive limited tax benefits or government
subsidies, depending on the size of their membership and length of
presence in the country. Unregistered religious groups may not legally
own communal property but often formed civic-interest associations for
this purpose. Unregistered religious groups otherwise were free to
assemble and worship as they chose, and their members issued
publications without interference.
A small but persistent and fairly well organized extreme rightwing
and anti-Semitic movement still existed. The Ministry of Interior
continued a forceful effort to counter the movement, which included
monitoring of its activities, cooperating with police units in
neighboring countries, and concentrated efforts to shut down
unauthorized concerts and gatherings of neo-Nazi groups.
In January, police detained Denis Gerasimov, a member of a Russian
neo-Nazi band, at the Prague airport after police found Nazi propaganda
in his bag. He was charged with supporting and propagating a movement
to suppress human rights, and his case was pending at year's end. In
August, approximately 80 tombstones were found toppled by unknown
vandals at a Jewish cemetery in the eastern town of Hranice. In
October, vandals damaged a memorial to victims of the Holocaust for the
second time since it was erected in July in the town of Bohumin. Both
incidents were reported to the police. Parliament approved a law on
February 10 designating January 27 as Holocaust Remembrance Day in the
country.
Plans to build a mosque in Teplice were withdrawn during the year
due to protests from the town's residents. A petition against the
mosque, noting recent incidents of Arab terrorism, garnered 4,500
signatures from a population of 53,000. Teplice is popular among Arab
tourists for its medicinal spas; in 2003 the town had approximately
2,850 visitors from Arab countries.
In March, plans for a mosque to be built in Orlova were cancelled
when funding fell through. A spokesman for the Islamic Foundation, a
Czech-registered nongovernmental organization (NGO), noted he had never
heard of the Islamic Union, the supposed firm backing the project, and
that Orlova's Islamic community was too small to warrant the planned
mosque.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who
may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
During the year, 5,152 persons applied for asylum in the country; 121
were ultimately granted asylum, and many others remained in the country
at year's end awaiting a decision on their asylum application.
A law on asylum establishes a list of ``safe countries of origin''
from which applicants are unlikely to be granted refugee status. While
the law is meant to discourage applicants from countries that observe
human rights and democratic institutions, it does not prevent
applications or the granting of asylum. Applicants whose cases are
denied may appeal to the relevant regional court and the Government
must abide by the court's decision.
The Government funded an integration program to assist refugees in
locating housing and receiving social assistance. Two reception
centers, six camps, and six integration centers were provided for
recognized refugees. Conditions at the refugee camps were good, and
NGOs noted overall conditions at detention centers for illegal migrants
in Balkova and Velke Prilepy improved. A new center was opened to care
for unaccompanied minors.
The case of Palestinian refugee Ibrahim Ziyad, who spent
approximately 6 months in the transit area of Prague's Ruzyne Airport,
was dissolved in February when Ziyad illegally entered Germany. Ziyad
asked for asylum after landing in Prague in August 2003 on a flight
from Turkey but was denied and returned to Istanbul. Turkey refused to
re-admit Ziyad, and he was returned to Prague, where he remained in the
transit area. In January, a refugee advocate was able to meet with
Ziyad and appeal his asylum case. Czech courts failed to act on his
appeal within 30 days and thus forced the Interior Ministry to take
custody of Ziyad.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. The country joined the European Union (EU) in May.
The November Senate elections were widely considered free and fair.
Prime Minister Stanislav Gross's Government, which was formed in
July, consisted of the Prime Minister's left-of-center Social Democrat
Party, the centrist Christian Democrat Party, and the center-right
Freedom Union Party. The ``Lustration'' (vetting) Law prohibited many
former Communist Party officials, People's Militia members, and
suspected secret police collaborators from holding a wide range of
elected and appointed offices, including senior positions in state-
owned companies, academia, and the media. The law was scheduled to
expire in January but was extended for an indefinite period of time. In
August, the newly-appointed Head of the Government Office under the
Gross Government, Pavel Pribyl, was found to have commanded a police
unit that attacked anti-communist protesters in 1989 and was ultimately
forced to resign. In June, Finance Minister Sobotka likewise dismissed
his deputy, Jaroslav Sulc, when it was revealed he was a former member
of the Communist secret service.
Allegations that a bribe was offered to a Member of Parliament
(M.P.) to bring down the Government led to an effort by M.P.s to pass a
Code of Ethics. Legislation to establish a Code for all government
officials was under discussion at year's end.
During the year, corruption remained a problem. In April, the
police anticorruption unit charged 19 customs officials working at the
south Moravia border with taking bribes from truck drivers. According
to a police spokeswoman, the customs officers received bribes of
between $6 and $13 (151 to 302 CZK) from truck drivers crossing the
border; approximately 800 trucks pass through the border daily. The
crime was part of an on-going investigation, and the officers involved
faced criminal charges.
The Justice, Interior, Agriculture, and Finance Ministries all have
hotlines citizens may call to report instances of corruption by
ministry employees; the Labor Ministry established an anticorruption
hotline in September.
The law guarantees public access to government information. The
Government provided such access in practice for citizens and
noncitizens, including foreign media. No prohibitive fees were used,
and applicants may appeal a decision about information release within
15 days of a decision or if the time limit for processing a request is
exceeded.
There were 33 women in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies and 8 women
in the 81-seat Senate. The Government had two female Cabinet members.
There were no members of minorities in the 200-seat Chamber of
Deputies, the 81-seat Senate, or the Cabinet; one justice on the
Constitutional Court was an ethnic Slovak. Most of the estimated
150,000 to 175,000 Roma were not fully integrated into political life
(see Section 5). Few Roma served in local government, although some
were appointed to advisory positions in government ministries.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
gender, disability, language, or social status; however, societal
discrimination against women and Roma persisted.
Women.--The extent of violence against women was unknown; however,
some studies indicated that it was more common than publicly
acknowledged. In 2003, the Czech Academy of Science conducted a survey
entitled International Violence Against Women, according to which 59
percent of respondents have experienced violence at least once during
their lives, 38 percent while in a partner relationship. Very few women
reported incidents to the police, but those who did said that police
recommended specialized treatment and legal advice in addition to
writing a required police report. The survey showed that most
victimized women report incidents only to friends; 23 percent did not
tell anyone.
The Government amended its Criminal Code to recognize domestic
violence as a distinct crime. According to the new law, those who
commit violence against relatives or domestic partners may receive up
to 3 years in prison; if the extent of the domestic violence is severe,
prolonged, or involves multiple victims, the prison sentence is 2 to 8
years. If domestic violence is committed against a person under the age
of 18, a pregnant woman, the elderly, or the seriously ill or
handicapped, the sentence may be longer. Since the law took effect in
June, 17 cases of domestic violence were reported to the police; 10
cases were investigated. No prosecutions were made by year's end.
The police trained some specialized personnel to handle cases of
domestic violence. The police did not work regularly with welfare and
medical services; however, NGOs reported this situation was improving.
However, training materials to help police officers improve the
identification and investigation of domestic violence and sexual abuse
cases and to help sensitize them in the treatment of victims of abuse
continued to be used. A local NGO provided police with pamphlets to
give victims informing them of their rights, options, and organizations
that provide assistance.
According to Elektra, a crisis center for abused women, rape
victims and victims of abuse could seek psychological counseling
through a number of hotlines and crisis centers. According to NGOs,
there were 107 state-supported shelters located in most major cities
and towns that took in women who were victims of rape or abuse. NGOs
also provided medical and social assistance to women on a local level.
NGOs reported that there were not enough spaces available in shelters
to meet the demand. Although there were no laws specifically addressing
spousal rape, spousal rape falls under the definition of rape covered
in the Criminal Code. Police investigated 432 rapes during the year.
According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 183 convictions for
rape throughout the country during the year, compared with 158
convictions in 2003. According to experts, rape was greatly
underreported. Gender studies experts reported that women were ashamed
to report or even speak about rape. Police training on working with
victims improved through cooperation with NGOs.
Prostitution is legal, while pimping is prohibited by law; however,
local communities have the right to regulate prostitution and enforce
restrictions on it. Prostitution and sex shops were prevalent,
particularly in regions bordering Germany and Austria where
international vehicular traffic was heaviest. However, border
prostitution decreased significantly during the year due to EU entry
and subsequent decline in vehicles awaiting border crossing.
Trafficking in women was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The labor law continued to prohibit sexual harassment and, as of March
1, an amendment put the burden of proof on the person accused of sexual
harassment; however, sexual harassment remained a problem. Those found
guilty of sexual harassment can be fined up to approximately $2,750
(70,000 CZK), dismissed from work, or sentenced. In February 2003, a
survey found that one-tenth of respondents felt they had been subject
to sexual harassment. Thirteen percent of female respondents reported
having dealt with sexual harassment, as opposed to 4 percent of male
respondents.
Other studies have concluded that approximately one-half of all
women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Women and men are equal under the law, and in principle, women
enjoyed equal property, inheritance, and other rights. By law, women
receive equal pay for equal work. Although women constituted
approximately half of the labor force, they were employed
disproportionately in professions with a lower median salary than were
men. Women's median wages lagged behind those of men by almost 25
percent. The unemployment rate for women exceeded that for men (11.3
percent to 7.7 percent), and a disproportionately small number of women
held senior positions. The Council for Equal Opportunities for Men and
Women monitored gender issues and advised the Government on its efforts
to enforce equal gender rights.
Changes to the Labor Code effective October 1 make it illegal for
employers to ask potential employees personal questions during job
interviews. The legislation's main goal is to better protect female
applicants against discrimination by employers who do not want to hire
someone who has plans to have children. There were allegations this
year of forced sterilization of Romani women (see Section 5,
Minorities).
Children.--The Government was committed to children's welfare; it
funded programs for health care and basic nutrition, and provided free
and compulsory education through age 15 (through age 14 in special
schools for slower learners). Public education was available through
the university level. Girls and boys enjoyed equal access to health
care and education at all levels. Language and cultural barriers
frequently impeded the integration of Romani children into mainstream
schools.
While the Government reported that most children attend school,
they acknowledged it was difficult to estimate the number of Romani
children attending school. Romani students continued to attend special
schools at higher rates.
From January through November, there were 853 cases of child
neglect and welfare reported, and from January through June, there were
283 convictions, under sections of the law covering endangering the
morale of juveniles and abandonment of a child. The Fund for Endangered
Children estimated that the total number of children suffering from
physical, psychological, or sexual abuse was between 20,000 and 40,000.
NGOs estimated that fewer than 50 children died each year from domestic
violence.
Laws criminalize family violence, physical restraint, sexual abuse,
and other forms of abuse of minors. There was a government-supported
Children's Crisis Center. As of January 1, there is a juvenile court
system in place for criminal offenders 15 years and younger.
Dissemination of child pornography is a criminal act; laws against
child pornography were generally enforced. During the year, the police
took measures to prevent sex tourism involving children more
effectively, maintaining patrols in high-risk areas, enforcing curfew-
type policies more actively, and raising public awareness of the
problem through the media.
Despite increased police efforts, press reports still indicated
that, in many border regions, sex tourism involving adolescent minors
continued and trafficking in children continued to be a serious problem
(see Section 5, Trafficking). Convictions of sexual abusers of children
were reported routinely in the media. In October 2003, the German
UNICEF office published a report that characterized the region along
the German border as a ``haven for pedophilia.'' While both German and
local officials disputed the scope of the problem and the veracity of
data used in the report, the country and Germany formed a liaison group
to increase communication and exchange information on vice crimes.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking to, from, and within the country primarily for the
purpose of sexual exploitation was a problem. There were some cases of
forced labor. The Ministry of Interior and the Organized Crime Division
of the State Police had responsibility for combating trafficking. The
penalties for trafficking, including for the purpose of forced labor,
are generally commensurate with those for rape and sexual assault.
Convicted traffickers can receive prison sentences of up to 12 years.
Organizing prostitution and pimping are punishable by a prison term of
up to 12 years if the victim is under the age of 15. The Government
investigated and prosecuted cases of trafficking in persons, although
conviction rates were low. According to police statistics, there were
13 reported cases of trafficking in persons from January through
November. Additional convictions were made under pimping laws.
The Government cooperated extensively with other Central and East
European countries, the EU, and other foreign countries in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases.
In September, an owner of three brothels in the border town of
Cheb, Jiri Marinc, was found guilty of procuring and trafficking in
persons and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Marinc's wife, Romana
Nemcova, was sentenced to 4 years for the same crime. According to the
courts, Marinc and Nemcova trafficked over 50 women from Ukraine and
Slovakia to work as prostitutes in the country; most were required to
give all their earnings to the pair.
The country was increasingly a transit and destination country
rather than a source for trafficking in persons, primarily women and
girls for sexual exploitation. Women and girls from the former Soviet
Union (in particular, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova), Eastern
Europe, the Balkans, and Asia were trafficked into the country and
onward to Western Europe and the United States for prostitution. Czech
women and girls were trafficked to other European countries. There was
some evidence of a small amount of internal trafficking primarily of
women, especially Romani women, and children for prostitution from
areas of low employment to areas bordering Germany and Austria. Press
and government reports indicated that the country, particularly the
border areas, remained a popular destination for pedophiles due to its
location and the common misperception of a low risk of sexually
transmitted disease. The Government established police assistant
positions in two border regions to help combat such problems;
assistants were recruited from the local Romani community to facilitate
cooperation between the Romani minority and the police.
Local victims were generally young women between 18 and 22 years of
age, from areas of high unemployment. Girls raised in state-run homes
were at particular risk. A small number of men were trafficked to the
United States for coerced labor. Trafficked women were frequently
offered jobs as models, maids, waitresses, and dancers through
employment agencies, and then forced into prostitution. Once in a
destination country, traffickers withheld the victims' travel documents
and used isolation, violence, threats of violence, and the threat of
arrest and deportation to ensure compliance.
Most traffickers were members of organized crime groups, often from
Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the former Yugoslavia, and East Asia and
worked in cooperation with individual citizens, Slovaks, and, less
often, Austrians and Germans. Traffickers often served as a link
between Russian and Ukrainian traffickers and Western European
procurers.
There was no evidence of government complicity in, or tolerance of,
trafficking in persons; however, NGOs suspected individual members of
the border police of assisting illegal border crossings related to
trafficking.
The Government did not provide direct assistance, but cooperated
with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs in
order to provide services to trafficking victims and provided funding
to some of these NGOs. La Strada was the primary domestic NGO providing
services to victims and conducting awareness campaigns for girls and
women at risk of being trafficked. Returnees frequently were hesitant
to go to their families or public social service providers for help
because of the stigma attached to having been trafficked.
The Government funded and implemented nationwide a victim
assistance program first piloted in 2003. Under this program, a victim
is provided with psychological and social assistance for 30 days; the
victim must decide within that period whether or not she would like to
cooperate with authorities. Victims who choose not to assist police
with prosecution are offered voluntary return to their home country;
victims who choose to cooperate are eligible for residency visas for
the period of criminal proceedings. If upon the end of cooperation with
police a victim would like to stay in the country rather than return to
their home country, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency
on humanitarian grounds.
NGOs working with the Government to implement the program
criticized the limited opportunities trafficking victims who cooperate
with the police have to obtain permanent residency. NGOs pointed out
that it was much easier and more desirable for trafficking victims to
apply for asylum, which grants them legal status to remain until a
ruling is made on their asylum case (which can take years), rather than
cooperate with authorities under the program and generally be returned
to their home country once proceedings are concluded. Though victims
have the opportunity to apply for permanent residency under the program
at the conclusion of their cooperation with the police, it is not
automatically granted. Only one victim was awarded such residency last
year. The Interior Ministry accepted this criticism and recognized the
need to change the model to more readily offer permanent residency to
victims under the program.
The Crime Prevention Division of the Interior Ministry continued to
implement a national strategy against trafficking. The Interior
Ministry screened films in police schools around the country as an
educational tool to help police recognize trafficking victims and
hosted a regional conference in October regarding forfeiting the
proceeds of human trafficking. As part of the Government's national
strategy against trafficking, a new manual on identifying trafficking
victims was prepared for use in police training. The EU continued a
series of training sessions about trafficking and victim identification
for police officers. The Ministry of the Interior translated and
published materials on identification of trafficking victims. The
Government also cooperated with the IOM to deliver school curriculum
targeted for students 13 to 14 years of age on the dangers of
trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in access to healthcare, education, or in the
provision of other state services. However, persons with disabilities
suffered disproportionately from unemployment. Businesses in which 60
percent or more of the employees were persons with disabilities
qualified for special tax breaks, and the Government provided
transportation subsidies to citizens with disabilities.
The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities,
and the Government generally enforced these provisions in practice.
Although access did improve during the year, many buildings and means
of public transportation remained inaccessible. In Prague, 26 of the 50
metro stations were wheelchair-accessible; however, the majority of
stations in the city center remained inaccessible. A growing number of
bus lines were accessible to persons with disabilities. Tramlines in
Pilsen were wheelchair-accessible. Children with physical disabilities
lacked barrier-free access to most public schools, although there was
at least one barrier-free school in each district.
During the year, amendments to the Criminal Code were made to
stipulate that if domestic violence is committed against the seriously
ill or handicapped, the sentence may be longer than the otherwise
maximum 8 years.
The Government Council for Disabled Citizens, a permanent advisory
body of the Government for the support of disabled citizens, was
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. The
Council participated in drafting the Government's national plan to aid
persons with disabilities.
On July 13, Minister of Health Jozef Kubinyi responded to
international pressure from human rights groups by abolishing the use
of cage beds in psychiatric wards and promising to remove the use of
all net beds by the end of the year. According to authorities, of 9,657
beds in the country's psychiatric facilities, roughly 100 were net
beds, and only an estimated 20 were cage beds. The abolition of cage
beds brought praise from NGOs, although President Klaus criticized the
reaction as a hasty step.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--After ethnic Slovaks, the
largest minority was the Romani population, unofficially estimated at
between 150,000 and 175,000. Roma suffered disproportionately from
poverty, unemployment, interethnic violence, discrimination,
illiteracy, and disease. Despite constitutional prohibitions against
discrimination, a framework to implement those provisions in civil law
was not incorporated to address specific offenses under the Criminal
Code. The Government worked towards replacing existing laws that make
discrimination illegal with one blanket antidiscrimination law.
Members and sympathizers of skinhead organizations were the most
frequent perpetrators of interethnic violence, particularly against
Roma and other ``dark-skinned'' persons. An estimated 7,000 skinheads
were active in the country, although some observers believed the actual
figure was higher.
On April 20, three men attacked two Romani women at a restaurant in
Ostrava. The men slapped and kicked the women while shouting Nazi
slogans. The case was under investigation at year's end.
On April 12, three men verbally assaulted a Romani family in
Broumov. According to the police, the men cursed the family's ethnicity
and threatened to kill them while standing outside the gate of the
family home and beating it with baseball bats. Local police apprehended
two of the men and an investigation was underway at year's end.
On May 7, according to press reports, a group of youths from Opava
attacked three Roma, including a pregnant woman, in Krnov. Seven
individuals were charged in connection with the attack.
Reports to police of racially motivated or extremist crimes have
continued to increase in recent years, and police and prosecutors
increasingly recognized that there were ethnic or racial motives for
many crimes. Some observers still cited judicial inconsistency in
dealing firmly with racially and ethnically motivated crimes; however,
there was an effort to recruit Romani police officers and employ Romani
police assistants to better interact with that community.
In August, two youths received suspended sentences regarding an
attack against Roma at a bus terminal in Jesenik. The case provoked
public outcry from the Romani community and was sent back for retrial,
which was pending at year's end. There were three youths involved in
the attack, all of whom reportedly had histories of perpetrating
violent attacks. One of the perpetrators involved in the attack was
sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment because of previous attacks he had
committed against Roma.
In the 2003 case of a Romani couple from Jesenik who were attacked
in their home by drunken youths (the same perpetrators involved in the
bus terminal attack during the year), the perpetrators were given 3-
year suspended sentences. The judge ruled there was insufficient
evidence to conclude that racism was behind the attack. Romani
activists and the country's Human Rights Commissioner criticized the
sentence. One of the youths involved in the attack, Martin Stiskala,
was subsequently involved in further harassment of the family as well
as two other violent attacks against Roma, one of them against a youth
with mental handicaps. In June, Stiskala received a 2-year suspended
sentence for his assault on the young Roma with mental handicaps.
Roma who wished to integrate into mainstream society faced
practical difficulties in the areas of employment and education.
Precise figures for unemployment among Roma were unavailable, but the
rate was disproportionately high, with many unemployed Roma subsisting
on government support or earnings from illegal activities. Some
employers refused to hire Roma and asked local labor offices not to
send Romani applicants for advertised positions. The law prohibits
hiring and employment discrimination based on ethnicity. No enforcement
statistics were available, though there were instances of decisions and
settlements in favor of Romani complainants.
In March, a Romani woman won a court case of job discrimination
against a German drugstore chain, despite the continued lack of a
formal antidiscrimination law. A court awarded Renata Kotlarova $1,850
(50,000 CZK) compensation and an apology from the drugstore chain. The
NGO Counseling Center for Citizenship, Civil, and Human Rights said
that Kotlarova's case was the first in which a court awarded
compensation on the basis of discrimination during a job interview. A
subsequent appeal by the drugstore chain was unsuccessful.
Roma also faced discrimination in housing and other areas of
everyday life. Some restaurants, bars, and other public places refused
service to Roma and posted signs prohibiting their entry. In 2003,
there were seven such cases; three were settled in the Roma's favor.
Human rights groups reported that many municipalities attempted to
force Romani families to leave, employing such tactics as eviction from
municipally-owned homes for alleged lapses in rent payments or coercion
of Roma to sign agreements that they did not understand that were then
used to curtail existing housing contracts. While the Human Rights
Commissioner criticized such practices publicly, the law allows
municipalities substantial autonomy in such actions.
On June 2, a regional court ruled in the favor of a Romani woman in
her case against a private firm that had refused to rent her an
apartment on the basis of her ethnicity. The company was ordered to pay
approximately $2,140 (50,000 CZK) and send a written apology.
The law provides that every citizen is entitled to government
provided health care, either as a salary deduction or free of charge
for the unemployed. Despite this, reports indicate a higher than
average percentage of Roma suffered from health problems. In addition,
some Romani parents refused to allow their children to receive
compulsory vaccinations due to traditional beliefs. Intransigence on
the part of local authorities sometimes impeded NGOs and health and
education professionals work to improve living conditions for the Roma.
In September, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) accused the
Government of the continued coercive sterilization of Romani women. The
former Communist regime made a policy of sterilizing Roma women from
the 1970's until the regime fell, in order to reduce their high birth
rate. According to investigations by the ERRC and partner
organizations, there were significant concerns that this policy
continued to the present day in some regions of the country. The ERRC
reported several cases in which the consent for sterilization was
either not provided at all prior to the operation, secured while a
woman was in labor, obtained without the woman understanding the
terminology involved, or obtained through the use of financial
incentives or threats. The law allows for sterilization only if a woman
is over 35 years of age or has four children already, or when a new
pregnancy would present a threat to the woman's life. In all cases, the
woman must explicitly consent to the operation beforehand. The State
Ombudsman was investigating the issue, and the Health Minister
established a special commission to examine possible cases of forced
sterilization since 1990. According to the country's Human Rights
Commissioner, a physician himself, the situation is indicative of a
larger problem in the health system due to parochial attitudes of
physicians towards their patients and overall lack of choice and
information for users about the healthcare system.
In a continuation of its Plan for Roma Integration, the Government
allocated several million dollars (tens of millions of CZK) at various
times throughout the year for projects designed to promote integration
of the Romani community. Allocations supported construction of
community centers and educational assistance to minorities, including
support for kindergarten programs and Roma teaching assistants in
schools.
Roma continued to face discrimination in education. According to
unofficial estimates for the academic year 2001-02, over 90 percent of
students in so-called special schools were of Romani origin. Graduates
of these schools were not restricted from attending secondary schools;
however, special school curriculum did not prepare students to pass the
requisite entrance examinations of mainstream schools. Human rights
organizations condemned the practice of placing Romani children in
special schools as perpetuating their marginal position in society.
Some Romani parents did not send their children to school regularly due
to fear of violence and the expense of books and supplies. The
Government provided funds to assist with a variety of school-related
expenses for Romani families who cannot afford to send their children
to secondary schools.
Many districts with high concentrations of Roma held yearlong
kindergarten programs to prepare Romani children for their first year
in school; these programs were funded by the Government and
administered by local school districts. The Ministry of Education
estimated that 90 to 94 percent of the children in these programs were
Roma; according to Ministry statistics, 87 percent of children who
attended in 2003 went on to successfully attend basic school and
continue their education in normal schools.
Romani teaching assistants were placed in primary and special
schools to help teachers communicate with Romani pupils and encourage
cooperation between schools and Romani parents. Bilingual language
textbooks were used in elementary schools countrywide to help overcome
the cultural and language differences between Romani children and non-
Romani-speaking teachers.
Textbooks commissioned by the Ministry of Education that discuss
the cultural and historical roots of the Romani minority and on
successful members of the Romani community were used in schools. Local
NGOs supported additional studies and private initiatives to prepare
Romani children for mainstream schools.
The Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs, which
included 12 government and 14 Romani representatives, as well as the
Commissioner for Human Rights and his deputy, continued to take an
active role in resolving disputes between Romani communities and their
non-Romani neighbors. The Commission also promoted positive initiatives
in housing, education, and discrimination. Due to the large numbers of
Slovak Roma who regularly migrated to the country, the Commission
established a bilateral committee to monitor Slovak Roma community
migration. The committee was headed by the Deputy Interior Ministers of
both countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Roma Affairs Coordinator continued
to function as the Ministry's liaison with Romani groups, NGOs, and the
diplomatic community.
During the year, the Government continued an active effort to
identify, train, and recruit qualified Roma to serve in law
enforcement. During the year, special training and preparation courses
were held for 16 Roma to become police officers; 3 candidates
ultimately joined the police. Over the past 5 years, 107 Roma took the
special preparatory course, 29 of whom became police officers; however,
these preparation courses were not to continue after January 2005, due
to a new law regulating police employment that will require police
officers to have at least full secondary education, without exceptions.
If Roma apply to the police force without a secondary education, the
police will continue to train them via a specialized program with the
Ministry of Education, designed to help Romani children whose families
could otherwise not afford to send their children to secondary schools.
In October, all police schools began teaching a course entitled
``Multicultural education--Extremism--Racism'' to instruct officers in
human rights, professional ethics, and protection of and respect for
minorities. During the year, a minority liaison program and activities
under regional police action plans for the integration of minorities
continued. Police in two regions also established police liaison
positions to help combat specific local problems such as usury and
profiteering, and prostitution. Assistants were recruited from the
Romani community and to help police establish cooperation with the
local Romani minority with regard to prevalent local problems.
The Human Rights Commission's ``Project Tolerance'' continued its
annual national campaign against xenophobia and racism. The campaign
promoted diversity, monitored right-wing extremist groups to better
guide government antiracism efforts, and furthered education against
discrimination.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the
right to form and join unions of their own choice without previous
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised this
right in practice. Approximately 25 percent of the workforce was
unionized. Most workers were members of unions affiliated with the
Czech-Moravian Chamber of Trade Unions, a national umbrella
organization. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however,
union discrimination occurred. Common discriminatory practices included
firing union leaders, denying union members entry to meetings between
employees and management, refusing to provide office space for unions,
forcing union members to cancel their memberships, offering financial
incentives to dissolve union organization within a company, disparaging
unions in statements to employees, monitoring union members, and
refusing to withhold union dues. Employers are required to reinstate
workers fired for union activity if found guilty of antiunion
discrimination, though the court procedure was generally slow. The
entry into force of a law that would allow employers to dismiss trade
union officers without prior authorization from the union was postponed
until January 1, 2007.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for collective bargaining, which generally was carried out by
unions and employers on a company basis. The scope for collective
bargaining was more limited for civil servants, whose wages were
regulated by law. However, during the year, the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions reported that some employers
attempted to prevent workers from organizing by means of direct and
indirect pressure and attempted to render collective agreements null
and void.
Workers have the legal right to strike if mediation efforts fail,
with the exception of those in critical sectors such as health care,
nuclear energy, oil and gas pipelines, air traffic control, fire
fighting, and telecommunications. Workers in these industries have
access to mediation. The law requires unions to provide employers with
a list of strikers at least one day before a strike. There were no
major strikes during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking).
According to press reports, 50 North Korean women were forced to work
under close guard in a textile factory and remit the bulk of their
earnings to the North Korean government. The North Korean embassy told
the press the women's situation was an internal matter. The Government
was reportedly investigating the allegations at year's end.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code stipulates a minimum working age of 15 years, although
children who completed school could work at the age of 14 years. A
previous clause in the labor law that allowed children under the age of
15 to work in family-owned businesses and farms expired. Employment
conditions for children aged 15 to 18 were subject to strict safety
standards. These regulations were enforced in practice under the
purview of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Labor Ministry sets and
enforces minimum wage standards. The national minimum wage was
approximately $262 (6,700 CZK) per month and provided a decent standard
of living for a worker and family. The law provides for a 40-hour
workweek and requires a paid break of at least 30 minutes during the
standard 8-hour workday and between 4 and 8 weeks of paid vacation,
depending on profession. Subject to the consent of the employee,
employers may establish mandatory overtime not to exceed 8 hours per
week, although the local employment office may permit additional
mandatory overtime. The Labor Ministry enforced standards for working
hours, breaks, and paid vacation.
The Office of Labor Safety was responsible for enforcing health and
safety standards. Workers had the right to refuse work endangering
their life or health without risking the loss of their employment. The
law treats foreign workers the same as other workers in terms of wages
and working conditions, although in practice undocumented foreign
workers generally did not receive equal treatment.
__________
DENMARK
Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with democratic parliamentary
rule in which citizens periodically choose their representatives in
free and fair multiparty elections. Queen Margrethe II is head of
state. The Government, which is accountable to the unicameral Folketing
(Parliament), is headed by the Cabinet. A minority center-right
coalition government led by the Liberal Party has remained in power
since elections in 2001. The judiciary is independent.
The national police have sole responsibility for internal security.
The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security
forces. There were two allegations that members of the security forces
committed isolated human rights abuses.
The market-based industrial economy provided residents with a high
standard of living. The population was approximately 5.4 million.
Nearly one-quarter of the work force was employed in the public sector.
The key industries were food processing and metalworking; a broad range
of industrial goods was exported.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing
with individual instances of abuse. Domestic violence against women was
a problem, but the Government took steps to address it. Trafficking in
women for prostitution remained a problem, but the Government took a
significant step to address trafficking.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. A
2002 study by the Council of Europe's (COE) Committee for the
Prevention of Torture (CPT) found that police establishments and
prisons met the CPT criteria. The committee recommended a few
improvements including limiting periods of solitary confinement to
shorter periods and confining women in the same area as men only when
they expressly agree to the conditions and when the areas are
supervised adequately. The CPT study also found no allegations of
mistreatment at psychiatric hospitals, but recommended that the use of
physical immobilization be reviewed.
In 2003, 19 inmates died in prison, 6 of whom were ruled suicides.
There were no indications of wrongdoing by the Government or its
officials.
Men and women were held separately except for some voluntary gender
integration. Juveniles were held separately from adults. The number of
detained juvenile offenders was extremely low since only those
juveniles convicted of the most violent crimes were incarcerated. The
law provides that ``violent'' juvenile offenders between the ages of 15
and 17 may be sent to adult correctional facilities, but they were
segregated from adult inmates.
Pretrial detainees were held in remand centers, which also held
nonviolent convicted criminals serving sentences of 30 months or less.
In October, a new high-security detention unit opened to house pretrial
detainees as well as convicted prisoners who have been designated as
``negatively strong'' (prisoners deemed to have a strong tendency to
engage in violence or intimidation against fellow inmates or prison
staff.)
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The national police, under the Ministry of Justice, have sole
policing authority in the country. There are 54 police districts (plus
the Faroe Islands and Greenland) and a National Commissioner's Office.
The Minister of Justice, with the approval of the Folketing, appoints
the police chiefs of each district and the National Commissioner. The
National Commissioner manages eight departments with responsibilities
that include personnel, finances, vehicles, buildings, equipment,
intelligence, forensics, the Crime Prevention Council, and the Police
College.
A criminal action is initiated by a police arrest or by charges or
indictments filed by public prosecutors with the courts. The court may
either summon the accused to appear or order that police arrest the
accused based upon an application filed by a public prosecutor. If an
individual is taken into custody, the Constitution provides for an
initial appearance before a judge within 24 hours. Authorities
generally respected the right to a prompt judicial determination.
Arrestees have the right to counsel at the initial hearing, and the
Government provided counsel for those who could not afford
representation.
The vast majority of arrestees were released immediately upon being
informed of the charges and notification of any further court action.
Pretrial detention is generally reserved for those charged with
offences that are punishable by penalties greater than fines or
mitigated imprisonment. If pretrial detention is deemed necessary, the
Constitution requires that the court issue an order within 3 days of
the defendant's initial appearance justifying the basis of the pretrial
detention. The Constitution allows for the immediate appeal of
detention orders. There were no reports that persons were detained
arbitrarily or secretly.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system consists of a series of local and regional
courts, with the Supreme Court as the highest court; there are no
military courts or tribunals. A military criminal code exists, but its
enforcement is in the public judicial system.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The law provides
for defendants' right to timely consultation with an attorney, at
public expense if needed. Defendants and their attorneys have access to
government evidence relevant to their case. Defendants have the right
to question witnesses against them and to present their own witnesses;
they are presumed innocent until proven guilty; and the right of appeal
encompasses both procedural matters and sentences imposed. Trials are
public. Juries are required for criminal cases in which the maximum
penalty is greater than 4 years' imprisonment.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
g. Excessive Force/Violations of Humanitarian law in Internal and
External Conflicts.--In August, military authorities charged one active
reserve member of its armed forces in Iraq with dereliction of duties
related to her allegedly improper interrogation of detainees. Military
authorities also charged the commanding officer of the unit with
dereliction of his duty for failing to provide supervision. Both cases
were pending at year's end.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for religious
freedom, and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
The Constitution provides for an official state religion, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was subsidized by the Government.
The Government does not require that religious groups be licensed;
however, the State's permission is required for religious ceremonies,
such as weddings, to have civil validity.
The Evangelical Lutheran faith was taught in public schools, but
students may withdraw from religious classes with parental consent.
From January through June, there were five incidents of anti-
Semitic vandalism, primarily graffiti, and one incident of an anti-
Semitic mailing, which the Government condemned and investigated. The
law prohibits publicly disseminated statements, which threaten, insult,
or degrade persons based on their religion. In November 2003, the
Government launched an Action Plan to Promote Equal Treatment and
Diversity and Combat Racism (Equal Treatment Plan). The Equal Treatment
Plan included initiatives to facilitate access to the education system,
promote public awareness about diversity and equal treatment, initiate
an outreach campaign to young ethnic minorities, initiate a dialogue
with ethnic minorities on issues such as diversity and political
participation, increase ethnic minority access into the labor market,
and promote integration in housing districts. The Government allocated
$416,000 (2.5 million kroner) during the year to the Equal Treatment
Plan.
Although not exclusively directed at anti-Semitism, the goal of the
Equal Treatment Plan was to insure protection for all citizens,
regardless of their beliefs. The Government's efforts included the
publication in October of a report on Somalis in the national
workforce, which profiled Somali success stories and gave guidance to
Somali immigrants on how to best access the labor market. In September,
the Government launched a program aimed at combating the
``ghettoization'' of several minority-dominated neighborhoods in the
country plagued by high unemployment, crime rates, and social
isolation. Efforts included the establishment of an interministerial
steering committee, identification of target communities, and a
framework designed to increase opportunities for affected community
members in education, employment, and integration.
From January to June, there were two incidents of harassment
directed at Muslims. For example, one incident involved vandalism and
the other involved a letter expressing anti-Muslim statements. In
addition to the Equal Treatment Plan, the law provides protection
against discrimination against religious minorities.
Societal discrimination against religious minorities was difficult
to distinguish from discrimination against ethnic minorities.
Differences in language and ethnicity could be at least as important
for religious minorities in explaining unequal access to well-paying
jobs and social advancement. Overall, minority group unemployment
tended to be higher, and allegations of discrimination on the basis of
religion sometimes were raised. The integration of immigrant groups
from Islamic countries has become an important political and social
topic of discussion. In September, the International Helsinki
Federation for Human Rights concluded in a report that the overall
political climate for Muslims in the country has been deteriorating
since 2001.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
From January through November, the Government received 2,981 initial
applications for asylum and granted temporary residency to
approximately 9 percent of the applicants (additional persons were
granted refugee or other status during the year and received temporary
residency on the basis of humanitarian grounds, international
conventions, etc.) In 2003, the Government received 4,593 first time
applications for asylum and granted temporary residency to 22 percent
of the applicants. The number of applications during the year decreased
from 2003and was significantly lower than the 6,068 applications
received in 2002. The appreciable drop in applications from 2002 may be
attributed to fewer refugees and asylum seekers coming from Iraq and
Afghanistan, as well as to the tightening of asylum and refugee policy.
The law provides that refugees traveling to their countries of origin
on holiday will automatically have their cases reassessed. If it is
determined that they are not persecuted in their country of origin,
they will be returned after residency is revoked.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Citizens could freely choose and change the laws
and officials that govern them.
The territories of Greenland (whose population is primarily Inuit)
and the Faroe Islands (whose inhabitants have their own Norse language)
have democratically elected home-rule governments whose powers
encompass all matters, except foreign and national security affairs,
police services, the judiciary, and monetary matters. Greenlanders and
Faroese are citizens with the same rights as those in the rest of the
country. Each territory elects two representatives to the Folketing.
Parties and candidates can be freely nominated by various elements in
the society.
The Law provided public access to government information. The
Access to Public Administrations Files Act, enacted in 1985, provides
guidelines for access to government records. Individuals can request
documents contained in an administrative file of any public agency;
however, certain classes of documents containing sensitive or
confidential information are excluded. The Government provided such
access for citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media.
There were 68 women in the 179-seat Folketing, and 6 of 19
ministers in the Cabinet were women. Women also accounted for 44
percent of the newly elected public council boards and committees.
There were two Muslim in the Folketing, who were elected in general,
nonreserved districts; there were no members of minority groups in the
Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution and the law prohibit discrimination on the basis
of sex, creed, or ethnicity. The law also prohibits discrimination on
the basis of race, national, or ethnic origin, or faith. The Government
protected the rights of the country's indigenous people. The
Government's operations and extensive public services do not
discriminate on the basis of any of these factors.
In November 2003, the Government launched the Equal Treatment Plan.
According to legislation passed in July 2003, individuals who have not
resided legally in the country for at least 7 of the last 8 years
receive lower social benefits payments than other citizens and
residents. The Danish Center for Human Rights cited this policy as
indirect discrimination against foreigners.
Women.--Violence against women was a problem, which the Government
took the following steps to combat with a 2002 action plan that
included: A pilot project offering violent family members therapy in
the form of dialogue with their victims and health care professionals;
a law that sets minimal living standards for shelters; increased
funding for shelters; and authorization for the police to remove the
violent person from the household. In November 2003, the Government
initiated a new phase of the action plan that included hanging
informative posters and signs about violence against women in buses and
trains and distributing brochures on how to get help in doctors'
offices, pharmacies, and other public places. During the year, the
Government distributed 1 million flyers nationwide concerning female
victims of violence and the resources available to them and increased
its efforts to reach women of ethnic minorities living in the country.
For example, it created education materials related to violence against
women for use by Danish language training centers for immigrants. The
Government also provided education for crisis center volunteers on how
to more effectively assist women of ethnic minorities who were victims
of domestic violence. An umbrella nongovernmental organization (NGO)
reported that, in 2003, women's crisis shelters were contacted 9,195
times, compared with 9,420 times in 2002. A total of 2,008 women stayed
at shelters during 2003, compared with 1,935 women in 2002.
There were 472 reported rapes in 2003 and 265 during the first 6
months of the year. The Institute for Public Health estimated that at
least 64,000 women were exposed to domestic violence in 2003, and that
domestic violence affected approximately 30,000 children. Rape, spousal
abuse, and spousal rape are criminal offenses, and the Government
effectively prosecuted those accused of such crimes. Statistics were
not available regarding the numbers of abusers who were prosecuted,
convicted, and punished. The Government also took steps to combat
forced marriage among immigrant groups by providing information and
counseling and setting up crisis centers to support young women who
were victims or potential victims of forced marriage.
Prostitution was legal, but pimping, coercion into prostitution,
solicitation of prostitution from a minor, and trafficking were
illegal.
Sexual harassment is prohibited by the 2002 Gender Equality Act and
provides for awards of monetary compensation for victims of sexual
harassment. The Government effectively enforced the law concerning
sexual harassment, and there were few reported cases during the year.
The law requires equal pay for equal work, but, in practice, female
workers earned about 14 percent less than their male counterparts. The
law prohibits job discrimination on the basis of sex and provides
recourse, such as access to the Equal Status Council, for those
affected. Women held positions of authority throughout society,
although they were underrepresented in senior business positions and as
university professors. In December 2003, the Government distributed
7,000 leaflets to private employers which highlighted the need for
increased numbers of women in management and informed them of a website
created to assist employers in their efforts. In February, the Ministry
of Gender Equality published a magazine about female managers directed
at executives and Human Resources staff seeking to employ women in an
executive capacity. The Government also initiated an interagency
gender-mainstreaming project, which promoted gender equality in
government agencies by establishing an interagency steering committee
of managers which oversaw gender mainstreaming initiatives, provided
administrators with education and tools related to gender
mainstreaming, and published individual ministry projects on the
Ministry of Gender Equality's website. Women's rights groups lobbied
the Government on matters of concern, such as wage disparities and
parental leave. Only 40 percent of women from ethnic minority groups
were active in the labor market, compared to 76 percent of other women.
In October, the Government took further steps to bring more minority
women into the labor market by holding a conference that featured
successful businesswomen from ethnic minority backgrounds speaking to
young ethnic minority women about gaining access to the employment
market, and establishing a mentor program for ethnic minority women.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of public education and
medical care. Education was compulsory through the ninth grade and free
through the university level; school attendance was nearly universal.
The Ministries of Social Affairs, Justice, and Education oversee
implementation of programs for children. According to the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development, 95 percent of students
graduated from high school and other youth education programs. Boys and
girls were treated equally. Slightly more women than men completed
postsecondary education.
There were some reports of child abuse, although there was no
societal pattern of such abuse. The law prohibits the physical
punishment of children by adults, including their parents.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports that persons were trafficked to the
country. The law criminalizes trafficking and provides for a maximum
prison term of 8 years of those convicted of trafficking in persons.
The legal definition of trafficking in women includes essential
components of force, fraud, or coercion.
In September, six East European men were convicted of trafficking
in persons in the first case prosecuted under the 2002 trafficking law.
The six men received sentences between 1 to 3 years for trafficking
women into the country from Eastern Europe and forcing them into
prostitution. The conviction was the culmination of a lengthy
investigation in 2003.
The Government undertook efforts to combat trafficking in all
forms, but since prostitution was well compensated and not illegal, the
legal tools available were limited. The National Commissioner for
Police maintained an internal task force on trafficking in persons,
assisted local police constabularies with investigations, and trained
its officers to recognize and investigate trafficking cases. The
Government cooperated with international investigations of trafficking
and exchanged information with neighboring countries.
The country was both a destination and a transit point for women
and children who were trafficked from the former Soviet Union, Eastern
Europe, Thailand, and Africa for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Traffickers lured victims with the prospect of higher wages and a
better life, then forced them into prostitution, often withholding
their passports. Authorities suspected traffickers had ties to
organized crime, specifically in Russia and the Baltic countries, and
subjected them to police investigations and prosecutions.
The Government did not directly provide medical or legal assistance
to victims; however, it funded an NGO that provides legal services to
trafficking victims. The Government also funded several NGO hotlines to
support victims, prevent trafficking, and gather data on the extent of
the problem. Although the Government had no formal witness protection
program, it provided safe surroundings with access to professional,
social, medical, and psychological support to those waiting to testify
in court for a period of 15 days; however, an extension was available
upon a police request if necessary for investigatory purposes or due to
court proceedings. An interagency working group on trafficking (with
members from the Ministries of Justice, Social Affairs, Gender and
Equality, Employment, and Education, as well as from NGOs) met monthly
to share information. In 2002, the Government allocated $1.6 million
annually (10 million kroner) for a 3-year program (2003-06) to combat
trafficking. The Ministries of Social Affairs and Gender Equality
conducted an anti-trafficking advertising campaign in all major
newspapers, subsidized a hotline and website, and funded an NGO program
to identify trafficking victims and provide them with information on
how they can get help. During the year, government efforts included
establishing an outreach program to benefit foreign prostitutes,
funding a new women's shelter, increasing cooperation with source-
country embassies, and collecting additional data. The police and NGOs
established a close working relationship, which resulted in police
referrals of trafficking victims to NGOs in conjunction with criminal
investigations.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law mandates
access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the Government
generally enforced these provisions in practice. Building regulations
require special facilities for persons with disabilities in public
buildings built or renovated after 1977 and in older buildings that
come into public use. The responsibility for the protection of the
rights of persons with disabilities is shared by all of the Government
ministries. The Danish Disability Council, a government-funded
organization, monitored the status of persons with disabilities in the
country and advised the Government and the Folketing on issues relating
to disability policy. The Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled
Persons is a government-funded entity, which alerts the Government to
and documents, inequalities in society related to persons with
disabilities. In 2003, the Government launched an action plan designed
to increase access for persons with disabilities into job markets and
for adequate housing by focusing on five priority areas: improving
housing conditions for persons with disabilities; increasing
opportunities for education and employment; improving public access for
persons with disabilities to administrative government services;
improving general access to public places; and overall quality of life.
During the year, the Government's efforts included construction of
disability accessible housing as part of the action plan.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The inflow of ethnically and
racially diverse refugees and immigrants (mostly Iraqis, Palestinians,
Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Somalis, and refugees from the former
Yugoslavia) caused some tension between citizens and immigrants, which
was reflected in press reports on the failure of the immigrants to
integrate and on the correlation between immigration and crime levels.
According to the Police Intelligence Services, during the year, there
were 24 cases of racial discrimination or racially motivated violence
reported to the authorities. Other incidents went unreported. Reported
cases involved graffiti, vandalism, theft, and racist Internet and
written messages. The victims were Jews and ``people of an ethnic
origin other than Danish'' (usually meaning Muslim or African).
Minority group members were also sometimes the perpetrators of the
incidents. The Government effectively investigated and dealt with cases
of racially motivated violence.
In 2003, the Government initiated the Equal Treatment Plan to
combat discrimination and racism directed against ethnic minorities.
There are approximately 15,000 to 20,000 German-speaking citizens
who resided in the southwestern part of the country bordering Germany.
A May report by the COE's Committee of Ministers recommended that the
Government implement a policy to protect and promote German as a
minority language in the fields of administration, justice, and media
in accordance with the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages.
Indigenous People.--The law protects the rights of the inhabitants
of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Greenland's legal system seeks to
accommodate Inuit customs, and it provides for the use of lay persons
as judges and sentences most prisoners to holding centers (rather than
to prisons) where they were encouraged to work, hunt, or fish during
the day. Education in Greenland is provided to the native population in
both the Greenlandic and Danish languages.
In 1999, a Danish court ordered the Government to compensate
Greenlanders (and their descendants) whom the Government forcefully
resettled in 1953 from a village adjoining a foreign military base. The
Greenland plaintiffs appealed that decision, seeking greater
compensation and the return of their former properties. In February
2003, the Government returned the area adjoining the base to Greenland
control. In November 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's
1999 decision in full. In May, the Greenlanders filed an appeal of the
Supreme Court's decision with the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR). The ECHR had not taken any action on the case at year's end.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law states that all workers,
including military personnel and the police, may form or join unions of
their choosing. Approximately 85 percent of wage earners belonged to
unions that were independent of the Government and political parties.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference and the
Government protected this right in practice. Collective bargaining is
protected in law and was freely practiced. The law provides for the
right to strike, and workers exercised this right in practice. There
are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--Laws
and policies prohibit the exploitation of children in the workplace,
including the prohibition of forced or compulsory labor, and the
Government effectively enforced these laws and policies in practice.
All forms of child exploitation were investigated and prosecuted. In
1996, the Government enacted the Action Plan for Clean Working
Environment by 2005, which currently provides a framework for a safe
working environment for children and preventative measures aimed at
protecting children.
The minimum legal age for full-time employment is 15 years. The law
sets a minimum age of 13 years for any type of work. The law contains
provisions that limit work hours and sets occupational health and
safety restrictions for children. The law is enforced by the Danish
Working Environment Service (DWES), an autonomous arm of the Ministry
of Labor. Export industries did not use child labor. The Government
devoted adequate resources and oversight to child labor policies.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law does not mandate a base
national minimum wage, but national labor agreements effectively set a
wage floor. The average net wage including pension benefits of adult
workers in 2003 was $29 (177 kroner) per hour, which was sufficient to
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Workers
generally worked a 37-hour workweek, which was established by contract,
not by law.
The law also prescribes conditions of work, including safety and
health; the duties of employers, supervisors, and employees; work
performance; rest periods and days off; and medical examinations. The
DWES ensures compliance with labor legislation. Workers may remove
themselves from hazardous situations without jeopardizing their
employment, and legal protections cover workers who file complaints
about unsafe or unhealthy conditions. Similar work conditions were
found in Greenland and the Faroes, except that the workweek was
established by contract at 40 hours. Foreign workers with residence and
work permission enjoy the same rights as citizens.
__________
ESTONIA
Estonia is a constitutional parliamentary democracy with a
unicameral legislature (Parliament), a prime minister as head of
government, and a president as head of state. Free and fair
parliamentary elections were held in March 2003. A coalition
government, comprised of the Res Publica, Reform, and People's Union
Parties, took office in April 2003. The judiciary is independent.
The police, security police, tax and customs board, and national
border guard have responsibility for law enforcement and maintenance of
order. The police, security police, and national border guard are
subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The tax and customs
board is subordinate to the Ministry of Finance. Corrections personnel
are subordinate to the Ministry of Justice. The civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Police and
corrections personnel committed isolated human rights abuses.
The country has a market economy and a population of approximately
1.4 million. Services, particularly financial, transit, and tourism,
have grown in importance compared to the historically more prominent
light industry and food production. In the year's third quarter, the
growth rate was 6.2 percent, compared with 5.1 percent in 2003. While
wages and benefits kept up with inflation, there was growing disparity
between Tallinn (where one-third of the population resides) and the
slower-growing rural southeast and industrial northeast.
The Government generally respected the human rights of citizens and
the large ethnic Russian noncitizen community; however, there were
problems in some areas. There were some reports of police mistreatment
of prisoners and detainees and the use of excessive force. Prison
conditions remained poor, although there were some improvements,
including renovations in facilities nationwide.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were some
reports of police use of excessive force and verbal abuse during the
arrest and questioning of suspects: In August, three suspects were
abused upon arrest; in October, a minor accused a police officer of
violence. Investigations in both cases were pending at year's end.
In 2003, charges were brought against two police officers for use
of excessive force. In January, two former police officers were found
guilty of using excessive force in 2001.
Prison conditions remained poor. Overcrowding continued in the
major prisons for men. A lack of funds and trained staff continued to
be serious problems, despite efforts by the country's Chancellor-
Ombudsman to address the issue. The percentage of prisoners suffering
from tuberculosis was much higher than in the general population.
One inmate was killed by a fellow prisoner during the year.
The Government continued renovating and restructuring the country's
prisons. Living quarters at Murru prison were renovated, and modest
gains in personnel retention and recruitment as well as in work and
study opportunities for prisoners continued.
Men and women were held separately; juveniles also were held in
separate penal facilities. Pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners
were held in the same prisons but in different sections.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent human rights
observers. The last such visit occurred in 2003 when the Council of
Europe Human Rights Commissioner visited Maardu prison.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution and laws
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally
observed these prohibitions.
The police, with an ethnically mixed police officer staff of 3,800,
are under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There
are four national police units: The Central Criminal Police, the
Personal Protection Service, the Forensic Service Center, and the
Police School. A police reform effort aimed to increase the
effectiveness of the police forces and to cut the number of regional
police prefectures; the Government reduced the number from 17 to 4.
Corruption, mostly reported among the traffic police, was generally not
a problem.
Under the Constitution, warrants issued by a court are required to
make arrests. Detainees must be informed promptly of the grounds for
the arrest and given immediate access to legal counsel. There is a
functioning bail system. A person may be held for 48 hours without
being charged formally; further detention requires a court order.
Police rarely violated these limits. A person may be held in pretrial
detention for 2 months; this term may be extended for a total of 12
months by court order.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary operates through a three-tier court system: Rural and
city courts, district courts, and the Supreme Court. The district
courts and Supreme Court are also courts for ``constitutional
supervision.'' The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial,
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom.
The Law on Language prohibits the use of any foreign language on
public signs, advertisements, and notices, including election posters.
Translation may be provided into other languages.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without government restriction.
There were two commercial Estonian-language television channels and
a wide range of private radio stations. State (public) broadcast media,
including one nationwide television channel (Estonian Television--ETV),
continued to receive large government subsidies.
Eesti Meedia Group (which holds all the shares of Postimees daily,
the leading daily, and half of the shares of SL Ohtuleht, the top
circulation tabloid, and owns a private television channel Kanal 2 and
Tartu Raadio) had the largest share of the radio market. Independent
Eesti Meedia and Ekspress Group competed with one another, as well as
with a number of smaller, independent media.
Some Russian-language programs, mostly produced domestically, were
broadcast over state and private television channels; however, in
proportion to the size of the Russian-speaking minority in the country,
the amount of Russian-language programming remained small. Russian
state television and Russian commercial channels were available widely
via cable.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. The authorities had wide
discretion to prohibit public gatherings on public safety grounds but
seldom did so. Noncitizens are prohibited from joining political
parties, although they may form social groups (see Section 3).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The law requires all religious organizations to have at least 12
members and to be registered with the Department for Religious Affairs
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Leaders of religious organizations
must be citizens with at least 5 years' residence in the country.
The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church is the largest
denomination with approximately 170,000 members, the Estonian Apostolic
Orthodox Church had approximately 18,000 members, and the Estonian
Orthodox Church subordinate to Moscow Patriarchy had approximately
150,000 members. Relations between the various religious communities
generally were amicable; however, differences over the disposition of
Orthodox Church property continued between the Estonian Apostolic
Orthodox Church and the Estonian Orthodox Church.
Three graveyards were vandalized during the year. In April, eight
plaques and a bronze bust were destroyed in Tartu Raadi cemetery; in
May, unknown hooligans vandalized several plaques, crosses, and
lanterns in Viljandi cemetery; in July, vandals broke eight granite
crosses and damaged several others in a German war cemetery in Tallinn.
Authorities initiated misdemeanor proceedings in the three cases.
The Government took steps to promote antibias and tolerance
education, including continued work by the International Commission for
Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity, a full report on the German
and Soviet occupations of the country. Other steps taken by the
Government to promote tolerance included observance of an annual
Holocaust Remembrance Day, first commemorated on January 27, 2003. In
December, the country was accepted as a liaison member of the Task
Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance
and Research.
A court case regarding anti-Semitic comments made over the Internet
was pending at year's end (see Section 5, National/Racial/Ethnic
Minorities).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Government did not restrict the right of noncitizen residents--
persons who are citizens of another country or stateless persons--to
foreign travel, emigration, or repatriation, although some noncitizens
complained of delays in obtaining travel documents.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution; however, during the
year no applicants qualified for protection. During the year, the
Government did not provide asylum for refugees. The Government
cooperated with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum
seekers.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. In March, the country acceded to NATO, and, in May,
to the European Union (EU). Parliamentary elections, last held in March
2003, led to the formation of a three-party coalition government
comprised of the Res Publica, Reform, and People's Union parties. Only
citizens may vote in parliamentary elections and be members of
political parties. However, resident noncitizens and those who have
lived permanently in the area for at least 5 years preceding the
election may vote in local elections, although they may not run for
office.
The Public Information Act enables the public to access government
information and allows for monitoring of the public sector's
performance. The Government provided access for citizens in practice.
There were 18 women in the 101-seat Parliament. Two of the 13
cabinet ministers were women.
There were 8 members of minorities in the 101-seat Parliament.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were usually cooperative and responsive to their views. A
nongovernmental legal information center in Tallinn provided free legal
assistance to individuals--citizen and noncitizen alike--seeking advice
on human rights-related issues.
The Human Rights Institute, which received a small amount of
funding from the Government, monitored human rights and provided
information to the international community. It investigated reports of
human rights violations, such as allegations of police abuse and the
inhumane treatment of detainees. The Institute operated an information
center in Johvi, in the northeastern part of the country where the
Russian speaking community is in the majority.
A presidentially established roundtable composed of representatives
of the Parliament, the Union of Estonian National Minorities, and the
Russian-speaking population's Representative Assembly discussed and
made recommendations on social integration issues, as did an analogous
but independent roundtable that met monthly. The Chancellor-Ombudsman,
who also operated a branch office in the heavily ethnic Russian
northeastern town of Narva, handled complaints by private citizens
against state institutions.
All residents, whether or not they were citizens, could file a
complaint directly to the Chancellor-Ombudsman about alleged violations
of human or constitutional rights. Complaints against government
agencies, officials, and local authorities concerned property reform
and restitution, education, transportation, court findings, and the
right to employment, as well as social and housing rights. If the
Chancellor-Ombudsman finds that particular legislation is in conflict
with the Constitution, the body responsible for passage of the said
legislation may be required to bring it into conformity with the
Constitution within 20 days. The Ombudsman generally acted on cases by
proposing changes in legislation and developing proposals to eliminate
violations of law.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination for any reason, and the
Government generally enforced it.
Women.--Violence against women, including spousal abuse, reportedly
was common and continued to be the subject of discussion and media
coverage. Domestic violence and rape, including spousal rape, were
illegal and prosecuted under the law.
During the year, there were reports of 108 rapes and 13 attempted
rapes. However, studies showed that 30 percent of domestic violence
went unreported. Even when the police were called, the abused spouse
often declined to press charges due to societal pressure.
Prostitution was not illegal and was common.
There were reports that women were trafficked for purposes of
sexual exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking).
In April, Parliament passed the Gender Equality Act under which
sexual harassment is defined. Disputes are resolved in court or by the
Chancellor-Ombudsman. An injured party may demand compensation for
damage and termination of the harmful activity.
Although women have the same legal rights as men under the law and
are entitled to equal pay for equal work, this was not the case in
practice. While women's average educational level was higher than that
of men, their average pay was generally lower, and there continued to
be female- and male-dominated professions.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare.
Under the law, school attendance is mandatory from the age of 7
until students complete basic education, generally 9 years total, or
until they reach 17 years of age. Education is free. Approximately 97
percent of those eligible attended school. The Government provided free
medical care for children and subsidized school meals.
The reduction of the school class size during the year and the
introduction of teacher-child conferences were among steps taken by the
Ministry of Education to address violence in the schools.
During the year, there were reports of 66 rapes and 4 attempted
rapes committed against minors. The police registered 84 cases of
sexual abuse committed against persons less than 18 years of age,
including 52 cases involving victims below the age of 14. There were
reports of children engaged in prostitution. Trafficking of children
for sexual exploitation was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports that the country was a source, transit
point, and destination for trafficked women and children.
Although there is no specific law criminalizing trafficking,
traffickers can be prosecuted under the law prohibiting enslaving and
abduction. The maximum penalty is 12 years' imprisonment. As of
September, 1 trafficking case was pending in court, and multiple
investigations of 20 individuals on trafficking-related charges were
underway.
Women were trafficked from the country to Nordic countries and
Western Europe. Preliminary data from the latest International
Organization for Migration (IOM) study indicated that, between 2001 and
the first half of the year, there were less than 100 known trafficking
victims. This figure includes women trafficked abroad from the country
as well as domestically. The study included data from 167 sources,
including government agencies, the IOM, and NGOs.
Job advertisements placed in local newspapers to recruit women for
trafficking purposes were in some cases reportedly associated with
international prostitution rings.
Legislation provides protection and legal, medical, and
compensation rights to victims of all crimes, including trafficking.
The Government assigned a special police officer to investigate
trafficking cases. Social workers and teachers were trained to identify
and assist victims, although efforts were not always well coordinated.
The Government participated in the work of the Nordic and Baltic
Task Force on trafficking in persons.
The Ministries of Interior, of Social Affairs, of Foreign Affairs,
and of Justice are responsible for combating trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law does not
mandate access to buildings for persons with disabilities; older
buildings were inaccessible in practice, although new or renovated
buildings were generally accessible. The Government reorganized the
system of social benefits and provided rehabilitation support for
persons with disabilities; overall, improvements were made in
opportunities for persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Social
Affairs was responsible for protecting the rights of persons with
disabilities. The scope of the Ministry's responsibilities included the
drafting and implementation of plans to resolve social issues; the
management of public health protection and medical care, employment,
the labor market and working environment, social security, social
insurance and social welfare; promotion of the equality of men and
women and coordination of activities in this field; and the preparation
of corresponding draft legislation.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Non-Estonians, predominantly
ethic Russians, made up approximately one-third of the total
population. About 40 percent of non-Estonian residents were born in the
country.
A court case regarding discrimination against minorities was
pending at year's end. According to the prosecution, this case involved
Internet comments by a private citizen that publicly incited hatred and
violence and were anti-Semitic.
The Law on Cultural Autonomy provides for the protection of
cultures of minority group citizens. Some noncitizens alleged that the
law is discriminatory, because it restricts cultural autonomy only to
citizens; however, noncitizens may participate fully in ethnic
organizations, and the law includes subsidies for cultural
organizations. In districts where more than one-half of the population
speaks a language other than Estonian, the law entitles inhabitants to
receive official information in that language.
Although the law requiring knowledge of the Estonian language prior
to citizenship does not violate international standards, some
noncitizen residents, particularly ethnic Russians, continued to allege
job and salary discrimination because of it.
The Language Law requires that all public servants and public
sector employees, service personnel, medical professionals, and sole
proprietors must use the Estonian language, with actual proficiency
determined through examination. Non-Estonian citizens who have obtained
at least primary education proficiency in the language are exempted
from the requirement to pass a language examination. A number of prison
officials were fired for noncompliance with the language requirement.
For employees of private enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and
foundations, as well as sole proprietors, the law establishes a
requirement of Estonian language proficiency if it is in the public
interest.
The language office liberally granted extensions to persons who
could explain their inability to demonstrate the requisite competency.
An EU assistance program reimbursed 50 percent of fees for Estonian
language courses upon successful passing of the language examination;
this reimbursement was not limited to public sector employees. The
Government reimbursed another 50 percent of the fees to those who
successfully passed the Constitution examination, which, in connection
with the language examination, comprised the citizenship exam process.
Approximately 70 percent of those taking the test pass.
The President's roundtable continued to seek practical solutions to
noncitizens' problems. The Government implemented the state integration
program action plan for 2004-07, aimed at fostering the integration of
the non-Estonian-speaking population into society. At least 10 NGOs
developed and implemented local programs to assist the integration of
non-Estonians into society.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right for workers to form and join a union or employee association,
although some workers found it difficult to exercise this right in
practice. Approximately 14 percent of the total workforce belonged to
trade unions.
Antiunion discrimination is prohibited by law; however, the
Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions (EAKL) reported that antiunion
behavior was rife in the private sector. The journalists' union
reported antiunion discrimination in the media sector.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and collective bargaining, although
the practice of collective bargaining has not fully developed.
According to leaders of the EAKL, few collective bargaining agreements
have been concluded between the management and workers of enterprises.
However, the EAKL has concluded framework agreements with the
Employers' Confederation, which provide the basis for specific labor
agreements, including determining the minimum wage (see Section 6.e.).
The EAKL also was involved in developing the labor code, which covers
employment contracts, vacation, and occupational safety.
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised
this right in practice.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law sets the minimum age for employment at 18 years, although children
age 15 to 17 may work with the consent of a parent or guardian, and
children age 13 to 15 may work with the consent of a parent or guardian
and a labor inspector. Children under age 18 may not perform hazardous
or dangerous work. The law limits the hours that children can work and
prohibits overtime or night work. The Labor Inspectorate had
responsibility for enforcing these laws, and did so in practice.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government, after
consultations with the EAKL and the Employers' Confederation, sets the
minimum wage. The monthly minimum wage of approximately $197 (2,480
EEK) did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and
family; however, approximately 95 percent of the workforce earned above
the minimum wage.
The standard workweek is 40 hours, and there is a mandatory 24-hour
rest period per week. Reduced working time is prescribed for minors and
for employees who perform underground work, work that poses a health
hazard, or work of an otherwise special nature. Work hours, including
overtime, may not exceed an average of 48 hours per week. Overtime pay
shall not be less than 150 percent of the hourly wage rate of the
employee.
According to EAKL sources, legal occupational health and safety
standards are satisfactory in theory; however, they were extremely
difficult to achieve in practice. The Labor Inspectorate is responsible
for enforcement of these standards. The labor unions also had
occupational health and safety experts who assisted workers to bring
employers into compliance with legal standards. Workers have the right
to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without
jeopardizing their continued employment, and they exercised this right
in practice.
__________
FINLAND
Finland is a constitutional republic with a directly elected head
of state (President), a Parliament, a head of government (Prime
Minister), and an independent judiciary. Elections to the 200-seat
Parliament were held in March 2003 and led to the formation of a new
coalition government led by the Center Party. The judiciary is
independent.
The Ministry for the Interior oversees police and Frontier Guard
forces. The Ministry for Defense oversees the military. Civilian
authorities maintained effective control of all military and security
forces. There were no reports that security forces committed human
rights abuses.
The economy was chiefly market-based and provided citizens with a
high standard of living. The population was approximately 5.2 million,
and in 2003, economic growth was estimated at 2 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. Domestic violence, primarily
toward women, remained a problem, and the Government took steps to
address it. There were also reports of trafficking in persons to and
through the country, primarily for sexual exploitation.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
There were reports of police discrimination against immigrants (see
Section 5).
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
Prisoners had access to adequate health care and legal assistance. Male
and female prisoners were held in separate facilities, and female
prisoners had access to specialized health and social services.
Juvenile offenders were held separately from adults and given access to
specialized social services for young offenders. Pretrial detainees
were held separately from incarcerated convicts.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The national police force is centralized under the control of the
Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry of the Interior also controls
various other law enforcement organizations such as the Frontier
Guards, Customs and Immigration Agencies, the National Bureau for
Investigation, and the Security Police. These organizations carried out
their responsibilities for law enforcement and maintenance of order;
however, chronic underfunding sometimes compromised their
effectiveness.
A warrant is required for an arrest. If an individual is arrested
while committing a crime, a warrant must be obtained within 3 days.
Once arrested, the accused must receive a court hearing within 3 days.
These provisions were generally enforced in practice. There is no
regular system of bail. Criminal detainees were allowed prompt access
to counsel and family. Preventive detention is allowed only in
exceptional circumstances, such as during a declared state of war, or
for narrowly defined offenses, including treason, mutiny, and large-
scale arms trafficking. There were no reports of preventive detention.
The Minority Ombudsman criticized police treatment and length of
detention for some asylum seekers (see Section 2.d.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the Supreme
Administrative Court, and a system of lower courts. The President
appoints Supreme Court justices, who in turn appoint the lower court
judges. Supreme Court justices serve until their retirement, usually at
age 63, although they may opt to continue on the bench until the
mandatory retirement age of 67.
The law provides for the right to a fair public trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Local courts may
conduct closed trials in juvenile and guardianship cases, divorce
proceedings, or when publicity would offend morality or endanger the
security of the state.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. The Data
Protection Ombudsman, an independent authority, monitors the
Government's observance of the Personal Data Act. The Government
appeared to conform to the Ombudsman's guidance.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and the press. The Government did not restrict access to the
Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Orthodox
Church are recognized as state churches. Over 80 percent of the
population belonged to the Lutheran Church. Nontraditional religious
groups practiced their religion freely. There was a small but growing
Muslim population and a small Jewish community.
All citizens who belonged to one of the two state churches paid a
church tax as part of their income tax. However, citizens may opt out
of paying this tax by officially disassociating from the church.
Nontraditional religious groups were eligible for tax relief provided
the Government registered and recognized them as legitimate religious
communities.
Religious instruction in Lutheran or Orthodox doctrine is part of
the standard curriculum in public schools; however, students may opt to
take philosophy or world religion courses instead of the standard
curriculum.
The law requires a minimum of 20 members for official recognition
of a religious community. A 2003 law regulating registered religious
communities increased their autonomy.
There were a few reports of incidents of anti-Semitic activity,
chiefly graffiti such as swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans being
spray-painted in public locations. Critiques of Israeli policy
occasionally took on anti-Semitic features. In June, the Justice
Ministry ruled that the distributor of an anti-Semitic book was liable
under ``hate speech'' provisions and ordered the distributor to pay a
fine and remove the book from circulation.
In June, the Helsingin Sanomat, the largest newspaper, ran a
political cartoon in a magazine supplement that members of the Jewish
community and others interpreted as anti-Semitic. The newspaper
subsequently apologized.
The Government criticized anti-Semitism. The Parliament and a local
nongovernmental organization (NGO) co-sponsored a conference in
Helsinki on anti-Semitism, and officials played an active role in
international conferences on anti-Semitism.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it in
practice.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted refugee
status or asylum.
On May 1, a new Aliens' Act took effect, which streamlined asylum
and immigration application procedures and work and residency permits.
Instead of multiple permits, a foreign worker or refugee needs only one
permit. Most asylum procedures remained unchanged, but the new law
provides that solely the Directorate of Immigration conducts asylum
interviews. The law also added an additional category--residence permit
for individual humane reasons--which could be used to grant residency
in certain special circumstances where an individual might otherwise be
ineligible.
A total of 3,204 applications for political asylum were submitted
by November 30, compared with 3,321 in all of 2003. Asylum seekers
generally came from Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans. The
largest groups included asylum seekers from Serbia and Montenegro,
Slovakia (mostly Roma), the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Russia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. No asylum
requests were made by persons from the new European Union (EU)
accession states as of June 30. In 2003, 501 applicants were granted
asylum or residency, and approximately 2,440 were rejected. An
additional 380 withdrew their applications, left the country, or took
flight from protective custody while their cases were being adjudicated
and did not return.
The number of asylum approvals has declined in recent years.
Immigration authorities attributed this to the drop in the number of
applications from Africans and Asians and the fact that many applicants
from European countries were chiefly economic migrants. Some NGOs
criticized the Government's asylum and immigration policy as too
restrictive.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees and asylum seekers
whose applications for admission into the country were approved were
processed directly for residency. The Government took steps to assist
the assimilation and integration of such persons into society. The
Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who may
not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/Protocol.
The Minority Ombudsman criticized the police treatment of some
asylum seekers in the city of Tampere. Detention times are longer in
Tampere than elsewhere, and some applicants claimed that they withdrew
their applications under pressure from the police. The law allows for
the detention of asylum seekers if there is suspicion of criminal
activity or a belief that the applicant will disappear if released from
police custody.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Parliamentary elections were held in March 2003 and
led to the formation of a new coalition government led by the Center
Party. After less than 2 months, a political scandal led to the
resignation of Prime Minister Anneli Jaatteenmaki and the appointment
of a new government led by Matti Vanhanen.
The law provided for public access to government information,
except for information classified for national security purposes, or
when release of documents would constitute a violation of privacy laws.
The Government provided such access in practice.
There were 76 women in the 200-member Parliament and 8 in the 18-
member Cabinet. The President, Tarja Halonen, was a woman. There were
10 members of minorities in the 200-member Parliament and 2 members of
minorities in the 18-member Cabinet. The indigenous Sami (Lapp)
minority enjoys semi-autonomous status and has its own legislative
body.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
On March 24, the Government released its first report on the
country's human rights policy and practices. The report covered both
the international human rights environment and various human rights
issues within the country.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex, age,
origin, language, conviction, opinion, or disability; and the
Government effectively enforced these prohibitions.
Women.--Violence against women continued to be a problem. Recent
studies revealed alarmingly high rates of domestic violence and abuse.
Although police statistics annually reported approximately 10,000 cases
of domestic violence, most researchers believed the actual number was
significantly higher since many cases went unreported. Up to 30 women
die every year as a result of domestic violence. Many researchers
attributed this relatively high level of domestic violence to a high
rate of alcoholism.
The Government encouraged women to report domestic violence and
abuse. The number of calls to the police concerned with domestic
violence was not compiled centrally, but it was estimated at 10,000 to
12,000 annually, an estimate that shelter officials believed
understated by one-half the number of actual incidents. The Service for
Crime Victims provided counseling and social support services to women
who were the victims of domestic abuse. The Government funded several
organizations that provided assistance to women. The Union of Shelter
Homes maintained 23 shelters for victims of domestic violence,
including children. There were also special shelters for juveniles,
chiefly 15- to 18-year-olds. In addition, municipalities maintained
seven shelters across the country. According to researchers, most women
seeking shelter from violence were women between 25 and 35 years of age
and either married or in a common-law relationship; nearly one-third
were immigrants.
The law criminalizes rape, spousal rape, and domestic abuse.
Through September, 480 rapes had been reported to the police, compared
with 568 in all of 2003. According to the Prosecutor-General's Office,
this increase in reported rapes was due to an increased willingness on
the part of victims to come forward and less social stigma regarding
victims than previously. The Prosecutor-General's Office estimated that
between 6,000 and 10,000 rapes were committed annually. Researchers
believed that 75 percent of these rapes were committed by a known
assailant.
Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment is prohibited by law, and the Government
generally enforced the law in practice. Employers who fail to protect
employees from harassment are subject to fines or a maximum of 6
months' imprisonment. In practice, penalties imposed are generally
fines, and persons who commit harassment could lose their job.
The country has a comprehensive equal rights law; women played a
leading role in cultural, social, economic, and political life. The
Government placed a high priority on gender equality. There are three
primary government organizations devoted to gender equality issues. The
Ombudsman for Equality, part of the Ministry for Social Affairs and
Health, is an independent authority empowered to monitor compliance
with the Equality Act. The Gender Equality Unit, also housed in the
Ministry for Social Affairs and Health, develops policy recommendations
on gender issues and handles tasks related to the EU's laws and
policies on gender. A third body, the Council for Equality, coordinates
and sponsors legislation to meet the needs of women as workers,
mothers, widows, and retirees. The social welfare system provides
benefits to both working and stay-at-home mothers, and to female
students.
In practice, women still lagged behind men in terms of compensation
and representation in top management positions in certain fields.
Women's average earnings were 82 percent of those of men. Women were
overrepresented in lower paying occupations, and men tended to dominate
the upper ranks in industry and finance, the labor movement, and some
government ministries. However, women were well represented in
education and medicine, with more than half of all physicians being
female. Women served in the armed forces. The Government's Equality
Ombudsman judged 15 of the 74 cases it reviewed between January 1 and
September 23 to be violations. In such cases, the law provides for
correction of the situation as well as compensation for the plaintiff.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare. Public education and health care systems were well
funded. Education was free and compulsory for all children ages 7 to
16. More than 99 percent of children between these ages attended
school, and girls and boys were treated equally in the education
system.
There were individual reports of child abuse, although there was no
social pattern of such abuse, and the law reflects the national
consensus supporting children's rights.
There were reports of trafficking of children for sexual
exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports that persons were trafficked to and through
the country.
On August 1, new legislation took effect that made trafficking in
persons a criminal offense and permitted electronic surveillance
methods such as wiretapping to facilitate the investigation of serious
trafficking and child pornography cases. The maximum penalty for
trafficking is at least 6 years' imprisonment. The law also defines
separate crimes that could be used to convict traffickers, including
gross forms of pimping, dissemination of child pornography, arranging
illegal entries, and the marketing of sexual services.
The country was a destination and transit point for trafficked
persons. Most trafficking involved women and girls from Russia and
Estonia for sexual exploitation. Researchers estimated that
approximately 6,000-8,000 women were trafficked into the country each
year. However, the actual incidence of trafficking was unknown since
police did not keep full statistics on the phenomenon. There were a few
reports of persons trafficked to and through the country for labor.
There were no reports of citizens being trafficked. Russian or Estonian
organized crime syndicates trafficked most women and girls into the
country. Although some of the women may have expected to work in such
jobs as domestic servants or waitresses, most were aware that they
would work as prostitutes. Economic coercion and exploitation of poor
women seemed to play a larger role in trafficking than physical
coercion or deception. The Schengen Treaty, which allows travelers
already within EU borders to travel to any other EU country without
inspection, facilitated the use of the country as a transit point for
persons trafficked from Russia and the Baltics to Western Europe.
In September, an interagency working group chaired by the Foreign
Ministry's Human Rights Unit was established to develop a new national
action plan to combat trafficking. The group was focused on developing
new victim protection and assistance measures. Ulla Anttila, the
chairperson of the Parliamentary Human Rights Caucus, made fighting
trafficking a top legislative priority; in September, Anttila organized
a briefing on the legislative role in combating trafficking for
parliamentarians and assistants. Although a few NGOs operated shelters
for victims of domestic violence (with government funding), there was
not yet a strong referral and assistance system in place for
trafficking victims.
In September, the Government hosted a major Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe conference on victim protection
measures in Helsinki. Officials and NGO representatives were active
internationally in antitrafficking fora, and a group of ministry
officials, Members of Parliament, and NGO representatives traveled
abroad in May to discuss with foreign officials ways to improve
antitrafficking measures. Law enforcement and prosecutorial officials
received training in antitrafficking measures.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, education,
access to health care, or in the provision of other state services. The
law provides 120 to 240 hours of state-provided interpretation services
annually to the deaf and the mute. The Government provided housing
subsidies, free medical care, and other benefits to persons with severe
disabilities. The law mandates access to buildings for persons with
disabilities, and the Government generally enforced these provisions in
practice; however, many older buildings remained inaccessible. A great
deal of public transportation was accessible, but problems remained in
some areas. Local transportation services provided a minimum of 18 free
trips per month to persons with disabilities. Advocates for disabled
persons in Parliament and in other institutions and organizations
worked toward revising law and securing adequate funding to ensure that
all persons with disabilities had access to satisfactory housing and
transportation.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--At the end of 2003, the number
of immigrants was 107,100 or approximately 2 percent of the population.
There were occasional reports of fights between native youth and
immigrant youth, usually involving small groups of skinheads in more
rural areas. Somali and Muslim immigrants were typically the targets of
such incidents. There were also occasional reports of fighting between
rival groups of immigrant youths. Although tension between ethnic Finns
and immigrant groups was not overt, there were reports of racism and
xenophobia. Most incidents involved the use of racial epithets toward
immigrants in public. The chief ethnic-immigrant groups were Russians,
Estonians, Arabs, Kosovar Albanians, Somalis, Vietnamese, Roma, and
Ingrains.
A 2003 study on racism showed that nearly one-third of the 3,595
immigrants interviewed allegedly had experienced racism in the previous
12 months. Most of the reported incidents were minor, such as racial
epithets, while 10 percent were more serious, including assault.
Approximately 70 percent of those who reported experiencing racism did
not report it to police, explaining that they had experienced police
discrimination.
The Government strongly encouraged tolerance and respect for
minority groups and established an Ombudsman for Minorities to protect
minority interests in the country. All government ministries included
antiracism provisions in their educational information, personnel
policy, and training programs. The Government also monitored police,
border guards, and teachers regarding their treatment of immigrants and
nonethnic groups. Police in the city of Mikkeli formed a special unit
to investigate and prevent violence against immigrants. The Ombudsman
for Minorities reported that there were 108 complaints during the year,
of which 21 were judged to be violations.
The Minority Ombudsman criticized the way in which police treated
some asylum seekers (see Section 2.d).
Indigenous People.--Sami (Lapps) constituted less than 0.1 percent
of the population. The Constitution provides for the protection of Sami
language and culture, and the Government financially supported this
protection and preservation. Sami enjoyed full political and civil
rights as citizens, as well as a measure of autonomy in their own civil
and administrative affairs. Sami had the right to use their language in
dealings with administrative and judicial authorities and in schools,
media, economic and commercial life, and cultural activities. Sami
communities received subsidies to enable them to continue their
traditional way of life.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
rights of trade unions to organize and assemble peacefully.
Approximately 79 percent of the workforce was organized. All unions
were independent of the Government.
The law protects workers against antiunion discrimination.
Collective bargaining agreements and labor law, both of which were
enforced, govern complaint resolution.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively. Collective
bargaining agreements usually were based on tripartite wage policy
agreements among employees, employers, and the Government.
The law grants public sector employees the right to strike, with
some exceptions for employees who provide essential services. A strike
is legal when an employment contract is not in effect and the action is
pursuant to new contract negotiations. Strikes are considered illegal
after a contract agreed to by all parties is in effect. Fines may be
imposed for illegal strikes. Workers exercised this right in practice;
through June, there were 1 legal and 29 illegal strikes.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that persons were trafficked for prostitution and
labor (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits children under 16 years of age from working more than 6
hours a day or from working at night. The Labor Ministry enforces child
labor regulations; there were no complaints about the exploitation of
children in the work force.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no legislated minimum
wage, but the law requires all employers, including nonunionized ones,
to meet the minimum wages agreed to in collective bargaining agreements
in each sector. Almost all workers were covered under such
arrangements. These negotiated minimum wages provided a decent standard
of living for workers and their families.
The legal workweek consists of 5 days not exceeding 40 hours.
Employees working shifts or during the weekend are entitled to a 24-
hour rest period during the week. Many workers enjoyed better working
conditions through effectively enforced collective bargaining
agreements.
The Government sets occupational health and safety standards, and
the Labor Ministry effectively enforced them. Workers may refuse
dangerous work situations without risk of penalty.
__________
FRANCE
France is a multiparty constitutional democracy. Citizens elect a
president, a legislature, and a range of European and local officials
in periodic, free, and fair elections. The Union for a Popular Movement
is the ruling party, and Jacques Chirac is the President. The most
recent legislative elections took place in September. The judiciary is
independent.
Law enforcement and internal security services include the
Gendarmerie and national and municipal police forces under the control
of the Ministry of Interior. Civilian authorities maintained effective
control of the security forces. A few members of the police forces
committed human rights abuses.
The country, with a population of approximately 61.7 million, had a
primarily market-based economy. The rate of economic growth during the
year was predicted to be 2.1 percent, and wages kept pace with
inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; although there were a few problems in some areas, the law and
judiciary provided effective means of addressing individual instances
of abuse. There were a few reported instances of abuse of detainees and
reports of the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers. Long
delays in bringing cases to trial and lengthy pretrial detention were
problems. Anti-Semitic incidents increased in number; the Government
vigorously denounced and continued to take steps to prevent and
prosecute such incidents. The Government banned the wearing of
``conspicuous religious symbols'' in public schools. There were
instances of violence and discrimination against immigrants and
religious minorities. Societal violence against women and children was
a problem, which the Government took steps to address. Trafficking in
persons was a problem, which the Government took steps to address.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings by the Government or its agents; however,
there was at least one allegation of death due to excessive police
force. At year's end, the National Commission on the Conduct of Police
and Security Forces and the Human Rights League had not released their
findings regarding the subsequent death of a man involved in a January
1 use of tear gas by police.
There were no reported developments in any reported 2002 or 2003
killings by police.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were
occasional reports that law enforcement officers used excessive force.
The Inspector General of the National Police received 469 registered
complaints about illegitimate police violence during the first 11
months of the year, down from 500 during the same period in 2003. There
were 59 confirmed cases of police violence, compared to 65 in the
previous year. Disciplinary actions against police officers who
committed infractions increased compared with previous years, with 157
police officers removed from the service for impropriety as opposed to
128 in 2003 and 94 in 2002. There were 2,561 lesser punishments given
for a variety of infractions, an increase compared with 2,215 recorded
the previous year. The decrease in complaints and increase in
disciplinary action has been attributed to an emphasis on professional
ethics within the Interior Ministry.
In its annual report for 2003, the National Commission on the
Conduct of Police and Security Forces cited ``significant breaches'' by
those involved in public security and an increase in complaint of
police abuse and violence. The number of cases submitted to court
increased from 39 in 2002 to 70 in 2003. Law enforcement
representatives blamed lack of training for young officers and
increasing ratios of inexperienced officers to veteran leaders for the
rising numbers.
In February, three police officers were placed under investigation
for allegedly beating a driver after a high-speed chase through Paris.
A fourth officer was placed under investigation for destroying evidence
when he turned off the car-mounted camera that would have recorded the
incident. According to police, the driver was injured as he resisted
arrest and a sobriety test. The driver claimed that he was sodomized
during the beating. Both the head of the Paris police and then-Interior
Minister Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the beating. The investigation was
ongoing at year's end.
In April, Sukhwinder Singh, an Indian asylum seeker, alleged a
police officer struck his head against the street, beat him in the
police station, and stole his money while apprehending him for
illegally operating as a street vendor. Mr. Singh further claimed that
the officer responsible had a history of requiring money from asylum
seekers who sell goods without authorization. Mr. Singh filed a
complaint with the Inspector General, which had not issued a report on
the case by year's end.
Karim Latifi's 2002 private lawsuit for police abuse was ongoing at
year's end.
In April, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned the
Government for ``inhumane and degrading treatments'' in the 1997 case
of a teenager beaten while in police custody. The court ordered the
Government to pay Giovanni Rivas $20,500 (15,000 euros) in damages and
$13,500 (10,000 euros) in court costs.
In April, three Lille police officers were put under investigation
for allegedly raping a prostitute three or four times in October and
November of 2003. According to the woman, the officers threatened
criminal prosecution if she did not provide them with sexual services.
The investigation was ongoing at year's end.
Separatist-related violence in Corsica, aimed at both immigrant
populations and government authorities, continued to concern the
Government, which took steps to address the problem (see Section 3).
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
credible nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported overcrowding and
unacceptable hygiene conditions in some prisons. In a May report, the
Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture criticized
prisons for being overcrowded and offering insufficient recreational
activities, educational opportunities, and programs to prepare inmates
for social reintegration. In the case of the prison in Toulon, the
occupancy rate had reached levels as high as 270 percent; however, a
new penitentiary opened in June with facilities for 600 persons. The
Government continued to replace old prisons and construct new
facilities. According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 58,231
persons in custody at year's end in facilities designed to hold 50,094
persons.
There was no evidence of deaths in prison due to mistreatment
during the year. The Ministry of Justice did not have exact figures for
suicides during the year, but estimated that they were likely similar
to the 120 recorded in 2003. As a result of a 2003 report on prison
suicides, directives were issued outlining preventative measures for
especially sensitive prisoners or those having recently received
disturbing news.
Men and women were held separately, juveniles were held separately
from adults, and pretrial detainees and those serving sentences of less
than 1 year were held separately from convicted criminals.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent human rights
observers. Between December 13 and 20, a delegation from the European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment visited various prisons on Reunion Island. No
report was released by year's end.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions; however, prolonged pretrial detention was a problem.
The civilian force of 118,000 national police and the military
force of 90,000 national gendarmes were responsible for internal
security, under the direction of the Minister of Interior. During the
year, these services registered a total of 3,825,422 crimes and
misdemeanors, a decrease of 3.76 percent from 2003, and collected
sufficient evidence to charge suspects in 31.83 percent of the recorded
cases.
There were allegations that authorities abused detainees; however,
impunity was not a problem. The Inspector General of the National
Police and the Office of Judicial Police investigated and prosecuted
allegations of police brutality. The independent National Commission on
the Conduct of Police and Security Forces investigated and reported to
the Prime Minister and Parliament on cases of misconduct by national
and municipal police, gendarmes, and private security forces. The
National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (NCCHR) also monitored
police conduct. Corruption was generally not a problem. The Government
actively investigated and prosecuted persons accused of police
corruption.
Police are required by law to obtain warrants prior to taking
persons into custody. Detainees have access to lawyers. In cases
involving terrorism or other major crimes, suspects may be held up to
96 hours without access to a lawyer. Pretrial detention is generally
only allowed if there is a possibility that the suspect would be
sentenced to more than 3 years in prison for crimes against persons and
to more than 5 years in prison for crimes against property. There is a
system of bail.
In January, a woman claimed police prevented her from visiting her
son in the hospital. He was injured in an altercation with police. She
was arrested and held for 48 hours for allegedly injuring a police
officer, although a doctor at the scene indicated that no police asked
to be medically examined. At the hearing, a judge found that the police
were at fault and exonerated the woman, noting that there was no
evidence indicating violence on her part.
Long delays in bringing cases to trial and lengthy pretrial
detention were problems. Some suspects spent many years in detention
before a trial, which government officials have acknowledged was due in
part to insufficient government resources to expedite the investigation
and trial process. According to the Ministry of Justice, 20,134 of the
58,231 persons held in jails and prisons were awaiting trial at year's
end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The court system includes local courts, 35 regional courts of
appeal, and the highest criminal court, the Court of Cassation, which
considers appeals on procedural grounds only.
In cases of serious crimes, investigating judges detain suspects
while they conduct the investigation against them. The Chamber of
Accusation reviews the investigating judge's investigation to determine
the appropriateness of the charges lodged against the accused. The
Court of Assises investigates and decides cases involving serious
criminal offenses.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Violations were
subject to effective legal recourse.
The trial of 12 individuals accused of illegally listening to
telephone conversations, allegedly at the behest of former President
Francois Mitterrand, remained ongoing at year's end.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. An
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press;
however, an 1881 press law that may be used to restrict freedom of
expression by prohibiting speech that insults heads of state remained
in force, despite criticism from the ECHR.
In July, in response to sermons from several Muslim clerics who
called for jihad (holy war), Parliament passed a law stating that a
foreigner can be deported for publicly proclaiming deliberate and
explicit acts of provocation proposing discrimination, hatred, or
violence against any specific person or group of persons.
The independent media were active and competitive and expressed a
wide variety of views without government restriction.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not prohibit the
publication of any books.
In May, the ECHR condemned the Government for the 1996 prohibition
on publishing a book alleging that former president Francois Mitterrand
lied about the state of his health. The court ruled that a continued
ban on the publication of the book ``The Great Secret'' was a violation
of the freedom of expression and awarded the publishing company $36,104
(26,500 euros) for costs and expenses.
The Government did not restrict Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of faith and
establishes the country as a strictly secular republic. Under the law,
religious groups must apply to the local prefecture for recognition as
an association of worship and disclose certain management and financial
information in order to receive tax-exempt status.
The Government has encouraged public caution toward some minority
religious groups that it considered to be ``cults.'' A 1996
parliamentary commission identified 173 groups as so-called cults.
These included the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Theological Institute of
Nimes (an evangelical Christian Bible college), and the Church of
Scientology. Members of some of the groups included in the list have
alleged instances of discrimination due to the ensuing publicity. The
Inter-ministerial Monitoring Mission Against Sectarian Abuses is
charged with observing and analyzing sect or cult movements that could
constitute a threat to public order or that might violate French law,
coordinating the appropriate response, informing the public about
potential risks, and helping victims to receive aid.
A cause for concern was the tax authorities' scrutiny of the
financial records of some religious groups. In October, the Association
of Jehovah's Witnesses lost their appeal to the Court of Cassation on a
2002 ruling that they must pay $62.3 million (45.7 million euros) in
back taxes. The members claimed that they were discriminatorily and
punitively audited because of their classification as a cult, and that
authorities adopted a new administrative doctrine to retroactively tax
``manual donations'' offered by adherents. The association further
alleged that this tax had not been applied to any other not-for-profit
or religious organization, and the amount of the tax exceeds the assets
of the Association of Jehovah's Witness in the country.
There was continuing concern about the 2001 About-Picard law, which
tightens restrictions on associations and provides for the dissolution
of groups, including religious groups, under certain conditions. In
2002, the Council of Europe passed a resolution critical of the law and
invited the Government to reconsider it. By year's end, the law
remained in force; however, its provisions for the dissolution of
groups had never been applied.
On March 15, Parliament passed a law banning the wearing of
``conspicuous religious symbols'' in public schools by employees and
students. Implementing regulations, finalized in May, provide for the
display of ``discreet religious symbols'' and grant considerable
discretion to individual schools to interpret and implement the law.
Items of clothing such as bandannas and turbans can be allowed in
schools if such items are worn as fashion accessories without religious
significance. The law took effect in September. By year's end, 39
Muslim girls and 3 Sikh boys had been expelled from public school; all
had enrolled in private schools, distance education courses, or Belgian
schools. On June 29, the ECHR ruled that the law did not violate the
freedom of religion.
The Paris Court of Appeals rejected a telemarketing firm's appeal
of a 2003 ruling in favor of a young woman who sought reinstatement,
damages, and interest after she was fired by the telemarketing firm for
refusing to wear her headscarf in a manner deemed appropriate by her
employer. A Lyon administrative appeals court rejected the case of a
civil servant who filed a lawsuit after being disciplined in May 2002
for wearing a Muslim headscarf at work, ruling that she had violated
the principle of neutrality in the public service and disobeyed the
orders of her superiors. Some Muslim and Sikh groups have protested the
government policy prohibiting the wearing of the head coverings in
national identity photos.
During the year, some religious minorities experienced problems.
According to the Ministry of Interior, police recorded 950 anti-Semitic
incidents during the year as opposed to 601 in 2003. There were 187
people arrested for committing anti-Semitic crimes. Authorities
vigorously condemned anti-Semitism, increased security at Jewish
institutions, investigated all attacks, and arrested and prosecuted
perpetrators when there was sufficient evidence.
The NCCHR released an extensive analysis of anti-Semitic incidents
reported by the police in 2003. Such incidents ranged from graffiti and
desecration (256) and verbal or written harassment (166) to the
distribution of written tracts (31) and bomb threats (10). There have
been no reported deaths due to anti-Semitic violence since 1995, but 21
persons were injured in anti-Semitic attacks in 2003. Based on
investigations of the incidents, the NCCHR concluded that disaffected
French-North African youths were responsible for many of the incidents,
which officials linked to tensions in Israel and the Palestinian
territories. A small number of incidents were also attributed to
extreme-right and extreme-left organizations.
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF)
operated a hotline to register allegations of threats. According to the
CRIF's website, 341 anti-Semitic incidents were reported during the
year.
Cemeteries and religious places were often targets; the Interior
Ministry announced desecrations and destructive acts at 92 Christian,
31 Jewish, and 28 Muslim sites.
Jewish organizations and the Government criticized al-Manar, a
Lebanese Hezbollah satellite channel, for airing an anti-Semitic
television series during Ramadan in 2003. In July, the
telecommunication laws were amended, giving new regulatory powers over
satellite broadcasts to the Audio Visual Superior Council (CSA). The
CSA signed a 1-year, limited license with al-Manar in November that
included provisions banning expression of anti-Semitic sentiments,
favorable coverage of suicide bombers and other terrorists, and
incitement to racial and religious hatred. Shortly thereafter, the CSA
petitioned the State Council, the country's highest administrative
court, to ban the station based on the broadcaster's failure to curb
anti-Semitic programming despite the restricted license agreement. In
December, the State Council banned altogether the transmission of al-
Manar in the country. Prime Minister Raffarin called al-Manar's anti-
Semitic programming ``incompatible with French values'' and urged the
issue of satellite broadcasts be taken up at the European Union (EU)
level. Authorities were also investigating Iranian broadcast channel
Al-Alam at year's end.
The Government took steps to combat anti-Semitism and other forms
of intolerance, particularly among the youth; however, some groups
asserted that the judicial system was lax in its sentencing of anti-
Semitic offenders. In March, the Government published an educational
tool on the country's values, intended to help public school teachers
promote tolerance and combat anti-Semitism and racism. During the year,
schools have emphasized the need for tolerance and copies of the
Holocaust film ``Shoah'' were distributed to all high schools for use
in history and civics classes.
The Government has taken other proactive steps to fight anti-
Semitic and anti-Islamic attacks, including instructing police
commissioners to create monitoring units in each national department
and announcing in June the creation of a department-level Council of
Religions that will raise public awareness of increased racial and
anti-sectarian incidents. In September, the Mayor of Paris launched a
campaign to fight all forms of intolerance that included 1,200
municipal billboards and bulletins in major newspapers.
Members of the Arab and Muslim communities experienced incidents of
harassment and vandalism (see section 5), particularly on the island of
Corsica. The Government is investigating at least 26 anti-Islamic
websites for links to anti-Muslim attacks.
Representatives of the Church of Scientology continued to report
cases of societal discrimination, frivolous lawsuits, and prosecution
for allegedly fraudulent activity. Church of Scientology
representatives reported that a case filed by a parent whose child
attended an Applied Scholastics-based school remained ongoing.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. According to the French Office of
Protection for Refugees and Stateless Persons, the Government received
54,429 initial requests for asylum or requests for re-examination in
2003--compared with 53,777 in 2002--totaling more than 60,000 when
considering the children of asylum seekers. There were also 27,741
applications for territorial asylum, similar to temporary protection,
but renewable. In 2003, the Government considered 67,030 cases and
issued 9,790 refugee certificates, documents issued to successful
asylum applicants.
The National Association for Assisting Foreigners at Borders
(ANAFE) released a report in November criticizing the high refusal
rates for asylum requests and the actions of border police in dealing
with asylum seekers at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. ANAFE
reported numerous claims of excessive force and verbal insults by
police; however, it praised improved conditions in the waiting area.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. The most recent national legislative elections that
took place in September were generally free and fair; the President was
elected in May 2002.
In November, the State Council, the highest appeals court for
administrative matters, annulled the May elections for 37 of the 57
seats in the Polynesian National Assembly, citing various
irregularities. New elections for the seats were expected to take place
in February 2005.
In January, former Prime Minister Alain Juppe was convicted on
charges of corruption, relating to political party financing while
Juppe was deputy mayor of Paris. At the time, President Chirac was
mayor of Paris. Juppe appealed his conviction; in December, the
conviction was upheld, with a reduction of sentence to a 14 month
suspended jail term and 1 year of ineligibility from holding political
office. Similar charges are pending against President Chirac; however,
as long as he remains in office, the President is immune from
prosecution.
There were 129 women in the two bodies of the 908-seat legislature
and 9 women in the 41-member Cabinet. Of the 190 members of the Court
of Cassation, 74 were women. Of the 78 elected representatives to the
EU Parliament, 33 were women. Women represented 33 percent of all
municipal counselors and 10.9 percent of mayors. The constitutional
amendment requiring parties to have equal numbers of women and men on
their list of candidates or face fines remained in force.
The Constitution prohibits the Government from holding information
about the racial or ethnic background of its citizens; therefore, no
statistics on minority participation in the Government were available.
However, minorities generally appeared underrepresented in the
Government.
The citizens of the collective territory of Mayotte and the
territories of French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia
determine their legal and political relationships to the country by
means of referendums and, along with the overseas departments, elected
deputies and senators to the French Parliament.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights
organizations generally operated without government restriction,
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
Government officials were generally cooperative and responsive to their
views. The NCCHR--an independent body in the Office of the Prime
Minister, which has nongovernmental as well as governmental members--
also monitored complaints and advised the Government on policies and
legislation.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, ethnic
background, or political opinion; however, discrimination against
immigrants was a problem. In December, Parliament passed legislation
creating a High Authority to Fight Discrimination and Promote Equality.
The body is an independent authority charged with combating
discrimination based on sex, race, ethnic origin, religion, handicap,
age, or sexual orientation. The High Authority is to assist with
individual claims of discrimination, request the help of public
authorities in their investigations, and recommend disciplinary action.
Women.--The Penal Code prohibits rape and spousal abuse, and in
general these laws were enforced; however, violence against women
remained a problem. The Ministry of Interior reported that there were
10,506 rapes and 15,732 instances of other criminal sexual assault
during the year. The penalties for domestic violence vary according to
the type of crime and range from 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of
approximately $60,750 (45,000 euros) to 20 years in prison. The penalty
for rape is 15 years in prison, which may be increased due to other
circumstances (such as the age of the victim or the nature of the
relationship of the rapist to the victim). The Government sponsored and
funded programs for women who were victims of violence, including
shelters, counseling, and hotlines. Numerous private associations also
assisted abused women.
Press reports and NGOs reported that a ``repressive atmosphere''
existed in some suburbs of Paris dominated by immigrants from North
African countries, causing women in these neighborhoods to feel
intimidated. Some men in these suburbs reportedly intimidated women
whom they perceived as violating social norms. This abuse ranged from
verbal abuse to physical assault and rape. After the 2002 killing of
17-year-old Sohane Benziane, who burned alive by an ex-boyfriend in a
suburb of Paris, a women's rights movement emerged among inhabitants of
these ``difficult neighborhoods'' around Paris. The trial against the
man who confessed to the killing remained ongoing at year's end.
In 2003, the High Council on Integration (HCI), a government body,
published a report that approximately 70,000 girls in France between
ages 10 and 18, primarily from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and
Turkey, were threatened with forced marriages. Women and girls could
seek refuge at shelters if they were threatened with forced marriages,
and parents can be prosecuted for forcing their children into marriage.
The Government offers some education programs to inform young women of
their rights, and the HCI said it was important to distinguish between
arranged and forced marriages. The age of consent for marriage is 18
for men and 15 for women; however, many of these marriages took place
overseas and were often designed to facilitate immigration.
In 2003, HCI also published a report indicating that the country
was home to 35,000 women who were victims of female genital mutilation
(FGM), the majority of whom were immigrants from Africa, Asia, and the
Middle East. The practice is illegal and could be punished by up to 20
years' imprisonment; however, in most cases FGM occurred outside of the
country. Cases were seldom reported to the authorities, and most were
discovered in routine school medical examinations. Several NGOs existed
to prevent FGM and worked with the Government to educate women about
their rights.
Prostitution is legal; pimping is illegal. Authorities cited a drop
in the number of prostitutes resulting from the implementation of the
Law on Internal Security; however, NGOs charged that the changes in the
law had succeeded only in moving the prostitutes to different areas at
later times rather than reducing the real number of prostitutes.
Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). A government agency, the Central
Office on the Treatment of Human Beings (OCRETH), addresses trafficking
in women, prostitution, and pimping. The Government worked to prevent
sex tourism (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law prohibits sex-based job discrimination and sexual
harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment was not widely
considered a problem in the workplace. The laws prohibiting it were
well publicized by both the Government and NGOs and effectively
enforced. These laws make sexual harassment punishable under civil,
labor, and criminal code and provide for recourse in instances of
unwanted sexual advances from superiors, but not from peers. The law
also bans ``moral harassment,'' which is defined as a violation of
dignity, a danger to health, and a form of discrimination. The
prohibited conduct did not necessarily have to be related to the gender
of the victim.
The law requires that women receive equal pay for equal work;
however, this standard often was not met in practice. Reports by
various governmental organizations and NGOs have indicated that men
continued to earn more than women, and that unemployment rates
continued to be higher for women than for men. The National Institute
of Statistics and Economic Studies reported that the unemployment rate
for women was approximately 2 percent higher than the unemployment rate
for men; in November, the unemployment rate for women was 11 percent.
Only 1 of every 10 chief executive officers was a woman.
Women have increased their representation in the armed services,
accounting for 12.7 percent of the military workforce in 2003 as
opposed to 7.1 percent in 1992. Women serve as fighter pilots and in
the Republican Guard; only specialized units such as the French Foreign
Legion and submariners remained strictly male.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of public education and
medical care. The Ministry for Family Affairs oversees implementation
of the Government's programs for children.
Public schooling was provided through age 18, and education was
compulsory for citizens and noncitizens between ages 6 and 16. Although
not compulsory, pre-school and kindergarten for children under age 6 is
free and widely available. According to INSEE, the government
statistical agency, during the school year 2001-02, the percentage of
children who attended school was 100 percent for ages 3 to 13; but the
percentage dropped to 99.8, 98.4, and 97.7 for ages 14, 15, and 16,
respectively.
There are strict laws against child abuse, particularly when
committed by a parent or guardian, and the Government effectively
prosecuted abusers; however, a 2003 report by a rapporteur for the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights criticized the justice system and a
government-chartered doctors' group over their handling of child sex
abuse. In 2003, there were approximately 18,000 reported cases of
mistreatment (physical violence, sexual abuse, mental cruelty, or
severe negligence) of children. Approximately 5,200 of these cases
involved reports of sexual abuse. Special sections of the national
police and judiciary were charged with handling these cases. In 2002,
there were 427 convictions for rape of minors under the age of 15, and
4,003 convictions for cases of sexual assault against minors. In 2002,
there were 7,821 convictions for cases of violence, mistreatment, and
abandonment of minors.
The Government provided counseling, financial aid, foster homes,
and orphanages for victims, depending on the extent of the problem.
Various associations also helped minors seek justice in cases of
mistreatment by parents.
Trafficking in girls and commercial exploitation of girls were
problems (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits the trafficking of
persons; however, trafficking in women and children for prostitution,
forced domestic labor, and petty crime was a problem.
Trafficking in persons is punishable by up to 7 years in prison and
a fine of $204,360 (150,000 euros). The law also establishes a specific
infraction for persons organizing a begging network, but does not
target the child beggars themselves. Persons convicted of organizing a
criminal network that exploited children and forced them to beg face a
prison sentence of 3 to 10 years and a fine of $60,750 to $6.1 million
(45,000 to 4.5 million euros). This law provides the Government with
the means to arrest and prosecute child traffickers. Penalties for
soliciting child prostitutes range up to 10 years' imprisonment.
However, under the trafficking-related sentencing guidelines, sentences
for some types of trafficking convictions, such as for rape, were
light. The exploitation of foreign labor and exposing laborers to
inhumane conditions are criminal offenses under other statutes
punishable by up to 3 years' imprisonment or substantial fines.
In 2003, the special anti-trafficking police arrested 709
individuals on trafficking-related charges, an increase of 10 percent
over the previous year. As in 2002, nearly 66 percent of those arrested
were foreigners. In 2003, 40 trafficking networks were dismantled, a 33
percent increase over the number dismantled in 2002. In July, Bulgarian
officials notified police that a young Bulgarian woman had complained
that her baby had been kidnapped; the police investigation revealed a
baby-trafficking network in which young Bulgarian mothers were forced
to sell their babies in Paris. Authorities arrested 10 persons in
connection with the baby-trafficking ring. Police found $6,800 (5,000
euros) on the prospective baby purchaser.
In 2003, police arrested 67 adults in a Roma encampment outside
Paris and charged them with organizing sexual enslavement of Romani
children who were kidnapped from Romania, brought to the country, raped
to make them obey, and sent out on the streets of Paris and its suburbs
to steal and prostitute themselves. According to press reports, the
children were forced to earn $272 (200 euros) a day or face severe
physical punishment. The child traffickers remained in jail awaiting
trial at the end of the year.
Prostitution is legal; however, the law prohibits pimping,
including aiding, assisting, maintaining, or profiting from the
prostitution of another. Public solicitation is illegal. Pimps and
traffickers usually were prosecuted under these laws. Aiding, abetting,
or protecting the prostitution of another person; obtaining a profit,
sharing proceeds, or receiving subsidies from someone engaged in
prostitution; or employing, leading, corrupting, or pressuring someone
into prostitution are punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment and a
fine of up to approximately $190,735 (140,000 euros). Penalties
increase to a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment and approximately $1.9
million (1.4 million euros) if a minor or several persons are involved,
or if force is used. Pimping by organized groups is punishable by up to
20 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to $3.8 million (2.8 million
euros). The use of ``torture'' or ``barbarous acts'' in the course of
pimping is punishable by up to life imprisonment and up to $5.7 million
(4.2 million euros) in fines. Enforcement of these laws varied, and
prostitution remained a problem.
There also are strict laws combating trafficking in persons as it
relates to domestic slavery. Slavery is punishable by up to 2 years'
imprisonment and a fine of $96,730 (71,000 euros). When the crime
applies to more than one victim, punishments increase to 5 years'
imprisonment and $190,735 (140,000 euros) in fines. The Committee
Against Modern Slavery brought cases of domestic and modern slavery to
the authorities for prosecution.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in the effort to
combat trafficking. OCRETH, which was under the authority of the
Central Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Judicial Police,
centralized information and coordinated operations to counter
trafficking and maintained contacts with the police, the Gendarmerie,
the border police, foreign and international law enforcement
authorities, and NGOs. Regional services of the police also combat
trafficking, and there are police brigades to combat pimping in Paris
and Marseille. Local police forces also addressed problems of
prostitution and pimping.
The Government regularly cooperated on a bilateral basis or with
international institutions such as the European Police Agency to
investigate, track, and dismantle trafficking rings. By year's end, no
trial date was set for a British man arrested in 2003 for operating a
call girl service.
The country is a destination for trafficking victims, primarily
women from Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and
West Africa--and to a lesser extent, South and Central America--for the
purposes of sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. Trafficking of
Brazilian women and girls into sexual exploitation in French Guiana was
a problem. The country is also a destination for trafficked Romanian
children, many of Romani descent.
Police estimated that 90 percent of the 15,000 to 18,000
prostitutes working in the country were trafficking victims, and that
3,000 to 8,000 children were forced into prostitution and labor,
including begging. In 2003, a report by a rapporteur for the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights criticized the Government for ``continuing
to deny the existence and the scale of sexual cruelty against
children'' with regard to trafficked children and called for the NCCHR
to further investigate the situation. Of the 900 victims questioned in
2003, 50 were minors, mostly citizens and Eastern Europeans.
Traffickers used various methods to recruit and retain victims
including force, fraud, confiscating the victims' identification
papers, isolating them culturally, and abusing them physically or
psychologically. Some victims came to the country willing to work as
prostitutes, not knowing they were going to become trafficking victims.
Traffickers kidnapped or ``bought'' some women and girls and sold them
to Balkans-based prostitution networks, which smuggled the victims into
the country. NGOs and police characterized the bulk of traffickers in
the country as ``micro-trafficking networks'' that included both
citizens and foreigners.
Handlers of the Romanian children of Romani descent have
traditionally used the children as beggars and thieves, but many of the
children have increasingly turned to or been forced into prostitution.
Under the terms of a French-Romanian agreement, Romanian children and
adults who had been trafficked into the country were repatriated on a
voluntary basis. Some NGOs and grassroots organizations have criticized
the voluntary repatriation program because the Government has limited
its participation to providing transport back to Romania and $208 (153
euros) for resettlement.
Under the Government protection program established in 2003 to aid
trafficking victims who chose to cooperate with police and judicial
authorities, the Government granted 204 women temporary residence; 11
obtained 1-year renewable permits. Victims who declined to cooperate
with the authorities were processed as illegal immigrants and were
sometimes detained or jailed.
The Government continued to screen and refer victims to counseling
centers and safe houses for comprehensive services. The Government
offered victims 3 to 6 months' renewable temporary residency according
to their need and cooperation with police. The Government assumed child
victims to be in danger and provided immediate shelter while assessing
the child's best interests.
Numerous NGOs dealt with trafficking in persons and prostitution.
Many NGOs had ``field educators'' who routinely met with prostitutes,
served as intermediaries between police and prostitutes, offered
psychological support, and tried to educate prostitutes about safe sex
as well as their rights under the law.
Social Aid to Children (ASE), the national social services branch
for childcare, was responsible for caring for and assisting victims
under age 22. The ASE provides social workers to help victims gain
access to social care, legal counsel, and asylum assistance. ASE worked
closely with the Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless
Persons.
The Government focused outreach and prevention programs on domestic
prostitution and sex tourism abroad. The Prime Minister's Inter-
ministerial Commission on Clandestine Workers and Illegal Labor
continued its work, and a new interministerial working group on sex
tourism began work on recommendations for the Tourism Ministry.
The Government worked closely with other countries and NGOs to
combat trafficking, funding programs in Central and Eastern Europe as
well as West Africa. Within the EU, the Government supported anti-
trafficking programs, including information campaigns, seminars, and
bilateral training programs for police units and lawmakers, and
assigned criminal liaison officers throughout Europe to identify
trafficking networks.
In September, the interministerial Commission to Combat Child Sex
Tourism released its initial report. The group, which composed of
government officials, NGOs, doctors, lawyers, airline, hotel, and tour
agency professionals, made 12 recommendations. The commission called on
the Government to enhance the effectiveness of its own efforts against
sexual tourism; to reinforce and mobilize law enforcement and the
judiciary in order to strengthen the efficacy of measures to punish
citizens who travel abroad to exploit children for sex; to help
countries fighting the sexual exploitation of children with bilateral
accords, including even the possibility of calling on domestic
companies present in the foreign country to provide training or other
opportunities for children to enable the children to make a living
other than by prostitution; to condition assistance funds to the third
country's formalization of a plan of action to fight the sexual
exploitation of children; and to convince Europe to join the country in
its efforts to combat child sex tourism.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other state services.
The law requires new public buildings to be accessible to persons
with disabilities; however, many older buildings and public
transportation were not accessible. A 2003 court case charged a cinema
with lacking access for persons with disabilities, but no decision was
rendered by year's end. A second case from 2003, which charged the
Ministry of Justice with noncompliance with the law on accessibility,
remained ongoing at year's end.
Nearly 40 percent of persons with disabilities were unemployed. A
1987 law requires companies of more than 20 employees to ensure that 6
percent of their workforce consists of persons with disabilities or the
company must pay fines to an association that assists persons with
disabilities in finding work. However, in practice, this law was not
effectively enforced. Of the companies subject to this law, 37 percent
did not employ any persons with disabilities, and most of those that
did comply fell short of the 6 percent quota.
In January, the Government passed legislation that drastically
reformed and updated the disability law; however, the law was not
scheduled to go into effect until 2005. Under the new law, for the
first time, psychological handicaps are considered disabilities and
qualify individuals for government benefits. The new law mandates
stipends to individuals with disabilities, forbids academic
institutions from rejecting handicapped students, gives additional
benefits for companies who respect the 6 percent quota, and increases
penalties for companies who fail to hire enough individuals with
disabilities. Additionally, the law allows 6 years for the public
transportation system to provide complete access to those with
disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Anti-immigrant sentiments led
to some incidents of violence and discrimination, including occasional
attacks on members of the large Arab, Muslim, and black African
communities. In 2003, there was a decrease in violence and racial
threats, as documented by the NCCHR. The annual NCCHR report noted a
decline in the number of reported incidents of racist threats--137 in
2003, compared with 262 in 2002; there were 92 incidents of racist
violence in 2003, compared with 119 in 2002. According to the report,
there were no deaths due to racist violence in 2003; however, 11
persons were injured. Of the 137 racist threats reported, 105 were
directed at immigrants of North African origin.
Violence against immigrants has increased significantly in recent
years on the island of Corsica. The Government condemned the incidents
and took steps to address the problem. During the year, the Ministry of
the Interior reported that there were 107 acts of violence committed
against individuals of immigrant, mostly Arab background, more than
twice the number of such attacks as reported in 2003. In October, it
was estimated that more than 25 percent of the racist attacks committed
since January occurred in Corsica. For example, in November, assailants
opened fire on an imam as he answered a knock at the door of the Muslim
Cultural Association of Sartene, in southern Corsica. The imam was
uninjured. In December, there were two attacks against a building
housing immigrants. The attacks have caused some families to move to
the mainland or return to their countries of origin.
The attacks were blamed on sectors of the island's nationalist
movement, and many incidents involved graffiti with such slogans as
``Arabs Out'' and ``Corsica for the Corsicans'' written in the Corsican
language. In November, police placed 14 members of the nationalist
group Clandestini Corsi under investigation. In December, Corsican
authorities held a week of events aimed at increasing awareness of the
danger of racism and promoting coexistence between immigrant and native
Corsican populations.
Immigrant advocacy groups continued to criticize a 2003 law aimed
to restrict illegal immigration and to ensure that illegal immigrants
are deported for being too harsh and encouraging discrimination against
foreigners.
Judicial authorities may consider racist motivation as an
aggravating factor in a crime. In September, a court handed down a 4-
month suspended sentence and a $13,624 (10,000 euros) fine to a woman
who refused to sell property to an Arab couple.
At year's end, Joel Damman remained in jail awaiting trial for the
2002 killing of an immigrant, which he confessed was motivated by
racism.
Some NGOs alleged that racist hiring practices prevented minorities
from Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia from equal access
to the workplace and worked to sensitize the public to this problem. A
report submitted to the Prime Minister in November concluded that
discrimination was a reality and recommended, among other things, that
resumes be free of pictures, names, sex, age, or other criteria that
might permit prejudice in hiring.
As the result of an investigative story run by a Lyon magazine, 11
nightclub bouncers went to trial in November on discrimination charges
for refusing entry to individuals of North African appearance. In the
experiment described in the magazine, 11 of 18 nightclubs refused entry
to a couple of North-African appearance but permitted a couple of
European appearance to enter several minutes later. The trial was
ongoing at year's end.
The Ministry of Labor and the NGO Group for Study and Combat of
Discrimination offered a free hotline to report discrimination.
Government programs attempted to combat racism and anti-Semitism by
promoting public awareness and bringing together local officials,
police, and citizen groups. There also were anti-racist educational
programs in some public school systems.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Societal discrimination
and abuse against persons because of sexual orientation was not a
problem; although there were isolated incidents of violence, the
authorities pursued and punished offenders.
Section 6. Worker Rights
The Constitution provides for freedom of association for all
workers, and workers exercised this right in practice. Approximately 7
percent of the work force was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. Workers have the right to
organize and bargain collectively, and workers exercised this right in
practice. Workers, including civil servants, have the right to strike
except when a strike threatens public safety. Workers exercised this
right in practice.
There are no special laws or exceptions from regular labor laws in
the three export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5). There were press
reports of substandard pay and working conditions, often within the
immigrant community, suffered by undetermined numbers of undocumented
immigrants of Chinese origin. For example, late in the year, there were
several press reports of ``cooking sweatshops'' in apartments used to
supply the burgeoning number of Chinese carry-out restaurants in the
capital and suburbs.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--With
a few exceptions for those enrolled in certain apprenticeship programs
or working in the entertainment industry, children under the age of 16
may not be employed. In general, minors are prohibited from performing
work considered arduous, or work between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5
a.m. Laws prohibiting child employment were enforced effectively
through periodic checks by labor inspectors, who have the authority to
take employers to court for noncompliance with the law.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The administratively determined
minimum wage of $10.27 (7.61 euros) per hour provided a decent standard
of living for a worker and family. The official workweek is 35 hours;
however, in certain industries, the government allows a greater number
of overtime hours that can result in a de facto 39-hour workweek.
Overtime is limited to 180 hours annually.
The Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, and Solidarity is
responsible for policing occupational health and safety laws. Standards
were high and effectively enforced. The law requires each enterprise
with 50 or more employees to establish an occupational health and
safety committee. Over 75 percent of all enterprises, covering more
than 75 percent of all employees, had fully functioning health and
safety committees. Workers have the right to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without jeopardy to their employment, and the
Government effectively enforced this right.
__________
GEORGIA
Georgia is a republic with a Constitution that provides for a
strong executive branch that reports to the president. The president
appoints ministers with the consent of Parliament. Parliamentary
elections held in November 2003 were marred by serious irregularities,
resulting in mass street protests. In November 23, 2003, President
Shevardnadze resigned as president, culminating what became known
around the world as the Rose Revolution. New presidential elections
were held on January 4, and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili won
by over 90 percent. New parliamentary elections were held in March, and
Saakashvili's National Movement won the majority of seats. A civil war
and separatist wars in the early 1990s ended central government
authority in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and weakened central authority
in the autonomous region of Ajara and elsewhere in the country. The
Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the
judiciary was subject to executive pressure and corruption.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Ministry of State
Security (MSS), which were combined in December to become the new
Ministry of Police and Public Order, have primary responsibility for
law enforcement along with the Prosecutor General's Office. In times of
internal disorder, the Government may call on the Ministry of Police
and Public Order or the military. While civilian authorities generally
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were some
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently
of government authority. Some members of the security forces committed
a number of serious human rights abuses.
The country, with a population of approximately 4.4 million, had a
market-based economy with a large agricultural sector. The gross
domestic product growth during the year was 8.4 percent. Wages did not
keep pace with inflation. Although corruption impacted the economy, the
Government took steps to address it during the year. Pensions and state
salaries were paid on time and arrears began to be retired for the
first time in several years, as a result of economic reform and
anticorruption programs.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements in some areas, serious problems remained.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) blamed two deaths in custody on
physical abuse. NGOs reported that police brutality continued, and in
certain areas increased. Law enforcement officers continued to torture,
beat, and otherwise abuse detainees. Corruption in law enforcement
agencies decreased, but remained a problem. Arbitrary arrest and
detention remained problems, as did lack of accountability. The
judiciary system continued to lack true independence, and the executive
branch and prosecutors' offices continued to exert undue influence on
judges. There were lengthy delays in trials, and prolonged pretrial
detention remained a problem.
Law enforcement agencies and other government bodies occasionally
interfered with citizens' right to privacy. The press generally was
free; however, journalists practiced increased self-censorship. In the
beginning of the year, security forces violently dispersed several
peaceful rallies and placed participants in pretrial detention. While
violence against religious minorities decreased, Government officials
continued to tolerate discrimination and harassment against some
religious minorities. Violence against women was a problem. Trafficking
for the purpose of forced labor and sexual exploitation was a problem.
International observers determined that the January presidential
elections and the March parliamentary elections represented significant
progress over previous elections and brought the country closer to
meeting international standards, although several irregularities were
noted. In contrast to previous years, there were fewer reports of
harassment or violence against religious minorities. Police bribery of
motorists also decreased significantly due to an overhaul of the
highway police and elimination of the traditional traffic police.
Internal conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia remained
unresolved. Ceasefires were in effect in both areas, although sporadic
incidents of violence occurred in Ossetia. These conflicts and the
problems associated with approximately 230,000 IDPs from Abkhazia,
12,200 from South Ossetia, and 2,600 refugees from Chechnya posed a
continued threat to national stability.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings; however, law enforcement officers'
abuses officially contributed to one death. NGOs blamed another death
in custody, a suicide, on physical and psychological pressure.
On May 23, Khvicha Kvirikashvili died shortly after being taken
home by police officers following questioning in the police station of
Gldani-Nadzaladevi district in Tbilisi concerning a May 22 burglary.
The Prosecutor General opened an investigation into Kvirikashvili's
death and found evidence that he was beaten while in the police
station. In June, police officer Roland Minadze was sentenced to 3-
month pretrial detention in connection with Kvirikashvili's death. A
criminal case began on September 21. The trial was ongoing at year's
end.
Killings were committed by elements on both sides of the separatist
conflict in South Ossetia. In August, fighting flared up in South
Ossetia, and several civilians and soldiers died on both sides of the
conflict. No deaths were prosecuted or punished. Partisan violence in
Abkhazia significantly decreased during the year. The Government took
concrete steps to arrest militia partisan groups and curtail their
activities; most members of the partisan organization The Forest
Brothers have been arrested.
Both government and Abkhaz forces laid tens of thousands of
landmines during the 1992-93 fighting. There was a reduction in
landmine casualties to two during the year due to migration out of the
area and to the activities of landmine clearing organizations such as
the Halo Trust.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
Partisan groups active in Abkhazia engaged in criminal activity and
frequently took hostages to exchange for captured compatriots.
Partisans in South Ossetia also were active during the summer in
kidnapping, both to exchange for captured compatriots and for ransom.
Kidnapping for ransom decreased significantly elsewhere in the country.
The MIA reported 18 cases of kidnapping in the first 10 months of the
year and stated that investigations had resulted in charges in 4 of
these cases.
At year's end, the whereabouts of Chechen refugee Adam Talalov, who
disappeared in 2003, remained unknown.
The investigation into the kidnapping and release of three U.N.
military observers in 2003 remained ongoing at year's end.
Government and Abkhaz commissions on missing persons reported that
more than 1,000 Georgians and several hundred Abkhaz remained missing
as a result of the 1992-94 war in Abkhazia (see Section 1.g.). The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) assisted joint official
efforts to determine the location and repatriate the remains of the
dead. No repatriations had occurred by year's end.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, law
enforcement officers continued to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse
prisoners and detainees, usually to extract money or confessions, and
NGOs alleged the problem increased since the most recent elections.
Serious abuses and police misconduct, such as the fabrication or
planting of evidence, also remained problems. During the year, there
were several cases of police officers brought to trial, dismissed, or
demoted for abuses; however, impunity remained a problem, particularly
in outlying regions (see Section 1.d.).
Human rights advocates reported that while allegations of torture
of convicted criminals decreased, allegations of torture in pretrial
detention facilities and in police departments increased during the
year. Reported torture often included beating, electric shocks, and
cigarette burns. During the year, police increasingly brought suspects
to police stations, beat or tortured them, and released them without
officially registering the suspect's presence at the station.
The investigation into the allegations that police subjected Irakli
Tushishvili to electric shock in MIA custody remained ongoing.
Tushishvili remained in pretrial custody at year's end.
The most serious incidents of abuse occurred during pretrial
detention when police interrogated suspects. According to human rights
observers, those who suffered such abuse were held routinely for
lengthy periods in pretrial detention to give their injuries time to
heal. Police often claimed that injuries were sustained during or
before arrest. Criminal agents within the prison population also
allegedly committed abuses in pretrial detention facilities. Unlike the
previous year, there were no reports of abused children in the Isolator
detention facility; the facility closed during the year.
On January 10, police officers detained former Deputy Defense
Minister Gia Vashakidze and his associates Eldar Gogberashvili and
Beniamin Saneblidze under suspicion of involvement in the December 2003
kidnapping of banker Tamaz Maglakelidze. Police officers took them to a
local cemetery where they beat Gogberashvili and Saneblidze in front of
Vashakidze. On January 11, police brought the three men to the Tbilisi
City police station where all were beaten and Saneblidze received
electric shocks. After a January 12 bail hearing, police officers
returned them to the police office, where they continued to beat them
and forced them to sign a confession. Police did not permit a medical
examination requested by Saneblidze's lawyer until 2 weeks later. There
were signs that officers had broken Saneblidze's nose and several of
his ribs, administered electric shocks to his head and hands, and burnt
cigarettes into his legs. In May, Vashakidze was released from
detention on bail, after diplomatic intervention on his behalf.
On April 24, Sulkhan Molashvili appeared at the General
Prosecutor's office, where he was taken into 3-month pretrial detention
for abuse of power and misappropriation of money. Molashvili's lawyers
reported that, in detention, officers beat him, administered electric
shocks, and burnt cigarettes into his back. A medical examination was
not administered. According to the NGO Human Rights Information and
Documentation Center, the Prosecutor General did not begin an immediate
investigation against Molashvili, although in July, the Prosecutor
requested an extension of pretrial detention for investigation
purposes. In July, the General Prosecutor opened an investigation into
Molashvili's injuries that was ongoing at year's end.
Criminal proceedings against two police officers for extortion and
physical abuse of 15-year-old D. Asaturov and his family remained
pending at year's end.
There were no developments in the reported 2002 abuse cases.
During the year, the NGO Liberty Institute documented over 1,000
cases of torture in pretrial detention, although it noted a significant
decrease in torture in prisons since early November.
During the year, the official number of detainees delivered to
pretrial detention facilities with injuries sustained during temporary
detention was 136, an increase of 14 percent. Few of these incidents
resulted in prosecutions.
Government officials acknowledged that, in the past, MIA personnel
routinely beat and abused prisoners and detainees, and the Government
took some steps to address these problems. Government officials cited a
lack of proper training, poor supervision of investigators and guards,
and a lack of equipment as contributing to the continuation of these
practices in law enforcement facilities.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was responsible for overall
administration of the prison system; however, the law permits MIA
personnel to staff the facilities. During the year, the MIA and MSS
transferred all remaining prisons under their jurisdiction to the MOJ.
Isolator Five, a pretrial detention facility largely used for political
prisoners and known for abusive practices, no longer held prisoners and
was shut down during the year. The MIA only maintained overnight
detention facilities at police stations. The law permits the MIA to
conduct investigations among inmates without judicial approval to
gather evidence for trials.
The MOJ maintained a monitoring board of civil society and NGO
representatives, which had the responsibility of reporting on human
rights abuses in detention facilities. Board members had the right to
pay unannounced visits to any detention facility. At the beginning of
the year, the board was abolished and not reestablished until
September. Many NGOs complained that several previous members of the
board who were especially critical of the new Government were not
allowed on the new board. The board members recommenced monitoring in
November.
The U.N., the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and
many NGOs, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), continued to report
inhumane and life threatening prison conditions. Abuse and extortion of
prisoners and detainees by prison staff continued. Prison facilities
remained unsanitary, understaffed, and were in desperate need of
repair. Continued overcrowding was a particularly acute problem. Most
prison facilities lacked basic utilities and sanitary facilities.
Regional penitentiaries and pretrial detention facilities were without
electricity for months. Payment of guards and prison staff became more
regular, which allegedly decreased corruption.
A 2002 U.N. Human Rights Commission review cited systemic problems
with the criminal justice and prison systems and continued widespread
use of torture and arbitrary detention by police. The Government had
not responded to the Commission's recommendations by year's end.
Attempted suicides and self-mutilation occurred in prisons as
protests against declining prison conditions and human rights
violations. There were also sporadic hunger strikes by prisoners to
protest poor conditions, visitor limitations, and the perceived
arbitrary parole policy of the Government.
In 2003, prisoners Givi Rukhaia and Zaal Chikhladze protested the
alleged false charges through 1 day of self-mutilation. Rukhaia
mutilated himself with nails and Chikhladze sewed his mouth shut. An
independent investigation by the Ombudsman supported the prisoner's
contention that police had extorted money and gold from Rukhaia. An
investigation into the case was ongoing at year's end.
The prison mortality rate reportedly improved; however, human
rights NGOs claimed that authorities kept official rates artificially
low by releasing terminally ill prisoners or by sending dying prisoners
to the hospital. Observers claimed deaths of prisoners without families
usually went unreported. During the year, there were 28 registered
deaths in prison, 1 attributed to suicide and 1 attributed to a beating
by a police officer (see Section 1.a.); the remaining deaths were
attributed to health complications. According to the ICRC, tuberculosis
was widespread in the prison system; in cooperation with the MOJ, the
ICRC treated nearly 2,600 infected prisoners since 1998.
NGOs reported violence among prisoners decreased during the year.
Men and women were held separately. Juveniles were held separately
in a specially constructed facility; however, juveniles were
infrequently separated from other inmates in MIA temporary detention
facilities. Pretrial detainees were often kept with convicted prisoners
due to overcrowding.
The ICRC had full access to detention facilities, including those
in Abkhazia, and was allowed private meetings and regular visits with
detainees. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
reported bureaucratic delays but no serious problems in obtaining
access to prisoners or detainees; however, local human rights groups
reported sporadic difficulty in visiting detainees, particularly in
cases with political overtones. In March, the human rights unit of the
Prosecutor General's Office was abolished and not reestablished until
October. Since November, the unit enjoyed free access to prisons to
monitor conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government frequently
disregarded these provisions.
The MIA and Prosecutor General's Office have primary responsibility
for law enforcement. The MIA controls the police, which are divided
into functional departments. A separate, independently funded police
protection department under the MIA provides security and protection to
private businesses. Public confidence in the police increased during
the year due to a reduction in corruption. During the year, police
received their salaries more regularly. Impunity, however, remained a
problem. In July, the MIA took steps to reduce police corruption by
firing 13,000 officers, disbanding the corrupt traffic police force,
and replacing them with a new patrol police unit consisting of newly
hired officers with higher salaries. Only individuals under age 37 were
allowed to apply for this new Patrol. Since then, the widespread
solicitation of bribes from motorists decreased substantially. In
November, the MIA transferred its armed internal troops to the Ministry
of Defense. The MIA announced its intentions to reorganize the
remaining 3,000 lightly armed internal troops into a Gendarmerie,
responsible for keeping public order. In December, the Government
announced the merger of the Ministries of Interior and State Security
into a new Ministry of Police and Public Order. All redundant
departments were combined and the Department of Foreign Intelligence
became a stand-alone agency.
While the new Government prioritized rooting out corruption, its
efforts sometimes infringed on the rule of law. For example, between
January and March, the Government arrested a number of high profile,
wealthy figures close to former President Shevardnadze, charged them
with abuse of office or tax arrears, sentenced them to pretrial
detention, and fined them a predetermined sum, which was reportedly
deposited in the State treasury. Detainees were released without charge
if they paid. If the individual refused to pay, he or she remained in
isolated pretrial detention and experienced intimidation. The
Government, in effect, used pretrial detention as a bargaining tactic
to induce payment.
Government officials, including President Saakashvili, also made
public comments that gave the impression they supported police
brutality and increased the atmosphere of impunity among police
officers. Saakashvili and other government officials later held several
press conferences to publicly condemn police brutality.
On February 20, law enforcement agents arrested Gia Jokhtaberidze,
majority shareholder in a large telecommunications company and son-in-
law of former President Shevardnadze. Jokhtaberidze was forcibly
removed from a departing airplane in an arrest widely broadcast
throughout the country, and immediately placed in pretrial detention.
Commenting on the arrest, President Saakashvili made public statements
that violated due process. In March, in contradiction to the law,
Jokhtaberidze was transferred to Isolator Number Five. Jokhtaberidze's
lawyers claimed he was repeatedly threatened. The General Prosecutor
offered to drop all charges if Jokhtaberidze paid $15 million (30
million GEL). On April 26, after payment, Jokhtaberidze was released
from detention with all charges dropped. Government officials,
including the President, and media claimed that the money was a fine;
Jokhtaberidze and his company denied the payment was an admission of
wrongdoing.
An ongoing culture of impunity remained a problem. Despite this,
some police officers were arrested or administratively disciplined in
high-profile cases of physical abuse or deaths in custody. The MOJ
maintained a system to provide for medical examinations of prisoners
transferred from police stations to pretrial detention facilities in
order to document injuries that may have occurred in police custody and
to establish baseline medical condition information for each prisoner
that could be used in cases of alleged prison abuse. Injuries
consistent with abuse were documented and reported to the MOJ
authorities, who in turn reported them to the MIA for investigation.
The system functioned effectively.
In general, officers were held accountable for abuses only in
extreme cases, and the Criminal Procedures Code limited a detainee's
ability to substantiate claims of such abuses (see Section 1.e.).
During the year, 179 criminal cases against MIA employees were opened
by the Prosecutor General's Office. All of these cases were pending at
year's end. Many observers claimed that prosecutors were frequently
reluctant to open a criminal case against police or they closed a case
for lack of evidence. Human rights NGOs also believed that many
instances of abuse went unreported by victims due to fear of reprisals
or lack of confidence in the system.
A defendant may file a complaint of abuse only with the Prosecutor
General's Office, whose decision cannot be appealed. NGOs claimed that
this regulation hindered their ability to substantiate police
misconduct because of the close ties between the Prosecutor General's
Office and the police.
The Criminal Procedure Code provides for the right of a witness to
be accompanied by a lawyer when being questioned by the police. Police
can hold a witness for 48 hours without bringing charges. Police
frequently charged witnesses as suspects at the end of this period.
Human rights observers continued to allege that police often called a
detainee's lawyer as a witness, thereby denying him access to his
client.
Parliament's Committee on Human Rights and Ethnic Relations
investigated claims of arrest and detention abuse. The Committee's
chairperson reported a significant decrease in the number of claims
filed during the second half of the year; however, NGOs did not report
a decrease in incidents of torture until November.
Judges issue warrants and detention orders and, by law, suspects
must be charged within 3 days. Judges have six possible preventive
measures to ensure suspects will appear at trial, including bail,
pretrial detention, and house arrest. In practice, 3-month pretrial
detention was always imposed, which may be extended by 3-month
intervals up to 9 months. In practice, suspects were detained in
pretrial detention much longer than legally permitted. The bail system
was rarely used due to fear of being subject to bribery accusations.
NGOs noted that, if a judge rules that an investigation must be
renewed, the 9-month pretrial detention limits are also extended. In
practice, as judges lacked real independence from prosecutors,
prosecutors could keep suspects in jail as long as they liked. The
Criminal Code states suspects cannot be held for a combined period of
more than 24 months once a trial has commenced, which can be extended
by the judge to 30 months. Judges sometimes neglected these
stipulations.
Police frequently detained persons without warrants and often
planted drugs or weapons in order to arrest individuals. Police
frequently did not allow witnesses during searches in which they
``found'' drugs or weapons, and then forced individuals to sign witness
statements. According to one NGO, approximately 80 percent of all
detainees in pretrial detention were being held on charges of drug or
illegal weapon possession.
On January 9, police raided the home of Zaza Ambroladze, entering
without a warrant and not allowing witnesses to the search. The police
claimed to find an illegal automatic weapon and placed Ambroladze under
3 months pretrial detention. This event sparked large street protests
that were violently dispersed (see Section 2.b.). Several months later,
the court sentenced Ambroladze to 2 years' imprisonment for illegal
possession of arms. Ambroladze's lawyer's appealed the ruling to the
regional appellate court.
On August 2, police raided the office of independent newspaper
Khalkhis Gazeti. No search warrant was presented and no one was allowed
to witness the search. Police claimed to find drugs and detained the
newspaper's editor Rezo Okruashvili, a critic of the Government. On
August 4, Okruashvili was sentenced to 3 months pretrial detention.
After signing a confession, Okruashvili was released pending trial.
Okruashvili claimed he was beaten and forced to sign the confession and
appealed the charge.
Detainees had difficulty obtaining objective medical examinations
in a timely manner, which made it difficult to establish the cause of
injuries. Only a state-employed forensic medical examiner, which in
most cases was an employee of the Ministry of Health's Judicial Medical
Expert Center, could testify about injuries. Human rights advocates
routinely criticized the state forensic examiners as biased in favor of
the Prosecutor General and stated that permission for an independent
forensic medical examination was rarely granted.
Police often failed to inform detainees of their rights and denied
them access to family members and lawyers. Some observers charged that
police also conducted interrogations in apartments outside police
stations to avoid registering detainees. While suspects officially were
charged within 3 days of registration, observers claimed that police
frequently delayed registering detainees for long periods in order to
seek bribes or to allow time for injuries inflicted by the police to
heal. Police reportedly approached suspects' families and offered to
drop charges in exchange for a bribe. Correct legal procedures were
observed more often when a detainee was charged and registered
formally.
The Criminal Procedure Code grants witnesses the right to legal
counsel; however, this right was only occasionally observed in
practice. It was common police practice to label detained suspects as
``witnesses'' in order to deny them access to a lawyer. In January
2003, the Constitutional Court ruled that 5 changes had to be made to
the criminal code, including that detainees must have the right to a
lawyer during the first 12 hours of detention, and that thereafter, the
detainee must have at least 2 hours daily access to a lawyer. In
October, Parliament passed an amendment to the Criminal Procedural Code
allowing suspects access to a lawyer immediately upon detention. The
other points of the Constitutional Court's ruling have not been
implemented.
The Constitution provides for a 9-month maximum period of pretrial
detention, mandates court approval for detention over 72 hours, and
imposes restrictions on the role of the prosecutor (see Section 1.e.).
These provisions were often overlooked, and prosecutors continued to
exert undue influence over criminal procedures.
The Criminal Procedure Code calls for detainees to be charged
within 72 hours. MOJ figures for the year showed that, for the Tbilisi
pretrial detention center, only one detainee was registered in
violation of the 72-hour deadline. The most serious incidents of police
abuse occurred in the investigative phase of pretrial detention, when
police interrogated suspects (see Section 1.c.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice, judicial authorities
continued to experience pressure from the executive branch and powerful
outside interests. The judiciary did not exercise full independence,
and judicial impartiality was limited. Many NGOs complained that
judicial authorities often acted as a rubber stamp for prosecutors'
decisions and that the executive branch exerted undue influence.
Investigators often planted or fabricated evidence and extorted
confessions in direct violation of the Constitution. Judges were
reluctant to exclude evidence obtained illegally if the Prosecutor
General objected. Courts continued to convict on the strength of
confessions that may have been extracted under torture. Bribery
decreased as salaries for judges increased.
President Saakashvili and other government officials often made
public statements concerning the guilt of detained suspects in high-
profile corruption cases before a trial had commenced, thus exerting
undue influence on impending court cases, as judges felt pressured to
uphold the President's ``opinions.''
The Council of Justice administered the three-tiered court system.
The Council has 12 members, 4 selected from within each branch of
government. To reduce incompetence and corruption, the law has
established a three-part testing procedure for working and prospective
judges administered by the Council. All judges, including Supreme Court
judges, are required to take Council-administered exams. At the lowest
level are district courts, which hear routine criminal and civil cases.
At the next level are regional (city) courts of appeal, which serve as
appellate courts for district courts. The regional courts also try
major criminal and civil cases, review cases, and either confirm
verdicts or return cases to the lower courts for retrial. The Supreme
Court acts as a higher appellate court but is the court of first
instance for capital crimes and appeals from the CEC. Regional managing
judges continued to monitor the performance of lower courts throughout
the country.
A separate Constitutional Court arbitrates disputes between
branches of Government and rules on individual human rights violation
claims; it generally demonstrated judicial independence. The Court
interpreted its function in human rights case narrowly, agreeing to
rule only in cases in which human rights were violated as a result of
specific articles of law. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court was
significantly weaker than the Supreme Court, and its rulings were
sometimes not enforced.
The Constitution identifies the Prosecutor General's Office as part
of the judicial system, and there were calls from legislators and
others to move the Office into the executive branch. Court orders were
rarely enforced.
According to the Constitution, detainees are presumed innocent and
have the right to a public trial. A detainee has the right to demand
immediate access to a lawyer and the right to refuse to make a
statement in the absence of counsel. Officers must inform detainees of
their rights and notify their families of their location as soon as
possible. However, these rights were not fully observed in practice.
Authorities frequently did not permit detainees to notify their
families of their location, and local police authorities limited
lawyers' access to detainees. Lengthy trial delays were common. Defense
counsel is not required to be present at pretrial hearings, and
defendants and their attorneys regularly complained that they were not
notified of scheduled hearings. The Criminal Procedures Code does not
require the police to allow a lawyer to enter a police station unless
hired by a detainee. Juries were used. Defendants have the right to
appeal and to access evidence.
Attorneys were assigned to defendants unable to afford legal
counsel, upon the recommendation of the prosecutor's office by the
Office of Legal Assistance, a part of the state-controlled Bar
Association. In certain cases, defendants were pressured or coerced by
prosecutors to accept a state-appointed attorney or other attorneys who
did not vigorously defend their interests. However, in general
individuals who could afford to pay were able to obtain the attorney of
their choice in both criminal and civil cases. The prosecutor's office
not only had control over state-appointed lawyers it also determined
whether to grant a defendant's request to change lawyers. Several NGOs
provided free legal services in Tbilisi for victims of human rights
violations.
Prosecutors continued to direct investigations, supervise some
judicial functions, and represent the state in trials. They also
continued to exert disproportionate influence over judicial decisions.
The Criminal Procedure Code prohibits the judge who signed a warrant
from hearing the case; however, this rule frequently was disregarded
outside of Tbilisi, since few regions had more than one judge.
International and local human rights organizations varied on
estimates of how many political prisoners were in the country,
reporting from 0 to 20. The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee and
Ombudsman claimed that there were no official political prisoners in
the country; however, many individuals, including members of the former
paramilitary group ``Mkhedrioni,'' Zviadists (followers of the deceased
former president Gamsakhurdia), and several high-ranking officials from
the previous government, considered themselves political prisoners.
According to human rights observers, some Zviadist prisoners never took
up arms and should be considered political prisoners. In 2003, the
Interim President appointed former Gamsakhurdia Minister of Finance
Guram Absandze as Deputy State Minister charged with reviewing all
cases against Zviadists, with the aim of releasing them. Over 20 of the
group were released this year.
In November 2003, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in
Strasbourg began reviewing the case of Tengiz Asanidze, who was
pardoned by President Shevardnadze in 1999, but was still held in
prison by the Ajaran government in contradiction to the central
authorities. On April 8, the ECHR ruled that Asanidze should be
released and fined the Georgian government approximately $202,500
(150,000 euros) and an additional $6,750 (5,000 euros) for legal fees.
In accordance with the ruling, Asanidze was released and paid.
The Government permitted international human rights and domestic
organizations to visit political prisoners, and some organizations did
so during the year.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions without court
approval or legal necessity; however, in practice, the Government
occasionally monitored private telephone conversations without
obtaining court orders. The Government stated that security police and
tax authorities entered homes and workplaces without prior legal
sanction. In contrast to last year, traffic police no longer stopped
and searched vehicles for bribes.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal Conflicts.--Internal conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
remained unresolved. Cease-fires were in effect, and Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) and joint peacekeeping forces, respectively,
were present in both areas, although sporadic incidents of violence
occurred in Abkhazia, in the neighboring Georgian region of Samegrelo,
and in South Ossetia. These conflicts and the problems associated with
the current numbers of approximately 230,000 IDPs from Abkhazia, 12,200
from South Ossetia, and 2,600 refugees from Chechnya posed a continued
threat to national stability. In 1993, Abkhaz separatists won control
of Abkhazia, and most ethnic Georgians were expelled from or fled the
region. A Russian peacekeeping force has also been in South Ossetia
since 1992 as part of a joint peacekeeping force with Ossetians and
Georgians. The Government had no effective control over Abkhazia or
South Ossetia during the year. In July and August, a flare-up in the
Ossetian conflict caused 17 MIA and MOD casualties and an unknown
number of deaths on the Ossetian side. The conflict deescalated before
year's end.
There was limited information on the human rights situation in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia due to limited access to these regions. The
U.N. Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) Office in Abkhazia reported
continuing modest improvements in the human rights situation. However,
systemic problems in the criminal justice system, in particular the
failure to conduct impartial investigations and to bring alleged
perpetrators to trial, sustained a climate of impunity. Limited access
to qualified legal counsel aggravated the situation. The Parliamentary
Human Rights Office remained concerned at the length of pretrial
detentions and violations of due process in individual cases. Since
2002, an independent legal aid office in the Gali district of Abkhazia
provided free legal advice to the population.
A Human Rights Commission established by the nonrecognized
government of South Ossetia continued to operate. The South Ossetian
Human Rights Commission worked in close collaboration with the
Commission for Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of North Ossetia
in the Russian Federation and the representative of the President of
the Russian Federation for Human Rights.
In October, two Ossetian members of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces
were shot by partisans.
NGOs reported a deterioration in the human rights situation in the
autonomous region of Ajara under the region's President, Aslan
Abashidze. In May, following public protests of Abashidze's attempt to
manipulate parliamentary elections and tense negotiations with Tbilisi,
Abashidze fled for Moscow in May, which led to the restoration of Ajara
to central Government control and a decline in human rights abuses,
particularly concerning the press and freedom of association.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, there were some incidents
of government obstruction. Journalists were able to publish wide-
ranging and extremely critical views of officials and their conduct;
however, criticism of the Government in the media decreased during the
year due to increased self-censorship. A law on broadcasting was passed
in December converting the State television channel, Channel 1, into a
public television channel. The law allows the new channel state funding
for one more year, as well as commercial funding. Competitors
complained that their lack of analogous state funding during this
period would put them at a disadvantage.
There were approximately 200 independent newspapers in circulation.
After the November 2003 ``Rose Revolution,'' the Government privatized
the previously state-owned news agency Sakinfo. The press frequently
criticized senior government officials; however, few editorially
independent newspapers were commercially viable. Typically, newspapers
were subsidized by and subject to the influence of patrons in politics
and business. Several newspapers were reputable sources of information,
although lack of financial resources limited their circulation.
Following privatizations during the year, there were seven
independent television stations in Tbilisi, three with national
coverage--Channel 1, Rustavi-2, and Imedi. An international NGO
estimated that there were more than 45 regional television stations
outside of Tbilisi, 17 of which offered daily news. While these
stations ostensibly were independent, a lack of advertising revenue
often forced them to depend on local government officials for support;
however, some regions, such as Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kutaisi, had
relatively independent media. After the resignation of Aslan Abashidze,
former President of the autonomous region of Ajara, the region ceased
jamming the national television stations. There were two independent
newspapers in Ajara, and Ajara also received the national independent
newspaper 24 hours.
While there were no physical attacks on media representatives
during year, state tax authorities occasionally harassed independent
newspapers and television stations. Journalists stated that they were
vulnerable to pressure from authorities, as well as from business and
societal elements. Media outlets complained that commercial firms
refused to advertise on certain channels critical of the Government for
fear of losing the Government's favor.
Compared to 2003, physical harassment of the media decreased,
although self-censorship increased, likely due to a desire to please
the new government. There were some reports of legal harassment of
media outlets by the financial police.
Although most journalists had regular access to government
officials and agencies, a few government officials denied journalists
access to public briefings. For example, the Minister of Interior
temporarily blocked the television station Kavkasia access to the
Ministry and to his public briefings. The mayor of Poti prohibited
television cameras from public briefings and effectively blocked
interviews of local government officials. In December, the mayor of
Poti was arrested on unrelated charges. The Government also used
financial pressures to influence media outlets and sometimes sent
financial tax investigators to investigate critical journals.
In February, on the eve of parliamentary discussions of
constitutional amendments proposed by the President (see section 1.e.),
three of the most popular nightly political talk shows were temporarily
canceled, reportedly due to ``reformatting.'' Commentators reported
government officials exerted pressure on the channels to cancel
programming.
Early in the year, Iberia TV ceased news operations following a
high-profile raid on the station by the General Prosecutor's office,
which raided all subsidiary media and nonmedia businesses owned by the
parent company, Omega Group. The Prosecutor's office cited financial
fraud as grounds for the raid. Omega Group's owner, then Member of
Parliament Zaza Okuashvili, who allegedly had close ties to Aslan
Abashidze, fled the country. Omega Group's other media operations,
Media News Agency, the newspaper Akhali Epoka, Omega magazine, and a
printing house went out of business.
During the March parliamentary elections, in Ajara, the regional
government under Aslan Abashidze did not allow opposition candidates
media access or television time. Opposition gatherings were also
violently suppressed or attacked, and opposition offices were
ransacked. On March 5, unidentified men in masks beat reporter Vakhtang
Komakhidze at a border checkpoint and confiscated his tapes, camera and
notes. Komakhidze was later hospitalized for several weeks (see Section
3).
On July 15, the Government passed a new law on defamation, which
states comments made in Parliament, court cases, and during political
debates can no longer be considered libel. The law also moves the
burden of proof to the accuser, and places entire companies, rather
than individual reporters, as defendants in a court case. In practice,
the Government did not use libel laws to inhibit journalism during the
year.
In July 2003, head of the Georgian Railway Akaki Chkhaidze won a
libel suit against independent television station Rustavi-2 for
information broadcast on a program linking him to bribery scandals. The
station was ordered to pay $480,000 (1 million GEL) in moral damages.
The station appealed the decision to the Supreme Court and the fine was
reduced to $50,000 (104,166 GEL).
Stations desiring benefits and better working relations with
authorities practiced increased self-censorship. In November, a dispute
broke out between the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) Patriarchate and
reformist seminary students and priests. Media coverage was initially
intense. In October, in a press conference, President Saakashvili
called on the media to be more responsible in their coverage of this
dispute. Immediately, all reporting on this dispute disappeared.
However, no direct government harassment was reported.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet. The
Government did not restrict academic freedom.
Media in the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
remained tightly restricted by their respective de facto governments.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, both the Government and
local authorities restricted this right in practice. The Government
dispersed several peaceful demonstrations and arrested participants for
disrupting the peace.
The law requires political parties and other organizations to give
prior notice and obtain permission from local authorities to assemble
on a public thoroughfare. Most permits for assemblies were granted
without arbitrary restriction or discrimination; however, according to
the law, the Government has the right to disperse any assembly that is
``a disruption of the public order.'' No mechanism is designated to
determine what constitutes a disruption of the public order. As a
result, in contrast with previous years, the police often used this
imprecision to justify violently dispersing several peaceful protests.
On January 11, protestors blocked the Tbilisi-Kutaisi highway to
protest the detention of Zaza Ambroladze (see section 1.d.). Police
violently dispersed the protest and pursued demonstrators into the
forest, kicking them and beating them with clubs before apprehending
them. Seven demonstrators were sentenced to 3 months pretrial detention
for disrupting the public order. At year's end, these activists
remained in detention and no trials had begun.
On July 1, riot police violently broke up a peaceful protest in
front of Tbilisi City Hall, beating the 40 to 50 earthquake victims who
were on a hunger strike due to the lack of funding for house
reconstructions.
On September 2, 500 riot police violently dispersed a peaceful
protest in the Batumi central market protesting the removal of the
market to a new location. Riot police beat and kicked several
participants, including M.P. Koba Davitashvili, then loaded
participants into vans; 11 participants were charged and placed in 3
month pretrial detention for disrupting the public order. All 11
remained in detention awaiting trail at year's end.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Authorities
granted permits for registration of associations without arbitrary
restriction or discrimination.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, in practice, local authorities sometimes restricted
the rights of members of nontraditional religious minority groups.
There were fewer reports of violence against minority religious groups
this year, but several groups continued to report intimidation by local
authorities.
The Constitution recognizes the special role of the GOC in the
country's history but stipulates the separation of church and state. A
constitutional agreement (Concordat) signed by the President and the
Georgian Orthodox Patriarch gives the GOC legal status and states that,
with the consent of the GOC, the Government can issue permits or
licenses for the use of official symbols and terminology of the GOC, as
well as for the production, import, and distribution of worship
articles. The tax code grants tax exemptions only for the GOC. Although
several churches signed formal documents with the Orthodox Patriarchate
agreeing to the Concordat, they noted that a controversial article
allowing GOC authority over construction, as well as restitution
issues, was not in the original agreed-upon document.
Some nationalist politicians continued to use the issue of the
supremacy of the GOC in their platforms and criticized some Protestant
groups, particularly evangelical groups, as subversive. Jehovah's
Witnesses in particular were the targets of vocal attacks from such
politicians.
There are no laws regarding the registration of religious
organizations. The GOC remained the only religion with legal status in
the country, although some religions registered affiliated NGOs. This
lack of legal status prevented religions from renting or registering
property; many groups registered property under an individual or
affiliated NGO, although this complicated ownership issues and exposed
individuals to personal liability. The new Government has not addressed
a previous draft law to allow for registration or proposed other
changes. Unregistered religious groups are not officially permitted to
rent office space, acquire construction rights, import literature, or
represent the international church, although many religious groups
accomplished these goals through their locally registered NGOs.
Unregistered religious groups were also subject to an administrative
fine.
In late 2003, the new Government allowed the registration of the
Jehovah's Witnesses NGO The Watchtower Bible Society. Jehovah's Witness
Groups reported that since then, unlike in previous years, there has
been no violent persecution and they have had no difficulties in
importing their literature.
While less harassment was reported during the year, minority
religions continued to report intimidation from local government
authorities and obstructions to constructing worship halls. The
Catholic Church, True Orthodox Church, Baptists, Armenian Apostolic
Church, and Protestant denominations had difficulty in building
churches during the year.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church were
unable to secure the return of churches closed or given to the GOC
during the Soviet period. The Jewish community also experienced delays
in the return of property confiscated during Soviet rule, including a
former synagogue that a 2001 Supreme Court ruling instructed the
Government to return.
The Ministry of Education requires all 4th grade students to take a
``Religion and Culture'' class, which covers the history of major
religions. Many parents complained of teachers focusing solely on the
Georgian Orthodox Church. The Church has a consultative role in all
curriculum development.
Regular and reliable information regarding separatist-controlled
regions, including South Ossetia, was difficult to obtain. An Abkhaz
presidential decree bans Jehovah's Witnesses. A number of members of
Jehovah's Witnesses were detained in the last few years; however,
according to a representative of Jehovah's Witnesses, none were
detained during the year.
Despite a general tolerance toward minority religious groups
traditional to the country--including Catholics, Armenian Apostolic
Christians, Jews, and Muslims--citizens remained very apprehensive
towards Protestants and other nontraditional religions, which were seen
as taking advantage of the populace's economic hardships by gaining
membership by providing economic assistance to converts. Some members
of the GOC and the public viewed non-Orthodox religious groups,
particularly nontraditional groups or sects, as a threat to the
national Church and the country's cultural values and argued that
foreign Christian missionaries should confine their activities to non-
Christian areas. Reputable and repeated public opinion polls indicated
that a majority of citizens believed minority or nontraditional
religious groups were detrimental to the state and that prohibition and
outright violence against such groups would be acceptable to limit
them.
Since 2000, the Government has prosecuted a criminal case against
Father Basili Mkalavishvili, an Orthodox priest, whose followers
engaged in a number of violent attacks on nontraditional religious
minorities; however, the investigation has proceeded very slowly. In
2003, Father Mkalavishvili's case was suspended due the Government's
inability to keep order in the court, and Father Mkalavishvili went
into hiding. In March, riot police stormed the church where Father
Mkalavishvili was hiding out, arrested him and several of his
supporters, and placed them in 3-month pretrial detention. Father
Mkalavishvili's trial began on September 13 and was ongoing at year's
end. Though his arrest was welcomed, many NGOs criticized the excessive
force used to apprehend him.
Unlike in previous years, there were no violent attacks against
nontraditional religious minorities by Basilists.
In June 2003, an ultra-Orthodox mob blocked the streets in front of
a Pentecostal minister's house where services were being conducted and
refused to let parishioners through. Church members were threatened
with violence. Police were present but did not allow the parishioners
to enter the street. At year's end, the Pentecostal group still had not
been allowed access to this meeting house. The same Pentecostal group
filed a suit in the Constitutional Court, complaining that they were
denied legal registration as a religious group in contradiction with
the Constitution, in which freedom of religion is guaranteed.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
Freedom of movement was restricted in the separatist regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The de facto governments of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia did not allow their citizens to exit their respective
regions and their internal movement was also often obstructed by police
checkpoints. Many who did enter other parts of the country were denied
reentry into the separatist regions. Ethnic Mingrelians living in the
Gali region of Abkhazia were allowed movement throughout the rest of
the country, but were not allowed in other parts of Abkhazia.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
Following a 1999 presidential decree to repatriate and rehabilitate
approximately 275,000 Meskhetian Turks relocated during the Soviet
period, there has been no additional legislation to allow for
repatriation of Meskhetian Turks. There was some official and public
opposition to their repatriation. There were 643 Meskhetians living in
the country, most of whom had citizenship. There were no repatriations
during the year.
There were approximately 244,800 persons displaced at years end,
due to conflicts in the separatists regions of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, as well as hostilities in Chechnya. IDPs occupied hotels,
hospitals, and other civil buildings in Tbilisi, or lived in private
homes with relatives or friends throughout the country, particularly
concentrated in Tbilisi, Zugdidi, and Gori.
The 1994 agreement between Russia, Georgia, Abkhazia, and the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on repatriation in Abkhazia
called for the free, safe, and dignified return of the approximately
230,000 IDPs and refugees driven from Abkhazia to Tbilisi and the
western part of the country. The Abkhaz separatist regime prevented
such repatriation and unilaterally abrogated the agreement. In 1999,
the Abkhaz separatist regime unilaterally invited IDPs to return to
Gali but did not adequately ensure their safety. The move did not
significantly affect IDPs, who continued to travel back and forth to
the area to tend their property. As many as 40,000 persons were
estimated to be living in Gali on a more or less permanent basis,
depending on the security situation.
The 1992 ethnic conflict in South Ossetia also created tens of
thousands of IDPs and refugees. In 1997, the UNHCR began a program to
return IDPs and refugees; however, both sides created obstacles that
slowed the return. During the year, the South Ossetian separatists
continued to obstruct the repatriation of ethnic Georgians to South
Ossetia, although some families returned. Meanwhile, South Ossetia
continued to press for the return of all Ossetian refugees to South
Ossetia rather than to their original homes in other regions of the
country. The Government recognized the right of Ossetian refugees to
return to their homes but was unable to facilitate returns, due to its
limited authority in South Ossetia. Government opposition to the return
of illegally occupied homes has prevented the return of Ossetian
refugees to Georgia proper. Approximately 2,700 persons were reported
to be still dislocated from recent hostilities at year's end.
The Government inconsistently paid stipends to IDPs of
approximately $7 (14 GEL) per person per month and subsidized some
monthly allocations of electricity. Subsidies were paid more frequently
in Tbilisi than elsewhere in the country. IDPs also were not afforded
the right to vote in local elections (see Section 3).
During the year, approximately 1,000 IDPs housed in Tbilisi hotels
were effectively ``bought out'' through the Government's privatization
of the hotels. IDPs received $7,000 (14,000 GEL) by the private
investors to move elsewhere, which the Government maintained was
adequate compensation. IDPs who accepted the buy out maintained their
refugee status and government stipends, but lost their right to a place
in a collective center (shelter). Absent a likely imminent return to
their homes and a coordinated government IDP policy, observers
interpreted this status as temporary assimilation.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
cooperated with the office of the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seeks. During the year,
the Government processed approximately 4,000 refugee cases and granted
refugee status to approximately 2,500.
The Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation was responsible for the
screening and registration of refugees and new arrivals. Since the
outbreak of hostilities in Chechnya, the Government has admitted an
estimated 4,000 to 5,000 refugees from the conflict. Since then, many
have returned or resettled. There are currently 2,500 registered
refugees from Chechnya in the country. Chechen refugees settled in the
Pankisi Valley in the eastern part of the country. International
humanitarian organizations assistance to refugees in the Pankisi Valley
was sporadic. During the year, approximately 2,500 Chechen refugees
were living in the Pankisi Valley and 35 in Tbilisi. The majority of
the Chechen refugees lived with the local Kist population; only 15
percent were sheltered in communal centers.
Chechen refugees remained vulnerable to abuse, including police
harassment and threats of refoulement.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through periodic
elections, held on the basis of universal suffrage; however, poor
organization by authorities, inaccurate voter registers, and lack of
transparency in vote counting and tabulation and other flaws marred
elections over the past three years. The irregularities in the November
2003 parliamentary elections led to peaceful mass protests, which
resulted in President Shevardnadze's resignation in November 2003 and
the assumption of the post of Interim President by Parliament Speaker
Nino Burjanadze. The Supreme Court subsequently annulled the results of
the November 2003 parliamentary contests. In January, Mikheil
Saakashvili was elected President in the constitutionally mandated
presidential election. Repeat parliamentary elections were held on
March 7. President Saakashvili's National Movement Party won 133 of the
150 proportional seats. The only other party to win proportional seats
was the New Rightists, headed by David Gamkrelidze, who won 17 seats.
On February 6, Parliament passed a series of constitutional
amendments that strengthened the power of the executive relative to the
Parliament and judiciary. According to international observers and
civil society groups, both the amendments themselves and the manner in
which they were adopted were problematic. Authorities ignored the
constitutional provision for a 1-month debate period prior to adoption.
NGOs criticized that the amendments increased the powers of the
president at the expense of the Parliament and of judges. The
amendments gave the president power to dismiss Parliament if it fails
to approve the state budget, or the appointment of the prime minister
or other ministers or in times of crisis. In addition, Parliament must
accept or reject the budget in its entirety and does not have power to
change separate line items in the budget.
The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) reported that the January presidential election demonstrated
notable progress, although it also noted that time constraints limited
administrative improvements to previous elections. ODIHR noted a
continued lack of separation between state administration and political
party structures and the tendency to misuse state administration
resources. The voter register also continued to be incomplete and
sometimes inaccurate. There was also notable political imbalance in the
election administration at all levels and election commissions
displayed a lack of impartiality. The National Movement and Democrat
Parties (the allied parties of Saakashvili and Burjanadze,
respectively) selected 10 out of 15 members of the Central Election
Commission (CEC). Both parties provided regional election committees
with material resources and campaign literature. While the OSCE
reported the voting process itself as excellent in the majority of
regions, there were significant irregularities in Kvemo Kartli, the
southernmost region of the country, bordering Azerbaijan and Armenia,
where vote count and tabulation violations and ballot stuffing were
reported.
The worst irregularities were recorded in Ajara, where no pre-
election registration was conducted and little to no campaigning
occurred. Regional authorities maintained until late 2003 that
elections would not take place on their territory, as they believed
annulling the November 2003 election was illegitimate. In December
2003, unknown men physically assaulted a student leader active in a
pro-election Public Committee. Journalists were prevented entry into
Ajara, and authorities blocked transmission of television supporting
the new Government. The election did take place; however, turnout was
low. After the election, several civil activists and their relatives
were detained.
International observers deemed the March parliamentary elections
the most democratic since independence, with voter registration
procedures further improved, including the addition of a consolidated
computerized database; however, there continued to be a lack of
political balance and independence in election commissions. During the
election, international observers noticed a number of irregularities,
including campaign material on display in several polling stations,
implausible voter turnout (over 100 percent) in certain regions, and an
unusually high percentage of invalid votes. Significant voting
irregularities again took place in Kvemo Kartli, including ballot
stuffing and proxy voting.
Ajara remained the largest problem in the parliamentary elections.
Then Ajara President Abashidze initially threatened to prevent the
region from participating in Georgia's national parliamentary
elections, voter registration information was inaccurate, and officials
refused to cooperated with officials of the CEC. NGOs reported that
violence against the opposition was higher than in previous elections.
Opposition gatherings were violently suppressed or attacked, opposition
offices were ransacked, and no television time was given to opposition
parties. On March 5, unidentified men in masks beat reporter Vakhtang
Komakhidze at a border checkpoint and confiscated his tapes, camera,
and notes. Komakhidze was later hospitalized for several weeks. Such
abuse reportedly prompted large-scale demonstrations, which were linked
to Abashidze's ouster in May.
The separatist governments of Abkhazia and South Ossetia held
periodic elections. International organizations, including the U.N. and
the OSCE, as well as the Government did not recognize the Abkhaz
presidential elections held in October. In 2001, the unrecognized
separatist government held presidential elections in South Ossetia,
resulting in the defeat of the incumbent and a peaceful transfer of
power.
Local elections, held on June 2, were the first elections to be
conducted under a new election code, which significantly tightened
election rules to prevent fraud. International observers noted that
although the election process was chaotic, with numerous errors in
voter lists, the elections were not seriously hampered by fraud.
Election results mirrored polling data running up to the election.
There were no government restrictions on political party formation
beyond registration requirements; there were 20 registered political
parties, a vast reduction from the previous year due in part to the
vast popularity of President Saakashvili's National Movement Party.
Government corruption decreased significantly in the executive
branch, but remains widespread in the judicial branch and in some law
enforcement agencies. During the year, as opposed to previous years,
most government officials received salaries in a timely manner,
reducing corruption significantly. In February, Parliament passed an
anticorruption bill that introduced major changes to the criminal and
criminal procedure codes. The new legislation allowed the Prosecutor's
Office greater flexibility in charging officials with criminal bribery,
cancelled immunity for law enforcement agency officials, authorized in
absentia proceedings against officials who fail to appear in court, and
introduces the use of plea-bargaining, as well of undercover recordings
made by journalists in trials.
In October, the Parliament adopted a new Code of Conduct, which
established ethical norms to govern Parliamentarians in an effort to
strengthen public accountability and provided a set of benchmarks for
the public to measure their elected representatives' performance.
The Office of the Anticorruption Bureau was closed and its
materials were transferred to a new office with the NSC, which
investigated fraud, waste, and abuse.
The Government instigated several high profile arrests of former
government officials on corruption charges, though NGOs claimed that
arrest and interrogation methods compromised government dedication to
the rule of law and due process (see Section 1.d.). Observers also
criticized the Government for using harsh detention conditions as a
form of pressure and a negotiating tool in these cases, often to
extract payment.
The law provides for public access to government meetings and
documents; however, few citizens or journalists employed it. The
Government often failed to register freedom of information act
requests, and although the law states that a public agency shall
release public information immediately or no later than 10 days, the
release of requested information could be delayed indefinitely and was
sometimes ignored. A requesting party has no grounds for appeal.
There were 22 women in the 235-seat Parliament. Female Speaker of
Parliament, Nino Burjanadze, served as Interim President from November
2003 until presidential elections in January, when she returned to
Parliament as Speaker. The majority head of Parliament was also a
woman, and women held important committee chairmanships and ministerial
posts.
There were 8 members of minority groups (5 Armenians and 3 Azeris)
in the 235-seat Parliament.
During the March parliamentary elections, the CEC provided ballots,
manuals, and voter education materials in Azeri, Armenian, and Russian
in areas with a concentration of national minorities. Training of
election commissions was provided in minority languages as well;
however, in some instances, training in Azeri-populated areas was
conducted in Russian, and commission members reportedly had
difficulties. Generally, national minorities were underrepresented on
election commissions, even in areas where they were the majority
population.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigations of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. While some NGOs
enjoyed free access and close cooperation with the Government, others
complained of discrimination from government members.
Unlike in the previous year, no NGO members were arrested while
observing elections.
An investigation of a 2002 attack on the Liberty Institute, the
country's leading human rights organization, remained ongoing.
The law provides for the Ministry of Finance to access the funding
records of international NGOs, alarming some in the NGO community;
however, no NGOs complained of the Government using this provision in
practice.
The UNHRC and the OSCE Mission's joint human rights office in
Abkhazia operated sporadically due to security conditions but provided
periodic findings, reports, and recommendations.
NGOs viewed the Office of the Public Defender, or Ombudsman, as the
most objective of the Government's human rights bodies. The
constitutionally mandated office monitored human rights conditions and
investigated allegations of abuses. The position remained vacant for
most of the year, until September. The Parliamentary Committee on Human
Rights and Civil Integration, as well as the National Security
Council's human rights advisor, also had the mandate to investigate
claims of abuse. The Prosecutor General Office's human rights unit
focused on curbing pretrial detention abuses and trafficking in
persons. This position was abolished early in the year and then
reestablished in August. The Government maintained a constructive
relationship with several NGOs, although it restricted government
access to some who had fallen out of the Government's favor.
The NGO Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights was denied
access to detention facilities, a right it enjoyed under the previous
government. In December, informational commercials on police torture
prepared by Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights were pulled
from all television channels. Channel representatives claim that the
advertisements were pulled on the order of the Ministry of Security.
The Ministry claimed it merely gave a recommendation and left the
choice to the channels.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution recognizes that all citizens are to be considered
equal before the law, regardless of race; color; language; sex;
religion; political and other opinions; national, ethnic, and social
belonging; origin; property and title; and place of residence; however,
in practice, discrimination was a problem.
Women.--Societal violence against women was a problem. There are no
laws that specifically criminalize spousal abuse or violence against
women, although the Criminal Code classifies rape, including spousal
rape, and sexual coercion as crimes. In 2003, 795 crimes were
registered against women, including 18 murders, 24 attempted murders,
52 rapes, and 41 attempted rapes; the remainder consisted of battery,
assault and lesser crimes. Domestic violence was reportedly one of the
leading causes of divorce but was rarely reported or punished because
of social taboos and because it is not illegal according to the
Criminal Procedural Code. Police did not always investigate reports of
rape. A local NGO operated a shelter for abused women, and the
Government operated a hotline for abused women but did not provide
other services.
The kidnapping of women for marriage occurred, particularly in
rural areas, although the practice continued to decline. Such
kidnappings often were arranged elopements; however, at times
abductions occurred against the will of the intended bride and
sometimes involved rape. Police rarely took actions in these cases even
though the Criminal Code criminalizes kidnapping.
Prostitution is not a criminal offense. Prostitution was
widespread, especially in the capital of Tbilisi. Several NGOs claimed
that prostitution increased during the year, due to continuing poor
economic conditions. Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual
exploitation was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment and violence against women in the workplace was a
problem. The law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace; however,
it was rarely investigated.
The Constitution provides for the equality of men and women;
however, in practice, this was not enforced. Women's access to the
labor market had improved; however, overall women remained primarily
confined to low-paying and low-skilled positions, regardless of
professional and academic qualifications. As a result, many women
sought employment abroad. Salaries for women continued to lag behind
those of men. According to the U.N. Development Program (UNDP),
employers frequently withheld benefits connected to pregnancy and
childbirth.
A number of NGOs promoted women's rights, including the women's
group of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, the Women's Center,
and Women for Democracy. Women's NGOs took an active role in the
presidential and partial parliamentary elections during the year,
engaging candidates on issues of concern.
Children.--The law provides for the protection of children's rights
and welfare; however, funding shortages limited government services.
Primary and basic education is compulsory from age 6 or 7 to age 14,
and provided up to age 16. Education was officially free through high
school, and most children attended school; however, in some places
schools did not function or functioned sporadically because teachers
were not paid and facilities were inadequate, particularly in winter
when some schools could not afford to heat buildings. Many schools
lacked libraries or blackboards. Many parents were unable to afford
books and school supplies, and most parents were obliged to pay some
form of tuition or teachers' salaries; in some cases, students were
forced to drop out due to an inability or unwillingness to pay. Bribery
was endemic in the education system to ensure acceptances,
recommendations, and good grades. Attendance in 2002 was assumed to be
about 90 percent.
Free health care was available only for children over age 3.
There were some reports of abuse of children, particularly street
children, although there was no societal pattern of such abuse.
Incidents of sexual exploitation of children were reported,
especially among girls. Child prostitution and pornography are
punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years. There were unconfirmed
reports of trafficking in children (see Section 5, Trafficking), street
children and children living in orphanages were allegedly particularly
vulnerable. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sponsored a Center for the
Rehabilitation of Minors, which regularly provided medical and
psychological assistance to child and adolescent victims of
prostitution before returning them to guardians.
Difficult economic conditions broke up some families and increased
the number of street children. A local NGO estimated that there were
approximately 1,500 street children in the country, with 1,200
concentrated in Tbilisi, due to the inability of orphanages and the
Government to provide support. The private voluntary organization Child
and Environment and the Ministry of Education each operated a shelter;
however, the two shelters could accommodate only a small number of
street children. No facilities existed outside of Tbilisi. The
Government took little other action to assist street children.
There were no confirmed reports of police violence against street
children this year.
Orphanages were unable to provide adequate food, clothing,
education, and medical care; facilities lacked heat, water, and
electricity. The staff was paid poorly, and wages were many months in
arrears. Staff members often diverted money and supplies provided to
the orphanages for personal use. The Government offered education
grants and tutoring, including the option of enrolling in military
school, to some children who left orphanages.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, the country was a source, transit point, and destination for
trafficked persons.
The Criminal Code prohibits trafficking in persons, including
minors, for the purposes of sexual, labor, and other forms of
exploitation. The basic penalty is from 5 to 12 years' imprisonment,
with maximum penalties of 20 years for aggravated circumstances. A
memorandum of understanding between the Prosecutor General's Office and
the Ministry of State Security led to greater cooperation, joint
operations, and a number of arrests and charges under trafficking
statutes. No convictions had been reached by year's end. In December, a
new Plan of Action was adopted by Presidential Decree that established
an ad hoc Interagency Commission against Trafficking under the auspices
of the National Security Council of the country. The human rights unit
of the NSC remained the government-wide antitrafficking point of
contact.
The Government dissolved an MIA antitrafficking unit, which
received foreign funding, and merged it with the antikidnapping unit,
claiming it would give the unit more ability to coordinate casework and
exchange information with investigators. In October, the MIA
antitrafficking unit was reestablished with two branches, one in
Tbilisi and one in Batumi. Following the December merger of the MIA and
MSS, a Department of Special Operations on Trafficking and Illegal
Migration with a staff of 50 was being established within the new
Ministry of Police and Public Safety.
The country cooperated with other regional countries to uncover
trafficking rings and assisted in the repatriation of trafficked
persons discovered in transit through the country.
On June 22, Georgian police took 14 Uzbek women into custody who
were being trafficked to Dubai. Through the assistance of the acting
Ombudsman, the women were temporarily housed in an NGO facility, then
an empty police shelter for children; 12 of the victims were
repatriated and 2 remained in the shelter due to fraudulent documents,
until they escaped 2 months later. All 14 were eventually repatriated.
Ashot Hovhannesian, a citizen, was charged with organizing the human
trafficking network and sentenced to 3 months pretrial detention.
Tbilisi local police handled the case exclusively. Police investigators
did not have victims sign the intelligence oath necessary for
testimonies to be used in court. At year's end, the case was still
pending.
Women were trafficked from the country to Turkey, Israel, United
Arab Emirates, the United States, and Western Europe to work in bars,
restaurants, or as domestic help. Many worked in the adult
entertainment sector or as prostitutes. There also was evidence that
Russian, Ukrainian, and Central Asian women were trafficked through the
country to Turkey, sometimes using fraudulently obtained passports.
Georgian victims most likely come directly from the impoverished former
industrial centers of Poti, Kutaisi, Rustavi, and Tbilisi. Local NGOs
report that men were trafficked to Russia, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and
other destinations to work in construction and manual labor. There were
unconfirmed reports of trafficking in children, street children and
children living in orphanages were allegedly particularly vulnerable.
Jobs abroad offered through tourism firms or employment agencies
often lured victims. Many of the women working in the adult
entertainment sector as prostitutes were informed, or led to believe,
that they would be employed as waitresses in bars and restaurants or as
domestic help.
There were no government programs to help victims; however, several
NGOs provided assistance to victims. One internationally funded NGO
operated a trafficking hotline that offered psychological support and
assistance, though only a small percentage of the callers identified
themselves as victims of trafficking. The Government conducted some
antitrafficking training for police in the regions and maintained an
OSCE-funded working group with the NGO community to draft the new Plan
of Action and additional legislation including protections for victims'
rights.
The Ministry of State Security instituted and adhered to a policy
protecting the identity of victims and made numerous public statements
that victims of trafficking would not be held liable for their crimes
associated with having been trafficked, such as illegal border
crossing, if they provided significant information about the crime of
trafficking.
The Government did not conduct any public awareness campaigns
during the year, although multiple NGOs continued informational
brochures and local television public announcement campaigns.
Persons With Disabilities.--Discrimination against persons with
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the
provision of other state services was a problem. There is no law or
official provision mandating access to buildings for persons with
disabilities and very few, if any, public facilities or buildings were
accessible. The law mandates that the Government ensure appropriate
conditions for persons with disabilities to freely use the social
infrastructure and to ensure proper protection and support and provide
special discounts and favorable social policies for persons with
disabilities, particularly veterans; however, in practice, a lack of
funding precluded much assistance. Most persons with disabilities were
supported by family members or by international humanitarian donations.
Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities existed.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Government generally
respected the rights of ethnic minorities in nonconflict areas but
limited self-government.
The Constitution stipulates that Georgian is the state language.
Ethnic Armenians, Azeris, Greeks, Abkhaz, Ossetians, and Russians
usually communicated in their native languages or in Russian. Both
Georgian and Russian were used for interethnic communication. School
instruction in non-Georgian languages was permitted. The new Parliament
did not take up a language law drafted under the previous Government
that would make Georgian compulsory for government employees. The State
Language Chamber organized free language courses for government
employees in regions inhabited by ethnic minorities, conducted in
coordination with and through funding from the OSCE. Armenians, on
occasion, complained that they were being forced to learn Georgian.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of
citizens to form and join unions, and workers exercised this right in
practice.
The principal union was the Georgian Trade Union Amalgamation
(GTUA), which was the successor to the official union during the Soviet
period. The GTUA consisted of 31 sectoral unions and claimed 500,000
members, although active, dues-paying membership was lower. During the
year, prosecutors initiated a criminal investigation of the president
of the GTUA that reportedly was related to efforts by the government to
induce the GTUA to divest itself of substantial real estate and other
assets unrelated to the essential functions of a labor federation,
which the GTUA inherited from its Soviet-era predecessor. There were
two additional unions: The Free Trade Union of Teachers of Georgia
Solidarity (FTUTGS) and the Independent Trade Union of Metropolitan
Employees.
The law prohibits discrimination by employers against union
members, and employers may be prosecuted for antiunion discrimination
and forced to reinstate employees and pay back wages; however, the GTUA
and its national unions reported frequent cases of management warning
staff not to organize trade unions. Some workers, including teachers,
employees of various mining, winemaking, pipeline, and port facilities,
and the Tbilisi municipal government reportedly complained of being
intimidated or threatened by employers, including their public sector
employers, for union organizing activity. Observers also claimed that
employers failed to transfer compulsory union dues, deducted from
wages, to union bank accounts. The Ministry of Labor investigated some
complaints but took no action against any employers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
workers to organize and bargain collectively, and some workers
exercised these rights; however, the practice of collective bargaining
was not widespread.
The law provides for the right to strike with some restrictions,
and workers exercised this right in practice.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Labor Code governs all labor issues, including child labor, and the
worst forms of child labor are criminal offenses carrying steep
penalties.
According to the law, the minimum age for employment of children is
age 16; however, in exceptional cases, children may work with parental
consent at ages 14 and 15. Children under age 18 may not engage in
unhealthy or underground work, and children between ages 16 and 17 are
subject to reduced working hours. The Ministry of Health, Social
Service, and Labor was responsible for enforcing laws regulating child
labor; however, the actual enforcement of these laws was questionable
due to a general lack of resources. Child labor was not considered a
serious problem.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage for
public employees was $4.50 (9 GEL) a month, which did not provide a
decent standard of living for a worker and family. There was no
mandated minimum wage for private sector workers, although the lowest
wage actually paid was $10 (20 GEL), which also did not provide a
decent standard of living. Average wages in private enterprises for
2003 was $65 (126 GEL) monthly; in state enterprises, $58 (113 GEL). In
general, salaries and pensions were insufficient to meet basic needs
for a worker and family. Unreported trade activities, assistance from
family and friends, and the sale of homegrown agricultural products
often supplemented salaries.
The old Soviet Labor Code, still in effect with some amendments,
provides for a 41-hour workweek and for a weekly 24-hour rest period.
The labor code permits higher wages for hazardous work and permits a
worker to refuse duties that could endanger life without risking loss
of employment; however, in practice, these protections were rarely, if
ever, enforced.
__________
GERMANY
Germany is a constitutional parliamentary democracy; citizens
periodically choose their representatives in free and fair multiparty
elections. A coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)
and Alliance 90/The Greens returned to office in 2002 elections. The
head of the Federal Government, the Chancellor, is elected by the
Bundestag, the directly elected chamber of the federal legislature. The
second chamber, the Bundesrat, represents the 16 states. The powers of
the Chancellor and of the Parliament are set forth in the Basic Law
(Constitution). The 16 states enjoy significant autonomy, particularly
regarding law enforcement and the courts, education, the environment,
and social assistance. The judiciary is independent.
Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security
forces. State governments have primary responsibility for law
enforcement, and the police are organized at the state level. Some
members of the security forces are alleged to have committed isolated
human rights abuses.
A well-developed industrial economy provides citizens with a high
standard of living. The population was approximately 82 million.
The Government generally respected the human rights of the
citizens; however, there continued to be instances of ill-treatment of
prisoners and detainees by police. Under a new law, the courts may
order that a person be detained indefinitely if convicted of
particularly serious crimes and has completed his sentence but is
judged, after expert testimony, to be a danger to the public. There
were some limits on freedom of assembly and association. There was some
government and societal discrimination against minority religious
groups. Instances of societal violence and harassment directed at
minority groups and foreign residents continued, and the Government at
times did not provide adequate protection. Women continued to face some
job discrimination in the private sector, as did minorities and
foreigners. Trafficking in persons, particularly women and girls, was a
problem, which the Government actively combated.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, there was one instance in which police may have been culpable
in the death of an individual in their custody.
In August, a 35-year-old man died after officers of the Special
Unit Commandos (SEK) arrested him in his home in Neukoelln, Berlin. The
officers are alleged to have held the man down with an iron shield and
handcuffed him. Shortly afterwards, the man complained about feeling
ill; an emergency physician was called, but the suspect died. The
Berlin public prosecutor was still investigating this matter at year's
end.
In July 2003, a court in Cologne found six police officers guilty
of the 2002 beating death of a man who had been arrested; sentences
ranged from 12 to 16 months in jail, and the officers appealed the
decision. In July, the Cologne Court of Justice rejected the appeal but
justified the comparatively lenient sentences by citing evidence by a
medical expert linking the death (2 weeks after the beating) to a pre-
existing medical condition. Nevertheless, since the sentences were 12
months or more, the police officers were dismissed from the police and
lost their status as civil servants.
On October 18, a Frankfurt state court convicted three officers of
the border police (BGS) charged with the 1999 death of a Sudanese
asylum seeker during a deportation flight. The court found the officers
guilty of inflicting ``bodily harm with fatal consequences.'' The men
were sentenced to 9 months of probation. Two of the three retained
their jobs and pensions, while the third lost his job under the terms
of his introductory 90-day trial period, as he had joined recently. The
court ruled the men had not received sufficient instruction from the
BGS on how to respond in crisis situations.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Basic Law prohibits such practices; however
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other observers asserted that
there continued to be instances in which police ill-treated and used
excessive force against individuals in their custody. The Government
investigated a number of abuses and prosecuted police who mistreated
persons in custody (see Section 1.d.).
In February, Stuttgart police allegedly beat a foreigner who had
been arrested for refusal to provide identification or accompany
officers to the station in connection with an identification check.
Stuttgart prosecutors conducted a full investigation and concluded that
there was no legal basis to pursue criminal charges against the
officers involved, determining that the individual was extremely
intoxicated and police action had occurred in the course of resisting
arrest.
In February 2003, an employee at the Cologne police headquarters
struck a detainee whom he alleged was verbally abusive. Authorities
reassigned the employee to another position and began an investigation,
which remained pending at year's end.
In April 2003, authorities charged three police officers in
Frankfurt am Main with assault for beating Andre Heech after arresting
him in February for failing to return from a prison work release
program. Heech, an amputee, alleged that one of the officers struck the
remaining part of his leg with a metal pipe, and that he was not
provided medical assistance. The case remained pending at year's end.
In November, police in Baden-Wuerttemberg initiated an
investigation of three police officers suspected of having mistreated a
suspect during a drug raid at a subway station in Stuttgart. According
to a Stuttgart city council member, two civilian policemen forced a
suspect to lie down on the floor of the subway station and a third
policeman kicked him. The city council member filed a legal complaint
against the police officers, and the Stuttgart prosecutor's office was
investigating the case at year's end.
Late in the year, military authorities began a criminal
investigation of a Bundeswehr army captain and 17 noncommissioned
officers stationed in Coesfeld, near Muenster, charged with abuse and
degrading treatment of draftees during training. Drill instructors
allegedly stripped, kicked, and used electric shock on the inductees.
All 18 Bundeswehr members were suspended from duty while the
investigation by the Muenster state prosecutor continued. If convicted
the defendants faced sentences of to up to 5 years in prison.
There were a number of violent attacks by rightwing groups on
minority groups and foreigners (see Section 5).
Prison conditions met international standards.
Men were held separately from women, juveniles were held separately
from adults, and pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
criminals.
The Government permits visits by independent human rights
observers, and such visits took place.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Basic Law prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The police forces are organized at the state level. The
jurisdiction of the Federal Criminal Office is limited to
counterterrorism and international organized crime, particularly
narcotics trafficking, weapons smuggling, and currency counterfeiting.
The Federal Criminal Police, as the country's central police agency,
coordinates crime suppression at the national and international level,
and investigates certain limited cases of international crime as
mandated by the law or the public prosecutor. Police forces in general
were trained to a high professional level, disciplined, and mindful of
citizens' rights. The Government investigated abuses and prosecuted
police who mistreated persons in custody (see Sections 1.a. and 1.c.).
Allegations of corruption were very rare.
An individual may be arrested only on the basis of a warrant issued
by a competent judicial authority, unless the suspect is caught in the
act of committing a crime or the police have strong reason to believe
that the individual intends to commit a crime. If there is evidence
that a suspect might flee the country, police may detain that person
for up to 24 hours pending a formal charge. An individual detained by
police must be brought before a judge and charged within 24 hours of
the arrest. The court then must issue an arrest warrant stating the
grounds for detention or order the individual's release.
Police at times detained known or suspected radicals for brief
periods when they believed such individuals intended to participate in
illegal or unauthorized demonstrations (see Section 2.b.). The rules
governing this type of detention are different in each state, with
authorized periods of detention ranging from 1 to 14 days, provided
judicial concurrence is given within 24 hours of initial detention.
There were no reports of such detention during the year.
Detainees have access to lawyers. Only judges may decide the
validity of any deprivation of liberty. Bail exists but was employed
infrequently; detainees usually were released unless there was clear
danger of flight outside the country. In these cases, a person may be
detained for the duration of the investigation and subsequent trial.
Such decisions are subject to regular judicial review, and time spent
in investigative custody applies toward the sentence. In cases of
acquittal, the Government must compensate the individual.
A law allowing a so-called ``retroactive preventive detention'' for
criminals went into force in July. Under the new law, criminals cannot
be punished twice for the same crime; however, in cases involving
certain serious crimes (rape, homicide, manslaughter, and others),
courts may order that detention be continued after the sentence has
been served (``preventive detention''). This requires a court finding
that the convicted person could pose a danger to the public, and
requires at least one expert opinion. The detention could last for an
indefinite period of time.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Basic Law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. Ordinary courts have jurisdiction in criminal
and civil matters. There are three levels of such courts (local courts,
regional courts, and the Federal Court of Justice), with appeals
possible from lower to higher levels. In addition to the ordinary
courts, there are four types of specialized courts: Administrative,
labor, social, and fiscal. These courts also have different levels, and
appeals may be made to the next higher level.
In addition, the Federal Constitutional Court, the country's
supreme court, reviews laws to ensure their compatibility with the
Basic Law and adjudicates disputes between different branches of
government on questions of competency. It may also hear and decide
cases concerning the infringement of a person's basic constitutional
rights by a public authority.
The judiciary provided citizens with a fair and efficient judicial
process, although court proceedings at times were delayed because of
increasing caseloads. For simple or less serious cases, procedures
exist for an accelerated hearing and summary punishment at the local
court level. The maximum sentence for such cases is limited to 1 year.
Generally, a 1-year sentence is suspended and the individual is placed
on probation.
Trials are public and juries are usually used; however, some cases
are heard by two lay judges and two to three professional judges. In
such cases, the lay judges have the same rights as the professional
judges. Defendants are required to be present and have the right to
consult with an attorney in a timely manner. An attorney is provided at
public expense if defendants demonstrate financial need. Defendants may
confront or question witnesses against them and present witnesses and
evidence on their behalf. In addition, defendants and their attorneys
have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. They
also enjoy a presumption of innocence and have a right of appeal.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Basic Law and statutory laws prohibit such
actions, and government authorities generally respected these
prohibitions in practice; however, the privacy of members of
organizations under observation by the federal and state Offices for
the Protection of the Constitution (OPCs) may have been infringed (see
Sections 2.b. and 2.c.).
The monitoring of private conversations requires the concurrence of
the courts and is permitted only where there is a suspicion of a
serious offense that could carry a prison sentence of more than 5
years. In March, the Federal Constitutional Court ordered that the law
on monitoring conversations in private homes be amended so that the
state security division of a regional court could no longer order
monitoring when the individuals under surveillance were speaking to
close relatives, doctors, priests or defense lawyers. The ruling will
require an amendment to the law, which had not taken place by year's
end.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Basic Law provides for freedom
of speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected this
right in practice; however, there were some limits on freedom of speech
and press. Academic freedom was not restricted.
Distribution of the propaganda of proscribed organizations is
illegal, as are statements inciting racial hatred, endorsing Nazism,
and denying the Holocaust. The authorities sought to block what they
considered dangerous material on the Internet. In March, police
nationwide raided over 300 apartments to search for and seize rightwing
extremist CDs and other banned music products. For example, there were
a growing number of neo-Nazi musical bands in Lower Saxony that called
for violence or employed xenophobic or racist lyrics. As in other
states, rightwing extremists planned the distribution of such CDs in
Lower Saxon schools. The government of Lower Saxony deterred rightwing
extremists from distributing these CDs by officially declaring it a
criminal offense. In 2003, members of the Berlin neo-Nazi band Landser
were convicted of forming a criminal organization and sentenced to
terms ranging from 3 years and 4 months in prison to 21 months'
probation.
In July, the Constitutional Court ruled that, in general, neo-Nazi
groups enjoy a constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of speech.
The highest court overturned a state court ban on a rally by rightwing
extremists protesting construction of a synagogue. The judges
specified, nonetheless, that anti-Semitic or racist statements remained
illegal.
Apart from these limitations, the independent media were active and
expressed a wide variety of views without government restriction.
The law bans access to prohibited material (for example, child
pornography and Nazi propaganda) on the Internet, and the Government
explored ways to expand international cooperation against Internet
crime. For example, between 2002 and 2004 the Duesseldorf District
Administration issued 90 ordinances against Internet providers in North
Rhine-Westphalia, forcing them to block access to certain websites with
rightwing extremist content. Appeals of these ordinances were making
their way through the courts at year's end.
A 2003 federal report estimated that there were more than 950
Internet sites with what the authors considered to be hate-inciting
propaganda. While the number of such Internet sites decreased slightly
due to government prosecution, the extremist groups used other methods
such as e-mail and chat rooms to deliver their message. The Federal
Court of Justice has held that the country's laws against Nazi
incitement may apply to individuals who post Nazi material on Internet
sites available to users in the country even if the site resides on a
foreign server.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respected this
right in practice; however, outlawed organizations were not permitted
to hold public assemblies. Permits must be obtained for open-air public
rallies and marches, and state and local officials have the authority
to deny such permits when public safety concerns arise or when outlawed
organizations attempt to hold public assemblies.
In March 2004, the Muenster Higher Regional Court confirmed a ban
by local authorities on two planned demonstrations by the German
National Democratic Party (NPD) against the construction of a synagogue
in Bochum, citing the party's anti-Semitic tendencies and the racially
inflammatory motto for the demonstration as reasons for the ban. The
NPD lodged a constitutional complaint against this decision with the
Federal Constitutional Court. In June, when local law enforcement
authorities banned another planned NPD demonstration against the
construction of the synagogue, the party went directly to the
Constitutional Court, which unanimously granted a temporary injunction
to have the ban lifted. The demonstration took place on June 28. The
case remained before the Federal Constitutional Court at year's end.
In August, in Wunsiedel, more than 2,000 neo-Nazis participated in
an annual march to honor Rudolf Hess. City officials had tried to ban
the march, but the Bavarian Administrative Court had ruled against a
ban. Several hundred individuals gathered also to oppose the march.
Authorities arrested 105 individuals for carrying guns and illegal
symbols such as swastikas.
On September 20, the Berlin Senate banned the holding of the
``First Arab and Islamic Congress in Europe'' scheduled to take place
on October 1-3 in Berlin. The conference organizer, in the media and on
his website, used anti-Semitic slogans and was quoted saying it was a
``sacred duty'' to resist ``US-British-Zionist'' ``terror'' and
``hegemony'' and calling for ``liberation of all occupied lands'' and
resistance ``against the aggression and occupation in Palestine and
Iraq.'' Mainstream Muslim organizations and German officials had
publicly expressed their concerns about the planned event, saying it
would violate German laws against violence incitement. On September 18,
conference organizer Fadi Madi was refused entry into Germany on those
grounds and was sent back to his residence in Lebanon.
The law provides for freedom of association, and the Government
generally respected this right in practice; however, the Basic Law and
the Association Law permit the banning of organizations whose
activities are found to be illegal or opposed to the constitutional
democratic order as established by the Basic Law. The Federal
Constitutional Court is the only body that can outlaw political parties
on these grounds. Federal or state governments may ban other
organizations on these grounds, but legal recourse against such
decisions is available. Such banned organizations included a number of
groups that authorities generally classified as rightwing or leftwing,
foreign extremist, or criminal in nature. Several hundred organizations
were under observation by the federal and state OPCs (see Section
1.f.). The OPCs were charged with examining possible threats to the
constitutional democratic system; they had no law enforcement powers.
Observation generally consisted of collecting information from written
materials and firsthand accounts in order to assess the possible
threat. While OPC monitoring by law may not interfere with the
continued activities of any organization, the OPCs publish a list of
organizations being monitored, which could affect those organizations'
activities (see Section 2.c.). At times, more intrusive methods, such
as the use of undercover agents, could be employed, subject to legal
checks.
In October 2003, more than 300 police officers raided homes and
meeting places of suspected neo-Nazi groups in Schleswig-Holstein and
Hamburg. Police found weapons and arrested several individuals
suspected of ``forming a politically motivated criminal organization.''
The suspects were associated with the international neo-Nazi group
Combat 18. Seven individuals were arrested. In April, the Kiel District
Court sentenced one of those arrested, a known rightwing extremist, to
3 years and 2 months in prison on 13 counts of illegal weapons trading.
Of the remaining six suspects, two received probation in firearms-
related proceedings, one remained in prison awaiting trial on charges
of illegal weapons trading, and three were released from pretrial
detention and were awaiting trial.
An Aachen-based Islamist group, the Al-Aqsa-Association, which was
banned by the federal Interior Minister in 2002 due to its financial
support of the terrorist organization Hamas, lodged an appeal against
the ban at the Federal Administrative Court in August 2002. In July,
the court decided to suspend the ban until the appeal was adjudicated.
On December 3, in a final decision, the Federal Administrative Court in
Leipzig confirmed the ban.
Nine members of the Kameradschaft Sued, a neo-Nazi gang from the
southern part of the country, were charged in an alleged 2003 plot to
bomb the site of a planned Jewish community center in downtown Munich.
The first of two trials, involving three teenage girls and two men,
began in October. The public was largely excluded in order to protect
the defendant minors. The trial of ringleader Martin Wiese and three
members of his inner leadership circle began in November.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Basic Law provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, some religious minorities continued to experience
instances of discrimination.
Church and State are separate, although the State bestows certain
advantages upon those religious communities that have the status of
``corporation under public law.'' This status entitles them, among
other things, to levy taxes on their members, which the Government
collects for them. The decision to grant public law corporation status
is made at the state level, but the requirements generally include a
minimal number of members and financial resources, evidence of
continuity of existence, and observance of, and consistency with, the
Basic Law.
Religious organizations are not required to register, although many
were registered and were treated as nonprofit associations and
therefore enjoyed tax-exempt status.
The Government does not recognize for public administration
purposes several belief systems, such as Scientology, as religions;
however, it does not prevent them from engaging in public and private
religious activities. The Church of Scientology, in particular, is
viewed, instead, as an economic enterprise. Moreover, federal and state
authorities have classified Scientology as a potential threat to
democratic order, measures which have led to employment and commercial
discrimination against Scientologists in both the public and private
sectors. Within the federal system, the states showed large differences
with respect to their treatment of Scientology. Most states did not
monitor Scientology, but Bavaria, which had unsuccessfully sought
support among other states for a federal ban, continued to do so. The
state of Baden-Wuerttemberg also continued to monitor Scientology,
which it labeled a dangerous sect. In November, the Cologne
Administrative Court ruled that the observation of Scientology by the
Federal OPC, including the use of undercover methods, was legal. The
court found that there were ``factual indications'' that Scientology
sought to undermine the ``free and democratic basic order'' of the FRG.
The court rejected a petition by Scientology to end its observation by
the OPC, which has been ongoing since 1997. Scientologists announced
plans to appeal.
Scientologists encountered other forms of hostility and suspicion
from official sources. According to Scientologists, when the Ministry
of Trade and Commerce of Baden-Wuerttemberg learned in October that the
winner of the ``Baden-Wuerttemberg Support Prize for Young Companies''
had been awarded to a Scientologist, the Ministry withdrew the prize of
approximately $20,250 (15,000 Euro). In another instance, a
Scientologist claimed that his license to be an expert witness for
cases involving real estate claims, granted by the Berlin Chamber of
Industry and Commerce, would not be renewed because of his affiliation
with the Church of Scientology. The Chamber claimed not only that
Scientologists should not be active on the real estate market but also
that many judges would not accept testimony from a witness affiliated
with Scientology.
Employment offices throughout the country continued to implement a
1996 administrative order of the Ministry of Economics and Labor
directing them to enter an ``S'' notation next to the names of firms
suspected of employing Scientologists, a notation that was subsequently
made optional. Employment counselors are supposed to warn their clients
that they might encounter Scientologists in these workplaces.
Scientologists claimed that the ``S'' notations violate their right to
privacy and interfere with their livelihood. Private sector firms have
frequently screened for Scientology affiliations, citing OPC
observation of Scientology as a justification for discrimination.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the Federal
Property Office barred the sale of real estate to Scientologists.
Outside the government sector, the Lutheran Church employed ``sect
commissioners'' to warn the public about supposed dangers posed by
Scientology, as well as by the Unification Church, Bhagwan-Osho, and
Transcendental Meditation. The Lutheran Church also characterizes the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Jehovah's
Witnesses, the Church of Christ, Christian Scientists, the New
Apostolic Church, and the Johannish Church as ``sects,'' but in less
negative terms than it does Scientology.
The Unification Church sought legal remedies against the
Government's entry ban on the founder of the Unification Church,
Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and his wife, Hak Ja Har Moon. Federal courts
ruled that the ban did not infringe upon church members' freedom to
practice their religion. An appeal against the ban was pending at
year's end. In December, the Berlin Administrative Court offered the
Jehovah's Witnesses conditional Public Corporate status. The
conditions, if accepted, are as follows: Jehovah's Witnesses would not
collect the Church tax, they would not take part in religious lessons
in schools, and they would not be appointed to church civil servant
status. At year's end, the Witnesses had not responded to this
proposal.
In April, following legal maneuvering and debate in 2002 and 2003,
Baden-Wuerttemberg became the first state to enact a law banning the
wearing of headscarves by teachers in public schools. Saarland, Hessen,
and Bavaria soon followed. In June, the Federal Administrative Court in
Leipzig upheld the law and the state's decision to deny a teaching
position to plaintiff Fereshta Ludin. In March, Baden-Wuerttemberg
authorities suspended teacher Gabriele Graber for refusing to remove
her headscarf; the suspension remained pending a decision on Graber's
case by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. Other cases were
also pending in the court system at year's end. An amended school law
that entered into force in Lower Saxony in May also prohibited Muslim
teachers from wearing headscarves while on duty in public schools. On
October 8, the Hessen state parliament passed a law barring headscarf
use by all public officials. In contrast, Hamburg permitted teachers to
wear headscarves.
In October, a court in Leipzig ruled that Christian nuns teaching
in public schools, a common practice, must also conform to a Baden-
Wuerttemberg law that prohibited the wearing of religious paraphernalia
in schools. When Bavaria banned headscarves and other religious symbols
deemed contrary to constitutional order in November, it did not ban the
wearing of crucifixes or nuns' habits, claiming that they were
professional uniforms.
While traditional anti-Semitism based on religious doctrines and
traditional anti-Jewish prejudices continued to exist, Jewish leaders,
academics, and others contended that a newer, nontraditional, form of
anti-Semitism was emerging. This form tended to promote anti-Semitism
as part of hostility to globalization, capitalism, Israel, and
foreigners.
According to the 2003 report by Office for the Protection of the
Constitution, the total number of registered Anti-Semitic crimes went
down to 1,199 (from 1,515 in 2002). However, among these, the number of
violent crimes increased from 28 to 35, and the number of desecrations
of Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and memorials increased from 78 to
115. On July 31, a rightwing extremist attempted to put an NPD leaflet
in the hand of a young man wearing a Star of David sticker who was
walking on a street in Berlin. When the young man dropped the leaflet
on the sidewalk, the extremist attempted to strangle him and throw him
on the ground, causing minor injuries. The authorities apprehended and
charged the offender.
In August, according to the Zionist Organization of Frankfurt, four
men in downtown Frankfurt harassed an English-speaking Orthodox Jew,
shouting, ``they forgot to send your parents to the gas chamber'' and
jostled the individual until he fell to the ground. The men fled the
scene immediately.
The desecration of Jewish cemeteries continued to be the most
widespread acts of anti-Semitic violence. In January, vandals knocked
over a number of headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Nickenich. They
smeared four other headstones with black paint and partially dug up one
of the graves in the cemetery. Police officials offered a reward of
approximately $3,375 (2,500 Euro) for information on the incident. In
April, vandals scrawled swastikas and Nazi epithets on five headstones
at a Jewish cemetery in Bausendorf. In June, vandals knocked over two
headstones and scratched swastikas into seven others at a Jewish
cemetery in Alsbach-Haehnlein; police were investigating the incident.
Also in June, 45 gravestones in an ancient Jewish cemetery in
Duesseldorf were covered with swastikas, SS-signs and anti-Jewish
slogans. Another Jewish cemetery in Bochum was vandalized in August.
Police investigators were unable to identify the perpetrators. In
October, police announced that the Jewish cemetery in Julich had been
desecrated; swastikas and other anti-Semitic symbols had been daubed on
the gravestones.
On September 23, 350 persons demonstrated in the district of
Neunkirchen (Saarland) against the desecration of the Hermanstrasse
Jewish cemetery earlier in the month. According to police, the
desecration nearly destroyed the cemetery. Vandals have desecrated the
Hermanstrasse graves on 10 occasions since 1971, including twice during
the year. The incident took place after significant electoral gains by
the far-right party NPD in Neunkirchen (5.6 percent) and neighboring
Voelklingen (9.7 percent) in Saarland's September 5 state elections.
On December 8, it was discovered that billboards advertising the
campaign against forgetting the Holocaust in the Steglitz section of
Berlin had been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti and slogans in
support of a neo-Nazi organization.
Frankfurt's Jewish community harshly criticized anti-Semitism on
the part of some Islamic representatives at the Frankfurt Book Fair,
held in October. Jewish representatives cited open displays of anti-
Semitic texts, such as the book ``Terror and Zionist Thinking''
(featuring a cover illustration of an individual standing in a pool of
blood with a skull with a Star of David).
All branches of Islam were represented in the country, and a large
majority of Muslims came from abroad. There remained areas where the
law conflicted with Islamic practices or raised religious freedom
issues, notably the wearing of headscarves. The integration of Muslims
into German society continued to be a source of controversy, which
intensified following violent incidents between Muslims and non-Muslims
in neighboring Holland.
Police reported that in November a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a
mosque near Heidelberg, causing an estimated $13,500 (10,000 Euro)
worth of damage. In December, a 17-year-old German citizen born in
Tajikistan was arrested for the arson attack. Also in November, 25,000
Muslims took part in a massive protest in Cologne against terrorism and
militancy and emphasizing their rejection of violence.
Reports of opposition to the construction of mosques in various
communities around the country continued. The complainants generally
cited increased traffic and noise. A debate continued over whether
Muslims would be permitted to use loudspeakers in residential
neighborhoods to call the faithful to prayer.
Authorities ran a variety of tolerance-education programs, many
focusing on anti-Semitism and xenophobia. Government agencies
cooperated with NGOs in the formulation and administration of these
programs. With the active participation of the Muslim community,
authorities in Hamburg began work on establishing interreligious
education at public schools, labeled the ``Hamburg Model.''
In April, the Government hosted a conference on anti-Semitism
sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE). The
OSCE conference led to the ``Berlin Declaration,'' which called on the
55 nations that attended to implement a set of concrete measures to
combat anti-Semitism and foster tolerance and respect for all religious
groups.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration and Repatriation.--The Basic Law provides for these rights,
and the Government generally respected them in practice. For ethnic
Germans from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the Basic Law
provides both for citizenship immediately upon application and for
legal residence without restrictions.
The law specifies that foreign residents must reside in the country
for 8 years in order to become naturalized citizens. It grants
citizenship to children born to foreign residents as of January 1,
2000, provided that one parent has lived legally in the country for at
least 8 years. Children may retain both German citizenship and that of
their parents until they reach the age of 18, at which time they must
chose the citizenship of one country or the other. If they fail to make
this choice by the time they have reached age 23, they will lose their
German citizenship. If they give up their foreign citizenship, they
must provide evidence of having done so.
The Basic Law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The country is a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Basic Law and
legislation reflect this. The Government provided protection against
refoulement (the involuntary return of persons to a country where they
feared persecution) and provided refugee status or asylum. Both the
Federal Government and state governments cooperated with the office of
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees, although immigration matters were
primarily a state-level responsibility.
In July, the Bundestag and Bundesrat passed a new immigration law
providing for stricter security and antiterrorism measures, such as
background checks and for easier deportation of suspected terrorists
and persons inciting hatred. The bill also established greater
protection for refugees by including persecution based on gender and
persecution by non-state actors as grounds for granting asylum. It
facilitated work and residence permits for highly qualified foreigners,
foreign students, and investors. The law was scheduled to take effect
on January 1, 2005.
The Government continued to observe a European Union (EU)
regulation providing that individuals who attempt to enter the country
via a ``safe country of transit'' (a member state of the EU or a
country adhering to the Geneva Convention on Refugees) were ineligible
for asylum and could be turned back at the border or, if they had
managed to enter the country, returned to that ``safe country of
transit.'' Individuals whose applications for asylum were rejected had
up to 2 weeks to appeal the decision. Individuals who arrived at an
international airport and who were deemed to have come from a ``safe
country of origin'' could be detained at an airport holding facility.
In these cases, the Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign
Refugees was required to make a decision on an asylum application
within 48 hours or allow the person to enter the country. The applicant
could appeal a negative decision to an administrative court within 3
days, and the court was required to rule within 14 days or allow the
individual to enter the country. Although stays in the airport facility
were limited to a maximum of 19 days, applicants whose claims were
rejected, but who could not be deported immediately, allegedly were
held at the airport for months, a practice criticized by some refugee
assistance groups and human rights advocates.
The number of asylum applicants during the year decreased to 35,607
from 50,563 in 2003, a decline of 29.6 percent. According to the
Interior Ministry, 1.5 percent of the processed applicants received
asylum. The majority of asylum seekers came from Turkey, Serbia and
Montenegro, and Russia. Applicants who entered the country and were
denied asylum at their original administrative hearings could challenge
the decision in court, and 80 percent of applicants denied asylum did
so. Only 3 to 4 percent of such denials were overturned. The rejected
applicants were allowed to remain in the country during the course of
the appeal, which usually took at least a year and sometimes
significantly longer. Applicants received housing and other social
service benefits during this time. Refugees from civil wars in the
former Yugoslavia have been allowed to work after a 1-year waiting
period. Individuals who failed to cooperate during the deportation
process or who were deemed likely to flee to avoid deportation could be
held in pre-eportation detention, with the average detention period
lasting 5 to 6 weeks.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967
Protocol. Almost 2 percent of the processed applicants whose asylum
applications were rejected, but who would be endangered if they were
returned to their home country, received temporary residence permits;
however, they were expected to leave when conditions in their home
country allowed for their safe return.
In several cases, observers accused local authorities in Hesse of
deporting foreigners in contravention of humanitarian practice. Usingen
authorities deported the parents of two teenage children who remained
in the country. In a separate incident, Usingen police deported three
teenagers to Turkey, leaving the rest of the family behind. In
February, Border Control officers deported a Tunisian woman (under
treatment at a Frankfurt mental clinic) after rejecting her political
asylum claim; medical authorities and human rights groups protested
that the woman was not well enough to undergo deportation.
Trier prosecutors stated on August 6 that they were unable to
verify independently charges made by four Chinese individuals of abuse
and intimidation at the hands of Chinese authorities in 2003. The four
plaintiffs petitioned to reopen the case.
Metin Kaplan, former head of the ``Caliphate State,'' a Turkish
Islamist group, was extradited to Turkey in October to face terrorism-
related charges after serving a 4-year sentence for calling for the
killing of an opponent. Kaplan's extradition was delayed because of
uncertainty that a fair trial could take place in Turkey. However, on
May 26, the High Administrative Court in Muenster, recognizing changes
in Turkish laws, especially the abolition of the death penalty, and
assurances that Kaplan would get a fair trial, approved his
deportation.
The Government estimated that approximately 59,000 technically
deportable Kosovar refugees remained in the country. Of that total,
21,000 were ethnic Kosovo Albanians, and 38,000 were members of ethnic
minorities: Serbs, Roma, Bosniaks (Muslim Slavs), Askalii/Egyptians,
and Gorani. The Government agreed with the U.N. Interim Mission in
Kosovo (UNMIK) to stop all involuntary returns of Roma, Askakali and
Serbs while continuing the repatriation of Bosniaks and Gorani.
After the 2002 terrorist incident in a Moscow theater in Russia,
the federal Interior Ministry recommended to its state-level
counterparts that deportations of Chechens be halted temporarily and
that previously refused asylum cases of Chechens remaining in the
country be re-evaluated. However, according to Amnesty International
(AI), many asylum applications by Chechens were refused during the
year. In February, over 100 refugees from Chechnya demonstrated in
Bielefeld against deportation; in April, more than 60 refugees
demonstrated in Hamburg against their pending deportation.
Several states attempted to speed up repatriation of uncooperative
rejected asylum seekers by opening communal accommodations where
foreigners were housed while authorities obtained valid information
regarding their identity and citizenship. Some refugee rights and
church organizations criticized these centers as inhumane, claiming
that the Spartan amenities and the relative lack of freedom of movement
constituted psychological pressure on the residents. Authorities
countered that the centers' emphasis on counseling and job skill
development promoted the residents' willingness to depart voluntarily
and enhanced their chances of success in their home countries.
According to mid-year statistics, 16,151 Afghans and 12,922 Iraqis
were technically deportable; however, authorities extended a moratorium
on deportations of Afghan refugees was extended pending the
recommendations of a group of experts established in mid-year, and the
Interior Minister decided in July that conditions would not permit the
forced deportation of Iraqi nationals to Iraq.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Basic Law provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections. Members of the Bundestag
are elected every 4 years from a mixture of direct-constituency and
party-list candidates on the basis of universal suffrage and secret
balloting. The Bundesrat is composed of delegations from state
governments; there are no direct Bundesrat elections.
In the Bundestag that was last elected in 2002, there were two
major parties, the SPD and the Christian Democratic Union/Christian
Social Union (CDU/CSU), and three smaller parties, the Free Democrats
(FDP), Buendnis 90/the Greens and the Party of Democratic Socialism
(PDS), which only holds two seats. The Federal Constitutional Court may
outlaw political parties that actively work to undermine the liberal
democratic order (see Section 2.b.).
Press allegations of malfeasance by some well-known
parliamentarians gave rise to a public debate about the impact of
secondary jobs and income on politicians' conduct in office. This
debate did not appear to damage the public's trust in the integrity of
the Parliament.
While there was no federal law establishing public access to
government information, four states--Berlin, Brandenburg, Schleswig-
Holstein, and North Rhine-Westphalia--have freedom of information laws.
In these states, denial of access to information was usually
attributable to concern for the protection of business confidentiality
and a narrow interpretation of the law. Fees for obtaining information
were not a significant impediment. All four states with such laws
provide for an appeals process.
The Ministry of the Interior issued a directive in July to promote
further training and other measures intended to deter corruption.
By law, women are entitled to participate fully in political life,
and a growing number were prominent in the Government and the parties.
On the Federal Constitutional Court, 4 of the 16 judges were women. Two
of the parties represented in the Bundestag were headed by women, and
the share of women in the Bundestag increased from 30.9 percent to 32.8
percent. Six members of the 14-member cabinet were women.
Few minorities were represented in the Government. There were two
Bundestag deputies of Turkish origin, one of partially Indian origin,
and one of the indigenous Sorb minority. On June 13, two candidates of
Turkish ancestry were elected to the European Parliament.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of international and domestic human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were very cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits the denial of access to housing, health care, or
education on the basis of race, disability, sex, ethnic background,
political opinion, or citizenship, and the Government generally
enforced these provisions in practice.
The Government had not implemented a 2000 EU Directive establishing
a general framework (antidiscrimination act) for equal treatment in
employment and occupation. The framework seeks to combat discrimination
on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual
orientation.
Women.--The law prohibits violence against women, and the
Government has established a number of legal and social structures to
combat it. Nevertheless, violence against women was a problem and was
thought to be underreported; there were no nationwide statistics, but
in 2003, the Federal Ministry of Family, Seniors, Women and Youth
estimated that there were approximately 45,000 cases per year of
domestic violence against women. In 2003, according to police criminal
statistics, 8,766 cases of rape and serious sexual coercion were
registered. Societal attitudes toward such violence are strongly
negative, and legal and medical recourse were available. During the
year, the Government conducted campaigns in schools and through church
groups to bring public attention to the existence of such violence and
supported numerous projects to combat the problem. There were 324
``women's houses,'' where victims of violence and their children could
seek shelter, counseling, and legal and police protection. The law
provides for removing a violent husband or male domestic partner from a
shared dwelling.
Prostitution is legal. Lawmakers have approved new rules affording
prostitutes more benefits, such as the chance to enter the social
security system and to use the courts to obtain payment for their
services.
Sexual harassment of women was a recognized problem. The press
reported on sexual harassment in the workplace and in public
facilities. Unions, churches, government agencies, and NGOs ran a
variety of support programs for women who experienced sexual harassment
and sponsored seminars and training to prevent it.
The law provides for equal pay for equal work; women usually were
not discriminated against in terms of equal pay for equal work,
although they were underrepresented in well-paid managerial positions
and represented disproportionately in some lower-wage occupations;
their average monthly incomes were lower than those of men.
Children.--The Government maintained its strong commitment to
children's rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of public
education and medical care. Public education was provided free of
charge through the university level, and education was compulsory
through the age of 16; almost all children attended school.
Child abuse was a problem. No statistics were available, but
children's advocates from NGOs as well as some politicians considered
it a problem, and individual cases received attention in the media.
Statistics on victims of violent crimes indicate that in 2003,
approximately 95 children were victims of murder or homicide.
The Criminal Code provides for the protection of children against
pornography and sexual abuse. For possession of child pornography, the
maximum sentence is 1 year in prison; the sentence for distribution is
5 years. The law makes the sexual abuse of children by citizens abroad
punishable even if the action is not illegal in the child's own
country. In 2003, 15,430 cases of sexual abuse of children were
recorded, a decrease of 3.6 percent compared to 2002. In 2003, there
were 169 cases of serious sexual abuse of children for the purpose of
producing and publishing pornographic material. The number of cases of
possession or distribution of child pornography increased from 2,002 in
2002 to 2,868 in 2003 according to an analysis of the issue conducted
by the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation; however, the police
reported that the increased number of cases reflected a higher number
of complaints filed due to better information and increasing awareness
of the problem within the population rather than an actual increase in
abuse.
A German UNICEF report issued in October 2003 characterized a
region in the Czech Republic close to the German border as a ``haven
for pedophilia.'' For several years, a liaison group between the two
countries has worked to increase the exchange of information and fight
pedophilia, but reports indicated that the problems persisted.
Trafficking in girls was a serious problem, which the Government
and NGOs combated (see Section 5, Trafficking.)
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons, primarily women and girls for sexual
exploitation, was a problem, which the Government recognized and
actively combated.
The criminal law specifically prohibits trafficking in persons and
makes e offense punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. In
December, parliament passed a bill to implement the European Union (EU)
Council Framework Decision on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and
the U.N. Protocol. It extends the definition of trafficking to include
trafficking for both sex and labor purposes.
The country was both a destination and transit country for
trafficked persons. As in previous years, most trafficking victims were
women and girls between the ages of 16 and 25 who were forced to work
as prostitutes. The Federal Criminal Office (BKA) reported in their
annual report on trafficking in persons that the numbers of known and
registered victims in 2003 was 1,235, and the percentage of registered
victims under age 18 continued to be in the 5 percent range. Of the
registered victims, 80 percent came from Eastern Europe and the
countries of the former Soviet Union, primarily Russia, Poland,
Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, and the Czech
Republic. Non-European victims came mostly from Africa and Asia.
Traffickers used a range of intimidation techniques to ensure the
compliance of victims, including threats to ``sell'' the victim,
threats of deportation, misrepresentation of victims' legal rights and
status, physical violence, and withholding travel and identification
documents. The Government was active in combating trafficking in
persons at the federal and state levels. There were no reports of
government officials involved in human trafficking.
Trafficking crimes are prosecuted at the state level. According to
a report covering 2003, the number of sex trafficking investigations in
that year was 431, an increase of 20 percent compared to 2002. The
number of trafficking victims increased by 37 percent.
In 2003, in North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of cases of
trafficking in persons uncovered by state police authorities increased
by almost 20 percent, reaching a record high with 118 new criminal
investigations for such crimes. A total of 294 perpetrators were
identified, more than two-thirds of them from foreign countries. Almost
75 percent of the 241 victims were from Eastern Europe, and 23 were
younger than 18, including 3 who were 14 years of age. In Berlin, there
were 17 convictions for trafficking in 2003, according to press
reports.
In Bavaria, Bavarian and Czech law enforcement officials continued
to cooperate closely to combat trafficking at the German-Czech border
(see Section 5, Children).
In May 2004, the Berlin District Court convicted the head of a
major ``call-girl'' ring to 4 years' imprisonment for alien smuggling.
The ring organized prostitution using women from Eastern Europe. Two
accomplices were also convicted; one was sentenced to 3 years in
prison, and the other was fined. In September 2003, in Frankfurt, two
Germans were convicted of forcing 18 women from the former Soviet Union
to work as prostitutes, but were released on probation. Six Eastern
Europeans were also charged in this case and convicted on charges
ranging from trafficking to aiding in procurement.
Federal ministries worked to coordinate antitrafficking efforts on
the international, national, and state levels. Several states have
established interagency countertrafficking working groups. The federal
and state governments worked actively with NGOs and local women's
shelters to identify and assist victims, and together they fund more
than 30 counseling centers for victims of trafficking run by NGOs. NGOs
continued to criticize uneven and limited funding by the states.
When illegal aliens are identified as trafficking victims, police
are required to notify a counseling center and to inform the victims of
their rights and options for seeking assistance. The centers provide
shelter, counseling, interpreting services, and legal assistance.
Victims who agree to serve as witnesses in trafficking cases have the
right to join the criminal trial against the trafficker as co-
plaintiffs, a status that entitles them to an attorney and financial
assistance to cover legal expenses. As co-plaintiffs, victims are
entitled to participate actively in the criminal trial and to extend
the criminal trial to a civil compensation proceeding. Victims who are
illegal residents receive basic health care for physical illness or
pain in accordance with the Benefit Rules for Asylum Seekers. The right
to remain in the country is granted in cases of marriage to a national,
political asylum, or evidence that deportation would endanger the
victim's life. Of the 1,108 registered non-German victims in 2003, 35.8
percent were expelled or deported, 17.3 percent returned to their home
countries of their own free will, and 23.9 percent were granted a
temporary stay or remained under police protection (data was not
available in 23 percent of the cases).
The Government covers the basic cost of repatriation of trafficking
victims under the Reintegration and Emigration Program for Asylum-
Seekers in Germany (REAG). The International Organization for Migration
administers REAG and has offices in several of the major return
countries where the organization facilitates assistance to returning
victims.
The Government actively sought to educate potential trafficking
victims before they entered the country. Embassies and consulates as
well as NGOs distributed brochures that provided information on
residency and work permit requirements as well as warnings about
trafficking. The Government established a new program in 2003 to fund
projects abroad to combat trafficking in women, including information
campaigns and awareness training seminars with police officials from
source countries.
Persons With Disabilities.--The Basic Law and a 2002 law on persons
with disabilities specifically prohibit discrimination against persons
with disabilities, and there were no reports of discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. State-owned health
insurance companies, which cover most citizens, must accept any
applicant, but private insurance companies may select their clientele.
The law mandates several special services for persons with
disabilities; they are entitled to assistance to avert, eliminate, or
alleviate the consequences of their disabilities and to secure
employment commensurate with their abilities. The Government offered
vocational training and grants for employers who hired persons with
disabilities. In addition, various federal and state programs were
initiated to promote employment or vocational training of persons with
disabilities through financial assistance or subsidies. Persons with
severe disabilities could be granted special benefits, such as tax
relief, free public transport, special parking facilities, and
exemption from radio and television fees.
The Government set guidelines for the attainment of barrier-free
public buildings and for modifications of streets and pedestrian
traffic walks to accommodate persons with disabilities. All 16 states
incorporated the federal guidelines into their building codes, and 98
percent of federal public buildings followed the guidelines for a
``barrier-free environment.'' Building regulations for private property
are decided on a state-by-state basis. There were no reports of
societal discrimination against persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Federal Criminal Police
uses a crime definition system for ``politically motivated crimes''
(PMCs). PMCs are crimes that involve motives related to the victims'
ideology, nationality, ethnicity, race, skin color, religion, world-
view, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability status, appearance, or
social status. PMCs are categorized and reported by the Federal OPC in
its annual report, according to perpetrator (rightwing extremist,
leftwing extremist, foreign extremist) and crime type (propaganda,
racist literature or hate speech; property destruction, desecration of
Jewish graves; and assaults on persons). In 2003, 10,792 rightwing PMCs
were recorded (10,902 in 2002), including 7,551 propaganda crimes
(7,294 in 2002), 2,138 ``incitement of racial hatred'' crimes (2,513 in
2002), 225 property crimes (178 in 2002), 93 criminal threats (115 in
2002), and 26 grave desecrations (30 in 2002). In 2003, 759 of the
rightwing extremist PMCs were violent (772 in 2002); the majority of
these (430, 56.7 percent; down from 440 in 2002) were perpetrated
against foreigners; 35 (4.6 percent) were anti-Semitic (up from 28 in
2002), and 211 (27 percent) were against political opponents (up from
207 in 2002).
Harassment of foreigners and racial minorities, including beatings,
remained common throughout the country. Media as well as official
reports indicated that several such incidents occurred each week. For
example, in July, in Hanover, five men from Turkey and Africa were
harassed with racial slurs, struck with an iron bar and chased through
the streets. In April, three rightwing extremists beat the owner of a
Vietnamese snack stand in Koepenick, Berlin, with a long piece of
lumber. The victim was hospitalized. The offenders were sentenced in
August: A 16-year-old to 2 years probationary youth custody, a 17-year-
old to 90 days of social work, and a 21-year-old to 2 years of youth
custody and 90 hours of social work.
In May, a 20-year-old foreigner who applied for an apprenticeship
as a technician for the city of Kaiserslautern allegedly received a
racist response from the city administration's human resources
department. Upon opening the returned resume, the man found the comment
``No Niggers'' on top, using swastikas instead of ``g's'' and with both
his photo and the word ``German'' in the line nationality crossed out.
The man's mother referred the letter to the criminal police, which was
still investigating the case at year's end.
The 2003 Federal OPC Report listed 169 rightwing extremist
organizations and groups. The total of rightwing extremists was
estimated to be 41,500 persons. The authorities estimated that there
was a potential of 10,000 violent rightwing extremist sympathizers
(mostly skinheads).
Federal and state governments indicated that they remained firmly
committed to combating and preventing rightwing violence.
The Government protected and fostered the languages and cultures of
national and ethnic minorities traditional to the country (for example,
Sorbs, Danes, Roma, Sinti, and Frisians). Although the Government has
recognized the Sinti and Roma as an official ``national minority''
since 1995, critics contended that the Sinti/Romani minority was the
only official national minority that did not have unique legal
protection, political privileges, or reserved representation in certain
public institutions. The federal and state interior ministries
indicated that they had been unable to fulfill their international
commitments in the case of the Romani language because it was not
written, the Romani themselves wished to keep the language restricted
to Romani society, and because the Roma and Sinti are widely but thinly
distributed around the country in a way that made Romani-language
schools impractical. Resident foreigners and minority groups continued
to voice credible concerns about societal and job-related
discrimination.
Unemployment affected foreigners disproportionately, although at
times this was due in part to inadequate language skills or
nontransferable professional certifications of the job seekers (see
Section 6.e.). The Federal Government and all states established
permanent commissions to assist foreigners in their dealings with
government and society.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Basic Law provides for the right
of employees to associate freely, choose representatives, determine
programs and policies in their interests, and publicize their views;
and workers exercised these rights. The great majority of unionized
workers (approximately 23 percent of the labor force) were organized in
eight unions largely grouped by industry or service sector. These
unions are affiliates of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), which
represents approximately 80 percent of organized workers. Other unions
do exist, but represented small numbers of workers.
The law effectively protects workers against antiunion
discrimination. Complainants file their cases directly with the labor
courts, which are the courts of first instance. Specialized labor court
judges render decisions in these cases.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The labor laws
permit unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government generally protected this right in practice. The Basic Law
protects the unions' right to strike, with some exceptions, and they
were free to exercise this right; however, bargaining mechanisms
minimized the number of work stoppages (in 2003, approximately 1 day of
work was lost per 1,000 workers).
Collective bargaining was widespread due to a well-developed system
of contract negotiations with no governmental role; mediation was used
infrequently. Basic wages and working conditions were negotiated at the
industry level, but exceptions negotiated at the company level were
fairly common during the year. In addition, some employers in the
eastern part of the country refused to join employer associations, or
withdrew from them, and then bargained independently with workers. Some
firms in the West withdrew at least part of their work force from the
jurisdiction of employer associations, complaining of rigidities in the
industry-wide, multi-company, negotiating system. However, they did not
refuse to bargain as individual enterprises.
The Works Constitution Act regulates the right of works councils,
which represent the interests of workers in relation to their
employers. A works council may be elected in any private company
employing at least five individuals. The rights of the works council
include the right to be informed, consulted, and to participate in
company decisions. Members of works councils do not have to be union
representatives. Works councils often helped labor and management to
settle problems before they become disruptive. ``Codetermination'' laws
give workers in medium-sized or large companies significant voting
representation on the companies' supervisory boards. This
codetermination in the supervisory board extends to all company
activities.
Civil servants and personnel in sensitive or essential positions,
such as members of the armed forces, do not have the right to strike.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) continued to seek
clarifications from the Government on policies and laws governing the
labor rights of civil servants and continued to remind the Government
that this restriction is not in line with ILO Convention 87 (on freedom
of association), and has asked it to change its legislation
accordingly. Similarly, teachers in the public service continue to be
denied the right to strike. Collective bargaining agreements reached
for public service workers who do have this right are usually extended
by legislation to those who do not, although such extensions do not
always include all of the provisions of those agreements. Workers not
allowed to strike also have legal recourse through the courts to
protect their rights.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Basic Law and
the federal statutes prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by
children; however, there were reports that such practices occurred (see
Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15, with a
few exceptions: Those 13 or 14 years of age may do farm work for up to
3 hours per day or may deliver newspapers for up to 2 hours per day;
and those 3 to 14 years of age may take part in cultural performances,
albeit under stringent curbs on the kinds of activity, number of hours,
and time of day. The Federal Economics and Labor Ministry effectively
enforced the law through its Factory Inspection Bureau.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no legislated or
administratively determined minimum wage. Collective bargaining
agreements set minimum pay rates and were enforceable by law for an
estimated 80 to 90 percent of all wage and salary earners. The
remaining 10 to 20 percent of workers were covered by either individual
contracts or company-level contracts. The wages established by these
processes provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
Federal law limits the workweek to a maximum of 48 hours.
Collective bargaining agreements, which covered 80 percent of the
working population directly or indirectly, may provide for longer hours
but must average no more than 48 hours per week over time. Provisions
for overtime, holiday, and weekend pay varied depending upon the
applicable collective bargaining agreement.
Federal regulations limit the workweek to a maximum of 48 hours,
but collective bargaining agreements permit greater flexibility,
provided that the 48-hour average is not exceeded over time. Agreements
regulating the number of hours of work per week covered 80 percent of
the working population directly or indirectly; the number of hours of
work per week was regulated by contracts that directly or indirectly
affected 80 percent of the working population. In 2002, the average
workweek for industrial workers was 39.6 hours nationwide, according to
2002 data from the Organization for Economic and Cooperation in Europe.
Provisions for overtime, holiday, and weekend pay varied depending upon
the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
An extensive set of laws and regulations on occupational safety and
health was enforced by the Economics and Labor Ministry and its
counterparts in the states. A comprehensive system of worker insurance
carriers enforces safety requirements in the workplace. At the local
level, professional and trade associations, which are self-governing
public corporations with delegates both from the employers and from the
unions, oversaw worker safety. The law provides for the right to refuse
to perform dangerous or unhealthy work without jeopardy to continued
employment.
Foreign workers legally in the country were protected by law and
generally worked in conditions equal to that of citizens; however, such
workers faced some wage discrimination. For example, foreign teachers
in some schools were paid less than their German counterparts. In
addition, seasonal workers from Eastern Europe who came to the country
on temporary work permits often received wages below those of citizens.
Workers from other EU countries at times were employed at the same
wages they would receive in their home country, even if the
corresponding German worker would receive a higher wage. Foreigners who
were employed illegally, particularly in the construction industry in
Berlin, were likely to receive substandard wages.
__________
GREECE
Greece is a constitutional republic and multiparty parliamentary
democracy. On March 7, the New Democracy party won the majority of
seats in the unicameral Vouli (parliament) in free and fair elections.
Its leader, Constantinos Karamanlis, has been Prime Minister since
March. The judiciary is independent.
The national police and security services are responsible for
internal security and are under the Ministry of Public Order. Civilian
authorities maintained effective control of all security forces. Some
members of the police and security forces committed human rights
abuses.
The country has a market economy with a large public sector and a
population of approximately 11 million. For the year, economic growth
was estimated at 4 percent and inflation at 3.5 percent. Wages
generally kept pace with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Security forces
sometimes abused persons, particularly illegal immigrants and Roma.
There were reports of police torture of illegal immigrants.
Overcrowding and harsh conditions continued in some prisons. Police
sweeps resulted in the detention of undocumented immigrants, frequently
under squalid conditions. There were legal limits on the freedom of
association of ethnic minorities. Some leaders of minority religions
reported difficulty with the authorities, but others noted a general
improvement in government tolerance. Despite Vouli approval,
construction of a new Islamic cultural center and mosque in Athens had
not started by year's end, and Muslims in Athens continued praying in
unofficial mosques. Laws that restricted freedom of speech remained in
force, and some legal restrictions and administrative obstacles on
freedom of religion persisted. Violence and discrimination against
women were problems. Women are underrepresented at the decision-making
level in political, economic, and academic fields. Discrimination
against ethnic minorities and Roma remained a problem. There were
reports that foreign children were forced into begging, including by
their families. Trafficking in women and children was a problem. Many
Roma lived in sub-standard conditions, and their settlements often
lacked access to running water, electricity, sanitation, and other
essential services. Romani children often were not enrolled in school
or dropped out at a very early stage of their schooling.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
In August, two police officers were charged with homicide for the
December 2003 killing of a person who did not stop at a routine
automobile checkpoint in Herakleion, Crete; however, a trial date had
not been set by year's end.
A border policeman was charged with homicide in the September 2003
shooting and killing of an Albanian who was trying to cross illegally
into the country. The policeman's trial was scheduled for February
2005.
During the year, at least 16 migrants died and at least 8 others
were severely injured in poorly marked minefields on the border with
Turkey.
In October, a court sentenced four members of the terrorist group
Peoples' Revolutionary Struggle (ELA) to 25 years in prison for the
1994 murder of a police officer, attempted murders, bombings, and
possession of firearms and explosives. A court was scheduled to hear
appeals of the convictions in February 2005.
A court hearing was scheduled for December 2005 on the appeals of
15 members of the terrorist group Revolutionary Organization 17
November who were convicted and sentenced in December 2003 for crimes
including homicide.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, security forces
abused some persons, particularly immigrants and Roma (see Section 5).
Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have repeatedly
alleged that illegal immigrants and refugees are subjected to violence
by border guards and coast guard officers when caught entering the
country illegally.
In August, two civilians alleged that police beat them in Pyrgos,
Peloponnese during a routine identity check. The local police director
ordered an inquiry; however, no results had been released by year's
end.
Amnesty International alleged that 3 armed forces officers abused
and beat 10 illegal immigrants on an islet in the Aegean in September.
The Army general staff ordered an inquiry into the charges; however, no
results were announced by year's end.
In December, police officers allegedly subjected a group of Afghan
asylum-seekers to interrogation techniques that included torture (see
Section 2.d.).
There were no developments by year's end in either the civil
lawsuit against three officers or the police investigation arising from
the allegations of two Kalamata high school students that police beat
them during a routine identity check in July 2003.
There were no developments in the July 2003 case of two Britons who
alleged that police beat them.
By year's end, authorities had not taken any action on the
September 2003 allegations that border police tortured three migrants
attempting to return to Albania.
In September, in the first trial of its kind for immigrant abuse,
the Military Court of Thessaloniki sentenced a former conscript to a 1-
year suspended prison term for shooting and injuring an elderly
Albanian at the border in 2002. During the trial, the NGOs Greek
Helsinki Monitor and Albanian Helsinki Committee presented the court
with 25 similar cases.
There were no developments during the year in the Ministry of
Public Order investigations into the alleged 2002 police torture of
Nigerian national Joseph Okeke or the alleged 2002 beating and torture
of Yannis Papacostas in a police station near Athens. In January, the
NGO Greek Helsinki Monitor filed an application with the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) alleging violation of the article of the
European Convention on Human Rights that prohibits torture and inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment.
On October 15, the naval court of Hania sentenced one Coast Guard
officer to a 2-year suspended prison term for sexual assault and
sentenced five other officers to 1-year suspended prison terms for
abuse and maltreatment. The victims, who were part of a group of
approximately 160 migrants on a Turkish boat towed by the Coast Guard
in 2001, claimed that the officers beat them while they were detained
in Crete.
Security forces reportedly arrested and beat journalists during the
year (see Section 2.a.).
Police abused Roma more frequently than other minority groups.
Immigrants, including Albanians, also accused police of abuse (see
Section 5).
Conditions in some prisons remained harsh due to overcrowding and
outdated facilities. As of October, the Ministry of Justice reported
that the total prison population was 8,541, while the total capacity of
the prison system was 5,584. Juveniles were generally held separately
from adults, and women were held separately from men. Pretrial
detainees were held with a few convicted prisoners awaiting trials in
Korydallos Prison. Construction continued on four new prisons.
Conditions in detention centers for illegal immigrants remained
harsh, particularly for females at the Drapetsona detention center (see
Section 2.d.).
According to local and international independent human rights
observers, the Government did not consistently permit these observers'
visits to police detention centers, to detention centers for illegal
immigrants, or to prisons. International human rights observers
reported fewer problems in having their requests for visits granted
than did local human rights observers. A Ministry of Justice
representative stated that requests for prison visits had not been made
during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the police conducted large-
scale sweeps and temporarily detained large numbers of foreigners,
often under squalid conditions, while determining their residence
status. Some foreigners were detained indefinitely without judicial
review.
All police forces are under the authority of the Ministry of Public
Order. During the year, the Bureau of Internal Affairs of the Ministry
of Public Order took several disciplinary measures, including dismissal
and suspension, against officers involved in corruption, primarily for
forging documents and taking bribes. During the year, 325 complaints
were filed with the Bureau. Most charges against police involved
violation of duty, false certificates, abuse of power, corruption,
violations with arms and explosives, illegal release of persons in
police custody, pimping, and violations relating to alien registration.
By the end of the year, the Bureau filed lawsuits against 75 policemen,
20 civil servants, and 78 civilians.
The press and the Greek Helsinki Monitor alleged that penalties for
corrupt or abusive police were too weak and discouraged citizens from
pressing charges against police. A weak record of prosecution of police
misbehavior supported these claims.
In October, an Ombudsman's report on internal inquiries into
maltreatment and abuse of citizens by the police found that penalties
against police were imposed mainly in cases made public by the press;
that the results of the inquiries were not made known to interested
parties without the intervention of the Ombudsman; and that police
authorities were generally not inclined to launch inquiries or to
discipline their personnel.
A June 2003 Ombudsman's report on police abuse found that police
took citizens to detention centers for arbitrary identity checks, used
insulting language and threats of force, and conducted bodily searches
in public. Most citizens were released within hours of being detained
for identity checks.
Police corruption was a problem. While the anticorruption unit of
the Hellenic Police stated the problem was decreasing, human rights and
antitrafficking groups said that anticorruption efforts needed to be
given higher priority.
The Constitution requires judicial warrants for arrests except when
they are made during the commission of a crime, and the law prohibits
arbitrary arrest orders; the authorities generally respected these
provisions in practice. By law, the police must bring persons who are
detained or arrested before an examining magistrate within 24 hours.
The magistrate must issue a detention warrant or order their release
within 3 days unless special circumstances justify a 2-day extension of
this limit.
Defendants have the right to legal counsel. In felony cases, the
Bar Association provides lawyers to defendants who prove they cannot
afford legal counsel.
Defendants brought to court on the day following the alleged
commission of a misdemeanor may be tried immediately under expedited
procedures. Although legal safeguards, including representation by
counsel, apply in expedited procedure cases, the short time period
limited defendants' ability to present an adequate defense. Defendants
may request a delay to prepare a defense, but the court is not obliged
to grant it. Expedited procedures were used in less than 10 percent of
applicable cases.
Detention of both illegal and legal immigrants by police was
common. The police conducted many large-scale sweeps of neighborhoods
populated by immigrants, temporarily detaining large numbers of
individuals while determining their residence status. Police sweeps
were heightened in the period before the Olympic Games.
Police regularly detained members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses, usually after receiving
complaints that they were proselytizing (see Section 2.c.).
The law allows pretrial detention for up to 18 months for felonies
and 9 months for misdemeanors. Defense lawyers asserted that pretrial
detention is excessively long and overused by judges. A panel of judges
may release detainees pending trial, with or without bail. Pretrial
detainees made up 31 percent of those incarcerated and contributed to
overcrowding.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system consists of three levels of civil courts (first
instance, appeals, and supreme), three levels of criminal courts (first
instance--divided into misdemeanor and felony divisions, appeals, and
supreme), appointed judges, and an examining magistrate system, with
trials by judicial panels.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
Due to serious bureaucratic problems in the legalization process
for immigrants, many aliens were in a semi-legal status (had expired
permits but had filed for renewal, or were entitled to renewal but a
renewal stamp had not yet been placed in their passports) and were
subject to deportation without legal process following police sweeps.
Defendants who do not speak Greek have the right to a court-
appointed interpreter. According to several immigrant associations in
Athens, the low fees paid for such work often resulted in poor
interpretation. Foreign defendants who used these interpreters
frequently complained that they did not understand the proceedings at
their trials. Defendants often were not advised of their rights during
arrest in a language that they could understand. Several complained
that they were not shown the Hellenic Police Informational Bulletin,
which contains prisoners' rights in a variety of languages, and that
they were forced to sign blank documents later used for their
deportation.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits the invasion of privacy and
searches without warrants, and the law permits the monitoring of
personal communications only under strict judicial controls; however,
these provisions were not always respected in practice.
Turcophone and Slavophone activists complained of continued police
surveillance. Police conducted regular raids and searches of Romani
neighborhoods for alleged criminal suspects, drugs, and weapons. Local
authorities evicted or threatened to evict Roma from camps and tent
dwellings during the year (see Section 5).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, legal restrictions on free
speech remained in force. The law prohibits exposing to danger of
disturbance the friendly relations of the state with foreign states;
spreading false information and rumors liable to create concern and
fear among citizens and cause disturbances in the country's
international relations; and inciting citizens to rivalry and division
leading to disturbing the peace or acts of violence. However, these
prohibitions were very rarely invoked. In most criminal defamation
cases, defendants typically were released on bail pending appeal
without serving time in jail.
In August, two foreign journalists alleged that the Coast Guard
arrested, insulted, and beat them when they attempted to film a
restricted security area of the port of Piraeus during the Olympic
Games. The journalists filed a complaint and the Merchant Marine
Ministry ordered an inquiry. No results were available by year's end.
The Constitution provides that the Government exercise ``immediate
control'' over radio and television, and the law establishes ownership
limits on media frequencies. The Ministry of Press and Mass Media has
final authority over radio and television licensing; the National Radio
and Television Council (ESR) has an advisory role.
Independent radio and television stations were active and expressed
a wide variety of views with little government restriction. State-run
stations tended to emphasize the Government's views but also reported
objectively on other parties' programs and positions. Turkish-language
television programs were widely available via satellite in Thrace.
There were numerous independent newspapers and magazines. Satirical
and opposition newspapers routinely criticized state authorities.
Members of ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities were generally
able to publish materials freely, often in their native language.
The Constitution allows for seizure, by order of the public
prosecutor, of publications that insult the President, offend religious
beliefs, contain obscene articles, advocate violent overthrow of the
political system, or disclose military and defense information. There
were no such seizures during the year.
The Greek publisher and Austrian author of a comic book that police
deemed insulting to the Christian faith were scheduled to stand trial
on blasphemy charges in January 2005. In February 2003, police
confiscated approximately 50 copies of the comic book from bookstores.
In July, police seized equipment and arrested the owner of a
private radio station in Northern Greece that had been broadcasting in
a Slavophone dialect. The police shut down the station on grounds that
it did not have a license to broadcast. The station claimed that it was
singled out because of its ethnic affiliation, since there were many
other radio stations in the northern part of the country that operated
without proper licenses.
In May, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that a
court had violated the European Convention on Human Rights and awarded
two journalists $42,500 (32,179 euros). The case stemmed from an
article the journalists wrote in 1995 describing unlawful conduct by
public prosecutors in Preveza, Epirus, and the political ties that
protected the prosecutors. The ECHR reversed a court award against the
journalists for disparaging the honor and reputation of one of the
prosecutors.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice; however, the
courts continued to place legal restrictions on the names of
associations involving ethnic minorities (see Section 5).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however, non-Orthodox groups at times faced administrative
obstacles or legal restrictions on religious practices.
The Constitution establishes the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ
(Greek Orthodoxy) as the ``prevailing'' religion. The Greek Orthodox
Church exercised significant political and economic influence. The
Government financially supported the Greek Orthodox Church and also
paid the salaries and some expenses of the two official Muslim
religious leaders in Thrace.
The Government, by virtue of the Orthodox Church's status as the
prevailing religion, recognizes de facto its canon law. Privileges and
legal prerogatives granted to the Greek Orthodox Church are not
extended routinely to other recognized religions. Greek Orthodox Church
officials refused to enter into dialogue with religious groups they
considered harmful to Greek Orthodox worshipers and instructed their
members to shun members of these faiths.
The Government did not have an established procedure for
recognizing religions. Recognition was granted indirectly by applying
for and receiving a ``house of prayer'' permit. Some newer religions
had problems getting these permits. Although Jehovah's Witnesses have a
recognized religion, members continued to face harassment, mainly in
the form of arbitrary identity checks.
Several religious denominations reported difficulties dealing with
the authorities on a variety of administrative matters.
Despite the Vouli's approval of a bill in 2003 allowing
construction of the first Islamic cultural center and mosque in the
Athens area, no construction had started by the end of the year and, as
a consequence, Muslims in Athens continued congregating in about 25
unofficial prayer rooms.
Muslims are accorded the status of an official minority in Thrace,
and the Government selects two official Muslim religious leaders, or
``muftis,'' there. While much of the community accepted the two
officially appointed muftis, some Muslims, with support from Turkey,
``elected'' two different muftis. The courts repeatedly convicted one
mufti for usurping the authority of the official mufti; however, his
sentences remained suspended and were pending appeal at year's end.
Non-Orthodox citizens claimed that they faced career limits in the
military, police, fire-fighting forces, and civil service due to their
religion. The employment rate of Muslims in the public sector and in
state-owned companies was much lower than the Muslim percentage of the
population.
The law requires that recognized religious groups obtain permits
from the Ministry of Education and Religion to open houses of worship.
By law, the Ministry may base a permit decision on the opinion of the
local Greek Orthodox bishop. According to Ministry officials, once a
recognized religion received a permit, applications for additional
houses of prayer were approved routinely. Non-Greek Orthodox churches
must provide separate and lengthy applications to authorities on such
matters as gaining permission to move places of worship to larger
facilities. In May, a priest defrocked by the Greek Orthodox Church in
the northern part of the country (but still in good standing with the
Orthodox Church in the Republic of Macedonia) was given a 3-month
suspended prison sentence for holding religious services without a
house of prayer permit. There was no decision on the priest's appeal of
the judgment at year's end.
The Scientologists have not been able to register or build a house
of prayer. Followers of the ancient Greek religions applied twice in
the last 3 years for a house of prayer permit but have not received an
official response to their applications, despite advice of the
Ombudsman to the Ministry of Education and Religions to officially
respond to their requests.
The Constitution prohibits proselytizing and stipulates that
religious rites may not disturb public order or offend moral
principles. Police regularly detained members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah's Witnesses (on
average once every 2 weeks), usually after receiving complaints that
they were engaged in proselytizing. In most cases, police held these
persons for several hours and then released them without filing
charges. Many reported that police did not allow them to call their
lawyers and verbally abused them for their religious beliefs.
Several foreign religious groups, including Protestant groups and
Mormons, continued to report difficulty renewing the visas of their
non-European Union (EU) citizen ministers because there is not a
distinct visa category for religious workers and because of the
Government's restrictive interpretation of its obligations to control
entry to non-EU citizens under the Schengen Treaty.
Religious instruction was mandatory for all Greek Orthodox students
in primary and secondary schools, but not for non-Orthodox students.
Some government-approved religious textbooks made derogatory statements
about non-Greek Orthodox faiths. Members of the Muslim community in
Athens sought Islamic religious instruction for their children. Since
schools did not supervise non-Orthodox children while Greek Orthodox
children were taking religious instruction, the community complained
that parents were effectively forced to have their children attend
Greek Orthodox classes. In Thrace, the Government subsidized public
schools for the Muslim minority and two Koranic schools. Turcophone
activists criticized the quality of instruction at the minority schools
and the state-sponsored Pedagogical Academy that trains teachers.
Anti-Semitism continued to exist, both in the mainstream and
extremist press, and the press and public often did not clearly
distinguish between criticism of Israel and comments about Jewish
persons. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI),
the Wiesenthal Center, the Greek Helsinki Monitor, and the Anti-
Defamation League criticized the press for carrying anti-Semitic
stories and cartoons on several occasions during the year, particularly
after Israeli forces killed Hamas leader Sheik Yassin.
Vandalism of Jewish monuments continued to be a problem, although
the Government generally condemned such acts. In August, unknown
persons desecrated a recently erected Holocaust memorial in Komotini.
Police did not find the perpetrators in the reported 2003 desecration
of monuments in Ioannina, and the cases were still open at year's end.
Extreme right-wing groups painted anti-Semitic graffiti along with
their symbols and organization names at several spots on the busy
Athens-Corinth Highway. Some schoolbooks carried negative references to
Roman Catholics, Jewish persons, and others. Bookstores sold and
displayed anti-Semitic literature including the ``Protocols of the
Elders of Zion.''
The Wiesenthal Center issued a travel advisory in November 2003
warning Jewish visitors about the failure of the country to curb
growing anti-Semitism. The Greek Helsinki Monitor and the Wiesenthal
Center protested the revival of traditions such as the burning of an
effigy of Judas on some islands, sometimes known locally as the
``burning of the Jew,'' which they maintained propagated hatred and
fanaticism against Jews.
The Popular Orthodox Herald Party (LAOS), a small, extreme right-
wing party, employed virulent nationalism, anti-Semitism, racism, and
xenophobia. In June, LAOS leader George Karatzaferis won a seat in
elections to the European Parliament. The extreme right-wing group
``Golden Dawn'' regularly painted anti-Semitic graffiti on bridges and
other structures throughout the country.
Jewish community leaders have condemned anti-Semitic broadcasts on
small private television stations, but authorities have not brought
charges against these largely unlicensed operators.
On January 15, the Vouli approved declaring January 27 as Holocaust
Remembrance Day, which was commemorated with events in Athens and
Thessaloniki.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law permits the Government to remove citizenship from persons
who commit acts contrary to the interests of the country for the
benefit of a foreign state. While the law applies to citizens
regardless of ethnicity, it has been enforced, in all but one case,
only against citizens who identified themselves as members of the
``Macedonian'' minority. The Government did not reveal the number of
such cases; there were no reports of new cases during the year. Dual
citizens who lost their citizenship under this provision sometimes were
prevented from entering the country on the passport of their second
nationality. Activists charged that several expatriate Slavo-
Macedonians, whose names appeared on a ``black list'' were barred from
entering the country.
The Government has issued identification documents characterizing
persons as ``stateless'' to 143 persons--mainly Muslims in Thrace--who
lost their citizenship under a provision of the law that was repealed
in 1998 and has permitted them to apply to reacquire citizenship. As of
October, 65 of 111 applications had been granted and 46 were pending.
In its Third Report on Greece, the ECRI strongly recommended that
authorities take steps to facilitate recovery of citizenship to these
persons.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. However, the Government has largely not
enforced a 1999 presidential decree that brought the law into
compliance with the standards of the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) with regard to asylum procedures.
In practice, the Government provided minimal protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution. However, the UNHCR, the Greek Council for Refugees, and
the ECRI expressed concern that very few applicants were granted asylum
without UNHCR involvement and that a publicly funded legal aid system
was not available to provide counseling for asylum-seekers and
refugees. During the first 9 months of the year, the Government granted
refugee status to 11 (or 0.3 percent) of 3,450 applicants. The
Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who do not
qualify as asylees or refugees. During the first 9 months of the year,
the Government granted temporary residence to 19 persons on
humanitarian grounds. The overall recognition rate (convention and
humanitarian status) amounted to 0.9 percent. The Government cooperated
with the office of the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. Individuals recognized as
refugees are eligible for residency and work permits necessary to
settle permanently.
The UNHCR, the Greek Council for Refugees, the U.N. Committee
Against Torture, and the ECRI expressed concern about the country's
asylum policy and practices, citing its insufficient reception
facilities, low refugee recognition rates, underdeveloped systems for
providing for refugee welfare, and insufficient counseling to assist
integration of refugees and asylum seekers. Following the change of
government in March, a group of domestic and international NGOs
published a joint appeal that expressed concern over authorities'
frequent violation of the rights of individuals who wished to apply for
asylum, including local authorities' failure to inform them of their
right to apply for asylum.
In December, police officers allegedly subjected a group of 40-60
Afghan asylum-seekers to interrogation techniques that included
torture. The Prosecutor pressed felony charges against two policemen,
who were awaiting trial at year's end.
The Coast Guard reported that 1,793 illegal immigrants were
arrested between January and September. Conditions for illegal
immigrants detained by authorities were often harsh. The UNHCR observed
improvements during the year in some detention centers, including on
the islands of Chios and Mytilini; however, sub-standard conditions
persisted in others. For example, although improvement was noted in
some parts of the Evros region, an old warehouse continued to be used
to house illegal immigrants while a new reception center had not yet
opened. Foreign observers reported ``degrading'' conditions in most of
the refugee/immigrant detention centers. In September, 221 illegal
immigrants, including 4 children, were held in Samos in a former
warehouse with a 100-person capacity and only 2 toilets.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
On March 7, the New Democracy party won the majority of seats in
the Vouli in free and fair elections. Opposition parties functioned
freely and had broad access to the media. Voting is mandatory for
citizens over age 18; however, there are many conditions under which
citizens may be exempted from voting, and the Government did not apply
any penalty for not voting.
Romani representatives reported that local authorities sometimes
deprived Roma of the right to vote by refusing to register them. Many
Roma had difficulty meeting municipal residency requirements to
register to vote.
Corruption was a problem. International NGOs and human rights and
antitrafficking groups stated that anticorruption efforts needed to be
a higher government priority. In December, a number of judges were
implicated in corruption. Government officials, including a former
Justice Minister, and the Athens Bar Association called for immediate
investigations to protect the integrity of the justice system.
There were 38 women in the 300-seat Vouli, including the Speaker,
the first woman to hold the position. There was 1 woman among the 19
ministers in the Cabinet, and women held 1 of the 27 subministerial
positions. A quota system requires 30 percent of all local government
candidates to be women.
There was 1 member of the Muslim minority in the 300-seat Vouli.
There were no members of minorities in the Cabinet. There were
occasionally complaints that the Government limited the right of some
individuals, particularly Muslims and Slavo-Macedonians, to speak
publicly and associate freely on the basis of their self-proclaimed
ethnic identity.
A government-appointed regional administrator of Eastern Macedonia
and Thrace has statutory responsibility for oversight of rights
provided the Muslim minority in Thrace, but the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs retains an important advisory role.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without restriction in the country, investigating
and publishing their findings on human rights cases; however, the
Government's cooperation with domestic groups varied. The Government
usually cooperated with international human rights groups, had good
working relations with them, and made an effort to take their views
into account.
There was a government ombudsman whose office provided an effective
means for citizens to address human rights and religious freedom
problems. The office was granted adequate resources to perform its
functions and was widely recognized. In the first 9 months of the year,
the office had received 1,274 complaints, of which 47 were directly
related to human rights and the remainder related to civic rights and
civic differences.
The government-funded National Human Rights Committee is an
autonomous human rights body that operates independently of government
or party control or influence. The Committee is the Government's
advisory organ on protection of human rights and had adequate
resources. It cooperated effectively with the Government to promote
legislation protecting and enhancing human rights. During the year, it
produced reports and recommendations on human rights problems,
including human rights standards for law enforcement, antiterrorism
measures, and application of EU legislation against discrimination.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equality before the law irrespective
of nationality, race, language, or political belief; however,
government respect for these rights was inconsistent in practice.
Women.--Violence against women was a problem. The law does not
specifically prohibit domestic violence; however, it can be prosecuted
under the general assault statute. The General Secretariat for the
Equality of the Sexes (GSES), an independent government agency,
provided counseling and assistance to domestic violence victims. The
reported incidence of violence against women was low; however, the GSES
believed that the actual incidence was high. The GSES estimated that
only 6 to 10 percent of victims contacted the police, and only a small
fraction of those cases reached trial. The GSES claimed that police
tended to discourage women from pursuing domestic violence charges,
instead encouraging them to undertake reconciliation efforts, and that
courts were lenient when dealing with domestic violence cases. The
GSES, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Order, continued
courses to train police on how to deal with domestic violence victims.
Two GSES shelters for battered women and their children, in Athens
and Piraeus, offered services, including legal and psychological help.
The GSES operated a 24-hour emergency telephone hotline for abused
women. The Ministry of Health and Welfare's Emergency Social Care Unit
also operated a hotline providing referrals and psychological
counseling.
Nonconsensual sex in any setting is a crime; however, there is no
specific spousal rape law. Conviction rates for rape were low for first
time offenders, but sentences were harsh for repeat offenders. There
have been no cases of spousal rape before the courts in recent years.
Prostitution is legal at the age of 18. Prostitutes must register
at the local prefecture and carry a medical card that is updated every
2 weeks. It was estimated that fewer than 1,000 women were legally
employed as prostitutes. Approximately 20,000 women, most of foreign
origin, worked as illegal prostitutes. According to experts, a
significant number of these women were trafficking victims (see Section
5, Trafficking).
The law prohibits sexual harassment, but penalties are lenient. The
Government has not yet implemented an EU directive on sexual harassment
that provides guidelines for sanctions, legal action, and compensation
for victims. Unions reported that lawsuits for sexual harassment were
very rare and that only four women had filed such charges in the past 5
years. In all four cases, the courts reportedly imposed very lenient
civil sentences. The state-run Research Center for Equality reported
that 10 percent of women have experienced sexual harassment in the
workplace. The vast majority of these quit their jobs and did not file
charges.
The law provides for equal pay for equal work; however, according
to official statistics in 2003, women's pay amounted to 75.8 percent of
men's pay. Although relatively few occupied senior positions, women
continued to enter traditionally male-dominated occupations such as the
legal and medical professions in larger numbers. Women were
underrepresented in labor unions' leadership. During the year, the Bank
of Greece published a report noting that unemployment was much higher
among women than men (15 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively), while
women constituted just 42.5 percent of the work force. Women's
employment in part-time jobs was 8.1 percent while men's was 2.3
percent.
The GSES operated regional employment offices for women in
Thessaloniki and Patras that provided vocational training for
unemployed women, programs to reinforce entrepreneurship, subsidies to
establish businesses, and information and counseling to unemployed
women. It also operated childcare facilities to enable unemployed women
to attend training courses and look for jobs.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare and amply funded a system of public education and
health care. Government agencies with responsibility for children's
issues included the National Organization for Social Care, which had a
national network of offices and was active in the field of child
protection. There was also a department for children's rights in the
Ombudsman's office.
Education was free and compulsory through the ninth grade.
According to the 2001 census, 99.4 percent of school-age children
attended school; however, noncompliance with the compulsory education
requirement was a significant problem in the Romani community.
University education was public and free at all levels, but the number
of applicants greatly exceeded available places. Most children
completed secondary education.
Violence against children was a problem; however, there was no
societal pattern of abuse. The law prohibits the mistreatment of
children and sets penalties for violators, and the Government
effectively enforced these provisions. No national data existed on the
incidence of child abuse; authorities, other than police, were not
required to report such cases. According to UNICEF and local NGOs, the
majority of street children (usually indigenous Roma or Albanian Roma)
were exploited by family members who forced them to work in the
streets, usually begging or selling small items.
Welfare laws provide for preventive and treatment programs for
abused and neglected children. These laws seek to ensure the
availability of alternative family care or institutional placement.
However, children's rights advocacy groups claimed that government
residential care centers provided inadequate and low quality protection
of children at high risk of abuse due to a lack of coordination between
welfare services and the courts, inadequate funding of the welfare
system, and poor staffing of the care centers. Athens had two municipal
shelters for battered children. Child health specialists noted that the
number of children in residential care facilities was decreasing, while
the number in foster care was rising. With EU funding, special care was
available for juvenile offenders, Romani children, children from remote
mountain and island areas, and children with disabilities.
In 2003, the Government ended a program to shelter street children
from Albania due to a lack of eligible children. The U.N. Committee
Against Torture expressed concern that inadequate measures had been
taken to protect children picked up by the security police and taken
into state care during the 1998-2003 period. The Prosecutor accepted a
criminal complaint submitted by the Greek Helsinki Monitor and an
appeal by the U.N. Committee Against Torture and, in December, pressed
felony charges against members of the administration of the Agia
Varvara shelter relating to the case of 502 Albanian children that
remained unaccounted for after being kept in state custody in the
shelter program between 1998 and 2003.
There were reports that trafficking of children--mainly for forced
labor and sexual exploitation--was a problem (see Sections 5,
Trafficking and 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, the country was both a transit and destination country for
significant numbers of women, men, and children trafficked for the
purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. There were
allegations that some police officers were involved in trafficking
rings or accepted bribes from traffickers.
The law considers trafficking in persons a criminal offense and
provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines of approximately
$13,500 to $67,500 (10,000 to 50,000 euros) for convicted traffickers.
Penalties are harsher for traffickers of children.
During the year, police investigated 65 trafficking cases, of which
29 were allegedly committed by criminal networks, charged 352 persons
with trafficking-related crimes, and located 181 victims of
trafficking, although NGOs reported there were many more victims during
the period. In June, two child traffickers in the border region of
Evros were given 13- and 14-year prison sentences and fined $94,500-
97,200 (70,000-72,000 euros) each; they were in prison awaiting the
outcome of their appeals at year's end. Comprehensive conviction
information was not available at year's end.
Ministries with primary responsibility for combating trafficking
are Health and Welfare, Justice, Public Order, and Foreign Affairs,
with support from the Ministries of Interior, Equality, Economy and
Finance, Education, and Employment and Social Protection. There is a
governmental National Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Persons
and an interministerial committee to coordinate antitrafficking
efforts. In June, the Government designated two special prosecutors to
lead an informal group to standardize government efforts to screen
women for victims of trafficking, transfer detained victims to
shelters, and prosecute trafficking cases.
During the year, the country's law enforcement agencies
participated in a multinational regionwide antitrafficking effort
called ``Mirage 2004.''
The country was both a transit and destination country for
trafficked women, men, and children. Major countries of origin included
Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Albania, Moldova, Romania, and Belarus.
Women from many other countries were trafficked to the country and in
some cases were reportedly trafficked on to Italy and other EU
countries as well as to the Middle East.
According to one academic observer, trafficking in women and
children for prostitution in the country has decreased since the end of
2002. The observer estimated that approximately 40,000 women and
children, most between the ages of 12 and 25, were trafficked to the
country for prostitution each year between 1998 and 2002, but decreased
to 20,000 in 2003 and to 13,000 in the reporting year. Unofficial NGO
estimates placed approximately 13,000 to 14,000 trafficked women and
girls in the country at any given time, although authorities estimated
the number of trafficked women and children was much lower.
Trafficking of children was a problem. While NGOs and police
reported that child trafficking decreased during the year, the practice
persisted. Most child trafficking victims were Albanian Roma children
trafficked for labor exploitation or teenage girls trafficked for
commercial sexual exploitation. Albanian children made up the majority
of children trafficked for forced labor, begging, and stealing. There
were reports that some Albanian Roma parents ``sold'' or ``rented''
their children to traffickers in exchange for a monthly income (see
Section 6.d.); however, NGOs reported that the practice of ``renting''
children has dramatically decreased as it has become easier for
Albanian parents to emigrate to the country. As recently as 2003,
Albania police estimated that more than 1,000 children were trafficked
in the country and forced to beg. The primary anti-child trafficking
NGO reported that, of the 173 children it identified begging in the
streets in the first 11 months of the year, 22 were victims of
trafficking. During the Olympics, a child trafficking NGO did extensive
street sweeps and located and repatriated six trafficked Albanian boys.
An NGO that works on child-trafficking problems reported that some
legalized Albanian immigrants residing in the country exploited their
children.
In July, police dismantled a network dealing in child pornography
through the Internet. The perpetrators had developed a network of
customers in 20 countries. At year's end, 11 Romanians were in
detention and awaiting trail after their arrest in September 2003 for
operating a forced child-begging racket in central Athens.
Police often detained minors trafficked into the country as
criminals. Those under the age of 12 were placed in state-run
orphanages, while children as young as 13 were jailed for begging or
illegal immigration. According to one NGO, the Government continued
detaining and deporting children in groups, returning them to the
border with Albania without ensuring either their reception by Albanian
authorities or their protection from retrafficking, although smaller
numbers of children were involved than in 2003. Few such repatriations
were conducted with advance notice to prepare families or to transport
the children safely. Some reports indicated that children were deported
with less than 24 hours notice and without sufficient cross-border
coordination.
Some women and children arrived as ``tourists'' or illegal
immigrants; seeking work, they were lured into prostitution by club
owners who threatened them with deportation. Traffickers kidnapped some
victims, including minors, from their homes abroad and smuggled them
into the country, where they were sold to local procurers. Traffickers
sometimes confined victims to apartments, hotels, and clubs against
their will, failed to register them with authorities, and forced them
to surrender their passports.
Many antitrafficking activists alleged that some police officers
were involved in trafficking rings or accepted bribes from traffickers,
including organized crime networks. In June, a Thessaloniki Court
sentenced three police officers to between 3 and 5 years in prison on
corruption charges relating to their protection of a nightclub that
employed trafficked women. The Bureau of Internal Affairs at the
Ministry of Public Order investigated charges of police involvement but
had not issued its report by year's end.
During the year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allocated
approximately $4.2 million (3.1 million euros) for antitrafficking
projects to implement the August 2003 Presidential decree establishing
shelters for trafficking victims and encouraging cooperation between
the Government and NGOs. A number of domestic NGOs also worked on
trafficking issues during the year, but victim protection measures and
referral mechanisms remained weak. The Government supported
antitrafficking NGOs that ran public service announcements to raise
awareness of trafficking. The Government inaugurated a 24-hour hotline
for trafficking victims, and there were additional hotlines operated by
NGOs.
On August 4, eight government ministries announced a comprehensive
national action plan to fight human trafficking, including plans for
legal assistance for victims, new public awareness campaigns, the use
of Health Ministry centers to assist trafficking victims, creation of a
national database on trafficking, and the amendment of the August 2003
presidential decree to facilitate victim recognition, residence
permits, and training programs.
There were two government-run and three NGO-run shelters that
assisted trafficking victims in Athens, and construction began on a
shelter to be operated by Solidarity, an Orthodox church-affiliated
NGO. There was one government-run shelter operating in Thessaloniki,
and an additional NGO-run shelter for women opened in Thessaloniki in
November. There was one shelter in Ioannina.
During the year, the Government began issuing special residence/
work permits to trafficking victims; however, anecdotal reports
indicated that trafficking victims continued to be deported. On June 3,
the first residence permits were issued to two trafficked women, as
provided for under the trafficking law. By November, there had been 24
residence permits issued to trafficking victims.
During the year, major radio stations and magazines carried
announcements on trafficking in women and NGOs distributed
antitrafficking brochures with funds from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. The Ministry of Public Order published a multilingual ``know-
your-rights'' pamphlet designed to inform persons identified as
possible trafficking victims of resources at their disposal.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no systemic discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other government services. The law
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities; however,
authorities enforced this law poorly. Only 5 percent of public
buildings were fully accessible to persons with disabilities; most
buildings with special ramps did not have special elevators and
lavatories. Research conducted in 2003 by the Medical School of Athens
showed that most Athens sidewalks were inaccessible for persons with
disabilities.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is responsible for providing
welfare allowances and special schools to the disabled, but serious
problems existed due to lack of personnel and funding. An organization
for persons with disabilities alleged that only 10 percent of children
with disabilities were able to attend school because many special
schools were either closed or understaffed.
During the year, special wheelchair lifts for persons with mobility
problems were constructed on the Acropolis, and two beaches in the
country became accessible to persons with disabilities. In addition,
issues involving persons with disabilities received greater public
attention as a result of the Paralympic Games in Athens.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Albanian immigrants who make up
approximately 5 percent of the population faced widespread societal
discrimination, although Albanian legal residents encountered less
official discrimination than Albanians residing in the country
illegally. Immigrants--mostly Albanian citizens--accused police of
physical, verbal, and other mistreatment. These immigrants also
reported the confiscation and destruction of personal documents,
particularly during police sweeps to apprehend illegal immigrants. The
media regularly blamed Albanians for a reported rise in crime in recent
years. The country's sometimes difficult relations with Albania
intensified the problem.
On September 4, an Albanian immigrant was stabbed to death and
approximately 20 others were injured during clashes across the country
following a soccer game between the two countries. The Government
condemned the incidents; police arrested one person in connection with
the stabbing, who was awaiting trial at year's end. Immigrant
associations denounced racist violence in the country and charged that
police had not intervened to arrest far-right extremists.
Widespread public debate continued during the year over whether
``foreign'' students should be allowed to carry the Greek flag at local
National Day parades, an honor that is normally accorded students with
the highest marks in their school. In October, classmates of one such
student in Achaia occupied their school to protest her carrying the
flag, and she subsequently declined the honor. Ministry of Education
officials and local authorities condemned the protesters, and the
Nomarch of Achaia said that the students' attitude neither honored the
Achaia region nor reflected the feelings of the citizens, parents, and
the school community. Another student in the northern part of the
country gave up the honor before his classmates reacted. High school
students in Thessaloniki organized protests against a school board
decision to give the flag to an Albanian student.
A number of citizens identified themselves as Turks, Pomaks,
Vlachs, Roma, Arvanites (Orthodox Christians who speak a dialect of
Albanian), or ``Macedonians'' or ``Slavomacedonians.'' The Government
formally recognized only the ``Muslim minority'' and did not officially
acknowledge the existence of any ethnic groups, principally
Slavophones, under the term ``minority.'' However, the previous
government affirmed an individual right of self-identification.
Nevertheless, some individuals who defined themselves as members of a
minority found it difficult to express their identity freely and to
maintain their culture. Use of the terms ``Tourkos'' and ``Tourkikos''
(``Turk'' and ``Turkish'') is prohibited in titles of organizations,
although individuals legally may call themselves ``Tourkos.'' To most
Greeks, the words ``Tourkos'' and ``Tourkikos'' connote Turkish
identity or loyalties, and many object to their use by Greek citizens
of Turkish origin. At year's end, an appeal from the ``Turkish Union of
Xanthi,'' established in 1927, was before the Supreme Court and a
petition for the establishment of a ``Turkish Women's Union'' was also
pending.
The Government did not recognize the Slavic dialect spoken by an
indeterminate number of persons in the northwestern area of the country
as ``Macedonian,'' a language distinct from Bulgarian. This group's use
of the term ``Macedonian'' has generated strong objections among the
2.2 million non-Slavophone inhabitants of the northern region of Greek
Macedonia who use the term ``Macedonian'' to identify themselves.
Members of this group asserted that the Government pursued a policy
designed to discourage use of their language. Activists of the Rainbow
Party, which represents the interests of this group, said that they
were forced to cancel plans to hold a conference in Florina in December
2003 and in January because no one would rent them a meeting hall.
There were reports that right wing extremists threatened locals with
violence if they participated in or facilitated the conference. In May,
the conference took place in Thessaloniki under heavy police protection
and in a climate made hostile by local government authorities.
In December 2003, the Florina First Instance Court rejected for a
second time an application for registration by the association ``Home
for Macedonian Civilization.'' This occurred notwithstanding that, in
1998, the ECHR had criticized the Government's refusal to recognize the
association as a violation of the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms.
Roma continued to face widespread governmental and societal
discrimination. In April, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) issued
a report that claimed that Roma were subject to systematic police
abuse, mistreatment while in police custody, regular raids and searches
of Romani neighborhoods for criminal suspects, drugs, and weapons, and
educational discrimination (see Section 1.c.). The ECRI report noted
with concern that the situation of Roma remained serious and that Roma
continued to face discrimination and difficulty in the areas of
housing, employment, education, and access to public service. There
were anecdotal reports of some societal discrimination, such as
landlords refusing to rent apartments to Romani and non-Romani parents
withdrawing their children from schools attended by Romani children.
There were frequent police raids on Romani settlements and harsh
police treatment of Roma in the Aspropyrgos settlement near Athens.
Authorities took no action in the 2002 case of a police officer who
allegedly kicked a pregnant woman, who later miscarried, during a raid
on the Aspropyrgos camp. Romani families who had lived for decades in
settlements close to Olympic venues were evicted and left to find
alternate shelter after local municipalities reportedly reneged on
their commitment to provide replacement housing with subsidized rent
for the families. In November, the U.N. Committee Against Torture
expressed concern at instances of ill treatment of Roma by public
officials in situations of forced evictions or relocation.
The law prohibits the encampment of ``wandering nomads'' without a
permit and forces Roma to establish settlements ``outside inhabited
areas'' and far from permanent housing. There were approximately 70
Romani camps in the country. Local and international NGOs charged that
the enforced separation contravened the country's commitments under the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination.
Local authorities harassed and threatened to evict Roma from their
camps or other dwellings. The NGO Greek Helsinki Monitor reported that
police threatened to evict Romani tent-dwellers in the Aspropyrgos area
outside Athens in April and May 2003. The European Roma Rights Center
and the Greek Helsinki Monitor criticized the demolition of the homes
of eight Romani families in late October in Patras. Roma in Tiryns,
Peloponnese were in a court battle to avoid eviction from a settlement
there.
Roma frequently faced societal discrimination in employment and in
housing, particularly when attempting to rent accommodations. The
illiteracy rate among Roma was estimated at 80 percent. Poverty,
illiteracy, and societal prejudice were most severe among migrant Roma
or those who lived in quasi-permanent settlements. Most Romani camps
had no running water, electricity, garbage disposal, or sewage
treatment. The approximately 400 Romani families in Tyrnavos, Thessaly
lived in tents because authorities refused to include the area in city
planning.
Romani representatives reported that some local authorities have
refused to register Roma as residents. Until registered with a
municipality, a citizen cannot vote or exercise other civil rights such
as obtaining an official marriage, commercial, or driver's license, or
contributing to social security. It was estimated that 90 percent of
Roma were not insured by the public social security systems because
they were unable to make the required contributions. Indigent Roma were
entitled to free health care provided all citizens; however, their
access at times was hindered by the distance between their encampments
and public health facilities.
The Government considers the Roma to be a ``socially excluded'' or
``sensitive'' group, not a ``minority.'' As a result, government policy
was to encourage the integration of Roma. The Ministry of Education has
instructed school principals to promote integration.
In June, residents in Sagaika, Patras, demonstrated at an
elementary school to discourage Romani parents from enrolling their
children in the school.
The Ministry of Interior headed an interministerial committee that
coordinated projects for the 85,000 to 120,000 Roma the Government
estimated were in the country (unofficial estimates ranged from 250,000
to 350,000). By September, only 30 cities had responded to the Ministry
of Interior's 2003 invitation to 75 cities with Romani populations to
identify areas in which it could build housing for Roma. Among the
program's provisions were very low interest housing loans for Roma,
which have had varying success rates in different areas of the country.
Municipalities outside Thessaloniki have built prefabricated Romani
neighborhoods.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare continued projects to address
the chronic problems of the Romani community, including training
courses for civil servants, police, and teachers to increase their
sensitivity to Romani problems, the development of teaching materials
for Romani children, the establishment of six youth centers in areas
close to Romani communities, and the deployment of mobile health units
to address the needs of itinerant Roma.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The organization Greek
Homosexual Community (OKE) alleged that police often abused and
harassed homosexuals and transvestites and subjected them to arbitrary
identity checks and to bodily searches in public places.
In December, the broadcasting regulator ESR fined a radio station
over insulting language used on a radio show presented by a lesbian,
and the station subsequently cancelled the show. The Gay and Lesbian
Community of Greece (OLKE) and OKE condemned the ESR ruling as
homophobic and lodged complaints with the Government over what it
described as a discriminatory decision.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and law provide
workers the right to form and join unions of their choice, and workers
exercised this right. All workers, with the exception of the military,
have the right to form or join unions. Approximately 26 percent of
nonagricultural salaried employees were union members. Unions received
most of their funding from a Ministry of Labor organization, the
Workers' Hearth, which distributes mandatory contributions from
employees and employers. Workers, employers, and the state were
represented in equal numbers on the board of directors of the Workers'
Hearth.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for the
right to bargain collectively in the private sector and in public
corporations, and unions exercised this right freely. The law provides
for the right to strike, and workers in the private sector and in
public corporations exercised this right in practice. Civil servants
have the right to organize, to bargain collectively with the Ministry
of Public Administration, and to strike. Police have the right to
organize and to demonstrate, but not to strike.
The law provides for mediation of labor disputes, with compulsory
arbitration as a last resort. The National Mediation, Reconciliation,
and Arbitration Organization is responsible for mediation and
arbitration of labor disputes involving the private sector and public
corporations. Mediation is voluntary; however, the Organization may
require compulsory arbitration if mediation fails to resolve a dispute.
There are some legal restrictions on strikes, including a mandatory
notice period of 4 days for public utilities and 24 hours for the
private sector. The law mandates a skeleton staff during strikes
affecting public services. Courts may declare a strike illegal;
however, such decisions were seldom enforced. Unions complained that
this judicial power deterred some of their members from participating
in strikes. Courts declared some strikes illegal during the year for
such reasons as failure of the union to give adequate advance notice of
the strike or a union making new demands during the course of the
strike. During the year, no workers were prosecuted for striking.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the country's three free trade zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor was a problem, although international and local observers
agreed that numbers of working children have decreased in recent years.
A number of children were illegally employed in the streets of the
country in jobs from windshield washing to prostitution. The Government
and NGOs believed that the majority of beggars were either indigenous
or Albanian Roma. There were reports that children from Albania were
trafficked and forced to beg; however, child trafficking NGOs reported
a decrease in this abuse (see Section 5). Some parents forced their
children to beg for money or food. During the year, heightened security
because of the Olympics resulted in a significant decrease in the
number of street children who panhandled or peddled at city
intersections on behalf of adult family members or for criminal gangs.
The minimum age for employment in the industrial sector is 15
years, with higher limits for some activities. The minimum age is 12
years in family businesses, theaters, and the cinema. These age limits
were enforced by occasional Labor Inspectorate spot checks and were
generally observed. However, families engaged in agriculture, food
service, and merchandising often had younger family members assisting
them at least part time.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The GSEE and the Employers'
Association determine a national minimum wage through collective
bargaining. The Ministry of Labor routinely ratified this minimum wage,
which has the force of law and applies to all workers. The minimum wage
of approximately $37 (28 euros) daily and $813 (616 euros) monthly,
effective September 1, provided a decent standard of living for a
worker and family. The maximum legal workweek is 40 hours in the
private sector and 37.5 hours in the public sector. The law provides
for at least one 24-hour rest period per week, mandates paid vacation
of 1 month per year, and sets limits on overtime.
The law provides for minimum standards of occupational health and
safety. The GSEE characterized health and safety laws as satisfactory,
but stated that enforcement by the Labor Inspectorate was inadequate.
Workers do not have the legal right to remove themselves from
situations that they believe endanger their health; however, they do
have the right to lodge a confidential complaint with the Labor
Inspectorate. Inspectors have the right to close down machinery or a
process for up to 5 days if they see safety or health hazards that they
believe represent an imminent danger to the workers.
The law protects foreign workers; however, their wages were lower
and they worked longer hours than citizens. Many employers did not make
social security contributions for illegal foreign workers, making their
legalization impossible.
__________
HUNGARY
Hungary is a parliamentary democracy with a freely elected
legislative assembly. Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy led a coalition
government formed by the Hungarian Socialist Party and the Alliance of
Free Democrats after multiparty elections in April 2002, which were
considered generally free and fair. In August, Prime Minister Medgyessy
resigned, and MSZP member Ferenc Gyurcsany was nominated by the same
coalition and confirmed by a parliamentary vote as the new Prime
Minister in September. The judiciary is independent.
The country joined the European Union on May 1 along with nine
other countries and took part in the European Parliamentary election in
June, sending 24 delegates to the European Parliament.
The Hungarian National Police (HNP), under the Ministry of
Interior's oversight, has responsibility for law enforcement and
maintenance of order within the country. The civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of
the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country has completed its transition from a centrally directed
economy to a fully functioning market economy. At year's end, the
population was approximately 10 million. The private sector accounted
for more than 80 percent of gross domestic product. The Socialist
government maintained a strong commitment to a market economy but has
not succeeded in addressing remaining problems in agriculture, health
care, and tax reform. Despite 7 years of strong economic growth, an
estimated 25 percent of the population still lived in poverty, with the
elderly, large families, and the Roma most affected. At year's end,
observers estimated economic growth at approximately 4 percent; the
average inflation rate at 6.8 percent; and the unemployment rate at 6.1
percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were
reports that some police used excessive force, beat, and harassed
suspects, particularly Roma. There were allegations of government
interference in editorial and personnel decisions of state-owned media.
Violence against women and children remained significant problems.
Sexual harassment in the workplace also continued to be a problem.
Racial discrimination persisted, as well as anti-Semitic phenomena,
such as vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and coded speech by fringe
political groups. Societal discrimination against Roma was a serious
problem. Trafficking in persons was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings by the Government or its agents, however,
in June, a Bulgarian died while attempting to escape police custody.
The man, arrested for having created a disturbance on an Amsterdam to
Budapest flight, attempted to escape from a police car after his court
appearance. Two police officers injured the individual in an ensuing
struggle. The man died while on route to the hospital. The preliminary
medical examiner's report determined that the cause of death as
strangulation. Press reports speculated that one of the officers might
have improperly restrained the man, resulting in strangulation. The
National Police Chief suspended the two policemen from their positions,
pending an investigation by the prosecutor's office. The investigation
was still pending at year's end.
In July, a young Roma man died after being chased and tackled by an
off duty police officer in Kecskemet. The local Roma community and the
man's family did not accept the preliminary medical examiner's report
that the man died from a congenital heart defect. The police chief
reinstated the suspended officer based on the medical examiner's
report, despite the report noting the unexplained presence of sand in
the suspect's windpipe and water in his lungs. The final coroner's
report, released by the Budapest Central Police, affirmed the
conclusions of the preliminary medical report and found no relation
between the man's death and the officer's actions. The Office of the
Minority Affairs Ombudsman was also investigating the incident, and its
report was still pending at year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, police
occasionally used excessive force, beat, and harassed suspects,
particularly Roma. For example, according to the Roma Press Center, in
December, police beat a Roma couple while in custody at the Szigetvar
police station. Police released the couple, detained on suspicion of
pickpocketing, after 2 hours. The man, an epileptic, sought treatment
at a local hospital for injuries to his kidneys and lungs--allegedly
sustained at the hands of police. Officials from the Baranya County
Police Headquarters took the couple's statements along with their
complaint and were investigating the case at year's end.
In December, eight police officers were put on trial by the
Kaposvar Military Prosecutor's Office for allegedly beating a 31-year-
old Roma man in January. The officers were charged with illegal
restraint, maltreatment during an official procedure, assault and
battery, and committing a breach of duty. The man was allegedly dragged
from his home and driven by car for 10 minutes while being beaten by
the officers, allegedly to dissuade him from pressing charges against a
local deputy in another abuse case.
In July, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg found
that the Government had violated the European Convention on Human
Rights in the case of Sandor Balogh versus Hungary. The case concerned
the abuse of Sandor Balogh while in police custody in 1996. The Court
ruled that there was a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman
or degrading treatment), but no violations of Article 13 (right to an
effective remedy). The Court awarded Mr. Balogh $5,400 (4,000 euros)
for pecuniary damages, $13,500 (10,000 euros) for non-pecuniary
damages, and $4,050 (3,000 euros) for costs and expenses.
The Government actively pursued allegations of police abuse. In the
first half of the year, authorities investigated 18 cases of suspected
abuse by police involving 15 police officers. The majority of incidents
occurred during interrogations. A total of 12 incidents resulted in
court cases, with 9 guilty verdicts. NGOs usually estimated that
approximately half of the police abuse cases involved Roma victims. The
law does not authorize the Government to compile statistics on race or
ethnicity. There were occasional reports that police punched, kicked,
and struck persons with truncheons while in police custody. The
Government conducted investigations in some cases and brought charges
against individual police officers.
While the number of police abuse reports remained relatively steady
compared with the previous year. The widespread prejudice against Roma
further complicated efforts to assess the extent of police abuse,
particularly against Roma. As in previous years, the National and
Ethnic Minority Right Protection Office received frequent complaints
from Roma of police abuse and misconduct.
NGOs, such as the Mahatma Gandi Human Rights Organization, believed
that there were fewer cases of police harassment of foreign residents,
particularly of non-Europeans; however, police continued to show
indifference toward foreigners who were victims of street crime.
Discrimination against dark-skinned foreigners persisted.
Prisons were overcrowded but generally met international standards.
As of September, the prisons and detention centers held 16,538 persons
or 146 percent of capacity. The Government continued to expand the
capacity of several prisons. Men and women were held separately;
juveniles were held separately from adults; and pretrial detainees were
held separately from convicted prisoners.
On November 27, 2003, a Romani inmate burned to death in a ``rubber
cell'' at a prison in Zalaegerszeg, Zala County. An investigation
determined that the prison guards did not adequately search the inmate
before placing him in the cell. The cause of the fire was determined to
be from a lighter that the inmate had smuggled in with him. The death
was ruled a suicide, and the guards were fined for not following proper
procedures.
The Government permitted visits by independent human rights
observers, and such visits occurred during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions; however, in April, a 15-year-old Roma boy remained
in custody for robbery several weeks after the alleged victim confessed
to having falsely accused the boy. Despite being exonerated, the
Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County Police refused to release the boy until the
victim's confession had been delivered to police from the county
prosecutor's office.
The Hungarian National Police has responsibility for law
enforcement and maintenance of order under the direction of the
Ministry of Interior. In addition, city police forces and the National
Border Guards share security responsibilities, ultimately also under
the Ministry of Interior's direction. The Government actively pursued
allegations of police abuse. Punishments for abuses committed by police
included fines, probation, prison sentences, and dismissal (see Section
1.c.). A book on victim protection, used to train police officers and
activists, also listed all NGOs providing protection to crime victims.
The law requires that police obtain warrants to place an individual
under arrest. Police must inform suspects upon arrest of the charges
against them but may hold detainees for a maximum of 72 hours before
filing charges. The law requires that all suspects be allowed access to
counsel prior to questioning and throughout all subsequent proceedings
and that the authorities provide counsel for juveniles, the indigent,
and persons with mental disabilities. Credible reports suggested that
police did not always allow access to counsel, particularly for persons
accused of minor crimes. There was a comprehensive bail system, which
was used frequently.
Pretrial detention, based on a warrant issued by a judge, may not
exceed 3 years while criminal investigations are in progress. The
Government may detain individuals for 3 days without bringing charges
against them. Not all suspects were remanded to detention centers after
arraignment while pending trial. The law stipulates that authorities
can request pretrial detention in cases when it is likely the suspect
will flee, when the gravity of the charges warrant detention, or when
the release of the suspect would endanger the investigation. In 2003, 6
juvenile offenders and 12 adults who had been detained for more than
the new maximum period were set free.
The Prosecutor General's Office reported that the average length of
pretrial detention was 118.5 days during the year; however, nearly 12
percent of detainees were held for periods longer than 8 months. Aliens
usually were held until their trials, since they were considered likely
to flee the country. Roma alleged that they were kept in pretrial
detention longer and more frequently than non-Roma, although the data
protection law prohibits keeping records detailing the ethnicity of the
detainees (see Section 1.e.). The law provides for compensation if a
detainee is released for lack of evidence, but the procedure rarely was
exercised since detainees must undertake a complicated legal procedure
to pursue such claims. The Minister of Justice decides upon
compensation. The amount is decided on a case-by-case-basis and may
cover the costs of the trial, attorney's fees, lost wages, and some
miscellaneous sums.
The law permits police to hold suspects in public security
detention (PSD) under certain circumstances, including when a suspect
has no identity papers, when blood or urine tests must be performed, or
when a suspect again commits the same misdemeanor offense after
receiving a prior warning. Suspects may be held in PSD for up to 24
hours. Such detainees were not always informed of the charges against
them, because such periods of ``short'' detention were not defined as
``criminal detention'' and, therefore, were not considered covered by
the Criminal Code.
The Government funded or operated victim protection offices in each
county to provide psychological, medical, and social services to
victims of crime. At the conclusion of judicial proceedings, victims
may apply through the Safe Hungary Public Foundation for financial
compensation from the perpetrator. In practice, both citizen and
foreign victims received compensation from the victim protection
offices; however, there is no indication of how often victims received
compensation from perpetrators.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
Under the Constitution, the courts are responsible for the
administration of justice, with the Supreme Court exercising control
over the operations and judicial procedure of all other courts.
Effective July 2003, a regional court system was established. The new
regional courts serve as the court of appeals for county cases, thus
creating a fourth level of appeals in the court system. The Supreme
Court is the final court of appeal, and the Constitutional Court can
hear appeals of military court decisions.
The Constitutional Court is charged with reviewing the
constitutionality of laws and statutes brought before it, as well as
the compliance of these laws with international treaties that the
Government has ratified. Parliament elects the 11 members of the
Constitutional Court, who serve 9-year terms. The judges elect the
president of the Constitutional Court among themselves by secret
ballot. Citizens may appeal to the Constitutional Court directly if
they believe that their constitutional rights were violated. The
Constitutional Court does not function as a court of appeal, and it
cannot override the sentences made by regular courts. It can decide if
a law is unconstitutional or not, and citizens can demand a retrial of
their cases on the basis of a Constitutional court decision. The
Constitutional Court is required to address every petition it receives;
however, no deadline is specified for the Court to render a decision,
resulting in a considerable backlog of cases. No judge or member of the
Supreme or Constitutional Courts may belong to a political party or
trade union. Members of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts also may
not be members of Parliament or be employed in local government. The
National Judicial Council nominated judicial appointees other than for
the Constitutional Court and oversaw the judicial budget process.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally respected this right. Trials are public, but, in
some cases, judges may agree to a closed trial to protect the accused
or the victim of a crime, such as in some cases of rape. Judicial
proceedings generally were investigative rather than adversarial in
nature. Defendants are entitled to counsel during all phases of
criminal proceedings and are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Counsel is appointed for indigent clients, but the public defender
system generally provided substandard service. There is no permanently
staffed public defender's office; private attorneys may or may not
choose to serve in this capacity. Public defenders were paid poorly--
less than $4.50 (1,000 HUF) for the first hour of the trial and less
than $2.50 (500 HUF) for each additional hour--and did not give
indigent defendants priority. Lawyers often met indigent clients for
the first time at trial. The Act on Legal Aid provided for greater
assistance to defendants by providing for free legal advice from
government-funded legal staff, but not representation.
Judicial proceedings varied in length, and delays of several months
to a year before the commencement of trials were common. Cases on
appeal may remain pending before the courts for indefinite periods,
during which time defendants are held in detention. Defendants can
confront or question witnesses against them and present witnesses and
evidence on their behalf, and they have access to government-held
evidence relevant to their cases. There is no jury system; judges are
the final arbiters. The new Criminal Procedure Law allows 3 years from
the start of an investigation until the first instance court sentence.
Cases that have not resulted in a sentence are dismissed. The new law
gives prosecutors more investigative powers than the HNP. Prosecutors
may employ plea-bargaining, which police considered an important weapon
in the fight against organized crime.
Many human rights and Romani organizations claimed that Roma
received less than equal treatment in the judicial process (see Section
1.d.). Specifically, they alleged that Roma were kept in pretrial
detention more often and for longer periods than non-Roma. This
allegation was credible in light of general discrimination and
prejudice against Roma. Since the majority of Roma were from the lowest
economic strata, they also suffered from substandard legal
representation.
Military trials follow civil law and may be closed if justified on
national security or moral grounds. In all cases, sentencing must take
place publicly. The law does not provide for the trial of civilians in
military courts.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
The law provides that the prosecutor's office may issue search
warrants. Police must carry out searches of private residences in the
presence of two witnesses and must prepare a written inventory of items
removed from the premises.
Courts ordered evictions due to nonpayment of public utilities, but
they were not carried out during winter months. According to NGOs,
district councils threatened to take children away from Roma families
to expedite evictions. NGOs also cited government figures that
suggested it was less expensive simply to rent an apartment than it was
to pay for a child in state care. Due to their economic status, Roma
were disproportionately represented among those evicted for nonpayment
of utilities.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, opposition parties
criticized the Government for influencing editorial and personnel
decisions of state-owned media. Individuals may criticize the
Government publicly or privately without reprisal and did so in
practice.
Numerous privately owned print publications expressing a variety of
views were available to the public. The Government generally did not
interfere with the operation of private news media.
There were two state-owned public service television stations (MTV
and Duna TV) and one public service radio (Hungarian Radio), two
national commercial television stations (TV2 and RTL Klub), two
national commercial radio stations (Slager Radio and Danubius Radio),
and four national dailies (Nepszabadsag, Magyar Hirlap, Nepszava,
Magyar Nemzet).
Interference in state-owned media remained a concern. Several
state-owned radio and television stations were governed by a state-
appointed public media oversight board, which has proportional
political representation. During the year, allegations were made
against the President of Hungarian Public Radio (HPR) that she had been
a secret agent during the Communist period. Although the allegations
were never substantiated, it was widely believed that the attempt to
discredit her was politically motivated, as she was appointed to the
post by the previous conservative government. In July, the board of the
state-owned public television MTV cancelled the program Night Tracks
(Ejjeli Meneddek) after the program had featured a well-known Holocaust
victim. Opposition political parties were traditionally critical of the
progovernment news coverage in state-owned media, and the audience for
private news outlets exceeded that for state-owned broadcasters.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media criticized the
country's outdated libel and secrecy laws in response to two court
decisions during the year involving sentences for journalists. These
journalists were given suspended prison sentences for libel convictions
under the criminal statutes.
The Media Law provided for the creation of nationwide commercial
television and radio boards and was intended to insulate the remaining
public service media from government control. The National Television
and Radio Board monitored news broadcasts for equal treatment of all
political parties, and censured and fined public and private
broadcasters.
Minority language print media continued to appear, and the state-
run radio broadcast 2 hours of programs daily in languages of the major
minority groups: Romani, Slovak, Romanian, German, Croatian, and
Serbian. State-run television carried a 26-minute program produced by
and for each of seven major minority groups. In addition, a 50-minute
joint program serving the five smaller minority communities was seen on
a monthly basis along with 30-minute weekly documentaries covering one
minority community monthly. Programming of Radio C, a public
foundation-sponsored nonprofit station with an 80 percent Romani staff,
was received only in the Budapest metropolitan area; however, a 1-hour
program of Radio C aired on HPR's regional network daily. Although it
received subsidies and foreign donations to cover its operations from
the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute and foreign embassies, it
still lacked a stable source of income. Television programs for, about,
and by ethnic Hungarians in the neighboring countries were broadcast
for 3.75 hours per week.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet or academic
freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice; however, prior to a
planned neo-Nazi demonstration by a little-known group called
``Hungarian Future,'' the Government attempted to stop the group from
carrying out the demonstration, despite having no legal means to do so.
Hungarian Future's leader was arrested 1 week before the demonstration
and sentenced to 10 days' detention for publicly displaying a fascist
symbol banned by law. The group declined to proceed with its
demonstration as planned, due to the detention of its leader.
The Constitution forbids the registering of neo-Nazi groups, and
the neo-Nazi group ``Blood and Honor'' was originally registered as a
``cultural group.'' However, in December, a Budapest district court
stripped Blood and Honor of its legal status under a law prohibiting
``incitement against a community.'' Without legal status, Blood and
Honor could not apply for permits to hold rallies or enjoy other legal
benefits open to registered groups such as owning property, and opening
bank accounts under its name. At year's end, Blood and Honor was
expected to appeal the decision.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. There is no state religion; however, there are 4 historically
recognized denominations (Roman Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran, and
Jewish) and 136 officially recognized denominations.
A group must provide 100 signatures to register as a religion,
which it may do in any local court. While any group was free to
practice its faith, formal registration made available to religious
groups certain protections and privileges and granted access to several
forms of state funding. The Government provided subsidies to some
religious groups each year, and taxpayers may contribute 1 percent of
their tax payments to a registered religious body. In 2003, 14.6
percent of the taxpayers offered 1 percent of their taxes to churches.
In January, Parliament amended the tax code to make donations to any
registered religion tax-free, and the Government matches taxpayer
donations. In 2003, the Government provided subsidies to 121 religious
groups.
Religious instruction was not part of the public school curriculum;
however, the State permitted primary and secondary school students to
enroll in extracurricular religious education classes.
The religious groups and the State agreed on a number of properties
to be returned and an amount of monetary compensation to be paid for
properties that could not be returned. These agreements are subsumed
under the 1991 Compensation Law, which requires the Government to
compensate religious groups for properties confiscated by the
Government after January 1, 1946. During the year, the Government paid
religious groups $11 million (2.2 billion HUF) as compensation for the
assets confiscated during the Communist regime.
During the year, the Government resolved 131 cases regarding
properties seized from religious groups by the communist regime. No
property was returned to churches. At year's end, there were 837 cases
pending.
Despite a generally optimistic outlook regarding the decrease in
anti-Semitism over the last several years, representatives of the
Jewish community expressed concern over anti-Semitism in some media
outlets, in society, and in coded political speech. For example,
certain segments of an ongoing Sunday news magazine, Vasarnapi Ujsag,
on Hungarian Public Radio were criticized for presenting guests who
held anti-Semitic viewpoints. The weekly newspaper Magyar Demokrata
continued to publish anti-Semitic articles, and featured articles by
authors who have denied the Holocaust.
On January 11, over 5,000 persons held a protest in front of Tilos
Radio against anti-Christian statements made on the air by an
inebriated disk jockey on Christmas Eve 2003. After the demonstration,
approximately 100 to 200 persons remained and burnt an Israeli flag.
Although police witnessed the event, no arrests were made until after
it received widespread media coverage. Two defendants were ultimately
convicted and fined under the Hate Speech Law.
Several groups staged anti-fascist counterdemonstrations in
response to Hungarian Future's aborted commemoration of the 60th
anniversary of the fascist takeover of the country (see Section 2.b.).
Despite the failure of Hungarian Future to go through with the
demonstration, at least 10,000 anti-fascist demonstrators showed up,
including the Prime Minister and almost all the ruling coalition's
Members of Parliament (M.P.s).
According to police reports, during the first 8 months of the year
there were 216 cases of persons vandalizing gravestones and cemeteries
during the year, compared with 459 such cases in 2003. The Jewish
community stated that there were fewer acts of vandalism in Jewish
cemeteries than in 2003 (a downward trend continued from 2002), and it
attributed most of the incidents to youths and did not consider the
incidents anti-Semitic in nature.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. There
were no reports that local authorities tried to expel Roma from towns;
however, the Government resettled 20 homeless persons from Budapest to
government-subsidized apartments in the country on a volunteer basis.
The law does not provide for forced exile, and the Government did
not employ it.
The Government may delay but may not deny emigration for those who
have significant court-assessed debts or who possess state secrets.
During the year, there were no known cases of delayed emigration. Those
with approximately $50,000 (over 10 million HUF) or more in public debt
may be denied travel documents. The Government did not impose an exit
visa requirement on its citizens or on foreigners.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return to a
country where they feared prosecution. The Government granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
organizations assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The UNHCR reported
that, during the year, 1,600 asylum seekers entered the country,
including 1,146 illegal border crossers. The asylum seekers came
primarily from Georgia, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, Vietnam, China,
Algeria, and Nigeria. During the year, the Government accelerated its
asylum process and granted 1,187 residence permits on humanitarian
grounds. During the year, the Government granted refugee status to 149
applicants and temporary protected status to 177 persons, and 283 cases
were pending. The Office of Immigration and Nationality (OIN) is the
central authority for asylum and immigration matters.
Asylum applicants were housed in three government-owned camps and
two temporary camps run by NGOs. One temporary camp was closed and
another for unaccompanied minors was opened in 2003.
The OIN operated seven regional offices to process asylum requests
and administered the refugee camps. Prospective refugees who sought
only to transit to other European countries were encouraged to return
to their countries of origin. In September, 565 asylum seekers were
living in 3 permanent and 1 temporary reception center, and there were
14 minors (ages 4 to 17 years) living in a new home for unaccompanied
minors. For aliens requiring greater monitoring in a more restrictive
environment, the OIN operated four different shelters called community
shelters. Aliens housed in the refugee camps enjoyed fewer restrictions
on freedom of movement than those in community shelters did. Several
NGOs and human rights organizations supported asylum seekers and
provided legal information.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967
Protocol. Foreigners apprehended trying to cross the border illegally
either may apply for refugee status if they have valid travel documents
or were housed temporarily at one of eight border guard detention
centers for non-asylum seekers throughout the country, pending
deportation. During the year a total of 4,588 aliens passed through the
shelters, while on a typical day 114 persons occupied these facilities.
The greatest number of aliens in the border guard facilities came from
Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia-Montenegro, and Turkey. Although
police sought the timely deportation of detainees who did not qualify
for refugee status, a shortage of funds and the detainees' lack of
documentation, such as passports, often resulted in lengthy stays. NGOs
criticized the Government's indefinite detention of stateless and some
undocumented foreigners pending resolution of their cases. There were
no reports of abuse during deportation. NGOs and churches cooperate
with the border guards to support the asylum seekers.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.
Elections are held at least every 4 years. Parliamentary elections took
place in April 2002, and municipal elections were held in October 2002.
Reform of the country's political and economic structure led to the
country's EU membership in May.
M.P.s are elected every 4 years through a multi-stage process, in
which voters cast ballots for individual candidates and party lists. In
May 2002, the Socialist Party and the Alliance of Free Democrats
established a post-election coalition, which gave the two parties a 10-
member majority in Parliament. The Socialist Party was the senior
coalition member and nominated Peter Medgyessy as Prime Minister. The
FIDESZ-Hungarian Civic Party and the Hungarian Democratic Forum were
the opposition groups in Parliament. In August, Prime Minister
Medgyessy resigned. Socialist Party member and Minister of Sport Ferenc
Gyurcsany was nominated for Prime Minister by the existing ruling
coalition, and was elected by simple majority of the Parliament via a
constitutionally prescribed method on September 29.
Although there was widespread perception of corruption in the
executive and legislative branches, no compelling evidence of such
corruption came to light in 2004. Anecdotal evidence suggested that
significant corruption in procurement of military articles existed;
however, various indices--including Transparency International--rate
Hungary among the least corrupt governments in the region. Low-level
corruption among law enforcement officials remained a problem, but the
Government was taking steps to address the issue.
In Parliament, 35 of 386 representatives were women. Two women
served in the Cabinet, and several women were state secretaries and
deputy state secretaries. A woman (a former Minister of Justice) headed
the Hungarian Democratic Forum, one of four parties represented in
Parliament. The Speaker and one of the deputy speakers of Parliament
were women. The level of women's political participation was greater in
provincial and municipal governments than at the national level. The
Hungarian Women's Alliance held weekend courses throughout the year to
promote the participation of women in public life.
Although there is no legal allocation of minority representation
within the national government, there were several ethnic minority
M.P.s, including ethnic Germans and ethnic Slovaks. There were four
Romani M.P.s. There were 3,000 Roma politicians in the local and
national minority self-governments.
The law provides for the establishment of local minority self-
governments to enhance respect for the rights of ethnic minorities,
particularly in the fields of education and culture. The self-
governments received funding from the central budget and some
logistical support from local governments. Self-governments provided
wide cultural autonomy for minorities and handled primarily cultural
and educational affairs. The president of each self-government is also
a delegate to local government assemblies. The president has no voting
or veto rights but has the right to speak and attend committee
meetings. Minority self-governments are dependent on local governments
for funding, office space, and equipment. Any of the 13 registered
minorities may set up a minority self-government if at least 50 valid
votes are cast in settlements with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and if
at least 100 votes are cast in larger settlements.
Since an individual's ethnicity is not registered officially,
voting on minority self-governments is not limited to the minorities
themselves. All voters receive a minority ballot in addition to the
local government ballot. The elected local minority self-governments
could elect their national minority self-governments, which have been
formed by all 13 minorities. Several Romani self-governments have
regional groupings to facilitate cooperation. Critics have called for
increasing the authority and financial resources of the minority self-
governments.
In 2002, non-minority candidates also were elected to minority
self-governments and, in some cases, even obtained a majority, for
instance, in Jaszladany. Romani rights observers viewed this outcome as
undermining the local Romani community. Government efforts to amend the
laws on minorities and elections to prevent non-minority voting in
elections for minority self-governments were pending in September. In
September, 977 out of the 1,830 active self-governments were Romani
self-governments. Romani mayors headed 4 municipal governments, and 544
Roma sat on local and county government assemblies.
Two factors limited the effectiveness of the Romani and other
minority self-governments: Elections of non-minorities to the self-
governments, which prevented some minorities from exercising the
autonomy the law is intended to promote, and the reported abandonment
by some local governments of responsibilities for government functions
related to the minorities, which the self-governments lacked the legal
mandate and resources to address.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Many NGOs reported
that the Government continued to be responsive to their requests for
information. Human rights groups indicated improvement in the degree of
cooperation from government ministries and prosecutors' offices on
cases involving Roma and police abuse. An increasing number of NGOs
were involved in the law-making process; however, NGOs claimed that the
Government's cooperation in this area was insufficient.
The Government did not interfere with activities of international
NGOs operating offices in the country. During the year, Amnesty
International opened an office in the country. Government cooperation
with international NGOs was very good. In particular, the Government
has worked closely with International Organization on Migration (IOM)
in its effort to combat trafficking in persons (see Section 5).
A 21-member parliamentary Committee for Human, Minority, and
Religious Rights conducted hearings and participated in the law-making
process. The Committee was composed of both majority and opposition
M.P.s, reflecting the proportion of party representation in Parliament,
and was headed by an opposition chair. There were separate ombudsmen
for human rights, data protection, and minority affairs. The ombudsmen
were independent from the Government and prepared annual reports to
Parliament on their activities and findings. Parliament elects the
ombudsmen for 6-year terms. Persons with complaints who have not
obtained redress elsewhere may seek the assistance of the Ombudsman's
office. The Ombudsman's office does not have the authority to issue
legally binding judgments but may act as a mediator and conduct fact-
finding inquiries.
The Minority Affairs Ombudsman--an ethnic German elected to a
second term in 2001--played an active role in the examination of
allegations of discrimination against the Romani community in such
cases as school segregation, access to housing, and the election of
non-Roma to the Romani minority self-governments (see Sections 3 and
5).
The Political State Secretary of Roma Affairs was moved from the
Prime Minister's Office to the new Ministry of Youth, Family, Social
Affairs, and Equal Opportunities. The Roma Affairs and Civil Relations
Office operated out of the same ministry. The Government Office of
Ethnic Minorities continued its operations, dealing with all 13 ethnic
minority communities.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for individual rights, equality, and
protection against discrimination; however, in practice, discrimination
persisted, particularly against Roma.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was common, but the vast
majority of such abuse was not reported. The NGO Women Against Violence
Against Women (NANE) reported that 20 percent of women were threatened
by or were victims of domestic violence. The Government focused more
attention on issues such as domestic violence. In September, the
Government and NGOs sponsored a conference on domestic violence and
victim's assistance for law enforcement and judicial officials. In
addition, the Government funded NGO-run training seminars for law
enforcement and judicial officials in the area of victim's assistance.
The Ministry of Youth, Family, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities
opened a shelter for victim's of domestic abuse and operated a 24/7
hotline for such victims.
The laws criminalize spousal rape. Women's rights organizations
claimed that 1 woman in 10 was a victim of spousal abuse and that
societal attitudes towards spousal abuse were archaic. The law
prohibits violence in general and establishes criminal penalties for
those convicted of such crimes. There are no statistics for domestic
violence prosecutions, since this was not a distinct charge under the
Penal Code.
Each county police station or county local government has a
victim's protection unit. Police recruits received training from
representatives of NGOs and international organizations on proper
responses to rape and sexual assault cases. Victims of domestic
violence could also obtain help and information from an NGO-run
national hotline or at one of several NGO-run shelters. The hotline
operated intermittently for 3 hours each day, and a message system was
activated when a counselor was unavailable in person. Shelters provided
short-term refuge, and their locations were concealed to protect
victims.
Although rape is illegal, for cultural reasons the crime often was
unreported. Police attitudes toward victims of sexual abuse reportedly
often were unsympathetic, particularly if the victim was acquainted
with her abuser. During the year, women were victims of 87,837 reported
crimes of all types.
Prostitution is illegal; however, municipal governments may
establish ``tolerance zones'' where such activity may occur. Currently,
there is only one such tolerance zone, located in Budapest.
The Penal Code does not explicitly prohibit sexual harassment in
the workplace, but there are laws prohibiting general harassment and
the Labor Code has a section addressing the right to a secure
workplace. However, sexual harassment remained a widespread problem.
Women's groups reported that there was little support for efforts to
criminalize sexual harassment and that sexual harassment was tolerated
by women who feared unemployment more than harassment. The Labor Code,
which regulates questions of security in the workplace, provides for
sentences of up to 3 years' imprisonment for sexual harassment;
nonviolent acts of sexual harassment may also be prosecuted under the
defamation statutes. During the year, no charges were brought under
this provision of the Labor Code.
Women have the same rights as men, including identical inheritance
and property rights. The number of women in middle or upper managerial
positions in business and government remained low, and, in practice,
women received lower pay than men in similar positions and occupations.
The number of women in the police and the military has risen over the
past several years, and women were well represented in the judiciary
and in the medical and teaching professions.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights. The
law provides for compulsory education, which was free through age 18
for children who were born after 1997. The Ministry of Education
estimated that 95 percent of school-age children, with the exception of
Romani children, were enrolled in school. Roma were far more likely
than non-Roma to stop attending school before age 16. Reliable figures
on Romani enrollment and graduation rates were unavailable due to the
prohibition on collecting data on ethnicity.
Romani and other civic organizations continued to criticize the
practice of placing Romani children in remedial education programs
designed for children with mental disabilities or low academic
performance, resulting in informal segregation. Although the children
could return to the regular school system, only a small percentage did
so. In 2002, the Ombudsman for National and Ethnic Minority Rights
declared that segregation continued to exist in public education. An
earlier report by the Ombudsman's office found that the high proportion
of Romani children in ``special schools'' for children with mental
disabilities was a sign of prejudice and a failure of the public
education system. To prevent the improper placement of children in
remedial education, particularly Romani children, parents were required
to concur in the decision of the school to enroll their child in such a
program and the child was tested yearly to measure educational
performance. However, NGOs remained concerned that Romani children were
still improperly referred to special schools despite the safeguards. In
June, the Borsod-bauj-Zemplen County Court ruled that the public school
in Tiszatarjan had improperly referred 10 Romani students to remedial
education classes and that those classes were inadequately conducted.
The court ordered the school council to pay more than $200,000
(approximately 38 million HUF) to the 10 families.
During the previous school year, Roma Affairs ministerial
Commissioner of the Ministry of Education conducted an investigation of
1200 second-grade children in ``special schools.'' The Ministry
determined that 222 of those children could continue their studies in
``normal'' elementary schools. The Government Office of National and
Ethnic Minorities estimated that as many as 700 schools had de-facto
segregation. The Government stated that the Romani schools were
designed to provide intensive help for disadvantaged children. During
the year, the Ministry of Education released a report stating less than
one-third of the 380 schools conducting special education programs have
the necessary certification. Laws permit a combination of a maximum of
three grades into one classroom, and prescribe the employment of a
special-needs teacher in each program. However, the report found that,
in 17 schools, grades 1 through 8 were combined, in 67 schools grades 1
through 4 were combined, and in 74 schools grades 5 through 8 were in 1
class. According to the European Roma Rights Center, Roma students make
up 20 percent of the country's student population but over 50 percent
of the remedial school population. Education officials claimed that
this was largely due to the dire economic circumstances of these
children's families, not due to discrimination.
In February, the Hungarian Examination and Evaluation Center for
Public Education found that the private foundation school of
Jaszladany, opened in September 2003, was not in accordance with the
laws and was improperly segregated. According to the Ministry of
Education, the authorities do not have the right to close down the
school. At year's end, the Government was still working on amending the
Law on Public Education to resolve the situation.
In June, the Ministry of Education initiated an investigation of
the school councils in the towns of Bag and Isaszeg due to allegations
of mistreatment of ``special school'' children made in a Roma Press
Center report. The report claimed that the number of students with
mental disabilities in Isaszeg increased 2-fold over 10 years, that
educational practices were sub-standard, and that all the students in
the remedial program in Bag were Romani children.
There were programs aimed at increasing the number of Roma in
higher education. The Romaversitas program supported Romani students
completing degrees in institutions of higher education; there were
departments of Romani studies in the teachers' training colleges in
Pecs, Eger, and Zsambek and of Romology at the University of Pecs. The
Government provided a number of scholarships to Roma at all levels of
education through the public Foundation for the Hungarian Roma. The
Government reported that in the 2003-04 academic year, over 23,000 Roma
received state-funded scholarships, of which 1,600 were given for
studies at the university level.
School-age children may receive free medical care at state-operated
institutions and most educational facilities. Psychologists were
available to evaluate and counsel children, and provisions existed for
children to obtain dental care. However, NGOs and Roma activists
claimed that Romani children did not have equal access to these and
other government services.
Child abuse remained a problem. NGOs claim that an estimated 25
percent of girls suffered from abuse by a family member before they
reached the age of 12. During the year, 7,423 children were reported as
victims of crimes. NGOs reported that neglect and abuse were common in
state care facilities. The law criminalizes relationships between an
adult and a minor when the minor is less than 14 years of age. The
Criminal Code provides sanctions against the neglect and endangerment
of minors, assault, and preparation of child pornography; however, laws
to protect children were enforced infrequently.
Child prostitution was not a common practice, although isolated
incidents occurred. Severe penalties existed under the law for those
persons convicted of sexually abusing children by engaging in such
acts. While child prostitutes are not criminally convicted, they can be
remanded to juvenile centers for rehabilitation and to complete school.
Trafficking in children for the purpose of sexual exploitation was
a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons to, from, and primarily through the
country remained a problem.
The Penal Code provides penalties for trafficking commensurate with
those for rape. Under the law, even preparation for the trafficking in
persons is a criminal offense. The penalty for trafficking is between 2
and 8 years in prison; the trafficking of minors is punishable by up to
10 years in prison. However, if an organized trafficking ring is
involved, the sentence can be life imprisonment and seizure of assets.
The law provides for immediate deportation of foreign traffickers
following completion of their sentences. Witness cooperation in the
prosecution of traffickers was aided by the Witness and Victim
Protection Act, which came into force during the year. This law
provides witnesses with short-term relief from deportation and access
to shelter. A total of 15 trafficking cases came to trial during the
year, all of which were ongoing at year's end.
The government agencies most directly involved in anti-trafficking
efforts were: Police, border guards, customs authorities, prosecutors,
and the Justice, Interior, and Foreign ministries. In principle, the
Government is willing to extradite foreign nationals charged with
trafficking; however, no such actions were taken in practice. The
Organized Crime Task Force investigated trafficking cases involving
organized crime, and the Government cooperated with other countries in
joint trafficking investigations. On July 1, an anti-trafficking unit
was set up within the organized crime section of the National Police.
By year's end, this unit had conducted joint investigations of
trafficking rings with Norwegian, Danish, and Italian law enforcement
authorities.
The country was primarily a transit point, but it was also a source
and destination country for trafficked persons. No accurate estimate of
how many trafficking victims transit through the country existed. Rough
estimates by the Government and NGOs put the figure at approximately
3,000 per year. The most frequent targets were women between the ages
of 13 to 27. Victims also included middle-aged women, men, and
children. Women and children were trafficked for sexual exploitation
primarily from countries to the east, where unemployment is higher:
Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, and Bulgaria to Austria, Germany,
Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Switzerland, and the United
States. Trafficking victims from Hungary typically were women from the
country's eastern regions, where unemployment was higher. They were
trafficked to Western Europe and elsewhere primarily to Austria,
Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as to Canada,
Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey. Men trafficked for forced labor
through the country en route to EU countries and the United States came
from Iraq, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. There were no
estimates available on the extent of trafficking of males for forced
labor.
Organized crime syndicates transported many of the trafficking
victims for forced prostitution either in Budapest, or for transit to
Western Europe or North America. Trafficking rings also exploited
victims for domestic servitude and manual labor. Russian-speaking
organized crime syndicates were active in trafficking women through the
country, primarily from Ukraine and other countries of the former
Soviet Union to EU countries. Victims were recruited at discos and
modeling agencies, through word-of-mouth, or even through open
advertisements in local newspapers and magazines. Reportedly, some
victims knew that they were going to work illegally; others believed
they were getting foreign visas; others expected to work but believed
their employers were obtaining the appropriate papers and permission.
Once at their destination, the victims were forced into prostitution or
other exploitation. Traffickers often threatened victims, confiscated
identification documents, and severely restricted their freedom of
movement.
There was no evidence of Government involvement in or tolerance of
trafficking. However, border guards have been arrested for isolated
instances of corruption. There were no available statistics on how many
of these corruption cases involved trafficking in persons.
The Government has increased trafficking awareness and victim
identification training for law enforcement and judicial officials by
holding training workshops throughout the country. In addition, the
Government has developed a training program for trafficking
investigators focusing on both investigative skills and victim
assistance. The Government has also instituted mandatory trafficking
awareness courses at the National Police Academy and in continuing
educational programs for veteran police officers. In cooperation with
NGOs, the Government has developed other victim assistance training
materials for law enforcement and consular officials, some of which
have been adopted by other nations in the region. The Border Guards
have developed a 300-page handbook to combat trafficking, which has
been distributed to all law enforcement education institutions. At
year's end, nearly 750 teachers and social workers have taken
university classes on trafficking. The Government has also expanded its
counter-trafficking efforts regionally with the establishment of the
Crime Prevention Academy, which has begun to train Ukrainian and
western Balkan law enforcement officials in counter-trafficking
techniques.
Assistance with temporary residency status, short-term relief from
deportation, and shelter assistance were available to trafficking
victims who cooperated with police and prosecutors. There was no
government-run operational shelter for trafficking victims; however,
NGOs have provided shelter for trafficking victims on an informal
basis. The Ministry of Interior's Victims' Protection Office managed a
victims' protection fund and posted information on victim protection in
every county police headquarters. Victims' Protection Office branches
in 51 localities provided psychological and social support services and
legal aid for all types of victims including trafficking victims.
The IOM, working with other NGOs, continued a program funded by the
Government and foreign donors to raise awareness of the problem of
trafficking and to educate potential victims. Women's rights
organizations, the IOM, the Crime Prevention Section of the National
Police, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs conducted
preventive programs for teenagers in schools. NANE continued to operate
a hotline that provided information on trafficking-associated
advertising lures and situations to alert young women. NANE, the IOM,
and the Public Fund for a Safe Hungary, with funding from foreign
governments, cooperated to continue and enhance the operation of the
hotline.
NGOs working on trafficking problems reported that cooperation with
counterpart government agencies improved. The NGOs provided law
enforcement officers with training in recognizing and identifying
trafficking victims, which included sensitivity training as well as
techniques to combat trafficking (see Section 4).
The Government has improved its internal coordination of its
counter-trafficking efforts by forming an inter-ministerial working
group.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or in the
provision of other state services. Government sources estimated that
there were between 600,000 and 1 million persons with disabilities (6
to 10 percent of the population). Of these persons, 300,000 to 350,000
were considered to have serious disabilities and received increased
government benefits. Persons with disabilities faced societal
discrimination and prejudice.
A Council for the Disabled under the leadership of the Minister of
Social and Family Affairs served as an advisory board to the
Government. A decree requires all companies that employ more than 20
persons to reserve 5 percent of their jobs for persons with physical or
mental disabilities, with fines of up to 75 percent of the average
monthly salary for noncompliance. In practice, this regulation was not
very effective, as employers would rather pay the small fine if caught.
The international NGO Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) and
the local NGO Hungarian Mental Health Interest Forum (PEF) noted that
no procedures existed to oversee the treatment and care of persons with
disabilities who were under guardianship. The MDRI and the PEF also
criticized the use of cages in government facilities for persons with
mental disabilities.
The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities;
however, services for persons with disabilities were limited, and most
buildings were not wheelchair accessible.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law recognizes individuals'
minority rights, establishes the concept of the collective rights of
ethnic minorities, and states the inalienable collective right of
minorities to preserve their ethnic identity. The law also permits
associations, movements, and political parties of an ethnic or national
character and mandates the unrestricted use of ethnic languages. To be
recognized, an ethnic group must have at least 100 years' presence in
the country, and its members must be citizens. On this basis, minority
status was granted specifically to 13 national or ethnic groups (among
which the Roma were easily the most numerous). Other groups may
petition the Speaker of Parliament for inclusion if they believed that
they fulfilled the requirements.
According to the 2001 national census, Roma constituted
approximately 2 percent of the population, but many NGOs and government
offices estimated the number at up to 5 percent. Ethnic Germans, the
second largest minority group, constituted approximately 0.7 percent of
the population. Smaller communities of Slovaks, Croats, Romanians,
Poles, Ukrainians, Greeks, Serbs, Slovenes, Armenians, Ruthenians, and
Bulgarians also were recognized as ethnic minorities.
During the year, the previously established office of Roma Affairs
and the Political State Secretary for Minority Affairs were folded into
the new Ministry of Youth, Family, and Social Affairs and Equal
Opportunities. The Government planned to place a Roma affairs
ministerial commissioner in six ministries. At year's end, there were
two ministerial commissioners for Romani affairs in the Ministries of
Education and Cultural Heritage. The Roma Affairs Inter-ministerial
Commission, established in 1999, continued to work to support the
integration of the Roma and to coordinate the Roma affairs activities
of the ministries and the national government offices. Government and
NGO observers claimed that they could have accomplished more were it
not for budget limitations and the Government restructuring. However,
the Government Office of Ethnic Minorities along with the Roma Affairs
State Secretary played an active role in establishing the European Roma
Forum in Brussels. Together with the Ministry of Education, the Office
of Ethnic Minorities developed a special education program for three
small minority communities (Polish, Greek, and Bulgarian) in which the
children go to Hungarian schools but have an afternoon lesson in their
native languages, cultures, and traditions.
Living conditions for Romani communities continued to be
significantly worse than for the general population. Roma were
significantly less well educated and had below average income and life
expectancy. The unemployment rate for Roma was estimated at
approximately 70 percent, more than 10 times the national average, and
most Roma lived in extreme poverty.
The Minority Affairs Ombudsman played an active role in the
examination of allegations of discrimination against the Romani
community and continued to promote a uniform anti-discrimination law
(see Section 4). The Law on Equal Treatment was passed by Parliament in
December 2003.
Reports of police abuse against Roma were common, but many Roma
were fearful to seek legal remedies or notify NGOs (see Section 1.c.).
Police finished the investigation into the 2002 case of arson at the
Roma minority self-government building in Pecsvarad without any
arrests. Local Roma claimed that police were protecting the
perpetrator. The February 2003 case of a Roma man, who accused police
in Hajduhadhaz of excessive force after being shot, went to trial. At
year's end, there was no verdict in the case.
The Penal Code provides penalties for hate crimes committed because
of the victim's ethnicity, race, or nationality. Three cases from 2001
charging incitement of the public remained pending at the middle of the
year, all involving distribution of anti-Semitic tracts. In December
2003, Parliament passed an amendment to the Hate Speech Law. The
amendment modifies the law so that language does not have to meet the
``incitement to violence'' test to be considered hate speech. The
President referred the amendment to the Constitutional Court. In May,
the Constitutional Court declared the amendment of the Hate Speech Law
unconstitutional and returned the amendment to Parliament for
reconsideration. The Parliament had not amended the Hate Speech Law by
year's end.
Negative stereotypes of Roma as poor and socially burdensome
persisted. Widespread discrimination against Roma continued in
education, housing, penal institutions, and access to public
institutions, such as restaurants and pubs. In some instances, the
authorities fined establishments that banned Roma. In August 2003, the
Roma Press Center published a report that a hospital in Heves County
segregated pregnant Roma. At the instigation of the Minister of Equal
Opportunity and the National and Ethnic Minority Office, the hospital
made changes in the structure of the wards, and the responsible nurses
were disciplined. During the year, the Ombudsman initiated an
investigation in the case of the Roma man who died while being captured
in Kecskemet (see Section 1.a.). The National and Ethnic Minority Right
Protection Office sued a book-publishing house for publishing and
distributing a schoolbook of ethics with several anti-Roma statements.
Although the book is not on the national list of schoolbooks, schools
can use it. The Roma Rights Protection Foundation has urged the
Government to ban the book. During the year, the Minority Affairs
Ombudsman conducted a survey on the Roma in the media, and concluded
that Roma were underrepresented in the state-owned media outlets. The
report recommended that the Government adopt some type of positive
discrimination or affirmative action program to increase Roma
representation in the media.
Education was available to varying degrees in most minority
languages. There were certain minority schools where the minority
language was also the primary language of instruction, and there were
some schools where minority languages were taught as a second language.
Schools for Roma were more crowded, more poorly equipped, and in
significantly worse condition than those attended by non-Roma.
Government sources estimated that graduation rates for Roma remained
significantly lower than for non-Roma, although there were no available
statistics.
NGOs claimed that city councils threatened to remove children from
Roma families in order to more easily evict those families for
nonpayment of public utilities (see Section 1.f.).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Labor Code recognizes the right
of unions to organize and permits trade union pluralism, and the
Government enforced it in practice. Workers have the right to associate
freely, choose representatives, publish journals, and openly promote
members' interests and views.
There were six trade union federations; each was targeted broadly
at different sectors of the economy. The largest labor union
organization was the National Confederation of Hungarian Trade Unions,
the independent successor to the former monolithic Communist union,
with approximately 235,000 members. As an indicator of union
membership, in 2003, a total of nearly 600,000 taxpayers declared a
deduction for payment union fees.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
permits bargaining at the enterprise and industry level, but collective
bargaining was not widespread in many sectors of the economy. Labor
organizations cooperated with each other and the Government. For
example, the major trade unions worked closely together in the Interest
Reconciliation Council, which brought together government officials,
employers, and trade union leaders to advise the Government on labor
policies and to set target wage increases. Individual trade unions and
management may negotiate higher wages at the plant level. Under a
separate law, public servants may negotiate working conditions, but the
final decision on increasing their salaries rests with Parliament. The
Ministry for Employment Policy and Labor Issues was responsible for
drafting labor-related legislation, among other tasks.
With the exception of military personnel and police officers,
workers have the right to strike.
There are no export processing zones, but individual foreign
companies frequently were granted duty-free zone status for their
facilities. Employees in such facilities and zones are protected under
the labor laws.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
Government adopted laws to protect children from exploitation in the
workplace. The Labor Code prohibits labor by children under the age of
16 and regulates temporary labor conditions during the school vacations
for minors (14 to 16 years of age), including prohibitions on night
shifts and hard physical labor. Children may not work overtime. The
National Labor Center enforced these regulations in practice, and there
were no reports of any significant violations of this statute.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The IRC has the right to
establish the minimum wage through agreement among its participants,
representatives of the Government, employers, and employees. The
minimum monthly wage was raised to $260 (53,000 HUF), which did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The gross
average monthly wage was $550 (109,000 HUF). The minimum wage was only
49 percent of the average wage, and many workers needed a second job to
make ends meet.
The Labor Code specifies various conditions of employment,
including termination procedures, severance pay, maternity leave, trade
union consultation rights in some management decisions, paid vacation
and sick leave entitlements, and labor conflict regulations procedures.
The Code sets the official workday at 8 hours, although it may vary
depending upon the nature of the industry. A 48-hour rest period is
required during any 7-day period. In 2002, the Labor Code was amended
to conform to EU standards.
Labor courts and the Ministry of Economy enforced occupational
safety standards set by the Government, but specific safety conditions
were not consistent with internationally accepted standards. The
enforcement of occupational safety standards was not always effective,
in part due to limited resources. Under the Labor Code, workers have
the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without
jeopardizing their continued employment, and this right generally was
respected in practice.
__________
ICELAND
Iceland is a constitutional republic and a parliamentary democracy
in which citizens periodically choose their representatives in
generally free and fair multiparty elections. Executive authority is
vested in the prime minister, who is head of government and is
appointed by the President. The President is head of state and is
elected by popular vote for a 4-year term. The unicameral Althingi
parliament constitutes the legislative branch. In May 2003, voters
reelected the Independence and Progressive parties to form a governing
coalition led by Prime Minister David Oddsson (Independence). On June
26, Olafur Grimsson was reelected as president. In September, Foreign
Minister Halldor Asgrimsson (Progressive) replaced Oddsson based on a
coalition agreement. The judiciary is independent.
Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the police
forces, which were responsible for internal security. The country had
no military forces. There were no reports that security forces
committed human rights abuses.
The market economy provided residents with a high standard of
living. The population was approximately 290,570; the gross domestic
product grew approximately 4 percent during the year. Fish and other
marine products accounted for approximately 40 percent of the country's
exports; aluminum was the second leading export.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. Societal discrimination
against minorities and foreigners was a problem. There were isolated
reports of women trafficked to the country.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them. In its May 2003 review
of the country's report on its implementation of the Convention Against
Torture, the U.N. Committee Against Torture (CAT) expressed concern
that the law does not clearly define and prohibit torture and does not
prohibit the courts' use of evidence obtained through torture; however,
the Government responded that its law does prohibit torture. In 2003,
the Ministry of Justice disseminated the conclusions of the CAT among
relevant ministries and agencies.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. The
Ombudsman of Parliament monitored prison conditions.
Litla Hraun Prison, a state-of-the-art detention facility, held
most of the country's approximately 100 prisoners; however, the prison
system also used a substandard jail (Hegningarhusid), where the 16
individual cells lacked toilets and sinks. In most cases, prisoners
stayed in Hegningarhusid Prison only a short time for evaluation and
processing before moving to another facility.
The Government maintained a separate minimum-security prison for
women inmates; however, because so few women were incarcerated, some
men who had been convicted of nonviolent crimes were held there as
well. Judges could sentence juvenile offenders who were at least 15
years old to prison terms, but they gave the vast majority probation or
suspended sentences or sent them to treatment programs. In the rare
instances when juvenile offenders were incarcerated, they were held
with adults, since there was no separate facility for juveniles. Since
the need to incarcerate a juvenile occurred infrequently, the
Government argued that separation was not practical; however, human
rights observers criticized this practice.
The law allows the Government to hold pretrial detainees with the
general prison population. In May 2003, the Government initiated the
bidding process for a new detention prison near Reykjavik for
completion in 2005. As of December, the project remained in the
planning stages, and it appeared the deadline would not be met.
During the year, 86 persons placed in custody spent some time in
solitary confinement, on average for 10.7 days. In March 2003, the
Ombudsman of Parliament criticized Litla Hraun officials' carelessness
and asked the prison authority to take steps to ensure medical
treatment for inmates in solitary confinement. He acted on a complaint
filed by an inmate in 2002 whose request to see a psychiatrist was
ignored. During the year, the prison authority retrained staff on
proper procedures for safeguarding prisoner welfare; however, mental
health advocates complained that prisoner access to mental health care
remained inadequate.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The Minister of Justice is the head of the police force. The
National Commissioner of Police administers and runs police operations
that require centralized coordination among various offices. Various
district chiefs of police have responsibility for law enforcement in
their areas, investigate criminal offenses, and have prosecution
powers.
Police may only make arrests when they strongly suspect someone has
committed a crime or when someone refuses to obey police orders to
move. Persons placed under arrest are entitled to legal counsel,
receive a form for their signature that outlines their rights and
options, and within 24 hours of the arrest appear before a judge who
rules whether they need to remain in custody during the investigation.
In December 2003, the Reykjavik district court found two Reykjavik
police officers guilty of improper arrests and false reports. Both
officers lost their jobs, and the court imposed suspended prison
sentences of 2 and 5 months; the longer term was given to an officer,
who also was found guilty of improper use of chemical spray. In May,
the Supreme Court dismissed one of the two charges of improper arrest,
acquitted the officer who had been given a 2 month sentence, and
reduced the 5 month sentence to 2 months. The police reinstated the
acquitted officer.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution and the law
provide for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally
respected this provision in practice.
There are two levels of courts: a five-member Judicial Council,
which administers the eight district courts, and the Supreme Court. The
Minister of Justice appoints members of the Judicial Council and the
Supreme Court; all judges, at all levels, serve for life.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right. Courts do not use juries, but
multi-judge panels are common, particularly in the Supreme Court, which
hears all appeals. The courts presume defendants' innocence and
generally try them without delay. Defendants receive access to legal
counsel of their own choosing. For defendants unable to pay attorneys'
fees, the State covers the cost; however, defendants who are found
guilty must reimburse the State. Defendants have the right to be
present at their trial, to confront witnesses, and to participate in
the proceedings. At the discretion of the courts, prosecutors may
introduce evidence that police have obtained illegally. With limited
exceptions, trials are public and conducted fairly. Defendants have the
right to appeal, and the Supreme Court handles appeals expeditiously.
In June, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that police had
violated Article 5.1 (right to liberty and security) of the European
Convention on Human Rights in the case of a woman arrested six times,
from 1988 to 1992, for drunk and disorderly behavior. The court found
that, at the time of arrest, the police lacked sufficient legal basis
for the woman's detention, but rejected her compensation claim. The
court stated that the laws in question were not clear enough to prevent
possible cases of arbitrary arrest. The laws are no longer in effect.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
The Government has not completed its promised revision of 1998
legislation to establish a national computerized health records
database. Following a 2003 Supreme Court ruling that its encryption
would be insufficient to protect privacy, the never-completed database
remained inactive.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction.
Internet access was almost universally available and unrestricted.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
In June 2003, the Privacy and Data Protection Authority informed
the Ministry of Justice that the Ministry had acted unlawfully in
issuing lists of Falun Gong members to police and airlines who in turn
denied entry to the country to between 110 and 120 Falun Gong
practitioners in June 2002. A human rights lawyer asked the Ministry of
Justice to issue an official apology to the group and threatened to
take legal action if it did not do so. At the lawyer's request, the
Ombudsman of the Althingi reviewed the case. In a preliminary finding,
the Ombudsman determined that the law permits authorities to bar
prospective protesters from entering the country and, alternatively, to
make entry contingent on signing agreements to follow police orders.
Human rights advocates complained that the Ombudsman's decision set a
precedent for unfettered government action whenever the police assert
that a group presents a threat to public order. The Ombudsman has yet
to respond to complaints that the Government directed its national
airline to bar Falun Gong members from boarding planes bound for the
country.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The State financially supported and promoted the official
religion, Lutheranism.
The State directly paid the salaries of the 147 ministers in the
State Lutheran Church, and these ministers were considered to be public
servants under the Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs;
however, the Church was autonomous in its internal affairs. The
Government did not pay Lutheran ministers in the nonstate churches,
also known as Free Churches.
All citizens 16 years of age and older must pay an annual church
tax of approximately $121 (isk 7,800). For persons who were not
registered as belonging to a religious organization, or who belonged to
one that was not registered and officially recognized, the tax payment
went to the University of Iceland, a secular institution.
The law specifies conditions and procedures that religious
organizations must follow to be registered by the Government. Such
recognition was necessary for religious organizations other than the
state church to receive a per capita share of church tax funds from the
Government. The law applies only to religious organizations that are
seeking to be, or are already, officially recognized and registered.
The Government did not place any restrictions or requirements on
unregistered religious organizations, which had the same rights as
other groups in society.
The law mandates religious instruction in Christianity in the
public schools; however, students may be exempted from attending the
classes. Anti-bias and tolerance education are incorporated in the
national curriculum in life skills and sociology courses.
In August, a Jewish visitor reported in an online newsmagazine that
he and a friend had been harassed by a group of young teenagers who
pointed at his yarmulke, gave a ``heil Hitler'' salute, and then
briefly blocked the visitors' exit from a parking lot and intimidated
them. A daily newspaper picked up the story, sparking over 30 online
comments from correspondents based in the country. Some of the comments
were themselves anti-Semitic or xenophobic in tone and content.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. The Government cooperated
with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. In January 2003, the Act on
Foreigners took effect that provides guidelines on the granting of
asylum and refugee status; the Act provides that only the Directorate
of Immigration may deny admission to asylum seekers. The Government did
not accept quota refugees during the year.
The Government has not formulated a policy of temporary protection
for those persons who fall outside of the definition of the 1951 U.N.
Convention Related to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol
because this issue has rarely arisen. The Directorate of Immigration
and the Icelandic Red Cross reported that 76 persons applied for asylum
during the year (compared with 80 in 2003 and 110 in 2002). Of these,
64 were sent to other countries, withdrew their applications, and were
denied asylum. At year's end, the applications of 12 persons still were
being processed. Most asylum seekers applied for asylum after entering
the country, rather than in the international sector of the airport. On
February 12, the small municipality of Reykjanesbaer, pursuant to a
contract with immigration authorities, took over housing and care of
asylum seekers from the Red Cross. Processing of asylum cases may take
a year or more, during which time asylum seekers were eligible for
state-subsidized health care, could apply for work permits and enroll
their children in public schools.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Elections to the Althingi, the unicameral
legislature, were held in May 2003.
Center-right coalitions have governed since 1991. There were 19
women in the 63-seat Althingi and 3 women in the 12-member Cabinet. Two
of 9 Supreme Court members and 10 of 38 district court judges were
women. Foreigners, who have resided in the country legally for 5 years
(3 years for Scandinavian citizens), may vote in municipal elections.
There were no members of minorities in the legislature.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views. An independent
Ombudsman, elected by Parliament, monitors and reports to national and
local authorities to ensure equal protection of persons residing in the
country, whether citizens or aliens. Individuals may lodge complaints
with the Ombudsman regarding decisions, procedures, and conduct of
public officials and government agencies. The Ombudsman may demand
official reports, documents, and records and may summon officials to
give testimony and has access to official premises. While the
Ombudsman's conclusions are not binding on authorities, his
recommendations generally have been followed. There was also a
Children's Ombudsman (see Section 5, Children).
In November, the parliament cut all direct government funding for
the Icelandic Human Rights Center, effective at year's end. Funded
primarily by the Government, but operated as an NGO, the Center had
acted as the country's leading human rights watchdog, vetting
government legislation and reporting to international treaty monitoring
bodies as well as promoting human rights education and research. Public
figures, human rights advocates, and several of the center's European
partner institutes argued that having to apply to the executive branch
for grants henceforth will undermine the center's independence.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on these factors,
but the law does not prohibit discrimination by nongovernmental actors.
Women.--The law prohibits domestic violence and rape, including
spousal rape; however, violence against women continued to be a
problem, with gang rapes an ongoing concern. Police statistics
indicated that the incidence of violence against women, including rape
and sexual assault, was low; however, the number of women seeking
medical and counseling assistance indicated that many incidents went
unreported. During the year, up to 88 women sought temporary lodging at
the country's women's shelter, mainly because of domestic violence, and
the shelter offered counseling to approximately 443 clients. During the
year, the sexual violence counseling center in Reykjavik drew 446
clients, including 223 seeking help for the first time.
The Government helped finance various facilities and organizations
that provided assistance to victims of violence. The City of Reykjavik,
in addition to partially funding such services, provided help to
immigrant women in abusive relationships, offering emergency
accommodation, counseling, and information on legal rights. Courts
could issue restraining orders, but there were complaints that the
police were reluctant to recommend them and that the courts granted
them only in extreme circumstances. Victims of sexual crimes were
entitled to lawyers to advise them of their legal rights and help them
pursue cases against the alleged assailants; however, a large majority
of victims declined to press charges or chose to forgo trial, in part
to avoid unwanted publicity. Some local human rights monitors also
attributed underreporting to the fact that convictions are rare due to
the heavy burden of proof and traditionally yield light sentences. The
maximum penalty for rape is 16 years' imprisonment, but judges
typically imposed sentences much closer to the minimum of 1 year.
Prostitution is legal, but it is illegal to engage in prostitution
as a main source of income. It is also illegal to act as an
intermediary in the sale or procurement of sex.
There were concerns that some foreign women were trafficked to work
as exotic dancers or in massage parlors where sexual services are
offered (see Section 5, Trafficking).
More than 75 percent of women participated in the labor market. In
part, this circumstance reflected the country's comprehensive system of
subsidized day care, which made work outside the home more affordable
and convenient for parents. The law requires that employers give
preference to hiring and promoting men or women in areas where they are
underrepresented, so long as they are equal in all other respects to
job seekers of the opposite sex. Despite laws that require equal pay
for equal work, a pay gap existed between men and women. According to
one of the largest labor unions, during the year, women on average
earned 15 percent less than men. Some women's rights activists also
expressed concern that the proportion of women in the legislature
dropped below one-third after elections in May 2003 (see Section 3) and
that only 14 percent of the bar and 22 of 147 professors at the
national university were women.
Since January 2003, the law permits both mothers and fathers to
take 3 months of paid leave upon the birth of a child, with an
additional 3 months that parents either could take individually or
split between them. Such leave is at 80 percent of the normal salary.
The new leave requirements apply equally to the public and private
sectors.
The Government funded a Center for Gender Equality to administer
the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men. The center
also provided gender equality counseling and education to national and
municipal authorities, institutions, companies, individuals, and NGOs.
The Minister of Social Affairs appoints a Complaints Committee on Equal
Status to adjudicate alleged violations of the act; the committee's
rulings are nonreviewable. The Minister of Social Affairs also appoints
an Equal Status Council, with nine members drawn from national women's
organizations, the University of Iceland, and labor and professional
groups, which makes recommendations for equalizing the status of men
and women in the labor market.
During the year, the Complaints Committee found that there was
demonstrable gender bias in the Justice Minister's 2003 appointment of
a Supreme Court justice where the minister did not provide an adequate
explanation for appointing a man instead of a more qualified woman. The
candidate delayed legal action while her application for another
Supreme Court seat was under consideration, but, following the
appointment in September of another male to the court, declared her
intention to sue. At year's end, she had not yet done so.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it funded public education and health care. School
attendance is compulsory through the age of 15 and free through public
university level. Approximately 85 percent of students continued to
upper secondary education. The Government provided free prenatal and
infant medical care, as well as heavily subsidized childcare. The
Children's Ombudsman, who is appointed by the Prime Minister but is
independent from the Government, fulfilled a mandate to protect
children's rights, interests, and welfare by, among other things,
exerting influence on legislation, government decisions, and public
attitudes. When investigating complaints, the Ombudsman had access to
all public and private institutions and associations that house
children or otherwise care for them; however, the Ombudsman's
conclusions were not legally binding on parties to disputes.
There were some reports of abuse of children, although there was no
societal pattern of child abuse. The government-funded Agency for Child
Protection operated eight treatment centers and a diagnostic facility
for abused and troubled minors. It also coordinated the work of
approximately 34 committees throughout the country that were
responsible for managing child protection issues (for example, foster
care) in their local areas. Beginning in 2002, the local committees
hired professionals knowledgeable about sexual abuse. One committee
could not, due to its remote location, hire a specialist on sexual
abuse and had to rely on temporary hires on a case-by-case basis
instead.
In an effort to accelerate prosecution of child sexual abuse cases
and lessen trauma to the child, the Government maintained a Children's
Assessment Center (Barnahus). The center, which handled approximately
199 child abuse cases during the year, was intended to create a safe
and secure environment where child victims might feel more comfortable
talking about what happened to them. It brought together police,
prosecutors, judges, doctors, and officials from child protection
services. District Court judges did not have to use the center and
could hold investigatory interviews in the courthouse instead, a
practice that concerned some children's rights advocates.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were anecdotal reports that women were trafficked for
exploitation.
The general penal code states that ``whoever is found guilty of
trafficking in persons with the aim of sexual abuse, or forced labor,
or for organ removal shall be punished by up to 8 years imprisonment.''
Criminal procedures provide that victims may testify against
traffickers at government expense. During the year, police did not
charge any persons with trafficking, although traffickers have been
convicted under the law on alien smuggling.
The law provides that a person may be extradited as long as the
offense involved would be punishable by more than 1 year's
imprisonment; therefore, the law would allow the extradition of persons
who were charged with trafficking in other countries.
Police, airport authorities, and women's aid groups reported that
there was anecdotal evidence of foreign women trafficked to the
country, primarily to work in striptease clubs or massage parlors
offering sexual services. The Baltic countries were the main region of
origin for women working in such clubs and parlors, with others coming
from Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. There were no statistics on
the number or origin of women actually trafficked. To work as an exotic
dancer, any person from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) must
first obtain a work permit, which is typically valid for 3 months. In
2002, the number of foreign dancers applying for work permits dropped
sharply after Reykjavik authorities prohibited private dances that
served as a front for prostitution. The Supreme Court upheld the ban in
2003, and other municipalities have since enacted their own bans, thus
largely destroying the profit incentive for trafficking women into the
country. Social workers suspect that most foreign women working in this
field now come from within the EEA and are thus impossible to track
through work permit applications.
Trafficking victims could seek help at the women's shelter,
counseling center, and hospital, all of which receive government
funding. There were no domestic NGOs dedicated solely to assisting
victims of trafficking, nor was there an established government
assistance program. Some NGOs provided government-supported counseling
and shelter to women and children who were victims of violence or
sexual abuse. The government-funded Icelandic Human Rights Center was
also available to assist with trafficking cases and make referrals.
The Government participates in the Nordic-Baltic Action Group
Against Human Trafficking, which hosts periodic meetings to discuss
programs and strategies. The group, established to succeed the Nordic-
Baltic Campaign Against Trafficking, has a mandate that runs until
August 2006.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no official discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or the
provision of other state services. The law provides that such persons
have the right to all common national and municipal services and to
receive assistance to live and work normally in society. The law also
provides that persons with disabilities receive preference for a
government job when they are at least as qualified as other applicants;
however, advocates asserted that common practice and implementation of
the law fell short of full protection of the rights of persons with
disabilities to the extent that persons with disabilities have come to
constitute a majority of the country's poor.
Building regulations require that public accommodations and
government buildings, including elevators, be accessible to persons in
wheelchairs; that public property managers reserve 1 percent of parking
spaces (a minimum of one space) for persons with disabilities; and
that, to the extent possible, sidewalks outside the main entrance of
such buildings be kept clear of ice and snow. Violations of these
regulations are punishable by a fine or a jail sentence of up to 2
years; however, the main association for persons with disabilities
complained that this regulation was not enforced regularly, and
authorities rarely assessed penalties for noncompliance.
Some mental health advocates criticized the Government for not
devoting sufficient attention and resources to the care of persons with
mental disabilities. Although the law safeguards their rights, a large
number of persons with mental disabilities remained on waiting lists
for housing, education, and employment programs. Advocates for the
mentally ill alleged that government funding for the care of the
mentally ill was generally inadequate and that the government-financed
health system funded too few hospital places for acute patients and
thus exacerbated a shortage of publicly funded preventative and follow-
up mental health care.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--While the population remained
largely homogeneous, family- and employment-sponsored immigrants were
more visible.
In May, the parliament amended the 2002 Act on Foreigners in order
to eliminate perceived loopholes in the immigration system and combat
phony or arranged marriages. The amendments stipulate that in order to
win automatic residence rights, a foreign spouse has to be at least 24
years old. Further, the amendments give authorities the power to
conduct house searches without a prior court order, as well as DNA
testing, in cases where they suspect immigration fraud. Human rights
and immigrants' advocates criticized the amendments, arguing that it is
discriminatory effectively to demand a higher marriage age of
foreigners than of citizens, who can marry at age 18. They also
complained that the house searches and DNA tests being contemplated
violated privacy rights.
The term ``newcomer'' has taken on a negative connotation and was
increasingly applied to immigrants of color. Asian women in public at
night reportedly were sometimes taunted on the assumption that they
were prostitutes and minority children were teased for allegedly having
been ``purchased on the Internet.''
The Icelandic Red Cross operated an Intercultural Center in
Reykjavik to help foreigners adjust to living in the country. The
center offered free translation, education, research, and advice
services. The Ministry of Social Affairs operated a Multicultural
Center in Isafjordur that facilitated the interaction of citizens with
foreign nationals and provided support services for foreign nationals
in rural municipalities. However, the Isafjordur center's remote West
Fjords location meant that it could serve only the immigrant community
in that region.
In June, the publishers of a Reykjavik monthly newspaper recounted
how a private dance company refused to rent them a national costume
(for a planned cover shoot intended to depict the future of the
country) because the model was black. The company's spokesman offered
the explanation that his organization had objected to the newspaper's
proposed theme because, if anything, the country's future of Iceland
was yellow rather than black. The public reaction was overwhelmingly
critical of the dance company, and the Bishop of Iceland referred to
the matter in a speech before the Althingi urging tolerance.
The Government said it was reviewing the recommendations of a 2003
report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance that
concluded that conditions for immigrants ``may not be wholly
satisfactory.''
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of workers to establish unions, draw up their own constitutions
and rules, choose their own leaders and policies, and publicize their
views; and workers exercised these rights. Labor unions were
independent of the Government and political parties. Approximately 85
percent of all eligible workers belonged to unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law requires employers
to withhold union dues (1 percent of gross pay) from the pay of all
employees, whether or not they are union members, to help support
disability, strike, and pension funds, and other benefits to which all
workers are entitled.
Trade unions and management organizations periodically negotiate
collective bargaining agreements that set specific terms for workers'
pay, hours, and other conditions. With limited exceptions, collective
bargaining is done on an industry- or sector-wide basis. These
agreements, not the law, set the minimum labor standards for most
workers. The Government played a minor role in the bargaining process,
providing mediation assistance in a few cases through the State
Mediator's Office.
At its annual June labor conference, the International Labor
Organization (ILO) upheld a 2003 ILO Freedom of Association Committee
finding that the Government had, in the course of a 2001 fishing
industry strike, infringed on the principle of free and voluntary
collective bargaining and recommended that the country review its
practices concerning labor disputes.
With the exception of limited categories of workers in the public
sector whose services are essential to public health or safety, unions
have the right to strike.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children younger than age 16 in
factories, on ships, or in other places that are hazardous or require
hard labor; this prohibition was observed in practice. Children 14- or
15-years old may be employed part-time or during school vacations in
light, nonhazardous occupations. Their work hours must not exceed the
ordinary work hours of adults in the same occupation. The
Administration of Occupational Safety and Health enforced child labor
regulations effectively.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law does not establish a
minimum wage, but the minimum wages negotiated in various collectively
bargained agreements applied automatically to all employees in those
occupations, whether they were union members or not. While the
agreements can be either industry- or sector-wide, and in some cases
firm-specific, the minimum wage levels are occupation-specific. Labor
contracts provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The standard legal workweek was 40 hours, which included nearly 3
hours of paid breaks a week. Work exceeding 8 hours in a workday must
be compensated as overtime. Workers were entitled to 11 hours of rest
within each 24-hour period and to a day off every week. Under defined
special circumstances, employers may reduce the 11-hour rest period to
no less than 8 hours, but they then must compensate workers with 1.5
hours of rest for every hour of reduction. They may also postpone a
worker's day off by 1 week.
The legislature set health and safety standards, and the Ministry
of Social Affairs administered and enforced them through its
Administration of Occupational Safety and Health, which could close
workplaces until they met safety and health standards. Workers had a
collective, but not individual, right to refuse to work in a place that
did not meet occupational safety and health criteria. It is illegal to
fire workers who report unsafe or unhealthy conditions.
In 2003, union representatives and media reported that Italian
contractor Impregilo failed to pay adequate wages or provide proper
accommodation and facilities to several hundred foreign workers on a
major government-financed hydroelectric dam construction project. The
company hired workers through Portuguese employment agencies that
created multiple versions of contracts to mislead both employees and
regulators. The unions ultimately concluded an agreement with Impregilo
guaranteeing them access to wage information. A number of cases of
alleged violations of workers' rights remained under union review, but
no legal action has been taken.
__________
IRELAND
Ireland is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with an executive
branch headed by a prime minister, a bicameral parliament, and a
directly elected president. In November, the President was inaugurated
for a second term of 7 years. Parliamentary elections were last held in
May 2002. The Government is a coalition composed of Fianna Fail (the
largest party in the country) and the Progressive Democrats. Fianna
Fail leader Bertie Ahern is the Prime Minister. The judiciary is
independent.
The national police have primary responsibility for internal
security; the army acted in their support when necessary. The civilian
authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. There
were no reports that security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country, with a population of 4.1 million, has an open, market-
based economy that is primarily industrial, although agriculture
remains a key sector. The gross national product increased by
approximately 4.8 percent, and the inflation rate was approximately 2.2
percent. Wages generally kept pace with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. Abuse and mistreatment of
children were problems. There were incidents of violence against
immigrants, racial minorities, and some discrimination against
Travellers (an indigenous migrant community).
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life by the
Government or its agents.
There were no developments in the case of the allegations of
collusion between security forces and paramilitaries in the 1989
killing of two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers in Northern Ireland.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were
reports of abuse by police officers.
The Police Complaints Board recorded 1,175 complaints, including
abuse of authority, discourtesy, neglect, and discreditable conduct of
police officers in 2003, compared with 1,405 such complaints recorded
in 2002. Of these complaints, 2 percent were adjudicated as minor
breaches of discipline and referred to the Commissioner, and 3 percent
were deemed as breaches of discipline and referred to a tribunal.
In several communities, there were allegations of incidents of
violence against racial minorities and immigrants (see Section 5).
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
work and sanitation conditions remained poor in some prisons.
Living conditions in mental health establishments continued to need
improvement, although the Government made progress in upgrading
conditions. Human rights groups continued to condemn the Central Mental
Health Hospital in Dundrum, the country's only secure hospital for
prisoners with mental disabilities, because of understaffing and poor
infrastructure. The Government created, but has not yet implemented, a
program to add observation cells and remove padded cells at the
hospital.
Male prisoners were held separately from female prisoners,
juveniles were held separately from adults, and pretrial detainees were
held separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted prison visits by domestic and
international human rights observers in most cases; however,
appointments were necessary to tour facilities, and there were no
visits during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions, however, the use of special arrest and detention
authority continued, primarily for those involved in paramilitary
organizations.
The national police have primary responsibility for internal
security but are generally an unarmed force; therefore, the army, under
the effective civilian control of the Minister for Defense, acted in
support of the police when necessary. The Government continued to
monitor closely indigenous paramilitary groups active in the Republic
and Northern Ireland.
A person may be arrested without a warrant when the police, with
reasonable cause, suspect that an offense has been committed and that
the person is guilty of that offense. When the suspect is brought to
the police station, details of the offense must be set out in a
``charge sheet.'' A copy of the details must be given to the suspect.
The police will formally charge the suspect by reading each charge to
the suspect and noting any replies. After being charged and cautioned,
the suspect must be released on bail as soon as reasonably possible. At
the District Court level, the suspect may either be released on bail or
may be detained in custody (``on remand'') by the judge. Bail is
possible. If a suspect out on bail fails to appear before the court,
the judge issues a ``bench warrant'' for the suspect's arrest.
The Offenses Against the State Act allows police to arrest and
detain for questioning anyone suspected of committing a ``scheduled
offense''--crimes involving firearms, explosives, or membership in an
unlawful organization. As a result, the police have broad arrest and
detention powers in any case involving firearms. In cases covered by
this Act, the initial period of detention without charge is 24 hours at
the direction of a police superintendent, and detention may be extended
another 24 hours by a judge.
Detainees and prisoners are allowed unrestricted access to
attorneys. If the detainee does not have an attorney, the court will
appoint one; if the detainee cannot afford an attorney, the Government
will provide one through the Free Legal Aid program.
The law allows a court to refuse bail to a person charged with a
serious offense (one that carries a penalty of 5 years' imprisonment or
more) when it is considered reasonably necessary to prevent the
commission of another serious offense.
The Offenses Against the State Act also provides for the indefinite
detention, or internment, without trial of any person who is engaged in
activities that are ``prejudicial to the preservation of public peace
and order or to the security of the State''; however, this power has
not been invoked since the late 1950s.
The Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act permits detention
without charge for up to 7 days in cases involving drug trafficking;
however, to hold a suspected drug trafficker for more than 48 hours the
police must seek a judge's approval.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system consists of district courts, circuit courts,
the High Court, the Court of Criminal Appeal, and the Supreme Court.
The President appoints judges recommended by the Judicial Appointment
Board, who choose from a list presented by the Government.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), an independent
government official, prosecutes criminal cases. Jury trials usually are
used in criminal cases, and the accused may choose an attorney.
Indigent defendants have the right to an attorney at public expense.
Defendants have the right to present evidence, question witnesses, a
presumption of innocence, and the right to appeal.
The Constitution explicitly allows ``special courts'' to be created
when ``ordinary courts are inadequate to secure the effective
administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and
order.'' A non-jury ``Special Criminal Court'' (SCC) tries ``scheduled
offenses,'' and any case the DPP certifies that an ordinary court
cannot adequately handle. The SCC always sits as a three-judge panel,
and its verdicts are by majority vote. Rules of evidence are generally
the same as in regular courts; however, the sworn statement of a police
chief superintendent identifying the accused as a member of an illegal
organization is accepted as prima facie evidence. SCC sessions
generally are public, but judges may exclude certain persons other than
journalists. Appeals of SCC decisions are allowed in certain
circumstances.
Michael McKevitt's appeal was heard and denied in 2003. The
families of the victims of the Omagh bombing filed a civil suit against
him during the year.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution and the law prohibit such actions,
and the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice and did not restrict academic freedom.
The Constitution provides for freedom of the press; however, this
right is subject to the constitutional qualification that it not
``undermine public order or morality or the authority of the state.''
The Constitution prohibits the publication or utterance of
``blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter.''
The independent press was active and expressed a wide variety of
views without government restriction.
Broadcasting remained mostly state controlled, but private sector
broadcasting continued to grow. There were 49 independent radio
stations and an independent television station. Access to cable and
satellite television lessened considerably the relative influence of
state-controlled broadcasting. The Broadcasting Complaints Commission
oversees standards and investigates complaints about programming.
The Broadcasting Act empowers the Government to prohibit the state-
owned radio and television network from broadcasting any matter
``likely to promote or incite to crime or which would tend to undermine
the authority of the State.'' The Act was not employed during the year.
While the press operated freely, some observers believed that the
Defamation Act (which puts the onus on newspapers and periodicals
accused of libel to prove that defamatory words are true) and the
Official Secrets Act (which gives the Government wide scope to
prosecute unauthorized disclosures of sensitive government information)
might result in some self-censorship.
Books and periodicals were subject to censorship by the Censorship
of Publication Board; however, unlike in the previous year, the Board
did not censor any books or magazines.
The Office of the Film Censor must classify films and videos before
they can be shown or sold and cut or ban any film that is ``indecent,
obscene, or blasphemous,'' or which tends to ``inculcate principles
contrary to public morality or subversive of public morality.'' During
the year, the Film Censor did not ban any films, but did ban one video,
primarily because of its pornographic or violent content.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides citizens with the right to ``assemble peaceably and without
arms''; however, it also allows the State to ``prevent or control
meetings'' that are calculated to breach the peace or to be a danger or
nuisance to the general public.
Police conduct during demonstrations generally was restrained. The
trial of seven police officers accused of using their batons
excessively during a 2002 May Day demonstration in Dublin resumed in
October.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Constitution prohibits promotion of one religion over
another and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, and
the Government did not restrict the teaching or practice of any faith.
Approximately 88 percent of the population is Roman Catholic; however,
there is no official state religion.
The Government permits but does not require religious instruction
in public schools. Most primary and secondary schools are
denominational--the majority Catholic--and the Catholic Church
partially controls their boards of management. As mandated by the
Constitution, the Government provided equal funding to schools of
different religious denominations (such as an Islamic school in
Dublin). Although religious instruction is an integral part of the
curriculum, parents may exempt their children from such instruction.
During the year, there were three anti-Semitic incidents in the
country. One incident involved a swastika being painted on the Irish
Jewish Museum in Dublin. The second and third incidents involved
vandalism at a Jewish cemetery and synagogue.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. The Government also
provides temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as
refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
The number of asylum seekers entering the country decreased. There
were 4,766 total (4,265 new applications, 501 reapplications)
applications for asylum during the year compared with 7,900 in 2003;
the Government granted asylum to 877 (430 at first instance and 686 at
the appeal stage) individuals, compared with 1,176 (345 at first
instance and 831 at appeal stage) in 2003. At year's end, there were
549 deportations, and 608 asylum seekers had voluntarily returned to
their country of origin.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. The Parliament is bicameral; members of the Dail
(House of Representatives)--the chamber that carries out the main
legislative functions--are elected popularly, while most members of the
Seanad (Senate) are elected by vocational and university groups, with
the others appointed by the Prime Minister. Several political parties
have seats in both bodies. The President (head of state) is elected
popularly for a 7-year term and is limited to two terms. An appointed
council of state advises the President. Parliamentary elections were
held in May 2002, and the President was inaugurated for a second 7-year
term in November.
In December, allegations of corruption were made involving a
Ministry of Environment, Heritage and Local Government appointment of a
public relations consultant. The Minister of Transport (formerly
Minister of Environment) allegedly hired a close political associate at
an exorbitant salary. The Government appointed a former civil servant
to investigate the allegations, and the investigation was ongoing at
year's end.
The President was a woman, and 22 of the 166 deputies in the Dail
and 10 of the 60 senators were female. Three of the 15 government
ministers were female, as was 1 of the 17 junior ministers. Three women
sat on the 26-member High Court, and 2 of the 8 Supreme Court judges
were female.
There were no members of minorities in the Dail, the Seanad, the
Government, or the Cabinet. In June, there were two minority council
members elected at the county level.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The Ombudsman's role is to investigate complaints about
administrative actions, delays, or inaction adversely affecting persons
or bodies in their dealings with government departments, local
authorities, health boards, or the postal service.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Employment Equality Act prohibits discrimination in relation to
employment on the basis of eight distinct discriminatory grounds:
Gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, age,
disability, race, and membership in the Traveller community; however,
discrimination against racial minorities, including immigrants and
Travellers, was a problem. The Equal Status Act outlaws discrimination
in the provision of goods, facilities, and services on these grounds.
Women.--Domestic violence and emotional abuse were problems,
although there were some improvements during the year. The police
recorded 8,452 incidents of domestic violence in 2003 compared with
10,248 in 2002. There were 24 domestic violence support centers
throughout the country, funded in part by the Government. Additionally,
there were 11 women's rights groups.
The law criminalizes rape within marriage and provides for free
legal advice to victims of serious sexual assault. In rape cases, the
Government brings the case against the accused, with the victim acting
as a witness. The Sex Offenders Act provides for separate legal
representation for victims in rape and other serious sexual assault
cases where application is made to adduce evidence or to cross-examine
the victim about his or her past sexual experience.
The 18 rape crisis centers, funded in part by the Government,
provided support by immediate telephone contact and one-on-one
counseling. A Voluntary Housing Capital Assistance Scheme and a
Voluntary Housing Subsidy Scheme provided long- and short-term housing
options for victims of sexual violence. All police received training on
the investigation of cases of domestic violence, rape, and sexual
assault. Police also attended training lectures on causes and effects
of domestic violence and techniques for interviewing victims of
domestic violence.
In 2003, the Dublin Rape Crisis Center reported receiving 11,863
counseling calls in all categories (child sexual abuse, adult rape,
adult sexual assault, sexual harassment), which continued an upward
trend in frequency of calls. The center reported that 143 of the 477
rape victims recorded in 2003, reported their attacks to the police,
resulting in 27 defendants tried and 18 convicted.
There was anecdotal evidence that women were trafficked for sexual
exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law prohibits discrimination against women in the workplace and
provides for protection and redress against discrimination based on
gender and marital status; however, inequalities persisted regarding
pay and promotions in both the public and the private sectors. The
Equality Tribunal and the Equality Authority are the main statutory
bodies that enforce and administer the discrimination laws. Women
constituted 47.5 percent of the labor force but were underrepresented
in senior management positions. During the year, the earnings of women
averaged 80 percent that of men, and women worked 10 hours a week less.
As a way to combat this gender gap, the Government increased the
minimum wage, created more childcare facilities, funded childcare for
those in employment training, and worked through the National Framework
Committee on the Development of the Family Friendly Polices to increase
flexibility in the workforce.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of public education and
health care. Under the law, education is free and compulsory for
children from age 6 to 15. Almost all children attended school.
According to the Department of Education, approximately 99 percent of
children between the ages of 5 and 16 attended school. Most children
completed secondary education.
In 2002, there were 375 cases of child abuse reported to the Health
Authority, but only 122 cases were confirmed. The Health Authority
received approximately $1.35 million (1 million euros) in 2002 to
improve the identification, reporting, assessment, treatment, and
management of child abuse. The sexual abuse of children was a problem
and continued to receive significant media attention. In 2003, the
Dublin Rape Crisis Center reported that 41 percent of calls to its
crisis line involved child sexual abuse. The law requires government
health boards to identify and help children who are not receiving
adequate care, and it gives the police increased powers to remove
children from the family if there is an immediate and serious risk to
their health or welfare.
In September 2003, the Government renewed the Laffoy Commission's
mandate to investigate sexual and physical abuse in government
institutions. The Commission's Third Interim Report, released in
December 2003, discussed cases heard by the Confidential Committee and
the Investigation Committee. The Confidential Committee consists of a
group of commissioners that listen to a person's abuse experiences in
institutions as defined by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse
Act 2000. The Confidential Committee began hearings in September 2000,
and, by May, had heard 866 witnesses. The Committee hopes to hear the
remaining 189 cases by the end of the year. The Investigation Committee
investigates complaints and allegations made to it, and may compel
persons accused to appear before it and produce particular documents.
However, the Investigation Committee heard less than 3 percent of its
estimated 1,800 cases according to the Interim Report. Because of the
governmental review, the committee focused on group complaints rather
than individual hearings, and no further evidential hearings were
conducted.
The law prohibits the trafficking and sexual exploitation of
children; however, there were reports that such practices occurred (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
In December 2003, an Ombudsman for Children was established to
investigate complaints from children or persons acting on their behalf
against various governmental and nongovernmental bodies. When the
Ombudsman finds in favor of the child, the offending body must state
how it will rectify the problem and ensure that it does not recur. The
Ombudsman also has a role in promoting general child welfare.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and there were no confirmed reports that persons were trafficked to,
from, or within the country; however, NGOs and others offered anecdotal
evidence of trafficking.
The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act criminalizes trafficking
in children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, with penalties of
up to life imprisonment. The Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act
criminalizes trafficking in illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. No
specific legislation addresses trafficking in women for sexual
activities; however, laws prohibit the exploitation of prostitutes by
means of coercion or fraud. Traffickers who facilitate for gain the
entry of illegal immigrants or asylum seekers are liable for fines or 1
to 10 years' imprisonment. The Police National Immigration Bureau
(GNIB) and the Department of Justice are the governmental organizations
responsible for combating trafficking.
In 2003, Dublin police raided several lap-dance clubs that were
employing illegal female workers, and the Limerick police raided a
brothel that was bringing prostitutes into the city from Eastern
Europe, although the women stated that they had entered the country
voluntarily. A man and a woman were convicted for running the brothel:
Both were sentenced to 4 months' imprisonment, but the woman's sentence
was suspended. The press reported that three English language schools
were being used as fronts to smuggle Eastern European women into the
country to have them work as lap dancers and prostitutes. In December,
the Justice Minister ordered tighter restrictions on access to foreign
language schools. To cut down on scams and foreign students in forced
labor situations, the students are now required to register with the
Police National Immigration Bureau and will not be allowed to join the
labor market unless they are attending a full-time course of at least 1
year in length.
The country might be a destination country on a limited scale for
trafficking in women and children. The country may also be a transit
point for persons trafficked to or from Northern Ireland. There is
anecdotal information that some women were trafficked within the
country. Socially disadvantaged women and children were most likely to
be trafficking victims.
NGOs reported that women were trafficked to the country primarily
for prostitution or exploitation in the sex industry, and that men may
be trafficked into the country for work in the construction industry.
However, NGOs were only able to provide anecdotal information; they did
not have statistics or other hard evidence. NGOs reported that
traffickers now targeted younger women who were more vulnerable, having
little language skill, and no legal status or recourse. Another tactic
that changed was that prostitution moved away from the streets and
brothels to apartments, where activities were easier to hide. NGOs
reported that traffickers used information technology more effectively
as well.
There were no reliable statistics on the number of possible victims
of trafficking in the country, due mainly to lack of data collection.
During the year, GNIB and local detective units in the Dublin
metropolitan region continued to investigate suspected instances of
trafficking but did not find sufficient evidence to open a formal
investigation or to bring charges. Since 2000, there have been nine
investigations into alleged trafficking/smuggling, resulting in the
conviction of one Ukrainian for smuggling two Ukrainian males through
the Dublin airport. In December, a Portuguese man was jailed for 9
months and fined $1,350 (1,000 euros) for bringing two Brazilian women
into the country. An NGO investigating trafficking estimated that as
many as 40 children a year were being trafficked into the country for
either economic or sexual exploitation. An anti-prostitution and
trafficking NGO reported more than 600 prostitutes, mostly drug users
and younger women, in its database.
The Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs and the GNIB were
involved in anti-trafficking efforts, and there was coordination
between government officials, NGOs, and other elements of civil society
on trafficking issues. A coalition of NGOs that deal in part with
trafficking issues met periodically during the year. In December, the
Department of Foreign Affairs held an international seminar on human
rights, keynoting the issues of women and trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was generally no discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other state services. The law
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice.
The law established minimum criteria to ensure access for persons
with disabilities to all public and private buildings constructed or
significantly altered after 1992; however, enforcement was occasionally
uneven and fines minimal.
A National Disability Authority has responsibility for setting
disability standards, monitoring the implementation of these standards,
and researching and formulating disability policy. The National
Standards for Disability Services, which specifies required national
standards for all government-funded bodies, was released in January.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Societal discrimination and
racial violence against immigrants and ethnic minorities, such as
Asians and Africans continued to be a growing problem. Racially
motivated incidents involved physical violence, intimidation, and
verbal slurs, and the majority of incidents of racist violence took
place in public places.
There were 145 police around the country who worked with the
different ethnic communities. The Police Racial and Intercultural
Office began tracking racially motivated incidents in 2002. There were
81 racially motivated incidents in 2003. The Police Racial and
Intercultural Office also gave instruction and booklets to police to
teach them how to interact with those of different racial and ethnic
backgrounds.
Approximately 25,000 indigenous nomadic persons regard themselves
as a distinct ethnic group called ``Travellers,'' with its own history,
culture, and language. Travellers faced societal discrimination and
regularly were denied access to premises, goods, facilities, and
services; many restaurants and pubs, for example, would not serve them.
In February, police evicted a Traveller family with 13 children from
their mobile home. The local county council that authorized this
eviction had entitled another family to their electrical hookup and
reported that this particular family was staying illegally.
Despite national school rules that provide that no child may be
refused admission on account of social position, Travellers frequently
experienced difficulties enrolling their children in school. Traveller
students are not separated in classrooms, but it is not uncommon for
them to be taken from the classroom to receive additional schooling. Of
the estimated 5,000 Traveller families, approximately 1,200 lived on
roadsides or on temporary sites without electricity or sanitary
facilities. Many Travellers depended on social welfare for survival and
were unable to participate in the mainstream economy because of
discrimination and a lack of education.
The law prohibits job discrimination against Travellers; however, a
monitoring committee established to oversee reforms to address problems
encountered by Travellers was considered ineffectual by the Travelling
community.
The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act requires local elected
officials to draw up and implement Traveller accommodation plans on a
5-year basis and requires Traveller input in the process; however, many
Traveller NGOs were dissatisfied with the progress of this legislation
and believed that anti-trespassing legislation enacted in 2002 further
undermined the Housing Act. The Traveller movement withdrew from the
Social Partnership Agreement with the Government because of its
continued dissatisfaction. To develop better relations between
Travellers and the settled community, the Government granted
approximately $130 million (approximately 96 million euros) to
Traveller community organizations during the year.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the
right to join--or refrain from joining--a union, and workers exercised
this right in practice. Approximately 33 percent of workers in the
private sector were union members, compared with 95 percent in the
public sector. Police and military personnel may form associations, but
technically not unions, to represent themselves in matters of pay,
working conditions, and general welfare.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. Labor unions have the
right to engage in collective bargaining, and unions exercised this
right in practice. The law provides for the right to strike, and this
right was exercised in both the public and private sectors; however,
police and military personnel are prohibited from striking. There are
no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in the export
processing zone at Shannon Airport.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
anecdotal reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Under the law, employers may not employ children under the age of 16 in
a regular, full-time job. Employers may hire 14- or 15-year-olds for
light work on school holidays, as part of an approved work experience
or educational program, or on a part-time basis during the school year
(for children over the age of 15 only). The law sets rest intervals and
maximum working hours, prohibits the employment of 18-year-olds for
late night work, and requires employers to keep specified records for
workers who are under 18 years of age. Enforcement was reportedly lax,
but violations were rare.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was
$9.45 (7 euros) per hour, which did not provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family; however, low-income families are
entitled to benefits such as subsidized housing, medical coverage, and
children's allowances.
The standard workweek is 39 hours. Working hours in the industrial
sector are limited to 9 hours per day and 48 hours per week. Overtime
work is limited to 2 hours per day, 12 hours per week, and 240 hours
per year.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment is responsible
for enforcing the laws dealing with occupational safety, which provide
adequate and comprehensive coverage; no significant complaints arose
from either labor or management regarding enforcement of these laws.
Regulations provide workers with the right to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations that present a ``serious, imminent and
unavoidable risk'' without jeopardy to their continued employment.
__________
ITALY
Italy is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. Executive authority
is vested in the Council of Ministers, headed by the president of the
Council (the Prime Minister). The Head of State (President of the
Republic) nominates the Prime Minister after consulting with the
leaders of all political forces in Parliament. Elections for the
European Parliament during the year were considered generally free and
democratic. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, long trial delays and the impact of organized crime on the
criminal justice system complicated the judicial process.
The armed forces are under the control of the Ministry of Defense.
The Ministry of Defense controls the Carabinieri, a military security
force; however, the Ministry of Interior assumes control of the
Carabinieri when they are called upon to assist police forces in
maintaining public order. Four separate police forces report to
different ministerial or local authorities. Civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of
the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country had an advanced, industrialized market economy, and the
standard of living was high for the country's population of
approximately 57.8 million. Wages generally kept pace with inflation.
The Government owned a substantial number of enterprises in finance,
communications, industry, transportation, and services, but
privatization continued to move forward at a measured pace.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; although there were problems in some areas, the law and
judiciary provide effective means of addressing individual instances of
abuse. There were some reports of police abuse of detainees. The
judiciary investigated accusations of police abuse. Prisons were
overcrowded. Lengthy pretrial detention was a serious problem. The pace
of justice was slow, and perpetrators of some serious crimes avoided
punishment due to trials that exceeded the statute of limitations.
Trafficking in persons into the country, particularly women and girls
for prostitution, was a problem, which the Government took steps to
address. Child labor, primarily involving immigrant children, continued
in the underground economy, but authorities actively investigated such
reports.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
In July and November, magistrates dismissed charges against two
off-duty police officers who killed two persons in 2003 during separate
attempted robberies.
In July, Brindisi magistrates sentenced a police superintendent to
6 years in prison along with six other policemen (sentences varied from
3-14 years' imprisonment) for the 1995 death of a smuggler who
attempted to flee the country in a rubber dinghy via the Adriatic Sea.
They were also convicted of false documentation, brutality, and
obstruction of justice.
In December 2003, the leader of the New Red Brigades (Communist
Combatant Party) was charged with the March 2003 murder of a policeman.
In June and October, prosecutors charged nine members of the New Red
Brigades with murder for the 1999 and 2002 killings of two academic
advisors (Biagi and D'Antona) to the Labor Ministry; one of the nine
was also charged along with the leader of the New Red Brigades with the
2003 murder of a policeman. A preliminary hearing in the D'Antona case
began in September, while the Biagi case was scheduled to begin in
early 2005. According to police, the New Red Brigades were no longer
active by year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, according to
Amnesty International (AI) and the nongovernmental organization (NGO)
Antgone, which monitored issues such as police behavior, police
occasionally used excessive force against persons detained in
connection with common criminal offenses or in the course of identity
checks. While this behavior affected both citizens and foreigners,
Africans and Roma were at particular risk (see Section 5).
In February, magistrates indicted 29 policemen, including a number
of senior officers, and charged them with perjury, conspiracy, or
assault in connection with a 2001 police raid on a building used by
protesters at the G-8 summit in Genoa. The trial was scheduled to begin
in April 2005. Some police allegedly conspired to manufacture evidence
and to claim violent resistance from demonstrators to justify their use
of force during the raid. In May, 47 policemen were indicted for
``inhuman or degrading treatment,'' including assault, during the
subsequent detention of those protestors.
In May, an off-duty policeman shot and wounded a 16-year-old boy
who attempted to steal a motorcycle. The case was under investigation
at year's end.
In May, three police officers were indicted for using excessive
force and causing personal injury to a number of individuals while
trying to clear approximately 100 activists from a Milan emergency room
waiting area in March 2003. Four activists were accused of violence
against police.
Overcrowded and antiquated prisons continued to be a problem. In
July, there were 55,500 detainees incarcerated in a prison system
designed to hold 42,100. Older facilities lacked outdoor or exercise
space; some prisons lacked adequate medical care. Approximately 61
percent of the inmates were serving sentences; the other 39 percent
consisted mainly of detainees awaiting trial or the outcome of an
appeal. During the year, 91 prisoners died while in custody; 51
committed suicide.
The 20 temporary detention centers for illegal immigrants were
often overcrowded due to an increasingly large flow of illegal
immigrants. For example, in September, 900 aliens arrived by boat in
Lampedusa and were sent to the local detention center, which was
equipped to house only 120 persons. The Government moved the detainees
to other detention centers within a few days.
Men were held separately from women, and juveniles were held
separately from adults; however, pretrial detainees were not held
separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government permits visits by independent human rights
organizations, parliamentarians, and the media. AI, the U.N. Human
Rights Commission, the U.N. Committee Against Torture, and the U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Torture regularly assessed the country's judicial
and prison system. In November, the European Union's Committee for the
Prevention of Torture visited several jails. An NGO composed primarily
of lawyers, magistrates, and academics promoted the rights of
detainees, worked closely with the European Commission for Prevention
of Torture, and monitored the prison system. Several municipalities
appointed independent ombudsmen to promote the rights of detainees and
facilitate access to health care and other services.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
Four separate police forces, which report to different ministerial
or local authorities, effectively enforced public law and order. The
National Police and the Financial Police fall under the jurisdiction of
the Interior and Finance Ministries, respectively. The Ministry of
Defense controls the Carabinieri, a military security force; however,
the Ministry of Interior assumes control of Carabinieri and Financial
Police units when they perform law enforcement functions. Under
exceptional circumstances, the Government may call on the army to
provide security in the form of police duty in certain local areas,
thereby freeing the Carabinieri and local police to focus on other
duties. Allegations of police corruption were rare.
Both the Government and the judiciary investigated abuses and
prosecuted police who mistreated persons in custody. In June 2003,
prosecutors charged 31 policemen with unlawful imprisonment and assault
based on evidence of their conduct during protests in Naples in 2001
(see Section 1.c.). The trial was scheduled to begin in March 2005.
Warrants are required for arrests unless there is a specific and
immediate danger to which the police must respond without waiting for a
warrant. Under the law, detainees are allowed prompt and regular access
to lawyers of their choosing and to family members. The state provides
a lawyer to indigents. Within 24 hours of a suspect's detention, the
examining magistrate must decide whether there is enough evidence to
proceed with an arrest. The investigating judge then has 48 hours in
which to confirm the arrest and recommend whether the case goes to
trial. In exceptional circumstances--usually in cases of organized
crime figures--where there is danger that attorneys may attempt to
tamper with evidence, the investigating judge may take up to 5 days to
interrogate the accused before the accused is allowed to contact an
attorney.
There is no provision for bail; however, judges may grant
provisional liberty to suspects awaiting trial. As a safeguard against
unjustified detention, panels of judges (liberty tribunals) review
cases of persons awaiting trial on a regular basis per a detainee's
request and rule whether continued detention is warranted. Persons in
detention included not only those awaiting trial but also individuals
awaiting the outcome of a first or second appeal (see Section 1.e.).
Pretrial detention may last for a maximum of 24 months. The
Constitution and the law provide for restitution in cases of unjust
detention (see Section 1.e.).
Preventive detention can be imposed only as a last resort if there
is clear and convincing evidence of a serious offense (such as crimes
involving the Mafia or those related to terrorism, drugs, arms, or
subversion) with a maximum sentence of not less than 4 years or if
there is a risk of an offense being repeated or of evidence being
falsified. In these cases, a maximum of 2 years of preliminary
investigation is permitted. Except in extraordinary situations,
preventive custody is not permitted for pregnant women, single parents
of children under age 3, persons over age 70, or those who are
seriously ill.
Lengthy pretrial detention was a serious problem. In 2003, 36
percent of pretrial detainees were awaiting a final sentence; trials
had not begun for another 21 percent. In April, a court ordered the
Government to pay $135,000 (100,000 euros) to an entrepreneur who was
charged in 1996 and spent 448 days in prison before being acquitted by
an appeals court in 2001. According to some judicial experts, some
prosecutors used pretrial detention as pressure to obtain confessions.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, most cases involved long trial delays,
and the impact of organized crime on the criminal justice system
complicated the judicial process.
The judiciary consisted of professional magistrates who function
either as prosecutors (the executive branch does not perform
prosecutorial functions) or trial and appellate judges. The Superior
Council of the Magistracy governs the judiciary. Magistrates select
two-thirds of its members; the rest are selected by Parliament.
There are three levels of courts. Either a single judge or a court
hears cases at the level of first instance. At the second level,
separate courts with juries hear appeals of civil and criminal cases.
Decisions of the Court of Appeals can be appealed to the highest court,
the Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) in Rome, but only for reasons
related to law, not to a case's merit. A separate Constitutional Court
hears cases involving possible conflict between laws and the
Constitution or involving conflicts over the duties or powers of
different units of government.
The law provides for the right to fair and public trials, and the
judiciary generally enforced this right. The law grants defendants the
presumption of innocence. Defendants have access to an attorney
sufficiently in advance to prepare a defense and can confront
witnesses. All evidence held by prosecutors may be made available to
defendants and their attorneys. Defendants may appeal verdicts to the
highest appellate court.
Although some observers noted improvement, domestic and European
institutions continued to criticize the slow pace of justice in the
country. In 2002, the European Court of Human Rights issued 148
judgments against the Government for excessively long proceedings.
Observers cited several reasons for delays: The absence of effective
limits on the length of pretrial investigations; the large number of
minor offenses included in the penal code; unclear and contradictory
legal provisions; prosecutors' complete freedom to set prosecutorial
priorities; and insufficient resources, including an inadequate number
of judges. During the year, the Chief Prosecutor of the Cassation Court
reported that the average time to complete a civil trial was 8 years
and a criminal trial 5 years.
The courts have leeway to determine when the statute of limitations
should apply, and defendants often took advantage of the slow pace of
justice to delay trials through extensive pleas or appeals. In one
high-level case in December, judges dropped a bribery charge filed in
1999 against Silvio Berlusconi on the grounds that the statue of
limitations had expired. The events on which the charge was based
occurred in 1991.
In January, the Constitutional Court abrogated the 2003 legislation
granting immunity from prosecution while in office to the country's
five highest-ranking public servants, including the prime minister. In
April, magistrates resumed Prime Minister Berlusconi's remaining trial
(related to his business activities prior to assuming office) and
continued proceedings against his codefendants. In December, Berlusconi
was acquitted of one count of bribery; judges dropped another count of
bribery, ruling the statute of limitations had run out.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Searches and
electronic monitoring may be carried out only under judicial warrant
and in carefully defined circumstances; violations were subject to
legal sanctions. However, in 2001, Parliament applied antiterrorist
laws to suspects responsible for directing violent acts outside the
country's borders and authorized prosecutors to order wiretaps in
connection with ongoing investigations. Parliament imposed safeguards
to prevent the release of information intercepted without prior
judicial authorization to unauthorized persons and prohibited its use
in criminal proceedings.
A national privacy authority monitored the collection and use of
personal data for commercial and other purposes, ensuring that current
and proposed data banks and information collection systems conformed to
requirements. In February, the Parliament enacted an overall code for
the protection of personal information that sets strict privacy
requirements for companies and institutions. It requires that data
banks created for scientific, statistical, financial, and security
purposes protect privacy and introduces sanctions for electronic
privacy violations.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. However, the
autonomous judiciary was sensitive to investigative leaks and press
criticism and imposed fines for defamation.
The media provided a broad spectrum of political opinions,
including those critical of Prime Minister Berlusconi and his policies.
There were approximately 80 newspapers, of which 8 had national
readership; the Berlusconi family controlled 2 of them. Critics charged
that Prime Minister Berlusconi directly or indirectly controlled six of
the country's seven national broadcast channels: Mediaset (a company in
which the Prime Minister had a major interest) owned three, and the
state-owned network (RAI) controlled the other three. In December 2003,
President Ciampi declined to sign legislation proposed by the
Government to relax restrictions on ownership of mass media; in May,
the Parliament approved a revised bill, which increased those
restrictions.
RAI's three channels and other networks broadcast a wide range of
opinion that reflected the full spectrum of political views in the
country, but disputes over partisanship on the airwaves continued to
prompt frequent political debate. In 2003, RAI's suspension of two
programs prompted some complaints of censorship. In May, the president
of RAI resigned over objections to the appointment of some executives
proposed by the general director who were considered linked to the
political coalition in power.
In February, the NGO Reporters Without Borders and the journalists'
union criticized search warrants issued against two journalists and two
national daily newspapers. Critics noted the contradiction between
separate laws maintaining the sanctity of journalistic sources and
another authorizing magistrates to carry out investigations into
journalistic sources.
Politicians and their supporters filed several defamation suits
during the year. In June 2003, magistrates began defamation proceedings
against two prominent journalists in connection with their criticism of
legal proceedings against former Prime Minister Andreotti; no further
action occurred by year's end. In July, a judge dismissed charges filed
by a minister against a journalist who wrote an article characterizing
the minister as corrupt; however, in 44 percent of defamation cases in
Milan between 2001-2003, journalists were convicted.
In July, Naples magistrates placed a 76-year-old journalist and
senator under house arrest. In 2002, he had been sentenced to 29
months' imprisonment for defamation because of articles that appeared
in a local paper for which he was editor in chief.
The Government generally did not restrict access to the Internet;
however, the Government could block foreign-based Internet sites if
they contravened national laws.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
There is no state religion; however, an historic agreement between
the Catholic Church and the Government, revised in 1984, accords the
Church certain privileges. For example, the Church may select Catholic
religion teachers, whose earnings are paid by the State. The
Constitution authorizes the State to enter into relations with non-
Catholic religious confessions pursuant to an accord (``intese''), on
the basis of which the Government can provide support (including
financial) to the confession; these accords are voluntary, initiated by
religious confessions, and do not infringe on the practice of religion.
The Government has signed accords with several minority religious
groups. At year's end, the Buddhist Union and Jehovah's Witnesses
awaited parliamentary ratification of government accords.
The continuing presence of Catholic symbols, such as crucifixes, in
many government offices, courtrooms, and other public buildings has
drawn criticism and has been the subject of lawsuits. In December, the
Constitutional Court ruled that a 1928 regulation that provides for the
display of crucifixes in public classrooms is constitutional because
the regulation does not have to be consistent with the Constitution. A
mother in Venice, who asked that the crucifixes be removed, brought the
case.
Muslim women are free to wear the veil in public offices and
schools; however, there were occasional reports of objections to women
wearing a burqah (a garment that completely covers the face and body).
In August, a woman in Drezzo was fined for wearing a burqah under a
seldom-used 1931 law that forbids persons from hiding their identity.
There were no violent anti-Semitic attacks, but surveys conducted
by independent research centers confirmed the persistence of some
societal prejudices against Judaism. The Government hosted meetings to
increase educational awareness of the Holocaust and to combat anti-
Semitism in Europe.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution and the law provide for
these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile and the Government did not employ
it.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government
provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a
country where they feared persecution. The Government granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees, and provided temporary protection to refugees
fleeing hostilities or natural disasters. Such refugees were granted
temporary residence permits, which must be renewed periodically and did
not ensure future permanent residence.
In 2003, the Ministry of Interior approved approximately 725 asylum
requests and denied approximately 11,280 others.
There was little government assistance for asylum seekers during
the time they must spend waiting for their application to be processed;
Medicin Sans Fronteres in Rome estimated that approximately 10 percent
of asylum seekers had access to secondary reception facilities.
Caritas, a Catholic NGO and independent research center, estimated
there were 2.6 million legal immigrants, two-thirds of whom came from
Eastern Europe; experts estimated there were 500,000 illegal aliens
resident in the country, and large numbers of immigrants continued to
arrive from Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and China.
The majority of illegal immigrants were denied entry at the border.
Those who did enter, usually via the sea, were sent to temporary
detention centers for processing. A new regulation requires a
magistrate (previously only a Ministry of Interior representative) to
determine if an immigrant will be deported (for those whose identity
can be determined), issued an order to depart (for those whose identity
has not been determined), or accepted for asylum processing.
During the year, 12,000 illegal immigrants were caught landing in
the country, and 55,200 were either expelled or denied entry. In 2003,
27,400 illegal immigrants were held in temporary detention pending
identification. Many of these immigrants entered the country with the
intent to transit to other European Union (EU) countries. Most illegal
immigrants paid fees to smugglers, and many risked death due to
unseaworthy vessels or were forced off the vessels. At least 65
immigrants died in two separate incidents--in July, off the coast of
Puglia and, in August, off the coast of Sicily. Some illegal immigrants
were forced to engage in illegal activities, were paid substandard
wages, or were forced to work as prostitutes to pay off debts incurred
for their passage (see Section 5).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. The June elections for the European Parliament were
generally free and democratic. There were numerous political parties
that functioned without government restrictions.
It is illegal for public employees to accept money or other
advantages in return for performing public duties (punishable by 6
months' to 3 years' imprisonment) or in return for delaying or
declining to perform public duties (punishable by 2 to 5 years'
imprisonment). National corruption scandals of the 1990s reinforced the
general belief that politicians were corrupt. In December, Prime
Minister Berlusconi was acquitted of one count of bribing a judge
(before he became Prime Minister) to block the sale of a food
conglomerate to a business rival; the judges dropped another bribery
count stating that the statute of limitations had expired. In November
2003, Berlusconi's former lawyer and one-time defense minister was
sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment for bribing a judge in 1991; the
judge in the case was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment; both were
appealing their convictions at year's end. During the year, the
Government appointed an independent task force headed by a magistrate
that was charged with conducting investigations on alleged corruption
in the public sector.
There were no restrictions on women or minority participation in
government and politics. There were 25 women in the 315-seat Senate and
63 women in the 630-seat Chamber of Deputies; women held 2 of 25
cabinet positions. Women won 20.5 percent of the seats in the June
European parliamentary elections, compared to 10.5 percent elected for
the previous European Parliament.
The only legally defined minorities are linguistic--the French-
speaking Valdostani and the German-speaking Altoatesini/Suditirolesi
(see Section 5). During the year, there were 6 members of linguistic
minorities in the 315-seat Senate and 5 in the 630-seat Chamber of
Deputies. In a largely monolithic society, immigrants represented
approximately 4 percent of the population, and less than half of these
qualified as ethnic/racial minorities. There were no members of the new
immigrant groups in either the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, or the
Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex (except
with regard to hazardous work), ethnic background, or political
opinion, and provides some protection against discrimination based on
disability, language, or social status; however, some societal
discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, and Roma
persisted.
Women.--Violence against women remained a problem. The NGO Telefono
Rosa, which provides a hotline through which abused women may obtain
legal, medical, and other assistance, reported that 35 percent of the
calls it received involved physical violence in the home; more than 41
percent of the calls involved psychological violence. During the year,
the Chief Prosecutor of the Cassation Court reported that cases of
sexual violence and exploitation of women and children increased by 48
percent and 28 percent respectively. Some of this increase was credited
to the success of new public awareness campaigns that encouraged
greater reporting of these crimes.
Legislation protects women from physical abuse, including by family
members, allows for the prosecution of perpetrators of violence against
women, and shields women who have been objects of attack from
publicity. Law enforcement and judicial authorities were not reluctant
to prosecute perpetrators of violence against women, but victims
sometimes did not press charges due to fear, shame, or ignorance of the
law. According to Telefono Rosa, approximately three out of four women
who experienced violence declined to report it to the authorities, and
one in five who did report it later withdrew their complaint.
The law treats spousal rape in the same manner as any other rape.
According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 4,519 cases of rape
reported in 2002. A 2002 survey conducted by the National Institute of
Statistics showed that 2.9 percent of women ages 14-59 suffered rape or
attempted sexual violence at least once in their lives; in 90 percent
of these cases, the incident was not reported to the authorities.
Individual acts of prostitution in private residences are legal.
Trafficking of women into the country for sexual exploitation remained
a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
A 2002 survey indicated that almost 50 percent of women ages 14 to
59 were victims of sexual harassment, including sexual advances,
requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical misconduct. In
2003, Parliament approved legislation introducing new definitions of
sexual harassment and other abuses in the workplace. The law
strengthens a code of conduct on workplace harassment, attached to
national sectoral labor contracts.
Men and women enjoy legal equality in marriage, property, and
inheritance rights and equal access and treatment with regard to
education, health, and other government services.
According to a press survey, the gap between salaries for men and
women narrowed during the year; however, women who held a university
degree continued to earn less than men with the same qualifications.
Women were underrepresented in many fields, such as management,
entrepreneurial business, and the professions.
The law provides for voluntary female military service; in January,
there were 1,736 women in the armed forces. There were almost 13,000
policewomen, of whom 26 were senior officers.
A number of government offices worked to ensure women's rights. A
woman heads the Ministry for Equal Opportunity, and there is an equal
opportunity commission in the office of the Prime Minister. The Labor
Ministry has a similar commission that focuses on women's rights and
discrimination in the workplace, as well as equal opportunity
counselors who deal with this problem at the national, regional, and
provincial government levels. However, many counselors had limited
resources with which to work. Many NGOs, most of which were affiliated
with labor unions or political parties, actively and effectively
promoted women's rights.
Children.--The Government demonstrated a strong commitment to
children's rights and welfare. Schooling is free and compulsory for
children from age 7 to age 18; those unable (or unwilling) to follow
the academic curriculum may shift to vocational training at age 15. In
2003, the Government implemented educational reforms that were intended
to reverse the middle and secondary school dropout rate, which
historically has been high.
The abuse of children was a problem; during the year, the NGO
Telefono Azzurro received approximately 350,000 calls related to child
abuse. Approximately 6 percent of cases involved sexual abuse, 16
percent physical violence, and 12 percent psychological exploitation.
In 58 percent of the cases, the victims were female; 44 percent were
ages 10 or younger. In the first 6 months of the year, judicial
authorities registered 349 allegations of sexual abuse against minors
and accused 392 persons of abuse. Both public and private social
workers counseled abused children and were authorized to take action to
protect them. Telefono Azzurro maintained two toll-free hotlines for
reporting incidents of child abuse.
Although there was no official data, in 2003, independent research
centers estimated that there were between 1,800 and 3,000 minors who
worked as street prostitutes, of whom 1,500 to 2,300 were trafficked
into the country and forced into prostitution (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Police monitored approximately 29,000 websites for child
pornography and related crimes. During the first half of 2003, police
registered 431 complaints regarding Internet-based child pornography.
In 2003, police shut down 36 pornographic websites, investigated 720
persons, and arrested 9 for disseminating child pornography.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.)
Trafficking in Persons.--The country was a destination and transit
point for trafficked persons; trafficking for sexual exploitation and
forced labor was a problem that the Government took steps to address.
A 2003 law prohibits trafficking in persons; trafficking previously
had been prosecuted using other sections of the Penal Code. The law
provides for sentences of 8 to 20 years' imprisonment for trafficking
in persons and for enslavement. For convictions in which the victims
were minors destined for prostitution sentences were increased by one-
third to one-half. The law applies special prison conditions to
traffickers that are designed to limit criminals' ability to continue
their operations from jail. The Government also cooperated with foreign
governments, including Nigeria, Ukraine, and Moldova, to investigate
and prosecute trafficking cases. The number of persons investigated for
trafficking increased from 1,307 in 2002 to 2,231 in 2003, and arrests
increased from 209 to 328, respectively. Appeals increased from 41 to
51 but were denied 94 percent of the time.
According to the Government and an NGO, approximately 2,000 persons
were trafficked in 2003, of whom 8 to 10 percent were believed to be
underage. In August, the Ministry of Interior announced that 214
persons were arrested, and another 300 remained under investigation for
the crimes of slavery and trafficking. For example, in May, police
arrested a Romanian father who was selling his 10-year-old child for
sex in the outskirts of Milan. In July, police arrested six Bulgarian
men who accompanied Bulgarian women into the country who gave birth to
children and then sold the babies to Italian families for $13,500
(10,000 euros) each. In September, 12 persons, including 2 policemen,
were arrested in Sassari and charged with trafficking for prostitution
and falsification of documents. In December, following an investigation
coordinated with Brazilian authorities, four persons were accused of
organizing tours to Brazil that included the sexual services of girls
ages 12 to 17.
Trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation
involved immigrants, mostly from Nigeria, North Africa, Eastern Europe,
China, and South America. Press reports estimated that over 85 percent
of prostitutes in the country were immigrants, primarily from Eastern
Europe and North Africa.
Trafficking in children for sweatshop labor was a particular
problem in Tuscany's expanding Chinese immigrant community, where
children were considered to be part of the family ``production unit.''
Victims of trafficking were usually lured to Western Europe with
promises of a job, or sold by relatives, friends, or acquaintances.
They were then forced into prostitution, laboring in restaurants or
sweatshops, or begging in the street. Their traffickers enforced
compliance by taking their documents, beating and raping them, or
threatening their families. There were no reports of trafficked women
being killed by their traffickers during the year.
Organized criminal groups were responsible for most trafficking in
the country; prostitution rings routinely moved trafficked persons from
city to city to avoid arrest. In July, police in Brescia arrested two
Albanians, one Egyptian, one Pakistani, and one Italian involved in
trafficking women from eastern countries for prostitution.
Government officials did not participate in, facilitate, or condone
trafficking.
Victims of trafficking who were in the sex trade faced the
attendant health risks resulting from unsafe or unprotected sex.
Trafficking victims in the Tuscany region who worked in sweatshops were
possibly exposed to dangerous chemicals in the leather industry.
The law provides temporary residence or work permits to persons who
seek to escape their exploiters. Victims were encouraged to file
complaints, and there are no legal impediments for them to do so. If a
complaint was lodged, victims usually did not face prosecution for any
laws they had broken. NGOs alleged that the Government did not allow
enough time between apprehension and deportation of illegal immigrants
to screen for trafficking victims.
The Government provided legal and medical assistance once a person
was identified as having been trafficked. There were shelters and
programs for job training. There also were assistance and incentive
programs for those willing to return to their home country; in 2003, 47
victims who choose to go home were repatriated. The domestic NGO Social
Service International assisted in repatriating unaccompanied immigrant
minors.
The law creates a separate budgetary category for victim assistance
programs and empowers magistrates to seize convicted traffickers'
assets to finance legal assistance, vocational training, and other
social integration assistance to trafficking victims.
The Government, in conjunction with other governments and NGOs,
worked to orchestrate awareness campaigns. The law directs the Foreign
Ministry, together with the Equal Opportunity Ministry, to conclude
additional anti-trafficking agreements with trafficking source
countries.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no governmental
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment,
education, access to health care, or in the provision of other state
services; however, there was some societal discrimination. The law
requires companies having 15 or more employees to hire workers with
disabilities; in exchange, companies received financial benefits.
Although the law mandates access to buildings for persons with
disabilities, mechanical barriers, particularly in public transport,
left such persons at a disadvantage.
According to the Government, there were approximately 2.6 million
persons with disabilities representing about 5 percent of the
population. Of the 500,000 workers with disabilities registered at
public employment centers, only 5.8 percent found work.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--In November, the Minister for
Equal Opportunities created a National Office to Combat Racial and
Ethnic Discrimination to monitor and prevent discrimination and to
provide victims with legal assistance. Its programs were to include a
national hotline for reporting cases and public relations campaigns to
discourage discrimination.
Increasing immigration led to some anti-immigrant sentiment. Since
many immigrants are Muslim, religion was an additional factor
differentiating them from native-born citizens. According to an
International Labor Organization survey conducted during the year in
three major cities, 41 percent of Moroccan immigrants believed that
employers discriminated against them during the hiring process.
Nevertheless, there was a high rate of employment of immigrants in low-
paying jobs.
Public opinion surveys indicated that the prevalence of negative
attitudes toward immigrants was increasing, especially among young
persons and in the north of the country.
In 2003, a U.N. commission of independent experts underscored its
grave concern over continued police mistreatment of young immigrants
and Roma and recommended more extensive training for law enforcement
officers working with children. In response, several municipalities
established training programs devoted specifically to police in charge
of public order in the Romani camps.
There were no accurate statistics on the number of Roma in the
country. Romani community members and Romani-oriented NGOs estimated
that the population was approximately 120,000, of whom up to 80 percent
could be Italian citizens--most of whom can trace their ancestry in the
country to the late 14th Century. These Roma tended to live in the
central and southern parts of the country; there is no official
recognition of their language. They worked and lived in conditions
indistinguishable from those of other Italians.
Romani immigrants, or the children of Romani immigrants, were
concentrated on the fringes of urban areas in the central and southern
parts of the country, living in camps characterized by poor housing,
unhygienic sanitary conditions, limited employment prospects,
inadequate educational facilities and the absence of a consistent
police presence. Faced with limited income and job opportunities, and
suffering from harassment, some Roma turned to begging or petty crime,
which generated repressive measures by police and some judicial
authorities.
Some traditional minorities, including French- and German-speaking
Alpine communities in the north and a mixture of German and Slovene
speakers in the northeast, enjoy special autonomous status. The special
rights of these areas--respectively, the Valle d'Aosta, Trentino Alto
Adige, and Friuli Venezia Giulia--include the use of non-Italian
languages in government offices and, in Trentino Alto Adige and Valle
d'Aosta, in public schools. The law provides for Slovene to be used in
government offices and schools.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right to
establish trade unions, join unions, and carry out union activities in
the workplace, and workers freely exercised these rights. The unions
claimed to represent between 35 and 40 percent of the work force.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for the right of workers to organize and bargain
collectively, and workers exercised this right. Approximately 35
percent of the workforce works under a union-negotiated contract, but
nonunion members working alongside union employees also benefited from
the same contracts. The Constitution provides for the right to strike,
and workers exercised this right in practice. The law restricts strikes
affecting essential public services (for example, transport,
sanitation, and health), requiring longer advance notification and
precluding multiple strikes within days of each other.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5). Police
periodically discovered clandestine Chinese immigrants working in
plants throughout the country, particularly in Tuscany's large Chinese
immigrant community.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under age 15 (with some
limited exceptions), and there are specific restrictions on employment
in hazardous or unhealthful occupations for men under age 18 and women
under age 21; however, these laws were not fully respected in practice.
The enforcement of minimum age or other child protection laws was
difficult in the extensive underground economy. During the year, an
independent research center estimated that approximately 400,000
children worked at least occasionally, while 70,000 children worked for
at least 4 hours per day. In 2002, the National Institute of Statistics
(ISTAT) reported that approximately 31,500 children--a large number of
whom were 14 years old and younger--worked in agriculture (mostly boys)
and urban hotels, coffee bars, and restaurants (mostly girls). This
child labor occurred primarily within the family, and mistreatment was
not a problem. However, ISTAT stated that mistreatment and exploitation
were problems for child labor that occurred outside of families,
particularly for children of immigrants.
Illegal immigrant child laborers from northern Africa, the
Philippines, Albania, and, particularly China, continued to enter the
country in large numbers. A combination of immigration legislation and
stricter enforcement operations reduced the number of Chinese
immigrants working in sweatshop conditions; however, many minor
children worked alongside the rest of their families to produce
scarves, purses, and imitations of various brand name products.
The Government, employers' associations, and unions continued their
tripartite cooperation on child labor. The Ministry of Labor, working
with the police and the Carabinieri, is responsible for enforcement of
child labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law does not set minimum
wages, but they are set through collective bargaining agreements on a
sector-by-sector basis. When an employer and a union fail to reach an
agreement, courts may determine fair wages on the basis of practice in
comparable activities, although this rarely happened in practice. The
average daily wage provided a decent standard of living for a worker
and family.
The legal workweek is 40 hours. Overtime work may not exceed 2
hours per day or an average of 12 hours per week. Unless limited by a
collective bargaining agreement, the law sets maximum permissible
overtime hours in industrial sector firms at no more than 80 hours per
quarter and 250 hours annually.
The law sets basic health and safety standards and guidelines for
compensation for on-the-job injuries. EU directives on health and
safety also have been incorporated into the law. Labor inspectors were
from the public health service or from the Ministry of Labor, but they
were few in number in view of the scope of their responsibilities.
During the year, the Ministry of Labor hired an additional 850 labor
inspectors. Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous
work situations without jeopardizing their continued employment. Courts
imposed fines and sometimes prison terms for violation of health and
safety laws.
__________
KAZAKHSTAN
The Constitution of Kazakhstan concentrates power in the
presidency. President Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected to a 7-year term
in a 1999 election that fell far short of international standards. The
Constitution permits the President to control the legislature and
judiciary, as well as regional and local governments; changes or
amendments to the Constitution require presidential consent. The law
allows the President to retain certain controls over policy and a seat
on the Security Council after he leaves office. The Constitution limits
Parliament's powers by precluding it from appropriating state money or
lowering taxes without executive branch approval, although Members of
Parliament (M.P.s) have the right to introduce legislation.
Parliamentary elections in September and runoff elections in October
were in some respects an improvement over the previous elections;
however, they fell short of international standards and featured
numerous irregularities. Although opposition party Ak Zhol won one seat
in September's Mazhilis (the lower house of Parliament) elections,
party leaders declined the seat to protest what they characterized as
election fraud. As a result, no opposition parties were represented in
the Mazhilis following the elections. The judiciary remained under the
control of the President and executive branch, and corruption remained
systemic.
The Committee for National Security (KNB) is responsible for
national security, intelligence, and counterintelligence. The Ministry
of Internal Affairs (MVD) supervises the police. Civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Members of the
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country continued to move towards a market-based economy driven
by energy and mineral resources. The population was approximately 15.4
million. During the year, approximately 16 percent of the population
lived below the poverty line. Inflation was 6.7 percent, and the
official unemployment rate was approximately 8 percent during the year.
Wage growth exceeded inflation. Real gross domestic product grew by 9.3
percent during the year.
The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it
continued to commit numerous abuses. The Government severely limited
citizens' right to change their government and democratic institutions
remained weak. On some occasions, members of the security forces,
including police, tortured, beat, and otherwise mistreated detainees;
some officials were punished for these abuses. Prison conditions
remained harsh; however, the Government took an active role in efforts
to improve prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners. The
Government continued to use arbitrary arrest and detention and to
selectively prosecute political opponents; prolonged detention was a
problem. Amendments to several laws governing the authority of
procurators further eroded judicial independence. The Government
infringed on citizens' privacy rights.
The Government continued to restrict freedom of the press. There
were instances of Government harassment of independent media. As a
consequence, some media outlets closed or remained closed, and many
journalists practiced self-censorship. The Government took positive
steps to improve political participation by registering opposition
political parties, some of which had previously been denied
registration, before the September 19 parliamentary elections. The
Government restricted freedom of assembly and association and limited
democratic expression by restricting political party demonstrations and
rallies.
Freedom of religion improved during the year. National and regional
officials worked to correct incidents when local authorities harassed
nontraditional religious groups or their members; as a consequence,
there were few incidents reported during the year. Some human rights
observers reported that the Government monitored their activities.
Violence against women, including domestic violence, was a serious
problem.
Discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, and ethnic
minorities remained problems. The Government discriminated in favor of
ethnic Kazakhs. Trafficking in persons, primarily women trafficked for
sexual exploitation, was a problem, which the Government took steps to
address. Workers' rights were restricted, and child labor persisted in
agricultural areas.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings by the Government or its agents; however,
some conscripts died as a result of military hazing and mistreatment.
Military hazing was a serious problem that not only led to deaths as a
result of mistreatment but also resulted in some conscripts committing
suicide (see Section 1.c.). The Government took some steps to prevent
or reduce hazing through education and reforms aimed at
professionalizing the military; however, problems remained.
On June 15, conscript Nurbol Toyanov died after having served only
5 days in his military unit. An investigation determined that older
soldiers routinely beat and humiliated new conscripts in the unit.
Three sergeants in the unit were convicted for causing Toyanov's fatal
injuries, and they received sentences that ranged from 18 months of
service in a disciplinary battalion to 6 years in prison.
On July 16, according to press reports, conscript Asylbek Zhumanov
died under mysterious circumstances with the official cause of death
listed as a suicide; however, the case was investigated as a homicide.
A military police investigation led to charges against several fellow-
conscripts, who were convicted of hazing that resulted in Zhumanov's
death. Six older soldiers from Zhumanov's military unit were convicted
of murdering Zhumanov; one soldier received a suspended sentence on
appeal, while the other 5 soldiers received sentences ranging from 2 to
5 years in prison.
On July 16, media reported the suspicious deaths of two brothers,
who were conscripts in separate military units. Azamat Brimzhanov died
after he was beaten severely in a hazing incident. Two sergeants from
his unit were detained as suspects. In a separate incident, his
brother, Yerbolat Brimzhanov, jumped out of the fourth floor window of
his barracks and died. In court, Yerbolat Brimzhanov's fellow-
conscripts testified that he had been beaten repeatedly and severely
for over 2 weeks. In August in Sary Ozek, Almaty region, 8 fellow
conscripts were convicted and sentenced to 8 to 10 years in prison for
hazing that caused the death of Yerbolat Brimzhanov. Two sergeants in
the unit were dismissed from the army; no criminal charges were brought
against them.
No charges had been brought by year's end in the case of Daniyar
Nagaybayev, a private who died in May 2003. The press reported that
Nagaybayev's sergeant killed him while disciplining him for
disobedience.
No arrest had been made at year's end in the 2001 killing of
Dilbirim Samsakovaya, a well-known Uighur community activist.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, police
and prison officials at times tortured, beat, and otherwise abused
detainees, often to obtain confessions. Human rights observers and
government officials reported that beatings and abuse of prisoners
increased during the year.
The Government reported that 51 criminal cases against law
enforcement officers for physical abuse were filed during the year.
In March in Aktau, human rights advocates publicized the case of
Berik Tatiyev, who reportedly was severely tortured by MVD authorities
while being held in pretrial detention between December 2003 and
February. Procurators launched a criminal investigation that did not
result in any charges by year's end. The director and deputy director
of the Aktau pretrial detention facility were fired, and the head of
the Aktau police department received minor disciplinary punishment for
his role in the case.
It was reported that in July 2003, a district deputy procurator and
two other men brutally beat a 14-year-old girl at a cafe in the
southern part of the country. The case was ongoing at the year's end;
however, according to the victim's parents, the district deputy
procurator exerted pressure on witnesses in the case, discouraging them
from testifying.
On July 16, the Arkalyk City court convicted four Arkalyk prison
guards for beating prisoners on January 11. All 4 guards were sentenced
to prison terms ranging from 5 to 6 years.
There were unconfirmed reports that some women detained by law
enforcement officers were subjected to coercive sexual advances or
rape.
Army personnel continued to subject conscripts to brutal hazing,
including beatings and verbal abuse. There were reports of hazing-
related deaths and suicide (see Section 1.a.); which in some cases led
to investigations and eventual convictions of service members. The Main
Military Procurator reported close to 100 suicides among conscripts in
2003. The Army reported that 128 hazing cases were opened during the
first 9 months of 2003, 13 of which were classified as particularly
severe; in the first 6 months of 2003, 50 service members were
convicted of hazing. On January 5, conscript Andrey Frolov committed
suicide while serving in a military unit stationed in Tokyaru
settlement, near Balkhash. According to an internal investigation,
Frolov had been subjected to extensive physical and psychological abuse
by older soldiers. Reportedly, other conscripts were abused by the same
soldiers but were too scared to testify in court and a trial did not
take place. On January 18, conscript Baurzhan Bukitayev committed
suicide by hanging. Two sergeants in Bukitayev's military unit were
tried and convicted for hazing Bukitayev.
Conscript Madiyar Argynbekov committed suicide on November 30,
leaving a suicide note that blamed an older soldier in a Pavlodar
military detachment for hazing and physical abuse. An investigation was
underway at year's end.
The Government continued a training program for military forces on
social and legal issues, which included mandatory antihazing training.
Prison conditions remained harsh and sometimes life threatening.
Mistreatment occurred in pretrial detention facilities and in prisons,
and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international
organizations reported that abuses of prisoners increased after the
head of the penitentiary system and approximately one-third of the
prison administrators were replaced in 2003. The December 2003 transfer
of supervision of pretrial detention facilities from the MVD to the
Ministry of Justice was completed in May; as a result of this transfer,
conditions improved, although they remained harsh. The head of the
prison system and two deputies resigned in February following reports
of brutal beatings of inmates in certain prisons. Violent crime among
prisoners was common. During the year, the number of prisoners
continued to decline significantly. Much of the decrease was associated
with the 2002 Humanization of Criminal Justice Law, which prescribes
punishments other than imprisonment, such as probation, for minor first
offenses.
The Government reported 2,600 total violations, including physical
force violations, by employees of the penitentiary system during the
year. Some officials were punished for these abuses; 911 employees
received disciplinary punishment, including fines, demotions, and
dismissal and another 8 employees were convicted on criminal charges.
In the past several years, prison diets and availability of medical
supplies have improved. There were 6 tuberculosis colonies and 2
tuberculosis hospitals for prisoners; 5,591 prisoners were housed in
these colonies. While the incidence of tuberculosis stabilized, HIV/
AIDS continued to be a problem. The Government, together with the U.N.
Development Program (UNDP), continued to implement a project to prevent
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases in penitentiaries.
Prisoners were permitted to have visitors, although the number and
duration of visits depended on the security level of the prison and the
type of sentence being served.
Prisoners were held in close proximity, barracks-style facilities;
however, a government program to build new correctional facilities and
rehabilitate existing facilities continued throughout the year.
Incidents of self-mutilation by inmates to protest prison
conditions continued. In general, the Government did not take action in
response to self-inflicted injuries by prisoners.
In May, a group of juvenile prisoners at an Almaty prison staged a
riot to protest harsh conditions. After the uprising was suppressed,
the Penitentiary Commission reported that two prisoners had been
admitted to the hospital: One had attempted suicide, another had been
thrown out a second story window by his roommates.
There were separate facilities for men and women, and juveniles
were held separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were held
separately from convicted prisoners. Approximately 50 percent of the
prison population served their terms in facilities that, contrary to
the law, were not near their places of residence.
Although there is no known statutory requirement, human rights
observers and journalists wishing to visit prisons must receive
authorization; observers and journalists reported that authorities
often denied such requests, especially in politically sensitive cases.
The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
visited men's, women's, and juveniles' facilities during the year,
although they also reported that their requests were sometimes denied
without clearly articulated reasons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, they remained problems.
The KNB plays a law enforcement role in border security, internal
security, and antiterrorism efforts and oversees the external
intelligence service, Barlau. The Chairman of the KNB reports directly
to the President. The MVD supervises the national police force. Police
were poorly paid and widely believed to be corrupt. On June 25, the MVD
announced the creation of regional public commissions to investigate
allegations of corruption and abuse received through hotlines set up to
receive complaints about police. The Minister also reported that over
300,000 complaints of police corruption had been received in 2003 (see
Section 3).
According to the Government, during the year, 74 investigations
were initiated against 114 law enforcement officers, for violations of
citizens' rights. Of these cases, 25 resulted in criminal cases taken
to courts. Human rights observers believed that these cases covered
only a small fraction of the incidents of police abuse of detainees,
which they characterized as routine.
The Constitution provides that courts or procurators must sanction
arrests and detentions, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. Warrants were required for arrest. Procurators
have the power to authorize arrest and pre-trial detention as well as
investigative actions such as searches and seizures. The law allows
police to hold a detainee for 72 hours before bringing charges;
however, human rights observers alleged that police routinely failed to
register the name of a person arrested in order to extend the maximum
72-hour period that a person could be held without the approval of the
procurator.
A bail system exists, but was rarely used, and individuals
generally remained in pretrial detention until their trial.
Every person detained, arrested, or accused of committing a crime
has the right to the assistance of a defense lawyer from the moment of
detention, arrest, or accusation; however, police were not required
under the law or in practice to inform detainees that they had the
right to an attorney. Human rights observers alleged that law
enforcement officials dissuaded detainees from seeing an attorney or
gathered evidence through preliminary questioning before the person's
attorney arrived and the formal interrogation began.
The Government arrested and detained government opponents and
critics, sometimes for minor infractions of the law such as
unsanctioned assembly, and selectively prosecuted political opponents
(see Sections 1.e., 2.a., and 2.b.).
On August 16, journalist Sergey Duvanov was conditionally released
from custody under parole status. In 2003, Duvanov, known for his
reporting on domestic politics, was convicted of raping a minor and
sentenced to 3 years in prison, though most recently he had been under
house arrest. Observers considered the charges politically motivated
and the trial marked by serious procedural irregularities (see Sections
1.e. and 2.a.). Duvanov's release was subject to certain restrictions
on his movement and attendance of public events.
There were credible reports of arbitrary detention of members of
the political opposition.
On August 16, former Governor and opposition party Democratic
Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) leader Galymzhan Zhakiyanov was transferred
to a minimum security settlement colony, the first administrative step
toward parole. In 2002, Zhakiyanov had been tried and convicted of
alleged abuse of power and corruption along with Mukhtar Ablyazov,
former Minister of Energy. The arrests occurred years after the crimes
were allegedly committed, but only months after Ablyazov and Zhakiyanov
founded an opposition political movement. Authorities reportedly tried
to convince Zhakiyanov to discontinue his political activities in
exchange for release, and threatened to impose new criminal charges.
Police reportedly detained foreigners without official charges,
sometimes mistreating them.
Pretrial detention is permitted for periods up to 1 year with
approval from the Procurator General, and there were no reports that
detainees were held for periods longer than 1 year. The aggregate
number of persons held in pretrial detention facilities continued to
decline during the year; at year's end, 8,000 detainees were being held
pending trial. Local human rights NGOs reported that authorities
generally denied them access to pretrial detention facilities.
An unnamed citizen from Shymkent won a lawsuit against the
Government for damages inflicted by police during investigation of his
wife's murder in 2003. The Government was ordered to pay $2307.70
(300,000 KZT) as monetary remuneration for illegal detention and police
abuse of the plaintiff. The Supreme Court press service indicated that
this suit was the first in which the Government was held financially
responsible for illegal detention and police abuse.
Many individuals were detained for identity checks without
suspicion of a criminal offense. Law enforcement officials performing
identity checks were required by law to identify themselves and show
their badges if the subject requested.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law does not adequately
provide for an independent judiciary; in practice, the executive branch
subjugated judicial independence. Procurators enjoyed a quasi-judicial
role, and were permitted to suspend court decisions.
There are three levels in the court system: District, Oblast
(regional), and the Supreme Court. District courts are the court of
first instance in nearly all criminal cases. Oblast courts hear cases
involving more serious crimes, including those that carry the death
penalty, and may handle cases in rural areas with no local courts.
District court decisions may be appealed to the oblast courts, and
oblast court decisions may be appealed to the Supreme Court. There are
also military courts.
The Constitutional Council, which replaced the Constitutional
Court, rules on election and referendum challenges, interprets the
Constitution, and determines the constitutionality of laws adopted by
Parliament. The President directly appoints three of its seven members,
including the chairman, and has the right to veto Council decisions.
The Council can overturn a presidential veto if at least two-thirds
(five) of its members vote to do so. Only the President, Chairman of
the Senate, Chairman of the Parliament, Prime Minister, one-fifth of
the Members of Parliament (M.P.s), or a court of law may appeal to the
Constitutional Council; courts may appeal if they find that a law or
legislation undermined the rights and liberties of an individual and a
citizen. Citizens may not appeal to the Council, although they were
allowed to appeal the constitutionality of government actions to the
former Constitutional Court.
Corruption was evident at every stage and level of the judicial
process. Although judges were among the most highly paid government
employees, lawyers and human rights monitors alleged that judges,
procurators, and other officials solicited bribes in exchange for
favorable rulings the majority of criminal cases (see Section 3).
The President nominates Supreme Court judges to the upper house of
Parliament through the presidentially appointed Supreme Judicial
Council. The President appoints oblast judges nominated by the Supreme
Judicial Council, and local level judges from a list presented by the
MOJ. Judges are appointed for life or until mandatory retirement at age
65.
The law provides for a fair trial; however, trials often were not
fair in practice. The Constitution allows for trial by jury; however,
jury trials were not implemented in practice. Trials were public,
except in instances that could compromise state secrets, or to protect
the private life or personal family concerns of a citizen. However,
there were several reports during the year of journalists being denied
access to open court hearings. Defendants have the right to counsel and
to a Government-provided attorney if they cannot afford one; however,
in practice, defense attorneys reportedly participated in only half of
all criminal cases because the Government did not have sufficient funds
to pay them.
The Constitution also provides defendants the right to be present
at their trials, to be heard in court, and to call witnesses for the
defense. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, are protected
from self-incrimination, and have the right to appeal a decision to a
higher court. These rights were generally exercised in practice;
however, there were reports of individual cases of infringement.
Court verdicts were often determined invalid, and in many cases
reversed based on the inadequacy of evidence. In many instances, lower
courts convicted defendants despite procedural violations. Lack of due
process was a problem, particularly in politically motivated trials.
On August 16, journalist Sergey Duvanov, who was convicted in March
2003 of raping a minor, was released on full parole. Independent legal
experts deemed his trial unfair, citing lack of evidence, procedural
violations, and denial of the presumption of innocence through comments
made by the President.
Zhakiyanov, who had been convicted in 2002 following a trial that
international observers said was politically motivated and lacked due
process, remained in a prison facility in Kostanay Oblast until August,
when he was transferred to a reduced security settlement colony in
Shiderty, Pavlodar Oblast. Zhakiyanov's family and advocates reported
that he faced harsher conditions than other inmates at the facility.
Following Zhakiyanov's transfer, the media reported an official
investigation of new corruption charges against Zhakiyanov; however, at
year's end, no new charges had been filed.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government at times infringed on these rights.
The law provides procurators with extensive authority to limit
citizens' constitutional rights. The KNB, MVD, Financial Police, and
other agencies, with the concurrence of the Procurator General's
Office, may infringe on the secrecy of private communications and
financial records, as well as on the inviolability of the home. Courts
may hear an appeal on such decisions by procurators, but cannot issue
an immediate injunction to cease the infringement. The Criminal
Procedure Code allows wiretapping and recording of communications for
investigative purposes without a procurator's warrant only in urgent
cases; however, the Procurator must be notified of the interception
within 24 hours.
Government opponents continued to report that the Government
monitored their movements and telephone calls on occassion.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press; however, observers reported the Government
used a variety of means, including criminal and administrative charges,
physical attacks, and vandalism to control the media. Judicial actions
against journalists and media outlets, including civil and criminal
libel suits filed by government officials, contributed to self-
censorship.
The Government limited individuals' ability to criticize the
country's leadership, and regional leaders increasingly sought ways to
limit local media outlets' criticism of them. The Constitution provides
for the protection of the dignity of the President, and the law
prohibits insulting the President and other senior officials.
Prior to the September 19 Mazhilis elections, international and
local elections observers and opposition parties cited strong media
bias in favor of pro-administration parties as a serious breach of the
election law, which stipulates that media must provide equal coverage
of all parties during the official campaign season. The Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) noted that no media
outlets were shut down in the period prior to the elections, nor were
journalists prosecuted, as during past elections. However, a local
media advocacy group documented 39 separate incidents of journalists
being denied access to information about the elections or being
prohibited from covering voting or vote-counting, rights that are
protected by law.
In July, Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly, a co-chairman of opposition party
Ak Zhol, was appointed Minister of Information. Sarsenbaiuly took a
leave of absence from this position in August to campaign for the
Mazhilis elections. On September 20, Sarsenbaiuly formally resigned his
position as Minister of Information to protest elections
irregularities. The Ministry was reorganized later in the year to
become part of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports.
According to government statistics, there were 990 privately owned
newspapers and 418 privately owned magazines. The Government ran one of
the two national Russian-language newspapers and the only national
Kazakh-language newspaper that appeared as many as five times a week.
In addition, members of the President's family were believed to control
a number of privately owned media. Many newspapers that nominally were
independent received government subsidies. Each major city had at least
one independent weekly newspaper. The centrist opposition political
party Ak Zhol continued to publish two national weeklies during the
year.
The Government controlled nearly all broadcast transmission
facilities. There were 116 independent television and 35 radio
stations. Only three combined radio and television companies could
broadcast nationwide; of these, one was completely government-owned,
one was 50 percent government-owned, and one was nominally independent.
Regional governments owned several frequencies; however, independent
broadcasters arranged to use the majority of these. Many media outlets
considered to be independent, including the larger outlets, were owned
by holding companies believed to be controlled by members of the
President's family and close circle of friends.
All media were required to register with the Ministry of
Information, or its successor, the Ministry of Culture, Information and
Sports, although websites were exempted from this requirement. In
practice, media outlets known to be associated with opposition
political parties or movements were frequently refused registration.
The law limits the rebroadcast of foreign-produced programming to
20 percent of a station's total airtime. This provision burdened
smaller, less-developed regional television stations that lacked
resources to develop their own programs. However, no media outlets were
sanctioned under this provision.
Harassment of and violence against journalists were problems.
For example, on March 17, the city court of Aktyubinsk sentenced
Vladimir Mikhaylov, the publisher of the independent weekly newspaper
Diapazon, to 1 year in prison for noncompliance with a 2002 court order
regarding a property dispute that media advocates characterized as
politically motivated. Diapazon staffers believe the case was motivated
by local authorities' desire to take control of the paper, as Mikhaylov
was approached earlier during the year and was asked to sell his
interest in Diapazon, but refused. Mikhaylov's sentence was reduced to
180 hours of community service on appeal, and on April 26 he was
released from prison, where he had spent the previous month.
In November 2003, an Almaty district court convicted Yermurat Bapi,
editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper SolDat and a member of the
executive committee of the RNPK, of tax evasion and barred him from
practicing journalism for 5 years. Bapi and the newspaper had
previously been subjected to harassment, libel suits, and tax charges.
On August 16, a district court in Almaty granted a permanent early
release on full parole to journalist Sergey Duvanov, who had been
jailed after a January 2003 conviction on the allegedly politically
motivated charge of raping a 14-year-old (see Sections 1.d., 1.e., and
3). In a separate incident, Duvanov was the victim of a 2002 attack by
three unknown persons, who carved a cross and several other marks on
his chest and allegedly told him that he was aware of why they were
attacking him. President Nazarbayev denounced this attack, calling it a
provocation. Duvanov received no communication on the case from law
enforcement during the year and no arrests were made.
During the September Mazhilis elections, members of a local
election commission assaulted newspaper correspondents Tamara
Sukhomlinova and Gulzhanat Isabayeva. Their newspaper filed an official
complaint with the regional procurator in September, but had not
received a response by year's end.
On July 16, Askhat Sharipzhanov, a correspondent for the opposition
online news organization Navigator, was struck by a car and died 4 days
later, under what journalists and human rights advocates stated were
suspicious circumstances. According to the police account of the
accident, Sharipzhanov was drunk when he was struck by a car late at
night as he was crossing a street in Almaty. Sharipzhanov's colleagues
reported that he had conducted interviews with opposition figures
Zamanbek Nurkadilov and Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly on the evening of the
accident. The tape recorder that Sharipzhanov's colleagues believed he
was carrying was not found. Colleagues also noted several suspicious
deviations from Sharipzhanov's normal routine on the night he was
injured. Hearings into the death began in October in the Almaty
District Court, but had not concluded by year's end.
Journalists covering organized crime and corruption reported
harassment and intimidation directed at them as a result of their
reporting.
On August 17 in Taraz, unknown assailants threw 7 molotov cocktails
through the windows of the independent weekly newspaper, Yuzhniy
Ekspress. Editor-in-chief Zharylkasyn Nuraliyev said the attack was
likely provoked by reporting on organized crime structures and was not
linked to the parliamentary elections. A local media defense expert
suggested the attack was linked to a particular article in the
newspaper on attempts by crime bosses to put up candidates for the
parliamentary elections. No one had been charged by year's end.
The law provides for free speech and prohibits censorship; however,
it also enables the Government to restrict media content under
amendments that prohibit undermining state security or advocating
class, social, race, national, or religious superiority, or cruelty and
violence. Owners, editors, distributors, and journalists may be held
civilly and criminally responsible for content, regardless of the
source of information, unless it came from an official source. Criminal
libel suits could be initiated by private parties on behalf of the
Government, and an individual filing such a suit would be able to file
a civil suit as well, based upon the same allegations. The law also
prohibits violence and all pornography from television broadcasts. The
Government continued to be able to influence most printing and
distribution facilities and to subsidize periodicals, including many
that supposedly were independent. In addition, many publishing houses
were government-owned.
In April, the President vetoed a draft media law after the
Constitutional Council ruled parts of the draft unconstitutional.
International organizations and NGOs stated the draft would have
further restricted media freedom. In August, then-Minister of
Information Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly convened a working group to revise
the law to make it conform with internationally recognized democratic
standards, but the status of that draft was left in doubt after
Sarsenbaiuly resigned in September. The Congress of Journalists
released an alternate version of a draft media law on October 21. By
year's end, no draft law had been accepted by the Government for
submission to Parliament.
During the year, almost all media outlets willing to criticize the
President directly were subjected to intimidation, often in the form of
law enforcement actions and/or civil suits. While these events
continued to cast a chilling effect on all media outlets, criticism of
government policies continued to be reported during the year.
The State Secrets Law makes it a criminal offense to release any
information about the health, financial, or private life of the
President, as well as economic information about the country such as
the volumes of national mineral reserves and the amount of government
debt owed to foreign creditors.
Officials used the law's restrictive libel and defamation
provisions to force media outlets to refrain from publishing
unflattering information. Both the Criminal and Civil Codes contain
articles establishing broad libel liability. Owners, editors,
distributors, publishing houses, and journalists were held responsible
for the content of information conveyed and had the burden of proving
its veracity, regardless of its source, which promoted self-censorship
at each level. At times, fines for libel were exorbitant and bankrupted
small media outlets.
Iskak Toksanbayev, a Petropavlovsk police colonel and the head of
the regional MVD, filed a defamation suit against Vremya reporter
Grigoriy Melnikov regarding a September 9 article that reported
Toksanbayev had been fired after an incident during a drunken party.
Toksanbayev demanded $15,385 (2,000,000 KZT) in damages. In a separate
incident in March, Melnikov initiated criminal charges against Berik
Bilyakov, the head of an oblast (regional) criminal investigation
division, for attempting to set him up in a fight in order to have him
arrested. The case against Bilyakov was dismissed in September for lack
of evidence. Melnikov stated the set-up was in retaliation for his
article criticizing Bilyakov. Bilyakov filed a lawsuit against Melnikov
in Petropavlovsk city court for defamation. The defamation cases were
ongoing at year's end.
On October 27, the joint stock company Khabar, headed by Dariga
Nazarbayeva, filed a defamation suit against Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly, co-
chairman of the opposition Ak Zhol party and former Minister of
Information, in response to an October 1 interview in the weekly
opposition newspaper Respublika, in which he accused Khabar of
monopolizing the media market and violating financial regulations. The
Khabar company demanded a public retraction and $7.58 million (1
billion KZT) in damages.
On July 16, an Almaty district court ordered the owner of weekly
newspaper Assandi Times to pay $384,615 (50 million KZT) in damages
regarding a civil libel suit the Presidential Administration filed
against the paper for defamation. On June 2, a forged issue of the
Assandi Times was published with articles that discredited opposition
leaders and suggested the ``Kazakhgate'' case being tried in a foreign
country was based on false information provided by the President's
opponents. The day the false edition appeared, Assandi Times' editors
posted a statement on the opposition Navigator online news site
suggesting that the Presidential administration had published the
forged issue. The Presidential Administration filed a separate suit
against Navigator; the Navigator case was dropped after a retraction
was issued by the website. The amount of damages against Assandi Times
was the highest ever set in a libel case. As a result, the Assandi
Times was forced to cease publication in mid-July due to insolvency. By
the end of the year, the damages assessed to Assandi Times had not been
paid.
In mid-August, the former staff of the Assandi Times began
publishing a new newspaper, Respublika: Delovoye Obozreniye. This
marked the fourth time the newspaper's name changed to avoid what the
editorial and management staff considered illegal judgments against the
publication.
On March 17, the Zhetysu district court in Almaty acquitted
journalist Genadiy Benditskiy, of the national newspaper Vremya, of
criminal libel, for lack of evidence. The charges were based on a
complaint by former Minister of Energy Asygat Zhabagin, who objected to
two articles Vremya published in 2003, which alleged that the
organization that Zhabagin headed held bank accounts containing
approximately $1.58 million (2.15 million KZT) in state funds that had
been allocated for another purpose.
Media outlets generally practiced self-censorship regarding
information on the President and his family to avoid possible legal
problems.
Most media did not report a 2003 story, which had been widely
reported internationally, about an investigation into possible illicit
payments, allegedly from foreign companies to senior government
officials, including President Nazarbayev. Local media outlets, when
they did report on the case, informally dubbed it Kazakhgate (see
Section 3).
Some journalists alleged that the KNB or tax police threatened
publishing houses if they printed opposition media; concern over
criminal or civil proceedings influenced publishing houses.
The law defines websites based in the country as media outlets.
During the year, the content of websites was subject to libel lawsuits
and criminal charges. Independent web media reported that the
Government periodically blocked clients of the two largest Internet
providers, Kaztelecom and Nursat, from direct access to several
opposition websites, including Evrasia, Navigator, and Kub, although
access was still available through anonymous proxy servers.
The Government generally did not restrict academic freedom;
however, as was the case for journalists, academics could not violate
certain restrictions, such as criticizing the President and his family.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association; however, there were
significant restrictions on these rights in practice. The Law on
National Security defines as a threat to national security unsanctioned
gatherings, public meetings, marches, demonstrations, illegal
picketing, and strikes that upset social and political stability.
Under the law, organizations must apply to the local authorities
for a permit to hold a demonstration or public meeting at least 10 days
in advance, or the activity is considered illegal. Opposition and human
rights monitors complained that complicated procedures and the 10-day
notification period made it difficult for groups to organize public
meetings and demonstrations, and reported that local authorities,
especially those outside Almaty, turned down most applications for
demonstrations in central locations. Organizers of unsanctioned
gatherings, including political party gatherings, frequently were
detained briefly and often fined (see Section 3).
On September 8, during an unsanctioned rally in the central square
in Almaty, approximately 50 members of the opposition party Democratic
Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) approached the office of Dariga Nazarbayeva,
daughter of President Nazarbayev and leader of the pro-Presidential
party Asar (``All Together''), to challenge her to a debate. Police
detained eight of the activists for a few hours, and fined them a
nominal sum.
In September, DCK received a permit to hold another rally, co-
sponsored by the Communist Party, as part of series of national rallies
leading up to the September 19 parliamentary elections. However, the
permit specified that the rally could take place only at a site on the
outskirts of Almaty; DCK and the Communist Party instead staged the
rally in the center of the city. Several DCK activists were taken to
court, though no fines or penalties were levied. There was a separate
report of the detention of an activist in Aktau city, who was fined and
released after taking part in a concurrent, but unsanctioned, DCK/
Communist rally in Aktau.
In early October, the DCK-Communist bloc attempted to get permits
to stage demonstrations in cities across the country to protest
election results. The protest was to take place on October 2, prior to
run-off parliamentary elections. All requests for permits were denied
by akimats, the local municipal governments.
Any public organization set up by citizens must be registered with
the MOJ, or its oblast branches. Participation in nonregistered public
organizations can result in administrative or even criminal liability,
such as fines, dissolution, probation or imprisonment. Although
authorities often did not object to groups that failed to formally
register, in some instances the prohibition on unregistered
organizations provided the pretext for authorities to interfere with
the activities of organizations. Membership organizations, including
religious groups, must have 10 members to register at the local level
and branches in over half of the oblasts for national registration.
Political parties and labor unions were considered membership
organizations, but had specific registration requirements. The law
requires parties to have 50,000 members, including 700 in each region
and prohibits parties established on an ethnic, gender, or religious
basis (see Section 3).
The Constitution prohibits members of the armed forces, employees
of national security and law enforcement organizations, and judges from
participating in trade unions or political parties.
During the year, organizations were charged a fee to register as
new organizations. Many organizations had to hire lawyers or other
consultants to expedite registration through the bureaucracy, which
increased the registration cost considerably. Some groups considered
these costs to be a deterrent to registration.
On September 21, a law went into effect simplifying registration
procedures for legal entities, including membership and nonmembership
organizations (see Section 2.c.). The new law provides that
registration be granted within 10 days instead of 15. The law
introduced a one-window procedure in which the MOJ is the sole agency
to which the entities must apply; previously, legal entities had to
register with the MOJ, the Agency on Statistics, and tax agencies, with
each agency requiring a separate package of registration documents.
Initial reports indicated that the registration process was more
streamlined in practice.
On February 4, Kakharman Kozhambergy, leader of the Association of
Uighurs, reported he had been fined for holding an illegal meeting of
an unregistered association when the association attempted to
reorganize itself as a political party in a meeting in Almaty in July
2003.
The Government maintained that Hizb ut-Tahrir, a banned Islamic
organization, is an extremist group. Although Hizb ut-Tahrir maintained
that it was committed to nonviolence, the party's strongly anti-Semitic
and anti-Western literature called for secular governments, including
in the country, to be replaced by a world-wide Islamic government
called the Caliphate. The Government does not consider Hizb ut-Tahrir
to be a religious organization and characterizes the handing out of
pamphlets by Hizb ut-Tahrir members as incitement for political and
terrorist purposes. On several occasions during the year, authorities
detained Hizb ut-Tahrir members for distributing literature. More
frequently than in previous years, authorities filed charges against
these individuals, and courts convicted several of them, generally for
inciting social, national, tribal, racial, or religious hatred. In
other cases, however, alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir members simply continued
to be held in custody for brief periods and then released. During the
reporting period, there were no reported cases of government officials
harassing observant Muslims under the guise of combating Hizb ut-Tahrir
activities, other than those actively engaged in pamphleteering. (see
Section 2.c.).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this in practice;
however, local officials attempted on occasion to limit the practice of
some nontraditional religions. Higher-level officials or courts often
intervened to correct such attempts. There existed general wariness
within the population, particularly in rural areas, of nontraditional
religions.
The Constitution defines the country as a secular state. While on
several occasions in previous years the Government unsuccessfully
sought to amend the National Religion Law to give the Muslim Spiritual
Association a quasi-official role, both the Government and the
association denied any official connection between them.
The Government invited the leaders of the two largest religions,
Islam and Russian Orthodoxy, to participate jointly in some state
events. The leaders of the Catholic and Jewish religions, which were
represented by small proportions of the population, also participated
in some official events. Leaders of other faiths, including Baptists,
Adventists, and other nontraditional groups, have at times also
participated in some government events.
In contrast to laws governing other public associations, the
National Religion Law does not explicitly require religious
organizations to register with the Government (see Section 2.b.);
however, religious organizations must register to receive legal status
in order to act as a legal entity to buy or rent real property, hire
employees, or engage in other legal transactions. Unlike in previous
years, religious groups did not experience delays in registration; this
was primarily due to the new law that simplified the registration
procedure (see Section 2.b.). The Government exempted registered
religious organizations from taxes on church collections and income
from certain religious activities. The Government donated buildings and
provided other assistance for the construction of new mosques,
synagogues, and Russian Orthodox churches.
The administrative code allows national and local authorities to
suspend activities or fine the leaders of unregistered religious
organizations, although both legal experts and government officials had
varying interpretations as to whether it supercedes the National
Religion Law on the obligation of religious groups to register. In
practice, some lower courts used the administrative code to sanction
religious groups, but cases were generally overturned or dismissed.
Local officials, particularly in remote locations, often insisted
that religious organizations register at the local level, despite the
fact that registration at the national or the oblast level legally was
sufficient to obtain the rights that registration offers.
Members of the Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians and
Baptists reported that they were harassed by law enforcement for not
being registered. Although the Council of Churches was reported to act
as a legal entity, it has a policy of not seeking or accepting
registration in former Soviet countries. During the year, as in the
previous year, the Government dropped criminal cases and did not
fulfill court orders that would have compelled congregations affiliated
with the Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians and Baptists to
register. In Nikolayevka, Almaty Oblast, Aleksandr Kalmakov was fined
for his group's failure to register; he reported that court bailiffs
harassed him to pay the fine early in the year, but still refused to
pay the fine at year's end.
In July, Vilgelm Dik, a member of the Council of Churches of
Evangelical Christians and Baptists, was found guilty of violating the
Administrative Code by not registering, and was fined. On February 12,
the city court of Karatau in Zhambyl Oblast tried Asan Abylkhanov, also
a member of the Council of Churches, and fined him $49.48 (6,433 KZT)
for conducting a religious service without registration. Neither Dik
nor Abylkhanov had appealed or paid the fine by year's end; their
respective congregations maintained their refusal to register.
In an October 6 report, the national Jehovah's Witnesses Religious
Center stated that its members were generally able to freely practice
their religion without interference; however, the Center reported
isolated problems. Although local Jehovah's Witnesses groups are
formally registered at the national level and in 12 oblasts, the Center
has attempted unsuccessfully to register in a northern Kazakhstan
Oblast since 1997 and in Atyrau Oblast since 2001. In 2003, the MOJ
ordered its Northern Kazakhstan Oblast branch to register the group;
however, it had not done so by year's end.
Although the Hare Krishna movement was registered at the national
level, followers faced continued local government and police harassment
during the year. On August 27, the Hare Krishna community in Almaty
Oblast held an annual convention with foreign guests. The community
filed a formal request to hold the gathering with oblast authorities 2
weeks before the event began, but received no response. The Hare
Krishna community reported that seven foreign invitees were briefly
detained and released with a warning for violation of the immigration
law. However, unlike in previous years, no Hare Krishna followers were
deported. During this weeklong gathering, law enforcement
representatives visited the convention on a daily basis, conducting
health, sanitation, and other inspections of the premises to ensure
compliance with the law.
Law enforcement authorities conducted inspections of religious
groups throughout the country, claiming the right to do so as a means
of preventing the development of religious extremism and ensuring that
religious groups pay taxes. Where religious groups operated as legal
entities, such as running collective farms and restaurants or operating
orphanages, authorities conducted health, sanitation, and other
inspections relevant to the nature of the entity's operations. These
inspections also provided the authorities with information about the
registration status of the groups, even when the inspection appeared
reasonable given the nature of the group's operations.
According to Hare Krishna leaders, the authorities made frequent
inspections of the Krishnas' settlement outside Almaty. In September,
the Hare Krishna farm was the subject of 11 inspections by different
government agencies including the police, fire protection service,
sanitary agency, environment protection agency and land committee, and
subsequently fined for different violations of the law. The Hare
Krishnas admitted several violations, which they attempted to rectify,
but reported that they had been subjected to closer scrutiny than their
neighbors, who were generally not subject to inspections.
Notwithstanding these inspections, Hare Krishna leaders reported that
in general, conditions for their community improved during the year.
The Council of Churches of Evangelic Christians and Baptists
reported that a church service in Arkalyk was disrupted on April 18 by
local police, who videotaped the service without the congregants'
permission. No other disruptions of religious services were reported
during the year.
The national Jehovah's Witnesses Religious Center alleged
continuing incidents of harassment by a number of local governments. It
claimed that city officials sometimes blocked the group from renting
stadiums or other large public or private sites for religious meetings.
The law does not prohibit foreign missionary activity. Although the
law is unclear on whether missionaries were required to register, there
were no reports of officials requiring missionaries to register during
the year.
On October 1, the media reported a conflict between missionaries
from Missionary Center Grace Rakhim and local Muslims in a village in
Akmola Oblast. The missionaries, who identifed themselves as
Presbyterian Christians, were threatened, beaten, and exiled from the
village when they preached to local inhabitants in an attempt to
convert them.
There were no reports of incidents of anti-Semitism by the
Government. In August, the Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan addressed an
international religious conference in Brussels, stating that in his 10
years living in Kazakhstan, he had never faced a single case of anti-
Semitism, and he praised the Government for its pro-active protection
of the Jewish community. Other than the actions of members of political
organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, who printed and distributed leaflets that
supported anti-Semitism among other beliefs, there were no reports of
anti-Semitic incitement or acts during the year.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, in practice, citizens were required to register to
prove legal residence and obtain city services.
Citizens and foreigners in the country for more than 5 days were
required to register with the migration police. Registration in most of
the country generally was routine, but it was often difficult to
register in Almaty and Astana due to local officials' fears of
overcrowding. Persons who were suspects in criminal investigations were
often required to sign statements that they would not leave their place
of residence. Many individuals were detained for identity checks
without suspicion of a criminal offense (see Section 1.d.).
Although the Government did not require exit visas for temporary
travel of citizens, there remained certain instances in which exit from
the country could be denied, including for travelers subject to pending
criminal or civil legal proceedings, unserved prison sentences, or
compulsory military duty. Travelers who presented false documentation
during the exit process could be denied, and travel by active-duty
military was controlled. The Law on National Security requires that
persons who had access to state secrets obtain permission from their
employing government agency for temporary exit from the country.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The Constitution provides for the right to emigrate and the right
to repatriate, and the Government generally respected these rights in
practice; however, the Law on National Security prohibits persons who
had access to state secrets from taking up permanent residence abroad
for 5 years after leaving government service. A permanent exit visa was
required for emigrants and obtaining this visa required criminal
checks, credit checks, and letters from any dependents concurring to
the exit visa. Many individuals reported that without travel agency
assistance, obtaining permanent exit visas could take several months.
Foreigners were required to have exit visas, which they received
routinely with entry visas. Foreign visitors were required to register,
either with airport immigration officials or local migration police.
Immigration authorities occasionally fined foreigners without proof of
registration before allowing them to leave the country.
Foreigners were required to obtain prior permission to travel to
some border areas with China and cities in close proximity to military
installations. The Government continued to declare certain areas closed
to foreigners due to their proximity to military bases and the space
launch center; however, foreigners could visit these areas with prior
permission from the MVD.
The Government accorded special treatment to ethnic Kazakhs and
their families who fled during Stalin's era and wished to return. These
returnees were in principle entitled to citizenship and many other
privileges. Other persons, including ethnic Kazakhs who were not
considered refugees from the Stalin era, such as the descendants of
Kazakhs who moved to Mongolia during the 19th century, had to apply for
permission to return. It was government policy to encourage and assist
all ethnic Kazakhs living outside the country to return. The Chair of
the Agency for Migration and Demography reported that between 1991 and
April 1, approximately 322,500 ethnic Kazakhs, including returnees,
immigrated to the country, mostly from other former Soviet republics,
Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Turkey, China, and Saudi Arabia. The
Government maintained a quota for returnee families that increased
annually; during the year it was 10,000. The Government struggled to
find resources for integration programs for those who arrived outside
the quota. The Government helped provide families with housing,
stipends, and other benefits and international organizations and local
NGOs assisted in these efforts.
There were reports that the Government did not always extend
benefits to returnee family members who were not of ethnic Kazakh
origin. An international NGO reported that unskilled returnees who
returned faced difficulty in finding work and housing.
Returnees were automatically eligible for citizenship; however, the
prohibition on dual citizenship prevented many of them from receiving
it immediately. Applications for citizenship generally took 6 months to
process. According to Migration Police statistics, 48,731 out of
approximately 73,000 ethnic Kazakh returnees, whose families had fled
during the Stalin era, and who had returned since independence, had
received citizenship by August.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but the Government has not established a
system for providing protection to refugees. The absence of legislation
to fully implement the Convention left many aspects of refugee status
unclear, such as whether refugees had a right to work. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status, but not asylum.
The Government registered asylum seekers and determined their
status, in consultation with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR). Only the President can grant political asylum, and he did not
do so during the year. In some cases, asylum seekers and refugees were
allowed to stay in the country while the UNHCR found third countries
that would accept them. Nonpolitical asylum claims could theoretically
be processed anywhere in the country; however, in practice, claims
continued to be processed only in Almaty.
The Agency for Migration integrated the UNHCR and a local NGO,
Kazakhstan Refugee Legal Support, into the process of reviewing refugee
claims. By November, the UNHCR estimated that there were fewer than
16,500 refugees in the country, including 13,700 Chechens from Russia
and 2,500 from Afghanistan. The remainder included Palestinians and
Uighurs from China, among others.
The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government
allowed the UNHCR access to detained foreigners to determine if they
qualified for refugee status and in practice was generally tolerant in
its treatment of local refugee populations, except for citizens from
former Soviet republics. Migrants from former Soviet republics were not
considered to be refugees because they could ostensibly travel and
settle freely within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The
Government often did not allow refugees without passports or those who
had entered the country illegally to register; in practice, it
restricted registration almost exclusively to refugees from
Afghanistan.
The Government struggled to deal with the increases in immigration,
and periodically engaged in heavy-handed campaigns to round up
noncitizens who violated migration procedures. According to a U.N.
reporting agency, the Government deported large numbers of migrants
each month.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals,
including some Afghan refugees who may not qualify as refugees under
the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol. Consistent with the Minsk Convention
on Migration within the CIS, the Government did not recognize Chechens
as refugees; however, the Government, in cooperation with the UNHCR and
Chechen organizations, did grant indefinite but temporary legal
resident status to Chechens until they could return home to safe
conditions. In March 2003, the Government established a new temporary
registration procedure for Chechens; however, reports persisted that
Chechens did not have the same access to registration as others, and
often resorted to paying bribes to local officials to obtain
registration.
The Government had an agreement with China not to tolerate the
presence of ethnic separatists from one country on the territory of the
other. Human rights monitors remained concerned with the impact of this
agreement on Uighurs from China in the country, although there were no
reports of Uighurs forcibly returned to China during the year. The
Government did not consider any asylum claims by Uighurs; however, it
allowed the UNHCR to resettle some Uighur refugees to other countries
during the year. In contrast to previous years, there were no reports
of Uighur disappearances or questionable repatriations during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for a democratic government with
universal suffrage for those over 18 years of age; however, in
practice, the Government severely limited the right of citizens to
change their government.
The Constitution concentrates power in the presidency, granting the
President considerable control over the legislature, judiciary, and
local government. The President appoints and dismisses the Prime
Minister and Cabinet. Appointment of the Prime Minister, but not of
cabinet members, is subject to parliamentary consent. Presidential
appointments of the Procurator General and the KNB Chief require the
consent of the Senate. The President has the power to dismiss
Parliament and to appoint judges and senior court officials. The
President also nominates, subject parliamentary approval, the chairman
and members of the Central Election Commission (CEC), who oversee
presidential and parliamentary elections. The Parliament has never
failed to confirm a presidential nomination. Modifying or amending the
Constitution effectively requires the President's consent. President
Nazarbayev was elected to a 7-year term in a 1999 election that was
held nearly 2 years earlier than scheduled and fell far short of
international standards.
The bicameral Parliament consists of the Mazhilis, the lower house,
and the Senate, the upper house. Seats in the Mazhilis are filled by
direct election, while seats in the Senate are chosen by oblast
(regional) councils called Maslikhats. Maslikhat members are directly
elected by constituents.
President Nazarbayev signed a new election law on April 15.
According to an assessment by the OSCE's Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the amendments to the law
represented considerable progress in terms of transparency, formation
of more pluralistic election commissions, and creation of more equal
conditions for candidates; however, the OSCE assessment called for
further improvements to fully meet the country's international
commitments for democratic elections, especially with regard to
remaining limitations on civil and political rights. Areas for
improvement included continuing limitations on candidates to campaign,
limitations on rights of observers, vague provisions for invalidating
election results, and lack of sufficient guarantees for inclusive
representation on election commissions.
On September 19, elections were held for all seats in the Mazhilis,
followed by runoff elections on October 3. In its assessment, the OSCE/
ODIHR elections observer mission determined that although elections
reflected improvements over previous parliamentary elections, the
process fell short of international standards and a number of aspects
of the new election law were not implemented in an effective and
impartial manner. Some domestic monitors found the election violations
to be worse than previous parliamentary elections, citing violations of
electoral legislation and abuse of voter lists, multiple voting, vote
count problems, and interference of local authorities. However, other
domestic groups found that irregularities did not appear to alter
election results.
The OSCE noted the following areas of concern: Deregistraton of
candidates due to apparently politically motivated criminal convictions
or administrative reporting violations; unequal access to election
commissions for opposition party representatives and nontransparent
behavior of commissions; media bias in favor of propresidential
parties; ineffectiveness and lack of transparency in the appeals
process; problems with counting and tabulation, including reports of
protocols being altered or rewritten, and failure to publish final
results broken down by polling station; improper pressure on voters;
and haphazard introduction of electronic voting, which led to
discrepancies in voter lists in parallel paper voting. The Constitution
requires that results be published within 10 days; however, the CEC did
not publish the results of the elections until October 31. Independent
monitors stated that the final published results varied substantially
from exit poll data and from preliminary CEC reports. Several
opposition groups filed suits seeking vote recounts and claiming
violations in television coverage; the suits remained pending at the
end of the year.
There were some improvements in the conduct of the September
Mazhilis elections, including improved voter education efforts and
information campaigns and the extension of legal rights for domestic
elections observers; however, these rights were not always observed in
practice.
Although the law stipulates that the media must provide equal
coverage of all parties, international and local elections observers
and opposition parties cited strong media bias in favor of pro-
administration parties, in terms of editorial content and access to
advertising. Observers reported that this bias was most evident in the
high percentage of television news coverage given to the President's
Otan party and his daughter Dariga's pro-presidential Asar party by the
largest television networks, in each of which the Nazarbayev family
owns either significant or controlling shares. The opposition also
criticized the disproportionate number of paid political announcements
for Otan and Asar on state-owned stations.
The OSCE noted that, unlike in previous elections, no media outlets
were shut down in the period prior to the elections, nor were
journalists prosecuted; however, a local media advocacy group, the
International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech (Adil
Soz), documented 39 separate incidents of journalists being denied
access to information about the elections or being prohibited from
covering voting or vote-counting, rights which are provided for by law.
During the year, 12 political parties were registered, including 3
denied registration in previous years (Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan
(DCK), the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan (CPPK), and
Rukhaniyat). In addition, two blocs were registered: The Agrarian and
Civic parties formed the Agricultural-Industrial bloc, or AIST; the
Communist Party and DCK formed an opposition bloc. International
observers reported that the role of political party participation
increased in the lead up to the September 19 Parliament elections.
Joining a political party requires members to provide personal
information, including date and place of birth, address, and place of
employment. For many citizens, this requirement inhibited them from
joining political parties. There were credible allegations that persons
entering government service were required to join the propresidential
Otan party. Prior to the September 19 Mazhilis elections, students and
faculty at several educational institutions reported pressure from
rectors or management to join the propresidential Asar party. There
were credible reports that employers attempted to use their
professional positions to force employees to join or vote for
particular propresidential political parties. In one case, there were
reports that a government official and leader in a propresidential
party pressured a group of citizens who received benefits from the
official's agency to vote for that official's party.
The Government restricted the functioning of the political
opposition. On July 27, Bulat Abilov, one of five cochairmen of
opposition party Ak Zhol, was convicted on criminal libel charges and
received a suspended 1-year sentence, along with 2-years' probation,
legally barring him from running in the September Mazhilis elections.
On August 27, in a separate civil suit, Abilov was fined $38,462 (5
million KZT) for causing ``moral damage'' to the plaintiff, M.P.
Mukhtar Tinikeyev. Abilov had accused Tinikeyev in a television
interview of both taking and offering bribes related to his selection
to the Parliament.
On December 28, the Almaty Procurator began proceedings to
liquidate DCK on charges that the party's December 11 statement,
denying the legitimacy of the Government and calling for civil
disobedience, undermined the security of the state and fanned social
hatred.
Parliament exercised little oversight over the executive branch,
although it has the constitutional authority to remove government
ministers and to hold a no-confidence vote in the Government. Although
Parliament must approve the state budget, the Constitution precludes
Parliament from increasing state spending or decreasing state revenues
without executive branch approval.
The executive branch exercises considerable power over the
legislative branch. The President selected the date of the September 19
Mazhilis elections, pursuant to constitutional requirements that the
election take place not later than 2 months prior to the end of the 5-
year term of the incumbent Parliament. On November 3, the President
dissolved the outgoing Mazhilis, 1 month earlier than had been
announced prior to the September 19 elections. Nearly all laws passed
by Parliament originated in the executive branch. The executive branch
controls the budget for Parliament's operations; it has not provided
funds for members of Parliament to hire staff, a situation generally
viewed as decreasing Parliament's effectiveness.
If Parliament fails to consider within 30 days a bill designated
urgent by the President, the President can issue the bill by decree.
Although in practice the President has never resorted to this
authority, it gives him additional leverage with Parliament. While the
President has broad powers to dissolve Parliament, Parliament can
remove the President only for disability or high treason, and only with
the consent of the Constitutional Council, of which the President
appoints three of seven members.
Although Parliament continued to become more open by publishing
some draft laws, some parliamentary debates, and in some instances, its
voting record, many parliamentary activities remained outside public
view. In October, the Mazhilis passed a draft of a controversial Law on
Extremism; the Senate returned the draft to the Mazhilis for revision,
where it remained at year's end. All parliamentary discussion and
debate of the draft law was closed. At year's end, specific provisions
of the draft law were not publicized.
Corruption was a serious problem, although the Government took
measures to address it. Corruption was perceived to be an increasing
problem, especially prevalent among various law enforcement agencies.
According to government statements, police corruption was pervasive
(see Section 1.d.). On April 18, employees of the Western Kazakhstan
Oblast branch of the KNB were assaulted by three policemen in the
course of an anticorruption investigation. According to media reports,
the KNB employees were intending to arrest Yuri Horeshko, the chief of
the Burlinsk District Department of Internal Affairs (MVD), in the act
of taking a bribe. On November 22, three Burlinsk MVD officers were
sentenced to 2 years in prison.
President Nazarbayev announced on May 14 that he supported
toughening penalties for judicial corruption. On June 25, the MVD
announced the creation of regional commissions to investigate
allegations of police corruption that had been reported through
national hotlines. The Minister reported that between June 2003-04,
300,000 public complaints had been received through the hotlines (see
Section 1.c.).
In August, the President established a special commission to
investigate complaints against law enforcement agencies.
Representatives from the MVD, the State Security Service, the
Procurator General, and Parliament served on the special commission
(see Sections 1.c. and 3). In October, the special commission announced
that it had investigated 34 complaints and punished officials in 12 of
the cases. The other 22 complaints were determined to be unfounded.
While many details of the cases remained unavailable, some of the
complaints were reportedly related to court rulings.
The Constitution provides that the Government, public associations,
officials, and media outlets should provide citizens with information
that affects their rights and interests; however, in practice,
citizens' requests for information, such as the text of draft laws
before Parliament, were not fulfilled in a timely manner.
There were 3 women in the 39-seat Senate and 7 women in the 77-
member Mazhilis. There were four women in the cabinet, one of whom
served as deputy prime minister. There were no legal restrictions on
the participation of women and minorities in politics; however,
traditional attitudes hindered women from holding high office or
playing active parts in political life (see Section 5).
There were 8 non-Kazakhs in the 39-seat Senate and ethnic
minorities were represented in the 77-member Mazhilis. There was one
non-Kazakh cabinet member and one non-Kazakh deputy prime minister.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases; however, international
human rights groups reported that the Government continued to control
the work of NGOs that worked on sensitive issues, and noted harassment
including police visits, arbitrary tax investigations, and surveillance
of NGOs. NGOs engaged in democratization and civil society development
reported harassment increased preceding the September 19 parliamentary
elections and at year's end.
The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of
Law (KIBHR) and the Almaty Helsinki Commission were the most active of
a small number of local human rights NGOs.
The Government did not prevent international NGOs and multilateral
institutions dealing with human rights to visit the country and meet
with local human rights groups as well as government officials.
However, at times, the Government used tax and other administrative
investigations to question international NGOs operating in the country
on their activities; NGOs perceived these actions as an attempt to
restrict their activities in the country. In May, the U.N. posted an
international human rights expert in Almaty as a regional adviser to
provide advice and training to government officials. In June, the U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers visited the
country. The Special Rapporteur will present his findings and
recommendations to the Commission on Human Rights in April 2005.
The Presidential Commission on Human Rights is a 15-member
consultative and advisory body that includes members from the public.
The Commission coordinates government responses to human rights
concerns rather than investigating individual complaints from citizens,
which is handled by the Human Rights Ombudsman. The Commission also
monitors fulfillment of international human rights conventions. On
March 15, the Commission announced that most of the human rights
violations reported were related to labor rights. The Commission
reported that in 2003 approximately 700 workplace complaints were filed
(see Section 6).
The Human Rights Ombudsman investigates complaints by citizens of
violations of their rights by state agencies, although the Ombudsman is
not authorized to investigate complaints concerning the President,
Parliament, Government, Constitutional Council, Procurator General,
CEC, or courts. In December, the President issued a decree extending
the powers of the Ombudsman's Office to include the authority to appeal
to Parliament to resolve citizens' complaints, to cooperate with
international human rights organizations and NGOs, and to participate
in court proceedings where a violation of human rights is at issue.
During the year the Ombudsman gave regular briefings to the press
and reported that since the establishment of the Ombudsman's Office in
2002, the Ombudsman received over 4,000 complaints, including 1,514
claims in the first 11 months of the year. Many of the complaints were
regarding court rulings over which the Ombudsman had no jurisdiction.
The Ombudsman reported that 85 percent of the complaints from 2003
could not be resolved, in large part because the office acts only in an
advisory capacity. NGOs believed that the Ombudsman was influenced by
the Government and downplayed cases. In May, a group of European
Commission experts visited the country and recommended that the
Ombudsman report to the Parliament rather than the President, as well
as a greater delineation of responsibilities between the Ombudsman and
the Presidential Commission for Human Rights.
On November 2, the President issued a decree to set up a National
Commission on Issues of Democratization and Civil Society, which would
report directly to the President. The Secretary of the Security
Council, Bulat Utemuratov was selected to be Chairman. Leaders of all
registered political parties were also asked to join the Commission;
however, opposition party leaders declined to join. Some NGOs and
political parties questioned the need for this Commission and proposed
instead that existing mechanisms, such as the Ombudsman's Office, be
strengthened and given more independence from the Government. The
Commission had its first monthly meeting in December, and formed
committees to address issues of modernization, program execution,
decentralization, judicial reforms, civil society development, and
increased empowerment of Parliament.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution states that no one may be subjected to
discrimination for reasons of origin, social position, occupation,
property status, sex, race, nationality, language, convictions, place
of residence, or any other circumstances; however, the Government did
not enforce this provision effectively. The Government favored ethnic
Kazakhs in government employment and, according to many citizens, in
the process of privatizing state enterprises.
Women.--Violence against women, including domestic violence, was a
problem. There is no specific domestic violence law; however, it can be
addressed under assault and battery provisions of the Criminal Code.
The maximum sentence for spousal assault and battery is 10 years in
prison, the same as for any beating.
In September, Aitkul Samakova, Chairwoman of the National
Commission on Women and Family Affairs and Minister of Environmental
Protection, reported that in 2003, over 25,000 crimes against women
were officially reported to law enforcement and that the actual number
of crimes was higher. In 2003 in the capital, Astana, on average 6
women appealed to police each day as a result of violence. In June
2003, the National Commission on Women and Family reported that 64
percent of women have been victims of violent crime. A 2002 MVD survey
found that 52 percent of women had reported some form of domestic
abuse, with the highest incidence in rural areas, and only 30 percent
of domestic violence cases were prosecuted. Police often were reluctant
to intervene in domestic disputes, considering them to be the family's
business, unless they believed that the abuse was life threatening. The
MVD stated in November 2003 that spousal rape incidents, in particular,
increased each year for the past several years. Police indicated that
victims of domestic violence often asked only for officers to talk with
their spouses. When victims did decide to press charges for domestic
violence or spousal rape, police sometimes tried to persuade them not
to pursue a case. When domestic violence cases did come to trial, the
charge was most often for light beating, for which domestic abusers
were sentenced to incarceration at a minimum security labor colony and
a minimum of 120 to 180 hours of work. Sentences for more serious cases
of battery, including spousal battery, ranged from 3 months' to 3
years' imprisonment; the maximum sentence for aggravated battery was 10
years' imprisonment.
The Government reported that in 2002 police had registered 2,710
domestic violence crimes, of which 2,307 were referred to courts. In
2002, 1,000 persons (including 152 women) were convicted for domestic
violence crimes.
The punishment for rape, including spousal rape, ranges from 3 to
15 years' imprisonment. The Government reported that it opened 1,870
criminal rape cases in 2003, in which 1,490 convictions were obtained.
The MVD stated in 2003 that spousal rape incidents increased each year
for the past several years. Under the Criminal Procedure Code,
procurators cannot initiate a rape case, absent aggravating
circumstances such as gang rape, unless the victim files a complaint;
however, once a complaint is filed, the criminal investigation cannot
be dismissed if the rape victim recants or refuses to cooperate further
with the investigation. This provision is intended to protect victims
from coercion. In 2003, there were unconfirmed reports that procurators
sometimes interpreted this provision to require rape victims to pay for
forensic testing, pay the expenses of prosecution, and prosecute rape
cases personally.
Prostitution is not prohibited by law; however, forced prostitution
or prostitution connected to organized crime is illegal and acts
facilitating prostitution, such as operating a brothel or prostitution
ring, are illegal. Prostitution was a serious problem.
Trafficking in women remained a problem (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
Sexual harassment remained a problem; however, the Government took
to steps no address it. The law prohibits only some forms of sexual
harassment, and legal and gender-issue experts regarded the legislation
as inadequate to address the problem. There were reports of incidents
of harassment, but in no instance was the victim protected under the
law nor were cases prosecuted.
The law prohibits discrimination against women, but traditional
cultural practices limited their role in society and in owning and
managing businesses or property. Women were underrepresented severely
in senior positions in state enterprises and overrepresented in low-
paying and some menial jobs. In 2003, the head of the National
Commission on Women and Family noted that women's salaries were, on
average, 62 percent that of men's. Women had unrestricted access to
higher education.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights;
however, budget limitations and other priorities severely limited the
Government's effectiveness in dealing with child welfare.
Education is mandatory through age 16, or the 9th grade. Primary
and secondary education was both free and universal. The law provides
for equal access to education by both boys and girls.
The law provides for access to public education for refugee or
illegal migrant children; however, in practice, many of these children
are denied access to schools or their parents do not attempt to enroll
them out of fear of discovery and deportation.
The law provides for medical care to be provided to indigent
children, irrespective of gender, and care was provided in practice.
There were reports of child abuse, although there was no societal
pattern of such abuse.
Trafficking in girls was a problem. (see Section 5, Trafficking).
There was one local NGO that worked with juveniles released from
prisons.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons remained a problem. There was no
evidence of a pattern of official complicity in trafficking, although
corruption amongst law enforcement officials was widespread.
Although no one provision of the law specifically prohibits
trafficking in persons, several articles of the Criminal Code cover
several forms of human trafficking. In July 2003, the law that
criminalizes the recruitment of any person for sexual or other
exploitation was expanded to include all forms of trafficking.
Trafficking for exploitation is punishable by a maximum 2-year prison
term; if a minor is involved, the maximum penalty increases to 5 years'
imprisonment, and if the exploited person is transferred abroad, the
maximum penalty is 8 years' imprisonment. The purchase or sale of a
minor is a crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutions were rare, despite the fact that the Law Enforcement
Coordination Council (under the leadership of the Procurator General)
issued detailed guidelines in August 2003 to law enforcement and
procurators nationwide on how to investigate crimes under particular
sections of the Criminal Code. Despite an increase in investigations,
convictions were rare due to inadequacies in criminal statutes; to
prove a case of trafficking for sexual exploitation, the procurator had
to show that the victim was unaware that she would be working as a
prostitute.
The Ministry of Justice reported that 25 cases of trafficking in
persons were investigated during the year. Of these cases, the MVD
confirmed that they had undertaken 12 investigations under the
trafficking for exploitation law during the year, compared to 6 cases
in 2003. At year's end, three cases had resulted in criminal
convictions, three were dismissed or suspended, one case was being
tried, and five investigations remained ongoing. Under the article of
the Criminal Code that relates to trafficking of citizens from other
CIS countries, 13 investigations were launched, resulting in 9 trials
and 6 traffickers convicted. Several arrests were made in connection
with these investigations, many of which were reported in the press.
Procurators used articles of the Criminal Code such as those
concerning illegal prostitution and kidnapping to charge suspects whose
activities may have included trafficking. Several victims of
trafficking lost a civil suit against a travel agency, which recruited
them into trafficking, for breach of contract during 2003; however, the
civil trial led to the arrest for trafficking for exploitation of the
woman who ran the travel agency, and criminal charges were filed
against her.
The Minister of Justice coordinated all of the Government's
antitrafficking activities. During the year, an antitrafficking
Commission led by the Minister that included the Internal Affairs
Minister, the KNB Chairman, the Procurator General, the Foreign
Minister, Education Minister, and the Presidential Commission on Women
and Family developed a comprehensive National Plan to combat
trafficking. Also during the year, an interagency working group
drafted, in consultation with NGOs and international organizations, a
set of amendments to the Criminal and Administrative codes to
specifically address legislative gaps in the fight against trafficking
in persons. At the end of the year, executive agencies had approved the
amendments, which were scheduled for a May 2005 parliamentary vote.
The Government sought cooperation with authorities in both
destination countries where its citizens were trafficked and in source
countries of victims brought into the country. In 2003, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs issued instructions to its Embassies abroad to assist
victims of trafficking. During the year, pursuant to the country's
National Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons, consular officers at
the country's embassies abroad were given further directions on
providing nonmonetary assistance in repatriation of trafficking
victims. During the first 6 months of the year, the country's embassies
helped 16 victims return to the country. There were no cases in which
the Government was asked to extradite a person charged with trafficking
in another country.
The country was a source, transit, and destination country for
victims of trafficking. Internal trafficking was also a problem. No
reliable statistics were available on the number of victims each year,
but NGOs estimated there were several thousand. Many NGOs reported an
increase in victims over the past year, which may be attributed to more
awareness of the problem. Through its antitrafficking program, the
International Organization of Migration (IOM) registered 173 victims of
trafficking, 86 of whom were trafficked abroad, 40 to the country, and
38 who were transiting the country. The IOM estimated an average of
5,000 citizens were trafficked per year. Individuals were trafficked to
the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Western
Europe, Israel, Russia, and Syria. They were trafficked from the Kyrgyz
Republic, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
Traffickers primarily targeted young women in their teens and 20s.
According to NGOs, most women were recruited with promises of good jobs
or marriage abroad. Travel, employment, and marriage agencies often
recruited victims through advertisements promising lucrative jobs
abroad. Offers to participate in international beauty contests also
were used. Previously trafficked women reportedly recruited new victims
personally.
There was also evidence that young and middle-aged men were
trafficked from the country, either for sexual exploitation or for
labor. On September 26, Astana TV reported on a group of 100 Uzbek
workers trafficked in early spring to work at a farm near Astana.
According to one of the victims, the workers were trafficked by an
organized criminal channel operating in Astana. The employers and their
trafficker accomplices usually held the trafficked workers' passports
during their stay in the country.
Many trafficking victims appeared to be aware or at least to
suspect that they were going to work as prostitutes, but not that they
would be working in slavery-like conditions. Most trafficked persons
traveled to their destinations on forged passports obtained abroad,
most often from Russia or the Kyrgyz Republic.
There was no evidence of a pattern of official complicity with
trafficking, although corruption of law enforcement officials was
widespread. In some instances, airport border guards may have taken
bribes to facilitate travel of trafficked women. In Taraz, an employee
of the local procurator's office was convicted of trafficking for
exploitation, but received a light sentence. An NGO providing
assistance to the victim reported receiving anonymous death threats
related to the case.
The Government provided material assistance and physical protection
to trafficked women who returned to the country in very limited
circumstances; however, NGOs ran crisis support centers, under
Memoranda of Understanding with the Government, that provided legal and
material assistance and counseling. In some cases, the Government
provided NGOs with reduced rate leases and other support. The
Government enjoyed a good working relationship with NGOs in efforts to
combat trafficking and assist victims, though financial funding is
limited as there are no separate funds earmarked for trafficking
victims.
Trafficking victims from other countries were often fined and
deported if they entered the country illegally. There are no special
provisions in the law to treat foreign victims of trafficking
differently than illegal migrants. However, NGOs working with foreign
trafficking victims reported government cooperation, in terms of
providing administrative support for repatriation.
The IOM, in conjunction with 19 NGOs across the country, continued
an information campaign on the dangers of trafficking and maintained
victim hotlines. The MOJ maintained additional hotlines nationwide for
trafficking victims to report crimes and to receive information. The
MVD's Gender Crimes Division provided instruction to its units around
the country on recognizing trafficking cases. MVD coordinated
trafficking in persons training for officers around the country with
experts from IOM.
The Procurator General's Office enforced mandatory licensing for
tourist agencies and conducted inspections throughout the year to
uncover agencies involved in trafficking. Many criminal cases launched
originated as a result of these inspections.
The Government continued airing a series of public service
announcements provided by international organizations. Some privately
owned media outlets ran the series as well. During the year, the
Government encouraged publicizing and reporting on antitrafficking
efforts. In most regions of the country, NGOs reported that local
officials and law enforcement were willing participants in training
programs on trafficking and that officials have provided access to
schools for the same purpose. The Government also supported training
programs for judges and procurators on dealing with trafficking cases.
During the summer, NGOs conducted training for public relations
departments of procurators' offices, including a component on
publicizing investigation and prosecution of traffickers..
The Ministry of Education reported that curriculum of all high
schools and universities added trafficking awareness segments to be
taught within The Basic Elements of the Law courses. According to the
Ministry of Education, most universities set up information and
analysis centers that will deal with trafficking awareness issues,
among other topics.
The Ministry of Culture, Information, and Sports produced materials
on trafficking that government-run media were required to cover in
their reporting. The materials included details of antitrafficking
efforts by government agencies, information on hotlines, analysis of
risks for those offered a job abroad, and stories of families whose
trafficked relatives never returned home. These publications also
covered successful investigations of crimes and were designed to build
trust with law enforcement. The Ministry of Culture, Information, and
Sports encouraged all media outlets to carry publications on
trafficking issues.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
healthcare, and in the provision of other state services. The law
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities; however,
the Government did not enforce it. There were some improvements to
facilitate access in Almaty and Astana, such as wheelchair ramps.
Although citizens with disabilities were entitled by law to government
assistance, assisting persons with disabilities was a low priority for
the Government.
Mentally ill and mentally handicapped citizens could be committed
to state-run institutions, which were poorly managed and inadequately
funded. Citizens with mental handicaps could be committed to
institutions without their consent or judicial review; however, in
practice, persons were generally committed at a young age by their
families. The NGO KIBHR observed that the Government provided almost no
care for persons with mental disabilities due to a lack of funds.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the Government,
the population consisted of approximately 54 percent Kazakhs and 40.4
percent ethnic Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and others),
with many other ethnic groups, including Uzbeks, Germans, Tatars,
Uighurs, Koreans, Azeris, Turks, and others represented. The Government
continued to discriminate in favor of ethnic Kazakhs in senior
government employment (see Section 3).
According to the Constitution, the Kazakh language is the official
state language, although it also states Russian may be used officially
on an equal basis with Kazakh in organizations and bodies of local
self-administration. Most ethnic Russians believed that Russian should
be designated as a second state language. The Language Law was intended
to strengthen the use of Kazakh without infringing on the rights of
citizens to use other languages; however, the Government had
insufficient funding available to make Kazakh-language education
universal. The Government encouraged education of children in the
Kazakh language but did little to provide Kazakh-language education for
adults.
Other Societal Abuses And Discrimination.--Although there were no
press reports or official statistics on sexual orientation
discrimination, there were some unconfirmed reports of discrimination
based upon sexual orientation. Human rights observers reported
incidents of abuse against injection drug users and sex workers, which
they felt impeded access to HIV prevention services.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right to
organize and form unions freely; in practice, however, the Government
restricted the exercise of this right, with the result that most
workers were not able to join or form trade unions of their choice. The
Government exercised considerable influence over organized labor and
favored state-affiliated unions over independent unions.
The largest trade union association, the Federation of Trade Unions
(FTU), contained the vestiges of formerly state-sponsored trade unions
established during the Soviet period, and remains affiliated with the
state in practice. Two other trade union associations, the
Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (CFTUK) and the Trade
Union Center of Kazakhstan, also represented significant portions of
unionized workers. At least one third of the workforce is unionized.
To obtain legal status, a trade union had to apply for registration
with the MOJ. The registration procedure followed largely that of other
membership organizations (see Section 2.b.); branches of unions were
each required to register at MOJ branches in each region in which they
were active. The MOJ did not deny registration to any union during the
year. Courts can cancel a union's registration; however, there were no
such cases during the year. Unions must have a minimum of 10 members.
The Constitution prohibits the operation of foreign trade unions
and prohibits the financing of trade unions by foreign legal entities
and citizens, foreign states, and international organizations.
Under the Constitution, workers are protected against antiunion
discrimination; however, in practice, there were violations of this
right. Members of some trade unions have been dismissed, transferred to
lower paying or lower status jobs, threatened, and intimidated. Trade
union leaders have reported that some workers who were ostensibly fired
for other reasons were actually fired in retaliation for union
activity; however, there were no court cases filed on this basis during
the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law permits
collective bargaining and collective agreements; and trade unions and
associations engaged in collective bargaining in practice. Collective
bargaining agreements were allowed as long as they did not reduce
protections afforded to workers in individual contracts or under law.
Trade union associations gave widely varying estimates of the
percentage of member unions that had negotiated collective bargaining
agreements.
If a union's demands were not acceptable to management, the union
could present those demands to a tripartite commission, composed of the
Government, employer associations, and labor union representatives. The
tripartite commission is responsible for developing and signing annual
agreements governing approximately 80 aspects of labor relations. The
Labor Law provides for an individual contract between employers and
each employee.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, but exercising
this right is subject to numerous legal limitations, such as a
prohibition of strikes at workplaces that operate around the clock;
there was a list of enterprises providing essential services where
strikes were not permitted. A few unions and individual workers
exercised the right to strike during the year, primarily to protest the
nonpayment of wages and to recover back wages. According to the law,
workers may strike only if a labor dispute has not been resolved
through existing compulsory arbitration procedures. In addition, the
law requires that employers be notified that a strike is to occur no
less than 15 days before it commences. In December, amendments to the
labor code removed the explicit right of employers to break a union and
fire employees because they had participated in an illegal strike.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, except at the
sentence of the court or in the conditions of a state of emergency or
martial law, but there were reports that such practices occurred (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment is 16 years; however, 15-year-olds may work
without restriction if they have completed compulsory education, and 14
year-olds may work with parental permission if jobs do not interfere
with education or pose a health risk.
Children between 14 and 16 years can only work with parental
permission. The law stipulates harsh punishment for employers who
exploit children under the age of 16. The Ministry of Labor is
responsible for enforcement of child labor laws and for administrative
offenses punishable by fines; the MVD is responsible for criminal
offenses. Child labor was used routinely in agricultural areas,
especially during harvest season; but abuse of child labor generally
was not a problem.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum
wage of $36.76 (5,000 KZT) did not provide a decent standard of living
for a worker and family; however, it was common for working class
families to have more than one wage earner and most workers earned
above minimum wage in urban areas. The monthly minimum wage was
slightly below the minimum subsistence wage of $37.70 (5,128 KZT).
The Law stipulates the normal workweek should not exceed 40 hours.
The Law limits heavy manual labor or hazardous work to no more than 36
hours a week, and requires overtime to be paid at a rate of no less
than one-and-a-half times normal wages for hours over the normal
workweek. The Law requires that overtime not exceed 2 hours in a
calendar day or 1 hour a day for heavy manual labor. Overtime is
prohibited for work in hazardous conditions. The Law provides that
labor agreements may stipulate the length of working time, vacation
days, holidays, and paid annual leave for each worker.
In December, the Government passed several labor code amendments
intended to strengthen worker protections, including expanded rights
for pregnant women, women with small children, and employees suffering
from temporary disability.
The Ministry of Labor enforced minimum wages, work hour
restrictions, and limits on overtime established under the Labor Law.
Ministry labor inspectors conducted random inspections of employers to
enforce all laws and regulations under their purview. In spite of these
random inspections, labor advocates reported that some employers
regularly violated these laws.
The Constitution provides for the right to safe and hygienic
working conditions; however, working and safety conditions in the
industrial sector were often substandard. Workers in factories usually
did not have protective clothing, such as goggles and hard hats, and
worked in conditions of poor visibility and ventilation.
On February 27, a Law on Safety and Protection of Labor was
enacted, which places increased legal responsibility on employers for
injuries and deaths in the workplace. Management largely ignored
regulations concerning occupational health and safety, which were not
well enforced by the Ministry of Labor. In August, the Ministry
reported a staff of over 400 inspectors. Although the frequency of
inspections remained insufficient to provide fully for occupational
health and safety, the number of fines, penalties, and warnings to
employers increased. According to a news report, 315 persons were
killed in 2003 due to unsafe working conditions, compared to 355
persons in 2002. The mining and metallurgy industry produced the
highest number of occupational casualties, followed by the construction
industry.
The Labor Law requires employers to suspend work where its
continuation could endanger the life or health of workers and to warn
workers about any harmful and dangerous work conditions and about the
possibility of any occupational disease. Although the Law does not
specifically grant the right of workers to remove themselves from
situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardy to
their employment, this right is considered to be implied by general
legal provisions on worker safety, and workers' inability to refuse to
work under unsafe work conditions was not a problem in practice. The
Chairman of the Constitutional Council stated at a February conference
that there were 115,234 violations of labor legislation in 2003,
compared with 107,000 violations of labor legislation in 2002.
__________
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Although the 1993 Constitution defines the Kyrgyz Republic as a
democratic republic, President Askar Akayev continued to dominate the
Government. Serious irregularities marred 2003 a national
constitutional referendum as well as presidential and parliamentary
elections in 2000. In October, nationwide local elections were
generally free from governmental interference and opposition candidates
and parties were allowed to participate freely in the political
process, although domestic monitors reported serious irregularities in
some districts. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, the executive branch usually dominated the judiciary.
Law enforcement responsibilities are divided among the Ministry of
Internal Affairs (MVD) for general crime, the National Security Service
(SNB) for state-level crime, and the procurator's office for both types
of crime. Civilian authorities generally maintained control of the MVD
and the SNB, and maintained full control of the State Border Guard
Service (SBGS). Some members of the security forces committed serious
human rights abuses.
The country had a partial market-based economy based on a mixed
balance of agricultural and industrial production and a population of
approximately 5 million. According to official statistics, gross
domestic product grew by 7.3 percent. Unemployed workers, pensioners,
and government workers with low salaries or unpaid benefits continued
to face considerable hardship. According to official estimates, 40
percent of the population lived below the poverty level, although this
figure continued to drop. Wages kept up with inflation.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were improvements in several areas, problems remained. Citizens' right
to change their government remained limited and democratic institutions
remained fragile. Members of the security forces at times beat or
otherwise mistreated persons, and prison conditions remained poor.
Impunity remained a problem, although the Government took steps to
address it during the year. There were cases of arbitrary arrest or
detention. Executive branch domination of the judiciary as well as
corruption limited citizens' right to due process. The Government
occasionally restricted freedom of speech and of the press, and
individuals and companies close to the Government used financial means
to control numerous media outlets. The Government used bureaucratic
means to harass and pressure some independent media as well as
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Although human rights groups were
generally allowed to work freely, and a government Ombudsman's Office
continued to work actively to advocate for individual rights, the
Government continued to occasionally harass and pressure some groups.
Violence against women and children was a problem. Child labor and
discrimination against ethnic minorities were problems. Trafficking in
persons was a persistent problem.
During the year, however, the Government's human rights record
showed improvement in some areas. Prison conditions remained poor but
continued to improve during the year. Numerous MVD officials were
dismissed or prosecuted for abuses or misconduct. Harassment of
opposition groups and independent media, including honor and dignity
lawsuits against newspapers, declined considerably, and the Government
allowed several independent media outlets to begin operations. Although
the Government occasionally restricted freedoms of assembly and
association, in October, the Constitutional Court struck down
provisions of the law on public assembly that were widely considered
vague and too restrictive, while the number of demonstrations disrupted
by police declined considerably. A new Electoral Code signed into law
in January was a significant improvement over the previous code and was
welcomed by domestic NGOs and opposition parties, although it still
fell short of international standards. Citizens' right to choose their
government showed some improvement through local elections held in
October, which were widely seen as more transparent. The Government
took steps to combat trafficking in persons, with prosecutions and
convictions of traffickers up significantly from 2003.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, on October 24, Tashkenbay Moidinov died while in police
custody in a police station in the Bazarkorgon district of Jalalabad
Oblast. Police authorities claimed that Moidinov died of a heart attack
during interrogation. However, an autopsy revealed bruises on his body.
An investigation into the case continued at year's end.
In February, an official investigation determined that drowning
caused the 2003 death of Ernis Nazalov, a journalist who had been
investigating government corruption when he died under suspicious
circumstances. Following this determination the investigation was
closed.
Unlike the previous year, there were no deaths due to landmines.
The case regarding the March 2003 killing of 19 Uighur Chinese
citizens on a bus remained under investigation and no arrests had been
made by year's end.
In March, two men arrested for the killing of a Chinese diplomat in
2002 were extradited to China where they were subsequently executed.
Unlike the previous year, Uzbekistan border patrols did not kill
any Kyrgyz citizens.
b. Disappearance.--On November 16, political opposition figure
Tursunbek Akunov disappeared in Bishkek while heading for what he
claimed was a meeting with representatives of the SNB. Two weeks later
Akunov reappeared at a Bishkek hospital. Akunov claimed that he had
been taken by representatives of the MVD and held in a basement for
that period. Akunov further alleged that members of the SNB had also
been involved in his disappearance. Both the MVD and SNB immediately
denied any involvement in Akunov's disappearance. At year's end, an
investigation continued into Akunov's disappearance.
On April 8, four Kyrgyz government officials were reportedly taken
hostage and then released by a group of Uzbekistani farmers near the
Kyrgyz town of Aksy as part of an ongoing dispute over contested
farmland between Kyrgyz and Uzbek farmers.
No other cases of politically motivated or government-sponsored
disappearance were reported during the year.
Local human rights advocates reported that there were 13 Kyrgyz
citizens serving sentences in Uzbek prisons who were kidnapped from
Kyrgyzstan by the Uzbek Security Services, noting that figures reported
in previous years were most likely inflated. Most of these individuals
had earlier lived and studied religion in Uzbekistan.
There were no developments in the 2003 disappearance of mullah
Sadykjan Rahmanov, which investigators attributed to the Uzbek National
Security Service.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, police
and SNB forces employed them. At times, police used beatings to extract
confessions. There were some credible reports that police mistreated
human rights activists and demonstrators while in detention. Conditions
for pretrial detainees remained poor.
In January, police in Bishkek reportedly tortured Valentina
Khasanova, a murder suspect, by repeatedly holding a plastic bag over
her head until she fainted. When Khasanova's attorney threatened to
investigate the case, the police warned her not to open an
investigation. Khasanova was never charged with a crime and was later
released by the police.
On January 30, police detained and beat six men in Jalalabad
accused of possessing literature from the banned Islamist political
organization, Hizb ut-Tahrir. All of the men were released after
several hours, and one was later charged with possession and
distribution of materials inciting ethnic or religious hatred; however,
the charges were eventually dismissed. After the men filed an official
complaint, one of the officers involved was charged and convicted of
exceeding official authority and given a 1-year suspended sentence.
On April 15, human rights advocate Aziza Abdirasulova reported that
she had been punched in the stomach while in police detention following
her arrest for taking part in a demonstration in Bishkek. She was
released the same day.
In June, an official of the opposition Ar-Namys political party,
Darman Jorobekov, was detained for violating the public order and
reportedly beaten by police in the city of Jalalabad. According to Ar-
Namys, Jorobekov was released from detention the same day with
apologies from the police for mistreatment. Jorobekov filed a lawsuit
against the police, which was pending at year's end.
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that police
harassed asylum seekers or homosexuals.
Prison conditions were very poor and included overcrowding, food
and medicine shortages, poor health care/disease prevention facilities,
and lack of heat and other necessities. However, conditions continued
to improve since the transfer of authority over prisons to the Ministry
of Justice (MOJ) in 2002. Penal Reform International reported that both
food supplies and medical services provided to inmates improved during
the year. Both morbidity and mortality rates also declined,
particularly that resulting from tuberculosis (TB).
Prisoners detained by the SNB were kept in SNB facilities; after
conviction they were held in a regular prison. Conditions in SNB
facilities tended to be better than MOJ facilities due to less
crowding.
During the year, the MOJ worked with the ICRC to implement a
successful nationwide TB program in prisons. However, in May the MOJ
reported that 68 percent of prison inmates suffered from serious
diseases such as TB, hepatitis, HIV infections, and sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs). Throughout the year the DSPI worked
actively with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and
NGOs to improve conditions at prisons and jails around the country,
including seminars for prison officials on protecting the human rights
of inmates and projects to improve hygiene and health care in prison
facilities. For the first time, the Department Supervising Penal
Institutions (DSPI) medical service was able to examine nearly all
prisoners for TB. As a result, 2,937 persons were diagnosed with
different forms of TB. The DSPI also reported that timely diagnosis and
better treatment reduced TB death rates by 27.1 percent during the year
(from 231 deaths in 2003 to 148). During the year, prisoners were also
examined for STDs, including HIV/AIDS.
Pretrial detention facilities were extremely overcrowded, and
conditions and mistreatment generally were worse than in regular
prisons. However, during the year two new pretrial facilities were
opened, one for women and one for men.
On February 22, Ulugbek Kadirov was found dead in his cell in an
MVD temporary detention center in the town of Kara-Suu. An autopsy
revealed that he had been beaten to death. Although the victim's family
alleged that jail officials had killed Kadirov, the victim's cellmate
confessed to the killing and was awaiting trial at year's end.
On March 19, an inmate in a pretrial detention center in Naryn died
as a result of self-inflicted wounds. A group of inmates, including the
victim, cut their wrists in protest during a jail riot. An
investigation continued into the circumstances behind the riot.
Male and female prisoners were held separately. Conditions in the
women's prison were less overcrowded than in those for men. Juveniles
were held separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were held
separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government usually permitted domestic and international human
rights observers to visit prisons; however, access for domestic
monitors to MVD and SNB pretrial facilities generally worsened during
the year. The ICRC was allowed to visit detainees in MOJ and SNB
prisons and pretrial detention centers in accordance with the ICRC's
standard procedures and was granted access to inmates on death row.
According to Prison Reform International (PRI), the prison system
generally became more open to both NGOs and the media during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, police at times used false charges to
arrest persons and solicited bribes in exchange for release.
Within the MVD there are nine regional offices, one in each of the
seven regions and the cities of Bishkek and Osh. Under them are town
and local police departments. Regional offices and their sub-offices
report to both the MVD and to their respective local authorities such
as governors and mayors.
Impunity remained a problem; however, during the year numerous MVD
officials were dismissed and prosecuted for various offenses, including
corruption, abuse of authority, and police brutality. Police brutality
was prosecuted under provisions regarding abuse of power and exceeding
authority. According to the MVD, during the first 6 months of the year,
50 criminal cases were opened against 64 police officers, of which 28
were for abuse of power or exceeding authority; 4 criminal cases for
malfeasance and fraud were initiated; and 16 police officers were
punished for taking bribes. Disciplinary actions were taken against
1,100 MVD employees; 150 employees were fired and 69 demoted. The MVD
reported that during the first 6 months of the year, 304 complaints
were filed for abuse or illegal conduct by police officials; 101 of the
complaints resulted in disciplinary action being taken against police
officials. Corruption, particularly the payment of bribes to avoid
investigation or prosecution, was a major problem at all levels of the
law enforcement organizations. The Government took significant steps to
address the problem of corruption in the police force (see Section 3).
The prosecutor general's office determined who could be detained,
arrested, and prosecuted. The prosecutor general must issue an arrest
warrant before a person may be detained, and there were no reports that
this provision was abused. The Criminal Code permits law enforcement
officials to detain suspects for 72 hours before releasing them or
charging them with a crime, and this was generally enforced in
practice. The Criminal Procedure Code requires notification of a
detainee's family by the investigator within 12 hours of detention;
however, this requirement often was not observed in practice.
Persons arrested or charged with crimes have the legal right to
defense counsel; if a suspect was charged, the procurator was required
to advise defense counsel immediately. Defense counsel is permitted to
visit the accused within the first 3 days of incarceration; however, at
times the accused did not see defense counsel until trial. Human rights
groups noted that children who were arrested usually were denied
lawyers. Police often did not notify parents of children who were
arrested, and generally neither parents nor lawyers were present during
questioning, despite laws to the contrary. Children often were
intimidated into signing confessions. In March, President Akayev signed
into law numerous changes in the criminal code, making statements
obtained from suspects in the absence of an attorney inadmissible in
court. Other changes require the presence of a suspect's attorney in
order to extend a suspect's time in detention. The law also authorizes
house arrest for certain types of suspects.
The procurator has the discretion to hold suspects in pretrial
detention for as long as 1 year, but regulations provide for
provisional release before trial. There was a functioning bail system.
After 1 year, the prosecutor general is required to seek an extension
from Parliament or release the suspect. There have been no known
instances in which Parliament was asked to extend a detention.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the Government
used charges of economic crimes, such as tax evasion, in order to
arrest its opponents.
The Government detained demonstrators (see Section 2.b.).
The Government continued to express concern about groups that it
viewed as extremist with either radical religious or political agendas.
During the first half of the year security forces investigated 40
persons and initiated criminal proceedings against 32 for possession or
distribution of literature inciting ethnic or religious hatred. Most of
those investigated were associated with the extremist Islamist
political organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, an extremist political
organization founded in 1953 in Jordanian-administered East Jerusalem
and headquartered in London. Although Hizb ut-Tahrir maintained that it
was committed to nonviolence, the party's strongly anti-Semitic and
anti-Western literature called for secular governments, including in
the country, to be replaced with a world-wide Islamic government called
the Caliphate.
Although Hizb ut-Tahrir was banned, police officials have stated
publicly that membership in the organization itself is not a crime.
Rather, Hizb ut-Tahrir members charged with crimes were usually accused
of possession and distribution of its literature (see Section 2.b.).
On March 29, the Government signed an extradition agreement with
the Government of China. The agreement grants no exemptions for
suspects who may face politically motivated torture or execution upon
their return to China.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the executive branch continued to
dominate the judiciary.
Lawyers and citizens commonly believed that most judges were open
to bribes or susceptible to outside pressure, and low salaries remained
a mitigating factor. The Constitution gives the President the authority
to appoint judges at all levels, who must be confirmed by the lower
house of Parliament. The President may dismiss judges on the Supreme
Court and Constitutional Court only with the approval of a two-thirds
majority of the lower house of Parliament. The Constitution provides
that local laws determine provisions for dismissal of judges of local
courts.
Cases originate in local courts and can move to appeals courts at
the district or regional level and finally to the Supreme Court. There
were separate military courts as well as a separate arbitration court
system for economic disputes.
Amendments to the Constitution in 2003 designated the Supreme Court
the highest judicial body for civil, criminal, and administrative
judicial proceedings. The Constitutional Court has responsibility for
determining the constitutionality of laws, resolving disputes
concerning the interpretation of the Constitution, and determining the
validity of presidential elections. The Constitutional Court cannot
intervene with actions of the Supreme Court, except in cases related to
the Constitution. Only the President, Parliament, the Cabinet of
Ministers, and the Central Election Commission can appeal to the
Constitutional Court. The Court has specific authority to determine the
constitutionality of activities by NGOs, political parties, and
religious organizations.
Defendants are afforded the same constitutional protections in both
military and civilian courts, although military court proceedings can
be closed to the public. A civilian can be tried in a military court if
one of the co-defendants is a member of the military. Military court
cases can be appealed to a military appellate court and ultimately to
the Supreme Court.
Traditional elders' courts consider property and family law matters
and low-level crime. Local elders' courts are under the supervision of
the procurator's office but do not receive close oversight since many
are located in remote regions. However, decisions of elders' courts can
be appealed to the corresponding municipal court.
The procurator, not the judge, is in charge of criminal
proceedings. The procurator brings cases to court and tries them before
a judge and two people's assessors. The court may render one of three
decisions: Innocent, guilty, or indeterminate. If indeterminate, a case
is returned to the procurator for further investigation, in which case
a suspect may remain under detention.
The law provides for defendants' rights, including the presumption
of innocence; however, such rights were not always respected. The
judicial system continued to operate, in many cases, under Soviet laws
and procedures in which there was no presumption of innocence and the
focus of pretrial investigation was to collect evidence sufficient to
show guilt. The Criminal Procedure Code provides for an unlimited
number of visits of unlimited duration between an attorney and a
client. Although official permission for such visits is required, such
permission usually was granted.
The law permits defendants and the defense counsel the right to
access all evidence gathered by the procurator, attend all proceedings,
which were usually public, to question witnesses, and to present
evidence. However, these rights were not always respected in practice.
Witnesses did not have to present their testimony in court; instead
they could affirm or deny their statements with the procurator outside
of court. Indigent defendants were provided attorneys at public
expense.
Feliks Kulov, leader of the Ar-Namys Party and former parliamentary
and presidential candidate, continued to serve concurrent sentences of
7 and 10 years for abuse of power and embezzlement convictions in 2001
and 2002 that resulted from apparently politically motivated
prosecutions. On August 5, Kulov was denied parole by an administrative
commission at the prison where he was being held. On August 13, the
Sokuluk District Court upheld the commission's decision. On November
19, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision that Kulov will
not be eligible for parole until November 2005.
There were no reports of other political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government at times violated these prohibitions. The law requires the
General Procurator's approval for wiretaps, searches of homes,
interception of mail, and similar acts; however, the procurator can
give telephone approval for searches, which means that in such cases no
written proof exists to verify that a search was approved. In certain
cases, law enforcement officers can commence a search and then seek
approval within 24 hours. If approval was not given, any evidence
seized is inadmissible in court.
In January, five parliamentary deputies discovered listening
devices in their offices. In May, a Parliamentary Commission set up to
investigate the case released a report that accused the SNB of planting
the devices and using them to track the activities of the deputies. As
a result of the report, the Legislative Assembly passed a resolution
calling on President Akayev to hold the responsible officials
accountable and establishing a standing committee to oversee the
activities of the security services. No action had been taken to follow
up on the Legislative Assembly's resolution by year's end.
On May 14, officials from both the Kyrgyz and Uzbek security
services were seen covertly videotaping worshipers at a mosque in
Karasuu. The officers were detained by worshipers, who forwarded the
tape to the Ombudsman, who then filed an appeal with the General
Procuracy and the SNB. Neither the Procuracy nor SNB have taken any
action on the appeal.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the SNB
conducted surveillance on representatives of the Uighur community.
There were unconfirmed reports by citizens active in politics or human
rights that their communications were monitored. The Government
continued to conduct widespread document checks of some foreigners.
Relatives and fellow villagers of political prisoner Felix Kulov
reported SNB surveillance, harassment, and loss of employment because
of their alleged support for him.
Family members of Tynchtyk Duulatov, a member of the political
council of the Ar-Namys party, reported that unidentified persons made
harassing phone calls to their residence and that police visited them
several times during the year (see Section 4). In May 2003, Tynchtyk
Duulatov fled the country to avoid prosecution for kidnapping, charges
believed to be politically motivated.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press; however, the Government occasionally
restricted these rights. The Constitution also prohibits censorship or
dictating what ideas and opinions citizens may express. The law on mass
media prohibits the dissemination of government and commercial secrets;
inciting war, violence, or intolerance toward ethnic or religious
groups; desecration of national norms, ethics, and symbols;
pornography; and encroachment on the honor and dignity of a person, the
country's libel provision.
Government newspapers, television, and radio continued to receive
government subsidies, which permitted the Government to influence their
coverage and to apply financial pressure on independent media by
fostering unfair competition for scarce advertising revenue.
Individuals with close ties to the Government owned and controlled, in
part or in full, several major news outlets.
There were approximately 40 to 50 regularly printed newspapers and
magazines, 8 of which were state-owned, with varying degrees of
independence.
The state printing house, Uchkun, was the primary newspaper
publisher in the country, with several small presses located inside and
outside of the capital. The nongovernmental Media Support Center (MSC),
which the Government registered in 2002, opened an independent printing
press in November 2003, which provided a competitive alternative to
state-owned printing presses. By October, the press was printing over
50 commercial and political newspapers.
During the year, the Government registered several new independent
radio and television stations and no independent media outlets were
reported to have closed down for political reasons. In October, the
State Commission for Radio Frequencies issued 5-year licenses to nine
independent radio and television stations. There were 150 print and 54
broadcast media outlets functioning in the country at year's end.
Pyramida television functioned as the only truly independent station in
Bishkek, although in August observers expressed concern after a
telecommunications company linked to the President's family bought a
stake in the station. Foreign media, including the British Broadcasting
Corporation, Associated Press, Reuters, and Agency France Press,
operated freely. Foreign ownership of media is prohibited by law;
however, there was a small degree of foreign ownership of media,
through local partners. A number of Russia-based media outlets also
operated freely in the country, although the Government considered them
local media because they were registered with the MOJ. 21During the
year, harassment of journalists decreased; however, unknown rsons
continued to commit acts of violence and intimidate members of the
media. In January, the Public Association of Journalists reported that
a government newspaper Osh Shamy had received intimidating telephone
calls from authorities in response to articles critical of the local
administration. Later that month the Osh Shamy office was vandalized;
the perpetrator was arrested but later released without charge due to a
history of mental illness.
In April, unknown persons beat the 21-year-old son of Zamira
Sydykova, editor of independent newspaper ResPublica, resulting in his
hospitalization. Sydykova alleged the assault was in retaliation for
critical articles in the newspaper.
In June, unknown persons made telephone threats to a local employee
of the MSC, as well as to his family. There was some evidence to
suggest that the calls resulted from a dispute between the employee and
a former colleague from the MSC. The calls stopped after a few weeks.
In February, police closed an investigation into the 2003 death of
journalist Ernis Nazalov after determining that Nazalov had drowned
(see Section 1.a.).
All media were required to register with the MOJ and receive
ministry approval to operate. The Media Law states that registration
should take no longer than 1 month, but in practice the process often
took much longer. Part of the process included background checks on
each media outlet's owner and source of financing, including
international donor organizations.
Although the Constitution prohibits censorship, government
interference with independent television and radio stations continued.
In September, an election official warned an independent television
station in Karakol against airing a program on impending local
elections. The station ignored the warning and broadcast the program
anyway, without incident. The Government used its financial control of
various media outlets to indirectly censor reporting.
In March, Pyramida television was forced to broadcast at low power
on a UHF frequency for 6 weeks after a transmitter fire. Although the
Government claimed that technical issues prevented Pyramida from going
back to its usual frequency, employees of the station alleged the
Government attempted to keep the station off the air.
In August, the telecommunications company Areopag Trade, reportedly
close to President Akaev's son, announced the purchase of an
unspecified number of shares of Pyramida TV. Soon after the
announcement, most of the top management and news staff left Pyramida
for another independent TV station, NTS, which had not yet begun
operating. NTS is reportedly owned by a Russian energy company. NTS
received a broadcasting license but had not begun to broadcast by
year's end.
Libel was a criminal offense. In June, the Parliament refused to
pass government-sponsored legislation to decriminalize libel for a
second time. During the year, a limited number of government officials
used libel suits to harass and apply pressure on both independent and
state-owned media. However; there was a significant decline in the use
of honor and dignity lawsuits against newspapers by government
officials.
Ombudsman Tursunbay Bakir-uulu filed four honor-and-dignity suits,
two against the independent progovernment newspaper Vecherniy Bishkek
and two against government-owned media outlets, alleging biased and
subjective reporting about his work. The Ombudsman offered to drop the
lawsuits if the newspapers printed retractions of their stories;
however, the newspapers did not print a retraction and lawsuits were
still pending at year's end.
In April, a journalist in Talas was sued by a local government
official and was found guilty of criminal libel for accusing the
official of embezzling funds. The journalist was ordered to pay $240
(10,000 KGS) to the plaintiff.
In June, Parliamentarian Davran Sabirov filed honor-and-dignity
lawsuits against two different independent newspapers. In one of the
cases the court opened a criminal libel case against the accused
journalist, who was eventually acquitted of all charges.
Vicherny Bishkek filed an antimonopoly complaint against Moya
Stolitsa-Novosti (MSN) reportedly in an effort to stifle the
independent press. The court initially ruled against MSN and ordered
them to raise their prices; however, the decision was being appealed at
year's end.
There are no laws regarding Internet media, and there were no
credible reports that the Government censored or blocked access to the
Internet. The opposition Ar-Namys political party reported that unknown
persons hacked into its website, forcing its closure for 2 weeks.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, on occasion the Government
restricted this right in practice.
The law requires that authorities receive notification of public
gatherings and provides authorities the right to prohibit gatherings
under certain conditions.
In October, the Constitutional Court overturned articles of the law
on public meetings, which required citizens to get permits for public
gatherings, and were widely regarded as vague and too restrictive. The
Court ruled that the law was not in compliance with the Constitution,
which states only that demonstrators must notify the Government in
advance of their intention to demonstrate, rather than requiring
governmental permission.
A draft law proposed before Parliament sought to ban all public
demonstrations that were not registered 9 days in advance and to
designate several government buildings and transportation routes off-
limits for any demonstration. Observers noted this effort was to limit
opponents' activity in preparation for 2005 elections.
Protests, rallies, and demonstrations were held regularly in front
of the President's office, Parliament, and in other public places
throughout the country. In most cases, demonstrations took place
without interference from authorities. However, there was at least one
instance in which security forces forcibly disrupted a demonstration or
meeting.
On April 15, dozens of protestors gathered in Bishkek to call for
the release of Feliks Kulov. Police arrested 18 protestors before a
march commenced. Those detained were charged with holding an
unsanctioned march, fined, and released; however, demonstrators later
admitted that they had not provided authorities with advance notice of
the march. One demonstrator alleged abuse.
Investors in the defunct Renton Company reported that they were
denied permission to hold demonstrations 14 times throughout the year.
On August 26, police reportedly detained two Renton Company investor
demonstrators for 8 hours.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, at
times local authorities restricted this right in practice. The Law on
Public Organizations, which includes labor unions, political parties,
and cultural associations, requires that organizations register with
the MOJ. No domestic NGOs were denied registration by the MOJ during
the year.
The Constitution prohibits activities of foreign political parties
and NGOs, including their representative offices and branches that
pursue political goals. The OSCE expressed concern that this provision
could limit domestic monitoring and human rights groups, in addition to
political parties. During the year, foreign-funded NGOs were generally
able to pursue their work free from government interference, although
articles critical of some foreign-funded NGOs appeared in state-owned
or progovernment media.
The law on NGOs distinguishes them from political parties, labor
unions, and religious organizations. In contrast to political parties,
NGOs require only at least 3 members. An estimated 7,000-10,000 NGOs
operated across the country (see Section 4).
In 2003, the Supreme Court sustained a verdict of the Lenin
District Court of Bishkek that banned four organizations it deemed to
be extremist for alleged ties to international terrorist organizations:
Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islamic Party of Turkestan, Organization for freeing
Eastern Turkestan, and Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party.
Arrests and prosecution of persons accused of possessing and
distributing literature of the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization continued
during the year. Most arrests occurred in the South and involved ethnic
Uzbeks; those arrested typically were charged for distribution of
literature inciting ethnic, racial, or religious hatred. The MVD
reported that during the first half of the year 32 persons were
prosecuted for distribution or possession of Hizb ut-Tahrir literature.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice; however,
there were some restrictions on freedom of religion, particularly the
activities of Islamic groups that it considered to be extremists and a
threat to the country. Islam was the most widely practiced faith.
By year's end, Parliament was still preparing a draft law on
religion, under discussion since 2001.
The State Commission on Religious Affairs (SCRA) is responsible for
promoting religious tolerance, protecting freedom of conscience, and
overseeing laws on religion. Under the law, all religious
organizations, including schools, are required to register with the
SCRA, and each congregation is required to register separately. Several
religious organizations reported delays registering with the SCRA. The
majority of these were small Christian congregations and Islamic
organizations. Religious organizations are also required to register
with the MOJ to obtain status as legal entities, which is necessary to
own property, open bank accounts, and otherwise engage in contractual
activities. Under the tax code, religious organizations are required to
pay taxes on commercial activities. The Ministry's registration process
is cumbersome, taking a month on average. In practice, the Ministry did
not register religious organizations without prior registration by the
SCRA.
On May 14, officials from both the domestic and Uzbek security
services were seen covertly videotaping worshipers at a mosque in
Karasuu (see Section 1.f.).
In December, police raided houses in Osh and the Aravan and Nookat
districts, areas of traditional Islamic beliefs, following a recent
grenade blast in Osh in November. On November 20, police took four men
into detention for failing to supply identity papers and one of the men
allegedly threw a hand grenade to escape. Officials maintained the
incident was perpetrated by Islamic extremists. Local human rights
observers disputed these connections, and alleged that the incident was
being used to discriminate against Muslims as well as the country's
Uzbek minority.
The Government was concerned about political extremism it believed
was disguised as conservative Islam, particularly Wahhabist
interpretations (see Section 2.b.).
Law enforcement authorities, including the MVD and the SNB, often
played a role in investigating religious organizations and resolving
inter-religious disputes. Representatives of smaller churches, such as
the Church of Jesus Christ, complained of government attempts to hamper
their activities.
In 2003, Asan Erkinbayev, a local administration official in the
Jalalabad region, closed 7 of the 9 mosques, claiming that they were on
state-owned land and that their imams were preaching contradictory
views. All of the closed mosques were converted into commercial or
public buildings. One of the mosques has since officially registered
with the SCRA but remained closed at year's end. Despite complaints
from government officials in Bishkek, Erkinbayev refused to reopen any
of the mosques.
The Church of Jesus Christ reported that a number of ongoing
bureaucratic and legal problems remained unresolved. However, in May
the Church reported that the Tax Inspectorate officially closed its
investigation into the Church's finances and dropped all demands that
the Church pay taxes on donations. Although the Church of Jesus Christ
recognized some positive results in obtaining registration of its
affiliates, its officials continued to experience difficulties in
obtaining the land title for its main church in Bishkek from the SCRA
and the Mayor's office.
In July, a representative of the Hare Krishna Society reported that
the Society had been repeatedly denied registration with the SCRA since
1996. In August, officials from the SCRA and Interior Ministry visited
an apartment used by the Society for religious services. The SCRA
officials told the Society that until it is officially registered with
the SCRA it can no longer hold even unofficial services. The Hare
Krishna Society hired a lawyer to help it with its pending
registration.
Missionary groups were required to register with the Government and
the SCRA reported that as of July, 166 missionaries were operating in
the country. On April 5, a government decree and plan of action was
signed instructing the SNB to propose measures to ``restrict and
prevent the activities of missionaries who propagate religious
fundamentalism and extremism and reactionary and Shiite ideas.''
Among the proposed groups to be restricted were members of the
Ahmadiyya community, a Muslim proselytizing movement, which originated
in India and is considered un-Islamic by many traditional Muslims. In
May, SCRA officials assured the Ahmadis that their inclusion was a
mistake and that the Government would not target the group. There have
been no reports of harassment of Ahmadis since May.
Female students who attended public schools continued to be
forbidden from wearing religious headscarves (hijab) while in school.
The SCRA stated that students who chose to wear clothing that indicated
adherence to a particular religion should attend religious schools.
At two schools in the Jalalabad region, two girls were told not to
wear the hijab to school; however, when the girls disobeyed the order,
no action was taken to stop them and the girls continued to wear the
headscarves to school at year's end.
The Government expressly prohibits the teaching of religion and
alternate subjects in public schools. However, attendance of religious
schools was permitted.
On June 28, Prime Minister Tanaev announced that the Government
would create a special board to review religious literature, noting
Hizb ut-Tahrir. The Prime Minister had not yet signed the order and no
action was been taken to create the special board.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, certain policies continued to complicate internal migration,
resettlement, and travel abroad.
The law requires that citizens have an official government permit
to work and settle in a particular area of the country. Applicants for
such a residence permit must file a request for registration with the
local police and be able to prove that they have a permanent residence
in the area. Homeowners can only legally sell their property to buyers
with such permits. Local administrations also tied the availability of
utilities and social services to registration; individuals who did not
register could be denied access to water, heat, light, subsidized
health care, or schooling. Unlike the previous year, there were no
reports that law enforcement agencies conducted sweeps and random
checks to verify registration of residents. Authorities fined or
imprisoned individuals without residence permits.
The law does not provide for or prohibit forced exile, and there
were no reports that the Government employed it in practice. The
president of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) went into
self-imposed exile abroad in May o2003 (see Section 4).
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and other
international humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers. The Government also provided temporary protection to
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/
1967 Protocol.
As of August 1, the UNHCR reported that there were 363 Afghan
refugees and 128 Afghan asylum seekers 5,543 Tajik refugees, 308
Chechen asylum seekers, 5 Uighur refugees from China, 5 Iranian
refugees, 4 Iraqi refugees, and 6 Syrian refugees registered with the
Government. According to the UNHCR and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Migration Services Department, authorities provided temporary
protection to Chechen asylum seekers. The Government did not grant
Chechen refugees official refugee status but allowed them to obtain
asylum seeker status, which provided them with some legal protection.
During the year, 14 Afghan refugees were voluntarily repatriated
back to Afghanistan. In September, nearly all of the remaining Afghan
refugees registered with the UNHCR and the Government either were
voluntarily repatriated or accepted resettlement in third countries
where they received asylum.
According to the UNHCR, Uighurs remained at risk of deportation or
extradition, particularly if they were involved with political and
religious activities in China.
The UNHCR maintained programs to provide medical aid, legal advice,
and other services to refugees. The UNHCR also worked closely with the
Government to develop documents for legal protection.
The Government controlled the movement of some foreign nationals
and conducted sweeps in order to find undocumented foreigners. During
the year, a total of 13 undocumented foreigners were reportedly
arrested for visa violations. Of the 13 arrested, all were released
without charges after intervention by the UNHCR. During the year,
refugees and asylum seekers continued to be subject to heightened
security measures.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully; however, in practice, the Government restricted
citizens' ability to do so. President Akayev continued to dominate the
Government.
A constitutional referendum held in 2003 was highly flawed and
marred by serious irregularities, as were parliamentary and
presidential elections held in 2000. During the referendum, election
observers noted widespread electoral violations and disputed the
Government's turnout and vote count figures. Observed violations
included: Manipulation of the ballot count, forged voting results,
multiple voting, and voting without supporting documents. There were
many occasions in which election officials prevented independent
observers from monitoring the election process.
The amended Constitution further increased the President's powers.
Under the Constitution, he has a virtual veto on any legislative act
and additional powers to dissolve the legislature and dismiss members
of the Government, as well as immunity after leaving office. Despite
constitutional limitations, Parliament demonstrated a degree of
independence by initially rejecting one candidate for a cabinet post
and by voting against the President on several important pieces of
legislation. According to the Constitution, the Parliament may override
Presidential vetoes, which it has done on occasion in the past. The
Constitution provides for parliamentary elections every 5 years.
In October, nationwide local elections took place generally without
government interference and opposition candidates and parties were
allowed to participate freely in the political process; however,
domestic observers reported that serious irregularities on election
day, including vote tampering, intimidation of voters, and multiple
voting, marred voting in some areas. Independent and opposition
political parties and NGOs took advantage of provisions in the new
electoral code allowing for their participation on electoral
commissions. Their participation took place generally free from
government harassment or interference; however, progovernment political
parties dominated representation on electoral commissions. Several
candidates in local elections noted that the new $24 (1,000 KGS) fee
imposed on potential candidates for election was too high for many
candidates in poor areas.
During the year, there were 43 registered political parties. The
Government occasionally sought to impede the functioning of opposition
political groupings and the expression of opposition views in the media
(see Section 2.b.). Some opposition politicians and members of
prominent NGOs reported incidents of harassment.
On March 8, unknown persons beat Yuri Natochiy, a member of the
opposition Ar-Namys party, near his house in Bishkek. After repeated
requests by Natochiy and Ar-Namys, police opened an investigation into
the case on April 1, resulting in the arrest of one person who was
awaiting trial at year's end. On the same day, an unknown person threw
a rock through a window on Natochiy's house.
On January 24, President Akayev signed a new election code into
law. Domestic NGOs and opposition parties largely saw the new election
code as a significant improvement over the previous code. The new code
incorporated numerous suggestions from the OSCE and NGOs to improve
transparency as well as NGO and political party participation in the
electoral process. However, the OSCE determined it did not meet
international standards due to vague provisions that could be used to
restrict candidate, media, and party rights. There was no report of the
Central Election Commission (CEC) using the code to this effect during
the October local elections.
The CEC refused to register a number of the country's former
ambassadors as candidates for upcoming 2005 parliamentary elections,
based on a constitutional requirement that candidates for Parliament
must have spent the previous 5 years in the country.
Corruption remained a serious problem at all levels of society.
However, the Government took significant steps to address the problem.
In February, President Akayev created a Good Governance Council, which
was tasked with implementing a Government anticorruption program. In
March, the Parliament passed legislation requiring government officials
to disclose all sources of income.
The law gives persons the right to request information from the
Government, and the Government generally complied with such requests
but sometimes took a long time to do so.
There were 7 women in the 105-seat legislature. Women held several
high-level government posts, including the Chief Justice of the
Constitutional Court, the Minister of Justice, the Vice Prime Minister
for Social Welfare, the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, and the
Governor of Issykul Oblast.
There were 19 minorities represented in the 105-seat legislature.
Russians and Uzbeks were underrepresented in government positions,
although members of minority groups held several top posts, including
the Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Defense, and
Minister of Justice. Russian-speaking citizens alleged that a ceiling
precluded promotion beyond a certain level in government service. They
also alleged that some otherwise qualified candidates were disqualified
in elections in previous years on the basis of exams, the fairness of
which was questioned (see Section 5). In April, President Akayev signed
a new language law requiring, among other provisions, that the
President, Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, and a number of other
unspecified public servants have proficiency in Kyrgyz; however, at the
same time the President signed a decree delaying full implementation of
the law until 2015 (see Section 5).
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Human rights groups generally operated in a sometimes hostile
environment and were faced with occasional government pressure to
curtail their activities. Despite occasional harassment, the human
rights groups faced considerably less pressure and harassment than in
the previous year. The Government also made limited efforts to interact
with some NGOs and most domestic independent human rights organizations
were able to investigate and publish their findings on human rights
cases.
Authorities at times made vague threats of criminal prosecution of
or otherwise harassed high-profile activists involved in human rights
and civil society NGOs and their family members.
For example, in April, three local NGOs reported that local
security officials in Issykul region followed and harassed NGO
representatives who were attempting to hold a series of roundtable
discussions on human rights. In three villages in the region, local
officials prevented the NGOs from holding roundtables altogether.
In July, unknown persons made threatening phone calls to the leader
of the NGO Interbilim, Asiya Sasykbayeva, after she criticized the
Government's handling of elections at a UNDP-sponsored election
coordination meeting.
In September, police officials visited the home of a local employee
of an international human rights NGO and later accosted the same person
on the street after the employee published an article about torture in
the country.
Members of the Kyrgyz Committee on Human Rights (KCHR) reported
that police monitored their offices and frequently visited them asking
questions about the whereabouts of KCHR president Ramazan Dyryldayev.
Dyryldayev remained in self-imposed exile in Vienna, saying he
feared imminent arrest should he return to Kyrgyzstan. As of October,
Dyryldaev remained under investigation for undisclosed reasons, but no
charges were filed.
On July 3, unidentified individuals broke into the house of Ainura
Aitbayeva, Dyryladayev's daughter, and assaulted her. Police
immediately opened an investigation into the assault, but no arrests
were made in the case by year's end.
A number of international groups reported on human rights problems
in the country. The Government met with international NGOs regarding
their work in the country, which was viewed as a positive step towards
a constructive dialogue between the Government and NGOs. The Government
generally cooperated with international governmental organizations.
The Ombudsman's Office, whose mandate is to act as an independent
advocate for human rights on behalf of private citizens and NGOs,
actively worked to advocate for individual rights. The Ombudsman has
the authority to recommend cases for review to courts, including the
Constitutional Court and Supreme Court. During the first half of the
year, the Ombudsman's Office received 6,469 appeals, most having to do
with official corruption. According to the Ombudsman, approximately one
third of those appeals were resolved successfully. In July, the
Ombudsman made two appeals to the MOJ regarding the case of Feliks
Kulov, claiming that Kulov should have been eligible for parole in
August.
Parliament's Committee on Human Rights drafts and approves
legislation before it goes before the full Parliament. The Committee
also reviews all draft legislation that has a human rights component.
In addition, the Democratic Security Council under the President is
nominally tasked with protecting human rights in the country; however,
it remained relatively inactive during the year.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for the rights and freedoms of
individuals and prohibits discrimination; however, in practice there
was discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, and ethnic
minorities.
Women.--The law specifically prohibits domestic violence and
spousal abuse; however, violence against women remained a problem.
Interior Ministry statistics indicated that during the year over 200
sexual crimes against women were reported, but actual figures were
probably significantly higher. NGOs estimated the number could be up to
ten times the reported figure. Some estimates indicated domestic
violence constituted between 40 and 60 percent of all crimes committed
against women. Many crimes against women were not reported due to
psychological pressure, cultural traditions, and apathy of law
enforcement officials.
Several local NGOs provided services for victims of domestic
violence, including legal, medical, and psychological assistance, a
crisis hotline, shelters, and prevention programs. Organizations
involved with battered women also lobbied for new laws on domestic
violence.
Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal. Activists noted that rape
was more common, although it was not clear whether this was due
primarily to increased reporting of attacks. There were 136 rapes
reported during the first 8 months of the year, 92 of these cases
resulted in prosecutions.
Although a law prohibits the custom, some rural inhabitants
continued the traditional practice of kidnapping women and girls for
forced marriage. One study indicated that up to one-third of ethnic
Kyrgyz women living in the northern part of the country might be
married against their will as a result of this practice. Many of the
victims of forced marriage also reported to researchers that they were
raped at the time that they were kidnapped. Cultural traditions
discouraged victims from going to the authorities.
In December, the Government supported a NGO-sponsored Campaign
Against Violence and Bride Kidnapping conducted for high school and
college students, government officials, law enforcement officers, and
medical personnel. Participating NGOs distributed information
materials, produced television documentaries, performed a short play on
bride kidnapping, and held discussions on domestic violence and
trafficking in persons. NGOs reported an increase of calls to NGO
antitrafficking hotlines following the campaign.
Prostitution was not a crime, although the Criminal Code outlaws
the operation of brothels, pimping, and recruiting persons into
prostitution, with penalties of up to 5 years. With no legal measures
in place to regulate the industry, it was increasingly a problem.
Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation and
forced labor was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment is prohibited by law; however, it was a problem.
Penalties range from fines to imprisonment.
The law gives equal status to women, and they were well represented
in the work force, in professions, and in institutions of higher
learning; however, discrimination against women persisted in practice.
Family law prohibits divorce during pregnancy and while a child is
younger than 1 year of age. In February, the President signed a decree
requiring analysis of all legislation from the point of gender
equality. In November, the Government enacted an action plan to
eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, based on the U.N.
Convention on Elimination of Discrimination of Women, outlining
activities and assigned government agencies responsible for
implementation and reporting.
Women were prominent in law, medicine, accounting, and banking and
played an active role in the rapidly growing nongovernmental sector.
However, deteriorating economic conditions had a severe effect on
women, who were more likely than men to lose jobs. Average wages for
women were substantially less than for men. Women made up the majority
of pensioners, a group that has particularly suffered as a result of
the country's economic downturn. With the end of communism, traditional
attitudes toward women reasserted themselves strongly in the
countryside, where women were relegated to the roles of wife and
mother, and educational opportunities were curtailed. Data indicated
that women were less healthy, more abused, less able to work outside
the home, and less able to dispose of their earnings independently.
The National Council on the Issues of Family, Women and Gender
Development, under the President, is designated to address women's
issues.
Over 200 NGOs dealing with women's problems operated in the country
during the year. Women's organizations focused on violence against
women, gender equality, women's reproductive health, women's
involvement in politics, and education in women's rights.
Children.--The Government was generally committed to the rights and
welfare of children; however, the Government lacked resources to fully
address basic needs for shelter, food, and clothing.
The Constitution states that education is compulsory and free of
charge for the first 9 years, or until age 14. The Law on Education and
the Law on Protection of Children's Rights require that secondary
education be free and universal; however, financial constraints
prevented the Government from providing free basic education for all
students. Families that kept children in public schools often had to
pay burdensome administrative fees, despite the fact that charging such
fees was illegal. Girls and boys attended school in equal ratios. In
2002, the primary school enrollment ratio was 98 percent for both girls
and boys, according to UNICEF. The secondary school enrollment ratio
was 75 percent for boys and 83 percent for girls. In 2003, only
approximately 5 percent of students attending school dropped out during
the year. The law penalizes parents who do not send their children to
school or who obstruct their attendance; however, this law was only
spottily enforced, particularly in rural areas. The Government has
continued to fund the work of two programs to provide benefits for low-
income children and children with disabilities, such as school supplies
and textbooks.
The Government provided health care for children and boys and girls
had equal access to care. According to UNICEF, the Government financed
18 percent of routine vaccinations. The system of residence
registration restricted access to social services, including healthcare
and education, for children that belonged to certain groups, such as
refugees, migrants, internally displaced persons, and noncitizens (see
Section 2.d.).
Child abuse continued to be a problem. Traditional social practices
were inadequate to cope with social pressures that affect families.
Trafficking of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation and
labor remained a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
There were increasing reports of abandonment due to parents' lack
of resources to care for children, which led to larger numbers of
children in institutions, foster care, or on the streets. State
orphanages and foster homes also faced a lack of resources and often
were unable to provide proper care. Some children too old to remain in
orphanages were transferred to mental health care facilities, even when
they did not exhibit mental health problems.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Many children left home because of abusive or alcoholic parents or
desperate economic conditions. The Government reported that the number
of street children nationwide was approximately 2,000, although NGOs
reported the number might be as high as 15,000. Approximately 80
percent of street children were internal migrants. Street children were
detained and either sent home (if an address was known) or to a
rehabilitation center or orphanage. The MVD maintained two centers, one
each in Bishkek and Osh. The two rehabilitation centers were in poor
condition and lacked sufficient food, clothes, and medicine.
Human rights groups and the Kyrgyz Children's Fund (KCF) monitored
the condition of children and advocated for child rights. The
Government's Commission on the Affairs of Under-Age Children worked as
a focal point for the Government's activities to protect the rights of
children and provided a forum for discussing and coordinating responses
to children's problems.
The KCF had shelters in Bishkek and Issyk-Kul to provide food,
clothing, and schooling for approximately 150 children. The Svetlii Put
shelter received training assistance from UNICEF and cared for an
average of 62 children per month during the year. The SOS Children's
Village, funded by the Austrian organization Kinder Dorf International
and other foreign and domestic organizations, also cared for
approximately 120 orphans. In August 2003, the Meerim Fund established
the Altyn Balalyk (Golden Childhood) Village.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports that persons were trafficked to, from, and
within in the country. Trafficking remained a persistent problem and
victims alleged that government officials facilitated, or were
complicit in, trafficking. However, the Government made significant
efforts to address trafficking including prosecuting several officials
involved in trafficking and improving assistance to victims.
In 2003, the Government criminalized trafficking. Under the new
law, trafficking in persons, including organizing illegal migration, is
punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Other laws used to prosecute
traffickers included kidnapping, trading in children, recruiting
persons for exploitation, coercion into prostitution, rape, and
deprivation of freedom. The maximum sentence for those prosecuted under
these laws was 15 years. During the year, 51 trafficking-related cases
were initiated, 12 of which were prosecuted under the new trafficking
in persons law, resulting in a total of 16 convictions, 6 of which were
under the new law. Prosecution was difficult due to victims' reluctance
to file charges either out of fear, mistrust, or the social stigma
attached to trafficking crimes.
In May, the Ministry of Internal Affairs officially opened a
designated antitrafficking police unit. A National Council was
responsible for coordinating government efforts to implement the 2002
Antitrafficking Plan of Action. Although the Government lacked adequate
resources to implement many aspects of the program, it actively
participated in and helped implement numerous NGO and other foreign-
donor sponsored antitrafficking programs. The Government cooperated
actively with both international organizations and other countries to
combat trafficking in persons. Authorities developed antitrafficking
cooperation with counterparts and maintained close working level
relations with a number of countries to combat trafficking. The General
Procurator's Office, SNB, and MVD continued to cooperate with the NGO
Sezim.
The Government actively investigated firms that sent individuals to
work abroad to ensure they were in compliance with licensing laws. The
director of the Osh Region Migration Service reported that five
companies illegally recruiting migrant workers were closed down and
that criminal proceedings were initiated against two of them. An NGO in
Osh reported that two other firms were closed for illegally recruiting
people to work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Russia and Belarus.
Inadequate training of law enforcement officers in identifying and
fighting trafficking in persons hindered their ability to effectively
combat the problem. In April, the Government provided new office space
and began paying the salaries for the two staff members of the National
Council's Secretariat.
The country was primarily a source and transit point for trafficked
persons, although there were a few reports of the country being a
destination for women trafficked as prostitutes. Although there were no
reliable estimates for the number of persons trafficked annually, the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that
approximately 4,000 women and 7 boys were trafficked abroad in 1999.
The NGOs Podruga and Sezim reported that they received over 2,500 calls
to hotlines during the year.
The country was a transit point for individuals trafficked mostly
from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the West, mainly to Turkey and
Eastern Europe. The exact number of those in transit was unknown. The
country was a source for trafficked women and girls, largely to the
UAE, Turkey, and South Korea for the purpose of sexual exploitation; of
labor migrants to Kazakhstan, Russia, and South Korea; and for
trafficked persons largely to Kazakhstan and Russia for forced labor.
Since 2002 the number of individuals trafficked to Kazakhstan and
Russia for work in the agricultural and industrial sectors has declined
largely due to bilateral agreements with Russia and Kazakhstan on labor
migration. In May, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimated that there
were approximately 2,500 women from the country working abroad in the
sex industry, some of whom may be trafficking victims, the majority of
them in the UAE.
According to the Osh Migration Service, hundreds of destitute
southerners were trafficked to Kazakhstan as forced laborers on tobacco
plantations, although this practice declined significantly since the
signing of a 2003 bilateral labor agreement between the country and
Kazakhstan.
There were some instances of trafficking of children, some as young
as age 10, for prostitution and labor (see Section 6.d.). A flourishing
commercial sex industry drew girls as young as age 10 from destitute
mountain villages.
Groups targeted by traffickers included young under- or unemployed
women who were unable to earn a living. Poor economic conditions, high
unemployment, particularly in the South, and gender inequality made
young women and poor workers vulnerable to traffickers who exploited
them by offering lucrative jobs or marriage offers to rich men abroad.
Often women were lured abroad, via newspaper advertisements or
announcements over loudspeakers in local bazaars. Women responding to
job offers for waitresses, au pairs, or dancers, or to marriage
agencies could find themselves abroad without documents or money for
return tickets and forced to work for their traffickers.
Traffickers were often persons who previously operated local
prostitution networks. Relatives or close family friends were also
reportedly used to recruit trafficking victims. Tour agents,
restaurants, and nightclubs supplemented their activities by
trafficking young women to foreign prostitution rings. Traffickers of
persons for sexual exploitation included organized crime rings that
often use former trafficking victims as recruiters. Labor trafficking
was much less organized and often involved freelancers who simply load
persons onto buses and transport them to the country for work on farms.
Endemic corruption impeded the Government's progress on
trafficking. Victims reported highly organized trafficking operations
that often involved the cooperation of local police, immigration
officers, and airport security. Observers believed that some government
authorities facilitated or have otherwise been complicit in trafficking
activities. In February, Kyrgyz police arrested three persons involved
in a trafficking scheme, including an immigration official and a former
employee of the state passport department. Two of the three were
charged under the new trafficking in persons law; the third individual
was still under investigation at year's end.
The Government does not provide foreign trafficking victims
temporary residence status or criminal immunity for violations
committed as a consequence of their trafficked condition. There were no
reports that the Government deported foreign victims of trafficking
during the year. Many of those who transited the country were abandoned
by traffickers and lived in hiding out of fear of being discovered by
authorities. The OSCE and IOM reported that many of those who returned
from commercial work overseas stated that they were forced to pay
bribes to law enforcement officials to avoid imprisonment for having
improper or falsified travel documents, although border authorities
reported that Kyrgyz victims who admitted to the use of false documents
or illegal entry into the country were not penalized.
According to NGOs, the Government did not directly assist
trafficking victims, including those repatriated, with any special
services or care facilities, but it increasingly referred returned
victims to private shelters such as Sezim. In November, the Government
provided a 10-room space for Sezim as a replacement of its previous
shelter quarters, free of charge. Sezim provided shelter for 80 adults
and 24 children. Numerous NGOs conducted workshops for law enforcement
officers. A number of NGOs, including Women's Support Center, TAIS-
Plus, New Chance Sezim and Podruga, provided legal, medical, and
psychological counseling and assistance, and economic aid to
trafficking victims. In addition to the Sezim shelter, in July an IOM-
sponsored shelter for trafficking victims opened in Osh. Several NGO-
sponsored media articles, public service announcements, and a traveling
theater show publicized the dangers of working abroad, and posters on
public transport raised public awareness of the problem. Numerous NGOs
ran hotlines for victims.
The IOM, OSCE, various local organizations, and foreign governments
sponsored various preventive programs, including antitrafficking public
service announcements, roundtables, and workshops to increase awareness
among the government, nonprofit, tourism, and media sectors. During the
year, the IOM provided assistance to 24 victims. The Government carried
out or participated in a number of antitrafficking and education
campaigns.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, and in the provision of other state services. The law mandates
access to buildings for persons with disabilities; however, the
Government generally did not enforce these provisions in practice. The
law provides for convenient access to public transportation and parking
for persons with disabilities, subsidies to make mass media available
to the hearing or visually impaired, and free plots of land for the
construction of a home; however, in practice, few special provisions
were in place to allow persons with disabilities access to
transportation, public buildings, and mass media. In addition, persons
with disabilities often had difficulty finding employment because of
negative societal attitudes and high unemployment among the general
population. The lack of resources made it difficult for persons with
disabilities to receive adequate education. Social facilities for
persons with mental disabilities were severely strained, due to low
budgets and heavy workloads.
A mental health advocacy group reported that respect for the rights
of patients as well as conditions within psychiatric hospitals improved
during the year; however, serious problems remained. The Government was
unable to provide basic needs such as food, water, clothing, heating,
and healthcare, and facilities were often overcrowded. Inadequate
funding played a critical factor. Patients were often admitted
involuntarily, including children too old to remain in orphanages.
Patients were engaged in forced labor on hospital grounds (see Section
6.c.). The NGO Mental Health and Society continued its work with the
Ministry of Health to develop programs aimed at improving conditions in
psychiatric hospitals.
The Government provided support to a network of enterprises
operated by the Society for Blind and Deaf and education programs for
persons with disabilities. Numerous NGOs worked to improve conditions
and provide services for children with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were reports of
discrimination in the treatment of citizens who were not ethnic Kyrgyz.
Minorities alleged discrimination, including from officials at all
levels, in hiring, promotion, and housing. The latest statistical data
released in August reflected the following ethnic breakdown of the
population: 67.4 percent Kyrgyz; 10.3 percent Russian; 14.2 percent
Uzbek; 1.1 percent Dungan (ethnic Chinese Muslims); and 1 percent
Uighur. Other ethnic groups, including Tatars and Germans, comprised
6.0 percent of the population.
Low-level authorities at times harassed and discriminated against
Uighurs. Some Uighurs reported discrimination in employment and
negative societal attitudes and media coverage of their community,
although there was a large number of Uighur-owned small businesses that
operated without harassment during the year.
In May, an Uighur representative alleged that unknown persons had
threatened him over the telephone and warned him to stop his work with
the Radio Free Asia Uighur-language service. Since then he has reported
no further threats. The threats were believed to be mostly media
driven.
In December, police raided houses in Osh and the Aravan and Nookat
districts, where a large Uzbek community resides, following a recent
grenade blast in Osh (see Section 2.c.).
The Constitution designates Kyrgyz as the state language and
Russian as an official language and provides for preservation and equal
and free development of minority languages. Russian-speaking citizens
alleged that a ceiling precluded promotion beyond a certain level in
government service. They also alleged that some otherwise qualified
candidates were disqualified in elections in previous years on the
basis of exams, the fairness of which was questioned. The Government
did not take any action on a 2002 request by ethnic Uzbeks requesting
that Uzbek be granted the status of a state language. However, both
Uzbek and Russian are widely used both officially and unofficially. In
April, President Akayev signed a new language law requiring, among
other provisions, that the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of
Parliament, and a number of other unspecified public servants have
proficiency in Kyrgyz. However, at the same time the President signed a
decree guaranteeing certain rights of non-Kyrgyz speakers and delaying
full implementation of the new law until 2015.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of all
workers to form and belong to trade unions, and workers exercised this
right in practice. The Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) remained the
only trade union umbrella organization in the country, although unions
were not required to belong to it. The Federation has 1.024 million
members, or 56.4 percent of the country's employed workforce. Growing
numbers of smaller unions were not affiliated with the umbrella
organization. One of the largest of these was the Union of
Entrepreneurs and Small Business Workers, with a membership of
approximately 50,000. The Federation must approve all draft legislation
affecting workers' rights.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
recognizes the right of unions to organize and bargain collectively;
however, there were no cases of workers exercising this right during
the year. The Government set the minimum wage, after which each
employer set its own wage level.
While the right to strike was not codified, it was not prohibited;
however, there were no strikes during the year.
There are Free Economic Zones (FEZs) that function as export
processing zones. The minimum wage law does not apply to the
approximately 4,250 workers in FEZs; however, all other labor laws
apply.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 6.d. and 5).
The press continued to report that citizens were forced to work
without pay on tobacco farms in Kazakhstan, although this practice
declined significantly since the signing of a bilateral labor agreement
between the Government and Kazakhstan. A number of NGOs also reported
that up to 250 Kyrgyz citizens were being held against their will in
China as collateral for loans.
The director of the Osh Region Migration Service reported that five
companies that illegally recruited migrant workers were closed down and
that criminal proceedings were initiated against two of them. An NGO in
Osh reported that two other firms were closed for illegally recruiting
persons to work in the UAE, Russia, and Belarus.
There were reports that patients in psychiatric hospitals were
routinely used for unauthorized labor on hospital grounds and as
domestic service for doctors and local farmers. The patients allegedly
did not have a choice to refuse and were only paid with food.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--On
August 4, the Government passed a new Labor Code, which provides for
the protection of children from economic exploitation and from work
that poses a danger to their health, or spiritual, physical, mental, or
academic development. The National Human Rights Program for 2002-10
also contains provisions aimed at eradicating exploitative child labor.
According to the Labor Code, the minimum age for basic employment was
16, except for certain limited circumstances including odd jobs such as
selling newspapers.
The new Labor Code eliminates previously contradictory requirements
for the minimum age of employment of children in work that could harm
their physical and moral well-being (such as employment in casinos,
bars, and night clubs). In addition, a 2002 decree banned the
employment of persons under 18 in a wide variety of categories of
employment involving difficult or dangerous conditions, including such
sectors as the metal or oil and gas industries, mining and prospecting,
food industry, entertainment, and machine building.
For children between 14 and 15 years of age, the maximum daily
hours of work is 5 hours, and for children between 16 and 18 years it
is 7 hours a day. These laws also apply to children with disabilities
who work.
Child labor was a problem and was still widespread both in towns
and rural areas. According to participants in a 2002 conference on
child labor, child laborers were prevalent in the following sectors:
Tobacco, cotton, rice, cattle breeding, gasoline sales, car washing,
shoe cleaning, retail sales of tobacco and alcohol. Families
traditionally were large, and they considered it necessary at times for
children to work at an early age to help support the family. Children
also were involved in family enterprises such as shepherding, bread
baking, selling products at roadside kiosks, and growing fruits and
vegetables.
According to reports from various NGOs, child labor was
particularly evident in the South. During the fall, classes were
cancelled, and children were sent to fields to pick cotton. During the
summer, children worked during the tobacco harvest and were involved in
all steps of production. Schools required children to participate in
the tobacco harvest, some fields were located on school grounds, and
the income went directly to the schools, not to the children.
Internal trafficking of children for the purposes of sexual
exploitation and labor remained a problem (see Section 5). Children
were generally trafficked from poor rural areas to Bishkek and Osh.
The procurator's office and the State Labor Inspectorate were
responsible for enforcing employers' compliance with the Labor Code
laws. During the year, the State Labor Inspectorate had 54 inspectors
throughout the country. During the first 6 months of the year, the
General Procurator's Office conducted 17 checks, resulting in 5 written
notifications, 10 demands for immediate action, 11 warnings, and 1
disciplinary action. Since many children worked for their families or
were ``self-employed'' in such occupations as selling newspapers,
pushing handcarts at markets, and selling cigarettes and candy on the
streets, it was difficult for the Government to determine whether their
work schedules and environment conformed to government regulations. The
Legislative Assembly's Committees of Health Protection, Women and
Family, and Education, Science, and Cultural Affairs oversaw the legal
protection of the interests of minors whenever new laws were discussed
in Parliament. Compliance with the labor code was enforced by trade
unions. The Federation of Trade Unions also had the right to carry out
child labor inspections when it received a complaint; there were no
inspections during the year.
Given its budget constraints and lack of resources, the Government
was unable to enforce child labor laws adequately. Although employers
caught violating the Labor Code could be charged with disciplinary,
financial, administrative, or criminal penalties, punishment was
usually minimal.
The Government supported several social programs to prevent the
engagement of children in exploitative child labor. Araket, a national
poverty reduction program, provided financial support for low-income
families. New Generation, a children's rights program, worked to define
suitable working conditions for children and to introduce new methods
of monitoring employers' compliance with labor legislation.
The Government undertook additional initiatives to help protect
minors from forced labor; however, since the budget was facing severe
funding constraints, many children who were entitled to receive help
did not receive it.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government mandated national
minimum wage of approximately $2.30 (100 KGS) per month did not provide
a decent standard of living for a worker and family. However,
industries and employers generally paid somewhat higher wages. The
Federation of Trade Unions was responsible for enforcing all labor
laws, including the Law on Minimum Wages; minimum wage regulations were
largely observed. Salaries in the health care field were among the
lowest, averaging $21.60 (943 KGS) per month. Although the enforcement
of labor laws was nonexistent in the growing underground economy,
market forces helped wages in the unofficial sector keep pace with
official wage scales.
The standard workweek was 40 hours, usually within a 5-day week.
For state-owned industries, there was a mandated 24-hour rest period in
the workweek.
Safety and health conditions in factories were poor. A
deterioration in enforcement of existing regulations continued to
hamper investment to improve health and safety standards. The State
Inspectorate of Labor was responsible for protecting and educating
workers as well as informing business owners of their respective rights
and responsibilities. The law establishes occupational health and
safety standards, as well as enforcement procedures. Besides government
inspection teams, trade unions were assigned active roles in assuring
compliance with these laws, but compliance was uneven among businesses.
The State Labor Inspectorate was tasked with carrying out inspections
for all types of labor issues but rarely did so in practice. Workers
had the right to remove themselves from workplaces that endangered
their health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and
workers exercised this right in practice.
__________
LATVIA
Latvia is a parliamentary democracy. The Prime Minister, as chief
executive, and the Cabinet are responsible for government operations.
The President, as head of state, is elected by the Parliament, and
Parliament elected Vaira Vike-Freiberga to a second 4-year term in June
2003. The 2002 elections for the 100-seat Parliament and the September
2003 national referendum on accession to the European Union (EU) were
free and fair. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, although there were some improvements during the year,
problems remained, including inefficiency and allegations of
corruption.
The security forces consist of the national police and other
services, who are subordinate to the Ministry of Interior; municipal
police who are under local government control; the Military
Counterintelligence Service and a protective service, which are under
the Ministry of Defense; and the National Guard, an element of the
armed forces. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective
control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces,
including police and other Interior Ministry personnel, committed human
rights abuses.
The economy was largely market-based, although some large utility
companies remained in state hands, including the national electric
company and railroads. The country has a population of approximately
2.3 million. Unemployment was 8.5 percent in November; at year's end,
the inflation rate was 7.3 percent; and the overall economic growth
rate was 8.5 percent through September.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens
and the large resident noncitizen community; however, there were
problems in some areas. Police brutality was a problem. Prison
conditions remained poor, but facilities for long-term convicts
continued to improve. Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem;
however, the incidence declined somewhat. The judiciary did not always
ensure the fair administration of justice. Societal violence against
women remained a problem. Child abuse and child prostitution were
problems. Trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of sexual
exploitation was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were reports that some government officials employed them. The
Government took steps to address the problem.
In February, the U.N. Committee Against Torture expressed concern
about ``allegations of serious ill-treatment of persons which in some
cases could be considered as amounting to torture, by members of the
police, especially at the time of apprehension and interrogation of
suspects.'' The Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies
(LCHRES) received allegations of severe abuse of persons in custody.
Accurate statistics on allegations of police brutality were
unavailable. The Ministry of Interior reported that there were 183
complaints of police brutality in 2003 (including regional and national
police forces); internal investigations confirmed 9 acts of abuse, and
12 police officers were punished. During the year, the State Police
received 107 complaints of police brutality; investigators confirmed 8
incidents, and police officials punished 5 officers. On February 18,
the State Police launched a criminal case against two police officers
who beat two individuals apprehended for public drunkenness.
LCHRES expressed concern that victims underreported incidents of
police brutality. In February, LCHRES conducted a study in which it
operated an anonymous hotline to collect allegations of police
brutality. Over a 3-day period, LCHRES received 283 complaints
regarding police misconduct, 130 of which referred to police brutality.
The Latvian National Human Rights Office (NHRO) received 11 written and
23 verbal complaints regarding misconduct during the year. The NHRO
reported that the Ministry of Interior and police officials were
cooperative in resolving complaints of police brutality, and the NHRO
arranged for meetings between complainants and relevant law enforcement
agencies where, according to NHRO officials, the Ministry of Interior
collected testimony that it used to identify police officials guilty of
abuse.
Prison conditions remained poor, despite renovations and
improvements. Progress continued in renovating older facilities.
Prisons also continued to be overcrowded; however, overcrowding
declined somewhat from 2003. The prison hospital was a major concern,
and the Council of Europe (COE) stated that placing inmates in Riga's
dilapidated Central Prison hospital amounted to torture. There were 28
short-term facilities in the country designed to house detainees for no
more than 72 hours, and both the COE and NHRO stated that conditions
such as poor ventilation, and damp, dark, and unsanitary cells violated
human rights standards in at least half of these centers.
Female prisoners were held separately from male prisoners, and
juveniles were held separately from adults. Persons in pretrial
detention (34 percent of the total prison population) had limited
contact with outside nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or family and
suffered from considerably worse living conditions than prisoners in
general. Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
criminals.
The Government permitted independent human rights observers to
visit prisons. Domestic groups, such as LCHRES, closely monitored
prison conditions during the year.
Illegal immigrants were held at the Olaine Detention Camp for
Illegal Immigrants. According to an LCHRES report, the camp's physical
conditions were acceptable, but the detainees (numbering 10 in October)
did not have access to information about their rights and had limited
recreation opportunities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The national police and other services, such as the Special
Immigration Police and the Border Guards, are subordinate to the
Ministry of Interior; municipal police are under local government
control; and the National Guard, an element of the armed forces, also
assists in police activities. Allegations of corruption and bribery
within law enforcement ranks were frequent and affected the public's
perception of police effectiveness. During the year, the State Police
Internal Affairs Unit opened corruption-related criminal cases against
19 law enforcement officials, including 13 police officers for bribery;
an additional 6 police officers were convicted of bribery.
The law requires the Prosecutor's Office to make a formal decision
whether to charge or release a detainee within 72 hours after arrest.
Charges must be filed within 10 days of arrest. The courts have
responsibility for issuing arrest warrants. Detainees have the right to
have an attorney present at any time. These rights are subject to
judicial review but only at the time of trial. A bail system exists;
however, it was infrequently used and applied most often in cases of
economic crimes.
The law limits pretrial detention to no more than 18 months from
the first filing of the case; however, lengthy pretrial detention was a
problem, which the Ministry of Justice took steps to address. During
the year, the court adjudicated cases for the majority (63.7 percent)
of defendants facing criminal charges in fewer than 3 months; the court
heard 80.5 percent of criminal cases in fewer than 6 months. The court
imposed pretrial detention only in violent cases and where pretrial
flight was a concern. Fewer defendants experienced pretrial detention
of greater than 1 year compared to the previous year. During the year,
the country initiated plea-bargaining for the first time. Prosecutors
and defendants negotiated pleas and sentencing details in more than 700
cases during the year. The problem of lengthy pretrial detention of
juveniles lessened, as courts enforced a 6-month limit for detaining
juveniles prior to trial. Longer-term detention requires special
circumstances and a court order. During the year, the number of minors
in pretrial detention decreased to 116 from 239 in 2003.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, significant problems, including
inefficiency and allegations of corruption, remained.
The judicial system is composed of district (city) courts; regional
courts, which hear appeals from district courts; a separate
Administrative Court adjudicates administrative violations; the Supreme
Court, which is the highest appeals court; and the seven-member
Constitutional Court, which hears cases regarding constitutional issues
at the request of state institutions or individuals who believe that
their constitutional rights were violated. For more serious criminal
cases, two lay assessors join the professional judge on the bench at
the district and regional levels.
Corruption in the judicial system was allegedly widespread. The
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was active. During the year the ACB
initiated 35 criminal cases, compared with 21 in 2003. During the year,
the Prosecutor General's Office secured a conviction and 10-year
sentence against one of its former prosecutors for accepting and
soliciting bribes. The ACB arrested and launched a criminal case
against another prosecutor for corrupt practices. The Prosecutor
General dismissed the accused prosecutor, and the criminal case was
ongoing at year's end.
Most judges had inadequate judicial training, and many of the
judiciary's decisions were not enforced, due primarily to the lack of
an effective bailiff or sheriff system. The law allows for alternative
punishments, including community service, and the courts have been
using this more frequently. In 2003, the courts sentenced 1,359
defendants to community service, compared with 183 in 1999. Through the
first 6 months of the year, 755 defendants received community service
sentences.
A time-consuming judicial process and a shortage of judges
overloaded the courts. Concern about pretrial detention remained, but
the incidence was falling. The NHRO received 108 complaints (including
criminal and civil cases) during the first 6 months of the year
regarding slow judicial proceedings.
Trials may be closed if government secrets might be revealed or to
protect the interests of minors. All defendants have the right to hire
an attorney, and the Government provided funds to indigent defendants
for this purpose. Defendants have the right to read all charges,
confront all witnesses, and may call witnesses and offer evidence to
support their case. They also may make multiple appeals.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. The Press Law prohibits censorship of the press or other mass
media; however, the Law on the Media contains a number of restrictive
provisions regulating the content and language of broadcasts. During
the year, the Constitutional Court overturned a law that had limited
the hours of television programming that could be broadcast in
languages other than Latvian.
The Government generally did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the authorities may not prohibit
public gatherings; however, organizers of demonstrations must provide
advance notice to local authorities, who may change the time and place
of public gatherings for such reasons as fear of public disorder. The
law also requires protesters to remain specified distances from foreign
diplomatic missions, the Parliament, the Prosecutor's Office, and
certain other public institutions. Independent human rights
organizations argued that the law's provisions were contradictory and
confusing. Nevertheless, numerous demonstrations took place peacefully
and without government interference during the year.
In August, two NGOs staged a small, unauthorized protest in front
of the Parliament against the country's nominee to the European
Commission. The Administrative Court sanctioned the organizers. The
President and other members of the Government criticized the NGOs,
stating that their attempts to influence government decisions violated
the Constitution and declared that if NGOs want to engage in politics
then they should register as political parties. The NGOs expressed
concern that these criticisms could dampen political expression or lead
to self-censorship. Subsequently, the President publicly noted the
important role that NGOs play in civil society.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice; however, the
law bars the registration of Communist, Nazi, or other organizations
whose activities would contravene the Constitution. Noncitizens may
join and form political parties, but there must be at least 200
citizens in the party, and at least half of the total membership must
be citizens (see Section 3).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, bureaucratic problems for minority religions
persisted.
There is no state religion; however, the Government distinguishes
between ``traditional'' (Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Old
Believers, Baptist, and Jewish) and ``new'' religions.
Although the Government does not require the registration of
religious groups, the law accords religious organizations certain
rights and privileges when they register, such as status as a separate
legal entity for owning property or for other financial transactions.
According to Ministry of Justice officials, most registration
applications were approved once proper documents were submitted;
however, the law does not permit simultaneous registration of more than
one religious union (church) in a single confession, and the Government
has denied applications on this basis.
Foreign evangelists and missionaries were only permitted to hold
meetings and to proselytize if domestic religious organizations invited
them to conduct such activities. Foreign religious denominations
criticized this provision.
The law provides that only representatives of the Evangelical
Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Old Believers, Baptist, and Jewish
religions may teach religion to students in public schools on a
voluntary basis. The State provides funds for this education. Students
at state-supported national minority schools also may receive education
on the religion ``characteristic of the national minority'' on a
voluntary basis.
In September 2003, vandals overturned tombstones and sprayed anti-
Semitic graffiti on the walls of Riga's New Jewish Cemetery; national
leaders condemned the act and city authorities quickly repaired the
damage. There were no such incidents reported during the year.
The Latvian Nationalist Front, an extremist organization, published
anti-Semitic statements in its newspaper, ``Deoccupation,
Decolonization, Debolshevisation'' (DDD). The Ministry of Social
Integration referred DDD to the Prosecutor's Office to evaluate whether
the publication breaches laws against inciting ethnic hatred.
In October, a nationalist organization distributed a commemorative
envelope bearing the likeness of a citizen aviation pioneer who also
participated in the Holocaust. The Foreign Minister condemned the
activity.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law stipulates that registered permanent resident noncitizens
enjoy the right to establish and change residences, travel abroad, and
return to the country, and provides for the issuance of a noncitizen
travel document that certifies these rights; however, certain rights
are denied to noncitizen residents (see Section 3). They are prohibited
from working as armed guards or criminal trial attorneys. Noncitizens
may own land only under complex procedures and may not purchase land in
the border zones. The Government has readmitted noncitizens who claimed
refugee status in a foreign country or who voluntarily abandoned their
permanent residence and then decided to return to the country to live
and work. Noncitizens who left the country as refugees during the
Soviet era had no difficulty returning on foreign refugee travel
documents for business reasons or for family visits. The Government
also extends protections to noncitizen residents who travel abroad.
The law prohibits forced exile, and there were no reports that the
Government employed it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return to a
country where they feared prosecution. The Government granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees. The Government also provided temporary protection
to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951
Convention/1967 Protocol.
Special immigration police and border guard units helped prescreen
asylum requests. Decisions of the Citizens and Migration Affairs Office
may be appealed to the Asylum Appeals Board in the Ministry of Justice.
In 2003, five persons (three from Egypt, one from Belarus, and one from
Azerbaijan) sought but were not granted asylum, and there were eight
persons in the country with refugee status. According to government
statistics neither asylum nor refugee status was granted to any
applicants during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Free and fair elections for Parliament were held in
2002, and the Parliament elected the President in June 2003.
In February, Einars Repse resigned as Prime Minister. The President
invited Indulis Emsis to form a new government. The Parliament approved
Emsis' new minority government in March. The Emsis government collapsed
on October 28 when the Parliament failed to support amendments to the
budget. A new government under Prime Minister Kalvitis was formed in
December.
The country entered the EU in May. In June, citizens elected
representatives to the EU Parliament.
Only citizens have the right to vote in national and local
elections. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's
High Commissioner for National Minorities recommended that the country
grant long-time noncitizen residents the right to vote in municipal
elections. Noncitizens may join and form political parties, but there
must be at least 200 citizens in the party, and at least half of the
total membership must be citizens.
The election law prohibits persons who remained active in the
Communist Party or various other pro-Soviet organizations after January
1991 or who worked for such institutions as the former Soviet Committee
for State Security from seeking elected office. During the year, the
European Court of Human Rights ruled that barring Tatyana Zhdanok, a
citizen and former Communist, from running for Parliament violated the
right to free elections and assembly and ordered the Government to pay
her approximately $28,000 (15,000 lats) in compensation. In June,
voters elected Zhdanok to serve in the EU Parliament.
There was a widespread perception of corruption throughout all
levels of the Government. The ACB initiated 35 criminal cases during
the year (compared with 21 in 2003). In the most prominent corruption
case, the Prosecutor General secured a conviction and 10-year prison
sentence against a prosecutor.
A 1999 Cabinet of Ministers regulation provides a mechanism for
public access to government information. The Government generally
respected the regulation in practice.
There were 21 women in the 100-member Parliament, which was chaired
by a woman. There were 4 women in the 18-member Cabinet of Ministers.
The President was a woman. The Speaker of the Parliament was a woman.
Nonethnic Latvians, including ethnic Russians and Poles, served in
various elected bodies. According to the Parliament's website, the 100-
seat Parliament included 15 ethnic Russians, 1 ethnic Pole, 1 Jew, 1
Karelian, and 4 others who declined to list their ethnicity.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were generally cooperative and responsive to their views.
NHRO is an independent governmental institution with a mandate to
promote human rights, provide information on human rights, investigate
individual complaints, and initiate its own investigations into alleged
violations. The office acted as a general ombudsman on social issues
and handled a variety of individual complaints, primarily concerning
problems with receiving social benefits.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination due to race, gender, language, or
disability; however, societal discrimination against women was a
problem.
Women.--Observers reported that domestic violence was a significant
and underreported problem. Victims of abuse often were uninformed about
their rights and were reluctant to seek redress through the justice
system. Human rights groups asserted that the legal system, including
the courts, sometimes did not take domestic violence cases seriously,
and that the police were often reluctant to make arrests in such cases.
There were no shelters designed specifically for battered or abused
women. There are no specific rape or assault hotlines; however, NGOs
managed two crisis hotlines.
The law specifically criminalizes rape but does not recognize
spousal rape. During the year, the court convicted 54 persons on rape
charges, 15 persons for sexual abuse, and 15 persons for sexual abuse
of children under the age of 16. A local NGO, the Skalbes Crisis Center
reported that rape laws were ineffective and stated that rapes were
underreported due to a tendency by the police to blame the victim.
Prostitution is legal (although procuring is not), but the NHRO
reported that adult prostitutes had no legal protections. Prostitution
was widespread and often was linked to organized crime. According to
the State Police's vice squad, 300 women in Riga worked regularly as
prostitutes. The police further noted that prostitution was becoming
less prevalent as the economy continued to grow. There were no state
institutions to assist prostitutes; however, the private Latvian Center
for Gender Problems provided medical help and social support for
prostitutes.
Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment of women in the workplace, although illegal,
reportedly was common. Cultural factors tended to discourage women from
coming forth publicly with complaints of abuse.
The law prohibits employment discrimination; however, in practice,
women frequently faced hiring and pay discrimination, especially in the
emerging private sector. The law puts the burden of proof in gender
discrimination cases on the employer; however, NHRO reported that a
lack of public awareness limited the law's effectiveness. The law also
prohibits women from performing ``hard jobs or jobs having unhealthy
conditions,'' which are specified in a list agreed upon by the Cabinet
and labor unions.
The law prohibits work and pay discrimination based on gender and
requires employers to set equal pay for equal work. Some local NGOs
questioned the ability of the Government to enforce gender equality
laws, claiming that the police agencies responsible for enforcing such
laws lacked the skills to do so.
Children.--The law on the rights of the child and constitutional
provisions on children provide various protections, including health
care and legal protections against physical abuse; however, these
provisions were not enforced fully in practice. Schooling is mandatory
through the 9th grade, between the ages of 7 and 16, and free through
the 12th grade, or age 18.
Abandonment and child abuse, including sexual abuse, were
relatively widespread. NGOs reported that laws against child abuse were
enforced effectively. Law enforcement authorities have won court suits
to remove children from abusive parents and secured convictions in
child molestation cases. Children who were from families that were
unable to care for them had access to government-funded boarding
schools that provided adequate living conditions; however, these
schools offered lower educational standards than regular state schools.
The Dardedze Center Against Abuse in Riga continued to provide
support to abused children. The center offered multidisciplinary
treatment and rehabilitation to victims of child abuse and their
families.
Child prostitution was a problem; however, police reported that,
due to the imposition of severe penalties for rape and sexual
exploitation of minors, the reported incidence of child prostitution
sharply declined during the year. According to the police, previous
estimates that 12 to 15 percent of prostitutes were between the ages of
8 and 18 were exaggerated and noted that there were only a few reported
cases during the year. Nevertheless, legal protections for children
were enforced rarely in the case of child prostitutes.
Trafficking in young girls for sexual exploitation abroad remained
a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
There is a national Center for the Protection of the Rights of the
Child. A few children's advocacy groups were active, particularly in
lobbying for legislation to protect children's rights and for increased
welfare payments for children.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in women and girls remained a problem.
The law specifically prohibits ``trafficking in persons''; however,
most traffickers were prosecuted under a statute of the Criminal Code
that prohibits sending persons abroad for sexual exploitation. The law
provides for sentences of up to 15 years' imprisonment for trafficking
in persons and for sentences of up to 6 years' imprisonment for sending
persons abroad for sexual exploitation. During the year, the number of
investigations into crimes related to trafficking increased. During the
first 8 months of the year, a total of 13 persons were convicted, 11 of
them received conditional sentences, which are similar to probation.
Although there were severe penalties under the law against trafficking
in persons, the courts in all cases only applied those sections of the
law that criminalize pimping and alien smuggling for sexual
exploitation and did not carry severe penalties.
Cooperation between the border guards, police, and NGOs increased
and contributed to the effective control of the border areas.
International cooperation in investigations and prosecutions was well
established with Denmark and Germany. In comparison with previous
years, cooperation with Swedish, Lithuanian, Estonian, and Finnish law
enforcement agencies improved. The Border Guard Service managed an
information database used to reveal trafficking trends.
On March 2, the Cabinet approved the National Action Plan to Combat
Trafficking in Persons. A high-level working group on trafficking at
the Ministry of Interior, including representatives from the State
Police, Citizenship and Migration Department, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry
for Children Issues, and NGOs, was the principal government body
implementing the action plan.
During the year, the working group successfully guided two
amendments to the Criminal Law through the Parliament. The first
amended the law to expand the definition of trafficking in persons to
include internal trafficking. The second amendment made sending persons
abroad for sexual exploitation a felony, increased the penalty under
the law to 6 years' imprisonment, and made victims of the crime
eligible for special protection. In addition, the working group made
the Ministry of Interior's Mucenieki Refugee Center available as a
shelter for trafficking victims, developed an anti-trafficking
curriculum for high schools, and initiated a study of the problem of
sex tourism in the country.
The country was primarily a source and transit point for trafficked
victims. The main countries of destination were Germany, Denmark,
Switzerland, and England. There were reports, including from the
European Police Service, that trafficking in women and girls for
prostitution abroad increased. Trafficking within the country also
occurred, and women from poor districts were often trafficked for
sexual exploitation to Riga, Liepaja, and Ventspils.
Traffickers, primarily organized criminal groups, usually lured
victims through offers of false employment for jobs such as dancers,
bartenders, and babysitters in European countries. A large number of
victims were drawn from the economically depressed areas of the
country's eastern regions. While some victims were recruited through
job advertisements or modeling and travel agencies, most victims were
solicited through direct contact with traffickers. Traffickers often
recruited their victims at cafes and clubs, and victims themselves
recruited new victims for the traffickers.
There were some assistance programs, principally organized by NGOs
and the International Organization for Migration (IOM); however, the
Government recognized a need for more government involvement. The
Council of Youth Health Centers continued its operations to educate
adolescents regarding trafficking issues and to organize local working
groups to combat trafficking in Riga and Liepaja. The IOM and several
NGOs sponsored conferences on trafficking, and there were multiple
anti-trafficking education campaigns. In addition, the IOM sponsored an
aggressive advertising campaign warning of the dangers of accepting
attractive employment offers from abroad. The IOM and others supported
a project to invite high school and college students to screenings of
the film Lilya 4-Ever, which depicts the life of a young trafficking
victim.
The Government recognizes its responsibilities for the protection
of trafficking victims in the National Action Plan to Combat
Trafficking in Persons; however, lack of resources and competing budget
priorities have limited its ability to provide direct assistance to
trafficking victims. Currently, most assistance to trafficking victims
comes from local NGOs. Marta Centers, operating in cooperation with the
IOM and partially funded by foreign grants, offered assistance to
trafficking victims in the form of crisis counseling, professional
referrals, and reintegration assistance. The Government did provide its
Mucenieki Refugee Center as a shelter for trafficking victims. At
year's end, only 15 victims had sought available assistance.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services.
The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities;
however, most buildings were not accessible. Some larger cities,
including Riga and Ventspils, have undertaken an extensive wheelchair
accessible program at intersections.
No law documents the rights of persons with mental disabilities,
nor is there a mechanism for appealing compulsory admission and
treatment for mental illness. In March 2003, the LCHRES and the Mental
Disability Advocacy Centre (Budapest) stated that ``the review
procedure for detention on grounds of mental disability fails to meet
human rights standards, the criteria for compulsory admission into
psychiatric institutions are too broad, and the provisions on consent
to treatment does not meet international principles.'' The NHRO further
stated that committed patients suffered abridged rights that prevented
them from corresponding with relatives and placed arbitrary
restrictions on freedom of communication.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There was public debate about
the existence of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, particularly
with respect to the country's language laws and education reforms,
which Russian-speaking minority groups publicly criticized. .
Approximately 1 million residents are of non-Latvian ethnicity,
including 677,000 ethnic Russians, 92,000 ethnic Belarusians, 61,000
ethnic Ukrainians, and 58,000 ethnic Poles. More than 78 percent of the
country's inhabitants are citizens, including more than 450,000 persons
who belong to national or ethnic minorities. There are 470,000 resident
noncitizens, of whom an estimated 67 percent are Russian; 13 percent
Belarusian; 9 percent Ukrainian; and smaller percentages of Poles,
Lithuanians, Jews, Roma, Germans, Tatars, Estonians, and Armenians. Due
to the Russification policy pursued during the Soviet era, ethnic
Latvians constitute only 58.7 percent of the population, and 75 percent
of citizens--and less than 50 percent of the population in four of the
country's seven largest cities, including the capital city of Riga.
The country's Romani community nearly was destroyed during the
Holocaust. A report by LCHRES in 2003 estimated that the Romani
population is between 13,000 and 15,000. While the community received
some support from the Government, the LCHRES study reported high levels
of unemployment and illiteracy among the Roma. More than 40 percent of
Roma have a fourth grade or lower education, and more than 95 percent
do not have official employment.
The Government supported education in both Latvian and Russian, as
well as in seven other minority languages. However, under the revised
Education Law, the Government continued to implement a bilingual
education program at the elementary school level, with the goal of
providing more than half of the course-content in Russian-language
secondary schools in Latvian. Although all non-Latvian-speaking
students in public schools were supposed to learn Latvian and to study
a minimum number of subjects in Latvian, there was a shortage of
qualified teachers. State-funded university education was in Latvian,
and incoming students whose native language was not Latvian must pass a
language entrance examination. Several private institutions offered
higher education in Russian.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law stipulates that workers,
except for the uniformed military and police, have the right to form
and join labor unions of their own choosing. Union membership was
180,000 out of a workforce of approximately 1 million in 2003.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Labor unions
have the right to bargain collectively and are generally free of
government interference in their negotiations with employers.
Collective bargaining agreements were common and were negotiated by
industry or company. The law recognizes the right to strike, subject to
limitations including prolonged prestrike procedures and prohibition of
some types of solidarity strikes and political strikes.
Workers exercised the right to strike during the year. Labor
regulations prohibit certain professions from striking: Judges,
prosecutors, police, fire fighters, border guards, employees of state
security institutions, prison guards, and military personnel. A labor
law addressing disputes identifies arbitration mechanisms that unions
and members of the professions forbidden from striking may use in lieu
of striking. There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor
laws in the four special economic zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law restricts employment of those under the age of 18 by prohibiting
night shift or overtime work. The statutory minimum age for employment
of children is age 15, although children between the ages of 13 and 15
may work in certain jobs outside of school hours.
Children were trafficked for sexual exploitation and child
prostitution was also a problem (see Section 5).
Inspectors from the Ministry of Welfare's State Labor Inspectorate
were responsible for enforcing the child labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legally mandated monthly
minimum wage of approximately $146 (80 lats) did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family. Through September, the
actual average monthly wage was $378 (206 lats).
The law provides for a mandatory 40-hour maximum workweek with at
least one 42-hour rest period weekly, 4 weeks of annual vacation.
The laws establish minimum occupational health and safety standards
for the workplace. In the first 6 months of year, 27 fatal workplace
accidents and 605 workplace injuries were reported. Workers have the
legal right to remove themselves from hazardous work situations without
endangering their continued employment; however, authorities did not
enforce this right.
__________
LIECHTENSTEIN
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy with
a parliamentary government. Prince Hans-Adam II is the head of state.
On August 15, Hereditary Prince Alois took on the duties of head of
state, exercising the rights of office on behalf of the Reigning
Prince. All legislation enacted by the popularly elected Parliament
(Landtag) must have the concurrence of the Monarch and the Prime
Minister. The amendments of the Constitution, adopted in a national
referendum in March 2003, took effect in September 2003. The Parliament
nominates and the Prince appoints the members of the Government. The
Parliament was elected in 2001; the dominating Progressive Citizen's
Party holds all cabinet seats. The judiciary is independent.
Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security
forces, which are composed of the regular and auxiliary police under
the Interior Ministry. There is no standing military force. There were
no reports that security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country had a prosperous, highly industrialized, free-
enterprise economy with a vital services sector. It participated in a
customs union with Switzerland and used the Swiss franc as its national
currency. Its 34,294 citizens enjoyed a very high standard of living.
Inflation remained low at 0.8 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
Men and women were held separately. Facilities were available to
hold juvenile prisoners separately from adults in a pretrial detention
facility, but there were no cases of juvenile imprisonment during the
year. If a juvenile offender was convicted of a crime requiring
imprisonment, the convicted juvenile could be transferred to a youth
facility in Austria. Pretrial detainees were held separately from
convicted criminals.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
Police automatically report allegations of misconduct to the
prosecutor's office, and any person subject to wrongful police action
also can file a complaint with the chief of police. A failure of either
the prosecutor's office or the chief of police to open an investigation
can be appealed to the Government and, subsequently, to the
administrative courts.
Within 24 hours of arrest, police must bring suspects before an
examining magistrate who must either file formal charges or order
release. The law grants suspects the right to legal counsel of their
own choosing, and counsel was provided at government expense to
indigent persons. Release on personal recognizance or bail is permitted
unless the examining magistrate has reason to believe that the suspects
are a danger to society or would not appear for trial.
In July, the U.N. Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) expressed concern
about shortcomings in the protection of arrested or detained persons,
noting that the law does not require informing them of their right to
remain silent, their right to be brought promptly before a judge, and
to have access to legal counsel.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
In July, the UNHRC expressed concern that the mechanism for
appointment and tenure of judges, revised under 2003 constitutional
amendments, may not be compatible with the principle of the
independence of the judiciary.
The judicial system has three tiers: A court of first instance, the
appellate court, and the Supreme Court. The court of first instance is
the National Court (Landgericht). In addition, an Administrative Court
hears appeals against government decisions. The State Court
(Staatsgerichtshof) protects the rights accorded by the Constitution,
decides conflicts of jurisdiction between the law courts and the
administrative authorities, and acts as a disciplinary court for
members of the Government.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Citizens had the
right to counsel and the right to appeal, ultimately to the Supreme
Court (Oberster Gerichtshof). Trials involving minor offenses were
heard by a single judge, more serious or complex cases by a panel of
judges, and the most serious cases, including murder, by a public jury.
The Constitution authorizes the Prince to alter criminal sentences
or pardon offenders. However, if the offender is a member of the
Government and is sentenced for a crime in connection with official
duties, the Prince may take such action only if the Parliament requests
it.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Constitution establishes the Roman Catholic Church as the
official state church, and its finances are integrated directly into
the budgets of the national and local governments. The Catholic Church
is entitled to annual State contributions of $242,000 (300,000 Swiss
francs). The Government also supported denominations other than the
Catholic Church, and it continued to seek a wide consensus on a new
agreement on the relationship between the State and the Catholic
Church.
In July, the UNHRC expressed concern about the unequal treatment of
different religious denominations in the allocation of public funds and
urged the Government to review its policies to ensure an equitable
distribution of these funds.
Roman Catholic or Protestant religious education was compulsory in
all primary schools, but the authorities routinely granted exemptions
for children whose parents requested them. Secondary school students
were offered a choice between traditional confessional religious
education (provided for by the Catholic or the Protestant Church) or
non-confessional classes on ``ethics and culture.'' Denominations other
than the Catholic and the Protestant Church were free to regulate their
own religious education.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
Neither the law nor the Constitution prohibits forced exile, but
the Government did not employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return to a
country where they feared prosecution. The Government granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The overall number of asylum
requests increased following the 1998 asylum law; however, it leveled
off in recent years. During the year, the Government received 74
applications for asylum, and granted residency on humanitarian grounds
in 7 instances.
The Government also provided temporary protection to persons who
may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention or the 1967
Protocol; however, since the country lacks an airport or international
train station, it received few requests.
A trilateral agreement with Switzerland and Austria requires the
Government to return persons who enter from Austria or Switzerland
without permission to the respective authorities.
The Government used a list of ``safe countries of origin'' to
decide asylum applications; the list was identical with list being used
by the government of Switzerland.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
The country is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary
democracy. The monarchy is hereditary in the male line. The 25-member
unicameral legislature is elected every 4 years through secret
balloting and universal suffrage for adults over the age of 18.
Political parties operated freely. Citizens regularly voted on
initiatives and referendums.
On August 15, the country's National Day, Prince Hans-Adam II
passed on the duties of office of head of state to Hereditary Prince
Alois, his eldest son. Alois is to exercise the rights on behalf of his
father, who remains Reigning Prince and Head of State. The appointment
of the Hereditary Prince as permanent representative of the Reigning
Prince was intended to smooth the transition of power from father to
son.
The law requires the Government to inform the public of its
activities, and government information was available freely to all
persons living in the country, including foreign media.
There were 3 women in the 25-seat Parliament and 1 in the 5-seat
Cabinet. A growing number of women were active in politics. Women
served on the executive committees of the major parties.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A few domestic and international human rights groups generally
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were
cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex,
language, or social status. The law also prohibits public incitement to
violence or public agitation or insult directed against a race, people,
or ethnic group.
A government working group on issues of social discrimination
recommended extending the mandate of the Government's Office for Gender
Equality to address discrimination based on national origin,
disability, religion, or sexual orientation and to increase its staff.
In July, the UNHRC welcomed the measures taken by the Government to
promote equality and integration of noncitizens but regretted that the
principle of equality before the law for all the individuals was only
indirectly recognized in the Constitution. It was also concerned about
the persistence of xenophobia and intolerance, especially against
Muslims and people of Turkish origin. The Commission urged the
Government to amend the Constitution to provide for the principle of
equality before the law for all individuals under its jurisdiction and
to intensify its efforts to combat right-wing extremism and other
expressions of xenophobia and religious intolerance.
Women.--The law prohibits all forms of domestic violence. According
to police, there were 29 police interventions for cases of domestic
violence during the year, in which 22 male aggressors were prevented
from reentering the family home for 10 days and 9 for a further period
of 3 months. The Government may file charges without a complaint from
the victim. Frauenhaus, a woman's shelter nongovernmental organization
(NGO), stated that one out of five women was a victim of domestic
violence.
The Government concluded a joint project with Swiss and Austrian
neighboring regions to combat domestic violence with additional
awareness-raising activities and issued a best-practice guideline in
several languages for affected friends and relatives.
Spousal rape has the same penalties as rape under other
circumstances. The sentence may be lowered if the victim decides to
remain with the abusive spouse.
Frauenhaus provided refuge for 12 women and 14 children during the
year. The shelter also provided refuge for nonresidents. Annual
government financing for the shelter was approximately $258,000
(320,000 Swiss francs). NGOs believed that, as in neighboring
countries, trafficking in women occurred; however, no specific cases
were documented during the year.
Both the Penal Code and the Equal Opportunity Law prohibit sexual
harassment, which is punishable by up to 6 months in prison or a fine.
Employers are required to take reasonable measures to prevent sexual
harassment, and failing to do so may entail damages to a victim of up
to $32,000 (40,000 Swiss francs). There were nine proceedings for
sexual harassment during the year of which six were closed and three
remained pending at year's end.
Societal discrimination continued to limit opportunities for women
in fields traditionally dominated by men. Men earned more than women,
and women generally did not receive equal pay for equal work. The
Constitution provides for women's rights, and a significant number of
laws provide for equality of treatment among men and women to eliminate
discrimination and sexual harassment and to create conditions that
allow both men and women to combine work and family. The law mandates
the division of retirement benefit claims in the case of divorce, under
which the benefit claims accrued during the time of marriage are split
between the parties, whether they worked outside the home or not. In a
precedent ruling on gender discrimination in 2003, a court upheld a
woman's claim for equal pay for equal work and ordered the payment of
the salary difference since she began legal action.
Each spring, the Government adopts an action plan to promote equal
opportunity for both women and men, and, each autumn, the Government's
Bureau for the Promotion of Equal Rights for Women and Men publishes a
progress report. The action plan this year concentrated on the
representation of women in political bodies as well as promoting equal
opportunities in business life. During the year, the Government
organized mentoring classes for women to motivate and promote female
candidates for the 2005 parliamentary elections.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare and funded a system of public education and health
care. Education is universal and compulsory until the 9th grade; it is
free through the end of high school. It provided free health care for
children under the age of 16.
The Government supported programs to protect the rights of children
and matched contributions made to three NGOs that monitored children's
rights. The Office for Social Services oversaw the implementation of
government-supported programs for children and youth.
There were some reports of abuse of children, although there was no
societal pattern of such abuse. During the year, there were no
convictions for child abuse. The Commission for the Coordination of
Professionals in Cases of Sexual Offenses Against Children consists of
experts from different backgrounds and focuses on assisting
professionals (counselors, therapists, and physicians) who deal with
sexual offenses against children. The commission has undertaken public
awareness-raising campaigns. In 2003, it was contacted in 12 cases of
suspected sexual abuse.
Possession of child pornographic material is a statutory offense.
The Government also extended the statute of limitation for sexual
offenses against children. A special police unit on computer crime
continued to monitor child pornography on the Internet; however, no
investigations were opened during the year.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or
within the country; however, some NGOs believed that trafficking in
women occurred but was not reported.
Prostitution is legal, however, any person leading another into
prostitution faces up to 6 months in prison or heavy fines, or both,
and up to 3 years in prison if the victim was under 18. The police
closely monitored prostitutes' working conditions and salaries but
acknowledged that some Swiss middlemen employed women working in the
country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law requires
that government buildings and services be made accessible for persons
with disabilities, and the Government generally enforced these
provisions in practice.
Although the law does not prohibit discrimination against persons
with disabilities, complaints of such discrimination may be pursued in
the courts. The law provides for compensatory payments by the
Government to companies that employ persons with disabilities. The law
increased opportunities for their integration into the workforce and
promoted their right to be independent.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Rightwing extremists, including
skinheads, were publicly active during the year, but there were no more
than 20 to 40 activists. The Government continued to monitor right-wing
groups. A government advisory commission attempted to raise public
awareness in order to address the problem of acts of violence in the
public areas such as schools and playgrounds.
There were some reports of skinhead incidents but none involving
racially motivated attacks on foreigners or ethnic minorities during
the year. On February 21, police detained nine skinheads involved in a
mass brawl following a carnival music concert in the town of Schaan but
did not bring charges because no one was seriously injured.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that all workers,
including foreigners, are free to associate, join unions of their
choice, and select their own union representatives, and workers
exercised these rights in practice. Due to the country's small size and
population, there was only one trade union, which represented
approximately 13 percent of the work force. The law does not prohibit
anti-union discrimination, although it states that anti-union
discrimination should be avoided.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.
However, collective bargaining agreements usually were adapted from
those negotiated by Swiss employers and unions. Workers have the right
to strike except in certain essential services. There are no export
processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children less than 16 years of age.
However, exceptions may be made for the limited employment of youths
age 14 and over and for those who leave school after completing 9 years
of compulsory education (see Section 5). Children age 14 and older may
be employed in light duties for not more than 9 hours per week during
the school year and 15 hours per week at other times.
The Government devoted adequate resources and oversight to child
labor policies. The Department for Worker Safety of the Office of the
National Economy effectively supervised compliance with the law.
Inspections by the Department for Worker Safety were adequate.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no national minimum
wage; however, the average daily wage provided a decent standard of
living for a worker and family.
In 2003, the social security office assisted 1,198 persons, 477 of
whom received financial assistance to obtain a yearly minimal income.
The social security office supported the monthly living allowance for a
three-person household, excluding rent and other fixed costs, with up
to $1,500 (1,880 Swiss francs). The law sets the maximum workweek at 45
hours for white-collar workers and employees of industrial firms and
sales personnel and 48 hours for all other workers. The law provides
for mandatory rest periods, and, with few exceptions, Sunday work was
not allowed. Workers over the age of 20 received at least 4 weeks of
vacation; younger workers received at least 5 weeks.
The law sets occupational health and safety standards, and the
Department for Worker Safety of the Office of the National Economy
generally enforced these provisions. The law provides for a hearing in
cases in which workers removed themselves from dangerous situations.
The law provides for the right of workers to remove themselves from
work situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to
their continued employment.
__________
LITHUANIA
Lithuania is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The
Constitution establishes a 141-member unicameral Parliament; a directly
elected President; and a government whose ministers are nominated by
the Prime Minister, appointed by the President, and approved by the
Parliament. The Government held presidential and European Parliamentary
elections in June and national parliamentary elections in October.
These elections were generally free and fair. The Government exercises
authority with the approval of the Parliament and the President. The
judiciary is independent.
A unified national police force under the jurisdiction of the
Interior Ministry is responsible for law enforcement. The State
Security Department is responsible for internal security and reports to
Parliament and the President. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. Members of the security
forces committed a number of human rights abuses.
The country, with a population of approximately 3.4 million, has a
functioning market economy. The Government continued to privatize the
few remaining large-scale enterprises, such as energy, gas, alcohol,
and shipping companies; most housing and small businesses have been
privatized. The largest single privatization took place in March, when
the Government sold a 34 percent shareholding in the country's gas
utility to the Russian company Gazprom. The largest number of workers
(17.5 percent) worked in the manufacturing sector. Gross domestic
product grew by 6.7 percent in the first 9 months of the year, and
wages kept up with inflation.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
The International Commission to Investigate the Crimes of Nazi and
Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania continued its activities during
the year (see Section 4).
From January to September, the Prosecutor General's Office
initiated six investigations of genocide cases, war crimes, and crimes
against humanity related to Nazi crimes committed against Jews during
World War II. As of December, there were over 30 ongoing cases related
to Nazi crimes.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment; however, at times, police beat or otherwise physically
mistreated detainees, although such incidents continued to decline. The
Constitution does not specifically prohibit torture; however, it could
be considered an aggravating factor in the commission of other crimes.
Local media reported that a person died in June following a clash
between police and soccer fans in Klaipeda. Authorities closed the case
without final determination of police culpability. In August, a suspect
complained to parliamentary controllers that officers from Kaunas
assaulted and tortured him while escorting him to interrogation. The
parliamentary Ombudsmen subsequently instructed local police to abide
by the law. In September, relatives complained that an individual fell
into a coma following injuries sustained during a narcotics raid in
Klaipeda. In September 2003, a Parliament controller publicly
criticized several instances of police violence against juveniles,
under arrest and en route to police facilities. The controller said
that the authorities shielded police officers suspected of violence
against juveniles. In May, local media reported that police in the town
of Telsiai beat a 17-year-old crime suspect.
The practice of hazing recruits by noncommissioned officers
continued; however, the number of incidents decreased during the year.
From January to July, the military police opened one criminal case
related to hazing, compared to six cases in 2003.
Prison conditions remained poor and life threatening; however,
there were a few improvements during the year. Sanitation improved and
overcrowding decreased; however, they both remained problems at year's
end. As of May, three correctional institutions remained seriously
overcrowded; however, the Government was reconstructing 6 of the 15
correctional facilities. The Government increased funding for prisoner
rehabilitation. In October, Parliament controllers instructed the
Prisons Department to improve accounting practices for prison labor,
having determined that a number of inmates in a Vilnius facility
received pay for only 2 hours of work per day despite working 12 hours
per day; the legal limit to the workday is 8 hours.
A significant number of pretrial detainees reported mistreatment,
abuse, and violence, which Parliament controllers, public prosecutors,
and judges acted to address. The Parliament controllers noted a marked
decrease in complaints from investigation wards and prisons; however,
they noted that prolonged transfer of suspects to interrogation
facilities continued, prison authorities arbitrarily restricted rights
of prisoners who had good conduct records, and that there was poor
access to medical services in police detention facilities. Arrested and
detained persons generally suffered worse living conditions than did
convicted persons.
Violence among juveniles in detention remained a problem. In May,
the Government adopted a Juvenile Justice Program for 2004-08, which
aims to reduce asocial and criminal behavior among juveniles.
From January to August, there were 157 criminal offenses committed
in prisons, compared with 138 during the same period of 2003.
Authorities attributed the increase to their enforcement efforts to
prevent the spread of drugs. Prison personnel were charged with
committing three criminal offenses. From January to August, the
Parliament controllers investigated 206 noncriminal complaints (62
deemed justified), mostly related to prison conditions and actions of
Prison Department personnel. In March, the Prison's Department adopted
an Ethics Code for its officials and personnel, codifying among its key
principles respect for the individual and equal justice.
During the year, the Ombudsman deemed the use of force against
protesting inmates at the Alytus prison in August 2003 to be
legitimate. Women and men were held separately; juveniles were held
separately from adults; and pretrial detainees were held separately
from convicted criminals. There were reports that individuals in police
custody for minor offenses were held together with criminal suspects.
The Government permitted visits to prisons by independent human
rights observers, and there were visits during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions; however, there were instances of prolonged pretrial
detention.
A unified national police force, under the jurisdiction of the
Interior Ministry, is responsible for law enforcement. The State
Security Department is responsible for internal security and reports to
Parliament and the President. The Office of Inspector General and the
Internal Investigation Division at the Police Department investigate,
on the orders of the Minister of Interior, abuses committed by the
police. Prosecutors and the Parliament controller carry out independent
investigations. From January to July, cases of abuse of power and abuse
of office were initiated against 11 police officers. By the end of
August, controllers investigated 125 complaints regarding police
activities and determined 34 to be justified. Police found guilty were
disciplined.
Warrants are required for arrest. Under the law, police may detain
suspects for up to 48 hours, based upon reliable evidence of criminal
activity and approval by an investigator or prosecutor. Bail is
available and was used widely. The Constitution provides for the right
to an attorney from the moment of detention; however, this right was
not always respected. In February, police in the city of Panevezys
interrogated two schoolgirls without informing their parents or
lawyers.
Pretrial detention applies only in the case of felonies, to prevent
flight, to allow unhindered investigation if the suspect might commit
new crimes, or when there is an extradition request. A pretrial judge
may order a suspect detained for up to 3 months, which may be extended
to no longer than 18 months (12 months in the case of juveniles) in
exceptional cases. The detainee or his or her counsel may appeal to a
higher court against the imposition or extension of detention. The
Civil Code provides for liability for damage caused by the unlawful
actions of pretrial investigation officials, prosecutors, judges, and
courts. From January to August, the Parliament controllers received a
number of verified complaints of prolonged detention in transfer cells
of the Siauliai interrogation facility. In May, local media reported
that the administration of the major Pravieniskes correctional facility
delayed the early release of prisoners for good behavior in order to
retain staff positions.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The Constitution and the Law on Courts provide for a four-tier
court system: The Supreme Court; the Court of Appeals; district courts;
and local courts. The local courts are tribunals of first instance for
all cases that are not assigned to some other court by law. The
Constitution also provides for a Constitutional Court and specialized
courts for consideration of cases involving administrative, labor, and
family issues. District courts hear juvenile criminal cases and cases
related to children's rights.
The Prosecutor General exercises oversight responsibility for the
whole judiciary through a network of district and local prosecutors who
work with investigators to prepare evidence for the courts. In October
2003, a study commissioned by the nongovernmental organization (NGO)
Open Society Fund Lithuania criticized the court system for lack of
transparency and accountability. In June, a local expert panel of
independent lawyers said that judges do not always follow established
court procedure.
The Constitution provides for the right to legal counsel for
defendants; however, in practice, this right was abridged by the
shortage of trained lawyers. The law provides for legal assistance for
indigent persons; however, despite Government efforts such legal
assistance was not always available. Defendants have access to
government evidence and may present evidence and witnesses. A judge may
hold a closed trial in a limited number of circumstances. Defendants
have the right to appeal. The law permits trials in absentia when a
defendant is outside the country and avoids trial. Local human rights
experts criticized these provisions.
In the early 1990s, the Government rehabilitated over 50,000
persons charged with anti-Soviet crimes in the Stalin era, including
those involved with crimes against humanity during the Nazi occupation.
During the year, 17 individuals were ``de-rehabilitated'' under a
special judicial procedure, making them ineligible for some social
welfare benefits. There was a total of 167 de-rehabilitations since
1996.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
there were reports that the Government did not respect these
prohibitions in practice. The law prohibits indiscriminate monitoring
of the correspondence or communications of citizens; however, local
human rights groups alleged that the Government did not properly
enforce this. In February, unverified media reports stated that 2,000
permits for phone tapping were issued in 2003 and 250 in January alone.
In November, Parliament accepted the conclusions of its ad hoc
commission that law enforcement officials were unlawfully involved in
wiretapping and selective anticorruption raids on the eve of
presidential elections. The Criminal Process Code requires a judge's
authorization for the search of premises of an individual. The seizure,
monitoring, and recording of information transmitted through
telecommunications networks or surveillance must also be court-ordered.
The media frequently broadcast recordings of searches of suspects or
their homes, which violated privacy laws.
From January to August, the State Data Protection Inspectorate
conducted 244 investigations, examined 43 complaints, screened draft
legislation, and provided numerous consultations. Most violations
involved failure to report the fact of processing of personal data,
violation of processing rules, and failure to inform individuals that
their personal data was processed. Institutions found to have committed
violations included the State Social Insurance Fund, the police, the
Special Investigations Service, and a major bank. In May, the State
Data Protection Inspectorate acquired the right to fine those alleged
responsible for privacy and personal data protection violations.
In August, local human rights experts told an ad hoc parliamentary
panel that broadcast and publication of the President's conversations
in 2003 was a violation of his human rights. They also criticized, on
privacy grounds, the parliament-ordered publication over the summer of
recorded conversations and personal information of several legislators
and businessmen suspected of corruption. In March 2003, the media
reported that anticorruption service personnel responsible for
protecting top state officials collected information about writers for
a political television show without authorization.
The media reported that doctors occasionally divulged confidential
data about patients to employers and others. There were reports that
privacy of HIV/AIDS-infected patients was violated.
In June, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the
Government discriminated against and violated the privacy of Kestutis
Dziautas and Juozas Sidabras, former KGB employees. The two had
complained that the Government had barred them from seeking employment
in various private-sector fields until 2009 and had subjected them to
daily embarrassment on account of their past. Several similar cases
were pending.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice, and did not restrict academic
freedom.
The independent print media were active and expressed a wide
variety of views. Radio and television included a mix of independent
and state controlled stations. International media was generally
allowed to operate without restriction; however, in September, the
Government Ethics Commission recommended blocking transmission of cable
broadcasts of the First Baltic Channel (registered in Latvia and
transmitting a major Russian television channel throughout the Baltics)
for violating ethics, disseminating disinformation, and issuing calls
to violate the territorial integrity of the country, in violation of
the Law on Public Information, after it broadcast a program
reinterpreting the 1939 Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. In October, the
Latvian National Radio and Television Council fined the channel for
broadcasting inaccurate information. In February, the periodical
Laisvas Laikrastis complained that prosecutors questioned a journalist
reporting on a major contraband case possibly involving public figures,
in an attempt to intimidate him.
In November 2003, Parliament formed a 9-member ad hoc commission to
investigate charges that President Paksas had links with organized
criminal groups. The commission found that Paksas had links with
organized criminal groups and that he was and remained vulnerable to
such groups to the extent that it constituted a threat to national
security. Parliament confirmed the findings of the commission and
impeached Paksas for violating the Constitution and his oath of office.
In March, the Constitutional Court stated in its ruling that President
Paksas' public statements regarding the activity of and conclusions
reached by the ad hoc parliamentary commission were incorrect and not
applicable to the head of state. The Court ruled, however, that Paksas'
statements did not violate the Constitution. Paksas contended that the
parliamentary commissions' conclusions were part of a plot of the
political elite to unseat him. In June, state-owned television refused
to air an election ad of the Liberal Democratic Party, supporters of
the impeached President Paksas.
In September, Prime Minister Brazauskas filed a lawsuit for slander
against television journalist Ruta Grineviciute, who aired pretrial
investigation material implicating the Prime Minister in corruption.
A court may order journalists to reveal their sources if
concealment would violate other constitutional rights or privileges.
The Government did not generally restrict access to the Internet;
however, at times, the Government attempted to control its content. In
April, the Constitutional Court accepted a request to investigate a
Government regulation regarding control of information on the Internet.
The decision was pending at year's end. In September, the State
Security Department asked the Journalists and Publishers Ethics
Commission to consider whether the Kavkaz website's publication of an
article reporting that rebels had offered $20 million (55 million LTL)
for assistance leading to capture of Russian President Vladimir Putin
instigated ethnic hatred. The website was operated by supporters of
Chechen independence. The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that the
Government shut down the Chechen website. In September, the Government
closed the website for the second time (it was first closed in 2003).
In November, after the main Kavkaz site had moved to Sweden, a local
service provider opened a duplicate Kavkaz site.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice; however, the Government
continued to ban the Communist Party of Lithuania and other
organizations associated with the former Soviet regime (see Section 3).
In August, officials at the Foreigners Registration Center in
Pabrade used tear gas and handcuffs to suppress a riot of intoxicated
illegal immigrants protesting efforts to curb the production and
consumption of homemade alcohol on the Center's premises.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. There is no state religion; however, some religious groups
enjoyed special government benefits.
The Constitution divides religious communities into state-
recognized, traditional groups, and all others; however, in practice, a
four-tier system exists: Traditional, state-recognized, registered, and
unregistered communities. Traditional religious communities receive
special exemptions and rights not available to any other religious
group. Both traditional and nontraditional religious communities that
are state-recognized may receive state subsidies; however, in practice,
only the traditional groups received the subsidies regularly.
Registered religious communities did not receive the benefits and
exemptions enjoyed by traditional and state-recognized communities, but
they may act as legal entities and thus rent land for religious
buildings. Unregistered communities have no juridical status or state
privileges, but there were no reports that any such groups were
prevented from worshiping or seeking members.
The Government did not restrict activities of foreign missionary
groups within the country; however, the Government appeared to continue
preferential treatment for missionaries from the nine traditional
religions.
The law stipulates that state educational institutions may offer
religious instruction only of traditional and other state-recognized
religions; however, participation in the religious classes was not
mandatory.
The Government and Vilnius city continued a program using private
funds to rebuild parts of the Jewish quarter in Vilnius, with the
understanding that the Jewish community will have use of some of the
space upon completion of the project. In September 2003, the Government
returned 46 Torah scrolls (in addition to 309 such scrolls turned over
in January 2002) to an Israeli spiritual and heritage group for
distribution among Jewish congregations worldwide. In November, the
Vilnius city government participated in erecting a monument at the site
of the former Jewish cemetery.
The political leadership of the country and the national press
generally criticized anti-Semitic statements when they occurred;
however, there was an increase in anti-Semitic remarks made by the
media and some politicians. In February, popular national daily
Respublika carried a series of editorials with obvious anti-Semitic
undertones; the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security
Department launched pretrial investigations of Respublika's editor-in-
chief for inciting ethnic and racial hatred. The case was pending at
year's end. During the year, the Government acted against anti-Semitic
statements made by individuals seeking political office; the
distribution, including through the Internet, of anti-Semitic
proclamations and other materials; acts of vandalism against Jewish
graves and monuments; and anti-Semitic statements made during public
gatherings. In December, the Municipality of Varena asked the police to
investigate the desecration of a mass burial site of Jews killed during
WWII. Unknown vandals painted over the memorial plaques and damaged
markers erected months earlier. Police immediately launched an
investigation, although there were no findings by year's end.
In April, the Parliament formed a working group to draft
legislation increasing the penalties for inciting discord, anti-
Semitism, racism, and xenophobia.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The Law on Citizenship generally allows emigrants to retain
citizenship. Jewish and Polish minorities criticized the provisions
because they create special conditions enabling ``ethnic Lithuanian''
emigrants to retain dual citizenship but do not allow this for local
minorities when they ``repatriate'' to their ``homeland'' (for
instance, Jews to Israel or Poles to Poland).
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to certain
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 U.N.
Convention/1967 Protocol; however, in April 2003, the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance drew attention to the
practice of granting temporary residence permits to asylum-seeks on
humanitarian grounds, rather than full refugee status under the 1951
Convention. Asylum seekers coming from a safe country of transit are
prohibited from entering the country. The right of an asylum seeker to
appeal a decision denying entry into the country is limited. In April,
the Parliament adopted a law on the ``Legal Situation of Foreigners,''
bringing asylum regulations in line with European Union norms. The new
law establishes expedited procedures but also tightened regulations by
narrowing eligibility requirements for asylum applicants. It defined 3
forms of asylum: Refugee status, supplementary protection (temporary
residence for up to 1 year, followed by an annual review), and
temporary protection. From January to November, the Government granted
supplementary protection to 380 applicants and refugee status in 11
cases. In 2003, authorities granted asylum in 3 cases and residence in
485 cases. In 2003, 376 foreigners were expelled from the country,
mostly citizens of Russia, Vietnam, Belarus, India, and Ukraine.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Citizens' Right to Change
Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Of 141 seats in the Parliament, 71 are elected
directly, and 70 are elected through proportional representation. In
March, the country became a member of NATO, and, in May, it joined the
EU. Presidential elections are held at least every 5 years.
In January 2003, former Prime Minister and Liberal Union Party
leader Rolandas Paksas defeated incumbent president Valdas Adamkus in a
runoff presidential election. The election was considered free and
fair, although campaign financing lacked transparency.
In April, the Parliament impeached President Paksas for violating
the Constitution and his oath of office. In May, the Constitutional
Court issued a ruling barring any person who violated the Constitution
and oath of office from holding a high level government position for
life. As a result, a special presidential election was held in June
that was deemed generally free and fair; however, campaign financing
lacked transparency in this election, and there were allegations that a
major political corruption investigation may have influenced the
elections.
In October, a Vilnius district court acquitted former President
Paksas of charges that he divulged state secrets to Russian businessman
Yuri Borisov, the principal financial backer of Paksas' 2002-03
election campaign. Also in October, the Prosecutor General's Office
terminated a pretrial investigation of the charge that Paksas misused
the power of his office to interfere in a dispute between two private
companies. Local experts claimed that these two decisions did not
invalidate the Constitutional Court's March ruling that Paksas violated
the Constitution and his oath of office on three counts (granting
citizenship to Borisov, divulging state secrets, and abuse of power),
which served as the basis for Paksas' April impeachment. In October,
Paksas filed suit claiming his rights to a fair trial and defense had
been violated.
In June, the country held presidential and European Parliament
elections. Valdas Adamkus was elected President for a second (but
nonconsecutive) term. In October, there were two rounds of
parliamentary elections. These elections were generally free and fair;
however, there were complaints that campaign financing lacked
transparency in both and reports of vote buying during parliamentary
elections.
In March, six political parties (most without representation in the
Parliament) objected to amendments to the Law on Political Parties,
which entered into force in April. The amendments increased the party
registration threshold from 400 to 1,000 members and introduced the
requirement to provide the Ministry of Justice with the list of party
members ahead of elections. The Government banned the Communist Party.
In August, the Parliament passed a new Law on Funding and Funding
Control of Political Parties, Political Organizations, and Political
Campaigns, which put stricter limits on campaign financing and
introduced greater accountability. The local branch of Transparency
International (TI) alleged that the new law stopped short of ensuring
the transparent financing of political parties and candidates.
Polls indicated that corruption was most prevalent among mid-level
civil servants, among the traffic police, in the health sector, and in
universities. Corruption was also a concern in public procurement,
border protection service, customs, and the judiciary. Nepotism was a
problem.
In July, the Parliament voted to reject the recommendation of an ad
hoc parliamentary commission to strip three ranking lawmakers of their
parliamentary immunity in order to permit investigation and possible
prosecution for corruption. The lawmakers denied the allegations and
resigned. Other major corruption investigations centered on the 2003
Vilnius municipal election, land restitution fraud, and health care
procurement corruption.
The Government made significant efforts to curb corruption. The
Government increased oversight over the administration of EU transfers
and fought corruption in the State Border Protection and Customs
Services, including the February removal of the Chief of the Border
Protection Service for abuse of office; however, efforts to combat
corruption stalled due to protracted disputes among politicians,
prosecutors, and the Government's Special Investigative Service (STT)
about how to proceed. In September, the STT Chief resigned as a result.
Parliament failed to pass a Code of Ethics for either civil servants or
politicians. According to TI, 1 in 12 persons admitted paying bribes to
government officials in 2003. Those polled identified customs,
political parties and Parliament, the courts, law enforcement, and the
health care system as the most corrupt institutions.
The law provides for public access to government information;
however, during the year, the Parliament controllers received numerous
complaints regarding the failure of prosecutors, the Ministry of
Defense, and the State Security Department employees to provide
information.
There were 31 women in the 141-seat Parliament and 2 women in the
14-member Cabinet. There were 10 members of Parliament of Russian,
Polish, Jewish, or Belarusian ethnic origin. One of the ministers was
an ethnic Russian and another was an ethnic Belarusian.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views. The Human Rights
Monitoring Institute, the Association for the Defense of Human Rights
in Lithuania, the Human Rights Association in Lithuania, and the
Lithuanian Center for Human Rights were the major human rights groups.
The Ministry of Justice monitors law, draft legislation, and legal
practice to determine whether they are in accord with the country's
international obligations.
There are three ombudsman institutions. The Parliament's
controllers investigated complaints of the abuse of power by public
servants. The controllers have the right to forward their cases for
prosecution, to initiate a reprimand or removal from office of public
servants, to initiate a compensation claim, to propose changes in laws
and rules, and to inform the Parliament and the President about their
findings. In November, a revised law on Parliament controllers
clarified the definition of abuse of power, extended the controllers'
oversight to cover notaries and bailiffs, and gave the controllers the
right to investigate complaints about pretrial investigations. The
Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman exercised similar functions
for complaints of discrimination and sexual harassment (see Section 5).
The Office of the Ombudsman for Children's Rights controlled the
implementation of relevant laws, oversaw local children's rights
protection services, and investigated complaints of abuse of children's
rights.
The Government continued to support the International Commission to
Investigate the Crimes of Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in
Lithuania. The Commission (which includes historians, human rights
representatives, representatives of international Jewish organizations,
and both Lithuanian and foreign lawyers) produced new reports during
the year, continued to implement a program of Holocaust education, and
organized conferences and seminars to promote the development of a
tolerant civil society.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
social status, or ethnic background; however, discrimination against
women in employment and other areas persisted. The Law on Equal
Opportunities, which forbids discrimination based on age, sexual
orientation, disability, religion, or beliefs was not fully implemented
by year's end.
Women.--Societal violence against women, particularly alcohol-
related domestic violence, was a serious problem. A 2002 study by the
Women's Information Center indicated that 80 percent of women
experienced psychological abuse in the workplace or at home, 35 percent
experienced physical violence, and 17 percent were sexually abused.
The law does not specifically criminalize domestic violence;
however, domestic violence was prosecuted under general assault laws.
If such violence takes place in the home, the victim must file a
complaint. Few domestic violence victims reported abuses to the police
because they preferred to avoid publicity and were not confident that
the courts would punish their assailants. Most conflicts did not reach
criminal court, although there were a few criminal cases. The maximum
penalty rendered by courts was 2 years imprisonment.
Thirteen women's shelters provided assistance to victims of
violence. In July 2003, the Government co-founded an NGO, The Center
for Development of Equal Opportunities, to reduce violence against
women. During the year, the NGO organized a series of seminars on equal
opportunities in politics and culture, conducted awareness campaigns
with local governments, communities, and future members of Parliament,
and was also involved in charitable projects. The NGO Women's
Information Center, founded in 1996, continued to provide support to
women in the areas of equal opportunities, empowerment, combating
prostitution and trafficking, and domestic violence.
The law specifically criminalizes rape, including spousal rape.
Persons convicted of rape generally received sentences of 3 to 5 years'
imprisonment. From January to August, 159 rapes were reported.
Prostitution is illegal under the Criminal Code and was a problem. The
penalty for prostitution is a fine of $107 to $178 (300-500 LTL) for a
first offense. Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual
exploitation was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment was prohibited by law; however, it was a problem.
In February, it was reported that 14 percent of university students
surveyed, most of them female, experienced sexual abuse from professors
and university staff.
The Constitution provides for equal rights for men and women;
however, women continued to face discrimination. The Equal
Opportunities Ombudsman is an independent agency, accountable to the
Parliament, which oversees the implementation of the law and
investigates complaints concerning age and gender discrimination, as
well as sexual harassment. The Ombudsman also has some enforcement
powers in this regard, and the Criminal Code contains criminal
sanctions for discrimination or harassment. The Law on Equal
Opportunities provides for positive discrimination (affirmative action)
toward women.
Official policy requires equal pay for equal work; however, in
practice women were often paid less than their male counterparts. In
2003, a woman's average wage was 81 percent that of a man; in the
public sector, their wage was 75 percent that of men. Women were
underrepresented significantly in some professions, business, and the
managerial sector as a whole.
From January to September, the Ombudsman received 34 complaints,
initiated 10 investigations, and imposed 10 fines. Most complaints
concerned discrimination against men in entertainment facilities'
entrance fees, discrimination under old legislation, and discrimination
against women in the workplace and in the labor market.
The Ombudsman, together with women's organizations, continued a
public awareness campaign and a number of projects to advance gender
equality.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare; it funded a system of public education and medical care. The
Government provided compulsory, free, and nearly universal education
for children through the age of 15. Approximately 1 percent of children
in this age group did not attend school. The Government provides school
transportation for children in the countryside, low-cost health care
for all children, and a free school meal for one-third of children. The
Civil Code addresses relations between parents and children.
The Government continued to replace the Soviet-style orphanage
(boarding) schools with residential homes or foster families, which
permitted children to attend regular schools; however foster families
often did not ensure good conditions for children: In October 2003,
authorities confirmed reports that a 6-year-old girl from Avikliai
foster family house had suffered sexual abuse for almost a year.
Child abuse, particularly in connection with parental alcohol
abuse, was a problem; as of January, approximately 39,000 children
lived in abusive and dysfunctional families. The penalties for violence
and cruelty against underage persons are prison terms of 1 to 2 years;
however, the press reported cruelty to children, including sexual
abuse, intentional starvation, beatings, and killings, was common.
Authorities reported that 13 children were killed due to family
violence during the first 7 months of the year. Authorities may remove
children subjected to parental violence from the family and place them
in the care of a temporary guardian; however, the Ombudsman reported in
2003 that assistance for children who experienced abuse was
insufficient.
There were rare reports of abuse of children at state correctional
institutions or in arrest facilities.
The Penal Code provides for up to 13 years' imprisonment for sexual
abuse of a child; however, sexual abuse was prevalent. For example, in
December, local media reported that a coach of a children's soccer team
was arrested following complaints of sexual abuse from four juveniles
and their parents. From January to August, 23 cases of sexual abuse of
children were registered (excluding rapes, for which separate data for
children is not available). In May, a study by a Vilnius hospital and
the polling agency RAIT indicated that 31 percent of 18- to 20-year-
olds surveyed had experienced sexual abuse in their childhood and
adolescence. The Government operated a children's rehabilitation center
to provide special care for sexually abused children, and, in June, the
Government selected a number of NGOs and other organizations to provide
assistance to sexually abused children.
Trafficking in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). Exploiting children in the
production of pornography is illegal; however, there were a few cases
of this reported during the year. In June, the police detained a high
school teacher suspected of distributing child pornography on the
Internet.
Several thousand children reportedly lived on the street. Sixty
regional government children's rights protection agencies, other
institutions, and numerous NGOs routinely assisted these children.
Street children had full access to free state services. There were no
reports of police abuse against street children.
The Children's Rights Ombudsman controls the implementation of
relevant laws and conventions, oversees children's rights protection
institutions, investigates complaints, and advises the Government on
improving the protection and legal interests of the child. In 2003, the
Ombudsman received approximately 215 complaints and initiated a number
of investigations regarding violations of child protection laws.
Trafficking in Persons.--The Criminal Code prohibits trafficking in
persons; however, trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of
sexual exploitation was a problem. International and local NGOs claimed
that the problem increased despite significant efforts by the
Government to fight it.
The legal penalties and fines for trafficking-related activities
are: Trafficking in persons, up to 8 years imprisonment; profiting
monetarily from prostitution or pimping, up to $8,900 (25,000 LTL) and
up to 4 years' imprisonment; profiting monetarily from prostitution or
pimping of a minor or engaging, organizing, and/or heading prostitution
activities involving a minor, 2 to 8 years' imprisonment; organizing or
heading prostitution rings or transporting a person for the purpose of
prostitution, up to 6 years' imprisonment; engaging in prostitution, up
to $4,400 (12,500 LTL) and 3 years' imprisonment; forcing individuals
into prostitution by means of coercion or fraud and engaging a minor in
prostitution, from 2 to 7 years' imprisonment; engaging in the trade in
children, from 2 to 10 years' imprisonment.
The Government opened 22 criminal cases related to trafficking in
persons, referring 13 to the courts. Four prosecutions ended in
convictions, with sentences ranging from fines to 3 years'
imprisonment. Law enforcement officials continued to cooperation with
other government on trafficking and participated in over 10 joint
investigations.
The country was a source, transit point, and destination for
trafficking in women and girls. Women from the country were primarily
trafficked to Western Europe. Most women trafficked into or transiting
the country were from Eastern Europe.
According to Europol, every year approximately 1,200 Lithuanian
women fell victim to trafficking or left the country against their
will. Twenty women (3 under the age of 18) were reported to the police
as victims of trafficking during the year.
Traffickers particularly targeted the socially most vulnerable
groups: Young females from poor, asocial, or unstable families.
Traffickers also commonly targeted young women from ethnic minorities.
Many were lured by deceptive offers of jobs such as household helpers,
bar dancers, nannies, nurses, models, or waitresses, or through false
marriage advertisements. In many cases, close relatives or friends made
the offers. Victims' compliance was ensured via threats and the
withholding of their documents. Families often were unaware of their
predicament and believed that they had been kidnapped. Boarding schools
that also serve as orphanages were new targets of traffickers. In 2003,
criminal police detained five Lithuanian, Italian, and Spanish
nationals believed to be members of an organized trafficking group, the
first operation in the country that resulted in the arrest of leaders
of an international trafficking ring. These cases were still pending at
year's end.
Organized groups, some belonging to international trafficking
rings, and individuals, some of them formerly involved in the used-car
trade between the country and Western Europe, engage in trafficking.
The Government funded the establishment of victim protection
centers in Kaunas and Klaipeda and local NGOs that were involved in
prevention and victim assistance. There were 15 working day centers,
which provide aid for various groups at risk, including victims of
trafficking.
The Government relied heavily on NGOs to organize and run programs
to combat trafficking in persons. In one campaign, the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) counseled 3,000 job seekers on legally
obtaining work abroad. IOM trained 102 social workers and 107 police
officers on preventing trafficking and launched an information program
for teachers, parents, and students. The Government and NGOs organized
three international conferences on reintegration of victims and
interagency cooperation. Local NGOs also provided training to over 80
women at high-risk for trafficking and built 10 municipal trafficking
information networks.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. In October, a
visually impaired individual was elected to Parliament. The law
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities; however,
the Government generally did not enforce this provision in practice,
although most new buildings ensured such access. Individuals
involuntarily declared as incapacitated have no right to appeal the
decision in court.
Many persons with disabilities lived in poverty because the state
pension for a person with disabilities was lower than the minimum wage.
However, every local government ran home help services for persons with
disabilities, and the Government financed a network of facilities for
them, including daycare centers, state children care houses, and
residential care homes for mentally ill adults. During the year, a
government-business partnership supplied computers with Internet access
to some 25 centers for persons with disabilities. The Government
financed the National Program of Social Integration of the Disabled,
which was coordinated by the Disabled Persons' Affairs Council, the
Government, and NGOs.
In May 2003, a study on the rights of persons with mental
disabilities recommended that the Government end the care of disabled
persons in large social and health care institutions, determine minimum
service quality standards, and create a system to provide disabled
persons with prophylactic technology and special education services.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Minority ethnic groups-
including Russians, Poles, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Tatars, and
Karaites constituted approximately 16.5 percent of the population.
Although the law prohibits discrimination of ethnic or national
minorities, intolerance persisted.
The small Romani community (approximately 3,000) suffered
discrimination in many areas of daily life, including education,
employment, health care, housing, services, citizenship, and contacts
with the police. In June, the Government adopted a program designed to
increase tolerance towards minorities and to reduce discrimination;
however, it had not been implemented by year's end. The Government ran
a social center and community school for the Roma.
In December, the Parliament Ombudsman stopped the Vilnius municipal
authorities from destroying an allegedly illegal house in a Roma
village and referred the matter to the courts. Local minority experts
criticized the city government for indiscriminately targeting Roma
while doing little to help their integration into the broader
community. Following talks between the city government and Roma, some
families agreed to move to public housing in other parts of the city.
The Penal Code provides for a sentence of from 2 to 10 years'
imprisonment for the incitement of racial or national hatred or
incitement of violence against foreigners. The State Security
Department initiated several investigations into reports of acts
tending to incite racial or national hatred but closed them either
because the suspects apologized or because the cases would have been
difficult to prove in court.
Public sector employees are required to have a functional knowledge
of the Lithuanian language; there was no documented evidence of job
dismissals based on this language law. The authorities indicated that
while the law's intent is to encourage competence in Lithuanian as the
official language of the State, no one would be dismissed solely
because of an inability to meet the language requirements.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The local Human Rights
Monitoring Institute reported that homosexuals suffered permanent
social exclusion. Representatives of the Lithuanian Gay League
complained that they suffered physical abuse and insults on the street
and in the mass media.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law recognizes the right of
workers and employees, including members of the police and armed
forces, to form and join trade unions, and workers exercised this right
in practice.
Unions must have at least 30 founding members in large enterprises
or a membership of one-fifth of all employees in small enterprises to
legally register. Individuals employed in enterprises where there was
no union were free to join an established regional union, but this
practice was not widespread.
Approximately 10 percent of the workforce was unionized.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of direct
discrimination against members of unions; however, most employers did
not favor workers participating in trade unions.
Large retail stores hired workers only on the basis of short-term
contracts in order to avoid having a unionized workforce and employers
often did not renew contracts of workers that belonged to unions.
Age discrimination figured prominently in the labor market.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for collective bargaining and the right of unions to organize
employees; however, it does not allow collective bargaining by
government employees involved in law enforcement and security-related
work. The law provides unions the right to negotiate nationwide,
branch, and territorial collective agreements; however, collective
negotiations regarding labor relations, including wages, are not
widespread. Workers often took their complaints directly to their
employers. There was no collective bargaining in approximately 90
percent of enterprises, since most of them did not have labor unions.
According to the Lithuanian Labor Federation, collective bargaining was
very rare in the private sector since employers discouraged organizing
unions. There were no cases of employers being punished for such
actions.
The Labor Law, effective in January 2003, establishes collective
bargaining as the main tool to regulate labor relations, restricts
short-term contracts, including at retail stores, subjecting them to
collective bargaining, and gives employees the right to be represented
in collective bargaining by unions or by a work council elected by a
secret ballot. Leaders of the Solidarity labor union complained about
the Government's failure to eliminate illegal, undeclared wages, which
reduced employees' social security benefits and their future pensions.
Managers often determined wages without regard to union
preferences, except in larger factories with well-organized unions. The
Government periodically issued guidelines for state enterprise
management in setting wage scales.
The unions criticized provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure,
which do not allow labor unions to represent their members at the
Supreme Court; members must engage their own counsel.
The law provides for the right to strike, except for workers in
essential services; however, labor code procedures made it difficult to
exercise this right and there were no official strikes during the year.
The law provides that only a union or a union's strike committee may
call a strike, thus employees at any of the approximately 90 percent of
enterprises without unions could not strike.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the export processing zone in the port city of Klaipeda.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were some reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the exploitation of children in the workplace and this
law was generally enforced effectively; however, there were some
reports of problems. Statistics indicated that 10 percent of working
children did so illegally, mostly in the agricultural sector where
children were employed for meager pay. There was also evidence of child
labor in the form of prostitution and pornography (see Section 5).
The Labor Law sets the minimum employment age at 16, and persons of
14 may be hired to perform light jobs. Children from age 14 to 16 may
be hired, provided that the job does not preclude their attending
school and that the parents and school provide written consent. The law
provides for reduced working hours for children: Up to 2 hours per day
during the school year or 12 hours a week; or 7 hours per day and 32
hours per week when school is not in session. These laws were generally
enforced effectively in practice.
There were isolated cases of trafficking of teenagers and two cases
during the year related to child pornography (see Section 5).
The State Labor Inspectorate is responsible for control and receipt
of complaints related to employment of people under 18. The Ministry of
Social Security and Labor, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of
Health, and the Ministry of Interior ran programs aimed at the
protection of children's rights. From January to June, the State Labor
Inspectorate conducted 1,957 inspections of illegal employment;
however, no investigations were related to illegal child labor,
although there were three instances of minor violations of special
conditions applied to employees under 18.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage, which in
May was increased to $178 (500 LTL) per month, did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family. According to the Department
of Statistics, the average gross wage in the second quarter of the year
was $427 (1,222 LTL) per month, which provided a decent standard of
living for a worker and family.
The law provides that maximum working hours within a 7-day period,
including overtime, may not exceed 48 hours. Overtime can be allowed
only in cases stipulated by law and, along with night work, must be
compensated at a minimum of 1.5 times the hourly rate.
The Constitution provides that workers have the right to safe and
healthy working conditions, and the State Labor Inspection Service is
responsible for implementing the Labor Safety Law. From January to
October, the Labor Inspection Service conducted 16,691 inspections of
companies. The most numerous abuses included wage arrears, illegal
employment (working without a written contract), the violation of labor
contracts, time off and work time accounting, harmful working
conditions, and the unsatisfactory investigation of accidents. Workers
have the right, both in law and practice, to remove themselves from
dangerous work environments without jeopardizing their continued
employment. From January to November, the State Labor Inspection
Service recorded 161 fatal accidents at work and 190 other serious work
accidents.
__________
LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg is a constitutional monarchy with a democratic,
parliamentary form of government. The role of the Grand Duke is mainly
ceremonial and administrative. The Prime Minister is the leader of the
dominant party in the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies
(Parliament). On June 13, free and fair national elections took place.
The Council of State, whose members are appointed by the Grand Duke,
serves as an advisory body to the Parliament. The judiciary is
independent.
Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the only
security forces, the Grand Ducal Police. There were no reports that
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The country had a market economy with active industrial and service
sectors. As of January 1, the population was approximately 451,600. The
standard of living and the level of social benefits were high.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing
with individual instances of abuse.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of politically motivated killings by the Government or its
agents; however, one person died in prison under unknown circumstances
(see Section 1.c.).
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. Men
and women were held separately in prisons. Juveniles and adults were
held in separate facilities. Pretrial detainees were held separately
from convicted criminals.
During the year, there was one death at the penitentiary in
Schrassig, and an autopsy was ordered. According to the prison
authorities, the detainee was suffering from a lung infection at the
time of death. The autopsy also revealed a relatively high, but not
lethal, quantity of methadone in his system. Prison authorities were
unable to determine how he had obtained the methadone. According to the
final statement of the prosecutor's office, both the lung infection and
the methadone likely contributed to his death.
Protests by inmates highlighted overcrowding in the penitentiary in
Schrassig, which currently holds 580 prisoners. A steady rise in
criminality and sometimes lengthy waits for trials have led to a rise
in the prison population. The Director of Prisons stated that, due to
increasing difficulties hiring guards and the consequent shortage of
personnel, two prison facilities were closed, which caused up to three
inmates to share the same room.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The Grand Ducal Police and its investigative branch, the Judiciary
Police, are under the direction of the Ministry of Justice and provide
law enforcement services to the entire country.
Judicial warrants are required for arrests except in cases of hot
pursuit. The law requires police to lodge charges and bring suspects
before a judge within 24 hours of arrest. Suspects are given immediate
access to an attorney, at government expense for indigents. The
presiding judge may order release on bail.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The Supreme Court, whose members are appointed by the Grand Duke,
heads the judicial system. One of the country's three Justices of the
Peace has jurisdiction over minor criminal, civil, and commercial
cases, and one of two district courts hears more serious cases. The
Youth and Guardianship Court ruled on matters concerning the protection
of young persons. An administrative court system reviews citizen
challenges to legislation.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Defendants are
presumed innocent and have the right to a public trial. Defendants are
free to cross-examine witnesses and to present evidence. Either the
defendant or the prosecutor may appeal a ruling; an appeal results in a
completely new judicial procedure, with the possibility that a sentence
may be increased or decreased.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
There is no state religion, but the Government provided financial
support to some churches. Specifically, it paid the salaries of Roman
Catholic, some Protestant, Orthodox, and Jewish clergy. Several local
governments maintained sectarian religious facilities. In 2003, the
Government signed a convention to extend support to the Anglican
Church. Legislation required to complete this convention was passed in
June. The Muslim community's agreement in 2003 to name a national
representative and single interlocutor allowed the Government and the
community to discuss the possibility of that community receiving
similar government funding. The Muslim community designated a Shura
Committee, which was discussing the issue of funding with government
representatives at year's end.
There were no known acts of anti-Semitism, violence, or
discrimination against religious minorities during the year. The
Government sponsors an annual Remembrance Day to commemorate the
deportations that occurred during WWII.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it in practice.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
After pledging in 2002 to deport several thousand persons whom it
had determined did not qualify for asylum status, the Government
proceeded with the voluntary or involuntary deportation of 708
individuals in 2003, the largest number (555) to Montenegro. In August,
1,415 individuals whom the Government had determined did not qualify
for asylum status remained in the country and were subject to
deportation to their home country. More than 1,000 came from Serbia-
Montenegro, including 345 from Kosovo.
Authorities deported 13 persons for having irregular immigration
status after police arrested them in March 2003 on suspicion of Muslim
extremist activities.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. National parliamentary elections are held at least
every 5 years. The most recent national parliamentary elections were
held on June 13.
Public documents were available on the Government's website and the
Internet and were widely disseminated. A new law on freedom of
expression for the media was passed on June 8. It does not provide free
access to information that is not already in the public domain.
There were 14 women in the 60-member Chamber of Deputies and 3
women in the 14-member Cabinet.
One member of the Government is a foreign-born citizen.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
In February, the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner,
Alvaro Gil-Robles, visited the country to assess its human rights
record. His report on the visit recommended that the Government cease
issuing ``artiste visas'' to women in order to deter trafficking (see
Section 5, Trafficking.)
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits racial, sexual, or social discrimination, and the
Government enforced these provisions.
Women.--There were instances of domestic violence, which the
Government took steps to address. In November 2003, a new law on
domestic violence took effect that stipulates that a batterer will be
removed from the house for 10 days; this period can be extended an
additional 3 months, based on a request made by the police to the
Public Prosecutor's office. The law is gender neutral. Police are
responsible for filling charges to protect victims from being
intimidated into dropping charges. Penalties for domestic violence may
include fines and imprisonment. In addition, if a possible victim has
been to a nongovernmental organization (NGO) for assistance, the police
are required to interview the person. Starting in December 2003, the
country provided a hotline for victims. During 2003, shelters provided
refuge to 428 women and 519 children, compared with 399 and 460,
respectively, in 2002. In addition, the Government provided financial
assistance to domestic violence victims. Information offices set up to
respond to women in distress reported that they received 3,013
telephone calls during 2003, compared with 4,708 calls in 2002. The
Government funded organizations that provided shelter, counseling, and
hotlines for victims.
The law specifically makes rape, including spousal rape, illegal
and the Government enforced the law effectively.
Women enjoyed the same property rights as men under the law. In the
absence of a prenuptial agreement, property is divided equally upon the
dissolution of a marriage. The law mandates equal pay for equal work,
and the Ministry for the Promotion of Women had a mandate to encourage
a climate of equal treatment and opportunity; however, according to
government reports, women were paid 20 to 30 percent less than men for
equal work. The Government cited the interruption in the careers of
women caused by childbirth and their maternal roles as one reason for
the disparity. There were no work-related discrimination lawsuits.
Women constituted 37.4 percent of the work force, compared to 33
percent in 2003.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded a system of public education and
health care. The law mandates school attendance for children between
the ages of 4 and 15, and school attendance is universal for children
of those ages. Schooling was free through the secondary level, and the
Government provided some financial assistance for post-secondary
education.
There were some reports of abuse of children, although there was no
societal pattern of such abuse. A physicians' organization estimated
that approximately 200 cases of child abuse required treatment in
hospitals each year and resulted in legal proceedings. The Government's
hotline for young persons in distress received 615 calls during 2003.
The law sets criminal penalties for adults who traffic children,
facilitate child prostitution, or exploit children through pornography
and extends the country's criminal jurisdiction to citizens and
residents who engage in such activities abroad. According to the law,
offenders charged with the sexual exploitation of children may receive
a sentence of from 1 month to 2 years in prison, including a fine from
$325 to $16,250 (251 to 12,500 euros). In July, 16 persons were
arrested for possessing pornographic documents of minors. Subsequently,
they received sentences ranging from 3 to 15 months' imprisonment. The
investigation was part of a larger international investigation to
combat child pornography.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons,
and there were no official reports that persons were trafficked to,
from, or within the country.
There were no government services specifically designated for
victims of trafficking; however, two NGOs fully financed by the
Government provided shelter and counseling assistance to women in
distress. The Ministry for the Promotion of Women had awareness
programs for victims of domestic violence, although none specifically
targeted trafficked victims.
In April, five individuals were arrested and charged with
recruiting and transporting two women for prostitution. Two of the
individuals arrested facilitated applications for artiste visas issued
by the Government to foreign women who, if the visas were issued, were
permitted to work as dancers in the country's cabarets for periods of 6
months. The other individuals arrested were two cabaret owners and a
lawyer who were found to have violated the terms of the contracts
signed with the women as the basis for the visa being issued. The women
had voluntarily applied for the visas and traveled to the country. Once
in the country, the women were pressured by their employers to engage
in prostitution; however, there was no claim of coercion.
One month after the arrests and following a recommendation by the
Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, the Minister of
Justice ended the artiste visa program. The termination was meant to
prevent trafficking of women. The program's termination resulted in
approximately 700 women losing the right to remain in the country to
work in the cabarets. The women subsequently were required to return to
their home countries.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, and the provision of other state services. The Government
assisted persons with disabilities in obtaining employment and
professional education. Businesses and enterprises with at least 25
employees must by law fill a quota for hiring workers with disabilities
and pay them prevailing wages. The quotas were fixed according to the
total number of employees; employers who did not fulfill them were
subject to sizable monthly fines. The Government provided subsidies and
tax breaks for employers who hired persons with disabilities. There
were no known complaints of noncompliance with the disability laws.
However, the Government acknowledged that laws establishing quotas for
businesses that employ over 25 persons were not applied or enforced
consistently, and there was a particular problem in the case of persons
with mental disabilities.
The law does not directly mandate accessibility for persons with
disabilities, but the Government paid subsidies to builders to
construct ``disabled-friendly'' structures. Despite government
incentives, only a small proportion of buildings and public
transportation vehicles were modified to accommodate persons with
disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--All workers had the constitutional
right to associate freely and choose their representatives, and they
exercised this right in practice. Of the working population, about 50
percent, including workers who commuted from neighboring countries,
belonged to a trade union.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law does
not specifically allow unions to conduct their activities without
interference; however, unions operated free of interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for and
protects collective bargaining, which was conducted in periodic
negotiations between unions and employers. The Constitution provides
for the right to strike, except for government workers who provide
essential services. There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government
prohibits forced and compulsory labor, including by children, and there
were no reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16.
Apprentices who are 16 years old must attend school in addition to
their job training. Workers under the age of 18 have additional legal
protection, including limits on overtime and the number of hours that
can be worked continuously. The Ministries of Labor and Education
effectively monitored the enforcement of child labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law provides for minimum
wage rates that vary according to the worker's age and number of
dependents. The minimum wage for a single worker over the age of 18 was
approximately $1,820 (1,403 euros) per month for unskilled workers, and
$2,190 (1,684 euros) per month for skilled workers. The minimum wage
was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family; however, most employees earned more than the minimum wage.
The law mandates a maximum workweek of 40 hours. Premium pay was
required for overtime or unusual hours. Sunday employment was permitted
in continuous-process industries (steel, glass, and chemicals) and for
certain maintenance and security personnel; other industries could
request permission for Sunday work, which the Government granted on a
case-by-case basis. Work on Sunday, allowed for some retail employees,
must be entirely voluntary and compensated at double the normal wage or
with compensatory time off on another day equal to the number of hours
worked on Sunday. The law requires rest breaks for shift workers and
limits all workers to a maximum of 10 hours per day, including
overtime. All workers received at least 5 weeks of paid vacation
yearly, in addition to paid holidays.
The law mandates a safe working environment. An inspection system
provided severe penalties for infractions. The Labor Inspectorate of
the Ministry of Labor and the Accident Insurance Agency of the Social
Security Ministry carried out effective inspections. No laws or
regulations specifically provided workers with the right to remove
themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to their
continued employment; however, every worker has the right to ask the
Labor Inspectorate to make a determination regarding workplace safety,
and the inspectorate generally did so expeditiously.
__________
MACEDONIA
Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with multiethnic party
representation and a popularly elected president. In 2001, the country
experienced an insurgency conducted by Kosovar and indigenous ethnic
Albanians. In August 2001, domestic political parties signed the
Framework Agreement (FWA) that called for implementation of
constitutional and legislative changes to lay the foundation for
improved civil rights for ethnic minority groups. Parliament had
completed nearly all remaining FWA-mandated legislative actions by
year's end, including new laws on fiscal and administrative
decentralization and municipal boundaries, which provided for enhanced
minority civil rights and devolution of power to local governments. In
April, following the death of former president Boris Trajkovski, Branko
Crvenkovski was elected President in elections deemed generally free
and fair by international observers. Former Interior Minister Hari
Kostov became Prime Minister in May, but resigned after less than 6
months in office. Former Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski became Prime
Minister in December. The Constitution provides for an independent
judiciary; however, corruption, coercion and political influence at
times limited its ability to function efficiently.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI), which oversees the uniformed
police, the non-uniformed police, the police reservists, the internal
intelligence service, and the newly-formed Border Police, is under the
control of a civilian minister; a parliamentary commission oversees
operations. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective
control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces
committed human rights abuses.
The country, with a population of approximately 2 million, had a
mixed market-based economy. The gross domestic product grew by less
than 2 percent during the year. According to the labor force survey,
unemployment remained at approximately 37 percent; however, that figure
did not reflect the large gray market economy. Wages kept pace with
inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Law enforcement
officers occasionally beat suspects, particularly during initial arrest
and detention. In contrast with previous years, arbitrary arrest and
prolonged pretrial detention occurred infrequently. The Government
showed progress on investigating allegations of human rights abuses
that arose during the year, as well as in investigating cases that
arose from previous years. On some occasions, the judiciary did not
effectively investigate or prosecute state agents and civilians for
alleged human rights abuses. In some cases, police continued to compel
citizens to appear for questioning despite requirements that they first
obtain a court order. Implementation of an Amnesty Law for former 2001
combatants not accused of war crimes was completed by year's end.
Several judges were dismissed during the year on charges of
unprofessional and unethical behavior. The International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) continued to investigate
alleged war crimes cases with cooperation from the Government. Violence
and discrimination against women (particularly in the Roma and ethnic
Albanian communities) remained problematic. Societal discrimination
against minorities, including Roma, ethnic Albanians, and ethnic Turks,
also remained a problem. Trafficking in women and girls for
prostitution was a problem; however, the Government continued to
aggressively combat trafficking.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings; however, security forces killed at least four
individuals during the year.
On March 7, police shot and killed two armed men and injured a
third in the village of Zerovanje, near Tetovo, as they attempted to
arrest the individuals for committing armed robberies of taxi drivers.
The officers opened fire after the suspect attempted to run over a
police officer with his car. The MOI Professional Standards Unit (PSU)
launched an immediate investigation and concluded that the use of
firearms was justified.
On August 13, police shot and killed an Albanian citizen in Debar
during an arrest attempt. The victim, wanted by police in connection
with organized crime, approached the officers with a live hand grenade.
Two police officers were injured in the incident. A PSU investigation
found that the officers used appropriate force.
On December 25, police killed one person in a shootout as they
attempted to arrest armed criminal Lirim Jakupi in an apartment in
Tetovo. The victim, a 21-year-old male student, was harboring Jakupi in
his apartment at the time he was shot. Jakupi escaped to Kosovo
following the failed arrest and was later arrested by UNMIK forces in
Pristina. One police officer was injured in the shootout.
The Government made progress in investigating the Rastanski Lozija
case, involving the police killing of seven illegal immigrants in 2002.
Due to pressure from international observers and human rights
organizations, the Government reopened the investigation during the
year. On April 28, police detained six persons in connection with the
case. On April 29, the Parliament voted to revoke then-M.P. Boskovski's
parliamentary immunity, and, on May 4, the MOI issued a warrant for
Boskovki's arrest. On September 1, Boskovksi was arrested and charged
in Croatia, after the Government submitted evidence on the case to
Croatian authorities. At year's end, Boskovski was in detention,
awaiting trial in Croatia.
On November 15, the trial of four of the six persons arrested in
April in connection with the Rastanski Lozja case began in Skopje and
was ongoing at year's end. Two of the six persons arrested in April
agreed to testify against their former co-workers in exchange for
reduced sentences.
Charges against Selam Selami, who was detained in connection with
the shooting of two ethnic Macedonian police officers near Gostivar and
severely beaten by police in 2002, were dropped in 2003. A PSU
investigation determined that no excessive force was used. As of year's
end, there had been no further investigation into the allegations of
police abuse. International observers continued to question the quality
of the PSU investigation, and the MOI agreed to review Selami's case;
however, a new investigation had not been opened by year's end.
There was progress in the investigation of human rights abuse cases
from past years. In October, the MOI and international community
representatives agreed to establish a mechanism for reviewing older
cases that remained unresolved. The MOI began additional field
investigations in the first of these cases in mid-December and planned
to proceed case-by-case until all outstanding cases were closed.
There were no new developments in the case of an ethnic Albanian
who was killed in 2002 by the Macedonian Border Brigade after the car
he was in ran through an illegal crossing in the village of Belanovce.
The case of the ``Lion'' (member of a now-disbanded special police unit
of the same name) who shot and killed an ethnic Albanian man on the
Tetovo-Gostivar highway in 2002 was re-opened and additional
investigation was underway at year's end. A police officer present at
the scene of the 2002 police killing of an ethnic Albanian man at a
checkpoint in Tetovo gave evidence to the investigative judge and a
civil case was pending. In December, MOI officials were carrying out
additional field investigations related to the case.
Unlike the previous year, there were no deaths as a result of
landmine incidents.
Three ethnic Albanians were sentenced to 12-year prison terms for
planting an explosive device along the Kumanovo-Sopot road in 2003; the
explosion killed two Polish NATO soldiers and two civilians, and
seriously injured two others. Seven ethnic Albanians were tried on
charges of terrorism for planting explosives in the center of the city
and on the railway tracks near Kumanovo in 2003, killing one and
injuring several others. Each of the seven was convicted and sentenced
to a maximum of 7-years in prison.
Demining and unexploded ordnance disposal efforts in former
conflict areas continued at year's end. The Office of Civil Protection
in the Ministry of Defense was responsible for de-mining and mine-
awareness education.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
The International Committee on Missing Persons (ICMP), in
cooperation with the Government and family members, identified 8 of the
20 persons missing since the 2001 conflict.
Two of the Macedonian cases in which the ICTY has asserted primacy
deal with missing persons (see Section 4).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, police
at times used excessive force during the apprehension of criminal
suspects and sometimes tortured and abused prisoners.
In October, police reportedly beat two of several ethnic Albanians
arrested near Stenkovec and charged them with attempted murder of a
taxi driver and illegal possession of firearms. The MOI stated that
force was used because the suspects tried to fire their weapons at
police. The PSU investigation, in cooperation with Proxima, concluded
that the allegations of abuse could not be confirmed; however,
international observers were reviewing the case at year's end. The PSU
report prescribed additional training on the appropriate use of force
for the officers involved.
In 2003, a court sentenced Sulejman Sulejmani to 10 years in prison
for planting a landmine in Sopot that killed two Polish NATO soldiers
and two citizens. Sulejmani's lawyer appealed the conviction; a Supreme
Court appeal was pending at year's end. Sulejmani denied the
allegations against him and claimed harassment by police and detention
in an unknown location for 2 days after his arrest. The PSU report
found no evidence of police abuse of authority or use of excessive
force. Copies of the report were delivered to the Helsinki Committee,
the Ombudsman's Office, the NGO Arka in Kumanovo, and the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
In June 2003, security and counter-intelligence officers in
Kumanovo allegedly unlawfully detained and severely mistreated Avni
Ajeti, who was suspected of planting a mine on the Skopje-Belgrade
railroad and a bomb in the Kumanovo central square. In December 2003,
Ajeti was sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment for terrorism; his appeal
was pending at year's end. A PSU investigation found no evidence of
mistreatment in Ajeti's case, but international observers continued to
doubt the thoroughness of the investigation.
There were credible reports of occasional police violence and
harassment against Roma.
On July 5, three police officers beat Trajan Ibrahimov and Bergiun
Ibrahimovic, both Romani men from Skopje, outside Ibrahimov's home. The
police approached the home in search of a fugitive, and despite
Ibrahimov's response that he was not the fugitive, the officers
proceeded to beat both men on the head and body and arrested them. Both
men were then taken to a police station and held for more than a day.
The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) filed a criminal complaint of
maltreatment as well as a private criminal complaint against the
officers for inflicting bodily injuries. A PSU investigation found that
police use of force was justified. According to the PSU report,
officers acted on an anonymous tip that fugitive Tahir Ibraimovic, for
whom they had an arrest warrant, was located inside the house. The
police informed the two men that they were searching for a fugitive
named Ibraimovic, and asked for the men's identification. Trajan
Ibrahimov reportedly slapped one of the officers, who struck back in an
attempt to subdue him. Bergul Ibrahimov then struck the officer in the
knee. The two men were taken into custody and asked to submit to
alcohol testing, which they refused. Police filed criminal charges
against both men for assault on a police officer during execution of
his duties.
Two Romani men who filed civil charges against four police officers
in Kumanovo in connection with alleged ill-treatment in 2003 reached an
undisclosed financial settlement out of court two weeks after the
event.
The case against former MOI Boskovski for injuring four persons
during a Lion's live-fire training exercise in 2002 remained stalled at
year's end. Boskovski is in detention in Croatia facing several
unrelated charges.
There were no developments during the year in the following cases
from 2002: The alleged torture by police of Dusko Aranglovi; the
reservist police officer shooting of an 11-year-old girl in Skopje; the
beatings of at least seven ethnic Albanians by members of the Lions
special police unit. A 2002 PSU report concluded that the police
beating of Plasnica Mayor Ismali Jaoski was not an excessive use of
force.
Charges against six to eight police officers who severely beat an
OSCE observer at a bar in 2002 were dismissed shortly thereafter, when
the observer declined to pursue the case and left the country.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and
prisons met basic diet, hygiene, and medical care requirements. Men and
women were held separately. Pretrial detainees were held separately
from convicted criminals. Juvenile prisoners were supposed to be
physically separated from adults; however, juveniles often served their
sentences with adults.
The Government permitted visits to convicted prisoners by
independent humanitarian organizations such as the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Human Rights Ombudsman. The
Criminal Code was amended during the year to allow access to pretrial
detainees for family members, physicians, chiefs of diplomatic
missions, and representatives from the European Committee for the
Prevention of Torture (CPT) and ICRC, following the approval of the
investigative judge. The ICRC was initially denied access to detainees
after the passage of the new law; however, by year's end, access had
been granted.
The CPT was authorized to visit all places of detention on a
regular and ad hoc basis, as well as numerous police stations. In July,
the CPT carried out a week-long visit; the report on the visit was not
available at year's end.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution specifically
prohibits unlawful arrest; however, arbitrary arrest and detention were
problems.
The Macedonian National Police, within the MOI, is a centralized
force with two major components: Uniformed police and criminal
(civilian) police. In March, a Border Police was established within the
MOI that took over responsibility for border operations from the
military. By year's end, the Border Police had complete control over
all border operations in southern and eastern parts of the country.
They were expected to assume full responsibility for the northern and
western parts of the country by the end of 2005.
MOI officials in Skopje control, supervise, and direct all
subordinate regional offices, which allows little opportunity for
regional and local commanders to design and implement policies that
specifically address the needs in their jurisdictions.
The 185-member European Union (EU) Police Mission Proxima was
deployed in December 2003 to perform an advisory role, assisting the
police in former conflict areas and advising on MOI reforms. The EU
granted Proxima a 12-month extension in October at the request of the
Government.
The police force remained largely ethnic Macedonian; however, the
Government took steps to improve ethnic representation, such as
maintaining a 22 percent recruiting quota for ethnic minority recruits
and beginning a training course for an additional 345 ``non-majority''
police officers. Ethnically mixed patrols operated in predominantly
ethnic Albanian areas.
The MOI took concrete steps to reform the police. In October, it
opened the police academy to update and institutionalize the processes
of selection, training, and continuous education of police officers,
and to create a merit-based, professional police cadre. The Academy's
first class of 141 candidates included 99 ethnic Macedonians, 23 ethnic
Albanians, 3 ethnic Turks, 7 ethnic Serbs, 3 ethnic Roma, 2 ethnic
Bosnians, 2 ethnic Vlachs, and 2 of other ethnicities. Human rights
training was mandated for all recruits at the Academy.
MOI officials were slow at times to complete investigations and
bring charges in outstanding human rights cases from previous years. In
October, international observers noted improved MOI response to
investigating individual cases of police misconduct and more frequent
and consistent disciplining of officers found guilty; however, they
cited a limited range of disciplinary options as an issue that
sometimes precluded appropriate sanctions.
The PSU, which is responsible for investigating corruption,
completed a major corruption-related investigation in which it demoted
70 traffic police officers, and terminated 8 for misuse of position,
misappropriation of funds and receiving bribes. All 70 officers,
including 2 police station commanders and 8 section leaders, were
reassigned to other positions. Disciplinary procedures were initiated
against 42 officers. Of these, 34 received a 15 percent pay cut for 1
to 6 months, depending on specific aspects of the case, while 8 were
terminated. The PSU filed criminal charges against two MOI
administrators for their involvement in the same case. Proceedings were
ongoing at year's end.
In April, a pilot community policing project, the second in the
country, was initiated by the MOI in Skopje. In April, a 1-year
training course for 345 ``non-majority'' police officers, including 280
ethnic Albanian police cadets, 40 ethnic Macedonian cadets, and 25
cadets representing the other ethnicities, was initiated in accordance
with the FWA.
The law requires warrants for arrest and detention. There were
fewer reports during the year that this procedure was violated. The
Constitution states that a detainee must be arraigned in court within
24 hours of arrest; however, police at times violated this requirement,
often by transferring the suspect from one police station to another so
as not to exceed a 24-hour period of police detention at the location.
The accused is entitled to contact a lawyer at the time of arrest and
to have a lawyer present during police and court proceedings; however,
detainees were at times denied access to an attorney during police and
investigative proceedings, which caused additional problems during
later stages of the criminal proceedings.
Suspects occasionally claimed ill-treatment by the police during
initial detention periods (see Section 1.c.).
There is a functioning bail system that was used primarily by the
courts in ``property related crimes'' such as fraud, embezzlement, and
abuse of official position. The courts were reluctant to approve bail
for defendants accused of violent crimes or crimes against children.
The police have no legal powers to coercively detain a person for
an interview unless that person is arrested while committing a crime;
however, there were several reports of police detaining individuals for
``informative talks,'' although according to official information, all
individuals were either released within 24 hours, or taken to an
investigative judge for further proceedings. For example, in May,
police in Prilep brought a group of young Roma to the police station
for ``informative talks,'' stating that there was an increase in the
percentage of Romani youths using narcotics and that the youths were
brought in as a preventative measure.
The maximum length of pretrial detention is 180 days; however,
pretrial detention exceeding 180 days after indictments entered into
force was a problem, and detainees at times were held on weak evidence.
In October, Slobodanka Sukleva, the former director of the Gevgelija
Medical Center, was released from 4 months of pretrial detention on
corruption and embezzlement charges although criminal proceedings were
ongoing at year's end.
Investigative judges determine the legality of detention. The law
provides for access by attorneys and other interested individuals to
pretrial detainees, but such access has to be approved by an
investigative judge and the warden of the detention facility; in
practice, investigative judges and wardens regularly approved such
access. If the judge determines that an arrested person should be
further detained, the judge must immediately inform the public
prosecutor. If the prosecutor does not file a request for a criminal
investigation within 24 hours, the investigative judge must release the
arrested person. This generally occurred in practice.
NGOs, as well as other legal experts, contended that the judiciary
sometimes abused its pretrial detention authority. During the year,
there were fewer allegations than in previous years that the judiciary
succumbed to pressure by the executive branch to order long detentions;
however, on several occasions the opposition claimed that investigative
judges, under pressure from the Government, improperly extended
pretrial detention, allegedly for politically motivated reasons, in
serious corruption-related cases.
The Amnesty Law was regularly implemented and respected. Under
provisions of the law, persons accused of fighting with or actively
supporting the NLA up until the date of the NLA's disbandment in 2001
were granted amnesty; however, the law did not apply to persons accused
of war crimes as defined in the ICTY statute. More than 900 persons
were given amnesty; by year's end, the amnesty process had been
completed.
The ICTY continued to investigate alleged war crimes and was
expected to make its decisions regarding indictments in early 2005.
In the case of 10 ethnic Albanians accused of abducting 5 ethnic
Macedonians along the Tetovo-Gostivar highway in 2002, all were
convicted and sentenced to 7 to 10 year prison terms in September.
Lawyers for the defendants planned to appeal the case.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the judiciary was generally weak, at
times inefficient, and sometimes influenced by political pressure,
intimidation, and corruption.
The media reported that the Chief Prosecutor accused some lower
courts of being biased or influenced by political factors, which
resulted in prolonged trials and an inability to reach final judgments
in politically sensitive cases. The State Anticorruption Commission
reviews cases of alleged corruption, conflict of interest, and
nepotism. It issued opinions, which frequently included recommendations
that the prosecutor initiate criminal actions against those judges
against whom there is sufficient evidence of corruption. During the
year, the Republic Judicial Council (RJC) proposed to the Parliament
that 13 judges be dismissed on the grounds of unprofessional and/or
unethical behavior; 7 were removed.
In one case, a former judge from Strumica was sentenced to a 1-year
prison term for receiving bribes. In December, the Public Prosecutor's
Office initiated criminal proceedings against a judge from Kochani on
abuse of official position charges. The Government publicly expressed
its discontent with the low number of court judgments in general.
The State Anticorruption Commission criticized the Public
Prosecutor's Office for a lack of cooperation in following up on cases
brought by the Commission. The Chief Public Prosecutor responded by
accusing one member of the Commission of conflict of interest for
holding several public positions simultaneously. The Commission also
challenged the president of the RJC for failing to submit her financial
statements as required by the Law on Prevention of Corruption.
Other judicial shortcomings included lengthy legal procedures, poor
case management, lack of coordination between key legal institutions,
political influence on the judiciary, and judicial corruption.
The court system is three-tiered and composed of basic courts,
appellate courts, and a Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court is not
considered part of the judicial branch and deals with matters of
constitutional interpretation and certain human rights protection
issues.
The FWA stated that the judiciary should better reflect the ethnic
composition of the population and that one-third of the judges on the
Constitutional Court, the Ombudsman, and three members of the Judicial
Council should be chosen by the Parliament, including by a majority of
the ethnic minority M.P.s, to ensure minority representation. Of the
nine judges on the Constitutional Court, six were ethnic Macedonians,
two were ethnic Albanians, and one was an ethnic Turk. Of the seven
members of the RJC, four were ethnic Macedonians, two were ethnic
Albanians, and one was an ethnic Serb. Of the 23 sitting Supreme Court
Justices, there were 16 ethnic Macedonians, 6 ethnic Albanians, and 1
ethnic Turk. One additional seat was unfilled at year's end.
The Constitution provides for a fair public trial, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Trials are
presided over by judges appointed by the RJC (an independent agency)
and confirmed by Parliament. Two to three community-member consulting
jurors assist each judge in determining the verdict, although the judge
makes the final decision regarding the sentence. The law also provides
for the presumption of innocence, the right to a lawyer in pretrial and
trial proceedings, the right to an appeal, and the right to stand trial
within a reasonable period of time after charges have been pressed.
These rights were generally respected in practice; however, lengthy
legal procedures and delays were a problem. Court hearings and the
rendering of verdicts were open to the public except in some cases,
such as those involving minors and those in which the personal safety
of the defendant was of concern. Trials could only be televised when
authorized by the Supreme Court under special circumstances.
International community members, including NGOs and other human rights
observers, were regularly allowed to monitor high profile trials.
The law provides that trials may be held in absentia so long as
they are repeated if the convicted individuals later become accessible
to justice officials. Two of eight codefendants tried in 2003 in
absentia for planting several explosive devices in and around Kumanovo
were later detained by the U.N.-authorized, NATO-led peacekeeping force
in Kosovo. During the year, both were extradited to the country,
retried, convicted, and sentenced to a maximum of 7 years in prison.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however,
it was reported that the Ministry of Interior used an illegal wiretap
in October to catch suspects in a criminal case. The suspects' defense
attorney complained to the Deputy Public Prosecutor; however, a PSU
investigation concluded the MOI had used lawful surveillance methods.
In 2003, the ERRC filed a pre-application letter with the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg against the Government to
prevent the forced movement or expulsion of Kosovo Roma, Egyptian, and
Ashkali refugees to Kosovo or to Serbia and Montenegro. According to an
ERRC affiliate in Stip, during the year, the Government stopped the
forced of movement and allowed the refugees to start the asylum
procedure. Approximately 700 of the refugees received ``humanitarian
protection,'' while some voluntarily returned to Kosovo.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the media was not
completely independent, as some media outlets were closely aligned with
political interests, and some news and information were reported from a
political perspective. The Government did not restrict academic
freedom. Media were divided along ethnic lines, with the most striking
divisions visible in reports on controversial political issues. There
was no government-controlled print media.
The Government stopped providing a yearly financial subsidy to the
print media. The elimination of financial subsidies was strongly
opposed by the Association of Print Media, composed of 14 daily and
weekly publications. As of April, Pristina-based Koha Ditore started
issuing a Macedonian edition of its Albanian-language daily, which
rapidly attracted readership. Fakti is the other major Albanian-
language daily.
Distributors of foreign newspapers and magazines no longer had to
obtain permits from the MOI, and they were available throughout the
country.
Macedonian Radio and Television (MRTV) was the sole public
broadcaster in the country, with distribution reaching over 90 percent
of the population. MRTV broadcast in Macedonian and generally favored
the government point of view on political issues.
There were an estimated 150 local radio and television stations
registered in the country. The Broadcasting Council of Macedonia
recommended concessions, which the Government awarded, to radio and
television broadcasters.
A1 Television and Sitel Television were the only private television
broadcasters with nationwide coverage until July, when the Government
granted three additional licenses for nationwide coverage to Skopje-
based Telma TV and Kanal 5 TV, and Gostivar-based entrepreneur Vebi
Velija. Over 50 private local television stations existed. There were
two private Albanian-language television stations in Skopje, TV Era and
TV Toska, as well as two stations that broadcast in the Romani
language, TV-BTR and TV Sutel. TV EDO was a Bosniak language station.
In December, the Vienna-based Southeast Europe Media Organization
(SEEMO), of which the Macedonian Association of Private Electronic
Media (APEEM) was a member, protested against alleged government
restrictions on freedom of movement of journalists in the Skopje suburb
of Kondovo after journalists from all major print and broadcast media
claimed that they had been limited in their reporting on an armed
ethnic Albanian group there. However, international observers following
the developments in Kondovo did not report any government restraints on
media coverage.
There were two news agencies: State-owned Macedonian Information
Agency (MIA) and private Makfax.
Political influence on journalism, from ruling as well as
opposition parties, was largely through economic pressure and indirect
censorship. Methods of influencing the media included threats of
advertising blackmail and denial of access to information sources.
Defamation and slander are regulated according to the Penal Code;
sanctions include prison sentences and fines. The Association of
Macedonian Journalists unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a
decriminalization of defamation during the year. The Parliament adopted
an amended Penal Code with few significant improvements.
There were no new cases of slander brought before the courts;
however, several slander cases concluded during the year. In April, a
Bitola court sentenced journalist Mende Petkovski to a conditional 4-
month prison term for libeling Bitola Court of Appeals judge Nexhat
Ajro. Petkovski wrote a story in 2002 that alleged judge Ajro was
driving a car without registration plates. Petkovski appealed the
decision with the Skopje Court of Appeals, and his appeal was pending
at year's end.
In May, Start magazine journalist Zoran Bozinovski was kept in
detention for 6 days for not responding to a court subpoena after a
private criminal lawsuit was filed against him on slander charges.
In January, a court acquitted Goran Mihajlovski, editor-in-chief of
Daily Vest, of charges of slander filed on behalf of former Prime
Minister Ljupco Georgievski over a series of 2002 investigative reports
alleging Georgievski was involved in property and financial fraud.
In November 2003, Skopje Court 1 convicted Utrinski Vesnik
journalist Sonja Kramarska, former A1 TV journalist Dragan Antonovski,
and Zum weekly journalist Zoran Markozanov in three separate slander
cases brought in 2001. The Association of Print Media strongly
protested these court decisions, claiming that they were an attempt by
the former government to intimidate journalists and impose control over
the media. All three verdicts were contested before the Court of
Appeals: In the case of Dragan Antonovski, the court had not ruled on
the appeal by year's end; Zoran Markozanov's case was returned to the
First Instance Court for review; and Sonja Kramarska's appeal was
rejected.
The trial of Start journalist Marjan Gjurovski on charges of
slander filed by former director of the Public Security Bureau Goran
Mitevski was ongoing at year's end.
There were no investigation results in the investigation of the
2002 attack by an unknown gunman on the printing facility of now-
defunct Global magazine in Mala Recica and the destruction of the
vehicle of Global's co-owner and Start owner Ljupco Palevski at year's
end.
At year's end, the trial was ongoing against Nikola Tasev, former
General Manager of Nova Makedonija, and Besnik Fetai, former Minister
of Economy, who were charged with abuse of power for selling 70 percent
of Nova Makedonija's shares on the eve of 2002 parliamentary elections.
Nova Makedonija was the largest publishing house before its liquidation
in 2003.
No progress was made in the two police investigations into a June
2003 incident in Aracinovo, where local residents physically prevented
MTV, Sitel TV and Telma TV from reporting on an incident and several
journalists sustained injuries.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedom of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
Advance notification to authorities of large public meetings was
optional. Religious gatherings, if they occur outside of specific
religious facilities, could only be convened by registered religious
groups and must be approved in advance by the MOI (see Section 2.c.).
On July 22, police used shock bombs and tear gas to control a
rioting crowd of protesters who were throwing rocks and Molotov
cocktails at the local headquarters of the ruling SDSM party in Struga,
with Defense Minister Buckovski and others trapped inside. Up to 30
persons were injured during the riot, including a Proxima police
officer, and several police vehicles were also burned by the crowd. PSU
and EU Proxima investigations found that police did not use excessive
force.
On July 26, a related protest in Skopje remained peaceful, and
police leaders exercised restraint in responding to occasionally
violent provocations by youth protesters.
Political parties and organizations are required to register with a
court. More than 64 political parties were registered, including
parties of Albanians, Turks, Serbs, Bosniaks, and Roma.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, the law places some limits on religious practice by
restricting the establishment of places of worship. The Constitution
specifically mentions several religious denominations and faiths,
including the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), the Methodist Church,
Islam, Catholicism, and Judaism; however, none of these religious
communities had official status or privileges.
The Law on Religious Communities and Groups contained a number of
specific requirements for the registration of religious groups that
were struck down by the Constitutional Court in 1999. Consequently,
there was confusion over which registration procedures still applied.
According to the law, only one religious community or group may be
registered per confession. In November, the Government rejected an
application filed on behalf of the Ohrid Archbishopric, an affiliate of
the Serbian Orthodox Church, citing this provision of the law.
The Government requires that religious groups be registered to
request visas for visiting foreigners. It is no longer necessary to
have a government ``opinion'' to own a ``religious facility''; however,
a government opinion is legally required to obtain a permit to build
such a facility. After a recent Constitutional Court ruling struck down
sections of the Law on Religious Communities and Groups that authorized
the Government to provide such an opinion, religious groups were
effectively blocked from constructing worship facilities pending
planned amendments to the law. The Government generally did not take
action against religious buildings lacking permits; however, there were
exceptions. On October 15, building inspectors demolished an illegally
built church belonging to the Bishop Jovan of the Serbian Orthodox
Church (SOC) in the village of Nizepole.
The law places some restrictions on the establishment of places of
worship. A provision exists for holding services in other places, not
included in the law, provided that a permit is obtained at least 15
days in advance. No permit or permission is required to perform
religious rites in a private home. The law also states that religious
activities ``shall not violate the public peace and order, and shall
not disrespect the religious feelings and other freedoms and rights''
of persons who are not members of that particular religion. The
Government did not actively enforce most of these provisions of the
law, but acted upon complaints when they were received.
On January 11, police acting on complaints from building residents
alleging disruption of peace and order arrested Zoran Vraniskovski,
also known as Bishop Jovan, along with 11 of his followers after they
conducted a liturgy in Vraniskovski's Bitola apartment, and submitted a
misdemeanor complaint. Soon afterwards, the Bitola Public Prosecutor's
Office filed criminal charges against Jovan for inciting religious and
ethnic hatred based on the alleged publication and distribution of a
religious calendar containing text considered offensive by members of
the MOC. The text calls the MOC ``the last fortress of communism'' and
its believers ``heretics.'' Jovan admitted to writing the text, but not
to producing and distributing the calendar. On August 19, the Bitola
Basic Court found Jovan guilty of the charges of inciting religious and
ethnic hatred and sentenced him to 18 months in prison. At year's end,
Jovan remained free pending appeal of his case.
The law also requires that foreigners entering the country with the
intent to carry out religious work and/or perform religious rites
receive approval from the Government's Commission on Relations with the
Religious Communities. When applying for visas, persons planning to
perform religious work must submit a letter of invitation from
representatives of a registered religious group in the country to the
Commission, which then issues a letter of approval to be submitted with
the visa request. Approvals were normally issued within 2-3 days.
Education laws restrict the establishment of all private primary
schools, including parochial schools; however, there were no
restrictions placed on religious education that took place in religious
spaces (churches, mosques, etc.). In 2002, the Government granted work
visas to employees at the Timothy Academy, an evangelical Christian
academy operated by foreigners for foreign children, and legally
registered the school as an NGO. In 2003, Timothy Academy's initial
request for renewed work visas was denied due to insufficient
documentation. In December, after bureaucratic delays, Timothy
Academy's request for renewed work visas was approved.
At year's end, the Jewish Community reported that all outstanding
property claims of the Community had been resolved; however, problems
remained with the restitution of properties belonging to the Holocaust
Fund of the Jews from the Republic of Macedonia. The Jewish Community
expressed some frustration with the slow pace of developments
concerning these properties. The Jewish Community received a partial
decision restoring some of these properties to the Fund in November,
but was still awaiting full restoration.
On March 4, several spectators hung banners with swastikas at a
handball match between two local teams near the city of Bitola. Police
officials present did not confront the individuals responsible for the
banners, and pictures of the policemen standing in front of the banners
appeared in newspapers the following day. Several newspapers published
editorials critical of the police's inaction, and the MOI later
disciplined the officers in question.
In February, an explosion occurred in Bitola at the Asan Baba
mosque. There were no injuries and few details emerged about the
incident, apart from a report that grenades were used and that the
location had also been attacked by ethnic Macedonians during the 2001
riots in Bitola related to the ethnic Albanian insurgency. In March,
during the unrest in Kosovo, unknown attackers threw several Molotov
cocktails on the roof of a mosque in Kumanovo. There was no damage to
the mosque beyond scorching of ceramic tiles. In April, two churches in
Tetovo reportedly were vandalized following Easter services.
There were isolated reports of vandalism of religious properties.
At year's end, the ongoing ownership dispute between the Bekteshi
religious sect and the Macedonian Islamic Community over the Bekteshi
religious facility remained unresolved. The Bekteshis had filed suit
against the Government for not reversing the former Yugoslavia's
nationalization of their Tetovo compound as well as against the
Macedonian Islamic Community, armed members of which took over the
complex in August of 2002. Although the armed intruders left by the end
of 2002 under international community pressure, Islamic Community
leaders continued to hold services on these grounds and members of the
Bekteshi community were not allowed to worship there at year's end.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
According to the Minister of Justice, the Amnesty process was completed
during the year. Individuals could still initiate legal procedures to
obtain a formal amnesty; however, no one had done so by year's end.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
Under the Constitution, any Yugoslav citizen who had legal
residence in the country in 1991 could acquire citizenship by simple
application; however, unresolved citizenship status of long-term
habitual residents remained an ongoing problem. Many former Yugoslav
citizens were unable to acquire Macedonian citizenship. As a result,
they often were unable to obtain valid identity documents.
In 2003, the Parliament approved the law on citizenship, which
reduced the residency requirement for aliens from 15 to 8 years and
provides more favorable conditions for acquiring citizenship for
foreigners married to Macedonian citizens, persons without citizenship,
and persons with refugee status. Former President Trajkovski vetoed the
legislation in January; however, Parliament overrode Trajkovski's veto
on January 23 and the law came into effect.
At the height of the country's internal conflict in 2001, the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that approximately
170,000 persons, approximately 8 percent of the population, were
displaced from their homes. A majority of these internally displaced
persons (IDPs) and refugees have returned to their homes. According to
UNHCR, approximately 1,424 IDPs remained displaced in the country in
December. The ICRC supported approximately half of the IDPs with
income-generating projects in the agricultural, livestock-rearing and
handicraft sectors, but expected this to be the last form of material
support they would provide. According to the UNHCR, approximately 837
refugees from the country remained in Kosovo as of November.
IDPs and refugees often did not return to their hometowns because
their houses were still badly damaged or entirely destroyed as a result
of the 2001 conflict. The UNHCR and foreign governments led efforts to
rehabilitate homes that suffered minor damage. The European Agency for
Reconstruction (EAR) continued to rebuild badly damaged homes. At
year's end, approximately 6,243 homes, of a total of some 6,643
destroyed or damaged homes, had been rehabilitated or rebuilt. In some
cases, persons did not return to their homes in ethnically mixed
locales because they felt unsafe. Arsonists reportedly burned some of
the rebuilt homes in Opaje and Jeduarce. Overall, UNHCR and EAR
recorded fewer cases of arson and vandalism of rebuilt homes than in
the previous year.
The new asylum law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee
status to persons who meet the definition in the 1951 UN Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. The
Government had established a system for providing protection to
refugees. In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
prosecution; however, in 2003 the Government expelled two Kosovo
refugees by dropping them off at the Serbian border (not the Kosovo
portion).
At year's end, there were approximately 1,233 asylum seekers; 957
persons enjoying ``humanitarian protection'' (a form of asylum under
the Law on Asylum and Temporary protection which can last for up to a
year and is renewable); 23 recognized refugees; 24 Bosnians permitted
to remain in the country under the Aliens Act; and 6 rejected asylum
seekers. Approximately 2,311 persons had applied for asylum by October.
Few asylum seekers were granted that status, but those who were denied
had the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court. As of year's end,
the Supreme Court had not ruled on any of the appeals it received
during the year.
The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. During the year, 124 refugees
voluntarily returned to Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo). A
total of 2,239 refugees from Kosovo, almost all of whom were Roma,
remained. These refugees benefited from a limited temporary
humanitarian protection status that did not provide for self-reliance
or local integration rights. Refugees were sheltered in private
accommodations, with the exception of 14 asylum-seekers who were housed
at the Gazi Baba reception center. The UNHCR closed the collective
center in Katlanovo, near Skopje, in mid-year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic free and fair elections held on the basis of universal
suffrage.
By year's end, Parliament had completed nearly all FWA-mandated
legislative actions, which was designed to enhance minority civil
rights and devolution of power to local governments. In particular,
laws regarding the use of languages and flags had not yet been debated
in the Parliament.
On February 26, President Trajkovski died in a plane crash.
Presidential elections were held April 14 and 28. Then-Prime Minister
Branko Crvenkovski of the ruling coalition partner Social Democratic
Union of Macedonia (SDSM) won the election, and was inaugurated
President on May 12. International observers characterized both rounds
of the election as satisfactory, but noted serious second-round
irregularities in parts of the country. Opposition VMRO-DPMNE
challenged the election results on the basis of the irregularities;
however, international observers concluded that these did not
significantly influence the final outcome. The Parliament confirmed
Hari Kostov, former Interior Minister, as Prime Minister on June 2.
Prime Minister Kostov resigned on November 15, after less than 6 months
in office. Former Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski was confirmed as
Prime Minister on December 17.
In August, the Parliament passed a package of decentralization laws
mandated by the FWA. Among these were several controversial laws on
revised municipal boundaries. Opponents of the new municipal
redistricting plan had begun a referendum drive in February, and
collected enough signatures by the end of August to compel the
Government to hold a referendum. The referendum, on November 7, asked
citizens to vote for or against re-establishing municipal boundaries as
defined in a 1996 law. The referendum failed due to low voter turnout
and paved the way for FWA-mandated fiscal and administrative
decentralization and increased devolution of power and resources to
local communities.
Corruption was a problem in the executive and legislative branches
of the Government. The State Anticorruption Commission was responsible
for investigating charges of corruption as well as complaints submitted
by citizens. During 2003, the Commission initiated 15 investigations
and responded to 603 civil complaints concerning the work of state
bodies, privatization procedures, judicial procedures, and other
relevant cases. Of the 15 cases, 5 resulted in recommendations for
continued investigations or court proceedings, 5 were dismissed or
resolved without further proceedings, and 5 were stalled pending
additional information from relevant persons or state bodies. The
Commission acted on 427 of the civil complaints, of which 10 percent
were ultimately submitted to competent state bodies for continued
investigation. In 2003, the Customs Administration began operating a
free, anonymous hotline for citizens to report suspected cases of
smuggling and corruption among customs officials. As of year's end,
seizures of smuggled products had more than doubled from the previous
year.
There were 23 women in the 120-seat Parliament, 21 of whom were
ethnic Macedonians and 2 of whom were ethnic Albanians. Out of the 19
ministers in the Government, 3 were women--the Foreign Minister, the
Justice Minister and one of three Deputy Prime Ministers. The law
requires women to constitute 30 percent of each political party's list
of candidates in elections at both the national and municipal levels.
In Muslim communities, particularly among more traditional ethnic
Albanians, many women were disenfranchised due to the practice of
family or proxy voting through which male family members voted on their
behalf.
There were 26 ethnic Albanians, 1 Macedonian Muslim, 1 Roma, 3
Turks, 2 Serbs, 2 Bosniaks and 1 Vlach in the 120-seat Parliament. Four
ethnic Albanian parties and a Roma party had M.P.s; the ruling
government coalition included one of the three major ethnic Albanian
parties, as well as the Roma party, a Bosniak party, a Serb party, and
a Turk party.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of international and domestic human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, while investigating
and publishing their findings on human rights cases. The OSCE led
international community efforts to engage the Government on human
rights issues. Government officials were generally receptive to the
views of human rights groups.
There were more than 4,000 registered NGOs, including the MRC,
FORUM, Transparency International, MOST, Macedonian Helsinki Committee,
and many local NGOs devoted to specific causes, including Roma rights,
human trafficking, and voters' rights.
The OSCE and EU monitoring missions continued to assist with
implementation of the FWA and to work on restoring confidence between
ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians.
The ICTY continued to investigate five alleged war crimes cases
over which it asserted primacy in 2002, including the killing of ethnic
Albanian civilians by police at Ljuboten in August 2001. Two of the
cases in which the ICTY asserted primacy dealt with missing persons.
ICTY planned to announce by year's end which of these cases would be
tried by the Tribunal and which would be returned to the country for
possible prosecution. The Government generally cooperated with the
Tribunal.
The FWA gives the Ombudsman the mandate to improve
nondiscrimination and equitable representation of non-majority
communities. The Ombudsman's Office opened six decentralized offices in
Bitola, Kumanovo, Tetovo, Stip, Strumica and Kicevo during the year;
however, six deputy ombudsmen had not been appointed by year's end. The
Ombudsman has the legal right to visit all persons detained, including
those in pretrial detention, at any time, in private, and without prior
authorization and it was able to freely to exercise this right during
the year.
According to its published annual report, the Ombudsman ascertained
that state institutions violated individuals' rights in 550 cases,
approximately 20 percent of the total complaints received in 2003. The
largest number of cases concerned violations of judicial, labor and
property rights. The Government acted on the Ombudsman's
recommendations in 356, or 65 percent of these cases. The Ombudsman's
Office described overall official cooperation as ``good and
improving.'' For the first time during the year, the Parliament held a
2-day session to review the annual report of the Ombudsman.
Section 5. Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Disability, Language, or
Social Status
The Constitution provides for equal rights for all citizens
regardless of their sex, race, color of skin, national or social
origin, political beliefs, property, or social status; however,
societal discrimination against ethnic minorities persisted, and the
protection of women's rights remained a problem.
Women.--Domestic and other violence against women was a persistent
and common problem. Legal recourse is available to rape victims,
including victims of marital rape; however, cultural norms discouraged
the reporting of such violence, and criminal charges on the grounds of
domestic violence were very rare. In March, Parliament adopted two
amendments to the Criminal Code that specifically addressed domestic
violence and increased the maximum sentence to life imprisonment. In
June, Parliament adopted changes to the Family Law to include
provisions for civil restraining orders; however, police did not
receive formal training related to domestic violence. Police in some
police stations in Skopje did receive a briefing on new regulations
concerning family violence, but there are no internal practical police
guidelines in place for investigating cases of family violence. Victims
of family violence often were reluctant to bring charges against
perpetrators because of the shame it would inflict on the family, and
police were limited in their ability to respond to allegations of
domestic violence and spousal rape if the crime did not occur in police
presence.
According to some surveys, one out of four women claimed to have
been a victim of domestic violence, either physical or psychological.
Public concern about violence against women was not evident in the
media, although some women's groups were working to raise awareness of
the issue. NGOs and the Government operated shelters for victims of
spousal abuse, and three new government shelters were opened during the
year in Bitola, Kocani and Strumica. A hotline remained open, but had
limited hours. The Government offered some limited support for victims
of domestic violence, but relied heavily on international donor support
to maintain the hotline and shelters.
Rape is specifically addressed in the Criminal Code; however, rape
convictions require proof of both penetration and active resistance on
the part of the victim. These regulations are more stringent than the
requirement for any other violent crime. Penalties for rape or forcible
sexual assault range from a minimum of 1 year to a maximum of 15 years'
imprisonment. There were some rape cases tried during the year.
Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment of women in the workplace was a problem,
particularly in the private sector; however, there was little public
attention paid to the issue. Sexual harassment was not specifically
addressed by law; however, it could be prosecuted as a criminal act
under antidiscrimination legislation. In practice, this did not happen.
Women remained underrepresented in the higher levels of the government
and private sectors, although some professional women were prominent.
Women from some parts of the ethnic Albanian community did not have
equal opportunities for employment and education, primarily due to
traditional and religious constraints on their full participation in
society and schools. In some ethnic Albanian communities, women were
disenfranchised due to the practice of family and proxy voting through
which men vote on behalf of women family members (see Section 3).
The Office of Gender Equality in the Ministry of Labor and Social
Policy was responsible for ensuring the legal rights of women. In
January, the Government submitted its first report to the U.N.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
Women's advocacy groups included the Humanitarian Association for
the Emancipation, Solidarity, and Equality of Women; the Union of
Associations of Macedonian Women; and the League of Albanian Women.
These groups worked to combat domestic violence and trafficking,
increase women's political involvement, improve women's access to legal
services, and promote female establishment of small and medium
enterprises, among other activities. A Women's Parliamentary Lobby
comprised all female M.P.s.
Children.--The Government was committed to the rights and welfare
of children; however, it was significantly limited by resource
constraints. The Office of the Ombudsman contained a special unit for
children, partially funded by UNICEF.
Education is mandatory through the eighth grade or to the age of
16; however, some children did not enter the education system at all.
The Ministry of Education reported 95 percent enrollment; however, no
other official data was available on children's school attendance or
the number of children who did not have access to education. Primary
and secondary education was free; however, students had to provide
their own books and other materials.
Almost 90 percent of the children who finished primary school
continued on to secondary school; however, at both the primary and
secondary levels, girls in some ethnic Albanian communities remained
underrepresented in schools, and only approximately half of ethnic
minority students went on to high school. This was due in part to lack
of available classes in minority languages at the secondary level and
in part to many rural, ethnic Albanian families' conviction that girls
should be withdrawn from school at age 14.
According to Romani community leaders, up to 10 percent of Romani
children never enrolled in school. Of those who did enroll, 50 percent
dropped out by the fifth grade and only 35 to 40 percent finished the
eighth grade. The Ministry of Education encouraged ethnic minority
students, particularly girls, to enroll in secondary schools.
As in previous years, poor physical conditions of schools and
insufficient classroom space were common complaints, particularly in
the predominantly ethnic Albanian western parts of the country, and
parents and students sometimes protested these conditions. Parents in
Dobarce and Brodec--two villages near Tetovo--boycotted the start of
the school year in protest of poor physical conditions at their
children's schools.
Interethnic fights and beatings remained commonplace in the
country's public schools.
Medical care for children was adequate; however, it was hampered by
the generally difficult economic circumstances of the country and by
the weak national medical system.
There were reports of the abuse of children, although there was no
societal pattern of such abuse. According to MOI statistics, the number
of reported cases of sexual abuse against children decreased; there
were 37 reported cases during the year.
Girls were trafficked for sexual exploitation (see Section 5,
Trafficking.)
Romani children were often organized into groups by Romani adults
and made to beg for money at busy intersections, street corners, and in
restaurants and cafes (see Section 6.d.).
According to some estimates, there were between 500 and 1,000
street children in the country. In Skopje, the Government operated a
daycare center for street children, who were predominantly Roma. The
government-funded center, which served between 60 and 100 children
daily, was staffed by social workers, psychologists and teachers and
offered an alternative approach to rehabilitating street children.
The Ombudsman's Office for Children continued to investigate
complaints regarding violations of children's rights.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons remained a serious problem. Amendments
to the 2002 trafficking law adopted in April provide for the arrest,
prosecution, and sentencing of important traffickers; however,
significant challenges, primarily in the judiciary, remained in
eliminating trafficking and related activities. In some isolated
instances, police were complicit in the trafficking of persons.
It is a criminal offense to traffic persons for sexual
exploitation, forced labor or servitude, slavery, or a similar
relationship. The trafficking law mandate a minimum of 4 years
imprisonment for most trafficking crimes and a minimum of 6 months for
the destruction of identification documents of trafficked persons.
Persons convicted of organizing human trafficking receive a mandatory
minimum prison term of 8 years and 1 to 10 years for complicity in the
crime of human trafficking. The new Criminal Code provision adopted in
April introduces a method of plea bargaining by waiving criminal
sentences for coconspirators who provide evidence against the
organizers of human trafficking crimes. A minimum sentence of 6 months
is also mandated for persons who wittingly use, or enable another
person to use, sexual services from a trafficked person. The Criminal
Code increased the mandatory minimum prison term for trafficking in
children from 4 to 8 years, while simultaneously increasing the
mandatory minimum prison term for knowingly using trafficked children
and juveniles for sexual exploitation to 8 years. The mandatory minimum
sentence for persons who destroy or withhold a person's passport or
identity documents in the course of committing a crime of human
trafficking is 4 years.
The new statute subjects legal entities to criminal liability and a
fine of at least $2,000 (94,000 denars) for human trafficking.
In 2003, Parliament approved a constitutional amendment legalizing
special investigative methods to be used in trafficking investigations,
including wiretapping.
As of August, the MOI had brought charges in 40 cases of criminal
offenses committed by 80 individuals. Nine were said to be direct cases
of human trafficking and involved 31 alleged perpetrators. In 20 other
cases, charges were brought against 35 persons for dealing in
prostitution. Charges were also brought for the smuggling of migrants
across international borders, and for transportation of persons for
purposes of sexual slavery.
In May, one case was brought to trial in Gostivar, with a victim
from Ukraine testifying against the alleged trafficker. In June, in
another case in Gostivar, a victim from Moldova testified against a
person who was charged with mediation in prostitution. In the Ohrid
Basic Court, three victims from Ukraine and one from Romania testified,
leading to the indictment of three persons for mediation in
prostitution. At year's end, verdicts in these cases were pending.
Although some trafficking trials were ongoing during the year, no
traffickers were sentenced.
The MOI's Department of Organized Crime was the lead government
body on antitrafficking activities and detailed several law enforcement
personnel to work full time in its main trafficking unit in Skopje. It
also deployed antiorganized crime police officers to combat human
trafficking on a local level. The Government routinely cooperated with
neighboring countries national organizations, most notably the
Southeast European Cooperative Initiative.
While the country remained primarily a transit and destination
country, officials and others acknowledged that it was also a country
of origin for a small number of trafficking victims. Reliable
trafficking statistics were not available, but according to experts,
including the OSCE and others working in the field, the general
estimate was that between 200 and 400 women were trafficked to or
through the country during the year primarily for the purpose of sexual
exploitation. MOI officials reported a downward trend in human
trafficking during the year, although the number of persons internally
trafficked rose. Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria remained the
primary sources of trafficked victims and victims trafficked through
the country were most often in route to Serbia and Montenegro
(including Kosovo), Albania, and Western Europe.
Trafficked women were forced to work in prostitution, often under
the guise of dancers, hostesses or waitresses in local clubs. Police
raids and testimony by victims confirmed that trafficking victims were
subjected to threats, violence, physical and psychological abuse, and
seizure of documents to ensure compliance.
There was one documented case of police complicity in trafficking
in Gostivar, in which an officer was suspended from duty pending two
criminal charges for misuse of official position and trafficking in
persons. The pretrial criminal procedure concluded; however, a hearing
had not been scheduled by year's end. Two police officers who testified
on behalf of trafficker Dilaver Bojku were under investigation for
possible complicity in trafficking.
During the year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
assisted 24 victims of trafficking at its local shelter, which it
operated with support from the Government and a local NGO. Of these 24
victims, 4 were under 18 years old. However, the total number of women
who were assisted in the transit shelter center was 38, of whom 12 were
under age 18. Two of the assisted persons were citizens.
There were modest signs of increased witness facilitation activity
during the year. According to MOI sources, the Ministry offered support
and protection to at least seven victims and witnesses who testified
against traffickers in four prosecuted cases. The IOM repatriated all
self-identified trafficking victims who voluntarily agreed to
participate in the repatriation program, including victims who
testified against their traffickers. In cases when victims of
trafficking were brought into the country to testify against their
traffickers, they were returned to their countries of origin as part of
the program for witness facilitation. In May, one case was brought to
trial in Gostivar, with a victim from Ukraine testifying against the
alleged trafficker. In December, a victim from Bulgaria testified in a
case leading to an indictment on human trafficking charges. At year's
end, verdicts in these cases were pending.
The Government's National Commission for Prevention and Suppression
of Trafficking in Persons, which consisted of representatives from
several ministries, coordinated the Government's efforts to combat
trafficking. A Secretariat provided recommendations to the National
Commission and assisted in the implementation of the Government's
national action plan.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination on the
basis of disability; however, there was discrimination against persons
with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and
in the provisions of other state services. No laws or regulations
mandate accessibility to buildings for persons with disabilities, and
many public buildings remained inaccessible for persons with physical
disabilities.
A recent survey, conducted by the Enterprise for Research,
Consultancy and Services (BSC ESTEK) found that only 9 percent of 170
private businesses surveyed employed persons with disabilities.
The Inter-Party Parliamentary Lobby Group (IPPLG) for the Rights of
People with Special Needs worked to develop and promote legislation
promoting the rights of disabled persons. In March, amendments to the
Law for Employment of People with Disabilities, which more clearly
define employees' rights and employers' obligations, were adopted by
Parliament.
UNICEF worked with the Government on several projects aimed at
mainstreaming children with disabilities; however, it reported that the
Government was reconsidering its support for these programs. The
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy operated 8 daycare centers for
disabled children.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Based on the 2002 census, 64.18
percent of the country's population are ethnic Macedonian; 25.17
percent are ethnic Albanian; 3.85 percent are ethnic Turkish; 2.66
percent are Roma; 1.78 percent are ethnic Serb; 0.84 percent are
Bosniak; and 0.49 percent are ethnic Vlach.
Inter-ethnic relationships remained strained, and these tensions
were visible throughout the year. During the referendum campaign, the
new municipal boundaries were frequently referred to as ``territorial
division,'' drawing heightened attention to the increased number of
majority-Albanian municipalities under the new laws. Pro-referendum
events often featured nationalist rhetoric, although these events
generally remained peaceful. On August 4, a pro-referendum motorcade
passed through the Skopje neighborhood of Cair, where ethnic Albanians
reportedly threw stones at the vehicles.
On August 26, ethnic Albanian villagers in Celopek protested the
planned installation of a plaque commemorating two ethnic Macedonians
who were killed at the site of the Motel Brioni during the 2001
conflict. The motel site was at the center of a property dispute
between ethnic Albanian and ethnic Macedonian villagers, and
disagreement over its usage took on an ethnic dimension.
Interethnic tension in schools remained a problem. On November 15,
an attempt to reintegrate a technical school in Kumanovo failed after
returning ethnic Albanian students alleged ill treatment by ethnic
Macedonian students and returned to their separate schools. On November
29, ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian students clashed at Niko
Nestor high school in the town of Struga. Following the incident,
students and parents went on ``strike,'' citing safety concerns and
deteriorating interethnic relations at the school.
Students from different ethnic groups often studied in separate
shifts, or entirely separate facilities, frequently at their parents'
request. In Kumanovo, which was severely affected by the 2001 conflict,
ethnic Macedonian, Albanian, and Serbian students continued to study
separately, contributing to growing segregation in the area. In
Shemsevo, ethnic Macedonian parents refused to send their children to
mixed local schools, and instead sent them to monoethnic schools in the
nearby towns of Jegunovce and Zilce. In Celopek, ethnic Macedonian and
Albanian students traveled to school on separate buses, and ethnic
Macedonian parents complained that their children were forced to use
substandard classroom facilities. Poor material conditions in schools
exacerbated tensions.
There also were incidents of societal violence and discrimination
against Roma during the year. There were credible reports of occasional
police violence against Roma, including beatings during arrest and
while in detention (see Section 1.c.).
All citizens are equal under the law and the FWA; however, ethnic
tensions and prejudices remained problems and some governmental
institutions discriminated on the basis of ethnicity. The ethnic
Albanian community was concerned about the slow progress in reaching
equitable representation goals in government ministries, while ethnic
Macedonians often claimed that they were targeted for downsizing
regardless of job performance. Implementation of the FWA-mandated legal
changes was slow, and ethnic Albanians and Roma, particularly,
continued to complain of widespread discrimination.
Some ethnic Albanians and Roma reported that they were effectively
disenfranchised by discrimination in citizenship decisions (see Section
2.d.).
Although some progress was made, underrepresentation of ethnic
Albanians in the military and police remained a problem (see Section
1.d.). In April, a 1-year training course for 345 ``non-majority''
police officers was initiated and included 280 ethnic Albanian police
cadets, 40 ethnic Macedonian cadets, and 25 cadets representing the
other ethnicities in the country.
The military continued its efforts to recruit and retain minorities
by placing increased numbers of recruiters in the field; bringing in
noncommissioned officers (NCOs) through its NCO academy, where
minorities comprise over half of each graduating class; and actively
recruiting ethnic Albanian specialists in medical and technical fields.
The constitutional amendments mandated by the FWA stated that
Albanian must be recognized as a second, official language in areas
where it is spoken by 20 percent or more of the population. The FWA
stipulates that the Albanian language would be used officially in
Parliament for the first time in October 2002 by M.P.s newly elected in
2002, with interpretation in the Macedonian language provided for
ethnic Macedonians and others. In areas where ethnic minorities
constitute more than 20 percent of the population, citizens had the
right to communicate with local offices of the central Government in
the language of the minority group, receive responses and personal
documents in the same language; however, this did not always occur in
practice. Under the law, those accused of crimes have the right to
translation at state expense of all relevant judicial proceedings and
documents; however, this did not occur in practice.
The FWA allowed for ethnic minority groups to display their
national emblems next to the emblem of the Republic of Macedonia on
local public buildings in municipalities in which they are a local
majority.
The Constitution provides for primary and secondary education in
the languages of the ethnic minorities and primary education was
available in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, and Serbian. The number of
ethnic minority students who received secondary education in their
native languages continued to increase; however, ethnic Albanians
complained that distribution of public educational resources was not
proportional to ethnic groups' representation within the general
population.
At the university level, ethnic minorities remained
underrepresented, although there was progress in increasing the number
of minority students. In January, the Parliament passed a law
officially recognizing Tetovo University as a state-funded, Albanian
language university. This was a major step towards fulfilling the FWA
requirement that state funding be provided for university-level
education in languages spoken by at least 20 percent of the population.
Tetovo University began operating officially in October with
approximately 1500 students, including 40 ethnic Macedonians.
Ethnic Turks also complained of governmental, societal, and
cultural discrimination. Their main concerns centered on the lack of
Turkish majority municipalities in the new municipal redistricting
proposal, as well as a lack of Turkish language education and media.
Roma had the highest rate of unemployment and the lowest personal
and family incomes, were the least educated, and had the highest birth
and mortality rates of any ethnic group in the country. The Government
provided very little in the way of social services to Roma. According
to the 2002 census, Roma made up 2.66 percent of the population, but
Romani leaders claimed that the actual number of Roma was 3 or 4
percent higher due to difficulties in enumerating the Roma population.
In 1999, approximately 6,000 Roma fled Kosovo and took up residence
in the country in response to both the Kosovo conflict and the
hostility of ethnic Albanian Kosovars. At year's end, 2,239 of these
Romani refugees remained in the country. The presence of these Romani
refugees was not welcomed among the country's ethnic Albanians, who
largely had hostile views concerning Roma (see Section 2.d.). Ethnic
Macedonians also expressed irritation at the arrivals, many of whom
settled in Skopje, and some of whom frequented busy traffic
intersections to beg, wash car windows, or sell small items. These Roma
were often targets of harassment and verbal abuse, such as ethnic
slurs.
Other Societal Abuse and Discrimination.--Homosexuality was
decriminalized in the country in 1996; however, while societal
prejudice against homosexuals did exist, there were no reported
incidents of violence towards homosexuals during the year. In June, the
NGO Center for Civil and Human Rights challenged the Law on Service in
the Macedonian National Army as unconstitutional, contending that it
discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right to form and join trade unions, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for
registering independent trade unions. According to the law, all
independent unions are free to register. Although several independent
trade unions have been registered, some reported encountering
obstacles, such as being told that only trade unions belonging to the
Confederation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM) may legally register.
More than 50 percent of the legal workforce was unionized, and unions
were particularly strong in the garment industry and the public sector.
Interest among workers for forming independent labor unions outside
of SSM was growing. In recent years, there have been several newly
formed unions, including of journalists, policemen, and farmers.
The SSM encompassed approximately 17 autonomous branch unions
organized according to government or industry sectors. Membership was
voluntary and fee-paying members made up almost 75 percent of the
employed labor force. SSM's largest member union, SONK (Teachers'
Union), suspended its dues payments because of disagreements with the
SSM president.
SSM is independent from the Government, and all branch unions are
part of SSM. The president of the SSM generally maintains close ties
with Government officials.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, it existed in
practice. Workers in private companies on several occasions were fired
for participating in union activities. Because of the slow pace of the
court system, at times, it took 2 to 3 years to regain employment
legally.
Employers sometimes became involved in the internal affairs of
unions. Most often, they dominated union election campaigns or ran
their own candidates in elections. Consequently, workers sometimes were
afraid to run for local union office and union elections were not
always free and fair.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution implicitly recognizes employees' right to bargain
collectively, and most branch and local unions have collective
bargaining agreements. However, the concept of collective bargaining
remains in its infancy, and many collective bargaining agreements were
outdated and have failed to keep pace with changes in the environment
and workplace. Collective bargaining took place, but in the country's
weak economic environment, employees had very little practical
negotiating leverage. Collective agreements were negotiated between the
unions and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.
The SSM was the Government's main negotiating partner on labor
issues, along with the Chamber of the Economy. The SSM negotiated two
national collective bargaining agreements with the Government, covering
the public and private sector. The branch unions negotiated directly on
a national level with the Chamber of Commerce and on a local level with
each enterprise where they have members.
The Constitution provides the right to strike and workers exercised
this right in practice during the year.
Some members of the military and the police were permitted to
strike but only if they adhered to restrictive guidelines and continued
to perform essential duties; however, unlike in previous years, there
were no reports of police strikes.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking and
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment is 15-years old, and 17-years old for work
considered hazardous. Working minors are placed under special
protection of the law, which declares that minors may not be employed
in work that is detrimental to their health and morality.
Reported violations of child labor laws increased during the year,
and child labor was used in the ``gray economy'' (including begging on
the streets and selling cigarettes and other small items at open
markets, in the streets, and in bars or restaurants, sometimes at
night) and in illegal small businesses. Such violations received only
token punishment, if any, and children remained vulnerable to
exploitation. Children legally could not work nights or more than 40
hours per week. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare was
responsible for enforcing laws regulating the employment of children.
Efforts to eliminate child labor abuse have been largely
ineffective, with reported violations of child labor laws increasing
over the year. While the necessary legal infrastructure was in place,
there has been little practical implementation of the policy and laws,
and little was done to raise public awareness on child labor abuse. The
NGO sector was active in organizing workshops on children's rights.
There were some programs and projects intended to prevent children from
working, such as the Project for Children on the Streets, which
organized shelters for abandoned children, and the MOI's Transition
Center for women and children involved in prostitution.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The average monthly wage was
approximately $244 (12,182 denars). The minimum wage is set differently
across sectors; however, the average wage did not provide a decent
standard of living for workers and their families. Many persons took on
supplemental work, often in the ``gray market.'' The Government
Statistics Office estimated that 30.2 percent of the population lived
below the poverty line.
The country has an official 40-hour workweek with a minimum 24-hour
rest period and vacation and sick leave benefits. According to the
collective agreement, employees have a right to overtime of 35 percent
of regular pay and employees cannot work over 10 hours of overtime per
week. According to labor regulations, an employee is entitled to 18 to
26 days of paid vacation, not including weekends. However, high
unemployment and the fragile condition of the economy led many
employees to accept work conditions that did not comply with the law.
In particular, small retail businesses often required employees to work
far beyond the legal limits.
The Constitution provides for safe working conditions, temporary
disability compensation, and leave benefits. Although there are laws
and regulations on worker safety, they were not enforced strictly by
the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. Workers have the right to
remove themselves from situations that endangered their health or
safety without jeopardy to their future employment; however, employers
did not always respect this right in practice.
__________
MALTA
Malta is a constitutional republic and a parliamentary democracy.
The chief of state (President) is appointed by the unicameral
Parliament. The President appoints as Prime Minister the leader of the
party that gains a plurality of seats in the Parliamentary elections.
General elections in 2003 returned the Nationalist Party to power.
During the year, the country joined the European Union and elected
representatives to the European Parliament. The judiciary is
independent.
The Police Corps is responsible for internal security, for
maintaining law and order and for enforcing the law, with backup
support from the armed forces. The civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. There were no reports that
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The economy was a mixture of state-owned and private industry, with
manufacturing and services, including tourism, the largest sectors.
Residents enjoyed a moderate to high standard of living. Per capita
income was $11,704. The population is approximately 399,000. The
estimated nominal gross domestic product growth rate during the year
was 2.1 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and the judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards. Men and
women were held separately, as were juveniles and adults. Pretrial
detainees were also held separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government permits visits by independent human rights
observers; a delegation from the Council of Europe's Committee for the
Prevention of Torture visited the country during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution and the law
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally
respected these prohibitions.
The Police Corps maintained internal security with backup support
from the armed forces. The armed forces were responsible for defense,
with an emphasis on protecting the country's territorial waters and
airspace. The appointed commissioner who commands the police was under
the effective supervision of the civilian Minister of Justice and Home
Affairs, while the commander of the armed forces was under the direct
supervision of the Prime Minister.
The police may arrest a person for questioning on the basis of
reasonable suspicion but within 48 hours must either release the
suspect or file charges. Arrested persons have no right to legal
counsel during this 48-hour period. Persons incarcerated pending trial
were granted access to counsel. Bail normally was granted. Detention
cells were in use at police headquarters.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
In a case that drew considerable attention in the local media,
criminal corruption charges remained outstanding against a former Chief
Justice and a second judge who resigned over bribery charges in 2002.
At year's end, no date had been set for a trial.
The President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoints the
Chief Justice and 16 judges. The highest court, the Constitutional
Court, interprets the Constitution and has original jurisdiction in
cases involving human rights violations and allegations relating to
electoral corruption charges. The Civil Court of Appeal hears appeals
from the civil court, court of magistrates, and special tribunals,
while the Court of Criminal Appeal hears appeals from the criminal
court.
Criminal courts, composed of a judge and nine jurors, hear criminal
cases. The civil court's first hall hears civil and commercial cases
that exceed the magistrates' jurisdiction; the civil court's second
hall offers voluntary jurisdiction in civil matters. The court of
magistrates has jurisdiction for civil claims of approximately $2,900
(1,000 Maltese lira) and for lesser criminal offenses. Juvenile courts
hear cases involving persons less than 16 years of age.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair public trial
before an impartial court, and an independent judiciary enforced this
right. Defendants have the right to counsel of their choice or, if they
cannot afford counsel, to court-appointed counsel at public expense.
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, may confront witnesses and
present evidence, and have the right of appeal.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice;
violations were subject to effective legal sanctions.
Police officers with the rank of inspector and above were allowed
to issue search warrants based on reasonable grounds for suspicion of
wrongdoing. Under the law, special powers such as telephone tapping are
available to the security services only under specific written
authorization of the Minister for Home Affairs or the Prime Minister;
such actions are permitted only in cases related to national security,
including combating organized crime. Authorizations are examined by a
special commission and security committee; the Prime Minister, the
leader of the opposition, and the Ministers of Home and Foreign Affairs
were on this committee and oversaw the service's work.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, the law prohibits foreign
participation in local politics during the period leading up to
elections, although this provision rarely was used. An independent
press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political
system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press, including
academic freedom.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without government restriction. The international media operated
freely.
In July, the Broadcasting Authority, an independent statutory body
that is responsible for television and radio broadcasting, fined an
independent television station for broadcasting an interview with an
independent candidate for the European Parliament on the grounds that
his statements as broadcast could incite racial hatred or encourage
criminality in breach of the law. The station filed a counter lawsuit
in response. The case was ongoing at year's end.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Constitution establishes Roman Catholicism as the state
religion.
There are numerous non-Catholic religious groups, including an
Islamic community and a small Jewish community, practicing freely.
The Government and the Catholic Church participated in a foundation
that finances Catholic schools. While religious instruction in
Catholicism was available in all state schools, the Constitution
establishes the right not to receive this instruction if the student or
guardian objects. This right was practiced freely.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. A
magisterial inquiry that investigated the 2002 case of 220 persons
deported to Eritrea, who subsequently disappeared and were believed to
have been killed, found no evidence of irregular or illegal practices
and concluded that the Government had exercised due discretion and
diligence throughout the entire deportation process and had provided
the Eritrean nationals full information about their rights. This
included the right to request refugee status, which the Eritreans did
not request.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The law provides for refugee
status, access for refugees to free social services and education,
residence permits, and travel documents. Work permits for refugees were
issued on a case-by-case basis. A refugee commission and an appeals
board review asylum applications.
The law provides that due process and protections be made available
to refugees applying for asylum. During the year, some procedural
amendments to the law were enacted, including provisions for the
appointment of assistant refugee commissioners and procedures for the
establishment of additional chambers of the Refugee Appeals Board. The
Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who may
not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol and
provided it to approximately 560 persons during the year.
During the year, the refugee commission received 997 applications
for refugee status. It approved 49 of these and refused 259; 141
remained pending and included some applications that were filed in
previous years; and 560 persons were offered temporary humanitarian
protection. Approximately 20 applications were withdrawn.
In order to handle the increase in refugee and asylum seekers, the
Government began identifying sites for new centers for detained
immigrants. In addition, the Cabinet assigned to the Ministry for
Family and Social Solidarity responsibility for the welfare,
accommodation and general management of persons released from
detention. The ministry was also responsible for welfare services
provided to detainees. Irregular immigrants awaiting a decision on
their cases occasionally protested against being detained or attempted
to escape.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Citizens could freely choose and change the laws
and officials that govern them. Parties and candidates may freely
propose themselves for public office. Candidates can propose themselves
either as independent or as affiliated with a party. The last general
election was held in April 2003.
There were 6 women in the 65-seat House of Representatives. Two
women held ministerial rank in the 14-member Cabinet. One woman was
Parliamentary Secretary. There were four women in the Magistrates'
Court. Approximately 13 percent of senior government officials were
women. One woman, a former ambassador, was appointed Permanent
Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the most senior civil
service position within the Ministry.
There were no members of ethnic or racial minorities in the House
of Representatives or the Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitudes Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The country has a presidentially appointed ombudsman who is
responsible for conducting investigations of government operations on
his/her own initiative and in response to complaints or grievances
lodged by citizens against government departments and public entities.
The Office of the Ombudsman operated independent of government or party
influence and exercised its duties freely.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race,
place of origin, political opinion, color, creed, or gender. Alleged
victims of job discrimination were allowed to apply directly for
redress to the Employment Commission of the first hall of the Civil
Court in the appropriate jurisdiction.
Women.--During the year, reports of domestic violence against women
showed a small decrease. During the year, the Police Domestic Violence
Unit received 233 reports of domestic violence, an average of 19 per
month, compared with 260 reports for 2003 or an average of 22 per
month. A special police unit and several voluntary organizations
provided support to victims of domestic violence. There was a hotline
to assist victims of abuse through counseling and referrals to legal
assistance shelters. The Government provided support to victims of
domestic violence through the Department of Welfare for the Family and
its Social Welfare Agency known as Appogg; a Government-supported
shelter for women and children operated during the year. The Government
also maintained an emergency fund and subsidized shelters. The
Government provided financial support to a shelter operated by the
Catholic Church.
Rape and violent indecent assault carry sentences of up to 10
years' imprisonment. The law treats spousal rape in the same manner as
other rape. Divorce is not available. However, if obtained legally
abroad, it can be enforced in the country. Both legal separation and
civil annulment are available.
Prostitution is a criminal offense. Although exact figures were not
available, there were a number of prosecutions during the year. The law
was enforced in such cases and included prison sentences of between
several months and 2 years.
The Constitution provides that all citizens have access, on a
nondiscriminatory basis, to housing, employment, and education.
There has been a significant increase in the number of women
pursuing higher education. In 2003, women university graduates
outnumbered their male counterparts. There has been an increase in
female participation in courses such as information technology and
engineering, while the law student body was mainly made up of women.
While women constituted a growing portion of the work force, they
were underrepresented in management and generally earned less than
their male counterparts.
During the year, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
suspended the voting rights of the country's delegation at an Assembly
session because it did not include a woman. The Parliament subsequently
changed the composition of the delegation to include a female
representative.
During the year, the court found a commercial cargo handling
company owned by the largest trade union, the General Workers Union,
guilty of gender-based discrimination against three female employees
and was ordered to pay damages to the employees.
The Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity and the National
Commission for the Promotion of Equality for Men and Women, set up
during the year, handled gender equality issues. The Commission's
program focused on broader integration of women into society. It
advised the Government on the implementation of policies in favor of
equality of the sexes.
Women enjoyed equality in matters of family law, and the Government
promoted equal rights for all persons regardless of gender. The
Government took steps to provide gender-neutral legislation, and
redress in the courts for sexual discrimination was available.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare. It provided free, compulsory, and universal
education through age 16. Close to 100 percent of school age children
attend school. The Government provided universal free health care to
all citizens.
The Government addressed concerns for children's rights and welfare
within family law. A law establishing the Commissioner for Children to
oversee children's rights came into force in December 2003, and the
commissioner was appointed in January.
The number of reported cases of child abuse increased from the
previous year, although there was no societal pattern of abuse of
children. As of the end of June, 516 cases of child abuse had been
reported. Prison sentences were handed down in a number of cases
involving sexual abuse of minors.
All criminal proceedings related to the family, particularly cases
involving children, were transferred from the Magisterial Courts to the
newly established Criminal Section of the Family Court.
Trafficking in Persons.--The criminal code prohibits trafficking in
persons. During the year, the Criminal Court handed down a jail
sentence in the case of three persons who were found guilty of
trafficking foreign women for the purpose of sexual exploitation, but
the sentence was suspended. The law prohibits procurement for
prostitution, pornography, sexual offenses, defilement of minors,
illegal detainment, unlawful carnal knowledge, and indecent assault.
Traffickers may be prosecuted under the criminal code or under the
Immigration Act for unlawful entry or unregulated status.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law mandates
access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the Government
generally enforced these provisions in practice.
The law requires the private sector to apply the same equal
employment guarantees as exist in the public sector. For example,
private development project plans must include access for persons with
disabilities. The Employment Training Corporation was responsible for
registering unemployed persons with disabilities to ensure compliance
with the law, which requires that every company employing more than 20
persons hire at least 2 percent of its workforce from the Register for
Unemployed Disabled Persons.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--A few thousand persons of Arab,
African, and Eastern European origin lived in the country. Owners of
some bars and discos periodically discouraged or prohibited darker-
skinned persons, particularly of African or Arab origin, from entering
their establishments.
The law criminalizes racial hatred, but no court cases were
reported by year's end.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and to
join unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive
requirements, and workers did so in practice. Approximately 63 percent
of the work force was unionized. Although all unions were nominally
independent of political parties, the largest, the General Workers'
Union, generally was regarded as having close informal ties with the
Labor Party. Noncivilian military and police personnel are not allowed
to strike or to join a union.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for
workers to organize and bargain collectively, and they did so in
practice. Under the law, the responsible minister may refer labor
disputes either to the Industrial Tribunal (a government-appointed body
consisting of representatives of government, employers, and employee
groups) or to binding arbitration at the request of only one of the
parties. Workers have the right to strike, and they exercised this
right in practice. There are no special laws or exemptions from regular
labor laws in export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there
were no reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children younger than age 16. The
Department of Labor enforced the law effectively but allowed summer
employment of underage youth in businesses operated by their families;
some underage children were employed as domestics, restaurant kitchen
help, or vendors.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The weekly minimum wage was
approximately $140 (48 lira) for persons under age 17; $144 (50 lira)
for 17-year-olds; and $152 (52 lira) for persons aged 18 and over. In
addition, an annual mandatory bonus of approximately $620 (214 lira)
was paid, as well as a one time per year $110 (38 lira) cost of living
increase allowance. This minimum wage structure provided a decent
standard of living for a worker and family with the addition of
government subsidies for housing, health care, and free education.
Wage councils, composed of representatives of government, business,
and unions, regulated work hours; the standard workweek was 40 hours,
but in some trades it was 43 or 45 hours. Government regulations
provide for a daily rest period, which is normally 1 hour, and 1 day of
rest per week. The law mandates an annual paid vacation of 4 workweeks
plus 4 workdays. The Department of Labor generally enforced these
requirements.
Enforcement of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority Act was
uneven, and industrial accidents remained frequent. Workers were
allowed to remove themselves from unsafe working conditions without
jeopardy to their continued employment, a protection also enforced by
the Department of Labor. Allegations of physical and sexual abuse
existed, but they were rarely made public, and even more rarely were
they the subject of court proceedings.
__________
MOLDOVA
The Constitution provides for a multiparty representative
government with power divided among a president, cabinet, parliament,
and judiciary. Parliamentary elections in 2001 were generally free and
fair; however, authorities in the separatist Transnistria region
interfered with the ability of residents there to vote. In 2001, the
Parliament elected Communist Party leader Vladimir Voronin President.
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, judges
were reportedly subject to outside influence and corruption.
Separatist elements, assisted by Russian military forces in the
area, have declared a ``Transdniester Moldovan Republic'' in
Transnistria between the Dniester River and Ukraine. The Government
does not control this region. Unless otherwise stated, all references
herein are to the rest of the country.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for the police, and
the Information and Security Service (ISS) has jurisdiction over crimes
against the security of the state. Four other separate agencies--the
Customs Department, the Department of Border Guards, the Center for
Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, and the Prosecutor General's
Office--have law enforcement functions. The Parliament has
constitutional oversight over the activities of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and the ISS. Civilian authorities maintained effective
control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces
committed human rights abuses.
The country has a population of approximately 3.36 million, of
which approximately 580,000 live in Transnistria. The country is
transitioning from a centrally planned to a market economy and has a
shadow economy that represents a large share of economic activity.
Agriculture and food processing are the most important sectors,
followed by trade, transportation, communications, and manufacturing.
During the year, the gross domestic product grew approximately 8
percent and the inflation rate was approximately 12.4 percent.
According to the World Bank, approximately 23 percent of the population
lived below the poverty line in 2003.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas, and the human
rights record of the Transnistrian authorities was poor. Citizens
generally had the right to change their government; however,
authorities expanded their selective use of power to harass and
intimidate sources of political opposition. In Transnistria, the right
of citizens to change their government was severely restricted. In
June, an alleged witness to the mistreatment of the ``Ilascu group''
during their imprisonment in Transnistria disappeared under unclear
circumstances. Authorities reportedly tortured and beat some persons,
particularly persons in police custody and Roma. Prison conditions
remained harsh, and attempts to improve them were hampered by lack of
funding. Security forces were widely believed to monitor political
figures through unauthorized wiretaps and, at times, conducted illegal
searches. In June, unknown persons seriously beat a journalist who had
reported on possible corruption involving the Minister of Interior.
During the year, libel was removed from the criminal code; however,
other laws that encouraged self-censorship in the media remained. A few
religious groups continued to encounter difficulties in officially
registering. Societal violence and discrimination against women,
children, and Roma persisted. Trafficking in women and girls remained a
very serious problem. The Government maintained some limits on workers'
rights.
Transnistrian authorities reportedly continued to use torture and
arbitrary arrest and detention. Prison conditions in Transnistria
remained harsh, and two members of the Ilascu group remained in prison
despite a July ruling in their favor by the European Court for Human
Rights (ECHR). Human rights groups were permitted to visit prisoners in
Transnistria, but obtaining permission from the Transnistrian
authorities was difficult. Transnistrian authorities mistreated and
arrested one journalist from the government-controlled area, harassed
independent media and opposition lawmakers, restricted freedom of
association and of religion, and discriminated against Romanian-
speakers.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents in the country or its separatist region.
b. Disappearance.--In July, Sergei Gavrilov, who was imprisoned in
Transnistria during the early 1990s and allegedly witnessed the
mistreatment of members of the ``Ilascu Group'' (see Section 1.e.)
while in prison, disappeared under unclear circumstances. The Moldovan
police were investigating the case at year's end.
Authorities had not completed their investigation of the 2002
kidnapping of opposition political figure Vlad Cubreacov. After
continued public pressure, in June 2003, the Prosecutor General
released photographs of three suspects in the case, which were
published in two newspapers.
In May 2003, authorities reportedly released for lack of evidence
three of five suspects detained in 2003 in connection with the 2002
disappearance of Deputy Director of the Department of Information
Technologies Petru Dimitrov. As of year's end, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs reported its investigation was still ongoing, but declined to
release further information.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were reports that police employed cruel and degrading arrest and
interrogation methods and that guards beat prison inmates. The law does
not consider torture to be a crime, making it difficult to prosecute
the abuse.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported several cases of
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of prisoners and detainees. For
example, the local Helsinki Committee for Human Rights reported that
Petru Calamanov, who was sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest
on September 11, was beaten and interrogated without a lawyer several
times during his detainment. He was reportedly shocked with electric
wires and beaten with an iron bar on the bottoms of his feet.
Authorities denied Calamanov's lawyer and Helsinki Committee
representatives permission to visit him for several days after the
incident.
Conditions in most prisons in the country and in Transnistria
remained harsh, and in some instances were life threatening, with
serious overcrowding. Cell sizes did not meet local legal requirements
or international standards. The incidence of malnutrition and disease,
particularly tuberculosis, was high in all prisons. Conditions were
particularly harsh in facilities for persons awaiting trial or
sentencing. Amnesty International reported that one detainee, Oleg
Talmazan, suffered a heart attack on March 27, but was not hospitalized
until April 8, even though the ambulance called at the time of the
attack recommended immediate hospitalization. Other detainees reported
being denied food and water and being held in underground facilities
without medical care, fresh air or ventilation, or sanitary facilities.
Local NGOs continued programs to provide medicine, warm clothes,
and radios for prisoners, and the Institute of Penal Reforms continued
a training program for prison staff.
To resolve the dispute between the Transnistrian city of Bender and
the central Ministry of Justice over inmates with tuberculosis in a
Bender prison hospital, authorities transferred inmates to a new
hospital for prisoners with tuberculosis in a prison outside of
Chisinau. Approximately 250 prisoners remained at the Bender prison,
and Transnistrian authorities continued to cut off utilities to the
facility. In August, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the Bender
prosecutor's office to take action to resolve the situation, but the
prosecutor's office had taken no action by the end of the year.
Male and female prisoners were held separately. Children convicted
of crimes were sent to adult prisons, where they were held in separate
cells. Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
prisoners, although there were reports of convicted prisoners remaining
in detention facilities due to prison overcrowding.
Government and independent human rights observers were generally
permitted to visit prisons. The Moldovan Center for Human Rights made
regular prison visits during the year. The Government cooperated with
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and permitted
visits to prisoners. After repeated attempts to receive permission from
the Transnistrian authorities to visit the Ilascu group members, ICRC
was allowed to see the prisoners for the first time in August 2003. In
April, a second official visit took place.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions in practice.
The national police force is the primary law enforcement body in
the country. The police force is subdivided into regional and city
police commissariats, which are subordinated to the Minister of
Internal Affairs. Police corruption remained a problem. During the
first 7 months of the year, 119 criminal cases were brought against
police officers for bribery, robbery, and abuse of office. The
Prosecutor General's Office is responsible for investigating the
activities of the police. An internal affairs unit, reporting to the
Minister of Interior, investigated minor incidents of corruption.
Judges issue arrest warrants based on cases presented by
prosecutors. Under the law, authorities must promptly inform detainees
of the reason for their arrest and the charges against them. Suspects
may be detained without charge for 72 hours. The Constitution provides
accused persons the right to a court hearing on the legality of their
arrest.
Once charged, a detainee may be released on personal recognizance
pending trial; in some cases, to arrange release, friends or relatives
were allowed to give a written pledge that the accused would appear for
trial. The law provides for a system of bail; however, it was rarely
used. Authorities generally did not release detainees accused of
violent or serious crimes before trial.
Detainees had the right to a defense attorney; however, at times
this right was restricted. Authorities generally did not grant
detainees access to a lawyer until they had been detained for 24 hours.
Police often told persons that they were considered witnesses in a case
and questioned them without a lawyer present, then changed their status
to that of suspect. Detainees were often presented with the charges
against them without a lawyer present. The Government requires the
local bar association to provide an attorney to defendants that are
unable to afford one. However, the Government was unable to pay ongoing
legal fees, and defendants often did not have adequate counsel.
Detainees were generally allowed access to family members.
Local and international NGOs reported arbitrary detention and
arrests of Roma without cause or warrants, often without access to a
lawyer (see Section 5).
In July, authorities rearrested Ivan Burgudji, an official of the
Gagauz autonomous region and well-known Gagauz nationalist, for
violating his parole in May. In June 2003, the Tribunal Court of
Chisinau sentenced Burgudji to 5 years in prison for abuse of power and
malicious hooliganism in connection with his opposition political
activities. He is currently serving the remaining years of his original
sentence.
On December 3, officials of the Center for Combating Economic Crime
and Corruption detained the leader of the opposition Democratic Moldova
Bloc and mayor of Chisinau, Serafim Urechean, 5 hours for questioning
(see Section 3).
At year's end, authorities had not brought Constantin Becciev, head
of the Chisinau water utility, to trial. Authorities held Becciev in
preventive detention for 6 months in 2003 while investigating him for
possible fraud. Critics charged that the detention was part of a
broader, politically motivated campaign against persons associated with
the Chisinau city government. Becciev continued to run the utility
after his release.
The laws permit pretrial detention for an initial period of 30
days. The courts may extend pretrial detention to 12 months on an
individual basis, based on the severity of the alleged crime.
Detentions of several months were fairly frequent; in some rare cases,
pretrial detention was extended for several years. As of mid-August,
2,438 out of 10,600 persons in prison were detainees awaiting trial.
It was common practice for Transnistrian authorities to detain
persons suspected of being critical of the regime for periods of up to
several months. On September 6, plainclothes police mistreated and
arrested a cameraman from the government-owned television station,
Moldova 1 (see Section 2.a.). The journalist was sentenced to 15 days
in prison for ``unauthorized filming in the security zone'' but was
released September 13 following the demands of the Joint Control
Commission, which monitors compliance with the 1992 ceasefire.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, official pressure and corruption of
judges remained a problem. There continued to be credible reports that
local prosecutors and judges extorted bribes in return for reducing
charges or sentences, and observers charged that courts were sometimes
politically influenced. Political factors have played a large role in
the reappointment of judges.
The judiciary consists of lower courts, courts of appeals, and the
Supreme Court of Justice. A separate Constitutional Court has exclusive
authority in cases regarding the constitutionality of draft and final
legislation, decrees, and other government acts. The Constitutional
Court was the only court generally regarded as fair and objective.
The Prosecutor General's office is autonomous and answers to
Parliament. It is responsible for overseeing criminal investigations,
presenting charges before a court, and protecting the rule of law and
civil freedoms. Prosecutors may open and close investigations without
bringing the matter before a court, giving them considerable influence
over the judicial process.
By law, defendants in criminal cases are presumed innocent; in
practice, a prosecutor's recommendation carried considerable weight and
limited a defendant's actual presumption of innocence. Trials were
generally open to the public. Cases were presented to a judge or panel
of judges depending on the complexity of the case. Defendants have the
right to a lawyer, to attend proceedings, to confront witnesses, and to
present evidence. The law requires the local bar association to provide
an attorney to defendants who are unable to afford one; however, since
the Government was unable to pay ongoing legal fees, defendants often
did not have adequate counsel. Prosecutors occasionally used
bureaucratic maneuvers to restrict lawyers' access to clients. Defense
attorneys were able to review evidence against their clients when
preparing cases. Persons who are convicted have the right to appeal to
a higher court.
The Constitution provides for the right of the accused to have an
interpreter both at the trial and when reviewing documents of the case;
however, due to a lack of resources, persons requiring an interpreter
often had their hearings repeatedly postponed. If the majority of
participants agree, trials may be conducted in Russian or another
language instead of Romanian.
There is no juvenile justice system, and children accused of crimes
usually were tried by the criminal courts. However, in March, the
Prosecutor General's Office issued a decision allowing for the
assignment of specialized prosecutors to cases dealing with minors. In
May, the Superior Court of Magistrates issued a similar decision,
appointing judges in each region and Chisinau to specialize in cases
involving minors.
The country has a military justice system, whose courts have
generally the same reputation as civilian courts.
On June 2, Transnistrian authorities released Alexandru Lesco, one
of four members of the ``Ilascu Group'' who were convicted in 1993 of
killing two Transnistrian officials, after serving a 12year sentence.
On July 8, the ECHR ruled that Transnistrian authorities should release
the two remaining prisoners and directed that the Moldovan and Russian
governments pay damages to the prisoners. Transnistrian authorities
refused to comply with the ruling, and Transnistrian leader Igor
Smirnov stated they would serve the remaining 3 years of their
sentences.
There were no reports of political prisoners other than those in
Transnistria.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice.
It was widely believed that the security agencies conducted illegal
searches, including wiretaps, without proper authorization. Courts did
not exclude evidence that was obtained illegally. By law, only a judge
can authorize wiretaps and may do so only if a criminal investigation
is underway; however, in practice the judiciary lacked the ability to
control the security organizations and the police or to prevent them
from using wiretaps illegally. It was widely believed that security
agencies electronically monitored residences and telephones.
During the year, police reportedly informed persons of Middle
Eastern origin that they were being carefully monitored. Several
opposition politicians reported that government authorities were
illegally monitoring them.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press; however, the Government sometimes restricted
these rights. The Government selectively applied the electoral law and
the Civil Code against critics and intimidated some journalists into
practicing self-censorship.
The print media expressed a wide variety of political views and
commentary. The Government owned two newspapers and a news agency;
national and city governments subsidized a number of newspapers.
Political parties and professional organizations, including trade
unions, also published newspapers, most of which had a circulation of
less than 15,000 copies. The Government did not restrict foreign
publications; however, most were not widely circulated due to high
costs. Russian newspapers were available, and some published special
Moldovan weekly supplements.
There were several independent radio stations, including one
religious station. Most stations rebroadcast programs from Romania and
Russia and had only a limited amount of locally produced programming.
The Government controlled a radio station and a television station
(Teleradio Moldova) that covered most of the country. Some local
governments, including in Chisinau and Gagauzia, operated television
and radio stations as well as newspapers. The country received
television and radio broadcasts from Romania, Ukraine, France, and
Russia. A number of cable subscribers received a variety of foreign
television programs, including news programs.
The number of media outlets that were not owned and operated by the
Government or a political party increased. However, many of these
independent media remained in the service of, and secured large
subsidies from the Government, political movements, and commercial
interests.
On June 23, unknown persons seriously beat and robbed investigative
journalist Alina Anghel of the independent newspaper Timpul outside her
home in Chisinau. Anghel, as well as Timpul's management, associated
the attack with a series of articles that Anghel published in January
suggesting officials were profiting from a business deal with an
automobile importer and accusing the Minister of Interior of accepting
a free automobile. After the articles were published, unknown persons
reportedly began making telephone threats to Anghel that she would be
physically harmed if she did not stop her investigation. A suspect was
arrested on unrelated charges; however, Anghel stated publicly that she
did not believe the suspect was involved in the attack.
There were no developments in the case of Nicolae Roibu, another
Timpul journalist, who was attacked by unknown persons near his home in
November 2003 and had his dictaphone and tape recordings stolen. Roibu
associated the attack with his work and, in particular, with an
interview published in October 2003 that contained material critical of
President Voronin.
The law prohibits foreign governments from funding or supporting
domestic publications. In practice, Romanian government-supported
publications complied with the law by receiving funds from
``foundations'' created for this purpose. The Government did not
prosecute publications receiving funds from other states. A law that a
least 65 percent of broadcasting must be in the Romanian language was
interpreted to mean that 65 percent of locally produced content (not
total airtime) must be in Romanian.
During the year, controversy continued over alleged government
control of Teleradio Moldova. In November 2003, Parliament amended the
law on Teleradio Moldova to provide for the liquidation of the company,
dismissal of all staff, and the creation of a new public institution.
However, critics argued that this made it easier to dismiss journalists
for political reasons. In August and September, Teleradio Moldova
employees held public protests, charging that selection of employees
for the new company was biased against journalists who were critical of
the Government. Several journalists who had been dismissed brought a
suit against Teleradio Moldova's administration that was ongoing at
year's end.
Several international organizations sponsored a monitoring project
that showed that Teleradio Moldova continued to limit coverage of the
opposition and focused almost exclusively on the activities of the
Government.
In February, a Chisinau court convicted the editor-in-chief of the
weekly Accente, who was arrested and released in 2002, on charges of
bribery; a decision on his appeal had not been made by year's end.
Following the conviction, the newspaper was taken over by new
leadership and some observers charged that the case was meant to put an
end to Accente's critical reporting on the Government.
In February, the Audio Visual Coordinating Council (AVCC) suspended
the activities of media outlets operated by the Chisinau municipality,
Euro TV and Antena C radio, on the grounds that they were not properly
registered as legal entities. The international community and media-
related NGOs raised concern that the suspension, which some believed to
be politically motivated, would deprive citizens of an alternative
source of information. In April, after 2 months of protests by Euro TV
and Antena C staff, the AVCC negotiated an agreement that allowed the
two outlets to register and resume broadcasting.
In July, the Supreme Court rejected a complaint filed by the
independent newspaper Moldavskie Vedomosty against the President's
office for repeatedly refusing accreditation to its editor in chief.
Moldavskie Vedomosty contested this decision, and the case was ongoing
at year's end.
Journalists and media outlets continued to face libel suits under
the Civil Code, which does not provide a ceiling for fines. In
February, the Daac-Hermes Company filed a lawsuit alleging nearly $2
million (24.8 million lei) in damages against the independent Romanian-
language weekly newspaper Timpul for publishing ``calumnious''
information. In a different case, the head of the government-owned
Moldovan Railroad filed a civil suit against the independent Russian-
language newspaper Moldavskie Vedomosty, asking for $50,000 (620,000
lei) for ``moral damages.'' Both lawsuits were ongoing at year's end.
Both print and broadcast journalists reportedly practiced self-
censorship due to government and public figures' use of civil
defamation and calumny laws and complaints from authorities about news
coverage.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
Of the two major newspapers in Transnistria, one was controlled by
the separatist authorities, and the other by the Tiraspol city
government. There was one independent weekly newspaper in Bender and
another in the northern Transnistrian city of Ribnitsa. At times, the
independent newspapers criticized the Transnistrian regime, for which
the separatist authorities harassed them. Other print media in
Transnistria did not have a large circulation and appeared only on a
weekly or monthly basis; some of them also criticized local
authorities. Most Moldovan newspapers did not circulate widely in
Transnistria, although they were available in Tiraspol.
During the year, Transnistrian authorities used threats of violence
to force schools to curtail teaching in the Romanian language using
Latin script, rather than Cyrillic script (see Section 5).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice.
The Transnistrian authorities usually did not permit free assembly,
and on those occasions when they did issue permits for demonstrations,
they often harassed organizers and participants.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association and states
that citizens are free to form parties and other social and political
organizations; however, the Constitution also prohibits organizations
that are ``engaged in fighting against political pluralism,'' the
``principles of the rule of law,'' or ``the sovereignty and
independence or territorial integrity'' of the country. Small parties
that favor unification with Romania charged that this provision is
intended to impede their political activities; however, no group has
been prevented from forming as a result of this provision. Private
organizations, including political parties, were required to register,
but applications were approved routinely.
The law provides that the Ministry of Justice may suspend a party
for up to 1 year for violating the Constitution or the law if it does
not desist in an illegal activity after receiving a written warning.
During election campaigns, only the Supreme Court of Justice may
suspend a party's activity.
Transnistrian authorities restricted freedom of association by
intimidation and prosecution for alleged offenses or on invented
charges. For example, in June, the Transnistrian authorities prevented
a human rights seminar in Tiraspol organized by opposition
Transnistrian lawmakers and Moldovan NGOs. One NGO representative was
allowed to enter Transnistria, but upon his arrival, he and the
lawmakers were assaulted by a crowd, which splashed them with paint,
sour milk and eggs. The NGO representative claimed Transnistrian law
enforcement was complicit in the assault.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, the law includes restrictions that inhibit the
activities of some religious groups. There is no state religion;
however, the Moldovan Orthodox Church received some special treatment
from the Government. For example, the Metropolitan of Chisinau and All
Moldova and other high-ranking Orthodox Church officials have been
issued diplomatic passports.
The law requires religious groups to register with the State
Service for Religions (SSR). Unregistered religious groups are not
permitted to buy land or obtain construction permits for churches or
seminaries. The SSR may ask a court to annul the registration of a
group if its activities are found to be political or harm the
independence, sovereignty, integrity, security, or public order of the
country.
At year's end, the SSR had not registered the True Orthodox Church
of Moldova, despite a 2002 Supreme Court ruling in the Church's favor.
The SSR and the Government attempted a variety of appeals and were
still ordered to register the Church. According to the SSR, the wording
of the Court decision, which obliges the Government rather than the SSR
to register the Church, has prevented the Church's registration. The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and the Spiritual
Organization of Muslims in Moldova also continued to encounter
bureaucratic obstacles to registration. The SSR claimed the application
of the Mormons was pending, while the SSR monitored the activities of
the church. In the case of the Muslims, the SSR claimed they failed to
present the necessary documents for registration.
The law prohibits ``abusive proselytizing,'' which is defined as
``an attempt to influence someone's religious faith through violence or
abuse of authority.'' However, the Government has not taken legal
action against individuals or organizations for proselytizing.
Nondenominational ``moral and spiritual'' instruction is mandatory
for primary school students and optional for secondary and university
students. During the year, the Ministry of Education began implementing
the program by introducing it in the first through third grade. Some
schools have a specific class on religion, but student participation
requires parental consent.
The legal provision that provides for restitution of property
confiscated during the Nazi and Soviet regimes to politically repressed
or exiled persons has been extended to religious communities; however,
claims of the Moldovan Orthodox Church have been favored over those of
other religious groups, and the Church has recovered nearly all of its
property. In cases where property was destroyed, the Government offered
alternative compensation. However, property disputes between the
Moldovan and Bessarabian branches of the Orthodox Church have not been
resolved and, representatives of the Bessarabian Orthodox Church
claimed that their property rights were still being violated. The
Jewish community has experienced mixed results in recovering its
property but has no claims that are still pending. Members of the
Molocan community had a property claim that remained unresolved at
year's end.
The Spiritual Organization of Muslims reported that police
frequently showed up at their local office during Friday prayers,
checked participants' documents and took pictures. On March 5, the
police raided their meeting place after Friday prayers, detained
several members, and subsequently deported three Syrian citizens for
not having proof of legal residence. The authorities claimed the
services were illegal because the organization was not registered and
because the meeting place was not being used in accordance with the
organization's status as a charity.
The Baptists reported interference from government authorities in
construction of places of worship. In May, authorities stopped
construction of a Baptist church in the village of Capriana and opened
an investigation into the legality of the project; however, the
Baptists and the local mayor claimed that all the necessary permits and
legal documents, which were issued in 2001, had been obtained legally.
Between March 14 and March 30, unknown persons desecrated more than
70 tombstones in the Jewish cemetery in the Transnistrian city
Tiraspol. Swastikas and other Nazi symbols were painted on monuments,
and many tombstones were damaged beyond repair. On May 4, unknown
persons unsuccessfully attempted to set the Tiraspol synagogue on fire
with a Molotov cocktail. Transnistrian authorities believed the attacks
were perpetrated by the same individuals and claimed they were
investigating the incidents. They had not made any arrests in either
case by year's end.
There were no developments in the February 2003 destruction by
unknown persons of eight tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in Balti.
According to a leading Rabbi in Chisinau, it was not clear whether the
act was motivated by anti-Semitism.
Members of Jehovah's Witnesses from various regions of the country
have complained that local town councils and Orthodox priests and their
adherents had impeded their ability to practice their religion freely.
In November 2003, the mayor and residents of the village of Cruzesti
physically blocked members of Jehovah's Witnesses from the public
cemetery for not respecting the customs of the Orthodox religion.
Baptists have also reported that local townspeople physically and
verbally abused them at the instigation of local Orthodox priests.
There were a few reports of negative press articles about non-
Orthodox religions. Members of Jehovah's Witnesses were the target of
articles criticizing their beliefs and legitimacy, and the Baptists in
Transnistria claimed that press reports about their religion were
negative.
In recent years, Transnistrian authorities have denied registration
to Baptists, Methodists, and the Church of the Living God. Unregistered
religious groups were not allowed to hold public assemblies, such as
revival meetings. The law in Transnistria prohibits renting houses,
premises of enterprises, or ``cultural houses'' for prayer meetings.
Transnistrian authorities have told evangelical religious groups
meeting in private homes that they did not have the correct permits to
use their residences as churches. The Jehovah's Witnesses in
Transnistria have reported several incidents of administrative fines
and unjust arrests of their members.
In July, the Transnistrian Supreme Court ruled to limit the
activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses to the city of Tiraspol; however,
the court rejected the Tiraspol public prosecutor's 2002 request to
annul the group's registration and prohibit its activities altogether.
Transnistrian authorities reportedly accused Jehovah's Witnesses of
lacking patriotism and spreading Western influence and reportedly
developed school teaching aids that contained negative and defamatory
information regarding the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Non-Orthodox groups in Transnistria complained that they were
generally not allowed to rent property and were often harassed during
religious services.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution and law provide for
these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, Transnistrian authorities sometimes restricted travel to and
from the separatist region.
Transnistrian authorities applied a transit fee to Moldovan
nationals crossing through Transnistria and often stopped and searched
incoming and outgoing vehicles and hindered movement by representatives
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and
U.N. agencies on several occasions. Transnistrian authorities prevented
farmers from Government-controlled villages in the Dubassari region of
Transnistria from traveling to areas outside Transnistria to sell their
produce and, in some cases, blocked farmers' access to their fields.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
Citizens generally were able to depart from and return to the
country freely; however, there were some restrictions on emigration.
Persons wishing to emigrate must meet all outstanding financial
obligations to other persons or legal entities before emigrating. Close
relatives who are dependent on a potential emigrant for material
support must give their concurrence. The Government also may deny
permission to emigrate if the applicant had access to state secrets;
however, no such cases have been reported for several years.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status and asylum. The Government cooperated with the
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers. However, Amnesty International reported that Chechen
asylum-seekers experienced delays in having their applications
adjudicated and in some cases no decisions were taken.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice in
most of the country through periodic, free, and fair elections held on
the basis of universal suffrage; however, authorities in Transnistria
restricted this right.
The Constitution provides for a parliamentary form of government
with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of
government. Parliament elects the president, who appoints the prime
minister, who in turn names a cabinet. Parliament must approve both the
prime minister and the cabinet. A three-fifths vote by secret ballot in
Parliament is required to elect a president.
In 2001, citizens voted in multiparty parliamentary elections that
the OSCE considered to be generally free and fair; however, election
observers noted some shortcomings, such as inaccurate and incomplete
voter lists and excessively restrictive media provisions in the
Electoral Code. Transnistrian authorities interfered with residents'
ability to participate in the country's elections. International
observers were not present at either the Transnistria Supreme Council
elections in 2000 nor the 2001 ``presidential'' elections, and the
elections were not considered free and fair.
Because many small parties failed to win the minimum number of
votes required for representation, only three parties--the Communist
Party, Our Moldova Alliance, and the Christian Democratic People's
Party (PPCD)--have seats in Parliament. In June, the Our Moldova
Alliance joined a centrist coalition, the Democratic Moldova Bloc,
which also included the extra-parliamentary Social-Liberal and
Democratic parties.
The Government selectively enforced regulations, including
inspections and tax auditing, for individuals and businesses that
belonged to or supported opposition parties.
In May and June 2003, local elections for mayors and city councils
were held nationwide. Voters also chose regional councils in all areas
except the Gagauz autonomous region. International observers concluded
that while the vote itself generally met international standards, the
Government's conduct during the campaign fell short of the generally
good record established in previous elections. The negative
developments in the campaign included heavily biased state media
reporting, the arrest of two opposition mayors, and the use of
administrative resources for campaign purposes. The OSCE noted that the
elections were preceded by a very biased media campaign, with the
government media providing distorted information to voters, dedicating
significant time to government candidates and allowing opposition
candidates only limited time to respond. Although regulations
prohibited broadcast media from presenting candidates on the news, the
two main candidates for Chisinau mayor--the incumbent mayor and the
Minister of Transportation and Communications--could often be seen on
television in their official capacities.
A Christian Turkic minority, the Gagauz, enjoyed local autonomy in
Gagauzia in the southern part of the country. Gagauz opposition figures
claimed that government interference in 2002 local elections continued
during the May 2003 mayoral races in the region. Two rounds of voting
for the Gagauzia Popular Assembly in November 2003 generally met
international standards, but were marked by irregularities including
group voting, multiple voting, open voting, mobile ballot box fraud,
proxy voting, and unauthorized persons in polling stations. In March,
the Popular Assembly removed the opposition mayor of Comrat, accusing
him of incompetence and embezzlement. The mayor argued that the Popular
Assembly abused its authority and violated the laws and that he could
only be removed through a court decision or a recall referendum. The
international community, including the OSCE and several Western
diplomatic missions, expressed its concern over the circumstances of
the mayor's removal. On July 18, the interim mayor lost the mayoral
election to the Communist Party candidate.
In late November, officials of the Center for Combating Economic
Crime and Corruption announced they were investigating the leader of
the opposition Democratic Moldova Bloc and mayor of Chisinau, Serafim
Urechean, for misusing city funds and, on December 3, detained him for
questioning for 5 hours. The Democratic Moldova Bloc accused the
authorities of politically motivated harassment. Many local observers
saw the investigation as politically timed to coincide with the
electoral campaign for parliament.
Throughout the fall, the Center for Combating Economic Crime and
Corruption and the Prosecutor General's Office opened criminal
investigations and arrested several Chisinau city officials. The
arrests were indirectly supported by President Voronin, who called the
Chisinau Mayoralty ``a Mafia nest'' in a televised interview.
In November, the Communist majority in Parliament authorized an
investigation into the businesses of opposition MP Iurie Rosca.
Observers argued that the investigation was politically motivated.
In Transnistria, opposition lawmakers Alexander Radcenko and
Nicolai Buchatsky were repeatedly harassed by ``government''-backed
NGOs. During the summer, their homes were vandalized with dye and motor
oil. On December 19, Radcenko was prohibited from entering
Transnistria's Supreme Soviet building by protesters who splashed him
with water and burned his picture. In December, a referendum scheduled
for 2005 was organized to recall Radcenko from his position in the
Supreme Soviet for allegedly undermining Transnistrian society. The
OSCE expressed concern over the situation and called on the
Transnistrian authorities to end the harassment of Radcenko and
Buchatsky.
Corruption was believed to be pervasive throughout the Government.
This belief was reflected in numerous public opinion polls and widely
reported by NGOs. Although the Government has acknowledged corruption
to be a problem and formed special law enforcement and judicial units
to combat it, some critics have charged that the Government used these
units to persecute political opponents. On October 15, President
Voronin dismissed Defense Minister Victor Gaiciuc following the
discovery in August of missing ammunition and weapons from a depot near
the Bulboaca training range. Six Ministry of Defense employees were
charged in the theft, and several more were investigated.
The law provides for free access to official information; however,
there were several cases when authorities denied access to public
information. During the summer, the Supreme Court rejected a complaint
filed by the opposition-leaning independent newspaper Timpul against
the Parliament for refusing to provide access to transcripts of several
2002 Parliament sessions. The Court ruled that Timpul had no right to
the transcripts, quoting an internal regulation of the Parliament.
Timpul contested the decision, and the case was ongoing at year's end.
There were 13 women in the 101-seat Parliament and 2 women in the
18-member cabinet. Speaker of Parliament Eugenia Ostapciuc was the
highest-ranking female political figure in the country.
There were 49 members of minorities in the 101-seat Parliament and
1 member of a minority in the 18-member cabinet. Russian, Ukrainian,
Bulgarian, Gagauz, Azeri, and Georgian minorities were represented in
Parliament, with deputies elected from nationwide party lists rather
than local districts.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases, except in the
Transnistrian region; however, officials were generally not responsive
to their views.
The local Helsinki Committee for Human Rights maintained contacts
with international human rights organizations, and Amnesty
International maintained a satellite office in Chisinau and was active
in the country. Transnistrian authorities impeded the activities of
human rights groups in that region.
The Government cooperated with the OSCE, which maintained a mission
in the country to assist efforts to resolve the Transnistrian conflict.
The OSCE participated in the Joint Control Commission that reviews
violations of the cease-fire agreement. Transnistrian authorities have
occasionally limited OSCE access to the region, including to the
Security Zone dividing Transnistria from the rest of country.
The law provides for three parliamentary advocates (ombudsmen) and
an independent center for human rights, the Moldovan Human Rights
Center. Parliament appoints the three advocates, who have equal rights
and responsibilities, for 5-year terms; in practice, the parliamentary
advocates dealt mostly with low-level cases. Advocates may be removed
from office only by a two-thirds vote of Parliament. Parliamentary
advocates are empowered to examine claims of human rights violations,
advise Parliament on human rights problems, submit legislation to the
Constitutional Court for review, and oversee the operation of the
Moldovan Human Rights Center. Center personnel provided training for
lawyers and journalists, visited jails, made recommendations on
legislation, and organized round tables. The Moldovan Human Rights
Center presents an annual report to Parliament; however, the center did
not publish a report during the year, reportedly due to a lack of
resources.
Transnistrian authorities have attempted to control NGOs in the
region by reportedly having security officials ``invite'' NGO
representatives to their offices and by pressuring landlords not to
renew office leases for some. On June 17, officers from Transnistria's
``ministry of security'' ``invited'' Oxana Alistratova, head of the
Transnistrian NGO Interaction, to their offices and interrogated her
for 5 hours in the presence of her minor daughter. Upon release,
Alistratove called the action ``preventive intimidation'' intended to
discourage the activity of her NGO. In June, Transnistrian authorities
forced the Helsinki Committee to cancel a 3-day human rights seminar in
Tiraspol (see Section 2.b.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides that persons are equal before the law
regardless of race, sex, disability, or social origin; however,
societal discrimination against women and some ethnic minorities,
particularly Roma, persisted.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a widespread problem.
The law does not specifically address domestic assault, and there is no
law against spousal rape. Women abused by their husbands may file
charges under general assault laws; however, the Government rarely
prosecuted domestic assault crimes. During the first 9 months of the
year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs received 3,707 domestic violence
complaints, including 64 severe cases of spousal abuse, of which 29
resulted in serious bodily injury and 35 resulted in either murder or
attempted murder. There were 209 cases of rape reported in the first 8
months of year. Women's groups asserted that the numbers of rapes and
incidents of spousal abuse were underreported.
The Government supported educational efforts, usually undertaken
with foreign assistance, to increase public awareness of domestic
violence and to train public and law enforcement officials how to
address the problem. The city of Chisinau operated a women's shelter
for victims of domestic violence. Private organizations operated
services for abused spouses, including a hot line for battered women.
Prostitution is not a crime; however, it is a violation of civil
law that is punishable by a fine or administrative detention of up to
30 days. Prostitution was widespread, and observers noted a growing sex
tourism industry, which was particularly prevalent in upscale Chisinau
hotels.
Trafficking in women was a serious problem (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it was a problem.
The law provides that women and men enjoy equal rights, and in
practice women received pay equal to that of men for equal work;
however, women did not hold high-paying jobs in the same proportion as
men. There were significant numbers of female managers in the public
sector and in banking. The Ministers of Finance and Justice and the
president of the country's largest bank were women. Women made up
approximately 50 percent of the workforce.
Children.--There is extensive legislation designed to protect
children, and the Government provided supplementary payments for
families with many children.
Under the Constitution, the Government is to provide free,
compulsory, and universal education for 9 to 10 years, which may be
followed either by technical school or other further study; the
requirement may vary at the discretion of the Minister of Education.
However, many inadequately funded schools, particularly in rural areas,
charged parents for school supplies. While not illegal, such charges
contradicted the Government's policies and resulted in many parents
keeping their children at home. Statistics from NGOs and international
organizations indicated that approximately 7,000 children aged 7 to 16
were not attending school at the beginning of the school year. Each
year, the Government and local authorities provide assistance in
amounts ranging from approximately $7.40 (100 lei) to approximately
$22.20 (300 lei) each to children from vulnerable families to buy
school supplies. The health system devoted a large portion of its
limited resources to childcare, but childcare professionals considered
the amount inadequate.
The law prohibits child neglect; however, child abuse is believed
to be widespread. During the year, the National Center for Child Abuse
Prevention registered 115 cases of abuse; however, no comprehensive
statistics on the extent of the problem exist. The Criminal Code does
not refer to ``abuse'' as such, but to forms of it: violence, neglect,
forced begging, etc.. Observers alleged that women begging on the
streets of Chisinau often sedated their babies in order to spend long
hours begging.
Trafficking of children for the purpose of sexual exploitation and
begging remained a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
The situation of children in orphanages was generally very poor.
Due to lack of funding, children's institutions had major problems
including inadequate food, ``warehousing'' of children, lack of heat in
the winter, and disease. Statistics from local NGOs indicated that
there were approximately 12,016 institutionalized children. An
additional 5,000 children lived in adoptive homes, and 4,500 more lived
in foster homes or with legal guardians. Not all institutionalized
children were orphans; the number of children entrusted to the
Government by needy parents or by parents leaving the country to look
for work reportedly grew. The Government estimated that parents of
approximately 20,000 children worked abroad and placed their children
with boarding schools or entrusted them to relatives.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons was a very serious problem. There were
reports of involvement by some government officials in this trade;
however, authorities opened investigations against only low-level
government officials and did not arrest or prosecute any officials
during the year.
The law prohibits trafficking and provides for severe penalties,
ranging from 7 years to life imprisonment. Sentences for trafficking in
children range from 10 years to life imprisonment. The penalty is 15
years to life imprisonment and confiscation of property for repeated or
serious offenses, such as trafficking of groups, minors, or pregnant
women; through kidnapping, trickery or abuse of power; with violence;
or by a criminal organization.
In the first 6 months of the year, authorities opened 244
trafficking related investigations. The Department for Juveniles and
Combating Trafficking in Persons in the Prosecutor General's Office
reported that, at mid-year, the Government had almost doubled the
number of trafficking-related convictions over the previous year. While
most of these cases were prosecuted as common ``pimping'' crimes, there
were two convictions under the trafficking law where defendants
received prison sentences of 10 and 11 years, respectively. The courts
convicted 32 persons for trafficking-related activities in the first 6
months of the year, compared with 34 convictions for all of 2003. The
courts gave most persons convicted of pimping either fines or suspended
sentences, although two persons were given prison sentences for
aggravated pimping, one for 6 years and the other for 10 years. The
Government improved cooperation with Southeast European Cooperative
Initiative (SECI) countries during the year, resulting in a number of
convictions abroad.
The country was a major country of origin for women and children
trafficked abroad for forced prostitution and men and children who were
trafficked to Russia and neighboring countries for forced labor and
begging. The country was also a transit country for victims trafficked
from Ukraine to Romania. Women and girls were trafficked to Turkey,
Cyprus, Italy, Hungary, and the Balkan countries for prostitution.
There also were reports that women were trafficked to Lebanon, Syria,
Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Portugal, France,
Thailand, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia. NGOs reported
recent cases of victims trafficked to Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. At
least one case each was recently identified in the United States and in
Pakistan. Women and girls reportedly were trafficked to Italy and
Greece through Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Albania. According
to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), victims have
increasingly been directed to Asia, Russia, Turkey, Western Europe, and
the Middle East. Israel (via Moscow and Egypt) has become a well-
established destination. The IOM reported that the country was the main
origin in Europe for women and children trafficked for forced
prostitution in the Balkans, Western Europe, and the Middle East and
that the country was the source of more than 50 percent of the women
working in prostitution in Kosovo.
While many different individuals have become trafficking victims,
the primary target group is the female population between the ages of
15 and 30. The IOM reported that, of the victims they have assisted, 12
percent were minors at the time of return and 40 percent were minors at
the time of their initial trafficking. Victims often came from rural
areas where economic desperation had already driven many residents to
look for work abroad. Women and girls typically accepted job offers in
other countries, ostensibly as dancers, models, nannies, or
housekeepers. In many areas, friends, relatives, or acquaintances
approached young women and offered them help getting good jobs abroad.
According to the IOM, trafficking recruiters were frequently former
victims, some of whom were acting under coercion. Victims were also
lured by newspaper advertisements promising well-paying jobs abroad.
According to the Center for Prevention of Trafficking in Women,
parents or husbands pressured some young women to work abroad.
Traffickers commonly recruited women from rural villages, transported
them to larger cities, and then trafficked them abroad.
Another trafficking pattern involved orphans who were required to
leave orphanages when they graduated from school, usually at the age of
16 or 17, and had no funds for living expenses or continuing education.
Some orphanage directors reportedly sold information on when orphan
girls were to be turned out of their institutions to traffickers, who
approached them as they left.
Widespread corruption and lack of resources prevented adequate
border control and monitoring of traffickers, particularly in
Transnistria. Border guard and migration officials' salaries were low
and frequently not paid regularly, making them vulnerable to bribery.
Observers alleged that corrupt low- and high-level government
officials were involved in, or routinely turned a blind eye, to
trafficking crimes; however, no high-level officials were prosecuted
during the year. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, one
police lieutenant from the Riscani police district was convicted of
trafficking women to Russia and received 5 years probation. In another
case, the police were investigating officials of the Department of
Youth and Sports for issuing false documents used to obtain Western
visas, with the intent of either trafficking or smuggling individuals.
The investigation was ongoing at year's end.
The Government took some steps to prevent the trafficking of
persons and assist victims through a government working group, the
National Committee on Antitrafficking. Local committees in each region
of the country, and officials of various ministries and local
governments were required to present reports on their antitrafficking
efforts to the National Committee. During the year, the National
Committee developed four working groups focusing on legislation reform,
child trafficking, reintegration of victims and prevention with
cochairs from international organizations assigned to each. At the end
of the year, all local committees submitted reports including
statistical data on the number of people who had left their district,
the number of trafficking cases, as well as efforts to reintegrate and
rehabilitate victims.
In September, Parliament passed a law to discourage trafficking in
minors. The new initiative stipulates that minors have the right to
leave the country only when accompanied by a legal guardian, a person
authorized by the latter under a notarized declaration, or when
permitted by child welfare authorities. The law requires that minors
older than 10 have passports to leave the country, whereas before they
needed only birth certificates.
A special law enforcement unit within the Ministry of Internal
Affairs continued to operate, and the Government provided specialized
training to trafficking investigators through the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, funded by the OSCE and the Council
of Europe. The country also participated in a SECI Human Trafficking
Task Force. The Government cooperated with Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia
in investigating trafficking cases, as well as with Interpol in cases
in Serbia and Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates. There were no
government-operated assistance programs for victims.
With foreign assistance, several NGOs worked to combat trafficking
through information campaigns, repatriation assistance, temporary
housing and medical care for victims, and job training. The NGO Save
the Children worked with trafficking victims, particularly repatriated
girls. Local NGOs operated public school programs to educate young
women about the dangers of prostitution. During the year, the IOM
organized a prevention campaign around the film ``Lilya 4-ever,'' which
portrays the realities of trafficking, free of charge in cinemas and
schools. The IOM also operated a women's shelter that provided
temporary emergency housing, job training, and medical care. In the
summer, the IOM started a new information program aimed at providing
citizens who have decided to go abroad with information to help them
avoid exploitation.
Persons With Disabilities.--There were no reports of discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
healthcare, or in the provision of other state services. There are no
laws mandating access to buildings, and there were few government
resources devoted to training persons with disabilities. The Government
provided tax advantages to groups that assisted persons with
disabilities. The Social Assistance Division in the Ministry of Labor
and Social Protection and the National Labor Force Agency are
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ukrainians and Russians are the
two largest minorities. A Christian Turkic minority, the Gagauz, makes
up a small percentage of the population and live primarily in the south
of the country. Official statistics put the number of Roma at 11,600;
however, the OSCE and Romani NGOs have estimated the number of Roma at
20,000 to 200,000.
Roma suffered violence, harassment, and discrimination. Local and
international NGOs reported that Roma were victims of police beatings
in custody, arbitrary arrest and detention, unlawful confiscation of
personal property, harassment by law enforcement officials, and were
subjected to societal violence and harassment. The European Roma Rights
Center reported that officials discriminated against Roma with regard
to housing, education, and access to public services.
The Roma were the poorest of the minority groups and often lived in
segregated communities in unsanitary conditions lacking basic
infrastructure. These conditions often led to segregated education with
even fewer resources than in the rest of the country's schools. Many
Romani children did not attend school, very few received a secondary or
higher education, and there was no Romani-language education.
Minority rights and language were closely related problems.
Romanian is the only official language; however, Russian has served as
a language for interethnic communication and is well-established in
practice. However, Russian speakers were not subject to discrimination
in education or employment and a citizen has a legal right to choose
the language of interaction with government officials or commercial
entities. Officials are required to know both Romanian and Russian ``to
the degree necessary to fulfill their professional obligations.'' The
Constitution provides parents the right to choose the language of
instruction for their children, and the Government observed this right
in practice.
Authorities in the separatist Transnistrian region continued to
discriminate against Romanian speakers. They refused to observe the
country's language law, which requires the use of Latin script, and the
region's schools were required to teach Romanian using the Cyrillic
alphabet. Many teachers, parents, and students objected to this
requirement, asserting that it disadvantaged persons who wished to
pursue higher education opportunities in the rest of the country or in
Romania, where the Latin script was used.
In July, Transnistrian authorities closed four Latin script schools
that were registered with the Moldovan Ministry of Education and
attempted to close two more. Police forcibly closed the Latin-script
schools in Ribnita and Tiraspol, removing all furniture and school
materials and sealing the premises. They also closed two schools in
Dubasari and Corjova; students from these schools were transferred to
Latin-script schools in villages under the control of the Moldovan
authorities. Police were impeded from closing a Latin-script school and
orphanage in Bender by parents, teachers and children who guarded the
facilities throughout August and September. Authorities claimed the
institutions violated Transnistrian law, which requires the schools to
register locally and to use the Cyrillic alphabet for instruction. In
September, the OSCE helped negotiate a formula to allow the Latin-
script schools in Bender, Dubasari, and Corjova to register, although
authorities continued to impose logistical and legal hurdles to prevent
the schools from functioning normally. Later, the schools in Ribnita
and Tiraspol were also allowed to register for 1 year under the OSCE-
negotiated formula. The Tiraspol school was scheduled to open in
January 2005 after undergoing substantial repairs for damage in the
summer by Transnistrian police. The Ribnita school was open but
operating out of a different building after the Transnistrian
authorities refused to let the school return to its original building.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were reports of
governmental and societal discrimination based on sexual orientation.
According to Gender-DocM, lack of community recognition, negative
media portrayals, and condemnation by the Orthodox Church often led to
public ostracism of gays, lesbians, and their families. At the third
annual Gay Pride events in Chisinau in May, there were reports of
groups shouting epithets and intimidating persons at the gatherings.
Gender-DocM reported that there were several incidents of gay children
being asked to leave home by their parents and villages shunning a
family because of a gay child. The NGO reported that schoolteachers and
university professors have been dismissed due to their homosexuality,
and that police regularly threatened gays and lesbians with public
exposure if they did not pay bribes. In 2003, the postal service in
Gagauzia refused to distribute a gay-themed news magazine published by
the main NGO for gay and lesbian issues, Gender-DocM, because of its
content.
In Transnistria, homosexuality was illegal and gays and lesbians
were subject to governmental and societal discrimination.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and law provides
workers the right to establish or join unions; however, there were
reports that the Government attempted to pressure individual unions to
leave the confederation with which they were affiliated and join a
confederation that supported government policies. Approximately 50
percent of the workforce belonged to a union.
There were two unions--the Trade Union Confederation of Moldova
(TUCM) and the Confederation of Free Trade Unions Solidaritate
(Solidarity). The latter advocated government positions, and the
Government was widely believed to support it. After the 2001
parliamentary elections, the Government reportedly made several
attempts to pressure TUCM unions to convert to Solidaritate. During the
year, the Government allegedly pressured several local teachers' unions
successfully to quit TUCM and join Solidaritate. The National Public
Sector Union, which was a member of TUCM, split into two organizations,
with one remaining in TUCM and the other joining Solidaritate. In
response to these events, TUCM leaders and the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions called on the Government to stop
interfering in the internal affairs of the union movement.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for collective bargaining, the right to organize, and the
right to conduct activities without government interference; however,
the Government did not always respect these rights in practice (see
Section 6.a.). The law provides for the right to strike; however,
workers in essential services were not allowed to strike.
The Government, management, and unions negotiated national minimum
wages in tripartite talks. Branch unions for particular industries
negotiated with management and the ministries responsible for that
industry. Tripartite negotiations could, and often did, set wages
higher than the national minimum, particularly in profitable
industries. At the enterprise level, union and management negotiated
wages directly and could set wages higher than negotiators at the
industry level. Arbitration committees typically settled workplace
labor disputes. If an arbitration committee failed to settle a dispute,
it could be taken to the Court of Appeals. Court decisions involving
salary restitution or hiring/promotion practices were not implemented
in all cases.
Government workers and workers in essential services such as health
care and energy do not have the right to strike; the law provides for
arbitration of disputes in these sectors with court mediation as a
final option to ensure due process.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for
Employment.--The law sets standards for child labor, including minimum
age for employment, hours of work, and working conditions, and
prohibits the worst forms of child labor; however, the Government did
not effectively enforce these protections. The law provides for 10 to
15 years' imprisonment for persons' involving children in the worst
forms of child labor; under aggravated circumstances, sentences could
be life imprisonment. Child labor was a problem. Due to the poor
economic conditions, children were often sent to work in the fields or
to find other work, and those living in rural areas often assisted in
the agricultural sector.
The minimum age for unrestricted employment was 18 years. Persons
between the ages of 16 and 18 were permitted to work under special
conditions, including shorter workdays, no night shifts, and longer
vacations.
Trafficking in persons, including trafficking of children, remained
a serious problem (see Section 5, Trafficking.)
Efforts to enforce child labor laws were not sufficient to deter
violations. The Labor Inspection Office in the Ministry of Labor and
Social Protection is responsible for investigating possible child labor
violations; however, the office has not uncovered any child labor
violations since its creation in 2002.
In April, the ILO, in cooperation with the Government, established
an international program for the elimination of child labor (IPEC) in
the country. ILO-IPEC developed and began implementing programs to
strengthen local antitrafficking committees, establish community-based
youth centers, train representatives of employers' organizations and
trade unions, promote employment for at-risk youth and parents, and
improve care for child victims of trafficking.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--During the year, the legal
minimum monthly wage was raised to approximately $17 (200 lei) for
public sector employees and to approximately $37 (440 lei) for private
sector employees, neither of which provided a decent standard of living
for a worker and family. The Labor Inspection Office within the
Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is responsible for enforcing
the minimum wage regulation and it opened some administrative cases
against employers who violated it. Due to severe budgetary constraints,
both the Government and private sector employers often did not meet
employee payrolls and, by December, salary arrears in the public sector
amounted to $12.7 million (158 million lei).
The Constitution sets the maximum workweek at 40 hours with extra
compensation for overtime, and the law provides for at least 1 day off
per week.
The Government is required to establish and monitor safety
standards in the workplace. The Labor Inspection Office in the Ministry
of Labor and Social Protection is responsible for enforcing health and
safety standards; however, health and safety standards were not
adequately enforced. Workers have the right to refuse to work if
working conditions represent a serious health threat; however, there
were no reports that workers exercised this right in practice. In
practice, poor economic conditions have led enterprises to economize on
safety equipment and show little concern for worker safety. According
to the Labor Inspection's preliminary data, there were 101 serious
workplace accidents during the year, of which 53 resulted in deaths.
__________
MONACO
Monaco is a constitutional monarchy in which the sovereign Prince
plays a leading role in governing the country. The Prince appoints the
four-member Government, headed by a Minister of State chosen by the
Prince from a list of candidates proposed by France. The other three
members are the Counselor for the Interior (who is usually French), the
Counselor for Public Works and Social Affairs, and the Counselor for
Finance and the Economy. Each is responsible to the Prince. Legislative
power is shared between the Prince and the popularly elected 24-member
National Council. The last National Council election was held in
February 2003 and was considered free and fair. There also are three
consultative bodies whose members are appointed by the Prince: The 7-
member Crown Council; the 12-member Council of State; and the 30-member
Economic Council, which includes representatives of employers and trade
unions. The judiciary is independent.
In addition to the national police force, the ``Carabiniers du
Prince'' carry out security functions. Government officials effectively
controlled the security forces. There were no reports that security
forces committed human rights abuses.
The population was approximately 32,000, and the principal economic
activities were services and banking, light manufacturing, and tourism.
The economy provided residents with a high standard of living.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and the judiciary provide effective means of
dealing with individual instances of abuse. Authority to change the
Government and initiate laws rests with the Prince. The Penal Code
prohibits public denunciations of the ruling family. The Constitution
distinguishes between those rights that are provided for all residents
and those that apply only to the approximately 7,100 residents who hold
Monegasque nationality. Some remnants of legal discrimination against
women persisted, particularly with regard to the transmission of
citizenship.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life by the
Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
Women were held separately from men, and juveniles were held
separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were held separately from
convicted prisoners.
Persons convicted and sentenced are transferred to a French prison
to serve out their prison term.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The primary role of the police is the maintenance of law and order
within the Principality and to ensure the safety of visitors and
citizens alike.
Arrest warrants are required and issued by an appropriate legal
entity, except when a suspect is arrested while committing an offense.
Police must bring detainees before a judge within 24 hours to be
informed of the charges against them and of their rights under the law.
Most detainees are released without bail, but the investigating
magistrate may order detention on grounds that the suspect either might
flee or interfere with the investigation of the case. There is a
functioning bail system, and it was used depending on the type and
severity of the crime. The magistrate may extend the initial 2-month
detention for additional 2-month periods indefinitely. The magistrate
may permit family members to see detainees, and detainees are provided
prompt access to a lawyer.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Under the Constitution, the Prince
delegates his judicial powers to the judiciary. The law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The legal system includes: A Court of First Instance, a Court of
First Appeal, a Higher Court of Appeal, a Criminal Court, and the
Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is composed of 5 chief members and 2
assistant judges named by the Prince on the basis of nominations from
the National Council in conjunction with other governmental bodies. The
Supreme Court is the highest court for judicial appeals and also
interprets the Constitution when necessary. The legal system is closely
related to France's and is patterned after the Napoleonic Code.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and the independent
judiciary generally enforced this right. As under French law, a three-
judge tribunal considers the evidence collected by the investigating
magistrate and hears the arguments made by the prosecuting and defense
attorneys.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights and did not restrict academic freedom; however,
the law prohibits public denunciations of the ruling family, a
provision that the media generally observed.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedom of assembly and association, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice. Roman
Catholicism is the state religion.
No missionaries operated in the principality, and proselytizing was
strongly discouraged. However, there is no law against proselytizing by
religious organizations that are registered formally by the Ministry of
State. Organizations regarded as religious ``sects'' routinely have
been denied such registration; however, there were no reports of
religious organizations being denied registration during year.
There were no reports of anti-Semitic discrimination or violence.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
Residents moved freely within the country and across its open
borders with France. Nationals enjoyed the rights of emigration and
repatriation; however, they can be deprived of their nationality for
specified acts, including naturalization in a foreign country. Only the
Prince can grant or restore nationality, but he is obliged by the
Constitution to consult the Crown Council on each case before deciding.
In light of its bilateral arrangements with France, the Government
does not grant political asylum or refugee status unless the request
also meets French criteria for such cases. The number of such cases was
very small.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system of providing protection to refugees. In practice, the Government
provided some protection against refoulement, the return of persons to
a country where they feared persecution. The Government granted refugee
status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the Office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Authority to change the Government and to initiate laws rests with
the Prince. The Constitution cannot be suspended, but it can be revised
by common agreement between the Prince and the elected National
Council. The last National Council election was held in February 2003
and was considered free and fair. The Prince played an active role in
Government. He names the Minister of State (in effect, the Prime
Minister) from a list of names proposed by the French Government. He
also names the three Counselors of Government (of whom the one
responsible for the interior is usually a French national). Together
the four constitute the Government. Each is responsible to the Prince.
Only the Prince may initiate legislation, but the 24-member
National Council may propose legislation to the Government. All
legislation and the adoption of the budget require the Council's
assent. Elections for National Council members, which are held every 5
years, are based on universal adult suffrage and secret balloting.
The Constitution provides for three consultative bodies. The Prince
on certain questions of national importance must consult the seven-
member Crown Council, composed exclusively of Monegasque nationals. He
may choose to consult it on other matters as well. The President and
three members of the Crown Council are chosen directly by the Prince
for 3-year terms. The three other members are proposed by the National
Council, also for 3-year terms; the Prince then ratifies their
selection.
The 12-member Council of State, which is not restricted to
Monegasque citizens, advises the Prince on proposed legislation and
regulations. The Council of State is presided over by the Director of
Judicial Services, usually a French citizen. The Minister of State
nominates the Director and other members of Judicial Services, and the
Prince ratifies their nominations.
There were no reports of corruption, and the Government provided
free and open access to official information.
One member of the Crown Council, five members of the National
Council, and four members of the Economic Council were women.
Government participation is limited to citizens and French
nationals, and there were no minorities in the Government.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
While the Government imposed no restrictions on the establishment
or operation of local groups devoted to monitoring human rights, there
were no such groups within the Principality. Foreign groups did not
seek to investigate human rights conditions in the country.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides that all nationals are equal before the
law. It differentiates between rights that are accorded to nationals
(including preference in employment, free education, and assistance to
the ill or unemployed) and those accorded to all residents, for
example, freedom of inviolability of the home.
Women.--Reported instances of violence against women were rare. The
law strictly prohibits marital violence, and any wife who is a victim
may bring criminal charges against her husband.
Rape is illegal, and the Government effectively enforced the law in
practice.
Prostitution is legal; however, it was not considered a problem.
Women were represented fairly well in the professions; however,
they were represented less well in business. Women received equal pay
for equal work. The law does not prohibit sexual harassment; however,
there were no reports of sexual harassment.
The law governing transmission of citizenship provides for equality
of treatment between men and women who are nationals by birth; however,
women who acquire Monegasque citizenship by naturalization cannot
transmit it to their children, whereas naturalized male citizens can.
Children.--The Government was committed fully to the protection of
children's rights and welfare and had well-funded public education and
health care programs. The Government provided compulsory, free, and
universal education for children up to the age of 16.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no reports that persons were trafficked
to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law mandates
access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the Government
generally enforced these provisions in practice.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the
right to form or join unions without previous authorization or
excessive requirements, and they exercised this right. Less than 10
percent of workforce was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The right to
organize and bargain collectively was recognized and exercised freely,
and the Government protected this right in practice. The law provides
for the right to strike, and workers generally exercised this right in
practice; however, government workers may not strike. There were no
strikes during the year. There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor including by children, and there
were no reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law and government policy protected children from exploitation in the
workplace, and the Government effectively implemented the law and
policy in practice.
The minimum age for employment is 16 years; those employing
children under that age can be punished under the law. Special
restrictions apply to the hiring, work times, and other conditions of
workers 16 to 18 years old.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage for full-
time work was the French minimum wage, which was $10.27 (7.61 euros)
per hour, plus 5 percent. The 5 percent adjustment was intended to
compensate for the travel costs of the three-quarters of the workforce
who commuted daily from France. The minimum wage provided a decent
standard of living for a worker and family. The legal maximum workweek
was 39 hours.
Health and safety standards are fixed by law and government decree.
These standards were enforced by health and safety committees in the
workplace and by the Government Labor Inspector. Workers have the right
to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without
jeopardizing their employment, and the Government effectively enforced
this right.
__________
THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral
parliamentary legislative system. Parliamentary elections were held in
January 2003. The Prime Minister and a Cabinet representing the
governing political parties (traditionally a coalition of at least two
major parties) exercise executive authority. The judiciary is
independent.
Regional police forces are primarily responsible for maintaining
internal security. The civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control of the security forces. There were no reports that
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The market-based economy was export oriented and featured a mixture
of industry, services, and agriculture. The country's population was
approximately 16.3 million. Living standards and the level of social
benefits were high. Unemployment was approximately 6.2 percent, with an
additional 10 percent of the workforce on full or partial disability.
Long-term unemployment, particularly among ethnic minorities, remained
a problem.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. On November 2, film director
Theo van Gogh was killed in an attack with religious/political motives.
The killing led to instances of violence between the Muslim and non-
Muslim communities, including arson attacks on religious schools,
churches and mosques. Discrimination and some violence against
minorities continued to be a concern. Violence against women and
children was a problem. Trafficking in women and girls for prostitution
was a problem. The Government took steps to deal with all of these
problems, including new legislation, improved social services, public
outreach, and modified administrative procedures.
Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles are two autonomous regions of
the Kingdom; they also feature parliamentary systems and full
constitutional protection of human rights. In practice, respect for
human rights in these islands generally was the same as in the
Netherlands; however, the islands' prison conditions remained
substandard.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
On November 2, film director Theo van Gogh was killed on the street
in a religiously and/or politically motivated attack. Van Gogh was well
known for inflammatory rhetoric and extreme forms of expression in his
art, including criticism of Islamic practices. Police arrested a 26-
year-old Dutch man of Moroccan descent, who was awaiting trial at
year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
There were incidents of rightwing and racist violence against
religious and ethnic minorities. There was an upsurge of attacks
against Muslim and Christian institutions after the November van Gogh
killing (see Section 2.c.).
Prison conditions in the country generally met international
standards, and the Government permitted visits by independent human
rights observers.
Male and female prisoners were held separately. In addition,
juvenile prisoners were held separately from adults, and pretrial
detainees were held separately from convicted criminals.
During the year, the Governments of the Netherlands Antilles and
Aruba improved prison staffing and capacity to address concerns by the
Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
Authorities expanded prison activities, health care, and amenities,
lessening inmate tensions. Prisoners also were eligible for early
release. Both governments took steps to alleviate overcrowding. They
completed renovations at the Rio Canario Detention Center on Curacao
and expanded Aruba's Correctional Institute Aruba (KIA) prison to house
300 prisoners, up from 250. Despite these improvements, problems
remained. On Curacao, illegal immigrants vandalized their barracks in
protest over their treatment. On Aruba, 90 KIA prisoners, including 9
who sewed their mouths shut, held a hunger strike over prison
conditions, including lack of recreational time and poor food. On
Bonaire, the Chief Public Prosecutor ordered the release of a large
number of detainees (mostly drug couriers arrested at the airport) from
the Police Detention Center because of overcrowding and poor
conditions. The Government of the Netherlands continued to provide
assistance to improve prison conditions and management.
The Governments of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba permitted
access by independent human rights observers to prisons; however, no
such visits occurred during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions in practice.
Regional police forces have primary responsibility for maintaining
internal security. The Royal Constabulary and investigative
organizations also have specified responsibilities for internal and
external security. The police were effective, conducting their
investigations in a highly professional manner with due respect for the
human rights of suspects. There were no indications of systematic
police corruption or imputations of widespread improprieties. However,
at year's end, the military police, which is responsible for Amsterdam
Schiphol airport and border control generally, acknowledged that it had
been investigating credible allegations of drug trafficking and
corruption involving baggage handlers, customs personnel, and shop
personnel at Schiphol Airport. At year's end, 18 employees of private
organizations working at Schiphol had been prosecuted and were awaiting
a final court verdict.
Police officers, acting under the authority of the public
prosecutor, conduct criminal investigations. A prosecutor or senior
police officer must order arrests. Police officers may question
suspects for a maximum of 12 hours and may detain a suspect for up to 6
days upon an order of the public prosecutor. If the prosecutor believes
an investigation is necessary, he must request a preliminary judicial
inquiry from the investigative judge, who then assumes responsibility
over the investigation. Defense attorneys have the right to be present
during any questioning.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system is based on the Napoleonic Code. A pyramidal
system of cantonal, district, and appellate courts handles both
criminal and civil cases. The Supreme Court acts as the highest
appellate court and ensures the uniform interpretation of the law.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right. The law requires that
defendants be informed fully at every stage of criminal proceedings. In
criminal trials, the law provides for a presumption of innocence and
the right to public trial, to counsel (virtually free for low-income
persons), and to appeal. There is no provision for bail.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Government provided subsidies to religious organizations
that maintained educational facilities.
In its latest report covering the period between May 2003 and May,
the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel registered 334
anti-Semitic incidents, compared to 359 in 2002, the first decrease
(7.5 percent) in anti-Semitic incidents since 2000. In addition, the
number of serious incidents (physical violence, threat with violence,
and defacing of cemeteries and synagogues) decreased by 40 percent.
Provisional statistics covering the first 4 months of the year
confirmed this trend. A considerable number of offenders were of North
African origin.
The National Expertise Center for Discrimination dealt with cases
of discrimination that come under criminal law, registering all
criminal cases in this area. In 2002 and 2003, the joint prosecutor
offices recorded 242 and 204 discrimination cases respectively, of
which about a quarter concerned cases of anti-Semitism. Although the
Government has repeatedly condemned any form of anti-Semitism, it
rejected a 2003 request from Parliament for a separate policy designed
to combat anti-Semitism, noting that it presented a comprehensive
action plan in 2002 to combat any form of discrimination.
In the two weeks following the November 2 public killing of film
director Theo van Gogh by a Dutch man of Moroccan descent, unknown
persons carried out upwards of 30 arson attacks against mosques, Muslim
schools, churches, and other property. For example, on November 8,
unknown persons firebombed the Tariq Ibnu Zyad Islamic elementary
school in Eindhoven. On November 9, unknown persons burned an Islamic
elementary school in the town of Uden and left writing on the school
walls linking the crime to the Van Gogh killing; on the same day, there
were arson attacks on churches in Utrecht and Amersfoort. By year's
end, there had been 12 arrests of suspects allegedly belonging to a
terrorist organization, including six from a criminal/terrorist cell
linked to the murder of Van Gogh.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. The Government cooperated
with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers were permitted to apply for residence status, except
those who came from a so-called safe country of origin or stayed for
some time in a safe country of transit. The Government's asylum policy
was designed to protect genuine refugees while excluding economic
migrants and illegal immigrants. The Government pursues an active
policy aimed at returning screened-out asylum seekers and illegal
immigrants to their home country and offers assistance to those
prepared to return voluntarily. It provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
prosecution. In August, Amnesty International criticized the Government
for returning persons to Somalia where it claimed two were killed;
however, the Government rejected any causal link between their
expulsion and subsequent violent death.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. These constitutional rights also apply to the
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.
Parliamentary elections were held in January 2003.
The law requires the executive branch to provide full information
on administrative matters unless publication of such information runs
counter to the public interest. Exceptions are clearly defined, and
administrative courts review any dispute.
There were no restrictions in law or in practice that hindered the
participation of women and minorities in government and politics. There
were 60 women in the 150-seat Second Chamber of Parliament, and there
were 5 female ministers in the 16-member Cabinet. The Government
pursued an active policy of promoting the participation of women in
politics and public administration. Women also held positions in the
parliaments and cabinets of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.
There were approximately 15 members of minorities--Turkish,
Moroccan, Iranian, Surinamese, and Somali--in the 150-seat Second
Chamber of Parliament. There were no ethnic minority political parties
or movements specifically represented in Parliament.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Several domestic and international human rights groups generally
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were very
cooperative and responsive to their views.
The Government has a long tradition of hosting international legal
tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the
headquarters of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
gender, disability, language, social status, political preference, or
sexual orientation. Under the Equal Treatment Act, complainants may sue
alleged offenders under civil law.
Women.--Domestic violence against women was a problem. According to
a 2004 Justice Ministry report, more than 15 percent of women had been
sexually abused by relatives before reaching the age of 16; 11 percent
of women ages 20 to 60, mainly from ethnic minority groups, had
suffered from physical violence in a relationship over a long period of
time. Only about 12 percent of cases were reported to the police. The
maximum sentence for marital rape is 8 years' imprisonment. Spousal
abuse carries a one-third higher penalty than ordinary battery. During
the year, approximately 800 men were prosecuted for beating their
partners. Societal costs caused by violence against women were
estimated at $202 million (150 million euros) per year.
In 2003, the Justice Ministry opened a special website on domestic
violence with information for victims and welfare organizations. In
July, the Government established a national network of advisory and
assistance centers for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence
and allocated $10.5 million (7.8 million euros) for the period through
2007, and $4.1 million (3 million euros) in the years thereafter. The
Government also decided to build more shelters for battered women.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is prohibited. According to a
current report from the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare, and Sport,
there are no reliable figures on the scale of the problem, especially
of immigrant girls who undergo FGM in their countries of origin and
return to the country. In April, the Government established a special
FGM committee to advise on the complex legal, ethical, human rights,
medical, and social questions surrounding prevention and monitoring
measures. The FGM committee is expected to release its report in March
2005.
Prostitution is legal for persons who are at least 18 years of age
and engage in the work voluntarily; however, organizing the
prostitution of another person is a crime even if done with the consent
of the prostitute. It is illegal to force a person into prostitution.
The Government has strict licensing standards for brothel operators and
has improved working conditions and health care for prostitutes, while
at the same time prohibiting the employment of minors and illegal
immigrants and making prostitution less susceptible to criminal
organizations. Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation remained a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). There were approximately 25,000
prostitutes; roughly two-thirds were from non-European Union (EU)
countries.
The law requires employers to take measures to protect workers from
sexual harassment; however, a study by the Applied Science Research
Institute's labor division showed that 5.3 percent of female workers
were sexually intimidated in the workplace in 2003. The Government
funded an ongoing public awareness campaign and has taken measures to
counter harassment among civil servants.
The law mandates equal pay for equal work, prohibits dismissal
because of marriage, pregnancy, or motherhood, and provides equal
treatment in other employment-related areas. There is an Equal
Treatment Commission that investigated complaints of discrimination in
these areas as well as allegations of pay discrimination.
Although women increasingly entered the job market, traditional
cultural factors and an inadequate number of daycare facilities
discouraged women from working. Female unemployment was approximately 7
percent. The social welfare and national health systems provided
considerable assistance to workingwomen with families. Women were
eligible for 16 weeks of maternity leave with full pay. The law allows
both parents to take unpaid full-time leave for 3 months and to extend
that leave for more than 6 months to care for children up to 8 years of
age. Persons working fewer than 20 hours per week also were entitled to
parental leave.
The Social Affairs Ministry reported that women often were
underemployed, had less chance of promotion, and held lower level
positions than men, primarily because of their part-time work status.
According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, women
working in the private sector on average earned 23 percent less than
men, although, when adjusted for level of experience and expertise
required for the jobs, this differential fell to 7 percent.
The Government provided affirmative action programs for women, and
collective labor agreements usually included provisions to strengthen
the position of women.
Children.--The Government worked to ensure the well being of
children through numerous well-funded health, education, and public
information programs. Compulsory education ends at age 16, or after at
least 12 years of education. Education was free for children between
the ages of 4 and 16, although schools could ask for a voluntary
contribution from parents. Vocational education was also free, except
for the cost of books and materials. Approximately 10 percent of
students left secondary school before attaining a certificate.
Government-licensed Islamic schools were obliged to follow the same
curriculum requirements as other schools.
Child abuse was a problem. According to the Child Abuse Reporting
and Advisory Center (AMK), approximately 50,000-80,000 children were
victims of child abuse each year, although only 28,000 formal reports
of abuse were registered in 2003, about 13 percent more than in 2002.
Approximately 50 children reportedly die each year as a result of
abuse. According to the AMK, a national child abuse information
campaign, which began in December 2003, led to increased reports of
victims, and therefore, longer waiting lists for assistance. The
Council for the Protection of Children, which operated through the
Ministry of Justice, enforced child support orders, investigated cases
of child abuse, and recommended remedies ranging from counseling to
withdrawal of parental rights. The Government also maintained a popular
hotline for children and a network of pediatricians who tracked
suspected cases of child abuse on a confidential basis.
The age of consent is 16. Sexual intercourse with minors under age
12 is a criminal offense. The law provides for the prosecution of
sexual abusers of children between the ages of 12 and 16 without
requiring that affected parties file a complaint. The law provides
maximum penalties of 6, 8, and 10 years' imprisonment for sex (in the
context of prostitution) with minors under the ages of 18, 16, and 12,
respectively. Under the law, citizens and noncitizens permanent
residence in the country who abused minor children in foreign countries
could be tried and convicted even if the offense is not a crime in the
country where it took place.
The maximum penalty for the distribution of child pornography is 6
years' imprisonment. The law allows for provisional arrest, house
searches, and criminal financial investigations of child pornography.
The possession of child pornography is also punishable by law. Under
the law, persons under the age of 18 are not allowed to perform in
pornographic films. The law also criminalizes the electronic
manipulation of images of children for sexual purposes. The Government
continued its campaign against child pornography on the Internet. The
Child Porn Reporting Center and the national police reported 6,000
cases of Internet child pornography in 2003, down from 6,119 reports in
2002. In 2003, approximately 100 child pornography cases were
prosecuted, compared to 80 in 2002 and 30 in 2001.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law criminalizes alien smuggling and
trafficking in persons; however, trafficking in persons was a problem.
Legislation became effective on January 1, 2005 raising the maximum
sentence for trafficking in persons to 12 years' imprisonment in case
of serious physical injury and 15 years' imprisonment in case of death,
which is commensurate with penalties for other grave crimes (i.e. rape)
and in conformity with U.N. and EU protocols. The law also expands the
definition of people trafficking to all forms of modern slavery. It
defines exploitation as ``exploitation of another in prostitution,
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced or compulsory labor or
services, slavery and practices that can be compared to slavery or
bondage.'' The law prohibits the employment of prostitutes under the
age of 18.
In 2003, authorities prosecuted approximately 189 trafficking
cases, compared to 165 in 2002. In February, an Alkmaar district court
imposed prison sentences varying from 3.5 to 12 years on 4 men
suspected of having trafficked 3 East European women into the country
for prostitution. In May, the Lelystad police arrested three men and
two women for having lured African women from Brussels to the country,
where they were forced to work as prostitutes and act in pornographic
videos. In June, the Friesland police arrested two men and one Romanian
woman suspected of having trafficked East European women. In July, The
Hague police arrested 6 persons, and the Alkmaar police arrested the
owner of an escort service suspected of having exploited minors. In
August, the Rotterdam court sentenced 3 persons to 3 to 21 months'
imprisonment for having lured 2 girls into prostitution. All these
cases were still pending in court at year's end.
The Government actively combated trafficking in persons. The
Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Welfare and
Health, and Social Affairs were involved, and a number of local police
forces established special units to deal with trafficking. A National
Police team with authority over approximately 500 police focused
exclusively on trafficking investigations and provided specialized
training to police in the identification and protection of possible
trafficking victims. The National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons,
an independent, publicly funded agency, reported annually to the
Government on the nature, extent, and mechanisms of trafficking as well
as on the effects of national policies. Authorities participated in
international investigations and set up a Joint Investigation Team with
the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, and the European Police Agency
(Europol) to combat trafficking in persons in Bulgaria. The Government
also cooperated closely with other governments on trafficking, and
Europol, established in The Hague, provided analytical support and
administrative expertise to law enforcement agencies on trafficking
matters.
The country was a destination and transit point for trafficked
persons. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the police estimated
that the number of women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual
exploitation ranged from 1,000 to 3,600. The Foundation against
Trafficking in Women registered 257 victims in 2003, of whom 134 came
from Central and Eastern Europe; lesser numbers came from African
countries, primarily Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and from South America,
China and Thailand. In 2002, the Rapporteur reported that 625
trafficking victims contacted organizations offering assistance to
victims.
Trafficking within the country was also a problem. The National
Rapporteur reported that of approximately 55 police investigations, 24
percent related to internal trafficking. The victims were young, mostly
immigrant girls, who were recruited internally by so-called ``lover
boys,'' primarily young Moroccans or Turks living in the country, who
lured them into prostitution. In July, the Government announced an
action plan to step up the fight against this specific problem. Various
organizations and local governments initiated specific assistance and
prevention programs for potential victims of ``lover boys.''
The Government effectively eliminated from refugee centers the
disappearances of single underage asylum seekers, who were later found
in the illegal prostitution business, by tightening immigration
regulations and controls and security at refugee centers.
A 2003 report of the Foundation Against Trafficking in Women listed
Bulgaria, Nigeria, Romania, Brazil, and Russia as the top five
originating countries for women trafficked to the country. Of the 257
victims registered in 2003, approximately 20 were under age 18.
According to the reports by the National Rapporteur and the police,
practically all trafficked women are forced to work in the illegal
prostitution sector.
Under the law, illegal residents, who may have been victims of
trafficking, may not be deported before investigations are completed.
Victims are allowed 3 months to consider pressing charges, and victims
who did so were allowed to stay in the country until the judicial
process was completed. During this period, victims received legal,
financial, and psychological assistance. In special circumstances,
residence permits were granted on humanitarian grounds. After
completion of the judicial process, illegal prostitutes were eligible
for temporary financial assistance before returning to their native
countries.
The Government subsidized NGOs working with trafficking victims,
including the Dutch Foundation Against Trafficking in Women, an
independent organization offering social support, legal advice, medical
aid, shelters, and counseling to victims.
The Justice Ministry co-financed the La Strada program, aimed at
preventing trafficking in women in Central and East European countries.
Other prevention initiatives included the Travel Agents' Association
distribution of warnings about trafficking and sex with minors and
public awareness campaigns aimed at tourists and travel agencies meant
to deter sexual exploitation of children.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services; however, according
to the Dutch Council for Chronic Patients and the Handicapped, public
buildings and public transport often were not easily accessible.
Approximately 10 percent of the work force was on full or partial
disability. The Equal Treatment Act of Handicapped People and the
Chronically Ill, which became effective in May, requires the equal
treatment of persons with disabilities and those who suffer from
chronic diseases. The law bans discrimination against persons with
disabilities in employment, education, and public transport. Complaints
may be filed with the Equal Treatment Committee.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Approximately 20 percent of the
population (3 million persons) is of foreign origin, including 1.6
million who belong to ethnic minority groups, principally Turkish,
Moroccan, Surinamese, and Antillean.
Following the November 2 killing of film director Theo Van Gogh by
a Dutch man of Moroccan decent, there was a brief upsurge of incidents,
mostly minor but also including a dozen or so instances of arson
attacks against property both of the minority Muslim community and
Christian churches. There were numerous minor incidents, including
intimidations, brawls, vandalism, and spraying of abusive texts, almost
all of which ended by December.
Incidents of physical assault against minorities were rare, but
such minorities frequently were confronted with verbal abuse and
intimidation and were denied access to public venues, such as
discotheques.
Members of immigrant groups faced some discrimination in housing
and employment. The Government has worked for several years with
employers' groups and unions to reduce minority unemployment levels to
the national average. Despite these actions, unemployment among ethnic
minorities appeared to be growing again to more than 10 percent. The
minority unemployment rate remained 3 times that of the ethnically
Dutch workforce.
The Government pursued an active campaign to increase public
awareness of racism and discrimination. Civil and criminal courts, the
Equal Opportunities Committee, the National Ombudsman, the Commercial
Code Council, as well as the Council for Journalism, the European Court
of Justice, and the European Human Rights Court addressed complaints
about racism and discrimination. The majority of criminal cases
concerned racist defamation. Civil lawsuits often concern
discrimination in the supply of services, such as supplemental
conditions for nonethnic Dutch persons to obtain a mobile phone or to
gain access to clubs. The Equal Opportunities Committee primarily
addresses incidents of discrimination in the labor market, including
discrimination on the work floor, unequal pay, termination of labor
contracts, and preferential treatment of non-ethnic employees. There
was societal criticism of Muslims for such perceived problems as the
poor integration of Muslim immigrants into society, the high level of
criminal activity among Muslim youth, and the conservative views of
orthodox Muslims on topics such as women and corporal punishment.
The police have a contact person for discrimination in each of the
25 regional police forces, a National Bureau of Discrimination Cases
(which acts as a clearing house and database for police forces
nationwide), and a national registration system of cases of racism and
discrimination to provide a comprehensive database of such cases.
The Prosecutor's Office also has established a National Expertise
Center on Discrimination that collects information, maintains a
database on cases, and provides courses to prosecutors handling cases
of discrimination. The government-sponsored National Association of
Anti-Discrimination Bureaus registered approximately 3,600 complaints
in 2003, two-thirds of which were based on racial discrimination. The
number of complaints was about 9 percent lower than in 2002.
With the proliferation of Internet websites, the dissemination of
racial and discriminatory material increased. The Discrimination on the
Internet Registration Center registered 1242 complaints compared to
1496 statements on the Internet in 2003, a slight increase over 2002. A
reported 649 statements concerned racist statements, and 514 were anti-
Semitic in nature. The Center observed a sharp increase in anti-Muslim
and anti-Semitic statements on ultra rightwing sites such as the new
Nazi ``Stormfront'' website. The Government argued that it could not
take action against ``Stormfront'' because it used a foreign Internet
service provider. In other cases, the Center requested the drafters of
statements on Dutch sites to remove them from Internet, which usually
happened. In the few cases in which drafters refused to do so, the
Internet service provider either issued a warning at the Center's
request or blocked the customer's account. A handful of the most
serious cases were reported to the public prosecutor, but convictions
remained rare.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Homosexuals increasingly
faced harassment by pockets of mainly Muslim youth in the larger
cities. The Government started an information campaign to counter
homophobia among Muslim youth.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--Workers are entitled to form or join
unions of their own choosing without prior government authorization,
and workers exercised this right in practice. Membership in labor
unions is open to all workers including armed forces personnel, the
police, and civil service employees.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The Constitution provides
for the right to organize, and specific laws provide for the right to
collective bargaining; workers exercised this right in practice. The
law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised this right
in practice, except for most civil servants, who have other
institutionalized means of protection and redress. There are no export
processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment is 16 years. Those in school at the age of
16 may not work more than 8 hours per week. The law prohibits persons
under the age of 18 from working overtime, at night, or in areas
dangerous to their physical or mental well-being. The tripartite Labor
Commission, which monitored hiring practices and conducts inspections,
enforced these laws effectively.
Holiday work and after school jobs are subject to very strict rules
set by law. The Social Ministry's Labor Inspection Office oversaw
observance of the rules. Although child labor is prohibited, an
increasing number of children worked for pay during holidays. Labor
inspectors reported on the parents of such children, and the Public
Prosecutor could prosecute the parents for violating the prohibition on
child labor. In 2004, labor inspections found that 28 percent of
companies violated the regulations applying to holiday work, including
by employing children under the age of 13.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage for adults is
established by law and may be adjusted every 6 months to reflect
changes in the cost of living index. The minimum wage and social
benefits available to minimum wage earners provided an adequate
standard of living for a worker and family.
The law sets a 40-hour workweek. The average workweek was 30.6
hours (38.7 hours for full-time and 20 hours for part-time workers).
Anyone working more than 4.5 hours per day was entitled to a 30-minute
break.
Working conditions, including comprehensive occupational safety and
health standards set by law and regulations, were monitored actively
and enforced effectively by the tripartite Labor Commission. The
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs also monitored standards through
its Labor Inspectorate. Workers could remove themselves from dangerous
work conditions without jeopardizing their continued employment.
__________
NORWAY
Norway is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
with King Harald V as the head of state. It is governed by a prime
minister, cabinet, and a 165-seat Storting (Parliament) that is elected
every 4 years and cannot be dissolved. Free and fair elections to the
modified unicameral Storting were held in September 2001. The judiciary
is independent.
The national police have primary responsibility for internal
security. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the
security forces. There were no reports that security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The country, which is an advanced industrial state with a mixed
economy combining private and public ownership that provides a high
standard of living for residents, had a population of approximately 4.5
million. The key industries were oil and gas, metals, engineering,
shipbuilding, fishing, and manufacturing. The economy was characterized
by low unemployment and labor shortages in many sectors.
The Government generally respected the rights of its citizens, and
the law and the judiciary provided effective means of addressing
individual instances of abuse.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were
no reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers;
however, there were no such visits during the year.
Men and women were held separately. Juveniles were not held
separately from adults; however, it was extremely rare for juveniles to
be held in prison, and social welfare authorities generally cared for
them. Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The national police have primary responsibility for internal
security; however, in times of crisis, such as internal disorder or
natural catastrophe, the police may call on the armed forces for
assistance. In such circumstances, the armed forces are under police
authority.
The law requires warrants for arrests, and police arrested a person
based on a warrant authorized by a prosecutor. Police must file charges
within 4 hours against detained persons. An arrested suspect must be
arraigned within 24 hours, at which time the arraigning judge
determines whether the accused should be held in custody or released
pending trial. Arrested persons were allowed prompt access to a lawyer
of their choosing or, if they could not afford one, to an attorney
appointed by the Government.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The court system consists of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court
Appellate Court, superior courts, county courts for criminal cases,
magistrate courts for civil cases, and claims courts. Special courts
include the Impeachment Court (composed of parliamentarians), the labor
court, trusteeship courts, fishery courts, and land ownership severance
courts.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
Trials are public and juries are used. Charges are stated clearly
and formally, and there is a presumption of innocence. All defendants
have the right to be present, to have counsel (at public expense if
needed), to confront witnesses, to present evidence, and to appeal.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibit such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The state church is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway,
which is supported financially by the Government and to which 86
percent of the population nominally belongs. The Constitution requires
that the King and at least one-half of the Cabinet belong to this
church. Public debate on the relationship between church and state
continued during the year. Other denominations operated freely.
A religious community is required to register with the Government
only if it desires state support, which is provided to all registered
denominations on a proportional basis in accordance with membership.
The law provides that the subject ``religious knowledge and
education in ethics'' be taught in public schools. The course covers
world religions and philosophy and promotes tolerance and respect for
all religious beliefs; however, the course devotes the most time to
Christianity. The course is mandatory, and there are no exceptions for
children of other faiths; students may be exempted from participating
in or performing specific religious acts such as church services or
prayer, but they may not forgo instruction in the subject as a whole.
Organizations for atheists as well as Muslim communities have contested
the legality of forced religious teaching. The Supreme Court reaffirmed
the law in 2001. Schools provided a standard form to parents to request
exemptions for their children from parts of the class, and some
students reportedly availed themselves of the exemption. The Norwegian
Humanist Association also lodged a complaint about the law with the
U.N. Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). In November, the UNHRC ruled
against the law.
The Workers' Protection and Working Environment Act permits
prospective employers to ask applicants for employment in private or
religious schools and day care centers whether they will respect and
teach Christian beliefs and principles.
In 2003, the majority of the approximately 40 reported anti-Semitic
incidents involved verbal harassment of primary and secondary Jewish
students by non-Jewish students. A small number of incidents in 2003
involved threats against Jewish persons. However, during the year,
anecdotal evidence from Jewish organizations suggests that there was a
marked decrease in the level of verbal harassment. There were no
reports of anti-Semitic violence or vandalism.
The Government is vigilant in fighting anti-Semitism and promoting
religious tolerance. In April, Prime Minister Bondevik met with two
Jewish children who had been harassed because of their religion and, at
the conclusion of the meeting, issued a strong statement condemning
anti-Semitism and calling on the public to fight anti-Semitism more
actively.
In the past, Muslims have encountered some difficulties in
obtaining local permission to build mosques in areas where they are
concentrated. Since 1975, the town council in Drammen had regularly
turned down applications to build a mosque. However, during the year,
the Muslim community in Drammen received permission to build a mosque.
No other problems with permission to construct mosques have been
reported.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement, Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation.--The
law provides for these rights, and the Government generally respected
them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who
may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
During the year, the Government granted refugee status to approximately
1,000 claimants for their physical protection and to an additional 620
persons for humanitarian reasons.
The Government required asylum seekers to make their claims in
``safe countries'' through which they traveled. During the year, the
Government implemented a ``fast track'' system for processing asylum
claims from nationals of ``safe countries'' within 48 hours of
application. Persons were not excluded from consideration for asylum
because they were from a ``safe country.''
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: Citizens' Right to Change
Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Elections to the Storting were held in September
2001.
The law provided for public access to government information, and
the Government provided it in practice.
There were no restrictions in law or practice on women's
participation in government and politics. There were 57 women in the
165-seat Storting; women headed 8 of the 19 government ministries.
There was only 1 minority member of the 165-seat Storting and none
in the 19-member Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were very cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
disability, language, or social status, and the Government generally
enforced this prohibition in practice.
Women.--Societal violence against women was a problem. In 2003,
there were 87 rape convictions. The police believed that increases in
reported rapes and domestic abuse were due largely to greater
willingness among women to report these crimes. The police investigated
and prosecuted such crimes and also have instituted special programs to
prevent rape and domestic violence and to counsel victims. Public and
private organizations ran several shelters. Each of the country's 19
counties had a number of such shelters. In 2003, the country's shelters
registered 48,619 overnight stays by 2,498 women.
Prostitution is legal, but organized prostitution or ``pimping'' is
illegal. Foreign women comprised at least 50 percent of the country's
prostitutes.
The Gender Equality Ombudsman--charged with enforcing the Gender
Equality Act--processed complaints of sexual discrimination. In 2003,
there were 476 complaints and 476 telephone inquiries to the ombudsman;
women filed approximately 50 percent of the complaints, men filed 30
percent, organizations filed 15 percent, and the ombudsman's office
directly filed 5 percent. The ombudsman was generally effective in
processing and investigating complaints.
An amendment to the Working Environment Act provides that
``employees shall not be subjected to harassment or other unseemly
behavior.'' Employers that violate these provisions, including the
harassment clause, are subject to fines or prison sentences of up to 2
years, depending on the seriousness of the offense.
The law protects the rights of women and provides that women and
men engaged in the same activity shall have equal wages for work of
equal value. According to the Gender Equality Ombudsman's office, which
monitors enforcement of the law, women generally received 10 to 15
percent less pay and benefits than men for equal work.
In 2003, the Storting passed a resolution that mandates that 40
percent of publicly listed companies' directorships be held by women by
2005. Starting in 2007, the Government will penalize non-complying
companies by removing them from the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Children.--The Government is strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of education and medical
care. The Government provides free education for children through the
postsecondary level. Education is compulsory for 10 years, or through
the ninth grade; most children stay in school at least until the age of
18. An independent Children's Ombudsman Office, within the Ministry of
Children and Families, is responsible for the protection of children
under the law.
During the year, authorities reported 1,948 child visits to abuse
shelters.
Trafficking in Persons.--The country was a destination for an
unspecified but believed to be small number of women trafficked for the
purpose of prostitution, particularly from Russia, Eastern Europe, and
the Baltic states.
The maximum sentence for trafficking in persons is 10 years'
imprisonment. Traffickers can also be charged with violating pimping,
immigration, and other laws. During the year, there were no
prosecutions for such offenses; however, the Government charged a
number of persons in connection with two major trafficking
investigations that were ongoing at year's end. In one of these two
investigations, authorities collaborated with their German
counterparts, who arrested two persons in May. The Government has
requested their extradition. The case was in the pretrial phase at
year's end.
In 2003, the Government allocated $15 million (NOK 100 million)
over a 3-year period to prevention, prosecution, and protection
programs under its National Action Plan Against Trafficking. The
Ministry of Justice and Police is responsible for coordinating
implementation of the action plan.
Foreign victims of trafficking have the same legal rights as other
foreigners to apply for residency, asylum, welfare, social aid, and
emergency health care. The Government, in cooperation with public
services, a crisis center, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), is
responsible for assisting possible victims of trafficking. In 2003, the
Government implemented a ``reflection period,'' during which expulsion
decisions concerning victims of trafficking may be suspended for 45
days to provide time for practical assistance and counseling to the
individuals concerned.
Government officials provided for public awareness of trafficking
by raising the issue in a number of speeches and other forums. NGOs
conducted outreach programs to provide trafficking victims with
information on their legal rights and available health and other
services.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law mandates
access to public buildings for persons with disabilities, and the
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice.
Indigenous People.--The Government has taken steps to protect the
rights of the indigenous Sami by providing Sami language instruction at
schools in their areas, radio and television programs broadcast or
subtitled in Sami, and subsidies for newspapers and books oriented
toward the Sami. A deputy minister in the Ministry of Local Government
and Regional Affairs deals specifically with Sami issues.
In addition to participating freely in the national political
process, the Sami elect their own constituent assembly, the Sameting.
Under the law establishing the 39-seat body, the Sameting is a
consultative group, which meets regularly to deal with ``all matters,
which in [its] opinion are of special importance to the Sami people.''
In practice, the Sameting has been most interested in protecting the
group's language and culture and in influencing decisions on resources
and lands where Sami are a majority. A report on the activity of the
Sameting is submitted to the Storting annually, and every 4 years a
report on the main principles of Sami policy is presented to the
Storting.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and
join unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive
requirements, and workers exercised these rights in practice.
Approximately 60 percent of the workforce was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--All workers,
including government employees and military personnel, have and
exercised the right to organize and bargain collectively. The law
provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised this right in
practice; however, the Government has the right, with the approval of
the Storting, to invoke compulsory arbitration under certain
circumstances. During the year, the Government invoked compulsory
arbitration twice, once in response to a North Sea oilrig workers
strike and once in response to a transportation strike.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Children 13 to 18 years of age may be employed part-time in light work
that will not affect adversely their health, development, or schooling.
Minimum age rules were observed in practice and enforced by the
Directorate of Labor Inspections (DLI).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no legislated or
specified minimum wage, but wages normally fall within a national scale
negotiated by labor, employers, and the Government at the local and
company level. During the year, wages increased by approximately 4
percent. The average daily wage provided a decent standard of living
for a worker and family.
The law limits the normal workweek to 37 hours and provides for 25
working days of paid leave per year (31 days for those over age 60).
The law mandates a 28-hour rest period on weekends and holidays.
The law provides for safe and physically acceptable working
conditions for all employed persons. Specific standards are set by the
DLI in consultation with nongovernmental experts. Under the law,
environment committees composed of management, workers, and health
personnel must be established in all enterprises with 50 or more
workers, and safety delegates must be elected in all organizations.
Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations that
endanger their health. The DLI effectively monitored compliance with
labor legislation and standards.
__________
POLAND
Poland is a multiparty democracy with a bicameral parliament.
Executive power is shared by the Prime Minister, the Council of
Ministers, and, to a lesser extent, the President. Alexander
Kwasniewski was reelected President in a 2000 election. The social
democratic Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) continued in a minority
coalition government with the Union of Labor. The judiciary is
independent; however, it was inefficient.
Local police, a national office of investigation, and city guards
(uniformed, unarmed officers) maintain internal security. The Minister
of Interior oversees the internal security forces. The civilian
Minister of Defense has command and control authority over the military
chief of the general staff as well as oversight of military
intelligence. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the
security forces. There were no reports that security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The country continued its transition from a centrally planned to a
market economy and had a population of approximately 39 million. The
primary sectors of the economy were services, industry and
manufacturing, and construction. The gross domestic product growth rate
was estimated at 5.7 percent. Wages kept pace with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Prison conditions
remained generally poor. Lengthy pretrial detention occurred
occasionally. The court system was hampered by a cumbersome legal
process, poor administration, and an inadequate budget, and court
decisions frequently were not implemented. The Government maintained
some restrictions in law and in practice on freedom of speech and of
the press. Women continued to experience serious discrimination in the
labor market and were subject to various legal inequities. Child
prostitution was a problem. There were reports of some societal
discrimination and violence against ethnic minorities. Some employers
violated worker rights, particularly in the growing private sector, and
antiunion discrimination persisted. Trafficking in women and children
was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, in May, police shot two persons in riots that followed a
soccer game in Lodz, killing a 19-year-old man and injuring a 23-year-
old woman. The police claimed they accidentally used live ammunition
instead of rubber bullets to quell the disturbance. Several area police
officials resigned as a result of the incident.
In May, the retrial of former Interior Minister Czeslaw Kiszczak
for his role in the 1981 killings at the Wujek mine concluded. He was
found guilty and sentenced to a 4-year prison sentence, which was later
reduced to a 2-year suspended sentence.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions remained generally poor. Overcrowding and
insufficiency of medical treatment were the chief problems in a prison
system that urgently needed additional funding.
In May, prison inmates in Wroclaw and Poznan staged a 3-day hunger
strike to protest crowded cells and demand better food and medical
care. The protest ended peacefully, but with no resolution of the
grievances.
The Ombudsman for Human Rights continued to complain about the
safety of prisoners, noting that inmates were often the victims of
violent attacks by other prisoners and wardens. The ratio of prisoners
to rehabilitation officers was very poor.
Women, who constituted 2 percent of the prison population, were
held in 21 detention facilities, 5 of which were only for women. In the
remaining 16 facilities, inmates were segregated by gender. Convicted
minors (defined as 15- to 17-year-olds) were segregated from the adult
prison population. Juveniles (17- to 21-year-olds) accused of serious
crimes were usually sent to pretrial detention.
Juveniles were generally separated from adults; however, in
accordance with the law, at times juveniles and adults were housed
together. According to the Prison Service Central Administration, there
were no reported cases of an adult abusing a juvenile in mixed adult-
juvenile detention.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent human rights
organizations. During the year, the Human Rights Ombudsman monitored 21
detention facilities, and the Helsinki Foundation visited 7 detention
centers; some of these visits were unannounced.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The police force, consisting of 100,000 employees, is a national
body with regional and municipal units. While the public generally
regarded the police positively, low-level corruption within the police
force was considered widespread. Instances of corruption and serious
criminal misconduct were investigated by the National Police's office
of internal affairs. The personnel division handled minor disciplinary
offenses. There was also concern over the extent to which political
pressure was brought to bear on the police. In October 2003, national
police commander Antoni Kowalczyk resigned after it was revealed that
he had changed his testimony during the investigation into the
``Starachowice affair,'' a corruption scandal in which senior officials
alerted suspects to an impending raid by the national police's Central
Bureau of Investigation. In October, the prosecutor's office in Rzeszow
charged Kowalczyk with failing to report the improper release of
classified information and with perjury. Two parliamentary officials
and a former Deputy Interior Minister were charged with obstructing
justice in this affair. Their trial concluded in late December, and a
verdict was expected in early 2005.
The law allows a 48-hour detention period before authorities are
required to bring a defendant before a court and an additional 24 hours
for the court to decide whether to issue a pretrial detention order.
Defendants and detainees may consult with attorneys during their
detention and before and during court proceedings. Bail was available,
and most detainees were released on bail pending trial.
Detainees may be held in pretrial detention for up to 3 months and
may challenge the legality of an arrest by appeal to the district
court. The court may extend the pretrial detention period every 6 to 12
months, but total detention time before the court issues a first
sentence may not exceed 2 years. Under certain circumstances, however,
the Supreme Court may extend the 2-year period.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice; however, the judiciary remained inefficient and
lacked resources and public confidence.
There is a four-tiered court and prosecutorial structure. The
courts consist of regional, provincial, and appellate divisions, as
well as a Supreme Court. These tiers are subdivided further into five
parts: Military, civil, criminal, labor, and family. Regional courts
try original cases, while appellate courts are charged solely with
appeals. Provincial courts have a dual responsibility, handling appeals
from regional courts while enjoying original jurisdiction for the most
serious offenses. Appellate courts handle appeals tried at the
provincial level; the Supreme Court only handles appeals on questions
of law. The prosecutorial system mirrors the court structure with
national, provincial, appellate, and regional offices. Criminal cases
are tried in regional and provincial courts by a panel consisting of a
professional judge and two lay assessors. The seriousness of the
offense determines which court has original jurisdiction.
Judges are nominated by the National Judicial Council and appointed
by the President. They are appointed for life, guaranteed complete
immunity from prosecution, and can be reassigned but not dismissed,
except by a court decision. The Constitutional Tribunal rules on the
constitutionality of legislation. Constitutional Tribunal decisions are
final and binding.
The court system remained cumbersome, poorly administered,
inadequately staffed, and underfunded. The courts had numerous
inefficiencies--most notably, many districts had more criminal judges
than prosecutors--that contributed to a lack of public confidence.
Court decisions frequently were not implemented. Bailiffs normally
ensured the execution of civil verdicts such as damage payments and
evictions; however, they were underpaid, subject to intimidation and
bribery, and had a mixed record on implementing decisions. Civil and
administrative rulings against public institutions such as hospitals
often could not be enforced due to a lack of funds. Simple civil cases
took as long as 2 to 3 years to resolve, and the pretrial waiting time
in criminal cases could be several months. The long wait for routine
court decisions in commercial matters was an incentive for bribery and
corruption. The Government implemented administrative measures to
alleviate the backlog of cases within the courts, including the hiring
of additional court personnel and a new land and property register
system. In 2003, there were over 2.1 million cases pending. During the
year, the 2003 backlog of pending cases was reduced to less than 1.9
million. In addition to reducing the backlog of cases, average case
length was also reduced by 1 month. The continuing backlog and the high
cost of legal action deterred many citizens from using the justice
system, particularly in civil matters such as divorce. Measures passed
by the Sejm in July to streamline the Civil Procedure Code were
scheduled to enter into force in February 2005.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Defendants are
presumed innocent until proven guilty. Once a verdict is rendered, the
defendant has 7 days to request a written statement of the basis for
the judgment. The court then has 7 days to produce a written decision.
A defendant has the right to appeal within 14 days of the written
decision on the basis of new evidence or procedural irregularities.
Defendants are allowed to consult an attorney, who is provided at
public expense if necessary. Defendants must be present during trial
and may present evidence and confront witnesses in their defense.
Prosecutors can grant witnesses anonymity if they express fear of
retribution from the defendant. This provision, designed to help combat
organized crime, impairs defendants' right to confront their accusers.
Trials are usually public; however, the courts reserve the right to
close a trial to the public in some circumstances, including cases of
divorce, cases in which state secrets may be disclosed, or cases whose
content might offend public morality (see Section 1.f.). The courts
rarely invoked this right. A two-level appeal process is available in
most civil and criminal matters.
The law allows a defendant and a representative, in addition to the
prosecutor, to be present for a provincial appellate court's
examination of a verdict.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
The Government has not established a program for restitution or
compensation for individual private property seized during the
Communist or Nazi eras, although a system addressing the restitution of
communal property does exist (see Section 2.c.). The Treasury estimated
that there were 56,000 claims outstanding for property valued at
approximately $16.7 billion (50 billion PLN). Despite the lack of a
national law, some property nationalized illegally has been restored
and compensation provided, amounting to approximately $183 million (550
million PLN) for 500 property claims over the past 10 years.
Legislation which became effective at the beginning of the year,
extinguished the state's obligation to compensate certain claimants for
property abandoned as a result of post-World War II border changes. In
June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that this
legislation violated a provision of the European Convention on Human
Rights dealing with protection of property. The ECHR directed the
Government to ``secure claimants' property rights through appropriate
legal measures and administrative practices'' or provide equivalent
compensation. The Government estimated that the ruling could affect
approximately 80,000 claimants.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government did not always respect these prohibitions in practice. The
Constitution provides for the general right to privacy; however, there
is no legislation that provides for this right.
The law prohibits arbitrary forced entry into homes and requires
search warrants issued by a prosecutor for entry into private
residences. In emergency cases, when a prosecutor is not immediately
available, police may enter a residence with the approval of the local
police commander. In the most urgent cases, police may enter a private
residence after showing their official identification if there is no
time to consult the police commander. There were no reports that police
abused search warrant procedures.
The law prohibits the collection of information about a person's
ethnic origin, religious convictions, health, political views, or
membership in religious, political, or trade union organizations.
However, the law allows the release of personal data to carry out the
statutory objectives of churches and other religious unions,
associations, foundations, and other non-profit-seeking organizations
or institutions with a political, scientific, religious, philosophical,
or trade-union aim. Other exceptions include provision of information
necessary for medical treatment, the establishment of legal claims, and
scientific research, so long as the results are not published. All
exceptions are subject to some restrictions. In practice, some private
organizations have persisted in asking for information such as
nationality in questionnaires; although violators are subject to
prosecution, there were no known cases during the year.
The law permits police and intelligence services to monitor private
correspondence and to use wiretaps and electronic monitoring devices in
cases involving serious crimes, narcotics, money laundering, or illegal
firearm sales. The Criminal Code requires the Minister of Justice and
the Minister of Interior to authorize these investigative methods. In
emergency cases, the police may initiate wiretaps or open private
correspondence while simultaneously seeking authorization. Unlike in
previous years, there were no reported cases of wiretapping without
judicial review or oversight.
There was no independent judicial review of surveillance
activities, nor was there any control over the use of the information
thus derived. A number of agencies had access to wiretap information,
and the Police Code allows electronic surveillance for the prevention
of crime and investigations.
Under the law on ``lustration,'' designed to expose officials who
collaborated with the Communist-era secret police, persons caught lying
about their past may be prohibited from holding public office for 10
years. The law requires officials to provide sworn affidavits
concerning their cooperation with the secret police; the public
interest spokesman (lustration prosecutor) verifies the affidavits and
brings cases of misrepresentation before the lustration court, a
special 3-judge panel whose decisions may be appealed.
Many cases were closed to the public because they involved
classified documents (see Section 1.e.). Critics continued to voice
concern that the vetting procedure may be unfair because secret police
records were subject to loss or tampering.
Both men and women are permitted to marry at the age of 18. In
certain cases, a court may allow women to marry at age 16 if it is
determined to be in the family's best interest.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights and did not restrict academic freedom; however,
there were a few restrictions in law and practice. The Criminal Code
states that an individual who ``publicly insults or humiliates a
constitutional institution'' of the country is subject to a fine or
imprisonment of up to 2 years, while an individual who insults a public
functionary is subject to a fine or imprisonment of up to 1 year.
Offending religious sentiment through public speech is punishable by a
fine or a 3-year prison term. Individual citizens and businesses may
also use the Criminal Code to protect their good name. The independent
media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without
restriction.
The National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (KRRiTV) has
broad power to monitor and regulate programming on radio and
television, allocate broadcasting frequencies and licenses, and
apportion subscription revenues to public media. Council members are
legally required to suspend their membership in political parties or
public associations.
Private television, including satellite and cable services, was
available across most of the country. Private television broadcasters
operated on frequencies selected by the Ministry of Communications and
auctioned by the KRRiTV. Government-owned Polish Television (TVP) (4
channels) was the most widely viewed television, with a 54 percent
market share, but had strong competition from the private TVN and
Polsat networks. Cable television and various satellite services
carried the main national channels, as well as local, regional, and
foreign stations, to viewers throughout the country.
Public Radio consisted of four national radio stations and an
additional station aimed at foreign audiences. Although not government-
owned, Public Radio's supervisory board was nominated by the National
Broadcasting Council, consisting of persons nominated by the Sejm,
Senate, and the President. Private radio flourished on the local,
regional, and national levels alongside public radio. To cut costs,
small regional radio stations set up several networks to facilitate
advertising and programming.
Books expressing a wide range of political and social viewpoints
were widely available, as were periodicals and other publications from
abroad.
The law provides for the protection of journalistic sources, except
in cases involving national security, murder, and terrorist acts. The
law stipulates that programs should not promote activities that are
illegal or against state policy, morality, or the common good and
requires that all broadcasts, ``respect the religious feelings of the
audiences and, in particular, respect the Christian system of values.''
The law also requires public television to provide direct media access
to the main state institutions, including the presidency, to make
presentations or explanations of public policy. Both public and private
radio and television stations provided coverage of all ranges of
political opinion.
In May 2003, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the newspaper
Zycie's appeal of a 2003 judgment by a Warsaw district court ordering
it to apologize to President Kwasniewski for publishing untrue
information. The case was returned to the lower court for further
review, and, in September, the Warsaw court again ordered Zycie to
apologize. Zycie initiated a new appeal of the September judgment,
which was pending at year's end.
The trial of journalist Jerzy Urban for publication of an article
in Nie, which criticized the Pope for senility and made other
derogatory remarks shortly before the 2002 Papal visit to Poland,
opened in a Warsaw regional court in September.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
Permits are not necessary for public meetings but are required for
public demonstrations; demonstration organizers must obtain permits
from local authorities if a demonstration might block a public road.
Organizers also are required to inform the local police of the time and
place of large demonstrations and their planned route. Every gathering
must have a chairperson who is required to open the demonstration,
preside over it, and close it. Authorities issued permits for public
gatherings on a routine basis.
On three occasions, the mayor of Warsaw refused to issue a permit
for a gay rights parade in June, following disturbances during a
similar march in Krakow (see Section 5). He justified this denial as
necessary to avoid violence but also cited its potential to ``offend
religious and moral feelings.'' The governor of Mazowieckie Province
overturned the mayor's first two denials, and the mayor's refusal to
consider the group's third request for a permit was appealed to the
Provincial Administrative Court, which had not ruled on the legality of
this action by year's end.
Private associations were required to register with the local
district court and obtain government approval to organize. The
organization must sign a declaration committing it to abide by the law.
In practice, the procedure was complicated and subject to the
discretion of the judge in charge. There were no reports that private
associations were routinely denied registration, or that any
registration was denied for political reasons.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
There are 15 religious groups whose relationships with the State
are governed by specific legislation outlining their internal
structure, activities, and procedures for property restitution. There
are 139 other religious communities. Although the Constitution provides
for the separation of church and state, crucifixes hang in both the
upper and lower houses of Parliament, as well as in many government
offices. State-run radio broadcast Catholic mass on Sundays, and the
Catholic Church was authorized to relicense radio and television
stations to operate on frequencies assigned to the Church, the only
body outside the National Radio and Television Council allowed to do
so. Approximately 95 percent of the population was Roman Catholic.
Religious education classes continued to be taught in public
schools. The Government employed Catholic Church representatives to
teach religious classes in schools, which constituted the vast majority
of all religious education. However, parents could request religious
classes in any registered religion, including Protestant, Orthodox, and
Jewish religions. Non Catholic religious instruction existed but was
uncommon. The Ministry of Education paid instructors, including
priests, for teaching religion classes. In addition, Catholic Church
representatives were included on a commission that determined which
books qualified for school use.
Of approximately 10,000 communal property claims filed for
restitution of religious property, more than 4,100 have been resolved,
and more than 1,200 properties have been returned as of November.
Relations between various religious communities were generally
amicable. There were reports of sporadic incidents of harassment and
violence against Jews and occasional desecration of Jewish cemeteries,
committed by skinheads and other marginal elements of society.
In April, the leader of the Self-Defense Party expressed admiration
for Adolf Hitler in an interview, stating that Hitler had a ``really
good program'' which ``put Germany on its feet'' and eliminated
unemployment.
In an April incident in Gdansk, the rector of the St. Brigid Church
told parishioners that ``Jews killed Jesus and the prophets'' and
displayed posters asserting that only Christians could be true Poles.
The incident was reported in national media as one of a number of
improprieties (including financial) associated with this particular
cleric.
In June, police in Krakow discovered the desecration of a 19th
Century Synagogue. Vandals painted swastikas and a Star of David
hanging from gallows on the Tempel Synagogue. The desecration occurred
a few days before the opening of an International Festival of Jewish
Culture in Krakow's Kazimierz district.
Proceedings were closed in the 2002 cases of desecration of
tombstones in Czeladz and in a Jewish cemetery in Wroclaw, with no
perpetrators having been found.
The investigation by Katowice authorities into the 2001 anti-
Semitic, anti-European Union (EU) demonstration by approximately 400
Polish ultranationalists was also closed without identifying a culpable
party.
In March, acting under the Religious Communal Property Restitution
law, the town of Slubice transferred ownership to the Jewish community
of the final portion of the Slubice Jewish Cemetery, which was
partially destroyed during the Second World War and was later the site
of a communist-built bus station and hotel. Most of the cemetery was
transferred to the Jewish community in 2002.
The Government provided grants to a number of organizations
involved in anti-bias education, including the public-private Jewish
Historical Institute (ZIH) in Warsaw. ZIH is the largest depository of
Jewish-related archival documents, books, journals, and museum objects
in the country. The Government also provided grants to the Jewish
Historical Association, which produces educational materials on Jewish
culture, the Holocaust and religious tolerance, and to other non-
governmental organizations.
The Institute of National Remembrance--Commission for the
Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN) was created by
Act of the Sejm in December 1998. IPN is under the direction of a
president, who acts independently of Government control, and is elected
for a 5-year term. One of the three principal departments of IPN is the
Public Education Office, which produces materials for schools, teachers
and students. The office also holds competitions and sponsors
exhibitions on historical themes, as well as supporting workshops,
seminars and other activities. Educational materials included a major
research and documentation project on ``The Extermination of Jews in
Poland'' during the Second World War. This project included a critical
review of Polish attitudes towards the Jewish population during the
war, and instances of collaboration with the Nazis, as well as
activities undertaken by underground organizations and individuals to
rescue Jews.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of refugee and asylee status to
persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government
provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a
country where they fear persecution, and granted asylum and refugee
status. Persons recognized as refugees under the Convention are granted
permission to remain in the country permanently. The Government
cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The law provides all prospective refugees access to a procedure for
adjudicating refugee status. Prospective refugees may appeal negative
status decisions by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to an independent
board. The Bureau of Repatriation and Aliens (BRA) controlled the
various refugee centers and agencies and had some political control
over the border guards.
The BRA has 6 months in which to render a decision on an
application for refugee status. An alien may appeal the denial of a
petition to the BRA's refugee board within 2 weeks of delivery of the
initial decision. If the board finds a claim to be ``manifestly
unfounded,'' the alien may file an appeal within three days of the
initial finding. The BRA refugee board's decisions may be appealed in
administrative courts. While the law calls for a decision granting or
denying asylum to be rendered within 6 months from the date of the
initiation of the procedure, the average application processing time
was 8 months, with some cases taking as long as 18 months. The length
of processing time left applicants living in legal limbo, unable to
work legally, while awaiting decisions on their cases. The BRA reported
that 8,078 persons applied for refugee status during the year.
Approximately 3.5 percent of applicants were granted refugee status.
There were no reports of harassment of refugee camp inhabitants by
local residents or mistreatment of refugees by police.
There continued to be reports during the year that large numbers of
refugees or asylum applicants left the country or abandoned the
procedure. For example, approximately three-quarters of Chechen
refugees left the country before their status was adjudicated. There
was no accurate way of determining how many refugees had abandoned the
process and either left the country or remained in the country
illegally. Although the Border Guards maintained a computer system to
track the status of asylum applicants, many asylum-seekers did not
provide the Border Guards with updated contact information when they
moved.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Citizens 18 years of age and older have the right
to vote and cast secret ballots, and voting is voluntary. Multiple
candidates from various political parties participated in the elections
and had access to the media. In May, the country was admitted to the EU
and participated in June elections for the European Parliament. Average
voter turnout was 22 percent. The most recent national elections took
place in 2001. Average voter turnout for these parliamentary elections
was 46.3 percent. The elections were regarded as free and fair. Only
minor irregularities (for example, registering of hospital patients,
ballot boxes too small to hold the number of ballots cast) were
reported.
There was widespread public perception of corruption in government.
Citizens considered political parties, parliament, the health care
system, and the judiciary to be the most corrupt public institutions,
according to a Gallup Institute poll commissioned by Transparency
International.
Corruption in government continued to be a primary focus of Polish
media, with the ``Rywingate'' and ``Orlengate'' scandals predominating.
Both were the focus of parliamentary investigations, as well as
criminal investigations by federal prosecutors' offices. Rywingate
centered on accusations that noted film producer Lew Rywin, acting as
an agent for then-Premier Leszek Miller's SLD, sought a $17.5 million
bribe in July 2002 from the publisher of a major Polish daily
newspaper. The purpose of the bribe was reportedly to secure changes to
a media bill that would have benefited the publisher. In April, Rywin
was sentenced to 2 years in prison for his role in the scheme. The
sentence was reduced to 2 years in December, when the court determined
that Rywin was acting as an agent, and not alone.
The Orlengate scandal surfaced in October, when notes obtained from
the Government's security service indicated that the country's richest
businessman had a meeting with a former Russian spy, in which he
suggested he had official approval to negotiate the sale of state-owned
Rafineria Gdanska, the country's second-largest oil refinery. The
alleged conversation would have been illegal, since Poland's corruption
law bars any state officials, with the exception of Treasury Ministry
officials, from negotiating business transactions, including asset
sales, on the government's behalf. Parliamentary and criminal
investigations were ongoing at year's end.
Public access to government information is provided for in the
Constitution and in the Law on Access to Public Information; and in
practice, the Government provided such access for citizens and non-
citizens, including foreign media. Refusals of requests for information
must be based on exceptions provided in the law related to government
secrets, personal privacy restrictions and propriety business data.
Refusals may be appealed.
There were 99 women in the 460-seat Sejm and 21 women in the 100-
seat Senate. There was one woman in the 17-member Cabinet.
There were 2 members of minorities in the 460-seat Sejm and no
minorities in the 100-seat Senate. There were no minorities in the 17-
member Cabinet.
The electoral law exempts ethnic minority parties from the
requirement that they win 5 percent of the vote nationwide to qualify
for seats in individual districts.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
often were cooperative and responsive to their views.
As provided in the Constitution, the Human Rights Ombudsman
presents an annual report to the Sejm and Senate on his or her
activities and the state of human and civic freedom and rights in the
country. The most recent report, presented in July, noted that 55,000
cases were filed with the office in 2003, an increase of more than
3,000 from the prior year. The report also recommended a number of
changes in government and civic institutions. These included the need
for legislative reform; increased transparency in government; more
evenhanded and consistent administration of public programs; reduction
of delays in the judicial system; and the need for increased resources
for social and educational programs.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination ``in political, social,
or economic life for any reason whatsoever''; however, violence and
societal discrimination against women and ethnic minorities persisted.
Women.--Violence against women continued to be a problem. Police
statistics indicated that approximately 80,185 women were victims of
domestic violence during 2003. Women's organizations asserted that the
number of women suffering from domestic abuse was probably much higher
because battered women usually refused to admit abuse even to
themselves. Violence against women remained hidden, particularly in
small towns and villages. Physical abuse is illegal and spousal rape is
treated in the same manner as other types of rape.
Police intervened in cases of domestic violence. The police, in
cooperation with the State Agency for Solving Alcoholic Problems, used
the ``blue card,'' a record-keeping system designed to document
incidents of spousal abuse. However, the program had limited effect due
to inadequate funding. Sentences for abuse of family members range from
3 months to 5 years, or from 2 to 10 years if the victim attempts
suicide as a result of the abuse. Most convictions resulted in
suspended sentences. There were 85,212 cases of family abuse reported
in 2003. According to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), courts
often treated domestic violence as a minor crime, pronouncing lenient
verdicts or dismissing cases.
In 2003, 2,332 rape cases were reported. However, women often were
unwilling to report the crime and NGOs estimated that the actual number
was 10 times higher than reported.
NGOs operated a number of centers to assist victims, provide
preventive treatment and counseling to perpetrators, and train
personnel working with domestic violence victims. The Office of the
Victims' Rights Spokesman at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Administration was responsible for ensuring that violence victims were
treated with respect by law enforcement and the judicial system. The
Office provided legal and psychological assistance for victims and
their families.
The law does not provide for restraining orders to protect battered
women against further abuse. In divorce cases, courts frequently
granted a divorce without providing for a property settlement, forcing
women to return to abusive husbands. This problem was exacerbated by a
lack of alternative housing. Women's advocacy groups complained there
were too small a number of state-supported shelters for battered women.
Prostitution is legal; however, pimping for sexual activity is
illegal. Due to a crackdown on prostitutes who worked along major
thoroughfares and at truck stops, much of the prostitution industry
moved to brothels, massage parlors, or agencies offering escort
services. Police estimated that there were 7,000 prostitutes in the
country. Of these, approximately 600 prostitutes worked on major
thoroughfares and at truck stops.
Trafficking in women for the purposes of forced prostitution was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
While there are no laws specifically addressing sexual harassment,
social awareness of the problem continued to increase, and there are
mechanisms available to deal with the problem. For example, the
Criminal Code states that whoever takes advantage of a position of
power in a relationship to gain sexual gratification may be sentenced
to up to 3 years in prison. According to a Supreme Court advisory
opinion, such a relationship can occur between employers and employees,
supervisors and subordinates, or teachers and students; however, this
provision can be invoked only when alleged sexual harassment occurs
between a supervisor and an individual in a subordinate position.
The Constitution provides for equal rights regardless of gender and
grants women equal rights with men in all areas of family, political,
social, and economic life, including equal compensation for work of
similar value. However, in practice, women frequently were paid less
for equivalent work, mainly held lower-level positions, were fired more
readily, and were less likely to be promoted than men. The government
statistical bulletin indicated that at the end of the second quarter of
the year men had a higher economic activity coefficient (62.1 percent)
than women (47.4 percent) and that women seeking work were more likely
to be unemployed. In October, 53.2 percent of all those unemployed were
women, despite comprising a substantially smaller share of the
population actively seeking work. Despite having a generally higher
level of education, women earned on average 30 percent less than men.
The labor code prohibits discrimination in hiring, and the employer has
the burden of proof to show that discrimination did not occur. Women
are prohibited from working underground (that is, in mining) or in jobs
that require lifting of weights above a specified maximum. The
prohibitions are binding on employers and do not permit exceptions even
if requested by a female employee or with her consent. Additional
restrictions apply to pregnant women. The Government maintained that
its ratification of certain International Labor Organization
conventions required these restrictions. Apart from the Constitution
and the Labor Code (which prohibits any direct or indirect
discrimination in employment against gender, age, disability, race,
sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic origins, political and
religious beliefs, and trade union membership status), no laws provide
equal rights for women.
Women were employed in a wide variety of professions and
occupations, and many held high positions in government and the private
sector. In agriculture, women comprised 20 percent of all principal
managers of farms. The pension law permits earlier retirement for women
(age 60) than for men (age 65), with the practical effect that women
received approximately 60 percent of the average pension received by
men.
The Ombudsman for Human Rights monitored women's rights within the
broader context of human rights; however, the broad scope of the
office's mandate diluted its ability to function as an effective
advocate of women's issues. The Government Plenipotentiary for Equal
Status for Women and Men is charged with incorporating the principal of
gender equality into governmental policy, including monitoring
implementation of government programs aimed at achieving equal status.
There are several women's rights NGOs, including the Polish
Foundation for Women and Family Planning and the Women's Rights Center,
that were active advocates of gender equality and advanced their goals
through research, monitoring, and publishing. There were also several
church-sponsored women's advocacy organizations, but their cooperation
with other women's NGOs was limited.
Children.--The Constitution extends some state protection to the
family and children, and there is a Sejm-appointed Ombudsman for
Children's Rights. The Ombudsman--mandated to protect children from
violence, cruelty, neglect, and other mistreatment--is the official
point of contact for complaints about violations of human rights of
children and submits requests to the appropriate law enforcement or
other authorities for action. The Ombudsman submits an annual report to
the Sejm on children's rights and may suggest legislation to improve
the human rights of children.
Education is universal and mandatory until age 18, and public
schools are free. The Government sponsored some health programs
targeted specifically at children, including a vaccination program and
periodic checkups conducted in the schools; however, budget shortfalls
prevented complete implementation of these programs.
Although child abuse occurred, there was no societal pattern of
abuse. The law prohibits violence against children, and anyone who
physically or psychologically abuses a juvenile may receive a prison
sentence of 3 months to 5 years. The sentence is increased if the
victim attempts suicide or the perpetrator acted with extreme cruelty.
However, abuse was rarely reported, and convictions also were rare.
Schools did not have procedures to protect children from abuse by
teachers, and the teachers' work code provides legal immunity from
prosecution for corporal punishment in the classroom.
Trafficking in children, primarily for the purpose of sexual
exploitation, was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, the country was a source, transit point, and destination for
trafficked persons, primarily women and girls but also, to a lesser
extent, boys.
Several Criminal Code provisions specifically address trafficking.
The law prohibits trafficking in persons and pimping and imposes
sentences of up to 10 years' imprisonment. It also prohibits recruiting
or luring persons into prostitution; penalties for this offense are
also up to 10 years. The most severe sentences are for individuals
trafficking in children and luring women into prostitution abroad.
During the first 10 months of the year, there were 44 trafficking
cases filed in the courts, compared with 16 in all of 2003.
Legal authorities dealt with child traffickers more severely than
traffickers in adults, in part because laws on statutory rape were
easier to prosecute. Authorities did not always recognize trafficked
children because traffickers used false documents identifying them as
adults. While prostituting a child is a crime, prostitution by adults
is neither prohibited nor regulated by law, making it more difficult
for police to pursue trafficking of adults.
The Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Justice have primary
responsibility for anti-trafficking efforts, with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs engaged on bilateral and multilateral levels. There
were 11 agencies involved in anti-trafficking efforts. The
Plenipotentiary for Equal Rights for Men and Women, who works out of
the Prime Minister's office, was also involved in anti-trafficking
programs.
The National Police participated in several bilateral task forces
that shared information, tracked the movement of traffickers and
victims across borders, and coordinated repatriations and casework.
Although some of these task forces were dissolved in June, special
teams in all 16 provinces continued to work on trafficking. In six
provinces, there were special teams or individual workers at the county
level monitoring trafficking. The National Police coordinated these
efforts. There was close cooperation with Ukraine and Belarus.
Individuals were trafficked to and through the country, primarily
from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, and Moldova. Individuals,
including citizens, were trafficked to Western Europe, including
Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Some internal trafficking
occurred. The extent of the problem was unclear, because statistics on
prostitution did not distinguish trafficking victims from those
willfully engaged in prostitution and other aspects of the sex trade.
Of the estimated 7,000 prostitutes in the country, approximately 30
percent were estimated to be of foreign origin. The international NGO
La Strada previously estimated that 60 percent of foreign women working
as prostitutes in the country were trafficking victims. In addition, La
Strada reports that up to 10,000 Polish women were trafficked out of
the country annually. NGOs believed that the trafficking problem was
likely much larger than reflected in the number of arrests and
prosecutions.
Ukraine is the largest single source of foreign women trafficked
into the country. Women from Bulgaria tended to be from the Turkish and
Romani minorities. Women and girls who were trafficked were recruited
from areas with low socioeconomic conditions, sometimes quite openly.
Those from the lowest socioeconomic levels were most vulnerable to
trafficking and subjected to the worst conditions. For example, Roma
and ethnically Turkish Bulgarians tended to be forced into prostitution
on highways, spending a few months in the country before being
trafficked further west. In contrast, women from other East European
countries were generally trafficked into agencies run as brothels.
Educated Polish and Russian women were more likely than others to be
employed voluntarily by escort services.
Traffickers attracted victims through methods including fake
employment offers, arranged marriages, fraud, and coercive measures.
Some victims believed that they were accepting employment as
waitresses, maids, or nannies abroad. While en route to their purported
destinations, traffickers took their passports and identity papers and
exerted control over them through fear and intimidation. Traffickers
threatened victims with violence, and those who resisted or tried to
flee were raped, beaten, or intentionally injured.
In recent years, trafficking has become increasingly organized and
has been associated with a rampant growth in document fraud. As many as
90 percent of those trafficked in the country had false travel
documents, and the trafficking of a person usually involved a network
of criminals. One criminal would recruit the victim; a second would
provide false travel documents and traffic her across the border; and a
third would supervise her work with clients, functioning as a pimp.
La Strada and police reported large-scale auctions of women in
Warsaw and other cities. Prices for trafficked women and girls
reportedly started at approximately $2,000 (6,000 PLN). Victims usually
were trafficked by nationals from the same source country. Foreign
traffickers systematically paid a percentage of their receipts to local
traffickers operating out of the same region of the country.
Trafficking victims often were afraid to turn to officials for help
because border guards and police could potentially deport victims, if
they were not identified as such, on immigration law violations. While
the Government generally lacked resources to support victims
financially, it cooperated extensively with NGOs, which provided a wide
range of support services. The Government provided a public building to
an NGO to use as a shelter for trafficking victims and gave another
organization a grant to build a similar shelter. In January, La Strada
opened a new shelter with funding from foreign governments to provide a
safe place for up to 10 women and medical, psychological and legal
assistance. Nonetheless, the number of shelters remained inadequate,
and NGOs frequently resorted to ad hoc arrangements to shelter victims.
Numerous NGOs were involved in anti-trafficking initiatives and
victim services. NGOs and educational institutions often worked closely
with local authorities to identify trafficking victims and develop
training programs for local authorities. These organizations provided a
range of services, including victims' assistance hotlines, safe
accommodation, therapy and psychological support, and contacts who
could help victims with legal problems and reintegration into society.
Trafficking victims were not always identified as such and
therefore were not always informed of their legal status or rights. In
many cases, unrecognized victims were deported as soon as possible,
preventing the Government from providing assistance, despite legal
provisions allowing foreign victims with illegal status to remain in
the country during the investigation and trial of their traffickers.
Deported victims were sometimes met at the border by their traffickers,
who provided them with new travel documents and returned them to the
country. For example, police detained a Bulgarian woman on several
occasions, each time with a new identity and passport. There was no
specific assistance set aside for victims repatriated to Poland,
although they were eligible for unemployment and welfare benefits.
Poland cooperated fully with other countries in anti-trafficking
efforts and the repatriation of victims.
La Strada conducted training courses at 6 police academies and
border guard academies from June 2003 through February. The courses
were designed to improve knowledge of the issue of trafficking in
persons among students of both academies.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no official discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or in the
provision of other state services; however, there were reports of some
societal discrimination against persons with disabilities. There were
approximately 5.5 million persons with disabilities in the country at
year's end. In 2002, approximately 20 percent of persons with
disabilities, but able to work, were unemployed, slightly higher than
the national unemployment rate. No updates of that figure are
available, and advocacy groups claimed that the rate was much higher.
The law allows individuals with certain disabilities to work without
losing their disability benefits. Approximately 50 percent of persons
with disabilities had no more than an elementary education, compared
with 33 percent of those without disabilities, and only 5 percent had a
university education, compared with 11 percent of persons without
disabilities.
The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities;
however, public buildings and transportation generally were not
accessible to persons with disabilities. Implementation fell short of
rights set forth in the legislation, since the law provides only that
buildings ``should be accessible.'' There is no legal obligation to
adapt existing objects or facilities to the needs of persons with
disabilities and efforts to make improvements in this area have been
hampered by lack of funding.
The first deputy minister in the Ministry of Social Policy is
responsible for disability-related issues. He supervises the State Fund
for Rehabilitation of the Disabled, and is advised by the National
Consultation Council for the Disabled. During the year, a number of
laws were passed to support increased employment opportunity and
training for disabled persons. New laws aimed to more clearly defining
the role of government institutions in vocational and social
rehabilitation, with the goal of ensuring effective use of public and
assistance funds. Laws implementing these programs are scheduled to
enter into effect during the first quarter of 2005.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were occasional incidents
of skinheads clashing with Roma and racially motivated violence
directed at Roma. Individuals of African, Asian, or Arab descent also
reported isolated incidents of verbal, physical, and other types of
abuse. The small Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities occasionally
experienced petty harassment and discrimination.
Societal discrimination against Roma was common, and some local
officials discriminated against Roma in the provision of social
services. According to its leaders, Roma faced disproportionately high
unemployment and were hit harder by economic changes and restructuring
than were ethnic Poles. Romani leaders complained of widespread
discrimination in employment, housing, banking, the justice system, the
media, and education.
Under the ``Program for the Romani Community in Poland,'' adopted
in August 2003 and launched this year, the Government aimed to foster
greater participation and integration of the Romani community into
society by funding and commencing housing development and
rehabilitation projects in 14 of 16 Polish provinces, providing
additional education resources (including Roma assistants) in local
schools, conducting job training and small business seminars, creating
additional medical, social and recreational facilities for Roma and
promoting public awareness of the importance of Romani culture, among
other initiatives. Total expenditures in 2004 amounted to approximately
$1.58 million (4.75 million PLN).
The law provides for the educational rights of ethnic minorities,
including the right to be taught in their own language. There were an
estimated 50,000 Lithuanians in the country, and their minority rights,
including language instruction, were addressed routinely during
governmental talks. There were 31 Lithuanian-language textbooks in use
during the year at different education levels, including textbooks on
mathematics, physics, and geography financed by the Government.
The German minority in Opole Province makes up one-third of the
area's 1 million inhabitants. Some community members continued to
complain of inadequate use of German in the province's schools. In
February, the ECHR upheld the Government's 2001 rejection of the
application for official minority status by the 170,000-member Silesian
community.
Members of the Ukrainian minority were represented in local
governments, particularly in Warminsko-Mazurkie Province, where the
head of the provincial parliament was an ethnic Ukrainian. Statistical
data indicated that the number of Ukrainian minority schools and school
children increased over the past decade. The Ukrainian language was
taught in 136 schools for 2,774 pupils nationally.
Other Societal Discrimination and Abuses.--Homosexuality is not
criminalized; however, polls indicated that most Poles did not discuss
the issue publicly. In May, right-wing groups and football hooligans
armed with eggs and stones attacked a gay rights demonstration in
Krakow. Police moved to protect the group, but the counter-protesters
attacked the police. The mayor of Warsaw stated that this violence
contributed to his decision to deny approval of a gay rights parade in
Warsaw in June, organized by the International Gay and Lesbian
Association. Gay rights activists held a peaceful rally on the day
following the date the parade was to have taken place.
Counterdemonstrators picketed the rally, including members of the
ultraconservative All Poland's Youth Association, which had been
associated with violent incidents in the past. However, there were no
reported incidents of violence at the rally.
In November, several organizations and political parties, including
Lambda, the Green Party and the New Left, organized a March of Equality
in Poznan on International Tolerance Day. Despite protests from
conservative parties, Church authorities and associations, city
authorities granted permission for the march. The march was provided
with a police escort but was blocked by soccer hooligans and members of
All Poland's Youth. These groups attempted to break the police cordon
and attack the marchers but were thwarted by the police escort.
Following the attempted disruption, the police and organizers agreed to
change from a march format to a rally. Opponents threw eggs and lemons
and verbally abused the rally participants. Police detained or arrested
a number of counterdemonstrators.
A Polish Radio poll found 49 percent opposed public demonstrations
for gay rights. Television stations in Wroclaw and Lodz aired anti-gay
commercials sponsored by the fascist political organization Narodowe
Odrodzenia Polski.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that all workers,
including civilian employees of the armed forces, police, and frontier
guards, have the right to establish and join trade unions of their
choosing, and workers exercised these rights. There is no precise data
on work force unionization; according to press reports, 14 percent of
the workforce were union members. As a rule, newly established small
and medium-sized firms were nonunion, while union activity in most
cases carried over into privatized (former state-owned) enterprises.
The law sets minimum size requirements for establishing a trade
union: 10 persons may form a local union, and 30 may establish a
national union. Unions, including interbranch national unions and
national interbranch federations, must be registered with the courts. A
court decision refusing registration may be taken to an appeals court.
The law does not give trade unions the freedom to exercise their right
to organize all workers. For example, workers on individual contracts
cannot form or join a trade union. In state-owned enterprises, such as
the health sector, water and forestry, there were cases in which
workers had their normal employment contract terminated and replaced by
an individual contract that took away rights they formerly enjoyed as
permanent employees.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, labor leaders
reported that employers discriminated against workers who attempted to
organize or join unions, particularly in the growing private sector.
The law also did not prevent employer harassment of union members for
trade union activity; there were unconfirmed reports that some
employers sanctioned employees who tried to set up unions.
In April, the Government amended the law on road traffic in a
manner that labor organizers feared might restrict legal demonstrations
and rallies. The changes were reviewed by the Constitutional Court,
which ruled in November that certain clauses were unconstitutional.
Trade union officials indicated that the law has impeded their ability
to organize demonstrations and marches, but not to the extent they had
originally feared.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for and protects enterprise-level collective bargaining over
wages and working conditions. The Tripartite Commission (unions,
employers, and the Government) was the main forum that determined
national-level wage and benefit increases in sensitive areas, such as
the so-called budget sector (health, education, and public employees).
In December 2003, the Commission ended a lengthy period of negotiations
over a wide-ranging ``social agreement'' originally proposed by the
Government. While no overall agreement was reached, the parties reached
consensus on a number of legislative measures. The Commission continued
to serve as an important forum for the social partners to discuss
differences and grievances and often to negotiate before problems
erupted into conflict.
The law does not require verification of union membership in order
for unions to be considered ``representative'' negotiating partners for
management and government. Many disputes arose because of the weakness
of the employer side of the union/employer/government triangle. Key
state sector employers (largely in heavy industry and the budget
sector) remained unable to negotiate with labor without the extensive
involvement of the ministries to which they are subordinate, thereby
complicating and politicizing the Government's labor relations. The law
provides for parties to take disputes first to labor courts, then to
the prosecutor general, and, as a last resort, to the Supreme Court.
Unions have the right to strike except in ``essential services''--
uniformed services, state administration, and local government--where
they only have the right to protest. A majority of strikes were
technically illegal because one or both of the sides did not follow
each step exactly as required by law. Labor courts acted slowly on
deciding the legality of strikes, while sanctions against unions for
calling illegal strikes, or against employers for provoking them, were
minimal. Arbitration is not obligatory and depends on the agreement of
disputing parties. Unions alleged that laws prohibiting retribution
against strikers were not enforced consistently and that fines imposed
as punishment were so minimal that they were ineffective deterrents to
illegal activity. Workers who strike in accordance with the law retain
their right to social insurance but not to pay. However, if a court
rules a strike illegal, workers may lose social benefits, and
organizers are liable for damages and may face civil charges and fines.
During the year, several strikes took place. Most strikes ended
within a few hours, including those at the Budryk coal mine in
Ornontowice, the Polish telecommunications company TPSA office in
Katowice and the blockage of tracks by employees of the Polish State
Railways in Gdynia. More serious strikes, led in large part by the
Solidarity Trade Union, occurred in the PKS bus company in Kozienice
and the Wroclaw construction company Jedynka. In January, workers at
Jedynka began an occupation strike to demand payment of back wages. The
company fired 136 striking workers and in March removed them by force
from company premises. A court later declared that the workers had been
illegally fired, and ordered one employee rehired, and awarded monetary
damages to the others. In Kozienice, a 3-month strike took place to
protest against the firing of a Solidarity shop steward. In November, a
court ruled that strike to have been legal.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports of child labor and trafficking in adults and children for labor
(see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of persons under the age of 15. Persons
between the ages of 15 and 18 may be employed only if they have
completed primary school and the proposed employment constitutes
vocational training and is not harmful to their health.
The State Labor Inspectorate (PIP) reported that increasing numbers
of minors worked and that many employers violated labor rules by
underpaying them or paying them late. Inspectors found violations in
restaurants, stud farms, and, in some instances, small private
businesses and factories. Sanctions for the illegal employment of
children range from warning letters to orders to cease employing
underage children. The police may enforce such orders by demanding the
transfer of underage employees, closing all or part of the workplace,
or, working through the Ministry of Labor, imposing fines ranging from
approximately $7 to $167 (20 to 500 PLN) per offense. Cases may also be
referred to an administrative tribunal, which can levy fines of up to
$1,667 (5,000 PLN). Jail sentences may be imposed for serious
infractions; such cases generally involve serious injury or death.
During the year, PIP conducted 580 investigations involving almost
3,000 possible underage employees. In 2003, fines were levied in 428
cases, amounting to approximately $26,000 (78,000 PLN). That figure was
estimated to remain the same this year.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Labor, the
unions, and employers' organizations negotiate a revised national
minimum wage every 3 months. The national minimum monthly wage was
approximately $275 (824 PLN); it did not provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family. A large percentage of construction
workers and seasonal agricultural laborers from the former Soviet Union
earned less than the minimum wage. The large size of the informal
economy and the small number of government labor inspectors made
enforcement of the minimum wage very difficult. With unemployment high,
workers often agreed to inferior working conditions and lower pay to
find or keep jobs.
The standard legal workweek is 40 hours. The law requires overtime
payment for hours in excess of the standard workweek, but there were
reports that this regulation was often ignored.
The Labor Code defines strict and extensive minimum conditions for
the protection of workers' health and safety; however, enforcement was
a major problem because the PIP was unable to monitor workplaces
sufficiently. In 85,440 work-related accidents reported during 2003,
522 individuals were killed and 1,005 seriously injured. During the
first 9 months of the year, 311 workers were killed and 608 were
seriously injured in a total of 57,489 workplace accidents. The
Government reported that while most accidents were in the public
sector, most serious accidents occurred in the private sector, where
proportionally more deaths also occurred. Employers routinely exceeded
standards for exposure to chemicals, dust, and noise. In addition, it
was unclear which government body had responsibility for enforcing the
law. The PIP may shut down workplaces where it finds unsafe conditions.
Workers may remove themselves from dangerous working conditions without
losing their jobs, but there were reports that fears of employment loss
prompted workers to remain on the job.
__________
PORTUGAL
Portugal is a constitutional democracy with a president, a prime
minister, and a parliament elected by secret ballot in multiparty
elections. National parliamentary elections were held in 2002. The
ruling coalition party consists of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and
the Christian Democrat/People's Party (CDS/PP). The judiciary is
independent.
Internal security is primarily the responsibility of the Ministries
of Justice and Internal Administration. The Republican National Guard
(GNR) has jurisdiction outside cities, and the Public Security Police
(PSP) has jurisdiction in cities. The Aliens and Borders Service (SEF)
has jurisdiction on immigration and border issues. The civilian
authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. Some
members of the security forces committed a number of human rights
abuses.
The country had a market-based economy and a population of
approximately 10.4 million. The service sector was the leading source
of employment, while employment in agriculture and industry continued
to be static or declined. Manufacturing provided approximately 30
percent of total economic output. The rate of economic growth was
negative 1.3 percent in 2003 and 1.0 percent during the year. Wages and
benefits have kept pace with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police and prison
guards beat and otherwise abused detainees. Prison conditions remained
poor. Lengthy pretrial and preventive detention remained a problem.
Trafficking in foreign laborers and women also was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were infrequent but credible reports that police and prison guards beat
and otherwise abused detainees.
The Government investigated reports of police mistreatment (see
Section 1.d.). According to its annual activity report, the
Inspectorate General of Internal Administration (IGAI) investigated new
incidents involving law enforcement agents during 2003.
During the year, due to a lack of sufficient evidence, the IGAI
closed the case against three PSP officers who allegedly beat Aizhong
Lin in 2002.
Prison conditions remained poor, and guards mistreated prisoners.
Other problems included overcrowding, inadequate facilities, poor
health conditions, and violence among inmates. According to the General
Directorate for Prison Services (DGSP), there were 13,312 persons in
prison in early December. According to the DGSP, the overcrowding rate
was 4.1 percent, representing a marked improvement over the 13.24
percent in 2003.
In February, a commission to study a reform of the prison system
submitted its report to the Government. The commission drafted general
guidelines and legislative proposals on the reform of the prison
system. In June, the Government approved the proposals but had not
implemented them by year's end.
Approximately 30 percent of the prison population had Hepatitis B
or C, and 14 percent were HIV-positive. According to the Ministry of
Justice, 42 persons died in prisons during the first 5 months of the
year, one third of these while under preventive detention.
During the European soccer championships in June and July, two
English visitors made claims of police brutality upon their return to
the United Kingdom; however, media footage of the GNR actions, which
were supported and assisted by British police, indicated appropriate
use of force.
Men and women were held separately. Although there was a youth
prison in Leiria, at times, juveniles were held with adults elsewhere
in the prison system. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted
criminals.
The Government permitted visits by independent human rights
observers during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The Ministries of Justice and Internal Administration are primarily
responsible for internal security. The major problems with the police
forces were understaffing and inconsistent or weak law enforcement.
There were approximately 50,000 law enforcement officials in the
country. In October, 18 of 35 defendants accused of corruption within
the GNR Traffic Department (BT) were sentenced to 18 months' to 3
years' imprisonment by a court in the Algarve. Ten of the jailed
defendants were traffic police, while the remaining eight were
businessmen. The court acquitted of all charges the remaining 17
defendants, 14 of whom were BT officers. There were no indications that
corruption was a widespread problem. During the year, police officers
received extensive professional training, and the Government regulated
their actions through mechanisms established by law.
The IGAI investigated the 2003 killings by GNR agents and PSP
officers and determined that PSP officers acted appropriately in the
2003 killing of Osvaldo Vaz. The IGAI found that the PSP officer who
killed Nuno Lucas in Porto in 2002 acted inappropriately, and, in
January, the Minister of the Interior discharged the officer from the
force. They also determined that the PSP officer who killed Antonio
Tavares Pereira in Setubal in 2002 acted inappropriately, and the
officer was suspended for 225 days. In March, the trial of the officer
for aggravated homicide in Setubal ended in an acquittal. The officer
claimed that, at the time of the shooting, he was not aware that rubber
bullets could kill, and had not been trained in the use of the rubber
bullet shotgun with which he killed Antonio Tavares Pereira. The PSP
National Director reportedly stated that there were no guidelines
regarding the use of rubber bullets at the time of the killing.
An independent ombudsman is chosen by the Parliament and the IGAI
to investigate complaints of mistreatment by the police; however,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have criticized the slow pace of
investigations.
The law provides detailed guidelines covering all aspects of arrest
and custody. Under the law, an investigating judge determines whether
an arrested person should be detained, released on bail, or released
outright. A person may not be held for more than 48 hours without
appearing before an investigating judge. Investigative detention is
limited to a maximum of 6 months for each suspected crime. If a formal
charge is not filed within that period, the detainee must be released.
In cases of serious crimes such as murder or armed robbery, or of those
involving more than one suspect, investigative detention may last for
up to 2 years and may be extended by a judge to 3 years in
extraordinary circumstances. A suspect in investigative detention must
be brought to trial within 18 months of being charged formally. If a
suspect is not in detention, there is no specified period for going to
trial. A detainee has access to lawyers, and the Government assumes the
cost if necessary.
During the year, prisoners went on hunger strikes to protest, among
other things, prolonged periods of pretrial detention. The average
number of prisoners returned to custody by court order (``remand'') was
high. By year's end, 3,366 individuals (24.1 percent of the prison
population) were in ``preventive detention.'' Pretrial detainees
remained in prison under this status for an average of 26 months, and
up to 6 years. Judges argued that pretrial detention was justified by
the high incidence of recidivism. The Government implemented the use of
an electronic monitoring device as an alternative to preventive
detention, with 253 detainees participating in the program at year's
end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The court system, provided for in the Constitution, consists of a
Constitutional Court, a Supreme Court of Justice, and judicial courts
of first and second instance. There is also a Supreme Court of
Administration, which handles administrative and tax disputes and is
supported by lower administrative courts. There is an audit court in
the Ministry of Finance.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
There were more than 500 courts in the country, and approximately
3,000 magistrates and judges; however, staff shortages and court delays
continued to be a serious problem.
Critics pointed to a large backlog of pending trials resulting from
the inefficient functioning of the courts. A study by the Permanent
Observatory of Justice (OPJ), released in 2003, reported that the
average length of a ``first instance'' judicial process was 912 days,
with 14.7 percent of the processes taking over 5 years.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of
speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Roman Catholic Church is the dominant religion. Although the
overwhelming majority of citizens are Roman Catholic, other religions,
including Islam, Protestant Christian denominations, Judaism, and
Eastern Orthodox, were practiced freely.
The Religious Freedom Act created a legislative framework for
religions established in the country for at least 30 years, or
recognized internationally for at least 60 years. The Act, which was
implemented, provides other qualifying religions with benefits
previously reserved for the Catholic Church: Full tax exempt status;
legal recognition for marriage and other rites; chaplain visits to
prisons and hospitals; and respect for traditional holidays. In
December 2003, enabling rules were enacted for governing the commission
that will supervise implementation of the Act; however, some rules are
still needed to create a registry of religious entities.
The Catholic Church maintains a separate agreement with the
Government under the terms of the 1940 Concordat. On May 18, to comply
constitutionally with the Religious Freedom Act, the Government
negotiated with the Vatican and signed a new amended Concordat. By
year's end, the new Concordat was approved by Parliament and the
President.
There were no incidents of anti-Semitism. Government efforts to
promote anti-bias and tolerance education included the President's
participation on September 9 in a ceremony commemorating the Lisbon
synagogue's 100th anniversary. The synagogue itself was refurbished, in
part with government funds.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution and laws provide for
these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol
and provided it in seven individual cases during the year. The total
refugee population in the country was 284. During the year, 120
individuals and families, primarily from Central and Eastern European
and African countries, filed asylum applications. Of the 120
applicants, 9 were granted refugee status, 7 were granted
``humanitarian protection'' residence permits, 2 were granted asylum
under the statutes of the Geneva Convention, 62 were denied relief, and
40 were awaiting a determination.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections on the basis of universal
suffrage. The country is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. The
ruling coalition party was made up of the PSD and the CDS/PP. The
President was Jorge Sampaio of the Socialist Party.
During the year, Prime Minister Durao Barroso, who had been elected
in 2002 national elections, resigned to accept the nomination as
president of the European Commission. President Sampaio selected Pedro
Santana Lopes to succeed Barroso as Prime Minister and to form a new
government. The Constitution allows Sampaio to call for new elections,
but he declined, citing institutional continuity based on the results
of the 2002 elections; however, on December 10, Sampaio changed his
mind and decided to dissolve Parliament and call for national elections
in February 2005.
The law provides for public access to government information, and
the Government provided it in practice.
There were 47 women in the 230-member Parliament. There were three
women in the Cabinet--the Ministers of Education, Science/Higher
Education, and Culture. Five women held state secretary positions,
which are one rank below cabinet ministers.
There were no minorities in the Parliament or in the Cabinet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views; however, most groups
complained of slow investigations or remedial actions.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on ancestry,
gender, language, origin, political or ideological convictions,
education, economic situation, or social condition; however, some
discrimination against women and ethnic minorities persisted.
Women.--Domestic and other violence against women was a problem.
The Association for Victim Support (APAV), a nonprofit charitable
organization that provided confidential and free services to victims of
any type of crime nationwide, received 7,515 requests for assistance
via its toll free hotline and at its offices in 13 cities during the
year. The individuals seeking help (nearly 86 percent of whom were
women) reported 13,511 crimes, more than 80 percent involving domestic
violence. According to the women's rights NGO, Union of Women
Alternative and Response (UMAR), their husbands or partners killed 47
women during the year. The Commission for Equality and Women's Rights
ran 14 safe houses for domestic violence and also had a 24 hours-a-day,
7 days-a-week phone service.
The law provides for criminal penalties in cases of violence by a
spouse, and the judicial system prosecuted persons accused of abusing
women; however, traditional societal attitudes still discouraged many
battered women from using the judicial system. Under the law,
perpetrators of domestic violence may be barred from contact with their
victims, and, in extreme cases, the police may order the immediate
expulsion of a perpetrator from the victim's dwelling. The law defines
domestic violence as a public crime, which gives police and the courts
more leverage to prosecute such cases, and removes some of the burden
on the abused women to file charges, since any interested party has the
ability to file charges in domestic violence cases.
The law specifically makes rape, including spousal rape, illegal,
and the Government enforced these laws effectively.
Neither prostitutes nor their clients are punishable under the law,
and prostitution was common. Under the law, only pimping, brothels, and
the registration of prostitutes are illegal. Trafficking in women for
the purpose of sexual exploitation continued to be a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment is defined as a crime if perpetrated by a
superior in the workplace. The penalty is 2 to 3 years' imprisonment.
As in the case of domestic violence, socially ingrained attitudes
discouraged many women from taking advantage of the legal protection
available. The Commission on Equality in the Workplace and in
Employment, composed of representatives of the Government, employers'
organizations, and labor unions, is empowered to examine, but not
adjudicate, complaints of sexual harassment; however, it received few
such complaints.
The civil code provides for full legal equality for women. As of
October, women comprised 51.6 percent of the total population and 51.7
percent of the unemployed. Of the 388,724 students enrolled in higher
education in 2003, 56 percent were women. Although women increasingly
were represented in business, science, academia, and the professions,
their average salaries were about 30 percent less than men's. The
Commission for Equality and for Women's Rights continued to press for
improved conditions for women.
The Commission on Equality in the Workplace and in Employment
reviewed numerous complaints of discrimination by employers against
pregnant workers and new mothers, who were protected by law.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of public education and
medical care. The Government provides 9 years of compulsory, free, and
universal education for children through the age of 15, most of whom
attend school. The Institute of Solidarity and Social Security, located
within the Ministry of Social Security, Family, and Children, was
responsible for implementation of the Government's programs for
children. The Institute promotes a program to coordinate assistance for
children of immigrant families and a program to support early
childhood, which included the provision of better childcare facilities.
The Government provided preschool education for children age 4 and
older upon entry into primary school. The Government provided free or
low cost health care for all children until the age of 15.
Abuse of children was a problem, although there was no societal
pattern of such abuse. APAV reported 310 cases of crimes against minors
(under 18) during the year, primarily involving domestic violence.
Following high-profile investigations and court proceedings that
began in 2002 related to a pedophilia operation at ``Casa Pia,'' a
children's home that has approximately 4,600 children in its care in
Lisbon, the trial involving 8 defendants began on November 25. The
defendants faced charges ranging from procuring and rape to homosexual
acts with adolescents and sexual abuse of minors. There were 13,000
pages of files and 790 witnesses scheduled to testify. Charges were
based on accusations by 17 young people born between 1984 and 1988
(between the ages of 12 and 16 when they were reportedly abused in 1999
and 2000), as well as by 29 youngsters born between 1983 and 1991 (ages
8 to 16 when the abuse allegedly occurred).
Trafficking of children for sexual exploitation and forced labor
remained a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or
within the country. The law also criminalizes the trafficking of
children under 16 years of age for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Each law that can be applied to traffickers (such as facilitating the
illegal entry of persons, employing an illegal immigrant, false
documentation, extortion, fraud, and sexual exploitation) carries a
penalty of between 1 and 8 years' imprisonment. By citing the violation
of multiple provisions, judges have handed down longer sentences.
The Government assisted other countries with international
investigations of trafficking. After helping to develop a new EUROPOL
organized crime database, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Germany
increasingly shared and received information as they worked together in
an effort to combat trafficking. The Immigration Service (SEF)
implemented 2003 anti-trafficking legislation and significantly
increased trafficking investigations. The length of sentences for those
convicted of trafficking related offenses, such as kidnapping,
recruiting illegal workers, pimping, and extortion also were on the
increase, in many cases reaching 11 to 15 years' imprisonment.
In a case with possible trafficking implications, the Government
was prosecuting eight public figures in connection with an organized
pedophile ring operating out of an orphanage in Lisbon (see Section 5,
Children).
The country is a destination for men and women trafficked from
Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Romania, and Brazil for the purposes of
forced labor and sexual exploitation. There were no reports or
suspected cases of immigrant children trafficked for sexual
exploitation; however, Romanian minors were often used as street
beggars. Some trafficking victims were transited through the country to
other European countries. Most trafficked persons were Eastern European
males who ended working in construction or in other low-wage
industries, such as textile manufacturing, woodworking, metalworking
and marble cutting. Some trafficked women (mostly from Eastern Europe
and Brazil) worked as prostitutes. Trafficked persons usually lived in
hiding in poor conditions, often with little or no sanitation
facilities and in cramped spaces. Some trafficked workers were not paid
at all and some were ``housed'' within the factory or construction
site. Moldovan, Russian, and Ukrainian organized crime groups
reportedly conducted most of the trafficking of Eastern Europeans. The
traffickers frequently demanded additional payments and a share of
earnings following their victims' arrival in the country, usually under
threat of physical harm. They often withheld the identification
documents of the trafficked persons and threatened to harm family
members who remained in the country of origin.
The Government expanded its assistance to immigrants, including
victims of trafficking. New awareness by authorities has led to a clear
distinction by the Government between trafficking and immigration
crimes, allowing trafficking victims to receive adequate protection.
The Government may refer victims to NGOs for short- and long-term
assistance and may provide short or long-term residency for victims
willing to cooperate with law enforcement. The government's High
Commissioner for Migration and Minorities is responsible for
coordinating assistance to immigrants, including trafficking victims. A
large percentage of those assisted were provided employment and
legalization of status; others were repatriated.
During the year, the Government targeted information campaigns
toward immigrant populations and in source countries vulnerable to
exploitation and trafficking. The Government also placed immigration
liaison officers in prominent source countries.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or the provision of other state services. The law mandates access
to public buildings for such persons, and the Government enforced these
provisions in practice; however, no such legislation covers private
businesses or other facilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The principal minority groups
were immigrants, legal and illegal, from the country's former African
colonies, Brazil, and Eastern Europe. Approximately 500,000 legal
immigrants lived in the country, representing approximately 5 percent
of the population. The country also had a resident Roma population of
approximately 50,000 persons.
The law permits victims and anti-racism associations to participate
in race-related criminal trials by lodging criminal complaints,
retaining their own lawyers, and calling witnesses. Anti-racism laws
prohibit and penalize racial discrimination in housing, business, and
health services, and provide for the creation of a Commission for
Equality and Against Racial Discrimination (CERD) to work alongside the
High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities.
In its 2002 report, the European Commission Against Racism and
Intolerance (ECRI), acknowledged many positive steps taken by the
Government to counter racism, including: adopting a law prohibiting
racial discrimination; launching activities promoting the integration
of immigrant and Roma communities in education and work; raising human
rights awareness among police officers and judges; and giving CERD
competency to examine individual applications. However, ECRI
recommended that the authorities take further action to combat racism
and intolerance more effectively in a number of areas. In response to
these recommendations, the Government implemented concrete measures,
such as: Including discussions on dealing with members of minority
groups in law enforcement training sessions; organizing teachers'
seminars on multiculturalism and diversity; increasing by 54 percent
financial assistance to immigrant organizations; and distributing books
and brochures among public organizations and immigrant associations to
raise awareness concerning the fight against racism and intolerance.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides workers
with the right to form or join unions without previous authorization or
excessive requirements, and they exercised this right in practice.
Approximately 35 percent of the total workforce was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The right to organize and
bargain collectively was recognized and exercised freely in practice.
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers generally
exercised this right in practice. However, should a long strike occur
in an essential sector such as health, energy, or transportation, the
Government may order the strikers back to work for a specific period.
The Government rarely has invoked this power. Police officers and
members of the armed forces may not strike legally, but they have
unions and recourse within the legal system.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum working age is 16 years. There were instances of child labor,
but the overall incidence was small and was concentrated geographically
and by sector. The greatest problems were reported in Braga, Porto, and
Faro, and tended to occur in the clothing, footwear, construction, and
hotel industries.
In 2001, the Government estimated that 46,717 children on the
mainland engaged in some form of economic activity, of whom 40,001 were
unpaid family workers and 6,716 worked for third parties. Of those
children engaged in economic activity, 86.2 percent were attending
school. Most children engaged in economic activity come from the
northern (57.7 percent) and central (26 percent) regions of the
country. The agricultural sector employed the most children, followed
by commerce, manufacturing, hotel and catering, and construction. Of
those children who worked, the majority worked 1 to 3 hours per day, 1
to 2 days per week; however, some commonly worked 6 to 7 days per week.
The Government's principal body addressing, monitoring, and
responding to reports of child labor is the Plan for the Elimination of
Exploitation of Child Labor (PETI). The Ministry of Social Security,
Family, and Children is responsible for enforcing the child labor laws,
and it did so effectively.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage, which
covers full-time workers as well as rural workers and domestic
employees ages 18 and over, was approximately $496.27 (374.70 euros).
Along with widespread rent controls and basic food and utility
subsidies, the minimum wage afforded a decent standard of living for a
worker and family. Most workers received higher wages, with the CGTP
estimating an average monthly salary of approximately $853 (682 euros),
excluding public servants.
The maximum legal workday is 10 hours, and the maximum workweek is
40 hours. There is a maximum of 2 hours of paid overtime per day and
200 hours of overtime per year, with a minimum of 12 hours between
workdays. The Ministry of Social Security, Family, and Children
monitored compliance through its regional inspectors, and it did so
effectively.
Employers legally are responsible for accidents at work and are
required by law to carry accident insurance. The General Directorate of
Hygiene and Labor Security develops safety standards in line with
European Union standards, and the General Labor Inspectorate is
responsible for their enforcement; however, the Inspectorate lacked
sufficient funds and inspectors to combat the problem of work accidents
effectively. Workers injured on the job rarely initiated lawsuits.
Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations that
endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and the
authorities effectively enforced this right.
__________
ROMANIA
Romania is a constitutional democracy with a multiparty, bicameral
parliamentary system, a prime minister who is the head of government,
and a president who is the head of state. Traian Basescu was elected
President on December 12 in elections characterized by irregularities,
but which were judged generally free and fair. At year's end, Basescu
appointed center-right a Liberal-Democratic (PNL-PD) Alliance leader,
Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, as Prime Minister to lead a new government
composed primarily of the PNL-PD, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians
in Romania (UDMR), and the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR). This followed
four years of government led by Social Democratic Party (PSD) Prime
Minister Adrian Nastase and President Ion Iliescu. The Constitution
provides for an independent judiciary; however, in practice, the
judiciary remained subject to political influence. Widespread
corruption remained a problem, although the Government took initial,
but only partial, steps to address the problem.
The National Police are primarily responsible for law enforcement,
the Gendarmerie for preserving public order, and the Border Police for
maintaining border security. The Ministry of Administration and
Interior (MOAI) supervises these organizations. The military has
primary responsibility for protection against external threats. An
internal intelligence service assesses threats to national security but
has no law enforcement powers. Civilian authorities maintained
effective control of security and intelligence organizations, although
some concerns were expressed regarding the possible misuse of
intelligence agencies for political purposes. Some members of security
forces committed serious human rights abuses.
Romania is a developing country in transition from a centrally
planned to a market economy with a population of approximately 21.7
million. Economic activity was primarily in the manufacturing,
agriculture, services, and energy sectors. For the year, the economy
grew approximately 8 percent, and the inflation rate was 9.3 percent.
Average monthly gross salaries rose by 23.6 percent as compared to the
same period in 2003.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police officers
sometimes beat detainees and reportedly harassed and used excessive
force against Roma. While some progress was made in reforming the
police, cases of inhuman and degrading treatment continued to be
reported. Investigations of police abuses generally were lengthy and
inconclusive, rarely resulting in prosecution or punishment. While
civilian courts had jurisdiction over National Police abuses, abuses by
other security forces remained in the military court system, where
procedures were unnecessarily lengthy and often inconclusive. Prison
conditions remained harsh and overcrowding was a serious problem;
however, conditions improved somewhat. At times, authorities violated
the prohibition against arbitrary arrest and detention.
Government action and inaction at times restricted freedom of
speech and of the press. During the year, there was a pattern of
intimidation, harassment, and violence against journalists who wrote
critical reports on government activities or government and ruling
party officials. Religious minorities complained of discriminatory
treatment by authorities. Societal harassment of religious and sexual
minorities, violence and discrimination against women, and restitution
of property confiscated during the Communist regime remained problems.
There were large numbers of impoverished homeless children in major
cities. Trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of prostitution
was a problem that the Government increasingly took steps to address.
Discrimination and instances of societal violence against Roma
continued. Child labor abuses continued. There were reports of
government interference in trade union activity.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, there was one possible extrajudicial killing. In May, police
shot and killed unarmed 31-year-old Nicusor Serban in Jegalia (Calarasi
County) when he refused to stop after a police warning. Police were
attempting to detain Serban on rape accusations. At year's end, the
case was under continuing investigation by the police authority and the
prosecutor's office of Calarasi County.
In December, outgoing President Ion Iliescu pardoned former miners'
leader Miron Cozma, who was sentenced in 1999 to 18 years in prison for
leading 1991 riots that led to the deaths of at least three persons and
the wounding of many others. Widespread public opposition prompted
Iliescu to rescind Cozma's pardon. Upon Iliescu's decision, authorities
took Cozma into custody again and also booked him on separate charges.
In the past, police used excessive force that led to the deaths of
citizens. Police authorities eventually decided that police officers
were not responsible for the killing of prisoner Mihai Iorga, although
an autopsy established that trustees and police officers beat him to
death in 2002.
The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Roma Center for Social
Intervention and Studies (Romani CRISS) continued to investigate the
2002 death of Nelu Balasoiu, a Romani man who was found dead in Jilava
prison near Bucharest. In March, Balasoiu's family, Romani CRISS, and
another NGO, the Association for Defending Human Rights in Romania-
Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH), appealed the December 2003 decision of
the prosecutor's office not to open an investigation of the police
officers involved in the case because the Balasoiu death had allegedly
been due to health reasons. In June, a court of appeal in Craiova sent
the file to the prosecutor's office for further investigation.
In October 2003, the Supreme Court gave 10-year prison sentences to
two former agents of the disbanded security service for the 1985
beating death of dissident Gheorghe Ursu.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were credible reports that police beat detainees and used excessive
force. Human rights organizations have cited numerous reports of police
torture and mistreatment.
The law allows the use of firearms against persons fleeing arrest.
In January, Bucharest police shot and wounded 22-year-old Marius Silviu
Mitran after he failed to obey a police officer's order to stop his
vehicle after committing a traffic infraction. Human rights
organizations concluded that Mitran was injured due to the careless use
of weapons in violation of the law. The case was under investigation by
the Bucharest Prosecutor's Office at year's end.
In March, police from the Bucharest 14th precinct and members of
the rapid intervention police squad allegedly physically assaulted a
15-year-old bystander, Cristian Bujor, who was passing by an incident
between the police and a group of taxi drivers. The minor was
hospitalized for only a day and a half, and the family suspected his
early discharge was due to police pressure. The case was under
investigation by the Bucharest Prosecutor's Office at the end of the
year.
In June, a policeman allegedly physically assaulted a 12-year-old
boy in Fetesti for having allegedly vandalized his car. Although police
showed reluctance to open an investigation into the assault case,
eventually the Fetesti Prosecutor's office began an investigation,
which was ongoing at year's end.
In August, two members of the Service for Protection and Guard
physically assaulted State Secretary on the National Audiovisual
Council (CAN) Serban Pretor after forcing his car off the road in an
apparent road rage incident. Police again hesitated to start
investigations. The head of the local police in Medgidia was dismissed
after he made public the identity of the assailants. Following broad
media coverage of the case, authorities transferred the two assailants
to reserve duty and sent the case to a civil court on the grounds that
they were not on duty at the time of the incident. The lawsuit was
still in progress at year's end.
Romani NGOs continued to claim that police used excessive force
against Roma and subjected them to brutal treatment and harassment. In
January, the head of a local police station and three civilians
reportedly subjected a Romani couple, Stella and Sofron Varga, to
verbal and physical violence in the village of Banisor, Salaj County.
According to Romani CRISS, a police officer accosted the couple, who
were selling wares with a valid sales permit, and demanded free goods
for allowing them to continue their activity. The couple protested, and
the situation became violent. After the woman filed a complaint, the
Police Inspectorate of Salaj County concluded that the head of the
police station was not at fault and that the police should investigate
two civilians for their alleged violent actions.
In July, two police and five members of the police Intervention and
Special Operations Squad (DIASS) entered the Romani community in the
village of Valu lui Traian, Constanta County, and beat community
members with clubs during a search for suspects in connection with an
altercation between two Romani individuals and a neighbor. Thirteen
Roma were injured in the alleged assault. According to Romani CRISS,
the mayor threatened to expel the victims from the village if they
filed complaints or wrote declarations against the police.
During the year, a county-level Council of Discipline of the Police
Inspectorate found a plainclothes officer innocent in the June 2003
beating of Mihai Dumitru during a raid in Tulcea. The MOAI initially
acknowledged the officer's guilt and proposed the Council of Discipline
punish him according to the Police Officer's Status Law. The
prosecutor's office referred the case to court for criminal
prosecution, which was still in process at year's end. There were no
developments in other cases reported in 2003, including: The physical
assault by police on a married Romani couple in Simleul Silvaniei,
Salaj County; the physical assault by an intoxicated police officer on
19-year-old Lucian Lacatusu in Parancea, Buzau County; and the alleged
June police attack on four Roma from one family.
At year's end, the case of Mugurel Soare, against whom a police
officer allegedly used excessive force, and Adrian Georgescu, a gay man
who was harassed and subsequently left the country, were still before
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Lesbian and gay rights NGOs complained that police singled out
members of this community for violence and harassment and noted that
few victims pursued charges due to fear of harassment by the local
community and police or the belief that authorities would not carry out
unbiased investigations.
Prison conditions remained harsh. There were 43 penal units,
including 34 prisons, 6 prison hospitals, and 3 juvenile detention
facilities. Overcrowding remained a serious problem, although there was
a slight improvement over 2003. As of November, 39,629 persons,
including 816 minors, were in prison or juvenile detention facilities,
while the legal capacity of the system is 38,856.
Human rights organizations reported that the abuse of prisoners by
authorities and other prisoners continued to be a problem. Human rights
organizations alleged that the practice of giving certain privileges to
an ``elected representative'' in each cell discriminated against the
rest of the prison population. Such organizations also criticized the
prison punishment system, stating that it has little positive impact
for societal rehabilitation of the inmates. The Government undertook
some efforts to alleviate harsh conditions, including partnerships with
NGOs on rehabilitation programs for inmates and training courses to
deter drug use and the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
In June, 24-year-old Ionut-Cristinel Maftei, who was serving a 5-
year term for theft in prison in Iasi, entered a coma and died
following a serious head injury received in his cell under unclear
circumstances. Suspecting the involvement of the cell supervisor (a
prison employee), Maftei's family filed a complaint against him with
the Military Prosecutor's Office in Iasi in July.
Due to limited space available in the prison system, detainees
awaiting trial were sometimes held in the same facilities as convicted
prisoners. Conditions were roughly the same for both (same food, types
of cells, etc.), but detainees were usually segregated from the general
prison population and enjoyed more frequent access to visitors and
generally free access to legal representatives.
Men and women, adults and juveniles, and pretrial detainees and
convicted criminals were usually held separately.
In June, Parliament passed two new laws on prisons: One that
modernizes the prison term system, and a second, on the status of
prison cadres, that requires the demilitarization of prison staff.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers
and media representatives. The General Directorate for Penitentiaries
reported that there were 7,127 individual or group visits by media and
domestic and foreign NGOs to penitentiaries during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The MOAI commands the National Police and the Gendarmerie as well
as the Border Police, Alien Authority, National Office for Refugees,
General Direction of Information and Internal Protection (classified
information management), Special Protection and Intervention Group, and
the Special Aviation Unit. The police are organized into the General
(i.e., National) Police Inspectorate, the General Police Directorate of
Bucharest, 41 county-level police inspectorates, a Directorate of
Transportation Police, and 3 educational institutions for the training
of policemen. Counties are responsible for police units located within
their respective geographic areas.
While the police generally followed the law and internal
procedures, corruption was a continuing problem. Low-level corruption,
the omnipresent small bribe, was a main cause of citizens' lack of
respect for the police and contributed to a corresponding lack of
police authority. Extremely low salaries (sometimes not paid on time)
contributed to the susceptibility of individual law enforcement
officials to bribes.
The Government addressed these problems by increasing training to
create a more professional police force and by punishing corruption.
During the first half of the year, 96 police (of whom 26 were officers
and 70 were agents) were found to have engaged in misconduct, resulting
in 197 sanctions (of which 53 were for officers and 144 for agents). At
the end of June, 12 police (4 officers and 8 agents) were undergoing
criminal prosecution.
In April, the Government enacted a code of ethics for police
officers that provides strict rules for the professional conduct of law
enforcement. It specifically addresses corruption, use of force,
torture, and illegal behavior and requires all law enforcement officers
to follow the human rights provisions of the Constitution and
international conventions. Unlawful or abusive acts may trigger
criminal or disciplinary sanctions. In conjunction with the code of
ethics, the Government created a permanent commission within the MOAI
to monitor compliance with the code.
The police reform and demilitarization process continued during the
year. In September, the Government issued a decision that would
continue reform of MOIA internal affairs and control structures by
creating a new Anticorruption and Professional Standards Department
within the Intelligence and Internal Protection Directorate. In
September, Parliament adopted a law on the organization and operation
of the judicial police, who handle all criminal investigations. The law
established a new police structure with double subordination,
administratively to the MOAI and operationally to prosecutors trying
individual cases. In October 2003, the Statute of the Police Officers
was amended by a government ordinance detailing disciplinary actions
against police officers, including suspension from active duty during
criminal investigations.
The Constitution provides that only judges may issue arrest and
search warrants. A judge may order temporary detention for periods of
30 or 60 days, depending upon the status of the case. The court may
extend these time periods; however, pretrial detention cannot exceed
180 days. Pretrial detention counts toward sentence time if a detainee
is convicted. Courts and prosecutors may be liable for unjustifiable,
illegal, or abusive measures. The law requires authorities to inform
those arrested of the charges against them and their legal rights.
Police must notify detainees of their rights in a language they
understand before obtaining a statement. In general, the proper
authorities issued arrest warrants. The law provides for a bail system;
however, it was seldom used in practice, reportedly because those who
requested release on bail did not meet the legal requirements.
Detainees generally had access to counsel and their families.
The law allows police to take any person who endangers the public,
other persons, or the social order and whose identity cannot be
established to a police station. Police often used this provision to
detain persons up to 24 hours. Minors who are at least 16 years of age
are subject to arrest for all offenses; minors between the ages of 14
and 16 are subject to preventive arrest if shown to have full mental
capacity, but only in cases involving serious felonies and exigent
circumstances; minors under the age of 14 cannot be criminally
prosecuted. Under the law, the Government is obligated to provide legal
counsel to minors who are detained or arrested during a criminal
investigation or trial. The confidentiality of discussions between
detainees and their lawyers was generally respected in practice.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, members of the judiciary alleged that
judges have been subject to political pressure.
In October 2003, the Constitution was amended to increase the role
of the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) in selecting, promoting,
transferring and disciplining ``magistrates,'' a term that includes
judges and prosecutors. The membership of the CSM was expanded from 17
to 19, and the Justice Minister was removed from the chairmanship of
the council. At the end of September, three laws came into force that
further implemented the amendments related to the judiciary by
regulating the composition and role of the CSM, regulating magistrates'
careers, and regulating the organization of the judiciary. These laws
confirm the CSM's control over its members while retaining the Ministry
of Justice's responsibility for administrative and budgetary matters.
In early December, elections for positions on the CSM were marred
by accusations that some candidates pressured and intimidated their
subordinates to vote in their favor. Other magistrates and civil
society groups asked the Senate not to validate the results and to call
for new elections. The Association of Romanian Magistrates filed an
official complaint with the Senate regarding the appointment of the two
civil society representatives, claiming they did not have the
background, experience or moral stature to be credentialed members of
the CSM, but rather received the nomination due to their loyalty to the
then governing PSD party. The Senate had not acted on this matter by
year's end.
The Government took some steps to fight corruption among officials,
including members of the judiciary (see Section 3).
The law establishes a four-tier legal system, including appellate
courts. Defendants have final recourse to the High Court of Cassation
and Justice or, for constitutional matters, to the Constitutional
Court. A prosecutor's office is associated with each court. The SCM
nominates a candidate for General Prosecutor, whom the President
appoints. The General Prosecutor is operationally independent from
other members of the executive branch, including the Minister of
Justice. The law permits the use of the native language of minorities
in courts or with authorities.
The law provides for the investigation by civilian prosecutors of
crimes by the National Police. Military prosecutors continue to try
cases that involve ``state security,'' and the Gendarmerie and Border
Police continue to fall under military jurisdiction. Human rights NGOs
noted that cases involving military personnel and the police continued
to be tried by military courts. Military court investigations of police
abuse were lengthy and not followed by further court actions. Local and
international human rights groups have criticized the handling of cases
by military courts, claiming that military prosecutors' investigations
were unnecessarily lengthy and often inconclusive.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial; however, a
widespread perception of judicial corruption remained. Trials are open
to the public. The law does not provide for trial by jury. The
Constitution provides for a right to counsel and a presumption of
innocence until a final judgment by a court. The law requires that an
attorney be appointed for defendants who cannot afford legal
representation or are otherwise unable to select counsel; in practice,
local bar associations provided attorneys to the indigent and were
compensated by the Ministry of Justice. Both plaintiffs and defendants
have a right of appeal. The law provides that confessions extracted as
a result of police brutality may be withdrawn by the accused when
brought before the court; the practice of extracting confessions
through beating occurred occasionally in the past. There were no
reported incidents of confessions resulting from police beatings during
the year. The judicial system tended to be inefficient and slow.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
Restitution of church, communal, and individual property remained a
serious problem marked by a cumbersome administrative process and slow
return of property to owners. During the year, approximately 1,000
buildings, out of 128,000 claims, were restored to their former owners
under the 2001 law that provides for the restitution of personal
dwellings or buildings confiscated during the Communist regime.
Approximately 15,000 properties have been returned since the law was
enacted. Property restitution was particularly important for the Greek
Catholic Church, which had all its properties, including churches,
confiscated during the Communist regime. During the year, the
Government took few steps to restore these properties, returning to the
Church only 50 properties out of 2,207 claims under the 2002 law to
restore confiscated church property. In the case of individual
properties, the ECHR has ruled on 44 property restitution cases in
favor of the former owners who either had been wronged in court or
denied restitution on various grounds; one of these rulings occurred
during the first half of the year. The Government generally respected
ECHR rulings.
In March, Parliament adopted a law establishing guidelines for the
restitution of properties confiscated from ethnic groups during the
Communist regime. The Jewish community was expected to benefit both
from religious and ethnic property restitution laws.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits illegal searches. During
the year, constitutional amendments entered into force that shifted the
responsibility for issuing search warrants from prosecutors to judges.
Human rights organizations and jurists continued to study the potential
impact of these amendments on investigations conducted for national
security purposes. Previously, the law allowed security officials to
enter residences without authorization from a prosecutor if they deemed
a threat to national security to be imminent. Such actions were
historically rare.
The Constitution protects the privacy of legal means of
communication; however, the law permits the use of electronic
interception in both criminal and national security cases. In January,
the Criminal Procedural Code was amended to shift responsibility for
authorizing electronic interceptions from prosecutors to judges and
require electronic interceptions in criminal cases to be conducted
under the direction of a prosecutor. Nevertheless, the equipment to
conduct such interceptions remained under the control of the Internal
Intelligence Service (SRI), to which prosecutors did not have direct
access.
For practical purposes, the SRI physically conducted all electronic
interceptions. Previously, the law allowed the SRI to monitor
communications after obtaining authorization from the ``public
prosecutor specially appointed by the General Public Prosecutor'' for
activities involving national security threats. In November, a new law
on terrorism was enacted that creates a special procedure for
authorizing electronic interceptions in national security cases and
cases involving terrorist acts. The government institutions with
competence in the field of national security must forward a written
request for authorization to the General Prosecutor. If the request is
found justified, the General Prosecutor submits it to the president of
the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The final decision is taken in
chambers by a group of specially designated judges. The warrant cannot
exceed 6 months, but it may be extended by 3 months several times in
justified situations. Special judges designated by the president of the
High Court of Cassation and Justice must also approve any extension.
In exceptional circumstances (when there is a clear and present
danger to national security), government institutions may begin
interception without a warrant issued by the judiciary. Following this,
however, a request for authorization must be submitted within 48 hours.
In practice, the SRI continued to operate under its prior legislative
authority. The SRI may legally engage in surveillance, request official
documents or information, and consult with technical experts to
determine whether a situation constitutes a threat to national security
or to prevent a crime.
The law permits persons who were citizens after 1945 access to
secret police files kept by the Communist government. A council
approved by Parliament reviewed files and released the information
unless it involved state secrets or threatened national security. The
files remained in intelligence service custody. Observers criticized
the law for exempting files of current intelligence service employees
from review and for restricting the definition of ``informer'' to an
individual who received payment for services, making impossible the
identification of individuals who collaborated with the Securitate for
other reasons, such as personal advancement or ideological commitment.
The release of files in 2003 was impeded by the inability of the
lustration council to meet with a quorum of members. The consistent
absence of PSD and PRM members gave rise to speculation that neither of
these parties desired to see progress in the release of files. During
the year, the council's activity was slow and ineffective, in large
part due to the inconsistent attendance by PSD and PRM members.
Under the law, foreign citizens of certain states, primarily less
developed countries, must report their presence to police if they stay
in private accommodations for 10 days or longer.
Romani NGOs monitored several cases of eviction of Roma living
illegally on public land in Buzau, Galati, and Tulcea counties. In
these counties, local authorities forced Roma found living illegally to
relocate to their home counties. Romani activists disputed the legal
grounds for these actions but did not pursue a legal remedy. There was
also no action taken on the 2003 eviction of several dozen Roma living
illegally on the outskirts of Bucharest's Militari district.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice; however, certain legal prohibitions
against ``defamation of the country'' and ``offense to authority''
potentially limited these rights. Romanian Public Television (RTV)--
composed of four national stations--reportedly maintained internal
rules that prohibited its journalists from speaking freely about
political pressure and censorship. Print media also reported that job
contracts at some private television stations also prohibited
journalists from speaking freely about political pressures in news
reporting or commentary. Journalists continued to be sentenced by
courts for their articles and opinions. Investigations of violence and
threats against journalists moved slowly.
Journalists and private citizens could generally criticize the
government authorities, including those at senior levels, but there
were a number of cases of local authorities intimidating their critics
rather than responding to serious issues in substance. In addition,
many media outlets--electronic and print--reportedly had substantial
tax arrears. Media watchdogs alleged that fear of government audits and
punitive tax actions to collect these arrears inhibited negative
coverage of leading government figures.
Watchdog groups also expressed concern that the Government could
exert pressure on the media through the advertising fees paid by state-
owned companies. Representatives of NGOs such as the Center for
Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Media Monitoring Agency (MMA) said
that, by directing public funds toward certain media outlets, the
Government could effectively control the content of media reports. The
CIJ requested the former PSD Government to provide information about
such fees and contracts by ministries or state-owned agencies for
advertising in specific media outlets, as they involved public money.
When the Government did not provide the information, the CIJ sued it
with the support of lawyers provided by the Romanian Helsinki
Committee. On October 25, the Bucharest Appellate Court ordered the
Government to provide the CIJ information about advertising contracts;
however, the Government had not produced the information by the year's
end.
Independent media grew in an increasingly competitive market.
Several hundred daily and weekly newspapers were published. Foreign
news publications may be imported and distributed freely, but high
prices limited their circulation. Several private television stations
broadcast nationwide, and there were numerous other private local
television and radio stations. More than four million households had
cable television, giving significant portions of the population access
to private and foreign broadcasts. State Television (RTV), state-owned
Radio Romania (SRR), and the Europa FM radio network remained the only
national broadcasters able to reach the majority of the rural
population. Independent stations continued to enlarge their coverage by
over-the-air, cable, and satellite transmissions.
Television remained the most widely available source of
information, with almost 80 percent of the population obtaining their
information from television newscasts. In the spring, the CNA released
a report showing that 92 percent of the population watched television,
almost 70 percent of them every day, for a daily average time of almost
4 hours. Approximately 95 percent of viewers watched the main newscasts
on almost a daily basis. The report also showed that 66 percent of the
adult population listened to radio and that over 90 percent of
households had at least one television set.
The print and electronic media generally reflected the political
views of their owners and covered a wide range of the political
spectrum. Private television stations tended to avoid direct criticism
of the PSD Government and the former ruling party, particularly on
corruption or other controversial issues. Media monitoring reports
suggested that this reluctance was due to owners' fears that the
Government would retaliate by seeking back taxes or auditing stations.
Media NGOs such as the MMA and CIJ reported that primetime newscasts of
the main national television and radio networks were generally biased
in the former governing party's favor. MMA reports showed that the
electronic media's flagship daily newscasts most heavily covered the
ruling PSD and its president Adrian Nastase, who at the time was also
Prime Minister, and almost always portrayed them in a positive context.
This was particularly notable during the presidential and parliamentary
campaigns. A MMA report showed that, in most television and radio prime
time news from October 21 to November 3, the PSD presidential candidate
was most frequently associated with acts deemed positive, while the
opposition candidate was generally associated with acts deemed
negative. NGOs also reported that broadcast media substantially failed
to cover allegations of fraud in the November 28 parliamentary and
first round of presidential elections.
In March, the CNA prohibited a radio spot by the Bucharest daily
newspaper Evenimentul Zilei that referred to acts of corruption
involving then ruling PSD political figures featured in the newspaper's
articles. The council asserted that the spot represented indirect
political campaigning. Evenimentul Zilei asserted that the ban was a
form of censorship exerted by the PSD through the council.
During the local election campaign, on June 6, the PSD filed a
complaint against a private radio network, Radio Total, for a critical
statement made by an NGO representative who was a guest on an election
day program regarding the situation in her Bucharest neighborhood.
Although the guest did not mention the name of the PSD mayor of the
city sector, the ruling party considered the statement ``a negative
campaign for their candidate'' on election day, when campaigning and
other politically motivated activities were not legally permitted. The
CNA fined the station. Two plainclothes police officers visited the
station, stating they had come to ``personally'' deliver the PSD's
complaint and speak with the reporter who interviewed the NGO
representative. Evenimentul Zilei reported that it had similar
experiences with police authorities.
Parliamentarians and their political allies purchased numerous
independent media outlets in the provinces. In the spring, the
respected financial magazine Capital published research indicating that
politicians from the then governing PSD owned and controlled half of
local television stations, either directly or through alleged
intermediaries. The research commented that the only way a small local
television station could survive was to reflect the political
orientation of its owner, which enabled it to attract more advertising
revenue to help deal with its financial problems. The research quoted
sources as saying that local businesspeople in many regions were afraid
to advertise in independent media outlets because they could suffer
retaliation by financial authorities as the result of PSD pressure.
Several British Broadcasting Company (BBC) affiliate stations,
subsequent to their purchase, cut off BBC Romanian Service news
programs, allegedly due to PSD pressure. Media watchdog groups warned
numerous times about the lack of independence in many local media
outlets, mostly due to financial constraints and pressure from local
authorities.
During the year, threats and physical violence against journalists
continued. There were reports of harassment, intimidation, various
forms of pressure, and violence against journalists who were perceived
as overly critical of national and local authorities. Some of this
pressure allegedly occurred with at least tacit support of government
and party officials. According to a MMA survey released in November, 60
percent of journalists polled reported having been pressured at some
point by authorities to stop investigative reporting or to refrain from
publishing the results.
The media reported several instances in which journalists from
local newspapers received threatening telephone calls or had their
finances subjected to scrutiny by local officials after they revealed
alleged illegalities committed by local officials, such as their
building luxurious villas or participating in businesses or activities
that were subject to conflict of interest legislation.
In addition, the media reported cases of journalists who were
videotaping various events, including arrests or investigations, being
assaulted by local authorities or by relatives or acquaintances of the
persons being filmed. Such incidents occurred in public places,
including court buildings; the media reported that gendarmes and police
frequently did not intervene. Some journalists in the provinces
continued to face verbal harassment and even violent treatment from
local authorities.
The MMA reported that in February, Hungarian-based journalist Zsolt
Bayer, from the Hungarian publication Magyar Nemzet, was prevented from
entering the country by border authorities. The authorities refused to
state the reason for their actions, although Bayer was well known for
his reporting in support of regional autonomy for ethnic Hungarians
living in the country.
In March, magistrate Filip Victoria physically attacked Emil
Soldan, a journalist from Orizont newspaper in Pascani, at the local
city hall while Soldan was taking photos. Soldan had previously written
several critical articles about the judge, accusing him of making
personal profit from his position.
Also in March, Catalin Stefanescu, a reporter for Ziarul de Iasi,
received death threats over the telephone after he reported on alleged
illegal hunting in which the then mayor of Movileni locality was
involved. A police investigation reportedly showed that the calls came
from the mayor's house.
In June, the media reported that, in Targu Ocna, Mayor Stefan
Silochi punched a female journalist, Mariuca Bobosa of the local daily
Ziarul de Bacau, while she was filming a political rally from her car.
Bobosa reported the incident to the police and also filed several court
cases against the mayor; authorities were still investigating the case
at year's end. Another journalist, Luminita Patrateanu from the daily
Monitorul de Bacau, reported that Mayor Silochi had threatened her as
well and said he ``would kill all journalists'' who write critical
reports about him.
The media reported that, in June, the former mayor of the city of
Bacau had a phone conversation with Sebi Sufariu, of the local
newspaper Gazeta de Bacau, in which he threatened the journalist with
death. The former Bacau mayor accused the media of being responsible
for his election defeat. The newspaper filed a complaint against the
former mayor. Similarly, in Vrancea County, daily Ziarul de Vrancea
allegedly received repeated pressure and threats from local officials
throughout the year, including from the president of the county
council.
Journalists and media watchdog groups repeatedly expressed concern
that publications printing investigative reporting against the PSD-led
government faced direct or indirect pressure to curtail this reporting
or change editorial views. In September, 55 journalists from the
national daily Evenimentul Zilei signed a public letter protesting
editorial pressures from the Swiss owner company Ringier, which was
accused of being pressed by the PSD to soften the newspaper's
antigovernment tone. Among many other allegations, Evenimentul Zilei
reporters asserted that information on an investigation into a business
run by the sister of the then prime minister was taken from their
computers and printed in another daily published by Ringier, the
tabloid Libertatea. The Libertatea article printed only the point of
view of the prime minister's sister.
Some Evenimentul Zilei reporters alleged they had been harassed and
threatened, particularly during the parliamentary and presidential
campaign. In December, a secret services officer allegedly told a
reporter that Evenimentul Zilei journalists should tone down their
reports, otherwise their lives would ``be put in danger.'' He
reportedly said that the journalists might be beaten on the street when
they left their offices and the attack could be disguised as a robbery.
In September, reporters of the national daily Romania Libera
similarly initiated a protest against the German owner of the newspaper
WAZ. The reporters and the daily's editorial board accused WAZ of
attempting to change the newspaper's reporting and editorial tone due
to Government pressure.
In October, investigative journalist Cornel Ivanciuc of the
Academia Catavencu weekly alleged that he had been indirectly
threatened by then Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu. A former
Romanian ambassador reportedly told Ivanciuc that Pascu wanted him to
``calm down'' and ``mind his own business'' with regard to an
investigative report he was researching on a classified document held
by the Ministry of Defense. Ivanciuc claimed the ambassador recounted
elements of a private telephone discussion with a source about the
document, leading Ivanciuc to believe his conversations had been
intercepted and taped.
In October, the Senate withdrew the accreditation of the national
daily Romania Libera for covering its activities. Romania Libera had
printed an article alleging that the PSD general secretary of the
Senate promoted employees in exchange for sexual favors. The Senate
also asked Romania Libera to apologize publicly for the article.
Following pressure from other media outlets, key civil society and
legal figures, the Senate restored Romania Libera's accreditation.
In early December, RTV-1 news reporter Alexandru Costache, backed
by several of his colleagues, denounced what he called government-
pressured censorship and manipulation in an open letter to Evenimentul
Zilei, accusing the station of deliberate and biased coverage in favor
of the ruling PSD party during the Romanian presidential campaign
runoff elections. The day after the letter was published, the station
manager threatened Costache and his colleagues with arrest, prompting
media NGOs such as MMA and Reporters Without Borders to offer the
journalists legal protection and judicial assistance. The station
reportedly responded by initiating internal ethics investigations into
the journalists' actions.
During the year, there was no progress in several investigations
into violence against journalists that occurred in 2003. Authorities
failed to find the assailants in a case involving a journalist in
Timisoara, who was severely beaten in December 2003. The reporter, who
worked for the Timisoara bureau of the influential national daily
Evenimentul Zilei, had frequently criticized ruling PSD party officials
and their business activities in Timis County. The victim sued the
police. Local officials were critical of law enforcement authorities
for their lack of progress in the investigation.
Investigators also failed to identify the persons who beat two
journalists from Romania Libera and Evenimentul Zilei in July 2003. The
journalists had written numerous reports on alleged illegal activities
of local authorities and miners' leaders in the region.
In April, authorities arrested several persons in the case of
Szoltan Csondy, a journalist in Miercurea Ciuc working for the
Hungarian-language paper, Hargita Nepe. Attackers in the hall of his
apartment building had seriously injured him in December 2003. The
journalist was known for his investigations into the city's underworld,
in particular the activities of a local businessman, Istvan Csibi.
Authorities arrested Csibi, who was linked to other crimes including
attempted murder, robbery, and assault, and several of his accomplices;
at year's end, there were more than a dozen court cases underway
against Csibi.
During the year, the newspaper Gazeta de Sud appealed court-awarded
damages of approximately $18,000 (600 million lei) to a past prefect of
Olt County, Marin Diaconescu, for its reporting on the prefect. The
General Prosecutor's Office rejected the appeal.
Laws restricting freedom of speech continued to cause concern among
the media and NGOs. The offense of insulting authorities can be
punished with a fine. In addition, the Government can punish libel with
a prison term of 2 to 24 months, which can be increased to 3 to 36
months if the libel was directed at public officials. In addition,
Article 168 of the Penal Code provides criminal penalties for spreading
false information aimed at attacking national security. In June,
Parliament adopted a new Penal Code which lowered the punishment for
libel to 10 to 120 ``days-fine,'' meaning a sentence is given as a
number of days and the person receiving the sentence must pay a fine of
between $3.30 and $33 (100,000 and 1,000,000 lei) for each day. The new
Penal Code is scheduled to take effect in June 2005.
There were increased allegations of progovernment bias and self-
censorship inside the state-owned Radio Romania (SRR). In April, a
group of SRR news reporters made accusations regarding what they called
sophisticated censorship in the newsroom. Cerasela Radulescu, one of
the protesters, and members of opposition political parties charged
that critical statements about former prime minister Adrian Nastase and
other PSD officials were often edited out of the stories airing in the
main newscasts and moved to other, less watched newscasts. In early
December, Radulescu spoke publicly about her case, stating that the
situation inside SRR has not changed significantly and that she had to
move to another department because of management pressure and
impediments to her work.
In March, a producer working for the local station of the state-
owned RTV network in Timisoara alleged that network management had
dismissed him in order to limit the material on the air.
During the year, a local court in Gorj County rejected a suit that
a former editor and producer at the RCS television station brought
against the station for failing to take action against RCS management's
alleged censorship policies. The editor/producer left her job in March
2003 after her show was cut off in midbroadcast while she was
discussing corruption scandals involving local leaders. In November, a
Craiova Court decided that it was indeed a case of censorship and not a
technical problem as management insisted. The Court ordered the CNA to
sanction the television station.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet or academic
freedom; however, media reported that some sites with anti-PSD content,
or that included embarrassing private transcripts from PSD meetings on
governmental issues, were attacked or shut down.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice. The law provides for unarmed citizens
to assemble peacefully, but states that meetings must not interfere
with other economic or social activities and may not be held near
locations such as hospitals, airports, or military installations.
Permits are not required to assemble in some public places. However,
when required, demonstration organizers must apply for a permit in
advance. Authorities may prohibit a public gathering by notifying the
organizers in writing within 48 hours of receipt of a permit request.
The law prohibits counterdemonstrations that coincide with scheduled
public gatherings. The law prohibits fascist, Communist, racist, or
xenophobic symbols (such as statues of war criminals on public land),
ideologies, or organizations. Participants in unauthorized
demonstrations may be fined.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice. Political
parties are required to have at least 25,000 members to have legal
status, a number that some NGOs have criticized as being inordinately
high.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, there were some restrictions, and several minority
religious groups continued to claim credibly that government officials
and Romanian Orthodox clergy impeded their proselytizing and interfered
with other religious activities.
The Government requires religious groups to register. However,
there is no clear registration procedure. The lack of specific
registration requirements made it almost impossible for groups to
receive religious status under the law.
The Government gives official religious status to 17 religions.
Only these recognized religions are eligible to receive state financial
support. Recognized religions have the right to establish schools,
receive state funds to build churches, pay clergy salaries, subsidize
clergy housing, broadcast religious programs on radio and television,
apply for broadcasting licenses for denominational frequencies, and
enjoy tax-exempt status. The Government also registered religious
groups as either religious and charitable foundations or as nonprofit
cultural associations.
The law provides for peaceful religious assembly; however, several
minority religious groups again complained that, on various occasions,
local authorities and Orthodox priests prevented religious activities
from taking place, even when their organizers had been issued permits.
The Evangelical Alliance continued to report difficulties obtaining
approval to use public halls for religious activities following
pressure by Orthodox priests. In some cases, Orthodox priests incited
the local population against activities by the Seventh-day Adventist
Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and members of
Jehovah's Witnesses. The press reported several instances of Romanian
Orthodox clergy harassing members of other faiths, such as pressuring
non-Orthodox school children to attend Orthodox religion classes or not
allowing members of religious groups to proselytize near Orthodox
churches.
Government building permit regulations equally allow recognized and
unrecognized religious groups to build places of worship. Although most
minority religious groups declared that they had received permits to
build places of worship without difficulty, some continued to complain
that permits were unduly delayed.
Several religious groups made credible complaints that, in some
instances, local police and administrative authorities tacitly
supported sometimes violent societal campaigns against proselytizing.
In some localities, legal proselytizing was perceived as being directed
at adherents of established churches, and conflicts occurred. Members
of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventist Church continued
to report such cases.
Religions with the highest concentration in a locality have the
right to teach religion in public schools; however, a number of
religious groups, including the Greek Catholic Church, the Baptist
Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
reported that they had been unable to hold classes because of the
Orthodox clergy's influence. Additionally, the Seventh-day Adventist
Church and Jehovah's Witnesses reported cases of children who were
pressured to attend Orthodox religion classes.
A 2002 law provides for the restitution of large numbers of
religious properties, but not places of worship. Pursuant to this law,
religious groups submitted 7,568 property restitution claims by March
2003. Religious minorities frequently did not succeed in regaining
possession of these properties, because many housed state offices,
schools, hospitals, or cultural institutions that would require
relocation, and lawsuits and protests by occupants delayed their
physical return. A national commission began operation in June 2003 to
consider restitution on a case-by-case basis. This process of
systematic religious property restitution resulted in the return of 574
buildings since June 2003.
The Greek Catholic, or Uniate, Church made only limited progress in
recovering properties taken by the Romanian Orthodox Church after their
forced merger in 1948. The exclusion of places of worship from the 2002
restitution law primarily affected Greek Catholics; the Communists
generally did not seize churches of other faiths. Authorities have
returned only a handful of the approximately 2,600 Greek Catholic
churches and monasteries taken. Apparently to avoid restitution, the
Orthodox Church demolished many Greek Catholic churches under various
pretexts, such as being structurally unsafe. A Greek Catholic-Orthodox
commission continued to make little progress in resolving the
restitution of the Greek Catholic churches from the Orthodox Church.
Many courts refused to rule on restitution of Greek Catholic churches
because of a 1990 decree mandating that dialogue between the two
churches resolve the issue. In August, the Government issued a decree
permitting the Greek Catholic Church to resort to court action whenever
the bilateral dialogue fails; the Orthodox Church had urged the Greek
Catholic Church to choose between dialogue and court action earlier in
the year.
The historical Hungarian churches, including the Hungarian Roman
Catholic and the Hungarian Protestant Reformed, Evangelical, and
Unitarian churches, received only a small number of their properties
back. Government decrees ordered the return of 33 buildings out of
1,630 buildings confiscated from those denominations, but they were
able to take actual possession of only approximately 20. The 2002 law
restituting church property returned 340 buildings to the Hungarian
churches. The Jewish community received 42 buildings by government
decree, but has obtained full or partial possession of only 29. The
community also received back 48 additional buildings since June 2003
under the law on religious property.
In March, unidentified persons broke into a synagogue in Bacau and
broke its windows. In August, Nazi and anti-Semitic signs were found on
the inside of the walls of the Jewish cemetery in Sarmasu, Mures
County. Authorities have not identified the perpetrators in either of
these cases. There were no developments in the 2000-2003 desecrations
of Jewish synagogues and cemeteries.
The extremist press continued to publish anti-Semitic articles. The
Legionnaires (Iron Guard), an extreme nationalist, anti-Semitic, pro-
Nazi group, continued to republish inflammatory books from the interwar
period. In March, a private television station broadcast a talk show on
``Gypsies, Jews, and Legionnaires,'' which voiced xenophobic, anti-
Semitic, and racist views. The station owners did not respond to a
protest sent by the Jewish Communities Federation.
Extremists made repeated attempts to deny that Holocaust activities
occurred in the country or in Romanian-administered territory.
Religious services (services for the dead) for legionnaire leaders
continued to be held in individual Orthodox churches.
In June 2003, the Government denied the occurrence of the Holocaust
within the country's World War II borders in a communique but
subsequently retracted the statement and assumed responsibility for the
World War II pro-Nazi regime's crimes against Jews. Although government
spokesmen claimed that someone not authorized to do so had inserted the
phrase containing the denial, the person responsible was neither
identified nor reprimanded. In July 2003, in an interview with an
Israeli newspaper, then President Iliescu appeared to minimize the
Holocaust by claiming that suffering and persecution was not unique to
the Jewish population in Europe. He later said that his interview had
been presented in an incomplete and selective way.
In September 2003, the Government released a teaching manual for
schools that dealt with Holocaust denial and provided figures for the
number of Jews killed, details about concentration camps, death
chambers, and the persecution of Roma, homosexuals and Jehovah's
Witnesses. However, education on the country's role in the Holocaust
was still limited and lacked a unified approach. In October 2003, the
Government established an International Committee on the Holocaust in
Romania to analyze and to improve public understanding of Holocaust
events in the country. In November, the Committee, chaired by Nobel
Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel and given full access to archives and other
documents, submitted a report on its findings that detailed the history
of the Holocaust in the country as well as the commission's conclusions
and recommendations on how the Government could foster Holocaust
awareness, remembrance, research and education. In May, the Government
established an annual Holocaust Remembrance Day on October 9, a date
selected to mark the Antonescu regime's initial order for the
deportation of thousands of victims from Bassarabia and Bukovina to
Transnistria in 1941.
The New Right (Noua Dreapta) organization (a small extremist group
with nationalistic, xenophobic views) continued to harass verbally, and
sometimes physically, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints in Bucharest and Iasi. Many representatives of minority
religions credibly complained that private and governmental
organizations operating hospitals, children's homes, and shelters for
the elderly often permitted only Orthodox priests to provide religious
assistance in them. Charitable activities by minority churches in
children's homes and shelters often were interpreted as proselytizing.
Orthodox priests reportedly denied permission to the Greek Catholic and
the Seventh-day Adventist churches to bury members in several rural
localities; it was not clear whether church or public cemeteries were
involved.
In July, authorities charged an individual with dual Romanian and
French citizenship with distributing nationalist-chauvinistic and
fascist propaganda; the trial was in progress at the year's end.
In July 2003, a Brasov resident was given a suspended 2-year
sentence for nationalist-chauvinistic and fascist propaganda.
In December, then President Iliescu awarded the Star of Romania,
the highest honor awarded by the state, to a politician known for his
anti-Semitic and xenophobic views and to a historian noted for denying
the participation of the World War II Romanian government in the
Holocaust. The actions prompted protests in the media and from
international human rights and Jewish community leaders.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice. The law prohibits
forced exile, and the Government did not employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In March, the Parliament
approved amendments to bring the law on refugees in line with the 1951
Geneva Convention, although the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) criticized the brevity of deadlines for court rulings and the
appeal process in the amendments. In April, the Government drafted,
with the support of the UNHCR and other organizations, a National
Strategy on Migration, which outlined the main principles underlying
its policy toward refugees. The Government also adopted legislation on
integration of refugees in May and on the protection of refugee
children in June. The former entitles refugees who are granted a form
of protection in the country to employment, accommodation, medical
care, social assistance, education, counseling, and Romanian language
courses.
A 2003 law forbids expelling foreigners to a country where their
lives may be in jeopardy. The law establishes a National Refugee Office
(ONR) in the MOAI to receive, process, and house asylum seekers. A
Refugee Integration Department was set up within the ONR. The
Government reorganized the former Directorate for Foreigners and
Migration Issues, which was subordinated to a directorate in the MOAI,
under the Alien Authority, which reports directly to the Minister.
In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution. During the first 7 months of the year, the ONR received
303 applications for asylum and 92 reapplications. Most of the
applicants came from Iraq (91), China (60), and India (49). During the
same period, 54 applications were approved.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who did not qualify as asylees or refugees; however, there were reports
that the Government denied some applications for refugee status without
grounds. According to local NGOs, some individuals who were credible
refugees were denied refugee status due to corruption in some agencies
and changes in the refugee law that did not apply retroactively. For
example, authorities denied the application for refugee status of three
Sudanese Christian refugees who entered the country in 2001 on the
grounds that they did not meet the criteria for such status. NGOs
reported that these grounds for denial appeared to be baseless and that
the three Sudanese would face persecution if returned. The ONR later
denied the refugees' requests for access to a new procedure on two
different applications. Authorities allowed them to stay in the country
in a ``tolerated status,'' which denies them access to social
assistance and the right to work and move freely about the country.
This status was contingent upon their ability to prove each month that
they were actively seeking means to remove themselves from the country
either to their homeland or another country. Senior officials at the
Alien Authority confirmed that, in this status, they could be deported
at any time.
There were no voluntary repatriations during the first 7 months of
the year.
The Government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government funded
programs to integrate refugees into society; refugee-focused NGOs
developed similar programs. However, programs for integrating refugees
developed slowly and had very limited funds and resources. There were 3
reception and accommodation shelters in Bucharest and a 20-bed shelter
at the Bucharest Airport. The Alien Authority ran a detention shelter
for illegal migrants close to the Bucharest Airport. Two additional
shelters opened in Galati in May and Timisoara in February, with a
capacity of 250 people each.
The MOAI and the Labor Ministry funded programs to assist asylum
seekers and refugees, although some experienced repeated administrative
difficulties in obtaining protected status due to officials' requests
for substantial documentation. Government financial support
(reimbursable loans for 6 to 9 months) was minimal and usually not
enough to cover basic needs. An increasing number of illegal migrants
regarded the country as a transit point to other countries.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
The country held parliamentary and presidential elections on
November 28 and December 12. The parliamentary elections resulted in no
political bloc emerging with a clear majority. The center-left PSD
initially held 113 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 46 seats in the
Senate; the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR), which ran in alliance with
the PSD, received 19 Chamber seats and 11 Senate seats; the center
right Liberal-Democratic (PNL-PD) Alliance won 112 Chamber seats and 49
Senate seats; the extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM)
received 48 Chamber seats and 21 Senate seats; and the Democratic
Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) tallied 22 Chamber seats and
10 Senate seats. In addition, 18 ethnic minority parties were accorded
individual seats in the Chamber, as provided in the Constitution. PNL-
PD presidential candidate Traian Basescu's victory in the second round
led to the formation of a new government at the end of the year by the
PNL-PD, in coalition with the UDMR, PUR, and the ethnic minority
representatives.
The November 28 parliamentary and first round of presidential
elections were characterized by widespread irregularities, precipitated
primarily by the Government's decision to abandon use of previously
issued electoral identification cards and to allow citizens outside
their home districts to vote at any polling place across the country.
There were widespread allegations of individuals voting in multiple
locations, including some reports that political parties supported
these activities. There were also accusations of abuse of the so-called
mobile ballot boxes transported to elderly or infirm voters; the
prolonged presence of elected officials in polling places contrary to
the law; and the placement of campaign posters near polling places in
contravention of the law. Civil society organizations and opposition
parties also claimed the Central Electoral Bureau allowed fraud to take
place at a national level during the electronic tabulation of votes,
although subsequent inquiries were inconclusive. The civil society NGO
Pro-Democracy announced it would not observe the second round due to
the poor execution of the first round, but changed its decision after
the Government agreed to take steps to diminish possibilities for
fraud.
In the second round of presidential elections on December 12, the
Government limited the locations where voters outside of their home
districts could vote, reducing the possibilities for multiple voting.
However, the lack of sufficient alternate locations and the closure of
these locations while many voters were still in line resulted in the
disenfranchisement of hundreds and possibly thousands of voters,
particularly in major cities. Members of the center-right opposition
accused the PSD of intentionally restricting the vote in this manner,
as transient voters in urban areas have historically supported the
center-right. There were credible reports in some precincts that local
officials or partisan election monitors instructed citizens on how to
vote and instances of campaign posters being placed too close to polls.
In June, the country held two rounds of elections for mayors and
county and city councils. International and civil society election
observers noted some problems, primarily related to allegations of
campaigning and other political activities on election day and near
polling places, despite legal prohibitions. There were also some
reports of abuse of mobile ballot boxes. In Cluj County, NGOs expressed
concern that voters who turned 18, the legal voting age, between the
two rounds of elections were not permitted to vote in the second round
although they were apparently permitted to do so in other parts of the
country. Observers noted that many discrepancies appeared to result
from varying interpretations of sometimes vague voting regulations and
procedures, rather than from any clear attempt by local or national
electoral officials to influence outcomes.
The October 2003 referendum on proposed amendments to the
Constitution was characterized by widespread efforts by government
officials to ensure that it met the minimum 50 percent voter turnout
required for the referendum to be legally valid. Civic action groups
reported some notable irregularities, including political pressure on
and by locally elected leaders and special lotteries and other material
incentives to bring out the vote, and there were allegations of mobile
ballot box abuse.
The Government made limited progress toward combating high-level
corruption. During the first half of the year, Parliament passed
legislation that in effect softened anticorruption laws affecting high
officials and public servants. Implementation of other anticorruption
legislation remained poor. There were no convictions of high officials,
despite the media focus on a series of corruption cases involving
members of the Cabinet and the ruling party.
At the same time, the Government took new measures to fight
systemic corruption. It enacted legislation requiring certain public
officials to file an asset disclosure statement, complementing
anticorruption laws adopted in 2003 that clarified the definition of
conflict of interest. The National Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office
(PNA) is authorized to investigate charges of corruption based upon the
offender's status as a public official, the amount of money involved in
the corrupt activity, or the amount of loss to the public. Owing to a
flood of minor cases inhibiting the PNA's work, an emergency ordinance
was introduced during the year to restrict the PNA's jurisdiction to
cases involving higher amounts of money--over $135,000 (100,000
euros)--or high-level government officials.
During the first 6 months of the year, the PNA opened 1,645
criminal investigations, of which 604 were resolved. A total of 91
cases involving 436 offenses and 221 individuals went to trial; a third
of these cases involved persons in management positions. Of the cases
that went to trial, 53 have resulted in the conviction of a total of 99
individuals.
In 2003, the PNA reported investigating 2,229 cases, of which it
solved 951 cases and declined 563 cases for lack of jurisdiction; the
remaining 751 cases were continued. In the resolved cases, the PNA
drafted 146 indictments and tried 548 persons for a total of 1,428
alleged offenses. Almost two-thirds of those charged were in management
positions, including an ex-minister, 2 government counselors, the head
of a government agency, a prosecutor, a judge, a mayor, 42 directors
and inspectors, 26 financial or banking clerks, 130 police officers, 6
public servants, 6 public order officers, 10 customs officers, 5 legal
advisors, 5 financial guard officers, 20 military officers and
noncommissioned officers, a lawyer, 2 university professors, and 90
administrators of commercial companies. Only 22 of the 548 persons sent
to trial received final sentences, which averaged 3 years and 2 months
in custody. Since late 2002, the PNA has convicted approximately 250
persons, or a quarter of those sent to trial.
During the year, the PNA received authorization to add 94 new
positions to its investigative staff and to increase the staff
salaries, which already ranked among the highest in the judiciary.
The PNA's mandate is to prosecute corruption at all levels without
regard to the political affiliation of the accused. Although
constitutional amendments in 2003 removed a number of procedural
immunities that limited the prosecution of high public officials, the
PNA has not yet demonstrated the ability to prosecute officials at this
level successfully. Instead, PNA investigations of high officials
tended to focus on members of former administrations, contributing to
questions about the PNA's impartiality. In addition, prosecutors are
obligated to open an investigation when presented a complaint that
meets certain minimum standards. This made prosecutorial institutions
less vulnerable to political influence, as all cases meeting minimum
standards are investigated; however, it created a potential for persons
to misuse the complaint process to gain political or economic advantage
over a competitor.
Although the law limits the areas in which Members of Parliament
may maintain a private legal practice, there was no visible enforcement
mechanism for this rule.
The country has a transparency law that provides for transparency
of decision making. While the transparency law does not specifically
require the Government to provide documents or information in response
to citizens' requests, a separate law regarding freedom of information
requires all public institutions to answer such inquiries. In practice,
political decisionmaking was typically carried out with little
transparency. The transparency law requires all central and local
elected or appointed public administration authorities to make public
draft laws and to consult with citizens and NGOs; however, authorities
in areas of national defense and security, public order, and country's
political and economic strategic interests, and other areas with
classified information are exempted. In most cases, the authorities
considered consultations with the civil society a formality. NGOs
reported that, even when asked their opinion during the year on a draft
law, the Government often ignored their proposals. The press is not
allowed to attend the debates of the parliamentary commissions. Some
ministries, such as the Ministry of Information Technology and
Communications, complied with the consultation requirements, but not
all did so.
While the law does not restrict women's participation in government
or politics, societal attitudes were a significant barrier. In the new
Parliament, 38 of 332 deputies and 13 of 137 senators were women. None
of the 42 county prefects (appointed representatives of the central
Government) who served under the PSD government were women. At year's
end, the newly elected PNL-PD Government had appointed only 36 of the
42 prefects, of which 1 was a woman. There were 3 women in the new 25-
member Cabinet.
There were 50 members of minorities in the 469-seat Parliament. The
Constitution and law grant each recognized ethnic minority one
representative in the Chamber of Deputies if the minority's political
organization cannot obtain 5 percent of the votes needed to elect a
deputy outright. Organizations representing 18 minority groups
qualified for deputies under this provision in November.
Ethnic Hungarians, represented by the UDMR, obtained parliamentary
representation through the normal electoral process. Roma were
underrepresented in Parliament, having only one representative; low
Romani voter turnout and internal divisions within the Romani community
worked against the consolidation of votes for any single candidate,
organization, or party. There were two Romani parliamentarians. During
the year, the PSD had protocols of cooperation in effect with the
German, Hungarian, and Romani minorities.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were generally cooperative and responsive to NGOs, although some
offices were slow to respond to inquiries.
Domestic human rights monitoring groups included APADOR-CH, the
League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADO), the Romanian Institute
for Human Rights, Pro Europa League, the Open Society Foundation, the
Institute for Public Policy, and several issue-specific groups such as
the Center for Independent Journalism, the Media Monitoring Agency,
Accept, Romani CRISS, the Pro Democracy Association, and a local office
of Transparency International. Other groups, such as political parties
and trade unions, also monitored the observance of human rights. These
groups, as well as international human rights organizations, functioned
freely without government interference.
An ombudsman's office worked to protect citizens from abuse by
public officials. In the first 9 months of the year, the office
received 2,754 complaints, many of which it rejected because they
involved problems requiring judicial action, which power the
ombudsman's office does not possess. The office, which dealt not only
with human rights, but also with all facets of citizens' interaction
with the Government, was only moderately effective due to its limited
authority and resources.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution forbids discrimination based on race, nationality,
ethnic origin, language, sex, opinion and political allegiance, wealth,
or social background; however, in practice, the Government did not
enforce these provisions effectively, and women, Roma, and other
minorities were subject to various forms of discrimination.
The law prohibits discrimination based on a number of factors and
enables persons to sue on the grounds of discrimination. In August
2003, a new ordinance increased fines for discriminatory acts up to
approximately $1,200 (40 million lei). The National Council on
Combating Discrimination is responsible for enforcing this law.
Women.--Violence against women, including rape, continued to be a
serious problem. Both human and women's rights groups reported that
domestic violence was common. According to a 2002 U.N. survey, 45
percent of women have been verbally abused, 30 percent physically
abused, and 7 percent sexually abused. While the law allows police
intervention in domestic violence cases, there is no specific law to
address spousal abuse or rape. The prosecution of rape cases was
difficult because it required both a medical certificate and a witness,
and a rapist could avoid punishment by marrying the victim. The
successful prosecution of spousal rape cases was almost impossible. In
June 2003, the Government moved responsibility for controlling domestic
violence from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Labor and
Social Solidarity. In January, the National Agency for Family
Protection, an entity reporting to the Ministry of Labor and Social
Solidarity, assumed responsibility for domestic violence cases. The law
provides the same penalties for rape and sexual abuse without regard to
the victim's gender; however, implementing regulations have not been
completed.
There were reports of trafficking in women (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
The Constitution grants women and men equal rights; however, in
practice, the Government did not enforce these provisions, nor did
authorities focus attention or resources on women's issues.
The law prohibits any act of gender discrimination, including
sexual harassment. Few resources were available for women to deal with
economic discrimination. Despite existing laws and educational
equality, women had a higher rate of unemployment than men, occupied
few influential positions in the private sector, and earned lower
wages. A department in the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection was
responsible for advancing women's concerns and family policies,
including organizing programs for women, proposing new laws, monitoring
legislation for sexual bias, targeting resources to train women for
skilled professions, and addressing the problems of single mothers.
There is an ombudsman in the Department for Child, Woman, and Family
Protection to resolve complaints of discrimination.
Children.--The Government administered health care and public
education programs for children, despite scarce resources that limited
the availability of services. International agencies and NGOs
supplemented government programs in these areas.
Education was free and compulsory through the tenth grade. After
the tenth grade, schools charged fees for books, which discouraged
attendance for lower income children, particularly Roma. During the
2002-03 school year, approximately 99.8 percent of primary school-age
children attended school, including kindergarten, according to the
Ministry of Education. Overall, participation in the compulsory
education system through grade 10 increased to 72.9 percent in 2002-03.
The dropout rate during the 2002-03 school year was 1.25 percent in the
compulsory education system.
The vast majority of HIV/AIDS cases in Romania (75.9 percent)
involved children less than 14 years old. The National Union of the
Organizations of Persons Affected by HIV/AIDS (UNOPA) reported that
many children infected with HIV/AIDS suffered from interruption of
treatment, limited access to schools, and delayed food allowances.
In June, Parliament passed comprehensive child welfare legislation
that addresses children's rights, including establishing a children's
court. The law is scheduled to take effect in January 2005;
implementing legislation was adopted in August. During the year,
children's courts mandated by the law became operational in two cities,
Brasov and Iasi. Parliament also adopted new standards for providing
services to abused and neglected children.
New adoption legislation nearly halted foreign adoption by limiting
international adoptions to grandparents. At year's end, hundreds of
cases that were in process when the law passed remained pending. The
legal prohibition of foreign adoption and an increasing rate of child
abandonment in hospitals (5,000 in 2003 and 2,500 by June) strained
government resources.
Laws to protect children from abuse and neglect were inadequate,
and there were reports that abuse of children was a problem. While
there are criminal penalties, there was no consistent policy or
procedure for reporting child abuse and neglect and no system for
treating families who abuse their children. A task force coordinated by
the National Authority developed standards, training, policies, and
procedures for dealing with the problem.
Although illegal, marriages between Romani children under the age
of consent were common. In October 2003, the Government ordered a 12-
year-old Romani girl and a 15-year-old Romani boy separated and all
intimate relations between them halted after a highly publicized
marriage. However, human rights groups and the media reported that such
marriages continued, frequently without notice or intervention by
authorities.
Trafficking in girls for the purpose of forced prostitution was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Living conditions have improved in most childcare institutions in
recent years. More than half of the 106,000 children in public care
were placed with families (extended family, foster care), while the
number of children remaining in state residential care (including
special schools) dropped to 26,600. In practice, children below the age
of 2 were no longer placed in institutions, but were instead placed
with foster parents or extended families. A methodology for the closure
of large residential institutions was being implemented; 50 large
institutions were closed in 2003, although 62 traditional, dormitory-
style institutions still housed over 100 children each. By April, 560
prevention and family reintegration services had been established
(mother and baby centers and counseling services).
A growing number of services were available to support children
with disabilities and their families to prevent their removal from
home.
Child labor was a problem (see Sections 5, Trafficking and 6.d.)
A number of impoverished and apparently homeless children were
visible on the streets of larger cities. While the Government did not
have statistics on scope of the problem, police reports and social
workers' estimates have placed the number of street children nationwide
at 1,500. This number was lower than had been estimated in the past and
questionable, given that street children were extremely difficult to
count.
Approximately half of the children remaining in the large childcare
institutions were between the ages of 14 and 18. Without changes to the
system, a significant number were likely to leave these institutions
with no skills and employment and no ability to earn a living or obtain
housing. There was no systematic provision of labor market information,
skills training, or job placement services for such persons and there
was a high probability that they would gravitate to the streets,
engaging in prostitution or crime. Although independent living programs
were more widespread, a growing number of young persons were in need of
these services.
The law requires the National Agency for Employment to provide up
to 75 percent of the median national salary to employers for hiring
persons between 16 and 25 years who are at risk of social exclusion.
Effective January 2005, the new law provides that youth leaving the
state institutional system may receive state assistance for an
additional 2 years, during which they would receive skills training for
independent living.
NGOs working with children remained particularly concerned about
the number of minors in prison and continued to seek alternative
solutions, such as parole (see Section 1.c.). Because time served while
awaiting trial counts toward prison sentences, but not toward the time
to be served in a juvenile detention center, some minors actually
requested prison sentences.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking; however,
trafficking in persons continued to be a serious problem. There were
some reports of police involvement in trafficking.
The law defines trafficking as the use of coercion to recruit,
transport, harbor, or receive humans for exploitation. Coercion
includes fraud or misrepresentation. Exploitation includes slavery,
forced labor, prostitution, performance in pornographic films, organ
theft, or other conditions that violate human rights. For minors under
the age of 18, it is not necessary to prove coercion.
The law provides for 3 to 12 years' imprisonment for trafficking in
minors between 15 and 18 years of age. Sentences are increased to 5 to
15 years for trafficking in minors under age 15, if there are two or
more victims, or if a victim suffers serious bodily harm or health
problems. The sentence for trafficking that leads to the death or
suicide of the victim is 5 to 25 years. These penalties are increased
by 3 years if the trafficker belongs to an organized crime group and by
2 years if coercion is applied against minors. Initial consent of a
trafficked person does not exempt the trafficker from liability.
The Government increased its efforts against trafficking ,and
police officers continued to pursue cases via their Human Trafficking
Task Force. The police assigned 15 officers at headquarters in
Bucharest and over 87 officers in 15 zonal centers across the country
to investigate trafficking. Of the 87 officers assigned to zonal
centers, 42 were women who had received training in antitrafficking
procedures. They continued to expand interagency and local resources
assigned to trafficking, and the Government established itself as a
strong participant in regional law enforcement cooperation. In
addition, the Government, through the Interministerial Working Group
(IWG), began the process of creating an office at the national level,
which would coordinate all trafficking-related matters and focus on the
protection of victims. During the first 9 months of the year, police
identified a total 964 victims of trafficking (573 women, 391 men). Of
this number, 217 were minors (80 boys, 137 girls). A total of 934
individuals were under investigation for violations connected with
trafficking, and, as of September, police had arrested 162 suspects and
dismantled 208 trafficking networks. Authorities obtained 74 final
convictions under the new trafficking laws. This contrasted with 2003,
when police identified 658 crimes, investigated 488 persons and
arrested 146, and dismantled 210 groups.
The country was a member of the Southeast European Cooperative
Initiative (SECI) Center, a multinational organization composed of 12
governments with the purpose of combating transborder crime in the
region. The Government participated actively with other SECI members in
carrying out operations against trafficking. In February, with the
facilitation of the Romanian Human Trafficking Taskforce manager, sex
trafficking victims from Moldova testified in a Serbian court, which
resulted in prison terms for 14 traffickers. In May and June,
investigators from Romania and Turkey interviewed victims of a sex-
trafficking ring in Turkey, which resulted in the arrest of five
offenders and the immediate repatriation of five Romanian women. In
July, a prosecutor and a police officer traveled from Bucharest to
Spain to help shut down a Romanian operation which had trafficked 40
women.
During the year, the Prosecutor General's office had prosecutors in
place throughout the country to prosecute trafficking and related
cases. The Government prosecuted a few cases of pimping during the
year. Prosecutions based on indictments under the trafficking law
continued.
In September, the Government participated in the launch of the SECI
Regional Anticrime Center's Operation Mirage 2004, which was aimed at
countering trafficking and illegal migration in the Balkan region.
During the operation, police identified 393 Romanian victims and 261
traffickers, and arrested or charged 130 traffickers.
The country was an origin and transit point for trafficked women
and girls from Moldova, Ukraine, and other parts of the former Soviet
Union who were trafficked to Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro (including
Kosovo), Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France,
Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain the United Arab
Emirates, Japan, and South Korea for sexual exploitation. Due to
changing trafficking patterns, the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) noted that it was not possible to estimate accurately
the number of trafficked women. In 2003, the route of trafficking and
the modus operandi changed. Recent trends indicated that traffickers
rented private apartments, rather than using public bars and brothels,
to conduct their illicit activities. Clandestine locations complicated
the already difficult task of finding the victims and allowed
traffickers to operate with less concerns about local authorities. In
2003, fewer victims were trafficked to the former Yugoslavia and a
higher number of victims were trafficked to Western Europe. However,
trafficking routes generally went from the border with Moldova to all
Balkan countries. This pattern did not change during the year. Iasi and
Timisoara remained major transit centers. While victims were primarily
women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation, there were reports
that men were trafficked to Greece for agricultural labor.
For the year, the IOM reported that it assisted 130 trafficking
victims, all of who were female, and 16 of who were minors. Of these,
120 victims were repatriated back to the country, and 21 were provided
with integration assistance.
As of June, the country had approximately 34,000 children in
orphanages, some of which reportedly paid insufficient attention to the
dangers of girls being trafficked from their facilities. Persons forced
out of orphanages between the ages of 16 and 18 often had no identity
documents, very little education, and few, if any, job skills. NGOs
believed that many girls from orphanages were unaware of the danger and
fell victim to trafficking networks.
Women were frequently recruited by persons they knew or by
newspaper advertisements. A friend or relative would make the initial
offer, often telling the victim that she would obtain a job as a baby
sitter or waitress. According to the IOM, most women were unaware that
they would be forced into prostitution. A minority of trafficked women
were sold into prostitution by parents or husbands or kidnapped by
trafficking rings. Government officials reported that trafficking rings
appeared to be operated primarily by citizens; several domestic
prostitution rings were active in trafficking.
The Government continued to recognize that corruption in the
police, particularly local forces, was a problem. The majority of the
corrupt officers work for the Border Police and the Customs Agency. The
Government continued training and made personnel changes in law
enforcement agencies to improve the response to trafficking. Police
continued to investigate suspected trafficking through border crossing
checks, with Border Police questioning victims and attempting to
identify traffickers. Organized Crime Directorate officers assigned to
investigate trafficking questioned suspects who were identified by
victims.
The law requires the Government to protect trafficking victims and
authorizes undercover operations and electronic surveillance against
traffickers. The law also eliminates criminal penalties for
prostitution if the victim surrenders to authorities or cooperates in
the investigation of traffickers.
The Government generally provided little aid to repatriated
victims. The IOM, the MOAI, and a small number of local NGOs dealt with
trafficking issues. The IOM and the MOAI continued to operate a shelter
in Bucharest for up to 10 victims with the assistance of Romanian
Orthodox Church social workers, NGOs in Bucharest, and the National
Office for Refugees. The NGO Reaching Out continued to operate a
shelter in Pitesti, and the local NGO Alternative Sociale continued to
operate a shelter in Iasi with support from the IOM, the Orthodox
Church, and limited support from the Government. The Government opened
two of the nine shelters required by law, one in Mehedinti and the
other in Timis.
During the year, numerous media stories and antitrafficking
messages on government-sponsored television raised awareness of the
problem. All relevant ministries participated in an IOM-coordinated
Counter Trafficking Steering Committee and the IOM, with some support
from foreign governments, continued its campaign to increase awareness
of the problem.
Persons With Disabilities.--Difficult economic conditions and
serious budgetary constraints contributed to harsh living conditions
for those with physical or mental disabilities. In February, 18
psychiatric patients in a Poiana Mare hospital died as a result of
malnutrition and hypothermia. In response to these deaths,
international human rights organizations targeted psychiatric hospitals
in the country. A May Amnesty International (AI) report expressed
concern that the placement, living conditions, and treatment of
patients in several psychiatric wards and hospitals violated
international human rights standards and best practices. AI urged the
Government to reform the psychiatric health system. The Ministry of
Health responded by issuing an order to increase the daily food
allocation for psychiatric patients from approximately $1.50 (53,000
lei) per day to approximately $2.00 (70,000 lei). In April, the GOR
allocated $1.8 million (60 million lei) to fund the Ministry's order
and to rehabilitate seven psychiatric hospitals, including the hospital
in Poiana Mare.
Outside of large institutions, social services for persons with
disabilities were almost nonexistent. Many persons with disabilities
could not make use of government provided transportation discounts
because public transport did not have facilitated access. The law does
not mandate accessibility for persons with disabilities to buildings
and public transportation. In practice, the country had few facilities
specifically designed for persons with disabilities. Very few
handicapped parking spaces were available, virtually no public
buildings were designed for wheelchair access, and most restrooms had
no special areas for the physically challenged. Major shopping malls
throughout the country were similarly ill equipped; only a few
supermarkets in Bucharest had designs that enabled easy access.
In July, Parliament passed a law to amend the existing legislation
on special protection and employment of persons with disabilities. The
new law increased benefits for blind persons and for persons with
serious disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Department for Interethnic
Relations and the National Office for Roma were responsible for
monitoring the problems of ethnic minorities, maintaining contacts with
minority groups, submitting proposals for draft legislation and
administrative measures, maintaining links with local authorities, and
investigating complaints. The Constitution authorizes citizens
belonging to national minorities to express themselves in their mother
tongue before courts of law.
In March, Parliament passed a law on local elections that
potentially discriminated against some minority organizations by
defining ``national minorities'' as only the ethnic groups represented
in the Council of National Minorities and requiring that these
organizations meet more stringent requirements to participate in local
government compared to minority groups that were already represented in
Parliament. For example, an organization of ethnic Hungarians, the
Civic Union Of Hungarians, had to provide lists of at least 25,000
members from at least 15 counties and Bucharest, with at least 300
members in each county, in order to run candidates in the local
elections, despite the fact that the UDMR is already in Parliament and
allowed to run without providing proof of membership. The Law on
General elections, adopted in September, included a similar provision.
Ethnic Hungarians are the largest minority, comprising 1.4 million
persons, according to the 2002 census. The UDMR party was in a de facto
political alliance with the ruling minority PSD Government. Beginning
in 2001, the UDMR signed annual protocols of cooperation with the PSD.
After the November and December national elections, the UDMR changed
its allegiance and joined the new governing coalition led by the PNL-PD
Alliance.
A government decree permits students in state-funded primary and
secondary schools to be taught in their own language, with the
exception of secondary school courses on the history and geography of
the country. In the Moldavia region, some in the Roman Catholic Csango
community, who speak an archaic form of Hungarian, repeatedly
complained that there was no schooling available in their language.
They established two school groups with Hungarian as the language of
instruction in schools in Pustiana and Cleja during the 2002-03 school
year. This initiative was expanded to 9 groups in 7 localities for the
2003-04 school year and to 24 groups in 9 localities, totaling 450
students, for the 2004-05 school year. However, they could not hold
religious services in the community in their mother tongue, because of
the opposition of the Roman Catholic Bishopric.
According to the 2002 census, the Romani population numbered
535,250, or 2.5 percent of the population. However, a 2004 European
Commission report on health policy and the European Union estimated
that the Romani population was between 1.8 and 2.5 million. The World
Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Romani population
represented approximately 10 percent of the total population. Romani
groups complained that police brutality, including beatings and
harassment, was routine (see Section 1.c.). According to the
Government, only 27 percent of Roma had steady jobs and only half of
those jobs were considered skilled. Illiteracy among Roma older than 45
years of age was approximately 30 percent.
Some schools, such as in Cehei (Salaj County), Tg. Frumos (Iasi
County), Geoagiu (Hunedoara County), Ardusat (Maramures County, Tg. Jiu
(Gorj County) and others segregated Romani children. In April,
following complaints by several NGOs that monitored such situations,
the Ministry of Education prohibited segregation in schools by a
notification that was not legally binding; Romani NGOs are presently
pressing for the issuance of an order to this effect.
The National Council on Combating Discrimination received 157
public complaints during the first half of the year, of which 62 were
resolved. The Council initiated another 17 cases from its own findings,
bringing the total to 174 cases. Of the 62 resolved cases, the Council
identified 12 cases of discrimination, applying 2 fines and 10
reprimands. Of these, three of the complaints involved discrimination
against Roma, one against the Jewish community, and one against ethnic
Hungarians. The Council set up a National Antidiscrimination Alliance,
a forum for discussion with NGOs, in March 2003 and drafted a National
Antidiscrimination Plan in September 2003.
Romani CRISS continued to monitor cases of alleged human rights
violations in 10 counties and Bucharest. Human rights monitors followed
12 cases documented in 2003 and identified 27 new cases in these
counties. Of the 27 cases, 20 involved discrimination, while 7 were
cases of violence or abuse against Roma.
The Romani population continued to be subject to societal
discrimination. A 2003 survey by the Press Monitoring Agency showed
that approximately 80 percent of the television news on Roma concerned
conflict-generating events, such as illegal migration and police raids
in Romani communities, and used images reflecting stereotypes.
Romani NGOs asserted that, with the exception of setting up
implementing bodies, the 2001 National Strategy for the Improvement of
the Situation of Roma had few practical results. The National Office
for Roma maintained a database on the living conditions and needs of
the Romani community. However, the office was understaffed and
undertrained, and its approximately $1.9 million (64 billion lei)
budget was insufficient to implement the strategy.
During the year, little progress was made with regard to the
implementation of the partnership protocol, signed by the Health
Ministry and the Roma Party in 2001, that sets forth cooperative
measures to ensure that Roma have access to health care. In 2003,
Romani CRISS maintained a training program (with private funding) for
Romani health mediators in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, and
the Directorate of Public Health hired 160 such mediators. Romani CRISS
and the Health Ministry continued their cooperation.
Romani CRISS was also involved in a national program of training
police on conflict management and human rights. Police from 30 counties
were trained on these issues.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Although homosexuality
was decriminalized in 2001, NGOs complained that there was still a high
degree of hostility against homosexuals, including violence by police
(see Section 1.c.). NGOs claimed that this hostility prevented the
reporting of some harassment and discrimination. Members of the gay and
lesbian community also voiced concerns about discrimination in public
education and health care systems.
The National Union of the Organizations of Persons Affected by HIV/
AIDS (UNOPA) monitored the treatment of persons, many of them children,
who were infected with HIV/AIDS. The number of cases of abuse decreased
from 789 to 317, compared to the previous year. Half of the total cases
were due to health system deficiencies. Some of the problems included
denial of access to dentistry and dermatological services (7 cases),
interruption of treatment due to poor hospital management, and
interruption of treatment monitoring due to lack of monitoring tests.
The UNOPA report, which covered only 15 of the 41 counties in the
country, also included cases of limited patient access to education and
delayed food allowances. Breaks in confidentiality were reported in 3
percent of the cases. According to UNOPA, the principle of
confidentiality and the right to work were sometimes disregarded in
cases of persons with HIV. For example, some employees reportedly were
hired and fired according to their HIV status in violation of the labor
laws.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--All workers, except certain public
employees, have the legal right to associate freely and to form and
join labor unions without previous authorization, and they freely
exercised this right. Ministry of Defense, MOAI, and intelligence
personnel are not allowed to unionize. The majority of workers were
members of one of approximately 18 national trade union confederations
and smaller independent trade unions. Workers cannot be forced to join
or withdraw from unions, and union officials who resign elected
positions and return to the regular work force are protected against
employer retaliation.
The right to form unions generally was respected in practice.
However, some employers have created enterprise-friendly unions. Some
unions claimed that the Government interfered in trade union
activities, collective bargaining, and strikes, and alleged that union
registration requirements were excessive.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and the Government
generally respected this prohibition in practice.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides workers the right to bargain collectively, but collective
bargaining was hindered by state control of many industrial enterprises
and the absence of independent management representatives at these
entities. Contracts resulting from collective bargaining were not
consistently enforced. Basic wage scales at state owned enterprises
were established through collective bargaining with the Government.
Public employees could not bargain for salaries, which were set by the
Government. Unions claimed that downsizing decisions resulting from
agreements with international financial institutions violated labor
agreements.
The collective labor dispute law establishes the conciliation,
mediation, and arbitration procedures that must be followed during
strikes. The law provides for establishment of tripartite arbitration
panels from arbitrators approved by the Economic and Social Council,
where trade unions and employers' associations each have one-third of
the membership. Nevertheless, mediation capability has not developed
fully. Local panels were poorly trained, and unions continued to take
disputes to the Government for resolution.
Lengthy and cumbersome conditions made it difficult to hold strikes
legally. Unions may strike only if all conciliation means have failed
and they give the employer 48 hours notice. Strikes for political
reasons are prohibited. Companies can claim damages from strike
organizers if a court deems a strike illegal. Unions complained that
they must submit their grievances to government-sponsored conciliation
before initiating a strike, and that the courts had a propensity to
declare the majority of strikes illegal. Judges, prosecutors, and
related Ministry of Justice staff are prohibited from striking, as are
Ministry of Defense, MOAI, and intelligence service employees. As in
the past, fear of job loss due to privatization motivated many strikes.
Labor legislation is applied uniformly through the country,
including in the 6 free trade zones and the 31 disadvantaged zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports of Romani children involved in child labor and
trafficking (see Sections 6.d. and 5, Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor legislation was adequate; however, enforcement tended to be
lax except in extreme cases, most notably those that attracted media
attention, and child labor remained a problem. The Government
recognized that child labor was a problem and continued to make
progress in eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
The minimum employment age is 16 years, but children may work with
the consent of parents or guardians at age 15, although only
``according to their physical development, aptitude, and knowledge.''
Minors are prohibited from working in hazardous conditions. Violations
of the child labor laws are punishable by imprisonment for periods of 2
months to 3 years. Working children under the age of 16 have the right
to continue their education, and the law obliges employers to assist in
this regard. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has authority
to impose fines and close factories to ensure compliance with the law.
In May, the Ministry of Labor, Social Solidarity and Family issued
jointly with UNICEF and the ILO a report on child labor which estimated
that 3.9 million of the 5.6 million children in the country were
``economically active.'' Over 300,000 (approximately 7 percent) were
``child laborers,'' working without any contractual arrangements in
agriculture or low skilled jobs, while 900,000 (19 percent) were
working in households, especially in rural areas. Approximately 300,000
(6 percent) were engaged in hard work activities, while 60,000 to
70,000 (more than 1 percent) were involved in the ``worst forms of
child labor,'' including hazardous work, sexual exploitation, forced
labor, trafficking, or criminal activity. This last category included
more than 3,000 ``street children'' in the country. Child labor,
including begging, selling trinkets on the street, or washing
windshields, remained widespread in the Romani community; children
engaged in such activities could be of any age.
A department in the Prime Minister's office is responsible for
child protection. The Government established organizations in the
counties and in Bucharest to enforce child welfare laws. The roles and
responsibilities of the agencies that enforce child labor laws remained
ill defined, and these laws were often enforced only when a
particularly grave case became public. Despite the prevalence of child
labor, there were no reports of anyone being charged or convicted
during the year under any of the child labor laws.
With ILO support, the Government began implementing a comprehensive
program to eliminate child labor that included measures to prevent the
increase of child labor in both urban and rural areas; build the
capacity of government and NGOs to address child labor cases; research
the extent and nature of the child labor; and raise public awareness of
the problem. The program's strategy was to identify vulnerable groups
and initiate measures in partnership with government agencies, trade
unions, universities, and NGOs.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Most wage rates were established
through collective bargaining at the enterprise level and based on
minimum wages for specific economic sectors and categories of workers.
The Government set these minimums after negotiation with industry
representatives and labor confederations. Minimum wage rates generally
were observed and enforced. During the year, the minimum monthly wage
was raised from approximately $72 (2.5 million lei) to approximately
$85 (2.8 million). The minimum monthly wage did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family.
The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours or 5 days,
with overtime paid for weekend or holiday work or work in excess of 40
hours, but not to exceed 48 hours per week. The code requires a 24-hour
rest period in the workweek, although most workers received 2 days off
per week. Paid holidays range from 18 to 24 working days annually,
depending on the employee's length of service. The law requires
employers to pay additional benefits and allowances to workers engaged
in particularly dangerous or difficult occupations.
Neither the Government nor industry improved workplace health and
safety conditions significantly. The Ministry of Labor, Social
Solidarity, and Family established and enforced safety standards for
most industries. However, it lacked trained personnel for enforcement,
and employers often ignored its recommendations. Workers have the right
to refuse dangerous work assignments but seldom invoked it in practice.
__________
RUSSIA
The 1993 Constitution established a governmental structure with a
strong head of state (President), a government headed by a prime
minister, and a bicameral legislature (Federal Assembly) consisting of
a lower house (State Duma) and an upper house (Federation Council). The
country has a multi-party system, but the pro presidential United
Russia party that controls more than two thirds of the State Duma puts
majority support within reach for all presidential priorities.
President Vladimir Putin was re-elected in March in an election process
that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
determined did not meet international standards in a number of
respects, particularly in equal access to the media by all candidates
and secrecy of the ballot; however, the voting itself was relatively
free of manipulation and the outcome was generally understood to have
represented the will of the people. The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, but the executive branch appeared to drive
judicial decisions in high profile or Kremlin directed cases. Although
also impaired by corruption, the judiciary continued to show greater
independence in non politicized cases, and the criminal justice system
was slowly undergoing reforms.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), the Federal Security
Service (FSB), and the Office of the Prosecutor are responsible for law
enforcement at all levels of Government. The FSB's core
responsibilities are security, counterintelligence, and
counterterrorism, but it also has broader law enforcement functions,
including fighting crime and corruption. The FSB continued to regard
contact with foreigners and the presence of non Orthodox Christians as
security issues. The FSB operated with only limited oversight by the
Office of the Prosecutor General and the courts. The authorities
increasingly dealt with terrorism and other security threats in parts
of the country by employing MVD Internal Troops. The primary mission of
the armed forces is national defense. The Government employed them in
Chechnya, and they are frequently used for civil disturbances. Civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control over the security
forces. Members of the security forces, particularly within the
internal affairs apparatus, continued to commit numerous and serious
human rights abuses.
The country had a population of approximately 144 million. The
annual gross domestic product grew by 6.9 percent as of October,
slightly less than in 2003. Industrial production grew by 4 percent,
and real income increased by 5 percent; however, approximately 19
percent of the population continued to live below the official monthly
subsistence level of $82 (2,296 rubles). As of October, official
unemployment was 7.5 percent, down from 8.4 percent at the end of 2003.
Corruption continued to be a negative factor in the development of the
economy and commercial relations.
Although the Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens in some areas, its human rights record was poor in certain
areas and worsened in several others. Changes in the parliamentary
election laws and a move from election to nomination by the President
of regional governors further strengthened the power of the executive
branch and, together with media restrictions, a compliant State Duma,
shortcomings in recent national elections, law enforcement corruption,
and political pressure on the judiciary, raised concerns about the
erosion in accountability of government leaders to the people.
The Government's human rights record remained poor overall in the
continuing struggle against rebels in Chechnya, where both sides
demonstrated little respect for basic human rights. There were credible
reports of serious violations, including numerous reports of unlawful
killings and of abuse of civilians by both the Government and Chechen
rebels in the Chechen conflict. The September massacre of school
children and adults in Beslan, North Ossetia, exemplified the gross
violation of human rights in the region by terrorist elements. There
were reports of both government and rebel involvement in politically
motivated disappearances in Chechnya and Ingushetiya. Individuals
seeking accountability for these abuses continued to be targeted.
There were credible reports that law enforcement personnel engaged
in torture, violence, and other brutal or humiliating treatment, often
with impunity. Hazing in the armed forces remained a problem. Prison
conditions improved but continued to be extremely harsh and frequently
life threatening. Earlier changes in criminal procedures led to further
reductions in arbitrary arrest and lengthy pretrial detention, and
judges routinely enforced pre trial time limits. Government protection
for judges from threats by organized criminal defendants remained
inadequate, and a series of cases of alleged espionage caused concerns
regarding the lack of due process and the influence of the FSB in
judicial proceedings. Amnesty International (AI) has highlighted the
case of Igor Sutyagin, whom it has declared to be a political prisoner.
Authorities continued to infringe on citizens' privacy rights.
Government pressure continued to weaken freedom of expression and
the independence and freedom of the media, particularly major national
television networks and regional media outlets which were the primary
source of information for most of the population. The print media
remained vibrant and pluralistic, but its impact on public opinion was
limited by low circulation numbers. Authorities, primarily at the local
level, limited freedom of assembly and imposed restrictions on some
religious groups. Societal discrimination, harassment, and violence
against members of some religious minorities remained problems despite
some government attempts to address these problems. Some local
governments restricted citizens' freedom of movement, primarily by
denying legal resident permits to new residents from other areas of the
country.
Government institutions intended to protect human rights were
relatively weak but remained active and public. The Government
continued to place restrictions on the activities of both humanitarian
non governmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations
in Chechnya, at least in part for security reasons. The authorities
regarded some NGOs with increasing suspicion, and the security services
and other authorities harassed or threatened to close some local human
rights NGOs. Ethnic minorities, including Roma and persons from the
Caucasus, Central Asia, Asia, and Africa faced widespread governmental
and societal discrimination, and, increasingly, racially motivated
attacks. Trafficking in persons, particularly women and girls, remained
a serious problem despite progress in combating it. There were some
reports of forced labor and child labor.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
confirmed reports of political killings by the Government or its
agents; however, there continued to be credible reports that the
federal armed forces engaged in unlawful killings in Chechnya. Their
use of indiscriminate force in areas of Chechnya with significant
civilian populations resulted in numerous deaths (see Section 1.g.).
The security forces generally conducted their activities with impunity.
For example, in May, a jury acquitted Captain Eduard Ullman and three
other servicemen of killing six Chechen civilians in 2002; prosecutors
have appealed the verdict. However, at least one serviceman was
convicted on similar charges. Hazing in the armed forces resulted in
the deaths of servicemen (see Section 1.c.).
On July 7, a court in Qatar convicted two Russian intelligence
agents of the murder of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, a leader of the Chechen
separatist movement who had resided in Doha since 2000. Yandarbiyev,
whose extradition had been sought by the authorities and who had been
placed on the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 1267 Sanctions
Committee and declared a terrorist by several countries, was killed on
February 13 when a bomb attached to his car exploded. The Government
denied that the two agents had been involved in the killing. They were
returned to Russian government custody in December.
There were a number of killings of government officials throughout
the country, some of which may have been politically motivated, in
connection with the ongoing strife in Chechnya or with politics. For
example, Ansar Tebuyev, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Karachay
Cherkess Republic, was shot and killed in broad daylight on October 18,
outside the Republic's Interior Ministry building. Deputy Prosecutor
General Fridinskiy reported that as of May, Chechen rebels had killed
11 local administration heads since the anti-terrorist operation in
Chechnya began.
The press and media NGOs reported that unknown parties killed a
number of journalists during the year for reasons that appeared to be
related to the journalists' work (see Section 2.a.).
On June 19, Nikolay Girenko, an expert on hate crimes, was killed
in his apartment (see Section 5). His colleagues believed the motive
for the killing was Girenko's activity as an official expert witness in
a number of high profile court cases involving ethnic and religious
issues, including the case of the Moscow based Sakharov Center's
employees who were charged with inflaming ethnic hatred for hosting an
exhibition critical of religion.
On March 18, a jury at the Moscow City Court found Mikhail
Kadanyev, ex leader of Boris Berezovskiy's wing of the Liberal Russia
party, and three associates guilty in organizing the assassination of
prominent Duma Deputy and Liberal Russia party Co Chairman Sergey
Yushenkov, who was shot and killed in April 2003. Yushenkov headed a
rival wing of Liberal Russia and was killed shortly after announcing
that his wing would take part in the December 2003 State Duma
elections. Prosecutors argued that Kadanyev and his associates had
wanted to take control of Liberal Russia's finances, since Yushenkov
had been engaged in rivalry for leadership within his own party. Some
observers speculated that the professionally executed killing was
motivated by supporters of the Government because Yushenkov had also
been an outspoken critic of the Putin administration on a number of
issues.
No progress was reported in the investigation of the July 2003
killing of Yuriy Shchekochikhin, a member of the Duma and deputy editor
of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. One of Shchekochikhin's former
colleagues at the newspaper told the media in August ``no one had
conducted a proper investigation.'' At the time of his death,
Shchekochikhin, along with Yushenkov, had begun to investigate
allegations of FSB responsibility for a series of 1999 apartment
building bombings.
On August 10, the St. Petersburg City Court convicted another
suspect in the 1999 killing of St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly
Deputy Viktor Novoselov. That conviction concluded all prosecutions
related to this killing.
The St. Petersburg City Court has been hearing a case pertaining to
the 1998 killing of Galina Starovoytova, a prominent Duma deputy, since
December 2003. Suspects remained in detention at year's end.
On June 10, the Moscow Circuit Military Court again acquitted all
the defendants accused of organizing the 1994 murder of Dmitriy
Kholodov, military affairs correspondent for the daily newspaper
Moskovskiy Komsomolets. On December 6, the Office of the Prosecutor
General appealed to the Supreme Court to begin a new trial, although
the 10 year statute of limitations on Kholodov's case ended on October
17, making it impossible to sentence the defendants to prison terms
even if the June 10 acquittal were overturned (see Section 2.a.).
During the September 1 terrorist attack on a school in Beslan,
North Ossetia, at least 338 hostages were killed (see Section 1.g.).
Chechen rebels assassinated Chechen President Akhmed Kadyrov in
May, killed numerous civilian officials and militia associated with the
federally appointed Chechen administration, and threatened to kill
Kadyrov's successor Alu Alkhanov, who was elected on August 29 (see
Section 1.g.). Chechen fighters killed a number of federal soldiers
whom they took prisoner (see Section 1.g.). Many individuals were
kidnapped and then killed in Chechnya during the year (see Sections
1.b., 1.c., and 1.g.). Both sides to the conflict, as well as criminal
elements, were involved in these activities. Authorities attributed
bombing incidents in Moscow and several cities in southern areas of the
country to Chechen terrorists.
Government forces and Chechen fighters continued to use landmines
extensively in Chechnya and Dagestan. According to UNICEF estimates,
since 1995, approximately 3,100 victims have been killed or wounded by
landmines or unexploded ordnance in Chechnya. Over the last year,
UNICEF has noted a decline in the number of such incidents, likely as a
result of increased awareness.
b. Disappearance.--There were reports of extensive government
involvement in politically motivated disappearances in Chechnya and
Ingushetiya (see Section 1.g.).
Criminal groups in the Northern Caucasus, some of which may have
links to elements of the rebel forces, frequently resorted to
kidnapping. The main motivation behind such cases apparently was
ransom, although some cases had political or religious overtones. The
hostage takers held many of their victims in Chechnya or Dagestan.
Arjan Erkel, the head of the Doctors without Borders Mission in
Dagestan, adjacent to Chechnya, was released in April after a ransom of
approximately $1.35 million (1 million euro) was paid to his captors,
who remained unknown. This event and overall security problems led many
NGOs to limit their activities in the North Caucasus.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits torture, violence, and other
brutal or humiliating treatment or punishment; however, there were
credible reports that law enforcement personnel frequently engaged in
these practices to coerce confessions from suspects and that the
Government did not consistently hold officials accountable for such
actions. Neither the law nor the Criminal Code defines torture; it is
mentioned only in the Constitution. As a result, it was difficult to
charge perpetrators. The only accusation prosecutors could bring
against the police was that they exceeded their authority or committed
a simple assault.
Prisoners' rights groups, as well as other human rights groups,
documented numerous cases in which law enforcement and correctional
officials beat and otherwise abused detainees and suspects. Human
rights groups described the practice of such abuse as widespread.
Numerous press reports indicated that the police frequently beat
persons with little or no provocation or used excessive force to subdue
detainees.
There was no indication of a return to the widespread use of
psychiatric methods against political prisoners. There have been
anecdotal reports of psychiatry being used to ``cure'' followers of non
traditional religions. After an investigation, Jehovah's Witnesses
denied an NGO report that a number of Witnesses had been involuntarily
placed in a psychiatric hospital in Penza.
Cases of physical abuse by police officers usually occurred within
the first few hours or days of arrest and usually took one of four
forms: Beatings with fists, batons, or other objects; asphyxiation
using gas masks or bags (at times filled with mace); electric shocks;
or suspension by body parts (for example, suspending a victim from the
wrists, which are tied together behind the back). Allegations of abuse
were difficult to substantiate because of lack of access by medical
professionals and because the techniques allegedly used would leave few
or no permanent physical traces. There were credible reports that
government forces and Chechen fighters in Chechnya tortured detainees
(see Section 1.g.).
Reports by refugees, NGOs, and the press suggested a pattern of
police beatings, arrests, and extortion directed at persons with dark
skin or who appeared to be from the Caucasus, Central Asia, or Africa,
as well as Roma. For example, the press reported that in Novosibirsk
four policemen were arrested on suspicion of extorting over $1 million
(28 million rubles) from a Romani family by kidnapping and torturing
family members until their demands were met. In November 2003, one Roma
was allegedly tortured for 7 hours. The victims did not press charges,
but the policemen were eventually convicted on earlier charges of a
similar nature.
Police continued to harass defense lawyers, including through
beatings and arrests, and continued to intimidate witnesses (see
Section 1.e.).
In December, human rights activists investigated mass beatings and
detentions by police in Blagoveshchensk, Bashkortostan. According to
activist Ildar Isangulov, based on his interviews with residents,
residents were beaten because they voted ``incorrectly'' in the
republic's December presidential election. Novaya Gazeta correspondent
Marat Khairullin offered Ekho Moskvy a similar account, saying he was
convinced the raids were ``revenge'' against the vast majority of
Blagoveshchensk residents who voted against incumbent President Murtaza
Rakhimov.
In contrast to previous years, there were no reports of beating of
peaceful protesters.
Various abuses against military servicemen, including, but not
limited to, the practice of ``dedovshchina'' (the violent, at times
fatal, hazing of new junior recruits for the armed services, MVD, and
border guards) continued during the year; however, the Government
claims that such practices have declined due to its attention to this
problem. Press reports cited serving and former armed forces personnel,
the Main Military Prosecutor's Office (MMPO), and NGOs monitoring
conditions in the armed forces as indicating that such mistreatment
often included the use of beatings or threats of increased hazing to
extort money or material goods. Government officials announced that
approximately 25 percent of the 11,500 crimes committed in the army
during the year were related to hazing. Over the first 6 months of the
year, 25 servicemen died due to hazing. During the year, the Moscow
Committee of Soldiers' Mothers registered 320 complaints from
servicemen. The majority of complaints (264) related to beatings.
Servicemen also complained about sexual abuse, torture, and
enslavement. Soldiers often did not report hazing to either unit
officers or military prosecutors due to fear of reprisals, since
officers reportedly in some cases tolerated or even encouraged such
hazing as a means of controlling their units. There were also reports
that officers used beatings to discipline soldiers whom they found to
be ``inattentive to their duties.'' The Union of Soldiers' Mothers
Committee (USMC) believed that, as a result of fear of reprisals, the
indifference of commanders, and deliberate efforts to cover up such
activity, most hazing incidents and assaults were not reported.
Hazing reportedly was a serious problem in Chechnya, particularly
where contract soldiers and conscripts served together.
Both the USMC and the MMPO received numerous reports about
``nonstatutory relations,'' in which officers or sergeants physically
assaulted or humiliated their subordinates.
Despite the acknowledged seriousness of these problems, the
leadership of the armed forces made only superficial efforts to
implement substantive reforms in training, education, and
administration programs within units to combat abuse.
Prison conditions remained extremely harsh and frequently life
threatening. The Ministry of Justice's (MOJ's) Main Directorate for the
Execution of Sentences (GUIN) administered the penitentiary system
centrally from Moscow, except for the Lefortovo pretrial detention
center in Moscow, which was run by the FSB. There were five basic forms
of custody in the criminal justice system: Police temporary detention
centers, pretrial detention facilities known as Special Isolation
Facilities (SIZOs), correctional labor colonies (ITKs), prisons
designated for those who violate ITK rules, and educational labor
colonies (VTKs) for juveniles. As of June, there were approximately
850,000 persons in the custody of the criminal justice system. Men were
held separately from women, as were juveniles from adults.
According to GUIN, the official annual death rate in SIZO was 2,000
persons. Most died as a result of poor sanitary conditions or lack of
medical care (the leading cause of death was heart disease). The press
often reported on individuals who were mistreated, injured, or killed
in various SIZOs; some of the reported cases indicated habitual abuse
by officers.
Abuse of prisoners by other prisoners continued to be a problem.
Violence among inmates, including beatings and rape, was common. There
were elaborate inmate enforced caste systems in which informers,
homosexuals, rapists, prison rape victims, child molesters, and others
were considered to be ``untouchable'' and were treated very harshly,
with little or no protection provided by the prison authorities.
Penal institutions frequently remained overcrowded; however, there
were some improvements. There were no mass amnesties as had been the
case in earlier years, but the authorities continued to take longer
term and more systemic measures to reduce the size of the prison
population. These included the use of alternative sentencing in some
regions and revisions of both the Criminal Code and the Criminal
Procedures Code that eliminated incarceration as a penalty for a large
number of less serious offenses. In December 2003, as a result of these
legislative changes, 130,000 sentences were reviewed, leading to the
freeing of 7,000 prisoners and the reduction of sentences of 42,000
others. Many penal facilities remained in urgent need of renovation and
upgrading. By law, authorities must provide inmates with adequate
space, food, and medical attention; with the significant decrease in
prison populations, they were coming closer to meeting these standards.
Inmates in the prison system often suffered from inadequate medical
care. Public health measures funded by international aid and by the
increase of government resources for the prison system's medical budget
have reduced the incidence of tuberculosis and HIV. The recently
established Public Council in the Ministry of Justice headed by human
rights advocate Valeriy Borshchev reported that during the last 3
years, the number of sick prisoners and detainees decreased 27 percent.
According to the GUIN, as of January 1, there were approximately 75,000
tuberculosis infected persons and 36,000 HIV infected persons in SIZOs
and correction colonies. Nevertheless, tuberculosis infection rates
were far higher in detention facilities than in the population at
large. The PCPR also reported that conditions in penal facilities
varied among the regions. Some regions offered assistance in the form
of food, clothing, and medicine. NGOs and religious groups offered
other support.
Conditions in SIZOs, where suspects were confined while awaiting
the completion of a criminal investigation, trial, sentencing, or
appeal, varied considerably, but as a result of legal reforms and other
measures, the pretrial population had declined by approximately 50
percent since 2000, virtually eliminating the problem of overcrowding
in those institutions. Despite these improvements, however, conditions
remained extremely harsh and posed a serious threat to health and life.
Health, nutrition, and sanitation standards remained low due to a lack
of funding. Head lice, scabies, and various skin diseases were
prevalent. Prisoners and detainees typically relied on their families
to provide them with extra food. Poor ventilation was thought to
contribute to cardiac problems and lowered resistance to disease.
ITKs held the bulk of the nation's convicts. There were 753 ITKs.
Guards reportedly disciplined prisoners severely to break down
resistance. At times, guards humiliated, beat, and starved prisoners.
In the timber correctional colonies, where hardened criminals served
their time, beatings, torture, and rape by guards reportedly were
common. The country's ``prisons'' distinct from the ITKs were
penitentiary institutions for those who repeatedly violated the rules
in effect in the ITKs.
VTKs are facilities for prisoners from 14 to 20 years of age. Male
and female prisoners were held separately. In August 2003, GUIN
reported that there were 62 educational colonies, 3 of which were for
girls. Conditions in the VTKs were significantly better than in the
ITKs, but juveniles in the VTKs and juvenile SIZO cells reportedly also
suffered from beatings, torture, and rape. The PCPR reported that such
facilities had a poor psychological atmosphere and lacked educational
and vocational training opportunities. Many of the juveniles were from
orphanages, had no outside support, and were unaware of their rights.
There also were two prisons for children in Moscow. Boys were held with
adults in small, crowded, and smoky cells. Schooling in the prisons for
children was sporadic at best, with students of different ages studying
together when a teacher could be found.
The Government generally permitted the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) to work throughout the country, and the ICRC
carried out regular prison visits and provided advice to authorities on
how to improve prison conditions. However, there were limitations on
access in the northern Caucasus, where the organization was
particularly active. In that region, the Government granted the
organization access to some facilities where Chechen detainees were
held, but the pretrial detention centers and filtration camps for
suspected Chechen fighters were not always accessible to the ICRC or
other human rights monitors (see Section 1.g.).
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution provides that
individuals may be arrested, taken into custody, or detained more than
24 hours, only upon a judicial decision; however, arbitrary arrest and
detention remained problems. The Chief Justice of the Russian Supreme
Court was quoted in May 2003 as saying that of cases where law
enforcement bodies asked courts to approve arrests, 92 percent were
approved and 8 percent disapproved. He added that approximately 10
percent of such court decisions were appealed, with 87 percent of the
arrests upheld by higher courts. The Criminal Procedures Code gives
authorities the means to implement these requirements, and progress was
made toward effective judicial oversight over arrests and detentions.
The national police force, which falls under the MVD, is organized
on the federal, regional, and local levels. Although regulations and
national laws prohibit corrupt activities, they were widespread and
there were few crackdowns on illegal police activity. There were
reports that the Government addressed only a fraction of the crimes
that federal forces committed against civilians in Chechnya (see
Section 1.g.). Government agencies such as the MVD have begun to
educate officers about safeguarding human rights during law enforcement
activities through training provided by foreign governments; however,
the security forces remained largely unreformed.
There were credible reports that security forces continued
regularly to single out persons from the Caucasus for document checks,
detention, and the extortion of bribes. Human rights observers reported
that, as part of a broader MVD operation called Hurricane 4, MVD
officers in Moscow were instructed in February to investigate residents
of the Caucasus, including verifying their proper registration,
inquiring of neighbors about their activities, and ascertaining the
presence of relatives in the Northern Caucasus. According to NGOs,
federal forces commonly detained groups of Chechen men at checkpoints
along the borders between Chechnya and Ingushetiya, in targeted
operations known as ``night raids,'' or during ``mopping up''
operations following military hostilities, and severely beat and
tortured them.
At least two instances were confirmed in which local officials
detained members of Jehovah's Witnesses who were engaged in the public
discussion of their religious views, but the individuals were released
quickly.
The Criminal Procedure Code limits the duration of detention
without access to counsel or family members and renders statements
given in the absence of a defense attorney unusable in court; however,
there were reports that these reforms were being undermined by the
police practice of obtaining ``pocket'' defense counsel for these
interviews and by the overall ignorance by defense counsel of these
provisions.
In June 2003, the Criminal Procedure Code was amended to permit
``witnesses'' to bring their own attorneys to interviews conducted by
the police. This amendment was designed to address the police practice
of interrogating suspects without the presence of counsel under the
fiction that they were witnesses, and then, after obtaining
incriminating statements, declaring the suspects to be defendants.
Citizens' ignorance of their new rights was a problem. The Government
continued to engage in a public education program to inform citizens of
their rights and responsibilities under the system introduced by the
Code of Criminal Procedure, such as the right to a lawyer and the
obligation to serve on juries when called. The Council of Judges
together with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the
Russian Information Agency Novosti conducted an educational program
called ``Public Trust'' for citizens that explained the work of the
judicial system and citizens' rights.
The Code states that police may initially detain an individual not
more than 24 hours before the case must be referred to the prosecutor,
and the prosecutor is given 24 hours in which to open or reject the
criminal case. At the end of this 48 hour period, a judge must
determine whether the suspect should be detained. The Code specifies
that within 2 months of a suspect's arrest, police should complete
their investigation and transfer the file to the prosecutor for
arraignment. A prosecutor may request the court to extend the period of
criminal investigation to 6 months in ``complex'' cases with the
authorization of a judge. With the personal approval of the Prosecutor
General, the judge may extend that period up to 18 months. Juveniles
may be detained only in cases of grave crimes.
Although recently adopted, these procedures were generally
respected, although some judges still did not appear to enforce them
fully. Judges regularly suppressed confessions of suspects whose
confessions were taken without a lawyer present and freed suspects who
were held in excess of detention limits, although they usually granted
prosecutors' motions to extend the detention period for good cause
shown. The Supreme Court overturned a number of cases in which lower
court judges granted permission to detain individuals on what the
Supreme Court considered to be inadequate grounds.
Some regional and local authorities took advantage of the system's
procedural weaknesses to arrest persons on false pretexts for
expressing views critical of the Government. Human rights advocates in
some regions were charged with libel, contempt of court, or
interference in judicial procedures in cases with distinct political
overtones. Journalists, among others, have been charged with other
offenses and held either in excess of normal periods of detention or
for offenses that do not require detention at all (see Sections 2.a.
and 4).
Significant reforms occurred in law enforcement and judicial
procedures; however, the apparently selective arrest and detention of
prominent businessman Mikhail Khodorkovskiy on the eve of parliamentary
elections raised a number of concerns over the arbitrary use of the
judicial system.
An international NGO delegation that visited two psychiatric
hospitals during the year noted that there was no judicial process for
commitment that provided individuals subject to commitment with the
right to appear before a court for a determination of the legality of
their commitment. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, such
individuals may appear in court unless their mental state does not
allow it; however, in such cases the appearance of their legal
guardians (relatives, adoptive parents, caretakers) is obligatory.
On at least one occasion, the authorities held relatives of a
wanted Chechen rebel leader, apparently forcing his surrender (see
Section 1.g.). Relatives of Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev and
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov were taken into what
authorities claimed to be protective custody in September during the
Beslan school seizure, although human rights groups said this action
was intended as retaliation for the seizure of the school. Domestic and
foreign human rights observers criticized an October suggestion by the
Prosecutor General that a policy of seizing the relatives of hostage
takers would reduce the incidence of hostage taking.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and there were some signs of judicial
independence; however, the judiciary did not act as an effective
counterweight to other branches of the Government. The Criminal
Procedure Code provides for strengthening the role of the judiciary in
relation to the Prosecutor General by requiring judicial approval of
arrest warrants, searches, seizures, and detention (see Section 1.d.).
According to press coverage of the 6th Congress of Russian Judges,
which was held in the end of November, the average monthly salaries of
different level of judges ranged from approximately $430 (12,000
rubles) to approximately $1,100 (30,000 rubles). In an address to
judges at the Congress of Judges President Putin promised to at least
double the salaries ``in the very near future.'' However, judges
remained subject to influence from the executive, military, and
security forces, particularly in high profile or politically sensitive
cases. The judiciary continued to lack sufficient resources and was
subject to corruption. Authorities did not provide adequate protection
from intimidation or threats from powerful criminal defendants.
The judiciary is divided into three branches. The courts of general
jurisdiction, including military courts, are subordinated to the
Supreme Court. These courts hear civil and criminal cases and include
district courts, which serve every urban and rural district, regional
courts, and the Supreme Court. Decisions of the lower trial courts can
be appealed only to the immediately superior court unless a
constitutional issue is involved. The arbitration (commercial) court
system under the High Court of Arbitration constitutes a second branch
of the judicial system. Arbitration courts hear cases involving
business disputes between legal entities and between legal entities and
the State. The Constitutional Court (as well as constitutional courts
in a number of administrative entities of the Russian Federation)
constitutes the third branch.
The President approves judges after they have been nominated by the
qualifying collegia, which are assemblies of judges (including some
public members). President Putin rejected 160 candidates to federal
judicial positions in 2003. After a 3 year trial period, the President
must again confirm the judges. The collegia also had the authority to
remove judges for misbehavior and to approve prosecutors' requests to
prosecute judges.
Justices of the peace, introduced beginning in 1998, deal with
criminal cases involving maximum sentences of less than 3 years and
some civil cases. In some regions where the system has been fully
implemented, justices of the peace assumed 65 percent of federal
judges' civil cases and up to 25 percent of their criminal matters,
which may have contributed to easing overcrowding in pretrial detention
facilities (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). There were some justices of
the peace at work in all regions except Chechnya. As of June, there
were 5,500 justices of the peace and 1,053 vacancies.
Judges remained subject to intimidation and accepted bribes from
officials and others. Some steps were taken to remove a number of
corrupt judges. The Highest Qualifying Collegia of Judges recorded
18,749 complaints filed against judges in 2003. A total of 118 judges
received ``warnings,'' 36 were fired, and 6 criminal cases were started
against judges. In the fall, three Moscow judges were put on trial for
their involvement in apartment frauds.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial; however,
this right was restricted in practice. Assessments of the effects of
the 2002 Criminal Procedure Code on this process remained mixed. Abuses
of the right to a fair trial declined; however, numerous critics argued
that the country remained far from having a truly adversarial criminal
procedure.
The 2002 Criminal Procedure Code provides for the nationwide use of
jury trials. By January 1, all regions except Chechnya had implemented
jury trials, although juries heard only 1 percent of cases. In 2003,
oblast courts conducted 496 jury trials involving approximately 1,000
defendants. In contrast to trials conducted by a judge, 0.8 per cent of
which ended in acquittal in 2003, 15 percent of cases tried by juries
ended in acquittals (although one quarter of these verdicts were
reversed on appeal).
According to Ministry of Justice official statistics, in 2003
criminal defendants in 45,500 cases (8.6 percent of all completed
criminal cases) made use of a formal procedure introduced in 2002 and
subsequently broadened by which guilty pleas resulted in shorter
sentences and abbreviated trials for crimes carrying penalties of less
than 10 years.
The Criminal Procedures Code and Federal Defense Bar statute
provide for the appointment of a lawyer free of charge if a suspect
cannot afford one; however, this provision often was not effective in
practice. The high cost of competent legal representation meant that
lower income defendants often lacked competent legal representation.
There were no defense attorneys in remote areas of the country. Public
centers, staffed on a part time basis by lawyers, continued to offer
advice at no cost on legal rights and recourse under the law; however,
they were not able to handle individual cases.
The Independent Council of Legal Expertise reported that defense
lawyers continued to be the targets of police harassment. Professional
associations at both the local and federal levels reported police
efforts at intimidation of attorneys and efforts to cover up their own
criminal activities. For example, in November 2003, Olga Artyukhova,
one of Mikhail Khodorkovskiy's lawyers, was searched at the
correctional facility immediately following a visit with her client.
During this search correctional officers seized Artyukhova's notes. In
March, a similar incident involving Yevgeniy Baru, Khodorkovskiy co
defendant Pavel Lebedev's lawyer, occurred after visiting with his
client. Baru reported that prison officials, including the warden, had
confiscated written and printed materials from his briefcase.
The May 19 conviction of Mikhail Trepashkin, who had been
consultant to a parliamentary commission investigating possible FSB
involvement in a series of 1999 apartment bombings, gave further cause
for concern about the undue influence of the FSB and arbitrary use of
the judicial system. The bombings were officially blamed on Chechens
and served as partial justification for the Government's resumption of
the armed conflict against Chechen fighters. Trepashkin, an attorney
and former FSB official, was arrested in October 2003 and charged with
disclosing state secrets and with illegal possession of a handgun and
ammunition. The Moscow Circuit Military Court sentenced him to 4 years
of forced labor, but he was not expected to start serving his term
until the conclusion of a hearing on the handgun charge. The trial
reconvened on December 15. Trepashkin's arrest came a month after his
charges of FSB responsibility for the bombings were cited in a book and
a week before he was scheduled to represent the relatives of a victim
of one of those bombings. After his arrest, Trepashkin wrote a letter
describing extremely poor conditions in his detention cell.
Authorities abrogated due process in continuing to pursue several
espionage cases involving foreigners who worked with citizens and
allegedly obtained information that the security services considered
sensitive; in some instances prosecutors pursued such cases after
earlier courts had rejected them. The proceedings in some of these
cases took place behind closed doors, and the defendants and their
attorneys encountered difficulties in learning the details of the
charges. Observers believed that the FSB was seeking to discourage
citizens and foreigners from investigating problems that the security
services considered sensitive.
On June 9, the Supreme Court overturned the December 2003 jury
acquittal of Valentin Danilov, who had been charged with spying for
China while working on a commercial contract. In November, Danilov was
convicted by a judge and sentenced to 14 years in November.
In April, a Moscow City Court found Igor Sutyagin, a disarmament
researcher with the U.S. and Canada Institute, guilty of espionage and
sentenced him to 15 years in a maximum security facility (the sentence
included time served since his arrest in October 1999). Prosecutors
accused Sutyagin of passing classified information about the country's
nuclear weapons to a London based firm, but the Kaluga regional court
ruled in 2001 that the evidence presented by the prosecutor did not
support the charges brought against him and returned the case to the
prosecutor for further investigation. Sutyagin claimed the decision was
unjust and insisted that he had no access to confidential information.
In August, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal. Some observers agreed
that he had no access to classified information and regarded the severe
sentence as an effort to discourage information sharing by citizens
with professional colleagues from other countries. Russian government
officials asserted that he had wittingly or unwittingly entered into a
paid arrangement with a foreign intelligence service. As a result of
the flawed conduct of the trial and lengthy sentence, a number of
domestic and international human rights NGOs raised concerns that the
charges were politically motivated, and AI declared Sutyagin to be a
political prisoner.
While there was broad agreement among human rights organizations
that Sutyagin was a political prisoner, various organizations also
characterized other individuals as political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution states that officials may enter a
private residence only in cases prescribed by federal law or on the
basis of a judicial decision; however, authorities did not always
observe these provisions. The Constitution permits the Government to
monitor correspondence, telephone conversations, and other means of
communication only with judicial permission and prohibits the
collection, storage, utilization, and dissemination of information
about a person's private life without his consent. While these
provisions were generally followed, problems still remained.
Authorities continued to infringe on citizens' privacy rights. There
were reports of electronic surveillance by government officials and
others without judicial permission. Law enforcement officials in Moscow
reportedly entered residences and other premises without warrants.
There were no reports of government action against officials who
violated these safeguards.
Internet service providers are required to install, at their own
expense, a device that routes all customer traffic to an FSB terminal,
and framers of this ``System for Operational Investigative Measures''
(SORM 2) claimed that the regulation did not violate the Constitution
or the Civil Code, because it requires a court order to authorize the
FSB to read the transmissions. This requirement was upheld by a 2000
Supreme Court ruling. However, there appeared to be no mechanism to
prevent unauthorized FSB access to the traffic or private information
without a warrant. The FSB was not required to provide
telecommunications companies and individuals documentation on targets
of interest prior to accessing information.
A Doctrine of Information Security of the Russian Federation that
President Putin signed in 2000, although without the force of law,
indicated that law enforcement authorities should have wide discretion
in carrying out SORM surveillance of telephone, cellular, and wireless
communications. Human rights observers continued to allege that
officers in the special services, including authorities at the highest
levels of the MVD and the FSB, used their services' power to gather
compromising materials on political and public figures, both as
political insurance and to remove rivals. They accused persons in these
agencies, both active and retired, of working with commercial or
criminal organizations for the same purpose. There were credible
reports that regional branches of the FSB continued to exert pressure
on citizens employed by foreign firms and organizations, often with the
goal of coercing them into becoming informants.
Government forces in Chechnya looted valuables and food from
private houses in regions that they controlled (see Section 1.g.).
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal and External Conflicts.--During the year, federal forces and
pro Moscow Chechen forces engaged in human rights violations, including
torture, summary executions, disappearances, and arbitrary detentions.
Chechen fighters also committed human rights violations, including
several major acts of terrorism outside of Chechnya, and summary
executions. Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for
the hostage taking in Beslan and other acts of terrorism against
civilians.
Federal authorities both military and civilian have limited
journalists' access to war zones since the beginning of the second war
in Chechnya in October 1999, in part due to security concerns. Most
domestic journalists and editors appeared to exercise self censorship
and avoid subjects embarrassing to the Government with regard to the
conflict (see Section 2.a.). Human rights observers also faced
limitations in access to the region (see Section 4). These restrictions
made independent observation of conditions and verification of reports
very difficult and limited the available sources of information
concerning the conflict. However, human rights groups with staff in the
region continued to release credible reports of human rights abuses and
atrocities committed by federal forces during the year.
The indiscriminate use of force by government troops in the
conflict in the Chechen Republic has resulted in widespread civilian
casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of persons,
the majority of whom sought refuge in the neighboring republic of
Ingushetiya. The security situation continued to prevent most foreign
observers from traveling to the region, and the Government enforced
strict controls on both foreign and domestic media access (see Section
2.a.).
A wide range of reports indicated that federal military operations
resulted in numerous civilian casualties and the massive destruction of
property and infrastructure, despite claims by federal authorities that
government forces utilized precision targeting when combating rebels.
In most cases such actions were undertaken with impunity. After a
federal warplane bombed Maidat Tsintsayeva's house in April, killing
her and her five children, military and Chechen prosecutors opened a
criminal case, but no charges had been filed by the end of the year. On
December 3, a Russian helicopter launched several missiles at the
village of Tevzen Kale, and one hit the house of the Suleymanov family.
One family member was killed, and two others were wounded. The Chechen
Interior Ministry told the press that the federal military refused to
recognize that there was even a bombing attack on the village and was
impeding all investigation efforts. There were no reliable estimates of
the number of civilians killed as a result of federal military
operations; estimates of the totals since 1999 varied from hundreds to
thousands. It was also impossible to verify the number of civilians
injured by federal forces. According to press reports, Chechen State
Council Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov estimated in November that more than
200,000 people had been killed in Chechnya since 1994, including 20,000
children. Dzhabrailov said every year 2,000 to 3,000 people in Chechnya
are killed, abducted, or go missing.
Command and control among military and special police units often
appeared to be weak. In addition to casualties attributable to
indiscriminate use of force by the federal armed forces, individual
federal servicemen or units committed many abuses. In June, for
example, federal forces were believed to be responsible for the killing
of Umar Zabiyev, a civilian, near the Ingush village of Galashki. Heavy
machine gun fire hit the car in which Zabiyev, his brother, and his
mother were riding. The gunfire was believed to have come from a nearby
column of armored vehicles. Umar Zabiyev stayed with his injured mother
and sent his brother to bring help. When villagers arrived a short time
later, Umar was missing. His body was found the next morning bearing
clear marks of torture and gunshot wounds. Police searching the area
found more than 100 spent cartridges and other items that indicated the
presence of federal military personnel.
According to human rights observers, government forces responding
to Chechen attacks at times engaged in indiscriminate reprisals against
combatants and noncombatants alike.
Although indiscriminate mopping up or ``cleansing'' operations
known as ``zachistki'' continued sporadically throughout the year,
federal forces more frequently engaged in more targeted operations
known as ``night raids'' to arrest suspected Chechen fighters. The
human rights NGO Memorial reported that the number of human rights
violations occurring during these operations was lower than in previous
years. Memorial also noted that zachistki conducted with Chechen MVD
representatives present generally resulted in fewer human rights
abuses. Although the night raids reduced large scale abuses that often
accompanied zachistki, human rights organizations indicated that
disappearances of those detained in these raids continued. Kidnappings
by federal forces were reported during the year. For example, in
January, federal forces conducted a sweep in the town of Argun.
According to reports, the federal forces dragged residents from their
beds and took them to a quarry where they detained and tortured them.
Relatives of the detained later found two bodies that had been blown up
in the quarry. Residents were able to identify one of the bodies as a
resident whom federal forces had arrested. Only after mass protests in
Argun were most of those detained released. All of them showed signs of
physical abuse and required medical attention.
In July, as a result of continued kidnappings in the republic, the
Chechen Government announced a new effort to have security forces
adhere to Order Number 80, issued in 2002, which establishes rules
governing passport checks and mopping up operations. It requires the
military forces to have license plates on their vehicles when entering
a village, to be accompanied by a representative of the prosecutor's
office and local officials, to identify themselves when entering a
house, and to make lists of all persons arrested during the operation
and share it with local authorities. Chechen officials subsequently
declared a ban on law enforcement officers wearing masks as well. At
year's end, Memorial was not aware of any cases in which Order Number
80 was properly observed. The organization was informed of several
occasions in which unidentified armed men wearing camouflage broke into
houses and abducted civilians.
Many individuals were declared missing during the year, although
estimates of the total number varied. Some of the disappeared were
feared dead, others were detained, and yet others were kidnapped.
Chechen President Kadyrov stated on March 18 that an estimated 3,000
persons had disappeared in Chechnya in recent years; however, the NGO
community reported that the number was higher than the official Chechen
Government figure. According to Memorial, 1,450 people have disappeared
during the Chechen war. Memorial reported that, during the year, the
number of disappearances dropped to 396 from 495 cases registered in
2003 in the 25 to 30 percent of Chechnya to which they had access. Of
those, 189 were freed by their abductors or released after relatives
paid a ransom, 173 disappeared without a trace, and 24 bodies showing
signs of torture or violent death were recovered. Human Rights
Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin estimated that 1,700 people were kidnapped
throughout Chechnya between January and November, which appeared
consistent with Memorial's figures.
AI reported that women were increasingly targeted by federal and
Chechen security forces in response to suicide bombings carried out by
Chechen women. AI reported that a member of the security forces
questioned one such woman, Milana Ozdoyeva, on two occasions in January
about allegations that she wanted to become a suicide bomber. On
January 19, several men entered her house and forced her to go with
them, leaving her two children behind. At year's end, her whereabouts
remained unknown.
Troops also reportedly kidnapped and otherwise mistreated children
(see Section 5).
There were reports that disappearances increased also in
neighboring Ingushetiya. Although Ingush President Murat Zyazikov
stated he was aware of only seven such cases, human rights groups
estimated that several dozen individuals had disappeared. One of those
was Deputy Prosecutor Rashid Ozdoyev, who disappeared in March after
submitting a report on alleged abuses committed by the FSB in
Ingushetiya. Prosecutors opened an investigation, but Ozdoyev's
whereabouts remained unknown.
Memorial and other NGOs charged that government forces, including
Chechen security forces commanded by Kadyrov's son, Ramzan, were
responsible for many kidnappings. Memorial has sought to pursue the
majority of these cases with the Prosecutor General's office, but
proceedings were dropped in four fifths of the cases due to the fact
that no suspects could be identified. While many disappearances
remained unresolved, the abductors released most of those taken, often
after their relatives paid a bribe. Federal and Chechen officials,
including then President Akhmed Kadyrov, acknowledged that
disappearances continued but attributed many of them to separatist
fighters.
On January 29, human rights activist Imran Ezhiyev, the head of
Chechen regional office of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society and a
regional representative of the Moscow Helsinki Group, was detained by
Ingush police and held overnight while accompanying Ella Pamfilova,
head of the Presidential Human Rights Commission. Ezhiyev has been
detained 18 times.
In April, five men who reportedly shouted, ``You got what you're
asking for. No more speeches for you [in court],'' knocked human rights
lawyer Stanislav Markelov unconscious on the Moscow metro. After
regaining consciousness, Markelov discovered that his mobile phone
containing the phone numbers of his clients, his lawyer's license card,
and other identity documents and case files were missing, but his money
had not been stolen. AI expressed concern that he was targeted due to
his work on behalf of victims in several human rights cases that relate
to Chechnya.
Also in April, Arjan Erkel, the head of the Doctors Without Borders
mission in Dagestan, was released after a $1.35 million (1 million
euro) ransom was paid, with federal Government mediation, to his
captors, who remained unknown (see Section 1.b.). Such events and
overall security problems led many NGOs to limit their activities in
the North Caucasus.
Federal forces and police also conducted security sweeps in
neighboring Ingushetiya that resulted in reported human rights
violations and disappearances. Following rebel attacks across
Ingushetiya on June 21 and 22, federal forces conducted sweeps in
several settlements housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) from
Chechnya. Human rights groups reported several cases in which military
personnel beat or verbally abused persons during these sweeps; however,
the 20 IDPs they arrested were all released. Additionally, human rights
groups reported that there were several dozen cases of disappearance of
Ingush and Chechens in Ingushetiya. As with similar operations in
Chechnya, reports of beatings, arbitrary detentions, and looting
usually followed these operations. According to Human Rights Watch
(HRW), in August 2003, pro Moscow Chechen police abducted five men from
a clinic in Ingushetiya. Police reportedly burst into the clinic firing
weapons. One of those detained was injured. One of the policemen struck
a doctor with a rifle. As of the end of the year, neither HRW nor
Memorial knew of the five men's whereabouts. Ingush prosecutors opened
a criminal case.
Pro Moscow Chechen forces commanded by Ramzan Kadyrov and federal
troops also began arresting relatives of Chechen separatist leaders in
an effort to force the leaders to surrender, according to human rights
groups. Memorial and AI reported that in late February and early March,
Kadyrov's forces seized several dozen relatives of Magomed and Omar
Khambiyev, respectively, the defense and health ministers in the
``separatist government.'' They then threatened that unless Magomed
Khambiyev gave himself up, his relatives would be harmed. He
surrendered in early March.
In September, during the hostage taking at School No. 1 in Beslan,
press and human rights groups reported that federal forces took into
custody relatives of Aslan Maskhadov, Shamil Basayev, and Doku Umarov,
whom authorities accused of organizing the hostage taking. Federal
forces stated this was for their protection, whereas human rights
groups alleged that the relatives would be used in a potential trade
for hostages at the school. The relatives were subsequently released,
but in December, according to Memorial, eight family members of Chechen
leader Aslan Maskhadov were abducted.
Government forces and Chechen fighters have used landmines
extensively in Chechnya and Dagestan since 1999; there were many
civilian landmine victims in Chechnya during the year. Federal forces
and Chechen fighters continued to use antipersonnel mines in Chechnya.
Reports from hospitals operating in the region indicated that many
patients were landmine or unexploded ordnance victims and that such
weaponry was the primary cause of death. Government officials reported
that in Chechnya there were 5,695 landmine casualties in 2002 (the
latest year for which statistics were available), including 125 deaths.
The victims included 938 children. By comparison, there had been 2,140
landmine casualties in 2001.
New mass graves and ``dumping grounds'' for victims allegedly
executed by government forces in Chechnya during the year and earlier
were discovered. In April, local residents near the village of Serzhen
Yurt found the bodies of nine men in a ravine. According to AI, the
bodies bore gunshot wounds and marks of torture. Federal forces had
detained eight of the men on March 27 in the village of Duba Yurt. The
ninth man had ``disappeared'' from his home in Groznyy during the night
of April 12, according to AI. There were no reports by year's end that
the Government had initiated any criminal cases related to the mass
grave discoveries.
Armed forces and police units reportedly routinely abused and
tortured persons held at holding facilities where federal authorities
sorted out fighters or those suspected of aiding the rebels from
civilians. Federal forces reportedly ransomed Chechen detainees (and,
at times, their corpses) to their families for prices ranging from
several hundred to thousands of dollars.
AI reported that Timur Khambulatov died in police custody in March.
An estimated 40 armed men arrested Khambulatov at his home in the
Chechen village of Savelevskaya on March 18 on suspicion of belonging
to an illegal armed group. Later that same morning, a district
prosecutor reportedly found him dead in a police cell. According to AI,
police claimed Khambulatov was near death when operatives from the FSB
handed him over to them. The local head of the FSB reportedly told
Khambulatov's mother that his officers had not touched her son.
There were widespread reports of the killing or abuse of captured
fighters by federal troops, as well as reports that captured federal
troops and pro Moscow Chechen security forces were killed or abused by
the Chechen fighters, and a policy of ``no surrender'' appeared to
prevail in many units on both sides. Federal forces reportedly beat,
raped, tortured, and killed numerous detainees.
According to human rights NGOs, federal troops on numerous
occasions looted valuables and foodstuffs in regions they controlled.
Many IDPs reported that guards at checkpoints forced them to provide
payments or harassed and pressured them. There were some reports that
federal troops purposefully targeted some infrastructure essential to
the survival of the civilian population, such as water facilities or
hospitals. The indiscriminate use of force by federal troops caused
destruction of housing and commercial and administrative structures.
However, compared to 2001-02, Memorial reported that government forces
used less indiscriminate force during the year against civilian areas.
In most cases, the artillery attacks and bombings that occurred were
the result of mistakes, bad performance, and alcoholism. Federal troops
also reportedly severely damaged gas and water supply facilities and
other types of infrastructure. Representatives of international
organizations and NGOs who visited Chechnya reported little evidence of
federal assistance for rebuilding war torn areas.
A climate of lawlessness, corruption, and impunity flourished in
Chechnya. The Government investigated and tried some members of the
military for crimes against civilians in Chechnya; however, there were
few convictions and the reported number of convictions differed.
According to statistics released to the press by the General
Prosecutor's office in early December, over the last 3 years 1,749
criminal cases were initiated in Chechnya to investigate approximately
2,300 cases involving disappeared persons. Out of these, only 50 cases
were completely investigated and reached the courts. During the same
time period, 22 servicemen were convicted and sentenced for committing
serious crimes against civilians. However, in most cases the punishment
was limited to a suspended sentence.
Memorial noted that the General Prosecutor's office has been
inconsistent in its figures concerning the number of crimes committed
by servicemen against civilians. In February 2003, the Deputy
Prosecutor General reported that during the years of the anti-terrorist
operation in Chechnya, 417 cases were initiated, but investigations
were halted for 341 cases because the suspects had not been found.
Then, in August, the Deputy Prosecutor General announced that only 132
cases were opened, and all but 10 were still under investigation. No
further information was provided to explain the discrepancy.
According to Justice Minister Yuriy Chayka, from the start of the
conflict through November 2003, 54 servicemen, including 8 officers,
had been found guilty of crimes against civilians in Chechnya. Four
servicemen, including three officers, were on trial for murder charges
over the 2002 deaths of six Chechen civilians in a court in the
southern city of Rostov on Don.
On November 11, the Supreme Court overturned the North Caucasus
Military District Court's June 29 acquittal of two officers of the
Interior Ministry's troops, Yevgeniy Khudyakov and Sergey Arakcheyev,
who had been accused of murdering three civilians in Chechnya. A news
service reported that the Court found that the jury for the trial was
convened improperly. Khudyakov and Arakcheyev allegedly shot the three
civilians in January 2003 after forcing them out of a truck near
Groznyy. The suspects then allegedly doused the victims' bodies with
gasoline and ignited them in attempt to cover up the crime.
Memorial concluded that the majority of cases opened for alleged
crimes by federal servicemen against civilians resulted in no charges.
Cases were closed or investigations suspended because of the absence of
the bodies or because of an inability to identify a suspect.
In April, Chechen President Akhmed Kadyrov asked that the State
Duma extend an amnesty that expired in September 2003, but in June,
following Akhmed Kadyrov's assassination, his son Ramzan stated that
the amnesty program should be ended and gave fighters 3 days to turn in
their weapons.
Government forces continued to abuse individuals seeking
accountability for abuses in Chechnya, continuing their harassment of
applicants to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In January,
human rights activist Aslan Davletukayev was kidnapped, tortured, and
killed in Chechnya, under circumstances that suggested the involvement
of government forces. He was the third volunteer with the Society for
Russian Chechen Friendship to have been killed since December 2001.
According to AI and other human rights groups, he had been in the
custody of federal forces and the criminal investigation into the
incident was inconclusive. The Society reported that it received
anonymous threats following the September seizure of the school in
Beslan, North Ossetia. According to AI, on April 10, federal forces
abducted Anzor Pokayev, whose father had appealed to the ECHR in July
2003 in the case of the 2002 disappearance of his other son during a
military raid. The morning after the abduction, Anzor's body was found
approximately 6 miles away, with multiple gunshot wounds. On September
3, Memorial reported that federal forces had abducted Fatima Gazayeva
of the human rights organization Echoes of War, a regional organization
that reported on human rights abuses, and her husband Ilyas Atayev.
Gazayeva and Atayev were released 2 days later, but they had no idea
where they had been kept and by whom. They indicated that their captors
had treated them fairly.
The authorities initiated legal actions against the Society's
activities and those of the Chechen Committee for National Salvation
(see Sections 2.a. and 4).
On January 22, President Putin abolished the special post of
Presidential Human Rights Representative to Chechnya, handing full
responsibility for the issue to Chechen President Akhmed Kadyrov, on
the grounds that no other region had an analogous representative and
Chechnya no longer warranted special treatment. The Independent
Commission on Human Rights in the Northern Caucasus headed by the
Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Legislation maintained a number
of offices in Chechnya and Ingushetiya. This organization heard
hundreds of complaints from citizens, ranging from destruction or theft
of property to rape and murder; however, it was not empowered to
investigate or prosecute alleged offenses and had to refer complaints
to military or civil prosecutors. Almost all complainants alleged
violations of military discipline and other common crimes.
In early June, Chechen President Alkhanov signed an order to
appoint Lema Khasuyev as the Chechen Republic's new human rights
Ombudsman. Khasuyev had been a deputy of two former presidential envoys
for human rights in Chechnya. Human rights groups were skeptical that
the appointment of a new ombudsman would significantly improve the
situation.
Chechen rebel fighters also committed serious human rights abuses.
According to observers, Chechen fighters usually operated independently
in small groups; however, the June attacks on Nazran suggested they
were capable of operating in larger groups under a more centralized
command. According to various reports, they committed terrorist acts
against civilians in Chechnya and elsewhere in the country, killed
civilians who would not assist them, used civilians as human shields,
forced civilians to build fortifications, and prevented refugees from
fleeing Chechnya. In several cases, Chechen fighters killed elderly
ethnic Russian civilians for no apparent reason other than their
ethnicity. As with the many reported violations by federal troops,
there were difficulties in verifying or investigating these incidents.
According to Chechen Minister of Internal Affairs Ruslan Alkhanov, 120
attacks that he characterized as terrorist were committed in Chechnya
during the year, but it is unclear what methodology was used to
identify the number of terrorist acts. Alkhanov said this figure was
lower than in 2003.
A number of the terrorist acts committed by Chechen rebels during
the year involved suicide bombings. On February 6, a suicide bomber
killed 40 persons by blowing up a Moscow metro passenger car. Terrorist
Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility, and in March, terrorist Abu al
Walid stated that further attacks should be expected. On August 24,
suicide bombers from Chechnya were believed to have carried out the
near simultaneous downing of 2 aircraft, killing 89 persons. On August
31, a suicide bomber killed 10 persons at the Rizhskaya metro station.
On September 1, terrorists took an estimated 1,200 teachers,
children and parents hostage at School Number 1, in Beslan, North
Ossetia. Hostage takers reportedly killed 15 to 20 adult men on the
first day of the seizure. They held the hostages for 58 hours, during
which they denied them food and water. The siege ended violently;
according to press reports, an explosive rigged by the terrorists
detonated, and in the ensuing panic, they began shooting hostages who
were attempting to flee. Security forces and armed relatives of the
hostages returned fire and stormed the school. At least 338 hostages
died, many of them trapped in the gymnasium when its roof collapsed.
Security forces subsequently killed all or most of the hostage takers
in a firefight that lasted several hours. According to some reports, a
mob lynched one terrorist captured by security forces. Another was
arrested and held by the authorities.
In other incidents, rebels took up positions in populated areas and
fired on federal forces, thereby exposing civilians to federal
counterattacks. When villagers protested, the rebels sometimes beat
them or fired upon them. Chechen fighters also targeted civilian
officials working for the pro Moscow Chechen Administration. In May,
Chechen President Akhmed Kadyrov was assassinated while attending a
Victory Day celebration in Groznyy. Chechen fighters also reportedly
abused, tortured, and killed captured federal soldiers. Rebels
continued a concerted campaign, begun in 2001, to kill civilian
officials of the government supported Chechen administration. According
to Chechen sources, rebel factions also used violence to eliminate
their economic rivals in illegal activities or to settle personal
accounts.
Chechen rebels continued to launch attacks on government forces and
police in Ingushetiya during the year.
Rebel field commanders reportedly were responsible for funding
their units, and some allegedly resorted to drug smuggling and
kidnapping to raise funds. As a result, it often was difficult, if not
impossible, to distinguish between rebel units and criminal gangs. Some
rebels allegedly received financial and other forms of assistance from
foreign supporters of international terrorism. Government officials
continued to maintain that there were 200 to 300 foreign fighters in
Chechnya.
According to a 2002 report by the U.N. Special Representative for
Children and Armed Conflict, Chechen rebels used children to plant
landmines and explosives (see Section 5).
International organizations estimated that the number of IDPs and
refugees who left Chechnya as a result of the conflict reached a high
of approximately 280,000 in the spring of 2000 (see Section 2.d.). At
various times during the conflict, authorities have restricted the
movement of persons fleeing Chechnya and exerted pressure on them to
return to Chechnya (see Section 2.d.). As of November 30, the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that 38,838 IDPs
remained in Ingushetiya; 24,534 were living in private accommodation
and 14,304 were in temporary settlements.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, government pressure on the
media persisted, resulting in numerous infringements of these rights.
Faced with continuing financial difficulties, as well as pressure from
the Government and large private companies with links to the
Government, many media organizations saw their autonomy further
weakened during the year. The Government increasingly used its
controlling ownership interest in all national, and a majority of
regional, television and radio stations to restrict access to
information about issues it regarded as sensitive. By a variety of
means, it severely restricted coverage by all media of events in
Chechnya. There were indications that government pressure at times led
reporters to engage in self censorship. On most subjects, however, the
public continued to have access to a broad spectrum of viewpoints in
the print media and, for those with access, on the Internet.
While the Government generally respected citizens' right to freedom
of expression, at times it restricted this right with regard to such
sensitive issues as the conduct of federal forces in Chechnya,
discussions of religion, or controversial reforms in the social sector.
Some regional and local authorities took advantage of the judicial
system's procedural weaknesses to arrest persons on false pretexts for
expressing views critical of the Government. With some exceptions,
judges appeared unwilling to challenge powerful federal and local
officials who sought to prosecute journalists. These proceedings often
resulted in stiff fines.
All but 1 national newspaper remained privately owned, as were more
than 40 percent of the 45,000 registered local newspapers and
periodicals; however, the Government attempted to influence the
reporting of independent publications. Approximately two thirds of the
2,500 television stations in the country were completely or partially
owned by the federal and local governments, and the Government
indirectly influenced most private broadcasting companies through
partial ownership of commercial structures, such as energy giants
Gazprom and Lukoil, which in turn owned large shares of media
companies. Such influence was far from uniform, however. Gazprom
financed radio station Ekho Moskviy, for example, maintained a highly
independent editorial position and its reporting and commentary were
frequently critical of the Government.
Of the three national television stations, the Government owned
Rossiya Channel and a majority of First Channel. The Government owned a
controlling stake of Gazprom, which in turn had a controlling ownership
stake in the third national television station, NTV, which maintained a
more independent editorial line. The Government also maintained
ownership of the largest radio stations, Radio Mayak and Radio Rossiya,
and the news agencies ITAR TASS and RIA Novosti.
The Government exerted its influence most directly on state owned
media. Journalists and news anchors of Rossiya and First Channel
reported receiving ``guidelines'' from the management prepared by the
Presidential Administration, indicating which politicians they should
support and which they should criticize. Criticism of presidential
policies was prohibited in the state owned media and strongly
discouraged on NTV and in many privately owned print publications,
although with little apparent effect in many privately owned print
publications.
Correspondents claimed that senior management often asked them to
obtain approval for reports on sensitive political matters prior to
broadcasting and that management edited out ``negative language'' about
government officials and policies. For example, the press reported that
government owned channels received ``style lists'' mandating that
references to ``Chechnya'' be replaced with ``Republic of Chechnya'' (a
usage that reinforced the Government's view of Chechnya as a
constituent republic of the Russian Federation) and that the phrase
``replacing benefits with money'' (a highly unpopular government
policy) be replaced with ``monetized benefits.'' Despite these
constraints, high level Presidential Administration officials
reportedly complained to Rossiya and First Channel executives about
reporting they viewed as critical of the President.
During the year, the Government further circumscribed the editorial
independence and political influence of NTV. In June, NTV fired Leonid
Parfenov, host of the popular news analysis program Namedni, after he
publicly protested the station's decision not to broadcast an interview
with the widow of Chechen separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. In
July, Gazprom Media installed Vladimir Kulistikov, former news director
of state owned Rossiya Channel, as head of NTV, and Kulistikov abruptly
shut down most of the network's political programs, including the
popular Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech), the last remaining live
discussion format talk show on national television. In December,
Kulistikov suspended popular journalist Aleksey Pivovarov as anchor of
the network's flagship news program Strana i Mir after he commented on
the firing of Parfenov. NTV largely preserved its relatively balanced
approach to news reporting; however, these measures further reduced the
opportunity for free expression on television.
The state owned Sports Channel continued to broadcast on the
federal frequency formerly used by the privately owned Television
Spektrum (TVS), which authorities took off the air in 2003, assigning
the frequency to Sports Channel on a temporary basis. TVS had been the
only non state affiliated channel. Its demise was variously attributed
to political motives and commercial maneuvering. No efforts to restore
TVS were reported during the year.
The degree of editorial freedom tolerated by authorities appeared
to depend on the size of the audience. For example, Ren-TV, which
reaches over 65 percent of the nationwide audience but only has an
audience share of approximately 5 percent, was frequently sharply
critical of the Kremlin. However, Ren-TV's regional affiliates often
replaced prime-time news programs critical of the government with local
news. This practice, coupled with a lack of interest in ``Moscow
politics'' on the part of provincial audiences reduces the channel's
impact on public opinion.
Government controlled media exhibited considerable bias in favor of
President Putin in their coverage of the March 14 presidential
campaign. President Putin did not actively campaign, but, as the OSCE
election observation mission noted, he received coverage on the state
controlled television channels far beyond what was reasonably
proportionate to his role as head of state. For example, the OSCE
election observation mission reported that First Channel provided more
than 4 hours of all positive political and election coverage to the
President. The next most covered candidate received approximately 21
minutes of prime time coverage (see Section 3).
The authorities continued to exert pressure in a number of ways on
journalists, particularly those who reported on corruption or who
criticized officials. The media freedom advocacy group Glasnost Defense
Foundation (GDF), together with Journalists Without Borders and the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), documented numerous cases of
censorship and police intimidation of media personnel.
In August, the Kremlin transferred control of media access to the
area of the Chechen conflict to the Ministry of Interior. On December
2, a court in Ingushetiya ordered the deportation of Kosuke Tsuneoka,
Moscow based correspondent for Kyodo Tsuin, who was detained by police
in Nazran, Ingushetiya, and accused of lacking proper registration.
While Tsuneoka had a valid business visa, authorities stated that
Tsuneoka did not have a journalist visa and had failed to obtain
special permission to report from the conflict zone. Government
interference was particularly notable in relation to the war in
Chechnya and neighboring republics (see Section 1.g.), and especially
in connection with the Beslan school hostage crisis in September.
Domestic and international human rights advocates accused the
Government of failing to provide timely and accurate information about
the scale and consequences of the crisis. The press quoted freed
hostages as saying that distorted reporting by state television, which
significantly understated the number of hostages, enraged the
terrorists. Local residents also harassed the press for their coverage
of the incident in Beslan, according to an OSCE report published on
September 16. Two days after the release of the hostages, local
residents beat Aleksandr Kots, correspondent of the national daily
Komsomolskaya Pravda, after accusing him of distorting facts. The media
reported that many other journalists, including the crews of Rossiya
Channel, Television Center, Ren TV, a Swedish reporter, and a French
cameraman, were assaulted or had their tapes taken away.
According to the OSCE, police detained a number of journalists,
including Anna Gorbatova and Oksana Semyonova from Noviye Izvestiya
daily, Madina Shavlokhova from Moskovskiy Komsomolets and Yelena
Milashina from Novaya Gazeta and held them for several hours.
Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent correspondent of the daily Novaya
Gazeta, who planned to arrive in Beslan on September 3, was unable to
do so following severe poisoning she experienced on the flight from
Moscow. According to Politkovskaya, she only had a cup of tea on the
plane. After landing in Rostov on Don, she was taken to intensive care
and later transported back to Moscow. Some human rights activists
believed the authorities poisoned her to keep her from covering
developments in Beslan.
On September 2, the police at Vnukovo airport in Moscow detained
Andrey Babitskiy, a correspondent of Radio Liberty, before he was able
to take a flight to Mineralniye Vody in the North Caucasus. According
to Babitskiy, police accused him of carrying explosives but released
him after searching his luggage. After Babitskiy left the police
station, two young men reportedly approached him and started a dispute.
The police immediately detained all three and forced Babitskiy to
undergo a medical examination to determine if he had suffered any
injuries from the incident. Although Babitskiy was detained as a
victim, he was not released, and the next day a Justice of the Peace
sentenced him to a 15 day prison term on charges of hooliganism, which
was later commuted to a fine of approximately $34 (1,000 rubles) fine.
Some human rights activists believed the authorities staged the
incident to keep Babitskiy from covering developments in Beslan and the
North Caucasus.
The OSCE reported a number of attempts by authorities to prevent
foreign journalists from covering the hostage crisis. On September 2,
police and FSB representatives detained Polish, French, and British
journalists at the airport in Mineralniye Vody. The authorities
questioned the journalists for several hours, photocopied their
documents, and thoroughly checked their equipment. On September 3,
authorities confiscated tapes containing footage of the school storming
from several domestic and foreign television crews.
The NTV television channel was the first to broadcast live coverage
of the September 3 explosions and shooting in the school, followed by
the freeing of the hostages, although NTV only broadcast the first 90
minutes of developing events. State television networks did not begin
live broadcasts until almost an hour after the explosions. Media
experts believed the state television networks were slow to cover the
story because they were waiting for government permission to do so.
On September 5, Prof Media, owner of the leading daily newspaper
Izvestiya, fired chief editor Raf Shakirov after large photographs of
killed and injured children appeared in the previous day's newspaper.
Shakirov attributed his firing to Prof Media's strong disapproval of
the publication of the photographs. Other media analysts attributed
Shakirov's abrupt dismissal to the Kremlin's anger about the
publication of the photographs.
In August, the prosecutor's office charged the Chechen Committee
for National Salvation (ChCNS) with violating the law by disseminating
extremist information with the aim of accusing the country's armed
forces and law enforcement bodies of mass crimes. The prosecutor's
office further claimed that in this way the ChCNS was purposefully
inciting public hostility toward representatives of the State and
attempting to make the population resist the State. The prosecutor's
office requested a court hearing to have the press releases examined
and recognized as ``extremist''; however, in October, a municipal court
in Ingushetiya ruled in favor of the organization.
Apart from events related to the Caucasus, the GDF and other media
freedom monitoring organizations reported numerous abuses of
journalists by police and other security personnel, which included
physical assault and the damaging of equipment.
For example, while dispersing a rally near the Cabinet headquarters
in Moscow on June 1, members of the Federal Guard Service attacked Oleg
Kashin, a correspondent for the daily newspaper Kommersant. After
beating Kashin, who was later diagnosed with a brain concussion, they
took him to a police station, where he was detained for 18 hours.
On August 26, police beat Olga Rogozhina, a correspondent of the
Volga television station in Nizhniy Novgorod, who tried to report on a
police raid on the office of a local advertising firm.
On September 21, unknown assailants dressed in civilian clothes
beat a number of journalists after police broke up a rally against
Kalmyk Republic President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in the republic's capital,
Elista. The journalists included an NTV camera crew and Kirill
Shulepov, a correspondent for the Rossiya network, who was severely
beaten and had his camera destroyed.
A number of other journalists were killed, reported missing, or
beaten for reasons that may have been associated with their
journalistic activities. These journalists had published critical
information about local officials and influential businesses or
reported on crime and other sensitive issues. Although independent
media NGOs reported a decrease in physical violence compared to 2003,
they still characterized beatings of journalists by unknown assailants
as ``routine,'' noting that those who pursued investigative stories on
corruption and organized crime found themselves at greatest risk.
According to the GDF, 5 journalists died during the year under
suspicious circumstances, and 43 were physically attacked. In most
cases where assailants physically attacked journalists, authorities and
observers were unable to establish a direct link between the assault
and those who reportedly had taken offense at the reporting in
question.
Shangysh Mongush, a newspaper journalist in Tyz, Tuva Republic, who
had been missing since January, was found fatally stabbed on June 5.
The journalist's colleagues linked his death to his investigative
reporting on illegal alcohol production in Tuva. There was no
information regarding the investigation of Mongush's killing at year's
end.
On February 1, Yefim Sukhanov, a Television Center Arkhangelsk
correspondent, was found fatally stabbed in his apartment. On July 21,
a court sentenced an 18 year old local resident to a 9 year prison term
for murdering Sukhanov. Although the police investigation attributed
the journalist's killing to a robbery attempt, Sukhanov's colleagues
stated that his investigative reporting on poaching in Arkhangelsk made
him a potential target.
On July 9, Paul Klebnikov, the editor of Forbes Russia magazine,
was shot and killed outside his Moscow office. Still conscious for a
short time after the assault, Klebnikov told a colleague that he did
not know who might have ordered the attack. Launched in April, Forbes
Russia conducted investigative reporting on the political and business
elite, and in May it published a list of the country's 100 richest
persons, some of whom reportedly were unhappy about the publicity. On
November 18, authorities in Minsk, Belarus, arrested a Russian citizen
from Chechnya on suspicion of Klebnikov's killing. The media, including
the leading dailies Kommersant and Izvestiya, reported that
investigators related Klebnikov's murder to his work on a book about
the embezzlement of budget funds for the post war reconstruction of
Chechnya. According to the November 30 Kommersant, the suspect was also
believed to be involved in the murder of a former head of the Chechen
Administration, who reportedly provided facts for Klebnikov's book.
Other investigative journalists attacked during the year in
circumstances suggesting that their professional work may have provided
the motive for their attackers included Aleksey Mukhin,a television
journalist in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhniy Novgorod region; Marina Ivashina, a
journalist with the newspaper Orlovskiye Novosti in Oryol region; and
Fyodor Krasheninnikov, editor of the Politsovet news agency in
Yekaterinburg.
High profile cases of journalists killed or kidnapped in earlier
years remained unsolved. On October 11, a court in Tolyatti, Samara
region, acquitted a local factory worker charged with the murder of
Aleksey Sidorov, editor in chief of the daily newspaper Tolyattinskoye
Obozreniye, who was stabbed near the entrance to his apartment building
in 2003. The Samara regional court confirmed the acquittal on November
26. Local media and media advocacy organizations were skeptical about
the Government's case, which attributed the murder to hooliganism. They
linked the journalist's death to his investigative reporting on
Tolyatti authorities' connections with the city's criminal groups,
whose activities centered on the Tolyatti based VAZ automobile plant.
The GDF sent a letter to Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, saying
that, although a lawyer representing Sidorov's family presented
evidence of local organized crime's involvement in Sidorov's murder,
local authorities ignored it instead pressuring Sidorov's family,
witnesses, and journalists reporting on the trial not to question the
official version of the case.
On June 10, the Moscow Circuit Military Court again acquitted all
the defendants accused of organizing the 1994 murder of Dmitriy
Kholodov, military affairs correspondent for the daily newspaper
Moskovskiy Komsomolets. A previous acquittal of the defendants in 2002
had been overturned in 2003 by the Military Collegium of the Supreme
Court, which ruled that the Moscow Circuit Military Court had ``failed
to take all available evidence into account,'' citing in particular the
testimony of one defendant that then Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev
had asked him to ``deal with Kholodov'' because of the journalist's
coverage of corruption in the military. Although the 10 year statute of
limitations on Kholodov's case expired on October 17, making it
impossible to sentence the defendants to prison terms even if the June
10 acquittal were to be overturned, the Office of the Prosecutor
General on December 6 appealed to the Supreme Court to begin a new
trial.
Other unresolved cases of missing or killed journalists from 2003
include: Dmitriy Shvets, deputy head of TV 21 in Murmansk; Alikhan
Guliyev, a freelance journalist covering Chechnya for Television Center
and the daily newspaper Kommersant; and Ali Astamirov, an Agence France
Presse correspondent kidnapped in Ingushetiya. Cases from 2002 include:
Nataliya Skryl, correspondent for the Taganrog newspaper Nashe Vremya;
Sergey Kalinovskiy, editor in chief of the newspaper Moskovskiy
Komsomolets Smolensk; Valeriy Ivanov, editor in chief of Tolyattinskoye
Obozreniye; Aleksandr Plotnikov, founder of the newspaper Gostinyy
Dvor; Chuvash reporter Nikolay Vasilyev; Igor Salikov, head of
information security for Moskovskiy Komsomolets Penza; Yuriy Frolov,
deputy director of Propaganda Publishing; and Ilyas Magomedov, head of
the independent station Groznyy Television.
Authorities at all levels employed administrative measures to deter
critical coverage by media and individual journalists. One method was
to deny media access to events and information, including filming
opportunities and statistics theoretically available to the public. For
example, in February, a judge in Volzhsk, Mary El Republic, prohibited
a number of journalists from attending a court session in the trial of
a local official accused of stealing government funds. Although the
session was formally open, the judge ordered journalists from the local
publications Nash Gorod, Volzhskaya Pravda, and Molodyozhniy Kuryer to
leave the courtroom. Local journalists stated this was part of a
pattern in which they were normally barred from attending open sessions
of the Volzhsk city court unless they promised not to file stories. On
May 27, Aleksandr Khristoforov, Deputy Speaker of the regional
legislature in Pskov, abruptly ordered journalists covering one
legislative session to leave. After some journalists insisted on
staying, Khristroforov physically assaulted Vadim Guzinin, a
photographer of the local news agency RIM; Guzinin subsequently filed a
lawsuit against Khristoforov. On September 20, Grigoriy Shatravka,
mayor of Irbit, Sverdlovsk region, attacked Tatyana Novokreshchyonova,
director of the local station Irbit TV, who tried to cover his meeting
with city residents despite the mayor's objections. Shatravka beat the
journalist and tried to break her camera.
At times, officials or unidentified individuals used force to
prevent the circulation of issues of publications that were in disfavor
with the government. For example, on February 28, police in Kazan,
capital of Tatarstan Republic, stopped a truck carrying 143,000 copies
of the local newspaper Puls Zhizni. When the newspaper's editor Yelena
Chernobrovkina arrived at the scene, she found the newspapers unloaded
from the truck and guarded by a group of approximately 30 men in
civilian clothes, who would not identify themselves. Chernobrovkina
said that among the group she spotted two high ranking Tatarstan police
officials. After several hours, police confiscated the newspapers
without explanation. On July 8, in Vladivostok, unknown persons seized
50,000 copies of the local newspaper Yezhednevniye Novosti and beat the
driver of the truck carrying them from the printing plant. Shortly
thereafter, police confiscated the remaining 150 copies of the paper.
According to the newspaper's management, the police stated they were
ordered to do so by their superiors. On August 29, police in
Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan Republic, detained distributors of Puls Zhizni,
citing oral instructions from city authorities. The police later
released the distributors but confiscated copies of the newspaper.
According to the GDF, Puls Zhizni was one of the few publications in
Tatarstan that openly criticized authorities and supported Rafgat
Altynbayev, a potential candidate in the 2006 Tatarstan presidential
elections.
Authorities at various levels took advantage of the financial
dependence of most major media organizations on the Government, or on
one or more of several major financial industrial groups, to undermine
editorial independence and journalistic integrity in both the print and
broadcast media. The concentration of ownership of major media
organizations, including media outlets owned by the federal, regional,
and local governments, remained largely intact and posed a continued
threat to editorial independence. Government structures, banking
interests, and the state controlled energy giants Gazprom and United
Energy Systems continued to dominate the Moscow media market and extend
their influence into the regions. Most news organizations experienced
continued financial difficulties during the year, which sustained their
dependence on financial sponsors and, in many cases, the federal and
regional governments. As a result of this dependence, the autonomy of
the media and its ability to act as a watchdog remained weak.
During the year, many privately owned media organizations and
journalists across the country also remained dependent on the
Government for transmission facilities, access to property, and
printing and distribution services. The GDF reported that approximately
90 percent of print media organizations relied on state controlled
organizations for paper, printing, or distribution, and many television
stations were forced to rely on the Government (in particular, regional
committees for the management of state property) for access to the
airwaves and office space. The GDF also reported that officials
continued to manipulate a variety of other ``instruments of leverage,''
including the price of printing at state controlled publishing houses,
to apply pressure on private media rivals. The GDF noted this practice
continued to be more common outside the Moscow area than in the
capital. In May, for example, a printing plant in Kirovsk region
refused to continue printing a number of publications based in the
neighboring Mary El Republic, which could not be printed locally due to
resistance from local authorities. According to the GDF, the decision
came shortly after the election of a new governor of Kirovsk region,
who acceded to Mary El authorities' requests to deny printing services
to these publications.
The GDF and other media NGOs documented numerous instances of the
use of taxation mechanisms to pressure media across the country.
Authorities at the federal and local levels continued to bring
lawsuits and other legal actions against journalists and journalistic
organizations during the year, primarily in response to unfavorable
coverage of government policy or operations. The GDF estimated that
more than 300 such cases were brought during the year. In April, the
Press Service of the Interior Ministry of Bashkortostan Republic
reported that, since the beginning of the year, the Ministry had won 12
of 15 libel suits against local media organizations. Most libel suits
resulted in heavy fines. On October 29, the Moscow Arbitration Court
ordered Kommersant daily to pay $11.4 million (320 million rubles) to
Alfa Bank to recoup losses and damage to its reputation brought about
by the newspaper's July 7 story about the bank's financial problems. In
January, Rashid Zhumagaliyev, an investigator with the prosecutor's
office in Astrakhan, filed a libel suit against the local newspaper
Moskovskiy Komsomolets in Astrakhan. He accused the newspaper of
slandering the regional court in its articles. Police raided the
newspaper's office during their investigation, confiscating its
computers, which forced the newspaper to stop publishing.
In August 2003, a Chelyabinsk district court sentenced German
Galkin, editor in chief of Vecherniy Chelyabinsk daily and Director
General of Vecherniy Chelyabinsk publishing house, to a 1 year term in
a hard labor camp as a result of a libel suit filed in 2002 by two vice
governors of Chelyabinsk region. Three articles published in Rabochaya
Gazeta in 2002 accused the officials of corruption and links to
organized crime, but Galkin was not listed in bylines for the articles
and denied having written them. According to GDF, Galkin was the first
journalist in the post Soviet era to be jailed for libel. International
media defense representatives believed the severity of the sentence
could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and information
and of the media. In November 2003, the Chelyabinsk regional court
upheld the sentence but suspended it, and Galkin was released after 3
months in prison. On March 30, the same court rejected Galkin's appeal
for his full acquittal.
In 2003, a Media Industrial Committee composed of heads of major
media organizations adopted an Anti-Terrorism Convention, a set of self
imposed rules for reporting on terrorist acts. The Convention
established a priority of human life over press freedom, required
journalists to report sensitive information to the authorities, obliged
journalists to seek approval from the authorities to interview
terrorists, and prohibited live broadcasts by terrorists.
On March 11, according to the National Endowment for Democracy, a
division of the MVD responsible for investigating financial crimes by
businesses confiscated the 56th issue of the bi monthly Russian Chechen
Friendship Society's bulletin from a printing house in Nizhniy
Novgorod. The police maintained that they were not interested in the
Society's work, only in the financial affairs of the publishing house,
but the only printed material that they seized was the Society's
newspaper. The police told a representative of the Society that no
formal criminal proceedings had been instituted against the publishing
house. Approximately 2 weeks before the newspaper was seized, the
publishing house had been temporarily closed because of fire code
violations.
The Government generally did not restrict access to the Internet;
however, it continued to require Internet service providers to provide
dedicated lines to the security establishment so that police could
track private e mail communications and monitor Internet activity (see
Section 1.f.). In October, Deputy Culture Minister Leonid Nadirov
suggested that all Internet sites should be registered as media
organizations. Internet professionals and media freedom advocates
expressed concern that its implementation would restrict free flow of
information on the Russian segment of the Internet; however, the
suggestion had not been implemented by year's end.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom; however, during
the year human rights and academic organizations questioned whether the
prosecutions of Sutyagin, Danilov, and others inhibited academic
freedom and contact with foreigners on subjects that the authorities
might deem sensitive (see Section 1.e.).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and the Government generally respected
this right in practice; however, at times authorities restricted this
right.
In February, Moscow police dispersed a picket line on Lubyanka
Square organized by Lev Ponomarev's NGO, For Human Rights, the
Transnational Radical Party, and the Anti-war Club to mark the 60th
anniversary of Stalin's deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples
to Kazakhstan. Moscow Central District authorities did not permit the
assembly, explaining that too many events had already been scheduled
for February 23 to celebrate Russian Army Day. Half an hour after the
beginning of the demonstration, OMON troops (members of a special
police detachment) appeared and demanded that the participants leave
the square. Police detained Ponomarev, Nikolay Khramov, secretary of
the Russian Radicals' movement, and 11 other participants. They were
released after 2 hours and fined approximately $38 (1,000 Rubles).
Organizations were required to obtain permits in order to hold
public meetings and to apply for permits between 5 and 10 days before
the scheduled event. Although religious gatherings and assemblies did
not require permits, in some instances the authorities denied Jehovah's
Witnesses and other religious groups access to venues where they could
hold assemblies (see Section 2.c.). While the police readily granted
permits to demonstrate to both opponents and supporters of the
Government, local elected and administrative officials at times either
denied some groups permission to assemble or revoked previously issued
permits.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the
Government generally respected this right; however, the Government
increasingly harassed some organizations of whose policies it
disapproved. Some NGOs claimed the Government restricted their
activities for political reasons by engaging in lengthy investigations
of their finances or by delaying the registration of foreign grants
(see Section 4). During the year, the critical statements of a number
of senior officials contributed to increased suspicion regarding NGOs'
activities. For example, in his May State of the Nation address,
President Putin charged that some foreign funded NGOs existed ``to
serve dubious groups''; and Vladislav Surkov, of the Presidential
Administration was believed to be referring, in part, to NGOs, among
others, when he warned in a September interview in Komsomolskaya Pravda
against ``a fifth column of left and right radicals.''
The Government continued to ban the Islamic organization, Hizb ut
Tahrir, which it regarded as having terrorist connections and as
seeking to overthrow the Government. Authorities in a number of regions
stepped up operations against Hizb ut Tahrir despite the organization's
denials that it supported terrorism. The authorities also interfered
with the activities of a number of NGOs during the year (see Section
4).
Public organizations must register their bylaws and the names of
their leaders with the MOJ. By law, political parties must have 50,000
members nationwide, at least 500 representatives in half of the
country's regions, and no fewer than 250 members in the remaining
regions in order to be registered (see Section 3).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, in some cases the authorities imposed restrictions
on some groups. Although the Constitution provides for the equality of
all religions before the law and for the separation of church and
state, the Government did not always respect these provisions in
practice.
Neither the Constitution nor the law accords explicit privileges or
advantages to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) or the other groups
formally designated traditional religions Judaism, Islam and Buddhism;
however, increasingly some politicians advocated preferential treatment
of these four faiths. Statements by some government officials,
including President Putin, and anecdotal evidence from religious
minority groups, suggested that the ROC, in particular increasingly
enjoyed a status that approached official. The ROC has significantly
greater access to certain governmental institutions, such as the army,
than other religious groups. The ROC appeared to have had greater
success reclaiming pre revolutionary property than other groups, and
many religious workers believed that the ROC played a role in the
cancellation of visas held by foreign religious workers representing
nontraditional religions. Many religious minority groups and NGOs
complained of what they believed was collusion between the ROC and the
State.
Treatment of religious organizations, particularly minority
denominations, varied widely in the regions, depending on the decisions
of local officials. In some areas, such as Moscow, Khabarovsk, and
Chelyabinsk, local authorities prevented minority religious
denominations from reregistering as local religious organizations, as
required by law, subjecting them to campaigns of legal harassment.
Contradictions between federal and local law in some regions and
varying interpretations of the law gave some regional officials
pretexts to restrict the activities of religious minorities.
Discriminatory practices at the local level were attributable to the
relatively greater susceptibility of local governments to lobbying by
majority religions, as well as to discriminatory attitudes that were
widely held in society. For example, articles heavily biased against
religions considered ``non traditional'' appeared regularly in both the
local and national press. There were reports of harassment of members
of religious minority groups. Several religious communities were forced
to defend themselves in court against charges by local authorities that
they were engaging in harmful activities. At times local courts
demonstrated their independence by dismissing frivolous cases or ruling
in favor of the religious organizations; however, in some of these
cases, authorities were slow to carry out, or refused to carry out,
such rulings and in many cases appealed them.
Two congregations of the unregistered Union of Baptist Churches
(known as Initsiativniki) experienced violence that they believe was
promoted by the authorities. In January, a bomb destroyed an
Initsiativniki church in Tula just as it was about to host a large
meeting of Baptists from the country and abroad. On September 14, an
Initsiativniki church in Lyubuchany was burned down. This followed
efforts by security agencies, including local police and FSB officers,
to intimidate participants in an open air gathering for several
thousand Initsiativniki from all over central Russia sponsored by the
same church. The authorities have long been suspicious of the
Initsiativniki, whose complete refusal of cooperation with the
authorities led to their split in 1961 from the Union of Evangelical
Christians Baptists.
A 1997 law on ``Freedom of Conscience'' regulates religious
practice and limits the rights, activities, and status of religious
``groups'' existing in the country for less than 15 years and requires
that religious groups exist for 15 years before they can qualify for
``organization'' status, which conveys juridical status. All religious
organizations were required to register or reregister by the end of
2000 or face liquidation (deprivation of this status). The law placed a
severe hardship on groups that had been unregistered previously,
including groups new to the country. The Office of Human Rights
Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin includes a department dedicated to religious
freedom issues. Lukin continued to criticize the law and to recommend
changes to bring it into conformity with international standards and
with the Constitution.
The MOJ reported that as of May 1, 21,664 organizations were
registered. Isolated difficulties with registration continued to appear
in different regions around the country. Local courts largely upheld
the right of non traditional groups to register or reregister.
Nonetheless, a number of religious groups continued to battle
administrative denials of registration in the courts, and while such
cases were often successful, administrative authorities were at times
unwilling to enforce court decisions. The Moscow authorities did not
permit the Salvation Army to reregister, although the group continued
to operate based on documents filed under an earlier statute. In April
2003, the Constitutional Court found unconstitutional a ruling of a
Moscow region district court that had ordered the liquidation of the
Salvation Army's organization in Moscow on the grounds that it was a
``militarized organization.'' (A textbook on religious culture prepared
for use in schools repeats this definition of the Salvation Army, which
it calls a ``sect.'') A lawyer from the Slavic Center for Law and
Justice was working with the Salvation Army at year's end to assist it
in registering. The ECHR issued an interim ruling on June 24 declaring
admissible the group's complaint arising out of the refusal of the
Moscow authorities to reregister the group.
The Moscow branch of the Church of Scientology was not permitted by
the Moscow authorities to reregister and continued to be threatened
with liquidation. On October 28, the ECHR found admissible the
Scientologist's complaint concerning the Government's failure to
reregister the Church under the 1997 law.
As of the end of the year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day
Saints (Mormons) had succeeded in registering approximately 50 local
religious organizations. The Church remained unable to register a local
religious organization in Kazan, Tatarstan, which they had been
attempting to do since 1998. In Chelyabinsk it successfully sued the
Chelyabinsk Department of Justice, which had rejected 12 registration
applications in 5 years. It won a subsequent appeal by the Chelyabinsk
authorities, and its Chelyabinsk organization successfully registered
on in September 2003.
Although many local Muslim religious organizations had been unable
to reregister under the initial provisions of the 1997 law,
spokespersons for the country's two most prominent muftis stated that
most Muslim religious organizations that wanted to register were able
to do so. As of May 1, there were 3,537 Muslim organizations registered
with the Ministry of Justice, with 121 Muslim organizations registering
within the last year. Disagreement between the heads of the country's
two main Muslim spiritual boards continued although the Government
largely supported the Moscow based Council of Muftis, led by Ravil
Gaynutdin. Allegations persisted that Islamic extremism, popularly
called ``Wahabism,'' was to blame for terrorist attacks linked to the
conflict in Chechnya and the North Caucasus.
There were no indications that the June 16 decision of the Moscow
City Court resulting in the city wide banning of the Jehovah's
Witnesses would be repealed. Unlike liquidation, which involves only
the loss of an organization's juridical status, a ban prohibits the
activities of an entire religious community. The ban has had far
reaching consequences for the Witnesses in Moscow and elsewhere.
Congregations of Witnesses had longstanding rental contracts for
meeting rooms cancelled after the ban came in to effect, making it
extremely difficult for the congregations to meet. An audio video
production company that has worked with the Witnesses in the past
refused to sign a contract to produce additional films, citing the
court's decision. A court in Primorskiy Kray cited the Moscow ban in
reversing a lower court's decision to award custody of a child to its
mother, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. In Kurgan, the regional
Ministry of the Interior requested that the city administration assist
in filing an application to liquidate the local community of Jehovah's
Witnesses. A city official asked the Witnesses to provide documents
relevant to the Moscow court's decision.
In other instances, the Witnesses have succeeded in having
liquidation orders issued by lower courts overturned on appeal. On
October 25, the Supreme Court of Tatarstan overturned a September
ruling by a court in Naberezhniye Chelnye liquidating the Witnesses'
organization in that city. In November, the Primorskiy Kray Court
overturned an October liquidation order issued by a lower court against
the Witnesses organization in the city of Luchegorsk.
Although most of the difficulties faced by minority religious
groups arose as the result of local factors, human rights groups and
religious minority groups have criticized the federal Prosecutor
General for encouraging legal action against some minority religions
and for giving an imprimatur to materials that were biased against
Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and others. There were continuing
indications that the security services were treating the leadership of
some minority religious groups, particularly Muslims and non
traditional religions, as security threats. Officials have particularly
focused on Islamic groups, such as Hizb ut Tahrir, and foreign Muslims
living in the North Caucasus, as potentially linked to terrorist
activity in the country.
The FSB, the Prosecutor General, and other official agencies have
conducted campaigns of harassment against non traditional religious
movements, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses. Churches faced
investigations for alleged criminal activity and violations of the tax
laws, landlords were pressured to renege on contracts, and in some
cases the security services were thought to have influenced the MOJ to
reject registration applications.
At the same time, federal authorities were more active during the
year in preventing or reversing discriminatory actions taken at the
local level, in disseminating information to the regions and, when
necessary, reprimanding officials who acted inappropriately. According
to one report, a new government publication on the rights of foreign
religious workers was a valuable resource in resolving difficulties
with local officials who were largely unfamiliar with the federal law.
President Putin has sought stricter and more consistent application of
federal laws throughout the country.
There appear to have been fewer reports than in previous years of
restrictions placed on the missionary activities of Pentecostal
believers by officials of the Khabarovsk administration's Department of
Religion.
Representative offices of foreign religious organizations were
required to register with state authorities. In practice, foreign
religious representatives' offices have opened without registering or
were accredited to an existing, registered, religious organization but
were not permitted to conduct religious activities and did not have the
status of a religious ``organization.''
Reregistration was not the only issue faced by minority religious
groups. Some local and municipal governments prevented religious
groups, including congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses, Protestants,
Catholics, Mormons, and Hare Krishnas from using venues suitable for
large gatherings and from acquiring property for religious uses.
Regional and local authorities at times refused to lease facilities to
local communities of Jehovah's Witnesses, particularly following the
June ruling banning the group in Moscow. Religious assemblies held by
Jehovah's Witnesses were disrupted in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Vladimir,
Khabarovsk, and Chelyabinsk during the year. The Witnesses were told in
Vladimir that they could use a venue to meet as long as they had
permission from a local Russian Orthodox priest. In Krasnoyarsk, the
Jehovah's Witnesses community managed to rent facilities only with
assistance of a local expert on religious issues. Jehovah's Witnesses
also reported continuing difficulties obtaining construction permits.
In Sosnovyy Bor, in the Leningrad Region, local authorities refused to
let a Witnesses community use land to construct a prayer center. They
based the refusal on the results of a March 14 referendum, by which 90
percent of the city inhabitants voted against the construction.
Muslims in Krasnodar continued unsuccessfully to seek authorization
from the mayor's office to build a new mosque in the city of Sochi.
There were instances in which local officials detained individuals
engaged in the public discussion of their religious views, but the
individuals were released quickly.
The Government continued to deny particular foreign missionaries
visas to return to the country, reportedly because of their earlier
conflicts with authorities. During the year, some religious
organizations, particularly Roman Catholics and Protestants, reported
experiencing difficulties obtaining long term visas for their employees
and missionaries. The Catholic Church reported, for example, that some
of its clergy were only granted 3 or 6 month visas, although others
were granted 1 year visas. The Mormons, in contrast, noted an
improvement in their ability to secure visas for their foreign
missionaries and reported that all of them received 1 year, multiple
entry visas. The Mormons encountered some difficulties in securing
residency permits for missionaries but noted the difficulties varied
from region to region and did not constitute a systemic problem.
In June, officials in the Kursk region adopted a law restricting
missionary activity, including the use of venues in which religious
meetings could be held. A similar law was passed in Smolensk. The laws
were based on a 2001 law that was adopted in neighboring Belgorod.
Under these laws, foreigners visiting these regions are forbidden to
engage in missionary activity or to preach unless specifically
authorized according to their visas (some groups reportedly sent
religious workers on business or tourist visas in order not to alert
the authorities to their activities). However, according to local
religious officials, the Belgorod, Smolensk, and Kursk laws were not
enforced.
After denying at least three previous visa requests, the Government
granted the Dalai Lama a visa, reportedly on the condition that his
visit be limited to pastoral activities. From November 29 to December
1, the Dalai Lama visited Kalmykia, where he consecrated a Buddhist
temple and led religious services.
The Federal Government backed away from previous plans to promote a
compulsory nationwide course in schools on the ``Foundations of
Orthodox Culture,'' using a textbook by that title which detailed
Orthodox Christianity's contribution to the country's culture. Although
schools in over 20 regions still used the book, the Ministry of
Education rejected funding for another edition and further circulation
of the textbook. Many religious minorities had complained about
negative language describing non Orthodox groups, particularly Jews. In
September, Education Minister Andrey Fursenko announced plans for a new
school course, taught by laypersons, entitled ``History of Religion,''
which would teach the history of all religions, not only Orthodoxy. The
authorities had not yet introduced the course nationwide or selected a
textbook for it. However, Moscow city schools have introduced a course
similar to the one that the Education Minister proposed.
Tensions continued between the ROC and the Vatican. The ROC often
alleged that the Catholic Church deliberately sought to proselytize
among ROC faithful, a charge that the Vatican denied.
The restitution of religious property seized by the Communist
regime remained an issue. While authorities have returned many
properties used for religious services, including churches, synagogues,
and mosques, some in the Jewish community assert that only a small
portion of the total properties confiscated under Soviet rule has been
returned. The Jewish community was still seeking the return of a number
of synagogues, religious scrolls, and cultural and religious artifacts,
such as the Schneerson book collection, a revered collection of the
Chabad Lubavitch.
Unlike in the previous reporting period, in which there were no
functioning synagogues in Krasnodar Kray, a two room Jewish community
center in Sochi was used as a synagogue. There were still no synagogues
in Krasnodar city.
Many in the Jewish community continued to state that conditions for
Jewish persons in the country had improved, primarily because there was
no longer any official, ``state sponsored,'' anti-Semitism. At the
federal level and in some regions, officials have shown an interest in
hearing the concerns of the Jewish community. However, anti-Semitic
incidents against individuals and institutions continued, including
attacks on individuals identifiable as Jews and attacks on Jewish
property and cemeteries. Preliminary Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
statistics for the year indicated that, while the number of anti-
Semitic incidents remained roughly stable, the nature of the attacks
had become more violent. There were no reports that the Government
encouraged anti-Semitic statements; leaders condemned them and even
prosecuted some individuals for making them; however, many lower level
officials continued to be reluctant to call such acts anything other
than ``hooliganism.''
In April, Jewish youth leader Aleksandr Golynskiy was beaten near
his home in Ulyanovsk and sent to the hospital. Two days later,
extremists stormed the Ulyanovsk Jewish Center screaming, ``don't
pollute our land,'' smashing windows, and tearing down Jewish symbols
as Jewish women and children hid inside. No one was injured, but police
failed to respond quickly, arriving 40 minutes after they were called.
A member of the extremist National Bolshevik Party was later arrested
in connection with the attack. The investigation was ongoing at year's
end. In Voronezh, on April 29, two young skinheads attacked Aleksey
Kozlov outside the headquarters of the Inter Regional Human Rights
Movement of which he is in charge. Kozlov is the regional monitor for
an anti-Semitism and racism project in Russia sponsored by the European
Commission. Authorities detained the two teenagers but did not charge
them; one was below the age of criminal responsibility, and the other
allegedly shouted threats but did not use force. In December, two Jews
were beaten in separate hate crimes in Moscow, one while riding a train
and the other while walking on the street.
During the year, unknown persons vandalized synagogues, Jewish
cemeteries, and memorials. Vandals desecrated tombstones in cemeteries
dominated by religious and ethnic minorities in numerous cases. These
attacks usually were accompanied by swastikas and other ultra
nationalist symbols. Localities in which Jewish cemeteries were
desecrated during the year included St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk,
Pyatigorsk, Makhachkala, and Derbent. In February and December, Jewish
tombs were desecrated with swastikas in one of the oldest cemeteries in
St. Petersburg. On March 31, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated in
Kaluga, and, after the local Jewish community chairman notified the
governor about the incident, four teenagers and two adults suspected in
the vandalism were detained. On November 25, a court sentenced three of
the individuals, including one minor, to 2 years' probation. The other
participants were too young to prosecute. In April, July, and August,
unknown persons vandalized the Jewish cemetery in Petrozavodsk.
Anti-Semitic rhetoric has been used by some members of the Rodina
bloc, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and the Communist
Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) in their public statements.
Anti-Semitic themes appeared in some local election campaigns.
Hundreds of extremist publications, including newspapers, were
distributed throughout the country, sometimes containing anti-Semitic,
anti-Muslim and xenophobic articles. Anti-Semitic themes continued to
figure in some local publications around the country, unchallenged by
local authorities. In cases where Jewish or other public organizations
attempted to take legal action against the publishers, the courts
generally were unwilling to recognize the presence of anti-Semitic
content. Some NGOs claimed that many of these publications were owned
or managed by the same local authorities who refused to prosecute.
While religious matters were not a source of societal hostility for
most citizens, members of minority and ``non traditional'' religions
continued to encounter prejudice, societal discrimination, and in some
cases physical attacks. Authorities usually investigated incidents of
religious vandalism and violence, but arrests of suspects were
extremely infrequent, and convictions were rare. Relations between non
traditional religious organizations and traditional ones frequently
were tense, particularly at the leadership level.
The press reported that on August 7, a local Cossack group
organized a protest against Mormon plans for the construction of a
meetinghouse in Saratov city. Muslim and ROC leaders also spoke out
against the construction.
Popular attitudes toward traditionally Muslim ethnic groups
remained negative in many regions, and there were manifestations of
anti-Semitism as well as societal hostility toward Catholics and
adherents of newer, non Orthodox, religions. Many observers reported
that incidents of racially or ethnically motivated attacks increased
significantly in recent years, although it was often difficult to
determine whether xenophobia, religion, or ethnic prejudices were the
primary motivation behind violent attacks. Conservative activists
claiming ties to the ROC disseminated negative publications and staged
demonstrations throughout the country against Catholics, Protestants,
members of Jehovah's Witnesses, and religions new to the country, and
some ROC leaders publicly expressed similar views.
Ethnic tensions ran high in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus
region and in major cities. Anti-Chechen and anti-``Wahabist''
sentiment increased after each terrorist attack tied to Chechen rebels
and spiked in some regions after the September seizure of a school in
Beslan, North Ossetia, in which hundreds of persons, including many
children, died at the hands of terrorists (see 1.g.). On September 18,
between 20 and 50 ``skinheads'' beat and stabbed four persons from the
Caucasus on the Moscow metro. The ``skinheads'' reportedly screamed,
``this is for the terrorist acts,'' while attacking. A journalist for a
respected national newspaper who witnessed the attack claimed that a
skinhead ``brigadier'' ordered some of the attackers to seal the area
and prevent male passengers from rescuing the victims.
Numerous press reports documented anti-Islamic sentiment. Officials
from a mosque in Bratsk, Irkutsk region, continued to complain of
harassment and non responsiveness by local authorities to their reports
of anti-Muslim behavior. The Muslim community in Bratsk is large there
are 18,000 Muslims in Bratsk out of a population of 450,000 and one
mosque official stated that the local Muslim population was being
blamed for problems in Chechnya. The Chairman of the Council of Muftis
of Russia, Ravil Gaynutdin, head of the Central Spiritual Board of
Russia's Muslims, Talgat Tadzhuddin, and head of the Coordinating
Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus, Ismail Berdiyev, issued a
joint statement denouncing terrorism. The leaders of the country's
Muslims declared that it was necessary to resist extremists and
terrorists who make use of religious slogans.
The number of underground nationalist extremist organizations (as
distinguished from such quasi public groups as Russian National Unity)
appeared to be growing. The continuing proliferation of skinhead groups
was a phenomenon of particular concern. According to one human rights
observer, there were approximately 50,000 skinheads in 85 cities,
including 5,000 in Moscow. The rise of extremist youth organizations
was also troubling. As of March, the MVD was aware of 453 extremist
youth organizations in Russia, with membership totaling over 20,000
people. Most of the skinhead groups were in Moscow, St. Petersburg,
Nizhniy Novgorod, Yaroslavl, and Voronezh. The region with the greatest
number of extremist youth organizations was Tatarstan there were 108
known groups in the Republic compared with 62 in Moscow and Moscow
region and 31 in St. Petersburg. Skinheads primarily targeted
foreigners and individuals from the Northern Caucasus, but they also
expressed anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic sentiments and hostility toward
adherents of ``foreign'' religions.
The Constitution mandates the availability of alternative civilian
service to those who refuse to bear arms for religious or other reasons
of conscience. A law on alternative civil service took effect on
January 1, and two supplements to the law were issued in March. The
first supplement listed 722 organizations to which draftees may be
assigned for the alternative service, and the second listed 283
activities that draftees were permitted to perform. On June 1, Prime
Minister Fradkov signed regulations regarding the implementation of the
law on alternative civilian service performance. Some human rights
groups complained that the extended length of service for draftees
requesting alternative assignments (1.75 times longer than regular
military service) acted as a punishment for those who choose to
exercise their religious or moral convictions.
The Jehovah's Witnesses organization reported that approximately 95
Witnesses had applied for alternative civilian service under the new
legislation. As of mid December, 64 Witnesses had been recognized as
conscientious objectors and deemed eligible for alternative civilian
service. Approximately 30 Witnesses were denied alternative civilian
service, in some cases because their applications were allegedly not
filed in time. According to the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, at
least six criminal cases were initiated during the year against members
who claimed conscientious objector status: Three of defendants were
acquitted and three received fines or suspended sentences.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government placed restrictions on freedom of
movement within the country and on migration.
All adults are issued internal passports, which they must carry
while traveling, and they are expected to register with the local
authorities within a specified time of their arrival. The authorities
often refused to provide governmental services to individuals without
internal passports or the proper registration. A government decree
enacted on December 22 extended the amount of time that could lapse
before registration is required from 3 to 90 days; however, immediately
following the law's announcement, the Moscow police chief ordered the
police to continue its document checks on the streets to verify
document authenticity. The new law does not affect foreigners, who are
still required to register within 3 business days of their arrival in a
locality.
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to choose their
place of residence freely; however, some regional governments continued
to restrict this right through residential registration rules that
closely resembled the Soviet era ``propiska'' (pass) regulations.
Citizens must register to live and work in a specific area within 7
days of moving there. Citizens changing residence within the country,
as well as persons with a legal claim to citizenship who decide to move
to the country from other former Soviet republics, often faced great
difficulties or simply were not permitted to register in some cities.
Corruption in the registration process in local police precincts
remained a problem. Police demanded bribes when processing registration
applications and during spot checks for registration documentation. The
fees for permanent and temporary registration remained low. Moscow's
registration requirement which police reportedly used mainly as a means
to extort money remained in force at year's end.
While federal law provides for education for all children, regional
authorities frequently denied access to schools to children of
unregistered persons, asylum seekers, and migrants because they lacked
residential registration (see Section 5).
According to NGOs, the city of Moscow and some other jurisdictions
frequently violated the rights of nonresidents and ethnic minorities,
as well as the rights of those legitimately seeking asylum. Moscow
police, particularly special OMON units, conducted frequent document
checks, particularly of persons who were dark skinned or appeared to be
from the Caucasus. There were many credible reports that police imposed
fines on unregistered persons in excess of legal requirements and did
not provide proper receipts or documentation of the fine. According to
HRW and church ministries tracking interethnic violence, it was not
unusual for darker skinned persons to be stopped at random and for
officers to demand bribes from those without residence permits (see
Section 1.c.).
In mid September, following the school tragedy in Beslan (see
Section 1.g.), Moscow police rounded up more than 11,000 citizens and
foreigners on suspicion of living in the city without registration, and
840 detainees were deported.
Federal authorities restricted the entry of foreigners into many
cities, including Norilsk and Novoye Urengoy. While the federal
Constitution permits entry restrictions for reasons of state security,
these cities sought the restrictions because of perceived economic
benefits.
Krasnodar Kray authorities continued to deny between 10,000 to
12,000 Meskhetian Turks the right to register, which deprived them of
all rights of citizenship despite provisions of the Constitution that
entitled them to citizenship. While the authorities in most other areas
generally did not prevent the Meskhetian Turks from registering, the
Meskhetian Turks and some other smaller ethnic minorities living in
Krasnodar were subject to special registration restrictions; for
example, they were required to register as ``guests'' rather than as
residents, and reregister every 45 days. In addition, in an effort to
force them from the territory, the Krasnodar Kray administration
repeatedly announced plans to create ``unbearable conditions'' for the
Meskhetian Turks and other ``illegal migrants.'' In July, Governor
Tkachev publicly welcomed the prospect that some Meskhetian Turks were
accepting an offer to emigrate to another country, signaling it as a
way to rid the region of them.
The Krasnodar authorities also attempted to use economic measures
to drive out the Meskhetian Turks. According to Memorial, the Krasnodar
authorities continued to prohibit the Turks from leasing land, gaining
employment or engaging in commercial activity in local markets. The
Meskhetian Turks have subsisted by leasing land primarily in other
districts of Krasnodar Kray or even other regions, such as Rostov,
Volgograd, and Kalmykia.
Memorial reported that in August and September, a relatively small
scale campaign against Meskhetian Turks was carried out in Krymsk
district and in Novorossiysk, both in Krasnodar Kray. The police
stopped and checked persons who looked like Meskhetian Turks,
immediately releasing those who declared their intention to emigrate
and penalizing the others.
The Constitution provides for freedom to travel abroad and citizens
generally traveled without restriction; however, there were a few
exceptions. If a citizen had been given access to classified material,
police and FSB clearances were necessary in order to receive an
external passport. Persons denied travel documents on secrecy grounds
could appeal the decision to an Interagency Commission on Secrecy
chaired by the First Deputy Foreign Minister.
Emigrants who had resettled permanently abroad but were traveling
on Russian passports generally were able to visit or repatriate without
hindrance; however, visiting emigrants who initially departed without
obtaining exit permission have been stopped at the border and prevented
from exiting the country (although they may enter without difficulty),
since they could present neither a nonimmigrant visa to another country
nor evidence of permission to reside abroad legally.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The Constitution provides all citizens with the right to emigrate
and this right generally was respected. There were logistical delays
related to exit permission for those trying to depart for countries
that have granted them refugee status.
As of August, 7,310 citizens appealed to foreign embassies with
requests for refugee status, a drop from the 12,700 appeals filed
during the first 6 months of 2003. Many persons fleeing Chechnya
applied for refugee status. The UNHCR stated that many of these refugee
seekers at times faced detention, deportation, fines by the police and
racially motivated assaults, sometimes even leading to the loss of
life.
A Soviet requirement that citizens receive a stamp permitting
``permanent residence abroad'' (PMZh) in order to emigrate essentially
a propiska for those living outside the country was formally abolished
in 1996; however, implementation of the change (which had been
scheduled to take place early in 1997) remained incomplete. According
to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), border guards
continued to require a PMZh like stamp of all emigrants, and local
authorities in some regions continued to issue it to citizens with
valid external passports.
A Law on Citizenship, which came into effect in 2002 and was
amended in December 2003, made access to citizenship more difficult by
requiring possession of a residence permit or propiska. The law also
requires 5 years of uninterrupted residence from the time of issuance
of a residence permit, a lawful source of income, an application
renouncing previous citizenship, and an established knowledge of the
Russian language.
Amendments to the laws governing citizenship sought to facilitate
the acquisition of Russian citizenship by former Soviet citizens
residing on the territory of the Russian Federation by waiving all the
other requirements except the need to have been registered temporarily
or permanently at a place of residence in the Russian Federation as of
July 1, 2002. The authorities have estimated that up to 1.5 million
former Soviet citizens could benefit from the new law; however, some
NGOs informed the UNHCR that the registration and permit requirements
would limit the number of beneficiaries. In principle, the legal
precedents set forth in earlier citizenship legislation which
authorized citizenship on similar grounds to citizens who were legally
in the Russian Federation as of February 6, 1992, were still in effect;
however, the authorities have not always been willing to recognize the
acquisition of citizenship on this basis.
The federal law on the legal status of foreign citizens imposes a 3
month deadline on non citizen residents for obtaining visas or long
term resident status but did not include an exhaustive list of
documents required for official registration, leaving the MVD
considerable discretion in registration matters. According to human
rights observers, this law, and the new citizenship law, could further
increase the difficulties facing groups such as Meskhetian Turks in
Krasnodar and other regions who have been denied citizenship
documentation in contradiction to the laws governing citizenship.
International agreements permit persons with outstanding warrants
from other former Soviet states to be detained for periods of up to 1
month while the Prosecutor General investigates the nature of
outstanding charges against the detainee. This system was reinforced
informally, but effectively, by collegial links among senior law
enforcement and security officials in the various republics of the
former Soviet Union. Human rights groups continued to allege that this
network was employed to detain opposition figures from the other former
Soviet republics without legal grounds. According to Memorial, some
detainees were kept in custody for more than 1 month. For example, a
teacher of Arabic from Uzbekistan was detained in Saratov region and
spent a year in custody from 2002 to 2003 before the authorities
decided not to carry out the Uzbek warrant of extradition. He was then
released, but abducted in July and transported back to Uzbekistan where
he remained in jail at year's end.
At year's end there were an estimated 39,000 IDPs from Chechnya in
Ingushetiya, in temporary settlements or in the private sector, and
there were 200,000 Chechen IDPs in various parts of Chechnya.
Approximately 8,000 Chechen IDPs reportedly were in Dagestan, 1,105 in
North Ossetia, 2,610 in Georgia, and 20,000 elsewhere in the country.
In addition to ethnic Chechen IDPs, almost the entire population of
ethnic Russians, Armenians, and Jews left Chechnya during the strife of
the past decade.
Government officials stated publicly that they would not pressure
or compel IDPs to return to Chechnya, and Ingush President Zyazikov
promised that accommodation would be found for those remaining in
Ingushetiya. Federal and local authorities consistently stated their
determination to repatriate all IDPs back to Chechnya as soon as
possible. Representatives of the Chechen administration visited camps
in Ingushetiya to encourage IDPs to return to Chechnya, usually to
temporary IDP facilities. In addition, during the year, the authorities
closed the last remaining three tent camps in Ingushetiya; they had
housed 5,978 persons. Although some of the inhabitants chose to remain
in Ingushetiya, the UNHCR estimated that 70 to 75 percent chose to
return to Chechnya. Following the June attacks by Chechen fighters in
Ingushetiya, security forces conducted raids at several IDP
settlements. Human rights NGOs reported that some of these raids
resulted in IDPs being beaten or otherwise mistreated (see Section
1.g.). At times, the border between Chechnya and Ingushetiya was closed
because of military operations. Federal border guards and police
officers on the border between Chechnya and neighboring regions and at
checkpoints within the country frequently required travelers to pay
bribes. Some Chechens also had trouble traveling because their
documents were lost, stolen, or confiscated by government authorities.
Officials stopped registering IDPs in Ingushetiya in 2001, depriving
new arrivals of the possibility of regularizing their status in the
republic. Local authorities also frequently removed IDPs from the
registration lists if they were not physically present when the
authorities visited their tents. There were frequent interruptions in
gas and electricity to IDP camps in Ingushetiya, events that the IDPs
often viewed as pressure to return to Chechnya. Despite the inadequacy
of the temporary lodging for IDPs in Chechnya, UNHCR officials reported
that more than 26,000 IDPs returned to Chechnya from Ingushetiya
between January 1 and October 15.
International and domestic organizations expressed concerns during
the year over the Government's commitment to principles of voluntary
return and alternative shelter in its treatment of Chechen IDPs in
Ingushetiya, particularly with regard to the closure of tent camps. The
Norwegian Refugee Council noted that threats of eviction, removal from
humanitarian distribution lists, and security checks in settlements
were used to create feelings among IDPs that returning to Chechnya was
their only option (see Section 4).
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 protocol, but the Government had not established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution; however, it rarely
granted asylum, and it returned individuals who sought entry without
proper documentation to their countries of origin, including to
countries where they demonstrated a well founded fear of persecution.
The Government cooperated to a limited extent with the UNHCR and the
IOM; both organizations assisted the Government in trying to develop a
more humane migration management system, including more effective and
fair refugee status determination procedures. At year's end, UNHCR had
registered 42,931 asylum seekers who originated from outside the
territories of the former Soviet Union since 1992. The UNHCR reported
that only 2,962 of these were active cases, composed of 5,793
individuals still seeking asylum or receiving UNHCR assistance. The
remainder integrated into society, left the country, resettled, or
repatriated. The Government acted more expeditiously and with greater
leniency in cases involving applicants who had been citizens of the
former Soviet Union. There continued to be widespread ignorance of
refugee law both on the part of officials and would be applicants.
A number of workers and students from Africa and Asia who came to
work or study in accordance with treaties between their countries and
the former Soviet Union remained in the country. The Government did not
deport them but continued to encourage their return home. Between
January and November, the UNHCR resettled a total of 515 persons, of
whom 306 were Afghans and 145 were Africans.
A group of approximately 1,000 to 1,500 ethnic Armenian refugees
evacuated from Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, due to ethnic violence,
remained housed in ``temporary quarters,'' usually in Moscow hotels or
workers' dormitories. Representatives of the community previously
stated that they were not interested in citizenship, which would
entitle them to the benefits accorded to forced migrants, because they
did not believe such a step would improve their material situation.
They also rejected offers of relocation to other regions, alleging that
the alternative housing that they were offered frequently was not
suitable or available. However, as a result of a UNHCR project that has
been providing legal assistance to the Baku Armenians since May 2002,
by December, approximately 200 had received Russian citizenship and 60
others had pending citizenship applications.
In August, 270 residents of the Zelenogradskiy Accommodation Center
for refugees, located on the outskirts of Moscow, were forced by the
private landowner to evacuate the building. The Moscow Region Migration
Service stated that 27 individuals were eligible to move to other
temporary accommodation centers because they had refugee status,
temporary asylum or asylum seeker certificates. The others were forced
to find alternative shelter using a lump sum in cash provided by UNHCR.
FMS officials told UNHCR that there was an urgent need for an emergency
reception center in the Moscow region to maintain security and public
order since the majority of asylum seekers, refugees and illegal
migrants are concentrated in the capital.
The UNHCR continued to be concerned about the situation of asylum
seekers and refugees at Moscow's Sheremetyevo 2 airport. The
authorities systematically deported improperly documented passengers,
including persons who demonstrated a well founded fear of persecution
in their countries of origin. Legally bound to provide food and
emergency medical care for undocumented travelers, the airlines
returned them to their point of departure as quickly as possible;
airlines were fined if an undocumented passenger was admitted to the
country but not if the passenger was returned to the country of origin.
The treatment of asylum seekers in the transit zone reportedly was
harsh. The UNHCR received reports of physical and verbal abuse of
transit passengers by police officers and Aeroflot airline employees.
During the year, at least four persons were stranded in the transit
zone of Sheremetyevo 2 airport for more than 3 months while three cases
involving six persons were resettled by the UNHCR to another country.
Among the latter were two persons who had resided in the airport
transit zone for more than 15 months. In July, the authorities rejected
asylum applications by two Ethiopians stranded in Sheremetyevo 2; the
UNHCR initiated emergency resettlement. Despite several serious
deportation and refoulement attempts by Aeroflot, the individuals
safely departed to Norway later in July. According to the UNHCR, at
year's end, four asylum seekers were still stranded in the airport.
There were 114 Points of Immigration Control (PICs) at border
crossings and international airports. Most of the cases referred to
them dealt with labor migrants both entering and leaving the country. A
few were asylum seekers. To the UNHCR's knowledge, no asylum seeker
arriving at Sheremetyevo 2 airport has been accepted by the PICs since
at least 1999. All of those who were interviewed (and rejected) were
denied legal entrance into the country and generally referred to the
UNHCR. During the year, the UNHCR continued to examine each case and
seek resettlement on an emergency basis for those deemed to be in need
of international protection. At the beginning of the year, several
staff members from PIC were reassigned to other units within the
migration service of Moscow region, and the UNHCR observed that the PIC
office located in the international transit zone was not always
staffed. The UNHCR further noticed a decrease in the number of newly
arrived asylum seekers reported in the first half of the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
Government peacefully; while citizens generally have exercised this
right in practice, the March 14 Presidential elections failed to meet
international standards in a number of areas.
The Constitution establishes four branches of Government: The
Presidency; the Federal Assembly made up of two houses (the State Duma
and Federation Council); the Government and Council of Ministers headed
by the Prime Minister; and the Judiciary. The Constitution gives
predominance to the Presidency, and the President utilized his many
powers to set national priorities and establish individual policies.
Incumbent President Putin, who had first been named acting
President in 1999 and elected in 2000, was reelected on March 14 by a
wide margin. The elections were observed by the OSCE, which offered a
positive evaluation of the technical conduct of the balloting but
concluded that the overall election process, marred by widespread
misuse of administrative resources, systematically biased campaign
coverage, and inequitable treatment of political parties, failed to
meet international standards. Although the legal requirements for
televised political debates and free time for party candidates to
present their views were observed, the Government used its increasing
influence over the media, particularly the electronic media, to promote
favored candidates in newscasts and other programming, resulting in
coverage that was heavily biased in favor of incumbent President Putin
(see Section 2.a.).
In the December 2003 parliamentary elections, the ability of
opposition parties, particularly those receiving funding from some so
called oligarchs, to mount strong campaigns was seriously hampered by
the investigation and arrest of Yukos President Mikhail Khodorkovskiy,
a step widely believed to have been prompted, at least in part, by the
considerable financial support he provided to opposition groups. Other
wealthy benefactors of opposition parties and candidates appeared to
have responded to what they regarded as an implied threat by reducing
their own involvement in political contributions. The pro government
forces, in contrast, drew heavily on ``administrative'' resources,
using the power and influence of regional and local officials to
maximize media coverage and campaign financing, and in some instances
local electoral commissions appeared to bend the law to disqualify
local opposition Duma candidates, leading to a small number of
questionable disqualifications. As a result, the parliamentary
elections failed to satisfy a number of international criteria for
democratic elections.
In Chechnya, the authorities held a Presidential election on August
29. Official results indicated 74 percent of voters chose the Kremlin
endorsed candidate, but regional experts who were present on the ground
on election day alleged that the Kremlin announced voter turnout
numbers were artificially high and that significant voting
irregularities took place. The main candidate to replace Akhmed
Kadyrov, who was assassinated on May 9, was Chechen Interior Minister
Alu Alkhanov. Alkhanov was reportedly supported by Kadyrov's son,
Presidential Guard chief Ramzan Kadyrov, and was unofficially endorsed
by President Putin. Chechen businessman Malik Saidulayev, whom
electoral officials disqualified on questionable grounds, had
challenged Alkhanov. The official media coverage of the election
campaign was strongly supportive of Alkhanov.
Competitive elections for other regional and local offices were
held throughout the year. Most observers viewed these elections as
generally free and fair, although there were problems in some regions
involving unequal access to the media, non compliance with financial
disclosure requirements, and the use of ``administrative resources''
(such as government staff and official media) by incumbents to support
their candidacies. Challengers were able to defeat incumbents in some
of the races for regional executive positions, and losing candidates
generally accepted the legitimacy of the voting results. Some incumbent
governors reportedly pressured local press organizations to support
their candidacies or deny support to their challengers. The counting of
the votes in most locations was professionally done; however,
incumbents, particularly those with connections to the Kremlin, enjoyed
significant advantages in media access and financing during their
campaigns.
In a number of regions, including Chechnya, there were incidents in
which central or regional officials employed a number of forms of
electoral manipulation, including pressuring candidates to withdraw
from elections and disqualifying candidates through apparently
prejudiced application of the elections laws.
In December, human rights activists investigated mass beatings and
detentions by police in Bashkortostan. Police allegedly beat residents
because they voted ``incorrectly'' in the republic's December
presidential election (see Section 1.c.).
A Kremlin proposed law enacted in December eliminated the direct
election of the country's regional leaders. The new law provides that
Governors be nominated by the President subject to confirmation by
regional legislatures. Regional legislatures that fail to confirm the
President's choice are ultimately subject to dissolution. Governors in
power at the time the law entered into force were given the option of
either serving out their elected term or resigning early in order to
appeal for a presidential appointment.
Political parties historically have been organizationally weak.
Although laws enacted in 2001 and 2002 included a number of measures
that enlarged the role of political parties, particularly established
political groupings, they also gave the executive branch and Prosecutor
General broad powers to regulate, investigate, and close down parties.
Other changes increased campaign spending limits, shortened the
campaign period, limited the conditions under which candidates could be
removed from the ballot, and imposed restrictions on media coverage. A
law enacted during the year raised the official membership requirements
for political parties from 10,000 to 50,000, which may make it
difficult for smaller parties to register. Parties that were already
registered were given until January 2006 to comply with the new
requirements.
The electoral proposals enacted and considered during the year,
particularly the elimination of direct gubernatorial elections,
continued the consolidation of political power in the hands of the
Kremlin. Khodorkovskiy's arrest in October 2003 on charges of fraud in
connection with privatization of industrial assets in the 1990s was the
most recent of a number of politically motivated moves against wealthy
``oligarchs'' who represented centers of potential political and media
opposition to the President (see Section 4). Many human rights
observers viewed it as a warning to other oligarchs against involvement
in political affairs and against providing financial support to
independent civil society.
Corruption is a widespread and longstanding problem in both the
legislative and executive branches. Manifestations included bribery of
officials, misuse of budgetary resources, theft of government property,
extortion, and official collusion in criminal acts. In a 2002 survey by
Transparency International, 75 percent of respondents considered the
law enforcement agencies to be dishonest. An anti-corruption campaign
was launched in the summer of 2003 against high level officials in the
Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Emergency Situations. Seven Moscow
Criminal Police colonels and General Vladimir Ganeyev from the Ministry
of Emergency Situations were arrested and charged with bribery and
extortion in an organized criminal group. This anti-corruption
operation in Moscow was followed by a wave of criminal investigations
against corrupt law enforcement officials throughout the country.
According to press reports, these anti-corruption operations did not
change the situation with regard to public corruption and were widely
viewed as a public relations campaign for the approaching elections to
the State Duma and Presidency. Corruption played a particularly
important role in the political process in many of the regions.
The Federal Law on Information and a law on participation in
international information exchange regulate access to government
information. Both laws authorize public access to all government
information resources unless the information is designated confidential
or classified by the law as a state secret. The information law
specifies types of information that cannot be classified as secret or
confidential, including laws and government regulations, information on
emergency situations, ecological data, public health, demographic
factors, and documents from libraries and archives open to the public.
Information classified as a state secret is regulated by the Law On
State Secrets of 1993 and by a 1995 Presidential Decree setting out a
list of information classified as state secrets. According to articles
13 and 24 of the Law on Information, a refusal to provide access to
open information or the groundless classification of information as
state secret or confidential can be contested in court.
The courts convicted three suspects in the murder of Sergey
Yushenkov, a prominent Duma Deputy and Liberal Russia party co Chairman
who was shot to death in April 2003 (see Section 1.a.).
There appeared to have been no progress in investigating the death
of Yuriy Shchekochikhin, a prominent Duma deputy and deputy editor of
Novaya Gazeta, who died in July 2003 under mysterious circumstances
(see Section 1.a.).
There were 45 women in the 450 member State Duma, and 6 in the
Federation Council. A woman, Lyubov Sliska, served as First Deputy
Speaker of the Duma. Svetlana Orlova was a Vice Chair of the Federation
Council, and Valentina Petrenko chaired the Federation Council's Social
Policy Committee. One woman, Valentina Matviyenko, served as governor
of a prominent region, St. Petersburg.
Legal provisions have allowed national minorities to take an active
part in political life; however, ethnic Russians dominated the
political system, particularly at the federal level, and national
minorities generally were underrepresented in many areas of public
life. 227 deputies in the State Duma specified their ethnic background.
Of these, 46 were not ethnic Russian.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
Domestic and international human rights groups generally continued
to operate in the country, investigating and publicly commenting on
human rights problems; however official harassment of NGOs increased.
The authorities harassed some of the most prominent NGOs in Moscow
during the year, and other official actions and statements indicated a
declining level of tolerance for unfettered NGO activity. NGOs seeking
to operate in the northern Caucasus were severely hampered.
The authorities continued to audit Otkrytaya Rossiya, the NGO
established by former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovskiy. Observers
believe that the audit represents the first step toward disbanding the
organization.
In November 2003, dozens of men in camouflage raided the Moscow
offices of the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute. The press
reported that the men hauled away documents and computer data covering
15 years. Private security forces carried out the operation; they were
allegedly hired by a businessman with whom the Foundation had been
having a legal dispute, but some observers regarded the action as
government inspired. The Soros Foundation split the Open Society
Institute/Russia into 15 separate foundations that would be jointly
financed by Soros and domestic donors for the next 3 years with an
eventual turnover to all Russian financing.
Despite considerable litigation, the prosecution of Yuriy
Samodurov, the Director of the Sakharov Center in Moscow, had not
reached its conclusion by year's end. Samodurov, another employee
Lyudmila Vasilovskaya, and artist Anna Mikhalchuk, were charged with
inciting national, racial, and religious hostility by organizing a
provocative religious exhibit at the Sakharov Center in January 2003.
In the regions, some local officials harassed human rights
monitors, and the Government continued to decline to reverse its 2002
refusal to renew an agreement with the OSCE Assistance Group, thus
preventing the organization from conducting human rights monitoring in
Chechnya. After President Kadyrov was elected in October 2003,
President Putin eliminated the position of the President's human rights
envoy to Chechnya, asserting that the position was unnecessary because
Chechnya was no different than other republics of the Federation, none
of which had presidential representatives for human rights. Some
government officials viewed the activities of some NGOs in regard to
Chechnya with great suspicion. In his May State of the Nation speech,
President Putin suggested that ``far from all [NGOs] are geared toward
defending people's real interests. For some of these organizations, the
priority is rather different'' obtaining funding from influential
foreign or domestic foundations. For others it is servicing dubious
group or commercial interests . . .''
On July 12, approximately 20 Ingush MVD militia officers, most in
camouflage and masks, raided the office of the Society of Russian
Chechen Friendship (SRCF) in Ingushetiya. The SCRF is widely known for
its reporting on the human rights situation in the North Caucasus.
Computers, office equipment, and petitions and letters from the public
were confiscated, and a staff member was arrested, held overnight, and
later released.
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) reported pressure on it and
on its domestic partner, the VOICE Association for Voters' Rights from
Central Authorities. Following the President's comments, the Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, held a meeting for NGOs to which
such prominent NGOs such as Memorial and the Committee of Soldiers'
Mothers, known for their criticism of the Kremlin, were not invited.
Following the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers announcement that it
intended to meet with Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov or his
emissary Akhmed Zakayev, Duma deputies called for an investigation of
the group and its finances. Prosecutors opened an investigation in
November. The results of the investigation had not been announced at
year's end.
A Krasnodar court ordered the ``School for Peace'' to disband on
February 19 after the MOJ complained about its work in support of
Meskhetian Turks (see Section 2.d.). The school's lawyers appealed to
the Supreme Court and to the ECHR. Meanwhile, a new charity
organization, Froda, which had been registered in December 2003,
continued to act as a successor of the School for Peace. The team
remained the same and its work continued.
Several NGOs reported increased difficulties in their relations
with local authorities. These ranged from visa and registration
problems to delays in permission to enter Chechnya to denial of
permission to enter IDP camps in order to provide assistance.
The Government's attitude towards human rights NGOs varied; the
level of cooperation tended to depend on the perceived threat to
national security or level of opposition that an NGO might pose. For
example, most NGOs monitoring prison conditions generally enjoyed an
excellent relationship with government authorities, but those
monitoring Chechnya had more tense relations and in Krasnodar Kray the
leaders of the organization, Mothers Defending Rights of the Detained
and Convicted, were themselves detained in May when they sought access
to a prison camp to check reports of inhumane treatment of inmates.
Officials, such as human rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, regularly
interacted and cooperated with NGOs.
Several NGOs were recognized and consulted by government and
legislative officials for their expertise in certain fields, and such
groups participated, with varying degrees of success, in the process of
drafting legislation and decrees. AI and HRW were also active and
published reports on Chechnya and other issues.
A variety of regionally based human rights groups operated during
the year. Socioeconomic rights groups were the most numerous; they
monitored such problems as unpaid wages and benefits. There were fewer
civil political rights groups, but they included ``generalist''
organizations that covered the range of human rights issues and
``specialist'' organizations that covered only one issue. There were
also public centers that provided legal advice to the general public
(see Section 1.e.). Resources for human rights work were scarce; most
groups relied on foreign support in the form of grants to maintain
operations. Regional human rights groups generally received little, if
any, international support, or attention. Although at times they
reported that local authorities obstructed their work, criticism of the
Government and regional authorities usually was permitted without
hindrance. The authorities were reportedly less tolerant of criticism
of a specific political leader in a region (such as a governor or a
senior law enforcement official). Local human rights groups in the
regions had far fewer opportunities than their Moscow counterparts to
interact with legislators to develop legislation; local authorities
excluded some from the process entirely.
The leaders of some well known domestic NGOs involved in human
rights advocacy reported receiving death threats from nationalist
organizations.
Some international NGOs maintained small branch offices staffed by
local employees within Chechnya; however, all of them had their bases
outside of Chechnya (see Sections 1.b. and 1.g.).
Every person within the jurisdiction of the Federation may appeal
to the ECHR about alleged human rights violations that occurred after
May 1998, when the European Convention on Human Rights entered into
force. Complainants were not required to exhaust all appeals in
domestic courts before they could turn to the ECHR, but they must have
exhausted ``effective and ordinary'' appeals, which usually includes
two appeals (first and cassation) in courts of ordinary jurisdiction or
three (first, appeal, and cassation) in the commercial court system. As
of September, the ECHR had received an estimated 14,000 complaints from
Russia. Of those, approximately 6,500 were declared inadmissible, and
almost 4,000 were registered as ready for decision. However, the ECHR
relayed more than 150 complaints it had received on to the Government.
The Court found 15 complaints to be admissible, and there were five
findings of violations based on the merits. Many applications were
rejected at the first stage of proceedings as being clearly
incompatible with the formal requirements of the European Convention.
Some cases were put on the Court's calendar for fuller consideration.
On October 14, the ECHR opened a hearing on the first six
complaints from Chechen citizens whose relatives were killed or wounded
as a result of the actions of federal forces in Chechnya in 1999 and
2000. These complaints, which were submitted in spring 2002, were the
first complaints on Chechnya the ECHR has accepted. The Court was
expected to announce its verdict in early 2005.
The Government's human rights institutions rarely challenged
government activities but made efforts to promote human rights. The
Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, headed by Vladimir Lukin,
commented on a broad range of human rights problems. Lukin's office had
more than 150 employees and had several specialized sections
responsible for investigating complaints of human rights abuses,
including a section on religious freedom and a section on human rights
education. During the year, the office published various reports on
human rights problems. Lukin's role remained primarily consultative and
investigatory, without powers of enforcement. By year's end, there were
regional human rights ombudsmen with responsibilities similar to
Lukin's in 24 of the 89 regions. Human rights committees and ombudsmen
existed in other regions as well; however, the effectiveness of the
regional ombudsmen and committees varied significantly from region to
region.
The President's Human Rights Commission, headed by Ella Pamfilova
and including a number of human rights activists, was active in
promoting NGO concerns and working across a spectrum of contacts to
advance human rights throughout the country. President Putin met with
members of the Commission on several occasions throughout the year and
met regularly with Pamfilova.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
language, social status, or other circumstances; however, both
governmental and societal discrimination persisted.
Women.--Domestic violence remained a major problem, and victims
rarely had recourse to the authorities for protection. Police were
reluctant, and at times unwilling, to intervene in what they regarded
as purely domestic disputes, although there have been some reports of
police participating in NGO programs intended to raise awareness about
the problem more generally. Much of society, including some leaders in
the human rights community, did not acknowledge domestic violence as a
problem or did not believe that it was an issue of concern outside of
the family. There was a general lack of understanding of these problems
in the legal community, and there was no legal definition of domestic
violence. Some forms of battering are addressed in the Criminal Code
but are defined too narrowly to apply to most cases. Some NGOs that
worked in the field of domestic violence reported that they had
increasing access to legal services.
AI cited reports by domestic NGOs indicating that more than a
million women a year suffered from domestic violence. According to
Aleksandra Kareva, the head of the legal department for Stop Violence,
an association of women's crisis centers, nearly 100,000 persons called
the group's hotlines in 2003. Stop Violence asserted that approximately
58 percent of those women had been subject to aggression or violence
from their husbands, fiances, or partners; 70 percent of wives suffered
from some kind of domestic abuse by their husbands; and nearly a fifth
of all women (18 percent) were constantly under threat of serious
physical abuse by their husbands.
Official estimates indicated that, on average, more than 250,000
violent crimes are committed against women annually; however, such
crimes usually were not reported. In 2003, 32 percent of all murder
cases (9,500) were committed by family members against other family
members.
Rape was a problem. In 2002, police recorded more than 8,100 crimes
of rape (in 2001, more than 7,000 rape cases were registered). The
Government provided no support services to victims of rape or other
sexual violence; however, victims could act as full legal parties to
criminal cases brought against alleged assailants and could seek legal
compensation as part of the verdict without seeking a separate civil
action. Hospitals, crisis centers, and members of the medical
profession assisted women who were assaulted; however, to avoid
spending long periods in court, some doctors were reluctant to
ascertain the details of a sexual assault or collect physical evidence.
Despite serious difficulties, many groups continued to address
violence against women. NGOs, alone or in cooperation with local
governments, operated more than 120 women's crisis centers throughout
the country, and their numbers continued to grow. According to an
association created by the centers, as of year's end, there were 15
governmental crisis centers and 50 non governmental centers in a total
of 38 cities. The association's hotline received 340 calls daily.
Several NGOs provided training on combating trafficking and domestic
violence to police, Prosecutors, justices of the peace, and others in
government.
Representatives of a foreign NGO who visited the Russian Far East
(RFE) during the year reported that there were no crisis centers
providing direct services to victims of domestic violence in the
region, and that the majority of services offered by NGOs involved
psychological counseling. They reported a new initiative in
Vladivostok, led by a local NGO, to involve a variety of local
professionals, such as psychologists/consultants (on telephone
hotlines), doctors, lawyers, and representatives of mass media, in
addressing domestic violence as a social problem.
While some conditions in the RFE may have been worse than some
other regions, many of the experiences encountered by NGOs in the RFE
reflected conditions throughout the country.
The obstacles encountered by NGOs included acceptance by the
Government (lawmakers as well as law enforcers) and society as a whole
of domestic violence as the norm and the attendant lack of political
will to change the situation; weak integration of specialists and
professionals in combating the problem and a lack of cooperation among
NGOs; and a lack of resources, both financial and personal.
The organization and operation of a prostitution business is a
crime, but the selling of sexual services remains only an
administrative offense.
Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation or forced labor was a
serious problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
No law prohibits sexual harassment, and women have no recourse when
sexually harassed. Anecdotal information suggested that many potential
employers sought female employees who were receptive to sexual
relations. Some firms asked applicants for employment to complete a
form including the abbreviation ``VBO,'' a Russian language
abbreviation for ``possibility of close relations,'' to which the
applicant was expected to reply ``yes'' or ``no.'' Alternatively,
advertisements sometimes sought applicants ``without complexes,'' which
is taken to mean someone who was not opposed to relations with the
potential boss as part of the job.
The Constitution states that men and women have equal rights and
opportunities to pursue those rights; however, credible evidence
suggested that women encountered considerable discrimination in
employment. Job advertisements often specified sex and age groups and
at times physical appearance as well. NGOs continued to accuse the
Government of condoning discrimination against women, contending that
the Government seldom enforced employment laws concerning women.
Employers often preferred to hire men, thereby saving on maternity and
childcare costs and avoiding the perceived unreliability that
accompanies the hiring of women with small children. Employers also
tried to avoid employees likely to invoke the entitlement to a 3 year
maternity leave for child care, which could be used in full or in part
by the mother, father, relative, or trustee providing the actual
childcare. Women continued to report cases in which employers paid them
less for the same work that male colleagues performed. According to a
2001 report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), women
accounted for approximately 47 percent of the working age population
but on average earned only two thirds of the salaries of their male
counterparts. Professions dominated by women were much more poorly paid
than those dominated by men.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare; however, the resources it devoted to the welfare of children
were limited. A Family Code regulates children's rights and marriage
and divorce issues. Children have the right to free education until
grade 11 (or approximately age 17), and school is compulsory until the
ninth grade. Boys and girls were treated equally in the school system.
While federal law provides for education for all children in the
country, regional authorities frequently denied school access to the
children of unregistered persons, including asylum seekers, and
migrants (see Section 2.d.).
Under the law, health care for children is free; however, the
quality varied, and individuals incurred significant out of pocket
expenses. More than 4 years after the start of the second conflict in
Chechnya in autumn 1999, much of the republic's social and physical
infrastructure remains destroyed or seriously damaged. As a result,
social services are inadequate and poor, especially in the education,
health and water and sanitation sectors. This, combined with the
continued instability in the region, continues to threaten the health
and well being of children in Chechnya.
No reliable statistics existed on the extent of child abuse;
however, anecdotal evidence indicated that child abuse was a problem.
The status of many children has deteriorated since the collapse of
communism because of falling living standards, an increase in the
number of broken homes, and domestic violence. In Moscow, approximately
6,000 children per year were brought to the Center of Temporary
Isolation of Minor Delinquents (COVINA). These children stayed in
COVINA for no more than 30 days. During this period, a child's case was
investigated, and his or her guardian was located; however, in 90 to 95
percent of these cases, the police simply returned the children to
their families or to the institution from which they had run away. Many
officials considered such domestic problems private affairs and
preferred not to interfere. Ministry of Labor and Social Protection
estimates indicated that approximately 1 million minors spend most of
their time on the streets of big cities, neglected by their parents or
caregivers. According to data of the Training and Research Center of
the Ministry of Education, almost 130,000 new children are registered
annually nationwide as lacking parental support and supervision. In St.
Petersburg alone, the number of street children was estimated to be
between 20,000 and 45,000.
Trafficking in children was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Troops in Chechnya reportedly placed Chechen boys ages 13 and older
in filtration camps where some reportedly were beaten and raped by
guards, soldiers, or other inmates. The women's action group ``White
Kerchief'' (Belyy Platok) reported that some federal forces engaged in
kidnapping children in Chechnya for ransom.
According to a 2002 report by the U.N. Special Representative for
Children and Armed Conflict, Chechen rebels used children to plant
landmines and explosives. In September, at least 338 hostages, about
half of them children, were killed after terrorists, some of whom were
Chechens, took an estimated 1,200 hostages at a school in North Ossetia
(see Section 1.g.).
Figures for homeless children were unreliable. According to the
Ministry of Labor, estimates of neglected children ranged from 100,000
to 5 million. In 2002, an estimated 681,000 vagrant children were
detained by law enforcement agencies, 2.5 times the 2001 rate.
Approximately 50,000 adolescents were on the local and federal lists of
missing children in 2002, 13.5 percent more than in 2001. The Ministry
of Internal Affairs reported that approximately 50,000 children run
away from home each year. According to the State Report on the Status
of Children in the Russian Federation for 2003 (reporting statistics as
of 2002), there were 700,000 street children and neglected children.
The number of homeless children reportedly was growing by 100,000 to
130,000 every year and had reached about 1 million, according to Human
Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin; however, estimates from NGOs were much
higher. Moscow authorities indicated that 40,000 working street
children lived in the capital but claimed that 80 percent were from
places other than Moscow. Homeless children often engaged in criminal
activities, received no education, and were vulnerable to drug and
alcohol abuse. Some young girls on the street turned to, or were forced
into, prostitution in order to survive.
In the St. Petersburg region, local government and police ran
various programs for homeless children and cooperated with local NGOs;
however, resources were few and overall coordination remained poor.
Local and international NGOs provided a variety of services for the
homeless. Many Moscow charitable organizations have established
productive relations with the city government to address the needs of
children with disabilities, as well as other vulnerable groups. In St.
Petersburg, the ILO ran a drop in center for runaways and homeless
children; Road to Light has a shelter there for abused girls and an
independent living program for children in institutions to train them
in life skills.
Assistance to, and accommodation for, children with disabilities
continued to be seriously inadequate (see Section 5, Persons with
Disabilities). The Rights of the Child Program called for the
establishment of an ombudsman for the rights of children with the power
to enter and inspect children's facilities at any time without advance
notification. The Ministry of Labor and Social Development continued to
work with UNICEF on a pilot program to establish regional children's
rights Ombudsmen. According to the Ministry and the Rights of the Child
NGO, there were 15 such Ombudsmen, including in the cities of
Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, and Arzamas Volkskiy, and in the regions
of Velikiy Novgorod, Chechnya, Ivanovo, Kaluga, and Volgograd. An
Ombudsman may only write a letter requesting an inquiry by law
enforcement authorities, assist those whose rights have been violated
to understand their legal rights, and make suggestions to legislators
(local, regional, and federal) on ways to improve legislation.
Conditions for children in prisons and pretrial detention were
problems (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in women and children continued to be a problem.
The Government at all levels appeared committed to combat it. In
October 2003, President Putin decried human trafficking as a ``modern
form of slavery''; however, there continued to be allegations that the
corruption of government officials facilitated trafficking, although it
was difficult to ascertain the scope of such corruption. During the
year, the State Duma passed witness protection legislation, scheduled
to take effect at the beginning of 2005, that covered trafficking
victims. A number of trafficking prosecutions were pending utilizing
both traditional criminal statutes and December 2003 amendments to the
Criminal Code that for the first time criminalized trafficking.
The December 2003 amendments that criminalized human trafficking
and the use of forced labor also expanded criminal liability for
recruitment into prostitution, organization of a prostitution business,
and the distribution of child pornography. Pursuant to these articles,
if certain aggravating factors are established, trafficking and use of
slave labor are each punishable by a maximum of 15 years imprisonment,
recruitment into prostitution is punishable by a maximum of 8 years,
the organization of a prostitution business is punishable by a maximum
of 10 years, and the manufacture and distribution of child pornography
is punishable by a maximum of 8 years.
Law enforcement agencies continued to be involved in and to support
a number of domestic and international human trafficking prosecutions.
The Deputy Chief of the MVD Investigation Committee detailed four new
prosecutions at an IOM conference, specifically discussing a
trafficking case in Rostov on Don with victims who were transported to
Cyprus; a joint Russian Dagestani trafficking investigation and
prosecution; an investigation of Children from Volgodrad being
trafficked to Italy; and a trial in Yaroslavl. The Russian police,
working closely with Israeli law enforcement agencies, arrested eight
individuals involved in a Russian Israeli prostitution smuggling ring.
There were no reliable estimates of the scope of trafficking, but
observers believe it remained widespread. The country continued to be a
source, destination and transit country for human trafficking,
particularly of women. Smaller numbers of men were also reported to be
trafficked internally for manual labor.
According to the IOM, women have been trafficked to almost 50
countries, including every West European country, the United States,
Canada, former Soviet republics, such as Georgia, Middle Eastern
countries, such as Turkey and Israel, and Asian countries, including
Japan and Thailand. There were also reports of women being trafficked
to Australia and New Zealand. Victims often agreed to be transported to
one location, only to be diverted to, and forcibly held in, another.
Sometimes they were ``sold'' en route, particularly when transiting the
Balkans.
Reports indicated that internal trafficking was also becoming an
increasing problem, with women and children being recruited and
transported from rural areas to urban centers and from one region to
another. Sources reported that traffickers sometimes facilitated the
migration of young women from the provinces to the major cities to work
in sex industries such as stripping and prostitution. Young women who
traveled into Moscow sometimes ended up in prostitution and, once
there, found themselves trapped.
There were also reports that children were kidnapped or purchased
from parents, relatives, or orphanages for sexual abuse, child
pornography, and the harvesting of organs. When police investigated
such cases, they sometimes found that these children were adopted
legally by families abroad; however, there were confirmed cases of
children trafficked for sexual exploitation.
The virtual trafficking of pornographic images of children over the
Internet was also a growing problem, with the country having become a
major producer and distributor of child pornography in the last few
years. This has led to confirmed cases both of sex trafficking of
children and of its inverse, child sex tourism to the country. However,
the authorities were actively assisting foreign prosecutions relating
to child pornography and child pornography web sites located in the
country.
Women who have been trafficked abroad and returned seldom reported
their experiences to the police and continued to be fearful of
retaliation by the traffickers. Some trafficked women were of Russian
ethnic origin but citizens of other former Soviet countries, such as
Ukraine. Women from such countries as Tajkistan emigrated illegally to
seek work, and some may have been victims of traffickers. Some migrants
became victims of forced labor once they arrived. According to another
IOM Report, women aged 15 to 25, particularly those interested in
working overseas, were the most likely to be trafficked. The targets of
traffickers were usually unemployed females between the ages of 14 and
45, with females between the ages of 15 and 25 the prime targets.
Traffickers offered enough economic hope to persuade even well
educated, mature women with job skills to become risk takers and
entrust traffickers with their money, documents, and persons. Almost
all trafficked women who returned and recounted their experiences
reported that they traveled to better their lives through work or
marriage abroad. Some knowingly agreed to work in sex industries. But
all victims insisted that they never suspected the severity of the
conditions, the slavery, or the abuse to which they would be subjected.
According to credible media reports, some employers forced workers
from countries of the former Soviet Union to work without pay.
Employers or the individuals who brought the workers into the country
withheld the workers' passports or other documentation and threatened
them with exposure to law enforcement agencies or immigration
authorities if they demanded payment. At times, the recruiter demanded
part or all of the workers' wages of face deportation. One trafficking
researcher indicated that she was aware of a case in which the local
police worked with an employer to ``shake down'' trafficked labor to
deprive them of their wages.
Information from foreign prosecutions, academic researchers, and
law enforcement sources suggested that small criminal groups carried
out most trafficking with the assistance of front companies and more
established organized crime groups. Typically, the traffickers used a
front company frequently an employment agency, travel agency or
modeling company to recruit victims with promises of high paying work
overseas. Many placed advertisements in newspapers or public places for
overseas employment, some employed women to pose as returned workers to
recruit victims, some placed Internet or other advertisements for mail
order brides, and some victims were recruited by partners or friends.
Once they reached the destination country, the traffickers typically
confiscated the victims' travel documents, locked the victims in a
remote location, and forced them to work in the sex industry.
Traffickers often used their ties to organized crime to threaten
the victims with harm to their families should they try to leave. They
also relied on ties to organized crime in the destination countries to
prevent the victims from leaving and to find employment for the victims
in the local sex industry. Trafficking organizations typically paid
domestic organized crime entities a percentage of their profits in
return for ``protection'' and for assistance in identifying victims,
procuring false documents, and corrupting law enforcement. They also
sometimes paid ``protection'' money to local organized crime groups in
destination countries.
There were reports that individual government officials took bribes
from individuals and organized trafficking rings to assist in issuing
documents and facilitating visa fraud. Law enforcement sources agreed
that often some form of document fraud was committed in the process of
obtaining external passports and visas, but they were uncertain to what
extent this involved official corruption rather than individual or
organized criminal forgery and fraud. There were reports of
prosecutions of officials involved in such corruption.
Journalists, politicians, and academic experts stated that
trafficking was facilitated and, in many cases, controlled by corrupt
elements within the MVD and other law enforcement bodies. Substantial
evidence, including information derived from victims, NGOs, foreign law
enforcement organizations and criminal prosecutions, suggested that
corrupt elements within the Ministry of Internal Affairs protected
trafficking organizations and, in many cases, directly operated
trafficking and prostitution businesses themselves.
In the past, there were significant complaints that Russian
consular officials abroad refused to help trafficked women. However,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs developed guidance for consular
officers abroad on how to deal with trafficking victims and has
indicated that it is committed to assist repatriation of trafficking
victims.
Many of the more than 120 crisis centers and anti-trafficking NGOs
throughout the country provided information on trafficking, and some
provided assistance to victims. Various NGOs rescued victims and helped
them to reintegrate upon return to the country. These NGOs received
varying degrees of support from regional and local governments. Some
were invited to brief local officials and law enforcement personnel,
and some provided training to local crisis centers and hospital staff.
Significantly, the State Duma Committee on Legislation involved a
variety of NGOs in the development of the draft anti-trafficking law.
Some foreign funded crisis centers, such as the Anna Crisis Center in
Moscow and the Women's Center in the Republic of Kareliya, provided
psychological consultations for trafficking victims. The Women's Crisis
Center in St. Petersburg also provided psychological and legal
consultations for trafficking victims. An NGO in Yekaterinburg, the
Foundation for Women's Entrepreneurial Support, provided training on
trafficking in persons and how to deal with its repercussions.
NGOs also continued their activities in the areas of public
education and victim support. For example, during the year, Winrock
International continued to provide economic empowerment training to
NGOs in a variety of cities in the RFE.
In August, the State Duma passed a witness protection statute that
applies to all organized crime cases in which a witness' life or
physical safety is in danger; this measure was strongly favored by
anti-trafficking supporters.
The Government had no official prevention program, but continued to
sponsor a number of events designed to raise public awareness of the
dangers of trafficking. The Presidential Administration organized a
major conference of domestic anti-trafficking NGOs in Moscow on January
27, in which senior foreign officials also participated. The State Duma
sponsored seven regional conferences throughout the country designed to
teach law enforcement officers, NGOs, and public officials about the
2003 amendments to the criminal code and the new witness protection
statute, and to address trafficking problems in general to facilitate
prosecution of trafficking cases. The Ministry of Internal Affairs
sponsored a ``Train the Trainer'' conference for MVD training staff
from all over the country and invited outstanding international experts
to participate in and to teach at the conference with the goal of
developing trainers for the MVD throughout the country. The Ministry of
Internal Affairs worked to develop a pilot anti-trafficking awareness
program for use in schools.
Persons With Disabilities.--Several existing laws are intended to
prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities or to
establish conditions of equal rights for them; however, the Government
did not enforce these laws. Citizens with disabilities continued to be
denied equal opportunity to an education, the right to work, and access
to social infrastructure.
Legislative and governmental approaches toward persons with
disabilities continued to focus on social protection material aid as
opposed to social integration. The few existing laws promoting the
integration of persons with disabilities into society lacked
implementation mechanisms, for example, laws prescribed penalties on
enterprises for failure to build ramps or other accessible features but
contain no enforcement mechanisms.
There were an estimated 15 million persons with disabilities,
nearly 700,000 of them minors. Persons with disabilities continued to
be excluded from the social and political life of their communities and
have been isolated from the mainstream community.
Over the past 10 years, with the emergence of NGOs focused on
disability and family matters and the passing of instrumental
disability legislation, significant changes have occurred to improve
the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Employment programs
for persons with disabilities have been launched in at least 9 cities
(Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Omsk, Vladimir, Arkhangelsk, Perm,
Yekaterinburg, and Krasnoyarsk), and 40 pre schools adopted inclusive
programs in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Velikiy Novgorod, Pskov, and
Yekaterinburg. NGOs have made significant efforts in this area, but
there was still a lack of government support on issues affecting
persons with disabilities.
Despite the promise of these changes, persons with disabilities
still faced daily discrimination, as well as physical barriers to
education, employment, recreational activities, and family life.
Authorities seldom enforced local and federal legislation.
The law on Social Protection of Disabled People, which was
scheduled to take effect in January 2005, would replace benefits such
as subsidized transportation and medicine with cash payments. The new
law raises many questions about the responsibility for implementation
of legislation. Advocates of persons with disabilities argued that such
persons would be particularly affected since the proposed payments,
which are projected to start at $5 (140 Rubles) a month, would be
eroded quickly by inflation and would not be paid in full by regional
authorities. They also contended that some of the privileges scheduled
to be eliminated, such as job guarantees for persons with disabilities,
would not be subject to any monetary compensation.
The law requires that firms with more than 30 employees either
reserve 3 percent of their positions for persons with disabilities or
contribute to a government fund to create job opportunities for them;
the legislation scheduled to take effect in January 2005, would change
the minimum number of employees to 100 and substitute a 2 to 4 percent
quota to be decided at the regional level. In addition, the law cancels
the fine that employers once paid for not observing this quota. The
only exception is for employers in Moscow, where officials have agreed
to continue fining businesses for not observing the quota.
The law also modifies earlier language defining an ``invalid'' as a
person unable to work. Perspektiva, a disability rights NGO, feared
that some disability payments might be taken away by the new law if a
person with disabilities is considered able to work, even though that
individual may not in fact be able to find a job.
Some persons with disabilities found work within factories run by
the All Russian Society for Persons With Disabilities; however, most
were unable to find employment. Local authorities, private employers,
and tradition continued to discourage persons with disabilities from
working, and they were usually forced to subsist on social benefits.
The authorities concerned with children with disabilities continued
to focus their attention on orphans and those who have been removed
from mainstream society and isolated in state institutions. The
authorities generally believed in segregating children with
disabilities from mainstream society in special institutions rather
than integrating them into the community. A complex and cumbersome
system has developed to manage the institutionalization of some
children until adulthood; three different ministries (Education,
Health, and Labor and Social Development) assumed responsibility for
different age groups and categories of orphans. Observers concluded
that the welfare of the children was lost within the bureaucracy, and
little clear recourse existed in instances of abuse by the system.
Human rights groups alleged that children in state institutions were
provided for poorly and in some cases were abused physically by staff.
Life after institutionalization also posed serious problems; children
often lacked the necessary social, educational, and vocational skills
to function in society.
The label of imbecile or idiot, which was assigned by a commission
that assesses all children with developmental problems at the age of 3
and which signified uneducable, almost always was irrevocable. Even the
label of debil lightly retarded followed an individual throughout life
on official documents, creating barriers to employment and housing
after graduation from state institutions. This designation was
increasingly challenged in the case of children with parents or
caregivers, but there was no one advocating for the rights of
institutionalized children. A study conducted 1998 by the Rights of the
Child NGO under the Moscow Research Center for Human Rights found that
upon graduation at the age of 18 from a state institution for the
lightly retarded, 30 percent of orphans became vagrants, 10 percent
became involved in crime, and 10 percent committed suicide. The
existing system provided little oversight and no formal recourse for
orphans who had been misdiagnosed as mentally ill or retarded or who
were abused or neglected while in state institutions. Facilities to
which such children were remanded frequently used unprescribed
narcotics to keep children under control. While this study is nearly 10
years old, Right of the Child representatives indicated that directors
of such institutions continued to give very pessimistic assessments of
the situation.
Youths with disabilities not in institutions, and their parents,
faced significant barriers to education, including schools that were
not accessible. There was little or no accessible transportation. At
the same time, the ``home program'' for children with disabilities was
highly inferior to school classes. Children with disabilities were
often marked as ``un-educable.'' Those who attended university received
no additional services or assistance. The majority of teachers and
administrators in schools and universities had little or no
understanding of disability issues. Often, parents of children without
disabilities were averse to their children studying with children with
disabilities.
Ministry of Education figures for 2003 indicated that nearly
200,000 of the country's 467,000 children with disabilities of school
age were not accounted for and many may have been getting no education
at all. Approximately 260,000 were studying at specialized schools
where they were isolated from other members of the community and
getting an inadequate education. Moreover, many of these children were
forced to study far away from home as only a small number of cities
have specialized schools. Approximately 30,000 children with
disabilities studied at home, where they were isolated from their
peers, getting an inadequate education and infrequent visits from
teachers. Because almost all children with disabilities were at home or
in specialized schools, they were not being prepared for life in the
community, pursuing further education or finding employment. In Nizhniy
Novgorod, fewer than 200 of the approximately 8,000 young adults with
disabilities were enrolled at universities during the year.
Primary and secondary schools effectively excluded children with
disabilities by requiring parents to produce a medical certificate
affirming that the child was in perfect health. A shortage of qualified
teachers and specialists for different categories of disabled children,
a lack of methodologies, and the inaccessibility of the schools
contributed to the problem. Families with such children are supposedly
entitled to special education, home school training, or other
compensation, but may need to resort to legal action to receive their
entitlements in full. Other problems that parents faced included
unawareness of the human and legal rights of their children and lack of
experience in dealing with government officials. Collectively, parents
suffered from inadequate cooperation with each other and insufficient
integration with other NGO's working on social issues.
Federal law on the protection of persons with disabilities requires
that buildings be made accessible to the disabled, but there were few
regional mechanisms to implement this legislation and the authorities
generally did not seek to enforce it.
Disability NGOs, such as Perspektiva and the Independent Living
Network, continued to work to broaden public awareness and
understanding of problems concerning accessibility, employment, and
inclusive education for persons with disabilities by conducting
workshops, roundtables with public officials, and training programs for
persons with disabilities, their parents, school administrators,
teachers, and lawyers.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Constitution prohibits
discrimination based on nationality; however, Roma, persons from the
Caucasus and Central Asia, and dark skinned persons faced widespread
governmental and societal discrimination, which often was reflected in
official attitudes and actions (see Section 1.c.). Racially motivated
violence increased. Muslims and Jews continued to encounter prejudice
and societal discrimination; it was often difficult to separate
religious from ethnic motivations (see Section 2.c). Human rights
observers noted that considerable legislation prohibits racist
propaganda and racially motivated violence but complained that it was
invoked infrequently.
Monitoring by the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) revealed
``alarming patterns of human rights abuse of Roma'' in the country. The
2002 census estimated a Romani population of 182,000, but unofficial
estimates put it at 1.2 million. The ERRC said that the media's
frequent association of Roma with drug dealing was a problem because it
provided the context for many of the human rights violations Roma
experience: Torture and abuse by law enforcement officials; arbitrary
police raids on Romani settlements; abduction and extortion of money by
police; discrimination in the criminal justice system; violence at the
hands of paramilitary and nationalist extremist groups; hostile
portrayals in the media; unwillingness of local officials to provide
personal documents; and poor access to jobs, education, and housing.
Evidence of widespread police violence against Roma was provided by
the ERRC, although the abuse was rarely reported to higher authorities.
Most police abuse during the year, according to the NGO Roma Ural,
occurred during identity checks or when Romani settlements were raided.
Roma often explained that it was cheaper and better to pay bribes to
police than to obtain regular citizenship documents, which may cost
even more in bribes.
New federal and local measures to combat crime continued to be
applied disproportionately to persons appearing to be from the Caucasus
and Central Asia. Police reportedly beat, harassed, and demanded bribes
from persons with dark skin, or who appeared to be from the Caucasus,
Central Asia, or Africa. Azerbaijani vendors alleged police frequently
used violence against them during document checks at markets in St.
Petersburg.
Authorities in Moscow subjected dark skinned persons to far more
frequent document checks than others and frequently detained them or
fined them amounts in excess of permissible penalties. Police often
failed to record infractions by minorities or to issue a written record
to the alleged perpetrators. Law enforcement authorities also targeted
such persons for deportation from urban centers. Chechens in particular
continued to face great difficulty in finding lodging in Moscow and
frequently were forced to pay at least twice the usual rent for an
apartment.
There was also evidence of societal hostility on ethnic and racial
grounds. Despite appeals for tolerance during the year by President
Putin and other senior officials, violence and societal prejudice
against ethnic and national minorities, as well as against foreigners,
increased. During the year there were numerous racially motivated
attacks on members of minority groups and foreigners, particularly
Asians and Africans. The approximately 1,000 African students in Moscow
were routinely subjected to assaults and abuse. An informal 2002 survey
of Africans, mostly students and refugees, indicated that nearly two
thirds reported having been physically attacked in Moscow because of
their race. Fifty four percent were verbally insulted by the police
because of their race. The 180 students questioned reported
experiencing 204 attacks, 160 of them reported to the police, resulting
in 2 convictions.
Attacks were generally carried out by private individuals or small
groups inspired by racial hatred. Law enforcement authorities knew the
identity of some of the attackers based on their racial intolerance or
criminal records. During the year, members of ethnic or racial
minorities were the victims of beatings, extortion, and harassment by
skinheads and members of other racist and extremist groups. For
example, the press reported that on September 20 a group of up to 50
young persons beat and stabbed 4 individuals from the Caucasus region
on the Moscow subway. Police rarely made arrests in such cases,
although many such incidents were reported by human rights
organizations. Many victims, particularly migrants and asylum seekers
who lacked residence documents recognized by the police, chose not to
report such attacks or experienced indifference on the part of police.
Skinheads, who began to appear in the early 1990s, numbered
approximately 50,000 in hundreds of organizations at year's end,
according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry reported
that there were approximately 5,000 skinheads in Moscow.
There has been no significant progress in the investigation of a
group of seven alleged skinheads that attacked a group of Kurdish and
Turkish children from Germany in a St. Petersburg subway station in
April 2003. An investigation was opened only after the German consulate
lobbied local authorities.
Most authorities appeared unwilling to acknowledge the racial
motivation behind antisocial brutality. For example, in St. Petersburg,
where observers noted an increase in ethnic hostility, law enforcement
officials often characterized perpetrators of hate crimes as
spontaneous ``hooligans,'' denying the existence of organized skinhead
groups there. The City Administration and law enforcement agencies did
not do enough to address the issue because of lack of resources and, in
some cases, sympathy with nationalistic causes among working level
staff. According to press reports, between January and July, four
killings, six physical attacks, and three acts of vandalism in St.
Petersburg appeared to have been motivated by ethnic hatred. In all
cases the attackers were wearing skinhead attire or proclaimed
nationalist slogans.
According to the MVD, 283 crimes were committed against foreign
students during the year. Most of the crimes were thefts (about 43
percent) and robberies. This year most of the victims were students
from China and other Asian and African countries. One third of such
crimes were committed in St. Petersburg. On October 13, a 20 year old
student from Vietnam was killed by a group of about 20 skinheads in St.
Petersburg. Several skinheads were detained. Over 200 students from
Vietnam gathered next day in protest and demanded that a fair
investigation be conducted. On October 2, an Afghan native was killed
in St. Petersburg. The Afghan Diaspora is certain that militia was
directly involved in this murder. The investigation is still ongoing.
On May 31, in St. Petersburg a student from Libya (son of the Cultural
Attache from the Libyan Embassy in Moscow), died in a hospital of knife
wounds. A criminal case was initiated, but no one was detained.
In Moscow, in January, an ethnic Nanay student of the Peoples of
the North Institute was killed on the way to his dormitory. In
February, a 9 year old Tajik girl was killed when a group of young men,
shouting ``Russia for the Russians,'' attacked a Tajik family of three.
The girl died of multiple stab wounds. In May, the son of a cultural
attache of the Libyan Embassy was knifed near the apartment he was
renting. A group of 20 50 skinheads attacked four individuals from the
Caucasus in a Moscow metro in September. The victims were brought to
hospital with knife wounds and broken arms and legs. In Voronezh, in
October, a student from Kenya was beaten; two of the attackers were
detained. The incident happened 10 days after a first guilty verdict in
relation to another hate crime was announced in Voronezh. Two adults
were sentenced for 17 and 10 years in prison and a teenager was
sentenced for 9 years in a juvenile institution for murder of a student
from Africa committed in February.
On June 19, Nikolay Girenko, an expert on hate crimes and senior
researcher of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography at the Russian
Academy of Sciences, was killed in his apartment in St. Petersburg. An
unidentified individual rang the doorbell and shot Girenko through the
wooden door with a sawed off rifle. Girenko's colleagues from the
Citizen's Watch and Light Center NGOs (where he was a long term
collaborator on tolerance programs) were certain that the motive for
the killing was Girenko's professional activity. He was an official
expert for the Prosecutor's Office in a number of high profile court
cases involving ethnic and religious issues, including the case of
Moscow Sakharov's Center employees who were charged with inflaming
ethnic hatred for hosting the exhibition ``Danger, Religion!'' Girenko
disagreed with prosecution experts and denied that there were grounds
for the charges, and partly as the result of his testimony the court
returned the case to the prosecutor's office in June for further
investigation.
Shortly after the killing of Girenko, a previously unknown
organization, ``Russian Republic,'' pronounced a death sentence on
Girenko on its website and announced that the sentence had been carried
out. St. Petersburg prosecutors reportedly issued a summons to the
authors of the ``Russian Republic'' website, but a journalists' NGO
indicated that those behind the website had decided to ignore the
summons. There was no indication by year's end that the St. Petersburg
authorities had pursued the case further.
In September 2003, the courts acquitted Pavel Ivanov, editor of the
Velikiy Novgorod newspaper Russkoye Veche, of printing articles hostile
to minorities in his newspaper. Ivanov had been charged in 2002 with
inflaming ethnic hatred. Nikolay Girenko, the ethnicity expert who was
killed in June, had been an expert witness in this case.
The Constitution makes provision for the use of national languages
alongside the official Russian language and states that each citizen
shall have the right to define his or her own national identity and
that no citizen shall be required to state officially his or her
nationality.
Indigenous People.--The law provides for the support of indigenous
ethnic communities, permits them to create self governing bodies, and
allows them to seek compensation if economic development threatens
their lands. In some areas, local communities have organized to study
and make recommendations regarding the preservation of the culture of
indigenous people. Groups such as the Buryats in Siberia and ethnic
groups of the North (including the Enver, Tafarli, Chukchi, and others)
continued to work actively to preserve and defend their cultures as
well as the economic resources of their regions. Most affirmed that
they received the same treatment as ethnic Russians, although some
groups believed that they were not represented or were underrepresented
in regional governments. The principal problems of indigenous people
remained the distribution of necessary supplies and services,
particularly in the winter months for those who lived in the far north,
and disputed claims to profits from exploitation of natural resources.
In May, the Ministry of Natural Resources, gave the Chukotka
Association of Traditional Marine Mammal Hunters, a native NGO, the
right to distribute whale harvest quotas to the native hunters of
Chukotka. This gave the Chukotka hunters greater control over the
renewable resources upon which they depend.
Some groups in the far eastern part of the country criticized the
Government for not developing an overall concept for the development of
indigenous people. Responsibility for government policy toward
indigenous people had been transferred between government agencies
several times in earlier years.
Other Societal Abuses or Discrimination.--People with HIV/AIDS
often found themselves alienated from their families, their employers,
and medical service providers. For instance, a 2003 study of 470
citizens with HIV found that: 10 percent had been forced to leave home
by their families, 30 percent had been refused health care, 10 percent
had been fired, and almost 50 percent were required by their doctors to
give detailed personal information about their sex partners.
Although homosexuality is not illegal, many male homosexuals
continued to be discriminated against by all levels of society. Medical
practitioners continue to limit or refuse health services due to
intolerance and prejudices towards this marginalized and high risk
group. According to recent studies, male homosexuals were often refused
work due to their sexuality and therefore further marginalized from
society. Openly gay men must keep a constant watch against being
targeted for skinhead aggression, which was often met with law
enforcement indifference.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the
right to form and join trade unions; however, in practice, government
policy and the dominant position of the Federation of Independent Trade
Unions of Russia (FNPR) limited the exercise of this right.
Approximately 60 percent of the work force (an estimated 68 million
workers) was unionized, and approximately 10 percent of union members
belonged to independent free trade unions.
The FNPR claimed the membership of approximately 60 percent of all
workers, although observers concluded that 50 percent appeared to be a
more accurate estimate. The FNPR largely dominated the union movement,
and this dominance constituted a practical constraint on the right to
freedom of association. Trade union control over the distribution of
social benefits at the federal level effectively ended in 1991, but the
FNPR, as the owner of many service facilities and the largest grouping
of unions, continued to play a significant role at the municipal and
regional level in setting priorities for the distribution of social
benefits, such as child subsidies and vacations, based on union
affiliation and politics. Such practices discouraged the formation of
new unions. Trade unions maintained that the consolidation of social
security assets in the federal budget and the additional layer of
bureaucracy in the distribution of social benefits have led to reduced
benefits for workers and the public in general.
FNPR unions frequently included management as part of the
bargaining unit or elected management as delegates to its congresses.
The FNPR and other trade union federations acted independently on the
national political level, but in some cases FNPR unions were affiliated
closely with local political structures. Political parties often
cooperated with unions, for example, in calling for a national day of
protest.
Approximately half of the court cases on the right of association
were decided in favor of employees, although fewer than 50 percent of
cases were decided within a year, and enforcement of court decisions
remained a problem. Employees tended to win their cases in court but
only if they were prepared to appeal through a protracted and time
consuming process. Many remained reluctant to do so. Most workers did
not understand or have faith in the legal structure and feared possible
retaliation.
There were incidents of cooperation between company management and
FNPR local unions in successful efforts to discourage the establishment
of new unions. The Russian Railways Trade Union, an affiliate of the
FNPR, signed a collective bargaining agreement with Russian Railways
after apparently illegally excluding an independent trade union from
negotiations. The Russian Railways Trade Union has established a goal
of signing up all railroad workers as members, which would necessitate
the end of the independent trade union.
The law requires trade unions to register and specifies that
registration requires a simple ``notification'' and submission of
documents to the authorities; however, in practice, many trade unions
remained unregistered because local departments of the MOJ throughout
the country continued to ignore the established procedures and refused
to register new unions without changes in charter documents or
confirmation of attendance at founding conferences. As a result of such
practices, new organizations such as local branches of the Russian
Trade Union of Locomotive Brigades of Railway Employees (RPLBZh)
remained unregistered and existing organizations that had been required
to reregister had not done so.
According to the Labor Code, organizations or trade unions may
represent workers' rights at the enterprise level (see Section 6.b.).
However, such organizations were structurally dependent on a higher
union body. By thus restricting the authority to represent workers at
the enterprise level to entities that are structurally dependent on
higher union bodies, the new Labor Code restricts the ability of
workers to determine their own union structures. Labor experts viewed
this as a clear violation of freedom of association principles (ILO
Convention No. 87). In March, the ILO Committee on Freedom of
Association requested that the Government clarify whether local ``stand
alone'' trade unions could represent workers in collective bargaining.
The Labor Code and Trade Union Law specifically prohibit anti-union
discrimination; however, anti-union discrimination remained a problem.
Union leaders have been followed by the security services, detained for
questioning by police, and subjected to heavy fines, losses of bonuses,
and demotions. A trade union leader at the Moscow Cash and Carry
supermarket chain was apprehended during the year on suspicion of
shoplifting stockings worth approximately $.60 (18 rubles). For several
days in a row she was taken to court in a police vehicle and threatened
with prosecution even though an offense of this nature would not
normally warrant police attention. Trade Union activity by members of
the Russian Trade Union of Locomotive Brigades of Railway Employees has
led to harassment, including denial of free train travel to which the
members are entitled. In 2003, the ILO Committee on Freedom of
Association called on the Government to investigate complaints that
since November, 2000 members of the Russian Federation Water Transport
Workers Union had been pressured by Novorossiysk Trade Sea Port JSC to
leave the union and join a company controlled organization posing as an
alternative union.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The Labor Code
gives employers considerable flexibility in dealing with labor
relations. Under the Code, collective bargaining agreements remain
mandatory if either the employer or employees request them. Both sides
are obligated to enter into such negotiations within 7 days of
receiving a request, and the law sets a time limit of 3 months for
concluding such agreements. Any unresolved issues are to be included in
a protocol of disagreement, which may be used to initiate a collective
labor dispute.
Despite these requirements, employers continued to ignore trade
union requests to negotiate collective bargaining agreements. In July,
pilots at Bashkir Airlines went on strike to protest management's
refusal to enter into collective bargaining negotiations. Moscow
Railways has refused to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement
with the RPLBZh.
The Government's role in setting and enforcing labor standards was
diminished under the 2002 Labor Code, and trade unions were expected to
play a balancing role in representing workers' interests. However,
observers criticized the absence of clear enforcement mechanisms to
ensure that an employer engages in good faith collective bargaining and
other obligations, and provisions that favor the designation of a
majority union as the exclusive bargaining agent. For example, if more
than one trade union is represented at an enterprise, the Code calls
for the formation of a joint body based on proportional representation
to select a single representative body for workers during the
collective bargaining negotiations. If the unions fail to agree on such
a body within 5 days, the trade union representing the majority of
workers at the enterprise has the right to represent all workers during
these negotiations. While minority unions retained their seats at the
negotiating table with the right to join the negotiations up until the
actual signing of an agreement, labor experts stated that in many
cases, particularly outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the above
measures encouraged larger trade unions to obstruct the formation of a
negotiating team to ensure their designation as exclusive bargaining
agents.
Labor experts also were concerned about a number of other
provisions of the Labor Code. The stipulation that there may be only
one collective agreement per enterprise, covering all employees, limits
the ability of professional or ``craft'' unions (the majority of new
unions in the country) to represent their members' interests. In March,
the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association requested that the
Government amend the Labor Code to allow collective bargaining at the
occupational level. In some regions, existing unions were under
increasing pressure from employers under the new labor relations
scheme.
Collective bargaining agreements had been registered officially by
an estimated 16 to 18 percent of enterprises; however, the FNPR claimed
that approximately 80 percent of its enterprises had concluded such
agreements. This apparent discrepancy appeared to be due in part to
agreements that were concluded but not registered with the Ministry of
Labor. Under the Labor Code, all parties to the agreement must register
collective bargaining and wage agreements within 7 days of signature;
however, there are no sanctions in the event that a collective
agreement is not registered. The Code states that collective agreements
become effective upon signature, regardless of whether they are
registered or not. Ambiguity concerning the employer's legal identity
made some collective agreements ineffective. This lack of clear
identification under the law made tripartite wage agreements (with
labor, management, and government participation) non binding at the
municipal, regional, national, and industrial levels and brought their
legal validity into question. Even when an agreement was signed,
employers often claimed subsequently that the ``employer
representative'' had not been authorized to represent the factory
involved.
Ministry of Labor officials estimated that there were slightly more
than 2 million labor violations in 2001 (the latest year for which data
was available). The Moscow Labor Arbitration Court handles labor
violations and disputes when both sides voluntarily agree to abide by
its recommendations. It handles several cases a year. The court is a
pilot project and was expected to lead to a system of similar
arbitration courts in various regions. However, a shortage of resources
limited the creation of additional courts.
The law provides for the right to strike; however, this right
remained difficult to exercise. Most strikes were considered
technically illegal, because the procedures for disputes were
exceedingly complex and required the coordination of information from
both sides. Civil courts could review strikes to establish their
legality. The Labor Code further limits workers' and trade unions'
ability to conduct strikes. A strike may be called only after approval
of the majority of participants at a conference composed of at least
two thirds of all workers, including management, at an enterprise. On
March 24, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association requested that
the Government amend the Labor Code to lower the quorum required for a
strike ballot. The Committee also requested the amendment specify that
unions are not to be legally obligated to indicate the duration of a
strike. There had been no change by year's end.
The law specifies that a minimum level of essential services must
be provided if a strike could affect the safety or health of citizens.
Under this definition, most public sector employees could not strike.
After a trade union declares a strike, the trade union, management, and
local executive authority have 5 days to agree on the required level of
essential services. If no agreement is reached which was often the case
the local executive authority simply decrees the minimal services and
often sets them at approximately the same level as the average
workload. During the year, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association
requested that the Government amend this section of the Labor Code and
provide for an independent body to establish minimum services. The
civil court has the right to order the confiscation of union property
to settle damages and losses to an employer if a strike is found to be
illegal and not discontinued before the decision goes into effect. As a
result, an increasing number of strikes were organized by strike
committees rather than by unions.
There were no prolonged strikes during the year. Overall strike
activity remained relatively low, with only 11 strikes of a day or
longer officially registered through October. In October, a 1 day
strike by public sector workers, mostly teachers, produced a spike in
strike statistics. Court rulings have established the principle that
nonpayment of wages--estimated to be the cause of 90 percent of labor
disputes--is an individual matter and cannot be addressed collectively
by unions. As a result, a collective action based on nonpayment of
wages was not recognized as a strike. Such actions occurred regularly,
particularly in newly privatized companies with contracts to provide
public services. The labor law does not protect individuals against
being fired while on strike.
The law prohibits strikes in the railway and air traffic sectors,
at nuclear power stations, and by members of the military, militia,
government agencies, and disaster assistance organizations. As a
result, workers in these professions at times resorted to other forms
of protest such as rallies, days of action, or hunger strikes. The law
prohibits reprisals for strikes; however, reprisals were common, and
included threats of night shifts, denial of benefits, and firing.
Company management has sometimes sought to reorganize enterprise
operations in order to break up unions that conducted strikes. In June
2003, the ILO Freedom of Association Committee noted the Government's
``total lack of cooperation'' in investigating such a case involving a
labor dispute dating back to 1997 between a local independent union of
dockworkers and the management at the Kaliningrad port. On October 19,
the ECHR accepted the case at the request of the dockworkers' union but
was not expected to decide it until summer, 2005.
The Government did not rescind its December 2002 refusal to permit
the longtime director of the Solidarity Center, an NGO that provided
technical assistance and training to workers and promotes cooperation
among labor, management, and Government, to reenter the country,
despite lobbying by domestic NGOs, some members of the Duma, and some
in the international community. The refusal apparently was related to
her activities in support of worker rights. Officials indicated that
her refusal could not be reviewed until 2007. They permitted a
temporary director to enter the country to close the office.
There are no export processing zones. Worker rights in the special
economic zones and free trade zones are covered fully by the Labor Code
and are the same as in other parts of the country.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Labor Code
prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, there were instances of
the use of forced labor. There continued to be credible reports that
significant numbers of foreign workers from other countries of the
former Soviet Union were forced to work without pay because their
passports were held by firms that brought them into the country (see
Section 5). According to an ILO study, most forced labor was connected
with illegal migration, that is, persons who entered the country
voluntarily, but illegally. Because they were there illegally, they
were subject to exploitation. According to the study, employers
withheld passports in 20 percent of forced labor cases. A further ILO
study completed during the year estimated that at least 2.1 million
illegal migrants worked in conditions of forced labor.
There were reports that approximately 4,000 North Koreans were
brought into the country to work in the construction and timber
industries in the RFE, with salaries remitted directly to their
Government. AI charged that a 1995 bilateral agreement with North Korea
allows the exchange of free labor for debt repayment, although the
Government claimed that a 1999 intergovernmental agreement gave North
Koreans working in the country the same legal protections as citizens.
Officials reported that up to 6,400 North Koreans were employed in the
Russian Far East during the year. Most wages were withheld until the
laborers returned home, making the workers vulnerable to deception on
the part of North Korean authorities that promised relatively high
payments. Military officers reportedly sent soldiers under their charge
to work on farms to gather food for their units or perform work for
private citizens or organizations. The USMC reported that the practice
by officers and sergeants of ``selling'' soldiers to other officers
with a military need for personnel or to perform such private
activities as building private dachas constituted forced labor. Such
abuses were often linked to units in the Northern Caucasus military
district. The largest single group of such complaints the USMC received
between January and September 2001 concerned the MVD.
In August, the television station Rossiya reported that dozens of
workers died at a slave labor camp in Western Siberia. The owners of
the logging company reportedly decided to increase their profits using
slave labor. The Kemerovo regional prosecutor's office was
investigating the deaths at year's end.
The Labor Code prohibits forced or bonded labor by children;
however, there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections
6.d. and 6.f.). Parents who begged in underpasses and railway stations
of larger cities often had their children beg from passersby.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
new Labor Code retains prohibitions against most employment of children
under the age of 16 and also regulates the working conditions of
children under the age of 18, including banning dangerous, nighttime,
and overtime work; however, the Federal Labor and Employment Service
and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which are responsible for child
labor matters, did not enforce these laws effectively. Children were
permitted, under certain specific conditions and with the approval of a
parent or guardian, to work at the ages of 14 and 15. Such programs
must not pose any threat to the health or welfare of children. The
Federal Labor and Employment Service, under the auspices of the
Ministry of Health and Social Development, was responsible for
routinely checking enterprises and organizations for violations of
labor and occupational health standards for minors. In 2001,
approximately 12,000 cases of child labor violations were reported.
There was no reliable information on the number of cases in which an
employer or organization was prosecuted for violating laws on child
labor. Most serious violations of child labor and occupational health
standards were believed to occur in the informal sector. Local police
investigations only occurred in response to complaints.
Accepted social prohibitions against the employment of children and
the availability of adult workers at low wages generally prevented
widespread abuse of child labor. Nonetheless, the transition from a
planned to a market economy has been accompanied by an increase in the
number of children working and living on the streets. This was largely
due to deterioration in the social service infrastructure, including
access to education and health care. In some cases, economic hardship
eroded familial protection. Parents often used their children to lend
credence to their poverty when begging. Homeless children were at
heightened risk for exploitation in prostitution or criminal activities
(see Section 5).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage,
essentially an accounting reference for calculating transfer payments,
was scheduled to rise to approximately $26 (720 rubles) on January 1,
2005. The monthly official subsistence level of approximately $82
(2,396 rubles) was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family. Approximately 26 percent of the
population had incomes below the official subsistence minimum. Average
wages rose to approximately $255 (7,126 rubles) per month, compared
with approximately $187 (5,512 rubles) per month in 2003. However, in
some impoverished rural areas, such as the Mary El region, workers on
what were once collective farms received as little as $13 (360 rubles)
a month.
The Labor Code retains a standard workweek of 40 hours, with at
least one 24 hour rest period, and requires premium pay for overtime
work or work on holidays; however, workers have complained of being
required to work in excess of the standard workweek (10 to 12 hour days
were common), of abrogated negotiated labor agreements, and of forced
transfers.
Although the incidence of nonpayment of wages declined, especially
in the public sector, it continued to be the most widespread abuse of
labor legislation. The AZLK Automobile Factory in Moscow, which went
into receivership in 2003, owed workers 3 years of wages. The Labor
Code imposes penalties on employers who pay their employees late or
make partial payments and requires them to pay two thirds of a worker's
salary if the worker remains idle by some fault of the employer.
Proving that an employer is at fault, however, was difficult. Wage
arrears through November totaled $732 million (20.1 billion rubles),
down from $1.2 billion (34.7 billion rubles). Only in very isolated
instances did some enterprises force their employees to accept payment
in barter.
The number of workers who sought to recover unpaid back wages
through the court system increased by 10 percent in 2003, but the
process remained lengthy. Courts often were willing to rule in favor of
employees seeking the payment of back wages, but collection remained
difficult. Courts often insisted that cases be filed individually, in
contradiction to the Law on Trade Unions, thereby undercutting union
attempts to include the entire membership in one case. This insistence
also made the process lengthier and more difficult for the affected
workers and exposed them to possible retaliation (see Section 6.b.).
The practice continued of removing the names of workers who won
judgments for back wages, but did not yet receive the wages, from the
list of those permitted to buy food on credit from the company store.
The law establishes minimum conditions for workplace safety and
worker health; however, the Government lacked the financial and human
resources to enforce these standards effectively. Workers wore little
protective equipment in factories, enterprises stored hazardous
materials in open areas, emergency exits were often locked, and smoking
was permitted near containers of flammable substances.
The Labor Code provides workers with the right to remove themselves
from hazardous or life threatening work situations without jeopardy to
their continued employment; however, labor inspectorate resources to
enforce this right remained limited. In addition, workers were entitled
to such compensations as shorter hours, increased vacations, extra pay,
and pension benefits for working under such conditions; however, the
pressure for survival often displaced concern for safety, and the risk
of industrial accidents or death for workers remained high. Deaths in
mining accidents increased from 98 in 2003 to 147 through December 25.
Mine inspections were ineffective because sanctions for safety
violations were weak. Even fatal workplace accidents due to unsafe work
conditions often went unpunished. In April, a methane explosion in the
Tayzhina coalmine in the Kemerovo region killed 47 workers. A federal
government commission found no one culpable for the disaster, but union
officials claimed better ventilation and stronger supports could have
prevented fatalities.
The law entitles foreign workers residing and working legally in
the country to the same rights and protections provided to citizens
under the law, and the Labor Code prohibits forced or compulsory labor;
however there were reports that foreign workers were brought into the
country to perform such work (see section 6.c.). Foreign workers
residing and working illegally in the country may be subject to
deportation but may seek recourse through the court system. There were
credible reports that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, Belarusians,
Moldovans, and Central Asians were living and working illegally in
Moscow and other larger cities for lower wages than citizens and under
generally poor conditions.
__________
SAN MARINO
San Marino is a democratic, multiparty republic. The popularly
elected Parliament, the Great and General Council (GGC), selects two of
its members to serve as Captains Regent (co-heads of state). Captains
Regent preside over meetings of the GGC and the Cabinet (Congress of
State), which has 10 other members (secretaries of state) who the GGC
also selects. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has some of
the prerogatives of a prime minister. The judiciary is independent.
Elected officials effectively controlled the centralized police
organization (the Civil Police), which was responsible for internal
security and civil defense; the Gendarmerie, a military group
responsible for internal security and public order; and the Guardie di
Rocca, a military group responsible for external defense that
occasionally assisted the Gendermerie in criminal investigations.
The principal economic activities were tourism, farming, light
manufacturing, and banking. The country's population is approximately
28,000. In addition to revenue from taxes and customs, the Government
also derived income from selling coins and postage stamps to
international collectors and from an annual subsidy provided by the
Italian Government under the terms of the Basic Treaty with Italy.
Gross domestic product grew an estimated 2 percent, and wages grew 5.7
percent in 2003. The unemployment rate for the first semester of the
year was 2.9 percent. Officially, the inflation rate is the same as
Italy's, but in both countries it was actually higher than reported.
Corruption by public officials occurred and was usually enhanced by
political rivalry. However, the Government did not consider corruption
a priority.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of
addressing individual instances of abuse. Some remnants of legal and
societal discrimination against women remained, particularly with
regard to the transmission of citizenship.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by the
Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. Male
prisoners were held separately from female prisoners, as were juveniles
from adults and pretrial detainees from convicted prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system requires that the country's lower court judges
be noncitizens, with the aim of assuring impartiality; most lower court
judges are Italian. A local conciliation judge handles cases of minor
importance. Other cases are handled by non-Sammarinese judges who serve
under contract to the Government. The final court of review is the
Council of Twelve, a group of judges chosen for 6-year terms (four of
whom are replaced every 2 years) from among the members of the GGC.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent
judiciary generally enforced this right.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Violations were
subject to effective legal sanction.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. An
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restrictions. Access to the Internet was unrestricted.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use
forced exile in practice.
The law does not provide for granting asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention or its 1967 Protocol. Asylum
or refugee status may be granted by an act of the Congress of State;
however, the Government did not formally offer asylum to refugees. The
Government has permitted a few persons to reside and work in the
country and cooperated with the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in assisting
refugees.
The issue of the provision of temporary protection of individuals
who may not qualify as refugees did not arise during the year.
There were no reports of the forced return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
There were no women serving on the Great and General Council during
the year. However, women held positions in mainstream party
organizations. There were 9 women in the 60-seat Parliament, but no
minority group members.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There were no domestic human rights organizations, although the
Government did not impede their formation. The Government declared
itself open to investigations by international NGOs into alleged
abuses, but there were no known requests to investigate.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, And Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, disability,
language, or social status. The law also prohibits some forms of
discrimination based on sex; however, vestiges of legal and societal
discrimination against women remained.
Women.--The law provides for the protection of women from violence.
Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime under the law. Occurrences of
violence against women, including spousal abuse, were rare.
Several laws provide specifically for the equality of women in the
workplace and elsewhere. In practice, there was no discrimination in
pay or working conditions. All careers were open to women, including
careers in the military and police as well as the highest public
offices.
The citizenship law provides that both men and women may transmit
citizenship either through birth or naturalization; however, children
of male citizens only need to state their ``intent'' to retain
citizenship, whereas children of female citizens must state their
``desire'' to retain citizenship. It is not clear if this affects the
transmission of citizenship in practice.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare. Public education and medical care services were amply funded.
Education is free until grade 13 (usually age 18) and compulsory until
age 16. Most students continued in school until age 18. No differences
were apparent in the treatment of girls and boys in education or health
care. Violence against or abuse of children was an isolated problem;
however, there were no reported cases during the year. One case from
2003 was pending.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not explicitly prohibit
trafficking in persons. However, there were no reports that persons
were trafficked to, from, or within the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. There also were no
reports of other societal abuses. The Ministry for Territory has not
fully implemented a law that mandates easier access to public buildings
by persons with disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--By law, all workers (except the armed
forces) are free to form and join unions, and workers exercised this
right in practice. The law sets the conditions to establish labor
unions. Union members constituted approximately half of the country's
work force (which numbered approximately 10,300 citizens plus 4,000
resident Italians). Trade unions were independent of the Government and
political parties; however, they had close informal ties with political
parties, which exercised strong influence over union members.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice.
The law gives collective bargaining agreements the force of law and
prohibits anti-union discrimination by employers. Workers exercised
these rights and effective mechanisms existed to resolve complaints.
Negotiations were conducted freely, often in the presence of government
officials (usually from the Labor and Industry Departments) by
invitation from both unions and employer associations. Complaints
generally were resolved amicably by a ``conciliatory committee''
composed of labor union and business association representatives and
government officials.
The law allows all civilian workers, including the Civil Police,
the right to strike, and workers exercised this right in practice.
There were no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment and compulsory education is 16, and no
exceptions were granted by the Ministry of Labor and Cooperation.
The law does not limit children between the ages of 16 and 18 from
any type of legal work activity.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government sets the minimum
wage according to industry standards. For example, in the hotel and
restaurant industry, the minimum wage for employees over 18 years of
age was approximately $8.84 an hour (6.55 euros). For employees under
18, the minimum wage was approximately $7.13 (5.28 euros). The national
minimum wage provided a decent standard of living for a worker and
family. Wages generally were higher than the minimum.
The law sets the workweek at 36 hours in the public sector and 37
hours for industry and private businesses, with 24 consecutive hours of
rest per week mandated for workers in either category.
The law requires a premium payment for overtime and allows a
maximum of 2 hours of overtime per day. There is effective enforcement
of laws and industry contracts that prohibit excessive compulsory
overtime. However, overtime laws do not protect the small number of
foreign illegal day workers in the country.
The law stipulates safety and health standards, and the judicial
system monitors these standards. Most workplaces implemented the
standards effectively; however, there were some exceptions, notably in
the construction industry, where not all workers, particularly foreign
workers hired for a specific contract, consistently abided by safety
regulations, such as work hour limitations. The Government closely
monitored the implementation of safety regulations in the construction
industry, but improvement has been slow.
Two laws treat foreign workers differently from citizens of the
country: The first prohibits indefinite employment status for foreign
workers with nonresident status. The second requires non-Italian
foreign workers to obtain an Italian residence permit before they can
apply for employment. In practice, these provisions limited the
application of unemployment benefits to foreigners because such
benefits were granted for a period of 12 months.
__________
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
The state union of Serbia and Montenegro (SaM) is a constitutional
republic consisting of the relatively large Republic of Serbia and the
much smaller Republic of Montenegro.\1\ The two republics hold most
real authority, while the state union Government's responsibilities are
essentially limited to the Foreign Ministry, the military (VSCG,
formerly the VJ), human and minority rights, and foreign and domestic
economic and commercial relations. Serbia has a parliamentary system of
government run by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. Boris Tadic was
elected President in two rounds of elections on June 13 and June 27
that were deemed generally free and fair. A new multiparty government
was formed in March. The Constitution provides for an independent
judiciary; however, the judiciary was inefficient and often subject to
political influence and corruption.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The report on Serbia and Montenegro--formerly the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia--is divided into three separate sections
addressing the human rights situations in Serbia, Kosovo, and
Montenegro. Discussion of SaM activities and institutions affecting
human rights is included in the Serbia section.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The SaM military reports through the Defense Minister to the
Supreme Defense Council (VSO), whose voting members are the Presidents
of SaM, Serbia, and Montenegro. The military is responsible for
external defense. In Serbia, the police are responsible for law
enforcement and maintenance of order as part of the Interior Ministry
(MUP). The Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) is under the control of
the Serbian Government as a whole, effectively giving control to the
Prime Minister. Civilian authorities generally maintained control of
the security forces. Some members of the security forces committed
human rights abuses.
The economy was in transition from a system based on social
ownership to a market-based environment with a mix of industry,
agriculture, and services. Exclusive of Kosovo, the population of the
Republic of Serbia was 7.5 million, and the population of SaM was 8.2
million. The SaM gross domestic product grew by 6 percent during the
year. Average wages were projected to outpace inflation. Income
distribution and economic opportunity were uneven. Poverty and
unemployment were highest in southern and eastern Serbia and among the
refugees from the wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) and
internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police at times
beat detainees and harassed citizens. Police effectively investigated
high-level killings committed during and after the Milosevic era;
however, impunity and corruption were problems. Prolonged pretrial
detention was a problem. Courts remained backlogged and
administratively paralyzed, and lengthy trials persisted. The war
crimes court, a department of the Belgrade District Court established
in 2003, began hearing war crimes cases during the year. The media was
generally independent; however, journalists practiced some self-
censorship because of their vulnerability to private libel suits and
indirect political manipulation.
There were incidents of arbitrary arrest and detention. The
judiciary continued to be susceptible to political influence. Poor
cooperation between the judiciary and other government branches slowed
the implementation of legislative reforms.
Two persons in Serbia indicted by the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) surrendered to the Tribunal.
The Government transferred many documents to the ICTY and gave waivers
for witnesses to testify; however, the ICTY remained dissatisfied with
overall SaM cooperation, in particular because it believed that key
indictee General Ratko Mladic was at large in Serbia.
In March, there were a number of incidents of societal violence and
discrimination against religious minorities following widespread anti-
Serb violence in Kosovo. Violence and discrimination against women and
ethnic minorities were problems. Trafficking in women and children
remained a problem which the Government took steps to address.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
political killings; however, on May 15, police shot and killed an armed
poacher along the administrative boundary line with Kosovo. Police,
accompanied by a representative of the NATO-led Kosovo force (KFOR),
investigated the shooting and determined that it was justified.
The trial of the suspects in the March 2003 assassination of Prime
Minister Djindjic was ongoing at year's end. Djindjic was allegedly
killed by members of the Red Berets--an autonomous state security
police unit from the era of former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)
President Slobodan Milosevic--in collusion with the Zemun organized
crime clan.
There were some developments in police investigations of political
killings from previous years. The trial of two former police officers
and five others (including two who remained at large) for the 2002
killing of former Belgrade police chief Bosko Buha was dismissed in
November for lack of evidence.
On February 2, the retrial of former State Security Service (RDB)
chief Radomir Markovic began for the 1999 attempted killing of Serbian
Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic, which resulted in the deaths of
four persons. The retrial was ongoing at year's end, and Markovic
remained in prison.
On February 23, the trial of nine persons began for the killing of
former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic and the 2000 attempted killing
of Vuk Draskovic. The trial, in the Belgrade Special Court for Fighting
Organized Crime, was ongoing at year's end.
Domestic courts and the ICTY continued to adjudicate cases arising
from crimes committed during the 1991-99 conflicts in Croatia, BiH, and
Kosovo, including the ICTY prosecution of former FRY and Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic (see Sections 1.e. and 4).
There were no deaths from landmines during the year.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
During the year, SaM and Serbian Government authorities continued
efforts to cooperate with neighboring countries and international
organizations seeking to identify missing persons and investigating
graves discovered in Serbia; however, progress was slow.
During the year, the Government exhumed two sites containing 77
bodies from the Croatia and BiH conflicts, identifying 21 of the bodies
and returning them to families (9 within SaM and 12 to BiH). The
Government also identified 181 bodies previously exhumed from mass
graves dating to the Kosovo conflict and repatriated them to Kosovo.
The Government, in cooperation with international organizations and the
International Commission on Missing Persons, had not completed
identification and repatriation of the additional remains by year's
end.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--SaM and Serbian laws prohibit such practices; however,
police at times beat detainees and harassed citizens.
The Leskovac-based Human Rights Committee reported that there were
fewer reports of torture and police abuse in the Leskovac area than
there were in 2002 and 2003, but that there was little progress in
addressing past abuses.
The MUP Inspector General confirmed six cases of torture by police
during the 2003 state of emergency but stated that the perpetrators had
not been identified.
By year's end, the few lawsuits filed by nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) on behalf of individuals who claimed they were
tortured as detainees during the 2003 state of emergency had been
withdrawn at the victims' request because the perpetrators could not be
identified.
Police most often beat and physically abused persons during arrest
or initial detention; low-level criminals were most often the victims
of such abuse. In June, a man stopped for an identity check requested
the name or identification number of the officer who stopped him. The
officer reportedly then put the man in a police car and hit him
approximately 10 times on the head. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC)
sent a letter about the incident to the MUP Inspector General, who said
he had no information on the case. The MUP did not subsequently
investigate the case.
The Leskovac-based Human Rights Committee reported that, in one
case, 33 persons from Belgrade were mistreated after being taken to the
police building in Vlasotinac.
There was one report that police threatened to have a person
prosecuted after he said he would sue them after being mistreated. In
another case, a man in Zrenjanin, who claimed police officers beat him
in his cafe on January 13, filed a complaint on February 19 and then
initiated a private prosecution on August 24 because there had been no
response to his original complaint. The municipal prosecutor then filed
charges against the police officers (Zoran Gogic and Dragan Bojanic)
for mistreatment while on duty and against the cafe owner for
interfering with an official in performance of his duty. Unlike in
previous years, there were no reports that police used beatings or
threats of beatings to deter detainees from filing claims of abuse on
prior occasions.
The public prosecutor filed charges against the three police
officers involved in the August 2003 beating of a man each day during
his 30-day detention; the man has also filed a private criminal
complaint against the officers. The hearing on the man's other police
brutality claim from 2001 was postponed because the accused officers
did not appear.
During the year, there were developments in cases in which police
in previous years reportedly used beatings to coerce confessions. The
public prosecutor, claiming that there were insufficient grounds to
believe that the acts occurred, dismissed the criminal complaint that
the HLC filed in 2003 against unidentified officers of the Cacak Police
Department. The HLC complaint claimed that, in May 2003, the officers
threatened and hit Zeljko Popovic in an attempt to coerce a confession
of robbery. After the complaint was dismissed, the HLC pursued the case
as a private prosecution and requested further investigation. On
October 6, an investigating judge held a hearing on the private
prosecution, which remained pending at year's end. In October 2003, the
public prosecutor indicted Popovic for stealing; the case had not been
brought to trial by year's end.
Two Vranje policemen involved in the 2002 beating of Nenad Tasic
were sentenced to 7 months and 5 months in prison, respectively;
however, the court overruled the public prosecutor's decision that the
two officers be prohibited from working as policemen in the future. The
Supreme Court was reviewing the case at year's end. In April, the First
Municipal Court in Belgrade ordered the Government to pay Tasic $10,000
(600,000 dinars) in a civil compensation suit filed by the HLC. On
November 29, the Belgrade District Court confirmed the compensation
award.
There were developments in the case of a Romani man, Nebojsa
Majlic, whom Leskovac police allegedly clubbed in 2002. After the
assault, Majlic was charged with interfering with police performance of
duty; his trial began during the year and was ongoing at year's end. In
2003, the Human Rights Committee filed a criminal complaint against the
police who abused Majlic; however, at year's end, the trial of the
police had not begun.
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
conditions varied greatly from one facility to another, and some guards
abused prisoners. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
(HCS) noted that some prisons offered clean, secure environments for
inmates; however, in others--most notably the Belgrade Reformatory
Hospital housing psychiatric prisoners--inmates were forced to live in
filthy, inhumane conditions. The quality of food varied from poor to
minimally acceptable, and health care was often inadequate. Guards were
inadequately trained on the proper handling of prisoners.
There were some deaths in prison due to natural causes and
suicides. Some inmates complained that other inmates subjected them to
intimidation and occasional assaults. Inmates could report such
problems to prison staff or to a district court; authorities generally
responded by placing inmates in separate cells and at times taking
disciplinary measures such as placing offenders in solitary
confinement.
Men and women were held separately. Juveniles were supposed to be
held separately from adults; however, in practice, this did not always
happen. Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
prisoners.
The Government permitted the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) and local independent human rights monitors, including
HCS, to visit prisons and to speak with prisoners without the presence
of a warden.
There were attacks on and threats against witnesses and potential
witnesses in domestic prosecutions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
The approximately 23,000 police officers in Serbia are part of the
MUP's Sector for Public Security. The Sector is divided into seven
directorates: uniformed police (including traffic and patrol officers),
criminal investigations, organized crime, analysis, special operations
units (including gendarmes and the special antiterrorist unit, or SAJ),
human resources and training, and border police. The police are divided
regionally into 33 secretariats. All municipal and rural units are
branches of the republic police. Effectiveness of the police was uneven
and generally limited. Many police personnel, including some high-level
officials, are holdovers from the Milosevic regime. While most police
officers were Serbs, the force included Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims),
ethnic Hungarians, a small number of ethnic Albanians, and other ethnic
minorities. The Multiethnic Police Force in southern Serbia was
composed primarily of ethnic Albanians and Serbs.
Corruption and impunity in the police force were problems, and
there were only limited institutional means of overseeing and
controlling police behavior. In 2003, an Inspector General with
enforcement authority was installed in the MUP; however, at year's end,
he still had little ability to conduct investigations. On September 24,
Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic announced that several MUP officials
would be charged with misappropriation of funds during equipment
purchase contracting; however, no charges were filed by year's end. In
2003, the SaM Minister for Human and Minority Rights established an
``SOS'' hotline, which victims could contact to report on police abuse
and other cases. The hotline had received 934 fully documented cases on
a variety of issues by year's end. In some cases, hotline calls
resulted in the Government resolving the caller's problem. For example,
the Jehovah's Witnesses community called the hotline after several
individuals entered their Kingdom Hall in Loznica on December 2 and
demanded $1,350 (1,000 euros) per month in protection money, implying
that the police would not interfere. The Human and Minority Rights
Ministry brought the problem to the attention of the MUP, which called
in the perpetrators, and the threat was not repeated. During the year,
the Government and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) trained police, including on community relations.
According to the MUP Inspector General (IG), during the year, the
IG recommended initiating disciplinary proceedings against 15 MUP
employees, transferring 13 employees, reducing the pay of 34 employees,
and referring 23 cases of illegal or improper activity for follow up by
chiefs of regional secretariats. Chiefs of regional secretariats
brought disciplinary proceedings against 12 employees, transferred 2
employees, filed misdemeanor complaints against 1 employee, and
recommended reduction of pay for 8 employees. In addition, the IG filed
71 criminal complaints against 83 employees on charges including abuse
of position, taking or giving bribes, forgery, corruption, fraud,
making a false report or statement, mistreatment while on duty, causing
serious bodily injury, causing minor bodily injury, extortion,
unscrupulous work, revealing official secrets, mediation of
prostitution, and unauthorized possession of a weapon.
Courts occasionally ordered the Government to pay compensation for
police abuses. In April, the First Municipal Court of Belgrade ordered
the Government to pay $10,000 (600,000 dinars) in a civil compensation
suit for the beating of Nenad Tasic (see Section 1.c.).
Amendments to the law in May preserved the 2-year limit on
detention from indictment to the conclusion of first instance trial for
most cases, but increased the limit to 4 years for crimes that carry up
to the maximum penalty (40 years in prison). The amendments also
increased from 1 year to 2 years the maximum detention permitted after
an appellate court vacates the judgment of a trial court. These
amendments were brought in response to defense delaying tactics
designed to free defendants. A person wrongfully detained could demand
rehabilitation and compensation from the Government.
The police were authorized to make an arrest without a judge
authorized warrant in certain circumstances, including well-founded
grounds of suspicion that the person committed a capital crime;
however, arrests were generally made only with warrants. An
investigating judge must approve any detention of more than 48 hours,
and this requirement was employed in practice. Amendments to the law in
May provide detainees the right to initiate urgent action by an
investigating judge to determine the legality of their detention and to
have the investigating judge order the detainee's release if the
detention was found to be illegal. Arrested persons must be informed
immediately of their rights, but there were reports that police
officers at times failed to do so and also failed to inform detainees
that what they said could be used against them. Bail was allowed but
rarely used; detainees facing charges that carried possible sentences
of less than 5 years were often released on their own recognizance.
Detainees had access to counsel in principle; however, this right
was sometimes not respected in practice. There were reported cases of
police pressuring attorneys to have only limited private contact with
defendants or contact that was not truly private. There were also cases
in which a suspect was interrogated without an attorney present, but
the record of the interrogation stated that an attorney was there.
Family members were normally able to visit. No suspect could be
detained for more than 3 months without the authorization of an
investigating judge or detained for more than a total of 6 months
without being charged; these rights were respected in practice. The law
prohibits the use of force, threats, deception, and coercion, as well
as use in court of evidence acquired by such means; however, police
sometimes used these means to obtain statements. A suspect's attorney
must be present during any statement to police in order for that
statement to be admissible in court. There were no reports of
statements made under threat or force being used in court. Unlike in
the previous year, there were no reports of incommunicado detention.
There was one report of police detaining a journalist for an
``informative talk'' (see Section 2.a.).
Prolonged pretrial detention was a problem. The law prohibits
excessive delays by authorities in filing formal charges against
suspects and in opening investigations; however, such delays continued
regularly. Due to the inefficiency of the courts, cases often took an
excessively long time to come to trial, and once started, trials often
took an excessively long time to complete (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the courts remained susceptible to
corruption and political influence.
The courts were highly inefficient--cases could take years to be
resolved--and there were no official channels for alternative dispute
resolution. During the year, the Government and the judiciary made
little progress in implementing the extensive organizational reforms
mandated in the 2001 laws on courts, judges, and public prosecutors.
The National Assembly passed an amendment providing for nomination of
prosecutors by the Supreme Judicial Council--replacing nomination by
the Government--and their confirmation by the National Assembly.
There were reported attempts by officials to undermine politically
sensitive prosecutions, including by applying pressure on prosecutors.
Journalist Misa Vasic reported on a phone call in which a private
attorney allegedly sought to persuade Zemun clan crime figure Dejan
``Bagzi'' Milenkovic to testify falsely that the chief prosecution
witness in the Djindjic assassination case was involved in another
murder. In the phone call, allegedly recorded by the former head of the
organized crime police (UBPOK), the attorney asserted that Interior
Minister Jocic and BIA Chief Radomir ``Rade'' Bulatovic supported a
deal in which Dejan ``Bagzi'' Milenkovic, also a defendant in the
Djindjic assassination, would be given state witness status in exchange
for the false testimony (see Section 2.a.). The weekly Vreme, which
carried Vasic's report, later carried purported excerpts from the
transcript of the phone call.
On July 1, the SaM Council of Ministers halted all ongoing trials
at SaM military courts until political leaders resolved questions about
the jurisdiction and role of the military judiciary; the military
courts remained closed the rest of the year and were scheduled to be
disbanded as of January 1, 2005. In addition to the military court
system, the only other SaM court, the Court of the State Union of
Serbia and Montenegro, was established with the appointment of judges
in May and June. The court is responsible for coordinating
jurisprudence in the state union, resolving jurisdictional disputes
between Serbian and Montenegrin institutions, ruling on petitions
brought by citizens who claimed violation of rights guaranteed by the
SaM Constitutional Charter, and settling disputes that SaM's joint
customs office is unable to resolve. The court was fully established
during the year, but no cases were brought before it.
The Serbian court system is made up of municipal and district
courts, the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Court. Special courts
for war crimes and organized crime were established within the Belgrade
District Court. The Constitutional Court rules on the constitutionality
of laws and regulations and relies on the authorities to enforce its
rulings. The law mandates the establishment of an administrative
appeals court and a second instance appeals court to lighten the burden
of the Supreme Court; however, during the year, the National Assembly
postponed their establishment until 2007 because preparatory work for
the courts had not been done.
The High Judicial Council, staffed by Supreme Court justices,
nominates judges for approval by the National Assembly. The High
Personnel Council disciplines and, with the National Assembly's
concurrence, dismisses judges; however, there were no dismissals during
the year.
The Judges' Training Center organized educational programs offered
throughout the country. International organizations and local NGOs,
including the HLC and the Belgrade Center for Human Rights (BCHR), also
conducted training for judges during the year.
Trials are generally public, but they are closed during testimony
of a state witness (defendants against whom charges were dropped or not
filed in exchange for testimony). There are no juries. The law provides
that defendants are presumed innocent and have the right to have an
attorney represent them at public expense, if needed, and to be present
at their trials. The courts also must provide interpreters, if
required. Both the defense and the prosecution have the right to appeal
a verdict. Defendants have the right to access government-held evidence
and question witnesses. All these rights were generally respected in
practice.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Milan Sarajlic, who was charged with
accepting payments from the Zemun organized crime clan, was released
from jail due to poor health. During the year, it was determined that
he was not mentally fit to stand trial, and no trial was scheduled.
On March 9, the Special War Crimes Court opened with its first
trial (the Vukovar/Ovcara case; see below); the Court provides the same
rights to defendants as do regular courts.
There was a semi-independent War Crimes Prosecutor--appointed by
the National Assembly--and a small War Crimes Investigative Service
within UBPOK, as well as specialized court chambers and a dedicated
detention unit for the War Crimes Court.
On March 17, Aleksandar ``Sasa'' Cvjetan was sentenced to 20 years
in prison for killing 19 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999. In
December, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial to establish certain
questions of fact and procedure, including whether Cvjetan's attorney
was present during the defendant's confession.
In September, the Supreme Court overturned the 2003 convictions of
four people in the Sjeverin war crime case because the trial did not
specify which defendants committed which criminal acts. The Supreme
Court ordered a retrial, which had not begun by year's end.
The ICTY transferred two lower level figures involved in the
Vukovar massacre (also known as the Ovcara case) for government
prosecution. Serbia's Special Prosecutor for War Crimes greatly
expanded the investigation beyond information provided by the ICTY and,
in January, indicted eight persons. On March 9, the trial of six of the
indictees began, the first trial to be held in the Special War Crimes
Court. Indictments against another 12 persons were added in May. Two
indictees became state witnesses and another died when he jumped from a
window while attempting to escape, leaving 17 persons on trial. The
trial was ongoing at year's end.
During the year, trials in absentia began for Milorad ``Legija''
Ulemek and Dejan ``Bagzi'' Milenkovic for the Djindjic assassination;
however, Ulemek surrendered before the trial was completed. SAJ squad
member Dejan Demirovic was being tried in absentia for participating in
the killing of 19 ethnic Albanians in Podujevo, Kosovo, in 1999. The
trials were not completed at year's end, and no issues of defendants'
rights arose.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
Government at times infringed upon these rights in practice. The law
requires the MUP to seek a court order before monitoring potential
criminal activity and requires that police must only enter premises
with a warrant, except to ``save people and property''; however,
occasionally police did not respect these provisions in practice.
Most observers believed that the authorities selectively monitored
communications and eavesdropped on conversations, read mail and e-mail,
and wiretapped telephones.
The Government did not fulfill its promise to open to the public
all secret files on persons collected under former regimes. The few
files actually delivered to individuals who requested them had been
cleansed of documents that might have contained sensitive reporting on
the individuals. One individual who received a file was warned that he
would be charged with revealing government secrets if he made the file
public.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no evictions of Roma from
squatter settlements.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and of the Press.--SaM and Serbian law provide
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, although the media
frequently criticized the Government without reprisal, implied
political pressure from various sources, an uncertain regulatory
environment, and vulnerability to libel suits placed constraints on
free expression by journalists, editors, and other members of the
media. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of pressure
on the media by senior government officials.
The country had a mixture of privately owned and fully or partially
government-owned media outlets. The Government published the daily
Borba and owned one of the most important printing houses in the
country, also named Borba. The oldest nationwide daily, Politika, was
co-owned by German media giant WAS and the Government, but run by
several shareholding companies.
The Government funded a Hungarian language newspaper, and state
owned media outlet Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) provided some
Hungarian language programming. Radio stations owned by municipal
governments also provided minority-language programming. Tanjug was a
state-owned news agency that many television stations relied on for
news information.
State-controlled RTS was a major presence in television and radio.
Aside from the three RTS channels, the Government had considerable
influence, although not formal control, over some other major
television stations, including TV Politika and TV Novi Sad, as well as
Radio Belgrade's three stations. RTS's coverage was generally
objective; however, there occasionally appeared to be a slight bias
toward the Government. Management personnel could be politically
influenced, since the Government appointed editors-in-chief. On March
18, the Government replaced RTS Director General Aleksandar Crkvenjakov
with government loyalist Aleksandar Tijanic. Minister of Culture and
Information Dragan Kojadinovic claimed that Crkvenjakov was removed for
inadequate coverage of the March outbreak of anti-Serb violence in
Kosovo; however, the media reported Tijanic's upcoming appointment
several days before the escalation of violence in Kosovo. The RTS Board
of Governors resigned in protest of Tijanic's appointment.
Two major private TV stations, BK and TV Pink, have shown editorial
bias in favor of the Government. After the Government in 2002 granted
RTV B-92 a temporary license to broadcast republicwide pending the
final allocation of frequencies, the media outlet set up new
transmitters to make itself a national channel that could compete with
TV Pink and BK. Unlike in the previous year, editor-in-chief of RTV B-
92 Veran Matic did not report receiving any further warnings from
officials that his media outlet would not receive radio or television
frequencies if it did not change its reporting. Approximately 300
television stations and 700 radio stations that operated independently
operated under temporary licenses or without any legal basis.
On October 8, the Association of Independent Electronic Media
(ANEM) protested the decision of Trstenik Municipal Council to donate
ownership of Television Trstenik--part of the local public company RTV
Trstenik--to the Serbian Orthodox Church. ANEM claimed that this move,
which was cancelled during the year, violated the provisions of the law
on privatization of broadcasters.
Radio stations owned or organized by municipalities pressured local
journalists not to report on municipal government problems.
There was one instance of police calling in a journalist for an
``informative talk.'' In October, UBPOK called in journalist Misa Vasic
for an informative talk at the request of the Belgrade District Public
Prosecutor. Vasic was called in after he wrote about a phone call in
which a private attorney reportedly offered a defendant state witness
status in the Djindjic assassination case in exchange for false
testimony. In the call, the attorney allegedly asserted that two senior
government officials supported the deal (see Section 1.e.).
Hrvatske Rijeci, a magazine for the Croatian minority, received
five threatening phone calls with anti-Croatian content between January
13 and 14.
On March 27, a RTV B-92 news team discovered a bomb under its van,
which had been parked in the southern Serbian town of Raska while the
team was in Kosovo reporting on a surge of violence against Serbs.
Police did not identify the perpetrators, and the investigation
appeared to be inactive at year's end.
The law creates a regulatory framework designed to foster free and
independent media and mandates formation of an independent Broadcast
Council to transform RTS into a public broadcasting service and to
allot radio and TV frequencies; however, the law had not been
implemented by year's end. Some observers believed that the continued
lack of clear guidelines created an atmosphere unfriendly to free
expression. Some media outlets clearly attempted to curry favor with
the Government in hopes of receiving favorable treatment once new media
reform laws are fully implemented.
Libel remained a criminal offense. Although no suits were filed by
the Government, the low threshold defining libel enabled individual
government officials, as well as former members of the Milosevic
regime, to win private cases against media outlets that criticized
them. Libel can result in jail terms, and courts have the power to
issue ``conditional sentences'' that silence offending journalists with
the threat that any further offense will lead to immediate
imprisonment. On March 16, a Sabac city court convicted Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Hanibal Kovac of criminal defamation
and gave him a 2-month suspended prison sentence for a September 2003
report accusing Cedomir Vasiljevic, a senior official in the Serbian
Radical Party (SRS) and former Serbian Government minister during the
Milosevic regime, of participating in the violent takeover of an
administrative building in 1999. In May, journalist Ljiljana Jokic
Kaspar was sentenced to 6 months in prison, with the sentence suspended
for 2 years, for reporting that Miroslav Savic had served in the
reserve complement of the Red Berets, which, after Savic's reported
service, was implicated in the 2003 killing of Prime Minister Djindjic.
At year's end, the prosecutor had taken no action on the 2003
defamation lawsuits filed by then MUP Minister Dusan Mihajlovic against
Dinkic and Barac. The 2003 libel suits filed by then Government
communications director Vladimir ``Beba'' Popovic against NIN, Vreme,
and RTV B-92 were thrown out during the year. In June, Democratic Party
member Radisav Ljubisavljevic withdrew his 2002 libel suit against RTV
B-92.
According to the HLC and the BCHR, journalists sometimes practiced
self-censorship because of possible libel suits and fear of offending
public opinion, particularly on subjects relating to wars in the former
Yugoslavia.
Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not prohibit any
television or radio stations or newspapers. However, the Government did
prohibit the distribution of the book ``Military Secrets'' on the
grounds it revealed military secrets. On March 26, Military Police
officers seized the remaining 251 copies of the book despite a Military
Police warrant which only authorized them to take 1 copy of the book.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however,
there were reports that the Government selectively monitored e-mail
correspondence (see Section 1.f.).
The Government did not restrict academic freedom. The Government
reversed attempts by the Education Minister to restrict course content
and to replace academic personnel based on political considerations. On
September 16, the Education Minister was forced to resign. Svetlana
Djordjevic, the author of a book enumerating human rights abuses she
witnessed Serbian government and military officers commit in Kosovo in
1999, received a series of threats beginning in 2003, after publication
of her book. Some of the threats contained symbols associated with the
Red Berets and its former leader, Milorad Ulemek, on trial for the
assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic and other crimes.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The SaM and Serbian constitutions and laws
provide for freedom of religion, and the state union and republic
Governments generally respected this right in practice. There is no
state religion in SaM; however, the Serbian Orthodox Church received
some preferential treatment, including funding for construction of a
large church in Belgrade. The armed forces continued to offer only
Serbian Orthodox services; however, members of other faiths may attend
religious services outside their posts.
While there is no formal registration requirement for religious
groups, any group planning to hold gatherings is required to register
with local police. Religious groups also could register as citizen
groups with the MUP to gain the status of juridical person necessary
for real estate and other administrative transactions.
The Belgrade Islamic community reported continued difficulties in
acquiring land and government approval for an Islamic cemetery in the
city.
The Supreme Court ruled against a tent church used by the
Protestant Evangelical Roma Church in its long-running dispute with the
southern town of Leskovac, in which the tent church was singled out
from among 463 illegal structures in the area for demolition. On April
30, building inspectors, police, and a demolition team arrived to
demolish the church; however, worshippers prevented the demolition, and
the city agreed to allow relocation of the church. At year's end,
church leaders and city officials were working on details of the
agreement.
Religious education in primary and secondary schools continued
during the year. Students are required either to attend classes from
one of the seven ``traditional religious communities'' or to substitute
a class in civic education. The proportion of students registering for
religious education grew during the year and caught up with the
proportion of students choosing the civic education option. Some
Protestant leaders and NGOs continued to object to teaching religion in
public schools and to proposals to classify some of the Republic's
religions as traditional.
There was no progress noted during the year on restitution of
previously seized religious property.
Representatives of the Union of Jewish Communities of SaM reported
an increase in anti-Semitism. There were no reports of physical
violence against Jewish persons; however, there was anti-Semitic
graffiti and vandalism at a few Jewish cemeteries. According to
representatives of the Union of Jewish Communities of SaM, anti-Semitic
hate speech often appeared in small circulation books. The release of
new books (or reprints of translations of anti-Semitic foreign
literature) often led to a spike in hate mail and other expressions of
anti-Semitism.
There have been a number of continuations in the Savic case, in
which an author of anti-Semitic literature was tried for spreading
racial/national hatred. The latest continuance, granted in 2003 due to
the reported ill health of the defendant, was ongoing at year's end.
Religion and ethnicity are closely related in SaM; in many cases,
it was difficult to identify discriminatory acts as being either
primarily religious or primarily ethnic in motivation (see Section 5).
Minority religious communities reported continued problems with
vandalism of church buildings, cemeteries, and other religious
premises. Many of the attacks involved spray-painted graffiti, rock
throwing, or the defacing of tombstones; however, a few cases involved
much more extensive damage. The police response was often inadequate.
After the December 2003 parliamentary elections--in which the SRS
took a plurality of seats--there was an upsurge in vandalism and
violence against minority ethnic and religious groups in the northern
Serbian province of Vojvodina (see Section 5). Among the incidents that
targeted religious sites or adherents were: The January 19 desecration
of a Hungarian Catholic cemetery in Novi Sad; the January 19
desecration of a Reformist church in Sombor; the January 24 desecration
of a Croatian Catholic cemetery in Subotica; the desecration of another
Subotica graveyard, where Croats and Bunjevci (both Catholic groups)
are buried, on the night of March 26-27; the desecration of 21
gravestones in the Catholic and Orthodox graveyard in Novi Becej
between May 1 and 2; and an attack in Novi Sad on two Christian
Adventist ministers. In this last incident, police had not arrested the
perpetrators or filed a criminal complaint by year's end, although the
identity of the attackers was known. In this incident and in most
cases, police tried to minimize their seriousness, attributing them to
drunk individuals and youths without performing thorough
investigations.
In reaction to widespread violence by ethnic Albanians against
Serbs and their personal and religious property in Kosovo on March 17,
there were protests and violence in Serbia beginning on the night of
March 17-18, including violence against Muslim religious sites
belonging primarily to the Bosniak and Romani communities.
During the night of March 17-18, the Belgrade mosque was looted and
set on fire by 300 to 500 youths, reportedly mostly from Belgrade's
sports clubs, who went to the mosque after demonstrating in front of
the Serbian Government building. Government and political leaders
condemned the attack, and the Interior Minister fired the police
commander of the Stari Grad municipality (within Belgrade), where the
mosque is located, for inadequate police response. Police arrested 110
persons for the attack. After a radio station carried the home address
of a Muslim boy who was injured when he fell from the roof of the
mosque, an explosive device was thrown at his house.
The same night as the attack on the Belgrade mosque, the mosque in
the southern Serbian city of Nis was destroyed by arson. Thousands of
rioters surrounded the building to prevent police and firefighters from
entering it. Eleven persons were charged in the attack with ``joining
together for violent activity,'' which carries a sentence of up to 5
years in prison.
Attacks also took place against Muslim property in Serbia's
northern province of Vojvodina in reaction to the Kosovo events. HCS
noted 40 attacks between March 17 and 21 against property owned by
Albanian and Bosniak Muslims in Vojvodina. Also, in the western Serbian
town of Mali Zvornik, attackers broke mosque windows with stones on
March 20.
There was also an attack against at least one non-Muslim religious
site, apparently in reaction to the events in Kosovo. On the evening of
March 18, a Protestant Bible Cultural Center in Nis was burned by a mob
of 30 that threw Molotov cocktails; police, who appeared to be trying
to minimize the incident, did not identify any suspects or make any
arrests by year's end.
There were no developments during the year in the 2003 criminal
complaint filed by the HLC against Momir Vujic for abusing his Muslim
neighbor on ethnic grounds for 3 years.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The conflicts that occurred in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo led to
widespread displacement of persons. There were approximately 216,000
internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo in Serbia, mainly
Serbs, Roma, and Bosniaks.
During the March anti-Serb violence in Kosovo, more than 350
persons--mostly Serbs, but also Ashkali and Roma--left Kosovo for
Serbia. About half of these IDPs later returned to ethnic enclaves in
Kosovo, not necessarily to their own homes. Most Serb IDPs from Kosovo
rented inadequate lodgings or were housed with host families or
relatives in Serbia proper; however, approximately 9,000 remained in
collective centers that foreign observers found to be inadequate for
any purpose other than emergency shelter.
During the year, the ICRC ceased supporting IDPs because the
Government was not screening them and assuming responsibility for
assisting those in need at the agreed rate. The Government continued to
pay salaries to IDPs who were in the Kosovo Government before June
1999. The Government did not forcibly return IDPs or resettle them
under dangerous conditions. There were government efforts to promote
voluntary and safe return or resettlement by IDPs.
Serbia agreed to take in tens of thousands of Roma from Kosovo who
fled to several West European countries. The UNHCR estimated that there
were 40,000 to 45,000 displaced Roma living in Serbia proper, as many
Kosovar Roma were perceived as Serb collaborators during the Kosovo
conflict and so could not safely return there. Living conditions for
Roma in Serbia were extremely poor. Local municipalities often were
reluctant to accommodate them, hoping that, if they failed to provide
shelter, the Roma would not remain in the community (see Section 5). If
Roma did settle, it was often in official collective centers with
minimum amenities or, more often, in makeshift camps in or near major
cities or towns.
The HLC reported that the Government did not allow some Kosovo IDPs
to redesignate their official places of residence; this deprived them
of health insurance, social welfare, and normal access to schools. The
Nis Council for Human Rights reported that the approximately 20,000
refugees and IDPs in the Nis area suffered from ``quiet
discrimination'' in areas such as housing and employment.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The SaM and Serbian Constitutions provide for the granting of
asylum (at the SaM level) or refugee status (at the Republic level) in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who
may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
In 2003, Bosnian and SaM authorities signed an agreement and
protocol on the return of refugees; however, the agreement had not been
implemented by year's end. The UNHCR, OSCE, and the European Union also
helped institute a trilateral approach to refugee returns during the
year, bringing together SaM, BiH, and Croatia.
There were approximately 282,000 refugees in Serbia from other
successor nations of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Of
these, most were from Croatia (188,000) and BiH (99,000). During the
year, the UNHCR opened an office at the Belgrade airport to assist
asylum seekers arriving from abroad. Although progress slowed during
the year, the Government, with the support of the UNHCR, continued
working to close remaining collective centers housing refugees from BiH
and Croatia by setting qualifications to remain housed in collective
centers and seeking alternate housing for others.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The SaM Constitutional Charter provides citizens with the right to
change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right
in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the
basis of universal suffrage. SaM and the Serbian Republic each have a
parliamentary system of government. On December 22, the Serbian
National Assembly, in accordance with the SaM Constitutional Charter,
amended Serbian election law to provide for direct election of its
representatives to the SaM Parliament; previously, the Serbian
Government had appointed its members. In SaM, the SaM Parliament elects
the SaM President; in Serbia, the President is elected by direct vote.
On June 13 and June 27, Boris Tadic of the Democratic Party (DS)
was elected President of Serbia in a two-round election. The OSCE
observation mission reported that international and domestic
nonpartisan observers were generally satisfied with polling procedures,
although some minor irregularities were recorded. The media provided
voters with broad and balanced coverage of the campaign.
The OSCE observation mission to the December 2003 elections for the
National Assembly (parliament) of the Republic of Serbia reported the
elections were conducted generally in line with OSCE commitments.
Broadcast and print media provided extensive and largely balanced
coverage of the campaign, and state media generally complied with laws
and regulations. The lists of four parties or coalitions included
persons indicted for war crimes. The SRS--whose leader Vojislav Seselj
faces war crimes charges before the ICTY--won a plurality (82 of 250
seats); however, democratic parties together controlled more than half
of the seats. On March 3, a minority coalition of democratic parties
formed a government with outside support from the Socialist Party of
Serbia (SPS).
There was significant corruption in the executive branch of
government. On September 24, Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic announced
that several MUP officials would be charged with misappropriation of
funds during equipment purchase contracting; however, no charges had
been filed by year's end. There was also a widespread public perception
of corruption in local governments. The Government's Anticorruption
Council, an advisory body, focused primarily on corruption related to
privatization.
On November 2, the National Assembly passed the Law on Free Access
to Information of Public Importance. The Law provides for access to
information of ``legitimate public importance'' (with many exceptions)
and establishes an independent Commissioner for Information of Public
Importance, selected by the National Assembly, to handle appeals when
Government agencies reject requests for information. At year's end, the
Law was in the early stages of implementation. Transparency
International's efforts to get information using the new Law have had
poor results.
There were 13 women in the 126-seat SaM Parliament and 23 women in
the 250-seat Serbian National Assembly. There was one woman in the 16-
member Serbian Cabinet. Women were very active in political
organizations; however, they held less than 10 percent of ministerial-
level and parliamentary positions in the Serbian and SaM Governments.
There were 7 members of minorities in the 126-seat SaM Parliament
and 11 members of minorities in the 250-seat Serbian National Assembly.
There were no members of minorities in the 16-member Serbian cabinet
and 1 member in the 5-member SaM cabinet. The two largest ethnic
groups, Serbs and Montenegrins, dominated the country's political
leadership. In March, the law was amended to exempt ethnically based
parties from the 5 percent threshold required to enter the National
Assembly. Roma continued their historical pattern of low voter turnout;
very few ethnic Albanians participated in republic-level elections
during the year, but did participate in local elections in Presevo.
In Vojvodina, the Hungarian minority constituted approximately 15
percent of the population, and many regional political offices were
held by ethnic Hungarians. In the Sandzak, Bosniaks controlled the
municipal governments of Novi Pazar, Tutin, and Sjenica, and
Prijepolje.
Ethnic groups have established 11 minority councils.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of independent domestic and international human
rights groups generally operated without government restriction,
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
Government officials often were cooperative and responsive to their
views.
The Government was generally unfriendly toward several human rights
NGOs, although it did not interfere with them. For example, police
failed to respond adequately when HLC head Natasa Kandic was threatened
by an angry crowd in March; HLC's reporting on war crimes and other
issues has earned it the Government's disfavor.
The SaM and Serbian Governments made little progress in their
cooperation with the ICTY. The ICTY remained dissatisfied with overall
SaM cooperation, in particular because it believed that key indictee
General Ratko Mladic was at large in Serbia. Serbian authorities
claimed that they searched for Mladic during the year but were unable
to locate him and did not believe he was in Serbia.
Two ICTY indictees in Serbia surrendered to the Tribunal; however,
approximately 16 ICTY indictees with ties to the country remained at
large, including key indictee Radko Mladic. The ICTY claimed that
Government authorities warned Goran Hadzic, the only Serbian national
indicted during the year, of a secret indictment against him in order
to enable him to flee and avoid arrest. Hadzic's whereabouts remained
unknown at year's end.
SaM and Serbian Governments have made progress in compliance with
document requests from the ICTY and in facilitation of the testimony of
witnesses. SaM's National Cooperation Council (NCC) transferred
hundreds of pages of documents to the ICTY's Office of the Prosecutor
during the year; however, a number of requests from the ICTY remained
outstanding at year's end. At year's end, the NCC had enabled the
testimony of 62 witnesses through the granting of waivers that freed
potential witnesses from local prosecution under state secrets laws.
During the year, domestic war crimes indictments and trials
continued in Serbia (see Section 1.e.).
There was no autonomous human rights ombudsman at either the SaM or
the republic level; however, Vojvodina Province has an ombudsman, who
operated independently during the year. The office of the Vojvodina
ombudsman made assessments and recommendations during the year
concerning the rights of minorities, the rights of the child, gender
equality and prisons. Over the 12-month period starting in November
2003, the ombudsman's office received 265 written complaints from
citizens, of which it resolved 188, according to the ombudsman's annual
report.
There is one government-controlled human rights entity, the Legal
Aid Office of the SaM Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, which
assisted citizens with human rights complaints.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
SaM and Serbian laws provide for equal rights for all citizens,
regardless of ethnic group, language, or social status, and prohibit
discrimination against women; however, discrimination against women and
ethnic minorities was a problem.
Women.--Violence against women was a problem, and high levels of
domestic violence persisted. Domestic violence is a crime punishable by
a prison sentence of from 6 months to 10 years, depending on the
seriousness of the offense, and a minimum of 10 years if death results.
By one estimate, half of all women suffered physical or emotional
abuse. The few official agencies dedicated to coping with family
violence had inadequate resources; however, public recognition of the
problem has increased. Spousal rape is a criminal offense; however, few
victims filed complaints with the authorities. Victim accusations are
not required for prosecution of domestic violence cases, and
prosecutions of such cases did occur during the year. According to a
victims' rights advocate, police response to domestic violence has
improved markedly; a number of police officers provided assistance to
female victims of violence and detained offenders to protect victims.
Rape was a problem. Rape, including spousal rape, is punishable by
1 year to the legal maximum sentence (currently 40 years' imprisonment)
for a simple case, a minimum of 3 years for an aggravated case, and a
minimum of 5 years if death results or the victim is a minor. Only a
small proportion of rapes are reported because victims fear that they
will not be protected, that their attackers may take revenge, or that
they will be humiliated in court.
The Center for Autonomous Women's Rights in Belgrade offered a rape
and spousal abuse hotline, and sponsored a number of self help groups.
The Center also offered assistance to refugee women (mostly Serb), many
of who experienced extreme abuse or rape during the conflicts in the
former Yugoslavia. The Counseling Center Against Family Violence
operated a domestic violence shelter partly funded by the Government.
Prostitution is illegal.
Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation
remained a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment was a problem, but there was little awareness of
the issue. It is a crime punishable by a fine or up to 6 months'
imprisonment for a simple case and by up to 1 year's imprisonment for
abuse of a subordinate or dependent. While women's social status was
not equal to men's, women served in high-level positions in government,
politics, and professional occupations, though they were not well
represented in commerce. In urban areas, such as Belgrade, Nis, and
Novi Sad, women were represented widely in many professions including
law, academia, and medicine. Women were also active in journalism,
politics, and human rights organizations. Since regulations now allow
women to serve as police officers, the police hired increasing numbers
of women officers. Women legally were entitled to equal pay for equal
work; however, according to the International Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights, women's average wage was 11 percent lower than the
average wage of men.
Traditional patriarchal ideas of gender roles, particularly in
rural areas, subjected women to discrimination in many homes. In remote
rural areas, particularly among some minority communities, women
effectively lacked the ability to exercise their right to control
property. In rural areas and some minority communities, it was common
for husbands to direct the voting of wives.
During the year, the Government established the Council for Gender
Equality, but it was still being constituted at year's end. There is
also a parliamentary committee for gender equality. The Vojvodina
Government has a Secretariat for Labor, Employment, and Gender
Equality.
Children.--The Government was committed to the rights and welfare
of children. The educational system provided 9 years of free, mandatory
schooling. However, economic distress affected children adversely in
the education system, particularly Romani children, who rarely attended
kindergarten. Approximately 99.8 percent of children attended school,
according to one Government survey; however, the Government
acknowledged that many transient Roma were missed by the survey. During
the year, 48 elementary and secondary schools offered weekly Romani
language and culture classes, in which 1,336 students participated.
Free medical care was available in Government clinics, including
free medicines from a limited list of covered drugs. Boys and girls had
equal access to medical care.
It was estimated that approximately 30 percent of children were
abused. While teachers were instructed to report suspected child abuse
cases, they often did not do so. Police were generally responsive to
complaints, and prosecutions of child abuse cases occurred during the
year. Psychological and legal assistance was available for victims, and
there was an incest trauma center. Also, victims who were with their
mothers could stay in the domestic violence shelter.
Trafficking of children for the purpose of sexual exploitation
remained a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). Some Romani children
were trafficked within the Romani community in Serbia and to other Roma
abroad to be used in begging and theft rings.
UNICEF worked with eight local NGOs to promote children's rights. A
ninth NGO, Beosupport, led the working group for combating trafficking
in children, a subgroup of the Serbian Antitrafficking Team. The
project ``Living Together'' is a joint effort of seven local NGOs,
coordinated by the Child Rights Center Belgrade, that focused on
encouraging youth of different backgrounds to overcome barriers to
living together peacefully.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons remained a problem. The penalty for
trafficking is imprisonment of 1 to 10 years for a single offense, 3 to
40 years for multiple offenses, and 5 to 40 years if a minor is
involved or if a victim is killed.
The Government prosecuted trafficking cases during the year;
however, sentences issued tended to be lenient. There were at least six
trials of traffickers, mostly with multiple defendants, ongoing or
completed by October 15; however, poor tracking of cases begun prior to
the year made it difficult to determine the actual total. On August 30,
the trial of 10 persons began in the Belgrade Special Court for
Fighting Organized Crime; the defendants were charged with criminal
conspiracy and trafficking of women from Serbia to Italy, where the
women were forced into prostitution. The trial was ongoing at year's
end. One trial, which began in 2003 on trafficking-related charges
against the organizer of a trafficking ring and 12 accomplices,
resulted in all 13 defendants being convicted; the maximum sentence,
issued to the organizer, was to 3 years in prison. The convictions were
being appealed at year's end.
During the year, police filed 24 criminal complaints for
trafficking against 51 persons. By year's end, two of these criminal
complaints had resulted in six individuals being sentenced to between 2
and 3 years in prison. Another 4 of the cases resulted in indictments,
15 were under investigation by the judiciary, and 3 cases were rejected
by the judiciary.
The Serbian Antitrafficking Team, led by Serbian Antitrafficking
Coordinator Dusan Zlokas (Chief of the Border Police), incorporated
government agencies, NGOs, and international organizations. Government
participants are the Supreme Court, Public Prosecutors Office, Interpol
Belgrade, the MUP, the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Issues,
the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of
Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (SaM level), and the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights (SaM
level). During the year, the Serbian Antitrafficking Team added a focus
on child trafficking to its mandate. The Government assisted in
international investigations of human trafficking and participated in a
regional antitrafficking operation.
The country was a transit country, and to a lesser extent a country
of origin and a destination country, for trafficking in women and girls
for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Serbia was primarily a transit
country for internationally trafficked women going to Kosovo, Croatia,
BiH, Albania, and Western Europe. The primary source countries for
trafficking in persons were Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, Russia, and
Bulgaria. According to an NGO study published during the year, there
were at least 2,000 trafficking victims in or who passed through
Serbia, including women trafficked for sexual exploitation, children in
begging rings, and exploited seasonal agricultural laborers.
According to preliminary results of a study by the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), the Government, NGOs, or
international organizations assisted 39 foreign trafficking victims
(including 8 minors) in Serbia during the year, while about 15 Serbian
victims (including 7 minors) had been assisted in SaM or elsewhere in
the region. The study found more victims of labor exploitation than of
sexual exploitation among foreign victims; the balance was not clear
for Serbian victims. The 24 trafficking complaints police filed during
the year involved 35 victims, including 22 minors. Of these minors, 13
(12 females and 1 male) were sexually exploited, 8 (4 males and 4
females), were used for begging, and 1 was forced into marriage. Eight
of the 22 minors were Roma (6 used for begging, 2 for sexual
exploitation). Only one minor victim was a foreigner (Bulgarian). All
adult victims were female: 10 from SaM, 2 from Ukraine, and 1 from
Romania.
Serbia did not traditionally serve as a major source country for
trafficked women, but poor economic conditions have increased Serbian
women's vulnerability to traffickers, particularly for Roma.
Trafficking of children by Roma for use in begging or theft rings was a
problem.
Recruitment enticements included advertisements for escorts,
marriage offers, and offers of employment. Often women knowingly went
to work as prostitutes and later became trafficking victims. Women were
recruited, transported, sold, and controlled by international organized
crime networks. The main points in Serbia for holding and transferring
trafficked women were the Belgrade suburbs and Pancevo.
There were no reports of government officials condoning or
participating in trafficking in Serbia. During the year, one police
officer was indicted for facilitating prostitution; he was suspended
and awaiting trial at year's end.
During the year, the government Agency for Coordination of
Protection to Victims was established to ensure the correct
identification of victims and their subsequent referral to assistance
providers. A second trafficking shelter was established during the year
exclusively for domestic victims, leaving the original shelter, run by
the Counseling Center Against Family Violence, to assist foreign
victims. The antitrafficking NGO Astra ran a hotline for trafficking
victims. NGOs and volunteers provided legal, medical, psychological,
and other assistance to victims. The IOM managed repatriation of
victims and assisted in the reintegration of local victims. It also ran
a regional clearing center for information on trafficking victims,
which operated in government-donated offices in Belgrade. During the
year, the MUP formalized temporary residence for victims; in the past,
this had been handled unofficially. Authorities encouraged victims to
participate in trials of traffickers and did not prosecute victims.
There were numerous public awareness efforts, including broadcast
of a locally produced trafficking documentary, education for teens and
orphans held at the 150 government social work centers, broadcast of a
U.N.-provided antitrafficking public service announcement, introduction
of antitrafficking education into the curriculum for high school
students, and many local television and radio spots.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services; however, in
practice, facilities for persons with mental or physical disabilities
were inadequate, and addressing this problem was not a priority for the
Government. There were specialized schools for persons with
disabilities, but no special facilities or assistance was available for
higher education. A high unemployment rate and lack of accommodations
for persons with disabilities made employment difficult. The law
mandates access for persons with disabilities to new public buildings,
and the Government generally enforced this provision in practice. As
sidewalks were replaced, the Government installed wheelchair ramps at
intersections. The Government provided mobile voting for voters unable
to come to polling stations due to disability or illness.
There is a government agency for assistance to war veterans with
disabilities; however, there was no general assistance office for those
with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Minorities constituted 25 to 30
percent of Serbia's population and included Hungarians, Bosniaks, Roma,
Slovaks, Romanians, Vlachs, Bulgarians, Croats, Albanians, and others.
The number of antiminority incidents in Serbia's northern province
of Vojvodina increased markedly after the SRS won a plurality of votes
in Serbian parliamentary elections in December 2003. While the
incidents consisted mainly of vandalism targeting cemeteries, homes,
churches, and cultural sites, there were also death threats and
assaults (see Section 2.c.). For example, on April 9, Bela Csorba, Vice
President of the Hungarian Democratic Party of Vojvodina, found a 12-
inch kitchen knife wrapped in paper slipped under his door. Attached to
the weapon was a note in Serbian, ``we will slaughter you.'' On
September 28, an ethnic Hungarian high school student was beaten by a
Serb student at whom he smiled on the bus. According to an eyewitness
and the victim, the Serb boy said, ``no Hungarian has ever smiled at me
and none will ever do so!'' Other boys joined in the beating, and when
friends of the victim tried to help him, they were beaten as well.
Police identified the aggressors and filed charges against them.
The pace and seriousness of incidents peaked before republicwide
local and Vojvodina provincial elections in September, then declined to
a relatively low level. The targets were mainly ethnic Hungarians and
ethnic Croats--the two largest minorities in Vojvodina--but other
groups have also been affected, including Slovaks, Ruthenians,
Romanians, Roma, Ashkali, Jews, and Chinese. The affected minorities
complained that police were not sufficiently active in pursuing
perpetrators and sometimes blamed the victim; because of these
problems, the Vojvodina Province Secretary for Minorities reportedly
began meetings with police concerning the attacks and preventive
measures to be taken. As a result of these reported meetings, police
patrols were increased in some trouble spots, but police response
remained inconsistent.
In September, Prime Minister Kostunica formed the Council for
National Minorities, which is mandated to monitor minority rights and
to consider draft laws and regulations important for exercising those
rights. The Council, which the Prime Minister chairs, included the
presidents of each of the individual national minority councils, as
well as the Ministers of Culture, Education, Administration and Local
Government, Religion, Justice, and Internal Affairs. In October, the
SaM and Hungarian governments agreed to establish a permanent bilateral
commission to address concerns of the Hungarian minority in Serbia
(mostly in Vojvodina) and the Serbian minority in Hungary; the
Commission held its first meeting on December 8.
There were a few reports of police inattention to the security of
the ethnic Albanian population in southern Serbia, in particular
failure to respond adequately to the several armed highway robberies
between May and July by masked men who claimed to be members of the
extremist Albanian National Army (AKSh). The perpetrators demanded
money from cars with foreign license plates (presumed ethnic Albanian
guest workers returning to Kosovo for the summer holidays). In one
incident, robbers shot at a car that refused to stop, killing one
passenger and injuring three others. After this incident, the police
reportedly arrested some of the perpetrators, but the ethnic Albanian
community complained that the police had ignored their complaints about
the robberies before the fatal incident brought public attention to the
problem. There continued to be sporadic reports of physical abuse or
brutality by the police, but there was no noticeable increase over
previous years.
Ethnic Albanian leaders of the southern Serbian municipalities of
Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja continued to complain about the
underrepresentation of ethnic Albanians in government structures.
Southern Serbia's ethnic Albanians have proportional representation in
the multiethnic police force in southern Serbia and control of local
governments in municipalities where they constituted a majority.
In December, the privatization agency approved the sale of a public
company in southern Serbia to an ethnic Albanian amnestied member of
the Liberation Army for Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB)--
reportedly the first sale of a public company to an ethnic Albanian.
The following day, members of the local municipal assembly called on
Prime Minister Kostunica to block the sale ``to protect the national
interest.'' The privatization agency quickly withdrew its approval on
the grounds that there was only one qualified bidder, although a number
of other single-bid privatizations had gone through. The bidder
complained that the sale was overturned on ethnic grounds.
The MUP joined with OSCE, the Coordination Body for Southern
Serbia, and municipal leaders to form a working group to deal with
concerns between the ethnic Albanian community and police.
The SaM Minorities Law recognizes the Roma as a national minority
and explicitly prohibits discrimination against them; however, Roma
continued to be targets of numerous incidents of police violence,
verbal and physical harassment from ordinary citizens, and societal
discrimination. Police often did not investigate cases of societal
violence against Roma. At year's end, two persons were on trial for a
2003 incident in which Roma were beaten; a separate juvenile proceeding
was conducted for a minor who was also involved in the beating.
Many Roma lived illegally in squatter settlements that lacked basic
services such as schools, medical care, water, and sewage facilities.
Some of these settlements were located on valuable industrial or
commercial sites where private owners wanted to resume control; others
were on the premises of state-owned enterprises due to be privatized.
There were no reports of Romani settlements being closed during the
year; one settlement on privatized land in Belgrade was scheduled to be
demolished, but the action was suspended pending location of
alternative housing for the IDPs and other Roma living there. On August
6, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), the HLC, and the Center for
Minority Rights of Belgrade filed a criminal complaint in connection
with the August 2003 attack by 6 villagers on an extended Romani family
of Muslim faith in Luzane. The attack followed years of threats and
slurs against the family's ethnicity and religion by non-Romani
neighbors. The police report of the attack was incomplete and
inaccurate, and there was no indication that police would provide
protection in future, so the 36-member family moved away.
In 2003, the Belgrade City Assembly adopted a plan to construct 58
small settlements for socially vulnerable persons with the objective of
resettling some of the Roma from illegal settlements; however, no
settlements have been built because of opposition by neighbors of the
sites.
Romani IDPs from Kosovo were particularly subject to discrimination
and abuse (see Section 2.d.). Some non-Romani refugees and IDPs also
suffered from discrimination.
Romani education remained a problem. Many Romani children did not
attend primary school, either for family reasons, because they were
judged to be unqualified, or because of societal prejudice. Due to the
lack of primary schooling, many Romani children did not learn to speak
Serbian. Some Romani children were placed mistakenly in schools for
children with emotional disabilities because Romani language, and
cultural norms made it difficult for them to succeed on standardized
tests in Serbian. The UNHCR, with government support, began health
education programs for Roma and catch-up and head-start programs for
Romani children. The SaM Government emphasized increasing enrollment of
Romani children in school. During the year, there were 70 Romani
children in middle schools and 69 Roma in vocational colleges and
universities.
In reaction to widespread anti-Serb violence by ethnic Albanians
(who are primarily Muslim) in Kosovo in mid-March, two mosques in
Serbia--attended by Bosniaks, Roma, and others--were burned (see
Section 2.c.). There were also more than 40 incidents in Vojvodina of
attacks on property of ethnic Albanians and Bosniak Muslims following
the Kosovo violence. In the most serious Vojvodina attack, two Molotov
cocktails were thrown at a bakery.
The SaM Ministry for Human and Minority Rights ran an ``SOS''
hotline for minorities and others concerned about human rights
problems. In July, the Ministry, in conjunction with OSCE and a local
NGO, hosted a regional conference on ``Tolerance above All'' in
Belgrade.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Serbia's homosexual
community stayed hidden due to fears of violence and discrimination.
The one occasion the community was visible--when it held a gay pride
parade in 2002--the event was violently broken up, with police
assisting the attackers. Slurs against homosexuals appeared in the
media.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--The law prohibits
dissemination of information that incites violence, hatred, or
discrimination; however, propaganda against ``sects'' continued in the
press, and religious leaders noted that instances of vandalism often
occurred soon after such press reports. Some texts used in military and
police academies contained propaganda against religious sects.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of all
workers, except military and police personnel, to join or form unions
of their choosing, subject to restrictions including approval by the
Ministry of Labor and a statement from the employer that the union
leader is a full-time employee, which reportedly was tantamount to an
employer approval requirement. A state-affiliated trade union
federation continued to dominate organized labor, due to preference for
unions belonging to it by the managements of the state-owned industries
that dominated the economy. Smaller federations of independent trade
unions competed with the government-affiliated federation, but were
successful in doing so primarily in the relatively small proportion of
the formal nonagricultural economy that is not state-owned. In the
state-owned sector, 60 to 70 percent of workers belonged to unions. In
the private sector, only 4 to 6 percent were unionized, and in
agriculture approximately 3 percent.
The criminal code does not prohibit antiunion discrimination, and
it was not a significant problem during the year. While it did not
provide any specific examples of problems, the Nezavisnost national
trade union center made generalized allegations to the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions that its members in Serbia were
exposed to ``harassment and persecution'' by company managers and the
Government and that two-thirds of applications for the registration of
local Nezavisnost branches were delayed by the authorities for longer
than the time limit set by law. Nezavisnost asserted that company
managers prohibited the operation of the unions and their entry to
company premises on the grounds that they were not registered and
claimed there were reports of workers having their pay docked, being
transferred to lower-paid positions, or being threatened and even
assaulted after joining Nezavisnost. Local independent labor experts
could not corroborate these claims. According to an independent labor
expert, about 20 Nezavisnost members were prevented from working at one
tractor factory in 2003, resulting in one violent skirmish. According
to the labor expert, there were no incidents of company managers
harassing union members during the year. Granting of applications for
labor registration was, on occasion, delayed by 1 or 2 months, but
often the delay was due to incomplete applications.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The right to organize and
bargain collectively was recognized and exercised freely in practice. A
union must have 15 percent of employees as members in order to
negotiate with an employer or 10 percent of all employees to negotiate
with the Government.
The law provides for the right to strike, and unions held several
strikes during the year; however, the law restricts strikes by
employees in ``essential service production enterprises,'' such as
education, electric power, and postal services--approximately 50
percent of all employees. These employees must announce their strikes
at least 15 days in advance and ensure that a ``minimum level of work''
is provided.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5, Trafficking and
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment is 16, although in villages and farming
communities it was common to find younger children at work assisting
their families. Children--particularly Roma--also could be found in a
variety of unofficial retail jobs, typically washing car windows or
selling small items such as newspapers; however, in recent years, this
type of labor has been less widespread because adults, lacking other
options for employment, have taken many of these jobs. Romani children
were often forced by their families into manual labor, compelled to
beg, or trafficked abroad to work in begging or theft rings. The Labor
Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Issues
checked for child labor during its inspections; however, the Ministry
stated it found no violations during the year. The Ministry also
included prevention of child labor in its regular child and family
protection programs.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage of
approximately $95 (5,600 dinars) per month did not provide a decent
standard of living for a worker and family.
The standard workweek of 40 hours was generally followed in state-
owned enterprises but not in private companies. The law provides that
an employee may not work overtime for more than 4 hours a day or for
more than 240 hours within a calendar year. For an 8-hour workday, one
30-minute break is required. At least 12 hours of break are required
between shifts during the workweek, and at least 24 hours of break are
required over the weekend. Payment of overtime--50 percent above
regular pay--was regulated by collective agreements.
It is mandatory for each company to establish a safety and security
unit to implement safety and security regulations; however, in
practice, these units often focused on rudimentary aspects of safety,
such as purchasing soaps and detergents, rather than on providing
safety equipment for workers. By some estimates, there were 20,000
workplace injuries annually in Serbia, with approximately 100
fatalities. Workers do not have the right to remove themselves from
situations that endangered health or safety without jeopardy to their
employment.
kosovo
Kosovo is administered by the U.N. Interim Administrative Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK) pursuant to U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolution
1244. UNMIK promulgates regulations to address the civil and legal
responsibilities of governmental entities and private individuals, and
ratifies laws passed by the Kosovo Assembly. UNMIK promulgated the
Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self Government in Kosovo (the
Constitutional Framework), which defined the Provisional Institutions
of Self Government (PISG). Kosovo has a multiparty political system
with four dominant ethnic Albanian parties and several minority parties
and coalitions. In October, Kosovo Assembly elections were held that
were determined to be generally free and fair. The Constitutional
Framework provides for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary
continued to be plagued by instances of favoritism and outside
influence, particularly in many interethnic cases.
The U.N.-authorized, NATO-led peacekeeping force for Kosovo (KFOR)
continued to carry out its mandate to maintain a safe and secure
environment and defend against external threats. UNMIK Civilian Police
continued to transfer basic police authority and functions to the local
Kosovo Police Service (KPS). The Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC),
comprised largely of demilitarized former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
members, continued to develop its capacity as a civilian civil
emergency response agency. UNMIK international civilian authorities and
KFOR leadership generally maintained effective control over security
forces; however, there were reports that elements of the security
forces acted independently of their respective authority. Some members
of the international and local security forces committed human rights
abuses.
The economy, in transition from a centrally directed to a market -
based economy, was built primarily on agriculture, mining-related
industries, and construction services, and was heavily dependent on
foreign assistance. The estimated population was 2.3 million, although
demographic figures were unreliable in the absence of a recent census.
Economic growth was approximately 3.5 percent for the year.
Unemployment estimates ranged from 30 to 50 percent among ethnic
Albanians and higher among Kosovo Serbs and other ethnic communities.
Wage increases generally kept pace with inflation.
UNMIK and the PISG generally respected the human rights of Kosovo's
residents; however, there were serious problems in some areas,
especially relating to Kosovo Serbs. KFOR and UNMIK police were
responsible for killing several protesters during riots in March after
the protestors failed to heed prior warnings and threatened the
international security officials or those they were protecting. Several
killings resulted from attacks that appeared to be ethnically
motivated, and some perpetrators of the killings were arrested during
the year. One death and several injuries resulted from landmines and,
particularly, from unexploded ordnance (UXO). Lengthy pretrial
detention was a problem, and the judiciary did not always provide due
process. UNMIK occasionally limited freedom of assembly and forcibly
dispersed some demonstrations. Religious tensions persisted. Freedom of
movement for ethnic minorities, particularly Kosovo Serbs, continued to
be a serious problem. Violence and discrimination against women
remained significant problems. Trafficking in persons, particularly
women for sexual exploitation, was a serious problem. Persons with
mental and physical disabilities faced social discrimination. Severe
societal violence, abuse, and discrimination against minority
communities were serious problems, particularly during the March riots.
Child labor was a growing problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by UNMIK, the PISG, KFOR, or their
agents; however, in March, KFOR and UNMIK Police were responsible for
killing several Albanian protesters during riots while defending
themselves, Kosovo Serbs and other minorities from violent mobs (see
Sections 2.b. and 5). On April 17, an UNMIK special police officer
fired upon a group of 24 UNMIK corrections officers while they were
leaving the Mitrovica Detention Center, killing 3 and injuring 11. A
subsequent investigation determined that the perpetrator, who died of
injuries sustained during the incident, acted alone.
Landmines and UXO from the 1999 conflict remained a problem,
particularly in rural areas. During the year, UXO or landmines killed 1
person and seriously injured 13, compared with 3 fatalities and 16
serious injuries in 2003. UXO, particularly the remains of NATO cluster
bombs, was the main threat.
A small, loosely organized group of ``Bridgewatchers'' remained
intact but largely inactive in Mitrovica. They were present on the
Austerlitz Bridge during the March riots, but were not linked to human
rights abuses as in previous years.
KPS and UNMIK Police officers investigating sensitive or
politically related crimes were frequently targeted. For example, on
March 23, KPS officer Arsim Rustolli and Ghanaian UNMIK Police officer
Kojo Essuman were killed during an attack on their patrol in Podujeve/
Podujevo municipality and four Kosovo Albanians were awaiting trial on
resulting charges at year's end.
Three Kosovar Albanian men suspected of involvement in the March
killings of an international and Kosovar police officer were
transferred into UNMIK custody on June 8 after being arrested in
Albania. The suspects include Florim Ejupi, Kosovo's most wanted
fugitive who escaped from the KFOR Camp Bondsteel detention facility
after being arrested in connection with the Merdare February 2001 bus
bombing near Podujeve/Podujevo that left 11 Serbs dead and 40 wounded.
There were allegedly politically motivated killings of Kosovo
Albanians. For example, on March 17, unknown persons killed the father
of Avni Elezaj, a former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighter and
former bodyguard of Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) President
Ramush Haradinaj.
There were also allegedly ethnically motivated killings of Serbs
during the year, especially during the March riots. The March riots
resulted in the 20 deaths including of 8 ethnic Serbs and 12 ethnic
Albanians. On February 19, the police and KFOR found two Serb corpses
in Lipjan/Ljipljane with gunshot wounds inside a civilian vehicle
parked on the road. On June 5, 17-year-old Serb Dimitrije Popovic was
shot and killed, and another Serb teenager was seriously injured, in a
drive-by shooting. KPS officers immediately arrested two young
Albanians--Albert Krasniqi and Labinot Gashi--both of whom confessed to
the crime and were awaiting trial at year's end.
There were no developments in the following 2003 killings: The
killing of two witnesses in the Dukagjini group case, Tahir Zemaj in
January and Ilir Selimaj in April; the August sniper killing of UNMIK
police officer Satish Menon; the September killing of KPS officer
Hajdar Ahmeti; and the September killing of KPS officer Agim Makolli.
UNMIK police announced that Bedri Krasniqi was wanted in connection
with the November 2003 killing of KPS members Sebahate Tolaj and Isuf
Haklaj.
No arrests were made by year's end for the 2002 killings of Smajl
Hajdaraj or of Ilir Selimaj and his pregnant sister-in-law.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances; however, criminal kidnappings for ransom took place and
thousands of persons remained missing from the 1999 war.
During the year, the Prizren prosecutor's office announced arrest
warrants for two former Serb policemen, Goran Janjusevic and Slavisa
Milkovic, suspected of committing war crimes against the civilian
population in the Prizren region, including the kidnapping and killing
of Ardian Zyrnagjiu during the 1999 conflict. The suspects remained at
large at year's end.
Approximately 3,200 persons remained missing from the Kosovo
conflict at year's end, of whom 77 percent were Albanian, 17 percent
were Serb, and 6 percent were from other ethnic groups. During the
year, UNMIK's Office of Missing Persons and Forensics (OMPF) continued
the identification of the remains of missing persons in Kosovo. From
its establishment in 2002 through the end of the year, the OMPF
performed 1,170 exhumations and conducted 858 autopsies. Many bodies of
missing persons have been recovered and the focus was on establishing
the identities of the exhumed remains so that they can be returned to
their families for burial. By the end of the year, the OMPF submitted
2,160 bone samples to the International Commission on Missing Persons
(ICMP) to identify remains through DNA testing, which had returned 797
results.
The OMPF continued to cooperate with the Government of Serbia to
receive identified remains of Kosovo victims from the 1999 war found in
mass graves in Serbia; however, progress was slow. The OMPF received
849 bodies transferred from the Republic of Serbia, most of which were
returned to families for burial, including 641 ethnic Albanians and 98
from non-Albanian communities. Associations of families of the missing
held a series of protests on August 30 and November 3 to 5 demanding
that the Government of Serbia immediately return over 200 sets of
identified remains to Kosovo and open Serbia's government files on
missing persons. The missing persons technical dialogue between
officials in Pristina and Belgrade was hindered for political reasons,
but UNMIK was working to resume the dialogue at year's end.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitutional Framework and Criminal Procedure Code
prohibit such practices, and there were no reports that UNMIK, KFOR, or
the PISG officials employed them.
On February 16, KFOR authorities arrested KPC Commander General
Selim Krasniqi and three other KPC officers on suspicion of involvement
in abusing innocent persons in the Prizren area in 1998.
During the year, some KPC members were suspected of involvement in
misconduct; however, the extent of KPC leadership involvement was
unclear. During the year, the 12 KPC members suspected in December 2003
were reinstated because the police investigation failed to find
sufficient evidence of criminal activity.
There were reports of attacks and threats against Kosovo Albanian
political and institutional figures as well as Kosovo Albanian
individuals. For example, on February 21, an explosive device in a
vehicle in the town of Peje/Pec injured Kosovo Minister of Environment
and Spatial Planning Ethem Ceku, two AAK party officials, and two KPC
members. On June 30, unknown assailants attacked a member of the
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) presidency branch in Peja/Pec, Rexhe
Krasniqi. No suspects were identified by year's end; however, credible
observers often blamed such attacks on rival political party members.
Nonpolitical motives, including clan rivalry and common criminality,
were also suspected in some cases.
Serbs, Roma, Ashkali, and other minorities were subjected to
societal abuses on a regular basis, including attacks by violent mobs
during the March riots (see Section 5). For example, on March 5, three
Kosovo Albanians beat a Kosovo Serb who was traveling on a train near
south Mitrovica.
There were some credible reports of politically motivated attempts
to intimidate UNMIK officials and KFOR officers. For example, on March
24, a hand grenade was thrown towards the Mitrovica main bridge from
the majority-Serb northern side and two KFOR soldiers sustained minor
injuries. In August, a Serb, Zivorad Cvetkovic, was sentenced to 5
years in prison for the crime.
Prisons generally met international standards, and UNMIK permitted
visits by independent human rights observers. Prison and detention
center conditions were generally good and did not pose a serious threat
to life or health. Facilities were at times overcrowded; however, the
construction of two new facilities began during the year. UNMIK
operated eight facilities (Prizren, Mitrovica, Pristina, Gnjilane,
Peja/Pec, Lipjan, and Dubrava--blocks one and two) with a total
capacity of 1,356 inmates. UNMIK Police corrections officers managed
the prison system and increasingly transferred responsibilities to the
local Kosovo Correctional Service (KCS).
UNMIK has implemented the recommendations contained in the 2003
report of an independent commission to improve hygienic conditions in
Dubrava Prison, rectify the lack of educational and recreational
activities, provide additional training for local correctional staff,
and improve institutional and management processes; however, funding
constraints were a problem.
Women were held separately from men, and juveniles were held
separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were held separately from
convicted prisoners and those awaiting appeal of their convictions.
High-risk prisoners were held in a special block of the Dubrava prison.
Prisoners were permitted to vote in the October elections.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitutional Framework and
Criminal Procedure Code prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and
UNMIK, KFOR, and the PISG generally observed these prohibitions in
practice.
UNMIK Police continued to transfer police authority and functions
to the KPS, while maintaining oversight. The KPC continued to train and
develop its disaster response skills and undertook humanitarian
projects. An international commissioner of police directed both the
UNMIK police and the KPS. The combined force was generally effective.
Minority membership in the KPS was approximately 15 percent at year's
end. Corruption in the security forces was a problem, particularly in
the KPS border police.
An UNMIK Office of Oversight investigated corruption in UNMIK, and
the criminal justice system. The judicial system effectively prosecuted
members of the security forces who committed abuses. The KPS
Professional Standards Unit (PSU), run by UNMIK Police, conducted 100
disciplinary investigations against KPS officers for participating in
or failing to prevent violence in the March riots; most of these
investigations were still ongoing at year's end. One officer was
terminated for her participation in an assault against a minority
family. While the local criminal justice system generally did a poor
job of investigating, arresting, and convicting perpetrators of crimes
against minorities, the UNMIK Department of Justice tracked over 300
criminal proceedings associated with the March riots during the year
(see Section 1.e.). Some international NGOs also accused KFOR and UNMIK
police of failing to prevent the March riots.
Police generally openly arrested a suspect using a warrant issued
by a judge or prosecutor; however, in certain high security cases,
suspects were arrested secretly by masked or undercover police
officers. All arrests must be based on prosecutor orders and arrestees
must be brought before a judge within 72 hours; however, there were
reports that UNMIK police used this authority as a means of minor
punishment with no intention of filing charges, particularly in the
case of petty offenders. Based on the new criminal code that came into
effect on April 6, a suspect has the right to be informed about the
reasons for the arrest in a language that he or she understands; to
remain silent and not to answer any questions, except about his or her
identity; to free assistance of an interpreter; to defense counsel and
to have defense counsel provided if he or she cannot afford to pay for
legal assistance; to medical treatment including psychiatric treatment;
and to notify a family member. These rights were generally respected in
practice.
Although KFOR did not require arrest warrants, its arrest processes
were generally transparent. However, KFOR detention practices were not
always fully transparent. For example, the attorney for Shukri Buja, a
former KLA commander arrested after the March riots, complained that he
had difficulty locating his client. The KFOR Commander may intervene to
extend the detention of persons not charged with a crime or ordered
released by the courts in increments of 30 days. On May 4, KFOR
extended the detention of former KLA commander Sami Lushtaku at Camp
Bondsteel under suspicion of involvement in the March riots and for
numerous weapons-related charges. He was later released and all charges
were dropped.
A detainee may be held in pretrial detention for a maximum period
of 1 month from the day of arrest, which can be extended by the courts
up to a total of 18 months. The new criminal code introduced on April 6
includes measures to decrease the need for pretrial detention, such as
house arrest, an appeal for detention on remand, and expanded use of
bail. However, a backlog of pretrial detainees remained; approximately
2,000 persons were detained on remand during the year. UNMIK
established a commission to compensate persons held in detention who
were later found not guilty.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitutional Framework
provides for an independent judiciary; however, the local judiciary was
at times subject to bias and outside influence, particularly in
interethnic cases, and did not always provide due process. Legal
authority is held by UNMIK under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244.
UNMIK police and justice worked with local judges and prosecutors,
while maintaining executive responsibility for judicial system
planning, policymaking, operations, management, administration,
coordination, and monitoring. There were credible reports of corruption
within the local judiciary, and allegations that courts, including the
Supreme Court, deferred to the Government in some cases.
The court system includes a Supreme Court, 5 District Courts, 24
Municipal Courts, and a Commercial Court. There were 18 international
judges and 8 international prosecutors who were appointed by UNMIK to
handle interethnic and other sensitive cases. At year's end, there were
21,668 criminal cases unresolved in the municipal courts, and 2,371
criminal cases unresolved in the district courts.
The Government of Serbia continued to fund and manage a parallel
judicial system in Serb enclaves in violation of U.N. Security Council
Resolution 1244.
UNMIK, through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), maintained several organizations to increase the
professionalism of the judicial corps. The Kosovo Judicial Institute
continued to train judges and prosecutors. The Judicial Inspection Unit
continued to monitor judicial performance and make recommendations on
discipline and training. The Kosovo Judicial and Prosecutorial Council
(KJPC) was responsible for the review of cases of judicial misconduct.
Since 2001, KJPC opened 458 investigations and found some evidence of
misconduct in 41 cases, resulting in 7 reprimands and 10
recommendations for removal.
Although the law provides that serious cases are tried by a panel
of five judges (two professional judges and three lay judges), an UNMIK
regulation provides that cases of a sensitive ethnic or political
nature may be tried by international prosecutors, possibly before a
three-member panel of professional international judges. Of the 232
active cases handled by International Prosecutors during the year,
approximately 79 were tried before international judges, which
typically resulted in a conviction rate of over 90 percent.
The local bar association, the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates (KCA),
remained weak, but was improving. The OSCE started a local NGO, the
Criminal Defense Resource Center, to assist the KCA in capacity
building. Some Kosovo Serb lawyers participated in the legal system,
and the Serbian Bar Association continued to provide free legal
assistance for Kosovo Serb defendants in Kosovo. In addition, the OSCE
provided security and logistical support, such as secure transportation
to Serb attorneys who represented Serb defendants in Kosovo courts.
UNMIK regulations and the Constitutional Framework provide for the
right to a fair trial, and the international and local judiciary
generally enforced this right; however, legal experts and human rights
observers continued to express concern that the fairness of trials was
a problem in criminal cases involving ethnic minorities prosecuted or
tried by Kosovo Albanian judicial personnel, so such cases were
routinely assigned to international judicial personnel. Trials were
public, and the law provides for the right of defendants to be present
at their trials, to confront witnesses, to see evidence, and to have
legal representation, at public expense if necessary. Defendants are
presumed innocent until proven guilty and have the right of appeal.
There are no jury trials; cases are heard by panels consisting of
professional and lay judges.
The Judicial Integration Section, created by the UNMIK Department
of Justice in 2003 to promote the ethnic integration of judges and
prosecutors into the Kosovo legal system, continued to address access
to justice problems affecting minorities, to monitor the treatment of
minorities in the justice system, to address instances of
discrimination, and to facilitate the integration of court support
staff. A special Court Liaison Office (CLO) continued to facilitate
access to justice for minority communities in the Serbian enclave of
Gracanica, Pristina Municipality. The CLO enhanced access to justice by
accompanying minorities to courts, filing documents with courts on
behalf of minorities, and providing information regarding court access.
During 2004, the CLO in Gracanica dealt with 1,656 requests for
assistance. In addition, UNMIK opened a Department of the Pristina
Municipal Court in Gracanica staffed by two judges to further increase
minority access to the Kosovo justice system.
Kosovo's investigative, judicial, and penal systems, in addition to
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY),
continued to identify and punish perpetrators of war crimes from the
1999 conflict; however, many cases remained unresolved. Domestic war
crimes trials continued in local Kosovo courts to adjudicate
approximately 38 cases of alleged war crimes and genocide arising from
the 1999 conflict. For example, Ejup Rujeva was tried by a panel of
international judges in the Pristina district court for alleged war
crimes, kidnapping, and murder of civilians in February and March of
1999; the trial was ongoing at year's end.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
The UNMIK Housing and Property Directorate (HPD) has responsibility
for restitution or compensation for takings of private property
associated with the 1999 war. HPD continued to adjudicate property
claims, produce legally binding decisions, evict illegal occupants,
restore property to 1999 occupants, and administer property on behalf
of owners not in Kosovo. HPD shifted its focus to incorporate the
return of displaced persons into its previously exclusive focus on
property law implementation, and in the past year referred successful
claimants to returns assistance NGOs. During the year, HPD resolved
approximately 918 claims per month and carried out a total of
approximately 440 evictions (illegal occupants often vacate a property
prior to eviction). HPD established a call center to increase outreach
to successful claimants, contacting approximately 9,565 claimants
during the year. Of the approximate 29,000 claims received by the
intake deadline of July 1, 2003, HPD had resolved 23,055 by year's end.
In Mitrovica, Kosovo Serbs in the northern part of the city
continued to illegally occupy Kosovo Albanian properties, while Kosovo
Albanians in the southern part of Mitrovica also denied Kosovo Serbs
access to their property. By year's end, the HPD had made a decision on
730 of the 1,324 property claims in Mitrovica North, Leposavic, and
Zvecan and started implementation of the decisions regarding evictions.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--UNMIK regulations and the Constitutional Framework
prohibits such actions, and UNMIK, KFOR, and the PISG generally
respected these prohibitions in practice; however, some individuals and
local NGOs accused KFOR of using excessive force in executing searches
in private homes. On August 4, KFOR announced an investigation against
seven members of KFOR for allegedly exceeding their authority during a
search for suspects in the March riots. The soldiers were subsequently
reprimanded and repatriated.
An UNMIK regulation on Covert and Technical Measures of
Surveillance and Investigation permits police to conduct covert
operations with the prior written approval of an investigative judge or
public prosecutor. No abuses were reported during the year.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--UNMIK regulations and the
Constitutional Framework provide for freedom of speech and of the
press, and UNMIK, KFOR, and the PISG generally respected these rights
in practice and did not restrict academic freedom; however, there were
some allegations of interference with freedom of speech and press by
both UNMIK and the PISG, particularly during the March riots.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without restriction. Most print and broadcast media were
independent but regulated by UNMIK. Print media did not have a large
circulation; broadcast media appeared to be more influential.
UNMIK controlled broadcasting infrastructure through the Department
of Post and Telecommunications, while the OSCE oversaw the Department
of Media Affairs. UNMIK also regulated the conduct and organization of
both broadcast and print media and established the office of the
Temporary Media Commissioner (TMC) and the Media Appeals Board. The TMC
was responsible for publishing a broadcast code of conduct, issuing
licenses, and imposing sanctions up to and including closing down
offending media organs in the event of violations of UNMIK regulations
or published codes of conduct; however, the TMC believed the codes need
to be updated. For example, the codes failed to adequately protect the
privacy of children and crime victims. The Constitutional Framework
provides for an Independent Media Commission (IMC) and a Board of the
Public Broadcasters independent of the PISG. During the year, UNMIK
worked with the PISG to transition the TMC to an IMC and the
establishment of a Board of Public Broadcasters; however, the law
establishing an IMC was not finalized by year's end. An Assembly-
mandated Committee on the Media was established during the year, but
its competencies passed to a wider-range Committee on Public Services,
Local Administration, and Media following the October elections.
While most print and broadcast media followed accepted journalistic
principles, there were some exceptions. In October, the TMC published a
report criticizing print media for failing to provide fair and equal
representation for all political parties, including minority parties,
during the electoral campaign. The TMC received one complaint of a
threat against journalists. On August 24, an anonymous e-mail was sent
``on behalf of all Muslim believers'' to the Radio Television Kosovo
(RTK) and TV 21 demanding that they cease the broadcast of two soap
operas.
During the March riots, the Association of Professional Journalists
in Kosovo claimed that the TMC's visit to three Kosovo-wide TV stations
was interference with the press and also claimed that UNMIK police and
KFOR blocked the antenna signal of TV Mitrovica. The local Gjila/
Gnjilane TV station Men charged that, on April 15, UNMIK police
surrounded the station and confiscated material recorded during the
March riots. On July 13, the TMC, Robert Gillete, stated that the
interference by police and prosecutors in the work of media, in
particular the confiscation of TV tapes, was endangering journalistic
freedom of speech. UNMIK regulations prohibit hate speech and speech
that incites ethnic violence, as well as newspaper articles that might
encourage criminal activity or violence. Following several credible
reports by international observers harshly criticizing print and
especially electronic media for biased coverage and incitement during
March riots, the TMC settled cases with three Kosovo-wide TV stations
(RTK, KTV, and TV21) on December 17 by obtaining agreement from the
stations to spend more than $ 675,000 (500,000 euros) on additional
training for reporters and editors.
UNMIK regulations prohibit the publication in both the print and
broadcast media of personal information that would pose a threat to the
life, property, or security of persons through vigilante justice or
otherwise. On June 22, the Pristina Municipal Court found the Bota Sot
editor Bajrush Morina guilty of publishing false information on PDK
member Xhavit Haliti, who was indirectly accused of the killing of
Tahir Zemaj in January 2003; Morina was fined $ 1,823 (1,350 euros).
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--UNMIK regulations
and the Constitutional Framework provide for freedom of assembly and
association, and UNMIK, KFOR, and the PISG generally respected these
rights in practice; however, UNMIK police used deadly force to control
the March riots and protect themselves and others. Demonstration
organizers were required to notify UNMIK 48 hours in advance for police
coordination. UNMIK police estimated that hundreds of thousands of
persons took part in protests, demonstrations, and road blocks during
the year, including 59 instances in March and 197 instances throughout
the rest of the year, constituting a 150 percent increase in
demonstrations over previous years. On August 30, the International Day
of the Disappeared, UNMIK police forcibly removed approximately 50
family members of missing persons who were blocking the main road in
downtown Pristina and protesting the slow progress on resolving the
fate of the missing from the 1999 conflict (see Section 1.b.).
The March riots involved an estimated 50,000 to 75,000
demonstrators over 2 days in every major city in Kosovo. During the
March riots, measures taken by KFOR and UNMIK police to protect
themselves and others as well as to control the crowds resulted in
several deaths of Albanian protesters and some allegations of police
abuse. For example, an UNMIK police officer shot and killed a protester
in Peja/Pec municipality while defending Serbian residents from Kosovar
Albanian rioters. No legal charges were brought against KFOR soldiers
or UNMIK police related to their actions during the March riots.
UNMIK granted registration for political parties and NGOs
routinely.
c. Freedom of Religion.--UNMIK regulations and the Constitutional
Framework provide for freedom of religion, and UNMIK and the PISG
generally respected this right in practice.
There are no specific licensing regulations with regard to
religious groups; however, in order to purchase property or receive
funding from UNMIK or other international organizations, religious
organizations must register as NGOs.
The majority of the population was Muslim with significant numbers
of Serbian Orthodox and Roman Catholics, and a small Protestant
minority.
Religious identity and ethnicity were closely intertwined. Kosovo
Serbs identified themselves with the Serbian Orthodox Church, which
influenced not only their religious but also their cultural,
historical, and political outlook. The close connection between
religion and ethnicity affected the religious liberty of the Serb
community (see Section 5). Significant parts of the Kosovo Albanian
community continued to view the Serbian Orthodox Church with hostility
and suspicion due to its political alignment with the Government of
Serbia's policy toward Kosovo. Differences between Muslim, Catholic,
and Protestant communities tended to be overshadowed by a common ethnic
Albanian heritage.
Numerous serious attacks on Serbian Orthodox churches and
cemeteries occurred during the March riots, resulting in extensive
property damage, including the destruction or damage of 30 Orthodox
religious sites and over 900 houses and businesses of ethnic
minorities. Several of the burned churches and monasteries dated from
the 14th century and were considered part of the cultural and religious
heritage of the region. A Council of Europe mission assessed that
approximately $13.1 million (9.7 million euros) would be required to
repair and restore the damaged religious sites. Following the riots,
KFOR deployed security contingents at religious sites throughout Kosovo
to protect them from further destruction. In some areas KFOR resumed
static checkpoints and increased protective measures and improved KFOR
visibility. Nevertheless, sporadic attacks against ethnic minority
property continued.
On April 2, Kosovo Albanian leaders issued a public letter
condemning the riots and calling for rebuilding interethnic relations;
however, with the exception of former Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi,
most Kosovo Albanian political leaders were criticized for their slow
response to minority needs following the riots.
Monks and nuns at some monasteries were unable to use parts of
monastery properties due to safety concerns. Serb families with
relatives living in both Kosovo and Serbia were hindered by security
concerns from traveling to join their relatives for religious holidays
or ceremonies, including weddings and funerals. Bishop Artemije
Radosavljevic, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, remained
in a monastery in the Kosovo Serb enclave of Gracanica; the Bishop's
residence in Prizren was burned during the March riots. During the
year, UNMIK police and KFOR provided security to improve mobility. For
example, on February 14, police escorted 107 Serbs to visit the local
monastery and cemetery in Ferizaj/Urosevac.
The Islamic Community of Kosovo alleged that UNMIK's denial of a
radio frequency for an Islamic radio station, the closing of a prayer
room in the national library, and the refusal of Pristina municipality
to grant public land to build a mosque were examples of a lack of
religious freedom; however, municipal authorities claimed that 13
mosques have been built in Pristina since the war.
In 2003, a female student was banned from wearing an Islamic
headscarf on school premises. The Ministry of Education's position was
that the law prohibited activities promoting any specific religion in
public education institutions. The student appealed to the Kosovo
Ombudsperson who released a nonbinding opinion that the Ministry's
interpretation should only apply to schoolteachers or officials, not to
students.
Protestants reported discrimination in access to the media,
particularly by RTK. The absence of attacks on Protestants and their
religious buildings during the March riots was, according to their
leadership, a sign of increasing acceptance by the Kosovo public.
The PISG allocated $5.7 million (4.2 million euros) for the first
phase of reconstruction for 30 churches damaged during the March riots,
but the Serbian Orthodox Church declined to cooperate with UNMIK on a
transparent tender process to disburse the funds.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and
Repatriation.--UNMIK regulations and the Constitutional Framework
provide for freedom of movement; however, interethnic tensions and
security concerns restricted freedom of movement in practice, and
UNMIK, KFOR, and the PISG generally failed to protect these rights for
minority communities.
No special documents were required for internal movement; however,
Kosovo Serbs, and to a lesser extent other minority communities, had
considerable difficulty moving about safely without an international
security escort. Following the March riots, KFOR and UNMIK police
restricted movement in most of the affected areas and selectively
imposed temporary curfews. Kosovo Serbs were frequently subjected to
stonings and other low-level violence by Kosovo Albanians. Examples of
stonings included: Busses en route to Skopje in September, October and
December; a group of children on their way to elementary school in
September; a commuter train used mainly by Kosovo Serbs as it passed
though a Kosovo Albanian inhabited area in October; and a convoy
escorted by KFOR when passing through Decan town in December.
In order to improve freedom of movement by rendering Serb and
Albanian vehicles indistinguishable from each other, UNMIK continued to
offer Kosovo license plates to Kosovo Serbs for no fee if they had
already paid for vehicle registration in Serbia, but the Government of
Serbia did not endorse the program. The deadline for registering
vehicles with Kosovo plates was postponed to allow Kosovo Serbs to take
advantage of the offer. UNMIK regulations provide that the Central
Civil Registry may issue travel documents to any person registered as a
resident of Kosovo. Since 2000, UNMIK has issued approximately 1.3
million identity documents, 500,000 travel documents, and 235,000
driver's licenses. Although there were more than 103,000 minorities,
including 71,000 Serbs, in the civil registry, fewer than 1,000 applied
for UNMIK travel documents. Kosovo Serbs often received Serbian
identity and travel documents in addition to UNMIK issued Kosovo
identity documents. Many Kosovo Albanians also obtained Serbian
documents to enable travel beyond the countries that recognized the
UNMIK travel documents. UNMIK and the PISG did not restrict emigration
or repatriation.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the authorities did not employ
it.
Since 1999, just over 910,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs)
and refugees have returned or been repatriated, mostly ethnic
Albanians; however, few IDPs returned during the year. Some
international agencies and NGOs continued to organize small-scale
return projects, which experienced setbacks as a result of the March
riots. UNHCR estimated that 230,000 members of ethnic minority
communities were displaced during the 1999 conflict. A total of 12,218
returned to Kosovo by year's end, it was unclear how many of the
230,000 persons originally displaced had returned or had integrated
locally in Serbia by year's end. According to UNHCR, 2,302 minorities
returned to Kosovo during the year, a 39 percent decrease from the
3,801 minority returns in 2003. This marked the first decline since
1999, a difference largely attributable to the impact of the March
riots. Although the overall number of minority returns decreased during
the year, a higher number of Roma, Bosniaks, and Goranis returned
during the year compared to 2003. Of the additional 4,000 Serbs and
Ashkali displaced during the March riots, 1,864 had not yet returned to
their homes by year's end. The PISG reconstructed over 90 percent of
the over 900 houses damaged or destroyed during the March riots, but
many remained unoccupied at year's end.
The prospect for returns varied considerably according to region
and ethnic group. The ability to speak the language of the majority
community as well as the level of contact between IDPs and their
neighbors prior to the conflict greatly affected the returnees' chances
for reintegration. During the March riots, the Ashkali neighborhood in
Vushtrri/Vucitrn was burned and looted, and its inhabitants took
shelter at a KFOR base. Many refused to return by year's end. Many of
those displaced in March, including Ashkali residents and Serbs, were
displaced and had their homes burned for the second time.
The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol; however, UNMIK granted
displaced persons with status as ``persons with temporary protection in
Kosovo.'' In practice, UNMIK provided protection against refoulement,
the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution;
however, UNMIK did not grant refugee status or asylum. UNMIK cooperated
with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
UNMIK regulations and the Constitutional Framework provide
residents with the right to change their government peacefully, and
they exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair
elections on the basis of universal suffrage. Kosovo continued to be
administered under the civil authority of UNMIK. A UNSC Resolution
declared that the people of Kosovo shall be afforded ``substantial
autonomy and self-government.'' UNMIK and its chief administrator, the
Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), established an
international civil administration in 1999, following the conclusion of
the NATO military campaign that forced the withdrawal of Serbian
forces. In 2001, UNMIK promulgated the constitutional framework for the
PISG (the Constitutional Framework). The PISG is made up of a 120-
member Kosovo Assembly, which after the October elections again
selected Ibrahim Rugova as President of Kosovo and Ramush Haradinaj as
the new Prime Minister, as well as ministers and other government
officials from several ethnic communities. Kosovo's leaders criticized
UNMIK for the slow pace of transfer of powers to the PISG.
UNMIK and the OSCE registered approximately 1.4 million voters for
the October Assembly elections. Only residents of Kosovo and those who
were residents of Kosovo on January 1, 1998 were eligible to vote. All
of Kosovo's ethnic communities participated in the election, although
Serb participation was minimal. Some Serb leaders enforced the strategy
of election boycott as a political tool in the Assembly elections
through intimidation and implicit threats of violence and loss of
social benefits against Serb voters, especially in the majority-Serb
northern municipalities. The OSCE transferred considerable election
administration authority for the first time to a locally staffed
Central Election Commission, which conducted the October election while
OSCE officials maintained oversight. International and domestic
observers determined that the 2004 Assembly elections were generally
free and fair.
Kosovo has a multiparty system dominated by four virtually
monoethnic Albanian parties. There were also several minority parties
and coalitions. The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) continued to be
the most popular political party in Kosovo, but fell short of the
majority required to form the central government on its own. The LDK
formed a governing coalition with the AAK, led by Ramush Haradinaj, and
the Six Plus parliamentary group, a coalition of Turkish and Bosniak
parties. The leading political parties in the opposition were the PDK,
led by Hashim Thaci, and ORA, led by Veton Surroj. The nearly complete
Serb boycott of the October elections left the two Kosovo Serb parties,
the Serbian List for Kosovo and Metohija--successor to the Povratak
Coalition--and the Citizens' Initiative of Serbia, with a combined 10
Assembly seats set aside for Serbs by the Constitutional Framework.
Party affiliation played an important role in access to government
services and social opportunities. Traditional social arrangements and
clan loyalties also played an important, though unofficial role in
Kosovo's social and political organization.
Under UNMIK regulations, individuals may nominate themselves as
candidates to their parties, which must hold open and transparent
internal elections to select their candidate lists. LDK and PDK all but
ignored this requirement at their party conventions. UNMIK rejected
calls by some political parties and civil society to implement an
electoral system featuring an open candidate list (by which voters
would cast ballots for individuals rather than political entities) and
some variety of geographic districting.
There were reports of attacks and threats against Kosovo Albanian
political and institutional figures (see Section 1.c.).
There was a widespread public perception of corruption in both the
PISG and UNMIK. There were credible reports of irregularities involving
the PISG's handling of its first international bid for a mobile phone
license. During the year, two international officials at the Pristina
airport were arrested on money-laundering charges.
In November 2003, UNMIK promulgated the Law on the Access to
Official Documents; however, the law exempts UNMIK documents and was
rarely used.
Following the October elections, there were 36 women in the 120-
seat Assembly. Women must occupy every third spot on each political
party's candidate list. Following the election, there were no women on
the eight-member Assembly Presidency and only one woman served in the
Prime Minister's Cabinet. Women represented 28 percent of the elected
municipal representatives.
The Constitutional Framework requires that the Assembly reserve 10
seats for Serbs and 10 for members of Kosovo's other ethnic
communities, but ethnic minorities were underrepresented at the
municipal level. Following the October elections, there were 21 ethnic
minority members in the 120-seat Assembly, including 10 Serbs and 11
members of Kosovo's other ethnic communities, including Turks,
Bosniaks, Gorani, Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians. There were three ethnic
minority PISG ministers, two Serb and one Bosniak, and three deputy
ministers. One Serb and one Turk held seats on the Assembly Presidency.
At year's end, Serbs had not yet claimed their set-aside cabinet posts
and continued to boycott the Kosovo Assembly.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without restriction, investigating and publishing
findings on human rights cases. UNMIK, KFOR, and the PISG were
generally cooperative and responsive to their views.
UNMIK registered more than 2,871 NGOs, including approximately
2,469 domestic and 402 international NGOs; 794 have been granted Public
Benefit Status (tax exemption).
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) coordinated
training and projects for the KPC in collaboration with other NGOs.
Human rights observers, including those of the OSCE and some local
NGOs, were active in documenting ethnically or politically motivated
killings, attacks, and incidents of intimidation.
UNMIK, KFOR, and the PISG generally cooperated with the ICTY
regarding crimes committed during the 1999 conflict. The ICTY trial of
Fatmir Limaj, PDK caucus leader, and two other Albanians, began in
November. The ICTY announced it may issue additional war crimes
indictments of Kosovo Albanians; however, it had not done so by year's
end. ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte announced on several
occasions that the Hague Tribunal was investigating additional Kosovo
cases, but cited several difficulties, such as unwillingness of
Albanians to testify, witness intimidation, lack of written documents,
and lack of cooperation from local and international structures.
The Kosovo Omudsperson Institution (OI) investigated allegations of
government abuses of international human rights laws. The OI had a
multiethnic staff and was active in issuing reports and
recommendations. Its recommendations were rarely followed by UNMIK,
particularly UNMIK police, but cooperation improved after the March
riots. The OI reported that 2,967 persons contacted the OI resulting in
34 investigations and 22 reports during the year. The OI had no
authority to intervene in cases against KFOR. Since 2001, the OI has
maintained that Regulation 2000/47 on UNMIK and KFOR Status,
Privileges, and Immunities was in violation of internationally
recognized human rights. On May 4, the OI criticized KFOR for having
resumed objectionable detention practices (see section 1.c.).
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
UNMIK regulations specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis
of gender, race, or ethnic origin; however, violence and discrimination
against women, persons with disabilities, and ethnic minorities
persisted. On August 25, UNMIK promulgated the Law Against
Discrimination approved by the Kosovo Assembly. Minority communities,
particularly Kosovo Serbs, were subject to severe social, economic, and
cultural discrimination, as well as intimidation and occasional
violence. On March 17 and 18, violent mobs targeted Serbs and other
minority communities, as well as Orthodox Churches, in the widespread
destruction and violence that swept across Kosovo. In addition, Kosovo
Albanians were forced from their homes in some places where they were
the minority.
Women.--Violence against women, including rape and a high level of
domestic violence and spousal abuse, remained a serious and persistent
problem. UNMIK regulations prohibit domestic violence and carry prison
terms of 6 months to 5 years. Several court orders were issued during
the year to protect victims of domestic violence.
Domestic abuse of women was common, and legal allegations and
prosecutions involving domestic violence increased for the second year.
The Center for Protection of Women and Children (CPWC), a local NGO,
estimated that it received approximately 4,700 requests for assistance
from victims of violence during the year. UNMIK DOJ Victim Advocacy and
Assistance Unit (VAAU) victim advocates were involved in 765 domestic
violence cases. The Kosovo judicial system processed 188 cases of
domestic violence during the year; 52 of the 53 completed cases
resulted in convictions, with sentences ranging from judicial
reprimands to imprisonment. Traditional social attitudes towards women
may contribute to the high level of domestic abuse and low number of
reported cases. The OSCE, the Office of the Prime Minister, and the
UNMIK Department of Justice launched a public information campaign On
November 25 to help raise awareness. The KPS School included special
training segments on domestic violence and rape in its curriculum.
UNMIK regulations criminalize rape. On April 6, a new criminal code
was implemented, including a comprehensive chapter with increased
punishments for rape and sexual assaults; however, spousal rape was not
specifically addressed. Rape was underreported significantly due to the
cultural stigma attached to victims and their families. According to
UNMIK, victim advocates provided services to victims in 31 cases of
rape. During the year, courts processed 42 cases of rape resulting in
52 convictions, some cases involving multiple defendants.
There were no governmental agencies dedicated to dealing with
family violence; however, four shelters assisted victims of domestic
violence and trafficking, two run by local NGOS and two by
international NGOs. Several domestic and international NGOs pursued
activities to assist women; however, they were constrained by a
tradition of silence about domestic violence, sexual abuse, and rape.
The law prohibits prostitution, but prostitution remained
prevalent. The UNMIK Police Trafficking and Prostitution Investigation
Unit (TPIU) actively investigated cases of prostitution and suspected
trafficking in persons (see Section 5, Trafficking). Trafficking in
women for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a serious problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
There was no specific law against sexual harassment. Social
awareness of sexual harassment remained low, and few cases were
reported.
Women have the same legal rights as men, but traditionally not the
same social status, which affected their treatment within the legal
system. Despite a lack of legal impediments, relatively few women
obtained upper-level management positions in commerce or government.
Traditional social attitudes toward women resulted in discrimination.
In some rural areas, women often had little ability to make decisions
involving their children or to exercise control over property. While
women and men have equal rights to inherit property under Kosovo law,
family property customarily passes only to men. Albanian widows,
particularly in rural areas, risked losing custody of their children
due to a custom calling for children and property to pass to the
deceased father's family, while the widow returns to her birth family.
In June, UNMIK ratified the Law on Gender Equality, the first law
initiated by an Assembly committee rather than by the Government. The
UNMIK Office of Gender Affairs coordinated gender issues. During the
year, UNMIK transferred authority over 26 Albanian and 4 Serb municipal
gender officers to the Office of Gender Issues in the Prime Minister's
Office of Good Governance. Ministries completed the appointment of
ministry-specific ``gender focal points''; however, officials who also
held unrelated responsibilities often ignored gender issues.
UNMIK police and the OSCE continued an outreach campaign to recruit
women for the KPS, in which they made up 15 percent of KPS membership.
However, only approximately 77 out of 3,000 active duty KPC members
were women (3 percent). Women continued to be active in politics, and
several women served as heads of domestic NGOs. While the number of
women with jobs continued to increase, female unemployment remained
high at around 70 percent, and very few rose to senior levels,
including in the KPS or other government organizations.
Children.--UNMIK and the PISG were generally committed to the
welfare and rights of children. The Ministry of Education, Science, and
Technology and the Ministry of Health shared responsibility for issues
related to child education and health; however, no one in the
government dealt specifically with the issue of children's rights. A
new Juvenile Justice Code entered into effect on April 20.
UNMIK regulations made enrollment in public school mandatory for
children between the ages of 6 and 15, with some exceptions; however,
some children from minority communities did not attend school due to
security concerns. Primary education was compulsory, free, and
universal. According to the Ministry of Education, the vast majority of
school-age children under 15 attended school. Forty-six percent of
children attended the nonobligatory secondary school, 43 percent of
whom were female. Some children were forced to leave school early to
work (see Section 6.d.).
UNMIK regulations require equal conditions for school children of
all communities and accommodated minority populations by providing the
right to native-language public education through secondary level.
Schools teaching Serbian, Bosnian, and Turkish languages operated
during the year. Enrollment for both Serb and Albanian children at the
primary level was almost universal; however, at the secondary level,
there was a marked gender and ethnic disparity, with lower rates of
attendance and completion for Kosovo Albanian girls than for Kosovo
Albanian boys or Kosovo Serb girls. A lack of freedom of movement and
reluctance to depart from a Belgrade based curriculum led Kosovo Serb
children to attend neighborhood schools that were sometimes housed in
inadequate facilities and lacked basic equipment. Few schools in Kosovo
house both Serb and Albanian pupils, who study different curricula.
UNMIK regulations provided for the licensing and funding of the
Serb-run North Mitrovica University; however, UNMIK revoked its license
during the year because of the illegal appointment of a new rector.
This situation had not been resolved by year's end.
Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian children attended mixed schools with
ethnic Albanian children but reportedly faced intimidation in some
majority Albanian areas. Romani children tended to be disadvantaged by
poverty, leading many to start work at an early age to contribute to
family income. Bosniak children were able to obtain some primary
education in their own language, but faced a lack of trained Bosniak
teachers. The Ministry also provided an expedited registration process
for displaced minority children at the secondary and the higher
education levels. On August 30, the OSCE and the Ministry of Education,
Science, and Technology concluded a 4-week training course for 28
Romani teachers to establish a Romani minority curriculum. Albanian IDP
children were not allowed access to the local school in the village of
Biti in the majority-Serb Strpce municipality.
Humanitarian aid officials primarily blamed a high rate of infant
and childhood mortality, as well as increasing epidemics of preventable
diseases, on poverty that led to malnutrition, poor hygiene, and poor
public sanitation. Public health conditions were especially poor among
displaced persons and parts of the Romani community.
There were reports of child abuse, although it was not believed to
be widespread. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW) operated
31 centers for social welfare that assisted 1,200 orphans, 1,100
delinquent children, 50 abused children, and 120 children with
behavioral problems during the year. The MLSW also managed foster homes
and coordinated with NGOs to place children in the temporary shelters.
High unemployment and family dislocation resulted in a high rate of
child abandonment. Since the domestic adoption rate and foster family
programs did not keep pace with the rate of abandonment, infants and
children were sometimes housed in group homes with few caretakers.
Since the end of war in 1999, Kosovars reportedly have abandoned 450
children, largely due to poverty, low level of education, and unwanted
or unplanned pregnancy. Children with disabilities were often hidden
away without proper care, particularly in rural areas. Children and
their families, mostly Serbs, remained displaced following the 1999
war, and additional families were displaced following the March riots.
Child labor was a serious problem (see Section 6.d.). Children were
trafficked to and through Kosovo for the purpose of sexual exploitation
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
The Kosovo Child Rights Forum broadened its membership to include
eight local and seven international NGOs during the year to address the
gap in coordination among NGOs on children's issues. Save the Children
initiated an advocacy project together with the local NGO, HANDIKOS,
promoting rights of children with special needs. A Coordinator for
Children's Rights was also appointed in the Prime Minister's Office of
Good Governance and in the Ministry of Education.
Trafficking in Persons.--UNMIK regulations criminalize trafficking
in persons; however, trafficking of women and children remained a
serious problem. There was evidence of both international and local
official involvement in trafficking.
Conviction for trafficking in persons is punishable by 2 to 20
years in prison. Engaging or attempting to engage in trafficking is
punishable by 2 to 12 years in prison, or up to 15 years if the victim
is a minor; organizing a group to engage in trafficking is punishable
by 5 to 20 years in prison; facilitating trafficking through negligence
is punishable by 6 months to 5 years in prison. A client engaging in
sex with a victim of trafficking may be sentenced for up to 5 years in
prison, while sex with a trafficked minor carries penalties of up to 10
years in prison. The sentence for sexual intercourse through use of
violence (rape) is 1 to 10 years in prison; for sexual intercourse with
a girl under 14 is 1 to 5 years in prison. Penalties are slightly more
severe under the trafficking regulation and can apply to perpetrators
not directly involved in sexual relations.
Efforts were made by UNMIK, the PISG, international organizations,
and NGOs to combat trafficking. Despite considerable improvements to
UNMIK's antitrafficking efforts during the year, low prosecution rates
and sentence lengths, as well as failure of police to adapt to new
techniques increasingly employed by traffickers, were serious problems.
UNMIK's Trafficking and Prostitution Investigation Unit (TPIU) arrested
56 persons for trafficking in human beings and made another 21 arrests
for trafficking related offenses, resulting in 39 new trafficking cases
filed by the office of the prosecutor. While precise data was not
available at year's end, the majority of such cases resulted in
convictions. In November, KPS officers, with assistance from the TPIU,
arrested five Kosovo Albanians suspected of human trafficking; three of
the defendants were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of 2 to 4
years. Victims often elected repatriation before testifying against
traffickers, which undermined effective prosecutions. The low rate of
convictions and short sentences further compounded this reluctance to
testify. Other factors that contributed to the low number of
prosecutions included the increasing sophistication of organized crime
efforts to avoid direct links between the victims and senior crime
figures, lack of a witness protection program, and inadequate training
for judicial personnel.
Coordination of the antitrafficking effort is the responsibility of
UNMIK police, including TPIU, KPS, and border police, UNMIK Department
of Justice, including the UNMIK's VAAU, the OSCE, the Prime Minister's
Office of Good Governance, and the Ministries of Health, Education,
Public Services, and Labor and Social Welfare. UNMIK actively
investigated trafficking. During the year, the TPIU conducted 60 raids,
477 regular operations, and 25 covert operations, and inspected 2,386
premises, resulting in a list of 206 off-limits premises and the
closing of 76 premises suspected of involvement in trafficking.
Kosovo is a source, transit, and destination point for trafficked
persons. Internal trafficking was a growing problem. As in previous
years, the vast majority of victims were women and children trafficked
from Eastern Europe into Kosovo for the purpose of sexual exploitation,
and through Kosovo to Macedonia, Albania, and Western Europe. There are
no reliable statistics of the overall scale of the trafficking problem
in Kosovo. CPWC assisted 59 victims of trafficking during the year, of
whom 88 percent were female, 70 percent were minors, 84 percent were
residents, and 78 percent were Albanians. The IOM, which primarily
focused on cross-border trafficking, assisted 58 victims, including 17
locals. IOM figures indicated that about half of Kosovar victims were
internally trafficked, followed by about 20 percent to Macedonia, 10
percent to Albania and Italy, and 6 percent to other destinations in
Western Europe. The TPIU worked with both of these organizations and
others to assist a combined total of 48 victims, of whom 11 were
residents and 32 were repatriated to their countries of origin, mainly
Moldova and Albania.
International victims were trafficked to Kosovo almost exclusively
from Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union.
According to IOM, over 50 percent of assisted international victims
trafficked into Kosovo since 2000 were from Moldova, 22 percent from
Romania, 13 percent from Ukraine, and the rest from Bulgaria, Albania,
Russia, and Serbia, while just under 5 percent were originally from
Kosovo. Serbia was the entry point into Kosovo for 55 percent of
trafficking victims, Macedonia for 24 percent, and Albania for 5
percent. Women from Moldova have also been trafficked into Kosovo
through Austria and Switzerland. Some women were trafficked through
Kosovo to Macedonia, Albania, Italy, and other Western European
destinations.
According to CPWC, Kosovar victims were overwhelmingly women under
age 18 from poor, ethnic Albanian families. Based on the experiences of
local victims assisted by IOM since 2002, a large number of victims
were minors (62 percent), particularly young girls between the ages of
13 and 15; the youngest reported victim was 12 years old. The overall
number of cases involving minors increased during the year. Local
children and young girls from rural areas were particularly at risk of
being trafficked, as were those from urban areas plagued with a high
level of poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. According to a 2003 IOM
report, prior abuse in the family and financial hardship were the
strongest determining factors for potential victims of trafficking; 70
percent of victims were poor and over 80 percent lacked a high school
education. Their families reportedly sold some victims.
Most trafficking in Kosovo was conducted for the purpose of sexual
exploitation, but some victims were also subjected to forced labor
through domestic servitude or in bars and restaurants. Trafficking
victims worked primarily in the sex industry, mostly in brothels and
nightclubs, and increasingly in private residences. Less than 5 percent
reported that they were aware that they would be working in the sex
industry when they left their homes. Trafficking victims reported that
they were regularly subjected to beatings, rape, denial of access to
health care, and confiscation of their travel and identity documents.
Victims were often found in poor health and psychological condition.
Victims reported being beaten in 79 percent of cases examined by the
IOM.
Methods of trafficking increased in sophistication. In reaction to
an aggressive eradication campaign by the TPIU, traffickers
increasingly shifted the commercial sex trade out of public bars and
clubs and into private homes, where operations were more difficult to
detect. Traffickers increasingly used financial incentives to encourage
victims of trafficking to refuse assistance. The IOM reported that of
the 409 (mostly international) victims it has assisted since 2000, 75
percent were recruited through false job promises, while 8 percent were
forced or kidnapped. In 45 percent of the cases, the recruiter was an
acquaintance of the victim, and in about 10 percent of the cases, the
recruiter was a friend or family friend. Recruiters were more often
female than male. The pattern for Kosovar victims differed somewhat;
fewer Kosovar victims (33 percent) were recruited through false job
promises, and more (25 percent) through force or false marriage
proposals (20 percent).
Traffickers often worked as part of a coordinated effort between
Kosovo Serb and Kosovo Albanian organized crime elements, with Serbia
acting as a particularly active transit hub for trafficked victims from
Eastern Europe into and through Kosovo. The Kosovo Organized Crime
Bureau (KOCB) was responsible for investigating these cases but had not
yet developed adequate cooperation mechanisms with specialized units
such as the TPIU. Bar and brothel owners purchased victims from
organized crime rings. The majority of clients of women trafficked for
sexual exploitation were young men. Approximately 80 percent of the
clients of women trafficked for sexual exploitation were local
residents, while approximately 20 percent were international persons.
Amnesty International (AI) released a report in May arguing that the
presence of peacekeepers in Kosovo fueled the sexual exploitation of
women and encouraged trafficking, and that some peacekeepers were
directly involved in trafficking. The report claimed that international
personnel made up about 20 percent of the persons using trafficked
women and girls, even though its members comprise only 2 percent of
Kosovo's population.
The PISG and UNMIK international administration acknowledged the
problem of trafficking in persons, and made strong efforts to address
the problem in practice. UNMIK and PISG authorities do not officially
condone trafficking; however, there was anecdotal evidence that such
practices occurred. Some local prosecutors reported instances in which
the same lawyer represented an accused trafficker as well as the
victim. Also, anecdotal evidence suggested the existence of a complex
set of financial relationships and kinship ties between both political
leaders and organized crime networks that have financial interests in
trafficking. At year's end, there were 200 establishments on UNMIK's
list of off-limits premises, with 70 percent of those in Prizren and
Gnjilane, close to the Macedonia and Albania borders. There were no
cases of international personnel caught in the act of soliciting or
engaging in prostitution; however, 5 KFOR soldiers in Mitrovica and an
UNMIK police commander were found in off-limits premises and sent home
in 2003. The June 2003 case against an UNMIK police officer and three
Kosovo Albanians arrested on suspicion of involvement in a child
prostitution ring was dismissed due to insufficient evidence gathered
from the victims' testimony. However, the investigation of a Pakistani
officer involved in the case was ongoing at year's end.
Responsibility for victim assistance fell mostly to the PISG, but
lacking adequate capacity and resources, it was led by international
and local NGOs. While UNMIK, the OSCE, and the IOM did not directly
provide shelter for domestic victims, they worked with international
and local NGOs, such as UMCOR and CPWC, which operated shelters that
provided medical care and psychological counseling services to victims
of trafficking. An interim secure facility also provided temporary
shelter to victims while they considered whether to be repatriated or
to testify against traffickers. Police through OSCE regional officers
referred suspected victims to the IOM for an initial interview.
Increased awareness of trafficking led to considerable progress on
victim protection. UNMIK regulations provided a defense for victims of
trafficking against criminal charges of prostitution and illegal border
crossing; however, a few local judges sometimes incorrectly sentenced
trafficking victims to jail. Some local judges wrongly issued
deportation orders against women convicted of prostitution or lack of
documents; however, UNMIK did not enforce such deportation orders.
Victims who did not accept assistance from the IOM were released but
were subject to rearrest, short jail sentences, and deportation if they
continued to work as prostitutes. Victims were encouraged to provide
information for criminal prosecutions. UNMIK's VAAU provided legal
counsel and assistance to trafficking victims. According to the TPIU,
almost all victims were reluctant to testify in court in front of their
traffickers and were permitted to provide evidence directly to
prosecutors with IOM representatives or other advocates present. Lack
of adequate witness protection remained a serious problem throughout
the Kosovo criminal justice system. Cultural taboos and the threat of
social discrimination caused most repatriated Kosovar victims to remain
silent about their experience.
Prevention campaigns were led by international organizations and
NGOs, particularly the IOM, which worked to increase local awareness
and to prevent trafficking. The Prime Minister's Office of Good
Governance in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, developed
antitrafficking educational materials used in elementary and secondary
school curricula. The IOM completed public awareness campaigns to
prevent trafficking in 2003 and worked on another campaign targeting
vulnerable populations, especially young women. The VAAU leads UNMIK's
role on education efforts to prevent trafficking, including the
establishment of a hotline for victims of trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--UNMIK regulations prohibit
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment,
education, access to health care, and in the provision of other state
services; however, there was considerable discrimination in practice
despite some improvements during the year. Other laws addressed aspects
of disability issues, such as a law on pensions for persons with
disabilities over the age of 18, and on education that provided
separate classrooms for persons with disabilities; however, in
practice, these laws were not yet fully implemented and faced practical
obstacles, such as lack of transportation for children with special
needs, lack of a centralized commission to evaluate children's needs,
inadequate facilities, and crowded classrooms.
Relevant ministries were responsible for protecting the rights of
persons with disabilities, including the Ministries of Education,
Health, Social Welfare, and Public Services. There were no specific
social welfare provisions for the estimated 14,000 persons with mental
disabilities. The law did not meet international standards and there
was no expertise on the issue of the rights of persons with
disabilities. There continued to be no guardianship laws with
appropriate due process protections. For instance, the law does not
recognize the placement of individuals in institutions and treatment
against their will (involuntary treatment) as two different legal
issues. High unemployment rates placed particular burdens on job
seekers with disabilities. The law mandates access to official
buildings; however, it was not enforced in practice.
In the absence of UNMIK and PISG social services for persons with
disabilities, the local NGO Handikos was the only provider of extensive
services for persons with physical disabilities in Kosovo; however,
Handikos had no presence in the Serb-dominated northern municipalities.
The NGO Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) has promoted
rights for persons with mental disabilities since publication of its
2002 report, which found extensive evidence of neglect, physical abuse,
sexual assault, and arbitrary detention at mental health care
facilities. Staff and patients at the Shtimje Institute, the Pristina
Elderly Home, and the Pristina University Hospital reportedly committed
these abuses, but no criminal charges were filed by year's end. The
programs were a product of policies established by UNMIK; however,
UNMIK had largely transferred responsibilities for persons with
disabilities to local personnel. UNMIK also established ``boards of
visitors'' to provide oversight of group homes; however, MDRI said the
boards were not independent and lacked expertise in human rights
monitoring. In July 2003, MDRI issued another report alleging that,
despite improvements in facilities, UNMIK failed to protect patients'
rights and create safe alternatives to institutional care in the
community, which UNMIK denied. Facilities and training have since
improved significantly. In response to MDRI's report, the PISG spent
$2.7 million (2 million euros) in 2003 to renovate Shtimje institution
and fully utilize its original capacity of 300; it was occupied by 194
residents at year's end. MDRI alleged that patients were detained with
no legal basis, since there is no law to regulate the process of
committing persons to psychiatric or social care facilities or to
protect rights within institutions. Following MDRI's suggestions, the
PISG decided to expand options for independent living in the
integration homes endorsed by MDRI.
On occasion, individuals in need of mental health treatment were
convicted of fabricated or petty crimes and ended up in the prison
system, which lacked resources for adequate treatment; however, MDRI
trained some KPS officers to help prevent this. Additionally, despite
documented abuses, no one in Kosovo has been punished for mistreatment
of persons with mental disabilities.
In October, the OI criticized the Pristina University Clinic Center
for housing prisoners with mental disabilities in the same ward as
other patients and reported that some cases of incarceration of
mentally ill patients in the psychiatric ward constituted illegal
detention. In response, Kosovo prison authorities took over management
of the psychiatric ward at Pristina University Clinic. UNMIK also built
separate detachments for these prisoners in hospitals in Peje and
Prizren in 2003, but not in Pristina.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although UNMIK regulations and
the Constitutional Framework protect ethnic minorities, in practice,
Kosovo's most serious human rights problem was pervasive social
discrimination and harassment against members of minority communities,
particularly Serbs but also Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians, with respect
to ployment, social services, language use, freedom of movement, the
right to return, and other basic rights. Violence and property crime
directed at sovo's minorities remained serious problems.
The March riots, which targeted Serbs, Roma and Ashkali, were the
most serious outburst of violence and destruction since the 1999
conflict. UNMIK police recorded approximately 1,100 ethnically
motivated crimes during the year, the vast majority (859) committed
during March. Excluding the March riots, the 172 incidents suspected of
having an ethnic motivation constituted a moderate increase (18
percent) over the 138 incidents last year. Overall, property crimes
increased and crimes against persons declined for the first time since
1999; 59 percent of the incidents were property related offenses.
However, according to UNMIK's Office of Community Affairs, incidents
targeting minorities were generally underreported due to distrust of
the KPS and the Kosovo legal system. In the latter half of the year,
NGOs recorded approximately 10 incidents per week, over twice the
number recorded by UNMIK police. These crimes included low-level crimes
such as incidents of stoning, assaults, and harassment of Serbs and
other minorities, as well as property crimes such as arson and
vandalism, which occurred on almost a daily basis throughout Kosovo.
Approximately 62 killings occurred during the year, including 20
deaths as a result of the March violence; 11 of the victims were Serbs,
including 8 during the March riots. Outside of the March riots, Kosovo
Serbs were victims of three killings, three attempted killings, and one
serious attack, including the following: The double killing in Lipljan
on February 19, the attempted killing of a teenager in Caglavica on
March 15, the killing of teenager Dmitry Popovic in Gracanica on May 6,
the attempted killing in Zubin Potok on May 27, the explosive attack on
a Kosovo Serb family working in a Vitina/Viti field on June 10, and the
attempted killing in Lipljan on October 1.
Increased violence, particularly during the March riots, may have
been politically motivated and to some extent coordinated by ethnic
Albanian extremists. Some Kosovo government leaders were slow to
condemn the violence, exacerbating the problem and helping to
legitimize the severe social abuse of minorities. Reports by
international NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and AI, as well as the
OSCE, asserted that UNMIK, KFOR, and KPS could have done more to
protect minorities in the period following the March riots.
The March 16 drowning of three Kosovo Albanian children from Cabra
village in Zubin Potok Municipality ignited the March riots; the
surviving child claimed Kosovo Serbs had chased them into the Ibar
River with a dog. The media, prior to police and judicial
investigations, reported this story. In addition, the drive-by shooting
on March 15 of a 19 year old Kosovo Serb male in the Serb village of
Caglavica in the Pristina region caused local Serbs to block the main
Pristina Skopje highway. On March 16, approximately 18,000 Albanians
attended prescheduled demonstrations against the arrests of ex KLA
members by UNMIK Police. On March 17, demonstrations by Albanians
started in Mitrovica to protest the drownings and in Pristina against
the Serb roadblocks in Caglavica and Gracanica. Unrest soon spread to
other parts of Kosovo and became increasingly violent. It appeared that
there was a pattern to destroy Serb property and to expel the Serb
population from enclaves in southern Kosovo. As a result of the riots,
20 persons were killed, including 8 Kosovo Serbs and 12 Kosovo
Albanians, more than 900 were injured, more than 900 Serb, Romani, and
Ashkali houses and 30 orthodox churches or monasteries were burned or
severely damaged, and over 4,000 Serbs, Ashkalis, and Roma were made
homeless.
After public order was restored, police and KFOR commenced large-
scale operations to apprehend those responsible for the riots. By June,
over 270 persons had been arrested on a wide range of charges related
to the riots, including murder, attempted murder, arson, and looting.
UNMIK recruited 100 additional police investigators, 6 prosecutors, and
3 judges to boost its investigative capability. By mid-June,
international prosecutors were managing 52 of the most serious cases.
The KPS internal affairs unit, run by UNMIK police officers, started
100 disciplinary investigations against KPS officers for failure to act
and involvement in the riots. Of the seven people originally detained
on suspicion of organizing or leading the March riots, criminal
investigations were ongoing in four cases: KPC reserve commander, Naser
Shatri; Chairman of the KLA War Veterans Association in Peja, Nexhmi
Lajci; Chairman of the KLA War Veterans Association in Gjilan, Shaqir
Shaqiri; and Chairman of the KLA War Veterans Association in Vushtrri,
Salih Salihu. At year's end, the PISG had reconstructed over 90 percent
of the damaged or destroyed houses, but church reconstruction remained
frozen for political reasons (see Section 2.c.).
No progress was made during the year in investigating or
prosecuting 2003 cases of violence against Serbs.
Civilians were responsible for the destruction, often through
arson, of private property. The reported phenomenon of ``strategic
sales'' of property persisted. There was evidence that Kosovo Albanians
in several ethnically mixed areas used violence, intimidation, and
offers to purchase property at inflated prices in order to break up and
erode Kosovo Serb neighborhoods. For example, on May 26, a 35-year-old
Kosovo Serb farmer was seriously wounded from gunfire from an unknown
assailant in a neighboring, predominant Albanian village. Some cases of
violence against Serbs may have been attempts to force persons to sell
their property. An UNMIK regulation prevents the wholesale buy out of
Kosovo Serb communities and seeks to prevent the intimidation of
minority property owners in certain geographic areas; however, it was
rarely enforced. Some municipalities were excluded from this regulation
at their request. The Kosovo OI and human rights groups criticized the
regulation as limiting the ability of Kosovo Serbs to exercise their
property rights.
Kosovo Serbs also faced difficult conditions in the Republic of
Serbia proper. For example, on May 23, a 14-year-old Kosovo Serb boy
was killed on a school fieldtrip to the Republic of Serbia. After being
harassed by a group of older Serbs, the boy was struck, lost his
balance, and fell from a fortress to his death. Criminal proceedings in
Serbia against the youths were ongoing at year's end.
Kosovo Serbs experienced societal discrimination in education and
health care, but these services continued to be supplemented by funding
from the SaM Government through the Coordination Center for Kosovo and
parallel institutions, such as the hospital in North Mitrovica.
Minority employment in the PISG continued to be low and confined to
generally subordinate levels of the Government. In the PISG ministries,
minorities occupied only about 10 percent of the posts, despite a PISG
target of over 16 percent, and the overall percentage of minorities
employed by the PISG has shown a downward trend.
The Turkish community was more closely integrated with Kosovo
Albanians and felt the impact of social discrimination less than other
minorities. Roma lived in dire poverty. Viewed as Serb collaborators by
many Kosovo Albanians, they also suffered pervasive social and economic
discrimination. They often lacked access to basic hygiene and medical
care, as well as education, and were heavily dependent on humanitarian
aid. Although there were some successful efforts to resettle Roma,
Ashkali, and Egyptians in their prior homes, security concerns
persisted. Bosniak leaders continued to complain that thousands of
their community members had left Kosovo because of discrimination and a
lack of economic opportunity.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Traditional societal
attitudes about homosexuality in Kosovo intimidated most gays and
lesbians into concealing their sexual orientation. Gays and lesbians
generally felt insecure, with many reporting threats to their personal
safety. Kosovo print media reinforced these attitudes by publishing
negative articles about homosexuality that characterized gays and
lesbians as being mentally ill and prone to sexually assaulting
children. Individual homosexuals also reported job discrimination.
Kosovo's newly passed Antidiscrimination Law included protections
against discrimination based on sexual orientation; however, the law
was not applied during the year. At least one political party, the
Islamic-oriented Justice Party, included a condemnation of
homosexuality in its political platform.
Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--International observers and
the Temporary Media Commissioner accused Kosovo print and particularly
broadcast media of inciting violence during the March riots (see
Section 2.a.).
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. Right of Association.--UNMIK regulations allow workers to form
and join unions of their choice without previous authorization or
excessive requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice.
The only significant union, the Confederation of Independent Trade
Unions of Kosovo (BSPK), claimed over 120,000 registered members, or
about 6 percent of the total population; only 10 percent of its members
were employed. UNMIK regulations prohibit antiunion discrimination;
however, some union officials reported discrimination in practice. BSPK
reported that the regulation preventing antiunion discrimination was
respected by only a small number of firms and claimed that worker
rights were abused in every sector, including international
organizations, where staff did not have access to security insurance or
pensions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--UNMIK
regulations allow unions to conduct their activities without
interference, and UNMIK protected this right in practice. UNMIK
regulations also provides for the right to organize and bargain
collectively without interference, and the Government did not restrict
this right in practice; however, collective bargaining rarely took
place. UNMIK regulations do not recognize the right to strike; however,
strikes were not prohibited and several strikes occurred during the
year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--UNMIK regulations
prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
UNMIK regulations protect children from exploitation in the workplace,
including a prohibition of forced or compulsory labor and policies
regarding acceptable working conditions; however, the Government did
not always enforce these policies in practice. The pre-1989 labor laws
that remain in force set the minimum age for employment at age 16 and
at age 18 for any work likely to jeopardize the health, safety, or
morals of a young person but permit children to work at age 15,
provided such work is not harmful to the child or prejudicial to school
attendance.
In villages and farming communities, younger children typically
worked to assist their families. Urban children often worked in a
variety of unofficial retail jobs, such as washing car windows or
selling newspapers, cigarettes, and phone cards on the street. Some
also engaged in physical labor, such as transporting goods. The number
of these children working on the streets rose sharply since 1999, as
large numbers of rural families resettled in cities after the conflict.
According to one study, almost half of the children who worked such
street jobs lived in rural villages before the 1999 conflict, and 20
percent commuted from villages to work in the cities. Almost 90 percent
of the children interviewed said they were forced into such work by
poverty, and over 80 percent said they worked up to 9 hours a day to
support unemployed parents, often preventing school attendance.
Primarily male children between the ages of 8 and 14 worked on the
streets, but they also recorded children as young as age 6. There were
no real employment opportunities for children in the formal sector.
Trafficking of children was also a serious problem, mostly for
prostitution (see Section 5).
The MLSW, in cooperation with the UNMIK DOJ, coordinated child
protection policies, and the MLSW Department of Social Welfare has the
responsibility for implementing interventions for the care and
protection of children. In June, the International Program on the
Elimination of Child Labor under the International Labor Organisation
organized Kosovo's first workshop to establish a child labor monitoring
system and signed a memorandum of understanding with UNMIK on child
labor prevention.
Local and international NGOs, such as Save the Children, began
children's rights campaigns to raise awareness of these issues.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--UNMIK regulations provide for a
minimum wage, but did not set its level. While many international
agencies and NGOs paid adequate wages, the average full-time monthly
public sector wage of $204 (151 euros) and the average private sector
wage of $281 (208 euros) were insufficient to provide a decent standard
of living for a worker and family.
UNMIK regulations provided for a standard 40-hour work week,
required rest periods, limited the number of overtime worked to 20
hours per week and 40 hours per month, required payment of a premium
for overtime work, and prohibited excessive compulsory overtime.
Employers often failed to implement these regulations under conditions
of high underemployment and unemployment.
Labor inspectors enforced health and safety standards, and the
Kosovo Assembly passed a Law on Labor Inspectorate in 2003; however, it
had not been implemented by year's end. The law does not permit
employees to remove themselves from dangerous workplaces without
jeopardizing their continued employment.
montenegro
Montenegro is a constituent republic of the state union of Serbia
and Montenegro (SaM). Montenegro has a president and a parliamentary
system of government. Filip Vujanovic was elected President in May
2003. A coalition led by Milo Djukanovic (currently prime minister) won
a majority of seats in Parliament in 2002 elections. International
monitors deemed both elections generally free and fair. The Montenegrin
Government acted largely independently from the Republic of Serbia on
most issues. Montenegro has a separate customs regime, a separate visa
regime, its own central bank, and uses the euro rather than the
Yugoslav dinar as its currency. The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, courts often were subject to political
influence and corruption and remained overworked and inefficient.
The Republic's police, under the authority of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs (MUP), have responsibility for internal security. The
Montenegrin State Security Service (SDB), also located within the MUP,
has authority to conduct surveillance of citizens. While civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security
services, there were a few instances in which elements of the security
forces acted independently of government authority. Some members of
security forces committed human rights abuses.
The economy, more market-based than state-owned, was mixed
agricultural, industrial, and tourist-oriented. The population was
approximately 686,000, including refugees and displaced persons from
Kosovo. Real gross domestic product growth for the year was
approximately 4.1 percent, and annual inflation was approximately 4
percent. During the year, wages significantly outpaced inflation but
remained low compared with the cost of living.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police at times
beat and abused civilians. Impunity was a problem. Media independence
was a problem. Pressure from politicians sometimes resulted in
distorted coverage of events by state and some private media. Domestic
violence and discrimination against women continued to be problems.
Trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation continued to
be a problem. Some ethnic discrimination persisted, particularly with
regard to Roma.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, police
occasionally beat suspects during arrest or while suspects were
detained for questioning. The reported cases of police beatings were
less severe and fewer in number than in previous years.
There were no actions taken against the police officer responsible
for the May 2003 beating of Igor Zindovic by year's end.
The local state prosecutor initiated an investigation of police
inspector Dobrasin Vulic and three other unidentified police officers
for the August 2003 beating of Nikola Popovic. The investigation was
ongoing at year's end.
During the year, the local state prosecutor dropped disciplinary
proceedings against two police officers for beating Izet Korac in
October 2003, citing lack of evidence.
During the year, three police officers were tried for the 2002
beating of Darko Knezevic; one officer was given a suspended sentence
of 7 months while the two other officers were acquitted.
During the year, six police officers in Berane were tried for
beating five Muslim men in Petnjica in 2002. One officer, a
probationary recruit, was disciplined and fined 50 percent of his
salary, and his contract was not renewed. The other five officers were
acquitted.
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
some problems remained. Prison facilities were antiquated, overcrowded,
and poorly maintained. Due to inadequate prison budgets, prisoners
often had to obtain hygienic supplies from their families, although the
prisons provided basic supplies to those who could not obtain them
otherwise.
Women were held separately from men. The law mandates that
juveniles be held separately from adults and pretrial detainees be held
separately from convicted criminals; however, in practice, this did not
always occur due to overcrowding.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers,
including the International Committee of the Red Cross and local
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The Ombudsman, elected by
Parliament in 2003, had the right to visit detainees and prisoners at
any time, without prior notice. The Ombudsman's office routinely made
prison visits, meeting with detainees and inmates.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention, and, unlike in previous years, the Government
generally observed these prohibitions.
The MUP controls both National and Border Police. These two
services generally were effective in maintaining basic law and order;
however, their effectiveness in fighting organized crime was limited. A
sizable percentage of the police force was made up of Bosniaks (Bosnian
Muslims), many of whom were deployed in a predominantly Muslim area in
the north known as the Sandzak. Impunity was a problem. The Government
investigated some police abuses. Criminal procedures and sentences
against police were rare; when initiated, they were often prolonged
with convictions resulting in minor penalties.
Corruption was a problem; the small, close-knit society discouraged
reporting corruption and provided criminals access to law enforcement
officers.
The international community provided substantial financial and
technical assistance to upgrade the quality of training and facilities
for the police, with a special focus on combating trafficking in
persons. Assistance also was provided to train the police to better
combat organized crime.
The new Criminal Procedure Act took effect in April, and replaced
all previous criminal procedure laws. The act defines the authority of
police in pretrial processes and permits police involvement in these
processes only with the approval of a judge. Training of police lagged,
hampering full implementation of the new act; however, reported
beatings of prisoners in pretrial detention declined. The law also
contains new measures for combating organized crime and for in-court
witness protection. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) noted that the act strengthens protection of human rights
and freedoms of citizens while giving more power to police,
prosecutors, and courts to combat the most serious criminal offenses.
Arrests require a judicial warrant or ``high suspicion that the
suspect committed an offense.'' A suspect could be detained for up to
48 hours before being taken before a judge; the law provides for access
to an attorney in this initial period, which in at least some cases did
occur. Most abuses occurred in this initial detention period (see
Section 1.c.). There is no general requirement for a juvenile suspect
to have an adult present during police interrogation; however, if a
juvenile faces a sentence of 5 years or more, an attorney must be
present. If a criminal case goes to trial for a crime with a possible
sentence greater than 5 years, a lawyer must be appointed if the
defendant cannot afford one. There is a system of bail; however, it was
not widely used because citizens could rarely raise money for bail.
Pretrial prisoners were permitted visits by family members and friends,
and this was generally respected in practice. Long trial delays,
combined with the difficulty in meeting conditions for bail,
occasionally led to lengthy pretrial detention.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, a historical lack of cooperation
between police and prosecutors, a backlog of cases, often primitive
courtroom facilities, and corruption remained problems. The Government
at times influenced prosecutors for political reasons.
The court system consists of municipal, higher (or district), and
supreme courts at the republic level. The 2002 Law on Courts mandates
formation of an Appeals Court and an Administrative Court to reduce the
burden on the Supreme Court; however, these new courts had not been
formed by year's end.
During the year, a Judicial Council was established and began
functioning in accordance with the law. The Supreme Court President
chairs the Council, and other members include judges, lawyers, and
academics; no executive branch members are included. The Judicial
Council selects and disciplines judges and handles court
administration, such as preparation of the judiciary's budget request.
The law also requires that cases be assigned to judges by rotation.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, the presumption of
innocence, access to a lawyer, and the right of appeal; although the
Government at times influenced the judiciary, these rights were
generally respected in practice.
There were no war crimes trials in Montenegro during the year.
By the end of the year, the Supreme Court had not ruled on Nebojsa
Ranisavljevic's appeal of the 2002 conviction by the Bijelo Polje
District Court for a war crime committed in Bosnia. The HCM continued
to pursue its request for an investigation of Dobrica Cosic.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however, the
law allows the SDB to eavesdrop on citizens without court
authorization. Some observers believed that police used wiretapping and
surveillance against opposition parties and other groups on a selective
basis. Many individuals and organizations operated on the assumption
that they were, or could be, under surveillance.
Citizens could inspect secret files kept on them by the SDB from
1945 to 1989; however, they did not have access to post-1989 files.
Eviction of Roma from illegal settlements, and sometimes legal
residences, was a problem (see Section 5).
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that membership
in the appropriate political party was a prerequisite for obtaining
positions or advancing within certain parts of the Government.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution and laws provide
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, there were some
restrictions of freedom of the press in practice. Despite some steps to
move away from government control of the media, certain media retained
close ties to the Government. Officials brought or threatened libel
suits when accused of wrongdoing. The motive for the May 27 killing of
Dusko Jovanovic, the director and editor-in-chief of the leading
opposition daily Dan, remained unknown at year's end; however, Dan and
other media outlets called the killing a major attack on freedom of the
press and journalistic safety. The Government indicted one suspect in
connection with the killing and was seeking other suspects at year's
end.
The independent media was active and expressed a wide variety of
political and social views without government restriction.
The Media Law mandates regulatory structures designed to insulate
former state-owned media from direct party control; these include a
Radio and Television Council (RTVCG) which took over editorial
oversight of the National Public Radio and Television from the
Government. The Council was formed in 2003, with members selected by a
variety of NGOs and professional groups; however, some observers noted
that many Council members had close ties to the Government. Only one
out of a dozen local, government owned newspapers was privatized; the
other municipal-owned papers went out of publication due to lack of
private capital.
The print media consisted of private news outlets and one national
state-owned newspaper, which published a wide variety of domestic and
foreign articles. Domestic radio and television stations regularly
broadcast programs from Belgrade's BK Television, Croatian National
Television, Italian National Television, the British Broadcasting
Corporation, Deutsche Welle, the Voice of America, and Radio Free
Europe.
During the year, radio and television stations could not get
licenses to broadcast because of delays in transferring the regulatory
authority from the Government to an independent regulatory body. The
regulatory Broadcasting Agency was established in 2003; on December 29,
it issued its first public tender for allocation of frequencies but had
not begun allocating licenses by year's end.
In support of efforts to pass a law on direct elections for the
State Union parliament, on October 20, part of the opposition ended a
16-month boycott of the Parliament. The opposition started the boycott
when the RTVCG Council ordered that full coverage of Parliament cease
in 2003, arguing that government domination of the media made it
necessary for citizens to see unedited parliamentary coverage. On
October 19, the editorial team of RTVCG declared that it would provide
live coverage of all parliamentary sessions. Essentially all opposition
parties returned to the Parliament by year's end; however, one party
with one Member of Parliament remained out.
There were no publicized cases of direct government censorship of
the media; however, officials continued to bring libel suits against
some media outlets, the newspaper Dan in particular, when the media
accused them of wrongdoing. On September 20, the Basic Court in
Podgorica fined the deputy editor-in-chief of Dan $18,900 (14,000
euros), in a libel suit filed by Prime Minister Djukanovic. Dan had
reprinted a Belgrade newspaper's article alleging Djukanovic's
involvement in a notorious human trafficking case. A second libel case
by Djukanovic against Dan, for printing an opinion piece asserting that
Djukanovic used the services of trafficked women, ended when Dan's
editor was acquitted by the court. Dan was fined $8,100 (6,000 euros)
for defamation in a separate libel suit brought by the chief of the
State Security Service. Despite the continued risk of libel suits,
there continued to be a modest increase in the willingness of the media
to criticize the Government.
The appeal of former editor-in-chief of Dan, Vladislav Asanin, in
the 2001 Djukanovic case remained pending at year's end.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet or academic
freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice. There
was no state religion, although the Montenegrin Constitution mentions
the Orthodox Church, Islamic Religious Community, and Roman Catholic
Church as equal and separate from the State, and the Serbian Orthodox
Church received some preferential treatment in practice.
While there was no formal registration requirement for religions,
religious groups had to register as citizen groups with the Montenegrin
MUP and the Republic Department of Statistics in order to gain status
as a legal entity, which is necessary for real estate and other
administrative transactions. There were no reported problems with
registration in practice.
There was no progress noted during the year on restitution of
previously seized church property.
Religion and ethnicity were intertwined closely and in many cases
it was difficult to identify discriminatory acts as primarily religious
or primarily ethnic in origin. Minority religious communities reported
better cooperation with state organizations leading to increased
ability to operate normally; however, some elements in society
continued to discriminate against such communities.
Tensions continued between the canonically unrecognized Montenegrin
Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church. These tensions stemmed
from disputes over claims to the large patrimony of the Montenegrin
Orthodox Church from before its absorption into the Serbian Orthodox
Church in 1920 and over political questions. Pro-Serbian political
parties strongly supported moves to establish the Serbian Orthodox
Church as the official state religion, while proindependence parties
pushed for the recognition of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
Contention between the two churches was not marked by the level of
violence seen in previous years; however, the Serbian Orthodox Church
reported harassment and the failure of local police to intervene to
prevent threatened violence.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.
The Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government
generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
There were approximately 17,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs)
from Kosovo. The majority of IDPs were ethnically Montenegrins or
Serbs; however, there were also Roma (1,300) and others. Discrimination
and harassment against Roma remained a serious problem (see Section 5).
The law provides for the granting of refugee status to persons in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. There is no law that provides for
asylum. In practice, the Government provided some protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution. The Government granted refugee status. Such cases were
referred to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) in Belgrade for determination. Refugees that the UNHCR
determined had legitimate fears of persecution were then resettled
elsewhere. Persons who entered Montenegro illegally claiming fear of
persecution were sent to Belgrade, where they were detained for up to 3
weeks in a special jail. In these cases, the UNHCR also was requested
to determine the legitimacy of persecution claims.
The Government generally cooperated with the UNHCR and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
According to the UNHCR, there were approximately 8,400 refugees in
Montenegro, the majority of whom were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with
most of the remainder from Croatia. Conditions for refugees varied;
those with relatives or property in the country were able to find
housing and, in some cases, employment. Approximately 1,300 Romani IDPs
lived in collective centers with limited access to health care and
education; however, the Government took measures during the year to
move these Roma out of camps into more permanent and private living
arrangements.
The law treats refugees as economic migrants and deprives them of
the right to register with the Montenegrin Employment Bureau, a right
IDPs also lacked; unregistered persons were denied full and equal
access to the local labor market. The 2003 Decree on Employment of
Nonresident Physical Persons was designed to limit economic migration;
however, a $3.38 (2.5 euros) per-day surcharge it levied on employment
of nonresidents also applied to refugees and IDPs, making their labor
more expensive than comparable labor of Montenegrin citizens.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
Filip Vujanovic was elected President in May 2003 in generally free
and fair elections. Djukanovic has been in power as President or Prime
Minister almost all of the previous 13 years. Prime Minister
Djukanovic's coalition, and a coalition led by Socialist People's Party
president Predrag Bulatovic of pro-Serbia opposition parties dominated
the political scene in Montenegro. The opposition coalition collapsed
in 2003 following a series of interparty disagreements. The opposition
has boycotted the Parliament since public television's 2003 decision to
reduce live coverage of parliamentary sessions (see Section 2.a.).
There was a widespread perception of government corruption,
particularly the executive and judicial branches.
There is no law providing public access to government information.
There were 8 women in the 75-seat Parliament, and 2 women in the
cabinet (Ministers of Culture and Foreign Economic Relations). Vesna
Medenica, a female judge, is the State Prosecutor. At year's end, there
was one female mayor in Montenegro's 21 municipalities. In rural areas,
husbands commonly directed their wives' voting.
There were 11 members of ethnic minorities in the 75-seat
legislature, and 3 in the Cabinet. Ethnic Albanians and Bosniaks
participated in the political process, and their parties, candidates,
and voters participated in all elections. Four parliamentary seats are
allocated by law to ethnic Albanians; two of these seats were held by
members of Albanian parties and the other two were held by members of
Prime Minister Djukanovic's coalition.
According to a 2003 survey by the Ministry for Protection of Rights
of Minorities and Ethnic Groups, there were no Roma in the state
administration, and only 0.15 percent of local administration employees
were Roma. In late September, the Roma Republican Party was formed; it
was the first political party representing Romani interests.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. There were a
substantial number of NGOs investigating human rights cases, including
HCM and the Center for Democracy and Human Rights. NGOs were credited
with helping to reduce police brutality and other abuses.
The Government cooperated with the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in allowing access to witnesses. In
September, government representatives on the State Union Council for
Cooperation with the ICTY withdrew from the council, claiming lack of
cooperation from Serbia; the ICTY Prosecutor's office stated that the
resignation was a local matter that should not impair cooperation with
the Tribunal.
Parliament established an Ombudsman in 2003 to protect human rights
and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, laws, ratified
international human rights agreements, and generally accepted
principles of international law, when these rights are violated by
actions or omissions of state bodies, local governments, or public
services. The Ombudsman does not have authority over the work of the
courts, except in cases of prolonged procedure, obvious abuses of
procedure, and failure to execute court decisions. Anyone can appeal to
the Ombudsman, and the procedure is free of charge. Upon finding a
violation of human rights or freedoms, the Ombudsman may initiate
disciplinary procedures or dismissal of the violator. Failure to comply
with the Ombudsman's request for access to official data, documents, or
premises, or to the Ombudsman's request to testify at a hearing, is
punished by fines of 10 to 20 times the minimum monthly wage of $675 to
$1,350 (500 to 1,000 euros). No fines were imposed during the year.
Although independent in practice, the Ombudsman was more effective in
responding to individual violations of human rights than in addressing
systemic problems.
A parliamentary committee on human rights continued to exist, but
was inactive during the year.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law provides for equal rights for all citizens regardless of
ethnicity, social status, or gender; however, in practice, the
Government provided little protection against discrimination.
Women.--High levels of domestic violence persisted, particularly in
rural areas. During the year, official agencies, including the police,
did a better job in responding to domestic violence; however, efforts
were still inadequate. Domestic violence is a crime punishable by a
fine or prison sentence of up to 10 years, depending on the seriousness
of the offense or, if death results, by a sentence of 3 to 12 years in
prison. Victims of domestic violence rarely filed complaints with the
authorities. According to a survey conducted during the year by the NGO
SOS Hotline for Women and Child Victims of Violence-Podgorica, only 30
percent of victims reported domestic violence incidents to police;
however, domestic violence-related offenses made up 30 percent of all
police arrests. The Government prosecuted a small number of domestic
violence cases; however, NGOs reported that judges refused to impose
jail sentences even though prosecutors routinely asked that convicted
abusers be imprisoned; most convictions resulted in probation.
Punishment for rape, including spousal rape, is 1 to 10 years'
imprisonment; however, the crime only can be prosecuted if the victim
brings charges. According to a local NGO, 80 percent of domestic
violence cases against women involved spousal rape; however, there were
no reports of indictments of alleged rapists. A lack of female police
officers contributed to long delays in investigating rapes, assaults,
and offenses against women.
Prostitution is a crime, as are mediation and procurement of
prostitution. The Government took active measures to suppress
prostitution, mediation, and procurement.
Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment was a problem. Women did not enjoy equal status
with men, and few women held upper-level management positions in
government or commerce; however, increasing numbers of women served as
judges, and there were many women in professional fields such as law,
science, and medicine. Legally, women were entitled to equal pay for
equal work; however, in practice, they did not always receive it.
Traditional patriarchal ideas of gender roles, which hold that
women should be subservient to male members of their families,
continued to subject women to discrimination in the home. In rural
areas, particularly among minority communities, women did not always
have the ability to exercise their right to control property, and
husbands commonly directed wives' voting.
Children.--The Government attempted to meet the health and
educational needs of children; however, insufficient resources impeded
achievement of this goal. The educational system provided 8 years of
free, mandatory schooling. Although ethnic Albanian children had access
to instruction in their native language, some Albanians criticized the
Government for not developing a curriculum in which Albanians could
learn about their ethnic culture and history. Most Romani children
received little or no education beyond the primary school level; UNHCR
and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) began programs
during the year to make education more accessible for Romani children.
There were reports that child abuse was a problem, although there
was no societal pattern of such abuse. The law does not allow a
juvenile to make an allegation of a crime without a parent or guardian
present; consequently, there was almost no reporting of child abuse or
incest.
Trafficking in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons remained a serious problem. There were
reports that police and other officials were involved in trafficking.
The new Criminal Code, which took effect in April, sets the
punishment for all trafficking in persons violations at up to 10 years'
imprisonment. During the year, 18 persons were arrested on suspicion of
trafficking in persons; 15 were charged, 1 case was dismissed, and
charges were pending in the other cases at year's end. Nine cases from
previous years were still in the courts; one person was sentenced to 5
months in prison after retrial on appeal from conviction. Convictions
for trafficking remained infrequent and punishments were weak, largely
due to judicial leniency.
The National Coordinator appointed by the MUP chairs the
antitrafficking working group composed of relevant ministries, social
services, the OSCE, the International Organization for Migration (IOM),
and NGOs. A subgroup to combat trafficking in children was established
in February. The Government coordinated its antitrafficking efforts
with other countries in the region, particularly through the Southern
European Cooperative Initiative Center in Bucharest.
A controversial case involving the rape and torture of a trafficked
woman from Moldova, identified by the initials S.C., continued at
year's end. Government officials allegedly were involved directly in
the purchase, sale, rape, and torture of S.C. After a 4-month judicial
investigation, Montenegrin Deputy State Prosecutor Zoran Piperovic and
two other suspects were charged with mediation of prostitution, and a
fourth person was charged with trafficking in persons and mediation of
prostitution. In June 2003, after reviewing the judicial investigative
report, Podgorica Prosecutor Zoran Radonjic dismissed charges against
all the suspects, citing insufficient evidence. Foreign governments,
the European Union, and the OSCE strongly criticized the decision not
to try the case. The Government had not implemented several 2003
recommendations made by the international community concerning this
case at year's end. Montenegro remained primarily a transit point for
trafficked persons, particularly women and children, and, to a lesser
extent, a destination. According to local NGOs, foreign victims likely
came from Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Russia, often
passing through Belgrade and on to Kosovo or Albania, where they
continued on to Italy and other West European countries. The police and
NGOs reported larger number of cases of internal trafficking.
Statistics on trafficking were difficult to obtain, as traffickers
increasingly stopped holding their victims in public locales such as
bars and nightclubs.
Traffickers were often Montenegrin nationals but sometimes worked
with foreign partners. They usually used fraud to entice their victims
and resorted to force and coercion to keep the victims from leaving.
For example, in August, four citizens were charged with trafficking
when Ukrainians, who were lured to Montenegro with false promises of
high-paying jobs, instead were held in what the MUP called ``slavery,''
forced to do manual construction labor in unhealthy conditions without
pay, and were starved and sometimes beaten if they refused to work.
The highly publicized ``S.C.'' case and police crackdowns on
nightclubs and brothels may have forced the sex industry into a lower
profile. Women's organizations reported a decline in requests for help
by trafficked women, which they attributed to the removal of women from
bars and nightclubs to brothels set up in private residences, where
they had less opportunity to escape or be discovered.
A 2002 protocol provides procedures for protecting trafficking
victims by distinguishing them from prostitutes and illegal migrants,
as well as by establishing procedures for referring victims to
appropriate social services; however, according to local NGOs, law
enforcement authorities continued to mismanage some cases involving
potential victims. The Government repatriated victims with assistance
from the IOM.
International organizations sponsored police training in methods of
dealing with human trafficking. Local NGOs, with funding from
international donors, ran a shelter in Podgorica and hotlines
throughout Montenegro; the Government, in cooperation with the IOM and
OSCE, opened a second shelter in March. Internationally sponsored
public awareness campaigns continued to be conducted throughout the
country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no official discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other state services; however,
there was societal discrimination against persons with disabilities.
The law mandates access to new official buildings for persons with
disabilities, and the Government enforced these provisions in practice;
however, facilities for persons with disabilities were inadequate,
including at polling stations. The Government provided mobile voting
for handicapped or ill voters who could not come to polling stations.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Societal discrimination against
ethnic minorities was a problem. Prejudice against Roma was widespread,
and local authorities often ignored or tacitly condoned societal
intimidation or ill treatment of Roma, some of whom were IDPs from
Kosovo. According to a local NGO, 70 percent of Roma were illiterate,
70 percent did not speak the local language, 95 percent were officially
unemployed, 40 percent had no access to public utilities, and 90
percent lived below the poverty level.
Romani IDPs, who lived primarily in collective centers and
scattered settlements throughout the country, often lacked identity
documents and access to basic human services (see Section 2.d.).
Eviction from illegal settlements and, sometimes, legal residences was
a serious problem. During the year, there was some limited official
recognition of the problem, with authorities in the capital providing
land and utility connections for an international NGO project to
replace illegal and inadequate Romani housing.
Some Bosniaks complained that the division of the Sandzak region
between Montenegro and Serbia, which also divided some families and
property, created some problems for residents.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of all
workers to join and form unions of their choosing; however, military
personnel may not form unions. Non-military workers exercised this
right in practice. Most, but not all, of the workforce in the official
economy was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for the
right of collective bargaining; however, collective bargaining remained
at a rudimentary level of development. The law provides for the right
to strike, and workers generally exercised this right in practice;
however, the law prohibits strikes by military and police personnel.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
official minimum age for employment is 15 years, although in farming
communities it was common to find younger children assisting their
families. Children also could be found in a variety of unofficial
retail jobs, typically washing car windows or selling small items such
as newspapers. The high unemployment rate ensured that there was little
demand for child labor in the formal sector. Some children worked in
the ``gray zone'' between voluntary and forced labor; however, there
were no reports that such practices occurred systematically.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was
$67.50 (50 euros) per month, which did not provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family. The law requires a 30-minute rest
period daily, limits hours worked to 40 per week except in specified
unusual circumstances, and requires an unspecified premium for work in
excess of 40 hours per week.
The Government did not give high priority to the enforcement of
established occupational safety and health regulations. Workers did not
have the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger
health and safety without jeopardy to their employment.
__________
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
The Slovak Republic is a multiparty parliamentary democracy, led by
a prime minister and a 150 member parliament. In 2002, a reform
oriented government, led by Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, was
elected. President Ivan Gasparovic serves as head of state and was
elected for a 5 year term in April in free and fair elections. The
Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, corruption
and inefficiency were serious problems.
The national police have sole responsibility for internal and
border security. With the exception of the Slovak Information Service
(SIS), which reports directly to the Prime Minister, all internal
security forces are under the Ministry of the Interior. A parliamentary
commission composed of legislators from ruling and opposition parties
oversee the SIS. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of
the security forces. A few members of the security forces committed
isolated human rights abuses.
The country had a population of approximately 5.4 million and an
industrialized market economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) rose
5.4 percent during the first 9 months of the year. The private sector
generated approximately 90 percent of the GDP in the first three
quarters. Real wages rose 1.7 percent more than inflation, which was
8.1 percent during this period. The unemployment rate decreased to less
than 14 percent nationwide but approached 30 percent in some regions.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police officers
used excessive force, particularly against Roma. Lengthy pretrial
detention was a problem. Racially motivated crimes, predominantly by
organized neo-Nazi groups targeting Roma, persisted. The crimes were
not prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and police
occasionally did not investigate the crimes thoroughly. Domestic
violence against women and children remained problems. Trafficking in
women also remained a problem. The Roma minority faced considerable
societal discrimination, particularly in the areas of education,
employment, and health care.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents during the year.
An international Roma rights organization pursued a case of
suspicious death after a large police raid in the eastern part of the
country in February. A Roma was found dead in a shallow stream days
after the police action. The autopsy determined the cause of death was
drowning; however, the organization alleged the autopsy did not include
injuries the Roma reportedly sustained earlier on the day of his death,
and called for a more in-depth investigation. The case was closed when
the family refused a further autopsy and requested burial.
The Supreme Court ruled that in the case of seven police officers
charged with inhuman and degrading treatment in the 2001 death of a
Roma in police custody, the Regional Court must begin the trial. This
overturned the lower court's 2003 decision to return the case for
further investigation. The trial had not begun by year's end.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, on
occasion, police used excessive force, particularly against the Roma
minority.
Authorities reportedly charged six police officers with brutality
after the Government sent approximately 2,000 police and 1,000 soldiers
to the eastern part of the country in February to quell a rash of
grocery store lootings. In an effort to discourage further lootings in
Trebisov, police raided the Romani settlement in the area and arrested
40 persons. Roma rights activists reported that police physically
assaulted Roma, injured small children, unnecessarily broke windows and
doors, and restricted the movement of residents in the settlement near
Trebisov. The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) reported that several
injuries were sustained from the use of electric cattle prods. The Roma
Plenipotentiary's Office submitted several complaints about the police
action.
Police reportedly used pressure and threats to discourage Roma from
pressing charges (see Section 1.d.). There were credible reports that,
at times, police contributed to the problem of violence against Roma by
not investigating attacks against them in a timely and thorough manner
or by coercing Roma not to submit potentially incriminating evidence
(see Sections 1.d. and 5).
In Zahorska Ves, a group armed with bats forcibly entered Romani
residences and set fire to their homes on two occasions. A special unit
in the Police Presidium began investigating this case after allegations
arose regarding the possible involvement of local government officials
and the failure of local police to accept testimony and evidence
relating to the case. Roma activists also alleged that local officials
attempted to relocate victims to another village.
There is a special police unit to monitor extremist activities, and
a commission consisting of NGOs, police, and government officials
advised the police on minority issues. However, the European Commission
Against Race and Intolerance criticized that all too often racially
motivated violence, particularly when committed by police, was not
fully prosecuted.
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
overcrowding continued to be a problem. The Government implemented
improvements and expanded prison infrastructure through the year due to
an increase in the prison population. Six out of ten prisoners worked
in prisons, but there was not a national standard regulating payment.
The Helsinki Committee, in line with a formal agreement with the
General Management of Prisons, monitored conditions in all jails
holding convicted prisoners. Men and women were held separately, as
were juveniles and adults, and pretrial detainees from convicted
criminals.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions in practice.
The national police has sole responsibility for internal and border
security and reports to the Ministry of Interior. The 2003
reorganization of the police force created an improved framework to
increase effectiveness, particularly with regard to the length of
investigations. Instances of police corruption and misconduct were
reported. Human rights observers continued to charge that police
investigators were occasionally reluctant to take the testimony of
witnesses, particularly Roma and the homeless. They also contended
that, on occasion, police failed to promptly and thoroughly investigate
cases involving Roma. Amnesty International alleged that police acted
with impunity when conducting actions in Romani settlements. Mechanisms
were available to investigate police abuses within the Police
Inspection Unit at Police Headquarters. In a recent report, the unit
stated that most complaints were in response to the behavior of police
while on duty. The Ministry of Interior announced a new pilot project
to train Romani police specialists.
The Constitution provides that a person can be taken into custody
only for explicit reasons and must be immediately informed of the
reasons for detainment. A written, substantiated court warrant is
required for arrest. The court must grant a hearing to a person accused
or suspected of a crime within 48 hours (or a maximum of 72 hours in
serious cases) and either release or remand the individual. Detainees
have the right to see an attorney immediately and must be notified of
this right. If remanded by a court, the accused is entitled to an
additional hearing within 48 hours, at which time the judge must either
release the accused or issue a written order placing the accused in
custody. The authorities respected these provisions in practice.
Attorney visits were allowed as frequently as necessary. The law
allows monthly family visits upon request. There was a bail system.
Human rights observers reported that some Roma detained after the
February store lootings in Trebisov were wrongly accused even though
police had eyewitness accounts testifying to detainees' innocence. In
many cases, detainees were not allowed to contact their families, and
family members were denied information about detainees.
NGOs alleged that police targeted Roma for arbitrary arrest. In
July, a Revuca judge dropped the sentence of two Roma accused of
participating in an attack in 2002. The victims confirmed that they
were not present at the crime scene.
Pretrial detention may last up to 6 months, but was frequently
extended in increments by judicial order up to 3 years. In certain
cases, the Supreme Court may extend it to 5 years in extenuating
circumstances.
Delays in court procedures and investigations frequently led to
lengthy pretrial detentions. Due to inefficiency, prosecutors and
judges occasionally released a detainee when the maximum period for
detention expired before the trial date. Some alleged that criminals
were occasionally released due to the influence of organized crime
elements and/or bribery of court officials.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, problems with corruption and
inefficiency in the judiciary continued, despite government efforts to
overcome them. The Justice Ministry continued to take disciplinary
action against judges suspected of corruption. A computerized system
for random case assignment functioned at almost every level of the
courts to reduce corruption.
In May, a special prosecutor to fight corruption was nominated and
approved by Parliament and was granted the extended use of undercover
operations in investigating corruption charges against politicians and
judges. The Special Prosecutor's Office filed charges against a mayor
in Bratislava-Raca suspected of accepting a bribe. The General
Prosecutor's offices have also forwarded cases to be re-opened and
brought before a special anticorruption court. At year's end, the
Banska Bystrica Regional Court was acting as the Special Court, until
all judges were appointed. No case decisions were handed down at year's
end.
In May, Parliament passed a law to reorganize the lower courts,
reducing the number of district courts from 55 to 45, effective January
2005. The reorganization was an effort to promote judge specialization
and increase the efficiency of the overburdened lower courts. There
were 8 regional courts. The Supreme Court, consisting of 79 judges, was
the highest court of appeals. The Constitutional Court, with 13 judges
serving 12 year terms, has no ties to the Ministry of Justice. The
Judicial Council, a constitutionally recognized independent body of
lawyers and judges, made decisions regarding disciplinary actions,
administrative issues, and appointments of judges.
Persons charged with criminal offenses are entitled to fair and
open public trials, and have the right to be informed of the charges
against them, to retain counsel, and to confront witnesses, although in
practice observers stated that corruption among judges could infringe
on a person's right to a fair trial. Minority advocacy groups noted
that Roma often did not receive a fair trial. A defendant, unless a
person with disabilities or a minor, is not guaranteed free legal
representation during a trial if the maximum criminal sentence is less
than 5 years. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, have the
right to refuse self-incrimination, and may appeal adverse judgments.
According to existing legislation, suspects are also presumed innocent
during the appeal process.
Credible sources stated that it was difficult for indigent citizens
and marginalized groups, such as minorities and persons with
disabilities, to obtain noncriminal legal representation. Plaintiffs
are required to pay a court fee of 5 percent of possible damages in
advance. The fee is returned if the case is won, and the presiding
judge may waive the advance payment. The Slovak Bar Association may ask
lawyers to accept indigent cases under certain conditions, but only a
small percentage of requests were eligible.
In November, the Government approved the concept for a new draft
law for providing legal aid (free or partially paid). Under this
concept, a public attorney office should be established, available in
all districts, to provide legal services in criminal and civil cases.
Military courts hear cases concerning members of the armed forces,
prisoners of war, and civilians suspected of war treason or who evaded
mandatory armed forces service. There are three military circuit courts
and one higher military court, decisions of which may be appealed to
the Supreme Court. The Justice Minister appoints the chairman of the
courts, who acts as the top administrative official, with agreement
from the Defense Ministry. Occasionally, military courts have accepted
high-level cases that may have an element of conflict of interest in
regular courts, such as the investigations of police brutality during
1989 student protests and the recent bugging case of Pavol Rusko,
chairman of the political party Alliance of New Citizens (ANO). There
were no reports of political prisoners.
Since 1989, several laws provided for the remuneration of political
prisoners and other victims of the Communist regime. In December,
Parliament passed a new remuneration law sponsored by the Defense
Ministry for those who worked as forced labor in military camps from
1939 to 1945. Additionally, individuals who served in foreign ally
armies during this time or in domestic resistance are also eligible for
compensation. During the year, a Justice Ministry analysis concluded
that most groups have been adequately remunerated.
In 2003, Parliament approved a law on property restitution
providing citizens a second opportunity to apply for the return of land
confiscated by the state between 1948 and 1990. Under this law, over
13,407 cases were filed before the end of 2003. During the year, 1,258
of these cases were resolved.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice. Police must present a
warrant before conducting a search or within 24 hours afterwards;
however, some Roma activists alleged that police entered Romani homes
without a search warrant.
The law regulates wiretapping and mail surveillance for the
purposes of criminal investigation, which may be conducted by order of
a regional court judge. In August, military prosecutors announced
charges against three SIS agents in relation to the 2002 wiretapping
complaint of Pavol Rusko, chairman of the ANO. Investigators themselves
complained of intimidation and surveillance by the SIS throughout the
investigation. The military court concluded that the wiretap targeted a
major national newspaper rather than Rusko. In mid-December, the trial
was postponed due to an attorney's illness.
In March, seven wiretapped recordings collected in the bribery case
against Bratislava-Raca Mayor Pavol Bielik disappeared while in police
custody. Prosecutors charged three police officers with abuse of power
and negligence, and they were suspended from service pending the result
of charges. In November, an appeal against the charges was rejected.
In 2003, an NGO released a report alleging a number of Romani women
were victims of coerced or forced sterilizations. Government
investigations found no evidence to pursue charges and no governmental
policy supporting such practices, although the Government later
admitted procedural shortcomings. International NGOs continued to
criticize the government investigations, claiming investigators did not
fully examine whether patients underwent surgeries with fully informed
consent. Human rights organizations and international organizations
called for increased protections for patients' rights and more health
care outreach programs for minorities. The Government revised its legal
norms covering sterilization and began pilot programs, such as Roma
health assistants and clinics in areas with high populations of Roma.
No victims received financial redress for alleged sterilizations.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, including academic freedom, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
Independent newspapers, magazines, and foreign press regularly
published a broad range of opinion and news articles that were
distributed nationwide. Journalists reported they were able to
criticize the Government without fear of reprisal and were generally
free from harassment or intimidation. Following allegations of undue
political influence and noncompetitive practices, observers recommended
that the Parliament-appointed supervisory boards for television and
radio and the state funded News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR)
should be restructured to ensure independence from the Government and
political parties. The Constitutional Court examined the constitutional
merits of the law governing TASR, and the Culture Ministry was
preparing a new law at year's end.
ANO's chairman and Minister of Economy Pavol Rusko continued to
influence TV Markiza's editorial policies, despite having divested his
ownership interest. Media watchdog organizations criticized the
station, saying its programming favored certain political parties. The
Christian Democratic Party refused to grant Markiza personal interviews
because of perceived unfair treatment by the station. TV Markiza
employees filed a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Palko
for comments about its programming; the complaint was later dismissed.
In 2003, highly criticized articles in the criminal code relating
to defamation, including the paragraph classifying libel against public
officials performing the duties of their office as a misdemeanor, were
removed; however, in September, the Supreme Court ruled that a 2003
case against former journalist Peter Toth for verbally attacking a
public office should be re opened. Toth allegedly lodged an anonymous
criminal complaint that the Minister covered up a wiretapping scandal.
At year's end, the case was still in investigation with no formal
charges.
A military court concluded that an illegal wiretap targeted a major
national newspaper rather than Pavol Rusko, the Minister of Economy,
who lodged the complaint. The court charged three SIS officers with
abusing the powers of authority. The trial had not begun at year's end.
In March, investigators closed a case against members of the press
named in August 2003 by Prime Minister Dzurinda as co conspirators in a
group seeking to destabilize the state. No charges were filed. In
January, Prime Minister Dzurinda and his party SDKU sued two newspapers
for libel for articles dealing with the case, as well as the Chairman
of the Intelligence Committee, Robert Kalinak, for releasing the names.
Both suits were rejected.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. Registered churches, which require 20,000 permanent resident
adherents, were eligible for state subsidies for clergy and office
expenses. Leaders of a number of minority religious communities, in
particular Muslims, smaller Protestant churches, the Hare Krishna
community, and the Church of Scientology complained that the large
numerical requirement effectively barred them from obtaining registered
status, although smaller religions experienced no restrictions on
assembly and worship.
The Government monitored, although it did not interfere with,
religious ``cults'' and ``sects.'' Unlike in previous years, there were
no reports of SIS intimidation of members of the Church of Scientology.
In February, Parliament approved the governmental agreement
pursuant to the 2001 framework treaty with the Vatican, which obliges
students to take either a religion or an ethics class at the elementary
school level. Classes began in September. Critics of the agreement
claimed students in less populated areas may be denied the choice due
to financial constraints or choose religion due to social pressure. The
agreement also allows government-funded religious schools to remove
material at odds with Catholic beliefs from the curricula.
Anti-Semitism persisted among organized neo Nazi groups, estimated
to have 500 active members and from 3,000 to 5,000 sympathizers. In
June, vandals destroyed seven tombs at the Jewish Cemetery in Zvolen,
which was the fourth attack over the past several years. During the
year, three juvenile offenders were successfully prosecuted and given
suspended sentences of 4 months to a year for vandalizing a Jewish
cemetery in 2003. The Jewish community successfully pressed for parents
of the vandals in the 2002 Banovce cemetery case to pay damages.
The Government extended the Action Plan to Fight Discrimination,
Racism, Xenophobia, and Anti-Semitism, which supports
antidiscrimination campaigns and teacher training, for an additional
year.
Some property restitution cases remained unresolved; however, the
Government compensated the Jewish community $29.3 million (850 million
SKK) for heirless property owned by Jewish families before the
Holocaust.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
There were no restrictions on emigration or prohibition against the
return of citizens; however, the Government closely monitored the
emigration patterns of Roma.
The numbers of Roma seeking asylum in European countries decreased
from previous years, although the Czech Republic continued to report
large numbers of Romani asylum seekers and illegal migrants from the
country. A Czech and Slovak governmental committee monitored increased
migration patterns. Human rights organizations claimed increased
migration was due to the lack of available economic opportunities in
the country, close family ties in the Czech Republic, and a long
standing tradition of seasonal construction work.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government had a system for
providing protection to refugees. In practice, the Government provided
protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country
where they feared persecution. The Government did not routinely grant
refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government also provided
temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees
under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol. The law provides for temporary
protection, classified as tolerated residence, which is granted if
asylum is denied and the individual is not eligible for deportation to
his or her country of origin due to administrative problems or fear for
the person's safety. During the year, the Border and Alien Police
granted tolerated residence status to 111 asylum seekers.
During the year, 11 refugees received citizenship. According to
National Migration Office statistics, 15 persons received asylum out of
a total of 11,391 cases. 11,586 cases were terminated during the year.
The UNHCR criticized the current asylum process for the low number of
asylum applicants accepted combined with a trend for applicants to
disappear, generally to other countries from refugee camps located on
the country's western border.
The Government provided $1 million (30 million SKK) for a center to
accommodate unaccompanied minors. The recipient organization purchased
property for the future center.
During the year, there were several corruption charges within the
customs and immigration police, including the December arrest of the
director of the country's alien detention facility under the suspicion
of illegal migrant smuggling.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through
periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal
suffrage. In May, the country joined the European Union.
Citizens could freely choose and change the laws and officials that
govern them. In April, Ivan Gasparovic won the second direct
presidential election. A referendum calling for early parliamentary
elections, which some parties boycotted, was held at the same time as
the first round of the presidential election. The Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe determined the presidential
elections to be free and fair; however, the observer mission noted that
the controversial timing of the referendum and questions surrounding
its constitutionality impacted the presidential election. The former
president, who was running for re election, set the date for the
opposition-led referendum on the same day as the presidential election.
Connecting the two important events politically and organizationally
was controversial and became a major topic in the election campaigns.
In March, Parliament passed a new election law governing
parliamentary elections. It strengthens the role of candidates in
preferential voting and liberalizes media use for campaigning. The new
law also provides for absentee voting for citizens residing abroad.
Corruption in the legislative and executive branches was reported
and publicly perceived as a problem. The Government and police
cooperated on several related arrests this year. In November 2003,
authorities charged an opposition Member of Parliament (M.P.) and the
head of the office of a regional government with accepting bribes.
Parliament voted to lift parliamentary immunity to allow prosecution in
this case; the case was currently in trial at year's end. In September,
the Supreme Court ruled that a public official from the former Meciar
government who received an illegal bonus must return the sum. In
addition, the deputy mayor of Kosice, the second largest city in the
country, was arrested and taken into custody for taking bribes. The
Mayor of Bratislava-Raca was also facing bribery charges.
The new Conflict of Interest Law, which mandates the public
disclosure of assets, applied to all mayors, town councils, M.P.s,
regional authorities, and national govenrment leaders. Parliamentary
disciplinary action needs a quorum of three fifths of the conflict of
interest committee. The committee had not begun a procedure by year's
end, but continued to collect asset disclosure statements. The
Government Office to Combat Corruption initiated complaints against
public officials and completed nearly 90 percent of the Government
Action Plan to Fight Corruption.
The law provides public access to government information; however,
NGOs claimed more education was needed about the responsibilities of
government to provide information. Frequently, local government offices
denied requests without justification or left them unanswered.
There were 24 women in the 150 member Parliament, 34 of 79 on the
Supreme Court, and currently none serving in the cabinet.
The ethnic Hungarian minority party won 20 seats in Parliament in
the 2002 election and was well represented in the Government. The
chairman of the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK) served as a
deputy speaker in Parliament. The SMK also controlled three ministries,
and a member of the party was re-nominated as the Deputy Prime Minister
for Nationalities, Human Rights, and European Integration.
Some ethnic Romani parties were successful at winning
representation at the local level; however, Roma were consistently
underrepresented in government service and no Roma were in Parliament.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were generally cooperative and responsive to their views.
The law requires foundations to register and have substantial
financial resources in order to operate; however, no organization was
denied registration or faced any other limitations on its operations.
The Government received recommendations from a council of NGOs on
pending legislation and new initiatives. The Slovak National Center for
Human Rights, a government-sponsored institution, held conferences,
released a variety of publications, and is mandated by the new
antidiscrimination law to be responsible for assisting individuals in
resolving violations of human rights. The Human Rights Ombudsman,
elected in 2002 to a 7 year term, accepted complaints about violations
of fundamental rights and freedoms by public administration bodies.
Both institutions received government funding but operated
independently. However, observers stated further concentration was
needed on educating the populace about human rights and personal
responsibilities. The Office of the Ombudsman provided little
information to the public about recommendations to the Government or
the resolutions of claims.
In May, arsonists set fire to the office of the NGO People Against
Racism, an organization that monitors the neo-Nazi movement in the
country. Prior to the fire, three activists were also attacked.
According to the director, the group received frequent e-mail and phone
threats. The police offered more protection until the NGO's office
could be relocated to a more secure location.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination and provides for the equality of
all citizens. On May 20, the Slovak Parliament adopted the Law on Equal
Treatment, which further defined discrimination and amended articles in
labor, education, health, and state service legislation. The law
provides for elements of positive discrimination, which the Ministry of
Justice challenged in the Constitutional Court. The Court decided not
to suspend this article while the case was pending, and it went into
effect in July. The Roma minority were victims of societal violence and
reported the Government enforced the law inconsistently in regard to
their members.
Women.--The law prohibits domestic violence; however, it was a
pervasive problem. A new law provides stricter sentences for crimes
against wives and family members in the same household and allows for
continued criminal prosecution even when a spouse drops charges.
Domestic violence was punishable from 2 to 12 years' imprisonment,
depending on the nature of the crime. Activists claimed increased
training about domestic violence and more victim specialists were
needed to properly enforce the law. Victims' advocates demanded a
better network of services for abused women, including government-
funded treatment centers, in the face of increasing caseloads and
lengthy court procedures.
In 2003, the police handled over 1,000 cases of domestic violence,
but reportedly did not distinguish between family violence and violence
against women. Since the crime is often underreported, statistics do
not adequately reflect the extent of the problem. Nonetheless, official
statistics continued to rise as public awareness grew after several NGO
campaigns and police training.
The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and the Government
enforced this effectively; however, it was a problem. The sentence for
rape is 2 to 8 years' imprisonment and could be increased to 5 to 12
years depending on the age of the victim or whether violence was used.
The sentence may be further increased to 10 to 15 years if there is a
resulting death. The Prosecutor's Office reported 113 cases of rape in
the first half of the year, with 39 sentences handed down. Specialists
stated that this number was underreported. As for victims of domestic
abuse, shelters and counseling are offered through NGOs and government-
funded programs.
Prostitution is legal; however, the Criminal Code prohibits related
activities such as renting apartments for prostitution, knowingly
spreading sexually transmitted diseases, or trafficking in women for
the purpose of sexual exploitation. There were reports that women were
trafficked into the country for sexual exploitation (see Section 5,
Trafficking).
A Government investigation did not find evidence to pursue charges
based on the 2003 reports of coerced or forced sterilization.
Nonetheless, the Government implemented several reforms, including
amending the legal norms covering sterilization. Some alleged victims
may also pursue claims for damages in civil courts (see Sections 1.f.).
Women are equal under the law, including in regards to property and
inheritance rights; however, discrimination against women remained a
problem in practice. Women typically earned approximately 30 percent
less than men, particularity between the ages of 35 to 39. According to
recent studies, the wage differential was approximately $172 per month
(5,000 SKK). Experts claimed that this was due to large numbers of
women working in low paid occupations, such as the education or social
services sectors.
The Office for Equal Opportunities is responsible for making
recommendations on legislation and preparing the National Action Plan
to Reduce Violence Against Women. Several active women's rights groups
cooperated with the Government and Parliament. NGOs continued to push
for increased opportunities for the political participation of women.
Children.--The Government was committed to children's rights and
welfare. The Ministries of Labor and Education oversaw implementation
of the Government's programs for children. The Constitution, the Law on
Education, the Labor Code, and the Family Code each addressed
children's rights. Education was universal, free, and compulsory for 9
years, or until the age of 15; parents may be prosecuted for not
sending their children to school, and local government can garnish the
social benefits of parents of truant children.
Government-provided healthcare for children was adequate and equal
for both girls and boys. There was a higher infant mortality rate for
Roma, and poor nutrition was more common among Romani children.
Outbreaks of jaundice and hepatitis were a problem for children living
in settlements with poor sanitary conditions.
Most ethnic Slovak and Hungarian children attended school on a
regular basis, but Romani children exhibited a lower attendance rate.
The Government instituted several programs to combat this problem and
overcome language and cultural barriers, through teaching assistants,
government funded preschool, and monthly stipends for travel and
material costs for disadvantaged secondary school students. Romani
children, nearly one fourth of the total number of children under 16,
were disproportionately enrolled in special schools for the mentally
handicapped. In certain special schools in the eastern part of the
country, registered students are nearly 100 percent Romani.
Child abuse remained an underreported problem; however, a growing
public awareness was evident in the increase in recent cases and
reports in the media.
A number of children's foundations operated several programs for
abused or disabled children. UNICEF Slovakia continued to operate a
hotline for children, which received approximately 12,000 calls
annually.
Child prostitution is prohibited. Community workers reported it was
a problem in some Romani settlements with the worst conditions. The
Penal Code contains a provision outlawing child pornography; there are
only a few reported cases annually. During the year, there were no
reported cases of trafficking in children.
There are approximately 6,000 children in institutional care and
Roma constituted the majority of this population. Most government
orphanages are long-term care facilities, rather than short-term
residences. Activists claim that orphans have difficulties integrating
into society at 18 years of age and are at increased risk to be victims
of trafficking.
The Ministry of Labor funded programs to begin transforming large
existing state institutions into smaller facilities operated by NGOs in
accordance with a 2002 law.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports that persons were trafficked from and
within the country. Under the law, traffickers may be sentenced from 3
to 10 years. If the offender is a member of a crime syndicate, the
sentence is increased to between 12 and 15 years.
The Police Antitrafficking Unit, Ministry of Interior, and
Prosecutor's Office are responsible for combating trafficking.
Government efforts to combat trafficking and assist victims were
hampered by the lack of resources and coordination among ministries and
government offices. During the year, police opened 27 cases involving
trafficking and successfully resolved 18 of these investigations. They
filed 21 criminal complaints and identified 38 victims. The Ministry of
Justice reported six convictions up to October 2004. The police
participated in international investigations on a limited basis.
In September, Slovak police arrested 15 members of an international
trafficking gang; the Czech police cooperated to charge 2 Slovak
citizens along with 8 Czechs in the trafficking ring. The group
operated a hostess agency and forced women to sign contracts obliging
sexual services. Clients from around the world ordered the women
through the Internet. The traffickers allegedly earned from
approximately $339,000 to $1 million (11 to 30 million SKK) over a
period of 4 years from approximately 230 women.
In 2003, police arrested 7 members of a trafficking gang who had
sent at least 60 women to Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and France over
an 8-year period, with the suspected involvement of a low-level
government employee. The case was pending at the end of the year.
The Police and the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
reported the country was an origin and transit point for victims of
trafficking, mainly for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Most of the
victims trafficked through the country came from the former Soviet
Republics, the former Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. The major trafficking
routes for victims were through the Czech Republic or Austria to
Western Europe. Victims, who usually traveled by car or plane, were
typically between the ages of 18 and 25, from various social
backgrounds, but particularly from areas with high unemployment. Some
experts alleged that Romani women, because of their socio-economic
situation and less freedom of mobility, were more vulnerable to being
trafficked by organized criminal gangs. Another high-risk group
included men and women looking for seasonal work abroad, sometimes
illegally, who were ill informed of the potential risks.
Traffickers lured women with offers of employment and assured
victim compliance through violence. Activists who work with the few
victims forced to work while transiting the country say most are placed
as prostitutes or as dancers in exotic clubs. Such activity is
concentrated on the border with Austria and close to Ukraine and most
probably along trucking routes with a prevalence of nightclubs. In
order to assure the victims' compliance, their documents are withheld,
and their captors closely monitor them. Some allegedly are threatened
with violence or even death if they attempt to escape.
There is no evidence of governmental involvement in or tolerance of
trafficking; however, corruption on the borders and among police may
have hampered efforts to combat trafficking. According to NGO
activists, government agents such as customs and police officers
treated victims poorly.
The Police Antitrafficking Unit referred victims to NGOs for
assistance, though no formal screening or referral process was in
place. The Ministry of Interior provided funding to an NGO (Dafne) for
assisting returned victims on a case by case basis. The Ministry of
Labor gave a grant to an NGO to run an antitrafficking public awareness
campaign in Romani communities in the central part of the country.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, access to health care, or in
the provision of other state services; however, experts reported that
access to buildings and higher education remained a problem. The law
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice. The law
provides for health protection and special working conditions for
persons with mental and physical disabilities, including special
protection in employment relations and training.
The regional government of Presov operated a project for persons
with severe disabilities in which they received training and
subsequently were eligible for government provided employment
opportunities.
NGOs reported that a better network of organizations is needed to
monitor human rights violations and improve psychiatric care of
patients with mental disorders. Organizations complained that the
country lacked assistance programs for the mentally handicapped, such
as work opportunities for persons with mental disorders after
treatment. The Slovak Helsinki Committee criticized the continued use
of ``cage beds'' that inhibit movement of mental health patients.
A working group, the Council for Citizens with Disabilities, served
as a governmental advisory body regarding persons with disabilities.
Several NGOs conducted public education campaigns on mental health
diseases and worked cooperatively with the Health Ministry on the
National Health Program.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Roma constituted the second
largest ethnic minority, reported by the 2001 census to number 90,000,
although experts estimated the population at up to 375,000 (nearly 7
percent of the population). Widespread discrimination against Roma
continued in the areas of healthcare, education, housing, and
employment. Entrance to some dining and entertainment establishments
was barred, particularly in the eastern part of the country.
There were several reports that Roma suffered discrimination with
respect to health care. The mortality rate for Romani children was 3
times that of the majority population, and the life expectancy for Roma
was lower by almost 17 years. Reports of segregated hospital wards and
allegations that Roma were more likely to be sterilized continued (see
Sections 1.f.). The Ministry of Health began pilot programs for health
care assistants that speak Romani and opened gynecological facilities
in selected areas with large Romani populations.
Many NGOs alleged that segregation in schools continued. The
Ministry of Education offered assistance to Roma by providing
scholarships, investing in bilingual program teaching assistants for
Roma, and sponsoring private schools with Romani as one of the
languages of instruction. Nonetheless, Romani children were at greater
risk of enrollment in special schools for the mentally handicapped.
The Milan Simecka Foundation and the ERRC released a housing study
alleging Roma were more likely to confront housing discrimination. For
instance, on a few occasions, local authorities and groups blocked
construction permits or the purchase of land, or forced evictions. The
report noted that many Romani settlements lacked formal infrastructure,
access to clean water, and proper sewage systems. The Government
designated financing for housing projects in settlements, but the
tendering and construction process was slow. Some local governments
withdrew from project financing because of the inability to decide upon
appropriate strategies, while other communities showed some
improvement.
In some Romani settlements, the unemployment rate was approximately
95 percent. Activists frequently alleged that some employers refused to
hire Roma.
In February, protests and lootings of grocery stores occurred in
response to changes in the social benefit system, on which many Roma
depend. The Government sent police and military to secure private
property and patrol communities. Activists stated that some members of
the police used an inappropriate level of force in the area of
Trebisov, resulting in several civilian injuries (see Section 1.c.).
The use of a police blockade of the Romani community that inhibited
free movement to and from the city was also highly criticized (see
Section 1.d.).
The Government reported that usury, the illegal charging of high
interest rates on small loans, was one of the main causes for the
deepening poverty of Roma in settlements and a possible contributing
factor in the February unrest. Since the lootings, the police
investigated more than 99 instances of usury and reported that one-
fourth of these cases were successfully prosecuted.
Skinhead violence against Roma continued to be a serious problem.
For example, in March, masked men posing as police entered a home in
Nove Mesto Nad Vahom and beat a Romani family, including children. The
NGO People Against Racism reported that although police were
increasingly responsive in their efforts to monitor and control the
skinhead movement, the problem persisted.
The Government continued to fund minority language publications and
media through the Ministry of Culture. International organizations
criticized the mainstream national press for unbalanced reporting about
minorities.
The Government's Plenipotentiary for Romani Communities opened five
new regional offices to supervise the implementation of governmental
policy on Roma, support infrastructure development, and cooperate with
municipalities and villages to improve interaction between Roma and non
Roma. The Ministry of Labor funded Roma Terrain Workers, specially
trained social workers assigned to Romani settlements, to provide
various kinds of assistance--from helping fill out paperwork to
relaying the importance of education and preventative healthcare.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right to form and join unions, except in the armed forces, and workers
exercised this right in practice. Approximately 30 percent of the work
force was unionized. The Slovak Trade Unions Confederation included
nearly 90 percent of all trade unions in the country. Unions were
independent of the Government and political parties; however, they
sometimes cooperated with opposition parties.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, and
workers exercised these rights in practice.
In September, the Government abolished the existing law on the
tripartite process, which required negotiations with trade union
representatives and employers' associations on most laws concerning
social sector issues. The parties continued to meet and act as an
advisory body, although their decisions were not binding for the
Government.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike legally in two
instances: When collective bargaining fails to reach an agreement, or
to support other striking employees' demands (solidarity strike). The
unions generally exercised these rights in practice without
restrictions. Strikes must be announced in advance. The law prohibits
dismissing workers legally participating in strikes; however, strikers
are not ensured protection if a strike is considered illegal or
unofficial.
There are no export process zones. Also, there are no special laws
or exemptions from regular labor laws in free trade zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace,
which were effectively implemented and enforced in practice. Problems
with child labor were nearly nonexistent.
The minimum age for employment is 15, although children under 15
may perform light work in cultural or artistic performances, so long as
it does not affect their health, safety, or schooling. The Labor
Inspection Office and Health Protection Office must approve, agree on
the maximum hours, and set conditions for child labor under 15.
Children under 16 may not work more than 30 hours per week, and
children 16-17 are limited to 37.5 hours per week. Children under 18
are not allowed to work underground, perform work that is inappropriate
for their age or health, or work overtime.
Child labor complaints were received and investigated by district
inspection units. If it was determined that a child labor law or
regulation had been broken, the case was turned over to the national
inspection unit of the Ministry of Labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage of $224 (6,500
SKK) per month provided a decent standard of living for a worker and
family in rural areas of the country, but not in urban areas. During
the year, the Government streamlined the fund established in 2000 that
guarantees lost wages due to employer bankruptcy or insolvency. The
poverty line was $182 (5,290 SKK) for a single person. The average
salary for the first 9 months of the year was $521 (15,105 SKK). The
Labor Code mandates a maximum work week of 48 hours (including
overtime). The trade unions, Ministry of Labor, and local employment
offices monitored observance of these laws, and authorities effectively
enforced them.
The Labor Code establishes health and safety standards that the
Office of Labor Safety generally enforced. For hazardous employment,
workers undergo medical screening by a physician. They have the right
to refuse to work in situations that endanger their health and safety
and may file complaints against employers in such situations. Employees
working under conditions endangering their health and safety for a
certain period of time are entitled to paid ``relaxation'' leave in
addition to their standard leave.
__________
SLOVENIA
Slovenia is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional republic.
Power is shared between a directly elected president (head of state), a
prime minister (head of government), and a bicameral parliament,
composed of the National Assembly (lower house) and the National
Council (upper house). On October 3, the country held free and fair
elections for seats in the National Assembly. The judiciary is
independent.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI), which was responsible for internal
security, maintained effective control of the police. By law, the armed
forces did not exercise civil police functions. A few members of the
security forces committed isolated human rights abuses.
The country continued its transition from a centrally planned to a
market economy. The population was approximately 2 million.
Manufacturing accounted for most employment, with machinery and other
manufactured products constituting the major exports. For the year,
growth in the gross domestic product was estimated at 4 percent and
inflation at 3.2 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police in several
cases allegedly used excessive force against detainees. Credible
sources alleged that media self-censorship existed as a result of
indirect political and economic pressures. Violence against women was a
problem. Trafficking in women and girls through and to the country for
sexual exploitation was a problem. Minorities (including former
Yugoslav residents without legal status and certain Romani communities)
reported some governmental and societal discrimination.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, in a
few cases human rights observers alleged that police used excessive
force such as kicks, punches, and pushes during arrest.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. Male
and female prisoners were held separately, juvenile offenders were held
separately from adults, and convicted criminals were held separately
from pretrial detainees.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
Police are centrally organized under the supervision of the Police
and Security Bureau of the MOI. The Bureau oversees the drafting of
basic guidelines, security policy, and regulations governing the work
of the police and exercises special inspectorial authority in
monitoring police performance, with an emphasis on the protection of
human rights and fundamental freedoms. The General Police
Administration, headed by the General Director of the Police, has
overall responsibility for the execution of police duties and oversees
activities at the national level. Regional police duties are under the
jurisdiction of police administration units, whose directors report to
the General Director. Local police tasks fall to individual police
stations, whose commanders report to the director of the relevant
police administration.
During the year, the independent Commission for the Prevention of
Corruption received nine credible reports of police corruption, which
were referred to the police for further investigation. There had been
no prosecutions, trials, or dismissals based on the reports by year's
end. Police corruption and abuse initially are investigated internally.
If there is evidence of wrongdoing, the officers involved may be
referred to the MOI or the prosecutor's office, depending on the
severity of the breach.
Detainees have the right to contact a legal counsel upon arrest,
and authorities generally respected this right in practice. Authorities
must advise detainees in writing within 24 hours of the reasons for the
arrest. Detention may last up to 6 months before charges are brought;
once charges are brought, detention may be extended for a maximum of 2
years. Persons detained more than 2 years while awaiting trial or while
their trial is ongoing must be released pending conclusion of their
trial (see Section 1.e.). Lengthy pretrial detention was not a
widespread problem, and defendants generally were released on bail,
except in the most serious criminal cases. The law also provides
safeguards against self-incrimination.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice. The judiciary generally provided citizens with a
fair judicial process; however, court backlogs sometimes resulted in
lengthy trials.
The judicial system consists of district courts, regional courts,
courts of appeals, an administrative court, and the Supreme Court. A
nine-member Constitutional Court rules on the constitutionality of
legislation, treaties, and international agreements and is the highest
level of appeal for administrative procedures. Judges, elected by the
National Assembly upon the nomination of the Judicial Council, are
constitutionally independent. The Judicial Council is composed of six
sitting judges elected by their peers and five presidential nominees
elected by the Parliament.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right; however, the
judicial system was overburdened and, as a result, the judicial process
frequently was protracted. In some cases, criminal trials have lasted
from 2 to 5 years.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
Eligibility to file a claim for denationalization of property
depends on the citizenship of the claimant at the time the property was
nationalized; however, current citizenship is not a factor in how the
claims are processed. The Government did not track the claims of non-
citizens separately from those of citizens. Claims filed by individuals
who were not resident in the country took longer to resolve because
they commonly did not have local legal representation actively engaged
in monitoring their cases and because it took longer for them to gather
and submit required supporting documentation. Court backlogs also
contributed to delays in resolving claims for denationalization of
property.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom; however, there were reports that indirect political and
economic pressures continued to influence the media, resulting in
occasional self censorship. There were credible reports that
advertisers pressured media outlets to manipulate their presentation of
public issues.
The press was active and independent; however, major media did not
represent a broad range of political or ethnic interests. The major
print media were supported through private investment and advertising,
and the Government owned substantial stock in many of the companies
that were shareholders in the major media houses. Three of the six
national television channels were part of the government-subsidized RTV
Slovenia network. Cultural publications and book publishing received
government subsidies.
All major towns had radio stations and cable television. A
newspaper was published for the ethnic Italian minority living on the
Adriatic coast. Bosnian refugees and the Albanian community had
newsletters in their own languages. Numerous foreign broadcasts were
accessible via satellite and cable, and foreign newspapers, magazines,
and journals were widely available. Minority language television and
radio broadcasts were available.
The law requires the media to offer free space and broadcasting
time to political parties at election time. Television networks
routinely provided public figures and opinion makers from across the
political spectrum access to a broad range of programming and
advertising opportunities.
On February 10, the Maribor District Prosecutor filed five
indictments in connection with the 2001 beating of investigative
journalist Miro Petek, and a trial commenced on May 20. On June 8, a
special National Assembly commission looking into the Government's role
in the police investigation of the beating and trial stated that a
determination of political interference could not be made. The trial
was not concluded at year's end.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
There were no formal requirements for recognition as a religion by
the Government. Religious communities must register with the
Government's Office for Religious Communities if they wish to be legal
entities, and registration entitles such groups to value added tax
rebates. In response to complaints from several groups that the office
had failed to act on their registration applications, the Secretary
General of the Government in June clarified registration procedures and
instructed the office to process outstanding applications. During the
year, the office had approved four out of six applications; two
applications were still pending at year's end.
The Constitution states that parents are entitled to give their
children ``a moral and religious upbringing.'' Only those schools
supported by religious bodies taught religion.
The law provides for denationalization (restitution or
compensation) of church property--church buildings and support
buildings, residences, businesses, and forests--nationalized after
World War II by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. By the
end of September, the Government had finalized 33,874 (89 percent) of
the 38,216 denationalization claims filed.
In early October, a Jewish family grave was desecrated; police had
not identified the perpetrators by year's end. Jewish community
representatives reported prejudice, ignorance, and false stereotypes
and negative images of Jews within society. Negative images of Jews
were common in private commentary, and citizens generally did not
consider Jews to be a native population.
The Government promoted antibias and tolerance education in the
primary and secondary schools, and the Holocaust was an obligatory
topic in the contemporary history curriculum. The country designated
May 9 as a day of remembrance commemorating the end of World War II and
the liberation of Ljubljana; some municipalities also included
remembrance of the Holocaust on this day.
Societal attitudes toward the minority Muslim and Serbian Orthodox
communities were generally tolerant; however, some persons feared the
possible emergence of Muslim fundamentalism, and representatives of
several opposition political parties spread this fear.
According to the 2002 census, 2.4 percent of the population of the
country is Muslim. While there are no governmental restrictions on the
Muslim community's freedom of worship, services commonly were held in
private homes under cramped conditions. In December 2003, 34 years
after the project was originally proposed, the Ljubljana Municipal
Council approved zoning changes that would permit construction of a
mosque. In February, opponents of the mosque's construction gathered
enough signatures to call a referendum on whether to permit required
zoning changes. On July 12, the Constitutional Court blocked the
referendum on the grounds that it would violate the constitutional
provision providing for freedom of religion. At year's end, the Islamic
community had selected a plot of land for the mosque and was moving
ahead with construction plans.
Interfaith relations were generally amicable, although the majority
Catholic Church viewed foreign missionary groups as aggressive
proselytizers.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The
Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ
it.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
Since most potential refugees viewed the country as a transit point
rather than a destination, few stayed long enough to be processed as
refugees. During the year, the country granted refugee status to 39
persons and humanitarian refugee status to an additional 74 persons.
The issue of the provision of temporary protection did not arise during
the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens generally exercised this right in
practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis
of universal suffrage. On October 3, the country held free and fair
elections for seats in the National Assembly and, on June 13, for seats
in the European Parliament. In 2002, Janez Drnovsek was elected
President in free and fair elections.
During the year, the independent Commission for the Prevention of
Corruption noted six reports of corruption among politically appointed
functionaries of the Government and one report of corruption within the
National Council. On December 9, an Appeals Court sentenced former
State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy Boris Sustar to a 2-year
prison term and a $27,890 (5 million tolars) fine for his involvement
in a 2000 bribery scandal. The independent Commission for the
Prevention of Corruption played an active role in educating the public
and civil servants about corruption; however, at year's end, the
Commission had neither adequate staff nor adequate funding to fulfill
its mandate. On March 30, the Penal Code was amended to define
corruption in line with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development's Convention on Bribery. On December 21, the National
Assembly approved the use of a form that requires public servants to
make financial disclosures.
The law provides for free public access to all information
controlled by state or local institutions and their agents. The
Government provided such access for both citizens and non citizens
alike, including foreign media. The Government may deny access to
public information only if information is classified, it contains
personal data protected by privacy laws, and in certain other narrowly
defined exceptions.
There were 14 women in the 90-seat National Assembly and 3 women in
the 40-seat National Council. A total of 3 of 16 cabinet ministers were
women.
There were 2 members of minorities in the 90-seat National Assembly
and none in the 40-seat National Council. The Constitution provides the
``autochthonous'' (indigenous) Italian and Hungarian minorities the
right, as a community, to have at least one representative in the
Parliament. However, the Constitution and law do not provide any other
minority group, autochthonous or otherwise, the right to be represented
as a community in Parliament. In June 2003, the U.N. Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) issued a report
recommending that the Government take further measures to ensure that
all groups of minorities are represented in Parliament.
Twenty distinct Romani communities, each designated autochthonous
at the local level, are entitled to a seat on their local municipal
councils. At year's end, one municipality (Grosuplje) was not in
compliance with this law.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international independent human rights
groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating
and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government
officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
An Ombudsman for Human Rights operated independently of government
or party control, interference or influence. The Ombudsman reported
that his office had both the staff and resources to be effective and
that he enjoyed good cooperation with the Government. The Ombudsman
issues an annual report with wide ranging recommendations that is made
available to the public. The Government took some steps to address the
problems raised in the report.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equality before the law regardless of
race, sex, disability, language, or social status. The Constitution
provides special rights for the autochthonous Italian and Hungarian
ethnic communities and for the small Romani community; these provisions
were generally respected in practice.
Women.--Violence against women occurred and was underreported;
however, awareness of spousal abuse and other violence against women
increased. SOS Phone, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that
provided anonymous emergency counseling and services to domestic
violence victims, received thousands of calls during the year. The
Government partially funded 9 shelters for battered women, which
operated at capacity (approximately 109 total beds) and turned away
numerous women. When police received reports of spousal abuse or
violence, they actively intervened and prosecuted offenders.
Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal but the latter was rarely
reported. The NGO Amnesty International estimated that one in seven
Slovenian women is raped during their lifetime but that only 5 percent
seek assistance or counseling. The police actively investigated reports
of rape and prosecuted offenders.
Prostitution is illegal but decriminalized. Antitrafficking
authorities and NGOs informally estimated that as many as 80 bars and
clubs across the country could be engaged in prostitution. Trafficking
in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
The law does not explicitly prohibit sexual harassment; however, it
may be prosecuted under sections of the Criminal Code that prohibit
sexual abuse. Sexual harassment and violence remained serious problems.
Government policy provides for equal rights for women, and there
was no official discrimination against women or minorities in housing,
jobs, or education. In rural areas, women, even those employed outside
the home, bore a disproportionate share of household work and family
care because of a generally conservative social tradition. However,
women frequently were active in business and in government executive
departments. Although both sexes had the same average period of
unemployment, women frequently held lower paying jobs. On average,
women's earnings were 90 percent of those of men. The Government's
Office of Equal Opportunities promotes nondiscrimination between women
and men.
Children.--The Constitution stipulates that children ``enjoy human
rights and fundamental freedoms consistent with their age and level of
maturity,'' and the Government was committed to protecting children's
rights and welfare.
The Government provided compulsory, free, and universal primary
school education for children through grade 9 (ages 14 and 15) and up
to 4 additional years of free, voluntary secondary school education.
Ministry of Education statistics showed an attendance rate of nearly
100 percent of school age children, with most children completing
secondary school. The Government provided universal health care for all
citizens, including children.
Child abuse was a problem; however, there was no societal pattern
of abuse of children. The law provides special protection for children
from exploitation and mistreatment. Social workers visited schools
regularly to monitor any incidents of mistreatment or abuse of
children.
Trafficking in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Trafficking in Persons.--On June 17, the Penal Code was amended to
specifically criminalize trafficking in persons; nevertheless,
trafficking of women and girls through, to, and from the country
remained a problem. Penalties for trafficking range from 1 to 10 years'
imprisonment. Persons can also be prosecuted for rape, pimping,
procurement of sexual acts, inducement to prostitution, sexual assault,
and other related offenses. Regional police directorates had
departments that investigated trafficking and organized crime. During
the year, 12 persons were prosecuted for ``forced slavery,'' and one
was prosecuted for trafficking in human beings; all of the trials were
ongoing at year's end.
The country was primarily a transit, and secondarily a destination,
country for women and teenage girls trafficked from Southeastern,
Eastern, and Central Europe to Western Europe and North America. The
country was also a country of origin for a small number of women and
teenage girls trafficked to Western Europe. Victims were trafficked for
purposes of sexual exploitation.
A 2003 study by the International Organization for Migration
reported that traffickers lured victims from Eastern Europe and the
Balkan countries through offers of employment without indicating that
it would involve the sex industry, media advertisements promising high
wages, offers of employment as entertainers and dancers, and offers of
marriage. Harsh conditions in their home countries also contributed to
the willingness of some women to enter into prostitution, not knowing
they would become trafficking victims, subjected to severe conditions.
Traffickers reportedly subjected some trafficking victims to
violence.
There were no reports that government officials were involved in
trafficking.
Organized crime was responsible for some of the trafficking. In
general, authorities did not treat trafficking victims as criminals;
however, they usually were voluntarily returned to their home country
either immediately upon detention or following their testimony in
court.
The Government's National Coordinator for Trafficking in Persons
and Interagency Working Group on Trafficking in Persons have put
forward a long-term national strategy to combat trafficking. The
working group, which includes representatives of different ministries,
NGOs, international organizations, and the media, established standard
operating procedures for first responders to ensure that victims
receive information about the options and assistance available to them.
The domestic NGO Kljuc, which received some government funding in
August, had a memorandum of understanding with the MOI that provided
victims immunity from prosecution and temporary legal status, including
work permits and access to social services. In April, Kljuc signed
another memorandum with the police stipulating that police units would
contact Kljuc during raids or investigations that potentially involved
trafficking victims. Kljuc also worked to raise public awareness of
trafficking, provide legal assistance, counseling, and other services
to victims, and train police.
The MOI produced pamphlets and other informational materials for
NGO-run awareness programs to sensitize potential target populations to
the dangers of and approaches used by traffickers. The Ministry also
worked with NGOs to provide specialized training to police and to
assist the small number of victims with reintegration.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was generally no discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other government services. The law
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice.
Modifications of public and private structures to ease access by
persons with disabilities continued, although at a slow pace. The
Ministry for Labor, Family and Social Affairs has primary
responsibility for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the 2002 census,
minorities made up approximately 17 percent of the population and
included 35,642 Croats, 38,964 Serbs, 21,542 Bosniaks (Bosnian
Muslims), 10,467 Muslims, 6,243 Hungarians, 6,186 Albanians, 3,246
Roma, and 2,258 Italians.
The Constitution provides special rights and protections to
autochthonous Italian and Hungarian minorities, including the right to
use their own national symbols and have bilingual education and the
right for each to be represented as a community in Parliament (see
Section 3). The Romani minority does not have comparable special rights
and protections. The Constitution provides that ``the status and
special rights of Gypsy communities living in Slovenia shall be such as
are determined by statute.'' By year's end, Parliament had not enacted
laws to establish such rights for the Romani community. A study funded
by the European Community estimated that 40 percent of Roma in the
country were autochthonous.
On May 16, an outbreak of societal violence between the Romani
community living near Krka and the local inhabitants reportedly
resulted in the injury of several persons.
Many Roma lived in settlements apart from other communities that
lacked basic utilities such as electricity, running water, sanitation,
and access to transportation. Romani representatives reported that some
local authorities developed segregated substandard housing facilities
to which Romani communities were forcibly relocated. Romani
representatives also reported that Romani children often attend
segregated classes and were selected by authorities in disproportional
numbers to attend classes for students with special needs. In July, the
Government provided funding for a program to desegregate and expand
Romani education by training Romani educational facilitators and create
special enrichment programs in public kindergartens. The Government has
not developed a bilingual curriculum for Roma on the grounds that there
is not a standardized Romani language. However, the Government has
funded research into codification of the language.
Romani representatives also reported discrimination in employment,
which complicated their housing situation, and that Roma were
disproportionally subject to poverty and unemployment. A 2003 report
funded by the European Commission noted that the unemployment rate
among Roma was 87 percent.
The law provides Romani political representatives with a seat in 20
municipal councils based on their autochthonous status in those
communities. At year's end, only the municipality of Grosuplje had not
complied with this law. In a June 2003 report, the CERD expressed
concern that discriminatory attitudes and practices against the Roma
persisted and that the distinction between ``indigenous'' Roma and
``new'' Roma could give rise to new discrimination. Ethnic Serbs,
Croats, Bosnians, Kosovar Albanians, and Roma from Kosovo and Albania
were considered ``new'' minorities; they were not protected by the
special constitutional provisions for autochtonous minorities and faced
some governmental and societal discrimination.
Regularization of status for non-Slovenian former Yugoslav citizens
remained an issue. The MOI reported that, at year's end, it had 3,026
pending applications for citizenship. During the year, it positively
adjudicated 3,096 applications for citizenship and denied 477
applications. The MOI also reported that, at year's end, it had 985
pending applications for permanent residency. During the year, it
positively adjudicated 3,976 applications for permanent residency and
denied 254 applications.
Some Yugoslavs residing in the country at the time of independence
did not apply for citizenship in 1991-92 and subsequently found their
records were ``erased'' from the population register. The deletion of
these records from the population register has been characterized by
some as an administrative decision and by others as an ethnically
motivated act. In April 2003, the Constitutional Court ruled
unconstitutional portions of a law governing the legal status of former
Yugoslav citizens because it does not recognize the full period in
which these ``erased'' persons resided in the country, nor does it
provide them the opportunity to apply for permanent residency. There
were approximately 18,305 persons in the country who had their records
erased. At year's end, the Government had not completed legislation to
resolve the Court's concerns.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Constitution
prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation; however, there
was societal discrimination against homosexuals. According to a poll of
members of the gay and lesbian community conducted in 2001 by the
domestic NGO Student Cultural Artistic Center, 49 percent of
respondents had experienced some form of violence or harassment based
on their sexual orientation, more than 20 percent reported
discrimination in the workplace, and 7 percent reported discrimination
in health care and in matters relating to tenancy.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides that unions
and their membership shall be free, and workers formed and joined
unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive
requirements. All workers, except police and military personnel, were
eligible to form and join labor organizations. Approximately 35 percent
of the workforce was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for the
right to bargain collectively, and it was freely practiced; however,
the law requires that 10 percent of the workers in an industry sector
be union members before collective bargaining can be applied to the
sector as a whole. A large majority of workers were bound by collective
bargaining contracts. The Constitution provides for the right to
strike, and workers exercised this right in practice. The law restricts
strikes by some public sector employees, primarily the police and
members of the military services. There are no special laws or
exemptions from regular labor laws in the country's three export
processing zones in Koper, Maribor, and Nova Gorica.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment was 15; however, during the harvest season
or for other farm chores, younger children worked. Urban employers
generally respected the age limits. The Ministry of Labor is
responsible for monitoring labor practices and has inspection
authority; police are responsible for investigating any violation of
the law.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum
wage of approximately $622 (111,484 tolars) provided a decent standard
of living for a worker and family. The law limits the workweek to 40
hours and provides for minimum annual leave of 20 days. The Ministry of
Labor is responsible for monitoring labor practices and has inspection
authority; police are responsible for investigating any violation of
the law. The law was enforced effectively.
Special commissions under the Ministries of Health and Labor set
and enforced standards for occupational health and safety. Workers had
the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without
jeopardy to their continued employment; however, it was not clear to
what extent they could do so in practice.
Legally employed workers enjoyed the same rights and working
conditions as citizens; however, since foreign workers were more likely
to be engaged in illegal work than citizens, they generally had poorer
rights and working conditions in practice.
__________
SPAIN
Spain is a democracy with a constitutional monarch. The Parliament
consists of two chambers, the Congress of Deputies and the Senate. On
March 14, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of the Socialist Party was
elected Prime Minister, with the title President of the Government.
Elections were free and fair. The judiciary is independent.
Internal security responsibilities are divided among the National
Police, which are responsible for security in urban areas; the Civil
Guard, which police rural areas and control borders and highways; and
police forces under the authority of the autonomous communities of
Catalonia and the Basque region. Civilian authorities maintained
effective control of the security forces. A few members of the security
forces committed isolated human rights abuses.
The market-based economy, with primary reliance on private
enterprise, provided the population of over 42.6 million with a high
standard of living. The economy grew during the third quarter at a 2.7
percent annual rate. The annual inflation rate was 3 percent at year's
end. Wages generally kept pace with inflation.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; although there were a few problems in some areas, the law and
judiciary provide effective means of addressing individual instances of
abuse. There were credible allegations that a few members of the
security forces abused detainees and mistreated foreigners and illegal
immigrants. Lengthy pretrial detention and delays in trials were
problems. Violence against women was a problem. Trafficking in women
and teenage girls for the purpose of prostitution was a problem.
Societal discrimination against Roma and immigrants remained a problem,
as did occasional violence against immigrants.
On March 11, a coordinated series of 10 explosions occurred during
rush hour aboard 4 commuter trains in Madrid. The attacks by the
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, an Islamic extremist group affiliated
with al-Qaida, killed 191 persons and injured more than 1,800.
The terrorist group Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) continued
its campaign of bombings. ETA sympathizers also continued a campaign of
street violence and vandalism in the Basque region intended to
intimidate politicians, academics, and journalists.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
On March 11, a coordinated series of 10 explosions occurred during
rush hour aboard 4 commuter trains in Madrid. The attacks by the
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group killed 191 persons and injured more
than 1,800. On April 2, Islamic extremists attempted to bomb the high
speed AVE train south of Madrid. On April 3, six of the suspected
leaders of the Madrid attacks killed a policeman and then committed
suicide during a police raid of an apartment in Leganes.
ETA, whose declared goal is to establish an independent Basque
state, continued its terrorist campaign of bombings. ETA publicly
claimed responsibility for its attacks.
The Government continued to pursue legal actions against ETA
members. By year's end, police had arrested 74 ETA members and
collaborators and had dismantled 3 ETA operational cells. Authorities
in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands have arrested, and in some
cases extradited to Spain, ETA members. In October, French police,
working with Spanish investigators, arrested ETA leaders Mikel Albizu
and Soledad Iparraguirre.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, suspects
charged with terrorism at times were tortured and abused during
detention. According to Amnesty International (AI), government
investigations of such alleged abuses often were lengthy and
punishments were light.
In February, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, Theo van
Boven, issued a report on his visit to the country in October 2003. The
purpose of the visit was to study the various safeguards for the
protection of detainees in the context of anti-terrorism measures. The
Rapporteur noted ``the degree of silence that surrounds the subject and
the denial by the authorities without investigating the allegations of
torture has made it particularly difficult to provide the necessary
monitoring of protection and guarantees.'' He concluded that, ``in the
light of the internal consistency of the information received and the
precision of factual details these allegations of torture cannot be
considered to be fabrications.'' Although not a regular practice,
``their occurrence is more than sporadic and incidental.'' He
recommended that the Government draw up a comprehensive plan to prevent
and suppress torture and that the incommunicado regime be abrogated.
The Government rejected the van Boven report, describing it as lacking
``objective well founded analysis.''
An AI report stated that torture was not present in a systematic
form in the country, but certain practices such as holding detainees
incommunicado could facilitate mistreatment. AI urged an end to legal
provisions that allow police to hold suspects of certain terror-related
crimes for up to 5 days with access only to a public lawyer. AI stated
that giving suspects access to a lawyer of their choice would make for
better observations of treatment in police custody. AI was also
concerned about continuing reports of mistreatment of detainees in
immigration detention centers and urged the Government to broaden its
definition of torture to include rape by authorities while in custody.
The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture
made public a report in 2003 of its 2001 inspection that indicated that
the Government had not complied with some of its recommendations to
prevent mistreatment in jails. The committee reiterated its
recommendations that the Government reduce from 5 days to 2 days the
maximum period allowed for authorities to notify relatives or other
persons of the fact and place of a subject's detention; that persons
held in incommunicado detention be allowed a medical examination by a
doctor of their own choice and receive written information regarding
this proposed right; and that detainees be provided with more immediate
access to a lawyer.
There were credible allegations that a few members of the security
forces abused detainees and mistreated foreigners and illegal
immigrants. In July, regional Catalonian police were accused of having
killed Moroccan national Farid Bendaomed on May 27 and having abused
another six persons in an operation against drug trafficking.
In 2002, AI reported that police had abused undocumented Moroccan
minors, particularly in the Spanish North African enclaves of Ceuta and
Melilla, and that some undocumented minors were returned to Morocco
without sufficient concern for their welfare (see Section 2.d.). AI
continued to express concern about the treatment in reception centers
for undocumented minors.
ETA bombings and attempted bombings caused numerous injuries and
property damage. During the December 3 to 6 holiday weekend, ETA
carried out 12 bombings in 2 sets of coordinated attacks in Madrid,
Leon, Valladolid, Avila, Ciudad Real, Santillana del Mar, Alicante, and
Malaga. Several of ETA's attacks were directed at the tourist industry
on the northern coast, including August bombings in Santander, Gijon,
Santiago de Compostela, and smaller communities in Cantabria, Asturias,
and Galicia. In addition to attacks aimed at tourist zones, in
September, ETA placed explosives near electrical lines in Irun in the
Basque region. In February, two ETA members were arrested near Cuenca,
while driving towards Madrid with 536 kilograms of explosives allegedly
intended for bombing a train station.
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
in April, prisoners in Quatre Camins prison in Catalonia alleged abuse
by prison guards while being transferred after a prison riot. The
Department of Justice of Catalonia conducted an investigation of the
incident and determined that no abuses had been committed.
Women were held separately from men; juveniles were held separately
from adults; and pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted
criminals.
The Government permits visits by independent human rights
observers. In June, an AI delegation led by Secretary General Irene
Khan visited the country. The group met with the new Government and
presented a human rights action plan for the country. The delegation
met the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Justice, Interior, and
Foreign Affairs, as well as with the President of the Supreme Court.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
Police forces include the National Police, Municipal Police, the
Civil Guard, and police forces under the authority of the autonomous
communities of Catalonia and the Basque Country. All police forces
operated effectively with no reports of systemic corruption. The
Constitution provides for an ombudsman, called the People's Defender
(Defensor del Pueblo), who investigated claims of police abuse (see
Section 4).
Arrest warrants were based on sufficient evidence and issued by a
duly authorized official. Persons were apprehended openly and brought
before an independent judiciary. Arrested persons were allowed prompt
access to a lawyer of their choosing or, if they could not afford one,
to an attorney appointed by the court. Defendants were released on bail
unless the court believed that they might flee or be a threat to public
safety. A suspect may not be held for more than 72 hours without a
hearing, except in cases involving terrorism, in which case the law
permits holding a suspect an additional 2 days--or a total of 5 days--
without a hearing. A judge may authorize semi-incommunicado detention
for terrorism suspects, in which suspects have access only to a court-
appointed lawyer.
At times pretrial detention was lengthy. Under the law, suspects
cannot be detained for more than 2 years before being brought to trial
unless a judge, who may extend pretrial detention to 4 years,
authorizes a further delay. In practice, pretrial detention usually was
less than 1 year.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial structure consists of local, provincial, regional, and
national courts with the Supreme Court at its apex. The Constitutional
Court has the authority to return a case to the court in which it was
adjudicated if it can be determined that constitutional rights were
violated during the course of the proceedings. The National High Court
handles crimes such as terrorism and drug trafficking. The European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is the final arbiter in cases concerning
human rights.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair public trial, and
an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. There was a
nine-person jury system. Defendants enjoy the presumption of innocence
and have the right to be represented by an attorney (at state expense
for the indigent), to confront witnesses and to present witnesses on
their behalf, and to have access to government-held evidence. Following
a conviction, defendants may appeal to the next higher court.
The law calls for an expeditious judicial hearing following arrest;
however, the judicial process often was lengthy.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom. However, in 2003, the Government closed the Basque newspaper,
Euskalunon Egunkaria, because of its links to the ETA. The courts
approved additional 4-month extensions of the closing of the newspaper
in February, June, and November. The paper did not re open by year's
end. Ignacio Uria, one of the managers of Euskalunon Egunkaria, who had
been imprisoned since February 2003, was set free in August.
In May, the European Commission presented a report that denounced
the restraints placed on journalists in the Basque region, particularly
in covering the de-legitimizing of the Batasuna political party (see
Section 3). The Government imposed restrictions against publishing
documents that the Government interpreted as glorifying or supporting
terrorism. The report also denounced restraints on domestic journalists
covering the ecological disaster, when the Prestige oil tanker broke up
off the northwestern coast of the country in November 2002, causing
damage to both the marine environment and the fishing sector.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
ETA and its sympathizers continued their violent campaign of
intimidation against political, press, and academic professionals and
organizations in the Basque country. In March 2003, the International
Press Institute issued a report that indicated that journalists worked
under the threat of terrorism.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
The Constitution declares the country is a secular state, and
various laws provide that no religion should have the character of a
state religion; however, Catholicism was the dominant religion and
enjoyed the closest official relationship with the Government. Among
the various benefits enjoyed by the Catholic Church was financing
through the tax system. Judaism, Islam, and many Protestant
denominations had official status through bilateral agreements, but
they enjoyed fewer privileges. In April 2003, the Government expanded
the concept of ``well known deeply rooted beliefs'' (notorio arraigo)
to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), which
allows them to sign a bilateral agreement; however, the Mormons had not
begun negotiations with the Government by year's end.
The law establishes a legal regime and certain privileges for
religious organizations to benefit from this regime. Religions not
recognized officially, such as the Church of Scientology, were treated
as cultural associations. Leaders of the Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish
communities reported that they continued to press the Government for
privileges comparable to those enjoyed by the Catholic Church.
Protestant and Muslim leaders wanted their communities to receive
government support through an income tax allocation or other
designation.
In March, two Jewish synagogues in Barcelona belonging to the
Jewish Community of Barcelona and the Atid Jewish Community were
vandalized repeating vandalism of previous years. The vandalism
included anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls of the synagogue. The
groups also reported that local extremist groups monitored them. The
regional government responded by increasing security at the center.
On May 27, Catalan police arrested three leaders of a neo Nazi
group called the Circle of Indo-European Research on charges of being
members in an illicit association that opposed the fundamental rights
and public freedom of citizens within the international community. The
police, as well as Jewish community leaders, believed the leaders were
involved in the March synagogue attacks. One was charged with illicit
association; the police released one of the leaders without bail,
another was released with bail, and the third was released with an
order to appear in court in July. The case was still pending at year's
end.
Officials from B'nai B'rith have suggested there was an increasing
anti-Semitic tone in newspaper commentary and political cartoons as
well as public displays of anti-Semitism at major sporting events. They
cited the example of a soccer game. Some participants at the game wore
swastikas and other Nazi emblems; they also displayed a banner with an
anti-Semitic epithet.
On October 15, partly in response to attacks against Jewish persons
and institutions, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a proposal
from the Ministry of Justice calling for a Foundation for Pluralism and
Coexistence.
The law operationalizes Article 16 of the Constitution, which
provides for religious freedom and the freedom from worship by
individuals and groups. The Government generally enforced this law in
practice. The Ministry of Justice has expressed concern about incidents
of anti-Semitism in the country, stating that these incidents appear to
be isolated events attributed mostly to small groups of youth or
immigrants.
In December, the Government designated January 27 as Holocaust
Remembrance Day.
Many citizens blamed recent Moroccan immigrants for increased crime
rates in the country, which sometimes resulted in anti-Muslim
sentiment. There has been no documented increase in violence towards
Muslims following the March 11 train bombings in Madrid; however,
Muslim leaders were concerned that media reports appeared to link the
Islamic religion to the terrorist attacks. They also expressed concern
over housing and employment discrimination. Unlike 2003, there were no
reports of protests against the construction of mosques. The Islamic
Federation reported that the building permit process for new mosque
construction could be difficult and lengthy, especially for building
sites in central urban locations. Some residents in the medieval
quarter of Barcelona protested the Pakistani community efforts to build
a prayer center.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution and law provide for
these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
humanitarian organizations, including the Spanish Committee for
Assistance to Refugees, in assisting refugees and asylum-seekers.
Under the law, asylum requests are adjudicated in a two-stage
process, with the Office of Asylum and Refugees making an initial
decision on the admissibility of the application for processing. The
Interministerial Committee for Asylum and Refuge (CIAR) examines the
applications accepted for processing and included representatives from
the Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor, Foreign Affairs, and a
nonvoting member of the UNHCR. The Minister of the Interior must
approve the decision of the CIAR in each case. According to provisional
statistics, at year's end, there were 5,531 applications for asylum, of
which the Government granted 1,088 persons asylum status and admitted
163 others for humanitarian or other reasons. The largest number of
applicants came from Nigeria, Algeria, and Colombia.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol
and provided it to approximately 160 persons during the year. Those
granted admission for humanitarian reasons must renew their status
annually. The law allows the applicant a 15 day grace period in which
to leave the country if refugee status or asylum is denied. Within that
time frame, the applicant may appeal the decision, and the court of
appeal has the authority to prevent the initiation of expulsion
procedures, which normally begins after 15 days.
In 2003, the Ministry of Interior and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) signed an agreement to promote
voluntary return of illegal immigrants, as well as of asylum and
refugee seekers who so desire, to their countries of origin. In March,
the agreement was extended through the end of the year. During the
September to December 2003 pilot program, IOM helped 199 persons return
to their country of origin.
AI called for more in-depth, case-by-case reviews of the welfare of
minors being returned to Morocco before their expulsion. The law
prohibits the repatriation of minors without social services' knowing
where the child will be returned, and authorities generally respected
that provision. The Government sought more cooperation from Moroccan
authorities in obtaining reinsertion information and passport and
travel documents to facilitate the transfer of illegal minors. From
December 2003 until April, more than 40 minors were returned and
repatriated. Although document delays slowed progress between April and
September, 11 minors were returned.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. The country has a multiparty democracy with
regularly scheduled elections in which all citizens age 18 and over
have the right to vote by secret ballot. At all levels of government,
elections are held at least every 4 years. During the year, Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero of the Socialist Party was elected Prime Minister,
with the title President of the Government.
In March 2003, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to declare
Batasuna to be the political arm of ETA, a terrorist organization and,
therefore, illegal. The delegalization means that Batasuna, Euskal
Herritarrok, and Herri Batasuna were erased from the registry of
political parties; that they will not be able to participate in any
elections; that none of their activities (meetings, publications,
electoral process) were permitted; and that their physical assets will
be sold and the proceeds used for social or humanitarian activities.
Despite the restrictions, Batasuna representatives were allowed to
retain their seats in the Basque Parliament, although under a new
organizational name. At year's end, the Government was investigating a
Batasuna rally during which leaders of the organization reportedly
expressed support for ETA members held in Spanish prisons.
In September 2003, the Basque government initiated a claim against
the Government at the ECHR alleging that the Law of Political Parties,
used as a basis to delegalize Batasuna, violated fundamental rights. On
February 5, the ECHR rejected the claim of the Basque government,
saying that the case was ``inadmissible'' for technical reasons.
The Government generally provides access to government information.
Of 16 Cabinet ministers, 8 were women. There were 127 women in the
350-seat lower house, 65 women in the 259-seat Senate. After the June
elections, 18 of the 54 Spanish members of the European Parliament were
women.
The Government did not keep statistics on the ethnic composition of
the national parliament. The Catalan Parliament included a member of
Moroccan origin.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
The Constitution provides for an ombudsman, called the People's
Defender, whose duties included investigating complaints of human
rights abuses by the authorities. The Ombudsman operated independently
from any party or government ministry, was elected every 5 years by a
three-fifths majority of the Congress of Deputies, and was immune from
prosecution. He had complete access to government institutions and to
all documents other than those classified for national security
reasons; he could refer cases to the courts on his own authority. The
Ombudsman had a staff of approximately 150 persons and received 23,150
complaints as of September. The majority of the complaints pertained to
health and social services, integration and shelter services for
immigrants, moving of imprisoned persons from one penitentiary to
another, and lack of adequate facilities in such penitentiaries.
Government agencies were responsive to the Ombudsman's recommendations.
Several of the autonomous communities had their own ombudsman, and
there were ombudsmen dedicated to the rights of specific groups, such
as women, children, and persons with disabilities.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal rights for all citizens, and
discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, nationality,
disability, or ideology is illegal; however, social discrimination
against Roma and immigrants continued to be problems.
Women.--Violence against women, particularly domestic violence,
remained a problem. According to the Government, as of year's end, 72
women had been killed as a result of domestic violence. Through
November, women had filed 52,899 complaints against their husbands or
male partners. The Government continued to take steps to reduce
violence against women. On October 7, the Congress unanimously approved
the Integral Law Against Gender Violence, a domestic violence law that
provides for heavier sentences when violence is directed against women
or ``especially vulnerable'' victims; however, the law will not be
enacted until 2005.
The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and the Government
effectively enforced it. As of November, 1,375 reports of rape had been
received. There were 54 Civil Guard units that assisted battered women
and 43 similar units in the National Police. There were 53 offices that
provided legal assistance to victims of domestic violence and
approximately 225 shelters for battered women. A 24-hour free national
hotline that advised women or where to find local assistance or shelter
operated during the year.
The Government of Catalonia and the Chief Public Prosecutor signed
an agreement in 2003 providing that a doctor should examine female
immigrants in Catalonia in danger of suffering from female genital
mutilation (FGM) ``ablation'' when traveling to their countries of
origin and again upon return. If they were victims of FGM, the parents
could lose custody of the child. In practice, doctors have not examined
immigrants, because there was no suspicion that any such cases took
place. No children were removed from their parent's custody. There have
not been any complaints from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
Prostitution was a problem. Prostitution is not illegal, but
forcing others into involuntary prostitution and organizing
prostitution rings are illegal. Trafficking in women for the purpose of
prostitution was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking). The Government
contracted with an NGO, Proyecto Esperanza (Project Hope), to provide
protection, housing, and counseling support to women who were the
victims of trafficking or other abuse.
The law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace; however, the
Government did not effectively enforce it. As of November, the Women's
Institute reported 372 complaints of sexual harassment. Discrimination
in the workplace and in hiring practices persisted.
Discriminatory wage differentials continued to exist, and women
held fewer senior management positions than men. In 2003 the female
unemployment rate was almost twice the rate for males; women
outnumbered men in the legal, journalism, and health care professions,
but they still played minor roles in many other fields.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded a system of public education and
health care. Education was compulsory until age 16 and free until age
18. However, many Romani children did not attend school on a regular
basis, and some of those who did complained of harassment in schools.
The Ministries of Health and Social Affairs were responsible for
the welfare of children and have created numerous programs to aid needy
children.
Access to the national health care system was equal for girls and
boys.
There were isolated reports of violence against children, although
there appeared to be no societal pattern of abuse of children.
Trafficking in teenage girls for prostitution was a problem (see
Section 5, Trafficking).
Law enforcement and social service agencies reported an increasing
number of undocumented immigrant children living on the streets.
Numerous NGOs promoted children's rights and welfare, often through
government-funded projects. Several of the Autonomous Communities had
an office of the Defender of Children, an independent, nonpartisan
agency charged with defending children's rights.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in women and teenage girls remained a problem.
The law prohibits trafficking in persons for labor and sexual
exploitation, with penalties ranging from 5 to 12 years' imprisonment.
The exploitation of prostitutes through coercion or fraud and the
exploitation of workers in general also are illegal, although
prostitution is not illegal. According to a September 18 press report,
police dismantled approximately 100 illegal immigration, document
falsification, and prostitution networks during the year. Police
cooperation with source countries led to 303 trafficking-related
arrests in source countries in 2003. The Government extradited seven
individuals for trafficking related offenses in 2003.
The Government specifically targeted trafficking as part of its
broader plan to control immigration; for example, the police actively
pursued and prosecuted organized crime groups that used false identity
documentation for immigrant smuggling of all kinds, including
trafficking. Within the Interior Ministry, the National Police Corps
had primary responsibility for all matters pertaining to immigration,
including trafficking. Regional authorities also participated in
contesting organized criminal activity, including trafficking. In
addition, the Interior Ministry chaired an interagency committee on all
immigration issues, including trafficking. The Ministries of Foreign
Affairs, Health, Education, Treasury, and Labor also were members of
the committee. The main police school gave courses on trafficking
issues, such as the recognition of fake documents and the best ways to
identify traffickers.
On September 29, Catalan police arrested four alleged members of an
international prostitution ring. The gang reportedly trafficked women
from Eastern Europe, particularly Romania, bringing them to Catalonia,
where they were forced into prostitution. The alleged traffickers, one
Albanian and three Romanians, deceived women into believing that they
would work as waitresses in Spain. On arrival, allegedly, the men
confiscated their victims' identification documents, rendering them
vulnerable.
The country was both a destination and transit country for
trafficked persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation and, to a
lesser degree, forced labor (see Section 6.d.). Trafficked women were
usually 18 to 30 years of age, but some girls were as young as age 16.
Women were trafficked primarily from Latin America (Colombia and
Ecuador), East European countries (Romania and Bulgaria), sub-Saharan
Africa (Nigeria, Guinea, Sierra Leone), and, to a lesser extent, North
Africa. Asians, including Chinese, were trafficked to a much lesser
degree and more often for labor rather than for prostitution.
Victims were trafficked into the country for both sexual
exploitation (most frequently involving prostitution and work in nude
dancing and alternative clubs) and labor exploitation (primarily
agriculture, construction, and domestic employment). Methods used by
traffickers to maintain control of their victims included physical
abuse, forced use of drugs, withholding of travel documents, and
threats to the victim's family. As a group, women from Eastern Europe
reportedly were subject to more severe violence and threats by
traffickers. Traffickers lured some victims from other regions with
false promises of employment in service industries and agriculture but
then forced them into prostitution upon their arrival in the country.
The media reported that criminal networks often lured their victims
by using travel agencies and newspaper advertisements in their home
countries that promised guaranteed employment in Spain. Typically in
the case of Romanian organized networks, women were forced into
prostitution where 90 percent of their earnings were marked for the
criminal network; men were often employed in low-paying construction
jobs. Clandestine clothing production and sales as well as work in
restaurants were typical types of employment for illegal Asian
immigrants who came to the country with false documents through
trafficking networks.
The law permits trafficking victims to remain in the country if
they agree to testify against the perpetrators. After legal proceedings
conclude, the individual is given the option of remaining in the
country or returning to the country of origin. Victims were encouraged
to help police investigate trafficking cases and to testify against
traffickers. In 2003, police reported that 250 victims agreed to
testify and were granted short-term residency status. The Government
worked with and funded NGOs that provided assistance to trafficking
victims. In addition, regional and local governments provided
assistance either directly or through NGOs. The Government's violence
education programs for female victims and an NGO partner on trafficking
reported that 89 percent of the victims they assisted pressed criminal
charges.
Project Hope, a program backed by the Catholic NGO Las Adoratrices
and government agencies, specifically was designed to assist
trafficking victims. The project operated shelters in Madrid, provided
assistance with medical and legal services, and acted as liaison with
law enforcement for victims who chose to testify against traffickers.
Project Hope received many of its referrals directly from police.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services. The law mandates
access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the Government
generally enforced these provisions in practice; however, levels of
assistance and accessibility differed from region to region. According
to documentation from the Spanish Center for Disability Documentation,
regional regulations on access for persons with disabilities were most
lacking in Murcia, Ceuta, and Melilla.
On January 30, the Council of Ministers approved increased
incentives and subsidies for employers who hire disabled women. On June
21, the Ministry of Labor announced that the Government would reserve 5
percent of all public employment for persons with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Public opinion surveys
indicated the continued presence of racism and xenophobia, which
resulted in discrimination and, at times, violence against minorities.
In its annual report, the NGO ``SOS Racism'' denounced the increase in
xenophobia.
On September 16, there were racially motivated attacks against
Chinese-owned businesses in Elche.
At times, the growth of the country's immigrant population led to
social friction, which in isolated cases had a religious component.
Muslim community representatives stated that there were significant
anti-Moroccan immigrant feelings. In September, the Reus Citizens
Assembly in Catalonia denounced an attack by a neo-Nazi skinhead group
at the Reus Mosque. In November, residents of Navas del Marques, a
village in the province of Avila, began a campaign against the opening
of a mosque. Police seized papers that were distributed asking for
signatures to prevent the opening because the papers were deemed to be
racist and xenophobic. In May 2003, a group of skinheads attacked some
members of the Moroccan community in the Catalonian town of Terrassa,
but this attack was apparently more racially motivated than religious.
Authorities have not identified the perpetrators.
Roma continued to face marginalization and discrimination in access
to employment, housing, and education. The Romani community, whose size
was estimated by NGOs at several hundred thousand, suffered from
substantially higher rates of poverty and illiteracy than the
population as a whole. Roma also had higher rates of unemployment and
underemployment. According to the national NGO, Secretariado General
Gitano, approximately 46 percent of Romani adults were unemployed. Roma
occupied the majority of the country's substandard housing units.
Several NGOs dedicated to improving the condition of Roma received
federal, regional, and local government funding.
Citizens have filed more than 445 complaints with the Catalan
regional government denouncing the lack of compliance with the law on
linguistic policy, which requires that Catalan be the official language
but provides Spanish-speaking citizens the right to be addressed in
their native language. The Catalan Government has penalized the Post
Office for repeatedly failing to comply with Catalan law.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution and laws ensure that
all workers, except those in the military services, judges,
magistrates, and prosecutors, are entitled to form or join unions of
their own choosing, and workers legally in the country exercised this
right in practice. Approximately 15 percent of the workforce was
unionized. The law prohibits discrimination by employers against trade
union members and organizers; however, unions contended that employers
practiced discrimination in many cases by refusing to renew the
temporary contracts of workers engaging in union organizing.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, including
for all workers in the public sector except military personnel, and
unions exercised this right in practice. Public sector collective
bargaining includes salaries and employment levels, but the Government
retained the right to set these if negotiations failed. Collective
bargaining agreements were widespread in both the public and private
sectors; in the latter they covered 85 to 90 percent of workers,
although only approximately 15 to 20 percent of workers were union
members. The Constitution provides for the right to strike and workers
exercised this right. There are no special laws or exemptions from
regular labor laws in the three special economic zones in the Canary
Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5, Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor was generally not a problem. The statutory minimum age for
the employment of children is age 16. The law also prohibits the
employment of persons under the age of 18 at night, for overtime work,
or in sectors considered hazardous. The Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs primarily was responsible for enforcement, and the minimum age
was enforced effectively in major industries and in the service sector.
It was more difficult to enforce the law on small farms and in family-
owned businesses, where some child labor persisted. Legislation
prohibiting child labor was enforced effectively in the special
economic zones.
Law enforcement and social service agencies reported an increasing
number of undocumented immigrant children living on the streets. These
children cannot legally work; as a result, many survived through petty
crime.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was $657
(490.80 euros) per month, which generally provided a decent standard of
living for a worker and family; however, this was not the case in all
areas of the country. The Ministry of Labor effectively enforced the
minimum wage.
The law set a 40-hour workweek with an unbroken rest period of 36
hours after each 40 hours worked. Overtime is restricted by law to 80
hours per year, unless collective bargaining established something
different. It is illegal for minors to work overtime.
The National Institute of Safety and Health in the Ministry of
Labor and Social Security had technical responsibility for developing
labor standards, but the Inspectorate of Labor had responsibility for
enforcing the legislation through judicial action when infractions were
found. Unions have criticized the Government for devoting insufficient
resources to inspection and enforcement. Workers enjoy legal
protections that allow them to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations without jeopardy to their continued employment; however,
employees with short-term labor contracts may not understand they have
such protections.
__________
SWEDEN
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a multiparty parliamentary
form of government. The last national elections held in 2002, were free
and fair. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has controlled the
Government for 64 of the past 72 years. The King is the largely
symbolic head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of the
Government and exercises executive authority. The judiciary is
independent.
Police provided internal security and the military provided
external security. The civilian authorities maintained effective
control of the security forces. There were no reports that security
forces committed human rights abuses.
The country had an advanced industrial economy, mainly market
based, with a total population of approximately 9 million. Citizens
enjoyed a high standard of living, with extensive social welfare
services. During the year, the economic growth rate was an estimated
3.3 percent. During the year, the inflation rate was 1.1 percent, down
from 2.3 percent in 2003.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing
with individual instances of abuse. Anti-Semitic crimes were a problem.
Violence against women and child abuse were problems. Trafficking in
women and children was a problem. Societal discrimination against
foreign-born residents and homosexuals was a problem.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no
reports that government officials employed them.
During the year, the police officer charged with the 2001 wounding
of three protesters was acquitted by the district court. The
prosecution appealed the case to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the
district court acquittal in November.
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
the Council of Europe (COE) criticized the country for increasingly
poor prison conditions, especially in the region of Stockholm where
there were overcrowding and lengthy detention periods, often longer
than the statutory 7 days.
Men and women prisoners were held separately. Juveniles were held
separately from adults, and convicted criminals and pretrial detainees
were held separately.
The Government permitted visits by independent human rights
observers, although there were no such visits during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions.
There is a national-level police force divided into 12 districts,
each of which reports to a National Police Board under jurisdiction of
the Ministry of Justice. There were no reports of corruption or of
problems related to impunity. Police recruitment policy sought to
increase the number of women and augment ethnic diversity in the force.
The law requires warrants for arrests. Police must file charges
within 6 hours against persons detained for disturbing the public order
or considered dangerous and within 12 hours against those detained on
other grounds. Police may hold a person for questioning for 6 hours,
although the period may be extended to 12 hours if necessary for the
investigation. If the person is a suspect, police must decide whether
to arrest or release the person. If the suspect is arrested, the
prosecutor has 24 hours (or 3 days in exceptional circumstances) to
request detention. An arrested suspect must be arraigned within 48
hours, and initial prosecution must begin within 2 weeks, unless
extenuating circumstances exist. Detainees routinely were released
pending trial unless they were considered dangerous.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
The judicial system is composed of three levels: District Courts, a
Court of Appeals, and a Supreme Court. All cases are heard first in a
district court regardless of the severity of the alleged crime. For
some areas, there are specialized courts, such as labor, water, real
estate, and market courts. These courts usually are the second and last
instance for trial after the district court.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The court system
distinguishes between civil and criminal cases. Defendants enjoy a
presumption of innocence and have a right of appeal. Defendants in
civil cases have the right to defend themselves or to hire an attorney.
In criminal cases, the Government is obligated to provide a defense
attorney if the defendant cannot afford one. A ``free evidence'' system
allows parties to present in court any evidence, regardless of how it
has been acquired. The legal system does not provide for release on
bail. All trials are public. Juries are used only in cases involving
freedom of the press or freedom of speech. In other cases judges or
court-appointed civilian representatives make determinations of guilt
or innocence.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic
freedom.
The law prohibits hate speech that makes ``agitation against ethnic
groups'' a crime. Under this law, neo Nazi groups were not permitted to
display signs and banners with provocative symbols at their rallies
(see Section 5). In July, Pentecostal Pastor Ake Green was convicted
under this law in connection with a sermon in which he voiced
condemnation of homosexuality. He was sentenced to 1 month's
imprisonment; he has appealed the verdict on the basis of freedom of
speech.
The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of
views without government restriction. The Government did not restrict
Internet access.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The Government did not prohibit the practice or teaching of
any faith.
The Swedish Commission for State Grants to Religious Communities
financed 39 religious groups in 2003, the vast majority were Christian
churches, and the remainder were four Islamic organizations and the
Jewish community. The Swedish Buddhist Cooperation Council (Sveriges
Buddhistiska Samarbetsrad) protested that it has not received such
funding and that it was not represented on the Government's Council for
Contact with Religious Communities.
According to police statistics, the number of reported anti-Semitic
hate crimes has increased since the end of the 1990s, averaging
approximately 130 annually during the period 2000 to 2003. During 2003,
128 anti-Semitic crimes were reported; of these, 3 were classified as
assaults, 52 as agitation against an ethnic group, and 35 as unlawful
threat or harassment. There have been a number of high profile
incidents in Malmo. For example, in March, stones were thrown at
employees of the Jewish Burial Society at a Jewish cemetery. During the
past few years, the Government has taken steps to combat anti-Semitism
by increasing awareness of Nazi crimes and the Holocaust.
Since 2001, anti-Muslim incidents appeared to have increased. The
office of the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination confirmed that a
number of Muslim women had reported incidents where they believed that
they have been discriminated against because they wore headscarves. A
court determined that discrimination did not take place in a ruling of
a 2003 case in which the defendant alleged she had been denied
employment because she wore a headscarf for religious reasons. The
police were not able to identify the perpetrators of the arson
committed against the Islamic school and the Islamic Center in Malmo in
April 2003.
The Jehovah's Witnesses and members of various smaller Christian
churches reported incidents of discrimination during the past few
years.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
granted refugee status or asylum. The Government cooperated with the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees. The Government also provided
temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees
under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
The number of asylum seekers decreased slightly: 23,116 persons
sought asylum, compared with 31,355 in 2003. Of the total number of
asylum seekers, 4,022 were from Serbia and Montenegro, 1,456 from Iraq,
1,041 from Azerbaijan, and 905 from Somalia. The Government approved
6,140 applications during the year. Applications could remain under
consideration for long periods of time with applicants in uncertain
status. The appeals process in the courts may extend cases for several
years, although there were few such cases.
The U.N. Committee against Torture received three new cases against
the Government during the year, all of which were related to denial of
applications for political asylum and consequent repatriations to
countries where victims allegedly faced a risk of torture. During the
year, the committee ruled on five cases and found that, in each case,
the country had not violated the rights of the petitioners.
The Government expeditiously returned asylum seekers from European
Union (EU) countries or from countries with which there were reciprocal
return agreements. In most cases, persons who were returned
expeditiously had passed through or had asylum determinations pending
in other EU countries. In many cases, asylum seekers were deported
within 72 hours of arrival. The Government experimented with pilot
programs at selected border crossings to provide expeditious legal
assistance, a concern raised by some nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs). The Government's accelerated asylum procedures drew criticism
from various NGOs. The Government reported an increase in the
percentage of asylum applications it denied. Human rights organizations
expressed concern that some asylum cases were adjudicated too quickly
and that claimants were sometimes denied access to legal aid and
forcibly returned to their home country where they feared persecution.
Concern was also expressed for the protection of individual
(unaccompanied) children seeking asylum.
The 2001 repatriation of two Egyptians gained attention during the
year as the result of allegations that the deportees were subjected to
torture in Egypt. Public criticism from human rights organizations and
political parties sparked calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the
legality of the deportations, as well as into alleged police brutality
and alleged improper cooperation with a foreign country in the
deportations. The Parliamentary Ombudsman opened an investigation of
this incident by year's end.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage.
Elections to the 349-member unicameral Parliament are held every 4
years; the last elections, which were generally free and fair, were
held in September 2002. The SDP has dominated the political system for
the past 7 decades, and SDP members occupied a disproportionately large
number of publicly appointed positions. The Swedish Trade Union
Confederation continued to provide significant financial and
organizational support to the SDP.
The law provides for public access to government information, and
the Government generally respected this in practice. The public has the
right to access government documents unless they were subject to
secrecy laws, according to which information may be withheld if its
release posed a threat to national security and individual or corporate
privacy.
Women were approximately 45 percent of the 349-seat Parliament and
50 percent of the 22-member Cabinet.
The Parliament included representatives of the principal religious,
ethnic, and immigrant groups; however, Parliament does not provide
information on the number of minorities serving in it. There were 4
minorities in the 22 member Cabinet: 1 Turkish-Assyrian, 2 Estonians,
and 1 Jewish member.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restrictions, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were very cooperative and responsive to their views.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman investigates and publicizes abuses of
government authority at the national and local level and initiates
actions to rectify such abuses. This institution, provided for in the
Constitution, constitutes a form of parliamentary control over the
executive. Any person may file a complaint with the Parliamentary
Ombudsman's Office. In addition to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, there
are the following 6 government-appointed ombudsmen: The Consumer
Ombudsman, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman, the Ombudsman against
Ethnic Discrimination, the Ombudsman against Discrimination because of
Sexual Orientation, the Children's Ombudsman, and the Disability
Ombudsman. Press organizations jointly finance a Press Ombudsman,
empowered to investigate violations of newspaper practices. The Swedish
Institute, a government-funded entity to promote knowledge about the
country, reported that the Parliamentary Ombudsman's office handled
approximately 5,000 complaints per year, of which 20 to 25 percent
resulted in full investigations.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on disability, ethnicity,
religion, or sexual preference, and the Government effectively enforced
these provisions.
Women.--Violence against women remained a problem. The National
Council for Crime Prevention reported 22,669 cases of assault against
women. Most involved spousal abuse. An average of 30 murders of women
and girls are reported each year, half of them by men closely related
to the victim. Authorities apprehended and prosecuted abusers. The
typical sentence for abuse was a prison term (14 months on average) or
psychiatric treatment. Unlike in the previous year, women's
organizations did not complain about short sentences and early release
of offenders.
Rape is illegal, and the law does not differentiate between spousal
and nonspousal rape. The law stipulates higher sanctions for repeated
crimes if the perpetrator had a close relation to the victim. The
National Council for Crime Prevention reported 2,141 rapes of persons
over age 14, compared with 1,851 in 2003. The law provides that rape
may be prosecuted as sexual assault instead of the more serious crime
of rape, based on a determination of the level of resistance offered by
the victim.
The law provides complainants with protection from contact with
their abusers. In some cases, authorities helped women obtain new
identities and homes. The Government provided electronic alarms or
bodyguards for women in extreme danger of assault. Both national and
local governments helped fund volunteer groups that provided shelter
and other assistance to abused women, and both private and public
organizations ran shelters. A number of NGOs and local government
authorities operated hotlines for victims of crime, and police were
trained to deal with violence against women.
The Government continued to focus on honor killings and provided
protected housing for young women vulnerable to honor-related violence
from family members. In December, the Government hosted a 2-day
international conference ``Combating Patriarchal Violence against
Women--Focusing on Violence in the Name of Honor.''
The law specifically prohibits the purchase or attempted purchase
of sexual services.
Trafficking in women for purposes of sexual exploitation was a
problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Sexual harassment was a problem. The law prohibits sexual
harassment; employers who do not investigate and intervene against
harassment at work may be obliged to pay damages to the victim. As with
other forms of discrimination, women and men may file complaints with
the courts or their unions.
Employers are required by law to treat men and women alike in
hiring, promotion, and pay, including equal pay for comparable work.
Some sectors of the labor market still showed significant gender
disparities, many with a strong preponderance of either men or women.
During the year, women's salaries averaged 84 percent of men's
salaries, adjusting for age, education, and occupational differences.
To combat gender discrimination in the long term, the Equal
Opportunities Act requires employers, in both public and private
sectors, to promote actively equal opportunities for women and men in
the workplace. The Equal Opportunity Ombudsman, a public official,
investigates complaints of gender discrimination in the labor market.
Complaints may also be filed with the courts or with the employer, with
mediation by the employee's labor union. During the year, the Equal
Opportunities Ombudsman's office registered 126 cases. Women filed
approximately 81 percent of the cases, and 34 percent concerned salary
issues.
The number of discrimination complaints related to pregnancy fell
to 19, compared with 30 in 2003.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of public education and
medical care. An official Children's Ombudsman monitored the
Government's programs. The Government provided compulsory, free, and
universal education for children age 9 to 16. It also provided free
medical care for all children up to the age of 16.
Child abuse was a problem. During the year, the National Council
for Crime Prevention reported 8,198 cases of abuse of children under
the age of 15. There were 467 reported cases of rape, and 1,400
reported cases of sexual abuse of children, compared with 332 reported
cases of rape and 1,043 reported cases of child sexual abuse in 2003.
The law prohibits parents or other caretakers from abusing children
mentally or physically in any way. Parents, teachers, and other adults
are subject to prosecution if they physically punish a child, including
slapping or spanking. Children have the right to report such abuses to
the police. The usual sentence for such an offense is a fine combined
with counseling and monitoring by social workers. Authorities may
remove children from their homes and place them in foster care. Foster
parents seldom receive permission to adopt long-term foster children,
even in cases where the biological parents were seen as unfit or sought
no contact with the child. Unlike in the previous year, critics did not
charge that this policy placed the rights of biological parents over
the needs of children for security in permanent family situations.
The Government allocated funds to private organizations concerned
with children's rights. The NGO Children's Rights in Society offered
counseling to troubled youngsters. The Government continued to be
active internationally in efforts to prevent child abuse.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were reports that persons were trafficked to, through,
and within the country.
The Government continued to place a high priority on combating
trafficking despite its relatively low incidence in the country. The
law prohibits the trafficking of persons for sexual purposes, provides
for sentences of 2 to 10 years' imprisonment for persons convicted of
trafficking, and criminalizes attempting to traffic, conspiracy to
traffic, and the failure to report such crimes. During the year,
amendments to the law made it applicable to forced labor and the trade
in human organs, also, the trafficking definition no longer requires
the element of cross border activity.
To prosecute traffickers, authorities primarily continued to use
laws against procurement and an offense called ``placing in distress,''
which can be used in cases where traffickers lure women from other
countries under false pretenses. During the year, there were 97 cases
of procurement reported, many involving trafficking victims.
Traffickers sentenced for procurement faced up to 6 years in prison,
but most sentences were for 2 to 3 years' imprisonment.
According to police, the country remained primarily a trafficking
destination, although it also served as a transit point for women and
children. Police reported that between 400 and 600 women were
trafficked to the country every year, coming primarily from the Baltic
region, Eastern Europe, or Russia. Those transiting the country came
primarily from the Baltic region, and the principal destination
countries were Spain, Germany, Denmark, and Norway. There have been
occasional cases of trafficked women from South America and Thailand.
Police reported eight cases of child trafficking, involving victims
ages 16 and 17. Most of these children were trafficked from Estonia
with one from Moldova and one from Vietnam.
Women typically were recruited in their own countries to work as
cleaners, babysitters, or in similar employment. Once in the country,
victims were isolated and intimidated by traffickers and forced to work
as prostitutes in hotels, restaurants, massage parlors, or private
apartments; some were even locked up and had their passports
confiscated.
The Government allocated funds to domestic and international NGOs
for providing shelter to victims and aid in rehabilitation; the police
and social services also provided funding. In October, new legislation
came into force enabling trafficking victims to receive temporary
residence permits to allow better care for victims and to facilitate
police investigations. Prior to the October legislation, in most cases,
trafficking victims were deported immediately. A new statutory
amendment entitles trafficking victims to full social benefits while
their cases are being investigated. The National Police Board launched
a 1 year project to look into the problem of trafficked children.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits employers from
discriminating against persons with disabilities in hiring decisions
and prohibits universities from discriminating against students with
disabilities in making admission decisions. No other specific laws
prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities. There is an
Ombudsman for Disability Issues.
The Government provides for freedom of access and social support as
basic rights for citizens with disabilities. Regulations for new
buildings require full accessibility, but there is no such requirement
for existing public buildings, except for certain public entities that
are obliged to make their facilities accessible. Many buildings and
some public transportation remained inaccessible.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Approximately 12 percent of the
population is foreign born, with the largest groups from Finland, Iraq,
Iran, and the former Yugoslavia. In 2003, there were 2,308 reports of
xenophobic crimes of which 417 were related to neo-Nazism. The total
number of reported crimes connected with a racist motive numbered
1,539, an increase over the 1,374 committed in 2002. The Government
investigated and prosecuted race related crimes. Most estimates placed
the number of active neo-Nazis, or white supremacists, at fewer than
3,000, and there appeared to be little popular support for their
activities or sentiments. However, during the year, Expo (an NGO that
tracks xenophobic groups) upgraded their estimates of white
supremacists to between 4,000 and 5,000. Expo also estimated the number
of active domestic neo-Nazis with serious criminal backgrounds, a high
propensity for violence, and a potential for terrorist activity at
around 50.
Approximately 1,400 persons attended an annual rally held in
December, organized by the Salem Foundation (a neo-Nazi organization),
commemorating the 2000 killing of a 17-year-old neo-Nazi sympathizer by
immigrant youths. Neo-Nazi groups operated legally, but courts have
held that it is illegal to wear xenophobic symbols or racist
paraphernalia or to display signs and banners with provocative symbols
at rallies, since the law prohibits incitement of hatred against ethnic
groups.
During the year, several demonstrations against violence and racism
were organized throughout the country. The Government supported
volunteer groups that opposed racism and xenophobia and allocated
funding for projects supporting those who have left neo-Nazi
organizations.
The Ombudsman for Ethnic Discrimination received reports of 727
cases of discrimination during the year.
The law recognizes the Sami people, Swedish Finns, Tornedal Finns,
Roma, and Jews as national minorities. The Government supported and
protected minority languages. In response to a 2003 COE report that
criticized government efforts to protect minority languages, Parliament
initiated (at the Government's request) an investigation of ways to
improve the status of the Finnish language in the greater Stockholm and
Malar regions. Also in response to the COE report, the Government
tasked a Parliamentary committee on media support to examine ways to
improve support for Sami and Meankili minority-language newspapers. The
School Authority also initiated an assessment of the role of minority
languages in schools. In March, the Government released a report
concluding a 2 year study on the situation of the Roma, which described
the human rights situation for Roma in the country as unacceptable and
indicated that their knowledge of their rights was limited.
The number of complaints reported by Roma to the Office of the
Ombudsman for Ethnic Discrimination appeared to increase in 2003; most
were related to poor treatment by government authorities and refusal of
entry to restaurants or stores.
Indigenous People.--There were between 17,000 and 20,000 Sami
(formerly known as Lapps and officially recognized in 2000 as a
national minority) in the country. In March, the U.N. Committee on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination criticized the
Government for its failure to address Sami rights to land. In May, an
EU human rights report reiterated the main points of the U.N.
Committee's findings and criticized the Government for not having
resolved issues surrounding the Sami rights to both land and water.
During the last few years, reports to the Ombudsman Against Ethnic
Discrimination have primarily come from Sami not belonging to a Sami
village, since they do not enjoy the same hunting and fishing
entitlements as Sami belonging to Sami villages. In 2003, there was a
case of a Sami man, who was denied shared custody of his child on the
grounds of his lifestyle as a reindeer herder.
The Sami Parliament acted as an advisory body to the Government.
During the year, the Government funded and began construction on a
national information center for Sami issues.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Societal violence and
discrimination against homosexuals was a problem. In 2003, 326 crimes
with homophobic motive were reported to the police, a sizable increase
from 2002.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law entitles workers to form and
join unions of their choice, and workers exercised this right in
practice. Approximately 80 percent of the workforce was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. The law provides for
collective bargaining, and workers exercised this right in practice.
The law provides for the right to strike, as well as for employers to
organize and to conduct lockouts, and workers exercised this right in
practice. Within limits protecting the public's immediate health and
security, public employees also enjoy the right to strike. There are no
export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law permits full-time employment at age 16 under the supervision of
local authorities. Employees under age 18 may work only during the
daytime and under supervision. Children as young as 13 years may work
part-time or in ``light'' work with parental permission. Union
representatives, police, and public prosecutors effectively enforced
these restrictions.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum
wage law. Wages were set by collective bargaining contracts every year,
which nonunion establishments usually observed as well. Even the
lowest-paid workers were able to maintain a decent standard of living
for themselves and their families through substantial benefits (such as
housing or daycare support) provided by social welfare entitlement
programs.
The legal standard workweek is 40 hours or less. Both the law and
collective bargaining agreements regulate overtime and rest periods.
The law requires a minimum period of 36 consecutive hours of rest,
preferably on weekends, during a period of 7 days. The law also
provides employees with a minimum 5 weeks' paid annual leave.
Occupational health and safety rules were set by a government
appointed board, the Work Environment Authority, and monitored by
trained union stewards, safety ombudsmen, and, occasionally government
inspectors. Safety ombudsmen have the authority to stop unsafe activity
immediately and to call in an inspector. These rules were effectively
enforced and work places were generally safe and healthy. In law and
practice, workers could remove themselves from situations that
endangered their health or safety without jeopardizing their future
employment.
__________
SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is a constitutional democracy with a federal structure.
The bicameral Parliament elects the seven members of the Federal
Council (Swiss cabinet), the highest executive body, whose presidency
rotates annually. Due to the nation's linguistic and religious
diversity, the political system emphasizes local and national political
consensus and grants considerable autonomy to the 26 individual cantons
(states). The Parliament was elected in October 2003, allowing the
Government to remain a coalition of the four major parties. A new
Constitution took effect in 2000. The judiciary is independent.
The armed forces are a civilian-controlled militia based on
universal military service for able-bodied males. There was virtually
no standing army apart from training cadres and a few essential
headquarters staff. Police duties are primarily a responsibility of the
cantons, which had their own police forces that were under effective
civilian control. A few members of the security forces committed
isolated human rights abuses.
A highly developed free enterprise, industrial, and service economy
strongly dependent on international trade allowed for a high standard
of living for the country's 7.4 million residents. After shrinking by
0.4 percent in real terms in 2003, GDP was expected to grow by 1.8
percent during the year. Despite rising unemployment, wages increased
by approximately 1 percent in real terms. Inflation remained subdued at
0.8 percent.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing
with individual instances of abuse. Cantonal police were involved in at
least two deaths during the year. Police occasionally used excessive
force, particularly against foreigners and asylum seekers. There
continued to be reports of discrimination against foreigners.
Trafficking of women for prostitution continued to be a problem, which
the Government took steps to address.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents;
however, cantonal police forces killed at least two persons during
police interventions, a 38-year old Sri Lankan citizen in Lausanne in
April and a 35-year old Turkish national in Basel in June. In both
instances, police said that they acted in self defense. The Basel
prosecutor's office closed its investigation in July without bringing
charges. The Lausanne investigation remained pending at year's end.
In April, a 40-year-old Italian national died in a Zurich hospital
after violently resisting police trying to arrest him for having
threatened an acquaintance. The district attorney's investigation
remained pending at year's end.
In December, a 24-year-old African national succumbed to the head
injuries resulting from his fall from the third-floor of a center for
asylum seekers in Zug canton. According to police, the rejected asylum
applicant had no permission to be on the premises and fell out of a
window trying to escape a night-guard check. Zug judicial authorities
opened an investigation by year's end.
Judicial authorities have consistently investigated and prosecuted
killings by security forces, and there were no reports of lapses during
the reporting period.
The Lucerne cantonal prosecutor closed the investigation of the
2003 death of a citizen with mental disabilities without bringing
charges.
In February, a court in the French town of Colmar acquitted a Basel
policeman on trial for killing Michael Hercouet in 2001 just over the
border in France. The Court gave credence to the defendant' assertion
of wrongly believing himself on Swiss territory. The Canton of Basel
had previously settled civil claims with the victim' family.
On February 23, the Federal Tribunal upheld a 3-month suspended
prison sentence for negligence of a Swiss physician for his involvement
in the death of a Palestinian asylum seeker, who suffocated during his
forced repatriation to Egypt in 1999. However, the court rejected a
related civil suit seeking financial compensation for the victim's
family.
The acquittal in May 2003 of four Bernese police officials charged
for their role in the violent death of Cemal Gomec in 2001 became final
after both the cantonal prosecutor-general and the victim's widow
withdrew their appeals.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
Amnesty International (AI) and the Swiss-based anti-racism platform
``CRAN'' reported during the year the occasional use of excessive force
by police authorities. AI in its annual report highlighted several
instances of police mistreatment of detainees, particularly foreigners
and citizens of foreign origin. The cantons mentioned in particular are
Geneva, Glarus, Zurich, and Bern. Whereas AI deemed the situation
stable, CRAN saw police brutality and racism against blacks on the rise
across the country. CRAN in particular accused Geneva police of heavy
handedness, citing several alleged instances of black youths being
forced to strip in public for body-cavity searches during counter-
narcotic raids. The head of Geneva police confirmed that their anti-
drug campaign launched in 2002 had led to a higher number of arrests
among African nationals but that police had taken steps to raise human
rights and cultural awareness among officers and internally investigate
any instances of abuse. CRAN later issued a brochure explaining the
rights of racial minorities when confronted with police violence,
including appropriate police protocol. Cantonal police reaction has
been positive, and some cantonal police units have expressed interest
in obtaining the brochure as well.
In April, the Zurich district attorney's office halted criminal
proceedings against a Zurich police officer, who in 2002 shot and
seriously wounded an unarmed passerby while pursuing a burglar. The
office's investigation found that the officer acted in full accordance
with police regulations on the use of firearms and that a stray bullet
hit the passerby. There were no further developments in the 2003
alleged police brutality case in Glarus canton. The decision of the out
of canton prosecutor-general to halt the criminal investigation against
the head of the Glarus criminal police has not been appealed.
There were no developments during the year in the case of Kurt von
Allmen who got trapped by a police car in Zurich in 2002, causing
injuries and the amputation of his leg.
In response to AI's concerns about reports of alleged police
brutality against demonstrators during a G8 Conference in Evian in
2003, an independent Geneva parliamentary report published in May
concluded that the police managed the spiraling violence adequately,
limiting their intervention to the strict minimum.
AI also asserted that judicial investigations into instances of
alleged police abuse of asylum seekers repeatedly failed to give them a
fair hearing.
Prison conditions generally met international standards, and the
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
Prison overcrowding continued to be a cause of concern, particularly in
the Cantons of Geneva, Zurich, and Bern. In July, guards at Geneva's
Champs-Dollon prison complained about working conditions when the
facility built for 270 inmates was housing over 450.
Male and female, juvenile and adult prisoners, and pretrial
detainees and convicted criminals were held separately. In some
cantonal prisons, the size of the cells fell below the 12 square meter
standard as set by the European Convention on Human Rights.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed
these prohibitions; however, several NGOs reported that some cantonal
police forces arbitrarily detained asylum seekers (see Section 2.d.).
The cantons are responsible for handling most criminal matters, and
procedures vary from canton to canton. The Swiss Federal Police Office
has a coordinating role and relies on the cantons for actual law
enforcement. The Federal Attorney General in Bern oversees inter-
cantonal and international crimes. Corruption and impunity were not
problems.
In general, a suspect may not be held longer than 24 hours before
being presented to a prosecutor (or investigating magistrate) who must
bring formal charges or order release; however, asylum seekers and
foreigners without valid documents may be held up to 96 hours without
an arrest warrant. Release on personal recognizance or bail is granted
unless the magistrate believes the person is dangerous or will not
appear for trial. A suspect may be denied legal counsel at the time of
detention but has the right to choose and contact an attorney by the
time an arrest warrant is issued. In August, the Federal Criminal Court
in Bellinzona confirmed that suspects detained under federal law were
not entitled to legal support during the first preliminary hearing with
the Federal Police. Legal counseling is allowed at a later stage when
the suspects meet the investigative magistrate.
However, AI and refugee NGOs complained that detained asylum
seekers were often effectively denied proper legal representation
because they lacked the financial means to obtain legal counseling and,
unless they are held for serious criminal offenses, the law does not
provide for free legal assistance. The state provides free legal
assistance for indigents who may be jailed pending trial.
Access to family members can be restricted to prevent tampering
with evidence, but law enforcement authorities are obligated to
promptly inform close relatives.
Investigations generally were prompt; however, in some cases
investigative detention may exceed the length of sentence. Any lengthy
detention is subject to review by higher judicial authorities. During
the year, approximately one-third of all prisoners were in pretrial
detention, and the average length of such detention was 50 days.
In the wake of a few much-publicized rape/murder cases by repeat
offenders on furlough during the 1990s, on February 8, the electorate
adopted a popular initiative demanding the incarceration for life
without possibility of parole for sexual or violent offenders diagnosed
as permanently untreatable. The proposition faced opposition from the
Government, NGOs, and several constitutional experts who questioned its
compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In
September, the Justice Ministry opened public consultation on
implementing proposals that purported to reconcile the demands of the
popular initiative with ECHR's provision for regular judicial
determination of the legality of detention. The draft legislation met
with opposition from a majority of political parties, NGOs, as well as
bar and medical associations.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
Courts of first instance generally are local or cantonal courts.
The Federal Penal Court in Bellinzona, which became operational on
April 1, is the court of first instance for criminal offenses that are
under the jurisdiction of federal authorities to investigate and
prosecute. Citizens have the right to appeal, ultimately to the Federal
Tribunal (Supreme Court). Trials involving minor offenses are generally
heard by a single judge, more serious or complex cases by a panel of
judges, and the most serious cases (including murder) by a jury.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials usually
were expeditious. The Constitution provides for public trials,
including the right to challenge and to present witnesses or evidence.
The 2003 revised Military Penal Code (MPC) requires that war crimes
or violations of the Geneva Convention be prosecuted only if the
defendant has close ties with the country. Normal civilian rules of
evidence and procedure apply in military trials. The MPC allows the
appeal of any case, ultimately to the Military Supreme Court. In most
cases, the accused used defense attorneys assigned by the courts. Any
licensed attorney may serve as a military defense counselor. Under
military law, the Government pays for defense costs.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
The law on telecommunication surveillance restricts wiretapping and
the monitoring of e-mail to persons suspected of serious crimes. The
legislation includes a list of offenses deemed serious enough to permit
wiretapping, including money laundering, terrorism, and corporate
crime.
Instances of forced sterilization of women continued to be the
subject of public debate during the year. In December, Parliament
adopted a federal law allowing sterilization only under strict
conditions but rejected a proposal to pay financial compensation to
victims of forced sterilizations and castrations. Such practices were
used up to the 1970s primarily on young women of low social standing or
with mental illnesses.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally
respected this right in practice and did not restrict academic freedom.
An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning
democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of
the press.
On July 22, a Zurich district court acquitted Frank Lubke,
president of the David Centre Against Anti-Semitism in Zurich, of the
charge of violating the anti-racism law. Lubke wrote an open letter to
government officials and the press in November 2002 following the
terrorist attacks in Mombassa, Kenya, which contained severe criticism
of the Islamic religion.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government
generally respected these rights in practice.
On January 24, demonstrators protesting the World Economic Forum
were allegedly subjected to police violence and humiliating treatment.
According to media and NGO reports, demonstrators aboard a train bound
for Davos were forced to exit when police used tear gas against them.
Demonstrators were later held for more than 6 hours in a nearby fenced-
off area. In April, a total of 37 demonstrators filed a lawsuit against
several cantonal police forces, the Swiss army, German troops, and the
Graubunden canton, claiming that these parties violated their freedom
of movement, used coercion, and put their lives at risk. The lawsuit
remained pending at year's end.
Authorities will reassess the case of two policemen involved in an
April 2003 paint ball incident that injured a WTO demonstrator despite
preliminary police hearings that cleared them. In November 2003, the
Geneva cantonal Government called for additional investigations, while
the Geneva prosecuting authorities launched a parallel criminal
investigation against a police officer for negligent bodily harm. Both
investigations were pending at year's end.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice.
There is no official state church; however, most cantons
financially support at least one of three traditional denominations--
Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, or Protestant--with funds collected
through taxation. Each canton has its own regulations regarding the
relationship between church and state.
Groups of foreign origin are free to proselytize. Foreign
missionaries must obtain a religious worker visa to work in the
country. Such permits were granted routinely and without bias against
any particular religion. However, the Federal Office of Immigration,
Integration, and Emigration in a precedent case rejected the 2003 work
permit applications for two Islamic clerics that the Islamic Center in
Geneva filed with local authorities. The decision was appealed to the
Justice Ministry's appeals body and remained pending at year's end.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society
contributed to religious freedom. However, negative reaction to
immigration, the conflict in the Middle East, and terrorist acts by
Muslim extremists in foreign countries fuel intolerance in radical and
populist publications and occasionally in mainstream daily newspapers.
The Swiss Observatory of Religions based in Lausanne reported that
anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic feelings have increased over the last
decade. Although physical violence was rare, most anti-Semitic and
anti-Muslim remarks have largely been fueled by extensive media reports
over the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the Holocaust Assets issue, and
terrorist acts by Muslim extremists in foreign countries. The few
journalists that engaged in anti-Zionist rhetoric later apologized.
Nevertheless, other xenophobic and revisionist publications exist,
sometimes using Internet websites based abroad to avoid prosecution.
According to statistics gathered by the Foundation Against Racism
and Anti-Semitism, the total of reported incidents against foreigners
or minorities was 94 in during the year. These figures include
instances of verbal and written attacks, which were much more frequent
than physical assaults (see Section 5).
On January 27, schools across the country held a day of remembrance
for victims of the Holocaust. Education authorities said the aim was to
remember the Holocaust and other forms of genocide committed in the
past century and raise awareness of inhumane ideologies.
In April 2003, Muslim leaders expressed fears of a ``witch-hunt''
against the community, following government revelations that members of
half a dozen militant Muslim groups are operating secretly in the
country. These fears were increased in January when police arrested
eight foreign nationals suspected of links to the May 2003 terrorist
attacks in Saudi Arabia.
On April 10, a Muslim shop selling religious Islamic objects in
Basel was destroyed by arson. Police officials could find no reason for
the crime. The investigation continued at the end of the period covered
by this report.
On April 26, the Zurich lawyer and honorary chairman of the Jewish
religious community, Sigi Feigel, sued the political party Europa
Partei Schweiz and claimed that it sponsored newspaper advertisements
comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. The party, which is not represented
in Parliament, ran advertisements in the daily Tages-Anzeiger the day
after the killing of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi calling on the
country to cut off diplomatic relations and end military cooperation
with Israel. The advertisements referred to ``Israel, nation of the
Jews'' and stated, ``with the exception of the gas chambers, all the
Nazi instruments are being used against (Israel's) resident
population.'' The party was being charged under antiracism laws by
year's end.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights for citizens, and the Government generally respected them in
practice. The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government
respected this right in practice. However, non-citizens convicted of
crimes may receive sentences that include denial of reentry for a
specific period following the completion of a prison sentence.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. Foreigners
seeking protection from persecution may file an asylum application at
any Swiss consular office, border post, airport, or one of the four
regional refugee reception centers in Switzerland. The Federal Office
for Refugees (FOR) decides the merits of each individual asylum
application. During the year, the FOR received a total of 14,248 asylum
applications, a drop of 32 percent over the previous year. At year's
end, of the 79,374 people in the asylum process, 30 percent enjoyed
refugee status, 29 percent were temporarily admitted, 22 percent were
awaiting a decision on their asylum application, and 18 percent were
awaiting repatriation.
The asylum law was amended to curb the misuse of asylum regulations
and enable the rapid repatriation of uncooperative asylum applicants.
The FOR may refuse to process the application of an asylum seeker who
is unable to justify a lack of identity papers. In such cases, the
rejected applicant must submit an appeal within 24 hours to stay
deportation proceedings. NGOs contended that such a short time period
did not constitute an effective remedy and therefore violated the ECHR.
An asylum seeker may appeal a negative FOR decision of his application
to the Asylum Appeals Commission (AAC), which is independent of the
administration. If the AAC dismisses the appeal, the applicant must
leave the country. Asylum seekers voluntarily departing before an
officially set deadline may claim individual return assistance; after
the deadline expires, repatriation is enforced.
In practice, the Government provided protection against the return
of persons to a country where they feared persecution. The Government
allowed rejected asylum seekers to stay temporarily for two reasons:
The likeliness of political repression or armed conflict in their
native country. However, NGOs accused the Government of expelling
rejected asylum seekers in some cases when conditions in their native
countries remained unfavorable. In April, Bern police authorities
deported a Burmese citizen, who was immediately apprehended by local
authorities and subsequently sentenced to a long prison sentence. The
asylum application he filed in May 2003 had previously been rejected
both by the FOR and the AAC.
In May, the Justice Ministry and the government of Vaud Canton
agreed on a special review by the FOR of over 1,200 rejected asylum
applications, mostly of refugees from former Yugoslavia who fled their
homes during the 1990s. They had been living without residency permits
in Vaud canton for several years, because its government did not follow
federal instructions to repatriate rejected asylum applicants. In
August, the FOR granted residency to more than 500 persons on grounds
of personal hardship but ordered the repatriation of more than 500
individuals, causing a major controversy in the media and in the local
political arena. Pressure by local politicians and NGOs forced the
Federal Government to allow for a second review of the rejected
applications involving cantonal officials and AI representatives,
resulting in another 45 residency permits, but in December, the FOR
insisted on the repatriation of more than 400 rejected applicants. AI
criticized the FOR's handling of the dossiers as opaque and arbitrary.
The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. As part of the Budget
Alleviation Program adopted in December 2003, the Government curtailed
public welfare benefits and tightened deportation proceedings for
rejected asylum seekers. Effective April 1, rejected asylum seekers
whose application the FOR had refused to process were no longer
entitled to social security benefits and could only claim minimum
emergency assistance. The cantons, which are also responsible for
deportation proceedings, determined and provided emergency assistance
to rejected applicants, who were required to register with local
immigration authorities in their designated canton in order to receive
emergency assistance. However, in practice, only approximately 15
percent of rejected applicants registered with cantonal immigration
authorities after April 1, reportedly because they feared detention
pending their repatriation. On July 15, the Federal Tribunal
unanimously ruled that the detention of rejected applicants pending
their repatriation did not violate the ECHR.
In November, two cantonal courts made conflicting rulings on the
eligibility for government emergency assistance of rejected asylum
applicants who refuse to cooperate with authorities in their
repatriation to their countries of origin. In Bern, the Administrative
Court ruled that obstructive behavior was insufficient to deny the
constitutional right to emergency assistance, but in Solothurn canton
the Administrative Court in a similar case held that denying emergency
assistance was legitimate to induce cooperation. However, on December
23, the Federal Tribunal ordered Solothurn cantonal authorities to keep
providing emergency assistance pending a thorough Federal Tribunal
ruling in the case.
In a special session in May, the lower house began parliamentary
debate of a controversial new amendment to the asylum law. The draft
bill had already been partly overtaken by the tightened asylum
regulations passed by Parliament in 2003. In July, in stark contrast to
the established legislative process, the Justice Ministry introduced a
set of additional changes to the ongoing revision of the asylum law,
which the UNHCR sharply criticized and which provoked a public outcry
by church, refugee, and humanitarian aid organizations. On August 25,
the Cabinet adopted most of the proposed changes, which are expected to
be submitted to the upper house for parliamentary debate in 2005.
The Government also provided temporary protection to 23,407
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/
1967 protocol. The 1999 amendment of the asylum law provides for the
collective admission of victims of violence and authorizes the Cabinet
to grant them temporary protective status.
The FOR used a list of approximately 40 ``safe countries'' of
origin, the nationals of which did not enjoy refugee status. NGOs
criticized the list as arbitrary because the Government did not
publicly justify the listings and because they deemed the human rights
record and the political situation in some of the listed countries
unstable.
NGOs reported that police used excessive force against asylum
seekers (see Section 1.c.).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage. Initiative and referendum procedures provide
unusually intense popular involvement in the legislative process. In
October 2003, in a fair and free election, the electorate chose a new
federal parliament. Parties and candidates could nominate themselves
freely.
Government information was available freely to all persons living
in the country, including foreign media. There is no specific
transparency law, but the Constitution requires that the Government
inform the public on its activities. In December, Parliament adopted a
new transparency law providing for public access to government
documents.
There were 61 women in the 246-seat Federal Parliament and 1 woman
in the 7-seat Federal Cabinet. At the cantonal level, the proportion of
women representatives in legislatures has remained steady at around 24
percent in recent years. Women held approximately one-fifth of the
seats in cantonal executive bodies.
There were three francophone members in the Federal Cabinet, and
the representation of linguistic minorities in Parliament reflected
their percentage of the population. A 2004 study commissioned by a
minority lobby group regretted the diminishing importance of French and
Italian in federal political bodies and the decreasing number of
linguistic minorities among senior governmental management.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
In major cities such as Zurich, Bern, and Basel, as well as in some
cantons, an ombudsman heard citizens' complaints about wrongful
government action. Not every ombudsman could proactively investigate
alleged abuses of government authority but all accepted complaints from
third parties. No ombudsman exists at the federal level.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution and legislation prohibit discrimination on the
basis of race, sex, language, or social status, and the Government
generally enforced these prohibitions effectively, although some laws
discriminate against women. The Constitution includes provisions for
equal rights for persons with disabilities and for minorities.
Women.--Violence against women was a problem. The law prohibits
domestic violence but does not differentiate between acts committed
against men and women. In its Annual Report, AI estimated that
approximately 40 women died every year in the country as a result of
violence suffered at home. A 1997 survey showed that one in five women
age 20 to 60 suffered some form of domestic violence at least once in
their lifetime.
Spousal rape is a crime. Prosecuting spousal abuse is a matter for
the cantons, and statistical evidence remains uneven. Data from Zurich
canton show that in 2003, police recorded 858 instances of domestic
violence, 259 of which were repeat offenders. Police made 273 arrests,
13 on suspicion of spousal rape.
Victims of domestic violence may obtain help, counseling, and legal
assistance from specialized government and NGO agencies, or from nearly
a dozen hotlines sponsored privately or by local, cantonal, and
national authorities. There were 1,375 women and children in 17 women's
shelters across the country during 2003, but the shelter's operators
estimated that nearly as many were denied access due to a lack of space
and limited funding. There was a special unit dealing with domestic
violence in the Interior Ministry's Federal Office for the Equality
between Women and Men. The Crime Prevention Center, a planning unit of
the umbrella organization of cantonal police forces, has established a
best-practices checklist for police interventions and most cantonal
police forces had specially trained domestic violence units. A majority
of cantons also had special administrative units coordinating between
law enforcement, prosecuting, and victim assistance bodies.
Since April 1, the Penal Code makes grievous forms of domestic
violence, including repeated aggression, assault, threat, sexual
assault and rape, a statutory offense. In six cantons--Appenzell, Bern,
Lucerne, Neuchatel, Sankt Gallen, and Uri--police have the authority to
temporarily ban abusive men from reentering the family premises. A
study released during the year showed 10 percent of women polled
suffered from physical violence in the previous 12 month.
Prostitution is legal for citizens and foreigners with valid work
permits if the practitioners comply with taxation and other cantonal
requirements. However, street prostitution remains illegal, except in
certain areas specifically designated by local authorities. Every major
city has such designated areas. The Penal Code criminalizes sexual
exploitation and trafficking in women; however, trafficking in women
remained a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Forced sterilization of women was a concern (see Section 1.f.).
Sexual harassment in the workplace occurred but was limited. The
law includes provisions aimed at eliminating sexual harassment and
facilitating access to legal remedies for those who claim
discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Sexual offenders face a
fine or a prison sentence up to 10 years. Employers failing to
implement the law face a maximum fine of $32,000 (40,000 Swiss francs)
or a 6-month prison sentence. Sexual harassment victims are protected
against retaliatory dismissals. They can choose to be reinstalled in
their job position or file for 6-month salary compensation. Such
criminal procedures only work if the complaint is filed before the end
of dismissal period.
Although the Constitution prohibits all types of discrimination,
and the law provides for equal rights, equal treatment, and equivalent
wages for men and women, some laws continued to discriminate against
women. A federal marriage law provides that in the event of a divorce,
assets accumulated during the marriage will be divided equally;
however, the Federal Tribunal ruled that the primary wage earner must
be left with sufficient income to remain above the poverty level. Since
the man was the primary wage earner in most marriages, when the income
was too low to support both parties, it was usually the wife (and
children) who was forced to survive on public assistance.
Immigrant women, who married Swiss husbands, but lived in the
country for less than 5 years, risked deportation if they divorced
their spouses. The 5-year residency requirement could be reduced to 3
years under exceptional circumstances. NGOs argued that this prevented
women with marital problems from seeking help or leaving their husbands
without incurring serious consequences. Police in different cantons
considered factors such as the country of origin, education, and income
levels of the immigrant women when deciding consequences.
The law includes a general prohibition on gender-based
discrimination and incorporates the principle of equal wages for equal
work; however, professional differences between men and women were
evident. Women less often occupied jobs with significant
responsibilities, and women's professional stature overall was lower
than men's. Women also were promoted less than men and employers were
less likely to pay women for training. According to a government study,
women's gross salaries were 21 percent lower than men's in 2002. In
July, the Government announced that in order to fight wage inequality
it would start checking if its contractors paid equal wages for equal
work. Companies in violation of the law risk an $81,000 (100,000 Swiss
francs) fine or losing their government procurement contract.
The labor law prohibits women from working in the first 8 weeks
after giving birth, but no federal provision for maternity leave
exists. The law does not provide for compensation; however, between 70
and 80 percent of working women have negotiated maternity benefits with
their employers. Many private sector and most public sector employers
voluntarily granted new mothers a paid leave of absence, commonly
between 3 and 16 weeks. On September 26, the electorate in a national
referendum approved new legislation granting working mothers a paid 14
week maternity leave at 80 percent of their salaries.
The Federal Office for Equality Between Women and Men (EBG) and the
Federal Commission on Women worked to eliminate all forms of direct and
indirect discrimination. A federal level interdepartmental working
group continued to implement a 1999 action plan to improve the
situation of women that includes measures that address poverty,
decision-making, education, health, violence against women, the
economy, human rights, the media, and the environment. To achieve its
mission, the EGB allocated $3.3 million (4.1 million Swiss francs) to
different projects promoting gender equality. The office employed
approximately 20 persons during the year.
Many cantons and some large cities have equality services mandated
to handle gender issues. More than half of the cantons have an office
in charge of promoting equality, but funding and personnel levels
remained uneven. The majority of the cantons had commissions that
reported to the cantonal Government.
Children.--The Government has no special programs for children, and
there is no special Governmental office for children's matters;
however, the Government was strongly committed to children's rights and
welfare. It amply funded a system of public education and need-based
subsidies of health insurance. Education was free and compulsory for 9
years, from age 6 or 7 through age 16 or 17, depending on the canton.
Some cantons offered a 10th school year. Almost all children attended
school.
There was some abuse of children, although there was no societal
pattern of such abuse. The federal and cantonal governments, as well as
approximately 80 NGOs that defend children's rights, have devoted
considerable attention in the last few years to child abuse,
particularly sexual abuse. For convicted child sexual abusers, the law
provides for imprisonment of up to 15 years. The statute of limitations
is 15 years. In cases of severe sexual abuse, the statute does not take
effect before the victim turns 25. If a court of first instance hands
down a sentence before the stipulated time, the statute of limitations
is suspended indefinitely.
Since January, the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of
Education, the national umbrella organization of cantonal education
ministries, has kept a registry of schoolteachers who had their
cantonal teaching license revoked in an effort to prevent them from
finding new teaching positions in another canton. The blacklist is
subject to local data protection requirements and does not record the
reason why a license was revoked. However, some cantons decided not to
submit information on revoked teaching licenses to the national
registry.
With respect to the prosecution of child sexual abuse abroad, the
law provides for prosecution in Switzerland only if the act is
considered a crime in the country in which it took place. The 2003
revisions of the Penal Code will not take effect until the cantons
implement the changes into cantonal law.
Under the law, the production, possession, distribution, or
downloading from the Internet of hardcore pornography involving
children, animals, or violence carries heavy fines or a maximum
sentence of 1 year in prison. However, viewing child pornography on the
Internet is not a criminal offence. Police in September arrested eight
persons suspected of child molestation and production of child
pornographic material. As part of a worldwide investigation, police
searched more than 400 homes and examined more than 100,000 photo and
video files. The raid was the biggest operation against child
pornography on the Internet since the 2002 operation ``Genesis,'' which
led to the investigation of more than 1,000 persons. As part of
Genesis, Bern judicial authorities sentenced 14 persons to suspended
prison terms and fined 54 individuals between $400 and $6,400 (500 and
8,000 Swiss francs). In Zurich, 124 persons were fined between several
hundred and a few thousand Swiss francs.
In an effort to combat child pornography on the Internet more
effectively, the Federal Police established in 2003 the Internet watch
body Cycos, which takes tips from the public and actively searches the
Internet for suspicious content. According to police, Cycos handled
approximately 500 complaints per month. The police were able to take
off certain content from some sites but failed to shut down any
offending website.
Children of migrant seasonal workers were not permitted
automatically to join their parents. Children of foreigners who worked
as migrant laborers only were permitted to visit on tourist visas for a
period of 3 months at a time. After 3 months, they must return to their
home country for 1 month.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits sexual exploitation and
trafficking in persons; however, some women were trafficked into the
country and forced into prostitution or domestic servitude.
Trafficking in persons can carry a prison sentence of up to 20
years and coercing a person into prostitution is punishable with up to
10 years in prison. In 2002, the Federal Tribunal decided that hiring
women, even consenting women, from abroad to engage in prostitution
qualified as human trafficking if their abusers exploited a situation
of distress. The prosecution of illegal prostitution and trafficking in
persons normally falls under the authority of the cantons; cases linked
to organized crime are under the jurisdiction of the federal agencies.
In 2003, authorities made 12 convictions for human trafficking and
forced prostitution. The Coordination Unit against the Trafficking in
Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, which is tied to the Federal Office
of Police (BAP), coordinates and monitors all Swiss anti-trafficking
efforts, including a federal interagency task force. In addition, the
BAP has two anti-trafficking subsections, one within the international
cooperation and investigation division and the other tied to the
domestic intelligence division. Swiss authorities were active in
international law enforcement activities and took the lead in
coordinating several international trafficking investigations.
Switzerland is primarily a country of destination, and secondarily
transit, for women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation
and domestic servitude. Federal police estimated that between 1,500 and
3,000 potential victims of human trafficking were in the country.
However, since Swiss federalism dictates that alien registration and
enforcement be handled at the cantonal level, there were few reliable
statistics on the extent of the trafficking problem. According to
authorities, most persons trafficked originated in Thailand, parts of
Africa, or South America. An increasing number of trafficked women
arrived from Eastern Europe, particularly Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, or
other states of the former Soviet Union. Police figures indicated that
approximately 14,000 prostitutes worked in the country both legally and
illegally. More than half worked in Basel, Bern, Zurich, Lucerne,
Geneva, and Ticino.
Traffickers often forced victims into prostitution and in many
cases subjected them to physical and sexual violence, threatened them
or their families, encouraged drug addiction, withheld their documents,
and incarcerated them. Many victims were forced to work in salons or
clubs to pay for travel expenses and forged documents and found
themselves dependent on the traffickers. Generally the victims were
unable to read, write, or speak the country's languages and were afraid
to seek help from the authorities.
Since the mid-1990s, a growing number of salons and clubs have
appeared in which women registered as artists engaged in illegal
prostitution. Authorities suspected that traffickers were bringing some
of these ``artists'' into the country. Police monitoring was difficult
because artist visas (also called the ``L'' residency permits, which is
only valid for 8 months) include an allowance for a short work period
during which individuals may engage in some form of self-employed
activity. According to the Chief of the Geneva vice squad, police had
no legal means of preventing cabaret dancers from prostituting
themselves after work hours but tried to prevent physical abuses
against prostitutes. Smaller prostitution networks also existed and
often involved relatives of foreign families established in the
country, or members of the same ethnic groups.
Trafficking victims may seek help from centers providing shelter,
counseling, legal assistance, and medical aid. In 2003, these centers
assisted 64 victims. Federal and cantonal governments continued to
provide funding to NGOs and women's shelters, and authorities may grant
temporary residency permits on a case by case basis to victims willing
to testify in court. In cases of serious hardship, a federal ordinance
allows cantonal police to grant a residency permit to victims of sexual
exploitation or forced labor. In August, the Federal Office of
Immigration, Integration and Emigration, sent to all cantonal
immigration authorities a set of guidelines on offering temporary
residency status to trafficking victims in order to make this process
both more transparent and in accord. Despite the range of protections,
NGOs alleged that some potential trafficking victims were not
recognized as such and repatriated to their country of origin without
due respect for the safeguards under the law.
The federal police and immigration authorities encouraged cantonal
authorities to them to take a more tolerant approach toward delaying
deportation to allow for victim counseling and an increased likelihood
that victims may testify against traffickers. NGOs and authorities in
Zurich have worked together to improve the protection and security of
victims by regulating the procedures for identifying and referring
victims for assistance. Efforts to establish a binding ``code of
cooperation'' failed. Efforts to strengthen cooperation between NGOs
and local authorities were also underway in other cities, such were
Bern, Basel, and Lucerne at year's end.
The law safeguards victims' rights in criminal prosecutions with
special rules for trial procedures and for compensation and redress.
Trafficking victims who testified enjoyed special protection of their
identity and could request the trial to take place behind closed doors
and a confrontation with the defendant avoided.
The Government funded several anti-trafficking information and
education campaigns in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia,
and South America. The Government also continued to partially fund the
Women's Information Center, a victim assistance NGO, that has
established an international network of contacts for victim
repatriation and distributes trafficking information in origin
countries. The Swiss embassy in Moscow has tightened visa processing
and, together with a local NGO, has implemented awareness raising
seminars for its staff, which have been replicated at Swiss embassies
in Kiev and Bogota. Consular officials routinely undergo trafficking-
awareness raising programs before being posted abroad.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other state services, and it was
generally enforced. Since January 1, the law mandates access to public
buildings and government services for persons with disabilities, and
the Government generally enforced these provisions in practice. The new
Federal Equal Opportunity Office for Disabled People promoted awareness
of the law but had no formal mandate to monitor cantonal enforcement.
The office had a staff of two and disposed of an annual budget of
$805,000 (1 million Swiss francs), of which $282,000 (350,000 Swiss
francs) was earmarked for nationwide projects. According to the NGO
Equality Handicap, most complaints of discrimination concerned labor
issues, education, and access to public buildings.
During the year, the Swiss National Science Foundation published a
study revealing that one in five disabled persons lived near or below
the poverty level, was often alone, and relied on help from outsiders.
Another survey on labor market integration found that persons with
disabilities held approximately one percent of job positions; however,
companies had only limited knowledge of available government
compensatory schemes.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to statistics
gathered by the Foundation Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, the total
number of reported incidents directed against foreigners or minorities
was 94 during the year. These figures included instances of verbal and
written attacks, which were much more common than physical assaults.
Investigations of such attacks generally were conducted effectively and
led, in most cases, to the arrest of the persons responsible. Persons
convicted of racist crimes commonly were sentenced to between 3 days
and 3 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $32,000 (40,000 Swiss
francs). Between 1995 and 2002, the authorities opened 218 criminal
proceedings under anti-racism legislation, 95 of which ended in a first
instance conviction. In 2002, 9 persons were convicted of racial
discrimination.
During the year, neo-Nazi, skinhead, and other extremist
organizations continued to attract police and Government attention
because of such groups' organization at international levels, the
violence they commit, and the youth of the group members. However, a
Federal Police report published in August concluded that extremist
groups posed no real threat to domestic security even if such groups
have repeatedly engaged in minor assaults and vandalism at the local
level. Although the number of right-wing extremists has risen to
approximately 1,000 over the last few years, the report deemed the
potential for violence emanating from left-wing extremist groups as
considerably higher.
The number of incidents involving skinheads decreased from
approximately 120 incidents in 2002 to about 100 in 2003. These
incidents involved more violence and were more frequently directed
against foreigners rather than property.
In March, a Bern district court sentenced the three neo-Nazis
accused of killing 19-year-old Marcel von Allmen in 2001. The main
culprit was sentenced to life in prison for homicide and the two
accomplices received 16-year prison terms. The fourth defendant
involved in the killing has already been tried and sentenced as a
juvenile.
There were a few reported cases during the year of violent
confrontations between skinheads and young foreigners. The night of
August 14/15, approximately 100 skinheads and young foreigners clashed
in the town of Olten, leaving at least 8 persons injured.
The Anti-Racism Law criminalizes racist or anti-Semitic expression,
whether in public speech or in printed material. On May 27, the Federal
Tribunal further delineated the scope of the law by broadly defining
public as opposed to private speech. The court ruled that a 1999 Nazi
propagandist lecture held before a skinhead gathering that was closed
to the public constituted public speech because the speaker was not
personally familiar with the listeners. The Court thus blunted a common
ploy among right-wing activists to organize by-invitation-only events
to circumvent the public speech clause of the anti-racism legislation.
Henceforth, all racist speech that could be heard by third parties,
with no personal bonds to the speaker, is considered public and
therefore punishable under the law.
On September 7, the Muslim community in the country and the Federal
Commission against Racism condemned a controversial advertisement about
Muslim birth rates run by a group close to the rightwing Swiss People's
Party (SVP). Its publication appeared less than 3 weeks before the
country was due to vote on easing restrictions on citizenship for
second- and third generation foreigners. Using extrapolated figures on
the Muslim population trends in the country, the publication suggested
that the number of Muslims in the country would double every 10 years,
making up 72 percent of the population by 2040. While the SVP denied
responsibility and funding, its president and many members welcomed the
advertisement. While the Muslim community dropped the idea of lodging
formal complaint, a Bern lawyer filed a lawsuit against the promoters
for racial discrimination. Several legal experts expressed opposing
views about the advertisement's legality.
The Department of the Interior's Federal Service for the Combating
of Racism, which began operation in 2001, manages the Federal
Government's ``Fund Projects against Racism and for Human Rights'' with
a budget of $12.1 million (15 million Swiss francs) for the 2001 to
2005 period. An annual budget of $403,000 (500,000 Swiss francs) has
been earmarked for the establishment of new local consultation centers
to assist victims of racial or religious discrimination. Approximately
130 consultation centers or contact points existed in the country. In
addition, the Federal Service for the Combating of Racism sponsored a
variety of educational and awareness-building projects to combat
racism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism. Over $805,000 (1 million Swiss
francs) was spent to support youth projects.
Victims of racial discrimination may appeal a national court ruling
either to the ECHR or the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD). Cases must first be litigated before national
courts. Citizens have the choice of appealing a national court ruling
to either the CERD or the ECHR but may not appeal a U.N. decision to
the ECHR or vice versa.
In January, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
in its third report on Switzerland stated that the 2003 federal law on
itinerant trade, which replaced the numerous different cantonal
regulations and provides for a 5-year trade permit valid for the entire
country, improved the situation for traveling Jenish; however, the
report also held that the provision of sufficient permanent and transit
stopping places for travelers remained a cause of concern.
In July 2003, the Federal Tribunal ruled that cantonal practices of
holding secret ballots to decide individual applications for
citizenship were unconstitutional. In two separate unanimous rulings,
the court decided that naturalization decisions must be neither
arbitrary nor discriminatory, nor included secret balloting. The two
rulings triggered a national debate. As a consequence, the six cantons
concerned have discontinued the practice of secret balloting, and
examining bodies of citizenship applications across the country are now
obliged to justify a rejection. The rulings produced some confusion, as
the Federal Tribunal did not rule on the constitutionality of town hall
meetings deciding citizenship applications by a show of hands, a common
practice. On September 26, the electorate in a national referendum
rejected two constitutional amendments to facilitate the naturalization
of second-generation immigrants and automatically grant citizenship to
the third-generation. The number of Swiss naturalizations fell slightly
from 36,500 in 2002 to 35,400 in 2003.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all workers, including
foreigners, to associate freely, form and join unions of their choice,
and to select their own representatives, and workers exercised these
rights in practice. Unions operated independently of the Government and
political parties. Approximately 25 percent of the work force was
unionized.
The law protects workers from acts of antiunion discrimination, and
the Government generally respected this provision in practice. In May
2003, the Swiss Trade Union Council (STUC) filed a complaint with the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) arguing that legal provisions
for abusive dismissals do not sufficiently protect activists from
antiunion discrimination. The law provides for a maximum compensation
of six months' worth of wages but not for reinstatement. On March 31,
the Government asked the ILO to dismiss the STUC complaint on the
grounds that Swiss legislation was fully compliant with the relevant
ILO Convention. An ILO decision remained pending at year's end.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The
Constitution provides for the freedom to organize and bargain
collectively, and unions exercised these rights in practice. Periodic
negotiations between employer organizations and unions determine wages
and settle other labor issues at the local, regional, or, infrequently,
at the industry level. Roughly half of the entire work force is covered
by such collective labor agreements.
Non-syndicated firms generally abided by the terms of their
industries' collective labor agreement. The Government has the
authority to declare a voluntary collective labor agreement binding if
employer organizations and unions representing a majority of firms and
workers in a given industry jointly demand it. With the gradual opening
of the labor market to workers from the EU ending the preferential
treatment of Swiss workers, effective June 1, the quorum to declare a
voluntary collective labor agreement binding was lowered to 30 percent
of employers and 30 percent of employment contracts. The Federal
Government and the 26 cantons have each set up special committees,
comprising the Government, employer associations, and unions, to
monitor the labor market and prevent dumping practices by EU firms or
workers.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, and workers
exercised this right in practice. The Government is allowed to curtail
the right to strike of federal public servants only for reasons of
national security or safeguarding foreign policy interests, but public
servants were still denied the right to strike in some cantons and many
communes.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no
reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace, prohibiting
forced or compulsory labor and setting acceptable working conditions,
and the Government effectively enforced these provisions in practice.
The minimum age for the full-time employment is 15 years, and
children generally remained in school until this age. Children over 13
years of age may be employed in light duties for not more than 9 hours
per week during the school year and 15 hours otherwise. The employment
of youths between the ages of 15 and 20 was regulated strictly; they
were not allowed to work at night, on Sundays, or in hazardous or
dangerous conditions.
The Economic Ministry (SECO) monitors the implementation of child
labor policies but actual enforcement is the responsibility of the
cantonal labor inspectorates; government officials inspected companies
allegedly violating the law.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no national minimum
wage, which resulted in low wage structures for unskilled and service
industry workers; however, some of the voluntary collective labor
agreements contain clauses on minimum compensation.
The law sets a maximum 45-hour workweek for blue- and white-collar
workers in industry, services, and retail trades, and a 50-hour
workweek for all other workers. The law prescribes a rest period of 35
consecutive hours plus an additional half-day per week. Annual overtime
is limited by law to 170 hours for those working 45 hours per week and
to 140 hours for those working 50 hours per week. The Government
effectively enforced these regulations.
The Labor Act and the Accident Insurance Act contain extensive
regulations to protect worker health and safety. SECO and cantonal
labor inspectorates held responsibility for their implementation. There
were no reports of lapses in the enforcement of these regulations.
Workers have the right to remove themselves from work situations that
endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their continued
employment.
__________
TAJIKISTAN
Tajikistan is ruled by an authoritarian government, which has
established some democratic institutions such as, a constitution and a
multiparty political system that includes legally registered opposition
parties. President Emomali Rahmonov and an inner circle of loyal
supporters continued to dominate the Government. Parliamentary
elections in February 2000 were neither free nor fair. The Constitution
provides for an independent judiciary; however, it was subjected to
political pressure from the executive branch, and corruption was a
serious problem.
Stability throughout the country continued to increase, as it has
each year since the end of the country's 5-year civil war in 1997. The
Ministries of Interior, Security, and Defense share responsibility for
public order, internal security, and intelligence. The security forces
are under full control of the Government and report to the President.
Members of the security forces committed serious human rights abuses,
including torture, during interrogation.
The economy was in transition from a state-controlled system to a
market-based one. The country's population was approximately 6.5
million. Most of the work force was engaged in agriculture, which
remained partly collectivized. The country remained extremely poor.
Despite 7 years of sustained economic growth, an estimated 57 percent
of the population lived below the poverty line. Per capita gross
national product was approximately $180, and gross domestic product
grew approximately 7 percent during the year. The official unemployment
rate was 10 percent; however, international organizations active in
country estimated that the actual unemployment rate was approximately
34 percent. Narcotics trafficking through the country and pervasive
corruption throughout society continued to be serious problems. The
combination of the two exacerbated income disparities between the
majority of the population and a small number of former pro-government
and opposition warlords who controlled many of the legal, and most of
the criminal, sectors of the economy.
The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there
were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.
Citizens' right to change their government remained restricted.
Security forces tortured, beat, and abused detainees and other persons
and were also responsible for threats, extortion, and abuse of
civilians. Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. A few
prisoners died of hunger. From January until September, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had access to prisons
controlled by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). At year's end, the ICRC
was negotiating with the MOJ to regain access to all prisons.
Impunity and lengthy pretrial detention remained problems.
Authorities used torture to obtain confessions, which were routinely
accepted as evidence in trials without qualification. The Government
continued to restrict freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Journalists practiced self-censorship to avoid problems with the
authorities, and there were some instances of violence against
journalists by unidentified persons. There were some restrictions on
freedom of religion, primarily for women, and the government arrested
persons alleged to be members of a banned extremist Islamist political
organization. The Government continued to deny the registration of two
opposition political parties amid allegations that authorities made
politically motivated arrests. Some international democracy,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) faced government harassment and
registration problems. Violence and discrimination against women, and
trafficking in persons remained problems. Trafficking in women and
children was a serious problem, which the Government took significant
steps to address. Child labor was a problem, and there were some
instances of forced labor, including children.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by
the Government or its agents.
Unlike the previous year, there was no significant progress in
investigating political killings that occurred during the 1992-97 civil
war and more recent killings linked to the war (see Section 1.d.).
Local and international observers questioned the objectivity of ongoing
investigations by a special Ministry of Interior unit into killings
that occurred during the civil war.
Unlike 2003, no deaths were reported due to land mines in the
Karetegin Valley, where both the Government and the opposition had laid
land mines during the civil war. During the year, the Government
completed demining of the valley. However, there were some reported
land mine deaths on the Tajik-Uzbek border. The Government has made
demining the area a priority and, to prevent additional Tajik deaths
and casualties, worked with international organizations during the year
to remove land mines along the border that were laid by Uzbekistan.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were
reports that government security officials employed them.
Torture occurred during the year, though to a lesser extent than in
2003. Security officials, particularly from the Ministry of Interior
(MOI), continued to use systematic beatings to extort confessions,
torture, sexual abuse, and electric shock during interrogations. During
the year, several persons alleged to be members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an
extremist Islamist political organization, and members of their
families claimed that they were tortured and beaten while in police
custody (see Sections 1.d. and 2.b.). One person said the beating
resulted in permanent hearing loss.
Beatings and mistreatment were also common in pretrial detention
facilities, and the Government took minimal action against those
responsible for the abuses (see Section 1.d.). In May 2003, following
the arrest and detention of Shamsiddin Shamsiddinov, deputy chair of
the opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRP), authorities
allegedly beat him and used electric shock torture (see Section 1.e.).
In the southern regions of the country, citizens made numerous
complaints of harassment and abuse committed by some border guards who
were involved in drug trafficking. Afghan refugees also alleged
continued harassment and mistreatment by law enforcement authorities
(see Section 2.d.).
In July 2003, according to two international human rights groups,
nine high-ranking police and Interior Ministry officials in Sughd
Province were convicted of using torture to force confessions from
falsely accused suspects. They were sentenced to 3 to 7 years in jail.
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening for an
estimated 7,000 to 10,000 incarcerated persons. Prisons were generally
overcrowded, unsanitary, and disease-ridden. The spread of tuberculosis
was a serious problem, and there were reports that a few prisoners died
of hunger. According to the law, family members were allowed access to
prisoners only after indictment. However, family members of prisoners
sentenced to death were neither told the date of the execution nor
allowed access to the prisoner's effects until the sentence was carried
out. On May 10, President Rahmonov signed a moratorium on the death
penalty.
There was one prison that held only former members of so-called
``power ministries,'' such as the police, intelligence and secret
officers, and the military. Men and women were held separately, and
juveniles were held separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were
held separately from convicted prisoners.
From January to September, the ICRC was allowed access to prisons
controlled by the MOJ, including pretrial detention centers. At year's
end, the ICRC and the MOJ were in negotiations to regain access to all
of the MOJ's prisons. During the year, local NGOs also made prison
visits on behalf of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE); however, the NGO visitors submitted to Government
conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Arbitrary arrest and detention
remained serious problems. The law, which is an amended holdover from
the Soviet era, allows for lengthy pretrial detention, and there are
few checks on the power of prosecutors and police to make arrests.
Impunity remained a serious problem, and officers who committed
abuses were rarely prosecuted. The Government acknowledged that police
and security forces were corrupt and that most citizens who were abused
chose to remain silent rather than risk retaliation by authorities.
The Ministries of Interior, Security, and Defense shared
responsibility for internal security. The Ministry of Interior is
primarily responsible for public order, the Ministry of Security has
responsibility for intelligence, and the Ministry of Defense is
responsible for military security.
Police may detain persons without a warrant for up to 72 hours.
Prosecutors are empowered to detain persons for 10 days, after which
time charges must be filed, and this was generally followed in
practice. Following indictment, the law allows for pretrial detention
of up to 15 months. The first 3 months of detention are at the
discretion of a local prosecutor; the next 3 months must be approved at
the regional level. The Prosecutor General must approve longer periods
of detention, and the Government generally followed this in practice.
All investigations must be completed 1 month before the 15th month
of detention to allow time for the defense to examine government
evidence. There is no requirement for judicial approval or for a
preliminary judicial hearing on the charge or detention. There is no
bail system; however, in criminal cases detainees may be conditionally
released and restricted to their place of residence pending trial.
Officials occasionally denied attorneys and family members access to
detainees. At year's end, many of the persons detained during the year
were held incommunicado for long periods of time and remained in police
custody without being charged.
In most cases, security officers, principally from the MOI and the
Ministry of Security, did not obtain arrest warrants and did not bring
charges within the time specified by the law. Persons released from
detention often claimed that they were mistreated, beaten, and tortured
(see Section 1.c.).
During the year, authorities made politically motivated arrests.
For example, on August 27, a deputy chairman of the Progress Party of
Tajikistan was arrested for libeling the President, and there were
reports that the Government illegally detained other members of rival
political factions.
According to media reports, approximately 70 members of Hizb ut-
Tahrir (Party of Islamic Liberation) were arrested during the year. Of
that number, about 50 were sentenced in connection with crimes related
to their membership in the banned extremist political organization,
which calls for the overthrow of secular governments and establishment
of a theocratic Islamic state or Caliphate throughout the Muslim world
(see Sections 1.c. and 2.b.).
In 2003, authorities arrested and charged a number of persons for
crimes committed against journalists during the civil war. They
remained in detention together with other detainees who had not been
formally charged. Some of the detainees were held incommunicado.
Muhummadruzi Iskandarov, head of the Democratic Party of
Tajikistan, was detained in Moscow on December 9th at the request of
the Tajik Prosecutor General's office. He was detained on multiple
charges, some of which may be politically motivated.
There was no reliable estimate of the number of political detainees
because until recently, the law precluded visits to pretrial detention
centers operated by the authorities.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, courts and judges were subject to
political pressure from the executive branch and criminal networks, and
corruption and inefficiency were problems.
Problems with judicial integrity continued; however, during the
year, the Government took steps to improve the overall situation and to
address problems by holding judges accountable and by arresting some of
the most corrupt judges and prosecutors. In October, a deputy
prosecutor and three judges were convicted of corruption.
The President is empowered to appoint and dismiss judges and
prosecutors with the consent of Parliament. Judges at the local,
regional, and national level were generally poorly trained, lacked
understanding of the concept of an independent judiciary, and had
extremely poor access to legal reference materials and other resources.
Low wages for judges and prosecutors left them vulnerable to bribery,
which remained a common practice.
The Government took steps to improve the quality of judges and used
written and oral examinations to screen out unqualified candidates. In
addition, the Council of Justice began a judicial training program to
improve technical knowledge of the judicial sector.
The judicial system is composed of city, district, regional, and
national courts, and there are parallel economic and military court
systems. Higher courts serve as appellate courts for lower ones. There
also is a Constitutional Court that reviews citizens' claims of
constitutional violations. The law provides for the right to appeal;
however, there were few reports of appeals because citizens generally
did not trust the court system.
Trials are public, and juries are used, except in cases involving
national security or the protection of minors. The law stipulates that
a case must be brought before a judge within 28 days after it is
entered for trial; however, most cases were delayed for months at a
time (see Section 1.d.). Under the law, courts appoint attorneys at
public expense; however, in practice, arrested persons often were
denied timely access to an attorney, and some were not allowed access
to any legal counsel.
Prosecutors are responsible for conducting all investigations of
alleged criminal conduct. According to the law, both defendant and
attorney have the right to review all government evidence, to confront
witnesses, and to present evidence and testimony. No groups are barred
from testifying, and, in principle, all testimony is given equal
consideration.
MOJ officials maintained that defendants benefit from the
presumption of innocence, despite an unmodified Soviet-era statute that
presumes guilt rather than innocence. In practice, an indictment
implied that the Government was convinced of a suspect's guilt, and
Government officials routinely made public, pretrial statements
proclaiming a suspect's guilt.
Law enforcement officials often used torture and beatings to coerce
evidence, including confessions to obtain an admission of guilt (see
Section 1.c.). Such evidence was routinely used in trials without
qualification.
In rare instances, military courts try civilians, who have the same
rights as defendants in civilian courts. A military judge and two
officers drawn from the service ranks hear such cases.
There was little official information about criminal court
procedures and the number of political prisoners; however, credible
international and local sources estimated that approximately 100 former
opposition fighters of the United Tajik Opposition remained in prison
after the civil war despite two general amnesties in 1998. Controversy
over which crimes the amnesties covered delayed resolution of the
cases. However, following a government review of the cases, most were
determined to be appropriately jailed for grave crimes; others were
released.
In January, following a partially closed trial, a closed session of
the Military Board of the Supreme Court sentenced Shamsiddin
Shamsiddinov, a deputy chair of the opposition IRP, to 16 years in
prison for organizing an armed group and illegally crossing the border.
Both crimes were covered under the 1998 post-war amnesties. While in
pretrial detention, he was allegedly abused and denied access to
counsel (see Section 1.c.). The IRP maintained that the trial and
sentencing were politically motivated to discredit the party.
In April, another top IRP official, Qosim Rakhimov, was sentenced
to 9 years' imprisonment on charges of statutory rape, which some
observers considered politically motivated, but which most credible
sources considered plausible.
From January to September, the ICRC was allowed access to political
prisoners and prisons controlled by the MOJ. At year's end, the ICRC
was negotiating with the MOJ to regain access to all MOJ prisons.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
while there were some violations by police forces, in practice,
authorities generally respected the prohibitions.
Police cannot enter and search a private home without the approval
of a prosecutor, except in special, compelling circumstances in which a
delay caused by obtaining a warrant would impair national security. If
police search a home without prior approval, they must inform a
prosecutor within 24 hours; however, police frequently ignored these
laws and infringed on citizens' right to privacy. There is no
independent judicial review of police searches conducted without
permission.
Family members of persons alleged to be members of Hizb ut-Tahrir,
an extremist Islamist political group, claimed that they were
mistreated and beaten while in police custody (see Sections 1.c., 1.d
and 2.b.).
Police and Ministry of Interior officials often harassed the
families of suspects in pretrial detention or threatened to do so to
elicit confessions (see Section 1.c.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government restricted
these rights in practice. Journalists, broadcasters, and citizens who
disagreed with government policies on occasion were subjected to
intimidation and discouraged from speaking freely or critically.
The Government's methods of control and intimidation of non-
governmental media included: Barring access to state-owned printing
presses, ``warnings'' made by telephone and in person at a prosecutor's
office or during visits to editorial offices, restricting broadcast
licenses, selective tax inspections, and increased scrutiny of
relatively independent publications and television and radio stations.
The Government controlled most printing presses, the supply of
newsprint, and broadcasting transmission facilities and subsidized a
large majority of publications and broadcast productions. However, the
number of independent and local newspapers continued to increase during
the year, several of which were affiliated with political parties or
blocs.
Most persons in the country obtained news and information from
radio, particularly in rural areas. There were an estimated 309 print
media outlets, 17 private television stations and 4 radio stations in
the country. During the year, the Government did approve a value added
tax (VAT) exemption for print media but continued to look at other
measures to promote local media. International media were allowed to
operate freely, including rebroadcasts of Russian television and radio
programs.
There was one government-run television network; its local
affiliates covered regional and local issues only from the Government's
point of view. Its signal reached most of the country, except for the
most remote areas, and an estimated 90 percent population watched it.
The Government also added television transmitters in the Rasht valley
to increase viewership of state-run television.
Opposition politicians had limited access to state-run television;
however, it continued to broadcast a series of political party debates.
Of the 17 private television stations, only a handful were genuinely
independent, and not all of them operated at the same time. Some of the
independent stations had their own studio facilities and broadcast
equipment, but most depended on government-owned transmission equipment
to broadcast their programs. However, the Government did not interfere
with their broadcasts.
In contrast to 2003, the Government reversed moves to relax
pressure on the media. According to international observers and media
monitoring groups, the reversal was part of the Government's effort to
consolidate power and influence in advance of parliamentary elections
scheduled for February 2005.
Independent radio and television stations continued to experience
administrative harassment and bureaucratic delays. To obtain a
broadcast license, individuals must apply to the Ministry of
Communications and the State Television and Radio Committee. At every
stage of the process, there were high official and unofficial fees. The
process of obtaining a license sometimes took years. Those who were
denied licenses were allowed to reapply; however, there was no formal
appeals process.
Journalists on occasion were subjected to harassment and
intimidation, sometimes perpetrated by government authorities. During
the year, Mavluda Sultonzoda, a correspondent for the opposition
newspapers Nerui Sukhan and Ruzi Nav, faced harassment and received
death threats for writing an article that questioned the sources of
Rahmonov's wealth and influence. In July, Rajabi Mirzo, outspoken
editor-in-chief of Ruzi Nav, was severely beaten by unknown assailants
near his home in Dushanbe. The government launched an investigation
into the attack, but there were no developments by year's end.
In August, the Government closed down Jiyonkhon, an independent
printing press that published two opposition newspapers, Ruzi Nav and
Nerui Sukhan, for alleged tax violations by Nerui Sukhan. Ruzi Nav
appealed to the government-owned publishing house to resume publishing,
but the appeal was denied. Afterwards, Ruzi Nav's editor contracted
with an independent printing house in Kyrgyzstan, to print the
newspaper. However, in November, authorities confiscated the first
edition upon its arrival into the country. This situation led to
publishing difficulties for other newspaper. For example, Odamu Olam, a
new independent political and social newspaper that began publishing
during the year, had difficulty finding a printing house willing to
risk publishing its controversial material. Other independent
newspapers faced similar difficulties.
The law affirms the right to free speech, and interfering with a
journalist's work is a crime; however, journalists reported that
government officials improperly limited their access to information or
provided ``friendly advice'' on what news should not be covered.
Fearing reprisals and the kind of violence committed against
journalists during the civil war, editors and reporters often exercised
self-censorship. Under the law, a person can be imprisoned for up to 5
years for insulting the President. The few publications that published
articles highly critical of the Government subsequently experienced
harassment or ceased publishing, particularly before major political
events.
Unlike in previous years, the Government did not block access to
Internet sites.
The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government at times
restricted this right in practice.
Registered organizations must apply for a permit from a local
executive committee to organize any public assembly or demonstration.
Permits were usually granted; however, on occasion, the Government
retaliated against organizers. Fear of reprisal was so widespread that
public protests or political demonstrations were rare.
In June, the Progress Party of Tajikistan (PPT) was denied a permit
to organize a demonstration to protest the MOJ's refusal to register
the PPT (see Section 3). Party officials said the Government's
rejection of their registration application was arbitrary and
politicized. At year's end, the Prosecutor General had instituted libel
cases against the chairman and deputy chairman of the PPT.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government restricted this right in practice. There were strict
controls over organizations involved in political activities, and
registration requirements for non-political groups, like trade unions
and NGOs, were cumbersome. According to the law, all NGOs must register
with the MOJ. The approval and verification process is slow and
bureaucratic; however, in 2001 the Government lowered registration fees
for NGOs, which led to an increase in the number of local NGOs.
According to a recent survey, there were approximately 2,000 locally
registered NGO's in the country.
During the year, the Government monitored the activities of
religious institutions and groups to prevent them from becoming overtly
political. Some individuals, such as members of the banned extremist
Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, were arrested and sentenced to long prison
terms for subversion and other crimes. Others remained in detention
awaiting trial or sentencing (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d).
The Government's concern about Islamic fundamentalism among the
country's Muslim population prompted it to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, which
was alleged to have links with terrorist organizations. The group has a
significant following among the ethnic Uzbek population in the north
and a growing following in the south.
According to the Ministry of Security, 60 Hizb ut-Tahrir activists
were arrested during the year, of whom 6 were sentenced to jail terms
ranging from 6 months to 15 years. However, according to media reports,
70 members were arrested, and all were convicted on charges of active
membership in the organization, failure to report criminal activity,
distribution of extremist literature, inciting religious hatred, and
seeking to disrupt constitutional order (see Section 1.d.).
In January and April, two senior IRP officials were sentenced to
long prison terms for criminal offenses (see Section 1.e.). The IRP
alleged that the convictions were politically motivated to discredit
the party and not an abuse of religious freedom. However, local and
international observers said the two cases exemplified how the
authorities can subject members of Islamic groups and the political
opposition to pressure.
During the year, several international democracy NGOs faced
registration problems and increased scrutiny, which made it difficult
for them to operate (see ection 4).
The Government refused to register two political parties during the
year (see Section 3).
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion; however the Government imposed some restrictions.
The country is a secular state and the Government did not
explicitly ban, prohibit, or discourage specific religions from
practicing their beliefs; however, the law requires all religious
communities to be registered by the State Committee on Religious
Affairs (SCRA). According to the Government, registration helps to
ensure that religious groups act in accordance with the law; however,
in practice, it sometimes was used as a means to control their
political and religious activity.
Islam is the majority religion, and the government promoted respect
for traditional Islam, however, it viewed extremist Islamist groups as
a threat to national security (see Section 2. b.).
In May 2003, local authorities prosecuted and fined two members of
the Jehovah's Witnesses in Tursunzade for teaching religion without a
license and meeting in an unlicensed place of worship. Although the
community of Jehovah's Witnesses was registered in Dushanbe with the
SCRA, the local court ruled that they also had to register at the local
level. By year's end, the case remained unresolved, despite several
attempts by the Jehovah's Witnesses community to register their
ministry with authorities in Tursunzade.
Unlike in previous years, no mosques were closed and no imams were
removed by the SCRA. In July 2003, the SCRA and Sughd government
officials conducted ``training'' for all imams in the region. Two imams
were removed and 2 mosques were closed for improper registration. In
2002, 15 imams in the Sughd region were removed, 3 of who were members
of the IRPT. Local observers alleged that the Government used the
training and testing process as a means to silence certain politically
outspoken religious figures.
The Government continued restrictions on pilgrims undertaking the
hajj during the period covered by this report, mandating that pilgrims
travel by air. The Government stated that it made the decision because
no tour operators in the country could meet Saudi government safety and
hygiene regulations for buses carrying pilgrims and to ensure that the
instability in Iraq would not put pilgrims at risk. There were no
quotas on the total number or regional origin of pilgrims. A total of
5,000 citizens made the pilgrimage (out of a Saudi-imposed limit of
5,900), which was an increase of 2,000 compared with the previous hajj.
Some regional and local interior departments refused to issue
internal identification documents to women who refused to be
photographed without the hijab. The SCRA intervened when cases were
brought to its attention to allow those women to obtain documents.
Authorities at times restricted other Muslim religious activities.
For example, government printing houses are prohibited from publishing
texts in Arabic and generally did not publish religious literature;
however, they did so in special cases, including copies of the Koran in
Arabic script. There were no restrictions on private Arabic language
schools; however, restrictions on home-based Islamic instruction
remained in place because of political concerns.
Missionaries of registered religious groups were not legally
restricted and proselytized openly; however, the Government's fear of
Islamic extremism prompted it to restrict visas for Muslim
missionaries. Some Mullahs spoke out against women attending mosques,
despite support from some Islamic scholars and several mosques for them
to attend. The Government indicated that religious instruction should
not take place at home, which could deprive many women of access to
religious practice.
Unlike in the previous year, the country's small Baha'i community
generally did not experience harassment or discrimination.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights; however, the Government imposed some restrictions.
Both citizens and foreigners are prohibited from traveling within a
15-mile zone along the country's borders with China and Afghanistan
without permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the
restriction was not always enforced along the western part of the
border with Afghanistan, although a special visa was required for
travelers--including international workers and diplomats--to Gorno-
Badakhshan. Travel to border areas near Uzbekistan in the southwest was
not restricted significantly, except occasionally at the border that
was closed intermittently by Uzbekistan during the year. Diplomats and
international aid workers could travel to the Afghanistan border region
without prior authorization, although 48-hour prior notice to the
Ministry of Security was required. Russian Border Forces guarding the
Tajik-Afghan border occasionally restricted border crossings.
Unlike in the previous year, border guards in the northern regions
did not routinely subject travelers to degrading searches for
narcotics.
Foreign travelers wishing to remain in the country longer than 3
days were required to register with central authorities, and
regulations required registration at a local Ministry of Interior
office upon arrival and departure. However, these regulations were
generally not enforced in practice.
There are no laws that provide for exile, and there were no reports
of forced exile; however, some Government opponents remained in self-
imposed exile in Russia.
There are no legal restrictions on changing residence or workplace,
and there is no law on emigration. However, persons wishing to emigrate
to countries of the former Soviet Union must notify the Ministry of
Interior prior to their departure. Persons who wish to emigrate to
other countries must obtain an immigrant visa to receive a passport,
and persons who settle abroad are required to inform the Tajikistan
embassy or Tajikistan interest section of the nearest Russian embassy
or consulate. According to a report by a local research organization,
more than 600,000 persons left the country during the year to seek
employment; the vast majority went to Russia.
Most persons who left the country were permitted to return freely;
however, some persons active with the Tajik opposition who left during
the civil war, experienced administrative difficulty in obtaining new
documents to replace expired ones that would permit them to return. The
Government provided protection and modest assistance to resettle any
citizens who returned voluntarily and cooperated with international
organizations in the process.
The Constitution provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status to persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating
to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice,
the Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return
of persons to a country where they feared persecution, and granted
refugee status or asylum. Under the law, a person granted refugee
status has the right to work and to move freely throughout the country.
The Government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees.
According to the UNHCR, 17 asylum cases were granted refugee
status, and 37 cases were denied status. Court challenges to these
denials continued at year's end. The appeal process was adequate,
albeit slow.
During the year, 80 refugees were resettled to third countries, and
the UNHCR repatriated 66 Afghans. The State Migration Service estimated
that 2,500 Afghan refugees remained in the country, not including
Afghans who had permanently resettled in the country.
Police officers continued to mistreat and harass the country's
Afghan refugees, who resided mainly in the capital and in Khujand (see
Section 1.c.). Although their treatment improved in some areas, many
Afghani refugees claimed they were frequently harassed and intimidated
into paying illegal registration fees, bribes, and other fines to
police who falsely accused them of being affiliated with the Taliban.
Despite legislation allowing Afghan refugees to resettle in the country
and to obtain citizenship, to date no Afghan refugee has been granted
citizenship.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
Government peacefully; however, the Government restricted this right in
practice.
The country made little progress in its transition from a Soviet-
style system to a more open and transparent society. The President,
together with an inner circle of loyal supporters, continued to
dominate the Government and further consolidated his hold on power.
In November 2003, a candidate of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan
won a district-level by-election. In January, the President's dominant
People's Democratic Party (PDP) challenged the outcome with an appeal
to a district court. The appeals court overturned the lower court's
decision, a ruling that local legal experts said was wrong and
politically manipulated.
In June 2003, the President's power was further consolidated
following a national referendum in which voters approved 56
constitutional amendments that were combined into one package.
Voters could only answer yes or no to the entire package. The OSCE
and other international organization criticized the ballot as neither
free nor fair. Many voters never received voting registration cards and
lacked adequate information about what constitutional changes they were
voting for. The most significant amendment permits the President to run
for two more 7-year terms. This could allow Rahmonov to remain in
office until 2020. Rahmonov has been president since 1994, and his
current term in office ends in 2006. He was re-elected in 1999 in an
election that was seriously flawed and was neither free nor fair.
In February 2000, the pro-Presidential PDP overwhelmingly won
parliamentary elections that international observers said were neither
free nor fair. The PDP controlled an overwhelming majority of seats in
both houses of Parliament (Majlisi Oli). Of the total 96 seats in the
bi-cameral legislature, two opposition parties, the IRP and the
Communist Party, won 7 seats drawn from party lists. Twelve independent
candidates also won seats. The majority party control of the PDP,
combined with a lack of genuine political pluralism, resulted in a
legislative branch dominated by the executive branch.
There were six legally registered political parties. However, three
parties continued to be banned, the Adolatkhoh Party, the Party of
Popular Unity, and the Agrarian Party--which merged with the Democratic
Party. At year's end, the MOJ still refused to register The Unity Party
and the PPT (see Section 2.b.). The law prohibits political parties
from receiving support from religious institutions; however, political
parties that are of religious character, such as the Islamic Revival
Party (IRP) were registered.
Opposition political parties, including unregistered ones, remained
small, had limited popular support, and were kept under close scrutiny
by the Government. While they were generally able to operate, they had
difficulty obtaining access to state-run media. During the year, two
prominent IRP members were convicted of crimes and sentenced to long
prison terms (see Section 1.e.).
In June, President Rahmonov signed into law amendments to the code
on parliamentary elections. While the law included a number of positive
reforms, international observers said it contained two problematic
provisions. It requires candidates to pay a registration fee of
approximately $500 (1,400 somoni), which is 200 times the minimum
monthly wage and could prevent opposition candidates from running in
the election. The second provision does not explicitly permit civil
society election observers but does allow election observers from
political parties and the media.
Corruption in the country is widespread and pervasive. The
Government acknowledged the problem and took steps to combat
corruption, including trying officials and judges for taking bribes.
There were 12 women in the 96-seat legislature, two of whom held
positions as deputy chairs, one in the lower house and one in the upper
house of Parliament. Many women also served as deputy ministers in the
Government, and one was a Deputy Prime Minister.
There were four members of minorities in the 96-seat legislature.
Ethnic Uzbeks were represented in the Government, although not in
direct policymaking roles.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights abuses.
The Government did not block the registration of local NGOs
addressing human rights, and the number of domestic human rights
organizations increased during the year. According to the UNHCR, there
were more than 2,000 NGOs in the country focusing on a wide variety of
issues, including child welfare, civil society, mass media, and health.
However, authorities at times restricted freedom of assembly and
association for organizations involved in political activities. Forming
and registering an NGO with the MOJ remained cumbersome and
bureaucratic, and registered groups must obtain permission to hold
demonstrations and protests (see Section 2.b.). However, unlike in
previous years, local NGOs generally did not face governmental
harassment.
Discussion at seminars sponsored by international NGOs on topics
such as, the rule of law, independent judiciary, international
humanitarian law, and media freedom, were frequently critical of the
Government. Government officials were somewhat responsive to the views
of human rights groups.
The Government permitted international NGOs to operate in the
country on a regular basis. For example, the OSCE mission in Dushanbe
continued to monitor human rights problems with the help of its five
field offices, which experienced varying levels of cooperation with
local authorities. However, during the last 2 months of the year, the
Government made it increasingly difficult for some international
democracy NGOs to function by delaying registration on technical
grounds and denying entry visas for international staff. The ICRC
maintained an office in the country under its delegation in Uzbekistan.
At year's end the ICRC continued to negotiate with the MOJ to regain
access to all prisons (see Section 1.c.).
The Government's Office for Constitutional Guarantees of Citizens'
Rights under the President continued its work of investigating and
answering citizens' complaints; however, the office was understaffed
and received uneven cooperation from other government institutions.
In June, the Government's Commission on Fulfillment of
International Rights Commitments submitted its first U.N. report.
Throughout the year, it worked with international organizations to
draft all required U.N. reports on human rights, including the report
to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women.
The Parliament's Committee on Legislation and Human Rights also
monitored human rights violations; however, like the rest of the
legislature, in practice it was not independent. During the year, the
Committee was not very active and issued no reports.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for the rights and freedoms of every
person regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, language, political
persuasion, or social status; however, in practice, there was
discrimination against women.
Women.--Violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained a
widespread problem. Most cases of domestic abuse went unreported, and
cases reported to authorities were seldom investigated.
In addition, there continued to be widespread reports, particularly
in rural areas, about abductions of young women who were then raped or
forced to marry their abductors.
The Criminal Code prohibits rape (although not specifically spousal
rape), which is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment; however, it
was widely believed that most cases were unreported and that the
problem was growing, particularly in urban areas. The threat of rape
often was used to intimidate women. There were no special police units
for handling rape cases and no statistics on the number of rapists
charged, prosecuted, or convicted.
During the year, many domestic and international NGOs supported
women's resource centers to address the concerns of victims of rape and
spousal abuse; however, government funding for such centers was
extremely limited, although it had a specific committee for women's and
family affairs within the office of the President. Unlike in the
previous year, NGOs and some government structures discussed violence
against women in the framework of the Government's reporting
obligations for U.N. conventions.
Prostitution is illegal; however, in practice, prostitutes were
assessed a nominal fine and released, although pimps and madams were
prosecuted regularly. The law prohibits operating brothels, procuring,
making, or selling pornography, infecting another person with a
venereal disease, and the sexual exploitation of women.
Trafficking of women for the purposes of sexual exploitation and
forced labor was a serious problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Women were employed in government, businesses, and in institutes of
higher learning. While there was no formal discrimination against
women, they faced traditional societal discrimination, diminishing
educational opportunities, and increasing poverty. The law provides
women with equal pay for equal work with men; however, this was not
always enforced in practice.
In August, the country's highest Islamic body issued a fatwa that
prohibited women from praying in mosques that do not have fully
separate facilities for men and women. The Government supported the
fatwa but expressed concern over the separation of church and state. In
November, in a nation-wide address, President Rahmonov said he would
not interfere with the decision and stressed that religion should be
kept out of politics. Local observers said the decree was
discriminatory and a step backwards from gender equality because most
mosques in the country did not have separate facilities for men and
women.
The law protects women's rights in marriage and family matters;
however, young girls often were pressured to marry men whom they did
not choose, and polygyny, although illegal, was increasingly common
among men. Inheritance laws do not discriminate against women; however,
in practice, some inheritances passed disproportionately to sons.
Deaths of male heads of households in connection with the country's
civil war left a large number of widows, many of whom still faced
societal discrimination and lived in extreme poverty.
Women increasingly played an important role in the country's civil
society. Many NGOs and local groups were headed by women, who organized
programs and projects on the improvement of the status of women, on
human rights and on gender-related issues. A number of international
organizations in the country also focused programs on improving the
livelihood of women.
Children.--The Government remained committed to children's rights
and welfare; however, it did not devote adequate financial resources to
maintain the social security network for child welfare.
Education is compulsory until age 16; however, the law was not
enforced. Public education is free and universal; however, due to a
lack of resources, the public school system has badly deteriorated.
Girls have increasingly become marginalized in the school system, with
families electing to keep them home to help take care of siblings.
Parents who could afford private education sent their children to
private schools or joined together with other parents to hire teachers
who gave private lessons. While most children were enrolled in school
up to the mandatory secondary level, actual attendance was estimated to
be lower because children supplemented family income by working in the
home or in informal activities (see Section 6.d.). Approximately half
of the population is under 17 years of age. With the virtual collapse
of the country's public schools, some poor male students were recruited
and sent to Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan to receive a free Islamic
education.
Medical care is available equally to both boys and girls. Due to
poverty, however, the medical infrastructure has deteriorated since the
country's independence from the Soviet Union.
In 2004, a national survey by Action Against Hunger, a European-
based NGO, estimated that one child in three was malnourished. The
Government acknowledged that malnutrition was a severe problem and
worked with international humanitarian organizations and foreign
governments to support school feeding programs.
There were a few unconfirmed reports of violence against children,
although there was no societal pattern of child abuse.
Trafficking continued to be a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor continued to be a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Most NGOs focused on providing resources to organizations that care
for children and protect their rights. Many local NGOs started
trainings and summer camps that explicitly outlined their rights under
U.N. conventions.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons from and through the country was a
problem. There were reports that low-level government officials
facilitated trafficking.
On August 1, President Rahmonov signed a new comprehensive law to
combat trafficking in persons, which addresses prevention, prosecution
of traffickers, and protection of victims. Penalties for trafficking
include imprisonment from 5 to 15 years and confiscation of personal
property. The law also criminalizes trafficking in teenagers.
Traffickers may also be prosecuted under laws prohibiting
exploitation of prostitution, rape, kidnapping, buying and selling of
minors, document fraud, and immigration violations. The penalties for
these offenses range from fines to imprisonment from 5 to 20 years.
On November 4, a Dushanbe court sentenced Jahon Hilalova to 14
years imprisonment after convicting her of trafficking her adopted
daughter. It was the country's first verdict under its new anti
trafficking law.
Also in November, authorities began an investigation into
allegations made by a credible local humanitarian and anti-trafficking
NGO that there may be a trend of young boys being abducted or sold for
sexual exploitation to the Gulf States, Afghanistan, and South Asia.
In May, the Government created a special division within the MOI
for combating kidnapping, trafficking in persons, and racketeering.
Five officers in the new division were assigned to investigate
trafficking cases. The division reported that there were at least 12
criminal rings in the country involved in trafficking young girls to
Gulf countries. The Government generally worked openly and
cooperatively with the international community, the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) and other countries to combat
trafficking; however, it still has not developed a national plan to
combat trafficking in persons.
In December 2003, the Dushanbe city court sentenced one trafficker
to 14 years in prison and confiscated her property for trafficking.
Three other trafficking trials begun in August, October, and November
2003 were still pending.
During the year, the Supreme Court continued hearing a case begun
in 2003 on an 11-person criminal ring accused of trafficking in
persons, including minors. The hearing was pending at year's end. In
2003, a member of the opposition IRP was implicated in a case of
recruiting and trafficking children to Gulf countries and to Turkey. He
was detained and released but neither tried nor punished.
The country was a source and a transit point for trafficked
persons, primarily women and young girls. Trafficking within the
country was also a problem. Media reports estimated that over 1,000
persons were victims of trafficking during the year. According to the
MOI and to information gathered from anti-trafficking hotlines, victims
came primarily from Khojand or Dushanbe and most were trafficked to
Russia, Central Asia, and the Persian Gulf states, including the United
Arab Emirates, Yemen, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Other destinations
included former Soviet Union countries, Turkey, Syria, and Pakistan.
The majority of trafficking victims were female Tajiks, single,
aged 20 to 26. Many were new arrivals to Dushanbe or Khojand from rural
areas with little formal education. Child trafficking victims usually
were in the care of extended family. Ethnic minorities were over-
represented among victims, particularly those of Slavic origin.
Victims commonly were recruited through false promises of
employment. Advertisement of such work was conducted through social
contacts; traffickers used their local status and prestige to help
recruit victims. There also were cases of false wedding proposals and,
on occasion, kidnappings in rural areas. Traffickers generally
transported victims by air to the Middle East and by train to Russia
and other former Soviet Union countries. Traffickers tightly controlled
arrangements for travel and lodging and employed contacts among tourism
agencies. They sometimes used forged documents to evade entry
restrictions in destination countries. Victims commonly were not
separated from their travel documents until arrival in the destination
country. Debt bondage was a common form of control. There were also
reports of male and female medical professionals trafficked from the
country to Yemen to work at medical clinics for substandard wages;
traffickers reportedly seized their travel documents and forced female
medical personnel into prostitution.
Traffickers included persons who rose to positions of power and
wealth as field commanders--so-called warlords--during the country's
civil war. Others, including women, were powerful local figures who
used their wealth to cultivate patron-client relationships throughout
their community to create a network that monitored supply and demand
for trafficking victims.
Corruption was endemic in the country, and reports indicated that
low-level government authorities working in customs, border control,
immigration, police, and tourism took bribes from traffickers. It was
also believed that certain government figures acted as patrons or
protectors of individuals who were involved directly in trafficking;
however, there was no indication of widespread institutional
involvement in trafficking by the Government. Early in the year,
authorities began criminal proceedings against several low-level
government officials; however, the individuals fled the country.
There were few resources available to trafficking victims and the
Government provided none; however, the Government endorsed efforts by
international and domestic NGOs to prevent trafficking and provide
services to victims.
There were approximately 20 NGOs involved in anti-trafficking
activities operating throughout the country. Several provided various
services to trafficking victims and carried out a wide range of
information programs in conjunction with local authorities throughout
the country. For example, the NGO Modar in the Sughd region helped
trafficking victims to find social services for abused women. The NGO
Women Scientists ran a crisis center for abused women and trafficked
women. The NGO Gamkhori in the southern city of Kurgan-Teppe operated a
crisis center and hotline for victims of trafficking and domestic
abuse.
According to an IOM survey, nearly half of trafficking victims who
returned to country were blackmailed by local officials who received
bribes from traffickers to force the victims to change their story or
face exposure as a victim. Victims usually did not pursue legal action
against traffickers due to the social stigma attached to such victims.
Local NGO programs, which worked with support from international
organizations, focused on increasing awareness of trafficking. Working
with local officials they conducted training and awareness seminars for
the general public. The Government did not directly fund any anti-
trafficking public service announcements, but it did promote such
announcements as well as informational materials produced and
distributed by local and international organizations.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for the right of
persons with disabilities to employment and adequate medical care.
However, in practice, the Government did not require employers to
provide physical access for persons with disabilities, and a lack of
resources exacerbated their high unemployment rate.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Government Commission
on Fulfillment of International Human Rights, the Prosecutor General's
office, the Society of Invalids, and appropriate local and regional
governmental structures were all charged with protecting the rights of
persons with disabilities.
There is no law mandating access to buildings for persons with
disabilities, and the Government did not require employers to provide
such access. There were group-living and medical facilities for persons
with disabilities; however, funding was limited, and the facilities
were in poor condition. Several international NGOs provided limited
assistance to persons with disabilities by providing vocational
training and helping to rehabilitate some of the above-mentioned
facilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and
join unions and they did so in practice.
According to official figures, approximately 90 percent of the
labor force was unionized. Most unions were affiliated with the
Federation of Trade Unions of Tajikistan, an independent, umbrella
organization that attempted to represent all trade unions in the
country. However, it was largely seen as ineffective and as an
organization that generally supported government policies.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The laws
provide for the right to organize and bargain collectively, and workers
exercised this right in practice.
The Government sets the minimum monthly wage, and wages for
government sector workers. Private employers set their own wages.
The law does not restrict the right to strike; however, there were
no strikes during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including of children, except in
cases defined in the law; however, there were reports that such
practices occurred (see Sections 5, Trafficking, and 6.d.).
Persons who formerly worked on state or collective farms were
regularly compelled to pick cotton on privatized farms by their owners.
However, they usually were not paid wages, and the farms no longer
provided the services they once did, such as health care and education.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor remained a problem, and the Government neither effectively
enforced child labor laws nor instituted any initiatives to strengthen
existing regulations on acceptable working conditions for children.
The minimum age for employing children is 16; however, with the
concurrence of a local trade union, children may begin work at age 15.
By law, children under the age of 18 may work no more than 6 hours a
day and 36 hours per week. However, children as young as 7 may perform
household-based labor and participate in agricultural work, which is
classified as family assistance. Many children under 10 worked in
bazaars or sold goods on the street.
Trade unions were responsible for reporting any violations in the
employment of minors. Unresolved cases between unions and employers may
be brought before the Prosecutor General, who may investigate and
charge the manager of the enterprise with violations of the Labor Code.
However, very few violations were reported; most children worked under
the family assistance exception. Enforcement of child labor laws was
the responsibility of the Prosecutors Office, the MOJ, the Ministry of
Social Welfare, the MOI, and appropriate local and regional
governmental offices.
The illegal Soviet-era practice of closing secondary schools at
cotton harvest time and putting students to work continued. The IOM
estimated that 40 percent of the country's cotton was picked by school-
aged children, and according to World Bank statistics, as many as one
in eight children worked instead of attending school.
The Government does not have a comprehensive policy or national
action plan to prevent or eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The official national minimum
monthly wage of $2.30 (7 somoni) did not provide a decent standard of
living for a worker and family.
The wage is established by the President with the advice of the
Ministry of Labor and in consultation with trade unions.
There was no official estimate of the poverty income level;
however, some observers estimated that a decent earned income in the
capital would be $29 dollars per month (80 somoni) to live comfortably.
The Government acknowledged the problem of low wages and provided
certain subsidies for workers and their families at the minimum wage.
Some establishments, both governmental and private, compensated their
employees in kind with food commodities or with products produced by
the enterprise, which employees either sold or bartered in local
private markets.
The law provides for a standard work week of 40 hours for adults
over the age of 18. The law mandates overtime payment, with the first 2
hours paid at 1.5 times the normal rate and the remainder at double the
rate. Overtime payment was inconsistent in all sectors of the labor
force. The Ministry of Finance enforces financial aspects of the labor
law, and the Agency of the Financial Control of the Presidential
Administration oversees other aspects of the law.
The Government has established occupational health and safety
standards, but they fell far below accepted international norms, and
the Government did not enforce them in practice.
The State Technical Supervision Committee under the Council of
Ministers was responsible for enforcing health and safety standards.
The law permits workers to remove themselves from hazardous conditions
without risking loss of employment; however, this law was not enforced
effectively, and few did so in practice.
__________
TURKEY
Turkey is a constitutional republic with a multiparty parliamentary
system and a president with limited powers elected by the single-
chamber parliament, the Turkish Grand National Assembly. In the 2002
parliamentary elections, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won
the majority of seats and formed a one party government. In March 2003,
AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan was named Prime Minister. The State
and Government remain separate, and sometimes conflicting, concepts.
The State, including the presidency and bureaucracy, is seen as the
embodiment of the core principles of the republic, while the elected
Government is more closely tied to the popular will. The military
exercised indirect influence over government policy and actions in the
belief that it was the constitutional protector of the State. The
Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the
judiciary was sometimes subject to outside influences.
The Turkish National Police (TNP), under Interior Ministry control,
has primary responsibility for security in urban areas, while the
Jandarma, paramilitary forces under joint Interior Ministry and
military control, carries out this function in the countryside. The
Government maintained a heavy security presence in parts of the
southeast. A civil defense force known as the village guards was less
professional and disciplined than other security forces and was
concentrated in the southeast. Civilian and military authorities
generally maintained effective control of the security forces. Some
members of the security forces committed serious human rights abuses.
The country has a market economy and a population of approximately
67.8 million. Industry and services are dominant sectors of the
economy; the agricultural sector also remains important. During the
year, the real gross domestic product was expected to grow by over 10
percent and consumer prices were expected to rise by less than 12
percent. Approximately 9.3 percent of the workforce was unemployed.
There were major disparities in income, particularly between the
relatively developed west and the much less developed east.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; although there were significant improvements in a number of
areas, serious problems remained. Security forces reportedly killed 18
persons during the year; torture, beatings, and other abuses by
security forces remained widespread. Conditions in most prisons
remained poor. Security forces continued to use arbitrary arrest and
detention, although the number of such incidents declined. Lengthy
trials remained a problem. Convictions of security officials accused of
torture remained rare, and courts generally issued light sentences when
they did convict. In politically sensitive cases, the judiciary
continued to reflect a legal structure that favors State interests over
individual rights. The State and Government continued to limit freedom
of speech and press; harassment of journalists and others for
controversial speech remained a serious problem. At times, the
Government restricted freedom of assembly and association. Police beat,
abused, detained, and harassed some demonstrators. The Government
maintained some restrictions on religious minorities and on some forms
of religious expression. At times, the Government restricted freedom of
movement. The Government restricted the activities of some political
parties and leaders, and sought to close the pro-Kurdish Democratic
People's Party (DEHAP). The Government continued to harass, indict, and
imprison human rights monitors, journalists, and lawyers for the views
they expressed in public. Violence against women remained a serious
problem, and discrimination against women persisted. Trafficking in
persons, particularly women, remained a problem. Child labor was a
widespread problem.
The Government carried out extensive legal reforms during the year
aimed at meeting the requirements for European Union (EU) membership.
In September, Parliament adopted a new Penal Code and, in May, approved
a package of constitutional amendments. Elements of the new Penal Code
included: Sentences for torture convictions were increased; ``honor
killings'' --the killing by immediate family members of women suspected
of being unchaste--were defined as aggravated homicides; the statutes
of limitations for all crimes were lengthened; and actions aimed at
preventing free religious expression were defined as a crime punishable
by 1 to 3 years' in prison. Constitutional amendments included:
International agreements were given precedence over national law;
military and defense expenditures were placed under Audit Court review;
the State was assigned responsibility for ensuring gender equality; and
the military lost its authority to name members of government boards
overseeing higher education and broadcasting. Legislative amendments
abolished the State Security Courts (SSCs); however, they created
comparable high penal courts that picked up the caseload of the former
SSCs.
The Government implemented a number of reforms adopted in 2003 and
2002. While security forces applied torture and ill-treatment widely,
particularly in the southeast, the overall use of torture appeared to
decrease during the year. Police and local authorities demonstrated
more tolerance for controversial speech and were more flexible in
handling nonviolent demonstrations. Kurdish language courses and news
and cultural broadcasts began during the year, under tight
restrictions.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no known
political killings; however, there were credible reports that security
forces committed a number of unlawful killings. Police, Jandarma, and
soldiers killed a number of persons, particularly in the southeast and
east, for allegedly failing to obey stop warnings. The Human Rights
Foundation (HRF) estimated that there were 18 killings by security
forces between January and September, including shootings by village
guards and border patrols. For example, in August, security forces in
Van Province shot and killed Senol Kizil after he allegedly failed to
heed a stop warning. In November, Jandarma officers shot and killed
Fevzi Can in Hakkari Province, also alleging that he failed to heed a
stop warning. One officer was arrested in the case and was awaiting
trial at year's end. HRF estimated there were 43 killings by security
forces in 2003.
The courts investigated most alleged unlawful killings by security
forces; however, the number of arrests and prosecutions in such cases
remained low compared with the number of incidents, and convictions
remained rare (see Section 1.d.).
In May, Adana police shot and killed Siar Perincek after he
allegedly ignored a stop warning and shot at police. However, three
human rights organizations--HRF, the Human Rights Association (HRA),
and Mazlum-Der--and the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions
conducted a joint investigation and concluded that the evidence
indicated police shot Perincek at close range while he was lying on the
ground unarmed. The organizations also stated that police apparently
tortured two men who were detained in the incident. Prosecutors charged
one police officer with manslaughter and two others with torture; their
trials began in October and were ongoing at year's end.
In November, Mardin police shot and killed Ahmet Kaymaz and his 12-
year-old son in front of their home in Kiziltepe. Security officials
alleged that Kaymaz and his son were planning a terrorist attack and
had fired on police; however, a number of witnesses reportedly denied
those claims. HRA representatives investigated the incident and stated
that the victims had been shot at close range and there was no evidence
they had exchanged fire with police. A parliamentary subcommittee also
concluded there was no evidence that the victims had fired at police.
Prosecutors opened a case against four police officers involved in the
incident. Legal proceedings continued at year's end.
According to the HRF and press reports, four trials in cases of
past alleged killings by security officials ended during the year,
resulting in nine acquittals and no convictions. Civilian judges
transferred cases against six soldiers to military courts.
Court proceedings continued in the trial of 10 village guards
arrested in connection with the 2002 killing of 3 internally displaced
persons (IDPs) returning to their homes in Ugrak village. One defendant
remained in detention during the trial while the others were released
pending a verdict.
In November, the High Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of a
police officer charged with the 1999 death in detention of trade
unionist Suleyman Yeter and sentenced the officer, Mehmet Yutar, to 4
years and 2 months in prison. According to the law under which convicts
serve a portion of their sentences, Yutar would spend 1 year and 8
months in prison. A second officer charged in connection with the
death, Ahmet Okuducu, failed to attend the trial; the court issued a
warrant for his arrest. In November, an Istanbul court closed a
separate trial of four police officers charged with torturing Yeter
(see Section 1.c.).
In April, a prosecutor in Mus Province opened a case against seven
village guards in connection with the 1994 killing of Ramazan Oznarci.
The case continued at year's end.
According to the Government, seven persons died while in police or
Jandarma custody during the year: Four deaths were recorded as
suicides, two as heart attacks, and one was under investigation at
year's end to determine the cause of death.
According to the HRF, landmines and unattended explosives killed 31
civilians and injured 78 during the year. Both security forces and the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)--a terrorist organization that in 2003
changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress
(KADEK) and later to the Kurdistan People's Congress (KHK, or Kongra-
Gel)--used landmines; it was not possible to verify which side was
responsible for the mines involved in the incidents.
The Government, as well as the PKK/KADEK/KHK, continued to commit
human rights abuses against noncombatants in the southeast. According
to the military, 18 civilians, 62 members of the security forces, and
79 terrorists died between January 1 and October 7 as a result of armed
clashes.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
The Government continued to investigate and explain some reported
disappearances. The Ministry of Interior operated the Bureau for the
Investigation of Missing Persons, which was open 24 hours a day.
According to the Government, 14 persons were reported missing during
the year due to suspected terrorist activities and 4 missing persons
were located alive.
There were no new developments in the 2002 disappearance of Coskun
Dogan.
In March, a Diyarbakir SSC determined that there was insufficient
evidence to prosecute 47 soldiers for their alleged involvement in the
2001 disappearance of Serdar Tanis and Ebubekir Deniz.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
members of the security forces continued to torture, beat, and
otherwise abuse persons regularly, particularly in the southeast.
Security forces most commonly tortured leftists and Kurdish rights
activists.
According to the HRF, there were 918 credible cases of torture and
mistreatment reported at its 5 national treatment centers during the
year. Human rights advocates claimed that hundreds of detainees were
tortured during the year in the southeast, where the problem was
particularly serious, but that only a small percentage of detainees
reported torture and ill-treatment because they feared retaliation or
believed that complaining was futile.
During the year, senior HRF and HRA officials stated that there had
not been a significant change in the frequency of torture over previous
years. However, officials at a number of HRA branch offices, including
in the southeast, said they had observed a decline in the practice. A
number of attorneys in the southeast and other regions also reported
that torture and ill-treatment had become significantly less common.
Observers reported that police demonstrated greater restraint in their
treatment of detainees and protestors during the year due to legal
reforms and government directives.
In June, Mehmet Nurettin Basci and Mehmet Gazi Aydin claimed Adana
police tortured them while they were being held in detention. Basci
said police administered electric shocks to his testicles and squeezed
them, and hung him by his arms. Aydin said police hung him by his arms.
Prosecutors charged three police officers in the case, which continued
at year's end. In July, a 14-year-old claimed that Izmir police
officers repeatedly kicked him, struck him with a truncheon, threw him
down a staircase, and then released him without charges. In October, an
attorney for Sezai Karakus filed a complaint with prosecutors alleging
that Istanbul police tortured Karakus during 4 days of detention
between late September and early October. Karakus claimed police
squeezed his testicles, struck his head against the wall, beat him
repeatedly, and forced him to sign a confession. Authorities did not
file charges in the case. Karakus committed suicide in prison in
November. In November, several persons detained by police during a raid
of the Yeniden Ozlem publishing house in Istanbul filed a complaint
alleging that police tortured them. They claimed police repeatedly
struck them with pistol butts and kicked them.
In January, an Istanbul prosecutor opened a case against police
officers Ali Senoz and Yilmaz Savas for allegedly torturing two
juveniles in November 2003. The police were charged with hanging the
juveniles by their arms, squeezing their testicles, and spraying them
with cold water and forcing them to stand in front of an air
conditioner. The trial continued at year's end.
There were no developments in the alleged rape and torture of DEHAP
official Gulbahar Gunduz in 2003.
In July, a Burdur court convicted three Jandarma officers for
torturing 17 farmers in 2000; it sentenced 1 officer to 6 years in
prison and the other 2 officers each to 2 years in prison. The court
acquitted four co-defendants. The case was under appeal at year's end.
Proceedings continued in the 5-year-old Iskenderun trial of four
police officers--Murat Cikar, Halil Ozkan, Aysun Yuksel, and Gurkan
Ilhan--on charges of torturing and raping two teenage girls in
detention in 1999. The trial had experienced repeated delays related to
the handling of forensic evidence. In March, the court rejected a
request by prosecuting attorneys to bring charges against the chairman
of the Forensic Medicine Institute for not submitting evidence in a
timely manner. The defendants remained on duty and were promoted during
the trial; one of the alleged victims was released from prison in
November, while the other remained in prison at year's end on charges
of membership in an illegal organization.
In November, an Istanbul court closed the trial of four police
officers charged with torture because the statute of limitations on the
charges had expired. The defendants were accused of torturing trade
unionist Suleyman Yeter and 13 other detainees in 1999.
Human rights observers said that, because of reduced detention
periods, security officials mainly used torture methods that did not
leave physical traces, including repeated slapping, exposure to cold,
stripping and blindfolding, food and sleep deprivation, threats to
detainees or family members, dripping water on the head, squeezing of
the testicles, and mock executions. They reported a continued
reduction, compared with past years, in the use of methods such as
electric shocks, high-pressure cold water hoses, beatings on the soles
of the feet (falaka) and genitalia, hanging by the arms, and burns.
The HRA reported that women detainees were sometimes subject to
rape, including vaginal and anal rape with truncheons, and sexual
harassment. Female detainees sometimes faced sexual humiliation and,
less frequently, more severe forms of sexual torture. After being
forced to strip in front of male officers, female detainees were
sometimes touched, insulted, and threatened with rape.
Human rights attorneys and physicians who treated victims said
torture generally occurred during police or Jandarma detention before
detainees appeared in court. Because arresting officers were
responsible for interrogating suspects, they sometimes used torture to
obtain a confession that would justify the arrest.
Treatment of those arrested for ordinary crimes reportedly differed
from treatment of those arrested for political crimes. Observers said
that security officials sometimes tortured political detainees to
intimidate them and send a warning to others with similar political
views.
Government-employed doctors administered all medical examinations
of detainees. Examinations occurred once during detention and a second
time before either arraignment or release; however, the examinations
generally were brief and informal. According to the Society of Forensic
Medicine Specialists, only approximately 300 of 80,000 doctors in the
country were forensic specialists, and most detainees were examined by
general practitioners and specialists not qualified to detect signs of
torture. There were forensic medical centers in 27 of 81 provinces.
Some former detainees asserted that doctors did not conduct proper
examinations and that authorities denied their requests for a second
examination.
A Justice Ministry regulation requires doctor-patient privacy
during the examination of suspects, except where the doctor requests
police presence for security reasons. Under a legal amendment adopted
in January, a suspect cannot request the presence of police;
international and domestic human rights observers had argued that
police could intimidate suspects into requesting their presence.
However, the Society of Forensic Medicine Specialists reported that
security officials often remained in the room despite objections,
although this occurred less often than in past years. According to the
Medical Association and human rights observers, the presence of a
security officer could lead physicians to refrain from examining
detainees, perform cursory examinations and not report findings, or to
report physical findings but not draw reasonable medical inferences
that torture occurred.
In June, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT)
published a report on its September 2003 inspection of prisons and
detention facilities in the country. The report noted that a majority
of former detainees interviewed by the CPT said law enforcement
officials had been present during their medical examinations. However,
some medical staff told CPT representatives that police had become more
cooperative when asked to leave the room during examinations.
Authorities opened an investigation against Dr. Ilker Mese for
``insulting soldiers'' and ``failing to examine a prisoner in the
presence of soldiers'' after he asked soldiers to leave the room while
he was examining a prisoner at the Tekirdag State Hospital in December
2003. Dr. Mese was also transferred to another medical facility.
The law mandates heavy prison sentences and fines for medical
personnel who falsify reports to hide torture, those who knowingly use
such reports, and those who coerce doctors into making them. The law
provides the highest penalties for doctors who falsify reports for
money. In practice, there were few prosecutions for violation of these
laws. The Medical Association may fine and suspend for up to 6 months
the license of any doctor who falsifies a report. However, Association
officials said they were unable to enforce these sanctions in many
cases because most doctors worked at least partly for the Government,
which protected them.
The CPT's June report stated that, due to recent reforms, the
legislative and regulatory framework necessary for combating torture
and ill-treatment had been established. The Committee's report stated
that the challenge facing the Government involved implementing the
reforms and ``transforming mentalities'' among law enforcement and
judicial officials.
The CPT found clear evidence that local and regional authorities
were attempting to comply with the Government's stated zero tolerance
policy on torture. The Committee's report concluded that there had been
a sharp decline over previous years in the use of the more severe forms
of torture. At the same time, the CPT reported that it continued to
find credible claims of recent torture and ill-treatment.
In September, Parliament adopted a new Penal Code that provides
increased punishment for torture (see Section 1.d.).
During the year, courts tried and convicted members of the security
forces for torture and abusive treatment (see Section 1.d.).
Police harassed, beat, and abused demonstrators (see Section 2.b.).
The Government continued to organize, arm, and pay a civil defense
force of approximately 58,000, mostly in the southeast region. This
force, known as the village guards, was reputed to be the least
disciplined of the security forces and continued to be accused
repeatedly of drug trafficking, rape, corruption, theft, and other
human rights abuses. Inadequate oversight and compensation contributed
to this problem, and in some cases Jandarma allegedly protected village
guards from prosecution. In addition to the village guards, Jandarma
and police special teams were viewed as those most responsible for
abuses.
Conditions in most prisons remained poor, although the Government
made significant improvements in the system, and the country's best
prisons maintained high standards. Underfunding, overcrowding, and
insufficient staff training remained common problems. The HRF reported
that the Government provided insufficient funds for prison food,
resulting in poor-quality meals; food sold at prison shops was too
expensive for most inmates, and there was a lack of potable water in
some prisons. According to the Medical Association, there were
insufficient doctors, and psychologists were only available at some of
the largest prisons. Some inmates claimed they were denied appropriate
medical treatment for serious illness.
According to the HRF, six people died during the year in hunger
strikes protesting F-type (small cell) prisons. The Government reported
that, since 2000, the President pardoned 189 inmates on hunger strike.
As of September, six hunger strikers remained in prison, according to
the HRF.
In March, an Istanbul court ruled that authorities had used
disproportionate force during the ``Return to Life'' prison operation
in 2000, during which 12 prisoners were killed and 77 wounded. The
court ordered $32,750 (44 billion lira) in compensation for each
victim.
At any given time, at least one-quarter of those in prison were
awaiting trial or the outcome of a trial. Men and women were held
separately; most female prisoners were held in the women's section of a
prison. Despite the existence of separate juvenile facilities, at times
juveniles and adults were held in adjacent wards with mutual access.
According to the Government, detainees and convicts were held either in
separate facilities or in separate sections of the same facility.
However, some observers reported that detainees and convicts were
sometimes held together.
The Government permitted prison visits by representatives of some
international organizations, such as the CPT; however, domestic
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) did not have access to prisons.
The CPT visited in March, and conducted ongoing consultations with the
Government. Requests by the CPT to visit prisons were routinely
granted.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest and detention; however, the Government did not always observe
these prohibitions in practice. During the year, police routinely
detained demonstrators (see Section 2.b.). Police detained dozens of
members of the legal pro-Kurdish party DEHAP on several occasions (see
Section 3). Police continued to detain and harass members of human
rights organizations and monitors (see Section 4). The Government
continued to detain persons, particularly in the southeastern province
of Batman, on suspicion of links to Hizballah.
The Turkish National Police (TNP), under Interior Ministry control,
are responsible for security in large urban areas. The Jandarma,
paramilitary forces under joint Interior Ministry and military control,
are responsible for policing rural areas. The Jandarma are also
responsible for specific border sectors where smuggling is common;
however, the military has overall responsibility for border control.
There were allegations of police corruption.
In September, Parliament adopted a new Penal Code that provides
increased punishment for torture. Under the new law, the sentence for
most torture convictions is 3 to 12 years in prison. Previously, the
maximum penalty was 8 years per victim, and most persons sentenced to
jail terms received 2 years. The new Code also establishes higher
penalties, including life imprisonment, for aggravated torture, and
prison terms of up to 3 years for police who fail to report torture.
The new Penal Code increases the maximum statute of limitations for
torture cases and other felonies from 15 years to 30 years and allows
for the statute to be suspended in certain circumstances. The law
requires that trials, including appeals, be completed before the
statute of limitations expires; otherwise, the trial ends without a
verdict. The extension of the statute of limitations was expected to
make it difficult for defendants in torture cases to avoid a verdict by
delaying court proceedings.
During the year, prosecutors opened trials against 2,395 security
personnel on torture or ill-treatment charges. Through September,
courts reached final verdicts in 625 torture and ill-treatment cases
begun in previous years, convicting 345 defendants and acquitting
1,094. Seven security officers received short suspensions from duty
during the year for ill-treatment.
Courts investigated many allegations of ill-treatment and torture
by security forces; however, they rarely convicted or punished
offenders. When courts did convict offenders, punishment generally was
minimal; monetary fines did not keep pace with the rate of inflation,
and sentences were sometimes suspended. The rarity of convictions and
generally light sentences in torture cases contradicted the
Government's official policy of zero tolerance for torture. Authorities
typically also allowed officers accused of abuse to remain on duty and,
in some cases, promoted them during their trial, which often took
years.
Administrative and bureaucratic barriers impeded prosecutions and
contributed to the low number of torture convictions. Under the law,
courts could not convict unless a defendant attended at least one trial
session. Police defendants sometimes failed to attend hearings in order
to avoid conviction; prosecuting attorneys claimed courts failed to
make serious attempts to locate such defendants, even in cases where
the defendants received salary or pension checks at their home address.
In separate decisions in March and September, an Ankara court
convicted five police defendants in the 1991 Birtan Altinbas death-in-
detention case and sentenced them each to 4 years and 5 months in
prison. The court acquitted five codefendants. In November, the High
Court of Appeals overturned the verdict on the grounds that the
sentences were too lenient, sending the case back to the lower court.
The TNP and Jandarma were effective and received specialized
training in a number of areas, including human rights and
counterterrorism. The armed forces emphasized human rights in training
for officers and noncommissioned officers. Noncommissioned police
officers received 2 years of training.
The Government's Ten Year Human Rights Education Committee held
regional seminars to educate civil servants and others on human rights
problems. Regional bar associations and the EU held training seminars
with police, judges, and prosecutors across the country, focusing on EU
human rights standards. The Justice and Interior ministries conducted
numerous training programs for law enforcement and security officials,
judges, and prosecutors on recent legal reforms and European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR) case law.
Except when police apprehend suspects in the commission of a crime,
a prosecutor must issue a detention order for a person to be taken into
custody. The maximum detention period for persons charged with
individual common crimes is 24 hours. Persons charged with collective
common crimes can be held for 48 hours.
The law provides that detainees are entitled to immediate access to
an attorney and to meet and confer with an attorney at any time. In
practice, authorities did not always respect these provisions and most
detainees did not exercise these rights, either because they were
unaware of them or feared antagonizing authorities. Once formally
charged by the prosecutor, a detainee is arraigned by a judge and
allowed to retain a lawyer. After arraignment, the judge may release
the accused upon receipt of an appropriate assurance, such as bail, or
order detention if the court determines that the accused is likely to
flee the jurisdiction or destroy evidence.
Private attorneys and human rights monitors reported uneven
implementation of these regulations, particularly with respect to
attorney access. According to HRA and a number of local bar
associations, only approximately 5 percent of detainees consulted with
attorneys. HRA claimed police intimidated detainees who asked for
attorneys, sometimes telling them a court would assume they were guilty
if they consulted an attorney during detention. A number of attorneys
stated that, unlike in past years, law enforcement authorities did not
generally interfere with their efforts to consult with detainees
charged with common crimes; however, they said they continued to face
difficulties working with detainees charged with terrorism.
The CPT reported that, during its September 2003 visit to the
southeastern region, it discovered that only between 3 and 7 percent of
recent detainees in the area had consulted with an attorney. A number
of former detainees told CPT officials they did not know they had the
right to consult with an attorney at no cost if they could not afford
to hire one. Several said police refused their requests for access to
an attorney or discouraged them from consulting an attorney, for
example by implying they would have to pay the attorney. The CPT stated
it was skeptical of records indicating that a high proportion of
detainees held in antiterror departments had waived their right to
consult an attorney and concluded that authorities in these departments
were reluctant to allow attorney access.
In June, the General Directorate of Security issued a circular
directing law enforcement authorities to notify detainees of their
right to consult with an attorney and to retain an attorney at no cost
if they lack the means to hire one. The circular warned police that
failure to inform detainees of their rights could render an arrest
illegal.
Regulations on detention and arrest procedures require authorities
to notify relatives as soon as possible of an arrest, and authorities
generally observed this requirement.
Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. The Constitution provides
detainees the right to request speedy arraignment and trial; however,
judges have ordered that some suspects be detained indefinitely, at
times for years. Most such cases involved persons accused of violent
crimes, but there were cases of those accused of nonviolent political
crimes being held in custody until the conclusion of their trials.
Detainees could be held for up to 6 months during the preliminary
investigation period. If a case was opened, the pretrial detention
period could be extended for up to 2 years. If the detainee was charged
with a crime carrying a maximum punishment of more than 7 years, a
court could further extend the detention period.
Persons detained for individual crimes under the Antiterror Law
have to be brought before a judge within 48 hours. Persons charged with
crimes of a collective, political, or conspiratorial nature can be
detained for an initial period of up to 4 days at a prosecutor's
discretion and for up to 7 days with a judge's permission, which was
almost always granted.
International humanitarian organizations were allowed access to
``political'' detainees, provided the organization obtained permission
from the Ministry of Justice. With the exception of the CPT, which had
good access, the Ministry granted organizations such permission few
times.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was sometimes subject to
outside influences. There were allegations of judicial corruption.
In June, the Court of Appeals President's Council, headed by Court
President Eraslan Ozkaya, rejected a request by prosecutors to
investigate eight Court of Appeals judges for corruption in a bribery-
related case. Prosecutors sought to pursue evidence obtained from
wiretaps indicating that the suspect in a bribery ring investigation
had been in contact with the eight judges.
In August, the press reported allegations that organized crime
figure Alaaddin Cakici maintained links to two High Court of Appeals
judges--Eraslan Ozkaya and Court Deputy Secretary General Ercan
Yalcinkaya--as well as to officials of the Turkish National
Intelligence Organization. Cakici allegedly was informed about the
status of his case at the Court of Appeals and used this information to
escape the country in May. Yalcinkaya resigned from the Court of
Appeals in October and was reassigned as public prosecutor for Kazan,
Ankara. In October, the Court of Appeals President's Council decided
not to pursue either a criminal or disciplinary investigation of
Ozkaya. A Justice Ministry investigation of Yalcinkaya continued at
year's end.
The Constitution prohibits the Government from issuing orders or
recommendations concerning the exercise of judicial power; however, the
Government and the National Security Council (NSC), an advisory body to
the Government composed of civilian government leaders and senior
military officers, periodically issued announcements or directives
about threats to the State, which could be interpreted as general
directions to the judiciary. The seven-member High Council of Judges
and Prosecutors, appointed by the President and chaired by the Minister
of Justice, selects judges and prosecutors for the higher courts and is
responsible for oversight of the lower courts. The High Council, which
is located in the Ministry of Justice and does not have its own budget,
was widely criticized for restricting judicial independence. While the
Constitution provides for security of tenure, the High Council
controlled the careers of judges and prosecutors through appointments,
transfers, promotions, reprimands, and other mechanisms.
The judicial system is composed of general law courts; specialized
heavy penal courts; military courts; the Constitutional Court, the
nation's highest court; and three other high courts. The High Court of
Appeals (Yargitay) hears appeals for criminal cases; the Council of
State (Danistay) hears appeals of administrative cases or cases between
government entities, and the Audit Court (Sayistay) audits state
institutions. Most cases were prosecuted in the general law courts,
which include civil, administrative, and criminal courts. During the
year, Parliament adopted legislation providing for the establishment of
regional appeals courts to relieve the Yargitay caseload and allow the
judiciary to operate more efficiently.
In June, Parliament adopted legislation closing the SSCs, special
courts designed to try crimes against the State. The courts had been
widely criticized for proprosecution bias, and the ECHR had overturned
many SSC convictions over the years on the grounds that the defendants
had been denied a fair trial. However, the legislation established new,
specialized heavy penal courts to take most of the former SSC caseload.
Since the new courts have special powers similar to those of the SSCs,
a number of attorneys and human rights activists asserted that the
legislation amounted to little more than a name change.
The Constitutional Court examined the constitutionality of laws,
decrees, and parliamentary procedural rules and heard cases involving
the prohibition of political parties. If impeached, ministers and prime
ministers could be tried in the Constitutional Court. However, the
Court could not consider ``decrees with the force of law'' issued under
a state of emergency, martial law, in time of war, or in other
situations as authorized by Parliament. Military courts, with their own
appeals system, heard cases involving military law for members of the
armed forces.
The law provides prosecutors far-reaching authority to supervise
police during investigations; however, prosecutors complained that they
had few resources to do so. In December, Parliament adopted legislation
establishing judicial police, who will be assigned to take direction
from prosecutors during investigations; however, the Interior Ministry
maintains authority over judicial police, including their promotions.
Prosecutors also were charged with determining which law had been
broken and objectively presenting facts to the court.
Defense lawyers did not have equal status with prosecutors. In
heavy penal courts, prosecutors sat alongside judges, while defense
attorneys sat apart. In courts with computers, prosecutors were
generally provided with computers and had access to the hearing
transcript; defense attorneys were not provided computer access. Judges
and prosecutors lived in the same government apartment complexes, and
some defense attorneys claimed that the social ties between judges and
prosecutors disadvantaged the defense in court.
Defense attorneys in politically sensitive cases sometimes faced
harassment, although human rights groups and bar associations said this
was less common than in the past. Attorneys could face threats and
other harassment, particularly if they defended clients accused of
terrorism or illegal political activity, pursued torture cases, or
sought prompt access to their clients, which police often viewed as
interference.
There is no jury system; a judge or a panel of judges decides all
cases. The Constitution provides for the right to a speedy trial;
however, at times trials lasted for years (see Section 1.d.).
Proceedings against security officials often were delayed because
officers did not submit statements promptly or attend trials. In some
cases, such delays extended beyond the statute of limitations, causing
the trial to end without a verdict.
The law prohibits the use of evidence obtained by torture in court;
however, prosecutors sometimes failed to pursue torture allegations,
and exclusion of evidence only occurred after a separate case on the
legality of the evidence was resolved. In practice, a trial based on a
confession allegedly coerced under torture could proceed and even
conclude before the court had examined the merits of the torture
allegations.
The law requires bar associations to provide free counsel to
indigents who request it from the court, and bar associations across
the country did so in practice.
The legal system did not discriminate in law or in practice against
ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities; however, legal proceedings
were conducted solely in Turkish, with interpreting available
sometimes, which seriously disadvantaged some defendants whose native
language was not Turkish.
In September, Parliament adopted a new Penal Code that reduced
sentences for some crimes and decriminalized some acts that had
previously been considered crimes. As a result, the Government released
3,240 convicts through November.
There were no developments in the appeal of the 2003 ECHR ruling
that jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan did not receive a fair trial
during the proceedings that led to his 1999 conviction.
The HRA estimated that there were approximately 6,000 to 7,000
political prisoners, including leftists, rightists and Islamists. Of
these, approximately 1,500 were alleged members of Hizballah or other
radical Islamist political organizations. The Government claimed that
alleged political prisoners were in fact charged with being members of,
or assisting, terrorist organizations. According to the Government,
there were 4,508 convicts and detainees held on terrorism charges at
year's end.
International humanitarian organizations were allowed access to
``political'' prisoners, provided they could obtain permission from the
Ministry of Justice. With the exception of the CPT, which generally had
good access, such organizations were seldom granted permission in
practice.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the
Government generally respected these provisions in practice.
The law allows officials to enter a private residence and intercept
or monitor private correspondence with a judicial warrant. If delay
might cause harm to a case, prosecutors could authorize a search
without a warrant.
The law permits wiretaps on national security grounds with a
written court order or, in an emergency situation, written permission
of a prosecutor, and the Government generally respected these
requirements in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government continued
to limit these freedoms in some cases.
The Government, particularly the police and judiciary, limited
freedom of expression through the use of constitutional restrictions
and numerous laws, including articles of the Penal Code prohibiting
insults to the Government, the State, or the institutions and symbols
of the Republic. Other laws, such as those governing the press and
elections, also restrict speech. In September, Parliament adopted
legislation prohibiting imams, priests, rabbis, and other religious
leaders from ``reproaching or vilifying'' the Government or the laws of
the State while performing their duties (see Section 2.c.). The
``reasoning'' attached to the Penal Code states that persons could be
found in violation for accepting payment from foreign sources for the
purpose of conducting propaganda in favor of withdrawing troops from
Cyprus or (quoting from the text of the ``reasoning'') ``saying that
Armenians were subject to a genocide at the end of the First World
War.'' The reasoning is not law, but serves as guidance to judges and
prosecutors on how to apply the law.
According to HRA, in the first 9 months of the year, courts tried
416 persons on charges relating to spoken or written expression.
Individuals could not criticize the State or Government publicly
without fear of reprisal, and the Government continued to restrict
expression by individuals sympathetic to some religious, political, and
Kurdish nationalist or cultural viewpoints. Active debates on human
rights and government policies continued, particularly on issues
relating to the country's EU membership process, the role of the
military, Islam, political Islam, and the question of Turks of Kurdish
origin as ``minorities''; however, persons who wrote or spoke out on
such topics risked prosecution.
In January, prosecutors opened a case against Vetha Aydin, chairman
of the HRA Siirt branch, for distributing posters featuring slogans in
both Turkish and Kurdish. Aydin was charged with hanging posters
without permission and was later acquitted.
In February, an Ankara prosecutor indicted Fusun Sayek, president
of the Turkish Medical Association, and Metin Bakkalci, Association
vice president, on charges of insulting the Health Minister. The two
were charged for public comments made in response to the Minister's
criticism of a stop-work action by physicians. According to the
indictment, Sayek said the Minister ``has a problem understanding'' and
Bakkalci said, ``Not seeing the greatness of this action is a kind of
pathological case.'' In June, a court acquitted the defendants on
criminal charges. Civil charges were also filed against the Medical
Association officials; a civil court acquitted Sayek but fined
Bakkalci, whose appeal of the ruling continued at year's end.
In May, a prosecutor in Marmaris indicted Mehmet Yurek, editor of
the newspaper Degisim, for insulting former President Evren in an
article published in April.
In June, police detained and released DEHAP official Nedim Bicer
for using the expression ``sayin'' (``esteemed'') in reference to
Abdullah Ocalan during a May press conference.
In September, an Istanbul prosecutor opened a case against
journalist Mehmet Ali Birand and three attorneys for jailed PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan in connection with an April CNN Turk broadcast during
which Birand interviewed the attorneys. Birand and the attorneys--Irfan
Dundar, Mahmut Sakar, and Dogan Erbas--were charged with aiding the
PKK.
During the year, there were indications that some judges in speech-
related cases were conforming their rulings to recent, EU-related legal
reforms. In May, SSCs in Van and Erzurum acquitted DEHAP President
Tuncer Bakirhan on charges of separatism and spreading terrorist
propaganda in public speeches. The courts determined that Bakirhan's
comments did not encourage violence and were within the realm of
legally protected speech. In August, a Van court acquitted Selahattin
Demirtas, president of the HRA Diyarbakir branch, on charges of making
terrorist propaganda, reportedly basing its ruling on the European
Convention on Human Rights.
There were no new developments in the appeal of DEHAP parliamentary
candidate Ruknettin Hakan's 2003 conviction and 6-month suspended
prison sentence for ``making propaganda in a language other than
Turkish.''
In January, an Istanbul SSC sentenced Sefika Gurbuz, chairwoman of
the Social Support and Culture Association of Migrants, to 10 months
imprisonment in connection with the organization's 1999 2001 report on
forced displacement. The court converted the sentence to a fine of
$1,430 (1.9 billion lira).
Freedom of the press was restricted; however, the Government took a
number of steps during the year to ease some of the restrictions. In
June, Parliament adopted a law to expand press freedom. The new law
replaces prison sentences with fines for a number of crimes, reduces
fines, permits noncitizens to own periodicals and serve as responsible
editors, protects editors and reporters from being forced to disclose
sources, provides punishment for preventing the distribution of a
publication, allows law enforcement authorities to confiscate a maximum
of three copies of a publication under investigation, generally
prohibits courts from converting fines to prison sentences in press-
related cases, and prohibits authorities from closing publications or
preventing their distribution due to violations of the Press Law.
In May, Parliament amended the Constitution so that it no longer
authorizes law enforcement authorities to seize printing presses or
other publishing equipment.
Independent domestic and foreign periodicals that provided a broad
spectrum of views and opinions, including intense criticism of the
Government, were widely available, and the newspaper business was
extremely competitive. However, news items reflected a proauthority
bias.
The Government owned and operated the Turkish Radio and Television
Corporation (TRT). According to the High Board of Radio and Television
(RTUK), there were 226 local, 15 regional, and 16 national officially
registered television stations, and 959 local, 104 regional, and 36
national radio stations. Other television and radio stations broadcast
without an official license. The wide availability of satellite dishes
and cable television allowed access to foreign broadcasts, including
several Kurdish-language private channels. Most media were privately
owned by large holding companies that had a wide range of outside
business interests; the concentration of media ownership influenced the
content of reporting and limited the scope of debate.
The RTUK monitored broadcasters and sanctioned them if they were
not in compliance with relevant laws. Parliament elected the RTUK
Council members, who were divided between ruling and opposition
parties. In July, Parliament revised the RTUK law to eliminate the NSC-
nominated member from the Council, reducing Council membership from
nine to eight. Although nominally independent, the RTUK was subject to
political pressures. The RTUK penalized private radio and television
stations for the use of offensive language, libel, obscenity,
instigating separatist propaganda, or broadcasting programs in Kurdish.
RTUK decisions could be appealed to the Provincial Administrative Court
and then to the Council of State (Danistay). The RTUK reported that, in
the first 9 months of the year, it closed 4 television stations and 6
radio stations for periods of 30 days each.
In March, the RTUK ordered Ozgur Radio and Serhat Television to
cease broadcasting for 30 days for inciting people to hatred and
violence. Ozgur was sanctioned in connection with an August 2003
broadcast during which articles from the newspaper Evrensel were read
on the air; Serhat was sanctioned due to a July 2003 program titled
``Isildak.'' In April, the RTUK ordered ART Television of Diyarbakir to
cease broadcasting for 30 days on the grounds that an August 2003
broadcast featuring Kurdish music constituted separatist propaganda. In
June, the RTUK banned one broadcast of the Show TV program ``Valley of
Wolves'' for encouraging violence and inciting racial hatred. In
September, RTUK ordered Gun TV of Diyarbakir to cease broadcasting for
30 days as punishment for a December 2003 broadcast that authorities
deemeded to be ``against the values of Ataturk, against the unity of
the State.'' The sanction stemmed from Gun TV's live broadcast of a
symposium on local administration, human rights, and the media. In
October, the RTUK ordered Imaj Radyo to cease broadcasting for 30 days
for playing a song that it considered incited hatred and violence.
Prosecutors harassed writers, journalists, and political figures by
bringing dozens of cases to court each year under various laws that
restrict media freedom; however, judges dismissed many of these
charges. Authorities often closed periodicals temporarily, issued
fines, or confiscated periodicals for violating speech codes. Despite
government restrictions, the media criticized government leaders and
policies daily and adopted an adversarial role with respect to the
Government.
In May, an Ankara court ordered three journalists of the Islamist-
oriented Vakit newspaper--owner Nuri Aykon, editor Harum Aksoy, and
writer Mehmet Dogan--to pay $408,000 (551 billion lira) to 312 generals
for insulting them. The charges stemmed from an article published in
August 2003 titled, ``The Country Where a Soldier Who Does Not Deserve
to be Sergeant Becomes a General.'' An appeals court upheld the ruling.
In October, a Bursa court convicted Genc Party leader Cem Uzan,
sentenced him to 8 months in prison, and fined him $462 (623 million
lira) for insulting the Government in a 2003 speech in which he called
Prime Minister Erdogan ``godless.'' The case was under appeal at year's
end.
There were no new developments in the case of Sabri Ejder Ozic, who
appealed his December 2003 conviction for insulting and mocking
Parliament in a radio broadcast.
At year's end, writer and scholar Fikret Baskaya continued to face
charges involving the 2003 republishing of an article he wrote in 1993.
According to the Government, there were no journalists held on
speech violations during the year; however, at year's end, there were
43 prisoners claiming to be journalists who were charged with a variety
of crimes.
Authorities sometimes used forms of censorship against periodicals
with pro-Kurdish or leftist content, particularly in the southeast. In
January, Sinan Kutluk claimed police kidnapped him and threatened to
kill him as he was distributing the leftist daily Ozgur Gundem in
Adana. In June, a juvenile said plainclothes police beat him as he was
distributing Ozgur Gundem in Van. Journalists practiced self-
censorship.
While there were improvements during the year, the Government
maintained significant restrictions on the use of Kurdish and other
minority languages in radio and television broadcasts. In June, state
television and radio began limited broadcasts in Kurdish and three
other minority languages. RTUK regulations limited the minority-
language broadcasts, including news and cultural programming, to 60
minutes per day, 5 hours per week on radio, and 45 minutes per day, 4
hours per week on television. The regulations also require that non
Turkish radio programs be followed by the same program in Turkish and
that non-Turkish television programs have Turkish subtitles. At year's
end, local stations were prohibited from broadcasting similar non-
Turkish programs pending the completion of a RTUK viewer-listener
profile.
In October, the Government's Human Rights Consultation Board issued
a report, which found that legal restrictions on the use of minority
languages violated the country's commitments under the 1923 Lausanne
Treaty to provide Turkish nationals the right to use any language in
the press, commerce, religion, public meetings, and private life
without restriction. A number of Government officials harshly
criticized the report and Ankara prosecutors opened an investigation
against the report's principal authors. There were no developments in
the investigation at year's end.
In November, the High Court of Appeals reinstated a case against
the teachers' union Egitim-Sen on charges stemming from an article in
the union's statute supporting the rights of individuals to receive
education in their mother tongue; the case continued at year's end.
While Kurdish-language audio cassettes and publications were
available commercially, local authorities periodically prohibited
specific cassettes or singers, particularly in the southeast.
Prosecutors ordered the confiscation of numerous issues of leftist,
Kurdish nationalist, and pro-PKK periodicals and prohibited several
books on a range of topics. Police frequently raided the offices of
such publications.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however,
the law authorizes RTUK to monitor Internet speech and to require
Internet service providers to submit advance copies of pages to be
posted online. The law also allows police to search and confiscate
materials from Internet cafes to protect ``national security, public
order, health, and decency'' or to prevent a crime. Police must obtain
authorization from a judge or, in emergencies, the highest
administrative authority before taking such action.
The Government did not overtly restrict academic freedom; however,
there was some self-censorship on sensitive topics.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice. Significant prior notification to authorities
was required for a gathering, and authorities could restrict meetings
to designated sites.
Police beat, abused, detained, or harassed some demonstrators. In
April, Istanbul police reportedly prevented students from marching in
Taksim Square to protest the Higher Education Council. Police allegedly
beat students with truncheons, used tear gas, and detained 48
demonstrators. In July, Diyarbakir police reportedly prevented a group
of women from staging a demonstration in support of jailed PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan. Police allegedly beat demonstrators, injuring 6
persons and detaining 38.
In August, the Interior Ministry issued a circular directing
governors and law enforcement authorities to take measures to avoid the
use of excessive force in responding to demonstrations. The circular
instructed authorities to identify the root causes of excessive force,
working with NGOs and other civil institutions as necessary, and to
punish law enforcement officials who engage in the practice.
There were no new developments in the court appeal by police
officers of their postponed prison sentences for beating Veli Kaya
during a 2002 protest against the Higher Education Council.
On March 21, most celebrations of Nevruz, the Kurdish New Year,
took place without incident, according to the HRF; however, the HRF
reported that police beat celebrants at a number of locations. In Agri
Province, authorities refused to allow celebrations because the
application featured the Kurdish spelling ``Newruz,'' including the
letter ``w,'' which is not found in Turkish.
In February, an Aliaga court sentenced Alp Ayan, a psychiatrist
with the HRF Izmir Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, to 1 year in
prison for holding an unauthorized demonstration. The court also
sentenced 31 codefendants in the case and acquitted 34; the ruling was
under appeal at year's end.
The HRF reported that authorities in most cases did not interfere
in celebrations of May Day (May 1); however, police detained a number
of celebrants. Organizers canceled May Day celebrations in Diyarbakir
because the Governor designated a site 12 kilometers from the city
center.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however,
there were some restrictions on this right in practice.
In March, prosecutors opened a case seeking the closure of the
Human Rights Agenda Association for allegedly failing to make required
changes to its statute. In September, an Izmir court decided to drop
the case, determining that the changes were not necessary.
In April, Istanbul police sealed the headquarters of the
Association of Prisoners' Relatives under a closure order from the
Governor for alleged violations of the Associations Law.
In May, the Directorate General for Foundations issued a circular
stating that all foundations were required to seek government
permission prior to applying to participate in projects funded by
international organizations.
In June, an Ankara court ordered the closure of the National Youth
Foundation for promoting ``Arab nationalism.'' In December, the High
Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.
In June, the Interior Ministry issued a circular that directed
local authorities to regard public statements by civil society
organizations as constitutionally protected speech. It also instructed
law enforcement officials not to film or photograph meetings and
activities of organizations unless so instructed by the governor's
office.
In August, a Diyarbakir prosecutor opened a case against the local
branch of the Kurdish Writers Association for ``receiving a committee
from the EU'' without permission from the governor's office. A court
acquitted the defendants in October.
In November, Parliament adopted a law that reduces limits on the
right to form and join associations by removing restrictions on the
establishment of associations based on race, religion, sect, region, or
minority status, and on student associations. The law also allows
associations to cooperate with foreign organizations and establish
branches abroad without prior permission. The law removes the
requirement that associations inform local authorities of general
assembly meetings and prohibits law enforcement authorities from
searching association premises without a court order. However, the new
law maintains the requirement that foreign associations receive
permission from the Interior Ministry, in consultation with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before engaging in activity in the
country.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice; however, the Government imposed some restrictions on Muslim
and other religious groups and on Muslim religious expression in
government offices and state-run institutions, including universities,
usually for the stated reason of preserving the ``secular State.''
The Constitution establishes the country as a secular state and
provides for freedom of belief, freedom of worship, and the private
dissemination of religious ideas; however, other constitutional
provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state
restrict these rights. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on
religious grounds. The state bureaucracy has played the role of
defending traditional Turkish secularism throughout the history of the
Republic. In some cases, elements of the bureaucracy have opposed
policies of the elected government on the grounds that they threatened
the secular state.
The Government oversees Muslim religious facilities and education
through its Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which reports
directly to the Prime Ministry. The Diyanet has responsibility for
regulating the operation of the country's 75,000 registered mosques and
employing local and provincial imams, who are civil servants. Some
groups, particularly Alevis, claim that the Diyanet reflects mainstream
Sunni Islamic beliefs to the exclusion of other beliefs; however, the
Government asserts that the Diyanet treats equally all who request
services.
There are an estimated 7 to 9 million Alevis, including ethnic
Turks, Kurds, and Arabs. In general, Alevis follow a belief system that
incorporates aspects of both Shi'a and Sunni Islam and draws on the
traditions of other religions found in Anatolia as well. Alevis in
Central Anatolia base their beliefs on 12er Shi'ism. Alevi Kurds in the
Tunceli area follow the Kurdish ``Cult of Angels,'' or Yarsanism. The
Government considers Alevism a heterodox Muslim sect; however, some
Turkish Alevis and radical Sunnis maintain that Alevis are not Muslims.
A separate government agency, the General Directorate for
Foundations (Vakiflar Genel Mudurlugu), regulates some activities of
non Muslim religious groups and their affiliated churches, monasteries,
synagogues, and related religious property. There are 161 ``minority
foundations'' recognized by the Vakiflar, including Greek Orthodox
foundations with approximately 70 sites, Armenian Orthodox foundations
with approximately 50 sites, and Jewish foundations with 20 sites, as
well as Syrian Christian, Chaldean, Bulgarian Orthodox, Georgian, and
Maronite foundations. The Vakiflar also regulates Muslim charitable
religious foundations, including schools, hospitals, and orphanages.
Secularists in the military, judiciary, and other branches of the
bureaucracy continued to wage campaigns against what they label as
proponents of Islamic fundamentalism. These groups view religious
fundamentalism--which they do not clearly define, but which they assert
is an attempt to impose the rule of Shari'a law in all civil and
criminal matters--as a threat to the secular State. The NSC categorizes
religious fundamentalism as a threat to public safety.
According to the human rights NGO Mazlum-Der and other groups, some
government ministries have dismissed or barred from promotion civil
servants suspected of antistate or Islamist activities. Reports by
Mazlum-Der, the media, and others indicated that the military regularly
dismisses religiously observant Muslims from military service. Such
dismissals were based on behavior that military officials believed
identified these individuals as Islamic fundamentalists, which they
were concerned could indicate disloyalty to the secular State.
According to Mazlum-Der, the military charged individuals with lack of
discipline for activities that included performing Muslim prayers or
being married to women who wore headscarves. According to the military,
officers were sometimes dismissed for maintaining ties to what the
military considered to be Islamic fundamentalist organizations, despite
repeated warnings from superior officers.
The law prohibits mystical Sufi and other religious-social orders
(tarikats) and lodges (cemaats). The military ranked tarikats among the
most harmful threats to secularism; however, tarikats remained active
and widespread and some prominent political and social leaders
associated with tarikats, cemaats, and other Islamic communities.
The Government did not recognize the ecumenical status of the Greek
Orthodox Patriarch, acknowledging him only as the head of the country's
dwindling Greek Orthodox community. As a result, the Government has
long maintained that only citizens of the country could be members of
the Church's Holy Synod and participate in Patriarchal elections.
Members of the Greek Orthodox community said these restrictions
threatened the survival of the Patriarchate in Istanbul, because, with
fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox left in the country, the community was
becoming too small to maintain the institution. In March, Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew I appointed six non Turkish-citizen metropolitans
to the Holy Synod, representing the first time in the 80-year history
of the country that noncitizens had been appointed to the body. At
year's end, the Government was still conducting a legal analysis of the
unprecedented move.
The law restricts religious services to designated places of
worship. Municipal codes mandate that only the Government can designate
a place of worship; if a religious group has no legal standing in the
country, it may not be eligible for a designated site. Non-Muslim
religious services, particularly for groups that do not own property
recognized by the Vakiflar, often took place on diplomatic property or
in private apartments. Police occasionally prohibited Christians from
holding services in private apartments, and prosecutors sometimes
opened cases against Christians for holding unauthorized gatherings.
In May, a Diyarbakir court acquitted Ahmet Guvener, pastor of the
Diyarbakir Evangelical Church, of multiple charges of operating an
illegal church after the prosecutor told the court that Guvener's
actions no longer constituted a crime due to international law and
recent domestic legal reforms. In November, a local board charged with
protecting cultural and historic sites approved the church's
application to have its property zoned as a place of worship, reversing
its May ruling against the church. In December 2003, the Interior
Ministry issued a circular directing provincial governors to facilitate
efforts by non-Muslim communities to open places of worship; however,
some local officials continued to impose standards, such as minimum
space requirements, on churches while failing to apply them to mosques.
In March, authorities approved an application by a group of
expatriate, German-speaking Christians to establish a religious/charity
association in Alanya, Antalya Province. In the past, authorities
rejected such applications on the grounds that the law prohibited
associations based on religion. The arrangement authorizes group
members to build and maintain a church, but does not explicitly allow
them to worship.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul continued to seek to reopen
the Halki seminary on the island of Heybeli in the Sea of Marmara,
which was closed in 1971 when the State nationalized private
institutions of higher learning. The Ecumenical Patriarchate faced a
series of other problems related to its properties. Under existing
restrictions, religious communities other than Sunni Muslims cannot
legally train new clergy in the country for eventual leadership.
Coreligionists from outside the country have been permitted to assume
leadership positions in rare cases, but in general all religious
community leaders, including Patriarchs and Chief Rabbis, were required
to be citizens.
In September, Parliament adopted a law prohibiting imams, priests,
rabbis, or other religious leaders from ``reproaching or vilifying''
the Government or the laws of the State while performing their duties.
Violations are punishable by prison terms of 1 month to 1 year, or 3
months to 2 years if the crime involves inciting others to disobey the
law, which was scheduled to go into effect in April 2005.
While no law explicitly prohibits proselytizing or religious
conversions, many prosecutors and police regard proselytizing by non-
Muslims and religious activism with suspicion. Police occasionally
prohibited Christians from handing out religious literature and
sometimes arrested proselytizers for disturbing the peace, insulting
Islam, conducting unauthorized educational courses, or distributing
literature that has criminal or separatist elements. Courts usually
dismissed such charges. Proselytizing is often considered socially
unacceptable; Christians performing missionary work are sometimes
beaten and insulted. If proselytizers are foreigners, they may be
deported, but generally they are able to reenter the country. Police
may report students who meet with Christian missionaries to their
families or to university authorities.
Authorities enforced the long-standing prohibition on the wearing
of headscarves at universities and by civil servants in public
buildings. Women who wore headscarves and persons who actively showed
support for those who defied the prohibition were disciplined or lost
their jobs in the public sector. Students who wear head coverings are
officially not permitted to register for classes. Many secular Turkish
women accused Islamists of using advocacy for wearing the headscarf as
a political tool and expressed fear that efforts to remove the
headscarf ban would lead to pressure against women who chose not to
wear a head covering. Secular women also maintained that many women
wore headscarves under pressure from men. In June, the ECHR ruled that
Turkish universities have the right to ban Muslim headscarves; the
ruling was under appeal at year's end.
The law establishes 8 years of compulsory secular education for
students. After completing the 8 years, students may pursue study at
imam hatip (Islamic preacher) high schools. Imam hatip schools are
classified as vocational, and graduates of vocational schools faced an
automatic reduction in their university entrance exam grades if they
applied for university programs outside their field of high school
specialization. This reduction effectively barred imam hatip graduates
from enrolling in university programs other than theology. Most
families that enroll their children in imam hatip schools did so to
expose them to more extensive religious education, not to train them as
imams. In May, President Sezer vetoed a bill that would have eliminated
the disadvantage faced by graduates of imam hatip and other vocational
schools seeking to enroll in the full range of university social
sciences programs.
Only the Diyanet is authorized to provide religion courses outside
of school, although clandestine private courses existed. Students who
complete 5 years of primary school may enroll in Diyanet Koran classes
on weekends and during summer vacation. Many Koran courses functioned
unofficially. Only children 12 and older could legally register for
official Koran courses, and Mazlum-Der reported that police often
raided illegal courses for younger children.
Members of the Christian community reported that the Government
revised school textbooks in response to complaints about inaccurate,
negative references to Christianity. They said the revised versions
represented a significant improvement.
The 1923 Lausanne Treaty exempts non-Muslim minorities--which the
Government interprets as referring exclusively to Greek Orthodox
Christians, Armenian Orthodox Christians, and Jews--from Islamic
religious and moral instruction in public schools upon written
notification of their non-Muslim background. These students may attend
Muslim religious courses with parental consent. Others, such as
Catholics, Protestants, and Syriac Christians, are not exempted
legally; however, in practice they were allowed to obtain exemptions.
Officially recognized minorities may operate schools under the
supervision of the Ministry of Education. Such schools are required to
appoint a Muslim as deputy principal; reportedly these deputies had
more authority than their nominal supervisors. The curriculum of these
schools included Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Jewish
instruction. In May, the Education Ministry stated that children with
non-Muslim mothers could attend minority schools; previously, only
those with non-Muslim fathers were permitted.
Some religious groups, particularly the Greek and Armenian Orthodox
communities, have lost property to the Government in the past and
continued to fight ongoing efforts by the Government to expropriate
properties. Many such properties were lost because the law allows the
Vakiflar to assume direct administration of properties that fall into
disuse when the size of the local non-Muslim community drops
significantly. The Government expropriated other properties that were
held in the name of individual community members who emigrated or died
without heirs. The Vakiflar also took control of non-Muslim foundations
after the size of the non-Muslim community in a particular district
dropped below the level required to elect foundation board members. In
September, the Government adopted a regulation allowing governors to
expand the boundaries of electoral districts in cases where there are
not enough voters in a district to hold foundation board elections.
The law allows the 161 minority foundations recognized by the
Vakiflar to acquire property and the Vakiflar has approved 292
applications by non-Muslim foundations to acquire legal ownership of
properties. However, the legislation does not allow the foundations to
reclaim hundreds of properties expropriated by the State over the
years. Foundations have also been unable to acquire legal ownership of
properties registered under names of third parties, including
properties registered under the names of saints or archangels, during
periods when foundations could not own property in their own name.
In February, the Vakiflar expropriated an orphanage on the Prince's
Islands that had belonged to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, asserting
that the deed, in the name of the Patriarch, was invalid and that the
property belonged to a Greek Orthodox foundation that had previously
been expropriated by the Government. In November, the High Court of
Appeals upheld the expropriation. By year's end, the Patriarchate was
unable to receive permission to repair churches, including one damaged
in the November 2003 terrorist bombings in Istanbul.
In January, the Government replaced the Minorities Subcommittee, a
body that monitored minorities as potential threats to the country,
with the Board to Assess Problems of Minorities. Unlike the
subcommittee, the board does not include representatives of the
military and intelligence agencies and is charged with supporting the
rights of non-Muslims. However, there were no indications that the new
board made any serious efforts to address the concerns of non-Muslims
during the year.
In September, Parliament adopted a law that prohibits forcing
persons to declare or change their religious, political, or
philosophical beliefs or preventing them from expressing or spreading
such beliefs. The law specifically prohibits the use of force or
threats to prevent persons from gathering for worship or religious
ceremonies. Violations of the law are punishable with 1 to 3 years in
prison.
At year's end, members of the Baha'i community continued to seek
authorization from a local board to renovate a sacred property in
Edirne.
National identity cards list a person's religious affiliation. Some
religious groups, such as Baha'is, alleged that they were not permitted
to state their religion on their cards; however, there were reports
that authorities have become more flexible regarding the religious
affiliation that may be listed. In September, an Ankara court approved
the application of a family requesting permission to leave the religion
portion of their children's identity cards blank until they reach 18
years of age. Conversion to another religion entails amending a
person's identity card; there were reports that local officials
harassed persons who converted from Islam to another religion when they
sought to amend their cards. Some persons who were not Muslim
maintained that listing religious affiliation on the cards exposed them
to discrimination and harassment.
In March, two bombers attacked an Istanbul Masonic Lodge, killing
two and wounding seven. It was widely believed in the country that
Masons have Zionist and anti-Islamic tendencies; evidence gathered in
the subsequent investigation suggested that anti-Semitism was at least
a partial motivating factor in the attack. According to press reports,
one of the suspects arrested also confessed to the August 2003 murder
of a Jewish dentist in Istanbul. Reports suggested that the crime's
perpetrator used his victim's address book and subsequently telephoned
a number of Jewish board members of a retirement home and threatened
them with violence.
At year's end, court proceedings continued in the Istanbul trial of
69 suspects charged in connection with the November 2003 terrorist
bombings of two synagogues, the British Consulate, and a bank. In an
incident that arose out of the bombings, a court case was opened in
September against the 17-year-old son of one of the alleged
perpetrators and three journalists on anti-Semitism charges. The
charges stemmed from an interview with the daily Milliyet in which the
youth said, ``the attacks did not touch the hearts of the members of my
family because the target was Jews,'' and, ``if Muslims hadn't been
killed, we would have been happy. We don't like Jews.'' Three Milliyet
journalists were charged with providing a platform for incitement
against members of another religion.
Some Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Baha'is faced societal
suspicion and mistrust. Jews and Christians from most denominations
freely practiced their religions and reported little discrimination in
daily life. However, there were regular reports that citizens who
converted from Islam to another religion were sometimes attacked and
often experienced social harassment. Proselytizing on behalf of non-
Muslim religions was socially unacceptable and sometimes dangerous. A
variety of newspapers and television shows have featured anti Christian
and anti-Jewish messages, and anti-Semitic literature was common in
bookstores.
In October, the Government's Human Rights Consultation Board issued
a report on minorities, which stated that non-Muslims are effectively
barred from holding positions in State institutions, such as the armed
forces, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police, and the
National Intelligence Agency. A number of representatives of non-Muslim
communities confirmed the report's conclusions (see Section 5).
During the observance of Ramazan in October-November, there were
reportedly several incidents of university students attacking students
who were not fasting. In October, the rector of Gaziosmanpasa
University in Tokat opened an investigation against 10 students and a
faculty member in connection with such attacks. In November, police
intervened after fasting students at Ankara University attacked
nonfasting students, according to press reports.
In March, the Bursa court trying three members of the Nationalist
Movement Party accused of severely beating Yakup Cindilli, a convert to
Christianity, postponed hearings for 15 months on the grounds that such
a period of time was needed before a medical evaluation could be
conducted to determine the full extent of Cindilli's injuries.
In April, an Ankara SSC sentenced Kerim Akbas of Baskent TV to 23
months in prison for inciting attacks against local Protestants and
their places of worship. The court convicted Akbas for a series of
broadcasts claiming Protestants were bribing Muslims to convert and
attempting to disturb the peace. The ruling was under appeal at year's
end. Following the broadcasts, vandals damaged several local Protestant
facilities.
In September, Bodrum police closed a Protestant church and
confiscated its signs under orders from the Governor. Authorities
reopened the church several days later.
Members of a Protestant church in Kecioren, Ankara, said local
residents opposed to their presence repeatedly threatened them,
attempted to attack church members, and vandalized the church. They
said police were dismissive of their reports; church members filed a
complaint against the local police chief. Church members opened a case
against the alleged organizer of the harassment; however, at year's end
the suspect remained at large and the threats and vandalism continued.
In September, an estimated 1,000 protestors gathered outside the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul and burned an effigy of
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. The protest was organized by the
youth wing of the Nationalist Movement Party, whose leaders accused the
Patriarch of interfering in internal politics by commenting on
religious reform and the country's EU candidacy. In October, unknown
persons threw a homemade bomb over the wall of the Patriarchate; the
bomb blew out several windows and damaged the roof of a cathedral.
Jehovah's Witnesses reported increasing official harassment of
their worship services because they were not members of an officially
recognized religion. On several occasions during the year, members of
Jehovah's Witnesses in Mersin and Istanbul were fined for conducting
religious meetings without permission. Members also reported some
difficulties in claiming conscientious objector status and exemption
from military service. Jehovah's Witnesses who were conscripted into
the military refused to take the military oath or carry weapons and, as
a result, faced arrest and detention; such detention generally lasted
for about a month, after which the individual was released pending
trial.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights;
however, at times the Government limited some of these rights. The
Constitution provides that a citizen's freedom to leave the country
could be restricted only in the case of a national emergency, civic
obligations (military service, for example), or criminal investigation
or prosecution. The Government maintained a heavy security presence in
the southeast, including numerous roadway checkpoints. Provincial
authorities in the southeast, citing security concerns, denied some
villagers access to their fields and high pastures for grazing.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not
employ it. There were no new cases of internal exile during the year.
Various NGOs estimated that there were from 1 to 3 million IDPs
remaining from PKK conflict, which reached its height between 1984 and
1990. The Government reported that 378,000 residents ``migrated'' from
the southeast during the conflict, with many others departing before
the fighting. In July, Parliament adopted a law allowing persons who
suffered material losses during the conflict with the PKK to apply for
compensation. Under the law, IDPs who fled the region are eligible for
cash or in-kind payment for losses caused by terrorism or by the
State's antiterror operations. However, the Foundation for Society and
Legal Studies and a number of international organizations criticized
the law because some villagers who fled the region, particularly those
who fled the country, would have difficulty meeting the 1-year deadline
for applying for payment and because villagers who received token
amounts of compensation in the past would be ineligible for benefits.
Residents of the southeast and representatives of regional bar
associations also said the law established unreasonable documentation
requirements and awarded levels of compensation far below standards
established by the ECHR.
According to human rights activists, villagers, and some southeast
members of Parliament, the Government did not allow some displaced
villagers to return to the southeast unless they signed a document
stating that they had left their homes due to PKK terrorism, rather
than government actions, and that they would not seek government
assistance in returning. Village guards occupied homes abandoned by
IDPs and have attacked or intimidated IDPs attempting to return to
their homes with official permission. Voluntary and assisted
resettlements were ongoing. In some cases, persons could return to
their old homes; in other cases, centralized villages have been
constructed. The Government claimed that a total of 127,927 displaced
persons had returned to the region as of November and that it had
assisted in the reopening of more than 400 villages and hamlets.
In August, the HRA reported that soldiers forcibly evacuated
residents from the village of Ilicak in Sirnak Province, marking the
first such evacuation in 3 years. Local officials arranged for the
return of the villagers 3 days later.
In September, the Governor and Jandarma officials in Sirnak
Province evicted village guards who were preventing a group of Syriac
Christians from returning to their homes. The Syriacs, who fled due to
the PKK conflict, returned during the year and found 20 village guards
occupying their homes in the village of Sarikoy. The Sirnak Governor
cut off electricity to the village, and Jandarma officers evacuated the
village and disarmed the village guards. The Syriacs reportedly paid
local authorities $93,700 (126 billion lira) for the relocation effort.
Foreign governments and national and international human rights
organizations continued to criticize the Government's program for
assisting the return of IDPs as secretive and inadequate.
There were no new developments in the Mersin trial of seven members
of the Migration and Humanitarian Aid Foundation (GIYAV) on charges of
aiding and abetting an illegal organization. There were also no new
developments in the separate Mersin trial in which prosecutors are
seeking to disband GIYAV on charges of establishing relations with
foreign associations without seeking the required approval from the
Interior and Foreign ministries.
An administrative regulation provides for the granting of asylum or
refugee status in accordance with the definition in the 1951 U.N.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol;
however, the Government exercised its option under the Convention of
accepting obligations only with respect to refugees from Europe. The
Government has established a system for providing protection to
refugees. In practice, the Government provided protection against
refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared
persecution. According to the Government, Europeans recognized as
refugees could remain in the country and eventually acquire
citizenship; however, it was not clear how often this happened in
practice. The Government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting the
small number of European refugees and asylum seekers. Chechens, many of
whom arrived in 2001, reported problems making asylum applications with
the Government and renewing temporary residence permits.
The Government offered non-European refugees temporary asylum while
they were waiting to be resettled in another country. The UNHCR
conducted refugee status determination for applicants from non European
countries and facilitated the resettlement of those recognized as
refugees.
The UNHCR reported that no recognized refugees were returned to a
country where they feared persecution during the year; however, three
asylum seekers whose applications remained under review by the UNHCR
were deported to their country of origin.
Detained illegal immigrants found near the country's eastern border
areas were more likely to be questioned about their asylum status and
referred for processing than those caught while transiting or
attempting to leave the country. Even along the eastern border,
however, access to the national procedure for temporary asylum was
hindered by the lack of reception facilities for groups of interdicted
migrants, potentially including asylum seekers, and interpreters to
assist security officials.
The UNHCR experienced difficulty gaining access to some persons who
expressed a wish to seek asylum while in detention and facing
deportation. According to the UNHCR, the Government deported 23 persons
in this situation during the year, in most cases to their country of
origin, without giving the UNHCR an opportunity to assess their
possible need for international protection.
Regulations require asylum seekers to apply within 10 days of
arrival and submit proof of identity in order to register for temporary
asylum. An appeal can be lodged within 15 days of a decision by
authorities not to receive an asylum claim; after the appeal procedure,
rejected applicants are issued a deportation order that can be
implemented after 15 days. According to the UNHCR, the Government
demonstrated greater flexibility than in past years in applying these
regulations; however, asylum seekers arriving in the country after
transiting through one or more other countries continued to face
difficulties in lodging an application. As a result, some of the
refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR were unable to
register with the Government or otherwise legalize their status in the
country.
The Government provided free medical care to non-Europeans
recognized as refugees by the UNHCR, pending efforts to resettle them
abroad. Local authorities also extended support to non-European
refugees in some cases. The UNHCR remained the main source of support
to refugees, working with the Government and civil society
organizations.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens generally exercised this right in
practice through periodic free and fair elections held on the basis of
universal suffrage; however, the Government restricted the activities
of some political parties and leaders.
The 2002 parliamentary elections were held under election laws that
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) found
established a framework for democratic elections in line with
international standards; however, the OSCE mission noted that several
parties--notably the AKP, the winner of the elections--faced action
aimed at closing them down, and many candidates were also prohibited
from running. The mission reported that, while there were a substantial
number of cases of harassment reported by some political parties and by
human rights groups, the situation had improved markedly compared with
previous elections.
Political parties and candidates could freely propose themselves
and be freely nominated by various elements in the country; however,
the High Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor could seek to close
political parties for unconstitutional activities by bringing a case
before the Constitutional Court.
There were no new developments during the year in the legal case
seeking the closure of the pro-Kurdish DEHAP on charges of separatism.
In February, the Constitutional Court ordered the Felicity Party to
stop using the abbreviation ``SP,'' which was the abbreviation used by
the banned Socialist Party.
In July, the High Court of Appeals overturned the April conviction
of Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan, and Selim Sadak, former
members of Parliament from the Democracy Party. An Ankara SSC had
convicted the four defendants in their retrial on charges of being
members of, or supporting, the PKK. The Court of Appeals ruled that the
SSC had failed to conform to recent legal reforms in its conduct of the
retrial. The Court of Appeals' reasons for overturning the verdict
included the SSC's rejection without explanation of a defense request
for the replacement of the chief judge, the use of statements and
testimony by the prosecution that were not read in court, the SSC's
refusal to permit some defense witnesses to testify, and the failure to
have audio and video recordings used as evidence transcribed by
impartial parties. In June, the Court of Appeals ordered the release of
the defendants. As a result of the Court of Appeals ruling, a heavy
penal court in October began a new trial for the defendants.
In October, a Bursa court sentenced Genc Party leader Cem Uzan to 8
months in prison for insulting the Government (see Section 2.a.).
During the year, police raided dozens of DEHAP offices,
particularly in the southeast, and detained hundreds of DEHAP officials
and members. Jandarma and police regularly harassed DEHAP members,
through verbal threats, arbitrary arrests at rallies, and detention at
checkpoints. Security forces also regularly harassed villagers they
believed were sympathetic to DEHAP. Although security forces released
most detainees within a short period, many faced trials, usually for
supporting an illegal organization, inciting separatism, or for
violations of the law. In January, an Erzurum prosecutor opened a case
against DEHAP Chairman Tuncer Bakirhan on charges relating to a 2002
speech. A court convicted Bakirhan and sentenced him to 1 year in
prison, but postponed the sentence. In February, the High Court of
Appeals upheld the conviction of DEHAP Party Assembly member Abdulkerim
Bingol on charges relating to a 2003 speech. Bingol began serving his
18-month prison sentence in April. In April, DEHAP official Giyasettin
Torun claimed that Istanbul police kidnapped him, blindfolded him, and
subjected him to threats and beatings for several hours before
releasing him without charge. In June, a prosecutor in Van indicted
local DEHAP Chairman Hasan Ozgunes, HRA official Zuleyha Cinarli, and
11 others on terrorism charges stemming from their participation in a
press conference on the Kurdish problem and the prison conditions of
jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. A court acquitted them in August. In
December, a Bursa prosecutor opened a case against eight DEHAP members,
including Murat Avci, head of the party branch in Bursa, in connection
with slogans allegedly shouted at a DEHAP event in June.
Corruption was a problem. Former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and
former State Minister Gunes Taner were charged with corruption during
the year and were scheduled to be tried in 2005. Other former high-
level officials faced trial for allegedly abusing their authorities.
Several retired military officers were also charged with corruption,
including former Naval Forces Commander Ilhami Erdil, former NSC
Secretary General Tuncer Kilinc, and former Jandarma Commander Sener
Eruygur. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Kilinc because the
statute of limitations had expired; legal proceedings against the other
former officers continued at year's end.
Opposition party members criticized the ruling AKP for refusing to
lift the immunity of AKP parliamentarians suspected of corruption and
other abuses.
In October 2003, the Government adopted the Freedom of Information
Law, under which citizens could apply to government institutions for
information. The HRF maintained that the law gives the Government broad
leeway to reject applications on national security and other grounds;
HRF requests for information during the year were denied, and there was
no opportunity to appeal. The Press Council reported that it received
no complaints during the year from journalists making applications
under the law.
There were 24 women in the 550-seat Parliament. There was 1 female
minister in the 24-member Cabinet. There were no female governors but
approximately 20 female subgovernors. Following the March local
elections, there were 25 women among the 3,209 mayors in the country.
Some minority groups were active in political affairs. Many members
of Parliament and senior government officials were Kurds.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups operated
in many regions, but faced government obstruction and restrictive laws
regarding their operations, particularly in the southeast. The
Government met with domestic NGOs (which it defined broadly to include
business organizations and labor unions), responded to their inquiries,
and sometimes took action in response to their recommendations.
The HRA had 34 branches nationwide and claimed a membership of
approximately 14,000. The HRF, established by the HRA, operated torture
rehabilitation centers in Ankara, Izmir, Istanbul, Diyarbakir, and
Adana and served as a clearinghouse for human rights information. Other
domestic NGOs included the Istanbul based Helsinki Citizens Assembly,
the Ankara-based Turkish Democracy Foundation, the Turkish Medical
Association, human rights centers at a number of universities, and
Mazlum Der.
Human rights organizations and monitors, as well as lawyers and
doctors involved in documenting human rights violations, continued to
face detention, prosecution, intimidation, harassment, and formal
closure orders for their legitimate activities. For example, the HRA
reported that prosecutors opened 98 court cases and investigations
against the organization between October 2003 and August, and 58 cases
remained ongoing at year's end.
In March, prosecutors dropped a case against the members of the HRF
Executive Board on charges of translating HRF reports into English and
distributing them without permission, soliciting donations on the
Internet, and encouraging protestors to engage in hunger strikes by
providing treatment to ill strikers. If convicted, the board members
would have been forced to resign.
There were no developments in the Government's investigation of the
HRA headquarters and Ankara branch office. The investigation was opened
following the May 2003 police raid of the facilities.
Amnesty International maintained a headquarters in Istanbul and
reported good cooperation with the Government during the year. The
Government also cooperated with international governmental
organizations such as the CPT, UNHCR, and the International
Organization for Migration. In October, the Government permitted the
visit of and met with the U.N. Special Representative for Human Rights
Defenders.
In October, the Interior Ministry issued a circular directing local
authorities to comply with U.N. and EU guidelines for protecting the
rights of human rights defenders.
Representatives of diplomatic missions who wished to observe human
rights developments were free to speak with private citizens, groups,
and government officials. However, security officials routinely placed
such official visitors in the southeast under visible surveillance.
Visiting foreign government officials and legislators were able to meet
with human rights observers. There were no public reports that the
Government denied permission for foreign officials to make such visits;
however, police reportedly harassed and intimidated some human rights
activists in the southeast after they met with foreign diplomats.
There were government-sponsored human rights councils in all 81
provinces and 850 subprovinces to serve as a forum for human rights
consultations among NGOs, professional organizations, and the
Government. The councils investigated complaints and, when deemed
appropriate, referred them to the prosecutor's office. However, some
councils failed to hold regular meetings or effectively fulfill their
duties. Human rights NGOs generally refused to participate on the
councils, maintaining that they lacked authority and were not
independent, in part because unelected governors and subgovernors
served as chairmen.
A Human Rights Presidency monitored the implementation of
legislation relating to human rights, coordinated with NGOs, and
educated public officials. The Presidency was attached to the Prime
Ministry; it did not have a separate budget, and its resources were
limited. Other government human rights bodies include the High Human
Rights Board, an interministerial committee responsible for making
appointments to human rights posts; a Human Rights Consultation Board,
which serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas between the
Government and NGOs; and a Human Rights Investigative Board, a special
body to be convened only in cases where lower-level investigations are
deemed insufficient by the Human Rights Presidency. The Human Rights
Investigative Board has never been convened.
The parliamentary Human Rights Committee, which has a mandate to
oversee compliance with the human rights provisions of domestic law and
international agreements, investigated alleged abuses, prepared
reports, and carried out detention center inspections.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution regards all citizens as equal and prohibits
discrimination on ethnic or racial grounds; however, societal and
official violence and discrimination against women and minorities
remained problems.
In May, Parliament amended the Constitution to specify that men and
women have equal rights and that it is the duty of the State to ensure
that this protection is put into practice. Before the amendment, the
Constitution only stated broadly that all individuals were equal before
the law.
Women.--Violence against women remained a chronic problem, and
spousal abuse was serious and widespread. The law prohibits spousal
abuse; however, complaints of beatings, threats, economic pressure, and
sexual violence continued. Beating in the home was one of the most
frequent forms of violence against women. A March 2003 study by
Istanbul Bilgi University of married or divorced women in 25 provinces
found that 31.5 percent of the women were beaten by their husbands;
21.5 percent were beaten by their fathers before marriage; and 41
percent had entered into arranged marriages. While approximately 35
percent of the group said they would file a complaint if their husbands
beat them, a 2003 study by Hacettepe University found that 39 percent
of women believed husbands were justified in beating their wives under
certain circumstances. Citizens of either sex could file civil or
criminal charges for abuse but rarely did so. Spousal abuse was
considered an extremely private matter involving societal notions of
family honor, and few women went to the police in practice. Police were
reluctant to intervene in domestic disputes and frequently advised
women to return to their husbands.
The law provides that victims of spousal violence may apply
directly to a judge for assistance and authorizes judges to warn
abusive spouses and order them to stay away from the household for 6
months. Judges may order further punishments for those who violate such
orders. According to women's rights advocates, authorities enforced the
law effectively, although outside of major urban areas few spouses
sought assistance under the law.
The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape; however, laws and
ingrained societal notions made it difficult to prosecute sexual
assault or rape cases. Women's rights advocates believed cases of rape
were underreported. In September, Parliament adopted a new Penal Code
that considers rape a crime against the individual, rather than a crime
against society. The Code eliminates several rape-related laws that
women's rights advocates criticized as discriminatory, including a
measure that allowed rapists to escape punishment by marrying their
victims and another that linked punishment for rape to the victim's
marital status or virginity.
Women's rights advocates reported there were eight government
operated guest houses and three municipal shelters that provided
services to battered women. The Social Services and Child Protection
Institution operated 53 family centers, and a number of NGOs operated
community centers. Bar associations in more than 30 provinces provided
legal services for women. In July, Parliament adopted a law requiring
municipalities with populations of over 50,000 to provide shelters for
women and children.
Honor killings--the killing by immediate family members of women
suspected of being unchaste--continued in rural areas and among new
immigrants to cities. Women's advocacy groups reported that there were
dozens of such killings every year, mainly in conservative Kurdish
families in the southeast or among migrants from the southeast living
in large cities. In September, Parliament adopted a law under which
murders committed with a motive related to ``moral killing'' are
considered aggravated homicides, requiring a life sentence. The law is
designed to discourage the practice of issuing reduced sentences in
honor killing cases; however, some human rights advocates argued that
the wording of the law is not explicit enough to prevent judges from
viewing the honor killing tradition as a mitigating factor for
sentencing.
Because of sentence reductions for juvenile offenders, observers
noted that young male relatives often were designated to perform the
killing.
In April, 14-year-old Nuran Halitogullari was killed by her father
and brother in Istanbul. According to press reports, a 32-member family
council had ordered her killing to ``clean the family honor'' after she
was kidnapped and raped earlier in the year. Prosecutors opened a case
against the father, whose trial continued at year's end.
In February, 22-year-old Guldunya Toren was killed by two of her
brothers in an Istanbul hospital. According to press reports, a family
member raped and impregnated Toren in 2003. Toren fled Bitlis, in the
southeast, for Istanbul, where she gave birth. Two of her brothers
later tracked her down and shot her. She survived and was taken to a
hospital, where her brothers shot and killed her in front of witnesses.
Prosecutors opened a case against several family members; trial
proceedings continued at year's end.
Trial proceedings continued in the case of Semse Allak, who was
killed by relatives in Mardin Province in 2003 for becoming pregnant
out of wedlock. Trial proceedings also continued in the case of Kadriye
Demirel, who was killed by her 16-year-old brother in Diyarbakir in
2003 for becoming pregnant out of wedlock.
In March, a Sanliurfa court sentenced the brother of 14-year-old
Emine Kizilkurt to life imprisonment for murdering her in 2002 because
a neighbor had raped her; the court sentenced 8 other family members to
17 years in prison for approving the killing. The case was under appeal
at year's end.
Human rights organizations continued to report a high rate of
suicide among girls, particularly in the southeast and east. Observers
said forced marriages and economic problems contributed to the
suicides.
Prostitution was legal; however, police made numerous arrests
involving foreigners working illegally as prostitutes.
Women continued to face discrimination in employment to varying
degrees and were generally underrepresented in managerial level
positions as well as in government. Women generally received equal pay
for equal work in professional, business, and civil service positions,
although a large percentage of women employed in agriculture and in the
trade, restaurant, and hotel sectors worked as unpaid family labor.
In March, Senol Demiroz, the newly appointed director of the state-
owned TRT broadcasting company, fired 13 female employees from high-
level administrative positions and replaced them with men. Demiroz told
a reporter that a rivalry among female employees at the company had
made them unproductive. Women's advocacy groups and the women's
auxiliary of the Republican People's Party said the move reflected
Government opposition to women in leadership positions in the
workplace.
The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women, under
the State Minister for Women's and Children's Affairs, is responsible
for promoting equal rights and raising awareness of discrimination
against women. In October, Parliament adopted legislation that allows
the Directorate General to expand its limited staff.
Independent women's groups and women's rights associations existed
but have not significantly increased their numbers or activities,
mostly due to funding problems. There were many women's committees
affiliated with local bar associations. Other organizations included
the Association for Supporting and Training Women Candidates (Ka-Der),
Flying Broom, the Turkish Women's Union, the Association for
Researching and Examining Women's Social Life, and the Foundation for
the Evaluation of Women's Labor. Women continued to be very active in
ongoing debates between secularists and more religiously oriented
persons, particularly with respect to the right to choose whether to
wear religious head coverings in public places, such as government
offices and universities (see Section 2.c.).
According to Flying Broom, there was a sharp increase during the
year in the level of media attention to women's issues. The status of
women at times became an issue in the context of the country's EU
candidacy. Flying Broom prepared 26 1-hour radio programs during the
year; the print media also covered women's issues more closely than in
the past.
Children.--The Government was committed to furthering children's
welfare and worked to expand opportunities in education and health,
including a further reduction in the infant mortality rate. The
Minister for Women's and Children's Affairs oversaw implementation of
official programs for children. The Children's Rights Monitoring and
Assessment High Council focused on children's rights issues.
Government-provided education through age 14 or the eighth grade is
compulsory. Traditional family values in rural areas placed a greater
emphasis on education for sons than for daughters. According to the
Ministry of Education, 95.7 percent of girls and 100 percent of boys in
the country attended primary school; however, a UNICEF report released
during the year indicated that, in the rural areas of some provinces,
over 50 percent of girls between 7 and 13 and over 60 percent of girls
between 11 and 15 did not attend school.
Gaps in social security and health insurance programs left
approximately 20 percent of families and their children without
coverage. Persons not covered by insurance may use a special program to
access public health care. Immunization rates in some eastern and
southeastern provinces lagged behind the rest of the country. According
to UNICEF, the infant mortality rate dropped to 29 per 1,000 in 2003.
Child abuse was a problem. There were a significant number of honor
killings of girls by immediate family members, sometimes by juvenile
male relatives (see Section 5, Women).
In September, Parliament eliminated an article of the Penal Code
under which a mother who killed an illegitimate child to protect family
honor could receive a reduced sentence.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, there were numerous confirmed cases of trafficking of women
and children to and within the country for the purposes of sexual
exploitation and forced labor.
The law provides penalties for trafficking ranging from 8 to 12
years in prison and, at judicial discretion, an additional penalty of
up to 10,000 days (approximately 27.4 years) in prison.
As of November, the Government reported that prosecutors opened 12
cases against alleged traffickers. Two cases resulted in seven
convictions; several other cases were ongoing at year's end. In
February, a Yalova court convicted four of five defendants on
trafficking charges and sentenced them to 50 month prison terms and
fines of $976 (1.3 billion lira). In May, a Fethiye court convicted
three defendants on trafficking charges and sentenced them to 58-month
prison terms and fines of $716 (966 million lira).
In August, September, and October, police raided villages near the
southern city of Adana, freeing more than 20 victims from forced labor
camps. Many of the victims were orphaned minors or infirmed elderly
with mental and physical disabilities that prevented them from
escaping. Police detained 11 patrons in the raids but later released
them when the victims settled out of court for compensation. Child
protective services returned juvenile victims to family members.
Jandarma forces remanded elderly victims to state shelter facilities if
family could not be located.
In typical scenarios, victims were falsely led to believe that
payment for agricultural work (for male victims) and sex work (for
female victims) was forthcoming. Most victims reportedly lacked the
capacity to understand the terms of the agreements presented to them by
their traffickers or to seek redress when payment was continuously
delayed.
Ambassador Murat Ersavci of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the
National Coordinator for the Government's Task Force on Human
Trafficking, which is composed of representatives from the Ministries
of Health, Interior, Justice, and Labor, plus the Directorate General
for Social Services and Child Protection, the Directorate General on
the Status and Problems of Women, and scholars from Marmara University.
The Government participates in antitrafficking initiatives through
the OSCE, the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), the
Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the
International Center for Migration Policy Development, Interpol,
Europol, and the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in Human
Beings. During the year, the Government expanded bilateral and
multilateral protocols with neighboring countries and regional groups
to include antitrafficking law enforcement agreements. The Government's
effectiveness in assisting other countries in combating trafficking
varied. Counterparts in source countries reported that, in many
instances, Turkish law enforcement agencies refused to share
intelligence, evidence, and other critical trafficking case
information. For example, a February survey conducted through the
National Bureau of Interpol in Ukraine of 32 local law enforcement
officers from 8 Ukrainian cities found that nearly half of the
Ukrainian officers polled asserted Turkish authorities did not respond
to repeated requests for information critical to their investigations.
In the remaining cases, local and national Turkish law enforcement
agencies reportedly failed to reply by legal deadlines. Typical
requests involved details about the location of brothels where victims
were exploited, the names of traffickers and their accomplices, the
names of Ukrainian trafficking victims awaiting repatriation from the
country, and statements from witnesses who were either citizens or
residents of the country.
In May, TNP officers raided the Flash Hotel in Istanbul, arresting
a group of traffickers and recovering evidence that led to the arrests
of the syndicate's operators in Romania. TNP officers shared photos,
financial records, and customer logbooks with Romanian police
officials, who acted on the leads.
In June, the country joined 12 other member countries from the SECI
Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime to conduct a sweep of
regional sex trafficking networks. Internationally, more than 1,000
police officers reportedly coopeated to identify 594 victims and 545
traffickers. Teams from the country were involved in at least five of
the arrests.
In July, the Government assisted visiting federal police officers
from a destination country in their efforts to investigate possible
trafficking crimes and to obtain testimony against organizers of a
migrant smuggling network. The visiting officers complained of rigid
bureaucratic hurdles that hampered the speed of the investigation, but
agreed that Turkish authorities assisted in the investigation.
The country was a destination and transit point for human
trafficking. Most trafficking activity within the country, including
for forced labor, occurred in Antalya, Istanbul, Izmir, and Trabzon.
Trafficking syndicates also used the country as a transit country to
supply the sex trade in Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the
former Yugoslavia, and Western Europe. The Government placed the number
of trafficking victims during the year at more than 200; however, the
Government did not have a reliable system for victim identification.
Various NGOs operating in the country and in neighboring source
countries estimated the number of trafficking victims to be closer to
1,500. NGOs in Moldova reported assisting more than 105 Moldovan
trafficking victims. While reliable data was not available, NGOs in
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz
Republic, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan reported
cases totaling well over the Government's estimate.
Some victims reportedly arrived in the country knowing that they
would work illegally in the sex industry; however, most arrived
believing they would work as models, waitresses, dancers, domestic
servants, or in other regular employment. Victims additionally reported
the use of fraudulent documents, sham marriages, and falsified work
contracts. Traffickers typically confiscated victims' documents and
confined them, then raped and beat them, intimidated them by
threatening their families, and forced them into prostitution. In May,
police took testimony from a 17-year-old Romanian victim who described
a common trafficking scenario. The victim reported that when she was in
ninth grade she came in contact with traffickers who promised her a job
with good wages in Istanbul as a baby sitter or housekeeper. In October
2003, traffickers brought her to Istanbul by bus with other Romanian
girls and put her up in a hotel. Her captors destroyed her passport and
other identification documents, gave her false documents, and
threatened to kill her if she spoke to police. She was forced to have
intercourse with approximately 200 persons over an 8-month period.
Foreign victims trafficked to the country were typically recruited
by small networks of foreign nationals and Turkish citizens who relied
on referrals and recruitment from friends and family members in the
source country. Such groups could be as small as four or five persons.
Trafficking networks operating as tourist agencies or service firms in
source countries brought women to the country with official work
permits. Most reports indicated that profits were channeled into
expanding the network's capacity and affluence, by adding computers,
automobiles, and amenities for traffickers.
Networks tended to deposit proceeds in source country bank
accounts, usually through Turkish banking system transfers. Turkish
Jandarma and officials at the Interior Ministry maintained that
trafficking in humans, arms, and narcotics was closely connected.
Young women seeking employment, particularly from Moldova, Ukraine,
Romania and Russia, were at the greatest risk of being trafficked to
the country.
There were allegations that police corruption at all levels
contributed to the trafficking problem and may have been responsible
for the delays in implementation of certain cooperative agreements,
antitrafficking operations, and other law enforcement measures.
During the year, the Ministry of Justice continued to investigate
allegations of further police misconduct in Erzurum following the 2003
conviction of police officers for trafficking.
In Istanbul, police confiscated a notebook in which traffickers
required victims to record customers' names and personal information.
News media reported that the notebook included the names of police
officers and government officials.
In October, a shelter operated by the Municipality of Istanbul and
the Human Resource Development Foundation, an NGO, began accepting
victims. The facility was the first shelter for trafficking victims in
the country; more than 20 victims received health care as well as
psychological and legal assistance at the shelter during the year.
While the 12-bed shelter remained filled to capacity, the Government
continued to shelter trafficking victims in other locations on a case-
by-case basis, using police safe houses, shelters for elderly citizens
and abused women, and hotels. Some local law enforcement officers
reportedly found accommodation for victims at their personal expense.
Through the Health and Justice Ministries, the Government also
implemented programs to provide free medical and legal services to
foreign victims who chose to remain in the country. During the year,
the Government amended its humanitarian visa regulations to allow
victims to remain in the country for a maximum of 6 months. During
their stay, victims are entitled to medical and social services and are
allowed to engage in regular work in the economy. During the year, the
Government issued 26 such humanitarian visas. The Government did not
have a repatriation program for victims, although authorities
repatriated some on a case by case basis.
There were credible reports that the Government continued its
practice of processing trafficking cases as cases of voluntary
prostitution and illegal migration, failing to pursue traffickers under
available laws and summarily deporting victims, who were often
subjected to retrafficking.
Traffickers reportedly used a network of contacts to identify and
intercept deported victims at the port of departure, arrival, and in
transit.
The Security Directorate published and distributed widely a
comprehensive guidebook on trafficking-related issues for law
enforcement officers. The guidebook was reportedly incorporated into
police and Jandarma academy training seminars for new officers.
To deter trafficking, the Government amended the law to require a
provisional period of 3 years before a foreign applicant may obtain
citizenship based on a marriage petition. The Ministry of Tourism
further established and implemented a questionnaire, in various
languages, designed to identify potential victims through the visa
application process. The Government also reported that warnings on visa
applications now printed in Russian direct potential victims to an
emergency law enforcement hotline.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was no discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, or in the provision of other state services, although they did
suffer from a lack of economic opportunity. The law does not mandate
access to buildings and public transportation for persons with
disabilities. Persons with disabilities have some privileges, such as
the right to purchase products of State economic enterprises at a
discount or acquire them at no cost.
The Administration of Disabilities Office under the Prime Ministry
has a mandate to develop cooperation and coordination among national
and international institutions and to conduct research into issues such
as delivery of services to persons with disabilities. Companies with
more than 50 employees were required to hire persons with disabilities
as 2 percent of their employee pool, although the requirement was not
consistently enforced.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Constitution provides a
single nationality designation for all Turks and does not recognize
ethnic groups as national, racial, or ethnic minorities. Citizens of
Kurdish origin constituted a large ethnic and linguistic group.
Millions of the country's citizens identified themselves as Kurds and
spoke Kurdish. Kurds who publicly or politically asserted their Kurdish
identity or publicly espoused using Kurdish in the public domain risked
censure, harassment, or prosecution.
While there were some improvements during the year, the Government
maintained significant restrictions on the use of Kurdish and other
ethnic minority languages in radio and television broadcasts and in
publications (see Section 2.a.).
During the year, the HRF recorded fewer complaints that authorities
prevented parents from registering their children under traditional
Kurdish names.
During the year, private Kurdish language instruction courses were
opened in Istanbul and six southeastern cities (Van, Batman, Sanliurfa,
Diyarbakir, Kiziltepe, and Adana) pursuant to legislation adopted in
2002. According to observers, officials had delayed the courses by
raising bureaucratic obstacles. For example, authorities in Batman
required the school to expand classroom doorframes by 5 centimeters,
while authorities in Sanliurfa required the school to install a fire
escape for its two-story building, even though many taller buildings in
the area did not have fire escapes. Kurdish rights advocates said
students enrolling in the courses were required to provide extensive
application documents, including police records, that were not required
for other courses. They maintained that the requirements intimidated
prospective applicants, who feared police were keeping records on
students taking the courses.
No official estimate of the Romani population existed, but the
population may be significant in regions near Bulgaria and Greece, and
Roma were found in many cities throughout Anatolia. Human rights
observers said many Roma did not disclose their ethnic identity for
fear of discrimination. The law states that ``nomadic Gypsies'' are
among the four categories of people not admissible as immigrants.
In February, the Hurriyet newspaper's publication of a report that
Sabiha Gokcen--an adopted daughter of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was
the country's first female pilot--was of Armenian descent drew a number
of racist public statements. The Turkish General Staff issued a
statement criticizing the reports on Gokcen's Armenian ancestry as ``a
claim that abuses national values and feelings'' while the Turkish Air
Association called the report ``an insult'' to Gokcen and to Ataturk.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--While the law does not
explicitly discriminate against homosexuals, representatives of the gay
and lesbian rights organizations Lambda Istanbul and Kaos GL claimed
that vague references in the law relating to ``the morals of society''
and ``unnatural sexual behavior'' were sometimes used to punish
homosexuality. Gay and lesbian rights activists maintained that
homosexuals risked losing their jobs if they disclosed their sexual
orientation and said the law did not protect their rights in such
circumstances. In July, Kaos GL reported that unknown persons smashed
two windows at the organization's Ankara center.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides workers,
except police and military personnel, the right to associate freely and
to form representative unions, and they generally did so in practice.
However, the Government maintained some limited restrictions on the
right of association. Unions were required to obtain official
permission to hold meetings or rallies and to allow government
representatives to attend their conventions and record the proceedings;
however, these requirements were not always enforced. Prosecutors could
ask labor courts to order a trade union or confederation to suspend its
activities or to go into liquidation for serious infractions based on
alleged violation of specific legal norms; however, the Government
could not dissolve a union summarily. Approximately 1.6 million of the
11 to 12 million wage and salary earners were unionized. The labor
force numbered approximately 24 million, with approximately 35 percent
employed in agriculture.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, such
discrimination occurred occasionally in practice. Union representatives
claimed that employers sometimes layed off workers because they had
joined a union, using alleged incompetence or economic crises as a
pretext.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. Industrial workers and
civil servants have the right to bargain collectively, and
approximately 1.3 million workers, or 5.4 percent of the workforce,
were under collective contracts. The law requires that, in order to
become a bargaining agent, a union must represent 50 percent plus one
of the employees at a given work site and 10 percent of all the workers
in that particular industry. This requirement favored established
unions, particularly those affiliated with Turk-Is, the confederation
that represented approximately 80 percent of organized labor. In June,
the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions reported that the
law resulted in workers in many sectors not being covered by collective
agreement.
The law prohibits strikes by civil servants, public workers engaged
in the protection of life and property, the mining and petroleum
industries, sanitation services, national defense, and education;
however, many workers conducted strikes in violation of these
restrictions with general impunity. The majority of strikes during the
year were illegal; while some illegal strikers were dismissed, in most
cases employers did not retaliate.
The law requires a union to take a series of steps, including
collective bargaining and nonbinding mediation, before calling a
strike; a union that fails to comply with these steps forfeits its
right to strike. The law prohibits unions from engaging in secondary
(solidarity), political, or general strikes or in work slowdowns. In
sectors in which strikes are prohibited, labor disputes are resolved
through binding arbitration.
The law allows the Government to suspend strikes for 60 days on
national security or public health and safety grounds. Unions may
petition the Council of State to lift such a suspension. If an appeal
fails, and the parties and mediators fail to resolve the dispute, a
strike is subject to compulsory arbitration at the end of the 60-day
period. During the year, the Government suspended a strike by the glass
industry union Kristal-Is on national security grounds.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in
the country's 21 free trade and export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution and
law prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by children;
however, there were reports that such practices occurred. Some parents
forced their children to work on the streets and to beg (see Section
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law prohibits the employment of children younger than 15 and prohibits
children under 16 from working more than 8 hours a day. At 15, children
may engage in light work provided they remain in school. The
Constitution provides that no person shall be required to perform work
unsuitable for their age, gender, or capabilities, and the Government
prohibited children from working at night or in areas such as
underground mining. The law prohibits children attending school from
working more than 2 hours per day or 10 hours per week.
Child labor was widespread. The State Statistical Institute
reported that the number of child laborers between the ages of 12 and
17 dropped from 948,000 in 2003 to 764,000 during the year; however,
some observers claimed that the actual number of working children was
rising. An informal system provided work for young boys at low wages,
for example, in auto repair shops. Girls rarely were seen working in
public, but many were kept out of school to work in handicrafts,
particularly in rural areas. According to the Labor Ministry, 65
percent of child labor occurred in the agricultural sector. However,
some observers maintained that the bulk of child labor had shifted to
urban areas as rural families migrated to cities. Many children worked
in areas not covered by labor laws, such as agricultural workplaces
with fewer than 50 workers or the informal economy. According to the
Labor Ministry, the Government allocated $15 million (20.3 trillion
lira) for programs to eliminate child labor during the year.
Small enterprises preferred child labor because it was cheaper and
provided practical training for the children, who subsequently had
preference for future employment in the enterprise. If children
employed in these businesses were registered with a Ministry of
National Education Training Center, they were required to go to the
center once a week for training, and the centers were obliged by law to
inspect their workplaces. There were 346 centers located in 81 cities;
these centers provided apprenticeship training in 113 occupations. The
Government identified the worst forms of child labor as children
working in the streets, in industrial sectors where their health and
safety were at risk, and as agricultural migrant workers. In December
2003, the Government completed its report on the worst forms of child
labor and identified 18 provinces where the problem was most serious.
The Ministry of Labor effectively enforced these restrictions in
workplaces that were covered by the labor law, which included medium
and large-scale industrial and service sector enterprises. A number of
sectors were not covered by the law, including small-scale agricultural
enterprises, maritime and air transportation, family handicraft
businesses, and small shops.
In June and April, the Labor Ministry issued regulations on child
employment that identified specific jobs that could threaten the
physical or mental well-being of children.
There were no reliable statistics for the number of children
working on the streets nationwide. The Government operated 28 centers
to assist such children.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Minimum Wage Commission, a
tripartite government-industry-union body that reviews the minimum wage
every 6 months, set the minimum monthly wage for the second half of the
year at $328 (444 million lira). The minimum wage did not provide a
decent standard of living for a worker and family; however, most
workers earned considerably more than the minimum wage. Approximately
one-third of the labor force was covered by the labor law and received
fringe benefits that, according to the Turkish Employers' Association,
accounted for approximately 63 percent of total compensation.
The law establishes a 45-hour workweek and a weekly rest day, and
limits overtime to 3 hours per day for up to 90 days a year. The Labor
Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor effectively enforced wage and
hour provisions in the unionized industrial, service, and government
sectors, which covered approximately 12 percent of workers.
The law mandates occupational health and safety regulations;
however, in practice the Government did not carry out effective
inspection and enforcement programs. The law allows for the shutdown of
an operation if a five-person committee, which included safety
inspectors, employee, and employer representatives, determined that the
operation endangered workers' lives. In practice, financial
constraints, limited safety awareness, carelessness, and fatalistic
attitudes resulted in scant attention to occupational safety and health
by workers and employers alike. The law allows workers to remove
themselves from hazardous conditions without risking loss of
employment, and they did so in practice.
__________
TURKMENISTAN
Turkmenistan is an authoritarian, one-party state dominated by
President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov who exercised power by retaining
his monopoly on political power and on the Democratic Party, the only
legally recognized political party in the country. Niyazov has been
President since independence in 1991, and legally may remain in office
until 2010. In August 2003, Niyazov was elected by the Halk Maslahaty
(People's Council) to a life term as its Chairman, giving him a
substantial say in the selection of any presidential successor.
Government efforts continued to focus on fostering centralized state
control and the glorification of the President. The 50 member
unicameral Parliament (Mejlis) has no genuinely independent authority;
in August 2003, the Peoples' Council replaced it as the supreme
legislative body. The judiciary was not independent and was under the
control of the President. The Ministry of National Security (MNB),
formerly the Committee on National Security (KNB), had primary
responsibility to ensure that the Government remained in power through
tight social controls and suppressing dissent. The Ministry of Internal
Affairs (MVD) directed the criminal police, which worked closely with
the MNB on matters of national security. The civilian authorities
maintained effective control of the security forces. Members of the
security forces committed numerous human rights abuses.
The country's economy was centrally planned under government
control. The population was estimated at over 6 million. The estimated
growth rate was 9.7 percent for 2003. The unemployment rate was
estimated at 50 percent in urban areas and 70 percent in the rural
areas. The Turkmen National Institute of Statistics estimated that 25
percent of the workforce was in agriculture and 58 percent was in the
public sector, including government-run farming associations. Wages
often were not paid for months.
The Government's human rights record remained extremely poor, and
the Government continued to commit serious abuses. Authorities severely
restricted political and civil liberties and citizens did not have the
ability to change their government. Security forces killed six persons
trying to cross the border from Iran, and there were reports that
several prisoners died in custody due to denial of medical treatment.
Torture and mistreatment of detainees and prisoners were serious
problems. The denial of access to prisoners of family, legal counsel,
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), or any other
international observers was a serious problem. Criminal police and MNB
impunity was a serious problem. Arbitrary arrest, incommunicado
detention, and prolonged detention were serious problems. Denial of due
process and fair trial was a problem. The Government held at least one
political prisoner. The Government continued to arbitrarily interfere
with privacy, home, and correspondence. The Government restricted
freedom of speech and did not permit freedom of the press. The
Government restricted freedom of assembly and association. All
opposition political activity was banned. The Government continued to
restrict religious freedom. During the year, freedom of movement
improved when the Government repealed the exit visa requirement;
however, the Government maintained a blacklist of individuals not
permitted to travel abroad. No domestic human rights groups existed.
Violence against women and child labor continued to be problems.
Government discrimination against minorities was a problem. The
Government also restricted labor rights by not permitting strikes or
free association of employees.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
reports of political killings; however, during the year border guards
shot and killed six persons who the Government claimed were illegally
attempting to cross the border from Iran.
During the year, there were reports that some prisoners died due to
malnutrition and untreated illnesses as a result of authorities
withholding food and medical care (see Section 1.c.).
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there
were credible reports that security officials tortured, routinely beat,
and used excessive force against criminal suspects, prisoners, and
individuals critical of the Government.
In January, members of the MNB forcibly abducted and beat an
associate of a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent.
The assailants repeatedly beat the man, threatened to kill him, and
demanded that he cease contact with foreigners. No investigation was
opened into the incident.
On April 30, Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center reported
members of the MNB brutally beat Moscow-based RFE/RL correspondent and
executive director of the human rights organization, Turkmen ili,
Mukhametgeldy Berdyyew. Berdyyew suffered broken ribs, a concussion,
partial loss of vision, and bruising. His apartment was ransacked, as
was that of his son. The incidents took place in Moscow.
There were credible reports that former government officials and
others imprisoned for various alleged crimes, including those
implicated in the November 2002 armed attack against the President,
were singled out for harsh treatment. An international NGO reported in
2003 that authorities drugged and tortured more than 100 of those
arrested after the 2002 attack. According to the same NGO and other
local sources, security officials suffocated some to the point of
unconsciousness, beat them, and subjected them to electric shock
torture and injections of psychotropic substances to coerce confessions
during interrogations.
Local sources reported that authorities detained and threatened
relatives of those implicated in the November 2002 attack to coerce
confessions and limit their contact with foreigners. Many of these
relatives were placed on the ``black list'' and were prevented from
traveling outside of the country.
In February, retired citizen Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev was forcibly
detained in a psychiatric hospital after requesting permission from
authorities to conduct a peaceful demonstration against the policies of
President Niyazov (see Section 2.a.).
Government opponents reported that former high-level officials were
denied proper medical treatment and suffered beatings while in
detention. In 2003, government opponents outside of the country claimed
that prisoners needing medical treatment were beaten on their way to
and from the hospital. Security forces also used denial of medical
treatment and food, verbal intimidation and placement in unsanitary
conditions to coerce confessions.
Members of minority religions claimed that law enforcement officers
tortured and otherwise abused their members (see Section 2.c.). Three
Jehovah's Witnesses remained imprisoned as conscientious objectors at
year's end and were subject to regular beatings (see Section 5).
There was no action taken in the following 2003 cases: The March
detention, beating, and injuring of a person suspected of buying a
forged passport, the July reported detention, torture, and severe
injuring of five relatives or associates of Saparmurat Yklymov, and the
November abduction and beating of a local correspondent by suspected
MNB officers.
Conditions were poor in prisons, which were unsanitary,
overcrowded, unsafe, and posed a threat to life. Disease, particularly
tuberculosis, was rampant. The Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation, an
opposition website, reported that of the 9,000 prisoners released in
2003, many had tuberculosis and were released untested and untreated
into the general population. Nutrition was poor and prisoners depended
on relatives to supplement inadequate food supplies. Prisoners
convicted for treason were unable to receive food or sundries from
relatives.
Some prisoners died due to the combination of overcrowding,
untreated illnesses, and lack of adequate protection from the summer
heat.
Prisoners amnestied in 2003 swore an oath of allegiance to the
``Rukhnama,'' President Niyazov's 2001 spiritual guidebook on the
country's culture and heritage (see Section 2.c.). Prisoners who
refused to swear this oath were beaten.
There were three types of prisons throughout the country:
Educational-labor colonies, correctional-labor colonies, and prisons.
Some prisoners, usually former government officials, were sent into
internal exile. In the correctional-labor colonies, relatives of
prisoners reported excessive periods of isolation of prisoners in cells
and ``chambers.'' Authorities allegedly threatened, harassed, and
abused minority religious prisoners in an attempt to force them to
renounce their faiths (see Section 2.c.). In Gyzylgaya prison, located
in the Karakum Desert, prisoners were forced to work in a kaolin mine
under hazardous and unhealthy conditions (see Section 6.c.).
Men were held separately from women, and juveniles were held
separately from adults. Pretrial detainees usually were held separately
from convicted prisoners in detention centers. Prisoners held in
connection with the November 2002 attack were reportedly held
separately at the Ovadan Depe prison.
Government officials refused to respond to inquiries from family
members and diplomats about prisoners' whereabouts or physical
conditions. Government officials also refused to allow family members,
foreign diplomats, or international observers, including the ICRC, to
visit detainees or prisoners associated with the November 2002 attack.
In May, however, the President made public comments that
representatives of the international community would be welcome to
visit prisons in the country. The Government held preliminary
discussions with the ICRC regarding access.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution and law
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, arbitrary arrest and
detention were serious problems.
The MNB's primary responsibility was ensuring the Government
remained in power. The MNB exercised wide discretion over issues such
as exit visas and Internet access. The MNB also worked to limit
personal freedoms. The MVD directed the criminal police, who worked
closely with the MNB on matters of national security. The Minister of
the MNB did not formally supervise other ministries; however, the MNB
exercised control over personnel changes in other ministries and
enforced presidential decrees. Both the MNB and criminal police
operated with impunity. The Government rarely investigated allegations
of abuse and did not hold members of the security forces accountable
for abuses. Corruption was widespread in the security forces.
A warrant is not required for an arrest. The Chairman of the
Cabinet of Ministers, a position held by the President, has sole
authority for approving arrest warrants. Authorities could detain
individuals for 72 hours without a formal arrest warrant, but legally
had to issue a formal bill of indictment within 10 days of arrest to
hold detainees longer; however, these provisions were not always
adhered to in practice.
Those expressing views critical of or different from those of the
Government were arrested on charges of economic crimes against the
state and various common crimes (see Section 2.a.).
In February, two men were arrested for allegedly smuggling books
into the country. They were sentenced to 5 years probation and released
in March.
In April and May, Dunya Yklimova Mahtimagamedova, a relative of one
of the convicted 2002 coup plotters, was repeatedly detained by
security forces, forcibly removed from her house, and accused of
supporting regime opponents.
Detainees were entitled to immediate access to an attorney once a
bill of indictment had been issued; however, in practice they were not
allowed prompt or regular access to legal counsel. Incommunicado
detention was a problem. Authorities denied some prisoners visits by
family members during the year. Families sometimes did not know the
whereabouts of their imprisoned relatives (see Section 1.c.).
The law characterizes any opposition to the Government as an act of
treason. Those convicted faced life imprisonment and were ineligible
for amnesty or reduction of sentence. By the end of 2003, approximately
50 to 60 persons were arrested or convicted under the law.
Representatives of minority religions claimed that law enforcement
officers forcibly detained their members throughout the year (see
Section 2.c.).
The Government widely used house arrest, without due process, to
control regime opponents and to prevent citizens from meeting with
visiting foreign diplomats. During the year, relatives of those
suspected in the November 2002 armed attack remained under house
arrest.
Some of the 100 individuals placed under house arrest in March
2003, to prevent them from meeting with the visiting Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairman-in-Office, remained
under house arrest, others' movement was restricted to the regions of
their residence.
The exact location of over 50 prisoners being held in connection
with the November 2002 attack remained unknown at year's end. There
were unconfirmed reports they were being held at a new secret prison
outside of Ashgabat; there were also unconfirmed reports of abuses.
The law provides that a person accused of a crime may be held in
pretrial detention for no more than 2 months, which in exceptional
cases may be extended to 1 year. In practice, authorities often
exceeded these limits. Opposition groups and international
organizations, such as Amnesty International (AI), claimed the
Government held many political detainees, although the precise number
was unknown. Several hundred relatives and associates of those
implicated in the November 2002 attack were held without charge for
their perceived political opinions and possible involvement in the
attack.
Geldy Kyarizov, who was arrested in 2002 for numerous crimes
reportedly because of his disagreements with President Niyazov's
policies, remained in detention at year's end. His family was able to
visit him in detention.
In August, the Government released a revised Criminal Procedure
Code that could significantly alter the 1961 Soviet code, still in
force. The proposal incorporated rights of the accused--including the
introduction of the presumption of innocence, restraints on police
searches, establishment of a bail mechanism, and limits on pretrial
detention. The proposal was pending at year's end.
In 2003, numerous former ministers and government officials were
dismissed from their positions, sent into internal exile, and remained
under house arrest (see Section 2.d.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice the judiciary was not
independent. The President's power to select and dismiss judges
subordinated the judiciary to the Presidency. The President appointed
all judges for a term of 5 years. There was no legislative review of
these appointments, except for the Chairman (Chief Justice) of the
Supreme Court who was reviewed by the rubber stamp Mejlis. The
President has the sole authority to dismiss all appointees before the
completion of their terms.
The court system consists of a Supreme Court, 6 provincial courts
(including 1 for the city of Ashgabat), and, at the lowest level, 61
district and city courts. Criminal offenses committed by members of the
armed forces are tried in civilian courts under the authority of the
Office of the Prosecutor General.
The law provides for the rights of due process for defendants,
including a public trial, access to accusatory material, the right to
call witnesses to testify on their behalf, a defense attorney, a court-
appointed lawyer if the defendant could not afford one, and the right
to represent oneself in court; however, in practice, authorities often
denied these rights, and there were few independent lawyers available
to represent defendants. At times, defendants were not allowed to
confront or question witnesses against them. Defendants and their
attorneys sometimes were denied access to government evidence against
them. Frequently defendants did not enjoy a presumption of innocence.
Even when due process rights were observed, the authority of the
government prosecutor far exceeded that of the defense attorney, and it
was very difficult for the defendant to receive a fair trial. Lower
courts' decisions could be appealed, and the defendant could petition
the President for clemency.
Courts allegedly ignored allegations of torture that defendants
raised in trial.
In general, observers were not permitted access to ostensibly open
court proceedings. In April 2003, the Government physically prevented
foreign diplomats from attending the trial of alleged regime opponents;
however, in May, diplomats attended the property trial of Dunya
Yklimova Mahtimagamedova.
There were regular reports of individuals being arrested and
requested to pay fines for breaking specific laws; however, when asked
to see the law, Government officials refused.
At year's end, the Government held at least one political prisoner,
Mukhametkuli Aimuradov.
The Government systemically failed to enforce the law with respect
to restitution or compensation for confiscation of private property
(see Section 1.f.).
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution prohibits such actions; however,
authorities frequently did not respect these prohibitions in practice.
Laws restrict searches of private homes, though authorities violated
these restrictions routinely during the year. There were credible
reports that authorities forcibly searched the homes of suspected
regime opponents, minority religious groups, and relatives of those
suspected in the November 2002 attack. Unlike in previous years, no
evictions occurred, but the threat persisted.
The law does not regulate the conduct of surveillance by the state
security apparatus, which regularly monitored the activities of
officials, citizens, opponents and critics of the Government, foreign
diplomats, other foreign residents, and visitors. Security officials
used physical surveillance, telephone tapping, electronic
eavesdropping, and the recruitment of informers. There was one
government-controlled Internet service provider. The Government
monitored citizens' e-mail and Internet usage and cut service for
accounts used to visit sensitive sites. Critics of the Government, and
many other persons, reported that their surface mail was intercepted
before delivery. Mail taken to the post office had to remain unsealed
for inspection.
There was evidence that the Government monitored citizens' e-mails.
The Government engaged in forcible resettlement and stated its
intention to do so on a broad scale. In April, families of dismissed
Government officials lost their homes and were relocated to the
Dashoguz Velayat. The 2003 decree for resettlement of residents in
Dashoguz, Lebap, and Ahal Velayats to the northwest part of the country
was partially implemented (see Section 5).
Unlike in the previous year, authorities did not dismiss children
from school or remove adults from their jobs due to the political
activities of relatives. Those who left school or lost jobs in the
previous year were not able to return to their education or positions.
During the year, the Government continued to demolish large numbers
of private homes to make way for new construction in Ashgabat,
including those to which residents had valid legal title, as part of an
urban renewal program. Affected areas in the Ashgabat suburbs included
Archabil, Bagir village, and Keshi. In some of the worst cases, the
Government required evicted families to pay for removal of the rubble
of their destroyed homes, reportedly gave persons as little as 12 hours
to collect their belongings and vacate, and did not provide homeowners
with alternate accommodations or compensation. Others were given 2
weeks notice to vacate and offered apartments or plots of land in
compensation; however, such plots were often undeveloped and/or
nonirrigated, resulting in the loss of livelihood for many. The
Government justified the demolitions in some cases by asserting
previous authorities gave land away illegally; therefore, those plots
had to be returned to the state. In July, demolitions in the Ashgabat
suburbs resulted in newly homeless individuals taking refuge in
abandoned schools and prisons. The evictions also resulted in isolated
public protests (see Section 2.b.) and the April 22 shooting in
Rukhabat Etrap of local mayor Amansoltan Mahmedova by an evicted man.
A 2001 presidential decree prohibits foreigners or stateless
persons from marrying citizens without meeting several requirements.
The noncitizen must have been a resident of the country for a year, own
a home, be at least 18 years of age, and must post a ``divorce bond''
of $50,000 (1.1 billion TMM) with the Government. There were no reports
of such marriages in the country under the law; however, there were
reports that some individuals married abroad to bypass the law. The
requirements were purportedly instituted to protect citizen spouses and
children.
In a pattern of harassment of the relatives of Saparmurat Yklymov,
who was convicted as one of the primary plotters of the November 2002
attack, law enforcement officers reportedly forcibly evicted Edzhebay
Yklymov, his 75-year-old wheelchair-bound mother, who passed away in
August, and several children in November 2002 and again on March 27. In
August, his sister and two of her children were granted refugee status
in Sweden.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, in practice, the
Government restricted freedom of speech and did not permit freedom of
the press. Persons expressing views critical of or different from those
of the Government were arrested on false charges of committing common
crimes. Criticism of the Government could also lead to personal
depravation and abuse, including loss of opportunities for advancement
and employment, and harassment.
In February, retired citizen Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev was forcibly
detained in a psychiatric hospital after requesting permission from
authorities to conduct a peaceful demonstration against President
Niyazov's policies (see Section 1.c.). Durdykuliev remained
incarcerated at year's end.
In the spring, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
criticized the country's ``absolute lack of any freedom of
expression.'' The President, in response, was critical of the OSCE and
its interference and supposed misrepresentation of the situation in the
country. In July, the Government expelled the OSCE Ambassador by not
renewing her mandate, although the OSCE maintained its mission in the
country.
The Government funded almost all print media. The Government
censored newspapers; approval from the Office of the President's Press
Secretary was required for prepublication galleys. There were 22
newspapers published in Turkmen and only 1 official newspaper in
Russian; the only major daily newspaper was printed in Turkmen and
Russian. The major stories were identical in both papers while
advertising and some content varied. Foreign newspapers, including
Russian-language publications, from abroad were banned. To regulate
domestic printing and copying activities, the Government required all
publishing houses and printing and copying establishments to obtain
registration licenses for their equipment. The Government required the
registration of all photocopiers and mandated that a single individual
be responsible for all photocopying activity.
All publishing companies were government-owned, and works by
authors of fiction who wrote on topics that were out of favor with the
Government were not published. The government controlled Union of
Writers expelled members who criticized government policy, and
libraries removed their works.
On August 19, the President dismantled the Ministry of Culture and
Information to create a new Ministry of Culture and Television to
promote the Government's cultural agenda, and a Radio Broadcasting and
National State Press service, to supervise print media bodies.
Observers feared the changes would allow more intense Government
control of the media.
In February, two men were arrested for allegedly smuggling books
into the country. They were sentenced to 5 years' probation.
The Government completely controlled radio and local television.
There were four Turkmen TV stations, but satellite channels were
prevalent. Owners of satellite dishes had access to foreign television
programming, and use of satellite dishes was widespread.
In July, the Government shut down the only Russian language news
and radio service available and the country's main source of credible
international information, Radio Mayak (Russian-owned), citing
technical difficulties. A Turkmen language station quickly replaced
Radio Mayak.
The Government required all foreign correspondents to apply for
accreditation.
During the year, journalists were subject to arrest, harassment,
intimidation, and violence, reportedly by government agents.
In January, members of the MNB forcibly abducted and beat an
associate of a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent.
The assailants repeatedly beat the man, threatened to kill him and
demanded he cease contact with foreigners.
Journalists associated with RFE/RL were arrested. On February 28,
78-year-old Rakhim Esenov was arrested and charged with instigating
social, ethnic, and religious hatred. On March 1, Ashyrguly Bayryev was
arrested for smuggling novels into the country. He had previously been
warned by authorities to end his relationship with RFE/RL. Former film
director Khalmurad Gylychdurdyev was also detained and questioned about
his work with the Radio. RFE/RL correspondents have been subject to
arbitrary arrest and abuse in the past, including the 2003 abduction
and torture of Saparmurat Ovezberdyev. In July, Ovezberdyev was
released; he requested asylum overseas and was permitted to leave.
On April 30, Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center reported
Radio Liberty correspondent Mukhametgeldy Berdyyew was brutally beaten
by the MNB after he filed a lawsuit against President Niyazov, charging
that the President had plagiarized large segments of the Rukhnama. His
apartment was ransacked, as was that of his son. The incidents took
place in Moscow.
In June, the MNB detained a local correspondent for 3 days and
demanded he sign a confession stating that he was passing government
secrets to foreign powers.
The Government prohibited the media from reporting the views of
opposition political leaders and critics, and it did not allow
criticism of the President. Domestic journalists and correspondents for
foreign news services engaged in self censorship due to fear of
government reprisal.
The government-dictated focus of the media on the achievements of
President Niyazov and his love of his people continued during the year
and amplified his cult of personality. Criticism of officials was only
permitted if directed at those who had fallen out of favor with the
President, and public criticism of officials was done almost
exclusively by the President.
On numerous occasions early in the year, the Government warned its
critics and foreign diplomats against speaking with visiting
journalists or other foreigners wishing to discuss human rights
problems.
Intellectuals and artists reported that security officials
instructed them to praise the President in their work and warned them
not to participate in receptions hosted by foreign diplomatic missions.
The Ministry of Culture's approval was required before plays opened to
the public, ensuring against antigovernment or antipresidential
content. Though classical music was still taught and performed
throughout the country there was little or no government support for
non Turkmen music.
While Internet access was available, government-owned Turkmen
Telecom was the sole Internet provider. Internet access was
prohibitively expensive for most citizens and service was poor. The
Government worked with NATO's Silk Highway Project to introduce
Internet services to a limited number of universities and allowed the
Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) to operate throughout the
country. In June, the Turkmen Telecom began blocking customers' access
to RFE/RL's Turkmen Service website (www.azatradio.org); access was not
restored by year's end.
During the year, the Government increased its already significant
restrictions on academic freedom. It did not tolerate criticism of
government policy or the President in academic circles, and it
discouraged research into areas it considered politically sensitive,
such as comparative law, history, or ethnic relations. No master's
degrees or doctorates have been granted in the country since 1998.
Government permission is required to study abroad and receive
acceptance of foreign degrees earned. Since 2000, universities have
reduced the period of classroom instruction from 4 years to 2 years in
accordance with President Niyazov's declaration that higher education
should consist of 2 years of classroom education and 2 years of
vocational training. Governmental restrictions on instruction in non-
Turkmen languages, limited availability of Turkmen language textbooks,
and ongoing downsizing of secondary schools contributed to the
declining quality of education.
In February, the President criticized correspondence courses and
foreign diplomas, called for cleanliness and ethics in education, and
announced plans to release a book of ethics for curricula in higher
education.
Since September 2002, each child was required to bring to school a
personal copy of the Rukhnama. Teachers were discouraged from bringing
alternative viewpoints into the classroom. The works of several
writers, poets, and historians were placed on a blacklist and withdrawn
from public schools and libraries because their portrayal of Turkmen
history differed from that of the Government. In September, a Rukhnama
Volume II was published and teachers reported having to set aside more
time examining the Rukhnama rather than traditional academic subjects.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government restricted
this right in practice. Permits were required for public meetings and
demonstrations; however, authorities did not grant them. Nonregistered
organizations, particularly those perceived to have political agendas,
were not allowed to hold demonstrations.
In June, approximately 50 women assembled outside the local U.N.
building in Ashgabat to request U.N. support against planned house
demolitions. The MVD detained the women at the local Hakim's (Mayor)
office; however, with the acting U.N. Head of Mission in attendance,
the women were allowed to present their grievances to the Hakim and
then were released.
In April, residents of Archabil, a suburb of Ashgabat, gathered at
their local administrative office and blocked roads leading up to it to
protest continued house demolitions. Authorities used troops to break
up the demonstration. Ten or more people, including women, were
arrested (see Section 1.f.).
It was unclear whether students from Turkmen State University, who
were incarcerated for distributing leaflets criticizing the Government
in 2002, remained in detention at year's end.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government restricted this right in practice. A 2003 law on public
associations and NGO registration requires that all nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) register with the Ministry of Justice,
criminalizes the operation of unregistered groups, and restricts the
ability of foreign donors to provide grants and assistance to civil
society groups by requiring that all foreign assistance be registered
with the State Agency for Investment, Ministry of Justice, and
coordinated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In July, the Government told diplomats that 89 domestic NGO groups
and public associations had registered under restrictive rules adopted
in 2003; however, Government representatives asserted that most groups
were unable to operate due to lack of funding. Of the registered NGOs,
only a handful were independent. While some groups reported good
cooperation with the MOJ in the registration process, other NGOs
reported difficulties registering with the Government, such as
applications frequently being returned for technical difficulties or
application materials not being released for first-time applicants.
Despite the threat of criminal penalties, some NGOs found alternative
ways to carry out activities, such as registering as businesses or
subsidiaries of other, registered groups. Others considered themselves
temporarily closed. At year's end, criminal penalties had been lifted.
No political groups critical of government policy were able to meet
the requirements for registration. The only registered political party
was the Democratic Party, the former Turkmen Communist Party. The
Government did not prohibit membership in political organizations;
however, in practice those who claimed membership in political
organizations other than the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan were
harassed.
Authorities have fired or threatened to fire supporters of
opposition movements, removed them from professional societies, and
threatened them with the loss of their homes. In addition, some
citizens with links to foreigners were subject to official
intimidation.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution and the Law on Freedom of
Conscience and Religious Organizations provide for freedom of religion;
however, in practice the Government restricted these rights. There is
no state religion, but the majority of the population is Sunni Muslim.
The Government has incorporated some aspects of Islamic tradition into
its efforts to redefine a national identity; however, the Government
placed some restrictions on Muslims. In practice, the Government
closely controlled and monitored all religious activities.
Some members of minority religions claimed that law enforcement
officers tortured and abused their members. In particular, there was a
credible report that five Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors
detained at the Seidi Labor Camp Prison were beaten by authorities and
ordered to renounce their faith; however, in June, the Government
released seven Jehovah's Witnesses from detention. During the year,
reports of harassment declined significantly; however, Jehovah's
Witnesses continued to experience sexual harassment, detention,
interrogations, evictions, and pressure to abandon their beliefs. Some
were forced to pay fines.
On September 5, Jehovah's Witnesses Gulkamar Dzhumayeva and
Gulsherin Babkuliyeva were arrested while holding a private discussion
with fellow citizens. Police officials hit Babkuliyeva on the head,
sexually harassed her, and threatened to rape her. The women were held
overnight without contact with their families and eventually released.
On November 12, Bilbil Kulyyeva was forcibly evicted from a hostel
based on her religious affiliation with the Witnesses.
On January 14, President Niyazov signed a decree that further
strengthened a 2003 law on religious organizations that provided a
legal basis for the Government's systematic harassment of religious
minority groups. The law required that all religious organizations
register, criminalized activities of unregistered religious
organizations, and further restricted religious education. The legal
system provided no safeguards to remedy violation of religious freedom
or persecution by private actors. New rules set out in the decree
included increased registration fees, the lifting of the requirement
for the MOJ to publish a list of registered religious organizations,
and the requirement that registration be completed in the Turkmen
language.
In March, the Government published amendments to the religion law,
scaling back the number of members required for registration from 500
to 5, and pledged to register all religious groups and adhere to
international norms regarding the treatment of religious minorities. On
May 13, President Niyazov signed two decrees removing criminal
penalties and financial and reporting requirements from the law on
religious organizations. In June, as a result of these legal changes,
the Government registered the Sunni Muslims and Russian Orthodox Church
as well as four minority religious groups: The Seventh Day Adventists,
Baha'i, Baptists, and the Hare Krishnas.
Minority groups reported that harassment lessened since these
changes in the law, and that the MOJ cooperated with some unregistered
groups to provide assistance in the registration process. However, the
registration process remained burdensome and subject to delays, and the
Government continued to harass some registered and nonregistered
religions during the year.
Nonregistered religious congregations were present in the country,
such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals, a separate group of
Baptists, and Evangelical Christian groups among others; however, the
Government restricted their activities. Nonregistered groups were
officially prohibited from conducting religious activities.
Religious minorities such as the Jehovah's Witnesses were still
actively discouraged and pressured to give up their beliefs. On March
10, Aleksandr Zorin, a Witness, was called to the Council for Religious
Affairs (CRA) and pressured to abandon his faith or lose his job. He
was dismissed from his work the following day.
Many groups, including registered religious groups, were unable to
establish places of worship. During the year, authorities demolished a
number of privately-operated mosques and refused to allow two Hare
Krishna temples, a Seventh-Day Adventist church, and Christian
denomination churches that had been either demolished or confiscated to
be either rebuilt or returned.
The Government controlled the establishment of Muslim places of
worship and limited access to Islamic education. In March, President
Niyazov announced no more mosques would be built in the country. The
government-supported Council on Religious Affairs (CRA) was part of the
government bureaucracy and appeared to exercise direct control over the
hiring, promotion, firing, and in some cases compensation, of both
Sunni Muslim and Russian Orthodox clergy, although the Law on Religion
does not include this role among the CRA's duties.
Some Muslim groups felt demolitions were conducted under the guise
of preventing religious extremism, and to control religious teaching.
In March, the Government closed three mosques, replaced the Imams with
state appointees, and placed one Imam under house arrest for
unspecified charges.
Also in March, Turkmenistan's respected former Chief Mufti was
secretly tried and sentenced to 22 years in prison for his alleged role
in the November 2002 attack and his failure to promote the Rukhnama.
Ethnic Turkmen who converted to Christianity were subjected to
official harassment and mistreatment.
Foreign missionary activity is prohibited, although both Christian
and Muslim missionaries were present in the country.
The Government attempted to restrict the freedom of parents to
raise their children in accordance with their religious beliefs. There
was no official religious instruction in public schools; however,
students were required to study the Rukhnama at all public schools and
institutes of higher learning. Extracurricular religious education was
allowed only with CRA and presidential permission.
Only one institution of Islamic education remained open and the
Government controlled the curriculum. All annual classes of religious
students were limited to between 15 to 20 students a year.
Government supported mosques were required to keep copies of the
Rukhnama. The President attempted to use these teachings in part to
supersede other established religious codes, as well as historical and
cultural texts, and thereby shape citizens' religious and cultural
behavior. In November 2003, the MNB closed down a mosque that failed to
place the Rukhnama on the same stand with the Koran for Friday prayer.
Religious literature is no longer published in the country. In
August, members of two minority religious groups reported their members
were questioned by police and had literature and other material
confiscated. The material for one group was later returned. In
December, a similar incident occurred when a member of a religious
minority returned from overseas travel. The Government confiscated
religious literature and materials, including Bibles.
Ethnic Turkmen members of unregistered religious groups accused of
disseminating religious material received harsher treatment than
members of other ethnic groups, particularly if they received financial
support from foreign sources.
In January, the Government formally lifted an exit visa
requirement; there were no reports of members of religious groups not
being permitted to leave the country (see Section 2.d.).
During the year, the Government controlled the number of persons
allowed to participate in the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca (the
Hajj), specifying that only 187 pilgrims would be allowed to journey to
Mecca, out of the country's quota of 4,600 persons.
During the year, seven Jehovah's Witnesses were released from
prison, where they were being held as conscientious objectors. The
prisoners reported they were under constant pressure to renounce their
faith and received harsher treatment. Three Jehovah's Witnesses
remained imprisoned as conscientious objectors at year's end.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution does not provide for
full freedom of movement; although the Government took steps to ease
restrictions on freedom of movement, restrictions remained.
Citizens still carried internal passports, which were used
primarily as a form of identification, rather than as a means of
controlling movement. The Government maintained restrictions on travel
to border cities and regions and maintained large parts of the country
as restricted zones. Residence permits were not required, although the
place of residence was registered and noted in passports. The
Government confiscated the passports of political opponents to enforce
internal exile during the year.
In January, the Government eliminated the exit visa requirement,
following international pressure from the diplomatic corps, the OSCE,
and the U.N. The elimination of the exit visa regime allowed the
majority of citizens to travel abroad; however, the Government
maintained a ``black list'' of those not allowed to travel. Some
members of minority religious groups, regime opponents, relatives of
those implicated in the November 2002, and those suspected of having
``state secrets'' were not permitted to leave the country.
The Government refused to allow some students selected for study
abroad and exchange programs to participate in the programs.
Since 2002, there have been restrictions on citizens traveling to
Iran and Uzbekistan, purportedly out of concern of narcotics
trafficking and other smuggling. The Government charged a $6.00
(132,000 TMM) fee for travel and required individuals to register their
travel, indicating the reason and duration of the trip and whom they
intended to visit.
The law permitted forced exile, and some individuals remained in
forced exile; however the Government did not use forced and internal
exile as punishment during the year. Numerous former ministers and
government officials were dismissed from their positions, sent into
internal exile, and remained under house arrest. The President proposed
that the officials, who were sometimes accompanied by their families,
could work off their sentences in exile. Almost all prominent political
opponents of the Government chose to move to other countries for
reasons of personal safety; none returned during the year.
Sazak Begmedov, who was forced to leave Ashgabat in late 2003 after
his daughter founded the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation in Bulgaria,
remained in internal exile at year's end.
Maral Yklymova, the daughter of one of the accused organizers of
the November 2002, remained in Mary where she was regularly watched by
Turkmen security officials and periodically had her passport
confiscated. Although granted political asylum by Sweden, the
Government has so far chosen to ignore the decision.
There were reports that authorities harassed ethnic Russians and
confiscated their property to hasten their migration after the
imposition of the 2003 Citizenship Law.
The Government discouraged emigration of ethnic Turkmen living in
Iran, Iraq, Turkey and other countries and emigration of non-Turkmen
from the former Soviet Union.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution; however, the
Government deported some ethnic Uzbek refugees to Uzbekistan in 2003.
The Government granted refugee or asylum status to some ethnic Turkmen
from Afghanistan. The Government also allowed some Tajik refugees and
migrants to reside in the country. The Government cooperated with the
office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who
may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol.
Since the beginning of international military operations in
Afghanistan, the Government has agreed to increase its cooperation with
the UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and
other international refugee and relief agencies to assist refugees from
Afghanistan. The Government also played an important role in
facilitating the flow of humanitarian assistance to refugees who
remained in Afghanistan.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change their Government
Citizens could not freely choose and change the laws and officials
that govern them. The Constitution declares the country to be a secular
democracy in the form of a presidential republic. It calls for the
separation of powers among the various branches of Government, but
vests a disproportionate share of power in the presidency. In practice,
the President's power over the state was absolute; despite the
appearance of decision-making by consensus, most decisions were made at
the presidential level.
There are two parliamentary bodies, a 50-member Parliament (Mejlis)
and a People's Council (Halk Maslahaty) made up of 2,500 delegates.
Parliament supported all presidential decrees. In 2003, a new law
reduced the powers of the Parliament, making the People's Council the
supreme legislative body and the President Chairman of the Council for
life.
Parliamentary elections took place December 19. All candidates were
members of the Democratic Party and were cleared by the authorities.
Many citizens in contact with foreign diplomats had very little
knowledge about the elections, including both the date and candidates'
biographies. Foreign observers were not invited to monitor the
elections. The Government reported a 76.8 percent turnout.
Elections for the People's Council and local council
representatives took place in April 2003. Polling stations visited by
foreign diplomats were nearly deserted, but the Government claimed that
99.8 percent of eligible voters participated. All candidates were
members of the Democratic Party. Some voters reported that at the end
of the election-day election workers went door-to-door asking people to
vote and asked some to vote for other family members and neighbors. The
People's Council, which included tribal elders, members of the Mejlis,
and other state officials, fully supplanted the Mejlis in authority. It
has the power to dissolve the Mejlis and was the primary forum where
President Niyazov proposed and received immediate approval for his new
laws.
A constitutional amendment gives President Niyazov the position as
Chairman for life of the People's Council, giving him substantial
authority to approve any potential successor.
A 1994 national referendum, which was neither free nor fair,
extended the President's term to 2002, eliminating the need for the
scheduled presidential election in 1997. A 1999 law allowed an
exception to the constitutionally mandated maximum of two 5 year terms
for President Niyazov, effectively conferring on him a lifetime term in
office; the exception only applies to Niyazov, an honor as the
country's first president. According to this arrangement, Niyazov
effectively makes the laws and determines candidates for elections.
All political parties, other than the President's Democratic Party,
are banned. The policy of the Democratic Party, according to its
leadership, was to implement the policy of the President. Citizens
swear a national oath of personal allegiance to President Niyazov in
particular, rather than just to the presidency as a general
institution.
There were 8 women in the 50-member Mejlis. Women were also
represented in the 2,500-delegate People's Council. Women served in a
few government positions, including Deputy Chair of the Mejlis, Acting
Chairman of the Central Bank, Prosecutor General, Ambassador to the
U.N., and a provincial governor (Hakim). Women often occupied the
position of Deputy Hakim.
Preference was given to ethnic Turkmen in appointed positions in
the Government but ethnic minorities occupied several high governmental
positions. There was 1 ethnic Russian in the 50-seat Mejlis. Ethnic
minorities were also represented in the 2,500-delegate People's
Council. The largest tribe, the President's Teke tribe, held the most
prominent roles in cultural and political life.
On July 12, the President acknowledged the existence of bribery and
nepotism in university admissions. The President regularly fires
administration officials for bribery.
There is no law that allows access to government information. There
was a state website, although not all information is available and most
individuals do not have access to the Internet.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
There were no domestic human rights monitoring groups, and
government restrictions on freedom of speech, press, and association
severely restricted the ability of international organizations to
investigate and criticize publicly the Government's human rights
policies. With the exception of questions regarding religious freedom,
officials were neither cooperative nor responsive to questions
regarding alleged human rights abuses. During the year, diplomats
engaged in dialogue with the Government on a number of religious
freedom cases. In one case, confiscated literature was returned and
local authorities apologized. Several independent journalists based in
Russia reported on human rights in the Russian press and had contact
with international human rights organizations. On numerous occasions
early in the year, the Government warned its critics against speaking
with visiting journalists or other foreigners wishing to discuss human
rights problems.
During the year, the Government declined to renew accreditation of
the OSCE country director, accusing her of focusing on negative
information.
During the year, the Government maintained pressure on nonpolitical
social and cultural organizations. This included detention and routine
summoning for questioning at security services. The Government
monitored visits by embassy officers to NGOs and warned NGO leaders to
limit contact with foreigners.
On April 29, members of the MNB beat Moscow-based RFE/RL
correspondent and executive director of the human rights organization,
Turkmen ili, Mukhametgeldy Berdyyew, and ransacked his apartment (see
Section 1.c. and 2.a.).
There were no international human rights NGOs with an ongoing
permanent presence in the country; however, the Government permitted
visits by international organizations, including the OSCE, UNHCHR, and
the ICRC, and international human rights groups monitored the situation
during the year. The OSCE maintained a mission in the capital of
Ashgabat, although the OSCE ambassador was forced to leave during the
year.
The Human Rights Institute, nominally headed by President Niyazov,
oversaw the work of law enforcement agencies, the military and the
judiciary, but it appeared to have little real authority. The National
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (IDHR) continued to receive
complaints during the year. The Institute's mandate was to support the
democratization of the Government and society and to monitor the
protection of human rights. The Institute maintained four full time
staff members to receive and resolve citizen complaints of arbitrary
action. In principle, the Institute reviewed complaints and returned
its findings to the individual and the organizations involved; however,
the Institute was not an independent body, and its ability to obtain
redress was limited.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution provides for equal rights and freedoms for all,
independent of nationality, origin, language, and gender; however,
violence against women and discrimination against ethnic minorities
were problems.
Women.--Domestic violence is prohibited by law; however, laws were
not effectively enforced. Anecdotal reports indicated that domestic
violence against women was common. The problem was not usually
discussed in society, and it is assumed that the majority of victims of
domestic violence kept silent, either because they were unaware of
their rights or afraid of increased violence from their husbands and
relatives. There were a few court cases and occasional references to
domestic violence in the media. One official women's group in Ashgabat
and several informal groups in other regions assisted victims of
domestic violence.
The law states that rape, including spousal rape, is illegal.
Penalties were between 3 to 25 years based on the violence associated
with the rape and if the attacker is a repeat offender, and the
Government generally enforced it effectively against civilians;
however, persons held for religious offenses stated that authorities
threatened to rape female family members if they continued their
activities.
Prostitution is illegal; however, authorities did not enforce the
law effectively and it was a growing problem, particularly in Ashgabat.
There was no law specifically prohibiting sexual harassment, and
there were anecdotal reports from local employees that sexual
harassment existed in the workforce.
Women were underrepresented in the upper levels of government-owned
economic enterprises and were concentrated in health care, education,
and service professions. In April, President Niyazov ordered the firing
of 15,000 government health workers, the majority of whom were women,
because of budget cuts. Women were restricted from working in some
dangerous and environmentally unsafe jobs.
The law provided women the same inheritance and marriage rights as
men, and this was generally respected in practice.
Some NGOs worked on women's issues. The Government did not
acknowledge that women suffered discrimination and therefore had no
specific program for rectifying their disadvantaged position in
society.
Children.--The Government's social umbrella covered the welfare
needs of children; however, the Government did not take effective steps
and did not have adequate resources to fully address the needs of
children.
The Government provides 9 years of basic education. Girls and boys
had equal access to education. Primary and secondary education was free
and compulsory; however, class sizes continued to increase rapidly,
facilities deteriorated, and funds for textbooks and supplies
decreased. The Government stated approximately 95 percent of children
between the ages of 7 and 16 attended school on a regular basis;
however, a 2003 U.N. Development Program report listed school
attendance at 81 percent. Girls comprised an estimated 49.1 percent of
the student population. The amount of classroom time dedicated to
learning the Rukhnama increased during the year, negatively affecting
the overall quality of education. In September, Rukhnama II was
introduced into the school curriculum, further reducing the time
allotted to a traditional curriculum.
A 2000 presidential decree continued to reduce the number of
teachers, which exacerbated the problems of already crowded classrooms
and overworked teachers and further reduced the quality of education in
the country.
During the year, the Government continued to downsize secondary
schools, and limit courses taught in non-Turkmen languages, further
degenerating the secondary school system and educational opportunities.
Poverty and healthcare problems led to a high rate of infant
mortality. The Government invested in state of the art medical
equipment and facilities; however, it did not invest in the training or
budgeting of doctors or other medical personnel. From February to July,
the Government dismissed approximately 15,000 nurses, replacing them
with military conscripts untrained in administering medical treatment.
There were a few reports of abuse of children, although there was no
societal pattern of such abuse.
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in
persons; however, there were no verifiable reports that persons were
trafficked to, from, or within the country.
The Penal Code prohibits prostitution, which is punishable by 2
years' imprisonment or hard labor. The penalty for involvement of a
minor in prostitution or using force, threat, or blackmail to involve
someone in prostitution is 3 to 8 years' imprisonment. The penalty for
procuring persons for prostitution is 3 to 8 years' imprisonment with
the possibility of confiscation of property.
There were unconfirmed and anecdotal reports of women from the
country traveling to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and other
countries to work as prostitutes, some of whom may have been
trafficked. There were no reports of trafficking within the country.
NGOs noted that the problem is of concern in rural areas where economic
opportunities are extremely limited.
The Ministry of Justice worked with foreign missions and with
international organizations to establish public awareness of
trafficking issues by participating in conferences and registering NGO
groups that address the needs and vulnerabilities of potential victims.
The Government also cooperated with foreign governments and
international organizations to strengthen its borders, which may help
prevent trafficking.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was some discrimination against
persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health
care, and the provisions of other state services. The Government
provided subsidies and pensions for persons with disabilities, although
they were inadequate to maintain a decent standard of living. Care for
persons with disabilities was provided at the local level. Children
with disabilities, including those with mental disabilities, were
placed in boarding schools. They were provided with educational and
future employment opportunities if their condition allowed them to
work; in practice neither was provided.
Legislation requires that new construction projects include
facilities to allow access by persons with disabilities; however,
compliance was inconsistent, and older buildings were not accessible.
Although some societal discrimination existed, many citizens
engaged in activities to assist persons with disabilities, including
Special Olympics and Paralympics groups.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Constitution provides for
equal rights and freedoms for all citizens. Approximately 77 percent of
the population was Turkmen; Uzbeks comprised 9 percent; and Russians 7
percent. There were smaller numbers of Kazakhs, Armenians, Azeris, and
many other ethnic groups. Turkmen themselves are divided into five main
tribes, the Teke, the Yomut, the Ersary, the Yasyr, and the Goklen. On
March 11, President Niyazov signed a decree rescinding the previous
numerical requirements for minority group registration; however, no
minority groups had registered as result by year's end.
The 2003 decree for resettlement of residents in Dashoguz, Lebap,
and Ahal Velayats to the northwest part of the country was partially
implemented. Observers suggested the resettlement plan principally
affected ethnic Uzbeks.
The Constitution designates Turkmen as the official language. It
was a mandatory subject in school, although it was not necessarily the
language of instruction. The Government closed most remaining Russian-
language schools and continued to reduce classes taught in Russian to
encourage use of the Turkmen language.
The Constitution also provides for the rights of speakers of other
languages to use such languages. While Russian remained common in
commerce and everyday life, the Government intensified its campaign to
conduct official business solely in Turkmen. The Government reportedly
gave ethnic minority employees at ministries deadlines to learn
Turkmen, and dismissed some government employees for failure to learn
the language. During the year, the Government required employees of
ministries to pass tests demonstrating knowledge of the Rukhnama and
dismissed those who failed.
Non-Turkmen complained that some avenues for promotion and job
advancement were no longer open to them and only a handful of non-
Turkmen occupied high-level jobs in the ministries. Non Turkmen were
often the first targeted for dismissal when layoffs occurred. There was
societal discrimination against ethnic minorities, specifically
Russians.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right to form or join unions; however, in practice the Government does
not permit independent unions. Under the Center for Professional Unions
of Turkmenistan, led by a presidential appointee, there were numerous
professional unions in most fields, including medical, construction,
and banking. Some unions circumvented government restrictions on
independent unions by registering as public associations (or NGOs), for
example: the unions of accountants, economists, entrepreneurs, and
leaseholders. The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by
employers against union members and organizers; and there were no
mechanisms for resolving complaints of discrimination.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law does
not allow unions to conduct their activities without interference, and
the Government controlled union activities. The law does not protect
the right of collective bargaining. The law neither prohibits nor
permits strikes, nor does it address the issue of retaliation against
strikers. Strikes were extremely rare. There are no export processing
zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that
prisoners were forced to work under hazardous and unhealthy conditions
in a kaolin mine in Gyzylgaya prison, near Dashoguz. The law provides
for labor as a component of prison sentences; the prison system
includes educational-labor colonies and correctional-labor colonies.
The Government prohibits forced and compulsory labor by children;
however, local officials used children for cotton harvesting.
Eyewitnesses in Dashoguz province reported that schools there were
rotating students to the cotton fields for the harvest (see Section
6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment of children was 16 years; in a few heavy
industries, it was 18 years. The law prohibits children between the
ages of 16 and 18 years from working more than 6 hours per day (the
normal workday was 8 hours). A 15 year-old child could work 4 to 6
hours per day but only with the permission of the trade union and
parents. This permission rarely was granted. Child labor laws were not
effectively enforced in practice.
On May 12, the President issued a decree against child labor,
condemning the use of children for cotton harvesting. However,
violations of child labor laws occurred in rural areas, particularly
during the annual cotton harvest season. No action was taken by the
state to prevent such activities. Local government officials strongly
encouraged children to help in the cotton harvest; families of children
who did not help could experience harassment by the local government
officials. Children as young as 10 years of age were allowed to help
with the harvest, and parents noted many were not provided with
adequate accommodation, food, or compensation.
Classes were cancelled and children were reportedly pulled from
schools to participate in the harvest. In some cases, local officials
claimed that cotton belonged to schools and that the harvest was part
of the school's program. Farms were not effectively mechanized, which
required that the majority of the harvest be handpicked to meet state
production goals.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum monthly wage in the
state sector of approximately $75 (1.5 million TMM) per month did not
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The standard legal workweek was 40 hours with 2 days off.
Individuals who worked fewer hours during the week or were in certain
high-level positions could also work on Saturdays. The Labor Code
states overtime or holiday pay should be double the regular payment;
maximum overtime in a year is 120 hours and can not exceed 4 hours in 2
consecutive days. This law, however, is not enforced.
Industrial workers often labored in unsafe environments and were
not provided proper protective equipment. Some agricultural workers
were subjected to environmental health hazards. The Government
recognized that these problems existed and took some steps to address
them; however, it did not set comprehensive standards for occupational
health and safety. Workers did not always have the right to remove
themselves from work situations that endangered their health or safety
without jeopardy to their continued employment.
__________
UKRAINE
The country is a mixed presidential and parliamentary republic
governed by a directly elected president, a prime minister who heads a
cabinet of ministers, and a unicameral parliament (Rada). The prime
minister is nominated by the president and approved by the Rada. The
cabinet is nominated by the prime minister and approved by the
president, but generally is under the president's direction. A series
of elections for national and local offices during the year revealed
serious shortcomings in democratic practice. After a badly flawed
campaign in which government resources were misused to support the
government backed candidate and to hinder the candidacy of his
opponent, a presidential election was held on October 31, with a second
round runoff between opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and Prime
Minister Viktor Yanukovych on November 21. Massive fraud conducted on
behalf of the government backed candidate during the runoff election
triggered the largest non violent protest movement in modern Ukrainian
history, known popularly as the Orange Revolution. The Supreme Court
ruled the runoff to be invalid and ordered that a repeat runoff
election take place on December 26. The December 26 repeat runoff
election, which Yushchenko won, and the short campaign that preceded,
it were substantial improvements. The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, many courts were inefficient and
subject to political interference and corruption.
There are two principal security agencies, which share
responsibility for internal security: The Security Service of Ukraine
(SBU), which is formally responsible for domestic security and law
enforcement, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which controls the
various police forces. In addition, the State Tax Administration
controls the tax police. A Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) was
established as a separate government agency in October with
responsibilities that include, in addition to foreign intelligence
collection, combating international organized crime and terrorism and
promoting the security of Ukrainian institutions and citizens abroad.
The armed forces largely remained outside of politics. Government
agencies interfered in the political process through criminal and tax
investigations of opposition politicians, independent journalists, and
businessmen. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective
control of the security forces. Members of the security forces
committed human rights abuses.
The economy was mixed, with the private sector accounting for 65 to
70 percent of gross domestic product. The country had a total
population of approximately 47.4 million reflecting a continued
downward trend. The gross domestic product grew by 12 percent during
the year. The economy remains burdened by a lack of transparency, with
the shadow economy accounting for a significant proportion of real
income. Wage arrears, a problem in prior years, decreased, partly
because of election year politics. The official rate of unemployment
through August was 3.4 percent, although the International Labor
Organization estimated the unemployment rate at 9 percent. Wealth was
concentrated within the political elite and among directors of the
state dominated and newly privatized sectors.
The Government's human rights record remained poor and worsened in
a number of areas; however there were also improvements in some areas,
particularly toward the end of the year. The citizens' right to change
their government peacefully was restricted during most of the year by
the authorities, who engaged in many forms of manipulation of
parliamentary and local elections and particularly of the October 31
presidential race and the November 21 runoff. However, the repeat
runoff on December 26, which followed the Supreme Court's invalidation
of the first, was judged by international observers, including the
OSCE, to have reflected the will of the people and to have brought
Ukraine substantially closer to meeting Western standards for free and
democratic elections.
Police and prison officials tortured and beat detainees and
prisoners, and at least two detainees died under suspicious
circumstances. Police abuse and harassment of racial minorities was a
continuing problem. The beating of conscripts in the army by fellow
soldiers was common and at times resulted in death. Reforms in the
penal system led to some improvement in prison living conditions;
however, prison conditions remained harsh. The Government rarely
punished officials who committed abuses. Arbitrary searches, seizures,
arrests, and detention from what appeared to be political motives were
problems, as was lengthy pretrial detention in very poor conditions.
Long delays in trials were a problem, and judges continued to readily
grant most requests by prosecutors for residential search and wiretap
warrants.
During most of the year, authorities interfered with the news media
by harassing and intimidating journalists, censoring material, blocking
interregional broadcasts of independent media, closing down independent
media outlets, and pressuring them into practicing self censorship.
There were some limits on freedom of assembly, and the authorities
impeded the efforts of individuals to participate in some
demonstrations. Freedom of association was restricted. There were some
problems with registration and property disputes; however, the
Government took steps to address the concerns of religious communities.
There were instances of anti Semitic acts, including attacks on Rabbis
and desecration of Jewish graves. There were some limits on freedom of
movement. Violence and discrimination against women, including sexual
harassment in the workplace, were problems as was violence against
children. Trafficking in women and children for commercial sexual
exploitation was a serious problem, which the Government took steps to
address. Ethnic minorities and Muslims complained of harassment and
frequent identity checks. The Government discouraged workers from
organizing independent unions and regularly harassed independent
unions.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
confirmed reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life
committed by the Government or its agents; however, at least four
individuals died under questionable circumstances, two of them in
police custody.
On April 23, the independent newspaper Ukraina Moloda reported that
Melitopol resident Mykola Zahachevsky died in the city's pretrial
detention facility under suspicious circumstances. Relatives reported
that Zahachevsky's body was covered with signs of physical abuse and
asserted that he had been beaten to death by investigators. The
Zaporizhzhya Oblast prosecutor opened a criminal case against the
police officers for exceeding their authority. There was no further
information on progress in the case at year's end.
On September 18, a homosexual man, Dmytro Pakhomov died, reportedly
while being questioned by police in Kryvyy Rih. According to human
rights groups, police officials made derogatory remarks about
Pakhomov's sexual orientation to his mother and told her that, in the
midst of interrogation, her son suddenly jumped out a window and fell
four floors to his death. When she retrieved her son's body at a local
hospital, medical staff told her that Pakhomov had suffered multiple
internal injuries, including liver, kidney, lung, and neck vertebrae
damage not consistent with the police version of his death. The family
of the deceased declined to request an investigation.
On March 3, the director of the independent Poltava television and
radio company Yuta, Heorhiy Chechyk, died in an auto accident as he was
traveling to Kiev to sign an agreement to broadcast Radio Liberty
programs on Yuta's FM station, Poltava Plus. The Prosecutor General's
office stated that Chechyk caused the accident by ``violating traffic
safety rules'' and added that Chechyk ``showed signs of acute
myocardial ischemia'' shortly before the crash. Most human rights
groups accepted the Government's version of the accident; however,
company officials, some opposition politicians, and some human rights
NGOs continued to suspect that Chechyk may have been deliberately
killed as part of the Government's broader effort to silence Radio
Liberty's voice (see section 2.a.).
On May 24, the longtime Rector of Uzhhorod State University,
Volodymyr Slyvka, was found unconscious in his bathroom with slit
wrists and a kitchen knife in his chest. He subsequently died. Local
prosecutors refused to investigate the case and called it a suicide.
However, opposition politicians said that Slyvka was killed because he
refused to bow to pressure from the Governor of Zakarpatska Oblast,
Ivan Rizak, to force students and faculty to support pro government
candidates in elections. In the weeks prior to Slyvka's death, Governor
Rizak used the pro government media and police to pressure the rector
into stepping down, which he refused to do. After Slyvka's death, a
political ally of Governor Rizak, Vasyl Rusyn, was ``elected'' the
university's new rector in a Soviet style, single candidate special
election.
Human rights groups asserted that soldiers continued to kill other
soldiers during violent hazing events, although officials denied that
any servicemen had died because of physical violence (see Section
1.c.). Segodnya newspaper reported on May 20 that, according to the
Defense Ministry, 11 servicemen had committed suicide so far during the
year, 6 of them while off duty. The Ministry blamed family and personal
problems for the suicides; however, the Ukrainian military has
frequently described death by hazing as suicide.
The pervasiveness of corruption, connections between government
officials and organized crime, and the political activities of
organized crime figures often blurred the distinction between political
and criminal acts. Opposition politicians, politically active
businessmen, and journalists were the victims of attacks that sometimes
were fatal and may have been politically motivated. Serious allegations
persisted that Ministry of Internal Affairs officials were involved in
killings and kidnappings in previous years.
Police declined to release any further information, either to the
public or a special Parliamentary investigating commission, about the
August 2003 death of Ivan Havdyda, Deputy Head of the opposition
Ukrainian People's Party. Havdyda died from a blow to the head and his
body was found one block from his apartment in Kiev. Friends and
colleagues asserted that his death was a result of his political
activities. Due to a lack of confidence in the Prosecutor General's
office, which was investigating the incident, lawmakers established a
commission to investigate Havdyda's death. At year's end, that
parliamentary inquiry was at a standstill.
There were no indications that authorities were investigating the
November 2003 death of Yuriy Bosak, a leader of the opposition party
Reforms and Order in Khmelnytsky Oblast, who was found hanging in a
forest. Relatives and colleagues continued to assert that the
circumstances of his death were inconsistent with suicide and that
Bosak was killed and then hanged because of his political activity.
The Prosecutor General's office continued to refuse to investigate
the December 2003 death of Volodymyr Karachevtsev, head of Melitopol's
independent journalists' union and a deputy editor at the independent
newspaper Courier. Karachevtsev, who wrote frequently about corrupt
local officials, was found hanging by his sweater on the handle of his
refrigerator. Melitopol police insisted that, after drinking heavily,
Karachevtsev accidentally strangled himself when he tripped and fell,
catching his sweater on his refrigerator door handle; the official
cause of death was listed as ``mechanical asphyxia.'' However, findings
by the local coroner contradicted police assertions that Karachevtsev
was drunk at the time of his death.
The search continued during the year for two individuals allegedly
involved in the murder of Ivano-Frankivsk Deputy Governor Mykola
Shkriblyak. In April 2003, the Chernivtsi Oblast Appeals Court
sentenced to life imprisonment both Shkriblyak's killer and the
individual who organized the killing. According to Yuri Cherkasov, the
former Chief of Interior Ministry's Department for Combating Organized
Crime, the killer was an unidentified former officer of the Russian
security services who lived in Ukraine. The authorities declined to
provide information on the convicted organizer in the interests of the
continuing investigation. Shkriblyak, who was running for a
constituency Rada seat, was shot on the day before the 2002
parliamentary elections. There was speculation that Shkriblyak was
killed because of his involvement in privatization issues related to
the energy and fuel sector.
At year's end there had been no verdicts in cases related to the
2001 killing of Ihor Aleksandrov, the director of a Donetsk regional
television station. According to an October 20 report from the Interfax
news agency, a total of 12 people were being tried on a variety of
charges related to the Aleksandrov murder and a subsequent attempted
cover up. The cases were being heard by the Luhansk Court of Appeals at
the direction of the Supreme Court, which expressed a lack of
confidence in the Donetsk Court of Appeals, the original venue for the
trials. The killing of Aleksandrov, who had aired a number of critical
reports about Donetsk based politicians and was a noted critic of
alleged corruption among local law enforcement authorities, had been
attributed to his professional activities. In February, two police
officers were arrested in Kramatorsk for ``precipitating the death'' of
a key witness in the case.
During the year there were several major developments in the
unresolved 2000 killing of prominent journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, which
continued to be a subject of active domestic and international
interest, including continuing accusations that senior officials in the
Government were implicated. Gongadze's decapitated body was identified
in November 2000, after his disappearance 2 months earlier. On June 19,
the British newspaper The Independent published official documents,
acknowledged by Prosecutor General's office to be genuine, indicating
that Heorhiy Gongadze was under police surveillance shortly before his
disappearance and death. The same newspaper reported that a former Kiev
police officer, Ihor Honcharov, the purported leader of an organized
criminal gang suspected of killing Gongadze, died in 2003, in police
custody, from a combination of severe physical abuse and an injection
of the drug Thiopental. Honcharov allegedly had information about the
involvement of high level officials in the kidnapping and killing of
Gongadze and had planned to testify in court about this involvement.
The guard at the Lukyanivska detention facility who allegedly killed
Honcharov was arrested in October.
The Prosecutor General's office announced on June 21 that it had in
custody the self confessed killer of Gongadze, an alleged career
criminal identified only as ``Citizen K.'' However, the head of the
parliamentary commission investigating the case, Member of Parliament
(M.P.) Hryhoriy Omelchenko, told the press that ``Citizen K'' merely
beheaded Gongadze's corpse at the direction of the police; according to
Omelchenko, Gongadze was accidentally shot in the head as he struggled
with police officers who were attempting to kidnap him. Gongadze's head
was removed, Omelchenko asserted, because it contained a bullet that
could lead to the identification of a police handgun as the murder
weapon.
In March, Omelchenko's parliamentary commission concluded that
President Kuchma, Volodymyr Lytvyn, then Presidential Chief of Staff,
and Yuriy Kravchenko, then Interior Minister, were the instigators of
Gongadze's kidnapping. The commission was unsuccessful in obtaining
enough votes in the Rada to begin impeachment proceedings against
Kuchma.
The Government continued to assert publicly that a full scale
investigation into Gongadze's disappearance was continuing, but members
of the media and the public seriously criticized the Government's
handling of the case. The Government continued to dispute the
authenticity of an audio recording that allegedly contained
conversations between President Kuchma and other senior government
officials discussing the desirability of Gongadze's death. Experts have
judged another recording from the same source to be authentic.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
On January 13, the head of the parliamentary committee for freedom
of speech urged the Interior Ministry to search for Vasyl Hrysyuk, a
reporter for the newspaper Narodna Sprava in Lviv Oblast town of
Radekhiv, who disappeared in December 2003. There was no indication
during the year that the case was being actively pursued.
There were no indications that the authorities were continuing to
investigate the 2002 disappearance of Oleksandr Oliynyk, an election
monitor from the NGO Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU), who
disappeared from Kirovohrad approximately a week after the March 2002
Parliamentary elections, or the 2002 disappearance of Andriy Tatarchuk,
Vice Chairman of the Reforms and Order Party of Odesa (Our Ukraine
Bloc) and a former city council candidate.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The Constitution prohibits such practices; however,
reports that police regularly beat detainees and prisoners persisted,
and opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko accused the Government of
attempting to kill him with poison.
Human Rights Ombudsman Nina Karpachova told the media that during
her nearly 7 year tenure she has received approximately 12,000
complaints from persons who asserted that they had been tortured in
police custody. In an August 2 special program on the opposition owned
Fifth Channel television network, Karpachova acknowledged that torture
of citizens by police officers remained a major problem.
The Fifth Channel program reported that police officers frequently
beat detainees with rubber batons, hung them upside down and doused
them with cold water. According to Fifth Channel, police officers
tortured individuals in order to extract confessions or simply to get
money; a lawyer interviewed on the program said he had been taken into
custody and beaten until he agreed to pay approximately $5,000 (26,000
Hryvnyas/UAH) to a policeman. An October 2002 report by the European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) stated that individuals
in detention ran a significant risk of physical mistreatment, including
beating, electric shock, pistol whipping, and asphyxiation. Human
rights lawyers also reported that requesting an attorney often led to a
worse beating, and detainees at times were beaten until they waived
their right to an attorney.
On August 6, police in Sumy Oblast, acting on direct orders from
the Governor, attacked a large group of students protesting a
university merger. An opposition M.P. who was on the scene said that
police pushed students to the ground, kicked them, and beat them with
truncheons (see Section 2.b.).
In a September 21 speech at the Rada, Presidential candidate Viktor
Yushchenko accused the Government of attempting to kill him with
poison. Yushchenko had suddenly fallen seriously ill in early
September. In early December, doctors at a reputable medical clinic in
Vienna determined that Yushchenko had been poisoned with dioxin, a
diagnosis subsequently confirmed by Dutch specialists. The Government
and a special parliamentary commission--chaired by an outspoken
supporter of Yushchenko's opponent--disputed Yushchenko's allegation.
The media reported on March 10, that the police assaulted and
seriously injured the son of a prominent opposition M.P. in retaliation
for his father's political and trade union activities (see Section
6.a.). According to media reports, on March 7, Andriy Volynets, son of
M.P. and Confederation of Free Trade Unions leader Mykhaylo Volynets,
was taken from a bus stop in Kiev by a small group of individuals in
police uniforms. They beat Volynets, put a plastic bag over his head,
poured alcohol into his mouth, and then dumped him in the stairwell of
a building in Kiev's Obolon district. Opposition M.P.s in the Rada
called for the Prosecutor General's Office to open an investigation
into the incident; at year's end, there had been no response from the
Prosecutor General's office.
In March, the head of the Poltava Oblast police department resigned
in connection with the torture and deaths of suspects in police custody
in 2003. Only one of the four police officers suspected of involvement
was detained. In June, a court in Zaporizhzhya began the trial of
former police Lieutenant Colonel Serhiy Polovnikov in connection with
an incident in February 2003, in which a suspect attempted to commit
suicide by jumping through a fourth floor window of the police station.
Allegedly, the suspect was driven to suicide by physical abuse that
included the use of electric shocks. In April 2003, both feet of
Oleksandr Lobanov, a prisoner at Prison 120 in Volnovakha, Donetsk
Oblast, were amputated because of gangrene allegedly resulting from
injuries sustained during a severe beating by riot police during a riot
control exercise at the prison. Prison officials reportedly forced
Lobanov to sign a statement that he had injured his feet himself while
exercising in the prison yard. The Penal Department and prosecutor's
office opened an investigation on this case, although no results were
made public by year's end.
The law prohibits the abuse of psychiatry for political and other
non medical reasons and provides safeguards against such abuse;
however, on a few occasions, according to human rights groups, persons
involved in property, inheritance, or divorce disputes were diagnosed
wrongfully with schizophrenia and confined to psychiatric institutions.
The confinement often resulted from the corruption of psychiatric
experts and court officials. Persons diagnosed with mental illness
risked being confined and treated forcibly, declared not responsible
for their actions, and stripped of their civil rights without being
present at the hearings or notified of the ruling. According to the
Ukrainian Psychiatric Association, the Health Care Ministry did not
always cooperate with human rights groups attempting to monitor abuse
of psychiatry.
Despite extensive legislation to protect the rights of service
members and the existence of regulations governing relationships among
military personnel, reports continued during the year of harsh
conditions and violence against conscripts in the armed forces. Senior
conscripts often beat recruits, sometimes to death, and forced them to
give up money and gifts that they received from home. According to
human rights associations, garrison prosecutors often did not
investigate complaints of physical harassment. Punishment administered
for committing or condoning such activities was insufficient to deter
further abuses. Although military officials reported that there were no
deaths due to soldier on soldier physical violence, human rights
groups, including the Association of Soldiers' Mothers, reported that
violent hazing continued to be widespread (see Section 1.a.). They had
reported in 2002 that the Office of the Prosecutor General opened 129
criminal cases pertaining to violent hazing. It is unlikely that
further information will be available on the progress, if any, in these
cases.
Police abused Roma and harassed and abused dark skinned persons.
Representatives of these groups claimed that police officials routinely
ignored, and sometimes abetted, violence against them (see Section 5).
On May 10, according to testimony given to the Roma NGO, Roma European
Rights Center that could not be separately corroborated, an individual
identified only as ``Mr. S.G.,'' reported that in the days following
the May 6 theft of two horses in the area of Lutsk, police terrorized
the 30 family Romani community in the neighboring Prilutsk village. Mr.
S.G. reported that several members of the community, including teenage
Romani boys, were taken to the police station and severely beaten.
Similarly, in the town of Kivertsy, Mr. S.G. had been informed that two
young Romani men were taken to the police station and beaten almost to
death before they were released. Mr. S.G. reported that when he visited
the Lutsk District Police Department to discuss these matters, the
Deputy Chief of Police threatened him and physically mistreated him.
Prison conditions improved somewhat as a result of reforms in the
penal system. Prison officials reported that, due in part to the
decriminalization of many offenses, there was a reduction in the number
of inmates in prison, which eased overcrowding. Nevertheless, prisons
were sometimes overcrowded or lacked adequate sanitation and medical
facilities.
Although information on the physical state of prison walls and
fences, as well as on pretrial detention blocks, is officially
considered to be a government secret, the press reported freely about
harsh prison conditions.
Conditions in pretrial detention facilities were harsher than in
low and medium security prisons. There were reports that inmates in pre
trial facilities were sometimes held in investigative isolation for
extended periods and subjected to intimidation and mistreatment by jail
guards and other inmates. Overcrowding was more common in these
centers; their total capacity was 36,000 but 39,021 detainees were held
in them as of September 1, according to the State Penal Department
(SPD).
Human Rights Ombudsman Karpachova expressed indignation over
conditions in temporary detention centers, particularly Crimea, and in
April it was reported that the Prosecutor General's Office was
concerned about poor conditions in pretrial detention facilities
nationwide.
The SPD, in cooperation with the NGO community, implemented some
programs for the professional development of prison and police
officials. According to the SPD, as of September 1 no criminal
proceedings involving torture or mistreatment of prisoners had been
opened against SPD employees; however, as of September 1, six criminal
cases had been opened against employees for unspecified ``non human
rights related'' offenses. No employee of the penitentiary system was
disciplined for improper treatment of detainees; however, 420 employees
were disciplined in the first 8 months of the year for ``serious flaws
in their work and violation of work ethics,'' according to the SPD.
The 2003 Criminal Penal Code was intended to regulate prison life
and provide safeguards against the mistreatment of prisoners. Officials
stated that it was still too early to evaluate the code's
effectiveness, but maintained that NGOs, international experts,
prisoners, and prison employees had reacted favorably to it. In
accordance with the new code, all new inmates were required to undergo
psychological screening, and prison administrators were required to
develop a plan for the rehabilitation and eventual release of inmates.
Correctional institutions for adults were also subdivided into three
categories: Minimum, medium, and maximum security. Also in keeping with
the new Code, deprivation of the right to receive a parcel is no longer
used against prisoners as a punishment. Prisoners are permitted to
receive much larger parcels than in the past, which may include food
items, medicine, books, writing implements, clothing, shoes, and
personal hygiene items.
According to official statistics from the SPD, there were 464
deaths in prisons during the year: 438 due to illness, 20 suicides, 2
homicides (1 murder and 1 manslaughter), and 4 lethal traumatic
injuries. In addition, there were 88 deaths in pretrial facilities: 82
due to illness and 6 to suicide (see section 1.a.) Tuberculosis in
prisons continued to be of concern; however, officials stated that
mandatory screening of all new inmates for the disease of all new
inmates had reduced infection rates. Inmates with tuberculosis were
isolated from the general population and treated at one main prison
hospital complex in Kharkiv Oblast. Almost 25,000 individuals
reportedly were held in prison cells with neither windows nor toilets.
Men and women were held in separate facilities, and juveniles were
held separately from adults. Additionally, pretrial detainees were
always held separately from convicted prisoners. The law does not
recognize political prisoners as a separate category of detainee.
The Government continued to allow prison visits from human rights
observers and generally granted full access to prison facilities;
however, some monitors reported that at times it was difficult to
obtain access to prisons to visit specific prisoners, and there were
instances in which they were not allowed full access to prison
facilities. The SPD maintained, however, that there had been no
instances of domestic or international human rights groups being denied
access to pretrial detention facilities. Prisoners were permitted to
file complaints with the Human Rights Ombudsman about the conditions of
detention, but human rights groups reported that prisoners were
sometimes punished for doing so.
At present, two Corrective Labor and Treatment Centers for
alcoholics remain subordinated to the SPD.
The Ukrainian Red Cross Society was granted unimpeded access to at
least two prisons during the year, in Melitopol and Kovel. At those
facilities, Red Cross representatives conducted an HIV/AIDS/TB
awareness campaign for teenage inmates. The Red Cross also provided the
teenagers with vitamin supplements and hygiene kits.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Constitution prohibits
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, arbitrary arrest and detention
remained problems.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, who is responsible for the
police, is a member of the Cabinet of Ministers, while the SBU enjoys
special status within the executive branch and reports directly to the
President. The State Tax Administration, which is accountable to the
President and the Cabinet of Ministers, also has law enforcement
powers, which it exercises through the tax police. The Office of the
Prosecutor General prosecutes criminal cases and is responsible for
enforcement of court decisions in criminal cases. In July 2003,
legislation providing for civilian control over the army and law
enforcement agencies was enacted and an implementation plan approved.
The law authorizes parliamentarians to conduct investigations into
national security and defense issues, including public hearings. The
law also significantly broadens the authority of the Human Rights
Ombudsman to initiate investigations pertaining to the military's
activities, as well the activities of law enforcement bodies. The law
also assigns to the Audit Chamber of Ukraine control over national
defense and security budget allocations.
Police corruption was a problem during the year. For example, a
2003 law prohibits the police from stopping vehicles and levying
immediate fines, which officers frequently pocket to supplement their
low salaries; only courts have the right to impose such fines. That law
had an increasing deterrent effect on the police, who no longer could
legally collect spot fines after stopping vehicles for alleged traffic
violations, although these ``traffic stop shakedowns'' still regularly
occurred.
Authorities made some effort to end police abuses, including taking
disciplinary action against law enforcement authorities who committed
them; however, impunity remained a serious problem. Police were seldom
prosecuted for misbehavior. Ombudsman Karpachova suggested that those
police officers who were charged and convicted received light or
suspended sentences, primarily because of what she called the
``corporate inter dependence'' between law enforcement officials and
the judicial branch.
Legislation passed in July 2003 strengthened the role of the Human
Rights Ombudsman and of M.P.s in investigating human rights violations,
providing for the imposition of fines against individuals seeking to
hinder their work.
By law, the authorities may detain a suspect for 3 days without a
warrant, after which an arrest order must be issued. The courts may
extend detention without an arrest warrant for an additional 10 days.
Suspects who believe that further investigation may lead to their
immediate exoneration may petition the court for an additional 15 day
detention. The law further provides that pretrial detention may not
last more than 2 months. In cases involving exceptionally grave
offenses, the Prosecutor General may petition a judge of the Supreme
Court to extend the period of detention to 18 months. The law permits
citizens to contest an arrest in court or appeal to the prosecutor. The
Constitution requires that officials notify family members immediately
concerning an arrest, but they often did not do so in practice.
The Government occasionally employed such charges as criminal libel
or tax evasion to detain persons (usually opposition activists or
journalists) who were openly critical of the Government or challenged
the interests of powerful business or political figures close to the
Government (see Section 2.a.).
On February 9, it was reported that the Lviv Tax Administration was
conducting numerous tax inspections of businesses associated with the
opposition.
The press reported on March 10 that the Supreme Court annulled the
tax evasion charges against jailed banker Borys Feldman and commuted
his 9 year prison sentence to 5 years, in effect, to time served.
Feldman, the former vice president of Bank Slovyanskyy (which managed
some of prominent opposition M.P. Yuliya Tymoshenko's business
interests), was originally convicted of tax evasion and financial
mismanagement. He was released on June 14.
On multiple occasions in August and September, tax police harassed
a main financial backer of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko, and
billboard companies in Vinnytsya were warned by the local authorities
that sale of ad space to the Yushchenko campaign would immediately
trigger an inspection by the tax police.
On March 19, the Office of the Prosecutor General closed a criminal
case that had been opened in March 2003 against former Deputy Prime
Minister of Agriculture Leonid Kozachenko. Kizachenko had been charged
with bribery and abuse of office. He claimed that the charges were
politically motivated. In dismissing the charges, the authorities
stated that the criminal proceedings against Kozachenko had had been a
mistake. While detainees were frequently released from pretrial
detention with travel bans, Kozachenko was only released, on bond,
after several parliamentary appeals.
On May 20, the press reported that the Prosecutor General had
opened a criminal case against opposition M.P. Yuliya Tymoshenko for
attempting to bribe a judge. The government case was based on the
testimony of former Tymoshenko aide Volodymyr Borovko. On June 10, the
Prosecutor General's office submitted a request to the Rada to strip
Tymoshenko of her parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution. The
Rada did not vote on the request and simply returned it to the
Prosecutor General's office. Separately, the trial of Tymoshenko's
father in law and a colleague remained ongoing in Kiev at the end of
the year.
In October, police detained a number of student and youth leaders
in the course of unauthorized raids on the offices of a number of youth
and student organizations, including the activist pro democracy NGO
Pora. The individuals were later released (see Section 2.b.).
Although the Criminal Procedures Code provides for the imposition
of monetary bail, bail was rarely used; many defendants could not pay
the monetary bail amounts imposed by law. Instead, courts imposed
restrictions on travel outside a given area as an alternative measure
to pretrial confinement.
The law stipulates that a defense attorney must be provided without
charge to an indigent detainee from the moment of detention or the
filing of charges, whichever comes first; however, in practice this
often did not occur. There were insufficient numbers of defense
attorneys to protect suspects from unlawful and lengthy detention under
extremely poor conditions. Attorneys often refused to defend indigents
for the low government fee. While in custody, a suspect or a prisoner
is allowed by law to talk with a lawyer in private; however, human
rights groups reported that prison or investigative officials
occasionally denied the client attorney privilege. To protect the
defendant, each investigative file must contain a document signed by
him or her attesting that the charges against him, his right to an
attorney, and his right not to give evidence against himself or his
relatives have been explained to him; however, officials sometimes
verbally and physically abused defendants to get them to sign this
document. An appeals court may dismiss a conviction or order a new
trial if this document is missing. As defendants increasingly became
aware of their rights, they insisted on observance of these procedures;
however, many remained unaware of these safeguards.
The police arbitrarily detained persons, particularly dark skinned
persons, for extensive document checks and vehicle inspections (see
Sections 1.f. and 5).
Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. By law, a trial must
begin no later than 3 weeks after criminal charges have been filed
formally with the court, but this requirement rarely was met by the
overburdened court system. Months, or, at times, years, may pass before
a defendant finally is brought to trial, and the situation did not
improve during the year (see Section 1.e.).
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, in practice, the judiciary was subject
to considerable political interference from the executive branch, often
in the form of phone calls to judges by senior government officials,
including Presidential Administration Chief of Staff Viktor Medvedchuk.
There were exceptions, notably the December 3 Supreme Court decision
invalidating the November 21 runoff election. The judiciary also
suffered from corruption and inefficiency. The courts were funded
through the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), which controlled the
organizational support of the courts, including staffing matters,
training for judges, logistics and procurement, and statistical and
information support.
The judiciary lacked sufficient staff and funds, which engendered
inefficiency and corruption and increased its dependence on the
executive, since the judicial system received all its funding from the
State Judicial Administration. On March 30, the European Court for
Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the country was failing to provide an
effective way to secure defendants' rights to a fair trial in a
reasonable length of time. In a report to the Rada in April 2003, the
Ombudsman for Human Rights observed that individuals' ability to
protect their rights in court remained limited.
A lack of compliance with court decisions in civil cases also
undermined the authority and independence of the judicial system. The
State Executive Service was responsible for enforcing most civil
decisions, and the number of cases referred to it continued to grow.
Provisions calling for criminal punishment for noncompliance with court
decisions rarely were used. Compliance was particularly poor when a
decision clashed with government interests. The Chairman of the Supreme
Court, the chairmen of regional courts, and the chairman of the Kiev
municipal court (or the deputies of these officials) have the authority
to suspend court decisions, which led to interference, manipulation,
and corruption.
There were credible reports that the Government abused its
authority over officers of the court by selectively charging and
dismissing politically unsympathetic judges. In 2003, the High Council
of Justice, allegedly under government pressure, requested that the
Rada dismiss Yuriy Vasylenko, an independent judge of the Kiev Appeals
Court and critic of President Kuchma. In October and November 2002,
Vasylenko had opened two criminal cases against Kuchma that were
subsequently dismissed. The Council accused Vasylenko of violating his
oath by unlawfully opening these criminal cases. In August, Vasylenko,
citing his weariness from government harassment, stepped down from the
bench and retired, calling the High Council of Justice's request to the
Rada ``political revenge.'' On December 23, the Rada formally rejected
the request to dismiss Vasylenko, who has formed an NGO dedicated to
nationwide judicial reform.
The law provides for a unified system of courts consisting of a
Constitutional Court, a system of courts of general jurisdiction that
includes the Supreme Court and specialized commercial courts, and
military courts. General jurisdiction courts are organized on four
levels: Local courts, regional appellate courts, specialized high
courts (the High Commercial Court), and the Supreme Court. Commercial
courts were intended to operate as specialized courts within the single
unified system of courts. As a result, the Supreme Court may review
their judgments, including those rendered by the High Commercial Court.
Military courts are specialized courts that hear only cases involving
military personnel.
By law, the President has the authority, with the agreement of the
MOJ and the Chair of the Supreme Court or of a corresponding higher
specialized court, to establish and abolish courts of general
jurisdiction. The President is empowered to determine the number of
judges within the courts, upon the recommendation of the State Judicial
Administration (SJA) and with the agreement of the Chair of the Supreme
Court. He is authorized to appoint and remove chairs and deputy chairs
of courts for 5 year terms (upon submission of the Chair of the Supreme
Court, based on recommendation of the Judicial Council), and to
establish appellate commercial and appellate administrative courts. The
President, upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister and
concurrence by the Judicial Council, appoints the head of the SJA.
A Judicial Academy trains new judges and continues the education of
sitting judges; it graduated its first group of judges in April 2003.
Regional courts, including the Supreme Court of Crimea and the Kiev
and Sevastopol city courts, serve as appellate courts for the lower
level courts. They may examine evidence independently in a case, call
for additional witnesses or evidence, and overrule the judgment of a
lower court.
The Constitutional Court consists of 18 members appointed for 9
year terms in equal numbers by the President, the Parliament, and the
Congress of Judges. The Constitutional Court is the ultimate
interpreter of legislation and the Constitution, and it determines the
constitutionality of legislation, presidential edicts, cabinet acts,
and acts of the Crimean Autonomous Republic. The President, at least 45
M.P.s, the Supreme Court, the Ombudsman, and the Crimean legislature
may request that the Constitutional Court hear a case. Citizens may
apply to the Constitutional Court through the Ombudsman, and they
started to exercise this right in selected cases. In some limited
cases, the Constitutional Court can interpret law for individual
citizens, when the applying citizen provides compelling proof that a
constitutional provision was violated or that different government
bodies interpreted it differently. Human rights groups stated that the
Constitutional Court generally maintained a balance of fairness;
however, a number of decisions made during the year led observers to
charge pro presidential bias.
The Supreme Court is the country's highest appellate body. Human
rights groups, the media, and legal watchdog organizations noted that,
in contrast to the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court continued to
show increasing independence during the course of the year. This trend
was highlighted by the Court's December 3 decision to invalidate the
results of the November 21 presidential runoff election because of
massive fraud.
The Constitution includes procedural provisions intended to ensure
a fair trial, including the right of suspects or witnesses to refuse to
testify against themselves or their relatives; however, pending the
passage of legislation to implement these constitutional provisions, a
largely Soviet era criminal justice system remained in place, which
limited these rights. While the defendant is presumed innocent,
conviction rates have changed little since the Soviet era, and nearly
all completed cases resulted in convictions.
There were indications that suspects often bribed court officials
to drop charges before cases went to trial or to lessen or commute
sentences. For example, on January 9, the press reported that the
Luhansk Court of Appeals sentenced a judge from Slovyansk to 6 years in
prison for abuse of power, forgery, and bribery. In April 2003, the
head of the Zaporizhzhya District Court confessed to accepting a bribe
of $2,500 (approximately 13,000 UAH) for reducing a defendant's murder
sentence by 5 years; an investigation of the incident was ongoing at
the end of the year.
The law provides for broad use of juries; however, a system of
juries had not been implemented and as a result juries were only used
in a limited number of cases. Most cases were decided by judges who sit
singly, occasionally with three public assessors (lay judges or
professional jurors with some legal training), or in groups of three
for more serious cases.
The Office of the Prosecutor General practiced selective
prosecution and initiated investigations against the political or
economic opponents of the President and his allies (see Section 1.d.).
The Prosecutor General also ignored parliamentary and court requests
for investigations into high ranking persons if the accused were
presidential allies.
Criminal groups routinely used intimidation to induce victims and
witnesses to withdraw or change their testimony. The law requires that
a special police unit protect judges, witnesses, defendants, and their
relatives; however, the unit had not begun operation by year's end, and
trial participants were vulnerable to pressure. Because of lack of
funding, a witness protection law was also in abeyance. The law
provides that the names and addresses of victims and witnesses may be
kept confidential if they request protection due to fear for their
lives. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of violence
against judges.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions; however, in practice
authorities infringed on citizens' privacy rights. By law, only courts
may approve warrants for searches of residential properties and
wiretaps; however, prosecutors have the right to issue warrants for
searches of nonresidential properties (see Section 1.e.).
By law, the SBU may not conduct intrusive surveillance and searches
without a court issued warrant. The Office of the Prosecutor General
has the constitutional responsibility to ensure that law enforcement
agencies, including the SBU, observe the law; however, the extent to
which the Prosecutor General used his authority to monitor SBU
activities and to curb excesses by security officials was unknown. The
Constitution provides citizens with the right to examine any dossier on
them in the possession of the SBU and to sue for physical and emotional
damages incurred by an investigation; however, necessary implementing
legislation had not been passed, and the authorities did not respect
this right in practice.
The Government arbitrarily monitored the private communications and
movements of individuals. For example, on January 23, opposition M.P.s
complained to the newspaper Ukraina Moloda that their phones were
tapped and that they had been put under surveillance. A leading human
rights group estimated that courts issued at least 40,000 warrants
during the year for phone taps.
The press reported on February 18, that SBU Major General Valeriy
Kravchenko, a security officer at the Ukrainian Embassy in Berlin, had
accused the SBU of conducting surveillance on opposition
parliamentarians and senior government officials during their visits
abroad. The Government denied these allegations.
On August 10, opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko
asserted to the press that he was illegally subjected to plainclothes
police surveillance during his visit to Ai Petri Mountain near Yalta.
Yushchenko called on the Prosecutor General's Office to open criminal
charges against the police officers involved in the incident; however,
no charges were filed, and the Government asserted that the
surveillance was intended to protect Yushchenko from potential harm. On
September 13, Our Ukraine M.P. Valeriy Asadchev told the press that the
Government had sent secret instructions to all oblasts requiring local
security services to put foreign election observers under surveillance
and to report to the Presidential Administration about the observers'
activities. On several occasions in October, Rada Speaker Volodymyr
Lytvyn complained to the press about police surveillance of him and his
family.
The law gives the SBU broad powers to monitor Internet publications
and email. Telecommunications operators are required to install at
their own expense equipment allowing ``authorized agencies'' to monitor
Internet activity conducted over their services. The stated goal of the
requirement was to fight corruption and further the country's
integration into the European Community; however, human rights
organizations expressed concern that this network increased the SBU's
ability to monitor the activities of citizens without cause. The
Internet Association of Ukraine, a group of six Kiev based ISPs,
complained in a 2003 report to the OSCE that enactment of monitoring
legislation could infringe on individuals' rights to privacy of
correspondence under existing law.
Some NGOs reported that authorities had opened and searched their
mail at times during the year. The SBU also monitored the activities of
certain NGOs active in democracy development projects. Journalists
whose reports were critical of the Government or who covered opposition
politicians and NGOs that engaged in nonpartisan political activity,
reported that SBU agents frequently followed them and that their
telephones and offices were wiretapped (see Section 2.a.). In October,
authorities conducted unauthorized raids on the offices of a number of
youth and student organizations, including Pora (see 2.b.).
A new residence registration system took effect during the year,
following the December 2003 passage of the law ``On Freedom of
Movement.'' The new system simplified existing procedures by requiring
only that individuals who move to a new place of residence deregister
at their old address, fill out a declaration listing their new address,
pay a $.16 (.85 UAH) processing fee, and complete these procedures
within 10 days. The new system does not limit Ukrainian citizens to one
address at which they may be registered. A person may only have one
permanent address, but may register temporarily at other locations (for
example, at a university if a person is a student).
The Government and some human rights groups depicted the new system
as a major step forward from the Soviet era ``propyska'' system. They
noted that it was far simpler and permitted individuals to live, work,
and receive services anywhere in the country; however there were
critics. For example, the Minister of Justice complained to the
newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnya that similarities remained between the new
system and the propyska system, specifically noting that the police
remained in charge of residence registration.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the authorities often did
not respect these rights in practice. During most of the year, the
authorities took a direct role in instructing the media on events and
issues it should cover and how they should be covered. However, toward
the very end of the presidential election campaign in November, many
media outlets began to ignore government direction and covered events
in a more objective, professional manner. This aptly named
``journalists' rebellion'' gained significant momentum on November 25,
when Ukrainian National Television (UT 1) sign language interpreter
Natalya Dmytruk departed from her approved script and informed viewers
that the official election results announced on November 23 were false,
adding that ``Yushchenko is our President.'' In the wake of the Orange
Revolution, top media watchdog organizations asserted that the media
were generally more free and politically diverse than at any time in
the country's modern history.
During most of the year, authorities continued to interfere with
news media by intimidating journalists through the use of libel laws,
license revocations, and by investigations on tax matters or fire and
health code violations; in some cases, these measures had the effect of
shutting down independent media sources. The authorities also took
steps to strengthen their control over the broadcasting sector,
although during the Orange Revolution, the authorities proved unwilling
or unable to use their control to determine the political content of
most national and many regional broadcasts.
For most of the year, the authorities also restricted freedom of
speech through indirect means; for example, by influencing publishing
houses to refuse or limit the publication of materials critical of the
authorities.
There were numerous instances when authorities limited freedom of
the press. Government interference often took the form of direct
intervention, such as blocking radio and television frequencies,
confiscation of opposition newspapers and pamphlets, refusal to provide
television or radio airtime to opposition politicians, and denying
public venues for opposition rallies.
The NGO Freedom House rated the press as ``not free,'' as it had
done in 2003, because of state censorship of television broadcasts,
continued harassment and disruption of independent media, and the
failure of authorities to adequately investigate attacks against
journalists. On May 3, the group Reporters Without Borders again cited
President Kuchma as an ``enemy of the press.''
According to the website of the State Committee on Television and
Information Policy, at year's end there were 20,903 registered print
publications and 800 television broadcasters in the country. Despite
government pressure and media self censorship, the numerous newspapers
and periodicals on the market, each espousing the view of its
respective sponsor, provided a variety of opinions.
Wealthy investors pursuing their own political and economic
interests financed many major newspapers. These newspapers often
favored the Government. Their strong financial backing gave these
newspapers an advantage over smaller, more independent, newspapers.
Foreign newspapers and periodicals circulated freely.
Broadcast media, the primary source of news for most citizens, were
either state owned or owned by oligarchs and powerful business
interests. There were six national television stations. State run
television had the widest geographic coverage, but low viewership. Most
other television stations were associated with political parties or
powerful business interests. While such groups often did not agree on
particular issues, they generally rallied behind the pro presidential
position on key issues dividing the Government and the opposition. The
major exception during most of the year was the opposition owned Fifth
Channel, which, according to some observers, was less partisan and more
objective. Fifth Channel's geographic coverage was limited due to
government harassment and restrictions, but its viewership was strong;
it played a critical role in keeping Ukrainians informed about
developments during the presidential elections and the Orange
Revolution. The television and radio stations, Era, also began to
provide objective news coverage in the fall, and were permitted by the
authorities to operate.
Some journalists were subjected to physical attacks during the year
that may have been related to their professional activities; however,
unlike in 2003, there were no reports of deaths of journalists in
connection with their professional activities. The national affiliate
of Reporters Without Borders reported that 3 journalists died in
connection with their professional activities within the country in
2003, and 34 were subjected to aggression and intimidation.
On January 12, unknown assailants fired shots at Oleh Yeltsov, the
editor of the investigative Internet newspaper ``Criminal Ukraine.''
Yeltsov said that the attack may have been linked to articles his
newspaper published about corruption at Kiev University.
On January 21, the media reported that journalist Maksym Birovash
received threats to his life because of an article he published in 2003
relating to the trafficking of Ukrainian women to Israel for
prostitution.
On August 19, unidentified attackers used Molotov cocktails to
destroy an office at the independent Lviv newspaper Postup. The
newspaper's editor said that the newspaper's coverage of two corrupt
local officials, one of whom was allegedly involved in an illegal
construction project in one of the Lviv's parks, likely prompted the
attack. The police were continuing to investigate the incident.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), on
November 29, unidentified men beat Yevgeny Savchenko, a correspondent
for the newspaper Luhanchane in the city of Luhansk, when he tried to
prevent them from taking another journalist's video camera at a local
campaign rally. Assailants also beat reporter Anna Nizkodubova while
she tried to telephone her editors at the Ukrainian News Agency to file
a story from the same rally, according to local press reports.
In July, Tatyana Goryacheva, editor of the independent newspaper
Berdyansk Delovoi, was forced off the road by masked men who threatened
to kill her if she continued her positive coverage of opposition
presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. Goryacheva had been attacked
in 2002 by unknown assailants who threw acid in her face, and again in
2003 by unidentified men who threatened to kill her if she pressed for
an investigation of the 2002 incident. At year's end there had been no
further developments in these cases.
In September, the Prosecutor General's office announced that
Volodymyr Yefremov, former Director of the Dnipropetrovsk based 11th
Channel and Regional Representative of Reporters Without Borders,
``violated traffic safety rules'' and was to blame for the accident
which killed him in July 2003. Some media claimed that Yefremov died
under suspicious circumstances, as he claimed to be under police
surveillance prior to his death, had received suspicious phone calls,
and had expressed a fear of ``yet another tragic car accident.''
There were no further developments in any of the other reported
attacks on journalists from 2002 or 2003.
On March 15, the media reported that President Kuchma had
instructed the Prosecutor General's office, the Interior Ministry, the
Tax Administration, and the Ministry for Emergency Situations to impose
a moratorium on inspections of the media prior to the presidential
elections. On March 16, the Parliament passed a similar resolution.
Subsequently, the head of the Tax Administration instructed officials
to suspend all tax inspections during the presidential election
campaign period. However, media NGOs reported that the moratorium was
not fully observed. For example, the media reported on October 5 that
the tax police conducted 2 days of intense and intrusive inspections of
the Presa Company, which sells the independent newspaper Vysoky Zamok
at its kiosks in Lviv. In addition, the authorities ordered the
independent newspaper Lvivska Hazeta to pay a large fine after it
published a series of articles alleging corruption in the local tax
administration.
There were no further developments in the ongoing battle between
the authorities and Volodymyr Boyko, editor of the Internet newspaper
Obkom.
In February, a judge ordered the closure of the pro opposition
newspaper Silski Visti, for fomenting inter ethnic hatred by publishing
at least two anti Semitic articles (see Section 2.c.). The authorities
reportedly were seeking to close a number of other newspapers for
similar reasons.
The law prohibits the authorities from interfering with the
professional activities of journalists and prohibits the establishment
of any body to control media information; however, credible allegations
continued to surface that the Presidential Administration gave media
publishers specific instructions on events to cover and how to cover
them, as well as subjects not to cover. These instructions, known as
``temnyky,'' reportedly included instructions for the media to portray
President Kuchma favorably and avoid discussion of events that cast
doubt on his credibility. After the November 21 runoff of the
Presidential elections, many journalists declared that they would no
longer be guided by temnyky. Following the Orange Revolution, many top
Ukrainian media watchdog organizations asserted that temnyky were no
longer being issued to media organizations by the Government.
The courts, as well as such mechanisms as health, fire, and safety
inspections, were also used to intimidate the media for most of the
year.
The Government at times directed key businesses either to purchase
advertising from regional television stations or to withdraw from
advertising contracts, depending on the news coverage the stations
offered.
The influential National Council for Television and Radio
Broadcasting, comprised of an equal number of Rada members and
presidential appointees, issues licenses and allocates broadcasting
time. Council decisions continued to show bias in favor of business
interests closely allied politically with the Government. In March, the
Parliament passed a resolution criticizing the Council for inadequately
performing its duties.
Policy and practice regarding licensing placed state owned channels
at a competitive advantage. All broadcasters were required to obtain
licenses, but private and foreign companies were required to obtain
additional licenses in order to establish and operate their own
transmission facilities. Nongovernmental broadcast media were therefore
required to obtain two licenses one for a transmitter and one for a
frequency. Moreover, although state owned and independent channels were
subject to the same rates for the majority of broadcasting fees, the
Government rarely enforced fee payments for state owned channels.
Although a district court ruled in 2003 against the Council's
decision to deprive the Kiev based television company UTAR of its
license, the Court's ruling was not enforced during the year and UTAR
remained off the air. The press had speculated that opposition leader
Yuliya Tymoshenko provided financial support to the station and that
the Council's decision had been politically motivated.
Early in the year, the Government and its agents moved in a
coordinated way to silence broadcasts by Radio Liberty (RL) ahead of
key local and national elections. The media reported on January 20 that
unnamed supporters of the pro government party SDPU(o) had acquired
Radio Dovira, an FM station that was broadcasting RL's news and current
affairs programs. The media reported that the editor of Presidential
Chief of Staff Viktor Medvedchuk's newspaper ``2000,'' Serhiy Kichihin,
was appointed editor of Radio Dovira and moved quickly to drop RL's
programming. Kichihin claimed that the move was motivated by economics,
not politics; however, opposition politicians and media watchdog groups
disputed that assertion, calling the Kichihin's decision a clear effort
to eliminate independent sources of information for Ukrainian citizens.
On February 28, Radio Kontynent began re broadcasting RL
programming; on March 1, the station announced that its signal was
being jammed in Kiev. Radio Kontynent owner Serhiy Sholokh said that he
had been warned by unnamed political forces not to rebroadcast RL. In
late February, he fled the country fearing arrest and bodily injury. On
March 3, Radio Kontynent's transmitter was turned off and its
transmission equipment was confiscated. Government officials justified
the confiscation by saying that since it did not have a license,
Kontynent had been broadcasting illegally (a 2001 court decision to
give its license and frequency to Radio Onyx remained under appeal, and
Kontynent had been allowed to continue its broadcasts until it began to
re-broadcast RL).
According to multiple press reports, on March 13, the Zakarpatska
Regional Transmitting Center (ZRTC) turned off the transmitters of the
Television station M Studio, which generally supported the opposition,
for failure to pay its debts. However, according to March 13 reports by
Forum and Ukrainska Pravda, as well as March 18 and 23 stories in
Ukraina Moloda, M Studio had no debts to ZRTC, while the state owned UT
1 and UT 2 channels, which owed huge sums to ZRTC, continued to
operate. M Studio was allowed to recommence broadcasting the day
following the controversial April 18 Mukacheve mayoral election (see
Section 3).
An independent content analysis conducted in February by the
Ukrainian Press Academy and the Sociology Institute of the National
Academy of Science indicated that the news was increasingly politicized
and primarily presented pro administration views. There was a marked
imbalance in the coverage of candidates on national television and
radio channels during the first and second rounds of the presidential
election campaign (see Section 3). Opposition candidates received
limited and often negative coverage at the national level; however,
opposition candidates had more success in obtaining access to smaller
local and regional television channels. The situation changed
significantly for the better between the November 21 runoff election
and the December 26 repeat runoff. The media, particularly the national
television channels, covered both presidential candidates much more
fairly and professionally.
The Kiev based Independent Media Trade Union, formed in 2002 to
resist censorship and protect journalists from job loss or other forms
of harassment, played an important role in helping organize the
``journalists' rebellion'' during the Orange Revolution, which led to
more fair and professional coverage of the presidential campaign.
Although there was no criminal penalty for libel, the use or threat
of civil libel suits continued to inhibit freedom of the press, and the
number of cases brought during the year reportedly increased. According
to the media watchdog NGO, Institute for Mass Information (IMI), at
least 15 libel actions were brought against the mass media and
journalists during the year. Whether such a suit is successful or not,
lower courts may order that a publication's accounts be frozen pending
an appeal of a civil libel case, a step that can be financially ruinous
for many publications. Government entities, in particular, used civil
suits based on alleged damage to a ``person's honor and integrity'' to
influence or intimidate the press. According to IMI, government
entities initiated 90 percent of the suits brought during the year.
The Civil Code, enacted during 2003 but implemented during the
year, provides that negative information about a person is considered
untrue unless the person who spread the information proves to the
contrary. Journalists and legal analysts have expressed concern that
this code had a negative impact on freedom of speech and the press.
Despite laws that both limit the amount of damages that may be
claimed in lawsuits for libel and free the press from responsibility
for inoffensive, non factual, judgments, including criticism, the
Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman indicated concern over the
``astronomical'' damages awarded for alleged libel. For example, in
January, the Odesa newspaper Pravoye Delo complained that it had been
sued for libel in connection with articles it had published that were
critical of police and the local security service. One of the suits was
seeking approximately $38,400 (200,000 UAH) in damages.
On April 23, pro-government representatives filed two libel
lawsuits against the independent Internet news site Ukrainska Pravda.
The suits sought approximately $3,846 (20,000 UAH) in damages, plus the
immediate confiscation of the newspaper's assets in lieu of damages for
several articles.
On May 26, a lawyer with ties to the Presidential Administration
and the editor of a pro government newspaper in Cherkasy filed a libel
lawsuit against the opposition supporting newspaper Ukraina Moloda. The
lawsuit demanded that the newspaper publish a retraction for a
``libelous'' interview and pay compensation of approximately $1,921
(10,000 UAH); the plaintiff also asked the court to freeze the
newspaper's assets during the litigation. Ukraina Moloda maintained
that the charges had no merit and that the spurious lawsuit was simply
a government attempt to shut the newspaper down.
The print media, both independent and government owned, sometimes
demonstrated a tendency toward self censorship on matters that the
Government deemed sensitive. According to a poll taken in 2003, many
journalists believed that criticism of the president (71 percent),
local authorities (69 percent), the Presidential Administration (68
percent), or criminal organizations (77 percent) would result in
negative consequences such as psychological pressure, economic
sanctions, and physical attacks. Although private newspapers were free
to function on a purely commercial basis, they were subject to various
pressures, such as dependence on political patrons who could facilitate
financial support from the State Press Support Fund and close scrutiny
from government officials, especially at the local level. The
dependence of some of the press on government patronage inhibited
criticism, particularly at the local level. This type of pressure was
particularly acute prior to, and during, the presidential election
campaign and the first runoff.
The SBU had broad powers over the media in regard to the
publication of state secrets, which included information on executions,
the physical state of prison infrastructure, and pretrial detention
facilities; however, journalists reported that, in general, they were
able to report about harsh prison conditions without any inhibition
(see Section 1.c.).
There were instances in which the authorities or ``unknown
persons'' likely to have been associated with the authorities,
restricted, banned, or destroyed some publications critical of
governmental entities or officials. For example, on January 10, police
in Zaporizhzhya detained a truckload of Bez Tsenzury newspapers that
pro opposition elements had planned to distribute. Officials stated
that the truck and its cargo were held pending the identification of
the driver; however, it was alleged that one of the police officers
involved said that the truck had been detained because the newspaper
had published articles critical of President Kuchma.
On February 26, in Brody, unidentified attackers broke into a
warehouse and set fire to 5,000 copies of ``Narcissus'' and ``Time of
Mean Power,'' books written by former M.P. Dmytro Chobit that were
highly critical of Presidential Administration Chief of Staff Viktor
Medvedchuk. On May 15, unidentified assailants burned down the printing
facility of the company that published the books.
In a September 18 article entitled ``Litsa Was Guillotined,'' the
newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnya published the text of a statement by the
Dnipropetrovsk branch of the SBU in which it complained about the
``biased'' reporting of the independent newspaper Litsa and other
newspapers, and indicated that the SBU had taken ``preventive
measures'' against what it viewed as ``falsified reporting.'' According
to the Dzerkalo Tyzhnya article, these measures included SBU efforts to
intimidate Litsa's printers and, on September 14, the physical
destruction of half of Litsa's 33,000 copy print run.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however, it
had the ability to monitor all Internet publications and e mail (see
Section 1.f.). Human rights observers remained concerned about the
Government move in July, 2003, to take control of the country's domain
suffix.
While major universities were state owned, they operated for the
most part under full autonomy; however, academic freedom was an
underdeveloped and poorly understood concept. Nepotism and bribery
reportedly were common during entrance exams and also influenced the
granting of degrees. Administrators of universities and academic and
research institute directors possessed the power to silence colleagues
by denying them the ability to publish, withholding pay and housing
benefits, and directly terminating them. Restrictions by the
Communications Ministry on the mailing of scientific documents also
caused concern. The SBU maintained offices for the protection of state
secrets in state scientific and research institutes, including those
not conducting any classified research. Private and religiously
affiliated universities operated without any reported state
interference or harassment.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
and law provide for freedom of assembly; however, there were instances
when the authorities infringed upon this right. The Constitution
requires that demonstrators inform the authorities of a planned
demonstration in advance, and the law on public assembly stipulates
that organizations must apply for permission to their respective local
administrations at least 10 days before a planned event or
demonstration. Under the law, demonstrators are prohibited from
inciting violence or ethnic conflict and from calling for the violent
overthrow of the constitutional order. In practice, unlicensed
demonstrations were common. They generally occurred without police
interference, fines, or detention, but there were some significant
exceptions. During the massive nationwide demonstrations that followed
the fraudulent November 21 presidential runoff election, the
authorities generally respected the right of the people to peacefully
protest. There were credible reports that unnamed senior Government
officials ordered that force be used on November 28 to disperse
protesters in Independence Square, but those orders were not carried
out, reportedly because of a split in the security forces.
The Donetsk municipal government banned a planned May 1 gathering
of the opposition electoral bloc Our Ukraine. Officials claimed that it
was illegal to conduct campaign events more than 120 days prior to the
presidential elections, although other groups were permitted to hold
similar events.
On May 5, two aides to parliamentarian Volodymyr Filenko and an
unnamed opposition journalist were detained on administrative charges
by a court in Kharkiv for disrupting public order. Officials stated
that they had staged an unauthorized demonstration in Kharkiv on May 1,
protesting government policies.
On August 6, police in Sumy Oblast, acting on direct orders from
Governor Volodymyr Scherban, attacked a large group of students who
were marching along a major highway to Kiev to protest the merger of
three colleges in Sumy. An opposition M.P. who was on the scene said
that police pushed students to the ground, kicked them, beat them with
truncheons, and dragged at least 20 of them to waiting buses which took
them to a police station. The students were later released. Opposition
M.P.s called on the Government to dismiss the Interior Minister over
the incident; however, the Government took no action.
On August 12, in Dnipropetrovsk, local authorities used tractors
and huge air compressors to disrupt a rally by Socialist party
presidential candidate Oleksandr Moroz.
On March 12, March 26, and October 10, the last four prisoners of
the Ukrainian National Assembly/Ukraine People's Self Defense
Organization (UNA/UNSO) convicted in connection with 2001 anti-
government demonstrations were released.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association but this right
was infringed, especially in the presidential election campaign.
Registration requirements for organizations were extensive, but there
were no reports that the Government used them during the year to
disband legitimate organizations or prevent them from forming.
The law places restrictions on organizations that are considered
dangerous, such as those that advocate violence or racial and religious
hatred or that threaten the public order or health. The Government had
not identified publicly any group as ``dangerous'' by year's end;
however, members of the Pora movement and some far right political
organizations reported that they were subject to frequent harassment
and surveillance by government authorities.
Political parties must maintain offices in one half of the regions
and may not receive financial support from the state or any foreign
patron. In accordance with the Constitution, the law prohibits the
establishment of political parties in the executive and judicial
branches, military units, law enforcement organizations, state owned
enterprises, and other public institutions; however, this prohibition
often was ignored in practice. The Supreme Court reserves the right to
ban any political party upon the recommendation of the MOJ or the
Prosecutor General; however, no parties were banned during the year.
Interference with freedom of association increased significantly in
the campaign period before the October 31 presidential election and the
November 21 runoff. For example, according to the Helsinki European
Human Rights Union, on October 16, 17, and 18, police officers
conducted unauthorized searches of the offices used by several youth
and student organizations, including Pora and Student Wave. The
searches were conducted on such pretexts as a search for explosives or
investigation of reports that the organizations had been engaged in
terrorism. A number of organization leaders were detained, although
most were released within a few hours. Some of them later asserted that
they had been questioned about, for example, the contents of
publications they had distributed which were critical of the
authorities.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution and the law provide for
freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right
in practice. Religious groups of all beliefs flourished; however, there
were isolated problems at the local level, at times as a result of
local officials taking sides in conflicts between religious
organizations. Some local officials at times impeded attempts by
minority and nontraditional religions to register and buy or lease
property.
The Constitution and the law provide for the separation of church
and state and there is no state religion; however, the UOC Moscow
Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church tend to dominate
in the east and west of the country, respectively. Local authorities
often sided with the religious majority in a particular region, taking
the side of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) Moscow Patriarchate in
many areas of the country, and supporting the Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Church in the western part of the country.
Under the law, all religions, faiths, and religious organizations
are equal, and this provision was generally respected, although foreign
missionaries associated with groups not legally described as
``native,'' (i.e. not Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Jewish) were subject
to a few additional legal requirements that did not appear to affect
their work during the year.
Significant political influence at the local and regional levels
was exerted by the UOC Moscow Patriarchate, which predominated in the
south and east, the UOC Kiev Patriarchate, which was strong in the
central and western regions, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox
Church (UAOC), which was also strong in the central regions, and the
Greek Catholic Church, which predominated in the west. Each of these
churches, within its respective sphere of influence, reportedly
pressured local officials to restrict the activities of the others. The
UOC Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
complained of harassment by local authorities in the predominantly
Russian speaking southern and eastern regions of the country. The UOC
Moscow Patriarchate complained that local governments ignored the
appropriation of its churches by Greek Catholics in the western region.
A poll conducted in August by the All Ukraine Sociological Service
found that 50.44 percent of the respondents who described themselves as
believers considered themselves to be members of the UOC Kiev
Patriarchate, 26.13 percent members of the UOC Moscow Patriarchate,
8.02 percent Greek Catholic Church, 7.21 percent UAOC, 2.19 percent
Roman Catholic Church, 2.19 percent Protestant, 3.2 percent other
denominations, and 0.63 percent observe Jewish religious practices.
The law requires all religious organizations and non secular
institutions of education offering religious diplomas to register with
the State Committee on Religious Affairs (SCRA). Registration is
necessary to own property or carry out many economic activities, such
as publishing religious materials and opening bank accounts. The UOC
Kiev Patriarchate reported delays in the registration of its parishes.
Some minority religious organizations reported that, particularly at
the local or regional levels, officials of the SCRA delayed the
registration of their organizations for extended periods.
Representatives of the Progressive Jewish Communities claimed that
local authorities and Chabad Lubavitch officials made statements
against their community in the local press while the group was
organizing communities in Dnipropetrovsk. The Progressive Jewish
Community claimed not only that the Dnipropetrovsk Chabad Community
opposed the registration of any Jewish community but itself in the
region, but also that, under pressure from Chabad Lubavitch, it was
denied registration in Dnipropetrovsk.
Representatives of the Muslim community noted that they have been
unable to register a community in Kharkiv for the past 12 years.
Islamic community leaders expressed frustration with the Ministry of
Education, which had yet to register a single Islamic school.
The Government generally permitted religious organizations to
establish places of worship and to train clergy. The Government
continued to facilitate the building of houses of worship by allocation
of land plots for new construction and through restitution of religious
buildings to their rightful owners.
Members of numerous religious communities encountered difficulties
in obtaining land permits and building permits, particularly in Kiev;
however, problems were not limited to religious groups.
The clergy, religious preachers, teachers, and other
representatives of foreign organizations who are foreign citizens and
are in the country temporarily, may preach and perform religious rites
or other canonical activities only in the services of the religious
organizations who sponsored their visas and with the official agreement
of the state agency that registered the sponsoring religious
organization. There were no reports that the Government used this
provision of the law to restrict the activity of religious
organizations during the year.
The law restricts the activities of ``nonnative,'' foreign based,
religious organizations and narrowly defines the permissible activities
of members of the clergy, preachers, teachers, and other non citizen
representatives of foreign based religious organizations; however, in
practice there were no reports that the Government used the law to
limit the activity of nonnative religious organizations. In late 2003,
there was one report that foreign religious workers, a pair of Islamic
clerics, encountered difficulties obtaining visas.
Denominational religious instruction is prohibited in the public
school curriculum, but individual schools have the right to introduce a
course in ``basic Christian ethics'' developed by the Government and
the UOC Kiev Patriarchate. While the country's Jewish leaders also
support the teaching of ethics and civics in school, they insist on a
nonsectarian approach to this training. Schools run by religious
communities may, and do, include religious education as an
extracurricular activity.
Government leaders demonstrated their commitment to religious
pluralism by attending ceremonies of a wide range of faiths during the
year. The Government was generally supportive of initiatives to erect
an appropriate memorial, and possibly a heritage center, at Babyn Yar,
the site of World War II atrocities against Jews and members of other
minority groups.
Outstanding claims for restitution remained among all of the major
religious communities. The Government continued to return properties
expropriated during the Soviet era to religious groups; however, not
all groups regarded the pace of restitution as satisfactory, and all
major religious communities continued to have outstanding restitution
claims. For example, on May 11, the Pope called on the Government to
return former Roman Catholic churches to the Roman Catholic community.
Intra communal competition for particular properties complicated the
restitution issue for some Christian and some Jewish communities.
On February 5, the Zhytomyr Oblast Archive returned 17 Torah
scrolls to the local Jewish community. The Government returned a
synagogue in Kharkiv, which in April was transferred to representatives
of Progressive Jewish religious communities of the Kharkiv Region. In
May, the Government returned the former residence of Catholic Bishop in
Lviv for use by the Roman Catholic Church. Some groups asserted that
restitution generally was progressing satisfactorily, although others
that did not receive property reported a lack of progress.
There were acts of anti Semitism during the year. On July 11, a
rabbi was assaulted near Kiev's Brodsky Synagogue, according to a July
12, 2004 report by the MIGnews.com news web site and the July 14
edition of the newspaper Fakti. Rabbi Chaim Pikovsky was walking to the
synagogue on July 11 dressed in traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing.
According to the police, at least one unidentified ``hooligan''
approached Pikovsky, insulted him, and then struck him. According to
Pikovsky's lawyer, the police investigated the attack and detained a
suspect; that suspect was later released because of a lack of evidence.
On August 24, two rabbis were attacked in central Odesa by three
men who witnesses say were obviously drunk. The rabbis fought off their
assailants with the help of some bystanders. Police captured one of the
alleged perpetrators, who while being interrogated told police he
wanted to kill Jews. At year's end, police were still searching for the
other assailants.
At the end of August, Chaim Dubnov, a Donetsk yeshiva student, was
walking with his family in the center of Donetsk when a group of youths
chanting anti-Semitic insults surrounded them, knocked Dubnov to the
ground and kicked him several times. He was hospitalized with head
injuries. According to Jewish community leaders in Donetsk, the police
were continuing to investigate the attack at year's end.
On August 8, police told the media that 26 gravestones were
vandalized in the Jewish section of the Donetsk Oblast. Police caught
the perpetrator, who told police he overturned the gravestones looking
for metal brackets to sell for scrap. On August 20, it was reported
that 15 more gravestones in the same cemetery were vandalized. The
number ``666'' (according to some, a Biblical mark of Satan) had been
spray painted on some of the overturned gravestones. Local police were
still searching for the perpetrators.
At year's end, the trial of the pro opposition newspaper Silski
Visti remained ongoing. The newspaper was appealing a lower court
ruling, publicly endorsed by the Government, that it be closed for
fomenting inter ethnic hatred by publishing at least two anti Semitic
advertisements. At year's end, Silski Visti was still publishing
normally.
A dispute between nationalists and Jews over the erection of
crosses in Jewish cemeteries in Sambir and Kiev remained unresolved
despite mediation efforts by Jewish and Greek Catholic leaders.
In December 2002, a local court ordered a halt in the construction
of an apartment building at the site of an old Jewish cemetery in
Volodymyr Volynsky. However, according to the Secretary of the
Volodymyr Volynsky Municipal Council, apartment construction was
completed during 2003 and most of the units were occupied. Local Jewish
groups complained during the year that the SCRA continued to refuse to
help resolve this dispute.
Muslims often were subject to document checks by local police,
particularly in Kharkiv and Poltava. They raised this issue with the
Presidential Administration and the SCRA; however, there was no action
by the SCRA by year's end.
Evangelical Christian missionaries reported some instances of
societal discrimination against members of their churches, such as
public criticism for betraying native religions, although there were no
reports of harassment.
On May 18, President Kuchma signed a law that allows conscientious
objectors to perform alternative service in lieu of serving in the
military. The term of service for conscientious objectors is 27 months
and for those drafted in the armed forces 18 months.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for these
rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice;
however, there were some limitations.
Until November 2001, the propyska system a nationwide requirement,
dating to the Soviet regime, that individuals register at the workplace
and place of residence in order to be eligible for social benefits
remained in place; access to certain social benefits was limited to the
place where one was registered. However, following the December 11,
2003 passage of the law ``On The Freedom Of Movement,'' a new system,
simply known as ``registration,'' was introduced during the year. Human
rights groups stressed that the major difference between the new system
and the propyska system is that a person may live, work, and receive
services anywhere in the country (see section 1.f.).
Police arbitrarily detained persons for extensive document checks
and vehicle inspections (see Section 1.f.).
Citizens who wished to travel abroad generally were able to do so
freely. Exit visas were required for citizens who intended to take up
permanent residence in another country, but there were no known cases
of exit visas being denied to citizens during the year. The Government
could deny passports to individuals in possession of state secrets, but
those denied had the possibility of appealing.
The Constitution prohibits forced exile and the Government did not
employ it.
Under the terms of the Citizenship Law, refugees may acquire
citizenship if they have lived legally in the country for 3 years
(instead of 5 years for other foreigners) and are able to communicate
in the Ukrainian language. Refugees are not required to document the
termination of their previous citizenship unless the Government has
signed a specific agreement with the country of previous citizenship
mandating such a procedure; they must only notify the authorities of
their rejection of foreign citizenship. Since independence, more than
1.5 million persons have returned to the country, while more than a
million persons, mostly ethnic Russians, have left the country.
Citizenship law facilitates the acquisition of citizenship by
Crimean Tatars, who were deported victims of political oppression, by
waiving some of the usual residence and language requirements. More
than 260,000 Crimean Tatars have returned from exile to Crimea, mainly
from Central Asia. According to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR), approximately 98 percent of the Tatar returnees have acquired
citizenship, although Tatar representatives criticized aspects of the
resettlement process (see Section 5).
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement (the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution), but it granted
refugee or asylum status infrequently.
The law entitles refugees to all of the benefits accorded to
citizens, and the Government generally complied with these
entitlements. It also provides that temporary refugee status may be
granted for 1 year; this status is reviewed annually by migration
service officers at the refugee's place of residence. The Government
cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees and operated refugee reception centers in Vinnytsya
and Odesa.
According to UNHCR officials, the biggest obstacle to the
implementation of the Government's commitments to the protection of
refugees is that authorities strictly apply the requirement that
applicants for refugee status apply within 3 working days of their
entry into the country. This led the authorities to refuse to initiate
asylum procedures for 70 percent of all asylum seekers. As a result,
they remained undocumented and faced arrest, detention, and
deportation.
UNHCR reported that, as of June, there were approximately 2,700
refugees in the country, most of them from Afghanistan and Chechnya.
According to the State Committee for Nationalities and Migration, in
2003 the Government received 1,215 applications for refugee status. The
authorities refused to accept 857 of those applications; 429 applicants
were permitted to begin the asylum process. Refugee status was granted
to 56 individuals; 144 were turned down. The remaining cases were under
review as of October.
Police harassment of refugees with dark skin, and, to a lesser
degree, Asians, continued during the year. In 2003, such harassment
included at least one severe beating. The UNHCR issued beneficiary
cards to persons it recognized as refugees. Presentation of this card
to law enforcement authorities reportedly led to some reduction in
harassment, although this procedure did not help the large numbers of
unrecognized refugees. The UNHCR continued to hold training seminars
for judges, border guards, and other law enforcement personnel that
focus on preventing such behavior.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully through periodic elections; however, this right
was restricted during the year by the authorities, who engaged in many
forms of manipulation of presidential, parliamentary, and local
elections. In most of these contests, candidates opposing the
Government faced administrative obstacles, efforts to discourage
sympathetic media coverage of the opposition, interference in their
organizational activities, and, in the case of the Mukacheve mayoral
election in April, physical intimidation and theft of ballots by hired
thugs. Political manipulation was particularly notable in the October
31 presidential election and the November 21 runoff; however, a repeat
runoff vote on December 26, which followed the Supreme Court's
invalidation of the first, was judged by reputable international
observers, including the OSCE, to have been a significant improvement.
The Constitution provides for universal suffrage for citizens at
least 18 years of age and for elections every 4 years for the Rada and
every 5 years for president. The Rada is elected partially according to
proportional representation and partially by direct constituency
mandate.
The authorities placed a variety of obstacles in the way of the
opposition Our Ukraine bloc and its leader, Viktor Yushchenko,
restricting his access to media coverage and limiting his ability to
campaign for the October 31 and November 21 rounds of the presidential
election (see Section 2.b.).
The OSCE observer mission noted serious flaws in the first round of
voting for president, including a strong media bias, problems with the
voters' lists, which excluded up to 10 percent of voters, and
administrative pressure on students, government, and state enterprise
employees. In the second round held between the two frontrunners,
observers noted massive and systematic fraud through the abuse of
mobile ballot boxes, absentee ballots, which were cast in exceeding
high numbers, and ballot stuffing, as well as previously cited
problems. The Supreme Court invalidated the results and ordered a
revote set for December 26. In order to reduce the scope for fraud, the
Parliament and President cooperated to amend the presidential election
law to limit absentee and mobile ballot voting, and appointed a new
Central Election Commission. The December 26 revote was judged by
reputable international observers, including the OSCE, to have
reflected the will of the people and brought Ukraine substantially
closer to meeting international standards for free and democratic
elections.
Corruption was rampant in the executive, legislative, and judicial
branches of the Government. According to one survey, 80 percent of
respondents considered corruption to be one of the country's most
serious problems, with 57 percent viewing the police, 34.4 percent the
courts, and 30 percent the office of the Prosecutor, as corrupt.
A U.N. Public Administration report noted that regulations
governing business activities in Ukraine were excessive and ambiguous,
which facilitated corruption. Corruption and nepotism figured in
appointments to governmental positions. The report noted that the
operations of the natural gas industry, and particularly the state
owned gas monopoly, Naftohaz, were characterized by corruption. It
suggested that ``the operations of Naftohaz, believed to reflect the
overlapping interests of business, politics, and crime, are suspected
of being the source of illicit income for government officials and
President Kuchma.'' The sale of the massive Kryvorizhstal steel works
to government-connected insiders for half of what other bidders had
offered also raised serious questions about corruption.
The Chairman of the Rada Committee on Combating Organized Crime and
Corruption, Dr. Volodymyr Stretovych, has described corruption within
the executive and legislative branches of government as a ``systemic
disease.''
The law provides public access to certain government information,
usually through websites; however, Internet access was still relatively
limited both in terms of technology and overall number of users.
Prominent government watchdogs, including former M.P. Inna Bogoslovska,
noted that the Government posted information on the Internet only after
important decisions were made. Information on the process by which the
Government made important decisions usually was not available to the
public. However, Bogoslovska noted that local governments were
relatively more transparent than the national Government.
There were 20 women in the 450 seat Rada. One woman held a
ministerial post: Valentyna Dovzhenko, the Minister of Family,
Children, and Youth. The 18 member Constitutional Court had 2 female
members.
The number of minority group members in the 450-seat Rada was not
available. However, press reports indicated that the Rada included
ethnic Russians, Bulgarians, Tatars, Armenians, Hungarians, Georgians,
and Jews. There was one ethnic Russian in the Cabinet of Ministers.
The representation of Crimean Tatars continued to increase in local
and regional councils; however, Crimean Tatar leaders continued to call
for changes in the electoral law that would allow them to achieve
greater representation in the Crimean parliament. The Tatars, who
comprise 13 percent of the population of Crimea, occupied 8 percent of
the seats in the regional parliament and somewhat smaller percentages
of political and administrative posts.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to the views of NGOs; however,
human rights and election monitoring groups reported that they faced
many difficulties, including surveillance by the SBU.
The Government's attitude toward many international NGOs, while not
overtly hostile, was unwelcoming. For example, on May 21, Communist
Party M.P. Valeriy Mishura, speaking at the urging of the Government,
asserted in the Rada and to the press that most NGOs were foreign
funded and ``interfered'' in domestic politics by working on behalf of
the political opposition; he criticized the National Democratic
Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the
Adenauer Foundation, the International Renaissance Foundation, the
Eurasia Foundation, and Freedom House, among others. He claimed that
some NGOs had trained young persons in how to stage ``Serbian and
Georgian style anti government protests.'' Mishura was a member of an
ad hoc parliamentary commission established in December 2003, to
investigate foreign funded NGOs. Human rights observers among the
reasons for the establishment of the commission was an effort by the
Government to intimidate NGOs and discredit them in the eyes of the
public and further stifle freedom of speech.
The Government generally cooperated with international governmental
organizations, including the U.N.
The parliamentary Commissioner on Human Rights is a
constitutionally mandated, independent, Human Rights Ombudsman. The
incumbent, Nina Karpachova, was reelected in June 2003 to a second 5
year term. The law provides the Ombudsman with unrestricted and
unannounced access to any public official, including the President,
unrestricted access to any government installation, and oversight of
the implementation of human rights treaties and agreements to which the
country is a party. However, the law provides no penalties for those
who obstruct the Ombudsman's investigations and does not create
sufficient enforcement authority for the Ombudsman. All citizens and
residents may address their concerns to the Ombudsman, and the
Ombudsman serves as an intermediary between citizens and the
Constitutional Court, since citizens cannot address the Court directly
(see Section 1.e.).
The Ombudsman's office consisted of approximately 100 full and part
time workers; however, according to the Ombudsman, underfunding of the
office continued to hamper its activities. The Ombudsman continued to
make the combating of trafficking in persons (see Section 5) and
improving prison conditions major priorities during the year.
Citizens have the right to file appeals with the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR) about alleged human rights violations. In the first
half of the year, the ECHR made rulings on seven Ukraine related cases;
in six, violations of human rights were found.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
sex, and other grounds; however, the Government did not enforce these
provisions effectively due, in part, to the absence of an effective
judicial system.
Women.--Violence against women remained a serious problem. Spousal
abuse is illegal but was common, and the authorities often pressured
women not to press charges against their husbands. For example, a 2000
study by the Institute of Sociological Research, the latest major study
of its kind, reported that 12 percent of women under the age of 28 had
been victims of domestic violence.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, between January and
June 2003 (the latest period for which statistics were available),
137,323 domestic violence complaints were made to Ukrainian law
enforcement agencies. During that same period, 15,917 people were
charged with breaking the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence;
15,000 of these cases involved physical abuse of a victim. In addition,
as of June 2003, 23,786 people had been issued first time official
warnings in connection with domestic violence allegations; 3,268 had
been issued second time warnings.
Violence against women did not receive extensive media coverage
despite the efforts of human rights groups to highlight the problem.
State run hot lines, shelters, and other forms of practical support for
victims of abuse were few. Municipal authorities in Kiev ran a women's
center, the only municipally supported shelter in the country. NGOs
attempted to provide services for abused women through the
establishment of women's support centers in nine cities. In the spring,
the Government opened 13 new rehabilitation centers for battered women.
The Criminal Code prohibits rape and ``forced sex with a materially
dependent person,'' which may allow prosecution for spousal rape. While
statistics compiled by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) showed that
the number of reported rapes and attempted rapes had decreased over the
previous few years, surveys indicated that the majority of rapes and
other cases of physical abuse went unreported. Past surveys by women's
groups indicated that between 10 and 15 percent of women had been raped
and that more than 25 percent were abused physically in their
lifetimes. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
reported in 2000 that 20 percent of women aged 17 to 21 had faced
attempted rape.
Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation was a serious problem
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
Women's groups reported that there was widespread sexual harassment
in the workplace, including coerced sex. Apart from the law that
prohibits forced sex with a ``materially dependent person,'' which
applies to employees, legal experts regarded the safeguards against
harassment as inadequate.
Human rights observers and women's groups stated that
discrimination against women continued to be a common problem in the
workplace. The Government and private businesses regularly specified
the gender of employees in their help wanted advertisements, and
employers frequently demanded information about a woman's family
situation and subsequently used it to deny employment to women who were
likely to become pregnant. Physical appearance and age were often taken
into account in employment decisions involving women.
Labor laws establish the legal equality of men and women, including
equal pay for equal work, a principle that generally was observed;
however, industries that were dominated by female workers were also
those with the lowest relative wages and the ones that were most likely
to be affected by wage arrears problems. According to the UNDP's report
on gender issues, women's monthly wages in 2002 were 30.7 percent lower
than the average monthly wages for men. Labor market analysis conducted
by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2002 indicated that
unemployment levels for men and women did not differ significantly.
Many women's rights advocates expressed concern that the law
prohibiting the employment of women in jobs that are hazardous to their
health might be used to bar women from the best paying blue collar
jobs. By law, pregnant women and mothers with small children enjoy paid
maternity leave until their children reach the age of 3 years. This
benefit was cited as a disincentive for employers to hire women for
high responsibility or career track jobs. However, approximately 49
percent of the workforce consisted of women.
Few women held top managerial positions in state and private
industry. During Rada hearings on June 9, Minister of Family, Children
and Youth Valentyna Dovzhenko stated that women held only 3 percent of
the highest, ``first category,'' positions in the Government's ``power
ministries'' the Ministries of Defense, Internal Affairs, Foreign
Affairs, and the SBU. However, they were better represented in lower
management positions; according to government statistics, at the end of
2002, 75 percent of the country's approximately 216,949 civil servants
were female (162,682), including 60.5 percent of those in managerial
positions.
Educational opportunities for women generally continued to be equal
to those enjoyed by men; however, the Government limited the number of
women permitted to receive military officer training to 20 percent of
the total number of students accepted. In addition, the military forces
limited the functions of women, which reduced their chances for
promotion and training opportunities; women in the military generally
occupied low paying, routine positions.
Children.--The Government was publicly committed to the defense of
children's rights, but budgetary constraints severely limited its
ability to ensure these rights. There were few government bodies or
NGOs that aggressively promoted children's rights, although the
Ombudsman spoke publicly on the need to provide for youth.
Education was free, universal, and compulsory until the age of 15;
however, the public education system has deteriorated as a result of
the Government's financial disarray. Teachers were usually paid their
salaries during the year, but other monetary benefits due them were not
paid in some localities. Increasing numbers of children from poor
families dropped out of school, and illiteracy, which previously was
very rare, was a problem. Of the nearly 6.5 million children attending
school during the 2003 04 school year, approximately 3.2 million were
girls and 3.3 million were boys. The All Ukrainian Committee for the
Protection of Children reported that lack of schooling remained a
significant problem among the rural population. The problem of growing
violence and crime in and outside of schools persisted, particularly in
the notoriously violent vocational schools, and discouraged some
children from attending school.
Health care was provided equally to girls and boys, but the overall
quality of the health care system was poor.
Violence and abuse against children remained a problem. The ``Voice
of Ukraine'' newspaper reported on January 27 that, according to a poll
conducted by the State Institute of Family and Youth, 43 percent of
minors said that they had been victims of some form of violence. During
2003, 300 criminal cases were opened against parents for neglect of
parental duties. The majority of complaints of abuse of children
related to child prostitution, pornographic video sales, and child
molestation. The Interior Ministry reported that during the year, 6,200
parents received administrative sanctions, predominantly in the form of
fines, for abusing their children.
Trafficking in children and commercial sexual exploitation was a
serious problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Child labor was a problem (see Section 6.d.).
The number of homeless children, usually children who fled poorly
maintained orphanages or poor domestic conditions, remained high.
According to the Ministry for Family, Children, and Youth, the
Government identified 2,600 homeless children in 2003. Deteriorating
conditions in the state orphanages has led the Government to encourage
families to provide foster homes for orphans and to facilitate the
establishment of family orphanages, where the parents are paid a
salary, the state financially supports the children, and a house or
apartment is provided. According to officials, 1,400 children were
living in family orphanages during 2003.
In February 2003, President Kuchma signed a decree that established
a national program aimed at addressing the problem of homelessness
among children. The program established a country wide hotline for
children in the Ministry of Family, Children and Youth. During the
first 6 months of the year, the hotline received 3,772 calls. The
program has also increased the Government's cooperation with UNICEF to
improve socio legal support for children and prevent homelessness; the
Government signed several agreements with UNICEF during the course of
the year to help achieve those goals.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in men, women, and children remained a significant
problem. There were reports that local officials abetted or assisted
organized crime groups involved in trafficking.
The law provides for penalties of generally 3 to 8 years'
imprisonment for trafficking in human beings, including for sexual
exploitation, pornography and forced labor. Under some circumstances
for example trafficking of minors ages 14 to 18, or of groups of
victims traffickers may be sentenced to prison terms from 5 to 12
years, and traffickers of minors ages up to 14 or members of organized
trafficking groups may be sentenced to terms from 8 to 15 years.
The Government continued to investigate and prosecute suspected
traffickers. According to statistics supplied by the Ministry of
Interior, 202 cases were filed against traffickers during the first 8
months of the year involving 101 suspected traffickers and 195 victims,
including 6 minors. The authorities broke up 14 organized criminal
rings involved in human trafficking during the first 8 months of the
year. During the first 6 months of the year, the security services
announced that they had closed off 20 human trafficking channels and
initiated 21 trafficking cases. During the same period, at least 30
criminal cases were brought to court and 42 defendants were sentenced
on trafficking related charges; 24 were given suspended sentences, 15
people were imprisoned to 2 to 8 year terms, and travel restrictions
were imposed on 3 others.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, with its special anti trafficking
units at the national and oblast levels, was the primary agency to
combat trafficking internally, while the Security Service became
involved once a foreign link was identified. The Ministry's special
units were active but also were often tasked to work on cases involving
crimes other than trafficking.
The Government reported that it regularly reviewed the licenses of
domestic employment agencies. In a limited number of cases during the
year, the Ministry of Social Policy and Labor withdrew agency licenses
because of involvement in trafficking.
The Government sought to cooperate with foreign governments to the
investigate and prosecute trafficking cases; however, efforts were
hampered by a number of factors, including insufficient investigative
resources, the reluctance of victims to give evidence against
traffickers, and a lack of cooperation from officials in destination
countries. During the first 6 months of the year, the authorities
deported 34 individuals for complicity in human trafficking.
The country remained a country of origin for internationally
trafficked men, women and children. The Ministry of Interior estimated
that during the previous decade approximately 400,000 women were
trafficked abroad. The main destinations were Russia, Turkey, Central
and Western European countries, the United States, and the Middle East.
There were also reports that women and girls were trafficked to
Australia, Japan, Ethiopia and South Africa.
The country also was increasingly a country of transit for
individuals from Central Asia, Russia and Moldova. The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that, as of October 31, 111
registered individuals from Moldova, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan and Belarus had been trafficked through the country to
Turkey, one person from Moldova had been trafficked to the United Arab
Emirates, and one person from Uzbekistan had been trafficked to Israel.
There were also reports that the country was a destination for
trafficked women; for example, IOM reported that as of October 31, four
individuals had been trafficked to the country from Uzbekistan.
Men were mainly trafficked as construction workers and miners.
Children who were trafficked across the border or within the country
were forced to provide sexual services, engage in unpaid work, or beg.
However, the overwhelming majority of trafficking victims were women,
who were used as sex workers, housekeepers, seamstresses, and
dishwashers. Trafficked women were also used to bear children for
infertile couples.
Estimates varied widely on the number of individuals seeking work
abroad. Ombudsman Nina Karpachova estimated that over the past 2 years,
2 to 7 million individuals had left the country in search of employment
abroad. According to Karpachova, at least 5 million Ukrainians are
engaged in seasonal work abroad in both legal and illegal employment
status.
Traffickers used a variety of methods to recruit victims, including
advertisements in newspapers and on television and radio that offer
jobs abroad with high salaries and promises of modelling contracts,
marriage proposals, and trips through travel agencies. Traffickers
often presented themselves as friends of other friends and deceived the
relatives of potential victims. Most traffickers prosecuted were
members of organized crime groups. The traffickers often paid for the
processing of passports and travel documents for the victims, thus
placing them into debt bondage. In some cases, the traffickers simply
kidnapped their victims.
Corruption in the judiciary and police impeded the Government's
ability to combat trafficking. There were unconfirmed reports that
local officials abetted or assisted organized crime groups involved in
trafficking. NGOs reported that local militia and border guards
received bribes in return for ignoring trafficking. There was no
official data on government authorities receiving bribes from
traffickers or otherwise assisting in their operations, but some law
enforcement investigations of human trafficking have revealed abuses of
power by governmental officials.
From January to June, IOM helped 342 trafficking victims to return
and reintegrate into society. From January 2002 to August 2004, the NGO
La Strada assisted an additional 44 victims to return home and
reintegrate. However, these victims represented only a small percentage
of the total number of women trafficked abroad. Victims of trafficking
were able to receive various types of assistance including medical,
psychological, legal, job skills training, job placement, and micro
credits. Psychological assistance was widely available through state
institutions, but medical assistance was only available from shelters
funded by international organizations and was not fully provided in all
cases. The IOM office in Kiev, in cooperation with its missions in
destination countries, provided return and reintegration assistance to
victims. However, these organizations reported that the inadequacy of
government assistance limited the support that could be extended to
returning victims.
The Government worked to improve assistance provided by its
diplomatic missions to victims in destination countries. During the
first 10 months of the year, the country's Consulates abroad identified
276 missing citizens and helped repatriate 116 women who were victims
of trafficking.
The Government ordered rehabilitation centers to be opened in each
of the 27 oblasts; however, the authorities did not fully implement
this directive, primarily due to lack of funds. During the year, the
Ministry for Family, Children, and Youth, in conjunction with IOM and
with funding provided by the European Commission (EC), planned to open
five shelters called ``Inter Regional Centers for Rehabilitation and
Reintegration for Victims of Trafficking'' in five different oblasts;
however, only two centers were opened by the end of the year, in Odesa
and Lutsk.
NGOs such as the domestic affiliates of La Strada and Winrock
International offered some support services for victims of trafficking,
but these groups also suffered from a shortage of funds.
The IOM continued to operate a comprehensive medical center and
shelter for victims of trafficking in Kiev. The center provided medical
and psychological services, including vocational counseling, to 238
individuals during the first 10 months of the year. Between January
2003 and August 2004, the international NGO Caritas provided 47 victims
of trafficking with reintegration assistance in their shelter. Also,
Caritas established a network of counseling centers providing social
services to trafficked women in Khmelnytsky, Ivano Frankivsk, Sokal,
and Drohobych. These centers, as well as additional NGOs funded by IOM,
also played an important role in facilitating good relations and
cooperation between victims, communities and law enforcement
organizations in addressing trafficking issues.
Although 195 victims testified against traffickers during the year,
victims often were reluctant to seek legal action against traffickers
out of fear of reprisals, unwillingness to tell their stories publicly,
and lack of trust in law enforcement agencies. Societal attitudes
toward trafficking victims continued to stigmatize victims, deterring
women from pursuing legal action against traffickers. In addition, law
enforcement officials did not provide sufficient protection to
witnesses.
With foreign government assistance, the help of local
administrations, and their own resources, local NGOs opened nine
regional trafficking prevention and women's support centers during the
year in Donetsk, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernivtsi, Kherson, Rivne,
Odesa, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr. The centers operated telephone hotlines
and served as referral centers for health, legal, and psychological
counseling.
NGOs also operated hotlines in Luhansk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Ternopil,
Uzhhorod, Mykolayiv, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Kherson and Sevastopol.
During the first 6 months of the year, La Strada's national toll free
hotline received 3,262 calls, 86 percent of which concerned
consultation on working abroad. Winrock International reported 2,282
calls to its hotlines during the first 4 months of the year; nearly 20
percent were related to trafficking.
Government cooperation with NGOs on trafficking issues was steady
during the year. Local administrations continued to include NGOs as
partner organizations in their regional action plans. The Inter
Ministerial Coordination Council for Combating Trafficking in Persons,
chaired by a Deputy Prime Minister, failed to meet during the year or
in 2003. To energize the process, a decision was taken by the Cabinet
of Ministers to designate the Minister of Family, Children and Youth as
the Chair of the Council. She convened the first interagency meeting on
October 1. In addition, the Parliamentary Committee to Combat Organized
Crime and Corruption held two roundtables concerning the issue in
cooperation with local and international NGOs.
During the year, several television stations broadcast documentary
films and informational programs highlighting the danger of
trafficking. Additionally, several international roundtable discussions
and conferences on trafficking were held in Kiev. NGOs conducted
general awareness campaigns throughout the country, often in
cooperation with government entities.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other state services; however, the
Government did little to support programs designed to increase
opportunities for persons with disabilities, and advocacy groups
maintained that there was societal discrimination against persons with
disabilities. The law mandates access to buildings and other public
facilities for persons with disabilities; however, the law was poorly
enforced.
Legally mandated levels of employment of persons with disabilities
at state enterprises were not observed. There were only five special
vocational schools for persons with disabilities. As a result,
according to 1 NGO, approximately 7,000 children with disabilities
received an incomplete secondary education. The Government continued
its efforts to raise the profile of athletes with disabilities.
The Government supported the efforts of the NGO Parostok to involve
individuals with disabilities in politics and to help ensure that they
were able to cast votes at polling stations on Election Day. This
effort was particularly notable in Vinnytsya.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The frequent harassment of
racial minorities was a problem. The police routinely detained dark
skinned persons for arbitrary document checks, whereas document checks
of light skinned individuals were rare (see Section 1.d.). Although the
authorities disciplined police who engaged in this harassment when
incidents were brought to their attention, such behavior remained
common. There were reports of racially motivated violence against
persons of African and Asian heritage. Representatives of these groups
claimed that police officials routinely ignored, and sometimes abetted,
violence against them.
Roma are located throughout the country, but there are
concentrations in the Transcarpathian region, Crimea, and around Odesa.
They continued to face considerable societal discrimination. Opinion
polls have shown that among all ethnic groups, the level of intolerance
is highest toward Roma. Roma continued to be subject to violence and
abuse by police (see Section 1.c.).
The Constitution provides for the ``free development, use, and
protection of the Russian language and other minority languages'';
however, some pro Russian organizations in the eastern part of the
country complained about the increased use of Ukrainian in schools and
in the media. They claimed that their children were disadvantaged when
taking academic entrance examinations, since all applicants were
required to take a Ukrainian language test. According to 2003 official
statistics on languages used in schools, Ukrainian was the language of
instruction in 16,532, Russian in 2,215, Romanian in 97, Hungarian in
68, Moldovan in 9, Crimean-Tatar in 10, and Polish in 3.
Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities credibly complained of
discrimination by the ethnic Russian majority in Crimea and called for
the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages to be given a status equal to
Russian. Crimean Tatar leaders continued to call for changes in the
electoral law that would allow them to achieve greater representation
in the Crimean legislature (see Section 3).
According to the UNHCR, 98 percent of the approximately 260,000
Crimean Tatars who returned to the country from exile in Central Asia
have received citizenship. However, Crimean Tatar leaders complained
that their community has not received adequate assistance in resettling
and that the previously onerous process of acquiring citizenship
excluded many of them from participating in elections and from the
right to take part in the privatization of land and state assets.
Ethnic Romanians continued to call for university level instruction
in Romanian or the establishment of a Romanian technical college.
Rusyns (Ruthenians) continued to call for status as an official
ethnic group in the country, noting that they are accepted as
minorities in neighboring countries. Representatives of the Rusyn
community have called for Rusyn language schools, a Rusyn language
department at Uzhhorod University, and for Rusyn to be recognized as
one of the country's ethnic groups. According to Rusyn leaders, more
than 700,000 Rusyns live in the country.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--A leading NGO that works
to protect the rights of gays and lesbians reported that a law called
``On Protection of Morals'' passed by Parliament in November 2003 was
used to discriminate against homosexuals. For example, the law requires
that newspapers containing gay and lesbian ads may only be sold if they
are sealed in a hermetic package, and then only in specialized medical
institutions that have a special license to treat individuals with
sexual disorders. However, in practice, gay and lesbian ads appeared in
many popular publications.
On February 12, the Ombudsman's office received a complaint from a
pair of gay men in Volynska Oblast who alleged that they were harassed
by local police. The case remained open at year's end. On September 8,
a gay man also died in suspicious circumstances in Kryvyy Rih while in
police custody (see Section 1.a.).
Persons living with HIV/AIDS faced discrimination in the workplace,
job loss without legal recourse, harassment by law enforcement,
prosecutorial, and judicial authorities, and social isolation and
stigmatization within their communities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The Constitution provides for the
right of most workers to join trade unions to defend ``professional,
social and economic interests,'' and this right was generally respected
in practice; however, certain categories of workers, such as nuclear
power plant employees, are prohibited from joining trade unions.
Under the Constitution, all trade unions have equal status, and no
government permission is required to establish a trade union.
Changes adopted in 2003 to the Law on Trade Unions granted unions
the status of ``legal entities,'' requiring only that they supply a
``notification of registration'' as opposed to requiring approval from
the MOJ to be established. After a new trade union informed the MOJ
that it had been formed, the MOJ was required either to provide a
letter confirming the union's legal status or request additional
supporting documents from the union. The MOJ could not deny any
applications; however, union representatives claim the MOJ used
repeated requests for additional documents as a delaying tactic. Some
of the gains in freedom of association brought by the enactment of the
2003 amendments were undone by the entry into force of a new Civil Code
in January. The Civil Code reinstates the requirement that all legal
entities, including trade unions, must register. The MOJ may deny
registration if the union does not meet the requirements.
In order to acquire national status, which allows a union to
negotiate directly and sign agreements with government ministries and
to address the Cabinet of Ministers and President, a union must either
have branches in more than half of the administrative regions or have
branches in more than half of the administrative regions where the
enterprises of this sector are located. The Law on Citizens'
Organizations (which includes trade unions) stipulates noninterference
by public authorities in the activities of these organizations, which
have the right to establish and join federations on a voluntary basis.
There were both official and independent trade unions.
The courts decided in two cases to declare the registration of
trade unions invalid. In March, a Donetsk court canceled the
registration of the independent trade union at the firm MC Azovstal,
prompting the union's director to go on a hunger strike in protest.
Also in March, the Deputy General Prosecutor filed a motion with the
MOJ to invalidate the registration of the national trade union
``Football Players of Ukraine.'' After lower courts issued
contradictory rulings on the matter, it was brought before the Supreme
Court, but was unresolved by year's end. Claiming that the courts were
deliberately delaying its registration, the union in early December
appealed to the ECHR in Strasbourg.
Independent teachers unions came under severe pressure from the
authorities throughout the year, especially since they were seen as
unlikely to vote for the pro government candidate in the October
December presidential elections. Beginning in March, local and national
authorities began to assert that the teachers unions in Chernihiv
province were disguised political organizations, which are banned in
schools, rather than legitimate trade unions. Union organizers and
members claimed they were harassed by authorities. Some teachers
protested through hunger strikes, but by year's end 20 of the 79 locals
of the teachers unions had disbanded. In Kirovohrad, the administration
at nursery schools and daycare centers reportedly told teachers to
leave the independent teachers union or lose their jobs. Despite hunger
strikes, the mayor of Kirovohrad city allegedly had the union removed
from its offices, and the union lost 1,000 members.
All unions affiliated with the Federation of Trade Unions (FPU),
which maintained strong ties to the Government and inherited assets
from the official Soviet unions, as well as several new, independent
labor unions, were registered. However, some independent unions,
including the Independent Miners Union of Ukraine (NPGU) whose member
unions represented a wide variety of trades and professions, chose not
to register because the courts declared that the registration
requirement was unconstitutional, since they became legal entities
under the 2003 Law on Trade Unions. Although the FPU often coordinated
its activities with the Government, it continued to work independently
on some labor matters and advocated the right of workers to strike. The
FPU has supported the protests of some professions over unpaid wages;
however, most FPU affiliates worked closely with management. Enterprise
managers were free to join the FPU. The FPU leadership has a political
party, the All Ukrainian Party of Workers.
Independent unions provided an alternative to the official unions
in many sectors of the economy. At year's end, there were 106
registered trade unions, including 42 traditional (FPU) and 64 new
trade unions. According to the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of
Ukraine (CFTU), 28 of the new trade unions were affiliated with the
CFTU and the remaining 34 were affiliated with neither the FPU nor the
CFTU. While exact membership figures were unknown, there were estimated
to be fewer than 2 million non FPU members (down from 3 million in
2002) and 12 million (down from 14.5 million in 2002) members of FPU
affiliated unions. The drop in union membership was attributed to
general apathy and cynicism regarding the benefits of union membership,
as well as the fact that membership was no longer required for certain
benefits, such as sick leave.
Independent unions were denied a share of the former Soviet trade
unions' huge property and financial holdings, particularly the social
insurance benefit funds, a Soviet era legacy on whose boards FPU
affiliated unions held the majority of seats. Independent trade union
leaders complained that state representatives sought to influence union
votes and pressure members to report on union activities.
Independent trade union leaders reported an increase in harassment
during the year, both by security forces and tax authorities. For
example, in March, Andriy Volynets, the son of CFTU leader Mykhailo
Volynets, was kidnapped and beaten in Kiev, suffering a concussion and
brain hemorrhaging (see Section 1.c.).
At the end of November, at the height of opposition demonstrations
against the fraudulent runoff presidential election, Mykhailo Volynets
and other opposition M.P.s occupied the FPU headquarters located on
Independence Square and opened it to demonstrators. This occurred after
FPU chief Oleksandr Stoyan (claiming to represent the views of the FPU
membership) was reported to have encouraged President Kuchma to declare
a state of emergency and impose martial law. An ``initiative group''
made up of the presidents of unions that belong to the FPU formally
voted Stoyan out of office and voted to form a coordinating council
including Volynets. However, in the meantime, the four FPU vice
presidents allegedly sought to prevent the news of Stoyan's dismissal
from reaching the membership, and Stoyan himself disputed the
legitimacy of the initiative group's votes. Although Stoyan had not
reported for work since being removed, at year's end there was no
resolution to the leadership question.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law permits
trade unions to organize and participate in collective bargaining;
however, these rights were not always respected in practice. The
Independent Miners Union continued to experience problems creating new
branches of their organization. The authorities refused to recognize
the union and continued unlawfully to require proof of registration for
such functions as opening accounts, renting offices, and employing
staff.
According to the law, joint worker management commissions should
resolve problems concerning wages, working conditions, and the rights
and duties of management at the enterprise level. The law provides the
right to collective bargaining; however, overlapping spheres of
responsibility frequently impeded the collective bargaining process,
and the manner in which the collective bargaining law was applied
prejudiced the bargaining process against independent unions and
favored the official unions (affiliates of the FPU). Most workers were
not informed that they were not obligated to join the official union.
Renouncing membership in the official union and joining an independent
union could be bureaucratically onerous and typically was discouraged
by management. The law allows an independent union to be removed easily
from the collective bargaining process at the enterprise level. Under
the law, if several unions at an enterprise fail to agree on joint
representation, the larger union that is, the FPU represents labor in
the bargaining process.
The Law on Labor Disputes Resolution establishes an arbitration
service and a National Mediation and Reconciliation Service to mediate
labor disputes. According to official statistics, during the first 6
months of the year, the service resolved 169 labor disputes, in which
1.6 million employees from 6,649 enterprises were involved.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike ``to defend one's
economic and social interests,'' as long as strikes do not jeopardize
national security, public health, or the rights and liberties of
others; the Government generally respected this right. The law
prohibits strikes that jeopardize life, health, or the environment or
that might hinder disaster, accident, or epidemic related operations.
The law does not extend the right to strike to personnel of the
prosecutors' office, the judiciary, armed forces, security services,
law enforcement agencies, the transportation sector, and public
servants. The Law on Transportation does not allow strikes in the
transport sector. Workers who strike in prohibited sectors may receive
imprisonment of up to 3 years.
Approximately 90,000 workers are employed in the country's 11
export processing zones, particularly in mining and agricultural
processing. Although labor laws are the same in these zones as
elsewhere, the lack of new unions in the zones deprived workers of that
option.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were
reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5 Trafficking and
6.d.). Human rights groups described the widespread use of army
conscripts in the alternative service for refurbishing and building
private houses for army and government officials as compulsory labor.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
minimum age for employment is 16; however, in certain non hazardous
industries, enterprises may negotiate with the Government to hire
employees as young as 15 with the consent of one parent. Children aged
14 can legally work on a short term basis in the social sector and
agriculture with the consent of one parent. The State Department for
Monitoring Enforcement of Labor Legislation within the Ministry of
Labor and Social Policy is responsible for enforcing child labor laws
and was generally effective; however, some children under the minimum
employment age worked in the informal sector.
The Criminal Code prescribes up to 5 years in prison for involving
children in criminal activities, drinking, begging, prostitution,
gambling, or other exploitation. Children worked in the agricultural
sector, and trafficking of children for the purpose of forced labor was
a problem (see Section 5). Begging by children existed, although it was
limited. During the first quarter of 2002, the latest year for which
statistics were available, police identified almost 1,500 offenders for
involvement in child labor, 111 of them for involvement in begging.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Working conditions and pay
levels improved along with the economy, but remained poor. In
September, the Rada raised the minimum monthly wage from $39 to $45
(205 to 237 UAH). A new minimum wage of $49 (262 UAH) was set in the
2005 budget on December 23; however, the increase was not implemented.
Minimum pensions also rose to approximately $13 (70 UAH). Pensioners
also received a supplementary social benefit of less than $4 monthly
(20 UAH). In August, the nominal average monthly salary (as opposed to
the government declared minimum) was approximately $114 (604 UAH). The
minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker
and family, as it was far lower than the legally established
``subsistence level'' of $80 per month (423 UAH).
While the government sector has repaid wage arrears in most areas,
in some parts of the country teachers were not paid monetary benefits
(back holiday pay and service bonuses) owed to them. Before the
elections, the Government announced its intention to repay debts to
teachers and raise their salaries. Although wage arrears decreased from
$340 million (1.8 billion UAH) at the beginning of the year to $154
million (818 million UAH) as of December 31, they remained substantial.
Most wage arrears accumulated in industry (57.4 percent), agriculture
(12.0 percent), and construction (10.1 percent). They remained a
problem in the private sector (which includes large enterprises in
which the State is a shareholder) and in the Donetsk region (coal
sector) whose wage arrears accounted for 29 percent of the total amount
in the country. The national pension system repaid all of its arrears
during 2000. Average wages were not as low as these statistics suggest,
since the untaxed and unreported shadow economy was estimated to
account for 50 percent of total economic activity.
The Labor Code provides for a maximum 40-hour workweek, a 24 hour
period of rest per week, and at least 24 days of paid vacation per
year. Stagnation in some industries significantly reduced the workweek
for some categories of workers.
The law contains occupational safety and health standards; however,
these frequently were ignored in practice. In particular, illegal
coalmines connected to organized crime and corrupt leaders operated in
unsafe conditions, resulting in scores of deaths. Lax safety standards
and aging equipment caused approximately 25,000 injuries on the job
each year. During the year, 23,200 individuals were injured (1,648
fewer than in 2003), including 1,163 job related fatalities (67 fewer
than in the previous year). The number of miners injured in the coal
sector was 9,218 (down from 10,845 in 2003), including 200 fatalities
(compared with 217 in 2003). In the coal mining sector, it was
estimated that, in the first 9 months of the year, there were 2.57
deaths (down from 3.52 in 2003) for every million tons of raw coal
extracted. Increased enforcement of safety regulations was a major
factor in this reduction, although the numbers remain quite high.
In theory, workers have a legal right to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without jeopardizing continued employment;
however, independent trade unionists reported that, in practice,
asserting this right would result in retaliation or perhaps dismissal
by management.
__________
UNITED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is a
longstanding constitutional monarchy with a democratic, parliamentary
government. The most recent general election was held in 2001; a number
of political parties participated in the election, and it was free and
fair. The judiciary is independent.
The Home Office is responsible for internal affairs in England and
Wales, including the protection and security of the public. The
Ministers of the Scottish Executive, who answer to the Scottish
Parliament, have policy responsibility for law and order in Scotland.
In Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has
responsibility for maintaining law and order. Civilian authorities
generally maintained effective control of the security forces. Some
members of the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The diversified, market-based economy grew by 3.2 percent. Wages,
supplemented by generous state benefits, kept pace with low inflation
(1.2 percent) for most of the 59.6 million residents.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its
citizens; although there were some problems, the law and judiciary
provide effective means of addressing individual instances of abuse.
There were some complaints that individual members of the police and
military occasionally abused detainees and other persons. Prison
conditions remained a problem, including overcrowding and instances of
mistreatment by prison officials. Asylum seekers, women, children, and
ethnic minorities faced violence and discrimination, which the
Government continued to combat. Trafficking of persons into the country
remained a problem, which the Government took steps to address.
Although most paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland
continued to maintain a cease-fire, killings and ``punishment attacks''
continued to occur in some areas under the influence of paramilitary
groups. Some republican dissident groups committed acts of violence
aimed at disrupting the peace process, particularly a series of arson
attacks against commercial establishments at the end of the year.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents. Between
January 1 and September 30, 40 persons died while being arrested by
police or while in police custody; however, there was no indication
that the deaths resulted from police misconduct.
On December 8, Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights issued
its inquiry into deaths in custody, calling for establishment of a
cross-departmental expert task force to develop guidelines on how to
prevent such deaths.
On March 4, the Surrey Police released a ``final report''
concerning the 1995-2002 deaths by gunshot wounds of four soldiers at
the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut. The army stated the deaths were
suicides. In its report, the Surrey Police recommended that the
Ministry of Defense (MOD) consider whether independent oversight could
help the army ``define and maintain appropriate standards of care for
young soldiers.''
In April, the Government published reports, with some redactions on
national security grounds, regarding allegations of government
involvement, collusion, or culpability in four killings that took place
in Northern Ireland. At the same time, the Government announced that it
would hold judicial inquiries into three of the killings. In September,
the Government announced that it would also hold a judicial inquiry
into the fourth case, the 1989 killing of Pat Finucane. Some political
parties and human rights groups have raised concerns that the
Government may seek to limit the public scope of the four inquiries to
avoid the exposure of potentially embarrassing information, especially
in the Finucane case.
In November, the Saville Inquiry into the events of ``Bloody
Sunday'' (January 30, 1972) finished collecting testimony and heard
closing statements. The Inquiry chairman and the two other judges began
drafting their report (see Section 1.e.).
The nongovernmental organization (NGO) British Irish Rights Watch
(BIRW) reported that paramilitary groups were thought to be responsible
for at least four killings in Northern Ireland from January 1 through
September 30.
b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
There were no developments in the May 2003 disappearance of Gareth
O'Connor.
The Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains, established
jointly by the UK and Irish governments in 1999 to locate the remains
of nine victims killed and secretly buried by the Provisional IRA in
the 1970s, did not locate any bodies during the year.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were
complaints that individual members of the police occasionally abused
detainees.
From April to year's end, 1,103 complaints against police were
referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
The IPCC investigated two police officers in Cheshire for allegedly
raping a woman at a party and in a police car. The officers were placed
on bail while the investigation continued. In Yorkshire, a police
officer was suspended from duty while the IPCC investigated allegations
that he sexually assaulted a woman, possibly while he was on duty. In
both cases, the investigations continued at year's end.
Between April 2003 and March, the Police Ombudsman for Northern
Ireland received 4,196 allegations that led to 2,976 complaints of
police abuse. Of the complaints, 37 percent concerned oppressive
behavior. As of March 31, 2,799 complaint investigations were closed.
The Ombudsman made 76 referrals for disciplinary action to the Chief
Constable and referred 10 cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions
for possible legal action.
Surrey police were investigating an alleged gang rape from 10 years
ago, and turned over to the army for investigation 172 allegations from
anonymous, and sometimes ``untested and uncorroborated witness
recollection'' involving hazing and mistreatment at Deepcut Barracks
and other army training facilities.
Both loyalist and republican paramilitary groups in Northern
Ireland continued to intimidate or carry out killings or ``punishment
attacks'' in areas under paramilitary influence. The attacks often were
intended to maintain or extend the control of paramilitary groups in an
area. The PNSI reported that, as of November 30, 218 ``paramilitary-
style attacks'' had occurred in Northern Ireland. Of these, 109 were
shootings and 109 were beatings. In the past, human rights groups have
stated that available statistics underreported the casualties because
many victims were too intimidated to report the attacks.
Prison conditions generally met international standards; however,
instances of mistreatment by prison officials, overcrowding, and
suicides occurred. As of July 2, there were 74,700 prisoners in England
and Wales, according to the Prison Service. A July report by the Prison
Reform Trust (PRT) warned that 91 of 138 prisons in England and Wales
suffered from overcrowding. In October, the Chief Inspector of Prisons
for Scotland also noted overcrowding was caused by record numbers of
prisoners.
In October, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC),
an independent, government-funded body, criticized the conditions for
female inmates at Mourne House, Maghaberry Prison, as failing to meet
minimum ``duty of care'' standards. The Northern Ireland Prison Service
Director General stated that conditions for female inmates improved
substantially in June when they were transferred to a new facility;
however, an NIHRC investigator said the transfer to the new facility
failed ``to meet even the basic conditions required'' by the Prison
Inspectorate.
As of September, 70 prisoners in England and Wales committed
suicide in jail. The PRT stated that the institutions with the highest
number of suicides were generally the most overcrowded.
In the prison system, women were held separately from men,
juveniles from adults, and pretrial detainees from convicted prisoners.
In addition, there were five mother and baby units in prisons in
England and Wales, allowing mothers to keep their children with them
while incarcerated.
The Government permitted independent human rights observers and the
media to visit prisons and immigration detention centers.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary
arrest or detention, and the Government generally observed these
prohibitions. However, arrests may be made without judicial warrants,
particularly in Northern Ireland. When police have reasonable cause to
suspect wrongdoing, the law gives authorities broad powers of arrest,
detention, and interrogation.
In Great Britain, regional police forces (44 in England and Wales
and 8 in Scotland) are responsible for maintaining law and order. In
Northern Ireland, the PSNI has that responsibility. In some areas of
Northern Ireland, because of the continuing threat of violence, army
units reinforce the PSNI. There were approximately 12,600 British
troops stationed in Northern Ireland, 800 fewer than in 2003.
On April 1, the Parliament created the IPCC, replacing the Police
Complaints Authority. The IPCC has its own body of civilian
investigators with the power to investigate allegations of police
misconduct completely separate from the police. The IPCC provides for:
Involvement of the complainant in the investigation, openness in
disclosing materials to the complainant, effective powers to order
disciplinary charges be brought against police officers, and
independence of the person carrying out the IPCC investigation.
The law allows senior police officers to designate areas where
police have exceptional power to stop and search pedestrians and
vehicles whenever any uniformed police officer ``considers it expedient
for the prevention of acts of terrorism.'' In July, a Home Office
report showed that police stopped and searched Blacks and South Asians
(a 302 percent increase between the 2001 and 2002 fiscal years) more
regularly than Whites. The Government ordered a review of the
application of relevant legislation, which was ongoing at year's end.
Following an October 2003 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
documentary that included hidden-camera footage of police officers
making explicitly racist statements, 10 officers resigned. The
Commission for Racial Equality launched an investigation into racism in
the police service. On June 14, the investigators released an interim
report, making recommendations about screening of recruits, training
for officers, and grievance procedures for affected employees.
On December 14, the Morris Inquiry released its findings into
allegations of racism within the Metropolitan Police, better known as
Scotland Yard. The report concluded, ``statistics indicated clear
disproportionality in the way black and minority ethnic officers are
treated in relation to the management of their conduct. This represents
a serious issue of discrimination.''
Generally, police officers may only arrest persons if they have
reasonable grounds for suspecting that someone has committed or is
about to commit one or more listed ``arrestable offenses.'' Even if the
crime in question is not an arrestable offense, a police officer may
arrest a person without a warrant, provided the officer believes the
arrest is necessary to prevent damage to property or physical injury.
However, the law provides for certain exceptions related to terrorism,
particularly in Northern Ireland.
The law also provides law enforcement authorities with the power to
detain for up to 48 hours without charge individuals suspected of
having committed a terrorism-related offense. A court may extend this
period for a maximum of 14 days.
Detainees are allowed to make telephone calls and have legal
representation. The law limits the amount of time that a suspect can be
detained without a formal charge and requires that an inspector review
the detention at set intervals to ensure that it is necessary and
lawful.
The Anti-Terrorism, Crime, and Security Act (ATCSA) allows for
extended detention of foreigners suspected of being terrorists but who
cannot be removed from the country immediately, due to concerns that
they will be subjected to torture in their country of origin. Detainees
have the right to appeal their certification, and all the detainees are
free to leave the country at any time. On December 16, the Law Lords
ruled that the ATCSA detention powers violated the European Convention
on Human Rights, which has been incorporated into the law. The
Government announced that the 11 individuals detained under ATCSA would
remain in detention while Parliament and the Government decided how to
respond to the ruling.
Defendants awaiting trial have a statutory right to bail except
when there is a risk that they would flee, commit another offense, or
in other limited circumstances.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this
provision in practice.
There are several levels of courts. In England and Wales, most
criminal cases are heard by Magistrates' Courts, which were managed by
locally based committees. Their decisions may be appealed to the Crown
Courts, which also hear criminal cases requiring a jury trial, or to
the High Courts. Crown Court convictions may be appealed to the Court
of Appeal, which may in turn refer cases involving points of law to the
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (the ``Law Lords''). The Law Lords, who sit
in the House of Lords but are functionally distinct from the
legislative body, constitute the country's final court of appeal. The
Criminal Cases Review Commission operates as an additional appellate
body in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and considers cases after
the judicial appeals process is exhausted, but where there is
significant new evidence that casts doubt on the conviction.
In Scotland, the High Court of Justiciary acts as a court of first
instance for serious crimes such as rape and murder. The High Court
also serves as an appellate body. There are 49 Sheriff Courts, which
handle lesser crimes. Sheriff Courts have restricted sentencing power
but can remit cases to the High Court for disposal if they so choose.
District Courts sit in each local authority and handle crimes such as
breach of peace, minor assaults, and petty theft. Civil matters can be
handled in the first instance by either the Court of Session, which is
the supreme civil court in Scotland, or by Sheriff Courts. The Court of
Session also serves as the appellate court for civil matters. Decisions
by the Court of Session can be appealed to the Law Lords in
Westminster.
The law allows for jury trials, except in England and Wales when
the jury has been intimidated, when ``compelling new evidence'' arises
after a previous acquittal, or when evidence of a defendant's previous
misconduct (including previous convictions) is going to be introduced.
In Northern Ireland, trials for certain terrorism-related crimes also
do not allow juries. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence until
proven guilty, the right to question witnesses against them, and the
right of appeal to successively higher courts. Indigent defendants have
the right to free counsel of their choice, with some exceptions.
Criminal proceedings must be held in public except those in
juvenile court and those involving public decency or security. In a
trial under the Official Secrets Act, the judge may order the court
closed, but sentencing must be public.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Warrants normally were required for a police search of private
premises; however, a police officer may enter and search without a
warrant ``any premises if he or she reasonably suspects a terrorist is
to be found there.''
A case brought by three NGOs--BIRW, Liberty, and the Irish Council
for Civil Liberties--before the European Court of Human Rights in 2002,
stating that the Government had intercepted their telephone calls to
clients in Ireland without a warrant, remained suspended while the
plaintiffs continued to argue their case in domestic courts and
tribunals. In December, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled that
the Government's warrant system for intercepted communications between
the United Kingdom and other countries was compatible with the European
Convention on Human Rights.
g. Excessive Force/Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal and
External Conflicts.--At year's end, court-marshals were underway for
three British officers charged with abuse of Iraqi detainees in May
2003.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of
speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these
rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom. An
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic
political system combined to secure freedom of speech and of the press.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police
detained journalists under the Official Secrets Act.
In October, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland criticized
police searches conducted in 2003 at the home of journalists Liam
Clarke and Kathryn Johnston and an office at the Sunday Times
newspaper. The Ombudsman described the seizure of materials from the
premises as being unlawful.
The investigation into the 2001 drive-by shooting of Martin
O'Hagan--the only journalist killed in Northern Ireland continued at
year's end.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides
for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respected this
right in practice.
In Northern Ireland, the annual ``marching season'' posed problems,
as residents in some Catholic communities perceived certain parades as
threatening and provocative. The law grants responsibility for ruling
on ``contentious'' marches to a Parades Commission, which may not ban
marches, but may impose conditions, such as route restrictions. Of the
approximately 3,300 notified parades between April 2003 and March, 231
were considered contentious; the Parades Commission imposed
restrictions on 162. According to the Parades Commission, the numbers
of both contentious parades and restrictions imposed were affected by
the notification of a Drumcree return parade virtually every week.
On February 19, a high court ruled that the Gloucestershire Police
unlawfully detained anti-war demonstrators aboard three buses en route
from London to Fairford in July 2003. The court ruled that the police
had been entitled to stop the protestors from causing a breach of the
peace, but it was unlawful for the police to hold the group on the
buses for the return journey to London.
On September 15, 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside Parliament
to protest the House of Common's efforts to outlaw foxhunting with
dogs. Police struck some of the protestors with batons to keep them
behind the police line. The Metropolitan Police reported that 17
persons were injured: 16 protestors and 1 police officer. However, 45
persons have filed complaints of police brutality with the IPCC. Of the
1,000 police officers present, the IPCC warned 19 that they were being
investigated. At year's end, independent investigators continued their
research into this incident on behalf of the IPCC. IPCC investigators
continued to interview over 100 witnesses and serve orders on
television companies and newspaper photographers in order to obtain
visual evidence.
The law provides for freedom of association, and the Government
generally respected this right in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion,
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
There were two established churches: The Church of England
(Anglican) and the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). There were no
established churches in Wales or Northern Ireland. Two Anglican
Archbishops and 24 Bishops receive automatic membership in the House of
Lords, while clergy from other faiths are not afforded this privilege.
Other than in the House of Lords, membership in a religious group does
not confer a political or economic advantage.
The Government does not consider the Church of Scientology and the
Unification Church as religions for the purpose of visas for ministers
of religion or missionaries.
In April, the Government dismissed Unification Church leader
Reverend Sun Myung Moon's appeal of his exclusion from the country in
May 2003.
The law requires religious education in publicly maintained schools
throughout the country. The shape and content of religious instruction
is decided on a local basis and must be nondenominational and refrain
from attempting to convert pupils. All parents have the right to
withdraw a child from religious education, but the schools must approve
this request.
In addition, schools in England and Wales have to provide a daily
act of collective worship, which may be waived if a school's
administration deems it inappropriate for some or all of the students.
Under some circumstances, non-Christian worship may be allowed.
Teachers' organizations have criticized school prayer and called for an
official review of the practice.
While the majority of state-supported schools were Protestant or
Roman Catholic, there were a number of state-supported Jewish and
Muslim schools, as well as two Sikh schools, one Greek Orthodox school,
and one Seventh-day Adventist school.
The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 532 anti-Semitic
incidents during the year. Among these were 79 assaults, 4 cases of
extreme violence, and 53 instances of desecration and damage to
property. For example, on August 22, cemetery officials discovered the
desecration of approximately 60 gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in
Birmingham. Police charged two suspects with racially aggravated
criminal damage, racially aggravated public disorder, and causing
racially aggravated harassment, alarm, or distress.
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the country rose
significantly during the year. Figures from Israel's Global Forum
Against Anti-Semitism stated that 310 anti-Semitic incidents occurred
in the country during the year, of which 77 were violent, as opposed to
163 anti Semitic incidents in 2003, of which 55 were violent. Most of
the incidents occurred near or at synagogues, some of which were set on
fire or were targets of attempted arson.
The law prohibits offenses aggravated by religious hostility and
extends a prohibition against incitement to racial hatred to include
cases where the incitement to hatred is directed against groups abroad.
On October 19, police charged Abu Hamza al-Masri with 16 criminal
offenses, including soliciting or encouraging the murder of Jews,
inciting racial hatred, and possessing a document that contained
information ``of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or
preparing an act of terrorism.'' At year's end, his trial was ongoing.
According to the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism (FAIR),
approximately 85 incidences of Islamophobia occurred between January
and November. On May 21, over 30 white ``skin heads'' attacked and beat
2 Muslim teenagers in West Yorkshire, leaving 1 unconscious, while
referring to them in racially derogatory terms.
The Islamic community has criticized an increase in stops and
searches (see Section 1.d.) and arrests of Muslims under recent anti-
terrorism laws, with only a handful of searches actually leading to
arrests or convictions. In May, the Muslim Council of Britain reported
a fear of the growing trend of ``institutionalized Islamophobia,''
alleging that the Muslim community faces increasing bias from police.
In an Islamic Human Rights Commission poll released in December, 80
percent of British Muslims (compared with 45 percent in 2000 and 35
percent in 1999) said they had been discriminated against because of
their faith.
On December 14, police arrested the leader of the British National
Party (BNP) on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred. His arrest was
the twelfth following the July broadcast of a BBC documentary entitled
Secret Agent in which BNP members were covertly recorded as they called
Islam a ``vicious, wicked faith'' and admitted to their participation
in racially motivated crimes. At year's end, the leader remained on
police bail.
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement aimed to create a lasting settlement
to the conflict in Northern Ireland and a society based on consent,
power sharing, equality of opportunity, and human rights. However, fear
of inter communal violence has, over the years, contributed to a
pattern of segregated communities in Northern Ireland. Many Protestant
and Catholic families have moved away from mixed-religion or border
areas.
By November, the police in Northern Ireland reported approximately
111 attacks against both Catholic and Protestant churches, schools, and
meeting halls. Such sectarian violence often coincided with heightened
tensions during the spring and summer marching season (see Section
2.b.).
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The law provides for these rights, and
the Government generally respected them in practice.
There is no law prohibiting forced exile; however, the Government
did not employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the
Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of
persons to a country where they feared persecution; however, the
Government limited this right for persons from ``safe countries of
origin.'' The Government granted refugee status or asylum. The
Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and
asylum seekers. The Government also provided temporary protection to
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/
1967 Protocol. In 2003, approximately 7,210 persons were not recognized
as refugees but were granted permission to remain in the country.
The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act of
2004 authorizes the Home Secretary to institute a list of safe
countries of origin (or safe parts of certain countries) for particular
classes of people. This is in addition to the Home Secretary's
previously established authority to designate a list of safe countries
for all residents therein. The Government considered asylum claims from
such individuals as unfounded.
The Act also casts doubts on the credibility of applicants who
claim asylum in the country after having passed through a safe country
of transit. Furthermore, the law permits asylum seekers to be removed
to a third country deemed responsible for adjudicating an applicant's
claim. Immigration NGOs such as the Refugee Council expressed concerns
about these provisions of the law, as well as sections of the law that
make it a criminal offense to attempt to enter the country without a
passport and replace a two-tier asylum appeals process with a single-
tier Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through
periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal
suffrage.
The Government is formed on the basis of a majority of seats in the
House of Commons, which are contested in elections held at least every
5 years; the most recent elections were in 2001. The other chamber of
Parliament, the appointed House of Lords, has the power to revise and
delay, but not block the implementation of laws. Participation in the
political process is open to all persons and parties. All citizens age
18 and older may vote. Other elected bodies such as the Scottish
Parliament and the Welsh Assembly have control over matters of regional
importance, such as education, health, and some economic matters.
Foreign affairs and defense continued to be the responsibility of the
central government.
The small number of remaining overseas territories had an aggregate
population of approximately 190,000 persons. They enjoyed varying
degrees of self-government based on the UK model, with appointed
governors.
The Freedom of Information Act of 2000 allows for public access to
information held by public authorities in England, Wales, and Northern
Ireland. The Freedom of Information Act (Scotland) of 2002 is expected
to provide the same benefits for Scotland when it comes into effect on
January 1, 2005.
There were 119 women in the 659-seat House of Commons. There were 5
women in the 23-member Cabinet. There was 1 woman among the 12 ``Law
Lords'' (the country's equivalent of the Supreme Court). There were 13
members of minorities in the 659 seat House of Commons and 2 members of
minorities in the 23 member Cabinet. There were no minorities among the
12 Law Lords.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials
were cooperative and responsive to their views.
Although there was no autonomous human rights ombudsman, there were
three government-instituted bodies that monitored human rights
practices in England and Wales: The Commission for Racial Equality, the
Disabilities Rights Commission, and the Equal Opportunities Commission.
In addition, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission monitored and
reported on human rights developments in Northern Ireland. Finally,
Parliament has a Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits incitement to racial hatred and discrimination on
the basis of gender, disability, sexual orientation, race, color,
nationality, or national or ethnic origin; however, some groups
continued to experience societal discrimination.
Women.--Violence against women continued to be a problem. According
to the Home Office, two women per week died from domestic violence,
which accounted for one-quarter of all violent crime. The Home Office's
crime statistics for April 2003 through March show 12,319 rapes of
women and 26,709 indecent assaults on women.
Criminal penalties for rape (including spousal rape), sexual
assault, and domestic violence are substantial, and these laws were
enforced strictly. The law provides for injunctive relief, personal
protection orders, and protective exclusion orders (similar to
restraining orders) for women who are victims of violence. The
Government provided shelters, counseling, and other assistance for
victims of battery or rape and offered free legal aid to battered women
who were economically reliant on their abusers.
The law makes it a crime to practice Female Genital Mutilation, or
to assist another person in its practice, either in the country or in
another country. The extent to which the procedure took place was
unknown, but NGOs reported that the practice continued in isolated
incidents during the year.
While prostitution involving consenting adults is not illegal,
offenses such as loitering for the purpose of prostitution and
maintaining a brothel are prohibited. Organized international gangs
continued to traffic women into the country for exploitation in the sex
industry (see Section 5, Trafficking). The law also prohibits child sex
tourism and allows authorities to prosecute citizens or residents for
offenses committed abroad. On June 2, a 66 year-old man was sentenced
to 2 years in prison for attempting to incite a male under the age of
16 to commit a sexual act and an act of gross indecency. The man had
posted a message on an Internet site indicating he wanted to meet a
young Sri Lankan. He then sent sexually explicit messages to an
undercover child-protection officer in Sri Lanka who was posing as a
15-year-old boy. Although the man's actions were not an offense under
Sri Lankan law, authorities in London determined that he had violated
British sex-tourism laws.
The law prohibits sexual harassment and provides penalties of up to
5-years' imprisonment for sexual harassment in public or in the
workplace.
The law provides for equal opportunity for the sexes; however, in
practice, women experienced some discrimination. The Department for
Trade and Industry's Women and Equality Unit reported that women's
hourly earnings were, on average, 82 percent of men's. Of the 22,000
positions in national public bodies, women held 34 percent; they held 9
percent of the seats on the boards of the 100 largest companies on the
London Stock Exchange.
Women's issues were the responsibility of two Ministers for Women
at the Cabinet level. The Government's Equal Opportunities Commission
supported women who bring discrimination cases before industrial
tribunals and courts and produced guidelines for employers. The Women's
National Commission, an independent advisory body representing 300
partner organizations, worked to ensure women's views were taken into
account by the Government and heard in public debate.
Children.--The Government was strongly committed to children's
rights and welfare; it amply funded a system of public education and
medical care and worked to prevent child abuse. The Government provided
free, universal, and compulsory education until age 16 and further free
education until age 18 if a student so desires. U.N. Educational,
Educational, and Cultural Organization statistics indicated that 100
percent of children of primary school age were enrolled in school, and
over 90 percent of children of secondary-school age were enrolled.
Child abuse remained a problem. As of March 2003, there were 32,736
children on child protection registers, locally maintained lists of
children whom social-services authorities judged to be at continuing
risk of significant harm due to neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse,
or emotional abuse. Several NGOs and charities, the most prominent of
which was the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children, campaigned for an end to child abuse and neglect.
The Minister for Children coordinates government policy concerning
children and young persons. In Scotland, the Minister for Education and
Young People and the Minister for Communities oversee similar programs
designed to protect and provide assistance to minors.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003, which entered into force on May 1,
criminalizes a greater number of acts related to the sexual abuse of
children and strengthened the national sex offenders register, which
aims to prevent recidivism among convicted wrongdoers. On October 22, a
Lancashire man pled guilty to causing a child to engage in sexual
activity. On November 26, a Haverhill man pled guilty to seven offenses
under the new law and was sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment.
Some children have been subjected to forced labor or trafficked
into the country for sexual exploitation (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The Armed Forces accept recruits from age 16. NGOs including the
Child Soldiers Coalition and Amnesty International have criticized this
practice.
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in persons, particularly for sexual exploitation,
remained a problem.
The law prohibits trafficking in persons for the purposes of
prostitution, sexual exploitation, organ harvesting, or forced labor.
The Sexual Offenses Act of 2003, which came into force on May 1,
criminalizes trafficking offenses by citizens and residents, whether
committed in the country or abroad, and carries a maximum sentence of
14 years' imprisonment.
The Sexual Offenses Act of 2003 focused on issues of exploitation
by coercers, pimps, and traffickers. The penalties for keeping a
brothel were increased, and a new range of offenses for causing,
inciting, and controlling prostitution for gain were introduced.
Separate offenses were also introduced to combat the exploitation of
children through prostitution, with severe penalties for causing,
inciting, controlling, arranging, or facilitating the prostitution of a
child. For the purposes of the Act, the offense can take place anywhere
in the world. The Act also criminalizes the buyer, with the new offense
of paying for sexual services of a child.
The ``Reflex'' Task Force, which brings together agencies that
combat trafficking and migrant smuggling in persons, reported that the
authorities have been responsible for 38 disruptions of criminal gangs
and 38 convictions for organized immigration crime between April 2003
and March. In the first 6 months of the year, there were 18 disruptions
and more than $1,800,000 (1,000,000 pounds) of assets seized.
In April, the Court of Appeals, at the Government's request,
increased convicted trafficker Luan Plakici's sentence to 23 years'
imprisonment for seven counts of kidnapping, procuring, living on
immoral earnings, and facilitating the entry of illegal immigrants.
In July, Kinsley Ojo, arrested as a result of an investigation into
the discovery in September 2001 of the torso of a Nigerian boy in the
River Thames, was convicted of trafficking-related offenses and
sentenced to 4 years in prison. Police believed the boy was trafficked
into the country and then murdered in a ritual killing.
On December 22, a court convicted two Albanian men of trafficking
two people into and within the country for sexual exploitation. One man
was sentenced to 18 years in prison and the other to 9 years'
imprisonment.
Between March 2003 and February, MAXIM, a government partnership
targeting organized immigration crime, staged 60 proactive operations
and made 151 arrests. Authorities charged 30 persons as a result of
these arrests.
The Home Office, which includes the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate, had the lead in efforts to combat trafficking. Other
Cabinet-level departments include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Department of Trade and Industry, Department for Education and Skills,
the Crown Prosecution Service, and the Department for International
Finance and Development.
The country is primarily a destination country for trafficking in
persons and occasionally a country of transit. There is no
comprehensive official estimate of the number of victims of trafficking
or the annual number of persons trafficked into the country. The
Government received 169 referrals at its specialized shelter project
for women trafficked for sexual exploitation between March 2003 and
September.
Women were trafficked for sexual exploitation from Central and
Eastern Europe (primarily Albania, Kosovo, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,
Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, and Moldova). Some also came from Thailand
and China through ``snakehead'' gangs criminal groups that operated
trafficking rings. West Africa (primarily Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra
Leone) was a source of women and children trafficked to the country.
According to police sources, West African children appeared to be
brought in primarily to work as domestics. NGO evidence indicated that
some West African children might be trafficked through the country to
Italy and other European Union countries for sexual exploitation. In
one case, the U.S. was a destination county.
Many trafficked women worked in the sex industry. However, women,
men, and children were also trafficked for labor exploitation in
domestic service, agricultural and rural labor, construction, and
catering.
Trafficking victims were most often subject to debt bondage, the
withholding of travel documents, false information about law
enforcement and immigration penalties, or threats of violence against
them or their families. Physical and sexual violence were employed as
well, although less frequently.
Organized international gangs were alleged to be responsible for
most trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
The Government reviewed and assessed the victim protection program
it initiated in 2003 with the NGO Eaves Housing. As a result of the
review, the Government made adjustments in program eligibility criteria
and increased funding for the program. Local Social Services
authorities and various charities provided services to trafficking
victims. Because care and protection were not confined to program
facilities, overall efforts in victim protection were difficult to
assess.
NGOs criticized the Government for not ``opting in'' on the
European Council directive on providing short-term residence permits
for victims of trafficking who cooperate with the authorities. The
Government did not prosecute victims of trafficking who were violating
prostitution or immigration laws; however, they could face repatriation
to their country of origin.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for
International Development distribute anti-trafficking material in
countries of origin. Immigration intelligence assets were deployed
across Europe on the main routes for illegal migration and trafficking
under the Immigration Liaison Officer (ILO) program. The National
Criminal Intelligence Service engaged in exchange programs in which its
officers aided in preventive anti-trafficking efforts in Central and
Eastern Europe.
In addition to bilateral international efforts, the Government
continued to support regional multilateral efforts in the Balkans
through the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe under the OSCE. The
Government also funded a communication campaign, in partnership with an
NGO, which was intended to increase general public awareness, potential
victim awareness, and to give trafficked women access to the resources
available to them.
Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to
health care, or in the provision of other state services. The law
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice.
On October 1, the third part of the Disability Discrimination Act
came into force, mandating that all public service providers (except in
the transportation sector) make ``reasonable adjustments'' in order to
make their services available to persons with disabilities. This part
of the Act also made it illegal for employers with fewer than 15
employees to harass or discriminate against job applicants or employees
with disabilities. It has long been illegal for larger employers
(except for the armed forces) to do so.
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC), an independent organization
funded by the Government, worked on behalf of disabled persons to stop
discrimination and promote equality of opportunity. The DRC provided a
hotline for persons with disabilities and employers, legal advice and
support for individuals, and policy advice to the Government. The DRC
also has the power to conduct formal investigations, arrange
conciliation, require persons to adopt action plans to ensure
compliance with the law, and apply for injunctions to prevent acts of
unlawful discrimination.
The DRC advocated the enactment of additional legislation to extend
the right of access for persons with disabilities to public
transportation (for example, buses and trains) and to require landlords
to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Despite legal prohibitions
against racial discrimination, persons of African and Afro-Caribbean,
South Asian, or Middle Eastern origin, and Travellers--itinerant
populations consisting of Roma, Irish, and other ethnic groups
estimated to number 300,000 persons--were occasionally the victims of
societal violence and some discrimination.
Victim Support, a charity assisting persons affected by crime,
received 33,374 referrals for assistance in cases of racially motivated
crime between April 2003 and March 31. During the same time period, the
Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted 3,616 defendants for racially
motivated crimes, a 13 percent increase over the previous year.
On March 6 in Peterborough, a gang of 15 persons attacked a man of
South Asian origin as he was returning to work. The attackers threw a
road sign, stones, and a block of concrete at him and shouted racist
statements. When confronted by the victim's coworkers, the gang left
the scene and began to attack an Iraqi Kurd with sticks and verbal
abuse. Three youths ranging in age from 16 to 19 were convicted of
offenses ranging from violent disorder to wounding with intent.
On June 12, up to 20 persons attacked a group of 5 Black men
outside a pub in Edinburgh. As a result of the attack, all five victims
had to be treated at a hospital. According to a police spokesperson,
``allegations of an assault were made; but due to the number of people
involved and the fact that several of them had been drinking,
establishing exactly what had happened was not possible.''
On September 26 in Coventry, 2 white men punched a Sikh man 30
times while directing racial epithets at him. The victim said it was
the seventh time in 10 years that he had been subject to a violent,
racially motivated attack.
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is an independent,
government-funded body that seeks to ensure fair treatment and equal
opportunities for national/racial/ethnic minorities. The CRE provided
guidelines on anti-discrimination practices, supported persons taking
court action, and initiated its own court actions. During the year, the
CRE instigated compliance procedures against 52 public bodies (out of a
total of 43,000 such organizations) for failing to promote racial
equality.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The law prohibits
discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation; however,
sporadic incidents of homophobic violence were reported. The law
encourages judges to impose a greater sentence in assault cases where
the victim's sexual orientation is a motive for the hostility, and many
local police forces demonstrated an increasing awareness of the problem
and trained officers to identify and moderate these attacks.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of
workers, except those in the armed forces, public sector security
services, and police forces, to form and join unions, and workers
exercised this right in practice. Almost 30 percent of the workforce
was unionized. Coverage was most widespread in the public sector, where
60 percent of workers were unionized. In contrast, 19 percent of
private sector workers were unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the
Government protected this right in practice. Collective bargaining is
protected in law and was freely practiced. Under the law, a strike must
be confined to workers and their own employers (``secondary boycotts''
are illegal), the dispute must be wholly or mainly about employment-
related matters (for example, pay and conditions), workers must be
properly and secretly balloted before striking (with notice to the
employer), and mass picketing is prohibited. Workers freely exercised
the right to strike.
There are no export-processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however,
there were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 5).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Children under the age of 13 cannot be employed in any capacity. Those
under age 16 are not permitted to work in an industrial enterprise,
including transportation or street trading; their total work hours are
strictly limited and may not interfere with school attendance. They may
work as part of an educational course. Independent NGOs claimed that up
to 2 million young people of school age in the country were involved in
part-time employment. Under current rules, a child age 13 to 16 must
apply for a work permit from a local authority and the local
authority's Education and Welfare Services have primary responsibility
for oversight and enforcement. Several central government ministries
have additional regulatory responsibilities: the Department of Trade
and Industry, Department for Education and Skills, and the Health and
Safety Executive.
In February, a government task force published a report entitled,
The Regulation of Child Employment, which cited the multi-layered
oversight system as leading to patchy enforcement of the law and
recommended a more consolidated approach. The report also recommended
shifting the responsibility for registration from the individual child
to the employer, as there is evidence that many children do not apply
for work permits.
There were no confirmed reports of violations or prosecutions
during the year. In instances reported since 2000, there were
successful prosecutions resulting in fines of up to $23,560 (12,400
pounds).
There were reports that children were trafficked into the country
and forced to work as domestic servants, beggars, pickpockets, drug
couriers, or in sweatshops and restaurants (see Section 5).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage, which
ranged from $7.45 to $8.82 (3.00 pounds to 4.85 pounds) depending on
the age of the employee, did not provide a decent standard of living
for a worker and family; however, other benefits of the welfare state
filled the gap, including free universal access to the National Health
Service. In October, the law extended the minimum wage to cover
homeworkers. Tax authorities have the power to issue compliance orders
against employers not paying the minimum wage, but disputes are handled
by the Employment Tribunals. The Government aggressively monitored
employer efforts to bring pay practices into compliance with minimum
wage law. Unions and NGOs were also actively involved in ensuring
employees are aware of their rights.
The law limits the workweek to 48 hours; however, the regulations
do not apply to senior managers and others who can exercise control
over their own hours of work. An individual employee may agree through
a contract to work overtime.
The law stipulates that the health and safety of employees not be
placed at risk, and, in practice, it was generally and effectively
enforced by the Health and Safety Executive, which could initiate
criminal proceedings in appropriate cases. Workers' representatives
also actively monitored enforcement of the law. Workers may remove
themselves from dangerous work conditions without jeopardy to their
continued employment.
__________
UZBEKISTAN
Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights. The
Constitution provides for a presidential system with separation of
powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches;
however, in practice, President Islam Karimov and the centralized
executive branch that serves him dominated political life and exercised
nearly complete control over the other branches. On December 26,
elections were held for seats in the lower chamber of the Supreme
Assembly (Oliy Majlis) that fell significantly short of international
standards for democratic elections. The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the executive branch heavily influenced
the courts and did not ensure due process.
The Ministry of Interior (MVD) controls the police and is
responsible for most routine police functions. The National Security
Service (NSS) deals with a broad range of national security questions,
including corruption, organized crime, and narcotics. The civilian
authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. The
police and the NSS committed numerous serious human rights abuses.
The country has a population of approximately 25.5 million. The
economy is based primarily on agriculture and agricultural processing,
which remain heavily influenced by the state. For the year, the gross
domestic product grew approximately 3 percent and inflation was
approximately 15 to 20 percent. There were no reliable unemployment
statistics, but the number of unemployed and underemployed was high and
growing. Corruption remained a problem and had a negative impact on the
economy.
The Government's human rights record remained very poor; although
there were some improvements, it continued to commit numerous serious
abuses. While the Government took some important steps to address
torture and to establish police accountability, it made no progress on
democratic reform and placed further restrictions on the activities of
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the press. Citizens could not
exercise the right to change their government peacefully. Unlike past
years, there were no credible reports of persons dying in custody as a
result of torture; however, police and security force negligence likely
contributed to the deaths of at least four persons. Police and, to a
lesser extent, NSS forces tortured, beat, and harassed persons;
however, officials of both agencies and the procuracy participated in
dialogues with human rights activists and allowed international and
local human rights groups to take part in independent investigations of
deaths in custody in which torture had been alleged. Prison conditions
generally remained poor, although there were limited improvements in
some prisons. Many of the most serious abuses occurred in pretrial
detention. Members of the security forces responsible for documented
abuses were rarely punished; however, there were some notable
exceptions, and at least one MVD division established preliminary
procedures for investigating and disciplining officers for human rights
abuses. Police and NSS arrested persons the Government suspected of
extremist sympathies. Police routinely and arbitrarily detained
citizens to extort bribes. The Government continued to harass human
rights activists, although considerably fewer were arrested than in
previous years. Unlike past years, no journalists were arrested; three
journalists imprisoned in previous years were released. The number of
persons in prison for political or religious reasons--primarily persons
the Government believed were associated with extremist Islamist
political groups, but also members of the secular opposition and human
rights activists--was estimated to be between 5,000 and 5,500. Police
and NSS forces infringed on citizens' privacy.
The Government severely restricted freedom of speech and the press,
and an atmosphere of repression stifled public criticism of the
Government. The Government warned editors that they were responsible
for the content of their publications, and the law encouraged self-
censorship. Ordinary citizens remained circumspect in criticizing the
Government publicly. The Government continued to prohibit unauthorized
public meetings and demonstrations, and police forcibly disrupted a
number of peaceful protests, although fewer than in previous years. The
Government continued to deny registration to several independent
domestic human rights groups and increased pressure on unregistered
groups. The Government refused to reregister one major international
NGO, the Open Society Institute (OSI), and attempted to restrict the
activities of others. Government decrees prevented many domestic NGOs
active in human rights and political reform from receiving outside
support and impeded the operations of women's rights NGOs. The
Government restricted freedom of religion and harassed individuals
suspected of belonging to extremist groups; several hundred were
arrested. The Government limited the activities of minority religions.
The Government restricted freedom of movement within the country and
required citizens to obtain exit visas to travel abroad. The Government
denied the registration applications of two opposition political
parties. The Government harassed and abused members of domestic human
rights groups. Societal violence against women was a problem.
Trafficking in women and children abroad for prostitution was a problem
that the Government took steps to address. The Government severely
restricted fundamental worker rights.
respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no
confirmed reports of politically motivated killings by the Government
or its agents; however, border guards shot and killed two persons, and
six persons were reported to have died in prison or pretrial police
custody (see Section 1.c.).
On March 20, border guards shot and killed a Tajik citizen who had
been gathering scrap metal near the Platina border checkpoint. On June
1, border guards shot and killed a Kazakh citizen following an
altercation near the Keles border crossing point, just north of
Tashkent. The incident reportedly led to the dismissal of National
Border Guard Chief Gafurjon Tishaev.
The media widely reported that the May 19 death of 36-year-old
Andrei Shelkavenko, who was being held on suspicion of murder, had
resulted from torture; however, on May 31, an independent team of
international experts concluded that Shelkavenko hanged himself in his
cell and was not killed by police, as claimed by his family.
On April 24, a court convicted an MVD Post Inspector of criminal
negligence and sentenced him to 3 years in prison in connection with
the December 2003 death in custody of Kamolodin Djumaniyozov. After
reviewing a videotape of Djumaniyozov's body, an independent forensic
pathologist concluded that Djumaniyozov had likely died from hanging
and not torture, as had been reported in the international press.
There were no developments in the May 2003 deaths of Otzama
Gafarov, who died in custody in Chirchick Prison, or Orif Ershanov, a
member of the prohibited extremist Party of Islamic Liberation (Hizb
ut-Tahrir) political movement, who was severely beaten and died in NSS
detention in Karshi. There were also no further developments in the
August 2003 death of Nodir Zamonov, a native of Bukhara, whose body was
found by his parents shortly after police detained him on charges of
vandalism.
According to officials from the MVD Prisons Directorate,
authorities dismissed six guards and three prison officers following
the 2002 deaths of Mirzakomil Avazov and Khusnuddin Olimov, members of
Hizb ut-Tahrir who were tortured to death in Jaslyk Prison in
Karakalpakstan. The Karakalpakstan Regional Prosecutor reportedly
investigated the deaths, but concluded that there was insufficient
evidence to bring criminal charges. The Government maintained that
extensive burns on the two men's bodies were the result of a tea fight;
however, independent analysis by experts in the United Kingdom of
photographs taken shortly after their deaths concluded that the men had
likely been suspended in boiling water.
The extremely low quality of forensic expertise, the absence of
independent medical examiners, and frequent official pressure on
families to bury bodies quickly in accordance with Islamic traditions
made it extremely difficult to confirm rumors of detainees dying in
custody as a result of torture or mistreatment.
Local and international observers reported that persons sentenced
to death were often not given an adequate opportunity to mount a
defense or to appeal their sentence. The Government considers the
number of prisoners executed each year to be a state secret. Amnesty
International (AI) has estimated that scores are executed each year;
the local NGO Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture put the
number at well over a hundred. On September 13, the U.N. Special
Rapporteur on Torture Theo van Boven issued a statement condemning the
execution of persons whose death sentences were allegedly based on
forced confessions. Van Boven drew particular attention to the cases of
Azizbek Karimov and Yusuf Zhumayev, who were executed on August 10,
despite appeals by the U.N. Committee on Human Rights to stay their
sentences. Karimov was executed for participating in a series of
bombings in the Kyrgyz Republic; Zhumayev was convicted of murder in
December 2003. Both men alleged that they had been tortured while in
custody. According to the Rapporteur, at least nine inmates had been
executed since 2002 despite Committee requests for their cases to be
reviewed.
In April, the Government commuted the death sentence of three men--
Evgeny Gugnin, Abror Isaev, and Nodirbek Karimov--who were convicted of
murder in 2002. There were reports that police had beaten all three men
(as well as Gugnin's alleged accomplice whose death sentence was
commuted in March 2003) in pretrial detention to obtain confessions. AI
had given the cases of the four men wide publicity. According to an
August 16 AI report, authorities gave assurances that Iskander
Khudoberganov, convicted of involvement in the 1999 terrorist attacks
in Tashkent, will not be executed while his cases are under
consideration by the U.N. Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). Khudoberganov
claimed that he had been tortured while in detention at the main office
of the Tashkent City MVD and that authorities threatened to rape his
wife and sister unless he confessed. Two of Khudoberganov's
codefendants made similar accusations of torture at their trial. None
of the suspects convicted in connection with the March and April
terrorist violence was sentenced to death.
There were reports of at least four deaths during the year due to
landmines placed in disputed areas along the Tajik and Kyrgyz borders
following armed incursions by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
terrorist organization in 2000.
b. Disappearance.--Although there were no confirmed reports for
politically motivated disappearances, in separate incidents in May and
June, three Tashkent men--Farukh Haidarov, Okiljon Yunusov, and
Husnuddin Nazarov--were reported missing by their families. Haidarov
and Yunusov studied theology in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s. At the time
of their disappearance, Haidarov was a language instructor at the
Egyptian Cultural Center and Yunusov was a businessman. Nazarov is the
son of Abidkhan Nazarov, a prominent religious figure in Tashkent who
was dismissed from his position as Imam of the Tokhtabay Mosque in 1995
for his allegedly extremist sermons. He disappeared in 1998, and his
whereabouts remained unknown.
The men's families asserted that the NSS abducted the three men and
was holding them incommunicado. On August 14, Haidarov's wife received
a letter from her husband stating that he, Yunusov, and Nazarov, had
gone to Afghanistan. In remarks to the press, Haidarov's wife confirmed
that the handwriting was her husband's, but expressed doubt that he was
in Afghanistan because the letter apparently took only 4 days to travel
from Kabul to Tashkent. According to press reports, Afghan officials
confirmed that the franking appeared authentic.
There were no developments in the case of Sadykhan Rahmanov who was
reported missing and in official custody in 2003.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, police and the
NSS routinely tortured, beat, and otherwise mistreated detainees to
obtain confessions or incriminating information. Police, prison
officials, and the NSS allegedly used suffocation, electric shock,
rape, and other sexual abuse; however, beating was the most commonly
reported method of torture. Torture was common in prisons, pretrial
facilities, and local police and security service precincts. Defendants
in trials often claimed that their confessions, on which the
prosecution based its cases, were extracted by torture (see Section
1.e.). In February 2003, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture issued
a report that concluded that torture or similar ill-treatment was
systematic.
Authorities treated individuals suspected of extreme Islamist
political sympathies, particularly alleged members of Hizb ut-Tahrir,
more harshly than ordinary criminals, and there were credible reports
that investigators subjected persons suspected of belonging to Hizb ut-
Tahrir to particularly severe interrogation in pretrial detention, in
many cases resorting to torture. After trial, authorities reportedly
used disciplinary and punitive measures, including torture, more often
with prisoners convicted of extremism than with ordinary inmates. Local
human rights workers reported that common criminals were often paid or
otherwise induced by authorities to beat Hizb ut Tahrir members (see
Section 1.d.).
As in previous years, there were numerous credible reports that
officials in several prisons abused Hizb ut-Tahrir members to obtain
letters of repentance, which are required for a prisoner to be eligible
for amnesty. According to prisoners' relatives, amnestied prisoners,
and human rights activists, inmates who refused to write letters
disavowing their connection to Hizb ut-Tahrir were often beaten or sent
into solitary confinement. Human rights activist Ahmadjon Madmarov
reported that prison officers in Navoi beat his son Habibulla, who was
sentenced to 9 years in prison for membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir, with
rubber batons when he refused to write a letter of repentance.
Local and international human rights workers, defense attorneys,
and family members reported that authorities physically mistreated
persons detained after a series of terrorist incidents in Tashkent and
Bukhara between March 28 and April 1. At least four persons charged
with terrorist-related offenses testified in court that they had been
beaten or otherwise tortured in custody. On September 10, an attorney
for Mastura Latipova informed the judge that his client had been
stripped naked and beaten during the first days of pretrial detention.
According to local human rights groups, police also beat Latipova's
husband, Shomurod Latipov, who was detained on March 30 and released 2
days later (see Sections 1.d. and 1.e.). In October, another defendant,
Bakhtior Muminov, testified in a separate trial that he had been beaten
and subjected to electric shock.
There were reports of beatings at several MVD and NSS facilities in
the days following the March/April attacks; however, the most severe
abuse appeared to have taken place at the detention facility at the
main office of the Tashkent MVD, where eyewitnesses, family members,
defense attorneys and representatives of human rights groups claimed
that authorities frequently and systematically applied torture,
including severe beating, suffocation, and electroshock. The General
Prosecutor's office, which retained formal jurisdiction over the
suspects and witnesses held at the Tashkent City MVD, rejected requests
by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the
facility, on the grounds that the investigations involved matters of
national security. Authorities denied similar requests from members of
the diplomatic community and international human rights NGOs.
On June 23, authorities released independent journalist and human
rights activist Ruslan Sharipov, who claimed he was tortured in
pretrial detention in July 2003, from prison (see Section 2.a.).
Prison officials reportedly continued to mistreat inmates who
participated in prison demonstrations during the month of Ramadan in
October 2003. According to relatives of prisoners and local human
rights activists, authorities at the 64/29 penal colony in Navoi beat
and raped several prisoners. Navoi prison officials reportedly meted
out similar punishment immediately following the March and April
terrorist attacks; relatives of one prisoner reported that guards
singled out members of Hizb ut-Tahrir for individual beatings. There
were no reports of mistreatment in connection with the Ramadan fast in
October.
There were reports that police beat members of Jehovah's Witnesses
(see Section 2.c.).
On February 24, the Cabinet of Minister's established an
interagency human rights working group tasked with implementing the
U.N. Convention Against Torture. Under the working group's purview,
individual ministries, and the MVD in particular, took limited steps to
address some of the 2003 recommendations of U.N. Special Rapporteur on
Torture. The MVD sponsored a series of training courses for police on
how to enforce a December 2003 Supreme Court Decree mandating that all
suspects have a right to an attorney from the moment of detention. The
Supreme Court's 2003 Decree, which carries the force of law, explicitly
adopted the definition of torture provided in the U.N. Convention
Against Torture. The MVD Prisons Directorate took steps to allow NGO
access to its prisons and to train prison guards in human rights
practices. The Government also took steps to prosecute police for human
rights abuses and to discipline the police force internally (see
Section 1.d.).
As in past years, there were reports that law enforcement
authorities attempted to have local political and human rights
activists declared insane to stop their activities. On March 1, police
in Jizzak Province initiated legal proceedings to have Mamarizo
Nazarov, a human rights activist and delegate to the opposition Birlik
Party's National Committee, declared mentally incompetent. Local
authorities dropped their efforts at the behest of provincial
officials. On August 9, authorities involuntarily committed human
rights attorney Larissa Konoplova to the Tashkent City Psychiatric
Hospital. Konoplova had reportedly angered police, neighbors, and local
neighborhood (mahalla) committee officials by her efforts to defend
local residents in property and tax disputes and to have district
officials punished for alleged malfeasance. Authorities released
Konoplova, who had been subjected to involuntary psychiatric treatment
several times, 4 days later, after representatives of an international
NGO and the diplomatic community interceded on her behalf. On September
13, police, acting on a court order, again detained Konoplova for
psychiatric observation; however, hospital psychiatrists declared
Konoplova mentally competent, and she was released on September 28. In
July, a Tashkent court dismissed efforts, dating back to 2002, to have
human rights activist Elena Urlaeva declared legally incompetent.
On May 21, several unidentified men abducted and severely beat
activist Bakhodir Choriev while he was wearing a shirt with ``Karimov
resign'' on the front (see Section 2.b.).
There were several instances of unidentified assailants attacking
persons who planned to participate in public demonstrations (see
Section 2.b.).
Prison conditions remained poor, and there continued to be reports
of severe abuses in prisons. However, anecdotal evidence from former
prisoners and local human rights workers suggested that were limited
improvements in some prisons, which they attributed to the
international community's monitoring activities and to reform efforts
by the MVD Directorate of Prisons. Local human rights advocates with
contacts among inmates' families reported that Tavok-Soi Prison in
Tashkent Region, Prison 64/5 in Zangiota, and Bukhara's Korgan Prison
showed particular improvement. Prison overcrowding remained a problem.
Tuberculosis and hepatitis were epidemic in the prisons, making even
short periods of incarceration potentially life threatening. Shortages
of food and medicines were reported in several prisons, and prisoners
often relied on visits by relatives to obtain them. Conditions remained
particularly poor in Jaslyk, Navoi (64/29), and Karshi (64/49) Prisons,
maximum security facilities that housed a significant portion of the
country's prisoners of conscience. Starting in 2003, authorities at
Jaslyk Prison transferred a substantial number of these and other
political prisoners to other facilities. Fewer than 200 of Jaslyk's 477
inmates were convicted of charges related to membership in extremist
political organizations such as Hizb ut-Tahrir. The prison is located
in a remote area of Karakalpakstan, where temperatures can exceed 120
degrees in the summer and drop below 10 degrees in the winter. While
there were numerous reports of severe mistreatment at Jaslyk in the
past, including the 2002 killing of Mirzakomil Avazov and Khusnuddin
Olimov (see Section 1.a.), there were fewer reported during the year.
Authorities allowed several groups of foreign visitors, including
representatives of international human rights organizations,
journalists, and foreign diplomatic personnel, to tour Jaslyk in an
effort to dispel the prison's notorious reputation.
Official negligence, aggravated in some cases by poor prison
conditions, may have contributed to the deaths of four persons. Unlike
cases of custodial death reported in previous years, there were no
signs of torture. There were reports that inmates died of communicable
diseases such as tuberculosis that were associated with poor
conditions. On March 16, Abdurrahman Narzullayev died of an acute
bronchial infection at the 64/33 Prison in Karshi while serving a 16-
year sentence in connection with his membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Family members asserted that the infection resulted from prison
authorities' improperly inserting a feeding tube to end a hunger strike
by Narzullayev in protest of poor prison conditions.
On May 30, Ilkolm Umarov, a 28-year-old resident of a communal farm
in Jizzak's Arnasay District suspected of stealing a sheep, died in
local police custody. Separate investigations by the General
Prosecutor's office and the MVD--the latter supervised by
representatives of two local human rights NGOs--confirmed eyewitness
reports that Umarov died of asphyxiation after swallowing his tongue
during a seizure. The investigations concluded that local officials
were negligent in not taking Umarov to a hospital when he began to show
signs of sickness and had committed a number of procedural violations
by detaining him as a witness, rather than a suspect, and by denying
him access to an attorney. As a result of the investigation, the MVD
disciplined several police officers and dismissed the district police
chief; the investigator responsible for Umarov's detention was
reportedly charged with criminal negligence.
Men and women were held in separate facilities, and juveniles were
held separately from adults. Conditions in juvenile facilities were
generally much better than in adult ones, although there were reports
of inmates working in harsh circumstances and in some cases being
beaten in these facilities. Pretrial detainees were held separately
from convicted prisoners. The Government also operated labor camps,
where conditions of incarceration were reported to be less severe than
in prisons.
In October, the MVD's Directorate of Prisons (GUIN) opened a new
prison training center in Tashkent. The center, which will eventually
train all of the country's prison guards, utilizes a curriculum that
included human rights training and basic courses in psychology and
prison management in its curriculum. Earlier in the year, 120 guards
from the country's 53 prison colonies participated in a series of
Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE)-sponsored human rights
training courses.
Working with the OSCE, GUIN allowed two groups of NGO prison
monitors access to several of its facilities. Foreign NGO workers and
diplomatic personnel gained access to prisons to meet with individual
detainees. Similar access was not given to pretrial detention
facilities, which are not under GUIN authority.
The ICRC generally received satisfactory access to places of
detention, including pretrial detention centers; however, authorities
denied the ICRC immediate access to prisoners arrested in connection
with the March/April terrorist attacks in Tashkent and Bukhara or any
access to prisoners sentenced to death. The Government granted the ICRC
access to individuals convicted of terrorist-related offenses after
their trials.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law does not provide
adequate protection against arbitrary arrest and detention, and these
remained problems.
The MVD controls the police, which is organized both by region and
by function. Corruption among law enforcement personnel remained a
problem. Police routinely and arbitrarily detained citizens to extort
bribes. Of the several hundred persons who were briefly detained
following the March/April terrorist attacks, several asserted that they
had to pay bribes to local authorities to be released.
Impunity remained a problem, and officials responsible for abuses
were rarely punished. During the year, the MVD undertook a number of
initiatives to make investigating officers more accountable for their
actions. According to the MVD and procuracy, 11 police officers were
convicted of abuse, including torture. The Government investigated and
took disciplinary action in connection with the death in custody of
Ilkholm Umarov (see Section 1.c.). On April 24, a court sentenced a
post inspector to 3 years in prison for official negligence in
connection with Kamalodin Djumaniyozov's December 2003 suicide (see
Section 1.a.).
The law provides that law enforcement officers, including police,
MVD investigators, and prosecutors, may arrest a person suspected of
committing a crime without filing formal charges. Under the law, a
person arrested without formal charges is a suspect; once charges are
filed, that person becomes an accused. Both are considered to be
formally under arrest.
The law grants wide discretion as to what constitutes a proper
basis for arrest, but requires that a report stating the grounds for
arrest be forwarded to a prosecutor within 24 hours of the time a
person is taken into custody. The law also mandates that all detainees,
whether they are considered suspects or accused, be questioned within
24 hours; however, suspects have the right to remain silent. This
initial period of arrest, when a suspect may be held without formal
charges, is limited to 72 hours, although a prosecutor may extend it
for an additional 7 days. At the end of this period, the person must
either be charged with a crime or released. Once charges are filed, a
suspect may be held at the prosecutor's discretion while an
investigation is conducted; at this stage, the person under arrest is
required to answer questions. A prosecutor may release a prisoner on
bond pending trial. In practice, authorities frequently ignored these
legal protections. There is no judicial supervision of detention, such
as habeas corpus.
Prosecutors enjoyed near total discretion over most aspects of
criminal procedure, including pretrial detention. Persons under arrest
have no access to a court to challenge the length or validity of
pretrial detention. Even when no charges are filed, police and
prosecutors sought to evade restrictions on the length of time a person
may be held without charges by holding persons as a witnesses rather
than as suspects. A December 2003 Supreme Court Decree stated that a
defendant has a right to counsel from the moment of detention; however,
in practice access to counsel often was denied.
During the year, police arrested or detained demonstrators (see
Section 2.b.).
On February 16, police in Jizzak arrested human rights activist and
Birlik Party organizer Muidjahon Kurbanov on charges of weapons and
narcotics possession. Local observers speculated that authorities
targeted Kurbanov because of his efforts to advocate on behalf of local
farmers. Police claimed that they found a hunting rifle, several
bullets, and a small quantity of opiate derivative in Kurbanov's
chicken shed. During his trial, Kurbanov's defense team established
that the gun and ammunition were of different calibers and that
Kurbanov's shed had likely been broken into shortly before the police
search, while police and local authorities gave inconsistent testimony.
Most observers concluded that the evidence against Kurbanov had likely
been planted. On March 24, Kurbanov was sentenced to 3 years in prison;
however, this was reduced to a fine on appeal.
There were also reports that police arrested persons on falsified
charges as an intimidation tactic to prevent them or their family
members from exposing corruption or interfering in local criminal
activities.
On February 12, 62-year-old Fatima Mukhadirova was sentenced to 6
years for anticonstitutional activity and extremism, a sentence
subsequently commuted to a fine. During her trial, Mukhadirova and her
attorney contended that the evidence on which her conviction was based,
including Hizb ut-Tahrir literature, had been planted by members of the
MVD's Antiterrorism Directorate. Mukhadirova's son, Mirzakomil Avazov,
was tortured to death in Jaslyk Prison in 2002. Observers speculated
that authorities arrested her in October 2003 in retaliation for her
attempts to publicize her son's death. International observers who
monitored the April trial of Birlik Party organizer and farmers' rights
advocate Muidinjon Kurbonov believed that evidence used by the
prosecution was also likely planted by police.
On September 9, authorities released 18-year-old Chingiz Suleimanov
from the Youth Prison in Tashkent after serving just over 1 year of a
5-year sentence for being involved in a fight. Suleimanov's parents
maintained that police arrested their son, who has mental disabilities,
in retaliation for a letter they wrote to the prosecutor early in 2003
about criminal activities taking place under the protection of local
police.
Authorities continued to arbitrarily arrest persons associated with
prohibited Islamist political groups suspected of extremist sentiments
or activities. There was a reported increase in arrests in January and
February, centered mostly in Tashkent City and Region.
Following a series of terrorist attacks in Bukhara and Tashkent in
March and April, the Government took into custody several hundred
persons, the overwhelming majority of them identified as having
belonged to the Hizb ut-Tahrir extremist political movement or various
so-called Wahhabi groups, including imams in Kashkadaria and Margilon.
The arrests were made for national security reasons, but according to
sources in the human rights community and law enforcement, the police
and security services relied on a list of approximately 1,000
individuals, most of whom had been convicted of extremism in previous
years and subsequently amnestied. There were credible allegations that
authorities tortured some detainees (see Section 1.c.); however, the
majority of those taken into custody were released after questioning,
usually less than a day later. During the year, approximately 115
persons were convicted of terrorism; dozens more were sentenced for
anticonstitutional activity and extremism (see Section 1.e.).
In its campaign against extremism, the Government concentrated its
efforts on persons it suspected were associated with Hizb ut-Tahrir, an
extremist political movement founded in 1952 in Jordanian-administered
East Jerusalem. Although Hizb ut-Tahrir maintained that it was
committed to nonviolence, the party's strongly anti-Semitic and anti-
Western literature called for secular governments, including in the
country, to be replaced with a borderless, theocratic Islamic state, or
Caliphate, throughout the entire Muslim world.
Local human rights activists reported that police and security
service officers, acting under pressure to break up Hizb ut Tahrir
cells, frequently detained family members and close associates of
suspected members, even if there was no direct evidence of their
involvement. Authorities made little distinction between actual members
and those with marginal affiliation with the group, often persons who
had attended Koranic study sessions with the group.
As in previous years, there were reports that authorities arrested
and prosecuted persons based on the possession of Hizb ut-Tahrir
literature. Coerced confessions and testimony were commonplace. Even
persons generally known to belong to Hizb ut Tahrir stated that the
cases against them were built not on actual evidence, which would have
been abundantly available, but on planted material or false testimony.
During the year, pretrial detention for individuals suspected of
Islamic extremism typically ranged from 1 to 3 months; in past years,
pretrial detention lasted as long as 2 years. The number of such
prisoners in pretrial detention was unknown.
Police harassed and sometimes arbitrarily detained members of the
opposition Birlik, Free Farmers, and Erk Party (see Section 2.b.). In
May, police reportedly arrested Erk Party activists in Namangan,
Sukhandaria, and Bukhara. On May 15, police in Namangan arrested Birlik
activist Mukhammadali Koraboyev following an altercation with a mahalla
committee chairman. Police released him on July 17; he was subsequently
sentenced to 3 years probation. On July 23, police detained the
Namangan leader of the Free Farmers Party, Akhmadjon Normirzaev, after
discovering party literature in his car; he was released the next day
after paying a minor fine.
On March 1, the Government completed the 3-month amnesty that it
declared in December 2003. Most of the 2,000 to 3,000 amnestied
prisoners were ordinary criminals; however, 705 political prisoners
convicted for anticonstitutional activity were reportedly released. It
was likely that the amnesty also freed a number of the 4,400 to 4,900
persons that authorities arrested between 1999 and 2001 for involvement
in extremist organizations, but who were convicted on other charges.
The vast majority of these prisoners were suspected of belonging to the
Hizb ut Tahrir political movement or another extremist Islamist group
that fell under the general rubric of ``Wahhabi.'' More than half of
these prisoners had been originally sentenced to terms exceeding 10
years.
As in previous amnesties, prisoners were reportedly forced to sign
letters of repentance as a condition of release; there were allegations
that authorities physically mistreated some prisoners who refused to
sign such letters (see Section 1.c.). The decree authorizing the
amnesty established strict conditions for release. In practice,
however, local prison authorities had considerable discretion in
determining who was reviewed for amnesty; as in previous years, there
were reports of corruption. Amnestied prisoners reported that imams had
been sent to some prisons to make the final determination as to which
prisoners had truly repented; this decision was reportedly frequently
made in consultation with local mahalla committees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The Constitution provides for an
independent judiciary; however, the judicial branch takes its direction
from the executive branch, particularly the General Prosecutor's
office, and exercises little independence in practice.
Under the Constitution, the President appoints all judges for 5-
year terms and has the power to remove them. Removal of Supreme Court
judges must be confirmed by the Supreme Assembly, which is obedient to
the President's wishes. Judicial Qualification Collegiums established
to nominate candidates and administer examinations somewhat insulated
the process of selecting judges from political influence and also
played a role in disciplining judges for misconduct; however, the
process of appointing and removing judges remained largely
nontransparent and subject to interference. Judicial salaries remained
low, and corruption reportedly remained a problem. Judges deferred to
the decisions of prosecutors with relatively few exceptions.
Courts of general jurisdiction are divided into three tiers:
District courts, regional courts, and the Supreme Court. In addition, a
Constitutional Court is charged with reviewing laws, decrees, and
judicial decisions to ensure their compliance with the Constitution.
Military courts handle all civil and criminal matters that occur within
the military. There is a system of economic courts at the regional
level that handles commercial disputes between legal entities.
Decisions of district and regional courts of general jurisdiction may
be appealed to the next level within 10 days of a ruling.
Three-judge panels generally preside over trials. The panels
consist of one professional judge and two lay assessors who serve 5-
year terms and are selected by either workers' collectives' committees
or mahalla committees. The lay judges rarely speak, and the
professional judge usually defers to the recommendations of the
prosecutor on legal and other matters.
Government prosecutors order arrests, direct investigations,
prepare criminal cases, and recommend sentences. If a judge's sentence
does not agree with the prosecutor's recommendation, the prosecutor has
a right to appeal the sentence to a higher court. Defendants are almost
always found guilty, often based solely on confessions. On the rare
occasions when a guilty verdict is not pronounced, the judge seldom
acquits the defendant; rather, the case is typically sent back for
further investigation. The formal protections against double jeopardy
that exist under the law do not apply in practice.
Most trials are officially open to the public; however, they may be
closed in exceptional cases, such as those involving state secrets or
rape, or to protect young defendants, victims, or witnesses.
Defendants have the right to attend court proceedings, confront
witnesses, and present evidence. These rights were applied with
increased frequency, particularly in high-profile human rights and
political cases, which were marked in several instances by defense
attorneys putting up an active defense. In almost all cases, however,
the verdict was guilty. Defendants have the right to hire an attorney,
and the Government provides legal counsel without charge when
necessary. However, state-appointed attorneys, whom the Government
contracts and pays, routinely acted in the interest of the Government
rather than their clients. A December 2003 Supreme Court Decree
clarified that the law on the right to counsel guarantees that right
from the moment of detention; however, authorities often violated the
right to an attorney during pretrial detention, and judges in some
cases denied defendants the right to their attorney of choice. Defense
counsel was often incompetent, and effective cross-examination of even
the most flawed prosecution witnesses rarely occurred. In most cases,
the role of defense counsel was limited to submitting confessions and
pleas for mercy. Lawyers from the Legal Aid Society (LAS) were much
better trained, but their resources were extremely limited and their
five lawyers typically only accepted more high-profile political cases.
Public defender centers financed through international contributions
also served to provide high-quality pro-bono defense counsel.
The Government announced trials, including those of alleged
religious extremists, only at the court in which the trial was to take
place and only a day or two before the trial began. International
observers generally were allowed to attend even the most sensitive
trials.
Defendants often claimed that the confessions on which the
prosecution based its cases were extracted by torture. In many cases,
particularly those involving suspected members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the
prosecution failed to produce confessions and relied solely on witness
testimony, which was reportedly often coerced. Typical sentences for
male members of Hizb ut-Tahrir ranged from 7 to 12 years' imprisonment.
In a series of trials in August, September, and October, the
Government convicted approximately 115 individuals in connection with
the March and April terrorist violence in Tashkent and Bukhara.
International and local human rights groups that monitored the trials
concluded that the trials failed to meet international standards. The
prosecution's cases relied primarily on confessions, which human rights
groups and defense attorneys maintained were coerced. Several
defendants testified in court that they had been physically abused in
pretrial detention (see Section 1.d.).
Lawyers may, and occasionally did, call on judges to reject
confessions and to investigate claims of torture; however, judges
routinely ignored such claims or dismissed them as groundless. None of
the torture allegations made in the terrorist trials resulted in a
criminal investigation. However, there were at least two partial
exceptions. In May, the Yunusabad District Court in Tashkent ruled that
murder charges against Ruslan Rakhimhov could not be sustained and sent
the case back for investigation. During the trial, Rakhimov and several
other witnesses testified that Rakhimov was forced to sign a
confession. According to defense attorneys, police officers beat
Rakhimov and asphyxiated him with a gas mask. Rakhimov remained in
custody at year's end, pending a retrial. In a retrial of another
murder case in October, a court in Andijon acquitted three defendants
previously convicted of murder and reduced the sentences of several
others. Relatives of the defendants and their lawyers contended that a
number of the confessions on which the original guilty verdict had been
based were coerced; one defendant, Ziedullo Mamadaliev, lost his sight
as a result of a beating he endured in pretrial detention. Criminal
proceedings against four police officers accused of torturing the
suspects were reportedly underway at year's end.
The Constitution and the law provide a right of appeal to
defendants; however, appeals rarely, if ever, resulted in convictions
being reversed in politically sensitive cases, such as for persons
accused of membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir. More often, a successful
appeal resulted in a reduced sentence.
There were 5,000 to 5,500 political prisoners, including alleged
members of Hizb ut Tahrir, at year's end. Most persons convicted of
political crimes were charged with the actual crime for which they were
arrested, for example anticonstitutional activity, involvement in
illegal organizations such as prohibited religious or political groups,
and the preparation or distribution of material that threatened public
security. The ICRC conducted regular prison visits throughout the year
and reported that it was given access to political prisoners (see
Section 1.c.). From December 2003 to March, the Government amnestied
705 political prisoners (see Section 1.d.).
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence.--The Constitution provides for the inviolability of the
person and prohibits unlawful detentions and searches; however, in
practice, authorities infringed on these rights. The law requires the
issuance of a search warrant for electronic surveillance by the
relevant prosecutor; however, there is no provision for a judicial
review of such warrants. There is an assumption that security agencies
routinely monitor telephone calls and employ surveillance and wiretaps
in the cases of persons involved in opposition political activities.
The Government continued to use an estimated 12,000 local mahalla
committees as a source of information on potential extremists. Mahalla
committees served varied legitimate social functions, but also linked
local society and the lowest levels of the Government and law
enforcement. The influence wielded by mahalla committees varied widely,
with committees in rural areas tending to be much more influential than
those in cities. Each mahalla committee assigned a ``neighborhood
guardian,'' or ``posbon,'' whose job it was to ensure public order and
to maintain a proper moral climate in the neighborhood. In practice,
this meant preventing young persons in the neighborhood from joining
extremist Islamic groups. According to a report on mahalla committees
released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in September 2003, the committees
kept extensive files on families in the neighborhood and collected
information on individual family members' religious practices. Mahalla
committees frequently identified for police those residents who
appeared suspicious and, working with local MVD and NSS
representatives, reportedly paid particular attention to recently
amnestied prisoners and the families of individuals jailed for alleged
extremism.
There was one report that police arrested and beat a person to
intimidate family members from exposing alleged criminal activities
occurring under police protection (see Section 1.d.).
Authorities frequently detained and mistreated family members of
persons wanted or jailed for Islamic activities, even if there was
scant evidence of their involvement (see Section 1.d.).
There were numerous credible reports that police, employers, and
mahalla committees harassed family members of human rights activists
(see Section 2.b.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Constitution provides for
freedom of speech and the press; however, the Government continued to
restrict these rights severely and the law holds editors and publishers
responsible for the content of articles that appear in their
publications.
The law limits criticism of the President, and citizens generally
did not criticize the President or the Government on television or in
the press, although they continued to do so more freely in less public
settings. The law also specifically prohibits articles that incite
religious confrontation and ethnic discord or advocate subverting or
overthrowing the constitutional order (see Section 2.b.).
The Cabinet of Ministers owned and controlled the country's three
national daily newspapers, Pravda Vostoka, Halq Sozi, and Narodnoe
Slovo. Their combined readership likely did not exceed 50,000, since
newspapers, which cost between 5 and 15 cents (50 and 150 soum), were
too expensive for most citizens. The Government owned or controlled
several other weekly publications.
Private persons and journalist collectives may not establish
newspapers unless they meet the media law's standards for establishing
a ``mass media organ,'' including naming a board of directors
acceptable to the Government. The Government allowed a small number of
private newspapers containing advertising, horoscopes, and similar
features, but no news or editorial content. Three private national
newspapers--Novosti Uzbekistana, Noviy Vek, and Noviy Den--carried news
and editorials, as did one publicly owned newspaper, Hurriyat.
Circulation was no more than 3,000 each. On March 1, a fifth daily,
Mohiyat, separated from the government-controlled Turkiston Press.
Mohiyat was known as one of the more independent national papers;
however, its estimated circulation did not exceed 2,000.
The Government did not allow the general distribution of foreign
newspapers and publications; however, two or three Russian newspapers
and a variety of Russian tabloids and lifestyle publications were
available. A modest selection of foreign periodicals was available in
Tashkent's major hotels, and authorized groups could obtain them by
subscription.
The Government controlled information even more tightly in the
broadcast media than in print journalism. Four state-run channels that
fully supported the Government and its policies dominated television
broadcasting. A cable television joint venture between the state
broadcasting company and a foreign company rebroadcast some Hong Kong-
based television channels, including the British Broadcasting Company
(BBC), Deutsche Welle, and Cable News Network World News, to Tashkent
and a few other locations; however, most citizens could not afford
cable television. There were 30 to 40 privately owned local television
stations and 7 privately owned radio stations. These broadcasters
practiced self-censorship, but enjoyed some ability to report
critically on local government.
Most television programming consisted of locally produced comedies,
variety and game shows, as well as programs rebroadcast from Russia.
In contrast with past years, there were no reports of arrests of
journalists; however, the Government harassed several editors and
journalists in an apparent effort to limit publication of critical
stories.
Tuhtamurad Toshev and Boimamat Jumaev, journalists arrested in
February and May 2003 and convicted on charges of bribery, remained in
prison at year's end. Observers viewed the charges as selective
prosecution.
On June 23, prison authorities released the former head of the
Independent Union of Journalists of Uzbekistan (IUJU), Ruslan Sharipov,
as part of a work furlough program. Sharipov was sentenced to 5 years
in prison in August 2003 on charges of sodomy, corruption of youth, and
sex with underage persons; his sentence was reduced on appeal. Many
observers viewed the charges as either fabricated or a case of
selective prosecution. Sharipov asserted that authorities prosecuted
him for his critical articles and that he had been tortured into
confessing. Sharipov has since left the country.
In June, the authorities also released Gayrat Mahliboyev, a
correspondent from the Hurriyat Newspaper sentenced in 2002 to 7 years
in prison in connection with his alleged membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
In mid April, authorities released Madzhid Abduraimov, a journalist
convicted in 2001 on charges similar to those against Tuhtamurad Toshev
and Boimamat Jumaev.
During the year, a number of journalists reported receiving
telephone calls warning them to be cautious in how they report events.
According to an open letter to President Karimov by the World
Association of Newspapers, on April 15, an NSS officer in Kashkadaria
told journalist Tulkin Karaev that he would be tried as a terrorist
accomplice unless he stopped reporting on arrests made following the
March/April terrorist attacks. Karaev, a correspondent for
International War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), a London-based media NGO
dedicated to the training and protection of journalists in areas of
conflict, and the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, wrote stories
alleging that police and security forces mistreated suspects and
planted evidence.
There were no private publishing houses, and government-owned
printing houses generally printed newspapers. Religious writings
required approval by the Religion Committee censor, which observers
regarded as quite strict (see Section 2.c.).
A September 2003 Cabinet of Ministers decree applied the same
requirements to bulletins and newsletters published by NGOs as apply to
other publications; however, the Government had not enforced this
decree by year's end. The materials covered by the decree were
typically printed in very small quantities and generally provided the
most critical coverage of human rights issues available in the country.
On June 24, a Namangan civil court found Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (RFE/RL) guilty of libel in connection with a story it
broadcast questioning the accuracy of a report published in the state-
run newspaper ``Diyonat.'' The court ordered RFE/RL and its Fergana
Valley correspondent each to pay a $50 (50,000 soum) fine. The ruling
followed threats in May by producers of the state television news
program ``Akhborot'' to sue RFE/RL and its correspondent for libel
after it broadcast a report alleging that an Akhborot correspondent
fabricated parts of a story in which workers at a collective farm were
filmed receiving their wages when, in fact, they had not been paid.
The law makes journalists responsible for the accuracy of their
news stories, exposing them to risk of criminal prosecution for their
reporting. The law establishes the right of newspaper boards of
directors, whose appointment is effectively subject to government veto,
to influence the editorial content of media reports. Through these
provisions, the law establishes mechanisms by which the Government
could indirectly influence media content and further encourage members
of the media to practice self-censorship. This was particularly evident
following the terrorist attacks of March/April and July, when the media
did not report any information that had not already been sanctioned by
the Government.
The Government tightly controlled information. The Uzbekistan News
Agency cooperated closely with the presidential staff to prepare and
distribute all officially sanctioned news and information. The
Government's Press and Information Agency was responsible for observing
all media. Most editors and journalists continued to express concerns
about potential consequences of conducting serious investigative
journalism. On March 27, reporters and other media employees
established a new government-sponsored association, the Creative Union
of Journalists of Uzbekistan, that observers believed would serve as
another mechanism for the Government to exercise control over the
media.
On January 19, Pravda Vostoka, the country's leading Russian-
language newspaper and a source of comparatively critical reporting on
such topics as official malfeasance, economic hardship, and human
trafficking, dismissed journalist Sergei Yezhkov, who was known for his
articles accusing officials of corruption. Media observers speculated
that Yezhkov's dismissal would lead to a softening in Pravda Vostoka's
coverage of controversial topics. In June, the chief editor of Radio
Grande, a popular Tashkent station known for its occasional reporting
on social problems such as AIDS, was fired, reportedly under similar
circumstances; he subsequently went to work for an online news website.
Running somewhat counter to this trend, on April 19, a district
court in Khorezm ruled that Shukhrat Allanazarov, a journalist for the
newspaper ``Yangiarik Ovozi,'' had been unlawfully dismissed in
December 2003 and ordered the newspaper to reinstate him and pay him
back wages. Allanazarov alleged that he was fired because of articles
that he had written criticizing the district hokim (mayor). The
newspaper contested the decision, and in May, an appeals court
overturned the district court's ruling. Allanazarov chose not to
appeal.
During the year, self-censorship expanded. The number and scope of
newspaper articles on topics such as local corruption, official
malfeasance and economic difficulties declined and only a few
journalists wrote articles critical of the Government.
A government agency, the Interagency Coordination Committee (MKK),
issued both broadcast and mass media licenses to approved media
outlets. Broadcast licenses are issued for terms of 1 to 5 years;
however, mass media licenses, which also required, must be renewed
annually. The MKK may revoke licenses and close media outlets without a
court judgment. Another government agency, the Center for
Electromagnetic Compatibility, issues frequency licenses.
The Government attempted to compel some private broadcasters to
join the National Association of Electronic Mass Media, which was set
up in December 2003 by a well-known media magnate. On August 23, the
MKK revoked the license of ``Bahtiyor-Shohboz,'' a private television
station operating in the Jizzak region, reportedly for refusing to join
the association. Some television journalists expressed fear that other
private stations would be similarly targeted.
The Government continued to refuse to allow RFE/RL and the Voice of
America (VOA) to broadcast from within the country, despite the
Government's agreement with RFE/RL to allow its broadcasting. The
Government also denied accreditation to some VOA journalists. The BBC
World Service was permitted to broadcast on a very low FM frequency and
only in the Fergana Valley, which limited the potential audience, up to
3 hours per day.
Television and radio stations practiced self-censorship; as a
result, stations carried critical reporting only occasionally.
The Government did not limit access to the Internet; however,
Internet service providers frequently blocked access to websites that
the Government considered objectionable. The opposition parties Birlik,
Erk, and the Free Farmers Party operated websites, to which the
Government reportedly blocked access sporadically.
The Government limited academic freedom. University professors were
generally required to have their lectures or lecture notes approved;
however, implementation of this requirement varied. University
professors practiced self-censorship.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The Constitution
provides for the freedom of peaceful assembly, but states that
authorities have the right to suspend or prohibit rallies, meetings,
and demonstrations on security grounds. In practice, the Government
often restricted the right of peaceful assembly. The Government
required approval for demonstrations and did not routinely grant
permits to demonstrators. There were a number of peaceful protests,
ranging in size from less than a dozen participants for most human
rights demonstrations to over a hundred in demonstrations protesting
economic conditions. In some cases, police forcibly disrupted
demonstrations; however, members of the security service usually simply
observed the demonstrations.
Authorities continued to detain women briefly for organizing
protests demanding the release of male relatives jailed for belonging
to the extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir political movement or for protesting
the conditions of their detention. There were reports that police
insulted or forced some of women to remove their head coverings. During
the year, none were arrested for such activities, and police drove home
or released most detainees after a short period of time and payment of
an administrative fine. These protests were less frequent and of
smaller size than in the previous year, a development that local human
rights activists attributed to heightened pressure from mahalla
committees and local law enforcement in the aftermath of the terrorist
attacks of March/April and July.
During the year, human rights activists in Tashkent held a number
of small demonstrations--typically involving no more than a dozen
protesters--to address police abuse, official corruption, housing
problems, and economic conditions. Authorities frequently observed such
demonstrations without interfering; however, there were numerous
reports of rough handling, including beatings and detention, in mid-
June prior to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of
state summit. As in previous years, police detained human rights
activists for short periods to prevent or to disrupt public
demonstrations.
On June 1, authorities forcibly prevented several activists from
participating in a demonstration in Tashkent calling for President
Karimov's resignation. Prior to the demonstration, law enforcement
officers detained the demonstration's organizer, Bakhodir Choriev, and
16 of his relatives at Choriev's apartment building and transported
them by police bus to the Syrdarya provincial border where, according
to Choriev, they were questioned for 2 to 3 hours before being driven
back to Tashkent. Police also reportedly took Choriev's 9-year-old son
into custody and held him at the Khamza district police station for 8
hours. Human rights activists Yuri Konoplov and Abdujalil Baimatov
reported that police had not allowed them to leave home, apparently in
an effort to keep them from participating in the protest.
On June 13, unknown persons severely beat activist Gavkhar Aripova,
who had also planned to attend the demonstration at the SCO heads of
state meeting. Aripova claimed that an officer of the Antiterrorism
Department threatened to have her leg broken if she picketed the SCO
Summit.
On June 14, Konoplov and Baimatov attempted to hold a demonstration
in front of the hotel where the SCO heads of state were staying. Police
confiscated Konoplov's poster and briefly took Baimatov and six other
activists into custody. Baimatov was kept overnight at the Khamza
District police station.
On September 20, police arrested Dilmurod Muhininov and Abdugafar
Dadaboyev, activists from the human rights organization Ezgulik, in
connection with a 2-day demonstration of market traders in Andijon. A
judge sentenced Muhininov and Dadaboyev to 10 days administrative
detention for disturbing the peace and organizing an unauthorized
public gathering.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association; however, the
Government continued to restrict this right in practice. The
Constitution places broad limitations on the types of groups that may
form and requires that all organizations be registered formally with
the Government in accordance with procedures prescribed by law. The law
allows independent parties and permits them a wide range of
fundraising, but also gives the Ministry of Justice broad powers to
interfere with parties and to withhold financial and legal support to
those opposed to the Government. There were five registered political
parties, all controlled by the Government, and four opposition parties,
none of which were registered at year's end (see Section 3).
On March 1, the Ministry of Justice refused for the third time to
register the opposition Birlik Party. In June, the Supreme Court denied
Birlik's attempt to have the decision overturned. Also in March, the
Ministry rejected the registration application of the opposition Free
Farmers Party. A third opposition party, the Party of Agrarians and
Entrepreneurs had its registration application denied in October 2003.
Although not officially registered, Birlik and the Free Farmers Party
backed initiative groups that attempted to nominate independent
candidates for the December 26 legislative elections. None of these
candidates made it onto the ballot.
Registration of NGOs and other public associations was difficult
and time consuming, with many opportunities for the Government to
obstruct the process. In March 2003, the Government registered the
country's second independent human rights group, Ezgulik. In February,
the Ministry of Justice registered the Lawyers' Firm for Human Rights,
which provides pro bono legal advice to indigent clients. The
Government continued to deny registration to other human rights groups,
such as the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, Mazlum, and the Mothers
Against the Death Penalty and Torture. Although these organizations did
not exist as legal entities, they continued to function, though with
difficulty (see Section 4).
On February 4, the Cabinet of Ministers passed a resolution
regulating the foreign funding of organizations that severely impeded
the ability of some local human rights NGOs to function. The resolution
requires a government commission to review all outside funding before
it is disbursed to local NGOs. Although the measure was ostensibly
passed to fight money laundering, the commission used political
criteria to determine which programs receive funds. Local NGOs focusing
on human rights and democratic reform were particularly affected.
Authorities in the Kitob Region of Kashkadarya continued to harass
local land reform activists and their families. In their effort to
promote land reform, the activists had run afoul of a politically
connected collective farm manager. Two activists and several family
members left the country, reportedly under threat from local police and
prosecutors.
Women's NGOs reported increased government harassment and
monitoring following a May 25 decree requiring the organizations to
reregister with the Ministry of Justice by November 1.
Nonpolitical associations and social organizations usually were
allowed to register, although complicated rules and a cumbersome
government bureaucracy often made the process difficult.
c. Freedom of Religion.--The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion and for the principle of separation of church and state;
however, in practice, the Government restricted this right.
The law treats all religious groups equally; however, the
Government supported the country's Muslim heritage by funding an
Islamic university and subsidizing citizens' participation in the Hajj.
The Government sought to promote what it considered a moderate version
of Islam through the control and financing of the Muslim Board of
Uzbekistan (the Muftiate), which in turn controls the Islamic
hierarchy, the content of imams' sermons, and the volume and substance
of published Islamic materials. A small but growing number of
unofficial, independent mosques were allowed to operate under the watch
of official imams.
The law requires all religious groups and congregations to register
and provides strict and burdensome registration criteria, including a
requirement that each group must present a list of at least 100 citizen
members to the local branches of the Ministry of Justice. This and
numerous other provisions, such as a requirement that a congregation
already have a valid legal address, enabled the Government to prohibit
any group by finding technical grounds for denying its registration
petition. This has had the effect of suppressing the activities of
Muslims who sought to worship outside the system of state-sponsored
mosques, as well as of members of unregistered Christian churches and
other groups.
By year's end, the Government had registered 16 new religious
congregations, of which almost all reportedly were Islamic. There were
2,169 registered religious congregations and groups, of which 1,984
were Muslim. Local authorities continued to block the registration or
reregistration of evangelical Christian congregations in Tashkent,
Samarkand, Guliston, Gazalkent, Andijon, and Nukus. Jehovah's Witnesses
in Tashkent were unable to obtain registration; out of the 11 Jehovah's
Witnesses' churches in the country, only those in Chirchik and Fergana
were registered. Police routinely questioned, searched and arbitrarily
fined individual members of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the country.
According to the Internet news bulletin Forum 18, police in Uchkuduk
and Kagan briefly detained and beat Jehovah's Witnesses in separate
incidents on June 17 and July 1.
Any religious service conducted by an unregistered religious
organization is illegal. Police occasionally broke up meetings of
unregistered groups and, according to news reports, members of some
Christian evangelical congregations were detained during the year and,
in at least one case in July, beaten by authorities. Religious groups
are prohibited from forming political parties and social movements (see
Section 2.b.).
The scarcity of independent media and the absence of a centrally
located and readily accessible register of court cases made it
difficult to determine how many persons were incarcerated for religious
reasons. Almost all of those arrested were tried for anticonstitutional
activity and participating in ``religious extremist, separatist,
fundamentalist or other banned organizations,'' a charge that
encompasses both political and religious extremism. The overwhelming
majority of those arrested were suspected members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an
extremist political movement. The Government also arrested members of
``Tabliq,'' an Islamic group with origins in South Asia, as well as
others the Government broadly labeled Wahhabi.
Individuals arrested on suspicion of extremism often faced severe
mistreatment, including torture, beatings, and particularly harsh
prison conditions and were typically sentenced to between 7 and 12
years in jail (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). Prison authorities
reportedly did not allow many prisoners suspected of Islamic extremism
to practice their religion freely and, in some circumstances, did not
allow them to own a Koran. Prison routines often did not permit inmates
to pray five times a day, and work and eating schedules were often not
adjusted to account for the Ramadan fast. Authorities reportedly
punished inmates who attempted to fulfill their religious obligations
against prison rules or who protested the rules themselves with
solitary confinement and beatings.
Police detained women demonstrating for the release of male family
members arrested on suspicion of belonging to extremist Islamist
political oups, although in fewer numbers than in previous years (see
Section 2.b.).
The Government did not consider repression of these groups to be a
matter of religious freedom but, rather, to be directed against those
who allegedly advocated overthrowing the Government. However, the
Government's campaign against suspected Islamic extremists had
repercussions in the wider Muslim community. Authorities, often acting
on information provided by mahalla committees, remained highly
suspicious of more religiously observant persons, including frequent
mosque attendees, bearded men, and veiled women. In practice, this
approach resulted in the Government abusing observant Muslims for their
religious beliefs.
The law prohibits proselytizing and severely restricts activities
such as the import and dissemination of religious literature.
Christians who tried to convert Muslims or who had among their
congregations members of traditionally Muslim ethnic groups often faced
official harassment, legal action, or, in some cases, mistreatment.
The teaching of religion in schools and to minors without their
parents' permission is prohibited. The Government continued a small
religious education pilot program in elementary schools and, in a very
limited number of schools, there was instruction on Islam and Arabic
several times a week.
The Government required that a religious censor approve all
religious literature and controlled the publication, import, and
distribution of religious literature. The Government discouraged and
occasionally blocked the production or import of Christian literature
in the Uzbek language, although Bibles in many other languages were
available in Tashkent bookstores. The Muftiate sporadically issued an
updated list of all officially sanctioned Islamic literature.
Possession of literature deemed extremist could lead to arrest and
prosecution. Religious literature imported illegally was subject to
confiscation and destruction. The Government controlled the content of
imams' sermons and the substance of published Islamic materials.
The Government's harsh treatment of suspected extremist Islamic
political groups tended to suppress outward expressions of religious
piety. While many young men attended Friday prayers, hardly any were
bearded. The law prohibits the wearing of ``cult robes'' in public
except by those serving in religious organizations; however, this
provision did not appear to have been enforced during the year.
Following the March-April terrorist attacks, administrators in some
schools pressured female students not to wear the hijab, or headscarf
many Muslims associate with female modesty, as did local authorities in
at least two mahallas in Karshi. There were reports from a credible
source that some female students were suspended from Tashkent's
Pedagogical University for wearing the hijab. Nevertheless, women were
seen wearing the hijab in public.
There was no pattern of discrimination against Jews. Synagogues
functioned openly and Hebrew education, Jewish cultural events, and the
publication of a community newspaper took place undisturbed. The
prohibited extremist political movement Hizb ut-Tahrir distributed anti
Semitic fliers, the text of which generally originated abroad; however,
observers did not believe such fliers represented the feelings of the
vast majority of the country's population.
There were reports of discrimination against Muslims who converted
to Christianity. The Uzbek Pastor of the Full Gospel Pentecostal Church
in Andijan reported that local officials harassed him and his family in
connection to the Pastor's conversion to Christianity.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International
Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation.--The Constitution provides for free
movement within the country and across its borders; however, the
Government severely limited this right in practice. Permission from
local authorities was required to move to a new city. The Government
rarely granted permission to move to Tashkent, and local observers
reported that persons had to pay bribes of up to a $100 (100,000 soum)
to obtain the registration documents required to move.
The Government required citizens to obtain exit visas for foreign
travel or emigration, and while it generally granted these routinely,
local officials often demanded a small bribe. During the year, at least
four human rights activists experienced difficulties obtaining exit
visas. While authorities eventually gave the activists visas, their
delay prevented two of them from participating in a conference in
Almaty. Authorities did not require an exit visa for travel to most
countries of the former Soviet Union; however, the Government severely
restricted the ability of its citizens to travel overland to
neighboring Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Turkmenistan and
restricted and significantly delayed citizens attempting to cross the
border to Tajikistan. Authorities closed the border with Afghanistan to
ordinary citizens.
Foreigners with valid visas generally could move within the country
without restriction; however, visitors required special permission to
travel to certain areas, such as Termez, in Surkhandarya Province on
the Afghan border.
Neither the Constitution nor the law explicitly prohibits forced
exile, and the Government did not employ it. At year's end, the leaders
of the Erk and Birlik opposition parties and the de facto leader of the
newly formed Free Farmer's Party remained in voluntary exile (see
Section 3). At year's end, the chairman of the Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan (HRSU) remained in voluntary exile (see Section 4).
The law does not provide for dual citizenship; those acquiring
another citizenship lose Uzbek citizenship. In practice, the burden was
on returning individuals to prove to authorities that they did not
acquire foreign citizenship while abroad.
There is no law that provides for the granting of asylum or refugee
status to persons who meet the definition in the 1951 Geneva Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice,
the Government provided some protection against refoulement, the return
of persons to a country where they feared persecution; however, it
forcibly returned some persons to a country where they feared
persecution and did not grant asylum. In 1999, the Government agreed
that it would not force persons given refugee status by the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to leave the country. Unlike in
previous years, none was forcibly returned; however, the Government
initiated deportation proceedings against one mandate refugee, who
remained in the country at year's end. Although it does not formally
recognize asylum or refugee status, the Government in practice
cooperated with the UNHCR in allowing it to provide assistance to
refugees and asylum seekers.
There were no official statistics, but observers, including the
UNHCR, estimated that there were 6,000 to 7,000 Afghans resident in the
country, 2,500 of whom the UNHCR recognized and registered as refugees.
Afghans comprised almost all of the UNHCR's refugee caseload. Although
the Government in general tolerated the presence of Afghan refugees,
they faced protection problems. The UNHCR reported that 37 Afghans were
detained over the course of the year, of whom all but one were released
after the UNHCR intervened. The one who was not released remained in
the country, pending deportation. The UNHCR reported that Afghan
refugees had no access to the legal labor force and therefore had
limited means to earn a livelihood. The UNHCR reported that police
rarely harassed mandated refugees.
The UNHCR estimated that there were 39,000 Tajik refugees in the
country. The Government considered asylum seekers from Tajikistan and
Afghanistan to be economic migrants and subjected them to harassment
and bribe demands when seeking to regularize their status. Such persons
could be deported if their residency documents were not in order. The
overwhelming majority of the Tajik refugees were ethnic Uzbeks; unlike
their Afghan counterparts, the Tajiks were able to integrate into and
were supported by the local population. Although most Tajik refugees
did not face societal discrimination, a great number of them only
carried their old Soviet Union passports and, under Uzbek and Tajik
law, faced the possibility of becoming officially stateless.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government; however, in practice, citizens could not change their
government through peaceful and democratic means. The Government
severely restricted freedom of expression and repressed opposition
groups and individuals (see Sections 1.c., 1.d., and 2.a.). The
Government is highly centralized and is ruled by President Karimov and
the executive branch through sweeping decree powers, primary authority
for drafting legislation, and control of government appointments, most
of the economy, and the security forces. The Constitution establishes
the Supreme Assembly as the highest government body; however, its main
function was to confirm laws and other decisions drafted by the
executive branch.
President Karimov was reelected in 2000 to a second term. The OSCE
declined to monitor the presidential election on the grounds that the
preconditions did not exist for it to be free and fair. A 2002
referendum, which multilateral organizations and foreign embassies
refused to observe, extended the term of the presidency from 5 to 7
years. On December 26, elections were held for representatives to the
lower chamber of the Supreme Assembly; an OSCE limited observer mission
concluded the election fell significantly short of international
standards for democratic elections.
Five registered government-controlled political parties held the
majority of seats in the newly elected Supreme Assembly; the remainder
consisted of nominally independent politicians tied to progovernment
parties. These parties, created with government assistance and loyal to
President Karimov, were the only ones permitted to participate in the
parliamentary elections, which did not represent a real choice for
voters. Many government officials were members of the People's
Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, the country's largest party. The party
did not appear to play a significant role in the Government. A fifth
progovernment party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan was
registered in December 2003, but did not distinguish itself from the
other progovernment parties.
The law makes it extremely difficult for opposition parties to
organize, nominate candidates, and campaign. On February 18, the
Government amended the law to require 20,000 signatures on any
application to register a new party; previously, only 5,000 signatures
were needed. The procedures to register a candidate are burdensome and
the Central Election Commission (CEC) may deny registration. A
presidential candidate must present a list of 700,000 signatures in
order to register and is prohibited from campaigning without
registration. The CEC may deny registration of presidential candidates
if it finds they would ``harm the health and morality of the people.''
Parties and candidates that are denied registration do not have the
right to appeal the CEC decision to the courts. The law allows the
Ministry of Justice to suspend parties for up to 6 months without a
court order.
In addition to registered political parties, citizen initiative
groups with 300 or more members may nominate Supreme Assembly
candidates by submitting signatures of at least 8 percent of the voters
in an election district. Except for registered political parties or
initiative groups, organizations were prohibited from campaigning, and
candidates were allowed to meet with voters only in forums organized by
precinct election commissions. The spring session of the Supreme
Assembly adopted a law mandating government funding for all registered
political parties and registered candidates. Only the CEC may prepare
and release presidential campaign posters.
The law prohibits judges, public prosecutors, NSS officials,
servicemen, foreign citizens, and stateless persons from joining
political parties. The law prohibits formation of parties based on
religion or ethnicity; those that oppose the sovereignty, integrity,
and security of the country and the constitutional rights and freedoms
of citizens; or those that promote war, or social, national, or
religious hostility. Political organizations that seek to overthrow the
Government or incite national or racial hatred are prohibited.
The Government frequently harassed members of unregistered
political organizations (see Section 2.b.). On March 1, the Ministry of
Justice rejected the registration papers of the Birlik opposition
political party; the Ministry's decision followed unsuccessful attempts
by Birlik to register in September and November 2003. In June, the
Supreme Court upheld the Ministry's decision not to register Birlik.
The party also faced renewed harassment, in contrast to 2003, when its
members were able to hold regional and national congresses and to
gather signatures without substantial interference. According to party
activists and human rights workers from several regions, supporters of
Birlik who signed registration petitions were pressured by local
authorities in February and March to disavow their signatures. Reports
of intimidation were reported in Andijon, Khiva, Khorezm, Syrdarya, and
Tashkent Region, but the most severe harassment appears to have taken
place in Jizzak. On March 1, local authorities in Jizzak attempted to
have a member of Birlik's national committee declared mentally
incompetent (see section 1.c). On March 24, a local court sentenced the
head of the party's regional branch in Jizzak, Muidinjon Kurbanov, to 3
years in prison on what many observers characterized as trumped-up
charges of weapons and narcotics possession; Kurbonov's sentence was
reduced to a fine on appeal, and he was released (see Sections 1.d and
1.e.). Despite these pressures, Birlik remained active and supported
initiative groups in all regions of the country; none, however, made it
onto the ballot.
In March, the Ministry of Justice rejected the registration
application of the opposition Free Farmers Party. The Free Farmers
Party did not appeal the decision or resubmit its application; however,
it supported initiative groups in the run-up to the December 26 Supreme
Assembly elections. As with Birlik, none of the independent candidates
supported by the Free Farmers Party were permitted to compete in the
election.
The Government continued to harass members of the unregistered
opposition party Erk, which split into three factions and became much
less active since mid 2003; however, the harassment was not as severe
as in previous years, when authorities reportedly detained and
subjected several Erk members to physical mistreatment, including
torture.
The leaders of three of the four unregistered opposition political
parties--Mohammed Solikh of Erk, Abdurakhim Polat of Birlik, and Babur
Malikov of the Free Farmers Party--remained in voluntary exile.
There was a widespread public perception of corruption in the
executive branch. There were no specific reports of corruption in the
Supreme Assembly, which had little real power and did not distribute
patronage.
The Constitution states that all government agencies must provide
citizens with the opportunity to examine documents, decisions, and
other materials affecting their freedoms; however, the Government
seldom respected these rights. The public generally did not have access
to Government information, and information normally considered in the
public domain, such as prosecutions for corruption or official
malfeasance, were seldom reported. In June, the NGO Article 19 Global
Campaign for Free Expression released an analysis of the country's
secrecy and freedom of information laws, which concluded that the types
of information that can be considered classified, and thus protected by
the state, were so broad as to include virtually all information.
There were 21 women in the newly elected 120-member lower chamber
of the Supreme Assembly. There was 1 woman in the 28-member Cabinet,
who held the rank of Deputy Prime Minister and was Chief of the Complex
of Social Protection of the Family, Maternity, and Childhood, a
committee charged specifically with women's issues.
Statistics on the ethnic composition of the newly elected lower
chamber have not been compiled.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human
Rights
A number of domestic human rights groups operated in the country;
however, fear of official retaliation made some groups hesitant to
criticize the Government. Registered groups included the Independent
Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, Ezgulik, which is affiliated with
the opposition political party Birlik, the Committee for Protection of
Individual Rights, and the LAS. The LAS provided pro bono legal advise
to the indigent and represented human rights clients that other firms
were hesitant to defend.
Other human rights groups, such as the HRSU, the Erk-affiliated
Mazlum, and the Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture were
unable to register, but continued to function (see Section 2.b.).
However, the groups had difficulty renting offices or conducting
financial transactions and could not open bank accounts, making it
difficult to receive funds from abroad. Unregistered groups encountered
more difficulties with authorities than registered NGOs and also had
difficulty finding venues for public events.
In a series of initiatives sponsored by the international human
rights NGO Freedom House, members of the police, Prison Directorate,
and Security Services met regularly with human rights activists in
Tashkent and areas of the Fergana Valley. Officers in the MVD
Investigations Directorate were particularly active in opening a
dialogue with human rights activists. Human rights workers who
participated in the events reported increased cooperation with local
officials, which resulted in better access to prison inmates and less
official harassment.
Police and security forces continued to harass domestic human
rights activists, though, according so some, with considerably less
frequency than in previous years. There were fewer reported cases of
beatings, with the notable exceptions that took place in the weeks
prior to the SCO Summit in June (see Section 1.c.). Unlike in previous
years, no human rights activists were arrested and convicted of
criminal offenses, though two activists were given administrative
sentences of 10 days, and several were detained briefly and released in
connection with their protest activities (see section 2.b). Although
direct harassment of activists may have abated, several reported
continuing pressure on their families. During the year, four activists
briefly experienced difficulty obtaining exit visas (see Section 2.d.).
Although individual human rights activists experienced less
personal harassment, the Government increased pressure on their
organizations. The February 4 ``banking decree,'' though ostensibly
designed to combat money laundering, has been selectively enforced to
keep both registered and unregistered NGOs involved in human rights or
political work from receiving outside funding. While some NGOs have
continued to function, the banking decree has severely impeded the
ability of others to function. The Government particularly targeted the
LAS and Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture, as well as
several regional branches of other human rights organizations. NGOs
focusing on women's rights have also come under increased pressure,
with many representatives reporting increased Government harassment and
monitoring following a May 25 decree that required all such
organizations to reregister by November 1.
On September 3, the Ministry of Justice initiated court proceedings
against Internews Uzbekistan, a local NGO working to enhance the
capacity of the independent media. The Ministry contended that the NGO
had violated a number of regulations governing its charter, including
not properly registering its logo and letterhead, not informing the
Ministry of changes to its staff, and calling the NGO's local chief of
operations ``Director'' rather than ``Director General.'' Internews
Uzbekistan's attorney argued that the NGO had taken immediate steps to
correct all the problems cited by the Ministry. On September 14, the
Tashkent City Administrative Court suspended the NGO's operations for 6
months. In September, the Ministry attempted to conduct an open-ended
audit of the representative office of Internews Uzbekistan's parent
organization, Internews Network. At year's end, Internews Network was
permitted to continue operations, but its bank account was frozen,
severely hampering its ability to operate.
The Government subjected international human rights NGOs to
additional scrutiny, but generally did not obstruct their work. The
Ministry of Justice publicly criticized HRW, which maintained an office
in the country, and Freedom House, which had an office in Tashkent and
a branch office in the Fergana Valley. In addition to its traditional
work training human rights defenders, Freedom House continued its
efforts to sponsor a dialogue between representatives of civil society
and officials from the police and security forces. The American Bar
Association Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI)
operated human rights clinics at government-run law institutes and
supported public defender centers in several cities; however, a
committee enforcing the ``banking decree'' refused to allow the release
of grant money for the Lawyers' Firm For Human Rights, an ABA/CEELI-
supported project in Tashkent. Members of the MVD, procuracy, and
Association of Judges participated in NGO training designed to increase
cooperation with defense advocates, promote judicial ethics, and inform
suspects of their rights.
International NGOs involved in promoting media freedom, expanding
civil society, and fostering political party development generally had
more difficulty operating than did NGOs that focused on human rights
abuses such as torture. On April 14, the Ministry of Justice refused to
reregister the OSI, effectively terminating the NGO's operations in the
country. The Ministry alleged that OSI had engaged in subversive
activities, such as supplying teaching materials designed to discredit
government policies. In 2003, OSI was the country's largest private
donor, providing $3.7 million in assistance to promote economic, public
health, and educational reform.
In May, the Ministry of Justice publicly criticized the National
Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute for their
work with unregistered political parties. The Government refused for a
second year to renew the registration of International War and Peace
Reporting (IWPR), a London-based NGO dedicated to the training and
protection of journalists in areas of conflict, on the grounds that it
was engaging in journalism rather than training; however, IWPR
continued to work with local and international journalists to produce
critical stories about the country's politics, judicial system, and
human rights practices.
In late 2003, the Government required a number of international
NGOs to reregister with the Ministry of Justice, rather than with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as they had previously. At the same time,
the Ministry of Justice attempted to enforce burdensome new reporting
and coordination requirements that would, if fully implemented, make it
difficult for NGOs to work effectively; however, international NGOs
generally were able to continue operating. The ``banking decree'' also
impeded the ability of international NGOs to work with their local
partners.
The Government increasingly was willing to work with international
governmental organizations such as the OSCE, which worked on prison
reform and combating trafficking in persons, as well as with foreign
embassies, the ICRC, and UNHCR.
A human rights Ombudsman's office affiliated with the Supreme
Assembly may make recommendations to modify or uphold decisions of
government agencies, but its recommendations are not binding. The
Ombudsman is prohibited from investigating disputes within the purview
of courts. The Ombudsman has eight regional offices outside Tashkent.
During the year, the Ombudsman's office handled hundreds of cases, a
large majority of which dealt with abuse of power and various labor and
social welfare issues. The Ombudsman published reports identifying the
most serious violations of human rights by government officials; the
majority of these involved procedural violations and claims of abuse of
power by police and local officials. Most of the successfully resolved
cases appeared to have been relatively minor.
The National Human Rights Center is a government agency responsible
for educating the population and officials on the principles of human
rights and democracy and for ensuring the Government complies with its
international obligations to provide human rights information. In the
view of many observers, the center was neither independent nor
effective.
Section 5. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, language, or
social status; however, societal discrimination against women
persisted.
Women.--The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence,
and such violence remained a common problem. Wife beating was
considered a personal family affair rather than a criminal act; such
cases were usually handled by family members or elders within the
mahalla and rarely came to court. Local authorities emphasized
reconciling husband and wife, rather than addressing the abuse. While
the law punishes physical assault, police often discouraged women from
making complaints against abusive husbands, and abusers were rarely
taken from home or jailed. A 2002 HRW report on mahalla committees
concluded that although the committees play no formal role in divorce
proceedings, in practice, women frequently were unable to obtain a
divorce without the committee's approval, which was seldom granted even
in cases of obvious abuse.
Most NGOs working on domestic violence problems reported that local
government cooperation on education programs increased, with a number
of initiatives taken to increase cooperation with mahalla committees.
Some police participated in NGO training.
The law prohibits rape. Marital rape appears to be implicitly
prohibited under the law, however, there are no cases known to have
been tried in court. Cultural norms discouraged women and their
families from speaking openly about rape.
In parts of the country, some women and girls committed suicide by
self-immolation. Most cases went unreported and there were no reliable
statistics on the problem's extent. Observers cited conflict with a
husband or mother in law, who by tradition exercised complete control
over a young bride, as the usual stimulus for suicide. The NGO Umid in
Samarkand ran a shelter for victims of self-immolation and reported
varying degrees of cooperation from individual officials, mahalla
committees, and local governments.
The law prohibits prostitution; however, it was an increasing
problem. There were more members of ethnic minorities were engaged in
prostitution. Police enforced the laws against prostitution unevenly;
some police officers used the threat of prosecution and other forms of
harassment to extort money from prostitutes.
Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation remained a problem
(see Section 5, Trafficking).
The law does not prohibit sexual harassment. Social norms and the
lack of legal recourse made it difficult to assess the scope of the
problem.
The law prohibits discrimination against women; however,
traditional, cultural, and religious practices limited their role in
society, and women were severely underrepresented in high-level
positions and in the industrial sector. A deputy prime minister at the
cabinet level was charged with furthering the role of women in society
and also was head of the National Women's Committee; however, this
committee was widely viewed as ineffective, and at times it obstructed
the work of NGOs promoting women's rights.
Several dozen NGOs addressed the needs of women. NGOs in Tashkent,
Termez, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Fergana conducted seminars on sexual
harassment, domestic violence, and the legal rights of women. Another
NGO in Tashkent operated a hotline for women involved in prostitution.
A center in Samarkand operated a crisis hotline and provided
educational services on alcoholism, sexually transmitted diseases, and
family counseling. ABA/CEELI's Citizen Rights Advocacy Network operated
programs in the Fergana region that focused on protecting women's legal
rights. A women's group in Surkhandarya worked with women with
disabilities and promoted their rights. Another organization, Women's
Integrated Legal Literacy, provided legal literacy training, small
grants for women's NGOs, cultural events to educate women on their
rights, and advocacy on women's issues.
Children.--The Government was generally committed to children's
rights and welfare; however, it did not adequately fund public
education and health care. Following Soviet-era practice, the
Government granted small allowances to families based on their number
of children.
The Constitution provides for children's rights and for free
compulsory education through secondary school; however, in practice,
shortages and budget difficulties meant that many education expenses
had to be paid by private individuals. Despite a small salary increase
in September, teachers earned extremely low salaries and routinely
demanded regular payments from students and their parents.
Twelve years of formal schooling are compulsory, and the average
length of schooling is more than 11 years. According to government
statistics, 98.1 percent of children completed secondary school.
However, anecdotal evidence indicated that children increasingly
dropped out of high and middle schools as economic circumstances
continued to deteriorate. According to a regional study conducted by
the OSI in 2002, the country's formerly near universal literacy rate
was declining as school enrollment rates dropped.
The Government subsidizes health care, including for children, and
boys and girls enjoyed equal access. Low wages for doctors and poor
funding of the health sector have led to a widespread system of
informal payments for services that can be a barrier to access for the
poor. Also, those who are not officially registered at an address, such
as street children and children of migrant workers, do not have access
to government health facilities.
Child abuse was a problem. Child abuse was generally considered an
internal family matter, although elders on mahalla committees
frequently took an interest at the local level. There were no
government-led campaigns against child abuse, although efforts against
trafficking involved the protection of underage victims.
There were reports that girls were trafficked from the country for
the purpose of sexual exploitation and that girls were engaged in
prostitution (see Section 5, Trafficking). During the harvest, some
school children, particularly in rural areas, were forced to work in
the cotton fields (see Section 6.d.).
Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons;
however, trafficking in women and girls from the country for the
purpose of sexual exploitation was a problem. A few NGOs reported that
some local officials were involved in trafficking on a limited basis.
The law prohibits all forms of trafficking and provides for prison
sentences of 5 to 8 years for international trafficking. Recruitment
for trafficking is punishable by imprisonment for 6 months to 3 years
and fines of up to approximately $900 (900,000 soum). The recruitment
charge may be brought against international or domestic traffickers.
All law enforcement agencies are charged with upholding the
antitrafficking provisions of the criminal code. During the year, law
enforcement authorities reported that they initiated criminal
proceedings in over 200 cases and convicted over 300 suspects.
The Government took significant measures to combat trafficking,
including establishing a specialized antitrafficking unit in the MVD,
actively cooperating with NGOs and the OSCE on antitrafficking training
for law enforcement and consular officials, and working with NGOs to
produce effective public awareness campaigns. In addition, the
Government, in cooperation with NGOs and international organizations,
continued to train law enforcement and mahalla officials in identifying
and protecting victims of trafficking.
The country was primarily a source for the trafficking of women and
girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation. However, there were also
reports of men being trafficked to illegal labor markets in Kazakhstan
and Russia, mainly in the construction, agricultural, and service
sectors. There were no reliable statistics on the problem, and it did
not appear to be widespread; however, anecdotal reports from NGOs
indicated that the number of young women from the country who were
trafficked abroad was increasing. Many women were unwilling to come
forward due to societal pressure and fear of retaliation from their
traffickers. There were credible reports that women traveled to the
United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Israel, Georgia,
Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Japan, and Western Europe for
the purpose of prostitution; some of them reportedly were trafficking
victims. Some transit of trafficked persons may also have taken place
from neighboring countries and to or from countries for which the
country was a transportation hub (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India,
Korea, and the UAE).
Traffickers in nightclubs or prostitution rings solicited women
between the ages of 17 and 30, many of whom previously engaged in
prostitution. In large cities such as Tashkent and Samarkand, newspaper
advertisements for marriage and work opportunities abroad were
connected to traffickers. Travel agencies promising tour packages and
work in Turkey, Thailand, and the UAE were also used for solicitation.
There were reports that in some cases traffickers recruited women with
fraudulent job offers abroad, including as dancers or waitresses in
nightclubs or restaurants and, in at least one case, confiscated travel
documents once the women reached the destination country.
Recruiters tended to live in the same neighborhood as the potential
victim and may even have known the victim's family. These recruiters
introduced future victims to the actual traffickers, who provided
airline tickets, visas, and instructions about meeting a contact in the
destination country.
Some local officials working at the MVD, Customs, and Border Guards
reportedly accepted bribes in return for ignoring their instructions to
deny exit to young women they believe to be traveling abroad to work as
prostitutes. Local sources claimed that officials were involved in
document fraud and accepted bribes from persons attempting to travel
illegally or from the traffickers themselves. According to information
provided by the MVD, at least one official was fired for selling
documents and preparing fraudulent exit visas in 2003 and was
reportedly under investigation for his activities at year's end. One
NGO reported that some local officials helped women, some of whom may
have been trafficked, obtain false passports to travel to Dubai to work
as exotic dancers or prostitutes.
During the year, the Government, through its embassy in Baku,
assisted the return of 2 of 14 Uzbek trafficking victims located in
Georgia. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported
that police, consular officials, and border guards began to notify it
of women returning from abroad who appeared to be trafficking victims.
The IOM was also allowed to assist groups of women returning from
abroad at the airport, help them through entry processing, and
participate in the preliminary statements that the victims gave to the
MVD.
In January, the IOM and its local partners set up seven trafficking
hotlines across the country. The OSCE Tashkent office cooperated with
foreign embassies, NGOs, and the Government to hold training seminars
for law enforcement, including officers from the NSS, MVD, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Customs Service, Border Guards, and the General
Prosecutor's Office. It also provided training for several
antitrafficking NGOs, organized roundtables to discuss projects, and
provided small grant funding to NGOs. The OSCE helped form a working
group of representatives from the MOJ, MVC, NSS, and the prosecutors
office to coordinate antitrafficking work among government agencies.
Government-controlled newspapers carried a number of targeted
articles on trafficked women and prostitution; however, the same
publications also carried advertisements soliciting women's
participation in such schemes. Government radio continued a weekly
call-in program for women who were involved in the sex trade.
Government-owned television stations worked with local NGOs to
broadcast antitrafficking messages and to publicize the regional NGO
hotlines that counseled actual and potential victims. The Government
worked with NGOs to place posters on trafficking hazards on public
buses and in passport offices and consular offices abroad.
Persons With Disabilities.--There was some societal discrimination
against persons with disabilities, and children with disabilities were
generally segregated into separate schools. The Government cared for
persons with mental disabilities in special homes. The law does not
mandate access to public places for persons with disabilities; however,
there was some wheelchair access throughout the country. The law does
not provide extensive safeguards against arbitrary involuntary
institutionalization.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population was mainly
Uzbek, with significant numbers of Russians, Tajiks, Tatars, and
Kazakhs as well as ethnic Koreans, Meskhetian Turks, Germans, and
Greeks.
Russians and other minorities frequently complained about limited
job opportunities. Senior positions in the government bureaucracy and
business generally were reserved for ethnic Uzbeks, although there were
numerous exceptions.
The law does not require a language to obtain citizenship; however,
language remained a sensitive issue. Uzbek is the state language, and
the Constitution requires that the President speak Uzbek; however, the
law provides that Russian is ``the language of interethnic
communication.'' Russian was spoken widely in the main cities, and
Tajik was spoken widely in Samarkand and Bukhara.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers the right to
form and join unions of their choice; however, workers were unable to
exercise this right in practice. The law declares unions independent of
governmental administrative and economic bodies (except where provided
for by other laws); however, in practice, unions remained centralized
and dependent on the Government. There were no independent unions.
The law prohibits discrimination against union members and
officers; however, this prohibition was irrelevant due to unions' close
relationship with the Government.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Unions and
their leaders were not free to conduct their activities without
interference from the Government. The law provides the right to
organize and to bargain collectively; however, the Government did not
respect these rights in practice. Unions were government-organized
institutions that had little power, although they did have some
influence on health and work safety issues.
The law states that unions may conclude agreements with
enterprises; however, because unions are heavily influenced by the
state, collective bargaining in any meaningful sense did not occur. The
Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Finance, in consultation with the
CFTU, set wages for government employees. In the small private sector,
management established wages or negotiated them individually with
persons who contracted for employment.
The law does not mention strikes or cite a right to strike, and
there were no strikes during the year.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Constitution
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, except as
legal punishment or as specified by law; however, there were reports
that such practices occurred (see Sections 5, Trafficking and 6.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The
law establishes 14 as the minimum working age. Work must not interfere
with the studies of those under 18. Children between the ages of 14 and
16 may work a maximum of 20 hours per week when school is not in
session and 10 hours per week when school is in session. Children
between the ages of 16 and 18 may work 30 hours per week while school
is not is in session and 15 hours per week while school is in session.
In rural areas, younger children often helped to harvest cotton and
other crops.
The large-scale compulsory mobilization of youth and students to
help in the fall cotton harvest continued in most rural areas. Such
labor was paid poorly. There were occasional reports from human rights
activists that local officials in some areas pressured teachers into
releasing students from class to help in the harvest. In many areas,
schools closed for the harvest. UNICEF in 2000 estimated that 22.6
percent of children ages 5 to 14 worked at least part time, primarily
in family-organized cotton harvesting.
Prosecutors and the Ministry of Labor were responsible for
enforcing child labor laws. The Ministry had inspectors to report
violations to the prosecutor's office. The law provides both criminal
and administrative sanctions against violators; however, authorities
did not punish violations related to the cotton harvest. There were no
reports of inspections resulting in prosecutions or administrative
sanctions.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Labor, in
consultation with the CFTU, sets the minimum wage. At year's end, the
minimum wage was approximately $6.53 (6,530 soum) per month, which did
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The law establishes a standard workweek of 41 hours and requires a
24-hour rest period. Overtime pay exists in theory but was not usually
paid in practice. Payment arrears of 4 to 6 months were not uncommon
for workers in state-owned industries, including government office
workers and officials.
The Labor Ministry established and enforced occupational health and
safety standards in consultation with the unions. The press
occasionally published complaints over the failure of unions and the
Government to promote worker safety. While regulations provide for
safeguards, workers in hazardous jobs often lacked protective clothing
and equipment. Workers have the right to remove themselves from
hazardous work without jeopardizing their employment; however, the
right was not effectively enforced, and few workers, if any, attempted
to exercise it.
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